I want to talk today to you about the
subject of baptism. When our Lord Jesus Christ was
here, he walked from Nazareth of Galilee all the way to Jerusalem
to be baptized by John. And that tells us baptism is
important. He said to John, thus it behooves
us to fulfill all righteousness. I want you to see the importance
of baptism for a believer. Romans 6 verse 3, he says, Know
ye not that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ
were baptized unto his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism unto death. that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. I want to show you what baptism
is, who should be baptized, and I want to answer the question
that I'm often asked, which is, should I be rebaptized? What
is baptism? Well, one, baptism means immersion. The word baptizo means immersion. Immersion is not a mode of baptism. Baptism is immersion. That's what the word is. It was
actually transliterated when it wasn't translated. It's just
what the word means. Scripture says Jesus, when he
was baptized, went up straightway out of the water. But Secondly,
baptism is a believer's confession of faith in Christ. And there's
a more important reason that we're immersed than just the
word. We're symbolizing the gospel
by baptism. By immersion, we declare that
we were baptized in Christ. when Christ was baptized in the
judgment of God and was buried in the tomb. He says there, speaking
of the type, the picture of baptism, he says, No ye not that so many
of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto his
death. We're picturing His death on
the cross by our baptism, therefore we're buried with Him by baptism
unto death. We're picturing not just His
burial in the tomb, although that is pictured, but we're picturing
an immersion that took place on the cross. Christ came here
to manifest the righteousness of God. That is the most important
thing being manifest on the cross, is how that God will not rest
judgment. God will always judge just judgment. That's the whole purpose of it.
Christ, when He was talking about His work on the cross, He described
it as a baptism. He said, I have a baptism to
be baptized with and how Am I straightened till it be accomplished? This
is why He went to the garden of Gethsemane and sweat, as it
were, great drops of blood. He was looking to this immersion
that He was going to be immersed in. Now Christ knew no sin. There's two things that are always
set forth when it's talking about this work of Christ on the cross.
Number one is that He was made sin. But number two, it's that
He Himself knew no sin. He Himself knew no sin. He was not conceived in sin like
we are. He walked under the law for 33
years. He was made flesh just like us,
made under the law just like His people, and He never was
convinced of sin. He never was chargeable with
sin in thought, word or deed. And on the cross, he never became
a sinner. A sinner is a rebel. A sinner
is somebody who is disobeying God and transgressing God's law. He did not himself become a sinner. Even when he was made sin, he
did not turn rebel against God. Christ did not do that. He Himself
knew no sin. Christ is God providing Himself
a lamb without spot or blemish. He is God. He is the Lamb of
God. He is without spot, without blemish. More so than any ceremonial lamb
ever was. They just pictured Christ. And what took place to them was
only a figure. It was a picture. It could not
do what Christ did. It just was a picture. That's
all. So, because he knew no sin, he
was fit to bear sin. And he was bearing the sin of
God's elect, so that the law saw him worthy of death. The law saw him worthy of death.
