Good morning. No, it's not a mistake. Sam is there and I'm here. Sam forgot his notes and I remembered mine, so I'll just preach this morning. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six. We're gonna read verses one to 14. And I'm not gonna be preaching on this text, but it sets a good background for this text, which is not teaching about water baptism in any way, but something more important to water baptism. It is teaching us what water baptism signifies. And I'll be referring to this text just once or twice, but it's always a good place to start, even with a topical sermon like baptism. Romans chapter six, hear the word of God. What then shall we say? Are we to continue with sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin live still and still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death, we were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father we too might walk in newness of life. For if we've been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him. in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer hath dominion over him. For the death he died to see died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not therefore sin reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness, for sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace. The topic, as I mentioned, is believers' baptism. It's always a special day in the life of our church when we administer and witness baptism. It's a reminder to us that amid the trials of life and the turmoils of daily life and work and even death, all these things, sometimes discouragements in the church and our own failures and our weaknesses, in our personal walk with Christ, there is one who is faithful, one who is constant, one who will never leave us nor forsake us, Christ our Savior and our God. And it is Christ who is building His church as we've seen four new members added to our number today. Christ is building His church. He himself is the cornerstone of that building being built. His church soul by soul and when a person comes to believe on Christ there is the Bible teaches great rejoicing in heaven among souls departed believers there waiting around the throne of God for the resurrection of their bodies by the angels and the heavenly beings much glory given to the risen Christ for his suffering and his death and his resurrection in bringing many sons to glory. We're going to use this opportunity, this baptismal service today, to remind ourselves, friends, members, visitors, here today, what baptism means. Why do we continue to practice this ancient Christian custom? What is its importance, its meaning, and its significance? Now, our time today is made up of six biblical assertions concerning baptism to help us gain a better understanding of the importance and the significance of baptism in the church. And my prayer is that this would not merely be a doctrinal study on what baptism is, but rather a spiritual exercise to remind us of the many blessings and benefits to our souls that our own baptism holds. May our souls be lifted to rejoice in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become better worshippers of this living God, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by the consideration, the grace, and the mercy, and the peace given to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, signified in baptism. So six biblical assertions, and some are shorter than the others, and number one, Firstly, Christ instituted baptism to be the visible entrance into the church perpetually. Christ instituted baptism to be the visible entrance into the church perpetually. A confession is always a good place to go, page 685. Chapter 29 of Baptism states, Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, of remission of sins, and of giving up into God through Jesus Christ. to live and walk in newness of life. And you heard those words this morning. Christ instituted baptism as he did the Lord's Supper. And we believe these are the only two perpetual ordinances commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ to be practiced on the church here on earth. They are not man-made traditions. They carry no merit for salvation whatsoever. The all-too-frequent picture of the dying man and the race to administer baptism or the Lord's Supper to him to prevent a soul from damnation is entirely unbiblical. This goes against the gospel and the only possible rite of passage to heaven, namely the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way and the truth and the life. and that Christ is the only way to the Father. In His vicarious death, His suffering and His death and His resurrection is to find a way to God through repentance and faith. There are ordinances to be observed in remembrance and in proclamation by the Christian Church until He comes. I'm sorry, you know this so well, the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly in the Great Commission, Matthew 28, and Jesus said to him some of his last words, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to absorb all things, that I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you until the end of the age." And this is exactly what the apostles proceeded to do in the New Testament. This command became an apostolic tradition practiced and commanded by the apostles in the written scriptures and the breathed out Word of God. We know this, for on the day of Pentecost, you remember what happens. This was the outcome of the Apostle Peter's preaching, the God-ordained way of communicating the truth of the gospel, the preached word. And listen to what happened on that day in Acts 2 