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Hebrews chapter eight, I'll just 
begin reading in verse one and read to the end of the chapter. 
Now, this is the main point of the things we are saying. We 
have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the 
throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary 
and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man. For every high priest is appointed 
to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, it is necessary that 
this one also have something to offer. For if he were on earth, 
he would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the 
gifts according to the law, who serve the coffee and shadow of 
the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when 
he was about to make the tabernacle. For he said, see that you make 
all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. But 
now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as he is also 
mediator of a better covenant which was established on better 
promises. For if that first covenant had 
been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a 
second, because finding fault with them, he says, behold, the 
days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant 
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. not 
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in 
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the 
land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant, 
and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant 
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says 
the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind 
and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and 
they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his 
neighbor and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all 
shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them. 
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins 
and their lawless deeds. I will remember no more. In that, 
he says, a new covenant. He has made the first obsolete. 
Now, what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish 
away. Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank 
you for the Holy Scriptures. We thank you for this glad and 
happy day, Father. We thank you that our brother 
wants to be baptized in obedience to the commandment of Christ. 
We pray, God, that you would be exalted and glorified in this. You display your handiwork in 
the life of this young man. We just ask now that you would 
forgive us for all of our sins. We come to the scriptures. We 
come to spiritual exercise. We know that apart from Jesus, 
we can do nothing. We pray for cleansing afresh 
in that blood. We pray for the ministry and 
the aid of your Holy Spirit. We pray that you would humble 
us under your mighty hand and cause us to be receptive to the 
truth of Holy Scripture. God, we thank you for your grace. 
We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for the gospel of 
free and sovereign grace. for the fact that our Lord Jesus 
came into this world, sinners to save. Help us, Father, to 
be encouraged by these truths each and every moment, each and 
every day, to always live in light of the cross of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And it's in his name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, this morning I want to 
do a topical study of the doctrine of baptism. As you'll all probably 
agree, there are two broad approaches to the subject of Christian baptism, 
at least with reference to the subjects or who ought to be baptized. There are those who are paedo-baptists, 
or those who sprinkle babies, and then there are credo-baptists, 
those who are baptized by immersion, those who profess faith in Jesus 
Christ. Now, at the outset, let me just 
say I have the highest esteem for Paedo-Baptist brethren. I 
have a lot of them in that office that I look to for great instruction. They're godly men of the past, 
godly men in the present, hold that particular doctrine. But 
as we come to a celebration of baptism, it's always good for 
us to remind ourselves as to why we do what it is that we 
do. And to that end, I want to offer 
up three observations this morning on the doctrine of baptism. The 
first is that it is a conspicuous practice in the Book of Acts, 
a conspicuous practice to demonstrate that belief precedes baptism. In connection with our confession 
of faith, London Baptist Confession, Chapter 29, Paragraph 2 says, 
Those who do actually profess repentance toward God faith in 
and obedience to our Lord Jesus are the only proper subjects 
of this ordinance. So I thought it would be good 
to consider the baptism text in the book of Acts and see that 
it is indeed a conspicuous practice where belief comes before baptism. Secondly, we'll see that it's 
a practice grounded upon or based upon a specific mandate. And to that end, we'll look at 
Matthew 28, the great commission of our Lord Jesus. Jesus told 
them to go into all the nations, to make disciples and to baptize 
them. And then thirdly, we'll see that 
all of this is rooted in the context of God's covenantal promise. And there we'll look specifically 
at Hebrews 8, which is a citation of Jeremiah 31. So we'll look 
at the book of Acts. Matthew 28 and Jeremiah 31 to 
see why it is that we are reformed Baptists. So let's look first 
at Acts chapter 2. We'll move somewhat quickly through 
these various passages. There will be one I don't deal 
with. If you took your concordance 
out and you looked up baptism, you will see that I'm not going 
to deal with Acts chapter 19 verses 4 to 6. A lot of people 
believe that that teaches re-baptism. I don't believe it does at all. 
I believe that John Gill has a proper understanding of that 
text. So we won't look at that. If you're interested later you 
can ask Pastor Porter and he'll instruct you on the particulars. 
