I want you to turn with me, please,
to the book of Acts, the eighth chapter. Acts, the eighth chapter. We'll begin reading with verse
26. This man, Philip, had been preaching
the gospel of God's grace in Samaria, but there was an elect
sinner redeemed by Christ, who must be called, who was on his
way down the Gaza Strip. And the angel of the Lord, in
verse 26, spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward
the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
or Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went, And behold,
a man of Ethiopia, an African, a eunuch of great authority under
Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning and
sitting in his chariot and read Isaiah the prophet. Then the
Spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself unto his chariot. And Philip ran thither to him,
and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? And he, the eunuch, said, How
can I, except some man should guide me? That is, I've read
it, and I've read it, and I've read it, and I've read it. I've
learned it, I've memorized it, and I've read it. I've heard
about it, and heard about it, and heard about it. But I have
to have somebody under God to tell me what it means. That's
the responsibility of the gospel preacher, is to declare unto
men the meaning of Scripture, and the meaning of Scripture
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. How can I understand it except
some man should guide me? Verse 31. And he desired Philip. He desired Philip that he would
come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which
you read was this. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter and like a lamb done before his shearer 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. And the eunuch answered
Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this? Of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus.
And that as they went on their way, They came to a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here
is water. What doth hinder 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. 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, that
eunuch caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and
he went on his way rejoicing." Now learn this, there is an elect
people in this world who must and will be saved. Scattered
in the four corners of the earth, there are multitudes, a multitude
which no man can number, of men and women of every age and rank
in society, of every race and category, who must be saved. They must be saved for these
reasons. They are loved of God. That is,
God wills their salvation. And if God wills your salvation,
your salvation is a certainty. If God loves you, your salvation
is a certainty. They must be saved because God
loves them and His love wills their salvation. They must be
saved, secondly, because they are chosen of God, chosen to
be the sons of God, chosen as heirs of eternal life, predestined
by God to eternal glory, and their salvation Being the choice
of God and the purpose of God is a matter of certainty. If
God the Father has from eternity chosen you to salvation, you
shall be saved. There's not any question about
that. What God has purposed, God will bring to pass. Somebody
says, well, what if this, what if that, what if the other? It
doesn't matter what if. If God purposed it, it shall
stand. If God wills it, it shall be
done. God will arrange everything in
the world to accomplish the salvation of his elect according to his
purpose. Here's this unit. On his way
down the Gaza Strip, on his way down from Jerusalem back to Ethiopia
in a desert place. But the time of mercy had come
and he must hear and he must believe. And so God, by a marvelous
miracle, translates Philip down to that very place and causes
him to be joined to this eunuch's chariot to preach the gospel
to him. God will turn the world upside
down to save his elect. God will rearrange government
to call his people. God will rearrange the order
of things in this world to see to it that his people are saved
according to his purpose in his time. Thirdly, they must be saved
because they're redeemed by the blood of Christ and justice demands
it. The Lord Jesus Christ lived on
this earth in righteousness and died as a substitute for those
people whom the Father loved and chose from all eternity.
He laid down his life for the sheep. And when he died in our
place at Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied. Try to get
that word. Try to get it. He satisfied divine
justice on behalf of his people. Totally, completely, fully, forever
satisfied divine justice. So that justice came seeking
one to die. Justice came seeking satisfaction. Justice came seeking to bury
its sword in the blood of a man. But a man who must be himself
God Almighty. And Jesus Christ is that man. And the sword of justice was
buried and lost in him. So that now with regard to those
elect sinners whom the Father loved and chose. Justice is satisfied,
and now the justice of God demands the salvation of every sinner
for whom Christ died. Hear me this morning. Hear me
well. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
died in your stead at Calvary, if He redeemed you from the curse
of the law, if He put away your sins, if He satisfied justice
on your behalf, you must be saved. It will come to pass. And then
at the time appointed, God will accomplish that salvation. He'll
do it. One way or the other. Maybe this
morning he'll accomplish it for some. Maybe. But I know he will
accomplish that salvation. At the time appointed, God will
create an interest in the heart of that sinner whom he's chosen
and loved. So that that sinner will begin to seek the living
God. So that things, even in the creation, will begin to dawn
upon his soul and make him aware that there's a God in heaven
with whom he has to do. And he'll have an interest. This
Ethiopian eunuch is a case in point. This man is a eunuch.
He had apparently been a Jewish proselyte. He's a black man.
And he comes up from Ethiopia to Jerusalem seeking to worship
God. That's what he was doing there.
But he was seeking God in that which now was but false religion. Just false religion. He was seeking
God in a place where God couldn't be found. He was seeking God
according to the natural dictates of his heart, according to law.
