A Baptismal Message

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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In Galatians chapter 3 and verses 25 to 27, we read these words

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But now that faith has come We're no longer under a guardian for in Christ Jesus.

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You are all sons of God through faith For as many of you as were baptized into Christ Have put on Christ as though this morning.

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I wish to bring you a message about Baptism since baptism is the occasion that we are going to by God's grace and his will celebrate this morning

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Baptism So Mario Ramos is sitting here in front and Darrell she who's on my left their applications for membership yesterday at the members meeting for Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church were accepted and Today when they take the

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Lord's table become as it were officially members of our church and Take we received the right hand of fellowship from us.

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What we did yesterday was rather momentous We agreed before the Lord Jesus Christ that both of these men have shown that they've been renewed by the

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Holy Spirit And we look forward to extending to both of you that right hand of fellowship at the conclusion of today's worship

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For one of them though There is an act yet to be performed there is something missing

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Nothing that is hard to find nothing expensive to buy What is missing is very important, but very simple to attain

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It's important because the Lord Jesus Christ commands it and it's simple to attain because our

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Lord Jesus Christ provides it All that to lead up to that Mario Ramos has asked

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To be baptized today in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit with God's blessing in a little

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While pastor Owens will do just that So to prepare us for this occasion, which we are setting aside today just to celebrate this great

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Entrance into the command the ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ to prepare us I want to bring a message from the scriptures on what this is all about.

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What are we doing here this morning? What is baptism? Why is baptism important?

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Does baptism actually do anything or is it just a right that we do because churches for centuries have done this

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Well to understand baptism The first thing we really have to understand is the gospel itself

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We need to understand the gospel before we can understand baptism because baptism is a live portrayal of the gospel

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Baptism portrays before your very eyes this gospel on which we stand

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So let's take a few moments before we speak about baptism itself and the act of baptism and its meaning

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Let's be sure we know What its foundation is? The gospel what is the gospel?

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Well gospel means good news euangelion in the Greek it means simply good news as King David long before Jesus Christ came to earth.

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God became flesh in him Saw a runner coming to him after his generals had fought a battle

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He said this man is coming with you on galley and he's come with gospel He's come with good news ostensibly say the battle's been won gospel simply means in its definition good news glad tidings

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What is the gospel though? There's more to it than that Romans chapter 1 verse 16 gives us one of the most full and succinct definitions

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There in one verse one sentence the Apostle Paul writes for I'm not ashamed of the gospel

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For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

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Greek The gospel is good news That's what the word means good news.

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The good news of the gospel is that in Christ? God became man

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And as we like to say it he put on flesh God in Christ put on flesh

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The Apostle John writes in the beginning of his gospel in the beginning was the Word of the

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Word is Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the very Word of God in the beginning was the

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Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Jesus Christ the eternal

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Son of God Always was God always will be God never was other than God Jesus God in the flesh as a man

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Lived perfectly before God The gospel is this good news that Jesus Christ Lived as a man before God and we need to ask ourselves.

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Why? Why did he do this? Why would God do such a thing as that? Why would

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God have his eternal Son set aside his glory for a time and go from heaven to earth?

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And become like us But for sin for he never sinned But why would

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God do that? Why would God's Son? Vacate for that short time his throne and remove himself from the presence of the angels

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Eternally worshipping him calling out his praises singing. Holy. Holy. Holy Lord God Almighty and come here to earth and walk amongst men who he created and Hear from them instead of the angels praises here derision and insults

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Why would God do such a thing as that? the grace of God The love of God the mercy of God the eternal plan of God.

