Turn now to Acts chapter 2, if
you will. It is not my purpose this morning
to deal with all of the errors and the false teachings about
baptism. nor about the era of infant sprinkling,
which is decidedly and definitely and unquestionably a man-made
ceremony that is not found in God's Word. And in talking about a confession
of Christ, it is not my purpose to deal with public altar calls
and invitations which are dishonoring to Jesus Christ and deceptive
so deceptive. False professions of faith are
born in these public decisions too often. But Charles Haddon
Spurgeon said something a hundred and some odd years ago, which has been a great help to
my ministry. He once said, if you want to
prove to an intelligent man or woman
that a stick is crooked, all you have to do is lay a straight
stick down beside the crooked stick and they'll see the problem. So that's what I hope to do in
this message on the subject baptism, confessing Christ. Now, four things happened when
Peter preached this message on the day of Pentecost. Four things
happened. Number one, the people understood
exactly what he said. They understood what he said. Peter said to them, look at verse
22, ye men of Israel, you listen to me, you hear these Jesus of
Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you as you yourselves know. What
Peter's saying is this. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
the one whom you call the carpenter, the one whom you derided and
mocked and called the friend of sinners, friend of publicans
and sinners, the one of whom you said. Why, we know who this
is. This is the carpenter. We know
his mother and his brothers and sisters. This man, Jesus Christ,
was sent of God into this world. At his baptism, the father spoke
and said, this is my son. This is my son. This is my well-beloved,
only begotten son, in whom I'm well pleased. At his transfiguration,
the father said, this is my son. Listen to him. Even your leaders,
Peter declared, knew that he came from God. For did not Nicodemus,
one of the leading Pharisees, say, no man could do these miracles
thou doest except God be with him? This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
came from God. He was ordained of God, appointed
of God, sent of God. He came from God. And David,
the illustrious David wrote of him. For David is dead and buried,
and the things that David wrote about the Messiah were fulfilled
in Jesus Christ. David wrote of Jesus of Nazareth. God sent him. He fulfilled all
of the prophecies of the Old Testament. All of the types and
shadows and promises are fulfilled in this person, Jesus of Nazareth. They understood that. And they
understood this, verse 23, and him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain you and your sons. Peter said, this man Jesus of
Nazareth was sent of God. God anointed him, God ordained
him, God appointed him, and God sent him. And God proved to you
that he sent him by his works, by his miracles and signs. And
David wrote of him. Your David wrote of him. Abraham
saw his day. Moses wrote of him. He came,
but what did you do? You crucified him. You hung him
on a Roman cross. With your wicked hands you've
crucified the Lord of glory. Oh yes, God, by his determinate
will and his foreknowledge, God allowed this to happen. God
had a purpose, a reason for it. But that does not lessen your
responsibility. It does not lessen your accountability. Your hands are dripping red with
the blood of God's Son. You did what your wicked heart
wanted to do. God turned Him over to you. God
determined to turn Him over to you, and God in His wisdom and
ordination turned Him over to you, but you crucified Him. They
understood what He was saying. You've killed your Messiah. I saw one hanging on a tree in
agony and blood. He fixed his languid eyes on
me as near his cross I stood, and never to my latest breath
can I forget that look. He seemed to charge me with his
death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned
this guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins. His blood had spilt and helped
to nail him there. Alas, I knew not what I did,
but now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul
be hid? For I, the Lord, have slain."
That's what they understood. That's what they understood.
And Peter didn't stop there. Verse 24, he said, God raised
him from the dead. God loosed him from the grave.
It wasn't possible that the Lord of glory should remain in a tomb. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
what a sermon. God sent him. God appointed him
and ordained him. God proved to you who He was.
David wrote of Him. Moses wrote of Him. But what
did you do? You nailed Him to a Roman tree. And you buried
Him in a barred tomb. But God raised Him. God raised
Him from the dead. Satan came and tried Him and
could find nothing to charge. The law came and tried Him and
could find nothing to charge. The rulers of this world even
said, We found no fault in Him. Pilate would have turned him
loose. Sin was laid on him and he came
forth victorious. He was put in a grave and even
death that holds all of Adam's race
in the dungeon could not hold him. All the powers of the law,
of hell, of the kingdoms of this world, of human governments,
of death and the grave banded together could not defeat the
man Christ Jesus. God raised Him. He's risen! He's risen. Those women came
to the tomb on that, that Lord's Day morning, and the angels looked
at them and said, why do you seek the living among the dead?
He's not here. He's not here. Oh my, they understood
what he said. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
whom you crucified, God has raised him, but he didn't quit there.
