SERMON: THE MEANING OF BAPTISM

THE MEANING OF BAPTISM
27 March 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 23:37

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

-- before God sent the rain to us yesterday, you were probably aware that we had gotten really dry and that we’ve been having a lot of wildfires in our area -- we had a small wildfire out at Moody last Thursday that we had to quickly put out and there’s been a lot of smaller fires throughout the county over the last couple of weeks -- of course, there’s the larger wildfire that has been raging in Clinch County for several days now that had been threatening homes and lives in Cogdell and north of Homerville
-- even though wildfires are natural and part of this southern ecosystem -- they can still be very destructive and cause a lot of damage -- not only to homes and structures -- but also to the forests and to the animals that live there
-- I was reading about a wildfire the other day that had happened not far from us -- it was a massive wildfire and many firefighters had been brought in to help put it out -- they finally got it stopped and the firefighters were walking through the area putting out all the hot spots that were left -- all the stumps and the logs that were still burning and that might ignite the fire again
-- as they were walking through the burned out area, one of the men noticed a large lump on the trail -- it was kind of unusual so he walked over to it to see what it was -- and as he got closer, he noticed it was the charred remains of a large bird that had burned nearly half way through in the fire
-- he stood there looking at that bird and he wondered why this bird had died -- birds can easily fly away from the approaching flames -- I’ve been on lots of burns and lots of wildfires and I’ve never found a bird that died from the fire -- they always just fly away -- and so this guy stood there looking at that bird and trying to figure this out -- and he wondered if maybe it had been sick or injured and just couldn’t get away
-- after a moment, he decided to just kick the remains of the bird off the trail and go on -- and as soon as he did, he jumped and was scared half to death because there was all kinds of activity right by his feet -- he jumped back and watched as four little birds ran out from underneath the remains and scurried away down the hillside
-- and then he realized what had happened -- the mother’s body had covered them from the searing flames -- and even though the heat was enough to consume her -- her body protected her babies and allowed them to find safety underneath her wings -- and even though the flames came near -- and even though the heat became unbearable -- she had stayed with her young
-- she was their only hope for safety -- and she was willing to risk her own life to save them -- even when the pain reached its most unbearable moment -- when she could have flown away to start another family on another day, she made herself stay through the raging flames
-- this mother made the ultimate sacrifice to save her young -- and her death illustrates an even greater story -- the very story that brings us here today -- it is the story of a God who covered His children with His very own body and protected them from the flames of sin and death on the cross of Calvary [illustration adapted from Wayne Jacobson, The Hen and Her Chicks -- http://www.lifestream.org/bodylife.php?blid=23]

II. The Sacrifice of Jesus
-- this was the very reason Jesus came -- He told Nicodemus in John 3:16-17 that He had come into the world -- not to condemn the world -- but to save the world through Himself
-- the Bible tells us that we are all sinners -- that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God -- a lot of times we like to think that we’re ok -- that just because we haven’t done anything really bad -- we haven’t stolen anything or killed anyone -- that we’re going to get into heaven on our own merit
-- but the Bible tells us that this is just not true -- if we break God’s law at any point -- if we commit just one sin in our life -- then we have broken the entire law and are subject to the punishment of death and eternal separation from God
-- I’ve used this analogy before, but I think it makes a pretty clear picture -- think about all the different kinds of sins -- murder and robbery and lust -- telling white lies -- gossip -- impure thoughts -- all the sins -- everything you can think of
-- and now imagine them written on a plane of glass -- like that front window up there -- just written up there in a list with a little checkbox right next to each one of them -- now, I want you to imagine that on the other side of that window is a roaring lion and you can look through the glass and see him, just like an exhibit in the zoo
-- now let’s say that you were an extraordinary person and the only the only sin that you ever committed was to tell a white lie to someone -- and so I hand you a hammer and a nail and I tell you to go up there and put a hole in the checkbox next to that sin with the hammer and the nail
-- what’s going to happen to that plate of glass when you hit it with that hammer? -- it’s going to shatter -- that whole plane of glass is going to come crashing down around you -- and what’s that roaring lion going to do? -- he’s going to come through that window after you
-- that’s what happens with sin -- that’s what God tells us in His word -- if you break just one little sin out of all of the sins in the world -- it’s the same thing as breaking them all -- and you deserve the punishment that you will get
-- and there’s no one in here that has just committed one sin in their life -- we’ve all committed lots of sins -- and so the punishment that is owed us is great

