What God's Word Tells Us about Baptism
The Book of Acts - Part 65
Acts 18:24 - 19:5
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - July 13, 2016
INTRODUCTION:
*Here's a serious question that may sound silly: Was John the Baptist a Baptist? The answer is that in a way he was, but certainly not like we are today.
*You see, John the Baptist was the last prophet before Jesus came. In fact, John was one of the greatest prophets of all time. As Jesus said in Luke 7:28, "Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. . ."
*But we have to understand that although John's story is told in the New Testament, he was in a way the last Old Testament prophet. That's why in John 3:28-30, John the Baptist said:
28. "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'
29. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
30. He must increase, but I must decrease."
*In these verses, the bride is the New Testament Church, the bridegroom is Jesus, and the friend was John the Baptist. John the Baptist called himself "the friend of the bridegroom." In other words, John was saying: "When it comes to this heavenly wedding, I am just one of His friends. And I am helping to prepare the wedding, because that's what friends do."
*But Church: The Bible calls us the Bride of Christ! God's Word makes this truth clear in places like Ephesians 5. There Paul compared earthly marriage to the eternal marriage between the Lord and His Church. And in Ephesians 5:22-33, the Apostle said:
22. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
24. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
26. that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27. that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
31. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.''
32. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
*Then in Revelation 19:6-9, the Apostle John said:
6. . . I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.''
8. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' '' And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God.''
*Church: We are the Bride of Christ! This is part of the astounding difference between the Old Testament and the New. It's also why John's baptism was very different from baptism today.
*One of the best places to see this truth is in the Book of Acts. So, please stand in honor of God's Word, as we read Acts 18:24-19:5.
MESSAGE:
*There at the end of Acts 18, Apollos knew a whole lot about the Lord from the Old Testament Scriptures. But the only thing he knew about baptism was the Baptism of John the Baptist. And John's baptism of repentance was replaced by the baptism Jesus gave us in His Great Commission
*This is the baptism we see in Matthew 28:18-20:
18. Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20. teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'' Amen.
*In Acts 18, Apollos didn't know about the cross, and Jesus' resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. That's why Acts 18:26 tells us that "when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."
*No doubt, Apollos received the Great Commission baptism, after he heard the rest of the story about Jesus. Warren Wiersbe explained that Apollos' problem was that he was passionately preaching an incomplete Gospel. His message got as far as John the Baptist and then stopped! He had zeal, but he lacked spiritual knowledge. . .
*God had sent John the Baptist to prepare the nation of Israel for their Messiah. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. Those who were baptized looked forward to the coming Messiah. So Apollos knew about the promises, but he did not know about their fulfillment. (1)
*We see the same kind of thing happen in Acts 19:1-5, where God's Word says:
1. And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples
2. he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'' And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.''
3. And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?'' So they said, "Into John's baptism.''
4. Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.''
5. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
*All of us who have trusted in the Lord have been baptized with the Lord's baptism. We Baptists were baptized with New Testament biblical baptism. But what is biblical baptism?
1. First: It's about the right method of baptism.
*And the right method of baptism is putting people under the water. "The words "baptism" and "baptized" are used seven times in Acts 18-19. "Baptism" comes from the original word "baptisma." "Baptized" comes from the original word "baptizo." And both of these words are talking about the same thing. Both of these words mean "to dip, immerse, or submerge something. Both words mean to make something fully wet, or to cleanse by dipping or submerging."
*Well, if that's what "baptisma" and "baptizo" mean, then why didn't the translators just say "dip" or "submerge?" The reason why is because the churches in control when the Bible was first translated into English did not dip people down into the water. Those Catholic and Anglican churches practiced infant baptism by sprinkling water, and many churches still do today.
*In fact, I was "baptized" as a baby in the Presbyterian church. But I wasn't really baptized, because I didn't get saved until I was 24 years old. And in the Bible, baptism wasn't for babies. It was for believers.
*Well, the men translating the Bible 500 years ago knew that translating "baptizo" would contradict the way churches were sprinkling. So, they just used the original Greek words in our English Bibles without explaining the meaning.
*But Jesus was submerged. Everybody John the Baptist baptized was submerged. When those 3,000 new Christians in Acts 2:41 were baptized, they were submerged. Every person baptized in the New Testament was submerged. How do we know? -- Because that's what the word means.
*There is a word for sprinkling in the New Testament. It's found four times in Hebrews 9. But that word is not "baptizo." So, the Biblical method of baptism is by submerging.
*Now the method of baptism surely doesn't seem like a big deal at all to us today. But we need to understand that thousands of people were put to death simply because they wanted to be baptized in the Biblical way. That seems unreal to us, but here are a couple of quotes to help you see how bad it was:
*In his book, "History of the Baptists," John T. Christian wrote about the situation in Switzerland: "The Council of St. Gall determined to rid themselves of the 'Dippers.' And since the Baptists dipped for baptism, they were to be drowned for punishment. The edict read in part as follows:
'In order that the dangerous, wicked, turbulent and seditious sect of the Baptists may be eradicated, we have thus decreed: If anyone is suspected of rebaptism, he is to be warned by the magistracy to leave the territory under penalty of the designated punishment. Every person is obliged to report those favorable to rebaptism (i.e. by dipping). Whoever shall not comply with this ordinance is liable to punishment according to the sentence of the magistracy.