Verse 33, Therefore, by the right hand of God exalted, whom you
rejected, God has exalted, whom you despised, God has loved. Whom you have said, we'll not
have this man reign over us, God's given him the world. Of whom you said, we'll not submit
to his sovereignty, God's made him both Lord and Christ. You're
in trouble. Trouble. You bow to your idols,
you bow to your traditions, you bow to your customs, you bow
to all things but him of whom God said, bow down. The whole
world, all authority is given to him in heaven and earth. All
power over all flesh has been given to him. God's turned the
world and the universe over to Jesus of Nazareth. That's what
he's saying, verse 33. has exalted him, and he's received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost. Verse 36, Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom you crucified absolute sovereign dictator of
the universe. And he said in verse 35, I'll
make your enemies your footstool. Boy, they understood exactly
what he said. That's our message. Why don't
we hear that more today? We hear in this day about a poor
little sweet little Jesus boy. We hear men talking about the
virgin son, the meek humble reformer. We hear him talking about this
man, Jesus of Nazareth, as if it would be a compliment to you
to let him be your Savior. We give men the impression that
God is off over there and Jesus is off over there somewhere banging
on somebody's door just hoping somebody will do something for
him or let him do something. But that's not what Peter preached
here. That's not what pricked the hearts of these men and women.
That's not what broke them down. Peter said, you listen to me.
You men of Israel, I've got something to say to you. Jesus of Nazareth, sure he was
born in the manger and walked on this earth in a peasant's
garment and had not a place to lay his head or a place to put
his feet. Sure he was humble and meek and
submissive to the holy love of God. That's the reason you saw
no beauty in him. He didn't come in the satins
of kings wearing a crown with robes of royalty. He came as
a lamb, as a shepherd. But God showed you many convincing
signs that he's the Messiah, he's the Christ, he's the one
sent of God. But what did you do? You despised
him and rejected him and hated him and spat upon him and mocked
him and nailed him to a cross. But God didn't leave him in the
grave, God raised him. And God hath highly exalted him
and given him a name above every name. And God said, sit here
in triumph and victory till I make every enemy your footstool. All right, the second thing that
happened as a result of this sermon, it says in verse 37,
now when they heard this, now when they heard this, the truth,
they were pricked in their hearts. What does that mean? They were
broken down, they were troubled, troubled. Let me tell you something, and I know this is right. What they're calling today conviction
of sin is not conviction of sin at all. The issue on this day was not whether it
was wrong to go to the picture show. That wasn't the issue. The issue on this day right here,
when these people were broken and pricked and troubled and
broken down, scared, brought to their knees, stripped before
a holy God, hanging on to the thread to keep from plunging
into hell, was not where it is wrong to play cards. Real conviction of sin is deeper
than a desire to go to heaven. These people here were not That
wasn't the issue here, who's going to heaven and who's going
to hell. Real conviction of sin goes deeper than a troubled mind
over fleshly passions and failures. Real conviction of sin goes deeper
than a feeling of guilt because you wronged somebody. Real conviction
of sin has to do with rebellion against God. That's what's going
on here. God sent him! God ordained him,
God anointed him, and you despised him. There's trouble between
you and the throne. There's a cloud between you and
heaven. There's enmity between you and
God. Headquarters is mad at you. That's
right, that's what he's saying. Real conviction of sin has to
do with who is Jesus Christ. That's what it has to do with.
Is he my Lord, Master, Sovereign King? Have I crucified my Lord? Have I rejected him whom God
Almighty has been pleased to exalt? That's the trouble. Real conviction of sin has to
do with a bowing of the will, a submission of the will, a broken
heart, and a breaking of the will. That's what it has to do
with. Real conviction of sin has to do with my relationship
with God. All the peace in the world between
me and you is not going to make peace between me and God. But
if peace is made between me and God, there will be peace between
me and you. And I can go through all the
courses on positive mental attitude and positive thinking and keeping
the faith and get my troubles all ironed out and my depression
raised to elation. That won't make peace
between me and God. But if there's peace between
me and God, I'll be straightened out in my thinking. That's where
the issue is. God confronted this race twice. God confronted this race personally
twice. The first time, he said, Adam,
I made you in my own image. I've given you dominion over
the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea and the beast
of the field, over the whole garden. There's a tree in the midst of
the garden. You shall not eat thereof. Now
leave it alone. Do what I say and live. Everything
else is yours to enjoy." That was the first confrontation,
I think. And man, he had to have that
tree. In his rebellion, in his rejection, He had to have that tree, and
he took it. The next time God confronted this race, he sent
his son. He'd sent prophets, he'd sent
priests, he'd sent kings. Now he sent his son. And he said,
this is my son! God made an announcement. The
angel first came and said to the shepherds, unto you is born
in the city of David a Savior. It's Christ the Lord. And a sign. This will be a sign to you. It's
the same sign that was given by the prophet Isaiah a virgin
shall conceive and bring forth a son. And you'll find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And then
he went about doing good, and he said he healed the sick and
the blind and the deaf and the lame, and even raised the dead.
