 Matthew chapter 28. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them and when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted. Then Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age. Amen. Now we're not going to go through this in a thorough manner if I were teaching this on a Sunday I'd be taking a lot of time to develop a lot of things because there are quite a number of things I will not be touching on tonight but I want to give to you enough information to help you understand a little bit about water baptism. I want to begin by pointing a couple things out here and I'm going to develop something for you as I do so but I want you to notice something that's pretty pretty obvious if you were to take the entire context of Matthew into consideration as you look at verse 16 I want you to notice as we begin how it simply says then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee the eleven disciples as we begin notice there are no longer twelve twelve apostles the fact is all began the race but not all finished one of the marks of a disciple one of the marks of being a genuine follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and I would say it's a first mark at least found here in Matthew and I want to give you a few marks of disciples if you will one of the first evidences the first mark would be to persevere all had begun the race but not all finished Judas is no longer counted as one of the twelve and instead of being mentioned at all he simply omitted from the number and that's why Matthew says then the eleven disciples when he says the eleven disciples the disciples is in reference to the apostles and so all began the race Jesus had appointed twelve all began with him but not all finished with him so it's not just the beginning it's a continuing and concluding so one of the marks of a disciple one of the ways that you know that you are genuine is the simple perseverance holding fast to the very end many run a race but not all finish it not all people run the race lawfully some are disqualified when Paul was writing to the Corinthians in first Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24 he said it like this do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize he goes on to run in such a way that you may obtain it and so one of the marks that you are genuinely a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is that you hold fast to the end that's what disciples do we don't begin and then just drop out we may stumble at times we will have difficulties at times we don't always run in the direction that we'd like to sometimes we may veer to one side or the other we're obviously commanded by God not to do so but our flesh sometimes is so great the temptations can be so difficult that we can yield but we get back into the race we get back into the race and so one of the things we know here is that Judas began but Judas didn't finish one of the marks of a disciple is not only do we begin that race we continue that race and we finish and so that's the first thing I wanted to observe Judas is no longer counted as one of the 12 he's simply omitted from the number now as we look at this passage in verse 16 again it says the 11 disciples went away into Galilee notice to the mountain Galilee is to the north when you look at the nation of Israel on a map you can look and see in the northern region it's called the Galilee the southern region is is Judah and and that which is south of it and normally when you're looking at your New Testament you're looking at the Gospels it will speak of it events that took place around Jerusalem or events that took place around the Sea of Galilee and so what we find here is that the 11 Apostles went to Galilee but notice it says to the mountain which Jesus had appointed to them now Jesus had promised to meet them in Galilee and Matthew 20 26 32 Jesus had said but after I have been raised I will go before you to Galilee so he had said after my resurrection I'm going to go before you into the north in chapter 28 verses 7 and 10 that is basically repeated so apparently Jesus had not only stated that he would be in Galilee but he also had a place picked out for them to meet him now when you spend time looking at your Bible in your New Testament Jesus often ministered to them on sites that are referred to as a mountainside or a mountain for example a mountainside is where he gave the greatest message that it was ever given it's called the sermon on the mount it's also on a mountain that he chose his 12 disciples mark 313 said Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted you see a mountain involved in the feeding of the 5000 because this took place at the foot of a mountain according to John chapter 6 the transfiguration event occurred on a mountain in Matthew chapter 17 the Bible tells us he wept over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives we know that he gave what is called the Mount of Olives discourse in Matthew 24 we know that at his ascension that Jesus Christ actually ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives according to Acts chapter 1 here a mountain is being referred to where he gives what is called the Great Commission and so he calls them and he had told them I will go before you and I will meet you at this particular location so a second thing I want to point out about being a disciple one is you persevere and two is second the second one would be simply obedience that you are obedient to him this is simple obedience simple obedience places them in a position of usability it's been said ability is not as important as availability and so one of the things that disciples learn and this is this is so basic all of us know it but I want to reiterate it one of the things that you will learn and I could give a longer message on this and I'm beginning to think of things and I'm going to have to tell myself please don't go there just say the things you prepared because as I'm looking at this my mind starts kind of going and you know what it's