Endtime Ministries...
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In this study we are going to be looking at the baptism of Christ and we are going to touch on the other baptisms set forth in the Bible.
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 3 verse 1: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, (2) And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (3) For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (4) And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey."
Can you imagine this man? Living on locusts and wild honey, clothed in leather? (5) "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, (6) And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."
Now what was John's baptism? It was a baptism of repentance in which the people confessed their sins - as written in verse 6 - the people confessed their sins. Note in verse 2, what is John saying? "Repent, repent ye". In other words, be sorry, turn away from the things you are doing that you know are wrong.
Why is he telling them to repent? Verse 2 gives you the answer: "Repent ye: - why? - for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Now when something is "at hand" - it means it hasn't quite arrived, it is near, but it not in place. And the kingdom of heaven is a term here referring to both the Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom age which could come in if certain conditions were met.
Of course, God knew they were not going to be met. God had fore-knowledge, but the people still had free-will! It has not arrived yet, so "the kingdom of heaven is at hand". And it is near but there is going to be a judgement of sin before one can enter into the kingdom. How do we know that? Look at verse 7:
"But when he saw man of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism..." Do you know who these are? They are religious people, and they believed things that were contrary to the Scriptures. The easy thing to remember about the Sadducees is that they did not believe in the resurrection. (A quip. They were 'Sad', you see, why? Because they didn't believe in the resurrection). So when he saw many of these people come to his (John's) baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
So John the Baptist knows just from these few verses that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and that there is wrath just around the corner.
Turn to an incredible verse which has a whole sequence of events tucked into it - 5 little points. Look at Matthew 3 verse 11, this is what John the Baptist says: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (12) Whose fan is in his hand, he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire:"
This is just to show you that sometimes things can be hidden within Bible verses. A Bible teacher of other days by the name of Bullinger, he was just an expert on this, would open up verses compare one verse with another, and find all types of hidden things in them. The Truth of God is revealed 'on the top' however, God wants people to understand in a simple way too. I do not mean a sort of Gnostic "hidden meaning" which is mystical.
Look at this: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance." Put a little dash after the word `repentance' - John is come to get them to repent. You are going to see a sequence of events in these two verses. "But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost," - put a dash after the Holy Ghost - "and with fire:"
Christ is going to usher in a day of `grace' - usher in a time when "he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost", and with fire put a dash after the word `fire'. We know this but John the Baptist didn't know this. Christ will one day appear again, in glory and in wrath. You will see this in a moment. Verse 12: "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor,and gather his wheat into the garner;" Put a dash after `garner'. What does that mean? But before He does all this purging and the rest of it, there is going to be a `Rapture' - some people are going to be taken away from all these things, He is going to put them in the `garner'.
Look at this last bit here, "But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Then His enemies are going to be consummed at the Second Coming and cast into hell.
What we are seeing here is a picture. From the word `I' up to `repentance' you have John here trying to get the people to repent. Then from the word `but' up to the word `Holy Ghost' you have Christ bringing in the `day of grace'. Then from `And with fire' you have got glory and wrath. Then you have `Whose fan' to `the garner', some people who are taken out of it and will be saved from all this. `But he will burn' up to `fire' that indicates the Tribulation period when there is going mass destruction on the earth.
John the Baptist understands about the future, even though he doesn't know all the details. We must realize that John does understand a lot more than we might think. Look at John 1 verse 33: "And I knew him not: (this is John the Baptist) but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and reImagesing on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
Note from this that John was sent by God - "but he that sent me" and in that same chapter, look at verse 6: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John".
John the Baptist had a job to do, was given a task, he was sent by God. We have seen one of the reasons why John was baptising, it was to get the Jews to repent and confess their sins, and to publicly declare that they were going to turn over a new leaf by being baptized.
Remember we did this in our last study that John had three big burdens:
1. He had this tremendous consciousness of the sin of the people. He didn't mince words, he called them vipers and snakes and so on.
2. He had this overwhelming sense of an approaching crisis. He knew that judgement day was coming and something was going to happen. And he also knew that there was a Coming Deliverer, the Messiah was about to appear. Hence John calls his people to repent and be baptized. We looked at that in our last study.
