(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

In part of the chapter that I want to focus in, look at verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. A very, very famous portion of scripture. And the title of my sermon tonight is Baptize Them. Baptize Them. And when we think of this new year, I think this is a great thing for us to focus on and to really get back to the fundamentals. This is an independent, fundamental Baptist church. What's more fundamental than baptism? Okay, and we see here Jesus Christ giving his own mouth, giving the Great Commission to his disciples, telling them to baptize them. Go to John chapter 4, if you would. So you see, the Great Commission has a heavy emphasis on baptism. And we see the steps of a Christian. We see the first, they're taught the scriptures, he said to teach all nations, right? We see we're preaching them a gospel, teaching them how to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. What's the next step? To baptize them. Then what's the next step? To teach them all things whatsoever Christ had commanded. Look at John chapter 4 verse 1. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. Now we learn a couple things from this portion of scripture. We see that Jesus, when they found out that he was baptizing a lot of people, even though he physically wasn't the one doing the baptism the disciples were, he left Judea. And you would wonder, well, why did he do that? Well, it wasn't his time yet. We see that the Pharisees are starting to take notice of Jesus because his disciples are baptizing a lot of people. That's how they took notice of John the Baptist. The Bible says that all Judea came unto John the Baptist because he was baptizing all of them in the Jordan. Well, we see Jesus Christ, when he starts to get this recognition, he leaves Judea because it's not his time yet. He departs. We see that John the Baptist and Jesus are doing a lot of baptism. What is that doing? It's bringing a lot of recognition unto their faith. It's getting, it's changing the world. The people are noticing, hey, these guys are baptizing people and look at what it says in verse one, and they baptize more disciples than John. What happens when someone gets baptized? More often than not, you're now getting a disciple. You're getting someone that's also going to follow in the faith. They're not just someone who saved, they're also now transitioning into a disciple. Go to Acts chapter 19, if you will. We see in John chapter 3 the Bible said, and they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou fairest witness, behold, the same baptizes and all men come to him. Now we see that the Pharisees, they were saying, hey John, this guy's getting more recognition than you. We see that Jesus was baptizing even more people than John, he was making more disciples. Look at Acts chapter 19 verse 4, then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So we know that John the Baptist, he wasn't just baptizing people in vain, he was preaching them the gospel, then he was baptizing them and then making disciples. There was people that were following John the Baptist, and even some of Jesus' own disciples were first John the Baptist's disciples. But we see, it's John the Baptist. Why is he called John the Baptist? Because he was baptizing people. If we want to be Baptist, we better go baptize people, we better be baptizing them. John the Baptist, go to Acts chapter 2 now. We see how do you make, take people that are unsaved, get them saved and then make them into disciples? Well you can't do it without baptism, and you know I think sometimes people, maybe just out of their zeal to protect the gospel, they de-emphasize baptism. There's churches today like the Church of Christ. They over-emphasize baptism to where they preach a false gospel. They say that you have to be baptized to even be saved. And there's other churches that would teach similar things. All kinds of churches that teach lordship salvation or work salvation, they'll just lump in baptism with being a good person and all kinds of other stuff. They don't really understand what baptism is. But we see in Acts chapter 2, this is a portion of scripture that a lot of people will confuse and misinterpret, and they don't even understand it, and then it causes all the confusion with baptism. So I want to take a minute, let's really understand Acts chapter 2 before we move on to the sermon. But look at verse 14, it says, But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words. But these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it as but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass in the last day, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now let's stop here for a minute. What happens in Acts chapter two? Well the twelve disciples are in a house of 120, they have a mighty rushing wind, they're all filled with the Holy Ghost, and then they begin to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives them utterance. And they preach the gospel in all different languages. And you say, well what was it that they were preaching? Well look at verse 18 again, it says, and they shall prophesy. Now what were they prophesying? They were preaching Joel. They were preaching the book of Joel, but what was it they were preaching? Well in verse 21, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. What were they doing? They were going out, soul winning, and preaching the gospel. Now think about it, we use the Romans road, it's probably the most common form of salvation we use today, but the book of Romans wasn't written yet. So what were they using? They were using Joel, but guess what verse they were saying? Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Guess what? That's the same thing it says in Romans chapter 10, it's the same gospel that we preach. We see it even soul winners back in Acts chapter two. They were going out, they were preaching the gospel, they were trying to get people saved. Now when Peter's explaining it to Jerusalem, he's preaching to those of Judea, he's saying the same thing, saying hey look, they're preaching the gospel. They're preaching to call on the name of the Lord to be saved. It says in Romans chapter 10, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? So of course, they also explain how you believe on Jesus Christ before you just call. They're not just telling people to vainly call on the Lord, no, they're obviously explaining them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and then to call upon his name. And they're prophesying Joel. Look at verse 22. So we understand that at the beginning of this chapter, people are preaching the gospel, they're getting people saved in all different tongues and different nations, all Jews from all over the world. Look at verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as he yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Even God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he was on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad, moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God hath sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He saying this before his sake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh should see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received to the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which he now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus whom he crucified, both Lord and Christ." So now we've built up, we're just preaching the same thing. He's saying, hey, they're preaching the gospel, they're preaching to call on the name of the Lord, which of course is also preaching to believe on Jesus Christ, because how can they call on him whom they have not believed? But then he preaches to Jerusalem in Judea, what's he preaching? The same thing, he's preaching Jesus Christ, obviously they have a little bit more foreknowledge maybe of God, so he's explaining how they're the ones that crucified him, hey this is the one that God's made the Lord of Christ. So look at verse 37, now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now just think with me for a second, we have a whole group of people, they're out soul winning, okay, and some people, some bystanders, they notice, they say, hey what's going on over here? And you're like, hey they're preaching people the gospel, they're getting people saved. Now let me tell you the same thing, let me preach you the gospel, hey Jesus Christ is the one whom you need to believe on, who was buried, he died, he rose again. We have there in verse 23, by wicked hands have crucified and slain, that's Jesus Christ on the cross. We have in verse 31, that his soul is not left in hell, neither is flesh due to corruption, that's the fact that he was in the tomb, but his soul was in hell. And then in verse 32 it says, this Jesus hath God raised him up, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Isn't that what Peter just preached to them? You see a bunch of people being soul winning, now they say, well what shall we do? Imagine you just preached the gospel to somebody, and they say, what should I do? What are you going to tell them to do to believe on Jesus Christ, right? Now what does Peter say here in verse 38? Then Peter said unto them, repent, okay, so now what in the world could this possibly mean? Well he just preached to the fact that they rejected Jesus Christ, they crucified him, they didn't accept him as the Messiah, and they said, what should we do? He tells them to repent, it's pretty obvious what he's telling them to do there, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to put their faith in him, because they rejected him. Now some people would say, well this means you got to turn from your sins, well where does it say that? Is he saying, is he bringing up the fact that these guys are fornicators, these guys are adulterers, these guys do all kinds of manner of sin, he's not telling them to repent of their sin here, he's saying, hey, I just preached for you for like 20 verses straight, how Jesus Christ's death, bring on the resurrection, you rejected, you need to repent, what? Change your mind and believe on Jesus Christ. And then we see, what does he say after that? And be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for mission of sins. Now of course when we're going out and explaining the gospel, we make it clear that even if you weren't baptized, that you would still be saved. And that's true. We know from the Bible, the Bible says in Acts chapter 16, the only thing you have to do to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is true. But was Peter so afraid of that? No, he's saying, look, you need to believe, you need to repent and just be baptized. He's putting an emphasis on baptism. He said, you guys need to get baptized. It says for the remission of sins. Now where did they get the remission of sins? It was from repenting. It's not from the fact that they were baptized. It sounds like another verse that people take out of context, Mark chapter 16. It says, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Again, another verse that some people twist and say, well, you have to be baptized to be saved, especially the church of Christ. But we notice that the latter part of that verse, it says, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Meaning what? It's only the fact that your faith that it saves us for by grace, he saved through faith and that not of yourselves. But the Bible is just saying, look, you should believe and be baptized. It's emphasizing baptism. Peter is emphasizing baptism. Why? Not only because we get people saved from hell, but also to try and get them to live their life for Christ, to also be a disciple, to also follow Jesus Christ. The great commission includes baptism. So when you go out and preach the gospel, we see that Peter's, guess what? He's a Baptist. Because not only to get people saved, he preaches baptism. He preaches for people to get baptized. It's a very important concept that we understand. Look there at verse 39 now, for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many to the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words that he testify and exhort saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day they were added unto them about 3000 souls and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man in need. And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Now let's look at verse 41 again. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. What is that saying? The people that were saved, they received Jesus Christ, then they got baptized. Look at verse 42. And they, who's the they there? The people that just got baptized, what do they do? They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship. Now isn't that what we want for our church? Don't we want people to start coming here and be steadfast, coming every single service, getting plugged in, becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, following God's will? Well guess what? There was a step between being saved and doing that. What was it? It was baptism. It's a fact that he's calling them to be baptized. We need to emphasize for people to be baptized so that then they will be steadfast in the apostles doctrine. We see it in England. What happens? The Lord adds to the church. He didn't add them to the church and then get them baptized. He got them baptized and then they were added to the church. If we want to add to the church, we got to baptize them. We got to emphasize, hey, not only are you going to believe on Jesus Christ to be saved, hey, you're saved. We also got to be saved from the filth of the flesh. You got to be saved from the old man, saved in this world, saved from just following the lust of the flesh. How are you going to do that? Getting baptized is how you're going to get plugged into church. Now think about this. People that have gone to faith-wared Baptist church for a while especially know this. How many people in our church would you say have been saved and baptized? I mean, it's probably the majority, right? Probably 90%. I mean, especially if you don't count young children that don't really have a chance to believe on Jesus Christ yet, they don't really understand it. If you think about, how about the Wednesday service? How about the Sunday evening service? I bet that percentage even goes higher. It might go from 90-95% to 98%. You think that's a coincidence? You think the people that are steadfast in the faith, the people that are following God, that are being true disciples, they're all baptized is a coincidence? No. The step to getting a disciple is getting them baptized. We need to not de-emphasize baptism but really emphasize it. We're Baptist. I mean, what separates a Baptist from a Methodist? I mean, we've got to think about these things, okay? The Bible is teaching us that we should emphasize baptism. And think about our church. It's different than a lot of churches, isn't it, right? How many people do you think are baptized at the fun center down the street? How many people do you think are baptized down at the Methodist church? How many people do you think, what is baptism going to signify? This is going to be my next point, go to Romans chapter 6, 1. What is the purpose of baptism? It's so that you can live a Godly life. So that you can actually follow in God's will. So you can actually do what he said. We want to follow what Christ said. We want him to teach us all things that Christ commanded. We need to be baptized. And if you think about faith-bored Baptist churches, it's a lot different. But that's what the Baptists are always like. They're preaching the Gospel, they're going soul-winning, they're getting people baptized, and then bringing them in and teaching them all the things that Christ commanded. Now that's not like most churches today. They're not going out and getting people saved, they're not getting people baptized, and they're not teaching the whole Bible. It's a package deal. That's why John is called the Baptist. What was he doing? He was getting people saved, he's getting them baptized, and then teaching them all of Christ's commandments. He's preaching hard against sin. We see Peter. What is he doing? He's going out and preaching the Gospel, getting people baptized, and preaching hard against sin. He's preaching all the commandments of God. This is what I would say is the distinguishing factor of the Baptists, according to the Bible. Look at Romans chapter 6, verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer there? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. The Bible teaches that baptism helps us picture what Jesus Christ did. Jesus Christ obviously went to the tomb. When we're buried into the water, immersed in the water, it's a picture of the fact that Jesus Christ was buried. Now something happens when you get saved. The Bible teaches that you become dead to sin. What does that mean? It means you don't have to walk in the flesh anymore. You don't have to walk in the oldness of the old men. Now that you are coming out of the water, you're representing that you're going to live like Christ. You're going to live with Christ. You now are free from the bondage of sin. You can walk in the Spirit. Someone that's never been saved can't walk in the Spirit. They can't please God. They can't do anything according to the Bible. They're not saved. It's impossible, without faith it's impossible to please. First you must be saved. But then the baptism helps represent the fact that now you're going to walk in newness of life. Now I don't want to walk in the flesh anymore. I want to walk in the Spirit. But the person who refuses to get baptized, he doesn't know if he wants to make that decision. He doesn't know if I want to walk in the