Why Water Baptism is Important | Pastor John Lindell | James River Church

[Music] this morning I want to talk to you about something that have you been at James River very long you know I'm incredibly passionate about the reason why I want to talk to you about it today is because next Sunday we're going to have our hot I have decided baptisms Sunday but I haven't talked on baptism for four years and honestly it's a critical thing for Christians for believers to understand the importance and the priority of water baptism and today's a great day I believe today's gonna be a day when people are gonna come to know Christ for the first time and some are gonna rededicate their life and many are going to understand for the first time why it's important that they're baptized I know this I know I've met people through the years who love Jesus committed to the Lord who have never been baptized never understood the priority of baptism but it is so so important the Lord gave us two ordinances two ceremonies that he wanted us to observe as we worship together one is Holy Communion and that's why every Wednesday night we have communion and the other is water baptism baptism is something that Jesus commanded us to do Matthew chapter 28 go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit you could say this baptism is as important as the Great Commission because it's a part of the Great Commission and when it comes to baptism the word of God is very very clear as followers of Christ after the decision to receive Christ as our Savior we need to be baptized and yet the fact is that there are many Christians people who love God who have never been baptized before you say why is that well as nearly as I can tell there are four reasons why a person who calls themself a Christian has not been baptized first of all I think the most obvious one is they don't understand the importance of water baptism they haven't been taught what the Bible says about baptism I remember in the early years of James River we were getting ready to organize the church and and set up the board and and one of the people who was gonna serve on the board who had been Assembly of God all of their life call me and said pastor I I just needed to tell you I don't I'm not qualified to be on the board I said what do you mean what'd you do he said well it's not what I did it's what I haven't done I said what's that I've never been baptized I said how in the world could you have been in church all of your life and never been baptized he said because I've never heard anybody make a big deal out of it so today I'm gonna make a really big deal out of it because everybody needs to be baptized some people just don't understand how important it is and so on my prayer for you is that by the end of this message you understand how important it is not because I'm saying it's important but because you see from the Word of God over and over and over again the Bible says this is incredibly important that believers followers of Jesus people who love Jesus would be baptized second I think there's a lot of people who aren't baptized because honestly they're more committed to a church tradition than they are to the Word of God their family belong to a tradition that baptized infants and I can really understand that because I grew up back slidden presbytery so we went when I was real little and then didn't go much when I got in grade school our family rarely went we've been I've been baptized as an infant I didn't remember it but I was told that it had happened but her family was was just you know in that whole vein of thinking I can remember because what happened in our family was my sister's got saved then my mom got saved then my brother and I got saved then ultimately my dad got saved but I can remember when one of my sisters at the dinner table sitting there and she asked if she could be baptized and it was very very quiet there was a long pause and my dad said well you've already been baptized you were baptized when you were an infant and she said well I'd like to be and that discussion I can remember it like it was yesterday because instantly I know my dad thought well you're turning your back on your heritage and didn't understand because he wasn't a believer and my sister having met Jesus wanted to get baptized in it created this uncomfortable discussion you say well what if I was baptized as an infant and because when we look at James River Church James River Church is probably honestly just a small percentage people who are from it as some of us have got background but even then as I said a moment ago that doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to understanding baptism but most of people are from other backgrounds or no background but a lot of people have had some kind of contact with infant baptism so I want to take a moment I want to talk about the roots of that to do that I'm gonna mention at least a couple of denominations and that would be the Roman Catholic and it would be the Lutheran's and we'll throw the Presbyterians in there as well and and I feel I can do that in good conscience because I was once oh and I love Presbyterians and I love hey I love them all so anyway infant baptism is not found in the Bible I think that's really critical for people to understand neither is sprinkling until the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church baptised infants by immersion and it was only in 1311 at the Council of revina that they began to sprinkle the Roman Catholic Church doctrine Lily says this that infant baptism is a ritual of regeneration that the infant is saved through baptism and if you're Catholic you know this that it's the sacraments of the church and participating in those that is the means of grace the means of salvation so Jesus death on the cross merely gives you access to the sacraments as the means of salvation this is a big difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism at any rate they taught that and still teach today that water cleanses a baby from original sin furthermore the Roman Catholic theology teaches that if a baby is not baptized and then dies it goes to a place called the limbo of the innocence which according to their theology is a place where that baby will live forever enjoying a