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Believer's Baptism

0:00 - Offertory prayer by Pastor Don Wolabaugh. Worship music.

7:20 - Intro to the message by Pastor Don W. - share your heart on water baptism. Removal of clock.

7:50 - Pastor Dan Mohler - Intro comments

8:05 - On singing - “I Am Free” during the offering - either whacked and deceived or I am really free. I am free from me - from myself - from what we inherited through the fall of man. And I’ve been brought back, through this gospel, to my original value and the reason I’m alive. It’s a cool deal. That’s why you can sing and dance.


The Need to be Born Again


8:45 - We were born into Adam. Deny self, take up cross, follow me. Inherited self through the fall. It became all about me.

9:15 - “Surrender” - it’s a perspective, a mindset that is narrow. To relinquish every right in your life - except the right to be like Him. “Conformed to the image of His Son” “Be holy as I am holy” Yield to Him. Receive forgiveness and the identity that comes through Christ.

9:50 - Water baptism is all about being born again. The first time I was born into Adam. And that wasn’t who I am - who I was designed to be. God needs me to be born again. He brings everything into right order through Christ. Water baptism is a huge part of that.

10:10 - A spiritual rebirth - Nicodemus didn’t understand. Does a man go back into his mother’s womb and come out again? No, it’s a spiritual rebirth.

10:25 - Go to Mark 16…

10:35 - Going crazy while worshiping at home with “If I’m blessed, I’m blessed”

11:00 - He’s for me - He wants me blessed. He wants me back with Him. He wants me to fulfill what He put me on the earth to do. Otherwise He would have just let me slip away. Or He would have destroyed me Himself. But He came and saved me. God so loved the world that He sent His Son.

11:35 - True perspective - If I live my life from the perspective of who I am in Christ and what I was created for, it will keep me strong through everything in life.

11:45 - Discouragement is a major deception. It’s to get my eyes off of truth. The truth makes me free. Satan never stops chattering to get you off of truth. The truth is Jesus and it makes me free.

12:30 - Our perspective should be all for Him - always the ability to receive the breakthrough - the victory. Eyes always on the victory through the cross - what’s possible and what will happen through the mercy of God. It’s not about what is not seeming to change.


Mark 16 - Believe and be Baptized


12:50 - Jesus said something wonderful after He was raised from the dead. Mark 16:15-16 - And he said unto them, Go ye into 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. - Did you hear what He said? He who believes AND is baptized.

13:35 - Objection - legalistic perspective - I don’t need to be baptized to be saved. Where is the question? Jesus said believe and be baptized. There must be significance. He must be right. I bet there is a reason. Not just jumping hoops. There is spiritual significance - revelation to come - release of faith that is met by grace. So Jesus says it with purpose.

14:25 - Salvation is more than just praying a prayer to go to heaven. It’s the gospel of the kingdom. “You shall be saved” - Salvation is an all inclusive word - total restoration of humanity - spirit, soul and body. Sozo (Greek) - Restored - brought back to original value - as if you never ate from the tree - as if sin was never on the earth.

15:15 - Technical, legalistic objections. Trust God to be just. But if we have every opportunity to be baptized why would we not be baptized. Jesus said to be baptized. Humble yourself.

16:05 - Don’t rebel against His word - Be baptized - Rebellious tendencies are a part of the fall of man. Jesus said be baptized. Don’t rebel against that.

16:40 - Nicodemus wanted to know how to be born again.

16:45 - New Life for Girls water baptism.

Rom. 6 - Water Baptism as a Grave


1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him 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. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.


17:25 - I can show you how water baptism is like the grave. You could say that, “Well he’s not really talking about water baptism there…” But let’s look at the principle. Look at Rom. 6…

17:45 - v.1-2 - Paul is making a comment to the born again believer. A born again believer comes to the knowledge of truth. He realizes that I’ve been living out what I inherited - what I became through the fall. I was born into Adam and I’ve been following that instinct by nature. It was born into me.

18:15 - Sin nature in young children - they didn’t learn that - they were born into it. They will need to be born again.

19:00 - So when we get born again we don’t want to continue in sin. It’s not my created value - what I was created to be.

19:10 - You have one true Father - Jesus went as far as to say, “Call no man on earth your father. You have one Father.” - Mt. 23:9  He is saying that you are not what you inherited from your earthly father. You came forth from your Heavenly Father. In the beginning He said, “Let us make man in our image.” We often derive our value from how our earthly father thinks of us and treats us. But Jesus is saying, No, you have one true Father. You came forth from Him.

20:00 - Don’t let your experience with your earthly father keep you from knowing your real Father.

