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Mark 10:13-16 - Part 2 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Let's take your copy of God's Word.
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Turn to the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 10.
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For those of you who haven't seen us all summer, yes, we are still continuing our verse-by-verse
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! exposition of the Gospel according to Mark, and we have made it to chapter 10. We have seen
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the conclusion of Jesus' Galilean ministry and His public ministry at large, and He's
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begun to travel kind of halfway through chapter 8 with the disciples towards Jerusalem, and
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His attention has turned towards them. There's lots of Pericopes here that are specifically
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poignant and challenging to those of us who claim to be in Christ. And last week we came
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to Mark 10, verses 13 through 16. Let's pray together first, and then I'll read that to
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you. Father God, I have no good that is mine apart from you. In the preaching of your Word,
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there is no wisdom that's been given to me that wasn't given to me by you. There's no degree
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of slickness of presentation that could possibly change anyone's heart apart from your work in their
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lives. And so I plead with you today. Help me. Empower me to speak with clarity and with conviction.
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And help, Father, all of us to believe and to follow Christ as we should. And it's in His name I pray.
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Amen. So Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse 13. And they were bringing children to Him that He might
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touch them. And the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them,
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Let the children come to Me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to
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you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And He took them in His arms
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and blessed them, laying His hands on them. And last week we spent some time talking about what it is
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that this text does mean. And we see that we are meant to have a childlike faith. And we came to
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understand together that this is not an ignorant faith, but that this is a faith that recognizes we
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have nothing to offer the kingdom of God. That we have nothing to add to the equation of our salvation
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because we are like children. But we also talked about some things that this text does not mean.
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And we did this because I ran across in a commentary that I've been using in my study
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of the Gospel of Mark by J.C. Ryle, who was a 19th century Anglican bishop. He wrote this,
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Of course, it is not pretended that there is any mention of baptism or even any reference to it in the
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verses before us. All we mean to say is that the expressions and gestures of our Lord in this passage
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are a strong indirect argument in favor of infant baptism. It is on this account that the passage
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occupies a prominent place in the baptismal service of the Church of England. This fascinated me
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as John MacArthur would say, this is a dry passage. There's no mention of baptism in it anywhere. And
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yet it is used by Anglicans as a central text for the baptism of infants. And so in brief last week,
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I made the point to you that this text does not mean that there's some sort of special salvific category
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for children, although I would make a case there is from other biblical texts, but not this one. Or that
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this text is a case for infant baptism. And I promise you that we would look at that at greater length
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today. So we're starting kind of as a jumping off point, Mark chapter 10, but we're going to look at some
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selected texts today. Now, as I don't typically do, we're going to be dealing thematically. I want to encourage you to
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try to turn and try to keep up with me, but I'm afraid I have a lot of info to cover.
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My normal 45-minute sermon is about four and a half pages. This is seven, so I'm going to move and try to get us
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through, because I know you guys are already all hungry.
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There are a number of categories of what people believe about baptism, and there are some various
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erroneous views that we won't even address in any degree today. But the two more common categories that we
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would find people that we would fellowship with that believe are paedo-baptists and credo-baptists.
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Now, paedo-baptism or paedo-baptists is derived from the Greek paes simply means child. It's a simple term,
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sounds really fancy. Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, more erroneous
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views like the Catholic Church are paedo-baptists. We are, our church, I can't speak for every individual
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here, we are, I am, what's called a credo-baptist, which is from Latin, credo, I believe.
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Now, for the sake of simplicity for this sermon, I'm going to use the terms paedo-baptist and
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Presbyterian interchangeably, and let me tell you why. I'm going to paint with some extremely broad
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brushstrokes over the coming 45 minutes or so, but we find ourselves most theologically aligned
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with the Presbyterian Church, and specifically the branch of the Presbyterian Church known as the
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Presbyterian Church of America, the PCA Church. I am thankful for our PCA brethren. I want you to hear me
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very carefully. Please let this flavor everything else I say today. I am thankful for them. In fact, I discovered
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that every commentary I'm using for Mark right now was written by a Presbyterian. Isn't that fascinating?
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They have offered so much to the Kingdom of God. We have a PCA church in our town, which I love,
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and I am thankful for. I consider the pastor a friend, although we have had trouble finding time
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to get together and to know each other at a deeper level. We'll continue to work on that. I am thankful
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for their partnership in the Gospel in this community. Glad that they are here.
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However, we need to know why we believe what we believe. Not simply because it's another flavor,
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it's another idea concerning baptism, but because we have conviction about it. Some would have us just
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amiably disagree and fellowship with one another. I read a sermon this week from a pastor who was
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celebrating that he had both Credo Baptist and Paedo Baptist in his congregation. To say that this is a
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secondary issue, which I agree, it's not central to the Gospel. Baptism is not necessary for salvation,
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but it is an important doctrine. Baptism is not only given as an individual commandment to you and to me,
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but it is granted to the church, to the local church, as an ordinance. An ordinance or a sacrament. We tend to not,
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in Protestant churches, use the term sacrament because Catholics believe that the sacraments
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actually administer grace. They go in your good person list. We don't believe this is the case. So we tend to use
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the term ordinance. That is, it was ordained by Christ. An ordinance is a Christian right with particular
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significance. There's two of them. In the case of baptism, it's the Christian right that grants
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admittance to the covenant community. Paedo and Credo Baptists agree on this. The Lord's Supper is the
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other, which renews our commitment to the covenant community. It's part of the reason we do it every
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Sunday here in our congregational meeting. Convictions ought to be held. I recently overheard a PCA pastor,
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one that none of you would know, say, well, we're pretty much a Baptist church.
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And it wasn't my place in the conversation to scream, no, you're not. You're not, right? In fact,
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what you believe about baptism stands in antithesis to what Baptists believe about baptism.
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Now, I, with you, wish there was no denominationalism. What a wonderful world that would be, where we all
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could agree on all things in the scriptures. But what I will say as a benefit, as a value of
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denominations, is that it means that we believe things, that we have convictions, that we stand firm
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in, and that collectively, as a local congregation, we hold those things together. It matters what we
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believe about baptism. I don't think it's okay that it's a non-issue in our churches. I do believe
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we should hold the same convictions, and I'll show you why in the coming moments. Now,
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paedo-baptists do not contest that a believer ought to be baptized if that person makes a profession of
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faith, and they have never been baptized. If you were not baptized as an infant, and you make a
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profession of faith, you should be baptized, right? Our point of contention is whether or not an infant
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should ever be baptized, right? So, paedo-baptists believe in believer's baptism, which is why I think
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it's important that we clarify that we're credo-baptists. We believe in believer's baptism alone, and not
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infant baptism in any case. We don't have to look long or make a very long, challenging argument for
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baptism of a believer. We see baptism as expression in the scriptures of repentance and faith. We see
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this in Acts chapter 2, verse 37 through 38 and 41. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the
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heart. This is the conclusion of Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, and said to Peter and the rest
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of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you,
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in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the
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Holy Spirit. Repent and be baptized, and it's expression of our repentance. And then verse 41,
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so those who received this word, received the word, were baptized, and there were out of that day about
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3,000 souls. We will address verse 39 in a moment. Colossians 2, 11-12, Paul also expresses
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baptism as a response of repentance and faith. Verse 11, chapter 2, Colossians,
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in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh
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by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised
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with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. So we have,
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those of us who have believed in Christ in the symbol of baptism, we've been buried with him,
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and we've been raised with him, past tense, through what? Our faith. It's an expression of a thing that
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has occurred. Our faith. It's commanded to us to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the
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Holy Spirit in the Great Commission, Matthew 28, 19 and 20. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.
