May God be with us this morning
as we turn to his word now and consider it together. We'll turn
to the chapter that we read in the Prophecy of Isaiah and chapter
43 and we'll read together the first clause of verse 2. The Prophecy of Isaiah chapter
43 and the first clause of verse 2. thou passest through the waters,
I will be with thee. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. The scriptures clearly teach
us from beginning to end, but really specifically in the New
Testament, that believers should be committed, professing and
baptised Christians. We have so many examples of those
who were converted and very quickly, in many cases immediately, made
a clear profession of their faith. We have the example of course
right at the start of Jesus Christ himself. When he came to the
beginning of his open ministry, when he was to go more specifically
about the towns and villages to preach, he first made his
way to John at the River Jordan and was baptised, showing that
he was separated unto God consecrated for his work, honouring his father,
and thereby setting a pattern for the New Testament Church. And that pattern, of course,
goes on, especially as we read it through the Gospels and through
the Acts of the Apostles. When the Lord Jesus was finally,
as it were, going to glory and leaving the disciples behind
in their work, He gave them the commission. The commission was
to go, therefore, and teach all nations, but it was more than
teaching. He also said to baptize them
in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Clearly, he put great weight
or in the ordinance of baptism here, in that it was vitally
important that they did not only teach and lead the people, but
they desired that they might be affected by the preaching,
that they might be converted, brought to life and brought to
a public profession, baptised in the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Ghost. Many other examples which I'm
sure we're all aware of, go to the Philippian jailer, What must
I do to be saved? And then having heard, received
the teaching, the preaching of the Apostles, him and his household
baptised. Think of Lydia, also in Philippi. When her heart was opened by
the Lord, she also followed him in that open profession. The
Ethiopian eunuch, what doth hinder me to be baptised, having heard
the exposition of Isaiah 53 in the Suffering Saviour? Cornelius,
the Gospel has come to the Gentiles through the preaching of Peter,
and there, having received the Holy Spirit, him, his household
were baptised. It is a clear ordinance for the
Lord's people. Now I know, of course, that these
things are hard and these things must be thought about very carefully. But I believe it is also true
that, for many reasons, these thoughts and the ordinance of
baptism is shut from people's minds and put to the back of
their minds, if not put out of their minds entirely, for many
reasons. Perhaps there are many fears
of what these things may mean and what the outcomes may be.
Perhaps there are thoughts that it is not for them. This is something
for others but would never be appropriate for them. Perhaps
it's a feeling of unworthiness, something that they could not
possibly pass through because they are unworthy to walk through
that way, unworthy to profess what Christ has done for them. There are many fears and there
are many reasons why it is tempting to put these things to the back
of our mind. But here we have a text which,
as it were, gives us the other side and holds up to us, not
the fears, not the opposition, but the promise, the blessing. Here is the promise from the
Lord himself. Here is a promise from God, and
he says, I will be with you. You will not walk alone. There may seem to be, like many
waters, we could see this as troubles, many fears, many reasons
to ignore this ordinance, and yet Though he acknowledges the
waters, the troubles, he says, I will be with thee. And here is a promise that he
speaks to his people. What really struck me when I
first came to think about this subject this morning, I was thinking
during the week, is this word at the beginning. He says, when
thou passest through the waters when thou passest through. He does not say if thou passest
through the waters. It isn't as if this is an optional
situation, as if it is something that we can take up if we like,
something that we can put down if we don't like, and the Lord
really has no particular view. He does not say if thou passest
through the waters. And I believe here, when we consider
the ordinance of professing the Lord's name in baptism, we have
here, in a sense, the mind of the Lord. His mind is that baptism
should be before every Christian. It should be there in front of
them. It should be the path that they walk when thou passest through. It is his will. It is his command. It is his example that he's set
before us. When, not if, when thou passest
through. Now I have no idea this morning,
but this subject has been very heavy on me and I have no idea
why. But there may be someone here
this morning, one of us here, who has got the ordinance of
baptism right at the front of your mind. You can't shake it
off. You want to, in many ways, forget
about it. You want to put it from your
mind, but you can't. It keeps coming back. And it
may be that sometimes you've determined to go. Sometimes you've
determined that now you will walk, now you will come, now
is the time and there are other times when you've put it straight
from your mind, you've not wanted it, you've not wanted to think
about it, you've not wanted to entertain the thoughts, but you
would honour him in your right mind, in your right thoughts,
so what you would do, you would honour the Lord. You would want
to speak of what he has done. You would want to follow his
example. But on the other hand, there
are so many doubts. There are so many questions.
