Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Hope Beyond the Creeds Focusing Fully on Jesus Christ Msg 1017 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Hope Beyond the Creeds Focusing Fully on Jesus Christ Msg 1017 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: When I was just a little boy, the Second World
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  Speaker 1: War reached its peak, and my family had moved to Houston,
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  Speaker 1: where my father, who was a little too old to
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  Speaker 1: serve in the military, decided that he would change his
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  Speaker 1: career and go back to the trade that he had
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  Speaker 1: learned as a young man and be involved in what
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  Speaker 1: was called in those days defense plant work. Houston, as
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  Speaker 1: you know, is a city of industry, and the particular
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  Speaker 1: place where he worked built Sherman tank transmissions and landing
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  Speaker 1: gears for the big flying fortresses as well as some
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  Speaker 1: of the fighter planes that were being manufactured across the
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  Speaker 1: United States. We didn't see much of my dad during
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  Speaker 1: those four, four and a half, perhaps five years because
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  Speaker 1: he was working from ten to fifteen, sometime eighteen and
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  Speaker 1: twenty hours a day from six to seven days a week.
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  Speaker 1: We had only one car and so we learned to
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  Speaker 1: walk to the grocery store and also to worship at
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  Speaker 1: a church that was within walking distance. My mother was
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  Speaker 1: raised a Southern Baptist, but in spite of that, the
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  Speaker 1: closest church to us that our family of a mother
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  Speaker 1: and three children could go to was a Methodist church
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  Speaker 1: at the end of the street. St. Andrew's Methodist Church
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  Speaker 1: brings back memories just to name the place. I remember
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  Speaker 1: as a little boy of eight, nine, ten, and eleven,
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  Speaker 1: sitting in worship services at that Methodist church and participating
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  Speaker 1: every Sunday, almost without fail, in the same ritual, which
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  Speaker 1: was a part of that worship service. Interestingly, in March
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  Speaker 1: of 88, I took a drive back to East Houston
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  Speaker 1: while I was ministering in the city, and for the
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  Speaker 1: first time in over 30 years, I saw the home
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  Speaker 1: where I was raised during those years and lived until
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  Speaker 1: I was married, and also that church. where we had worshiped.
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  Speaker 1: I don't remember a sermon that was preached during those
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  Speaker 1: almost five years. I cannot recall any particular event that
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  Speaker 1: made an impact on me, but I do remember to
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  Speaker 1: this day very vividly repeating the Apostles' Creed. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: I had learned this statement of faith from that church
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  Speaker 1: in a matter of months, and and could, by the
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  Speaker 1: end of our time there, repeat it by heart. But
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  Speaker 1: since time has passed, since I've done that, I had
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  Speaker 1: to go back to my books and see it again
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  Speaker 1: to see the truth that had been repeated so often
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  Speaker 1: during those years. It probably has been years since you
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  Speaker 1: have heard that creed. Maybe it has never occurred in
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  Speaker 1: your life. Listen to it. I believe in God the
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  Speaker 1: Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: his only son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Ghost,
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  Speaker 1: born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
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  Speaker 1: dead and buried, descended into hell. On the third day,
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  Speaker 1: he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven
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  Speaker 1: and sits on the right hand of God, from whence
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  Speaker 1: he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
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  Speaker 1: I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church,
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  Speaker 1: the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection
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  Speaker 1: of the body, and the life everlasting. Even as a lad,
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  Speaker 1: I would repeat those words in that statement, and I
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  Speaker 1: would find there were two statements in it that troubled me.
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  Speaker 1: But because the Apostles' Creed was only repeated and never explained,
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  Speaker 1: I lived years wondering what they meant. One was, I
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  Speaker 1: believe in the Holy Catholic Church, and I knew I
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  Speaker 1: wasn't Catholic. How could I believe in the Holy Catholic Church?
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  Speaker 1: I remember a youth worker there explaining to me at
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  Speaker 1: the time, and as best I could deal with it,
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  Speaker 1: Catholic meant universal, and I believe in the universal church,
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  Speaker 1: and that was fine. It was that part where he
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  Speaker 1: descended into hell that troubled me, and there was nobody
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  Speaker 1: around who could answer that for me. Interestingly, it was
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  Speaker 1: over 15 years later in a seminary in a Greek
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  Speaker 1: class in 1 Peter, I had a flashback of those
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  Speaker 1: days as a little boy in the Methodist church. We
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  Speaker 1: were digging into the text of the third chapter, and
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  Speaker 1: I came across the verse that described in Scripture what
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  Speaker 1: I had stated as a little boy and never really understood.
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  Speaker 1: If you have a New Testament or a Bible handy,
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  Speaker 1: locate this section I'm referring to in 1 Peter 3
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  Speaker 1: and travel with me through a very difficult and naughty
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  Speaker 1: section of Scripture. You see, when you're committed to a
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  Speaker 1: verse-by-verse study of a book or a letter in the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: you don't have the liberty of overlooking, shall we say,
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  Speaker 1: or passing over sections that are difficult to understand. And
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  Speaker 1: this is one of those times, this is one of
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  Speaker 1: those passages. Let me read verses 18 to 22 for you.
