welcome to Anchor Baptist Church we are gonna go ahead and get started this
evening if you would grab a hymnal and turn to our first song number 169 in
your hymnal come thou found hymn number 169 169 come thou found 169 we'll sing
they're starting on the first and we'll open with a word of prayer so if you
bow your heads with me Heavenly Father we thank you for this day
for another opportunity to gather together to sing praises in your name
and to learn from your word I pray that you would be with the service that
everything would be done decently and in order and that you would just open our
ears to the message that pastor has prepared for us this evening these
things we pray in Jesus name amen all right for our next hymn 183 oh how I
love Jesus hymn number 183 183 oh how I love Jesus 183 we'll sing there starting
on the first there is a name I love to hear I love to sing its word it sounds
like music in my ear the sweetest name on earth oh how I love Jesus oh how I love
Jesus oh how I love Jesus because he first loved me it tells me of a Savior's
love who died to set me free
don't have a bulletin please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one on
the front of our bulletin is the Bible memory verse of the week Galatians
chapter 1 verse 13 and if at the end of this whole chapter you could quote it
word perfectly to an adult non-family member you will receive a prize at the
end here if you open up on the inside you'll see our service times on the left
Sunday morning at 1030 a.m. Sunday evening at 430 p.m. and our Wednesday
evening Bible study through Proverbs at 7 o'clock our soul winning times are all
listed there below and all those meet here at the church building with the
exception of Tuesday so please contact brother Eric if you want to make it to
that soul winning time below that is our nursing home ministry schedule looks
like next up is brother Eric next week also below that is our year to date soul
winning statistics there was three salvations this afternoon so praise the
Lord for that so that puts us at 103 for the month which smashes our previous
record so we're really thankful for that and just keep working hard out soul
winning upcoming events on April 13th for the PM service we'll have a men's
preaching night and there is a sign-up sheet in the back if you'd like to
preach for that just fill out what topic you would like to preach about and then
after the evening service we'll have a potluck so just bring something to share
for that if you would. April 19th is our Easter soul-winning marathon there's
also a sign-up sheet in the back for that that way I could order the right
amount of food for that event but we'll be meeting at Frederick Douglas Park in
East OKC and going soul-winning that day there. The next day is Easter on April
20th and after the a.m. service we're gonna be catering some barbecue so
looking forward to that and then for the evening service we will be taking the
Lord's Supper at that time. May 16th through the 18th is the King James
Conference in Vancouver Washington by Pastor Aaron Thompson. May 31st is the
Durant Oklahoma soul-winning marathon teaming up with Steadfast Baptist Church.
June 28th that's our Tinker Airshow Fellowship Day where we're just gonna
hang out as a church go to an air show have some fun and the next day Brother
Ben Naim from Steadfast will be preaching for us. August 27th through the
31st that's the Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship at Steadfast Baptist Church
in Texas. Looking forward to that. October 6th through the 11th that's our big
event for the year the Bahamas Mission Trip and so below that you'll see
there's a visitor card if you are a visitor or even if you just need to
update your information we would appreciate if you would scan that and
fill that out we could have a record of your visit and on the back is our prayer
list please be in prayer for all of those requests there and below is some
information about giving to our church if you'd like to do that that's gonna be
it for announcements this evening we'll go ahead and go to our third song all
right number 191 for our third him this evening 191 in my heart there rings a
melody him number 191 191 they're on the first I have a song
the melody this evening the offering plates are being passed turn if you
would to Hebrews chapter number six Hebrews chapter number six six it's all
along silently in your Bible's Hebrew six the Bible reads therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ let us go on unto perfection not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God of
the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of the resurrection of
the dead and of eternal judgment for this what we do if God permit for it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and tasted the good
word of God and the powers of the world to come that they shall fall away to
renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucified to themselves the Son of
God afresh and put him to an open shame for the earth which drinketh in the
rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by
whom it is dressed receiveth blessings from God but that which beareth thorns
and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned but
beloved we are persuaded better to things of you and things that accompany
salvation though we thus speak for God is not unrighteous to forget your work
and labor of love which you have showed toward His name and that you have
ministered to the saints and do minister and we desire that every one of you do
show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that you
be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises for when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no
greater he swear by himself saying surely blessing I will bless thee and
multiplying I will multiply thee and so after he had patiently endured he
obtained the promise for men verily swear by the greater and an oath for
confirmation is to them an end of all strife wherein God willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel
confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was
impossible for God to lie we might have a strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which entereth into that
would within the veil whether the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus
made in high priest forever after the order of Macizadec. Let's bow our heads
for prayer. Father in heaven we thank you for this day and the souls that were saved out this afternoon and we just ask that you heal them and help them find a great church and we ask that you fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit and bless every aspect of your service. Amen.
