The Beautiful Ordinance of Water Baptism

Let me invite you, this morning to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 28. Matthew 28, we're gonna be baptizing some individuals at the. On the back end of our service this morning, we'll be hearing their testimonies. And given that, I want to speak to you on the topic of the beautiful ordinance of water baptism.

The beautiful ordinance of water baptism, and I have not done this in a while, and this does not mean I'm going to be doing this in the future, but given the fact that this is a topical message where we're going to be looking at quite an array of biblical text, I will be using a PowerPoint, this morning. but just to get us started, my wife and I, we met at, Burge Terrace Baptist Church in the youth group there in Indianapolis, Indiana. over 40 years ago, this was a church that she grew up in.

And one that my family began attending about 45 years ago and over the course of her growing up in that church, from her youngest days and over the length of time that I was a part of this local church, the people of this church prayed for the salvation.

Of a man named William Massey, whose wife and children knew the Lord and attended this church that was our home church. Despite all of their prayers over a long period of time, William Massey continued in his unbelief. Over a handful of decades, many people in our church witnessed to him, shared the gospel with him over the years, and all of that seemingly was to no avail. But the people of this church kept on praying for his conversion day by day and week by week and year by year for 54 years.

All the way into the spring of last year. On April 25th of last year, my brother-in-law, Pastor Todd Curtis. Who pastors our home church. He's preached in this pulpit a couple of times.

He got a phone call from William Massey's wife informing him that William wanted to talk to him. And so Pastor Todd went over to William's house and found that. He was ready to believe in Jesus Christ and to call upon the name of the Lord. And that's what he did at the ripe old age of 85.

As soon as William Massey called upon the name of the Lord and believed in Christ, he wanted to be baptized in the waters of baptism, and he would not be deterred. he was suffering from the ravages of COPD. And was dependent on a respiratory device to to breathe. He was in a physically weakened condition, the likes of which most of us have never experienced, yet he wanted to go in front of the church and be baptized.

So 6 days later. In a Sunday evening service, he was baptized and made a public profession of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 12 days later, he passed away. Peacefully.

In his home and his memorial service was an event of tremendous joy and celebration over God's goodness and saving his soul. There's a lot of wonderful takeaways from William Massey's story. One of them is regarding the Hound of Heavens. unrelenting pursuit of a soul over 85 years until that soul.

Surrenders to his love and is saved. Another takeaway is for all of us to never stop praying for God to save those loved ones that we are burdened for. But another takeaway is regarding, I think, the ordinance of water baptism. And I can present that to you in the form of a question.

This morning, which is what would possess. A dying man. In a physically weakened condition to insist on being baptized in water. After his conversion.

It's what William Massey wanted and it was a surprise to my brother-in-law when he insisted on it and my brother-in-law said something to him to the effect of, what, if we have to carry you up to the baptistry, we will do that to honor your wishes. What would possess. A dying man In a physically weakened condition to insist on being baptized. That's the question I want us to answer today.

And as I mentioned earlier, the reason I want us to answer this question today is because we will be baptizing 3 young people. At the conclusion of our service this morning, so this is one of those occasions when, as we do from time to time, it's good for us to just put this ordinance of water baptism before us as a congregation. And so with the time that we have this morning, I, I want us to observe 6 truths regarding water baptism in the New Testament. So this will be a survey.

of what we see exemplified and taught on the topic of water baptism in the New Testament, and the first truth that is evident in the New Testament regarding water baptism is that water baptism is a commanded ordinance. It's a commanded ordinance. And there's actually two sides to this truth. On the one side, we see in the New Testament that the church is commanded to baptize disciples of Jesus Christ.

And the great commission. In Matthew 28, Jesus speaks to his disciples who represent all believers in the church. And he says, beginning in verse 18 of Matthew 28, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So Jesus commands his disciples to make disciples and tied to that command, he instructs them to baptize and notice how his command is tied to his authority. All authority has been given unto me, he says, and then go therefore and make disciples baptizing them. This language that Jesus uses here shows us that baptism is not just some idea that we came up with, nor is it some idea that has been delivered to us from a peer.

But it's a directive coming from the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. It's a directive coming from the king. And so as Donald Whitney beautifully says, and I quote, even if there were no other reasons. We should be baptized because the king of the universe has commanded it, unquote.

