SCRIPTURE – Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen
INTRODUCTION:
A. SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE NOT TAUGHT ENOUGH BEFORE BAPTISM.
B. SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE TAUGHT TOO MUCH BEFORE BAPTISM.
1. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
2. RELIGIOUS TITLES
3. LORD’S SUPPER ON FIRST DAY OF WEEK
4. ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH
C. THERE ARE ONLY A FEW THINGS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO BE KNOWN
BEFORE A PERSON IS READY FOR BAPTISM.
I. YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN GOD, JESUS AND THE BIBLE AS GOD’S WORD.
A. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
B. 1 John 5:10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
II. YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT YOUR SIN HAS SEPARATED YOU FROM GOD
A. Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have
hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
B. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short; of the glory of God,
C. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
III. THIS KNOWLEDGE SHOULD PRODUCE A FEELING OF GUILT WHICH LEADS
YOU TO WANT TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD. (REPENTANCE)
A. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. {10} For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
B. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
C. Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
IV. YOU SHOULD CONFESS AND ACCEPT JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND MASTER
A. Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. {10} For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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V. YOU SHOULD REALIZE JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS TO SAVE YOU FROM YOUR SIN AND THAT BAPTISM UNITES YOU WITH HIS DEATH AND BLOOD
A. Romans 5:8-9 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
B. Romans 6:3-5 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (4) 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 also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
VI. YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LIVE FOR JESUS
A. Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?
B. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
C. 2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
VII. YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT BAPTISM PUTS YOU INTO CHRIST, HIS BODY, THE CHURCH.
A. Galatians 3:26-27 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
B. 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
C. Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
VIII. YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT AS A NEWBORN BABE IN CHRIST THE CHURCH IS YOUR FAMILY GIVING YOU AN ATMOSPHERE WHERE YOU CAN GROW AND DEVELOP IN HIM.
A. Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
B. Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, {13} till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; {14} that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, {15} but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; (16} from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
C. 1 Peter 2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
Conclusion
A. Do you believe in God, Jesus and the bible as God’s Word?
B. Do you understand that your sin has separated you from God?
C. Do you want to be right with God
D. Are you willing to confess Jesus as your Lord and Master?
E. Are you willing to be baptized into Christ, His body, the church, being united with Him in His death, burial & resurrection?
F. Are you willing to live for Jesus since he died for you?
–Larry Pasley (Alexandria, Louisiana)
