Turn with me if you would now
to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16. In this chapter, Paul and Silas were thrown into
prison ultimately because they were
preaching the truth of God's Word. That's really the reason
why. They were put on trial and they
were falsely convicted. And verse 22 says, the multitude rose up together
against them And the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely, who having received such a charge, thrust
them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises unto God. And the prisoners heard
them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And
immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were
loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called
for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down
before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? I had a very nice and very pleasant
conversation this week with someone who was asking, what is Sovereign
Grace? You call yourself Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church. Why do you call yourself that?
What denomination are you? And I tried to answer this person's
questions as truthfully and as honestly as I could. And it was honestly a very pleasant
conversation. And this person asked, do you
believe in baptism? And I said, yes. And this person asked, Do you
believe baptism is essential to salvation? Which I think is a good question.
I think that's a reasonable question to ask. I can see why anybody
would ask that question. Do you think baptism is essential
to salvation? And I said, no. Not in the sense
that, you know, it's the final component of salvation or it's
what makes salvation effectual or makes it applied. I told this person that salvation,
the salvation of God's elect was finished on the cross of
Calvary. Finished. When Christ cried, it is finished. Salvation was finished. I told this person that water
baptism and you know we we built this building we finished this
building and we put a baptistry in there it is right there. And I told this person that water
baptism was a confession of the fact that salvation is already
finished in the blood. Not in the water, but in the
blood. It is a confession of the fact
that our union with Christ, that's what God's people have, that's
what the elect have, union with Christ in His blood. His blood is our blood. In his death, in his burial,
in his resurrection, that's what baptism pictures. Union with
him. In him, in his death, burial,
and resurrection. That union, that union is the
child of God's salvation. Union with Christ is salvation. Not union with water. Not union with water, but union
with Christ. And I said an example of that
is the thief on the cross. He wasn't baptized and he most
definitely was saved. Our Lord said, today you will
be with me in paradise. He went there today. Everybody
goes today. And this person said concerning
the thief on the cross, this person said, well, that's because
grace hadn't been established yet. You know, the law came by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace hadn't been established
yet. This person said that was before
grace. To which that makes me wonder,
then what did Noah find? What does Genesis 6 verse 8 say? It says, Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Moses was constantly crying out
to God on behalf of the children of Israel. Lord, if we have found
grace in thy sight, just read through the books of Moses. Moses asked the Lord in Exodus
33, show me your glory. And the Lord said, here it is.
I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I'll show mercy
to whom I'll show mercy. All through the Psalms, David
wrote, the Lord is gracious. Gracious is the Lord. Grace is
what started all this in the first place. Grace. The law was given, the Old Testament
law. You know, to say, well, the Old
Testament saints were saved through obedience to the law and the
New Testaments are saved by grace. The Old Testament law was given
to Moses to prove that salvation had to be by grace. Do you know
if you look at every saint in the Old Testament, you will see
their sin against the law. Moses sinned against God, didn't
he? Struck the rock twice. He said,
you're not going in. You're not going into the promised
land. Sin against me. The law was given to prove that
salvation had to be by grace. Not one soul on this earth has
ever been saved by the law. Because not one soul on this
earth has ever kept God's perfect holy law. The law is good. We're
not, that's the problem. It was grace then, it's grace
now, it will be grace forever. Malachi 3, 6 says, I am the Lord,
I change not, I do not change. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Hebrews 13, eight says he's the
same yesterday, today, forever. Thank God, grace, the grace of
God. With all that being said, in
my conversation, this person asked, did I believe baptism
was essential to salvation? And I explained that water baptism
is an ordinance given by God that his people love. I love water baptism when it's
confessed in truth, with a sincere heart, completely looking to
Christ alone. God's people love water baptism,
and they deeply desire to observe it. Yeah, if I could, I'd get
in it every day, confessing Christ, crying, Christ, Christ, thank
God for Christ. We desire to obey Him in His
commandment of baptism. But the only thing that was critical
to our salvation was Christ Himself. The only thing that was critical
to our salvation was Christ Himself. Christ was the essential component. I told this person that man has
no role in his or her salvation. None whatsoever. There is nothing
that a man or a woman must do or can do to establish his or
her salvation. Salvation is completely, totally
of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. It
took Jonah being swallowed by a whale to learn that. But God
taught it to him. They'll all be taught of God.
