Amen, it is good to be able to sing together in the congregation with the people of God. It's always wonderful to have that perspective. If you will turn with me now to the book of Acts chapter two. As we begin our sermon, our text, our starting text this morning will be Acts chapter two, verses 22 through 41. That's much better. Acts chapter 2 verses 22 through 41. Hear once again the word of the Lord. 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. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy ones see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. 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. And 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? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. This is the word of the Lord, and this morning I will be preaching on the church and baptism, why our baptism is important. You may be seated, and as you are seated, if you will, join me in prayer. Our Father in heaven, We acknowledge that you are king over all and that you control every facet of your creation. There is nothing, no matter how big or how small, that is not under the power of your word. All things are within the realm of your perfect and good wisdom and your infinite power to execute that wisdom. Today, we acknowledge that chief among your sovereign works is, in fact, the redemption of your people. As we have already been reminded this morning, our sin is great and it separates us from your infinite holiness. Apart from your steadfast love, oh God, we cannot see one day of holiness or righteousness ourselves. Indeed, we deserve an eternity of punishment under your wrath. Yet, in your infinite goodness and mercy, from the foundation of the world, you chose a people before you who would be made blameless and holy, that we might experience the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore in your presence. You have rescued us from the domain of darkness by sending your Son to take on human flesh and fulfill the law on our behalf so that he might die for us. And in so doing, give us his perfect righteousness. As we consider all these things this morning, we begin to understand the importance of our baptism as a visual declaration that we no longer belong to the kingdom of darkness, but are rather a people for your own possession. We have been marked and differentiated from those who continue to reject your word and remain in darkness. Through this act, we are declaring to the world that we are called to be salt and light to those who would believe in your name and so receive the forgiveness of their sins. So help us now as we consider the importance of our baptism and how we should live in light of it. We pray these things to you, our Father, in the name of our Lord, Christ Jesus, our Savior, amen. This morning, we continue our short series on the church as we begin this new year with this second sermon that will focus on the importance of baptism. So after beginning with an overview of the biblical model for the way that the church must worship and function together, it is, I believe, appropriate that we would move in this second sermon now to highlight the nature of Christian baptism. In our primary text, if you remember from last week's sermon, we saw a snapshot of the life of the early church in Acts 2 following the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. But what we must understand is the important event that preceded that summary statement that we read about, this description. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God is poured out to the church, and the disciples are filled with the Spirit, and they begin speaking in other tongues, other languages, as a sign that God's promises have been fulfilled, and that the gospel will go out to all who believe in Christ alone for the gift of salvation, that is, Jew and Gentile alike. Immediately following this event, then, of course, the Apostle Peter, as we just read, stands up and he begins to preach the gospel to all who are in Jerusalem for that Day of Pentecost, this Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem. In his sermon, Peter essentially interprets the recent events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth in light of all of God's promises in the Old Testament. Jesus is the Christ and he is the fulfillment of all those promises. Furthermore, despite the death of Christ being God's sovereignly ordained plan, nevertheless, all who stand before Peter listening now are guilty and they are condemned. They are responsible for the murder of Christ, either explicitly or implicitly. So this reality, it demands a response. What shall we do to be saved? Saved from God's coming wrath that we deserve? And there's only one right answer. Peter says, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So Peter continues on bearing witness and exhorting them. Then we finally read in the last verse that those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. You see, baptism is the entry right at the beginning of the Christian life that marks our entrance into Christ's church. This is the event that truly identifies the birth of the church that day at Pentecost. All of these people who are listening and receive the word are baptized as a sign of their union with Christ, and they are then added to the church. It is from this point that we then read the summary statement from Luke that we focused on last week, of how the church worshiped and functioned together. Now, despite the fact that many have used this passage and other similar descriptions throughout the rest of the book of Acts to sort of fully encompass and limit their theology of baptism, the reality is that this account of what happened that day that we just read about, it is simply that. It is an account. It is a description. It's a description