Sermon: Going public
Thesis: Christians need to go public with their faith. When we are water baptized in front of others we are going public and testifying to those around us that we have become Christians. When we do this we are following a faith action step and a teaching by Jesus. Going public is a testimonial willingness to be identified as a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
Scripture Texts:
Romans 1:16-17: 16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Luke 9:26: 26If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
2 Timothy 1:8-10: 8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
2 Timothy 2:15: 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Introduction:
Point of the Scriptures: The framework or the main theme of these 4 verses is that we need to “Go Public” with our faith and we are never to be ashamed of being called a devoted follower of Jesus Christ – a Christian. This means that when Jesus returns He will lift us up before all to show how we were faithful witnesses for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Today we live in a society that frowns, looks down on Christians who go public with their faith. This post Christian society believes that your faith is a private thing not a public thing and you should just quietly keep it to yourself. Some believe that your faith should not be expressed at work, at school or in public at all. But the same media that pushes we need to be quiet promotes their false beliefs in public all the time. They promote their faith (their beliefs) everyday on radio, Tv, news papers, blogs and other sources. They feel they have a right to go public but we Christians should not be public. We need to silent while they promote their lies to seduce people to their false belief systems. But the entire Bible refutes this lack of action- we are to Go Public!
One Yale professor even wrote a whole book on the premise that our faith should be private – it’s an individual thing and it needs to stay at home and in church only – His book was called “The Culture of Disbelief.”
When I first became a Christian in the late 70’s we had all kinds of ways of going public with our faith:
• I bought the radical Christian Bumper stickers and pasted them on my truck.
• I bought a gold necklace that had an etching of Jesus on it.
• I bought and proudly wore Christian lingo T shirts.
• Some of my friends went to witnessing on the streets – being corner preachers with blow horns .
• Some made end time signs which they held up on street corners all day.
• Many of us handed out tracks to the public.
o We were great at leaving them in the bathrooms of public places.
o I even did door to door evangelism.
o Back then the tracks were old and not real creative looking but we were proud to hand them out to those who were lost.
• Some of us carried Bibles with us everywhere we went.
o We would open them and quote Scripture to those we were talking too.
o Over time the pocket Bible became the in thing to have in your pocket.
• Over time others found different ways to express their faith publicly:
• Some choose tattoos.
• Some choose to wear Jesus wristbands.
• Some choose the fish on the back of their car -- which I guess is more refined than my radical bumper stickers were.
Can you think of other ways people have “Gone Public” with their faith? Well here is a movie clip showing some different ways people “Went Public!”
Video Illustration of different ways people have and are “Going Public with their faith.”
The problem that I see with all these venues of expressing your faith in public ways is that they don’t paint an accurate picture of what faith in Jesus Christ means and they don’t go to the extreme that our faith should take us. According to the New Testament our faith should direct us on how to live, how to deal with others, how to forgive others, how to treat our leaders, how to pay our taxes, how to raise our families and even how to vote. It should instruct us in what type of entertainment we watch and even how we spend our money. Our faith is to be an outward expression of what Jesus has done in our heart. Our life and daily deeds should reveal our heart’s condition. The truth is it’s all about the attitude of the heart. This is what Jesus is looking for in our lives and in our actions.
If you look back at the birth of the church and even earlier into the ministry of Jesus you discover he was very public with His faith and with His beliefs even when it was very dangerous and not popular.
