I want to ask you to turn your Bibles to Matthew 3. I want you to just be able to look at that passage. It's already been read to you this morning, so I won't reread it again. But I want to take this time to pray for the preaching of the word. Heavenly Father, we come before you thanking you for this day that you've given to us that we will worship you and glory in you alone. Lord, we have praised you with song, In the reading of your word, we've praised you over the baptism of a young man who you saved for your glory alone. We've praised you in prayer. We've petitioned you in prayer. And now we come to a time to hear the word preached. We ask that your spirit would deal with our souls, that your spirit would accompany the truth of your word. We ask Lord that you would do your work in us or there is nothing perfect in me. I have no righteousness in and of myself. So I'm not here as a man who can speak authoritatively as your son did when he was on the earth. I'm simply here to speak on his behalf and I pray that the people would see the truth of your word by the power of the spirit. that I would be put aside. Or we praise you for how you use your word in the lives of your people and your promise to us that you will never lose one of your people. Lord, please be merciful to us in this time. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. This morning I want to answer two questions. One of them I want to answer very definitively and very quickly. The first question is, does baptism save you? The answer is no. We have no evidence in scripture anywhere that baptism saves you. Baptism is a remembrance of what God has done in salvation, but it does not save you. There are scriptures that show how connected baptism and salvation are, but it never gives us any indication that baptism saves anyone. And that will lead into the second question. What is baptism and what does it mean? What is baptism and what does it mean? Well, firstly and foremost, I have these three major points that I want you to see. And number one, baptism is a physical act in remembrance of Christ's physical work. Baptism is a physical act in remembrance of Christ's physical work. Firstly, we want to note under this heading that baptism is a physical act of being dipped into water. I want us to define this properly. The scripture speaks of the word baptism, and oftentimes we see it in our English translations as baptism, but that's actually a transliteration. When you see the word baptizo, that is I dip or I immerse. Well, when you see this word baptism, it has a meaning, and its meaning is to dip into, immerse in, or plunge into. As one writer notes, it's like when a cloth was dipped into dye, it was said to be baptized. Sometimes when ships would sink at sea, they were said to be baptized. Why? Because they were immersed. They were put into the water. So we see this as a physical act of being dipped into the water, being immersed into it. And that's from the very meaning of the word itself. But baptism is also a physical act that's instituted by the Lord Jesus. When Matthew 3, 13 through 17 was read to you, you needed to note here that it's the Lord Jesus that is instituting baptism. Yes, John had already been baptizing, but here we see something very special. There's a covenant connectivity that we will note later. It's the Lord Jesus who institutes this for the disciples. John was baptizing as a precursor to the new covenant. but the new covenant had not come yet. And the Lord Jesus in Matthew 3, he himself was baptized, ushering in his ministry on the way to completing the new covenant through his life, his death, and his resurrection. So we have to say first and foremost, baptism is an act instituted by the Lord. And we'll get to this in some of the applications at the end, but you need to ask yourself some questions. If baptism is not important, then why did the Lord Jesus even attend to it at all? Why did he even bother to deal with it? Some would put away the importance of baptism, and I think that's incorrect. We need to think about the importance of baptism because the Lord Jesus himself instituted that very act. We see that when he instituted it, that it's God the Father who spoke of his son and said, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. And baptism was a part of that act of God the Father speaking. Thirdly, under this heading, baptism is a physical act reminding us of the Lord Jesus. Well, we see it's a physical act that one is dipped into the water. We see it's a physical act instituted by the Lord Jesus. But not only is it something we just say, well, he instituted it. We're supposed to remember the Lord Jesus himself when we see the act done. Through baptism, we remember that Christ came to the earth. Think about it. The very Son of God, very God of very God, and very man of very man, actually assumed human flesh, and He Himself was dipped into the water of the river. It's a remembrance that Christ came to this earth. He was conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He assumed human flesh. He was baptized as a profession of who He is. Now I want you to think about that and remember that. When the Lord Jesus was baptized, and at that moment after His coming up, when that