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[0:00] Father in heaven, we are grateful to be gathered here today under your word. We're grateful for one another and the Christ that we experience through one another.

[0:13] Father, the expression of our faith that we have in you unites us together as your church. Jesus, we thank you for your sacrifice upon the cross that made this community and this assembly possible and distinguished from anything, any hope that the world can ever have of making our lives pure.

[0:40] And Holy Spirit, we pray that you help us as we enter your word to help us navigate and to look at baptism according to your word and how we can express and oversee that well within our church in accordance with the scriptures.

[1:03] And we pray this in Jesus' precious and holy name. Amen. Amen. So sort of piggybacking on last week's message of the Lord's Supper, we went through a lot of things and being that this is the second ordinance, some things might sound familiar in relation to what we spoke about last week.

[1:32] It feels like yesterday. It's amazing how fast these weeks go. But yeah, the Lord's Supper was last week. And we also spoke on how we just sort of came out of a long 18-message series in the book of Judges.

[1:51] And not many, I think, churches can say that they just came out of an 18-message series in the book of Judges, but we sure did it. And many of you are probably relieved that we're not going in the book of Judges again right now, maybe in maybe 10 years or so.

[2:07] We'll get refined on what we learned. But we observed the forgetfulness of man and the faithfulness of God in the book of Judges, the cycle of man and the constant forgetfulness of man.

[2:19] Man just completely forgets. Especially men. Especially in this room. Men forgets. God calls us to remember. So we understand that if forget, so by sort of logic, if forgetfulness is something that comes easy to us, that we're prone to forget.

[2:38] We're prone to leave this building and completely forget what the message was about. Maybe due to me or maybe just due to yourself. But, you know, it could be a conglomeration in between all of that.

[2:50] And so we understand that if forgetfulness is so natural for us, in order for us to remember, it's something that we really have to work at.

[3:00] It's something that we have to labor for in order to remember. Okay? So in working at a sharp memory, Christians are able to remember who God is, most importantly, and what He has done.

[3:18] And this sets the course of our lives to be fully devoted to Him because we are so prone to forgetting as people. We need reminders in life. We need reminders in life.

[3:30] If you're like me, you need a couple more reminders in life. Especially texts that I forget to get back on. You know who I'm talking about if you're in here right now. But Scripture is packed full of reminders to the people of Israel in the Old Testament of the mighty ways of which God intervened on their behalf through the course of their life and through the course of their ancestors.

[3:55] All throughout the nation of Israel, there were reminders, one of them being Passover, that they observed to remember God's salvation of His people. We're forgetful people.

[4:06] We're forgetful people. We need reminders. And so, God certainly knows this better than ourselves, maybe more than we like to admit. So God provided for His church.

[4:20] God provided for His church two ordinances. Two ordinances to remember. Two ordinances to remember who He is and what He has done.

[4:35] For believers, the assembled body of church members, that it goes beyond brick and mortar, but the church is to observe people gathered in the New Testament.

[4:48] And so, we looked at Lord's Supper last week, and we partook in the Lord's Supper, which was really cool to do. Thanks. I should have given like a bell, you know?

[5:01] Maybe like a little coffee bell up here. Ding, ding, ding. I don't know at what point of human depravity that would, level that would reach, but maybe human desperation.

[5:13] But, the Lord established for us two ordinances when we come together. Lord's Supper and baptism.

[5:26] This was, baptism was one of the two ordinances assembled for the body to observe, to remember. These ordinances didn't just come by man, man's own wisdom or man's own knowledge of, oh, I got it.

[5:39] I got it, Rick. I know how we can remember. We'll just dunk people in water, and we'll share some bread and some wine or juice for us. But these ordinances, ever since the Westminster Assembly of the 1640s, have been known to be signs and seals.

[6:00] Signs and seals. Being signs, they serve as an outward indicator of inward reality. And being seals, and being seals, they serve as an outward indicator of the steadfast promise of God for believers.

