Well, this morning, as you can see by this horse trough, also known as a baptismal, we
have a baptismal service.
We are baptizing three Christian women, three sisters in the Lord, Annalyn Faminas, where
is she?
There she is.
Barb Pierce, where is she?
There she is.
And Sandra Portillo, each has clearly expressed their faith in Jesus Christ.
Each has worked through a Bible study on baptism.
I had the privilege of sitting in an interview with each of them to hear about their clear
profession of faith, their eagerness to follow the Lord Jesus in baptism.
And so we have those steps just to make sure these people are genuinely converted to Christ.
But I'm aware that there are people in the room who may not know what baptism is or what
it means.
So this morning, here's what I'd like you to do.
I'd like to immerse you in what the Bible teaches about baptism.
I'd like to submerge you into God's thoughts on baptism.
I'd like to dunk you into four truths of what the Bible has to say about baptism.
And in so doing, I think it will help explain why these three women are being baptized today
and why, if you're a Christian and have yet to be baptized, why you should be baptized too.
So we're going to look at four biblical truths about baptism.
The precedent of baptism, the command to be baptized, the symbol of baptism, and the PSA of baptism.
So the precedent of baptism.
In Matthew chapter 3, verses 13 through 17, we see the ultimate precedent in terms of baptism.
Jesus himself was baptized.
What we're going to see throughout the New Testament is a normative pattern of being baptized,
and it starts with Jesus.
And so if you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 3, if you have a pew Bible in front of you,
it's on page 961.
And Jesus has gone to the Jordan River, and he's gone to who we call JTB, John the Baptist.
And he's asked John the Baptist to baptize him.
John the Baptist is a bit reluctant, and then Jesus finally convinced him.
In verse 15, he says,
Let it be so, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
So let's just be clear about something.
John the Baptist was baptizing with what's called a baptism of repentance,
of turning from your sin and turning to God.
Jesus did not need a baptism of repentance, because he was without sin.
And so what Jesus is doing here is he's modeling something for us.
John the Baptist, he says,
Okay.
And then Jesus is baptized.
He goes down into the Jordan, and John the Baptist pulls him up out of the Jordan,
and when he comes up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descends upon him as a dove.
And the Father, in a loud voice, says this,
This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.
Verse 17.
And so what we have here in the baptism of Jesus
is the beginning of a precedent for Christians.
Jesus is the ultimate example.
Did you guys notice?
The baptism of Jesus is a triune event.
You have the Son being baptized.
You have the Spirit descending upon him.
And you have the Father saying,
This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.
It's beautiful.
It pleases God.
Jesus himself was baptized.
And so these three women today are going to follow Jesus in baptism.
They're going to be baptized as their Savior and Lord was baptized.
But there's another precedent from the book of Acts.
If you're not familiar with the book of Acts, A-C-T-S,
it's a New Testament,
and it is the authorized history of the early church,
the start of the early church,
and the spread of the early church.
And the early church spread as the gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed.
All around the Mediterranean basin in that first century,
there were people speaking of Jesus,
of who Jesus was, God in the flesh,
and what he's done.
He's died on the cross for sinners.
And as the gospel of Jesus is being proclaimed,
there are people from all different walks of life
who come to believe in this Jesus.
And then they're baptized.
So what we see in the book of Acts is a pattern.
Christ is proclaimed.
People believe.
They repent of their sins and trust in Christ.
And then they're baptized.
Let me show you three examples.
The first example is in Acts chapter 8.
There's this guy named Philip.
He's called an evangelist,
which means he preaches Christ a lot.
He ends up in a town.
This is Acts 8, 12 through 13.
He's in Samaria.
And a number of men and women believe who are Samaritans,
which was just extraordinary.
And then they were baptized.
So there's the pattern.
There's the precedent.
Very simple.
Christ is proclaimed.
People believe.
And then they're baptized.
They're not baptized and then believe.
They believe and then they're baptized.
Acts 16.
Paul and Silas, well,
they're in chains in a Philippian jail cell.
God sends an earthquake,
throws open the jail cell doors.
It unshackles them.
The Philippian jailer runs out.
He's about to kill himself
because he's thinking,
all of my prisoners have now escaped.
And Paul says,
don't harm yourself.
Do you remember what the Philippian jailer said?