And any church that wants to obey this command from Jesus will be a church that baptizes those who are believing in Jesus and becoming disciples of him. But there's another side of the coin of this first truth. for in the New Testament, we don't just see the church being commanded to baptize new converts, we actually Have a number of examples of people being commanded to get baptized. In Acts chapter 2 in verse 38, Peter speaks to His audience and says repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

In Acts 10, Peter observes how Cornelius and his household have believed in Jesus. So in verse 48, we're told that he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. It's not a suggestion, it's an order. In Acts 22:16, Ananias is talking to Saul of Tarsus and says, now why do you delay?

Get up and be baptized. So all in all, we see in the New Testament that the ordinance of water baptism is commanded in two directions. Number one, the church is commanded to baptize disciples of Jesus, and people believing in Jesus are commanded to be. Baptized.

So that's clear enough, but what is water baptism? Is it maybe sprinkling a little bit of water on somebody's head, or is it dunking somebody completely under the water? What is it? Well, this leads us to a second truth regarding water baptism in the New Testament.

And that is #2, water baptism is done by immersion in water. Water baptism is done by immersion in water. If you like to know Greek words that are used in the Bible, then get your pen out and just be prepared to write down this Greek word. the Greek word that is translated baptize.

In the New Testament is baptism. Baptism. So basically if you can just say the word baptize, you're speaking a Greek word. This word means to plunge or to immerse or to dip.

And beyond the basic meaning of this term, we observe the language in the New Testament surrounding baptisms, that clearly bespeak immersion in water. for example, in Mark chapter 1, we're told about the ministry of John the Baptist and we're told in verse 5 that people were being baptized by him in the Jordan. River. Even more revealing is the language used regarding John's baptizing of Jesus in Mark 1.

We're told in verse 9 that Jesus literally was baptized into the Jordan by John. And then in verse 10, we're told that Immediately coming up out of the water, he, Jesus saw the heavens opening and the spirit like a dove descending upon him. The language here makes it clear that Jesus went into the water in order to be baptized. In Acts chapter 8, verse 36, there's an Ethiopian man who wants to be baptized and He says to Philip, look, water, what prevents me from being baptized?

And then in verse 38, we're told that they both went down into the water, Philip, as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. So the language here seems to make it clear that baptism involved going into the water. With somebody else in order to baptize them. And the language that we see here is beautifully consistent with the language of immersion.

Now I should hasten to say that the particular mode of baptism or method of baptism is not the most important of doctrinal issues, but I would also say it's not unimportant either. Especially because baptism by immersion beautifully presents what the Bible tells us that baptism is supposed to depict. In Romans chapter 6 and verse. for the apostle Paul speaks to us who are Christians, and he tells us that we have been buried with him, buried with Christ, through baptism into death, and then he speaks of us as being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life.

So the image of lowering someone down into the water. And then lifting them up from the water. From that burial, as it were, seems to best fit the reality that Romans 6 teaches us that baptism is intended to portray. So thus far, we have learned that baptism is commanded.

We've also seen that it involves immersion in water. But what about the timing? Of baptism in relation to a person's conversion. This leads us to a third truth about water baptism in the New Testament.

Number 3, water baptism happened shortly after one believed in Christ. Water baptism happened shortly after one believed in Christ. So at this point, we're just making up, this is an observational truth. Reading the New Testament, this is what we observe to be the case.

For it is the consistent pattern that we see throughout the New Testament. Hearing the gospel and believing in Christ came first, followed by baptism, and baptism inevitably always seemed to follow shortly after a person believed. In Christ In Acts chapter 2 verse 41, thousands of people hear Peter's presentation of the truth about Christ and then they heard his call to repent and call upon the name of the Lord and then notice what they did right away. The text says, so then those who had received his word.

were baptized. Their receiving of the gospel of Jesus Christ and their baptism happened on the same day, and their baptism happened shortly after they received the word of the gospel that Peter had preached. In Acts chapter 8. We see Philip preaching the gospel to people in Samaria, and in verse 12, we read the following.

But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women. Alike So belief came first and then baptism. In Acts chapter 8, we also see Philip. Explaining Isaiah 53 to an Ethiopian eunuch, just expounding the scriptures to, to him and listen to Luke as he tells us what happened.

In verse 35, the text says, and Philip opened his mouth and begin, beginning from this scripture, he preached Jesus to him. And as they went along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, Look, water, what prevents me from being baptized? And then in some Greek manuscripts, the text says in verse 37, then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

And then all Greek manuscripts have what is said in verse 36, which reads as follows. And he, Philip, ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. So obviously this Ethiopian man was baptized right away after believing in Christ and professing his belief in Christ in response to Philip preaching Jesus to him. In Acts chapter 16.

