I want to begin with a text of
scripture in Hebrews chapter 5. If you want to turn to Hebrews
chapter 5, our message really is the continuation of the last
two messages about baptism. And this is not supposed to be
a long, drawn-out theological explication of baptism, but because
baptism means what it does, it's the gospel. And so we're just
going to continue pursuing that. I want to look at Hebrews chapter
five for a particular reason. Last week, we looked at how The
flood of Noah was a picture of baptism. And one of the things
that you see there, it's really surprising that in the flood
of Noah, God really was destroying every living thing on earth he
had created. Everything God had created that
was living on earth, he destroyed in the flood, except for those
in whose eyes had found grace. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord and his wife and his three sons and their wives.
And because of that grace, God would save them from the destruction
that would come on the world. Now, we know what that destruction
was. In those days, it was the the
rain that caused the flood, and everything was covered so that
they were all under the waters, the flood waters, and that flood
destroyed every living thing. But the way God delivered Noah
was in the ark. And God told Noah, when you build
the ark, I want you to pitch it inside and out. Coat it with
pitch. And that means to cover it. And
as I mentioned last week, the word pitch is the first time
in scripture that the word atonement is used. The word really means
atonement. And it's surprising that the
word atonement is used in, 71 times it's translated as atonement. But in Genesis 6, obviously God
meant pitch. but they're the same word. And
it's because the word atonement means covering. And atonement
is a covering, therefore. And we know that because God
covered the ark inside and out, the water couldn't penetrate
the ark, and those inside were spared from destruction by the
flood. And the reason that the flood
of Noah is a picture of baptism is because all of God's judgment
against sin was poured out in that flood. Those outside of
the ark perished. Not one of them escaped. And
all of those in the ark escaped the judgment. The judgment fell
on them, but it didn't hurt them because they were in the ark,
the ark of atonement, the ark that was pitched inside and out.
Now, this opens up the meaning of
baptism in a way that directs our attention to the most significant
thing in all of time and in all of eternity. There's nothing
more important to God than this. There's nothing more important
to people than this, to God's people. There's nothing more
significant in all of the history of this earth or in the eternity
of heaven than this, what baptism points to, the baptism of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the baptism of his people. And it points
to this atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why
Noah's, the flood of Noah and the ark and the deliverance of
Noah with his family in the ark is so significant. And I'm talking
about this because I'm getting to this significant thing, this
most significant, most important of all things. It's most significant
and most important Because, and we're going to, we're about to
say, I know what you're thinking, because it's our salvation. And
that's true. But it's more significant than
that. And what could be more significant
than that? Well, this is why I want to read
Hebrews chapter 5 verse 1 with you. Hebrews 5 verse 1, listen
to this. It says, for every high priest,
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the high priest of his people. Every
high priest, notice, taken from among men. The Lord Jesus Christ
was chosen as the man God would make high priest in his human
nature. in his human soul, in his human
body, to stand for his people, to go to God as their mediator,
and he says here, for every high priest taken from among men is
ordained, of course by God, for men in things pertaining to God,
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. So what
is the purpose of a high priest? to offer for men in things pertaining
to God. And so the purpose of the atonement
was towards God for men. And that's very important that
we understand the preeminence Because religion gets it upside
down. Religion won't allow God's truth
to be true unless they approve of it. That's our nature, right?
Unless we understand it, we can't allow it. Unless we accept it,
it can't be true. It's not enough that God has
said, we have to add our part to it. But the scripture comes
entirely different from us. It comes with God's message.
This is the truth. This is the message of God. And
it's given to us. Not to add to it, not to illustrate
it, but to declare it as true. Because as soon as we step into
the region of trying to illustrate things that we don't understand,
we're going to make a big mistake. But God gives us these explanations
of Scripture to help us to understand the glory of God. And that glory, according to
God's sovereign will, is to save a people to the glory of his
Son. Now, it's all about God's glory
here. And so what's done in the atonement
is a Godward sacrifice. God required the atonement. God
required satisfaction. And I use the word satisfaction
carefully because the word atonement, as I said, means cover, to cover. It means to propitiate. It means
to remove sins. It means all these things. But
more specifically, it means to bring to God satisfaction, pleasure. to God in all of His justice,
to God in all of His righteousness. And to cover, although it addresses
the first part, His justice, our sins, and the ark, we see
that. But even more generally and more
importantly, The law of God required two things. Now, God's law requires
from us, doesn't it? It places requirements on us.