Erwin McManus reminds us that Christianity is a dangerous faith. Listen to what he says: "How could we ever think the Christian faith would be safe when its central metaphor is an instrument of death? It is not a coincidence that baptism is a water grave depicting death and resurrection"..."It is no less significant that the ongoing ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is a reminder of sacrifice. How did we ever develop a safe theology from such a dangerous faith?"(Source: An Unstoppable Force, page 33)
Dr. M.R. DeHaan also reminds us how different “Going Public” was back in the early days of Christianity - it was very dangerous. “In the early days of the church. . . , baptism was a declaration that the believer was definitely identifying himself with that group of people who were called Christians and they were despised and hated. To be a Christian meant something. To identify yourself with those who were called Christians meant persecution, maybe death; it meant being ostracized from your family, shunned by friends. And the one act which was the final declaration of this identification was BAPTISM. As long as a man gathered with Christians, he was tolerated, but when once he submitted to baptism, he declared to all the world, I BELONG TO THIS DESPISED GROUP, and immediately he was persecuted, hated, and despised. In baptism, therefore, the believer entered into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. A person might be a believer and keep it strictly a secret and thus avoid unpleasantness and suffering, but once he submitted to public baptism he had burned his bridges behind him. . .” (Pamphlet, Water Baptism, p. 27).
T.S. – I really think Christians in America have had it made for a long time but the attitude in our society is changing. Have you noticed that it is becoming hostile toward Christians? I think it will even get worse, so let me ask my first question to you Christians – you Christ followers today:
I. Are you proud to be called Christians – Christ followers – or Disciples of Jesus?
a. Jesus said we are not to be cowards when it comes to expressing who we have put our faith and trust in.
i. Luke 9:26:”If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
1. There is a warning here from Jesus about how we are to believe, what we are to say to others about our faith and how we are to act in public and private.
a. Its direction on how we are to “Go Public” and we are not to be ashamed of our decision to follow Jesus.
b. There are some famous people who are not ashamed of “Going Public” with their faith and some are paying the price for doing it:
i. Quote from Jennifer Roche: Tim Tebow former Bronco now Jet— people either love him or hate him. He is the son of missionaries who worked in the Philippines, Tim Tebow speaks loud and clear of his faith. Whether it be after games or on late-night TV interviews, Tim Tebow professes his belief in Jesus Christ. Even his birth had so much religious meaning: although his mother was told to abort since it was going terribly wrong (the placenta was barely attached), she carried Tim to term and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Doctors deemed it nothing less than a miracle birth. For many unfortunates, they can’t reconcile a successful, very handsome young man who is also a star athlete with a life of discipline and sacrifice for Christ. Tebow has declared more than once that he is saving himself for marriage. (Not as if it is any of our business, but “wow” have you seen what he looks like and goodness me doesn’t his example make a good role model for men and boys?) Also, he volunteers at Bible studies, schools, hospitals and preaches in prisons. Instead of partying after the games, he concerns himself with charity work. I guess that is why people hate him???. Facebook has “I hate Tebow” sites. There is even a Tebowhaters.com website. To the haters, I can only say that there are so many, many more supporters than detractors! Tebow’s facebook page has over 1.3 million subscribers. So I guess goodness attracts more than it repels. And the man has even had a word coined after him–how many people can say that–when he kneels in prayer, it is called tebowing...”
1. Here is a man who is proud to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus!
a. Yet people hate him – but the Bible warns us that we would be hated like they hated Jesus because wickedness cannot stand that which is of God.
b. So should we be surprised people hate a man like Tebow because he is a witness for Jesus?
2. I find it amazing how our society applauds and promotes the athletes who lack character, integrity, honor and humility. But our society has become post Christian well really anti-christian and anything that looks like Jesus Christ they attack.
a. You have the public figures like Bill Maher who is criticizing Tim Tebow for His faith saying things “Like Jesus blanked Tebow after his loss!”
i. Can I say these types of comments should not be unexpected because the Devil uses people like Maher to attack those who “Go Public” for Jesus.
ii. But in the end Tebow will not be ashamed of his faith but Maher will be ashamed of his beliefs and comments in the end!
3. But the Bible still tells us that we need to “Go Public with our faith – we need to obey Jesus command to share the Gospel and be a testimony to those who are not saved. Even if it means persecution for us, or nasty statements about us!
4. In the news this last week is the following story of a pastor in Iran who is scheduled to be executed for his faith in Jesus:
ii. Illustration from sermoncentral.com: Paul Harvey’s testimony of “Going Public.”