Lydia here's the gospel being preached by the apostle Paul and observe what the text says in verses 14 and 15. It says, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. So in the sequence of events here, we see that Lydia's heart.

is open to respond to the gospel that Paul was preaching, and she gets baptized that very day, and then she offers to have Paul and his colleagues stay. At her house. In Acts 16. The Philippian jailer comes to Paul and Silas in prison.

After the great earthquake, and sees that Paul and Silas are still there, and he says in verse 30, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. That's all he needed to do was believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 32, and they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

So they're not just proclaiming the gospel to him, but to the jailer's whole household. Verse 33, and he, the jailer, took them. He took Paul and Silas that very hour of the night and washed their wounds and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. So, the jailer and the members of his household hear and respond to the word of the Lord spoken to them by Paul and Silas.

The jailer then takes some time to wash Paul and Silas's wounds, and then he and his family are baptized. The time between their faith in Christ. And the moment of their baptism was the length of time it took. For the jailer to wash Paul and Silas's wounds.

This is pretty much the pattern that we see in the New Testament. A person believes in Christ in response to the gospel being declared, and then they're baptized, typically the very day of their faith in Christ. So I think one clear takeaway for all of us. From this is the fact that if you have believed in Jesus, if he is your Lord and Savior, and you have not been baptized in the waters of baptism, you should want to be baptized.

As expeditiously. As possible Perhaps you believed in Christ a long time ago and you have never been baptized since doing so. Maybe you didn't know any different. Maybe you didn't know at that moment of belief in Christ that You were supposed to be baptized, or maybe you did know and you just didn't act on it.

And now maybe it seems embarrassing. The thought of you getting baptized after so much time has gone by. But I want to encourage you, if that is you, I want to encourage you with this thought. If I could talk to you one on one, my question to you would not at all be, why have you waited so long?

I don't know that I would ask you that. My question would be, how quickly will you respond to what you're hearing right now? How swift will you be? If you have believed in Jesus, and you believe that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, and if you're hearing today that he, the Lord of heaven and earth, commands you to be baptized, and if you see swift obedience to this command practiced in the Bible, in our New Testament as we have just seen, then you actually have opportunity right now to be swift.

In your response. To Jesus Will you obey Jesus and be baptized? In response to what you're hearing from God's word in this message. Today.

The one thing we know for sure from the Bible is that it's never too late. To Be baptized if you are a believer in Jesus. So the one thing you never want to do is to refuse to be baptized because. You are Ashamed about having waited so long.

That would be pride, right? And pride is not becoming of a true believer. Anyways, we're looking at the text of the New Testament, the consistent pattern that we see is of baptism happening pretty soon after a person believes in Christ. And speaking of that pattern, there's something else we see a few times in the New Testament that I would be remiss if I did not point out, and I want to warn you in advance that this next truth will.

Probably seem weird, to you. it might fall oddly on your ears to hear it. this truth may even be problematic, for some of you, but it's actually, in my mind, a beautiful truth that helps to clear up what some people often consider to be problem passages when it comes to the topic of baptism. And here's the 4th, truth.

Let's put it this way, water, baptism, and salvation. We sometimes virtually. Simultaneous water baptism and salvation were sometimes virtually simultaneous, and I think you have in your notes some additional words and the the waters of baptism were not the necessary location. For salvation.

And the waters of baptism were not the necessary location for baptism. Now I want you to hang with me on this point cause I, I just offer it to you right now in a spirit of observation of the text of the New Testament. We've already seen people in the New Testament being baptized on the same day that they believed in Jesus, right? But there are also examples of baptism.

And calling upon the name of the Lord, being in even closer proximity to the point of being almost simultaneous. One example of this is in Acts 2:38, which is a hugely significant passage on the topic of baptism. In fact, every once in a while you'll see a car, I see this from time to time, you'll see a car on the road with a bumper sticker that says obey Acts 2:38. You ever seen that?

And if you ever see that bumper sticker on a car, it means that the owner of that vehicle. Believes that you must be baptized in water in order to be saved. And that you're not saved until you are baptized. Definitely, we don't believe that and we don't agree with that.

At the same time, I've seen people in our own theological circles do a lot of gymnastics to make Acts 2:38 fit with their theology, and some of those gymnastics are pretty tortured and have left me feeling uncomfortable also. So let's take a look at this text and try to just allow it to speak for itself the best we can. Keep in mind that like if you were to read the story in Acts 2, that Peter has just preached to his audience, the truth about Jesus Christ, who was crucified and then risen again.

And keep in mind that he has told his audience.

