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So, because we'll be doing some baptisms after the service, I've just set aside Jeremiah for now. We will catch up on Jeremiah on Thursday for a midweek service if you want to be there for that. But look at Romans chapter 6 and verse number 3. Romans chapter 6 and verse number 3, it says, Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? I'm taking the title for the sermon this morning from this verse here, and the title for the sermon is Baptized into Jesus Christ. Baptized into Jesus Christ. You know, there are different churches and different forms of baptism. I think it was just a day or two ago, I was watching a video of multiple denominations, different types of churches that baptize in all different ways, right? You got from little children, very popular amongst the Roman Catholics, and a lot of the Protestant churches that will baptize little children by sprinkling or by pouring. And then you've got other churches like Baptist churches like ours that will baptize by immersion and then even by immersion they do it different ways. You know, we tend to do it backwards, right? A person goes backwards into the water, you've got other places where they go basically face first into the water. It kind of looks a little bit funny, but there are different people that baptize in different ways. And I'm not going to be preaching this morning about why we baptize the way we do, but basically what is the significance of baptism? And it will touch upon why we baptize the way we do as well, but we are going to come back to Romans chapter 6 later in the sermon. But for now can you please turn to Matthew 28? Turn to Matthew chapter 28, we will come back to Romans chapter 6 later on, but please turn to Matthew 28. Matthew chapter 28 and verse number 18. Matthew 28 and verse number 18. And I want to read this portion of scripture to us because this is what is known as the Great Commission, okay? Jesus Christ after his resurrection preached this multiple times and while this is not the event where he ascended up to heaven, he taught basically the same thing if you read about in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 1, he taught the same thing, the Great Commission, and we know that if the Lord Jesus Christ went to be with the Father in heaven, surely the last words, the last instructions he's going to give us are going to be very vital, very important, very important to our local church. And so when we read Matthew 28 verse number 18, it says here, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. So this is after Christ has been resurrected, now he has all power in heaven and in earth. Verse number 19, it says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations. There's another portion of scripture that says preach the gospel. And so our job as a church is to be a gospel preaching church. We need to make sure that we go out ye therefore, we go to our community, we go to our family, we go to our colleagues, we go to our friends that do not know Christ as Savior, and we go and we preach them the gospel. But then after someone has had the gospel preached unto them, after they have believed on Jesus Christ and been saved, it says, it continues by saying, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Why is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost all mentioned here? Because God is a triune God. God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, okay? And then what do we do? So after someone gets baptized, and we read in the Bible many times when people have believed on Jesus Christ, they got baptized immediately. There's no need to delay baptism once you have been saved. But then after the person's been baptized, in verse number 20, it says, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So the next thing that we need to be doing as a church is get people, yeah, first get people saved, get people baptized, and then get them into church so we can teach them all things. It's the job of the preacher to teach the whole Bible, okay? And I know our Bible has the Old Testament, much of our Bible is just the Old Testament, and then we have a smaller portion known as the New Testament. You know, there's a lot of preachers that will just preach from the New Testament and avoid the Old Testament completely, okay? That's wrong. Christ is telling us to teach them all things. He's given us six books of the Bible, he's given us all these different offers, 40 different offers that God used to pen down his words, and it's the job of the preacher to teach all things, okay, from the Bible. It says teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and then Christ says, and lo, I am with you all way, even unto the end of the world. And so when Christ said these words, where was he? He was in Judea, wasn't he? And then he says, and lo, I am with you all way. You know, one thing that you need to sort of understand with the King James Bible, sometimes God will use the word all way or the word all ways. And in our modern vernacular, we just use all ways. And basically, the way we use all ways also includes all way in a sense. So if I said to my wife, you know, I will love you all ways, with an S, what am I saying? That I'll love her forever to the end of time, right? The element is time. But when God uses the word all way, it means all the way. So it's talking about distance, it's talking about traveling. And so when Christ says, and lo, I am with you all way or all the way, why is he saying that? No matter where we go, Christ will be with us all the way, even until the end of the world. So no matter where we go in this world, we find ourselves in Australia. For Judea, in the time of Christ, Australia would be considered the end of the world. It's a place very far away. But even though we find ourselves in Australia, Christ is with us all the way. And so as a church, we are commanded to do these things. If we're not preaching the gospel, if we're not baptizing, if we're not teaching all things, then brethren, I