 In Matthew chapter 28, beginning at verse 18, reading to verse 20, 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. When I was in college at Biola, many, many years ago now, we had a missionary who came to share with us during one of our chapels. And this missionary had served the Lord in the nation of India. And I'll never forget the story that he shared because one of the stories that he shared impacted me to the degree that the very first time I ever shared in an open fashion outside of a Bible study, the very first time I ever shared in that fashion was at a campfire in Lake Havasu. And I was sharing at a Christian kind of a get-together and one of the man who was there, his name was John, John spoke to me and said, David, you used to do drugs? And I said, yeah. He says, I think one of the people here today has been smoking some pot. Can you tell me if he has or has not? What I know. So I said, well, I'll see. And I walked up to him and started looking at him and talking to him and I walked back and I said, yeah, I think he's buzzed or something like that, some hippie talk. And so John said, it really grieves me that we're here at a Christian event and somebody smoking pot. I said, it grieves me too. And I was like 22 years old at the time, 23. And I said, it grieves me too, John. And so he said, if the Lord should place anything on your heart when we're together at the campfire, please feel free to share. So what he did is he dropped the responsibility of knocking this guy out on me. And so as we're there at the campfire, the story I had heard from this Indian missionary began to, I just began to remember it and I began to share it. And this is the story. I still remember it to this day, how that a missionary in India had spoken to a young Indian man. And the Indian man had come to him and said to him that he had heard him preaching the gospel and that he was interested in hearing more about Jesus Christ. So the missionary shared with him the fullness of the gospel. And at the conclusion of sharing with him, the missionary said to this young Indian man, would you like to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior? And the young man said to the Indian, rather to the missionary, the young man said to him, you don't know what it would cost me. And so the missionary said, well, it's gonna cost you. And began to share the normal things that we as American Christians will say as it pertains to counting the cost. And he began to share some of the things, well, you're gonna lose your friends and you're not gonna be able to drink anymore, things like that. And when he began to share with him how that, he knew what it was gonna cost this young man. The young man shook his head and said to the Indian missionary, you really don't understand what it's gonna cost me. And the missionary said to the young man, that may be so, but the claims of Christ remain true. Do you wanna receive Christ as your Lord and Savior? Will you pray? And the young Indian bowed his head and committed his heart to Christ and went his way. And so after that was concluded, the missionary felt good about it. He had brought this guy to faith in Christ. Two or three days later, there's a knock at the missionary's door and it's the local police. And they said, we need you to come with us. And so this missionary followed the local police to some dirt road outside of the village. And there was a tarp over an object. And they brought the missionary to this tarp and they removed the tarp. And there was the body of this young Indian with his head removed from his body laying next to it. And what had happened is the young Indian who had given his heart to Christ had been killed by his family. And so when he had said to the missionary, you don't know what it's gonna cost me. That's what he was speaking about. He was saying it's gonna cost me my life. And I shared that story with these young people around the campfire and I said to them, we need to understand the cost that sometimes is incurred in following Jesus Christ. And when you follow the Lord with all of your heart, there really is a cost involved. And I still remember that when that story was shared, how everybody got very quiet and then the minister, the youth minister said, why don't we take a moment and spend some time with the Lord and get our hearts right with God. You see the gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of redemption. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message that speaks of old things being passed away. Behold, all things becoming new. And the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message God ever gave to mankind whereby an individual by faith receiving can actually go to heaven. There is no other message that God ever gave to man. No other message that results in salvation. There's only one message and that's the cross of Christ. And so when people come to faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ forgives them of all their sins, cleanses them from all unrighteousness, writes their name in the Lamb's book of life, begins to work in their life throughout their life and then one day receives this person into his presence. That's the message of the gospel. And so Jesus is speaking here in Matthew chapter 28 and he's telling his disciples that they have been appointed to go out into the whole world and to preach this message, this message of the gospel. And so after Jesus died and after Jesus was resurrected, then Christian baptism came into existence. And that's what we're gonna be looking at tonight here in this passage because in a moment we're gonna go out and then we're going to have a baptism service. So Jesus is saying here, notice with me, Jesus in verse 19 is saying, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus