In Matthew chapter 28, you'll
mark that place. In Mark Acts 9, in 1 Peter chapter
3, I doubt that I'll say a thing tonight
that you haven't already heard or don't already know. I don't know very much about
water baptism, but I think there's more there than I've ever been
able to understand in the scriptures, the meaning of it. I want to
look at three places this evening concerning water baptism. Why we baptize. I was thinking
of this. yesterday, the day before yesterday,
as we were going to baptize Cindy today. Why do we baptize? We find here in the 28th chapter
of Matthew, beginning here in verse 18, where the Lord was
ready to ascend back to heaven, and Jesus came and spake unto
His disciples, and said to them, is given to me in heaven and
in earth. 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, lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world. Amen." Well, you and I are baptized. because it's taught in the Scriptures.
If it wasn't, we wouldn't baptize. You can go through the Scriptures
in your concordance and find out in so many, not only in all
of the Gospels and throughout the book of Acts, but in Romans
and Colossians and Ephesians and Galatians where this subject
is dealt with at least in a measure. So we do it because it's in the
scriptures. And in this passage here that
I read to you, we see that it was to be practiced in the early
church. These apostles, the disciples
of the Lord, had already been baptized. Christ never baptized,
but they did. When the time came to preach
the gospel to the Samaritans, Philip baptized them. He baptized
men and he baptized women. And then when it come time to
preach the gospel to the Gentiles, Peter had them baptized. So,
it wasn't just for the Jews, it was for the Samaritans, it
was for the Gentiles, and it's to be practiced in all times. You know, there was never a time
when the Lord said, you know, that this was the end of water
baptism. It's an ordinance that was to last just like the Lord's
Supper. We haven't quit partaking of
the Lord's Supper, because he tells us to remember his death
till he come, and he hasn't come yet. So we've never ceased to
baptize believers in water. He spake here, and it's evident
that he's not just speaking to his apostles here, because he
says, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Who's
he speaking there? Well, he's not speaking to Peter
and James and John, but he's speaking to the church. They
were to take the gospel into all the world and baptize people
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and
then the church was to take up that commission. Wherever the
church was and wherever it is, even to the end of the world,
they were to baptize believers. What is water baptism? The first thing about it that
I notice is this. It's a command of our Lord. It's a command of our Lord. That's why we do it. The Lord
instructed his disciples here, go and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father. Go and teach and baptize. That doesn't sound like a suggestion,
does it? That doesn't sound like the Lord
is telling them. Now, if you guys still like it,
if you are mine to, but this is a command. Go and teach and
baptize. Now, I want you to look over
here in Acts chapter 10, where the apostle Peter came into the
household of Cornelius and had preached the gospel to them as
the Lord instructed them to. And look what he says, look how
he deals with this thing of water baptism. Acts chapter 10, he
was preaching Christ to them, that whosoever believed in him
would receive forgiveness of sins. You'd be forgiven of your
sins through faith in Christ. What a wonderful truth. And verse
44, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on
all them which heard the word, And they of the circumcision,
which believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.
And then answered Peter, Can any forbid water, that these
should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost
as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord. He commanded them to be. Now
why did He command them to be? Because the Lord had already
instructed Him. You go teach all nations, commanding
them, He said, to keep all things whatsoever I've told you. So
this here is not a suggestion, it's a commandment. And you and
I, we've got beyond arguing where
water baptism is essential to salvation, haven't we? We've
settled that issue. When Cindy called me a few weeks
ago and wanted to be baptized, I didn't have to go through and
explain to her what she knew about water baptism, if she thought
it was essential or non-essential. We've got beyond that. Thank
God for it. But we do it first and foremost because He commands
us to do it. And if we don't understand anything
else about water baptism, we know that, don't we? It's our
Lord's Word He commands us to do. Now turn back over here to
your left just a few pages to Acts chapter 8. First of all
then it's command that we do it. One of the reasons I like
this is because I have a dear friend that I read after a lot, William Huntington, and he's
about as clear on the gospel as anybody I've ever read. A
few months ago I was reading that he never was baptized in
water. That he said, you know, that
he wouldn't refuse any of his converts' baptism. He'd get somebody
to baptize him if they wanted to be immersed, but he wouldn't
do it himself. And I wish he would have went
farther and commented on that. Because how do you refuse water
baptism when the Lord commands it? I don't understand that,
do you? And you don't have to go into
great drawn out details to try to explain it away. Begin with
this. Does the Lord command it or not?