[6:17] So, last week we observed, if you remember, the four purposes of ordinances for us to know. So, if people ask us, why do you guys do that? It's just a bunch of religious mumbo-jumbo.

[6:28] You know, it's empty. It doesn't mean anything. So, we observed four things in your notes, church, to remember that they, number one, represent Christ and His benefits to us.

[6:42] We saw, number two, they confirm our interest in Him. They define, number three, that Christ indeed died and rose for the forgiveness of sins.

[6:53] And that definition marks out where the world ends and the church begins, regardless of any building or property line. And number four, they engage us in service to God in Christ, according to His Word.

[7:07] And so, today we're going to be looking at baptism. And it's another means of which God calls us to remember. So, today, I want to sort of systematically go through baptism, look at a couple verses and chapters in Scripture in context, and then also take a look at some confessions that derive application from these verses that we speak on.

[7:35] So, sort of systematically. And so, my aim for us today as a church, Youngstown Metro Church, everyone gathered on the live stream and gathered here physically today, I want us to construct and refine a firm conviction of baptism.

[7:50] Just as last week, I wanted to construct and refine a firm conviction of the Lord's Supper. That it isn't just something empty. That it distinguishes the church from the world and proclaims the gospel power in our lives.

[8:05] So, we're going to do this through three points, like a faithful Baptist preacher. Three-point sermon. First point today is, God's solution to forgetful people.

[8:17] That being a sign and a seal. Before we turn to the Word, I just want us to understand something vitally important. God's solution to forgetful people were ordinances.

[8:29] Okay? Hands down. The Lord provided the ordinance of baptism for the church. This ordinance is observed within the church as believer's baptism.

[8:40] Or some people also call it confessor baptism. There's a certain response that is needed in order to be baptized. Baptism, in my own credo-baptist words, is when a professing Christian pledges one's saving faith and commitment to Christ and participation in the local church.

[9:03] So, when a professing Christian pledges one's saving faith and commitment to Christ and participation in the local church.

[9:13] This, we believe, was instituted by Jesus Christ himself in the Great Commission in Matthew 28, to go and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[9:27] It was instructed by Peter himself, a close disciple of Jesus, that he instructed his people to be baptized as well in Acts 2.

[9:39] And that also, Paul, who wasn't even part of it, he was actually trying to kill people like Peter at a certain point. Paul also taught baptism in the church of Rome, in Romans 6.

[9:52] But real quickly here, we're going to take a look at 1 Peter 3 first. So, turn with me to 1 Peter. It'll be up on the screen as well. But let's read 1 Peter 3, 18 through 21.

[10:05] We still don't have Bibles available in the chair pocket, so obviously Bible app or bring your own brick to church would be good. I see some big Bibles out there.

[10:17] Those things can hurt people. So, 1 Peter 3, starting in verse 18. It says, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey.

[10:48] When God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through water.

[11:00] Verse 21. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. Not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers, having been subjected to him.

[11:26] In this verse, verse 21, sort of takes a turn in this passage here. It mentions all that Christ has done before this. Christ suffered once for the sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.

[11:40] There's a transaction there that he speaks about. He even brings it into the judgment of God on the days of Noah, where the ark was being prepared, and they were brought safely out of that water.

[11:52] And Peter here is teaching baptism, because baptism, which corresponds to this, coming out of water, now saves you. Not as a removal of dirt, but as an appeal.

[12:03] Verse 21 has a very, very interesting word known as appeal in our translations. And now, I'm not going to pretend like I'm some Greek scholar and I can read this whole thing.

[12:15] I actually had a dream last week, last night, actually, that I was preaching out of the Greek New Testament today. That's not happening. So, I think it created anxiety.

[12:27] I woke up kind of frantic, like, I don't know how to read this. So, truth be told, I don't know Greek very well, but I do look into these words and their significance. Because in verse 21, we see the word appeal.

[12:41] And the word appeal also means pledge in some translations. Pledge, in verse 21, where it says, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.

[12:58] Or a pledge to God for a good conscience. In that appeal or pledge, Christians agree with God's judgment on sin, including our own sinful past.