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See people come to repentance and faith and baptize them.
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We don't have to look hard to make this argument, and no one, no one disagrees on this point.
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To my knowledge, it has never been debated in the history of the church.
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I looked long and hard this past week for the history of infant baptism, and there is a lot of
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disagreement about it. Some say that it existed from the first century. Some say not until the third,
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which is the place that I'm arriving at. It would seem that it came about as part of state control of
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religion. It was a way to include all of the citizenship in the church so that they could be
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ruled over, but it's difficult. Boy, is it difficult. There's no lack of writing on the topic. I have read
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and read and read this week trying to to get all the education I could possibly gather on, and I have to
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tell you, I still feel a bit ignorant on the history of it all. Create some challenges for us. We want to
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look at the church past and understand how we should operate now. Like we want to stand on the shoulders
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of giants, and we have giants to stand upon their shoulders. Men that have contributed so much to our
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faith. This is a case, it would seem though, that we need to just look at the scriptures, because there is
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so much disagreement on the matter. Let me read to you from the Westminster Confession, 1646.
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Chapter 28 of Baptism. Now hear me, this is what the Presbyterian Church holds to in this day. This is
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their confession of faith. Section 1. Baptism is a sacrament, or ordinance, of the New Testament,
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ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible
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church. So it grants admission to the visible church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the
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covenant of grace, or his engrafting into Christ, right? It's a picture, it's a symbol of what has
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happened. A sign, a seal of covenant grace, and engrafting into Christ of regeneration, the changing
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of our hearts, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to walk in newness
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of life. Okay? We all agree upon this. Boy, I read that and I say, that is beautiful. However, the Westminster
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Confession, chapter 28, section 4, says not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience
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unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized.
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Now, I'm aware of all the arguments. If you sit in this room as a paedo-baptist, I'm completely aware
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of them, but when you read the Westminster Confection, it is contradictory. Not only in tone, but in reality,
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it is contradictory. Right? What did they just say baptism was about? Not only for the solemn admission
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of the party baptized into the visible church, right? But also as a sign and seal of covenant grace,
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and engrafting into Christ, regeneration, remission of sins, giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to
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walk in a newness of life. All of this is present moving forward. Not a future hope. The language
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doesn't say that at all. And so we find ourselves in a place of confusion. And there are three ways,
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I think, that the doctrine of infant baptism confuses the church. Isn't it interesting that as we've come
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to chapter 10, we have dealt now with the three stories so far with issues that are really contentious
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in the church that have been challenged in so many ways. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about divorce
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and remarriage and all of the views. And we started a process that our church is going to need to go to
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resolve what we believe about divorce and remarriage. We've come to this text, which on the surface doesn't
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seem to have anything to do with anything that would cause any contention whatsoever. However, it's been
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misused, I believe. And next week we get to talk about money, wealth, what's become of that in the church.
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We need clarity in our day. This has never been untrue. We need the Bible to communicate to us how it is
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we're to live our lives in every respect. I find this issue particularly frustrating because I love you guys.
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Again, broad strokes. I'm not upset at any one individual. I think that people who hold the doctrine of infant baptism
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do so with a clear conscience, with good motivation. But I just think they're wrong. I think they're confusing
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the church of God. I think that the reformers didn't go far enough. They took giant steps. We owe them so much,
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but they didn't press on into the truth. And that's what I want for us. And that's what I want for you as an
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individual. To submit yourself in every way to the Word of God. Three ways it confuses us. Infant baptism
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confuses our belief in the sufficiency of Scripture. It confuses our belief in the sufficiency of Scripture.
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I believe that the Scripture is a perfect guide to holiness. Psalm 19, 7-13. Listen carefully.
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Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent.
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God's law is perfect to deliver us to this point that we might be blameless if we could keep it.
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Right? We're given that blamelessness in Christ. But the Word of God is sufficient for this. We don't need to appeal
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to history. We don't need to appeal to tradition. All we need is the Word of God.
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This is why I've been saying to you all summer long after reading our text, this is God's Word to us.
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Written for His glory and for our good. Right? Our good. Our eternal good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Presbyterians find many of their roots in the Reformation, as do we as a Protestant denomination.
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Men that threw off the false teaching of the Catholic Church waved a banner called Sola Scriptura.
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By Scripture alone. We will not allow the history or the traditions of the Catholic Church to define for us what it is we should believe.
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You remember Martin Luther, the great Reformer, nailed his 95 feces on the door, 95 reasons that indulgences were not biblical.
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And he was summoned to the Diet of Worms in 1521.
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And he said this,
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The Reformation, the Reformers, had a principle they called the regulative principle of worship.
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As defined by John Calvin as follows,
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God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by His Word.
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Not fascinating.
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Now they would say expressly sanctioned would be that it's given as a command or example,
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or that it could be deduced by good and necessary consequence,
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which was a way of the time simply to say plain reason or plain logic.
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This is all I want.
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Show me in the Scriptures.
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Show me where the Scriptures say it and use plain reason.
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Don't get fancy on me.
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Just show me with plain reason and the Scriptures that something is true,
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and I'll believe it to be true.
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A good example of something arrived at that's not expressly taught,
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but that it has arrived at by plain reason or logic,
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is the doctrine of the Trinity.
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The term Trinity is nowhere used in the Scriptures.
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However, the Bible speaks of the Father as God in Philippians 1-2,
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Jesus as God in Titus 2-13,
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and the Holy Spirit as God in Acts 5-3-4.
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So by plain reason, we can arrive at God being three in one.
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I don't believe this is the case for impton baptism.
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Infant baptism is nowhere taught in the Scriptures.
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Pato Baptists agree that it's nowhere expressly taught.
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They would just say that it can be inferred by plain reason.
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One of their primary defenses is that while it's not found anywhere expressly in the Scriptures,
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that it's also not anywhere expressly prohibited in the Scriptures,
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which I find fascinating.
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Again and again and again you'll read this type of reasoning.
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The Bible nowhere prohibits us from physically abusing our children, does it?
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Yet we know with plain reason, right?
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This way of treating our children is contradictory to the way in which we are guided to treat our children.
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The Bible nowhere expressly prohibits heroin use.
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However, we know that we're to honor and worship God with our bodies,
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not destroy them.
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These are plain reason.
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These are things that we can arrive at simply and easily.
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Infant baptism is not that way.
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And the argument of household baptisms is often made by paedo-baptists.
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Right?
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Places like Acts 16, 14-15,
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we see a woman named Lydia and her household is baptized.
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Acts 16, 30-34,
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and if you'd like to turn with me to this one, you can.
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Paul and Silas are in a Philippian prison.
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They're praying and singing hymns.
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You remember there's an earthquake and all the doors open up.
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And the Philippian jailer,
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the man that was in charge,
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feared for his life because he thought they had escaped.
