Witness With Water Series

A visitor to a drought stricken area was talking to some of the citizens about their no rain

situation. As they were complaining about the difficulties it brought to them he sought to comfort

them with the it-could-be-worse philosophy. He said, "If you think it is bad here, you should go

South. They haven't had rain for so long that the Baptists are sprinkling, the Methodists are using a

damp rag, and the Presbyterians are issuing rain checks." The story is of doubtful historicity, but the

point is true that water is essential and the amount of water available can be a determining factor in

the mode of baptism. In John 3:23 we read that John the Baptist was baptizing in Aenon because

there was much water there. This implies that a large quantity was necessary for an effective

witness through baptism.

In Acts 8:36 we read that Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch were moving along and came to a

body of water, and he said, "See here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized?" Until enough

water was available the possibility of baptism was not considered. He was certainly not traveling in

the desert without water, and so if it was a mere matter of sprinkling or pouring a little water on him

there was nothing to hinder him from doing so before they came to a body of water. All of this is

saying that an inadequate supply of water is a hindrance to a meaningful baptism.

Nature by means of water gives witness to its power in floods, tidal waves and cloudbursts of

rain. The amount of water is a determining factor in the intensity of the witness. No one is greatly

impressed by a normal rain, but when it falls in sheets and the streets become rivers people are wide

awake, and they stand at awe at the power of nature and the witness it can give of that power

through water. As Baptists we feel this has a parallel in the spiritual realm. We are to witness with

water concerning the power of God in our lives, and the quantity of water makes a difference in the

intensity of the witness. We feel that the biblical pattern of immersion of the whole person in water

gives the most adequate witness. Those who sprinkle admit that immersion was the biblical mode,

but they argue that it is nowhere commanded as essential, and so there is no reason the mode cannot

be changed. But any change only weakens the witness.

We do not feel that baptism saves, and so there are millions who have been sprinkled who truly

love Christ and are brothers and sisters in Christ. We continue to defend and practice immersion not

because we think it is essential for salvation, but because we think it is essential as an adequate

witness. If it was just a spiritual matter completely we could forget water entirely, but we cannot do

so because literal water is essential to the witness. To get the point clearer, look at another example

to get a better perspective. Let's say we are going to dramatize the experience of John being caught

up into heaven. At one point we are going to bear witness to his vision to the glory of God on His

throne. Some on the planning committee suggest that we use a flashlight behind a sheet to convey

the glory of God. Others say we should hook up 3 or 4 floodlights. The first group says this last

idea involves too much work, and the flashlight is so easy and convenient. But the others persist

because they say that you cannot witness to the glory of God's unapproachable light with a

flashlight. Even the floodlights cannot begin to convey the glory of God, but the flashlight will

convey nothing but the weakness of His glory. It is better to have no witness at all than one that is

so pathetically weak.

We feel that just as a flashlight bears little witness to the glory of God, so sprinkling bears little

witness to the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul makes it clear in verse 3-4 of what we are

witnessing to in baptism, and so we want to examine these two basic ideas from these verses. First

we see-

I. IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRIST. v. 3

Paul says that in baptism we are identified with Jesus in His death. We are giving witness to the

fact that as Jesus died for sin, so we will die to sin. We want to bury the old man of sin that clings to

us and holds us back from fellowship with God. This does not mean that the Christian no longer

sins after baptism, but that he is committing himself to never again live in sin. He identifies himself