Hey everybody. Welcome back to another edition of the daily Bible podcast. Hello and good morning. It is Sunday morning and we have baptisms at church today. Wow. What a day. Red letter day. It is a red letter day. Not our first baptisms ever, but our first onsite baptisms. This is exciting. It is exciting. What are we going to be doing? We are doing it right after service. About 20 minutes after we wrap up. So 1120 is usually when we wrap our service, 1140 we're going to be outside. We have. pizza for everybody because we know we're asking you to stay a little bit later, but it's going to be worth it. We want our whole church family there to celebrate this. This is monumental for these five lives that are going to be given their testimony about what God has done in their life. And so we want you there. We want you to be there with your family. So we want to feed you because we know right after church, kids get hungry. We get hungry. So I'm going to have a piece of ravenous in the tank with me. I'm going to be so funny as they're giving their testimony as you're holding them down under the water. Hold on. Let me finish my slice. Yeah. That's good. And we have five people that are going to be telling the greatest story they could possibly tell, which is how God has transformed their life from unregenerate to regenerate, how God has brought them to new life in Christ. And that is the purpose of this. And so a lot of churches, you'll see them do it different ways and in, scripture is largely quiet on the methodology of how you go about the, all the peripherals we know we believe we're. We're convinced of immersion being the right method of baptism that's what baptizo to be placed into implies is full immersion. And so that's what we do. But as far as what else is involved in that scripture is largely quiet on that. But what we do is we like to have the baptismal candidate give their testimony in front of their church family because it's a reminder of why they're there rather than just having me say, Hey, Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and having them say yes and then dunking them, we want them to be able to own their story in front of their people. And it also gives our church an opportunity to rejoice specifically over what God has done in this person's life. So it's a, I love the way that we do it. I think it's Lord willing as, as long as we're here and God allows us to continue. I think we'll always do baptisms this way. I love hearing the testimony from the person getting baptized. Amen to that. I really appreciate that as well. The story, the personalization of it all, even though there's a danger, Some people talk a long time and they just get excited about their story. So naturally they just want to share the whole thing. But besides that, it's a really special experience. Now here's a couple of questions that I know some people are going to ask why do Christians get baptized? First of all, what does it mean? Why do they do it? Why do we do it? It means to be placed into the word literally means to be placed into as I referenced earlier. And so there are two baptisms that we find in scripture. The first is baptism in the spirit, which is coincidental with regeneration with conversion. You are placed into Christ by the spirit that takes place at the moment that you're saved. It's not a subsequent thing down the road. As some churches believe that there's a being baptized by the spirit later on down the road. A lot of times you'll hear churches say that is accompanied with a, an assigned gift, usually speaking in tongues. We don't adhere to that. We don't believe that's the scriptural teaching. We believe that it's part and parcel with salvation. Roman six says that you have been placed into, you've been baptized into Christ death. And so we believe that takes place at the moment of salvation, the moment of conversion. And then there's the water baptism and that's what we're about to do on Sunday today. And that's different because this is a symbol. It's an, sometimes you'll hear people say it's an outward expression of an inward reality. It's a symbol of that being placed into Christ, being buried with him by baptism into his death and being raised to newness of life. And so another reason why we believe in the validity of immersion is it really symbolized that the person is literally submerged in the water, which is a symbol of their. burial with Christ and they are brought back out of the water which is a symbol of their resurrection to the newness of life. So Romans six is a lot of the background that the physical act of baptism represents or symbolizes. So naturally one of the questions is going to be, does someone need to be baptized to be saved or to be part of the church? So the act itself showcases something. It doesn't necessarily do something. But if someone professes faith, but has been dragging their heels to get baptized for whatever reason, does this in any way put their faith at risk? I don't think it puts their faith at risk. It's not a requirement for salvation. Even the text in first Peter that says baptism, which corresponds to this now saves you is not. referring to water baptism because he goes on to say not as a washing of water, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience and that appeal to God for a good conscience refers to spirit