In Acts 2:21, these words, it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And the Greek word translated calls upon. Is Epi Kaleo Epi Kaleo. Kaleo means to call.

And that preposition epi means upon. So epikleo means to call upon. Peter is making it clear in Acts 2:21 that calling upon the name of the Lord is what brings salvation to a person, right? Yet after hearing Peter preach the truth about Jesus Christ, the people in the audience are pierced in their hearts, and they say in verse 37, what shall we do?

They wanna know what they now need to do in light of the fact that this Jesus, whom they have crucified. Has now been shown to be the actual Messiah. So they're saying, what shall we do? But Peter has already given them the answer to that question.

He's told them that anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. But look at Peter's answer to their question in Acts 2:38, and I'll give you a literal translation that reflects, I think the root meanings of the words in the text. He says repent. And let each of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ into the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

From the look of this, it sure sounds like Peter is commanding his audience to be baptized in order to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And in a way, he is doing exactly that, but don't panic. Look closely at what he is saying here. Notice the preposition.

Upon Which translates the word that we saw earlier, which is epi. This is actually the only time in the New Testament where this preposition epi is used in any baptismal formula. Usually other pre prepositions are used to speak of being baptized in the name of Jesus or in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But here Peter uses the word epi upon.

And I think the reason he does so is because he's already quoted from the prophet Joel. Back in verse 21. Telling his audience that it shall be that everyone who calls Epi upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And so given This fact.

I think we can capture the spirit of what Peter is saying to his audience in this way. He's saying to them, repent and let each of you be baptized while calling upon the name of Jesus Christ into the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now understanding the text in this way, we realize that Peter is delivering a altar call here. Only rather than calling people to walk down an aisle and kneel in the front, he's calling upon them to step into the waters of baptism, and then while standing in the waters of baptism, to call upon the name of Jesus Christ and be saved.

Well, if you read on, you find out that in the verses that follow. There are 3000 people that take Peter up on his invitation. They step forward and they take their place in a pool of water of some sort, and while standing in those waters, they called upon the name of the Lord, and then immediately thereafter they were baptized. And the net result of all this is that their experience of calling upon the name of the Lord and being baptized were almost.

Simultaneous events. They all got lumped together in the same experience. And if you feel weird about this. There's no denying that this is exactly what happened with Saul of Tarsus in Acts 22, as Paul, Saul later became Paul and as he's telling his testimony.

In Acts 22, Jesus had confronted Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and it struck him blind, so blind he had to be led by the hand into the city of Damascus, where he stayed for 3 days at the house of a man named Judas. Jesus then sends to Saul a man named Ananias who upon arrival prays for Saul to regain his sight, and then as soon as Ananias restores Saul's sight by the power of God, he speaks to Saul in Acts 22:16, and listen to what he says. He says, now why do you delay?

Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling upon.

His name Epi Kaleo calling upon his name. Do you see what Ananias is saying here? He is literally telling Saul. To be baptized and to get his sins washed away while calling upon Jesus' name.

And Saul would have given heed to that call. He would have stepped into some body of water together with Ananias, and while standing in that water, he would have called upon the name of Jesus for salvation and had his sins washed away, and then immediately he would have been baptized in the water. His baptism in water would have happened just seconds after he cried out to Jesus and called on his name for salvation. And the result would have been that the moment of Saul's salvation and the moment of his water baptism were almost simultaneous.

Events We see the same vibe in 1 Peter chapter 3 where Peter says something that would actually make a lot of us in this room uncomfortable. In 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 20. Peter speaks about Noah's ark, an ark in which he says a few, that is 8 persons were. Brought safely through the water or literally were saved.

Through the water. And what he's saying is that the very water that drowned everyone else on the planet. Had buoyant properties that lifted up. Noah's Ark Which means that Noah and his family were saved from the water.

Through the instrumentality of the water. And then coming into 1 Peter 3:21, Peter says, corresponding to that baptism. Now saves you. What does Peter mean by this statement?

Is he saying that the waters of baptism save a person? Well, let's let Peter answer this question. He continues and says, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but. An appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What he's saying is this, it's not the baptismal waters against your skin that save you. It's what you did in the water that brought you salvation. And what did his readers do in the waters of baptism? According to First Peter 3:21, they made an appeal to God for a good conscience.

In other words, they cried out to God, asking him to save them and to make their conscience clean through the atoning blood. Of the crucified and risen Lord. In other words, it seems that many of Peter's readers trace their conversion experience back to the moment when they stood in the waters of baptism, and from that location they cried out to the Lord to save them. Just as Saul of Tarsus had done.

is said to have done in Acts 22. So the important thing to believe is obviously it's God that saves through Christ. And it's us calling upon the Lord in faith that serves as the catalyst for salvation coming to us. And frankly, it doesn't matter where someone is standing when they call upon the name of the Lord.