The first one is, do this and you shall live. If you do not
do this, you shall die. Those are the two, right? Keep
the law perfectly, all the time, continuously, and you'll live. That's the first requirement.
It's a requirement for obedience. God requires this. He created
us. He's the standard. And so His
law gives that to us. This is what you are accountable
to do. And it's a requirement laid upon
us. But as Brad read just a moment ago, there is none righteous.
There's none that understandeth. There's none that seek after
God. And it just goes down the list, doesn't it? All have sinned. There's none that fear, no fear
of God before their eyes. It describes us, doesn't it?
And he concludes in that chapter three of Romans 19 that the law
was given to shut our mouths as guilty before God and then
also to prove that by our own obedience we cannot be justified,
we can't keep the law. And yet the law requires, do
this and you shall live. And the second part, that's the
requirement for obedience, the second part of the law is a requirement
for the satisfaction of justice. The first part, righteousness.
The second part, justice. The precept of God is in the
first part. But the penalty required by God's
justice is in the second part of the law. And that is expressed
in, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. That's the requirement
of the law. Now, We can't keep the law. We haven't kept the law. We've
already broken the law. We're already guilty. And God's
law prevents us from even attempting to try to bring our obedience
or our sorrow in order to either fulfill the righteousness of
the law or to fulfill the satisfaction that justice demands, the penalty
of the law, the punishment. God's law rightly demands, His
own justice demands this, upon everyone who violates, who fails
to keep all of the righteousness of the law. And the word satisfaction
now addresses both of these things, the precept and the penalty.
And so when we read about how baptism is a symbol, an emblematic
symbol, a picture of what took place in the sacrifice of Christ,
we must understand that it's talking about both the righteousness,
the obedience of the law, and the penalty of the law. Both
of them are satisfied. God is satisfied in the blood
of his Son. In the blood of his Son. In fact,
he's satisfied for a particular people, a people inside the ark
or in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what baptism is about. It's what God receives in satisfaction. Now, how could anyone provide
what God requires to give him pleasure and satisfaction to
his law? How? The only one who can do
that is God himself. God himself stipulates out of
his own character, in his own will, he prescribes both the
precept and the penalty. But he also, in doing that, not
only condemns the entire race, all of Adam's race, all people
throughout time, across the whole earth, Through all the history
of time, me and you included, and this is where we must not
miss, when God speaks these things, there is none righteous. There
is none that understandeth. It means that God looked down.
And it was taken from that text of Scripture in Psalm 14 and
53. God looked down and he looked upon the children of men to see
if there were any that understood, that seek God. And he said, no,
there's none. And that means me. That means
God looked at me and He searched me and He said, no, none righteous,
not him, not you, not her, anybody, none of us can claim anything
from God. All we are in the sight of God,
according to His own law, is sinful, guilty, and condemned. And this is a sad situation,
isn't it? And it would be horribly sad
if that were the end of the story. But in the Ark, we see God opening
the revelation. This is not the first time. He
spoke this to Adam and Eve when he pronounced the judgment upon
Satan. He says, the seed of the woman
is going to bruise the head of the serpent. Christ is the seed
of the woman. He's going to destroy the works
of the devil in his own death. He's going to undo all the devil
did and more. And so also in the ark, in his
own death, Christ, he kept his people from experiencing the
judgment of God while at the same time fulfilled righteousness
for them and provided a satisfaction to God in his justice. God is
unbelievably holy. We don't understand what that
means. It's not like us. When we say holy, we're saying
He transcends. He goes so far beyond us that
we cannot comprehend Him. And He's not like us. He's holy,
holy, holy. And His own sovereign will and
character is holy. What is justice? It's what God
thinks. What is righteousness? It's what God does. Everything
God does is right. And now when He requires this
covering for the ark, when He requires what that covering pointed
to, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be offered to Him,
not to man. God didn't offer Christ in order
to persuade us or to motivate us or to provoke us to love. This was the love of God. This
was the justice of God. This was the righteousness of
God. It was for himself. And he's just, he's setting forth
his own nature and character in doing that. And baptism. is
pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he did in
his atoning work. And this is so important that
we must see that it was the sacrifice Christ made to God for his people
that saves us. And this is echoed. Remember
in the Passover, this is emphatically stated. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. It's not when you see it. What
matters, the transaction was between God the Son and God the
Father. The Lord Jesus Christ offering
himself by the eternal spirit to God, obtaining our eternal
redemption. And that's what's important here. We must not lose sight of that. There was a songwriter named
Benny, Thomas Benny, and he wrote this. I love this song. It goes like this. Eternal light.