1. Paul Harvey wrote in Guidepost Magazine about his own baptism. He said that even though he had received almost every reward for his broadcasting ability that he still felt empty inside. One summer, however, he and his wife were vacationing in a place called Cave Creek, AZ. Sunday morning came and they decided to go to church. So they went to this little church, and there were only 12 other people present. He believed in Jesus, but he had never gone forward in a church service. One night he had prayed in his hotel room and asked Jesus to come into his heart, but he felt that there was still something that was missing."He said that the preacher got up and announced that his sermon was going to be about baptism. Paul Harvey said, "I yawned. But as he started talking about it I found myself interested. He talked about the symbolism behind it, and how it symbolized the complete surrender of one’s life to Jesus Christ, and how there was nothing really magic in the water. But there was this cleansing inside that took place when you yielded yourself to Jesus."He went on to say, "Finally, when he came to the end of his sermon he said, ‘If any of you have not been baptized in this way, I invite you to come forward & join me here at the pulpit.’"Paul Harvey said, "To my surprise, I found myself going forward. The preacher had said there was nothing magic in the water. Yet as I descended into the depths and rose again I knew something life changing had happened - a cleansing inside out. No longer did there seem to be two uncertain contradictory Paul Harvey’s, just one immensely happy one. I felt the fulfilling surge of the Holy Spirit in my life.” Paul Harvey went on, "The change this simple act made in my life is so immense as to be indescribable. Since totally yielding to Him in baptism, my heart can’t stop singing. Also, perhaps because baptism is such a public act and because one’s dignity gets as drenched as one’s body, I discovered a new unself-consciousness in talking about my beliefs."
iii. The recently deceased Thomas Kincaid: Who was a Born Again Christian said "I’m a warrior for light," ... "With whatever talent and resources I have, I’m trying to bring light to penetrate the darkness many people feel."
1. An art school dropout from a broken home, Kinkade became a born-again Christian in 1980, and shortly afterwards started peddling his inspirational landscapes out of the trunk of his car. "Well, it was almost as if God became my art agent. He basically gave me ideas," he told USA Today in 2002. One of those ideas was mass-marketing his canvases to the point that he was recognized as the most-collected living artist -- and one of the richest. Kinkade infused his work with faith as deliberately as he did with light. His paintings often featured a church as well as a Bible reference and the Christian symbol of a fish with his signature; he also sometimes included traces of his own DNA from blood and hair mixed with the paint he used. At one point, Kinkade’s factories churned out as many as 500 reproductions a day of his most beloved works, which then sold for thousands of dollars in Kinkade’s galleries. He became a best-selling author and inspirational speaker, and he designed a housing complex of $400,000 homes inspired by his paintings. At the height of his popularity a decade ago, Kinkade was profiled in magazines as diverse as Christianity Today and the New Yorker. But in recent years financial troubles and bizarre behavior began overwhelming the idyllic images.
c. I am often reminded as I read the book of Acts how “Going Public” with your faith can cost you more than just verbal haters, or websites set up to hate you or even the criticism and the wrong treatment from others. It actually can cost you your life.
i. So here is a story taken out of church history about some teens back in the early days of Christianity when it was actually illegal to be a Christ follower. So as I share this story please ponder the thought “Could I do what these teens did?” Story Source: From Gonzalez, Justo, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1, Harper San Francisco, 1984.)