is commanding them to go forth and make disciples of all the nations. Now, some people might ask, are we to push our beliefs on other people? Shouldn't we just leave them alone? Are not their own beliefs sufficient for them to gain access to heaven? They ask questions like, what about sincere Muslims and Buddhists? What about the Hindus, the Jews? What about those who are nature worshipers and all the rest? Is that not sufficient for them to gain entrance into heaven? If they're doing their best and trying their hardest and they're trying not to be evil and all of that, isn't that enough? Well, the Bible says in John 3.36, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him. And so Jesus says, go therefore, make disciples of all the nations. You see the commission of the churches to go and to make disciples of all the nations, the churches to go out doing the work of missions, the churches to go out doing the work of evangelism and fruit will result. But Jesus is making it very clear. The one who is to be baptized is being made into a disciple. He, in Matthew chapter 16 verse 16, it says he who believes and is baptized will be saved. So Jesus says, make disciples. What are you saying is, go out and produce lifelong learners. Teach them, teach them to observe all things that I have commanded. Now, when you first read this in verse 19 again and it says go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, very often the people will say that the commission or the main verb of this verse is the word go. And so there are entire denominational mentalities related to evangelism and missions that are related to that single word go. What's interesting is in this verse, the main verb is not the word go. The main verb in this verse is make disciples. And what Jesus was saying is very simple. He's saying go. When you go, where you go, and while you go, this is what you're to do. You're to go throughout the world, yes, but this is your task. What you're to do is make disciples. And the way a disciple is made is not just raising their hand or coming forward at an invitation. The way a disciple is made is that they follow Christ and are lifelong learners. They pursue him and they observe all things that he has commanded. And that's what he's saying in verse 20 when he says teach them to observe all things that I've commanded you. You see the one who is a disciple is the one who learns. He becomes a lifelong pupil. He's committed to imitation of the master. And so what happens is you have heard the gospel. You have received Christ as Lord and Savior. And now you follow him. You're obedient to what he has commanded. And that includes water baptism. And so water baptism isn't what saves you. And you are not baptized in order to join any church group or a denomination. You see in this baptism we're about to have, you know, we're not baptizing you in the name of Calvary Chapel. When you go in there and go into the water and some of you will be held longer under water than others. But when you're in the water, that's not in, the water itself isn't going to make you anything. The water itself doesn't have any mystical purpose and it certainly isn't that you can be a member of this organization here. You're not baptized in order to be saved because baptism is not necessary for salvation. In 1 Corinthians chapter one, verse 17, Paul said it like this. The apostle Paul 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. In 1 Peter chapter three, verse 21, the apostle Peter said, this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also. Not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, if we walk in the light, then we will have fellowship with one another and John in 1 John 1 7 says, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son will cleanse you from all sin. So the water doesn't cleanse you from all sin. The blood of Christ cleanses you from all sin. And so when you go into the water, it's a symbol. It is actually a drama that will be enacted. I wanna show you this by turning you to another passage, Romans chapter six. And let me develop this a little bit further with you in Romans chapter six, because baptism is an identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It represents our new life in the Lord. It represents the taking on of newness in Jesus Christ. When he said that they're to be baptized, the word baptized is a Greek word, baptizo. And the word means to dip or immerse, to plunge under. It was originally used in reference to dyeing cloth. I have a white T-shirt on and we have purple dye. I take the white T-shirt and I drop it in the purple dye and it's being baptized. It's taken on the color of the dye. And so the word baptized spoke about immersing or plunging under. It was used to speak of dyeing cloth. And so when we are entering in the water, we're being immersed or plunged into Christ. It's a symbol or a picture. It's a demonstration of salvation. It's a demonstration of identification with Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what Paul basically speaks about in verse three following here in Romans chapter six. He says, do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? And 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 the point he's making is very simple, when I'm gonna develop this and then we're gonna go out and practice this in just a moment. But baptism is a picture of death, burial and resurrection. When you get into the pool in just a moment, those of you who are being water baptized, the water symbolizes a grave. When you go down into that water, it's a picture of death and burial. That's what that represents, death and burial. When you come out of the water, it's a picture of resurrection. So when you go