I don't often remember the occasion
of a hymn. That particular hymn we just
sang, I recall distinctly when it was written. I'd been up to
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Folks there wanted to know if
I'd come up and meet with them, pursue the possibility of God
establishing a gospel witness there. where Brother Joe Terrell
is now pastor. They moved right across the state
line into Iowa, but it's the same congregation. I was on the
plane waiting to take off and praying that God would be pleased
to give that congregation a pastor to feed them with knowledge and
understanding, a pastor after his heart has. I remind you there are numerous
groups of people around the world who depend upon the ministry
of the word from this place to feed their souls who have no
pastor. And I ask you to remember them
in prayer as the Lord brings them to mind, enables you to
pray for them. The folks in Huntington, England,
where Brother Ian Potts meets with folks on Monday night, folks
over in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, the two groups I'll
be preaching for while I'm in England and Ireland. Folks down
in Taylor, Arkansas, over in Wichita Falls, Texas, Brother
Sonny Dutran, the folks meeting in his home in San Jose, Erickson,
Gilroy, California, the Honeys down in Pennsylvania, folks up
in Wasilla, Alaska, so many, so many places. And I'm thankful
for the privilege of being able to help them and I appreciate
your willingness to assist them any way you can. But nothing
will substitute for a standing, established gospel ministry. And I ask you to pray that God
will raise up men to meet those needs. Turn with me tonight to
Exodus chapter 14. When I announced to you Sunday
morning that my subject tonight would be the Old Testament doctrine
of baptism, I could tell by the look on your faces that being
good Baptists, some of you thought to yourselves, Baptism's a New
Testament, not taught in the Old Testament. And if that's
what you thought, you're both right and wrong. Baptism is a
New Testament ordinance, but it is taught and taught clearly
in the Old Testament. However, contrary to the opinion
of many, and it is the opinion of many, baptism is not taught
in the Old Testament right circumcision, And I won't take time dealing
with that before we look at our text. The fact is there is absolutely
no place in the Word of God, not one place in Holy Scripture,
baptism is given in any connection whatsoever with circumcision. The two are never connected.
They're never connected. The only place they're connected
is in the minds of those who attempt to reserve of papacy
in Protestant churches and call it baptism. But there is no connection,
no connection whatever, to baptism and circumcision in the Old Testament.
Circumcision in the flesh, that Old Testament rite, was symbolic,
not of baptism at all, but of the new birth. It was symbolic
of regeneration. The circumcision of the heart,
that circumcision Without hands by God the Holy Spirit when he
gives life to dead sinners Calling to faith in Jesus Christ by his
irresistible grace I want you to keep your place in Rome in
Exodus 14 But I want you to look a couple of passages in the new
turn to Romans chapter 2 As circumcision in the Old Testament
was given to Abraham and his sons to be a seal of God's promised
blessings in his covenant with Abraham to the child that was
circumcised. A new birth by the work of God's
grace in us, giving us faith in Christ. Believers have sealed
to their hearts the assured promise of all covenant blessings in
Jesus Christ, the Lord. Now I want you to look at several
passages in 1st Romans, chapter 2, verse 28. He is not a Jew
which is one outwardly. Language couldn't be much plainer
than that, could it? There are multitudes who have the foolish
notion that some have because Connected Abraham physically
he is a the spiritual sense of the word a Jew in the sense of
being one of God's covenant people No, no being a physical descendant
of Abraham the more benefit to a man's soul that being a physical
dissent Allah of no more benefit not at all. He is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly Neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh that age is utterly meaningless but
he is a Jew a true Jew really 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 Ephesians chapter
1 Paul is discussing the blessings of God's covenant given us in
Christ before the world began and It gets down to verse 12
and tells us how we come to the enjoyment of these blessings
We were justified sanctified glorified accepted redeemed in
Christ before the world began But we knew nothing about it
until we heard the gospel of our salvation delivered to the
Spirit of God Ephesians 1 verse 12 These things were done that
we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in
Christ In whom you also trusted when did you trust in Christ?
