Remember those who requested
prayer. Moretta got through her operation
all right. So far so good. I think she's gonna find out
the results on the biopsy five days, right? Yeah. and uh... fred uh... phrase going back
on next wednesday for his stories second round of chemotherapy
so remember him in your prayers too remember the others who requested
perot so let's begin our worship service tonight with hymn number
two thirty six amazing grace Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
am found. Was blind, but now I see. ? Was grace that taught my heart
to fear ? And grace my fears relieved ? How precious did that
grace appear ? The hour I first believed toils and snares I have already
come. Tis grace hath brought me safe
thus far and grace will lead me home. When we've been there Hymn number 127, Hallelujah,
what a Savior. Man of sorrows, what a name for
the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to Hallelujah, what a
Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood,
Hallelujah, what a Savior! Filthy, vile, and helpless we,
spotless Lamb of God was He. Full of doneness can it be, Alleluia,
what a Savior! ? Lifted up was he to die ? It
is finished was his cry ? Now in heaven exalted high ? Hallelujah
what a Savior ? When he comes our glorious King ? All his ransomed
home This song we'll sing, hallelujah,
what a savior. I brought cookies for Debbie's
birthday. Yay. What? I brought cookies
for Debbie's birthday. Hickies? Cookies. Cookies. I brought hickies, huh? Sounded like hickeys to me. Sounded
like hickeys to me, I'm sorry. Exodus chapter 12. I want to begin reading at 29,
but I'm taking a text tonight from verses 43 through 51. The
title of my message is No Stranger. Verse 29 says, And it came to
pass that at midnight The Lord smote all the firstborn of the
land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne,
unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and
all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night,
he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there
was great cry in Egypt. There was not a house where there
was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron
by night, and said, Rise up, get you forth from among my people,
both ye and the children of Israel, and go, serve the Lord, as ye
have said. Also take your flocks and your
herds, as ye have said, and be gone, and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urging
upon the people that they might send them out of the land in
haste, for they said, We all be dead men. And the people took
their dough before it was leavened, their needing troughs, being
bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. The children
of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and they borrowed
of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment.
And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians,
so that they lent unto them such things as they required, and
they spoiled the Egyptians. And the children of Israel journeyed
to Ramses, From Lamses to Succoth, about 600,000 on foot that were
men beside children. And a mixed multitude went also
up with them in flocks and herds, even very much cattle. And they
baked unleavened bread, unleavened cakes of the dough which they
brought forth out of Egypt. But it was not leavened, because
they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither
had they prepared for themselves any victuals. Now the sojourning
of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred
and thirty years. It came to pass at the end of
four hundred and thirty years even at the same day it came
to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land
of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed
unto the Lord for the bringing them out from the land of Egypt.
This is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children
of Israel and their generations The Lord said unto Moses and
Aaron, This is the ordinance of Passover. There shall no stranger
eat thereof. But every man's servant that
is bought for money, when he hath circumcised him, then he
shall eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant
shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten,
and thou shalt not carry it out of the flesh abroad out of the
house, neither shall you break a bone thereof. All the congregation
of Israel shall keep it When a stranger shall sojourn with
you, and will keep the Passover of the Lord, let all his males
be circumcised. Then let him come nearer to keep
it, and he shall be as one that is born in the land. For no uncircumcised
person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that
is the home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among
them. This did all the children of
Israel as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
It came to pass the selfsame day that the Lord did bring the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. Let us pray. Our Father, we are
thankful that we can see throughout your word, not only as it is
proclaimed to be so, but evidenced in the history of your people
that when you purpose a thing, it shall stand when you speak
it, it shall come to pass. That you do your will in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and
none can stay your hand or say unto you, what doest thou? Your dominion is from everlasting
to everlasting. You rule and reign and glory
to your name. We are thankful we have this
report of your deliverance of the children of Israel out of
Egypt. For it speaks of and sets forth a picture of our salvation
from sin, from the power of Satan and the power of self. We thank
you that we can read these things and see our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is that Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He is that Paschal Lamb, the
Passover slain for us, He is the uncorrupted spotless lamb
who gave his life for his people, shed his blood to save them and
redeem them. He is that lamb upon the throne
that is worshiped, that all the children of God sing praises
to and say hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
We thank you, Father, that such a thing is set before us in such
clear ways, easy to understand. And we appreciate the fact that
you've given your children faith and light to understand these
things. We pray for those who are sick.