of what happened, but it leaves off much detail about the full nature and purpose of baptism that we must then turn to find out about in several other passages all throughout the New Testament. If we limit our theology of baptism to the narrative texts about baptism, specifically in the book of Acts, we miss some very important key elements of what baptism is. And of course, this type of isolated reading of Scripture has led then to the many errors we see in evangelical practice of baptism today. And it really all stems from an ignorance and an ignoring of the full text of Scripture in its totality. So today I will briefly unpack several of these passages of scripture to help us gain a better and fuller understanding of God's design in Christian baptism. And I believe one of the best ways that we can do this is to look at the systematic summary of baptism that we are given in our confession of faith, the 1689 London Baptist Confession. The first thing we need to remember about baptism is that along with the Lord's Supper, it holds a unique place among the biblically prescribed elements of worship. Pastor Scott has written an article, it's very helpful, if you haven't read it, I recommend it to you, but he writes about how there are three ways in which baptism and the Lord's Supper are unique among the biblically prescribed, ordained elements of worship. First, they are unique to the Church and not to Israel. Reading the Word, preaching, prayer, and singing have always characterized the worship of God's people, but baptism and the Lord's Supper are unique for the New Testament Church. Second, While unbelievers can participate in preaching, scripture reading, prayer and singing, baptism and the table are restricted to believers. And then third, baptism and the table are distinct from the other ordinances in that they are visible signs of spiritual realities. With this in mind, we must understand that baptism and the Lord's Supper mark important what we might call barriers that relate specifically to church membership and participation. In other words, they signify something about what it means to be identified with Christ and his body, the church. Now let's look more specifically then at how our confession describes baptism as we see it outlined all throughout the New Testament. Chapter 29 in our confession provides four helpful and succinct elements and statements on baptism. However, it is the first paragraph that defines baptism, and this definition is what we will use to then help guide our understanding. The other three statements that are found in that chapter will be fleshed out and unpacked as we look specifically at this definition. So here is the definition that our confession gives. 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 and his death and resurrection, of his being engrafted into him, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in the newness of life. From this definition, we find five aspects for what baptism signifies that greatly assist us in gaining a sort of systematic biblical understanding of this ordinance. For the one being baptized, it is first of all a sign. That's something that's repeated throughout. A sign, and it is specifically, second, a sign of fellowship with Christ in His death and resurrection. It is thirdly, a sign of being engrafted into Christ. Four, a sign of remission of sins. And five, a sign of His giving unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in the newness of life. So in the rest of the time, as we unpack this, we're gonna look at each of those specific aspects of baptism. As we first look at this definition, we find the first word used to describe it, which then ties together all the other aspects. That is, that baptism is a sign, first, a sign. And this means that it, well, signifies, or represents, or stands for something. So the question is, What does baptism signify? Embedded in this concept of sign is the idea that this ordinance is, as we read earlier, an outward visible representation of an inward invisible and spiritual reality. What is that inward spiritual reality? Well, it is the reality that we indeed have been born again. that we have been made into new creations in Christ Jesus, that we actually have been brought from death to life, that we've had our hearts of stone taken away and we have received instead hearts of flesh. This is something that we have in no way brought about ourselves. We know it is rather what? It is a gift from God. And this is specifically what 1 Peter 1.3 tells us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And of course it keeps going on. There's a far greater spiritual reality that has taken place in our salvation than a simple cognitive acknowledgement that Christ died and was raised. And so the picture of that reality is then far greater than a mere mental assent and agreement. It's much more than that. Baptism by immersion in water as an outward physical sign of a greater true spiritual eternal reality. It is a sign of something greater. When we stand in front of a church that is a body of believers, covenanted to one another in Christ, and when we publicly profess our faith by being baptized, we are participating in the God-ordained sign, which then puts on display, and in a real sense we could say it dramatizes, the truth of our confession of faith that we have given with our mouths. No longer are we children of the devil. No longer do we belong to the kingdom of darkness. We are now children of light. We have been made slaves to righteousness in Christ. That is the reality. Now, as we look again at Acts chapter 2, specifically verses 36 through 41, the last part of that account, let us further consider the implication of what takes place. As Peter stands up and preaches his sermon on that day of Pentecost, it is