One Baptism
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
<<PRAY>> <<READ 4:4-6>>
Baptism, by its nature, tends to come with a story.
The first person I ever baptized was my best friend, Donovan. We were 17. We didn’t have any authorization from anybody. It wasn’t in a church or anything.
He had stayed over at my house for a couple nights, and our late-night Gospel conversations finally led to him asking me to baptize him, right then. He had trusted in Christ, and he wanted to follow Him. And part of that was to be baptized.
I baptized Donovan in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I guess that was about the only thing I got right.
Since it was the middle of the night, we did it in my bathtub
Since the bathtub wasn’t deep enough to dunk him, we just ran the water and he stuck his head under.
But in spite of all the things he had struggled with, he never looked back. Donovan died a few weeks later.
A year ago, Christianity Today told the story of a pastor from Iran who disappeared, presumably kidnapped by Iran’s secret police.
Two weeks later, 38 brand new Christians from his church stood in line, ready to be baptized, when news arrived that their pastor had been tortured and buried in an unmarked grave.
The leader who was about to baptize them turned and said, “The man who loved you enough to tell you about Jesus, giving you the opportunity of eternal life, has been killed because of his faith. This is the cost of following Jesus.
“Now, I want to know, are you ready to be baptized? Now that you have witnessed the cost of following Jesus, are you ready to be ‘buried with Him in baptism’ and raised to your new life in Christ?”
Baptism is a point of no return in many Muslim countries. It is the sign that you have left your old life for the new. Seekers in Muslim countries may explore Christianity, may risk hiding a Bible, but baptism proclaims to the world that you belong to Jesus. In spite of the danger, every one of those new Iranian Christians stepped into the water and made that proclamation.
I’ve personally heard similar stories from Christian refugees from Iran and Syria, and pastors from Saudi Arabia, India.
Baptism is a God-given sign and symbol of salvation. It’s a reminder of Christ’s death and resurrection, and a picture of how His death and resurrection give us new life. It’s also a statement - a proclamation - to the world. I belong to Him now.
The one baptism in Ephesians 4:5 is also remarkable statement of unity in Christ. Today, we’re going to dip into the nature of baptism, and I’m going to give you the background of baptism, the basics of baptism, and the application of baptism.
Q. How is Baptism a tool for the unity of the Body of Christ?
I. The Biblical Background of Baptism
I. The Biblical Background of Baptism
Baptism is a part of Christ’s commission to His Church.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Christ puts baptism in its proper place - it’s right there, in our very mission as a church. That’s why we see baptism so often in the book of Acts. The Great Commission also teaches us that we are to baptize in the Triune Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But baptism doesn’t come out of thin air in Matthew 28. Before Christian baptism, even before John the Baptist, there were other baptisms.
Christian baptism is the fulfillment of Old Testament baptisms.
“Baptize” is a Greek word that means to dip or immerse into water. In the New Testament, it points to some specific experiences from the Old Testament.
The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 points back to Israel’s experience in the Red Sea crossing and says
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
EXODUS 14 - Moses had led Israel out of their slavery in Egypt, but at the Red Sea, it already looked like things were all over. Pharaoh’s armies had them trapped. The LORD told Moses to hold out his staff over the water, and the LORD parted the Red Sea so that Israel passed through on dry ground, but Pharaoh’s armies were drowned in judgment.
This was a baptism - the people passed through the waters and were rescued, and when they stepped out onto the shore, there was no returning.
An even earlier baptism, Peter points back to the flood in Genesis 6-8:
20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Once again, we have the idea that the LORD rescued His people by bringing them safely through the waters that covered and judged the world.
We see other Old Testament baptisms, too - the consecration of the priests in Exodus 29, the healing of Naaman in the Jordan River in 2 Kings 5, and all sorts of purification rites commanded in the Law.
Hebrews 9:10 looks back on the Old Testament Law and calls all these things “various washings,” using the same Greek word - it literally says “various baptisms.”
Noah and his family were brought safely through water by God, and stepped out into a new life. Israel was brought safely through the Red Sea by God’s servant Moses, and stepped out into a new life. Naaman was cleansed from his leprosy and his idolatry, and stepped out of the water into a new life of devotion to God.
Christian baptism brings together all the things that the Old Testament baptisms were pointing towards, but it’s more than that. This brings us to our second point:
II. The Basics of Baptism
II. The Basics of Baptism
I mentioned before that the basic meaning of the word “baptize” is “to dip”. A common word we like to use for this is “immersion.”
Remember that baptism is a God-given symbol of our salvation. So Paul says
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 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. 5 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.
When a believer is immersed in baptism, it symbolizes union with Jesus’s death. And when you rise up from the water, it points to your union with His resurrection.
Baptism is a powerful reminder that because you have believed in Jesus, you have already passed from death to eternal life.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
The waters of the flood and the Red Sea were judgment for sins, but they were redemption for those who trusted the LORD, because the LORD was with them.
1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
As a sign of repentance, baptism is a picture of leaving the old life and beginning the new one. As a sign of cleansing from sin, baptism reminds us that we are washed clean in the blood of Jesus Christ.
