Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns, Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy,
No more the sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground,
He comes to make his blessings flow, Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found,
He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove,
The glories of his righteousness, And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love, And wonders, wonders of his love.
Great singing. Let us pray.
Father, thank you for this wonderful and beautiful night that you've given us.
Father, just pray for the preacher and the preaching that comes forth
a little later, but please bless the singing. We sing to you, Lord. We love you.
In Jesus' name. Amen. Go on and please be seated. Turn to song number 420.
There's a song in the air. Song number 420. There's a song in the air.
There's a song in the air. Song number 420 on that first verse.
There's a song in the air. There's a song in the sky.
There's a mother's deep prayer, And a bit slow cry.
And the star reigns its fire, While the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem Cradles the king.
There's a tumult of joy, For the wonderful birth,
For the virgin sweet boy, Is the Lord of the earth.
High the star reigns its fire, While the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem Cradles the king.
On the third. In the light of that star,
Lies the ages and pearls, And the song from afar,
Has swept over the world. Every hearth is aflame,
And the beautiful sing, In the homes of the nations,
That Jesus is king on the last. We rejoice in the light,
And we echo the song, That comes down through the night,
From the heavenly throng. We shout to the lovely angel they bring,
And we greet in his cradle our Savior and King.
All right, great singing. Thank you for being here this evening.
Just a few announcements here. Before we sing our next song,
which will be, is it Angels from the Realms of Glory?
420, I think it's eight, it came upon a midnight clear.
It is 428, song number 428, if you want to get that ready in your songbooks.
Just a few announcements here. Of course, our services are as follow.
Sunday morning is at 1030. Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
And of course, we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
And we will be concluding the book of Joel this coming Thursday.
So hope to see you there. You see the so many times and teams,
the list of expecting mothers and the important reminders there at the bottom.
And some of the upcoming church events next week.
December 24th is our Christmas Eve service.
And so after the Sunday morning service, lunch will be provided.
We'll have Mediterranean food. And so stick around after the service for that.
On Sunday evening, we're going to have alligator.
And for those who can't or will choose not to stomach the alligator,
we have burgers for you as well. Okay.
And so I want to encourage you to be there that evening because it's Christmas.
Hey, man, it's a great place to be to celebrate Christmas is in church.
And so looking forward to that.
Then Sunday, December 31st is the New Year's Eve service.
And then on Friday, January 5th, we have the men's prayer night 7 p.m.
at the church building. And then Sarah and Giovanni's wedding
is going to be coming up on Friday, January 26th.
Of course, it's here at the building. Please make sure you are as VP
by December 31st and made it easy for you right there.
It's on the right hand side. There's a little scan code that you can use
the RSVP so they can get a headcount of everyone's coming.
And so we're looking forward to that for the new year.
And then you see the regular reminders there at the bottom.
Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching
so as to not be a distraction during the service.
I want to make one announcement before we take so.
Actually, let me take so many numbers and then I'll make the announcement.
I'll do that first. So let's get so many numbers from Monday to Thursday.
Any salvations from Monday to Thursday? How about Friday and Saturday?
Yes, three. Okay, anybody else? Yes, one.
Okay, how about this afternoon? Salvations for this afternoon.
Brother Glenn's team, two. Brother Hike's team, three.
And is that it? Yes, five for Brother Maury's team.
Am I missing anybody? Okay, keep up the great work.
Parents, if you could do us a favor and please make sure that the kids,
our kids, are staying away from the orchestra.
Okay, the instruments and or the music sheets.
There's been times when kids have infiltrated the orchestra pit there
and have taken crayons and pens and have marked the music.
And so please make sure you are supervising your children at all times.
Amen. I know we like to fellowship and hang out.
Nothing wrong with that, but you have to learn the skill of
fellowshipping and keeping one eye on all of your kids.
So just make sure they're not messing with the instruments and the music sheets there.
And so please make sure you respect that and keep that in mind.
And that is it. Let's go to see our next song.
428, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
Song number 428, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.
On that first verse.
It came upon a midnight clear, That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold.
Peace on the earth, good will to men, From heaven's wall, gracious came in,
The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats, O'er all the weary world.
Look, but its sad and lowy plains, They bend on hovering wings,
And ever o'er its babble sounds, The blessed angels sing.
And ye beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way, With painful steps and sloane.
Look now, for glad and golden hours, Come swiftly on the wing.
Oh, rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing.
For lo, the days are hastening on, By prophet bars foretold,
When with the ever circling years, Comes round the age of gold.
When peace shall o'er all the earth, Its ancient splendors sing,
And the whole world give back the song, And now the angels sing.
Great singing. As the ushers come forward for the offering,
please turn your Bibles to Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3.
Good evening. Tonight we're in Titus chapter 3.
Titus chapter 3 in the Bible reads, Put them in mind to be subject to principalities
and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing meekness unto all men.
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will
that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good
works, these things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions and
genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain.
A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition, reject,
knowing that he that is such is averted and sinneth, being condemned of himself. When I
shall send Artemis unto thee or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis,
for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas, the lawyer of Apollos, on their journey
diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. Let ours also learn to maintain good works for
necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee, greet them that love
us in the faith. Grace be to you all. Amen. Amen. Let's pray, dear Lord God. Thank you for every
soul in this church, Lord. I just pray that you bless the preaching right now of your word, Lord,
and just help us in the congregation to be attentive, Lord, and to fill us all with the
Holy Spirit, Lord, as we hear your word and apply it to our lives, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus'
name. Amen. Amen. Okay, this evening I'm going to be preaching a sermon on baptismal regeneration.
Baptismal regeneration. What is baptismal regeneration? Well, it's simply a false doctrine
that asserts that salvation is obtained through water baptism. And it is a false doctrine,
and we're going to see tonight why that is. But before we get into the actual sermon itself and
the points that I want to go over tonight, let me just start off by saying that that term
regeneration or baptismal regeneration is not a phrase found in the Bible. And in fact, the act
of regeneration is actually a ministry of the Holy Spirit, not of baptism. If you look there
in Titus chapter three, verse number five, it says here, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, listen to this, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. It doesn't say of baptism, of being immersed in water,
of whatever. It says that the regeneration and renewing is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit.
