One more time this morning, I
want you to turn back to Acts chapter 8. This morning, after
having tried to talk to you from this text about how the Lord
must give an understanding to everyone He saves, Philip asked
this man, he said, do you understand what you're reading? And then
also how that understanding has to do with the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then also, thirdly, the third
message on understanding righteousness, which is at the heart of the
gospel and the heart of the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, And
then last week on understanding and believing. So today I want
to try to talk to you about understanding baptism. Because Philip has just
preached the gospel of Christ to this eunuch from Isaiah 53
where he was reading. It says that this man, Philip,
was sent to preach the gospel to this man. He was sent to a
desert place, and so now this eunuch has requested baptism. And I believe that this text
is one of those essential texts of Scripture that tell us so
much about baptism. If you notice, Philip does this
without any denominational association. He does it without a grand building
to do it in. He does it without any religious
authority. He does it without being an approved
clergyman or priest. And he does it without ritual
or formality. You see, Philip has been teaching
this man the gospel, and along with it, the ordinances. If you remember, Christ says
in Matthew 28, "...go ye therefore and teach all nations." It's
not about simply going. There are a lot of people who
claim to be called of God, sent of God, but we know they are
not because they go and they claim to be sent without the
gospel. Go ye, therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you." And that is what has been taking place
so that this man now requests to be baptized by Philip. There are so many errors that
surround the teaching concerning baptism. So many err in teaching
that one is saved by baptism. Some say that they are regenerated
or get new birth by baptism. And there is always a lot of
emphasizing various rituals and formulas and names and such as
that. And then others err in saying
that it's not essential. and most often that it is not
important the mode or means by which it is administered. But in truth, like all teaching,
if it be of God and be from God, it has to be according to the
Word of God. He said, if they speak not according
to this law, this word, it is because there is no light in
them. So I want us to seek to answer,
if I could this morning, a few questions concerning baptism. And maybe the first thing that
I would ask is, is there a biblical reason, is there a biblical command
that we should be baptized? In other words, we are not to
simply follow someone's tradition. And we are not to be baptized
because someone says that we are, but everything we do in
the Lord's church especially, is to be done because God commanded
it. It's not a matter of personal
preference. It's not a matter of one's opinion. And it certainly is not to be
done because of pressure. You see, Christ said this. He
said, we are to teach them all things whatsoever I command."
And that which was the charge he laid against the Pharisees
was that they taught the commands and opinions and traditions of
men rather than the commands of God. You see, as we find in
our text, the believing heart submits in all things to the
commands of the Lord Jesus Christ. In that second chapter of Acts,
it says in verse 38, that Peter said to those that he was speaking
to, 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. There are those, the so-called
Church of Christ being one, that put a great emphasis on the name
of Jesus, and they say things like this. They say that the
water of baptism is the way to the blood of Christ. Now, that
is absolute, plain, clear heresy. But what we find is that no less
than the very command, as well as the example of Christ, is
that basis upon which we are to be baptized as believers in
Christ. Let me read you a verse of Scripture
out of Matthew chapter 3. Because here in Matthew chapter
3 and verse 15, it says that Jesus answering
said to John the Baptist, who at the first said that it was
he that needed to be baptized by Christ, But he said in verse
15, "...suffer it now to be so, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him." In other
words, Christ says to John, You allow this to take place, you
allow it to be done, and do it because we are to fulfill all
righteousness in the doing of it. Well, the immediate thing
that we ought always to ask ourselves is this. How is it that if in
some way baptism washes away our sins before God, why was
Christ being baptized who had no sin? He had no sin to wash
away, so the water doesn't do that. He was absolutely perfect
and could not in any way have been made better, so the water
certainly does that. But God the Spirit witnessed
to this very act on this occasion. He came and He descended in the
form of a dove, and when Christ said, suffer it now to be so,
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. since Christ
could not have been made more righteous than he was already
by going into the baptismal water, it just shows that this is the
way of righteousness that is pictured in the ordinance itself. It is pictured in baptism, this
way of righteousness, and the Apostle Peter in speaking of
the long-suffering of God. He says, "...the long-suffering
of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing
wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water, the like
figure." Remember that. the like figure whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ." In other words, in baptism, what is pictured
and typified is this way of righteousness by which a conscience in a man
