The Beauty of Baptism - BJ Clarke

certainly wish you a good morning and thank you so much for the way you just sang out and praise to God that was very beautifully sung and directed and we love praising our God and I have excited about this time of year foundations has concluded and we had 200 campers and you helped in such great ways to put on a wonderful week for our guests and we thank you for that also this is a busy time for the school with incoming students who've started summer school a few weeks ago and then in August we have about six sixteen more that are supposed to be coming this is a big first year class if everyone gets their funding and is able to come and and be a part of it so we're enthused about a wonderful year this is my first chance to publicly welcome brotherwe caster and Johnny and his wife to our midst here and we're looking forward to the great things that he can teach our students as well you're standing in the water and you're filled with anticipation this is it you're about to change your life and the preacher that is baptizing you takes you and starts gently-dipping you back in just for a moment puts you under the water and then brings you right back up and the people begin singing and your heart is so light you're unburdened from the guilt of sin and you are now a member of the Lord's Church the one he built and bought with his own blood that is a beautiful beautiful picture and for some of us here this morning that is a precious memory for some others here this morning it is a precious opportunity one that you could experience even today it was so joyful this past week in Knoxville where I went to help direct a Christian camp there for teenagers I started working with that camp in 1986 and have been there every year since then and these 13 to 19 year olds who come our way are from many different backgrounds and some of them have not been taught the Bible very well at all they don't even go to church regularly but they came with a friend that does go to church and this week it was a great thrill for all of us to see 16 baptisms 16 beautiful moments and I was privileged to spend a good bit of my time this past week studying one-on-one with these campers and then we would proceed to the pool and baptize and then I would be drying off or coming out of the pool where someone else had done the baptizing and I would be told hey you have another one that wants to study with you okay well let's get right down to it sixteen beautiful moments it made me start thinking what makes baptism so beautiful I want you to go with me to Acts chapter eight as we begin this morning Acts chapter eight and you will note that in acts 8 in the very first part of the chapter the Bible says in verse 5 that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them and then in verse 12 we are told when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ they were baptized both men and women what makes baptism so beautiful it is preceded by a message about someone that is more beautiful than we can ever imagine or described in fact we sometimes sing you are beautiful beyond description too marvelous for words and we're so grateful that our Jesus our Christ is indeed the very subject matter that leads us to want to be baptized because why later in the same chapter Philip is sent to preach to a single man who's returning from Jerusalem where he'd been to worship he's coming back toward Ethiopia and the Bible says that Philip ran to the chariot where this man was as he was instructed to do so by the Holy Spirit and when he got to the chariot he could see that the man was reading from Isaiah the Isaiah scroll particularly the section we know as Isaiah chapter 53 and he asked do you understand what you're reading and he responded how can i except some man should guide me he invited Philip he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him and the place of the scripture which he read was he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before his Shearer so opened in out his mouth in his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generation his life has taken from the earth someone says that doesn't sound very beautiful to me it sounds horrible but you know what it led to this Jesus who died on that cross arose on the third day conquered death ascended into heaven where he sits by the right hand of the Father on high the eunuch wanted to know who this man was that Isaiah was speaking of in this passage and Philip opened his mouth verse 35 began at the same Scripture and preached unto Him Jesus what a beautiful sermon that must have been there are many sermons I wish I could have heard the entirety of this is one of them what a wonderful sermon this must have been as Phillip opened his mouth and began with this Isaiah 53 text and preached the sweet story of Jesus Christ a beautiful message after the message they're going on their way and they came into a certain water verse 36 and the eunuch said see here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized and may I ask you a very important question this morning where did we read one word in the text about Philip preaching baptism to this man well you saw it when it said he preached unto him Jesus now what would you preach to someone if you preach Jesus you'd preach that he died you'd preach that he was buried you would preach that he arose and what takes place in the act of baptism there is a death that takes place the old man is dying and he is being buried and then what there is a blessed resurrection and a newness of life and so as you read about this in Acts chapter 8 I find it fascinating that Philip did not rebuke the eunuch and say whoa whoa slow