Luke records some things which Matthew does not record:  “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved the Messiah to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  and that repentance and remission of sins might be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and ye are witnesses of these things.”  But Mark records some things that neither Matthew nor Luke have recorded:  “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.”  In carrying out this commission, thus recorded by these three evangelists, if we find an ignorant pagan that knows nothing of Jesus we shall say to him, as Paul said to the Philippian jailer, ignorant pagan that he was:  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.”

But if we find men who already believe, as did the three thousand who were pierced in the heart on the day of Pentecost, we shall say to them, as Peter did:  “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  If, however, we find a man that not only believes, but is a penitent believer, such as Saul of Tarsus was when Ananias found him, we shall say, as Ananias said:  “And now why tarriest thou?  Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

In all this there is nothing human, nothing schismatical.  All can accept it who are willing to accept the Word of the Lord.  In the baptism we administer, we will give no cause for schism:  it shall be a burial, and this, so far as the action of baptism is concerned, will meet the conscience of the Greek Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and of all Protestant churches.

Do not, my friends, attempt to turn aside this appeal which I now make to you with a laugh or a sneer.  This is the Lord’s word, and the word of the Lord is not to be put aside with a sneer.  Do not scoff at this as a water of salvation.  You certainly will not scoff at the word of the Lord.

And now, my friends, will you not demean yourselves worthy of the high place that God has given you?  Adam and Eve carried in their hands the weal or woe of the unnumbered millions of their children that should come after them.  Abraham, because of his great faith and because of his high integrity, sent down a blessing upon his fleshly seed for fifty generations; and for the same cause was constituted the spiritual father of a spiritual seed as numerous as the stars of heaven or as the sand upon the seashore.  A few Galileean fishermen have filled the world with the glory of the Lord.  Luther drove back the darkness of the dark ages and has filled the world with the light of God’s Word.  And now, my friends, you are laying the foundations of many generations, and will you not take heed how these foundations are laid?  Can you repent if you take God at his word and do as did the apostles and the primitive Christians?