(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

There in verse 19 Jesus gives what's called the Great Commission. He tells them to go into all nations and teaching all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Teaching them. So there's a three-fold step there. There's that we're to go all nations and we're to teach all nations and we're going to preach to them the Word of God, instruct them how to be saved, to teach them. And then it says we're also to baptize them. And it also says that we are to teach them to observe all things. So there's three different things. To go and preach to them, to baptize them, and then to teach them all things that the scripture says. But part of the command of this Great Commission here that I want to focus in on is the command to baptize. And that's the title of the sermon this morning, the command to baptize. Because baptism is a command that's given in scripture. It's a clear, it is a very clear command in scripture. We are commanded to baptize. That's what he said there. Go be there for and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Lord, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. So we are to baptize people. That's a clear command. That's part of the Great Commission. And I just want to talk about this morning about the command of baptism. See part of that Great Commission that Jesus gave us there, Matthew 28, is the command to baptize those that are converted, those that would receive the gospel, those that would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, those that we would see saved when we go out winning souls. We ought to see them also baptized. It ought to be our hearts desire and our goal when we should strive to see not only people saved but also see people that are saved to be baptized. Because that is a command that we are given as Christians. That's a command that we are given as those that would preach the gospel. We are also to teach them to be baptized. Now Matthew chapter 21, I'll show you again where the part of the Great Commission is to baptize converts. And no doubt about it, it is a command to baptize converts. If you want to turn over to John chapter 1, and John chapter 21 is when Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees in the temple, they're asking him by what authority doest thou these things? And he poses this question to them as kind of a trick question where he says, if you answer me this, then I will also answer you. And he poses this question to them, he says, the baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or of men? So what I'm trying to focus in here is the fact that Jesus is challenging them to either give credence to John, what he was doing, and what John was doing is that he was baptizing. He was baptizing people in River Jordan, if you recall, and what Jesus is saying is, was it from heaven? Meaning, did he have the authority? Was that something he was supposed to be doing? And of course we know it is, and the fact that they didn't want to answer because they said if we say from heaven, he will say to them, why did he not then believe him? Because if they say from heaven, they're saying, yeah, John was legitimately doing what he was told to do. That was something that John was supposed to do. That was part of the command that he was given, was the command to baptize. You're there in John chapter 1, look at verse 33, and I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me. So of course, this is where John is first beholding Jesus Christ, where he's about to baptize Jesus Christ, where he's about to see the Lamb of God. And the Bible says there in verse 33 that John said, I knew him not, but he that sent me. And who was it that sent him? Well, it was God. It was God. God is the one that sent John, but he that sent me to baptize, what did he send him to do? To baptize. So we see here that in Matthew 28 is the clear command to baptize. It's something they were commanded to do, and it's the example of John, it was something that he was commanded to do, was to baptize people. So the command to baptize is a command that we have to obey today. It's a command that applies to us. Not only is the command to baptize people is something that we're supposed to be doing, but also we are commanded to be baptized, not just to baptize others, but we are actually commanded to be baptized. That is a command in scripture, that if we're going to obey God, that if we're going to be faithful to the Word of God, then we have to understand that it is our duty, it is our command to be baptized. It's the example that Jesus Christ gave to us. Jesus Christ gave to us the example of being baptized, and he commanded it. If you would turn over to Matthew chapter 3, I'll begin reading in verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have ye to be baptized of thee, and comeest 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. Now you see here that Jesus is setting that example of the command to be baptized. And the first thing I want to point out in this passage there is verse 13 where it says, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. You see, Jesus made it such a point that he actually had to go somewhere else. He actually made a point of taking time to go to a specific place, to a specific person, to be baptized. That's the example that Jesus Christ gave. The Bible says there that cometh Jesus to be baptized, meaning this, that Jesus intended to be baptized. That was something that he set out and purposed to do. And that's the example that he's given us when he's commanded us to be baptized. He's showing us here that if you want to be baptized, it's not going to just happen on accident. It's something you have to say, there's going to be a time, there's going to be a place, and there's going to be a person that baptizes me. And you're going to have to make a decision whether or not you decide to obey the command to be baptized. And that is the command of scripture, that we are to be baptized. Notice there also, in verse 15, And Jesus answering and said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus said that it becometh us, of course John, when Jesus comes to John, he kind of objects a little bit. He says, I have need to be baptized of thee, and cometh thou to me. And Jesus, what does he say to him, Suffer it to be now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now, what does Jesus say when he tries to put John's mind at ease? He says, it becometh us. That's not a phrase that we use very often. But what Jesus is saying there, he says that it is meet, it is proper, and it is suitable. That's what it means by it becometh, it is very becoming of us. You ever heard somebody say, well, that's very becoming of that person. We would expect that of that person. That seems to suit that person. That's what it means when he says that it becometh us. You see, he was saying, he was showing us here that for us to be baptized, that is what we ought to do. That is becoming for us to be baptized. It is suitable for us to be baptized. It is proper for us to be baptized, because being baptized is the command in scripture. And if you would, turn over to Acts chapter 10, verse 48, and we'll look at another scripture that shows us that being baptized is a command. Not only are we commanded to baptize, we are also commanded to be baptized. You know something that we are supposed to do now that it just seems like one hand washes the other there. Obviously, if we are commanded to baptize, that would mean that there are some