We read the Word of God from Acts chapter 22. We'll read the chapter. Men, brethren and fathers, Hear ye my defense, which I make now unto you." And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence. And he saith, I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders, from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them which were there, bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. It came to pass that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, So, so, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he saith unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see, for the glory of that light being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. In the same hour I looked up upon him, and he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth, For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. It came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance. and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by. and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, depart, for I will send thee far hints unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know. Wherefore, they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came and said unto him, tell me, art thou Roman? He said, yea. And the chief captain answered, with a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, but I was freeborn. Then straightway they departed from him, which should have examined him. And the chief captain also was afraid after he knew that he was a Roman and because he had bound him. On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear and brought Paul down and set him before them. Thus far the reading of the holy and divine scripture. It is on the basis of that passage, many others in the Word of God, that we have the teaching of our Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 26. Lord's Day 26. How art thou admonished and assured by holy baptism that the one sacrifice of Christ upon the cross is of real advantage to thee? Thus, that Christ appointed this external washing with water, adding thereto this promise, that I am as certainly washed by His blood and spirit from all the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, as I am washed externally with water, by which the filthiness of the body is commonly washed away. What is it to be washed with the blood and spirit of Christ? It is to receive of God the remission of sins freely for the sake of Christ's blood, which He shed for us by His sacrifice upon the cross, and also to be renewed by the Holy Ghost and sanctified to be members of Christ, that so we may more and more die unto sin and lead holy and unblameable lives. Where has Christ promised us? that he will as certainly wash us by his blood and spirit as we are washed with the water of baptism. In the institution of baptism, which is thus expressed, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. This promise is also repeated. where the scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord's Day 26 is a continuation by the catechism of the subject of the means of grace and more specifically of the sacraments. Those sacraments belong to The means of grace are to the preaching of the gospel and the administration of those sacraments, namely baptism and the Lord's Supper. Those means of grace are instruments that the Holy Ghost uses to work and confirm faith. As such, the sacraments have no power in themselves. And that's why men always deem the means of grace as foolish. They appear also foolish to men, because men would assume that he is wiser than God. But they are God's means, ordained by God and appointed by Him to work grace the grace specifically whereby he works faith and he confirms that faith because God willed them and because God uses them therefore they are also powerful to work what God wills to accomplish by means of them the catechism says nothing more specifically about the preaching. And almost the entire section is taken up with the sacraments. Nevertheless, you have to understand that in treating the sacraments, the Catechism is by extension treating the preaching. Because whatever the sacraments teach, concerning our salvation is what the preaching must proclaim concerning our salvation and therefore whatever the sacraments intend and accomplish is what also is intended and accomplished by the preaching and the catechism is clear about that with that purpose of both the sacraments and Word is to direct our faith to the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross as the only ground and foundation of our salvation. The preaching must always direct us to Christ, just as the sacraments always direct us to Christ. The more basic question about the sacraments, and really the whole section, always is, what is the gospel? That's always the question that's involved in this section. What is the gospel that the sacraments signify and that the gospel must proclaim? And here, the Catechism begins its treatment by examining the sacrament of baptism. Baptism is the sacrament of initiation. It's our entrance into the Church of God. We don't become members of the Church when we make confession of faith. That's baptistic. That thinking is widely spread. We become members by confession of faith. No, we don't. who become members of the church by baptism. Our children are as really members of the church as the adults who make confession of faith. The difference is like the difference in the army between one who has been drafted and