[13:08] And they acknowledge in this to have a good conscience. They're pledging that they have a good conscience. Something has changed from here to now.

[13:20] Or from there to now. And that to turn from their commitment would bring upon themselves God's just judgment.

[13:31] To do any other form of response would bring just judgment. Verse 20, Peter's words stress the wonder of this ordinance.

[13:44] Even more than its sort of ceremonial dignity, I guess we can say. I couldn't come up with another word. But Noah's physical deliverance from the flood symbolizes the final deliverance in Christ.

[13:58] That believers experience through a good conscience. Something changes. And so that's the gospel. Christ has saved us and he died for our sins and gave us life through his resurrection.

[14:12] That's what this passage is all about. And so according to this passage, every baptism of coming out of water is a pledge of allegiance to the gospel.

[14:25] Every baptism is a pledge of allegiance to in the gospel. where professing believers declare their union in the life, death, burial, and resurrection with Christ.

[14:38] There is a union that has formed based on this conviction. And there is quite a good conversation to be had though, church, on baptism.

[14:49] There's a lot of different modes of baptism out there that exist. And I don't want to go into a big dissertation on it, but I want to cover it of why we do what we do. It's important for us to know and that if we have a conversation with someone else that does baptism a different way, we can still be friends and not chop people's heads off.

[15:11] So what I want us to see is that there's a difference sometimes between credo-baptists and paedo-baptists. And many good conversations can take place on who should be baptized.

[15:22] Really good conversations. So let's take a look in hopes to equip us to enter into some good, deep, Bible-based discussions possibly throughout this week or in the future about who should be baptized.

[15:37] Let's look at point two today of who should be baptized. Who should be baptized? And I just want to preface this really important that sometimes there's different denominations and things like that who believe that baptism is also a sign and a seal.

[15:54] And how they express that sign and seal while I see Scripture this way, they see Scripture another way. And as long as there's no salvific sort of mysterious miracle that happens like all of a sudden with a sprinkling of water on a baby that voila, they're saved, they're going to heaven.

[16:14] No. Or the same spectrum, if somebody's dunked in water in a tub, there's no special thing that happens that hasn't already happened.

[16:28] Baptism and the sprinkling of water point to something as signs and seals. So as long as it's like that, it's a second-tier thing. We can agree to disagree, allow bygones to be bygones.

[16:39] Our Presbyterian friends, we can take by the shoulder and say, man, I love you. Yeah, you do baptism a little weird and then I think that you should do it, but man, we love Jesus and they are signs and seals.

[16:52] But if they do believe that there's some mysterious, mystical power in that water going down, that's when it becomes a works-based salvation. That's when we need to be careful, church, of not treading into works-based salvation because we know that it is the power of God by faith alone to save us.

[17:12] So, I just want to highlight Pato-Baptist. Pato-Baptist will point out that in the Old Testament, God intended children to be part of the covenant.

[17:24] In the Old Testament, God intended children to be part of that covenant that He made with Israel. And the sign of that covenant was, trigger warning, circumcision.

[17:36] Yep, you can have a nice conversation with your children after that. Sorry on the live stream, Brent here, talking about circumcision. The sign of that Old Testament covenant upon children was circumcision.

[17:50] And circumcision was such an important right. It sounds odd from our day and age, especially how you find out that somebody's circumcised. I mean, there's just so much oddity in our natural, in our 21st century perspective of circumcision and being an outward sign of that.

[18:10] But, in Exodus 12, the Lord says to Moses that no uncircumcised male can participate in Passover. It was that serious of a rite in Exodus 12.

[18:23] And furthermore, Maedo-Baptist, they believe, similarly, in the continuation of the sign of various ceremonial washing, sort of where they get the sprinkling, particularly of what's talked about with the sprinkling of blood.

[18:37] Hebrews 9.22, says, in fact, the law requires nearly everything be cleansed with blood. And so, my Paedo-Baptist friends sort of arrive with all of this good, rich, biblical theology of how God has been revealing Himself and marking out the nation of Israel and the true Israel and all these people.