And if He does, we don't worry about whether it's essential
or not. It's essential if He tells us that ain't it. If the
Lord comes to me and He says, you do this, I don't look at
His face and say, Lord, you sure this is essential? His command
is essential. If you love me, keep my command.
Keep my commandments. We'll look further at that in
just a second. So first of all, it's commanded. And secondly,
look here in chapter 8 and we learn something else about it.
Water baptism is a confession of our faith. It's a confession
of our faith in Christ. It says, I believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ with all my heart. Who wouldn't want to confess
that? The saints of God crave to confess Christ before this
world. They want utterance to do it and they want grace to
do it. Don't you long to tell people
of your Lord and to confess what He's done for you and the compassion
He's had upon you? Well, one of the ways we do it
is by water baptism. Look here in this passage in
Acts chapter 8, a very familiar passage concerning the Ethiopian
eunuchs. when Philip had preached the
Lord Jesus to him. Look in verse 32. He was reading
the book of Isaiah. And the place of the scripture
where this eunuch read was this. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, and like a lamb done before his shearers, so he opened
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. And the eunuch answered
Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this, of himself, or some other man? And Philip opened his mouth,
and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came into a certain water,
and the eunuch said, See, here's water. What hinders me from being
baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the
chariot to stand still, and they went both down into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they
had come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
him away. Caught away Philip, that the
eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. Why
did this eunuch confess Christ? because he was a believer in
Christ. And that was one of the conditions upon his confession,
Christ by water baptism, that he believed in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when I say confession, you
look in the New Testament, and this wasn't an immediate confession.
Water baptism was the first thing these people did when they believed
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Terence read to us tonight, the
Philippian jailer, The very night that he believed in Christ, they
took him out and baptized him. They didn't wait until the morning.
They baptized him right then. Those 3,000 souls that had received
the word of the Lord under Peter's preaching, every one of them
was baptized immediately. Lydia turns red to us again this
evening. When her heart was open, immediately
she was baptized. It's an immediate profession
of the Lord Jesus. Now it's not in our day, and
I don't know why we delay. I don't know if we're looking
for evidence or not. Most of the people I've baptized,
I probably shouldn't have baptized them. I don't know. But you wonder
what sometime they are, don't you? But they didn't wait in the New
Testament. When they said, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they
baptized them. They baptized them. If we've
been enabled through grace to believe in the Son of God as
our Redeemer, and our hearts rest itself in Him, He's all
our salvation, He's all our hope, then confess that faith. Confess
that faith in water baptism. That's what baptism is. That's why we do it. It's a command
of the Lord Jesus Christ And it's a confession of our faith. And you know, to be honest with
you, when I was baptized, these are the only two things I understood
about baptism. I didn't know anything else,
but the Lord commanded me to do it. And I wanted to do it
because I believed Him. The Son of God is my Lord and
my Savior. Turn over here to the last passage,
over here to 1 Peter chapter 3. Look in verse 20. 1 Peter chapter 3. Peter tells
us something else here about water baptism. He calls it a
figure and he says it saves us. The like figure that saves us. Look what he says in verse 20.
