I invite your attention to the
Gospel of Matthew chapter 28. The Gospel of Matthew chapter
28. My text will be found in verses
18 and 19. My message is titled, Baptism,
What It Is, and does. I'm going to begin reading from
verse number 16. In verse 16, we read these words. Then the eleven disciples, you
will recall that Judas Iscariot is no longer among the disciples,
he had gone to his own place. There were now 11 of the apostles
remaining, and these are the 11 disciples mentioned in verse
16. Then the 11 disciples went away
into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for
them. Jesus had given word to them
earlier that they were to meet him on this mountain, so they
had gone there, and they were waiting for his arrival. In verse
17 we read, And when they saw him, they worshipped him, they
adored him, they revered him, they knew whom he was, what he
was, and worshipped him accordingly. But some doubted. In all probability, these who
doubted doubted that it was really Jesus whom they had seen coming,
probably because they had seen him from a distance and perhaps
did not recognize him as had the others who worshipped him.
I would say that is the case because in verse number 18 we
read, then Jesus came. He approached them closer. And
when he came closer and they could readily recognize him undoubtedly,
they doubted no more that it was him. Then Jesus came and
spoke to them saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven
and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples. Your King James will say, he
said, to teach the nations, but the meaning of the word is, go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you. And lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age. Amen. Now again, look at my text
in verses 18 and 19. Then Jesus came and spoke to
them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and
on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples
of all the nations. And here I would emphasize baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. So this morning we're going to
look especially at that part of the text that speaks about
baptizing disciples of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our text, verses 18 and 19, is part of the great commission
given by Jesus Christ to his preaching disciples or gospel
preachers. I emphasize that these were preaching
disciples. Our Lord had many disciples. He had hundreds of disciples.
We read of 500 who saw him at one time following his resurrection
from the dead. But here there were only 11.
These were the apostles. These were preaching disciples. These were the gospel preachers
among the Lord's disciples. Now, there is another Great Commission,
what is called another Great Commission, recorded in Mark
chapter 16, verses 14 through 16, where we read that Jesus
said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He who believes and is baptized
shall be saved, and he who does not believe shall be condemned. That also is said to be the Great
Commission. These two texts that speak of
the Great Commission are not contradictory. Indeed, they are
complementary. But here we're going to emphasize
the commission given in Matthew 28 and in verses 18 and 19. Christ here commissioned his
ministers to make disciples of all nations through preaching
his gospel. Remember, he said, go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and it is
through preaching the gospel that disciples are made. And Jesus then said, having made
disciples of all the nations, baptize them and administer to
them this sacred ordinance of baptism. So our subject is baptism,
what it is and what it does. And we here will consider the
role of baptism in this great commission, what it is and what
it does. I want you to consider first
of all that baptism is immersion. I repeat, baptism is immersion. Now some will say that sprinkling
or pouring water on someone qualifies as baptism, but they err when
they say that. And they err for many reasons.
I will give you about six reasons, although there are more, I'll
give you six that should be the most obvious reasons why sprinkling
and pouring do not suffice for baptism. Baptism is immersion. First, the Greek word translated
baptize means dip, immerse, submerge. It does not mean sprinkle or
pour. Even the scholars who say that
sprinkling and pouring will suffice as baptism, even they will admit
that this word means dip, immerse, and submerge. They also will
admit that there are two other different Greek words for sprinkling
and pouring. For example, the word for sprinkling
is the word rontizo, and it means to sprinkle water on someone.
Or it is used in the scriptures of Jesus sprinkling his blood
on our consciences. That is a different thing than
baptizing. The word for pouring is used
of Jesus when he poured water on the feet of his disciples.
Sprinkling and pouring do not suffice for baptism because baptism
is immersion. Second, the places chosen for
baptism suited immersion. For example, we read that John
baptized in a certain place because there was much water there. He could have baptized in any
place if only a cup full of water was required, as in sprinkling
or pouring. But he needed a place where there
was much water. He needed much water because
he was going to immerse disciples. We furthermore read that John
the Baptist baptized converts in the Jordan, not at the Jordan,
not beside the Jordan, not close to the Jordan. He baptized disciples
in the Jordan. Number three, Descriptions of
baptism describe immersion. And one of the foremost descriptions
of baptism will be found in the book of Acts, chapter 8, verses
38 and 39. And in this instance, we read
of the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip, the evangelist. We read, both Philip and the
eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized or immersed
him in the water. Then they came up out of the
water. Now, you certainly will read
that text and come away convinced that this was immersing. This
was not simply sprinkling some water over someone or pouring
some water over someone. This was an act of submerging
someone in the water. Number four, Jesus Christ, our
exemplar, was baptized or immersed. For at his baptism, we read in
Matthew 3.16, Jesus came up immediately from the water. You cannot come
up from the water unless you have gone down into the water. Now bear in mind also that Jesus
Christ was not baptized for the same reason that we are baptized. We are baptized because we are
made to be disciples. Jesus said that he was baptized
to fulfill all righteousness. Number five, baptism is a burial. For we are buried with him through
baptism. Romans chapter 6 verse 4. Notice, buried with him in baptism. Sprinkling a few drops of water
onto someone no more suffices for baptism than does sprinkling
a few grains of dirt onto a corpse. Bury it. If there is a dead body
of an animal, that you find in your yard, you surely want to
get it out of sight and get it away from you and to take care
of it. Suppose you tell someone, bury this, I want you to get
it out of sight. And suppose that one then takes
a few grains of dirt and sprinkles or pours them on the animal and
then walks away. And soon you begin to smell some
awful mess and you begin to ask, did you bury that animal? Oh
yes, I did. Well tell me how you did it.
