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But we're there in luke chapter number three luke chapter number three and of course this uh morning We are continuing through our series on journey with jesus and we're walking through the gospel according to luke And today we come to a very well-known passage of scripture. We only read two verses Uh this morning, which is unusual for us. We usually read the entire chapter We've not been doing that through this series since we've been spending so much time in each one of these chapters You may have gotten excited because we read only two verses but don't worry We're going to look at a lot more verses than just two Uh, so you some of you thought you were in an old ife church there for a minute But we're we're going to look at a lot of scripture So, uh, we're looking at the baptism of christ this morning if you're there in luke chapter number three Like you look down at verses 21 22 We just read them the bible says this now when all the people were baptized It came to pass that jesus also being baptized and praying The heaven was open and the holy ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven Which said thou art my beloved son in thee. I am Well pleased and i'm going to preach on the subject of the baptism of christ But what i'm going to do this morning is i'm going to preach in a comprehensive sermon on the subject of baptism And the reason for that is is a couple first of all, it's been a long time since I've preached on the subject of baptism I've mentioned baptism here and there but to preach a full-length sermon on it has been a while and it's good for us to be Uh reminded about what we believe and why we believe it and since I haven't preached on baptism in a long time I'm sure that there are some people even in our church That maybe don't understand baptism have not been scripturally baptized themselves Maybe they're not even sure what that really means And so I want to help them understand that this morning clarify that for them But also I don't want some of you that maybe you're a little more mature in the faith You say oh someone on baptism I don't I don't need that first of all The bible says all scriptures given by inspiration of god and is profitable And anytime that the word of god is open you can learn from it But if you're especially if you're a soul winner here this morning, you know I want to express to you that one of your goals should be to not only get people saved But then get those converts baptized and it would be beneficial for you to learn How to you say I already know everything about baptism. Okay, but do you know how to explain it? Do you have an outline to be able to explain to people and answer their questions? So it's a benefit for all of us. Maybe you're a parent here This morning and you've got some younger kids that are getting saved and they need to be baptized And you're not sure how to explain it to them. Well, this this is a sermon that would be beneficial for all of us So we're going to talk this morning on the subject of baptism I want to give you several thoughts in regards to baptism And if you're taking notes And I would encourage you to write some things down on the back of your course of the week There's a place for you to take down some notes. I want to begin by talking to you about the priority of baptism the priority of baptism It's interesting to me that we see the lord jesus christ in Baptism or getting baptized here And of course if you've been with us through the gospel of luke As we spent time in chapter one chapter two and some of chapter three already. We've learned about the The events that took place leading up to the birth of christ the birth of christ the presentation of christ We we've been looking at all these different things. We saw jesus as his childhood as a 12 year old boy We've uh seen the ministry of john the baptist the forerunner the one who was sent before christ to prepare the way For christ and prepare people, uh for the lord jesus christ and now we're getting ready to begin officially the ministry of the lord jesus christ and Because jesus is getting ready to begin his earthly Ministry, uh what he does first is he gets baptized and his baptism really is the kickoff to The earthly, uh, the earthly ministry of the lord jesus christ. He's getting ready to begin his ministry So he begins where everyone should begin with baptism now Let me just by way of introduction or just by the way of this first point Give you some thoughts in regards to why jesus would get baptized to begin with Why would jesus even get baptized and there's a couple of reasons for that the first one Um, if you look down at verse 21 again the bible says now when all the people were baptized it came to pass that jesus also Being baptized the first reason that jesus Would get baptized himself is uh to be an example for all of us Jesus got baptized as an example for us to follow all throughout the bible We are told that we are to be followers of the lord jesus christ that we are to walk in his footsteps So if jesus wants all of us to be baptized then he of course set the example by being baptized himself notice It says now when all the people were baptized jesus didn't think oh, that's just for them And i'm not going to do that. It says it came to pass that jesus also being baptized He set the example of being baptized but not only was jesus baptized to set an example Jesus was also baptized as a sign of who he was and there was a Miraculous event that took place at his baptism We're going to talk about it a little bit here at the beginning and we'll talk about it more towards the end Of the sermon, but if you look at verse 21 again It says now when all the people were baptized it came to pass that jesus notice also being baptized And praying the bible says the heaven was open now We should all be baptized and we should all follow the example of the lord jesus christ being baptized But this is probably not going to happen at your baptism Okay, when the bible says here the heaven was open notice and the holy ghost descended in a bodily shape Like as a dove here the bible tells us that the holy ghost descended In a bodily shape like as a dove now most people assume that uh When the holy ghost ascended he ascended in the shape of a dove and if that's your belief, you know, i'm not against that but I I want you to notice that I I don't necessarily believe the bible is telling us here that he Came in the shape of a dove but that as he descended from heaven He descended like a dove would descend the bible does tell us that the holy ghost descended in a bodily Shape and of course this teaches us about the trinity Because we believe that there is one god that exists in three persons god the father god the son God the holy spirit and here we see that the holy ghost himself was in a bodily shape He was in a bodily form It is the person of the holy spirit who descended like a dove upon him And then notice and a voice came from heaven So we have jesus at his baptism, of course getting baptized the holy ghost descending like a dove And then we have god the father who's invisible But yet his voice is heard from heaven which said thou art my beloved son in thee I am well pleased. So jesus was not only baptized as an example for us that we should do likewise But he was also baptized as a sign of who he was at his baptism The holy spirit descended like a dove and a voice was heard from heaven that said thou art my beloved son in whom I am Well pleased And then the book of luke and that's our of course our text for this morning But go with me if you would just real quickly to the book of john john chapter number one Jesus was also baptized to show A sign of who he was and this is not the only time that this happened This began this happened at the baptism of christ at the beginning of his ministry There was a voice heard from set up from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I am Well pleased and this happened again a second time towards the end of the ministry of the lord Jesus christ on the mount of transfiguration When he was transfigured and moses and elijah showed up on the mount with him while peter james and john were there And there was a voice heard from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased This was god's way of showing and showing a sign In regards to who jesus was at the beginning of his ministry But I want you to notice it was not only a sign for us as we read It was a sign for those there and specifically a sign for john the baptist because remember john the baptist If you remember from the last time we were in the book of luke his job was to be a forerunner for the lord Jesus christ his job was to prepare the way and to announce the coming of the