[19:02] They bring all this into the New Testament and they almost, it's as if they're looking for some continuity, I would say, between the Old Testament and the New Testament of that sign and seal of the new covenants to represent Jesus Christ.

[19:19] And they use some verses in scriptures that I believe that, you know, they have valid arguments. They do. But I find that baptism in full immersion is actually a more solid argument to rest upon.

[19:32] And the new sign and seal of the New Testament are sprinkling of water which now applies to children. We see that there is a difference because then it was baby boys, now it's all children.

[19:44] Obviously, circumcision is not important anymore in the New Testament. And it is now something that we'll get into of the circumcision of the heart.

[19:56] But standing back a little bit and broadly looking at some different components of paedo-baptists, people who baptize babies and infants, we can evaluate this from our Baptist perspective and actually find a lot in common.

[20:14] Like I said, baptism to a paedo-baptist and a credo-baptist is a sign and a seal. You can look at the Westminster Confession. You can look at the Baptist Confession of Faith in 1869.

[20:25] Or 1689, sorry. And I don't think anybody would disagree with that, that it's a sign and a seal. But the argument rests on should believers alone be baptized?

[20:40] Should believers alone be baptized? So this we believe at Youngstown Metro Church, sort of just drawing that line in the sands, this we believe. Believers alone are to be baptized.

[20:53] Believers alone are to be baptized. We observe this according to a few scriptures with progressive revelation in mind. How God has been revealing himself and calling his people to obedience.

[21:06] Progressive revelation from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Because we see baptism being void when it's detached from conversion. That baptism is void when it's detached from faith.

[21:20] Or as 1 Peter says, a good conscience. So let's look real quick. I think I have in the verse on the screen, Romans 6. We're going to look at Romans 6.

[21:31] At Paul's instructions to the Roman church. He says in verse 1, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means.

[21:43] How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

[21:55] 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.

[22:10] When the New Testament describes what baptism depicts, it is united with a new life in Christ. that when you go underwater, it's representing that death to Christ.

[22:23] When you come up, you're representing that newness of life in Christ. A good conscience, as 1 Peter says. Look at Romans 6. We are raised in newness of life in Christ.

[22:35] So the assumption is that the person being baptized has been changed. There has been a changed heart to lead them to be baptized. They have been what theologians would say as regenerated, an act of God that he does inside of us at the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ.

[22:56] And he gives us a new nature, a new status, and the Holy Spirit seals us until a day in eternity with him. The second verse I want to look at today is Colossians 2, 11 through 12.

[23:10] It says, And so we see something here.

[23:37] It's something known as progressive revelation. The Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant was an outward focused sign of circumcision.

[23:51] It was something that you could see visibly. With the New Covenant, it's no longer circumcision anymore that you can see visually, but circumcision of the heart.

[24:04] This is not anything that man can do only God alone. And within the New Testament scriptures, God is repeatedly concerned, not about an outward circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart that is consistent in the New Testament.

[24:21] He's looking for that regeneration that he brings into our faith in our lives. Baptism is, therefore, an outward expression of that inner circumcision.

[24:35] It's an outward expression of that inner regeneration, just as the sign and seal of the Old Testament was circumcision of the flesh, now is the circumcision of the heart, and the expression of that, therefore, is baptism, being put under water and being brought up, representing newness of life in Christ, according to Colossians 2.

[24:57] And then lastly here, look at Acts 2, verse 37 through 41. It says, 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?

[25:13] 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.

[25:25] For the promise is for you and for your children and 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.

[25:41] So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Look how this verse starts out.

[25:54] They're responding in this passage. Notice we're at 37. There's a lot that took place from Acts 2, verse 1 to Acts 2, verse 36, and we're starting in verse 37.

[26:04] So within context, this is after Peter's sermon as the Holy Spirit has come for the first time and poured out upon believers, a great moment in redemptive history.

[26:19] So the Holy Spirit is here to dwell from that point forward and still dwells today. And we see that they were responding in a certain manner.