We pray. We're thankful for the good report
on Loretta. We pray for Fred as he gets ready
for his next chemotherapy. continue to pray for Dee Parks
and the others who requested prayer, the Sampson family, and
young Aniah. We ask Lord your help for them
and strength for them. Help us, Lord, to remember each
other in prayer, to speak the names of our brothers and sisters
to heaven. Help us now, Father, to worship
you as we consider the things that are before us. We pray in
Christ's name and for his glory. Amen. Now this is the record of God
fulfilling His promise, the promise of His purpose and deliverance
of Israel from the enslavement of Egypt. Now this promise, enveloping
the entire historical episode, revealed the sovereignty of God
in all the affairs and events of men's lives. He by sovereign
manipulation of all things from the famine to the hungry belly
to the means of supply and the eventual slavery of this people,
he dotted every I and crossed every T. He brought the slaves
as well as the slave master into existence. He had control over
both. He softened one heart and hardened
another. and all for the singular purpose
to show in no uncertain terms that He alone was the author
and the finisher of salvation. That salvation was by the blood
of the Lamb. So all of what was purposed and
performed was to the end that Christ would be glorified and
thus glorify God in giving eternal life to as many as God had given
Him. This was Christ's high priestly prayer when He said in John chapter
17 which he prayed right before
he was brought before the court to be crucified. In John chapter 17 verses 1 through
5, he talked about being glorified and asking the Father to glorify
him. It says, These words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is
come, that is the hour of His crucifixion, glorify thy Son,
that thy Son may also glorify thee. In order for God to be
glorified in the salvation of His people, He must glorify His
Son to do it. As thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given Him, and this is eternal life, that they may
know thee the only true God, even Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had before
the foundation of the world." In John chapter 12. The same
words are said in verse 28, the Lord says, Father, glorify thy
name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it. And he was speaking of the death,
which he should die at Jerusalem. Now the declaration of the precise
accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham is seen in the
language of the absolute employed here in what we've read tonight.
In verse 40 it says this, Now the sojourning of the children
of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.
That was a promise made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15. And it
came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, even
the self same day, it came to pass that all the host of the
Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Then in verse 51 it says,
And it came to pass the selfsame day that the Lord did bring the
children out of the land of Egypt by their armies. Our Lord put
this in His Word to show that He absolutely keeps His promises
to the T to what He has said. The Lord had promised that Pharaoh,
whose heart God had hardened, whom God had exalted for the
purpose of bringing him down and making His power known, would
ultimately beseech Moses to remove himself and the people of Israel
from Egypt, and he did that so many times. Pharaoh has hardened
his heart and would not let the people go time after time. He hardened his heart, but he
hardened his heart because God had hardened his heart, but it
was not time yet. This is all according to purpose.
This is all going to happen according to God's plan. This is revealed
to come to pass in verses 29 through 36 in this text. When it says, And it came to
pass, at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn of the land
of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on the throne,
to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and
all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night,
he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there
was a great cry in Egypt, What was the cry? For there was not
a house there where there was not dead. Well, what was the
cry? And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said,
Rise up, get up and get you forth from among my people. Suddenly
he wants them to leave. Before he would not let the people
go. Now he beseeches Moses to leave because that's what God
has said. God told Moses there's coming
a day. Not yet. But there's coming a day when
He will WANT you to leave, He will ASK you to leave. Both ye and the children of Israel,
go, serve the Lord as ye have said." And we know also that
what follows there is that the people gave them wealth. as was
promised in the Genesis 15 when he promised Abraham that the
people would leave this place with great wealth. The Egyptians
gave them silver and gold and sustenance and things they needed
on the trip. They gave them all that stuff.