He said,
what must I do to be saved?
And then Paul and Silas explain to him,
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be saved.
Paul and Silas goes to the jailer's home,
share that same gospel with the jailer
and his household,
and all of the household believes
in what Paul and Silas are proclaiming
about Jesus,
that he's Lord.
So there it is again.
You have Christ proclaimed
and you have people believe
and then the whole household
was baptized all at once,
the scriptures say.
So you see the pattern.
Christ proclaimed,
people believe,
and then they're baptized.
There's another example.
And it's the example from Acts 18.
Paul and Silas are now in Corinth.
And in verse 8,
they are testifying
that the Christ was Jesus,
that the Messiah
that the Jews have been waiting for
is Jesus.
And there's a man named Crispus
who is the synagogue ruler
in Corinth.
Well, he comes to believe
that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Lord,
the Christ.
And Crispus,
with many other Corinthians,
believe
and they were baptized.
So Christ is proclaimed,
a number of people believe,
and then they're baptized.
So what we have
in the New Testament
is a precedent.
The book of Acts shows us
a normative pattern,
Christ proclaimed,
people believe,
and then they're baptized.
baptized.
So if I can just take a step back,
now what we've looked at
is this.
Jesus is the ultimate example
of baptism.
He himself was baptized.
And then we see this
as the gospel goes out,
people believe,
and then they too
are baptized.
And might I add just this?
In Acts 8,
where Paul
is baptizing,
or Philip is preaching
and baptizing in Samaria,
later,
that same account,
Philip preaches the gospel
to this Ethiopian eunuch.
And the Ethiopian eunuch,
having believed,
points to some water
and says,
hey,
baptize me.
And he went into the water
and came out.
Both in Jesus' example
and in the Ethiopian eunuch's example,
it's a baptism of immersion.
Going all the way under the water
and coming back out.
And the significance
we'll get to in a second.
But what I just want you to show,
it's biblically precedented.
Now moving from the precedent
of baptism,
I want to point you to
the command to be baptized.
This is point two.
And if you turn in your Bibles
to Matthew chapter 28,
in verses 18 through 20,
here's what's going on.
If you've never heard
of the word gospel before,
when it comes to
the books of the Bible,
a gospel,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
it's a biography of Jesus.
It's kind of the historical account
of his birth,
life,
death,
and resurrection.
And by the time we get to
Matthew chapter 28,
Jesus has been raised from the dead.
And now he is appearing
to his disciples.
And in Matthew 28,
18 through 20,
he's back in Galilee
where his ministry started.
He says this to his disciples.
He says in verse 18,
all authority in heaven and earth
has been given to me.
And that's Jesus making a huge claim
that he's like,
I am the king of heaven and earth.
I'm lord of it all.
This is the risen Christ
making that claim.
And then he goes on to say,
go therefore and make disciples
of all nations.
So he's commanding,
commissioning his disciples
to go make more disciples
of Jesus
that they would hear Christ
proclaimed and believe.
And having believed,
they would need to be baptized.
Baptizing them
in the name of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit.
Again,
it's another Trinitarian moment.
One name,
three persons.
They're to teach them
to observe all that Jesus commands
because he's the king.
He's Aslan on the move.
And so what I just want
to help you see here
at the end of the Gospel of Matthew
is that the risen King Jesus
requiring baptism
of all who become his disciples,
of all who hear the Gospel of Jesus
and believe in Jesus,
they are then to be baptized
in the name of Jesus.
It's a way of going public
for Jesus.
Now I need to make
a quick clarification here.
Baptism is a command.
But it's not a command
that saves you.
In order to be saved,
you need to trust in Jesus.
Jesus saves you.
Baptism doesn't save you.
So,
baptism
is a command,
but it doesn't save you.
No,
those who are saved by Jesus,
they're commanded
to be baptized.
And so these three women
that we're going to see
baptized today,
they've already
believed in Jesus.
And now they're just
following Jesus' command
and taking the step
of baptism
and going public
with their conversion
to Christ.
You might know
Ephesians 2, 8, 9,
for by grace
you've been saved
through faith.
It's not of yourself,
it's a gift of God,
not by works
so that no one
should boast.
Baptism isn't a work
we do to save us.
Baptism,
it's a declaration
of the work
Christ has done
to save us.
