Baptism Explained

if you have your bible turn with me this morning to romans chapter 6 and we're going to pick up in verse 4. romans chapter 6 beginning in verse 4. before i read the text to you though i want to make one more important announcement on how many of you guys have heard of school of discipleship that we launched here at vision church where are my people at that went through it can you make some noise if it was fruitful and beneficial so we're a church that's getting serious about the great commission which is to go and tell people about the goodness of jesus and to make disciples of those who already believe and this is one of the ways that we do that school of discipleship is a five-week course it is designed to walk you through the foundations of your faith and it doesn't matter if you've been a believer for 30 years or for 30 minutes school of discipleship is for you i want to encourage you go on the website sign up that course begins on may 19th sunday nights 5 p.m life changing and you don't want to miss it all right there is a registration fee of fifty dollars and that's not because we need your money it's because we need you to buy in and if we made it free y'all would show up for two weeks and we'd never see you again all right so it's good to have a little skin in the game all right and if you can't afford the fifty dollars are available for you we don't want money to be the limiting reason why you don't partake in school of discipleship but we want you to get in there all right we preach about making disciples so let's get in there let's invest in our own life and our own spiritual walk all right child care is also provided free in there so anybody thankful for our vision kids volunteers and everybody that works so hard with our kids they're phenomenal all right this morning we are talking about you guessed it baptism and today i'm going to be answering the most frequently asked questions about baptism baptism is one of the most important moments in the life of a believer yet it is something that is still kind of filled with questions and people are still not totally clear on what baptism really means and why they should do it and so i want to walk you through some of the most frequently asked questions regarding baptism today romans chapter 6 i said beginning in verse 4 but i'm going to start in verse 3 and here we go or have you forgotten that when we were joined with christ in baptism we joined him in his death for we for we died and were buried with christ by baptism and just as christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the father now we also may live new lives so i want to read right there that's a gorgeous text i love it the first question i want to answer this morning is what is baptism look at your neighbor with a little attitude and ask him what is baptism are y'all out there today hey the 9 30 was hyped up y'all y'all better be the 11 15 y'all supposed to be more hyped all right so what is baptism now listen some of y'all i know y'all seasoned church folk are already checking me out right now you're like been there done that bought the shirt we're done do not check out please do not check out all right because this message is gonna speak to you even if you've already been baptized it may convict you of some things that you've been neglecting it may shine the light of god's word into some areas of your life that need some realignment so don't just check out all right but the first question i want to answer today is what is baptism as we read in romans chapter 6 baptism is the external outward expression of the inward conversion it is the outward and visible display of the gospel at work in your life when you go down under the water romans 6 says that you are identifying with christ's death how many of you know if you stay under the water a little too long you about to die all right the water represents death you can't breathe there you held there too long you're gonna die so the water is symbolic of death and when we go under the water when we are immersed and it washes over us it is the visual portrayal of christ's death and burial for us christ indeed died for every one of you for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but find life everlasting baptism is not just a formality it is the visual representation that christ literally died and was buried for us but how many of you are glad that he didn't just stay in the grave how many of you are glad the cross wasn't the final word he lifted up out of that grave he was resurrected and so baptism we identify with the death and the burial of jesus christ but also we are raised into the newness of life and because he lives we also shall live because he has been resurrected we too shall be raised to life the same spirit that raised christ from the dead is alive within each and every one of you who are believers it's the outward expression of the inward conversion it represents new life one of my favorite things about the imagery of baptism is that you cannot baptize yourself it is impossible i've heard of some people who may have tried before all right but you cannot baptize yourself you could be extremely awkward you'd probably drown and you can't do it because the real the reality is is that in baptism you are in a state of surrender and you are dipped down into the watery grave and then it is not you who resurrects yourself but it is the spirit of the living god who resurrects you and raises you to life look at your neighbor and tell them you can't baptize yourself now i'm about to preach and lose my mind on you real quick you ready the imagery of you can't baptize yourself is also speaking to you can't save yourself either you can't resurrect into the newness of life on your own will you can't set out to be a morally good person and make it to heaven you can't live and be good enough to make it into the presence of the father we in our own effort in our own human finite understanding we cannot save ourselves we cannot resurrect ourselves we must be surrendered into the hands of an almighty god and it is through the precious spirit of the living god that we are resurrected and raised to life let every victory let every trophy let every success of my life bring glory