Immersed

As a church, there are a number of religious ceremonies we observe called sacraments. One of them is called communion, and the other is called baptism. Today, we're going to talk a little bit about what baptism is all about as we look to the Scriptures for guidance.

Good morning! You may be seated if you'd like. Pastor Mark mentioned that we are in shorts today because of San Diego's warm weather, and we have a beach baptism coming up this week. Also, happy Father's Day! We are blessed to have some great dads in our church, and I am truly thankful for them. As an expression of our gratitude, we have a gift for the dads. Remember those little vacuum tubes you used to see at the bank drive-thru? We have one of those for you, and inside, there’s either a Payday candy bar—because who doesn’t need another Payday?—or a 100 Grand bar, because I’m sure you could use 100 Grand!

As you leave today, dads, those are for you. On top of that, we would like to pray a blessing over our dads. So, would all the dads in our church please stand up? While you’re standing, let’s pray.

Father, we thank You for the dads of our church. Lord, we also thank You that You are our Father in heaven, our great Father—the best Father we could ever ask for. I realize that for some people, due to unfortunate experiences with earthly examples of a dad, this can be a hard concept, and today might be difficult. But I thank You for the dads of our church. I can’t think of a better example for kids than to see that their dad loves and follows Jesus.

Thank You for these men who love their families, love their kids, and seek to follow You. I pray, God, that You would use them to be an example and a blessing to their children. Would You pour out a blessing upon them? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

We have been studying through the book of Hebrews since about February of this year. However, we are going to take a one-week detour this week because of some things that I...

I think there are some good and important happenings to discuss. One that happened this last week and another that is coming up next week. If you've been a part of Cross Connection Church for a year or more, then you know that we are an independent Bible church associated with a larger family of churches. For the last 32 years, we have been associated with Calvary Chapel, which has a strong and positive history, especially in Southern California. Over the last 50 years, Calvary Chapel has had a significant impact on the Christian church throughout the world, particularly in America.

There are about 1,700 Calvary Chapel churches here in the United States and abroad, and God is doing a great work. I count it a blessing to be a part of that larger family, the Calvary Chapel family of churches. A couple of years ago, we added to our Calvary Chapel affiliation by entering into a dual affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention. As we looked at the landscape of Christianity in our nation and the world, and as I got to know some other Southern Baptist pastors in our area, I realized that these brothers and sisters within the Southern Baptist Convention have a doctrinal framework that is almost identical to Calvary Chapel.

They share the same philosophical perspective and a desire to reach people for Jesus. They want to fulfill the Great Commission, and we saw this as a great opportunity to partner and join arms with what God is doing through the Southern Baptist Convention. There are 45,000 Southern Baptist congregations nationwide, which is absolutely astounding. It is the largest evangelical Christian denomination in the United States, and God is doing amazing things through the Southern Baptist Convention.

This last week, something important happened. When we made this decision a couple of years ago, it was quite unique. In fact, I didn't know of any other Calvary Chapels that had a similar affiliation. I reached out to my friends Brian Brodeur and David Guzik to ask their thoughts on it. They both said they didn't see any problem with it, but it was still a unique situation. I will be very honest with you; I lost some good friends in the process, as some people had strong objections to it. However, as we moved forward, I had quite a few Calvary Chapel pastors reach out to me afterward, expressing interest in how this came about.

Last week, on Monday, one of the most well-known Calvary Chapel pastors, who leads one of the largest Calvary Chapel affiliated churches and is hands down one of the most recognized Christian evangelists in our nation today, announced that his church is entering into a dual affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention. This is really big news. We feel like we were a little bit ahead of the curve, but God is doing a great thing.

The reason this is happening is really important. This is a significant change occurring in American Christianity and Western Christianity. As Christian churches and pastors examine the landscape of our culture, they recognize something crucial: we, as the large Big C Church, are not doing as good a job reaching our culture here in the Western world as we should be. There is a recognition that one of the reasons for this is that we do not work together very well. We struggle to get along and collaborate.

About five years ago, when I was reflecting on this issue and praying about it, I felt led to change our name from Calvary Chapel of Escondido to Cross Connection Church. We have nothing against the name Calvary Chapel; we just believed that a new name would enable us to reach across the lines and link arms with other brothers and sisters who may not be Calvary Chapel. So, we changed our name in 2012 to Cross Connection Church, and we entered into this dual affiliation a couple of years after that. I believe God has blessed it and continues to do so.

