Matthew 28:19 by Br. Bill Pinto
Come with me to Matthew 28:19 This is the command that Jesus gave to His church throughout all time. It is the command to bring the Gospel to all nations. And this passage, strangely, is used to support a Trinity doctrine. I say 'strangely' because we will look at it now and we will see how in any way it can be understood that way.
Jesus is speaking. He has assured His disciples that He has been given all power in heaven and earth and He says,
'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'
'Go ye therefore, (have nothing to fear, I have all power to give unto you.' Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, (and after you have taught the nations, you are to baptise them) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'
The order this command is given, we will see, is very important. Now this text, friends, for some reason is known as the pillar text for one who believes in the Trinity. I have never read a study on the Trinity, or heard a sermon that they don't use this passage. This is without a doubt the pillar text that the speaker uses when he is presenting what he believes to be the Trinity.
But let's look at this verse, ask a few questions, and let's see if it supports a Trinity, in any way. Does it say the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God? No. Does it define who the Holy Spirit is? No. Does it teach a trinity of the three co-eternals? No. Does it say baptising them in the name of the Trinity? No. Nothing in this passage even hints at a Trinity of three beings who are supposed to be co-eternal.
What you are doing is putting your own emphasis, your own interpretation to what’s a very clear passage. You see, we all believe, anyone that reads the Bible believes in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's all the text is saying. And saying to baptise the candidate in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In no way can you use this verse to support the Trinity unless you are placing your own meaning into the words.
It’s important to understand, because when you are sharing the truth about God and someone says, 'Well, what about Matt. 28:19?' What about Matt. 28:19? It is up to them. The initiative is theirs to show you how it supports a Trinity. It’s very important, if I am sharing the truth that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, I need to give the text and then I need to show from those verses I'm giving, that understanding.
So if the Trinitarian says, 'Matt. 28:19 teaches the Trinity, it is up to them to be able to define that through the passage and as we've seen, we’ve just asked certain questions and in no way does it even hint at any sort of a Trinity. What we will find now, in fact, is the exact opposite.
This is a beautiful passage, it is a really beautiful text, this command given by Jesus. And as I studied this, I learned something truly beautiful and we will see that in a moment. We will see that this verse clearly supports everything else the Bible teaches about the Father, His only begotten Son, and their Holy Spirit.
Before we do, understand also that the Trinity denies the Father and the Son. Very important this. The very passage they use to teach a Trinity, they don't even believe the words in the verse, because they don't believe in God the Father, or in His only begotten Son. To one who believes in a Trinity, these words are just metaphors or role plays.
Notice this statement from Gordon Jensen, Adventist Review, this was the Week of Prayer that went to every church in the world, so I am not quoting some off shoot independent, but this is sanctioned by the church. This is what the church believes.
'A plan of salvation was encompassed in the covenant made by the three Persons of the Godhead. (This is what the church believes the Trinity to be - three persons of the Godhead) who possess the attributes of Deity equally. In order to eradicate sin and rebellion from the universe and to restore harmony and peace, (Notice) one of the divine beings accepted and entered into the role of the Father, another the role of the Son.'
So to the person who, according to our church, believes in the Trinity, God is not really a Father. Some divine being accepted and entered into the role. So I am not saying it, the church says one divine being “accepted and entered the role of a Father, and another accepted and entered into the role of the Son”. Now remember this because we are going to see with Matt. 28:19, how important it is to believe in the Father and the Son. And here the principle verse they use, they are already telling us, they don't even believe in the Father and the Son.
Notice another one. This again is a book that is well endorsed and promoted by the Conference.
'The Father and Son relationship in the Godhead should be understood in a metaphorical sense, not in a literal sense.' (Understanding the Trinity by Max Hatton, page 97)
So again to the Trinitarian, the Father and Son is a metaphor it is not real. Metaphor means a term to put to something that cannot be literally applied to. If I was to hang a sheet up here, I could say this sheet is like a cloud, but it is really a sheet. That's what a metaphor is. That's what the author of this book is telling us, that when you read Father and Son, understand that it is not real, it is a metaphor, for they accepted roles.
So with this definition, let's have a look at what Matt. 28:19 teaches. We will be looking at three verses, and with three verses we will see how important it is to believe in the Father and the Son. In three verses we will answer the objection regarding Matt. 28:19
Notice in Matt. 28:19 it says,
'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,' What does Jesus mean? Let's go to our first text. Mark 16, what does it mean to teach all nations before you baptise them? Mark 16:15 This is a parallel passage that we read in Matthew. This is Mark's account. And the Lord says,
'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.'
So when we read in Matt. 28:19 'Go ye therefore and teach all nations' what Jesus is saying is 'Go ye therefore and preach the gospel to all nations.' This is a parallel passage.
I actually prefer the word 'teach' than 'preach the gospel' but none the less, what we are looking at here is what we are to teach, and that is the gospel.
So before the Lord said to baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he says go and preach the gospel to them first.
Now, what is the heart of the gospel? What is the absolute pillar foundation of the gospel that we have to give to the world? In fact, if you don't know this, you’ve got nothing. You don't have the gospel.
