“Govern Yourself--Baptism”
By Brother Kenneth Ray
January 22nd,
2012
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notes in pdf format.
Last week we
looked at using the words of Jesus and the Holy Ghost to govern ourselves. 1 of the first steps in the process is found
in the action of baptism. Now, some of you
have given Bible studies on baptism, and you can find the Scriptures quicker
than I can, but, can you find that person who is seeking as fast as you can
find the Scriptures?
If you look at
the first steps of a Christian walk (maybe not the first step, but one of the
first steps), in there you are going to find baptism. At the beginning of a race, they always say,
“Gentlemen, start your engines!” Now
that’s not the first step in racing a car.
You have to make sure your battery is charged, and that you have fuel,
and a few other things, but that ‘gentlemen’ line is the starting line for the
race (or, if you’re a runner, the starting blocks…)
What does
baptism in Jesus name do for us when it comes to Govern Yourself?
Acts 2:38 …be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and…
Strong’s
Concordance tells us that remission (G359) is departure. So, the reasons are: for remission of sins,
and to be able to receive God’s Spirit (the gift of the Holy Ghost).
Matthew 26:28 For this is My blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
At the last
Supper, Jesus tells us that He has to die.
Blood has to be shed for the remission of sins; the blood of rams just
didn’t take care of that.
This goes
against the “just” theories. Many will
say “just” confess, believe, pray, etc.
You start telling me that, look out, because there’s a big can of worms
around here someplace, and it’s about to get opened. A lot of people have tried to tell me that
over the years, and I understand that they taught me the truth as they knew
it. They weren’t trying to lie to me;
they just didn’t really understand the Gospel.
When it comes to
this sort of thing, you want some good grip on your tires; I don’t care if they
are Hankooks, Goodyears, or Yokohamas.
Jesus’ words handle all terrain.
Isaiah 59:1-2 But your
iniquities have separated between you and your God…
We
were separated; there was a divide. The
sin of mankind has separated us from God.
You don’t have to like it, that’s the way it is. The Bible says that we’re not good enough to
get into Heaven. We have to deal with
this sin issue. No prayer, no matter how
long; no confession, no matter how sincere; no belief, no matter how strong, is
going to do that. You either believe Jesus
or you don’t. I choose to believe Jesus.
Hebrews 9:22 …without shedding of
blood there is no remission.
John 3:16 For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish…
That’s why He
came; that’s why he died; that’s why He arose.
He commanded baptism; that came from Him. It’s not church doctrine. We are not able to come to God’s kingdom without
remission of sins. Jesus gave us
that—you’ve got to clean up your house. Jesus
came and was baptized of John.
Matthew 3:15 …thus it becometh us to
fulfil all righteousness.
It talks about
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him, a voice from
heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” What did Jesus do that pleased God? He got baptized. God likes it when people get their sins washed
away. Baptism by itself is just getting
wet. Did you ever get thrown in a
pool? Did they mean you were saved? no,
it probably meant you were mad!
At the end of a
film, there are credits, and those credits list the names of a lot of people
that weren’t in the movie: stunt people,
make-up artists, etc. When it comes to
governing your life, there are more things that you don’t see.
So, Jesus got baptized
for an example to us, how we would be able to access the Holy Ghost. When Jesus completed His task on the cross,
the veil was rent; the veil used to separate us from the Holy of Holies—only
the High Priest could go in there.
Through baptism, we access the Holy Ghost (God’s Spirit) and our house
is cleaned and swept, so that we can be the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
There’s more to
it, though. I have a few things to point
out:
Faith is the
fuel that Christians run on. Baptism
alone will not save you.
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved, but He that believeth not shall be damned.
Life is tough,
we learn through our adversity.
Sometimes we go through adversity just because we haven’t been taught
properly. I don’t want you to not get
proper teaching.
Believe
what? the Gospel. Okay, but what is the Gospel? God is a Spirit, that he is real, I have sin,
I need remission of sin (I need it to depart); just for starters. There is power in the blood shed for me. Why baptism?