Eternal light. how pure that soul must be, which
placed within thy burning light shrinks not, but with calm delight
can live and look on thee. The angels that surround thy
throne may bear that burning bliss, for surely they have never,
never known a fallen world as this. But how shall I, whose
native sphere is dark, whose mind is dim before the ineffable
appear, and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated being." How? There is a way for man to rise
to that sublime abode, an offering and a sacrifice, a Holy Spirit's
energies, an advocate with God. These, these prepare us for the
sight of holiness above. God's looking upon us and not
destroying us. And we seen, and in that light
of God being calm, he says, the sons of ignorance in night may
dwell with the eternal light through the eternal love, you
see. That's the sacrifice of Christ. In Ephesians chapter five, And
verse 2, he says it this way. Ephesians 5, 2, he says, walk
in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself See
what the sacrifice is? Christ himself. His body, his
soul. The pitch outside the ark, the
pitch inside the ark. Because in his soul and in his
body, he suffered the outpouring of God's judgment. It consumed
him. It was... What's the word? It overwhelmed
him. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. But he says here, walk in love
as Christ also had loved us and given himself for us, an offering
and a sacrifice to God. Notice, here's the satisfaction
for a sweet-smelling savor. God smells the sacrifice of his
son. He plunged his sword of justice
into the heart of his son, and his son willingly gave himself
unto this in submission of obedience and love for his people and love
for his father. He would not go free. It was
in his heart from eternity to do that will of God. And he did
it. And therefore, we are saved. We're saved, we're brought to
God. This is the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
baptism, our water baptism, portrays this in that we, in baptism,
go under the water because Christ came under the judgment of God
and died. And he was buried in the grave,
put in the grave. And then we, coming up out of
the water, are symbolizing that Christ rose from the dead, and
we were justified in his resurrection because God said, enough, enough. It's satisfying. It pleases me. Release him. I have found a ransom,
you see. This is what God is saying in
this baptism. It symbolizes the atoning death
and the resurrection of Christ having justified his people by
his own blood. A sacrifice to God was given
and a sacrifice to God was accepted. And his people then were in Christ. And that's why we're baptized,
to symbolize that in our baptism, our true baptism, we were with
Christ in his death. We were with him in the grave,
and we rose in victory from the grave. So that in 1 Corinthians
15, where we are, it says, why would we be baptized? Why would
anyone be baptized for the dead if the dead rise not? That's
what he says in verse 29, 1 Corinthians 15, 29. Else what shall they
do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at
all? In their baptism, in a believer's
baptism, we confess that in Christ our sins, our sins receive the full outpouring
of God's judgment in Christ. And that God receives satisfaction.
full satisfaction for the obedience we could never render and for
the sins that we had committed and we could never endure the
punishment of. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we
received both of those requirements of God to His satisfaction. In
the atoning death of the Lord, And we were there. Our sins died. Our sins were buried. And just
as Jesus laid aside the grave clothes in the tomb and left
them there, they were folded up. Our sins were gone. They
were left in the grave. And then he rose from the grave,
a glorified, a body without sin. No more did he bear the sins
of his people because they were put away. And therefore we rose
without sin, justified. God declared us to be justified
by his blood. And he raised him from the dead
to openly make this known and to exalt him then with his people
and to give them all of the blessings that his obedience earned for
them by the will of God. This is amazing, isn't it? The
atonement was an offering to God. The atonement propitiated,
it appeased God, it brought satisfaction to Him. And the one who made
the atonement, the one who offered was the priest, and the one offered
the sacrifice bore the sins of those for whom that sacrifice
was offered. And the satisfaction that the
priest made in offering that sacrificial victim which was
Christ, Christ offered Himself. That satisfaction and the perfections
of His nature and obedience in doing that, that was imputed. It was given to all those in
Christ so that God received from Christ for them. And they received
from God because He gave it to Christ. This is amazing. This
is union with the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want you to remember
that first of all, that baptism points to this atoning work of
Christ. Now look at 1 Peter, 1 Peter
3 and verse 21. I want you to see this. This is another place where God
explains his own meaning of this act of the Lord Jesus Christ
and his response to it. He says in 1 Peter 3, verse 18,
for Christ also has once suffered for sins. How many times are
we to be baptized? Just once. Just once. Because Christ once suffered
for sins. When we take the Lord's table,
When we take the Lord's Supper, we do that all the time, don't
we? Because we're remembering. Do this in remembrance of me.
