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- baptism of death on the cross. You see the water spoke when the
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- Father spoke from heaven and the Spirit descended like a dove. The water spoke but the blood speaks even louder.
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- The blood of Abel cried out from the ground calling to God for vindication because his brother
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- Cain killed him and that blood spoke a message but the blood of Jesus speaks a better message than the blood of Abel.
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- His blood cries out from the ground mercy, mercy to any who believe in him.
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- His blood speaks still today. How is it that his blood speaks?
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- Because in the giving of his own lifeblood he declares what is valuable to him.
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- His blood given not for his own sin but to pay for the sin of a person like me.
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- A sinful preacher and sinful people who need their sin to be atoned for.
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- Now if you were to atone for your sin this is what would happen. You would die.
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- The soul that sins must die and your death would be eternal. You'd be separated from God but what
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- God has done through the blood of Jesus is he has allowed Jesus to step in the place of a sinner like me and take the punishment that I deserve.
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- That's why his blood was poured out on the cross. A substitute and that blood speaks life over us.
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- Fourth, baptism perfectly pictures the humble obedience of faith that's required to come to God.
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- When someone is baptized they have to go and be dumped underwater helplessly and raised back up.
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- It's a picture of faith. A person would not do that of their own accord.
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- They first of all wouldn't know to do it unless the Bible taught us to do it and secondly they wouldn't want to humble themself in that way.
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- But God has given baptism as a picture of what it takes to be saved. You don't have to go climb some high mountain.
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- You don't have to run a marathon in a certain amount of time. You don't have to run or do any great work to earn
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- God's approval. What you need to do is believe to humble yourself and say I am a guilty sinner.
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- I need salvation and baptism pictures that because you passively lay down underwater and come out again.
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- Fifth, baptism then represents the washing away of sin.
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- Baptism represents taking a bath, being made clean. Here I am a guilty sinner stained by my own unrighteous deeds and I have no way, there's no soap to take care of that.
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- But God has provided a means through Jesus Christ for sin to be washed away. For you and I to be washed clean and baptism is the picture of that.
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- In Acts chapter 22 Paul is telling the story of how he became a Christian.
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- He used to hate Christianity. He used to persecute Christians but one day as he was going along the road a light shone from heaven and it blinded him and he heard the voice of Jesus saying
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- Saul, Saul why do you persecute me? Who are you Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
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- Now get up and go. After three days a man comes to him Ananias and lays hands on him and Paul gets his sight back and Ananias says now why do you wait?
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- Rise up and wash away your sins. Being baptized, calling upon his name.
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- See baptism represents the washing away of sin. Do you see the fingerprint of God? Here is
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- God's plan. This is the watermark. Don't miss it. God has provided a way and it's only one way to have your sins forgiven.
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- It's through Jesus Christ symbolized by a bath. The washing away of sin but baptism is even more amazing than that.
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- The next symbol we have comes from Romans 6 and I'm going to read this one to you. Chapter 6 verses 1 to 4.
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- You don't have to turn there. You can just listen or if you want you can. Romans 6 says what shall we say then?
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- Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means.
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- How can we who died to sin still live in? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
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- We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
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- Father, we too might walk in newness of life. So we have the symbol.
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- We have this mere water but I've told you that that water represents the washing away of sin.
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- It represents something more. According to Paul when we stand here and we lay someone down under the water and pull that person back out again it represents dying.
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- This water represents the grave and just as Jesus was killed on a cross and he was laid down on his back in that tomb in the garden and on the third day that stone was rolled away and he came out alive we are saying
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- I believe that Jesus died and he was buried and he rose again and this is how we say it.
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- We are crucified with Christ in a watery grave laid in a watery grave and were raised up to newness of life.
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- It's an image that speaks and so don't miss the message of the water. It tells you that you must identify with Christ.
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- His death is your death. His burial is your burial. His resurrection is your resurrection unto life.
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- Without being united with Christ you remain dead in your sin but here we have the offer of life that what accomplished so many years ago 2 ,000 years ago the death of Jesus was sufficient to pay for your sin and your sin was buried and gone and you were raised to walk in newness of life.
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- We have yet one more image, one more fingerprint of God, one more watermark and that is the image of rescue from flood.
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- I know a couple people who their kids died from drowning and I can only imagine as a dad what it must feel like to have not been able to rescue your child.
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- How you must replay that day in your mind. How horrible. The image of drowning is prominent in the
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- Bible and recently we've seen it around the world as many floods have have overtaken local places but there was one great flood in the
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- Old Testament. You guys know the story. It's not a myth. God in judgment poured out wrath upon the world because the thoughts of the people's heart were wicked all the time and there was a great flood that washed over the entire globe but in God's mercy those who heeded the good news message that was preached by Noah to flee from wrath could come into an ark and be saved from the flood.
