You can open your Bibles to Acts 2. If all goes as planned, this should be a shorter sermon than usual. I heard a couple of people chuckle at that. What are you trying to say? You doubt me? We are going to talk this week, next week, maybe the week after that, on the topic of baptism. My goal in this, in addition to simply teaching on baptism, is that at the end of this, we could have a series of sermons that could be turned into a sort of self-directed study. Self-directed study, but even better, a study which you, as a believer, member of Calvary Baptist Church, could take and work through with another individual who's a new believer who's contemplating baptism. And so the way that I'm seeing this is that someone wants to be baptized, curious about baptism. We have some individuals in the church who are very familiar with our study on baptism. You can get together with this individual, walk through the study, help explain to them what baptism is, which of course is going to also include an explanation of the gospel, so they're fully aware what baptism is. Then at the end of that study, a template so that you can help another individual write out their testimony of faith. And that, I think, is in line with what Ephesians 4 tells us. when it talks about pastors and teachers given to the church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. And so a healthy church with members actually being able to help other new believers in their perseverance and in their sanctification. So that's my long-term goal. And I hope that some of you would say, yeah, I want to be one of those individuals who could help a new believer understand what baptism is and prepare them for baptism. So I hope that you could kind of catch that vision and have that desire as well. So in that vein, we're going to start talking about baptism this week, maybe two, three weeks. So Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, obviously, is Peter's spirit-filled sermon that he preached in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost. This is taking place about 10 days after the ascension of Jesus. And remember, he's addressing thousands of gathered Jews. Acts 2, verse 22. Peter preaches Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. down to verse 33. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified." So the crowd's attention here at Pentecost was piqued by a commotion. We read in the context there that individuals were speaking the mighty works of God, praising God for what He had done, but there was a miracle involved. in that these individuals were speaking in languages that they had never themselves learned prior. It was a miracle. And so this got the attention of the crowd, and the crowd now needs an explanation as to what's going on. So Peter seizes upon this situation, this divinely orchestrated situation, this moment, in order to explain what everyone was witnessing. And so he preaches that what they're seeing is the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and that this was the fulfillment of prophecy. It was evidence that the time had come for God to establish the long-awaited and long-promised new covenant, a covenant inaugurated through the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus, a Jesus whom they, a few weeks earlier, had rejected and crucified. So, Peter preaches. He preaches that Jesus is the sent Son of God, whose identity was authenticated by miracles. He did signs and wonders in front of everyone. He preached that Jesus rose from the dead in fulfillment of prophecy. He preached that the Father was pleased with the Son's sacrifice. And so, the Father then sends the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon his people, marking the arrival of the New Covenant. The New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenant, that is the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, that legal system and sacrificial system which served as this external pressure, which compelled individuals to keep the law and to keep it perfectly, something that centuries of attempts proved was impossible. The time had come for something completely new, something that God had planned from before the foundation of the world, that is a new covenant. And the new covenant would require also the doing away with the old, the new being a fulfillment of the old. And so, The time had come for God to bring about a salvation in which men and women could have their sins forgiven once and for all and forever. Not this perpetual offering of sacrifices, sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice, kind of staying the hand of God's wrath for one day and then to have to sacrifice again and again and again. Instead, a new covenant would come where individuals would be fully cleansed of their sin once and for all and forever. This is a fulfillment of God's promise. Ezekiel 36, we find the promise. Verse 25, the Lord says, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." And notice the language there. God's saying, the time's going to come where I'm going to work. I'm going to do this. I will cleanse you. I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. This is going to be a work of God. This is not going to be individuals working to achieve something, working to attain acceptance by God, trying to be good boys and good girls, trying to keep the law. He says, no, this is something completely different. I'm going to cleanse you. I'm going to give you a new heart. I'm going to give you a new spirit. I'm going to put my spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You're going to have an inward compulsion and ability to please me that you never had before. That's the new covenant. Jeremiah also speaks of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31. He says, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares Yahweh, I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know Yahweh, for they shall all know me. What does he mean by that? He's saying everyone who's within the New Covenant will be a genuine believer. Unlike