Baptism
Matthew 28:19 – “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
Why Baptism?
Baptism follows the example of Jesus
Baptism symbolizes our association with Jesus
Baptism obeys the command of Jesus
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Thanks to Jeany
Thank you Jeany. We appreciate Jeany’s obedience to the Lord as she has accepted His call into the mission field Africa and the work He is doing through her.
Intro
As we continue our focus on missions, today we are going to talk about one aspect of our mission as a church.
The mission of the church is found in Matthew 28:19-20.
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You can turn there in your Bibles and I will have it up on the screen.
The passage we are going to read is known as the Great Commission because it is the mission of every church that claims the name of Jesus Christ.
Final words
These are the final words of Jesus that He gives to the disciples before He ascends into heaven.
Think about that. If you are going to be gone for a long time and you have an opportunity to give one final instruction to your family or friends, what would you say?
You aren’t going to give some useless piece of information.
Be sure to watch more TV?
Or even some useful, but not all that important information.
OH, one last thing before we don’t see each other for years.
Make sure you get enough sleep.
No. You are going to emphasize the most important thing you want them to remember.
Hey remember to love your family
Remember that work is not the most important thing
Love your wife
Time is more valuable than money
Well, Jesus leaves the disciples with this last important reminder about what He wants them doing, and what He wants us in the church to be doing.
And He says in Matthew 28:19-20
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Matthew 28:19-20
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
He tells them 3 things that are the commission of the church
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Make disciples
Baptize disciples
Teach disciples
Making Disciples
Making Disciples is helping people to hear the gospel and receive Jesus Christ as Savior.
We become His disciple when we believe in Jesus –
That He is God in the flesh,
died for your sins and
rose again from the dead and
that he has the power to forgive you your sins and grant you eternal life.
At Hickory Creek, this is something that we take very seriously. If a person does not become a disciple, if they don’t receive Jesus Christ as Savior, they will spend eternity apart from the Lord in Hell.
This is why in most sermons, we strive to tell people the gospel and what the Bible says in regards to how to believe in Him.
Teaching all things
We also strive to continually teach the truths of God’s word.
Each week we seek to teach what the Bible has to say in regard to a certain passage or topic to help each one of us to be able to follow what the Lord would have us do.
Baptism
Baptism is another thing that Jesus includes in the commission he has given to the church.
But why baptism?
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What is so important about Baptism that Jesus includes it in the great commission?
Why is getting wet for Jesus important to our spiritual walk?
Some say needed to be saved
There are some churches that teach that baptism is required for a person to be able to go to heaven.
And while there are some Scriptures that seem to tie baptism and salvation together there are many more that tell us that the requirements for heaven are pure belief in who Jesus is and what He has done.
In fact, Paul who was all about seeing people saved, says in
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1 Corinthians 1:17 - For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul wanted more than anything to see people saved, and people were saved by believing the gospel, not be being baptized in water.
In fact he says that he was glad that he didn’t baptize anyone except of few people (1 Corinthians 1:14-16).
In this same letter Paul clearly lays out the gospel that brings salvation.
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1 Corinthians 15:1-4
15 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Here Paul talks about believing that Christ died for our sins, believing he was buried and raised from the dead.
He mentions nothing about Baptism in this gospel.
So if baptism is not essential for salvation, why should you be baptized?
We should be baptized for several reasons
First,
Baptism follows the example of Jesus
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Jesus set us an example in his own baptism.
Matthew 3:13-15
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. (NIV)
Jesus was baptized and wanted to fulfill all righteousness.
WWJD
We have heard the saying in the past, WWJD, What Would Jesus Do.
Well, in regards to baptism, he did and if we are to follow his example we will too.
So we should be baptized because Jesus set an example for us.
Another reason we should be baptized is because
Baptism symbolizes our association with Jesus
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Romans 6:3-4
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (NIV)
When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are baptized with the Spirit. That means that the Holy Spirit comes and indwells us and we are united with Him, immersed in Him.
Water baptism pictures that association with Christ’s death burial and resurrection.
Symbolism
This is why we practice baptism by immersion.
Sprinkling or pouring loses the symbolic nature of what baptism is supposed to symbolize, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and of us as we have received Christ as Savior. The old person has died and a new person, a new creation, has been raised to walk a new life.