They can be standing on a sidewalk. They can be standing or sitting in their home. They could be standing. Somewhere at Anaheim Stadium at a crusade, appealing to God for salvation, or someone can be standing in water.

And calling on the name of the Lord. And God will save them, right? And it actually seems that this thing, calling on the Lord while standing in water often happened in the first century. But not universally.

Because there's yet another truth that we observe to be true about water baptism. In the New Testament, and that is, let's word it this way. I actually gave you part of this point tied to number 4, but let's say it this way, water baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation, and the waters of baptism are not the most necessary location for salvation either. Water baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation.

And the waters of baptism are not the necessary location for salvation either. We see this truth illustrated in a handful of places, one of which is in Luke 18:3. Where Jesus speaks of a tax collector who came into the temple and he prayed and he describes the tax collector as a man who was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And that's all the man did.

He confessed his sinfulness. He acknowledged his worthiness of God's wrath, and he said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And in verse 14, Jesus says, I tell you this man went down to his house. Justified.

In other words, righteous. Saved That's it. The man went home righteous before God. He went home a saved man.

And he had not even been baptized. I think we can safely imagine that this man would have pursued getting baptized at some point. Thereafter, but Jesus says, He was justified immediately after calling upon God for mercy. We see the same thing with the thief on the cross.

In Luke 23, he looks at Jesus and says in verse 42, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom, and Jesus says in verse 43, today you will be with me in paradise. The thief never had a chance to get baptized, yet Jesus is assuring him that his soul is saved. And I don't share these examples to minimize the importance of baptism at all, but only to make the point that the waters of baptism are not the necessary location. of salvation as we See it exemplified in the New Testament.

Consider also the story of Cornelius in Acts 10. Peter goes to Cornelius's house and finds Cornelius and all of his household and friends gathered together to hear the gospel from Peter. And as you read the account, In Acts 10, you see that Peter begins telling them about Jesus. He tells them how Jesus was put to death by hanging on a cross.

He tells them how God raised him up on the 3rd day. He tells them how Jesus then ordered the apostles to preach to the people and solemnly testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and of the dead, and he tells them, In verse 43 of Jesus, all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins. The very moment. Peter speaks those final words I just read.

About believing in Jesus, observe what happens beginning in verse 44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message, and all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. So think about what's happening here. No one's been baptized.

No one's even standing in a baptistery. Yet they are clearly saved. And showing signs of having received the gift of the Holy Spirit after hearing the truth about Jesus. Observe how Peter responds.

Does he say, man, these people aren't saved yet? So we need to get them baptized so that they can be saved. No, look at the very end of verse 46 and following, then Peter answered, surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized to have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus.

It was unthinkable in Peter's mind to refuse the water of baptism to these people who had so clearly given evidence of having already been saved. In the next chapter, Peter will be standing before the Jerusalem elders, and he's gonna defend his baptizing of Cornelius and his household by saying in Acts 11:17, if God therefore gave to them the same gift as he gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus, who was I that I could stand in his way? So the sequence of events here is this, Cornelius and his household, they hear the preaching of the gospel through Peter.

Secondly, they believe in the Lord Jesus.

Thirdly, they receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And then fourthly, Peter felt compelled to baptize them in water, because the evidence of their salvation was so overwhelming. The fact that Cornelius and his household were clearly saved before being baptized shows us that. Water baptism is not a requirement for salvation to come to a person's soul.

Nor are the waters of baptism the necessary location for salvation. Born again believers will get baptized in water, but whether they get baptized 5 seconds after believing, or a few hours after believing, or even days after believing, or even longer, being baptized in water is not what saves them. And having Observe that we're left with a final question to answer this morning. If baptism is not required for salvation, nor necessarily the moment of salvation, then what purpose does it serve?

And this leads us to the 6th and final truth about water baptism in the New Testament. And that is number 6, water baptism is an experiential confession of gospel truth. Water baptism is an experiential confession of gospel truth. For those who have believed in Jesus and called upon his name for salvation, water baptism is a public statement before God and man, a testimony that a person offers regarding their salvation through Jesus, which has already occurred.