is in training camp and one who has been drafted and is on the front line. They are both in the army, they're just in different places. They have different works. We become members of a church by baptism. And the catechism here is interested in teaching to us the basic meaning of baptism. What does baptism as a sacrament teach to us about the gospel? the good news of our salvation and what does the sacrament therefore as a means of grace work for us in connection with that gospel the sacrament of course is not a means of grace only and I would say this in our own churches because we mainly baptize babies baptism isn't a means of grace mainly at the time that is administered The baby understands nothing. Baptism is a means of grace all our life long. And what does baptism as a means of grace teach to us concerning our salvation? So that we are, by that sacrament, every single time that it is administered, admonished and assured concerning our salvation. So let's consider the Lord's Day under the theme, the meaning of baptism. Notice, first of all, Christ's institution. Notice, secondly, the sacrament's significance. And notice, finally, baptism's assuring power. In order to understand the meaning of baptism, we have to understand what Christ instituted regarding the sacrament. Christ's institution is crucial with regard to the sacrament. Really with regard not only to baptism, but to all of the sacraments, Christ's institution is the decisive thing. Christ instituted the sacrament before he ascended into heaven. When he went out with his disciples, Prior to his ascension. He taught his disciples and gave to his disciples and in Because they were the representatives of the church. He gave to his church their Commission It was a missionary Commission Go into all the world and teach all nations and then he had this baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost those words Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are the institution of baptism. Those words are often called the formula of baptism because those are the words that the church must use in the administration of the sacrament of baptism. They are Christ's formula to the church. And those words are also then Christ's command to the church. That command of Christ, first of all, made baptism a sacrament. When Christ said, baptize, He commanded the church to administer that ceremony as a sacrament. And when Christ said, baptize, Christ then made the sacrament of baptism a perpetual ordinance for the church. That institution of Christ is crucial because that is what makes some ceremony a sacrament. Why isn't, for instance, marriage, the marriage ceremony, why isn't that a sacrament? Even though that's a very important ceremony. Why isn't the ceremony of the laying on of hands for a minister a sacrament, even though that's a very important ceremony? It's because of the institution. Only Christ can make a sacrament a sacrament. And Christ makes a sacrament a sacrament when Christ institutes that sacrament. So when Christ said to the church, go ye into all the world, teaching, baptizing all nations in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, he made it a sacrament. Secondly, That institution of Christ is crucial because when He makes something a sacrament, He promises to administer grace to His church through that ceremony. There is no grace administered to a married couple through the ceremony of marriage. There is no grace administered to a minister through the laying on of hands. There is grace administered through the ceremony of baptism. There is grace administered because Christ made it a sacrament. A sacrament is a means of grace. And because it's a means of grace, it is the means whereby Christ administers grace to His church. And so that institution then is a promise from Christ. When Christ said to the church going into all the world, baptizing Christ, that was not only a command that was a command that was a promise. That was a promise to the church in all ages. that when that sacrament is administered, then Christ will, by that sacrament, give what it promises. So that the institution of Christ is not only the command that makes a sacrament a sacrament, but it is the command that assures the church that that sacrament is a means of grace. Because of that institution then, the sacrament is a real means of grace. That's really what the Catechism is emphasizing when the Catechism brings up that whole matter of the institution. Where has Christ promised that He will certainly wash us by His blood and spirit as we are washed with the water of baptism in the institution? And the Catechism drives this point home when the Catechism says this promise, notice not the institution, but this promise of Christ to give what the sacrament signifies and seals. This promise of Christ is repeated where the scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins. Those two phrases, the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins, have caused untold controversy in the church. Those phrases, the one, the washing of regeneration, is found in Titus chapter 3, verse 5. The other phrase, the washing away of sins, is found in Acts 22, which we read, where Ananias says to Paul, arise and be baptized, washing away thy sins. Now the controversy is this. If the scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins, does that not mean that baptism itself is the power to regenerate and to wash away sins? So that wherever that sacrament is administered, there is a