I am going to give you the title
of this message, but before I do, I want to stress this right here. Let's not take one step into
this message until we are firmly planted on this right here. Verse
9 says, For in Him, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and you are complete in Him. In order for us to consider what
we are going to consider tonight, we have to establish first that
we are complete in Him. Let that be embedded in your
brain for the next 29 minutes. Let that be embedded in your
brain. We are complete in Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Alright, think about this. In
Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And we are
in Him. And we are complete in Him. All of the Godhead is in Him
and we are too. United with the Godhead in Him. That's pretty complete, isn't
it? Now, without forgetting that fact or moving an inch away from
that fact, our subject tonight in the title of this message
is Circumcision and Baptism. Verse 9 says, For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in Him. That's established. That's in
the front of our minds. We're prefacing with that. You
are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality
and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in
baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him, through the faith
of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead."
Now in verse 11, he mentions circumcision. And in verse 12,
he mentions baptism. And he tells us something about
circumcision that applies to baptism. What he says about circumcision
clearly explains what true baptism is. God gave circumcision to
Abraham as a token. It symbolized the fact that God
had a people. That's what he told Abraham,
I have a people. I have a particular people, your
seed. It was the Old Testament ordinance
that openly showed the fact that God had a particular people that
He'd chosen to set apart to Himself. All were under sin. All were
sinners, but He had this chosen people to Himself. All were ruined
in the fall. But God chose to redeem a particular
people back to Himself. He could have left all alone.
That's all He had to do was just leave us all alone. We all would
have gone. But He chose to redeem some back
to Himself. Circumcision was the Old Testament
ordinance that He gave to show that. But when He came to this
earth 2,000 years ago, when He came and began His ministry of
accomplishing that redemption, He put away the first ordinance
and He established a second ordinance. A New Testament ordinance. He
gave it to a man named John. John the Baptist. The ordinance
was called baptism. With both ordinances, false religion
defiled them. When man gets a hold of anything
God has, he ruins it. And with both of those ordinances,
man defiled them and brought condemnation to themselves through
the ordinances. And the reason is because they
made idols out of them. In both cases, the Old Testament
was circumcision, the New Testament was baptism. But in both cases,
man has made idols out of God's ordinances by looking to and
putting their trust in. And that's what men do when they
get a little idle. And they set it up there and
somebody says, you want me to throw that in the trash for you?
No, no, no. No, I'm looking to that. I'm
trusting. That's my good luck charm. All right. What that means is men are looking
to and trusting in This idol, and they trusted in the ordinances
instead of the God who gave them. In the Old Testament, men believed
they were saved because they had been circumcised. It was
a widespread belief amongst the Jews, amongst the religious,
not the heathen Gentiles that were among the religious people.
In the Old Testament, that was the big thing, circumcision.
I've been circumcised. They believe they were saved
because they had been circumcised in the new Testament. Men everywhere
in religion believe that they are saved because they have been
baptized. That is making an idol out of
the ordinance and that is missing the God who gave it. That's what
it is. And all it brings is condemnation
to man. You know, men put their trust
in this thing that they've done and experienced, and that just
takes their eyes off of Christ. And when we do that, it just
brings condemnation. That's all it can do. The truth
of the matter is, what takes place in the flesh has no bearing
on salvation at all. What takes place in this flesh
has no bearing on salvation at all. When dead flesh, men come
into this world spiritually dead, this is the body of this death,
and when God comes and quickens a person and notifies a person
and sends faith and all of a sudden they believe, that's called life.