Come to John 3:16 and these are Jesus' words, when He taught the gospel Himself to Nicodemus, we are going to look at that later. So the Lord has commanded us to go and teach the gospel to all nations and now let's hear from the Lord Himself what the foundation of that gospel we should be teaching to all nations is. This is our second text.
Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and He says, words that no one needs to read.
'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'
So, according to Jesus Himself, on the authority of Scripture, the heart of the gospel that is to go to the world , that we are to teach the world, is that 'God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.'
Now remember, we saw that the trinity denies the Father and the Son. They say it is a metaphor and they use Matt. 28:19 to try and support this. Look all we have learned in two verses, that we are to bring the gospel to the world, that's what Matt. 28: 19 is saying,
'Go ye therefore, teach all nations,'
And that the heart of that gospel is that 'God so loves you that He gave His only begotten Son.'
Now notice what else Jesus said, in John 3, let's read verse 18 now. Notice, if you don't believe, if you don't believe that God gave His only begotten Son, and you want to still pretend that you can bring the gospel to the world, notice what the Lord warns us of here. Verse 18.
'He that believeth on him (that's on the only begotten Son of God) is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already. (why?) because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'
See what He says, friends? If you don't believe on Him, the only begotten Son of God, you are condemned already.
'He that believeth is not condemned. he that believeth not is condemned already.'
So notice what we have learned in three verses. Some people want to use Matt. 28:19 to teach a Trinity, and we have seen what the Trinity means. Father and Son are metaphors, not real, entered into roles.
And now we saw that the commission in Matt. 28:19 is to bring the gospel to the world, and the heart of the gospel is John 3:16. Now, they profess to be able to give the gospel to the world, and yet they believe in the Trinity which denies the Father and the Son. And what does the Lord say here?
'He that believeth not on him is condemned already.' Why? 'Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'
Notice how powerful this truth is. In three texts you have totally exploded the No. 1 pillar text that the Trinitarian will use. In three verses, using the Scriptures in their correct light.
You don't have a gospel if you don't believe Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. So how can you bring it to the world? What gospel are you bringing to the world if you are denying He is the Son?
Jesus says you are already condemned. You want to bring the gospel to the world? You are already condemned yourself.
Notice who it is that denies the Father and the Son. Come to 1 John 2:22. The church denies God is truly a Father, they deny that Jesus is truly a Son, that they are metaphors. Notice what the Scripture says. 1 John 2:22
'Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?'
When you deny Jesus is the Christ it is the same as denying He is the Son of God. 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of God.' They go together. The Scripture says it is the anti-christ that will deny the Father and the Son.
Let's read verse 23 as well.
'Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.'
Can you begin to see now what Matt. 28:19 is saying, when Jesus commanded to baptise them after giving them the gospel? In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? The whole point of this passage in Matt. 28:19 is that when you baptise somebody, after you have taught them this truth, particularly about God giving His only begotten Son, when that person goes into the baptisimal waters, what's he doing, he or she? He is making a public confession of his faith. That's what a baptism is. You publicly declare your faith before everyone present.
And when you are baptised in the name of the Father and the Son, you are declaring to the world that you believe 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.' That's what it means to be baptised in the name of the Son, it means that you believe in the Son. You believe that God so loved you, He gave His only begotten Son to die for your sins and that you are going to your watery grave to die for your sins that were placed upon His Son, and to come up in the newness of life, filled with the Spirit of God to live a new life now.
This command in Matt. 28:19 is very important. When I saw this I really rejoiced. It is actually given, come with me to Matt. 28:19. It is given by Jesus for a specific reason. It's to protect the church. When you understand what the Lord is commanding here, you will see how beautiful it is because, if everybody obeyed this command no false doctrine could have ever entered the church, regarding the God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It is amazing that they use this text to teach a Trinity when that's the very thing this text is designed by Jesus to protect the church from. You see, what Jesus is saying here is,
'Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel, and then baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.'
In other words, teach the world the gospel that God gave His only begotten Son. When a person accepts this gospel you are to baptise them. What the Lord is saying is, 'Don't baptise anybody until you understand, until they understand the gospel, and that God so loved them that He gave His only begotten Son to save them.'
That is what it is saying. So, if the minister, like the disciples, followed this command, nobody would ever be baptised with the wrong understanding. No one could enter the church, because the first thing they have to make sure is that this person understands the foundation of the gospel, then you baptise them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Now, notice how the disciples understood this command. Come with me to the book of Acts chapter 8. This is the account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Let's read Acts 8:26
'And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is in the desert.'
So an angel appears to Philip and he says, 'Start walking in the desert towards Gaza.' Philip obeys and he sees, (in verse 27), a eunuch of great authority. And look at verse 28. And this man was sitting in his chariot and he was reading from Isaiah.
In verse 29,
'Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.'
What do you think Philip is understanding here? The angel tells him, to go into the desert. He sees this eunuch studying the scrolls. Now the angel says, 'Go and join yourself to him.'
Do you think Philip understands that God wants him to witness to this person, to help him? Absolutely. Let's read verse 32.
'The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth.'
