I want to speak this morning
on the subject, the importance of baptism. The importance of
baptism. Now we announced a few weeks
ago that this afternoon we'd be having a baptismal service
out at Fort Shaw, and that will happen. by the grace of God. And I wanted to bring this message
this morning because it seems to me that those things that
we've heard, even those things that we hear very frequently,
oftentimes we let them slip and we forget about what the Word
of God teaches about these subjects that are very, very important.
It seems to me to be the tendency of fallen man to run to extremes,
always to get off into the ditch either on the left side or on
the right side of the road. Nowhere is this tendency more
evident than in religious customs and in doctrine and religious
practices. Now, with regard to the matter
of baptism, almost all men run to one or two extremes. Some make baptism a means of
salvation. Anyone who reads the Word of
God with honesty immediately recognizes that such a doctrine
as that is heresy. It is wrong to believe that baptism
is the means of salvation. This church does not preach that
men and women are saved in the baptismal pool. We do not point
to the baptismal pool and say that is our Savior. We do not. Our Savior is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Bible says in Jonah 2.9 that
salvation is of the Lord. We do not believe that baptism
is the means of salvation. It's not the water of baptism
that washes away sin, but it is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In 1 John 1.7, it says the blood
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all
sin. Hebrews 9, verses 12 through
14 says, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. For it is the blood of bulls,
and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer. sprinkling the unclean
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, 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 without the shedding of blood there is
no remission of sins. And so, beloved, we see that
we're not saved by baptism, we're saved by the blood of our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus, who poured out His life on Calvary in order
that our sins would be washed away and that we'd be reconciled
unto God. He Himself bore our sin in His
own body on the tree, and apart from His death, there is no escaping
our sin and our guilt. And so Christ is our Savior,
and we're also saved by the grace of God. But by grace, Paul said
in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, are you saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace. which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Philip Doddridge wrote this poem,
Grace, tis a charming sound, harmonious to the ear. Heaven
with the echo shall resound, and all the earth shall hear.
Grace first contrived a way to save rebellious man, and all
the steps that grace display which drew the wondrous plan.
Grace first inscribed my name in God's eternal book, t'was
grace that gave me to the Lamb who all my sorrows took. Grace
taught my soul to pray and pardoning love to know. T'was grace that
kept me to this day and will not let me go. Grace all the
works shall crown through everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone and well deserves the praise. This brother was straight on
the fact that salvation is through the blood and through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, beloved, there are others
who run to the opposite extreme, who make baptism an insignificant
thing altogether. Some even neglect it to the point
where they will teach that it is not necessary for any individual,
believer or otherwise, to be baptized. This, too, is a perversion
of the Word of God. Mark 16 and 16 says, And he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth
not shall be damned." Now you say, well preacher, do you have
to mention that verse? Well beloved, I'm not the author
of that verse. I'm not the writer of scripture.
I had nothing to do with the putting together of this book.
Those are the words of our master. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Now that's very plain, so we
better get interested in what these verses mean. And what this
verse of scripture simply means is that baptism is important
and baptism is essential in order that we walk in obedience unto
our God and please Him and rightly picture to the world the gospel
that we believe saved us. Baptism is essential as a matter
of obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. By example and by commandment,
our Lord requires that all believers and only believers be baptized. Now to refuse to be baptized
I believe is rebellion against Christ. I believe that baptism
is a test of a child of God's obedience unto his Lord. It is a command of scripture
that you be baptized. And when one says, I'm a believer,
I'm a Christian, I'm a disciple, I'm one who's bowed their knee
and heart, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, but yet they refuse to
walk in obedience and follow the Lord in baptism, that individual,
well, it shows or argues that that individual has no heart,
love toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And such rebellion, if it persists,
On and on is a fair indication that that person is not in Christ,
that that person does not know Christ, that that person is not
a follower of the Lamb, because the Lamb of God will lead you
into obedience, and that obedience involves submission to baptism. Now, you can search the Scriptures
carefully. You'll not find a single believer
in the New Testament other than the thief. on the cross who was
not baptized. You can search the Word of God
and I hope that you'll do that. Baptism is an act, let me say
it again, of obedience unto Christ our Lord. Baptism is essential
in confessing Christ before the church and before men. This church here believes that
our Lord Jesus Christ was sent into this world on a mission.