Just kidding. If you want to talk to me I'd 
be more than I'd be more than welcome to discuss that particular 
text. But the several other passages 
we will look at. Now most Baptists Credo-Baptists, 
that means belief, credo, believers' baptism. And then, Paedo-Baptists 
generally agree that the household baptisms can go either way. Honest, not that there's dishonest, 
Paedo-Baptists will agree that they don't necessarily teach 
paedo-inclusion. Now, Paedo-Baptists will use 
those lines of evidence to try to ground or highlight the fact 
that there probably were infants involved. But as a Baptist, I 
will take the other side and show hopefully that they don't 
demand the inclusion of infants and most likely exclude infants 
in those particular contexts. But the first is Acts chapter 
2, beginning in verse 36. Remember the contact Peter is 
preaching on the day of Pentecost. The Lord Jesus sends his spirit 
a powerful way. The manifestation of that is 
that the people of God begin to speak in various tongues, 
various languages, and what they are communicating are the great 
works of God Most High. There are people that say that 
they were drunk with new wine. Peter stands up and preaches, 
and he says, essentially, this is what was prophesied in the 
prophet Joel, that Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, 
that this is the messianic age. It is already dawned. It is upon 
us. And with that reality, he then 
makes this statement in verse 36. Therefore, let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom 
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, praise God, the 
spirit is operating, the spirit is working. Notice what happens 
in verse 37. Now, when they heard this, they 
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the 
apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said 
to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you 
and to your children and to all who are far off as many as the 
Lord our God will call you see the specific or conspicuous order 
repent and be baptized. Oftentimes in the book of Acts 
salvation or conversion is viewed either from faith or from repentance. We know that those are two sides 
of the same coin and the apostles can use them interchangeably 
such that repentance includes the idea of faith in Christ. It means coming to Christ, closing 
with Christ. And the conspicuous order is 
first Christ, then baptism. When he says that the promise 
is to you and to your children, he is not speaking there of the 
promise of baptism. He is speaking of the promise 
of the Holy Spirit. He is speaking of the promise 
of the remission of sin. And his idea is simple. It is 
for you, your children, all who are afar off, but it's qualified 
by as many as the Lord our God will call. So as many as the 
Lord our God will call from you, from your children, or from those 
who are afar off, that is the ones who receive the promise 
of the Holy Spirit. If we take 239 and imply or infer 
pedo-sprinkling, we ought to indiscriminately sprinkle those 
who are afar off. to welcome them into the covenant. And then notice specifically 
the response. Verse 40, with many other words, 
he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be safe from this perverse 
generation. Then those who gladly received 
his word were baptized. And that day, about 3000 souls 
were added to that conspicuous. It's not get baptized and then 
gladly receive his word. We don't make disciples through 
baptism. We baptize those who are disciples 
by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. That's the conspicuous order. 
Those who gladly received his word were baptized. Notice in 
Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter eight. specifically beginning 
in verse 9, but there was a certain man called Simon who previously 
practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of 
Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all 
gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man 
is the great power of God. And they heeded him because he 
had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. But 
when they believed Philip, as he preached the things concerning 
the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and 
women were baptized. He said they believed and were 
baptized. They gladly received the word, 
and then they were baptized. And incidentally, even Simon 
himself, though he proved to be a false professor, fulfilled 
that particular pattern. Look at verse 13. Then Simon 
himself also believed, and when he was baptized, he continued 
with Philip and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which 
were done. As Baptists, we maintain that 
a credible profession of faith is the prerequisite for baptism. And it's oftentimes alleged, 
well, how do you know the heart? You're not omniscient. You're 
not omnipotent. You're not sovereign. You don't 
know who's a genuine believer or who isn't. Well, we see in 
this instance, they took his profession of faith and they 
baptized him. even though he would prove to 
be a goat, a son of the devil. So we see still that conspicuous 
pattern is upheld or that practice is upheld even in the midst of 
Simon, the sorcerer, dropping down in chapter eight, beginning 
in verse thirty six, chapter eight, beginning in verse thirty 
four, actually. So the eunuch answered Philip 
and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this of 
himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth 
and beginning at the scripture preached Jesus to him. Before 
we proceed, I want to say something. You're not a believer here this 
morning. You're not in Christ. You really shouldn't worry about 
Pato baptism versus cradle baptism at this particular moment. You 
should be terrified at the thought of being undone in your sins 
before a holy God. You should be terrified at the 
thought that you can leave from this place and drop dead and 
enter into a Christless eternity. That's not just preacher talk 
to scare you, James says. Don't boast about tomorrow. Your 
life is a mist. It's a vapor. It's here for a 
time and then, poof, it's gone. You ought to say, if the Lord 
wills. Notice that as Philip comes upon 
this Ethiopian eunuch, the eunuch is reading Isaiah the prophet, 
chapter 53. The eunuch says, how can I understand 
unless someone explain it to me? Is the prophet talking about 
himself? Is he talking about his nation? 
Who is it that Isaiah is speaking about here with reference to 
this servant of the Lord? Notice what Philip does. Beginning 
with this text, he preaches Jesus to him. You see, if you're not 
a believer this morning, Paedo-baptism and credo-baptism ought not to 
be the consuming thought in your mind and heart. It ought to be 
this Jesus. This Jesus that is the servant 
of the Lord in Isaiah 53. This man of sorrows who was acquainted 
with grief. This one upon whom the Lord laid 
the iniquity of us all. This one who was bruised. This 
one who was stricken. This one who was smitten and 
afflicted by God and ultimately cut off, not for his sins, but 
for our sins. That's who you ought to be concerned 
about this morning, not whether Calvin was right or Gil was right 
or Spurgeon was right or whether the Free Grace Baptist Church 
is right or whether the Heritage Reform Church is right or the 
Netherlands Reform Congregation is right. What you ought to be 
concerned about is that Christ is in the heavens and he says, 
believe on me and you shall be saved. That is most important 
this morning. That is most crucial. Because 
quite frankly, if you're a credo or you're a pedo, you can go 
to heaven, provided you are in Christ. Woe to that man who has 
his credo-baptist doctrine down and can explain it to the nth 
degree and yet does not know the saving work and power of 
Jesus Christ. It's Christ. It's Jesus. The glorious son of God, the 
one who loves sinners and gave himself for them. So one who 
rose again, the one of Acts two thirty six. Therefore, let all 
the house of Israel know assuredly notice that the disciples, the 
apostles, the apostolic preaching of the cross wasn't this sort 
of feeble and weak, suggestive idea that this might be open 
for your consideration. They didn't come limp wristed 
into cities and say, well, you know, here's one option among 
many. God has stationed him. You can 
accept this with absolute certainty at his right hand. He has made 
him both Lord and Christ. The implication of that is, is 
that if you refuse him, if you reject him, you will be cut off. It is only in Christ that there 
is salvation. That's what you need to get this 
morning. That's what you need to understand. Jesus lived in 
obedience to the law. Jesus died to satisfy divine 
justice. Jesus died as a substitute in 
the place of, for his people. And he rose again on the third 
day. And then he rose into heaven and he led captivity captive 
and he gave gifts to men. Believe on the gospel and you 
shall be saved. That's the main idea. It's not what Hebrews 8 starts 
off with. This is the point. This is the point of what we're 
talking about. I love the author of the book of Hebrews. He's 
a bottom line sort of man. This is the main point of what 
we are saying. The Aaronic priesthood served 
as a time and as a type to the priest who would come in the 
order of Melchizedek. who would not offer up sins for 
himself, but he would offer up himself for our sins. That's the point of what he is 
saying there in Hebrews chapter 8. That is why he then maintains 
the superiority of the new covenant versus the old covenant. The 
bottom line for all of us this morning is that we believe the 
gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and find salvation therein. What Philip is the first order 
of business with this man. Verse 35. Then Philip opened 
his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him. That beautiful hermeneutics by 
Philip here. You wonder what Isaiah the prophet 
is writing about? Philip's going to tell you. You're 
a eunuch sitting in a chariot wondering about whom Isaiah is 
writing. Philip preaches Jesus from this 
scripture. Now, as they went down the road, 
they came to some water and the eunuch said, See, here is water. 