More and more churches and pastors are expressing a desire to reach our culture and share the gospel. They are recognizing that, although they may not play the same songs in worship or use the same instruments, they believe almost identically to us. They want to reach people with the gospel, so they are joining arms to do that. I think we will see this trend more frequently in the Christian Church, and I believe it is a good thing. We are moving into what I would call a post-denominational time in Christian history, and I think God is going to bless it.

I am looking forward to God doing great things. I have received quite a bit of correspondence this past week from many Calvary Chapel pastors asking for more information about this development, especially now that one of the largest Calvary Chapel churches has entered into a dual affiliation as well. Some great things are happening. I would encourage you to pray for Pastor Greg Laurie, as he is facing significant pushback over this decision. I'm sure you can imagine the challenges that would bring.

Happen, so be praying for Pastor Greg Laurie. If God is doing some amazing things, amen! Good Southern Baptists, come on, amen! I'm kidding, just kidding.

This week, we have a baptism. Since we are having a baptism on Wednesday, I thought it would be helpful to address the issue of baptism, especially because about every month I receive two or three questions about it. I thought I would share much of the same information that I share at baptisms, but I have never actually shared this with the whole church. I believe it can be very helpful in answering some questions about baptism.

As I mentioned, we are going through the book of Hebrews, and right now we are in Hebrews chapter 8. However, we are not going to focus on that today. Hebrews chapter 8 begins to talk about the issue of covenants. If you read through the Bible, you know that covenants are a significant theme. In our modern vernacular, we don't often use the terminology of covenants unless you are a lawyer, working with contracts, or buying a house that has a homeowners association. In that case, you might receive a big stack of papers called CC&Rs—covenants, conditions, and restrictions—and wonder what on earth it all means.

You might think, "I didn't know about this whole thing. What do you mean I can't paint my house?" So, while we don't see this word too often, when you delve into the Bible, you find many covenants. In fact, in the Old Testament, the first two-thirds of the Bible, there are several covenants, such as the Organic Covenant, the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Priestly Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant.

You might be wondering what all of this is about. Don't worry; there is not a pop quiz at the end on the covenants of the Bible. As we go through the Scriptures, we will discuss these things, and there are great explanations about what they entail. Each of these covenants has conditions and restrictions associated with it. Most of what is written in the first 39 books of the Bible, from Genesis to Malachi, centers around one of those covenants called the Mosaic Covenant, or the covenant of God with the nation of Israel. This covenant was mediated by a man named Moses, and it all really took place beginning in Exodus chapter 19, the second book of the Bible.

The nation of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, were at Mount Sinai. If you've seen the Ten Commandments or The Prince of Egypt, you kind of understand some of the things that are going on there. God entered into a covenant with a people group, the nation of Israel, and the mediator of that covenant was the man Moses. That's why it's called the Mosaic Covenant; it was through Moses that God entered into it.

There were conditions and restrictions associated with that covenant, which is called the law of God or the law of Moses. You read a lot about it in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy in the Bible. Much of what you read in the Old Testament has to do with how that covenant was being worked out between God and the people of Israel. Incidentally, the word "Testament" is another word for "covenant." So, the Old Testament is the Old Covenant, and the New Testament is the New Covenant.

There is a new covenant that we enter into in the New Testament. In each one of these covenants, there are conditions and restrictions, and there are things called sacraments. Sacraments are ceremonies or religious rites that are associated with that covenant. Under the Old Testament, or the Old Covenant, some of those sacraments included the observance of Passover, which was a sacrament, and the observance of circumcision, which was another sacrament. The offering of sacrifices and the various offerings that were given at the temple were also sacraments. They were ceremonies that they observed under that covenant to fulfill its requirements.

Now, under the New Covenant, there are sacraments as well. If you came from a Roman Catholic background or an Eastern Orthodox background, the word "sacrament" is not foreign to you. You know that in the Roman Catholic Church, there are a number of sacraments; in fact, there are seven of them. However, as Protestants, we are not going to get into the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox Church. Within Protestant churches, there are really only two sacraments that we observe.

You may ask why there are only two. Well, we like to think of keeping things simple.

There are two sacraments that are observed by Protestant Christians. When you open the text of the Scriptures, one of the founding principles of the Protestant Reformation, which happened 500 years ago this year, is what is called Sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone. We want the Scripture to be that which tells us what we are to do in our belief and practice.