natural bliss without any vision or knowledge of God and so they strongly encourage parents to baptize their infants to keep them from going to this second-class place should they die and the tragedy and that is none of that is in the Bible and certainly it is not reflective of the heart of God that somehow an infant would be in a place like that for eternity Martin Luther the reformer who essentially is the founder of Lutheranism was strong on justification by faith but he never disentangled himself from infant baptism he wrote a book entitled the small baptismal book and in it he stated he believed that baptism cleanse the baby of sin and when he was asked how he could affirm that and still believe in justification by faith he stated that somehow the infant must be able to believe which is why Lutheran pastors today will close their infant baptism liturgy with the prayer and I quote Almighty God hath begotten thee anew through water and the Holy Spirit and has forgiven thee all thy sins amen there teaching that that it makes salvation possible all of that is sad in the sense that none of it is in the Bible there's nothing in the New Testament about salvation apart from a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no infant baptism not in the Old Testament not in the New Testament it isn't commanded it isn't Illustrated it isn't there those in a Presbyterian background would say well baptism infant baptism is to the New Testament what circumcision was to the Old Testament that we baptize infants as a sign of the Covenant of which their parents are apart which again is simply the doctrine of men you will not find it in the Bible and ultimately what I would appeal to every single person to consider is that if it is not in the Bible then we should not build a doctrine on it if it is not in the Bible then we should be careful about creating it as some theological practice the upshot of that is this people say well if I was baptized as an infant should I be rebaptised let me say this according to the New Testament if you were not baptized by being immersed in water following your personal decision to follow Christ then it doesn't matter if you were baptized a thousand times as a baby or if you were born in the ocean you need to be baptized following your salvation here's another reason people are baptized that it really comes down to pride they've gone for so long without being baptized that now for them to get baptized would be an admission or a public profession of a long term either disobedience or ignorance and it would be a very humbling experience to say you know what I haven't done this but I need to do this or there are some people I've met and they're like you know what I just don't want people to see me wet you know listen nobody who sees you is gonna be thinking oh that's what they look like wet everybody assumes you're gonna be wet they're gonna be rejoicing and praising God at what you're doing and what he's doing and the way is gonna work in your life here's a fourth reason people aren't baptized and this is very very sobering the reason why they're not baptized is because they thought they were a Christian but they're not because they really aren't a Christian there's no moving of the Spirit in their life that would convict them that would compel them to fulfill the commands of Christ jesus said if you love me you'll keep my Commandments but they have no desire for water baptism and a public profession of faith or to obey the command of Christ because honestly they're not a Christian they just want to hang out with other Christians if you're a believer baptism is a command it's not an option it is a command it's not something you do when you feel ready it's something you do when you've been saved it's something you do as soon as you've been saved it's not something you have to understand in order for it to be valid as we're going to see when you're saved you're baptized so what I'd like to do is in the remainder of the message I'm just gonna pose some questions and then provide the answer and hopefully when we're all said and done you'll be able to talk to people about their priority of baptism or if you've not been baptized you yourself will see the value of giving baptize today or getting baptized next Sunday but I would encourage you don't put it off beyond next Sunday get baptized what is baptism from a physical viewpoint baptism is a ceremony during which a person in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the Father Son and Holy Spirit is immersed in water is submerged into water that's what Tizen is the primary word used to there in the New Testament in the Greek is baptizo it's used 77 times in the New Testament and it always means to dip completely to submerge or immerse John Calvin said this the word baptize means to immerse it is certain that immersion was the practice of the early church in fact taking it a step further in the greek the word baptizo is never used in the passive in other words never as it said that water is baptized on someone such as sprinkling dabbing their head or pouring it on someone people are always baptized into water all of that to say you might say well you know what I made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and I was sprinkled I was in a church tradition where I was sprinkled I would encourage you to be baptized by immersion in water it's the New Testament pattern for example mark chapter 1 John that's John the Baptist appeared baptizing and all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan his ministry was near the River Jordan because he wasn't sprinkling people he was submerging people into the water in John chapter 3 we read this again John the Baptist was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim this is another part of the Jordan River because water was plentiful there why did he need a lot of water because multitudes were coming to him you see in the book of Acts Acts chapter 8 this is the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch and as Philip shares with him explains the Book of Isaiah and the Gospel message this is what the eunuch said see here is water what prevents me from being baptized and he commanded the chariot to stop and they both went down into the and Philip in the