Welcome to our time together
in these difficult times. We are thankful to the Lord that
he's provided this opportunity for us to at least have some
communication with each other and I stand here with my wife
and contemplate you people in your lounge rooms watching in
and trust the Lord will in the midst of the difficulties of us not meeting
together that we might actually have the sweet fellowship of
the Lord. I'd like us to begin our time
together by reading Psalm 130. Our topic for today is baptism
and in the normal course of events today would be the day when we
would have a service and we'd speak about baptism and we'd
preach the gospel as best the Lord might allow us to proclaim
it and then we would have gone down to the river and Noah and
maybe others would have been baptized but the Lord has chosen
to delay those things and I trust that he blesses our waiting and
blesses the desire that he places on the hearts of his people to
publicly profess and proclaim the glorious gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Let's read Psalm 130 as we begin
our service together. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
eyes be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou,
Lord, shouldst markest iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, And in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the
Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities. We spoke last week about calling
on the Lord, and there are cries here, aren't they? Out of the
depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication, to the voice of my pleas. God calls his people to call
upon him, and they do. And I pray that that might be
our portion this morning. Let's come before the Lord in
prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the revelation of who
you are in the gospel of your dear and precious son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we thank you and praise you,
Heavenly Father, that the blessed Holy Spirit comes and does that
remarkable convicting work, convicting us of sin and righteousness and
judgment. And in the midst of that conviction,
the Blessed Holy Spirit reveals the Lord Jesus Christ to us and
he takes the things of the Lord Jesus and he makes them known
to us and we pray Heavenly Father that you might hear our cries
that you might be attentive to our words and that we might Heavenly
Father know the wonder of all of our iniquities being removed
and know the wonder of a God in whom there is plenteous redemption. We thank you, Heavenly Father,
that you hear our cries. We thank you that we can come
to you and lay our case before you and pray, Heavenly Father,
in these extraordinary times in this world where you have
shaken the foundations of so much, that so much of our world
lived and depended upon, that in the midst of that shaking,
Heavenly Father, we would know that there is an unshakable throne
and upon that throne is an unshakable God, and we pray, Heavenly Father,
for wisdom for our leaders, and we pray for us to be people of
compassion in this time of trial, and we pray, Heavenly Father,
that you would cause and make ways for us to reach out to our
brothers and sisters in love and in care for them. We do commit
ourselves into your hands, Heavenly Father. We thank you for the
opportunity of having this time together where we can examine
your word and see something yet again of the glories of your
dear and precious son and the salvation that he has won, that
he bestows with great joy upon all of his children. Bless us,
Heavenly Father, for we come to you in Jesus' name and pray
that you might cause him to be high and lifted up and he might
get great glory out of our gathering today for we pray in Jesus name
amen as I said earlier I I've been
talking to Noah and the Lord seems to have done a work in
his heart and I wanted to speak to us today from just that one
verse that we looked at We looked at the second half of that verse
in Acts chapter 22 last week, and I'd like us to look at the
first half of that verse today. And here, Adonais makes this
Remarkable declaration to Paul. He declares who the God is. He says in verse 14 of Acts 22,
he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee, that thou shouldst
know his will, and see that just one, and shouldst hear the voice
of his mouth. For yet thou shalt be his witness
unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And this is the
verse that we've been looking at. And now why tarryst thou? Why are you waiting, Paul? Arise, and be baptized, and wash
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. What a glorious
declaration. So now is the day of salvation. Why are you waiting, Saul of
Tarsus? And that word arise is a glorious
word. It's the word that is our modern
word, Anastasia. You might recall it being the
Christian name of the Premier of Queensland. Anastasia means
resurrection, to arise. And it's a beautiful picture
of what baptism portrays. I love what Peter said in Acts
10.37 regarding baptism. He spoke when he was speaking
there to Cornelius. He was speaking in Acts 10.36,
the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. That word,
I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judea and began
from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached. I trust
and pray the Lord might allow us to just examine his word regarding
baptism and that he might preach it to us that we might see how
glorious this ordinance of our God is and how beautifully and
wonderfully it reflects the gospel and what delight it is and what
great encouragement is for the Church of God throughout the
world and for us in particular when people come forward and
want to publicly acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ and what
he's done in this world. But as we see from the context
of Acts chapter 22, Paul standing before that crowd in Jerusalem
that want his death would have torn him limb from limb if the
Roman army hadn't stepped in to stop him. Paul, Saul of Tarsus,
was on his way to Damascus and it's interesting that he doesn't
bother to answer the accusations of this religious crowd, this
enraged crowd before him. He takes the opportunity that
the Lord provides to simply declare the gospel. In the midst of all
the turmoil, in the midst of a world where there is so much
uncertainty and turmoil, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
wherever there's an opportunity made, they just are commanded
of God, you declare me. God will have his people. Our God sits on the throne of
this universe and he rules and reigns over all things in perfect
peace and in perfect order with a purpose that he alone rules
and controls all things to achieve and that is the good of his people
and the glory of his name and in baptism we are seeing both
the good of his people and we're seeing the glory of his name
proclaims that Paul saw of Tarsus like all children of Adam and
like all religious people saw his way in this world by the
light of this world And that light for him was enhanced by
his religious heritage and his learning and his obedience and
his zeal. This crowd before him were like
him. He had trodden their paths. And brothers and sisters in Christ,
wherever we see religion, and see the blinding of religion
and the hearts of men, we want to say that that is us and that
was us. You see their security, if you
go back to Acts chapter 21 verse 28, their security was, and they
were concerned about Paul, that this man, help this man, this
is the man that teaches all men everywhere against this place. against the people and the law
and this place. You see, their security and poor
security in religion came to belonging to the Jewish people.
