Let's turn now to our God in prayer. Let's pray. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the beauty that you have created this world with, a beauty that shimmers all around us in your creation, especially this time of year, as all of the heavy rains have come and caused all of the vibrant greens and colors of the flowers and trees to blossom and to appear before us in great majesty and splendor. And yet, Father, as much as we marvel at them, they are there that they might point us to the greater beauty and the glory and majesty that belongs to you as the maker of heaven and earth, the one who has infused this world with such beauty that it might point us to you from the trees, to the mountains, to the fields, all of it, Lord, pointing us to your power to order and your power to create good things and beautiful things and so we give you thanks and pray that you would give us eyes to see that you would open up our eyes to behold your majesty all around us and we thank you that though in our sin we were blind to you and worship the creation rather than the creator that you have revealed your salvation and the way of Christ in your word and that word is for us spectacles through which we can see again and to see your beauty and glory all around us. And so help us to see that and more than that help us to see not only your glory and creation but your glory and redemption as well. insofar as you've saved us by showing tremendous, unimaginable love in sending your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to come and to die in our place, to be our substitute on the cross, and to have upon him your wrath poured out, that we might be set free. And so we give you thanks for that and pray also for eyes to see, ears to hear, as that gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ is proclaimed to us here. and also throughout the world that you would give your people ears to hear. And that those who may not know Christ and who hear that message today, we pray that for them today would be a day of salvation, that you would open their eyes, that you would kindle by the Holy Spirit faith in their hearts to embrace the Savior, to rest in Him and to trust Him with all of their heart. Father, we pray then that today would be a day of great rejoicing for your people, a day of gladness as we look to you, our Maker and our Redeemer. We ask, Father, that you would continue to build us up as the body of Christ, that we would use all of our gifts and instruments to serve and love one another even as Christ has served and loved us. We pray that love would abound among us in our service, in our words towards each other, in our actions, in our thoughts, that everything would be for the good of our brothers and sisters here, as it might also be a witness to the world around us, that they might know that we are the disciples of Jesus as we love one another. We pray, Father, that you would also be with those who are facing various struggles in our congregation, especially those facing sickness, that you might restore them to full health, that you might be near to them during this time as well. We ask, Father, that you would be with our elderly members as well, that you would comfort them as they are unable to join us in worship. We pray also that you would be with our families, that you would strengthen the marriages, you would strengthen the love of fathers and mothers to their children, and that in all of these ways Christ would be glorified. We thank you especially for our mothers today. We're grateful for them and the ways that they have raised us to know, love, and serve you, that they have carried out their callings and responsibilities in the strength of Christ well, we pray that you would bless them and that they would be honored by their children and praised by their husbands. Father, we give you thanks for them and we pray that you would bless them today. We ask, Father, that you would be with us as we come before your word and that, again, you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, a different passage than is listed in your bulletin, but one that I thought we would reflect on as the catechism brought us to the topic of baptism and what baptism is. And so Peter gives a very peculiar statement regarding baptism, one that I don't plan on explaining all of the details, more so because it's a lot of mystery and uncertainty in what he says for us. But there is a number of things that are very clear regarding baptism here in 1 Peter and so I thought we'd reflect upon that as Peter draws an analogy between the flood that took place in the days of Noah and baptism as a sign and seal of our salvation in Christ today. So 1 Peter chapter 3 beginning at verse 18, this is the holy and inspired word of God. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah. while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. so far from God's Word. And we're going to turn to the back of our hymnals to the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 26. And you'll find that on page 883. There are three questions there. I'll read the question and we'll respond together with the answer. Question 69, how does holy baptism remind and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross benefits you personally? In this way, Christ instituted this outward washing and with it promised that as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his spirit wash away my soul's impurity, that is, all my sins. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and spirit? To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven our sins because of Christ's blood poured out for us in His sacrifice on the cross, To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us to be members of Christ so that more and more we die to sin and live holy and blameless lives. Where does Christ promise that we are washed with His blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? in the institution of baptism, where he says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. This promise is repeated when scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins. So far from our catechism. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, a hymn that we're going to sing after the service begins by saying that there is a fountain filled with blood. A very odd statement. Now, a song that we have probably sung many, many times. If you're a Christian, you've been in the church, and so the language there may not sound so shocking to you, but you could imagine somebody walking in from the streets and maybe never heard of Christianity, they never heard of Christ. And they begin to hear us saying, there is a fountain filled with blood. They might go and run for the doors to get out. What is there doing here? A fountain full of blood. And what do we mean by that? Well, of course, by that we don't mean that there is a physical, literal fountain here full of blood. No, the hymn and the scriptures point us to a heavenly blood that has been poured out, namely the blood of Jesus Christ. That the blood that we speak of is not any physical blood here, but it is the blood of Christ poured out for us on the cross, which is our salvation. And by that blood, by the blood of Christ poured out on the cross, it's in that that we find ourselves washed of our sins and made new unto eternal life by the Holy Spirit. And this is what we've been talking about regarding the purpose then of the sacraments, right? The blood of Christ is not something we have bottled up here. The blood of Christ is not in a physical fountain in the church somewhere. No, the blood of Christ is in heaven and it was poured out 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary. But baptism, the waters of baptism are a sign and a seal, a visible sign and a visible seal of that blood by which you are saved and by which you have a share in Christ and all of his benefits. And so the sacraments help us then to see what is otherwise unseen. And it strengthens our faith and our assurance that there is indeed the blood of Christ. And though I wasn't there 2,000 years ago, and though I cannot see Christ in his blood poured out for me, nevertheless, I believe and I know that there is indeed blood that can make me clean. that can restore me to God and give me new life. Baptism is meant to assure you of that invisible reality, that invisible grace of God, the blood of Christ on the cross poured out for us. And so for this reason, the catechism tells us that baptism reminds and assures us that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross, not to be repeated, But having happened 2,000 years ago, that one sacrifice on the cross then benefits you today personally. Baptism reminds and assures you of that very reality. And for this reason, as it points you to that invisible grace and it is connected to that as a sign by the institution of God, in the sacrament of baptism. So the Bible can speak of baptism as the washing of regeneration or the washing of the new birth that by the blood of Christ poured out on Calvary 2,000 years ago, I today am washed and made new, cleansed of my sin. It can speak of baptism, the scriptures can speak of it not only as the washing of regeneration, but also the washing away of sins. Not that the water itself does so, but as a sign and seal of the blood of Christ, we can speak of baptism in that way, of washing away our sins. Or even as Peter speaks of here, in language that can seem somewhat puzzling to us, baptism now saves you. not as a washing of the body or a mere external sign or act, but rather in so much as it points us to the death of Jesus and his resurrection. That through baptism we are brought into a new world. We go from the old into the new. We go from the old man that once controlled us to a new life in Christ, now controlled by the Holy Spirit. Baptism brings us, as it did, as we're going to say later, like Noah, from this world engulfed in evil and sin, from this old world and through that, to emerge in a new world, a new life devoted to God. And that is ultimately pointing us to our share in Christ, in His death, participating in his blood, but then also his resurrection. And that's what Peter gets at in the verses that we have just read. And so let's dive into these verses here under three points very briefly. The triumph, the transfer, and then the type. The triumph, the transfer, and the type. And so Peter begins in these verses here by saying this in verse 18. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. And so Peter here is speaking to us regarding the saving work of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ suffered on the cross for sin. Why was Jesus on the cross? Well he was bearing sin. Of course not his own sin, he is the sinless one, the spotless one, but he was bearing there on the cross your sin. and my sin and the sin of his people, that on the cross he might there suffer on account of our sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, as Peter tells us here. That Jesus was there as our substitute. But Peter, in emphasizing Jesus' death on the cross, is not only emphasizing the humiliation of the Savior, but he's bringing out the triumph of his death on the cross for us. The triumph of Jesus in his sacrifice on the cross once for all. For he was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Christ's victory on the cross was a victory on behalf of his people and on your behalf. Jesus there risen, having died and then was raised, was raised for you and for your salvation. He went as one who suffered in the flesh to then being raised in the power of the Holy Spirit to an indestructible life. That's what Peter means when he says that he was put to death in the flesh, susceptible to weakness, susceptible to being