don't want to be in church. I don't want to be a pastor, because then I know I'm letting down my Lord Jesus Christ who gave us these clear instructions to do. So I always get excited when we do baptisms, because gospel preaching happens every week. You know, preaching, observing all things happens every week. But baptisms for us doesn't happen every week. So when it happens, it's really exciting, because we know we're fulfilling the Great Commission, all these three great things that Christ has asked us to do. And so I personally, I get really excited when baptisms happen. And I'm really happy for the individual that decides to make that step of obedience in following Jesus Christ. Now can you please turn to the book of Luke? Turn to Luke chapter three. Luke chapter three. Why is it that we baptize? What is the significance of all this? Luke chapter three, please. And verse number 21. Luke chapter three, and verse number 21. We're looking now at the story of Jesus Christ and his baptism. And we know that Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist. That's why we're Baptists, by the way, because we baptize, okay, we're a Baptist Church. So he goes to John the Baptist, and in Luke chapter three, verse number 21, it says, Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying the heaven was open. I just want to pause there for a moment. Notice when Jesus Christ was being baptized, there were witnesses. There was other people there getting baptized as well. And this is part of the scary part of baptism, especially if you're an introverted person, that you know there are people watching. But if we're going to follow after the steps of Christ, notice that there are other people getting baptized amongst Jesus Christ as well. So there's an audience, there are witnesses, right? And then Jesus Christ comes to John the Baptist and gets baptized. It says the heaven was open when he got baptized, and in verse number 22, it says, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said, Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased. So when Christ is getting baptized in the river, who appears? The Holy Ghost descends bodily, okay, like a dove. And then we have a voice coming from heaven because the heaven was opened, a voice saying, Thou art my beloved Son. So if there's a voice from heaven calling Jesus his beloved Son, whose voice does that belong to? The Father. God the Father. Hey, we said before that we baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Well, what do we have present when Jesus Christ is getting baptized? The Father, the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ getting baptized, amen? And so, also notice the words of God. He's saying, I am well pleased. What did Jesus just do? He got baptized. So, you know, for those that are getting baptized today, okay, or if you need to get baptized and you haven't done it yet, let me just encourage you by you understanding that when you get baptized, the Heavenly Father is well pleased. You know, it pleases the Father when you get baptized. They say, why did Jesus get baptized? You see, some people believe that baptism is part of our salvation. A lot of churches believe that, right? That if you don't get baptized, then you're not going to heaven, you're not saved. Well then, Jesus Christ, he had no sin, he's God himself, did he have to get saved? Is that why he got baptized? No, he didn't have to get saved, he's the Savior, he is God Almighty, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, he does not need to be saved. Jesus Christ was sinless, he's not like you and I, he was born of a virgin, he came from heaven, okay, he's God Almighty, and he had no sin, but he got baptized. Why did he get baptized? Well, very quickly, what does baptism picture? Well, when you're standing out of the water, you're standing upright, and then you go into the water, you go down into the water, and then you come out of the water. What does that sound like to you in the Bible? Well, Christ, we know the story of Christ, he was crucified on the cross, he paid for all our sins, our past, present and future sins, and then he was buried, okay, that represents the under the water, and then he was risen again on the third day, right? He rose again, and so baptism pictures the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so when Christ is getting baptized, what is he saying? He's acknowledging that he's come to this earth to be crucified, to die, to be buried, and to rise from the dead, and that was his mission. And so he's identifying at the beginning of his ministry, this is what I'm going to do, okay? So baptism pictures the death, the burial and resurrection. Now here's the thing, we don't have to be crucified on a cross, or pay for our sins, because Christ did that on our behalf. And so when we get baptized, we are acknowledging that our faith and our trust is on Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection, okay? That's what it means. It's a public declaration that you have placed your faith on Jesus Christ, and you're following in his footsteps to be baptized. But baptism does not save you. The only thing that saves you is your faith on what Christ has done on the cross. Even the thief on the cross who died with Jesus Christ, he had no time to get baptized, right? He was a wicked man, he was facing capital punishment, he was dying for the crimes that he has done, he had no chance to go to church, he had no chance to do any good works, he had no chance to give anything to charity, right? He didn't have any chance to even give the gospel to anybody, he didn't have the chance to do anything. He didn't have the chance to get baptized. And he says to Jesus Christ, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus Christ said to him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And so all the thief on the cross had to do was put his faith on Jesus, and Christ says, yep, today you'll be with me in paradise. So salvation is not baptism. Baptism is a public declaration that you identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that you have placed your faith on his finished work. Now if you can please turn to Colossians chapter 1, please. Please turn to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. So I explained to you that baptism is not part of the gospel, it's not part of salvation, okay? While you're turning to Colossians chapter 1, I'm going to read to you from 1 Corinthians 15 verse number 3. 