https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Why-Were-They-Baptized-so-Soon.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Acts 16:25-33<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. When you read through the book of Acts, an odd fact seems to stand out — everyone is in\na big hurry to be baptized.\n A. They don’t wait for another meal, or sleep on the idea, or wait for another day to\ngo by.\n
B. Those who wanted to serve God wanted baptism and they wanted it right then!<\/p>\n
II. Let us look at the record<\/p>\n
A. Acts 2:36-41 – “That same day”<\/p>\n
B. Acts 8:35-38 – “look, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”<\/p>\n C. Acts 10:44-48 – “Can any man forbid water?” Peter was asking “Is there any\nreason not to baptize these people right now?”\n
D. Acts 16:30-33 – “in the same hour of the night”<\/p>\n
E. Acts 22:16 – “Why are you waiting?”<\/p>\n F. It is clear that baptism was done without delay. When people were ready to make\na commitment to the Lord, they were baptized right then.\n
III. The question though is, “Why? Why the big rush to be baptized?”<\/p>\n A. Perhaps if we can understand why they were baptized, we can understand why\nthey were in a hurry.\n
B. Baptism means to be immersed in something. To plunge, drop, or dip into.<\/p>\n
1. What were they immersed into? Water.<\/p>\n
a. Acts 8:35-38 – “Look, here is water”<\/p>\n b. There was enough water that Philip and the eunuch went down into\nthe water. The image is not that of wading in an ankle-deep\nstream.\n c. Philip then baptized the eunuch. I never understood the pictures of\nPhilip and the eunuch being in chest deep water and then showing\nPhilip taking a hand full of water and pouring it over the eunuch’s\nhead. Why bother?\n
2. It took much water <\/p>\n a. John 3:23 – John picked the Aenon near Salim because there was\nmuch water there.\n C. It is not the act of being dunked under water that is important. It is what is being\nrepresented.\n
1. We understand that many things that we do have symbolic meaning.<\/p>\n a. The partaking of the Lord’s Supper is not the eating of the\nunleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. The meaning is in what\nit represents to the Christian — it is a memorial of Christ’s death\non our behalf.\n
b. The immersion in water has a symbolic meaning – I Peter 3:21 <\/p>\n (1) It is the appeal of a good conscience, the act of obeying\nGod.\n
2. It symbolizes Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection – Romans 6:3-5<\/p>\n
a. We are baptized into Jesus’ death – Romans 6:3<\/p>\n
(1) It reminds us that Jesus died for our sins.<\/p>\n
b. We are buried with Christ – Romans 6:4<\/p>\n (1) Another reason to see baptism is an immersion. You can’t\nbury someone by sprinkling or pouring dirt on him.\n
(2) A burial means you have to go down into something.<\/p>\n
c. We are raised with Christ – Romans 6:5<\/p>\n
(1) Coming up reminds us that Jesus was resurrected.<\/p>\n (2) That resurrection is key to our own hope being raised to go\nto heaven – I Corinthians 15:16-20\n
3. It symbolizes our changed status with God – Romans 6:6-9<\/p>\n
a. We die to our old way of life with all its sins – Romans 6:6<\/p>\n
b. We rise to a new life – Romans 6:4<\/p>\n c. We rise to a hope of eternal life, never to fear death again –\nRomans 6:8-9 \n
D. The reason people in the Bible were in a rush to be baptized<\/p>\n
1. Baptism stood between them and being saved – Mark 16:16, I Peter 3:21<\/p>\n
2. Baptism stood between them and the forgiveness of sins – Acts 2:38<\/p>\n
3. Baptism stood between them and the removal of sins – Acts 22:16 <\/p>\n
4. Baptism stood between them and having a new life – Romans 6:3-4<\/p>\n
5. Baptism stood between them and being in Christ – Galatians 3:27<\/p>\n
6. Baptism stood between them and being a child of God – Galatians 3:26-27<\/p>\n
7. Baptism stood between them and being in the church – I Corinthians 12:13<\/p>\nIV. People were in a rush to be baptized because it is important to them. Yet, some today\nwant to put off doing this simple act that they know is right.\n
A. Some put it off, thinking it was already done for them.<\/p>\n
1. “I was baptized when I was an infant.”<\/p>\n
2. Was it truly baptism? <\/p>\n a. Baptism is an immersion, yet I know of no denomination that\npractices immersion of infants.\n b. You may have had water sprinkled or poured on you as an infant,\nbut it cannot be called a baptism as described in our Bibles.\n
3. Infant baptism doesn’t hold the meaning that Bible baptism does.<\/p>\n
a. Baptism washes away your sins – Acts 22:16<\/p>\n
b. What sins has an infant committed?<\/p>\n