Baptism alone will not save you; it has to be coupled with
something. If you want the Holy Ghost to
govern your life, you have to have the Holy Ghost. First, you have to understand the key of
baptism. Baptism is needed for
salvation; it’s not an option.
1 Peter 3:20-21 …eight
souls were saved by water. The like
figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us…
Baptism, in
short, is to be fully covered with water, but you’ll find baptism is more about
faith than it is water. The Bible says
that the just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38); it doesn’t say that they
shall live by being covered with water.
Romans 1:17 …As it is written,
the just shall live by faith.
How does that
tie in to my faith? It takes
trust—believing God. Put your faith in
action. You will find that life is
sometimes still rough. If anybody ever
told you that after you got baptized in Jesus name that everything would be a
bed of roses, then they lied to you. The
Bible says that with your faith, you will be able to quench the fiery darts of
the wicked, but they means that they have to be incoming before they can be
quenched. It doesn’t say that they won’t
hurt; it doesn’t say that they won’t hit you; it says that they will be
quenched. Satan’s agents are everywhere,
but, if the Holy Ghost is guiding our lives, governing us, then we will be
victorious. That doesn’t mean that you
can pull a hammy, sit and watch the rest of the game, and then go celebrate
when our team wins…
Are you renewing
that excitement daily?
Ephesians 4:23 and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind.
I
need to be renewing that spirit. Jesus
said two words; what were they? “Follow
Me.” He said it to the men He had called
(For many are called, but few are chosen—Matthew 22:14). How do you follow Him? govern yourself.
Jesus
is a good leader. How many times have
not wanted to get out of bed and help somebody, but Jesus got you up, and
afterwards you were thankful for it? Or
you didn’t want to read your Bible, but you did it anyway, and felt so much
better afterwards. I’m not asking you to
do what I’m doing—that’s my
calling—I’m asking you to do what God called you to do. How do I know what God has called me to do?
You’ll know. It isn’t in you naturally; you
need faith. Everyone will not live by
faith. Everyone might go to church… What will you do when you leave the church
building? Will you be the church?
He said to a man
who was on the cross beside Him, “Today, thou shalt be
with be in paradise.” (Matthew 23:43)
Now some would say, “See there, he didn’t get baptized,” but he didn’t
need to be baptized, because Jesus was still on the earth, and He had power on
earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). He
didn’t give up the Ghost until verse 46.
Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Jesus is not
walking around in the flesh on the earth.
If I want access to Him, and to have Him be King over my life; if I want
to follow Him it will have to be by allowing the Holy Ghost to access my life
(Jesus is a gentleman; He’ll stand at the door and knock, but if you don’t let
Him in, He’ll stay out). My faith in
action causes me to believe, to pray, to study, to seek, to cry out; so that
the Spirit of God will govern the direction my life takes, and the decisions I
make. It must continue. Governing ourselves is something that we’re
commissioned to do all our lives.
When
I was in the Navy, I was stationed on two different ships: FF-1067, a Knox-class Fast Frigate (that was
older than me), and CG-49, an Aegis Cruiser.
Why did I step up to that ship and request permission to come aboard? Yes, I had orders, but I had something else. I saw something that wasn’t supposed to be, and
believed anyway. I asked for permission
because I believed that the ship floated.
As big as it was, and made of steel, it floated; steel’s not supposed to
float. With each time I went to sea;
going through all types of sea conditions and weather… It came to a point in my life that it was not
even a question as to whether my ship would make it back home from
underway. I knew that there were people
that would help me if trouble did come about, or if I just needed some help.
Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said
to Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
When
we prove God’s Spirit and will for us, we see that no one else is a better
guide on the road of life.
Romans 4:20-21 …was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully
persuaded…
2 Timothy 1:12-14 …I know whom I have believed…
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Baptism is the starting block. The Holy Ghost in you is the navigational
system to guide us to the Kingdom prepared for you. Govern yourself by the proven method: Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the
life (John 14:6).
Sermon
notes by Pete Shepherd
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