Now, why is that? Well, because of the fact that regeneration simply means to be brought back to
life. And when you look at the condition of an individual prior to salvation, according to the
Bible, they are, or we were at one point dead in our trespasses and sin. It doesn't mean physically,
obviously we know that we're physically alive, but when talking about our spirit,
also used synonymously with our soul, according to the Bible, it was dead in trespasses and sin. Now,
it wasn't born that way though. Okay. When you were born, when I was born, according to the
Bible, we were all born with a living spirit, meaning that our spirit was alive. And the reason
why is because of the fact that, you know, it was innocent. All babies are innocent. Children are
innocent. They have a living spirit and it's not until they come to the recognition that they are
sinners before God, where according to the Bible, Romans chapter 7 explains to us that the law
slays us. You understand? So once we recognize that we've sinned against God, that we have
committed these offenses against the Lord, that we're sinners before the Lord, according to the
Bible, the law of God slays us. And it's at that point that our spirit is now dead in its trespasses
and sin, which would make sense as to why the Bible says that we have to be born again, or that
we have to be regenerated because of the fact that at one point the spirit was alive. It's
killed by the law and requires regeneration to be brought back to life. That's essentially what the
word is referring to there. But the point that I'm trying to make here is the fact that the ministry
of regeneration is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly what he does. And in
fact, the Bible tells us that once we believe on Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit comes to
indwell believers. And one of the first things that he does when he indwells them is he regenerates
that spirit. And in fact, let me read to you a couple of verses here, because another way of
saying regeneration is quickened, right? It's not a common word that we would use today to describe
being brought back to life, but it's a word that the Bible commonly uses to be made quick or to
quicken means to be brought back to life. And the Bible says in Ephesians 2, 1, and you have the
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 in verse number 9,
but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead,
listen to this, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwells in you. So
according to Romans chapter 8, when talking about the resurrection, the one responsible for
resurrecting the body is the spirit. That is the spirit that quickens this corruptible flesh to
become incorruptible. It quickens the mortal body into becoming immortal. And so by process
of elimination or based upon what we see here, if he's the one responsible for quickening the
physical body, he's also responsible for regenerating or quickening the spirit prior
to that resurrection. You understand what I'm saying? So the spirit of God regenerates the
spirit. And according to the Bible, he is the earnest inheritance according to Ephesians chapter
1 verse 13 and 14. But also at the resurrection, it's by the spirit that we are resurrected
physically and given a transfigured body, a resurrected body. The point that I'm making
here is the fact that the ministry of the Holy Spirit, aside from bringing us to the truth and
teaching us the Bible, is to actually regenerate us. He's the one responsible for making us being
born again, quickening us, being brought back to life. Now another point that I want to make
tonight before I get into some of the verses that people will use to teach this false doctrine of
baptism and regeneration is that when you study the Bible, it's very important, you can't apply
what we would commonly know as what baptism is in the Bible, you can't apply that one definition
all across the board to every time the word baptism is mentioned. And what I'm saying is
often when we think of baptism, we associate it with a literal physical water baptism, right?
However, that's not how it's defined throughout the Bible consistently. Most of the time there are
instances and it's based upon the context. Obviously we know if someone's literally being
dunked in water, at that point it's referring to an actual water baptism. But baptism simply means
to be immersed, okay? Now I'm being immersed in heat right now so I need someone to turn on
that AC because it's really hot right now. Where is the evangelist? It's hot. Is it hot in here?
Yeah, see, this is what I get for turning down the AC because I thought it was too cold and now
I'm immersed in heat right now. I'm being baptized with fire.
And so it's important that when you look at the term baptism in the Bible, it's not always
in reference to a water baptism, sometimes it's just referring to an immersion, okay? To be
immersed in something, in other words, to be completely immersed whether that, the Bible talks
about being immersed in hell, okay? Being immersed in trials and tribulation or the most commonly
used one is to be immersed in Christ which is exactly what happens when you get saved.
When you get saved, you believe on Jesus Christ, you're placed fully into Christ,
okay? Now let me read you a couple verses here. Turn with me if you would to, let's see,
what verse should we go to here? Go to Hebrew chapter, I'm sorry, go to Romans chapter 6.
Romans chapter number 6. I'll read to you from Hebrew chapter 6 and verse number 2 it says,
when talking about the first principles of the doctrines of Christ, it says of the doctrine of
baptisms. Isn't that interesting? So it talks about baptisms plural and there's doctrines
of baptisms. Well if there is only one type of baptism, referring to water baptism, then obviously
that verse wouldn't make sense. The reason it says baptisms is because there's more than one
definition to that word based upon the context of the reading, okay? Not only that but the Bible
says in Galatians 3 26, for a year all the children of God, listen to this, by faith in
Jesus Christ, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. So the
Bible says in verse 26 that we become children of God by faith in Christ and then it reiterates that
in a different way by saying that we've been baptized into Christ. Why? Because when you place
your faith in Jesus Christ, you're immediately immersed into Christ. A good way of saying this
is that the Bible says, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. In other words, you're fully in there
and nothing can take you out, you understand? You know when we get saved, it's not like God just
saving us partially. He's not just saving us just like halfway, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% salvation, amen?
And so that is the reason why the Bible describes, there's instances where the Bible
describes salvation as being a baptism because we're being immersed, we're being placed into
Christ completely. Romans 6 in verse number 4 says, therefore, we are buried with them
by baptism into death. Well, that can't apply to a water baptism because we're still physically alive.