lord Jesus christ in john chapter one in verse 32. The bible says this john 132 and john this is john the baptist Bear record saying now notice what he says I saw the spirit. This is what john said. This is john's testimony He said I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him upon Jesus look at verse 33 and I knew him not But he the he there is referring to god That sent me remember this is john speaking To baptize with water the same said unto me upon whom thou shall see the spirit descending And remaining on him the same as he which baptizes With the holy ghost so here we are told john the baptist though He was physically related to the lord. Jesus christ. Remember that mary and elizabeth were cousins The bible tells us that john himself. He said I knew him not he said I did not know He said I was sent as a forerunner to prepare the way for the messiah But I did not know who it was that the messiah was but he referring to god This is john's testimony But he that sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me upon whom thou shall see the spirit descending And remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the holy ghost So a couple of thoughts here in regards to baptism first we get uh from the testimony of john in origin of baptism Have you ever wondered, you know, where did baptism come from? Because in the old testament, we don't have the practice of baptism We have 400 years of silence and then the new testament begins with john the baptist and all of a sudden this man named John who's later known as john the baptist Why is he known as that because he shows up on the scene and he begins baptizing people, you know Did he just come up with this on his own? Where did this come from people like to make up things about how? You know ancient cults would baptize and this was not something new in the ancient world But the bible tells us here where it is that john got the the idea for baptism John said he that sent me to baptize with water He said god told me to baptize people with water God told me to baptize them and god also said he that sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me. He says John is telling The people that when god told me to baptize people with water God also told me that when you baptize people there's going to be one baptism where you're going to see Upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the holy ghost So it was a sign for john as well So I would imagine that john he began to baptize and as he's baptizing people, you know Every time he's baptizing people he's he's probably looking up No, that's not him looking up. That's not him looking up That's not him And when jesus got baptized the bible says as he baptized him the heavens were open and the spirit Uh, the holy spirit descended like a dove and a voice was heard from heaven saying this is my beloved son And whom i'm well pleased and john said that's how I knew who the messiah was because the same said unto me Upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the holy ghost So we see that the baptism of jesus was not only as an example for us But it was also as a sign of who jesus was and the point is this go to the book of acts if you would Acts chapter number 16 you're there in john. Just flip one book over to act chapter 16 The first point that I want to make is this that what we see is the priority of baptism Baptism is important It's an ordinate. It's it's something that was ordained. It is an ordinance because it was ordained by god himself god told john to begin this, uh, Ordination of baptism this ordinance of baptism. He told them that the messiah would be baptized and the spirit would descend upon him This was something and jesus made a priority of it when he began his earthly public ministry He began by setting the example of getting baptized himself So we see that jesus made a priority of baptism and when he began his ministry He began with baptism and i'm here to tell you that every believer Should make a priority in regards to baptism and in the same way that jesus when he was ready to begin his earthly ministry Every believer when they are ready to begin their walk with god. They should also get baptized I I want to make sure you understand what i'm saying baptism is not part of salvation We're going to talk about that later in the sermon you can be saved and not be baptized Uh, the bible is clear about that. And if you just need one quick example think about the thief on the cross the thief on the cross said Remember me to jesus when thou enters into thy kingdom and jesus said today Thou shall be with me in paradise and that thief never got off that cross and got baptized But he did believe and he did confess with his mouth and he did get saved and he did go to heaven So baptism has nothing to do with salvation But baptism has everything to do with discipleship Or being a follower of the lord jesus christ and after salvation the first step in walking with god is baptism That's why jesus the first thing he did Publicly in his public ministry was to get baptized and every believer and if you're here this morning You say i've never been baptized or I don't know that i've been scripturally baptized Hey, you need to make a priority of it because it's the first thing that god wants you to do after you get saved Acts chapter 16. Are you there look at verse 29? Acts chapter 16 and verse 29 We should make a priority of baptism I want you to notice that in the bible people always got baptized as soon as possible Acts chapter 16 and verse 29 the bible says this then he And this is referring to the philippian jailer where at the story here where paul and stylus were in jail in philippi And they've been singing all night and there was an earthquake and all the prison doors Were open and and the jailer assumes that everybody escaped but they have not acts 16 29 then he called for a light And sprang in and came trembling because he realizes that they did not uh, they did not escape Paul said do thy do thyself no harm and notice what the philippian jailer the bible says he came in Trembling and fell down before paul and silas and brought them out and said sirs What must I do to be saved and they said get baptized. Is that what they said? No, they said believe on the lord. Jesus christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house They said he asked the question believe on lord. Jesus christ, and they said hey, uh, he has a question What must I do to be saved and they said hey believe on the lord Jesus christ and thou shalt be saved and they said by the way Not just you your whole house can be saved your whole family can be saved notice verse 32 And they spake unto him the word of the lord and to all that were in his house And he took them notice notice the wording here the same hour Now remember this was at midnight They sang in the prison at midnight at midnight is when the earthquake happened and here the bible tells us That he took them the same hour of the night and watched their stripes and was baptized he and all his straight way You see the word straight way there that word means immediately you say what does the bible teach us about baptism? It teaches this that it should come after salvation. We'll talk about that in a minute, but it should happen immediately As soon as possible It's the first step in your walk with god It's a priority because today people kind of act like I don't need to get baptized baptism Not a big deal baptism is not an issue. I'm here to tell you there's a priority of baptism God made a priority. He ordained it. Jesus made a priority He he he did it to begin his earthly ministry and every believer should get baptized In order to begin their earthly ministry and their walk with the lord. Jesus christ You're there in act 16 flip back to act chapter 8 if you wouldn't so I said number one We saw the priority of baptism and I hope you're I hope you understand that baptism is a priority It's something we should make a priority up And for those of you that are soul winners, you got to make a priority of baptism You got to have a desire to see your converts not only saved but also baptized because you say well Why do I I want to see them baptized if you think about the great commission the bible says go you therefore into all the world and teach the gospel to every creature baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son of the holy ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you and law i'm with you all the way even unto the end of the world Amen, the great commission is this that we are to number one get people saved number two get people baptized And then number three, we are to disciple them or teach them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you if you think about the