killed and crucified. but then made alive in the Spirit, that he has a new mode of existence, that he never shall die again, never susceptible to death and the effects of it upon him any longer. and he was made alive. This is the triumph of Christ that Peter wants us to see. And in being raised from the dead, Peter goes on to say in verse 19, again in somewhat peculiar words, he says, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through water. And so a lot of debate over these verses, what does it mean that Jesus went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison? Some have understood this to refer to Jesus' descent into hell, specifically within the Roman Catholic Church, but Peter does not say anything here about a descent. Ironically, the only thing Peter speaks about here is an ascent, is Jesus rising, not going down into hell. More than that, Jesus tells us, as we overhear his words to the robber crucified next to him on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus did not go and descend locally into hell to release those said to be imprisoned there until his death on the cross. No, Peter does not speak here of anything of a descent, he only speaks of an ascent. It's interesting if you look at the verses with me, the verb in which he went, the verb went is repeated in verse 22, though it's not translated the same. In verse 22 it says, who has gone into heaven, which is an ascent, it's his ascension. And some have understood that Peter, when he says it, in which he went, it kind of breaks off to an aside, and then he picks it up again in verse 22, saying, you know, as I was saying, he went into heaven. His whole point being that what's being referred to here is Jesus' ascension. That Jesus having been raised from the dead ascends into heaven and Peter pictures that as a great triumph over all that stands underneath him and below him. All of the powers and angels and authorities as he speaks about in verse 22. That Jesus' ascent is a proclamation of his triumph. It's a proclamation that his sacrifice was once and for all finished and complete, never needing to be repeated ever again. It's a proclamation that Satan and sin and hell itself has not triumphed or won. It's a proclamation that he indeed is all glorious and all powerful. Peter here has in mind the ascension of Jesus as it proclaims this message of Jesus' victory. The apostle Paul speaks very similarly in Colossians 2. He says in Colossians 2 verse 13 through 15, the Apostle Paul that is, he says, you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Now before I finish Paul's thought here, right, that, the record of debt that stood against God's people has now been canceled of course needs to be proclaimed, right? Told to the world, told to Satan, told to his hordes of demons that they have not won, that they have indeed been defeated. And so Peter says, Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. And so Peter tells us the very same thing, that the ascension of Jesus is a proclamation, that as Jesus was brought heavenward by God, right, the cloud receives him and brings him. Sometimes we picture Jesus as by his own power ascending up into heaven. But if you read Luke's account, for example, all the verbs there are passive. Jesus is brought into heaven. Jesus is carried into heaven. It is heaven itself, his father in heaven, raising him as a signal, as a proclamation to the world and to Satan and to all that Jesus has won. He has triumphed. He is heaven's victor. And that is what Peter is wanting us to see, the triumph. And he's going to go on, as we're going to see in our third point briefly, that this triumph is what is shared with you and signified and sealed in baptism that you come to share in that very triumph. Now Peter goes on to say, and we're not going to spend much time on these verses here, but to say very briefly... that this proclamation was to the spirits in prison because they formally did not obey in the days of Noah when the ark was being prepared. Some have took this to refer to fallen angels, which to some degree can be true. I think that's what Paul has in mind in Colossians chapter two, that he has in mind the various spiritual enemies of the church and of God's people who have had on them a death blow laid in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. So there's certainly truth to that, but others have understood the spirits in prison to refer to those who were disobedient, human beings who were disobedient in the days of Noah, whose spirits now lay in prison. Not that Jesus is proclaiming a message that they might now find another chance of salvation. There's no mention of that here. It's just a proclamation that he has won to them who have disobeyed. sort of confirming the foolishness of their disobedience in the days of Noah. And this way of speaking, the spirits in prison of humans, is something that we read in the letter to the Hebrews, for example, regarding the spirits of the righteous. In Hebrews chapter 12, It says there, as the author gives us a sort of mini tour into the heavenly city, the heavenly country, he says this, that you have come by faith to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect." It's a way of speaking of those who have now died and their spirits having been received, whether imprisoned for because of their disobedience, or into the heavenly city as the spirits of the righteous. And so There have, while there's been a bit of debate on this passage in First Peter regarding to whom Jesus preached and who the spirits in prison are, you can understand it either as fallen angels, but I lean more to understanding it as those who disobeyed in the days of Noah, who did not heed God's warning and God's judgment that was impending. And so in Jesus' ascension, Their foolishness is all the more confirmed and their disobedience and the effects of that all the more assured