One Baptism

Amen. Ephesians chapter four verse five. It's been our theme verse the last three weeks and I'll be concluding today on the threefold cord of God.

The word of the Lord reads this way, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Someone say one baptism.

In this series we have looked at the cords of one Lord, one faith, and today we're going to look at the third and final cord, one baptism.

You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

A couple of weeks ago on June 28th, I celebrated a milestone in my life. 32 years ago on that day, I made the single most important decision of my life.

I decided to give my life to Jesus Christ and be baptized in his wonderful name.

I get a little emotional, maybe like some of you do when you think about the day that you gave your life to Christ and were baptized.

When I think about that day and what it meant to me, certain images, certain feelings sort of stand out from that day.

And it is a decision, it is one decision that would ultimately guide every one of the hundreds of thousands of decisions that I would make for the rest of my life.

That one decision would be the most important decision.

For those of you who have made a decision like that and have been baptized in Jesus name, how many of you remember that day?

Amen. It's a day you never forget.

It's a day you should never forget, not only for what it represents, but if it was done with your whole heart, then it was a decision that would impact every other decision in your life.

This decision for me dictated for me other life choices like where I would go to college, school, who I would marry, who my children would be, who my friends would be.

Right down to where I would live, what my occupation would be, that one decision impacted all the other decisions.

And ultimately where I would spend eternity.

And as I stand here today, I can tell you that that one single decision that I made over 30 years ago was the single greatest decision of my life and one that has blessed my life in more ways than I could possibly explain to you today.

And it's for the fact, not that it was a just a symbolic act, not that it was just a public confession of my faith, though it was those things as well.

Rather, it was because my old life was buried in the water and I was born again and raised to new life in Christ.

Baptism changed me.

It saved me.

It washed me.

Amen.

It integrated me into that one baptism that Paul writes about in Ephesians chapter four.

That one baptism.

Someone say one baptism.

Paul's message of one baptism would suggest to us today the possibility of other baptisms or other faulty forms and formulas of baptism.

Whether by immersion or sprinkling, baptism is a very old ritual of many religions.

In fact, Hindus have been practicing a form of baptism for approximately 4000 years.

As a part of their religious purification rites, they are immersed in a river or sprinkled with water and many Hindus make a pilgrimage to India to participate in that.

The ancient Babylonian, Egyptian, and even Roman civilizations all had their own form of religious washings, purification rites that their adherents would practice involving water.

There are archaeological evidence to suggest this and also ancient literature to suggest these ancient civilizations and religions that had their own form of water washing and purification.

And even within Judaism, Judaism that predates Christianity from which Christianity was in some ways born out of had their own washings and purification rites.

So the idea of water being essential, however, an essential element in the process of salvation is a uniquely biblical concept.

So all these other religions with their forms of washings and water purifications, none of these religions or civilizations would say that these are essential for eternal life.

And this is what separates the baptism that we preach and the baptism that Paul writes of that one baptism.

That the baptism of the Bible is one that is of salvation.

That is a biblical concept.

And there are some key moments in biblical history that prefigure the form of baptism that was instituted by Christ, practiced and taught by the the Apostles and continues in the apostolic church today.

So what I want to do here for a few moments is before we look at the function and the formula baptism, explore the foreshadows of baptism in the Old Testament in the Word of God.

There are some powerful, beautiful pictures, prophetic pictures of baptism.

I want you to understand today that water is featured prominently in the Bible.

And at nearly every point that water appears in scripture, it symbolizes a change.

Starting from the very beginning of creation.

Let's look at creation.

The first picture foreshadow of baptism in Genesis one.

The Word of God tells us that the world was without form, without function, without purpose.

Then the Lord comes down and his spirit begins to move upon the face of the waters.

And after this occurs, according to the creation story, the world was forever changed.

I find it interesting that the first recorded move of God in all of scripture, the first record of God's spirit moving happened over a body of water.

So I like to connect those dots in your mind in your spirit today.

The moving of the spirit of God and the element of water, because you're going to see how those two go hand in hand.

They work together.

And this is what happens when a soul, when a person goes through the waters of baptism.

Through baptism, like we see in the picture of creation, God transforms your formless, purposeless existence into a habitat of life.

Amen.

Through baptism, God takes a soul, a life that without form, without purpose and transforms that life into a flourishing place of life.

Praise be to God for that.

So baptism gives you purpose.

Amen.

Gives you a reason to exist.

Another foreshadow is the great flood.

In Genesis chapter six, we read of how the Lord repents.

That he has made man.

So he responds.

