Escaping the Descent Into Paganism [Perverted Morality]

[Music] it's an honor to be with you again we're going to continue our study on escaping the dissent into paganism we are witnesses to a very unique time in history certainly in american history something is happening around us that is really without precedent but i don't want you to be filled with despair god called us to this time and season to be salt and light my first concern is that you not be swept up in the tide of ungodliness and immorality and wickedness that is impacting us in such profound ways these days you need an intentional purposeful plan to maintain your foundation as a child of god don't presume upon the sinner's prayer or your birth into the kingdom at some point in the historic past i don't want to question that we're just living in a new season and we need the preparation of god to walk through this time triumphantly grab your bible and a notepad but most of all open your heart god has something for each of us today [Music] we're we're doing a short series under the theme of escaping the descent into paganism and i i think with just a casual glance at the culture in which we live we could find a good degree of agreement amongst christians at least that something is happening and it's not a political initiative or an ideological battle we are separating ourselves from are the foundations of a judeo-christian worldview and when you purposefully separate yourselves from that foundation the outcome is very predictable it's consistent across human history we will descend into paganism into ungodliness and wickedness because you've separated yourself from that worldview and it's not being done to us it's not being done haphazardly or randomly it's being done in a very intentional way by some of the most powerful voices and influences in our culture and it's not something we can blame on a single your single political party or candidate is far more widespread than that but it is happening now my concern is that when something is happening with the speed with which it's taking place you know the magnitude is taking place is that if you don't have an intentional escape plan you'll be swept up into it there's some very influential voices and some very well educated and some very sophisticated accomplished people championing a worldview that is best described as paganistic and if you don't have a plan to avoid it sitting in a church building won't protect you because unfortunately it's even happening to the churches not to all but to far too many if we deny the the divinity of jesus if we deny the authority of scripture if we no longer imagine it's our rule of faith and practice if we don't acknowledge the virgin birth and the redemptive work of jesus his death burial and resurrection it isn't christianity you may have christian architecture and christian language and religious symbols and and all sorts of religious activity but please don't be confused and this is not happening at some glacial pace any longer it won't take decades it changes not week to week it changes day to day it's something i never imagined we would see at the rate we're seeing it the paganization of our nation the this if i had to to reduce it to a single response i would submit to you your best protection is obedience be obedient to the truth that you know not just a church member not just a church attender not just reciting some historical spiritual experience in your life but today be obedient to the truth that you know if you're living in disobedience you're already in those waters that are moving you away from god we just don't have the luxury in this season of tolerating ungodliness in ourselves forget pointing your fingers at others just ask the lord to give you clarity on your own life we have to guard our hearts that we love we or we will love the world more than we love the kingdom of our lord that kind of obedience will require action it'll be more than just knowledge or information or even agreement with something you can be in agreement with the christian worldview but living in an other manner it's a time for self-awareness it's a time for awareness of what's happening around us things are moving so rapidly to honestly it's impossible to keep up with all the facets of the changes things that were just unthinkable not years ago but months ago it's overwhelming to consider the ways in which ungodliness is being embraced and celebrated if that's the only perspective you have and you don't have a biblical perspective it will overwhelm you and it's not complicated things like lying and deception and violence immorality and perversion are being embraced and honored in the public square they're held up as virtuous and as if you choose things like godliness and righteousness and purity and holiness you're mocked as being archaic out of step quaint i want to make a suggestion rather than focus on the problem the disease that is sweeping across us my preference and i'm making some adjustments in my own life these days my i prefer to become more intense upon the practice of honoring god i want to be more focused upon that more diligent with that more intentional about that i would suggest that we become more determined to practice our faith than ever before to practice our faith not simply to align ourselves and say i'm an adherent of that not in a casual way or a random way but with the same kind of careful focus that we would associate with the awareness of some significant consequences when you realize the consequences are great you tend to focus with with greater intensity that's what i'm suggesting about the practice of our faith these days our freedom is a very precious thing our liberty is unique and i would submit that our lord is faithful and those things combined mean we have a tremendous opportunity right now let's maximize that don't rage against the darkness don't be angry at somebody else or some group of somebody else it's not fruitful humble yourself before the lord seek his face we've begun every one of these sessions in this series by taking a moment to talk about the what it means to be a christ follower not joining a church not reciting a prayer but what does it mean to be a christ follower it's a multi-faceted discussion but we have undersold it in second timothy chapter two the apostle paul is mentoring a young man that he has been discipling in the faith he said you then my son be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus if you can be strong in grace you could also be weak in grace it's very important don't just presume upon the goodness of god learn to stand in the goodness of god put on the armor of god stand in the authority of jesus name know who it is you put your trust in and why we've been so casual with this we've been flipping with it we're far more concerned about locking our car than putting on the armor of god folks if they take your car you can get a replacement if you don't have on your spiritual armor there is no replacement said don't worry so much about the people that just could kill your body well most of us think that's kind of a pretty significant threat he said be really concerned about those that after they've killed your body could send your soul to hell he said that is something you should fear be strong in the grace that's in christ jesus and the things that you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others and then he begins to meddle endure hardship with us like a good soldier of christ jesus endure hardship or you mean like not getting my preferred parking place or i got here a few minutes late and somebody sat in my seat i don't think that's what paul's talking about no one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs he wants to please his commanding officer don't give your heart to civilian affairs temporal things things that will change oh you want to pay attention i've been encouraging you to watch and to listen to think to act but don't give your heart to those things then in verse 8 remember jesus christ raised from the dead descended from david this is my gospel for which i'm suffering even to the point of being changed like a criminal now wait a minute our topic here it's the life of a christ follower endures a hardship like a good soldier he said i'm suffering for the gospel i'm chained like a criminal we think of suffering for jesus as our parking spot or worship time or right i mean we have reduced the notion of christianity to inconvenience folks our faith is not grounded on convenience it's not based on our comfort we will miss the kingdom of god if we allow comfort and convenience to be the defining criteria of how we serve the lord we've lost our balance we've been coached into it by professional christians such as myself but it's deception the scripture is clear repetitive consistent that honoring the lord will take the very best you have it'll take a greater effort that you've invested in your hobbies if you're more invested if you sacrifice your time and adjust your calendar more for your hobbies than you do your faith you're deceived you can be a good kindly biblically oriented deceived person but that makes you incredibly vulnerable to what's happening around us right now the attitude of the church if you'll just listen i spent my life in the church so this is my story i'm not pointing a finger at anybody else but the attitude that i hear in the church does not sound like we believe we found the pearl of great price and whatever you have you want to go liquidate so you can be certain that you secure that pearl of great price it seems to me that our attitude is far more like we picked up something at the dollar store we hold it pretty loosely because we can get another one just not that big a deal it didn't cost me a lot to get it i don't attach a lot of value to it it was free they said say a little prayer and i said a little prayer but the real dreams and aspirations of my life didn't change that much i just thought i'd found a new power source to help me get my way that is not the presentation of the gospel in the scripture when jesus is lord he establishes our priorities over our time our calendar our aspirations our resources he is first or he's not lord it takes a lifetime to grow up into that and what we're witnessing in in contrast to that is this descent into paganism it's a downward progression it's not a new thing please don't fall into that trap to think we're the first generation to watch this the scripture is very clear quite to the contrary it's been a repeated problem for humanity and then we introduce into at the end of the age and the the last day's prophecies the return of the lord so we think we don't have to pay much attention to it because it's just the last days so we don't really have to have any moral awareness well there are some biblical perspectives i would agree that suggests we could be approaching the end of the age but the precise timing of that is not certain what is certain is this dissent into paganism and don't let your your end time prophecies confuse you we're to be salt and light we're to take a stand to make a difference to make an impact to stand in the gap on behalf of those who don't have the ability to stand for the very young for the very old that's our assignment we're watching this it isn't new in isaiah 66 and verse 3 it says they have chosen their own ways and their souls delight in their abominations this is isaiah talking about the covenant people of god what i'm describing to you is not the behavior of the ungodly the immoral or the wicked i'm describing the behavior of those who imagine themselves to be within the church that's where the descent into paganism is gaining ground the ungodly behave the ungodly ways isaiah goes on to god says i will also choose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them what they dread for when i called no one answered and when i spoke no one listened they did evil in my sight and they chose what displeases me does that sound like a pretty accurate description of what we're watching or we'll find people with great celebrity or power or success or influence or academic achievement to support what we're imagining but the reality is we understand within us it's ungodly it's inappropriate in second kings 23 there's a verse there's a statement that's repeated consistently throughout those historical books in your old testament jehoiakim he's the new king he was 25 years old when he became king 25. he reigned in jerusalem 11 years and here's the statement he did evil in the eyes of the lord you don't have to be an old white man to do evil you can do evil at any point in your life and it really has little to do with your appearance we're being divided these days by our appearance or our age or our gender it's just a tool to separate us we're far more alike than we are different because what defines us