God gave you plenty of signs, plenty of evidences, and he quoted
the Scripture, and he fulfilled the Scripture. And even your
priest, Simeon, said, this is the Lord's Christ! But what'd
you do? You took him out on a hill and
nailed him to a cross and spat in his face. And you're in trouble. In deep trouble. That's what
Peter's saying there. You're in trouble. You've crucified
the Lord of Glory, and God, you put him in a tomb, and you put
a rock, a big stone in front and put the seal of your human
government on it and said, now stay in there! But he didn't
stay in there. Just as Satan, sin, death couldn't
hold him either. And God raised him, and you know
where he is now? He's on the right hand of the
majesty on high. And God's turned everything over
to him. God turned everything over to
him. Every man's future and fate is in the hands of Jesus of Nazareth,
whom you rejected and whom you crucified. Now God's confronted
you again, one more time, and comes forth this question from
the throne of glory, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? That's the issue. All right,
when they heard this, look at verse 37, when they heard this,
they were troubled, they were broken, they were bowed down
in their hearts, they knew they were in trouble. And they cried,
oh, what shall we do? What shall we do? If any man ever is convinced
that he's guilty, of trying to throw God off his throne. And
that's what goes on. When we sin against God, we're
sinning against God's will, against God's government, against God's
kingdom. We're saying, not your will,
but my will. I'm going to do what I will to
do. I'm going to please myself. I'm going to satisfy myself.
I'm going to live my own life. It's not God's business. I'm going to do what I want to
do. That's what Adam said. And that's what that crowd at
Golgotha's Hill said. We don't want Jesus of Nazareth. We have Caesar! He's our king. We have no king but Caesar. And they said, what are we going
to do? We're guilty. We can't change that fact. We've
crucified the Lord. We've spit in the face of God. We've mocked. the Lordship of
God. We sat him on a box and put a
crown of thorns on his head and a hollow reed in his hand and
put an old dirty robe on his back and we bowed down and made
fun of him. What must we do? What shall we
do? What can we do? Depth of mercy? Can there be mercy still reserved
for me? Can my God His wrath forbear? Me, the chief of sinners, spare? I've long withstood His grace. I've long provoked Him to His
face. I would not hearken to His call. I grieved Him by a thousand falls. Huh? What am I going to do? Lord Jesus, what wretched hand
has dared thy sacred hands to bind? Who has dared to buffet
so thy face so meek and kind? Lord Jesus, who with spittle
vile profaned thy sacred brow? Or whose unpitying scourge made
thy precious blood to flow? Lord Jesus, whose evil hands
wove that thorny crown? Who made that hard and heavy
cross that weighs your shoulders down? Lord Jesus, who mocked
your thirst with vinegar and gall? And who drove the nails
into your hands and made that hammer fall? And Father, who
murdered your beloved and only one? Can you forgive the blood-stained
hands that crucified your Son? Who? tis I, who have so ungrateful
been to Jesus and to thee, wilt thou forgive me, Lord, for his
dear sake, and grant thy mercy to me? What shall we do?" That's what went on at Pentecost. They understood what he said. They sure did. And they were
convicted in their hearts about their relationship with God. With God. Their rebellion against
God. The wickedness of their will. Their hands were dripping with
the blood of God's Son. We come in our little devotions
and offer up in our self-righteousness our little selfish prayers and
God looks down and the blood of God's sons just dripping off
our elbows. A chaplain came to a dying soldier
on the battlefield and he said, sons, anything I can
do? And the young man looked up and
said, no sir, but I sure wish I knew somebody could undo some
things. That's what needs to take place.
These preachers telling everybody what to do, I'm interested in
meeting somebody who can undo some things. I've crucified the
Lord of glory. I've spit in his face. I've mocked
his lordship. There's a charge against me in
glory of blood in my hands with the very life of God's own Son. I'm in trouble." And they cried,
what shall we do? Well, the fourth thing that happened
in verse 38, then Peter said to them, then Peter said to them, quit
going to the picture show and join the church. sign a pledge card, join the
woman's temperance union, and tithe your income, or come down
to the front and make a profession and tell everybody you believe
something and be baptized. No, that's not what he said.