and 41. So those who received the word, what is the first thing that they do? They are baptized. And there were added that day about 3,000 souls added to the church. to the church. Note also from the very outset, those who believed by the work of the Spirit through the Word were not only baptized but they were added to the church. Those things go hand in hand. In fact, the whole New Testament teaches us that it makes no sense to be baptized and then to go off and not be added They were added that day about 3,000 souls. When you repent, believe. and are baptized, you are added to the universal church of God, the invisible church. In the book of Acts and throughout the whole New Testament, those who are baptized were also added to the visible church on earth, the expression of Christ's body. It never stopped with baptism, but it always resulted in them being joined to a local church. That is why the apostles appointed pastors and teachers under shepherds to watch over Christ's people who had been added to the church. Full-time people to take care of those souls. And the great commission of Christ is cut in half if we do not add ourselves to the church. If we are baptized, as some people do, and make a run for it, I worship God in the golf course or whatever other lame excuse may offer, teaching them to observe all things I've commanded you. This can only happen if you're part of the local church. And behold, I am with you always. in the church, in the church, until the end of the age. Most of the teaching, the epistles that follow, is directed to the church and its pastors, those joined to the church, those who enjoy the privileges and responsibilities of the local church, those who by Christ's command have come under the authority of the church. One of the questions just asked of our new members, accountable, to their brothers and sisters in Christ, accountable to our pastors. This is to be accountable to Jesus Christ, the head of the church. This is God's order, intention, and clear command. You are not a church in yourself. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are baptized and refuse to join yourself to a church, you have fallen short of Christ's intention and design for his church, and you've put yourself above the law of Christ and the order he intended for his children. This wasn't just on the day of Pentecost, but was the perpetual practice of the New Testament church and the church down throughout all history. The work of the early apostles was to establish churches and to appoint pastors in those churches so that after conversion and faith in Christ and baptism, there would be a church to be joined to, so the work of Christ may be perpetuated by the church through the Word. And that is things that are profitable for teaching the Word of God, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete. equipped for every good work. You cannot do that outside of the church. Christ instituted baptism to be the visible entrance into the church perpetually. Secondly, and more briefly, secondly, baptism being the law of Christ, and therefore God, is not an elective for a believer. Christ, baptism being the law of Christ, and therefore God, is not an elective for the believer. We like that word in the 21st century, it's an elective, I don't need to go there, I'm not going. It's not an elective. Two ordinances of the Christian Church, baptism and the Lord's Supper, were instituted by Christ himself. It then follows naturally and obviously, since it is the law of Christ that these are not electives for believers. They are commands given by Christ in the observance of Christian worship. This is what we do in Christian worship. That's why as Reformed Baptists we include both as part of the regulative principle of worship, together with the singing of hymns, the reading of scripture, and the prayer. both baptism and the Lord's Supper. The principle simply means that we include in our Christian worship of God only what is commanded by His Word, and we exclude anything that has not been commanded expressly by Christ Himself. That's our regulative principle of worship. Command for the person who has repented, The expressed faith in Christ alone for salvation is found, as we all know, in the Great Commission, which I've quoted. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It follows then that believers' baptism is obedience to the commands of Christ. Therefore, not an elective, if you have trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, repented of your sin and received the gift of faith and the forgiveness of your sin, you must be baptized. Because what does it mean to be a follower of Christ? It means to obey Christ. But we can disobey the very first command. How can we do that? Practice in the New Testament bears this out continually. Let me just give you three texts. You needn't turn there. Mark 16 and verse 16. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Acts 8 and verse 12. But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. In Acts 18, 18, Crispus, the real ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his whole household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. Baptism, being the law of Christ and of God, is not an elective for the believer. Thirdly, the third biblical principle, baptism is not for the unbeliever. Baptism is not for the unbeliever, and this baptism would include a child. Both ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, offer believers and believers alone. That is why in this church, we will not baptize anyone who is not given credible profession of his faith and clear evidence of his repentance and his faith in Christ. That is why we offer membership classes that require written testimony of your faith in Christ to hear and see the evidence of God's work of grace in the hearts of those candidates. That is why we hedge the table of the Lord, not because we snobbish as Baptists. We hedge the table of the Lord, yes, make it even harder to partake of the Lord's Supper if you're not a member here, because it is not our table. It's the table of the Lord, and His church is accountable. Pastors, deacons, and members to its living head, the Lord Jesus Christ. we have a delegated authority to preserve the purity and the unity of the Church of Christ. Chapter 29 of Baptism, in our confession again, states those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. Christ's command and the New Testament teaching and practice never places baptism before faith and repentance. Christ's words in Mark 16 before the Great Commission already make this clear. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. The baptism, the repentance of John the Baptist required repentance before baptism. John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Faith in Christ must always precede baptism, and baptism is the first command of Christ to be obeyed by the new believer for entrance into the visible church. Romans 10.9, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. While there is no saving merit in baptism, brothers and sisters, it is obedience to gospel command. And obedience to God is always accompanied with blessing and reward. Baptism is not for the unbeliever. but rather for the one who believes and professes faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. That brings us to the fourth assertion. Number four, baptism is a complete washing by water and symbolizes death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism is a complete washing by water and symbolizes death, burial, and resurrection. Most accounts of baptism in the scripture state clearly or they infer that the recipients go down into the water and come up out of the water. And in the Old Testament, baptisms or washings in the temple were performed from a huge basin of water, where the priests would wash by pouring water all over themselves, a complete washing. An important emphasis is both the symbolism of being washed clean by water, as well as a symbol of dying, of being buried. and of resurrection from the dead in Christ as His own baptism signified to us. Consider verse 3 and 4 of the Romans passage I read earlier. Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Christ's own baptism, we went down into the water, symbolizing what would happen, that He would be resurrected, having paid the punishment for our sin. Consider also Colossians 2 and verse 12, having been buried with Him in baptism, we identify with Christ, in which you will also raise with Him through faith in the powerful working of God. who raised him from the dead. There's no question of the element used as with the supper, it is the bread and the wine, and so with baptism, it is the water. And consider, I'll confess again, paragraph three, the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And part four says, immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance. John chapter 3, 23, John also was baptized in Aenon near Salem because water was plentiful there and people were coming and being baptized. What then is the significance of the water? I love the way the Heidelberg Catechism describes this. Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that as surely as water washes away dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his spirit will wash away the impurity of the soul, that is, all of my sins. That's the symbolism of the water-used baptism. The washing with water symbolizes the washing away of our sin by the blood of Christ. Paul preaching in Acts 22 verse 16 expressed it this way, and now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away all your sins. calling on his name. Even Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan was both a going down into and a coming up out of the water, thereby illustrating to us that it would be by Christ's own death and resurrection that we would be saved and brought to newness of life in Him. Baptism is a complete washing of water and symbolizes the believer's identification with Christ in His death in his burial and in his resurrection. This brings us to our fifth assertion. Fifthly, baptism is a means of grace to the gathered church. Baptism is a means of grace to the gathered church. What is a means of grace? It sounds very nice. It's the way that God has chosen to strengthen, to bless, to increase the faith of, to provide assurance of salvation to the believer. That's the means of grace. It is the way God gives assurance and faith to the believer. Assurance of sins forgiven. In other words, it's a means of increasing the faith of His assembled church. What are the means of grace that God has provided to the church to increase their faith, to grow in sanctification, in knowledge and grace? It's the reading of scripture. It's the prayers. It's the singing of hymns in worship, the preaching of the word of God, baptism. and the Lord's Supper, and some add, and rightly so, I believe, the fellowship of the believers. The corporate practice of these things in the assembled church is the true fellowship of the believers, not the chat about the football at lunchtime, and it's good to chat about those things, but it's the corporate participation of these things, singing hymns and psalms and spiritual hymns to one another, listening to the church. This