Look It Up in the Concordance and Study It for Yourself

Sermon outline

Know what you believe and why you believe it from the word itself: repent, be baptised in water, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and keep being filled daily so that the river in you keeps getting deeper.

1. Know why you believe what you believe

   Bible doctrine matters because when somebody asks what you believe and why, you must be able to open the word of God and explain it. There is no error in the Bible and nothing in it you cannot find the answer to if you study it yourself. Jesus taught His disciples, and they went out in the book of Acts teaching the same things.

   Illustration: Jehovah's Witnesses are schooled in a few scriptures taken out of context. They dominate the conversation, never ask your opinion, and at the end try to sell you the book.

   “Open your Bible, look up the concordance and study it for yourself.”

2. Our fortune is in the Bible

   It is discouraging to see people walk away from the word and follow their own doctrines, carrying no Bible to church and being thrilled when someone calls out their name and phone number. What we should be elated about is that we are connected to God through Jesus Christ and that He lives in us. Believers can come together in agreement with their families and see results.

   Illustration: He recalls Pastor Adrian preaching that we do not need to go to a fortune teller, because we already know our fortune.

   “Our fortune is in the Bible, and God has good things in store for us.”

3. Baptism is a commandment of the Lord

   Lesson seven is baptism. Anyone who has given their life to Christ should be baptised as soon as possible. Grace is not permission to keep sinning: we died to sin and were buried with Christ in baptism so that we can live a new life. The two ordinances the Lord gave are baptism and holy communion, and communion is done in remembrance of the cross, where His blood removed our sins completely. Baptism is full immersion, as Jesus was baptised by John, and it is the strong command of the risen Christ and the practice of the apostles wherever they planted churches.

   Illustration: The church used to hold baptisms in the school pool at Greenwood Park, and a teaching was always given beforehand so the candidates understood what they were doing and what to expect afterwards.

   “We must keep our eyes on the cross, not on what prophet Joe said.”

   • Romans 6:1-4
   • 1 Corinthians 11:24
   • Matthew 28:19
   • Romans 10:4-8

4. Peter's three points: repent, be baptised, receive the Holy Spirit

   When the people asked what they must do, Peter gave three points everyone should remember. Repent, which means stop sinning and turn around, and when you speak to people weave it in wisely. Be baptised in water. Receive the Holy Spirit, and your whole life will change. These are the beginning steps of the Christian life from the first day of the church.

   “So when you are dealing with people, you somehow in a conversation have to weave in very wisely the issue of repentance.”

   • Acts 2:36-38

5. What baptism means

   Baptism is a symbol of the burial of the old man: under the water he dies, and out of the water comes a new life. It is a public confession, a testimony to people, to God, and to principalities and powers that God has set His seal of approval on this person. It is a definite break with the world. In the early church people were baptised immediately after conversion, so do not wait.

   Illustration: We used to go clubbing at six in the evening and come home at six in the morning, dancing all night and never tired. That door has been closed. And a light word for anyone conducting a baptism: do not dunk them and forget to bring them up.

   “Baptism is a miracle. A man is resurrected to a complete new way of life.”

   • Romans 6:11
   • Ephesians 6:12
   • Isaiah 59:19
   • Galatians 3:27
   • Romans 6:4

6. The baptism of the Holy Spirit

   Lesson eight. The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father and a free gift to every believer, not something paid for or earned by good works. He gives prophecies, dreams, visions, signs and wonders, but all of them must line up with the word of God. Christians do not live by good luck and bad luck; what we experience is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and adds no sorrow. People who go to church without being filled with the Spirit do not enjoy fellowship with God.

   Illustration: He was filled with the Spirit as a young man at a Reinhard Bonnke meeting. The next day the sun seemed so nice and the trees looked so good; it was a complete turnaround.

   “Make sure that your prophecy, dreams, vision, signs and wonders are all in line with the word of God.”

   • Proverbs 10:22
   • Acts 2:38-39

7. Resist the spirits of infirmity, poverty and religion

   Sickness and disease, poverty and religion are spirits. They will visit and try to overtake you with doubt and worry about how you will pay the bills, and great men and women of God have resisted them with the word and prayer. The Holy Spirit is the One who has kept you, your children and your family time and again.

   Illustration: You cannot help a poor man only by giving him money and a can of soup, though he is not saying you should not.

   “It is the spirit of God that kept you from this, from death.”

8. Be filled fresh every day

   There is a first infilling of the Holy Spirit and then many more, because we are spending ourselves in the world and we run dry. Pray together as a family and as a church, but shut the door and spend secret time alone with God, where the Spirit fills you afresh with power, strength and wisdom.

   Illustration: Being filled with the Spirit feels like a hot shower after a hard day's work.

   “So there is just not one infilling, there are many.”

9. The river that keeps getting deeper

   Ezekiel's river is measured out again and again, from ankle deep to knee deep to waist deep to a river too deep to cross, and wherever it flows everything lives. We are like trees planted by the rivers: our leaves stay green, we keep bearing fruit, and we lack no good thing.

   “We are like trees planted by the rivers. Our leaves shall always be green and our trees will always produce fruit.”

   • Ezekiel 47:1-10

In this message