Episode Transcript
So glad that you've joined us for countdown. Back to the Future. An amazing program, this one. We're looking at Israel in the end times, new beginnings. You know, one of the places I really enjoy visiting is New York City. There in the harbor is the lady with her lamp. The United States has been a place where many people, refugees from other countries, have been welcomed, well, I guess up until recent times, but they've been welcomed to the shore of the United States. People who've had a hard time in some other country, they came here for freedom and a new beginning. That's why they came here. Another place I enjoy visiting is over there in Germany. Remember the first time I went there to the Berlin Wall? Everything was in place. The guard dogs and everything was all there. Checkpoint Charlie. You had to go through a whole rigmarole to get from one side to the other side, from West Berlin to East Berlin. But in 1989, the wall came tumbling down. You'll and people in East Germany found freedom and a new beginning. Another place that, of course, many people have been very interested in is Israel. 1948, the state of Israel was born. The very next day, the surrounding Arab nations attacked Israel. But people wanted to have this new state for freedom and a new beginning. And as I said, the very next day, the surrounding Arab nations attacked Israel, this new state. But Israel amazingly triumphed over those people who were fighting them. In 1956, the war was on again with the surrounding Arab nations, and again Israel was able to overcome the opposition. 1967, we have what we call the Six Day War. Some of you will remember that war. Within six days, Israel had defeated the surrounding Arab nations. Then in 1973, it was on again in what was known as the Yom Kippur War. Israel nearly went under on that occasion up there in the Golan Heights with Syria. But they rallied and they overcame the opposition. And of course, today many people see the transformation that Israel has become thanks to the Israeli initiatives that this must be the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, what we're seeing in Israel. That's why many Christians around the world pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I was watching a program one evening on what the United States thinks, what the world, I should say, thinks of the United States. It was on ABC national television, and they were looking at US Middle east foreign policy. Bob Carr, the former premier of New South Wales, was being interviewed and asked, why is it that the Americans support Israel but not so much the Palestinian Arabs? Oh, that's pretty easy. According to Bob Carr, it's because in the United States, there are many Protestants who believe that Israel is God's people and they must be supported militarily. And of course, there's a strong Jewish lobby in the United States. And he said this is what drives much of American foreign policy, the belief that Israel is God's people and must be supported. Well, we want to go now to the book of Revelation because we want to discover Israel in the end times. Is this all the fulfillment of Bible prophecy? What's going on there in Israel today? Is that a fulfillment of the prophecies of this book? We need to understand that John in the Revelation mentions Israel. We're going to discover that God is committed to freedom and a new beginning for each one of us. He's committed to that. Not only that, God tells us that for freedom we must make a stand. In fact, for freedom, Christ is going to call each of us to take a stand. It's just that radical in this program that we're going to see coming from the Book of Revelation and other parts of the Bible. Let's go. As we seek to understand Israel in the end times, let's begin with the seven seals and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'm sure you've heard of the four horsemen. Now we're going to take a look at the four horsemen a little later in one of our presentations. But I just want us to look what we see in Revelation chapter 6 under the sixth seal. Under the sixth seal of these seven seals and four horsemen, John sees the climactic end time events, the events that surround the return of Jesus Christ to this world. Again, notice what John says. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. Every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne. That's God the Father. And from the wrath of the Lamb, Jesus, the one who died for us, for the great day of his wrath has come. And who is able to stand? Wow, what an amazing thing. In other words, the question is, who can stand before the throne of God and the Lamb when Jesus returns the second time John sees in the next part of Revelation, he sees four angels pushing back the winds of strife from beating up this planet. Now, in the original Greek text in which the New Testament was written and the book of Revelation was written, there were no chapters and, and verses. Those chapter divisions and verses were put in later on by people so that we could find the places originally just kept running straight on. And Revelation 6 with that question, who can stand? The answer is given in the very next verses. It just gives the answer to that question. So John sees these four angels pushing back the winds. Notice what he sees. I saw another angel ascend from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, do not hurt the earth and the sea or the trees. Hold things back. Don't let the winds smash up the planet. Meaning, don't let trouble come. Just hold things back for a bit. Not everybody's ready