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[0:00] Just some words about baptism. I think it's timely considering after the service we're going to have a baptism. So that will be held at the Starplex at Gawler. So everyone's welcome to come to the Starplex at Gawler.

[0:14] We're going to schedule it roughly about quarter past twelve. That's when the lesson time will be clear and the pool will be largely clear. And so it will be a great opportunity of public witness there at the Starplex at Gawler.

[0:28] It's important to think about the subject of baptism. Obviously it's a scriptural subject. And we read about it in Acts chapter 8. For example we hear the account of Philip and the eunuch.

[0:42] And so here is Philip. God's directed him from the revival of the time to a dusty outback track in the desert where a man is there searching for answers.

[0:54] We read there from Acts 8 verse 26. And it says, And he said, And he said, And he arose and went.

[1:10] And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning.

[1:23] And sitting in the chariot, read Isaiah the prophet. Then the spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran with it to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, And said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

[1:40] And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb, done before his sharer, so opened he not his mouth.

[2:00] In his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself, or of some other man.

[2:18] Then Philip opened his mouth and began at that same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went down on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, And the eunuch said, See, here is water, what does hinder me to be baptized?

[2:37] And Philip said, If thou believe us with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

[2:48] And he commanded the tarot to stand still. And they went down, both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch. And he baptized him.

[3:01] And when they were coming up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way, rejoicing. So we see, God is interested in the individual.

[3:14] Philip was at this revival, Samaria, and then he went to this dusty track in the desert. And he met this man from Ethiopia, who was traveling on a chariot.

[3:27] He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning now to his home country. And as he was sat in the chariot, it says he was reading from the book of Isaiah. Here was this man from Ethiopia.

[3:39] He was a royal treasurer. He was a religious man. He traveled so far to worship God. And here he was now, returning in his chariot to his home country.

[3:50] He didn't understand what he was reading. The prophet Isaiah. He was religious, yet he knew not the Saviour. And Philip gave him the gospel. He introduced him to the Saviour.

[4:01] Now we could reflect that. Perhaps it was Isaiah 53. Well, it was obviously in part referred to.

[4:12] Isaiah 53. Where it adds, Also, He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him.

[4:24] And with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep have gone astray. The Lord have laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Then it goes on to say, He was oppressed, He was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth, As a sheep before, As shearers is done.

[4:41] So openeth not his mouth. He opened not his mouth. So friends, this is obviously a prophecy about our Lord. And so Philip then showed the eunuch, As he'd been reading from Isaiah, He showed him how that Christ had, As Paul condensed it to this verse here in 1 Corinthians 15, How that Christ had died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

[5:06] How that he was buried and he rose on the third day according to the Scriptures. So again, it's in absolute fulfilment of these truths.

[5:17] So in Scripture we see that people get saved. When they hear the Gospel, They trust Christ, They receive His salvation. And then they get baptised, As we see here. One of our folk who was baptised in the last few months.

[5:32] We see that people, They receive God's word, They believe, And they are baptised. So it follows on. The Gospel message is individually received. Just as the eunuch, As one man received, Each one receives and believes the Gospel.

[5:46] And so the eunuch heard the word of God, And faith comes by hearing. We see the word of God urges us to trust Christ, To know Him, To repent.

[5:57] But it talks about a turning, A change of mind, Of heart, Of direction. You know, The eunuch had a change of direction on that Damascus road. He did a U-turn effectively, And trusted Christ.

[6:09] And we see as Paul answered the Philippian jailer, What must I do to be saved? He says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, And thou shalt be saved, And thy house. At that moment of faith, Of believing, We're saved.

[6:23] As we trust Christ. And the Bible speaks how our hearts can be purified by faith. How the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. How the stone of our sin can be removed by the precious blood of Christ.

[6:34] It's the blood of Christ that saves that, Our trust in His work of the cross saves. So the eunuch was saved as he trusted Christ. And then he asked Philip, As kind of the next natural question, About being baptised.

[6:49] So what is baptism? Baptism is a picture. It's a picture, A type of what takes part in the heart of a believer.

[7:00] What takes place in the heart of a believer, The moment they are saved. And it's our joyful obedience to then follow on to baptism. We read how baptism is described, As Paul told the Romans in chapter 6, That we are buried with Him by baptism into death.

[7:18] Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of God the Father, Even so, we should walk in the ines of life. For if we've been planted together in the likeness of His death, We shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

[7:34] So it identifies you with the Lord Jesus. The water represents like a grave. And as Christ went down into the grave, And then He comes up alive, Resurrected, victorious.

[7:47] Baptism pictures that too, How we're buried, And rise to life in our Christian walk. So that's what it's all about. It's that picture of Christ's work in our life.

[8:00] And we see, Someone has pictured it here. There's the death of Christ, Pictured as we go down into the watery grave, As we're buried in the water, We're immersed.

[8:16] And then, As we rise to life in Christ, When we're raised up out of the water. So it's a full picture of all that, The death, burial and resurrection of our Lord, As the believer dies, As in dying to the world, To sin, As we bury, And then as we're raising up into newness of life.

[8:39] Not that the water affects that, But it's a picture of that spiritual work. So there's a picture there of our dying, Of the old you, And of our old sinful self, Put to death, No more.

