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Amen. All right, great to be here this morning. First of all, thank you, Pastor Shelley, for giving me the opportunity to preach. And this morning, the title of my sermon is Biblical Baptism, Biblical Baptism. And I want to look at verse number 15 in 1 Peter 3. The Bible says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. So obviously, this morning, we're in steadfast Baptist church and we're Baptist and we believe in baptism. And the Bible teaches that we should always be able to give an answer for the hope that's in us. And of course, that's in regards to salvation. We should be able to explain to people at the door why salvation is by grace through faith and why it's not of works or anything like that. But really, we should be able to explain any doctrine that we believe, especially the fundamental doctrines. And today, we're living in a generation of people that do not read their Bibles who don't even read anything for that matter. And so we're living in a generation where people are not able to defend the things that they believe, many people. Now, thankfully, this is not a church that's like that. But we always have to pay attention to the fundamentals and always give heed to the fundamentals because this is a fundamental Baptist church. We don't ever want to let the basics, the fundamentals slip in this church. So don't be one of those Christians that can explain how the rapture is after the tribulation. And don't be one of those Christians that can explain the reprobate doctrine but can explain why baptism is the way that we believe it. OK, we need to be able to defend every doctrine, especially the fundamentals. So this morning, let's start off by talking about the practice of baptism, the practice of baptism. Go to Matthew chapter number three. And number one, baptism must be by full immersion in water. Baptism must be by full immersion in water. Matthew chapter number three, look at verse number 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So in Matthew chapter three, we get this beautiful story of our Lord Jesus Christ himself being baptized, and how do we see him get baptized? Do we see him get sprinkled on the forehead by a Catholic priest? Did John the Baptist squirt him with a squirt gun? No, he was in the water, and he came straightway out of the water. Now, explain to me, if we were supposed to be sprinkled, if we were supposed to be having water poured over our heads like the Catholic church did, why would Jesus not have left us that example? He could have been baptized any way he wanted to. He left us the example of him getting in the river with John the Baptist, and being completely submerged, and then coming straightway out of the water. You can't come straightway out of the water unless you're already in the water. So one of the things that has caused a lot of division throughout history is this simple, easy truth about the fact that baptism is by immersion in water. Why that's caused so much bloodshed literally throughout history baffles me, but it's one of the easiest things to see in the Bible. Jesus Christ himself was literally submerged 100% in the water and came up out of the water. Let's go to John chapter number 3. John chapter number 3. John 3, look at verse number 23. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salem because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized. So when John the Baptist was deciding which location he was going to start baptizing in, you know what was the determining factor? The fact that there was much water there, not just a little cup. This is what the Catholic Church can use to baptize someone, but this is not much water. You can't fully submerge someone in this amount of water. You need about that much amount of water at the very least. Now a river is great. It's just real easy. You don't got to fill it up. But thankfully we live in a great modern time where we can warm up our water and get baptized in nice clean water. But hey, as long as you're fully submerged, I don't care what kind of water it is, that's a biblical baptism. As long as you're fully submerged, go to Acts chapter number 8. Acts chapter number 8. And we're going to come back to this chapter later in our sermon for a different reason, but I just want to point out to you in this story, in Acts chapter 8, look at verse 36. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. I've heard preachers say that, hey, if the Bible's your boss, you're a Baptist. You want to know why we baptize people completely under the water? Because that's what you see in the Bible. You know what you do not see one single time ever in Scripture? Someone being sprinkled by water. You never ever see it one single time. And so it's not a hard concept, but hey, if someone challenges you with this, these are some great Scriptures to show them, hey, this is why we believe baptism is by immersion in water. I'll read for you Romans 6, 4. The Bible says, 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. So the Bible also uses this illustration, burial, as equating to baptism, buried with Christ. Now, being sprinkled by dirt is not burial. That's not burying anything, okay? Burying something is completely submerging something, completely taking something underground or completely covering something with rocks or dirt or something like that. That is burial. Same thing with baptism. And that's one of the important aspects of baptism is that it's a picture of his burial. I'll read for you Matthew 15, verse 7. Jesus said, Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. See, when we try to serve God or when we try to obey God's commandments, but we're doing it in a way that's in concordance with man's commandments and not in God's commandments, Jesus said that that's a vain worship. That that's a completely meaningless and vain worship. Jesus says that those that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. So people that are not doing things according to the way that God told them to, they're worshiping him vainly. So every single baptism that was not by full immersion in water was a vain and meaningless baptism. It means nothing at all. Every single baby that's sprinkled by water in the Catholic Church did not get baptized. And it's sad because that's what they're trusting to take them to heaven a lot of times, and yet it's not even a baptism to begin with. You know, these people think you have to be saved to be baptized, yet they didn't even actually get baptized. They just got a little wet. It's completely meaningless. You know, when I was writing this sermon, I was doing some research on what the Catholic Church is doing nowadays with the coronavirus and how they're baptizing people with the coronavirus is literally spraying them with a squirt gun. Literally, there's videos of this Catholic priest. He's standing six feet away so he doesn't transmit the coronavirus, and he's spraying little babies in the face with a squirt gun. You know what that is? That is a mockery to baptism. That is a mockery to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did not get sprayed in the face with a squirt gun. He smoked in the water. It's burial. It's burial with Christ. He just didn't get just buried with a couple speckles of dirt either. He was actually buried. It's ridiculous. Go to Matthew chapter number 28. So we're still talking about the practice of baptism. This is just the carnal practice of baptism. It should not be that hard for people to understand, yet it seems to be. So number one, baptism needs to be by full immersion in water. And number two, baptism must be in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This is not an option. This is not someone's preference. This is, if you don't do it this way, it's a vain baptism. It's a meaningless baptism. Matthew chapter 28, look at verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. So I like how at the beginning of him giving the Great Commission, you know what he says? All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. That's a powerful statement. And when Jesus Christ, given all power and all authority, how did he commission baptism to be done? Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. That's what our Lord Jesus Christ said with all authority. Now, people like to take stories in the Bible, where they think people did it differently, and try to trump what Jesus Christ said. But we should always build our doctrine off of clear statements in the Bible. Clear statements either by God, either by Jesus Christ, or either by the Holy Spirit. You know, that's where we should get our doctrine from. Not just statements showing us what men did. I'm always going to take Jesus Christ saying, Hey, with all power and authority, do this. That's where I'm going to build my doctrine. Now, stay there. I'll read for you 1 Peter 2, verse 21. The Bible says, For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. So obviously, you know, this is in the context of suffering for righteousness. But Jesus Christ, any example he left us is the best example you can have. It's the most perfect way. It's the only right way. And so when Jesus Christ said to do it this way, that's the example that we need to follow. And that is the example that Baptist churches follow, because when the Bible's your boss, you're a Baptist. You don't take the doctrines of men. So, now there's people who deny the Trinity. They're called oneness Pentecostals. Many of you know Tyler Baker, who says that basically God is one person who manifests himself in three different persons. An extremely wicked false doctrine, but they like to teach that you should only baptize people in the name of Jesus Christ, where they don't say the Father, they don't say the Holy Spirit, or sometimes they'll get really cute, like Tyler Baker, and he'll say, I baptized you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and that name is Jesus. It's like, eh, wrong. No, his name's the Father, his name is Jesus, and his name is the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, right? They're separate persons. It's one God, it's three persons. And so Jesus Christ commanded us to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, not in the name of Jesus only. Now, let's go to some scriptures where people like to twist and try to say that these scriptures are teaching that you should only baptize in the name of Jesus. Go to Acts chapter number 2. Acts chapter number 2. Look at verse 38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, this is probably the most famous and favorite verse of every Pentecostal that there ever was. They named their churches after this verse. They built their doctrine after this verse. No, don't build your doctrine off of Matthew 28, where Jesus said, All power is given to me in heaven and earth. Don't build your doctrine where Jesus Christ clearly said to baptize people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Build your doctrine where it says that Peter wanted them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And we'll get back to this, but let's just look at some of the verses that they say teaches this. Acts chapter number 8. Flip over to Acts chapter number 8. And let's just run through some verses they say teach this doctrine. Acts chapter 8. Look at verse 14. Now when the apostles, which were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Okay, so we have another verse there saying they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Flip over to Acts chapter number 10. Acts 10. Acts 10, verse 46. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. And the last one I'll read for you is Acts 19, 5. It says, When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, my question is, in any of these verses, was there ever a clear statement that said, this is how you should baptize people, in the name of the Lord Jesus? Did God, did the Lord Jesus Christ, or did the Holy Spirit say, here is the clear statement where you need to baptize? No, you just say, you just see where men either just baptized people in the name of the Lord Jesus, or they just said to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus. But even with these statements, these statements do not necessarily mean that they only baptized them in the name of Jesus Christ. There's no quote where it says, and then Peter opened his mouth and said, I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You never see that quote one single time. You have the narrator telling you that they were baptizing people in the name of Jesus Christ, but what does it mean to do something in the name of someone else? Well, let's let the Bible answer that for us. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy chapter number 18. Look at verse number 20 when you're there, Deuteronomy 18. But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. So what does it mean in the name of in this verse? It's saying in the place of, by the authority of, you know, on someone's behalf. He's saying if you say something on God's behalf that I didn't say, let him die. He's saying, and if you're going to say something on the behalf of or on the authority of a false god, let him die is what this verse is saying. Go to 1 Samuel chapter number 17. We'll see that the Bible is very consistent in this definition of in the name of. 1 Samuel chapter 17. When you're there, look at verse 45. And with a shield. What's David saying? He's saying you're coming to me with these physical armaments, with these physical weapons, but I'm coming to you on the behalf of, in the place of, by the authority of the Lord of hosts. That is what he's saying by saying in the name of. Go to 1 Samuel chapter number 25. Flip over to 1 Samuel chapter number 25. And look at verse 9. So these are messengers. These are people who are sent by David to speak. And so they're speaking in the name of David on his behalf to Nabal. Now, we're not going to go through all of these, but if you look this up in the Bible, this is very consistent what this means, just on someone's behalf by someone's authority. So is it a true statement to say that every single person that this church has ever baptized has been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus? Absolutely, right? Because it's by the authority of Jesus Christ. Who gave us the Great Commission? Jesus Christ. It's on the behalf of who? He's not here to do it anymore. He's in heaven. He's not here to do the job of baptizing people. The Bible says that he actually baptized no one, okay? He gave us that job to do. He gave us that authority. We're commissioned by him. So every single person that we ever have baptized has been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, does that mean that Pastor Shelley said, I baptized