people that need to be baptized. It's one command for both, that it is the command of baptism, both to baptize and to be baptized. I can't obey the command to baptize somebody if there is nobody to obey the command to be baptized, and vice versa. And he commanded them, Acts 10, verse 48, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed they him to tarry certain days. So we see here that he's commanding them to be baptized. He didn't say it's an option, he didn't say if you feel like it, he didn't say if you're not scared, he didn't say if you're not nervous, he didn't say go ahead and be baptized if it's something you feel like doing, he said no, be baptized in the name of the Lord. That's the command in scripture. Look over to Acts, chapter 2, verse 38, and we'll see another command in scripture. Acts chapter 2, 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. So there again, a very clear instance in scripture where a man is commanding others to be baptized. He's saying be baptized, every one of you, and there's no caveat, there's no option, there's no excuse, there's no unless in that scripture, he's saying be baptized, no excuses, it's something you ought to do. It's a command in scripture that we are to be baptized. Now he says there, and of course Acts 2, verse 38, is the siren call of every Pentecostal and apostolic Holy Roller that you'll ever come across. They all seem to know this verse because this is key to one of their doctrines, where they'll say that you have to be baptized to be saved. And friend, that's just plain not true, and a simple study of the scripture would show us very quickly that baptism has nothing to do with salvation. The command to baptize has nothing to do with you going to heaven, and we're going to get into that in a little bit, but if you'll notice, first of all, he says there, be baptized for the remission of sins, and they'll say, well see there, you have to be baptized to have the remission of sins. Well they have some misunderstandings here about what this passage, how it reads and what it's saying. It says there, be baptized, not to have your sins remitted, but because they are remitted. Now what does it mean to have something remitted when it says your sin for the remissions of sins? What does that mean, remission? Well it simply means this, the cancellation of a debt, a charge, or a penalty. Just if you say you had an outstanding debt to a credit card company or a bank loan, and they decided, this would never happen of course, but let's put on our imagination caps here and just play pretend for a minute, that they decided to remit your loan, they decided to remit your debt. They would say, you know what, we've canceled that debt. They would say that there will be no more charge to you, we've removed the penalty, right? That's what it would mean to have a debt remitted. And he's saying here, be baptized because your sins are remitted, for the remission of sins. Now I think the contradiction that they, because when you first read this you can see how someone maybe at first glance would say, okay look, it does say be baptized everyone in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. But the problem that we have is a lot of people don't understand how that word for is being used. I believe that's the key word there that's being misunderstood, that's being twisted in people's minds in order to teach this false doctrine that you have to be baptized to be saved. You see, contradictions, they often result from a misunderstanding of the proper use of words. And the word that's being misunderstood there is the word for. Now we know that they can't mean that we have to be baptized to be saved because that would create a contradiction in scripture, wouldn't it? If we were to say, have all these verses, entire books, entire chapters that say nothing about being baptized to be saved, about you having to be dumped in water in order to go to heaven. And then we have all these other verses that would affirm the fact, as we believe, that a person only has to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be saved. If we have all the scores of scriptures that we could turn to and look at and read where Jesus said, whosoever believeth on me should not perish but have everlasting life, that the only thing a person has to believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thine house. All these scriptures that show us the only thing a person has to do is believe. Well that would create a contradiction in scripture, wouldn't it? If we were to say, well thus say in Acts 2 to 38 that you have to be baptized for the remission of sins. Well what he's showing us here is you're not being baptized for, you're being baptized because your sins have been remitted. Now we know that would create a contradiction because of the fact we know what remits sins, it's not baptism. Matthew 28 says this, for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for the remission of sins. Now that's Jesus Christ speaking there, and he didn't say this is the tank of water that I have filled that you must be dumped in for the remission of sins, no he said it is my blood that is being shed for the remission of sins. That's how we receive the remission of sins, the shed blood of Christ. And it's blasphemous, it's wicked, it's downgrading to the blood of Christ to say that there's anything else you have to do but put your faith and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation. So when somebody comes to me and tells me that I have to be baptized to be saved, what they're doing is they're downplaying the death of Christ. They're saying the blood of Jesus Christ is not enough. Well that's just plain wrong my friend, that's why Jesus Christ came, that's why the Son of God came to earth and suffered and bled and died for me. He said this is my blood which is shed for the remission of sins. You see Jesus bled and died, that's the remission of my sins. That's how my sins have been cancelled, that's how the death of my sinful nature has been cancelled, it's through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through some tank of water. So Acts 10, 43, to get to Him, speaking of Jesus, to Him, give all the prophets witness that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. So again, how do we receive the remission of sins? Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. No talk of baptism, no talk of being dumped, no talk of being sprinkled, no talk of having your sins forgiven by a tank of water. But through the blood of Christ, that's how we're saved. That's how we receive the remission of sins, by believing in Him, not by having ourselves dumped under water, as these apostolic, Pentecostal people would have you believe. You see baptism is not necessary for salvation, because salvation is required through the shed blood of Christ. That's why it says there that they are to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. It would be like me saying, I have come to the bank for I have received a check. Does that mean I'm going to the bank to receive a check? No I'm going to the bank because I have, for I have, because, because of the fact, for I have. That's how the word for is being used there. You see baptism is not necessary for salvation. If it were, the Bible would be full of contradictions. You say, well baptism is necessary for the remission of sins, okay then why didn't Jesus mention it? Why didn't He say it was His blood that was necessary for the remission of sins? Why didn't He say it was whosoever