By washing him.

From the earth.

With water.

And in doing so, the Lord marks a point in history, in the history of the world that separates.

The old from the new.

The then from the now, the past from the present.

The flood.

That we all have heard about.

We know was a historic cataclysmic event.

Changed the landscape of the earth.

But what it also did.

In the in the waters covering the earth, it stood as a solid line.

And God used the water to mark a change from one state to another.

God baptized the whole earth.

The earth got baptized.

And after the waters receded, there was new life.

There was a new beginning.

Amen.

This is what baptism does for the human soul.

Baptism marks a change.

Amen.

In your state from being a state of damned to a state of saved.

Just like the great flood baptized the earth.

And as a result, there was new life.

Noah and his family was saved.

When we are baptized in Jesus name and water, we go from a place of destruction and damnation to a place of salvation and eternal security.

Because somebody give God some thanks and some praise for that.

Amen.

The Bible says in First Corinthians, Paul writes chapter 10 and verse one, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you.

Excuse me.

This is the second part.

This is the Red Sea.

But there is a beautiful typology.

Let's look at the Red Sea.

In Exodus chapter 14, we see another powerful picture of baptism.

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

The Red Sea served as a physical boundary of Pharaoh's influence.

Physical boundary.

So when the Israelites came to the brink of the Red Sea and they crossed through it through a supernatural act of God parting the sea, they went through the sea.

They went through on dry ground.

And as they did this, there was a spiritual and a physical change of authority that took place with the people of Israel.

Something took place when they crossed through those waters.

They went from the rule of Pharaoh to the leadership of Moses.

It was a symbolic transfer of government and authority, because when they reached the other side of the Red Sea and they saw their enemies swallowed up in the water, it marked a change of authority in their life.

Now they were no longer subject to the rule, the slavery, the system of slavery and the authoritarian oppression of Pharaoh.

They were no longer under that.

But now they were a free people under the leadership of Moses and under the direction of God.

When we are baptized in water, there is a shifting of authority that takes place.

Man, I get excited when I think about it.

You're no longer bound to sin and to spiritual Egypt, which is the world, Satan and his demonic control and the control of sin over your life.

But there is a transition of authority.

Now you are under the authority of Christ under the rulership of God, and you're no longer a slave to sin.

Hallelujah.

The Bible says this.

Now this is the verse I wanted to read.

Got a little ahead of myself.

But in first Corinthians chapter 10, verse one, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all of our fathers, which were under the cloud, were under the cloud.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Passed, they all passed through the sea.

All were baptized into Moses in the cloud, in the sea, without getting too much into it.

Moses, often in scripture, is a foreshadow or a type of Christ.

And so what is being taught to us here?

I don't know if I have that verse, but no, I don't have it.

My bad.

But write it down, first Corinthians chapter 10 and verse one.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Amen.

What is being taught here is that they were baptized into Moses.

They were baptized into a new leadership, into a new system of rule.

Let me tell you that when you give your life to Christ, you are free.

Amen somebody.

But in some ways, you're not free.

Because now you have a new ruler.

Amen.

Now you have a new king.

Now you answer to a higher authority.

Amen.

And you're saying, is that a good thing?

Absolutely it is.

Because this king is a good God.

Amen, somebody.

And this king knows how to take care of his people.

And he's got a promised land with your name on it.

Praise be to God.

Another picture is the laver or the brazen bowl in the temple.

In Exodus chapter 30, we see the construction of the Lord's temple.

Exodus 30 · chapter mention

Now that religion or God's form of worship is being established, comes with it, a temple and an order.

And in order to enter the holies of holies where the presence of God was, hidden behind this veil of separation,

the priests had to make sacrifices.

Blood had to be shed, which is something I'd like to preach about here real soon.

But they also had to wash themselves.

There was this pool area filled with water.

And the priests had to cleanse and wash themselves with the water of this basin.

And the washing took place not on the inside.

The washing took place on the outside.

Because you can't get to the inside unless you do the washing that happens on the outside.

And then once the priest did the washing on the outside, it qualified them.

Hear me what I'm saying.

It qualified them to step into the presence of God.

They could not enter into the temple interior without undergoing a washing.

And this is a picture of what happens at baptism.

Amen. See, what I'm praying and hoping today is not only will this message help someone here today who has yet to make that decision,

your understanding clearly that God has a concept and a plan of baptism and how that, the part that it plays in your salvation.

But I'm also praying that this will cement, solidify strength in all of us who have already gone through the waters and been baptized.