no question that he speaks with profound boldness and clarity. Now remember, this is the same man who only a few weeks prior to this found himself denying Christ, not once, but three times, as Jesus was awaiting his sentence of condemnation. The same then once confused disciple now, something is very different about him, he is empowered by the Holy Spirit of God and he has come at Pentecost and he stands up among the apostles in front of the crowd of thousands of Jews in Jerusalem and he proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ. The man Jesus of Nazareth, who was once in their midst just a few weeks prior, is God made flesh. And he is the fulfillment of all of God's promises in the Old Testament. He has died according to God's plan to pay the penalty for sin as a ransom for many. And he was raised on the third day, proving that he has defeated death and hell once and for all. Furthermore, he has ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he has now poured out his spirit on his people. This also is a fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament and the very thing that they are now all witnessing before their very eyes and their ears. Finally, Peter reaches his conclusion in verse 36, and he says this, So here is the accusation that then demands a response. Christ Jesus of Nazareth, whom you, along with all the rest of the house of Israel, are responsible for murdering on the cross. This man, God has made both Lord and Christ by raising him from the dead. Here's the charge. You're guilty. You deserve punishment. You deserve wrath. And this Jesus whom you looked upon with shame and contempt is, again, the Christ, and he is Lord of all. He demands allegiance and submission because he, in reality, has all power and all authority. Therefore, there are only two ways to respond, the right way and the wrong way. As Peter proclaims the gospel and the people's guilt and condemnation, they are then cut to the heart by God's word, which is, of course, sharper than any two-edged sword. Their sin, their guilt, and their hardness is exposed. So they respond. What shall we do? In Peter's response, here's the command. Verse 38, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In other words, if this has exposed your sin and your guilt, then that means the Spirit of God has awakened you to that reality. He has caused you to be born again. He has removed the scales from your eyes and caused you to see clearly for the very first time in your life If he has done this, then you will reject this word, excuse me, if he has not done this rather, then you will reject this word and you will go on in your sin and in darkness. Why? Why are there two vastly different responses? Well, it's because of what 1 Corinthians 1 21 to 24 says. For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to the Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. So we infer from Peter, if you have received these words that I am preaching today, then you must repent and be baptized. Now, you may be wondering why Peter seems to say next that their baptism will lead to them receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's the question. Well, we don't have, unfortunately, time to unpack this in detail, but this is an example of one of those places that we must read within the broader context of Scripture. If we take Peter's words at what seemed to us on the surface as face value, we would end up then believing that baptism is a work, that water baptism is a work that saves us and causes us to then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And of course, we know this has happened many times throughout church history. But in comparison with the rest of Scripture, this clearly cannot be the case. Suffice it to say that throughout Acts and the birth and expansion of the first century church, there is a direct connection and overlap, we might say, between the timeline of new believers' baptism and their reception of the Holy Spirit. Robert Stein says this, the intimate tie between the reception of the Spirit and baptism in Acts is due to both their close temporal relation and that both were essential components along with faith, repentance, and confession in becoming a Christian. Thus, baptism, then, is the outward sign of the inward spiritual reality that has taken place in these people's lives in response to the preaching of the gospel and being cut to the heart. Baptism then serves as their profession of faith. Notice that Peter does not tell them to come down to the front of the crowd and to confess with their mouths, tell everyone what Jesus has done for them like we see so often in churches today. He tells them that they must be baptized as the outward sign of what has already taken place. And then again, we read in verse 41, so those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3000 souls. And what they were professing in this sign of baptism was what we read from our confession of faith. They now have fellowship with Christ in his death and resurrection, are engrafted into Christ, have remission of sins, and are now giving unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. And we know that this is true of them because of what we studied last week as we specifically read verses 42 through 47 and the summary of life in the church that followed the baptism of those 3,000 souls that day. When a new believer stands in front of the church to submit to the waters of baptism, they are confessing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They acknowledge their own sinful state and need of salvation. They acknowledge the necessity of Christ's death and resurrection to pay the penalty of God's wrath against sin, but they further acknowledge their union with Christ, and this is key. This is what the first two of the four other aspects of the Confessions definition provide. The first of these is from the individual perspective, And the second applies the individual reality of the union with Christ to the corporate body. A Christian has union and fellowship, that is koinonia, that Greek word we hear so often, participation with Christ in his death and resurrection. Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The words of the Apostle Paul that are true, not just of him and the other apostles, but of every Christian who is genuinely in Christ. Furthermore, we read earlier in our service from Romans chapter six, specifically verses three through seven. Do you not know that all of us who have 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 was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have 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. Amazing words of good news to us. And you can't. Miss the emphasis of our union with Christ in this text and how we are buried with him and we are raised with him. You see that further in Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 through 15. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith and the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. And 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. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. In salvation, we are united with Christ in his death. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. And we are also united with him in his resurrection. In him, we are made new creations. And though we will experience resurrection most fully when Christ returns, the reality is The resurrection that we, the benefits of the resurrection life we experience now. We begin experiencing some of those benefits in this very life. Furthermore, as we consider this profession of faith as a sign of our fellowship and union with Christ, we are also reminded then of the importance of the mode of baptism. What do I mean by the mode? Well, baptism, we believe, must be by immersion in water. Why? Why do we not sprinkle or pour water over the New Covenant convert's head, rather? First, I think the most obvious answer is in the word itself. Now, there's debate about this, but overwhelmingly, even John Calvin himself admitted that the word baptizo, in its natural reading and context, means to immerse. It means to literally plunge or dip. As we couple that word meaning with the description given to us in the New Testament, this becomes even clearer. We see of Jesus' baptism, for example, in Matthew 3.16, when he was baptized, the Bible tells us that after he was baptized, immersed in the water, he immediately did what? He went up from the water, signifying that he went down into the water and then he came up out of it. The account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, 36-38 explains that after Philip preaches the gospel to the Ethiopian, he responds in baptism. And both Philip and the Ethiopian, they do what? They go down into the water, and then they come up out of the water. That's the description given to us in the narrative. This is the description of immersion. So it's the word, it's the description given there. But next, second, even the imagery of immersion clearly characterizes what we're talking about, this inward spiritual reality of what has actually taken place in believers. Even the language of Romans 6 that we just read identifies the spiritual reality. We have been baptized into Christ's death. We were buried with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. We have been united with him in a death like his, and united with him in a resurrection like his, and the baptism by immersion perfectly pictures that. Colossians 2 12 having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. We understand in the act of immersion itself that we are picturing or signifying the inward spiritual reality outwardly. We're showing it. Third, the Bible teaches us that when we are born again, that we have been baptized with or into the Spirit of God. This is also pictured in the act of immersion in water. The way that we walk in the newness of life and participate in the resurrection of Christ is through the Holy Spirit. We are literally immersed into the Spirit of God. And in Luke 3.16, we learn that it is Jesus himself who actually baptizes us into or with the spirit. So as we consider the nature of our spirit baptism, we understand that we are immersed into the spirit of God by Christ himself. That is spiritually what is happening to us. So all three of these aspects are then essential for our understanding of the necessity of immersion in our water baptism. The meaning of the word itself and the imagery that is provided both in the act of immersion through the inward spiritual union with Christ in his body and immersion into the spirit of God. The second statement then from the confession that we are engrafted into Christ reminds us not only of our union and participation with him in his death and resurrection, but it also reminds us that we are engrafted into his body here on earth, the church, the temple of the living God. First Corinthians 12, 12 through 13. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews and Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. Likewise, Ephesians 4, four through six, there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. These two verses tell us again of the spiritual reality of what has taken place at our new birth, but this time in a corporate sense. We are baptized into a family, into a people. There's no such thing, and we've said this many times, but it's always worth repeating, there's no such thing as a lone ranger Christian. The New Testament has no concept for a Jesus and me only type of Christianity. We are part of a body. The only way that we can experience the benefits of the church, of the true church, the invisible heavenly church, while we are on earth, is to be in active fellowship with a visible local church. We experience the full benefits of being in Christ by being immersed in the life of the true biblical local church. We must not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as we see the day drawing near. Now this is critically important for us to stop and consider as we place this sermon in the context of this series on the church and as we think about the work that God has been doing in our church family over the last few years. We have witnessed baptisms of many people here over the last couple of years. And this is absolutely a call to celebration and a reason for us to rejoice. but it is also a call to responsibility and accountability. Satan loves, and we all know this, Satan loves nothing more than to deceive and confuse Christ's church. When we witness individuals joining our church family through the act of baptism or through a statement of faith and transfer from another church where they were previously baptized, we have a privilege and also a responsibility to love them enough and to love one another enough to bear one another's burdens. Likewise, if you submit to the waters of baptism, you are committing to a community, a fellowship, a family, a faith where you will experience the ordinary means of grace just as Christ has ordained. Do not be deceived and think that being baptized is some sort of ticket into heaven and that life in the body of Christ is irrelevant to your baptism and your profession of faith. Do not be deceived and falsely believe that because someone has been baptized and that life in the body of, and that they are publicly standing in front of the church committing their profession of faith and baptism, that they are without doubt, without any doubt, a child of God. It is very possible to stand up there and be baptized, and we've seen it happen many times. In fact, many of the baptisms we've witnessed in recent years have been what we might call second baptisms or rebaptisms by people who were not true, genuine professors of Christ when they were baptized, often in childhood. So baptism is not a guarantee that we are in Christ. Water baptism by itself has no saving efficacy. Spirit baptism is the only kind of baptism that truly saves us. And while they are, of course, connected, they are by no means identical. We see this, I think, very vividly in the account of Simon the Magician, if you remember in Acts chapter 8 also. Simon, like so many in Samaria, sees the signs and wonders that Philip performs, and he hears him preach the gospel. Many, of course, are genuinely saved and receive the word with joy and are baptized, including, we think, Simon the Magician, who had previously had fame among the people for his magic skills. Many are genuinely saved, but we soon find out by every indication in Luke's narrative that Simon's public profession of faith through baptism is actually counterfeit. Here's what it says in chapter 8, verses 18 through 23. Now, when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Now, remember, this happens right after, this is the very next thing we read after we read about their baptism, including Simon's baptism. This is what he sees. He witnesses the apostles coming, because remember, the preaching and the baptism was done not by the apostles, but by Philip. The apostles come to verify that the Samaritans have actually received the Spirit. And so he sees this, he sees them bestowing it, and he wants this power too. Clear evidence that Simon is not acting like a new creation. So what is Peter's response to him? Verse 20. Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You had neither part nor lot in this matter for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Peter strongly rebukes and urges him to truly repent and turn from his sin. And sadly, we are unsure if Simon ever truly repents and believes. We read nothing more of him after this account. One of the greatest lessons we learn then from this is the reality of false professions of faith. Baptism is not the arrival point, but it is rather the beginning of a glorious, joyful, and eternal journey in Christ. Remember the words of Christ in his great commission where we actually find the command to baptize, Matthew 28, 18 through 20. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." Sometimes we as Christians have read those words and we think the only command there is baptize. Okay? That's something that qualifies the actual first command. Make disciples of all nations. And as you make disciples, you baptize them and you teach them. Making disciples begins with baptism. as the sign and seal of our initiation into the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. But it continues with teaching them to do what? To observe all that Christ has commanded. And that means that we must actually bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Next, we know that if water baptism is the outward sign of the inward reality of our spirit baptism, then this most certainly and definitely includes, as the confession states third, the remission or canceling and forgiveness of sins. This is why Peter commands those who receive the word at Pentecost to repent and be baptized. There is no baptism without repentance and there is no true repentance without then the the assured remission of sins. In this sense, then, we can say that just as water washes and cleanses our bodies, like in a bath, so baptism pictures the washing and cleansing of our sins that we receive by Christ's blood. Here is yet another picture on display in this visible sign. And then finally, We see that it is the fourth aspect here. Baptism is a sign of giving unto God through Christ Jesus to