believeth in Him, or have faith in Him, or put their trust in Him, shall receive the remission of sins? To sit there and say that baptism is necessary for the remission of sins, that's to contradict clear scripture. You see belief in Christ is the only requirement for salvation. And you'll hear these people, they'll say things like, well you know, baptizing the name of Jesus, and it's by the way, it's apostolic, Pentecostal, holy rollers who believe that you baptize in the name of Jesus only. No Baptist has ever taught that or believed that, ever. And they'll say, well it's the example of the apostles, you know, that you have to baptize people in order to get them saved. Well let's look to the apostle Paul and see what he said. Let's look at the writings of the apostle Paul. Let's look to the example of the most accomplished apostle of all of them. The one born out of due season, right? The last apostle. And let's look to him, the man who wrote the vast majority of the New Testament, the man that God used to reach the entire world in his day with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's look to that man and let's see what he had to say about this topic of baptism in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Turn it over there if you would please, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 14, I thank God, this is the apostle Paul, I thank God that I baptize none of you. Now if baptism is necessary for salvation, if baptizing people is something that they have to do in order to receive their remission of sins, is the apostle Paul making much sense here to say that I thank God that I baptize none of you? That would be something you think, that would be equivalent to us as Baptists who believe you do not have to be baptized, but that you only have to believe, but it would be equivalent to us going out and saying, I thank God that I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to none of you. That's what it would be. That would be the equivalent of it, to say, I thank God that I sat on my hands my entire life and never once preached the gospel. If you believe, if the apostle Paul believed that baptism was necessary for salvation, why is he thanking God that he baptized none of them? That doesn't make any sense. And he said in verse 15, lest any should say that I baptize in mine own name, and I baptize also the house of Stephanas, besides I know not whether I baptize any other. Verse 17, For Christ sent me not, not, not, not. I want these people who think you have to be baptized to be saved, get this through their head, who will appeal to the apostles in the book of Acts and say, look what they did. Well, let's look at the apostle Paul. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Now if being baptized for the remission of sins was part of the gospel, then why did Christ send him not to baptize if it's part of the gospel? Doesn't make any sense. The gospel, preaching the gospel of salvation and baptism are two completely separate subjects. Baptism has nothing to do with giving you to heaven. It has everything to do with you obeying the commandments of Christ. All it is is you showing that you're serious about living for God, that you're serious, you're making a public declaration and showing people that you have already confessed Christ, that you have already received their mission of sins. That's what it means, you're identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we take it for granted here. It's just something that we'll get around to one day, and it's not that big a deal. But there's places in this world where if you're baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and it's found out, there can be some serious consequences. You take people that are in the Muslim community, people that have grown up in Muslim households, that's a big deal when you convert to Christianity. That's a death penalty in some places. And for you to be baptized, that's a bold step. We take it for granted here. Our church, we can go down to any service we want, and the pastor before the service even begins asks, does anyone feel like getting baptized tonight? And they just fill up the tank out in the parking lot and we'll dunk you. Quick and easy. No persecution. You know, you get applauded at the end, right? Everyone says, amen, and there's a bit of applause. Good job, nice work. Way to do it. But in some places, it might be in your head. So we take it for granted. The apostle Paul here is showing us that being baptized is not something that is part of the gospel. And by what I mean by that, it's not part of what you need to do to be saved. It's not how you receive the remission of sins. Don't let these Pentecostals try and twist that Acts 2-38 to confuse you. It's just not the case. We could look at some other verses that would show us that belief in Christ is the only requirement for salvation. That's something we need to nail down. Because for someone to say that baptism is necessary for salvation, well they're creating a very large contradiction in scripture. First Peter chapter 3 verse 21. First Peter chapter 3 verse 21. What is baptism? And what good is baptism without the preaching of the gospel? It's no good at all. It doesn't do anything for you. If you're not saved, nothing happened. There's no point in you getting baptized unless you're saved. You have to be saved. That's what gives baptism its weight. That's what makes it significant. Because of the fact that you've already been saved. That's what matters. You're turning over to First Peter chapter 3 verse 21 where the Bible says the light figure where unto even baptism doth also now save us. People say, whoa, see there's a verse that says baptism saves you. But this is a very tricky passage. Is he even referring to the baptism of water here? There are other baptisms in scripture, and this is a very tricky passage, but what he's showing us here is that he says that the baptism doth now save us, and then he says this, not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He's saying baptism, that's the answer of a good conscience towards God. It's not that it saves you, because he says it's not the putting away of the flesh. You see, you being baptized, that does not put away the filth of the flesh. That does not get your sins remitted. That's the blood of Christ. What he's saying here is it's the answer of a good conscience toward God. Now how do you receive a good conscience towards God? Well, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14 says this, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. So what is it that purges our conscience to serve the living God? What is it that gives us that good conscience that allows us to have the answer of a good conscience towards God? Again, how much shall the blood of Christ... you see, it's the blood of Christ that remits sin, it's the blood of Christ that gives us a pure conscience, a good conscience, that can answer towards God. It's not baptism. That would be foolish. That would be anybody that could just fill a tub of water and do a cannonball and they're going to go to heaven. And it makes light of the blood of Christ. Turn over to Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. We'll see that baptism is something that follows salvation. It's not something that results in salvation. It's something that follows salvation constantly, consistently in scripture. You turn over to Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 2 verse 41. Then they that gladly received his word... so they received the word, the preaching of the gospel, they received the word, were baptized. And same day were added about 3,000 unto them about 3,000. So they received the word and then they were baptized. They received it, they believed it, and then they went on and were baptized. Had they received the word and not been baptized, would they have gone to heaven? Yes! Absolutely. 