telling me say this but I'm saying no I will not well I'll say a little bit I was thinking about it what is the mark of a disciple one disciple persevere's to simple obedience how do I know what to obey do I obey my feelings do I obey what people feel that I should obey what I obey is the word of God in the leading of the Holy Spirit and it's not as simple in terms of its complexity as it sounds when you say it it's actually very deep when you say that you follow the word and you follow the leading of the Spirit that's actually a very deep concept it's not a lightweight thing there are a lot of people who say oh yeah I understand that I do that when in reality they really don't for a very basic reason one is they're constantly quenching the Holy Spirit in their life and two they don't read the Bible and yet when you speak to them they'll say oh yeah I followed the leading of the Spirit when in reality what they're saying is I I follow the impulses that I might have the thoughts that I have or the feelings that I have and so it takes a while and takes a maturity for us to be able to rightly divide the word of God in other words to take the passage of scripture in its context to understand what was its purpose and what it intends to say and then to put that into practice simple obedience really rests on rightly dividing the word of God and obeying what God's word has to say and when you do that when you simply obey even what seems to be the most simple things the basic things God meets you in a very special way turn with me for a moment please I'm gonna make you exercise by turn to John chapter 14 for a moment I want to illustrate from scripture John chapter 14 in verse 21 in verse 21 of John chapter 14 he who has my commandments and keeps them it is he who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him he who has my commandments and keeps them it is he who loves me now in verse 23 Jesus said if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him what is one of the ways that you demonstrate your love for God what did Jesus say you'll keep his word what you're doing tonight those of you who are being baptized is you're keeping his word Jesus said to go and baptize disciples you in obedience to that are demonstrating that even the simple command of being baptized is something that you desire and I like to tell people that when your water baptized it is one of those moments in your life that you beyond a shadow of a doubt can experience the joy of obedience because God has said go out and be baptized and so it's one of those moments in your life when your water baptized that God will meet you in a very very special way turn it on back to Matthew chapter 28 obedience is a mark of a disciple simple obedience go and I'll meet you and he does now they're there at this place he called them to and in verse 17 continuing it says and when they saw him they worshiped him some doubted so a third thing about being a disciple one is you persevere to you obey three you worship when they saw him they worshiped the moment Jesus appeared as disciples began to worship him it's interesting how it says some doubted perhaps they could not see him clearly maybe it was a distance and at first they didn't know for sure that was him but we need to remember that only up the apostles and a few of the women had seen Jesus alive and so it would have been a little bit difficult for them to really grasp what was taking place many of them and yet a third mark is that you worship the Lord I've been sharing on Wednesday night in our revelation study how that worship and we've been looking at worship out of chapter 6 and 7 and just this last week it says in Revelation chapter 7 that that heaven and this is it was kind of amazing to some people I'm sure the first time you've ever seen this that heaven is actually a loud place some people have this idea that heaven is a very quiet place that people kind of sit around kind of muttering under their breath or whatever that's not the picture that you get when you're looking at worship in heaven worship in heaven is loud and it says so and there are millions upon millions who are shouting praise to God and they're falling on their faces before the Lord and I've been sharing on Wednesday night I'm not going to ask you to start shouting and I'm not going to ask you to start falling all over on the on the on the ground with your faces smashed against the carpet and I'm not saying that but I've been saying that if you think that worship is quiet you're wrong worship is with all of your soul it's all that's within you you know I've seen some people really get into some secular songs and they scream at the top of their lungs and they're really going for it I think some of the funny times I've had is when I've seen somebody in a car next to me who's playing music obviously that they like and they're just swinging their heads around and singing like crazy people there you can't hear them thank God but they're really going for it right years ago here in this church when we used to meet in Ontario we had a very small auditorium and our speakers were stand-up standalone speakers and they were in the front of the stage and if I stepped off the steps it was only like two steps and I was on the floor and if I took two steps I'd be in the front row that's how small the place was the the platform was so short that if I had somebody over six foot six it's possible that if they stood on the tip toes they could hit the ceiling that's how small the place was and I can remember I had a brother that came to teach that I was afraid he was going to get stuck on the ceiling he was really tall and but the music's always been a little loud we've had people in the past say can you turn it down a little bit and the answer is no but we had a an 80-something year-old lady who used to sit in the front row 80 something the music was a little loud so I spoke to her grandson his name was Steve I said Steve your grandma seated in the front row and the music kind of loud I said