Alright we are in Hebrews chapter 6. Let's start reading verse number one. The Bible
says therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ let us go on unto
perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works
and of faith toward God of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands
and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment and this will we do if
God permit so if you're familiar if you're familiar with the context of this
book in chapter number five the Apostle Paul was talking about how he wants to
teach more advanced concepts to the audience here but they were still babes
in Christ they had not matured they had not read like they should have and so
they kind of had need that one teach them again but his desire in chapter
number six is that they would move on from these basic doctrines and go on
unto perfection and so the implication here is that if you're going to go on
unto perfection and learn more advanced doctrines you first have to have the
basics down and one of the basics that he lists there he talks about repentance
from dead works and a faith toward God right simply just getting saved
salvation and then he says of the doctrine of baptisms in verse number two
and that's actually the title of my sermon this this evening is the doctrine
of baptisms this is a very foundational simple topic but even though it's
simple to us because this is a Baptist Church we actually believe what the
Bible says so many religions are so screwed up on this topic and you'll see
as we go through this sermon that how the Bible describes baptism the way it's
done what it represents and and when it's done is not the same as a lot of
religions teach on this and so keep in mind that even though this is a subject
you're probably already very familiar with number one you need to know how to
teach other people this doctrine because you know we like to go out into the
community preach the gospel and explain to people these things from the Word of
God you want to explain to them biblical baptism and the doctrine of baptism you
know also I know we have some people in this room who are recently saved and so
those people especially who have not yet been baptized should really pay
attention this evening and see what the Bible has to say about it and so
whenever I teach on baptism I like to think about it like this think of the
three peas okay the practice of baptism the purpose of baptism and the picture
of baptism that's what we're gonna be talking about this evening so number one
let's talk about the practice of baptism just practically speaking how is
baptism supposed to take place well go to Matthew chapter number three Matthew
chapter number three you know this is a Baptist Church and the reason that we
have this distinction is because we believe certain things about baptism
that other religions do not one of those things is that baptism is supposed to be
fully immersion that baptism is supposed to be full immersion underwater baptism
is not just sprinkling baptism is not like what the Catholic Church did during
COVID and literally squirt people with squirt guns that's not baptism folks
baptism is full immersion underwater okay let's look at that in Matthew
chapter number three and look at verse number 13 says then cometh Jesus from
Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him for John forbad him
saying I have need to be baptized of thee and cometh thou to me and Jesus
answering said unto him suffer it's to be so for now for thus it be cometh us
to fulfill all righteousness then he suffered him and Jesus when he was
baptized notice went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were
opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting
upon him and lo a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I
am well pleased you know if you're gonna get your doctrine on baptism and try to
figure out you know what's the right way to baptize someone looking at Jesus's
example is a good place to start like hey how are we gonna baptize someone
well why don't we look at the way that Jesus Christ was baptized and if you
notice he had to come up out of the water because the word baptism literally
means to be fully submerged like it's not a baptism if you're sprinkled it's
not a baptism if you're sprayed with a water gun a baptism is a full
submersion of water so that's why when we do baptisms by the way I told the
ushers this a few weeks ago like I want to make sure there's a good amount of
water in there because I've seen some baptisms before where the person goes
down and like their legs and all their arms are out of the water and it's like
kind of their head just goes under it's like you're kind of ruining the whole
purpose you know you want to be fully submerged in the water to be a real
baptism go to Acts chapter number 8 Acts chapter number 8 and let's look at
another example of this in the Bible as you're turning there I'll read John 3
verse 23 it says and John also was baptizing in Anon near to Salem because
there was much water there and they came and were baptized so John the
Baptist when he was deciding where he's gonna baptize people the determining
factor for him was where was there much water why because to baptize someone you
have to put them completely under the water Acts chapter number 8 look at
verse number 36 it says and as they went on their way they came unto a certain
water and the eunuch said see here is water what doth hinder me to be
baptized and philip said if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayst
and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he
commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both notice into the
water both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him and when they were come up
out of the water the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that the eunuch saw
him no more and he went on his way rejoicing so I'm not gonna break down
everything in this passage right now we're gonna come back to this later but
right now we're just talking about the entry level just very basics of baptism
the practice of baptism notice how these guys they went into the water to
baptize why once again because to baptize you have to fully submerge and
this is just so basic like this is not hard to understand whatsoever yet you
got so many religions out there that don't do this most simple picture of
just baptizing someone all the way underneath go to Matthew chapter number
28 Matthew chapter number 28 so when it comes to the practice of baptism number
one it's got to be full immersion number two baptism must be done in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost all right you got oneness