He was seeking God what he thought was according to the Word of
God. But God had already abandoned Judaism. It was false religion. It was then, it is now. Nobody
will ever be saved in Judaism. But he was seeking God. Doing
the best he could to find Him. Doing the best he could to find
Him. He had to have Him. There was an interest and a desire
created in the man's soul. Some of you have been seeking
God. Maybe been seeking Him for a while. There's an interest
in your soul. You may have been seeking Him
in Arminian fundamentalist religion. In a place where God can't be
found. Yes, God cannot be found in Arminian fundamentalist religion.
He cannot be found in free will religion. Religion can be found,
but not the living God. Religion can be found, but not
the Lord Jesus Christ. But God creates an interest.
And where God creates the interest, now hear me, not where I create
it, not where mom and dad create it, but when God creates the
interest, he will cause that chosen sinner to hear the gospel
of his free grace by one means or another. By one means or another,
he's going to get you out of Judaism. He's going to get you
out of false religion. He's going to get you out of
your false refuge. You've been hiding in a refuge
of lies. You've been hiding in your baptism. You've been hiding
in your pedigree. You sing that song, David, I
was born in religion. That's exactly how men are born
in this day. Most of you have been raised
in religious houses, dedicated religious folks, zealous religious
folks. but religious with no knowledge
of the living God. No knowledge at all. What happens? God gets you out. God'll get
you out. One way or the other he'll get
you out. He'll get you out by sending you around the world
in the military. He'll get you out by sending you away from
home in rebellion. He'll get you out by sending
you away from home in a marriage. Might even be a bad one, but
he'll get you out. He's going to get you out of
the false refuge and he's going to cause you to hear his voice
from the voice of a gospel preacher. That's what happened to this
fellow here. This eunuch is going down. He's been up to Jerusalem. How many times I've been to churches
like him? He went up thirsty and he came down thirsty. He
went up hungry and he came down hungry. He went up seeking God
and he found formalism. He went up seeking God and he
found ritualism. He went up seeking God and seeking
light and he found nothing but darkness. Just darkness, darkness,
darkness. And he comes down, he's done
everything he knows to do, but he comes down from the religious
ceremony and the religious service and he opens the word of God
and he says in his soul, would to God somebody would come along
and tell me where God is. and tell me who God is and tell
me how on this earth I can be accepted and just with this great
God. And just at that time, there's
Bill. There he is. He's just there. Now how he got there, I don't
know. I don't have the slightest idea. It doesn't really matter.
But he's there. He's there where that eunuch
is riding by on a chariot. And that eunuch is reading strange.
He's reading in a strange way. He's got Isaiah 53 open, and
he's reading, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Now how do
you read? If you're riding along in the
car, Bob, Sally does a lot of driving for you. You're riding
along, Sally's driving, and you're reading. Generally, you don't
read, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. You just read.
Am I right? Silently to yourself. Anybody
with good sense reads silently to themselves. Unless you're
reading to somebody else, you just read silently. But not this
man. He's reading aloud. He's reading
so that everybody can hear him. But he's reading so that Philip
can hear him. And as he reads, Philip hears
what he says. He said, man, do you know what you're reading
about? Do you know what that passage is saying? He said, I
don't know anything about it. I don't know a thing about it.
I want to know. Oh, I want to know who this man is. I want
to know. I want to know what he's done.
I want to know what the prophets say. But I can't understand it.
He says, why don't you get up in here and tell me about it?
Why don't you get up in here and tell me about it? Can you
imagine in those days, I'm not let alone these days, in those
days, can you imagine a Jew being invited by a black African to
get up his chariot and explain the scriptures to him? Can you
imagine that African having the audacity to ask him? Or can you
imagine that Jew walking along and joining himself up to a caravan
of Africans? But Philip did, and the eunuch
did, because the time had come, the time of love, the time of
mercy, the time of grace. And Philip got up and sat in
chariot, and he began to preach the gospel to him. He began at
that scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. He preached unto
him, Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus, the covenant surety. Jesus,
the elect lamb. Jesus, the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Jesus, the one who satisfies
justice. Jesus, going into the heavens.
Jesus, the God of glory. Jesus, the King of heaven, who
demands that sinners bow to him in repentance and faith. And
then God gives faith. He gives faith. He causes that
sinner whom he loved and chose and redeemed, that sinner for
whom he has arranged the world, that sinner for whom he governs
providence. He causes that dead sinner to
hear the preacher's voice, but he hears more. He hears the voice
of God himself as the preacher speaks. Yes, I believe it. I believe it. Now, I don't know
where Philip got to it. I don't know where he got along.