-- but God didn’t want us to suffer the punishment for our sin -- He didn’t want us to spend an eternity apart from Him -- He certainly didn’t want us to end up in Hell
-- so He sent His Son to earth to die on the cross in our place -- to become sin for us -- to take up the sufferings and the afflictions that were ours -- to experience the eternal separation from God -- so that we might not have to
-- we see that here in this passage -- we see the heart of God right here in this verse --keep in mind that Jesus was talking to His most bitter enemies -- the Pharisees and those who thought they could justify themselves -- those that thought they could work themselves to heaven and make their own way to God by following the law
-- and Jesus weeps over them and He says, “I have longed to gather you up -- as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings -- but you were not willing”
-- Jesus was offering them salvation -- He was offering them eternal life -- but they just wouldn’t come

III. What Must We Do?
-- flip over to Acts 2:36

36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

-- when God sent the Holy Spirit upon the church at Pentecost, Peter stood up and preached the message of salvation and told these same Pharisees and the Jews who had gathered for the feast in Jerusalem the good news of Jesus Christ
-- He told them about the cross and the resurrection -- and as the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon them -- they cried out, “What must we do? -- we know now that the law won’t save us -- we know now that our good works can’t get us to heaven -- what must we do?”
-- and Peter lines it out for them in verses 38 and 39

38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”


-- Peter says to “repent” -- to repent means that you confess to God that you know who you are and you know what you’ve done -- you take ownership for the sins that you have committed and you agree with God that you are guilty and that you stand condemned for your sin -- deserving of death
-- through repentance you ask Him to forgive you of your sins through Jesus -- to let Jesus’ death and suffering on the cross stand as payment for what you have done -- and then you agree to turn around and follow God by trusting and believing in Jesus

-- and then Peter tells us to “be baptized”

-- I read a story from Bob Beasley, who is a pastor in Canada, about the time he carried his three-year-old daughter with them to a baptismal service -- she just couldn’t understand what was going on -- when the pastor immersed the candidate and put them under the water, his daughter exclaimed in surprise, "Why he pushed that guy in the water? Why, Dad, why?"
-- later that night, they tried to help her understand what was going on -- they talked about in and told her that when people decide to live for Jesus and "do good" they want everyone to know and so they get baptized -- they explained to her that the water symbolizes Jesus' washing people from sin -- and that when they come out "clean," they are going to try to be "good."
-- but, it was obvious that his daughter still didn’t quite get it -- she responded, “Well, if he has been bad, why didn’t the preacher just spank him?” [Source: Preaching Today Illustration from Bob Beasley, pastor of Gregory Drive Alliance Church, West Chatham, Ontario, Canada]

-- that’s the great thing about grace -- we don’t have to be spanked because Jesus was spanked for us -- we don’t have to suffer the punishment for our sins because Jesus was punished for us
-- so, when we humble ourselves and ask Jesus to forgive us for all we have done wrong and we repent of our wicked ways and turn to follow Him -- Jesus gives us eternal life and tells us to offer ourselves to Him through the act of baptism as Peter tells us here

-- baptism is an outward expression of an inward grace -- it is a symbolic act that proclaims to the world the inward change that has occurred in our hearts and in our spirits
-- it signifies our new life in Christ that began with the forgiveness of our sins -- it makes us a part of the body of Christ -- and makes us one with Christ and one with the church

-- baptism is what we call a sacrament -- the word sacrament literally means “sacred moment” -- what this means is that when we are baptized, not only are we present in the act -- but God Himself is present and is pouring out His grace upon us
-- that is what makes this act of baptism so special and so meaningful in our lives -- it’s not just us -- it’s God with us
-- and while we use water to represent the waters of creation and the cleansing of sin in our lives -- we have to keep in mind that we are being baptized with both water and the Spirit -- when we are baptized, the presence of God through the Holy Spirit is made alive in us to raise us up from the old life to a new life in Christ and to empower us to live that new life in victory

