If you want to turn with me there,
Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, and let's read this
account of Philip and the eunuch. And let's begin reading in Acts
chapter 8 and verse 26. This is where Philip had went
down to Samaria, and the Lord had saved many, many people.
And it's sort of strange, but right in the middle of this,
he speaks to Philip and sends him down here to preach to this
Ethiopian eunuch. Let's begin in verse 26. And
the angel of the Lord, spake unto Philip, saying, and go towards
the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
which is desert, deserted. And he arose and went, and behold,
a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, under Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure,
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship. and was returning
and setting in his chariot, and he read Isaiah the prophet. Then
the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to
this chariot. And Philip ran hither to him,
and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except
some man should guide me? And he desired Philip, that he
would come up and sit with him. And the place of the scripture
which he read was this, He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and like a sheep done before his shears, 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. 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 as they went on their way, they came into a certain water.
And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me
to be baptized? And Philip said, If you believe
with all your heart, you mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the
church 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 the eunuch saw him no more, and he went
on his way, Rejoice in it. I want us to look at water baptism
just for a few minutes, but I want to look at some things in this story
on our way there to our text concerning water baptism about
this man, this eunuch, this man who was over all the treasure
of Eunice. this Queen of Ethiopia. Let's
just see some things, glean some things on our way down here to
our text. And the first thing I noticed
about this man was how far he came to worship. We're not for
sure now where he was here. They knew back then, but we don't
know now. But we do know this. This man had traveled a long
way to worship. And we don't really know why.
If he traveled here to Jerusalem out of some formality, which
so many did, they came here to these feasts simply because they
wanted to take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was just a religious
thing people did. Some of them did it out of great
zeal. I don't know if that was his
reason for coming here or not. If that was his reason, it shows
what a zeal will cause somebody to do, doesn't it? I never cease
to be amazed at how much religious people will do. And their motives,
I have no idea what their motive is. The Lord Jesus told the Pharisees,
you'll come past land and sea to make one proselyte, one convert.
Come past land and sea? There's people who have given
themselves poor and labored abundantly and traveled for miles and miles
and miles out of the zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
I don't know if that was his problem or not. If he was coming
here to truly worship the Lord, if he was seeking the Lord, if
he was concerned about the salvation of his soul, then boy, that tells
us something about the Spirit's work, doesn't it? You know, when
the Spirit of God burdens a man's conscience and his heart, he
has no rest until he finds rest in Christ. And he knew that it
was at Jerusalem where God was worshipped. Salvation was of
the Jews. And so, here he was, traveling
all these ways, seeking rest. And the Lord Jesus says, If any
man labors, let him come to Me, and he shall find rest. That's
the first thing. The second thing is this, knowing the history
of this man now, wasn't he very unique? This fellow was unique
for this reason. He was a man of great authority.
And he was probably rich. I can't imagine him being over
all these riches and being a poor man. And these two things alone
are unique in the sense that the Lord don't call many mighty
people. He don't call many rich people. But here's what he did.
What a unique person and a unique situation then this is. The third
thing, I saw this. This man wasn't saved when and
where that you and I might have thought. Even where he might
have thought. Even where Philip might have
thought. We're told here in verse 28 that he was returning from
Jerusalem and he was still unsaved. And here's my point. Why wasn't
he saved at Jerusalem? That's where things were happening.
That's where the apostles were preaching with great success.
That's where thousands were being added to the church. This man
went up to Jerusalem and spent we don't know how many days there
and was leaving and going back to his homeland unsaved. And what does this tell us, brothers
and sisters, about the providence of God? The providence of God
has something to do with our salvation. We can't always determine
it. Sometimes He's working so secretly,
but God not only determines the time of our salvation, He determines
the place of our salvation. The Lord brought me all the way
from Tennessee to Mussie, Indiana to save me. Could have saved
me down there. He wasn't pleased to. The Lord
saves people not only when, but where He's pleased to save them.
