233 - Moses & Water Baptism? Series

Sermon Study # 233 – MOSES & WATER BAPTISM?

Old Testament examples of water representing cleansing from sin:

(1) Exodus 40:12-15 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water, and put upon Aaron the holy garments, and you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests: and their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations."

(2) Num 19:7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. Num 19:8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening. Num 19:9 "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.

(3) Ezek 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. Ezek 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezek 36:27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Water baptism, in simplistic terms, represents the burial of the sinful life and the resurrection of the new life. The escape from Egypt for the Israelites represents an escape from the bondage of sin. Salvation was presented to them by a man named Moses. For he came to free them from their past. The walking through the waters at the Red Sea represents what happens after salvation. After salvation we must walk the process of being delivered from the past life. As I heard say, “The Israelites left Egypt in one day, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites.” Not only did the walking through the water represents the process after salvation, but the sign that the Egyptians all died in the water… represents how our old man will chase to get us back… but we must take the step of letting the “past life” die in the water. The act of water baptism is a response of obedience to biblical instructions. It is not necessary for heaven. The only necessity for heaven is the seal of the Holy Spirit and that is given when you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. However, as we continue to walk and grow in our faith in God, we need to demonstrate in a public testimony that we have died and been born again. This is a significant act of worship, thus the Lord Jesus Himself was also baptized in the water. He did not begin His full-time ministry until He testified in a public way that He had “fulfilled all righteousness.” Mat 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Mat 3:14 But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Mat 3:15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.

Illustrate Exodus 14:19-28 – Israelites travel through the waters

1. God saved the Israelites by setting them free from Egypt (the world).

2. The Egyptians (the world) chased the Israelites to again enslave them (to sin).

3. God protected the Israelites from the harm of the Egyptians.

4. The Lord provided the baptism in water (walking through the Red Sea).

5. The Israelites had to chose to stay and be enslaved by sin again or be baptized – to trust God that they would make it through.

6. The Egyptians still chased the Israelites even after they went through the water – your sinful past will still chase you.

7. The Egyptians all died in the water – no more sin to master the Israelites

8. However, we must be sincere and repent after water baptism and not dig up the Egyptians from the grave.

After water baptism can I still sin? Keys to defeating sin: (1) Do not let sin reign in your thoughts (2) Do not offer your body to sin

Rom 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Rom 6:2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Rom 6:3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Rom 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Rom 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. Rom 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- Rom 6:7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Rom 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Rom 6:9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. Rom 6:10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Rom 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.