Whether men believed that Christ was made sin by imputation, and
just merely treated as if he was sin, or if men believe that
Christ was made sin and made a curse, all agree on this. He had to bear sin in order for
God to be just to pour out judgment on him. We all agree on that. Stephen Charnock said this. He
believed that the Lord was made sin by just being imputed to
Him, being charged to Him. And he said this, it is as much
against divine justice to inflict punishment where there is no
sin as it is to spare an offender who has committed a crime or
to clear the guilty. This God will by no means do. The consideration of a crime
precedes the sentence either upon an offender or His surety. We cannot conceive how divine
justice should inflict the punishment had it not considered Him first
under guilt. But what I'm saying to you is,
and what the Scriptures say is, God is thoroughly, strictly righteous. He's righteous. And that's what
was being manifest on the cross. He made Him sin, and due to Him
bearing the sin of His people, God justly, justly spared not
even His own Son. Don't ever imagine He'll spare
one of us. He spared not His own Son. but
delivered Him up for all His people. And when He did that,
it was just and it was righteous judgment. It manifested that
God always does what's right. And that judgment was an immersion. He was immersed in judgment. It was that living death that
His people would have had to have died for eternity had Christ
not bore that death on the cross for us. Don't ever imagine that
when you die, physical death is the end. The death of hell
is described as a worm that never dies. It's a living death that
will never end for those who face it. And what Christ was
bearing on the cross was that living death in place of His
people. He was made a curse in place
of His people. That was why He went to the cross. It was to show God will not rest
judgment. He will not. As we go through
Exodus, we're going to go through these laws and these judgments. God is speaking to the judges
when He's giving these judgments. We saw the law of the bondservant,
the law of the maidservant. Today, Lord willing, we're going
to see the law of murder. He's talking to the judges. And
when He gets to the end of this, He tells the judges, even if
a man's poor, you do not arrest judgment. You don't give him
special treatment just because he is a poor man. You treat all
men the same. Justice knows no man's person. Justice either does one of two
things. It says you are innocent or it
says you are guilty. That's it. That's all justice
does. So when he was immersed in God's
just fury, in the wrath of God, Scripture says this in Psalm
69, which we know is a Psalm of Christ. He said, Save me,
O God, for the waters are coming unto my soul. I sink in deep
mire where there is no standing. I come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. That's what he was... doing on
the cross. Limitations 3.54, He said, "...waters
flowed over mine head. Then I said, I am cut off." Psalm
42.7 says, "...deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water
spouts. All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me." That's what was pictured in the ark in Noah's
day. It had never rained before. God
caused the water spouts of the deep to break forth, and it began
to spring up water from the earth, and it began to rain down water
from above, and we think of that ark as floating, but when all
that judgment, that was the judgment of God, that flood was the judgment
of God justly against all sinful flesh. And that ark pictured
Christ with His people inside it. And we picture that ark floating,
but when that judgment, that flood of judgment came in, that
ark was immersed in the flood, in that judgment. And it pictured
Christ making atonement by bearing the judgment of God in place
of His people. That's why the Lord said, pitch
it within and without. That word pitch means atonement,
appeasement, satisfaction, That's what that word pitch means. It
was picturing atonement. And then, when we come out of
that water, we're symbolizing how we're resurrected in Christ
to newness of life. That's what he said in verse
4. Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. In Christ,
Ephesians 2 tells us this, in Christ, when He came out of the
grave, When He ascended and He sat down, all His people were
quickened in Him, together with Him. We came out of the grave
together, we ascended together, and we sat down together in Christ. That's what Ephesians 2 tells
us. And have you noticed this, brethren? Paul describes the
believer as being dead to the rudiments of the world. He's
talking about the letter of the law. The letter of the law only
speaks to a fleshly man. It only speaks to a man who is
of Adam. That's the only one the letter
of the law speaks to. But Paul said in Colossians 2.20,
remember they were being seduced back into observing the law. And Paul said this, If you be
dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though
living in the world, are you subject to ordinances? Touch
not, taste not, handle not. He's talking about the commandments
as well as the false doctrines of men. But he was saying those
are rudiments of the world. We'll see this more later, Lord
willing, when we get to Romans 7. But this is what Paul was
talking about here in Romans 6 we saw last time when he said
our body of sin was destroyed. It means it was nullified. It
means it was disannulled. It means it became of no effect
before the law. Before the law. The law can say
nothing else to it. We ceased to be of Adam. Our
old man was destroyed. Now, you and I who believe are
dead to the law. risen in Christ to newness of
life, to serve in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of
the letter. When we get to Romans 8, we're
going to see, Paul's going to say, you're not in the flesh. You're in the spirit if the spirit
of Christ dwells in you. Now we can't get We can't get
our heads around this because all we see is flesh and all we
know is flesh. But before God, all God regards
is the new man, the spiritual man. Those that worship God,
Christ said, must worship Him in spirit and in truth because
God is spirit. The law is spiritual. The law
can really only be understood spiritually. And we delight in the law of
God, where? In the inward man. We are serving
God in newness of spirit, not the oldness of the letter. We
are going to see that next time. In Christ's holy person, with
Christ's holy person in us, we are as holy and righteous as
Christ is. There is no law against us. Period. And so we walk in Him, and we're
led by Him, and we delight in Him, and our fruit is of Him.