all that stuff. Why? Because they wanted them
out of there. The reason they wanted them out
of there was because God had providentially and over a period
of time and according to His good will had brought them to
the place where they don't want these people here. Now you'd
think a million man force probably of slavery is going to be leaving
this land. The people that made the bricks
for those houses and those pyramids are going to be leaving this
land. and they're glad to see him go, because God has purposed
it and therefore he has performed what he has purposed to do. It's
always the way. This is revealed to come to pass
because God has ordained it. What God has promised, He said
He will do. Look over to Isaiah 14. Now here the Lord is talking
about destroying the army of Assyria, but He says this about
Himself in Isaiah 14 and verse 24. He says, The Lord of Hosts
has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought So shall it come
to pass. You don't even have to say it.
All it has to do is think it that it's going to come to pass.
And I have purposed, so shall it stand. Then if you look down
at verse 26 and 27, it says, For the Lord of hosts hath purposed
it, who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out,
who shall turn it back? Who shall turn it back? This
is the work of the Lord. This is what He has purposed
in the whole earth. It is interesting to note that though the accomplishment
of all this can only be attributed to the Almighty, God was in charge
of all this. The people were a bunch of slaves.
They had no power. They were powerless. They were
helots. There was nothing they could do about their situation.
God Almighty has fixed it and has ordained it and purposed
and delivered this people by the power of His might and His
mighty arm. But it's interesting to note
that our Lord says this in the last verse. Let's see. Verse 36 says, The
Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so
that they lent to them such things as they required. And look at
these words. And they, that is the children of Israel, spoiled
the Egyptians. Who did this? God did it. I did
it all, but he says, and THEY spoiled the Egyptians. He speaks
in that kind of language over in Deuteronomy chapter 9. In
Deuteronomy chapter 9 and verse 3, he says, Understand therefore,
This day that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before
thee as a consuming fire, he shall destroy him, the enemy,
he shall bring them down before thy face, so thou shalt drive
them out. He shall bring them down, He
shall destroy them, He is the consuming fire, so you shall
drive them out and destroy them quickly as the Lord has said
unto thee." This is a picture of what the Lord does. Victory
belongs to the Lord and the people are said to be victorious. That's
kindness and grace and tenderness of the mighty God to say such
things about His wretched poor people who can't do anything
He says, they spoiled Egypt. They spoiled Egypt. Then in the
latter part of this chapter, our Lord once again addresses
the institution and practice of the Passover. And this passage
institutes a single restriction concerning who shall observe
the Passover feast. Over in chapter 12 and verse
40, it says, excuse me, verse 43, it says, the Lord said unto
Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover. There
shall no stranger eat thereof. This is an ordinance. There shall
no stranger eat thereof. This passage institutes a single
restriction concerning who shall observe the Passover feast. He
was already made the restriction concerning leaven during the
Feast. There would be no leaven in the bread or in the houses.
There would be no leaven whatsoever, asserting that no human merit
of righteousness or works are at all involved in the salvation
of His people. Also, the Feast was not a common
or a community Feast. It was not a cupboard dish supper.
He said in verse 46, In one house shall it be eaten. Thou shalt
not carry forth, alter the flesh abroad out of the house, neither
shalt thou break the bone thereof. The feast was to be observed
in single households, and not shared between houses. Why? Because
everybody was inside that house on that night. in their own house
with the blood upon the doorpost and the lentils. They did not
go from house to house. They didn't get in a community
building like we do and have a supper on Sunday afternoon.
Everybody ate in their own house. And he says, don't go to anybody's
house. Don't leave your house, in other words, to take what
you have and share it with your neighbor. There's another time
for that. another restriction is added concerning the paschal
lamb we have these words uh... here no bone of it shall be broken
this doesn't say that anywhere else before this in talking about
the the uh... passover feast and the killing
of the lamb doesn't say anything about no bone being broken it's
repeated in numbers chapter twelve and verse eight what's that about?