And hopefully it will help you to teach and explain this to others because there's such beauty, such dimension to this great act that God calls us to do.

And what happens is that immersion in water, just like the temple in the Old Testament, it transitions you from the outside to the inside.

How many of you want to be on the inside?

I don't want to be on the outside looking in. I want to be on the inside.

One of the worst feelings in the world is when I'm around maybe a baseball game or something like that and I don't got tickets.

San Francisco has that little gate, you know, you go to the park, you get to see a little bit.

But man, there's nothing like being on the inside. Right.

I don't want to watch what God is doing. I don't want to watch his, his purpose, his promises, his blessing from the I want to be on the inside.

Amen. If you want to be on the inside, then this is what we have to go through.

We need to surrender our lives to God and be baptized.

Then there's one more picture I want to show you, and that is John's baptism.

John the Baptist. Was a Baptist.

Not the denominational Baptist, but he baptized people and he came to prepare the way of the Lord and his message.

Was a message of repentance. He said, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

In order to prepare people.

John practiced what Jews had practiced for centuries, which is a ritual of baptism and their baptism was a baptism of spiritual preparation.

The Jews practice a washings and cleansings, but it was for spiritual preparation.

It was just for purification, but it was not as a means of eternal salvation.

It was for preparation. This is the Johns baptism.

John had disciples of his own and he baptized his disciples and even Jesus wanted John to baptize him.

Jesus was baptized into John's baptism and that type of baptism is a baptism that prepares you for what was going to come.

But there is a beautiful connection for with the New Testament baptism that we preach today and the apostolic faith is that baptism.

It also prepares you for what's coming.

It prepares you for the coming of the Lord.

Amen. It prepares you for the return of Christ.

Hallelujah. John's baptism was strictly for repentance, not salvation, but baptism for eternal salvation came with the words of Christ.

Because in Mark 16 16, he says he who believes and is baptized shall be saved.

Amen. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah somebody, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.

So Jesus introduced, he initiated the concept of baptism, not being just for purification and for personal cleansing, spiritual preparation, but as a means of escaping damnation and finding eternal life.

Then he commissions his apostles in Matthew 28 19 to preach this gospel of baptism to baptize souls and to make disciples.

And this brings us to the function of baptism.

What is the purpose?

We have seen now. Picture after picture of the symbolic power of baptism and how all the Old Testament was pointing to New Testament salvation, New Testament, new birth.

It brings us to the function.

Water baptism for fields.

I'm talking about that one baptism.

Hallelujah.

Not many that one baptism one water baptism fulfill several functions in order to save your soul.

And the first is to remove our sins.

When comparing how Noah was saved through water.

Peter writes these words.

This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also.

So there again is that concept that baptism is not just a symbolic act.

Baptism is not just a public confession of faith.

Baptism saves you.

Hallelujah.

Not the removal of dirt from from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God.

It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul is establishing or Peter's establishing that that baptism is not you're not just taking an outward bath.

It's not just to remove the dirt from the body, but it's about a clear conscience towards God.

And this is in reference to the cleansing of our spirit, our soul, our hearts and our minds.

Baptism is not just a washing of the outer man.

It's a cleansing of the inner man.

Hallelujah.

It's not a bath.

It's not a bath for the outer man.

It's a washing of the inward man towards God.

Hallelujah.

It's God's way of purifying and removing the stain of sin from our life.

Hallelujah.

When a group of people on the day of Pentecost were convicted of their sins, Peter stood up and preached the gospel to those

that were there, to those who were witnessing the speaking in tongues and the moving of the spirit on that day.

They were pricked in their hearts about Jesus who had died for their sins and how Jesus was crucified because of their guilt and their sin.

They were convicted.

And they asked Peter, what shall we do to be saved?

What do I do to get this Jesus and His gift of salvation on my life?

And he answers them, which we have been repeating over and over, it seems, every week.

But we got to repeat this.

He said in Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.

For what?

For the remission, for the removal of your sins.

Hallelujah.

And he shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I want to just thank God today that when we are baptized, it's not just for a symbolic purification, but it's for an eternal purification.

It's for the cleansing and the removal and the remitting of our sins.

And only baptism can do this.

Somebody give God a praise here today.

Hallelujah.

For the remission of our sins plainly means an order to cause your sins to be removed.

Amen.

Sins are removed at baptism.

And that's why we place such emphasis on it.

And the record against us is canceled out and our names are written in the Book of Life.

The next function of baptism is to identify us with the Gospel.

The Gospel.

Someone say the Gospel.

I'm only going to be a few more moments here.

