Accepting the New: Baptism and Surrender

Can I get an AMEN? Well, hold that thought, let’s try that again. If you said, “No, thank you, I’ve got enough of that amenity, move along now,” then I might have just lost you. Maybe your initial reaction was… “What does he think we do?” You’re probably thinking, “We’re saved, as in, we go to church, we do Bible studies, and such. We do that stuff because we love God and are trying to live for Him.” Wait a minute. Let me see if I can find this. If you said, “Oh, yeah, man. We love to worship and make a joyful noise unto the Lord,” keep reading, cause I am talking to you. You’re like, “Ya, right? But am I one of them?” To put it another way, let me put it this way. Do you know Jesus? Do people know you know Jesus? If they don’t, guess what? The demons know. Your kids know. Your neighbors know. Your spouse knows. The problem is… does Jesus know you? That’s the big question. It’s a simple question, but ask yourself. Does Jesus know you? Am I one of those people… one of “them?” Do you know the president? Of course you do. He’s president. You don’t know him like your pastor knows him or your mayor knows him. You might be able to pick him out of a lineup. That’s cool but not important. What if you were the president’s wife or daughter? Yeah, THAT is important. Are you one of His kids? If so, when we get to church, or any other gathering of His people, we should beam like those little lighthouses with a joy that attracts others and screams: “LOOK AT US!” Do we do that? Maybe it goes like this. We come in and head straight for the coffee pot. By the way, where’s the coffee pot at? Where are we going to meet our people? Where are we going to fellowship? Hey, where do you think Satan works in our lives? In our BIBLICAL studies. He’s certainly got us well-trained and indoctrinated in ‘church.’ Where’s that pot at? Do you come in, and where is your face? I see more “church people” who look like they sucked on PVC pipes full of pickle juice. What’s up with that? You know, if we don’t get excited about what we have in Jesus Christ… no one else will either. You know, I have been asked many times, “What is our first step of restoration in our lives?” There is a first step and a last step to it all. First, let’s go to Romans 6:4. (NASB) “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Baptism is that first step. Let’s go to I Peter 3:21. (NASB) “Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Now, baptism isn’t the water; it’s just like dipping the old couch in the water before we take the cushions out and start restoring. Baptism is our public declaration. You see, the whole idea of baptism is based on God’s restoration of the world through the flood of water; He has water figured out. We get baptized, and then God begins the restoration process within us. If it’s good enough for Jesus to be obedient to the Father, I can be obedient to Him in that area. Some of you were baptized for dead people. I used to baptize people for the living, but now I only baptize the dead to bring them back to life. I get this question a lot. Pastor, why do you insist on people getting baptized? Aren’t they saved just by believing? Isn’t baptism an option for us? Let me tell you something, everything we do as a Christian is optional except for being obedient to Christ in baptism. If you’re going to be disobedient there, I can’t expect you to obey Him in other areas. In the end, there are no wasted songs, sermons, or baptisms. They are all stored up for God’s glory to be revealed in our lives. We don’t have to take classes. Do you know why? As soon as the Ethiopian eunuch believed in Philip’s preaching of the scriptures, he wanted to be baptized. No classes, just obedience. That is what baptism is. If you’re not willing to be obedient in baptism, you’re not going to be obedient in other areas either. If you’ve made it this far, thank you. I’m not saying, go on down there and get baptized. Look at the scripture again. We were buried with Him through baptism… Do we walk in newness of life? Does your life look different now? Do the things that used to excite you make you puke? We’re just starting a restoration process. We come out of that water, and we’re called to walk in newness of life. Yeah, your life will look different. That’s part of the problem. We’re trying to keep certain areas of our lives in control and hold onto our will. You know you’ve met some older restored furniture. It has to be stripped and sanded before restoration can take place. Oh! When you get hurt, His glory gets revealed in you. But it has to hurt first. So, here is what I want you to do… and this isn’t the old sales pitch. I surrender all, all to Thee. I freely give stuff. I want you to say, “Okay, Lord, I will let you restore my life.” Let’s pray… Lord Jesus, we thank you for the glory you’ve already displayed in our lives. But Lord, we confess that there are some things that we still try to control that we shouldn’t. Help us, Lord, to be obedient. Help us to walk in newness of life, to look different than this world. Thank you for calling us, thank you for saving us. Thank you for calling us to full surrender. We love you, we praise you, and we worship you now and forevermore. Amen.