for Jesus to come. In other words, don't hurt the earth or the sea or the trees. Till we've sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Till we put God's seal in the foreheads of people. Then John says, I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. Now there, right there in that verse in yellow there, that's the only place in Revelation where Israel is mentioned by name. Oh, they're mentioned, but they're not mentioned by name in the book of Revelation. But the idea is there. So there's that question, who can stand before the throne of God and the Lamb when Jesus returns? In other words, who can be saved when Jesus returns? Notice the answer that's given to that question. The 144,000 Israelites with God's end times seal or mark in their foreheads. Now, probably some of you are worried a little bit right now, and you are saying, hey, I'm not an Israelite for starters, I'm not a Jew. And that number, 144,000, that seems pretty small. When there's 7 billion of us on the planet, what hope is there for me? And what's that strange mark? Well, let me tell you, there's good news for all of those things. I'm going to talk about the 144,000 and you're going to be thrilled with what the Bible actually says about this. We're going to understand what the seal of God is in a future presentation. But in this presentation we need to understand, what's this business about the Israelites? Is there no hope for you and me who are not Israelites, we're going to miss out or something? How do we understand this? So that's what we need to look at. Will only Israelites be saved? Well, in the Book of Revelation, you have noticed that there are many symbols. We're seeing beasts. The dragon's not a real dragon. It represents Satan. The lamb is not a real lamb. It represents Jesus dying for us like the lambs died in the temple services. Many symbols. Now, these symbols are interpreted by the Bible. We don't just say, well, I think this means that, or Tom, Dick or Harry says, this is what it is. No, the Bible itself is its own interpreter. So let's go and notice this. Remember, we've seen the lamb is mentioned 28 times in the book of Revelation. 28 times. How do we know what the lamb is? Because the rest of the Bible helps us understand what the lamb represents. It's Jesus who died for us. What about Israel? How then do we understand Israel? Now, what is an Israelite? Well, I reckon Paul, who was a Jew, he ought to know what an Israelite really is. Let's let Paul tell us what an Israelite or who is an Israelite. So the Bible says, when Paul writes about Israel, notice what Paul says talking to his friends. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. That is, he's got the right Jewish features or he's got Jewish blood in his veins. He is not one outwardly. Nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. You see, Jews practice today and in the past that a male must be circumcised. And then he really becomes part of Israel. Born into an Israelite family, he must be circumcised in the foreskin. So Paul says, but hang on. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart in or by the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. So Paul is telling us very clearly here that being an Israelite concerns the heart. In other words, the mind, the inward being of a person. A genuine Israelite is someone who is. Whose heart has been changed. Now, Israel was called the children of God in the Bible. Notice what it says. You, Israel, are the children of the Lord your God. And many people today believe that. Well, that means all the Israelites are the children of God. Well, they are, in a sense, like all the rest of us, because we were created by God. But the Bible is speaking more than just that. Notice what Paul says. Are all Israelites the children of God? Even though Israel is called the children of God, are they really all Israelites. Paul, speaking to his Roman friends in Rome, says they are not all Israel who are of Israel. Now, Israel, that's Jacob. He is the father of the Israelites. But not all his descendants who are called Israelites are really Israelites, says Paul. They are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children, because they are the seed of Abraham, the father of the Israelites. But not all his children are there, the children of the flesh. These are not the children of God. In other words, just because we're born into a Jewish home doesn't make us a true Israelite of God, doesn't make us that way, says Paul. And he's a Jew. Just because we're children of the flesh does not necessarily mean we're children of God. All right, let's notice. Can a non Jew, someone like myself or maybe yourself, can we become an Israelite? Let's notice what Paul says. Paul has some amazing words to say. He says now to Abraham and his seed, that's Israel in the Bible, were the promises made. He does not say, and to seeds plural as of many, but as of 1, and to your seed singular. And who is that? Who is Christ? So Paul is saying, hey, hang on a bit here. Christ is the seed of Abraham. Christ is Israel. In other words, he is Israel. And that's why Paul says these words a little later on. He says, if you are Christ, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. You are Israel and your heirs according to the promises. In other words, Paul is saying, anyone in Jesus, Jew or non Jew, who is in Christ, who's accepted Christ, he or she, is an Israelite now. That's what he says to his friends living in Ephesus, in Turkey. Notice what he says. Therefore, he says, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles, that