01/23/11 - Pickled - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on being "Pickled" in this Sunday service.

Pickled

Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, January 23, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”

Mark 16:16 “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.”  (Note: condemnation is not tied to baptism but to belief)

1.   Baptism: 2 verbs: bapto and baptisma—Bapto is a temporary dipping into boiling water to cleanse (our symbolic immersion) and Baptisma produces permanent change (the Greek word describes the process of being pickled—removal from the surrounding air and immersion into a vinegar solution that produces permanent change)
2.   The cucumber and the pickle.  Started off the same, but a change has happened.  The pickle looks different, smells different, tastes different.  The cucumber, pulled from the vine is rotting, while the pickle, in the solution, is preserved.  The DNA has changed.
3.   Our belief in Christ permeates us.  We are new creations.  Stay immersed.  Don’t stay out of the solution for too long.
4.   Baptism, being pickled, identifies me with Christ, his death and resurrection—the victory over satan.  Satan has no power over the pickle!
5.   Baptized out of something and baptized into something.
6.   Baptism is a pledge.
7.   Baptism, being pickled, changes us and will change those around us.

Nicander (a Greek poet and physician, who lived about 200 B.C.) says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptized' (baptisma) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptizing the vegetable, produces a permanent change. When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g. Mark 16:16. 'He that believes and is baptized shall be saved'. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!

Romans 6:4 “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

Colossians 2:12 “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”

Such is what has happened here….those who are in Christ, are fully in Him. They have been cut off from the influencing power of satan. So much so, that we are fully united with Him in His death, and what it accomplished. What did the death of Christ accomplish? It crushed the head of Satan. The death of the Son of God thwarted Satan’s rule over God’s people. It is exactly contextually complete with what has been said already. In Adam, we died. Satan wielded the power that God gave him, and used it to inflict a mortal wound. But God made a promise, directly concerning this…that the seed of the woman would come. Perfect, sinless Man; infinite, holy God in human flesh would live and die and be raised again conquering death. That the death of Christ, being just a bruise on His heel, would crush the head of Satan. Satan, who tempted and drew mankind into sin, who rules and reigns as the god of this world, has been dealt a fatal blow to the head, in that he cannot rule and reign over those who are in Christ. His throne has been debunked.

1 Corinthians 12:13 “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.”
-   Baptism out of something—Jews, Gentiles, slave, free: our old ways of identifying ourselves that focused on differences and separation—Baptism into something—the Church where we focus on what brings us together (we all share the same Spirit)

1 Peter 3:21 HCSB “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
-   Baptism is a pledge to God--commitment to a life of repentance and faithfulness.  Max Lucado says baptism moves us from tire kickers to owners.  “Would you want to marry someone who wanted to keep the marriage a secret?”

1 Timothy 4:14-16 (The Message) "Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity...Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don't be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation."

The life baptism symbolizes (this temporary dipping) is a life where a permanent change has happened and is permeating every part of our being: the way we talk, our attitudes, our ability to love.  Pickled folks begin to exhibit childlike faith.  When we are pickled our actions begin to line up with our belief.  We are changed inside out and it is noticeable.  Everybody knows we are different.  Just stay in the solution (permanent change), stay immersed in His presence and the change in you will cause a change in others.  Some of the old cucumber patch will join you in the pickle jar.