3. He also had another reason to baptize, and this is what we are going to take particular note of in this study. Look at John 1 verse 29: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! (30) This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for he was before me. (31) And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water."
Here is a question, why is John come baptizing with water? Answer - that Christ should be made manifest, to the whole world? No! To ISRAEL. Underline Israel - of the utmost importance! In fact, it is a good idea in the margin of that to write: Cf. (which means compare) Matthew 15:24. Let us just turn over to Matthew 15. This is how you make your Bible become much more valuable. This is Jesus speaking: "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel".
That is right from the Lord himself. So beside Matthew 15:24 you write Cf. John 1:31. John 1:31 - "...that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." John the Baptist is baptizing with water because he is going to make manifest to Israel (to the Jews) their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Hasn't Jesus of Nazareth been around in His carpenter's shop for 30 years? Sure He has. But He is just a carpenter and I don't say that in a derogatory sense. The Lord has not as yet had a public ministry.
At this moment, Christ Jesus is about to commence the real work for which He was born as a baby and grew up and mixed with mankind. You see in this series is entitled, "Wonders in the Work of Christ", He is about to start one of his major works.
Up until now, everything has been `preparatory'. But now, right at this point in John 1:31 the Lord Jesus Christ is about to "start work" for mankind - the work for which he came to planet earth. John the Baptist is the person who was chosen by God to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb of God. God could have just put up a sign in the heavens and make all sorts of things happen, but it doesn't work that way.
He chose instead to have a human messenger, somebody to come before - a `fore-runner' - and that was John the Baptist. John 1:31 again: "And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. (32) And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (33) And I knew him, not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me,(so John has been privvy to some information from God) - Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and reImagesing on him, the same is he which baptizeth with
Turn back to Matthew chapter 3 and look at verse 13: "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him." So here is John in the River Jordan baptizing and then he sees the Lord Jesus Christ, this carpenter if you like, as far as the people are concerned, coming down the bank. Now you think for a moment, John the Baptist was baptizing people who were sinners, he was saying to them `repent' - that is what he says in verse 2. And in verse 6, it says, "they were confessing their sins". But here is the big question, did Jesus of Nazareth have any sins?
No, he didn't, not at all! Not a single, solitary sin. How do we know? Just turn over to John chapter 8. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sinless person, he is God and he is man, but he is sinless man. In fact there are a couple of verses that really go together here. The Lord Jesus Christ says: "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."
I have told you that this is the `impeccability' of Christ. There is another verse that goes with that - write it in your margin in your Bible. Also see John 14:30. I really cannot encourage you enough to mark your Bible, neatly of course. "Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if you and I could live such righteous lives that we could say, "Satan has not got a thing against me!", and it would be true! So really you have got two comments here, "I do everything to please God; and Satan has got nothing in me."
So here is sinless Jesus of Nazareth, coming to John to be baptized, but certainly not for confession of sins. Why is He coming? Turn back to John 1:31 again, we have just read why He is coming."And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water."
Jesus Christ knew this and he is coming to John so that he can be made manifest to Israel. That is one of the reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ is being baptized.
But there is a lot more to it than that. Look at John's reply to that in Matthew 3:13: "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. - what happened? verse 14: "But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"
See what John is saying here? I have need to be baptized of thee. Does John mean baptized - by baptism by water in the river? Yes or No. See John is a man who is full of the Holy Ghost, even before he is born. Remember we looked at that last time in Luke chapter 1 verse 13-15. He was full of the Holy Spirit, even in his mother's womb.
They would say here that he is meaning to be baptized with water. It doesn't mean that at all. Because look at verse 11: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worth to bear; he shall baptize you with - what with? - the Holy Ghost, and with fire."
John plainly states that he (John) baptizes with water, but Christ baptizes with the Holy Ghost. So is John saying here in verse 14 - "but John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?"
But look at the answer which Jesus gives to him in verse 15: "And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him."