In Acts 2,
just to help you
understand this command
of baptism
a little bit more,
the apostle Peter
is preaching
one of the greatest
sermons ever preached
and he's in Jerusalem
and he's preaching
to thousands
of Jewish people
in Jerusalem
and he brings
this sermon to a head.
He's been preaching
Jesus is the Lord
and there are
these thousands
of Jewish people
who then ask
in verse 37,
what do we do?
What do we do now
in light of Jesus
being the Christ?
And Peter says,
repent and be baptized
every one of you.
And that word repent
simply means
to turn from your sins,
from trusting yourself
to save yourself,
and trust in Christ.
It's shorthand
to be converted,
to trust in Jesus,
and then to be baptized.
And in verse 41,
we see that those
who received his word,
those who believed
what he proclaimed
about Jesus,
they are then baptized.
Peter doesn't make
baptism optional.
It's a necessary step
for those who believe
in Jesus
as their Savior and Lord.
It's a command.
It doesn't save you,
but it's a command.
So here's what that means.
For us as a church,
it means this.
We must be baptizing
those men and women,
boys and girls,
who become Christians,
who believe.
We are to baptize them.
That's why we're having
a baptism,
to baptize those
who believe in Jesus.
But it also means this,
that those who come
to faith in Christ,
who repent of their sin
and turn to Christ,
you need to be baptized.
This command applies
to you.
You need to take this step
to go public with Jesus.
It's a command.
It doesn't save you,
but it's a way
that we obey
and follow Jesus.
Now you might be
asking this question,
baptism, baptism,
baptism,
what's the big deal
with baptism?
Well, it's what it represents.
It's what it symbolizes,
which brings me
to the third point,
third biblical truth,
the symbol of baptism.
And I want to bring you
to Romans chapter 6,
verses 1 through 5,
and I'm going to read
that for us.
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?
Did you hear
the baptism language?
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.
The Apostle Paul
is using baptism
as a way of
kind of
a visible demonstration
of our invisible union
with Christ.
He's talking about
using baptism
in a way of,
hey, your baptism
actually
is the visible
kind of seeing
of something
that God has done
within you.
It's called
being united to Christ.
I've been preaching
on Sunday mornings
through the book
of Colossians,
and I've been loving
every minute of it.
And you can sum up
the point
of the whole book
of Colossians
in two words.
Christ central.
Jesus Christ
is the controlling center
of our lives
as Christians.
He's the treasured center
of our lives
as Christians.
He's the life-giving center
of our lives
as Christians.
He is the glorious center
of our lives.
As Christians,
our lives orbit him.
He doesn't orbit us.
When a sinner,
a person who's been sinning
their whole life,
believes in Jesus Christ
for the first time,
at that moment,
they've been converted.
The Bible talks about it
as being made new,
as becoming a new creation.
From Colossians,
we've learned
that when someone believes,
they are delivered
from the domain of darkness
and transferred
into the kingdom
of the beloved son.
They have a new kingdom.
They have a new king,
Jesus.
And we've been learning
from Colossians as well,
as we see here
in Romans 6,
1 through 5,
they're given a new identity
in Christ.
That they're united
to Christ
in his death
and resurrection.
Remember in Colossians 2,
that we die with Christ
and in 3, 1,
that we are raised
with Christ.
This union with Christ
is absolutely phenomenal.
It makes you
a whole new creation.
And so here's what that means.
When someone believes
in Jesus for the first time,
God unites them
to Christ's death.
And so therefore,
that sinner's sin
is completely forgiven
and sin is no longer
their master.
And they're also raised
with Christ.
And so now,
they're given new life
so that they can live
for God.
You've been united
with Christ
in his death
and resurrection.
And that's why
this is so important.
You might see
a horse trough.
What you need
to be seeing
is a symbol
of Jesus' death.
So Anna Lynn's
going to be the first
to be baptized.
And so she's going
to come up here.
I'm going to introduce
you to her.
And then Eric and I
are going to put her
in the water.
And you're going to hear
me say to her
as she's going down
into the water,
united with Christ
in his death.
And that'll hold her
for three minutes.
We'll sing a song.
Just to make the point.
And then we'll
pull her out
of the water
and you'll hear me say,
and raised with Christ
to newness of life.
So here's what
the water represents,
the death of Jesus.