After that you heard the word of truth What word of truth the
gospel of your salvation? When the gospel comes in the
power of God's Spirit The chosen sinner is caused to know by the
speaking of God inside him, through his word, by the witness of the
Spirit, that Christ has redeemed him. He proclaims in us the gospel
of your salvation, sprinkling the heart with the blood of Christ,
so that the person to whom God gives faith knows he's been given
faith. You heard the gospel of your
salvation. Now watch this. in whom also after that you believed. That does not mean you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and then you
believed, and then there's a gap in time, and maybe somewhere
down the road you experience this next thing. Quite literally,
this is what it's saying. In whom also having believed,
having believed, ye were sealed. with that Holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest, the down payment, the pledge of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchase possession under the praise of
his glory. The Holy Spirit comes and brings
life to the center, giving us faith and that faith given by
the Spirit of God seals to us all the blessings he's spoken
of in this chapter. Philippians chapter three, verse
three. We are the circumcision. What's
he talking about? We are the circumcision. We are. We are the true Israel of God. We are God's covenant people.
We are the people to whom all God's promises and grace are
given. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit. by His Holy Spirit in our spirits. We don't worship God through
signs and symbols and pictures and images and icons and all
the religious paraphernalia folks have that are nothing on this
earth but religious superstition and idolatry. We worship God
in the spirit, by his spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus.
That is, we trust Jesus Christ. That's it. That's it. I trust the Son of God. That's it. What's your hope? Jesus Christ. What's your creed? Jesus Christ. What do you believe? Jesus Christ. What do you preach?
Jesus Christ. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. That's our only hope before God,
our only confidence before God. And just in case you misunderstand
that, we are God's covenant people. who believe on the Son of God,
and that means we don't have one shred of confidence in the
flesh. No confidence in who we are by
nature, what we possess, what we do, what we feel. We trust
Jesus Christ alone. Now look at Colossians chapter
2. One more text in this regard. I'm making the point that circumcision
has absolutely nothing to do with believers' baptism. Circumcision
in the Old Testament is talking about this thing called the new
birth in the scriptures. Colossians 2 verse 10. Ye are
complete in Christ, which is the head of all principality
and power, in whom also ye are circumcised. Now watch this.
With the circumcision made without hands. in putting off the body
of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now remember, he said,
this is a circumcision made without hands. A good many will say,
well, now the very next verse is talking about it is. Buried with him in baptism. I baptized most of you. I buried
most of you. And I did it. And this is going
to come as a shock to some folks with these hands. That means
this is not what he's talking about when he speaks of circumcision.
The circumcision is made in the heart. The baptism is that by
which we confess our Redeemer. Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised him from the dead. So baptism is not taught
in the Old Testament rite of circumcision. Baptism is not
a sacrament. Don't ever refer to God's ordinances
as sacraments. The word sacrament is used around
the world by folks and it sounds so good to call it a sacrament.
That's because the word means a means of grace. A sacrament
is that by which you receive grace. That's nothing on this
earth but papal idolatry. No sir, baptism is not a sacrament.
It is not a sacrament by which grace is conferred to the soul.
It is not a sacrament by which men and women receive grace.