1. In 202 A.D., five young people, some of them teenagers, who where in training and preparation for baptism were arrested—three men and two women. The father of one of the young women tried to persuade her to save her life by abandoning her faith. She answered that, just as everything has a name and it is useless to try to give it a different name, she had the name of Christian and this could not be changed. After a long, drawn-out trial, in which they all continued to stand firm, all five were thrown to the beasts in the arena.
a. Yes, you heard right they were killed for their faith in Jesus. For “Going Public” with their faith which in those days was symbolized by Water Baptism.
b. In this era a Christ follower was identified as the real deal when they got Water Baptized it was their moment to “Go Public with their faith.”
c. Have you “Gone Public?” or are you ashamed to say you are a disciple of Jesus.
d. Scripture reminds us over and over like in 2 Timothy 2:15 how we need to be “Going Public with our faith”: Paul says to Timothy and us: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
i. Bruce L. Shelley tells the true story of another famous person from history who decided to “Go Public” with his faith:
1. From the year 312, he favored Christianity openly. He allowed Christian ministers to enjoy the same exemption from taxes as the pagan priests, he abolished executions by crucifixion; he called a halt to the battles of gladiators as a punishment for crimes; and in 321 he made Sunday a public holiday. Thanks to his generosity, magnificent church buildings arose as evidence of his support of Christianity. This public Christianity was matched by changes in Constantine’s private life, making no secret of his Christian convictions, he had his sons and daughters brought up as Christians and led a Christian family life. Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia baptized him shortly before he died in 337. After his baptism, Constantine refused to wear again the imperial purple and thus left this life dressed in his white baptismal robes” (108, 109).
a. Wow he really went public and he was a ruler of the Roman Empire which once outlawed the faith he embraced.
T.S. – So once again we hear of famous people who went public for Jesus. But I wonder how many famous people were ashamed to “Go Public” and I wonder how or why anyone would be ashamed of there honored position with God the Father? So let me ask you another question today:
II. Are you proud of your right standing with God or are you ashamed of belonging to Jesus family?
a. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16-17: 16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
i. Another famous person who has and is “Going Public:”
1. Nascar driver Jeff Gordon who was baptized in October 1994. He had won his 1st two Winston Cup races, which were great thrills; but following his baptism, he said “This is the happiest day of my life.”
ii. Another famous person: The Story of Manuel Noriega:
1. He was described as a man who “dangled the power of life and death over his fellow countrymen and murdered anyone who stood in his way...” By the end of the 1970s, Manuel Noriega had earned a reputation as the most feared man in Panama. In 1983 he promoted himself to general and gained control of the government. A prominent critic of the military was mysteriously murdered in 1985. In 1988 a U.S. grand jury in Florida indicted Noriega on charges of racketeering and drug laws and money laundering. December 1989 U.S. forces invaded Panama and arrested Noriega, who was taken to Florida to stand trial. April 1992 Noriega was found guilty of cocaine trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. It was the first time in history that a U.S. jury had convicted a foreign head of state of criminal charges. He was sentenced to 40 yrs in a Miami prison and ordered to pay $44 million to the Panamanian government. A French court sentenced Noriega and his wife to 10 years in jail along with a $33 million fine. That same year, the Panamanian high court announced that it would seek to have Noriega returned to that country to make sure he served time there for murder. Noriega is still in federal prison in Florida, in a two-room isolation cell. While he was awaiting trial, he was given a copy of a Spanish New Testament. He wrote a letter to the editor of the Soul Winner’s New Testament, Clift Brannon. Brannon and an interpreter came and were allowed to visit Noriega for 6 hours in the Metropolitan Correctional Center of Dade County, Florida. 2 months later, Noriega took a Bible correspondence course. After he finished the course, Noriega requested permission of the prison authorities to be baptized. Cliff Brannon wrote to the US District judge in Miami to get permission, and for permission to bring in a baptistry. American Rehabilitation Ministries of Joplin provided it. A month later, October 24, 1992, a portable baptistry from ARM arrived at the Federal Court House in Miami. A Deputy Marshall brought Manuel Noriega into the courtroom. Surrounded by 12 guards, he got into the baptistry. Cliff Brannon preached on the meaning of baptism followed by prayer and Scripture reading. Brannon then baptized Noriega. Before being escorted back to his maximum security cell, Noriega was allowed to give a brief testimony. He said:"Before, Jesus to me was only an image of that which was learned from Catholicism… All was transformed when on Tuesday, January the 16th, 1990, Dr. Cliff asked me in a telephone conversation…"Do you know that Jesus loves you?" Today, this is what He means to me: He is the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins, who arose from the grave and is at the right hand of God the Father and who above all things He is my Savior, and has mercy on me, a sinner."Joe Garman still gets a card from Noriega twice a year. How does it make you feel when a murderous, power-hungry, drug-trafficking, thug becomes your brother in Christ?