great commission you would think you know I get number one get them saved and I get number three Disciple them or help them grow But why does he throw baptism in there like it's that importance of a thing but here's what you need to understand When you understand that baptism is the first step of discipleship You understand that baptism is the step that leads you from salvation into being a follower a public follower of the lord, jesus christ So as soul winners We should have a desire to get our converts to get baptized so that they can begin their walk with god It's called the priority of baptism It's a priority But I want you to notice not only do I want you to understand the priority of baptism But let me talk with you this morning also about the process of baptism What what is how is baptism supposed to work? You're there in act chapter 8? I like to look down at verse number 26 In acts 8 26 we have the story of philip When he preaches the gospel to the ethiopian eunuch notice there in verse 26 The bible says this and the angel lord spake unto philip saying arise and go toward the south Unto the way that goeth down from jerusalem onto gaza Which is desert verse 27 and he philip arose and went and behold A man of ethiopia and eunuch of great authority under candace the queen of the ethiopians Who had the charge of all her treasure had come to jerusalem for to worship So here we have this man known as the ethiopian eunuch He's a eunuch of great authority under candace queen of the ethiopians. He's a politician He works for this queen. He's there in jerusalem. He's riding a chariot and he's there for religious purposes He came to jerusalem for to worship look at verse 28 was returning and sitting in his chariot Read isaiah's the prophet. So here we have this ethiopian eunuch. He's not saved But he's interested He's reading the bible, but he doesn't understand it because he's not saved In verse 29 the bible says 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's and said understand is thou what thou readest and he said How can I accept some man should guide me and desired philip that he would come up and sit with him? And in verses 32 33 34 we're told about the passage that he was reading which is a passage Uh out of isaiah 53 verses 7 and 8. We'll skip that for sake of time Look at verse 35 Then philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture notice and preached unto him. Jesus So here we have philip the soul winner We have ethiopian eunuch the sinner and we have the word of god the scriptures We've got uh in verse 35 He preached unto him Jesus the soul winning and as they went on their way they came unto a certain water and the eunuch said see Here is water what doth hinder me to be baptized the eunuch as he's going down the road Philip is preaching the gospel to him preaching about jesus and he asked this question. He said hey, there's some water What doth hinder me the word hinder means that what's delaying me or what's blocking me? What's stopping me to be baptized? He said what is keeping me from getting baptized in verse 37? The bible says and philip said if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest by the way I'm not preaching about this, but if you've got a new Version of the bible if you've got Something other than the king james bible in your hand like an niv or an esv that verse is missing from your bible In fact, if you look at it closely if you do have one in your hand You'll notice that your verses go 35 36 38 They don't even they don't even take the time to change the numbers on you. They just completely remove the verse You say why would why would somebody? Uh remove a verse that says if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest about the lord Jesus christ and he answered and said I believe that jesus christ the son of god. Yeah, that is curious why they would remove that According to that if that's if that's your bible, you know What does hinder me to get be baptized apparently nothing because in verse 38? He commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water both philip and the eunuch and he baptized him But that's not what the king james bible says what the true word of god says The true word of god says if thou believeth when the question is asked What does hinder me to be baptized? The answer is if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest why did he answer that? Here's why because Baptism should come after salvation Baptism is something that should happen after you what does hinder me to be baptized if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest You should be baptized after salvation Please hear me out Not before salvation And not for salvation Sometimes i'll use the statement i'll say, you know, have you been scripturally baptized and people say what does that mean? Well, not all baptism is scriptural Not all baptism is biblical You say I was baptized when I was a baby. Well, here's the thing about being baptized when you're a baby You weren't saved By the way, when you're a baby you weren't condemned When babies die they go to heaven Only after you came to the age of accountability where you understood Sin and the fact that you were a sinner where you condemned to hell and then you needed to be saved The bible teaches that baptism is after something you say well, I got Baptized when I was a little kid way before I got baptized that was not a scriptural baptism Or some people say well, I got baptized to get saved Well, that's not a scriptural baptism either because if you thought that you needed to get baptized in order to be saved then Uh, you were trusting in your works remember the philippian jailer said what must I do to be saved? And the answer is believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved Put your trust and faith in jesus period like the thief on the cross. You don't have to get baptized to go to heaven But you should get baptized Once you know, you're on your way to heaven What does hinder me to be baptized philip said if thou believeth all thine heart thou mayest and he answered and said notice Everybody in the bible gets saved they always Confess with their mouth I believe that jesus christ is the son of god And in verse 38, we read the second Procedure in regards to baptism. What's the first one that it should be after salvation? What's the second one that it should be by immersion notice verse 38 and he commanded the chair to stand still And they went down both into the water both philip and the eunuch and he baptized them Notice that baptism is going down both into the water. What does that mean? It means that you are Immersed underneath the water it is baptism by immersion you go down into the water Go to the book of matthew If you would matthew chapter number three first book in the new testament should be fairly easy to find Do me a favor when you get to matthew put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it And we're going to come back to it matthew chapter number three In verse 16 see the bible teaches that baptism is by immersion We read we just read there in acts 8 38 They went both they went down both into the water That's not sprinkling That's not pouring That's not spraying you with a spray bottle That's going down both into the water notice matthew 3 in verse 16 here We have the baptism of christ and jesus because remember jesus got baptized As an example not only an example that we should be baptized but an example of how to be baptized So the question is well, how? Should someone be baptized matthew 3 16 and jesus said when he was baptized or the bible says and jesus Excuse me when he was baptized notice went up straight way out of the water Now in order to come up out of the water you first have to go down into the water That's what we saw in acts 8 38 They went down both into the water both philip and the eunuch and he baptized him here We see about jesus that he not only went down into the water But went up straight way out of the water and low the heavens were open unto him And he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and lighting upon him So what is baptism baptism is going down into the water and coming up out of the water It is baptism by immersion see the process of baptism in order for it to be scriptural baptism It has to meet these qualifications that it was after salvation and it was by immersion you went down into the water You came up out of the water Now sometimes I talk to people and they'll say well I was baptized but when I was baptized they poured water on me When I was baptized they sprinkled water on me And i'll say well that's not scriptural baptism because you have to Immerse somebody down into the water And they'll say well, yeah, but I mean when I when I got baptized or