BAPTISM, THE FIRST STEP IN OBEDIENCE
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." — Mark 16:16.
Charles Spurgeon preached one Sunday Morning in 1889 and said these words; "IF our congregations were what they ought to be, it would be a very simple matter to preach, for a sermon would then only need to be like the orders given by a commanding officer to his troops, short, sharp, plain, clear, distinct. Our hearers would not want illustrations and metaphors; they would ask simply to be told what they must do to be saved; and the more plainly they could be told, the better pleased would they be."  
I am going to try this morning to preach that kind of sermon by plainly speaking of the way of salvation. If you want to be saved, listen to my message. If you do not care for salvation, ignore what Iam about to say!  My text is preceded and followed by other important words, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." 

The message then is for who?  Jesus said it was for "every creature." Wherever there is a man, woman, or child (intelligent creatures), the gospel is to be preached to such a person. You who are gathered here this morning are clearly within that description, and so...the gospel is to be preached to you!  This message is sent to every person because every person needs it . Whether the creature knows it or not, he is lost, lost by nature, and lost by practice,  so much lost that he cannot save himself; he needs to be saved.  Right now where you are sitting...if you have not believed in Christ, you are lost, and you cannot save yourself; and you begin by believing that fact. But you can rejoice that there is sent to you a gospel which can save you, a gospel which is adapted and meant for the salvation of just such a person as you are; because to you God says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."

Sad to say that some believers have never preached that message to anybody; Iam talking about the VERY PEOPLE who are commanded to preach it to every creature!  One preacher said that "If some of God’s people were paid one hundred an hour for all that they have done for their Lord, they have not earned enough yet to buy a loaf of bread!"; and I am afraid that statement is true.   An army chaplain once said to the Duke of Wellington, "Do you think that it is of any use our taking the gospel to the hill tribes in India? Will they ever receive it?" The duke replied, "What are your marching orders?" That was the only answer he gave. To you who are sitting in this church every Sunday I say to you "WHAT ARE YOUR MARCHING ORDERS?" Look around you (who you work with, your family members, your neighbors), and tell them this simple message-"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."   *I want to do my part this morning to preach a few words concerning belief, baptism; being saved. 
I.-BELIEVING. 
This is the main point, this is the hinge of salvation, because the bible says, "he that believeth in Christ is not condemned; he that believes in him has everlasting life." (John 3)
*What is to be believed?
You are to believe that you have broken the law of God, and that consequently you are under condemnation; but that God, in his infinite mercy, has sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world that you might live through him. His Son Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin, lived the perfect life you and I could not live...He had feelings just as we do, and was in all respects a true man!  Then when he was 33 years of age, he gave his perfect life on a cross for imperfect people!  The bible says it was the "Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."  It says in  another place, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree."  On the cross his blood was shed, because the bible also says in Hebrews "for without the Shedding of blood there is no remission of sin"."  Then He was laid in the grave; and on the third day he came forth from the tomb, rising again for the justification of his people as he was crucified for their offenses. After 40 days of appearing alive numerous times over a 100 mile radius to hundreds of people, he ascended in the clouds up to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God!  The bible says in Acts 13:38-"Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins."  That is what is to be believed. 
*Who is to be believed? 
Everybody on earth believes in SOMETHING!   The Apostle James says in his book, "The devil also believes, and trembles"!  If we would be saved, we must not only believe the history of the bible, we must also trust a Person named Jesus Christ!   The bible tells us that He, who died, and ever lives, is "able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him." Saving faith is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting him truly, wholly, solely, constantly, trusting him now. You can lay your soul and all its sins at his feet, and trust in him to save you, and he WILL do it.   Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 
*When is Christ to be trusted? 
And the answer is, Now.  You've probably talked about trusting Christ at some future time.  Paul said in Hebrews 13:8-"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."   If he was worthy of peoples confidence 2000 years ago, and is today, he will be for generations to come until the end of time!  And just as you are, in that pew, Christ deserves your belief right now!  Just about everything that is worthwhile takes sometimes years to accomplish (Raising children, purchasing a house, developing a career); but it takes no time for God to blot out your sins if you will trust him!  We pass in an instant from death to life, from darkness into light. 

II.-BAPTISM: 
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."  I did not make the text...If I had made it, I might have ommitted that piece about baptism; but I didn't write the Bible, I am obliged to take God’s Word as I find it!  This Book has the baptism in it, so I must stick to the truth as it is in the Book!  The Lord's words teach us that baptism follows faith: "He that believeth and is baptized." Never neglect the order of things in the Bible. If God puts them one, two, three, don't you put them three, two, one.   A great many in the Christian Church have put it this way: "He that is baptized and believeth."  But no church or preacher has a right to baptize people till they have believed in Christ as their Savior. Remember how the Ethiopian eunuch put it when he  said, "See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Philip answered, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest."  So we can safely say, "And if you do not believe with all your heart, you ought not be baptized, you have no right to this ordinance of Christ unless you are already a Christian!. "He that believeth and is baptized," — that is the Scriptural order.  In the New Testiment, you will always find that those who were baptized were believers. They believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then they were baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

There can be nothing saving in the baptism itself. The act of applying water in any way whatsoever cannot wash away a single sin. That would be going back to the old covenant of works, the old ceremonies of the Mosaic law and all the washings under the law!   Jeremiah 2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. In the text, while it says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," yet, when the condemnation is announced, it is simply, "He that believeth not shall be damned," and the matter of baptism is'nt mentioned, for there are many who believe, but who are not baptized, and who cannot be, as the dying thief, for instance, yet they are assuredly saved. Baptism is the outward expression of the inward faith. He who believes in Christ with his heart confesses his faith before God and before the Church of God by being baptized. Now, the faith that speaks thus is not a dumb faith; it is not a cowardly faith; it is not a sneaking faith. (Romans 10:9-"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus...")

Remember the words of Jesus when he said, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me" (and in that place it means, "he who does not confess me") "before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." There is, therefore, no regenerating effect about water, or about immersion, or about baptism in any shape or form; but it is needful as the outward visible expression of the inward spiritual faith by which the soul is saved.  Baptism is often the test of obedience...it is the test of the validity of your confession!   He who believes in Christ takes him to be his Master as well as his Savior; and Christ says to that person, "Go and do so-and-so." If the man refuses to do it, he thereby proves that he does not intend to be the disciple of the Master.  I do believe that this little matter of believers’ baptism is the test of the sincerity of our profession of love to him.   You may argue that it is not essential to get you to Heaven; but I want you to think of it this way...It becomes essential as soon as Christ commands it if you wish to hear him say "Well done thou good and faithful servant!"  At the wedding at Cana (Where Christ performed his first miracle, Mary said to the servants, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.   If you have become his disciple, you are bound henceforth to obey all your Master’s commands! 

III.-BEING SAVED-What is this being saved? Well, it means, of course, what everyone wants it to mean, salvation from the punishment of sin. But it also means salvation from the dominion of his old nature... that is, he shall have salvation from his old sins. He shall no longer be the slave of drunkenness; he shall get the love of swearing by the throat; he shall have his lying, his anger and his old passions under his feet!  What that person could not do, through the weakness of his flesh, shall be done for him by the power of the Spirit of God; and by divine grace he shall master his sins. He shall begin to live unto God!  THAT IS BEING SAVED!!!  Being SAVED also means a person shall have salvation from the age in which he or she lives. Peter said, on the day of Pentecost, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation."  How do you do that?  "He that believeth and is baptized shal be saved"!