What hinders me from being baptized? Then 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. So he commanded the chariot 
to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch 
went down into the water and he baptized him. You see, again, 
the conspicuous order, the conspicuous practice, belief, then baptism. Chapter nine, verse 18. Chapter 
9, verse 18, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Immediately there 
fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received 
his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized. He met Christ 
on the road to Damascus. Christ saves his soul. Christ 
blinds him temporarily when these scales fall off. He arises and 
he's baptized as a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is 
baptized. Chapter 10, verses 44 to 48. Chapter 10, verses 44 to 48, 
Peter preaching to the household of Cornelius. This is what we 
might call the Gentile Pentecost. The way the Spirit comes on the 
church in Jerusalem in Acts 2 is duplicated in Samaria in Acts 
8, and it's duplicated again here in Acts 10. At critical 
junctures in the missionary enterprise in the early church, the Spirit 
comes in a unique and powerful way to attest that Christ is 
at the right hand of the father, sending the spirit in accordance 
with the prophets and saving sinners, adding to the church, 
planting churches and extending his blessed kingdom. So Peter 
preaches to the household of Cornelius and in chapter 10, 
verse 44 says, while Peter was still speaking these words. The 
Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word, and those 
of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came 
with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured 
out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues 
and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can anyone 
forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received 
the Holy Spirit just as we have? You see this pattern. I hope 
you appreciate it. It's a conspicuous practice. 
You repent and be baptized. You believe, you be baptized. 
You receive the Spirit, you be baptized. This is where we have 
some trouble with fatal sprinkling. Are we saying, are we asserting 
that that infant or all the infants that received this sign have 
repented? They have believed. They have 
received the Holy Spirit. In some ways, with our practice, 
we are undoing what we preach in other places. We stick to 
the conspicuous practice and the conspicuous order that flow 
from the mandate that are grounded in the context of covenant. We 
won't go wrong. Peter says, Can anyone forbid 
water that these should not be baptized who have received the 
Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized 
in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a 
few days. This answers another unfortunate problem that happens 
in the church. He commanded them to be baptized. He didn't suggest it as an alternate 
way of higher Christian living. We're not to play games with 
the ordained means that Christ has given. Christ commands something. We ought to obey him. If you 
are a believer in Jesus, you should be baptized. It is a commanded 
activity. It is something that carries 
divine authority. Jesus doesn't say if you feel 
like it or if you'd like to or if you want to throw your lot 
in with the extra spiritual among God's people. It is a commanded 
activity. Peter doesn't feebly recommend 
this. Peter doesn't say you ought to 
think about this in about six years. No, he commanded them 
to be baptized in the name of the Lord. J. Adams, in his book 
on preaching, makes an interesting observation. Since there was 
no altar call in the early church, there was no every head bowed 
and every eye closed, raise up your hand if you want to be a 
believer. No, there was the preaching of the gospel, the call to believe 
the gospel, response by God's grace, and then baptism. That 
was the response in the early church. They believed and they 
were baptized. Peter doesn't say, well, let's 
just try you out for a while. I mean, after all, you're heathen. 
After all, you've come out of, you know, paganism. We can't 
actually baptize you right away. There's a profession of faith. 
There's the evidences of the Holy Spirit. There is the fruits 
of God's having dealt with them savingly. So Peter says, get 
in the water. What do we plan around with? 
If you're a believer, you should be baptized. If you're a believer, 
you should identify publicly with the triune God. It's not 
just so that you can proclaim it to the people of God. It is 
primarily unto the party baptized. It is primarily for the person. Something we don't often highlight, 
but our confession states, is that it's a means of grace. Not only in the past that we 
obeyed God, But in the presence, we ought to think back to that 
blessed pool. When we come to a crossroads 
and we're going to sin, think about the day that you went into 
that water. I believe Paul appeals to that 
sort of logic in the book of Romans. How can you continue 
in sin? You died. You were buried with him in baptism. 