When the Apostles first proclaimed the Gospel in Acts 2, and the people asked Peter what they should do,
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And this brings us to another important basic of baptism:
It is a sign of our salvation; it proclaims that we belong to the LORD; and it is a sign of something else, too.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
In the book of Acts, we see the Holy Spirit poured out first on the Apostles, empowering them to proclaim Christ to the nations. Then the Holy Spirit is poured out on those who believe in Christ. Every time the Gospel moves forth, it’s because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
On the day when Peter preached to the people in Jerusalem in Acts 2, he quotes from
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
Wherever the Word of Jesus Christ is preached and people put their faith in Him, God sends a new flood. Persecutions can’t stop it, martyrdom can’t stop it, the entire Roman Empire couldn’t stop the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
God continues to pour out His Holy Spirit wherever people turn to Christ. God is fulfilling His Old Testament promises in you and me.
The LORD spoke through the prophet Isaiah to tell of the day when the Christ would come. It starts out in Isaiah 11,
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
This is the same Holy Spirit that Joel promised would be poured out “on all flesh.” And then the LORD tells how the Christ would bring salvation and shalom to all of God’s world:
9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
It’s a sign of our redemption, union with Christ’s death and resurrection, cleansing from sin, new birth, new life; and it proclaims to the world that Jesus has poured out His Holy Spirit on us, to flood the earth with the knowledge of the LORD. In other words, it is a symbol of mission. Baptism is your commissioning for ministry.
III. Baptism Applied
III. Baptism Applied
Because of what it symbolizes, baptism is commanded for believers. You can’t declare you belong to Jesus unless you do belong to Jesus. We have no examples of infants or unbelievers getting baptized in the New Testament. Instead, repeatedly we hear “Believe and be baptized.” Anyone who is old enough to repent and believe is old enough to be baptized.
Baptism is a sign of salvation, not maturity. In Acts 2:38-41, 3000 brand new believers are baptized. In Acts 8, the Ethiopian eunuch is baptized immediately upon believing. In Acts 9, Saul has been persecuting the church, Jesus calls him to repent, he spends three days blind, hears the Gospel from Ananias, believes and gets baptized. Cornelius and his whole household hear the Gospel in Acts 10 and believe, and the Holy Spirit falls on them, and immediately Peter baptizes them.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in jail, singing hymns and praying, and God sends an earthquake. All the cell doors open and everyone’s shackles fall off, and the jailer wakes up and sees what’s happened, and pulls out his sword to kill himself. Paul shouts, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!” And in terror, the jailer falls at Paul’s feet and asks, “What must I do to be saved?”
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
Sometimes I hear people worry that they’re not ready to be baptized. But you can never do anything to get ready for baptism. You can’t be saved by any works you can do. The Gospel proclaims that every one of us is in desperate need of being saved. Israel couldn’t part the Red Sea, Israel couldn’t get ready to part the Red Sea. God did the work, and God called them to pass through the waters.
The simple formula is this: Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved. Be baptized to declare that it has happened. Friends, if you believe in Jesus, don’t wait for some future date to be baptized.
We baptize by immersion, dipping whenever possible. Immersion is the most faithful way to understand the symbols and meaning of baptism. When water is scarce, or someone is unable to be baptized by immersion for reasons of health, Christians from the earliest times have seen pouring or sprinkling water as a good substitute. We dip when possible, we pour when necessary.
Finally, I want to talk about the unity of baptism. Bible-believing Christians have different convictions about a lot of stuff surrounding baptism. But Christians everywhere are united by the fact that we have one baptism. We don’t have to keep washing off sin - Jesus did that once for all in His death. There’s not a different baptism for each church or each leader. We have one baptism - baptism in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Like Worship and the Word of our one Lord, and the Welcome of our shared faith, the Water of our one baptism unites Christians across centuries and continents.
If the story of Donovan getting baptized in my bathtub made you laugh, it makes me laugh now, too. But when I consider that it was his fervent desire to declare the Jesus had rescued him from sin and death - it’s inspiring.
When Christians in Iran meet and under pain of death turn their backs on the lies of Islam to trust in Jesus Christ, and declare it to their brothers and sisters, that’s awe-inspiring.
And you have been baptized into the same baptism as those persecuted believers. Baptism almost always comes with a story. Our common story is the story of God’s glorious salvation in Jesus. Some Christians were saved out of addiction, some were saved out of false religion, some were saved as children, some were saved in old age. But all of us have a mighty story to tell, because we passed through the same waters and our LORD was with us.
Believers, when you feel disconnected from the Body, remember that you share the same story that I have. We were saved in different times and places, but we were saved by the same death and resurrection.
When you feel far from the LORD, remember what God declares in your baptism:
1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
When a child comes to know the LORD and gives testimony to His saving grace and is plunged beneath the water in His Name, only to be raised up again, all of God’s people see and are amazed. They see the picture and remember, “I belong to the same Lord."
When an adult who’s been in the church his whole life stands up and says, “I want everyone to know that I never knew the LORD until now” and without a care for how it makes him look, proclaims that he spent his whole life pretending, but now he knows the Lord, and he goes under and comes back up, we cheer with tears rolling down our faces, rejoicing that we have the same LORD and the same faith that saves.
If you were baptized as an infant, but you’re ready to proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ, if you were baptized at some other point in your life, but you know now that you didn’t really believe, if you’ve waited to get baptized because you thought you weren’t good enough yet, if you want to turn to Jesus Christ today for the very first time, we want to rejoice with you.
So August 9th is our Baptism Sunday after church at 2:30pm. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a Christian, it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, if you have decided to follow Jesus, come with me into the water on that date, and let’s proclaim it to the world.
