Journey's End
An Exhortation to Baptism

Good Morning Brothers Sisters, Family and friends.
We read in Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, that the Gospel of Christ is said to
be the "power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth" and who is baptized.
And Jesus Himself tells us in Mark 16:15-16
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved;"
Throughout scripture the physical act of baptism, has been very clearly designated
as an essential part of the salvation process. There are many references in the Bible that
demonstrate that baptism is not just an optional extra. The importance of baptism is
highlighted in Peter's response to a question in Acts 2 at verses 37 and 38:
"When the people heard this, (the gospel message), they were cut to the heart and said to
Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."
Jesus added emphasis to the importance of baptism when he told Nicodemus that
we must be born again. He clearly indicated that there were two phases to this new birth.
Turn with me now to John 3:5 where we read:
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Being born of the water as our Sister Amanda was this morning is only the first
step in the new birth. Jesus subjected himself to a water baptism, even though he never
committed any personal sins. By this act he acknowledged that he was under the same
condemnation to death that he shared with all who are born of a woman, and that
submission to a new birth in water was an act of obedience that fulfilled all righteousness.
If Jesus, who never sinned, was willing to submit to the physical act of being
immersed in water, how much more should we who are sinful men and women submit to
baptism as our act of obedience to the calling of God. Our hope for salvation depends on
many things, including the grace of God. Baptism is only a step in the process, but we all
understand that it is an essential step.
The act we witnessed this morning and have submitted to ourselves is a fitting
display of the symbolic meaning of baptism. To be born again by water, we must first bury
the old man and his ways, as it states Ephesians 4:22-24.
When we go under the water, we are symbolically putting our former life to death,
and when we come forth out of the water, we are rising to newness of life in Christ Jesus.
Paul expresses it this way to the Romans in the passage we read this morning from
chapter 6:
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in
the likeness of his resurrection:
Jesus has told us that being born again of the water (through the physical act of
baptism), is one of the necessary first steps in the process of salvation. He also mentions
that being born of the Spirit is the second part of the process and that without both of
these births, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
We can easily relate to the birth in water, and we understand that our baptism
accomplishes this, but what is this Spirit birth?
Being born of the Spirit is something that involves two phases. The first phase is
development of the inner man so that we have the Spirit of Christ; so that his words
(which are Spirit), dwell in us and we become spiritually minded.
The final phase of being born of the Spirit will not occur until we have been
granted immortality through the grace of God at the judgment seat of Christ. We will be
truly born of the Spirit, when the Spirit of God energizes our bodies and we are granted an
entrance into His kingdom.
How many of us, on this special morning, as we gathered together in witness of
the Baptism of our Sister Amanda thought back to our own baptisms? I know I did: Our
thoughts went back to a time when we were eager to learn and fervent to serve. Eager to
do our readings every day. Fervent in teaching others, by our word, by our deed and by
our example. And zealous to enter the Kingdom that we so earnestly thought was not far
ahead.
But alas, we are still here, aren’t we. Some of us 30, 40 years. Still trudging
through our daily lives. Still fighting those old battles with ourselves. The Kingdom of
God still dangling in front of us like some huge carrot on a string. A string attached to a
long, long pole. We all look to that as the prize, as the end of our journey, don’t we? It’s
nice to have an end to journey toward, isn’t it? But Brothers and Sisters, young people
and friends, what we fail to remember is that while it’s nice to have that end to Journey
toward, it’s the journey itself that matters in the end. We must remember the two phases
of the process.
A water Baptism in and of itself guarantees us nothing, except that our names are
recorded in the Book of life. And even then we must be careful that we do not covet the
destination so much that we forget the journey. For just as easily as our names are
written, they may be blotted out unless we overcome. Read with me Revelations Chapter
3 at verse 5:
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out
his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and
before his angels.
And just slide on over to Revelations 22 at verse 19:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things
which are written in this book.
From this we see that it is possible. Even though we were baptized. It is possible
for us to get side tracked. To turn away and never reach our destination. Never see the
Kingdom. It’s a long journey up that narrow path and since our baptisms many of us have
taken the scenic route, time and time again, thinking that we have plenty of time. And just
as the path steepens more we stop there looking up that hill and we think, I’ll just pop
over here for a second to sniff these flowers. Oh! and look, further over there are some
berries, I’ll just have a few, I should really get back to that narrow path but, what’s that
just up ahead? Oh, its a wonderfully comfortable easy chair in front of a big screen
television set. And look it’s my favorite program. I’ll just sit for a minute. Then we wake
up in the dark, the national anthem blaring loudly as we fumble back through the briars
and weeds of sin looking again for that narrow uphill path. And we start again up that
steep incline picking the burrs, that residual sin, from our clothing. Wondering why we
wasted so much time on that diversion. That diversion that keeps us from our journey’s
end.