the Old Covenant, where you had a mixed bag. You had some who genuinely believed and some who didn't. All the males were circumcised, but not all of them were genuine believers. So this is going to be completely different. Everyone who's in the New Covenant will be a genuine believer. For they shall all know me, he says, from the least of them to the greatest, declares Yahweh, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more. So these are the promises of the new covenant. The day is coming, the old will be done away with, it's going to be perfectly fulfilled, the new is going to come, and in this new covenant, people will have the absolute assurance that their sins have been forgiven, has been completely cleansed, that they belong to God and God belongs to them, their iniquity is completely forgiven, never to be remembered again. That's the new covenant. At Pentecost, Peter is preaching, the time had come, this is it, the new covenant has arrived. The time had arrived for God to inaugurate the new covenant, one which is defined by forgiveness and His transformative power. In this covenant, again, He would cleanse sin entirely, forgiving iniquity, remembering sin no more. But this was not merely forgiveness, as if it's like a second chance. We'll just clean the slate and go at it again. That's not what this is. This is a total inner transformation. This is what the Bible refers to as regeneration, being made new on the inside. How? Well, what did He promise in the New Covenant? I will put My Spirit within you. God promised to place His Spirit within His people, replacing the external demands of the law with an internal desire and ability to walk in righteousness, no longer motivated by the pressure to perfectly obey the law. a law they couldn't keep. Instead, a new deep-seated love for God would arise within them, naturally leading to a life of genuine worship and heartfelt obedience. If you're here this morning and you're a Christian, that's what you have. That's the Holy Spirit inside of you. The Holy Spirit that says, I used to live a certain way for myself, but now I want to live for Christ. The Holy Spirit inside of you that says, you know what? I like to be around Christian people. I leave a conversation with my fellow believers where we talk about Christ and talk about the word and I'm built up, I'm encouraged. The Holy Spirit inside of you that compels you to sing songs of worship to praise God. The Holy Spirit who leads you to open His Word and to desire it, to want it more and more like food, like water that's refreshing, that just quenches your thirst. I just need it, I want it. Like a newborn babe might desire milk. That's the Holy Spirit inside of you. It's that Holy Spirit that convicts you when you sin. before when you used to sin with impunity, and though your conscience might be bothered because you're raised a certain way and so on, but it's different now. You sin and you say, Lord, forgive me. I want to live for you. I want to honor you. And you confess your sin. That's the Holy Spirit driving you to do that. You and I are beneficiaries of the new covenant. So, Peter preaches, and he concludes his sermon by declaring that this Jesus whom they rejected and whom they crucified is now exalted at the right hand of God, and He is exalted as both the promised Messiah and as Lord over all. In other words, Jesus was everything he claimed to be. I mean, there was debate. You know, we've been going through the Gospel of John. There's constantly debate. Who is he? What's his identity? Well, now they know, and this is what Peter's preaching, he was everything he claimed to be. And what you're seeing right now, that's evidence of it. He was the sent son of God. He is the only source of eternal life. His miracles proved this. His resurrection proved this. And now, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, producing this miracle in front of them, proved it. It's undeniable now that the Jews had made a dire mistake. They rejected and crucified the Lord of glory. They completely missed God's inauguration of the new covenant. Worse yet, not only have they despised God's only means of salvation, but they now found themselves, listen, positioned as the enemies of the one whom God has exalted as Lord over all, giving him all power and authority over men. Oops. When Jesus walked the earth, they found no problem abusing and rejecting the meek Messiah. They despised Him, they abused Him, and now that same meek Messiah is exalted as the risen Lord. What do you think is going on in their hearts in this moment? You can imagine the horror of some of these Jews as it dawned upon them what they had actually done by rejecting Jesus. For many, it was just like a knife to the heart. They were overcome with their own guilt and need for salvation. Whereas they were quick to be offended at Jesus when Jesus preached and taught and said, you know, you must repent. And they said, well, what do you mean repent? We are Jews. We are children of Abraham. We're not sinners. And they were offended at him, but not anymore. Now they're convicted. Now the Holy Spirit has exposed their sinfulness. Now they have no illusions regarding their own sinfulness. They now know that they're sinners in need of salvation. And they're now convinced that the only source of that salvation is the exalted Christ. So look at the response in verse 37 of Acts 2. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? This is a striking awareness of their own sin and guilt, and the fact that Jesus is the only source of forgiveness and salvation, and they want to know, they understand the predicament they're in, and they, Peter, tell us, how should we now respond? What can we do? And Peter's response in verse 38, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Immediately I'm struck there with the fact that this is not just a merciful forgiveness of sins, as if, do this and God will wipe out your debt, but he says, not only will you be forgiven, but you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who had rejected Jesus Christ, whose death inaugurated the new covenant, can now become beneficiaries of that same covenant if they will simply what? Repent and be baptized. And so for the remainder of our time this morning, we're just going to focus in on what that means. Repent and be baptized. Repent and be baptized. We're going to talk about what baptism symbolizes more next week. We're going to talk about the importance of baptism in the life of a believer. But before we do that, we're going to define baptism. We're going to unfold this definition a little bit this week and more in the weeks to come. Here's our definition. Baptism is the act of fully immersing a new believer in water, through which they publicly declare their repentance from sin, faith in Jesus, and commitment to follow Him as His disciple. As the sign of the new covenant, it pictures the cleansing from sin, union with Christ, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and one's addition to Christ's Church. That's our working definition. We'll deal with the first part of that today, and we'll unfold it in the sermons to come. It might sound a bit convoluted. It'll make a little bit more sense as we continue. But, let's return to Peter's sermon. Peter answers those Jews who are experiencing this spiritual crisis with the command to what? First of all, repent. Repent. Repent and be baptized. First of all, repent. One of the reasons the Jews rejected Jesus is that he preached repentance. Matthew chapter four, from that time Jesus began to preach saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repentance in its simplest form Simplest sense simply means to turn, to turn. Like you're headed in one direction, hey, turn around, come back in the other direction. This is clear from Peter's sermon in Acts 3 when he says, repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. In Paul's words in Acts 26, where he describes his own preaching ministry, he says that he declared first to those at Damascus, those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with repentance. They're living in one way, in rebellion against God. The call is to repent, that is, turn to God, and now change your behavior, change your lifestyle as evidence of that repentance. And so, at its most basic level, it simply means to turn around. And we know that this means to turn from sin to turn to God, to turn from unbelief to belief, as we'll see. Paul had earlier written to the Thessalonians where he described the word of their testimony that had spread around. 1 Thessalonians 1.9, he says, for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. And that's an awesome verse to help us understand repentance. to turn to God from idols, right? Former lifestyle, worshiping false gods and all the lifestyle behaviors that are associated with idol worship, which is a lot of sexuality and sensuality and rebellion. So to turn from the worship of idols to God, and then what? To serve the living and true God. And so that repentance then is evidence through a changed lifestyle of service to the living God. So that, I think, is a good picture of what repentance is. Repentance involves a turning from a life where God was not worshipped to a life where God is served. This includes a turning away from a lifestyle which displeased God to a lifestyle which pleases God. Paul said that genuine repentance included what? Performing deeds in keeping with repentance. Don't just say you've repented. Don't just say that you've turned away. No, there's evidence of this. There's long-term evidence of repentance. So perform deeds in keeping with repentance. And again, go on to serve the living and true God. So Peter preaches. Repent. Get right with God. Do it now. Jesus says, what? Because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Peter says, what? Because a new covenant has been inaugurated, so repent. And what will be the consequence of this repentance? What does Peter say in Acts 2? He says that when one repents, they will receive the forgiveness of sins." Repent for the forgiveness of sins. And the gift of the Holy Spirit. These are the promises of the New Covenant. That's what we saw in Ezekiel. That's what we saw in Jeremiah. Ezekiel said that God would put His Spirit within them. Peter says, repent and you'll receive the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah said, what? In the New Covenant, He'll forgive your iniquities and remember them no more. Peter says, repent and what? you're going to receive the forgiveness of sins. So he's saying repent and be baptized. What he's saying is then receive all the benefits of the new covenant. But repentance includes more than simply turning from sin to obedience. It also includes a turning from unbelief to belief, from unbelief to belief. It's not that obedience and belief are kind of, you know, separate aspects of repentance. but that God defines what it means to obey Him. So then if you desire to obey God the Father, now that in the unfolding of His redemptive plan, now that the new covenant has come, what it means to obey God, and this might be your question this morning. If you're not a Christian here, you might be thinking, okay, well, I want to serve God. I want to turn, I want to obey Him, but I don't know what that looks like. Under the new covenant, For the purposes of the New Covenant, obedience towards God presently means what? Believe the gospel. Believe the gospel. This requires a turning from faithlessness to faith. So would you obey God? Believe the gospel. Specifically, it means believing the good news that forgiveness and salvation have come through Jesus Christ. We see this in Jesus' words in Mark 1. It says, Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. These are not two things to be separated. These are never to be separated. But repent, and what would that look like? Believe in the gospel. In describing his ministry to the Ephesian elders, Paul said this in Acts 20, 21. He said that he had been testifying both to the Jews and Greeks of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, these are not two separate elements, two things to be separated. These things should never be separated, but repentance towards God under the new covenant means what? Place your faith in Jesus Christ. If you would obey God, believe in Jesus. The call to repentance is a call to turn from sin and rebellion and the worship of other things to a loving obedience which serves God. And since God has now inaugurated the new covenant through Jesus, this repentance includes a placing of one's faith in God's Son, whom he has appointed as Lord over all. So, when we talk about repentance in connection to the gospel, it always includes the ideas of turning from sin and turning to an obedient faith, a faith which God defines as believing and obeying His Son. John 3.35 says, The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He is exalted as Lord over all, as authority. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, What does it say next? Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. You see, you cannot say that you worship God if you don't believe and obey the Son. This is the New Covenant. There's no way to please the Creator of heaven and earth if you do not believe and obey His Son. What does it say there in John 3, 36? Whoever believes in the Son is eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. And so God says, this is a matter of whether you receive salvation by my hand or wrath by my hand. And so believe in my Son. I've set him forth as authority. I've given him all power and authority over heaven and earth. So you must believe in him and submit to him. And if you don't, my wrath, my wrath. So God has ushered in the New Covenant, which offers the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit and a permanent adoption into His family through Jesus. Turning to God, or repentance, now requires that one embrace the Son as both Savior and Lord. In other words, repentance towards God requires faith in His Son. John 6 says, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. So maybe you have a generic conception. I believe in God. I hope to have a life that pleases God. I say there is no life which pleases God apart from belief and obedience towards Jesus Christ. This is the new covenant. He has set forth His Son and given Him all power and authority. And so if you would please God, believe and obey His Son. Also, John writes in 1 John 3, it says, and this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. You want to obey God? You want to keep His commandments? Believe in the one He has sent, Jesus Christ. So, now, if we take kind of everything we've said thus far, we've talked about repentance, we've talked about obedience, we've talked about faith. But what we're learning is that these things are not separate elements that can be separated one from another. But we're learning biblically that these things are always included together. And when we speak of one, the others are always assumed. So repentance and obedience and belief and faith in Jesus are always connected one to the other. To repent means to obey God. And what does that look like now, under the New Covenant? It means embracing His plan for the ages, which is what? The setting forth of Jesus as the only Savior and Lord. So, to obey God means to believe in Jesus. To turn to God then means to do what God commands, which again, for the purpose of the New Covenant, is to honor and obey Jesus. Listen to John 5. It says, for the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. And so again, you say, well, I want to obey God. Then submit to his Son. Say, I want to honor God. Then you must honor the Son. Verse 24, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life. Jesus says there, here's my word and believes him who sent me. What does that mean, believes him who sent me? believe the father's testimony about his son. The father confirms, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. The father affirms that Jesus is who he claims to be by all the miracles that he does. He does that again through the resurrection. Jesus is saying, what? Hear me and believe in me and in doing so, what you're doing is obeying and believing what the father has revealed. So repentance, obedience, faith are always connected in the New Testament and inseparable. Believing in the Son and obeying the Son are united. Faith and repentance are always connected. And of course this is the case, because no one would ever genuinely repent at the hearing of the gospel unless they first believe the contents of the gospel. You can't separate faith and repentance. The thousands of men hearing Peter's sermon When they say, what shall we do, and Peter says, repent and be baptized, obviously they would not have asked what shall we do if they had not first believed what Peter had preached. And so they have faith. So Peter doesn't say, believe and be baptized. He says, repent and be baptized. But what are we automatically meant to assume? They are at a place of faith. That's why they're asking the question. So if you believe, repent. And how do you make those things known publicly? He says through baptism. So let's summarize it this way. When Peter commands men to repent, he's doing so as a preacher of the new covenant. He's calling men and women to turn from their sin and rebellion and unbelief into an obedient faith in God. Within the New Covenant age, obedience towards God requires an embrace of Jesus Christ as God's Son. It's an obedience which trusts Jesus as the only Savior and submits to Him as the only rightful Lord. It's a faith which believes that through Him we might receive the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and adoption into the family of God. That's what we've learned thus far. But now let's go back to Peter's answer in Acts 2. Because isn't this supposed to be a sermon on baptism? We're getting there. Acts 2.38, Peter's response. What should we do? Repent. Turn to God. Repent of your sin. Repent of your rebellion. Turn to God. And what does it look like to turn to God under this new age of the new covenant? Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. for the forgiveness of sins, and you should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." And so, Peter's hearers here have come to understand their sin and to believe in Jesus. And they want to know, then, what should we do? Peter's response, if you want forgiveness of sin, if you want all the benefits of the new covenant, if you want to receive the promised Holy Spirit, repent. But more than that, Repent and be baptized. Hmm. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, Peter's audience is very familiar with baptism. Baptism was not an invention. In the New Testament, this idea of full immersion of a person into water was actually quite common. The Jews had commonly practiced baptism as a form of ritual purification. There's some indication that when a proselyte, a non-Jew, wanted to convert to Judaism, they would be baptized. We don't quite know whether that was in place at the time of the New Testament writing or whether it came later, but the point is the Jews were very familiar with baptism. And besides that, they were even familiar with baptism connected to discipleship because John the Baptist baptized. John 19.4, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who is to come after him, that is Jesus. And again, you see baptism of repentance connected to belief. So what? Repent of your sin, turn, be baptized, and in doing so, you're saying, I'm prepared to believe in Jesus. Now that was John's baptism. That was a little bit different, but the point is the Jews were very familiar with baptism. Now, of course, when John baptized, the Jews refused that. Many of the Jews refused that baptism. Many Jews were baptized, but the leadership rejected the idea because to them, baptism as a ritual purification implied that you're impure. Baptism, if it was like a proselyte baptism, was really for Gentiles. And so to tell a Jewish leader, you should be baptized, was to tell them that they're a sinner that needs to repent and to turn, and they didn't like that one bit. And so they refused to be baptized by John. So they're familiar with baptism. But this baptism that Peter's preaching in Acts 2 is a little bit different. To be baptized in Jesus' name was to make a public declaration that one was committing to be His follower or His disciple. It was an overt confession that Jesus was Lord and that the one being baptized was pledging allegiance to Him. To be baptized in the name of Jesus was to take upon oneself a new identity, to set oneself apart from all others, to say, I belong to Christ. Of course, this meant that to be baptized, especially in the first century, I shouldn't say especially in the first century, because this is true in other parts of the world, present day. Of course, then to be baptized meant that one might have to potentially pay a price for that baptism. What I mean by that is there's going to be a cost involved. Baptism is a public confession of Jesus as Lord, and identifying as His disciple is setting oneself apart, and potentially then, what? Renouncing all other potential lords. Renouncing all other potential gods. This sometimes results in persecution. Sometimes results in criticism. Some of you have experienced this, when you were baptized. You want to get baptized, and maybe you have someone say, wait a second, you were baptized as a baby. Or maybe you're coming from some other religion. And they're fine with you maybe attending church here and there, but you say, I'm going to be baptized, and all of a sudden, it's criticism, perhaps persecution, rejection. Sometimes you might have an individual who's disowned or excommunicated. Because baptism is a public, full-throated confession of Jesus as one's Lord. So that when one is baptized, they're expressing a willingness even to suffer for his name. Peter is saying, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. This could be costly for these Jews. During Jesus' earthly ministry, there were some Jews who the Bible says believed in Jesus, but they wouldn't make it public. They wouldn't make it public. They were afraid that if they made it public, if they were baptized, they would be cast out of the synagogue, and they didn't want to pay a price. They didn't want to incur a cost. So what Peter is saying here is that If you want to receive all the benefits of the New Covenant, you want to be saved, you want to receive forgiveness of sin, if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, if you want to enter the New Covenant, you've got to make a public declaration of your faith in Jesus. You've got to identify yourself as His disciple. He must be confessed as Lord. He must be acknowledged before others. And baptism is God's prescribed way to do this. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 10. He says, A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household?" He's saying, listen, if they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you. They said of Jesus, oh, he's possessed with the demon, right? I mean, that's how they explained his teaching and so on. They said that he was an agent of Satan. Jesus is saying, if they treated me this way, don't expect you're going to be treated any better. So then verse 26, so have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. Don't hide. Don't take that candle and put it under a bushel. Proclaim it. Don't be afraid of them. Listen, they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you. That's what it is to be my disciple. Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father? But even the hairs of your head are all numbered." Have no fear. God is your God. He will protect. He will not abandon you. Know, to identify with me as your master means you're going to be treated as I was treated. You're going to incur, potentially, some persecution, but don't fear. Verse 31. Verse 32. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Jesus is saying that to be his disciple is to acknowledge him publicly before men, even if it means incurring persecution from others. It's enough, he says. It's enough. for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. So we see here a connection then, when it comes to becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, Jesus says, make it public. Make it public. Jesus desires no secret disciples. Jesus says he must be acknowledged before men. And this is why the very first act of obedience for a new believer is baptism. It's a public confession of Jesus. It's an outward expression of our inward repentance and our confession of Jesus as Lord. Now, some of you may have become uncomfortable with some of my language here. You may think that maybe the way I'm speaking about baptism is making it a little bit too big of a deal, because I did say, really explaining what Peter is saying, if you want to receive forgiveness of sin, you want to receive the Holy Spirit, You should be baptized, because that's what Peter says. He says, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, some will read that and say, well, it says, for the forgiveness of sins, that means because of the forgiveness of sins. Because you've received the forgiveness of sins, be baptized. Could be. But then he says, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So he at least there is saying, be baptized and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So we got to do something with that. So, you might be getting uncomfortable with that type of language. Be assured, I'm not teaching and don't believe the Bible teaches that you must be baptized in order to be saved. This is obvious from the example of the thief on the cross. The thief on the cross put his faith in Jesus. Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise, and he was not baptized. Baptism is not necessary for salvation. That being said, we should be careful. Always use biblical language. And we should never shy away from biblical language. We should not shy away from biblical language, even if we fear that by using biblical language, we kind of give quarter to those who teach falsely. So there are those who teach what we might call baptismal regeneration, the idea that you must be baptized in order to be saved. And for fear of maybe opening a door to that, we have to be careful not to alter or shy away from biblical language, just because it might lead someone to falsely come up with that false teaching. So we want to be careful to use biblical language here. Let me give you a couple examples, or at least one other example, of how baptism is spoken of in the New Testament. Acts 22.16. When Saul was converted, Saul, the persecutor of the church, encounters Jesus Christ. Jesus says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul's converted. But Saul goes and meets a man named Ananias. And Ananias is kind of the agent that God provides to guide Paul. Paul has this crisis of faith, this spiritual encounter with Jesus, and realizes, I'm in big trouble. I've been persecuting Christ, and he's the exalted Lord, similar to what these individuals in Acts 2 are experiencing. So God provides Ananias to help guide Paul. Ananias says to Paul in Acts 22-16, and now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. Well, if you weren't uncomfortable yet, that might make you uncomfortable. Could I have said, Mary, come forward and wash away your sins? I mean, if I said that this morning, half of you would have left and the other half of you, I would have questioned why you didn't leave. But is that not biblical language? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins. I mean, that's what Ananias told Paul, so why can't Rick say that to Mary? And Peter, in our very passage, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So it appears as if you want to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and be baptized. Well, we've got to do something with that. It's biblical language. It seems pretty clear and apparent. It appears that through baptism sins are washed away. It appears through baptism that one receives the forgiveness of sins. It appears that through baptism one receives a gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet, look a little bit closer to what Ananias says in Acts 22.16. Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. Calling on his name. Whose name? The name of Jesus. Okay. So what do we know? We know that if Paul would follow Ananias' counsel here and were to be baptized calling on his name, what is that calling on his name? That's an expression of faith and repentance. Okay. He's not going to call on the name of Jesus unless he has now turned and recognized that he was persecuting Christ and that Christ is the exalted Lord who needs to be called on. He would not have done that, would not do that, unless he first believed the gospel. and was willing to submit to Christ. So we don't just have baptism here, do we? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name. So it appears as if there we have faith, and we have repentance, and we have baptism. So, when we see rise and be baptized, where should our minds go? We say, well, this person is being genuinely baptized. They're being genuinely baptized because they understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. Baptism is baptism in the name of Jesus. To be baptized in the name of Jesus is to say publicly, I want to be His disciple. That comes from a heart that says, I believe that He's the only Savior, and I believe that He's the exalted Lord, and I want to serve Him. As good students of Scripture, having an understanding of the entire New Testament and beyond, we should be able to read, rise and be baptized, and wash away our sins calling on His name, and understand that implicit is that is also faith and repentance. These things should never be separated. The Jews at Pentecost were repentant, weren't they? They realized that they had crucified Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Paul was repentant, having realized that he was persecuting Christ in his church. In both cases, this repentance in faith were to be expressed publicly by