Their belief and their comfort was that their law obedience
was honoring God and meritorious toward God. And they had their
confidence in this place. in this temple, and they thought
that Paul had polluted that temple by bringing Trophimus into the
sanctuary. You see, they had a temple. They
had a meeting place between God and man which could be polluted
by man's activities. They had a temple. They had a
meeting place between God and man that could be kept pure by
man's activities. Paul Paul, as all believers,
all true believers do, receives a light from heaven. And in that
light from heaven, all of this religious activity is revealed
to be not worship of the true and living God, but hatred towards
God. And not meritorious obedience,
but soul damning disobedience. Not love for God, and his people,
but hatred towards God and his people. Not care for his fellow
Jews, but leading them to eternal death. It is the darkness of
this background which displays the grace of God more starkly. See, natural light reveals the
scriptures as a moral rule book for life. But heavenly light
reveals the multifaceted declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. The book of God is a hymn book.
It's a hymn book about Him. It begins with Him. It finishes
with Him. And everything in between is
all about Him. He's the Alpha and the Omega.
He's the beginning and the end. But only spiritual light from
heaven reveals the Lord Jesus Christ in His glory. Natural
light reveals esteemed believers and they are applauded for their
works of so-called righteousness. But heavenly light reveals these
men as enemies of the gospel. Natural light shows men how they
can grow in their own holiness. But heavenly light shows the
child of God that the Lord Jesus Christ is all of his holiness
before God. For what is highly esteemed among
men is abomination toward God. It is always true, isn't it,
that those who are truly righteous before God never see themselves
as nothing but sinners always, and all the unrighteous see themselves
as righteous. And here Ananias comes to this
awakened, enlightened soul of Tarsus. And he brings those great
words, arise, be baptized, washing away thy sins, calling on the
name of the Lord. I love the commands of the gospel,
our warrant for coming. is the command of God to come.
Our warrant for believing is the command of God becoming. Our warrant for looking is the
command of God to look. Our warrant for calling is the
command of God to call. And these commands are not burdensome
for believers. Arise, arise in this newness
of life now, Paul, the apostle, and wash away thy sins. There are two gospel ordinances,
aren't they, that are practiced as well as the meeting of the
church in the context of church. And I love how these are such
simple and beautiful pictures. And in their simplicity, in their
simplicity, there is an enhancing of the significance of these
ordinances of God. See, they're ordinance and they're
not sacraments, aren't they? They reflect, as they do with
Saul of Tarsus here, they reflect that grace is given. They don't
reflect anything as earned. Paul had earned nothing for himself
in all of his religious activities. He'd earned nothing for himself.
And baptism is a beautiful public ordinance, isn't it? It's a public
confession and a public declaration of what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done and who the Lord Jesus Christ is and my union with him. And just like the Lord's Supper,
the Lord's Supper is a remembrance isn't it? You do this, you proclaim
his death, you do this in remembrance of me. One of the glorious things
about these two gospel ordinances is in just a few minutes after
someone has been baptized and they're dried and changed externally
you would see no difference and in the Lord's Supper you
take the bread which reflects the broken body of the Lord Jesus
Christ and you take that wine which represents that shed blood and they go into us and they
become part of us. And we live, we live because
of what they bring to us. Do this in remembrance of me. Arise, be baptised and wash away
your sins. Wash away your sins, to wash
them away is to separate them from you by bathing, to have
them removed from you. Calling on the name of the Lord. Calling on the name of the Lord.
Last week, I trust that the Lord showed us that His name is a
reflection of His character. He is a sovereign God. He rules
over all in time. He has the time of his love.
