Oh Lord most high, we pray now that in the preaching of your word you would be glorified, that our hearts would be edified and nourished in the faith. Help us to see one of the glorious and beautiful doctrines of your scriptures. We pray this tonight in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, it's usual on Sunday evenings as we walk through doctrinal sermons using the Heidelberg Catechism as a guide for the various catechism statements to be printed on the back page of the bulletin. They are for you tonight. However, there is another sheet that is there for you, and that's just a tonight thing. And the reason is because there is one main question of the Heidelberg Catechism, which although that catechism is a wonderful and time honored and cherished catechism, there's one question that we would disagree with as we look to the word of God. Because that question of the Heidelberg Catechism deals with whether infants of believers should be baptized. And so in 1680, or close to that period of time, a particular Baptist, that was the name of the Reformed Baptists, around the same time as the Reformed Presbyterians, around the same time as the Church of England, was going through their English Reformation period. So Reformed Baptists, if you will, properly called particular Baptists, in the 1600s. And in 1680, one of them took the Heidelberg Catechism, and if you will, baptized it, so to speak. Changing a few questions so that as men and women and boys and girls were being catechized in those churches, when they got to the doctrine of baptism, they were met not with, yes, infants of believers should be baptized, and here's why. They were met rather with, no, infants of believers should not be baptized, and here's why. So I'm not going to go through that entire catechism tonight. It is called the Orthodox Catechism by Hercules Collins, written in 1680. And I've given you questions 70 through 74, which we will use next Sunday, Lord willing, as our replacement for the Heidelberg Catechism. So not to diminish anything related to that wonderful catechism of understanding truths. If you're new to kind of what a catechism is, it's a question and answer way of learning doctrine. That's all it is. We're gonna continue to use the Heidelberg, but I give you these questions so you can begin to think, okay, if I wanna do some more study, why is it that we don't baptize our infants? And many of our brothers and sisters around the world in the Reformed faith do. So that insert is given to you tonight because we're gonna seek to cover two weeks of the Heidelberg Catechism doctrine tonight in our text. You heard read from the scripture in Matthew 28 that we are commanded to baptize. Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20, the Lord commands through the apostles, his church, to baptize down through the ages. What is baptism? Tonight I want to address the question, what is baptism? How is it used in our lives? And then maybe briefly touch on the issue of why we only baptize those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. all within about 30 minutes. So let's dig in. Baptism. Here's one definition that I came up with that I think encapsulates the ideas, but certainly there are other ways of saying this that might even be better than this, of course. But baptism is a sign of the covenant of grace for those who are marked by faith and is a continual proclamation to believers of God's grace. Let me say that one more time. Baptism is a sign of the covenant of grace, also called the new covenant. A sign of the covenant of grace for those who are marked by faith and is a continual proclamation to believers of God's grace. So for the sake of time, I'm going to have to make a few assumptions. I'm going to make four, and I'm not really going to explain them, because I have four actual points that I want to explain. So if what I'm about to say is an assumption for me, but you hear that and you think, hmm, I wonder why they think that, or why the pastor is saying that, please find me afterwards. I'd love to dialogue with you further about these. Number one assumption. that we don't have time to prove from scripture tonight, but it's this, baptism doesn't save. Sometimes called baptismal regeneration, that when you're baptized, you are born again by virtue of baptism. Baptism doesn't save in and of itself, but rather it is only for those who come in faith. That's assumption number one. Assumption number two, we've already heard, but it is this. It is a command of Christ. So if you're here tonight and you're a believer and you've never been through the waters of baptism, you need to heed this call of Christ to be baptized. It is a command. It's not a suggestion. It's not an encouragement. It's a command. So A, it doesn't save. B, it's a command of Christ. Third thing, or letter C, It is a practice of the early church and belongs to the church. You can see this in the book of Acts. Oh, how I wish we could dig into this one tonight. Baptism does not belong to para-church organizations. Baptism does not belong to two Christians gathered next to a river or next to a pool, separate from the church. Baptism does not belong as the result of a Saturday morning Bible study. Baptism is an ordinance or sacrament of the church of Jesus Christ. And as such, it belongs to the church. You can tell there's some passion there that I wish I could get into from the word of God. But the book of Acts presents baptism as something which belongs to the church. And last assumption, it is a one-time sacrament discussed by the apostles. Lots could be said regarding one time. Baptism