As a result of this, when we look at the Scriptures, there are only two New Covenant sacraments that Jesus explicitly instituted and that the early church expressly practiced. These two sacraments were instituted by Jesus and followed by the early church, and that is what we practice today.

The first of these sacraments is Baptism, and the second is Communion. Jesus instituted the sacrament of Communion interestingly on the very night that He was observing the sacrament of Passover under the Old Covenant with His disciples. This was the night that He would be betrayed by one of His own disciples, and the next day He would be crucified.

Jesus was in an upper room in Jerusalem, gathered with His disciples, observing the Passover. During this time, He did something significant. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." He commissioned and commanded them to do this in remembrance of Him.

On a regular basis, we partake of the bread, a little cracker, and when we do, we remember Jesus's body that was broken for us on the cross. In the same way, after He had done that, He took a cup of wine, blessed it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."

In this moment, He instituted a new covenant, and the first sacrament of that covenant is the act of partaking of the bread and the cup. This covenant is intangible; you can't see the covenant, but it is illustrated, exemplified, and symbolized in the act of Communion.

Bread and the cup represent the body and blood of Jesus, which were broken and shed for us to begin this new covenant. His blood was shed for us to enter into this new covenant, and we regularly partake of the bread and the cup here at Cross-Connection. Every seven weeks, we observe this sacrament, a practice that the church has been following for two thousand years.

Some might ask, "Why do you do it every seven weeks?" The answer is simply that this is how we do it. There isn't a specific reason for this frequency; we just believe in doing it regularly. Some people may get upset and say, "At my old church, we used to do it every single week." That is a valid tradition, and some churches observe communion weekly. Others might say, "In my church, we used to do it on the first Sunday of every month." Again, that is another way to observe this sacrament.

The frequency can vary, but the regularity is important. As often as you do this, Jesus says to do it in remembrance of Him. Some Protestant Christian churches partake of communion once a year. While that may not be as frequent as you have experienced in the past, it is still a regular remembrance of Jesus's body that was broken and His blood that was shed.

If you have been here for a while and we suddenly changed to doing it on the first Sunday of every month, you might think, "Hold on a second, that's not the way we do it." If you visit another church that practices communion every week, you might say, "Wait a minute, that's not the right way." This is because we often get caught up in traditions, which can lead to the creation of denominations. We may even label those who practice differently as "evil," which is a rather primitive way of thinking about Christianity.

The point is that the sacraments are simply outward ceremonies that we observe. They serve as visible signs of an inward divine transformation of grace that has taken place. We observe communion regularly at the church because that is what Jesus instituted as one of the sacraments.

The second sacrament that we observe is baptism. What is baptism? It is an outward expression of an inward transformation or commitment that has taken place. When we discuss this, some people may still not understand what it truly means. It is, at its core, an outward expression of an inward change.

Inward transformation—what's communion? It's an outward expression in the bread and the cup of something that Jesus did for us. His body was broken, and His blood was shed. We symbolize that in the bread and the cup.

When we get to the issue of baptism, what is it? It's an outward expression of an inward transformation, which implies something very important. This baptism thing that we do, this outward expression of an inward transformation, implies that the inward transformation precedes the outward illustration or the outward showing expression. There is something that happens first in us before we commit ourselves to this thing of baptism. We will talk more about that in a little bit, but it is simply an outward expression of an inward transformation.

Baptism is an activity that individual followers of Jesus engage in to visibly display or express their faith and their commitment to Jesus. Some people like to use the illustration of a wedding ring. Baptism is similar in this fashion. This wedding ring represents an external expression; it represents a covenant relationship that I have with my wife, Andrea. It is not, in and of itself, the relationship. If I happen to lose this ring—and some people have lost their wedding rings—I do not lose that covenant relationship. The relationship is still there. This merely illustrates or shows to other people that I am in this covenant relationship with my wife. That's the whole point of this outward expression of this invisible, intangible covenantal relationship that you cannot see if you don't see my wife with me, holding my hand or whatever it may be.

In the same way, baptism kind of fits with that. So, what is baptism? Baptism is an outward expression of an inward transformation.

Well, how is one baptized? The word "baptism" itself gives us some insight into the whole thing of how one is baptized. The word "baptism" comes from the Greek word "baptizo," which means to immerse or to dip something in some sort of liquid for the purpose of washing or purification. It is immersing something into something. The first appearance of the word "baptize"...