I think this is where the King James Bible is so thrilling and accurate. Look at the word `suffer' - all the modern versions, they either change that word or they totally leave it right out. That is an important little word `to suffer', means to allow. If you put up with something, you allow it and you suffer from putting up with it. Look at verse 15 again: "And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all rightousness. Then he suffered him." See these words indicate the purpose of water baptism clearly. What is it? It is not absolutely necessary. How do we know? Since Jesus had no sin to confess, He had no need of repentance. This verse alone, and there are plenty of other verses, it says, "Suffer it to be so now." Then He "suffers" him - he `allowed' him.
For the sake of manifesting Himself to Israel He submits Himself to a ceremony in the water. What is it? It is a declaration, He is declaring, but it is much more than that, He is also identifying with mankind. Now let us not forget that this man, Jesus of Nazareth is perfect man, but He is perfect God, but he is by going down in the water like all these other Pharisees and Sadducees and all the others, he is declaring his humanity and identifying himself with mankind.
You remember in Isaiah 53 verse 12 it said, "He was numbered with the transgressors". He was counted as being with fallen mankind, although not Himself a sinner. Jesus didn't need to be baptised, but he said to John "Suffer it to be so."
Now, we as believers, don't need to be baptized in water for salvation. Amen. Of course not, and yet in what we have just seen a perfect picture as to why we should want to go through the waters of baptism. It is simply a declaration. Christ manifested himself to Israel, the Jews, and we manifest our salvation to the world by baptism.
This is clear if you look at verse 16: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him."
He went up straightway out of the water, so that has to be baptism by immersion, he wasn't sprinkled with water from some little silver container. And Christ's going down into the water is a picture of death, under the water is burial - which we shall see later on in Romans - and coming up out of the water, it is a resurrection. So you are getting a death, a burial and a resurrection.
But before we look at Matthew 3:16 in detail, maybe we should think for a moment about believers' baptism for you and for me, in this age in which we now live.
Turn to Romans 6. We don't get baptized because the Lord Jesus Christ got baptized, but there is a very good picture for us there, unless we are totally blind, we must have seen it. Verse 1, you are a believer, you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, should you get baptized? It is not going to alter your salvation one little scrap.
"What shall we say then, Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Remember this is Paul speaking to we Gentile believers). (2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (3) Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ - that means we are born into the body of Christ, it has nothing to do with baptism in water - were baptized (1 Corinthians 12:13 - by one Spirit are we baptized into the body of Christ, this is what this passage is talking about) into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
(5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." One glorious day we are going to have a body like unto the Lord's, when our resurrection occurs when we get to meet the Lord in the air. Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man - that is the old part of us - is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
Before this study began, I was talking with someone earlier about this wretched `old man' this old `Adam' that still has great influence over us and makes us do the things we don't want to do - you see we are still in the old body. While we are on this earth, we still have the old body with all its weaknesses, but when we go up at the Rapture, we leave all that behind.
In these verses 1-6 in Romans 6, Paul is talking and is saying that believers' water baptism is a ceremony performed to manifest the believers' unity in Christ. Do you know what believers' baptism is? It is a burial ceremony. We are being buried. In fact turn over to Colossians 2:12: "Buried with him in baptism - you can't miss it there, can you? - it is a burial service - wherein also ye ARE risen with him (put a ring around `are'), ARE risen with him - precent and future tense, not will be, but are! through the faith of the operation of God - put a ring around `of' - not our faith, it is the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." You see God raised the Lord Jesus Christ - it was the faith of the operation of God who has raised him from the dead. And it is through that same faith of the operation of God that ye are risen with him. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith.
What did Paul say to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16? Remember he said, "What must I do to be saved?" Did he mention anything at all about baptism? No, he didn't. Turn to Acts 16 for a moment. You might think we are going around in circles, but this is a good time to consider this. Acts 16 - you know the story, Paul and Silas are in jail and they had their feet in the stocks, it was the middle of the night and they are singing and so on. There is an earthquake. Verse 25: "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (They had already been beaten a few times etc.) (26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
(27) And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. (28) But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
(29) Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas (30) And brought them out, and said, (now this is a very important verse because this is written to Gentiles, to us, this is Paul speaking in the dispensation of the age in which we are living). Sirs, (he shows respect) what must I do to be saved? "
Now you could not get a better and easier question than that. Someone asks you, "What must I do to be saved?" What does Paul say? (31) "And they said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,- and be baptised? No, he doesn't say that! - and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And the reference here is "and thy house", they shall be saved if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ also. How do we know? Look at verse 34: "And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house."
