We learn from the laver that baptism not leads us into the Christian walk; it also leads us into Christian fellowship and soul-winning. This is the mission of the church.
First, let us notice that baptism is the precursor to both salvation and church fellowship:
Acts 16:29-33
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Following his belief and acceptance of Christ, the jailer was baptized. Then read verse 34:
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
The jailer and his now-believing family fellowship with their new Christian friends, Pail and Silas. "Fellowship", according to The Free Dictionary is "the condition of sharing similar interests, ideals, or experiences, as by reason of profession, religion, or nationality." For Christians, this means that we have a "mutual trust and charitableness between Christians."
The church functions as a support group: "We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear." As we bear one another's burdens, we help each other to grow in grace through prayer, Bible study, counseling, etc.
In Acts 19:1-7, Paul rebaptizes a group of seven men. They had been baptized by John the Baptist, and therefore had not received the Holy Ghost; for John had said: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire..."[1]
After sharing the truth about Jesus with those disciples, Paul baptized them. He then laid hands on them, and they were given the Holy Spirit. This illustrates yet another function of the church: to exercise the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The men were given the ability to both speak in tongues and to prophesy. The church is given varied gifts, to each man a portion. Those gifts may or may not align with a person's natural talents: but used in a spiritual setting, the gifts will equip the person for God's service. 1 Corinthians 12 - 14, Ephesians 4, and Romans 12 all outline some of theses gifts. But they are scattered all over the Bible!
But I am quite certain that they also learned to develop the love, joy peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance with which they were bestowed.[2] As Peter says, add to you faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance.[3] Perhaps the first seven attributes of the fruit of the Spirit are the virtue, meekness is the knowledge[4], and temperance is just that. In fact, Peter goes on to say that the purpose of these gifts and virtues is to remind us of the decision that we made in baptism and to perfect us in holiness so that we can truly enter the pearly gates.[5]
The most famous conversion story is that recorded in Acts 2. Here Peter preaches to the crowd of Jews who have come from far and near to celebrate Pentecost.
Acts 2:37-42
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Again, following repentance and baptism, they received the Holy Ghost and were added to the church. They continued in Bible study, in prayer, in love one to another. And they were only the church because they did these things![6]
So why is it needful that we fellowship with other believers? Can't I be spiritual on my own, just God and I?
Let us go back to our model: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."[7]
An ensample is a stamp, sampler, or model. In essence, it is a piece of the real thing. Webster's 1828 defines it as "a pattern or model for imitation."
So, what did the children of Israel do after being baptized in the Red Sea?
1 Corinthians 10:3-4
And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
All. They were in fellowship, all eating the same spiritual food; all drinking the same spiritual drink; all following Christ. Yes, some were tares. But all knew better.
This principle of all is also seen in Ephesians 4:
Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Exodus 15:17-19 tells us that we worship God in His sanctuary: we all come together into one meeting place to celebrate what the Lord has done for us.
Church fellowship is enjoined upon us in Hebrews 10:22-26, which reads:
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins..."
After we have been cleansed both physically and spiritual through the rite of baptism, we are to assemble together and exhort one another. Continuing in love and good works -- the Christian walk - requires Christian fellowship. And should we fail to do so when we know better, the punishment is costly.
Ivor Meyers, a pastor in California, tells the following story in his sermon "City of Fire" (also known as "A Love Story"):
"When I first came into the church, my friend who brought me into the church was ... dreadlocks, smoking marijuana with me. Seventh-day Adventist, backslidden.
"And I remember one day, we were talking. And we were just sitting down, and he said, 'You know, ... if you take a bundle of sticks, and light them, what's gonna happen?'
"And I said, 'All the sticks are gonna burn."
"Then he said, 'If you take one of those sticks, and move it away from the bundle of burning sticks, what will happen to that stick?'
"And I said, 'The stick would go out.'
"Beloved, .. That was years ago. I never forgot that conversation. It lasted two minutes.
"He said, 'What happens if you take that stick, and put it back in the burning bundle?'
"And I said, 'It will get on fire again.'
"Ever since that day, I have made sure that I surround myself with "burning sticks." Beloved, surround yourself with burning sticks."
- Matthew 3:11
- Galatians 5:22-23
- 2 Peter 1:5-6
- Philippians 2:5; Matthew 11:29
- 2 Peter 1:8-11; Revelation 22:14-15
- John 8:31; Colossians 4:2; John 15:9
No comments:
Post a Comment