Matt. 23:23-24 NKJV "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

Matt. 12:1-8 NKJV At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel Matt. 12:1-8 NKJV Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel Matt. 12:9-14 NKJV Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

1. How often is it mentioned in the scriptures? – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and Paul all make direct references to baptism. → Baptism → Belief – King James version belief -1; believe – 143; believed – 116; believers – 2; believest – 8; believeth - 45; believing - 8 → Head Covering – 1 Cor. 11 Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

2. Specifically says it is important. – Mark 12:28-33 → Commands Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

Mark 12:28-33 NKJV Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

Mark 12:28-33 NKJV And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

2. Specifically says it is important. – Mark 12:28-33 → Commands – Romans 13:9-10 Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

Romans 13:9-10 NKJV For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

2. Specifically says it is important. – Mark 12:28-33 → Commands – Romans 13:9-10 → First Things First – I Corinthians 15:1-4 Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

I Corinthians 15:1-4 NKJV Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel

2. Specifically says it is important. – Mark 12:28-33 → Commands – Romans 13:9-10 → First Things First – I Corinthians 15:1-4 Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel – Romans 6:1-4

Romans 6:1-4 NKJV What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Strain a Gnat, Swallow a Camel