down where did you ever get the wrongheaded idea that you need to be baptized in water where did you come up with that he thought it was a perfectly natural thing to say and so he must have preached about its necessity and he must have preached about what would happen if you are baptized because the eunuch wants to do it and he wants to do it right now here's the water what's stopping us what doth hinder me to be baptized Philip does not tell him well in a couple of weeks when we get enough folks will have a baptismal service no he says I'll baptize you right here in the wilderness by ourselves with God watching and that's exactly what's about to take place now it's interesting Philip did not believe in baptism alone we know that because in verse number 37 he said if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest and then why is baptism so beautiful not only is it preceded by a beautiful message it is preceded by a beautiful confession I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God do you remember when you said that when someone asked you do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and you said I do or you might have even come right out and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and then what the next thing you know you're being plunged into a watery grave of baptism just for a moment and you're raised to walk in newness of life and your sin are gone washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ and you're now a member of the church that belongs to Christ and as you study this text the Bible says that he commanded that chariot to stand still there was no delay they went down both into the water baptism is a burial it's not taking a little water from the shore and picking it up and pouring it over the head of the individual it requires an immersion going down in coming up out of and that's precisely what we read here and I want to ask you what happened in in verse 39 when they were come up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip the eunuch didn't see him anymore and baptism is beautiful because it is followed it produces a beautiful result what is it in this case the eunuch went on his way doing what rejoicing why well he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved this man believed he said he did he was baptized therefore he was what saved mark 16:16 is what Jesus said would happen mark 16 15 and 16 preached to every creature do you mean even a creature that's alone in a wilderness place yes preach to him - I preached to every creature and then you baptize them and then you teach them to observe all things that have been commanded this man is taught about Jesus he is baptized and the rejoicing does not precede the baptism the rejoicing follows the baptism how many of you can remember the day you were baptized and do you remember how it made you feel lighter than air my guilt is gone I'm forgiven my sins are washed away I've been redeemed what a marvelous thing it is to be baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and I think we know this we certainly remember in our own lives personally but sometimes there folks that may come along and question whether this is really the case they question whether baptism is really the necessary prerequisite to feeling this forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus now please hear what I'm about to say because I'm going to read from some material that it was given to me that was first given to someone else about matters on the internet that deal with whether baptism is really a requirement or not for our salvation but I want to show you a few quick things before we look at this that are so crystal clear that we should not miss them let me start with you in Acts chapter 2 and verse 37 this is the cry to a preacher who has been telling them about how they crucified the very Son of God they have put him to death they slew him and is there any hope yes because when they cry out in verse 37 men and brethren what shall we do they said this to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we do whatever Peter says here is very informative because it shows us the thing I should say if I were ever asked the same question what is fascinating is that in modern times frankly 2017 and and this has been going on for a long time you see on television sure false in a lot of churches today across our country across this nation the world if someone interrupted a preacher in denominational church services and said okay I believe Jesus died for me what am I supposed to do about it am i telling the truth when I tell you that a lot of those preachers would say bow your head say this prayer and ask Jesus to come into your heart is that what would happen in so many places yes is that what happened here no what did the inspired apostle peter who spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance verse 4 of Acts 2 he's not making this up this is what God told him to say through the spirit here's his inspired message repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ why for the remission of sins he told them they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit now if you study the rest of the chapter you'll see that about 3000 gladly welcomed this word and were baptized and that why would they do I were they so glad they've just learned I can get rid of my guilt by the blood of Christ and I can have the forgiveness of sins and they were baptized about 3,000 of them and they went on their way rejoicing they were glad that Texas and they were added to the church according to verse 47 the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved now go to acts 9 very quickly with me