And if life is there, everything that needs to be there for life
is done. Life is there. So what takes place in the flesh
after that quickening and that belief on Christ and all those
things, that has no bearing on salvation at all. Salvation was
already done. Verse 9 says, For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you, not will be,
but you are. That's the notification of the
Gospel. It's over. You are complete in Him, which
is the head of all principality and power. Now really pay close
attention to verse 11. In whom also you are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. That's the key. You know,
you take your son to the doctor and he's circumcised. The doctor
has to use his hands to make that happen. This is the circumcision
made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh. How? By the circumcision of Christ. The physical act of circumcision
is only a picture. It's just a type. It's just a
confession of the fact that Christ was cut off for the sins of his
people. That's all it is. The physical
circumcision does not save anybody. None of us men can go around
saying, I'm saved. I've been circumcised. It doesn't
save anybody. The Christ who was cut off is
a sinner's only hope. Turn with me to Acts chapter
15. Acts 15 verse 1 it says, And certain men which came down
from Judea taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. And that's what they say about
baptism now. Verse two, when therefore Paul and Barnabas had
no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And
being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phenicia and Samaria declaring the conversion of the Gentiles
and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they
were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and
of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that
God had done with them. But there rose up certain of
the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying that it was
needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law
of Moses. And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither
our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as they." Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience
to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God
had wrought among the Gentiles by them." The Gentiles, the physically
uncircumcised. Peter stood up and said, men
and brethren, this is by the blood of Christ alone. Salvation
is not in this ordinance of circumcision. This ordinance of circumcision
is just a token. It's just a picture, a confession
of what Christ did without hands on the heart. And then as soon
as Paul and Barnabas heard that they started, they said, well,
let me tell you how God has gone to work on these uncircumcised
Gentiles. God evidenced them to be His
people, His chosen people. Now, what do we see in this?
Turn with me, if you would, to Romans chapter 2. Romans 2 verse 28 says, For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter,
whose praise is not of men, but of God." He said, he's not a Jew which
is one outwardly. That's not it. That's not it. You cannot tell who God's people
are by the outward show of the flesh. That's not it. Verse 29, he said, he's a Jew
which is one inwardly. That means God knows who he was
cut off for. And the evidence is seen in the
heart. God causes the heart to believe Christ and cast his all
on Christ, no ordinance. Christ alone. Alright now, the
same thing that he says about circumcision applies to baptism. This is going to be more Applicable
maybe to us today by the mindset of men and women in religion
today? The same thing he says about
circumcision applies to baptism. Go with me to John chapter 1. John 1 verse 24. And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees, and they asked John the Baptist, and said unto
him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor
Elijah, neither that prophet? And John answered them, saying,
I baptize with water, But there standeth one among you whom you
know not, he it is who coming after me is preferred before
me, whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose." These
things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan where John was
baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is He, of whom I said, After
me cometh a man, which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. Now watch verse 31. And I knew
him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel, Therefore
am I come baptizing with water. And John bear record, 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 baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God." John said, the only reason
I am baptizing with water is to illustrate to you, it is to
point you to the one who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. It's the
only reason I'm baptizing with water. I'm pointing you to the one who
will baptize you into His death. the death that He died. And He
will baptize you into the resurrection that He lived for His people.
He will immerse you into His blood, His work, everything He
did to satisfy His Father. He will immerse you into it.
It is not the tap water. It is not the tap water. Water
doesn't save anybody. It's just a token. It's just
a picture of the blood. There must be blood to remit
sins. God never said when I see the
water. He never said that. He said,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. So we don't make
an idol out of the ordinance. We don't worship the ordinance. We worship the Savior and the
blood that it's pointing us to. That's what verse 12 says back
in our text. If you go to Colossians 2. Verse 12 says, Buried with him
in baptism, the true baptism of the Holy Ghost, immersion
into his blood. He said that that circumcision
that I'm talking about is not the one made with hands and the
baptism I'm talking about is not the one made with water.
Verse 12, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are
risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead. That's what the ordinance of
water baptism represents. Dying with him, being buried
with him, being raised with him. The key to it all is him. That's
the key to it all. Now, I'm gonna be very candid
with you. This is the only way that I know
to effectively get across what I feel led to say about baptism.