This man was reading from Isaiah 53 about the sufferings of the Son of God, but he didn't know that at the time, and he asked Philip a question. Verse 34.
'And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?'
Now Philip answers and he says, in verse 35,
'Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.'
Philip began to expound to him. Now Philip knows why he is there. The Holy Spirit was striving with this man, showing him the truth. He needed some guidance and Philip begins to preach unto him Jesus. He is saying, friend, this prophecy is fulfilled. This prophecy is speaking about the Son of God who came and died for your sins.
'The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.'
He explains to him that this was the Son of God that came and suffered and died, and took his sins upon Him. He would have explained to him about baptism and how you could have your sins forgiven, and publicly declare your faith in the Son of God, as Jesus had commanded. Now notice what happens. Verse 36.
'And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said.'
Notice, friends, he had explained to him about baptism as well.
'And the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptised?'
Now remember, we saw from Matt. 28:19, I said that this command is given to protect the church, that when you baptise somebody in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it means that they believe the gospel you just taught them. And when they believe, and want to publicly confess their faith, then you baptise them, not before. You don’t baptise anybody until they believe on the Son of God . That is what Matt. 28:19 is teaching.
Now notice this. Philip understood this command. The angel sent him there. The Spirit told him, 'Go and share with this man.' Philip knows why he is there and this man wants to be baptised. Look what Philip does. He doesn't rejoice and say, 'Oh yes, praise the Lord, that's what I'm here for.'
No, he asked a question first. Look what he says, because he remembers the command given in Matt. 28:19 He says to him,
'And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.'
Philip says, 'Yes, I have shared the gospel with you. You believe the truth of Isaiah 53 that God laid upon His Son your sins and you believe the truth that if you are baptised, and you repent of your sins, you can be forgiven.'
And so the eunuch sees the water, he was ready for baptism, but Philip says, 'You have to believe this with all your heart.'
Now notice what it is he had to believe above all things. The eunuch gives you the answer. Notice, friends, with all thy heart. We are not talking about any metaphor here.
'And the eunuch answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'
Now with the next verse you read he baptises him, not before. You see? Even though he was guided by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit spoke to him directly to go and to witness to this man, even then Philip was going to be careful. He remembers this command of Jesus and he says, 'No. Not until you believe with all your heart.'
When he confessed with his lips publicly, 'I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, ' then they went forth into the water and he baptised him.
That's what Matt. 28:19 is teaching. The exact opposite to what the church preaches today. It is incredible.
Can you see, if everybody followed this example of Philip, as Jesus commanded us, it would be absolutely impossible for a false doctrine about the character of God and His Son, to enter the church. It could never happen because everyone that enters that church had to first publicly confess this, and understand this, then you baptised them.
Not as the church teaches, that Matt. 28:19 is a Trinity of three co-eternals, that they are metaphors, they took roles. No wonder there is so much confusion and false doctrines in the church today.
The principle command given by Jesus is not obeyed. For example, let me give you another example. Let us say there is a place, a club, you want to enter, you want to gain membership. And you are going there because there are certain benefits that you can be profited by, but there is somebody at the door who says, 'Friend, you can't enter here.'
You say, 'Well, I want to enter. I want to become a member.'
And so this man says to you, 'Look, before you can enter here there are certain conditions. You have to accept them, you have to believe them, and abide by them. Then you can come in.'
That is what Matt. 28:19 is saying. Teach them the gospel. When they accept the gospel, the heart of the gospel, John 3:16, then you baptise them. Then they become members of the church, not before. That's exactly the same principle.
Come with me now to John 3 and we will look at an example again of this, how Jesus Himself taught the gospel to Nicodemus. This is an interesting story because Nicodemus was known in Israel as a master. Friends, when Jesus said, 'Thou art a master of Israel.' These are powerful words. He was a Pharisee, this man had knowledge, he had tremendous knowledge, he was a teacher of the Law. He was also a very charitable man. He was a very good man. He was not a hypocrite. So with all these good virtues Nicodemus had, there was sadly a negative. There was a false sense of security. Because he was a good person, and he had good knowledge, and he helped people, so you see we are told in Desire of Ages that Nicodemus felt assured of heaven. He was certain he was saved. He was certain he was in the kingdom.
Now, notice how Jesus shares the gospel with Nicodemus. This is a very beautiful example for us because when you share the gospel with somebody, it will not help, it will be of no avail to them if you cannot show them their need. The reason people accept the gospel is because they have a need. They may be in prison, they may be sick, they may have trouble, and all of a sudden they have a need for something, they need help. They need the promises of the gospel to help them. They need to be told listen, this life is not forever. We are pilgrims and strangers here, tribulation awaits us here, but there's beautiful things to look forward to. Jesus is preparing mansions for them that love Him etc. They need to have a hope.
Nicodemus didn't have a hope because he felt assured. So Jesus has to show him his need. Let's read John 3:3
'Jesus answered and said unto Nicodemus, Verily, verily...'
Notice friends. He says it twice. Twice He says 'Truly, truly.' In other words, don't misunderstand, get this right.