Why didn't He save this man up in Jerusalem? Why get him off
in a desert place? God was pleased to do it. God
was pleased to do it. Charles Spurgeon came out of
a very religious family. His grandpa was a great preacher
of the gospel. Spurgeon sat under the gospel
in a rather large congregation. Young Spurgeon sat all of his
life under the gospel. The Lord wasn't pleased to save
him sitting in that large congregation with an eloquent preacher speaking
and preaching the gospel. God caught little Spurgeon in
a snowstorm in a little Westland chapel, put him under a man that
could hardly read the Bible, and said, ìLook unto me, and
be ye saved.î And thatís where God was pleased to save her. Augustus Toplady said he was
amazed when he looked back upon his conversion because he was
around men who preached the gospel all the time. And the Lord got
him a long way from home as a young man in an old barn. with animals,
where a few believers gathered together to preach, and some
man got up to give his testimony, and there's where the Lord was
pleased to open his heart and save him. And what does that
tell us? No man is saved until God saves
him. And God saves a man when and
where He's pleased to save him. He didn't save Saul of Tarshish
up at Jerusalem. He got him on that road to Damascus,
didn't He? When it pleased God, and were
it pleased God. And the fourth language we see
here, the value God puts upon preaching. There wasn't a preacher. There wasn't a preacher here
with this man. And the angel of the Lord, I
don't know who that was. I don't know maybe if that was
the Lord Himself spoke. It says an angel. The Lord sent
an angel and spoke to Philip and said, I've got a job for
you to do and sent him down towards Gaza. And then when he was getting
close to this man, the Holy Spirit spoke to him and said, go join
yourself to that sheriff. It shows the value God puts upon
preaching. He did not save this man down
here in this desert without sending a preacher. It pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
this man said, How can I understand, except some man teach me? And
it's a wonderful thing when the Lord brings a person and humbles
them down and makes them listen to a preacher. That's a humbling
thing, isn't it? That's a humbling thing. I don't know of a better scripture
to illustrate the meaning of Romans 10.13 that says, Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall
they call on him whom they have not believed, and how shall they
believe in him whom they have not heard? How shall they hear
without a preacher? How shall they hear without a
preacher? This perfectly illustrates that, doesn't it? God said He
can't hear without a preacher, so He sent Him a preacher. I
think this perfectly illustrates, too, Romans 10, 17. Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. This man was an
unbeliever. How did he get faith? While Philip
was preaching to him, faith came to him. Faith came to him. Who is this man? I don't know
who this man is. How can they believe on Him whom they have
not heard? And as Philip was preaching the
Gospel to this man, somewhere in that short space of time,
Shannon, faith was born. Faith was born. I believe that
Jesus Christ that you have preached to me, that was crucified, that
was slain, that suffered for sin, I believe that He is the
Son of God. How did that faith come to this
man? By hearing. By hearing. That's where faith
is born, isn't it? By hearing. And hearing by the
Word of God. It's the same with us. We're
born without saving faith. We live our lives in unbelief. We live under condemnation until
the gift of faith is granted to us to believe. I know not
how this saving faith, to me He did impart, nor have believing
in His Word wrought peace within my heart, but I know whom I have
believed. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating
faith in Him, but here we have it knowing. He preached unto
him Jesus, and while he was preaching, faith was born. I believe this
Jesus is the Son of God. There are certain mysteries of
the gospel that will never be discerned except we believe. No other way to discern them,
no other way to be saved but by believing. I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I think it was Newton that made
the statement when he was sometimes under doubts and fears, and he
sometimes wondered about his experience of salvation. And
I guess the devil come to him and said, you know, you haven't
prayed enough, you haven't experienced enough. And Newton finally just
made his mind up and said this, if I've never believed before,
I believe now. I believe now. That's a pretty
good way to settle it. I don't want to trust in an experience
I had back I want to believe the Lord right
now. If I've never believed Him before, give me grace to believe
you right now. My first point then is this.
