So our sermon today is entitled, Make Disciples, Baptizing Them. In preparation to learn of the ordinance of water baptism, we open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 28, and at verses 18 through 20, we find the text known as the Great Commission. We should be familiar with that. In coming to the text, our Lord Jesus has been crucified and raised from the dead. For 40 days now, He, as the risen Savior, has appeared to the women, to the 11 disciples, and as Paul recorded, to more than 500 followers at one time. The time has come for Jesus to be taken up into heaven, but before He ascends, He gives His followers a charge, if you will, Jesus gives them their marching orders. Now we can only imagine what it must have been like for his followers. They witnessed his crucifixion. They witnessed him resurrected. And now after 40 days, they are about to see him ascend into heaven, something they are not expecting. What are they to do? Well, after he was crucified, what did they do? They went and hid. At that point, they didn't understand that he would rise again. Now they know that he has risen, but they do not understand that he's going to ascend to the Father. Having risen, they hope he is going to overthrow Rome and restore Israel. They ask that question in the first chapter of Acts. Is this the time now you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? So not comprehending that he's going to ascend into heaven, and Jesus not wanting them to hide again, he instructs them. Jesus commands them, commissioning them and all who come after them to carry out his great commission for his church. Reading Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, I ask you to please stand for the reading of the word of God. This is what Christ says to his church. Reading Matthew 28, beginning to read at verse 18, we'll only read three verses. This is the word of the Lord. "'And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, "'All authority has been given to me "'in heaven and on earth. "'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, "'baptizing them in the name of the Father "'and the Son and the Holy Spirit, "'teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, "'and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" So as the reading of the word, let's bow our heads in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, our Lord and God, we come before you to worship you and praise you for you alone, our God. There is not another like you. You are the eternal one and we bow before you today. We ask, Lord, that by your Holy Spirit, you would teach us, guide us, and direct us. Help me, Lord, I pray, to communicate your word clearly, orderly, and with accuracy. These are your people, may they hear from your word. And Lord, may you be lifted high as we hear and obey your word. Let us not be hearers only, but doers also. And I ask this in Christ Jesus' name, amen. God bless you, you may be seated. I will attempt to present the following points concerning our Lord's command that we preach and practice baptism. We'll talk about baptism commanded, baptism in the early church, baptism for believers, and baptism as a testimony. Our Lord Jesus Christ commissioned this church to preach and practice baptism. So baptism was commanded. The Lord Jesus has given His church the two ordinances of baptism and communion. Baptism and communion are much more than traditions of religious ceremony or spiritual rites, but these are loving commands given us by Christ that we, as His Church, are to obediently observe. Both ordinances are prescribed by the Lord Jesus Himself for the practice of all believers everywhere. The ordinances or ordained acts by which he has the church outwardly illustrate the spiritual reality of the gospel. I'm gonna be repeating that quite a bit. These ordinances remind us of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, as the acts and the emblems of the ordinances remind us, they remind us of our union, that we are one with the crucified and risen Christ. The ordinances are our outward testimony of what Christ has worked within us. And being reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ and that we are in him, the Lord again then refreshes us in the remembrance of his saving grace. Well, the ordinances are not a means of saving grace. They are a means of grace in so much that God uses these acts to refresh us, comfort us, and reassure us, reminding us of who he is and the salvation we have in him. So in the Matthew 28 text, Jesus stated, that He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He then, in the exercise of His absolute authority, commanded His people, saying, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He commanded us, saying, All that I commanded you. These are the words of the One who has supreme, sovereign authority over us, Overall, who is the husband of the church, the Savior and Lord. This is Christ's mission for his church. And we carefully observe. that Jesus said that this commission must be passed on so the future generations of the church will observe all his commandments. He sent the church out to what? Make disciples, baptizing, and teaching them to observe all. So this is an ongoing command that has not come to an end. As Jesus said, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, it is clear that he applies this command to the church unto the end of the age. And