is not meant to be something that is practiced multiple times when an individual feels like they are closer with the Lord. I need to get baptized again. Or maybe the idea that many people would say, and many of us might have been through this, and this isn't a statement of judgment, but baptism is not for every five to ten years when you feel like recommitting your life to Christ. Baptism is a one-time sacrament, whereas the Lord's Supper is to be practiced regularly or in an ongoing way. So those are some assumptions. One other assumption, I use the word sacrament. Now, if you were here with us last week, you got a dose of this, but let me just remind you, you don't need to be afraid of the word sacrament. I don't mean one of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. We're not dealing with what the papacy says here. regarding sacraments. We simply mean the word of Christ made visible, ordained of Christ, we use the word ordinance, or sacrament, I use them interchangeably, so have Baptists down through the ages. It's the word made visible which serves as a means of God's grace. When these observances happen, God ministers grace through the Spirit to his people. Sacraments are signs which point to something. So if I'm driving from here up to Boston, as I get close to Boston, there are going to be signs on the road. Those signs themselves are not Boston, but they point to where and what Boston is. So they're signs which point to something. God is telling us something in the signs of the Lord's Supper and of baptism, and therefore they serve as a means that he uses, a mechanism, a channel that he uses to grow us in the grace that's been accomplished by Christ. Boy, brothers and sisters, there's a lot in what I just said, and all of those things are assumptions which we're not gonna dig into tonight. But if any of those four and a half things are things which you have questions about, please, See me or send me an email this week. I'd love to dialogue with you about that. But with those assumptions in mind, then let's go back to our definition. Baptism is a sign of the covenant of grace for those who are marked by faith and is a continual proclamation to believers of God's grace. If you were listening closely, you just heard me in one sermon introduction say it's a one-time thing, but a continual thing. What does that mean? Well, it's to be practiced one time in the life of every believer, but it's a continual practice in the church. And every baptism that you as a baptized believer see, is an opportunity for your soul to be strengthened and increased in faith. And that's what we'll talk about tonight. So what do we mean when we say baptism is a sign? And how is it a sign? Well, let's walk through the scripture together. Because I think there are four, perhaps more, but at least four ways in which baptism is a sign. It's a means that points us to something. Now, number one, it is a sign which proclaims Union with Christ. It's a sign that proclaims union with Christ. Turn with me to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6 verses 1 through 4. We'll look at several passages tonight. Romans 6 verses 1 through 4. Paul writes this to the church at Rome. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. 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? 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. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time talking about the word baptism, but I need to say this. The scripture uses that word in at least two ways in the New Testament. Water baptism. The administration of water as a sign of God's covenant promise. But sometimes the word baptize means for a person to be immersed or completed in the work of Christ. So I think we have a picture of both of those in Romans 6 verses 1 through 4. The believer has been buried with Christ. He's been, if you will, dunked in Christ, connected with Christ, united with Christ. But Paul picks up on the ordinance of baptism to point to what that's actually also about. Baptism, water baptism, when you are baptized or were baptized, when someone who professes faith in Christ is baptized, it is a sign, as Paul says, that points to our union with Christ, just as we were buried with Him by baptism into death. So when we watch a baptism, It is not simply an opportunity for us to shake our heads, clap our hands, say our hoorahs, and simply think, someone's not going to hell. That's what baptism is about. There's much more that the Scripture gives to baptism than simply the celebration of a decision that someone has made to follow Christ. The first is this. When there is a baptism of a believer, God is proclaiming the glories of the believer's union with Christ. See, baptism is really something that God does. Baptism is not what we do. Of course, yes, the minister stands with the person to be baptized and there's physical action and power that happens. Move my arms and raise them up and the person comes out of the water and all that. But what I mean is baptism is God's sermon. to us. And every time someone is baptized, those of us in the room that are baptized on a Lord's Day, whether our baptism was yesterday or 90 years ago, we too can remember our own baptism and remember those promises that this sign points to. Number one, the believer is united with Christ. See, so often baptism in many Baptist churches today is boiled down to a celebration that someone is not going to hell. And that's a good celebration. It's so much richer than that. Paul says, it points to union with Christ. Similarly, Colossians 2, 11-14, you can turn there if you like, but Paul says that we, quote, have been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God. Baptism points to our union with Christ. I wish we could linger here, but we cannot. Just remember this sign of the covenant of grace points number one to union with Christ. Number two, it points to something else. It's a sign which preaches new life. I actually said that baptism preaches. I'll wrap your mind around that for a moment. I thought the preacher preached, but baptism actually preaches or proclaims new life. Look at the same text, Romans 6, 1 through 4. 