c. What new life can an newborn take on that doesn’t have already?<\/p>\n 4. How can infant baptism be the answer of the infant’s conscience toward’s\nGod?\n 5. You need a real baptism. You can’t rely on something done to you as a\ninfant, which you can’t even remember being done, to say “I have obeyed\nGod.”\n B. Some put it off, thinking they are already saved and it doesn’t matter when they\nget around to it.\n 1. Some denominations will postpone a baptism days, weeks, or even months\nfor a convenient time. Some never bother to do it, thinking it is totally\nunnecessary.\n 2. Quite a bit different from those in the first century! They knew what\nneeded to be done and they weren’t going to put it off.\n 3. Those who have been baptized, have gone through the motions, but they\nlost the meaning. It is like eating the Lord’s Supper without knowing what\nit represents. You do it, but it has no meaning, no significance. \n
4. Remember it is not the immersion, but the meaning that is important<\/p>\n 5. If you did not understand the meaning of what you were doing, then you\ngot wet, but you didn’t obey God. Now that you know the meaning, why\nnot fix it today?\n
V. Such a simple act. Such deep meaning. Why not today?<\/p>\n
A. Let me tell you the story of Naaman – II Kings 5:1-14<\/p>\n 1. To dip seven times was such a simple act. It was too simple for Naaman’s\ntastes.\n
2. He was looking for pizzazz and heroism — great and glorious deeds.<\/p>\n 3. Such a simple act, meant he had to humble himself and trust the prophet’s\nwords\n B. Today there are some of you who need to humble yourselves and trust the\napostle’s teaching that this little, simple act of baptism will save your souls. If\nGod had asked some great deed from you, would you consider it worth it to be\nsaved — to have a place in heaven waiting for you? Then why not today? Why\nnot now?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 16:25-33 I. When you read through the book of Acts, an odd fact seems to stand out — everyone is in a big hurry to be baptized. A. They don’t wait for another meal, or sleep on the idea, or wait for another day to go by. B. Those who wanted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-4614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-baptism"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31044,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-wait-to-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":4614,"position":0},"title":"Should I wait to be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a new convert. I converted about 6 months ago, but I have been always curious about God and learning about Jesus. The only problem is that I'm not baptized through the waters yet. I still know that the Holy Spirit is with me and I can carry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97554,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-and-what-is-not-important-about-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":4614,"position":1},"title":"What Is and What Is Not Important About Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson A tour ad stated, \"Have you ever wanted to be baptized in the Jordan River?\" Since Jesus was baptized there, is that the best location? In the Bible, people were baptized wherever, but all were saved by grace (Titus 3:5-7). 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I am not Catholic and the baptism meant nothing because I lived a life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60795,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-get-baptized-while-being-in-a-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":4614,"position":3},"title":"Can I get baptized while being in a relationship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm a 21-year-old male. My Father is a pastor. I'm in a relationship with my sister-in-law. Now I wanted to take baptism, but I have concerns. Do we need to break our relationship in order to get baptized? She is a very good girl, and I preached the gospel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40872,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-the-men-at-ephesus-be-disciples-before-they-were-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":4614,"position":4},"title":"How could the men at Ephesus be disciples before they were baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First of all, I would like to thank you for the La Vista Church of Christ website. I love how you attach a link to the Bible verses you quote. I have studied many of the topics you have and I have learned a lot. Thank you again! Second\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-true-that-the-purpose-of-baptism-is-not-for-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":4614,"position":5},"title":"Is it true that the purpose of baptism is not for salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could I be baptized in a pool if I wanted to? 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