I do not, I've put much thought into this, I've put much prayer
into this, I have prayed about this and prayed about this and
prayed about this. I do not want to appear as though
I'm fishing. And I do not, infinitely more
than that, want to be afraid of being a fisherman. Does that
make sense? The Lord said, I'm going to make
you fishers of men. And I do not, by God's grace, I'm going
to declare to you what I believe He's laid on my heart. And I
do not want to appear like I'm fishing. but I don't want to be afraid
of being a fisherman. So I'm going to candidly tell
you what the Lord has laid on my heart about this subject of
baptism, and I'm going to trust the Holy Spirit to prove and
convince to you the sincerity of it. As a pastor, baptism is
a very important subject to me. It's a very thought-filled subject
to me. It's not something, nothing in
the Word of God is flippant. But it's something that I put
a lot of thought into. Very, very important. The reason is
because I believe the Lord has given me a real concern for the
people that he's called me to preach to, which is you. I believe
he's given me a real care for the people that he has called
me to preach to. And I have a great desire to
steer you to Christ. I want to steer each one of you
to Christ and only to Christ. As members of Christ's New Testament
Church, that's what we are, members of His New Testament Church,
we have been given the ordinance of baptism. We have been commanded
in the Word to observe the ordinance. But as a preacher of truth, I
am also commanded, this is a commandment to me, I am commanded to tear
down the idols that men have set up. And baptism is one of
those idols. Men see it as a safety net, just
in case, just in case I think I'll get baptized. That's an
idol. I am to tear down idols. So I constantly find myself in
a very torn place. Between. Why tarryest thou? You believe Christ. You confess
Him with your mouth. You are looking to Him. You are
trusting Him. His work and His blood is your
only hope before God. So why tarryest thou? Arise and
be baptized. Identify with Him. Identify with
His people. Baptism tells, God already knows
He saved you. Baptism just tells everybody
else. When they're sitting and saying, well, he's been coming
a while, she's been coming a while, is he a brother? Baptism cries,
yes I am. I identify with Christ, I identify
with His message, His people, His gospel, this congregation. I willingly, lovingly submit
myself to the ordinance He's given to us and I am commanded
to observe. I am so torn, and I mean this,
I am so torn between that and we're not doing it. We're not
doing it. Absolutely not. I am not going
to be the facilitator of a man's idolatry and bondage. Not doing
it. Titus was a Gentile. He was an
uncircumcised Gentile. And the Jews came to Paul one
time and said, Titus has to be circumcised or he can't be saved.
Paul said, we're not doing it. Nope. Now you're making it an
issue of salvation. As long as you keep salvation
out of it, go for it. But now you've made it a critical
defining line. You've made it that final piece
of the puzzle. You've made it something that
clenches as though Christ's work is not quite finished. It just
needs baptism. Once you do that, he said, we're
not doing it. And he said, you're not going to bring us into that
bondage. That's all it is. bondage. He said, we gave place by subjection. No, not for an hour that the
truth of the gospel might continue with you. What is the truth of
the gospel? What is the truth of the gospel?
Here it is. You are complete in him. Period. That's the truth of the
gospel. You are complete in Him. You need nothing else to go meet
God with. Boy, I better hurry up and dive
in some water. I may meet God today. You need nothing else
to go meet God with. Nothing else but Christ Himself,
His blood, His righteousness. You need nothing else to stand
before the judgment thrown in. So, considering those two sides
of it, I'm just letting you in on where I am inside me. Considering those two sides of
it, what has the Lord led me to say concerning baptism? When I think of the ordinance
of baptism and how it relates to the growth and the commitment
of a local assembly, you know, a lot of people, people out in
religion, they put notches and they'll, you know, how many people
were baptized and this and that, but even so, we will hear of
others in other places who want to confess Christ in baptism
and all the church rejoices. Everybody rejoices. Somebody
said they want to confess Christ in baptism. Oh, that's wonderful.
That's like saying somebody wanted to have a wedding ceremony. That's
wonderful. So when I think of the ordinance
of baptism and how it relates to the growth and the commitment
of a local assembly, two places in the scripture come to my mind.
The first one is in 1 Corinthians 1. Turn with me over there. 1 Corinthians 1, some of the people
right here were bragging over the fact that they were baptized
by one of the apostles or they were baptized by one of the more
well-known preachers. The apostle Paul said in verse
11, it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them
which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among
you. Now this, I say that every one
of you sayeth I'm of Paul and I have Apollos and I have Cephas
and I have Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptized in the name
of Paul? 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 house
of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I
baptized any other, for Christ sent me not to baptize. but to preach the gospel." If
that doesn't tell you that baptism is not salvation, nothing will. If that was salvation, God would
have sent Paul to baptize. But he said, Christ sent me not
to baptize, but to preach the gospel. When this subject comes
up, every time it comes into my mind, I remind myself of this
all the time. Christ sent me not to baptize.