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He was actually about to kill himself.
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In verse 30 of chapter 16,
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they told him,
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don't kill yourself, we're here.
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It says,
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It doesn't say anything about infants.
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In the text at all, does it?
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In fact,
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likely, a Philippian jailer who was in charge would have been a much older man.
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It probably wouldn't have had infants in the house anyway,
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but it doesn't say.
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It says nothing at all.
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It's an argument from silence.
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Are we to presume then that there's a doctrine we should practice in our churches
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because maybe?
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I could just as easily teach to you that there were teenagers in this house,
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as anyone else can make the case that there were infants in the house.
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1 Corinthians 1.16,
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Paul here mentions baptizing the household of Stephanas.
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Again, no mention of infants,
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those who were unable to profess faith in Christ being baptized.
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Now, I mentioned that we were going to look at Acts chapter 2, verse 39,
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that I would come back to it.
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Now, remember verse 37 and 38.
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Now, when they heard this,
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they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
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Brothers, what shall we do?
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And Peter said to them,
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Repent and be baptized,
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every one of you,
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in the name of Jesus Christ,
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for the forgiveness of your sins,
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and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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Verse 39.
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For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off,
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everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.
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Verse 40.
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And with many other words,
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he bore witness and continued to exhort them,
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saying,
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Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
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So those who received his word were baptized,
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and they were added to that day 3,000 souls.
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So you see in a sandwich,
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and I intentionally presented it to you in that way,
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verse 37,
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verse 38,
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response of faith.
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Verse 31,
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response of faith.
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And then we see verse 39,
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speaking of a promise for you and your children.
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But don't miss that it's also for all who are far off,
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everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.
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Peter is broadening the scope of the gospel.
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The gospel is now available to all people who respond in faith.
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Not just you who are here on the day of Pentecost,
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but you can go back to your house,
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and you can preach the gospel to your kids.
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And they can receive it.
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And you can go far off and preach the gospel,
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and they can receive it.
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If our logic stays consistent with the Pato-Baptists,
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the promise being for you and for your children,
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but wait,
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and all who are far off,
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it would seem that when I become a Christian,
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my kids are automatically granted that as well,
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and everyone else,
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as long as I can call them far off.
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So you guys should run as far from me as you possibly can.
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It doesn't hold water.
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Pun intended.
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Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 7.
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There's a new issue in the church now.
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What happens if a believer is married to an unbeliever?
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This is now suddenly a new issue.
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Not people who are of the same lineage,
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not an Israelite married to an Israelite,
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but what happens now that there's a status change in a marriage?
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And Paul addresses that.
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Chapter 7, beginning in verse 12.
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To the rest I say, I, not the Lord,
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that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever,
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and she consents to live with him,
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he should not divorce her.
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Stay together.
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If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever,
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and he consents to live with her,
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she should not divorce him.
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For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife,
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and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband.
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Otherwise, your children would be unclean,
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but as it is, they are holy.
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It's interesting language, right?
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Verse 15.
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But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so.
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In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved.
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God has called you to peace.
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For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?
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Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
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Now, firstly, the point of the text is speaking of unbelieving spouses, right?
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You see that.
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It wraps back around to that with this interesting little interjection
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that the children are made holy.
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Verse 16 says,
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Remain with them.
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If they're willing to remain with you, remain with them.
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Because verse 16 says,
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How do you know?
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Maybe in your living out the gospel
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and your presentation of the gospel to your spouse,
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they may become saved.
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What a glorious thing that would be
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if both of you would be regenerate
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and your marriage could better reflect the glory of God.
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So if they're willing, stay with them.
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That's the point of the text.
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This is what he's trying to communicate to us.
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So what does he mean for the unbelieving husband is made holy?
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Another way of translating that word is made sanctified or set apart.
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And all Paul's communicating here
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is that the blessings of the gospel are made available to these people.
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If they're willing as an unbeliever to stay in your house,
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just as your children are going to stay in your house,
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let them stay.
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It's good for them to be in the presence of someone who is redeemed.
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They are in a sense then set apart,
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given the blessings of God through your faith.
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This is all Paul is communicating to us here.
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Now the Pato-Baptist argument draws a lot,
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and I think rightly this is the best possible case for it,
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through the covenants,
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through the covenant of grace specifically.
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Now Presbyterians are what we would call
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covenant theologians or covenantalists.
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They're on one end of a spectrum
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of how it is that we understand
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the ages and the covenants of God.
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I find that covenant theology
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is over-reductionary.
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It's almost too simple.
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And it is that it looks that there are two
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overarching covenants in the scriptures.
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There's a covenant of works
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which was given to Adam and Eve pre-fall.
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They broke that.
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They broke the fellowship as a result.
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And ever since then,
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everyone else who has lived
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has lived under the covenant of grace.
31:05
Whether or not they responded to it
31:07
and were the people of God,
31:08
they live underneath it.
31:10
And in an over-simplification,
31:14
that means that every promise
31:16
given to the Israelites of the Old Testament
31:19
is a promise that directly correlates
31:21
to the church in our day.
31:24
I just don't think it's that easy.
31:26
The other end of that are dispensationalists,
31:28
the whole left-behind crowd,
31:30
if you're familiar with that.
31:30
I'm also not on that end of the spectrum.
31:32
I'm somewhere in between.
31:33
It's very difficult to sort it all out
31:35
and to figure out
31:36
where does God make a promise
31:38
to the Old Testament people of God
31:40
that carries forward
31:41
to the New Testament people of God?
31:42
How do these things find their mark?
31:45
There's not possibly enough time
31:47
to work out all the intricacies of that.
31:50
There wasn't enough time in this week
31:51
to work out all the intricacies of that
31:53
and the way God's covenants manifest
31:55
in the New Testament
31:56
versus the Old Testament.
31:59
But this is the draw that they make,
32:02
the connection that they make,
32:03
that the Old Testament Abrahamic covenant
32:07
found in Genesis chapter 12
32:08
and the mark of it,
32:10
which was circumcision to the males,
32:13
which was just for infants eventually,
32:16
once all the men had been circumcised,
32:18
new men were circumcised,
32:20
is found in Genesis chapter 17.
32:23
So there's a mark given to the people of God,
32:27
specifically men of the people of God,
32:29
and that now baptism is the direct correlation
32:33
of that in our day.
32:36
Now rightly, right, again,
32:38
respect these men,
32:40
valuable biblical theologians.
32:42
Rightly, Romans chapter 9,
32:44
second half of 6 through 8,
32:46
for not all who are descended from Israel
32:48
belong to Israel,
32:50
and not all are children of Abraham
32:52
because they are his offspring,
32:54
but through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
32:57
This means that it is not
32:58
the children of the flesh
33:00
who are the children of God,
33:01
but the children of the promise
33:02
are counted as offspring.
33:05
We see this to be true in the Scriptures,
33:07
that we are children of Abraham.
33:10
We can sing that ridiculous song,
33:11
Father Abraham,
33:12
and turn in circles
33:13
and kick our legs around
33:14
because we are children of Abraham
33:16
because of the spiritual blessings
33:18
that have been brought to us.
33:20
But the covenants have changed, right?
