Now last week, last Sunday, we
had a couple of people confess Christ in believers baptism and
we're going to have a baptism tonight. And I feel impressed
to bring a message upon the subject of baptism. Let's read this verse
of scripture again in verse 15 of Mark chapter 16. And 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." Now, what
I want us to pay real close attention to is that our Lord did not merely
say He that believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth
what and is baptized shall be saved." I have entitled this
message, The Importance of Baptism. Now, our Lord only says that
which is essential. This is His Word. He never says
anything that is unnecessary. And when He refers to believing
the gospel, He says, He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved. Now, Bringing this message on
baptism, I have three goals. First, my goal is to preach the
gospel. Paul said, Christ sent me not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And that's what I so
much want to happen this morning, that the gospel will be preached. I want that more than anything
else. But my second goal in bringing this message is to tell what
baptism means. I think of that passage of scripture
in Exodus chapter 13 where Moses was giving instructions regarding
the Passover and how the Passover was to be kept. And he said,
when your children ask, what mean ye by this service? You'll
say, it's the Lord's Passover. And I want to tell what mean
ye by this service. You know, it's kind of unusual
if you think of people getting in a pool of water and somebody
dunking them down all the way under and bringing them back
up. What's that all about? What does it mean? What is the
significance of baptism? Obviously it's very important
or the Lord would not have said, he that believeth and is baptized. and is baptized shall be saved. And I want to see people who
should be baptized, be baptized. Now, the importance of baptism. We see from the latter part of
verse 16 that baptism does not save because he does not say,
but he that believeth not and is not baptized. shall be damned."
He doesn't say anything like that at all. You see, the thief
on the cross was not baptized. And the thief on the cross was
brought into glory that very day. What is baptism? You know, the Lord Jesus was
baptized. Isn't that special? The Lord
Jesus was baptized. What is baptism? Now the word
by definition means immersion. That's all it means. He that
believeth and is immersed. The same shall be saved. If you
look up the history of the word, the word is first used with reference
to taking a piece of cloth and immersing it all the way in dye
and bringing it back up. And that cloth has changed colors.
It's taken all the way immersed in the dye and brought back up
sprinkling. or pouring is a denial of what
the word means and what the act symbolizes. What does the act
of baptism symbolize? Death. Death, the death, the
burial, and the resurrection of Christ. The gospel is in this
symbol of baptism. Turn with me for a moment to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. I think it's, this is a passage
of scripture which all kinds of weird doctrines have come
from. Verse 29, 1 Corinthians 15, else what should they do which
are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all why
are they baptized for the dead now i think it's very interesting
that in that verse of scripture that some people say this is
where infant baptism came from uh... you need to if a if a baby
was born dead they'd go ahead and baptize it in order to make
sure it was saved and then they said well let's just go ahead
and cover all of our bases and let's baptize all infants and
that's where this practice the practice of infant baptism came
from. People baptized them for the dead. But what Paul is saying
in this passage of scripture, he's not talking about baptizing
a dead person. He says, what does baptism signify? Now, he'd
been talking about resurrection. And he says, if there's no resurrection,
then what we need to do when we baptize is hold them down
under and drown them. Because what would baptism mean
if there was no resurrection? Baptism represents the life,
the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, as far as the physical act
is concerned, baptism is singular. It means the bodily immersion
of a person in water. Paul said in Ephesians 4, 5,
there is one baptism. And let me say this about baptism.
It is an ordinance of the church. Now, why do I say that? Well,
the Lord's given us two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's table.
Those are the only two ordinances. Now, there could be some children
playing in a swimming pool, and they may unknowingly baptize
one another. They may bring one person in
the water and bring them back up, but is that baptism? Even
though the exact act was performed? No, that's not baptism, because
baptism is an ordinance of the church. It's believers' baptism. As far as the physical act is
concerned, You can have the physical act without having a true baptism. You can go through the act of
physical baptism when you haven't believed the gospel. Maybe you
believe in salvation by works and you think in order to be
saved, you need to be baptized. So you go through baptism. That's
not baptism. You know, there's no such thing
as being re-baptized. I don't care if you've been baptized
60 times, that still doesn't mean there's only one baptism.