We're buried with them by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. So we're immersed
with Christ in his death and that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we should also walk in newness of life. Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 4, you don't
have to turn there. It says there is one body and one spirit even as you're called and one hope of
your calling. One Lord, one faith, listen to this, one baptism. Now is that a contradiction of what
we see in Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 2 where it says the doctrine of baptisms? No, because at this
point, we know that when he says one Lord, one faith, one baptism is referring to the fact that
there's only one way of salvation. So the Bible never contradicts itself. If you find passages
that seem to contradict, you have to reconcile those portions of scripture based upon all the
evidence that the Bible provides. So the doctrine of baptisms obviously is not just referring to
a water immersion, it's referring to all types of baptisms in the Bible and when the Bible says
here in Ephesians 4-5 that there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, it's obviously in context of
being there being one way of salvation. He says one God and Father of all who is above all and
through all and in you all. Last verse here, Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 12 says
buried with him in baptism wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation
of God who hath raised him from the dead. And if you're to apply any of these verses that we just
went over to a water baptism, it would actually mess up the context. Wouldn't make any sense,
but yet people who believe in a baptismal regeneration will use these verses to reinforce
their false doctrine just because it says baptism, as if we're against baptism. And let me make myself
very clear is that we believe in the ordinance of baptism. I mean we had a baptism this morning,
we have many baptisms throughout the month and in fact we've had a lot of baptisms throughout the
year, not just here but even in Belize. We strongly believe in the ordinance of baptism,
but baptism like every other work and ordinance in the Bible has its place after salvation and
has nothing to do with salvation. And here at our church we encourage the soul winners after you get
someone saved, talk to them about baptism. And I remember being like an old IFP church,
they would often discourage that, like talking about baptism after you get someone saved. And
one of the reasons why is because they had this philosophy of like, or they had this thought
that if you talk to them about baptism after your gospel presentation after they get saved,
they might get mixed up a little bit, you know. It's like they might think you know,
oh that's for salvation. But that's only because your presentation is just really bad.
You know if your presentation is spot on and you've made a distinction that you're not saved
by works which would include baptism, that person should walk away understanding that if they get
baptized it has nothing to do with their salvation. They should understand, just explain to them what
baptism is, that they're doing it as a first step of obedience, the fact that they're following the
Lord, they're making a public profession of faith in Christ and it has nothing to do with
their salvation other than the fact that they're doing it after they got saved as a way to publicly
announce that they are now a believer. And now with that being said, even though it has nothing
to do with salvation, it's still an important thing to do. And we never want to undermine the
command that God has given to us to baptize people because that's still very much an important aspect.
You never want to go so far to the right where it's just like well you know we don't want people
to get confused so let's not even talk about baptism. No we can just have both. Just have a
clear gospel presentation, make a distinction of what works are, make a distinction of what it
means to place your faith in Christ, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you won't have an issue.
That means you can baptize them, you can bring them to church, they can sow in, they can do all
kinds of works and never think this has anything to do with my salvation as long as you have a
clear gospel presentation. And so baptism is very much an important doctrine in the Bible
but what we're talking about tonight is what these churches will teach that it's necessary
for salvation. Now who are the ones responsible for this doctrine? Well you have a lot of
non-denom churches that will teach these things and you know obviously when we think of the
spectrum of non-denominational churches it's a very wide spectrum. You got like charismatics
and then you got more people who are more fundamental in their beliefs as far as like
you know they might be a little liberal but they're more a little fundamental
in their doctrine but at the end of the day I guarantee you the vast majority of the people
who are in those churches are still confused about baptism. Even if you find a church that's
a non-denom church that does not believe you know the pastor or the leaders there don't believe that
baptism has anything to do with salvation I guarantee you the members of that church are
still a little confused. You know why? Because I've run into people from non-denom churches
where you talk about baptism or you talk about salvation and they'll say yeah I was baptized.
You know I gave my life to Christ when I got baptized which by the way getting baptized is
not giving your life to Christ either. It's not even you like committing your life to the Lord.
Because then you have these you have people who will refuse to get baptized because it's just
like well I need to clean up my life first you know that's a really big step I really got to
you know serve God and make a decision that I'm gonna really I know it has nothing to do with
my salvation but you know it just requires just a lot of commitment on my end. No it doesn't it
requires for you to get a little stinking water and just get wet from head to toe and that's it.
Yeah churches complicate things and so you have this idea even though you may not have a non-denom
church that you know they may not believe that baptism is necessary for salvation they'll get
all mixed up and kind of make it seem as though well you know but it is a huge step though. No
the huge step was for you to get saved to believe on Jesus Christ. Baptism is literally the easiest
command to obey in the Bible. I mean think about it think about all the commands that are given in
the Bible. Baptism is literally the easiest one. You say why because it's someone doing something
to you you don't even have to do it yourself you just gotta I mean sometimes it's hard because it's
cold but for the most part you just sit there hold your breath for 0.5 seconds or whatever however
long I keep you down there depending on how big you are you know and that's it and it counts as
your obedience of the Lord but it doesn't require oh man I just you know I just a lifelong commitment
and you'll see this on social media a lot where people will they'll consider their baptism as
them turning on a new leaf over a new leaf in life or something like that like I got baptized
and it's just like but that really is just the first step of obedience it doesn't mean like
you're a super Christian though you know and that's all it is. People have romanticized
baptism to the point where it's just kind of kind of ridiculous okay well they have this service and
you know they have Eminem lose yourself playing in the background now I'm serious how did you see
that you never say thank you I'm glad I'm not the only one you know they literally had that where
it's just like they're playing lose yourself and they're baptizing it and they're coming out of the
water and everything's in slow motion and the guy whoever got baptized probably never stepped in
church thereafter like it's just so it's not really you know people have romanticized baptism
to the point where it's just like you know they make it seem as though it's just this like heaven
is opening up and the angels are descending and you know it's just this great choral of angels
are seen once you get back no you're just getting you're just identifying with the Lord and his
death barrel and resurrection and that's it get over yourself because then you know sometimes
people think like why can't you get baptized all my family shows up right like I need all my and