Meaning of Greek Word
We practice baptism by immersion not only for the symbolic nature of burying the old person with a new person being raised, but we also practice it this way because that is what the Greek word “baptizo” really means.
You see, before the Bible was translated into English, there was no English word baptism.
The English word baptism is a transliteration of the Greek word baptizo. Transliteration means writing (letters or words) in the corresponding characters or symbol of another alphabet.
The Greek word, “baptizo” by definition means “to immerse, submerge; to make overwhelmed (i.e. fully wet)
So, to immerse someone is what is actually what is being communicated by the word and it is symbolic of what it is associating us with, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and the new person we become when we receive Christ as Savior.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly
Baptism obeys the command of Jesus
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He tells us to be baptized and, if for no other reason, that should be good enough.
He tells us through the Apostle Peter
Right after Jesus ascended to heaven, peter preaches on Pentecost and says
Acts 2:38 - Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. (NIV)
He tells us through the Great Commission
In the Great Commission, Jesus tells us that this is the mission of the church to make disciples and baptize them.
It is something that Jesus himself clearly taught was important, so important in fact to make it one of the final things he told his disciples to do.
He tells us through the entire teaching of Scripture
And throughout Scripture, we don’t find any believers who don’t’ get baptized.
It just was not and is not an option.
If you claim to be a follower of Christ, you should be baptized AFTER believing in and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.
This is the reason we don’t baptize infants. They are unable to make the conscious decision to believe in and receive Christ. In God’s word we only see those baptized who have made the conscious decision to receive Christ as Savior.
When Philip baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch, we read
Acts 8:36-38
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?" (some late manuscripts)[37 Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." The eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. (NIV)
So to synthesize some of the things we have learned today and answer questions people may have, I am going to summarize what we have learned.
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Why should I be baptized?
Jesus exampled it
It symbolizes our association with Jesus
Jesus commanded it.
Who should be baptized?
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A person who has received Jesus as Savior. Have you received Jesus as your Savior? Then you should submit to baptism if you have not.
How should I be baptized?
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By immersion in the way that symbolizes the spiritual reality of your death and resurrection in Christ and in the way that the word actually means if it was translated.
When should I be baptized?
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On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first came and indwelt the Apostles and other believers, Peter stood up and preached a sermon to the people.
I want to read you the end of the sermon found in Acts 2:37-41.
Acts 2:37-41
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call." 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
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And in Acts 2:41 it says
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (NIV)
Three thousand people believed the message of the gospel, that Jesus was the Son of God, God in the flesh, and that he died for their sins and rose again from the dead to never die again and to offer eternal life to those who believe.
They were baptized the very day they believed.
We see this same thing over and over again in Scripture, from the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 to Cornelius, the first Gentile convert in Acts 10. They believed and were baptized. Water baptism happened normally immediately after a person believed.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you should be baptized.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you should be baptized today.
Conclusion
We are going to be baptizing after our second service today.
If you are here today and have believed in and received Jesus Christ as your Savior, and have not been baptized, you need to.
If you are here today and believe that you should be baptized and have not and are afraid to, I want to encourage you to take be strong and courageous and take this step of obedience to the Lord’s command.
When you know what Jesus wants you to do and you do not to do it, you are sinning.
Repent and be baptized. Do it today.
You can talk with myself, or Billy or Tom Newton or Jim Coyle and express your desire to follow the Lord in baptism and tell when you have received Jesus as your Savior and your belief in who Jesus is (the Son of God, God in the flesh) and what He did (He died for your sins and rose from the dead).
First Service
Since it is the first service, you can run home and get a change of clothes and come back for the end of the next service.
Second service
If you are worried about getting your clothes wet, they will dry and we have towels you can borrow.
If you are here today, however, and have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Savior, why don’t you do that now and then follow him in obedience to baptism just like they did in the early church.
If you need Jesus as your Savior, pray along with me and receive Him by confessing your belief to Him.
Let’s pray
The worship team is going to come up and we are going to close with
Glory in the Highest.
Let’s worship the One who calls us into relationship to Himself.
Worship Him today in song and in obedience.
Let’s sing