It's believer's baptism. You weren't baptized until you
were baptized as a believer, as someone who believed the gospel. There's no such thing as re-baptism.
So the act is immersion, but it is an ordinance of the church
and there is no, listen to me real carefully, there is no saving
efficacy in the act of baptism. It's not a sacrament. You know,
some people talk about the sacrament of baptism. It's not a sacrament.
It's an ordinance. It's a ceremony and nothing more. It is not a means through which
grace is conveyed. It is not an inference into the
church. It does not bring regeneration.
It does not wash away sins. It is a ceremony that means something
definite, something of infinite importance. It's so important
because of what it means and what it symbolizes. Our Lord
said, whosoever believeth what and is baptized, the same shall
be saved. Now, what does it mean? What
does it symbolize? It is a token, a symbol of an
already existing relationship. Now let me tell you what I mean
by that. Let me repeat that. Baptism is a symbol, it's a token of
an already existing relationship. September the 11th, 1982, I went through a marriage ceremony. That's what marriage is. It's
a ceremony. Now that does not mean I began
to love Lynn on September 11th, 1982. I loved her a long time
before that. I knew I wanted her to be my
wife before she knew I wanted her to be my wife. I loved her
a long time before that. I knew she was the woman for
me. But I went through that ceremony to prove that. That ceremony
is just a ceremony. I realize that. It's just a ceremony. It didn't create my love to her.
But what if I refused to go through the ceremony? You know what I'd say about that?
I'm not really committed to you. I don't really love you. When
two people say they love one another, and they cohabit and
yet they say we will not go through that marriage ceremony. All they
say by that is I am not willing to commit myself completely to
you. That's all that says. You can't
really love one another truly and refuse to go through the
marriage ceremony. Now baptism is very similar. I say by this act of baptism,
I speak of a relationship that was there before that act of
baptism. And I'm saying the reason I have
this relationship that I'm speaking of is because of what baptism
represents. I was united to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Here's why I have this relationship,
because when He lived, I lived. That's my righteousness before
God. His obedience. When He died, I died. That's my hope of salvation.
When He died, I died. When He was buried, I was buried.
When He suffered the wrath of God, that was for my sin. That's
why He died. And when He was raised, I was
raised. I was justified before God. And the relationship I have with
this one is because of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what baptism represents. It represents union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. I confess the gospel in confessing
believers' baptism. What does the act signify? It's
the token of an already existing relationship that was caused
by what baptism pictures. And I love what baptism pictures. It makes me rejoice right now
to think about this. And we're getting ready tonight.
Like I said, we're going to baptize Christi Burton. She's confessing
Christ in Believer's Baptism. And when I confess Christ in
Believer's Baptism, here's what I'm confessing. His life is my
righteousness before God. I was in Him. I was in him. What he did, I did. When he died,
I died. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. I'm confessing the gospel. You
know, in the very act of baptism, we have a picture of faith. You
know, you can't baptize yourself. You ever heard of Roger Williams?
They said, you know, he baptized himself because he couldn't find
anybody to baptize him, what he thought was the right way,
so he baptized himself. You can't baptize yourself. The
act of baptism, the one who does the baptizing, he brings the
person down in the water. They're passive in it. You're
just, you're just, it's being, you're acted upon. You're not
acting, you're acted upon. You're brought into the water,
you're brought back up. It is the, pictures the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was passive in this thing of
salvation. I didn't keep the law, he did. But when he kept
the law, I did. He did it, I did it too. When
he died, I didn't die, he did. But no, I did because I was in
him. And it was my sins he was paying for. When he was raised
from the dead, I was raised too. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. I say, by baptism,
and I say this plainly, I say this to all, this is my confession. I declare that my only hope in
my, and when I'm talking about my only hope, I'm not talking
about me just getting in by the skin of my teeth, this is the
only hope there is. Here's what I confess to all people, that
my hope is that when the Lord lived, I lived. When he died,
I died. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. And baptism actually is the believer's
public confession of Christ. You can't publicly confess Christ
and deny baptism. Look in Mark chapter 1. And here's
the scripture that proves this. Because I remember I used to
hear preachers say that baptism was our public confession of
Christ. And I'd say, well, where's the
scripture for that? Well, here's the scripture for it. Mark chapter
1, beginning in verse 4. John did baptize in the wilderness
and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And
there went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem
and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing
their sins. They were baptized, confessing
their sins. Now here's something I know that
didn't happen. That does not mean that they had to get up
before everybody and start confessing what all they had done and come
clean with everybody before they could be baptized. You know,
there's churches that do that. You need to confess to people.
You don't need to confess to anybody but God. Now, you can
just write that down. There's only one who can do you
any good. That's the Lord Himself. It would never do you any good
to confess your sins to me. I'm just as bad as you are. All
you're going to do is bring me down with you because I'm already
down there. I don't want to hear what you've done. You confess
your sins to God. There's something warped and
twisted about people wanting to hear other people's sins. That's dark. We don't confess
our sins to one another. I don't want you to know anything
about me in that sense. Let me be covered in the blood.
Now, don't anybody be thinking, well, what's he doing? You confess your sins to the
Lord, but what does he say? Baptism. This act of baptism
is my confession of sin. You see, by this act of baptism,
I'm confessing that I personally am so sinful that the only way
I can be saved is altogether outside of myself. The only way
I can be saved is if Christ lived for me. The only way I can be
saved is if Christ died for me. The only way I can be saved is
if Christ was raised for me. I confess that. I confess this
is the only hope I have. This is a confession of the Gospel. In baptism, I identify with Christ. I identify with His Gospel. I walk in newness of life with
Christ as my Lord and His children as my family. You know, I'm looking
at my family right now and that's not just empty words. This is
my family, the people of God. I identify, I want to be identified
with those people who believe the gospel, the gospel of what
baptism symbolizes. Turn with me for a moment to
1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter 3. Verse 20. Which sometime were disobedient,
when once the longsuffering 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, now notice that
word figure, the like figure wherein to even baptism, even baptism doth also now save
us. Not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, he uses the illustration
of Noah and the ark. Eight people were in that ark.
That ark was completely submerged. Water came down from the heavens,
up from the earth. It was completely surrounded
by water. In that ark, eight souls were
saved. Are those the only people that
were saved? Yes. Yes, and all the earth, eight
people were saved. Now he says, this is a figure
in verse 21, these souls being saved by water. This is a figure,
the like figure wherein to even now baptism doth also save us. Baptism itself doesn't save,
but what it represents saves. That is what he means. Somebody says, well, it says
what it says. No, it says what it means. If you want to just
take the statement, baptism does now save us. If you want to just
take that by itself, you can say, well, baptism saves. Well,
you know, from the light of other scriptures, he's not saying that
the act of baptism saves because it doesn't. And he he explains
that the like figure where unto even baptism does also now save
us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, Not just
being going under and having your sins washed away or having
your body washed. This is not because of a washing
in that sense. But the answer of a good conscience
toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, here's
the key to understanding baptism. The answer of a good conscience
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, what is a good conscience?
Is a good conscience one that doesn't feel guilty? No. That's a seared conscience. If you never feel guilty about
anything, it's because your conscience is no good. You're deceived.
I mean, I'm just sure of that. A good conscience is not one
that doesn't feel guilty. I've known people who never seem
to feel guilty about it. They seem to be amoral. They never felt
guilty about anything, no matter what they did. That's not a good
conscience, is it? I don't feel guilty. Well, that
doesn't mean you're not guilty. A good conscience is a conscience that
has absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. That's a good conscience. To have nothing to feel guilty
about. And the only way that I can attain
this good conscience is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. That's what baptism talks about,
that resurrection. Now, the Lord was raised from
the dead. And you know what happened when
He was raised from the dead? Every believer was justified. Romans 4.25 says He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. I was
justified when Christ was raised from the dead. Outside of my
personal subjective experience, I was justified when Christ was
raised from the dead. I always do this, but I need
to. If you believe that Jesus Christ
died for everybody, without exception, and that person that he died
for may end up in hell even though he was raised from the dead,
You lose the gospel. There is no gospel in the message.