and honor to the name of jesus christ for it is he who lifted me it's he who carried me i just wish i'd get a witness of somebody who's thankful that even though we couldn't do it he did it it is through surrender baptism preaches the death the burial and the resurrection it preaches the visual gospel to everyone who beholds it baptism is the public announcement it's the psa public service announcement that i once was dead but now i've come to life it is the announcement and acknowledgement that i am dying to who i used to be i'm dying to my guilt i'm dying to my pleasure i'm dying to selfish ambition greed bitterness unforgiveness i'm laying it all down in the watery grave and i'm being raised into the newness of life this is the power of baptism it is the public display that i have placed my faith in jesus christ it is the departure of one life into another it's saying i'm leaving my sin i'm leaving my past behind it doesn't mean you'll be perfect from then on it just means that your heart is changed you no longer look at sin the way you used to you no longer enjoy pleasure and and guilt the way you used to i don't know if anybody enjoys guilt but you don't enjoy seeing like you used to you feel me when you have been born again and you have faith in jesus christ something genuinely changes on the inside of you you die to your old way of thinking you die to your old nature and you are raised with a new mind a new perspective you don't see the world the way you used to you can't go back to sinning like you used to even if you try you can't enjoy it the same because something has changed on the inside of you and that my friend is the evidence that you have been born again incredible stuff baptism is the expression that i have been cleansed from my sin not by the water but by the precious blood of jesus christ that was shed for me if you have your bible flip with me to first corinthians chapter 12. beginning in verse 13. i want to show you something awesome here first corinthians chapter 12 beginning in verse 13. this is an awesome aspect of baptism that often gets overlooked i want you to watch this some of us are jews and others gentiles some slaves and some free but we all have been baptized into one body and by one spirit and we all share the same spirit i love this everybody talks about you know baptism is the outward expression of the inward conversion baptism is the visual proclamation of the gospel identifying with christ death burial and resurrection that i'm laying down who i used to be to live out the mission of who jesus called me to be but also there's one more facet that i fear often gets overlooked first corinthians says that we are baptized into one body by one spirit in other words you are baptized into a new family when you raise up out of that water and that water comes cascading down your face and you peer out into that crowd of people watching that is your new family you have been baptized into the body of christ into the local church meaning that you are now to be held accountable by these people you are to be loved and encouraged by these people and you and i are to hold these precious people accountable we're to challenge them if they ever wander away or to bring them back throw an arm around him and say hey homie you remember on may 5th 2019 when i watched you get in that tank you made a decision for jesus don't forget it we have been baptized into a body being baptized into the family of god and the local expression of that maybe i've been baptized into vision church but it's so much more than vision church you're baptized into the corporate family of god this incredible stuff i'm going to help you see this maybe in a way that you you haven't seen it before there's an old testament prophet probably the most famous in all the bible named moses moses was born a hebrew slave in the land of egypt and while he was born pharaoh had issued a mandate to kill all newborn hebrew males for fear that the hebrews would rise up and become more powerful than even pharaoh himself and drive the egyptians out of power so he issued a decree to kill all of the hebrew males under a certain age moses his mother takes him as a infant wraps him up and puts him in a basket and sends him down the nile river full of danger full of death snakes and alligators and all kinds of demonic things like that so he puts him in the water and then if you're familiar with the story pharaoh's daughter finds this baby crying among the reeds in the nile and out of the river of death she lifts up this precious newborn child named moses and gives him a life of royalty i'm sure you probably heard that story at some point in your life but you may never have connected it to baptism but it absolutely does and i'm about to bring it home to you right now moses went into the water as a slave and he was lifted out a son of the king of egypt and you go into the water a slave to sin you go into the water a slave to your selfishness and selfish ambition we enter the water slaves to our carnal sinful nature and mentality and we are lifted up out of the river of death as a royal son and daughter of god most high come on somebody if you see it anybody thankful that you are brought into the family of god you're brought into his family you see it he's saying when you come out of that water you are my daughter you are my son you are a child of heaven now when heaven looks at you and no longer sees you through the lens of your sin marred past but no now when heaven sees you it sees you as the son of god it sees you redeemed forgiven blameless it sees no fault in you anymore you are royalty you are a part of the family of the kingdom of heaven isn't that amazing can you can we just agree that that's amazing moses by birth was not royal moses by birth was a hebrew slave yet now he is raised and fed and educated in the house of royalty a place he didn't deserve so is it true in your life and in mine we are sinners deserving of death we deserve the cross yet it was he who lifted us and brought us into his own family to cherish us to love us to nurture us and to call us redeemed there's no greater message on planet earth than this you are sons and daughters another thing that's amazing about baptism is if you've