100%. 100%. Because again, baptism does not save you. Baptism is the answer of a good conscience towards God. Baptism is identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Acts chapter 2. You're in Acts verse 8. I'll read again Acts chapter 2. Then they that gladly received his word... past tense. They had received his word. They received it. I'm sorry, I just read that one. Acts chapter 8 verse 13. When Simon himself believed, okay, it doesn't say that he was in the process of believing, he wasn't quite sure, but he said, you know what, I'll go ahead and get baptized, and then he continued with Philip. No, it says he believed also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered in holding the miracles and signs which were done. So we see a progression, we see a pattern here of when people were baptized. You know, they weren't baptized as a little baby. You know, they didn't have some man dressed up in a dress with his collar on backwards hold him over a little tank of water and take a momma's soup ladle and pour it on his head. That's not baptism. Baptism is something that happens to somebody who is mature enough, old enough to have understood that they're a sinner in need of a savior and have been saved, that have put their trust in Jesus Christ and has shed blood for salvation. That's the person that gets baptized, not a little baby. Acts chapter 8, verse 26, we'll read some scripture here. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, but of the way that goeth down from Jerusalem, and the gates of which is desert. And he arose and went, and behold, the men of Etheopoeia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, king of the Etheopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot, and in his chariot read Isaiah's the prophet. And then the spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah's, and said, Understand what thou readest? And he said, How can I except some man should guide me? He desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And 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 a shearer, so he opened not his mouth. As 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 some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. So he's given him the gospel at this point, right? He's taking the word of God, he's preaching the gospel, he's preaching of the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as they went on their way, they came to 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. Now let me ask you something, he's saying, if you want to be baptized, you have to believe with all your heart. If you believe with all your heart, and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are you saved, according to scripture? The answer is yes. Whosoever shall believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3 16. You know, whosoever puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ is saved. So he's saying, look, if you believe, then you can't be baptized. So as he's saying here, you better get baptized, because if you don't, it's straight to hell with you. No. He's saying, look, the belief was enough. This guy wanted to be baptized, he wanted to identify with Christ, he wanted to show, say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that's what he said, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he wanted to identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He wanted to be obedient to the command to be baptized. That's not being obedient to be saved, it's being obedient because that's what God has commanded. Those that are saved to do, those that would be saved by putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ are to be baptized. 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. Now, why did they have to go down into the water, why didn't Philip just run down and grab a cup and sprinkle them, if that's how you baptize people. No, they both had to go down into the water because baptism is by immersion, it's by going completely, that's the scriptural model, that's a whole other sermon. And both Philip and Eunuch, and he baptized him, and when they're come up out of the water, meaning they had to go down into the water, right? The spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the Eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. So we see here, from these scriptures that I've read, that belief in Christ is the only requirement for salvation. And that baptism is something that follows salvation. It's not something that precedes salvation, it's not something that's a part of your salvation. Baptism and salvation are two independent things that God has commanded for us to do. God has commanded that all men should be saved. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come unto repentance. He's the savior of all men, God wants the whole world to be saved. He's long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But He's also commanded that those that would repent, those that would believe and put their faith in Jesus Christ, should be baptized. And that is a duty as God's child for you to perform. It's not optional. It's something that must be done if you are going to live a Christian life, is to be baptized. You see, if we get baptized without belief, if a person doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, if Philip had taken that Ethiopian eunuch down there and he said, you know, I don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and Philip was like, well, you know, it's baptism that saves you anyway, so let's just go down there, it doesn't matter what you believe. No, belief has everything to do with it, and that's the only thing that matters to be saved. Baptism without a belief is just a bath. That's all it is. It's just you taking a bath. If you never believed on Jesus Christ, that's why when people have, you'll run into people out solvending, maybe went to some other church, and that church baptized them, but they also taught them that they could lose their salvation. They were trusting in themselves to be saved. They were, in fact, could not put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. They thought that if they messed up their life, they made the wrong mistake, that they could lose their salvation. They were still trusting in themselves, but yeah, they also were baptized. That's why that person needs to get baptized again. Because baptism is something that follows when you believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ. When you put your faith in the gospel of salvation by grace through faith, when you know that your soul is eternally saved, that you cannot lose your salvation, you're no longer trusting in your own works. Because if you think you can lose your salvation, you're trusting in your own works. You're saying, man, I've got to continue to be good enough to not lose it. That's works, friend. That's a back door, works, salvation, that's might as well just say, I've got to work in order to obtain salvation. You say, well, no, we don't believe that. We don't think you have to work to obtain it, but you've got to work to keep it. That's working for salvation. And if you've been baptized believing that, all you did was take a bath. And you need to get baptized again because baptism is something that follows with salvation. Now let me ask you this, is belief about baptism salvation? Absolutely it is. If you believe and never get baptized, will you go to heaven? Yes you will. Because baptism has nothing to do with you being saved. It has everything to do with you being obedient to the command to be baptized as God's child. The Bible says in Mark 16, 16, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And that's another verse these holy rollers love to cling onto, but they don't even understand it. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Is that a true statement? That if you believe and are baptized, you will be saved? Absolutely. You could believe and eat a ham sandwich if you're saved, friend, because believing is the only thing you've got to do. That's why it says in that same verse, but he that believeth shall not be damned. It didn't say he that believeth, he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned. He said the only thing that's going to damn you is whether or not you believe. He left out baptism on purpose. Because God wants people to believe and He wants them to be baptized. But the only thing you're going to be damned over, the only thing you're going to be condemned to hell over, is whether or not you believed, not whether or not you've been baptized. Acts 8 13, then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip. So we see another example, as we read earlier, that Simon believed, and he continued, and then he was baptized. You see, baptism follows salvation. Now I know these are some basic truths that we've done over this morning, and we're Baptists, I mean, that's what we are. We believe in Baptists, and that's what set us apart, going all the way back to John the Baptist. That's why I love that when you run into these Catholics, they'll say, well, you know, the Baptists are Protestant anyway, they came out of the Catholic Church, we're the ones that gave you your Bible. It's like, oh yeah, I forgot, what was that guy's name again, John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus Christ, the one who introduced Christ to the world, the one who prepared the way for Jesus Christ? I mean, if you want to get prideful about where your spiritual lineage comes from, we've got the trump card, John the Baptist, friend. Anyways, that's not the point I'm trying to make here. I'm just trying to, you know, obviously because we're Baptists, that's something that we should be very familiar with. I'm sure that a lot of this is not news to most of the people in the room, that baptism does not save us. Baptists, of all people, have a pretty firm grasp of what Baptism is and what it isn't. But I think because we're so familiar with it, that Baptism, if we're not careful, can become a dull subject. We could say, oh, a sermon on Baptism again, why can't he preach on this or that, we want that exciting sermon. But let me just say this to you and make my last point on this, is that Baptism is exciting. There's something exciting about Baptisms. If you don't get excited about it, it's probably because you don't see them very often. But Baptism is exciting. When you look at Scriptures, it's always associated with exciting things going on. Things that we as Christians ought to love to see. Things that would thrill our soul to see people being saved. Notice here, John was excited about Baptism. John the Baptist. What he was doing was exciting. I mean, what an exciting time, or thing it would have been to see John the Baptist baptizing. Go ahead and turn over to Mark chapter 1. I'm going to read to you from John chapter 3, but you turn it from Mark chapter 1. I want to remind us again of the excitement of Baptism. Yes, it's a command. Yes, it's something we as Christians, we as believers ought to do. It's not only to baptize converts, but to be baptized. We as those that have believed, we need to be baptized. We need to show our obedience into God's Word. Show God that we're serious about keeping his commandments. It's like the first baby step in Christian growth is to be baptized. I mean, how hard is it really to be baptized? You're not even the one doing the work. Someone else is dunking you. You're weightless in the water for a few seconds. You just got to put on that silly robe, or that gown, or whatever they call it. You don't even have to do that. You can just go get some clothes on, whatever you're wearing. All you need is a body of water. Just enough to get your head under. It's not hard to do. The hard part is learning all things. Being saved is easy. Being baptized is easy. But the hard part is learning all things, and observing to do whatsoever things he hath commanded us. That's the hard part. That's what takes a lifetime. That's the part that takes serious work and effort on our part. It's to learn and understand the Scriptures, and to obey them. But baptism? It's easy. The hardest thing about baptism for some people is just the fear. Just the fear that other people are going to be watching you. But other people are watching you all the time. They're watching you whenever you go to church. No matter what you're doing. If you're running around at church, or you're talking to somebody, or people see you all the time doing other things, what's the difference if they see you get baptized? It's still you. It's not like your face changes. It's still you. It doesn't make you look any uglier or prettier. You're just getting wet. That's all it is. The point I want to make here is that we can grow very dull with the subject. We can grow dull with hearing. We can say, boy, I get it. I know how to baptize. We should be baptized, blah, blah, blah. But we forget the excitement that's associated with baptism. The Bible says here in Mark, chapter one of the Bible says in John 3, and John also was baptizing an anon near to Salem because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. It says that when he was baptizing there, that John went to that place because there was much water. Now let me ask you something. Why would he need much water? Because there's much people. I mean, think about it. If he decided to set up a tank like we have at Faithful Word, and much people came, how would you feel about being the 50th person baptized in that same tank of water? You'd be kind of gross, wouldn't you? You might be a little hesitant. But if you're at a brook, if you're at a stream, if you're at a river, or even at a lake where there's flowing water, that water stays clean and stays fresh, you can baptize multitudes. You can baptize hundreds, thousands. There's no end to the amount of people that you can baptize. And that's what we saw taking place with John. Look there in Mark, chapter one. The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the Prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare he the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preached the baptism of repentance for their mission of sins. And they went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. And he had all the land of Judea being baptized. That's exciting. I mean, can you imagine that? John baptizing people by just scores? Just countless. I mean, try and imagine counting those numbers, just all day. Baptizing, baptizing, preaching, and baptizing, and preaching, and baptizing. That's exciting! That makes baptism exciting! When we see that. You know the people that are most bored with baptism? The people don't do any