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Oh First 20 centuries the church has worked on this question And I would agree with all of those it is the grace of God the mercy of God the goodness of God the eternal plan of God that in Christ God becomes flesh

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That Christ as man lives that perfect life and this is good news indeed

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How is that good news? This ewangelion this good news this wonderful thing that we are going to celebrate in the baptism in a short time

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Well the short answer for why this is necessary is that man sinned In Adam we all sin that's

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Adam in the garden Garden sinning on behalf of all of us when he disobeyed God's one

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Rule is one negative command of this tree. You shall not eat and from that tree. He did eat

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Adam sinned on behalf of us all and so a man

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Must come And live without sin on behalf of us all

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As Adam represented us So Jesus Christ Represents us as Adam represented us in sinning

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Jesus Christ represents us in his perfections And this is good news

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The gospel is good news because Jesus fully man and so could represent man and yet was always fully

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God. He was man He was God never the twain were confused. He was always that and because he was

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Fully God he could provide a perfect satisfaction to God For the people that he represents

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He can make a full satisfaction for his people's sins Now this is good news

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This is indeed glad tidings. This is good news because this is something that you or I cannot do

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Not even close In the book of James we read that if you would try to save yourself by obeying the law you can

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Try but you have to obey the entire law All of it without fail with every breath with every thought with every action with every motive with every aspiration

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Follow God's law and every thought Has to be as holy as God himself

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Well, of course no one can do this The slightest deviation and you've failed and the price you owe for that failure is something you could never pay

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The wages of sin is death any sin all sin the good news

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Of the gospel Is that that's what Jesus paid as the hymn says

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Jesus paid it all The gospel is good news it is good news because God became man in the flesh

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God became man in Jesus Christ as man, Jesus Christ represented us and Paid for our sins

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When he suffered and died on the cross and there God poured out his wrath for your sin on him who knew no sin

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It's good news because this is something you could not do it's a price you could never pay The gospel is good news and the gospel as we read

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Romans 116 is the power of God The gospel is the power of God. This is why the Apostle Paul says

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I'm not ashamed of the gospel It is the power of God. I'm not ashamed because it accomplishes what

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God set it out to accomplish God's Word never returns to him without accomplishing that for which he sent it.

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The gospel is the power of God to save sinners to save sinners from the wrath of God The gospel is the power of God to become flesh in the person of Jesus Christ The gospel is the power of God for him to live a perfect life of perfect holiness before God The gospel is the power of God to lay my sins on Jesus the gospel is the power of God for Jesus's sacrifice to be applied to all my sin and For all of his sacrifice to be applied to sin because Jesus Christ owed no

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Sacrifice owed no penalty for sin for himself Because we say again and again and we cannot be right if we reminded enough times

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He never sinned and therefore all of him all of his perfection could be applied to you and to my sins

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For none was owed for his own The gospel is the power of God the gospel is the power of God that raised

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Jesus Christ from the dead He was raised for our justification says the

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Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 4 verse 25 raised for our justification He's dead

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He's buried and on the third day God by his mighty power raised him up from the dead

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It's the power of God to sanctify us in this life is the power of God to make us more like Jesus Christ in this life

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We read in Ephesians chapter 1 of verse 19 of the immeasurable greatness of God's power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and Seated him in his right hand in the heavenly places

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The gospel is the power of God to sanctify us to make us more like Jesus Christ as we walk through this world and That power is no less than the power that God exerted when he raised his son

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Jesus Christ from the dead that power worked towards those who believe to sanctify them to make you holy and Like Christ more and more in this life.

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Do we ever get to the end of that process? No We cannot become like Jesus now in this life, we will not stop in our sin in this life

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But the gospel is the power of God to forgive your sins If you put your faith and your trust and your hope in him in Jesus Christ This is good news.

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It's the power of God is good news and the gospel is all this and is more than all this The gospel is a summons

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The gospel is a summons to you from the great God of heaven he who Created everything by the power of his word by the mere exertion of his will when he said let there be

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And all was from nothing. They had been before That God Summons us to himself

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And one of the greatest places we have in the Bible that tells us this The prophet

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Isaiah in a fifty -fifth fifty -fifth chapter of Isaiah it starts out where he says come and some of the your translations will say ho or hoy or something like this this pleading beckoning as as it were of Calling men.