a. So I have to ask again “Are you proud of being called a follower of Jesus – a committed Christian?”
b. Are you proud to be a part of the family of God?
b. Quote from sermoncentral.com:
i. One pastor stated what it means to be a true follower of Jesus a disciple of God the Father:
1. When a big time professional athlete (like Shaq or Jordan) commits to a team, he signs a contract which binds him to the team. Following this action there is usually a press conference to announce the newly formed allegiance. They make the announcement, someone from the organization holds up a team jersey with the new player’s name and number on it. It is a public declaration of the player’s commitment to that team. Being saved is like the signing of the contract. It’s pretty much a private thing. Salvation is where a person commits to Christ; whereas, baptism is like the press conference. It is the public announcement of your newly committed allegiance to Christ and His team - the church.
a. Would you wear a shirt which said, “I belong to Jesus?”
ii. Another true story of a person who went public with his faith from sermoncentral.com - FOX SPORTS PLAY OF THE DAY: "Peter replied, ’Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’" (Acts 2:38).
1. Pat Summerall spent 50 years with the national Football League. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1952 and played with the Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants until 1961. After his retirement from the game, he joined CBS as a broadcaster, and in 1993 switched to Fox. During his CBS years he and a fellow broadcaster partied hard off the field. "We raised Cain. I was the first guy at the bar and the last to leave." Summerall was told that if he kept on drinking he was going to die. After checking himself into the Betty Ford Clinic, his counselor urged him to seek a better life through faith. At age 66, Pat Summerall was baptized. In USA Today he told a reporter that when the minister "leaned me back in the water, I never felt so helpless." Summerall testified, "I knew I just became a Christian. I can’t tell you how great life has been since then." Baptism is a faith response to the gospel of Christ. In baptism we are indeed helpless. We are sinners in the hands of a merciful God. Every penitent, baptized believer in the whole, wide world is promised the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. There is no work involved. We are helpless...But God will help us! "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!"
SOURCE: Victor Knowles, Peace on Earth Ministries, Joplin, Mo. Citation: USA Today, January 30, 2002.
T.S. – In a little bit we are going to Baptize five people who have decided that they want to “Go Public” with their faith –their commitment to Jesus – they have proudly decided to be Water Baptized so they can say declare their on Jesus’ team. So as I walk through Romans to clarify what Water Baptism symbolizes I want you to consider whether you want to be Baptized and “Go Public.” By the way if you want you can “Go Public today with the others!’
III. Paul tells us in Romans 6 that Water Baptism has a 4 step process to it immersion, submersion, emergence and living the life of a baptized saint.
a. The short description of Baptism is: Christians who have been saved, already made a commitment to Jesus Christ symbolically choose to express what they have already experienced – That is to die to Jesus – to surrender to Him. And then emerge resurrected in the Lord Jesus so as to live a righteous life in Christ.
i. Romans 6:1-14: 1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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.5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
1. This is a chapter that focuses on the symbolism of Water Baptism.
a. Today the people being Baptized have decided to follow Jesus’ instruction to “repent and be baptized.” Mark 16:15-16: “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
b. Peter in the book of Acts 2:38 states, “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
ii. Paul in our text today is also saying the same thing that we need to repent of our sin and be baptized because this was and is the instruction of the Lord Jesus. Paul talks about the symbolism behind the act of Water Baptism:
iii. Baptism is defined as baptizo which comes from the Greek word bapto or to dip. This word was frequently used to designate the cleaning of an object by dipping it into water.