I get it you know if that's you you know don't get offended I'm just saying you know some people are
like I had to do it once my entire family showed like why do you need your whole family to show up
the Ethiopian eunuch wasn't even in his homeland when he got baptized he's like there's there's
some water right there what does interview me be baptized he just got baptized right on the spot
because you don't need to have an entire celebration it doesn't need to be cake
afterwards now if that's what you want hey kudos to you something there's something wrong with
that I don't know if we've done that in the past so don't don't get mad at me if you did that
you know I get it it's you know people get happy but really let's just be honest though baptism
is just what you do after salvation and then it's over and done I'd rather celebrate the fact that
you're serving Christ you know what I'd rather do is have cake for the to celebrate the first
time you want someone to Christ that's a major celebration right there you know or celebrate
someone's one year anniversary of just being faithful to the Lord serving in church and I
mean that's a great celebration and I'm not please don't misunderstand me I'm not undermining
baptism because it is important and to prove that I believe it's important just look at how
many baptisms we have throughout the year we have a lot of baptisms throughout the year and
it's not because you know Mexicans like to get baptized and get in water as some would erroneously
claim okay it's because we just simply ask we strike while the iron is hot they get saved and
it's just like their heart is tender so it's just like straight to the water okay and um and so
baptism is important but you have a lot of churches like non-dram churches that will teach
that will mix up the doctrines of baptisms or elevate it to some level of you know commitment
that the Bible doesn't really require of you you know it's just like well I can't do that until I
clean up my life wrong no one in the Bible doesn't say you have to clean up your life to get baptized
you don't have to read the Bible 10 times to get baptized you don't have to come to church
a certain amount of times to get baptized it's like literally right after you get saved you just
do it okay and then you have the other side of the spectrum that holds baptism and they elevate it to
the point where it's just like this is necessary for salvation now who are they getting this from
well they're getting it from the Roman Catholic whore because that's where that doctrine stems
from my friends it stems from Roman Catholicism that is taught that they are to baptize infant
children in order to wash away their original sin and so and you know obviously the Roman Catholic
Church is notorious for having a plethora of things you have to do to get saved you know some
of them being the seven sacraments right like you have to adhere to these things you have to be a
part of the Catholic Church there's no salvation outside of the Catholic Church but one of the
seven sacraments is like you have to be baptized okay which is pretty ridiculous when you think
about how they baptize people because baptism means to be immersed but they only water the head
who's ever heard of a burial that only requires the head to go into the grave right the mirror
the fact that it's being immersed completely in water is because a body goes completely into the
grave not just the head right but Roman Catholics they're just like oh baptism means immersion
no problem just do the head and so they just water the head but that's where it comes from
so they believe that your sins are washed away by pouring a basin of water over your head okay
but all you're doing is just getting your head wet nothing more and so this is an important
subject to talk about go with me through it to John chapter 3 so let's look at the pertinent
scriptures that people who adhere to a baptismal regeneration false doctrine
would use to prop up this teaching now let me just say this before we get into John chapter 3
and that is that you can study the Bible from cover to cover and the conclusion if you're honest
the conclusion when it comes to salvation is that salvation is by faith in Christ alone plus
nothing minus nothing right that's the only conclusion because there's so many mountains
of evidences in the Bible that prove that conclusively that to get saved is you have
to exclusively believe on Jesus Christ and that is all okay now will you run into scriptures
that seem to contradict that well it'll only seem to contradict it if you're young in the faith
and you haven't read the Bible cover to cover and given there are certain verses in the Bible
that can throw you for a loop and cause you to kind of wonder like what does this mean because
it seems to contradict other portions of the Bible because of the way it's worded
well at that point you just have to compare it with all the other mountains of evidences that we
have in regards to salvation and because we know the Bible does not contradict itself if you have
10 scriptures that are all saying the same thing about salvation and then you have one verse that
seems to contradict it first and foremost you go with the 10 but really what you could do is go
with both and just interpret the one in light of the 10 you don't interpret the 10 in light of the
one it's like oh here it says baptism doth save us okay that means john 316 out the window john
316 means we got to get baptized john 336 means we got to get baptized every single verse in the
Bible that says to believe on Jesus Christ means you have to be baptized no you interpret that one
verse that doesn't seem to fit the narrative you interpret it in light of all the clear
scriptures regarding salvation that is the proper way to interpret the Bible heretics false prophets
those who are unlearned and unstable will interpret it the other way you know they'll
interpret the 10 based upon the one because they're wicked and obviously they want to
mislead people now what are some of the verses that they'll use well they'll use john chapter 3
look at verse number one it says there is a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the
Jews the same came to Jesus by night and said unto him rabbi we know that thou art a teacher come
from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him Jesus answered
and said unto him verily verily I say unto thee except the man be born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God so born again like we mentioned in the beginning is another way of saying what
regenerated right pretty simple phrase there if you're not born again you're not going to be
saved kingdom of God is synonymous with eternal life seeing God in heaven verse 4 says Nicodemus
saith unto him how can a man be born when he is old can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb and be born and obviously that's a stupid question okay and you say oh that's not nice you
know I understand because well first of all he's a ruler so this is a religious leader who's
supposed to know the bible yet he can't even understand simple like simple salvation and I
like what Jesus tells him he's like I thought a master of Israel knows not these things and I've
learned that the people who go to bible college and go to you know the university for divinity
and they get their doctorates or their honorary whatever are often the people who know the least
amount about salvation it's like they get all these degrees and you know they have all these
certificates to show how much they know about the bible but they're not even saved themselves
you know you have these guys who um like Jordan Peterson for example you know this guy is esteemed
in the world as being someone who knows a lot even to the point where on the daily wire he has
an entire series teaching about the bible on the book of exodus and on the book of genesis and all
these things and it's like but the guy's not even saved it's like what can you teach me about the
bible if you don't even know what salvation is so what can what can Nicodemus really show us
if he doesn't even know how to be born again it says in verse 5
Jesus answered him verily verily saying to thee except a man be born of water and of the spirit
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God so Jesus being really patient with Nicodemus right
because Nicodemus you know he gives this really dumb question
and he says you know how can a man be born when he is old can he enter the second time in his
mother's womb and so Jesus essentially clarifies this statement by saying that a man has to be