into the pool and our water baptized, you are totally identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the water itself isn't washing you and making you right with God. That took place when you gave your heart to Christ in the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleansed you from all sin. So you now have a purified conscience. And so as you go into the water, you're simply saying, I am dead and I am buried in Jesus Christ. And so when you come out of the water, you say, but now I am alive in him. It's an identification of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what God is going to do and God has done is he's going to empower you to live for him by his grace and by his spirit. Now, when you go into that water and when you come out again, it doesn't mean that you will never sin again. Because the fact is that's something that happens every day in one form or another. And it's not like you plan on doing it. Some of you may, but most of us don't. It's not as if we're saying, you know, what am I going to do? Well, I'll start with sin. I'll end with sin and in between, it's now sin. No, we don't do that. What we do is we just have a desire to do what is right before the Lord, but we're not perfect. We're not perfect. And we will sin. We will fall short of the glory of God, which is no excuse to continue in sin because Jesus Christ didn't die in a cross so that I could continue in sin. As a matter of fact, if I am dead in it to sin, then I should be actually not participating in it any longer. That's what he said basically in verses one and two of chapter six, when he said, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grays me abound? Well, certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer therein? So no, it's not an excuse to continue in sin, but it's a fact that we will. And so none of you, I believe none of you would think that, man, the minute I get in that water and come out, then I'll be perfect. No, that's not gonna happen, but it does symbolize your identification with Christ. It does symbolize that you know that you're in need of Jesus Christ. It does symbolize that you understand that Jesus died on a cross was buried on your behalf. He didn't die for his own sins. He died on behalf of us. He died for us. He's the lemma God who takes away the sin of the world. So when Jesus died on that cross and he was buried, that was it. I share this every time I do baptisms, every time I do, I'll say it very quickly. Some of you have heard this before, maybe more than once. When my grandmother died many years ago now, my father and I were standing there by the gravesite. And my dad was a man who didn't show his emotions. He was very closed. And he was a very stoic man, we're standing there by the grave. And he and I had stood there in the front of the chapel and my grandmother had an open casket and my dad and I had stood there for a moment, taking our last moments to look at my grandmother's body and all and they had closed up the casket and taken it to the gravesite. And now my dad and I, I was very close to my father. My dad and I are standing shoulder to shoulder and they take that casket. My grandma was very small. She was four foot 10. It was a little teeny casket. And they dropped that casket into the ground. And my dad was standing there very stoically and I just stood next to him. Didn't make any emotional responses at all, really, until, until that bulldozer took the dirt and pushed it and dropped it into the hole where that casket was. And when that bulldozer pushed that dirt and the dirt fell on top of that casket, I was standing right next to my dad and I heard my dad just, it just his emotion. It took everything inside of him to just keep from breaking. And I stood there and I felt my father's body as it tensed up and I heard him because when that, when that dirt was poured onto that casket, it's over. It's over. I don't know why that's true, but it is. Many of you have gone to funerals. There's something that is symbolically significant about the covering up of that grave. There's just something about it. When you go into that water and you go down, it's significant, dead and buried. But the blessing is you come back out, but alive in Jesus Christ. And that's baptism. I am dead to the old life, buried in Christ, but I'm alive in Jesus now with a new life to live. God's grace hasn't been given to me to continue in sin. God forbid His grace has been given to set me free. And dead and yet I'm alive. It's like what Paul said in Galatians 2.20, I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I am crucified in Christ. Nevertheless, I live and that's what it is. And so we are in Christ and we are united together with Him. And as that is so, we have been buried in Him, but we are alive in Him. And now we have our names that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And we can make an open demonstration of our belief that Jesus Christ is the one who gives us life. That's what's gonna happen in just a moment. We're gonna go into that pool and you're gonna come and you're gonna step in. There are gonna be several of us that are in that pool there. I'm not the only one performing baptisms and there'll be several of my staff there and servants who are served with us who will be in there. And this is how we're gonna do it. I'm going to ask you to go to the first person who's available, because sometimes you may have somebody that you really want them to baptize you and all of that and sometimes that's even me. And so, but you can't be waiting like that because the other guys are just kind of standing there going, well, what am I gonna do? And so I joined Pastor Chuck Smith years ago in Israel with two other pastor friends of mine. And Chuck said