1. Steve Atkerson states this about Water Baptism: The OT is replete with examples of ceremonial cleansings accomplished through the use of water (Nu 19:11-21; 31:21-24). Thus, the Jews were not surprised that John the Baptist used water graphically to portray repentance and forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4). Further, water is nature’s detergent, a cleansing agent well suited to the symbolism of purification. Notice how Ananias told Paul to "be baptized and wash your sins away" (Ac 22:16), and that Peter associated baptism with forgiveness in Ac 2:38.
a. Paul used this same Greek word in Romans 6 to signify the same process occurs in Water Baptism.
2. Paul in this passage is disagreeing with some who believed in antinomianism. He shows that we demonstrate our salvation by not living in sin any more and he uses the act of Baptism to point to how this should have changed in our life.
b. Paul describes the 4 step process – that is symbolized by Water Baptism:
i. The step of Immersion is when you go down into the water:
1. This first step is referred to in Romans 6:1-4: The Message: 1So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? 2I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? 3Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. 4When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus.
2. The key phrase Paul makes is “We died to sin!” He is talking about us dying to the sinful nature. Death to sin! To die – die in Greek is apothnesko which means to cast off something that is living and to detach it from the source of its life and to let it die.
3. Paul is telling us as “saint” that saints are no longer attached to sin and this world because of what Jesus did for them on the cross. So therefore, they are to be detached from sin so that it dies in their life. When they die to sin then they live the new life in Christ. They live as a saint.
a. When we enter into the water during baptism this identifies us with Christ’s death on the cross. Anfuso states, “As Jesus freely chose to die in our place, so we must willingly enter into the waters of baptism to rise in newness of life.”
i. So this step emphasizes the need to die to the self and to sin and to be willing to allow the Lord to “Rebirth You!”
b. Jesus said “We need to be Born Again!”
i. Text: John 3:5-8: “5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
ii. Point: Immersion symbolizes that we as a saint have repented of our sin and chosen to die to sin. It also signifies that we have aligned our lives with Jesus and with what he did on the cross on our behalf.
4. Once we go down into the water and we are immersed then we have accomplished step one in the Baptism process which means that we have chosen to repent of our sin and to die to sin. Then the second step takes off while we are under the water submerged.
ii. The next step occurs as we are under the water it is called submersion
1. This step under the water symbolizes the cross and the crucifixion element of Water Baptism in association with the Crucifixion of Jesus.
2. This second step is referred to in Romans 6:5-7
a. The Message: “Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.6-7Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this…”
b. This step deals with the burial part of a person’s willingness to die to sin and to the old wicked nature of evil.
c. Water baptism confirms the fact that our old man or sin nature has been crucified or in other words destroyed. This is what is symbolized by the submersion step to water baptism.
d. Galatians 2:20 states, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
3. This being submerged in the water is the symbolic point where the flesh is crucified by the cross and our sins are washed away and we are freed from the bondage of sin.
a. This step also deals with a circumcision of the heart according to Francis Anfuso’s booklet Water Baptism he states on page 12:
i. In the Old Testament, God established circumcision to be an outward work which signified a change of heart and a new covenant relationship between the Jewish people and Himself. In the New Testament, Water Baptism parallels this and is required for all of God’s people.
ii. He then cites Col. 2:1-11:“In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…”
4. Point: The Submersion step symbolically portrays that we have crucified the flesh – our sin nature by aligning with Jesus crucifixion and His burial. This step symbolically points to our sins being washed away and forgiven by the Lord and that we in spiritual terms have been “Born Again.”
5. Once we have been submerged and we have chosen to allow the old flesh to be crucified with Christ we then experience freedom from sin and this step is what is being symbolically represented. The next step occurs as we rise up out of the water to signify the experience of our New Life!
iii. The third step of emergence occurs as the individual comes up out of the water.
1. This step is symbolic of becoming alive in Christ and in the reception of the promise of new life in Christ. This step aligns us with Jesus resurrection from the dead and the beginning of a new era in the church and in our spiritual life as a saint.