He has the time of his calling. He has the time of his revealing. We saw from this passage of scripture
that God is an electing God. The first words that Ananias
says is that the God of our fathers has chosen you, Paul. All of
the elect children of God are elect in the one elect who is
the Lord Jesus Christ. We hear of this name of the God,
isn't it? We have a God who speaks, a God
who hears, a God who commands, a God who's revealed in that
great light and in that glorious light, a God who is holy. We have a God who is declared
to be a just God and a saviour. We have a God who reveals his
saving power in sovereign grace. Sovereign grace is revealing
grace and is saving grace. See Saul of Tarsus is a picture,
isn't he? He is a pattern of those, he
says to Timothy, who should afterwards believe unto eternal life. See
Saul of Tarsus is a trophy of the grace of our God. See Saul
of Tarsus on the road to Damascus had nothing but demerits before
God and yet he was an object of God's love and God's salvation. He was one for whom the Lord
Jesus Christ had represented as a substitute on Calvary's
tree. So he had nothing but demerits and yet he was saved by sovereign
grace. Paul the apostle At the end of
his days, having served the Lord Jesus Christ all of his life,
all of his resurrected, arisen life, had nothing but demerits
before God. He was a trophy of grace at the
beginning of his life and a trophy of grace at the end of his life.
He says, by the grace of God, I am what I am. So I trust the Lord might allow
us just to look briefly this morning at this glorious ordinance
of baptism. And we have to deal with some
errors of baptism. And of course, one of the ones
that is so sad and would have put so many of them away is the
fact that the translators, because of their concerns about how their
translation would be reflected, took the Greek word baptizo and
transliterated it and created a new English word. And if they'd
left the word immerse or overwhelm, so many of the distortions and
misunderstandings of baptism would have just dissipated. But
this is all in the sovereign hand and providence of our God. But some errors are that baptism
is unnecessary for salvation, and they can use the example
of the thief on the cross. that God's people simply believe
the Word of God. It is a glorious ordinance. It's an ordinance that John was
sent to bring to this world and sent to bring such that the Lord
Jesus Christ would be revealed. It was an ordinance that the
Lord Jesus Christ undertook with John that they might together
fulfill all righteousness. We'll look at that later on. ordinance, but it is a glorious direction from our God. If you turn with me to 1 Peter
3, and we might look at these verses from verse 18 and following. 1 Peter 3, 18, For Christ also
has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God. Being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit, by which he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes 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. The like figure, whereunto even
baptism does also now save us, not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers
being made subject to him. Baptism is not unnecessary. Nothing in the Word of God is
insignificant and unnecessary. These people were saved, it says,
by water. Saved by water. The same water
which drowned the world under the wrath of God lifted Noah
and the others above the danger. The wrath of God fell on the
ark as on the world. and the wrath of God was absorbed
by that ark. And all in the ark had the wrath
of God fall upon them as it fell upon the ark. And the ark covered
within and without with pitch, with covering, with propitiation,
pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. So what is it to have a good
conscience toward God, as Peter speaks there? A good conscience
toward God is to believe everything God says. It's simply to believe. Saving faith simply believes
God. There is so much that we don't
understand, so much in this world that we don't understand, so
much about the joys of Christian life which are not explained
by any natural understanding of things. But God's people believe. Baptism is significant. Another error of baptism, isn't
it, is that baptism is necessary for salvation. There are sadly
so many churches like the Catholics and others and Protestants who
have come out of the Catholic churches to still continue saying
that baptism is a saving ordinance that's baptism your baptism washes
away your original sin and then there is another era that follows
isn't it which is the baptizing of babies if we had the word
immersed people would stop sprinkling because you need an awful lot
of water to immerse someone by sprinkling And baptism is an
ordinance for believers, and therefore children are not born
into the covenant of grace, only the twice-born. The new birth
reveals all the covenant blessings of the child of God, and they
are appropriated by a God-given faith. The baptism is a picture,
is a simple, symbolic picture of the gospel, and with As in
all of the Lord's activities, there is a glorious simplicity,
and in that glorious simplicity, there is a beautiful picture
of the union, the immersion of believers, and the union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our acts don't earn grace. But our acts, like this act of
Paul's, reflect grace given. So baptism is a union, isn't
it? The baptized person comes along and walks in this world,
and walks immersed in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The baptized
person is immersed under the waters. They're immersed in union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. into his death they are one with
him in his life and they are one with him in his death and
there under the waters of baptism the baptized person like the
lord jesus christ on calvary's tree he was hidden from the world
in darkness and in the tomb he was hidden from the world in
darkness there is There is a silencing,
isn't there, in conversion. There is a silencing of the world
and its voices and its cries and its pulls upon us. Baptism
also reflects the glorious rising of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was put to death because of our sins and he was raised because
of our justification. And there is an immersion in
his resurrection and a glorious union with Him. You see, our
God, as Ananias said to Paul, is a just God and a Savior. And all of the sins of all of
God's people must receive justice from God. Otherwise, God is unjust. And sins cannot be in two places