Which sometimes, speaking about the spirits in Noah's day, Those
men who were lost, Christ went and preached to them, preached
through Noah to them. Which sometimes were disobedient
when once 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 life-figure, whereunto even
baptism doth also now save us, Not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards
God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The like figure, who
were into baptism, doeth now save us. Now there's no doubt
that baptism saves us in some sense, because he says that,
doesn't he? If I come up here this evening
and say, baptism don't save us, then you could come here and
say, now Bruce, but Peter said it did. You know, it's sort of
like that faith doesn't save us. How many people have we heard
say, faith don't save a man? But when the Lord Jesus looked
at that woman that he'd just forgiven, he said, thy faith
has saved thee, didn't it? What we should say, faith saves
us, but in what sense does it save us? If Peter is saying here
that baptism saves us, then instead of saying it doesn't, let's see
what sense, if we can, baptism saves us. When you see this word
saved in the Scriptures, it don't always mean regeneration. If
you take it for that, then we'll be confused about the word. Paul
was writing to Timothy, and he was encouraging him to continue
in the faith and he says this to him, take heed to thyself
and to the doctrine. Continue in them for in so doing
you shall both save yourself and them that hear you. Now was
Paul telling Timothy that he could regenerate himself? Well
of course he wasn't. He was already regenerated. Then
what was he doing? He was saying, Timothy you continue
in the doctrine that I taught you. Continue in the doctrine
that you've learned in the whole Scripture the Lord has taught
you. Continue in them, for in so doing, you're going to save
yourself a lot of trouble. You'll save yourself from Aaron,
and you'll save those who hear you. James says the same thing
when he says the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Save them
from what? From their sickness. So when
you see this word saved, it doesn't always mean regeneration. Regenerate yourself. What sense then is Peter speaking
about when he says, baptism doeth not save us? First, let's look
at this. Let's look at what sense baptism
does not save us. We know this. Baptism does not
give us life. Baptism does not regenerate a
man. And we know this, baptism does
not wash the conscience of its sin. We know that. And we know
this, that baptism does not give a man a new heart and a new spirit. Water baptism does not reveal
God in Jesus Christ to us. Water baptism does not deliver
us from the power of darkness and translate us into the kingdom
of God's dear Son. You say, Bruce, how do you know
that? Well, we know it one way by this. What a baptism is a
figure. And figures cannot do these things. Only the Lord can do that. Now
look where you hold that right there and look back to your left
in Hebrews chapter 9. You know what a figure is. It's
something or someone that represents something else or another person
to us. It's a figure, it's a type, it's
a shadow. And look here what the writer
of Hebrews says about figures. Look in chapter 9 of Hebrews,
the writer here was speaking about the old tabernacle out
in the wilderness and the temple that Solomon had built. There was a holy place where
the priest went into, then there was a veil, and then there was
the most holy place. It had all kinds of instruments
in there. There was a table that had showbread
on it. There was a candlestick. In the
most holy place there was the mercy seat and the Ark of the
Covenant made out of pure gold. In the Ark was Aaron's rod that
budded and manna. And the priest went in there
and sprinkled that mercy seat with blood of animals. What were
these things? What were these things? Well,
look in chapter 9 and verse 8. The Holy Ghost is signifying
that the way unto the holiest of all was not yet made perfect,
was not yet manifested, while as the first tabernacle was yet
standing. You remember when the Lord Jesus
lifted up His voice and said it's finished? Remember what
happened to that veil? It ramped. It tore. And those
standing outside could look right into the most holy place. It
was manifested. The holy of holies. Christ himself
entered into God's presence and when he did and offered himself,
that first sanctuary that had the holy place and the most holy,
that was done away with. That was done away with. That
was finished. But what were those things? Look
in verse 9. Which was a figure a figure for
the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices
that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience." See that? They brought blood as a sacrifice
for sin. But that blood of bulls and goats
didn't reach their conscience. They would take the hyssop and
dip it in that blood and sprinkle the book and all the instruments
and the people, but it never reached the conscience. It made
nobody perfect. It purged no conscience. Why? Because it's a figure. It's just
a figure. Verse 10, which stood only in
meats and drinks and different warships, various warships, and
carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation.
But Christ, being come an high priest of good things to come,
by greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the
blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of the heifer,
sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,
ceremonially, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And look down in chapter 10.
The law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers turn to perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Of course
they would have. Because that the worshippers once purged should
have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For
it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take
away sin. Why? It can't reach the conscience.
