Help and understanding we're going to read from the
scriptures first Peter chapter 3.
We're going to read from verse 15 to the end, breaking into the
chapter first Peter chapter 3 verse 15,
first Peter chapter 3, verse 15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear having a good conscience.
And for as they speak evil of views as of evil doers, they may
be a shame that falsely accuse your false your good
conversation in Christ. For it is better if the will of
God be so, that you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
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, but quickened by the Spirit, but which also He went
and preached unto the spirits in prison, but some time were
disobedient. But once the long-suffering of
God. We had it in the days of Noah,
while the ark was a preparing for in few.
That is to say 8 souls were saved by water.
The lake figure were unto 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, who was gone into heaven, and He was on the
right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers be made
subject unto him. Amen.
We know the Lord will stamp with his own approval and blessing
this reading of His own precious and infallible word.
Now this morning my text is taken from first Peter chapter 3
verse 21. It reads as follows.
The like figure where unto even baptism doth also now save us,
not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Now my subject today is entitled
The Christian and Why Baptism Matters, and this text is like a
springboard text to this particular subject.
Now the doctrine of baptism is a most controversial subject.
It is one that is highly divisive and greatly abused,
especially within the ranks of the Reformed Christian Church.
You see many professing Christians relegate baptism to a
place of unimportance. Doesn't really matter, it's
insignificant. Others totally ignore the
doctrine altogether. And there are some who
foolishly, we could even say wrongly, regard baptism as an
absolute necessity, as the entrance into church membership.
So you can't come and join this church unless you're baptised.
That's what some foolishly say, and then there's others.
They go further. They preach that baptism is an
indispensable condition for personal salvation.
So they equate baptism and personal salvation on the same
level. In 1998, Pastor John MacArthur
preached A sermon and entitled it Baptism, a Matter of
Obedience. Now, I haven't listened to him,
but I've taken an extract during the sermon.
He said this, that baptism was not a very popular subject
today. That was 27 years ago.
It is not of great interest within the evangelical
community. It has been years since I've
seen any new book written in baptism or any book emphasising
baptism or any series of messages emphasising baptism.
The interest in baptism has sort of gone away and that is sad to
say in many cases, he added. It's amazing how many people who
proclaim and profess Christ as Lord and Saviour and they have
never been properly baptised. Now that was in 1998.
Now I have to confess it's been many years since I preached in
this subject. Back then when I did preach on
it, and I can't think it's 12, maybe 15 years ago, I preached 2
sermons, 1 on believers baptism. And that sermon was following in
the footsteps of men like John Bunyan, William Carey, John
Gill, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. And then the following Sunday,
and I'm not sure if I'll do the same this time round, but the
following Sunday I preached on the same subject, baptism.
And I entitled the message why Presbyterians believe that
baptism may be administered to the children of believing
parents. And again, we were following
then the tradition of Luther, John Calvin, George Whitfield,
Robert Mary Mcsheehan. Now, since then, just 12 or 15
years ago, I have not preached any sermon exclusively dealing
with the subject of baptism. Now.
Why? Because it is a most
controversial, highly divisive, greatly abused doctrine.
Listen to me carefully. The Free Presbyterian Church of
Ulster in their Articles of faith. 6A State the Free
Presbyterian Church, under Christ the Great Head and King
of the Church, realises the bitter controversy reaching
around the ordinance of Christian baptism has divided
the Body of Christ, when that the body should have been united
in Christian love and Holy Ghost power to stem the onslaughts and
hail inspired assaults of modernism.
Hereby affirm. These members of the Free
Presbyterian Church shall have liberty to decide for himself
which course to adopt, each member giving due honour and
love to the views held by difference.
Brethren, we reject the thought of baptismal regeneration, that
baptism makes someone a Christian, and we also reject
the thought that baptism is necessary to salvation while
believing that every child of God should be baptised.
That's article 6A of the Articles of Faith of the Free
Presbyterian Church. Now, in light of this, I've been
asked. I'm doing it now.
I'm going to preach again on this subject and if it's simply
entitled it the Christian and why baptism matters.