begins within us not on the outside of us but listen to what it says it says he did evil in the eyes of the lord just as his fathers had done there is king after king after king generation after generation after generation in our bibles where it says they did evil in the eyes of the lord it's a very important phrase well who says what i'm doing evil well from god's perspective that's evil well i don't believe in god that is paganism the fact that you don't believe in god does not set him aside does not render him irrelevant doesn't make him null and void you don't have to believe in gravity it believes in you find a mirror i heard a better way to evaluate your overall health you don't need to scale you just need a full length mirror after you get out of the shower stamp your foot and then time how long it takes for everything to quit moving do not send me a letter it did evil what i want us to understand is what we're watching is not unique to our generation the question is what will we do in generation after generation after generation we're also given the stories where people chose to honor god and he poured out his spirit upon his people and he extended freedoms and liberties and a spirit of repentance came upon them we could see that if we will choose to be those people or we can participate in this descent with indulgent lives we can embrace the lawlessness and the ungodliness we can stand and watch the violence and say nothing we can watch the debauchery in the excess we can see the rise of the occult the rejection of the truth and promotion of the faults and choose to be silent because we don't want to expose ourselves or or forfeit an opportunity or or put ourselves on the outside of something we certainly don't want to be chained like a criminal as paul described we have no intention of enduring hardship like a good soldier we've stepped away from a biblical perspective this isn't about somebody this is us who are we going to be what are we going to do it's a very important question stop waiting for somebody else to change stop waiting for somebody else to lead stop waiting for somebody else to have the courage to do the right thing let's become those people let's decide that's us and i'm not talking about a political movement or an ideological movement we're going to have to choose to honor the lord with our lives in new ways we had a pastor and his wife visit us a week ago a pastor in belarus we've known them for many years more than 20 years he was a young man when he began he planted a church in a small town in belarus and we've watched the lord continue to bless and increase his ministry they they have a church in minsk the capital they oversee several churches in belarus and more than a dozen churches in the ukraine god has led them but they came and they shared with us what was happening you know for the last two years it feels like every time there have been decisions to be made or responses that were needed god has given us a window into the the truth that we would know how to respond for instance they said that the the ukrainian president at that time in our news cycle the the messaging was predominantly that he was trying to establish himself as a dictator he was banishing opposing parties and and guinna and his wife said that's just not true we heard it on the news we had to turn it off they said there was multiple parties and some of the parties in ukraine were pro-russian pro-putin and they were working against the freedoms of the people he said the ukrainian people lived under the the rule of communism and authoritarianism and now they've had freedom and he said they will never again submit to a dictator they would rather die in the streets than live that way they looked at me private i said don't worry about zielinski if he tries to establish himself as a dictator the people will take him down they told us about the churches that have been destroyed and the pastors who have sent their families to poland and other places and they've gone to do anything they can to support the people who are resisting the russians then they looked at us and they said don't imagine that we're just fighting for ukraine we're fighting for you it's an important time church for us to have the courage of our faith when i listened to gina and larissa and the report they brought of the believers in belarus and the ukraine the secret police had already been to their church they'd been gone less than a week before the secret police came in belarus you can't invite a child to church in belarus you can't ask multiple congregations to come together the police won't allow it when i listened to them tell their stories to be completely honest with you i was embarrassed by our timid faith by our timid faith what will people think of us they don't want them to think i'm a zealot i don't want to be perceived as a fanatic i do i do [Applause] i think we better find ourselves out of step with the current trends in culture we better find a new response what exactly is it we're afraid of whose approval are we focused upon what consequences are you so concerned about guinness brothers home had been destroyed in ukraine you lived in kiev and she said we talked and he said it's just not that big a deal we'll find a place to live when this is done imagine that imagine if our homes were destroyed it's a life-altering event for us i said you know we'll work that out another day we've got bigger problems bigger problems the canadian couple visited church this week we weren't expecting them they showed up during the week they wanted to see the buildings they watch online and then somebody came and got me i got to visit with him for just a few minutes i asked what was how was canada and they said the churches are pretty quiet they said there was a handful of pastors that were arrested they said a friend of theirs stood up and was fired from his job you know in most congregations pastors are employees the churches have existed far longer than that pastor's tenure in that place so they're brought in to serve by a board or a presbytery or a group of elders somebody chooses them extends to them that opportunity and the real strength and authority of the church comes from those groups if we as business people and leaders and congregations will have more courage our churches will be more courageous he said there had been more than 40 canadian trucking companies whose license had been withdrawn as a result