United with Christ
in his death,
raised with Christ
to newness of life.
So you know what
this baptism symbolizes.
An individual's union
with Christ.
It's a statement
about their conversion.
All three of these women
are saying this
this morning.
I've come to believe
who Jesus is.
I have been united
with Christ
in his death
and resurrection.
I am a new creation.
Three times this morning.
It's a huge statement.
I've been saved
from my sins
because I've been
united to Christ.
That's the big deal
about baptism.
It's what it signifies.
It's an outward expression
of an inward change
that has been brought about
by God himself
in each of these women's lives.
And that's what
they're announcing.
Which brings me
to the fourth point.
The PSA of baptism.
It's the fourth
biblical truth.
You know what a PSA is,
don't you?
Public service announcement.
Years ago
when people actually
watched the Tennecock news
on TV,
there was a
Milwaukee TV station,
a news station
that would make this
PSA at 10 p.m.
It's 10 p.m., parents.
Do you know
where your children are at?
It is just kind of
raising awareness,
making something known.
That's the point
of a public service announcement.
baptism is a biblical
public service announcement.
Let me ground it
not just in its
precedent and command
and its symbolism,
but let me just ground it
in Matthew 10
as an outworking of this.
Listen to what Jesus says.
Jesus is talking
to his apostles
about not fearing
man,
not being afraid
of what other people
think about you.
And he says this,
fear not,
therefore,
you are of more value
than many sparrows.
In verse 32 he says,
so everyone
who acknowledges me
before men,
I also will acknowledge
before my Father
who is in heaven,
but whoever denies me
before men,
I will deny
before my Father
who is in heaven.
And at a minimum,
Jesus is saying
something quite extraordinary.
He's making it very clear
that those who follow him
are not to be ashamed
of him,
but must be willing
to go public for him,
to publicly identify
with him.
And what baptism is,
is a beautiful,
commanded way
to go public
for Jesus,
to acknowledge Jesus
before men.
So when each of these women
are baptized,
do you know
what they're saying?
What Jesus thinks
matters more
than what anybody
in the room thinks.
That's what they're saying.
They're saying,
Jesus is my treasure.
And they're going
public for him.
They're acknowledging him
before this company
of men and women.
Now you can ask the question,
well, who then
is a PSA for?
This thing called baptism.
Well, for sure,
it's for these three sisters
being baptized.
It's for them.
It's for them to go public.
For them to make
an announcement
by way of their
baptism that they
belong to Jesus.
And it's not something
they're going to forget
anytime soon.
But it's also
for everyone in the room,
this public service
announcement.
If you're not a Christian
in the room,
when you see these
three women baptized,
there could be a two-fold
kind of effect.
First one is this.
It's a delineation.
You're thinking,
oh, Sandra,
oh, she's now
a Jesus person.
And she's one of them.
She's no longer
one of us.
She's one of them.
That's what baptism does.
It's a delineation.
It helps people
understand that
this person being
baptized,
it's a PSA.
Hey, I am living
for Jesus now.
So a non-Christian
hears that and like,
okay, sounds good.
The second effect
is this.
When a non-Christian
sees someone baptized,
to be asking this question,
and if you're a non-Christian
in the room,
I hope you're asking
this question when you see
these three women baptized.
Why would someone
ever do something like that?
What is it about this Jesus
that would cause
these women
to take that step?
And it's got everything
to do with who Jesus is
and what he's done.
And so if you're
a non-Christian in the room,
be asking the question,
why would they do this?
Who is this Jesus?
There's another group
of people in the room,
the Christians in the room.
This PSA is for you.
And again,
it's a delineating effect.
It's when you see
Anna Lynn or Barb
or Sandra
going into the water
and coming out,
you're like,
oh,
they're no longer
one of them.
They're one of us.
They live for Jesus now.
And so we get
to be able
to recognize
that these three women
have been brought
into the kingdom of God,
part of the family of faith.
That's why we're having
cake downstairs afterwards.
We're celebrating
their step of obedience.
But it also has this effect.
Last two sermons,
I've been talking about
this thing called
Christocentric resonance.
Here's the illustration
I've been using.
Imagine on the stage,
two baby grand pianos,
each just perfectly tuned.
Someone comes up
and hits center C
on one baby grand.
Ding,
ding,
ding.