we say, come quickly, Lord Jesus, come quickly, amen. Well, the Great Commission has many aspects which we should and need to, that should and need to be taught. For our purposes in this study, we focus on Christ's command to baptize. After our master instructed us to evangelize the lost by making disciples of all nations, he defined what disciple making consists of, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. Discipleship then includes three elements, and they're rather broad elements, but they're important elements. First of all, discipleship assumes evangelization. We cannot make a disciple without evangelizing someone. So Jesus didn't say go evangelize and leave people at the doorstep as infant Christians, but he says, make disciples of them. Secondly, discipleship includes the baptism of those who have come to trust in Jesus. And then thirdly, discipleship includes the teaching of them to obey all Christ's commands. If we, the church, remove any of these three facets of disciple-making, then we are failing to fulfill the great convention that Christ has ordained for His church. Our Lord Jesus everlastingly commanded the ordinance of water baptism for His people even unto the end of the age. So, baptism is commanded. Now let's speak about baptism in the early church. If we have rightly understood baptism as Christ's ordinance for His church, then we should be able to look in the pages of Scripture and find that the apostles taught baptism and that believers were baptized. So please open your Bibles to Acts 2. Consider that the text we're about to read at verse 36, consider that this took place immediately after Jesus commissioned his people. On the day of Pentecost, Peter took a stand and raised his voice, declaring the gospel, and he said, Acts 2.36, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now many of them were greatly convicted by the Holy Spirit, and as the scripture says, they were pierced to the heart. And they responded by saying, verse 37b, brethren, what shall we do? So they've heard the gospel, they've heard of their act of crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're pierced to the heart, they're convicted by the Holy Spirit, and they wanna know what in the world shall we do? What are we going to do about this? And Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then verse 41 tells us that those who had received his word were baptized. That is, those who believed the message of Christ followed by being baptized. In Acts chapter 8, verses 12 and 13. There we read of Philip preaching the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. And the scripture says, those who believe were being baptized, men and women alike, and even Simon. You know who Simon was? Simon was the sorcerer. Simon himself believed. He believed the message of Jesus Christ, and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip. So Simon the sorcerer converted. He got saved. He repented of his sin, and then he was baptized, and he continued on with Philip. Following. beginning in the 26th verse of Acts chapter 8. We read the story of the Ethiopian with whom Philip met. You know the story. After Philip preached Jesus to him, the scripture says, verse 36, and as they went along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, look, water. What prevents me from being baptized? Now it seems obvious that the Ethiopian wanted to be baptized because of Philip's teaching, amen? And so verse 37, and Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that statement should cause our hearts to leap with joy, amen, amen. Verse 38, and he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he, Philip, baptized him, the Ethiopian. Then in the ninth chapter, we read the account of Paul, verses 17 and 18. and Ananias departed and entered the house. And after laying his hands on him, he said, brother Saul. This is Paul, brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming has also sent me to you that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales and he regained his sight and he arose and was baptized. Saul who became the apostle Paul upon believing in Jesus was baptized. In the following 10th chapter, while Peter was preaching Christ at Cornelius' house, the scripture says, the Holy Spirit fell upon them all who were listening to the message. And Peter said, verse 47, surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized. Verse 48, and he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 16, as we read of the salvation of the Philippian jailer, we find him asking Paul and Silas, verses 30b through 33, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed the wounds. The Philippian jailer took Paul and Silas that very hour of the night, they washed the wounds and then immediately he, the Philippian jailer was baptized, he and all his household. In Acts 18. We read of Paul preaching Christ. Verse eight says, And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized. Throughout the New Testament, the apostles taught baptism and the people who believed followed with baptism. In 1 Corinthians 1, 12 through 17, Paul spoke of water baptism as a given, not as something that was strange and the people were unfamiliar with, but as that which was normal to the church, to the life of the believer. As scripture abundantly records, the disciples and all the church obeyed the command of Jesus as commissioned on the Mount in