born of water and of the spirit in order to enter into the kingdom of God look at verse 6
that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit now people
who believe in a baptismal regeneration doctrine will use verse 5 as proof text to say this is
referring to baptism why because water is mentioned because it says except a man be born of water
and of the spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God therefore conclusion has it that you have to
be physically baptized in water in order to see the kingdom of heaven but notice he says that he
must be born again and notice that verse number six is parallel to verse number five because verse
number five when it says except a man be born of water and of the spirit and then it's clarified
in verse six that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit
is spirit so what is water talking about there in light of verse six it says that he which is
born of the flesh is flesh it literally means to be physically born it's not hard to see that
like why would you bring that up well you know in order for someone to go to heaven they have
to like first exist in order for someone to be saved you have to actually exist at one point
i mean i know that's profound but you know apparently Nicodemus wasn't getting this though
which is why he says that which is born of the flesh is flesh meaning those who are born of the
water and i'm not sure if you know this but when a child exits his mother's womb when he's going
through the birth canal he's being born of water i mean have you ever heard the statement my water
broke that's what it's referring to there and so when he says being born again it's referring to
the fact that yeah you were physically born but now you require a spiritual birth in order to see
the kingdom of god okay now what's interesting is that they believe that being born again
means to be baptized in water but notice that the verse has being born of water
before being born of the spirit so how does that work if you're born of the spirit that comes after
being born of water you get what i'm saying here so a lot of these people don't really take these
things into consideration the chronology of what we have here is that they're being born of water
first and then you're born of the spirit and they're like well no being born again is to be
born of baptismal water well then why is it first i'll tell you why because the being born
of water is to be physically birthed and just as you're physically birthed into this world
in like manner you have to be spiritually birthed by the spirit okay and so to say that you know
baptismal regeneration is a doctrine in the bible and you have to be baptized in order to be saved
and to use john chapter 3 to try to prop that up is nonsensical okay he said let me read to you
from first peter 123 seeing yet purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit
unto unfeigned love of the brethren see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently
being born again not a corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of god which liveth
and abideth forever so we see in john chapter 3 that to be born of the spirit or to be born
again is to be born of the spirit and in first peter 123 it talks about being born again of the
word of god which of course the spirit is often used synonymously with the word of god the words
that i speak unto you they are what spirits and they are life the bible says they're used
synonymously and so to say that you're born again of the scriptures is the same thing as saying that
you're born again of the spirit okay that's pretty easy let's look at another one let's go
to acts chapter two and this is probably one of the most popular passages that people who
believe in a baptismal regeneration like to use the church of christ and these non-denom churches
will use to try to prop up a workspace salvation through baptism so john chapter three that's
pretty easy because of the fact that it's just showing you the chronology of life you have to
be physically born and then after you're physically born if you live long enough you will be slain by
the law which would require a rebirth it would require for you to be born again which requires
believing on jesus christ and being regenerated by the spirit now let's look at act chapter two
because this is one of the most popular verses that they like to use act chapter two verse 37
it says that when they heard this they were pricked in their hearts and said unto peter
and to the rest of the apostles men and brethren what shall we do now notice it doesn't say
what shall we do to be saved and it's not like we don't see that phrase in the bible either
you know actually after 16 tells us you know what must i do to be saved verse 38 then peter said
and said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of
sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost now anytime i've talked to anybody who
believes in baptism or regeneration this is their go-to verse right here okay and sometimes they
don't even quote it right you know or sometimes they don't even know where it's at they just say
you know they'll say like jesus said repent and be baptized for the remission of sins like first of
all jesus did not say that uh it was peter who said that it's in the book of acts let me find it
for you now i face value you know you could read that and say well you know it is kind of worded
that way because it almost it would almost seem to say that you have to repent and you have to be
baptized in order to attain the remission of sins right for the remission of sins could be read as
to obtain the remission of sins what is remission of sins the forgiveness of sins so they translate
that as well in order to be saved which includes the forgiveness of sins we have to repent of our
sins by the way that's what they're often couple there and we have to be baptized okay but i want
you to notice what the what is the result of repenting and being baptized is according to
verse 38 the latter end says and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost now a couple things
that i want to point out here first and foremost when people have approached me with this verse
i always show them verse 21 and i don't know if you notice that the number 21
comes before the number 38
that's why i'm your pastor see i read i see these things you know you probably didn't notice this
i'm helping you notice you know verse 21 always comes before verse 38
and they always ignore me when i when i show them verse 21 look at verse 21 and it shall
come to pass that whosoever shall call upon call on the name of the lord shall be saved
according to the bible to call upon the name of the lord brings you salvation now here it is
talking about salvation well how do you know because it actually says save there not only
that but there's other portions of scripture they use the phrase to call upon the name of the lord
in conjunction with salvation the most notable passage would be roman chapter 8 or excuse me
roman chapter 10 and verse number 9 that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the lord jesus and
believe in thine heart that god has raised them from the dead thou shalt be saved verse 13 for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved in order to be saved you have to
call upon the name of the lord and you can have salvation you will be justified before the lord
so he's preaching to them and he's telling them that if you call upon the name of the lord you
shall be saved but yet they want to jump to verse 38 and say well no you have to repent and be
baptized well no it says you have to call upon the name of the lord first and foremost secondly
when you read verse 38 a couple things you want to point out number one it doesn't say repent of
sins okay but secondly when it says for the remission of sins it doesn't mean to obtain
the forgiveness of sins that preposition four could also be used to to to state because
so you could also read that as repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus
christ because of the remission of sins why because if you receive the remission of sins
which equals salvation what should you do thereafter you should repent and be baptized
now wouldn't that fit the chronology of what god expects us to do from salvation thereafter
like where is that where does it say that that's what you're supposed to do in that order
oh matthew 28 19 through 20 you know to teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father
the son of the holy spirit how about every instance where someone is baptized they always
get saved first so if it says here repent and be baptized for the remission of sins