All of a sudden, He inserts this restriction. No bone of this
beast shall be broken. Well, this is a prophecy. This
is a prophecy concerning the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look over John chapter 19. In John chapter 19, begin reading from verse 31.
It says, The Jews therefore, because it was in preparation
that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day,
well that Sabbath day was a high day, they besought Pilate that
their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first and of
the other, that is the two thieves that hung on the cross which
was crucified with Christ. But when they came to Christ,
to Jesus, they saw that he was dead already because he had already
given up the ghost. And they break not his legs.
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and
brought forth forthwith came forth blood and water, that spoken
of in Zechariah. And he saw and bear record, and
his record was true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might
believe. For these things were done, that
the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. It only speaks of the Paschal
Lamb. doesn't speak of any other thing in scripture except the
Paschal Lamb and Christ our Passover that was slain for us. Now he
decrees another prohibition back in our text, even calling it
One Law. One Law in verse 49, he says,
One Law shall be unto him that is home-born and to the stranger
that sojourneth among them. This means that there will be
no exception or mitigating circumstance that can permit disobedience
to this. This must be done. In observance of the Passover,
this is the law, there shall no stranger eat thereof. There shall be no stranger shall
eat thereof. Now in this case the definition
of what constitutes a stranger is not about being someone unknown
or non-Israelite or a foreigner. A stranger in this context is
anyone among the Israelites who have not been crucified. That's what a stranger is. That's
who God calls a stranger here, a stranger among you. Now once
circumcision had been applied according to the text, the stranger
would no longer be a stranger. He'd be an Israelite, as one
home-born is the way it's said. He'd be welcome to the feast,
and verse 44 says, But every man's servant that is brought
for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then he shall eat thereof.
Then in verse 48 it says, And when a stranger shall sojourn
with thee, and will keep the Passover of the Lord, let all
his males be circumcised, and then let him come near, and keep
it. And he shall be as one that is born in the land. How do you
stop being a stranger in Israel? You get circumcised! You get
circumcised and no longer are you a stranger, you are as one
that is born in the land. Now this may also be an allusion
an allusion to the receiving of the Gentiles in the Church,
because these are strangers, not of Israel, but they're received
in the body of Israel. Now, the Israel of God, the Church,
is made up of every nation, tribe, and tongue, and they've all been
circumcised. all been circumcised with a circumcision
not made with hands or in the natural flesh. They have all
experienced circumcision. If you are a child of God, you
have been circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands. That is
the language of the New Testament. Look over at Colossians chapter
2. In Colossians chapter 2, it speaks
of the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 9, it says this, For in him dwelleth
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which
is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are
circumcised, with a circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of the flesh.
Now that is how that is worded. So it says, All of God's children
have the circumcision, the circumcision not with men, in putting off
the flesh of the sins by the circumcision of Christ. His circumcision. So His death here is referred
to as a circumcision and there is a reason for that. There is
a reason for that. In Romans Chapter 2 it speaks
of who makes up true Israel. Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter
1 deals with the Gentile mind. Romans chapter 2 deals with the
Jewish mind. In Romans chapter 2 it says this
in verse 28, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither
is that circumcision which was 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. Circumcision of the physical
flesh, or uncircumcision, according to Scripture, avails nothing.
It means nothing. The actual physical circumcision
means nothing. The Jews tried to make it mean
something throughout Scripture. All the Judaizers who came to
Galatia and Colossae both wanted, and also to Rome, also wanted
the believers to be circumcised because they felt that this was
an indication that they were really the children of God. But
the circumcision was not made with the flesh, and our Lord
made that clear. Even in the Old Testament, where
it was the law of the Passover here spoken, it spoke of a thing
that only God could do, and that was to touch the heart. In Deuteronomy
10.16, it says, circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of the heart, and
be not stiff-necked. Circumcise the foreskin of the
heart, Deuteronomy 10.16. So this circumcision that was
done in the flesh meant something else, just like all the stuff
in the Old Testament. I remember many years ago when
Dave Lambert started coming to the church here. He'd come up,
you know, and I made a statement one night. I said, the Old Testament
is true and it's historically true and it carries the truth.