doesn't it hurt her ears and I'll never forget his answer he said no she just turns her hearing aid down it doesn't bother her at all heaven is filled with loud worship and praise one of the elements of your life one of the things that marks you as a disciple very simply put is you're a worshiper and when these people saw Jesus Christ they worshipped him when they saw him the Bible says they worshiped now as this is taking place and we'll move into and close Jesus verse 18 came 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 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you low I am with you always even to the end of the age and so Jesus comes he speaks to them and notice he says all authority has been given to me and as he speaks concerning this authority that has been given to him he gives him a commission he says go in verse 19 go therefore make disciples of all the nations we need to remember that in Judaism in the the Jewish religious system the temple was the central place of all worship that the Jews would actually gather together males were mandated above a certain age if it's if the capable of being there three times a year to assemble in Jerusalem it was the place to worship God but after the resurrection the temple of God is now to go out to the people and the temple of God is not just going to the Jewish nation but the temple of God is to go out throughout the world and there's a mission and that's what he's saying he's saying to teach all nations literally to make disciples and so the commission when he says go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you when you look at this and this is something else for us to see tonight as he's saying to go now many times people will say that in the great commission that's what you're looking at right now in verse 19 that the command or the main verb would be go and so they'll say that's what you're to do you're supposed to go and then you can have missions conferences that are really built on going and so you'll have missionaries who gather and they'll say you need to go you need to go Jesus said go but I want you to note something the main verb here and it's very important for me to point this out to you the main verb here is not the word go the main verb is to make disciples what Jesus is saying here literally is this you are going to leave this place the Holy Spirit is going to baptize you you are going to leave this place but you have a commission the commission that you have is to make disciples it's not just leaving it's going out with this word teaching them he said to observe all that I have commanded you that's the commission the commission of the body of Christ is to go out and to teach the world about Jesus Christ now the reason that you will come to this church and you'll get a verse by verse teaching of the word of God is that's what Jesus taught us to do and that's what disciples do is you get into the word of God you're not one of these people who just get up in the morning and say well I've heard that I ought to have something called morning morning devotions I'm not sure what that is maybe it just means that I should just trust the Lord to give me something for the day and there are some people who open the Bible and just put the finger down and say okay what do you have for me today that's called bibliomancy and it's not proper but that's what they'll do and so they put their hand down there and that there can be danger in that because they may put the hand down like someone one time did what do you have for me today and they put the hand down and said Judas went out and hanged himself and they said oh boy that can't be for me I'll have to ask the Lord God are you sure that's what you want and then they swing the Bible open go out and do the same oh no you know and so Jesus taught us to go out he said make disciples of all nations he said teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you and so part of being a disciple is to share your faith as you've been equipped to do so what is it that the world needs today well I believe very strongly that the world needs today amongst many things the world needs today people who are willing to go out and share what Jesus has done and that's what God has called us to do now as you make disciples this is what we'll look at and we'll get to this now he says you baptize them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit let's turn to Romans chapter 6 and I'll give you a few thoughts and then we'll go out to the pool and practice what we're preaching baptizing them the outside or outer emblem of being born again is baptism it's immersion in water the immersion in water symbolizes your death and resurrection in Jesus Christ the Bible teaches that we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ baptism represents our understanding of this we are baptized in order to be visibly identified as a follower of Jesus Christ we are not baptized in order to join a church we're baptized because we're right with God we're not baptized in order to be saved because baptism is not necessary for salvation Paul in first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 17 said it like this he said Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect so baptism isn't necessary for salvation but it does demonstrate that you have been saved and it's an act of obedience when you follow the Lord in baptism baptism is a picture of identification it's a picture of our identification with the death barrel and resurrection of Jesus Christ baptism represents our new life in Jesus Christ and it represents us taking on a newness in the Lord the word baptize is the word baptize so in Greek it means to dip or immerse it speaks of plunging under it was originally used in reference to dying a cloth so baptism is a visible demonstration of salvation and identification with Jesus Christ now in Romans chapter 6 verse 3 Paul said it like this do you not know that as many of us as we're baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in