when I baptized my kids, you know They were they were eight weeks old I mean you can't put an eight-week-old underwater and I would say yeah Now we have a different question should you even be baptizing a child like that a baby Because baptism is after salvation Which means they have to be old enough to be able to understand what the gospel is And confess with their mouth and believe in their heart And then they should be baptized by immersion. They go down into the water. They come up out of the water So sprinkling or pouring is not a biblical method of baptism The bible teaches that you have to have uh, uh them go down into the water You're there in matthew go to john chapter 3 matthew mark luke john john chapter 3 John 3 look at verse 23 john 3 23 and john Also was baptizing an anon near sale remember john he's the one that god used to institute baptism And here the bible tells us that john also was baptizing an anon near salem notice Why was he baptizing there? It's telling us where he was baptizing in anon near salem. Why here's why because there was much water there And they came and were baptized. Why was he baptizing when there was where there was much water? Here's why because he was dunking them under the water You know if he could have just sprinkled them or poured water on them Uh, then then he wouldn't need to baptize them somewhere where there's much water You could have baptized them anywhere. Just bring a bottle of water. You're good to go But the bible tells us that he chose a place where there was much water there and they came and were Baptized go to romans chapter 6 if you would romans chapter 6 you're there in john You have the book of acts then romans john acts romans romans chapter number six So we saw the priority of baptism. Jesus was getting ready to begin his earthly ministry So he got baptized in the same way we as believers when we get ready to begin our earthly ministry our walk with god We should get baptized then we saw the process of baptism It is after salvation by immersion and look I realize that getting up and preaching a full sermon on baptism is not the most exciting thing and it's not like you're preaching about You know end times prophecy or stuff that people really get excited about. Let me tell you something Baptism is is one of and I want to say it's the because salvation is the most important doctrine But baptism is definitely one of the most important, uh, uh doctrines of our faith And today there might not be a lot of controversy when it comes to baptism, uh, other than preaching, you know against baby sprinklers But there was a time when people literally you think ah baptism is not that big of a deal Do you realize that our forefathers are? Christian forefathers literally died Because of the belief of baptism Man, have you ever something you're in a baptist church this morning. It's called verity baptist church Why do you think why don't we call baptists? Why was john called john the baptist? What what's the big deal about baptism? About being a baptist and and and i'll say this and I won't spend a lot of time on it If you're interested in the subject, I'd encourage you to watch our documentary being baptist But you know, we are named baptist because our christian forefathers During a time of history known as the dark ages When the roman catholic church ruled the world Not just religiously but politically the pope was the one in charge of putting kings on thrones and taking kings off of thrones our christian forefathers taught That the bible teaches that biblical baptism comes after salvation and by immersion So during a time when the roman catholic church ruled the world and the roman catholic church are the proponents of Not not the only proponents but the major proponents of infant baptism and spring baptism by sprinkling Christian men and women who got a hold of the word of god and understood what the bible said They took stands and said no baptism comes after salvation. It is by immersion So these bible believing christians who were also soul winners who went out into their communities And got people saved primarily out of the roman catholic church began to teach their converse that they needed to be baptized or re-baptized because their infant baptism or their Sprinkling was not a scriptural baptism and they began to re-baptize people so the catholics who were their enemies at the time began to mockingly refer to them as Anabaptist the word anna means re they would mock them say those are those re-baptizers They re-baptize people they're anabaptists and by the way many anabaptists were burned at the stake and gave up their lives because of baptism And the belief in baptism and the doctrine in baptism They were known as anabaptists Eventually the term anna was removed and they were simply known as baptists I'm a baptist this morning That term is important to me It doesn't only mean that we understand true baptism, but what it really means is that we understand true salvation That salvation is not through the roman catholic church It is not something that any church could give you or take away from you that it is simply a belief in the lord jesus christ And that you should be baptized after salvation So we talked about the priority of baptism We talked about the process of baptism. Let's talk about the purpose of baptism What's the purpose? Why do people die? And by the way, it's not just our christian forefathers in the In the ancient world that died Even modern christians today, uh today there are many Christians who convert and places and places ran by islam Who When they obey and follow the lord jesus christ in believers baptism Often are ostracized and Removed from their families and in many places are killed Throughout history. We've known that there have been missionaries that have gone to places like india Where they would have converse and they would be baptized in their uh in in in their obedience to the lord Jesus christ and would often be persecuted and killed as a result. I'm here to tell you that baptism should be a priority And when people through history have died to be baptized I don't understand the excuse where we live in the united states of america. We have every freedom to do anything that we like And we refuse to be baptized people refuse to be baptized It should be an importance You say well, what's so important about it? Well, here's here's the importance of it Let's talk about the purpose of baptism. There's two purposes of baptism. The first is to identify yourself with christ Romans chapter 6 and verse 3 notice what the bible says. No ye not That so many of us As were baptized into jesus christ were baptized into his death See the purpose of baptism is to be identified With the lord jesus christ romans 6 4 therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death Baptism identifies us with the lord jesus. Right? He's like Why is it that these? Christians in the ancient world and christians and even in the modern history Have been willing to be baptized and and even though it meant that they might be ostracized or blackballed or persecuted or jailed Or or or even killed. Why would they do it? Here's why because baptism is a public Identification with the lord jesus christ it identifies you with the lord jesus christ It identifies you as a follower of the lord jesus christ As a believer in the lord jesus christ The purpose of baptism is to be identified with jesus christ. We are buried with him By baptism into death the bible says that like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of father Even so we should walk in newness of life. See the purpose of baptism you say but but I can be baptized And so go to heaven. Absolutely Baptism has nothing to do with salvation Salvation is believed on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved but baptism has everything to do with being identified With the lord jesus christ identify yourself as a believer of the lord jesus christ I often use this illustration many of you have heard me use this illustration before but i'll tell people baptism is like a wedding ring My wife and I got married. We got married on june 5th I don't know 18 years ago. This this june will be 18 years that we've been married. You believe that I don't look that old, right She definitely doesn't look that old I I look i'm starting to look older 18 years ago my wife and I got married and on the day that we got married Some of you were there some of you were there On most of you the vast majority of you were not there And on that day when we got married I gave her a ring and she gave me a ring I put a ring on her finger and she put a ring on my finger and the purpose of our Wedding ring is not to uh Get us married The wedding ring does not make us be a married