Pentecostals out there that want to try to say well when you get baptized it has
to be in the name of Jesus only and they will actually get mad at people that
baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost now
let's see what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 very famous passage
it says in Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me
in heaven and earth go ye therefore and teach all nations notice baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost now again this is
just what what's mind-blowing to me about false religion is like if we're
gonna make our doctrine how are we gonna baptize someone well let's look at how
Jesus was baptized okay how are we gonna baptize someone why don't we look at the
words that Jesus Christ said we should do about baptizing someone and it's
like this is the Great Commission this is one of the most famous passages in
the whole Bible and what did Jesus say baptize them in the name of who the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and by the way these people that
get so stuck up that oh you have to baptize in the name of Jesus only what
if I told you that when you're baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is included in that because Jesus is the
Son of God so this is just a silly thing to make a huge big deal over yet many
people have and would criticize us Baptists for baptizing in the name of
the Father Son and Holy Ghost go to Acts chapter number 2 Acts chapter number 2
and I'll show you where they're getting this from chapter number 2 verse 38 it
says then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost so here we have Peter telling people to be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ now notice what this verse did not say did this verse
say be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ only no so if we're following
Jesus's example in Matthew 28 is someone still being baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ absolutely of course they are right plus there's another
distinction here that to do something in the name of something else could also
denote of the authority or by the power of right if like I come to you in the
name of something it means like I'm coming to you by the authority power of
something else so when you're baptized by in the name of Jesus Christ it's like
you're doing it under his authority which he's the one that gave the Great
Commission right so if Jesus told us to go baptize people and we baptize them
we're doing that by the authority by the power of Jesus Christ you could stay
there but let me read for you in Deuteronomy 18 20 it says but that
prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name which I have not
commanded him to speak or that shall speak in the name of other gods even
that prophet shall die what is that saying it's saying like hey if someone
comes to you and claims to be speaking on the behalf of God or by the power of
God they make some sort of prediction and it's a lie then that prophet is
supposed to be killed is supposed to be put to death according to that verse so
that's what it means to do something by the authority of now go to Acts chapter
number eight again I said we'd come back here acts chapter number eight and so
far I'm just showing you the really really basic things about baptism the
practice of baptism number three when it comes to the practice of baptism is that
baptism must take place after salvation not before baptism does not get you
saved baptism does not wash away your sins you cannot get to heaven just by
getting baptized you get baptized after you are already saved okay I'm going to
prove that many ways starting at Acts chapter number eight look at verse
number 29 so you have here it says then the Spirit said unto Philip go near and
join thyself to this chariot and Philip ran thither to him and heard him read
this is the eunuch here the prophet Isaiah and said understandest thou what
thou readest so if you're not familiar with the story Philip is going to
preach the gospel to a man who is sitting in his chariot and he's reading
the scripture he's reading specifically the book of Isaiah and Philip goes to
this man and he says hey do you understand what you're reading right now
are you able to comprehend the things that you're reading in the Bible then it
says in verse number 31 the eunuch he responds to Philip and he said how can I
accept some man should guide me and he desired Philip that he would come up and
sit with him verse 32 the place of the scripture which he read was this he was
led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before his shearer so opened
he not his mouth in his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall
declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth and the eunuch
answered Philip and said I pray thee of whom speak at the prophet this of
himself or of some other man so the eunuch he's reading Isaiah and he's not
really getting it he's reading a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ but he
doesn't even know that and so he kind of asks Philip he's like what is this
scripture talking about is this talking about himself some other random guy and
then in verse number 35 it says this then Philip opened his mouth and began
at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus this is what we call soul
winning right where someone's not saved they don't understand the Bible and you
take the Word of God and you preach Jesus unto them you preach that we've
all sinned that because of our sin we deserve hell but Jesus Christ was the
spotless lame of God he came as the son of God lived a perfect life died on the
cross for our sins was buried rose again and that if we put our faith and trust
in him we get the free gift of eternal life that's what soul winning is is
explaining to people that but you know the Bible says faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God and the the revelation of faith is given from
faith to faith so you need soul winners to do this type of work so that's what's
happening in this story Philip is preaching the gospel verse 36 it says
and as they went on their way they came unto a certain water and the eunuch said
see here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized so get the picture here he
got he's got the gospel and the eunuch he sees this big body of water and he's
asking what's preventing me from getting baptized right now hey I want to get
baptized what is stopping me from getting baptized now this is very
important this next verse verse 37 and Philip said if you know what that means