But in this, he's saying, Christ once also hath once suffered
for sins, the just, Christ is the just one, for the unjust,
that's us. That he, Christ, not us, might
bring us to God. We don't bring ourselves to God,
he brings us. being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. There it is, put to death and
raised up, given life again in his body. Verse 19, by which
also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, which
sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing wherein
few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. It seems confusing,
and many commentators stumble over what this is. It simply
means this, that the Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead
by the eternal spirit, by the same spirit, the spirit of Christ,
was preaching in the days of Noah, through Noah, to those
who perished in the flood. They are the spirits who now,
when Peter writes this, are in the prison of hell. But when
Noah preached to them, they were alive, they were on earth. But
he went and preached to them, and they were disobedient because
they refused the preaching of Noah. And that's why they're
in prison at this point in time. He goes on in verse 19, I'll read it again,
by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison. They're
now in prison, but then in the days of Noah, Christ, by his
spirit, preached through Noah. and which were sometime disobedient,
when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah, because it was a long time for the ark to be prepared, 120
years, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. And
they were saved by grace, weren't they? The like figure, Noah's
flood, whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. Now he's
not talking about our water baptism. He's talking about our true baptism
in Christ. But notice, the like figure,
our water baptism is pointing to the true baptism. The like
figure wherein to even baptism also doth now save us, not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh. We don't get cleaned
up by going into the waters of baptism. But notice, the answer
of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God,
angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him. Notice
this word. We have, by the resurrection
of Christ, what? A good conscience. A good conscience. What is a conscience? I think
I mentioned this last time. The word is made up of two words,
con and science. Con means with, science means
knowledge. It means that with knowledge.
The resurrection of Christ preached to us, the meaning of it, the
accomplishments of Christ's work applied to us by the Spirit of
God gives us a good conscience. It teaches us so that we have
the knowledge of the way God sees things. God did this, God
received Christ, this is the answer to God Christ gave for
my sins. In trusting Him, I'm trusting
God. I don't have any reason to think
that God would do this for me, except God said He does this
for sinners. I know myself to be a sinner,
I know I have no hope unless God does this for me, right?
And what does He tell us to do? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I'm
one of them. And so as a sinner, knowing I
have nothing, I'm guilty. We just read in Romans 3. I'm
unrighteous. I have no fear of God. I'm guilty
before God's law, and I can do nothing about it. Someone else
comes. God appointed someone to offer
to God for me things pertaining to God, to deal with God in all
that God demands in His wisdom and righteousness and His justice.
Christ comes and does that, and then the proof that He completed
that work is He rose from the dead. And this is given to me
from the Gospel, God's Word. And he's given me this, I'm helpless,
I've been pushed down to this very narrow road. It's so compressed,
I have nowhere else to go. I have one hope, that God would
receive me for Christ's sake. And so desperate am I now to
have Christ and be found in him, that I find myself struggling,
Lord, receive me for Christ's sake, as you've spoken, as you
do for your people and your word. Be my savior. And the Lord's
word is the same. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look to him. And I say, yes, I see in him
all obedience and all satisfaction for sin. I need him, Lord. I'm depending upon you and have
no other hope but that you would look to Christ and receive me
for his sake. That's what your word declares.