newness of life for if we have been united together in the likeness of his death certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin and so we're baptized we're identifying when you step into the pool in a moment and you enter into the water you're going to walk up to one of us where there are going to be several of us that are circling the pool there and I'm going to ask you to go to the person who hasn't anybody there with them sometimes people say well I want that person to baptize me and if it opens up that that's possible that's great if it doesn't that's great too you're being water baptized but I'll ask you to go to that person when you walk up to that person they're going to ask you what's your name and you'll give them your name and they'll pray for you and sometimes people will come with their family there are times that I've baptized two or three people four people at the same time where they'll hold hands and the whole family will be baptized it's beautiful when that happens sometimes people will not walk in I should say this while I'm speaking about this sometimes people cannot climb the ladder sometimes they have physical inability to go into the water they can't be water baptized by climbing into the pool and so if you're of that stripe if that's your situation right now you just can't get into the water but you want to be baptized all you need to do is speak to one of the ushers who will be right there they'll let one of us know and we'll go to the side of the pool where you're at and we'll just cup some water in our hand and we'll just pour it on you now that's okay I baptized my father in my bathtub at home and it's okay the Lord didn't say to him were you baptized in the Jordan were you baptized in a pool no I was baptized in a bathtub sorry go to hell he's not going to do that you know because it's not the water that cleanses you it's the blood of Christ keep that in mind and it's okay now I would prefer in most of us would because the word immersed baptized speaks of immersion and that's why we immerse and but it's okay to be water baptized with just the sprinkling of water also because it's a symbol of what took place in your life and so some of you may want to do that now when you're standing with me or one of us we will say I baptize you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit when you go down into the water that is a picture of death and burial when you come out of the water that is a picture of resurrection to new life so you are baptized in the name of Jesus I am dead in Christ nevertheless I live and that's the picture it's called an enacted drama it's it's something that you're actually enacted parable it's a drama that enables you to portray visually what has taken place spiritually and that's why baptism is such a beautiful thing it's because when you step in the water you're saying to everybody around you I'm a follower of Jesus Christ when you step into that water and you go wonder you're saying I am dead and I am buried when you come out of that water you say and I'm alive in Jesus Christ there's something about entering into that water that typifies death that has a very powerful message I've shared this and I share this most every time I do baptism here in the church some of you have heard me say this before when my grandmother went to be with the Lord my dad and I were standing in the front of the of the chapel and my dad was very stalked my dad was a strong man this is mama his mama has died a few days away from his birthday and close to her own birthday she was I believe 92 years old and I was standing shoulder to shoulder with my father and there was the coffin of my grandmother a little four foot 10 woman in this casket my dad and I are standing I was very close to my father and we're standing there and I still remember the conversation we had when my father says look at her hands David my grandma had real arthritic hands they were all gnarled from from just arthritis and age and he said to me see those hands I said yes I do they made a lot of tortillas I said I remember daddy as we would go to my grandma's on Saturdays and grandma always had fresh tortillas for us I said I remember daddy and he said she used them on my head more than once and I said I'm sure she did but my father was just real quiet he was one of these quiet men and so they closed the casket they take her to the grave site I'm standing next to my father and as we stand there they lower the casket everybody has pretty much left except my dad and me everybody has disappeared but dad wanted to remain just a moment longer and here comes this this little bulldozer and as I'm standing next to my dad they take the dirt that had been piled up there at the side of the grave and they shoved the dirt on top of the casket of my grandmother and it was at that moment that I heard my father sob you just lost it I heard him just sob why because for my dad the dirt covering that coffin it's over he saw that it's over my mama's gone when you go into that water and you go underneath it you are dead your old man that's sinful man he is dead and buried in Jesus Christ but when you come out that's newness of life and that's something that ought to cause us great joy because we're alive in Christ dead descent and alive in him and that's what the emblem is that's what the picture is we go under the water we're identified with his death is burial we come out of the water and we are raised it's a picture being raised by the from the dead by the glory of the father and we are reminded that we are united together in the likeness of his death but we are also looking forward to the life that we have because of the spirit Jesus had said behold I will be with you always even until the end of the age until I come to judge the world until I come to rule on earth I want you to remember I will be with you so even now he was telling his disciples as you go while you go where you go make disciples and as you make these disciples I want to remind you I will be with you