Baptism is not, as we're often told, an outward sign of the
inward reality. No, sir. No, sir. Baptism is
not an outward sign of what goes on inside the heart. Baptism,
Darwin, is a sign of what went on at Calvary. There's a big
difference. It is not an outward sign. It
is an outward sign of God's work of grace in his son. But baptism
is very clearly taught right here in this one place in the
Old Testament. Exodus chapter 14. Exodus 14 beginning at verse
19. The angel of the Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ, went before the camp of Israel, removed and went
behind them, and the pillar of cloud went from before their
face and stood behind them. And it came between the camp
of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud
and darkness to them. But it gave light by night to
these, so that the one came not near the other all night. And
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused
the sea to go back by a strong wind all that night and made
the sea dry land. And the waters were divided,
and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon
the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their
right hand and on their left. For the sake of brevity, skip
down to verse 28. And the waters returned and covered
the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that
came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as
one of them. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were
a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus,
the Lord saved Israel. Now we know that this passage
is written to teach us about baptism because God the Holy
Spirit tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 2, and we'll
look at that in just a little bit, God the Holy Spirit tells
us that the children of Israel were all baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea. And when they were baptized unto
Moses in the cloud and in the sea, then they did all eat the
same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink. For they all drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. And then
the Apostle tells us, the Spirit of God tells us by the Apostle,
all these things happened unto them. For example, All that we
just read in Exodus chapter 14 happened to the children of Israel
as an example to you and I. They're written a forehand for
our comfort and consolation that we through patience and hope
of the scripture, our knowledge of the scriptures, might have
hope. What was involved in Israel's baptism unto Moses? What does
their baptism teach us about New Testament baptism? The gospel
ordinance of baptism. Israel, we are told, was baptized
unto Moses. That is, they were baptized with
reference to Moses in a typical manner, typical of us being baptized
unto Christ. Now, let me pause for a minute.
You can make yourself a note. The word translated unto is a
little three-letter preposition in the Greek text. And often,
when you translate from one language to another, you could translate
the same word variously by different words that mean different things,
because the word has all different shades of meaning. This particular
preposition might very well be translated into, and it commonly
is translated into. But here in 1 Corinthians 10,
the apostle Paul was inspired of God to write with these children
of Israel were baptized unto Moses, and our translators translate
the word unto rather than into. The very same word, however,
the translators speak of our being baptized into Christ. Reckon why? The very same word. I will give them the benefit
of the doubt, as I think they well deserve. And it just may
be that they simply presume that this was the better sense of
the word. But I think not. The children
of Israel were not baptized into Moses. That doesn't happen. And you and I were not baptized
into Jesus Christ. But rather, with reference to
Christ, or unto Christ, just as the children of Israel were
baptized unto Moses. We were baptized with reference
to the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. Turn to Romans chapter 6. Let
me show you. Romans chapter 6. But, Brother Don, doesn't the
Holy Spirit baptize us into Christ? I defy you to find that anywhere
in this book. I defy you to find that anywhere
in this book. It's talked about. Preachers
commonly accept it as being so. I defy you to find it in this
book. Romans chapter 6 verse 3. Know
you not that so many of us as were baptized unto is the word
Jesus Christ were baptized unto his death with reference to his
death. Paul says as many of you as had
been baptized unto Christ have put on Christ. Look at verse
4. Therefore, therefore, since we
were baptized with reference to Christ, with reference to
his death, therefore we are buried. Immersion is not a mode of baptism
that we choose. I'll do a good bit of reading
preparing for this message. I read a good bit from pedo-baptists
and others who sought a way to make the scriptures read other
than they do to justify sprinkling a little water on a baby's face
and calling it baptism. They said the word baptize means
to dunk. And you know what? They're right.
That's exactly what it means. But it never says a word about
rising up again. And they're right again. It doesn't
imply Rising up or resurrection or anything of the kind but what
the word is used to teach teaches that We are immersed Buried with
Christ with reference to Christ unto his death Therefore we are
buried with him in baptism. We don't we're buried with with
him by baptism into death with reference to death and that like
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
if indeed we have been planted together in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
Knowing this, this is the reason for the whole thing. Our old
man is crucified with him. that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he
that is dead is set free from sin, justified from sin, freed
from sin. Now let's look at this type and
its antitype. The typical picture given at
the Red Sea and its fulfillment in believer's baptism. First,
we will consider the physical picture itself. I want us to
look at this first because there are lots of folks who say, well,
the real important thing is not the amount of water that you
use, but what's in the heart. That's really all that's important.