2. This third step is referred to in Romans 6:8-11.
a. The Message: “If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. 9We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. 10When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. 11From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.”
b. It references the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and for us the believer it is the symbolic representation of being resurrected in the new life found in Jesus resurrection power.
i. Paul says when we come out we become “Alive in Jesus Christ!”
c. Point: The symbolic meaning of emergence is that we are resurrected to new life in Christ because of the power of Jesus resurrection. It portrays that we too have been raised from the dead and we have entered into a new life in Jesus Christ. The old sin nature is dead and buried and the new nature of the saint has been brought to life through the resurrection power of Jesus.
iv. The fourth step of Baptism is sainthood – living like a saint.
1. This step of water baptism is where the saint who has died to sin and is now baptized commits to living a righteous life for the rest of their life.
2. Paul says that this should be expected of all baptized believers in Jesus.
a. We should be able to recognize a saint – a Christian by their fruits-by their lifestyle!
3. We should not be like the following people who were baptized and only partially surrender to the Lord: The Unbaptized Arm
a. Ivan the Great was the tsar of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together the warring tribes into one vast empire--the Soviet Union. As a fighting man he was courageous. As a general he was brilliant. He drove out the Tartars and established peace across the nation. However, Ivan was so busy waging his campaigns that he did not have a family. His friends and advisers were quite concerned. They reminded him that there was no heir to the throne, and should anything happen to him the union would shatter into chaos. "You must take a wife who can bear you a son." The busy soldier statesman said to them that he did not have the time to search for a bride, but if they would find a suitable one, he would marry her. The counselors and advisers searched the capitals of Europe to find an appropriate wife for the great tsar. And find her, they did. They reported to Ivan of the beautiful dark eyed daughter of the King of Greece. She was young, brilliant, and charming. He agreed to marry her sight unseen.The King of Greece was delighted. It would align Greece in a favorable way with the emerging giant of the north. But there had to be one condition, "He cannot marry my daughter unless he becomes a member of the Greek Orthodox Church." Ivan’s response, "I will do it!"So, a priest was dispatched to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Orthodox doctrine. Ivan was a quick student and learned the catechism in record time. Arrangements were concluded, and the tsar made his way to Athens accompanied by 500 of his crack troops--his personal palace guard. He was to be baptized into the Orthodox church by immersion, as was the custom of the Eastern Church. His soldiers, ever loyal, asked to be baptized also. The Patriarch of the Church assigned 500 priests to give the soldiers a one-on-one catechism crash course. The soldiers, all 500 of them, were to be immersed in one mass baptism. Crowds gathered from all over Greece. What a sight that must have been, 500 priests and 500 soldiers, a thousand people, walking into the blue Mediterranean. The priests were dressed in black robes and tall black hats, the official dress of the Orthodox Church. The soldiers wore their battle uniforms with of all their regalia--ribbons of valor, medals of courage and their weapons of battle. Suddenly, there was a problem. The Church prohibited professional soldiers from being members; they would have to give up their commitment to bloodshed. They could not be killers and church members too. After a hasty round of diplomacy, the problem was solved quite simply. As the words were spoken and the priests began to baptize them, each soldier reached to his side and withdrew his sword. Lifting it high overhead, every soldier was totally immersed-everything baptized except his fighting arm and sword. That is a true historical fact. The unbaptized arm. What a powerful picture of Christianity today. How many unbaptized arms are here this morning? How many unbaptized wills are here? How many unbaptized talents? Unbaptized check books? Unbaptized social activities? How many are there here this morning? Dr. Wayne Dehoney, Walnut Street Baptist Church, The Pulpit
Conclusion:
Illustration: Baptism is a lot like a wedding ring. Baptism is symbolic of the washing away of our sins. It is also symbolic of a new way of life. It has been said that Baptism is to the Christian faith what the wedding ring is to a marriage. It is a symbol. "Like the wedding ring, baptism draws a mark on the ground between the past and the future. Like the wedding ring, it says, "From this day forward, I stand with God." (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 100).