you can read that as because you receive the remission of sins you should repent and be
baptized and by the way it says that you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost
okay and i'll get into that in just a bit now let me make some observations here regarding this
verse okay go to go to mark 16 if you would actually because here's here's a clear example
of this here's another passage they'll use to try to prop up this doctrine and this is probably one
this is also one of their favorites aside from acts 238 they love going to mark 16 16 because
it's jesus who's saying this passage right he's the one speaking here mark 16 16 says well let's
start at verse 15 it says and he said unto them going to all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be
damned so automatically say well it says you have to believe and be baptized in order to be saved
therefore based upon the context you have to be baptized in order to be saved now this is often
what's referred to as a negative inference fallacy what is that well a negative inference
fallacy is if a proposition is true it does not follow that a negative inference from that
proposition is also true what does that mean well let me give an example what if i were to say
in order to be a pastor of a baptist church you must be a christian in order to be a christian
you have to be saved the conclusion is all baptist pastors are saved but is that true
no i've added that because we for sure know that not all baptist pastors are saved
now the statement is true though right if in order to be a pastor of a baptist church you
do have to be a christian in order to be a christian you do have to be saved you just
can't conclude that because of that all baptist pastors are saved and so when we look at mark 16
16 that says you know uh that you believe in are baptized and then you're saved and to say well
in that case you know you have to be baptized in order to be saved it's not true because the rest
of the verse says but he that believeth not shall be damned like well it's implied no it isn't
because if it says he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he that believeth not
it should be added and is not baptized shall be damned but the reason it's only adding or leaving
believing is because that is the quintessential requirement for salvation
and so yeah you know we can look at that and say well you know it does say baptism but you can add
anything to that really we can say someone who believes on jesus christ and you know they're
in church and they read their bible and they go sowing they're saved but we would add to that but
if they never did any of those things they're still saved because all that's really required
for salvation is to believe on jesus christ so there are they're adding that into the text
when it states that you have to believe and be baptized to be saved they're like well automatically
what this means is that if you're not baptized then you're not saved wrong which is why jesus
christ added that second part he that believeth nots which i'm sure people who adhere to a
baptism or generation despise and abhor that portion of the of the scripture because it really
makes it fall apart makes their their doctrine fall apart because of the fact that it doesn't
add baptism to that okay now here's another thing with mark 16 16 is that you have examples of
people who got saved and didn't get baptized and still went to heaven such as the thief on the
cross he had a hard time coming down from the cross to be baptized and i've talked to people
about this and this is this is the answer that they they'll give me okay because they know we're
gonna we're gonna bring up the thief on the cross and this is what 100 of the time this is what
they told me well that's because he was still in the old testament and in the old testament you
know that's what he can do or something you know it's like so in other words there's exceptions to
salvation to the rule of salvation okay but what's interesting is that most heretics actually
believe that more was required in the old testament for salvation than in the new testament
so they're pretty much grasping at straws when it when it comes to that right but think about this
you know yeah he was in the old testament and when you look at the message that john the baptist
preached he preached the baptism of repentance right well acts 19 clarifies what that message
was because it says that john verily baptized with the baptism of repentance saying unto the
people that they should believe on him which should come after him that is on christ jesus
so even though you hear about john the baptist preaching the baptism of repentance throughout
the gospels the apostle paul through the inspiration of the holy ghost holy ghost
clarifies what that message actually was which by the way further reinforces the teaching
that baptism isn't always referring to a water baptism because if he's talking about a baptism
unto repentance it's not referring to a water baptism it's referring to the message of being
immersed in christ by believing on him okay and so you know that falls apart but not only that
you know the apostle paul in first corinthians chapter nine for example
he states very clearly that his main responsibility is to preach the gospel right
he's like woes unto me if i preach not the gospel i mean he's laying it on himself think he's like
this is what god's called me to do to preach the gospel and a dispensation of the of the grace of
god has been given unto me to preach the gospel i mean he makes it pretty clear right go to first
corinthians chapter one if you would first corinthians chapter one
and then we're going to go to act chapter 10 in just a bit but go to first corinthians chapter one
so keep in mind first corinthians 9 the apostle paul's saying
woes me if i preach not the gospel of christ he's like if i don't do it woe is in other words he's
like cursed am i you know may god's punishment come upon me his judgment come upon me if i don't
preach the gospel that's how passionate he is about preaching the gospel all right now look
at first corinthians one verse 13 is christ divided was paul crucified for you or he baptized
in the name of paul i thank god that i baptized none of you now if baptism was required for
salvation and baptism is the gospel because the gospel is the power of god unto salvation
that's a really wicked thing to say i thank god i baptized none of you he's basically saying
according to their interpretation i thank god that i didn't preach the gospel to any of you guys
he says i thank god that i baptized none of you but christmas in gais lest any should say that
i baptized in my own name and i baptized also the household of stefanis besides i know not
whether i baptized any other now listen to this for christ sent me not to baptize
now if baptism is required for salvation paul's wicked
because then isn't he going to say a couple chapters later woe is done to me if i preach
not the gospel and if baptism is part of the gospel then why is he saying that christ sent
them not to baptize i'll tell you why because baptism has nothing to do with the gospel has
nothing to do with salvation now i've shown this to those who believe in a baptism regeneration
and i promise you they hate my guts when i bring it up and they never answer me because i'm like
what does this mean and they're just like it doesn't mean what you say what you're saying
it means i'm like so tell me what does it okay you've already told me what you don't believe
it means so tell me what does it mean for christ sent me not to baptize listen to this but to
preach the gospel making a distinction between the gospel and baptism meaning that we know that
the gospel is how people get saved well if the gospel is how people get saved then it can't be
the same as baptism because he just said jesus didn't send me to baptize but to preach the gospel
showing us conclusively that baptism cannot save you because this guy would not be glorifying
in his lack of baptizing people if if that meant that that's how you get people saved
he says not with wisdom of words that's the cross of christ should be made of none effect
and that's exactly what baptismal regeneration is it makes the cross of christ of none effect
when people teach a baptismal regeneration they are making the gift of god null and
void because it's just it falls under the canopy of being a workspace salvation
he says verse 18 for the preaching of the cross is to them to perish foolishness
but unto us what you're saved it is the power of god now go to act chapter 10 if you would