regeneration and there is a washing away of sins. Controversy is really this, between general grace and particular grace. If baptism is a real means of grace, and it is, Christ promised, and Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sin. is not their grace to every single person to whom the church administers that sacrament. That's the controversy. The Catechism explains that very simply. When Scripture calls baptism the washing away of regenerations and the washing away of sins, the Scripture is repeating the promise of Christ. Now the promise of Christ is never general. It's always particular. The promise of Christ is never, I'll wash away the sins of whoever wants it. The promise of Christ is never, I'll wash away the sins of whoever receives me. The promise of Christ is never I've washed away the sins of the whole world, and whoever wants that washing can have it. The promise of Christ is never general. The promise of Christ is always particular. The promise of Christ is always that he has washed away the sins of God's elect. The promise of Christ is always that he has washed away the sins of his whole church. That's also the promise of baptism. And that promise of baptism, therefore, is particular so that when Scripture calls it the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins, Scripture is emphasizing the surety of Christ's work. Just as surely as Christ commanded the church to administer and just as surely as the church administers it, so Christ gives. what that sacrament promises. Here, in Acts 22, Ananias preached to Paul the promise of baptism of the washing away of his sins. Paul, in our passage, had come to Jerusalem after he had spent his whole life in missionary And Paul there in Jerusalem was beset by an angry mob who was in the process of beating him to death. And they had got a good long way in the process of beating him to death until Claudius Lysias, the Roman captain of the guard and de facto governor of Jerusalem, arrived on the scene And with his centurions in tow, beat the mob back. And they took Paul into the prison. And as they were going up the steps of the palace and the castle where they were going to throw Paul into prison, Paul asked a favor of Claudius Lysias. And he asked that in Greek. And Claudius Lysias was shocked. You can speak Greek? Paul says, yes, of course I can speak Greek. And Claudius Lysias says, well, I thought you were that Egyptian who was raising a rebellion a few months ago. And Paul says, oh no, may I please speak to them? And Claudius Lysias grants him leave. And so Paul now turns and he addresses the mob who is beating him to death in the Hebrew tongue. And there Paul relates his conversion. Paul had been exceedingly zealous against Christ. You've been exceedingly zealous for the law and for works. And for works, righteousness, and because he was exceedingly zealous for that, he persecuted Christ. He chased believers in Christ all over the world. all the way to Damascus. He beat them in every synagogue. He imprisoned them. He compelled them to blaspheme. He voiced His vote against them. And when Christ's martyr Stephen was stoned, he held their coats. And the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him on the way to Damascus about noon. And the Lord Jesus Christ enlightened the Apostle Paul. The Lord Jesus Christ brought the Apostle Paul to the very brink, the very edge of hell. He, as it were, showed the Apostle Paul where all his work got him. Where did all your zeal for the law? Where did all your works? And where did all your persecution of me and my people get you? Hell. He brought Paul to hell. Right to the very edge. So he could smell the sulfur. And he could feel the heat. And that was the Apostle Paul. that Ananias found in Damascus. He found a man utterly humbled by his sin. A man utterly ashamed. A man who couldn't even lift his eyes to heaven. A man who was in doubt about his very salvation. That's what Christ always does when He converts a sinner. You and me too. Converted sinners are very easily recognized. They have not an ounce of pride left. You can beat them like that mob was beating Paul. And they won't defend themselves. Because they know they deserve a whole lot worse. They're unmistakable. There's no I left in them. There's no smugness. There's no self-righteousness. They're nothing to themselves. That's what Christ does. When the Lord appears to a sinner from heaven. The Lord utterly humbles that person. He brings them. To the very edge of hell. And once there. He comforts them. That's what Ananias preached to Paul. Arise, be baptized, to wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. There's the gospel. That Lord whom you persecuted, That Lord had mercy on you. That Lord took you out of your sins, out of your unrighteousness and your smug self-righteousness. That Lord forgives your sins. Arise, be baptized. Baptism is the confirmation Baptism is the assurance from the Lord to a sinner whom the Lord has brought to hell. I've washed away all your sins. You sinner who deserve to go to hell for your sins are for the sake of my righteousness worthy of heaven. That's why Christ made baptism a sacrament. That's why Christ made it in connection with the teaching of all nations. Go into all the world and teach all nations. What were they to teach them? They were to teach them about sin and salvation. They were to teach them what all men deserve. They were to teach them. That the only way of salvation is calling upon the name of the