there's a condition we're about to read here if thou believest with all thine
heart thou mayest what is stopping someone from getting baptized you have
to be saved first this is why it is so stupid to baptize babies folks number
one babies aren't condemned because babies have never sinned number two
baptism doesn't even save you what you're doing is you're just giving a
baby a bath and hey I'm forgiving babies baths that's great but don't call it
baptism because it's not and so if you got baptized as a baby I'm not against
you you know you're probably a part of some false religion that baptized you as
a baby but I'm telling you that was not a biblical baptism why because what
hinders someone from being baptized if thou believest with all thine heart thou
mayest you have to be saved to be baptized being baptized is not some
ritual it's not some game it's not like hey let's take one-year-olds two-year-olds
three-year-olds and just baptize them let's just baptize anyone who comes into
this church no if someone wants to get baptized we're gonna make sure that
person believes the gospel we're gonna make sure that person believes that
salvation is by faith alone and not by works because if you're trusting in your
works to go to heaven let me let you in on something you're not saved you're on
your way to hell you have to trust a hundred percent in Jesus Christ and his
sacrifice then that's what salvation is then you could be baptized now here's
what's interesting if you have an NIV or if you have one of these modern Bible
versions that are not the King James verse number 37 is not even in your lap
right now it's not even in the Bible because the modern versions have just
deleted this verse it's like you read it in the modern versions and it's like hey
what does hinder me to be baptized and then it just gets baptized missing this
very important doctrine that what prevents someone from getting baptized
is being saved you got to be saved first notice what it says and at the
latter part of verse 37 and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God sounds like this guy got saved right then it says in verse 38 and
he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water
both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him hey if you're saved you are
qualified to get baptized right how long did these guys wait you know he got
saved how long was it until after he got baptized it was right away yet there's a
lot of Baptist churches now where they want you to go through like a six-week
class on how to get baptized it's like folks you're saved you can get baptized
you don't need a six-week class you just need to actually be saved you need to
believe the gospel once you've done that you can get baptized so you know you
want to make sure you got a King James Bible because that is the true word of
God now go to mark chapter number 16 mark chapter 16 and I'm gonna show you a
verse that people often use to teach that in fact you do need to be baptized
to be saved spiritually they'll say that to have your sins forgiven and to go to
heaven you must be baptized where do they get that idea from mark chapter
number 16 verse 15 it says and he said unto them go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature verse 16 he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned now while
we expand this go ahead and turn if you would to Ephesians chapter number two
Ephesians chapter number two so it says he that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved but he that believeth not will be damned sometimes you have statements
that are just true by themselves and adding more detail or extra facts to
something does not all of a sudden make something else untrue you could have
this statement that he that believeth shall be saved and guess what the Bible
says that in scores of other places what must I do to be saved it's asked in Acts
chapter number 16 the answer is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall
be saved Jesus said verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath
everlasting life right so all through the Bible you have that salvations by
faith alone that's not of works right then you have this statement here where
on the surface it could seem to someone like it's teaching a works salvation but
I'm gonna give you an example of how sometimes you could have a statement you
could add some detail to it and it could still be true watch what if I said this
a moose is an animal is this a true statement all right it's a true
statement right a moose is an animal a moose with antlers is an animal right I
mean we have a true statement a moose is an animal a moose with antlers is also
an animal but does it what about this a moose without antlers is not an animal
that's no longer true right that's silly well it's the same thing like this he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved why because he believed in Jesus
Christ then it says but he that believeth not shall be damned it didn't say but if
he doesn't get baptized he'll be damned no no no moose is an animal folks and a
moose with antlers is also an animal you can't start saying well if it doesn't
have antlers it's not an animal no if you don't get baptized but you believe in
Jesus Christ you're still saved well how do you know that oh what about the thief
on the cross he said Lord remember us thou me when thou comest into thy
kingdom and he was saved right he didn't get baptized and I'll show you some other
verses on that I had to go to Ephesians chapter 2 this is some really famous
scripture look at verse 8 or verse number 9 for by grace are you saved
through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God notice
not of works lest any man should boast right so we use this all the time out
soul winning that salvation is not of works now is it a work to be baptized
absolutely right you got to put on the gown or whatever and get into the water
and get all wet and come on out that is work now it's not the hardest thing in
the world right but it is work the Bible says salvation is not of works go to 1st
Peter chapter number 3 1st Peter chapter number 3 I'll show you another verse
that people use to try to claim that you have to be baptized to be saved 1st
Peter chapter number 3 verse 21 and by the way this is called baptismal
regeneration and this is what the Church of Christ teaches if you ever heard of
that show duck dynasty that whole family believes the false gospel that you have
to do works to be saved sorry to crush your favorite little TV show but those
people are not saved those people are false prophets folks because they teach