And that's what most people believe and preach. Most people believe
that Jesus Christ died for everybody, wants to save everybody, made
salvation available for everybody, but you need to do something
in order to make what he did work. There's no gospel in that. That's
a false gospel. There's not a drop of good news
in that. The good news is that when he
was raised from the dead, I was justified. And I have a, you
know, that's the only thing that satisfies my conscience. That
what he did is enough and that I don't need anything else. Now,
baptism is obedience to Christ. That's always important. Remember,
I entitled this message, The Importance of Baptism. Baptism
is obedience to Christ. Do you believe the gospel? Now,
do you? Do you believe the gospel? And
you haven't been baptized? There's no way that that's right.
Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God. You're
certainly not going to have a good conscience if you refuse baptism.
Now there's somebody thinking, I don't think I understood baptism
very clearly when I was first baptized. Neither did I. I didn't understand it anywhere
near as clearly as I do now. But I knew at that time that
the only hope I had of salvation was the life, the death, the
burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I understood
that. A lot of stuff I didn't understand,
but I understood that. And I understand that a lot more
clearly now. Does that mean I should be baptized again because I understand
it more clearly now? No. Doesn't mean that at all.
As a matter of fact, that's a denial of what baptism means. That's
putting salvation in your knowledge rather than in Christ himself.
No, we're not going to do that. Now, if I went through that act
of baptism when I didn't believe the gospel, when I believed in
salvation by works, when I was supporting salvation by works,
I never was baptized in the first place. I wouldn't baptize any
more than kids dunking themselves down in a pool were baptized.
No, I am baptized only as a believer. Baptism is believers baptism. Only believers are to be baptized. And that's why I said there's
no such thing as being rebaptized. Now, if you don't have any peace
about your baptism and suspect that you were not a believer
when you went through that ceremony, then obviously you ought to be
baptized. You've never been baptized. But
if you're just thinking, I have so much more light than I did
now, No, you don't need to be baptized again. You've already
been baptized. And hopefully, five years from now, you'll have
more life than you do now. We grow in grace in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, I want to deal with
three questions regarding baptism. First, would you turn with me
to Acts chapter 2? These are all going to be from the book
of Acts. Acts chapter 2. Now, this is Peter preaching
on the day of Pentecost, and he says in verse 34, this was,
oh, what a message this was, 3,000 people. Think of that. 3,000 people were actually brought
to a knowledge of the gospel through this message. Now, Peter's
winding things up, and he says in verse 36, Therefore, let all
the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same
Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now, what
does Peter say to these fellas? He said, you have crucified the
Son of God. You have been guilty of murdering
Jesus Christ. And you know, that's what everybody
here is guilty of. Everybody here is guilty. If God left you
to yourself, you'd be one of the ones to do it. And if you
don't believe it, believe it. Believe it because God's word
declares it regarding you. Every one of us have been guilty
of hating the gospel, hating God. Somebody says, no, I haven't.
You know, hate is not only just wanting to hit and inflict pain. If you disregard something, that's
the same as hating it. If you don't love it, that's the same
as hating it. And all of us have been guilty of the crucifixion
of Christ. Now, what happened? Verse 37. Now, when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart. and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? They knew they were in a mess.
They had been guilty of crucifying the Son of God. And they believed
that. That's what their sin had done.
What do we do? Now Peter didn't say that's salvation
by works. You need to quit talking like
that. He didn't say that, did he? Look what he did say. Verse 38, Then Peter said unto
them, Repent. and be baptized. Every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promises unto you and to
your children and to all that are far off even as many as the
Lord our God shall call. What shall we do? Repent. Change your mind. Change your
mind about God. Change your mind about yourself.
Change your mind regarding the gospel. Change your mind concerning
how you think God saves sinners. Change your mind you're wrong.
Change. Believe what baptism signifies.