you in the name of the Lord Jesus only? No. So when the Bible is giving us these lists and acts about people baptizing in the name of the Lord Jesus, it does not specifically say that that's the only thing that came out of their mouth. It's just saying that that's the authority that they did it by. Not only that. Even if they did only baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus, that would not negate what Christ told us to do. If they did it wrong, then they did it wrong, but Jesus Christ did not say it wrong. And not only that, but the book of Acts is a transitional book. I mean, you're transitioning from the Old Testament to the New Covenant. It's not a manual on how to run a church, okay? The manuals on how to run a church is 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, the epistles, right? Acts is a book of action showing what people are doing. And there's people doing things that are right. There's people doing things that are wrong, okay? The book of Acts is not our instruction manual. You know what's our instruction manual? Matthew 28. That's the Great Commission. So anyone that wants to say that you need to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus does not know the Bible. It's a foundational doctrine, and it's very easy to prove in the Bible. Now let's go to Mark chapter number 28. Mark, or I'm sorry, Mark 11, verse 28. Yeah, good luck finding that. Mark 11. Mark 11, verse 28. And we get a story about Jesus Christ's authority being questioned by the Pharisees in verse 28. And say unto him, by what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. And they reasoned with themselves saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? But if we shall say of men, they feared the people, for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. So we have here a story about Jesus Christ's authority being questioned. And when his authority is being questioned, what does he point to? Does he point to anything about himself? Does he point to his own credentials? No, he points to the baptism of John. Now, here's the question. Where did Jesus Christ get his authority? Because obviously, he didn't want to answer these people because these people were not interested in the truth. They did not want to know the truth. They're reasoning with themselves, wondering, Oh, if we say this, then it's going to make us look bad to the people. They weren't actually caring about the truth, so Jesus Christ didn't care to answer them. Which, you know, be careful about a person that doesn't care about the truth. Christ just might not care about showing you the truth. But that's not this sermon. But go to John chapter number 12, and we're going to see Jesus Christ talking about his authority that he got, because he didn't keep this a secret from everyone else. He didn't want to tell the Pharisees, but he did tell everyone else where he got this authority several times in the Bible. Look at verse number 49, John chapter 12. Jesus speaking, he said, For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. So where did Jesus Christ's authority come from? It came from God the Father, obviously, right? But when he was questioned about that, what did he point to? John's baptism. Now let's look at John's baptism in John chapter number 1, and see where did John get his authority to baptize? Was John just a self-ordained preacher? Look at John chapter number 1, verse 29. The next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me, a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God. So who gave John his authority to baptize? God did. And God told him, hey, the person that you baptize and you see the Holy Ghost descend on that person and abide on that person, that's the person that's going to be baptizing others with the Holy Ghost. So he has this authority, and that's why Jesus pointed back to him, saying, Do you realize who I am? I'm the Son of God, because look at John's baptism. John got this revelation from God, saying that when he baptizes me, the Holy Ghost is going to abide on me. And so we see that both of these men, they had their authority from God the Father. Now, why is that important? Because when we read Matthew chapter 28, we see Jesus Christ transfer that authority straight to us. He gives the authority to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost to the local New Testament church. So baptism is not just some ritual. Baptism is not just something we do because you can get a picture of your little kid getting baptized. No, it's a real powerful thing that power came from God the Father to John the Baptist to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he transferred it to us to do what? To baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And we as a local church need to take that power seriously and not just blaspheme baptism and not just take it lightly by baptizing in a way that is unbiblical and that is not correct, whether that's by just sprinkling someone or whether that's by not baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Any other baptism than those two things is meaningless and vain. Go back to Acts chapter number 27. Acts chapter number 27, or sorry, Acts chapter number 8, verse 27. And so we're talking about the practice of baptism still, and number one, obviously, baptism is by full immersion. Number two, it's in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And number three, baptism must be performed after a person is saved, not in order to get saved. Baptism must be performed after a person is saved, not in order to get saved. Go back to Acts chapter number 8, verse 27. And he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all the treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot, read, Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, the sole winner, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read, the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man, should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. So you have an unsaved man, he's desiring to get saved, he's reading the Bible, but guess what? He's not saved, because you can't get saved reading the Bible. He said, Do you understand what you're reading? He says, How can I, except some man, should guide me? That's the whole point of a sole winner. If you haven't read the New Testament, that might go over your head, but it's pretty obvious throughout the New Testament, that faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. How shall they hear, except there be a preacher? How can they preach, except they be sent? It's very simple, and let's keep reading in verse number 35, or I'm sorry, verse number 31. And he said, How can I, except some man, should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb, dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation, for his life is taken from the earth? And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. So we have a guy, he's not saved, and what does Philip do being the good sole winner? He is, he asks him the question, and then he preaches on the gospel, right? He's preaching him Jesus Christ out of the Old Testament, and let's look at what happens in verse 36. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? He's asking, why can I not get baptized? What is stopping me right now from getting baptized? In verse 37, Philip says, And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He's saying, hey, the only thing that's stopping you from getting baptized is the fact that you're not saved. If you believe in Jesus Christ with all your heart, then let's get you baptized right now. Baptism happens after salvation. Now, isn't it funny that the modern versions take this verse completely out? Verse 37, he's just saying, What doth hinder me to be baptized? And he baptized him. Well, that's convenient for, you know, Catholics that want to baptize babies. It's like, not only do you not immerse them in water, not only do some false religions not even baptize in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost, but you're baptizing a baby that's not even saved. It's like, every single aspect that the Bible teaches about baptism, these people don't understand. It's almost like they're not saved. They don't understand the Bible, right? It's like the most simple things, the most carnal thing, just the practice of baptism, just the administration of baptism. We're not talking about spiritual pictures. We're just saying, hey, how do you baptize someone? They need to be saved. It's that simple. Where do we get that doctrine from? Acts chapter 8. After he made that profession of faith, verse 38, and he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them. So when the Bible is your boss, you're only going to be baptizing people that are saved. That's why Pastor Shelley asked every single person, you know, he's asked them basically if they're saved. Do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins, that he was buried, that he rose again? Have you trusted him alone for your salvation? However he words it, he's making sure that they believe on Jesus Christ. He's making sure that they get saved, because if someone gets baptized and they're not saved, even if they were fully submerged, even if it was in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, then it's meaningless and vain. And so if you don't have all three of these aspects, you have to have all three for it to be a biblical baptism, if you were baptized and you weren't submerged, if you were baptized and you weren't baptized in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost, if you were baptized and you were not saved, then you should get rebaptized, because all three of those have to be present in order to have a biblical baptism. You just got wet any other way. You just got wet any other way. And you know, sometimes maybe people slip through the cracks and we think someone's saved and they get baptized, and you ask them a couple weeks later and it's like, whoa, you're not saved, that person needs to get rebaptized, because they were not saved, okay? Now, I got rebaptized not for any of these reasons, I just personally didn't like the fact that I was baptized by a ruckmanite, and you know, I'm not saying I needed to get baptized, I don't think that I biblically needed to get rebaptized, but hey, I was saved, I was submerged, and I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but I just didn't like the fact that a ruckmanite baptized me, because he probably wasn't saved, and I'm just like, you know what, I'm going to let Pastor Jimenez baptize me, okay? I feel a lot better about that baptism, and so that was just my personal conviction, but the important thing is that we understand the practice of baptism, that it hits all three of these categories. So, let's skip some of this. So, let's look at what some false religions teach, as far as trying to teach that baptism saves you. Let's go to Mark chapter 16. There's a lot of religions that teach something called baptismal regeneration, saying that your spirit is born again by baptism, by physical baptism, and one of the proof texts they use is Mark chapter 16, verse 16, where it says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now, I think it's so funny when people try to use this verse to teach that you have to be baptized to be saved, partially because that most of the people reading modern versions, their Bible says that this verse shouldn't even be in the Bible to begin with, which is hilarious. So, it's like, I love how a lot of people want to use a verse that they don't even think should be in the Bible to teach their false doctrine, but I actually do believe that this verse should be in the Bible. I believe every word of God is pure, and I believe that this verse does not teach in any way that you must be baptized physically to be saved. Think about this. This is just saying that if a baptized person believes in Jesus Christ, that they'll be saved, but if they do not believe, they'll be damned. It does not say if they do not be baptized, that they'll be damned. It's like saying this. He that believeth in Jesus Christ and lives in Texas shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. It's not saying he that believeth in Jesus Christ and lives in Texas shall be saved, and he that liveth in Oklahoma shall be damned. You can't just say the opposite of one part of this verse and apply it to the second part of this verse. That's not what the Bible says. Not only that, it would be contradicting hundreds of verses in the Bible. So, are hundreds of other verses in the Bible clear statements wrong, or do you just not understand this verse? Are you just misinterpreting this verse? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. Acknowledge him in all thy ways, and he shall direct thy paths. You want to know why that's my favorite verse in the Bible? Because when I come across something in the Bible that I don't understand, I can just trust God with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding. If I say, I have a hundred verses here that teach salvation is by faith alone, and I don't understand this one verse, I'm just going to trust God that all those other verses are still true and that I just don't understand this verse yet. I'm not just going to throw out my whole faith. I'm not just going to throw out the whole word of God because of one verse, but this verse doesn't teach that anyways. It's like a deer with antlers is an animal, but a deer without antlers is not an animal. That's like how they're reading this, you know what I mean? A snake with a rattler is a reptile, but a snake without a rattler is not a reptile. That's how NIV churches read the Bible. They do not understand simple logic. They do not understand grammar. They do not understand the word of God. They don't understand anything. They don't understand that women shouldn't be wearing pants. They don't understand what bathroom you should go into. Don't teach us the Bible. I mean, give me a break. Ephesians 2 8 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Getting baptized is a work. So, if this verse is teaching work salvation, then please explain to me Ephesians 2 8 9. I mean, they just want to destroy your faith in the word of God or something, or just expect that people won't actually read it. It's horrible. Here's another proof text that they use. Go back to our text chapter, 1 Peter chapter 3. I'm sorry, go to 1 Corinthians 1. I'll read for you 1 Peter chapter 3. This is another verse they like to take out of context where it says, The like figure, whereunto even baptism, doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, this verse is really easy. First of all, it tells you that it's the picture of baptism that saves you, which is