Baptism is found in the New Testament as it relates to the individual we call John the Baptist. John the Baptist was quite a character. He shows up on the scene in the early chapters of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—just before Jesus's ministry begins. John was a fiery figure who ate locusts and wild honey, and he dressed in camel hair clothing. He was out in the wilderness of Judea, near Jerusalem, down by the Jordan River, preaching. Multitudes came to hear him, amazed by the things he had to say.

John preached a message of repentance, urging people to turn away from their former conduct, or shall we say, their misconduct and sin. He told the people that they should bear fruits worthy of repentance, showing forth their repentance in some way. So, what was the way he had them demonstrate their repentance and confession of sin? The opening chapters of the Gospels tell us that people were going down into the water of the Jordan River, where John was, and he would immerse them in water. As he did this, they would confess their sins, displaying their repentance and confession through this action.

So, how is one baptized? One is baptized by being fully immersed in water, just as John the Baptist fully immersed people. You may wonder how we know John fully immersed people. The Greek word "baptizo" is very clear; it means to immerse in water. When we look at Jesus's baptism, recorded in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3, we see that He came up out of the water, which implies He was in the water. This indicates that immersion was taking place in the whole picture of baptism.

What is baptism? It is an outward expression of an inward transformation. How is one baptized? They are fully immersed in water, whether it be at the beach, in a river, a pool, or a spa. That's how it is done.

This brings us to the important question of why we do this. This is something I share at every baptism we conduct. Why are we involved in this activity called baptism? It's not just because we're Baptists; all Calvary Chapel people are Baptists too, and we all share this view of baptism.

Leivers baptism, and so why do we do this? I believe that we do this, and I teach that we do this, for three primary reasons. They are points number two, three, and four. I want to get into these points and explain, with the time that we have here this morning, why we baptize.

Point number two: reason number one, we baptize in obedience to Christ's command. Where do we find this command to baptize? It's found at the very end of the Gospel of Matthew, in the last chapter. If you take out your Bibles and open to the Gospel of Matthew, if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Matthew is found right about two-thirds of the way through your Bible, right before Mark, Luke, and John, and right after a little book called Malachi. He's the Italian prophet, Malachi, actually.

So, in Matthew chapter 28, the last chapter, which is right next to the opening of the Gospel of Mark, we read this: "And Jesus came and spoke to them." The "them" here refers to His disciples. Jesus came and spoke to His disciples, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 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, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age. Amen."

This is commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Interestingly, a few years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention got together at their annual meeting and voted on changing their name from the Southern Baptist Convention to Great Commission Baptists. There were some people trying to figure out this whole thing about being Southern Baptists. They wondered if you needed to be in the South to be a Southern Baptist, and if you were in the Midwest, maybe you weren't really a Southern Baptist. So, they wanted to change their name to Great Commission Baptists. Why? Because they said they were committed to this Commission, which we in Calvary Chapel are committed to as well.

I believe that every faithful Christian has been committed to this Commission because Jesus commissioned and commanded His disciples to go into all the world to make disciples of all nations. We don't discriminate; we don't segregate against anybody when we're preaching the gospel to people. We want all people to come to faith and to receive the forgiveness of sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And so, we preach.

To all people, we want to disciple them; we want to make them followers of Jesus. That's what disciples are. We want to help them come into a faithful and obedient following of Jesus as their Lord. One of the issues of obedience is baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Why do we immerse people in water? This outward expression of an inward transformation is done in obedience to the command of Jesus in the Great Commission to go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

So, point number two: we baptize in obedience to Christ's command. The second reason we baptize is point number three: we baptize in identification with Christ's baptism. What's that all about?

Well, you're in Matthew chapter 28. Turn to the left to Matthew chapter 3. I'll give you a chance as I take a drink of water. Swipe left on your device; you know you can't hear the pages rustling on iPads, but it's all good.

In Matthew chapter 3, verse 13, it says, "Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him." John tried to prevent him, saying, "What in the world is going on here? Jesus, the Son of God, God incarnate, came to John the Baptist, just a man, and he said, 'I need to be baptized by you.'" John said, "Whoa, hold on a second! I need to be baptized by you, and you're coming to me?" In another one of the Gospels, he said, "I'm not even worthy to unlatch this guy's sandal."