"I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'
Here we have Nicodemus feeling assured that he has the favour of God and that he is heading to the kingdom, and yet Jesus says to him, 'Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you are born again, you won't see the kingdom of God.'
Now Jesus' answer is quite surprising to Him. He wasn't even talking about that subject, He was talking about Jesus. But Jesus, went straight to the focus point, what the conversation should have been on, and that was on Nicodemus' salvation.
And so Nicodemus says,
'How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?'
Notice how the Lord answers him. Jesus was not talking about being born of a woman.
Notice what He says, again He repeats,
'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (that's the sort of birth He is talking about) born of water and the Spirit, (and again He says to him, ) He cannot enter the kingdom of God.'
Now let's read verse 7. What does Jesus tell him? Don't be surprised.
'Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.'
Jesus is telling Nicodemus clearly that he had to be born again, be born of the Spirit, be baptised in the waters of baptism and receive the Holy Spirit, then you can enter the kingdom of God.
Now, notice what Jesus has done. He has shown Nicodemus his need that he wasn't aware of. All of a sudden Nicodemus knows now that there is something missing in his life. Christ has shown him that he has got to be born again, that he needs a Saviour. And now He tells him who that Saviour is. Let's go straight to verse 16. He tells him how to be born again, tells him how to be born of the Spirit, he has got to believe something. Verse 16.
'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,' He was telling Nicodemus that night, ' I am the Son of God. I am not just a great Teacher like you thought, (in verse 1.) I am God's only begotten Son, and if you want to enter the kingdom of God you have to believe this, that God so loves you, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, the only begotten Son of God, should not perish but have everlasting life.' Notice friends, “whosoever believeth in Him.” Notice how specific these words are.
Now what if you don't want to believe, because you have that option, like we saw earlier. Let's read verse 18 again.
'He that believeth on him is not condemned.' This is amazing, when I read these words, these are powerful words. This is the Lord speaking, and then we read that men can say things like role plays and metaphors!.
'He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.' Why? 'Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'
Jesus was telling Nicodemus, and us today, and throughout all time, the only way you can enter heaven, I don't care how much of a master you are, how many charitable things you do, how much knowledge you have, there's only way you can enter heaven. You have to be born of water and of the Spirit, and the way you are born of the water and the Spirit is to enter into the baptisimal waters and to confess and declare your faith that you believe that God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, then you can enter into heaven.
That's the gospel, and that's what Matt. 28:19 is teaching. It is incredible because they use that passage, again, I say repeatedly, to teach a Trinity, thus denying Jesus is the only begotten Son of God , and destroy the gospel, the very thing this verse was commanded by Jesus to protect the church from. Amazing how deceived the church can be.
Another thing to learn. Come back to Matt. 28:19 , another thing we can learn from it. You see, friends, when you are baptised in the name of the Father, it means you believe in the Father, not a metaphor. When you are baptised in the name of the Son, that means you believe in the Son, you believe John 3:16. When you are baptised in the name of the Holy Spirit, it means you believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, to empower you to be able to 'observe all things whatsoever I have commanded thee.'
Now this word 'name' it doesn't mean your name. It can mean that, but not in the context. This word 'name', in the Hebrew and the Greek, it means this –
NAME 3686. Onoma a “name” (literally or figuratively) [authority, character]:- called, (+sur-)name(-d). (Stongs’s Concordance)
It means 'authority, character.' That's what the word means in this context. It does also mean your name. We will look at some examples now. It is the context of the passage that will tell you the meaning of the word, how it is to be used.
And in Matt. 28:19 it means to be baptised in the authority. Now we will see that in a moment. But to show this clearly, we will look at three verses. Come to Revelation 14:1, it is the same word (Onoma) used always in the New Testament, except for one text. And notice how the context will bring out to you which one it is. Rev. 14:1, speaking of the 144,000, what does it say?
'And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.'
What do you think it means when it says they had God's name written in their foreheads? His character. That's what that word 'name' means - character. They have the Father's name (character) in their foreheads.
Come with me now to Luke 1:13
'But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.'
Here the word 'name' simply means the name of the person - call his name John. So we see the word 'name' can mean character, it can mean your name, and it can also mean authority. In fact, the majority of times it means authority.
Let's look at an example. Acts 16:18, speaking about the woman who was possessed by a spirit, Paul being grieved and we read here in Acts 16:18
'And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her: And he came out the same hour.'
What do you think is the right application here? 'I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ.' He is calling upon the authority of Jesus Christ, and the devil has to submit to that authority. You see, even the devils fear and tremble at the name of Jesus Christ.
'I command thee in the authority of Jesus Christ to come out of her: And he came out the same hour.'
So here we see how the word 'name' is used. And in Matt. 28:19 it means baptising them in the authority of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In other words, the candidate publicly confesses his faith in the Son of God, comes under the authority of all of heaven, he becomes a citizen of heaven now, a son of God and he has the authority of all heaven at his disposal. The power of the Holy Spirit, the love of the Father, and the Son .