Galilee. They recognized his instruction as an ordinance for the church to be taught and practiced by every believer throughout the age of the church, as we. Beloved, here today, have personally benefited from the Lord commissioning his church, for we have heard the gospel through that commission, amen? It is ours then to uphold and fulfill his commission in our generation. We are to follow in the Christly steps of those who have gone before us, and to leave a Christly legacy for those who come after us, water baptism is a Christ-ordained ordinance for his church, which the church has practiced ever since and will until he comes again. So number three, baptism is for believers. At this juncture, It is important to identify the baptism Jesus commissioned us all to observe. There are various types of baptism found in and outside the Bible. First, as we realize that many of the New Testament customs or practices have a footing in the Old Testament, it seems beneficial to very briefly mention the ceremonial washings of the Old Testament and then a pre-Christian Judaism. In Leviticus 8, for example, we find Aaron and his sons being ceremonially washed as they were ordained into the priesthood. In the 16th chapter of Leviticus, we read of Aaron being instructed to bathe before he enters into the Most Holy Place. And late in that same chapter we find that whoever released the scapegoat, remember the scapegoat? Whoever released the scapegoat, they were to bathe. These ceremonial washings were outwardly symbolic of the inward purity required by the Lord. Time does not permit to explore more of the Old Testament washings, so may it suffice to say that the washings or baptism of the Old Testament pointed to the day when Christ would truly wash away our sins, that we would be holy and blameless before the Lord God, and that is what New Testament baptism testifies of, witnesses of. Second, as the New Dictionary of Theology explains, before the time of Christ, certain Jews practiced daily washings for the purpose of maintaining ceremonial purity. In contrast, we who believe in Christ do not practice daily baptismal washing so as to maintain ceremonial purity. Christ himself is our purity, amen? His righteousness is imputed on us, whereby we who trust in him are counted as inwardly or spiritually holy, and again, blameless in the sight of God. It's because of Christ's work in us, not in outward. Thirdly, there was also what was known as proselyte baptism. This baptism was for the purpose of publicly identifying among the Jewish community a Gentile who had converted to Judaism. Louis Burkhoff explains that a convert would be circumcised so as to bear the sign of the covenant and then was baptized in water to ceremonially wash away defilement. According to the Mishnah, the baptism of the Gentile who converted to Judaism had to be administered in the presence of two or three witnesses. There had to be people who witnessed that this act took place. Furthermore, at that convert, the one who is converted to Judaism, at their request, their children, boys aged 12 and under and girls 11 and under, could be baptized into Judaism. If the convert had children over those ages, then they could be baptized into Judaism only at their request. Children who were born after the convert's conversion then were considered clean and they didn't need to be baptized. Obviously, We who practice baptism as Jesus commissioned, do not practice this proselyte baptism. We are not converting to Judaism, and again, we do not need to get baptized so as to be ceremonially clean. Christ has cleaned us, thanks be to God. Fourth then, just a mention of two lines, there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Simply put, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not water baptism. War baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are two different things. We understand that, so I'm not going to belabor at that point. Fifth, I held up four fingers. Fifth, starting with the number five, did you get that? Okay. There is what the scripture identifies as John's baptism. This is John the Baptist's baptism. Please open your Bibles to Matthew 3, reading at the first verse. Matthew 3, verse 1. Now in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, verse five. Then Jerusalem was going out to him and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. John said of his baptism, verse 11, as for me, I baptize you with water for repentance. So John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. And by the way, next week, Lord willing, I'll be back to the book of John and we'll be teaching on John's witness of the Lord Jesus. But John was the forerunner of Christ. In preparing the people for the coming Christ, John called them to repent of their sin. As an outward demonstration of their inward repentance, they then were baptized. Thus they publicly testified that they had repented of their sin in anticipation of the coming Christ. To be baptized in water for repentance does not mean that they repented by being baptized, as if being immersed in water can change one's heart, but it was to outwardly demonstrate that the one had an inward change of heart that they recognized their sin, they repented of them, and so they desired to be publicly identified as one who repented of their sin and was expecting the Messiah to appear in their day. As we know, our Lord Jesus came to John to be