of the truckers demonstrations that one of the the online funding sites had published the names addresses and phone numbers of everybody who had donated to the truckers i mean they went down a list of things that are just unthinkable and very little of it are we hearing about endure hardship like a good soldier of jesus christ we have an opportunity to believe we have the freedom to believe we have access to bibles and worship services and public gatherings and broadcasting we have a very unique opportunity we want to take advantage of it there's a break that has come there's a discontinuity with the past the way we lived a few years ago is not what's defining our lives right now some of us are desperately clinging to those old patterns where it's as if we're playing shuffleboard on the deck of the titanic what crashing noise but folks there's a discontinuity there's a season of change don't lament that there's a season of great opportunity we may grieve some things that have been altered or adjusted but the truth is there's a greater opportunity before us i believe that any time in our lives in second chronicles 19 it says let the fear of the lord be upon you judge carefully for the lord our god for with the lord our god there is no injustice or partiality or bribery be certain of this god is just you you won't be able to move god by a clever expression by a turn of your head you'll never be able to present an argument that is so emotional that god will agree with you in your ungodliness all of those tricks and tools and things that we've learned to manipulate one another won't work with god he's just he doesn't show partiality he can't be bribed because we don't have anything he needs what we can choose is to be obedient to him to yield to him it's a privilege it's a gift it's an unfettering it takes the limit off your life one of the great lies is that honoring the lord will somehow diminish your life take something from you folks i have nothing god needs my iq is not a relief to the kingdom of heaven my physical assets will not make the difference that neither will yours we can choose to honor the lord let's learn to believe we've been taking we've been exploring some steps of faith i've been asking you to think about them in relation to your own life journey those times you have said yes to the lord what was the outcome of that did you begin with some hesitancy we usually do was there some points of reluctance it was something that was new to you it was untested so you weren't certain whether you wanted to take that step when you look back and you've had the courage to say yes to the lord what's been the outcome what's been the outcome from the people who are in your relational network what's been the outcome from the lord what how's it impacted your own spiritual growth and development you want to pay attention to those things because as god invites you forward you're going to feel many of those same hesitancies or reluctancies every time there's a new invitation well i don't know about that i haven't seen that so much before that's not something that's a part of my experience i'm not as comfortable with it we have a whole list of phrases and ideas we use to discount god's invitations that's not how i do it that's not how my people believe well the church where i grew up there's a whole list of them but they're not adequate reasons to deny the invitations of the lord i don't want you to agree with me i want you to learn to recognize the voice of the spirit of god to know your bible be prepared to follow him great changes around us well i want to take the time we have this morning left and the step of faith i want to explore in a little more detail with you is baptisms it's plural because the new testament presents us with more than one baptism look at hebrews 6 in verse 1. let us leave the elementary teachings about christ and go on to maturity it exposes a problem we have i think very few of us are really interested in growing up in the lord because we've been coached the real objective is to be born into the kingdom of god and if you're born what difference does it make it makes all the difference because when you're finished with your journey through time when your earth suit is comes to its expiration date you and i will everyone have to give an account for what we've done in the body imagine that standing before a judge who is impartial just and cannot be bribed you will have wanted to have served the lord in such a way that his response to you is well done well done agreed agreed so i want to know how to how to go on to maturity not laying again the foundation so he's going to list for us a half a dozen things that are elementary truths about our faith these aren't things for grown-ups this isn't christianity 201 this is the introductory level not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in god instruction about baptisms it's plural there's multiple baptisms in the new testament john's baptism is the first we meet john the baptist he's identified by the ministry he had john baptized in water into the forgiveness of sins remember him jesus forerunner his cousin you do remember john the baptist right okay good then there's christian baptism that's baptism in water but it's baptism into the body of christ and then the new testament talks about the baptism in the holy spirit it's a baptism in the spirit of god into the life of the spirit or a spirit-filled life we're going to look at them briefly really just as an introduction to you i want to plant them as a seed and at whatever point it the the the scripture has not yet been introduced into your experience it's time to move if you've never been baptized in water i would encourage you to begin to process that if you've never been baptized in the spirit i would encourage you to begin to process that once you decide it's biblical the next question is how do i become a participant how do i become a participant you see baptism is presented in scripture is about a transition you move out of one thing into another the whole of you moves you can't be partially baptized it's very important in fact the word baptized is not really an english word i mean i know it's made its way into the english lexicon in the english dictionary but it didn't begin as an english word when the bible was translated into the english language when king james initiated that project the church of england at that time was already baptizing