But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then John allowed him. When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, which implies immersion in water. He came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Jesus. Suddenly, a voice came from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

An act that was pleasing to God the Father in heaven, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist by full immersion in the Jordan River. In the same way, we baptize because we are identifying ourselves with Christ in His baptism and going down into the waters of baptism. I believe that this is pleasing to our Father in heaven, just as it was pleasing when Jesus was baptized there in the Jordan River.

Now, that doesn't mean you need to be baptized in the Jordan River, although you can be. You can come with us to the Jordan River next time we go to Israel; we'll baptize you there if you'd like to be. There, He was immersed in water, a pleasing act to the Father, as God expresses, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

We baptize in obedience to Christ's command. We baptize in identification with His baptism. What exactly is it? It is an external expression of an inward transformation, whereby an individual is going down into the water, fully immersed, identifying with the Lord's baptism.

The fourth reason why we baptize is that we baptize in association with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Where do we get that? Romans chapter six. If you are in the Gospel of Matthew, go to the right. You'll pass Mark, Luke, John, and Acts, and you will come through the big book of Romans.

Romans chapter six, written by one of Jesus's followers, the Apostle Paul, states: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

The third reason that we baptize here at Cross-Connection Church is that we baptize in association with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying here is that when you put your trust in Jesus, if you have put your trust in Him, there is an invisible born-again experience that happens in that instant moment as you trust in Him for your salvation. Jesus spoke about this with a...

In John chapter 3, there is a man named Nicodemus. When Jesus told him, "You must be born again," Nicodemus couldn't comprehend this. He couldn't figure it out. Jesus explained that it is a supernatural act of the Spirit of God. You can't see it with your eyes, but when you put your trust in Jesus, you are baptized into Jesus; you are immersed in Jesus. You can't see that, and you don't necessarily feel it, but by faith, you trust that God has baptized you into Christ and immersed you in Christ the moment you put your faith in Jesus.

We symbolically show this through the act of baptism. This actual, physical, tangible activity of going down into the water is spiritually significant and symbolic. As you go into the water, you are associating with Jesus's death. While you are under the water, you are associating yourself with His burial. When you come up out of the water, you are associating yourself with His resurrection to walk in newness of life.

If anyone is in Christ, immersed and baptized in Christ—which happens spiritually when you put your trust in Jesus—you are a new creation. All the old things have passed away; they died and have been buried, and everything has become new. You rise to walk in newness of life. This is a wonderful, awesome thing that God does by His Spirit because He baptizes us. Jesus does this by His Spirit, but we baptize to show forth, in a very tangible and expressive way, that this event has occurred in your life by grace through faith.

So, what is baptism? Baptism is an observable expression, an external expression of an inward transformation. How are people baptized? They are fully immersed in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Why are we baptized? We are baptized in obedience to Christ's command and in identification with His baptism, in association with His death, burial, and resurrection.

This leads to a very simple and logical question: When should one be baptized? To answer that, turn from Romans to the left and swipe left to Acts chapter 8. In Acts chapter 8, there is a great evangelist by the name of Philip who is going around preaching the gospel near Jerusalem, in the area of Judea, and in a place called Samaria. As he preaches the gospel and people come to faith, one day God speaks to him.

An impression comes to Philip, and God impresses upon him that he needs to walk along the route of the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. These are two names that are still in our vocabulary today. We know where Jerusalem is; you've all heard of the Gaza Strip.

As Philip walks along the highway, God has impressed upon him to take this route. While he is walking, he comes upon a man riding in a chariot. This man is clearly wealthy; he is referred to in the scripture as an Ethiopian eunuch, which suggests that he is part of the royal household or the royal court of Ethiopia. He is on his way from Jerusalem towards Gaza, riding in his perfectly mint-condition chariot from the year 32 AD.

Interestingly, he seems to have his chariot on autopilot, as he is reading from the scroll of Isaiah. The scripture tells us that he is reading from the scroll of Isaiah, which is the Book of Isaiah that you have in your Bible. However, he didn't have a book like we do; the scroll of Isaiah is 11 feet long, not a pocket edition.

As Philip approaches, God impresses upon him to attach himself to the chariot. He trots up and asks the man, "What are you reading?" The man replies, "I'm reading through the scroll of Isaiah." Philip then asks him, "Do you understand what you're reading?" The man responds honestly, "I don't have a clue. How can I understand unless someone tells me?"