please Acts chapter 9 Saul of Tarsus you're on the road to Damascus what are you going to do when you get there I'm going to show my authority to gather up believers and bring them back with me to persecute them even to death yes if necessary what happens on the way to Damascus verse number three acts 9 he came near Damascus suddenly their shine routed browned about him a light from heaven he fell to the earth and this voice says Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and he said well who art thou Lord and the Lord said I am Jesus whom thou persecutest and he talks about him kicking against the pricks and then notice in verse number 6 he said Lord he's trembling he's astonished Lord what wilt thou have me to do does your Bible read like this and Jesus said just ask me to come into your heart right now and that'll take care of it Saul I'll tell you what to say Lord Jesus accept you as the Lord of my life come into my life become the Lord of my life right now amen is that what the Lord told Saul to do he told him to actually get up go into the city and there it shall be told thee what thou do you see those last two words in verse 6 must do this is essential whatever he's going to be told to do we know he must do it it's absolutely required there's something fascinating that sometimes I overlooked for years when I studied this text and I'm so glad that I finally paid attention to it if you'll go to acts 9 10 and 11 when Ananias the preacher is told about going to Saul of Tarsus there's something significant mentioned in verse 11 particularly he tells him to arise to go into the street called straight inquiring the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he Prayuth and the tents there indicates the continuous action of prayers ongoing you're looking for the praying man well wouldn't that be a perfect scenario for a gospel preacher if the plan of salvation is saying a prayer and asking Jesus to come into your heart if that's really how you do it then this is a perfect setup when Ananias gets to the praying man all he has to do is tell him what to say in this prayer and everything will be alright but when Paul later recounts this very episode in acts 22 you'll refer you'll recall with me in verse number 16 that when Ananias got to this praying man What did he say he said and now why tarriest thou arise and be baptized why why and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord you see that's how you do it Saul of Tarsus is told to quit praying you say what he's prayed he's told to get up and instead of Prayer what she had been doing in which the preacher was told you're looking for the praying man he was told to tell this man to get up and to be baptized to wash away his sins that's how you call on the name of the Lord I want to show you how the Bible is so beautifully harmonious go back with me to acts 2 and I want to see this calling on the name of the Lord aspect of this in acts 2:21 what does Peter tell that group on Pentecost Peter and the rest of the Apostles who are giving this message what is Acts chapter 2 and verse 21 indicate whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved mark it down whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved does Peter ever give further explanation as to how you do that calling when they ask what shall we do he says repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins now why did he sit in acts 2:21 you called on the name of the Lord you shall be saved it shall be saved equivalent to remission of sins well sure those two things are about the same subject and so if shall be saved and remission of sins are equivalent to each other then how do you call on the name of the Lord whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved so how do you do that repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins that's how you call and I know that Saul of Tarsus believe that because later when I read about his epistle in Romans chapter five and one I read what he says in Romans five and verse 1 therefore being justified by faith we have what peace ok someone says preacher I don't know if you noticed this or not but verse 1 of Romans 5 doesn't mention a single word of baptism and that is something that people will often bring up but it's certainly important to connect chapter five same author that wrote chapter five wrote chapter six and then when you connect five and six with acts 22 it all makes sense in Acts first of all Romans six notice what he says in verse number three he has a little pronoun here that includes himself Romans six and verse three know ye not that so many of us Paul are you putting yourself in that category yes sir as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ Paul how did you get into Jesus Christ I was baptized into Jesus Christ I was baptized into his death now Paul would never ever want anyone to think water had magical powers that's why he would say in Ephesians 1:7 in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace Colossians 1:14 this is an important one to put with Romans 5:1 I want you to see Colossians 1 and verse 14 because this passage right here really helps us to see some things in this passage of Scripture the inspired apostle paul writes this in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins and then drop down to verse 20 right after that having made peace how through the blood of his cross Paul when did you have peace on the road to Damascus is that when you had peace no I saw the Lord and realized I've been persecuting the very son of God and his followers I am NOT at peace yet so maybe when you got to Damascus you were at peace no I couldn't eat I couldn't drink I was