[26:30] Something happened to these people. It mentions in verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were, what?

[26:40] Somebody say it out loud. Cut to the heart. What did you say? What translation is that?

[26:52] Cut to the heart. I see cut to the heart. Does anybody ever see cut to the heart? When they heard this, they were cut to the heart.

[27:07] And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, what should we do? These individuals were cut to the heart. This indicates that God provided them saving faith. That all of a sudden, out of the illumination of His Word, the special revelation of God to man, they were convicted.

[27:25] They were wanting to know how to respond properly. And in order for them to know how to respond properly, God cut them to the heart. And this was not by hands of man.

[27:38] Peter did not do much other than was obedient. The Holy Spirit cut them to the heart. This was God's doing. Their hearts were circumcised.

[27:50] So Peter's instructions of response of that heart circumcision was to what? Be baptized, to repent, and to be baptized. To express that being cut to the heart.

[28:05] And he mentions this is also a promise for you and your children and all who are far off. In verse 38, it says. But that doesn't mean that we sprinkle water, essentially, to represent that covenant, that it's for our children.

[28:19] Even though I know my two twin daughters, the same opportunity is going to be available to them to repent and be baptized. That's essentially what he's saying.

[28:30] It's for you and for your children and your children's children and all who are far off. In verse 39, it says, everyone whom the Lord calls to himself.

[28:43] Repent and be baptized. If this verse actually brings anything to light, I would say that this verse speaks upon the supremacy of the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

[28:56] Amen? The supremacy of the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the Lord cutting the sinner's heart to believe and respond in obedience.

[29:09] Honestly, I had a lot more content to go through, but for the sake of time and attention spans, we could go on and on. We're going to stop there. But just broadly looking at redemptive history, God gave Abraham the circumcision as a sign of his covenant.

[29:26] Then, when God made his covenant established with Israel at Sinai, blood was sprinkled upon God's altar and on the people. And this blood was the blood of atoning sacrifice offered on God's altar.

[29:41] According to the Old Testament, cleanness was foundational for the holiness demanded to be in God's presence. Water and blood cleansed from sin and defilement.

[29:52] And in the New Testament, now Christ, the final and true sacrifice, the new Adam, was made. The new sacrifice was made through Christ.

[30:04] An entrance into his kingdom is available here and now by way of his cross and by his blood. You can see it through faith.

[30:16] Our faith that's made possible. Ephesians 1.7 says it. Colossians 1.20 says it. Hebrews 9.18 says it. After the death and resurrection of Christ, baptism became the sign of transferring, of that transferring into the new community, into the new covenant.

[30:34] Baptism is that ticket. And when I think about ticket, all I think of is Tom Hanks in the Polar Express. My kids love that movie and that song.

[30:46] That song is so annoying. But you know Tom Hanks. You know, all aboard. Tickets, please. Tickets. Let's see those tickets. You know, I don't know. What happens to the kids who don't have the tickets?

[30:58] I mean, are they thrown off of a moving train? That's the Steven Spielberg version of Polar Express that hasn't been released yet. But the ticket to this new community is faith.

[31:16] It's faith. So baptism is for believers. Those who have been cut to the heart. It requires repentance.

[31:27] Doing anything else, I believe, being a credo-baptist, becomes a distortion. The command of Scripture. Baptism is the entrance into that community here and now.

[31:43] The ticket of that entrance is faith. And that's what my good conversation with my pedo-baptist friends usually consists of. For the third point and final point, I want to throw at you a Greek term.

[31:56] I want to go back to that word in 1 Peter 3.21. I want to define a pedo-tema, a Greek word here. And now, you know, don't let me catch you off guard.

[32:09] I actually had to hear somebody pronounce that. That's, okay, so I've been practicing. I am nobody special. Defining our a pedo-tema, it is known as a pledge.

[32:24] This word, in many different forms, in the CSB version of the Bible, in the NIV, you'll read this as pledge. In the ESV, it says appeal.

[32:35] Appeal to God for a good conscience. Some say a pledge to God for a good conscience. And the KJV says answer. A pedo-tema is the pledge we make when we have decided to follow Jesus.