the same means. What does that mean? Baptism. Baptism is so inextricably linked to repentance and faith that it can sometimes be spoken of without reference to either. Baptism doesn't save. But baptism is God's prescribed means to publicly confess one's repentance and to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. In this way, baptism is designed by God to be inseparably linked to repentance and faith. Faith or belief was never to be separated from repentance. A faith that doesn't repent is not genuine faith, it's just a platitude. Repentance was never to be separated from faith. Repentance separate from faith is not repentance, it's just remorse. Baptism, as the L word expression of faith and repentance, was never to be separated from either. A baptism, which is not an outward expression of genuine faith and repentance, is not baptism. It's just a bath. There's a type of figure of speech that's being employed here. The way in which faith and repentance and baptism are used in the New Testament is interesting. The literary device is what we would call synecdoche. Raise your hand if you're familiar with that. Synecdoche. One. I get some teachers nodding their head, okay. So there's three of you. So you might have to correct me later, teachers, but this is a literary device in which a part of something can be substituted for the whole. The whole, in this case, is the whole conversion experience. The parts are faith, repentance, and baptism. There are times in the New Testament where faith is used as a synecdoche for the entire conversion experience. Acts 4.4, But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. It just says believed. Where's the repentance? Jesus preached repentance. Peter preached repentance. Paul preached repentance. And here it just says they believed. Well, where's the repentance? You don't have to mention repentance there. It's implicit in the reference or in the invocation of belief. There's times when repentance is used as a synecdoche for the entire conversion experience. Again, Paul in Acts 26.19, Well, where's faith? Where's belief? He just says repent and turn to God. Are we supposed to assume then that they didn't believe and that there wasn't faith? No, the exact opposite. We are to assume that there's faith in repentance. I'm sorry, that there's faith, that there's belief. And then again in Acts 22.16 with Ananias, he simply uses baptism. as a synecdoche for the entire conversion experience. Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins. And that's okay. Because when we say baptism, we're never to separate it from faith and repentance. These things always go together in the New Testament. So say baptism, but understand faith repentance. Say faith, but also understand repentance. Say repentance, but also understand faith. And that's okay. That's how the Bible deals with the conversion experience. So, I could ask you, I want to know about your salvation. And I say, how long has it been since you believed? And you know what I'm talking about. I could say to you, oh, when did you get baptized? That could be a way of trying to determine how long you've been a Christian. I could even ask you, oh, when did you first repent and turn to God? And you know what I'm talking about. In each of those instances, I'm not saying when were you baptized and assuming that you had no faith and didn't repent. When I say, how long has it been since you turned to God, I'm not suggesting to you that there's no faith or that you weren't baptized. Of course not. So we speak this way and have no problem with it. When I mention faith, it's implicit that repentance was present. When I mention repentance, it's implicit that faith was at work. And when I mention baptism, it's implied that baptism was an expression of repentance and faith. So, Peter can say, and you said, Rick, I thought this was going to be a shorter sermon. Sorry. You were right. Those of you who chuckled, you were right. So, Peter can say to the men at Pentecost who have come to recognize their sin and their need for forgiveness through Jesus, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's okay. They believed. They repented. And that baptism is an expression that that repentance is real. That baptism is an expression that that faith is real. He had no fear that some might think he was preaching that baptism alone saved, or that faith wasn't necessary, because baptism in the mind of his hearers would never have been separated from repentance and faith. For Peter, baptism was the expression of repentance. So what do we learn here, as we conclude? We learn that for disciples of Jesus, faith and repentance and baptism should always go together. And again, we learn from the example of the thief on the cross that ultimately baptism is not necessary for salvation. What else do we learn? We learn that really the only situation we see in the New Testament where it's kind of allowable that an individual, or understandable, that a genuine disciple is not baptized is when they're absolutely, wholly, physically unable to be baptized. That's understandable. If there are extenuating circumstances that are beyond your control that keep you from being baptized, that's understandable. But apart from those exceptions, Jesus would have no private disciples. If you believe, and as a result of that belief you have repented, God's prescribed means of you expressing that faith and repentance is baptism. That public declaration of your faith in Jesus and determination to be His disciple. There should be no genuine disciples who remain unbaptized. Physical inability, understandable. Extenuating circumstances, understandable. But if there is a refusal to be baptized, or a lack of urgency in being baptized, I think we're approaching the territory of Matthew 10 that we looked at, where Jesus said what? So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. And so as a church, we have to say, if you're unwilling to make a public declaration of your faith in Jesus, and to take his name upon yourself, declaring before witnesses that