Verse 30, "...what must I do to be saved?" And the answer in verse 31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Baptism is not necessary for salvation, salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, acceptance of what He did on the cross. And yet what happens? Look at verse 32, "And they spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house."
You see words are necessary, a person cannot be saved, I believe without a word being spoken, or being read or being heard. God uses words, this Bible is a book of words. "And all that were in his house." If you want a verse for that just put Romans 10:17 - words are necessary.
Verse 33: "And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he and all his, straightway." They are baptized - as a witness, the same as the Lord Jesus Christ's baptism was a witness to the people, He was being declared, manifested, to the Jews. We are not manifested to the Jews, but there is an application here, with us it is a witness.
Now let us get back to Matthew chapter 3 and we are looking at the Lord Jesus Christ being baptized. Matthew 3:16: "And Jesus, when he was baptized went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. (17) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Note we get here for the first time the three persons of the Godhead appear in these two verses. The Father's voice is heard from heaven as the Spirit descends like a dove, on to the Son who is coming out of the water. This is a picture of the doctrine of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Look what the Father says, this is important: "This is my beloved son in whom - `I am pretty keen'? No. - In whom I am well pleased," - obviously, therefore, the Lord's baptism is a very important and a significant event in his earthly life. Why?
Well, the Father is expressing His pleasure and for this to happen, the heavens have to open up (in verse 16). Can you recall another time, (this is a digression) when God the Father spoke to Jesus like this?
Turn with me to Matthew 17 and you will find almost the identical words. Verse 1, this is the transfiguration. "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. (2) And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (3) And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. (4) Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses and one for Elijah. (5) While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him."
It is almost the same except for the three words, "hear ye him". We will find the significance of this later on. So if you want to make your Bible really talk, in the margin beside verse 17 of Matthew 3 write Cf. Matthew 17:5, and in Matthew 17:5 put in the margin there, Cf. Matthew 3:17. Then your Bible starts to come alive.
Obviously God the Father was pleased about the transfiguration, but He was also pleased about the Lord's baptism. Now back to Matthew 3:17, you have to realise that this is a Unique Son. "My beloved Son", Christ Jesus was the firstborn Son of God, just turn over to Romans 1:3: "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (4) And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"
He is born of God, made of the seed of David according to the flesh, but of course conceived from the Holy Spirit. He is also the only begotten Son - begotten or conceived. John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son..." He is the only person who has ever been begotten of God the Father, and therefore all the modern versions, almost without exception, exclude the word "begotten", why? Because it sets the Lord Jesus Christ apart.
You may not realise it, but we also, as believers, are `sons of God'! You didn't realise that you are a son of God if you are born again? Male or female. Well look at John 1 verse 12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
As many as received him - have you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Yes? Well verse 12 says you are a son of God. But you are not a `begotten' son of God. You see we have human fathers, as Jesus had only a human mother, He was begotten of God, you see the difference?
This one final thing that we need to realise, that when Christ went into the water and was baptised, He was indicating, and I believe this is very important, He was indicating His willingness to come to be the servant of Jehovah, the servant of God, he was going to be a servant.
Turn with me to Isaiah 42. This was written several hundred years before the Lord Jesus Christ walked this earth. Verse 1: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him." What happened when the Lord Jesus Christ went down in the water and He was baptised? The Holy Spirit came upon Him - "he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles" - that is going to happen. (2)"He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street."
Christ was never a `radical'. It is a good verse. Sure he cast the money changers out of the temple and he got angry and did other things, but he was not a radical. He was not one of those `rent-a- crowd' we so often see at demonstrations. He did not act in an unseemly manner, He was not given to civil disobedience, He did not abuse people or seek to win by political means. He knew prayer was the might and power, not street marches!