There are so many fears in your own mind. So many thoughts that
spring up. So many reasons that the devil
puts in front of you. And reasons that you think you
can bring before the Lord and say, this is a good reason. This
is a good reason why I can't. This is a good reason why it
doesn't apply to me. Well, the Lord knows. The Lord
knows. And as it were, this verse tells
us that he sees it before you. He sees that the waters are there. He sees that it is in front of
you. And he says, when thou passest
through. He sees that you must go that
way. It is his will for you to go that way. And he says, when
you go, when you pass through, I will walk with you. I will
stand with you. I will be by you. I will be with
you. When thou passes through the
waters and he speaks this morning and if he's speaking, through
this word to you this morning, and as it were, he is saying,
when thou passest through, will you now turn again and say, I
won't. I won't go. I don't believe the
promise. It's not enough. Will you turn
and say that again? When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. I believe in these two verses
here, verses one and two. We have, as it were, three common
fears addressed. Three common thoughts that go
through the mind of the Lord's people when considering an open
profession. And they are addressed and they
are answered and there is encouragement against those fears. Three common
things. And the first is the question
of, am I qualified? Am I qualified to walk through
the waters? Am I qualified to take the Lord's
name on my lips and speak of what He has done? And this, of
course, can be a great fear, a great obstacle, because the
Lord's people often do not feel qualified. They do not feel right. They do not feel ready. And if
we went on how we feel, and we so often feel our sins and our
failures and our backslidings and how we do not meet the Lord's
standard, and if we go on that, we rarely feel ready, we rarely
feel right. We will always feel to be sinners.
We may think, well, isn't it there for strong Christians? for strong believers, people
who know a lot, people who have walked a long time, people with
the Lord, people who have a strong, a clear testimony. I need to be more like them.
I need to be better. I need to be ready. I need all
of these things. I need to feel better myself.
If only I could be a better Christian. Do you think, could a believer
really be like me? Could a believer who the Lord
calls to follow Him, could he be a sinner like me? Is that
possible? Surely I need to improve before
these words apply to me. Well, that is answered. That first concern, that first
fear is answered in verse 1. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. What is the Lord's encouragement
here then for those who fear because they fear that they are
not qualified to follow the Lord in this way? What does he say?
What does he remind us of when he says, I created thee? I formed
thee. I have made thee. You have been
made by God in a natural, physical way. You have been created by
the power of God. We are all his creation. We are
all his children in that sense, in a natural way. I have made
you. But of course, much, much more
than that. For the believer, he has created
life in you. He has made you alive. He has
given you what you could never have given you yourself. He has
made you from dead, cold and indifferent to life. I have created thee, O Jacob,
and He that formed thee, O Israel. And can you look and say, well,
I'm different to what I was. I'm different from what I was.
Once I was dead and cold and uninterested and indifferent
to the things of God, but although I might not know much and have
much to claim, there's a difference now, there's a change. One thing
I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. Now I have a desire for the Word of God.
Now I have prayer like I've never had before. Now Christ means
something. The Gospel means something when
it didn't before. Now I realise I need Him when
I didn't before. Now how has that come about? Have you done that? Has someone
else done that for you? God tells you. The Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, He that formed thee, O Israel, it's Him
that's done it, who's given life, who's changed us. He then says,
fear not. Why? For I have redeemed thee. I have brought you back. I have
brought you back into my family. I have redeemed thee. And as
the Lord brought you to look on Christ's work in a way that
you haven't looked before. To see something that you didn't
recognise before. The blood of Christ, the suffering,
the death. You realise you need that. You
need a substitute. You need a Redeemer. You cannot
pay the price yourself. You cannot earn your salvation.