[8:52] And then of the new life, We're alive. And we signify that new and glorious life, That abundant eternal life, In Christ. And so here's another one, Here, Of one of our number, That we're baptised.

[9:05] So, You might be a believer, And have yet to be baptised, And I urge you this morning, Just to consider, It's an important step, That is a natural step, For you to take.

[9:18] And it's in obedience to our Lord, It shows your relationship to Him. It gives testimony, Of your conversion, Of your faith in Christ. And our Lord says, Whosoever therefore shall confess me, Before men, Him will I confess, Before my Father, Which is in heaven.

[9:35] So I want to say, Every baptism is a sermon. It preaches Christ, It preaches salvation, Through Christ's work. It encourages new believers, To show they belong to Him. So I want to say, Baptism is like a wedding, Where we pledge our love, Publicly.

[9:50] And that relationship, Between you and the Lord. And baptism doesn't make you a believer, But it shows that you already believe. Baptism does not save you, Only your faith in Christ does that.

[10:02] Some of us likewise compare it, That baptism is like a wedding ring. It's the outward symbol, Of the commitment, That you've made in your heart. It's that outward symbol, Of your obedience to the Lord.

[10:15] Of course our Lord says, Some will say Lord, Lord, But they did not do, What he asked of them. So it's important that we do, Obey our Lord. Even our Lord himself, Set the example, And at his baptism, The Father declared, This is my beloved son, In whom I am well cleansed.

[10:35] So it pleases God, To do that baptism, To identify with Christ in that way. It's also identifying you, With the local body.

[10:46] When someone is baptised, They're added to the church, As the scriptural example there. Also. So the eunuch asked of Philip, What hinders me from being baptised?

[10:59] And then Philip answers that question, He says really, That there's only this essential truth here, For those that want to be baptised, They must firstly, They must believe, That Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

[11:13] And they must believe with their whole heart. So who should be baptised? Those who have trusted Christ, Who believe in the Saviour, And have trusted him, They've had that turnaround, That change of mind, That conversion in Christ, That surrender.

[11:30] And so Peter urges, He commanded them, To be baptised. For the believer, It's a command. And the will of God, It's not an optional thing.

[11:42] The gospel demands a response, And it's a glad response. It says that they trusted Christ, They received his word, They received salvation, They were baptised.

[11:53] It's the next thing, To follow on. So, This morning, I urge each one, To consider these things, To consider your own, Standing in this matter, And take heart.

[12:06] And again, If you're able to come, And witness the baptism, To encourage those, That are being baptised, That would be, A wonderful thing. I know, Joshua, Is going to just come forward, And say, Say a few words.

[12:19] Joshua's going to be baptised this morning, Come forward Joshua, Joshua, Just a short little statement, He wants to, To make. And yeah, You can take the mask off Joshua, For that. So, We thank God for Joshua, It's trusted the Lord, I want to say a few words, Joshua.

[12:34] Um, Uh, Good morning everyone. Good morning Joshua. Um, So, Um, When I first, Started attending church, It was, Three years ago, And, Not once have I actually, Been baptised through that, Through then, Because I, Never really fully, Believed properly.

[12:54] Um, In the recent months, I decided that, Um, I do believe that, Uh, That Jesus is my Lord and Saviour. And, And, Uh, My comforter, My king.

[13:09] Um, So, The reason, Why I want to be baptised, Is to show my obedience, To, To the Lord, And to Jesus. And, Yeah, That's, That's it.

[13:24] Amen. Yeah, Praise God. God bless you Joshua. Yeah, Praise the Lord. We're going to be praying for Joshua. I know Jennifer is also, Being baptised, I believe this morning, But I can't see her present, Just now, But, I'm sure, She'll, Testify at the pool, God willing, Shortly so.

[13:44] Um, So that's at the starplex, About 1215, If you'd like to come and witness the baptism. Amen. Amen. Well, Just if you'd like to address the people, And, Maybe just share how the Lord saved you, Why are you getting baptised today?

[13:59] Um, Hello everyone, My name's Jennifer. Um, Yes, It's a long story. Um, I grew up in a Christian home, Um, But when I was a teenager, I kind of, Wanted to fit in.

[14:15] And, I got a little bit lost for a while. Um, And I guess the Lord showed me the darkness of the world. And, Um, I realised without the Lord, Um, Um, Life is horrible.

[14:35] Um, And, Um, Yeah, I'm a bit nervous.

[14:48] Um, And He's really opened my eyes to, Um, The love that He has for us, And how, He wants to, Um, I guess point us to, What is good and right in the world.

[15:08] Um, Yeah, I'm not, I just kind of bit. So you trusted the Lord as you say. Yes, Um, Yeah, I guess I was ashamed of, Um, Turning from the Lord in my teenage years.

[15:24] And, I actually came to this church. So ashamed. And I stood at the back, Um, My beanie, And I kind of had my head down. And, Um, I remember that sermon and I cried.

[15:37] From there, Um, She's slowly been working in me and, Changing me and, Um, Yeah, I trusted the Lord.

[15:50] I think, A few months after my first visit. Um, And, Has, Wanted me to, Um, Show, Um, The world that I am saved.

[16:03] And I have trusted. Amen. Praise God. Thanks so much. Praise the Lord. What a testimony. Praise God. Praise God.