(3) "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgement unto the truth. (4) He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgement in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law."
You see the Cross of Calvary, the wondrous Cross, on which the Prince of Glory died, was not a failure, as some misguided people think. The point I am making in this section is in verse 1: `Behold my servant .... I have put my Spirit upon him'.
Turn over to Isaiah 61, and this is the passage which the Lord Jesus Christ read in the temple as recorded in Luke chapter 4.18. Isaiah 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (2) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, (and remember in Luke 4:18, that is where He closed the book) and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn."
What we are seeing is, Jesus Christ is a preaching servant, He has been anointed. That anointing for service came upon Him when the Holy Spirit came down at His baptism. So we come to that stage in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ where He has declared himself to the world as the Son of God by his baptism.
I thought it was too good an opportunity - before going on to the next segment - to touch briefly on the many baptisms that are in the Bible.
The Cross is the `Baptism of Suffering'. Then after the Cross you have the 40 days before Christ ascended into heaven, Acts 2:6. This is when Pentecost occurred and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit took place.
Then in Acts 2:38 you have got Peter baptising. In Acts 8 you have Philip and the eunuch. In Acts 10 you have got Peter where he is involved with a Gentile, Cornelius. Paul, of course, was saved on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, but somewhere between Acts 9 and Acts 15, a lot of things happen to Paul. Acts 15 and Galatians 2:2. Paul speaking to the Philippian jailor in Acts 16. Then right through to Acts 28 which is about AD63.
Then it comes on to the Disciples, the Apostles and up to about Acts 12 and all the baptisms we see there are so-called `repentance baptisms'; baptisms where there is repentance.
Then you have Paul preaching `grace' - we don't know exactly when it was but certainly by Acts 13 he is well into his ministry. But some people think that Paul first of all was preaching `law' and then he was preaching `grace'.No, not at all - Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, then he was taken into the wilderness, the Lord took him into the desert somewhere and gave him all the knowledge he had. He didn't teach it to him, he `gave' it to him.
When Paul comes through this, he is fully on fire for the Lord and is preaching grace, grace, grace! The baptism for testimony.
There is more than one baptism in the Bible, and they differ from one another, therefore it is absolutely essential to rightly divide the Word if we are to understand.
New Testament Baptism began with John the Baptist and we have been looking at that in this study. John's baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord commanded John to do so. God identified His Son and John recognised that Jesus was the Son of God and so on.
I don't have to worry about John's water baptism if I am already in Christ - down under the water and up again, that is all taken care of.
The Baptism of Suffering - the Cross. In Matthew 20:22 it talks about `the baptism'. You can see the Bereans say that there is only one baptism. The Church of Christ say that unless you are baptised you cannot be saved - that is one extreme, the other is the Bereans who say there is no such thing as Believers' Baptism - this is confusion, and error.
Commence with verse 20: "Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children (that is James and John)- with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. (21) And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
(22) But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
(23) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
You must remember at this stage, the Lord Jesus Christ has not been crucified and this refers to an event which is still in the future. That is to do with His Suffering.
Christ came down from heaven, He suffered the wrath of God against Sin, He died upon the Cross and then He arose, and went back up to heaven.
So when He died on Calvary's cross, He calls it `baptism' - it is a baptism of death, down under the 'water', and then back up again. But of course, James and John, the sons of Zebedee do suffer and they are martyred, thus fulfilling what was said in verse 23.
Peter baptised two baptisms. First of all to the Jews and later on to the Gentiles. Now to the Jews in Acts 2:38, this is the key verse which some people of the Church of Christ use. Look at verse 36: "Therefore - Peter is talking to all of them around about - Jews, Jews, Jews - let all of the house of Israel - that is who he is talking to, not the Gentiles - know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (37) Now when they - the house of Israel - heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do - to be saved? - it doesn't say that does it? - that is what the Church of Christ put in there. They don't say that, they say `what shall we do, we have gone and crucified the Messiah'. Now to verse 38:
"Then Peter said unto them, - believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? No! He says - Repent, - in other words, be sorry for what you have done! - and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
It is a totally different thing. It is written down "what shall `we' do?" in view of the fact that you are right, Peter, and we nailed him to the Cross, what shall we do? And Peter said `Repent'! You can read all that.