by christening by sprinkling infant baptism was prevalent didn't begin with them but it was very prevalent in the church well the greek word from which we get the english word baptized baptizo it means literally to plunge to dunk to dip to immerse well and there's more than one theory as to why they chose to do this but they just took the greek word and rather than translate it they just took the greek the greek word and put it into english letters so the meaning would not be apparent to the english-speaking audience perhaps because they weren't using that practice for baptism i don't know it isn't relevant for us but the word that's used in the new testament for baptism means to dip or to plunge or to immerse now you can immerse something either by putting something into the water under the water or you can immerse something by pouring the water over you can stay it under a waterfall you'll get immersed so immersion can be understood in two ways but they mean the same thing to be totally subjected to that element in which you're being immersed so with that in mind there's no partial baptism you're either all in or you're all out now in the new testament baptism is used with a couple of different prepositions bear with me for a moment studying english is about as exciting as studying history right but this really will help i believe the preposition n refers to the element in which you're immersed and the new testament is clear you're baptized in water but the preposition into describes the end product of being immersed what do you pass into as a result of the baptism now let's look at john's baptism with that in mind just very briefly in mark chapter 1 and verse 2 it's written in the isaiah the prophet i will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way a voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way for the lord make straight paths for him and so john came baptizing in the desert region and project preaching a baptism of repentance for but the greek word is into preaching repent for repentance into the forgiveness of sins into the forgiveness of sins what do we say john's baptism was it was a baptism in water into the forgiveness of sins it's important to understand and the whole judean countryside and all the people of jerusalem went out to him well the temple was the place where you went to deal with your sins they had daily sacrifices they had mikvahs where you could immerse yourself in water there for ritual purity but john went a day's walk into the desert and the people had to go into the desert to be baptized in the jordan river and his challenge to them was show me the evidence of your repentance baptism was not the beginning of repentance for john baptism is what sealed the repentance that had already been taking place it intrigues me john didn't run a stadium he didn't have a pr firm now i'm not against stadiums or pr firms i've worked with both he had very little brand awareness he wasn't joined to the temple crowd the power brokers weren't on his team in fact they were doing everything they could to dissuade the people from listening to him what john was a part of was a supernatural moving of god and it stirred the whole region we need that today it's not an exclusion of the other things but i want you to be aware of what we're looking for something that's really inexplicable the awareness the heartfelt responses of the people the concern the willingness to change the direction of their life i promise you there were critics why would you go into the desert to talk to john when you can go to the temple it's more beautiful it's a closer walk you'll be invited by the right people to the right parties and included in the right restaurants to sit with the most powerful people why would you go listen to a lunatic that wears camel's hair it eats weird food because something is stirring in my heart if you don't have the courage to follow the lord you're going to get caught in this stream that will sweep you away from the lord it's been a social movement for us it's been politically correct it's been socially acceptable but day by day it's becoming less so and less so you're going to have to decide what you believe john's baptism did not produce repentance it was the seal of a decision already made let's push on a bit christian baptism it's the one we're more familiar with we've seen it practiced all of our lives if you've been around church and most of us have in one way or another i would submit to you that christian baptism is far more important than the average christ follower has realized or imagined you see we're not baptized into jesus because we're a sinner it's not a baptism of repentance that's not what the scripture tells us look in matthew chapter 3 and verse 13 jesus came from galilee to the jordan to be baptized by john do you understand the scandal of that he didn't go to the temple and make his peace with the power brokers he didn't know he didn't go negotiate with them because they didn't want to negotiate with him please don't imagine that a politician is going to fix our problems or a new political movement or a new candidate or the removal of the one you don't like and the installation of the one you do we need god's help the church has to have clarity on this jesus came from galilee to the jordan to be baptized by john and john tried to deter him saying i need to be baptized by you do you come to me this is interesting to me john recognized because of jesus character that he should defer to him because later john said i recognized him as the messiah because the spirit of the lord descended upon him well the spirit descended on him after john baptized him so at this point he doesn't yet have that affirmation but he recognizes in jesus character something that is apart from him and he said i should not be baptizing you and jesus said let it be so now it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness and john consented and as soon as jesus was baptized he went up out of the water and at that moment we turned the page and heaven was opened and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and lighting on him and a voice from heaven said this is my son whom i love with him i am well pleased it's impossible at least with my skill set it's impossible to over emphasize the importance which the new testament is attaching to baptism in this one scene that we just looked at we have all three persons of the godhead