at once. And sins, sins cannot, by a just
God, ever be punished twice. All, all for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died, all for whom he shed his blood, all those for
whom he prayed, all those for whom he was always in eternal
union with him, all of them who have no sins must, must rise
and go to heaven, which is why Paul can say to the Ephesians,
he's seated now, seated now, we are believers. Brothers and
sisters in Christ, we are seated with him in heaven. Our baptism
is an immersion. It's an immersion that reflects
the glory of the gospel in our union with him. I was going to read, if you have
your hymn books there, I was going to read that hymn which
is a favourite of Beth's, number 48. When I came back from India and
went back a couple of times, two or three times to see my
students in India, this was the last thing I left them with. For them, I gave each of them
a copy to take home and to read and to contemplate the glory
of this wonderful hymn by John Kemp. to which Jesus and the
chosen race subsists a bond of sovereign grace, that hell with
its infernal train shall ne'er dissolve nor rend in twain. This sacred bond shall never
break, though earth should too her center shake. Rest, doubting
saint, assured of this, For God has pledged His holiness. He
swore, but once the deed was done, t'was settled by the Great
Three One, Christ was appointed to redeem all that the Father
loved in Him. Hail sacred union, firm and strong,
how great thy grace, how sweet the song, that rebel worms should
ever be one with incarnate. deity. One in the tomb, one when
he rose, one when he triumphed over his foes, one when in heaven
he took his seat while seraphs sung at hell's defeat. Blessed by the wisdom and the
grace, the eternal love and faithfulness that's in the gospel scheme revealed
and is by God the spirit sealed. It is the revelation of the Lord
Jesus Christ to people that brings a knowledge of this union. It brings a knowledge of who
we are as sinners and brings a knowledge of who our glorious
Saviour is. You might recall when John the
Baptist came baptising in John Chapter 1, verse 31, he says,
I knew him not, even though he was a cousin of his and probably
had some association with him for 30 years, but that he should
be made manifest to Israel. Therefore, I am come baptizing
with water. And John Bear Records saying,
I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not. But he that
sent me to baptiseth water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. The same
is he which baptises with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear
record, that this is the Son of God. And it's exactly the
same today, isn't it? It was exactly Paul's circumstance
on the road to Damascus. The Spirit alone reveals Christ,
the Anointed One, to the children of God. And then in Matthew chapter
3 we read of the Lord Jesus Christ's baptism. Let's begin at verse
13. 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 thou comest to me.
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it be so now, suffer
it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water,
and lo, the heavens were open 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
am well pleased. Baptism is a Trinitarian baptism. Paul was to call upon the name
of the Lord, the Father, and his electing love and grace,
the Son, and his redeeming love and grace. The Spirit, in His
revealing love and grace, bringing the things of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. Baptism. Baptism, according to
the Lord Jesus Christ, was necessary. His immersion, His immersion
in union with His people, was necessary to fulfil or establish
all righteousness that's what verse 15 says and i love what
he said to john he says it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness
everything that the lord jesus christ did everything that he
did everything that he does is always a glorious us becometh
us there is in the scriptures just so many glorious pictures
of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ and the wonder of that
union and the power of that union and the effect of that union
upon believers. You might recall many of them.
I want you to note before I begin in Ephesians chapter 5, if you
turn in your Bibles there, that the most common expression used
of believers and children of God in the scriptures, in the
New Testament scriptures, is the little phrase in him. The word Christian is used just
twice. So believers and brethren are
those who are in him. So let's begin in Ephesians chapter
5 and look at this glorious union It says in chapter 5 verse 22,
"...Wives, submit unto your husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church, and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, as the
church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be unto their own
husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church." and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own body, He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, even as the Lord
the Church. And why is this? Verse 30, because,
or for, we are members of his body, of his flesh, and his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they
too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery but I
speak concerning Christ and the church. There is great wisdom
isn't it? Great instruction in husbands
loving their wives. that is so much more delightful
and pleasant to be in a love relationship with those around
us. But the message that Paul is
bringing us here is a message that is that the marriage union
is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. He says in verse 32, it's a mystery. Now, it used to be that we were
taught that mysteries were so difficult that only extraordinarily
talented theologians and pastors who had all of that theological
knowledge could understand them, and we were told not to worry
about the mysteries. But that is not what the mystery means. The
mysteries in Scripture are always revealed mysteries. Mysteries
are just glorious truths, aren't they? Transcendent truths that
you could not have known. if God had not been pleased to
reveal it to you. The mysteries in the New Testament
are mysteries that are revealed. They are still, and they contain
doctrines like the Trinity. They contain things which are
beyond our understanding, but not beyond our belief. Paul says, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ was God.