My first point. What kind of baptism was this? And the text tells us here that
it was water. There's no doubt what kind of
baptism this was. He said in verse 36, See, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And in verse 38, He commanded
the church to stand still, and they went both down into the
water. This is water baptism. They practiced
water baptism all through the book of Acts. When Peter went
down and preached to the Gentiles and they believed his preaching,
here's the statement he made. Can any forbid water that these
should not be baptized? And when the Lord Jesus sent
His apostles to go into all the world, here's what He told them. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel, teach all nations, baptizing them, in the name of
the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And what kind of
baptism was that? It was water. And I say it was
water because the church can't minister any other kind of baptism
but water. Water. When Paul said in Ephesians
4 and 5, there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, he's
speaking of a literal baptism. A physical baptism, which is
water. There is one physical baptism,
and that's water. Why do we say this? Why do we
make a point out of this other than the Scriptures here teaches
that? Because there are other baptisms that are not literal. There are other baptisms that's
figurative. And there's one baptism that's
spiritual. John made this statement, he
said, I indeed baptize you with water, but he that cometh after
me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. There's two baptisms, one literally
and physically, and that's water, and one spiritually, and that
is by the Holy Ghost. In Acts chapter 1, the Lord was
teaching His disciples just before He went back to heaven, and He
said, John indeed baptized you with water, but you shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. A baptism of the Holy Spirit,
but that's a spiritual baptism. It's not a literal or a physical
baptism. This baptism is not one that
Philip was baptizing with. He didn't baptize anybody with
the Holy Spirit. There's the only one that can
do that. And that's the Son of God. He shall baptize you with
the Holy Spirit. I want you to look here in 1
Corinthians with me concerning the spiritual baptism. And then
we'll look at the one literal baptism. Look
in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Paul is speaking here in this
chapter about the work of the Holy Spirit. I think it's eight
times in a few verses here he talks about the Spirit. He says
there in verse 3 that no man can say that Jesus is Lord but
by the Holy Ghost. And in verse 4, now there are
diversities of gifts, but it's the same Spirit. Verse 7, but
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal. Verse 8, 41, is given the Spirit
by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, another the word of knowledge
by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit. He's
talking about how the Spirit works in the body, in the church,
in the body of believers. How do we get into that body?
There's a body that we can see, a visible church, but there's
a body we can't see. There's the invisible body of
Christ, what we call the mystical body of Jesus Christ. How do
we get into that body? Look what he says in 1 Corinthians
chapter 12, look in verse 12. For as the body is one, and many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many
members of one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit
we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink unto
this one Spirit. Now here's a spiritual baptism.
Now, some differ with me on this, and that's fine. Dear John Bunyan,
bless his heart, I love him to death. And I sat under his ministry
for years, though he lived back in the 1600s. But he said this,
to his understanding, meant the Spirit led us to be baptized
in water. But I simply believe, this is
my understanding, that the way we get into the mystical body
of Christ, is by the Spirit putting us in there. This is the Spiritual
Baptism. Only one Spiritual Baptism. And only one literal and physical
Baptism. And every believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ has been baptized of the Holy Spirit into that
body. Everyone that's been born of
God is in the body of Christ. He's born of the Spirit, and
by the Spirit he's put into the body of Christ. So there's one
physical baptism. One Lord, one faith, and one
baptism, and that's water. That's what we're about to minister
here in just a few minutes. And there's one spiritual baptism. There are many typical baptisms. There's many figurative baptism. Look at that, back over in the
10th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Look at this. This is a figurative
baptism. It's not literal and it's not
spiritual. It's simply figurative. Look
in chapter 10, 1 Corinthians 10, look in verse 1 and 2. Brethren,
I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers
were under the cloud, and they all passed through the sea, through
the Red Sea, and that cloud was over their head, shadowing And
they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they did all eat the same
spiritual meat. And did all drink the same spiritual
drink. For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. What
Paul is going to show the church here and warn them of is Israel
was a beacon Don't live like the Jews of old. Look here in
verse 7, the sins that He warned them of. Neither be ye idolaters
as were some of them. They sat down to eat and drink
and rose up to play. Look at verse 8. Neither let
us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in
one day three and twenty thousand. Verse 9, Neither let us tempt
Christ, as some of them tempted, and were destroyed of the serpent.
Verse 10, Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and
were destroyed of the destroyer. And what Paul is teaching us
here, these Jews had great advantages. They drank of that spiritual
rock which followed them. They drank that rock that was
a figure of Jesus Christ. When Moses smoked the rock and
that water gushed out and they drank of it, you know what that
water signified? Christ, the water of life. When they eat this manna that
came from above, what does that signify? Christ, the bread of
life that comes down from heaven. My Father gave you that true
bread from heaven, that's what He said in it. But what He's
saying here too is, They were baptized. They had
these emblems and figures of the gospel that we have literally. They were baptized into Moses. They had this figure of gospel
baptism. When they walked through the
sea, the waters was on either side of them and this cloud was
over their head. It was almost like they were
immersed. in that city. And it figured,
it was a figure of gospel baptism. And he said, they had so many
things and so many privileges. But look how they sinned and
look at the judgment of God upon them. Look at another place,
look at Matthew chapter 20. Here's another figure. Matthew
chapter 20 and look in verse 20. Matthew chapter 20 and verse
20. This is where the disciples were
arguing who should be the greatest. They came to the Lord Jesus desiring,
you know, one of them sat on his right hand and one of them
on his left. You see that there in verse 20
and 21? And here's the Lord's answer to them in verse 22. Jesus
answered and said unto them, You know not what you ask, Are
you able to drink of the cup that I drink of, and to be baptized
with a baptism that I am to be baptized with? And they said
to him, We are able. And he said unto them, You shall
indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with a baptism that
I am baptized with, but the set on my right hand and on my left
is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them of whom it is
prepared of my Father. What kind of baptism is this?