visible with the veil pulled back and a scene of baptism god the father speaking the holy spirit descending and jesus standing in the jordan being baptized by john now the nature of christian baptism is not a baptism of repentance jesus didn't need to repent he's the perfect sinless obedient son of god he said i need to do this to fulfill all righteousness we are baptized for us to fulfill all righteousness we confess our sins at that point of repentance when we're birthed into the kingdom of god and we're forgiven by faith in jesus through the shed blood of jesus but we submit ourselves in christian baptism so that we can fulfill all righteousness jesus identified himself with all of those who would follow him in obedience through baptism if it was important for jesus just perhaps we should get in the pool now i understand what we've done to it we've made it about church memberships we've made it about joining a denomination or a congregation or it was a license to to participate or to lead in a specific place i do not believe that's what the scripture presents to us baptism has little to do with this congregation it has everything to do with the church with the capital c and fulfilling the redemptive work of jesus in your life look at romans 5 and verse 1 oh my time so since we have been justified through faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ justified is a little understood word it has layers of meaning it means acquitted declared not guilty reckoned righteous made righteous we are declared not guilty in the sight of the creator of all things through jesus christ and in baptism we fulfill that righteousness baptism is the pathway to complete to fulfill the righteous that's begun the righteousness that has begun in our life with that profession of faith that's christian baptism i pray we baptize more people in the next few weeks than we baptized in the last year it's time folks but you can't wish it so use your voice you choose obedience you tell your story you tell your baptism story talk about your reluctance your hesitancy what would people think what would my family say talk about the outcomes after you made that step this is not going to happen apart from us we want somebody else to be anointed and somebody else to be bold folks we are the church there's no mystical closet where the church lives as awkward as it is go home look in the mirror and say hello church if we're going to have a different response from the church it's because we respond differently now let's talk for a minute about spirit baptism so far everybody's good to go very little grief not much anxiety now the anxiety meter is climbing baptism in the holy spirit is referenced seven times in the new testament in each of the four gospels and then in the book of acts i gave you the passages i'm not going to comment on them but i will at least read a portion of them in matthew 3 john said i baptize you with water literally into repentance but after me will come one who is more powerful than i whose sandals i'm not fit to carry he will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire in mark 1 i baptize you with water but he will baptize you in the holy spirit literally luke 3 john answered them all i baptize you with water but one more powerful than i will come the thongs of whose sandals i'm not worthy to untied he'll baptize you again literally in the holy spirit and with fire john 1 i wouldn't have known him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me the man on whom you see the spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the holy spirit that's all four gospels if you're counting matthew mark luke and john introduce jesus to us if you know their stories this is the beginning of the introduction to jesus in each of those gospels and the way they choose to introduce jesus to us is the one who will baptize us with the holy spirit maybe we should understand that i don't believe that's just some random accident that defies just statistical probability why would they introduce us to jesus in that way we don't talk about him that way very much we talk about him as our redeemer or our savior our deliverer the one who forgave us of our sins in acts chapter 1 and verse 4 says on one occasion while jesus was eating with them he gave them this command don't leave jerusalem but wait for the gift my father promised you've heard me speak about john baptized with water but in a few days you'll be baptized with the holy spirit acts 11 i remember what the lord had said john baptized with water but you'll be baptized with the holy spirit jesus in every one of these passages we've read jesus is the one who baptizes us in the holy spirit it's an overwhelming bit of evidence let me put something on the table i think we get a little anxious because we think of the baptism in the spirit or spirit baptism some of us will associate it with speaking in tongues and for the moment for this particular session at least my agenda is not to get you to speak in tongues it's been a part of my spiritual journey for 50 years so yes i believe in it but for the moment just set that aside don't don't not listen to the scripture because you're presupposing a conclusion that you don't think you want it's the same it's as if somebody wouldn't listen to an invitation to acknowledge jesus as lord of their life because they have a habit they don't want to give up you're forfeiting the invitation of scripture by leaping ahead to something that you have some discussion around please don't do that we've only got a few minutes i want to hand you the scriptures i want you to think about them not to think about somebody else's opinion you decide you decide if it's biblical do the same with christian baptism you decide if it's biblical if jesus told us to get baptized then by all means if i were you i would be obedient six out of the seven passages i gave you the experience of being baptized into the holy spirit is compared and contrasted with being baptized in there's water similarities remember we said that you could be baptized either by immersion being put under something or having it wash over you two of the seven passages fire is joined with the holy spirit apart from the verb phrase to baptize the only the only other verb used in these passages in connection with the holy spirit is the verb phrase to drink now i want to present jesus instructions around the holy spirit in the context of two sundays two