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- In the same way the gospel tells us this. God is a holy God and we are a sinful people.
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- His judgment is coming upon the world like a flood. His judgment will come.
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- All the wickedness that we see and all you have to do is turn on your television you will see the wickedness of mankind.
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- That wickedness will be judged by God. It will be swept away in a flood.
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- Not this time with water but it will be with fire according to 2nd Peter. One day at the end of the world.
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- We don't know when that time is coming but we know this. Unless you and I flee into the ark we also will be judged and taken away in judgment.
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- 1st Peter chapter 3 tells us this. That corresponding to Noah and the flood, baptism now in a symbolic sense saves you.
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- You flee to Christ and he in his death on the cross is an ark of rescue for any who will run to him.
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- But recognize this. Noah preached for 120 years and there were only eight who went into the ark.
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- Noah and his wife, three of his sons and three of their wives and the earth was repopulated from them.
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- Many hear the call for salvation but there's few who find it.
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- The water of baptism speaks of rescue through the water.
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- The flood of judgment that I deserve is no longer given to me but I am rescued through that water and I come out safe.
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- Rescued. That's what it means to be saved. That there is a penalty that's owed to me but it was carried in the cross.
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- That's the ark of rescue. So in closing baptism represents all of these things.
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- It is a watermark. When you see what's about to happen don't miss it for the external.
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- See the meaning that God has infused into it. There is a power in what you're about to see.
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- Don't miss it. Ask now if you don't have eyes to see it, ask God to open your eyes.
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- I'll give you one closing example. There was a man in the Old Testament whose name was Naaman. His problem was that he had leprosy.
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- This was a horrible disease where his flesh was wasting away, turning white and falling off.
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- Sometimes actual appendages of a person would would fall off. Ears, nose.
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- Leprosy was a terrible disease but he knew there was a prophet in Israel. When he got to Israel he inquired for the prophet.
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- The king of Israel was afraid because he thought nobody can help you with this. Why are you coming to me?
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- Are you trying to start a fight? You picking a fight with us? What's going on? But finally they remembered that Elisha the prophet was there and going to him.
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- The prophet wouldn't even come out of his house to speak to Naaman. Instead he said tell him to go dip in the
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- Jordan River seven times and you will be clean. Well when
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- Naaman heard this he was quite offended. He said aren't the rivers of Damascus far greater than the
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- Jordan muddy Jordan River? And this guy won't even come out to see me. I thought he would come out and wave his hand over me or something and make me clean.
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- And yet the story of Naaman goes on to say that finally Naaman's friends convinced him to listen, to see something a little deeper.
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- If he had told you to do something great wouldn't you have done it Naaman? Wouldn't you have done it?
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- But all he told you to do is to go and dip in water and you would be clean. And so he said fine I'll go.
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- And after dipping the seventh time he comes out of the Bible says his skin was like the skin of a child.
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- Perfectly clean. Fully healed. Fully delivered. Baptism is that way.
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- Again that's a prophetic image from the Old Testament that points forward so that you know what
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- I'm telling you is not just what I made up. The prophecy of Naaman pictures the baptism of the
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- New Testament. You need the New Testament to fully understand to get the complete picture. So that's one thing.
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- But it also pictures the baptism of Jesus being identified in that same muddy water of the
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- Jordan River. It pictures the voice of God saying this is my beloved son.
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- It pictures the baptism of blood. The greater baptism that speaks louder. It pictures the humility where Naaman did not want to do something so simple as to go get wet.
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- He was too prideful for that until he humbled himself. Maybe you're sitting here today and you're
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- Naaman. You need to humble yourself and recognize what this water represents.
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- The cleaning of sin. When Naaman came out he was clean like the skin of a child. It represents being crucified with Christ and raised to a new life.
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- So was Naaman made new. It represents escape from judgment because Naaman had to renounce the false gods of Damascus to follow the true
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- God of Israel. Yahweh. And so it's time and if you're not ready to be baptized today
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- I was praying about this this week and I thought you know when we preach about baptism and then when they hear the testimonies somebody here is going to believe and they'll realize you know what
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- I also need to be baptized. And so here's what I'll do. I will leave this baptism up for a week.
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- This pool. And if anybody talks to me this week and you say you know what
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- I need to be baptized then I'll baptize you next Sunday. We'll have a baptism service again next week.
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- Because I don't want any of you to go away like Naaman could have. Thinking that you're okay.
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- I don't need this. No, let the water speak. It speaks a message of salvation.
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- Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father we are excited by what we have this morning.