First of all, through baptism, a person is saying, I am a disciple of Christ, who has believed in the gospel of Christ for my salvation. And by the way, the person baptizing them is making that statement about the person that they have agreed to baptize. We see this is true in Acts 8:12 and elsewhere, where at least in Acts 8 verse 12, we're told that those who believed were being baptized, men and women alike. So they believe the gospel and then they were being baptized as a testimony.

To their belief in Christ. This is actually part of the reason why baptism is done in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as Jesus says in the great commission. A person being baptized is announcing to the world that they were helpless to save themselves, and so they looked outside of themselves for salvation. They looked to God for the salvation that only he could provide, which is why they're not being baptized in their own name.

But in the name of the triune God. And the members of the Godhead who were all involved in bringing about their salvation. So a person being baptized is saying, I have believed in Christ. They may say those words out loud at their baptism or as they share their testimony, but just by virtue of being baptized, they're making that statement.

Secondly, through water baptism, a person is saying to the world, I have been buried and risen with Christ to walk in newness of life. Just the mere symbolism of baptism, they're making that statement. We know this is true because of what Paul says in Romans 6. Paul says, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death, therefore, We have been buried with him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised up from the dead through the glory of the Father so we too might walk in newness of life.

When a person is baptized, the person Baptizing them, lowers them down into the water to represent their death and burial with Christ to their old way of life. And then after holding them under the water. for hopefully a brief spell, the person baptizing lifts them up out of the water to represent the fact that that person has already been raised to walk in newness of life in Christ. So that's a 2nd statement a person being baptized is making.

Thirdly, A third statement a person is making by being baptized is Is this, they're saying, I now live to obey Jesus, who owns me. In fact, the act of baptism in and of itself is an act of obedience. It's the reason we do it because it's commanded by Jesus. So through being baptized, the person being baptized is saying, Jesus is my Lord.

He tells me what to do. My life is swallowed up in his name, and I obey him. And he tells me to do this, and this is what I am doing in obedience to my Lord. There's a 4th statement being made by a person being baptized.

Let's word it this way, they are saying, I'm casting my lot. With the Church of Jesus Christ and her people. I am casting my lot with the Church of Jesus Christ and her people. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, for by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body.

And that body is what it's the Church of Jesus Christ. This is actually part of the reason why we don't see any self baptisms. In the New Testament. It's always a member of Christ's Church who baptizes a new convert.

Because baptism is designed by God to be a communal act in which the church recognizes a person as a true believer in Jesus and one of their own, and the person being baptized is willing to wait for that recognition. And then be baptized by a member of Christ Church, representing the fact that through their faith in Christ, they have at the moment of their conversion been spiritually baptized into the body of Christ. This communal element of baptism, by the way, is part of the reason why it's wise for A child growing up in a Christian home.

To talk with their parents and to let their Christian parents guide them.

Regarding the appropriate timing of their baptism. As the fruit of that child's faith, if they've made a profession of faith, is becoming manifested in a way that their parents can confirm and establish. And by the way, if any of you parents are wrestling with this issue of at what age should I have my child baptized after they make a profession of faith, just come talk to us afterwards, shoot us an email, and we can get, send you some resources that at least gives you some things to think through, as you're weighing that issue in connection with your children.

But the upshot of my point here is that through the waters of baptism, a new convert is portraying the spiritual baptism that he has already undergone.

And how the spiritual baptism is joined him eternally to the people of God in the church of Jesus Christ. So these are the four statements that the person being baptized is making. These are the statements that those who are being baptized today are making. And if you're here this morning and you are not able to make these declarations, I call upon you today to believe in Christ.

Recognize that he is the Son of God who has come from heaven to earth to live a perfectly righteous life and to die on the cross. So that believers in Him can have the forgiveness of sins and atonement for all of their sins and be made righteous in Him. Look to Jesus, believe in him, repent of your sins and call upon his name to be your Lord and Savior. Be joined with him in his death and in his resurrection so that you might then in Christ be able to walk in newness of life.

And let the spirit. Through faith in Christ baptize you into. The body of Christ, which is the church of the living God. And then once you've allowed God to save you in this way, give heed.

To the command of the Lord Jesus to be baptized. If you are here this morning and you are a believer in Jesus and you have not been baptized, I counsel you on the authority of Jesus. To be baptized. Here at Cornerstone, we, some of our baptisms happen, in our care groups.

Recently, I had the privilege of baptizing a young adult in our church in a pool. with their care group gathered in a pool that their unsafe neighbors were kind enough. To allow Us to use and those neighbors were very hospitable to all of us and they were very attentive. And heard this sister's testimony of faith in Christ and witnessed her baptism.