It's not in water. He done been baptized in water,
and it's not the spiritual baptism, but what is it? It's a figurative
baptism. He was speaking of his sufferings.
He was going to be baptized. He was going to be emerged in
his sufferings. Listen to what he says. I am
come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. Deliver me
out of the mire, and let me not sink. Let me be delivered from
them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Oh, when he
suffered in the garden, and his soul become heavy, and he was
grieved in his spirit, and his sweat became his great drops
of blood, he was going down into the waters of sufferings. He was like Jonah when he went
down into the Mediterranean Sea. And here are these poor apostles
arguing about who was going to be the greatest, who could sit
on the left hand and who could sit on the right hand. And they
had no idea that they were ready to be emerged themselves in the
suffrage of Christ. And boy, they were after His
resurrection, weren't they? The suffrage of Christ abounded
in them. You're going to be hated of all
nations for my sake. You are indeed, in a sense and
in a degree, going to be baptized with the baptism that I am being
baptized with. That's figurative, isn't it? That's figurative. Only one literal
and physical baptism, and that's water. Now, let's look at water
baptism just for a minute. Why? Why do we do it? Why do we do it? And what is
it? Why do we baptize in water? Well, not everybody does. Dear
William Huntington, a fine preacher, he wouldn't baptize people in
water. This is the Salvation Army, Larry, that doesn't baptize. That's the Salvation Army that
doesn't baptize. And there's been people in our
day that refuse to baptize in water. So why do we baptize in
water? Because it's scriptural. It's
Scripture. We've got plain teaching. Matthew
28, 18, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go
ye therefore and teach all nations, not just the Jews, but teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things. We
have this commission from Christ Himself to the church. Some things
that we see in here, baptism was to accompany the gospel wherever
it was preached among all nations. Go and teach all nations, baptizing
them. It would be very unscriptural
to go preaching the gospel if we didn't follow it up then by
baptizing those who believe it. We have this commission from
Jesus Christ. It was ministered in the name
of the Trinity, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We go to the book of Acts and
sometimes we find them baptizing people in the name of the Lord.
But you know, I earnestly believe they don't baptize in the name
of the Lord at the exclusion of the Father and of the Holy
Spirit. They just didn't mention it in
that order. Future generations were taught to obey these commands,
teaching them to obey all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And what did He just command
them? To teach and to baptize believers. And at last, This
implies a continuation, at least implies a continuation of water
baptism until the end of the earth. Lo, I am with you. So as long as the world stands,
the church is to do these two things. They're to teach and
to baptize. Now that, in other plain scriptures
too, brothers and sisters, teaches us that we're to baptize people
in water. We have that plain command, and
I don't know another command in the Scriptures anywhere that
tells us to cease doing that. If I did, we'd quit. But there
is no such Scripture. And I'd love some time for Huntington,
I wish Huntington would have wrote some kind of a track on
this to tell us why he quit baptizing in water. I don't know why people would
do that. I don't know. I just don't know. But there's
no clear command for it. We may say, well, this seems
over here to imply that it's not water anymore, it's spiritual.
Well, some of those places may be spiritual. They may be figurative. But still, we have no clear scripture
that says don't do it anymore. That's why we continue to do
it. What is it? What is water baptism? And here's
my understanding of this. I don't say I'm right about everything,
but this is according to my understanding. I said before that water baptism
is the only literal baptism, but having said that, it is also
a figure of something that is spiritual in nature. Water baptism is a figure of
our salvation in Jesus Christ. Water baptism is a figure. It's
physical. It's physical, literal, but it's
figurative. We've got a lot of figures. Look
over here. This will help you, hopefully. Look over in Hebrews
chapter 9. In Hebrews chapter 9, and look
here in verse 6. gives us a lot of figures, something
that's figurative. Hebrews chapter 9, and he's speaking
here in the context of the tabernacle in the wilderness. You remember
the big tent they put up? And it had a holy place where
it had to show bread and the lampstands, and then after the
holy place there was a curtain you went through, and only the
high priest went in there once a year to sprinkle blood on the
mercy seat. that have the cherubim overshadowed in the mercy seat.
