Thursday, January 18, 2018

Baptism

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.

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