And when he walked this earth and when he healed people, when
John was leaning on his breast, when Mary took him in her arms
as a baby, they were there touching, touching God. It's a mystery
that's revealed, isn't it? It's now revealed and we hold
on to the word of God and trust what God says. It's a mystery
that's revealed. It's a mystery that salvation
is by grace and not by works. All of us, all of us of Adam's
children and all of us in Adam's flesh will think that our salvation
and think of our standing before God has always got to do something
with our works. And it's a mystery revealed.
that salvation is of the Lord and salvation is all in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the great Saviour. And it's not about our works.
It's not about our works. It's about His purpose and grace.
Salvation is entirely the work of the triune God. But in that
salvation, in that salvation, there is this glorious mystery
of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious union. See, look, let's go back to these
verses that we've just read in Ephesians. In verse 23 in chapter
5, it says, He's the head of the church. He is the savior
of the body. Verse 25, Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it. There's nothing in the scriptures
that allows for this notion. this notion which denies the
justice and the sovereignty and the glory and grace of God, this
notion that somehow Jesus died in an attempt to make salvation
possible for everyone. That is, there was a sufficiency
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's made efficient
to the elect. They are notions which deny the
glory of the justice of God. Christ also loved the church,
verse 25, and he gave himself for it. He didn't give himself
for the world. And he did it with a purpose,
didn't he, verse 26, that he might sanctify, that he might
make it holy, that he might cleanse it. This is what Paul is told
way out on ice. You arise and be baptized and
wash away your sins. The cleansing is the cleansing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cleansing it with the washing
of water by the word. The word preached reveals the
washing of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're washed from our sins in
his blood. What a great purpose, isn't it,
that the Lord Jesus Christ was washing that bride, the one that
he loved, the ones that he gave himself for, the ones that he
declares his body. Verse 27, that he might present
it, that church, to himself a glorious church. not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. That's what it is to be washed
from your sins. It's all the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to what verse 29 says, No man ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes it and cherishes it, even as the Lord the Church. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
right now, the Lord Jesus Christ is nourishing. He's nourishing
His church, and He's cherishing His church. Always. Why? Verse 30. For we are members of His body,
and of His flesh, and of His bones. We are members of Him. We are
united to Him. in one flesh. It is an eternal
union. All of the elect, the true church
of God, are eternally united to Christ, with no beginning
and no ending. And if we're eternally united,
you, like Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, have sins and
iniquities and transgressions and enmity in your heart to God
before he turns you to himself. And the Lord knew it all. He
knew it all. He saw it all. And it was always
washed away in the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Christ was loving his church, his bride. He was loving himself
that's how close and real the union is i love what paul says
at the end of his life to timothy if he if we believe not he abideth
faithful because he cannot deny himself he cannot and will not
deny himself the believer cries out like that man with the demon
possessed son he says lord i believe lord i believe help thou mine
unbelief Our Adam nature never believes and our new nature never
stops believing, never stops being faithful. It's a new creation. We're in him. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh and of his bones. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified on Calvary's tree, might recall two things that
not a bone of his was broken and he says in verse 17 of Psalm
22 I can tell I can count all my bones on the cross of Calvary
the Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of his omnipotence as God
in human flesh knew all his bones could count all So the one thing that separates
a child of God from the union and delight in this union is
sins. Your sins have separated you
from your God. But if sins are taken away, there
is, as Romans 8 begins, there is no condemnation and finishes
in Romans 8 with no separation. They are one. In Hebrews 2.11
it says the sanctifier and those who are sanctified are of one. They're not just close. They
are one. They are one. There is an everlasting love. We quote that verse from Jeremiah
31 verse 3 often. And it says the Lord has appeared
of old unto me saying I have loved thee with an everlasting
love or it could be translated I have loved thee everlastingly
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Saul was drawn
by a loving hand of God and all of God's children are drawn by
that same hand. Baptism shows the glory of that
union. It's a union which is reflected
in Ephesians. Chapter 5 draws our attention
to the remarkable descriptions in Genesis chapter 2. And it's
good to begin at the beginning to think of what baptism means
in terms of our relation to God. Genesis chapter 1 verse 27 now
God says so God created man in his own image in the image of
God created he him male and female he created them male and female
he created them and we know from the rest of the chapter in the
following chapter that Eve hadn't been created at this time. Why? Why does he say in Male
and Female he created them? Because Eve was in Adam before
she was created from his rib. She was in him. You read it in
verse 21 of Chapter 2 of Genesis. And the Lord God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of
his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib
which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and
brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. Adam had a glorious picture of
the gospel preached to him before the fall. Adam was put to sleep,
the Lord Jesus Christ was put to death on Calvary's tree and
put to sleep in that tomb and out of him, out of him as he
slept came Eve and she was brought to him, she was brought to him
The Lord Jesus Christ had all of that pride given to him by
his father in all eternity and she was brought to him and she
was brought to him as he was risen from the dead in glorious
resurrected union with him. She was as Eve. The church was as Eve. She was that one that relieved
that issue, wasn't it? That one problem in all of the
garden that's not good for man. to be alone. There's a help mate
suitable for him, bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh.