Really, it's what's inward, not what's outward or not the outward
symbol. There's just one problem with
that. If I despise God's symbol, the outward symbol, that means
I despise God's revelation and there's a problem in the heart.
We use bread and wine at the Lord's table. Why? Because that's
exactly what our Lord used when he established the ordinance.
And because only by the use of bread and wine can we adequately
set forth what's intended in the Lord's table. And that is
the sacrifice of the Holy Lamb of God, our Passover, in whom
there is no leaven, and the separation of his life from his body, so
that we now observe the Lord's Supper with that bread representing
his holy humanity. and that blood representing his
undefiled pure blood by which we are redeemed and nothing else
will do it. And by baptism, we're confessing
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we do it the way we do it
for two reasons. Number one, that's the way it
was done in the scriptures. Number two, that's the only way
baptism confesses the sacrifice of our Redeemer. Read on now.
I'll go back to Exodus 14. Our baptism unto Christ of necessity
involves a physical act. Just as Israel was baptized in
water, we're baptized in water because our Lord commanded it.
And our baptism is a portrayal of a burial in a watery grave
all the way through the scriptures. Why? Because when Christ died,
he was buried. We are sent to proclaim the gospel,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
but that's not all he did. He was buried and raised again
according to the scriptures. Why is that so important? Why
do you suppose, Larry, Paul didn't say we've preached the gospel,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures?
because to leave off his burial and his resurrection is to fail
to declare all that he accomplished when he died as our substitute.
He who died was punished under the fury of God's holy justice
to the full satisfaction of justice, buried in the earth, and then
three days later justified in the spirit, set free as one who
has no sin. See him yonder? The sin he bore
on Calvary is gone. It's put away. Baptism then is
always set forth as a burial in water. Why? That's the second
thing. It's a picture of this death.
When Israel walked into the Red Sea, they walked into the grave. They flat walked into the grave. A mass grave for millions of
them. They walked into the grave, and
God's children today, by their baptism, identify themselves
with the Lord Jesus in his death and in his burial and in his
resurrection, just as Israel did here. How do you know they
walked into the grave? How can you say that? They didn't
die there. Symbolically, they did. And when they got to the
other side, that same picture of judgment overthrew their enemies
in the grave and they were buried in the sea. Baptism separated
Israel from Egypt and baptism symbolically separates believers
from unbelievers, truth from error, true religion from false
religion, the worship of God from idolatry. In the days of
the New Testament, we tend to think about labor unions and
such as that as being modern inventions. They had guilds of
every description. And you could work in the guilds
and get along fine, no matter what your religion was. You could
even go and listen to the Apostle Paul or the Apostle John preach
and get along just fine. You could worship with God's
saints and get along just fine, as long as you didn't do one
thing. As long as you retained what
your former religion had been and made no ruffles in any way,
didn't do anything to shake things up, as long as you didn't confess
Christ in baptism, but as soon as the believer confessed Christ,
this is what he did, buried. He said, the worship of Diana
is death, and I leave it. And the worship of this God and
that God, this way of religion and that way of religion is death.
And I live it. I'm dead to those things. And
live under God. And when you did, you lost your
job. When you did, you were shut out. When you did, you were cast aside. The Jews, to this day, to this
very day, I have several friends who are converted Jews. They
can come here and worship with us three times a week. It wouldn't
cause any problem. But as soon as they confess Christ
in baptism, they're dissolved. How come? Because by their identification
with Christ, they say this is the way and there is no other.
Israel's baptism at the Red Sea was an act of utter commitment
to Moses. I said this to you a few weeks
ago, can you imagine what it must have taken for those folks
to walk into that sea. I can't fathom it. A mighty wind
from God stacked up the water and stacked up the water here. And they walked through that
sea Who can imagine the height of the walls of water? And they walk right in there.