As a baptized believer in the Lord Jesus, don't sin. Don't 
go out and engage in folly. Don't pursue madness. Don't engage 
in wickedness. You're a baptized child of the 
living and true God. It's a means of grace. What a 
draw off of it. What a delight in it. What a 
rejoice in it. I hope you can remember the day 
you were baptized. I hope it has a fondness in your 
memory. I often quote, I was going to 
quote Spurgeon, I think I did last baptism, so I won't this 
time. Blessed pool, he says, on that 
day of baptism, reflecting upon the day that he went into that 
water in obedience to his sovereign Lord. I've often thought if pale 
baptism is correct, there's no present effect. You can't appeal 
to somebody who is sprinkled as a baby and say, remember your 
baptism. Live in accordance with your 
baptism. It's almost like getting married 
when you're not even there. Remember that wedding day? Well, 
I was there by proxy. I wasn't there. How can I remember 
something I didn't participate in? It'd be crazy. It'd be foolishness. It'd be madness. Live like a 
married man to that woman you said I do to on that particular 
day. Well, I wasn't there. I don't 
have a context of which to draw upon. I think in many respects, 
brethren, and again, with dear respect to my patal Baptist brethren. 
By the way, my books are over there. That's what I mean. I 
don't have a bunch of patal Baptists hanging out in that room. They're 
sort of chained to the wall. No, no, there are books in there. 
Some of the brethren in the history of the church refer to them as 
the venerable dead. My dead friends, my dead brothers. I think in some respects it gyps 
people. I hope you think about your baptism. 
I hope you think about what a blessed day that was. Identifying with 
the risen Lord coming or going into the water and coming up 
out of the water. It's beautiful. It's glorious. It's magnificent. It is a nonverbal 
declaration of the verbal content of the Christian gospel. Beautiful. It's not just people. Let's give 
it to believers at 16, 14 and 15 at 16, 14 and 15. We may just be surveying acts 
this morning. Acts 16 verses 14 and 15. Now, a certain woman named Lydia 
heard us. She was a seller of purple from 
the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart 
to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household 
were baptized, she begged us, saying, If you have judged me 
to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she 
persuaded us. Now again, the Paedo-Baptists 
There were infants there. Not all households contain infants. They just don't. I asked some 
of the dear older brethren in our midst and said, does your 
household contain infants? Well, no. It's an argument from 
silence. We ought not to build a doctrine 
upon an argument from silence. Baptists have rightly seen that 
she's a businesswoman. She's a seller of purple from 
Thyatira. She's away from her city. She's 
engaged in commerce. Is her household necessarily 
infants? She's a pretty irresponsible 
mother, unless she's got them in tow. She's got one of those 
straps where the baby's hanging off her while she's selling purple. 
Maybe she had a purple strap. Or maybe her household included 
servants, attendants. Adult children. We don't know. 
You see, you don't build a doctrine on an argument from silence. 
But the interesting thing is that God opened Lydia's heart. 
Are we not to expect that whoever was with Lydia, the same procedure 
would be in order. That's how the household baptisms 
go at 1631, another familiar one. Which, by the way, this is the 
nucleus of the church of Philippi, isn't it? It's beautiful. Acts 
16, verse 31. Remember, Paul and Silas are 
put into jail. The doors are open, the ground 
is shaken with a great earthquake, the prison guards suppose that 
the prisoners have fled. He's about to kill himself, realizing 
that would be his lot, that would be his fate if it was in fact 
the deed that his charge had escaped. So Paul and Silas said, 
don't do that. What does he say? Sirs, what 
must I do to be saved? He knew something about Paul 
and Silas. Then ask all the rest of the prisoners. And this salvation 
is probably not just in the physical sense, because he was ready to 
off himself. What is their call? What is their 
command? What is their order? Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. You and your 
household. Then they spoke the word of the 
Lord to him and to all who were in his house. They spoke the 
word to him and to all who were in his house, and he took them 
the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately 
he and all his were baptized. Now, when he had brought them 
into his house, he set food before them and he rejoiced, having 
believed in God with all his household. Acts 18, 8, then Crispus, this 
is in Corinth, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord 
with all his household. And many of the Corinthians noticed 
the order hearing, believed and were baptized to conspicuous 
practice. The other incident is in Acts 
22 when Paul is rehearsing his conversion. You get the point. You see the order, you see the 
practice, you see that it's conspicuous. It is not hidden. It's not kept 
in a corner. It's not open for debate. B.B. 
Warfield acknowledges there's no command in all of the New 
Testament to sprinkle infants. Cato Baptists acknowledge that. It's why they build their argument 
on covenant theology. It's why the last point in our 
survey will be covenant theology. The reformed Baptist hopefully 
can answer those suppositions. But you see the practice. You 
see belief, you see repentance, you see the reception of the 
Spirit preceding those who are baptized. You see the urgency 
of it. For an unbaptized believer today, 
you need to think in terms of God's holy word. You need to 
realize that Peter didn't suggest it. Peter didn't recommend it. 
Peter didn't say it was a good idea. Peter commanded that they 
would be baptized. Now, that does not mean you can't 
go to heaven without baptism. The thief on the cross rejoiced 
in the Savior. On that day, he died. Jesus says, 
today you will be with me in paradise. Again, we base our 
lives on normative practice. It is the case that you could 
believe the gospel right now and drop dead and go to heaven. 