baptism. It's conversion. That's what's giving us a good conscience is our repentance and faith in Jesus. That said baptism is a biblical command. It's something that Jesus has commanded of his followers. And so if you are a Christian and you are saying, I don't want to be baptized or you're giving excuses as to why it's not for you then I would say that there's a danger there in that you are walking in action. of disobedience to the Lord in that. And so while it doesn't save you, it is part of your sanctification and it's a step of obedience that is very clear and plain in scripture. There are gray areas in scripture. Baptism is not a gray area. It's a command. And so if you're out there and you haven't been baptized, you're listening to this, let me encourage you to come in and talk with us and say, Hey, when's the next one? Cause I need to get signed up for that. Yeah. I really liked the analogy of saying that baptism is the Bible and it's not a thing for us to talk about. We're more than happy to talk about it. And if you're curious about how that works for you, if you want to get into the Bible unfortunately you need to do that. But if you want to know more, you can go to Deuteronomy 2 and On the other hand, if you want to learn how to read Hebrew, go to Deuteronomy 1 and just the whole list. you're looking at your Bible and you're looking at this text Fair warning for you for your daily Bible reading tomorrow, you're going to have four chapters and granted, they're not terribly long. Any of them, all of them are right around 20 verses, but it's, you're, you carve out some extra time tomorrow cause you're gonna have four chapters tomorrow. It's going to be a long day. Yeah. Long morning. And I, I like those mornings. I just, it, it just takes a long time to get through it. It does. It does. Yeah. So just in an effort not to rush through it, give yourself a little bit extra time tomorrow. Good call. Deuteronomy 14. This chapter contains reminders about the laws of purification, including what they were allowed to eat and what they were to abstain from. And it concludes with a section on tithing that had to that had been amended now versus what it was previously to include the instructions on bringing tithes to the Lord's chosen place. So remember God was setting up camp at a specific location in the promised land, and he wanted. The sacrifices and offerings brought there, including the tithes, they were to be brought there. And so there's a progression of the revelation as God is helping his people understand how he is to be worshiped. Now that they're about to enter into the promised land. Amen. Yeah. No, though versus 25 through 26 year tithing here is to be something that's celebratory. It's joyful. It's celebratory that people were to participate even in the fruit of their tithes. And that's worth note here because you'll notice there to. Turn in there. The ones that are too far away, turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand, go to the place that the Lord chooses, and then buy what you desire, oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat it therefore before the Lord, your God and rejoice you in your household. And so there's a parallel here to today and giving in the church. In that the gifts and offerings that you give to the church, you're going to participate in the blessings that those will provide. You're going to participate in the joy of that. It's not the same as paying your taxes to the government. And there they go. And it's Oh man, I just paid for who knows what's going to happen. When you're giving to the church, you're giving to. We'll see the church continue to serve you and your family and do great things for the body of Christ in general. So there's a joy that should be accompanied with our gifts as we give our offerings on a weekly basis because it's going to benefit us as well. So is tithing biblical or to ask it differently, is tithing something that Christians are supposed to do? Yeah. And we need to be careful with that. I think we've talked about that before. We have, it's worth repeating. Yeah. The tithe in the old Testament is different from giving in the new Testament. The tithe in the old Testament was tithe means a 10th, but there were multiple tithes that were brought such that I think it was close to 35 to, I think I've heard even up to close to 40 percent of one's material income or property that they had, that they were tithing or giving every year. We say 10 percent because it's a good target. It's a good starting place. It's a good place to say, Hey, this is a good place for you to start. It doesn't mean that's all you can give and there's going to be seasons where you may be in some financial straits and you're giving a little bit less than that. I think always. Setting your heart to give something is important. And if 10 percent of it can be your target, that's a great place for you to have a target and to give from, but there's not a correlation between the old Testament tithe and the new Testament offering other than it's an act of worship that we're rendering to the Lord. Yeah, I would add one minor thing. And it's that the old Testament came with a certain level of glory, but you have a much greater glory in the new Testament. If the law was binding on our consciences in the old, with these kinds of strictures