dove descended on Him, and this dove came down, like a dove in a sense, not a physical dove, but like a dove, and the God the Father spoke, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. That's God the Father declaring who Jesus is. Jesus is my son, very God of very God, and very man of very man. Jesus at his baptism, this is a physical act to all those in this Jewish surrounding of who he is, the very son of God. It also reminds us that he lived a perfect life. 2 Corinthians 5.21, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. Through baptism, we remember that Christ died a sinner's death. We remember that he came to the earth, we remember he died a sinner's death. The Lord's Supper is certainly a reminder of that, right? We focus on that at the time of the Lord's Supper table. But even in baptism, it ought to be a reminder to us of what Christ did. He literally, truly died. He hung on that cross, he bled, yes, but he died. And it's also a reminder that through baptism, we remember that Christ arose from the dead. This is a great picture for us in baptism. Christ arose. Did we see him no longer in the tomb? Were we able to visit the tomb ourselves at that very next day? No. But when we see baptism, someone coming up from that water, we are reminded that the Lord Jesus himself, not only did he die, but he arose on the third day. He was resurrected from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit. So much so that when they went to the tomb, they didn't see him there. Now, they did see him later, but he was not in that tomb. He was not in that tomb. Well, this brings me to the second major point. Baptism is a physical act in remembrance of Christ's spiritual work. It's in remembrance of Christ's physical work. He literally came to the earth and he did these things. but it's also in remembrance of Christ's spiritual work. Under this heading, letter A, baptism reflects the spiritual truth of regeneration. Now, I use that word reflect to be something very important. No one is actually regenerated, and I'll get to that word in a moment, but no one is actually regenerated through the act of baptism. A dead soul does not become alive in Christ through the act of baptism. But that act of baptism reflects what has happened in the soul of a professing believer. The one who was once dead in their sins is now alive in Christ Jesus. They've been raised from the dead spiritually. Jesus says in John 3, you must be born again. What is it to be born again? Paul said to Titus, it's not about the deeds that you've done that you were saved by, but it was by the washing of regeneration. Regeneration is this dead soul that is made alive. Only the work of the Spirit does this to the soul. Only the Holy Spirit of God actually enlivens a dead soul. This soul that once was completely inclined by nature towards sin, enjoyed sin, and loved sin, now that soul is made alive and it's enabled to believe. And now willingly, this soul believes in Jesus Christ as their one and only Savior. They have faith in Him alone because they've been raised from the dead. When we think of regeneration, we need to think of Mark 1 8. When John the Baptist says, I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. There's one baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's at regeneration. When that dead soul is brought to life. You want to talk about amazing feats. We think we can do amazing things on this earth, but not one of us can raise a dead body, and certainly we can't raise a dead soul. But God, by His grace alone, through the work of His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit, takes dead sinners and makes them alive in Christ Jesus. It enables them to now have faith and believe. And that's what we do. When we've been raised from the dead, we willingly believe. When we think about this work of regeneration, we ought to be reminded by it every time we see someone go under that water and come back up. The washing of regeneration. What was a dead, sinful soul with no righteousness of its own, only a righteousness of filthy rags, That dead soul, through the washing of regeneration, the Word of God read or heard, the Spirit accompanies that Word of God and brings forth a soul that is now alive, the washing of regeneration, cleaning the soul. As it says to Ezekiel, they're given a new heart. God said He would do that. In His people, He would give them a new heart, a new heart of flesh, no longer a heart of stone. but a heart of flesh. Peter says it this way, for you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable. Dead souls are perishable. They will endure the wrath of God for eternity. Dead bodies are perishable. For you've been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but of seed that is imperishable. That is through the living and enduring word of God. The hymn we sang before the time of preaching is a short hymn, but it asks the question from Psalm 119, how shall a young person direct their way? It says direct it in the word of God. What's gonna feed the soul of any person is the word of God. Because the spirit of God accompanies the word of God. As we think about the young people that have been baptized in the last little while, probably the last few