Notice again, come with me to John 5:43, notice again where Jesus received His authority from. Jesus is speaking in John 5:43 , He says,
I am come in my Father's name.' Again, it means in His authority. 'I am come in the authority of God the Father.' That is what he is saying. And sadly, look what the Lord says.
'And you receive me not: If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.'
This is really a sad passage because Christ, He was claiming, He never made it any secret, He was claiming to be the Son of God. He said it openly many times to the leaders of Israel. He said, 'I come in the authority of My Father. I am His Son, and you don't receive Me.'
And notice, friends, notice the beautiful parallel here with today, sadly. Notice, Jesus tells them why. Look at verse 44
'How can you believe' (this is the reason why they couldn't believe, why they couldn't receive Jesus as the Son of God, this is the reason) which receive honour one of another,'
You see what the problem was with the leaders in Christ's day? They were too worried about their reputations, about receiving honour one from another, they were too scared to take a step for truth and stand apart from the crowd. They wanted to receive honour one from another, and this is the trouble today with many ministers. They won't take a stand for the truth. They are too worried about losing their honour, or their reputation among their peers.
Notice what the Lord says,
'And you seek not the honour that cometh from God only.' That should be first and foremost in every Christian, what God's will is for their life.
It reminds me of a passage in Psalm 50, it is very solemn words that God speaks in Ps. 50:16, He says,
'But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth?'
God is asking the people, 'Why do you take My covenant in thy mouth? Why do you profess to preach the Gospel to the people?' That is what He is saying. 'Why do you profess to have the God of Israel as your God?'
And now He tells them why He is upset, why He is saying they should never, never take God's covenant in their mouth, why they should never preach the gospel, why they should never speak the things of God, He says because
'Thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.'
Speaking about men who profess to have a covenant with God, who profess to be teaching the oracles of God. But God says, 'You hate instruction, you cast My words behind thee, but you want to go forward professing that you have God's covenant in your mouth.' Ps. 50:16,17
And so is the case today, many professing and yet this is what they are teaching, what we saw earlier.
Now, we have seen that when you hear the gospel, and you accept it, then you publicly make your confession that Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and you come under the authority of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. You receive power now.
Now notice this beautiful passage. Come to John 1:12 Notice what happens when you receive the gospel. It’s a beautiful verse, this one. Remember what we just saw in John 5:43, Jesus said 'You receive Me not, I am come in my Father's name.' He was confessing to be the Son of God and they would not receive Him. Notice what it says here in John 1:12
'But as many as received him, (that is, friends, as many as believed on Him, believed His words, believed who He was, notice what happens.) to them gave he power to become the sons of God. (to who?) even to them that believe on his name.' Those who believe on that name, of the only begotten Son of God, they are the ones who receive power to become the sons of God.
What is that power he is talking about? Acts 1:8, this is what it means to be baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8. What power is it you receive when you believe on Him, when you believe in His name? Acts 1:8
'But ye shall receive power, (what is that power?) after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.'
Notice friends. You confess He is the Son of God, you receive the power of the Holy Spirit. And notice what it is for.
'And you shall be witnesses unto me (where?) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.'
Doesn't that remind you of Matt. 28:19?
'Go ye therefore into all nations, preach the gospel.'
When you confess that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, you receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be a witness unto Christ, to be His representative. As Paul says, in 2 Cor. 5, you become an ambassador for Christ, and you come under the authority of heaven. When an ambassador of a nation goes on an important mission, he is representing the government of that country he's coming from, and he has the power of that state behind him. If you touch him, you are declaring war on that nation. That's what this is talking about. You have the authority of the Holy Spirit, God's seal upon you and you go forward to be a witness for Christ.
How do you witness for Christ? 1 John 4. You can't get away from this fact. Where ever you go when you turn to the Bible, in the gospel you see this over and over and over again - to believe He is the only begotten Son of God. We just saw that when we receive the Holy Spirit, we are to be witnesses unto Jesus, and to all the world.
1 John 4 tells us, verse 14, what it is that we are to witness primarily, among other things. Let's read verse 13 first.
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, (why?) because he hath given us of his Spirit. There's the seal as your guarantee. That you are now an adopted child of God, you receive the Spirit of God, and what happens? Remember Jesus says,
'You shall receive power as the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me, unto the uttermost parts of the earth.'
Notice when you receive the Holy Spirit, what you will do. You will witness, friends. What will you witness? What will you testify?
'And we have seen and do testify (what?) that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.'
Exactly what Jesus told Nicodemus. 'You go and tell the world.'
You see, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that qualifies you to become a witness for Christ and to give this testimony.
Notice what we have learned, notice the order.
'Go ye therefore and preach the gospel' We saw the heart of that gospel is John 3:16. You go and tell the world that God so loved them, He gave them His only begotten Son to save them from their sins. We saw that with the eunuch. Then you baptise them, not before, when they publicly confess that.
And when they are baptised, what happens? We saw they received power. 'As many as received him, gave he them power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name.'
That's the order of Matt. 28:19 You believe the gospel, you publicly confess and are baptised and you come up and you receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be a witness unto Jesus unto the uttermost parts of the world.