1 Corinthians 15 verse number 3 says, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. This is the gospel message. When we talk about preaching the gospel, what is it that we need to cover? What is the emphasis of the gospel? The death, the burial, the resurrection. So let me just give you a quick snapshot. The Bible tells us that we're all sinners, we've all come short of the glory of God, okay, and we can't go to heaven on our own merits. We can't go to heaven on our good works because we are not perfect. We've all done wrong things. And any normal human being would admit, yep, I'm not perfect, I've done wrong things, okay? And then we understand there's something that we need in order to go to heaven. And when you understand that you cannot save yourself, what you should understand is that you need a savior, okay? You need a savior. Now here's the problem. When we've sinned against God, the Bible tells us for the wages of sin is death. And so not only is there a physical death that is the consequence of sin, but also a spiritual death in the place known as the lake of fire, okay, or hell. And obviously that's a place that we do not want to go. And this is where we get the word gospel from because gospel means good news. It means glad tidings. God does not want us to go to hell. So the good news is that Christ came as a perfect lamb. He came to take your place. He came to take your sins. He came to take all the wrong things you've done and the wrong things you will continue to do till the day that you die. And it was placed on Jesus Christ on the cross. His blood was shed, right? He died for you and I. He died for the sins of the whole world, was buried, rose again three days later, and he showed that he had victory over sin, he had victory over hell, victory over the grave. Victory over death, okay? We have a resurrected Jesus Christ. And it's through his resurrection that the promise for us comes that one day we will be resurrected with a new body and we will go to be with God forever in the new heavens and the new earth that he's yet to create, okay? That's the gospel message in a snapshot. So it's not how good you are, because you're not good enough. You're not perfect. You might be better than me, okay? There's a lot of people that are better than me. You might be better than me, but you're not better than God. You don't match up to God's goodness. You come short of his glory. This is why we need a Savior. This is why Christ came. This is why the Father loved us so much. The Bible says in John 3 is 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. It's whosoever believeth in him. You know what? You may never need to step, if you never stepped foot in this church, you can still believe on Jesus and go to heaven and understand that it's not your good works, it's not your church, it's not your religious practices and your traditions that got you saved, that got you to heaven. It's only your faith on Jesus Christ alone. Now please turn to Colossians, I think you're there already, Colossians chapter 1 and verse number 20, because we need to understand these three elements, the death, the burial, the resurrection. Why are these things so important? What is the significance of all these things? If you look at Colossians chapter 1 verse number 20, Colossians chapter 1 verse 20 it says, and having made peace through the blood of his cross, hmm, peace. You know before you were saved, you are known as an enemy to God. You're separated from God. You don't have that fellowship with God as you ought to as a son of God. But God has come to bring peace between man and God, okay? And it says here that peace was made through the blood of his cross. So when Christ came we know that his blood was shed, not only on the cross but even leading up to the cross. He had the crown of thorns upon his head, he was whipped, he was beaten, he bled all the way from Jerusalem to the cross and ultimately his blood was shed there on the cross. And it's his blood, it's his death that brings peace between God and man. It says by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, look at verse number 21. I jumped ahead a little bit. It says, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. So God looked at us as aliens. What are aliens? You know we don't think of little green men out of space or anything like that, right? Only someone that is not part of a nation or that country, right? You know you might call them a foreigner or something, an alien is a word that Bible uses for that, okay? Not just an alien but an enemy because of our wicked works, because of our sin. That's how God saw us prior to the death of Jesus Christ. It says, yet now have he reconciled. So we've been reconciled with God, there's been a peace made with God in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. So what death did Christ have to experience to bring reconciliation between God and man? It says in the body of his flesh through death. That's the death that brings peace between God and man, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This is why another great ordinance that God has given the church is not just baptism but it's the Lord's Supper, where we take of that juice, right? We take of that bread, the grape juice representing Christ's blood, the bread representing the body of Christ. This is the sacrifice that God made in order for us to have peace with God, to be able to know that we can go to heaven because of what Christ has done for us. Can you turn back to Matthew 12 please? Turn back to Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12. And while you're turning