THEN cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, *to be baptized* of him. . . . 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. _Matthew 3:13, 16._ *PAUL was baptized.* AND immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was *baptized*. _Acts 9:18._ *The EUNUCH was baptized*. THE eunuch said, See, here is water: what doth hinder me to be *baptized*? . . . And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he *baptized him*. _Acts 8:36, 38._ *The JAILOR was baptized*. AND he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and *was baptized*, he and all his, straightway. _Acts 16:33._ Baptism. *It FOLLOWS salvation. Baptized, because SAVED* There are two extremes taken by people in the matter of baptism, one is to *reject* it entirely, and the other is to magnify it beyond it’s proper significance, and make it *necessary to salvation*. We are to be baptized, not to *help save ourselves*, but, because *Christ has already saved us* through our acceptance of His sacrifice on the cross. We go forward in baptism in obedience to God’s command, thus openly confessing Him before the world by this act. Our baptism will avail us nothing, unless *our heart is right toward God*. Philip told the Eunuch that *he could be baptized* if he *believed with all his heart*. AND Philip said, If thou *believest with all thine heart* thou mayest. _Acts 8:37._ A performance of ceremonies God hates, unless there is behind them, true *repentance for sin*. YOUR *new moons* and your *appointed feasts my soul hateth*: they are a trouble unto me; *I* am weary to bear them. _Isaiah 1:14._ TWO men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The *Pharisee, stood and prayed thus with himself,* God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are. . . . *I fast twice in the week, I give tithes* of all that I possess. And the *publican, standing afar off*, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, *God be merciful to me a sinner*. I tell you, *this man* went down to his house *justified* rather than the other. _Luke 18:10-14._