And so for us to reach that destination, for us to make it to that glorious Kingdom,
for us to complete this two step process, we must overcome. We must stay the diversions
so that we remain on that path. We must rise above our humanity and take on the humility
of Christ, our Brother, our Lord. We don’t do this at Baptism. And we can’t do this upon
entering into the Kingdom. This my Brothers and Sisters is the Journey! It is a spiritual
journey.
The word "SPIRIT" can be a difficult one for us to understand. In the first phase
of our new birth, the spirit of Christ is his influence, working in us so that our minds are
transformed, and we become converted as little children. We receive the influence of
Christ through the Word of God. Jesus said in John 6:63:

" The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
Jesus spoke the words of God. These words are so important to our spiritual life
that Jesus said: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God."( Matt 4:4) It is the Word of God that was given under the
influence of the Holy Spirit, and this influence is available to us if we read and study the
Word.
Peter seems to reflect this entire concept when he says: "Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for
ever." (1 Peter 1:23)
Being born of the spirit is first of all, being born of the word. The Spirit given
Word influences us to change our thinking from being fleshly minded to being spiritually
minded. The Word of God must influence our minds so that our character is developed.
When we add to our faith, all of the attributes of Godliness as mentioned in 2 Peter
1:5-11, the influence of the Spirit will be manifested in our lives. We will then be born of
the water and of the Spirit, in a conditional sense.
The word "Spirit" can also mean power. To be completely born of the Spirit, our
corruptible bodies must be made incorruptible, by the power of God.
If we have been born again by the Spirit Word, and have developed a spiritual
mind, manifesting godliness in our lives, we have the hope that through the grace and
power of God, that when we have finished our journey, we will be born of the spirit unto
eternal life, and will enter the Kingdom of God.
You see, throughout this Journey, God is shaping us, modeling us, whittling us
down and building us up so that we may fit perfectly, accurately in the spot He has
designed for us. So that we may be that stone in His temple. And everything we pick up
along the way, every burr, every sin, just gets in the way of God’s plan for us. Every
worldly sin is just something else that must be hewn or hammered or sanded away before
we can fit. Why do we have to make it so hard for Him? Why must we do what we want
to do before that which we know we should be doing. I don’t know Brothers and Sisters,
I just don’t know. Perhaps it was because we were baptized so early in life, that we feel
we have lots and lots of time. Let’s face it most of us were still teenagers and young
adults when we answered the call. I know I was. You see, the first time I was baptized I
was 12 years old. Yes, that was in 1976. Right here in this very building, right in this
very baptismal. Now some may say that I was much too young to take on that
responsibility, I had been reading the Bible for a few years and finally finished it by then. I
knew that I did not know everything, but all I knew was that I heard the call and I
answered.
Now that I look back upon it, I was probably too young. You see I heard that
spiritual phone ring. I picked it up. And God was one of those callers that everyone gets
annoyed at. I said Hello, He said Hello, then there was just silence. I was left to do all the
talking. And I thought to myself...........But you called ME!!! Don’t you have anything to
say!!!!!! Eventually, I learned that He had plenty to say. I just had to stay on the narrow
path and listen in the right way. I’m glad that I didn’t wait.
So some of you might be thinking now that if entrance into that Glorious Kingdom
is a two fold process, And it’s the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that gets us into that
Kingdom, What importance does the Baptism in water have. What does Baptism do for a
person.
Well you see We are born in the family of Adam and we are therefore under the
condemnation to death that was the result of the sin in the Garden of Eden. Baptism
changes our citizenship. We are no longer "without hope and without God in the world".
By baptism, we "have been brought near through the blood of Christ." and the
condemnation has been removed. (Ephesians 2:11-13, Romans 5:18-21)
It is also a principle of scripture that without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness of sin.( Romans 9:22) When we are baptized, we are figuratively covered by
the blood of Christ and the sins that we have committed are washed away. Our robes are
made "white in the blood of the lamb." ( Revelation 7:14)
The act of baptism is the acceptance of a covenant with God. There is a
responsibility associated with this covenant. We must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ, (at his return) to answer for the things done while we were members of his
body. (2 Corinthians 5:10, Psalm 50:4-5) If necessary, we will be resurrected for this
judgment.
When we are baptized into Christ, we become Abraham's descendants and heirs to
the precious promises. (Gal 3:27-29) There are also many blessings associated with our
baptism. Christ is a mediator for his household of believers. (Hebrews 4:15, 10:21) We are
reconciled to God through the death of Christ, and then saved by his life as our mediator.
(Hebrews 5:10). What a wonderful blessing that our sins can be forgiven through Christ.
( 1 John 1: 7-9, Acts 3:25-26)
If we use our mediator and remain faithful, we have the abiding hope that through
the grace of God, we will receive the final blessings, eternal life and a place in the
Kingdom of God on the earth. (Psalm 133:3).
But it is that first Baptism, the one of water that marks the beginning of our
journey.
We don't know much about what happened to Jesus between the time of his birth
and the time of his adult ministry some thirty years later. The Gospels are silent about
Jesus' boyhood and teenage years, with the single exception of a few lines in the Gospel of
Luke. Luke tells us that, as a young boy, twelve-year old Jesus runs away from his family
for three days to spend time talking with the rabbis and teachers at the Jerusalem temple.