to me and my friends, can you conduct the baptisms with me? So we said, of course. And so we're all in the water with Pastor Chuck and I ended up baptizing one of the pastors and he baptized the other, because nobody wanted us to baptize them. They all wanted Pastor Chuck to do the baptism. I understand that there is a special appreciation that sometimes we have for some of our brothers in the fellowship and all of that, but I'm gonna ask you as we go in, just go to the first person who's available. What I usually will do is this, I will say what is your name and then you'll tell me and I'll pray for you and then I'll say I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then I'm gonna let you go into the water. I'm not gonna hold on to you because I did that in Israel several years ago and there was a lady who was good size, hefty, hefty, hefty and I loved her. She loved me, I can say that. But she wanted to be baptized and she was the first one and I said, she had hurt herself and she couldn't really kneel or bend down and I said, you're gonna hurt yourself if you go into the water. Why don't you let me just cup the water and just pour it on you and make a long story short. She was having none of that and I wanna be baptized like Jesus was baptized and I understood that. And I said, okay, listen, when you go down, when your knee begins to give out, which it's going to please, just try and stop. Okay, so I'm holding her wrist when she goes down and her knee went out and I still remember her eyes as they kind of bulged in pain and she grabbed me and it's real mossy and so I tried to plant so I wouldn't go down and I popped my hamstring. And you know, do you know your hamstring makes noise? I mean, you can hear it. You can hear it go snap and it went just like that and I go, okay. And so I just held her there for, so we got her out of the water. I baptized 43 other people after her with a torn hamstring. And so Bob, friend of mine, Bob Mitchell, part of our ministry was next to me and I turned to Bob and I said, I just popped my hamstring. So I'm going to put them in the water but you bring them out. And that's what we did. I had to get a shot in the whole nine yards. And so I say all of that to say this, I am not going to hold on to you. I'm going to lift my hands up. Raise her up, Jesus. Raise her up, Jesus. I'm not going to. And so I'm going to say, I baptized you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I'm going to let go of you and you'll go down and you'll come back up. And I have to tell you something about the baptisms we've done here so many times. Not every time, of course, but so many times you may be surprised at that moment of emotion that you have. This is one of those times in your life that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you're in the center of God's will. It's one of those moments. I know I am in the center of God's will. I'm getting water baptized as he commanded. It can be very emotional. And a lot of times people will hug and they'll start to cry. Many times they don't. But if you do, that's something we've seen many times. And some of you may be a little bit concerned. There are people who are still dealing with fears and fears of water or having water over your head. We understand that too. And so what I'll do is I'll, you just tell me if you come to me or whomever, just say, look at, I really don't feel comfortable putting my head under water. And what I'll do is I'll say, you go as far as you can. It's between you and the Lord. And you go as far as you can. Some of you can't even go in the water for whatever medical reasons or conditions you're having right now, but you want to be water baptized. What we'll do is you let somebody know and they'll tell one of us and I'll come or one of the guys will come to the side there where you are and we'll pray with you right there even though you're not in the water. And I'll take water and I'll just put it on you and I'll baptize you in the name of the Father sent in the Holy Spirit. And so you can be baptized if that's your limitation. God understands, I certainly don't want to force you to do something that will take the joy of this moment from you and God will meet you exactly where you're at. So that's how we're gonna do it. So in a moment what we're gonna do is I'm gonna close with prayer. Our worship team's gonna come up and sing a song. I'll be going out there, the guys, there'll be others out there, we'll be waiting for you or getting to the pool as you're lining up. We'll be circling the pool there and then they'll say is the time ready? And we'll say yes, and you'll climb up the stairs and no cannon balls or anything like that. And you'll climb on in and you'll go to the first person available. If you wanna be baptized with your husband or your wife or your children, we do that. Family baptism's beautiful. And again, the one thing I would also say is if you have a younger child, just be aware of the fact that sometimes the littler ones really don't understand what water baptism is. To them it's just getting in a pool. And you might wanna keep that in mind because my daughter Anna would tell you, she was seven years old when she got baptized, seven. She cried, we were in the Jordan River and she said, daddy, I wanna be baptized. And I said, you're not ready. Daddy, I wanna be baptized. And she started crying. And so I said, perhaps the Lord has spoken to her heart and I water baptized her, but she would tell you that she really didn't come to a full awareness of who Jesus is in her life until years later. And so I'm just letting you know, be aware of that because we don't want the children to have memories of being baptized 13 times until it finally took, you know? So let's just be aware of that.