These were figures. This temple and this holy place
was a figure. Look here in verse 6, chapter
9, verse 6. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, that
holy place they call it, accomplishing the services of God. He would
go in there and put bread on the table and he'd light the
lamps and so on. But unto the second, the holiest
of all, went the high priest alone once every year, not without
blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs of the people."
The Holy Ghost is signifying that the way unto the holiest
of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was
yet standing. Look at this. "...which was a
figure for the time then present." which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertaining to the conscience, because it only stood
in meats and drinks and divers' washings and carnal ordinances
imposed on them in the time of reformation. But Christ, being
come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say,
not of this building, not of this tabernacle, Neither by blood
of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for you."
This tabernacle and the priesthood and the blood is just figurative. They are figures of Jesus Christ
and Him going into the Father's presence and sprinkling the blood
and obtaining eternal redemption. Look at another figure here in
verse 23 of this chapter. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us." See what a figure it is? A figure is something
that represents something else. It's something that we can see,
something that we can handle, sometimes something that we can
taste, but it's a figure of something that's unseen. When we partake
of the Lord's Supper, we've got these elements and they're figures. When the Lord Jesus took that
bread and break it and handed it to those apostles, what did
He tell them? This is my body. Was that his
literal body? Some tell us that's his literal
body. That when I come up here and give thanks and bless it,
it turns into the literal broken body. We can get sort of silly,
can't we? And this is dangerous. Here stood
the Lord Jesus and He's breaking this bread and He says, this
is my body. And they knew that wasn't His
literal body. That was a figure of His broken
body. And He took that cup of wine
and said, drink you all of it. This is my blood of the new covenant
that's shed for many. These are all figures that represent
to us salvation that's by Jesus Christ. Figures. Now with that
in mind, look at 1 Peter 3. Look in verse 18. Peter is speaking
here of Noah and his family in the flood. And he says here in
verse 18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sin, The just
for the unjust that He might bring us to God. Being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. By which also
He went and preached unto the spirits in prison. Christ preached
through Noah. The Spirit of Christ was in Noah
and He preached to those lost people in that day. which sometimes
were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited
in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein
few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." And then he
thought of something. He was talking about Noah and
eight souls being saved by water. And then something else came
to his mind. He thought about gospel baptism. The ordinance
of baptism. And he said, "...the like figure,"
there it is, "...were unto even baptism doeth also now save us,
not to put in away the filth of the flesh, but the answering
of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead." Peter doesn't say how water baptism
saves us, does he? He just says it does. He just
says it does. The lack figure. Something seen
that represents or resembles something that is unseen. Something
physical that represents something spiritual. The lack figure. Were it not, even baptism also
now saves us. Not the putting away the filth
of the flesh, but the answering of good conscience by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. When you read about this word
saved, it doesn't always mean regeneration. It doesn't mean
that you're forgiven. Sometimes when he talks about
saved, it means save yourself from a lot of trouble, a lot
of heartache. Paul was writing to Timothy and
said, Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in
them, for in so doing you shall both save yourself and them that
hear you." What's he saying? You'll regenerate yourself? You'll
forgive yourself? You'll justify yourself? That
wasn't what he said at all. You'll save yourself from a fall
and from heartaches. Let me read verse 21 to you in
the Amplified. Here's what the Amplified says,
"...and baptism, which is a figure of deliverance, doth now also
save you from inward questionings and fears, not by the removal
of outward filth, but by providing you with the answer of a good
and clear conscience before God, because you are demonstrating
what you believe to be yours by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. from the dead. There's something
wonderful about water baptism. It's the answering of a good
conscience towards God. Where did we get water baptism?
It's not of man. The reason we practice it now
is because God gave it. The Lord Jesus said, baptism,
is it of God or of man? It's of God, isn't it? And what
did God give us baptism to figure, to represent? The death and the
resurrection of His Son. Peter makes mention of it there
in verse 19, doesn't he? The just for the unjust. Christ
has once suffered for sin. The just for the unjust. And
in verse 21, he mentions His resurrection. Baptism is a figure
of Christ's death and His resurrection. Why did God give us baptism?