Old Peter stood there and he cried out. I just don't know
how he might have said it, but he told them the crime of which
they're guilty. You're a leech mob, he said.
In your hatred and passion and rebellion, you've leeched the
Son of God. God sent him. And you hung him
on a tree. And God's angry. And he was your
last toll. Nobody else coming. There's no
other ambassador coming. There's no other, there's no
other offer from heaven coming. He's come and you nailed him
to a cross and God raised him and took him to glory and God
sat him down and God said, all right, every one of your enemies
will be your footstool. God turned the world over to
him. They said, what in the name of common sense are we going
to do? How are we going to get out of this mess? And Peter cried, Repent! Change your minds about Christ. Change your thoughts. about Christ. Change your opinions about Jesus
Christ. Consider Him. You got another
chance at it. You got another go around. You
got another shot at it. God in mercy will deal with you.
Change your mind about Christ. Believe on Him. Bow down to Him. Receive Him as the Messiah and
the Redeemer and the Lord of all. Do like old Thomas. Bow
down. It may be that It might be. It could be. And if you're found
at his feet, it may be God will show mercy to you. But you're
going to have to repent. You're going to have to entertain
right thoughts about Christ. That's what it's talking about
here. You've had wrong thoughts. They led you to murdering. You've
had wrong thoughts about who the boss is, who the sovereign
is, who the king is. You've had wrong thoughts. You
thought you were. But you're not. Christ is. And
you're going to change your mind. You're going to entertain right
thoughts about Christ and right thoughts about sin, the nature
of it, the guilt of it, the evil of it. You're going to entertain
right thoughts about sins. Your sins. your iniquities, your
transgressions, you're going to entertain right thoughts about
your so-called righteousness. It's filthy rags in God's eyes. You're going to repent. I'm sorry. God is now unto them
of a broken heart. God save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. You're going to come as a beggar.
You're going to come Empty-handed, in my hands no price I bring. I had a hammer and nails the
last time I met you, Lord, but I dropped them. See, I'm empty-handed. And Lord, last time I met you,
I had a sword that pierced your holy side and let the blood out.
Lord, see, I dropped my sword. I'm empty-handed. Here I am. in my hands no price I bring. I'm not bargaining. I have eighteen
dollars in my hands for which I sold you Lord, but I've thrown
it on the floor. Simply to the cross of Christ
I cling. Lord, here I am. You do with
me what you will, but I'd sure like to have mercy and be baptized. Repent, Peter
said. and be baptized. Be baptized
in water as John administered it. John showed you. He gave
you an example. Christ our Lord gave you an example.
He was baptized. He did it to fulfill all righteousness. You'll do it to fulfill all commandments. Be baptized as the apostles administered
it. Jesus baptized no one but his
apostles did. And I say to you in 1979, be
baptized as every New Testament believer was baptized. Go through
your Bible. Turn to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew
chapter 3, and when these Episcopalian Church of England ministers were
translating the scriptures. They translated the word baptized,
baptized, because that's what it was. Immersion in water. Nothing
they could do with it. They couldn't make it mean anything
else or say anything else. And in Matthew chapter 3, verse
13, listen to it. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him,
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee. Comest thou to me? Jesus
answered and said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he suffered it. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.
And, lo, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from
heaven sang, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then in Acts, the eighth
chapter, In the 8th chapter of Acts, verse 36, the Ethiopian
eunuch was converted to Christ. He was brought to see who Christ
is. You see, in verse 35, Philip
opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached
unto him Jesus, who he is, what he did, why he did it, where
he is now. That's the issue. It's Christ. What think ye of
Christ? Not which church is the right church. It's which Savior
is the right Redeemer. It's not which form of church
government is the right form. Don't waste your time arguing
about that. You get straightened out with
Christ, you'll straighten out your thinking about government.
But it's who is the Redeemer. And as they went on their way,
they came to a certain water, and the eunuch said, Here is
water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Now, if baptism
had been by sprinkling, They wouldn't have had to come to
a body of water. You know the eunuch had a water container in his carriage. He wouldn't go all the way from
Ethiopia to Jerusalem without something to drink. You know
that. But they had to wait till they
came to a lake, because baptism is by immersion. That's the only
way to baptize. And the eunuch said, here's water.