Do you know
what's going to happen
in the other?
Center C will hum
because it's on
the same frequency.
And so here's going
to be some
Christocentric resonance,
brothers and sisters.
When these three women
go in and are baptized,
it's like they're hitting
Christ central
in the room.
Jesus is everything to them.
And let that resonate
in your being.
And let what comes up
be thankfulness to God.
A yes and amen.
So it's very appropriate
for one,
each of these women
are going to go down
and come up
to say glory to God.
Yes and amen.
All praise to his name.
It's the edifying effect
of a baptism,
of a PSA
among God's people.
So this baptism,
well,
it's a biblical PSA.
It's like
each of these people
are saying,
hey,
it's 11 a.m.
Sunday morning.
do you know
who my Savior
and Lord is?
Jesus.
What is baptism?
Well,
it's a biblical precedent.
We've seen that.
Jesus is the greatest example.
We've seen it
throughout Acts.
Christ proclaimed,
people believe,
then are baptized.
It's a biblical command.
Jesus himself
commands it
by virtue of saying,
go baptize
those
whom you are
making disciples.
it's a biblical picture
of our union
with Christ.
It is beautiful.
And it's a biblical
public service announcement
that these three women
are saying,
hey,
I'm going to acknowledge
my Jesus
before this company
of men.
So if you're a Christian,
a non-Christian
in the room,
a non-Christian
in the room,
let me ask you
just very,
very lovingly
but clearly,
what do you need
to know
in order to become
a follower
of Jesus yourself?
What do you need
to know
in order to turn
from your sin
and turn to Christ?
What else do you need
to know?
What is keeping you
from becoming
a follower
of Jesus today?
I'd be happy
to talk to you
about that
after the service.
If you're a parent
of children
who are expressing
interest
in baptism,
this is the second
group of people,
if your kids
are expressing
interest in baptism,
I would encourage you
as your pastor
to err on the side
of waiting.
Here's why.
So that your children
fully understand
what baptism means.
They're going to be
eager.
They want to please.
We've got a lot
of compliant kids
that want to just do it
because they know
it's good.
But you want to be sure
as their parents
that they understand
why.
So here's what
you're listening for.
I would say
this is what you're
listening for
for both baptism
and the Lord's Supper.
It's listening
for your child's
understanding
of their own
sinfulness.
Does your child
know
that when they
do wrong,
it's ultimately
against God.
It's a Godward
repentance.
It's a Godward
grief.
And I would
encourage you
to wait
until you're
hearing that
in your child.
That they
understand more
and more
that their sin
not only hurts
other people,
but it grieves
the God
who created them.
that will
help them
understand
both the
significance
of the
Lord's Supper
and baptism.
Third group
of people.
If you're a
Christian in the
room and you
have not been
baptized yet,
here's what you
need to put on
your calendar.
Sunday,
August 11th.
It's our
church picnic.
We're down
at Eichelman
and we use
this really
cool baptismal
called Lake
Michigan.
And when I
say really
cool,
I'm literally
like really
cool.
But you want
to get that
on your
calendar.
In that
vestibule on
the Connect
desk,
there are
Bible studies
on baptism.
If you want
to be baptized
on the 11th,
grab one of
those.
And then you're
going to want
to get a hold
of Kelly Schneeberger.
Kelly, are you
in the room?
Here she is
down front.
She's the
coordinator.
So if you want
to be baptized,
you're going to
want to talk
to her and
she'll set up
a time we
get together
and then make
sure you're
ready to be
baptized.
So if you're
not a Christian
and you want
to be baptized,
Sunday,
August 11th,
which now
brings me to
the fourth
group of
people,
Anna Lynn,
Barb,
and Sandra,
let's apply
this biblical
teaching on
baptism.
Let me pray
and then we'll
have Anna Lynn
come up.
God, we're so
thankful for what
your word has to
say about
baptism.
You don't
leave us
guessing.
It's very
clear.
And God, we want
to thank you for
what you've begun
in these three
women.
And thank you for
this step that
they're taking in
terms of going
public with their
union with Christ,
their conversion.
God, would you
impress this upon
their memories for
the rest of their
days?
Would you help
them use this to
communicate your
goodness to them?
And God, would you
bring about a
Christocentric
resonance in the
room?
Pray this in Jesus'
name.
Amen.