As a figure of that. As a figure of that. If Christ didn't die and did
not raise again, then why did God institute water baptism as
a proof of it? Water baptism is a seal from
God. that my son died, my son rose
again. That's why Paul asked those Corinthians,
if you don't believe in the resurrection of Christ, why are you baptized
for the dead? You're being baptized for one you say died, Christ,
but you're denying His resurrection. How can you deny His resurrection
when you go under the water to show His death and you come out
of the water to show His resurrection. That's what water baptism teaches
us, isn't it? Gives us confidence towards God,
doesn't it? Since He's the one that instituted this to teach
us of the burial and resurrection of His Son. Secondly, water baptism
is a figure of our dying with Christ and raising with Him to
walk in newness of life. Colleen is going to be professing
by her baptism that when Christ died, she died. That when Christ was buried,
she was buried. And when Christ rose, she rose. That's what baptism
is about. God has given me a clear conscience
through the Son of God who was slain and buried and rose again. And I'm answering that conscience.
I believe you. I believe you. When your son
died, I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
When he rose, I rose in him. Romans chapter 6 teaches us that.
And something else, water baptism is an outward figure of what
has taken place inwardly. It's a figure. Arise and be baptized. and wash away your sins." That's
the Bible, isn't it? Arise and be baptized, Ananias
told Paul, and wash away your sins. And here, a whole denomination
has taken that and rested their hopes upon that. That when you
go down into the water, you're washing your sins away. Well,
if we're going to say that, let's just go back and say, here is
my body. Here's my literal body. Here's
my literal blood. You eat my literal body and drink
my literal blood. Let's go back and say that tabernacle
that was in the wilderness, that was Christ. Let's go back and
say that when Christ, when the priest entered that tabernacle
and sprinkled blood, that was Christ. No, it wasn't. He was
a figure. And when Ananias said, Paul arise
and be baptized and wash away your sins, he was saying this,
be baptized to show forth and profess what has taken place
in your heart. That your sins have been literally
washed away by the blood of Christ. Ain't but one thing that can
wash sins away. And water figures that. It's
a symbol of that. the blood of Jesus Christ the
Lord. That's what it does. Water? It's
a figure. It's a figure of the death and
resurrection of Christ Himself. The Father gave us that figure
to prove that. Secondly, it's a figure of my
being buried with Him and risen with Him. And thirdly, it's a
figure of what is taking place within. Man may go down into
the water, but if he goes down unforgiven, he'll come up unforgiven.
If he goes down unsaved, he'll come up unsaved. Finally, what is the criteria
for baptism? Who can be baptized? Here is water, the eunuch said,
what hinders me from being baptized. What hinders me? And Philip said,
if you believe with all your heart, you may. Now what does
that tell us? First of all, that tells us there
is a criteria for what a baptism is. You don't baptize infants. You never find one place in the
New Testament or the Old for sure where they ever baptize
an infant. People say, what about Lydia?
Her whole house was baptized. It doesn't say a thing about
she had an infant in the house. What about the jailer in his
house? Nothing said about having an infant. We're never told anywhere
in the scriptures that one infant was baptized. I remember my little
neighbor, she came in here, she had a little baby with her, and
she came and wanted to talk to me, and she said, will you baptize
my baby? And I got my Bible out and I
opened it right here to Acts chapter 8. And I didn't read
this to her. I let her read it. Where it says,
here's water, what hinders me to be baptized? He said, if you
believe with all your heart. And she looked up at me and I
said, do you see why I can't baptize your baby? And she said,
he doesn't believe, does he? And that settled it. That settled
it. It's not for infants. There's
a criteria for believers. Baptism is not for lost people. It cannot save you. We're told
in this chapter that Simon the sorcerer was baptized in water. And yet Peter said you're in
the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. It won't
save you. It won't save you. Who is to
be baptized? Believers in Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who was crucified. was buried and rose again. Man,
he took this Scripture in the Old Testament that all we like
sheep have gone astray, and God hath laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. And God beheld the travail of
His soul. And God said, I'm satisfied.
I won't punish sin anymore to those who look to My Son, those
who believe My Son. Wouldn't you love to hear that
message? I bet you Philip preached that as clear as anybody ever
preached it. And while he was preaching it,
oh, this man believed it. He saw the Son of God and he
said, I believe Him. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. And he stopped his chariot and he tucked Him
down in the water and he said, I want to identify with my Savior.
I want to identify with my Savior. I want to profess Him. I believe
in Him. He's my Lord. I died with Him.
I've risen with Him. I want to be baptized. And they
both went down into the water. And He sprinkled it on His head.
And they came up. They went down into the water.
And He ducked Him. He immersed Him. And then He
came up wet. Immersion means to wet. fairly
wet, and see Him on His way. Rejoice! Let's pray.