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He says come everyone who thirsts Come to the waters and he who has no money come by and eat

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Come by wine and milk without money and without price This is what we can call the free offer of forgiveness of sins.

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And by that forgiveness you would have peace with God As the Apostle says in Romans chapter 5 therefore having been justified by faith.

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We have peace with God the prophet Isaiah Says come

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Come it is God who beckons you it is God who says ho come to these waters

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Come to the waters that Jesus Christ told the Samaritan woman if you drink of these waters, you will never again thirst

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Come to the waters and if you have no money come by and eat by wine and milk without money without price

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Come the God of heaven beckons you and calls you and summons you to himself

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The gospel is a summons Today's world we look for the catch don't we?

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We look for the fine print We're afraid to click that button because we might end up in a subscription that will never fail

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They'll never forget what our credit card number is We look for the interest rates that are going to go up out of Angus skyrocket bar beyond anything we could ever pay

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Cuz if it's not God As Jesus Christ said I speak openly. I Spoke openly in the temple.

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I spoke and I showed you who God was. I told you about God Clearly and plainly

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There's no catch the gospel has no hidden fees The Lord God says from our ways are not your ways nor are my thoughts your thoughts

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God is pure and open and honest if you will it tells you plainly

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What this summons is about He says when he says he who has no money he who has no ability come

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He means if you have nothing in your hand come and buy wine and milk of the highest quality of the universe could imagine

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And he means it exactly the way he says it The purchase is without money and that's just what he means

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There's no catch Come to the checkout and tell the clerk that you want the best wine and milk there is in all the universe and he says well

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Here it is. I hope you enjoy. It's the finest in all creation Now, how will you pay for that?

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Would that be on your visa card and you say no. No, I have no money. I Have nothing to offer.

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My payment is Isaiah 55 1 because the God of the universe The God father of our

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Lord Jesus Christ told me to come here and told me with my empty hand This is what

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I could purchase Well, of course

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We don't purchase it. Do we? We have nothing to purchase it with is speaking of a salvation that was purchased for us.

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We the passive recipient of it Jesus began his public ministry with a summons

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You know if Isaiah Centuries before Jesus Christ says come to the waters if you thirst if you have no money

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You're in the right condition to come here. Jesus Christ also summons He began his public ministry reading

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Matthews and then Mark's Gospels. He said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Is this not like the

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Prophet Isaiah? Calling out this summons to tell you to come He said another place to repent and believe in the gospel

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The gospel is those waters. The gospel is that living water. The gospel is that redemption that salvation

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That you cannot buy and yet Jesus or the God what

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Jesus calls you to come and have it repent of your sins

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Believe that God in and by the gospel has done something about your sins Where was the purchase made?

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Well, God demands a price for our sins. God demands a price for your sins for every one of them

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The purchase was made by Christ by Christ Jesus and he alone at the cross and on the cross alone

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God sent his son to the cross where as the Apostle Peter puts it He became a curse for us as first Peter 3 18

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For Christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous That he might bring us to God that you might be able to answer that summons

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That you might be able to grasp all of this good news this gospel The payment for which you couldn't even begin

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That he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh But made alive in the spirit and this is why

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Isaiah can summon you to the gospel knowing you have only empty hands Nothing in my hand

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I bring but only to the cross I cling In fact empty hands are demanded of us because the gospel means that God and God alone

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Has done all that is needed for your salvation in Christ and in Christ alone There's nothing you can add to it

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Trying to add to it is actually a denial of the gospel itself Some people try to front -load the gospel by making themselves worthy

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I'll get right with God and then I'll repent and then I'll become a Christian, but I have to get right first But then if you get right first,

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I would ask you Repent of what? You've just gotten right How would you repent to believe the gospel if you've gotten yourself, right?