Spirit anymore. So he's just going to continue to want to walk in the flesh. We see that baptism is a significant point when the Christian is saying, hey, now I want to walk in newness of life. Now I want to follow with Christ. You're helping them make that decision. We see, why do you help someone call upon the name of the Lord? Well after you preach to them Jesus, you want to help them make the decision to trust Christ. Now that they're saved, you want to help them make the decision to walk in newness of life. We understand that works don't save us, right? I mean, we understand that. But works are hard, right? Works is work. How are you going to get there? What's the first step? Getting baptized? Hey, why don't you get baptized? Now you can walk in newness of life. Now you can make the decision, hey, you want to follow in Christ. And we're buried with them in baptism into death. It helps signify the fact that we want to crucify our flesh. We want to deny self. And we want to walk in the newness of life. Go to Colossians chapter 2. I'll read for you from 1 Corinthians chapter 10. The Bible says, Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Now Moses in the Old Testament has a picture of baptism because they painted the blood on the walls, which signified the fact that we'd be saved by Jesus Christ's death on the cross. It signifies the cross. But then when they parted through the Red Sea, it was a picture of baptism. Now think about the children of Israel. They've just been saved from the Passover. They've just been saved from the fact that their first born children were not murdered. At this point, they would be baby Christians. What's the next step to walk through the Red Sea? Now if they never walked through the Red Sea, were they ever going to serve Christ? Were they ever going to serve Christ if they stayed in Egypt? No. They had to walk through the Red Sea. And that's how it is for the Christian life. The person that decides, I'm not going to walk through the Red Sea, is the person that says, I don't want to be baptized. They're not going to walk in newness of life. They're not going to please God. They're not going to do it. They're not going to fulfill God's will. God is emphasizing baptism in the Bible. You always wonder, like, why did he word it, you know, in Mark, where he said, He that believeth is baptized shall be saved, because it seems like it confuses the gospel. I think it's because he's emphasizing the fact we should emphasize baptism. We should emphasize for people to go get baptized. Obviously the gospel is clear. It's just by faith. Obviously it's just by trusting in Christ. But after you get saved, that's not the end of your life. God doesn't just whisk you away into heaven like Enoch. He doesn't just translate you after you get saved. No, he wants you to follow him. He wants you to serve him. How are you going to do that? You've got to walk through the Red Sea and we need to preach to people, hey, you need to walk through the Red Sea. Hey, if you want to serve Christ, it's through baptism. Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 10, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with them in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with them through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath be quickened together with them, having forgiven you all trespasses. Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 3. The Bible makes it clear again that we're buried with them in baptism, pointing to the fact that baptism is immersion. It's not by a sprinkling, it's not by a dropper, and it's after they have faith in the Lord. And we even see the people that pass through the Red Sea. What happens on the outside of the Red Sea? Then they're given the law. Then they're taught all the things of the law. Now they're getting the discipleship. Now they're getting the next phase. We see the Bible so consistent in the gospel message, in the Great Commission. It's all through the Bible. Get them saved, get them baptized, and then teach them all the Bible. Don't get it out of order. The street preachers, they have it all out of order. They start with trying to teach them all the law, trying to teach them all the commandments, trying to stop getting them to fornicate and drinking, hey, you're a bunch of wicked sinners, and y'all are doing all these wicked sins, you need to repent of your sins, you need to stop your drinking and fornication. I mean, some of these signs, they have a list of like 30 sins, and they're just calling and repent. Hey, if you're looking at things you shouldn't on the internet, and you're drinking things, and you're going to bars, and you're in fornication, I mean, that's not what Christ said. I mean, Paul said to preach them Christ and him crucified. We're supposed to get them saved, get them baptized, then teach them all the things that Christ commanded. Never get that out of order. This is an independent, fundamental church. We're going to follow the fundamentals. Not what you think, not the program you came up with, no, the program Christ came up with. Look at 1 Peter 3, verse 12, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks of you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Now in 1 Peter 3, he's starting a big thought, and here's the thought. In your life, you're going to go through struggles. In your life, you're going to have times of trouble, whether you're saved or unsaved. And the Bible's making it clear, if you're going to suffer tribulation, if you're going to suffer things that aren't great in this world, wouldn't you rather suffer for righteousness' sake rather than just suffering for being an evil doer, for doing bad things? And he's going to, he's going to admonish the Christians that, hey, you need to be baptized and then follow God's commandments so that if you're having any kind of tribulation in this world, it's for righteousness' sake. It's not because you just