and that he came down here from heaven, and he came down himself,
heaven's best. There was not an angel with a
broken wing sent down here. Beloved, Jesus came down. The beloved Son of God, the Holy
One of God, came down to this earth. And we believe that God
Almighty made Him to be sin for us. In mercy toward His people,
He made Him, legally constituted Him, to be sin for us. And we believe that our Lord
Jesus Christ died to satisfy the penalty of the law. The soul
that sinneth, it must die. And because all of Christ's people,
all of God's people, all of the bride of Christ had sinned, Jesus
must die in order to satisfy the curse that God had placed
upon them. And so the Lord Jesus died. We
believe that. Now, when we bury somebody in
the waters of baptism, we're saying that that person has died. And he died in Christ. He died
in the substitute. He died in the Lord Jesus Christ. His death to sin is our death
to sin, that is, if we believe on him. That is, if we trust
him. That's our death to sin. You can't get the curse off of
you any other way except that Jesus would bear the curse in
his own body, and that curse meant death. Cursed is everyone
who hangs on a tree. And our Lord Jesus hung on a
tree and suffered death in the room instead and place of his
people. And then we believe that he was
buried. And our brother read this morning
out of Matthew chapter 28 how he is risen when they come to
look into the tomb. The angel said, well, he's not
here. He's not here. Oh, He was there, but He's not
here now. He who was alive is dead, and
now is alive forevermore. The Lord Jesus, we believe, was
raised up out of the grave, and that He's seated at the right
hand of God, ever living, to make intercession for His people. And so when we bury a soul or
bury a body in the waters of baptism, we do so because that
individual testifies that he believes Christ died for him
and that he died in Christ when Christ died. And then when we
raise him up out of the watery grave, it's a picture of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus
rose from the dead. And nobody can be saved apart
from believing in the death, the burial, and the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And whenever an individual believes
that Christ was raised from the dead, follows the Lord in baptism,
gives confession to that truth, that individual is proclaiming
not only that he believes that Christ died, was buried, and
rose again, but also that Jesus Christ is coming again and there's
going to be a resurrection of all of our bodies and we're going
to be united with the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. Our
bodies are coming out of the grave. We believe it pictures
the resurrection that is yet to come. And so this is what
we're confessing when we baptize an individual. So baptism is
essential in confessing Christ before men. Are you ashamed of
Him? Are you ashamed of the Lord Jesus
and what He did for you? Somebody said, well, I really
don't think that it's essential to be baptized. Well, why should
the Lord save you at all? Why should He save you at all?
You say, well, I don't think a man needs to necessarily follow
the Lord. Well, you know, when the Lord
saves a person, I believe he saves a person in order that
that person would serve him and live for him and that that person
would honor him and glorify him and walk in obedience to him
in this world. And I believe it absolutely is
essential and important that you follow the Lord in baptism.
This is the New Testament way. of confessing Christ before the
church and before the world. We who believe are symbolically,
as we said, buried with Christ in baptism and we rise from the
watery grave with Him to walk in the language of Romans 6 in
newness of life. We rise to walk in that way the
Lord would have us to walk. Baptism is a vivid picture of
the believers. death, burial, and resurrection
in Christ our substitute. By this public ordinance, we
confess to all men our faith in Christ and our hope of acceptance
before God in the Lord Jesus Christ. So baptism does not save,
baptism does not put away sin, baptism has no merit with God
and before God, but baptism is essential. It is the answer of
a good conscience toward God. It is an outward profession of
an inward reality. It's the outward profession,
I want to drive it home to you, of an inward reality. Now, I said that baptism is the
answer of a good conscience toward God. Now, there are some people
that do not know the difference between a good conscience and
a mediocre conscience or a bad conscience. Some people don't
know the difference. Some people have lived with a
bad conscience so long, but they don't know what a good conscience
is. And they don't know what a conscience is relieved of this
guilt feeling or this responsibility, the feeling of responsibility
toward bowing one's knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They don't know the difference.