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You are your own gospel. The dust doesn't work. You've made yourself perfect, but in God's sight in God's infinitely holy and righteous sight

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Could you imagine that and then say well, I'm all set. No, we couldn't Couldn't the price was paid by Jesus Christ There's nothing that we can add to it that doesn't nothing we must try to add to it

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And the good news Because the price for your redemption is infinite

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The price for your redemption is beyond imagining and we don't want to go and try to even describe this morning the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross and Especially that moment when

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God turned away from him having poured his wrath upon him and made him to be sin for us

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That's the price What would you add to that? What Account would you start investing in the someday with compound interest?

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Would even begin It's incalculably small. It's impossibly small

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Anything that we could add to this anything we could try to do Too many people think well,

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I'll do this. I'll believe in this Jesus. He seems pretty good. But let me get okay first Well, you're not okay.

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You're not going to make yourself. Okay, it cannot happen and that's good news

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Because God who summons you doesn't summon you for no reason It's not a futile thing to come to God because God has called you to him

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He will do as he says He will give what he promises and in Christ Jesus all

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God's promises are what they are. Yes, and Amen Now only

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Jesus can say he was right with God only Jesus is God's beloved son In whom he said

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I am well -pleased Only Jesus as a man was tempted in all the ways that we are and is yet without sin

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And as the hymn says if you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all because you'll never be better It's good news

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It's good news because this is exactly what God addresses in his son Jesus Christ Jesus paid it all

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It's good news It's a summons God calls each of us

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To come to him and if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ This summons is not for nothing.

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These are not just words that I'm speaking. These are the words of God as Ill suited as my tongue might be to reclaim the grace and the goodness of this

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God Yet, these are the words that he has given us in Scriptures It's no futile thing to come to him

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He will give what his Scriptures promise Jesus Christ said

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I did not come to call He did not come to summon the righteous by which he means is self -righteous By which he means those who might try to make themselves righteous get themselves right before they come to God Or not come to God at all because they think they're okay.

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I did not come to call them but sinners to repentance The Apostle Paul again says for freedom

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Christ has set us free Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery Even the slavery of your own effort to pay the price that only

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Jesus Christ paid even the slavery of your own striving to To make yourself right with God by your own effort by your own righteousness by your own holiness

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Because dear ones you Nick cannot do it. It will not happen Jesus gives a personal summons

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He says to each one He says come to me. This is Matthew's gospel in chapter 11 in verse 28

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If you want to look it up after the service read this again and again He says come to me

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All who labor and are heavy laden put your name in that come to me blank put in your name

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Come to me you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls

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For my yoke is easy and my burden is light It is an easy yoke because by faith in him the heavy lifting was done by him on the cross

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This is why the yoke is easy Because of him Why is the burden light because he took your punishment on himself

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And so he has freed you from the burden of worrying about God's wrath because his wrath was poured on him

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And therefore will not be upon you. So the gospel is this beautiful good news of God That God became flesh in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ as a man lived a perfect life was a perfect sacrifice

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Gave himself as a sacrifice for your sins God have him pleased with the sacrifice raised him from the dead to certify and give us confidence that the sacrifice was

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Accepted and if you believe in him He's your sacrifice You are not your sacrifice.

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He is your sacrifice your once -for -all sacrifice And he calls you to come

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Will you not come to him? Will you not put your faith in him in Jesus Christ who paid the purchase price?

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That you may have wine and milk without end That you may know joy in the presence of the

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Lord forever This is the gospel that Jesus Christ by God's good and perfect will

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Because of the great love with which he loved us gave his only begotten Son to die for your sins

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To be your sacrifice It's good news And the power of God can transform you

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The power of God can raise you up from where you are now as the Apostle Paul says to the believer

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You've been raised with Christ. You've been resurrected already So sure are God's promises

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The the prophet calls out come Says come to the waters. Jesus Christ says to you come to me come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden

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That's the gospel baptism God willing in a few moments.