eunuch Philip in the eunuch and he baptized him and when they came up out of the water he immersed him into the water they came up out of the water because that's what baptism is that's the New Testament pattern of baptism you say well what is the purpose of baptism baptism is important not only because it's a command of Christ it is one in one sense it's a public declaration of your faith your identity with Christ I'm a Christian I'm a follower of Christ but it is also a an illustration of what happened to you in Christ this is why I would suggest this if if you're saying well I'm gonna get baptized next week then invite every friend every family member you know get them there especially if they're unsaved to watch because it's a it's a wonderful illustration of what Christ has done for you it's really a physical picture of a spiritual reality mark chapter one and verse five all the country of Judea and Jerusalem are going out to him and we're being baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins so John is baptizing all of these multitudes and all of the sudden Jesus shows up and in verse nine it says this and in those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan you remember the story Jesus wants John to baptize a man and John says listen you don't have any sin you don't have anything to confess so I shouldn't baptize you you should baptize me and Jesus answers John with these words Matthew chapter 3 let it be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness well what does that mean well what is how did Jesus fulfill all righteousness he did that by dying on the cross so whatever baptism means it is connected to what Jesus did baptism in water is symbolic of Jesus death and his resurrection Jesus understood it that way in Luke chapter 12 he's talking to the disciples about heading to Jerusalem he says the Son of Man is going to betrayed be betrayed he's going to be crucified he's gonna die is gonna raise again and he says this statement I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished that's an interesting choice of words why not I have a death or a crucifixion to undergo because Jesus viewed his death on the cross as a dying and resurrection of which baptism is the perfect picture baptism illustrates what Jesus did so when Jesus told John by being baptized it would fulfill all righteousness here's what he was saying my death my resurrection will fulfill all righteousness and my baptism will be a symbolic illustration of that death in that resurrection and when you and I are baptized that's exactly what happens we are showing what happened to Jesus and what's happened to us when you're baptized you're identifying with Christ remember when we were Romans 6 and we saw that we are buried with Christ through baptism and were raised again to a newness of life and the principle we saw there is that at salvation were no longer United with Adam Romans chapter 5 but Romans chapter 6 were united at salvation with Christ were in him it's as if what happened to him happened to us just like when Adam sinned in the garden it's like what happened to him happened to us but now when we're in Christ it's that's why everybody's the center incidentally when he sinned we sinned the scripture says that's why all have sinned but Jesus second Adam the new man he lived for God when we put our faith in him whatever happened to him it's as if it happened to us when he died it's like we died when he was resurrected it's like we're resurrected right baptism is a picture of that you find that not only in Romans chapter 6 but you find it in Colossians chapter 2 for if you were buried with Christ when you were baptized and with him you were raised to a new life so when you go under the water it's like it's like a picture what happened to you when you came to Christ you died the old man died and you're raised again and baptism illustrates that picture here's the third question do you have to be baptized to be saved some people say that baptism is actually what saves us the Church of Christ would would teach that that we're saved through baptism one of the key verses people will use who believe in baptismal regeneration or baptismal salvation is mark chapter 16 and verse 16 and there's other verses but this one's the common one whoever believes and is baptized will be saved but whoever does not believe will be condemned now what is the operative word in that verse the operative word is believed if you believe you're safe if you don't believe you're condemned the issue is belief not baptism you could say this the relationship of baptism to salvation is similar to the relationship of obedience to salvation if you are saved you'll obey Christ right if you are saved there will be fruit from your life that reflects your relationship with Jesus James puts it this way faith without works is dead if a man says I have faith but I don't have works Jesus I don't care what my life looks like James says can such a faith save him and the answer is no you see there's a faith that doesn't save but a living vibrant faith that saves is one that is reflected in us living the will of God in us bearing the fruit of righteousness in us not with perfection but with the eye of dedication that says Lord I want to live a life pleasing to you I want to do what pleases you and if you ask me to do something I'm going to do that and baptism is the first thing he asks us to do so when you are saved you are baptized it's part of obedience the early church understood that Peter preaches that first sermon in the book of Acts 3000 believe and 3,000 are baptized in the early church in fact so much so was baptism and listen to this immediately linked to salvation that baptism and salvation became synonymous for example you see an example of this in Ephesians 4 in verse five one Lord one faith one baptism what what do we mean one baptism one salvation in other words because if you were saved you were baptized when Jesus says go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them it means go and bring them to salvation which will be demonstrated in a willingness to be baptized and if you're not willing to be baptized then you have to face the fact that you are disobeying Jesus at the most basic element of salvation or discipleship