Now, this particular sermon this morning will probably lean
heavily on what we're calling properly believers baptism.
But where do we start? Well, the best place to start is
to go to the Holy Scriptures. So we'll ask a fundamental
question. What Seth the Scriptures, what
does the Bible teach about the subject of baptism?
How does the Scriptures treat this particular subject?
You see the word baptism. Look at our text.
Isn't it mentioned there? The like figure were unto even
baptism underlined the word baptism.
That's mentioned 23 times in our authorised version.
And here's the last one. So rather than going to the
first one, we're going to the last one.
Here's the last one, mentions baptism, 23 references.
That's a lot. Added to that, the word baptise,
if we're thinking of the verb, it's mentioned 59 times.
And then we could go even further because we could think
of the word baptised, baptised with AD on it.
It's mentioned 51 times. So the word baptism's 23.
The word baptised is 59 and the word baptised is 51.
That's a lot. So the Bible has a lot to say
about this particular subject. Now hopefully I'll get through
this in reasonable time. Listen to me very carefully.
Here's the first point, the mention of baptism.
Look at our text. The late figure were unto even
baptism doth also now save us. Think of the mention of baptism.
Why does baptism matter? Baptism matters because there's
a principle command to be obeyed, and that principle
command to be obeyed is the true basis for baptism.
That is the key. That's the main foundation.
And if you want that command, let's go to Matthew chapter 28
and look with me at the verse 19.
Here's the Great Commission. The Lord Jesus has been bodily
raised from the dead. He's with his band of 11
disciples just prior to his ascension up to glory.
He's on the Mount of Olivet and here's what he says to them.
And these words are known as the Great Commission.
If we take in verse 18 and Jesus came and speak unto them,
saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth go ye
therefore. The word therefore means in
light of this and teach all nations.
The word teach there means to disciple, baptising them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded
you, and though I am with you all way even unto the end of the
world, the word world there means age.
Amen. So shall it be.
We call Matthew 18, sorry, Matthew 28, verses 18 to 20, the
Great Commission or the Christians Charter for
evangelism or or the Lord's Manifesto for the Church.
But notice at the heart of this here's why baptism matters,
because it's the solemn responsibility.
It was the duty for the apostles, therefore the pastor,
the minister, the elder, the evangelist, to baptise those
who've become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ or those
who've become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, the Great Commission is not just to go and evangelise.
That's an integral part that's acknowledged, but it's only a
part. It is also to teach.
And I've already said the word teach here in verse 19 means to
disciple. It's also about making
disciples. Now notice it begins with
evangelism, the preaching of the gospel, the call to repent and
believe the Gospel. And this evangelism, preaching
the gospel, leads to true conversion.
Those who've got converted then they're disabled and part of
that discipleship is that they are baptised an indoctrinated
into the Christian faith. I hope you see that there turn
over to the book of Acts. Now Acts chapter 2.
Remember in the day of Pentecost there was 3000 converted.
It says Acts chapter 2 verse 41. Follow with me Acts 2 verse 41.
Then they that gladly received his word.
That's Peter's sermon, by the way, that's the call to repent
and believe. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptised, 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 of prayers. The Great Commission required
the teaching of baptism to the new converts, and it sort of
suggests that their discipleship is not fully complete without
baptism. Now the practise of baptism is
based directly to the command of the Lord Jesus to do it.
Note then it's impossible to obey the Great Commission and
neglect baptism. It's an integral part of Jesus
final command to his disciples. This is in the context of making
disciples and I'm teaching them to observe all things that he
has commanded. And this fact alone should teach
us that that baptism matters, that baptism is important.
This was an ordinance for the early Christian Church.
It was given by the Lord. It was widely preached in the
early church. Let me just give you the
references. I would love to turn to every
one of them. Acts chapter 2, verse 41.
Acts 836 and 39. The conversion of the Ethiopian
eunuch. Acts 9 and 18.
Acts 1047 in the House of Cornelius.
Acts 16 and 33 in the House of the Philippian gaoler.
Acts 18 and 8, The conversion and baptism of Crispus, the
leader of the synagogue. Acts 19 and five.