who believes on Christ has an answer toward God in what is
acceptable toward God and pleasing to God through the death and
burial and resurrection of Christ. And though it is not essential
to salvation, it is most definitely essential to obedience. To everyone who says it is essential
to salvation, I have to point to that thief on the cross. Because here is a man who is
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ through the death of Christ,
and he does not go to that outward act of baptism. He goes immediately
in the presence of God. And so we know it is not essential
to salvation, but it is essential to obedience. Because he said,
if you love me, keep my commandments. And there are always those who
ask this question. Over and over again they ask,
can a person be saved without baptism? And to that I just simply
say, absolutely, because all of God's elect have been saved
without baptism. They, every one, have been saved
by the grace of God alone, and in Christ alone their salvation
is in what He has done and not in what we do. There is no question
about that. And yet, at the same time, refusal
of baptism is about the most plain and obvious rebellion against
a command of God. And in the New Testament, all
who were received as brethren and regarded as believers were
those who had been baptized. As a matter of fact, Other than
that thief on the cross, can you find one person, one believer
in the New Testament who refused baptism? And he didn't really
refuse it. But his time was so short on
the earth that he had not time to be publicly obedient to Christ,
even though he confessed Christ on that cross. Now, what is represented
in baptism? If we remember that the Apostle
Peter said that it was a figure, that is, it was a picture or
a type of something, just as that ark by which those people
were saved in Noah's day. That ark is a type of something,
a type of Christ and Him crucified. Likewise, he says, baptism is
a picture and a type. And I'd say of the very same
thing. Paul, writing in Romans 6, says,
know ye not that so many of us, as were baptized into Jesus Christ,
were baptized 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. For if we have been planted or
buried together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection." Now, baptism as a type, as a
picture, is a type and picture of death and burial and resurrection. If we keep that in our mind,
if we look as the Scriptures teach, and believe that it is
exactly that. It is a type and a picture of
death and burial and resurrection that will save us from a lot
of error. But what is it? It is, first
of all, a public confession. It is a public confession. As a matter of fact, if you stop
and think about it, how did believers in the early church make a public
profession of Christ? Do you ever read anything about
those who believe the gospel walking down an aisle? Or shaking
the preacher's hand? Do you ever read anything in
the Book of Acts about them having to go to a class or somehow sit
before the board of examination? What it says is that they believed
and were baptized. Baptized. And baptism is the
believer's first public profession of faith in Christ. And it is
a symbolic confession of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
because in baptism we publicly confess our union with Christ
and our confidence in Him as a representative before God,
just like Paul says to the Galatians. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. They have trusted
in Christ. They have demonstrated their
union with Christ. and being buried with Christ
symbolically in the waters of baptism, we also acknowledge
our sin and its just punishment, and we testify of our faith in
the substitutionary death of Christ to have satisfied all
of God's justice in the matter of our sins. You see, it's not
just a ritual. It's not just a ceremony. It's
not something we just do because somebody says we do it. We do
it to confess something before men, that all our hope, All of
our salvation, all of our righteousness is come to us and belongs to
us because of the death of Jesus Christ and His burial and resurrection
on the matter of our sins and our union with Him in that death
and resurrection. When we rise up from what is
a picture of a watery grave, we confess our faith in the resurrection
of Christ, our representative resurrection in Christ, our spiritual
resurrection by Christ, and our bodily resurrection that one
day is to take place when we'll be in the likeness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We confess that through Christ
crucified, that is the only way of righteousness. But it's not
only a public confession of Christ, it's a public identification
with Christ. That's another matter. You see,
in baptism, and that baptism being being accomplished by those
who preach and believe the gospel. And that's the only biblical
baptism there is. But in it, we publicly identify
with the despised people of God in this world. And it is not
only identification with the people of God, but it's also
a public renunciation of the world and its religion and our
former way of life in it. And it is an acknowledgment that
we are made the children of God by His free grace, by grace in
Christ. And it is a kind, I guess you'd
say, a line of separation, a renouncing of the world, a renouncing of
our own righteousness. And when men and women were converted
from Judaism or from some Gentile paganism, they renounced all
their former religion as absolutely nothing but idolatry, and they
identified themselves with Christ and the true church. When this man, this eunuch, who
was already, you might say, a convert to Judaism. When this man who
was on his way back from a religious service, religious feast days