is non Jews by birth, were separate from Christ. You didn't belong to him. You were excluded from citizenship. Where citizenship in Israel. You weren't part of Israel before that. And foreigners to the covenants of the promise. You were without hope and without God in the world. But now, says Paul, now in Christ Jesus. When you accepted Christ Jesus, you who were once far away, not part of Israel, you have been brought near by the blood or the death of Christ. For he himself is our peace. Who has made notice what he says? Who's made the two Jew and non Jew one. We're one now, these two groups one. Consequently, says Paul, because of that, you are no longer foreigners. You're no longer an alien. But he says you're no longer a foreigner or a stranger, but you are fellow citizens with God's people. That's Israel. And also members of his household. Members of Israel. Do you see what Paul is saying? We become part of Israel when we accept Jesus Christ because He is Israel. And if I'm in Him, I now become Israel too. But you have to be Jew and non Jew to be a true Israelite. As far as God's concerned, you have to have Christ. Or we're not the children of God. We have to be in him. Because he is the Son of God. And we become or the child of God. And we become the sons of God. In Him. We become Israelites if we're in him because he is Israel. That's why Paul says these words. There is therefore neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now, Paul's not blind. He knows a Jew from a non Jew or a Greek. He knows a male from a female. But what Paul is saying is, in Jesus, God has no favorites. God has no favorites. When we're in Christ, we're all one. One in Him. Jew and Gentile in Christ become one. They all become true Israelites. But we have to be in Jesus. What an amazing thing. True Israelites, in other words, are true Christians or believers in Jesus. So the question now becomes, so how do you become an Israelite then? Cause who's going to be saved when Jesus comes? You've got to be an Israelite. You got to be in Jesus because he's Israel and we're in Him. We're Israel. That's what the Bible says. Who can be saved when Jesus comes, got to be an Israelite. So how do you become one? Well, Paul goes on to say these words. For you are all sons. That's children of God through faith in Christ. Because he's the Son of God. He's the child of God. Now you're in Him. You are a child of God. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed. Because he's the seed of Abraham, you are Israel and heirs according to the promise. What an amazing thing. Paul says we put on Christ through the baptism of faith. And having put on Christ through the baptism of faith, we become true Israelites. The real deal. The real Israelites, Jew and non Jew. Now, baptism actually is mentioned 80 times in the Bible. This means it's very, very important. It's a Vital subject. What is the meaning of baptism? Let's notice what it means. First of all, it means that I have died to my old sinful way of living. Freedom from the old destructive lifestyle that I once had. I'm finished with that. Notice what Paul says as he writes to his friends in Rome. Do you not know that as many of you as were baptized into Christ, Jes. Were baptized into his death. Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death. Knowing this, that our old man or our old woman, our old way of living, in other words, was crucified with him. That the body of sin might be done away with, we might be done with sin. We don't want to any longer walk in that way, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. So number one, freedom from our old destructive way of living. Number two, meaning new life, freedom to live a powerful purpose filled life. That's the second meaning of baptism. Paul continues as he writes to his friends in Rome. Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. We have a new life now. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, that's through baptism we saw then certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Now if we died with Christ, that is through baptism, we believe that we also shall live with him a new life in and with Jesus. Now. That's why Paul wrote these words to his friends in Galatia in Turkey. These words, I have been crucified with Christ. That's through baptism. It's no longer I who live, he says, but Christ lives in me. I've got a new life, the life of Jesus in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and for you. What an amazing thing, being crucified with Christ. No longer do I live, but Jesus lives in me now. The third meaning of baptism is this. Not only do I have a new life in Jesus, a powerful purpose filled life, but I belong. I'm a child of God. I belong to his family. Notice what the Bible says. You are all sons. That's children of God through faith in Christ. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. We put him on, we become the children of God. What an amazing thing baptism is. Children of God through Christ's death and resurrection. Do you know, when I was a kid at school, we used to play this game. My dad's Better than your dad? I got the best dad. That sort of thing. Do you know we're the children of the King of the Universe. We're the children of the God who made everything that we see out there. Wow. That's some child, isn't it? That's what we are when we become one of Christ's followers through the baptism of faith. So when you see a baptism, this is what you're really witnessing. You are witnessing a funeral. Somebody's old life is going, dying, put to put, put under, if you would. Finished. You are witnessing a resurrection. Somebody's coming to new life through faith in Jesus, death and resurrection. That you're also seeing a new birth. Someone's being born into the family of God. A child, a son, a daughter of God. What an amazing thing. Now, the biblical method of baptism matches the meaning of baptism in a very beautiful way. I want you to notice the biblical method of baptism. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. The Bible says there's not many types of baptism. I've heard of different types of baptism. There was one I heard of baptism over the telephone. That'd be the dry cleaning method, wouldn't it? I've heard of baptism by salt. I guess that's to preserve people. Baptism by rose. Sprinkling rose petals on people, that'd be pretty sweet, wouldn't it? Baptism by infusion. Sprinkling people with water. Baptism by putting people right under the water. Different forms of baptism that people talk about, but according to the Bible, there's only one type of baptism. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. How would we know what that baptism looks like? Well, we would need to see how Jesus was baptised, because being a Christian means to follow the same way Jesus lives. And so how was Jesus baptized? Let's go back to that story of how he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. The Bible says it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. He wasn't just standing on the banks getting baptized, he actually went into the water to get baptized. So in baptism in, in the Bible sense, a person goes into the water, or in this case, in the Jordan. Notice what happens next. John says, Matthew says when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. So baptism occurs in the water. You can't be outside of the water to have biblical baptism, you must be in water. Now we see a similar story about Philip and an Ethiopian man on his way back from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. He was the treasurer of the country. Philip is there in the countryside. And the Holy Spirit says, hey, listen. See that guy over there in his chariot? I want you to go over there and explain to him what he's reading. He hasn't got a clue what he's reading. So Philip goes over to the man and says, do you understand what you're reading now? The man is reading from the book of Isaiah, chapter 53. A prophecy about Jesus going to suffer for each one of us and die for us. But he hasn't got a clue. He says, well, look, I really don't know what I'm reading about here. Jump up and explain it to me. So they evidently drive along together. And Philip explains to him what this means. This means Jesus of Nazareth came to this world. He died on a cross so that we could all have life. And he must have talked to him about baptism. Cause they came across a body of water. And after they'd been studying the Bible together for some time. And this is what the man said. So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him. Now, when they came up out of the water, so you notice, there it is again, Biblical baptism occurs in the water. You got to be in the water. You've got to come up out of water. Now, in actual fact, the word baptism, this is a Greek word that we've just borrowed. But the Greek word actually means to dip under. It means to immerse, to plunge under. So, for example, if you were going to baptize your car, you couldn't get out the hose and spray it. You'd have to drive your car right under the river and up the other side. And of course, that wouldn't do your car a lot of good, but that would be to baptize your car, it's gotta go right under. That's why the Bible uses these words. John was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, that's John the Baptist, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. You see, if John was baptizing with sprinkling a few drops of water on people, he could have just had a bucket of water so big. And he could have done thousands of people just anywhere out there in the desert. But he had to be. There was much water. Because in baptism you need to put people right under the water. The Bible calls that burial in baptism. Notice what Paul wrote to his friends in Colossae, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him. So you have to go under the water like A burial under. And you come up out of the water. So the Bible is very clear. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. You know, a father and a son were arguing about this one day. Father was saying, well, listen, baptism means you sprinkle people with a few drops of water. The son was saying, no, dad, it means you've got to put people under the water because it says burial. That's what it means. And they argued backwards and forth. And finally the dad says, ah, come on, boy, we better quit. We've got to do some farm work around here. We can't argue. We just must agree to disagree. So let's go do our chores. Just before the father left the house to go out and do his work, he said to the son, he said, by the way, boy, last night he said, the rooster died. I want you to go bury him today and make sure he's dead. You know, he's buried. He's dead, so go bury him. Well, that night when they came back into the house after doing all their work, the father was hopping mad. He said, I thought I told you to bury that rooster today. Some says, well, I did, Dad. I sprinkled a few grains of sand on top of him because this morning you told me that's what burial means. When we were talking about baptism, the father got the message, didn't