baptized. As he did, the scripture says, John tried to prevent him. John said, I need to be baptized by you and you come to me to be baptized? Matthew 3, 14. I have need to be baptized by you and do you come to me? And John was writing so much that Jesus didn't Yet did the Lord instruct John, saying, verse 15, permitted at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. The Lord told John. that the point of his being baptized wasn't for his repentance of sin, but to fulfill all righteousness. Well, in what way did Jesus in his baptism fulfill all righteousness? Well, this may be a sermon in itself, but I'm gonna condense it down here to one point. There was no Old Testament baptism law that needed to be fulfilled. So Jesus wasn't being baptized to fulfill an Old Testament law, no. In our Lord's baptism, he identified with sinners by submitting himself to John's baptism. Upon fulfilling righteousness by being baptized, the father responded from the heavens, declaring his approval upon his son, announcing Jesus to be a son in whom he was well pleased. So two things I'll quickly say here. A, even Jesus gave himself to be baptized, in so doing he fulfilled righteousness, identified with us as sinners in need of repentance, and also set an example for us. B, still John's baptism is not to be confused with the baptism Jesus commanded. John's baptism, is not the same as Christ called us to observe. It might look exactly the same, but it's not the same in intent. Baptism is not first about mode or form, but purpose. I'm not saying that mode and form are unimportant, indeed they are, but it is the purpose of baptism that drives the mode and the form. So again, John's baptism is not the same as Christ commissioned us to observe. John baptized for repentance for the purpose of publicly identifying those who were repentant of heart, preparing themselves for the coming Christ. The baptism which Jesus commissioned us to observe is as a result of faith in Him. that looks not for the first coming of the Messiah, but upon the Christ who has come, desiring to be identified with him who has come, who died and rose from the dead. To be sure, the New Testament church made a distinction between John's baptism and the baptism Jesus commanded. It's in the scripture in Acts 18. verses 24 through 28. We read of one Apollos, remember Apollos was very well spoken. Some of the churches like in the in Corinth, they thought Apollos should have priority to Paul because Apollos was so well spoken, okay? This is Apollos. In Acts 18, 24 through 28, we read of one Apollos who was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John. Now isn't that interesting? that the Holy Spirit has this brought out in the Scripture that this Apollos was only acquainted with the baptism of John. What can that mean except that there was a distinction between John's baptism and the baptism Christ ordained? There is a distinction between the two. Of Apollos, Scripture goes on to say that Priscilla and Aquila heard him and then they explained to him the way of God more accurately. Apparently, in their explanation, they taught Apollos of the baptism Jesus commanded. So I'm just saying there's a distinction between the baptism of John and the baptism Jesus commissioned. Then in Acts 19, We read of the apostle Paul coming to Ephesus, and there he found some disciples, Acts 19 verse two. And he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, no, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said, into what then were you baptized? And they said, into John's baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the early church made a distinction between John's baptism and the one which Christ commanded. The church considered John's baptism obsolete, not looking for the Christ who was to come, but that baptism that Jesus ordained was the one that the church was to obediently observe. And we see when they say, we were baptized into John's baptism, Paul says, no, no, no, Christ has come, you need to follow him and his commission. So the baptism Jesus commanded is unique and set apart from the other baptisms found in scripture and or in Jewish tradition. Ephesians four, four through six says, there is one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. So the baptism Christ called us to is the only one administered in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And we're gonna get to this in a minute, how it's important to understand what we're saying when we say in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What are we saying when we say in the name of Jesus? Now quoting from the Holman Bible Dictionary, The New Testament baptism is for believers. Water, apart from spirit-driven commitment to Christ, makes no difference in the life of anyone. As we like to say, if you're not in Christ and you get dipped in water, the only difference is you come out wet. That's it, no difference. In the New Testament, baptism occurs when a person trusts Christ as Lord and Savior and obeys the command to be surged in water and raised from it as a picture of the salvation experience that has occurred. Baptism comes after conviction of sin, repentance of sin, confession of Christ as Lord and Savior. To be baptized is to preach a personal testimony through the symbol of baptism. Baptism testifies that ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God, end quote. It is common among believers