Turn with me back to Romans chapter
10. Romans 10. We have three of our loved ones
who would like to confess the Lord Jesus Christ in believers'
baptism tonight. And when they talked to me about
it, what they said to me made me think of Romans chapter 10,
verse 10. It says, for with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth Confession
is made unto salvation. With the heart, man believeth. With the heart, we're doing this
because of a belief in the heart. That's why we're doing this.
With the heart, man believeth, and with the mouth, confession
is made. With the mouth, confession is
made. Water baptism is a confession. It is. It's a confession that our Lord
commanded us to confess. It's a confession that our Lord
himself confessed. Our Lord himself confessed this. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter three. Matthew 3 verse 13 says, Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him,
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, For thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him. Our Lord
observed and entered into this confession of baptism because
number one, it was commanded of God. And he came to fulfill all commandments
of God, every commandment that God gave. He said, suffer it
to be so because I must fulfill all righteousness. But with that being said, this
right here ought to prove to us that baptism is not salvation. I want us to really understand
this. From this portion of scripture, we ought to really see that baptism
is not salvation. Our Lord did not need to be saved. Our Lord did not need to be saved.
He had to fulfill all righteousness, but he did not need to be saved.
He had no sin that needed to be confessed as being put away. He was the same man after he
was baptized in water that he was before he was baptized in
water. If you look right here at verse
16, it says, 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, And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. He was the beloved son before
he was baptized in water. He's the beloved son from eternity
past. The heavens were open to him
before he was baptized in water. The father was well pleased with
him and the spirit abode upon him before he was baptized in
water. The water was not his acceptance
with God. That's the thing I want to make
clear. The water was not his acceptance with God. The water
was not his salvation. And that's how it is with us.
Water is not our salvation. That Kingsport City tap water
is not our salvation. Water is an open confession of
the fact that Christ is our salvation. That's what this is. And to be
specific about it, water is the end of that open confession. And here's what I mean by that.
Look with me at Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12, verse 33, it says
either make the tree good and his fruit good. Or else make
the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt. For the tree is known
by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can
ye being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart, the mouth speaketh. What our Lord is saying is, whatever
is in the heart, it will come out. Whatever's in the heart,
it'll come out. Have you ever looked at a tree
and wondered, what kind of tree is that? You ever done that?
What kind of tree is that? I don't know. I've never seen
a tree like that before. Well, how can we know? How will we
know what's on the inside of that tree? Eventually, a confession will
be made. An open confession will be made.
This is what I am. Oh, OK, I see that's a peach tree. It was always a peach tree. It
didn't become a peach tree the moment a peach formed. The confession of peaches is
not what caused it to be a peach tree. The fruit is just the end
confession of what's already on the inside. When it was nothing
more than a seed, it was a peach tree. And when it grew and became a
tree, it was a peach tree. And when the time came for it
to bear the confession of its fruit, it was still a peach tree. Seed, tree, fruit. That's the order of its confession. Well, that's how it is with God's
people in baptism. That's how it is in baptism.
The work of God in revealing salvation to one of his own.
The Lord our God chose sinners to save. He chose, he selected
some sinners to save. He selected some sinners to redeem. And he gave every one of those
sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ took
responsibility of every single one of them. And he died to put away their
sin. This is the only way a person
can be saved. Our Lord said, unless a corn
of wheat falls into the ground and dies, no fruit will come. And we pray that this seed, we
constantly pray, Lord, plant the seed, your incorruptible
seed in the hearts of your people, in the hearts of your elect people.
And that's exactly what God does. This work of God in revealing
the salvation that Christ accomplished for his people, that work begins
in the heart, just like that seed. What happens is this word
is called the incorruptible seed. And one day this seed declared
comes into the ear. Sometimes it goes right outside
the other ear. Sometimes it comes into the ear and it's not wanted
and rejected. And sometimes it comes into the
ear and it falls down into the heart. This seed comes into the
heart. This work begins in the heart
and a soul hears the word of God and says, you know what?