ever seen one we baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit there's always a name that you're baptized in some churches baptize in the name of jesus some baptize in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit and entire denominations have split and fractured over the argument of what name do we baptize in over here they're like only jesus and over here they're like the father son and holy spirit and they get all caught up in these these issues all right because it's important what name you're baptized in i'm gonna explain that in a minute but guess how we do it a vision church you ready we do both i say according to your faith in jesus christ i baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit all right so we cover all the bases right there all right but that's not because we're trying to be politically correct but it's because we believe that there is power in the name of jesus and the power and the trinity the father son and spirit but i want you to hear the magnitude of why i'm even bringing this up because we look at it in 2019 it's just like a ritual like oh okay like that's just what they got to say in order for it to like take no when you are baptized into a name you are baptized under their mission you are baptized under their protection under their provision in the in thousands of years ago when disciples were baptized by john in the wilderness they were baptized in the name of john because jesus hadn't yet died on the cross yet and when they were baptized under his name it meant that they were under his leadership under his authority under his mission and so when you are baptized when you watch some precious souls this morning be baptized in the name of jesus father son and spirit they are coming under the mission of jesus christ and it is not a formality it is literally coming out of that water saying i belong to you and you belong to me i am your son i am your daughter but even more than that your mission has become my mission i am under your name under your protection you are mine and i am yours anybody thankful for the beauty of baptism it's incredible one other fact about what is baptism that i think is important for you to understand is that baptism is the initiation into your ministry if you go all the way back into the old testament the high priests before they would adorn the garments of their ministry they would be washed in water completely immersed in water and then they would be acceptable to adorn the priestly garments it was symbolic of the washing is the initiation to your ministry if you also remember in matthew chapter 3 that is the beginning of jesus ministry it began immediately upon baptism and so shall your ministry begin at baptism your ministry may not look like mine and good news it doesn't have to we somehow get it in our mind that ministry requires a camera lights and a microphone homie please that is just western culture no not a bit your ministry is is powerful right where god has placed you at the water cooler in the cubicle in the classroom at your dinner table that is where ministry begins i promise you this is the least amount of ministry i do during the week is right here what you see if my ministry stops with the microphone my ministry doesn't go very far it's how you invest in people's lives it's the best sermon i'll ever preach isn't with my words it's with my life and so yours shall be the way you live your life doesn't mean that you're perfect it means that you when you fall admit it and get back up and cling to jesus live a life that is worth preaching live a life that brings glory to god and remember that baptism is the initiation to your ministry and if you you know if you're in this room today and you've been baptized like 20 years ago and you're sitting here like this message don't apply to me let the word of god let it cover you right now have you been living your life for his mission or yours since you've been baptized have you been under his authority his lordship have you been about the father's business or have you been doing your own thing and living your own way let this baptism sunday be a reminder for you to realign and come back into the purpose that god has for your life baptism is the initiation to your ministry all right the next question i want to answer is why should i be baptized look at your neighbor and ask them why should i be baptized if you have your bible flip with me really quickly to first john chapter 2 beginning in verse 3 for the answer of that question first john chapter 2 beginning in verse 3. before i read it the reason that we should be baptized is because jesus commanded it in the great commission he said go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit today many christians treat baptism like it's a suggestion it is not a suggestion it is a commandment ordained by god by jesus himself he ordained it first john chapter 2 beginning in verse 3. and we can be sure of this that we know him if we obey his commandments i'm going to read that verse one more time and we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments so here i'm just going to bring it to you straight basically the text is saying this you can talk about how close to god you are you can talk about how your relationship with god is wonderful but if you don't obey him with your actions and with your life you are a liar i don't even know how if you like oh that's not secret friendly welcome to vision church welcome all right so like but this is but y'all when you read the bible this is what it's going to say it's going to challenge you the bible is not sugar coated seeker friendly pat you on the back feel good high five see you next week no the bible is designed to transform you it's divine it's designed to transform us more and more into the image of christ every time we approach it and that might mean some shaping and some changing he says if you don't obey me you don't know me because when you know me and you fall in love with me you will begin to want what i want you'll begin to love what i love you will begin to listen when i speak so christians you've been saved you prayed the prayer you believe but you've not been baptized don't tell me how obedient to god you are when you have