act chapter 10
act chapter 10 if you would
now in light of i want you to pay attention here okay we're almost done in line of act chapter 2
verse 38 because keep in mind what did peter say he says repent and be baptized every one of you
for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost so what is the chronology
you got to repent you got to be baptized you'll receive the remission of sins which they claim
to be salvation and along with that you'll get the gift of the holy ghost okay that is the
chronology according to what they believe is taking place right everyone with me can i get
a nodding of the head all right okay well let's look at act chapter 10 in verse 43 and see if this
follows the chronology to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth
the name shall receive remission of sins oh well there goes that thought and that's not even the
verse i want to focus on but that's a great verse which by the way the person would say well that
was in the old testament well the prophets were in the old testament and they were preaching that
whosoever believeth the name shall receive remission of sins now whoever is baptized
shall receive remission of sins i know they both start with a b but very much different
but i digress look at verse 44 while peter yet spake these words the holy ghost fell on all them
which heard the word powerful right holy ghost is falling upon them keep that in mind and they have
the circumcision which believe were astonished and as many as came with peter because that on
the gentiles also was poured out oh there we see it again the gift of the holy ghost so he's
preaching this and the gift of the holy ghost falls upon them verse 46 for they heard them
speak with tongues and magnify god then answered peter listen to this can any man forbid water
that these should not be baptized which have received the holy ghost as well as we
well you have a problem here now don't we because if you think that acts 238 is saying that you have
to repent be baptized get the remission of sins and then get the gift of the holy ghost well it's
all out of order here because they got the holy ghost first and then he's like we need to baptize
these people showing us conclusively that the gift of the holy ghost is not given through water
baptism the gift of the holy ghost comes when you get saved amen whether you want to talk about the
indwelling of the holy spirit or just the power of god coming upon your life they both come after
salvation not after baptism someone can literally literally be filled with the spirit before they
get baptized i'm talking about water baptism prove it right here the whole the gift of the
holy ghost fell upon them and then you know peter because peter was the one who's acts 238 too by
the way he botched it right here apparently he's like oh man we got this out of order let's get
them baptized real quick it's like when police officers break into a house before they get a
warrant and then afterwards they got to go to a judge to try to get the warrant signed you know
it's like are you supposed to get the warrant first and then break into the house you know what
i mean you know there's a lot of police officers that will actually uh i don't know if anybody knew
this you know they'll actually break into houses and they don't have a warrant but then they're
scrambling afterwards to get a warrant from the judge okay yeah think about like for example
in the 1970s there was a major murder case known as the son of sam yeah you know berkowitz and you
know this guy obviously was guilty he's he's a bad person he killed people but the police were like
breaking into his car and then after they captured him and they're they have pictures of him they're
bringing him to the police station then the police are like scrambling for the judges to find like
someone to sign the warrant to break into the car that they've already broken into in order to
arrest david berkowitz you know and so this is this is kind of that situation i know that's an
extreme example there but if if we're if we're to take the baptismal regeneration interpretation
then we got an issue here in acts chapter 10 because they're getting the gift of the holy ghost
prior to being baptized i mean it's pretty clear right he says in verse 48 he commanded them to
be baptized in the name of the lord then prayed they him to tarry certain days so conclusively
showing that acts 238 cannot mean what they claim it means because acts chapter 10 just blows that
thought that doctrine out of the water and we don't believe acts 238 is referring to that anyways
it's just referring to the fact that when you receive the remission of sins referring to
salvation yeah you should repent right get right with god and you should be baptized
that's clear as day the bible teaches that go to acts 2 excuse me go to acts 22
acts 22 and then we'll go to first peter chapter 3 these are the last two i got to cover
talk about baptism regeneration here here's another way it's like well you have to be
baptized in order to wash away your sins okay now by sins if you mean if you mean sins you mean like
dirt that is a possibility okay but obviously that's not what they're referring to
acts 22 15 says for thou shall be a witness unto all men of what thou has seen and heard
and now why terriest thou arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins and of course the verse
finishes there no it doesn't but that's how they like to read it it's just calling on the
name of the lord now here's the thing is that i personally believe and people disagree with me
on this and i don't even think it's a point of contention it shouldn't be i believe because this
is addressing the apostle paul okay and some would argue that the apostle paul this is when
he got saved i would i readily believe that he got saved on the road to damascus when jesus
jesus christ essentially is the one who won him but regardless of what you believe i don't think
it really matters what matters is that we know he got saved you say well what about this verse here
well here's the thing you can interpret it both ways if you believe that he got saved at this
point that would actually show conclusively that you're not uh that your sins aren't washed away
by being baptized but rather by calling on the name of the lord right because it says arise be
baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the lord but the way i would interpret
this is that this isn't necessary even referring to salvation because of the fact that the bible
also says that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and what i believe this is referring to actually is that
after he got back after he got saved he's getting baptized and he's calling on the name of the lord
not for salvation but essentially to get right with god okay basically what repent and be
baptized is saying in acts 238 but we know that it's not teaching for sure is that it's saying
you have to be baptized in order to wash away your sins because no fundamental christian who
actually believes and knows the bible will say that baptism can wash away anything other than
the dirt off your skin
let me read to you a couple verses here you say well what can wash away my sins nothing but the
blood of jesus that's what the bible teaches well that's a hymn based upon the bible though
now go to first corinthians chapter six real quick and then we'll
we'll finish up on in first peter chapter three go to first corinthians chapter six
because when you get saved the bible likens the forgiveness of sins to your sins being washed
away right because obviously the symbolic nature would be like your body being filled with dirt
and when you wash yourself with water just cleanses you of that dirt well the spirit
essentially when it becomes regenerated when it's born again god pictures that as washing
away your sins through the blood of jesus christ okay so it's the blood of jesus that cleanses you
from all sin it's the blood of jesus that washes you from your sin not water he said where are they
getting that from well don't the doesn't the catholic church teach this weird doctrine about
holy water which by the way is super unsanitary like physically unsanitary i remember when i was
a catholic we'd go there and you just you go like this and then you do the you like do like
four times or something like that how many know what i'm talking about okay where my where my
former catholics at okay and so it's crazy to think that that will wash away your sins by putting