*Teachers of rebaptism, baptizing preachers, and leaders of hedge meetings are to be drowned. Those previously released from prison who have sworn to desist from such things, shall incur the same penalty. Foreign Baptists are to be driven out; if they return they shall be drowned. . .'" The date of the decree was September 9, 1527. (2)
*Many Baptists in England were burned at the stake. Here is another quote from John T. Christian's book: "A man named "Ammonius, under date of November 8, 1531, writes to Erasmus of the great numbers of the Anabaptists in England. He said: 'It is not astonishing that wood is so dear and scarce. The heretics cause so many holocausts, and yet their numbers grow.' Erasmus replied that Ammonius 'has reason to be angry with the heretics for increasing the price of fuel for the coming Winter.'" (3)
*They were actually complaining about the price of firewood going up, because so many Baptists had been burned at the stake! Only God knows how many people were burned at the stake for Biblical baptism. It was brutal beyond our imagination.
*That is one of the reasons why our Constitution contains a Bill of Rights to protect our God-given freedoms. Tragically, our federal government has begun to trample on our rights. But these early Baptists gave their lives for their desire to be baptized in the biblical way. And that is the right method for baptism today.
2. Biblical baptism is about the right method. -- It's also about the right meaning.
*And the question here is this: Does baptism save us? Or is it a symbol of salvation? Some churches teach the mistaken doctrine that baptism is required for salvation. Most Church of Christ and Pentecostal churches teach this doctrine.
*I don't know if they still do this today, but 35 or 40 years ago, if someone in the Church of Christ led you to the Lord at 3 in the morning, they would take you to church right then to be baptized. They were afraid that if they waited, you might die before you could be baptized. And you would still go to hell, even though you had trusted in the Lord.
*The churches that believe you must be baptized in order to be saved get this erroneous doctrine mostly from a possible interpretation of Acts 2:38. In this verse of Scripture, "Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"
*Now that word translated as "for" in this verse can mean "in order to." So, they think it means "be baptized in order to receive the forgiveness of sins." But that little word "for" can also mean "on account of." And that's how we take it. People are baptized on account of the fact that they have already received the forgiveness of sins.
*If I say I'm going to the store for some milk, then I'm going to come home with some milk. But if I say I'm going to the store for my wife, I'm not coming home with a wife! No, I already have a wife. And we are baptized because we have already been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!
*Many Scriptures show that Christians are saved by grace through faith in the Lord, and what He did on the cross for us. Please listen to these examples:
*John 3:16-18 says:
16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
*John 3:36 says: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.''
*And Romans 10:10-13 says:
10. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.
11. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.''
12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
13. For "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.''
*In 1 Corinthians 1:14-17, Paul was pleading for unity in the church, and this is what the Apostle said about baptism:
14. I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15. lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.
16. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
*There has probably never been a Christian who loved lost people more than Paul. If baptism was required for salvation, do you think Paul ever would have been content to not baptize? I've got to say no!
*In Acts 8, Philip led the Ethiopian to the Lord. There God's Word says:
36. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?''
37. Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may.'' And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.''
38. So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
*Philip baptized the Ethiopian, because he had already been saved by believing in Jesus. Baptism does not save us. Rather, it is a symbol of what God has already done in our lives.
*For example, baptism is a symbol of what Jesus did on the cross to save us. Going under the water symbolizes Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and being buried. But rising out of the water symbolizes the wonderful truth that Jesus rose again from the dead.
*Baptism also symbolizes what Jesus already did in our lives, when we believe in Him. Going under the water symbolizes that that my old life is dead, that is, my life without Jesus. But coming out of the water says that I'm not dead, I'm alive with the new life God gave me when I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
*Baptism also symbolizes that our sins are washed away, but our sins are not washed away by Grayson water. Our sins are washed away by the blood that Jesus poured out on the cross for us.
*Water baptism also symbolizes the spiritual baptism we all received, when we trusted in the Lord. This is the baptism that matters the most, and it is never done by human hands. This spiritual baptism is done by the Holy Spirit when we put our trust in Jesus. Paul explained this truth in 1 Corinthians 12:13, where he said: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free. . ."
*Paul was not talking about being submerged into water, but being literally and spiritually submerged into the Body of Christ. And water baptism is a symbol of all these things.
3. Biblical baptism is about the right meaning. -- But it's also about the right motive for baptism.
*And our motivation is Jesus Christ! If we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we want to walk in obedience to Him. And He tells us to take a public stand for Him, so we should gladly be baptized.
*Our perfect Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the only person who never needed to be baptized. But Jesus was willing to be baptized as an example for us. And we should be willing to be baptized for Him!
CONCLUSION:
*That's what we Baptists believe about baptism. Have you been baptized in the Biblical way? An infinitely more important question is this: Have you opened your heart to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? More than anything else, this is what we all need to do.
*Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to take our punishment on the cross. Jesus loves us so much that He will give us His eternal life, if we will just believe in Him and receive Him as our Lord and Savior.
*So, turn to the Lord and trust in Him. Then make the commitment to follow the Lord in believer's baptism. One lady I read about today was baptized at the age of one hundred! So, it's not too late for you.
*Please think about these things as we go to God in prayer.
(1) "Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament" - Warren W. Wiersbe - Published by David C. Cook - Colorado Springs, CO – Copyright 2007 - Acts 18:23-19:41
(2) Adapted from "History of the Baptists" by John T. Christian - Chapter 10
(3) Adapted from "History of the Baptists" by John T. Christian - Chapter 15