he? If you're going to bury the chook, you're going to bury the rooster. You've got to put him right under the dirt and put the dirt on top of him. That's burial. Now, this is the biblical meaning. You see, the method is in the meaning. The method fits the meaning. I should say baptism by putting people completely under the water. Notice people here being baptized. The old life is gone. Burial, resurrection to a new life. You notice how the method fits the meaning. Burial of the old life, resurrection to a new. Let's go over to Africa for a moment and you see the same thing. The old life going down, new life coming up by faith in Christ Jesus. Once more, the old life buried. Resurrection to a new life. That's the method that fits the meaning of baptism. You know, immersion baptism was actually practiced for centuries by the Christian church. It may surprise us. Just recently I took a group of people, a group of pastors, a large group actually, over here to Turkey. We came to Ephesus. And at Ephesus you can visit the Church of St. Mary. And here you'll notice a baptistery, a circular one. Couple of my mates here pretending to baptize each other, about a meter deep. Where they used to put people underwater and bring them up out of the water. This goes back to the 5th, 6th century AD, long time ago. We come down the road a bit to the Basilica of St. John where John the Revelator is said to be buried. And here we find another baptistery in the shape of a cross there and another couple of my friends here pretending to baptize each other right here in the Basilica of St. John in Ephesus, back about 5th century, 6th century AD. Let's go over to Jordan and we come to Jerash, a big city in ancient or a big ancient city back then around the time of Jesus and just after. And here's one of my friends pretending to baptize me. Now it doesn't look much of a Baptistry because rubble inside it, but they used to baptize people by immersion, putting them under the water here in Jerash. We can go to Rome. So let's go over to Rome and we come to the Church of St. John of Laterano. This was the main church for the people living in Rome before they built St. Peter's Basilica that many people come to today. But you can visit this church and you notice this building on the right there, sort of got a few sides to it. This is the baptistery. And here it is here it's a circular baptistery again about a meter or so deep where they used to put people under the water right here in Rome in this church. We can go just down the road a bit to St. Paul's Church outside the walls of what was ancient Rome. And you'll notice this is a baptistery, a marble one, steps going down into it and around the top you can see on the right hand side it says Baptisati sumus in Christu, Jesus, Baptism into Jesus Christ. Where they used to put people under the water back in these times. One more, let's come here to Pisa. This place with the leaning tower. There it is on the far right there, that's actually the bell tower for this big church complex. Next to it is that cathedral there. You can see that big building. And then right on the left here, this big circular building. Inside is this baptistery right here behind me this is the an octagonal shaped baptistery, last used around about 11, 1200 AD. So baptism by immersion was practiced for centuries by Christians. I want you to notice what Cardinal James Gibbons said. Now he's one of the men who chooses the next Bishop of Rome, the next Pope. Notice what this man said. Very honest, succinct statement. Cardinal James Gibbons said these words. He said, for several centuries after the establishment of Christianity, baptism was usually conferred by immersion, putting people under the water. But since the 12th century, the practice of baptizing by infusion, that means sprinkling has prevailed in the Catholic Church, as this manner is attended with less inconvenience than baptism by immersion. This is a very honest statement from this cardinal. But what a tragedy that just because it's not as convenient, people have pushed that aside now in many churches today. But it was in Bible times putting people under the water. So how important really is baptism? Is it that important? Well, let's notice what Jesus said. Jesus said in Mark, chapter 16, he who believes and is baptized will be saved. He connected baptism even with salvation here. It's part of that journey. In other words, Jesus actually commanded baptism. That's how important it is. Speaking to his disciples, his 12 apostles, he said, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. And what doing? Baptizing them, said Jesus, baptizing them. And then Peter on the day of Pentecost said these words. Then Peter said to them, because they were cut to the heart, they were convicted of their sin. The people who were listening to his preaching, Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. No question. Baptism is a vital, vital, vital thing that needs to be performed that we need to take on board ourselves. Now, baptism of faith doesn't mean we're perfect. Because if that were the case, none of us would get baptized, right? Because we've all done wrong at some point in time and we continue to fall short. So of course it doesn't mean that we're perfect. Baptism doesn't mean that we've now graduated. Baptism is the beginning of the Christian journey, the journey with Jesus. It's not the end point. So we have to wait till we're sort of somehow a super saint or something. And baptism brings freedom when it's performed in faith, our freedom to live a new life in Jesus. It brings