and you have to question at that point whether or not you're saved unless it doesn't give me any I'm not trying to be ugly about this but let's let's let's shoot one another straight okay clearly the Bible calls us to be baptized if you call yourself a Christian and you're not willing to be baptized and you've never been baptized at some point once you have the information and you say well I'm not gonna I don't care what anybody says I'm not gonna be baptized then at that point you have to wonder if you're saved because Jesus said why do you call me Luke 6:46 why do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I ask we are saved by grace through faith plus or minus nothing baptism does not save you but it does demonstrate your willingness to obey Christ now here's here's one last question when should I be baptized according to the Bible and this is something I think for most Christians causes more people to delay their obedience to Christ and the enemy loves it because a delayed obedience often results in disobedience and at any point you and I knowingly are not obeying the Christ and especially at a at a basic level like baptism what happens over time is is there is a diminished experience of God's blessing in our life and the enemy loves that so what happens is people say well you know what I'm not sure I'm ready to get baptized err I'm gonna have to think about there's nothing to think about it's in the Bible people say well I just want to understand it more do you realize in the New Testament there's nothing about you know well we're gonna have baptism class for the next three weeks on Sunday afternoon and Peter and John will be teaching it you'll love it and then you can get baptized there's none of that there's nothing honestly the effect of baptism the significance of baptism and the power of baptism has nothing to do with understanding of what baptism is about on your part the Bible does not prescribe for you and I understand baptism before we are baptized because baptism is not about your personal experience though there will be an experience it's about your personal obedience to that end as soon as a person is saved as soon as they come to Christ they should be baptized biblically speaking that is the record that's why every single Sunday we baptize and the reason why is because every single Sunday we anticipate people will be saved and that's true people are saved every Sunday we want people to be able to be obedient to the Lord every Sunday because we want them to be blast every Sunday let me just take you through the scriptures here just from the book of Acts will move rather quickly here's Peter and he's preaching that first sermon on the day of Pentecost the crowds here at they say what should we do to be saved and Peter replied each of you must repent of your sins turn to God be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you've received the forgiveness of your sins those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day they heard the word they were baptized that day as they received the word in Acts chapter 8 in verse 12 Philip the Evangelist speaking at Samaria but when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ they were baptized when they believed they were baptized it wasn't like hey come back next week and we'll talk about baptism if you won't check that out no it's it's hey you got saved let's go get your baptized right read on in Acts chapter 8 verse 36 and we looked at that the Ethiopian eunuch as soon as he hears the Gospel message he himself concludes there's water why shouldn't I be baptized Paul the Apostle recounting his salvation story which technically is in acts 9 but the reference I'm using is from acts 22 and now what are you waiting for get up and be baptized in other words Paul gets saved he puts his faith in Jesus and Ananias says get up and be baptized you get saved you get baptized Acts chapter 10 listen to this Peters preaching at a Roman centurions house so the gospel now has come to Gentiles up to this point the the the Jewish believers weren't sure Gentiles could be saved or would be saved but now they're watching them be saved as the Holy Spirit is poured out on them when they see them having received the spirit for they were speaking in tongues and that's in the verse 46 they said he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ he saw that they were saved and he says now I order I command that they be baptized it's it's a command of God and Peter's simply saying listen this is something God come in so I command you to do it in Acts chapter 16 here Paul takes the gospel to Europe and so as he's now preaching the Word of God in Europe for the very first time for Paul there's a woman who is a merchant of expensive purple cloth who worshiped God an issue listen the Lord opened her heart she accepted what Paul was saying and she was baptized along with other members of her household she opens her heart she's baptized you get saved you get baptized in Acts chapter 16 and this is maybe the most compelling story in the book of Acts for immediately being baptized Paul and Silas you remember they're thrown in prison they're beaten there their legs are in stocks it's it's a bad deal and so what does Paul do he says you know Silas let's let's thank God in everything give thanks for this is the will of God so they they start singing praising God it Bible says the other prisoners were listening midnight there's an earthquake and their chains fall off the prison doors fly open and the jailer he's gonna fall on his sword because he thinks the prisoners are or have all escaped and Paul says no we're all here's his response then he brought them out and he asked sirs what must I do to be saved and they said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved along with everyone in your household even at that hour of the night the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized I mean middle of the night Paul doesn't say you know my back shall lessor cuz the beating y'all gave me and so you know if we could kind of let it heal up I'll feel a little bit pulse like you got saved get baptized I think in the reading it says after that he set food before them Paul Paul's like I don't even want he breakfast till we get this thing over