That's true. But for most of us, it's probably 
going to be you believe the gospel and you'll live for a little 
while afterward. Obey Jesus. He has all authority 
in heaven and on earth. Now, we'll turn to that particular 
passage. Matthew 28. Matthew 28. A brief outline of the Great 
Commission, it deals with all authority. all nations, all of 
God's Word, and all the days." All authority, all the nations, 
all of God's Word, and all the days. That little word, all, 
comes up four times and serves as a helpful way to sort of remember 
what the commission is all about. Note, firstly, the authority 
behind the commission. Matthew 28, 18. Jesus came and 
spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven 
and on earth. All authority, not some authority, 
not partial authority, not a little bit of authority. That's good 
news for the Christian church. That's good news for the people 
of God. When we go out and engage in evangelism, when we go out 
and engage in the missionary enterprise, when we engage in 
evangelism from the pulpit, we have sovereign authority behind 
us. Jesus is speaking to his church. Jesus is saying that 
every time we gather, every time the gospel message goes forth, 
the power behind that is him. Hopefully, that encourages us 
in our prayers for God to save, God to bless, God to prosper, 
God to advance His kingdom. It's not the strength of the 
preacher. It's not the ability of the orator. It's not the power 
of the Word that the preacher uses. Rather, it's the power 
of Christ by His Word and by His Spirit advancing His cause 
in the earth. All authority has been given. to him in heaven and on earth. Notice that the activity of the 
commission go, therefore, literally going. Therefore, there's three 
participants, the going, the baptizing, the teaching, and 
the one imperative is disciple. Those participants take on sort 
of a command like nature because of their close connection to 
the disciple. So Jesus is not suggesting, Jesus 
is not recommending, Jesus is not saying, if you feel like 
it, he assumes that we'll be going. He assumes that we'll 
be teaching and baptizing and doing those things that are consistent 
with his word. Matthew Poole said, having declared 
his power, he delegates it. He tells them, go therefore. Notice the specifics involved 
in the scope of the commission. Go to all the nations. How does 
Matthew's gospel start off? It starts off with a genealogy. Is that to bore 21st century 
readers who have the attention span of a gnat? Or is it to connect 
Jesus to the Old Testament? To connect Jesus to the covenant 
God? To connect Jesus to those promises 
made to Abraham and David? Yes, the third. To Abraham and 
David. He calls Jesus the son of Abraham. Isn't Abraham the one who the 
promise was made to look up into the sky and see those stars? 
Your descendants will be more numerous. All the families of 
the earth will be blessed in Abraham. All the nations shall 
be blessed in Abraham. We start with the son of Abraham 
introduced and the son of Abraham exalted to the right hand of 
the father, having received from the father his inheritance. And he dispatches, he delegates, 
he tells his church to go to the nations, go and disciple 
the nations, go and preach the gospel to the nations. Go and 
tell them what justification by faith is all about. Preach 
the atonement. Preach the cross. Preach Jesus 
and his life, death and resurrection. Preach those grand events associated 
with the saving religion of God. Go do it. Don't wonder about 
it. Don't scratch your heads. Do 
it. This is what the authority says 
to the churches. Go and make disciples of that. We make disciples by preaching. Disciples are made by God's grace. They believe the truth. And then 
notice what happens. They are baptized. You make disciples 
and you baptize, not indiscriminately. You baptize the disciples that 
you have made. And then what do you do? You 
teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. You see 
the order. You see the pattern, the framework, 
the basis for church life. Church life, we preach the gospel 
for conversion. We preach the gospel for disciple 
making. We continue to preach the gospel 
and its implications for all of life, teaching the disciples 
that have been made and baptized all things that Jesus has commanded. This is the mandate of the church. It's pretty limited, isn't it? 