couple It's not like, you know now i'm married. No, i'm not now i'm married. No, i'm not doesn't work that way, right? I cannot have a wedding ring and still be married I can I can I can be married if I I signed the contract I made the vows The you know, we went through the process and and we're we're a married couple The wedding ring doesn't make us married the wedding ring is there to do what to show that we are married to identify us as married Now if if if if I lose my wedding ring or forget my wedding ring, you know when I go to the store It's not that big of a deal because i'm just this, you know, ugly guy But when my wife goes out to the store, she better have that ring on her finger Because that's how people identify that she's married, right She has that ring what is the ring there for it's not to remind her that she's married It's not to remind me that i'm married. It's not like I wake up in the morning and I look wow i'm married I know i'm married This doesn't make me married What's the purpose of the wedding ring to show other people that i'm married? You say what's baptism is it to get you saved? No It is does it make you say no then why would I get baptized to show other people you're saved? To publicly identify yourself with the lord jesus christ Now what if I got married to my wife what if we got married and and after the wedding You know, she said to me, you know I love you I'm glad we're married But I just don't want to wear this wedding ring. Is that okay? You know, wouldn't you think i'd be offended by that? Well, are you ashamed of me? Are you embarrassed to be identified as my wife? When christians say oh, I love the lord jesus christ i'm saved. I just don't want to get baptized you you've got to ask the question Well, are you ashamed of jesus? Are you embarrassed to be identified with the lord jesus christ because through history christians have given their lives to identify with jesus They've been persecuted and they've suffered much loss to identify themselves with the one they love the most the lord jesus christ Is that what is the purpose of baptism it is to identify you with christ it is to publicly identify you as a christian I want you to notice Not only is it to identify you with christ But it's also to identify you with other believers You're there in in in romans flip back to the book of acts if you would You have romans right before that you have the book of acts acts chapter number two Baptism does not only identify you with christ it baptize it identifies you with other believers as well Acts chapter 2 and verse 41 the bible says this Then they That gladly received his word. This is talking about people that got saved. They received the word Jesus is the word they got saved. They heard the gospel then they that gladly received the word were baptized So we have people that got saved they received the word They got baptized notice and the same day there was added unto them about three thousand souls You say i'd like to be a member of a local new testament church well People have a lot of misunderstandings of what a local new testament church is and biblically what a local new testament church And I think today people just think of churches like a club or some social group and there is social aspects to Being a member of the church, but let me tell you something as a church what we are is we are a Representation of the lord jesus christ. We are the body of the lord jesus christ upon this earth And in order to be part of a representation Of the lord jesus christ, you have to represent the lord jesus christ say, how do I do that put the wedding ring on? Get baptized identify yourself with christ and with christ's people Amen They that gladly received this word were baptized and the same day there was added unto them about three thousand souls You say how do you become a member of uh of a biblical uh church? Well, i'll tell you how we do it at very baptist church. You have to get saved and be baptized scripturally baptized Now we accept baptisms from other churches of like faith and practice. Of course If you it's not like we have to re-baptize you here But you you needed to have been scripturally baptized in order to be a member of a local new testament church a scriptural church They that gladly received this word baptized on the same day There was added unto them about three thousand souls added unto who added unto the church Because baptism not only identifies you with the christ It identifies you with the church Uh with the group of believers the ministry in which you are getting baptized go back to the book of matthew matthew chapter number three Let me let me say this and I want to explain this to you because I believe it's important But I want to make sure you understand what i'm saying because some people take take this to a little too far It is important Not only how you get baptized by immersion Not only when you get baptized after salvation but where Or by whom you get baptized Because remember the purpose of baptism is to identify you with christ and to identify you with other believers Identify you with the lord jesus christ and with other believers. So therefore it matters Where you got baptized or who performed the baptism But I want you to understand something though what I mean by that is the ministry in which you were baptized in Now, let me just prove that to you matthew 3 in verse 13 then come with jesus from galley to jordan unto john To be baptized of him But john forbade him saying I have need to be baptized with thee and cometh thou to me So here jesus comes to john and says I want you to baptize me and john's very humble man says If anybody you should be baptizing me And cometh out to me and jesus answering and said unto him notice suffer the word suffer means allow He says allow it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness You see what righteousness there The first part of the word righteousness is right Here's what jesus saying. Jesus said hey, john I need you to baptize me john forbade him saying I have need to be baptized of thee and cometh out to me And jesus said hey suffer or allow me to be baptized by you for thus it becometh us to fulfill all Righteousness, here's what jesus saying if we're gonna do this, right? John, I need you to do it Then he suffered him Now why is jesus? Making such a big deal about who baptizes him Because during the time of jesus, john was not the only religious leader that was around there was many religious leaders That could have baptized jesus He could have gone to the pharisees. He could have gone to the sageses He could have gone to the priests. He could have gone to the levites. He could have gone to the scribes He could have gone to the lawyers He could have gone anyway and and and you know, i've explained this to people in the past and they've said to me Well, john was the one that was baptizing. Yeah, but john John just started that because god told him by human perspective. John just made that up Couldn't he got to the pharisees and said hey you you start baptizing He could have been baptized by anybody. He needed to be baptized by john. Why because jesus His baptism would identify him not only as the son of god This is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased It would also identify him with the one who was baptizing him john He couldn't be baptized with the sageses because he didn't want to identify with them He couldn't be baptized by the pharisees because he didn't want to be identified with them He wanted he said suffer it to be so now for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness So it matters What ministry you got baptized in go to go go to john chapter four you're there in matthew matthew mark luke john So nice people say to me Oh, I got baptized, you know after I believed and Underwater by immersion, you know, i'm good to go And i'm like, oh great, you know, well, we we don't feel like we have to baptize everybody, you know Obviously if you're a new convert then you need to be baptized We are happy to baptize you but we accept baptisms from life faith and practice, you know So what where did you get baptized and it's like some tongue speaking charismatic church It's like well here's the thing When you got baptized at some tongue speaking charismatic church you identified with a tongue speaking charismatic church This church is not a tongue speaking charismatic church. We're bible believing baptists Now I don't think that every you know I don't necessarily think that everyone that gets baptized has to get baptized at a baptist church, but they better be right on salvation They better have like faith and practice So, yeah, I got baptized at a tongue speaking Pentecostal church Well, do you want to identify yourself as a charismatic