Is that too much air? Go with me to the book of Exodus,
chapter 21. Exodus 21. That psalm, that song,
sure is good news to one that needs preserving. One that needs keeping, you keep
your soul. That's good news. If you're a
sheep, you need a shepherd, don't you? Thank you for that, Gabe. I never tire of hearing that.
God forbid. God forbid. Let's read verses
1-6 of Exodus 21. Now, these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them."
That is, the Jews, God's people. If thou by an Hebrew servant
six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out
free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him
a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her master, and he shall go out by himself,
servant. But if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go
out for him. Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges. He shall also bring him to the
door, or unto the doorpost. And his master shall bore his
ear through with an awl. And he, that servant, shall serve
him forever." One time, the Lord Jesus Christ
hid His identity from two of His disciples on the road. They were walking on a road one
day. He hid His identity. They thought He was just a preacher.
And He began, Scripture says, at Moses. What we read in Moses,
the book of Moses, Exodus, It says, he began at Moses and in
all the prophets, expounded unto them, began to preach to these
disciples the things concerning himself. And then he disappeared. And it says that the disciples
said to one another, did not our heart burn within us while
he opened up the Scripture, our understanding of the Scriptures,
by the way. And that is my prayer, that the
Lord will meet with us. He does. He has promised to do
so. We are two or three together in His name and receive it as
little children who need it. And my prayer is that He will
show us the things concerning Himself out of this, and our
hearts will burn. Now, this is a wonderful story.
It's a beautiful picture of a slave who has been set free by the
law of God, and he loves his master so much that he says,
I'm not leaving. I'm staying right here. Beautiful
picture. And this is a picture, as all of them are, of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is that servant. He's the
servant. And I don't want us to merely
look at this as a beautiful, touching story. I hope and pray that the Lord
will show us maybe someone who's never seen before how we're sold unto sin, enslaved
to this world, our own sin, and how we desperately need this
servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, to set us free, to pay that price. I cannot make anyone understand
this. I cannot make this interesting.
The Holy Spirit must do it. And He can and He does. So I'm
just going to preach it. I'm just going to preach it.
All right, he said this is a law for the Hebrews, salvations of
the Jew. Salvation is for God's people.
That's who's going to hear it. My sheep will hear my voice.
This is the law of a Hebrew servant. Not a Gentile, but a Jew. A servant.
Now, this is about slavery. That's what this is talking about.
Slavery. A servant here was a slave. The
property of someone else. And the reason being, was this
servant, quite often in the old days, they would get in debt. And if there was nobody to bail
them out, and they had no means to pay that debt, then the law
would come and put them in debtor's prison. Unless the one to whom
they were indebted would say, well, he can serve me. He'll
be my servant. and pay off his debt by serving
them. All right? And often, too, a
fellow or a woman or someone would commit a crime. They were
guilty of breaking a crime, of the law and committing a crime.
And often they would be made to serve the one whom they had
committed this crime against. They would serve that person
For so long a time, here it says six years, they would do time. They would do time, like we say
being put in jail. They would serve their time.
And the Lord said after six years, the seventh year, they would
go for it. Time's been served. The debt
has been paid. Hebrew servant. Now, before I
go on, I want you to see this. Look at verse 16. Go over there.
In this country, years ago, men, evil in it. We weren't the first
ones to do it. This has been happening down
through time. Men went over to Africa and enslaved
people. Took them. Stole them. from their homes, whole families
and all, brought them to this country and put them in slavery. And do you know that men have
used these verses right here to condone slavery? Ignorant
men have used that. They didn't read the rest of
it. Look at verse 16. It says, He that stealeth a man
and selleth him, if he's caught with him, Kill him. Put him in there. See that? So this is not condoning slavery
at all. Not at all. But what this is
talking about, and the Hebrew was one of their brothers. One
of their brothers that had committed a crime or got in debt. And I
don't have time, but read for yourself in Deuteronomy 15 later,
it's the same story. And the master was to treat that
slave like he would himself. Treat them good. What a good
picture this is. It wasn't hard bondage, but it
was a good treatment. And in six years, let them go
free, but not just free. He gave them their flock and
their herd so they wouldn't go out empty. What a picture that
is. Alright, but this is a picture.