But when you read it, that ain't all that it means. It means more
than it says. It means something that has to
do with the coming and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
circumcision was given to Abraham. Now, Abraham, when he was told
by God to be circumcised, he was already in a relationship
with God. God had called him out of the
Ur of Chaldees and had made promises to him, which spoke of the covenant
of grace, and he did all of that. He already had a relationship
with God, so circumcision had nothing to do with his relationship
with God. That was already established.
That was already established. Circumcision caused nothing. It caused nothing. It rather
revealed something. Namely, that the one circumcised
did so because he belonged to God. That's why he did it. Abraham belonged to God and was
actually declared to be righteous before he was circumcised. He
was clearly religious when he believed God concerning the seed
in Abraham's fifteen and God accounted to him for righteousness. And Paul says that in Romans
chapter 4. In Romans chapter 4. In verse 8 he says this, Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now does this
blessedness, how does it come? How did it come to Abraham? Abraham
was blessed and this fourth chapter is a great deal about Abraham.
He says, Come at this blessedness then upon the circumcision only,
or upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it reckoned? when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. He received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of faith, which he had yet being
uncircumcised, that he might be the father of them that are
circumcised? No, the father of them that believe.
that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness
might be imputed to them also." So he received this righteousness,
which is a faith, and received the faith because he believed
God and was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was
not yet circumcised. So circumcision had nothing to
do with faith. It had nothing to do with Abraham
being counted righteousness. The practice of circumcision
was included in the law and ceremony handed down from Moses on Sinai,
but it preceded Sinai by centuries, by centuries, and always aligned
the partaker with the covenant that came before Sinai. The covenant
that came before the Sinai covenant was the eternal covenant called
the covenant of grace. Now, it was the first revealed
covenant, Sinai was, but it was actually the second covenant,
the first ACTUAL covenant, was the grace of God, the covenant
of grace. That's why when the Lord came,
it says, lo, it's written in the volume of the book, I came
to do thy will, O God, it is written, He'd taken away the
first, that is the first revealed covenant, Sinai, and established
the second revealed, which is grace, but it's the eternal covenant. This covenant of circumcision
preceded anything that was written in Sinai. The covenant was made
with Abraham and it pictured the eternal covenant of grace
when those chosen before the foundation of the world are saved
by grace alone through the blood of the Christ. And we just read
that that was called the circumcision of Christ. In Colossians chapter
2 and verse 11 it was called His circumcision. Why? Because
it spoke of shedding blood. Remember when Moses' wife called
him a bloody man because he had not circumcised his son? And he went. God was going to
kill him in the end. It's what it says in this very
book that God was after him. God was chasing him. God was
hunting him down and was going to kill him. So he took his knife
and he circumcised his son and his wife called him a bloody
man. Circumcision is the shedding of blood. It's the shedding of
blood. It's a picture of the severing
and the destroying of the flesh by shedding blood. That's a picture
of salvation. You see, without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sin. And the shed blood of
Christ silences the conscience of sin. And that too is tied
to circumcision. It is the only thing that will
quiet the conscience. It is spoken of in reference
to the law. Look over at Hebrews chapter
9. In Hebrews chapter 9, verse 14 says, How much more
shall the blood of Christ, through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? Now, God's people are made holy
as pertaining to conscience. Now, the first time I read that
many years ago, I was astounded. Why is that important? because
it is very necessary that the children of God have no conscience
of sin. It is very necessary and that was accomplished only
by a perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The conscience
works within the law and works in the realm of sin. This is
where the conscience works. There is no mention of that word
in the Old Testament. The word conscience is not anywhere
in the Old Testament. Now it is there. We see it in
history. We see it represented in people's
reaction when they're caught doing something. Their conscience
is activated. Adam got caught and sewed fig
leaves together. Adam got caught and ran and hid. These are examples of a conscience. But why wasn't the word conscience
spoken of in the Old Testament? Because there was no remedy for
the conscience in the Old Testament. Only Christ is the remedy for
a conscience. You see, for your conscience
to be quiet, it must have no ground upon which it can accuse
you. And that's all a conscience does.