But somehow or another preaching Jesus involves preaching confessing
Christ to him, confessing him. And he got talking to this eunuch
about confessing Christ. And they rode by and there's
a pond. And the eunuch said, well, there's water. Why can't
I be baptized? Why can't I confess Christ? And
Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you can. And that eunuch did, you know
what he did? He said, stop the chariot. Stop the chariot. We're getting out. Stop right
here. We're getting out. And they went
down into the water. And that eunuch said, I believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. I believe
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And they went down, both
of them, into the water. And Philip baptized the eunuch.
And they came up, both of them, out of the water. And Philip
disappeared. Philip disappeared and the eunuch
went on his way rejoicing for now he is not only a eunuch under
Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, he's a eunuch under Jesus Christ
the King of Glory and he rejoices to be such. Now I want to take
this passage this morning and try to answer this question for
you. Who should be baptized? Who should be baptized? It's
a question of importance. I'm preaching the message for
a number of reasons, principally because we're about to observe
the ordinance again, and I believe God would have me to preach on
it. Sunday night, two weeks ago, Merle J. and Lisa Hart came to
me and said, God had saved him by his grace, and we want to
confess him in baptism. Well, what gives you the right?
Why should you confess him in baptism? Those are the things
I want to answer this morning. Many people are baptized without
any knowledge, without any experience of the grace of God or knowledge
of the living God. I haven't even asked Lisa about
this. I know she was raised in a Catholic church. I presume
that she was sprinkled and confirmed in the church. She's got to be
baptized. She wants to confess Christ in
baptism. Why? She's already been through that
once in their church. Now, they don't really baptize.
They just throw a little water on the face of the baby. But
they call it baptism. Why must she be baptized again?
Why must she confess Christ now in believer's baptism? With Merle
J., things are a little different. He was raised in that church
down there where you used to attend, Merle. He was raised
down there and as a boy made a profession of faith and was
baptized. Well, isn't that good enough? No, for this reason,
for this reason, in both cases, in false religion and in a false
hope, you had a refuge. And now you got to get rid of
the refuge. You got to get rid of the refuge. Publicly identifying
with Jesus Christ, confessing faith in him. Now let me try
to show you four or five questions that are answered in the scriptures.
I hope you'll follow carefully. This is a subject of great importance.
Is the subject of baptism of great importance indeed? Is it
really a matter of great importance? Now, frequently I hear Christians
talk about baptism as an insignificant doctrine or a matter of secondary
importance. Granted, if the question of baptism
is insignificant, it's wrong for me to raise the issue. It's
wrong for me to be so insistent and dogmatic in our practice
of it. But I think anyone who reads the Word of God with an
open eye can readily perceive that baptism clearly is an issue
connected directly with faith in Jesus Christ and the gospel
of his grace. Now hear me well. Baptism has
no saving or sanctifying efficacy. You understand that? It has absolutely
no saving merit. It has absolutely no sanctifying
efficacy. It will not give you God's grace
or improve your favor with God. I don't care if you're baptized
by Jesus Christ himself, by John the Baptist, by Don Fortner,
or by the Pope of Rome. I don't care who baptizes you.
Baptism in and of itself has no saving merit and efficacy. Judas was baptized by the Son
of God. That's right. You read that Campbellites
article in the paper again today, you'll see him declaring that
baptism does this and baptism does that. Baptism saved, just
like the blood of Christ. Baptism has no merit before God. Baptism won't do one thing to
improve your standing before God. Doesn't matter if you're
baptized in a Baptist church or baptized in a Pentecostal
church, it's not going to help you a bit. Baptism is a matter
of obedience to God, our Savior, and that makes it a matter of
primary importance. In the New Testament, you'll
find that baptism is directly connected to five things distinctly. First, turn with me to the book
of Acts, chapter 2. Acts, chapter 2. Now, I want
you to follow me. In the preaching of the apostles, baptism is closely
associated with repentance toward God. Acts chapter 2 and 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. Now the Campbellites jump on
that and others and they say looky there you see you must
be baptized in order to have the remission of sins. Would
you please Read the scriptures and act like you got some sense
when you read the scriptures. When Peter says, repent, be baptized
for the remission of sins, he is not saying repent, be baptized
in order to accomplish the remission of sins, but rather because the
remission of sins has been accomplished. Example. Children are going to
start back to school in a week or two. Nine weeks later, report
cards come out. There's Michelle. She comes home
with a report card. I say she does good. She got
all A's. She comes home with a report
card and she says, look daddy, look at what I got in math. I
got an A. I got an A for good work. I got an A for a passing grade. I got an A for this. I got an
A for... What she's saying is I got an
A because of work performed. Not in order to perform the work,
but because of work performed. My daughter gets her check from
David Goldman. She gets a check. made out for so much money before
her wages. Not for work she's going to perform.
You don't pay anybody in advance, do you? No, not in anticipation
of the work, but because of the work. And when Peter speaks here,
he says, repent and be baptized because remission is accomplished
and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Peter is telling
us that every Repentant sinner is baptized. Every repentant
sinner must follow the Lord in baptism because of the accomplishment
of redemption. Turn back to the book of Mark.