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, and then here it is, we too might walk in newness of life. We might walk in newness of life. Jesus' resurrection provides for our new life now and the life to come. Paul says in Galatians 3.27, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. See, baptism not only proclaims union with Christ, but it becomes, number two, a reminder of our new identity, our new life in Christ. It is a sermon that God preaches every time a true believer is baptized in a gospel-proclaiming church and in a gospel-proclaiming way. It is as if God is preaching a sermon to the believers, saying, through my Son, you have union with Him. And in my Son, by my Spirit, there is new life. That makes many of the ways that I know that I have treated baptism through the years seem so shallow. Baptism is just something we do every time we happen to have someone who gets saved. But it's more than that. It's more than simply a celebration of our evangelistic efforts. It's actually an opportunity, along with the Lord's Supper, where God preaches a sermon to your soul. So I would contend with you, brothers and sisters, the next time that in God's grace and in God's providence there is a baptism here, don't simply think, great, this little one or this older one is not going to go to hell when they die. Feel free to think that, but think, the scripture says to me that God is reminding him, the one being baptized, and reminding me, the one who was baptized 30 years ago, that I am united with Christ, and that in Christ I have new life. This is why we keep talking about the means of grace. It's a means that the Lord uses to nurture our faith. Well, thirdly, as we move quickly tonight, baptism is a sign which points to connectedness with the body. Connectedness with the body. I'll use just one text, there are a couple of others, but Ephesians 4, verses 4 through 6. 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. One baptism. There is a unity of baptized believers down through the ages. When we confess the ancient creeds that we often use in our worship service, confessing the faith with the church down through the ages. specifically the Nicene Creed, we confess belief in baptism. Not that baptism saves, but rather there is one baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So baptism is a sign which proclaims to us. It's God's voice in visible form proclaiming union with the Son of God, proclaiming new life and proclaiming a connectedness to a body, a family of which Christ is the head. But then fourthly, baptism is a sign which provides assistance with assurance. Baptism is a sign which provides assistance with assurance. And when I say assurance, I mean assurance of salvation. Now dig in here. I know it's the end of the day. Many of us are tired. Maybe our lunch was really, really large this afternoon around the Lord's Day table. But listen to this, because the meat of this is so helpful. For this, let's turn to 1 Peter 3, verses 18-22. 1 Peter 3, verses 18-22. I said, fourthly and lastly, that baptism is a sign which provides assistance with assurance. We've already said it's not baptism that saves. So we can't look at baptism and say, well, I was baptized. That means I'm saved because the waters saved me. They wash away the dirt. That's not what we mean. But there is actually assistance with assurance. Look at 1 Peter 3, 18-22. The Word of the Lord says this, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. There's a lot there. We'll deal with the second half tonight. If you have questions about that half, come see me. Let's talk or dialogue over a cup of coffee this week. Here's the second half. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you. Not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience. through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. So all is subjected to Christ. But let's deal with that phrase, baptism, which corresponds to this, the this being the stuff that we just read regarding Noah and the ark and all of this, saves you. Now, I thought that we said at the beginning of the sermon that baptism doesn't save, and now the word of God literally says baptism now saves you. If you put a period there, we'd have a problem, but there's not a period there, there's a comma. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but, okay, here it is, here it is, what is it? An appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So I'm gonna move quickly, but, number one, saves you not as a removal of dirt. Baptism doesn't save, but points, as the next phrase says, as an appeal to God for a good conscience. It is an appeal. It is a pledge to God and from God based on his promises. Notice the present tense. Our one-time baptism is something we should regularly go to. It's an appeal for a good conscience. When you come to the water in faith in Jesus Christ, and you are baptized, and union with Christ, and new life, and connectedness to the body are all proclaimed to you as the Word of God made visible. Every time you come to that, it is a pledge which says, because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, through this sign, God, you have proclaimed to me That's how it's an appeal. You have proclaimed to me your covenant promise. So it's not as though baptism washes your sins away, but rather baptism is a sign which points to the covenant promise of God and as such is an appeal to God for a good conscience. Now there's much more we could say, but let me say it this way. Too often in our day we seek to make a sinner's prayer or the church's use of an invitation, walking the aisle, as a profession of faith. But those are actually, in a way, man-made things. Don't get me wrong, praying a prayer, Lord save me, that may be a spirit wrought thing, but the idea that a gospel presentation must end in a sinner's prayer, or the idea that the profession of faith is made by walking an aisle, those are things that have developed, well, really quite recently within church history. The Bible actually gives an appropriate sign for professing of faith. It's baptism. I would submit to you that many of us have thought like this. I need to remember the day that I prayed the sinner's prayer. Versus I need to remember the day that God's promise of covenant faithfulness and grace was proclaimed to me in baptism. Because remember, baptism, which does not remove dirt, but is an appeal to God for a good conscience, baptism is actually given to us as a one-time sign that we keep going back to. So much so that Martin Luther would use the phrase, when telling people to remember their baptism, I am a baptized man. I am a baptized man. Now, we need to be careful. We don't want to walk around and say, I've been baptized, so I'm definitely going to heaven. The idea here is rather, because I've been baptized, God's promise was proclaimed to me in that moment. I am coming to the waters of baptism with faith in Christ alone. Therefore, my baptism serves as a continual proclamation to me, even though it's a one-time act, of God's covenant love and grace. So when Peter says baptism, which corresponds to this Noah in the water and the ark stuff, He says it saves you. He means it points to the ark which is Christ who saves you. So baptism is a sign which tells us something. That through faith we are united with Christ. We have new life in Christ. We have communion in His body. We are connected to His body. And that we have a regular sign that helps us with assurance. Brothers and sisters, the next time a young boy or girl or a young adult or an aged adult is baptized in one of our Lord's Day services, please, let's celebrate their story. But let's do that secondary. Secondary to the primary story, which is this. In that moment, as the baptism is occurring, God through the Holy Spirit is proclaiming a sermon to every baptized believer in this room. Remember your baptism. Remember when I preached this sermon over you. And I preach it over you again today. That in Christ, you have union with Christ. You have new life. You are connected to the body. Rest, believer. that just like this one is lowered into the water and is united with Christ in His death and raised and united with Christ in His resurrection, so too you, believer, are. It's a visible word. It's more than a celebration that someone's not going to hell. It's a sermon. But it's a sermon for our eyes, not just for our ears. Well, we should end here except to say this. The catechism that we're going through speaks to baptism being these things, and we would agree, or you should test as a Berean the word of God and see if you agree. But it also speaks to the idea, because of when it was written and the groups that put it together, that infants should be baptized. I'm going to dedicate a whole three to five minutes to this. I give you the Baptist version of the Orthodox Catechism so you can see the thinking that went there. But the argument essentially, way oversimplified, goes like this. God's covenant of grace was proclaimed in Genesis 3.15 and it began with Abraham. The Abrahamic covenant is the covenant of grace. How did Abraham give the sign to his people? He received it and his children received it. And so, Since the new covenant is also the covenant of grace, we should baptize our infants. Abraham circumcised along with his family, the males that is. Believer in the new covenant baptized along with his children. Our brother this morning pointed out very well the differences between how we view the Abrahamic covenant and our Presbyterian and other reformed brothers. We would say that the Abrahamic covenant, all that stuff with circumcision, was not the covenant of grace. It pointed to the covenant of grace. It proclaimed that the covenant of grace was coming, but that the practice of circumcising your children had to do with the physical blessings of the land and the seed. But baptism was altogether a different thing. The new covenant is the covenant of grace alone. All the other covenants said it was coming by farther steps. But we don't practice new covenant signs, covenant grace signs based on old covenants models. There's so much more we could say there. But you'll often be thinking, why do those Presbyterians baptize their babies? Are they like the Catholics? No. It's a whole different set of discussion, a whole different set of premises. It has to do with the way we understand the Bible unfolding in covenants. Simply put, Jesus's death on the cross was the institution of the covenant of grace. Everyone ever saved, Old and New Testament alike, saved by his blood and righteousness. But those Old Testament covenants, they themselves were