“These things I have spoken to you in parables, but the hour is coming when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will announce to you plainly concerning the Father.” - John 16:25
Kempton New Church

Week 3
Day 5

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Baptism and Confession of Faith

Then Jesus, being baptized, came up straightaway out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him. Matthew 3:16

The Use of Baptism as Entrance into the New Church

And Naaman came with his horses and chariot, and stood at the entrance of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent him a message, saying, Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall return to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
And Naaman was enraged and went away, and said, Behold, I said, Going out he will go out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand towards the place, and heal the leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not bathe in them and be clean?
And he turned and went away in fury.
And his servants approached and spoke to him and said, My father, if the prophet had spoken to thee of a great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? And yes, when he says to thee, Bathe and be clean? And he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh returned as the flesh of a little lad, and he was clean.
And he returned to the man of God, he and all his camp, and came and stood before him; and he said, Behold, now, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.... Please let ground be given to thy servant, the burden of a pair of mules; for thy servant will not any more make a burnt offering and a sacrifice to other gods, but to Jehovah. (2 Kings 5:9-15, 17)

AE 475:18 “Naaman, a leper of Syria” represented and signified those who falsify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, for “leprosy” signifies falsifications, and “Syria” the knowledges of truth and good. “The waters of Jordan” signified the truths that introduce into the church, which are the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, for the river Jordan was the first boundary across which the land of Canaan was entered, and “the land of Canaan” signified the church. This is why “the waters of Jordan” signified introductory truths, which are the first knowledges of truth and good from the Word. Because of this signification of “the waters of Jordan,” Naaman was commanded to wash himself in them seven times, which signified purification from falsified truths. “Seven times” signifies fully, and is predicated of things holy, such as truths Divine are. Because “seven times” has this signification, it is said that “his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little lad,” the flesh coming again signifying spiritual life such as those have who are regenerated through Divine truths.

AC 4255:5 Naaman’s being healed of his leprosy by washing himself seven times in the Jordan according to the command of Elisha (2 Kings 5:1-14), represented baptism; for baptism signifies initiation into the church and into those things which are of the church, thus regeneration and the things of regeneration.... And as the things of the church are signified by baptism, and the same by the Jordan, as stated above, the people were therefore baptized in the Jordan by John (Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5) . And the Lord also willed to be Himself baptized in it by John (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9).

TCR 680 What is order without distinction, and what is distinction without its evidences, and what are evidences without signs by which qualities are recognized? ...For example, in armies. What power would they have if they were not distinctly organized into regiments, these into battalions, and these again into companies, with subordinate officers over each, and over all one commander in chief? And what would those arrangements amount to without the signs called standards, which indicate the proper station for each? By such means in battle all act as a one, while without them they would rush upon the enemy merely like a pack of hounds with open mouths, yells, and empty fury; and then, with their courage gone, they would be ingloriously cut in pieces by the enemy formed in well-ordered ranks; for what can those who are divided do against those who are united?

Hereby is illustrated this first use of baptism, which is, to serve as a sign in the spiritual world that the one baptized belongs to Christians, for in that world everyone is inserted into societies and congregations according to the quality of the Christianity in him or outside of him.

Questions
  1. Naaman said, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not bathe in them and be clean?” How do these words describe a possible first reaction to the idea of having to be baptized into New Church when someone has already been baptized a Christian?
  2. Do the words of Naaman’s servants describe a possible answer to this kind of reaction? Should the entrance into the New Church involve something more than just baptism? Does this relate to becoming a formal member of the Kempton New Church Society?
  3. Is there a reason that Elisha only sent a messenger to Naaman the first time, while the second time Naaman and the man of God actually speak to each other?
  4. Does the last teaching about the first use of baptism show that different baptisms into different churches with different beliefs serve to distinguish the Lord’s church into an orderly arrangement from a spiritual perspective? Does a Catholic baptism do something different than a Lutheran or Methodist baptism?
  5. Is there a generic Christian baptism, or only specific baptisms into different faiths? Does this also speak to the spiritual responsibility of parents when they baptize their children?
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