They're figures. They're figures. They represent
something to us that is real, but they're not real. They represent
Christ and His blood. Look on down in chapter 10, and
look in verse 12. But this man, Jesus Christ, in
verse 11 he said, the priest stand daily, ministering and
offering the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
He sat down on the right hand of God. And look now in verse
19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way which ye have consecrated for us through the veil, that
is to say His flesh, and having that high priest over the house
of God, let us draw near with a true heart, and full of sheriffs
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed in pure water. What's these verses telling us?
These verses are telling us that all of these ordinances, all
of these types and shadows, the priesthood, the blood, the bulls
of goats, these things were mere figures. They were figures of
Christ and His blood. And a figure cannot take away
sin. A figure cannot give you life.
Only thing that can reach our conscience is the blood of Christ. The only one who can give us
life is the person of Christ. A figure can't do that. A figure
cannot do that. The only one that can reveal
Christ is the Spirit of Christ. The only one that can deliver
a man from the power of darkness is God Himself. A figure can't
do that. So when we come here and Peter
says that baptism doth now save us as a figure, we know it can't
regenerate us. We know it can't give us life.
We know it can't rebuild Christ to our hearts. We know that's
not the sense in which he's speaking. Ordinances and figures and shadows
and types will do our souls no spiritual good unless faith and
life are already there in the soul. If you and I come here
this evening to partake of the Lord's Supper, and we take this
bread and drink this cup, thinking that it's going to wash our sins
away, thinking that somewhere or another it's going to bring
life to our hearts, it won't be any good to us spiritually
whatsoever. It may be used as a means to
deceive us, but it won't do our souls a bit of good. Faith and
life must be present before these ordinances are practiced. Okay
then, in what sense is Peter speaking about here? Turn back
over to 1 Peter chapter 3. In what sense is he speaking
when he said, even baptism doth now save us. This lack fear,
baptism doth now save us. And you'll notice what he says
here, it pertains to the conscience. And that's what interests me
about water baptism. It's an outward figure, we know
that. But yet, it has to do with the
conscience. See what he says there again
in verse 21? Not to put in the way of the filth of the flesh.
My goodness, water won't even wash filth from our flesh without
soap, will it? But it's this, it's the answer
of a good conscience towards God. Water baptism has to do
with a man's conscience towards God. So it must be important. You and I shouldn't just write
it off as not being important at all, something we practice
or not practice. He says here it has something
to do with the conscience. So in what sense does baptism
save us then, as Peter's talking about? Well, I'll have to explain
it this way. I can't give you a sentence or
two to define what he said. I talked with Brother Glenn this
morning when he finished teaching and he looked at me and said
something to the effect that that's too deep for me. That's
too deep for me. And that's where we're stuck
at as preachers and teachers. We're trying to define things
we can't even hardly understand. And we want it defined with one
or two sentences so we all get a hold of it. But we can't always
do that, can we? We have to define it this way.
Well this is the way, let me, this is what I think Peter is
saying. This is what this means to me. This word answer, it means
to inquire and interrogate. Now that wouldn't be what you
think answer would be, would it? This is used one or two other
times in the New Testament. And they tell us it means to
inquire and to interrogate. And one guy said this, to inquire
and interrogate including a satisfactory answer. To inquire and interrogate. Now remember this is the conscience.
It has to do with the conscience. Let me explain it this way. Here's
what I think this means. I said today at the baptism that
I was baptized, I've been baptized twice in my lifetime. Probably
some of you have too. And the first time that I was
baptized, I still had an evil conscience. I went down with
an evil conscience, and I came up with an evil conscience. My conscience wasn't right in
the sight of God. The second time that I was baptized,
it was out of some inquiry, some interrogation. Not by others
so much, but myself. I interrogated myself. My own
conscience began to ask some questions. And Cindy, I was talking
with Cindy, and she began to ask herself some questions. When
I was baptized a second time, or before I was baptized a second
time, I began to ask myself some of these questions. And I didn't
ask myself these questions at my first baptism. But here's
some questions I begin to ask myself. Was I lost before? Was I lost before? When I was
baptized the last time, was I lost? I was lost when I went down,
I was lost when I came up. I was lost until the Lord just
saved me. He just saved me. I was lost.