20:15 - Born into Adam recap - Born again believer sees that his life was a lie. He’s inherited selfishness through sin. He has become completely self-preserving. That’s why Paul writes, “Put off the old man… Put on the new man…” Everything we grew up in was a lie. Bitterness, anger, pride, etc. is all contrary - all perverse - it’s against the plan of God for our lives.

20:50 - Don’t accept that life as inevitable, “That’s just the way that I’m going to be…” Live righteous. Not damned to live in sin.

21:30 - Sin wants to reproduce after its own kind. But God wants to come and make us and mold us into what He designed us to be from the beginning.

21:50 - Self-centered living - I love you for me. Self-centered serving.

22:05 - Seeking affirmation from others rather than God. You’re already accepted through Christ.

23:10 - v.1-2 - Exchanging my life for His life - not just prayer to go to heaven. Giving back that old life of sin and self-centeredness - what I was never intended to be.

23:55 - Like a marriage covenant - All that I am I give to you. All that He is He gives to you. Two become one. I’m in Him and He’s in me.

24:10 - v.3-4 - We die with Him - When He died we died. He became sin. He who knew no sin became sin. He became sin that we might become the righteousness of God - 2 Cor 5:21. So we die with Him.

24:55 - Paul says - For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. - 2 Cor. 5:14-15.

25:15 - He took me from this old identity of sin and through water baptism there’s a revelation of new life and new birth. So you can see the water baptismal as symbolic of the grave. It’s symbolic of the tomb. They put Him into the tomb but on the third day He rose again.

25:30 - We get to do that by faith. You go under the water just like Jesus’ whole body went into the tomb. So we go under the water - symbolic of a grave. We died in the likeness of His death and His death was to sin.

25:55 - On the third day He rose. Even so we should walk in newness of life.

26:10 - Holding us under - We ought to be held under for 3 days. That way, we’ll know that we’re dead and when we rise we’ll know that it’s God.

26:25 - Baptism is an expression of faith. You realize that you’ve lived self-centered - selfishly. At baptism you are saying goodbye to all of that. I’m going in here to die. It’s a place of death.

27:00 - Big white coffin - baptismal

27:20 - Baptism as a faith confession - You go in to die. It’s a faith confession: I’ve been living my life for me God… I surrender myself to you… I’m declaring my old life to be dead… And I am putting on the new life.

27:50 - v.5-7 - In other words, my heart is changed through this gospel. I haven’t found a way to remain in sin and get away with it. I’ve found a way through the grace of God to be free from sin.

28:35 - Just like we were singing - through you the blind will see…

28:40 - Blind seeing - deaf hearing - mute speaking

28:45 - That healing is through you, church. Let’s press into the gospel. Let’s stop letting our experience back us off. Let’s stop talking ourselves out of the possibilities of God’s power. Let’s keep on praying and believing because of the integrity of what this book (Bible) says.

29:15 - Let’s grow up into Him in all things. Let’s not diminish Him to our level.

29:55 - v.6-7 - again for emphasis

30:05 - v.8-9 - Fear of death is gone - Hebrews 2 says that the bondage of the fear of death has been swallowed up in Christ. I’m never going to die. My eternity is sealed. It’s never again about me - fearing my death - needing to preserve my own life. It’s always about Him.

30:45 - When you squeeze an orange you expect orange juice. Squeeze a Christian - you should get Christ coming out all over.

31:05 - v.10 - When you go down into the water you are saying goodbye to the old life but when you come up there is a new commitment, a new revelation, a new motivation for living.

31:25 - If you are touchy, you’re going to be touched.

31:40 - New commitment - God, I lived for me but now I’m living for you. I’m putting away all that was contrary to truth, our relationship and my purpose. I’m dying to that. When I come out, I’m coming out in the likeness of your resurrection - fueled and empowered by your Spirit - learning and growing and being filled with understanding to walk out your truth all the days of my life. The life I now live, I live to God.

32:00 - There’s a surrender, a relinquishing of every one of your “rights” except the right to be like Him.

32:10 - v.11-12 - How are you going to prevent sin from reigning in your mortal bodies? Through understanding - through exposing the lie. It’s not God - never profitable. So I am going to sell out and live for God. That’s where freedom is.

32:40 - So we see that water baptism is symbolized by the grave. It’s a place to die and be buried in the likeness of His death so that we can live in the likeness of resurrection.


Baptism & The Womb of God


32:45 - New Life for Girls water baptism - waters as the womb of God.

33:30 - Waters of the womb. Baby grows. Waiting to be born. The first sign of birth? Water breaks. God created us this way on purpose. Just as with Noah...

