Well, again, good morning, church, and I am so excited today not only to get to see all of the baptisms that are happening and that are going to happen at the end of this service, but also to, just to get to open up the word for a couple of minutes and teach about baptism, about what is it for? Why should I do it? Do I have to do it? When should I do it? Does it really even make a difference? You know, when I was thinking this week about baptism, the reality about baptism and what makes it so great is that unlike a lot of other things in our faith, baptism is actually for those of us that have trusted Jesus, baptism is one of the easiest ways to know if I'm being obedient to Jesus or not. I mean, when you think about it, go with me down this just for a second.
When you think about it, love, think about love, the command of love. Love sometimes is a hard one to know if I'm doing it or not, right? 'Cause one minute I can and one minute I might not. Compassion is the same thing or grace is another thing. But here's the thing about baptism. As a believer in Jesus, either I have taken that step of obedience or I haven't. There is no wiggle room in knowing if I've been obedient. Therefore, I was thinking this week because of that, all of us, every single one of us in this room falls into one of four categories. Now listen, I know when I categorize people, I get in trouble fast, right? 'Cause nobody be- likes to be put into a box. But I can promise you, you're in one of these four categories. Let me give them to you when it comes to baptism.
The number one category of people when we talk about baptism are those of us that I have not given my life to Jesus yet. I haven't surrendered to him for him to radically save me and give me eternal life and I have not been baptized. To which I would say if that is your category, that's okay, right? You've got bigger things to worry about. You've got bigger decisions to make like giving your life to Jesus and then being baptized. That's the first category of people. The second category of people in the room is those of you that have made a decision to follow Jesus. You've given him your heart, trusted him, repented of your sins, turned and he has radically saved you, but for some reason you have not been obedient and stepped into New Testament believers baptism. I don't know why. I don't even wanna guess why, but for some reason you haven't done it.
That is actually some of you in this room. That's the second category. Third category of people in the room are those of you that have given your life to Jesus in the, as an adult, maybe as a teenager, an older kid, but you have never walked into believers baptism because your parents baptized you as a baby. Now, I know the air just left the room, all right? It did. Okay? I get it. I understand it. We're gonna talk about it in a minute, but that's a third category of people in the room. And then the fourth category of the people in the room are the people like myself. I've given my life to Jesus. I followed through. I've stepped into this public proclamation of what Jesus has done in my life and is a display of my hope in Jesus. I have united myself with Jesus in baptism.
That's some of the other people in the room. Now, I almost had people raise your hands when that was you, but I thought that might be going in a little bit far. But here's what I wanna do today. No matter which one of those categories you're in, I wanna speak to every single category from those of you that need to trust Jesus right now, for those of you that are like me, that you have been baptized, but you just have a problem maybe every now and then of how to articulate that to someone else. Listen, baptism is such a big deal. It's actually, we're gona see this in a minute. One of the first things we see Jesus do. But to launch us into this this morning, I just wanna give you what I would call a baseline definition of believers baptism. Here it is.
I put it on the screen for you and it's actually in your notes. Baptism is God's way for you to publicly say that I believe in Jesus. I have been saved by his sacrifice and I now belong to him. That's it. That is all it is. In a nutshell, that is the simplest definition I can come up with of baptism, but it's actually pretty strong and there's some things in it that we actually need to process through. First thing I wanna show you about that definition is that number one, l- baptism is not man's idea. It's not man's idea. Baptism is not something that three guys sitting in an ancient cave somewhere came up with of how to make it really awkward for Christians. It's not. It's God's idea. It's not a denominational thing. Did you know that? That, hey, I get it. We're Burn Hickory Baptist, right?
I get that. But it's not a Baptist thing. It's a New Testament thing. It's a God thing. It is a biblical thing. It's a Jesus thing. And then really and truly, I didn't put this in your notes, but baptism is actually the anchor in your faith story that you can always look back to to say, "That day is the day I came out as a believer in Jesus." You said, "Matt, can I do that in a lot of other ways? Yes, you can. But according to scripture, that baptism is the primary. It is the first step of obedience that all of us should walk through when we give our life to Jesus. In fact, Jesus made such a big deal about this that not only at the beginning of his ministry, we see him being baptized. At the end of his ministry, I want you to hear the command that he gave his disciples in us out of Matthew 28.
Matthew 28:18 says this, " Then Jesus came to the, came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. "This is the end of Jesus' life. This is the parting message, the great commission. If you've been in church, but listen to what he says, verse 19," Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and doing what? "And teaching them to obey everything I commanded you and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. Do you see it? Jesus boils this whole mission down for those of us that love Jesus to make disciples to baptize people and to obey him. It's that big of a deal. It made the final list. Baptism is huge. Now, in this church, we get to see it almost every single week, but many of us still don't fully understand what it is.