[32:50] It's that pledge we have, we make that we have decided to follow Jesus. Similar to the Lord's Supper, remember that Greek word, koinonia? Koinonia means participation.

[33:02] And when we participate, according to Scripture, we participate with the body of Christ, meaning His sacrifice. We participate with the blood of Christ to atone for sin.

[33:13] This is koinonia participation in the Bible. And baptism is now a pledge expressed within that koinonia, a perotema, of your faith in Jesus Christ.

[33:25] Did I lose anybody? Raise your hand. Honestly, I can go, I can try to be a little bit more clear. No? Okay, good. Anybody on the live stream? Nah, forget it. Come to church. This, a perotema, is a sign and seal.

[33:46] And it has significant value to an individual believer and has also great value to the corporate church. It's a sign and seal that has great value to Ellen, to Kim, to Jim, to Cassandra, to Catherine.

[34:03] It has an individual significance and value to an individual believer. But it also, a perotema, the sign and seal of our pledge, also has a great value of being a sign and seal to this gathering corporate body known as the church.

[34:24] So let's look for a minute at that individual significance of that sign and seal to us as individuals. And I want to look and leverage upon the Baptist Confession of Faith, chapter 29 of it.

[34:38] It should be up on the screen for you. It says in paragraph one, I'm going to read all four paragraphs because they're not too long. The first paragraph, which is derived from Scripture, it's not twisting Scripture, it is an explanation of how we practice Scripture.

[34:54] It says, Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be, through those baptized. It is a sign of their fellowship with Him and His death and resurrection and their being grafted into Him of remission of sins and of submitting themselves to God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life.

[35:20] The second paragraph says, those who personally profess repentance toward God and faith and obedience, faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.

[35:36] Paragraph three says, the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water in which the individual is to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[35:50] And paragraph four, immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary for this ordinance to be administered properly. If you want to see the verses and just check your Bible, which I hope you do, always test me, make sure I'm on point.

[36:08] Any confessions, make sure they're on point. They have verse references to test and look at what they're saying according to Scripture. They have those references on there. Look it up, it's online, very easily accessible to you.

[36:22] So, individually speaking, as far as how this sign and seal has significance to each individual in this room right now, if anybody, everyone who has called upon the name of the Lord by faith received him, we should hear echoes of Romans 6, verse 1 through 4 that we read in this confession to respond in the newness of life.

[36:47] Individually, baptism simply doesn't save. There's no real miracle that works within baptism that's just water, folks. City of Youngstown, thank you, City of Youngstown, for the water, is nothing special.

[37:03] It's common elements set aside for spiritual significance. Baptism individually simply does not save.

[37:13] It is a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith that saves by God's grace. baptism is seen in Acts 8, 8, and 8, 12.

[37:26] Individually, baptism is more than the removal of dirt from the body. It's not taking a bath. It's not something that you do and then you fall, maybe struggle in your faith and you're like, I want to rededicate my life and get re-baptized and it just seems like we might as well give you a bar of soap and a rubber ducky.

[37:45] If baptism represents something that Christ has done and is secured, you only need to be baptized once because his forgiveness doesn't just come and go, nor does our faith.

[38:01] If you stray from faith, it might come and call into question if you're saved in the first place. Baptism individually is more than the removal of dirt from the body. Peter says it's the spiritual transaction in 1 Peter 3 in which we bring the pledge, the apparel tema, pledge or appeal of a good conscience towards God in verse 3, 21.

[38:28] Individually to each and every Christian, this pledge is a declaration here and now of the saving faith we have in Jesus Christ as our hearts have been circumcised, we have been cut to the heart and come to know Jesus Christ.

[38:46] As Acts 2 says, individually, similarly to that, this pledge is a declaration of the sign and seal of the salvation we have received. As Matthew 28 in the Great Commission, Jesus tells his disciples to go.

[39:03] You see, baptism is greater than any cool t-shirt you could wear with Jesus flexing his muscles, saying, I'm a sinner saved by grace.