Mark chapter 16. When our Lord gave the Great
Commission to his disciples, he indicated a very close connection
not only between baptism and repentance, but also between
baptism and faith. Mark 16, 15. He says, 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 you notice the close connection. Our Lord says, He
that believeth and is baptized, that is, he who believes and
publicly identifies with and publicly confesses me before
men, he shall be saved. Somebody said, well, there you
go. Baptism accomplishes salvation just like faith does. You're
wrong on both counts. Faith does not accomplish salvation.
It's the result of salvation. Faith does not accomplish the
new birth. It's the result of the new birth. And baptism is
the result of that faith. Now, if you do not have the baptism
and you do not have the faith, you're going to perish in your
sins. You can have the one without the other. You can have faith
without baptism. It always comes without baptism.
And you can have baptism without faith. But wherever there is
true faith in Christ, there is a following of baptism. Our Lord
commands it. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not, it doesn't matter whether
he's baptized or not, he shall be damned. Again, in the works
of the Apostle Paul and his writings in the epistles, Paul makes baptism
a part of and essential to the proper profession of faith in
Christ. Turn to the book of Galatians.
Galatians chapter 3. Is this thing of baptism important?
Galatians 3 and verse 27. By baptism, Paul shows us that
the believer testifies publicly the faith of the gospel. Acts
3, 27. He says, first of all, that baptism
confesses our union with Christ. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. You put Him on. I've
had the privilege of baptizing some of you men and women, and
I'm going to baptize this couple tonight, Lord willing. When I
do, you hear me brother, by public profession, you and Lisa, you're
putting on Jesus Christ the Lord. You're putting Him on. What does
that mean? It does not mean that the water
gives you Christ. That's not what it means. It's like you put on a uniform. A uniform identifying you with
a certain army. A uniform identifying you in
a certain branch of the army. You put on a public identifying
uniform. And this is what you do by your
profession of faith in baptism. You put on publicly Jesus Christ
and you say to the world, I belong to King Jesus. He's my Lord. He's my Savior. You confess your
union with him. One with Christ. One with Christ. So that now you live not for
yourself, but for him. Not to yourself, but to him.
And I say to you now, don't you do it. lest you intend with all
your heart by the grace of God to live for Christ. Don't confess
it. Don't confess it. Count the cost. It's going to cost. It's going
to cost. But if you confess it by public
profession, you put him on. Is that what it is, Linda? You
put him on. I never heard a preacher in my life tell somebody not
to do something like that. You're hearing one now. Don't
make a mockery of God or your soul. Don't make a mockery of
the Son of God in this ordinance. It's a public identification
with Jesus Christ the Lord. In baptism, we acknowledge our
sin. And we acknowledge it's just
punishment. And we testify of our faith in
the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ to put away our
sins. Turn over to Romans chapter 6.
Let me show you. I want you to turn to these scriptures
and see them. Romans 6 and verse 3. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.
You might say, well, is that talking about water baptism?
Yes, it is. Yes, it is. When you get in that
water and you're buried in that water, By public symbol, you
confess to the world that Jesus Christ is your substitute, and
you trust His death alone as your satisfaction to divine justice. You trust His death alone to
put away your sins. I died with Him. I died with
Him. You people who will be observing
the ordinance with us tonight, yes, we'll all observe it. As
I bury these believers in baptism, with my heart I go down with
them every time. And you go down with them. One more time, we're
saying to this world and to ourselves and to God, I died with Christ,
now my sins are gone. I died with Christ, now the law
is satisfied. I died with Christ, now I'm accepted
of God. I died with Christ, now there's
no more condemnation. I died with Christ, now I'm free.
Thank God, I'm free from all curse, free from all fear, free
from the possibility of condemnation. I'm dead with Christ. And it
was an act of justice that killed me. An act of justice to put
away my sin. I deserve to die, and I have
died. But then by baptism, we also
confess our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of our spiritual
resurrection by virtue of our union with him. Look here in
Romans 6 again, verse 4. Therefore, therefore, if you're
baptized in the death of Christ, if you've been baptized in the
death of Christ, therefore, we are buried with him by baptism. Now I'm not going to spend a
lot of time on that, but this is not baptism. Watch me. That
is not baptism. That won't do it. That's baptism. It's called a burial. Therefore,
we're buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in the newness of life. This is what you should confess
him. This is what it is. This is what I'm confessing when
I bury them. And this is what I hope you confess
as you observe. We're confessing that we're dead
with Christ. Buried with Christ in the water and grave. And by
rising up out of this water just as Philip and the unit came up
out of the water. We're declaring to the world.
