Title: What Are You Waiting For? The Response.
Place: BLCC
Date: 5/24/15
Text: Acts 22.16; Acts conversions
CT: Answer God’s Call
FAS: In the ongoing battle against oversleeping, humanity has devised some clever alarm clocks. But for all their clever designs, most alarm clocks still suffer from a common drawback: the fact that they're not designed for multiple users. When one person's alarm goes off, other people in the room or throughout the house have to wake up too. Most alarm clocks have no way to selectively wake up one person and leave the other person undisturbed. Until now, that is.
Freshly launched on Kickstarter, Wake is a new breed of alarm that targets individual users and wakes up one sleeper without rousing others. Here's how it works. After it's mounted to the wall above the bed, the device uses an infrared temperature sensor and special body-tracking software to discern where each person is lying (without a camera). When it's time to wake one person up, Wake silently takes aim, rotates into position, and then directs a tight burst of light and sound at their face.
To keep from rousing other sleepers, the device uses a set of parametric speakers capable of focusing sound into a narrow beam. Think of it as a spotlight for noise. If Wake is pointed straight at your head you'll hear it loud and clear, but if you're outside of the beam's small radius, the sound will be extremely faint. Lucera Labs will ship the first batch in September 2015.
LS. The voice of God is personal and heard only by each individual, like Paul on the road to Damascus, to young Samuel in his sleep. How is God calling you today? Are you alert to His alarm or are you going to keep pushing the snooze button to put Him off.
I. A. Dave Stone’s joke (Yakoff Smirnoff) about Powdered milk. Powdered orange juice. Baby Powder? Some may believe you just add water to a sinner and you get a Christian. Not water only. Our salvation and forgiveness of sin is more than getting wet. Hear, believe, repent, confess, baptize. I am not down playing or over emphasizing baptism. All I want to do is see what the Bible says about baptism.
Last week I began a 2-week series on baptism. In the first sermon I pointed out four things about baptism; 1) It is personal, 2) It unites us with Christ, 3) It is our expression of faith and 4) It is our act of obedience to Christ. Our main text last week and this week is Acts 22.16, And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.
B. Is God trying to get your attention today? Is your personal alarm clock going off? You can keep hitting the snooze button, but it won’t quit. God is, as I have said before, The Hound form Heaven. He will continue to seek you. He won’t quit. You are too valuable to Him.
The book of Acts is full of people that God did various things to get their attention. The ways may have varied but the response was always the same. Once they believed it was immediately followed by baptism. We are going to unpack several examples of baptism in Acts. It will show decision follows belief.
C. – Acts 2:36-40, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off —for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day
On the day the church started, 3,000 people responded to Peter’s sermon by being baptized. These folks heard God’s alarm clock loud and clear that day. They hadn’t come to be buried with Christ but they sure left drenched.
The apostles were on a mission from Christ, Matthew 28,19, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Acts is that fulfillment of that mission. It is full of baptisms.
-- Acts 8: 9-13, Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw
-- Acts 8:35-38, Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
Philip started with Isaiah and told the Ethiopian eunuch the good news about Jesus, and the Ethiopian was baptized.
-- Acts 9:1-18, Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Saul is blinded and fasts for three days, but when he hears the gospel from Anaias and is healed, he gets up and gets baptized immediately—even before eating.
-- Acts 10:34-48, So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
Cornelius, a Gentile, and his household believe and are baptized.
-- Acts 16:14-15
Lydia, an influential, fairly affluent woman in Philippi, and her family respond to Paul’s message and are baptized.
-- Acts 16:29-34
The jailer in Paul and Silas’ cell believes and is baptized when an earthquake releases the prisoners after Paul and Silas had been worshiping God.
-- Acts 18:8
The Corinthian synagogue ruler, Crispus, his family, and other Corinthian believers hear Paul preach, believe, and are baptized.
In each case the people hear, then believe, they repent, they are baptized.
-- Acts 19:4-5
Twelve men in Ephesus who had been baptized by John the Baptist hear Paul preach about Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the fulfillment of John’s baptism, and are baptized now into Christ.
These are all spontaneous. They did not schedule their baptisms. When God called they answered. When the wake up call came, they acted.
II. So. Is it important? As I have said before, don’t ask me.
Jesus said in Mark 16.16, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
John 14.15, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
Honestly, we should consider it a privilege to be baptized. Not a duty. If you really see it as a duty you have to do, why bother. Reminds me of the devotion Jeremy Cantrell did a few weeks ago about inviting Jesus into our lives. He is always with us. We have to allow Him in.
Baptism is an invitation we give to God to come in and cleanse our heart. To make us new. 1 Peter 3.21, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The DBR. Death is defeated.
III. So what? God wants your attention. He wants your response. The great thing is He will accept you just as you are today. Flaws and all. Doesn’t matter what you have done or where you have been. Let God cleanse your heart and your life today.
What are you waiting for? Baptism, commitment and eternal identification with Christ Jesus will change your life forever. You will make a decision. What are you waiting for?
Everything is ready. We have plenty of towels. The water is fresh. The Ethiopian said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” Just like Saul, your eyes will see. All are allowed. The water is even warm. We have everything we need but one thing. You.
The alarm is going off. Its time. Don’t wait. God is calling. Don’t just push the snooze today. Get up and be baptized.
