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Amazing Facts

Doug Batchelor

Every Nation and Tongue

This presentation is brought to you by the Friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry.

Did you know that when a human baby is born, about 78% of its body is made up of water?

Our water ratio drops somewhat as we age, but water remains an essential part of our survival.

In fact, a mere 2% drop in body water can cause fuzzy short-term memory, difficulty with basic math, and trouble focusing on a computer or a printed page.

If the water in your body drops 5%, you'll no longer be able to see.

A 10% drop takes away your ability to hear.

Water plays a crucial role in almost every body function, but some researchers estimate that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

Insufficient water increases the risk for obesity, fatigue, and a host of common diseases.

Water is essential not only to our physical bodies, but our spiritual survival as well.

As the living water, Jesus is the ultimate thirst quencher for our souls.

And we receive him in a special way when we enter the waters of baptism.

So join me now friends for today's program as we take a closer look at this very important subject, how we can be born of the spirit and the water.

There is a place in Austria up in the mountains, it's called Gunnersee or Green Lake, and it's nestled in a beautiful valley there.

They've got a park that's got benches and bridges and flowers and trails, and every spring, because of the melting snow, it is baptized in 40 feet of water, and it's the whole park is immersed in water, and it gradually drains off.

Here's a picture of someone scuba diving in the park.

And you can see there's a trail and a tree and there'll be benches off to the side.

But all that water drains away and it explodes with flowers then in the springtime after this massive immersion in water.

You know, water is a central teaching in the Bible.

First let's talk about our scripture here.

Revelation 14 verse 6, Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

Now we've talked about the everlasting gospel, now I want to emphasize Every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

Now we've talked about the everlasting gospel, now I want to emphasize every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

Jesus says in his parting words, Matthew chapter 28 all authority is given to me in heaven and earth, go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

He says in the book of Acts chapter 1, go to the uttermost parts of the world.

Jesus wants us to go everywhere, to every tribe, tongue, and people with the gospel.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The very beginning of the New Testament in the Gospel of Mark and even the Gospel of John, it begins with John the Baptist baptizing.

The last thing Jesus says before he ascends to heaven in the Gospel of Mark and Luke and Matthew is to go to teach and baptize.

First thing that happens in Acts 1, repent Peter says and be baptized.

You would think the last words of Jesus should be a first priority for believers.

If it's important to Jesus, it should be important to us.

Baptism, Colossians 2 verse 11 and 12, in him you were buried through baptism.

Now in the world today there are a lot of counterfeit baptisms and some people sprinkle and technically that is not a baptism.

The word baptized means to immerse, to submerge.

It's a word they use in ancient Greek literature when they were dyeing cloth.

They would plunge the cloth in the vat of dye and get it completely under so the dye would penetrate all the fibers.

And so the very word baptized means to immerse.

And all the churches used to practice baptism by immersion.

And our church just right beyond that wall there, we've got a baptistry.

A lot of churches, Baptist churches and others have baptistries built in because we think that it's very important to the ceremony, that it has meaning.

God wants us to follow the pattern, because it represents a new birth.

It's like when a baby comes into the world, it comes out of an envelope of water and takes a breath, like when that person comes up and when someone dies, they pause their breathing, they go down, and they momentarily hold their breath.

You know when we baptize people, we don't hold them under, we just say in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and we put them under and we bring them up again and they take that new breath and it's like a whole new life.

Romans 6, verse 4, Therefore we are buried with him through baptism into death just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we should walk in a what?

It should be a newness of life and it tells us that the person is buried and what does it symbolize?

Acts 22 verse 16 Ananias said to the Apostle Paul, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.

So what's happening when you're baptized?

How many of you have ever wished you could go back, start over, knowing what you know now about life?

My father used to say youth is wasted on the young.

I'm sure he's not the first 1 that said it.

That we wish, oh, if I could go back and live my life over knowing, having the experience I have now, I wouldn't repeat certain mistakes.

Baptism is a chance to get a new birth, to start a new life and a new beginning and have all your sins washed away.

To be born again, have that new beginning.

Number 4, what other ceremony does the Bible compare to baptism?

Galatians 3.27, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have..." Say it with me.

It's talking about, it's in the context of husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church.

The church is called the Bride of Christ in New Jerusalem Revelation, coming down out of heaven, it's like a marriage to Jesus.

Now this is maybe a little easier for the ladies out there to relate to than some of the men, but it's really we are being married to Christ.

Now what would you think if a man, asking the ladies again, if a man said to you, I'd like to get married, but do we need to live together?

Or would you think there's something wrong?

When people say, I want to get baptized, but I don't want to join a church, that's suspect right there.

So if you want to understand these principles, you can often just say, what would it be like if you applied that to marriage?

Number 5, what biblical qualifications must precede baptism?

So if a person is going to get baptized, how do they prepare for that?

It says in Matthew 28, verse 19 and 20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, this is what our verse was there in Revelation chapter 14, it says to every tongue, tribe and people, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

So you teach the word of God, teach what it means to be a Christian, to follow Jesus, and then you're baptised.

Now someone's going to ask the question, Pastor Doug, why in so many churches is there this time of teaching and indoctrination before baptism, but I look in Acts chapter 2, Peter preaches and bingo, they get baptized that day.

Or again in Acts chapter 5, it's because these were Jews that already had Bible studies, they already knew about the 10 Commandments, all they didn't know about was Jesus, and when Peter preached to them about Jesus, that was the last piece they needed.

But most people don't have nearly the foundation those Jewish people had when they were baptized.

So there needs to be some teaching that happens in advance.

You know often I'll do evangelism where maybe Christians of other faiths will come and they learn some of these truths they don't know and they want to be baptized or even re-baptized and that's a lot easier to present than when I go places like China and I'm preaching to people who have grown up atheists.

Karen and I did meetings in Russia right after the Iron Curtain fell.

These people had not heard about God their whole lives, except maybe just in a peripheral way.

They have no idea what you're talking about.

In a secular culture like America, people at least get some of that.

You can also read in Acts 8 verse 36 and the eunuch, there's this Ethiopian eunuch that was baptized by Philip, he said see here is water, what hinders me from being baptized?

If you believe with how much of your heart?

All of your heart you may." And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he was baptized.

By the way, he was not baptized in a river, he was baptized in maybe the sea, because he was down by Gaza, it may have been an oasis.

So it sometimes could be the ocean, it could be a river, it could be a baptistry, as long as you're immersed in water and you follow the Bible principle.

Every Nation and Tongue

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