about what it's about. But if you're here this morning
and the Lord has saved you and you're sensitive in your soul
about doing what pleases God and what God would have you to
do, when you are baptized, I believe that the Lord will give you peace
in your soul. You may be disturbed about it
this morning, you may be bothered about it, but whenever you take
that step in obedience to your Lord, the Lord's going to give
you a right conscience about your obedience toward him in
that way. Now, if you believe on Christ,
obey him and confess him before men in water baptism. Well, who
should be baptized? Now, the picture before us this
morning in our text is simple and instructive. We see here
the Ethiopian eunuch desiring baptism at the hands of Philip
after having heard Philip expound the gospel. And here we read
in the 29th verse, the Spirit said unto Philip, you go near
and join yourself to this chariot. This eunuch is in the chariot.
He's been up to Jerusalem and he's been hearing preaching and
he's been hearing the Bible read or the Old Testament scriptures.
And he comes back and he's got interested in the scriptures
and he's been reading the book of Isaiah. And Philip, the Spirit
directing him, sent him there to join himself to the chariot.
And Philip heard him reading out of the prophet Isaiah, and
he asked him this question, Do you understand what you're reading?
Do you understand what you're reading? And the man said, Well,
how can I, except somebody who knows what the prophet's talking
about, would guide me that I might understand the meaning of these
scriptures? Now, Philip opened his mouth
in verse 35 and began at the same scripture and preached unto
him Jesus, because Christ is being testified of in those scriptures. Christ is being preached in those
verses, set forth in the gospel of the Old Testament, the book
of Isaiah. And then as they went on their
way, in verse 36, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch
said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Here's water, here's a pool of
water. What hinders me to be 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. Now, Philip told him
plainly what the scripture required before baptism could be administered.
If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered
and said, He answered and said, like the disciples in John chapter
6 in verse 69, when they said, And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. He testified
that he believed that the Lord Jesus was indeed God's Son. And upon that profession, the
eunuch was taken by Philip by the Spirit's direction down into
the waters of baptism, and he was baptized. One thing is plainly
taught in this text. Faith in Jesus Christ is the
one thing that is essential for baptism. You say, well, I don't
sound like that that is a very astute point, or that doesn't
sound like that that's a major thing. Now, beloved, here is
where that religious denominations have gotten off through the years,
not understanding what is being taught here. Now, I want to ask
and answer four questions quickly, if I can. And number one, and
we're going to get into this a little bit, but we're not going
to keep you late because we're going to cut off early today,
but I want to try to ask and answer four questions. Who has
the privilege and responsibility of being baptized? Who has the
privilege and the responsibility of being baptized? This is a
point of controversy. This is a place where Baptists
differ from all Protestant denominations. Now Baptists have held throughout
their history that Baptism is to be administered to believers
only. And true Baptists back through
the generations clear back to the second and third centuries
have stood for this truth that Baptism belongs only to those
who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptists will not
take baptism. They don't believe that baptism
administered to somebody who is an infant or somebody who
is lost, like the Camelites teach and other religions teach. They
will not accept that as baptism because that individual was not
a believer when they were baptized. And there have been, listen to
me, martyrs, many of them, burn at the stake simply because they
would stand in the face of the Roman Catholic Church and tell
them, we will not accept your baptism because you people have
never been baptized. You are not baptized. You were baptized or sprinkled
as an infant, but you are not baptized. The Bible teaches believers
baptism, and that's the only kind of baptism the Bible teaches. Now, we have denounced as unscriptural
the practice of infant baptism, and the baptism of all unbelievers
for that matter. We have rejected it, and we will
not accept it. Now, is the practice of requiring
faith before baptism? Is it scriptural? Is it a scriptural
thing? Now, I believe I'm talking to
people that are concerned about, thus saith the Lord. what the
Bible says, what the Word of God teaches. I think you're concerned
about it. Our concern is not really with
what the Baptists believe or what the Protestants believe.