That's why Paul said, if any man be in Christ, he's a new
creature. That means a new creation. He's
a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. It may not appear to you like
old things are passed away, but before God, old things are gone. destroyed with Christ. And when
we came out of that grave, everything is new. And that's what we're
confessing in baptism, when we come out of that watery grave.
Also, by baptism, the believer's publicly confessing that he's
consecrated to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's picturing, first it's immersion,
What is baptism? First, it's immersion. Secondly,
it's a public confession of the gospel we believe. We show by
it how we died in Christ and how we arose in Christ to serve
in newness of spirit, not to oldness of the letter. And then
thirdly, baptism is a public confession that we're now consecrated
to our Lord Jesus Christ. By baptism, we're confessing
publicly that we commit ourselves to Christ fully, totally, entirely,
and to His people. We're together with His people. He has dominion over us in our
heart, in our spirit. He leads us and we delight to
follow Him. and His people are our people.
That's what we're confessing in believer's baptism. Do you
remember when we saw the children of Israel went through the Red
Sea? Well, the Scripture says that
was a baptism. The cloud was over them, the
water was all around them, and that was a typical figure of
baptism. And the Scripture says when they
went through that water and they passed through that sea, they
were consecrating themselves unto Moses. They were saying
they were committed to Moses to follow them, to be their prophet
and their priest. They were going where Moses went.
Scripture says, Brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant
how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed
through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea. Moses entered. came out of that
sea first. He did it first. He passed through
first. Christ passed through the grave
and out of that grave first. And then after Moses did it,
the children of Israel went in after Him and they committed
to Him and they followed Him and they came out on the other
side. And that's what we're declaring in baptism. We are one nation
with Christ just like they were one nation The children of Israel,
the church in the wilderness. We're saying we're one nation. We're the Israel of God with
His people consecrated entirely to Christ. That's what we're
saying. We're publicly avowing that we're
committed to Him. They all drank the same spiritual
drink. They drank that spiritual rock.
That rock was Christ and we're saying we all are drinking the
same spiritual drink with the Lord's people. Christ Jesus the
Lord. Now, this is something that is
worthy to think about. I have people a lot of times
ask me, you know, say they were baptized when they were in false
religion and now they couldn't sit under that, now they couldn't
have anything to do with that because they see it's lies or
whatever. Well, you know, baptism When our Lord sent them in the
Red Sea and they were baptized and they were committed to Moses,
that publicly was a symbol of them being totally separated
from the Egyptians. From that bondage and from Egypt,
they were separated. And historically, baptism's always
been hated by false religion because that's what it symbolizes. Baptism is a public declaration
that we renounce all the former falsehood, all the former lies,
all the former vain works, and those former companions, and
we're separated from them now by God's grace, and we're united
with Christ and His people. public statement that's being
made in baptism. So, I leave it to men that I
don't ever try to coerce anybody to be baptized, but, you know,
if I can't sit under a message, because it's such lies and it's
something that I now abhor now that I know Christ, why would
I want to say that was baptism and say that was I was baptized
in when I was saying I was united with them. I would want to be
separated from that if that was the case because that's what
baptism is. Fourthly, baptism is an answer
of a good conscience toward God. I'm still just telling you what
baptism is. It's immersion. It's symbolic
of what we believe, the death, burial, resurrection of Christ.