You know the story about Peter going to the house of Cornelius. Three times it says Peter is reluctant to go to the Gentiles and three times God has to show him, and even then Peter is not fully convinced and the Holy Spirit speaks to him and he finally goes. He is a reluctant preacher.
Baptism with the Gentile believers was a testimony of a change which had already taken place in the life, it had nothing to do with the repentance of Acts 2:38. See the difference?
Water baptism by Paul. We will spend just a few seconds on this as we have dwelt on this before. See the Bereans say there is only one baptism, because there is one baptism for salvation (1 Cor. 12:13 which says "by one Spirit are all baptised into the body of Christ). But there are a lot of other baptisms too.
Water baptism for the Church Age is an outward testimony of an inward change which has taken place in the believer. The famous scene in Acts 18:8 - that was Crispus, the person in charge of the synagogue and is baptized afterwards.
Some say Paul was not sent to baptise and Paul did not baptise. But Paul did baptise, he baptised the whole household of Stephanis, he baptised Lydia, he baptised the household of the Philippian jailer and we have just read about that. He baptised Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue and many Corinthians. He baptised the 12 disciples of John the Baptist and that is at the end of Acts.
So he did baptise and this list represents a conservative number of at least 40 people and there was probably a much larger number.
Christ Jesus sent Paul to preach the gospel, not to baptise. Yet Paul did baptise because of the examples we have just listed, so did he disobey God? Not at all! He was obedient to the Lord that he preached the Gospel and he kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). And Paul gets agitated in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 because some carnal Corinthians had such a rotten testimony and misunderstanding of baptism, and they were glorying as to which person had baptised who.
Note that every one of them had been baptised. Let us not ignore that. Paul's ministry was preaching the Gospel which he did, but baptism was a personal response of testimony by the believer - the believer asked to be baptised, so Paul did so.
Baptism into the Body of Christ - this is the one baptism. It is the one essential baptism. If you haven't got this baptism, then you are not a Christian. "By one Spirit" (1st Corinthians 12:13) This is a verse you should know by heart:
"For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
We have been made to drink. What is that one body? "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular".
It says in Ephesians 4:4, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) One God and Father of all, who is able all, and through all, and in you all."
Sure, in the `one baptism' he is talking about, is one `essential' baptism, and one `essential' body, and one `essential' Spirit and you will get that very easily from the context. He is talking about quality, not quantity, unity not quantity. All who are saved are unified in one baptism, one body, and Spirit. The SAME!
Turn to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 6: "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel."
Put a ring around those words `same body'. "There is one body".
It is the same body, the essential body.
You will see a little verse in Romans 12:5: "More than one body, more than one Spirit, more than one hope, more than one Lord, more than one faith, more than one baptism." I mean if you are going to be a nit-picker like some are, there is certainly more than one body and there they are all listed, Philippians 1:20, Ephesians 5:28, Ephesians 5:30. There is more than one Spirit - there are the evil spirits and the Holy Spirit. There is more than one Hope, more than one Lord. Abraham's wife calls him `Lord', so there is more than one Lord.
There is more than one faith, and more than one baptism. We read in Matthew 3:11, and here is an interesting thing, three baptisms are mentioned in that one verse alone!
Then there is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit by Christ - Christ himself said that He was the baptiser, and He baptised His disciples with the Holy Spirit. Take particular notice of that word "with". This event took place at Pentecost, Acts 2.
The baptism, which is the baptism of fire, which has to do with the Tribulation period, that is coming up very shortly, and indeed the baptism of fire can be associated with persecution and martyrdom in any age, and it also obviously has to do with hell and the Lake of Fire because it talks about this fire being unquenchable.
(This transcript and previous ones have been gleaned from the first eight tapes in the series which number 24 in all. The introduction alone has been incorporated here(in these 8 tapes), therefore the Works of Christ per se have not been brought out fully...we have no intention to prepare the others for online in the forseeable future, due to lack of time and space on this site).
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