blind for three days I was in this condition I had no peace I was waiting to be told what I must do and did the preacher ever come and tell you what you must do he sure did he said arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord I did that and once I did that I was at peace you see I was baptized into the death of Christ that's where the blood of Christ was shed and that's when I contacted the cleansing agent for my sins so these are clear texts and one final one and then I want to see a couple of objections as we close out look at first Peter chapter 3 if you will please first Peter 3 in this text of Scripture the Apostle Peter the same man who said what he said in acts 2:38 says something here that is absolutely critical to understand in 1st Peter 3 and verse 20 he mentions the Ark which was a preparing Noah was building it and it was inside that Ark that few that is eight souls were saved by water and incidentally if you've ever been to Kentucky to see the replica of the potential replica of this Ark and the size that it would approximate its massive and they had room for more than eight folks on board if only those folks had been willing to board I want you to notice that those eight souls were saved by water how I thought the water was what was killing the people yeah but wait a minute the Ark is lifted up by the water and separating the saved in the ark from the sinful world that they're leaving behind and Peter says there's something like that what is it the like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now baptism does something what does it do it does also now save us no you don't get in this body of water behind me too remove bodily dirt from you no that's not why we had 16 baptisms last week at camp it wasn't because we were trying to remove bodily dirt we had individuals who are saying I know I'm sinful I know Jesus is the only one who can save me I know his blood is the only cleansing agent that can cleanse me I want cleansing and I'm going to do what he said doing the way he said do it and no he'll do what he promised and so there's a like figure that baptism does also now save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ some of you may know I used to preach in Etowah Tennessee my very first preaching job in fact we had a gospel meeting getting ready to begin I knocked on a man's porch column he was on his porch and he invited me on up and I said to him I said we'd love to have you come to our gospel meeting and I handed him the flyer and he looked it over and he said hmm aren't you that group that teaches baptisms got something to do with saving us and I said well yes sir I said the reason we teach that and I was starting to get ready to explain some things in a very nice way he said young man how old are you and at that time I would have been in my early 20s and I told him my age I would tell you how old I was in but I don't remember how what year was in the 80s so but I just know I was in my early 20s he said I've been reading my Bible more years than you've been alive and I'm going to tell you something right now young man I'm quoting here so pardon the English grammar or lack thereof there ain't no place in the Bible that comes right out and says baptism saves us I'll tell you that much and that's exactly the way that he worded it and he had a Bible within arm's reach and I said sir I notice you have a Bible nearby do you believe the Bible I believe every word of the Bible young man I said that is wonderful we need more people in this world who will believe every word of this book yes I said since you believe every word the Bible would you read just one verse from the Bible with me I don't think he was really all that anxious to do it but he think he felt a little obligated he just professed his love and knowledge of this book so I asked him to locate first Peter 3:21 and he did and I watched and as I watched his lips I could read his lips what he was reading there was one phrase in this text he kept mouthing the words to over and over again he had just said there ain't no place in the Bible that comes right out and says baptism saves us I'll tell you that much and now what is he reading the like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us now waited for a little bit of time for it to kind of sink in and then I said this in a very nice way I said sir what does the inspired apostle peter say that baptism does he said well and the Bible was trembling in his hand and I was so sad for the way that he was struggling with this text especially was i sad after he said this well he he says it saves us but he then said I don't believe it and then told me to get off of his property and I want you to know something I didn't leave his porch pumping my fist in the air hold him I got him with the Word of God and I'm convinced that we need people to talk the Bible to their neighbors and friends and co-workers but we need to do it in the right way without compromise but not arrogantly and abrasively and so I walked off his ports with tears in my ize because here's a man that had just said in one breath I believe every word of the Bible young man and then in the very next breath said that's what it says but I don't believe it you know I I cannot tell you why all the reasons why people sometimes oppose baptism I'll tell you a couple of reasons that are found in this document that I was given and I want you to just think about that it says to find the biblical answer do I have to be baptized to go to heaven let's reason from two stories from the New Testament the first one the rich man and Lazarus it says the first story is found in Luke chapter 16 it's the account