skipped the first step the first thing he asks you to do when you give your life to him is repent and be baptized baptism as you watched several people do it this morning this is their first and initial act of saying yes to the lord i know you i'm going to obey you i'm going to follow you that is why we should be baptized another reason real quick is because jesus was baptized all the gospels record that jesus was baptized matthew and mark tell us that jesus himself was baptized not because he needed it but because he was our example and if jesus set the example of baptism we also ought to follow him here's a revolutionary concept for you you ready if you say you follow jesus you should actually follow jesus right mind blown right you're like this is deep preaching today all right but like it's amazing we're like i'm a christian yeah i'm a christian homie you know i'm in charlotte i'm a christian we're the buckle of the bible belt of course i'm a christian all right everybody's a christian all right but here's the question are you actually following jesus are you just talking it because many will say to him lord lord and he'll say who are you again depart from me you worker of iniquity i never knew you you went through the religious monotony but your heart was far from me you talked the talk but you had no interest in actually following me with your life in america everybody wants a savior but very few want him to be the lord of their life i got news for you vision church he is lord and savior he i don't know if you catch it i know it's not popular preaching don't expect amen's or hand class but he is the lord of your life and the savior of your soul you can't have one without the other he is all or nothing i'm not preaching legalism to you i'm not preaching that you're saved by your obedience to the to the law no what i'm saying is that if you have been born again if you've truly believed in your heart you can't go back to living like you used to there's something inside of you that changes your outlook on life is transformed we should be baptized because this is his commandment we should be people who want to obey god it's amazing how in our culture today everybody wants to please people everybody wants to be politically correct and all the while we'll go out of our way to please people and offend god i don't know about you but i'd rather offend people and please god any day of my life it's not popular preaching but there it is all right the next question i want to answer is who should be baptized i don't have a lot of time to answer this one but if you just write this down acts chapter 2 verse 41 tells you who should be baptized every born-again believer baptism is not for the undecided if you have not given your life to jesus if you have not repented of your sin if you're still living for yourself and you have no interest in jesus being the lord of your life then baptism is not for you your next step is to come humbly and bow before the cross of calvary and ask the lord jesus to forgive you to fill you and redeem you and he will then your next step is baptism but every one of you who have already repented you have believed in your heart that jesus is the lord who died for your sins and resurrected from the dead then every one of you it is your calling to be baptized publicly in front of everyone to announce the gospel has taken effect in your life all right and i'm going to just go here and i'm going to warn you i'm about to get in your face one more time i hear people say things like well i don't i don't want to be baptized you know i know i'm a christian i believe you know but i just don't want to be baptized and i've heard like literally every excuse that people could throw out like you see i don't want to mess up my hair you know it's like looking real you know i just want to it's raining outside my family's not here well i already told you that when you're baptized you are given a new family so they're all going gonna witness it all right and one other thing just real quick i'm gonna slide in here for the first time ever this morning we're gonna live stream the baptismal service so all across the internet they're gonna watch it they're gonna see the gospel time and time and time again which i'm excited about all right but here's what i'm here's what i'm saying to you all of you who already have an excuse you believe you believe but you've never been immersed in the water and you've got excuses you're saying hey i don't need this i'm not going to do it you know not today not convenient let me just press back on you for a minute and what i'm about to say i'm going to say this with all love in my soul i want you to pause for a second and think about your excuse i want you to pause for a moment and think about what jesus has done for you i want you to remember that jesus existed before the foundations of the world he spoke everything into motion he didn't step on the scene for the first time in bethlehem in the manger he is the preeminent eternal god of all creation he laid down his reputation he left his throne empty in heaven to take on bodily form born of a virgin mary in an obscure town called bethlehem laid in a manger for there was no room for him at the end he lived a life that was full of grace mercy and truth he loved the unlovable he reached the unreachable he embraced sinners tax collectors adulterers and loved them like his own he went to a cross his beard was ripped from his face he was spat upon mocked and rejected soldiers gambled for his clothes as he was suspended between heaven and earth with nails driven through his hands and through his feet people made a mockery of him as they walked considering him just another criminal yet it was their sin that he carried he was despised and rejected yet it was the weight of our sin that held him to the cross he took your place in death he rose from the dead for you what more could he possibly do for you and he asked two things that you would repent of your sin and that you would be baptized in obedience to his calling through your life preaching the visual gospel to all who would watch and see let me ask you again is that too much to ask on this baptism sunday is it too much of an inconvenience for you to be