In fact, there's some common myths of baptism that I wanna walk you through just a couple of them because these are things that, that hit my office often, that hit our pastor's office as often. I wanna walk you through a couple of myths that kinda downplay baptism sometimes. Number one, the first myth I wanna look at is this idea is that baptism saves us. To which I would say emphatically it is false. It does not save anyone. That water can't save you. Neither can Lake Altoona, even though it has a little algae in it right now, right? There it is. It can. Baptism doesn't save you. No, no, no. Listen to me. Faith in Jesus saves you. Giving your heart to Jesus is what saves you. Having Jesus radically reach into your soul and give you new life is what saves you. Baptism is for people that have already been saved that now wants to say," Thank you, Jesus, for what you have done and look world what I have done for him.
"That's baptism. In fact, Jesus and Paul are crystal clear what saves us just in case you don't know. Listen to this. Romans 10: nine says that if you declare with your mouth, Jesus Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you shall be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it's with your mouth that you confess or profess your faith and are saved. Do you see that church? That's what saves us. Faith in Jesus, baptism is telling others that that has happened. That's the first misconception or myth is that baptism saves you. The second one, second myth is this. It's just that simply number two is that I can just be indifferent to baptism. So, man, what does that mean? That means, you know what, man, I could just kind of get around to it when I want to.
I can just treat it like any other thing that's out there to which Jesus emphatically says no. It's a central command. It's not a do it when I want to thing. In fact, if you read the Book of Acts, should we do that again? No. We just spent a whole year in it, right? When you read the Book of Acts, you see when a person gives their life to Jesus, what do they do? They're saved and they're baptized. There's no length of time. There's no test. There's no season. You're baptized. It's not when I get around to it. It's obedience. Well, some will say to you, Matt, I'm just, I'm just scared to do it. Let me flip that on the table and say this. I would actually be scared not to do it. Not that God is gonna take something away from me, but how in the world can I say and understand what Jesus has done for me and yat not live out a clear command that he says do.
Number one, it doesn't save us. Number two, I can't be indifferent to it. Here's the third myth or misconception about baptism and that is, is that infant baptism is biblical. Now I know the heir just left the room. I get it, all right? I get it. I wanna be sensitive when I say this, but listen to me closely. For those of you whose parents baptize you as babies, you should be thankful. You should be thankful. "Oh, I can feel it. I can feel it. Oh, I just watched the blood vessels of some of you pop in your heads. "But watch this, watch this. You shouldn't be thankful on the idea that they did it in a biblical way, but you should be thankful in the idea that your parents wanted you to know Jesus and love Jesus and love God enough to put you up in a place where they thought that that was right for you.
You really should. Just like when these parents line up here at, at parent and, and child dedication, right? And, and, and those parents are offering their kids up to the Lord. Actually, most of you that were baptized as babies, that was the idea in your parents' mind is, " I want to do everything I can so that they will get some Jesus. "But listen, believers baptism, what we read in the pages of scripture is always after a person comes to know Jesus. Did you know infant baptism didn't even start until the second and third century? It was a way that, that they came up with to hopefully cover the original sin in this kid and to set them free in life. I get it. It seems so noble, but believers baptism is once I've given my life to Jesus, I now take the step. I take the step.
In fact, we actually get to see this in Jesus' life as an adult. Look at this in Matthew chapter three, verse 13. If you're new to Bible study, this is going to blow you away because even Jesus was baptized. Watch this. Matthew 3:13, it says this, " And Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. "That's John the Baptist, but watch this. But John tried to deter him saying," I need to be baptized by you. "You can't blame John, right? He's like, " You're God. Really? Are we gonna do this? And you come to do it for me? Watch what Jesus says. Jesus replied, let it be so now. For it is proper for us to do this. Watch what Jesus says, to fulfill all righteousness. "Then John consented. And as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water and at that moment, heaven was open and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and aligning on him and a voice from heaven came and said," This is my son.
"Now notice this, two things, whom I love and with him I am well please. Now don't fast forward through that because what you're seeing here is this perfect intersection of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit in this moment. And could you imagine being there seeing this thing happen? You're experiencing the Trinity, right? But I want you to notice in the text, quite simply, two things happen. At the moment Jesus is baptized as well as the moment that any of us are baptized. Two things happen. Number one, it always glorifies God always. And number two, it pleases God. Do you realize that? At the moment you step into these waters as a believer in Jesus, you can emphatically say at that moment with a heart full of joy and a heart full of hope and a heart full of eternity in front of you that I am pleasing God and I am glorifying God.