And you know, there was a man years ago named John Newton who
was a slave trader. He actually went and had a ship
and would go buy African slaves and sell them. And the Lord dealt
with him. The Lord came to him one day
through the Word, through the preaching of the Word. and broke
his heart, he ended up himself so poor that he was enslaved
to a black person that he had to pay off that debt. Did you
know that? He's the one that wrote Amazing
Grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. He knew something about what
that meant. He wasn't just writing a pretty song. He called himself
for all his days, the rest of his days, he called himself the
old African blasphemer. Rich. But this is a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ who is called God's servant. Isaiah
42, Behold My Servant. You need to behold God's servant.
God said that. He said, Behold my servant, he
shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and be extolled
and be very high. He said, Behold my servant, by
his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. He shall bear their iniquity. Jesus Christ is the servant of
God. Philippians 2 says, "...in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross." And because he did this, God gave him a name. Did
not He say one time, He that is greatest among you shall be
your servant? That's speaking of Christ. And
because he did this great service to God and to his people, putting
away their sin, glorifying the Father, God hath given him a
name that is above every name, highly exalted, that is the name
of Jesus. Behold my servant, he said, kiss
the Son, lest God be angry. See, this story, like everything
in this universe, is about Jesus Christ. It all is for the glory
the honor, the praise, the exaltation of Jesus Christ. You and I are. And if we don't do that, God
has no use for us. No use. It's all for His glory. Christ is the servant of God
who willingly, lovingly became the bond slave, a substitute
for His people to pay their debt. That's what this story is about.
A debt that is paid. Sin debt. That we owe God. We owe all our lives sinning
against God. Not giving God a thought. Not
Him. Not Christ. The righteous. Behold My righteous
servant. We are criminals. Criminals against God. Our Lord
came down here and was put in prison for His people. And our Lord didn't serve just
6 years, he served 6,000. And the 7th, the year of Jubilee,
is coming up, folks. It's coming up. The glorious
liberty of the sons of God. Verse 3, it says here, look at
it. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If
he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. Christ
came to this earth. God sent forth His Son in the
fullness of time. God sent forth His Son. But He
came as it were a solitary figure. A single man, a solitary figure. He was sent by God into this
world to do a work for His people. He's the only one that could
do it. Behold My servant, God said. He has come to do this
work. And Paul wrote in the Hebrews,
he said, when it was all over, He had by Himself. purged our
sin. He came into this earth. He came
by himself, a root out of dry ground. We read it in Isaiah
53. He came to do a work, the servant
of God. When he was 12 years old, you
remember that story? The first recorded words out
of the Lord Jesus Christ's mouth were these. That his so-called
mother, his supposed mother Mary, was worried about him, could
not find him. He was in the temple disputing
with, or talking to the doctors and the lawyers, and they were
asking him questions. A 12-year-old boy. Great is the mystery of God.
This is God. At any rate, he stayed behind
and they traveled on where they found he was missing. He wasn't
missing. But they went back looking for
him, and his mother, as a so-called mother, as women are prone to
be worried about her son, she thought he was her son, and she
said, Son, don't you know your father and I have been worried
about you and looking for you? And he said, Wish ye not that
I must be about my father's business. And Mary, she didn't understand. You mean Joseph in the carpenter's
shop? No. The Heavenly Father. This is the Son of God to come
down to this earth sent by the Father, the Master. This is the
servant of God sent by the Master to do a work. Sent by Him. to come to do this work, and
he's the only one that can do it. This work of redemption. This work of redeeming his people
from the curse of the law. This work of putting away their
sin debt. This work of paying the penalty
for their sins. Enduring hell for them. And he did it by himself. Christ
said this. And he said, look at it in verse
3, if he came in by himself, he'll go out by himself. If he
were married and he has a wife, she's going to go out with him.
Our Lord came into this earth by himself. He's not going out
by himself. Because he has a bride. That's
who he came for. He has a people which no man
can number. God has them numbered. They're
his elect. And our Lord said this one time. He said, "'Barely,
barely, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone.'" Christ came to live, but He came
to die like that corn of wheat. He said, "'If it die, though,
it bringeth forth much fruit.'" It came to this earth. One man,
a servant, sent by God. But God had given him a bride.