And it's good for us to identify this baptism which Jesus commissioned as believers' baptism. It is the baptism which Christ established for all who have believed in him. It is not a baptism unto belief, but that baptism commanded by Christ for those who have believed. As we read in Acts chapter two, the apostle Peter instructed the people saying, repent and be baptized. And the 41st verse, which we read already, those who received his word were baptized. Faith preceded baptism. Faith in Jesus, believing the word of Christ, is necessary to the baptism which Christ commissioned. In Acts 8, we read that it was those who believed the good news of God's kingdom and the name of Jesus as preached by Philip who were baptized. Again, faith precedes the Christ-commissioned baptism. Later in that chapter, it was after Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian that he desired to be baptized. When the eunuch asked to be baptized, saying, what prevents me from being baptized? What did Philip say? How did he respond? If you believe with all your heart, you may. And the Ethiopian answered with those blessed words, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And so Philip baptized him. In Acts 16, when the Philippian jailer asked Paul in silence what he must do to be saved, they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 8.18, it was Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, it was when he believed in the Lord Jesus with all his household that he and then many other Corinthians were baptized. With absolute consistency, faith in the Lord Jesus has always been and remains a prerequisite to the baptism which Christ commissioned. The baptism the Lord commissioned for those who believe in him is to observe not a ceremonial baptism like many in the Old Testament, but a baptism that identifies us as converts who have come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a unique baptism, the one that Jesus commissioned. To participate in this baptism is an act of obedient worship where the believer publicly identifies with Christ, testifying of the Lord's saving grace. So let's go to number four, baptism, a testimony. It's important that we understand what is happening, what is being portrayed when we are baptized in water. As we have been learning, believer's baptism serves as a visible testimony that speaks of the salvation Christ worked in us. It is the outward testimony of the inward work of Christ. The act of believer's baptism symbolizes salvation. This is what the believer's baptism represents, Romans 6. three through four. Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Now, Paul is not saying, don't you know that all of us who have been baptized in water have been baptized into Jesus? He's not saying that. He's saying as a matter of salvation, you know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ, who have been saved by Christ Jesus, have been baptized into his death. We've been made one with him. Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life. Likewise, Galatians 3.26, for all of you who were baptized into Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. He's not saying all who were baptized in waters have closed themselves with Christ. He's saying, if you have believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, you've been closed with Christ. That's what the water baptism symbolizes. The act symbolizes the reality. Also, Colossians 2, 9 and 10 and 12 says, For in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in him you have been made complete and he is the head over all rule and authority. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through the faith and the working of God who raised him from the dead. Again, what's he speaking of? He's talking about the reality of salvation. The believer's baptism as instituted by our Lord illustrates this salvation. testifying in the saving work of Jesus Christ divinely accomplished in the believer. Baptism is an act symbolic of the fact that we who have believed in Jesus have been joined with him in his death, having died to sin and have been washed by his blood. And in the raising out of the water, it is symbolized that we are born again. We have been raised to a new life through the resurrection power of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing mystical about the act of baptism. Baptism is not salvific. It has no saving meritorious value. While obedience brings God's blessings upon the believer and indeed all the church, amen, but the church is blessed when they see one baptized, it encourages the entire church. While obedience brings God's blessings upon the believer and all the church, baptism is representative of what Christ worked in us at salvation. It is the symbolic emblem of our trust in Christ who fully merited salvation on our behalf. It shows that he saved us and that we are going to follow him. It is a public testimony. Now, by what form is the believer to be baptized? As believer's baptism through its symbolism testifies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, what then is its mode? As found in scripture, the word baptized, along with its various forms, is not an English translation. How many of you knew that already? It's not an English translation of a Greek word, but it is a transliteration. The original Greek letters of the word are exchanged for the best matching English letters as a