Just bear with me.

And then you can go back to your air conditioned cars or wherever it is you're going to go in.

Amen.

Amen.

To identify us with the Gospel.

The Gospel is the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That's the Gospel.

And being baptized identifies us with that.

Just as Jesus was buried and rose again, we likewise experience the death during our baptism.

The death of Christ.

When we come into the church as sinners, we die through our sins through repentance.

Amen.

And then we are buried in the water just like Jesus was buried behind the tomb.

Amen.

We are buried in the water through baptism.

And then we are raised to life in Christ when we come up out of the water.

Hallelujah.

Receiving the Holy Ghost is also another form of being resurrected and raised to life.

Paul writes these words in Romans 6 and verse 3.

Or do you not know that as many of us as many of us were baptized into Christ, Jesus were baptized into

his death.

Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death.

That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we should also walk in the newness of life.

Praise be to God.

So baptism identifies us with the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ.

The death is where is when we repent.

The burial is when we are baptized.

And the resurrection is when we come out of the waters and when we receive the Holy Ghost.

Somebody say thank you, Jesus, for that.

So listen, if you haven't yet been baptized, this is what baptism does.

It identifies you with the death and burial resurrection of Christ.

And if you have been baptized, you got to keep reading in verse 4.

We've now got to walk in the newness of the life that God has given us.

We got to walk as a regenerated, redeemed people.

We got to live with the baptism of God in our hearts and in our minds that we are changed and we are forever going to be a different people.

Amen, somebody.

All right. The third function is to unite us with Christ.

Paul continues in verse five.

He continues to tell us for if we have been united together in the likeness of his death,

certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.

Through baptism, we are not just joined to him, but we become one.

We put on his identity. Praise God.

When you're baptized, you're not just you're not just fulfilling something.

You know, well, they say we got to do it. So I guess we'll do it.

No, you're putting on the identity. You're uniting with Christ.

Paul writes in Galatians 3, 27, for as many of you were baptized in to Christ have what?

Put on Christ.

I wonder how many of you are wearing Christ today?

Amen. I said, how many of you are wearing Christ today?

I'm wearing him.

You got to put him on.

And for those of us, I've already been to the water and I've already been baptized.

Well, you know what? Every day you got to make a choice to put on Christ.

Put him on. Someone say put him on.

Put him on. Amen.

As I get ready to close, I want to just conclude by looking at the formula, the formula of baptism.

How do we baptize? There's only one way to do it.

Someone say there's only one way.

There is a proper way to baptize.

And it has to be into water.

By full immersion into water.

That word baptism, the root of it is baptizo in Greek and it means to dip, to plunge.

To be immersed in the water.

Paul, Peter said, can anyone in Acts chapter 10 and verse 47, can anyone forbid water?

Acts 10 · chapter mention

That these should not be baptized, immersed, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.

So in our church, the apostolic church, we don't practice the pouring of water as some churches denominations do.

We don't practice the sprinkling.

We also don't practice the baptism of babies because how can a baby understand the decision that's being made?

You have to be at the age of accountability. Amen.

And it has to be in full water.

Secondly, and most importantly, I would say, baptism must be administered in the name of Jesus Christ.

Somebody say amen.

Some have misinterpreted the words of Christ in Matthew 28, 19.

Because there he says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

What most churches do is they baptize in these titles.

If that's what they are, these are titles.

These are not names.

And as we often point out, church, the word name in this verse is singular and not plural.

That's because there's only one name.

Whoo, Jesus.

How many of you know that name today?

That's because there's only one name.

So if they're baptizing in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son and the Holy Ghost, they're doing it wrong.

And if anyone was baptized that way, you got to be rebaptized.

You got to be baptized in that one name, because according to Paul, there's only one Lord, one faith and one baptism.

Hallelujah.

It's got to be in the name of Jesus Christ.

Invoking the name.

Let me tell you something right.

The name of Jacob isn't going to save you.

The name of Ben's not going to save you.

Nobody's name in this place is going to save you.

The only name that can save you is the name of Jesus.

And we see this all throughout the New Testament as you stand with me here today.

We see this all throughout the Book of Acts.

The Book of Acts tells the story of the early church.

We take our pattern.

We take our doctrine from the Book of Acts.

And in the Book of Acts, we see time after time, they were baptizing people in no other name but the name of Jesus.

In Acts 8 16, it reads, For as yet had he fallen upon none of them, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord.

Hallelujah.

The name of the Lord Jesus.

And that's 10 48 and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

Hallelujah.

That's 19 5.

And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.