not the covenant of grace. And so we don't give the signs of the covenant of grace based on those covenants. We don't follow that model. There were other things going on there. Please listen to our brother from this morning and next Sunday, Lord willing. For now, suffice it to say, the covenantal argument, I think, in scripture is in favor of baptizing those who come to the waters of baptism in faith, not in connection to a parent. We love our Presbyterian brothers, and if it were not for many of them, both living and dead, I think a lot of our theologies would be much more anemic. But on the idea of bringing infants to the water, we cannot agree. But you may say, what about all of the baptisms and acts? You Baptists say that there are plenty of There are no examples of baptisms of infants in Acts, but we think there are many. So let's close with this then. There are, as it should be said, four, maybe five instances in the book of Acts where it appears that maybe infants were baptized. So we've made the covenantal argument, we've talked about what baptism is, but how do we get around the book of Acts? Very quickly, Crispus, Acts chapter 8, verses 18, the word of the Lord reads this way. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. So in Acts chapter 8, there is a baptizing of people in a household, but notice what it says. Crispus believed. Belief is connected with baptism. Okay, well we could read of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 verses 22, 33, 44, Acts chapter 11, but in Acts chapter 10 verse 2 the Word of the Lord says that Cornelius was a God-fearing man and that his household feared God. Peter did preach the gospel to the whole household and all the household were saved. How do we know that? Well, Acts 10 verse 44 and Acts 11, 15 state as much. The Holy Spirit fell upon them and, quote, all, fell on them all and led them to repentance and faith. In fact, Peter explicitly states in Acts 10, 47 that he baptized only those who, quote, receive the Holy Spirit as we did. Infants are not able to place faith in the gospel through the hearing of the word. Well, there's Lydia. I love that name. Lydia in Acts 16. And this is inconclusive because even though it talks about members of her household being baptized, all we have of Lydia is women gathering at the bank because there weren't enough men to have a God-fearing assembly. We don't know for sure if she was the head of her household in the same way that was her husband there. Did she have an unbelieving husband, a non-God-fearing husband? Philippians Jailer in Acts 16 verses 25 through 34, verses 33 and 34 indicate that all the household was baptized. We don't know the ages, but it also indicates that the same group, whoever were baptized, verses 33 and 34 said, were said to rejoice. So whoever was baptized also rejoiced in the reception of the gospel. In fact, John Calvin, a God-fearing baby baptizing believer, said this about this passage, Luke commends the pious zeal of the jailer because he dedicated his whole house to the Lord in which also the grace of God illustriously appeared because it suddenly brought the whole family to a pious consent. And then there's the house of Stephanus, 1 Corinthians 1 and 16. The household is baptized, but in 1 Corinthians 16, 15, the same group that is said to have been baptized, quote, devoted themselves to the servants of the saints. So those baptized served. I would just encourage you, brothers and sisters, we cannot make our theology of baptism based on four to five accounts in the book of Acts. But I will say there are good and clear reasons for us as reformed Baptists to say even the accounts in Acts do not change what we believe baptism to be, nor do they change what we understand the proper recipients of baptism to be. There's much more we could say. First Corinthians seven. Among others. But in each case, we must go back to this. What is baptism? Well, it's a sign of the covenant of grace for those who are marked by faith. And it is a continual proclamation to believers of God's grace. Therefore, those who come to baptism must bring spirit wrought faith and not a fleshly connection. As we think about exchanging the catechism words, the last thing that I will say, brothers and sisters, is this. One of the most challenging and anemia-giving realities to the Church of Christ today is that we make too little of baptism. You'll look up on the internet and you'll see people doing spontaneous baptisms in a service. Dancing around the aisles and all kinds of things because baptism is simply seen as, I'm gonna do this because I prayed a prayer. And there's some truth in that. But all the joy, Christian, of seeing baptism and knowing in that moment as you are baptized or those who are watching the baptism with their eyes, God, now, in time and space, is proclaiming to us, through the waters of baptism, our union with Christ, our new life, the new body that we have. And He is growing us, by faith, in assurance. For every time there is a baptism, we can say together, God is signing to us His covenant of grace and the glories of covenant is that God is the other party. He will never relent on his promise. Let's pray. Almighty God, help us both in baptism and in the Lord's Supper to receive the visible word that you have for your people Lord, we pray that to your name be the glory every time a person is baptized, that our hearts would say God is glorious because he keeps covenant and steadfast love to a thousand generations to those that are his. Lord, help us to have a proper understanding of the waters of baptism. We pray this in Jesus name.