That salvation comes by the life, the death, the burial and the
resurrection of Christ. Repent and change your mind. Verse 40. and be baptized, repent
and be baptized. Verse 40, and with many other
words did he testify saying, exhort, saying, save yourselves
from this untoward, this perverse generation. Now look what verse
41 says. Then they that gladly received
his word, they received the gospel. What did they do? They were baptized. And the same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls. Turn to Acts chapter 8,
verse 26. What shall we do? Here's the
first question. What shall we do? Repent. and be baptized. Now Acts chapter 8 verse 26,
And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and
go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem,
unto Gaza, which is a desert. And he arose, and went, and,
behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority, under
Kendese, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her
treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship." Now somehow
this man knew that God was to be worshipped in Jerusalem according
to the Scriptures. How did he know this? I don't
know, but he knew. He came to Jerusalem with this
desire, I want to worship God. I want to find out who God is.
I want to worship Him. Verse 28, he was returning, and
I don't have any doubt that he went up anticipating and he was
returning disappointed. He knew there was truth and he
knew he didn't know it. He knew the truth was in the
Bible. That's what he was reading is the Bible is reading the prophet
Isaiah. He knew the truth was in the
Bible and he knew he didn't understand it. He was honest. He was returning
and sitting in his chariot, and he read Isaiah the prophet. He
was reading out of Isaiah 53, as a matter of fact, that great
chapter regarding the substitutionary death of Christ. Verse 29, Then
the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to
this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him,
and he heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and he said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? You know, I can't help but think,
999 out of a thousand people. If
you said, do you understand what you're reading? You know what
they'd say? Yeah, here's what it means. You know where people
would come from. But this man shows such humility. He says in verse 31, how can
I? Except some man should guide
me. You realize that you just can't
figure this out. You're totally dependent upon
God to reveal his truth to you, and he does so through the preaching
of the word. How can I? Except some man should guide
me. And he desired, Philip, that
he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture
which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before shear, so opened he not
his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. And who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth." Reading right out of
Isaiah 53. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of
himself or of some other man? This suffering substitute who
doesn't try to defend himself. Is he talking about himself or
somebody else? Then Philip, verse 35, opened his mouth and began
at that same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Now, I love to
think about this. I would have loved to have been
Philip. I would have loved to have been that eunuch. Somebody opens up Isaiah 53 and
says, what's this all about? Oh, I'd love to say, this is
the Lamb of God. This is the Lamb of God's providing.
The sins of God's people were placed upon him. He died as a
sin-bearing substitute. He was raised from the dead.
Oh, he's complete salvation. Wouldn't you love it if somebody
came up and asked you to explain Isaiah 53 to them? What a blessing
that would be. And that's what he does. He began
at that same scripture and he preached unto him Jesus. Verse
36, And they went on their way, and as they went on their way,
they came unto certain water, a pool of water. Now, obviously,
Obviously, Philip had spoken to him concerning baptism in
preaching this great message. Because look what happens, verse
36, and as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water,
and Enoch said, See, here's water. And then he asked this question,
What doth hinder me to be baptized? I want to know. If there's a
reason why I personally should not be baptized, I want to know
what it is. Maybe I should know more. Maybe
I should have more experience. Maybe my life should be better
before I confess Christ in believer's baptism. Maybe I need to get
this thing straightened up or that taken care of before I can
be baptized. If there's a reason for me to
not be baptized, if there's something that hinders me, I want to know
what it is. What hinders me? Now this fellow,
he wanted to be baptized, but he thought maybe I shouldn't
be. I'm so sinful. I'm so ignorant. I don't have
any experiences. It's the first time I've ever
even heard the gospel. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be
baptized? Because I'm afraid I can find
a thousand reasons why I shouldn't. So what hinders me? Now look at Philip's answer.