that you have to do works to go to heaven look what it says first Peter
chapter 3 verse 21 the like notice this word figure where unto even baptism
doth also now save us not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the
answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ so
some people will take this verse and they'll say see the Bible says that
baptism doth also now save us now they didn't read the whole verse because
first of all it said that the figure of baptism saves us meaning what baptism
represents is what saves us the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
is what saves us also if you notice there's a parenthetical statement in
that verse and what is that it means that you have two independent clauses
here that the the structure of the sentence can still work perfectly fine
if you just deleted that parenthetical statement right so just as a thought
experiment let's read verse 21 without the parentheses it says the like figure
whereunto even baptism doth also now save us by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ so how does salvation happen it comes through the sacrifice of Christ
the Bible is very consistent on this but this is a figure right so the figure of
this does save us go to 1st Corinthians chapter number one 1st Corinthians
chapter number one now 1st Corinthians chapter one will completely destroy the
idea that you have to be baptized to be saved there is no way of getting around
what we're about to read here 1st Corinthians chapter number one verse 14
it says I thank God this is the Apostle Paul speaking I thank God that I
baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius lest any should say that I had
baptized in my own name so think about this statement the Apostle Paul saying
like I thank God I didn't baptize any of you guys except for just a handful of
people because he doesn't want people to think that he's just baptizing in his
own name okay if baptism was required to have someone get saved why would Paul be
thanking God that he's not getting people saved like one of us as soul
winners we went out soul winning and we're like I thank God we had zero
salvations today it's like hey how many people got saved at your church over the
last year oh thank God zero like that makes no sense right so if baptism is
what saves you why is Paul saying I thank God I baptized none of you save a
handful of people I'll tell you why because baptism doesn't save you that's
why it has nothing to do with salvation verse number 17 says this for Christ
sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel baptism is not a part of the
gospel he's like Christ did not send me to baptize he sent me to preach the
gospel these are two completely different things once you believe the
gospel you could be baptized but baptism is not a part of the gospel it says not
with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect for
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God go to Acts chapter number 19 Acts
chapter number 19 I'll show you one more here people will say well you know John
the Baptist he baptized people all the time amen that's true oh well John the
Baptist told people to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand that means
the salvations by works that's not true I'll show you that in Acts chapter
number 19 verse 4 notice what it says then said Paul John verily baptized
with the baptism of repentance so you'll hear people say well you know John told
people to repent and what they think that means is that John was telling
people to repent of their sins and that now they need to start doing all these
works like getting baptized and following the commandments repenting of
their sins right but notice the Bible defines what his repentance of his
baptism of repentance was the latter part of that verse in verse 4 saying
unto the people that they should what believe on him which should come after
him that is on Christ Jesus he's saying what is the baptism of repentance the
baptism of repentance is believing in Jesus Christ so again this the Bible is
totally clear and totally consistent all the way through that salvation is by
faith alone not of works go to John chapter number 15 John chapter number
15 so we talked about the practice of baptism it's got to be by immersion it's
got to be after salvation you don't get baptized to get saved you get baptized
after you get saved okay so number two let's talk about the purpose of baptism
the purpose of baptism what is the purpose of baptism well it's your first
step in obedience to having a relationship with Jesus Christ right
salvation is a free gift it's by faith alone but your first step in obeying
God and wanting to have a relationship with him and wanting to please him is
obeying his commandment to get baptized okay John chapter number 14 verse 15
notice what it says if ye love me keep my commandments notice Jesus he didn't
say if you want to go to heaven keep my commandments if you want to be saved
keep my commandments no if you love me keep my commandments and you know I am
all for repenting of your sins I am all for you know obeying God's commandments
and living a separated life and trying to please the Lord with our life but you
know what we do that because we love God we do that because we love Jesus not
because we think that those things are gonna get us saved or take us to heaven
so if we love Jesus we're gonna keep his commandments so what's that look like
well it looks like getting baptized look at John chapter number 15 flip the page
to John chapter number 15 verse 13 it says greater love hath no man than this
that a man lay down his life for his friends verse 14 ye are my friends if ye
do whatsoever I command you so I want to be the friend of God right I want to be
the friend of Jesus Christ what's that gonna take of me doing what Christ
commanded and so step one on that is hey I'm saved now I need to get baptized
and look if you're saved and you have never been baptized you need to obey
Christ you need to obey God and actually take that step of getting baptized go to
Romans chapter number six also the purpose of baptism is simply to
identify yourself with Christ it is a way to publicly identify that you're
standing with Christ that you believe in him that he's your God look what it
says in verse number one of Romans 6 what shall we say then shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live
any longer therein know you not that so many of us as we're baptized into Jesus
Christ we're baptized into his death so one of the things that you're
identifying with and one of the reasons that you get baptized is because it's