That's what God said. That's what God said. That must
be the truth of the matter. I know this man is saying this,
and that man's saying this. That's what God says. This is
what happens when a seed is planted. That work begins in the heart,
just like a seed, and then in time, out of the heart, the mouth
will start to confess, just like that tree. It'll start to say, you know,
I don't believe Christ did die for everybody. You know, I believe God did choose
a particular people. You know, I believe he did finish
that work on the cross of Calvary. Out of the heart, the mouth starts
to confess. Just like that tree, out of the
ground comes a tree. And then at the Lord's appointed
time, an open announcement to all will be made. I am confirmed
in this matter. Here's the fruit. Here's the
fruit. When it is sincere, when it's
of God, that will be the order of it. That will be the order
of it. You cannot truly confess fruit without a seed. You just can't. You cannot have
fruit without a seed and a tree. If God doesn't start a work in
the heart, there's no true confession. Look with me at Luke chapter
6. This is Luke's account of what
we read and our Lord is speaking in in parables. He's spiritually
referring to those who are true believers and those who are not
true believers. Those who have reached received
true faith from God and those who have not received true faith
from God and look at verse 43 Luke 6 verse 43. For a good tree bringeth not
forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. For every tree is known by his
own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of
the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
good. And an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For
of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. For God's
people, the desire that he puts in their heart, it'll make its
way out. It will be confessed with the
mouth and this ordinance that our Lord gave to us is the spiritual
picture of what we are believing in our hearts and confessing
with our mouths. Our Lord gave us a picture. That's
what this is. He gave us a spiritual picture.
Okay. What do you believe in your heart
and confess with your mouth that what is that in just a moment? We're going to go down into that.
That is going to cover you. It's going to cover you. And
what you're saying is I died. I died in the Lord, you're going
to go down. I died in the Lord Jesus Christ,
God the Father placed me in Jesus Christ. And therefore, my sins
were in Jesus Christ. And when God the Father looked
at Jesus Christ and saw my sins, God the Father killed his own
son. That's how wretched my sins were.
And my sins died in him and I died in him. I died in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And once you go all the way under
and that water covers you all the way over, you're saying,
I was buried in the Lord Jesus Christ. I suffered separation
from God. I suffered the punishment that
was owed to me. In the Lord Jesus Christ, he
laid in a tomb for three days and so did all of his people. In him. And then as soon as that's
over, you're going to come up. You're going to come up out of
the water just like he did. Just like he came up out of the
grave out of the tomb and what that saying is I arose in him. When he lived, I lived in him. This is my hope. I was punished
by the judgment of God in Christ. And I was laid there to bear
my punishment in Christ. And Christ satisfied that punishment
for me so greatly, God the Father raised him again from the dead.
Christ is the only one who can satisfy the punishment of death.
Every other soul who goes into death without Christ will never
rise from it again. But in him, his people rise and
live forever with him. The law condemned me and slew
me in Christ. I was worthy of it. I was worthy
of it. That's why. He bore the suffering.
He bore everything that was owed to me. He took it for me. My sin was pressed into him.
My sin was dealt with in him. I was crucified. I died. I was buried. I endured my condemnation. I arose. And now I live with
him. That's our confession. That's
our hope. That's my hope. What is your
hope? That Christ did all of that for
me. That's my hope. That Christ did
all of that for me. He is my life. He is my hope. He is my salvation. He is my
all. I add nothing to his work. What
are we confessing in this? I add nothing to His work. I
take nothing away from His work. Everything God demanded, everything
God required, it was all satisfied right there in Him. And that's
my only hope before God. My hope begins and ends with
Jesus Christ. And that's what Romans 10 is
saying. If you'll go with me back to Romans 10, Look at verse 1. It says, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. He said, My heart
is broken because my brethren on this earth have a zeal for
God. They know that they need to worship
God. They know that they need to love
God. And they're trying to do it in
the only way they know how to do it. But it's not according
to the Word of God. Verse 3, he said, for they being
ignorant of God's righteousness. What is God's righteousness?
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came into this world
to live perfectly for his people because we couldn't do it. In
order to go to heaven, you don't have to just do good. You have
to be as good as God Almighty. And none of us could do that.
So Jesus Christ came, but it says in verse three, they being
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, trying to do good. They've not bowed to, they've
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For
Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. That's what we're confessing
in this. It's not our goodness, it's Christ's
goodness. It's not our works, it's Christ's
works. It's not our obedience that gets
us into heaven, it's Christ's obedience. that God will accept. Verse four, Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That's
what every child of God believes. Every child of God. Verse five,
for Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man which doeth those things shall live by him. That's what
the law said. We got this law, this Old Testament
law, and this is what it said. If you will do this, You will
live. Do this and you'll live. Here's the problem. Nobody did. Nobody did. The law also said
if you break, do this and you'll live. Break one, one law and
you've broken the whole thing. Sin one time and you're out. There's not a soul on this earth
who has lived perfectly and not broken one commandment of God. All have sinned, the scripture
says. Moses gave us the law, but it only proved to us that
we could not earn our own entrance into glory. That's what we learn
from the law. Christ had to earn that for us. He had to earn it alone. Without
our help, we couldn't touch it. Verse six, but the righteousness
which is of faith, that's the righteousness of the law, the
righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. All right,
the true faith of God, this is what it sounds like. Say not in thine heart, don't
say this, who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ
down from above. Who will go get him and bring
him down? Verse seven, or who shall descend into the deep that
is to bring up Christ again from the dead? Who is going to help
him? Are you going to help him? What
are you going to do to help him? Salvation is a cooperative effort
between you and him. No, no. No. That's not what the true faith
of God's elect says. Verse eight. But what sayeth
it? The word is nigh thee even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus. You know what that means? That
means every time somebody says, what is your hope? You say, Christ. What will give you entrance into
heaven? Christ. What is your righteousness? Christ. Christ. If you confess with your
mouth, the Lord Jesus. Well, I, you know, I'm a good
person and I stopped doing all those things. No, no, no. Christ. My hope is in Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse nine says that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. What does the true work of faith
say? What does the true work of faith
say? It says this, God did it alone. It doesn't say I got saved. It says he saved me. And he did
it alone. God accomplished salvation by
himself, without me, in spite of me. God raised him from the
dead. That means he satisfied God. God was manifest in the flesh.