I'm not here to baptize. I'm here to preach the gospel. That's the first scripture that
comes to my mind. The second one is Acts chapter 8. Turn with
me over there to Acts chapter 8. Verse 26 it says, And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And
he arose, and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch
of great authority, under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who
had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for
to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot read
Isaiah the prophet, Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near,
and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him,
and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except
some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. The place of the Scripture which
he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his
mouth. In his humiliation his judgment
was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his
life is taken from the earth.' And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of
himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth,
and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water,
and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me
to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the
chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they
were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went
on his way rejoicing." My calling is not to baptize, it's to preach
the gospel. But it would break my heart to
think that the Lord God was not going to lay it on the hearts
of His people to confess Him in baptism. The sweet love, the
sweet response. Oh, when grace comes. Here this
man is reading Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity
and He kept His mouth shut. All we like sheep are gone astray. We hid our faces from Him. but
by his stripes we're healed. That eunuch said, what is that? Philip said, that's what it is
to be baptized into the person and work and love and glory and
beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's evidenced in the New
Testament through water baptism. And that eunuch said, there's
some water. Do you think I could be baptized? And he said, if
you believe with all your heart, Not if you're looking to that
water, and not if you're looking to this decision, and this experience,
and this emotion. If you believe with all your
heart, and he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. God's own Son that He sent to
be the substitute of His people. The very one He laid all the
sin of His people on, and slew for me. Philip said, Let's go. And they went down both into
the water, and he baptized him. Now I knew this was going to
be long. All right, I'm gonna tell you one more thing. And
then I'll, I'll be done. I feel like this will be a hill.
I pray it will be. I pray this will be a hill. I want to say to every person
who may hear this tonight, or may hear this on the internet
in the future. If you are a believer, and I'm
talking about a believer, a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is confused and torn, and the reason I say this is because
I was for years. I know where people are. If you
are a believer who is confused and torn on whether or not you
should confess the Lord in water baptism, because you were in
religion before and that was salvation, but now you've seen
God's free and sovereign grace, the free gift of Christ and the
blood of the Lamb. And if you're wondering whether
or not you should be baptized and you want to know what the
Scripture has to say about it, here it is. You should be. It's one
of the New Testament ordinances that our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ has given to us to acknowledge that we are followers and believers
of Him. If you are a believer who does
not feel led of the Lord to be baptized because false religion
has confused it for you, Or if you confessed Him in truth,
and this is for so many people, they confessed Him years ago
in truth, but they wonder now if they knew enough. Or they
wonder now if they were sincere enough when they did it. If your
heart and mind is unsettled and you just don't know what the
right thing is for you, don't do it. Just wait. Just wait. There's no reason
to rush into baptism. Listen to this. You are complete
in Him. You're complete in Him. If the
Lord would have you to do it, He'll settle your heart on it.
As long as you're in that torn place, just don't do it. Wait.
If you are a person who becomes motivated to be baptized because
you heard this message, if it wasn't even on your radar to
be baptized. But after hearing this, you now
wonder if you should. That can be a good thing, and
that can be a bad thing. The Lord does speak to His people
through the preaching of His Word. He does. But this is how
that desire needs to be handled. If in your heart, You want to
be baptized because you feel that it will be the thing that
will complete your salvation, then don't do it. That's making
an idol out of it. That's putting yourself under
the bondage of the law. Not only is there no salvation
in that, there is certain damnation in that. But if you are motivated
to do it because you are already complete in Him, and you just
want everybody else to know that, we'll draw the water for you.
One last group of people I want to say something to. If you have
a desire in your heart to confess Christ because you believe that
He came to save sinners, and you believe that that is what
you are, And you believe that His blood
is the only thing that God will accept as a payment for your
sin. And everything that He is, and everything that He accomplished
on the cross, that is your only hope of salvation. If you want
to confess Him because you need Him, and you love Him, but you're
worried about your age. You wonder if you are old enough
or you wonder if you are too old. Everybody thinks of young
children in that moment. Let me ask you this question
from a too young standpoint. How old do you have to be to
go into the military? 18. How old do you have to be to
drive a car by yourself? 16. How old do you have to be to
believe? How old do you have to be to
believe the words of someone you love and trust? If you believe Christ with all
your heart, you may. If any sinner, no matter how
young or how old, some people think I'm too young. Some people
think I'm too old. And I would honestly say, I believe
more people think I'm too old than I'm too young. Well, I waited
too long now. It's just too long. Can't do
it. If any sinner has a desire to confess what Christ has already
done, you may. And here's the reason why. In
Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are
complete in Him. Now, that's what the scripture
says. Whatever people do, that's between
God and each one of us. Christ didn't send me to baptize.
I don't need anybody to come now and say I need to be baptized.
Christ didn't send me to baptize. He sent me to preach His Word.
That's His Word. That's His Word. May God apply
that as He sees fit for His glory and for our good.