She's the one in debt. Not him. She's the one that's
a criminal. Not him. She's the one that needs
saving. He ain't lost. She is. He's the one that came to do
this work. Alright, look at verse 4. It says, If his master has
given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters,
the wife and her children shall be her master, and he shall go
out by himself. If a wife was given to him, then
she belongs to the master. Did not our Lord say, all that
the Father giveth man? He said, I have a people that
the Father giveth me. And then he said in John 17,
all mine are thine, and thine are mine. God gave them his people to save. God gave them to Christ, who
is their servant, to save them from their sin. And they were
sons and daughters. They are his bride. God the Father
hath many sons or daughters. Not every human being is a son
of God. Not every human being is a child
of God. No. but those chosen by the Father
and given to Christ. Those are the people of God.
Yes, the elect of God. The chosen ones of God. And how
blessed they are. Been given to Christ to come
down here. And they're all born of God because
Christ prevailed in birth for them and the Holy Spirit comes
and gives them birth and the Father loves them as He loves
the Son. That's why I said the Son. The Father commended His love
toward us. And then, while we were yet sinners, Christ was
sent. Now look at this, verse 5, "...if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master..." Now, he's free to go. He's paid the
debt. He's done the time. And he has
a wife and children now. "...and if the servant shall
plainly say, I love my master, I love my wife..." And my children,
I will not go free. I will not go free. I'm not leaving
them. I love them. I'm not ever going to leave them.
And this is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ said. One of the last things He said
to them was, I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. I'll
be with thee unto the ends of the world. That's a faithful
husband. Any true husband will never,
you see, love never faileth. Any true husband would never
leave his loved one, certainly not to God's name. And if he
says, I love my Master. Now the first reason why Jesus
Christ came to this earth is not because He loved us, His people,
but because He loved God. Because he loved the Father.
The servant says, I love my master. The natural man doesn't. Romans
8, 7 says the carnal man is enmity against God. The natural man,
Romans 1 says, are haters of God. God of the Bible. God who
is God. Not the God being let be God.
Not the God who loves everybody, but the God who does as He will,
with whom He will, because He will. The God who kills, the
God who makes alive. The God who wounds, the God who
heals. The God who is God and gives
no account of His matters to anyone. The God who chooses a
people and leaves some alone. That's His divine right. The
sovereign God of the universe. The God who is God. He's not
God if you let Him be God. He's God if He's God. And no
one can do anything about it. That's the God of the Bible.
And the natural man hates that God. Nearly everyone in here did,
until God in mercy revealed himself to him. He said, I am God. You're in my hands, not vice
versa. That's what Peter preached at
Pentecost that day that caused 3,000 people to fall on their
knees. He preached Christ, not God loves you, Christ Jesus died
for you, won't you accept Him into your heart. That's not in
the Bible. But the Christ who reigns and rules and seated on
the throne of heaven that men rejected, and now it's up to
Him to accept or reject them. That's what Peter preached at
Pentecost. And it struck fear in the hearts of everyone that
heard it. And they came crying, what must we do to be saved?
Saved from what? This God who is going to do something
about us. Fear the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. It used to be said of men and women years ago, he's
a God-fearing man. Not now. There's no fear of God
before they're high. Why should they? Preachers have
told them so long that God loves them and Jesus died for them,
they'd believe them. That's not the God of the Bible.
Not the Galilee. Christ came, the only man who
ever lived who loved God with all his mind, heart, soul and
strength. A natural man doesn't. He won't
give God a thought until he gets sick or something goes wrong.
He won't give God a thought. Who's clothed him, who's fed
him, who's given him everything he had. Won't give him a thought
until something bad happens. Then God's supposed to stop everything
and have mercy on him. Christ came. He said, My meat
is to do the will of the Father. He said, I'd love to do the will
of my Father. Holy. None righteous. No, not
one. None good. No, not one. God looked down
to see if there were any. He said, they're all together.
But He said, behold, My servants. Looking at Jesus Christ. He said
it out loud twice. This is My beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Why? He loves me as He should. Men don't. But God. Rich in mercy. For His great
love. Wherewith He loved some of these
unlovely, ungrateful creatures of His. Sent His Son down here
to do this work for them. And Kelly, by doing this work,
it breaks their hearts. It makes them see. I did hate
God, didn't I? I am a criminal, aren't I? God
ought to put me out of His sights. But look what He did to my substitutes.
Oh, will you have mercy on me, Lord? For Christ's sake. Yes,
I will, God says. Yes, I will. Have mercy. Take the pleasure in them that
fear Him, and then the hope in His mercy. Where is His mercy?