Lord. That's what they're to teach them. By that preaching of that gospel of Jesus Christ, they would bring to all nations the day of the Lord. By that preaching, they would confront all men with that Lord. and by that preaching they would bring all men into judgment before that Lord and through that preaching they would call all men to believe in that Lord and to such as believed in Him they were to administer the sacrament as a comfort to them that that Lord on whom they call And that Lord in whom they believed had washed away all their sins. So that when Scripture calls baptism the washing away of sins, it does so to repeat the promise of Christ. And that ceremony that Christ instituted, therefore, must be administered exactly how he instituted it that his people may have that testimony Rome of course mingles in all kinds of hocus-pocus just as it does with the Lord's Supper Rome besides his doctrine corrupts the sacrament by its administration You have a priest and you have holy water mixed with all kinds of oils and smelly things. And it's administered in some back room. It can be administered by a nurse. That's all in the service of Rome's false doctrine. You have today, now it's well known, you have today this evil imitation of baptism that's even allowed in Reformed churches. who are flooded by Baptists who don't believe in the sacrament and they allow people to dedicate their infants dedicate their efforts that what Christ instituted that's a wicked apostasy from what Christ instituted dedication isn't baptism dedication is a mockery of baptism Dedication is a wicked shaking of one's fist in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ who said, baptize. And they say publicly, I won't. That's what dedication is. It isn't baptism. That's for sure. Christ instituted baptism. Baptism is very simple. You have a baptism, and maybe I can teach you about the word baptism. First, you have a baptism. What is a baptism? Well, the word baptism just simply means washing. If someone wants to say baptism means immersion, I don't have a quarrel with them. You can probably find some good support in the Greek lexicons that baptism means immersion. If I wash a dish in water, I have to put it in the water. But the important thing isn't how I wash it, but that I wash it. Baptism is a washing. The how of the washing is immaterial. Don't fight about that ever. Someone wants to get in a big fight with you about how you wash someone with baptism, don't fight with them. Just grant them that point. All right, you want to dump the baby in water? Sounds a bit cruel to me, but I'll grant you that. Rather, must you baptize a baby? That's the issue. Baptism is a washing. The catechism calls it an external washing. Because in baptism you have, in a Reformed church, either the pouring on or the sprinkling with water. In baptism you have to have water. clean water even. There's no sacrament without water. If the janitor forgets to put water in the baptismal font, then you have to stop and wait for the water to come up. Because you have to have water in the baptism. In fact, baptism has to be the visible application of water. Because baptism isn't only about the baby that's being baptized, but baptism is about the whole congregation. There ought to be a good amount of water applied to the baby, even if the baby kicks and screams a little, because the congregation has to see the water. That's how baptism works. It's visible. It's a visible sign and seal to us. And with the application of that water, the Lord Jesus Christ says you have a baptism when that water is applied in the name of the triune God. There's where the baptismal formula comes in. We aren't baptized in the name of Christ. We're not baptized in the name of the church. We're not baptized in the name of Paul or Peter, but we're baptized in the name of the triune God. And that water that is applied in the name of the triune God is applied by an ordained minister not by a woman she can't be a minister they can say she's a minister but she can't be a minister so you can't have a baptism must be applied in the name of the triune God by minister some office bearer And then you have a baptism. And belonging now to what Christ instituted as a ceremony, that's what we're talking about yet, Christ's institution, is Christ's demand in the institution that the sacrament be administered to infants. Understand, I'm not arguing yet with you, I'll do that next week. that the scripture in many different places requires the sacrament to be administered to infants. But I'm arguing with you that Christ in the institution, when Christ said, go you into all the world, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. With those words, Christ commanded the church to baptize infants. You say, well, where is that? Where did Christ say to baptize infants there? Because those words of Christ are administered in connection with the promise. Baptism isn't a sacrament unto itself. Baptism is a sign and seal of the promise of God. And the promise of God is always to believers and their children. That's what Peter preached. In the very first New Testament sermon. Promises unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. As soon as Christ commanded the church in connection with that promise to administer the sacrament, Christ was commanding the church to baptize the infants. And that sacrament that Christ instituted is the sacrament that promises to us and assures to us the washing away of our sins through the blood of Christ and by the work of the Spirit. That's its main meaning. Catechism says that baptism is an external washing with water to which Christ added the promise that I am as certainly washed by his blood and spirit from all the pollution of my soul, that is from all my sins, as surely as I'm washed with that external water. Baptism as the sacrament of washing points to a spiritual washing. Every child here this evening can understand that connection very easily. If you go out and play in the swamp and you come back all muddy and dirty, you can't come in the house unless you have a washing first. So as soon as you talk about a washing, you're pointing out two things. First of all, you're pointing out that the person must be washed. Baptism as a ceremony of washing points out our need. And secondly, baptism as a ceremony of washing points out It's power. We are cleansed. We need to be cleansed, and we are actually cleansed by a washing. Baptism, as a ceremony of washing, first of all points out to us our need for cleansing. It points out to us our spiritual condition by nature. We with our children, as the baptism form says, are conceived and born in sin insomuch that we cannot enter into the kingdom of God except we are born again. This the dipping in with water or sprinkling teaches us. Whereby the impurity of our souls is signified and we admonished to loathe and humble ourselves before God. That's the first thing baptism means. When the parents bring their children for baptism, the parents are saying not this is a clean child. The parents are saying this is a dirty child. The parents aren't saying this is a child that deserves to go to heaven. The parents are saying that this is a child that deserves to go to hell. And the parents are saying that that child is that way because we are that way. We, with our children, are that dirty spiritual person by nature. We have our original sin in Adam. Original guilt, so that we are guilty of Adam's transgression. And also then our original pollution, so that the punishment of Adam's sin passed on to us through our parents. And besides our original sin, our depravity, as we call it. There is also our own actual transgressions of the law of God where we break the law of God every day. We must be washed from our sins and that sacrament of baptism then when it teaches us our depravity teaches us to loathe and humble ourselves. We're to become nothing. Sacrament of baptism teaches us to confess that we are nothing. Secondly, the washing of baptism teaches us the power of our salvation. If you have a dirty baby or a dirty child who played in the swamp, the power of his cleansing is water. If you have a dirty human being, which is what all human beings are by nature, baptism signifies the power of his cleansing. And the power of his cleansing is not that water, but the power of that cleansing is the blood and spirit of Christ. power of His cleansing. He is the blood of Christ and by that the Catechism means all of the perfect work of Christ that He accomplished all His life long by His perfect obedience and that He accomplished by His perfect atoning death on the cross so that He fully accomplished our salvation. And secondly, the catechism brings up the Spirit. The Spirit takes that powerful work of Christ, that powerful blood of Christ, and the Spirit is the agent who uses that power of Christ's blood to cleanse us from our sins. You can think of it this way. The child who plays in the swamp has water put on him, but the one who's doing the scrubbing and holding the hose, dousing him with the water and cleansing him is the mother. So the blood of Christ is the power to wash away our sins and the one who is applying it is the Spirit. And the Catechism says that the Spirit applies that blood of Christ to us to cleanse us from our sins. That work of the Spirit is twofold. The Catechism points out that the Spirit grants or receives the remission of sins freely for the sake of Christ's blood, which He shed for us by His sacrifice on the cross. That's the first work of the Spirit. He washes away, we would say, the guilt of our sin. Guilt is liability to punishment. That we are all guilty, not only of Adam's sin, but our own. And the Spirit washes away that guilt of our sin. He assures us by the sacrament that God forgives our sins. That He doesn't hold those sins against us. He's not going to punish us for those sins. Great and heinous though they may be. Our sins as monstrous as Paul's. And positively, that He imputes to us the righteousness of Christ as our righteousness. So that by that righteousness we are worthy of eternal life. There's a washing from guilt. And secondly, the Catechism says that the Spirit renews us. When you wash away someone's guilt, you change their state. When you renew them, you change their condition. When He washes me from my guilt, I remain in that washing from guilt really a wicked person. God justifies the ungodly. God does not justify good people. He justifies ungodly people. But God does not leave me as an ungodly person. He also renews me. He makes me a new creature. He gives me a new heart. And out of that new heart, He affects my entire life that I lived before God. That too is a washing. I have to be washed away from sin's guilt and set free from sin's pollution and dominion. The sinner by nature is not only guilty of his sin, but the sinner by nature is a slave to sin. He cannot do anything but sin. He is a slave to his lusts. He is a slave to his passions. He's a slave to temptation. He's