We're declaring to God Almighty. We're declaring to Jesus Christ
our Savior. We're declaring to the church
of the living God, I'm no more mine. I'm no more mine. I've given up my life, I'm no
more mine. I've given up myself, I'm no
more mine. I walk now no longer in the flesh
but in the spirit. I walk no longer to myself but
to my God. I walk no longer for my pleasure
but his pleasure. I walk no longer to do my will
but his will. I walk now this day forward in
the newness of life. Do you remember Jephthah? Do
you remember the story of Jephthah? He went out to battle and he
said, Lord, give me these people. And first thing comes out of
my house, I'll sacrifice it to you. The Lord gave him the battle. He won the victory. And he came
home, first thing out of his door was his darling little girl. She came out and spoke and his
heart sank. And he told her what he'd done.
He said, I bowed and bowed to the Lord. She said, well, daddy,
you can't go back on your vow. She knew her daddy pretty well.
She knew her daddy's God pretty well. She said, well, you can't
go back on your vow. What you've sworn, you've got to do. And
he said, I've lifted my hand to the Lord. I cannot go back. 21 years ago, when I got in a
pool just like that, I lifted my hand to God and I said, I
sacrifice myself to Jesus Christ. I lose my life to him. I give
myself to him and I cannot go back. I cannot go back. This is what we're saying. I
give myself to him to walk in the nearness of life. This resurrection
with Christ Jesus. When we come up out of the watery
grave, we're confessing a resurrection that's taken place in our hearts,
and we're confessing our resurrection in a representative, and our
hope of that resurrection, which is to come when these bodies
shall be called out of the grave. And then turn to the book of
1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 3. The apostle Peter connects baptism
with saving faith. in the matter of obedience. First
Peter chapter 3, look at this verse 21. We'll read verse 20. He's talking about the generation
of Noah, the antediluvians. He says, which sometime were
disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the
days of Noah, while the ark was up repairing, wherein few, that
is, eight souls were saved by water. Saved by water. If you want to waste your time,
you can go home and read the article in today's paper on this
very subject, Saved by Water. Now, the water, the water did not save Noah's
soul. The water separated Noah from
the earth that was damned. The water was a line of distinction,
and the water was a figure of baptism. It was a figure of baptism. There was water beneath, Water
on all sides and water overhead. It was a figure of baptism. No
question about that. It was a figure of baptism and
Peter uses it this way. Now look at verse 21. The like
figure, figure, underscore, circle, and put a star by that word,
figure. That's what it means, figure. The like figure whereunto
even baptism doth also now save us. Right here is a figure of
salvation. It's a symbol. It is not salvation. It's a symbol and a figure of
salvation. Death, burial, resurrection. That's how we're saved. More
than that, it is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh.
Now that's plain enough, isn't it? You can go in, you can be
baptized. Pharoah Griswold, you say you
can be baptized so many times every tadpole in the pond knows
you by your first name. And come up and out a dead sinner
just like you went in. It will not put away the filth
of the flesh. It has nothing to do with the filth of the flesh,
but it is the answer of a good conscience toward God by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is an act of obedience. It's what it is. It's an act
of obedience. The Lord Jesus Christ said, now
do this. Do this. Follow him. Follow me. The way you begin
to follow him, you start at the cross and you follow him through
the waters of baptism up to glory. Follow me. And you do it as a
matter of conscience because the master said so. That's all. Matter of conscience. I told
somebody the other day, was asking me about our observance of the
Lord's Supper. I said, well, it's been on my mind and conscience
and heart for 20 years. I've been convinced ever since
I started pastoring and even before that we ought to observe
the Lord's table every Lord's Day. That's the way they did
it in the New Testament. We're not commanded. I know we're
not commanded. It's not like the matter of baptism. We're
not commanded to observe it every day, but we are commanded to
observe it. And in the New Testament, that's the way it was done. And
my conscience has been bothering me about it up until about three
or four years ago. And I decided to quit having
any bother with my conscience. That was one way to stop that.
One way to get this thing off my heart. One way to get this
thing settled. I just went to Merrill and Charlotte and I said,
we'll start having Lord's table every Sunday evening. My conscience
don't bother me anymore. I took care of it. I'm satisfied. I have no more problem with it.