It's called commitment. Commitment. They committed their
lives to that man Moses, who was a mediator, the only mediator
appointed by God. between them and God. He said,
I stood between you and the Lord because you were afraid of the
fire in the mountain. And Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,
is that one represented by Moses, the only mediator between God
and man, and the children of Israel having committed their
entire lives to Moses, follow him through the sea. So the believer
in baptism lifts his hand to God and declares to the world,
I've committed my life to him. God's darling son. Lock, stock
and barrel. Everything. Everything. Israel then came up out of the
watery grave as a resurrected people. And the believer comes
up out of the waters of baptism, walking with Christ as a resurrected
child in the newness of life. And when they came out of the
sea, that resurrected people went through the wilderness with
hope, with hope. But as I said just
a little bit ago, speaking, or was it Lindsey in the office,
one of them speaking of our time soon to come when our salvation
will be complete and cross over Jordan. Hope, what keeps us going, hope. I talked to my doctor this morning
about that a little bit. All the mess going on. I have
a hope. A blessed hope. And that means
nothing here much matters. Nothing here much matters. Alright,
third. Israel's baptism was an initiation. An initiation into an entirely
new state of existence. When they came out of Egypt,
though they were kin one to another, they had no more in common than
you do with your distant cousins who live some far off distant
place. They were a motley crew, unorganized,
no government. They had only one thing in common.
They had all been slaves and they were fleeing from something
they greatly despised and fleeing from one whom they were terrified
of. That's all they had in common.
They all, however, when they went into the waters of the Red
Sea, this motley crew, when they came out on the other side, do
you know how they're described by Stephen in Acts chapter 7
verse 38? They're described as the church
in the wilderness. They came out in an entirely
different state of existence. Now they are under one head. Now they are united in one cause
as one people. Now they have one purpose and
one hope and they're brought under government. Under government
by God himself and by his word through his servant Moses. utterly
made to be disciples of Moses. United, the whole nation stood
as one man under Moses. And being united to that one
man, they were all united to one another. So it is with God's
church. We're united to one another because
we are united to Christ our head. Israel's baptism, however, was
a baptism experienced by none except those who had just been
delivered. Those, only those who had experienced
deliverance by blood, only those who had come out of Egypt experiencing
deliverance by the outstretched hand of God's mighty arm, only
they passed through the waters of the Red Sea. But Brother Don,
that was all of them. It was. All God's elect. My point is this. Baptism is
reserved for believers only. I was speaking to someone last
Sunday evening, Sunday evening before, asking me about those
who eat and drink unworthily at the Lord's table. When the
apostle writing by the Spirit says, he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning
the Lord's body. Let me tell you what that means.
Anything men and women do in religious practice, in the exercise
of religion, in the name of godliness, by which they attempt to convince
themselves that they know God when they don't. is but sealing
to themselves condemnation. Why don't we try to talk children
into making a confession of faith? I've had mommas and daddies get
mad at me because I wouldn't baptize their babies. I wouldn't
do it. And when I talk about baptizing
their babies, don't bring me your six-year-old grandchildren
up here and expect me to baptize them. It's not going to happen.
It is not going to happen. Baptism is that which is the
reasonable, conscious response of the believing man or woman
unto Jesus Christ the Lord. It's not something to be played
with. And we won't try to talk people into making a profession
of faith, bring them into the church, raise them in the church
as though they were Christians when they're not Christians,
because doing so is to cause them continually to wrap themselves
in a garment of self-righteousness, never seeking the righteousness
of Christ. Children of Israel. All of them
who had experienced deliverance by the hand of God went through
the Red Sea in baptism as they were baptized unto Moses. And
Israel's baptism unto Moses was immediately followed by something.
They did all eat the same spiritual meat and drank from the same
spiritual drink, Christ Jesus the rock that followed them.
