Here is the message Pastor Taylor preached to us on the Sabbath Day, 18 May 2013 at Santa Barbara, California Seventh-day Adventist Christian church.
Baptism
Jesus was very mature for His age. Jesus communicated with God the Father daily. In today’s world, Jesus would probably have been labeled as a failure. In reality, Jesus was anything but a failure.
John 13:12
So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you?
Jesus showed mankind that walking humbly is what we should strive for in our relations with others.
1 Corinthians 11:27-34
For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. 31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.
Paul is telling us that Jesus expects man to examine ourselves.
When we have repented and ask to be baptized, we are declaring our relationship with Jesus.
In Matthew 28:18-20, God the Father gave Jesus authority to go out and baptize. To be a Christian often meant being ostracized, persecuted and despised by people.
Ellen G. White wrote in Testimonies Volume 1 Page 140: “There must be a sacrificing for God, a denying of self for the truth’s sake.”
Romans 6:3
Do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Paul says that Baptism buries our old sinful self. Sin will still tempt us, however we are now following Jesus! Baptism is a Divine Picture! We have nothing to fear with Christ’s Eternal Nature on our side!
Future after Baptism is found in Romans 6:11: So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Sin is no longer the ruler of our lives. Live our lives as offerings to God. Stay away from activities that used to tempt us. Make ourselves instruments of Christ’s righteousness!
In the early church, Christians renounced sin – were baptized – then they went and shared the saving grace offered through Christ with many more people. In Acts 2, three thousand souls were baptized on one Sabbath day!