word, composing a new English word. It is the same with the word deacon. Deacon is not a translation, but a transliteration. If the original for deacon were translated literally, it would be servant. In order to make a distinction between those who serve the church in a general capacity and those who serve the church by fulfilling a special office, the translators recognized the special office by transliterating the original Greek word for servant into deacon. They formed a new word to make a distinction for those who serve in that office of the church. So the question comes, If the word transliterated baptize were translated, what would it be? Originally, the Greek word transliterated baptize had no religious connection, and it meant to dunk, dip, plunge, submerge, immerse. It was employed when speaking of bathing. of the dipping of cloth in a dye, of the plunging of a cup into a larger bowl of water so as to get a drink of water. It referred to a ship that had sunk. They would use that word. Later, as the word was adopted for spiritual purposes, it came to refer to the immersing of an individual in water. So we want to ask the question then, why did the translators transliterate rather than translate the word? Why didn't they just translate it, immerse? Why didn't they just translate Jesus saying, make disciples of all nations, immersing them? Why not? To be honest, we're not completely sure, but it appears that when the King James translators were translating under the authority of King James, and as King James practiced baptism by sprinkling, that to translate the word into Amoris would have been detrimental to their health. Therefore, they solved the dilemma by transliterating the word. Nevertheless, the form of baptism is identified by its name, and it literally means to dip, submerge, and immerse. And what is the believer immersed? Well, water, of course. In all the scripture, when a believer was baptized, they were baptized in water, according to Christ's commandment. They were baptized in water. When the Ethiopian believed the word preached by Philip, the scripture says they came to some water. Look, water, what prevents me? And then they baptized them in the water. Within the pages of scripture, water immersion is a form of baptism which Jesus commissioned the church to observe. This is the baptism we here at Redeemer Bible Church practice. Now concerning immersion, I would like to relay a story to you. My brother-in-law, my Cindy's older brother, Bill, who went to be with the Lord in 1995, when he came to trust in Christ as Savior Lord, he wanted to be baptized. One problem was that he suffered from muscular dystrophy and was bound to a wheelchair. Yet he approached this pastor and said, I want to be baptized. He made his desire known. So thanks to God and the pastor who would not deny him, they planned to get a few men to transition him out of his wheelchair down the steps into the baptistry. At that, Bill told the pastor that he, the pastor, would need a helper to assist him in the baptism. And the pastor, thinking Bill was nervous about him losing his grip on him, assured him that he would have an assistant and that they would not let go of him. At that, Bill laughed and said, no, you don't understand. Because of my condition, I am extremely buoyant. You will need an assistant to help push me under the water. And so Bill was baptized by immersion. Water baptism testifies that we are in Christ, that we are one with Him in His death, His burial, and His resurrection, raised to live a new life. Well then, in whose name is the believer to be baptized? Are we, as Jesus commissioned, to be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Or are we to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as is recorded in Acts in the following letters? There are those who strictly hold that if you are not specifically baptized in Jesus' name, that you have not been at all baptized. You know that, don't you? There are those who hold to that. If we were to baptize somebody in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that group would say, eh, no good, you're not baptized. So which is it? Well, to determine which names or names are appropriate to the believer's baptism, we need to understand what is being communicated when we do something in the name of another. When we speak in such terms, the name then denotes the individual's being, their character and reputation, who they are, and all they do, and all they command. Baptizing someone in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit or in the name of Jesus denotes more than formality and formula. To be baptized in those names is to show that you believe in them and all their name embodies that one has decided to follow after them under their lordship. It is to be identified with them as one who belongs to them. So saying, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or in the name of Jesus, isn't some kind of a magical incantation, but it is a declaration of faith where the submission of the lesser to the greater, and the blessings of the greater to the lesser are portrayed. It is to identify with the one whose name is named. Further, get this, many of us don't know this. Further, the word translated in, as in in the name of, as found in Matthew 28, 19, is the Greek is, E-I-S, which means into. And the word translated in, as in the name of Jesus, as found in Acts 2, 38, is epi, which