And in the tragedy of the four, you recall that Eve was deceived
and she ate, she ate the fruit and nothing happened. She ate
the fruit and nothing happened. There is a union in the Lord
Jesus Christ and all of his people which is reflected in the union
of all of the children of God in Adam and all of the children
of man are in Adam that's why Romans 5.12 says that in him
we all sinned such was the depth and wonder and the completeness
of our union with him in Adam all died see Romans 5.12 is saying
that we really sinned against God when Adam sinned We're not
charged with Adam's sin, but it was really us who sinned. That's the depth of union. What Adam did, I did. In Adam all die. In Christ shall all be made alive. So if I'm united to Christ, all
that he did is exactly what I did. That's the glory of this union,
and that's what baptism is showing. The believer goes under the water
and comes back up again. It reflects the life and the
death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when
someone is being baptized, calling upon the name of the Lord, when
the glory of the gospel revealing the name of our God, the character
of our God is revealed, and faith comes from God in the light of
that revelation of who He is, And you cannot help but believe
when He is revealed to you by God, the Holy Spirit. And what
you're saying in baptism is when I'm baptized, this is my hope
that when He lived, I lived. When He died, I died. When He was buried, I was buried. When He was raised, I was raised. And when He's seated in glory,
I'm seated in glory with Him right now. Everything he did, he did as
an us. That's what justification means,
isn't it? He obeyed the law of God perfectly. He loved God with all of his
heart, all of his mind, all of his soul, all of his strength.
And he looked into that holy, righteous, and just, and good
law of God, and loved obedience to it. It was no trial or effort
for our God. And we did it too. God's people
don't keep the law of God. We've already kept it. We've
kept it perfectly. So united with Him, that when
He paid the penalty for sin, all that sin is gone. and a justified
person is one who's standing before God and has never sinned. Never sinned. There is something
delightful in the transactions of God with his people. So often,
as with Paul, he takes his people into a place of darkness. Paul
had those three days of darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ did his
transactions in the moonlight of the garden and hidden from
the view of this world and most men. And on the cross, the transaction
was done in darkness and was hidden from the world. It's a
transaction, a glorious transaction, which is a spiritual transaction.
It's an internal transaction. It's a transaction that the Lord's
people know and feel and a transaction that is not known and not felt
and not seen by the people of this world. It's a glorious transaction
as the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us. Paul had those three days
of darkness. It was hidden from the world
and gloriously and wonderfully We have no record of it. And
I love the fact that the same God who reveals so much also
hides so much that we might rest our hope. We might rest our hope
in what he's written in his word. It's a union. It's a glorious
union. It's a union. The Lord says,
as we read earlier in Matthew chapter 3, it becometh us to
fulfil all righteousness. We are so closely united to Him
that there is an immersion in Him. Immersion in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ was immersed
in His faithfulness to His Father. The Lord Jesus Christ was immersed
in the fire of God's wrath. He took that cup, that cup that
horrified him. He took that cup that the Father
had given him. He took that cup and he drank
that sin. He drank that sin. He took it
to himself because legally it was his. They were in the covenant
of grace. They were really out his sins. He declares them to be so. He
took that cup and he bore those sins in his own body on the tree.