In fact, after it was explained what baptism means. this neighbor said, oh, that's what it means. So they were listening and they were just had a beautiful spirit of openness and helpfulness to all of us who were using their swimming pool. Sometimes baptisms happen, here at Cornerstone and other settings.

I remember a couple of years ago, I think we baptized a handful of people at someone's home where about 30 or 40 people were gathered. And other times baptisms happen here on Sunday mornings in our services. The choice is really up to those who are requesting to be baptized. I find all of such settings to be wonderful and richly meaningful.

As a part of our service this morning, we're gonna be baptizing 3 people in the courtyard, behind me. A young woman named Emily Ley, and then two young men, one of whom is Jessie Asseturian, and the other is Reese Asseturian. And before we. pray, I'd like to have them come up and share their salvation testimonies with us, and we'll start with Emily.

You wanna come up? And, and then after that, Reese and Jesse can share and we'll let them fight over what order they prefer to share in. But let's welcome our sister. Oh, My bad.

There you go. OK. hello, my name is Emily Ley, and I was born in Toronto, Albania. For those of you who don't know, that is in Southern Europe, east of Italy.

My parents have been missionaries for 26 years and we have been recently traveling back and forth from Albania and America. A long time ago, probably when I was about 5 or 6 years old, my mom, my sister and I were sitting in our old living room reading from the Bible. Although I don't remember what we were reading from, I remember specifically that those verses intrigued me. Through my very young and simple mind, I just barely grasped the idea of Jesus's death and my needing to be saved to go to heaven.

I don't know how I didn't know how to be saved, despite all my parents' efforts to stick it in my little pea brain. But I went to bed that night with those questions on my mind. Half a decade later I let Jesus into my life. At that time I had been lying on my parents' bed and I wasn't able to sleep.

But I looked to God and said, I don't want to go to hell or something like that. I asked Christ into my heart and believed. I believed that Christ was nailed to that cross, not because of His sin, but because of my sin. Three days later, He rose again and turned death itself backwards, as CS Lewis puts it.

He was merciful not to send us all immediately to hell, and he was graceful to send us a means to God, which was through Jesus. I traded my sin smothered slate for not only a new one, but also for the entrance into eternal life. Now that I had accepted Christ, I had to not just live my life normally and treat His gift like trash, but start that day by obeying, serving, and honoring Him in all I do. In other words, I had to own my faith.

As I started to grow, I only then realized the number of my sins. Many times I would disobey His commandments, but Christ would come back for me, pick me up firmly yet gently, and would place me back on track. Even to this day I can't comprehend the amount of love and grace that God has on me, a wretched sinner, for by grace I have been saved through faith, as one of my favorite verses, Ephesians 288, says. I am certainly not perfect, but I am learning daily how to trust in my Savior no matter the circumstances and to obey the authorities he has set before me.

I can't wait for what God has planned to use me for, but I will be ready to trust in Him and obey Him without question. Thank you. Running. So, where to start?

I think the biggest thing in my life was that God used horrible situations to draw me closer to Him. I guess I should start with my adoption story. I was put into the foster care at the age of 3 where I flew through family after family. I proceeded to use the way that the foster system worked to get basically whatever I wanted.

There weren't any rules, so I, being a greedy and selfish young child, to do whatever I wanted and behave poorly because I knew there wouldn't be any consequences for my ungodly and self-centered actions. Because of my behavioral actions, I was placed into special education. 2nd, 2 families became 44 became 6, and then 6 soon became 8. I stayed in my 8th placement for roughly 2 years.

I first met my soon-to be parents at a welcome home program through the adoption agency. It's basically where they match up potential adoptees with potential parents, or I guess you could call it kid shopping. After staying at their home for a week, they got a small taste of who I was and considering that I was a high-risk adoptee because of my behavioral issues, the Asetarians decided if not us, then who? So they proceeded with certification, and that is where my true story begins.

To make a very long story short, God knew what family that I needed to be placed in. For those of you who know my mom and dad, they don't take nothing from no one. I hated my life with all my heart when thinking about my situation. When looking back on it now, I see that God used everything in my life to draw me closer to Him and place me in the Christian family.

With a firm disciplining hand, I learned probably for the first time in 6 years that there are consequences for my actions. My parents taught me how to behave. I started going to church regularly and was placed in a godly environment. I learned about the gospel and how I am a sinful person in desperate need of a savior.

This is when the Lord started tugging at my heart. The transformation that occurred over the years was truly amazing. Although the journey wasn't easy, I know that God revealed my sin only to my parents because God punishes those who he loves in order to draw Him, in order to draw them closer to Him. I was constantly sinning, lying, being disrespectful to my parents, saying profane things, harboring hate in my heart for those who cared about me most, in a long, long, long list of things that were sinful and dishonoring to God.

