R1025 Believer’s Baptism

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message from Matthew chapter 3. As we open God's Word together today, Dr. Don's topic is believer's baptism, but it's even much more than that, the concept of understanding how Jesus has given us an example, something to follow, a way to live. And that applies to baptism and other things as well as we study the Word, know that we're here for you, we love to talk with you, pray with you, we're connecting right now on the phone at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 or online at www.tewonline.org. A great place to follow Dr. Don on our social media or to sign up for the daily encouraging word email.

That's online at www.tewonline.org. Now let's open our hearts in God's Word together with Dr. Don Wilton. Folks, today God is in the house and it's time for us to understand who God is and to come to a fresh understanding that He loves us very, very much indeed.

He loves you and He loves me and outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I are on nothing. We have nothing. We amount to nothing. Certainly we have capabilities.

Man has great capability. The human intellect is something to be marveled at and man is able to accomplish great things from a human perspective. But we are sinners. Every one of us, we're sinners. We're born in sin. We're conceived in sin. Because of the sin of Adam, all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the message that you hear each week from this pulpit is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to know today that what Jesus Christ has done for me, that He'll do exactly the same thing for you.

And I want you to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus. Don't delay. Don't put that off. You cannot afford that. It's too great a risk.

You cannot do that. I just read, believe it or not, a thousand page book. It is as thick as that on the life of Winston Churchill. And I cannot get over, starting in about 1895, the sacrifice of men and women through world wars and through adversity and the struggles that humankind go through, decisions that are made, leadership principles that are sustained in the most adverse conditions, people who accomplish great things politically and socially and culturally. And when you read about all the wars and the skirmishes and the liaisons and the detente between the presidents and prime ministers and princes of this world.

And yet Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And so I'm so glad to see you today. Now, folks, you're going to need your Bibles this morning. I'm going to invite you to open your Bible in the New Testament to the book of Matthew, chapter three.

We're going to be looking at a very, very wonderful, important, critical subject today. Believers baptism. Believers baptism.

Now, I want everybody to look at me. I'm going to ask you a question. Have you been baptized? If you have not been baptized according to the scriptures. Now I'm going to follow up and I'm going to say this to you. Believers baptism is not an option.

Now, folks, I'm going to share something very exciting with you today. I'm going to share with you from God's word what it is that the Bible teaches us about believers baptism. And you're going to have to answer this question in your own heart.

And I'm giving you an opportunity to do something about it. You will never be able to stand before God again and say, I didn't know. So I want to begin by reading to you a wonderful passage because it deals with the Lord Jesus. Matthew, chapter three and verse 13. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, I need to be baptized by you. And yet you, Jesus, come to me to ask me to baptize you. Jesus replied, let it be so now at this time, for it is proper for us to do this in order to fulfill all righteousness. Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. And at that very moment, the heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I want anybody to raise your hand. Is there anybody today that would say, I want God to be well pleased with me?

You have any questions? I'm going to tell you today, my dear friends, that I believe with all of my heart, I'm going to show you why. Baptism is not an option. And some of you today, you've given your life to Christ, but you have not been baptized. You must get baptized. Not in order to go to heaven.

But because you are going to heaven. So let's have a look at this. I'm going to ask a couple of questions.

All right. I'm going to try and preempt your questions today. And we're going to answer it from the Word of God. But here are the questions.

First of all, what exactly is baptism? Now, if I was to hold up this bulletin, I don't expect you all to see it. But if I was to hold up this bulletin, if I was to hold up any picture. When you look at the screen that presents my message outline to you, any picture, you take a picture when you go to the beach.

I think that we probably took 7,242 pictures of my grandson this last week. If you hold up a picture and you were to say, now what do you see in that picture? Well, we can describe pictures, can't we? If I was to hold up this bulletin and say to you, what do you see?

You and I can talk about that. We say, well, yes, that is a picture and I can see things in this picture. I can see writing and I can see a little girl and I can see someone shaking hands. And we can describe a picture. Baptism is a picture that God gives to us to hold up for people to see. And that picture describes essentially three things. It shows three things all about the Lord Jesus. It's a picture of death.

It's a picture of burial and it's a picture of resurrection. Now, friends, who is Jesus? Jesus is the son of the living God and Jesus came to this earth.

And what did he do? He lived on this earth and he ministered. Then he was taken and he fulfilled the mission that God had given him to do, which was to die on a cross, to be buried in the grave, and then on the third day to rise up again. When you give your heart to Jesus, those three things take place. First of all, when you give your heart to Jesus, you die in your sin.

As some of you may look at me today and say, pastor, what does that mean? Well, you see, the Bible says there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Our sin separates us from God. The wages of sin is death.

And the way in which you get forgiveness of sin is by full identification with what Jesus Christ has done for us when he died on the cross. And when Jesus died on the cross, he died completely. He didn't take a nap. He didn't take a siesta, didn't take a vacation.

He didn't doze off or take a little snooze. He died. The Bible says he gave up the spirit.

He died completely. And when you stand in the baptismal water and I'm with you, you have nothing to fear from that. And the water usually comes up to about your waist. And when I take you, you are standing there just as Jesus did when he was standing, if you please, when he was hanging on the cross. And then I take you and I say to you, buried with Jesus in death.