baptizing. People will never see the baptismal water stirred. They're the ones that think it's a boring subject. Because all it does is when you get on it, they realize, wow, we haven't baptized anybody in a year, two years, three years. But we've got Baptists on the name of the door! We haven't baptized anybody. Maybe you should look at your methods. Maybe you should look at what you're preaching. Maybe you should look at how you're doing things. Because John the Baptist was somebody who baptized. John the Baptist is somebody who put Baptist... He put the baptize in Baptist, didn't he? I mean, he gave us the reason why we're called Baptists. Because he was busy baptizing. But most Baptists do very little baptizing, don't they? They're not putting the baptizing in Baptist. They're not putting the Baptist in Baptizing. I keep getting it backwards, but it's a good one. Makes sense. But can you imagine baptizing these multitudes? Can you imagine being there and beholding John the Baptist, baptizing all the land of Judea? What a thrill! You know, back in Traverse City, Michigan, where we're from, every two years, there's an air show. It's there every year. But every two years, the Blue Angels come to town with the F-14s from the Navy and they put on an air show. And that draws a lot of people. And what they do is they put the air show on over West Bay, Grand Traverse Bay. It's one of the inlets from Lake Michigan and there's a 13 mile long peninsula that comes out and divides into West Bay and into East Bay. And West Bay, I mean, it's a huge body of water. Anybody from Arizona is just completely scratching their heads and they have no idea what I'm talking about. But there's places in this world where there's just miles and miles of, you know, as far as your eye can see where it's just nothing but water. You know, with great depth and it's very nice actually. But the point I'm trying to make here is that people would gather down there at West Bay and they would be baptized but they'd be there to hold a, they were there to behold an air show. And sometimes I think about this and I read about John the Baptist, that's the scene I imagine, because we'd go down there and watch this air show. And it would just be miles of people stretched along this beachfront down in Grand Traverse Bay to watch this air show. I mean, I'm saying that town has about, I think, I might be wrong, it's in one week's time, millions of people come through that little town. It's millions of people that come through there. And there's just tens and tens of thousands of people all gathered at this beach. I mean, can you imagine what it would have been like to be there in John the Baptist's day? To be out in that water preaching to these multitudes and baptizing and just seeing this great stretched out crowd of thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people that are there to be baptized. That's exciting. Baptism is something that we should get excited about. It ought to be something that we want to see more of, is seeing people be baptized. And we ought to consider what it is we need to do in order to see more people baptized. Because a person who's gonna be baptized is somebody who's gonna be saved. And if we want to see people get baptized, we're gonna have to go out and preach the gospel to them and show them how to be saved by salvation through grace, that they need their sinners, that they're lost, that they need to put their faith and trust in Christ for salvation. And then after that, they need to be baptized. Once they've done that, we need to take them and say, look, it's great that you've been saved today. And if I never see you again, I'll see you in heaven. But did you know God wants you to be baptized? God wants you to join a local church. God wants you to read your Bible. God wants you to learn all things that He has commanded us. And one of the first things He has commanded us is the command to be baptized. Philip there in Acts chapter eight, I should've told you to keep a figure there, but in Acts chapter eight, I'll read it to you. Philip baptized in an entire city. Did you ever notice that in Acts chapter eight? Bible says in Acts chapter eight, verse five, then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. So he starts out by preaching, right? That always precedes any kind of baptizing. You preach, they believe, they get baptized. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies that were laying were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out himself that he was some great one, to whom they all gave heed. Meaning who? Meaning that city. Those people in Samaria, they all gave heed. They all gave heed unto this guy, from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the great power of God. And to him, they, who's the they there? They all, from the least to the greatest, the entire city, they had regard, and to him they had regard, because in a long time he had bewitched them with sorcery. So it's this group of people, this group, this whole city in Samaria. But when they, the same people, the same group, the same large, huge mass of people, but when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, so they believed it first, again, okay? And the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized. So they believed, this whole city believes what Philip's preaching. The things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they believe it. And they were baptized. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine being there with Philip baptizing the entire city? What an exciting thing that would have been to see. I mean, it's an exciting thing to see somebody saved. But when somebody's getting baptized, we oughta be just as excited about that. To see somebody say, I'm gonna obey the command to be baptized. I'm gonna go ahead and just start living this Christian life. I'm gonna go ahead and identify myself as a Christian. I'm gonna identify myself as one who has put my faith and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm going to obey the command to be baptized. That's exciting. You see, mass baptisms, they are biblical. And when I say mass baptisms, I don't mean like getting baptized at mass. I mean as like baptism and mass, you know, in a large group altogether. Many people, that's what I mean by mass baptisms. These are biblical things. This is the example of scripture in Acts chapter two. Now when they had heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter to the rest of the apostles, men and brothers, what shall they do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized in every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are far off, even if as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words to be testified and exhort, saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation, then they that gladly receive this word were baptized, and the same day were added unto them about 3,000 souls. That's amazing. Thousands of people being baptized. That's exciting. When John the Baptist is baptizing all the land of Judea, when we see Philip baptizing all the people in that city of Samaria, that's exciting. When we see 3,000 souls believing the gospel that was preached to them by Peter, and then being baptized and being added unto the church. That's exciting. And we here at Faithful Word, some people, they want to criticize us for striving to replicate this example. You know, Faithful Word is one that, let's say, oh, you guys are all about numbers. Well, so is God. God's all about numbers, friend. God's got a book called Numbers. God does a lot of counting. Have you ever read the Bible? God does a lot of counting in the Bible of people, doesn't he? And one of the people he counted here was it says that they were added unto them 3,000 souls. Oh, God's all about numbers. You know, take that same argument to God. Yeah, we're all about numbers because God is all about numbers. God is about saving much people alive. God wants people to go to certain cities and preach the gospel because he has much people in that city. God's about numbers. And FWC, Faithful Word Baptist Church, we strive to replicate the examples that we see in scripture. Now, let me just go ahead and say this. As exciting as everything we've seen in the last couple of years here at Faithful Word and the terms of the works that are being done, the salvations and the baptisms, we fall very short with the example of scripture, number-wise. We come very short. I mean, I went ahead and got the yearbooks out of the last two years that had these numbers in them. We had 380 baptisms in the last two years. 