The Lord Jesus Christ commands every believer upon profession
of faith or rather as their profession of faith to be baptized. Some of you haven't. Some of
you haven't been baptized since you believed. Oh, you might have
been buried in water a dozen times beforehand, but you weren't
baptized since you believed, and your conscience has been
bothering you. I'll tell you how to get rid of it. I'll tell
you how to settle that issue. Get in the water. Is that right,
Joey? Get in the water. Your conscience will be easy
now. It's the answer of a good conscience toward God. Believer's
baptism is the equivalent of calling upon the name of the
Lord. Ananias, you don't have to turn to this, but over in
Acts 22 verse 16, Ananias said to Paul, why tarryst thou? Arise
and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name
of the Lord. Now believers, baptism doesn't
wash away sins. But it is the symbol of the washing
away of sins. It does not cause one to be killed
under the law. It does not put away sin. It
is the symbol of death and the putting away of sin. It does
not cause one to be raised from the dead. It is a symbol of resurrection. And by this baptism, we publicly
call upon the name of the Lord and testify to the world our
commitment to Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, and our King. Secondly, I'll be very brief,
who has the privilege and the responsibility of being baptized? I know that there are those who
say that believers and their children
should be baptized, and so they practice sprinkling a little
water on the baby's face. There are those who say that
people should be baptized when they come to a certain age or
come to accept certain doctrine. Now, you children hear me well,
hear me well. Don't misunderstand me, but hear
me. I'm talking now to young children. I know that sometimes
young children get stirred and scared and frightened, scared
to go into hell. those things. And you ought to
be afraid. You ought to be. But I'm not
in the business of baptizing small children. I'm not going
to do it. I'm just not going to do it. Parents don't even
bring them to me and ask me. I'm not going to do it. I'll baptize
people when they exercise reasonable, mature judgment as reasonable,
mature people and understand what this thing involves. It
is the believer's confession of faith in Christ. It's their
confession of faith in Christ. Are you saying that God doesn't
save children? No. No, I'm not saying that. I'm
not saying that at all. I am saying that the gospel and
the ordinances of the gospel are not addressed to children.
They're addressed to mature, responsible men and women. And
I hardly think that a kid who still needs somebody to tell
him what to wear and what to eat, where to go, where not to go,
It can be classified as a mature, responsible adult. That makes
sense, doesn't it, buddy? That's the way God does things.
He doesn't deal with, give responsibilities to kids and babies and children.
He gives responsibilities to men and women. And as you grow
into adulthood, if God is pleased to reveal Christ in you, or if
He has revealed Christ in you and you understand the meaning
of this ordinance, anybody here, if you understand what I've said
and you want to confess Christ in baptism, I call you right
now to do so. You join us this evening. We'll
have a good time baptizing folks this evening for the glory of
Christ. But I'm telling you, this is a matter of responsibility
to believers only. To believers only. Men and women
who have a heart knowledge of the living God. Let me show you
from the scriptures. Philip said to the eunuch, if
thou believest, thou mayest. The one thing that is required
before a person can be baptized is personal faith in Jesus Christ. Have you believed on Christ for
yourself? That's the one question. It's
useless to speak about the faith of your parents. Though you should
have Abraham for your father and Sarah for your mother, you
cannot be saved unless you believe yourselves. Without personal
faith in Christ, you'll sink down to hell as quickly as a
Hindu, a Muslim, a Papist, or a Hottentot in Africa. Many are
very prone to talk about Christianity in the masses. But my friends,
you'll have to enter into the way of life and into the kingdom
of God one by one, or you'll never enter at all. No eyes but
your eyes can look to Christ. No heart but your heart can believe.
the gospel. No lips but your lips can confess
him. No soul but your soul can pray,
God be merciful to me the sinner. You must trust Christ for yourself. You must be made to feel your
need of his redeeming blood. You must be made to call upon
him. The Holy Spirit must enable you
to trust Christ or you will surely perish. Personal faith in Christ
is the essential prerequisite to baptism. It's as dangerous. Now listen
to me. It's as dangerous for your soul.
It's as dangerous for your soul to get in that water and confess
faith in Christ without faith as it is to eat the bread and
drink the wine at the Lord's table without faith. Just as
dangerous. Both provide sinners with a false
refuge. Both provide sinners with a false
refuge. How many people have I dealt
with over the years who, when you start to press the claims
of Christ upon them, go back to an experience they had when
they were baptized or they received the Lord's table? If you do not
believe Christ for yourself, You do not discern the Lord's
body. You do not see the value of a substitute. You don't see
the necessity of the incarnation, life and death and resurrection
of someone in your stead. And if you eat and drink, you
eat and drink damnation to yourself. If you get into this water, you've
covered yourself over with a refuge of lies. Don't you do it. Don't
you do it. I'm saying that faith in Christ
is the one prerequisite to baptism. But then, This God-given faith
is set forth in the Scriptures in most plain terms. It is not
just a mental agreement. It is not just a mental assent. But Philip said to the Eunuch,
If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. That's the
issue. Your heart. If thou believest
with all thine heart, You see, faith in Christ is not a creed. It's not a creed. I wish we could
learn that. It's not a creed. A creed's necessary,
but the creed is not faith. You can't have faith without
the creed, but you can sure have the creed without faith. You
can't have true faith without true doctrine, but you can sure
have doctrine without faith. You understand what I'm saying?