33:23
There was a physical birth,
33:24
a physical birthright granted,
33:26
but now it's a spiritual birthright
33:30
that we have.
33:31
I believe that some of the promises
33:32
of God still apply to the nation,
33:33
the actual bloodline of Israel
33:36
in this day,
33:37
but not all of them do.
33:40
Romans chapter 2,
33:42
verse 28 and 29,
33:43
Paul writes,
33:44
For no one is a Jew
33:45
who is merely one outwardly,
33:47
nor is circumcision outward and physical,
33:49
but a Jew is one inwardly,
33:51
and circumcision is a matter of the heart
33:53
by the Spirit,
33:54
not by the letter.
33:56
His praise is not from man,
33:57
what man can do,
33:59
what man can accomplish,
34:00
but from God,
34:02
because God has circumcised our hearts,
34:05
made us clean in that way.
34:08
In Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology,
34:11
which I would commend to you,
34:13
he writes,
34:13
We should not be surprised
34:14
that there was a change
34:16
from the way the covenant community
34:17
was entered in the Old Testament
34:19
through physical birth
34:20
to the way the churches entered
34:22
in the New Testament,
34:23
which is spiritual birth.
34:25
There are many analogous changes
34:26
between the Old and New Covenants
34:28
in other areas as well.
34:29
There's a few for you.
34:31
While the Israelites fed on
34:32
physical manna in the wilderness,
34:33
New Testament believers
34:34
feed on Jesus Christ,
34:35
the true bread that comes down
34:37
from heaven,
34:38
John chapter 6.
34:39
The Israelites drank physical water
34:41
that gushed from the rock
34:42
in the wilderness,
34:42
but those who believe in Christ
34:44
drink of the living water
34:45
of eternal life that he gives,
34:47
John chapter 4.
34:48
The Old Covenant had a physical temple
34:50
to which Israel came for worship,
34:52
but in the New Covenant,
34:53
believers are built
34:54
into a spiritual temple,
34:56
1 Peter.
34:57
Old Covenant believers
34:58
offer physical sacrifices
34:59
of animals and crops
35:00
upon an altar,
35:01
but New Testament believers
35:02
offer spiritual sacrifices
35:04
acceptable to God
35:05
through Jesus Christ.
35:07
1 Peter and Hebrews.
35:10
Old Covenant believers
35:11
receive from God
35:12
the physical land of Israel
35:13
which he had promised to them,
35:15
but New Testament believers
35:16
receive a better country
35:17
that is a heavenly one.
35:19
Hebrews chapter 11.
35:21
In the same way,
35:22
in the Old Covenant,
35:23
those who were the physical seed
35:25
or descendants of Abraham
35:26
were members of the people of Israel,
35:29
but in the New Testament,
35:30
those who are the spiritual seed
35:32
or descendants of Abraham
35:33
by faith are members of the church.
35:36
And how do we know?
35:38
How do we know?
35:39
If you were a member,
35:40
if you were a seed of Abraham
35:41
unless you have professed faith in Christ.
35:47
Furthermore,
35:48
the Bible nowhere makes such a connection
35:51
between the Old Covenant sign
35:53
and the New Covenant sign.
35:54
Doesn't it seem like a pretty important thing
35:56
to connect if it was meant to be connected?
35:59
As baptism is an ordinance of the church,
36:04
it reasons,
36:05
it reasons that this would follow.
36:08
Recall John's baptism,
36:09
Mark chapter 1, verse 4.
36:11
It was a baptism of what?
36:13
Repentance.
36:14
It was a baptism of repentance.
36:17
Recall John the Baptist's response
36:19
to the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
36:21
the religious elite,
36:22
those who had a bloodline heritage
36:25
to the people of God.
36:27
Verse 7, Matthew chapter 3,
36:30
he says,
36:31
But when he saw many of the Pharisees
36:32
coming to his baptism,
36:34
he said to them,
36:35
You brood of vipers,
36:37
who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
36:40
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance
36:42
and do not presume to say to yourselves,
36:44
We have Abraham as our father.
36:47
For I tell you,
36:48
God is able from these stones
36:50
to raise up children for Abraham.
36:54
We are those stones
36:55
that have been raised,
36:56
professed faith in Christ,
36:58
and are baptized
36:58
with the baptism of repentance.
37:01
He refused to baptize
37:03
those who didn't bear
37:06
fruit of repentance.
37:09
Now here's an argument for you
37:11
from silence.
37:13
Acts chapter 15,
37:15
the Jerusalem council.
37:17
Paul and Barnabas
37:18
are currently in Antioch,
37:20
and we see,
37:21
starting in verse 1,
37:22
but some men came down from Judea
37:24
and were teaching the brothers,
37:27
Unless you are circumcised,
37:29
according to the custom of Moses,
37:30
you cannot be saved.
37:31
Unless you take this sign,
37:34
the Jews,
37:34
you cannot be saved.
37:35
And after Paul and Barnabas
37:36
had no small dissension and debate,
37:38
I love that record,
37:39
no small,
37:40
a large dissension and debate with them,
37:42
Paul and Barnabas
37:43
and some of the others
37:44
were appointed to go up to Jerusalem
37:45
to the apostles
37:46
and the elders
37:47
about this question.
37:48
Do you recall this story
37:50
that the gospel has been expanded
37:51
to the Gentiles,
37:53
and Paul and Barnabas
37:54
are on missionary journey,
37:55
and they are bringing people
37:57
to faith in Christ,
37:59
and there's this constant nagging
38:01
of the Judaizers.
38:02
We see it in Galatians.
38:03
That's what the book of Galatians
38:03
is all about,
38:04
is telling them that
38:05
they can't be saved by their works.
38:07
They don't have to be circumcised.
38:08
Don't be circumcised.
38:10
It doesn't matter anymore.
38:11
It's no longer the sign.
38:12
It's no longer the mark.
38:14
And so they go,
38:15
and they have this recorded conversation.
38:18
This council decides
38:19
to send letters out
38:20
to all the Gentile churches
38:21
to tell them not to worry about it.
38:23
You're okay.
38:23
You don't have to be circumcised.
38:25
Why did they not record here
38:29
by the hand of Luke,
38:31
baptism's the new thing.
38:33
Don't worry about the circumcision.
38:35
Don't worry about the circumcision more,
38:36
but be sure you're baptizing
38:38
because that now is
38:39
this new sign of the covenant.
38:41
They don't mention it anywhere.
38:43
Baptize your infants.
38:44
Baptize your infants.
38:44
Baptize your infants.
38:45
It's not in the scriptures.
38:50
Can you get your head around that?
38:51
I can't.
38:52
I have a really difficult time
38:54
doing so.
38:56
And I have to say,
38:57
the whole matter seems to be
38:58
a way of reconciling
38:59
the doctrine of original sin
39:01
and the need to repent and believe
39:04
concerning children who die
39:05
prior to such confessions.
39:08
Isn't that a challenging thing?
39:09
If we're to believe
39:11
that we have a father
39:13
who was Adam
39:14
and his sin,
39:15
the original sin,
39:16
passed to us,
39:16
that we have the same guilt,
39:19
isn't that a challenge
39:20
that we're born in iniquity,
39:22
the Psalms say?
39:23
What happens to our young ones?
39:26
We're not able to respond.