and religious activities, when he had left Jerusalem, where
it was to be the very city of God going back to Ethiopia without
knowing God, without understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ, without
any of these other things associated with the truth. He didn't just
change gears. I promise you he did not. He
didn't say, well, I just have come to some higher light in
this matter of the gospel. No, it's just like Paul says,
now he has heard the truth, the word of truth, the gospel of
his salvation, and he repents. of all that he once trusted in. He repents of that religion that
he once had a confidence in, and his only hope now is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Lord in the
Lord Jesus Christ. But sooner or later, in the matter
of baptism, we're going to come to what is the proper way or
mode of baptism. You see, the word itself, which
is baptizo, means to immerse, to submerge, or as one dictionary
put it, to make whelmed or fully wet. to plunge under. And this word was used so many
times in speaking of putting dye into fabrics. How would you put a dye or how
would you dye a fabric and make sure that it was all one universal,
unique color? Well, you take that fabric, and
you would take the liquid dye and you would literally baptize
the fabric in the dye. You would plunge it all the way
under because you would want it all to be colored by the dye. That's right. And it is an amazing
thing Maybe if I had lived in 1611 when the King James was
translated, I might not have found it such an amazing thing
that all the other words or so many words could be actually
translated, and yet this word, moreover, transliterated so that
it is not actually translated at all, but the translation is
left to the individual. No. You see, in no way can either
sprinkling or pouring be baptism. Number one, because of what the
Word itself means, just like I've said. But number two, listen
to this verse in John 3. John 3, 23, and John also, was baptizing in Anan near to
Salem, because there was much water there. And they came and
were baptized." Why would you ever? If baptism is simply sprinkling
or pouring, why in the world would you need to be to a place
where there is much water? All right, listen to this verse.
Matthew 3 and verse 16. 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." What does that say? When he was
baptized, he went up straightway out of the water. Why is that necessary? Because
it represents a burial. Now, we would have an awful mess
if we practice burial like some people practice baptism. And
all we did was simply bury the head of the body and make for
a bad situation. No, when we bury a body, we bury
the whole body. And since baptism, as Paul says
to the Colossians, he speaks of our being buried with him
in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. We are confessing. We are identifying. with the
death and the burial and the resurrection of our Savior. We are being plunged under that
water. We are being buried in a picture,
dying in Christ, and being raised up in the Lord Jesus Christ. But you see, it's not simply
a matter of how we are to be baptized, although that is plainly,
obviously clear if we study the Scriptures, but it's also a matter
of when we should be baptized. And this is not a matter of little
importance. You see, some believe that many
are of like faith, but they simply differ on this one small point. But I'm afraid that's not so.
And many mentally embrace the doctrines of grace in their heads,
and they talk about it with their lips, but they deny it in the
matter of baptism. You see, only believers are to
be baptized. Now, I said this is an important
text on baptism, but think about this. When this man requested
that Philip baptize him, when he asked for baptism, what was
it that Philip told him? You look back down here in verse
37. What's going to be the requirement?
Is he going to say, wait six months? Is he going to say, do
this or do that or the other? He's going to give him after
having preached to him the gospel. He's not simply speaking of him
believing in some random or mystical sin, believing this gospel that
he just preached to it. He said, if you believe, with
all thine heart, you may." That's a little bit too simple for some
people. Not if you've been preaching
the gospel, it's not. You see, faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ is the prerequisite for baptism. If you don't see it
anywhere else, if you look in Mark chapter 16 at verses 15
and 16, I don't know how you'd miss it there. He said unto them,
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Is that
clear? He that believeth. believeth
not only being the prerequisite, but preceding the baptized. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Now, my
friends, I don't care how sincere we are, I don't care how much
we want to believe it, I don't care who taught it, This absolutely,
definitely rules out infants. It absolutely rules out these
small children, and all these things are is simply the remnants
of a popish superstition. That's just it. Turn over to
Acts chapter 10, and look at a verse that's so often used. to try to promote or advocate
infant baptism. Acts 10 and verse 47. They say, Can any man forbid
water that these should not be baptized which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we? Can anybody forbid water to baptize
any of these? Well, look back in verse 33. Because in verse 33, the apostle
says, immediately, therefore I sent unto thee, or what's being
said here is, Peter by Cornelius, immediately
therefore I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou
art come. Now therefore we are all present
here before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God."