[39:13] Any sort of bumper sticker that you can put on your car to distinguish you. It's greater, baptism is greater than any tattoo you could ever receive upon your body to express your faith.

[39:28] The Lord Jesus Christ gave us baptism to remember. Individually, baptism is a pledge that identifies you with Christ. And additionally, also, we'll see according to Scripture, that's individually to you, the significance of individually.

[39:46] I want to look at the corporate significance as well of baptism. As baptism identifies you with the church. Okay? Let's look at a perotema as a corporate sign and seal, the significance of the corporate sign and seal.

[40:05] For this, I want to go to our statement of faith. That's available online if you want to dig into that and see the verses that we use to base our statement of faith.

[40:16] It says, we believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer into the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life.

[40:39] That is a prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation. Similar to the sign and seal of the Lord's Supper, if you are identified with Christ, you are also identified with the family of God.

[40:56] This pledge is one that you declare your commitment to the body of Christ just as you declare that commitment to Christ himself. how we handle our affairs and our relationships with one another also is a reflection upon our relationship of the grace that we have received.

[41:19] Grace received is grace expressed in the corporate body and it distinguishes us. It's an upward devotion and outward devotion. The outflow of our commitment to God informs all that we are being baptized as members of the corporate gathered body of Christ.

[41:39] Just as regeneration, something that happens, nobody can see it, no doctor can see it within you, that once it occurs, it happens, and when you know it happens, trust me, you know it happens, and all of a sudden, the sin that you once loved, you just test anymore, and all of a sudden you just find a love for the Lord and His word.

[42:01] Anyone who's experienced it can attest to it. It's something that happens within our hearts, regeneration, and that places us in the corporate body of Christ universally.

[42:13] So like all believers out in Asia, over in the UK, over in California, all believers, it places you into the corporate, universal, global church, the body of Christ, all who are going to be gathered into eternity worshiping the Lord together.

[42:34] The family reunion. Remember koinonia. This represents, if koinonia in the Lord's supper represents that we partake in the Lord's supper, we're also, that word represents that of marriage, the marriage relationship, koinonia, remember that?

[42:51] And the relationship between us and the church. So marriage and the church are actually expressed in participation in the Lord's supper. Koinonia, so that should mean something significant to us, that when we partake in the Lord's supper, when we partake in baptism, we're not just kind of church members, just like we're not kind of married.

[43:15] We're not just kind of a husband to a wife or the wife of a husband, but we're not also kind of a church member at Youngstown Metro.

[43:28] there is a full and obligatory commission that when we do these things, it is saying that we have devotion to one another and to the corporate gathered body church like that of a marriage.

[43:46] Okay? Again, similarly to baptism, we should understand that the level of our koinonia, participation, is a visual display of our perotema, individual unity with God and corporate unity with one another, case closed.

[44:02] So, I want to close with a couple reflections as we're nearing the end. Baptism in the Lord's Supper should not be viewed as sort of detached events from the church, church life.

[44:20] They shouldn't be sort of like, I love to grill, sometimes I get lucky and I'm good at it, but sometimes that grease just gets hot and man, that flame just shoots up all of a sudden and burns your mustache off.

[44:33] You know what I'm saying? Or beard for any of my bearded men here. Just shoots up all of a sudden and boom, there it is and then fizzles out hopefully.

[44:45] It's like a shooting star. I think of it as a shooting star in the sky. It's fiery and it appears and it's burning. It looks like it's going to come down and hit the earth but then all of a sudden it fades away.

[45:00] Baptism in the Lord's Supper should be not viewed as these types of detached events in life, especially within the life of the church. Sort of that intrude upon our plans and our gathering.

[45:15] Oh, it's the Lord's Supper again. I better go forgive my brother it's been three weeks or whatnot. By observing these ordinances we are reminded of our day-to-day responsibilities towards one another.

[45:31] This is a one-another faith. I'm going to leverage off of Sam Amadi's article that he had but he talks about two great components that I want to close with and to reflect upon.