tongue speaking holy roller? No, well, then you should probably rebaptize because it was a big deal for jesus where you got baptized I got baptized at a mormon church. I got baptized at a johovah's church. I got baptized at a seventh-day adventist church Okay. Well, do you want to identify as a seventh-day adventist? As a mormon or johovah's witness It matters where you get baptized now I want to make that point clearly, but then let me just say this because I want to make this as clearly It doesn't matter who Individually physically baptize you What matters is the ministry with which you identified with? Do you understand that? So I don't you say I I got baptized at a charismatic pentecostal tongue speaking church But the guy that baptized me, I know he was saved that doesn't matter It doesn't matter who physically baptized you Or let me reverse that I got baptized at an independent fundamental baptist king james only church But the guy that baptized me, you know ended up being uh, uh, a oneness heretic Or ended up being some heretic or ended up being some enemy or ended up being some judas Let me explain them to you. It doesn't matter who physically baptizes you You say prove that john four look at verse one When therefore the lord jesus knew How the pharisees heard? That jesus made and baptized more disciples than john We see the priority of baptism jesus made And baptized he made more converts and he baptized more converts more disciples than john Now, what does john four one say that the pharisees heard? What did they hear that jesus? What does the bible tell us that jesus made and baptized more disciples than john? So who made him baptize more disciples than john according to the bible jesus did But then the bible tells us in parentheses verse two though jesus himself baptized not but his disciples So notice it is the 12 disciples that were baptizing But it was under the ministry of the lord jesus christ So who baptized they were baptized under whose ministry the lord jesus But did jesus actually physically baptize anybody the bible tells us though jesus himself baptized not he didn't baptize anybody his disciples baptized You say well, I want to be baptized at uh, uh at verity baptist church. Okay. Well pastor hematis could baptize you but you know what if pastor hematis doesn't baptize you and uh, Brother oliver our deacon baptizes you or brother stucky our evangelist baptizes you that's still a baptism under the ministry of verity baptist church So when brother oliver ends up, you know being found out as a heretic i'm just kidding It doesn't matter i'm kidding, of course The point is it doesn't matter who physically baptizes you Because jesus made him baptize more, uh, uh converts than john though Jesus himself baptized not let me give you another example first corinthians chapter one. John acts roman's first corinthians first corinthians chapter one By the way, let me just say this as we're talking about baptism And i'm not preaching I mentioned this in a sermon recently So I don't want to spend a lot of time on it But our stands at verity baptist church and the bible doesn't specifically say this But it's the pattern we see in scripture that only ordained ministers are to perform baptisms You don't just see just anybody just baptizing in the bible. It's always those that were called and ordained It's the disciples. It's john. It's it's paul on his missionary journeys first corinthians one and look at verse 13 you you may disagree with that and that's fine I'm, just telling you that's what we believe and that's what we practice here at verity baptist church First corinthians one verse 13 notice what paul said is christ divided Was paul crucified for you Now paul's dealing with these church fractions and these church splits and these little clicks within the church and he and he's trying to tell them like You know is christ divided was paul crucified for you Because some are saying i'm of cephas and others saying i'm of paul another thing I'm of a paulist and he says look was paul crucified for you. He says or were ye baptized in the name of paul? He says I thank god notice what paul says Paul the greatest missionary who ever lived the greatest church planter who ever lived the greatest proponent of the great commission Other than the lord jesus christ, whoever lived the one that went out and took the commission of the lord jesus christ to to to Preach the gospel to every creature to have them baptized and teach them to observe all things here. We have paul He says I thank god that I baptized none of you But christmas and gayas Because paul had the same mindset that jesus did Just because it was his ministry didn't mean that he had to do all the baptisms There was other people that were doing baptisms that were ordained and and called missionaries as well or evangelists or whatever And then he's using that bringing that as an example because these people are fighting I'm of paul i'm of apollos and and and and and it might be that they were saying, you know Because paul baptized me. No apollos baptized me. No this but you know this baptized me this person baptized me He says I thank god that I baptized none of you, but christmas and gayas by the way that also proves because paul is the biggest proponent of the ministry of the of reconciliation of taking the gospel to the outermost part of the earth This also proves that baptism has nothing to do with salvation Because here you have the greatest proponent for soul winning in the bible saying i'm glad I didn't baptize any of you Which shows you that baptism has nothing to do with salvation The point is this that there were those who were baptized who started the church at corinth paul They were baptized under his ministry But he says I didn't baptize it. I I thank god. I didn't baptize. I I thank god that I baptized none of you He said but christ was in gayas The point that i'm making is that it doesn't physically matter who baptized because look don't you think Don't you think that when the 12 disciples are baptizing that judas is scary probably done some people Now we know he didn't get anybody saved But i'm sure that he probably baptized somebody it would have been weird if all you know, they're all baptizing and jesus like except for judas You know, obviously we know that at at at the end when he said one of you shall betray me nobody was on to judas Nobody thought judas was a bad guy So if the disciples were all baptizing i'm sure judas was baptizing you say well What does those people need to get re-baptized because judas baptized him? No, they were baptized under the ministry of christ of jesus though Jesus did not physically baptize anybody though jesus himself baptized not but his disciples The point is is it matters the ministry that you identify yourself with but it doesn't matter literally the physical hands that Put you underwater That's why at the uh at the red hot preaching conference every year We we obviously have people get baptized go to roman chapter 6 if you would romans chapter 6 We have people get baptized at the red hot preaching conference if you're there in first grade They just head back one book to romans And people are always wanting to make requests, you know, because we have all these pastors here I want to be baptized by pastor anderson I want to be baptized by pastor. Shelly. Oh, I want to be baptized by my favorite pastor pastor mijia I want to be perhaps and you know by pastor jimenez, you know what I say to all of them. No Because it doesn't matter who baptizes you You need to just get baptized You're not identifying with pastor jimenez. You're not identifying with pastor anderson. You're identifying with the lord. Jesus christ You're identifying yourself with christ. That's what baptism is We we make too big of a deal of human beings Well, i'm a pastor. He meant I'm a pastor anderson. I'm a pastor you're look just identify yourself with christ and be a christian And don't be hyper spiritual say well i'm not i'm not of anybody i'm just of christ God gave you spiritual leadership. God gave you human leadership, but don't think too highly of human leadership So we saw number one the priority of baptism we saw number two the process of baptism We saw number three the purpose of baptism Let me show you fourthly the picture of baptism go back to romans chapter six And by the way, I love all those men and respect all those men Nothing that I said was against any of those men They believe the same thing Romans chapter six look at verse four Therefore we are made with him by baptism into death. That's the that's the uh, The the purpose of baptism the fact that we are identified with christ But I want you to notice this verse four that notice these two words And if you're a soul winner, you