God was justified in the spirit. God was seen of angels. God was
preached unto the Gentiles. God was believed on in the world.
God was received up into glory. God, God, God, the Lord, our
God. My only hope is that I was joined
to him when he accomplished all that. That's my only hope. That
is my only hope. That's the belief of my heart.
That is the confession of my mouth. That is what I'm saying
in this ordinance. That's what I'm saying in this
ordinance. Now let's close this message with a beautiful example
of what we're talking about here. Go with me to Acts chapter 8. Acts 8, verse 26, it says, 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 desert. And he arose and went, and behold,
a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority under Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and
sitting in his chariot, read Isaiah the prophet. Then the
Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet
Isaiah and said, understandest thou what thou readest? Oh, I'd
love to ask people that question. You understand what you're reading. And I'd love to hear this response.
Verse 31, and he said, that eunuch said, how can I? except some
man should guide me. That's the seed planted in a
heart. It makes that heart desire to
know the truth. It makes that heart humbly want
to hear the truth declared and explained. He said, how can I
except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that
he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture
which he read was this. What a place. Isaiah 53. He, speaking of Christ, was led
as a sheep to the slaughter. And like a lamb done before his
shearer, so opened he not his mouth. If you know why he did
not open his mouth, you are a blessed person. If you don't know why
he didn't open his mouth, I'll tell you. It's because everything
they accused him of, I was guilty of. And he did not. They railed on him, and rebuked
him, and lied on him, but told the truth on me. And he had me
in him, and he had you in him, and you in him, and you in him. And we were on his mind. He stood there with my name on
his mind. And as they said, you're a liar,
you're a cheat. Everything he did not open his
mouth. That's what I was, that's what
I am in my flesh, that's what I needed him to save me from. Verse 32, the place of the scripture
which he read was this, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter
and like a lamb done before his shearer. So opened he not his
mouth. In his humiliation, that's the
high God of heaven. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. That's the judge of the earth.
We're all gonna stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
But this is what he did for us. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. And who shall declare his generation
for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of
himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus,
this man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel,
God with us. Verse 36, and as they went on
their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, see,
here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. If God has begun a work in your
heart, here's his word, Here's the truth of his word. Here is
Christ in his word. And if God has caused you to
believe that and to fall in love with that and to desire that
for yourself, if God has begun a work in your heart, if God
has put a desire in your heart to cling to Christ, I don't know
if I'm one of the elect though. That's not the question. Do you
need Jesus Christ? If God has given you a desire
to cling to Christ as your only hope before God, believing that
what he did on the cross of Calvary was enough, and I don't have
to add anything to it, it was enough to redeem my wretched,
sinful soul. If you believe that in your heart,
you may. I'm not old enough. That's irrelevant.
I'm too old. Who cares? You may. Verse 37, Philip said, if thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered
with his mouth. Out of his heart, his mouth spoke. He answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe it was God
Almighty who came. I believe the one who accomplished
the work was the only one able to accomplish the work. I believe
that all of my hope is in him. Heart, mouth. Verse 38, and Philip commanded
the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when
they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And that
eunuch went on his way rejoicing. Why did Philip vanish like that?
Because there was no need in looking at Philip anymore. It was Christ alone. And that's
what we're confessing in this is Christ alone. That's what
we're confessing. And I thank God for it. I thank
God for this confession. I thank God for each one of you.
I thank God for all of his people. And I rejoice in this confession
when God plants a seed in the heart and brings a true confession
of the mouth. I rejoice in the end of this
confession. All right, let's go confess him. Zoe and Brooke, you can go this
way.