Faith in Christ is an act of the heart. It's an act of the
heart. Faith in Christ is love to Christ. It's surrender to Christ. It's
commitment to Christ. Heart faith prefers Christ to
everything. Christ will have your heart or
he'll not have you. If you can this day say the dearest
idol I have known, whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from
its throne and worship only thee. That's the kind of faith I'm
talking about. Heart faith not only trusts Christ, It reverences
and worships Him. This heart-faith in Christ is
a renunciation of all other confidence and all other faith. When this Ethiopian got down
into that pool of water, he had just... Try to imagine
what he'd done. Here's a man who had taken a
caravan I'm talking about a caravan involving great expense and great
time and great planning. He had taken a caravan from Ethiopia
up to Jerusalem, and he said to all of his servants and all
of his kinsmen around him, he said, we're going up to Jerusalem
to worship God. He led them up to Jerusalem to
worship God. And on his way back, he heard
the gospel. And he got in that pool. And
when he did, he said, fellas, it was all a sham. He got in
that pool. He said, fellas, it was all wrong.
It was all wrong. It was all. I led you in a path
of darkness. God helped you to see the light.
I led you on a road to hell and told you it was road to life.
I led you in a religion of delusion and told you it was the religion
of truth. And when he got in that water, he denounced it all. He denounced it all. He burned
his bridges behind him. There's no going back now. They
won't have me now. I denounced it. This former way
was the way of darkness. This is the way of light. Now
walk in it. Walk in it. Now consider this question briefly.
Why must a person believe in order to be baptized? Not why, but what must a person
believe? You said it's necessary that
a man have faith, and that his faith be heart faith. What must
he believe? You read this 8th chapter of Acts, and you'll see
that there were certain things clearly identified in Isaiah
53, which this Ethiopian eunuch heard, read, and believed. Look
here where he read. When Philip got to him, he was
reading in verse 32. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, and like a lamb done before his shearer, so opened
he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. And who shall declare his generation,
for his life was taken from the earth? This Ethiopian eunuch
was made to believe God's report concerning his sin, his sin. You see, when Philip preached
to him Jesus, he preached to him one whose name is Savior,
who shall save his people from their sin. He preached to him
one who came into this world to die as a lamb in the place
of his sheep, to die in the place of guilty sinners in this unit
when he comes When he comes and hears the word, when Philip comes
to him and preaches the word, he believes God's report. That's
what I deserve. That's what I deserve. I deserve the just, eternal wrath
of a holy God. That's what I deserve. When he got into the pool, he
was confessing his just death. His just death. But then secondly,
this unique belief, the report, which Philip gave, which God
gave in his word by Philip, concerning the substitutionary satisfaction
of Christ." Can't you imagine what that eunuch
must have thought? He's been writing the law, reading
this prophecy. And he's been up to Jerusalem. He's been up to Jerusalem crying
his head. Trying his best to, trying his
best to have some relief of conscience. Trying to give rest for his soul.
He's been up there and he's gone through the ordinances and the
worship as much as those Jews would let him. As much as he
could according to law. But he was an outsider. There
wasn't anything for him. He was just a proselyte. There
wasn't anything really for him. While he's up there, he's trying
to find peace. He's trying to find something
to relieve his conscience. Something to give him rest. And
I'm sure he heard what he had to do. those false prophets,
and the priest, and the Levites, and the scribes, and the Pharisees
gave him a lesson. Now I tell you what, you go back
down to Ethiopia, buddy, and you keep the Sabbath day. And
you, uh, I know, I know how things are down in Ethiopia. You clean
up your life, you start living life. You keep the commandments,
and you come up here and worship in Jerusalem, and all the feast
days, and you'll be alright. And when he went away, he went
away with Stuart, at first it seemed. He wouldn't always deal
with that heavy conscience, with that guilty heart. And Philip
came and he said, uh, you see what the prophet says here about
sin? For the transgression of my people
was he dead. And by his knowledge, he'll justify
it. And Philip says to him, now,
now Mr. Enoch, It's all gone. It's all gone. Justice is satisfied. Sin has been put away. Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, was made to be sin for us. And when he
was made to be sin for us, he was punished in our faith! Now
sin's gone. Behold the risen Christ. He rose
from the grave without sin. Now, can you believe that? Can
you believe, can you rest your soul on him? That eunuch said,
I do believe that. Oh, glory, glory, what rest there
is for my soul. I do believe that. You mean there's
nothing to do? Nothing. You mean, you mean he
has forever put away all my sin? All of it forever. You mean God
will never charge me with sin? Never. Never. You mean God will
never frown on me, but will ever smile upon me through Jesus Christ
his Son? That's what I'm saying. Oh, I
can believe that. I can believe that. And he began
to break off the shackles. And now he's keeping the Sabbath
day. He's resting in Christ. He believed the testimony of
God. concerning Christ's resurrection, his ascension, his intercession,
and his rule. Phillips said, now because he's
accomplished redemption, God has given him the spoils of victory,
and he's the king of glory. He rules everything by sovereign
sway. God has given him power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as he
has given him. This eunuch believed that Jesus
is the Christ. the Son of the Living God. And
believing that, he believed this Christ has the power to save
sinners. Now this last question, why?