obedient to his calling is it too much to ask to follow his word i say that with all love inside of my soul take your excuses and just drop kick them as far as you can that was supposed to be funny i know i've been heavy in you know i've been heavy at you that was designed for you to laugh a little bit take the edge off i want you to hear me it's not a suggestion it's the commandment i'm not pressuring you to get baptized if you only get baptized because i'm pressuring you then stay in your seat please because it's got to be it's got to be your decision it's going to be your obedience it's got to be your heart that says lord i want to please you it's got to be that but he's done far too much for you to just be apathetic and complacent he's done far too much for you and me for us to remain indifferent anybody with me on that he's done far too much another question we get often is what about children do we baptize children you know some churches and denominations sprinkle babies and all this stuff and and people ask you often what about children listen every time we see baptism in the new testament and in all of scripture for that matter it follows a personal decision to follow jesus parents i know you love little susie or whatever his name i know you love him and i'm glad and i'm glad that you love him i really am but here's the deal you cannot save them and you cannot make that decision for them as a parent we should point our children to jesus as a parent we should point our children to the cross but ultimately it is their decision on what they will do with jesus will they accept him or will they reject him it's their decision it's a personal decision you can't make it for them at vision church we do not baptize children under one exception unless they can articulate to me why they're doing it and why they believe it that's the only time we'll baptize children here you say oh well that's cruel no here's the reality if they are not at a place where they understand what they're doing and why they're doing it we're just going through the motions anyway it's got to be their decision their moment where they acknowledge their need for a savior they repent of their sins and give their life to jesus they've got to be the place where they can express the decision on their own period so here's another thing so then you might be asking well then why do some denominations and why do some churches why do they sprinkle why do they do this well i'm going to answer that question really quickly because i believe it's important i don't have that opportunity often but here it is so i'm going to take it many churches and denominations teach the doctrine of original sin we're going to dive in for a minute but y'all can handle it they teach the doctrine of original sin and what they teach is that we're all born with a sinful nature and that is true there's no doubt about it go serve envision kids you'll see you don't have to teach them to be bad you teach them to be good all right so sinful nature that's in all of us that's the truth but here's where they go a step further and they say that they are also carrying the original sin in other words it is an infant's responsibility it is there they carry the weight of sin this is that doctrine okay now i'm just putting it to you real surface level but that is the doctrine that there have a sinful nature which is true but then they go a step further and say they are responsible for that sinful nature that they carry and that original guilt is on them this teaching basically teaches that an infant is in danger of hell if they die before they're baptized and then they take it a step further to teach that the water itself is what provides the salvation and the atonement of sin can i just be candid with you that's not in the bible it's just not in the bible i don't i'm sorry if this offends you but it is our responsibility to teach what the bible teaches okay i'm going to show you something amazing here really quickly if you have your bible flip with me to deuteronomy chapter one turn with me really quickly deuteronomy chapter one beginning in verse 34. there are no new testament teachings or examples of infants being baptized or sprinkled you just won't find it in the bible you won't now i want to show you that yes we are born with a sinful nature but no infants are not going to hell if they die without being baptized that is unjust it's not true and that's not what the bible teaches i'm going to show you that there is an age of an accountability listed in scripture i know we're going in but this is important this is stuff the church needs to be talking about you need to understand it all right deuteronomy chapter 1 beginning in verse 34 when the lord when the lord heard your complaining he became very angry so he solemnly swore not one from this wicked generation will live to see the good land i swore to give to your ancestors skip down with me to verse 37 and the lord was also angry with me because of you he said to me moses not even you will enter the promised land instead your assistant joshua son of nun will lead the people into the land encourage him for he will lead israel as they take possession of it i will give the land to you and your excuse me i will give the land to your little ones your innocent children you were afraid that they would be captured but they will be the ones who will occupy it so i want to read really quickly in other words context the hebrews have been enslaved in egypt they're now being set free they've crossed through the red sea on dry ground they're now on the wilderness sinai peninsula on their way to the promised land and the lord has done great and mighty things for the hebrew people he delivered them from pharaoh through plagues they walked through the ocean on dry ground he provided manna every day he'd done many miracles and they still complained and they still uttered and the lord said because of your complaining and because of your idolatry not any of this wicked generation will inherit the promised land but he draws the line and he says but your children they're innocent they will inherit it i will give your i will protect your children i will draw the line over the children for they are innocent are we reading