34:00 - Noah - Eight souls saved through the water. Drowned out all unrighteousness. It’s a type and foreshadow of baptism.

34:20 - Israelites passing through the Red Sea - out of Egypt and through the waters of the Jordan into the promised land.

34:35 - Significance of water breaking.

34:45 - New Life for Girls revelation - Baptismal like the womb of God. Holy Spirit like the midwife. I’m right here to receive that child and to show it to Papa. “Look! A brand new baby boy!”

35:05 - It’s like we’re going back to do it over again. The first time I was born it was a mess. I was born into Adam. But the second time I am born… Now, the Last Adam has come I have the right to be born again. So I am going back into the womb - back into the waters. I can’t crawl back into my mother’s womb but I can crawl into God by faith and by faith be born into newness of life - a brand new baby - first day - new beginning. I’m alive in Him. And Holy Spirit scoops me up and says, “Ain’t it grand!” That’s intimate to me.

35:50 - Don’t be afraid to see things and accept them like a child.

➡ 36:15 - So that’s how I see the baptismal water as the womb of God. It’s a grave but as you get in to die...

36:20 - The gospel is cool. The only way to receive is to give. The only way to live is to die. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. - John 12:24.

36:40 - So when you come out of those baptism waters, there’s an acceptance of forgiveness and mercy and then there is this submitting to God that - God, I’m going to live for you and I’m going to live by faith and I’m going to receive Your grace. And I thank You for being my Daddy God. And you go under knowing that when you come out…

36:55 - Lady - Clean before Him. That’s the power of the blood of Jesus.


An Act of Faith to which Grace Attaches - Sorely Neglected


37:10 - Water baptism is an act of faith. You go to die. And grace attaches to faith.

37:20 - Water baptism has been stripped out of our preaching. Altar calls with no mention of water baptism. And then people continue to live in identity crisis - past sins - not knowing who they are - bound by their weakness instead of swallowed up in His strength - no grace flows because no faith - no release of faith that I am dead to live. So I’ve prayed a prayer and still feel the same in many cases. We quickly feel like we’ve lost our salvation. Like the parable of the sower - seed springing up quickly but withering without root. Or like Pastor Don W. feeling like he lost his salvation because of cursing after salvation. We feel like we’ve lost our salvation. Because there is no grace of identity change - no grace of understanding that I’m a new creature in Christ. God loves me.

38:05 - Your heart becomes pure through it all. You see His first love. And even if you sin, He says confess it. And He cleanses.


Jesus & Water Baptism - Always Preached Together


38:30 - Nowhere in the book of Acts can you find people getting saved and not water baptized the same day. We’ve slipped a long way from this truth. We hold baptisms annually or biannually. Sometimes we don’t even mention baptism. If it was that significant to the early church there has to be a power there.

38:50 - It’s a sign of covenant - I’m in the Christ. I’m in the family. I’m forgiven, saved, clean, free. And there is grace that attaches to that faith.

39:00 - In the NT when they get saved, they got water baptized. You keep seeing, “They were baptized in the name of the Lord.”

39:15 - Cornelius’ household. Holy Ghost first. Baptized right after.

39:35 - Philip and the Eunuch - Eunuch baptized right away. When Philip preached baptism, he must have preached water baptism. He didn’t preach Jesus without water baptism.

40:10 - We’re not talking about some cheap out (of the penalty for our sin). Some quick prayer on a street corner. We’re not just trying to quickly lead people to pray a prayer so that our spirituality is validated. Taking shortcuts just to get them to pray a prayer. There has to be an understanding of death and life - newness of life. And it comes through water baptism.

40:45 - Baptism of the Spirit - The beautiful thing about the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead wants to live in us and come out of us like a river. It’s all about kingdom. It’s not about heaven - just going to heaven one day. It’s about the kingdom of heaven on the earth. That’s why you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

41:15 - Nowhere in Acts did they preach the gospel without water baptism. They got baptized on the same day they believed. It was their immediate thought. Water baptism must be powerful.


Summary Thoughts


41:30 - No wonder it has slipped away. Satan is threatened by these things that carry power. So he tries to sweep them under the rug. And we keep doing the Christian, religious thing and miss the impact and power of faith and grace - faith (water baptism) to which grace attaches.

41:50 - We’ve preached a very cheap message. It should be a message of: Give back what you inherited through sin - called “yourself” - so that you can live for what you were really created for - Him and His glory. And that’s the place of freedom.

42:00 - That’s what you do in baptism. You’re selling out - giving it all up - calling it all dead. And a new baby is born. Amen.