Other than that one brief runaway scene, we know nothing of the teenaged Jesus
Christ. Instead, you and I are left watching a long, blank screen in this drama called the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. The baby Jesus is born, the wise men bring baby Jesus gifts, and
then, bam!, all of a sudden, we meet thirty-year old Jesus in the Gospels, ready to be
baptized.
I don't know if thirty years seems like a long time to you, but thirty years seems
like an awfully long time to me! Yet, for thirty years, Mary and Joseph and all those who
knew this baby boy Jesus, had to wait. They had to wait and wonder when Jesus the
Messiah would start to save the world.
But when Jesus meets John the Baptist in the Jordan River in the Gospel, we know
he is ready to start his work as the Savior of the World. Here is John the Baptist, waist
deep, dunking people in the river to wash away their sins of the past. Here arrives Jesus,
asking to be baptized. "He is stepping up to embrace his future, accepting his commission
as God's Son."
Just as John dunks Jesus in the water, something really big happens. Luke tells us
that when Jesus had been baptized, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw
the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said,
'You are my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.'" (3:16-17) There, in front
of heaven and earth, in front of John the Baptist and all those men and women and
children who sat along the banks of the river Jordan, something big happened: everyone
heard the Good News for sure: He was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah: Jesus the
Christ.
The Baptism of Jesus was event that marked the beginning of Jesus' journey, his
real work in the world. God didn't make a big spectacle of it. He didn't call CNN or Fox
News Channel. God didn't take out a thirty-second commercial during the Super Bowl to
say "this is my Son, the Beloved. Watch out world, here he comes!" No. Instead, God
confirmed the beginning of Jesus' ministry through Baptism. Baptism was Jesus' grand
opening.
We know that Jesus was the Son of God from the foundations of the Earth. But
now, having been baptized, Jesus packs his bags, kisses his mother goodbye, and finally
heads out of the house. Jesus sets out on his mission to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to
bring Good News to the people that the rest of the world has long since rejected, and,
ultimately, to die on the Cross for you and for me.
Baptism was the very beginning of Jesus' journey. And baptism is what is at the
beginning of our journey, too. The very beginning of always starts with what God does
for us in baptism.
As I mentioned before, I was baptized in August of 1976 here in this very building.
I was not baptized into the Christian Church, I was not baptized into Christadelphia, I was
Buried with Christ in baptism, so that I could also be risen with Him through faith in the
righteousness of God Who had raised Him from the dead.
Perhaps you were baptized here, just as young Amanda was this morning. Or
maybe you were baptized in the Kouts Ecclesia. Or perhaps in a lake or steam. Or maybe
you got a good, old-fashioned dunking on a Sunday night in someone’s pool or bathtub.
It doesn't matter where you were baptized…but it does matter that you were
baptized. Because in baptism, God opens the heavens and says, "You, too, are my child,
with whom I am well pleased. I love you and I am saving you." In baptism, God pours
forth the Holy Spirit upon us to cleanse our sins. In baptism, God gives you and me the
power to change the world. To change the world by first changing ourselves though His
word.
Because you and I are baptized, we are like Jesus: we have a definite, marked
beginning to our journey. We know the date and time God set us out to start doing His
work. Some of us started our journey when we were mere teenagers, and others of us
don't start until we are baptized as adults.
But in baptism, God has anointed each of us with the Holy Spirit, to do the work
of God in the world. In other words, God has anointed us to be disciples-to tell the Good
News of Jesus Christ. Being a disciple of Jesus does not simply mean knocking door to
door, asking if people know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (although being a
disciple can mean that). More broadly, being a disciple means living God's life in the
world. Being a disciple means going through the world as if there were a big sticky note
attached to our backs, saying: "This is my child, with whom I am well pleased." Being a
disciple means that there is a big bumper sticker on the back of your car that says "Watch
out! I am doing the work of God." Being a disciple means being Jesus in the world.
This week, you and I will have countless opportunities to be disciples of God.
Perhaps your opportunity will be when you encounter someone you cannot possibly bring
yourself to forgive. Perhaps your opportunity will be when you are sitting beside someone
who just wants to tell you their problems. Perhaps your opportunity to be a disciple will be
to a friend who has lost a loved-one. Or perhaps your opportunity will be to say hello and
talk with someone who is a total jerk, or someone unpopular at your school. Perhaps my
opportunity will be an encounter with one of you this week.
When you and I encounter our opportunity to be a disciple of Jesus Christ this
week (and we will encounter an opportunity, believe me!), may we remember our
beginning, how things all got started: That our love comes from God, and our strength
comes from the day we started our journey through the grace of God at our baptism, just
as Sister Amanda did this morning, just as Jesus did.

Bro. Sol L. Gorrell
03/13/2005
Wanatah Christadelphian Ecclesia