And so it is with God's people. Baptism. for believers is followed
by the communion of Christ in the fellowship of his people,
receiving the Lord's table, feasting upon his blood and his righteousness
symbolized in the bread and the wine of the Lord's table. Fourth,
Israel's baptism unto Moses was a declaration of their allegiance
to him. Following Moses into the Red
Sea, They obligated themselves to acknowledge him as their guide,
their leader, and their mediator. They obligated themselves to
obedience to him, obligated themselves to follow him, voluntarily obligated
themselves. two years ago. Overwhelmed by the constraint
of his love and grace, I entered into the waters of baptism before
family and friend and the Church of God and the world around me.
And I voluntarily lifted my hand to God, and said, I'm not my
own. I've been bought with a price. I don't have a breath that belongs
to me, much less a house, or a car, or a truck, or a wife,
or a daughter. I'm not my own. The Son of God bought me lock,
stock, and barrel. I'm His. I'm His. And I keep praying that
God the Holy Spirit will remind me every day of that declaration. I'm His. Hour by hour, I'm His. Like Jephthah of old, I've lifted
my hand to God. I can't go back. And don't want
to. Don't want to. Here's the fifth thing. Look
at verse 31, back in Exodus 14. Remember, this whole thing is
talking about Israel's baptism, their baptism unto Moses. And
in verse 31, we read, thus the Lord saved Israel. Do you mean preacher? Baptism
is necessary? Looks like it to me. Looks like
it to me. You mean baptism has saving power? I thought you said it didn't.
No, it doesn't have any. But it does contribute something
to salvation. No, not a thing. Not a thing. Well, how can baptism
be necessary? Because the Son of God commands
it. And the scripture declares, he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned." Nowhere in this book, nowhere in the
New Testament, I challenge you, find it. Will you find anyone
referred to as a believer, as a disciple, as a follower of
Christ until he follows Christ in baptism? You won't find it. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter
3. Let's look at another passage in this regard. Verse 18. Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
By which, that is, by the Holy Spirit, also he went and preached
unto the spirits in prison. That doesn't mean he went and
preached to folks down in Hades and set them free. He went by
Noah. I think, Darwin, you said this
just the other day. He went by Noah and preached to these spirits
in Noah's generation, which sometime were disobedient. And when once
the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved
by water. They were saved by water? That's
what he said. The like figure, in a similar
way, whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. As that ark
was a picture of redemption, grace, and salvation in Christ.
Noah is in the ark. And in the ark, God pours out
on him all the vials of his furious wrath, but not a drop of water
touch Noah, because the ark Absorbed the wrath and that ark is Christ
Jesus the Lord and we being baptized in the figure Enter into the
judgment and the death and the wrath of God by which Jesus Christ
satisfied divine justice enduring it all for us and in the same
sense as a figure the waters of baptism are saving in a figure
and Let me say it again, because I know some idiot's going to
grab one. Oh, brother, God said, what is baptism and saving? In
a figure. It's a picture of it. But you
don't. Not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh. No, no, no. You can be baptized many times.
Every tadpole in the nearest pond knows you by your first
name. And it ain't going to wash away sin. It ain't going to wash
away sin. Doesn't change a thing. Nothing.
But I'll tell you what it is. It's the answer of a good conscience
toward God. That's what it is. My conscience is clear. Oh, I want that for you. I have
a clear conscience before God. Lindsay, it's clearer before
God than it is before you. A clear conscience before God.
Because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, has put away my sin. Now let me show you how he did
it. Come with me into the grave and see how he fulfilled all
righteousness as my substitute. obeying even unto death, and
come with me out of the tomb, and see how the Son of God who
has made sin for me, made a curse for me, is freed from sin and
raised from dead, justified in the Spirit, and come with me
up to glory, and see Him seated yonder. That's all my salvation. That's it. And in baptism, that's
what we confess. As best I understand it, that's
the Old Testament doctrine of baptism. And it's dead sure the
New Testament doctrine of baptism. Amen.