And this gives me a good conscience because I know that Christ has
been accepted. There's nothing in him. He was
perfect. He was holy, harmless, undefiled,
and he shed his own blood in a death that God inflicted upon
him. He laid his life down in obedience
and took it again. in obedience. This gives my conscience
the knowledge of this. With God's gospel coming to me
and applied to my conscience, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
cleanses me. That's what Hebrews chapter 9
verse 14 says. I'll read that to you also. He
says, verse 14 of Hebrews 9, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God. Notice, what gives me a pure
conscience? The blood of Christ, who offered
himself without spot to God. He takes away the consideration
of me altogether. And it's a good thing because
there's nothing in me. It's dark and black and sinful. And he says, look, look, the
Lord Jesus Christ, without spot, offered himself without spot
to God. How much more shall that consideration
of that, what God did and what God received, Don't add anything
to that. Just sit. Don't move a muscle. See what God has done in Christ. That will purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God, you see. There's
only one thing that causes us to have the peace and joy of
believing. It's seeing that God has answered
himself for his people. And he's declared it to us in
his word. Now, when we are persuaded of
these things, what happens? I never, I could never have thought
of this. It's too wonderful for words
that I could be so identified with Christ in his death and
burial and resurrection that God saw me there then. And now
he says to you who believe, You have been given this faith in
Christ alone and forsaken all hope in yourself, have no confidence
in the flesh. He said, now you, you are to
be baptized in water to reflect this, to symbolize this. And
when you do so, you not only declare that my salvation is
entirely based upon what God has done in Christ and putting
me there in him like he put Noah in the ark, that my salvation
is all that, and also that therefore, having been joined to Christ
there in his death, burial, and resurrection, that my body also
shall be resurrected. It's not for something found
in me, not at all. God doesn't look at me to find
a reason to raise me from the dead or to receive me. He received
it all from his Son. And God applies the gospel to
our conscience to persuade us of these things daily, daily. And yet he's given us this thing
to do, to confess Christ in baptism to reflect this. Now, I want
you to understand that first, conscience. Your conscience is
clear because God has done something and received something from Christ.
As Horatius Bonar said, He said, how did he put it? He said, I
forgot the little thing I was going to say. But, upon a life
I did not live, Horatius Bonar said. Upon a death I did not
die. Another's life, another's death,
I stake my whole eternity. You see, it's upon another's
life and another's death. That's the conscience part. We
have a good conscience because of the resurrection of Christ.
And this, the foundation now, I want to talk about something,
the foundation of this is our union with Christ. Our union
with Christ. This is something that seems
phenomenal. How could this possibly be? That
we could be so joined to the Lord Jesus Christ that God would
look upon us as Him. because He joined us to Him.
How could this be? How do we know? How do we know?
Where did this arise from? What's the evidence of it? How
are we supposed to stand upon this? Well, first of all, God
declares it to us in His Word, that we are joined to Christ,
that this is God's work, and that because of this union with
Christ, then what He did we did in Him. And see, this is what
the Lord Jesus meant when He was baptized by John and told
John, it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness because of
our union with Christ, because Christ would fulfill all righteousness
in His literal baptism, not in the water baptism that John did,
but in the baptism He came under when He was put to death by the
will of God at the cross and was buried and rose again, that
baptism. because we were joined to him
there. And his baptism, his dying and submitting to the suffering
and the death and the grave and the resurrection for his people
as an offering to God, because he did that, he fulfilled all
righteousness. But the reason that His obedience
is counted as ours, the reason that His sacrifice was accepted
as our death in satisfaction to God's justice, is because
God joined us to the Lord Jesus Christ. When did this happen? How do we know? Well, He tells
us. He tells us in Ephesians chapter
1, notice this, these different ways in which God tells us He
has joined us to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians chapter
1 and verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Remember the ark? Noah in the
ark, God's people in the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Passover
was offered, the people in the house where the blood was sprinkled,
God passed over them. He saw the blood, he passed over.
Because in the house, in the ark, is telling us, teaching
us, that's being in Christ. And then in verse 4 of Ephesians
1, he says, according as, notice, here's the union, here's how
it happened. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. You see, God chose
us in Christ, and that means he put us there. He joined us
to Him. In Christ, there was a union
made so that God would see us in Christ, how? Holy and without
blame before Him in love. God's love towards us is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We're holy in Him. We've been
made without blame, perfectly righteous, perfected forever
by His one offering. Now look at Ephesians chapter
5, another union. Ephesians chapter five, look
at verse 32. He says, this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Who is he speaking
about? Jesus Christ and his people,
the church. But notice, let's back up. Verse
30, we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall
be, what? Joined to his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. In 1 Corinthians 6, 17 it says,
he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Spirit, body,
Christ dwells in us, he purchased us. In 1 Corinthians 6 he talks
about our union with Christ, he says, He purchased you. Your bodies, the members of your
bodies are His. He dwells in you. You've been
joined to the Lord, your one body, one spirit, with the Lord
Jesus Christ. But notice in verse 25 of Ephesians
chapter 5, he says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for it. Who did the Lord
Jesus Christ give himself for? The church. What did he give
for the church? Himself. Why did he give himself
for the church? Love. And why was, what is this
relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and his people?