In Jesus Christ. Behold my servant. We better,
we better. It's the only mercy of God. And He said, I love my Master. Love His glory. Love His honor.
Men hate God's Word. There was a time when I did.
I didn't want to hear it. I don't believe that old stuff. I rejected what my father preached
for 50 years. I rejected it thumbs down. I
don't believe that stuff. I hated it. But God, like Saul,
like Paul, the Apostle, who hated this way, he said, now I preach
that what I once hated. He didn't do it, God did it. Christ came in love to God's
glory and honor. Nobody had. Man must. Man needs to. Man was created
for that glory and honor. Created for that glory and honor.
How about us? All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Every believer in here is way
short of glorifying God. We're not listening to this message
like we ought to. Like, about God's Son coming down here, willingly
doing His work for unworthy people. We don't deserve to hear this.
Like I said, I didn't deserve to read Isaiah 53. Christ came. I love my Master
and love His wisdom, love to His covenant, and in love to
His people. He said, I love my wife. I love
my children. That 33-year-old man who stood
on this earth that day years ago, whom most just called Jesus,
that's God the Father. That's the Eternal Father. He
stood and talked to men who were his age, 33, maybe older, 40
years old. He said, my little children.
He called them his little children. There was a time when old Simon
Peter, a rough, longshoreman and fisherman, you know, who
would have busted him in the mouth if he said that to him. Who do
you think you are? And I'll tell you what God did.
God busted him in the heart and showed him, this is your God.
That's when Peter hit his knees in the boat that day, didn't
he? I thought you were just Jesus. You're my God. What are you going
to do with me? Will you have mercy on me?" And
he followed him the rest of his day, John, the rest of his day. A man. That's not just a man. Christ said, I love my children,
my wife and my children. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through Him. And greater love hath no man
than this, and he laid down his life." He said. And you know,
Christ... You know, men took, the Scripture
says, with wicked hands and crucified the Lord of glory. Men took Him and laid hold of
Him and plucked out His beard and spit in his face and bound
his hands and then put him on a cross and nailed his hands
to that tree and nailed his feet to that tree and stuck that crown
of thorn on his head and put him up on that cross and dropped
it in a hole until every joint was out of his body. But they
couldn't have done that if he hadn't have been willing to let
them do it. If God the Father hadn't allowed them to do it.
In one last display, he stood in that in that garden one day,
and that whole angry mob came to take him, and he said, whom
do you see? He went out in front of his disciples.
They were going to take them all. But the Lord went out before
them. He always did. He's the captain
of their salvation. He went out in front of them.
He said, whom do you see? And they said, Jesus. He said,
I am. And they all hit the dirt, fell
on their faces with one word out of his mouth. He said, no man taketh my life
from me. What are you saying, preacher? I'm trying to tell
you who Jesus Christ really is. And why can't I? He wasn't a
martyr. He wasn't a helpless victim.
He wasn't trying to do a work. He was sent by the Father with
an express work to do. With a people to save. And there
were some of them standing behind Him that day. He said, if you
seek Me, you let them go. And bloody they did. Peter took
out his sword. You remember? Peter took out
his sword. Peter loved the Lord. You're going to defend God, Peter?
Well, yeah, his honor's at stake. And Peter was aiming at that
fellow's head and cut his ear off. Now they're going to apprehend
Peter, aren't they? Huh? Couldn't touch him. Couldn't
touch him. The Lord reeled out of here.
That's why I'm just trying to tell you who Christ really is
so we'll hear Him and call upon Him and see our need of Him.
He said, I will not go free. Verse 5, I love my Master, I
love my wife, I love my children, I will not go free. The point
I was trying to make was Christ didn't have to come, but He did.
He didn't have to die, but He willingly did it. No man taketh
my life from me, He said. I lay it down on myself." Many
times they tried to take him. He walked right through them.
And then when it was time, in the fullness of time, when the
debt had been paid, when the time had been served, when all
the sins of all of God's people had been paid by a lifetime of
righteousness on behalf of the Lord, by the Lord Jesus Christ,
God said, it's time. Take him. Apprehend him. And they took him. And that's
when he died. But he said, I will not go free. He said, don't you know I could
call ten, twelve legions of angels right now to deliver me, but
no, I love my wife. I love my children. And for the
joy set before him. Scripture says he set his face
like a flint. They said, don't go to Jerusalem,
Lord, they'll kill you. He said, no man can. If I don't
go, God's going to kill you. God's got to kill me for you. That's who killed him. Look at
it. Verse 6. The Master shall bring
him to the judges. This is God the Father. God brought
him before the law. This freedom, see, could not
be done in a corner. It had to be done according to
law. This servant must be brought before the law, before witnesses,
many witnesses. The law has to be satisfied.