with the ham and eggs can wait till you get baptized that's the urgency of it Acts chapter 18 and verse 8 Crispus the leader of the synagogue and ever in his household believed in the Lord and many others in Corinth also heard Paul they became believers and were baptized when you become a believer you're baptized in Acts chapter 19 again you have the immediacy of it Paul's meeting some group of disciples on the road to Ephesus and when he meets him here's the first question Paul's gonna ask any person he thinks as a believer have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed that's how important the baptism and the Holy Spirit is and they're like we didn't even hear there's a spirit and who says well whose baptism were you baptized under and they said John's and Paul said John's baptism called for repentance from sin but John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later meaning Jesus and as soon as they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus they hear and they are baptized I mean it is so very important water baptism should be done immediately following salvation let me sum it up this way scripture commands every believer to be baptized and when you obey God and you say God I'm I'm you commanded I'm gonna do it that is profoundly powerful in what it does to your life you know what's interesting is in my own life when I get when I came to Christ and you've heard me talk about it before I mean everything changed for me I mean what I used to want to do I didn't want to do and nobody was sitting there tell me don't do this do that I mean everything changed but because I had been baptized as an infant people were saying to me you need to be baptized and and let me just preface this with you know I was a bit of a punk because I would say I can remember saying the pastor I've already been baptized I don't need to be baptized as baptized as an infant I mean I think I just left people kind of speechless and what happened though was somebody sat down happened to be my future and father-in-law and he didn't say if you want to marry my daughter this is way it's gonna roll dude but he loved me enough to sit down and to say this is what the scripture says and I can remember acts 19 and he said listen people who were baptized by John they've been baptized by John but once they hear the word of God they they there's a believers baptism and you haven't had that you've been saved but you've not been baptized and this is a command of God and here here's where I was out with that instantly it was very clear to me listen if I'm gonna follow Jesus I'm saying there's something I won't do for you no then you have kind of that pride if I said I don't need to I know it's like I'm back in yeah I mean all those things that are silly and even what my dad would think but in that moment I said you know what I'm committed to being a Christian and if Jesus asked me to do something which was clear in Scripture he has then Lord I'm all-in there's nothing I wouldn't called him to the ministry at that point I wasn't thinking that way had no desire to be in ministry I just had a desire to follow Jesus and a desire to if the word said it to line my life up with it and you know what though I could see a very profound change in my life after coming to Christ when I was baptized over the next couple of months I became aware that there was a there was a whole new grace of the Lord on my life there was there was a fresh touch of God on my life that was different though it had been you know it was like I was going from glory to glory to glory some of you you you say well I'm saved and I sense the presence of the Lord and God's done this and this in fact I have been filled with the Holy Spirit before as baptized so you know there's some great things God does but when you and I are obedient to the Lord and we say God if your word says it I'm gonna do it God delights in that any response to that in our life in a powerful in a significant way you know what does it say in second chronicles 16 the eyes of the Lord ranged to and fro throughout the earth seeking to strengthen the hearts of those who are what fully committed to him and when you get baptized you're saying God I'm all-in I am fully committed to following you and when you do that God says hey I am going to set my hand on them in a whole new way I'm gonna strengthen them I'm gonna help them I'm gonna bless them honestly that's why I am so passionate about seeing people get baptized because I want to see people experience God's favor in every possible way one last scripture mark chapter 1 and verse 9 and those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and he was baptized by John in the Jordan and when he came up out of the water watch what happens the heavens opened I would suggest to you that when you come up out of the water there's an opening of the heavens over your life in a new way and the Spirit of God descending that that the hand of God comes on you in a new way that it's if you're from glory to glory to glory that God does something that wouldn't have happened any other way and then I love this and a voice from heaven you are my beloved son with you I am well pleased that you you'll sense the pleasure of heaven the grace of the Lord as you go home that day you'll sense something of the father's pleasure over your obedience and it'll be another season of moving into his glory and experiencing his goodness because of your obedience if you've not been baptized I want to encourage you to get baptized today but no later the next week get baptized honor God and watch how God honors you amen [Applause]

Channel: James River Church

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Keywords: water baptism, christian baptism, infant baptism, what is baptism, biblical baptism, how to be baptized, why baptism is important, why baptism, john lindell, pastor john lindell, james river church, james river, james river church sermons, sermons, sermon, baptism, baptized, why get baptized, why get baptized as a christian, jesus, church, online, church online, online church, water baptism in jesus name, water baptism teaching, james river church online

Id: BbYbLr4RVAY

Length: 40min 37sec (2437 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 12 2019