To do what? He's talking about those who
are there and capable of hearing and at least mentally receiving
the gospel that Peter preached. But look down in verse 43. He
says, "...to him give all the prophets witness that through
his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of
sins." And as he preached those very things, the Spirit of God
opened the hearts of those who made up the very origins of the
first Gentiles, you might say, in the Lord's church. And what
happened? They began to believe. And then
it says, can any man forbid water that these, these believers,
these who've just heard the gospel and believed it, that these should
not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we. There's no mention of any children
or infants or given any ground for household baptism or anything
like that. And then somebody brings this
up. But what about the Philippian
jailer's household? You see, in Acts 16, when the
jailer said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and
thy house. What's he saying? He's not saying
if you believe, not only will you be saved, but all your household. No, He's saying that if you believe,
and if these in your household, if they believe, you'll all be
saved. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized, and he and all his, straightway. And when he
had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and
rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." I never read
that, that I don't remember what an old what would be called now
Anabaptists, by the name of Balthasar Hubmeier, said concerning this
text. Somebody quoted this text or
read this text to try to defend infant or household baptism,
and Hubmeier said, yes, but the truth is that the youngest child
in the Philippian jailer's house was 16 years old. And so that
person he was speaking to said, where did you get that? He said,
the same place you got infant baptism. You just pull it out
of the hat. You see, this is believer's baptism. This is believer's baptism. Those who are brought to hear
the gospel and given an understanding and faith from God to believe
it. Not only will not water cleanse
us of our sin, not only will the act itself not purge us of
our iniquities, but only that which real baptism represents,
our being united with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death and
burial and resurrection. Sometimes they are given a long
list of reasons as to why infant children of believing parents
should be baptized. They say things like this. They
belong to the covenant and church of God. Do they? You see, here's
a great problem. Who is the covenant with? The seed. Not the seed of believing
parents, but the seed of Christ. He is the seed, and He has a
seed, a generation. and every one of them are brought
to believe. I'm a believer. I have two children. I pray God in grace will reveal
Himself to them and enable them to believe. But just being associated
with me, that won't save them. Only being associated with the
Lord Jesus Christ. They say things like this. The
benefits of grace and redemption from sin, the remission of sins
and regeneration belongs to them because their parents are believers. Ask David. You just ask David,
who said, what is required? What is required of a king? What
is required of one that rules in a way that's pleasing to God?
And he acknowledged that, but he said, although my household
be not so with God, although my household's not that way,
yet he hath made with me. an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things, and sure, and this is all my hope and all my
salvation." Some say, well, they're holy, and the kingdom of heaven
is theirs. Are they really? Well, the Bible
says they're depraved. Now, I'm a parent, and all of
you are parents. Why is it? that we worry about
our children so much. Why is it we keep a watch on
them? Keep a leash on them sometimes
almost literally? Why is that? I'll tell you why. Because we know in their heart
of hearts that they are just like us. Depraved sinners. That scares you to life. You
remember Well, I remember the first time my kids took the car
out, left home, I just terrified. Why? Because I remember what
I did. We ought not kid around with
this stuff. If a baptism is an absolute denial
of what the Scriptures teach about the absolute total depravity
of a sinner, come forth from the womb speaking lies, not holy,
in Adam. all die, and only those in Christ
are made alive, which is what? What we picture when we're baptized. Oh, I was dead in trespasses
and sin, but God, in His saving mercy and grace, put me in Christ,
and I died not only in Christ, but I died to my sins when He
died for me, and I was buried in Him, and I was raised up by
God in Him." Then they say things like this, After baptism of infants
has denied original sin and natural depravity and all the plain words
of Scripture, they say something like this, baptism occupies the
place of circumcision in the New Testament and has the same
use, putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. You see,
that's why people want to cling to the law so much. Because it is laced, they have
laced it with such superstition that they fear and dread not
to regard it. But I love that hymn. Free from
the law, O happy condition, Jesus hath bled and there is remission. Where does it say in the Bible,
number one, Where does it say that Israel in the wilderness
is the church in the wilderness? Show me that one. You can't. Though Israel be a type and a