It was expounded by the apostles.
Romans chapter 6, verses one to six.
Although let me add this, and I want to emphasise this, there's
absolutely no water in Romans chapter 6 verses one to six.
None whatsoever. Not a drop Colossians 2, it's
the same thing. And first Peter 3 and of course
it's mentioned here in verse 21. We could add in Hebrews 6 and
one here's a command for everyone who becomes the
disciple of Jesus Christ. Now you can't avoid it.
If you're concerned about following the Lord Jesus Christ,
loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, living
in obedience to Him, living in fellowship with Him, wanting to
please Him, then you will be concerned about this command.
Because this is a command about baptism.
A man by the name of FB Meyer once said, the word of God is
not given to be admired for its beauty or studied for its
detail. It is given to be obeyed.
Listen again to the command. Go ye therefore, and teach or
disciple all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
So in the mention of baptism in the last reference, we're
thinking about a principal command to be obeyed.
Now you think secondly, and I want you to follow through with
me in this, think about the mandate for baptism, why baptism
matters. You see, there's a patron to be
considered baptisms necessary because baptism is the result of
genuine faith in Christ. Now we live in a day and an hour
when thousands, 10s of thousands profess and claim were born
again. We love the Lord Jesus Christ.
We put our hand up on a meeting, we walked a Nile, we signed a
card. But very few of those who
profess the name of Christ live any differently.
They certainly don't live any differently than the rest of the
population. They asked him, how do you know
you're saved? Well, the preacher told me it
was saved. He that believeth hath
everlasting life. Or the The councillor told me,
if I just received Christ, that Christ promised eternal life to
all who receive him, and I am assured of a home in heaven, and
I'm eternally secure in Christ. But are they?
Maybe, but how do we know The Lord Jesus said this?
By their fruits you shall know them.
Paul said if any man be in Christ he's a new creature.
Old things have passed away and old things have become new and
all things are of God. You see the chief question that
has to be asked is this for everyone who professes the name
of Christ, cause the Bible says let everyone know names the name
of Christ depart from iniquity. You see, the chief question is
this, has God changed their heart?
Have they got new life in Christ?
Has he regenerated them from being spiritually dead to being
spiritually alive in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit?
And there's their genuine evidence of new life in Christ.
Let me illustrate. Here's a new baby just born into
the family. Baby will be brought home from
the hospital. What's going to happen to the
baby during the day and at night?
We're going to hear what's wrong with the baby, Mummy.
The baby's hungry. The baby needs to be changed.
You see the crying of the baby, that's a sign of life in that
baby. There's an appetite for milk.
That baby wants to be fed. That baby wants to grow.
That's a sign of life. The baby has life.
And here's the evidence. The Bible says as newborn babes
desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.
And if you're a new babe in Christ, whether you're just
newly saved, you've been saved for some time, there'll be a
love for Christ. There'll be a longing for
Christ. You'll want to know him better.
There will be a hatred for sin. There'll be a a love for other
believers. I'll tell you something.
There'll be a love for the day of God.
There'll be a love for the House of God.
There will be a love for the Word of God and the people of
God. You, you can't separate that.
You can't divorce that from this new life in Christ.
The evidence of new life in Christ will be seen.
There'll be a a change. There'll be a growth.
Yes, there'll be many struggles. Yes, there'll be setbacks.
Yes, there'll be bouts of falling into sin and maybe even
backsliding, but there'll be an overall progress towards growth
in the things of God. Someone has said, I don't know
who, no growth, no God. If someone professes that
they're in Christ, but there's no growth in the things of God,
then it's a clear evidence that their heart and life has not
been changed. If a person has no desire to
obey God, remember the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 14
and in the verse 15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
And over there in first John and chapter 2 and in verse four and
five listen to the word of God first John chapter 2 verse four
and five. He that saith I know him and
keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in
him, but whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God
perfected. Hereby know we that we are in
Him. You see, there has to be the
genuineness of 1's faith, and if there is the genuineness of 1
faith, the faith that saves us, that faith, of course, in
Christ. We confess that faith in Christ
through the waters of baptism. Remember what we read in the
book of Acts of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8.