Why should every believer be baptized? Surely there's got
to be good reason for pressing an ordinance so heavily. Every
believer should be baptized because it's a command of Christ. It's
an act of obedience. People ask me all the time, so
can a man be saved without baptism? I say, everybody's saved without
baptism. And I said, but don't you think baptism is important?
Of course it is. Well, do you believe a man can rebel against
God in this area and be saved? Well, of course not. Of course
not. Baptism doesn't save, but baptism
is an act of obedience. And the king's children are obedient
to the king. They're obedient to the king.
God's people obey God. Christ's people obey Christ.
Born-again folks obey the Son of God. And they obey Him, first
of all, in the waters of baptism. Baptism is the answer of a good
conscience toward God. Believing it to be an ordinance
of God, we submit ourselves to it. And thus we discharge a good
conscience. Every believer should be baptized
Because by baptism we profess our faith, our faith in the gospel,
our faith in Christ Jesus, and we identify with God's people.
Baptism symbolically pictures the gospel of Christ, death,
burial, and resurrection in a substitute. And baptism testifies of our
union with Jesus Christ, one with him in heart, and it identifies
us publicly. with our Savior and His people. I tell you, I'm happy to identify
with the children of God, the family of God. Wherever I go,
whatever it costs, by whatever means it takes. Because I love Christ, what He's
done for me, and I love this body. I love this body of believers.
And I'm identified with you. And somebody attacks Bob Pontzer,
he's attacked me. That's all there is to it. And
I ain't tolerating it. I just flat am not tolerating
it. We're a body of believers in Christ Jesus. And I'm everywhere
identified with this body. Let me try to illustrate it for
you. One of the first times I went to Jamaica, I'm not sure it was
the first time, but one of my first trips there, while I was
in an airport either Montego Bay or Kingston. I can't remember
which. Some fella came up to me and
he says, huh, American. And he caught me at the wrong
time. I said, yes, sir, I am an American. And before you sneer
too much, let me tell you something. Were it not for the United States
of America, you wouldn't have anything to eat and you wouldn't
have anything to wear. and you wouldn't have any freedoms.
We feed, clothe, and protect the world. And I'm mighty proud
to be an American and I'll thank you to acknowledge it. That's
the way it is. That's just the way it is. And
I'm telling you by baptism I confess to the world I belong to Jesus
Christ and his people and I renounce the world. I belong to this way
I renounce every other way. I belong to the gospel of God's
grace. I renounce every other gospel.
Everything. Just renounce it. Get rid of
it. Break off all identification
with it. I don't have anything to do with the religion of this
world. Nothing. Nothing to do with it. I cut my strings a long time
ago. I burned the bridges. I'm done with it. I'm done with
it. A friend of mine was telling me a couple of weeks ago, people have been with him for
15 years. He left Southern Baptist Church, started preaching the
gospel of God's grace, and they kicked him out. Folks who came
out with him, been with him for 15 years. There's 15 or 20 families
this year, at least. I said, what happened? He said,
they went back to the church. And he went right back in that
old religion. And it struck me. They always
do. They always do. When folks change
religions, they can go back to their religion. This suit I've
got on here, I had more than this thing. And four years, up
to just a few weeks ago, I took it off. I had to take it off.
I outgrew it. Now I'm on one of those down
cycles, you know. So I took the big one off and
put this one on. I just changed coats. That's all. I just changed
coats. And that's the way people are
with religion. They just change free willism for grace. And if
that's all they do, they can change grace for free willism.
But when they get in the water and they confess Christ, And
they say that was falsehood. That was a lie. That was damning. That was darkness. This is life. This is the way. This is light.
They burned their bridges behind them. You can't put that on anymore. We're done with that. We haven't
changed religions, Merle. We've changed gods. And there's
a big difference. We haven't changed doctrines. We've changed kings. We haven't
changed our religious formulas. We've changed masters. We haven't
changed our thoughts. We've changed saviors. We worship
the sovereign, saving, successful Christ, and Him only will we
serve. Now I call upon you who believe
this Christ to confess Him by public baptism. If you are so
inclined of God to do so, You see me after the service today
and we'll see to it it's taken care of immediately for the glory
of Christ and the good of your conscience. Amen.