You cannot redeem yourself or anyone else. I need Christ, the
Redeemer. And He says, I have redeemed
you. I have done it. And you look to Him. He says,
I have called thee by thy name. I've called you. You come to
see the beauty of the Gospel. Come to see something. Come to
hear something in the Gospel that you've never heard, never
recognised, never been interested in before. You've come to see
the love of God to sinners and the hope in your heart. that
that love extends to you as it were you've heard the call of
the gospel that there is a way of salvation that there is hope
for even you the worst of sinners i have called thee by thy name
i've formed you i've redeemed you i've called you and thou
art mine you belong to me by my grace i have chosen you You're
mine. I've bought you. I've called
you. I've brought you to myself and
you belong to me. Thou art mine. You see, what this verse tells
us is that salvation is nothing of us and is all of Him, is all
His work, not what we have done, not what we know and not even
how we feel, but rather of Him and what He has done and what
He says and how He puts His claim, as it were, upon His people. Have you been brought to see,
to look upon Christ, to look out of yourself, to finally look
beyond your own sins and your own weaknesses and look out to
Christ alone. See, it's not what we're doing
that's important. It's not how we're walking in
one sense that's important. Of course, we must walk a life
of holiness. We must pray that we might be changed, that we
might have a sanctified life, of course. But in one sense,
it's not how we compare against others that's important. The
important thing is, where are we looking? Where are we resting? And this verse tells us, I have
redeemed thee. I have called thee. I have formed
thee. Thou art mine. It's all of His
grace. It's all His work. And we are
directed to look out of us and to Him. Doesn't this answer the
first fear? I am not qualified. No, you never
will be. in yourself, but are you looking
out to him who was formed, redeemed, called and bought you. That is
the qualification. This is the qualification to
follow him. This is what we need to be able to say to profess
his name. I look out of myself, I look
unto him. What did the eunuch have to say
to Philip so that Philip was confident that it was right for
him to pass through the waters. What did he have to say? I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That was enough for Philip,
because in those few words, the eunuch had been turned right
round from what he was in the past, and he had been turned
round to now see Jesus Christ, the Messiah. not as a good man,
not as a kind man, not even as an example of how to suffer and
how to serve his people. Here he saw him as the Son of
God, the Messiah, the Saviour, who had come to save him. He
was looking out of self and unto Christ and that was what Philip
wanted to hear. we look out of ourselves. I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name and thou art
mine. Am I qualified if you're looking outside of self to Christ?
Yes, you are. The second fear that I believe
is addressed here is the fear of actually making the profession,
of actually having to speak and the time of baptism, the fear
of speaking, The fear of what others will say. The fear of
what your family and friends and neighbours will think. The
fear, perhaps, of even having a service and people gathering
and having to pass through the waters. The fear of literally
a time of baptism. And what a fear that can be.
What a concern. And what a stumbling block. A
fear that I could never do that. I could never walk that way.
It's just impossible for me to actually do and actually speak. Well, how does he address that
fear? Well, he says it in the text. When thou passest through
the waters, when? At that very time, I will be
with thee. He makes a promise to us today. And God's promises are sure and
will never be broken. And his promise is that he will
be with you. He will be there. He will be
by your side. He will be with you. And how do we know that for sure?
Are we only hanging this on one text? Are we only hanging that
on this truth here? Well, it's throughout Scripture.
Them that honour me, I will honour, he says. Reminded that he has
been the way too. As we stand there and follow,
we are reminded that He has been that way. He has stood by the
side of the river. He has walked into the water
with John. He has stood in front of the crowd. He has walked that
way too. And He promises to encourage
us, to help us, to be with us, to bless us, to be in our hearts,
to bless us in our souls. You know the many testimonies
The Lord's people, as they've been at the very moment, they
could say, I know the Lord was with me. I know the Lord was
by my side. I know the Lord was there. He fulfilled his promise.
I will be with thee. And here is the promise to answer
that concern. How could I go that way? Oh,
it's still a way that must be gone. It's still the path that
must be trod. It's still perhaps onerous and
may feel to be onerous in your mind, but isn't that outweighed
by a promise? Isn't that outweighed by the
Lord's word? I will be with you. Would we
not exchange so much to know the Lord's presence, that he
is there? Of course, also he answers it
when Peter writes. He says, the like figure whereunto
even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. The answer of a good conscience. The Lord says, I will be with
thee, because there there will be peace and good conscience,
that though there has been perhaps a disobedience and a shutting
out of the word for many years, finally the conscience is eased,
the way is trod and I will be with thee. You know, it's a privilege
to identify ourselves with the Lord. It's not a burden. It's
not something that we do because we have to or because we must
or because others tell us we should. It's because it's a privilege. Because there we are identified
with Christ. The one who loves you. The one
who has saved you. The one who has redeemed you
and paid the price for your soul. The one who has called you. The
one who has blessed you. The one who has changed you.