And I place you under the water just briefly, like when you jump into a swimming pool and the water closes over you. That is why the Bible talks about baptism by full immersion. There is no other baptism in the Bible. There is no other form of baptism mentioned in the Bible. When it comes only believers baptism, Jesus went down into the water.

He got into the water. That's what Jesus did. And everything that Jesus did, Jesus did in order to show us what we need to do. By the way, folks, do you think Jesus needed to be baptized? Come on, somebody say yes or no.

No. Why would Jesus need to be baptized? Jesus is God. So if Jesus didn't need to be baptized, why did Jesus get baptized? Why would Jesus do something when he is God? Because everything Jesus did, he was showing us what he requires of us.

Can I use this phrase? Was Jesus a Christian? Well, of course, because he's Jesus. All right, so here's Jesus, who is God, who is in our modern day terminology, he's a Christian and he's getting baptized. And the picture that is being shown here is number one of death and it's complete death. That's why when you're baptized, the water closes over you, which is the second picture burial. Jesus was taken down from the cross and he was put in a grave and they rolled the stone over his grave.

He was buried, signifying his complete immersion in death. You see, in order for you to be forgiven of sin, your sin has to be able to completely die and be buried. That's why forgiveness in Jesus is so wonderful. That's why the Bible says, put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. That's why Paul says in Acts chapter 3, repent of your sin and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out. That's forgiveness of sin.

Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with more of today's great teaching from Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But Dr. Don wants me to remind you, not only are we here for you, we are here to encourage you. In this unique season of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have a wonderful opportunity to pray with each other and also put resources in your hands that will give you that daily encouragement. If you haven't signed up for the daily encouraging word Bible guide, it's available right now. Many are saying now they're grabbing it as a physical copy because it's a little easier to keep up with. My bride likes to keep hers over her visor in her car and reads it during carpool line.

It's an opportunity to spend some time in God's word every day. You can call 866-899-WORD right now and order your copy. That's 866-899-9673. Just ask for the free daily encouraging word Bible guide. We'll be happy to send it out to you.

You can also discover more details online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. And so you've got this picture of death, this picture of burial. But folks, let me ask you a question. Did Jesus stay in the grave?

Absolutely not. If Jesus had stayed in the grave, we would worship a dead God like so many other religions do. Do you know that Christianity is the only religion that believes in a living God? Jesus Christ is alive. That's why Paul said if you come to know him, you need to confess not only that Jesus is Lord, but you need to believe in your heart that God by his power raised Jesus from the dead.

Folks, let me tell you something. That is why when you give your heart to Jesus, you've got nothing to fear from death. You go instantaneously into the presence of the Lord Jesus. And when we go to be with the Lord Jesus, it is instant just like that. That's why Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the power of the resurrection. And so what happens, folks, is when I take you and I say to you, Joe, Sue, have you given your heart to Jesus?

Yes, I have. Well, because you've given your heart to Jesus, I now baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And I take you and I place you under the water and the water closes over you briefly. Now, I put a little handkerchief over your nose maybe because I especially here in the church, I don't want you coming out there blowing water all over the choir.

All right. And so we just put you under the water. The water closes over symbolizing showing a picture of death, burial. Now, folks, do I leave you under the water? So what would happen if I left somebody under the water? It's unthinkable.

We wouldn't do that. So as soon as I put you under the water, I say buried with Jesus in death and then raised up to walk in newness of life. Can you see the picture? There it is. You see, baptism is the place of your public testimony for Jesus. By the way, Jesus did this so everybody could see. So there's the next question. If that defines what baptism is, why be baptized?

Well, there are at least five reasons. Number one, because the Bible teaches it. Now, folks, I've got so many passages of scripture here.

I wish I could go to all of them, but I'm not going to. Let's just turn to Acts chapter two. In your Bible, turn with me to the book of Acts chapter two. Now, folks, I'm going to tell you something.

Spirit of God came down and God spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved son. Tell you, as a man, as a husband, as a pastor, as a friend. I want God to be pleased with me.

I do so much that causes him to not be pleased with me. And we go through this life having to make decisions and deal with all the difficulties and things of life. And God's given us something.

There is something unique about it. Third question, how should we be baptized? How should this happen? Well, the Bible teaches three things.

First of all, by immersion. Now, folks, I wish I could take a bottle of water and sprinkle you. I tell you what, it'd be a lot easier. Less hassle, far more accommodating, it's quick, but the Bible doesn't teach it.

Doesn't matter how much it suits me. By immersion, every time baptism is talked about in the Bible, they went down into the water. You cannot get into a bottle. You cannot get into a cup of water. Jesus said by immersion, the reason immersion, the word there is baptizo every time.

The word baptizo means immersion. It means complete. Do you see, folks, salvation in Jesus is complete. You're not sort of forgiven. You're not given a dab of forgiveness, a little dusting of salvation. It's complete.

It's everything. He changes you completely, gives you a new hope, a new meaning, a new future. So how should you be baptized? Number one, by immersion.