identifying with the death of Christ that's why you start outstanding and
you go into the water right because it's picturing that death of Jesus Christ
just like Jesus he was on the cross he ended up being put in the earth and he
died look at verse number four it says therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life so again it's a
night it's a way of identifying with his death with his resurrection and showing
people that hey we want to walk in newness of life that we didn't just get
saved and that's it but we actually now want to love God keep his commandments
and serve him with our lives go to Acts chapter number two Acts chapter number
two we're actually I'm sorry let's skip that let's go ahead and go to 1st
Corinthians chapter number 10 1st Corinthians chapter number 10 you know
it's also to build unity in the body of Christ it's something that we could have
in common build unity with each other that we've all been having the same
baptism look at 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1 it says moreover brethren I
would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the
cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the
cloud and in the sea and did all eat that same spiritual meat and did all
drink that same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that
followed them and that rock was priced so you know the children of Israel in
the wilderness they had common experiences right they all were under
the cloud that followed them and the pillar of fire by night and they all
were baptized in the the Great Red Sea you know that great baptism unto Moses
they had that camaraderie and unity because of that and us as a New
Testament Church what unites us it's the fact that we're saved it's the fact
that we're baptized it's the fact that we're trying to fulfill the Great
Commission as a team and so it brings unity to the body of Christ that's what
a local New Testament Church is you know if you're not if you're not baptized
this is just my stance on it if you're not baptized I don't really consider
you a real member of a church yet you know you have to get baptized and be a
part of that congregation I'm not saying you have to be baptized at that church
you just have to get baptized after you're saved but you know what a real
member of a church is someone who is saved and set apart through baptism that
is what I believe on that look at go to Ephesians chapter number two Ephesians
chapter number two now this is really the more important stuff as far as I'm
concerned and really it's the picture of baptism the meaning behind it this is
what's really really important what is the picture of baptism Ephesians chapter
two you know a picture is the fact that like Christ was raised up from the dead
we want to walk in newness of life that's the picture Ephesians chapter 2
verse one says this and you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in
time past he walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of
the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others so it's explaining what is life
like before someone is saved they're just living according to the lust of the flesh you're just
doing what your own flesh wants you're usually living a wicked life but then it says in verse
number four but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he hath loved us even when
we were dead in sins hath notice quickened us together with Christ by grace you are saved and
hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
so we were spiritually dead and when you get saved you get born again and your spirit gets
revived and you're made a new creature in Jesus Christ and now that you're saved you're supposed
to live like that new creature you're supposed to walk in the spirit not be just fulfilling the
lust of the flesh not just walking according to whatever you want to do and your flesh wants to do
but you should actually desire to want to please God with your body and please the Lord with the
things that you do go to Romans chapter number six again Romans chapter six you know he talks
about like we were dead but spiritually we've been resurrected we've been brought to life we've been
given new life I like to think of it like this you know if someone is dead think of Lazarus when he
died what did Jesus do to Lazarus he brought him back from the dead right how much sense would it
have made if Jesus he finds Lazarus he raises him back to life and then Lazarus is just like oh cool
and just lays back down like that wouldn't make much sense right but this is like a Christian's
life who does not get baptized and who does not go on to serve God it's like God rose you again
he gave you a new spirit he gave you new life he gave you the ability to walk in the flesh
and it's like you got revived and you just laid back down and did nothing that's foolish but let
me tell you that's how most Christians are living their life most Christians they take the grace
they take the free gift and then they do nothing for God what should you be doing you should be
going to church you should be going out and preaching the gospel to the lost you should
be reading your Bible you should get baptized right you should be praying you should be helping
your brothers and sisters in Christ right there's a lot of good works that we should be doing
but when you're just living for self being lazy not doing anything it's like God raised you from
the dead and you just laid right back down it's like what a waste you know what once you get saved
you should get baptized picturing that you want to walk in newness of life and that's what roman 6
is going to tell us in verse 6 it says knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that
the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin so when we get baptized
we're saying hey our old man we're standing here and our old man's getting crucified just like
jesus christ was crucified on the cross we're saying hey the old man's going to be crucified
our body of sin is going to be destroyed right our body's going to be buried someday and going to be
destroyed but someday god's going to raise it up a glorious body and we're going to get a new body
someday that we should not serve sin verse 7 for he that is dead is freed from sin verse 8 now if
we be dead with christ we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that christ being raised
from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him right so we believe that jesus
christ literally died and that he literally rose again and that today he is alive in glorified
