Dynamic Discipleship IV, The Baptized Disciple

Romans 6 and Matthew 28. Let's begin in the Matthew passage, shall we, Matthew 28, verse 16. Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. Most of you know we are in the midst of a Wednesday night series on dynamic discipleship. And by the way, we have started the process of linking those of you who want to be a disciple with those of you who desire to disciple. And those of you in home groups will be contacted in the future. We've already worked through some of that with our elders. And I'm thrilled with the response. Lots of people are saying, I want to be discipled. I want to grow like Jesus. And so we're working on that. I want you to know that. But just a few weeks ago, I sat in one of the beautiful ballrooms of the Vista Hotel with 200 other pastors, as we listened to a German evangelist by the name of Reiner Bonnke share his vision for a blood-washed Africa. And I have to say, all of us started to get excited. I mean, the man has a dynamic anointing on his life. And even pastors can get excited. And, you know, there was just there was clapping going on and there was a real release. And he told about the thousands upon thousands of people that were being saved. He even shared a vision where God showed him that in one meeting, a million people would be saved. He talked about the healings that were going to come and the powerful release of deliverance and so on. And all of us in that room were thinking, we need this same powerful anointing in Pittsburgh. Anyone agree with that? And we need this same powerful anointing in America. I've been thinking about that for the last two weeks. And I don't know anyone who had that same powerful anointing more than Jesus Christ. He spoke to the multitudes. He taught to the thousands. He healed the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that came to him every single time he went out. He delivered those who were in bondage. He even raised people from the dead. Talk about authentication. Talk about having a rallying point. But does it strike you a little bit strange that after three and a half years of doing those things, culminated with his own personal resurrection from the dead? Does it strike you strange that after all that glorious anointing and ministry, only 120 people showed up to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? Are you tracking with me? I would think, wouldn't you have thought, that thousands of people would have jammed around that place? Wouldn't you? I mean, if I'd seen all that, I mean, I would have thought that that would have been what it would have taken to really change the world. But it wasn't. Only 120 showed up. 500, the Bible says, even saw him after he was raised. I know those 500 would have shown up, but they didn't. Why? Why will the Reinhard Bonnke's, and the Pat Robertson's, and the Kenneth Hagen's, and the Catherine Coleman's, and the Billy Graham's, and all the great individuals of the world, why will they come and go, and never really see the world change? Seeing great multitudes and masses follow them, why? Because Jesus laid down the terms of discipleship, and they are heavy terms. And it's never been popular, and despite whatever we think would convince, and draw, and woo, and bring along, dear ones, the terms of discipleship are still not popular. Jesus said, If any man would come after me, he must take up his cross daily. Follow me. And folks, there ain't many of us who want to do it. It's not popular in the land of BMWs, and Porsches, and high-rises, and all that kinds of stuff. I was sobered as I was preparing today, thinking, you know, it's so easy to lose sight of the demands of Jesus. Now, these folks that have gathered here today, like many of you in previous days, to be baptized, have recognized that to follow Christ isn't just to raise your hand and let our eyes meet. That's a beginning point. That is not the end. Now, Jesus said, Here's what it means to follow me. And I'm just going to share this very quickly. And folks, this is primarily for those of you who are being baptized. Here's what you've got to do. Two things. Being a disciple means to follow Jesus Christ. That's a definition if you want to put it down. Being a disciple means a follower of Jesus. I'm following him. And there's two places you follow him. Number one, you follow him to the cross. How do you do that? You know, Cicero wrote that the cross was the worst, most inhumane form of punishment and death that man had ever devised. Did you shudder when you heard about the guy who down in Florida killed an electric chair and flames shot out of the thing? It sounded so cruel. You didn't hear that. But it was. It was gross. But this must have been so awful to see someone agonizing in such torment on a cross that the great thinkers of those days said, This is just inhumane. Well, Jesus didn't just die from a stab wound or a gunshot. He died an agonizing death. You say, Well, how do I do that? I mean, that doesn't sound too good. Well, we don't pull a cross, you know, like they do in Manila and sometimes the Philippines. They climb up on a cross and literally hang there. You've seen them do that in the Easter season. No, Jesus said, Here's how you do it. Now, let's turn to the Romans passage. Here's how you do it. How do you identify with the cross? Here's how you do it. Romans 6, verse 3. In fact, if you don't have a Bible, it would be up there in the overhead. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. That's how you follow him to the cross. You enter into the waters of baptism symbolic of climbing up there with Christ on the cross. That's the symbolism that's here. Now, we know that this physically is not painful. We know you won't suffer any bloodletting. At least we hope you won't. But we do know this, that in your heart of hearts you're saying to God, Lord, it's as though I'm up on that cross. And church, all the rest of you who've gathered tonight, please keep in mind that it's not just a one-time experience. Jesus said, How often do we take up our cross? How often are we to be a baptized disciple? Daily. Daily, even though the experience happens only once. Daily, we re-baptize ourself. We re-commit ourself to living the crucified life. And we die to some things. Letter B, we experience death to the old self. Now, that's a teaching. Many of you have had enormous amounts of teaching, what it means to die to the old self. The sin that's ruling your body no longer has to rule. Isn't that great? If you're an addict, you no longer have to be an addict. If you're a person of great pride, you no longer have to be prideful. If you're a person who's always incessantly selfish, or harping, or bickering, all those things, the power of sin has been broken in your life through the power of Christ. You're free from that old self. You're free from the need to clutch, and to hold on, and to seek. You're free from the old ambitions, the old drives. That's the beauty of what God does to us. Also, he says, we're free from the pull of the world. The power of the world no longer has to have rule over your life. Does that mean you'll never be tempted? Well, if you're like me, the temptations still come. But you don't have to give in to them. You don't have to fall prey to them anymore. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life no longer have to have dominion in your life. That's what happens. That's what it means to climb up on that cross through the baptism waters, and die with Christ. Now, let me just say one practical note here. Believers, this works itself out in your home, with your spouse, with your friends, at your job. How many of you know the hardest place to live the crucified life is under your own roof? Or is that just for me? No. It's tough. Dying to self, living to Christ. But here's the other part of it. And this is the last point. When we die to self, Jesus says something. He said, you'll also live with me. Look at the next verse. We are therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, we too shall have a new life. Let's all say hallelujah. We too have a new life. We don't give up something for nothing, folks. We give up something and get something better. And I think we too often downplay the cost of being a believer in Christ, but we also don't play up enough the blessing of the resurrection. If we take up our cross daily, the Lord says, every day I'm going to let some new life come out of you. Every day something powerful can happen in your life. Every day the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead can operate in you. Every day you can have the power of God to do great things. Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes, you're going to do greater things than I did. That anointing will rest in your life. And church, let's all be reminded, as these folks come out of the waters tonight, that that same promise is given to us. And I had a burden today as I was preparing that none of us would witness this tonight and kind of feel like, I remember when. Hello? I remember when I was really excited. I remember back then when it was really fun to be a Christian. It's not fun anymore. If that's your status tonight, if that's where you're hung up, be re-baptized in your spirit tonight, would you? Lay some of that stuff at the foot of the cross. Give the Lord your failures and problems, your hassles, your worries, and get some new life. Get some resurrection going in your heart. One final question. Is the baptized life possible for you to live? Not unless Christ lives it through you. It's impossible. But in Christ, this baptized life is the greatest thing going. Tonight, as you enter into these waters, just trust the Lord. It's simple. Don't theologize it. Don't try to make it up. Just trust Jesus that He's going to do what He said. As you go down and you come out, you're dying with Him on the cross. You're being raised to new life again. And it will radically change your life. Amen. Praise the Lord. Let's all stand. If you'll slip on over there, please, where the elders are and have another seat. We'll prepare. As they're getting ready and everyone's settling down, let's sing forever grateful because I am. Aren't you? For what God's done for us. Let's sing that together. You did not wait for me to draw near to you but to clothe yourselves in frail humanity. You did not wait for me to cry out to you but to let me hear your calling, calling me. I forever grateful to you. I forever grateful for the cross. I forever grateful to you. God as He came, He's seen and changed our lives. I forever grateful to you. I forever grateful for the cross. I forever grateful to you. God as He came, He's seen and changed our lives. It's a piece of cake and you may be seated. We've had baptisms when blue is the word. And this feels pretty good, doesn't it, Bob? All right, great. Now, if you can't see for some reason, it's a good time. We've got 20 empty seats right here, folks. And Gene and all you troops, you don't have to be in the outer reaches if you don't want to be. Let's have our first person come on up, shall we? No place else to go but to the Lord. Jesus is calling. In the step of obedience and faith, I just baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. Bless this brother, Lord. In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. All things new, Lord. We speak grace in His life, in Jesus' name. Glory and no exciting stories, just kind of I came here, and I was called, and I said I had to take a step of obedience to turn my life around. February of this year. That's fairly exciting. Father, we just thank you for just the step of obedience, just going with faith. Obedience to your word. We baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen, Lord. Hallelujah. Bless her, Lord Jesus. Anoint her, Lord God, with power and a heart after you, Lord. Give her a fresh baptism of your love in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. My name is Bunda Anzac. I accepted the Lord in 1978, and I did this as a part of doing it just because I knew I had to do it. And I would advise anybody not to do things that way. I know, I know what I'm doing. I'm totally laying down my life, giving everything to God, and I praise Him for that. Father, we thank you for lending the night, Lord. Father, we thank you for how you're touching her life, Father. And Father, we just acknowledge together with her tonight, Father, that we baptize her in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father. Give her full release, Lord. Full victory, Father. Lord, thank you.