as Jesus ascends into heaven and his ascension proving true God's word that judgment for disobedience will be enacted by the God of heaven. And so that is how I understand this passage here to be referring to, what I understand this passage here to be referring to. But notice Peter's point here goes beyond just referring to the triumph of Jesus over all of his enemies, but he also refers to this transfer that takes place for his people through his death and resurrection. The purpose that Jesus suffered for, as Peter tells us, is that he might bring us to God. This language of being brought to God, having been far off from God, away from God, the purpose of Jesus' triumph is that he might transfer us and bring us to God. And so, for example, The way in which Noah is brought from this old world that had been engrossed in sin. And he's brought into a new world, which, if you read the account in Genesis, is emphasized by the fact that Noah is presented as a kind of new Adam. The same commission that Adam was given is given to Noah. As Adam was placed in a garden, so Noah was a man of a vineyard. And there's a lot of intentional parallels between Adam and Noah. The point being that Noah was brought from the old world, engrossed in sin, into a new world. Though that was not the ultimate place because, of course, as we know the story goes, the world again becomes covered and filled with sin, that Noah was not the ultimate figure. Noah was not the true and righteous Adam. Jesus would be, right? Jesus would be the one who would bring his people into the new world. But throughout the story of the Bible, right, we see how God transfers his people. He brings them to himself. He brings Noah through the flood into a new world. He brings Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea and then through the Jordan into the Promised Land where he would dwell with them, right? God is bringing people to himself. And all of those are anticipating what God would ultimately do in Jesus, taking people like you and me out of the realm of death and sin and misery, and through the death and resurrection of Christ, to which the waters of the Red Sea and the waters of the flood point, that he would bring us through those waters, ultimately through the blood of Christ, to himself, that he would bring us and transfer us. And so Paul, for example, says in Colossians 2 that you've been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. where there is forgiveness and eternal life. This transfer language is all throughout. It's used by Jesus as we come to our third point regarding the type, what this is pointing us to. When Jesus says in the Great Commission that you are to go and baptize them, some translations have in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But what that conveys is sort of in the power and authority of the triune God. But Jesus is saying more than that, what baptism is doing. You might rather translate it to baptize them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That the baptism is a sign and seal of being brought to God, the triune God, for life and fellowship forevermore. We are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so, as Noah was brought through the flood of God's judgment into a new world, and as Israel, God's son, remember he says to Pharaoh, let my firstborn son go, as Israel was brought out of Egypt through the Red Sea and through the Jordan into God's promised land, And remember the Red Sea was a waters of judgment as it covered over the Egyptians. And the Jordan River was a torrent of a river so that God alone would go in first before them so they might safely go through these waters of judgment, right? Waters are conveying judgment throughout the scriptures and God's people go through them But through the judgment they emerge on the other side. So as Noah goes through the flood into a new world, and Israel goes through the Red Sea and the Jordan into a new world. So too, all of that was pointing to the blood of Jesus. and the blood by which you are washed with so that you through that water are brought to God. You are brought into fellowship with God. You are brought into communion with God. You are dead to this world and alive now to God. That's why Peter will say you have died to this world and you now who have been raised seek the things that are above in heaven. You've been transferred out of the old world into the new. That's why Paul will say if anyone is in Christ you are a new creation. Not just a new creature in a sort of isolated individualistic sense, but you are a new creation partaking of what is new. That is what baptism then is a sign and seal of as it points us to the blood of Christ. I mean, think about the blood of Christ. Now we think about the love of Christ, right, displayed in that blood being poured out, but what caused the blood of Jesus to be poured out? judgment of God. Jesus on the cross is doing more than just displaying his love. Of course, he is doing that in manifold ways, in immeasurable ways, the love of Jesus there. But what is...the reason Jesus' blood is poured out is because he is there enduring the judgment of God that you deserved in your place. And his resurrection means that he will bring you safely through those judgment waters. Being cleansed by the blood of Jesus means that you have already undergone the judgment of God and you have emerged on the other side in new life. So that you have therefore no reason to fear the coming judgment. You no longer stand under the judgment of God. It's been poured out upon you already in Christ. And Jesus, as that greater ark, brings you safely through into a new world, renewed, restored. As Peter will say in 2 Peter, he brings you into new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It's that wonderful transfer of being brought to God of dying to the old and being now made alive to all what is new and