Philip does what pastors do; he gets up and starts to explain the scriptures. He climbs into the chariot with the man, and as they travel, he begins to explain what the man is reading. By coincidence, the man is reading from the passage we know as Isaiah chapter 53. This is an amazing passage written 700 years before Jesus came, detailing His death for us: "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." What an awesome passage that this man just happens to be reading!

Philip then says, "Let me tell you what this is all about," and he preaches the gospel to him. We know that he preaches the gospel because, at some point, this takes place in Acts chapter 8, verse 36. As they went down the road, they came to...

Some water, and the eunuch said, "Here is some water. What hinders me from being baptized? What's keeping me back from being immersed in this water?" Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may."

Quick sidenote: If you have a New International Version or some other version, that may not be in your text because it's been removed. Some ancient manuscripts do not have that, but it's in many manuscripts. He says here, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." The eunuch answered and said, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." That statement is what we call the bedrock, the foundation of our faith as Christians.

How so? In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 16, Jesus is with His disciples and asks them this great question: "Who do men say that I am?" His disciples say, "Some say that you're Elijah, the prophet, come back from the dead. Some say that you're one of the other prophets." Then He asks, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter speaks up and says, "You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus replies, "Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. And listen, on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it."

Now, the rock is not Peter; the rock is that statement: "You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Here is this Ethiopian eunuch who has been reading through the prophet Isaiah. He has gotten all the way to chapter 53, scrolling along through this 15-foot-long scroll. There, Philip the Evangelist preaches the gospel to him. He trusts in Jesus, sees some water, and says, "Hey, what's keeping me from being baptized?" Philip responds, "Listen, if you believe, you may." The eunuch said, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

So, in verse 38, he commanded the chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he immersed him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more.

Now, that's interesting. It probably won't happen on Wednesday, but it could. They came up out of the water, and when they did, Philip just disappeared—gone! I mean, the eunuch was probably thinking, "Okay, that was phenomenal." So what did he do? He went on his way rejoicing. You think? He was pretty amazed by this for certain.

You know, there is still a Christian witness to this day, an ancient Christian witness in Ethiopia. I wonder if he was not the first evangelist.

A man who heard the gospel from Philip's mouth to his ears was baptized by a body of water on the way down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is amazing, and he was baptized because he believed in Christ. "What hinders me from being baptized?" If you believe with all your heart, you may. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and you've never been baptized, you can and should be baptized.

Point number five on your outline: we baptize believers as a first act of Christian obedience. When the church was born, on the first day of the church, it's recorded in Acts chapter 2. The Apostle Peter was preaching the gospel to a gathered multitude of thousands. As he was preaching the gospel of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and raising for our justification, the people that were listening to him were cut to the heart. Acts chapter 2, verse 37 says, "When they heard this, they were cut to the heart." They were convicted and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "Men and brethren, what should we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized."

We baptize believers as a first act of Christian obedience. So, if you've never been baptized and you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that He died on the cross for your sins, you should be baptized. Hopefully, you'll come out this next Wednesday as we're down at Cardiff State Beach. Come on down in the late afternoon; we're going to have a baptism. The information is in your bulletin. If you've been baptized, come down and rejoice with those who are going to be baptized as we make this public declaration, this outward expression of the inward transformation that took place when you put your trust in Jesus.

As you are fully immersed in water, you are identifying with Christ, associating yourself with His death, burial, and resurrection, and obeying the command that He gave to go and be baptized.

Now, real quickly, I want to address some frequently asked questions about baptism. I want to answer some of these on the front end because you might be thinking about this. First, what about infant baptism? There are probably a number of you here this morning who were baptized as infants in the Presbyterian Church, maybe the Episcopal Church, or the Catholic Church. You were baptized as an infant, and you might be wondering about that whole thing. It's a good question, and I fully understand that there are very good Christian brothers and sisters who...

We don't baptize infants because we believe in the principle of Sola Scriptura, and we don't see that practice in the Scriptures. We may have something similar in our baby dedications, as we dedicate small children to the Lord, but we believe in what's called believers' baptism or credo baptism. This means that once you have put your trust in Jesus, you are baptized as a sign of your faith to other people. Baptism serves to give fuel to your faith, just as the Ethiopian eunuch experienced in Acts chapter 8. Therefore, we practice and believe that credo baptism is the illustration provided in the Scriptures.

