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