Now the eleven
disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed
them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some
doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.” Matthew
28:16-20
Let’s focus on the
part of verse 19 where we are to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. It’s key that we teach new
Believers the importance of baptism and encourage them to be baptized as soon
as possible. The baptismal waters don’t
cleanse our sins, but it’s a clear and public way for a new believer to say
goodbye to their old life and symbolically begin their new walk with
Christ. This lesson came alive to me in
India a few years ago.
It was a long,
dusty road that transitioned between overcrowded towns and narrow, jam-packed
stretches of road in the countryside.
Between dodging bicycle rickshaws and tractors, my phone rang. “Brother, don’t come after all. We’ve had some political problems and it’s
not safe for you to be here.”
For the last month,
several of us missionaries were partnering with some local brothers to train Believers
to go into new places, share the Gospel, make disciples, and form new
churches. Another missionary and I were
traveling back to this little village for the graduation ceremony, but we just
found out that some secret police had been sitting in the meetings and broke
the whole thing up. Several people were
arrested and the others went back to their own villages. We had practical time each afternoon for the
students to do the things they were learning each day. As a result, plenty of people were getting
saved, which provoked a response from the local Hindus. Though it was the end
of that particular training, it was the beginning of a big movement of the Holy
Spirit. By the time the meeting was
broken up, there were already 60 new Believers who had been baptized! Those people were part of the very first
churches in the surrounding villages. A big part of this victory for God’s
Kingdom was allowing the new Believers to immediately be obedient to the Scriptures
and be baptized.
Lord, today I
pray for the churches in India, that they would raise up new leadership from
within. I pray for new Believers all over the world that they would follow You
in baptism.