from the same bible just curious we reading it now i'm going to take this a step deeper the promised land is not just the promised land it is also symbolic of heaven of eternity he's saying i'm going to protect the children also here's another verse for you a new testament reference really quickly matthew chapter 18 verses 1 through 4 the disciples are arguing over who is the greatest disciple and who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and jesus says the greatest in the kingdom of heaven will be like this small child unless you become like this child you will never see the kingdom of heaven theologically jesus was telling them there is an innocence to this child because the only people who will truly be accountable for their sin are the people who sinned willingly and knowingly they were acutely aware of their sin and they did it anyway do you understand do we are we on the same page or did i confuse y'all you got it the children if a child perishes through a miscarriage through an unexpected death is if a tragedy like that happens to a child they are instantly in the presence of almighty god he saves them he protects them they are innocent for they have not yet reached an age of accountability to where they understand willfully what their sin really is there is no such thing as a certain age it's not well when you reach your 12th birthday good job little johnny now you better watch out you're going you're going to go to hell there's no such thing as an age a number okay there's no such because every person matures differently and every person arrives at their moral conscience at a different level in their life okay and the lord is going to protect the children i know that was a lot and i know that was heavy but it's important you need to understand this we understanding it okay i hope i didn't depress you but there but this is this is the word of the lord and it's good news it is a good news all right so really quickly how should i be baptized should i be sprinkled or immersed everything we see in scripture is immersion the word that is used for baptism in the new testament is greek and it's called baptizo and it literally means complete immersion in the water why because i just referenced it earlier it's representing the gospel that jesus was he died and was buried and resurrected you don't get that illustration out of sprinkling all right next question is do i need to be baptized again i've talked to people who've been baptized 13 times and there's and they cuss the woman at starbucks so they're ready to get in today so here let me just walk you through this really quickly okay you if you when you gave your life to jesus christ and you repented of your sin if you've been immersed in the water after that moment you do not need to be baptized again okay it took the first time all right he did not expect you to come out and be perfect all right that's why you are saved by the blood of jesus and not by your own good works lest any man should boast the grace of god is not a license for you to sin and live however you want to abusing the grace god has given you no because a true heart that is repented longs to please god not the flesh you see what i'm saying all right but now listen if you have not been immersed in the water since you have given your life to jesus since you've repented of your sin then yes you need to be baptized yes and i'm going to flip the paradigm on you real quick there are some people who tragically think that because they were baptized when they were eight or whatever that they can just live however they want to and they're right with god because they were baptized some people think that just because they went into a tank of water that they're going to heaven let me warn you that you can go through all the religious routines but if your heart is not in it if you did not truly repent if you've not truly given your life to jesus if you have no interest in actually loving god then all of that will not do you any good at the end it's just going through the motions it's going to be a genuine conversion from your heart leads me into one of my last questions i've only got two left last one before the last one last one before the last one all right you know us preachers you pray for us you know what's the difference between pastors and pharaoh he actually let god's people go not original not original but thought it was appropriate right there okay do i need to be baptized in order to be saved this is a question we get often do i need to be baptized in order to be saved answer is no you say let me just help you see it scripturally if you take the bible and you take one verse you can pretty much make one verse say whatever you want it to say but when you take that one verse and you put it in the context of a chapter and you put that chapter in context of a book in context of the testament and context of the whole thing you begin to see it clearly here is why baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation on golgotha while jesus was being crucified he hung between two criminals one on his left and one on his right one criminal mocked him and said if you're really the messiah then save yourself and us along too the other criminal said remember me when you come into your kingdom jesus turned to the criminal with faith and he said surely this day you will be with me in paradise jesus didn't say now here let him go real quick so he can get baptized and then get back up like and i don't mean to be facetious with this i don't mean to be facetious or disrespectful but i'm trying to help you see it if baptism was a prerequisite for salvation in that criminal who had faith went to hell you see the danger of your man-made doctrine that's not what we see in scripture jesus said surely this day you will be with me in paradise it is not a prerequisite for salvation but it is the first step of obedience towards jesus christ and as the band comes to help me close i want to read one last verse to you and it's found in acts chapter 8 beginning in verse 29 acts chapter 8 beginning in verse 29. the holy spirit said to philip go over and walk along beside the carriage philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet isaiah philip asked do