It's a public avowal commitment to Christ. Public commitment
to Christ and His people. Separation from all vain religion. And then fourthly, it's a public
confession of a good conscience. Peter said in 1 Peter 3.21, baptism
doth also now save us. He says, 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. We're confessing
when we're baptized that the Lord has really brought the gospel
to us He's really purged our conscience with the blood of
Christ from all guilt. so that we have ceased now from
all those dead works that we once did whereby we tried to
make ourselves be accepted of God. If you read Hebrews 9, he'll
say, you know, he gives the picture of that ceremonial purification
that took place when a man touched a dead body by the blood of a
red heifer, the ashes of a red heifer. And he said, how much
more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit,
through His Godhead, offered Himself without spot to God,
how much more shall that great High Priest who entered in with
His blood, holy and spotless, to meet God on our behalf, how
much more shall His blood purge our conscience inwardly from
dead works to serve the living God? And then in Hebrews 10,
He tells you, He says, if those Old Testament sacrifices had
put away sin, He said, then those worshippers that came there would
have had no more conscience of sin. And they would have quit
offering those offerings every year. And He's teaching us when
that blood of Christ has really purged your conscience, so that
you know what Christ accomplished. He accomplished it for you and
put away your sin and you're accepted of God without spot
and blameless. That's when a man will stop trying
to work for acceptance with God. That's the only time he'll stop
trying to work for acceptance with God. And so that's what
we're declaring. We have a good conscience toward
God. He's purged our conscience. And
that doesn't mean that you don't come into guilt at times because
of you need to be chastened or what have you like that and God
chastens you and makes you say, oh, I need to turn from that.
But it means that you know your state before God is, I'm without
guilt, I'm without blame, I'm holy and without blame, unapprovable
in God's sight because of Christ's blood. And we never lose that. That never changes. We're always
spotless before God by Christ's blood. So that's what we're confessing.
Now secondly, who should be baptized? Who should be baptized? Well,
only those and all those who believe Christ Jesus is the Son
of God. Only those who believe Christ
is the Son of God should be baptized. And all who believe Christ to
be the Son of God should be baptized. Scripture says faith is the only
prerequisite. Remember Philip, as they went
along, they came to the water. What had he been preaching to
them? He had been preaching Isaiah 53. So he was declaring the gospel
to him. He was declaring he's the son
of God. He was declaring that he came to put away the sin of
his people. He was declaring how the Lord
laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was declaring how he
bore our sorrows and he carried our griefs. He bore our sins. He bore our transgressions. And
he declared how that God, for that reason, wounded Him and
bruised Him. And it satisfied God, it pleased
God to crucify Him and judge Him in place of His people. That
satisfied God's judgment. And the reason He was fit to
undergo that, it says, He made His grave with the wicked is
because He knew no sin. Neither was guile found in His
mouth. He was without sin. That's why He was fit to bear
the sin and to put it away. And He did. He did. And Philip heard that and he
got to that water and he said, here's water. What hinders me
to be baptized? Apparently, Philip talked to
him about being baptized because he got there and he said, here's
water. What hinders me to be baptized? And here was Philip's
answer. He said, if you believe with
all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And Philip baptized him. To believe he is the Son of God
is to believe that He is God in human flesh, the God-man.
It's to believe that He came to accomplish the redemption
of His people and He accomplished it. It's to believe that He is
ascended now to the right hand of God as our head and He's sending
this gospel and He's working all things, filling all and all
His people. It's to believe He's coming again,
He's going to receive His people to Himself and He's not going
to lose one. is to declare Christ Jesus as
all our salvation. When you believe He is the Son
of God, you believe He is all. And anybody who believes that
should be baptized. Faith is the only prerequisite,
but faith is necessary before we can be baptized. Christ said,
Go preach this gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned. And those who believe on Christ are not ashamed to
confess Him publicly before men. Scripture says, by the grace
of God, they will not be ashamed to confess Him. I want you to
turn over and read something with me in Matthew 10. I want to show you two passages
of Scripture. Matthew 10, 32. Christ said, Whosoever therefore shall confess
Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is
in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before
men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven. And He tells us here that it's
not going to be easy. He says, Think not that I came
to send peace on the earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father and mother more than me. That is, he loves them so that
he won't confess Christ publicly before men because of them. He
won't renounce. the lives they are under because
He loves them. That's to love our loved ones
more than we love Christ. And Christ said, He that loveth
father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He that
taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
Now, you might find your life that way. You may save it from
all the from all the persecution that you will get from men's
words and their rejection and things like that. You might save
your life from all of that. But he says, he that finds his
life shall lose it. And he that loses his life for
my sake shall find it. Now go to Luke 14. It's a similar
saying, but I want you to see this. Luke 14 and look at verse 15. There was a man sitting there
and he said, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God. Luke 14, 15. This reminds me of men who come
here to the gospel and they get all excited, you know. Oh, I'm
going to be back and hear this from now on, you know. And then
you don't ever see them again. This fellow piped up. He got
excited. Blessed is he that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of God. And the Lord said, There was
a certain man that made a great supper and he bade many. This
preaching of this gospel is a great supper. And our Lord has spread
this gospel and He bids people to come and hear it. I wish we
would consider when we don't attend the preaching of the gospel.