Do you like the thought of a limited government? I think we'd all 
say, yeah. The Bible presents such a view 
of limited government. The government is not supposed 
to be involved in every step of your life from cradle to grave. That is not what the government 
is supposed to do. The power of government, the 
authority of government, the investiture given to government 
is very limited in its scope. Well, by the same token, the 
church isn't out to do everything either. What happens when the 
church does everything? She doesn't do what she's supposed 
to do well. Right. What's our task? What's our job? We are to go. We are to make 
disciples. We are to baptize those disciples 
and we are to teach those disciples. We're not supposed to do it for 
the short term, but it's a long haul, long term project. This 
is why Jesus ends with this reference. And lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. What's the implication that the 
church till the end of the age? The church, for as long as that 
may be, with their sovereign authority behind her, with their 
mission clearly delineated, will preach for disciples, will baptize 
those disciples, and will teach those disciples, knowing that 
Christ is with his people, knowing that he is in the midst of the 
lampstand, knowing that at the position of authority, at the 
right hand of his Father, he blesses his word, he sends his 
spirit, and he gives the increase. It's a wonderful thing, very 
limited in its focus. It doesn't mean we're not supposed 
to love, doesn't mean we're not supposed to care. It doesn't 
mean all of that. I'm simply speaking in broad 
categories that when we ask the Bible, what's the church supposed 
to do? The answer isn't as broad as 
we're sometimes led to believe. It just isn't. It's not a cradle to grave society 
or every area of life involved in. How? Sometimes people treat 
pastors like they can do everything. They can't. Pastors are supposed 
to preach the word and pray. Again, very, very narrowly defined. I'm not trying to get out of 
work here. I'm really not. But it's not legit. to keep things 
upon a man or man that the Bible doesn't. It's an excellent little 
book called Why Johnny Can't Preach by T. David Gordon. It 
gives the illustration in there of a man, a ministerial candidate 
going to a church, being interviewed for, just using the common parlance, 
for the job. He asked the question, what do 
you expect from the minister? So they You know, fill out whatever 
form they had and they hand it to him. And as he crunched the 
numbers, he realized that the week that they presented to him 
was about a 70 to 80 hour work week. That's not a problem. But 
the 70 to 80 hour work week had no place for study and prayer. May I suggest you'd rather have 
your pastor in the word or on his knees? than at the women's 
bazaar. Not that we even have women's 
bazaars. May I suggest you'd rather have 
your pastor seeking to wrap his head around some theological 
argument and then praying for the sheep of the flock than being 
the CEO, the corporate exec, the staff leader, the innovator, 
The razzmatazz man. When we look at the mission of 
the church is mandated by Jesus, it is delimited, it is narrow 
in its scope and in its focus, and that is by design. God wants the church to do what 
it does well. Not half hearted, not with a 
divided spirit. Not with all kinds of blemishes 
and faults, though we have that to be sure, but just do what 
the instructions say. Don't add to it. Don't take away 
from it. Keep it simple. Stupid. The kiss principle applies in 
the church. Jesus specifies the order. Go make disciples, baptize those 
disciples and then teach those disciples all things that I have 
commanded you. Lo, I am with you always, even 
to the end of the age. Is it a surprise when we survey 
those various passages in the book of Acts that that's exactly 
what we see? Do you notice that it is a conspicuous 
practice based on a specific mandate? They weren't innovative. They weren't movers and shakers. 
They didn't have new thoughts for church growth. They stood 
in front of people. They said that Jesus lived, Jesus 
died, Jesus rose. If you believe on Jesus, you 
will be saved. When people believed, they gathered 
them together in local churches. They would go elsewhere, come 
back. Paul's pattern in the first missionary journey is conspicuous. They go, they preach, disciples 
are made, churches are founded. They go back through having had 
some time there. Then they appoint elders in those 
churches so that those elders can be tasked with the specific 
activity of preaching and teaching. It's a beautiful thing. It's 
great. It's wonderful. But notice that 
it's rooted in a covenantal context. That's Hebrews eight. What we 
find practiced in the book of Acts, what we find mandated in 
the gospel of Matthew. Is what we find prophesied in 
the old covenant concerning the new covenant. When we get to the pages of the 
New Testament. We can remain covenant theologians. We can remain sensitive to God's covenant. 
We can remain committed to that body of theology called covenant 
theology. And as Reformed Baptists, we 
can even maintain that this practice flows out of an understanding 
of covenant theology. Notice just a few points with 
reference to Hebrews 8. The Apostle says that the old 
covenant is done. Hebrews 8, 13. The Apostle says 
that the new covenant is a better covenant founded on better promises 
affording a better hope. He tells us why that is in an 
appeal to the prophet Jeremiah. Remember, Jeremiah 31, 31 to 
34 is an announcement of the new covenant. It comes at a very blessed time 
in Israel's history, too, because they were in such a mess, such 
a state of disrepair, in exile, in the Babylonian captivity. God wants the people to realize 
it's not over. He is not unfaithful. He is not 
God. He has a promise to save a people 
through Jesus Christ, the Lord. So the prophet comes in that 
book of consolation, chapters 30 to 33, and right smack dab 
in the middle, chapter 31, is the promise of the new covenant. 
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make 
a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 
That's the church. The two groups that were separated 
in the history of the kingdom are seen together again. The 
rest of the New Testament tells us who the Israel of God is. 
They're believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, sons of Abraham 
by virtue of faith in Jesus Christ, Galatians 3, 26 to 29. So God, 
through Jeremiah, says, behold, the days are coming when I will 
make a new covenant with the house of Israel, the house of 
Judah. Not like the covenant I made with them before which 
their fathers broke. What's the point? You could break 
the old covenant. What's the point? You can't break 
the new covenant. You see, your eternal security, 
your safety is bound up in Jesus, right? If you are in Christ, even you 
can't take yourself out of him. Isn't that great? I must not be making any sense 
this morning. Everybody's like frying the eyelids 
open. That tank preaches these truths. That positive command given to 
Abraham in circumcision is no longer binding. The positive 
new covenant command is baptism. It is for believers. It is for 
new covenant members. It is for those specified in 
Jeremiah 31, highlighted here in Hebrews 8, not like the covenant 
I made with them before which their fathers broke. New covenant 
religion is unbreakable. Your perseverance, your preservation 
is grounded not in your performance or your ability, but in the covenant 
faithfulness of God most high. And then he specifies the various 
benefits that people in the New Covenant enjoy. They are given 
the law of God. It is internalized. I will put 
my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. Any wonder 
why Jesus says, teach them to observe all things that I have 
commanded you. God internalizes the law, makes 
us receptive to it, so that when we sit in church, when we sit 
in Bible study, when we listen to sermonaudio.com, when we've 
got the iPod going, we are receptive, we are eager, we are responsive 
to all the law, all the Word of the living and true God. That 
law has been taken from the stone tablets and let upon our hearts. Beautiful. Not only that, he says, and I 
will be their God and they shall be my people. No more shall every 
man teach his neighbor and every man his brother. This is not 
undoing the Great Commission. Jesus says, teach them to observe 
all things that I have commanded you. Who is he saying to teach 
the disciples, the one who are ones who are believers? The specific 
context to Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 is that within this covenant 
community, you don't have to evangelize a member of the covenant 
community. You don't have to tell somebody 
who has the law internalized, who has received the forgiveness 
of sins to know the Lord because they do know him. You see, in 
old covenant Israel, Isaac had to tell Ishmael about Jesus. Jacob had to tell Esau about 
Jesus. Within the one covenant community 
in the Old Testament, you had the saved and the unsaved. God, 
through Jeremiah, says the new covenant community won't be like 
that. They shall all know me from the least of them to the 
greatest of them. They are in the new covenant. 
