Page:The House of the Lord.djvu/89

Rh It is evident from the foregoing that the baptism of Jesus was acceptable unto the Father, and was by Him characterized as an act of humility and obedience on the part of the Son, with which He was well pleased. Some time after His own baptism Jesus affirmed, in words at once forceful and unequivocal, that baptism is required of all men as a condition of entrance into the kingdom of God. To Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jews, who came by night professing some measure of faith, Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." When in the resurrected state He manifested Himself to the apostles, He instructed them by way of final and special commission: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The necessity and purpose of the ordinance appear in His further words on the same solemn occasion: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

The Apostles, inspired by that Divine commission, ceased not to teach the necessity of baptism, even as long as their ministry endured among mortals.

The elders of the Church in the present dispensation have been directed and empowered by the same authority, and almost in the same words: "Go ye into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and