Maybe he'll be a little less severe with us. Salvation's of
the Lord. And to that, this person said,
thank you for calling me back. And I said, you're very welcome.
And our conversation was over. Is baptism essential to salvation? Is it a commandment of God? Is
baptism a commandment of God? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Just like the 10 commandments,
just like every one of the other thousands
of commandments that are in his word. Yes, it is. Did he say,
believe and be baptized? Yes, he did. Did his apostles say, why tarryest
thou? Arise and be baptized. Repent
and be baptized. Men and brethren, what shall
we do? Repent and be baptized. Did they say that? Yes, they
did. Yes, they did. But here are some
things that we need to consider. Number one, John the Baptist
said, we just heard our brother read it, John the Baptist said,
I'm baptizing you with water. He said, don't misunderstand.
I'm baptizing you with water. But he said, there is one coming
after me. I'm not even worthy to untie
his shoes because he's going to baptize you with his Holy
Ghost. You know, if we ever see that,
all of a sudden we'll have a right view of baptism. He's gonna baptize
you with the Holy Ghost. That's the true baptism of God. The water of man only pictures
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's just a picture, it's just
a type. The baptism of the Holy Spirit
is Christ immersing His people into His Spirit and his spirit
immersing his people into Christ. The true immersion of God is
not into water. It's not into water, it's into
Christ. And that's a work that only God
can do. Man cannot do that work. Man cannot immerse himself into
Christ. Man cannot immerse himself into
the spirit of Christ. Only God can do that. Number
two, we have not one time ever kept
one commandment that has been given to us by God. Is that a
commandment of God? Yes, it is. We've never kept one, I mean,
thousands and thousands of commandments. We've never kept one commandment
ever. Do we excuse ourself for that? No, we condemn ourself for that. We say, I'm a sinner who's never
kept one commandment. So sorry. But that's why Christ came. That's
the whole reason Christ came. He came and he kept God's commandments
for us. All of his commandments. Do you
know he even kept baptism? He even kept the commandment
of baptism. It behooved him to fulfill all righteousness. for his people when he himself
was baptized. And everything that he did on
this earth, he was doing it as the substitute for his people,
everything that he did. Number three, Peter said in 1
Peter 3.21, he said that water baptism does not put away the
filth of this flesh. But it is the answer of a good
conscience toward God because he has commanded us to confess
him before men in this way. And that's something that all
of God's people want to do. They want to confess him. They
want to be known as being joined to him and in union with him. And because he told us that until
it happens, Believers don't have a clear
conscience on it. They struggle with it. They fight against it.
They wonder about it. Hannah and I have two daughters,
and they are members of our family. They are united to us. They are our children. I mean, you could just put a
period after that sentence. They are. No buts about it. They are. We constantly give
them commandments, constantly. If they disobey what we tell
them to do, they don't have a clear conscience about it. If they
obey what we tell them to do, they have a clear conscience
about it. But would I say that their obedience is essential
to them belonging to us? Would I say that their obedience
is essential to them being members of our family and having our
DNA, being our DNA children? No. No. Them belonging to us, being members
of our family, being specifically our children, that had nothing
to do with them. that had nothing to do with them. There was not one work that they
did, there was not one work that they could do or need to do to be a member of our family. They didn't make a decision to
be included into our family. Do either one of you remember
filling out a questionnaire or signing some type of book? Now, here's your family options
now. You can either go to this one or this one. Which one are
you going to choose? I'll go into this family. They did not have a change of
mind. Repentance is not the cause of
salvation. It's the effect of salvation. They did not have a change of
mind. They did not have a change of ways. That was something that was done
for them and to them. That was something that God purposed. and made to be before they were
ever even born. Before they were ever even born.
Both of them, I don't know about everybody else, but both of them
have a birthday. June 27 and March 20. On June 26, she was still our
daughter. On June 25, she was our daughter. On June 24, she was our daughter. March 19, March 18, they were
ours before they were ever even born. They were ours. And I don't just mean they're
ours and they're our children in the sense that we love them
and we accept them. They have mine and Hannah's DNA. There are some people who don't
love their children. There's some people who disown
their children, but it doesn't make them not their children. Like it or not, what is is what
is. And what is can't be undone. And that's how it is with the
child of God. That's how it is with the child
of God. The way that God Almighty made
it to be physically is a picture of how God Almighty made it to
be spiritually. God did both and he doesn't change. This is how he does things. This
is how it is for the child of God. That work of being included
into the family of God as a child of God, that work is finished.
