Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 28:16-20, Romans 6

Good Morning, Church!

I wanted to start with a quick word of clarification.

I would like to address my intensity over the past few weeks while discussing the topic of what is a disciple according to what Jesus taught.

I can understand that at times with this topic I might come across as strongly passionate or even angry.

I want you to hear me say that I am not frustrated with you as a church. I praise God that each of you have bought into our mission and vision as a church. All I have to do is ask and people are willing to step out and help and serve.

I thank God for our church and for each and every one of you.

I believe that through my study of what a disciple according to Jesus’ words and teachings, I have come to be frustrated in the American church for being too afraid to teach these truths. The topics from our past few weeks are under taught in our churches today.

And that frustrates me and it scares me.

It frustrates me because these are truths that Jesus clearly taught often but yet in order for us to remain comfortable being cultural Christians or to continue to keep the pews filled, we have avoided teaching the true depths of dying to self required to following Jesus as His disciple!

And it scares me because I fear that we have filled churches with people who think that because they said a prayer but had absolutely NO life change, absolutely NO repentance, but because they said that prayer that they did not understand, they are saved.

I’m fearful that we have filled churches with people who are possibly more lost than those in the world because they have been deceived into thinking that are saved!

That scares me!! And I can absolutely not continue that in the church that God has placed me as an overseer of!

I won’t!

I’m frustrated with the fact that nobody in my 40 years of attending church has taught me these truths, and truthfully, these passages have exposed a lot in my life that I have not surrendered to the Lord and the areas of my life that I am not following Jesus the way that He asked His disciples to be willing to follow.

So, I apologize if I have seemed frustrated with you, but trust me, I am not. All of this is between you and God, not you and me.

I simply believe that these truths are essential to walking into the eternal and abundant life that Jesus died to provide for you and me. And we have been keeping them from the church for fear that it will seem too harsh that people might leave. But being rejected is a part of taking up your cross.

Are you with me on that Church?

Now, to get into the message this morning, we are going to move into the next part of the great Commission.

Let’s read it together.

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So, last week, we wrapped up the making disciples of all nations.

This week, the week of a baptism, we are looking at the passage

Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

There are a number of things that we say about the act of baptism and I want to make sure they line up with scripture and what baptism means.

First of all, we say that baptism is the first act of obedience of following Jesus.

In the great commission, in Jesus’ command to baptize disciples is a command to be baptized if you are a disciple!

Jesus at His baptism, said that this must be done to fulfill all righteousness.

to fulfill all righteousness essentially means because it is the right thing to do.

All throughout the book of Acts, we see those who put their faith in Jesus baptized.

There can be no doubt that Jesus commanded us to be baptized after we decide to follow Him. But we can equally see that it cannot be a requirement for salvation because of the thief on the cross.

Jesus declared as clearly as possible, that he WOULD be with Jesus today in eternity! Yet he was never baptized. All he knew was that he believed and Jesus said he could go with Him.

Something else we say about baptism is that its an outward sign of an inward change.

I like this saying because I believe that it lines up with scripture and the call to discipleship.

But the things I want to talk about mostly today is that its MORE about the inward change that the outward sign.

While it is about proclaiming to the world that you are a Christian, it is more about you going through an action that symbolizes everything that we have been talking about what it means to be a disciple for Jesus Christ.

Its more about you drawing a line in the sand of your life saying that you are sharing in the death of Jesus to yourself and your sins.

It is more so a symbolic act of you taking up your cross and dying to self than it is to show others that you are a Christian.

Turn with me to Romans 6.

As we read this passage, I want you to think about this past months messages about being a disciple and what the cost is to us.

Think about the loving God first, taking up your cross daily. Think about the religious spirit and spiritual pride of the rich, young ruler. Think about the cross being a symbol of rejection, suffering and death.

Paul is coming out of a discussion about how sin entered into world through the first Adam and how grace and forgiveness entered into the world through the second Adam, Jesus.

Read 5:18-21

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul tells us that when we choose to obey in the act of obedience, it is a proclamation that we are dying to sin in our lives.

It is us saying out loud and in front of others that we are burying our old selves and sin in our lives.

Verses 5-7 says more of that

Romans 6:5–7 ESV

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

The decision to follow Jesus, to be His disciple, is a decision to die.

Its what we have been talking about for weeks now.

Its a decision to be united in the death of Jesus. Its a decision to crucify the old self and to die to the sin in our lives.

To be immersed under the water, it symbolizes your willingness to be buried with Christ.

It is a willingness to do all that we have been talking about for weeks now.

Its a willingness to love God greater that your family and friends and even yourself.

Its a willingness to take up your cross daily, including being rejected, persecuted and even possibly being put to death.

Its a willingness to put the old you in the past.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Baptism is a declaration of death of the old self.

It is a declaration of your intention to be a disciple like Jesus was looking for!

But there is two parts to baptism, the burial and the resurrection!

The coming up out of the water symbolizes sharing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Its being raised to walk in the newness of eternal and abundant life united with Jesus!

And in this newness of life is all of the promises of God! Every spiritual blessing is available to you!

It is a life that is victorious over death, over the power and slavery of sin in your life!

Romans 6:7–14 ESV

For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

The new life that you have been raised with in Christ is a life that declares that sin does NOT have power over you anymore!

This new life is a victorious life!

When we are baptized, we symbolize our deaths with Christ and all that we are willing to sacrifice for Him.

But when we are brought back out of the water, we are symbolizing the NEW RESURRECTED LIFE that is found in Jesus!

It is the launch of a new beginning!

It is a stepping out of the grave of sin and death and stepping out in the glorious light of communion and peace with God!

Romans 6:20–23 ESV

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fruit that leads to righteousness and right living!

That ends in eternal life!

Look Church, what we get with this new life, this resurrected life is the greatest gift ever!

Go back on chapter!

Go back and I want to read this.

We are going to do a little group participation, alright?!

Talk back to me. As I read this, when I read something amazing, something praise worthy, something amazing, I want to thank God out loud. Say an amen, or a thank you, Jesus!

Underline each one!

I want you to proclaim praise for these truths that we receive in Christ and I want you to be overwhelmed by the incredibleness of this free gift of grace! This eternal life!

Talk to me church, you in with me on this?

When you die to self and become His disciple this is what you receive in Him! This is the new life that we symbolize receiving in baptism!

You ready! Let’s praise together through the Word!

Romans 5:1–11 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Church, THIS IS JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET OF WHAT WE HAVE IN CHOOSING TO FOLLOW JESUS AND BEING HIS DISCIPLE!

CHURCH, THIS IS WORTH GIVING UP EVERYTHING FOR!

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH DYING FOR!

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH DYING TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT!

Church, let us never lessen the impact or meaning of baptism by focusing on what it means to others! By focusing on the outward sign.

Let us remember that baptism is so much more than that!

Its a physical representation for you to draw a line in the sand saying that I’m following Jesus by dying to myself and sin, but being raised to walk in a new, victorious, reconciled, peace with God, justified, grace covered ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD!

So, church as we go and make disciples of all nation, the way Jesus made disciples, we will lead them to follow His example and be baptized into the death to ourselves and sin and being raised up into the newness of life with Christ!

How amazing it is that God chooses us to be His instrument to teach others these amazing truths....