and these kinds of giving patterns, I would dare say that the goal for the Christian is to be generous. And I think you have lots of evidence for that in the new Testament. Our giving is to reflect the generosity of our God. That's essentially why we give, although there is something of a parallel between the Levites and the pastors. And basically we live off of your giving. That's how that works. But I think the goal for the Christian. It's generosity. And the reason for that generosity is of course, because of the generosity of Christ. Yeah. I had a mentor who told me before going into pastoral ministry full time, he said, you're not any different than a missionary other than you're raising support every week. That's true. A missionary is going to come home over the summer and visit the supporting churches, but it's just a week. Yeah. Yeah. Chapter 15. Then we get in here to rules for observing the Sabbath year and for how to treat the poor among the people. And so again, remember this is something Israel is going to neglect and this is part of what God is going to judge Israel for. Is there a failure to observe the Sabbath years, the year of Jubilee, so forth and so on. They're not going to do this well. And so in chapter 15 we get this again, this concept of in seven years there's a release of all debtors. Deuteronomy 15. 4 is interesting. He says, there's not going to be any poor among you. And that's pointing to the blessings of the land and the abundant produce and provision that's going to be there in the land. Instead, they're going to be the bar, the lender, not the borrower, the ruler, not the slave. And so they're there to be generous to your point, there to be a generous people. We as Christians are to be a generous people as well. But this is something that, that Israel is not going to do well on. Yeah, in fact, we even get an allusion to that because look at verse 11, even though verse four said, there's not going to be any poor among you. Deuteronomy 15, 11 mentions there being poor. And so here it seems that Moses betrays. He knows that Israel is not going to be perfectly obedient in this. They're not going to be even close to perfectly obedient in this, and there's going to be judgment and part of the judgment is they're not going to have all the blessings that otherwise God would have provided for them. Yeah. Look at verse 10. You should you're, you shall give to him freely and your heart shall not be begrudging or grudging when you give to him because for this, the Lord, your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake that attitude is what God promised to bless. And anything contrary to that is what God promises is going to be something that's going to be a challenge for them. Not going to be good. So you're right. I think I saw that. I thought, okay, he's saying no poor here. And yet he's also saying, by the way, there's going to be poor. I think the first part is aspirational. This is what I want for you guys. This is what would result in your good. But knowing that you're stubborn and hardhearted, here's the reality. Let me tell you how to operate with this. Yeah. And I think that's the verse that Jesus is referring to when he says, you will always have the poor with you. When his. They're, he's confronted about not selling the perfume, I believe it is in giving to the poor. And he says, you're always going to have the poor with you. I think this is a, that's a callback here to this particular passage. That's fair. Deuteronomy 16. Then we get into the list of the different feasts again. And you get Passover versus one through eight. You've got the feast of weeks in versus nine through 12, the feast of booths in versus 13 through 17 Passover. Notice the change here is to be observed. at the place of worship. And so again, there's going to be a physical location. There's going to be a constant place, a static place. That's where the Passover was to be observed, but everything else in keeping with the previous instructions there that Israel had received the Feast of Weeks. Remember this is what comes to be known as Pentecost. And so in Acts 2, 1, when it says on the day of Pentecost, we think Pentecost and we immediately think Acts chapter 2, we think about the tongues of fire descending and everything else happening there. And we think that's Pentecost. was actually the feast that was being observed when that took place. And so the feast is the feast of weeks here, seven weeks from the start of harvest. It's the celebration of God's faithfulness, his blessing, his provision. That's what comes to be known as Pentecost. And it's at that time that the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples in Acts chapter two. 13 through 17, then we get the feast of booths. This is one of my favorites just because it's fun to camping, it's camping and they still do it today in Israel. People will set up on, even on their back patios, they'll set up these tents and they'll decorate them and they'll have dinner outside in these tents every single night during this feast season because it's a reminder of the time of traveling through the wilderness. And so this is a seven day feast remembering God's blessing and provision during the wilderness. wandering specifically. And those are the three major ones, Passover weeks and booths. Those are the three ones that when