He bore them and he carried them away. It's a glorious union,
isn't it? It's a union of a righteous and
just and holy God. It's an eternal It's a union
that reflects the justice, the holiness, the grace. It reflects
all the glory of the character of God. We are immersed in Him. We are immersed with Him in that
covenant of grace before the foundation of the world. I love
quoting those great verses that Paul declared in Galatians 2.20. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. Not as if it seemed as if I was
crucified with Christ. He says, I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith, the faithfulness of the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me. That's the glory of this
union, isn't it? He says, he goes on to say, I
do not frustrate the grace of God. I do not diminish the grace
of God. I do not do anything that turns
people from the grace of God. I do not undo the grace of God,
for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead
in vain. All of his righteousness, all
of his righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ. All of his sin
bearing is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that union, I'm crucified
with him. Christ liveth in me. All that he did, I did. All that
he did, we are one that was his prayer
in john 17 isn't it that they may be one that they may be one
as we are one that they all may be one john 17 21 as thou father
art in me and i in thee that they also be may be one where in us that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me and the glory which thou gavest
me i have given them that they may be one even as we are one
listen to the depth of this union this is his prayer before calvary
i in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will. Father, I will. And the father answered these
prayers. I will that they also whom thou
hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my
glory which thou hast given me for thou loves me before the
foundation of the world our righteous father the world has not known
thee but I have known thee and these have known that thou hast
sent me and I have declared unto them thy name and will declare
it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them,
and I in them. This is a glorious union, isn't
it? This is a glorious union between
the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. We bear his name. We are considered as one with
him. We are loved according to His
prayer and His promise. We are loved as the Father loves
Him. And what's the evidence? What's
the evidence of our union? There is just one evidence. Do
you believe the Gospel? Would you believe it? Would you
believe it? When we went through John's Gospel
many years ago, with our friends in religion, one of the fellows
who heard these words said it's all, and heard us declaring the
Gospel to him, said it's too good to be true. It's too good
to be true. Sadly, for him, it was too good
to be true. It was too rich and too meaningful
and it was too stripping, too stripping. You see Paul as a
blind man, Paul effectively as a dead man. On that road to Damascus in those
three following days had to declare, didn't he, that my life The entirety
of my eternal being is in his hands. And I have nothing. I have nothing to offer him. All I can do, all I can do is
call. All I can do is call for mercy,
plead for grace. He brings his people to a place
where he strips them of all the things and all the props that
this world would allow us to hang on to. And that's a process
that begins in conversion. It's a process which continues
through the rest of our lives. We'll have our ways hedged about
with thorns. We'll cling to the things of
this world in our Adam flesh. and the Lord will shake this
world and take them away from us. And it'll remind us again,
remind us again and again, the glory of who the Lord Jesus Christ
is and the glory of what he has done. So that's what Paul said,
didn't he? John says in John 17, he says,
we have boldness, we can enter the day of judgment. believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can enter the day of judgment
because our judgment has already passed. That's what baptism is
signifying, isn't it? That we went down into that grave,
we went to death with the Lord Jesus Christ under the very judgment
and wrath of God on all of our sins and we really did die with
him, in union with him. John says in John 1 John 4, 13,
Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because
he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the
world. And whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God,
God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believe
the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God. and God in him. Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. We may have confidence in the
day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. Too good to be true for some.
Great news for sinners. As he is, is he holy? So are we in this world. Is he
accepted of the Father? So are we in this world. Is he righteous before God? Is he perfectly fit to enter
heaven's glories? So are we in this world. Has the sin that's been laid
on him been taken away and put away completely and forever and
never to be remembered and never to be raised up again? So are
we in this world. That's what we're confessing
in baptism, isn't it? We're confessing the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're confessing the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's turn just to a few verses
in Colossians. It's a great description in Colossians
2.9 of the Lord Jesus Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete, right now,
complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power, in whom you are also circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, and are putting off the body of sins of the flesh by
the circumcision of Christ. There was a cutting away of the
flesh. There is a circumcision of the heart, which is a cutting
away of all that the heart would cling to. In baptism, I'm saying
that I'm no longer looking to any fleshly work for the hope
of my salvation. All the good that I've done,
and all the bad that I've done, I put them in the same rubbish
bin. And I have Him and His righteousness. Verse 12, it says, buried with
Him in baptism, wherein you're also risen with Him through the
faith of the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead,
the faith and the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ obligated
him to raise him from the dead. He's a just God and a saviour. A just God and a saviour. Baptism is a picture of union. Baptism is a picture of washing
away our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew
chapter 21 was challenged about his authority. for cleansing
the temple. See, these people, 20 odd years
later, had a temple that they thought could be defiled. The
Lord Jesus Christ was the real temple. But he claimed authority
over that temple. He claimed authority over his
father's house, and he says to them, John's baptism wasn't from
heaven, or was it from men? They had nothing to say. There had been a testimony given,
and the religion and the religious activities of men, rather than
drawing them to God, had just blinded them. And such is the
situation today until the Lord Jesus Christ comes in that glory,
that light from heaven. Baptism is a glorious picture. It's a glorious picture. baptism which we preach. It's a baptism that John preached. It's a washing away of sins. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded
baptism and his disciples practiced baptism under his direction.