sundays with the lord the first one is in john chapter 20. it's resurrection sunday on that day i'm going to read you the passage in a moment but i'm going to tell you what happens before we read it the apostles are going to receive the in-breathed spirit the intrigued holy spirit from a resurrected jesus and from every definition i know from scripture at that point they enter into salvation in the new birth you have a personal experience with a resurrected jesus and you receive the holy spirit into your life i call that the new birth this is resurrection sunday look in john 20 in verse 19. on the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked for the fear of the jews jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you why were they hiding well they'd watched them crucified they'd watched them torture jesus to death and they'd send jesus speak to the wind and the waves he'd speak to demonized people they'd seen him raise the dead and open blind eyes they'd never met anybody like him they had no imagination that either the jewish leadership nor the roman authorities could have any power over their friend and then they watched him be beaten almost beyond recognition and then an absolute horror they watched him suffocate to death on a roman cross how many of you think they might have felt a little vulnerable if they could do that to jesus see it's not an accident that they denied the lord they denied the lord because they associated a consequence with identifying with him and the consequence was they might receive the same treatment he was receiving do you know why you and i are reluctant to talk about our faith because we imagine a consequence to talking about our faith and we don't want the consequence endure hardship like a good soldier timothy don't be ashamed of me because i am in chains because of my advocacy for the gospel we're reluctant to lose a friend [Music] after this he showed them his hands and his side the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the lord me think that might be a bit understated dude come here peter say it's my hand john over here andrew come here matthew come look and they were overjoyed that looks like the j-man to me what do y'all think yeah i think you could say they were what uproariously overwhelmingly ecstatically overwhelmed and jesus said peace be with you as the father has sent me i'm sending you and with that he breathed on them and said receive the holy spirit the language is very very similar i'm not going to take the time to turn there but the genesis creation account where god formed adam from the dust of the earth and breathed into him and he became a living being jesus is acting out the new birth when you and i make a profession of faith in jesus the spirit of the living god comes to dwell within us it's the message of the new testament that the spirit of god no longer dwells in a temple or a tabernacle a structure built by human hands but that you and i are the temple of the living god he said don't you know that you were bought with a price therefore you're not your own honor god with your body now we're back to that definition of what it means to be a christ follower it's not your body it's not your choice we've been bought with the price that's what the new birth means jesus didn't stop there with his best friends it goes on to pentecost sunday it's seven weeks later and jesus closest friends and followers the disciples that you know mary his mother and the other mary's they're going to be baptized and are filled with the holy spirit acts chapter one on one occasion while he's eating with them he gave them this command do not leave jerusalem but wait for the gift my father promised which you've heard me speak about john baptized with water but in a few days you'll be baptized with the holy spirit or in the holy spirit now this is post-resurrection day so the spirit of god already is living within them jesus is talking about something else and i don't think it's accidental that every one of the gospel writers introduces to jesus is the one who will baptize you with the holy spirit same chapter verse 8 you'll receive power when the holy spirit comes on you you'll be my witnesses in jerusalem and judea and samaria to the ends of the earth what's the purpose of spirit baptism to empower us to be witnesses for jesus and we think we need a little bit of power see we think political power will save us or corporate power or economic power or military power now all of those are legitimate expressions of power i'm not denying them but there is a power far greater than all of those it's the power of almighty god the creator of heaven and earth and church we need his help we're not going to out think evil or outwork evil or out organize evil or out give evil we need god's help and jesus said we'll receive power when the holy spirit comes on us and it's very clear from the context he's talking to them is what he was saying in verse 5 about spirit baptism to a group of people who've already received the inbreed spirit of god from jesus himself and then in acts chapter 2 that's fulfilled after jesus said that in acts 1 8 he ascended back to heaven i mean think last words have more authority i do that's the last thing jesus said to his disciples and he ascended he disappeared into the clouds maybe the greatest expression of obedience of the disciples from the time jesus recruited them up until this point was they stayed together in jerusalem and waited i mean they argued about bread they argued about who was the greatest they wanted to call fire down on the samaritans i mean it was a it was an iffy group and in acts chapter 2 when the day of pentecost came it's a jewish holiday it's not about being pentecostal pentecost is 50 days after passover seven weeks after resurrection sunday they were all together in one place and a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and it filled the whole house where they were sitting and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them and they were filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them again for the moment just we'll do it in another discussion but let's just take speaking of tongues just set it aside for a moment decide what you believe about spirit baptism is it biblical there are differences between the two experiences of receiving the holy spirit on resurrection sunday it was about a resurrected christ the inbreed spirit the result