What does hinder me to be baptized? Now, nothing is said in those
preceding verses about being baptized. Philip must have said
something to him about it. He was anxious to do what his
Lord commanded. He was anxious to confess Christ. He believed on Christ. Now he
was anxious to confess Christ. Philip didn't say, now give me
your hand and that'll be your confession. That wasn't his confession
either. These soul winners go into a
home and they sit down and they say they preach the gospel and
then they say, now will you accept Jesus? Man says, yeah, give me
your hand, shake on it. That's confessing Christ? Then
why didn't Philip do that here and get it all settled and go,
be sure and sign this so I can go back to Jerusalem and tell
them I want a soul? And he went back and reported
he'd won a silver. No, this man wanted to confess
Christ, just like these people over here in Acts 2. And he said,
here's water. Here's water. Here's what I've
been looking for since I heard that gospel. What does hinder
me to be baptized? And Philip said, if your mother
and daddy were Christians, you may. No. He said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. Baptism is not for anybody but
a believer. A man who's not a believer can't
show anything by baptism. He can't confess anything by
baptism. He can't be identified with anybody
but a fool through baptism. That's right. And when you bring
your babies to the front of the church and put water on them
and call them baptism, you're mocking God Almighty. And you're mocking
Jesus Christ. And rather than having that little
old baptismal certificate around your house, I'd go home and tear
it up and burn it right quick. Try to straighten out something
between me and God. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God, and he commanded the chariot to stand
still, and they went both into the water, both Philip and the
eunuch, and he baptized him. And when he came up out of the
water, the Spirit of God caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw
him no more. But he baptized, and God let
him hang around until that man confessed Christ. Now that's what Peter's saying.
Now baptism doesn't wash sins away, but it sets forth him who
did. It identifies with us with him
who did. Baptism does three things. Number
one, my baptism confesses my faith and dependence in Christ,
on Christ, for what Christ has done. He died for my sins. He was buried for my transgressions
as my scapegoat. He rose again for my justification. He's ascended to the right hand
of God. Secondly, baptism confesses what I've done in my heart. I've
died to this world. This world is no longer my Lord,
Christ is. This world is no longer my sovereign,
Christ is. I've died to this world and to
the things of this world and Christ is enthroned in my heart.
sink or swim, I cling to Him, and I've risen. I'm buried. I'm
dead to this world, and the world's dead to me. I'm crucified with
Christ. I'm buried with Christ, and I've
risen to walk in His resurrected life. I want to glorify my Lord. I
want to please Him. I want to walk with Him. I want
to show forth His praise and His grace. My lot is cast with
Christ. I've committed it all to Him.
That's what my baptism is saying. You can't say that walking down
here and shaking my hand. That's not a picture of anything,
actually. But baptism is an ordinance that
God has given to his church, just like the Lord's table. The
Lord's table is given to the church to show forth what Christ
has done, and him whom we're trusting and believing and resting
in. You see what I'm saying? This
is my body broken for you. This won't save, but what it
represents saves. This is my blood shed for you.
Take this wine and drink. Eat all of it. This is my blood.
No, this wine won't save. You could bathe in it and it
wouldn't save. And immerse yourself in it and it wouldn't save. But
him whom it represents does save. See that? And when Christ tells
us to be baptized, this water won't cleanse, it won't purify,
it won't sanctify, but him whom it represents can. And I'm confessing what Christ
has done, I'm confessing what I have done in my heart, and
I'm confessing what my future holds. Someday, my body will
be buried. It's not going to stay there.
Christ is going to raise it. And I'm going to live with him
forever. So baptism is saying all that. Repent. Change your mind, your opinion,
your attitude, your thoughts about Jesus Christ. Bow down.
And that's in your heart. And then be baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Showing what he did. What you've
done. and what the future holds for
you. It's a walk with Christ till he bears my body, but he's
going to raise me. Our Father, we've heard what you've said. We've understood it. At least
in our heads we know who he is, whom we crucified. In our darkness
and ignorance, We crucified the Lord of glory. And Lord, we've
been broken, smitten in our hearts. Know what severe, serious trouble
we're in. We're in trouble. Guilty. The whole world guilty. Every mouth is stopped. And Lord,
we've cried, what shall we do? We've heard thy command. We've
heard thy word. And we believe that by thy spirit
thou hast granted unto us repentance. We do bow before Christ. We do
own him as Lord. He is the sovereign, supreme,
eternal Lord of heaven and earth. He's my Lord. And Lord, I've
confessed you, and many of these have confessed you, some have
not. But we've declared to this world that Christ is our Lord. We believe on him. We trust in
him. We've confessed that we're dead to this world, that we make
a living here, but this is not living. living is walking with
Christ, and someday He'll raise us by His power. Until that day,
we trust Him, lean upon Him. For Thy glory, Amen.