When was the last time you stood in that confidence? It's what happens when we're baptized. Oh, I love this because baptism from this point became a universal moment in believers lives. It was universally accepted by the church for all converts. We don't know of any unbaptized believers in any of the New Testament except the guy on the cross and he was a little tied up. There's a dad joke for you, right? He couldn't do it. Every follower of Jesus in the New Testament church trusted Jesus and follow through with baptism. But why? Have you ever thought about this? Why is it that this is the thing? Why is it that it's the anchor? Remember what I said? Why is it that is the anchor, not a anchor, the anchor in our faith story? What does it portray? Since I gave you three myths about baptism, let me give you three what I would just kind of call declarations of baptism.
Number one, that baptism literally says that I am burying my past. Have you noticed that every single time someone is baptized, it is like myself or one of the other pastors is standing behind them and we literally take them and we lower them horizontally into the water. Why? Number one, that's what Jesus has taught us to do. But number two, it signifies that I am dying to who I used to be. I'm dying to it. It literally means that I'm taking hold so much of the salvation that God has given me that I am l- releasing the former life that I used to have. Baptism says that I have died to the old. In fact, Romans chapter six is one of the clearest passages that Paul writes on baptism for the New Testament church. Let me read you a couple verses out of it. Romans six, verse three and four says this.
Paul says, "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death." Now that seems like a bad idea, but it's not a bad idea because not only were we baptized into his death, we were also baptized into his life. Watch what he says in verse four, "Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death. In order that justice Christ, here it is, was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father. We too may live a new life. Do you realize that baptism, that is exactly what it's showing, that I have gone into the grave, my old self and my new self has come. The symbolism of being put under the water is signifying death, a symbolic burial, a cleansing, a new life. This is why we believe in immersion of baptism.
It is the clearest symbol in the closest picture of what we see Jesus do that I'm burying my past. You know, the second thing that baptism does? Number two, it gives us a way to say that I'm number two. I'm embracing my freedom. I'm embracing my freedom. Now it's not a freedom to go live how I want to, a freedom to go do what I want to do, but it says this. Not only am I looking back at my past and I'm removing it, but I'm now walking into the newness of life that God has given me. So I've been freed from something and I've been freed to something. Romans chapter six, verse five says this, " For if I've been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a what? In a resurrection like his.
"That means this, no matter what comes your way, no matter what hits you, no matter what difficulty or circumstance comes upon you, it means that at the moment Christ saves you, you are now walking in the eternal hope in the resurrection power of King Jesus. And what does baptism show is I'm holding on to that freedom. Verse Romans chapter six, verse eight says that if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Here's the key, right? Baptism is showing us what has happened to us. The cool part about baptism is nobody stays under the water. At least in this church, can't say the others. <laugh>
We come out of the water to display the freedom that God has given us. Colossians 2:12 says," Having been buried with him in baptism, which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God. "Are you seeing this? Are you seeing immersion? Are you seeing this idea that I've died to my past? I've been set free to the new life, the 2nd Corinthians five life, right? That if I'm free in Christ, I'm free and new and the old is gone. The new has come. It shows us what has happened to us and why it's happened to us and why we worship and why we praise and why we witness and why we walk in him. It's that we've died to our old. We've been risen to the freedom of life and that he has redeemed us. Are you seeing it? There's this internalness of, " I am my mind and burying my past.
I am my mind am embracing my freedom. "But here's the third declaration of baptism. Number three, it's a moment for me to say that I am announcing my faith. I'm announcing my faith. I'm telling the world that my faith in Jesus has saved me. It has changed me. It has sent me and it has moved me from who I used to be and I'm his. I love this about baptism. Let me explain it to you. Do you know the reason we do baptism in a public setting? Because baptism is a public display of an internal faith that I have already grabbed hold of. Baptism is meant to be the start of a public ministry. It's what we see in Matthew chapter three when Jesus was baptized before that where the, the miracles weren't there, the conversions weren't there, the sermons weren't there, the healings weren't there.
But at the moment Jesus was baptized, at that moment it launched him into a world changing mission of living his life for the kingdom of God. Listen to me believer, baptism is the start of your calling to change the world. Man, are you trying to say that the moment I'm baptized or at the moment I've given my life to Christ I need to be baptized. Yes. That's what I'm saying. I don't know when it snuck into the church life that I need this big season of time. I need this long season of time. Here's the deal. If you are mature enough to know that God has radically redeemed you, given you life, saved you, and forgive you of your sins, you are mature enough to walk through the waters of baptism. The question is, am I obedient to it? There's nothing else left. In fact, I put in your notes all these passages in the books of acts.
I'm not gonna walk through them again. We just spent a whole year doing it that every single time you see a batch of believers give their heart to Jesus. What do you see next? They stop at a river. They have a big baptism. Somebody gets saved and baptized. There's even one moment that in Philippi, when they're delivered from prison that the jailer and his whole family gets baptized in the middle of the night.