want to explain baptism to people you should maybe underline these two words that like ass See those two words like ass What does like as mean? In the same way in the same manner That like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of father of the father Even so we should walk in units of life notice verse five for if we have been planted together notice these three words underline them in the likeness In the likeness, what does that mean? It means that it looks like it looks similar to For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death We shall be also notice the three words underline them in the likeness of his resurrection The bible says that baptism is to be like as christ in the likeness of his death in the likeness of his resurrection You say what does that mean? Well baptism is a picture There is a picture within baptism It is a picture first of all of the death burial and resurrection of the lord. Jesus christ When somebody gets baptized and they enter into the baptistry And they're they're they're Sitting upright or standing upright and the water crosses their body. That's a picture of the cross When the pastor then takes them and puts them underneath the water that is a picture of the death When they come up out of the water, that is a picture of the resurrection When someone gets baptized what they are saying is I believe and I identify with the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ I believe that jesus died on the cross for my sins was buried and rose from the dead as a as a as a proof That he was the son of god and he did that as a baby I said not only that I believe that because i'm in christ one day when I die I will be resurrected It's a picture of the death burial and resurrection Of the lord jesus christ, by the way sprinkling and pouring messes up that picture Where's the death burial and resurrection pictured when you sprinkle somebody or pour water on them? So we see the picture of baptism It pictures the death bale and resurrection of christ But let me say this as well. Not only does it picture the death bale and resurrection of jesus christ It is a picture of salvation It is not salvation Now I want to make this clear because there's many people that are just misunderstand And they think oh I got to get baptized in order to be saved Baptism has nothing to do with salvation It is a picture of salvation. It is not salvation I I usually like to illustrate this using a picture and I have a picture here that I have the guys get ready for me Here's a picture. There's a picture that we took this year of uh, my my kids These are my six children and we took a nice picture of them and uh, we we have a nice memory of them and you know, I I could I could Take this picture and say to you. This is a picture of my children You know, we have joshua joel Elizabeth lydia ruth hannah my six kids Now I could ask you Who are these people? And some of you would say well, those are your kids and I would say wrong These are not my kids Now, let's try it again This is a picture of my kids Joshua joel elizabeth lydia ruth hannah, who's that? You say hannah I say no, that's not hannah Uh, who who's that? Some of you say elizabeth. I say no, that's not elizabeth. So well, you said that was lizabeth Well, here's the thing elizabeth's over there In fact, all my kids are over there These are not my kids This is just a picture of my kids This is an image of my kids This is the likeness or the like as of my children. This is what my children look like But these are not my children. It's just a picture of my children Baptism is not salvation. It is a picture of salvation It is the likeness of salvation. It is the like as of salvation. It's not salvation It is something that pictures or publicly portrays what happened in your heart We have the picture of baptism It is a picture of the death beyond resurrection of christ of jesus christ. It is a picture of salvation. It is not salvation Just like this is a picture of my children, but it is not my children I don't keep my children in my wallet I don't keep my wife in my wallet, but I keep a picture of her in my wallet The picture is not my wife. It's a picture. It's the image. It's the likeness of my wife. Let me give you the The last one this morning Go go, uh, go back to luke luke chapter three you're there in romans you go backwards acts john luke luke chapter three We saw the priority of baptism. We saw the process of baptism. We saw the purpose of baptism We saw the picture of baptism. Let me give you the last one I'd like you to notice the persons of baptism At the baptism of christ all three members remember we talked about this in the beginning All three members of the trinity were present at jesus baptism They were all represented Luke chapter 3 verse 21 now when all the people were baptized it came to pass that jesus who's jesus the son of god the word of god the second member of the godhead The second person of the godhead that jesus also being baptized. So who did we have at jesus baptism? Well, first of all, we had jesus there the second member of the godhead And praying the heaven was open and the holy ghost Descended in a bodily shape like as a dove So the holy ghost descended in a bodily shape like as a dove upon jesus So who did we also have at the baptism of christ? We had the third member of the godhead the person of the holy spirit in bodily shape was there And then a voice came from heaven which said thou art my beloved son in thee I am well pleased. We have the first member of the godhead God the father is present and represented at the baptism of the lord. Jesus christ Go back to matthew matthew chapter three matthew chapter three Look at verse 16. We see the same thing matthew chapter 3 16 and jesus the second member of the godhead when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and low the heavens were open up to him and he Jesus saw the spirit of god Descending like a dove and lighting upon him That's the third member of the godhead the holy spirit and lo a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son In whom i'm well pleased that's the first member of the godhead Uh god the father at the baptism of jesus christ all three members of the godhead the trinity Were all present and represented At the baptism of christ by the way that proves that oneness modalism is not true The belief that there's only one god that plays three different roles, but it's not three different persons Well at the baptism of jesus all three members were there They were all present In the same way that all three members of the trinity were present at jesus baptism go to matthew 28 Look at verse 19 All three members of the trinity should be represented in every baptism Matthew 28 verse 19 here. We have the great commission go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name notice when jesus gave the Uh, the the great commission go ye therefore and teach all nations number one baptizing them number two verse 20 teaching them to observe all things Number three Teaching them, uh teach all nations referring to soul winning getting them saved baptizing them referring to baptism teaching them to observe all things referring to discipleship But when he tells us to baptize them, he says baptizing them in the name of now that phrase in the name of has to do with in the authority Or under the commissioning of remember paul said were ye baptized in paul's name Said you weren't baptized in my name under my authority. You're not identifying yourself with paul. He says Here we're told that you are to be baptized in the name of notice the father the first member of the godhead And of the son the second member of the godhead and of the holy ghost the third member of the godhead So jesus baptism was an example For all baptisms what happened at the baptism of jesus? Supernaturally the three members of the godhead were all present the holy spirit Descended like a dove in bodily form the heavens were open and a voice from heaven said this is my beloved son And whom I am well pleased but in the same way when we baptize every believer All three members of the godhead should be represented so when we baptize people at verity baptist church or any bible believing church we Ask people, you know, have you accepted the lord jesus christ as your personal savior? Why do we ask that question because baptisms should come after salvation once they affirm? Yes, I believe that jesus christ is the son of god Then we say buried in the likeness of his death You know we'll say in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost Buried in the likeness of his death raised to walk in newness of life Why do we say in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost? Because that's what jesus said to do