A relationship of one union. How did this come about? The
Lord Jesus, God the Father chose us in him before the foundation
of the world. So there was a union of God,
a God-made union by election. A union which the Lord Jesus
Christ, as one with the Father, expresses his attitude towards
his people with the same love. The love of a husband for his
wife, the love of God for his people. This is phenomenal. In Song of Solomon, chapter eight,
verse six through eight, it says, love is strong as death. Love
is strong as death. And there's nothing that could
break this love. Nothing can separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. He loves his people
with an eternal love. Jeremiah 31.3, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn you. You see? Why does God the Father
draw us to Christ? Love, everlasting love. He joined us to Him. He gave
us to Him. And because He gave us to Christ,
the Lord Jesus said, as many as thou hast given me, I give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. And in John chapter 10, John chapter
10, look at this. In John chapter 10, in verse
11, I want you to see this. John 10, verse 11. This is a
chapter about the good shepherd. He says in verse 11 of John 10,
I am the good shepherd. Notice these words. Who is Christ?
To his people, their shepherd. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd does what? He gives his life for the sheep. Look at verse 15. As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. Look at verse 16. And other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, them also, what? I must
bring. I must. And they shall, what?
Hear my voice. And there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Now look at Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13. Remember those words we just
read. Hebrews 13. Notice this. In verse 20 of Hebrews
13. Now the God of peace, the God
of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, What does this teach us? It teaches us that the Lord
Jesus Christ is not only the shepherd and the husband of His
sheep, but there was a covenant made from everlasting to everlasting,
and that covenant was made in His blood. His blood fulfilled
the conditions. And in that covenant there were
promises, and the promises were made to the sheep. Because the
shepherd laid down his life for them. The husband loved the church
and gave himself for it. And this covenant God made with
Christ was for his people. Joined to him in union. So that
it is a union of election, a union of espousals or marriage, the
Lord Jesus Christ, a union of covenant. And in this covenant,
Christ is the one who makes the covenant. He himself is the covenant
made in his blood. Notice verse 21, Hebrews 13,
21. Now, the blood, this blood of
the everlasting covenant make you perfect, the God of peace,
make you perfect through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
in every good work to do his will, working in you that which
is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom
be glory forever and ever. Amen. What is the result of this
everlasting covenant that was made in Christ's blood? What
happens? Well, there were promises made.
Promises made to the children of promise, the elect of God,
you see. The language of Scripture is
consistent throughout. It's not the children of the
flesh who are the true Israel or the people of God. It's the
children of promise, the children of this covenant, this covenant
made by promise of God in Christ, made to Christ, and his people
joined to him in election, joined to him in his love, when he loved
the church and gave himself for it before the foundation of the
world. You see, Christ the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Here we see that the result of
this is that all of the promises in the covenant are put into
force because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And those
promises include what's said in verse 21, to make you perfect
in every good work to do His will. You see, God works in his
people first to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's
the gift. Through regeneration, right?
A new heart will I give you, a new spirit I'll put within
you. You'll know the Lord. And I'll be your God, you'll
be my people. And I will not remember your sins anymore, because
Christ paid for them. But that new heart is the heart
that believes Christ. that knows him because he's the
one who saved me from my sins. Every child of God knows Christ
this way. His name is Jesus. He saved his
people from their sins. And that faith, and that life,
and the Spirit of God given to them are promised in that covenant
made by Christ's blood. So how do we know we're in the
covenant? How do we know we have been joined to Christ in union
with him? So that we were with him in his death, with him in
his resurrection, justified by God, found in Christ, because
we believe the gospel. That's the promise. He gives
us his spirit. He causes us to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. We hear the shepherd's voice.
We're joined to him in this eternal union and the open Public manifestation
of this is faith in Christ. Faith doesn't join us to Christ.
God's love did that. God's eternal purpose did that.
But love, the love of God is the bond of this union. So nothing
can separate us from what? The love of God. It's that knitting
bond and nothing can separate us from him, from his love. but
that faith that's given to us is the result of that love, and
the result of that love was to give Christ, and the result of
His blood being shed is that the promises of the covenant
are given to us, and the principle one of that is the life, the
Spirit of God in us, birthing us, and creating us, and raising
us from the dead, and the result of that life is faith in Christ. And he says, you who believe
now, you who believe, We're given the Spirit according to promise.