I was placed in stoic speech and debate where it remains to be, still to this day the biggest blessing that I could have with my walk in the Lord. God kept on tugging on my heart. Everything around me was calling me towards repentance and a life given to God, but a love of my sin and a rock-hard heart said no. I shook my fists at God and denied His opening arms.

Though I knew that I was in desperate need of a savior who died on the cross and rose from the dead, I turned away from Him and His love toward me. Although Jesus was calling, I still was denying His grace. My parents above all, who sought to surround my life with godliness and prosperity, whose heart pleaded for me, for my salvation, my uncle who's always willing to speak God's truth to me and care for me in a way that showed deep love and a plea for my salvation, many people in the church, body and still community who guided me in my walk.

All these people, I can say with certainty, are the reason for my salvation and place as a child of God.

After a speech and meeting on a Monday night, God used the truth that night to finally open my heart up to God. I went to my room and prayed to God and asked Him to forgive me and surrender my life to God. The Holy Spirit has been opening my eyes and convicting me of my sin since then. Now, all I want to do is glorify God in all I do.

And if you haven't given your life to the Lord, if you're broken and bleeding within, I'm here to tell you that Jesus is calling. It doesn't matter what you've done or how much of a sinner you are, Jesus is willing to call you child of God. Thank you. Look at him.

Grew up so fast, dang. Good what 7 years, bud. It's been a long road. Anyway, hello.

As most of, my name is Jess Yassarian. And let's get this started. Well, I've been attending church for as long as I can remember, because I quite literally have been coming to Cornerstone ever since I was born. Growing up in the church, I was taught all the basics of the Bible and the gospel with sound biblical teaching and doctrine.

And at the age of 10, after getting in trouble and receiving my punishment, I told my mother, what, Mom, I just can't do it. My mother agreed, I couldn't. I needed Jesus because he had already done on the cross for me. And I seemingly confessed my sins to the Lord and asked him to save me.

Now, I wish that I could just say thank you and end off there and say that I lived a perfectly holy and content life up until now. But my greatest battle was still ahead of me, being a teenager. Throughout my high school years, it seemed as if I had completely abandoned my faith. Even though on the outside I could answer all the Bible questions in great detail and give apologetic speeches at speech and debate, on the inside, I was rotten to the core and rejecting my savior.

My thought process was one of dependence. Not like living a life, not like living a self-sustaining life. I wanted to live my life for me, following my rules with myself as my own God. Everything that I did was evil.

And everything I learned in the church as a kid, I denied and rejected in my heart as a growing teenager. I would lie consistently, even about the smallest things. I would listen to profane immoral music. I would swear behind my parents' back.

I would keep secrets from them, going to extremes to make sure my parents never found out. And I had no respect for either biblical or regular authority. However, the hand of God never ceased to chase me. How I know this?

Well, my parents always found out it was a lie. They would hear my prone fame music, they would notice that I cuss, they would punish me for my disrespect, and they would find out my secrets. Sixth sense my mom has. In hindsight, I realized that God does in fact discipline those who he cherishes and loves.

However, back then I did not see it that way. I harbored a feeling of bitterness towards my parents for taking away my fun and ruining my life. But deep down, I lived a life of condemnation, and I knew that. I experienced oppression, hopelessness, and guilt, for I knew the road I was taking was empty and quite literally the highway to hell.

I experienced this for 2.5 years, which I can say, though it has been short, was the worst time of my entire life. I thought I was irredeemable and a lost cause. But thankfully, there was one thing that I enjoyed that did have to do with the Lord, still a speech and debate. Every year we had a NIHD camp or National Institute for Homeschool Debate camp.

It taught us high school students how to debate that year's topic on both sides, but also how to follow the word of God. It was at one of these camps where my good friend who was speaking that night gave a talk on spiritual purity, and how it connected to the gospel. The Holy Spirit used this talk to convict my heart, and I stayed after to talk with the speaker. It was during this time that I fully surrendered my heart and my soul to the Lord.

Now that doesn't mean my sin struggles disappeared. Quite the opposite, in fact. However, what Christ taught me in that room. Is that while it is important to feel guilt and conviction for the sins I commit, it is even more important to live in the light of his forgiveness.

Christ had already taken that punishment for my sin on the cross when he died and when he rose again from the grave. And because of the great love that he has for me, I can accept his forgiveness and keep moving forward. Thank you.