He said why are you bringing that up because I want you to know that we reject Modalism and oneness and we reject this jesus only baptism Where people say like, oh you we only baptize in the name of jesus You know, we only baptize in the name of jesus, you know, it's funny remember when we talked about studying the scripture You got stories and you got statements The stories are telling us what people did and the statements are just these clear statements from god It's funny to me that we have a clear statement from the lord jesus christ I mean you have a if you have a bible that has red letters Matthew 28 19 is in red letters because these words physically came out of the mouth of jesus And jesus said baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost You know, oh, yeah that was that was uh, not for us really teaching them to observe all things Whatever i've commanded you and lo i'm with you always even unto the end of the world. Amen Oh, no, that was that was back then but now in the new testament no, it's even until the end of the world We are baptizing in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost All three members of trinity should be represented in baptism and all three members of trinity Were present at jesus baptism And by the way, if you got baptized in some jesus only, you know baptism where they said, you know Only in the name of jesus, I would get rebaptized You say Because it wasn't done, right? Well, first of all, you should have been baptized in the name of the father son holy ghost But secondly anybody that believes that is not saved I'm, just here to tell you they reject the godhead. They reject the trinity. They reject salvation Go to acts chapter 10 and verse 48 Acts 10 48 We talked about the priority of baptism the process of baptism purpose of baptism picture baptism person baptism It's been years since I preached a comprehensive sermon on baptism So i'm glad we're covering this Because it's good for us to know you go to a baptist church I mean good night You go to a baptist church if there's anything you should know it should be baptism What do we believe about baptism? Let me end with a few just concluding statements First of all baptism is a command not an option The bible commands you to be baptized You say why does god command you to be baptized because god commands you to be a follower of the lord Jesus christ to be a disciple of his and the first step in discipleship is baptism Acts 10 48 and he commanded them notice the words and he commanded them to be baptized That's not an option it's not like hey if you like to He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the lord then prayed him to tarry certain days Go back to luke chapter 3 look verse 21 Not only is baptism a command not an option baptism is baptism is pleasing to god He ordered you he commands you to do it and it's pleasing to the lord when you are baptized Notice verse 22 and the holy ghost ascended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him and a voice from heaven Which said thou art my beloved son notice what notice what god the father says to his son when he got baptized In the I am well pleased It was pleasing to god That jesus was baptized and it's pleasing to god when you get baptized When you and I as the sons of god are baptized god in heaven Is saying of you I am well pleased I am pleased in your baptism Let me just give you one disclaimer Or one warning as I as we finish this morning I hope i've answered all your questions for baptism If I haven't i'll encourage you to speak to me and i'd be happy to talk to you And I know i've got a little longer than I usually do but let me just let me just Say this and we'll finish up Years ago when I Started baptizing people when we started rarity baptist church. We Baptized we've always thought baptism was a priority. We used to have a baptistry A tank like this one not nice like this one. They didn't have the wood and all that later My dad built wood and all that but when we first we just had the fiberglass thing on on a on a on a two by four Frame that my dad helped me build and we had it in our garage because we started church in our house And we would go and baptize people in the garage before that we had several Inflatable tubs that we would use to baptize people and the problem with the inflatable tubs is that They were like a one use only because they would get Holes in them and i'd be patching them up and they just continue to get holes and we did that a few times And we got we've always prioritized baptism But there was a time in my ministry when I actually was very afraid to baptize people. In fact, I had like baptism ptsd And and the reason for it is because there was a span of our ministry And and and it still happens now to an extent not as much Where every time I baptized people they would never come back Like i'd baptized them they'd never come back to church and it wasn't like they showed up they'd never been there They got baptized and never came back. That's pretty normal I'm talking about people who are coming to our church sunday morning sunday night wednesday night soul winning for weeks or months I mean, they were just like faithful soul-winning Members of the church and then they finally, you know I preached on baptism or they decided to get baptized and i'd baptized them and then they'd never come back And that literally happened like six or seven times in a row And i'm just like what am I doing wrong like You know Maybe there's something to this read, you know Regenerational baptism, you know where they they teach that the water Takes away your your your sins I'm, like are we not swapping are we not changing the water? Is that chlorine like is there sins like the sins are in the water and I keep baptizing them and they just get Come out more sinful like what's going on because every time I baptize people it seems like they get backslidden And just like quit And it got to a point where I was just like Get baptized if you want, you know Because i'm just like every time I baptized somebody they quit the church And then one day I was reading the gospels And I was actually in january when we're doing the nine chapters day and I and I realized something that in all the gospels When jesus got baptized Immediately after his baptism Something happened in fact in luke chapter 3 you'll notice in verses 21 and 22 we have the baptism of christ And then from verse 23 to the end of the chapter we don't have any events going on It's just the genealogy of jesus christ So by the way, i'm going to preach this sermon tonight on the genealogy of jesus christ And I encourage you to come I think you'll find it interesting But the next event that happens Chronologically is in luke chapter 4 and verse 1 and this is what all the gospels say Jesus is baptized and then chapter 4 verse 1 And jesus being full of the holy ghost returned from jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness verse 2 Being 40 days tempted of the devil and in those days he did eat nothing and when they were ended He afterward and hungered Every gospel says the same thing Jesus gets baptized and immediately he's confronted by the devil Jesus gets baptized and immediately he's tempted by the devil. Jesus is baptized and immediately he goes head to head with the devil Now, of course, jesus won those battles. Praise the lord We'll talk about that next week the temptations of christ in the wilderness But i'm here to tell you something When you finally take that step Of believer's baptism to publicly identify yourself with jesus christ Get ready because the devil's going to come after you He's going to put a target on you And that that's why I think that I think that literally is what was happening. I was baptizing people And they were walking out and the devil was like, oh really you want to identify yourself with christ? And they were not winning So I want to warn you and I want to prepare you Get ready for the fight But don't let that scare you get in the fight Get in the fight with the lord. Jesus christ identify yourself with him and get ready to walk with him and to beat the devil Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly father. Thank you lord for your word. Thank you for the bible Thank you for these teachings on baptism lord baptism is so important I love the name baptist it identifies us with with proper salvation and proper beliefs Lord, I pray you'd help us to learn these things understand these things understand the priority of baptism And help us lord to be soul winners that would get that would endeavor to get our converse baptized And if there's anybody here this morning that has not been scripturally baptized. I pray you'd help them to be baptized In the name of jesus christ, we pray Amen