39:27
We don't get that.
39:29
How can we possibly reconcile
39:31
these things?
39:33
There are some that just argue
39:34
against the doctrine of original sin,
39:36
stating that children are inclined
39:38
to sin by their nature.
39:39
They're born with a propensity
39:41
to sin by their nature,
39:43
but they're not guilty of sin
39:45
until they knowingly sin.
39:47
My kids knowingly sin all the time.
39:49
I've got a four-year-old
39:51
and a two-year-old.
39:52
This is where we get the concept
39:53
of the age of accountability
39:54
found nowhere in the Scriptures.
39:59
As a church,
39:59
we hold to the doctrine
40:00
of original sin.
40:03
Our statement of faith says,
40:05
we believe that man was created
40:06
in holiness
40:06
under the law of his Maker,
40:08
but by voluntary transgression
40:10
fell from that holy and happy state.
40:12
This would be Adam.
40:13
In consequence of which
40:14
all mankind are now sinners,
40:18
not by constraint,
40:19
but choice,
40:20
being by nature
40:21
utterly void of that holiness
40:22
required by the law of God,
40:24
positively inclined to evil,
40:26
and therefore under just condemnation
40:28
to eternal ruin
40:30
without defense or excuse.
40:34
We believe this to be true.
40:36
What happens to children
40:38
who die in the womb?
40:40
To our young ones?
40:41
To children who are mentally,
40:43
or adults for that matter,
40:44
who are mentally handicapped
40:45
and don't seem to be able
40:46
to understand and conceptualize?
40:48
The truth of it is
40:49
that I don't know.
40:52
I throw myself on the mercy of God
40:53
for the matter.
40:54
I lean on his character
40:56
to say, surely,
40:57
surely they're not being
40:58
eternally punished.
41:00
Surely not.
41:02
There are some instances
41:02
in the Scripture.
41:03
We see David has a young one
41:04
that dies,
41:05
and he says that one day
41:06
he'll be with him.
41:07
Speaking of glory.
41:09
We've got some hints
41:10
and some clues to that,
41:11
but the Scripture
41:11
don't speak clearly to it.
41:13
And it puts us in a place
41:14
where we ought to just say
41:16
we believe that God
41:17
knows what is best.
41:20
We trust him in that
41:22
because he's good,
41:23
sovereign ruler.
41:26
Now I'll say that
41:27
modern Presbyterians
41:28
don't believe that infant baptism
41:31
is salvific.
41:32
They do not believe that.
41:34
Again, broad brush,
41:35
maybe some do.
41:36
As far as I know,
41:37
PCA Church does not believe
41:39
that it is salvific,
41:41
salvific.
41:42
Although they do use
41:42
the terminology that it's
41:44
a sign of covenant promise,
41:46
which is hard for me
41:47
because it seems that if God
41:47
makes a promise,
41:48
he necessarily fulfills
41:51
that promise.
41:51
And the Westminster Confession
41:52
seems to give some hint to that.
41:54
Again, chapter 28,
41:55
this is section 6.
41:58
The efficacy,
41:59
or the effect,
42:00
of baptism
42:01
is not tied to that
42:02
moment of time
42:04
wherein it is administered.
42:05
Right?
42:05
So they're not saved
42:06
at the time of baptism.
42:07
Yet,
42:08
notwithstanding,
42:09
or nevertheless,
42:11
by the right use
42:12
of this ordinance,
42:13
the grace promise
42:13
is not only offered,
42:15
but really exhibited
42:16
and confirmed
42:17
by the Holy Ghost
42:18
to such,
42:20
whether of age
42:20
or infants,
42:22
as that grace
42:23
belongeth unto
42:23
according to the counsel
42:24
of God's own will
42:25
in his appointed time.
42:26
It seems to say
42:26
that they will.
42:28
That they will
42:29
be saved.
42:31
They have another section
42:32
that says
42:32
not necessarily.
42:34
It's fascinating.
42:35
It seems very confusing
42:36
to me.
42:37
I found on the website
42:38
for the Orthodox
42:39
Presbyterian Church,
42:40
not PCA,
42:41
so to be very clear
42:42
and fair about that.
42:44
This gentleman wrote,
42:44
Moreover,
42:45
I personally believe
42:46
that when believing parents
42:48
sometimes experience
42:49
the tragedy
42:49
of an infant
42:50
miscarried from the womb
42:51
or dying soon
42:52
after birth,
42:53
we may cling
42:54
with reasonable hope
42:55
that our little one
42:56
is in heaven
42:56
with the children's Savior.
42:59
Worldlings,
43:00
that is those
43:00
who are not believers,
43:02
have no such hope.
43:05
That's the inference
43:06
he draws.
43:07
In the fourth century,
43:09
Augustine,
43:10
who we love,
43:11
wrote this.
43:14
If you wish
43:14
to be a Christian,
43:16
do not believe,
43:17
nor say,
43:19
nor teach
43:20
that infants
43:21
who die before baptism
43:22
can obtain the remission
43:23
of original sin.
43:25
If you wish
43:25
to be a Christian,
43:26
how dare you
43:27
say,
43:29
believe,
43:30
or teach
43:30
that kids
43:31
that are not baptized
43:32
can be saved.
43:33
That's what he's saying
43:33
here.
43:34
So the baptism
43:35
then,
43:36
in some way,
43:37
extends grace to them.
43:39
And again,
43:39
whoever says
43:39
that even infants
43:40
are vivified
43:41
or brought to life
43:42
in Christ,
43:43
when they depart
43:44
this life
43:44
without participation
43:45
in his sacrament,
43:46
that is baptism,
43:48
both opposes
43:49
the apostolic preaching
43:50
and condemns
43:51
the whole church
43:52
which hastens
43:53
to baptize infants
43:54
because it
43:55
unhesitantly believes
43:56
that otherwise
43:57
they cannot possibly
43:58
be vivified
43:58
in Christ.
44:00
Right?
44:00
No church
44:01
that hastens
44:02
to baptize them
44:03
because if we don't
44:04
they can't possibly
44:05
be vivified
44:05
in Christ.
44:06
So it would seem
44:07
that early
44:08
church leaders,
44:12
Augustine of Hippo
44:13
believed that there was
44:14
grace administered
44:15
to baptism.
44:16
There's much confusion
44:17
over this
44:18
where the Bible
44:19
does not give
44:20
clarity.
44:21
We should simply
44:22
not try
44:24
to define it.
44:27
So it confuses
44:28
our belief
44:29
in the sufficiency
44:30
of Scripture.
44:31
Point one.
44:33
These are going
44:33
to move faster now.
44:35
Foundation laid.
44:37
It confuses
44:38
the nature
44:38
of the church.
44:40
It confuses
44:41
the nature
44:41
of the church.
44:42
What is the church?
44:44
We believe
44:45
in a believer's
44:46
church.
44:48
Ephesians 5.25
44:49
says Christ
44:50
loved the church
44:51
and gave himself
44:53
up for her.
44:54
Every New Testament
44:55
reference concerning
44:56
the universal church
44:57
or the local church
44:58
rather,
45:00
whether it's past,
45:01
present,
45:01
or future,
45:02
is always speaking
45:03
of those who are
45:04
in the faith.