we get to the new Testament era, these are the three that are required for all Jewish males to, it was required for them to show up on the temple Mount. So if you remember when Jesus sent his brothers up ahead of him and people were looking for Jesus at the feast, cause it was Passover time. They said, certainly he's going to be here. He's not going to not show up. And that was because that was one of the feasts at the time. Required for him to show up at. And so this is a, this is the backdrop here that we're getting right now, that we read a lot of the new Testament against. Yeah. And all of these things, ultimately, I guess this is my theology. I'm not sure if you would a hundred percent agree with this PBJ, but I'd like for you to talk about this. I love it when you purpose things like that. That's how I want to start everything. Cause then it makes people lean in and say, Oh let's hear what they're going to say. Everything points to Christ and everything's fulfilled in Christ. And so ultimately these three things, these three feasts point to Christ in some way, shape or form. He is the fulfillment of the law. He's the one who fulfills the Passover, fulfills the feast of weeks. He's the harvest we've been waiting for the harvest of righteousness. He's the celebration. That gives us joy. And he of course is our shelter. He's the one that we go to and he's he's the one that is really the backdrop to all of these old Testament narratives. Now you can go really dangerous places there. So I need to qualify that, put an asterisk next to that and say, look this is generally a good practice, but you can go astray here. So be careful with that. But these all in my estimation point to Jesus. I think you're right. We would agree on that. And I think that's one of the reasons why we're not still celebrating them. It's why you're not reading in Ephesians that you need to also celebrate the feast of the Passover and celebrate the feast of the booths and the feast of, and people do talk about that. People do this on a Friday night, Friday to Saturday, they'll do a Shabbat Seder. That's the one. Yeah. Yeah. And I think there's It's okay to do that. I've gone to one before and there's a ton of symbolism, especially if you go to one that's led by a Messianic Jew who is a Jew, Jewish believer, a Jewish follower of Christ. They are able to do what you're talking about here and point to even all the individual elements of the Passover meal and show how these anticipated Christ and how Christ fulfilled them. Christ is the type to them or the anti type to them as the type. So I think it's okay to do that as. And just a point of interest and even learning and appreciating some of these things. But if anybody's going to put that Obligation or that requirement on you and say, Hey Christian, you have to do these things. That's where we'd say, wait a minute. No, there's freedom in Christ. These things have reached their fulfillment in him. They pointed to him. And so for us to continue to participate in these things are kinda like the Jew still looking for a savior to come. So I it's not, we're not under obligation to do them. But can somebody do it? Yeah. I think somebody can participate in it as a Christian and really appreciate it more as they appreciate the fulfillment in Christ, amen to that. Now we just, again, reiterate the, there is a danger in looking for Jesus under every rock and in every crevice in the old Testament, by and large, the large strokes of the Bible are going to point to Jesus and land on him. He is the terminus. He is the tell us, but there's other times where people will take that methodology. That understanding and then start looking for Jesus everywhere. And I guess I don't want to point it out to you and say here's a good idea. Cause it's not a good idea. It's a bad idea. Read scripture rightly. It all points to Jesus, but not every single detail that can be seen or understood in the old Testament is necessarily a pointer to Christ. Correct. And I've done with you on that. Yep. Yep. Let's pray. And then we'll be done with this episode. God, we are rejoicing with the five that are, we trust baptized this morning and bearing testimony of what you have done in their life. We're thankful for them and their stories of of your faithfulness to them. And we just pray for more. We ask that we would have more baptisms, more occasions to rejoice with others that have been saved. And so we thank you for this time in our church and this time with them this morning, God, we thank you for your word. And we're grateful to be able to read through this. And we are so thankful that so much of the law did point to Christ and found its fulfillment in Christ. And so much of the ceremony and things along those lines, the details, we should read Deuteronomy numbers all of these books with a gratitude that Christ has come and satisfied so much of this on our behalf, that our we're not doing the same things. We're not traveling with our goats and our bowls to, to offer our sacrifices anymore. We have Jesus and Jesus is better. And so we thank you so much for that. And we praise you for that in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Keep reading your Bibles. Tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the daily Bible podcast. See you.

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