And then he speaks of the forgiveness of sins, for I will forgive their 
iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. It's not to say no one in the 
Old Covenant had these blessings. They did, but it was not because 
of the Old Covenant, ultimately because of the New Covenant. 
You see, this is the New Covenant community. We ask the question, 
who should be baptized? The New Covenant community. Those 
who can say, the law has been internalized. My sins, oh, the 
bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole 
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. 
Praise the Lord. The one who knows the Lord. The knowledge there isn't catechetical. The knowledge there is experiential. The knowledge there is intimacy. The knowledge isn't, I know what 
the catechism says about God, but I know the God of the catechism. See, that's the New Covenant 
community. So we have a conspicuous practice 
in the book of Acts that is based on a specific commandment from 
our Lord Jesus Christ that finds its place in the covenant promises 
of God most high. That tank preaches a lot of truth. That tank tells us a lot about 
God and his saving purposes. That tank points us ultimately 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. who has the authority, who has 
the sovereign, who has the spokesman in the new covenant, has declared, 
believe and be baptized. So those are the three observations. The new covenant ordinance of 
baptism is grounded ultimately in the authority of Jesus. When 
we ask who should be baptized, As New Covenant Christians, our 
first stop ought to be what saith Jesus. Not saying we don't look at the 
Abrahamic Covenant, not saying we don't look at Genesis 17, 
not saying we don't pay any attention to circumcision, but Jesus is 
the lawgiver in the New Covenant and he has specified baptism 
for believers. Our confession says baptism and 
the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution 
appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver to be continued 
in his church to the end of the world. The brothers Renehans 
say we should remind ourselves here that baptism is a key component 
of the covenant as one of the two sacraments of the new covenant. 
It is not a minor point. It is precisely the type of thing 
for which you would want to look to the new covenant document. 
The new covenant document, the New Testament, ought to dictate 
how its own sacraments are administered. They then remind us of the larger 
reform principle of the regulative principle of worship. We don't 
do anything that isn't commanded. In the absence of a command to 
sprinkle babies, we ought to be very, very fearful of arrogating 
that particular right and prerogative. Baptism isn't going to keep us 
out of heaven. Kratos and Patos will be in heaven 
and sit with the marriage supper of the Lamb. But I don't want 
to minimize it either. We preaching in the sacrament, 
something contrary to what we preach in the gospel. That's 
a big deal. If baptism in the words of a 
of a baptist of a pedo Baptist scholar is the verbal content 
of the gospel in a nonverbal form. What do we say when we 
knowingly? and consistently sprinkle those 
who have no evidence of faith and repentance. Again, the question 
is not, can babies be saved? That's not the issue. The issue 
is who ought to be baptized? Well, hopefully along the way, 
in some of those various and sundry ramblings, you got some 
encouragement about the pain. It is a blessed pool. It is a 
wonderful event. It is a wonderful thing that 
brings us together this morning. Notice it's not just adult baptism. We believe that young people 
professing faith in Jesus Christ, evidencing the fruits of repentance, 
are worthy candidates for the waters of baptism. That is a 
good thing. And I want to encourage us and 
I want to remind us of our responsibilities as a local church. This morning, 
Calvin is going to identify with not only his Lord, but with the 
Free Grace Baptist Church. We ought to pray for him. We 
ought to encourage him. We ought to engage in those mutual 
obligations that the Church of Jesus Christ has. We ought to 
remind ourselves that not only Calvin is a baptized person in 
the life and context of this church, our mutual obligations 
to one another extend, brethren, their realities. If, as I've 
mentioned, the primary mandate of the church is to preach the 
gospel, to make disciples, to baptize those disciples, and 
to learn all that the Lord has commanded us, then we ought to 
flesh out what the Lord commands us in the life and context of 
the local church. In other words, we love one another. In other words, we pray for one 
another. In other words, we bear with 
one another, we forbear with one another, we forgive one another, 
even as God in Christ forgave us. That's our responsibility 
in the church. If you think we just come on 
Sunday and we sit here and we listen to preaching and then 
we go off on our own, please repent. Please listen to the 
Lord Jesus. Please listen to the various 
one another's throughout the scripture. Love one another. 
Sincerity. Be hospitable to one another 
without complaint. Give preference to one another. 