That's the inquiry that I begin to make, and that's the answer
my conscience gives. Was I guilty before God before? Yes, I was. I was. But now, is God my Father? Is
He my only Father? Have I forsaken all others for
Him? Is the devil my Father? If he
was, he is no more, because I've denied him and his ways. God
is my Father. That's what I begin to inquire.
in myself. Investigate. Is Jesus Christ
the Lord my salvation? Is He mine? Is the Christ who
died upon the cross and was buried and rose again and ascended to
heaven, is He my salvation? Is He my desire? Is He my hope?
That's what I began to ask myself. I asked my conscience that. And
the answer was yes. He's my hope. He's my life. Do
I take the Holy Spirit at His promise? Has He come to me? Has
He sealed me? Is He my teacher? Is He my comforter? Is He my strength? And the answer
was yes. He's mine. God is mine. He's my Father. Christ is my
Savior, my Redeemer. The Holy Spirit is within me,
my helper, my teacher, my comforter. I begin to ask myself, I begin
to interrogate myself. And as I thought of this, you
know, in a small sense of the word, we see this, we see this
there in Acts chapter 8, where the eunuch said, what hinders
me from being baptized? And what did Philip do? He began to interrogate him,
didn't he? He began to ask him, do you believe? Are you resting
your heart in Christ? Is He yours? I just preached
Him to you. Have you been unable to lay hold
upon Him? That was the answer that He demanded.
He investigated that man. And you may not have had somebody
to investigate you like that, but I bet you did in your own
conscience. Usually that's why we come to
this conclusion about why we want to be baptized. Because
we have been interrogated and our conscience has been asking
these questions. Well, as I begin to ask myself these things, God
my Father, Christ is my Savior, the Spirits abide within, and
water baptism is the outward means that God has provided for
the conscience to answer these inquiries. Is all of these inquiries
answered yes? Yes, God's my Father. Yes, Christ
is my Savior. Yes, the Holy Spirit abides within. And here's the answer. And what
is it? Submit to water baptism. It's
the answer of the conscience before God. And it's the means
that God has given us for our conscience to answer those inquiries. Am I crucified with Christ? Am I? Do you see how serious
this is? Water answers this question,
but not so much before us. Cindy was baptized today and
professed Christ before us. But she had this answer before
God, which is much more important than answering to us. The answering
of a good conscience before God. Have I died with the Son of God? Am I crucified with the Son of
God? Am I dead with Him? Am I dead to old self now? Am
I dead to seeking salvation by my own marriage? Am I dead to
this world of sinful pleasures? Am I dead to the enmity against
God? Is that life gone? Have I died
with Christ? Oh God, You know. You know. You know my heart. You know You've
begun this holy work in my heart. And right here is the way I answer
this before God. I'm baptized. I show by this
figure what's really taking place in my heart. I answer my conscience
before God. Am I risen to walk in newness
of life with Christ? And the conscience answers this
inquiry by submitting to water baptism. See how important that
is? I don't understand why anybody,
any believer, would want to refuse water baptism, seeing how important
it is. Listen to what Paul said. Our
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, the testimony
to God, the testimony to God of what's happening. This is why my first baptism
was a sin. I went down a hypocrite and came
up a hypocrite. The only difference between me
and the difference when I went down and came up, I went down
a dry hypocrite and came up a wet one. That's the only difference.
That's the only difference. But the second time I was baptized,
it was the answer of my conscience towards God. Oh, Father in heaven,
I've died with your son. He made me new. He's mine. I'm risen to walk in newness
of life. I wish I would inquire the first
time as to my state, but I was spiritually dead and didn't have
enough sense to inquire. I never inquired, am I in Christ or out of Christ?
Am I saved or lost? Am I justified or condemned?
But God knows that question was settled the second time. And
my baptism was my conscience's way to answer. It's settled. God knows it's settled. I hope
that has helped you.