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, Thou mayest. There's the requirement for baptism. If you believe with all your
heart, you may, and I love Philip's answer or the eunuch's answer
to Philip. Verse 37, and he answered and
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Let me ask you a question. In your heart, do you believe? I'm not asking you if you believe
that you're a Christian. I'm not asking you if you believe
that you're saved. I'm not asking you if you have
full assurance of your salvation. I'm not asking anything like
that. I'm asking you this. In your heart, do you believe
that Jesus Christ is the uncreated, eternal Son of God who cannot
fail in whatever He's pleased to do? Do you believe that? Do you believe that? If you do, There is nothing hindering
you from being baptized. Now, if you don't believe that,
don't be baptized. It'd be a mockery. But if you
believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, then
you are commanded to be baptized. Look what happened. Verse 38,
And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went
down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch. And he
baptized him. And when they were come up out
of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and
the eunuchs saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. Rejoicing in what baptism tells
you. Now turn to Acts chapter 22.
This is Paul giving his testimony. He says in verse 4, And I persecuted
this way that believed this message unto the death, binding and delivering
into prison both men and women. As also the high priest doth
bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders, for whom
also I had received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus
to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to
be punished. And it came to pass that as I
made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon,
suddenly there shone from heaven a gray light round about me."
Isn't that what happens when God saves somebody? It begins
with this great light, and I have no doubt who this light was.
This light is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a light that was
brighter than the sun. This was Christ Himself, that
great light that showed round about. And here's what happens
when people receive light. I fell to the ground. I hit the
dirt. I heard a voice saying unto me,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou,
Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus
of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw
indeed the light, and were afraid, but they heard not the voice
of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do,
Lord? And the Lord said unto me, arise and go to Damascus,
and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed
for thee to do. And when I could not see for
the glory of that light being led by the hand of them that
were with me, I came unto Damascus and won Ananias, a devout man
according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews
which dwelt there." You see here that God sent Paul a preacher,
didn't he? God sent Paul a preacher, a man by the name of Ananias.
He came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked upon
him and he said, here's the message that he heard from Ananias. The
God of our fathers hath chosen thee. You know what the first
thing he heard about was? Divine election. The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee, that thou shouldest know His will. Now, that does not
simply mean you know His will of command. I know it's His will
for me to not lie and steal and all those things. I'm talking
about His will of redemption. His will that everybody that
Christ died for must be saved. His will of redemption. That
thou shouldest know His will and see that just one. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the one who made a way for God to be just and
justify the ungodly and see that just one and should hear the
voice of His mouth. You hear that this is the gospel
of God. This is divine truth. This isn't
just the preacher's opinion. This is God's voice. For thou
shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and
heard. Now, here's the question. And
now, why tarryest thou? What are you waiting on? What
are you waiting on? Waiting to get better? It ain't
going to happen. You waiting to have a deeper
experience? It's not going to happen either. Whatever you're
waiting on is wrong. Now evidently Paul, he looked at himself. He'd just,
he'd been on his way to kill Christians and he thought, I'm
utterly unfit for this. Why tarryst thou? You see, in
reality, what baptism signifies is the only hope somebody like
Paul has. If salvation's by works in any way, Paul will be damned,
and so will I. What are you waiting on? Why
tarryst thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Why tarryest thou? It's foolish
if you're tarrying. Now, I want to close with this
statement regarding baptism. Don't be baptized because you
feel guilty that you haven't been. That's not a good enough
reason. Don't be baptized to please somebody. You know, They'd be pleased if
you were. No, you'd be baptized because
you want to be baptized. You want to confess the Lord
Jesus Christ in baptism and you want to confess that He is His
life, His death, His resurrection. All your eggs are in that one
basket. Him. And you want to confess
to the world and to everybody that He is your hope. And you're baptized, not because
you feel guilty, not because you want to please somebody else,
but because you want to confess Jesus Christ in believer's baptism,
and you want to renounce. See, this is part of baptism.
When I make this confession of Christ in baptism, I renounce
all other hopes of salvation, but that which is presented in
believers, baptism. You confess Christ and you renounce
salvation by works. And you want to renounce salvation
by works. So we see the importance of this
subject. Our Lord said, Whoso believeth and is baptized, the
same shall be saved. If you haven't confessed Christ
in Believer's Baptism, do so. We're going to have a baptismal
service tonight. Let's pray together.