years, we've had several young people baptized. What do they need? They need the word of God. Because that puts that imperishable seed in their soul. And the spirit of God waters that and brings the fruit from it. Same is true of believers who were baptized years and years and years ago. You and I, we still need the Word of God, don't we? And we still need the Spirit of God to work in our souls. Well, secondly, under this heading, baptism reflects the spiritual truth of union with Christ. Baptism reflects the spiritual truth of union with Christ. If we were dead in our sin, the scripture says now we are alive in Christ Jesus. This is the whole idea of Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. If you read about the work of God and salvation in chapter one, and then you come to chapter two and recognize that one is dead in their sins, and then you see the whole identification is made. It's not just that you were dead, but now you are alive in Christ Jesus. The idea of union with Christ is all through the letter to the Ephesians. That union is that One is made alive to God in Christ Jesus, Romans 6.11. Do we really understand how dead we are to God and our sin? I think sometimes we say those words and we pass over them and we forget how amazing grace really is. The unbeliever is dead to God in their sin, but the believer is alive to God in Christ Jesus. It's a good question for us this morning. Are you alive to God in Christ Jesus? Are you dead to God in your sin? Have you repented of your sin? And have you believed that the Lord Jesus Christ alone will save you from the debt and the guilt of your sin? Are you still trying to save yourself? Do you think you can work yourself into heaven? Do you think there are good works that you can do? If you'll go help this group or help that person or do this thing, or hey, I'm not as bad as that other person, and therefore God will look at me and I'll fit in some level of my own works that he may save me. The scripture denies all of that. We are saved by God's grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, according to his word, by the work of the spirit alone. It has nothing to do with our works. You cannot be a good enough person to save yourself. It's just not possible. Because God's whole identification about perfection puts us outside of the marker. What one of us is perfect? I've already been imperfect since I've been home from Cuba. Now I was perfect in Cuba. I'm glad you laughed. We're imperfect. We're sinners. We hear things certain ways and it causes us to respond certain ways. We don't take into our thinking certain things that are happening all around us. Our minds are struggling with sin even if we don't realize it. We are very, very prone to think very highly of ourselves. That's what our sin nature has done. We are in need of union with Christ, not union with ourselves. If I say to God, yeah, I think Jesus is important and look at what I've done, no. I certainly can't say look at what I've done because all my righteousness is filthy, nasty, awful rags. But if I try to add Christ plus my works, I've tainted Christ's work. While I was in Cuba, I was reminded of this illustration. It only takes a little bit of bacteria to taint a whole jug of water. Heard a story of a man who drank a little cup of juice that was diluted with the water. He had no idea. But he was sick for 24 hours afterward. looked good to him, tasted about the same to him, but it was tainted. We taint even the very work of Christ if we try to add ourselves to it. It's Christ or nothing, Christ or nothing. We were lovers of sin, Now we hate sin as those who are alive in Christ Jesus. It doesn't mean we're perfect. It just means we hate it when we sin. Does your sin bother you, or do you try to reason your sin away? Do you try to act like your sin's no big deal, and it's always somebody else's fault? A believer will come to a place of conviction to realize they've got sin in their own lives, and they'll be convicted of their own sin. A self-righteous Pharisee thinks they're always right. Let us not be like the Pharisees. Let us realize that we need to hate our sin as Christ hated it. So when we commit sin, we need to continue to repent and ask forgiveness. Not because it needs to be forgiven all over again, but because we're recognizing before God we are still in need of the work of Christ. Christ interceding on our behalf right now. When you see baptism, You're seeing this reflection of that spiritual union with Christ, that one is raised from death to life in Christ Jesus, not in their good works, in Christ Jesus. Thirdly and lastly, well, thirdly and lastly, the major points. Baptism is a physical act in remembrance of Christ's covenantal work. Every time you see baptism, I want you to remember something. That person that you're seeing being baptized, that's a representation of what God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit planned to do before time. They made covenant among themselves, intra-Trinitarian, before time began, before we could even think or understand it. It blows our mind. God is not bound by time. He created it. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit were in complete, complete understanding of what the plan was. That they would save a people even before Adam and Eve fell. Christ was committed to coming to this earth. It blows our mind, doesn't it? Paul wrote this. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will. And He did it before the foundation of the world. Oh, God Himself, the one true living God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They had a plan. And every time you see that baptism, you need to recognize that plan is being worked out. You and I struggle to make plans all the time, and we don't even know what we're going to do tomorrow. We think we know, but I guarantee you every one of us in this room will have something happen tomorrow that we did not plan. When you saw Ryan up there this morning, what you saw was the plan of God being worked out in time, that God had worked out before time. Ryan is God's adopted son. And you need to see that when you see baptism. There was something going on before time that we can't even understand or fathom. This is how Jesus is saying in John chapter 10 that he will not lose one of his sheep. He says they cannot be snatched out of the father's hand. It's because you're seeing the reflection of a spiritual covenantal work when you see baptism. But also you need to recognize you're seeing that plan worked out in time through the very work of the Lord Jesus himself. Philippians 2.5 through 11, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. And of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Many will drive by out here today and wonder why in the world we would be in this building. But if they do not repent and believe, one day they will bow before the same king that we bow before. But they will not bow before him as adopted children. We ought to be thankful for God's grace more than we could ever understand. Every time you see baptism, remember, remember, remember. Well, I'll leave you with these three observations or applications. Number one, baptism is an ordinance of obedience in the body of Christ. Baptism is an ordinance of obedience in the body of Christ. We need to think here a little bit more big picture of the church universal. Baptism's not just for Trinity Reformed Baptist Church because we got the name Baptist in our name. No. All those who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, they should be baptized. Why? Well, Christ was baptized. We already said it. He instituted it. Furthermore, Christ commanded His disciples to baptize. Not only were they to be baptized, but they were to go baptizing people. You have to realize that the idea of going is important, but the verb in that sentence is making disciples. Go therefore into the nations, making disciples and baptizing them. It's disciples who are to be baptized. That's a commandment from Christ himself. If you would call yourself a disciple of Christ, then you need to be baptized. Christ instituted it, and Christ himself commanded it. It's not that it's something that he would force on us, but it reminds us of even in Peter's preaching. Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is one of the early stages of the church. People are being brought to Christ. Some of it's happening so fast and so quickly, thousands are coming to the Lord. We may not see that, but when people come to the Lord, we need to encourage them in baptism. And here's one of the reasons why. just as Christ was baptized as a profession of who he is. Remember I told you that, right? This was a public profession of who he is. This is my son in whom I'm well-pleased. Well, God the Father could only be well-pleased in his son who is perfect. So his disciples are to be baptized as a profession of who they are. This is a public profession. To all those in the seeing of it, that we are people who are committed to Christ, and we are willing to publicly identify with Christ as our Savior, our Lord, and ultimately our King. We're saying that to a local body of Christians so they will encourage us in the faith. And we can be a part of encouraging them in the faith for the accountability of the local church, discipling one another, loving one another. But we're also saying that for the world so that we can say, I am a follower of Christ. I have followed and I have shared in the fellowship of his sufferings. for I have been baptized in his name. Secondly, baptism is an ordinance recognized in local bodies of Christ. All throughout the Gospels, we see snippets of the church being formed. in the context of what God has been doing all along. It's not that he didn't have a church before. God had been saving his people in the Old Testament all the way along. The church was just in a different recognition point through the people of Israel. But there were people in Israel who were not just circumcised physically, they were circumcised of the heart. But when Jesus comes to this earth, he begins to show there's something important coming. in the new covenant. The church will be recognized in a different way. It will be recognized in this local way. This is why you see in the book of Acts churches forming, local churches forming. People are being baptized and they're being baptized in the context of a local church. Not every single one in the book of Acts is that way