unsanitary water on your forehead look at first corinthians chapter six verse nine knowing not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god be not deceived neither fornicators nor
idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind which by the
way it's not referring to fags okay people will try to render this as talking about sodomites
but abusers of themselves with mankind doesn't talk about sodomites at all and in fact the modern
versions because they're they're homo will actually remove nori feminine they'll remove
the comma after nori feminine and just amalgamate that with abuses themselves with
mankind and just render it as men who have with men you know just remove effeminate because they'll
say well effeminate is just the passive partner in a fag relationship that's what they'll say
but effeminate literally just means to be soft that's all it means okay yeah but in the greek
though well you don't know greek though so why are you even talking about it but if you really
want to get into that the greek word that's being used for effeminate is the same greek word that
is used to describe the type of clothing that kings wear in king's houses which in the bible
is what soft clothing soft raiment that word soft in our king james bible the word that's being used
there is the same word that's being used for effeminate proven conclusively that effeminate
just means soft it's not the passive member of a fag relationship but i digress because this is
that's you know i just want to mention that so as it first said nor thieves nor covetous nor
drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of god and such were some
of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but you are justified in the name of jesus christ
and by the spirit of our god so who is the one responsible for washing sanctifying and justifying
jesus christ through the spirit not through baptism and i know we know that but we just
need to make sure that we cover that to make sure there's no confusion that the way you wash away
your sins is not by water baptism because the washing of water has actually no bearing on your
spiritual life you know i know there's some pretty good soaps out there and you know some
pretty good i don't know look i i use uh what's that what's that what's that three in one old
spice you know what i mean like i don't have one for conditioner and one for this is just just give
me the one that does it does it all and you'll buy some soaps that just does it all and some
people are like oh those got chemicals whatever dude i just need some you know wash my hair my
body i'm all good but you know what as good as those bottles are they just can't wash away my
sins though you know they're not a four in one they might be a three in one body shampoo and
conditioner but you know that fourth one which is the sins it just can't wash that away the only
thing that could wash away my sins is the blood of jesus christ now go to first peter three because
i'm out of time i'm just going to cover this briefly this is the last one first peter chapter
three verse 18 it says here in verse 18 for christ also i have once suffered for sins the just for
the unjust that he might bring us into god being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the
spirit by which also he went and preached into the spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient
when once the long suffering of god waited in the days of noah while the ark was preparing wherein
few that his eight souls were saved by water the like figure where unto even baptism
doth also now save us and this is a very popular scripture that they'll use to try to teach that
baptism can justify you is that baptism doth also now save us but of course we have to keep reading
and in fact in this particular verse there's parentheses involved right so the way you would
read this is essentially it's giving us a thought within a thought but if you were to remove that
which is in the parentheses and just read it all the way through what is it saying the like figure
where into even baptism doth also now save us by the resurrection of jesus christ and of course the
parentheses just says not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good
conscience toward god but what is the same we're saved by baptism by the resurrection of jesus
christ now what's what's silly is for people to think that well here it is referring to a water
baptism because it's using noah's ark as an example right and noah's ark there's water there
and noah's ark is in the water therefore water baptism huh saves us but he but hold on a second
people died in the water though you guys did you know do they know the story of noah's ark
oh wow like everyone died in the water and in fact noah and his family were not the ones who
were baptized the ark was baptized they were in the ark and the water is not jesus it doesn't
symbolically represent jesus you know what represents jesus the ark so that when you
believe on jesus christ what are you doing you're in christ just like noah's family was in the ark
and it's through the resurrection of that ark referring to the fact that after the 40 days
and 40 nights it came afloat right it remained it's through his resurrection that we're saved
so to think that like oh no it's the water that saves us dude there's dead bodies all over the
place during that time that water that water was meant to kill people not to save anybody
did they not know the story the one noah's flood was meant to kill people not to save anybody
the ark was meant to save people those eight individuals and it's only when they decided
to go into the ark and the door was closed that they were they were safe from the water
which is essentially the judgment of god okay so when it says baptism does also now save us
how does it save us by the resurrection of jesus christ because he was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification the ark was raised again when the water subsided and of
course that represents the resurrection of jesus christ pretty powerful and so very important there
not very hard to misinterpret that unless of course you're a wicked person okay what's the
message tonight message tonight thank god for baptism of course of what it represents and i
rejoice every time we see a baptism because it's a person who's making the public profession of
their faith they would let everyone know they're a christian and they want to be baptized but you
know it has nothing to do with salvation though and so it's important for us to kind of get these
verses and understand the interpretation thereof because you will be confronted with these verses
out solely and when you're reading the bible you're going to see it and if you don't if you're
unlearned and unstable you might be deceived into thinking well man is this teaching have to be
baptized obviously it's not you have to take everything in its context compare scripture with
scripture and that's it let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the
baptism of salvation that when we believe on jesus christ we are fully immersed in the lord and we
can never lose our salvation it's a great picture of eternal security that we're fully immersed in
christ and nothing can remove us uh pluck us out of your hand and i pray lord that you'd help us
to develop a heart of gratitude for that and uh help us to study to show ourselves approve them
to you and may you bless us as we go on our way lord and throughout this week as we prepare for
christmas when we think about the birth of jesus christ and may it cultivate within us a heart of
gratitude for the day that the word of god was made flesh and dwelt among us lord we love you
we thank you pray these things in jesus name amen
i can please turn your song book to song number 432 angels from realm of glory song number 432
song number 432 angels from realm of glory on that first verse angels from the realms of glory
wing your flight o'er all the earth who sang creation's story now proclaim messiah's birth
come and worship come and worship worship christ the new born king shepherds in the
is
your flocks by night god with man is now resigning yonder shines the infant life
come and worship come and worship worship christ the new born king
sages leave your contemplation brighter visions beam afar seek the great desire of nations
ye have seen his natal star come and worship come and worship worship christ the newborn king on the
king on the last saints before the altar bending watching long in hope and fear
suddenly the lord descending in his temple shall appear come and worship come and worship worship
christ the newborn king great singing you're dismissed