I sprinkled a few grains of dirt on it. I mean a preacher said
that suffices for baptism or immersion but you see that is
not the case. Sprinkling or pouring a few grains
of dirt onto an animal's body does not bury it and baptism
is a burial. And number six Baptism describes
what is done to a person in water, but sprinkling and pouring describe
what is done with water to a person. Therefore, baptism is immersion. Neither sprinkling nor pouring
is immersion or baptism. And therefore, my friend, I would
say to you that if you have not been immersed, you have not been
baptized. If you have not been immersed,
you have not followed Christ's example. If you have not been
immersed, you have not been buried with Christ. If you have not
been immersed, You have not done what Jesus Christ here requires
of his disciples. Baptism is immersion. Second, I want you to observe
that baptism is for disciples only. Jesus told his preachers
to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them. That is to say, baptize the disciples
that are made. Now what is a disciple, you may
ask? A disciple of Christ is one who
believes in him and practices what he teaches and ever adheres
to him. Therefore, baptism is not for
infants and other persons incapable of voluntarily becoming a disciple
of Christ, believing in him, practicing what he teaches, and
adhering to him. Quite a few years ago, when I
was ministering on the island St. Thomas, There was a lady
who attended our worship services, and she knew what I taught concerning
baptism. And she gave birth to a child,
and probably from pressure from family members or friends, she
was told she needed to have that child baptized. And so she asked
me, she said, will you baptize my infant child, my newborn child? And I thought to myself, now
surely this lady knows the answer to that question is no. But I
told her this. I said, yes, ma'am, I will baptize
your infant. And she was thoroughly surprised. Expressed her surprise and I
said yes, I will baptize your infant on this condition If your
infant is a believer in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and
has confessed Jesus Christ as his Savior, then if your infant
has done that, then I will baptize your infant. Well, of course,
she knew that the child was incapable of expressing faith in Christ,
the child was incapable of believing in Jesus Christ, so that put
an end to that. Baptism, and we stress this,
is for disciples only. It is only for people who have
believed the gospel of Jesus Christ and have become disciples
of him. I would say also that neither
is forced baptism true baptism. There have been certain religious
sects calling themselves Christian and they have gone into a place
and perhaps conquered it in a battle and then they require everybody
in the conquered territory to become Christian, quote-unquote,
and to be baptized and they force baptism on them. You either are
baptized or else something dreadful happens to you. Well, listen
friends, that is not true baptism. Forced baptism is not true baptism. disciples are willing volunteers
in the day of God's power. He said, or the scriptures say,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. These are
the disciples of Jesus Christ. They are willingly disciples,
they're not forced to be disciples. Therefore, Christ's disciples
are willing volunteers in the day of his power, not forced
subjects in the day of religion's power. Number three, baptism
is a sacred ordinance. That is, baptism is an authoritative
decree or direction from God. Now, note well that Jesus here
prefaced his words regarding discipleship and baptism with
these words. He said, All authority has been
given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, He who has all authority
requires disciples to be baptized. Baptism is not a suggestion. Baptism is not an option. And any professing disciple refusing
to be baptized is not to be considered a true disciple. I recall an illustration that
goes along with this involving an old preacher in my young days. His name was Harry J. Sims. He was a dear family friend and
I was speaking to him on one occasion concerning the subject
of baptism when I was a young man. And he told me that a certain
man had come to him and said, Preacher Sims, I want you to
baptize me. Take me down to the river and
baptize me. But I don't want anybody there.