of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus notice it says the rich man died the beggar died the Angels carried him to Abraham's bosom notice there was no Rite of baptism necessary to open Abraham's bosom for this beggar now I want to I want to read this next line to you since this was a story that was told by Jesus if it had been necessary for the beggar to be baptized to get to the place of rest would not Jesus have added that information to the story can I say something to you dear friends jesus never said this man believed either he never said he did anything that comes right out and explicitly says that he did but I know he must of the fact that Jesus doesn't mention what this man did to be in a safe state does not in any way shape or form mitigate against baptism as a necessary requirement for salvation now some have said well but you know the Jews were not required to be baptized for salvation it was for repentance I want you to look at mark 1 for just real quickly with me and I want to show you that some people don't realize this but John's baptism was a baptism for the remission of sins it was required of those living in that I'm frame in fact mark chapter 1 verse 4 you read it in your Bible it comes right out and says John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins but that's one of the other arguments that's included that I'll deal with quickly as I give the invitation and that is the idea that the phrase for the remission of sins in acts 2:38 and in other places does not really mean in order to get remission of sins they suggest it means because you already got remission of sins and an example given in here is take two aspirin for your headache well no one would think you were saying take two aspirin in order to get a headache so sure the English word sometimes has that usage for sure but I want you to see that what proves too much really proves nothing at all because the argument is in acts 2:38 and by the way the article that I'm reading here it admits that one of the three possible meanings of the word for in acts 2:38 is in order to get or become or have and this article begins with this statement dealing with acts 2:38 it says as with any single verse or passage we discern what it teaches by first filtering it through what we know the Bible teaches on the subject at hand and I'll tell you what we know the Bible teaches on the subject at hand baptism does also now what so whatever you're reading elsewhere in the New Testament about baptism you know that since Peter is written by inspiration that baptism does also now save us that must be the meaning elsewhere because the Bible doesn't contradict itself and so for the remission of sins someone says well it means because of quickly notice Matthew 26:28 Matthew chapter 26 and verse 28 Jesus are you going to bleed yes why are you going to bleed are you going to shed your blood yes why are you going to shed your blood here in the institution of the supper that night he they were eating Jesus took the brandy blessed it he he gave it to the disciples told them to eat it was his body and then verse 28 explains after he mentions the cup this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many watch for the remission of sins the phrase for the remission of sins in Matthew 26:28 is identical in the English and Greek to what you find in acts 2:38 repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins now I'm asking if it means because of does anyone in this room are listening to this recording seriously believe that Jesus was going to bleed because men had already received remission of sins or was he going to bleed in order that men could get remission of sins there's your definition and acts 2:38 has the same meaning if you want to get remission of sins you have to get it through this blood and you have to do it by repenting and being baptized because you already believe or you wouldn't be asking me why you need to do this my friends I want to deal with more of what's in this article it Lord willing this fall if things work out and I'm able to teach on this in the court winter quarter I think actually is more accurate in the wind in that class that been privileged to teach each winter quarter I'd really like to teach a class along the lines of if someone says this then show them this verse talk about it from this standpoint I think we will be more evangelistic with our friends our neighbors our co-workers if we have more of a working knowledge of how to articulate these principles and if we have built ourselves up in the most holy faith regarding those things for those of you who are here this morning who have already been baptized how wonderful think back as you sing the invitation song unless you've become Dimas and you have gone back into the world having loved this present world then you can unless you have a reason you need to repent this morning after having been baptized like Simon the sorcerer did if you do then come will repent and we'll pray with you as you repent and confess your sins yes we will do that but if you've never become a Christian if you're sitting there this morning and you're saying you know what I'd like to be baptized for the remission of my sins I know what time it is and I know this there are enough loving people in this room we'd be glad to take a few minutes to watch you get your sins washed away because that's what life's all about so we're about to sing and you have a choice take advantage of it in view of eternity as together we stand and sing

Channel: Forest Hill church of Christ

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Length: 36min 22sec (2182 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 23 2017