Now, notice how this is brought out in Eph. 1 Look how beautifully we see this order now. Eph.1. Remember, we saw that we have to hear the gospel first, and then we have to believe it, believe on His Son, and then you receive power, you become a citizen of heaven, a son of God. Notice Eph. 1:12
'That you should be to the praise of his glory, (that's God's glory) who first trusted in Christ.'
What was it that they trusted? Verse 13,
'In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard '
So Paul is saying here, 'You heard about Jesus and you believed.' What did they hear that made them believe in Christ? What is it that made them believe He was the Son of God?
Notice,
'In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, (what was it that they heard?) the gospel of your salvation:'
Notice the order. They heard the gospel, the people in Ephesus, and when they heard the gospel they trusted, they believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. And what did we say happens next?
'As many as received him, gave he power to become the sons of God.'
And after they heard the gospel and they believed and trusted that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God,
'In whom also after that ye believed, (what happened?) ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.'
You see the order again? You see, friends, now you become a son of God. Look at the next verse, verse 14. After they heard the gospel and believed and were baptised, they received the Holy Spirit,
'Which is the earnest of our inheritance (that word 'earnest' means ' the guarantee'. When you receive the Holy Spirit it is your guarantee from heaven, the authority. Remember, baptise in the authority.) earnest of our inheritance of what? until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.'
You become a purchased possession now. God claims you as His own. Now you are a son of God. That's what we read in John 1:12.
'As many as received him, gave he power, (as many as heard the gospel and trusted in him, they received the Holy Spirit) gave he power to do what? to become the sons of God.' And that is what we are reading here. You become the purchased possession of God.
Now, what is this Holy Spirit that we receive, that we become purchased possessions? What is it that makes us become sons of God when we receive this power? Come back one book to Galatians 4. Notice who it is we receive, friends. Galatians 4:6, this is what makes us children of God, when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
'And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son'
So when we read that 'ye shall receive power when you receive Christ and you become a son of God' it is telling you who this Spirit is.
'God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.'
Notice what they are crying. 'Abba, Father.' They are children of God now. Sons of God. Why? Because we receive his Spirit because we believed He was the Son of God. And when we believed He was the Son of God, we received the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.
Christ is the Son of God by birth, and we become the sons of God by adoption when we accept Christ as our Saviour.
Come with me now, one more point on Matt. 28:19. We haven't covered the last part about the Holy Spirit. Let's look quickly. There are a lot of passages. This is just an abbreviated study but there are a lot of passages on this.
But notice now. We saw that to believe, to be baptised in the name of the Father, is to believe in God the Father. To be baptised in the name of His Son, is to believe in His Son, as we have seen repeatedly. And we receive the power of the Holy Spirit and we become children of God .
Now, notice what it means to believe, to be baptised in the name of the Holy Spirit. See here, it says,
'Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,'
And now Jesus says, 'teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'
Notice, friends, that the 'observing of all things' comes after you receive the power. You couldn't do it before. You had to be born again first, and when you are born again then you receive the power to become a child of God, and then you are taught to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded us in His gospel. We will touch on this a bit more in a moment. It is a very important principle that has been lost sight of today.
But notice an example of what we have just seen. Come with me to Acts 19, we will see an example of this. What it is bringing out is this, you cannot receive the Holy Spirit, you cannot be empowered, to observe all things, to be a witness for Christ, if you don't understand the truth for that time. This is very important.
Now, don't misunderstand me. When I say you cannot receive the Holy Spirit, don't misunderstand me. What I mean by that is this, everybody receives a measure of the Holy Spirit, to some degree. Everybody. Whether you are a Jew, Gentile, whatever. It is the Holy Spirit, the voice of God that teaches you, by nature, and by conscience, to do those things in the law. It is the voice of God that speaks to your conscience.
This is very important to understand. What I am talking about here is the church, and how the church should be, and what Christ has ordained, what the church will come into the unity of, and that is, this truth. This is what will empower the church.
What people do not know, they are not judged by. There are many good sincere people who are being good Christians, and God has used them mightily, who have the wrong understanding of God. But we are talking about in the past. Paul told the people on Mars Hill, the Athenians, that in the times of ignorance, God winked at, but now, (now that the truth had come to them) he commandeth all men to repent.'
And so this is the case today. It is only when the present truth is come to you that you need to accept it. Not before if you weren't aware of it. Now notice a good example of this in Acts 19. We are looking at when the people received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind too, the context here, of all the book of Acts, when you read about the Holy Spirit you are talking about power here, not just a bit of the spirit, you are talking about power, early rain power, this is real power we are talking about when we read these passages.
Acts 19:1 'And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples.'
Paul finds some disciples here. These were disciples of John the Baptist. And he asked them a question.
'He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?'
Notice. Paul must have noticed something about these brethren, maybe what they were teaching etc. Good men, but none the less, the fact that he asked this question shows you that there was some concern. He said, 'Have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit?' Notice how they answered. Notice why they couldn't receive it. Look at their answer.
'We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit.'
They hadn't even heard of such a teaching, they were totally ignorant of this truth. That's why they couldn't be profited by it, you see. Now notice what happens.