That work is finished. That transaction is finished.
What's done is done. We don't make a decision. We
don't do a work. We don't change our mind or change
our ways. What's done is done. It can't
be undone. Thank God. And here's the reason why, okay,
here's the reason why. It's because Christ left no essential
work undone. This is the whole point of the
whole message. Christ did not leave one essential, are there
any essential works that still need to be done for salvation?
Is anything still essential To be done for God's people to be
saved. No. Every essential work that
had to be done, he did it. Every work that had to be done,
he did it. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. The apostle Paul here was writing
to turn the eyes of the Corinthians back to the only thing that mattered.
They had gotten off on all these issues and it was causing all
these differences and these divisions. And Paul said in verse 14, 1
Corinthians 1 verse 14, he said, I thank God that I baptized none
of you, but Crispus and Gaius. lest any should say that I had
baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household
of Stephanus, besides I know not whether I baptized any other." He said, I thank God that I baptized
none of you, but just a few, and I can't even hardly remember
who they were. Why would he say that if water
baptism was essential to salvation? Why would he thank God that none
of the Corinthians were saved under his ministry? Verse 17, he said, for Christ
sent me not to baptize. He said, Christ did not send
me to baptize. Why would Christ not send him
to baptize if baptism was essential to salvation? Verse 17, Christ sent me not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. Water baptism is not the essential
component of salvation. Jesus Christ is the essential
component of salvation. The cross he bore is the essential
component of salvation. The blood he shed is the essential
component of salvation. The full, complete payment of
redemption that he made for his particular people Reaching that
redemption. Looking to that redemption. Believing
on that redemption. That's the essential component
of salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ alone. Faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Faith that is not of ourselves but the gift of God. Faith that
Christ authors and Christ performs and Christ finishes in every
soul that he's already saved. and made complete in him. He
gives that faith to him. Now go back to Acts 16. I'll
wrap it up. Acts 16. Verse 29. Then he called for a light, and
sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and
Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? And they did not say, Be baptized. They did not say, Observe the
Lord's table. They did not say, pray the sinner's
prayer. They did not say, speak in tongues. They did not say, go to a confession
booth and confess your sins to a priest. Verse 31, and they said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Rest
in Christ. Have faith in Christ. Trust Christ. Just trust Christ that he's already
finished the transaction. He said he finished it. Just
trust him. Just rest. Don't trust in your faith. Don't trust in your baptism.
Don't trust in the table. Don't trust in any obedience
or work of your flesh. Trust Christ. That's what he
said, and I believe him. Verse 31, they said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and the house. I thank God for those words. I want my house to be saved.
Christ is the only essential component in salvation. Lord,
increase our faith in that. We believe that help our unbelief
in regard to that. Okay, now I'll close with this. If God gives you an understanding
of that, people will struggle over this issue and they'll worry
about this issue. If God gives you a true understanding
of that and he causes you to look to and to trust Christ alone
and nothing else. that I would encourage you to
confess that and confess him in believer's baptism. I don't
ever say that. You hardly never ever hear me
say that. But if God ever, you know, some
people come in thinking that I gotta make sure now, I need
an insurance policy now, I probably ought to get in the water, right?
No. If you need an insurance policy,
don't do it. Wait a while. But if God ever shows you that
it's already paid in full, no insurance policy needed. It's
a done deal. Whether you do, whether you don't,
it's a done deal. Your salvation is not dependent
on it. And if you become so thankful
for that, so thankful for Christ and what he's already done and
already finished, and if God completely turns your eyes away
from water baptism to Christ alone, then I would encourage
you to confess that and confess him in believers baptism. Because
that is what he has commanded us to do. And we love him. We love him, I love my dad. And
I don't desire to do the things that he tells me so I can be
his son, I am his son. But there's a different motivation. And in all of this, to Christ
be the glory forever. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.