It's not just that you reject the preacher who studied and
worked and tried to get a message from God for you. It's Christ
who spread this supper. It's Christ who's praying. He
said, if we're two or three gathered, I'm there. He didn't say He was
out here in the woods on a deer stand or over on the lake fishing
somewhere. He said, I'm here where my people
are gathered to worship Me. I'm there. And He says this,
He sent His servant at supper time to say to them, they were
bitten, come, for all things are now ready. And they all with
one consent began to make excuse. First said, I have bought a piece
of ground, I need to go see it. I pray Thee, have me excused.
Another said, I bought five yoke of oxen. I need to go prove them.
I pray Thee, have me excused. Another said, I've married a
wife. Therefore, I can't come. So that servant came and showed
his lord these things. And then the master of the house,
being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed
and the halt and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it's
done as Thou has commanded and yet there's room. And the Lord
said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges
and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I
say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste
of my supper. And there were great multitudes
going along with Christ. And he turned and he told them
what he meant by all this. He said, If any man come to me,
And hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,
and brethren, and sisters, yea, his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. He says, Which
of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and count
the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? lest, happily,
after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it,
all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to
build and was not able to finish. Or what king goes to war against
another king, and he sits not down first and consulteth whether
he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against
him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he sends an ambassador and desires peace.
And He says, So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not
all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple. See, if I don't
forsake all, and Christ is not all to me, He hasn't done this
and He's not all to me. What He's saying is, I will not
have sufficient. the strength sufficient to run
this race and finish this race and fight this war and finish
it. If He's not everything to me,
if somebody else is competing for my heart, I will fall away. It's just that simple. But to
those to whom He's all, they will not forsake Him. They will
not forsake Him. Now, here's the last question.
I'll be quick. Should a believer be baptized
again? Well, that's between you and God. If you were not hearing
Christ preached in truth, you were hearing lies and half-truths,
which Christ said He does not sin and He does not bless. If
you did not know Christ, who He is, what He did, why He did
it, where He is now, then you were not even really baptized. Truthfully, you weren't. So if
God brought you under the truth and made Christ your wisdom,
your righteousness, your sanctification and your redemption, then you
should be baptized for the first time. For the first time. Publicly confess Him. Only God
can make His child willing to confess Him in truth. We don't
coerce people. We don't try to get a profession
of faith out of people. It's between a man and God. But
once you've been baptized and you've truly confessed Christ,
you don't need to be baptized again. Men will come under conviction
sometimes and feel like they ought to be baptized again. I
tell you, there's multiple times I felt like it's the first day
I ever believed God. And you can't help but look back
on your life and say, how could I possibly have known Him then?
But if you knew him when you were baptized, you don't need
to be baptized again. So I hope that's helpful. Let's
stand together. Lord, we thank you for this word.
We pray you bless it to our hearts and that you'll help those that
might be considering confessing you publicly, that you will make
it effectual and give them the heart to do as you would have
them to do. We thank you, Lord, for Christ.
Thank you for giving us faith to believe him, hearts to confess
him. Lord, we pray today He be exalted
and pray You would make us to truly hear and bow to Your Word.
Make Christ preeminent in our hearts above all others. We ask it for His glory and honor
in His precious name. Amen.