a slave to the devil. And the Holy Ghost washes me from sin's pollution and dominion, so that I am no longer the slave of sin. That's our liberty. He sets me free from Satan's dominion. And that work of the Spirit to wash me from sin's guilt and to cleanse me from sin's pollution and dominion, that is the gift of salvation in the covenant. Baptism is not only a sign and seal, of the washing away of sins, but baptism is sign and seal of the washing away of sins as God's salvation to us in the covenant. The very formula for baptism teaches that. Every one of us has been baptized in the name of the triune God. That doesn't mean that we are baptized on the authority of the triune God, so that the triune God told the church, baptize, and so therefore the church baptizes. But rather to be baptized in the name of the triune God is to be baptized into God's covenant fellowship. God washes away our sins so that He forgives our sins and He makes us new creatures. He gives us His covenant. We have to be reminded of that today. The covenant is salvation. The covenant is not something that happens after salvation. The covenant is salvation. And the blessings of the covenant are the blessings of salvation. The blessings of the covenant are the forgiveness of sins. The blessings of the covenant are to be renewed in the image of God. God does not forgive our sins and renew us in the image in order that we might be in covenant with Him. But because He has taken us as His friends and His servants, us and our children, He as our sovereign God forgives our sins and washes us from sins pollution in the covenant. Lose sight of that, you go wrong in salvation. The Catechism points that out. That's so. What's the fruit? What's the fruit of all this work of God? You can sit back, do a nice and comfortable ride to heaven. That's so. We may more and more die unto sin. and lead holy and unblameable lives. Your holy and unblameable life and your dying to sin are not those things that lead to your salvation. That's a soul-crushing doctrine. You want to have a whole church full of smug self-righteousness, or you want to have a whole church full of despairing people, you teach them that. Teach them that their holy and unblameable lives leads to their salvation. That's not what the Catechism says. That's not even remotely Reformed. This is Reformed. This is the doctrine that is proclaimed and that is signified every time The sacrament is administered at that fountain every time. That God of His free mercy, God of His free mercy grants the remission of sins to those who are worthy of hell. And God of His free mercy renews in his own image, by the power of his own spirit, those who are by nature in the image of the devil. That so, that so, not so that they can be saved, that so, that is being saved. They may as the fruit of their salvation, die unto sin and live unto God that's the gospel anything else is a corruption of it and that sacrament signifies the sure promise of God concerning that gospel Sacrament signifies and seals an unconditional promise of God. A promise that has been made, a promise that is maintained, and a promise that is perfected by God's grace alone. On the basis of Christ's sacrifice alone to the work of Christ's Spirit in our hearts. So that if God's promise fails, then he is not God, but an imposter and an idol. So sure is the promise of baptism. And such is baptism's work, that baptism therefore is the power You may speak that way. Baptism is a real power, just like the preaching is, not of itself, but on account of the mercy of God, by the work of the Spirit of God. It's a power. It's not a power to all. Well, it's not a power to assure to all. Baptism is never void either, just as anyone who eats the Lord's Supper and doesn't believe God's promise, eats and drinks damnation, so anyone who is baptized and has not faith receives damnation. And just as the preaching is a double-edged sword, being a saver of life unto life and a saver of death unto death, so is baptism a double-edged sword. Baptism is an assuring power to believers. And that power of baptism is, first of all, to admonish me. You have to feel that when baptism is administered. How you are admonished. How it humbles you. How it makes you nothing. How it tells you you can't save by what you do, or your life. Baptism admonishes me. That's good. Otherwise I'd become puffed up. And baptism also assures me and comforts me with Christ. It assures me that my salvation does not rest on the deeds of this miserable sinner. Thank God. And it assures me that my salvation rests on the perfect work of Christ on the cross alone. And that salvation becomes mine through the work of the Spirit of Christ alone. And it admonishes me to show thankfulness for that too. It admonishes me to cleave to that God. To love that God. Whenever I fall into sin, not to continue in sin or despair of His mercy, but to turn to that God. So that baptism is a powerful means of grace, not only when it's administered, but all our life long. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy holy word. Apply it to our hearts. Bless us as Thy people who have the gospel. and seal and confirm the promise of that Gospel to us in the sacraments, especially in baptism. We ask this for Jesus' sake. Amen. We pray that you were edified by the preaching of the Gospel today. Please join us for worship if you are ever in the area. For more information about our church, beliefs, or worship times, please visit our website at prccrete.org.