It has to be in written. It has to be recorded that the
debt has been paid. Are you satisfied that he's worked
off the debt to you, Master? I'm satisfied, the Master said.
It's all been paid. Are you satisfied he's done time?
Has he done six years completely? Six years, he said, he's fulfilled
the time. then he's got to go for it. The
law demands it. Christ came to satisfy God's
law. That's more than a doctrine. And we've broken every bit of
it. Christ had to fulfill it. And the punishment for sin is
death. Hell. And that's what Christ endured.
And He paid it all. All the debt. He's satisfied. It's what we read. That's why
we read Isaiah 53, didn't we? It says, God made His soul an
offering for sin. He pleased the Lord to bruise
Him, put Him to grief. He made His soul an offering
for sin, like that master bringing Him to the door. He'll see the
travail of His soul and be satisfied. By him, he'll justify many. He'll bear their iniquity. It
says he's wounded. Now, here's what happened. They
would take this servant to a door or a door post, and he would hold his ear up. The master is doing this. The
owner is doing this to him. As I said, God's the one that
killed his son. God's the one who hung him on
a crop. Had to. To pay our debt. Christ was pierced. But they
took his ear and they would take an awl. And it's not like today. I remember when Hannah was, how
old were you? Twenty-eight. Made her wait to
get her ears pierced, you know, until, yeah, twenty-eight I think
it was. No, it was whatever, 14 or 15.
She wanted them done bad. And no, it wasn't that young. Anyway, they took her there,
and it's not painful. It's not at all. It's a painless
procedure. They do something to numb them
or whatever, put something behind them, that's it. This was not
that bad. And then, you know, what we're
doing is putting little adornments, effeminates, you know, females
wear earrings. My dad used to say, I never thought
I'd see a day with women with tattoos and men with earrings. Well, men never wore earrings
in the scripture. That came out of Egypt. Came
out of Egypt. At any rate, in this servant,
they didn't put some little flashy, gaudy, ornamental thing, flashy,
so it could be looked at. It wasn't a painless procedure. It was pain. It was blood. There
was blood on that doorpost. And what happened here was this
person is not walking around with some flashy, effeminate
jewelry for everybody to see. He's a Christian. Got a scar. He's scarred for life. Where'd you get that scar? I paid the debt. I paid the crime. Five bleeding wounds he bore
on Calvary's tree. There's only one person in heaven
with scars. They're beautiful. A scar is
not a beautiful thing, is it? A scar means you've gone through
something terrible if it's big enough. Pain and suffering. What our Lord endured on Calvary's
tree was no little thing. And we're not to wear it like
jewelry. That's an abomination. My daughter was killed with a
knife I wouldn't wear around my neck. Besides, God said, don't
do it. Don't make any graven in it.
The point is, the Lord was scarred. Didn't say anything about a ring,
did it? He was scarred. And when we get to heaven, we're
going to see one person with scars. All of us who have scars
now are going to be without spot and without blemish. And the
one down here who was without spot and blemish up there is
going to have scars. And we're going to think they're
the most beautiful thing we've ever seen. We're going to think, now
there's the servants. Well, they'd tell you, I'm looking
for scars in heaven. One person has them, and he obtained
my redemption by those. What did it take to put away
my sin? Christ hanging on the cross, brutally killed by his
Father. Now, I'm going to quote. Scripture says this, So are we now in this work. Servants, bond slaves. And how you know that God has
done a work on a person? How you know is He has borne
their ear with an arm. Every person whom God chose Every
person whom Jesus Christ came to die for, the Holy Spirit,
comes through what I'm doing right now, through the preaching
of the gospel, and it's like a sword, and it pierces the ear
through the door. Christ said, I'm the door. Blood
on the doorpost. It's the blood. But He pierces
our ear with this gospel. You see, faith He that believeth,
Scripture said, whosoever believeth shall not perish. Well, how do
they believe? Well, faith is not of yourself,
it's a gift of God, according to the working of His mighty
power. And through what I'm doing that men call foolishness, God
uses this as the power of God, and one day, a day when they've
never heard anything before, one day finally, It pierces their
ear. Listen to this in Psalm 40. It
says, "...sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, but mine
ears hast thou opened." He opened my ear. The margin says, "...digged
with all of his word, sharp..." The errors of the Lord are sharp
in the heart. It's hard to kick against secret. And we hear the gospel. That
person hears the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing
by the Word. Hears the truth of who God is. Hears the truth about what they
are to God. Hears the truth about who Christ
is and sees their need of Christ. And they believe. They hear. They believe. They
call. Whosoever shall call. They call.
