Sunday, July 6, 2008: The Foundation and Practice of Baptism

The Foundation and Practice of Baptism.

Matthew 3: 13 – 17; Matthew 28: 18 – 20;

Acts 8: 36 - 40; Romans 6: 1 – 7.

I. Part One: The Foundation of Baptism.

(Part One of this sermon was preached from the pulpit.)

I have to admit, Baptizing is one of my favorite things to do as a Pastor…Especially on a day like today when we have three people to baptize, from the same family (a father and two of his daughters)… Baptism is a sign that our church is doing something right…We are teaching our children about Jesus and we are reaching out to families in our community…

If you need something to be excited about this morning, then think about this…the three people we baptize today are here as the culmination of a couple of things: First, this is a family that first came into contact with our church, because someone invited them to church. Pauline and Homer Kroeker invited their neighbors to come to the Matthew Party in April. Second, the two daughters participated in G.A. camp for girls.

When we have several people to baptize, I like to do a couple of things. On one hand, I like to observe baptism on Sunday morning. This way we can all celebrate together and worship through this symbolic act that is so rich with theological meaning. On the other hand, I like to take the time to explain what our church believes about baptism.

For the past several weeks, I have preached from the book of Acts. My intention is for us to observe how the first Christian church grew through reaching out to other people. Sometimes, they reached out to their community. At other times, they extended their outreach into other communities. The early church was a missional church. I believe God is calling our church to become the same kind of missional people.

Last week, we read the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip used an Old Testament prophesy about Jesus to witness to the Ethiopian. Then, they came to a pool of water in the desert, where the Ethiopian asked Philip to baptize him.

What is so important about baptism? Why do we continue to practice baptism in the Twenty-First Century?

a. Modeled By Jesus (Matthew 3: 13 – 17).

In the Gospel of Matthew we learn about a connection between the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus. John was not the Messiah…John was the Forerunner of the Messiah, or the one that Isaiah had called the Voice Calling Out in the Wilderness, Preparing the Way for the Messiah.

Matthew also tells us that John prepared for Jesus’ ministry by doing two things: Preaching about Repentance…and…Baptizing the Ones Who Repented…

John basically had two sermons…Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand… AND…I baptize you with water, but the One coming after me will baptize you with fire…

When John said, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” he was announcing to the people of Israel that their time was up. They had disobeyed God’s will and perverted God’s ways long enough. Now it was time for them to come to their senses and become a part of God’s Kingdom and God’s work in the world. And the sooner they got on board, the better…

John’s other sermon is not quite as obvious to us as his first sermon. When John said, “I baptize you with water, but the One coming after me will baptize you with fire,” he was warning about the coming judgment. Fire is a common symbol in Scripture for God’s judgment. And the water of baptism was the way of marking God’s people and setting them outside the coming judgment. Passing through the waters of baptism was the way to avoid the fires of judgment.

John’s preaching was a warning to the people that when the Messiah finally comes, it would be too late for them to enter into God’s Kingdom and become a part of God’s rule in the world. The time to enter the Kingdom is now…And there is only one way to enter the Kingdom…You must REPENT…And the symbol of that Repentance was Baptism in water…

Now there is a twist as we consider this passage…Jesus was baptized by John. This raises a couple of very serious questions…Was John a higher authority than Jesus, that Jesus needed to submit to the Baptism of John?…And…Did Jesus need to Repent and be baptized?

We can answer these questions very simply by looking at what John’s baptism actually means…John did not preach that Baptism could save a person from the coming judgment or make them become a part of the Kingdom of God. Instead, John said that REPENTANCE was the only way to avoid judgment…REPENTANCE was the only way to enter the Kingdom of God…Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Baptism was a sign indicating that a person was now a member of God’s Faithful People. When Jesus was baptized by John, he did not repent or submit himself to John…Rather, Jesus identified himself as a member of God’s Faithful People.

The same thing is true for us this morning…When we are Baptized, we identify ourselves with Jesus and claim to be a part of God’s Faithful People.

b. Commanded By Jesus (Matthew 28: 18 – 20).