It's an outward display of a personal decision. And Jesus just said it so clearly in Matthew chapter 10, verse 32," Whoever acknowledged me before others, I will also acknowledge them before my Father in heaven. "Amen. Baptism is the first step of acknowledging Jesus. It's the purest step of saying," God, I am yours. "So here's the question. Have you followed through in believers baptism? Have you? The requirements are simple. Do you know Jesus? If you have, your next step is to be baptized. Let me give you a five-word summary of baptism, and then we're gonna have an invitation. Number one, baptism is a beginning. It's a beginning of my public Christian faith. Number two, baptism is worship. Do you realize that? That baptism is saying that God, you are worthy enough for me to take this stan. Baptism, number three, is obedience. It's obedience. Jesus said it and we don't have to feel it.
We just need to do it. Baptism is identifying. It's identifying that I am yours God and I no longer belong to the world. And baptism is a symbol. It's a symbol of what God has already done in my heart that I'm now looking at the world and saying," I'm a child of his. "So here's the invitation. Here's the invitation, because I know some of you are looking at your cc like, " What is happening? "Here's the invitation, all right. Number one, there are some of you today that you have never even thought about baptism because you have never given your heart to Jesus. Here's the cool part about today. God can save you radically right now. If you give your heart to Jesus, ask him to forgive you of your sins, confess that he is Lord. He can radically redeem you. He can take you from the life that you have been struggling with and place you into his family.
Is that you? Some of you, you've been dealing with this for a long time. I've been watching you. It's today the day you need to give your heart to Jesus. Listen, in just a moment, I'm gonna pray. If that's you today, here's what I'm gona ask of you today. I'm gonna ask you to be bold. I'm gonna ask you to take a stand and if today you wanna give your heart to Jesus and invite him to become your king, savior, and Lord, I'm gonna ask you in just a second when we stand up to just walk straight over here to the next steps banner or to the door that has the baptism sign on it. And whoever is standing there, I just want you to look at him and say," Hey, I need Jesus today. "And here's the cool part about it. They're gonna walk you through what it looks like to invite Jesus to become your savior and Lord.
They're gonna invite you to do that. Here's the, also the cool part about it before you leave here today, not only can you get saved, but you can get baptized on the spot. I'm talking act style. Today can be your day. Do you need Jesus to radically save you? Number two though, there's a large portion of you guys today that you need to be obedient and believers baptism. Oh, I can feel it. The temperature in the room has just skyrocketed because some of you today have never taken this step. Let me ask you something. Do you need to be baptized like today? Today, you're saying, wait, Matt, to- today? Yes. Today. Here, here's what I'm gonna tell you. We're ready for you. We're ready for you. Here's the cool part. This is the last service. Nobody cares what you look like after this.
We've made every preparation for you to do this today. We got all the clothes. We got all the stuff. We got all the hair dryers. We got all the towels. We're streaming the service on your way out the door. You can shoot a QR code to your family that they'll have out there for you and to say, Hey, grammars, I'm about to be baptized. And she's gonna say, hallelujah, and pick herself up off the floor, because she's been praying for this moment for years and years and years. Listen, we have literally bought out Walmart and we are ready. We're ready for all of you today. It's a big deal. I can feel it though, but man, I was baptized as a baby. Great. Confirm what your parents hoped for you and show the world now that you've given your life to Jesus what it looks like to stand for him publicly.
But man, I, I rode with people. Listen, if you brought somebody to church today, would you just look at them right now and say, "Hey, we'll wait on you. We'll wait on you. Just say it out loud. Hey, we'll wait on you.
" In fact, why don't you look at somebody beside you if you know that they've never been baptized and go, "Hey, listen, if you want to go, I'll go with you. " I believe so much in this that I don't want you to leave here today. But man, I'm not ready to swap the nominations. We're not baptizing you in the name of the Bern Hickory, right? It's the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and you're gonna glorify God and He is going to be pleased. Is that you? Listen, we got a bunch of people that we're about to baptize. We got plenty of time for you to come, check in. Got people that are already heading to this door over here, ready to walk you through the process. Do you need to give your life to Jesus? Come tell us.
Do you need to be baptized today? Come on. Let's do it. Let's pray, Lord Jesus, thank you today for hope. Thank you today that you have given us this symbol to proclaim to the world what you have done in our hearts. Oh God, move in people's lives. Give them courage and let them glorify you. It's in your holy, holy, holy name that we pray. Amen. Now listen, before we stand up, listen, this is a bunch of y'all need to make this decision and go public with what Christ has done in you. As soon as we stand up, I want you to meet me at this door over there. I just want you to look at me and say, "Today is my day." Do me a favor. Let's stand together. Let's give those a hand right here that are giving their lives over to Jesus that want to be baptized and let's go right now.