380. Now, that's exciting when you compare it to the vast majority of independent Baptists. 380 baptisms in two years. My friend, there's churches that won't see a hundred baptisms the entire time they exist. Decades of existence. None of them reach a hundred. Faithful Word reached 380 in two years. Why? Because Faithful Word's so great, because we're so special, or is it because we're striving to follow the example of scripture? Because we're actually excited about seeing people get baptized, and we wanna make it happen, so we go out and we preach the gospel so that people get saved and get baptized. That's why we see 380 baptisms in two years, because we're excited about baptisms. That's why. And people wanna mock and scoff and say, oh, you guys are all about your numbers. Well, guess what? We haven't even come close to the kind of numbers that we see in Acts. 3,000 people in one day. Wouldn't it God that we could see something like that happen in our time? We saved 380 baptisms in two years. How could you even do that? How could you even pull that off? How's that even possible? How's 3,001 day possible? The preaching of the gospel? That's how it's possible. When you have 15,000 salvation speaking the course of two years, you better have some baptisms to go along with it. Or what are you doing? You're not fulfilling the Great Commission. Yeah, you're preaching the gospel, but you're not baptizing them. You're not teaching them to observe all things. 15,000 of the salvation, that's, how many thousands of man-hours was that out preaching the gospel? And how many different countries? How many different Indian reservations? Not to mention the weekly day in and day out, multiple times a week. So many times it takes place here locally in Phoenix. There's a lot of hard work going in to get those numbers. And people want to criticize it because, oh, you had 380 baptisms in two years. You know what, you're just envious. And you're just mad because there's somebody, there's a church that's showing you up and showing you what a lazy bum you are. You have been doing things the right way. You have been preaching the gospel like you ought to. You have been trying to get people baptized like you ought to. You're lazy, they're bums. And they got these excuses, these stupid excuses. Well, we're just living long, we're just seeing church age. We're just, you know, the church is lukewarm. No, they're lukewarm. But, you know, I'm not. This church isn't. We don't have to be lukewarm. That's a choice. That's something you decide to do. Like all of a sudden, God is just not interested in baptisms anymore. So God wants people to be baptized. God wants people to be saved. And he wants people to be baptized because it's never going to happen. It got people to go out and preach the gospel. Anybody could have these numbers. Anybody could far exceed these numbers. And would to God they would. Would to God that multitudes of churches would get on fire and go out and preach the gospel to every creature and that they would compel them to be baptized. We should be excited to see others baptized. We shouldn't sit back and criticize it. Oh, how'd you get through? We should say praise God that there's a church in Phoenix, Arizona, that there's a group of people that want to go out and see people get baptized. They don't want to see them get saved and see them get baptized. Would to God that more of that happened. And we should be excited about seeing that, not criticize it. We should be excited about seeing others baptized. But let me say this in closing, not just the masses. You know, it's a great thing to flip to the yearbook and go, wow. It's a great thing to watch the video on YouTube of the works that were done in Botswana and Malawi and these other places and then to watch the videos at the soul-winning conferences where we just march into some, not at the soul-winning conferences, just take over some pool in some hotel somewhere and baptize a few dozen people. Wouldn't it God that that happened more? That's exciting. We got to get excited about that. But let me tell you this. That's not the only thing we should be excited about. We should be excited about seeing the ones we win ourselves. That's the application of what I want to make this morning. You know, it was Philip who wanted baptized a city, but he also went out baptized in that same chapter, one Ethiopian eunuch. He baptized an entire city in that chapter and at the end of that same chapter, he's baptizing one man. He's going out and preaching the gospel and he's baptizing one man. God is showing us here that it's not just the masses. If you ever want to get the masses, if you ever want to, you have to understand that 380 baptisms in the last two years, they came one by one, one by one, one by one. That's how you get to those numbers. And God wants us to get excited about seeing just one person be baptized. And that's what we ought to get excited about. Because you know what? This year, I want to get one person baptized. I want to preach the gospel to one person and I want that person to come to church and I want that person to be baptized. That ought to be something we get excited about. I mean, can you imagine how exciting that would be if you were to go out and preach the gospel to somebody and they got saved and you were able to take them and show them, hey, you need to be baptized. And that person came to church and got baptized. That would be exciting for you, wouldn't it? That the person you preach the gospel to. You know, I think of my kids. My wife's preached these kids the gospel. They've gotten saved. How exciting it would be for my wife to see her children that she's been able to lead the Lord to be baptized, that one person. You got to be excited about that. Not just the multitudes. The multitudes are exciting. I love seeing it. Let's see more of it. Let's do bigger, greater things. Let's strive to achieve what they did in the book of Acts. But let's not forget that those numbers come one by one and we need to get excited about seeing one person baptized, our convert. We need to be like Philip and go and find that Ethiopian and get him saved and bring him to church and get him baptized. It takes purpose and effort to get anyone baptized. Philip had to run and join himself to the chariot in order to get that one person baptized, didn't he? He had to run and join himself to that chariot. He had to climb up in that chariot. It took effort. It