45:06
Not those outside,
45:07
not those that we
45:08
question,
45:09
not our kids,
45:10
but those who are
45:11
in the faith.
45:15
Remember the
45:15
Westminster Confession?
45:16
Baptism is a sacrament
45:17
in the New Testament
45:18
ordained by Jesus Christ
45:19
not only for the
45:20
solemn mission
45:20
of the party
45:21
baptized in the
45:21
invisible church.
45:22
We believe that
45:23
to be true,
45:23
but we just believe
45:24
that somebody
45:25
must be saved
45:26
for that to be
45:27
the case.
45:29
From our own
45:30
document,
45:30
from our bylaws,
45:33
those seeking to
45:33
become members
45:34
of Christ's family
45:34
church must meet
45:35
the following
45:36
conditions.
45:37
Number one,
45:39
such persons
45:39
must profess
45:40
who have been
45:40
born again
45:41
of the Holy
45:41
Spirit,
45:42
having believed
45:42
in the power
45:43
of God Almighty
45:43
in Jesus'
45:44
death,
45:44
resurrection,
45:45
and ascension
45:46
to save them
45:47
from the bondage
45:47
and penalty
45:47
of their sins
45:48
and bearing fruit
45:49
of their new
45:50
life in Him.
45:51
You must be
45:52
a Christian
45:52
and you must
45:53
be giving
45:54
some evidence
45:54
of that,
45:55
that you are
45:55
a Christian,
45:56
that you are
45:56
a good tree
45:57
bearing good fruit.
45:58
And secondly,
45:59
such persons
46:00
must have been
46:01
baptized by
46:02
immersion or
46:04
expressed intent
46:05
thereunto,
46:05
right,
46:06
when we get
46:06
the tank out
46:07
to make that
46:08
happen as soon
46:09
as we possibly
46:10
can.
46:11
That we agree
46:12
upon this,
46:13
that we are
46:13
believers and
46:14
we are united
46:15
in this together.
46:16
To be clear,
46:18
the kids in our
46:18
church that
46:19
haven't professed
46:20
faith in Christ
46:20
and been baptized
46:21
are not members
46:21
of our church.
46:23
They don't sit
46:24
in our meetings
46:24
and vote.
46:26
Right?
46:26
We don't hold
46:27
them to the
46:27
same standard.
46:29
Please don't
46:29
hold my kids
46:30
to the same
46:30
standard you
46:30
hold me to.
46:32
They're not
46:33
yet members
46:35
of our church.
46:36
What a wonderful
46:37
opportunity to
46:39
not give our
46:39
kids a false
46:41
sense of
46:42
their salvation.
46:44
Does it not
46:44
confuse that
46:45
matter when you
46:46
say to a child
46:47
you were baptized,
46:48
therefore you're
46:49
part of the
46:50
covenant community
46:51
because you
46:51
have received
46:52
the covenant
46:53
sign of
46:54
promise.
46:57
Oh, but wait.
46:58
You must repent
46:58
and believe.
46:59
After the fact,
47:00
you must respond
47:01
in faith from
47:03
the symbol of
47:04
the baptism that
47:04
was originally
47:05
given to you
47:06
as a child.
47:08
In our church,
47:10
failure to be
47:11
baptized would
47:11
constitute a
47:12
matter of church
47:13
discipline.
47:15
If you want to
47:15
join our church
47:16
and you've never
47:17
been baptized or
47:18
you were baptized
47:18
as an infant
47:19
and you don't
47:20
see the case
47:20
for believer's
47:21
baptism and
47:22
you refuse to
47:23
be baptized as
47:24
a believer,
47:25
we would say
47:25
that we can't
47:26
fellowship together
47:26
in this way.
47:27
It's a plain
47:28
case in the
47:28
scriptures made
47:29
here.
47:29
If you were to
47:30
be obedient to
47:30
the call of
47:31
Christ, you
47:31
need to be
47:32
baptized.
47:33
You say,
47:33
no, I
47:34
totally disagree.
47:35
If we allowed
47:36
you to be a
47:36
member of our
47:37
church, there
47:37
would be an
47:38
immediate case
47:39
for church
47:39
discipline.
47:40
Would there
47:40
not?
47:41
We'd be saying
47:41
repent of your
47:42
sin of not
47:43
being baptized.
47:44
And the
47:45
proper repentance
47:46
would be to
47:46
be baptized.
47:48
And if you
47:48
didn't, we
47:49
would have
47:49
to excuse
47:50
you from
47:51
the church.
47:52
So we
47:52
just prevent
47:53
that altogether
47:54
by not allowing
47:55
it to begin
47:55
with.
47:57
Listen again,
47:58
the Westminster
47:58
Confession,
47:59
chapter 28,
48:00
section 5.
48:02
Although it
48:03
be a great
48:04
sin to
48:06
contemn or
48:06
treat with
48:08
contentment or
48:09
neglect this
48:10
ordinance, yet
48:12
grace and
48:12
salvation are
48:13
not so
48:14
inseparably
48:14
annexed unto
48:15
it as that no
48:15
person can be
48:16
regenerated or
48:17
saved.
48:18
without it.
48:19
Or that
48:20
all are
48:21
baptized are
48:22
undoubtedly
48:22
regenerated.
48:25
So catch
48:26
what they're
48:26
saying.
48:27
It's a
48:27
great sin
48:28
to hold the
48:30
position I
48:31
have.
48:31
To treat
48:32
infant baptism
48:33
with contempt.
48:37
Will not do
48:37
it.
48:38
Will not
48:38
baptize my
48:39
children.
48:40
Yet, again,
48:40
broad stroke,
48:42
in many,
48:43
many, many
48:44
Presbyterian
48:45
churches, if
48:46
you hold
48:47
different
48:47
convictions,
48:48
you're not
48:48
required to
48:49
have your
48:50
child baptized.
48:51
What kind
48:51
of a
48:52
conviction is
48:52
that?
48:53
And about
48:53
an ordinance,
48:55
no less.
48:57
My personal
48:58
conviction
48:58
concerning
48:59
alcohol is
49:01
that I
49:01
don't.
49:02
I don't
49:02
drink alcohol
49:03
because of
49:03
my position,
49:04
because of
49:04
the culture
49:05
in which we
49:06
live in.
49:07
I think that
49:07
the possible
49:08
negativity of
49:09
doing so
49:09
far outweighs
49:11
any short-term
49:12
benefit of
49:13
doing so.
49:14
It just
49:14
makes no
49:14
sense to
49:15
me.
49:16
But the
49:17
scriptures
49:17
nowhere prohibit
49:18
you from
49:19
doing so,
49:19
and therefore
49:20
I'm not going
49:20
to teach you
49:21
that you
49:22
cannot.
49:23
Right?
49:23
This is the
49:24
type of
49:24
gray area
49:25
conviction that
49:26
we can
49:26
disagree on.
49:27
Somebody,
49:28
I know many
49:28
of you do,
49:29
enjoy a good
49:30
glass of wine
49:31
with your
49:31
meal,
49:32
go ahead.
49:33
No problem.
49:34
We can
49:34
fellowship
49:34
together on
49:35
that.
49:35
We can be
49:36
a church
49:36
together around
49:37
that matter.