We're joined to Christ according to that eternal covenant. You,
therefore, were with Him in His death and in His resurrection.
Now you be baptized in water to reflect this. Nobody but a
believer would have that attitude. And it's wrong, it's disobedience
to God to baptize someone who is not a believer. It's just
not, it's completely antithetical to the gospel. So those who baptize
babies disobey God. And those who baptize by sprinkling
or washing the face or whatever they do, that's disobedience.
You see, this is revealed plainly in scripture. Only God's people
are joined to Christ. Only a believer knows that. What
must, he says, the Ethiopian said to Philip, he says, here's
water. What hinders me to be baptized?
If you believe with all your heart, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the son of God, then he was baptized. And we could go down
through the list. There's not one single example
in scripture of a baby ever being baptized. Every time someone
is baptized in scripture, they have heard the word and they
have believed the word. It says in Mark 16, 16, if you
believe and are baptized, you'll be saved. It's not baptized and
then maybe sometime, hopefully, you believe. No, it's believe
and be baptized. A household of Cornelius heard
the gospel. The Spirit of God fell on those
who heard. They obviously were believers. They received the
gospel from Peter. Then they were baptized. Lydia
heard the word. The Lord opened her heart. Her
household was baptized. The same household ministered
to Paul. They obviously were not babies.
The Philippian jailer asked, what must I do to be saved? And
Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be
saved. And then he baptized him and his household, having preached
the word to them. They all were gathered together
and heard him. And they heard the word, they believed, and
they were baptized. And the household of Stephanus. In 1 Corinthians
1 and chapter 16 also are mentioned, as Paul said, I don't know if
I baptized any, but I do remember the household of Stephanas. But
the same household had addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints. Those were not children. Those
were adults. They were believing adults. So
all these cases that are brought up in support of infant baptism
are just empty attempts to continue what was started in Catholicism.
And it's a sad thing that people would compromise the truth of
the gospel like Calvin did in this regard. So I hope that you understand
something about baptism. Who is to be baptized? Believers
in Christ. Why do we baptize only believers?
Because they're the only ones joined to Christ. Do we know
that everyone baptized is a believer? No. We baptize people on the
profession of their faith. On the profession of your faith,
I baptize you, my brother, my sister. Jesus gave the commandment to
baptize those who were made to be disciples, remember, in the
end of Matthew 28? And all these things are to bring
our attention not to the act of baptism, but to the atoning
work of Christ. And if it were just sprinkling
water to christen or whatever the name of this operation is
that people perform in religion, if that were all of it, then
it would be mighty empty, wouldn't it? But it's not empty. There's so much joy in a believer
to say, I want to be baptized. because it displays what truly
happened, what God says truly happened. I was joined to the
Lord Jesus Christ from eternity. And in his death, I died. In
his grave, I was buried. My sins were put away. And in
his resurrection, I was justified and lived to God, and I expect
my body to be raised on the last day. Therefore, I'm baptized. Why would anyone do that if there
was no resurrection, Paul asks. in 1 Corinthians 15, 29. If you
have any questions, we'll talk later. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you that we find the Lord Jesus Christ and your salvation
in him to be so wonderful, to be so all sufficient, that we
don't have to trust anything for ourselves. In fact, when
we find ourselves beginning to consider what we are and as the
basis for our confidence before you, we know we're in disobedience
and we have to repent again and come to you trusting Christ again
by himself and not another and know that you have done this
because you required it. It was your nature, your will,
And we see your perfections in all that Jesus Christ our Savior
did. We see his reigning power and
his exaltation because he conquered death for us. He overthrew our
sins and cast our sins into the depths of the sea. What an amazing
Savior, what an amazing God, what amazing grace. Lord, we
pray that you'd save us by your power, for your glory, not by
our strength, not by our goodness, that you would ever receive Christ
for us and that you would give us faith to ever look to Christ
as the only one in whom you receive us. Help us to proclaim this
great and glorious news throughout this whole world. Help us to
join with one another in celebration and glee, in joy and glee that
you would be so gracious to sinners. We'll never have anything of
ourselves to be able to boast in, but we do boast in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Thank you for gathering us together
in your name. Thank you for compelling us by
your grace and by your spirit to hear and to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. We pray you would bless everyone
here today for his sake, to his glory. In his name we pray, amen.