Peter on the day of Pentecost commanded them to be baptized,
those that were cut to the heart. He preached the Lord Jesus Christ
to them. He preached him as both Lord
and Christ. He preached the fact that a sovereign
God had done this, that this was all the act. They were cut
into the heart and they cried out, what must we do to be saved? They had the Lord's name revealed
to them and Paul didn't say, Peter didn't say on that day,
well there's nothing you can do, he said repent and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins. Repentance is a change of mind. You change your mind about who
God is. You change your mind about who
God's Christ is. You change your mind about how
God saves sinners. You change your mind about who
you are. That crowd on that day, before
Peter had preached, thought themselves righteous in their religious
activities and there they were at a great festival. There they
were thinking that they were offering something to God. Change your mind about who you
are. You have nothing to offer God for your acceptance. You
are sin. and you do sin you change your
mind about who he is you change your mind about who and how he
saved sinners you change your mind about his absolute sovereign
control of him over all things repent and be baptized Peter
commanded them and what's the glorious response of believers
verse 41 of chapter 2 of Acts and they gladly received his
word Those that gladly received his word were baptized, and three
thousand souls were added to the church. God is adding souls
to the church. Like Paul, they had met the Lord
Jesus Christ, they didn't need any classes or instructions,
they didn't need any examination. They heard, they saw through
the eyes of faith who God was and who they were, and they believed
and they repented. and they are added to the church
that day. Sins washed away, says Ananias. It's a baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins. I love what the Lord showed Peter
before Cornelius, before his meeting with Cornelius in Acts
chapter 10. There's a glorious description
where this This great sheet is let down, representing the four
corners of this earth. And Peter is told to rise, Peter,
kill and eat. And Peter says, I'm religious.
I've never defiled myself with any of this stuff, ever. I've never done anything, I've
never eaten anything unclean or common. And the Lord spoke
to him and said, what God has cleansed that call not thou uncommon don't
you dare call something unclean that I'll call clean and he did
it three times so Paul would get the message we purify our
hearts when the legalists had come along in the church and
disrupted and cause dissension in the fellowship there is that
great declaration in Acts chapter 15 that these Gentiles were clean
they had their sins washed away how purifying their hearts by
faith purifying their hearts by faith God makes his people
clean. In their union with the Lord
Jesus Christ, their sins are gone. Hebrews 9.4 talks about
the depth of that. It's not just an external washing,
it's an external immersion that reflects an internal work, isn't
it? He speaks of the blood of bulls
and goats in verse 12 of Hebrews 9. Neither by the blood of bulls
and goats he didn't enter into that holy place, the one that
is in heaven, the one that's not made with the works of hands.
But by his own blood he entered once, in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls
and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling on the unclean sanctified
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God. His offering wasn't to the world.
His offering was an offering to God. And what does it do?
Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. To purge your conscience. It's
an external act and in its beauty and in the simplicity, the beauty
of its simplicity is a glorious reflection and glorious statement
and a glorious way to declare who the Lord Jesus Christ is
and what he's done. He's now in heaven, our great
savior. He's now in heaven. He's now
indwelling his church. He's now with his believers and
in union with them, In Revelation 1, verse 5, there's a glorious
description of him, isn't it? And from Jesus Christ, who is
the faithful witness, the first begotten from the dead, and the
prince of the kings of the earth. This world is in turmoil, and
we grieve over what's happening around us. But we know that there's
a king. There's a king who's ruling. And in his shaking, and in his
way of making this world to tremble, we trust that out of all of that
he will cause his people to be faithful. It says, unto him,
this one who is sovereign, this one who rules, this one who is
a prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that has loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Let's close
by turning to Revelation chapter 7 and Paul sees this great multitude
The great multitude of the redeemed, a multitude which no one can
number. Verse 9. They're drawn out of all the
nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues. They are representative
of that sheep that was dropped down from heaven, the ones that
the Lord makes clean. And they stood before the throne
of God and before the land, clothed with white robes and palms in
their hands. And John asked a question. He's
asked a question, isn't it? And one of the elders answered,
saying to me, What are these, verse 13, arrayed in white robes,
and where have they come from? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said unto me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore
they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night
in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor heat. For the lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto
the living fountains of waters, I love the plural, and God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes. Arise, resurrect, be baptised,
wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Let's
pray. Our Heavenly Father, we pray
that you would bless your word to the hearts of your people
and we do pray that in the waiting that you have caused Noah to
go through, that there might be rich blessings, Heavenly Father,
as we wait upon you and know that at a time, a perfect time,
that you will bring this to fruition. We do praise you, Heavenly Father,
for The glory of the gospel and we praise you for the beautiful
pictures of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ, the wonder
of redemption in him, the glory of being robed in his righteousness,
the glory of the fact that our lives are now hidden with Christ
in God. And when he who is our life shall
appear, we shall appear with him in glory. Bless your word,
Heavenly Father, to the hearts of your people. And may your
Son receive great glory and honour as the Blessed Spirit reveals
Him to the hearts of your people in the wonder of finished, glorious
salvation and redemption in Him.