Secondly, a question that often arises comes from people who are transitioning out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. They are familiar with a practice that is, quite honestly, heretical and anti-Orthodox. This practice is known as baptism for the dead or baptism by proxy. One of the reasons the Mormon Church is so interested in genealogies is that they want to baptize for deceased relatives.

Why don't we believe that this practice is right? First, it is not taught in the Scriptures. Second, you cannot believe for someone else; you cannot be baptized by proxy for another person. As much as you might want to believe for your children, you cannot be baptized for other people, whether they are dead relatives or others. This practice does not fit with Scripture and is not in line with the teachings of Christ or the Church.

A third question I frequently receive is whether baptism is essential for salvation. If I am not baptized, am I not saved? The answer is no. How do I know this? The greatest illustration of this is the thief on the cross next to Jesus. When Jesus was crucified, there were two thieves on either side of Him. One of those thieves put his trust in Jesus and experienced a deathbed conversion right there on the cross. As they conversed, he said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus replied, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

They did not come down off the cross; there was no sprinkling, and there was no baptism. The thief put his trust in Jesus, and he was saved. Baptism is an outward expression of the transformation that takes place on the inside. Jesus assured him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." If baptism were essential, this scenario would not have occurred.

For salvation, it is explicitly stated in the Scriptures that it is essential. One of the other questions I often receive is about Jesus-only baptism. You may have never heard of this, but there is a group of people in the church who question your baptism. They ask, "When you were baptized, were you baptized in Jesus' name?"

I don't know; I was under the water. I didn't hear. They claim that if you weren't baptized in Jesus' name, your baptism is not good enough. They will say that if you weren't baptized, you are not a Christian, or if you weren't baptized in their church, you are not a Christian. We don't believe that. If you were baptized as a believer at another church, praise the Lord! That's awesome. You don't need to be re-baptized in relation to this whole issue.

However, there is this group that insists if you are not baptized in Jesus' name, it is not sufficient. You might wonder, "Who are you? In what name were you baptized?" Were you baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? If you were, that is enough. Where do they come up with this?

There are four passages in the Book of Acts where people are baptized in the name of Jesus. This group claims that if you are not baptized just in the name of Jesus, then your baptism is not right; it is not sufficient. The problem with this is that Jesus said to go and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. If you were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit because of your faith in Jesus, that is just right. It is all good. If you were baptized in the name of Jesus, praise the Lord, as long as your trust is in Jesus for your salvation.

Normally, those who adhere to this Jesus-only baptism have a very strange view of the triune nature of God. They tend to be Unitarian in their perspective and have much bigger issues with their doctrine than just the issue of baptism, which we could discuss in an apologetics class, but that is not necessarily for today.

Here is the simple point: baptism is an outward expression of an inward transformation, whereby an individual is immersed in water in obedience to Christ's command and in identification with Jesus. Baptism is associated with the death, burial, and resurrection of those who have put their trust in Jesus for salvation. If that is you, you should be baptized. Amen.

Let's stand for this closing prayer. Father, I thank You for the clear teaching of the Scriptures You have given to us, that we might know how we ought to live.

Seek, serve, and follow You. I pray, God, that You would help us to be faithful in our trust in You. Thank You that You have given us very tangible sacraments: the bread and the cup to remember Your body broken for us and Your blood shed for us. The act of baptism, going down into the water, shows forth in a very tangible and experiential way what took place in a very invisible and intangible way when we put our trust in You.

God, thank You for these things that we have been given by You to fuel and give passion to our faith. I pray, God, that this church would have a passionate, on-fire faith for You, and that it would be seen in our lives.

It may be that as we stand here this morning, not only have you not been baptized, but you've never put your trust in Jesus for salvation. Maybe after hearing this message, you're saying, "I think I might want to be baptized." What hinders me from being baptized? Well, if you've not put your trust in Jesus, if you have not confessed Him as your Lord, I want to give you a chance to do that.

So if that's you this morning, would you just lift up your hand? Is there anyone here this morning who has never trusted in Christ for salvation but would like to today? Just lift up your hand so I can see.

Praise God! Lord, we thank You so much for the work of grace that You're doing here in our midst. We pray, God, that You continue to amplify that work for Your namesake, for Your light to shine in the darkness of this world. We praise You and thank You.