the outcome of that was new life on pentecost sunday it's about an ascended christ an outpoured spirit and the result was new power after acts chapter 2 the disciples who have looked more like keystone cops or an expansion of the three stooges i'm telling you when you read the gospel just like jesus recruited larry curly and mo i mean jesus looked at them on more than one occasion said are you really that dull and if you're reading it you're going oh yeah they're that doll every bit of it and some but after jacks chapter two and the day of pentecost they shook the world they did the same clowns the differences they've been empowered to be witnesses in acts chapter 3 they're going to the temple as was their habit they've done it dozens and dozens and dozens of times and they pass a beggar that they've passed on multiple occasions and on this day they said listen no silver and gold but in jesus name walk and the whole city is stirred god did something they couldn't do prompted by the spirit of god by the time we get to acts chapter 5 they're arresting them they're jealous of them they're saying we killed your boss do you know what we'll do to you don't ever mention his name again and the same group that hid when jesus needed a friend they said listen you be certain of this you killed the messiah and we will never stop telling that are you kidding me and the only distinction you can find in those two places are these two sundays i don't think we can afford to leave one out maybe there was a time and a place where we thought you know the the world is stable and the culture is stable i don't have to think about that but we're not there anymore we're not there anymore we need god's help from pentecost sunday onward the phrase to receive the holy spirit is applied always and only to this second experience of the baptism in the holy spirit it's never again used to describe the new birth not diminishing the new birth it's absolutely essential you don't have to the baptism in the holy spirit is not a requirement to go to heaven that's not what the scripture says it says this is it's an essential tool for filling for fulfilling god's purpose for your life jesus commanded his closest friends upon whom he'd already breathed and said receive the holy spirit he had trained them himself for three years they'd been to water walking 101 they had been to multitude feeding 101 and 201 they did it twice they've been raised they've been to raising the dead 301 that's a third level class they had been to sin and repentance and forgiveness reinstatement classes i mean they had been through some amazing theological training and then in acts 1 jesus says listen before i leave i'm giving you a command do not leave the city until you're baptized in the spirit the church has been guilty of creating a lot of well-informed pagans we create classes with very little expectation of obedience or practice and god is awakening us it's an exciting time i don't know that because of the schedule and the holiday and everything i don't know when i'm going to get back to this i will come back to this in the interim some of you are anxious there's a little book in the bookstore that i built out of some sermons i've done it's called unleashing the power of the holy spirit i don't get royalties i'm not making a buck i'm not opposed to that that's just not happening in this particular instance freedom of disclosure if you'd like to know more about spirit baptism stop and grab a copy of that book you can order it online if you're watching that way practice saying yes to the lord practice saying yes to the lord don't you stand with me following jesus is an adventure it is we tried to boil it down into going to church and sitting in the same spot and parking in the same spot and sitting with the same people our expectations were so low excitement is when the preacher stumbles over a word or i fell off the platform one time i got a standing ovation that's kind of a sad thing that's not what it means to be edgy following jesus is intended to be an adventure and we've tried to distill it into something that required nothing of us god didn't send his son to become one of us and put on an earth suit and sacrifice his life so you and i could be comfortable and convenient now we're on an assignment and the arena is filled with people who've already pursued their journey through time they're waiting to see what you and i are going to do let's pray father we want to be pleasing to you we want to say yes to you today if there's any place where we have tolerated ungodliness or we've been resistant to you we come in humility today to say we're sorry to repent to choose a new path a new way to think and a new way to behave jesus be lord of our lives lord of our thoughts lord of our behaviors lord of our time lord of our resources lord of all that we are we want to honor you and please you we're leaving in a season of great realignment and great change may we be a bright light for you may you be pleased with us may you delight in us lord in all of our brokenness all of our inconsistencies and all the challenges we face help us help us give us a revelation of jesus holy spirit we welcome you into our lives lead us guide us direct us we want to be pleasing to you and most of all may the name of jesus be lifted up and his kingdom extended for it's in his name we pray amen hallelujah god bless you [Music] hey this is pastor allen thank you for watching this video if you enjoyed it like it and most importantly share it with your friends if you want to be notified when there's new content when we post new material if you'll just subscribe to my channel and hit the bell you'll get the notification most of all i pray god blesses you as you continue on your spiritual journey and open your heart to the lord god bless [Music] you

Channel: Allen Jackson Ministries

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Keywords: Pastor Allen Jackson, allen jackson ministries, world outreach church, alan jackson, sermons, preachers, how to be saved, Finding Jesus, pastor allen jackson sermons, paganism, pagan, occult, authority of Scripture, Scripture, truth, deception, obedience, hardship, suffering, power of God, Holy Spirit, power, baptism, Spirit baptism, John's baptism, immersion, Ukraine, baptism into, Pentecost, Easter, Resurrection Sunday

Id: PkbY3cMZnJM

Length: 57min 50sec (3470 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 09 2022