to Matthew chapter 12, I'm going to read to you from 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18. You turn to Matthew 12 and I'll read to you from 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18, which confirms what we saw in Colossians chapter 1, but in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18, it says for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. Okay? Some people think they can go to heaven based on how much silver and gold they give to some religious organization, okay? Or how much they, literally, a lot of Catholic churches do this. My wife used to be Roman Catholic and people would go and give of their money to the church to help their dead relatives make it to heaven, okay? Because they believe they're in purgatory and the more I give to my church, the more money I give, the quicker they're going to get out of purgatory and make it to heaven. Well, the Bible's telling us we're not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold. And then it says from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. So we may have received traditions or vain conversations or false religions from our previous generations, maybe. A lot of us, you know, I had the blessing of growing up in a Christian home, but my parents did not grow up in a Christian home, you know, their parents ended up getting saved and then they changed into a Christian home, okay? But many of us did not grow up in a Christian home. Maybe you've grown up in a household that had traditions of your fathers, well that doesn't save you either, okay? You cannot be redeemed by some false religion or by traditions of the fathers. And we see a lot of Eastern religion, things like Buddhism, where they literally set up images of their parents and they try to communicate with their parents, try to communicate with their loved ones and they believe this process will ultimately get them to their version of heaven. Listen, as much as I love my parents and I love the fact that I live, because if not for my generation that have gone before us, you know, I would not be here on this earth, but if their religion or their traditions were contrary to the Bible, listen, it's all vain. It's vanity. It's not going to get you saved. Jesus Christ is the only way. And then it says in verse number 19, but, so this is how we're redeemed, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot, okay? So again, it's the blood of Christ that says this is why he had to die. He's a lamb without blemish, without spot. Think about that for a moment. So Christ comes to this earth. You know, he takes this form of a man, he's 100% God, 100% man, no sin, and all the wicked things I've done was put on Jesus Christ. He was without blemish. He was without spot. He was innocent. I mean, I've done some bad things. I think if you're honest, you've all done some bad things. Things that you're ashamed of, things that you're embarrassed of, okay? They were put on Jesus. The sins of the whole world. Think about the most wicked men in this world, whoever you may think might be the most wicked men. Hitler or something like that, right? Well, all of those sins were put on Jesus. And Jesus took the punishment of all wicked men. All your sins were punished in Jesus Christ. And because he's a lamb without blemish, without spot, not only did he take our curse, not only did he take our sins, the most amazing thing is he gives us his perfection to us. There's been an exchange. We often think about Christ taking our sins, but sometimes we forget that he gives us his righteousness. And so when we stand before God, once we have believed on Christ, when God looks at us, he sees us through that lamb. He sees us without blemish, without spot, because Christ took our punishment. He became our substitute. So that's the significance of his death, you know, why it's so important. He sacrificed himself so we would not have to die spiritually, okay? Now you're in Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 38. Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 38. What is the significance of his burial? We know the gospel is a death, burial, and resurrection. What is the significance of the burial? We know that Christ was dead in the earth for three days and three nights, okay? But look at Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 38. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered. If you don't know the Bible very well, the scribes and Pharisees were often the enemies of Jesus, right? They were trying to, I don't know, cause him to fail in his ministry. Answered saints, so this is what they're saying to Jesus, Master, we would see a sign from thee. Isn't that what people say sometimes at the door? You know, you're trying to give them the gospel, they're like, show me a sign, prove to me that God exists. You know what, if God materialized just before my eyes right now, then I would believe in him. They're looking for a sign, okay? Sometimes, you know, people just don't accept God's word and they're looking for some great miracle for you to bring out, right? For them to believe. Well, that's no different. There's nothing new under the sun, okay? The scribes and the Pharisees are asking the same thing. Verse number 39, but he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, okay? And there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. Look at verse number 40. For as Jonas, well that's Jonah in your Bible. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So wait until you notice that, okay? So what's the significance of the three days and the three nights? Well, number one, it was prophesied. And when Christ came, he fulfilled all the prophecies of his coming. All the prophecies of his first coming were fulfilled in Christ. This is what makes Jesus Christ such an amazing character, such an amazing person, is that there were prophets that wrote about future events to come like Jonas in the whale's belly for three days and three nights and Christ came and fulfilled it all. It's literally impossible unless Jesus Christ is the real deal. Unless the scriptures were always about Jesus Christ and always speaking about him, this is what makes Jesus Christ so amazing. In fact, our calendar is divided from BC before Christ and AD after the year of the Lord, the year of the Lord. Our calendar is divided on Christ. He is such an important historical figure, okay, because the prophets of old wrote about him and he fulfilled it all. It's amazing, right? Please go to Matthew 27 now. Go to Matthew 27, verse number 62. Matthew 27, verse number 62. So the significance of the three days in the earth, in the heart of the earth, is basically fulfillment of prophecy, okay, number one. But number two, you know, if Christ just died on the cross and then he came back to life on the cross, don't you think there will be some accusations that he didn't really die, right? Maybe he passed out or something like that, right? He just passed out and, you know, was brought back or he went into a coma or something and passed out. No, you know, the fact that he was buried for three days proves that he was dead, you know, bodily, physically dead, right? The death of his flesh. And in Matthew 27, verse number 62, Matthew 27, verse number 62, it says, now the next day, this is the day after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees, remember these are the guys that are against Jesus, came together unto Pilate saying, sir, we remember that the deceiver said, they're calling Jesus a deceiver. You can see they don't like Jesus at all. While he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again. Interesting. So they knew what Jesus Christ taught, that Jesus Christ said he would rise again after three days, right? Verse number 64, command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day. Let his disciples come by, lest his disciples come by nights and steal him away and say unto the people he is risen from the dead. So the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, ye have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. So they were worried, they knew that Jesus Christ said after three days he will rise again. And they told Pilate, listen, we can't allow that because what if his disciples come and steal the body and claim, well, the body's gone, he's risen again. And so they set a watch, they set some soldiers or some guards around the tomb, around the sepulchre there to make sure nobody can come, you know, at any time of the day or any time of the night. I don't know exactly how they seal the stone there, I guess they reinforce it somehow so it cannot move, right? And they do not want to make it possible for someone to come and steal away the body of Jesus Christ. So this is confirmation that Christ is dead. He's dead, he's buried and they're making sure that he's dead and buried, okay? They don't want any rumors to come out, you know, saying that he somehow came back to life. We'll go to Matthew 28 now, verse number 1. Matthew 28 and verse number 1, it says, So they try to seal the stone. They don't want it to move, angel comes along, just rolls out the door, right? To open the doorway to the tomb, all right? Sits upon the stone. Verse number 3. Look at verse number 4. The keepers there are those that are watching. They're the soldiers or the security guards or whatever. They see this angel and they're so afraid. They became as dead men, right? Unable to talk, unable to move, I guess. Verse number 5. So what is the significance of the burial? It's to be a witness that Christ was dead and guess what, that he's not dead anymore. That people could come into the tomb and see his body's gone. They even tried to stop it. They sealed the doorway. They put security guards in the place. They did everything they could in the power of men to stop the body disappearing from that place but Christ in the power of God and with the help of this angel, well the angel didn't really help the resurrection, but he came and revealed the fact that the tomb was empty. The importance of the burial is that it was a place of eyewitnesses that they could see not only did Christ die on the cross but he was definitely buried and he was definitely dead and guess what, he's definitely not there anymore. He rose again from the dead. That's the significance of the burial. It's to give opportunities for people, witnesses, those that believe in Jesus, even the enemies of Jesus to be a witness that his body was gone. That he was definitely dead but now his body was gone, that he had risen from the dead. It's amazing. It's amazing. That's why Christianity still exists 2,000 years after Christ. And I know churches are slowing down but listen, less and less people are coming to churches these days. I understand all that but the truth is it's not a failure of God. The reason our churches are diminishing, the reason the gospel's not getting preached, the reason people aren't getting baptized anymore, it's a failure of man. It's not on God. God's done everything necessary and I promise you this, there's never going to come a time when Christianity is completely dead. It's never going to happen. It's never going to happen because the word of God will last forever. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We here in 2021, we're not eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ, are we? We're not eyewitnesses of his death or his burial but we are witnesses of his word. We are hearers of his word and the faith, the belief that comes from believing in Jesus Christ comes from the word of God. And if God's word is not going anywhere, neither is Christianity, neither is the gospel, neither is salvation. People are going to get saved to the end of time, okay, through the hearing of God's word. Please turn to 1 Corinthians 15 now. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number 13. First Corinthians 15 please. So we've seen the significance of the death. We've seen the significance of the burial. What is the significance of his resurrection though? What is the significance of his resurrection? Now there are people that claim today, like if you go onto YouTube or something, you know, especially in Africa, there's a lot of these things happening in Africa, they'll claim that some guy died and rose again from the dead, okay? I mean there's so many stories out there, right? And there are videos apparently of showing that person in a casket and then look, he's alive now, right? But why are these things not being picked up by the media? Or like, why are these things being like, just spreading like wildfire across the world? Because everyone knows they're hoaxes. Like it's just, it's nonsense, right? People are trying to, you know, there are so-called, you know, Christian preachers that try to demonstrate that they have the power to raise the dead and so they'll fabricate these stories. You know, I mean it's not unusual, it's really well documented that many of these miracle worker preachers, it's all a hoax, right? They make things up, they claim things that are not true. They claim people have been healed and then they still got the same elements and sicknesses that they used to have, okay? There are so many hoaxes, but why is it then that Christ's resurrection is still talked about in 2021? Why is it so important still? Why is it that we as a nation stop and celebrate Easter to remember his death, his burial and his resurrection? Why is it such a big deal? Well, this has to do mainly with his resurrection because a man dying on a cross and a man being buried in a tomb is not a big deal, it happens every day. But how often does someone raise from the dead? Okay? How often does that happen and truly happen where it captivates the whole world, you know, to the fact that even 2,000 years later we still talk about it? Well, you're in 1 Corinthians 15, please. Look at 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number 13, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number 13. What is the significance of his resurrection? It says here in verse number 13, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. Now I told you before that one day God will give us new resurrected bodies and in these new bodies we'll be able to experience the new heavens and the new earth that God will create. Okay? So there's going to be a resurrection of the dead, a general resurrection of the dead for those that have believed on Jesus Christ. Okay? But, what I'm saying here, that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. So it's saying basically, if Christ is risen, there is a resurrection from the dead. But if there's no resurrection from the dead, then Christ did not rise. Okay? Let's keep going. Verse number 14. And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching, sorry, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. What does the word vain mean? It means empty, useless. Okay? So right now, if Christ did not rise from the dead, my preaching right now, this morning, okay, is vain. It's empty. It's useless. You might as well just be doing something else. Like you are literally, if Christ did not rise from the dead, you could be doing anything else with your life. It'll be more profitable than being here listening to this preaching. Okay? But you're here this morning. I'm here preaching. Why is that? Because Christ did rise from the dead. That's right. Okay? Our faith is not in vain. Verse number 15. Look at this. They and we, so he's speaking about himself, we have found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. So he's saying, look, because I preached the resurrection of Christ and if it didn't happen, I'm a false witness. I'm a false preacher. Okay? If it didn't happen. Verse number 16. If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Wow. Verse number 18. And they also which have fallen asleep in Christ are perished. So if Christ did not rise from the dead, you are still in your sins. I am still in my sins. And all believers that have died are still in their sins and they're perishing in hell right now if Christ did not rise from the dead. So is the resurrection important? Is it significant? Absolutely. If it's not for this part, the rest of it all falls apart. Okay? The sacrifice of Christ, the taking on the sins of the world. And that means basically everyone would die and go to hell if Christ did not rise from the dead. Verse number 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. If it didn't happen, we're the most miserable people on the planet. Verse number 20. What now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept? So Paul is confirming Christ did rise from the dead. In fact, Paul had a vision. He saw Christ, the resurrected Christ. This is part of what gives him the ability to have the offer as an apostle because he saw the resurrected Christ, he saw it with his own eyes and he's not the only one. You know, Christ appeared before 500 witnesses at once. And there were other times when he appeared after his resurrection to multiple people to men, women, to all kinds of people. You know, he rose from the dead and they were so encouraged by his resurrection, they went out preaching the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the fact that even in 2021 we're still preaching about it. He rose from the dead. There were witnesses. Okay? There was confirmation of this. Not only were there witnesses, but then they wrote about it. We have God's word here. You know, we have the same witnesses that saw Christ resurrected wrote for us the New Testament scriptures so we can have that evidence. And not only did the New Testament writers write about the resurrection of Christ, but the Old Testament, even before Christ, they already told us that this would happen. Like the story of Jonas, three days and three nights in the whale's belly. If it's only three days and three nights, that means the fourth one is definitely alive by then. Okay? Let's keep going. Verse number 21, for since by man came death, that's Adam. So when Adam sinned, okay, death started from that process and we're all going to experience a physical