When you do something wrong, your conscience says, uh-huh,
uh-huh, you see, you did that wrong. And you feel bad, you
feel guilt. Now what does a conscience do
then? Does it drive you to Christ? No, it says, now here's what
you do to undo that. sew some fig leaves together, go hide
in the bushes, blame your wife, that's what the conscience says
to do, and you do all those things and you're still in trouble,
you're still in trouble, but here it says your conscience
is purged from dead works to serve the Living God, and when
it talks about the substitutionary work of Christ in chapter 10,
of Hebrews, it says, For the law, having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never
with those sacrifices, even the paschal lamb of old, and all
the lambs slain, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Now, He said back in Chapter 9 that the children of God were
made perfect as pertaining to conscience. It says, now it couldn't make
them perfect, for then would they have ceased to be offered?
They continue to be offered year after year, even on the most
holy day. They would cease to be offered
if they actually weren't, because that the worshippers, once purged,
should have no more what? Conscience of sin. Now the first
chapter of Hebrews says that when Christ had purged our sins,
He sat down on the right hand of the Father. And what does
that say to us? that your conscience is quieted
and has no grounds to accuse you if you stand before God without
sin. It can't accuse you. Circumcision
had something to do with that. True circumcision, the circumcision
of Christ. Simon Peter in his first epistle
applies the same principle equating baptism as a figure or a token
of salvation wrought by God. Baptism doesn't save you. I remember many years ago a man
came to church a couple times and he told me I want to be baptized.
I said, why? He said, because I want to be
saved. I said, you need to sit under the gospel for a while
and learn what baptism means. He left and never came back.
But what can you do? It doesn't always work when you
talk to people. baptism is a token or a sign or a figure of salvation
but it's not salvation it points to salvation over in first peter
chapter three here's the way peter says that in first peter
chapter three in verse twenty one he said uh... he said the like figure whereunto
even baptism doth now save us, not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God."
How's that? The shed blood of Jesus Christ.
By the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was crucified,
he was then resurrected. Baptism is spoken of also in
Colossians chapter 2, which we just read. If we read one verse
further, In Colossians chapter 2, it says,
we'll read verse 11 again, In whom we also are circumcised,
were the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried
with him in baptism. wherein also ye are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God, or the faithfulness
of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Baptism does not save. What does
baptism do? It is a confession that one has
been saved. Baptism in the New Testament
is a New Testament picture of the elect dying in Christ, being
buried in Christ, and rising in Christ. it's a token of an
already established relationship with God. Here in 1 Peter it's
called an answer. What does that mean? Baptism
is a response. It's an answer of a good conscience
toward God. What? How is the conscience good?
The conscience is good by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So baptism is a picture, just
like Circumcision was a picture. Circumcision did not make you
a child of God. It declared that you were already
a child of God by God's doing, therefore no stranger shall eat
thereof. Gotta be a child of God. Gotta be a child of God. Now how do you know you're a
child of God? What's the proof of it? What's the figure of it?
What's the token of it? Circumcision in the Old Testament,
Baptism in the New. So to the believer, to one who's
been circumcised, with the circumcision not made with hands, the message is different. Without
circumcision, you can't eat. With circumcision, the message
is feast, come and dine. Come and dine. Feast on the Paschal
Lamb, Christ our Passover, slain for us, and eat Him with unleavened
bread, without the leaven of the Pharisee, and he is that
great feast, wine on the leaves, well refined, feast on the Lamb
of God. This is what the Bible teaches
concerning this. Father, bless us to understand and pray in
Christ's name. Amen.