49:38
This is one.
49:39
How could we
49:40
possibly disagree
49:41
on this?
49:43
Right?
49:43
A conviction
49:44
about an
49:44
ordinance given
49:45
to us as a
49:45
church.
49:46
How it is
49:46
that we
49:47
define the
49:48
community of
49:49
faith.
49:50
And you say,
49:50
nah, don't
49:51
worry about it.
49:52
I say a
49:53
conviction treated
49:54
that way is no
49:54
conviction at
49:55
all.
49:58
Thirdly,
49:59
it confuses
50:00
the meaning
50:01
of believer's
50:02
baptism.
50:03
Infant baptism
50:04
confuses the
50:05
meaning of
50:06
believer's
50:07
baptism.
50:08
Again, let's
50:09
just remember,
50:10
what is it that
50:10
we believe
50:11
baptism means?
50:13
It's a symbol,
50:14
right?
50:15
It's not
50:15
salvific.
50:16
It doesn't
50:16
bring to us
50:17
any type of
50:17
grace.
50:18
It's a picture
50:19
of the grace
50:20
that's already
50:21
occurred in
50:22
our lives.
50:24
Romans chapter
50:25
6.
50:25
Again, notice
50:26
the past tense
50:27
language.
50:27
You not know
50:28
that all of us
50:29
who have been
50:29
baptized into
50:30
Christ Jesus
50:31
were baptized
50:31
into his
50:32
death.
50:33
We were
50:33
buried,
50:34
therefore,
50:34
with him
50:35
by baptism
50:35
into death
50:36
in order
50:36
that,
50:37
just as
50:37
Christ was
50:38
raised from
50:38
the dead
50:39
by the glory
50:39
of the
50:39
Father,
50:40
we too
50:40
might walk
50:41
in newness
50:41
of life.
50:43
Our old
50:44
selves have
50:45
been put
50:46
to death,
50:46
and we are
50:47
now a new
50:48
creation.
50:48
This is the
50:49
picture of
50:49
baptism,
50:50
right?
50:50
It's showing
50:51
everybody,
50:52
I have
50:53
believed in
50:54
Christ.
50:55
The old
50:55
Nathan is
50:56
dead and
50:56
gone.
50:57
The new
50:57
Nathan is
50:58
here.
50:59
I want
50:59
to be in
51:00
fellowship
51:00
with you.
51:01
I want
51:01
to be held
51:01
to that
51:02
standard.
51:03
Please help
51:03
me to do
51:04
so.
51:06
Michael
51:06
Green,
51:07
Presbyterian,
51:08
in his
51:08
book,
51:09
Baptism,
51:09
its purpose,
51:10
practice,
51:11
and power,
51:12
says this,
51:12
and I just
51:13
want to tell you
51:13
up front,
51:13
I completely
51:14
disagree with
51:15
him.
51:16
Infant
51:16
baptism
51:16
stresses the
51:18
objectivity of
51:19
the gospel.
51:20
It points to
51:21
the solid
51:21
achievement of
51:22
Christ crucified
51:22
and risen,
51:23
whether or not
51:24
we respond to
51:25
it,
51:25
not that we
51:26
gain anything
51:26
from it unless
51:27
we repent and
51:28
believe.
51:29
I agree with
51:29
that.
51:30
But it is the
51:30
standing
51:30
demonstration that
51:31
our salvation
51:32
does not
51:32
depend on our
51:33
own very
51:33
fallible faith,
51:34
it depends on
51:35
what God has
51:36
done for us.
51:37
Infant
51:37
baptism
51:38
stresses the
51:39
initiative of
51:39
God and
51:40
salvation,
51:40
should it be
51:41
attached primarily
51:42
to man's
51:42
response or
51:43
to God's
51:44
initiative?
51:46
That is the
51:46
heart of the
51:47
question.
51:48
For the
51:49
Baptist,
51:50
baptism primarily
51:51
bears witness to
51:52
what we do in
51:52
responding to
51:54
the grace of
51:54
God.
51:55
For the
51:56
paedo-baptist,
51:57
it primarily bears
51:57
the witness to
51:58
what God has
51:58
done to make
51:59
it all
52:00
possible.
52:01
Wrong!
52:03
That is not
52:03
what we do when
52:04
we baptize
52:05
somebody.
52:05
We are not
52:06
applauding the
52:07
person baptized.
52:08
Good for you.
52:09
You chose
52:09
faith in
52:10
Christ.
52:11
Exalt you.
52:12
Exalt you.
52:13
Not at all.
52:14
We are praising
52:15
God for what
52:15
He has done,
52:16
what He has
52:17
accomplished in
52:18
that person.
52:19
We know you are
52:20
a Christian.
52:21
You have
52:21
professed faith.
52:23
Let's see what
52:23
that looks like.
52:24
Let's get our
52:25
minds around it
52:26
by burying
52:27
you and
52:29
raising you
52:30
once again.
52:32
Michael Green
52:32
needs to sit
52:33
down with me.
52:34
This is a
52:35
horrible explanation
52:36
of what we
52:37
believe baptism
52:37
to emphasize.
52:41
Now as a
52:41
separate but
52:42
really inextricably
52:43
tied issue is
52:44
the confusion
52:44
about the
52:45
mode of
52:45
baptism.
52:47
I will tell
52:47
you, this
52:47
is not a
52:48
hill I am
52:48
going to
52:48
die on.
52:49
I would
52:50
not do
52:50
it.
52:51
However, we
52:52
baptize by
52:53
immersion and
52:54
we do so
52:55
for two
52:56
reasons.
52:57
For what we
52:58
believe the
52:58
ordinance of
52:58
baptism
52:59
represents.
53:00
That is our
53:01
death.
53:02
I have said
53:03
to you before,
53:03
I will say
53:03
it to you
53:04
again.
53:04
If our
53:05
culture as
53:06
a whole begins
53:08
laying people
53:08
out on the
53:09
ground when
53:09
they die and
53:10
tossing a
53:10
handful of
53:11
dirt in
53:11
their face and
53:12
walking away,
53:13
this is the
53:14
way we expose
53:15
of dead
53:16
people, we
53:17
may reconsider
53:18
the way that
53:19
we baptize
53:20
people.
53:20
Maybe.
53:21
Wait till you
53:21
get to my
53:22
second point.
53:23
But just by
53:24
this one point,
53:25
maybe we would
53:25
consider that.
53:26
But what do we
53:27
do with dead
53:27
people?
53:28
They are buried.
53:30
Even if they are
53:30
not buried,
53:31
they are in
53:31
tomb.
53:32
You keep
53:32
dead bodies
53:33
away from
53:33
animals.
53:35
Let them
53:35
decompose at
53:36
their own
53:36
happy rate.
53:38
This is the
53:38
way that people
53:39
are dealt
53:40
with when
53:41
they die.
53:42
I've got to
53:42
tell you,
53:42
we've got a
53:43
cattle trough.
53:44
If you haven't
53:44
been here long,
53:45
we have a
53:45
cattle trough we
53:46
bring out and
53:46
we put it
53:46
right here.
53:47
It is a
53:47
pain in the
53:48
rear.
53:49
I've done
53:49
it each
53:49
time.