When Jesus gave his Great Commission—or his Last Instructions—to his disciples, he also gave instructions to the Christian church. We find our mission and purpose as a congregation in this commandment of Jesus…

Wherever you go…Make Disciples…Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…

Now pay close attention to that second part of Jesus’ command…He said that each time we make new disciples, we are to baptize those disciples…This is significant, because at this point in the Gospel of Matthew, we almost do not expect Jesus to command us to do something that could be called a RITUAL…

Think about that…Throughout the Gospels, Jesus has gone head to head against the Scribes and Pharisees…These are the Jewish religious leaders who had everything wrong…They followed every ritual; kept every dietary law; observed all the religious feasts and festivals; but they had lost the spirit of the law…They were furious when Jesus healed the sick and preached the Good News on the Sabbath Day…There was even a time when these people criticized Jesus and his disciples for not following the exact procedures for washing their hands before they ate…Not to mention the ways they tried time after time to back Jesus into a corner and trick him into making religious errors…But Jesus couldn’t be tricked…

When the Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus, “What is the most important commandment?”…Do you remember what Jesus said? He said, “Take every law, every command, every feast and every ritual and throw them out the window. Everything in the Law and the Prophets can be summed up in just two commands…Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…Love your neighbor as your self…”

Now, at the very end of Jesus’ earthly ministry he closes by giving the church two rituals that we should observe…The Lord’s Supper…Baptism…

If Jesus rejected all other Jewish rituals, we ought to take very serious the two rituals he commanded us to observe.

II. Part Two: The Practice of Baptism.

(Part Two of this sermon was preached from the baptistery.)

a. Believers Only (Acts 8: 36 – 40).

Since Jesus commanded us to baptize each new disciple, we can find some form of baptism in every denomination of the Christian church. However, only a few denominations practice baptism as it appears in the Bible.

This Scripture in Acts 8 is one example of many throughout the book of Acts of the Apostles preaching the Good News, men and women accepting God’s offer of salvation through Jesus, THEN being baptized.

In EVERY example of baptism in the New Testament, the person made a decision to follow Christ first…Then they were baptized.

That is why Baptists do not baptize infants…Because infants cannot make their own decision to follow Christ. And the New Testament teaches us that Baptism is for Believers Only.

(Bring all three baptismal candidates into the water to be baptized.)

Baptize the first candidate.


b. Immersion Only.

The second thing we can say about Baptism in the Bible is that Baptism was ALWAYS by immersion. In fact, that is what the word Baptism means.

We get our English word Baptize directly from the Greek word baptizw which literally means IMMERSE. We just changed the last letter from “O” to “E” to get the word “Baptize.” This same word was used outside the New Testament to describe Baptizing the Dishes—Washing the Dishes—as well as the Baptism of a Ship—the Sinking of a Ship. You can’t wash dishes just by sprinkling a little water on them…And a ship cannot sink with just a sprinkling of water.

You can also see Baptism as Immersion by looking at John the Baptist’s sermon… “I Baptize you with water, but the One coming after me will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire.” No one would suggest that Baptism of the Holy Spirit means that we receive just a sprinkling of the Spirit. We have been engulfed by the Spirit and totally Immersed by his presence.

Baptize the second candidate.


c. Symbolic Only (Romans 6: 1 – 7).

The third thing we can say about Baptism, is that it does not Do anything…It is Symbolic Only. It is a Visible Sign of Invisible Grace. But what does baptism symbolize?

The Apostle Paul is our best source for interpreting the Gospel…And this is his interpretation of Baptism…

There are some who say that Baptism is the way we receive the Grace of God—That is why they sprinkle just a little water on the forehead, because it only takes a little Grace; AND that is why they Baptize infants, because if Baptism is the way to receive Grace, then we need to do it as soon as it is possible.

But we Baptize by Immersion, because it is Symbolic Only. We use Lufkin City Water, not Holy Water. And we put the person completely under the water and bring them up again as a symbol of what Jesus has done for us.

Jesus died on the cross to offer us forgiveness of sins. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb, where he remained for only three days. Then, Jesus rose to life again, proving that he is the Son of God and proving that he has the power to give us eternal life that goes beyond the grave.

In baptism, we symbolically participate in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. My old sinful self is now dead…It is buried under the waters of Baptism…And through the Power of Christ, I am raised to live a new life with Jesus.

Baptize the third candidate.


III. Conclusion

Should you be baptized? The answer is YES…Not to become a Christian, but if you already are a Christian.

Baptism cannot save you. There is only one way that we can be saved… Nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Baptism cannot wash away your sins. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

But if you believe that Jesus died on the cross to take away your sins…If you trust him as your Savior…And if you follow him as your Lord…Then you should be baptized. Baptism is the only way described in the Bible that you and I can identify ourselves as members of God’s Faithful People.

Understood in this way, Baptism is like my wedding ring. I wear this ring so that the world can know that I am married to Shauna. But if I take it off…What happens? Am I still married? Of course I am still married! There was a Saturday in October 1993 that Shauna and I committed ourselves to remain together “Until Death Do Us Part.”

The only difference is that when I take off my wedding ring, nobody knows that I am married and committed to Shauna.

Baptism is the way we tell the church, our friends, our family and all the world that we have been saved and we are committed to follow Jesus as Lord.