means unto. If we employ these terms, then we have Jesus saying, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And we have Peter saying, be baptized unto the name of Jesus Christ. In both cases, the word into and unto denote direction and purpose. a purposeful moving from one point to another. That said, at baptism, when we say, in the name of Jesus or in the name of the Triune God, we are not invoking the name as an appeal to them. And neither are we naming the name as those in whose authority we baptize. That's what people most commonly think when we say in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or in the name of Jesus. They think we're doing that under the authority, claiming their authority. We're doing this in their name. Incorrect, not quite correct. It is in their authority, but that's not what's being made. What we are stating is the cause and the purpose of baptism. This one, is being baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is, they have come into Christ. It's the testimony. They have come into Christ. When one is baptized into the name of the Triune God or unto the name of Jesus, they outwardly testify that they have spiritually moved from being outside of God the Father, God the Son, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to being in them and living unto them. It's part of the testimony of what has taken place. They have moved from having no identity with Christ to being identified with him as being in him. So the purpose for which believers are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or the name of Jesus Christ, is to publicly identify themselves with the spiritual reality that they are in Him. Beloved, we must be so very careful that form or mode does not champion over purpose. I could do a lot of things right. I could act right in a lot of ways. But if my heart isn't right in it, then it's not right. And the Lord looks upon the heart. Right form does not make for right purpose, but right purpose makes for right form. As in salvation, we are brought spiritually into Christ, and as in baptism, we testify to that truth, we are then baptized into the name of the Triune God, into the name of Jesus Christ. Now then, in the New Testament, what words were spoken when a believer was baptized? When they were baptized, was it said, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, or was it said, I baptize you in the name of Jesus? Well, church, upon examination of the scripture, we find no record of anybody baptizing in the same, I now baptize you in the name of, there's no record of that. So clearly, what I'm saying is, the intent is the purpose, not so much the word spoken. If I spoke the right words, had the wrong purpose? No, the Lord know it. So in the case of our Lord's commission and the apostles teaching, the emphasis was not on the word spoken, but on the purpose served. While what we say is of great importance, amen, as it states the purpose for which we are baptized, our heart in the matter is what makes an immersing in water, a true Christ commission believers baptism. According to scripture, water baptism was commanded by Christ for all believers. The early church preached and practiced baptism as commanded by Christ. The believer's baptism is a visible testimony whereby we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he saved us and that we are in him. So closing, wrapping this up at that. And with our time expired, We bring this biblical overview of the ordinance of baptism to a close. Christ commissioned his church to preach and practice believer's baptism. While baptism does not save, it is the public testimony that one has been saved. I can only ask you that you would let the word of God bear upon you what Christ has ordained. Don't get baptized because somebody's twisting your arm. Get baptized because you love Jesus. If you would like to be baptized according to Christ's commission, then please let me know. As one who is responsible for the overseeing of your soul, I would interview you by asking a few simple questions, and then with great joy for you and the church, we will obey the Lord and do as he has commissioned us to do. May the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth. May Christ's ordained mission for his church be accomplished in and through us. Dear one, if you have believed in Jesus, but have not been baptized, then love your Lord and worshipfully obey Him. Be baptized because you love Jesus and want to testify that you are in Him. Jesus is the kind and merciful Savior. He is gentle and meek. He loves you. Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, as we come to the close of this teaching, we pray that your word will take root in our hearts and minds, that we will rejoice in that which you have commissioned the church to, that we will be a people who preach and practice what you have commissioned, and Lord, that we will encourage all believers to follow you in baptism. And Lord, again, I pray, as I just said, I pray that no one here or whoever hears this message will get baptized because they feel coerced or because we are putting pressure on them, but only because they see your word and they love you and want to obey you in that manner. Help us the Lord to be a true church, a church that loves you, a church that honors you, a church that preaches your truth. Have your way in us, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.