Pray for one another. You see, the responsibilities 
in the local church are vast and many. Well, her mission is 
to primarily do this. Doesn't mean she has nothing 
else to do. As long as our pastors or our 
preachers are giving the gospel, then we can just sit like dead 
fish and not do anything. We need to love each other. Receiving 
into the midst the sheep for whom Jesus died, pray for him. I hope you guys do pray. I hope you don't just say there's 
prayer by proxy. I know that the elders, they 
pray for the church. That's a good thing. Pray! You're so busy you 
can't pray for brethren in the church? Do you realize how blessed 
intercessory prayer is? A, for the people you're praying 
for. Well, A, for God, because God 
delights in the prayers of the upright. We shouldn't jip God 
if something that he rejoices in. Pray so that God is glorified. Be for the people that you're 
praying for. What if you get an email or you 
get, you know, a word from the pulpit or you're at the prayer 
meeting or you're mindful of the needs of something, you pray 
for them. That's good. A, God's glory, B, other people, 
and C, it has the blessed therapeutic effect of getting your mind off 
of yourself for a brief time. That's a good thing, isn't it? Isn't it? We get so caught up 
in us. We like it when everybody's praying 
for us, but me pray for others? Wait a minute. I just don't have 
the time. Really? Isn't it amazing? We have so mechanized life that 
we can, I mean, get angry if our email program doesn't open 
in five seconds. Or get angry if we have to sit 
at a red light for more than 15 seconds. It's just infuriating. We have so made life easier and 
yet we have no time to pray. I suspect we do have time to 
pray. I suspect we need to carve time out to pray. I suspect we 
need to make it a non-negotiable. I'm not trying to bind consciences, 
not trying to make you feel bad, not trying to manipulate with 
guilt. I am simply saying that as the church of Jesus Christ, 
we ought to pray for one another. And Calvin, you have responsibilities. Our confession says baptism is 
an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be 
unto the party baptized. That's you. A sign of his fellowship 
with him in his death and resurrection. That's the symbolism. You go 
into the water, you're buried in baptism, you come out as a 
new man in Jesus Christ. Again, it's the non-verbal content 
of the verbal gospel portrayed for everyone to see. And then 
it says of his being engrafted into him. of remission of sins 
and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live 
and walk in newness of life. We're not preaching moralism. 
Just make a decision, as was brought out in the last hour. 
People treat baptism as if it's just this rededication ceremony. I'm going to get baptized, so 
I'm really on fire for the Lord. That's not it at all. You are 
going in there as a sign of remission of sins. God has already done 
this in your heart and in your life. He's already taken care 
of that debt. He's nailed it to the cross. 
He has judged his son in your place. Your sins are forgiven. 
As a response to that, you rise up in newness of life and you 
go and you walk in accordance to that status. You are now in 
Christ. Live like it. Don't play games. Don't dishonor the Lord. Listen to the preacher. Fear 
God and keep his commandments. Not this preacher, the Solomonic 
preacher of the book of Ecclesiastes. Because of what God has done 
in the salvation of your soul, you now live and walk in newness 
of life unto the glory of God Almighty. That's your responsibility. Be faithful. Be earnest. All 
young people here confessing true and saving religion. Be 
faithful. Be earnest. Guard against the 
temptation of vanity. It's interesting. I started the 
study for next week's sermon on be anxious for nothing or 
the do not worry passage in Matthew 6. It's a great passage for a worrier. 
It's a great passage for a warrior. If you've got a tendency to worry, 
Matthew 6 is your place. You know, one of the things he 
says, don't worry about your clothing. Don't worry about what you'll 
wear. Now, in that society, it was oftentimes clothing was passed 
down from generation to generation. It was property. It was something 
of value within a family. He says, don't worry about something 
that is a necessity. How much more? Are you not to 
worry about something that's a vanity? You don't worry because you don't 
have that label on your shirt? That stitching on your trousers? 
What will my friends think? What does Jesus think? That's 
what you young people and you children need to think about. 
What does Jesus think? What's important with him? What 
matters most to him? That is what we need to consider. As I mentioned, finally, if you 
don't know Christ, believe on him. I'd love it if you became 
a convinced cradle Baptist. Actually, I mean, it'd be nice. It'd be great. That's, you know, 
welcome to the world of cradle baptism. You know, I don't know 
what to say there, but all that really pales in significance. 
What's important is Jesus Christ. What's important is importance 
of utmost importance is your never dying soul. Believe the 
gospel, believe on Christ, and you shall be saved. Your view 
of baptism doesn't save. Your view of covenant theology 
doesn't save. Isn't God good? If we made the decisions, we'd 
probably specify, you got to believe the 1689 in order to 
get to heaven. So we are very narrow. He doesn't believe like I do. 
What are the disciples of the Lord saying? You want us to call 
down fire from heaven against this village? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. That's the best thing you will 
ever hear. And my encouragement to you is 
to take it to heart, to believe it and to know the Lord God Almighty. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for its clarity. 
Forgive me if I've made it obscure or difficult. I pray that we 
would appreciate this ordinance of the new covenant, this blessed 
pool that Jesus has ordained for the good of His people. We 
pray for young Calvin that You would encourage his heart and 
strengthen him in the faith and cause him, Lord God, to truly 
walk in newness of life and to always remember this day Always 
remember when Christ has saved him even more importantly in 
this day as a reminder, as a representative of that truth. We just ask as 
well that you work in the hearts and lives of those who do not 
know you. We pray that you'd open hearts, cause them to receive 
the word, cause them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
to be saved. And we ask in his most blessed 
name. Amen.