spiritual power into our life when it's performed by faith in Jesus, death and resurrection. Baptism isn't magical either. Just because a person goes into the water and get baptized and that's all it is. Going into the water doesn't mean anything. A duck could get baptized, right? No, it's more than just getting wet. It's more than just going under the water. Notice how Paul spoke of it to his friends in him In Jesus, you were circumcised. Remember, circumcision is a sign of being an Israelite. So he uses this term in Jesus, you were circumcised, a sign of being an Israelite, with the circumcision made without hands. I'm not talking about cutting the foreskin of the flesh, says Paul. I'm talking about genuine, true circumcision without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. And circumcision, he's saying, is getting rid of sin the true circumcision. What is that? True circumcision? By the circumcision of Christ. So what is the circumcision of Jesus that he's talking about that cuts our sin away from us? Buried with him in baptism. That's the circumcision of Jesus performed by faith, you'll notice, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Do you see? Baptism, it's not magical. It has to be performed by faith in Jesus Christ. Now many people wonder, well, what are the steps to baptism? What do I need to do in order to prepare to be baptized? Well, there are three things the Bible says. Number one, we must repent. We must have a genuine sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. Notice what the apostle Peter says on the day of Pentecost. We read it a moment ago. Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized. So repentance. But not only that belief. We just read what Jesus said a moment ago. We must believe. We must accept Jesus as our Savior, as our master of the Lord of our life. We must throw ourself on Christ and his goodness and kindness and love. He who believes, he who trusts in Jesus, that he died for them and rose for them and is baptized, will be saved. So belief. But there's one more thing the Bible talks about, and that is what we must learn. We must understand the basic things of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Instruction in the essentials of biblical faith. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? We need to have that sort of learning, that teaching. Notice what Jesus said. Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. You see, because we've already seen that the commandments of Jesus are about a relationship with God. So we need to follow what Jesus says, and our relationship will build. We need to understand the basics of what it means to follow Jesus. So there are the steps repent, believe in Jesus and learn some of the basic teachings of the Bible before baptism. Those are the steps for preparing. Now this is why in the Bible babies are not baptized. That's not mentioned in the Bible and that's because babies can't repent. They don't even understand, they can't believe they're too young and they certainly can't be taught at that age. So baptism of babies doesn't occur in the Bible. It's believer's baptism in the Bible. Now does this mean that God doesn't love the kids? The children? Of course not. He loves them. Jesus himself, when he was just a baby, he was taken to the temple and dedicated to God. But that wasn't baptism, that's just a dedication to God. Jesus himself loved the kids. When the disciples tried to shoo the children away, Jesus said, hey, don't do that. Let the children come to me. Mums brought their children and Jesus picked them up in his arms and he prayed for them. But that's not baptism, that's dedication. No, God loves the children, but he wants us to make decisions when we're able, when our minds are in that state, to be able to do that. Now here's another good question. Should I actually ever get re baptized? Good question. Well, the answer is yes and no. That's a middle approach, isn't it? Yes, if I've never been baptized by immersion. Because that's not a biblical baptism. Now if you were christened, your parents did the best for you. They did what they understood. But when we understand what the Bible says, God wants us to follow what it now, what we now understand. So yes, if I was sprinkled and never been baptized by immersion, yes, I would of course need to be baptized like Jesus was. Secondly, yes, if I've raised the old life up again, so say I once walked with Jesus, I was once one of his followers, but I turned my back on him and I certainly didn't follow the ways of God and everybody knew it. Then when I come back, I need to put the old man, the old lady down again, right? That's what baptism symbolizes by faith in Jesus. So yes, I need to get rebaptised. Of course, yes, if I discover significant new truth. You see, in the Bible times in Paul's day, there were some followers of Jesus who actually got rebaptised. Notice what happened. Paul came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. Now, that's a vital teaching in the Bible. Cause if anyone doesn't have the spirit of Jesus, the Bible says they don't belong to him. We need the Holy Spirit. But they didn't know about it. He said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said, into John's baptism. Now hang on a bit. John's baptism was a good baptism, if I recall. Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit came down upon him, right? Others were baptized by John. Then Paul said, john indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after them, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So significant new truth they came across. They got rebaptized, these people in Ephesus. Now, of course, know when I sin, but I stay with Jesus. You see, if every time we sinned, we had to get baptized. I don't know about you, but sometimes I'd be living in the baptistery. No, we don't have to do that. Let me share with you a story that happened in the time of Jesus. You may remember the night before Jesus died that he went around the circle of his followers and he washed their feet. When he came to Peter, Peter said, no way you're going to wash my feet, Jesus. No way. You're God Almighty. I'm just a human being. Jesus said, peter, if I don't wash your feet, you can't be part of me. You can't be part of my last empire. So Peter said, then, Lord, wash me all over, from my head to my foot. Jesus said, listen, Peter, if you've had a bath, you've been baptized by immersion. In the right sense. You only need to have your feet washed. We don't need to get baptized every time we do something wrong. We make mistakes, we stumble, we fall. If anyone confesses, he's faithful and just to forgive us. But we don't have to jump into the baptistry. Only if we turn our back on Jesus, and everybody knows it, and we departed from Christ, then of course, we need to. So here's that haunting question, isn't it under the sixth seal, where we began, who can stand before the throne of God and the Lamb? In other words, who can be saved when Jesus returns? And what is the answer? The answer was baptism of faith. That's how you become a true Israelite. We've noticed. We've tracked that down. You know, I have A good friend of mine, we worked together in Melbourne with Mark Finley. Mark told us about this family. He was running a series of meetings there in gdask, in Poland. The mother and the sisters evidently were coming to his meetings, and they must have been sharing everything with this young man here. He tragically was dying of cancer. Very, very sick. He couldn't get to the meetings. Mark came to visit them one day in their home and the young man said, pastor Mark, I want you to baptize me. Mark said, well, listen, God understands your situation. You're too sick. I mean, you would if you could, but you can't. You know, you're too sick to go. He said, no, Pastor Mark, I want to get baptized. Well, he wondered for a moment. Then he came up with an idea. He said to the mother, mum, do you have a bathtub? So Mark said, yes, I do. So fill it up. Mark said, I took that boy, vomiting, very sick, carried him to the bathtub and lowered him in the bathtub, under the water and up, out again. You know, what's your excuse? What's my excuse? Here's a boy that really was in a difficult space, but he wanted to follow Jesus, wanted to give his life to Christ, you know, for freedom. You and I must make a stand. You and I must make a stand. Because, you see, in this war that we're talking about, there's no middle ground. There's no fence to sit on. There is no fence. We're either for Christ. If we're not for him, we're against Him. He said, we must make a stand for freedom. God calls you and I to take a stand, to give our life to him through the baptism of faith. Maybe you've never yet been baptised by immersion and God is speaking to your heart. I need to follow Jesus and get baptised. Maybe you once followed Jesus, but you've turned your back on him and you need to come back to Him. You need to come back and you need to bury that old man, that old lady that has surfaced again. Maybe there's significant new truth you come across that you never knew about it, but it's significant and you realize I need to get rebaptised. I want you to make that decision in your heart and contact one of our three ABN friends to see if they can help you to make that step. It's a vital step in anybody's life. Let's bow together in prayer. Father in Heaven, we want to thank youk that we've learned how we can become ready for the coming of Jesus. We must be Israelites. In other words, we must have Christ and we need to follow him in baptism of faith. Lord, there are some here watching today. They know they need to get baptized. They need to give their life to Christ and go into the waters of baptism. You love them. You want them to be ready for Jesus to come. May they make that decision. Some have wandered from you, gone way back out into the world again and you're calling them back. They know they need to get rebaptized. Some, Lord, are learning significant new truth in their life. Truth that's vital in their journey. If that's the case, help them to make this decision to follow Jesus into the waters of baptism just like he was baptized. Lord, help us to make those decisions that count for eternity so we can be one of the true Israelites, as the Bible calls it, and we can be standing before the throne of God and the Lamb when Jesus comes. Bless us now in Jesus name. Amen. Well, we're so glad that you joined us in this countdown Back to the Future presentation. Whatever you do, don't miss our next presentation time tunnel. An amazing presentation time. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse. We're going to be actually visiting in the next two presentations. We're going to see the seven seals and the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. So make sure you join us then. Now, if you're thinking of baptism, the Lord's speaking to you. Make sure you contact us at 3ABN and we'll put you in touch with somebody. We'll direct you as to how you can take that step. We look forward to seeing you in our next presentation time. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