Our concern is, what does the Word of God teach? And where
do we stand in connection with that? Now, if we accept something
as a point of doctrine or as religious practice, we must have
some direct precept of revelation or some direct precedent in the
scriptures for it. There's no support for infant
baptism, not a single example nor precept to be found in the
Bible. Now, on the contrary, every baptism
spoken of in the New Testament is performed only after an individual
has come to faith in the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only after
they've come to faith. The universal teaching of Christ
and his apostles is that every person who has a genuine heart,
faith, Jesus Christ can and should be baptized if thou believest. If thou believest. You must confess
your own sin. You must confess your own sin.
You must repent of your sin. You must trust in the Redeemer. You must trust Christ. No one
can do this for you as a representative or a stand-in. You see, when
an infant is baptized, generally speaking, it's either the father
or the mother or it's a grandfather that will stand and the question
will be asked of them do you believe for this child? Oh yes,
we believe for this child. Or will you live, will you live
a godly life? Vicariously for this child? Will
you stand in for this child? Now this child, and there's some
who will say, oh they don't believe anything by it. I mean, they're
just doing something. It's just a little religious
practice. My friend, those people believe
Whether you know it or not, that that is the salvation of that
infant. And that that infant is in covenant
theology and in covenant with Christ and God because somebody
stood in and answered the questions in their place. They believe
that that is the salvation of that infant. Now that's why we
reject it and stand against it. and make no apology for standing
with those who have stood on this ground for generations.
We make no apology for it, and I don't want anyone to think
that I would ever shrink back from standing my ground, and
when I say that I stand with the historical position of the
Baptist on the Word of God, that it's, if thou believest with
all thine heart thou mayest. We do not believe in adult baptism. We don't believe in infant baptism. We believe in believer's baptism,
whatever your age be. whatever your age be. If you're
conscious of who Jesus is, conscious of your need of him, and if you've
been regenerated by the Spirit of God, then we believe that
you have the privilege and the right and the duty to be baptized. Now, if Jesus Christ is the unsupported
pillar of your hope, the solitary stay of your heart, his righteousness,
your only clothing, and his blood, your only cleansing, I say unto
you, O soul, arise and be baptized. But if you trust him not for
yourself, then the waters of baptism are forbidden to you. That's the first question that
I ask. Who has the privilege and the
duty to be baptized? It is a believer. Now the second
question, what must a person believe? in order to be baptized. I said I was going to be very
simple, very plain. Well, whatever we're to believe,
we're to believe it with all our hearts, with all our hearts. Verse 37, if thou believest with
all thine heart, thou mayest with all thine heart. Now then,
it's not that the preacher believes this, so therefore I'm going
to be baptized. It's not that mama believes it, therefore I'm
going to be baptized. It's not that daddy and grandpa
believed it, so therefore I'm going to be baptized. It's whether
I believe it with all my heart or not. Whether my heart is involved
in this thing. your faith must arise from a
sense of your own personal need of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see what I'm driving at? Philip preached the gospel to
this eunuch, and Christ is the gospel, and this was the message
that the eunuch believed. He was made to own his sin, guilt,
and his deserved punishment, and he believed the report of
God's gospel concerning the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, trusting
that alone for his acceptance with God. This man believed that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he had the power to
save sinners. And Philip required such faith
from the eunuch before he would go down into the water with him.
He wouldn't take him down any other way. And I must require
the same of you. If the eunuch had not believed,
he would have never been baptized. Now that's the second answer.
Then what did he have to believe? He had to believe with all of
his heart that Jesus Christ could save him and that he had saved
him. He had to believe with all of his heart. Number three, how
is baptism to be performed? Now, if it were not for human
opinion and religious tradition, this question would not have
to be asked. The word baptized translated
always means to dip, to plunge, or to immerse. That's what it
always means in the word of God. And I say it without fear of
being successfully contradicted by anyone. Make no difference
how intelligent they are. That is the meaning of the word
baptism or baptized. Dip, plunge, or immerse. Now, immersion is not a mode
of baptism. Immersion is baptism. That is Bible baptism. Without it, there is no baptism. You say, well, I was a sprinkle
preacher. You say, preacher, now wait a minute. I think I'm
as much baptized as anybody else. I mean, the priest threw a little
water in my face when I was a baby. I believe that I'm baptized.