are living in the flesh, because you're a fornicator and you're a thief and you're a liar. Because guess what? When you go to work and you lie and you go to work and you steal on the job and you go out and you commit fornication, you will be punished. Be sure that God will find out your sin, your sin will find you out. God will punish you in this life. And we see that for Christians, it's even, it's even more so. God might be more long suffering to those that aren't even saved than those that are saved. And so it's important to have to get someone saved to say, hey, I'm not going to abandon you here. You need to get baptized so that you can live for God. Look at verse 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, being quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. Now another picture of baptism in the Old Testament. This one's really interesting too. But we see, guess what, Moses was a Baptist. He got the people, he's preaching Christ, we have the Passover, then what? He gets them baptized. Then he teaches them all things that Christ commanded. We see this consistent theme of these guys doing the Great Commission, he's a Baptist. We have another guy, Noah, he's a Baptist, he was a preacher of righteousness. Well, if you're preaching righteousness, there's only one way to be righteous, that's through believing on the Lord, that's having the Lord's righteousness imputed unto you. So he's obviously preaching by faith, he's preaching to call on the name of the Lord by faith to be saved. And then guess what, well, is everybody just automatically going to live a great life and have a great life after that, after they've been saved? Here's my question. Were there only eight saved people on the earth when Noah entered into the ark? I don't believe that. I believe there's probably dozens of people that were probably saved. If Noah was a preacher of righteousness, he's preaching the gospel, the gospel works, and not everybody that got on the boat was saved, were they? But if they didn't get on the boat, what was going to happen? They were going to drown and die. They were going to lose their physical life. Does that mean they were all going to go to hell? Not necessarily. We see the same thing. If someone believes in Jesus Christ, they're saved, but guess what, if they want to live their life, if they want to not die in the flesh, they should follow God's commandments. And guess what? We should be baptized and follow Christ's commandments if we want to live in this life. That's why he says in verse 20, while the ark was repairing, where in few that is, eight souls were saved by water. What does he mean by saved? They were saved physically. You can be saved spiritually and you can be saved physically. We see, if you just live in sin, for the wages of sin is death, do we sometimes forget that? If you live in sin, it's going to probably cause an early grave. If you go out and live a life of fornication, you live a life of drunkenness, you can get all kinds of diseases, you can get cancer, God can give you lung cancer because you're a smoker, you're going to be punished for your sins. And we see if you want to be saved, you need to follow up to righteousness. And how do the people of NOLA do that? Well, they got in the ark. And then they have the picture of being baptized. The whole world is baptized. Then afterwards, they can live their lives. So we have another picture of baptism. Look at verse 21, the light figure, wherein to even baptism doth also now save us. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some people say, well, baptism saves us. Right here it says it saves us. The question is, what does it save you from? Is it save you from your sins of going to hell? Or is it save you in this life? It saves your physical life. That's what it's saying. How will the people of NOLA today save? They got in the ark. And they went to the baptism and they were saved physically. We see that baptism will save us, save our lives. He that loses his life for my sake shall save it. What does that mean? It's meaning you're going to save the life that you have on this earth if you follow Christ's commandments. You're going to lose it if you don't follow his commandments. Look at verse 1 of chapter 4 now. It says, for as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise of the same mind. For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath seethed from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to write the will of the Gentiles, when we walk from lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, revelings, bankerenings, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. So what happens after you get saved? Well, you can decide to try and serve Christ, but then they're going to speak evil of you. Or you can just continue to live in the flesh. Now what is baptism going to do? It's going to help save you from that wicked lifestyle. It's going to help save you from walking in the filth of the flesh. It's going to give you that good conscience towards God. And we see that Christ suffered for us in the flesh. Christians will suffer, just like an unsaved person will suffer. But would you rather suffer for righteousness sake, or suffer for evil's sake? For the fact of your sins? For the fact that you're doing wickedly? Look at verse 12. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, and as much as ye the partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happier ye. For the spirit of glory, and of God, resteth upon you. On their part he is evil-spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. So I think the latter part of this verse helps us understand. He's saying, look, if you don't get baptized, if you don't live for God, you're going to suffer as an evildoer. You're going to suffer for your sins, you're going to suffer for doing wickedly. What is baptism going to do? It's going to help save you from the filth of the flesh, it's going to give you that good conscience towards God to now walk in newness of life, to now serve him. You've never served him before you were saved, you never did anything good, it was repentance from dead works is what Hebrews chapter 6 says. What does that mean? All of your works before were dead, they didn't profit anything. They're not going to help you in any way. Now that you've believed in Jesus Christ, we can follow with him. And don't think it's a fiery trial, you're going to have sufferings for righteousness sake, of course. But wouldn't you rather suffer for righteousness sake than for evil sake? We see that Noah was a Baptist. So go back to Acts chapter 8, we're going to see some more examples of Baptists. I just want to make sure we understand what's the point of baptism. It's to save people in the flesh. It's to save people from the filthy lifestyle of the world. To regenerate them, to give them the good conscience towards God, to now walk in newness of life. Hey! Great, you're saved! You're not going to go to hell, it's impossible for you to go to hell, but guess what? You could stand before Christ and suffer loss because you never did anything for him. You could end your life now physically very quickly if you don't decide you want to serve Christ and follow in his footsteps and do his commandments. So what are we going to save them from? We're going to save them from this world. We're going to save them from the filth of the flesh, from walking in the lusts of the flesh. What's the purpose of getting baptized so you will serve Christ? People that decide not to get baptized, guess what? They're not going to do anything for Christ. They're going to wash away in the flood. They're going to stay in Egypt and perish. They need to get baptized so that they can serve Christ. So we need to emphasize baptism when we go out and preach the gospel. Look at Acts chapter 8 verse 12, when they believe Philip preaching the thing concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also and when he was baptized he continued with Philip and wondered beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now Simon makes a grievous mistake afterwards. He didn't do very good on the discipleship factor, but he was continuing with them. I mean don't you want the people that you get saved to actually continue with you for a while? Even if they screw up? Even if they fall into sin? I mean at least now that they're continuing with you they have a chance to get right. We see Simon, you know, screws up, he wants to buy the Holy Ghost. He wants to buy the power of the Holy Ghost, but at least he was continuing with Philip. When did he continue with them? After he was baptized. We should emphasize baptism to the people who get saved so they can continue with us. They're not going to continue with us if they don't get baptized. Imagine you were there with all the Hebrews and Moses is just part of the Red Sea, okay? And you're standing there with them and you convince them, hey, if we walk across here we're going to be saved. But they know that. They know if they go they're going to be saved, okay? But you start walking and they're not walking with you. I mean how wickedly would not to say, hey, come on, let's go, let's go across the sea because if you don't you're going to die. That's what it is when you get someone saved and you don't walk across the sea. Now of course their first one wasn't killed, right? They were spared from the Passover, they were spared from God's wrath, but hey, I don't want them to perish in Egypt, I don't want them to perish in the waters. I want them to walk through and go on into the glory land, go into the promised land. We see that we should compel people to be baptized. Look at verse 34 here. We see Philip continues, 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 unto certain water and the eunuch said, see, here's water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believeth all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing. A very famous story, one that proves the fact that you must be saved before you get baptized. He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, then he was baptized. But the thing that's interesting about this is the spirit whisked away Philip. Now when does he whisk him away? I mean we see that he believes on Jesus Christ, the spirit could have just whisked him away then. What did he do? He waited to get him baptized. He waited for him to get him out of the water, then he went, then he whisked away. And we see there in verse 39, he went on his way rejoicing. I think this guy probably went on to serve up Christ, went on to continue in the commandments. Why? Because he got baptized. What if he didn't get baptized? Well then he'd be pretty disappointed because his first question was like, what does Henry do to be baptized? He wanted to be baptized after hearing Isaiah the prophet, after hearing the Bible. He wants to follow Christ's commandments. And we need to help people follow in Christ's commandments, follow after being saved into baptism. It's something that we need to emphasize. Look at chapter nine, verse 17. So we see Philip was a Baptist, what do you do? Preach the gospel, he got him saved. And then we even had him continuing with them. Look at verse 17, and Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said, brother Saul, the Lord even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been in scales and he received sight forthwith and rose and was baptized. Now let's stop here for a second. He said, well, did he get saved? I mean, what happened? Well, if you read it in Acts chapter 22, I'll just read for you real quick. It says, in one Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldest know his will and see that just one and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth, for thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why terriest thou? Arise and be baptized and watch the way thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. We see Paul reflecting on the fact of when he got saved in Acts chapter 22 and he's saying, what Ananias preached unto me was to be baptized and to call on the name of the Lord. That's where he got saved. He called on the name of the Lord in faith and was saved and then he got baptized. Look at verse 19 now, and when he received me, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days of disciples, which were Damascus, and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he was the son of God. What happens after Saul gets saved? He gets baptized. Then what does he do? He just starts preaching Christ. He's a soul winner. He's going out and preaching the word of God. We see baptism is important. We see that Ananias, guess what, he was a Baptist, wasn't he? He preached the gospel. He got him saved and now he's continuing with the disciples. It says, then was Saul certain days with the disciples. We see that he's doing the Great Commission. Go to Acts chapter 10. We see the Bible is so consistent. We see the apostles, we see the disciples, they're going out and they're fulfilling the Great Commission. They're preaching the gospel, getting people baptized, and then they're discipling them. We need to make an importance on step number two. We need to really emphasize step number two. We want Christ to add to the church. We want Christ to have more disciples. We want more soul winners. We need to get them baptized. We need to compel them to be baptized. We need to show them the importance of baptism. Hey, do you want to be saved spiritually? Amen. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you want to be saved physically? Well that comes through following Christ's commandments instead of ones that get baptized. And if you never get baptized, it really follows commandments. Look at Acts chapter 10 verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth them and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent in the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the coldly ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly. Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he arose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and dead, and to give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. So Peter again, preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, right? He's consistent. He preached that he was slain and hung on a tree, that God did raise him up, and to believe in him to receive remission of sins. Look at verse 44. It's really key. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word, and they of the circumcision which believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God, then answered Peter, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? Now you're going to be in a good response to that? Baptize them! Baptize them! They just believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Can we forbid any water? No! Baptize them! Now this is super important though. Look at verse 47. Which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we. Now they've received the Holy Ghost, but have they been baptized yet? No. So keep your finger here and then go back to Acts chapter 2 where we started. Because the people in Acts chapter 2, they'll have churches, they'll say we're in Acts 2 38 church. They say you have to be baptized to be saved. You have to be baptized to be saved. Well is that true? Look at Acts chapter 2 verse 37 again. Now when they heard this, they were picked in their heart and said unto Peter, to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized to every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the mission of sins. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now at just first glance, you might read this and say, well I've got to do two things. I've got to repent and I have to be baptized to receive the Holy Ghost. Well what happened in Acts chapter 10? He preached from Jesus Christ and now they would have heard the word and believed the Holy Ghost fell upon them. They received the Holy Ghost. So is it true that if you repent and are baptized you'll receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? Yeah. But what happens if you just repent? What if you just believe? You'll also receive the Holy Ghost. You'll be saved. You'll go to heaven. You don't have to be baptized to get saved. Of course not. But guess what he said? Did he say, well they didn't need to be baptized so who cares? No. Can any man forbid that he should be baptized? We should baptize them. Hey, just because they're going to go to heaven, that's great. But guess what? Let's get them baptized. He didn't de-emphasize baptism. He didn't say, well it's good that they're saved. Let's run away. No. He's like, let's get them baptized. We got these people saved. They're just, they're fresh. Let's get them baptized now. Let's emphasize baptism. It's so important. Go back to Acts chapter 10. So let's see what they did. And in verse 48, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. They didn't pray they him to tarry certain days. Now think about this, okay? How many people after you get saved, when you go door knocking, say, hey, will you just stick around? Can we just talk about the Bible? Can you just teach us something else? Will you just show us some more? I mean, that pretty much never happens, does it? But what happens after they get baptized? Then they prayed him. What does that mean? That's like fervently asking. They're like, please teach us more. They want to now learn all things that Christ commanded, didn't they? We see that after you get someone baptized, something changes. Now they want to walk in newness of life. Now they want to hear God's commandments. Now they want to follow the law. Now they want to serve in newness to Christ. They want to walk in newness of life. It's super important that we emphasize baptism. Go to Acts chapter 