picture of the church, that nation of Israel was not the church. Why? Because it said the most
of them died in the wilderness in unbelief. But I'll tell you
what it does say. It does say that that circumcision
which identified those Israelites under that old covenant was a
picture and type of what the Apostle calls the circumcision
of the heart, not of the flesh. He says, we are the true circumcision,
the true Israelite, the circumcised of heart. who worship God in
the Spirit, who rejoice in Jesus Christ, and who have no confidence
in the flesh. You see, the one essential to
baptism is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you trusted
after that you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel, of your
salvation." You see, there is an inspired order, especially
in the book of Acts. The inspired record of history. In Acts 2, it says, "...then
they that gladly received his word were baptized." See that
order? They that gladly received the
Word of God, the Gospel, they were baptized. Look over in Acts
8. Back to Acts 8 and verse 12. This is before Philip got sent
to the desert to preach to the eunuch. He was in another place. But when they believed Philip,
preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. What preceded
baptism? Their hearing the true gospel
and being enabled of God to believe it. Listen to this in Acts 9. This is Saul of Tarsus. It says,
when he came down as he was sent by Christ to Damascus, to that
street called Straight, to a man called Ananias, and Ananias preaches
to him, it says, and immediately there fell from his eyes as it
had been scales, and he received sight forthwith, and arose and
was baptized. Acts 16. and a certain woman
named Lydia. a seller of purple, of the city
of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the
Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken
of Paul. And when she was baptized in
her household, she besought us, saying, If you judge me to be
faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And
she constrained us." Now, she hadn't known them hardly. Any
time, how could they regard her as being faithful in the sense
that most people think of faithfulness? No. He's talking about her believing. Verse 16 again. I mean, Acts
16, verse 30. And he brought them out. This
jailer serves, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And they
spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in
his house. And he took them that same hour
of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized. Acts 18, verse 8. And Crispus,
the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all
his house. And many of the Corinthians,
hearing, believed and were baptized. Three things. God sent them the
true gospel. God gave them faith to believe
that gospel of Christ. And they were baptized. Now,
why would you be baptized? I mean, not only because Christ
commanded it, but why would you be baptized when you stop and
think about it, after you've just heard something and believed
it? Because what you've just heard and believed, the gospel,
is all bound up. Though there are many details
and many particulars, it's all bound up in a message of salvation
in Christ through His life and death and resurrection. He said, repent and be baptized. And most people don't understand
repentance at all. When He says, repent of your
sins, they imagine somehow that they are going to sit down and
think about all their sins of all their days, and they're going
to But the truth of the matter is,
I don't even know all my sins. I don't even know all my sins
of yesterday, much less 50 years ago. But you see, repentance
is described in this way, repentance toward God. It's a turning from
all our false notions of how we are trying to be accepted
by God, please God, receive blessing from God. We repent of all that. And what's the other side of
the coin? Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. When I survey the wondrous cross,
upon which the Prince of Glory died. I just pour contempt on
all that I am in myself, all that I've ever done, all my imagined
righteousness. I cast all hope in these things
away and look to the crucified Christ. That may not seem too
important to you this morning, but I'll promise you one thing.
One day it will be. One day it will be. God give
us an understanding in all these things. What hinders me from
being baptized? If you believe with all your
heart, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He's the Christ. He's the one who saves us. It's not a matter of, if you
do this, he'll save you. No, that's why he came into this
world, and that's what he's doing on the cross, saving some folks.
Is that what we believe? It's the gospel of your salvation.
Father, we ask this day that you'd help us. What weak, ignorant,
and frail creatures we are. How we cling to superstition
and believe the false because we have not a heart of ourselves
to believe the truth. Grant us that heart, that understanding,
that we might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might
cast off all hope in ourselves and look to Him alone. Bleed
His blood shed as that righteousness which you not only require, but
which you give as a gift, and which, since it comes from you,
you will surely accept. We pray that you would teach
us, enable us to believe the truth. Rest in Christ. For we pray all things and ask
it in His name. Amen.