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I'm going to step down from this pulpit and we are going to celebrate a baptism

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What is baptism? Well baptism? It's a dunking into the waters But that's as simplest, of course, it is that in the physical sense

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Baptism is one of two ordinances that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to the church So it's fully half of the ordinances that the church has

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There's the Lord's table and the Lord's table will continue until Jesus Christ returns and then there's baptism and that's a one -time ceremony of public testimony a one -time reenactment for the baptismal candidate of this gospel that I just described or told you of Now without the latter without the baptism

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The one -time Ceremony of public testimony Without that the former cannot be had

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Because those who come to the Lord's table, which is a declaration of our faith in Jesus Christ Must have followed him in the baptismal waters

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Jesus Christ himself having been baptized And so we rejoice to see this day we rejoice to have a brother

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Be able to come and take the bread and wine Affirming with us the

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Lord's death until he comes Because he's going to be baptized in a few moments

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What is baptism? Was a result of the gospel We've heard the testimonies

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And we say yes, we affirm this one to be a Christian he's freely entering into membership in this particular fellowship

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Freely entering into the baptismal waters because of that gospel Now Peter points out that in baptism

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That the water does not remove the it's not meant to remove filth from the water or from the body

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The water might do that because of his physical properties that may well happen But what is what it is is the outward evidence of a clean conscience before God a clean conscience before God And how is this possible?

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Again, because Jesus paid it all Because Jesus Christ is your sacrifice because all your sins have been answered and this is what baptism

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Represents or one of the things that represents that the conscience is clean before God Not because of anything

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I did or you did But because of what Christ did Titus chapter 3 says but when the goodness and loving -kindness of God our

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Savior appeared, that's Jesus Christ He saved us not because of the works works done by us and righteousness but according to his own mercy by the washing and regeneration and renewal of the

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Holy Spirit and So washed by the Holy Spirit cleansed by him as he gives faith to believe this wonderful news

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Reenacted in the physical waters because more importantly the spiritual waters have cleansed you of your sin by the washing of regeneration and Renewal of the

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Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior So that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life the conscience cleansed by the

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Spirit of God And so what is baptism what's an order an ordinance of the

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Lord Jesus Christ a command? He gave to the church We said to make disciples baptizing them in the name of the

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Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost Baptism is a reenactment of the gospel of visual portrayal of God's saving work in Jesus Christ as the baptismal candidate follows

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Jesus Christ in baptism and More importantly follows him not just as Jesus Christ was baptized in the

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Jordan River And Mario would be baptized in the Baptist tree behind me but more importantly

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Following Jesus Christ in his death Because the Christian has what died to self to have new life in God As Jesus Christ was put in the ground after he suffered for sin so the baptismal candidate goes under the water following him down and then

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God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and So God willing the baptismal candidate we lifted from the waters he's already been raised from the dead because of faith in Jesus Christ and Lifted out from the waters to go forth in new life and to follow in his master's footsteps

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Been raised with Christ already by faith will be reenacted in a few moments

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What is baptism? It's a reenactment of the entire gospel. It's a public declaration of faith in Christ Jesus it is the church's affirmation that the testimony testimony we heard for Jesus Christ is true and valid We affirm that this one has been given new birth

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It's our public announcement That the testimony we heard of Christ Jesus appears by every biblical test to be true and valid and genuine a declaration

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That the one is a disciple of Jesus Christ has committed his whole life to following him and the church declares the same

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That we with you will follow Christ. We will do this together and by the authority of Scripture As Jesus Christ said if two of you agree on earth about anything

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They ask it will be done by my father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there I am among them.

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So by that authority by the authority Jesus Christ gave us we call on heaven to agree with us as We go into this baptismal ceremony today

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So yesterday we met in Jesus name and in Jesus's presence We followed his word in the

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Bible as we brought Daryl. She and Mara Ramos into membership We were blessed by your desire to join with us to be a part of gospel ministry here in this place

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We look forward to watching you both grow in the Lord Jesus Christ and It's seeing how you will help us to grow with you

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We trust that God will be blessed As we once again follow the

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Lord Jesus Christ's command In this baptismal ceremony As we reenact this good news of the gospel and see once again the power of God in the life of a believer