Number two, before the people. Baptism was always a public thing. I've had not a lot, but I've had wonderful people come to me and say to me, Pastor, could we just have a little private baptism?

My answer to that always is, you know, I would love to do that. But I would be disobedient to absolute truth. It doesn't talk about how many, but there's no such thing as a private baptism, folks. It's got to be before the people. How should you be baptized? Number three, by the pastor. Now, when I use the word by the pastor, I don't want you to just think about me.

But there was a reason why Jesus went to John. Folks, I'm just going to tell you, I don't see any prohibition in the Bible. But I don't believe you can just go to your next door neighbor and say, listen, come over and baptize me.

Don't think you can do that. There is, folks, the authority, and I use that word in Jesus Christ, of the local New Testament church is very, very important. Now, I can't, nor do I try to, I can't baptize everybody. I know that.

It's not about Don. I believe that those who are called out and set apart for the ministry have that responsibility. And your responsibility is to go to those people. And so the final question is, when should you be baptized? Following your conversion. If you've given your heart to Jesus, you should be baptized. In most cases in scripture, folks, it was immediately after. There is not a single reference in scripture that people went through counseling periods in order to be baptized.

It was like that. It is a simple act of public obedience. I've given my heart to Jesus. He's come into my heart. And I identify completely with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, who is my Savior and Lord.

I am forgiven and I know that one day when I die or if Jesus were to come back, I'm going instantly into His presence forever. And I make no apology for that. That's who I am. Now, folks, you can go around our communities. You can ask people to go out and eat. They do it.

Go to the club to play a game. They do it. You can ask people to do almost anything. I'm asking you today, I'm presenting to you what the Bible teaches. You need to make that decision and you need to follow through it. You've got an opportunity here. And folks, it doesn't matter.

Numbers are not what it's about. But most importantly, I must ask you today. Number one, have you given your heart to the Lord Jesus? That's the most important question, isn't it? Have you given your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ?

We'd like to help you today. If you haven't given your life to Christ, please give your heart to Jesus today. And then if you've given your life to Christ, have you been baptized? Have you done what Jesus did?

Have you followed through? And now Father, there are people who perhaps many years ago gave their lives to Christ. Some as long as 50 years ago. Some just recently. Some even at this very moment. And Lord, these are the ones that you are speaking to right now that know that they need to follow you in believers baptism.

Lord, I pray that they would respond to you and that you would call out from heaven and say, I am well pleased. Because Lord Jesus, when the blessings of God come upon us, who can be against us? Indeed, if God is for us, who could be against us? Is God for you? You know, the reality is He is for you. He created you. He believes in you. He has a plan and a purpose for your life.

But He also has allowed you the free choice to receive Him as Savior and Lord or not. If you have questions, let's talk about it. Let's pray about it. You can reach us at the other end of 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to talk with you, pray with you, maybe work through those questions and answers. But more than that, I pray that you'd open your heart to what Dr. Don is about to share next.

Are you ready? Would you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that Jesus loves me and that He died on a cross for me. Today, I repent of my sin and I confess my sin to the Lord Jesus. And I give Him my heart and my life. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Amen. If you've prayed that prayer from your heart and you've given your life to Christ, I welcome you to the family of God. You are my brother, my sister in Christ. Let's get engaged together because we are connected together forever as believers in Christ. Did you say yes when Dr. Don was praying a while ago?

Did you pray along in your heart? You know, it's not about the right words, but as best as we know how, if we give our lives to Jesus Christ, if we say yes to Him, He will change us, He will rescue us, He's ready to save you. Once you've begun that step, you let us walk with you in the next steps. You can call us right now at 866-899-WORD and let us know you've given your life to Christ or rededicated your life to Jesus and we have wonderful resources that will indeed help you with the next steps. Again, the phone number is 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to be a part of encouraging you in these next steps and we'd also love to connect you with resources. We have wonderful resources on our website.

That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G, T-E-W online dot O-R-G. If you haven't heard about the Confident Assurance of Salvation series, here's Liz with all the details. Many people around the world are looking for some kind of assurance to quiet their fears. They want to be totally secure. Total assurance only comes from God.

I have a serious question to ask you. If you were to die today, would you go to heaven? This month, with your gift of $25 in support to the Encouraging Word, you will receive Dr. Wilton's powerful message, The Confident Assurance of Salvation, along with his book, Totally Secure.

Both of these ministry resources will help answer five important questions people churched and unchurched struggle with, such as, What is salvation? Am I saved? Can I lose my salvation? Will I go to heaven?

What happens when I sin? Call us at 866-899-WORD to request The Confident Assurance of Salvation, along with his book, Totally Secure. You can find peace, protection, and assurance in the arms of God. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. It's been a great day of studying the Word of God together with Dr. Don Wilton. I hope you'll join us tomorrow. Tomorrow, we're going to be beginning the concept of thinking about Christmas and this wonderful season of turning these holidays into holy days.

Dr. Don's message is on the Christmas tree. We're headed to Matthew, chapter 1, and I hope you'll indeed join us. Between now and then, let's stay connected on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. Or 24 hours a day, we're here for you at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673.