I want to address 2 common excuses people give for not getting saved and then baptized:
1. The first reason some people decide not to accept Christ for and then be baptized is: “I am too bad of a person to be saved and or baptized!”: Here are two real life testimonies of two really bad people who did get saved and were baptized from Sermoncentral.com: What happens when we learn about a really bad guy repenting? It happens all the time in prison ministry, yet many of us think those people aren’t worth saving. They had more chances than most of us are willing to give them, yet God hasn’t given up on them.
a. A Case in point Jeffrey Dahmer: He was a convicted murderer and cannibal who cooked and ate his victims. You don’t really get much more heinous than that. He was awarded 16 life sentences. While in prison, Dahmer met with Roy Ratcliff, a minister with the Church of Christ in Madison, Wisconsin, and turned his life over to Jesus Christ. He was baptized in prison, knowing that he would never leave prison alive. He had nothing to gain in this life, but everything to gain in the next. We may scoff at jailhouse conversions, but within months of Dahmer’s baptism, people noticed a Christian spirit in him. His father and pen pals noticed the difference, and his father, who had left the church, has since been restored as a faithful member. Dahmer’s younger brother also had a conversion experience of his own. Dahmer was killed in prison by a fellow inmate a few months after his baptism. At his memorial service, along with his own family and several Christians, two sisters of one of his victims attended, having grown close to Dahmer’s family after their brother’s death. That may have been Dahmer’s last chance for repentance, and he took it. But many of us think he shouldn’t have been given another chance. He didn’t deserve it. And that’s true. He didn’t deserve another chance. But neither do we. Jeffrey Dahmer was like that fig tree that provided no fruit during his life. But he was given one more last chance to repent, and he took it. The fruit of Dahmer’s repentance included bringing at least two people to Jesus and helping to heal the painful wounds left by his transgressions. How many of us can claim the same? God chose to work through him.
b. Another case in point - God also chose to work through David Berkowitz as well. The Son of Sam killer who murdered six people in New York City in the late 1970s was involved in the occult and Satan worship. Ten years into his prison sentence, Berkowitz met a man named Rick in the prison yard who told him about Jesus. He explained that no matter what a person did, Christ was ready to forgive him if he would turn away from the wrong things he was doing and put his faith in Jesus. Rick gave him a Gideon’s Pocket Testament and Berkowitz prayed to Jesus later in his cell, pouring out his heart to Jesus. This was in 1987. Since then, Berkowitz has refused to be considered for parole, works as a chaplain’s clerk, and assists in the Special Needs Unit of the prison where men with various emotional needs are housed. He lives each day now to serve Christ. If these men were not too far gone for Jesus to reunite them with the Father, then none of us are. Although we tend to distrust that anyone really bad has actually changed, it happens much more frequently than we’re willing to admit. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and venture to say that the reason we distrust the true conversion of people we consider worse than us is that we ourselves may not feel Christ’s healing presence in our own lives, and knowing how much better we are than those other people, we decide that since God hasn’t called us, he hasn’t called them either. Otherwise, they would be closer to God than we are. And we just couldn’t tolerate that.
c. So let me ask you a question today “Are you worse than these two men?” I don’t think so maybe you should consider giving you life to Jesus and being baptized?
2. The second excuse I hear is that “I am a good person and I don’t think I need to place my faith or say a prayer to Jesus to be saved and baptized.”
a. The most amazing baptism I ever read about was and is Jesus’!
* Matthew 3:13-17: The Baptism of Jesus: 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
b. So do you think your better than Jesus? He modeled for us baptism and taught us to repent and be baptized?
Today I am excited that we have a few people who are willing to “Go Public” with their faith and be Water Baptized which in my view is the best way to express our faith in Jesus Christ and to signify that we are committed followers of Jesus Christ!
Video Illustration and transition from BlueFishtv of the significance of “Water” in Water Baptism.
Water Baptism of 5 new people for the first time.