being made new, that is what is signed and sealed in baptism. And so when we merely think of baptism as a public thing that we do to sort of say that I'm serious about following Jesus, we miss the deep riches of the gospel that is preached to us in baptism, the word made visible. Your baptism says that I was once dead in my trespasses and sins, and I belonged to a world full of death and misery. But by the blood of Jesus being found in him, I have gone through the judgment of God, and now I have emerged in Christ on the other side in resurrection life, so that I share in all that is new and belongs to eternal life. We've mentioned how Noah was brought through those judgment waters, how Israel was brought through those judgment waters. But think even earlier than that in the Bible's history. When Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are sent east of Eden. God stations what at the entrance of the garden? A flaming sword. And the only way back in to the presence of God would be to undergo that blade, to be cut by that sword. There's no other way in, it's only through that sword. And so it's through judgment that God's people must go. Now left to yourself, that sword will bring about, as the Bible speaks about, the second death. That sword, none can go through and live. The Egyptians could not go through the Red Sea. They were crushed. Those unrighteous in the days of Noah could not survive the flood. No, they had to go through it, that judgment, in another. And that's what Jesus does for us on the cross. The sword of God piercing him on the cross. The floodwaters that covered the earth concentrated on Jesus on the cross. The Red Sea, the Jordan River, and all of its force and power concentrated on Jesus on the cross because there He is undergoing the judgment for you so that in Him you might go through it and emerge cleansed and renewed and alive to God. That is the riches of baptism as it brings to us the whole story of the gospel and of the scriptures and of all that Jesus has done for us. Baptism, which corresponds to this, Peter having in mind the flood, but we can tie it to all of these other events in redemptive history, it now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, right, not as a mere external act that just happens to do something to us and to our flesh. No, it has, it is an appeal to God for a good conscience because through baptism you emerge a new creation. Your conscience cleansed so that now you no longer have your conscience bound to sin and death and destruction, but your conscience is now bound to God, to obey Him, to live for Him. And so yes, baptism is first and foremost a sign and seal of what God does in bringing you safely in Christ through judgment into new life. But then it means, as that new life, a pledge of going forth, living for God. Our response in baptism is that, a response to what God has done for us. So that now our consciences are bound to God. We have, through the resurrection of Jesus, gone through the judgment of God safely. It has not consumed us. It has not destroyed us. God through his Son has brought us through the resurrection as we share in Jesus into heaven. That's why he says in verse 22 that Jesus has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God. Jesus has transferred us there. so that our life is hidden with Christ in God, and we are to seek the things that are above in heaven. That is what baptism is testifying to, signing and sealing to you. And therefore, if you have been baptized, your conscience is now to be bound to God and his word alone, to live for him and for his glory, and to seek the things that are above where Christ is. You have a new life. You are the Lord, you belong to Him. You are no longer your own, but you are in Christ and now as Christ has brought you through it, so you live forevermore in Him, by His Spirit. And that is what life everlasting is. And so this is what baptism is pointing us to. The putting off of the old man and the pollution of sin and all that belong to the old ways the beginning of new life in Jesus Christ. Baptism means union with Christ in his death and resurrection to have undergone the judgment of God and through his resurrection to come out now in the warm embrace of a Heavenly Father. You are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. May you understand and see and know the riches of that and what baptism is signing and sealing to us. And may we then give thanks to God that though I cannot see all of these transfers taking place, right, that now my life is in heaven. The waters of baptism tell you that very thing. God has instituted them that you might know that you have gone safely through the judgment. that you have emerged in Christ in new acceptance and life, and your life is a heavenly life, empowered by the Holy Spirit. May those things be seen by you in the waters of baptism, as your Heavenly Father intended. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we give you thanks that though you have accomplished a powerful thing and a wonderful thing in taking us out of this world and old man and giving us new life in Christ that though we not see that with our physical eyes yet you've given us baptism as a sacrament to point to these very realities and so we thank you for that. Help us to see the richness of the gospel pictured for us in baptism. and help us to give you thanks in response to all of it, and to live for Christ, and to have our consciences bound only to you, appealing to you alone for all that we do and say our whole lives, even before this world that would unjustly persecute, accuse us, as Peter reminds us throughout this letter, and yet, Father, our conscience, our appeal is to you. because you have transferred us in Christ out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of your beloved Son. Help us to live then for you and for Christ, we pray in His name. Amen.