16, if you would. So we see that Peter, again, is a Baptist. He's a consistent Baptist, preaches the gospel, he gets them baptized, and then he's teaching them all things that Christ commanded. Look at Acts chapter 16 verse 14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized at her household, she besought us, saying, if you have judgment to be faithful to the Lord, come in my house and abide there. And she constrained us. So we see another lady. This is Paul. What does Paul do? Well, he's teaching the gospel, and then guess what? He gets her baptized, all over her household, and then she says what? And she constrained us. She wants to hear God's word now that she's been baptized. We see it so consistent. Paul's a Baptist. Peter's a Baptist. You know, Old Testament. Moses is a Baptist. Noah's a Baptist. John the Baptist. Jesus Christ is baptizing disciples. We read that in John chapter 4. What is it to be a Baptist? It's the Great Commission. It's to go out and preach the gospel, give people save, give them peace. What are these other churches doing? Well, they're not doing the soul winning. Maybe sometimes they're doing their form of baptism, which is not according to the Bible's baptism, because they're not getting saved first. They're just, hey, let's just get baptized. And then they're not teaching them all things that Christ commanded, are they? They're not Baptists. You want to be a Baptist? You've got to fulfill the Great Commission. You've got to do what Christ said. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. We've got to follow in his footsteps. And then they're not teaching them all things that Christ commanded, are they? They're not Baptists. You want to be a Baptist? You've got to fulfill the Great Commission. You've got to do what Christ said. We've got to follow in his footsteps. What is a Christian Christ like? How can you say that you're a Baptist when you're not even getting people baptized? Hey, I'm a Baptist. Do you baptize anyone? No. We've got to preach the gospel and get them baptized and then teach them all things that Christ commanded. If we want to be baptized, we're not just saving them from eternal damnation but from but from the filth of the flesh. Go back to Matthew chapter 28, we'll finish there. Now I believe that the Bible teaches that those that have been ordained, those that have had their hands laid on, that are ministers of the gospel, these are the ones that are going to be doing the baptism. I'm not telling you to bring a pole around with you soul winning, bring one of the kiddie poles and be like, I got to say, jump in, let me baptize you. No, we see the disciples, we see the apostles, we see these are the ones that are doing the baptism, right? But we could bring people to those men to get baptized, can't we? We can compel people to come to John the Baptist. We see all Judea came under John the Baptist to get preached. We see people are coming under Jesus Christ to get baptized, right? We see people are coming under the apostles, they're coming to the disciples to get baptized. So when we get someone saved, we should compel them to come unto someone to get baptized. We could compel them to get baptized. And we see even with Moses, with the parting of the Red Sea, you're going to have to kind of convince them to do a couple days journey even to get to the Red Sea, didn't they? I mean, were they just from Egypt and then Red Sea across? No, they had a few days journey in the wilderness before they even got to the baptism, didn't they? And so we need to help compel people, help them get to the Red Sea so then they can go through it. So then they can be baptized, then they can go on their journey towards the Promised Land. But they're not going to be walking towards the Promised Land when we don't help them get there. We don't help them walk up to the water. You can lead a horse to the water but you can't force them to drink, right? Well, we need to start leading some people to the water at least so they can drink because the horse away from the water is never going to drink. Look at verse 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to serve all things whatsoever I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Jesus Christ made it an important distinction that we should be baptizing people. As a Baptist, as a fundamentalist, we need to emphasize baptism when we go out and preach the gospel. Did we see any of the cycles, any of the apostles not preaching baptism? Were they de-emphasizing baptism? Were they saying, hey, we shouldn't try to get these people baptized? No, they're really emphasizing it. They're baptizing people and then that's when the people are added to the church. That's when people make decisions for Christ. That's when people change their lives physically. Obviously, you've got to get them saved for the first part but after that, we need to get them baptized. So let's let 2018 be a year where we not only get people saved, we also compel them to come into the house to be baptized. You say, I want to get somebody in a church. I want to get a home run. I want to get somebody that's not only saved but they're baptized and following Christ's commandments and now they're a soul winner. Now they're teaching men so. If you're a follower of Christ, you'll be a fisher of men. He said that, didn't he? How are you going to get them? We've got to get them baptized. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you so much for the great commission. Thank you for the example that you set. I pray that every one of us would go out and not only get people saved but we also compel them to want to be baptized and to serve you. I just thank you so much for this church and for this new upcoming year. I pray that you just be with us as we go out and that's the promise that you gave in your word that you be with us when we go out and fulfill the great commission. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.