53:50
I have
53:50
flooded our
53:51
stage twice
53:52
and spent
53:52
hours cleaning
53:54
up the
53:54
water.
53:55
It's a
53:56
pain.
53:56
It really,
53:57
really is.
53:58
It's heavy.
53:58
I had to
54:00
devise a
54:01
complicated hose
54:02
system to
54:02
fill it.
54:03
We've got to
54:04
spread plastic
54:05
out all over
54:05
the place.
54:06
It is worth
54:07
the trouble
54:07
though.
54:07
It is worth
54:08
the trouble
54:08
because of the
54:09
picture and
54:10
what it
54:10
represents.
54:11
That's the
54:11
first reason.
54:12
Secondly,
54:12
though,
54:13
the Greek
54:13
word from
54:14
which we
54:14
derive our
54:15
English,
54:15
baptize or
54:16
baptist,
54:18
is baptizo,
54:20
which means,
54:20
catch this,
54:21
which means
54:22
not to
54:22
wash.
54:24
Not to
54:24
wash.
54:25
It means to
54:25
dunk repeatedly
54:26
and in a
54:28
number of
54:28
cases it's
54:29
used for
54:30
drown,
54:32
immerse,
54:34
go underwater.
54:36
Now,
54:37
you see a
54:37
couple of
54:38
cases in
54:38
the Bible.
54:39
We see
54:40
Jesus,
54:40
Mark chapter
54:40
1,
54:41
goes down
54:41
into the
54:42
water when
54:42
he comes
54:43
back up.
54:44
It's
54:44
possible,
54:45
and many
54:45
paedo-baptists
54:46
argue,
54:46
that he
54:47
simply walked
54:47
down to
54:48
the water.
54:48
That's where
54:49
the water
54:49
was at.
54:49
He walked
54:50
down to
54:50
it.
54:51
He walked
54:51
back up.
54:52
Maybe he
54:52
was standing
54:52
in the
54:53
water.
54:53
Possibly
54:54
it was
54:54
a little
54:54
bit easier
54:54
to sprinkle
54:55
in that
54:56
way.
54:57
But the
54:58
word
54:58
baptizo
54:59
means to
55:00
dunk,
55:01
dunk
55:02
repeatedly,
55:02
or to
55:03
drown.
55:04
And to
55:04
add,
55:05
to heap
55:05
upon that,
55:08
Martin
55:08
Luther,
55:09
again,
55:09
our famed
55:10
Protestant
55:10
Reformer,
55:11
said,
55:11
in the
55:12
primitive
55:12
church,
55:13
baptism
55:13
was a
55:14
total
55:14
immersion,
55:15
or burial,
55:16
as it
55:17
were.
55:18
John
55:18
Calvin,
55:19
Presbyterian,
55:20
says,
55:21
baptizo
55:21
signifies
55:22
to
55:23
immerse.
55:25
And it
55:25
is certain
55:25
that
55:26
immersion
55:26
was the
55:26
practice
55:27
of the
55:27
primitive
55:28
church.
55:29
Philip
55:29
Sheff,
55:30
a 19th
55:30
century
55:31
Presbyterian
55:31
theologian
55:32
and church
55:32
historian,
55:33
said,
55:33
immersion
55:33
was
55:34
unquestionably
55:36
the original
55:37
form of
55:38
baptism.
55:40
So somewhere
55:40
along the
55:41
way,
55:41
somewhere
55:42
throughout
55:42
history,
55:43
someone
55:43
figured it
55:43
out and
55:44
got it
55:45
right and
55:45
got it
55:46
better than
55:47
the early
55:47
church,
55:48
seemed to
55:48
understand it,
55:49
even apart
55:51
from what
55:51
the very
55:52
word
55:52
itself
55:53
means.
55:57
So I
55:57
think it
55:57
confuses our
55:58
belief in
55:58
the sufficienting
55:59
of scripture.
55:59
I think it
56:00
confuses the
56:00
nature of
56:00
the church.
56:01
I think it
56:01
confuses the
56:01
meaning of
56:02
believers'
56:03
baptism.
56:03
I think for
56:03
all these
56:04
reasons,
56:04
while it's
56:05
not the
56:05
gospel,
56:06
it's an
56:07
obedient
56:07
response
56:08
to the
56:09
gospel.
56:10
What are we
56:11
commanded to
56:11
do in the
56:12
Great
56:12
Commission?
56:12
Go and
56:13
make
56:13
disciples of
56:14
all nations,
56:14
baptizing them
56:15
teaching them
56:17
all that I
56:18
have commanded
56:20
you.
56:21
This is no
56:21
different.
56:22
This is a
56:22
doctrine that
56:23
should not
56:23
be neglected.
56:25
This is
56:25
something that
56:26
you should
56:26
find out
56:28
what you
56:28
believe.
56:29
Search the
56:29
scriptures for
56:30
it.
56:30
I hope I've
56:31
made a case
56:32
for you to
56:33
be a
56:33
credo-baptist
56:33
today.
56:35
Wrap your
56:35
hands around
56:36
it.
56:37
Fellowship
56:37
with those
56:38
who agree
56:38
with you
56:39
because we
56:40
honor the
56:41
gospel when
56:43
we do so.
56:43
why would
56:45
we believe
56:45
in a
56:46
doctrine
56:46
that's not
56:46
anywhere
56:46
explicitly
56:47
taught in
56:47
the
56:47
scriptures?
56:49
As I've
56:50
argued,
56:51
cannot be
56:51
arrived at
56:52
by plain
56:53
reason and
56:53
that confuses
56:54
so much.
56:57
It is a
56:58
precious
56:58
ordinance.
57:01
If you
57:01
have not
57:01
been baptized
57:02
as a
57:02
believer,
57:03
you should
57:03
do so.
57:04
What a
57:04
wonderful
57:05
thing to
57:05
celebrate in
57:06
with the
57:06
church of
57:07
God.
57:07
What God
57:08
has done
57:09
in your
57:09
life.
57:10
His
57:10
initiative,
57:11
His
57:11
work,
57:12
His
57:13
accomplishment,
57:13
if you
57:16
don't know
57:16
where you
57:17
stand on
57:17
this,
57:18
if you're
57:19
shaky on
57:19
the matter,
57:21
study your
57:21
Bible and
57:22
pray that
57:23
God would
57:24
reveal the
57:24
truth to
57:24
you.
57:25
If you
57:26
come out
57:26
at the
57:26
end of
57:26
that as
57:27
a
57:27
paedo-baptist,
57:27
I will
57:28
give you
57:28
a big
57:28
hug.
57:30
We can
57:30
fellowship
57:30
with one
57:31
another in
57:31
reaching this
57:32
community.
57:33
We can
57:33
preach the
57:34
gospel side
57:35
by side.
57:35
I will
57:36
link arms
57:36
with you
57:36
in so
57:37
many
57:38
respects,
57:39
but you
57:39
shouldn't
57:39
be part
57:40
of a
57:40
Baptist
57:40
church.
57:42
You
57:42
just
57:42
shouldn't.
57:44
Let's
57:44
pray
57:44
together.
57:44
Let's
57:45
pray together.
57:44
Let's
57:45
pray together.
57:44
Let's
57:45
pray together.
57:44
Let's
57:45
pray together.