took some, it took some determination. It didn't just happen. It wasn't something that just, it was an accident. He had a purpose in his heart. He had to determine that he was going to do this, that he was going to be obedient to the will of God and go out and preach the gospel and see somebody baptized. You have to make an effort. Paul was somebody who made an effort to baptize people, even despite his circumstances. Remember Acts 16, where Paul and Silas are thrown into jail and they're beaten and whipped and thrown into jail and they pray and there's the earthquake and the bars, the jail doors open and the jailer's about to off himself and Paul says, do thyself no harm for we are all here. Then he comes with the light and he falls down before them and he says, what must I do to be saved? The Bible says that they preached unto him in his house the word of God. What happened after that? And it took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. So here's Paul, a guy who's been in prison and he's got sores, he's been whipped, he's been beaten, he has wounds, his stripes here. He needed to be clean. He was in a hard way. He had gone through some suffering. But he baptized that guy, didn't he? Paul was somebody who took an effort to baptize people despite his circumstances. I am too busy. I don't know how to do it. I don't have the time. That's a mild excuse. I mean, imagine telling that to Paul. Oh yeah, Paul, sorry I didn't get anybody saved and baptized. You know, I just couldn't find any time during my week. Couldn't find an hour, couldn't find two hours to go out and preach the gospel. What do you think Paul would have to say to that? Oh really, were you in jail? Were you beaten? Were you bleeding? Did you not know what was gonna happen to you the next day? Did you know you're not gonna have your head on your shoulders come morning? I mean, that's a pretty lame excuse. But Paul still managed to get people baptized, didn't he? He got that guy baptized in his whole house. Now, how's it gonna happen? You're gonna have to make an effort. If you wanna see the excitement, if you wanna see the multitudes, if you wanna see that individuals be saved, you're gonna have to determine to be baptized. Meaning this, you're gonna have to have a plan. And I love what Pastor Merrill, you know, he put out a video a little while ago. He told his people how to have a baptism road in your Bible. You know, and this is something that I've been convicted about. You know, I'm preaching myself this morning. This is something I really need to work on. And I would suggest people, they mark their Bible out like this and make a purpose that when we get somebody saved, that we're gonna start saying, hey, you know what, it's great that you're saved. I'd never see you again. I'll see you in heaven. But you know the Bible, the next thing for you need to do is you need to get baptized. And then show them from the scripture. That's what I hear a lot of people. They just tell them, well, now you need to get baptized. But you need to show them from the scripture. Just like the way you got them saved. You didn't just not show your Bible. You got your Bible out and you flipped the Bible and you showed them from the scripture why they need to be saved. Why stop? You know, if you wanna see somebody who's saved, you can't stop there. You wanna see somebody get baptized, excuse me. You're gonna have to continue to flip through the scripture and show them why they need to be baptized. Not enough to just tell them. You gotta show them why. And there's some great scriptures that Pastor Romero uses. And it's one that I'm gonna use. And I think that we would all do well probably if we were serious about seeing people baptized. Or maybe if you have a better way or you think of some other verses, great. But we need to, here's a good place to start. You know, I would just very quickly here in closing, I would go to Matthew 28, 19 and show them that it's God's will for you to be baptized. You know, God said, Go ye to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, to go and teach them all things whatsoever I have command of you, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So we're, you know, God's will for you to be saved is to be saved and to be baptized and then to learn all things. Salvation's easy, baptism easy, learning all things hard, right? That's the progression there, from easy to hard. That's God's will for these people. You could show them that. You could show them in Matthew 28, you could say, Look, it's God's will for you to be saved. You did that today, that's great. Your next step is for you to be baptized. You should come do that. You should come to my church, say, Hey, I mean, especially at Faithful Word, where they get baptized at any service, they don't have to go through a four week course on what it means to be baptized. Does it really take somebody that long that being baptized is immersion of water? No, you turn over to Matthew 3.16 and show them, you know, and straight when Jesus, when he was baptized, came up out of the water and all the heavens were opened unto him. Meaning this, that when he came up out of the water, he had to go down into the water. That was the example of Jesus Christ. So you go to Matthew 28, 19, then you could very quickly take them over to Matthew chapter three, verse 16, and show them how to be baptized. They had to go down into the water and straight away come up out of the water. So we believe that you have to be dumped in water. That would be a great example to show them. Then after that, you could take them to Acts 10.48 and show them where it says that he commanded them to be baptized. And so they look, baptism is something you're commanded to do. It's God's will for you. It's the next step in your Christian life. You have to read your Bible. Yes, go to church. Yes, observe all things what's your command. But one of the first things that you've been commanded is to be baptized. And that is the command that we need to obey today. Both for us that have been baptized, we need to obey the command to go out and see others baptized. And those that have been saved, you need to obey the command to be baptized. Let's go ahead and pray. Heavenly Father, again, thank you for the Bible. Lord, thank you for, Lord, this doctrine of baptism. Thank you that you've given us a way, Lord, that we could show others that we've put our faith and trust in you, that we could identify. With your death, burial, and resurrection. Thank you, Lord, that you haven't made salvation something so great and so wonderful as eternal life to be obtained through such a, Lord, what would be just a very simple and plain means, Lord, that it's not baptism that saves us, but it's that great and precious price that was paid by your son, his shed blood on the cross that saves us, Lord, that it's not by a tub of water. Lord, that that water that we're dumped in simply represents the suffering that you endured for our salvation. Lord, thank you for that. Thank you that we have a church that endeavors to see people baptized. Help us to be individuals, Lord, that would desire to see others baptized, saved and baptized as well, Lord. Help us to realize that if we want to see those great numbers, they come one by one. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to mark our Bibles, to be diligent, Lord, not only in preaching the gospel, but also in seeing others baptized, and we can teach them to observe all things. We love you and thank you for what you'll do in Jesus' name, Amen.