live and walk in newness of life. A Christian's being marked in the waters of baptism means that we are, like Romans 6 explains, no longer under the dominion and reign of sin, but we are rather under the dominion and the reign of King Jesus. So we can now do what? We can walk in newness of life under His dominion. We can walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. We can walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called. We can know and live in a way that displays what Ephesians 2 10 says that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. If we have been crucified with Christ, then we can no longer live the way that we used to live. We can no longer be like Simon, the magician and asked to buy the power of God with silver and gold. If we have professed our faith publicly through the waters of baptism, we are telling our church and the world that we are now children of the living God. So, for those of us who have professed our faith publicly in the waters of baptism, let us begin by always and constantly remembering our baptism. Let us know for certain what our baptism represents. It is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him and his death and resurrection, of his being engrafted into him, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. We don't simply remember the act of baptism as a past event in our life that proves that we are Christian. We remember it because of what it represents and because it reminds us of who we are and how we must respond in obedience to the work of Christ in our lives every single day. Christian baptism is Christ's stamping his blessing and seal on us as his chosen people. In baptism, we are actually being set apart from the world and marked out as what 1 Peter 2 tells us, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Live in light of this. Author and pastor Jonathan Landry-Cruz points out that there is one particular way, I think this is fascinating to consider, there's one particular way in every Lord's Day worship service where we can, as he says, improve upon our baptism. And that is as we receive God's blessing each Lord's Day in the benediction. Every time God's blessing is pronounced over us as his people through the final reading of scripture, God is in essence once again stamping his name on us as his people and reminding us that we are his. And it is with this blessing that we are then enabled to enter back into the world and proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. So even though our baptism is something that happens only once at the beginning of the Christian life, it is something that we must live in light of every single day. We do not belong to ourselves, but we belong to God. So let us remember and regularly improve upon our baptism. Furthermore, let us rejoice with those who are being baptized, knowing that we are, in a sense, participating in their baptism with them as we seek to bear their burdens, loving them, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. When we see someone stand up in our church and be baptized, and then we see them begin to drift away, or we commit to bring them into our fellowship through a vote and a members meeting, and we see them begin to drift away, let us plead with them to remember their baptism and to return to the joy of fellowship in Christ. Let us also then urge those who have come to realize their guilt before God and their desperate need for salvation to test themselves to see whether they are in the faith and then to submit to the public profession of faith in the waters of baptism. However, let us be careful that we guard, as far as it is possible, against false professions of faith, like we saw with Simon the Magician. There is no way that we can do this perfectly, but we will be careful to task and ask the right questions. We don't want to lead anyone to have a false assurance of their salvation. Let us urge all who are in Christ to bear fruit in keeping with repentance, to know the reality of their salvation. And perhaps you're hearing this this morning and you have come to a realization of your own sin, whether now or prior to this point. Perhaps even hearing the sermon on baptism has brought you to a realization for the first time that you are guilty of crucifying Christ because of your sin and rebellion against God. I want to then urge you to hear these words and to turn from your sin and turn to the living God to receive mercy and grace. All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. All stand condemned before our holy and righteous judge and creator. And there's nothing that we can do, nothing, in our own merit to make ourselves righteous before our perfect God. We must be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. There's only one way to be made perfect, brothers and sisters and those who are hearing, and that is through the perfect substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the remission of our sins. As we hear these facts, there are only two ways to respond. We can try to continue justifying ourselves, and that will lead to us receiving the very just condemnation that we deserve. That is, the consequences of eternal punishment in hell forever and ever, which never ends, for our sins. Or, we can receive the free gift of grace given to us in the perfect life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, a real man who truly lived in history some 2,000 years ago. God made flesh. You can repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. May these words that I've spoken today either bring you comfort and assurance in your own baptism, and therefore zealous to see others come to faith in Christ and be baptized, or may these words urge you to repentance and faith with a desire to yourself be baptized. Let us pray together.