What do they call for? Save me! Mercy! I need mercy! I'm a sinner. They repent. God be merciful
to me, the sinner, I'm the worst. That's what happens then. And they bow to the Lord Jesus
Christ. They don't argue, they bow. And they feel unworthy. But they
believe. And they need Him. And they fall
in love with this gospel. Something they didn't love before. Fall in love with it. Their ears
have been bored. And from that day forward, that's
what they want to hear. That's who they want to hear.
And they become His servants forever. And they'll go through trials,
the scars of this life. But they bear them willingly,
lovingly, with love to their Master. And they say, I will
not go out. I don't want to go out like Ruth.
Don't entreat me not to leave thee. Your God is my God. Your people are my people. Where
you die, I want to die. Where you dwell, I want to dwell. That's what happened. And the
Lord said this. The Lord Jesus Christ in leaving
this earth, he said to his disciples, you go, you preach the gospel. And he that believeth, believeth
what? Everything I preach this morning. And is baptized shall be saved. No ifs, ands, or buts. Shall
be saved. This is the record. Put it on
record. All their sins are gone. Wow! Isn't that good news? Sins gone. Clean slate. What for? Nothing you've done. Behold my servant. See those
scars? That's why you go free. But you
don't want to go. You'll say like Peter, to whom
shall we go? You've bored my ear. It's the
words of life. That's what happens. And you
get in this pool back here. Baptism. Baptism. Someone's coming this morning.
Came to me Wednesday night. Someone's been listening for
years. They grew up under this word.
like me, and heard message after message after message, but didn't
hear a thing. Oh, heard the Word, which is able to make wise unto
salvation. God used men and women, teachers
in here, Vicki, and we plant and we water. God gives him grace. Vicki and these ladies, Deborah
and Mindy and me to preach and Gabe and others. Whoever, Mary,
whoever else, faithfully keep reading this Word, reading this
Word, reading this Word, reading this Word. And one day, she came to me and said, I believe
everything you're saying. I hear it. I believe everything. And she said to me, she said,
I'm ashamed of myself. what I am. And I need Christ. I need Christ. Now that's salvation. Blair, isn't that what you told
me? That's what you told me. So Blair Patterson comes this
morning. Baptism doesn't save. Baptism
doesn't change a thing. It's just water. Old Franklin
County well water. I had to put all kinds of chemicals
in it to keep it from being brown It doesn't save, but it's the
answer of a good conscience. The Lord said, it is baptized. He said, he that confesseth Me
before men, I will confess. This is how you do it. Right
up here. You don't wear jewelry. You don't do all this stuff.
You don't print it on your shirt. No, no. You get up in this pool. And what you're doing by doing
this is saying when Christ came, And when He died, I died. I'm
the one that should have died. I'm the one that did die. I hope
He died for me. And when Christ arose with a
glorified body and went back to heaven, He's my hope of the
resurrection. And I believe, and I'm telling
everybody here, that I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
my hope. My salvation. Our Lord said,
he that confesseth me, blessed is he that is not offended in
me. This is kind of a humiliating thing to take somebody and dunk
them under the water and bring them out and they look like a
wet rat. That's what we all look like before God. That pride does need to be. What
we're saying is I'm a nothing, I'm a nobody, Christ is my all
and end all. And I've heard His Word. And
I want to follow Him from now on. I love my Master. I love
Him. Like marriage, you know. Somebody
really loves a man or a woman, they'll marry them. That's commitment. That's telling everybody, I love
this person. This is the one I love. I want
to spend the rest of my life with this person. And that's
what baptism says. And he that believeth is baptized. Believe? That's to believe Christ. Believe Christ. Do you believe
Christ, Blair? Okay. Let's do it. Alright. Gabe, you come. Lead
us in a hymn.