what? The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only that, it tells you not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, in parentheses. It's saying this is not cleaning you up. This is not cleaning up your flesh. The only thing that's going to clean you up is the blood of Jesus Christ. So that's a really simple verse, but you're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 14. Paul says, I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius. So according to all these false religions, the Lutherans, all these different denominations, Paul only got two people saved because he only baptized two people. Do you believe Paul only got two people saved? How stupid is that? Verse 15, lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name, and I baptized also the household of Stephanus. Okay, so three. Beside I know not whether I baptized any other. Why? Four, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. So he's saying, you know why I only baptized three people? Because Christ didn't send me to baptize, but he sent me to preach the gospel. He completely separates these two things. Baptism, the gospel, not the same thing. Christ sent him to preach the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to get people saved. If baptism was a part of that equation, he would have been baptizing everyone because he wanted to get people saved. That's what the Apostle Paul did on this earth. So once again, it just shows these false prophets do not understand the Bible. Acts chapter number two. We were here earlier, but let's look at it again. This is another proof text that they use. Acts chapter number two, verse 37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in the heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles. Now this question is very important. Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, through the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost. Notice what these people did not say. They did not say, what shall I do to be saved? Jesus said, hey, what shall I do? What should we do? Now there was a time when someone asked, what shall I do to be saved? And the answer was, and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But if you're asking, hey, what should you do? Well, you should get baptized. You should believe on Lord Jesus Christ. You should go to church. You should go soul winning. You should read your Bible every day. You should pray every single day. You should memorize scripture. You should repent of all your sins, which you can never do, but that's what you should do. There's lots of things that you should do, okay? And Peter's just answering, hey, what shall I do? Repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord. That is what we should do. That is a true statement, but that's not teaching that you have to be baptized to be saved. Once again, that would just be contradicting so much of the Bible. And I'll read for you Acts 19, 4, it says, Then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him. That is on Christ. So what was John the Baptist teaching in his baptism? Repentance, what is that? That they should believe on Jesus Christ. So when in Acts 2 he's saying repent and be baptized, that's what he's talking about. Repent by believing on Lord Jesus Christ. Wouldn't make sense. Repent of your sins and be baptized. It's like, it doesn't even make any sense. How would you be saved by repenting of your sins is such a lie. So those things are just simple principles. That's the practice of baptism. You've got to be submerged. It's got to be in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And you have to be saved. It does not save you. So now let's talk about the purpose of baptism. Go to John chapter 15, the purpose of baptism. Number one, the purpose of baptism, it is your first step in building a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's your first step in obedience and building a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll read for you John 14, 15, it says, If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 15, 13 says, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father have I made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. And whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. So Jesus Christ, he wants us to bring forth fruit. And so, how do we bring forth fruit? Well, it's by following his commandments. And the very first thing that you do in obedience to God is getting baptized after salvation. That is the first commandment you follow. And hopefully, after you get baptized, that'll motivate you to want to follow other commandments of Jesus Christ. Like going to church. Like going out and preaching the gospel. And then you know what, you'll find yourself in a position where you're the friend of God, and you're bringing forth much fruit, like Jesus said. Why? Through obeying his commandments, that's how. Not to get saved, but to have a good relationship with Jesus Christ. And what's funny is, these NIV churches, these Free in Christ, bro, rock and roll churches, they all talk about how much they love God. And about how much they're just a friend of God. And, you know, it's all about a relationship. Yet they would not be interested in the first part of this sermon. They wouldn't be interested in the commandments of God. On how to do things correctly according to the word of God. But Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. And he says, you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. So these churches, you know, they want a virtue signal about how loving they are, and how good friends that them and God are. But yet they don't follow their commandments. Yet they have an unbiblical baptism. It's like, you're not even at step one. You don't even know God. Not to mention are you his friend. You're not even close. You need to see part one of the sermon before you can even start being close to being the friend of God. It's making sure that you're baptized biblically. Another purpose of baptism is to identify with Christ. Go to Romans chapter number six. When you get baptized, something you do publicly in front of people, identifying yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Romans six verse one. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. So when you're baptized, one of the things that you're doing is you're identifying with the death of Christ. It's a picture of the death of Christ and you're saying, hey, I believe in the death of Christ. I believe what the Bible says about it. And look at verse number four. 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. You're also publicly identifying with the burial and the resurrection of Christ. I mean, it's not enough just to say that you believe in the death. I mean, what is what does that profit you? Nothing. Right. But we're identifying with the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ. That is what the purpose of baptism is, is to publicly identify with that and saying, hey, this is a new me. I'm saved now. I'm born again and I'm identifying with the Lord Jesus Christ that paid for my salvation. And another reason is to build unity in the body of Christ. Go to the first Corinthians chapter number 10. First Corinthians Chapter 10. This is another really important aspect of being baptized. First Corinthians 10, verse one. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. So we know that Moses and the congregation in the Old Testament is a picture of the New Testament church. It's even referred to as the church. Moses is a clear picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. And when they were baptized in the Red Sea, they were baptized unto Moses. Right. And when we get baptized, we already talked about it. Who are we getting baptized in the name of the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Right. So we're being baptized unto the Lord. We're being our we're identifying with the Lord. But guess what? You know how it says that they they all drink of the same spiritual meat. They all partook of the same rock. It's the same for us. Right. It builds unity. And it's like when we're getting baptized. Hey, the same death and burial and resurrection that saved me, saved you. And that's the same one that we're all identifying with. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Right. It unifies us. And you know what you have? When you have a body of baptized believers that come together for the for the intention, for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission, you know what that's called? That's called a church. That's called a local New Testament church. Baptism is a very important part of that. That's what identifies us together. Hey, look, we've all partaken of the same spiritual meat. We've all partaken of the same spiritual drink, which is Christ. And when we were all baptized in the same manner, in the name of the Father and Son of the Ghost, we were all submerged, we were all saved when we got baptized. That builds camaraderie. That builds unity. We all have that one baptism and we're all one body of Christ in this church. That is an important aspect. 1 Corinthians 12. Flip over. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 11. But all these worketh that one in the self same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. So, you know, whether our ethnicity is Gentile or Jew, whether we're rich or poor, whether we're male or female, it doesn't matter what our background is. What matters is we're baptized by the same spirit. The same authority that John the Baptist had from God the Father, that Jesus Christ had, that he passed on to us, we're baptized by that same spirit and it makes us one body. It is an important aspect of baptism. Part of it is to build unity in the church and we need to have it. So we talked about the practice of baptism. We talked about the purpose of baptism. Go to Ephesians chapter number two and let's talk about the picture of baptism. Number one, baptism pictures that like as Christ was raised from the dead, we should walk in newness of life. Ephesians chapter number two. Let me get there myself. Ephesians chapter number two. Because before we were saved, we were completely dead. And that's what this verse is going to say. Ephesians 2, 1. So the Bible is very clear that before we were saved, we were dead and we walked according to the counsel of this world. The unsaved, whether they know it or not, they are all walking according to the plan of Satan. They're all walking according to the devil's plan. That's why seven days a week you see a vaccine line going for hours and hours and hours around my house by the community college right there because it's just like following the course of Satan. Everyone's walking according to that course because they're not saved, because they're not regenerated, because they don't have the truth. And the fact is that doesn't make us better than them because if we were unsaved, we were on that same course. We were just as deceived. We ourselves were sometimes disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. We were the same way before we were saved. But what makes us different now is that we have the mind of Christ, that we are saved. It doesn't make us better than them. But hey, that's one of the pictures of baptism. It's to show that as Christ was raised from the dead, we also should walk in newness of life. We're not dead anymore. He quickened us. He brought us back to life. So it makes no sense for someone who's been brought back to life to just lay down and act like they were dead. Think about the story of Lazarus. Imagine if the Lord Jesus Christ rise up and walk Lazarus and he's like, all right, and he just lays back down. That's a Christian that doesn't get baptized. That's a Christian that doesn't walk in newness of life. And let's go to that story. Let's go to John chapter number 11. John chapter 11. John chapter 11. And let's skip some of this story for the sake of time. Let's go to verse 32. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet saying unto him, Lord, if thou has been here, my brother had not died. So her brother Lazarus is dead. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled and said, where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how he loved him. And some of them said, could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the stone. Martha the sister of him that was dead saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God. Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about him with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose him and let him go. This is an amazing story. And we have Lazarus who is dead, which is a picture of an unsaved person, right? And he speaks to him, Lazarus comes forth. How does he raise him from the dead? By the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. How are we saved? By the word of God, right? And he gets up and he's bound in grave clothes and a napkin, right? And just imagine if Lazarus would have just laid back down. It's like you just got raised from the dead. You were completely dead. Jesus Christ just performed a miracle and resurrected you. And imagine if he just was like, I'm just going to lay down and chill here until I die a second time. You know what? It is just as stupid for a Christian to get saved, to get born again, to be quickened, and then to not get baptized and to not walk in newness of life. It makes no sense for you, a living person, to be living like a dead person. It makes no sense for you to just be lying down in the grave. No, why don't you get baptized as a picture of the fact that you want to walk in newness of life and the fact that now you do want to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't want to be the same dead person you were. You don't want to be the same drunk, the same fornicator, the same person shooting who knows what in your arm at the vaccine line, okay? You want to be raised to walk in newness of life, to be holy, to be separated, to touch, not the unclean thing, okay? To not eat the blood or the life thereof or anything like that. Don't be living like a dead person when you're already raised again. It makes no sense. Be as stupid as Lazarus doing that. Go to Romans chapter number six. Romans chapter number six. Romans six, I think, is the best chapter that explains this point, that baptism purposes the fact that now you should walk, or I'm sorry, pictures the fact that now you should walk in newness of life. Romans chapter six, verse six. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed and henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we also shall live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. So he's saying that it's a conscious decision, that now that we know that we're born again, now that we know we're saved, reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin. Yield your members as servants to God. It's something that you have to purposefully do. It does not come naturally, but now that we are quickened, that is what we should be doing. It makes no sense for us to be living like we're dead. Hey, we're crucified with him, but our spirit is resurrected, just like his was resurrected. So obviously baptism is an outward representation of what happened inwardly. That we were dead with Christ, but as Christ rose again from the dead, hey, we're alive with Christ spiritually. Our spirit, he hath quickened. And keep your finger in Romans chapter 6. We're going to come back there in a minute, but let's go to Titus chapter number 3. Titus 3. Titus 3, look at verse 3. It says, For we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. See, now that you're saved, the only thing that's good and profitable to you is good works, because all the money that you accumulate in the world, all the things that you do at your job, all the things that you build, you know, your physical family, hey, everything is going to pass someday. But what is going to remain, what's going to be profitable, what's going to be eternal, is your good works. The gold, silver, and precious stone, the stuff that you do for God, now that you're born again, now that you've been baptized, you should walk in that newness of life, because the good works are what's good and profitable unto men. But doing anything else, wasting your time, living in sin, living for the flesh, none of that is good and profitable to you, it's actually damaging to you, it's actually going to bring death in your life, it's going to bring destruction to your life, and you can't carry it with you in the end anyways. So the only thing that's good and profitable to you is walking in that newness of life, following Christ's commandments, actually being in a good church, going above and beyond, doing what Christians should be doing, reading the Bible, praying, winning souls to Christ, and doing as much as you can for God, and not just being the zero Christian. What else does baptism picture? Well, it pictures that as Christ was physically resurrected from the dead, that we ourselves will be physically resurrected from the dead someday, not just spiritually. We're not just spiritually quickened, but we actually physically will rise again with Christ as well. I told you to keep your place in Romans 6, let's read verse 4 again. So it's a great promise. Not only are we spiritually quickened, but just like Jesus Christ is the first fruits from the dead, the first person to resurrect from the dead physically, we also will do the same thing. We also, someday, will be physically resurrected in our new bodies. Let's look at that in 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4. Let's look at verse 13. Now, Lazarus, Jesus described as being asleep. So just a saved person that is dead. Then, which we are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So every single saved person throughout all of eternity someday is going to get a new, glorified, resurrected body. And whenever the rapture happens on that day, the dead in Christ are going to rise first. All the Old Testament saints, all the people that were saved throughout all of history before us, they're going to rise from the dead first. And then, you know, if by God's grace, we in this room are still alive on this earth at that time, then we would be resurrected after that, or whoever is going to be on the earth at that time. You know, it comes to the dead in Christ first, then us that are alive and remaining. But the fact is, every Christian is going to get a new body. Every single person that's ever put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ is going to get a new, glorified, resurrected body. So when we're baptized and we go into the water and we come back up, not only does that show the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection, not only does that show that we're spiritually quickened, that we were dead, but we're spiritually quickened by Christ, but it also shows that like as Christ was physically raised from the dead, we too will be physically raised from the dead someday. And hey, that's an exciting thought. No more back pain. No more whatever ailments you have in your body. No more baldness. No more being overweight. No more whatever it is. Your body is going to be perfect. Now the Ruckmanites want to say that you're going to be like 33-year-old Jesus Christ clones, but that's not true, okay? You're not going to all be looking like 33-year-old Lord Jesus Christ. That's ridiculous. But let's go to 1 Corinthians 15. And we're getting close to wrapping up here, 1 Corinthians 15. And this, almost this whole chapter is about the resurrection and about the fact that we're going to get our glorified bodies. And there's too much to read in this chapter for time's sake, so let's just start reading in verse 50. It says, And this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So death is going to be destroyed someday. The grave is going to have no victory whatsoever. Even people that are saved, who their physical bodies have been lying in the grave for thousands and thousands and thousands of years, hey, that grave will not have victory over them in the end. In the end, all of us will be changed. And look at verse 58. You know, this is the theme verse of Steadfast Baptist Church. And what is it in the context of? Our resurrection. Look at verse 58. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You know what should motivate you to be steadfast, unmovable, not being afraid of any persecution, not being afraid of them which kill the body, rather fearing Him which can destroy both soul and body in hell? What can make you always abounding in the work of the Lord, no matter what is going on? The fact that in the end, you get resurrected. That the fact in the end, it doesn't matter what happens to your body. It doesn't matter how we die. It doesn't matter how long our physical bodies stay in the grave. Someday at the last trump, we'll all be changed. Someday at the last trump, we will all rise again, and all of us will be victorious. Through who? Jesus Christ. That's who. So you know what? Baptism may be a foundational doctrine, but it's exciting to me. Because it has some pretty powerful pictures, does it not? It has some pretty beautiful pictures, and it's glorifying to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why I really hate any false doctrine, but especially false doctrines about baptism because it pictures Christ. It pictures what He did for us. You know, we should never tolerate, we should never stop preaching about baptism. So what's the application to this sermon? Obviously, I mean, if you haven't been baptized, you need to get baptized. That's application number one. If you were baptized unbiblically, if you were baptized when you were not saved, if you weren't submerged in water, if you were six feet away from a pedophile and he was squirting you with a squirt gun, hey, you need to get re-baptized, okay? But, more important, and think about this. I want to read this, part of this article. Many people have actually died throughout history just to be baptized biblically. Now, there's this group called the Anabaptists, and I'm not saying that they're all saved. I'm sure some