And we read there in the verse 37.
The Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip a question and it was
this, see here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised?
And Philip said, If thou believe us with all thine heart, thou
mayest. And he answered and said, I
believe that Jesus Christ is Son of God.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still.
And they went both down into the water, both Philip and the
eunuch, and he baptised him. And when they were come out,
come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away.
Philip and the eunuch saw him the war, and he went on his way
rejoicing. You see, here's the point this
morning. There's a close connection
between belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and the
subject in the ordinance of baptism.
So the idea of an unbaptized believer is foreign to the New
Testament. Faith in Jesus Christ alone
brings to the individual a knowledge of sins forgiven and
and baptism is the outward sign that demonstrates that inward
faith in Christ. Study all the passages in the
book of Acts and the order is always the same.
Belief in Christ and then baptism.
Acts 241. Acts 812.
Acts 836 to 39. Acts 1044 to 48.
A. The House of Cornelius.
Acts 1630 to 34. The Philippine gaoler.
Acts 18 to 8-9. Crispus of the leader of the
synagogue. Acts 19.
One to five. You see, here's a clear pattern.
The pattern is established in the context that those who
responded to the word of God, those who heard the gospel,
those who heard the call to repent and believe in Christ,
their repentance and belief in Christ was followed by the
ordinance of baptism. And baptism therefore, is
distinct from true saving faith. Now, let me stress this this
morning to couple of minutes. Listen to me very carefully.
Baptism is not the door to church membership.
It is not the door to church membership is the new birth.
Being born again of the Spirit of God places a person into the
body of Christ. Membership into the universal
Church is by the new birth. Remember this was emphasised by
the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 2 and in the verse 47.
It is not membership to the door of the church.
It says praising God and having favour with all the people and
the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
The Lord Jesus said, marvel not that I say unto thee, you must
be born again. How do you get into the
universal church? How do you get into the body of
Christ? You say I want to become a
member when you're born again of the Spirit of God and you're
pleased into the body of Christ in in union with him, and then
upon that profession of faith, once you're in the, what we call
it the universal church, then you can become a member of the
local church. If we asked the Ethiopian
eunuch, was he asked by Philip to join a church by the side of
the road South of Jerusalem? What about the Philippian gaoler
in Acts 6 in the middle of the night?
You see, in the New Testament, baptism always comes after
belief. Baptism comes upon profession of
faith. It's not about church
membership. It is not the door into the
local church. Those assemblies insist upon it.
You can't come and join this church unless you're baptised.
I believe they're wrong. I'll tell you something else.
Baptism is not the washing away of sin.
If you turn over there to Acts chapter 22, Acts chapter 22 and
look with me at the verse 16 for it seems to suggest this Acts
chapter 22 and verse 16. Here's a verse to underline.
And thy white tarriest thou arisingly baptised, and wash
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
And there's those who point to this here and say, there you
have it. It's clear.
It's black and white. Baptism is connected to the
washing away of sins. Well, it's not.
How do we know that it's not? Well, listen to what Peter said.
Listen to our text. The like figure where unto even
baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh. So that seems to contradict Acts
chapter 22 verse 16. How can one have his sins washed
away? Here's the answer by calling on
the name of the Lord. The word arise is a participle.
The words be baptised as a command, there's no and in
between, literally it's arising be baptised.
Then comes the second command, wash away your sins, followed by
this act of participle calling, calling on who, calling on the
name of the Lord. There's no indication in that
text that baptism washes away sin.
What washes away sin? The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin. First John 1:00 and 7:00, and
then in first Peter 3 and 21 he tells us what it's not.
It's not the removal of the filth of the flesh.
It's an appeal to God for a good conscience.
Here's Peter giving an illustration of salvation.
He's comparing Noah's ark and the flood and the waters of
baptism. As the waters of divine
judgement fell upon the ark, so all the waves of God's wrath
fell in Christ and the cross. Christ is a type of the ark.
The ark's a type of Christ. And in the ark, like all who are
in Christ, they're saved. They're, they're delivered from
divine judgement and they're brought to a new life and, and,
and of a new world open up to them and those in Christ via a
personal faith in Christ. They're also delivered from
judgement in Christ. They'll never be in hell.