I want it to be done in private. Nobody there. Would you do it? And preacher Sam says, well no,
I won't do it. We'll not do it. You see, disciples
make public confessions of faith. Disciples are public disciples. Our Lord has not secret disciples
who want to go Go around in circles on this matter and try to find
some way to get baptized and nobody ever know about it. Baptism
is a confession of faith and it is to be done publicly. And it is to be done as a sacred
ordinance or an authoritative decree or direction from God. Fourth, note that baptism is
in the name of the triune God. Jesus said to baptize them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Now note that these three persons,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are three separate
persons, but they have the same one name, and they are of the
same one name. This is why we speak of baptism
being in the name of the triune God. Now the word name is not
here used as a proper name as when God says my name is Jehovah
in Jeremiah 16 verse 21. Rather this word name is here
used as the expression of the sum total of God's being, including
his nature and attributes, as when God explicates his name
as, I am who I am, that is my name. Exodus 3 verses 13 and
15. Therefore the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is whom and what God is. When disciples are baptized in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
they are brought into a personal relationship with Him in which they acknowledge themselves
as His disciples. You can compare this in 1 Corinthians
10 verse 2 as those who went through the Red Sea in the Exodus
from Egypt, they were disciples of Moses. They followed him.
They were identified with Moses and therefore we who were baptized
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
are identified with God. Disciples confess and publicize
in their baptism their desertion of this sinful world, their belief
in the triune God, and their devotion to God the Father and
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Number five. Baptism is an outward symbol
representing gospel truths. And so we're going to consider
some of these gospel truths. But before we do, I want you
to consider this fact. Baptism is not a sacrament in
the sense of a sacred sign conferring grace on the soul of the recipient. You will hear some people speak
of baptism being a sacrament conferring grace. That is not
what baptism is. Baptism neither confers nor causes
grace, for grace is entirely of God and conferred by him alone. Rather, baptism is an ordinance
required of those who have already received saving grace. And baptism
is an outward symbol representing these gospel truths. If time
permits, I'm going to give you five of them. Number one, baptism
symbolizes union with Christ in His death burial and resurrection. You can read this in Romans chapter
6 verses 3 through 6. In baptism the disciple confesses,
I am in union with Christ Jesus because I am baptized into him. My old man, what I was apart
from his grace, was crucified with Christ and I died with Christ. I also was buried with Christ,
and my body of sin, what I was apart from his grace, is done
away with in that tomb. I also was resurrected with Christ,
and now am dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ, and live with
him, and walk with him in the newness of life, and in Christ
I shall never die again. Through Christ, I am dead to
sin and shall no longer live in sin. And I am freed from sin,
so that I will no longer be a slave of sin. And sin will not reign
in my body or cause me to obey its lusts. And death no longer
has dominion over me. Because I am in Christ, my body
now belongs to God, and I will not permit the members of my
body to be instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but rather the members
of my body shall be instruments of righteousness to God. And
in Christ I am no longer under law, because he freed me from
it. Rather, in Christ I am under
God's grace, and because I am in Christ, I am not so foolish
as to believe that I may continue in sin, so that grace may abound."
Now, everything that I just said to you is a summary of what Paul
teaches us in Romans chapter 6, verses 3 through 6. He is here telling us that baptism
symbolizes union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. Second, baptism symbolizes washing
sins away. We know this from Acts chapter
22 verse 16. This is in the conclusion of
the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. You remember that the Lord saved
him on the road to Damascus. Saul had been blinded by the
light, was taken into Damascus, and there he was in a certain
house, prayed for three days. He had gone there to kill disciples
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but the master of those
whom he had gone to kill had arrested him and gloriously saved
him. Then the Lord spoke to a disciple
there in Damascus by the name of Ananias. And he told him,
Ananias, I want you to go down to Saul I want you to tell him
that he is now mine, he is a chosen vessel of mine, and do what should
be done with Saul of Tarsus." So Ananias went to the house,
this disciple of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, went to
the house where Saul of Tarsus was. And he explained why he
was there, called Saul, Brother Saul. And then he said these
words, be baptized and wash away your sins. Be baptized and wash
away your sins because baptism washes sins away. Now, sins are actually washed
away by the blood of Jesus Christ. For in his death was fulfilled
the prophecy, in that day a fountain shall be opened for the house
of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. The prophecy is recorded in Zechariah
chapter 13 verse 1. A fountain shall be opened, and
that fountain shall be opened for the sin and the uncleanness
of God's people. That fountain was opened on Mount
Calvary when the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was hanged there
on the tree suspended between heaven and earth. That fountain
that God had promised was opened by a Roman spear used by a soldier
who thrust that spear into the side of Jesus Christ. And we
read that out flowed blood and water in fulfillment of this
prophecy that a fountain shall be opened for sin and for uncleanness. That's why we speak of washing
our sins away. in the blood of the Lamb. We
wash our sins in the blood of Jesus Christ because that blood
has washed away our sins. In baptism, the disciple declares
that his sins were actually washed away by Christ's blood, but now
they are symbolically washed away in baptism's water. Therefore, baptism symbolizes
washing sins away. Third, baptism symbolizes remission
of sins. Acts 2 verse 38. This is from
the message of Peter the Apostle on the day of Pentecost. He preached
the gospel of Jesus Christ on that day and many of his hearers
realized that they had murdered Jesus Christ. They were convicted
of their sins and they cried out, men and brethren, what shall
we do? We have offended God. We have
sinned. We need to do something about
it. And Peter told them, repent. and let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission or forgiveness
of sins. The reality of the remission
of sins is found in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We know
this because when he instituted the Lord's Supper, He said, this
is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the
remission of sins. It is the blood of Jesus Christ
that actually remitted our sins, gave us remission of sins, and
shows to us that our sins are forgiven. Therefore, remission
of sins is accomplished through Christ's shed blood. and received
through faith in Christ, for whoever believes in him will
receive remission of sins, and remission of sins is confessed
in baptism. And in that regard, baptism symbolizes
remission of sins. Fourth, baptism symbolizes putting
on Christ. Galatians 3, 27. Paul writes,
for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Put him on. What does that mean?