form and we believe that he's never going to die again right and so that's kind of what we're
identifying with when we get baptized is we're saying hey our body is going to die someday
but we believe just as sure as jesus rose again in the resurrection we are going to rise again as
well god's going to bring our bodies back to life and give us a glorified body then the application
verse 11 says likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto god
through jesus christ our lord he's saying like reckon yourselves or count yourselves or at least
think in your mind and acknowledge and count yourselves dead unto sin right that your life
no longer is going to be used for the purpose of just fulfilling your lust and sinning but rather
that you want to be separated and serve god then it says let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin but yield yourselves unto god as those that are alive from the dead
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto god you know it's kind of like you're
reckoning yourself or counting yourself thinking that hey i'm in a sinful body right now but
someday i'm going to have a glorified body and in that glorified body you know what i'm never
going to do i'm never going to sin once we have a glorified body we will never sin again on this
earth you will sin every single day until the day you die don't let these holier than now preachers
tell you that they no longer sin no we all sin but because that someday we're going to have a
body that doesn't sin you know what we should be doing right now is at least doing the best we can
to not sin right now and to please the lord in our bodies right now by serving him and obeying his
commandments it says verse 14 for sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the
law but under grace right so us being saved that we're under grace in the new testament
grace doesn't teach us go out and do whatever you want right this is what the liberal churches
will teach oh bro we're under grace so let's go smoke some marijuana hey bro we're under
grace let's go to the bar tonight hey bro you're under grace no big deal that you're living with
your girlfriend whereas grace here is telling us to separate ourselves and to use our bodies
and to yield our bodies as members of righteousness not as members of unrighteousness
then it says verse 15 what then shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace
god forbid so is the fact that salvation is by faith just giving us a green light like just go
ahead and sin drink your heart's content smoke marijuana do whatever you want no it's actually
saying god forbid that you'd have that attitude the right attitude is to say hey god save me
i'm going to get baptized and i'm going to use my life to be pleasing to god realizing hey our
body is the temple of the holy spirit we're bought with a price we need to glorify god
in our bodies and then it says in verse 16 know you not that to whom you yield yourselves
servants to obey his servants ye are to whom you obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience
unto righteousness the truth is is that we all are a servant to something some people they hate
the bondage of christianity and they want to say christianity is so restrictive and the bible is so
mean and all the rules are so bad but the bible saying here that like you're going to be a servant
to someone you're either going to be a servant to sin or you're going to be a servant to righteousness
why don't you go ask the drug addicted homeless population of oklahoma city that didn't want to
listen to the bible's warnings about sobriety about how much of a free life they're living
no you know what drug addiction is always called it's always called bondage that oh man i'm just
in this bondage i'm addicted to drugs the truth you're going to be a servant to something people
who get addicted to drinking alcohol they can't stop without getting sick they're servants to
sin and they're in bondage right you go and have some bastard child out of wedlock and that
relationship uh relationship splits up you know what you're gonna be doing you're gonna be paying
child support for the rest of that kid's life till they're 18 years old right and what are you
you're under bondage rather you should just submit yourself to jesus christ and to the words of god
and say hey i'm going to be a servant either way i'd rather be a servant of righteousness
hey i'd rather be oh god wants me to be in church i'll be in church god wants me to be baptized
i'll be baptized god wants me to read the bible i'll read the bible that's just reckoning yourself
dead unto sin and alive unto god and then it says go back if you would verse number four i kind of
mentioned this already but let's just look at it again about how it's a picture of how we're going
to physically resurrect someday verse four therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death
that like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should
walk in newness of life for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection you know one of the sweetest
promises that we have from god as christians is the fact that we're getting a new body someday
and you know thank god i'm young i'm not you know feeling the pains of old life yet but from what
i've heard from people who have gotten to that age is that it sucks and that it's terrible and
that the older you get the more problems and pain you have with your body and even if you're not old
people in here probably had surgeries or health problems or broken bones or issues and those
things wear on you day by day but you know it's a blessing is the fact that someday like as jesus
christ died we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection go to first corinthians chapter
15 first corinthians chapter number 15 and this whole chapter really is about the resurrection
we won't read too much of it but look what it says in verse number 21 it says for since by man
came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead and that's talking about christ for in adam
all die even so in christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order christ the first
fruits afterward they that are christ at his coming so by the by the fact that jesus died
and rose again he now gives us that blessing and access to have the same resurrection that he had
and because of that verse 15 because of that blessed fact that we're going to be raised again
from the dead someday we get this famous verse in verse 58 therefore my beloved brethren be ye
steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the lord you know this is a great verse that's often just preached by itself