[45:43] The first part I want us to think about throughout the rest of today and as we observe baptism today, here and now, I want us to reflect on the dual commitments of baptism as Sam Amadi says.

[45:57] Specifically through baptism, the church is pledging commitments, a parotema, pledging commitments to the believer and to the believer in pledging commitments to the church.

[46:10] It is a dual commitment that to be baptized, one is pledging by going underwater, they have a commitment to the body, by us observing it, we are pledging our commitment to them.

[46:24] Considering the great commission, Jesus authorizes the church, his disciples gathering there representing the church, to administer baptism to the disciples that they make.

[46:36] So the church plays a vital role in baptism. You don't just go down to the local pawn shop on the corner and say, hey, you got a pool, I want to be baptized. This is something that happens that is unique to the gathered body of Christians that happen.

[46:53] Okay? The church commits to that believer and provides a stamp of approval upon their profession of faith. What naturally occurs when somebody is baptized?

[47:09] What naturally occurs when somebody is baptized? baptized? Other than that they're dripping wet? What naturally occurs? When somebody is spiritually identified with the body of Christ, the universal body of Christ, everybody in Asia, UK, over in Toledo, or over in Pittsburgh, but we want to talk about them.

[47:29] That's where the Steelers come from. But all believers from all places, all time, it's spiritual significance. It has a spiritual identification in the body of Christ, the universal church, through baptism.

[47:43] Think about this, church. This is huge. Baptism, therefore, they are physically identified with the church here and now, just like an expression of the corporate church that you're going to meet a lot of people in eternity someday that you never met, but they are your family members united in Christ.

[48:05] And so that's, we are united and identified with the church here and now and relationally, we're identified with one another. This provides the spiritual nourishment that we need in our lives and places them into a loving community.

[48:22] That's why you can't go down to the local pawn shop and get baptized. There's no commitment in that. They might charge you for it, actually. This is something for the church.

[48:33] So when the church members are watching someone get baptized, as we will soon be watching somebody getting baptized, we aren't simply celebrating their private alone time with God and, you know, what has happened, you know, in their own prayer closets as God has revealed himself.

[48:51] We are celebrating that, but we're not merely just celebrating that. We're making a commitment to them, one that cares for them. The church ought to immediately add this person into their phone list and text them periodically from time to time throughout the month and ask them how they're doing because they are placed into our physical body of Christ.

[49:21] Sam Amadi also mentions the ongoing assurance of salvation. I'm going to close with this. The Bible gives us great assurance of salvation. Amen?

[49:31] The Bible gives us great assurance of salvation. This assurance should be deeply rooted, according to his word, by Christ's atoning work for us and also evidenced by the grace that we see in our own lives.

[49:45] Consider John, 1 John 2, 3 through 6. It says, And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

[50:00] But whoever keeps his word and in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

[50:15] This assurance is deeply rooted, church, in the atoning work that Christ did for us and evidenced by the grace that we express to one another in our lives and in our gathering.

[50:30] Baptism and the Lord's Supper function as God's ordained means whereby the entire congregation exercises its authority to strengthen and encourage our personal sense of assurance.

[50:45] Baptism and the Lord's Supper, according to Sam Amadi, functions as God's ordained means whereby the entire congregation exercises its authority to strengthen and encourage our personal sense of assurance.

[51:08] I love how he says in this, in baptism, we essentially say to the new believer, we believe you are a Christian. Christian. And when we take the Lord's Supper together, we're essentially coming to the table saying, we still believe that you are a Christian.

[51:32] It's reflecting that union that we have with Christ that we express to one another. Church, this is what the Lord ordained for us.

[51:43] Us forgetful people. By Monday, we totally forget usually of what happened in the church. Let us not forget this. Let us be reminded as we observe this ordinance of baptism today and let us reflect upon the wonder of God, the commitment to that believer and also their commitment that they're making to us.

[52:05]  Praise be to God for this ordinance to forgetful people. Blessed assurance indeed as we sang, Jesus is ours. Let's pray.