of them were saved. I'm not saying that I agreed everything they taught. But one thing that they taught correctly was baptism. And they were called Anabaptists because they were called the re-baptizers. That's what Anabaptists means because they didn't accept the Roman Catholic Church's baptism. And when someone got saved, they re-baptized them again. And I want to read you a couple parts of this article. You can look at this article after the sermon, but it says, Sixteenth century Anabaptists were ardently disliked and despised. This fact is nowhere more aptly illustrated than in the nasty nicknames given them. Indeed, the name Anabaptists itself, which means re-baptizer, was probably designed to these people under the penalties of Roman civil law, which in a series of imperial edicts from approximately 390 to 420 AD decreed death to those who were re-baptized or re-baptizers. So, you know, the imperial law, the Romans and the Roman Catholic Church literally had the death penalty on people that were re-baptized and who were re-baptizers. And so it blows my mind how quickly we forget history and how we could just lightly esteem something and, Oh, yeah, it's a commandment of God. But, you know, I'm saved by grace through faith. I don't need to do it. I don't want to be embarrassed. I don't want to go in front of the congregation and have everyone see me. But yet people were dying for it. You know, yet people were being killed by the Roman Catholic Church to be baptized and it's like you're afraid of a little embarrassment of standing up in front of people. It's ridiculous. We need to obey God's commandment whether you're comfortable with it or not and realize that people literally died to be baptized. And like I said, I'm not saying all these people were saved, but some of them were. I guarantee you some of them were. And some of our brothers in Christ were killed in times past for this doctrine. You know, that should motivate us to take it seriously. Here's another thing it says, Of course, many had them executed Catholics by the traditional burning at the stake with a small bag of gunpowder tied around the neck of the victim to ensure an early death as a humanitarian gesture and Protestants by drowning and beheadings. So people who were baptized or re-baptized, what happened to them? Burned at the stake with a thing of gunpowder around their neck so that they explode or die quicker. People were drowned. People were beheaded. You know, elsewhere I've read how the Catholic Church would torture these people by putting their feet over the fire and literally just cooking their feet and leaving them alive to die of infection weeks or months later. You know, and it's like, oh, you don't want to be embarrassed by going in front of the congregation to be baptized. Wow, what a sorry excuse that is. If you're not baptized, you need to get baptized because people went through a lot worse than embarrassment for it. The last part of this I'll read. It says, To the Reformers, the denial of baptism to infants literally damned them because they believe in baptismal regeneration. Even the Zwinglians, whoever that is, and Calvinists who denied the sacramental power of baptism believed that the rejection of infant baptism excluded the child from the nurture and fellowship of God's people. To Martin Luther, that denial was blasphemy, a rejection of a power of God to act redemptively in a manner of his own choosing. He's saying that they're damning their children by not allowing them to be baptized. Through the word of God, through the word of water and baptism, this issue separated the Anabaptists from Christian fellowship and community in the eyes of all the Reformers. So these people, not only were they hated by the Catholics, not only they were persecuted by the Catholics, they were also persecuted by the Reformers and by these other Christian denominations. And isn't it funny how even to this day, Baptists, who do we get along with? Baptists, half the time. Sometimes we get along with other Baptists. Who do we hang out with? Do we hang out with Methodists? Do we hang out with the Reformers, the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, the Catholics, the Mormons? No. We believe in separation. Why? Because the Bible's very clear about this doctrine. And there's no room for compromising on this doctrine. It's not, oh, you know, it's okay to get baptized by immersion, it's okay to be baptized by sprinkling, it's whatever you prefer. No, it's what the Bible says, and that's it. And so, the Anabaptists, they were excluded from fellowship from everyone. They were hated by everyone. They were persecuted by everyone. And you know what? We need to keep preaching what the Bible says, no matter who dislikes it. This doctrine has caused a lot of contention throughout history, but that should not change the fact that we need to preach it. So the second application of the sermon is never underestimate the importance of the fundamentals. This is a fundamental Baptist church. Never get sick and tired of hearing about sermons about baptism. Never just be like, oh, another sermon about salvation by grace through faith. Oh man, I can't believe we're talking about the importance of the King James Bible again. Oh man, you know, Brother Duncan tonight is going to preach on church. Oh, we have to hear a sermon on church again. No, you need the fundamentals. And we need the fundamentals because if we let those things slip, we're going to end down a road into insane false doctrine, where you're squirting babies with squirt guns. You know, that's where false doctrine leads you. We want to continue to be a church that's built on the Word of God. I'll read for you a few more verses and we'll close. Philippians 3, 1 says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. And so, hey, it's not grievous for a preacher to preach what the Bible says, even if it's been preached a thousand times, because it's important, because it's what the Bible says. And for you and for us, when we're hearing sermons together, hey, it's safe for us, because we're sheep and we forget things and we wander astray. And sometimes we get backslidden and don't read our Bibles like we should, and that's why we need preaching to reign us in. And when you go out sowing, you're not going to get confused by Mark 16, 16. You're not going to get confused by 1 Peter chapter 3. You're not going to get confused by Acts 2, 38, because we need the preaching of the fundamentals. Psalm 11, 3 says, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? And the answer is nothing. The foundations are destroyed, everything will fail. Our church cannot succeed, any church cannot succeed, unless it has the foundations correctly. And so, steadfast, our name, Steadfast Baptist Church, hey, it actually applies to the sermon today, with baptism and with the resurrection. And so, we need to be steadfast in doctrine. We need to be steadfast in the fundamentals of the faith. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day, and thank you for the fundamentals. Lord, thank you for the King James Bible. I pray that everyone would take their time to read the Bible and to study, to show themselves approved, and not to allow any of these false doctrines to creep into their hearts or their families or this church, Lord. And we thank you for everything you do. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.