but it's important to know what the context of this verse is the context of be ye steadfast is the
fact that we're going to be raised again from the dead someday and the fact that we're going to
raise again from the dead and get us a new body tells us that we should be steadfast in our service
to god why because what we do is not in vain what you do for christ will actually last the people
you get saved the times you minister to your brothers and sisters in christ when you pray for
your friends and family those things that are spiritual things will actually last those things
are not in vain we'll read a few more verses here we'll finish axe chapter number two axe
chapter number two so we talked about the practice the purpose the picture what some
applications we should make i'll read for you psalm 11 verse three it says if the foundations
be destroyed what can the righteous do right so we should never get tired of just hearing the
fundamentals and i realized that us as independent fundamental baptists and in the new ifb we hear so
much doctrine we hear a lot of advanced sermons and advanced doctrines that sometimes people can
get pretty bored and get pretty tired of hearing these doctrines but we need to remember that this
stuff is important why because there are catholics out there billions of them who think that getting
baptized is just getting sprinkled and that's a lie and way worse than that is there's billions
of people out there that think that getting sprinkled is going to take them to heaven
and those people are unsaved right so that's why we have to every once in a while just preach these
basic truths and look trust me i would way rather get up here and be ripping about something else
as well but look this is just something that we need to hear every once in a while and so we have
to have the character and the maturity to hear some things that we already know every once in a while
and even myself as a preacher i have to have the discipline every now and then to just preach a
bare-bone sermon that may not be the thing i'm the most excited about at this time but it's just
what the bible says we need to be taught it we need to be excited about every single topic in
the bible not just our own little hobby horses you know we read hebrew 6 and someone said oh
you're gonna preach your hobby horse no we're preaching about baptism okay and we haven't
talked about it before so it's a good thing just to go through what's the other application get
baptized hey if you haven't been baptized you need to get baptized and we're gonna make sure
that you're saved first we're gonna ask you hey what do you think that it takes to get to heaven
and if you say be a good person repent of my sins go to church confess my sins to a priest
we're gonna say okay let me show you from the bible what it takes to be saved we're not gonna
baptize someone who's not saved we're not gonna baptize someone who thinks they could lose their
salvation who thinks that salvation is by works we're gonna make sure they get saved first look
at verse 41 of acts chapter 2 it says then then they that gladly received his word were baptized
hey if you're a person that you've been saved and you're thinking hey i kind of like the bible
i kind of like what the word of god says i'm gladly receiving it you know what people who
gladly receive god's word do they get baptized and you know what i've noticed people who actually
serve god with their lives people who are actually soul winners people who are actually members of a
church that actually come regularly you know what they all are they're all baptized or they're
children of people who are baptized and are too young to have gotten saved yet but you know people
who actually serve god are baptized i've never seen like this great amazing preacher this fantastic
soul winner this really godly man or woman who wasn't baptized it just doesn't exist folks why
because those that gladly receive his word get baptized look at uh verse or i'm sorry go to
titus chapter number three last verse we'll go to titus chapter number three titus chapter number
three the last application we should make is that hey once you get baptized do some works for god
right you're giving this picture you're saying that you want to walk in newness of life that's
what you're saying by getting baptized now actually live up to that now actually do some works for god
titus three verse eight this is a faithful saying and these things i will that thou affirm constantly
that they which have believed in god might be careful to maintain good works these things are
good and profitable unto men so notice the instruction to the preacher is make sure that
you're constantly telling people to do good works right and so that's part of my job is
constantly telling us those of us who are saved those of us who have been baptized hey you said
you wanted to walk in news of life let's keep doing that let's keep going out and preaching the
gospel and you know praise the lord god's given us some people here that really do care about the
lost and praise lord we've had over 100 salvations this month but you know what we need to affirm and
reaffirm these things constantly not just say like well i got baptized i did my duty i'm kind
of done serving god no constantly we need to reaffirm these things in our life and say yeah
i've been baptized but now i'm going to walk in newness of life today and tomorrow and the next
day and the next year and continue to serve god and maintain these works why it says these things
are good and profitable unto men getting baptized it's a profitable thing to do and can and exhorting
other people to get baptized it's a profitable thing to do and then beyond that actually walking
in newness of life is the good and profitable thing to do let's end with the word of prayer lord we
thank you for this foundational truth i pray that our church would be a beacon of light in this area
to get people not just the gospel but also to offer them baptism i pray that if there's anyone
in this room who's not been baptized that they would do so soon and that we would walk in newness
of life we love you in Jesus name we pray amen our last hymn for this evening will be number 176
hymn number 176 jesus loves the little children i'm sure everybody knows and can sing it out well
actually it's so short we'll sing it twice through so 176 jesus loves the little children and we'll
sing it twice through 176 there on the first and only verse he's not precious in his sight
jesus loves the little children of the world
he's not precious in his sight
jesus loves the little children of the world