Following Jesus in Baptism

Sam Norris

Following Jesus • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago

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Baptism is necessary, sometimes dangerous, and very powerful.

Notes

Transcript

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 3:13–17 (NASB 2020)

13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” 15 But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. 16 After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, 17 and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Communion Scripture:

Psalm 23:5–6 (NASB 2020):

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.

Sermon:

On Easter, we had a beautiful experience, something that hasn’t happened at Topeka Gospel Church for a long time. Our new sister in Christ, Li Hong, was baptized. She wants to share her story with us and I am thankful that she waited to share it when I was here.

Li Hong

How many of you remember the day you were baptized? I want to talk with you today about baptism because it is far more than getting wet in a pool of water!

Baptism is necessary.

Matthew 3:15 (NASB 2020):

But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

When Jesus went down to the river that day, to the place where John was baptizing, John didn’t want to baptize him. John and Jesus were relatives. When John was growing up, he was told about how God let him be born even though his parents were very old. He was taught that his job would be to announce Jesus as God’s Savior for the world.

Jesus was the Son of God? How could John baptize Him?

I am so glad that Jesus set the example for us! We often hear of leaders who tell their people to do things, but the leaders are unwilling to do those things. Jesus obeyed and He called us to obey…

Matthew 28:19 (NASB 2020):

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…

2. Baptism is sometimes dangerous.

We have a friend who is a young missionary in North Africa. She is in a country that practices Islam. In that place, it can be very dangerous to be baptized as a follower of Jesus. A person could lose their job, be rejected by their family, be thrown into prison, and possibly even killed for being baptized to show that they follow Jesus.

Our friend is a college graduate, but she is very concerned about the young women who are coming to a Bible Study to learn about Jesus. If they choose to follow Jesus and be baptized, they may suffer. Our friend will come back to the U.S. this year to work on a masters degree in counseling, just so she can go back help new followers of Jesus in very difficult times.

Matthew 3:5–6 (NASB 2020):

5 At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

God was at work; people were coming to hear John preach and were being baptized. Why was this so important? In that time and place, baptism was used frequently to demonstrate that someone was…

Leaving their old life behind.

Following a new path.

People were being touched by God, leaving their old lives and being baptized to show everyone that they were following a new way.

Let’s spend a few minutes in a very familiar Psalm…

Psalm 23:1–3 (NASB 2020):

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need.

2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name.

Do you see the beautiful picture here?

We see the love of Jesus and want to follow Him.

We see how He provides for all our needs, both physical and the needs of our soul.

He calls us to a new way — paths of righteousness.

But like the Islamic friends we talked about, this way can be dangerous…

Psalm 23:4 (NASB 2020):

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

We are called to trust Jesus for all that we need, even when we walk through dark valleys in life. But, you know: dark valleys can be dangerous! Is it worth it?

3. Baptism is very powerful.

Let’s go back to the last part of Psalm 23…

Psalm 23:5–6 (NASB 2020):

Is this a guarantee that life will be easy if we choose To follow Jesus and be baptized?

No!

It does mean that God will be at work in our lives!

Let’s look at one more passage I have come to love…

Acts 19:2–5 (NASB 2020):

2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Right after they were baptized, Paul prayed for them that the power of God would come into their lives.

I was reading this passage a number of years ago and thought, “Why don’t we do that? We baptize people and clap for them, but we don’t pray for them and ask God to give them His power to live this Christian life.” So we started doing this. We were often blessed with people who began to follow Jesus and be baptized. I often stood and watched as one or two pastors were down in the water baptizing someone, while another people were gathering around to pray for the person who was just baptized. They would pray and ask God to give His power to the one who was baptized a few minutes earlier.