'And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptised? And they said, Unto John's baptism.' We were baptised by John the Baptist.
Friends, was there anything wrong with John the Baptist's baptism? He was sent from God to baptise. Nothing wrong with it. But notice, there is a greater light that these men need to hear, and understand and accept, to be able to receive that power that was available at the time.
Now, look how beautifully Paul answers in verse 4.
'Then said Paul, John verily baptised with the baptism of repentance'
He is saying, 'That's true. What you received was good.' But notice what else he says that John says. This is very clever how he shares this. He says, 'Yes, it's true. You were baptised unto John's baptism of repentance,' But John also said something else. He also said to the people that they should believe on Him which should come after him. That is on Christ Jesus.
So he is saying to these disciples, 'Look friends, what you have done is good, but don't stop there. John spoke about Somebody else who was coming, and that you are to believe on Him.'
Now let's go to John 1, and let's see, with John's own words, what Paul is speaking about here. John 1:30 John the Baptist is speaking , he is speaking about Jesus when he said,
'Behold the Lamb of God , which taketh away the sin of the world.
And he says:
This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me.'
This is what Paul is speaking about to these disciples in Ephesus when he says, 'John spoke of someone you should believe on which would come after him.' Verse 32, and John tells you who this is.
'And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me (that is God, God said unto John, because John had asked God for a sign and God gave him a sign. This is why the Spirit came down in the form of a dove. This was a sign for John the Baptist.) 'The same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Spirit.'
And John says, 'And I saw, a bare record, that this is the Son of God.'
So this is John's testimony. Now, notice, come back to Acts 19 now. Paul has shared this with the disciples there. Now, remember, they hadn't received the Holy Spirit, they had not even so much as heard of such a thing. Paul told them that they were to believe upon Christ Jesus, whom John prophesied of. Now, notice what happens. Verse 5. And John had prophesied that this was the Son of God.
'And when they heard this they were baptised.' Notice what it means again. Baptised in what? 'In the name of the Lord Jesus.' Notice what it means to be baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. They accepted that Christ was the Son of God, like John the Baptist had testified. And notice what happened. We see the same order again. Now they received the Holy Spirit.
'And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.'
Immediately they received the gifts of the Spirit, to do what? “To be witnesses unto me”. To go to the world and to witness for Christ, that He was the Son of God.
Let's come back to John 3. There is another verse I forgot to read, and we should read it. Very interesting verse. John 3:35,36 Notice the words, and how similar they are to Jesus' words.
'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.'
Now, notice what John the Baptist says here.
'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:'
Remember what Jesus said? 'He that believeth on him is not condemned.'
Notice what else he says. 'And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.' Exactly the same words Christ said to Nicodemus, well, not exactly, but almost. 'But the wrath of God abideth on him.'
Isn't that amazing? The Scripture says if you don't believe on the only begotten Son of God, you are condemned already.' And it says here you will not see life, and it also says that the wrath of God abides on you. And here are some poor souls, many, who think they are going to the world, I am speaking in the sense of present truth, not in the past, bringing the gospel, and yet, believing in the Trinity. And using Matt. 28:19 to support a Trinity which denies that Christ is the Son of God, and these poor souls think that they are bringing the gospel to the world.
How can they bring the gospel to the world when the Scripture here says very clearly says that the wrath of God is abiding upon you, that you are condemned already?
With this in mind, come back to Matthew now. We will finish up. Matt. 28:19,20
'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, (and we saw that was the gospel, and when they accept, you are to baptise them, and they come under the authority of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They receive the power of the Holy Spirit to be a witness for Christ. And what else are you to do? You have to teach them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. We will read the last bit in a moment.
Notice again the order. This is an order which you find every single time in the book of Acts is carried out. Every time. If you go to Acts 10, Cornelius' household, where Peter preaches the gospel to them, especially if you read it in conjunction with Acts of the Apostles. Beautiful. Peter preaches the whole gospel to them and you see the Holy Spirit descending upon them and he said, 'It descended upon them like it did upon us at the beginning.'
Again you see this beautiful truth, they accept Christ as the Son of God, they receive the Holy Spirit. We saw that with the disciples at Ephesus. He preached unto them Christ and they received the Holy Spirit. We saw with the eunuch that Philip preached to him that Jesus was the Son of God and he is baptised and he goes away rejoicing, and he became a great missionary in Ethiopia.
Every single time, friends, you see this principle without fail, and what you will find every time is that baptism occurred the same day, or that evening. It wasn't six months, or two years later. Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, when the jailer is converted, he takes them home to care for them. That same night, the Scripture says that the jailer and his household were baptised. The believers in Acts 2 at Pentecost, they were baptised that same day. Cornelius and his household were baptised the same day. The eunuch was baptised the same hour. Never do you see a long drawn out study of standards before the candidate is baptised. Why? Because Jesus taught it here. He says, 'You teach them the gospel. When they accept, you baptise them. Not two weeks later. Not another year later. Not after a series of studies on standards.