we do together. That's true fellowship in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Is this why your pastors and members urge one another and more importantly the scriptures command the believer not to give up the habit of meeting together as some were in the habit of doing in the New Testament church and more apt to do in the 21st century church. The command was issued because it was being neglected in the New Testament. It is bad for your soul. That's what it boils, because it is neglect of your soul. You miss out by the means provided by Christ to strengthen your faith. Without the church and the means of grace given to the church, you will remain a baby in the faith. A baby can grow on milk. but he cannot mature on milk. He will be malnourished. It's about a balanced diet, both the milk and the meat of the word. This is making disciples. This is teaching them to observe all things. I have commanded you in the Great Commission, and this happens primarily in his church. That is why the special, extraordinary presence of God is promised to those who believe in His name. With two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be. in the midst of them, because only a gathering of His people represents the body of Christ, and He is the head of His body, the church. The church is a beautiful thing. The church is something we should love, and the church is made up of the members of Christ, members of His own body, Him being the head. To those baptized, therefore, it's a means of grace for us long after we are baptized. For it's a reminder of Christ's saving grace in our lives and in the lives of every member of our Christ Church. It's a reminder of our new life in Christ and the responsibility through the help of the Spirit to live a life of purity and holiness. Baptism is a means of grace to the gathered church. Our sixth and final assertion is this, number six, baptism is a declaration of the gospel promise. Baptism is a declaration of the gospel promise. Romans 10, 19 says, because if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Those words come to you. They are ever fresh and ever new. If you're an unbeliever here, you've come because there's a baptism. You're friends with the baptizing person. But the truth of the gospel, the promise of the gospel is that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart, God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. How do we declare the gospel in baptism? In the words of the institution of the Lord's Supper, we read, for as and often as you drink this bread and eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. In other words, the elements that we partake of in the Lord's Supper, the bread and the wine, is a picture and a proclamation of the gospel. We proclaim the death of Christ until He comes. He died, He suffered, died, was buried, rose again. And as the table of the Lord is a preaching, a declaration, a constant reminder for the believer of the visible sign, in the visible sign of the bread and the wine, so too baptism is a declaration, a testimony to the church, a testimony to the world of a believer's saving faith and cleansing from sin by the sign of the water. It's a picture that Christ died for my sins. According to the scripture, he rose again, and we die with him, and we're buried with him, and we're raised to newness of life, to walk in obedience to him. Jesus placed great emphasis in the acknowledgement of his name before man, and here in these two ordinances, he gives us the means to do just that. before the church in baptism we declare. We proclaim that the gospel has come in my life. I have exercised faith in Christ by His grace. We proclaim His name and salvation is in His name by our baptism. Matthew 10 and verse 32. 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 in Revelation 3 in verse 5 we are told, the one who conquers true believers who endure to the end, I will confess His name before My Father and before the angels. To summarize then, baptism is a proclamation of the gospel. I have died to my old way of life, I am buried with Christ. For in His death and burial, He died vicariously for me, for my sin, once for all, bearing its shame, paying the ransom, so that with Christ I have been risen to new life in Him. And as the water washes dirt from my body, so the water of the Word and His Spirit cleanses me from all my sin. through the blood of Christ shed for me, which we celebrate this afternoon as well. Baptism is a declaration of gospel promise. Unbeliever, today you've witnessed in the baptism by water, the gospel promise of God. If you repent and believe in the name of Christ, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, That's all you need to do. You will be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to Him in repentance and in faith, and you will be saved. And believer, may this means of grace in the church today serve to strengthen your faith. I've not been walking with Christ as I ought to. I've not been doing those things that the gospel command me to. I've left so many things undone that the gospel commands me to do. May your own baptism serve as a reminder of God's grace, mercy, and peace to you. May you be further reminded of how that ought to show itself in your life. Let me remind you of that in that passage we read in Romans 6. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your bodies to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace. What a blessed grace Lord Jesus Christ has given to His Church, a proclamation of the Gospel and a witness to the world and to the Church that I believe in Christ and I will follow Him. Amen.