They are raised to a new life. You see Noah and the ark as a
graphic illustration of our salvation in Christ.
As they entered into the ark, we have to enter into Christ.
How? Go through the door.
Christ is the door, I'm the door by me.
If any man enter in, he shall be saved in Christ.
You're saved from wrath, just as they were saved from the bellows
of the wrath of the flood. I want to tell you a third
thing. Baptism is not the condition for
salvation. I totally reject baptismal
regeneration. It's heresy.
Showed us the Free Presbyterian Church.
I heard about a man on the radio preaching recently be baptised
in order to be saved. Well that's a lie because the
Bible says John 3 and 16. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And in John chapter 3 in the verse 18, it was made clear by
the Lord Jesus to Nicodemus this following statement.
He that believeth that Him is not condemned, but he that
believeth not as condemned already, because He had not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Baptism is not the ground for salvation.
Faith in Christ is the sole requirement.
Baptism's not a condition or a necessity for salvation.
Baptism, as I've said, is not the ground for salvation, not
the basis. Baptism is the outward
confession that was expected to accomplish salvation.
And you see passages like Mark chapter 16 verses 15 to 16, Acts
chapter 2 verse 38, when they're studied, do not teach Baptism is
essential for salvation. The only requirement, the sole
requirement for salvation is faith in Christ.
And if you compare Peter's sermon and Acts 2, and compare
Peter's sermon to the House of Cornelius, Acts 10 and 42, he
only mentioned belief. There's no reference to baptism.
It wasn't repent and be baptised, Cornelius, remember,
and his whole house believed. They received the Holy Ghost.
They speak in tongues, and then they were baptised.
Belief in Christ is the only condition for salvation.
Remember in Ephesians 28 and 9. For by grace you see it through
faith, and not not of yourselves.
It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. Paul said, For Christ sent me
not to baptise, but to preach the gospel.
And what about the dying thief? He wasn't baptised and yet Jesus
said today shall thy be with me in paradise.
And if baptism was a necessity for salvation and for to get to
heaven, the Lord Jesus couldn't have said that.
So what I'm stressing is this. Here's what baptism's not.
It's not the door into the local church for membership.
It's not the washing away of sins.
It's not a condition that's necessary for salvation.
And that's all part of that mandate for baptism.
Believe and be baptised very quickly.
We're only getting to the Third Point, but bear with me for a
few minutes. The meaning of baptism, you see,
what is the purpose of baptism? What does baptism really mean?
Now let me emphasise this. The word baptism represents
identification and that's where Romans 6 comes in.
That's where Colossians 2 comes in.
It's identification with Christ in his death, in his suffering,
in his burial and in his resurrection.
First Corinthians 10 and two says all were baptised into
Moses. That's the children of Israel
coming up out of Egypt in the cloud and in the sea.
What did that mean? Baptised into Moses?
That means they they were identified with Moses, they were
identified with him in his leadership.
And here's the primary meaning, without getting into all the
etymology, of all the forms of baptism in the New Testament.
Primarily it's about identification.
And whenever the proselyte came, say from the Gentile world and
become a member of Judaism, he was identifying with Judaism.
Those that came to John's baptism in the river Jordan and
were baptised of him, identified with John in his ministry.
And those in Christ who are born again with the Holy Ghost, put
into Christ, they're identified with Christ.
Romans 6 is all about identification.
Let me just take the trouble to read it out in Romans chapter 6
and verse 6 if you can find the place.
You look at it with me knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed.
From henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead
is freed from sin. And we'll link it back up.
Verse 3. Know you not that so many of us
as were baptised into Jesus Christ, not water into Jesus
Christ? We're baptised 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.
For we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death. We should also be in the
likeness of his resurrection. You see, Christian baptism is
about identification. It's identifying oneself public
with Jesus Christ. The individual is declaring a
message. I'm depending on Jesus Christ
alone for salvation, for heaven. And O mindful believer, I belong
to Jesus Christ. I'm on his side.