Put on Christ. To put on a person was a common
ancient Greek expression meaning to take him as a pattern and
guide, to imitate his example and become like him. Therefore,
when one was said to have put on Plato, he was recognized as
a disciple of Plato. or a Platonist and likewise he
who will put on Christ will be recognized as a disciple of Christ,
a Christian. Now all Christians are to ever
put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the
flesh to fulfill its lusts according to Romans 13 verse 14. But we outwardly declare in baptism
that we have put on Christ. In the water of baptism, I put
on Christ. Now fifth, The fifth thing that
baptism symbolizes is salvation itself. 1 Peter 3, verse 21. Peter writes, there is also an
antitype over a figure which now saves us. Baptism, not the
removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. During the Noahic
deluge, that great flood in the day of Noah, the people in the
ark built by Noah were said to be saved through water in verse
20 of that text. They were saved through water,
that is the water lifted their ark above the destruction of
the wicked and therefore became the symbol of their salvation. And as the water of that flood
was a symbol of Noah's family's salvation, so is the water of
baptism a symbol of the believers' salvation. That is Peter's point
that he here makes. In baptism, believers are also
saved through water, for baptism saves us in the sense of symbolizing
our salvation. Peter tells us also that baptism
saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ for our baptism
is worthless apart from God raising him from the dead. Christ was
raised because of our justification according to Romans chapter 4
verse 25. He was delivered up because of
our sins, but he was raised because of our justification. Because
in his death God justified his people, God therefore raised
Jesus Christ from the dead. And in baptism we testify that
we as justified people were raised with him. Remember that from
Romans chapter 6 verse 5. In our baptism we are dead with
Christ, buried with Christ and raised with Him. What a perfect
picture of salvation this is. We emerge from the watery grave,
perhaps as physically dirty as when we entered it, for baptism
is not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but We are raised
in the water with a good conscience toward God. I want you to think
about that for just a moment. Baptism is the answer of a good
conscience toward God. When a man is baptized, he comes
up from that water and his conscience is clean. He has a good conscience. He has a good conscience because
he has believed the gospel of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
therefore his conscience is good. But he also is required to be
baptized, and when he is baptized he comes up out of that water.
He's got a good conscience. I have done what Jesus Christ
required. when he said that disciples are
to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Baptism therefore is a perfect
symbol of our salvation and in this sense it saves us. So what does baptism portray? Baptism is an outward symbol
representing these gospel truths. Baptism symbolizes union with
Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection. And baptism
symbolizes washing sins away. And third, baptism symbolizes
remission of sins. Fourth, baptism symbolizes putting
on the Christ. And fifth, baptism symbolizes
salvation. And I'm going to ask you today,
you that hear me, are you a disciple of the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ? Have you believed this gospel
that I preached to you? Have you trusted in Him for the
salvation of your soul? Have you become His disciple? If you have, then it is required
that you be baptized. Have you been baptized? I'm not
asking if you had someone to pour some water over your head
or sprinkle some water on your head. No, no, no. I'm asking
you, have you been baptized, identified with Christ, washed
your sins away? obtained remission of sins, have
you put on Christ, and have you shown to the world your salvation
in baptism as this confession of faith? Oh, my friend, do not
leave today without having ascertained that you are a disciple of Jesus
Christ and you've followed him in baptism. The New Testament
knows nothing of unbaptized disciples except those who were on the
way to the baptistry or to the water or to the place to be baptized. Have you followed our Lord in
baptism?