because it's an infant church. But you see the continuing of the New Testament showing that it's local churches that are recognizing this baptism. So the baptism that Jesus instituted, he didn't just institute it for it to be something just done to anybody and everybody all along the way. But this is for believers. And believers are to gather in local bodies. so that there's real, genuine accountability among those believers. They disciple one another. Jesus called and organized the disciples to begin the church. What was the point of what Jesus was doing when he was commanding the Great Commission? It wasn't just to go out and preach the gospel and just a bunch of people say they're saved and then they run around like chickens with their heads cut off. No, it was for the church and ultimately for that church to be recognized in local bodies. It's much easier in a local body for us to help one another. I really genuinely have no way of helping believers in other parts of the world other than prayer. And that is not in any way putting prayer aside. We should pray for them. And that is a great help to them. But people in a local body, I can actually do something to help them. I can encourage them. I can know what is happening. I can bring something or take something to them. These local bodies of Christ, were organized through the disciples to begin the church. And Jesus intended these churches to function as local bodies and we identify in those local bodies through baptism. Have you understood these last few years as we've baptized several young people that certainly they have parents and we know their parents have responsibilities for them. But do you realize this is your real brother and sister in Christ? Are you going to treat them like a brother and a sister? Will you ignore them and act like they're not even around? Will you encourage them? Will you strengthen them? You do understand for us as Christians that when we gather in local bodies, what we're saying is as baptized believers, This is my family, my eternal family. I know my eternal family exists outside these four walls because there's lots of other churches, there's lots of other gospel preaching places, there's lots of other Christians all over this globe by God's grace, but I can't reach out to all of those like we can in a local context. When we see that baptism, it's a recognition, this is my brother, my sister. Thirdly and lastly, baptism is an ordinance purposed for accountability in local bodies of Christ. Not only is it recognized in the local body of Christ, but it's purposed for accountability. Did Jesus not command accountability for sin in the church in Matthew 18? And he said, ultimately, if it's not dealt with, then what do you do? You take it to the church. What church? What church am I supposed to take it to? The church in California, the people that I don't even know? Call up some guy I don't know, are you a believer? Oh you are, well let me tell you about this sin we're trying to deal with here, I need your help. No, take it to the church is the beginning phrases of what would come about in the local church. When Paul reveals the practice of accountability in the local church in Corinth. Who's he writing to? A local church. You have to think, the immoral brother in the Corinthian church was a baptized believer into that local church. He had made a profession of faith, he had been baptized, the people in the church recognized him as a professing believer who had been baptized among them, and Paul's saying, this sin is so immoral, so gross, it has to be dealt with, and you need to deal with it in the church in Corinth. He didn't call the church in Ephesus to go deal with it. He didn't call the church in Jerusalem to go deal with it. He said to that local church, hold your brother accountable. Thankfully, the brother must have been repentant because he comes back later and he says, bring him back in. Come on now, show that grace, bring him back in. When we look at these situations, we have to recognize that these were believers, these baptized believers who covenanted to God to follow Christ through their profession in baptism. Now, does baptism save you? This means no. But it is a work of God that reflects what God has done in salvation. Doesn't save us. So when you saw that this morning, remember all that Christ has done. When you saw that this morning, remember we have a responsibility to love our brother. When you saw that this morning, remember how great God's grace is, because he takes dead sinners and makes them alive in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we praise you for the sending of your son, the glorious work that was done through him alone. We praise you that we can speak of it often, that it can be preached according to the truth of your word, and we pray that your spirit would continue to work. Lord, sometimes when we're commanded to do things, we bristle and say, why, why, why? Lord, will you soften our hearts? Will you give us minds to think rightly about the truth of your word? We praise you for what you'll do even as we come to the time of the Lord's table, as we remember and give thanks for the broken body and the shed blood of your son. It's in his name we pray, amen.