Well, why don't we do that? If you read the book Evangelism, there is a chapter in it called Baptism, and this is from the Spirit of Prophecy, friends, so I am not criticising it. But we are told clearly that we are not to baptise anybody until they accept all these standards . Now, does that contradict what the Scripture says? No. You see, the problem is the power is not there today. There was power in the gospel then. And when people heard the gospel they were converted. And when they were converted it wasn't a problem. You teach them about dress, about clean and unclean, or about the commandments. These things weren't a problem. They went Bang. 'Yes, I am going to do it. Yes, I am gong to do it.' It was instant , there was none of this praying and sweating over this thing. 'I hope you can give up the coffee. I hope he can stop the entertainment.' There was none of this friends, it was power. And so the order was followed beautifully. Today the power is gone and so you have to show the brother, 'Look, you can't eat these sort of foods. The Scripture condemns them. We shouldn't dress like this. We are a stumbling block to others. You know, we can't watch these sort of things whatsoever you behold, you know, whether it be lovely, whether it be pure, these sort of things.' So we have got to go through all these standards and it's not wrong the Spirit of Prophecy tells us.
But the point is, the power is not there any more. That's why in order to protect the church - remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees, to the Jews, regarding divorce? They said, 'Oh but Moses said that we could divorce.
He said, 'Yes, what did he say, but what was the reason he gave them? ' He said, 'That's not what God had said.'
Now, what Moses had said was from God, but Christ is bringing out a deeper principle. He said, 'It is because of the hardness of your hearts.' Because God has to work with us at whatever level we are. If we are not surrendering, so God's got to say, 'O.K. Do this, learn this, and learn this, and learn this.' It was because of the hardness of their hearts that God wanted to work with the people that He granted them divorce, under certain conditions mind you. Not what they were doing. The Scripture gives only one condition for divorce. One, and that is fornication. That's the only reason you have for divorce. None other. If the spouse is unbelieving, you can allow them to leave, because we are called to peace, it says in 1 Cor. 7, not to divorce. If they have been unfaithful, then, and that's the only reason given.
But what I am getting at is the principle that God has to work with a rebellious people. And so more laws and more standards come in. But when the power of the gospel is there, you follow it as Christ commanded here, when that soul is converted, then everything you teach them, they will observe. They have received the power, they have confessed that Christ is the Son of God and that they want to live for Him, and have died to their old life. And that's what you see. That's why we see the eunuch was rejoicing. That's why you see the Philippian jailer and his household became pillars in the church in Philippi etc.
These people were converted, instantly. That's what is missing today. Notice friends, the very last words. Matt. 28:20 After he tells them
'Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:'
Think about this now. Again people want to use Matt. 28:19 to teach a Trinity, not only denying the Father and His only begotten Son, but they also deny that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and Christ, but somebody else.
Look what this verse says. Talk about taking a text out of its context. What does the Lord say next?
'Lo, I am with you (how often?) alway, even unto the end of the world.'
These are the very last words Jesus says to His church. When He says these words, He's already ascending in the clouds, He's not even standing on earth any more. Now you think about it. The very last words that Christ says to His church would be the most important words He can possibly give them, to comfort and to strengthen, to encourage. 'I promise you, I will be with you always. I will never leave you.' And some seek to use the previous verse to teach the Holy Spirit is somebody else. Amazing.
Notice here again from the gospel of Mark, which is a parallel passage again with Matthew.
'So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God.'
Christ went to intercede on their behalf in heaven, before the Father. And they received the commission the Lord gave them and they went forth and they preached everywhere. Notice friends, the same Lord that was received up into heaven, the same Lord that had spoken to them, Jesus, was where? He was in heaven, and where else was He? What does it say? He 'was working with them, confirming the word with signs following.'
The Lord, who was received up to heaven, at the right hand of God, was the same Lord that was working with them. That's why Jesus promised, 'Lo, I am with you always.' And, as we saw last Sabbath, Desire of Ages, how it harmonises perfectly with the gospel of Mark. This is how you see that they are inspired by the same Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that inspired Mark, inspired Sr. White to pen this.
“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. 7:25. Though the ministration was to be removed from the earthly to the heavenly temple; though the sanctuary and our great high priest would be invisible to human sight, yet the disciples were to suffer no loss thereby. They would realize no break in their communion, and no diminution of power because of the Saviour's absence. While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth. He is withdrawn from the eye of sense, but His parting promise is fulfilled, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 28:20. While He delegates His power to inferior ministers, His energizing presence is still with His church.' (DA 166:2)
Here you see a perfect parallel with what Scripture says and what Spirit of Prophecy says, through Sr. White's writings. And that's why His parting promise can be fulfilled. 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world' because He is with us through His Spirit.
Friends, this is the truth of Matt. 28:19 and we are commissioned to preach the gospel to the world, teach them that God so loved them, that He gave His only begotten Son, then that person is baptised, believing in the Son of God. And that person receives power to go and be a witness for Christ into all the world. That's the gospel that Christ preached Nicodemus, and that's the gospel He has given to His church for us till the end of time, till He returns.
Amen
Related video
Matthew 28:19
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost"
Does this text teach a trinity? This Bible study examines this question in detail.
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