-- because the water is used only as a symbol of what Jesus has done within us, I don’t believe it really matters how much water you use, although some will argue that you have to be immersed completely when you are baptized
-- here at Koinonia, we baptize in the three methods that we believe have been used throughout the Bible -- immersion, sprinkling, and pouring -- and we leave it up to the choice of the person being baptized as to how they would like to be baptized
-- I like the symbolism of immersion for I think it really proclaims to the world the death of our old body and the washing away of our sins and the rising to new life in Christ -- but, obviously, we can’t always baptize in this way -- sometimes we don’t have access to a pool of water and sometimes the person being baptized can’t be immersed -- they might be terminally ill and unable to be immersed -- or they might be an infant or a child who couldn’t be immersed safely

-- which brings up something that I want to note here in this passage -- Peter says in verse 39 that the promise of salvation is for you and your children -- we know that in the Old Testament infants were included in the covenant with God -- God commanded Abraham to mark all male infants at eight days of age with the sign of circumcision to show they were part of the covenant -- in the same way, the church has traditionally baptized infants and children as a sign that they are part of the new covenant in Christ
-- now, I know some churches do not baptize infants -- but I don’t believe they should be excluded from the sacrament simply because of their age -- Peter says here that the children are part of the promise -- and Jesus said in Matthew 19:14, “"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
-- children and infants have always been a part of the covenant of God, going back to the days of Abraham -- and nowhere in the Bible are we told to exclude them from the covenant of faith -- so I think they should be allowed to baptized as a sign of that they are part of the new covenant in Christ

-- think about it this way -- let me give you a picture of what’s really going on in baptism-- when we are baptized, we place ourselves under Jesus -- under His authority and His protection
-- very much like the picture I gave you in my story of a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings to protect them from harm -- through baptism, we are publicly making the declaration that we have placed ourselves under the wings of Jesus -- we are proclaiming that we are part of His church -- that we are part of the new covenant that He offers us through His body and His blood
-- when an infant or child is baptized, we are doing the same thing to them that Jesus does to us -- not only are they under the sheltering wings of Jesus, but they are being placed under the sheltering wings of their parents and the entire community of faith
-- through baptism, children are brought into the community of faith and are sheltered and protected from the world around them by the grace of God

-- now, that’s not to say that infants and children receive salvation through the act of baptism -- it only means that they are part of the covenant of God and part of the body of Christ -- to be protected and nurtured and raised in the faith until they can declare on their own their personal faith and trust in the saving grace of Jesus Christ at confirmation
-- just like a Jewish boy who was circumcised at 8 days of age would one day have to stand up and become a believer on his own and agree to live for God -- infants and children who are baptized will have to do the same -- at some point in their life they are going to have to ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and to be their Savior if they want eternal life with Him

IV. Closing
-- one Sunday morning after the worship service, a little boy came up to Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church in California and the author of the Purpose-Driven Life, and asked him, "When can I get advertised?"
-- He meant "baptized" but he made the right point -- baptism is advertising that you're a Christian
-- in the church we are baptized -- not only because we are commanded to do so in Scripture -- but because we want to proclaim to the world that we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and have received forgiveness for our sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus

-- this morning, we are honored to have Kaylee Harpe being presented to us for baptism by her parents -- but before I invite them up, I want to offer this invitation to you

-- Christ calls for us to be baptized as an act of obedience -- as a proclamation of who we are in Him -- and as a witness to the inward change that has come through our salvation
-- maybe some of you here have never received Jesus before as your Lord and Savior -- maybe you grew up thinking that going to church and believing that Jesus was real was enough to be saved -- but the Bible tells us that you have to do more
-- you have to repent -- you have to confess your sins and admit you are a sinner and ask Jesus to forgive you for what you have done -- and then you have to trust in His atoning death and His resurrection and believe in your heart -- not just your head -- that He is God and that we are saved and can go to heaven only because of Him
-- if you’ve never received Jesus as your personal Savior -- if you’ve never come and asked Him to forgive you for your sins, then I want to invite you to do so right now
-- and if you have received Jesus but you’ve never followed through and been baptized -- then I want to invite you to come up and offer yourself for baptism -- if you want to be immersed, we can arrange a time and place for that -- but if you just want to experience the baptism and the grace of Jesus right now through the symbolic act of sprinkling with water, then I’d invite you to come forward as we prepare to baptize Kaylee

-- so, let’s close in prayer and then I’ll have Seth lead us in the final song and then we’ll celebrate together the sacrament of baptism
-- let’s pray