And the one that you love. The one that you love. He says,
walk with me. Walk with me. And I will walk
with you. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with you. I won't leave you alone. I won't
leave you to fall. I won't leave you to backslide.
I won't leave you because I have promised that I will be with
you. And what a promise it is. And has God ever broken a promise?
Has God ever broken a promise? You trace through the word. You
read as many Christian biographies as you like. Has God ever broken
a promise? Here it is. When our path is
through the waters, I'll be with you. The second concern. And
thirdly, I believe the third concern is answered this way.
And the concern is this. What about afterwards? What about
the Christian life that we must walk afterwards? How will I keep
going? How will I ever reach the end? There's a life of an open profession
that I must walk. There's a life when people will
see me as a Christian in a way that they perhaps don't now.
And how will I be able to walk that out? What if I fall? What if I fail in my profession? What if my enthusiasm, my liveliness
that I have now, what if that fades? What if that goes and
I'm left to walk in my own strength? What if I'm left to be such a
poor witness? Someone who, as it were, brings
others to blaspheme the Lord's name. Someone who brings reproach
on his name. What if I'm left to do that?
Would it not be better? to be quiet? Would it not be
better to be silent? Would it not be better if people
didn't particularly see me as a Christian? Because if they
do, then they'll see my falling. Then they'll witness my failures.
And then I will bring the cause of Christ into disrepute. Well,
this promise, I believe, goes beyond the very moment of baptism. And this promise applies to all
of his people. And this is a wonderful encouragement
for all of us here, whether we've walked the way of profession
or whether we haven't. Here is the promise as you walk
through a Christian life. When thou passest through the
waters, I'll be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. It goes beyond. There's a life
to walk. There's a witness. As he says,
ye are my witnesses. You even read it in that chapter
together. But I will be with you in that.
I will be there. I will always be with you in
whatever circumstances. I'll be with you as you go through
waters. I'll be with you as you go through
rivers. I'll be with you as you walk through fire. Whatever the
different circumstances, whatever the trials, whatever temptations,
The promise stands sure and true. I will be with you. I won't abandon
you at the poolside and leave you on your own. I will be with
you to the end. You say, well, what about temptation? I know my weakness in temptation.
I know how easily I can fall. I know how easily, even today
perhaps, I have fallen into temptation. And if that comes again, and
I've openly professed Christ, then I'll fall again. And I'll
bring dishonor to his name. What about my weakness in temptation? Well, what are we told in answer
to that? He himself has suffered being tempted. He is able to
succour them that are tempted. Where do we direct our minds?
Not to ourselves and our weaknesses. We look outside and we say, he
has suffered being tempted, he knows how to help me in temptation. I look out, I cry, I pray to
him and he will succour me. There's an answer to that for
you. You say, well, what about my
falling and my sinning? What about how easily I fall? What about the size and the weight
and the enormity of my sin? What about all of that sin which
sadly I know and cannot promise to be any better? I know I shall
sin. I know as I go on through my
life I shall sin. What about all of that? Should
I not live a perfect holy life? Is it an open profession? Well,
of course it should be a striving that we do. Of course we should
strive to be holy, crucify the flesh and put it down sin, of
course. But what about that sins that
we know we shall sadly commit? What does he say? As far as the
East is from the West. So far he removed our transgressions
from us. Sins of today, of yesterday and
of the years to come. Even those sins have been put
far from us. Christ has paid for them. Christ
has died for his people. From beginning of life to their
death, all is paid. Is there even the sins that I
know I'll commit? Even those sins. The Lord has
put them away. Now, what's the psalmist say? He talks about, doesn't he, falling
and yet not being utterly cast down. And they say, well, I fear
falling and stumbling. Oh, but the law won't let his
people utterly be cast down. He will hold them up. He will
restore them. He will be with you. When thou
passest through the waters, the fires, the rivers, I will be
with thee. I say, well, what about myself
then? What about my pride? What about the fact that I won't
honour him as I should? The fact that actually much of
my time is spent honouring myself. and that I fear that I will spend
the open witness that I have getting glory to my own name
and not to the Lord's name as I desire, as I desire that the
Lord might be glorified for all that he has done and yet I know
my own pride and I know what I'm capable of. Well, then we
have another answer, Zachariah 2, when he says, I, saith the
Lord, will be unto her, that is the Lord's people, a wall
of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst. I'll be a fire to protect, but
here is a wonderful promise. I'll be the glory in the midst
of her. Oh, if we come to the Lord and
say, Lord, I do not know how to glorify thee. I fear my own
pride. What a promise that we can plead
to the Lord. Oh, thou knowest how to glorify thyself through
me. Thou knowest how to bring glory to thy name through me.