See, baptism by the Holy Spirit, baptism by the regenerating
power of the Holy Ghost. We are placed into Christ where
we're put into union with Christ in a a saving, real union.
And, and, and, and, and, and. The individual is identified
with Christ and his death on the cross.
We died in him, in his sufferings, in his burial, in
his resurrection and and it's an indication of the end of the old
life. Publicly it shows and indicates
the forgiveness and cleansing of the believer's sins.
It shows that the individual has risen the new life in Christ.
It is evidence of a love for Christ.
It declares A testimony to being converted and to the
unconverted. It publicly confesses Christ
when it's a true believer and the individual is baptised.
It's declaring that the old Adam with its fleshly lusts has been
crucified and we've been raised to a new life to the glory of
God. He is saying that his or her
desire by the power of the Holy Ghost is to walk in the newness
of life. That's the meaning of baptism.
Let me state very quickly and have just a couple more wee
things and we're finished. Think about the members of
baptism who are the subjects. Well, only those who exercise
faith in Christ and are repented of their sins and a new life in
Christ should be baptised. And that's the emphasis of the
New Testament. Think about the mode of baptism.
In the early church, baptism was by immersion.
Today there's three modes, pouring, dipping, or sprinkling.
But the Greek verb baptizo generally means to dip, to
immerse, to plunge, to sink, to overwhelm.
In the Greek New Testament, the word baptizo was simply
transliterated. It wasn't translated, King James
translators just transliterated. It changed baptizo to baptise.
Big debate as to why. Some argue it was because of the
practise already in the Church of England that they had
sprinkling and that was popular and they didn't want to change
it. Alfred Eldersheim, he details a
baptism of a proselyte to Judaism and he said it was
always in the 1st century by immersion.
The figure that was used was by immersion because you go down
into the water, you come up out of the water, Down into the
water symbolises A burial. It's it's a baptism unto death,
and then it's a coming up out of the water and you're rising to a
new life. Think of the places in the Bible
connected with baptism. It's interesting that John
Calvin, whenever dealing with John chapter 3, verse 23 about
John baptising in Jordan, and we could add in Matthew chapter 3,
verses 13 to 17, Acts 8 and 39. He said that in relation to John
3 and 23, that when John baptised in Jordan, it was the
plunging of the whole body under the water and bringing them up.
Now that was John Calvin who was a Presbyterian, so you can see
the difficulty here. But the mood in the 1st century
was more than likely by if we use the word immersion or some
people want to have a translated depth put into and brought up
out of the manner of baptism is administrated in the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Why?
That's the formula because it indicates total allegiance to
all the persons in the Trinity. But if somebody's baptised in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as we baptise Brother
David, Dawpin didn't indicate that we were not being
Trinitarian because that formula, been baptised in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is also used by Paul in the New
Testament. But by and large, the manner is
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the memory of
baptism. We'll finish with this this
morning over there in Psalm 19 verse 11, the psalmist said in
the keeping of thy commandments is great reward.
See, baptism is an ordinance, is commanded and appointed by the
Lord, and if it's commanded by him go into all the world and
teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father,
the Son of the Holy Spirit, then it ought to be taken seriously.
And when you take something seriously, your father, mother
gives you a command. You go and say tidy your room,
you go and mow the lawn, wash the car, go to the shop and get
something because you have heard that command and followed it
through and did it to the best of your ability.
Then you feel a sense of joy, you feel a sense of happiness,
feel a sense of satisfaction. That's what the psalmist meant.
In the keeping of thy commandments is great reward.
And if we're called to believe as we are, as the ground of
salvation and the evidence of new life in Christ, then is to
follow through in a loving way these commands as evidence of
that new life in Christ. One of those commands is to be
baptised. So I ask this question, if
you're a believer, you love Jesus Christ, you're following
him, have you been baptised? Only you can answer the great
joy, the true source of this command.
That's the memorial of baptism. We'll leave it there for today.
Her time is completely gone, as I knew it would be.
And I haven't even touched on the second part.
But perhaps in the will of God we will look at the second part,
which I feel is necessary to see it from the other angle.