you understand what you're reading the man replied how can i unless someone instructs me he urged philip to come into the carriage and sit with him the passage of scripture he had been reading was this he was led like a sheep to the slaughter as a lamb is silent before the shears he did not open his mouth he was humiliated and received no justice who can speak of his descendants for his life was taken from the earth the eunuch asked philip tell me was the prophet talking about himself or someone else so beginning with the same scripture philip told him the good news about jesus as they rode along they came to some water and the eunuch said look there's some water why can't i be baptized he ordered the carriage to stop and they went down into the water and philip baptized him last question i want to answer this morning is when should i be baptized when should i well if you're waiting for the perfect moment you may wait for the rest of your life what we see in acts chapter 8 is that the eunuch when he heard the gospel he was so touched that he saw some water as they were driving by and he said hold up stop this thing let's go right now the answer to when am i going to get baptized the answer is right here and right now your family is already with you the heavens are already cheering you on the blood has already been shed for you the price has already been paid in full when we look through the new testament people who responded to the gospel they did not wait for 17 years or for three months until it was just right outside for them to get baptized they went right then and right there as an act of obedience to jesus christ the answer for you is that this is the day of salvation this is the day that the lord has made in it we will rejoice and be glad i want you to pray with me right now father we come to you in jesus name we thank you for your precious word thank you for these precious lives every precious soul represented in this room today father you know where each and every one of them are you know where they are in their faith you know they where they are with you i pray right now holy spirit that you would touch them every person show them where they are with you and show them what their next step is today and right now if you're in this room i want you to stay in this posture of prayer but if you have not repented of your sin you've not asked god for forgiveness you've not accepted jesus as your lord and savior publicly i want to give you this moment right now because in order for you to be baptized you first have to take this step i want you if that's you and you're ready to to do that today i want you to pray this prayer with me father i come to you the best way that i know how i mean this from my heart and from my soul i've heard this message today and i believe in your gospel i believe that jesus was the son of god who died in my place on the cross he was resurrected on the third day demonstrating victory over death hell in the grave this day i repent of my sin and i believe that jesus is my lord and my savior i ask you to forgive me of my sin give me the strength by your spirit to please you and to live for you for the rest of my life it is in jesus precious name we pray and everybody said amen if you prayed that prayer for the first time this morning i want you to shoot your hand up right now to say i prayed that prayer as hands are going up can we give the lord pray i see you brother i see you and keep it up because your faith is contagious it is it's powerful i see another hand right here i see you bro i'm proud of you keep your hand up if that's you if you prayed it just keep it up because gentlemen what you're doing right now by your faith it's it's giving faith to other people right now as they stand here and see this if there's anybody else in the room that you know you need to be forgiven i want you to raise your hand and say lord forgive me all right i see another handbag there i see you i'm proud of you it's incredible i'm proud of you our our team our prayer team is going to come and give you just a decision card i want to ask you to take a second and just please fill that out and return it to the prayer corner on your way out we're not going to do anything weird with your information we're just going to give you a bible and we're going to reach back out to you to make sure you're doing well and to make sure that you're getting connected into the local church if you made that decision today i want to invite you you may not have a change of clothes you may not be quote unquote ready but the water is ready and the family's ready and the price has been paid so why not here and why not now so at this time if if you're going to be baptized today i want you to make your way back to the prayer corner and our prayer team right there with akita shavers and daniel gonzalez they're going to get you taken care of we have a shirt for you we have a towel ready for you and like zach said we'll even find you blow dryer if you need it all right so in and let's give it up for these precious people real quick isn't that amazing come on somebody that's amazing [Music] [Applause] that's why we do this that's why we're here that's why we're here that's why we do this if you're in here and maybe you didn't get saved today maybe you've been a believer for a long time but you know you haven't been immersed in the water and you know that's your next step i want to encourage you right now go ahead and make your way back to the prayer corner and our team they're wearing lanyards it says let's pray talk to somebody with a white lanyard on and they'll get you instructed on how to get baptized this morning let's stand to our feet let's praise the name of the lord [Music] you

Channel: Vizion Church

Views: 288

Rating: 4.1999998 out of 5

Keywords: baptism, what is baptism, questions about baptism, should i be baptized, should i get baptized, tyson coughlin, vizion church, assemblies of god baptism, baptism explained, should kids be baptized?, should i be sprinkled or immersed, do I need to be baptized to be saved, what does baptism represent?, should i be baptized again, should i be baptized more than once

Id: 7ctkGzZD0Yg

Length: 50min 33sec (3033 seconds)

Published: Wed May 15 2019