I will be the glory in the midst. Oh, that people won't be directed
to look on you as it were, but they'll be directed to look on
Christ in you, the hope and glory, that we might see Christ in each
other. You say, well, I fear they're
in opposition. I fear what people are going
to say as I walk a Christian life. I feel laughter. I fear
my friends. I fear my family. I say, well,
He has been reproached. He has been scorned. He has been
laughed at. All they that see me laugh me
to scorn and shoot out their lip against me. He has endured
that. He is able to succour you. He
is able to be with you. Oh, and remember that the Christian
life, as hard as it is, there are rivers, there are waters,
there are fires, but remember it has an end. It has an end.
A glorious one. It goes to glory. to be with
our Saviour. And there we shall stand, as
it were, with a good conscience, at least in that matter, and
say, the Lord has put away my sin, and I have honoured Him
as He wanted me to, because I heard His promise, I will be with thee. And He did not fail to keep that
promise. Weigh all of the fears Weigh
all of the trials, weigh all of the difficulties and weigh
all of that against this promise that I will be with you and nothing
will overflow you and nothing will burn you, for I am with
you. The Lord speaks, doesn't He,
in regarding taking a yoke upon ourselves, taking His yoke. And what I encouragement, but
yet instruction, that is, come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, I will give you rest. He says, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly at heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. Now you may look on a yoke, a
yoke is what kept the oxen together as we probably know and it was
a piece of wood which kept them together and in a sense it was
heavy. You may look at a yoke and you
may say, that's heavy, I don't want that to be laid on my back,
that's a heavy burden, it's difficult to walk with that. And the yoke,
of course, brings the oxen together so that they might pull something
behind them, a plough, whatever it may be. And you say, well,
that's a heavy work as well. That's difficult. Why would I
ever want to take a yoke on? Why would I want the weight on
my back? Why would I want the difficulty
of pulling this thing along behind me? Why would I want to walk
that way? The Lord says, take my yoke.
Firstly, it's my yoke. It's the yoke that I will give
you and of course it must then be for good and it must be coming
from a loving hand. It's my yoke that is laid upon
you and it's easy and it's light, it's not a burden, it's not difficult,
it's not hard compared or rather when we consider who it is that
gives it to us. It's my yoke. But you see it's not just a yoke
that we bear on our own. It's not just a heavy burden
that's put on us and said, off you go and walk on your own now.
I believe here we have a yoke. The image here is because there's
someone beside us. The yoke brings two oxen together.
And who else is beside us? It's my yoke. This is it where
we're yoked to Christ. We're yoked to our Saviour. And
as we take a step, so He takes the step. As we walk, so he walks. Next to us, side by side is the
picture we have here. Every step, he takes the step
with us. Every stumble, every difficulty.
He's not far off, he's there by the side because we're yoked
to him. Take my yoke upon you. You say,
what about one having to pull behind? What about all the difficulties? Or the weight and the burdens?
Well, who else is pulling? Who else is yoked? And why is
he yoked? So that he can pull as well.
Because we have strength from him. Because he helps us, encourages
us, blesses us as we walk it out. We're not left to walk out
the pool and go off into the Christian life and see how we
get on, on our own. We're yoked to Christ. We walk by his side. He walks
by our side. His yoke is easy and His burden
is light. When thou passest through the
waters, following the Saviour is before
you today. Following the One who has loved you and brought
you is before you. Following the Redeemer, the Holy
One, who has called you and has claimed you, that is what is
before you. And he says, when you go, I desire
you to go. I will that you go. When you go, I know your desire. I know your concerns. I know
your fears. I know your longings. I know
your worries. As it were, he says, when you
pass through, and he holds out his hand, and he holds out his
promise, and he says, I will be with you. Let us go down into
the water together. I will be with you. Amen.