death. For since man came death, by man also, sorry, came also the resurrection of the dead. So Adam introduced death, okay, as our forefathers, but Jesus Christ brought the resurrection. In verse number 22, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. So what is the significance of his resurrection? Number one, without it, we're still dead in our sins, okay? But secondly, it promises us that one day we will be resurrected from the dead, okay? So we're going to go through life and we're going to perish, people pass away, but because Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, this promises us, this guarantees that one day our bodies will also be resurrected and we can be with the Lord, not just in spirit and soul, but body, spirit and soul together with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Father, okay? That is the significance of his resurrection. Can you please now turn to Matthew chapter five? Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five. And verse number 13. Matthew chapter five and verse number 13. So brethren, if you have stopped trusting your religious practices, you've stopped trusting your good works to get to heaven and you decided to place your faith alone in Christ, you've called upon the Lord, Lord Jesus, please save me, or like the thief on the cross, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, it's not magic words, as long as your faith has been placed on Christ, okay? Then you are promised to be saved, you've been cleansed from all your sin, okay? You stand before God as blameless, you have the righteousness of Jesus Christ and even if you were to die physically in his body, you know the promise will come that you, that your soul and spirit that go to be with the Lord will be reunited one day with a physical resurrection to come, okay? But now that you are saved, now that we're sure of going to heaven, what's the next thing that we need to be doing as Christians, as saved people? Well in Matthew chapter five, verse number 13, I want you to notice this. Jesus Christ says about his believers, he says, Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. You know as Christians, we can decide whether we want to be flavourous to this world, you know whether we stand out in this world or we can decide to just be good for nothing, okay? Look, even if you decide, you know what, I'm saved and going to heaven and I'm going to be good for nothing for God, like I'm not going to go to church, I'm not going to read my Bible, I'm not going to serve God with my life, I'm not going to do anything, you know what, you're good for nothing, you're going to be trodden under the foot of men, okay? But you're still going to heaven, because going to heaven isn't based on your performance. Going to heaven is based on what Christ has done for you, okay? Or you can say, well no, Christ has said I'm the salt of the earth and I don't want to be a salt that has lost its savour, okay? I want to stand out, I want to be someone that God can use, I want to be salted to this earth. What is salt used for? For flavour? For preservation, okay? We can preserve this nation, we go out there, we preach the gospel, we see people saved, we can have an influence on this community, we can have an influence in Sydney, okay? What else? Salt can be used as a disinfectant I guess, on some wounds that you may have, right? I mean salt has a lot of properties, you know, and you know if you put salt on a wound it's also a little bit irritating. Sometimes you'll be irritating, maybe right now when I preach some of you guys think that preach is a bit irritating. Yeah, it's just because I'm salt, we're supposed to be salt, we're supposed to preach God's Word so this is just what comes with the package, right? Or you can decide to just be trodden under the foot of men. And so you have a decision, but either way you go as a Christian you're still going to heaven because Christ, or what Christ has done for you, okay? Salvation is a free gift, the Bible says. Now drop down to verse number 14. Not only are we the salt of the earth, it says ye are the light of the world. Wow. So basically the world is dark and we are to be lights, you know, to give guidance, to give direction, to teach people what God has to say. It says a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So again you have a choice, God says you are the light, you either shine the light of Jesus Christ in this world or you hide it, you know, again you can hide it, you can be trodden on the foot of men, good for nothing, you're still going to heaven, okay? I'm happy you're still going to heaven if that's you, or you can decide well God said I'm a light, that means I'm going to stand out, okay, I'm going to be a little bit different. And brethren the reason I mention these things because the first step of obedience in God's word after you are saved is to get baptized. It's a public declaration of what you have trusted. I don't have my wedding ring right now, I've lost my wedding ring, okay? But even though I don't have my wedding ring on, it's somewhere in my house, I haven't really lost it, it's somewhere there, okay? But even though I don't have my wedding ring on, does that mean I'm no longer married now because it's missing? No, the wedding ring is symbolic that I'm married. Whether it's on or off, doesn't matter, I'm still married. Baptism is similar, okay? It's a public declaration that you have believed on Christ. But whether you've been baptized or not, it doesn't change the fact that you have believed on Christ and that you're going to heaven, okay? But as I said, baptism is this public declaration, okay? And when you take that first step of obedience, you know what you're saying? You're saying, I want to be a little bit salty in this earth. You know what? I want to show that I am the light of this world and I want to show others that I have believed on Jesus Christ. I'm making this public, not just in words that I believe in Him, but I'm willing to get into the water, get into the water and out of the water, showing that my faith is under the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that my faith is completely on that and you're willing to show that to other people. I mean, that's a great place to start, to be the light, to be the salt of the earth. Can you please turn to Romans chapter 6 now? That's where we started. Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6 and verse number 1. Romans chapter 6 and verse number 1, which is a passage that Rams and Redfrost. So some people get the wrong impression of salvation. They say, well, if you're saying that salvation is not based on how good you are, if you're saying that once you have trust on Christ then nothing can change that and you've got an eternal home in heaven, well aren't you opening the floodgates, aren't you opening the doors for us to just live as wicked as we want and we go into heaven? Well that is a possibility. Again you could just lose your savour and be trodden on the foot of men and be useless. You could do that if you want, you're still going to heaven. But then we have Romans chapter 6 and verse number 1, it says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? That's the question, that grace may abound. So just because we're saved, should we just continue living a sinful life? Verse number 2, God forbid. Of course we shouldn't do that. That's why we're commanded to teach and observe all things. There's a lot in this Bible. It's not just salvation. Most of this Bible is how to live a righteous, clean, godly life. God forbid. We shouldn't continue in sin. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not, now notice the next words, that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death, 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 we should also do this. We should walk in newness of life. When you are brought out of that water in baptism, you are showing people I'm going to walk, or I'm desiring, my goal is to walk in this newness of life that God has given us. What is this newness of life? Well when you have placed your faith on Jesus Christ, the Bible says that you're born again. You're born of the Spirit. You have a new man in you. We still have this old sinful wicked flesh that wants to do its own pleasures, its own will, but then God has given us a new man that seeks to glorify God. And so we as Christians have a choice, don't we? Do I live after the flesh and continue my wicked ways? And sometimes you will, because we're not perfect. Even after you say you're not perfect, you're going to make mistakes and you're going to see and when you do that you do it in the flesh. Or you say you know what, I'm going to be salty, I'm going to be the light of the world, I'm going to put on that new man, I'm going to walk after the new man and glorify God in my life. And that's what you're doing when you get baptised. So you're making a declaration, you know what, not only do I have my faith upon Christ and this is a public declaration of that, but I'm also seeking to walk in the newness of life that Christ has given me, being born again, being born of the Spirit. Okay, the last passage I'm going to get you to turn to is Acts chapter 8 please. Please turn to Acts chapter 8, we're almost done now. Acts chapter 8 and verse number 35, Acts chapter 8 and verse number 35. Now if you've not been baptised, and we are going to do three baptisms today, and if you need to get baptised, if you know you've placed your faith on Christ alone, you know that you're saved, and you still haven't been baptised, hey you've still got a chance, you can still get baptised today if you want. Just let me know. But in Acts chapter 8 verse number 35, Acts chapter 8 and verse number 35, we have the story of Philip who went to preach the gospel to an Ethiopian man, okay, in verse number 35 it says, Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. So what's he preaching? Jesus Christ. Right? The fact that he came to die on the cross for our sins. Verse number 36, He's saying, hey what's prohibiting me, what's stopping me from getting baptised? Verse number 37, Praise God. Okay? So is there anything stopping someone getting baptised? The only thing that's stopping you from getting baptised is whether you have believed on Jesus Christ or not. This is why we don't do infant baptisms, because infants, little babies, they don't know what to believe. They haven't heard the gospel, they don't know anything about Jesus Christ. They don't know they're sinners, in fact little infants are not sinners, okay? So you know, we can see here that baptism are for those that are mature enough to have believed on Christ, they understand the gospel, they understand that he's the son of God that came to die on the cross for their sins, and then you're permitted to get baptised. Okay? Verse number 38, So we have a great example here. The gospel being preached, right? The man believed on Jesus Christ, and then they go into the water, and they get baptised. Okay? He got baptised. Okay? So what is baptism? I hope you understand it now, okay? If you haven't understood before, baptism is that public declaration, it's that first step of obedience, that once you have believed on Jesus Christ, you know, you want to make that public declaration, that I have done this, and this is the way God has asked us to do it. Not only has he asked us to do it this way, Jesus Christ came and set the example for us, showing himself that this was a picture of his death, his burial, his resurrection. What an amazing thing, you know? What a great pleasure for God to allow us to, you know, publicly declare this in a special way like that, baptism, you know? So I hope that gives you, you know, further clarification of what baptism is, what it represents, why it's so important. The title for the sermon this morning was Baptised into Jesus Christ. You know, if you've believed on Jesus Christ and you're not yet baptized, please speak to me. You know, we can do it today, if you're ready, you know, or we can plan for some other time to do it. Okay, let's pray.