you would be his disciple. If you're unwilling to do that, we as a church have to say, well, you are raising serious questions as to the sincerity or the genuineness of your faith, because this is the prescribed means. This is the first step of obedience for a disciple of Jesus. So to return to our definition, we've just covered the first sentence. Baptism is the act of fully immersing a new believer in water. We could take time to see biblically that baptism was always down into the water and out again. We didn't do that. Taking for granted you understand that. Baptism is the act of fully immersing a new believer in water. You say, does it have to be a new believer? And I debated about whether I should put that in the definition because, hey, you don't have to be a new believer. Maybe you haven't been baptized, it's been a long time, but now you're realizing, hey, I should be baptized, and you're not a new believer. I get that, but frankly, baptism at its core definition, is for new believers. This is what's expected of a new believer. If you are an older believer, hey, you're just beyond the time here. I think, repent, say, forgive me Lord, I want to be baptized. But baptism is an act of fully immersing a new believer in water, through which they publicly declare their repentance from sin, faith in Jesus Christ, and commitment to follow Him as His disciple. Next week we're going to continue to the next sentence. As the sign of the New Covenant, it pictures the cleansing from sin, union with Christ, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and one's addition to Christ's church. And so we're going to deal with some of the symbolism of baptism. So, in conclusion, baptism is the believer's outward declaration of an inward transformation. It's the visible act through which we confess our repentance from sin, faith in Jesus, and commitment to follow Him as Lord. Baptism marks our entrance into the New Covenant. signifying our cleansing from sin. Now, notice my terminology here. It marks our entrance. It signifies our cleansing and our union with Christ in his death and resurrection and new life empowered by the Spirit. Just as faith, repentance, and baptism are united in the conversion experience, baptism cannot be separated from a sincere commitment to Jesus. To be baptized is to publicly identify with Christ and his body, the church, acknowledging his lordship in our lives and our willingness to suffer for His name if we are called to do so. So this morning, to those of you who are here who place genuine faith in Jesus but have not yet been baptized, consider this an invitation. Consider this an invitation to take that step of obedience. Baptism is not just an optional ritual. It's a command from Christ. This is the Great Commission. He says, all power, all authority is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a public declaration of your commitment to Christ, a step that identifies you openly as his follower and aligns you with his people. For some, There may be a concern for the public nature of baptism. And I get it. I mean, this can be nerve-wracking, right? And frankly, from a human perspective, a cultural perspective, it's odd to fill a tank with water and to baptize someone in front of others. I get it. And there's a cost involved to baptism. Might not be persecution, might not be rejection by others, but it may be that a sense of public embarrassment for some of you. I get it, but all I can say is that baptism does come with a cost. Confessing Christ publicly does come with a cost. But he said, whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. And so the shame and reproach you're willing to bear for Jesus, he says, I'm going to bear the same for you, and I'm going to acknowledge you before the Father. If you believed and repented, baptism is the next natural response of your faith, so don't delay. Don't delay in showing this tangible expression of your new life in Christ. Take that step not to complete your salvation, but to declare it, to identify with Jesus publicly, and to proclaim that you're his disciple. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. And Lord, I thank you for Mary this morning, who made that decision to make her faith public. She was willing to come forward in front of witnesses, in front of others, to be fully immersed in water. And from a human perspective, this can be embarrassing, it can be extremely difficult for some, but she was willing to do this publicly. I think it's wonderful evidence of genuine faith, a willingness to bear reproach for your name. So I thank you for her faith. I thank you for the evidence of her faith. We pray for others this morning who are genuine believers, but have not yet been baptized. We pray that they could understand baptism biblically, that they could sense the urgency, and that they would make their discipleship known, that they would identify with Jesus publicly. Though they may be nervous, about baptism, help them, out of their love for Jesus, to have a willingness to bear that publicly, acknowledging that He promises that those who identify with Him, He will acknowledge before the Father. So, deal in the heart of these believers, genuine believers who have not yet been baptized. I pray that they'd make that decision. And then, Lord, lastly, we pray for those this morning who have not yet come to faith in Jesus, or maybe who just this morning have come to understand their need for Christ, that He's your sent Son, the only source of eternal life, and the exalted Lord. For these who have come to recognize Christ and their need for salvation, we pray that they'd make that faith public, that repentance public, through public baptism. Lord, we thank you for this. Help us to use biblical language, to strike biblical balance, to never fall into the error of thinking baptism saves, but also to not fall into the error of downplaying baptism or disconnecting it, separating it from faith and repentance. We thank you for this and your goodness to us. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.