Paul speaks of baptism as a burial in Romans 6 and 4. Therefore,
we're buried with him by baptism into death. And verse 5, for
if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death.
Now, beloved, when you bury a corpse in the earth, you do not throw
a few grains of sand in his face. No, my friend, you don't do that.
You bury the corpse beneath the ground. You bury that corpse. Is that right? Absolutely. A
man is not buried in baptism by sprinkling a few drops of
water in his face. He must be immersed in the water. And that's what baptism is. It's the immersion of one who
says, I've died with Christ. I've died with Christ. His death
is my death to sin, and I've died with him. And so we immerse
him in water. Anything else don't preach the
gospel you claim to believe, my friend. It don't. And this
is a preaching ordinance. And this tells people something
when they witness it. They say, this tells me that
that fellow died with Christ. They tell me that he's being
buried and that he's being raised to walk in newness of life and
that he believes in the resurrection of Christ. It's a preaching ordinance. In the fourth place and in the
last place, why should every believer be baptized? If baptism
is pressed so urgently upon believers, there must be some good reason
for it. But what is the reason? Every believer should be baptized
because this is the first act. of obedience to King Jesus. First
act of obedience. Baptism is the answer, as we
said earlier, of a good conscience toward God. Believing it to be
an ordinance of God, we submit to it. As such, this brings joy
and peace, as submission to God always does. Number two, baptism
identifies us with Christ and his people. We talked about that,
but I'll say just a little bit more about it. It's a public
renunciation of the world. It draws a line, as it were.
It shows our anticipation with the Lord Jesus Christ. It draws
a line. It confesses that we're through
with the world and that we're on Christ's side and that we're
living for Him in obedience to Him. It draws a line. But primarily,
our baptism is an essential part of this public profession of
the faith of the gospel. By baptism, we confess this union
This union that we've talked about with Christ, as many, the
Bible says in Galatians 3.27, as have been baptized into Christ,
have put on Christ. Colossians 2.12 and 13 says,
buried with him in baptism, wherein also you're risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from
the dead. And you being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened, hath
he made alive together with him having forgiven you all trespasses."
Colossians 3 and 3, for you're dead, your life is hid with Christ
in God. Romans 6 verses 8 through 11,
now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead doth
no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died,
he died into sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord." So we identify ourselves with Christ, and that's
the point, and that's why it's so necessary to give this testimony. to the world and to the church,
we stand with you and we stand with your position on the death
and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do
you believe this with all your heart? Really believe it? That his death, the sin, was
your death? That he took your death and he
suffered it for you and that you will never die? If you die
lost, you'll die, you'll die the death that never dies. But
if you stand in Christ, you will never die. Believest thou this?
Your body will have to be buried and put away once the breath
goes out of it, but you'll never die. You'll never experience
death. You'll live for eternity with
the Lord. Christ has suffered our death. He died my death. And when I
go into the waters of baptism, I'm telling everybody that. If
so, then we ought to follow the Lord. Secret disciples like Joseph
and Nicodemus are always suspect disciples to me. Children of
God, true children of God. courageous children of God, believers,
true believers. They stand, they stand with boldness,
testify that they really do believe God and they're following Him.
Now, I believe that I'm one with Him in death and life because
He's that one That said, I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Let us count the world as a dead
thing to us, and let us walk in newness of life. Revelation
1.8 says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord, which is and which was, and which is to come,
the Almighty. And here is a little poem on
this union that we have with Christ that's been a blessing
to me. O sacred union, firm and strong,
how great the grace, how sweet the song, that worms of earth
should ever be. Juan. with incarnate deity. And true believers are indeed
one with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we've been trying
to say, and that's why we participate, and why we administer the ordinance
of baptism to believers, those who submit themselves to it.
Now then, this morning, we have a little business here that we
need to take care of.