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  Speaker 1: I'm reading from 1 Peter 3. For Christ also died
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  Speaker 1: for sins once for all, the just for the unjust,
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  Speaker 1: in order that he might bring us to God, having
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  Speaker 1: been put to death in the flesh, but made alive
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  Speaker 1: in the spirit, in whom also he went and made
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  Speaker 1: proclamation to the spirits now imprisoned. who once were disobedient
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  Speaker 1: when the patience of God kept waiting in the days
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  Speaker 1: of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which
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  Speaker 1: a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through
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  Speaker 1: the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you.
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  Speaker 1: Not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an
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  Speaker 1: appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ, who was at the right hand of God,
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  Speaker 1: having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers
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  Speaker 1: had been subjected to him. Isn't that a grand statement
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  Speaker 1: of faith? It's almost like another creed that one might
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  Speaker 1: memorize or state from Sunday to Sunday. I found in
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  Speaker 1: my study of the Bible that one of the best
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  Speaker 1: rules to follow, if I'm going to understand the difficulties
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  Speaker 1: of a particular section of scripture, is to look at
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  Speaker 1: the whole scene and to sort of work my way
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  Speaker 1: through it. We were showing one of our kids the
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  Speaker 1: other day how to get to a particular turnoff on
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  Speaker 1: a freeway in downtown Los Angeles. And They happened to,
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  Speaker 1: brother and sister and our family happened to be going together,
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  Speaker 1: and it was going to be at night, and it
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  Speaker 1: was in a kind of a sleazy section. Not that
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  Speaker 1: they were going to do anything sleazy, but they were
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  Speaker 1: going to a sleazy section of town to buy some clothes,
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  Speaker 1: and we had to work through the map to show
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  Speaker 1: them how to get on the freeway. It was helpful
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  Speaker 1: to look at the whole scene, to put our finger
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  Speaker 1: on the city of Fullerton, and then to work our way,
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  Speaker 1: as you have done, through the freeway network and to
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  Speaker 1: find your way to that turnoff, and it was very
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  Speaker 1: clear as you saw the hole. It is a temptation
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  Speaker 1: when working with a problem such as we're looking at here,
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  Speaker 1: really two of them, to just zero in on the
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  Speaker 1: location or the exact spot rather than to see where
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  Speaker 1: we've come from and to see where we're going. So
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  Speaker 1: let me spend a few minutes kind of observing this
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  Speaker 1: paragraph out loud and see if it doesn't help. First
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  Speaker 1: of all, let me say this. The verses we're looking
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  Speaker 1: at appear at the end of a chapter, but in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of a paragraph. The verses we're looking at,
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  Speaker 1: 18 through 22, come at the end of a chapter,
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  Speaker 1: but really in the middle of a paragraph. You hardly
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  Speaker 1: need to be told that the Bible was divided into
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  Speaker 1: paragraphs and into chapters by men, not by God. When
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  Speaker 1: the Bible was first written, when the letter of Peter
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  Speaker 1: was written, it was written like you write. You don't
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  Speaker 1: divide your letters into verses or into chapters, even if
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  Speaker 1: it's a long letter. In the Peter letter, it was
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  Speaker 1: all one series of statements after another, and there wasn't
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  Speaker 1: even punctuation in those days. And we're thankful for those
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  Speaker 1: who have gone to the trouble of dividing this for
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  Speaker 1: us so that it becomes manageable. However, sometime the division
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  Speaker 1: of a chapter break leads people to believe it's the
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  Speaker 1: beginning or the ending of a paragraph. In this case,
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  Speaker 1: it's not. As best I'm able to understand it, the
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  Speaker 1: paragraph begins at chapter 3, verse 13, and it ends
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  Speaker 1: at chapter 4, verse 6. Verse 7 of chapter 4
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  Speaker 1: begins another paragraph. So while it appears as though this
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  Speaker 1: is a culmination of statements and thought, it really is
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of the thought that we're stepping in
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  Speaker 1: and sort of plunging into what Peter is getting at.
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  Speaker 1: What's the subject of this overall paragraph? Now listen very carefully.
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  Speaker 1: It is unjust suffering. Best stated in chapter 3, verse 17,
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  Speaker 1: before the section we're looking at, 317. It is better,
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  Speaker 1: if God should will it so, that you suffer for
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  Speaker 1: doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.
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  Speaker 1: And the point of the whole paragraph is this. Don't
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  Speaker 1: forget it. It'll help you later. Blessings follow suffering for well-doing.
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  Speaker 1: Blessings follow suffering for well-doing. Now at this point, right
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  Speaker 1: after Peter has written verse 17, the Spirit of God
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  Speaker 1: prompts him at this moment to mention the one who
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  Speaker 1: best exemplifies that truth. Who in your mind would best
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  Speaker 1: exemplify blessing following unjust suffering? Christ. And that's why Peter
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  Speaker 1: at verse 18 says, for Christ. He doesn't say so,
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  Speaker 1: but we could put in parenthesis as an example. Christ
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  Speaker 1: died for sins, the just for the unjust that he
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  Speaker 1: might bring us to God. The blessing that followed Christ's
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  Speaker 1: unjust suffering was our salvation. The blessing that followed his
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  Speaker 1: unjust suffering for him personally was his resurrection. Verse 21.
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  Speaker 1: Let me say this secondly as I look at the
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  Speaker 1: whole paragraph. The center of attention falls on Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: It's very helpful for you to remember that the center
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  Speaker 1: of attention is not the person being addressed. It is
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  Speaker 1: not the recipient of the letter. It is Jesus himself.
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  Speaker 1: He alone is the focal point. Look at this great
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  Speaker 1: statement of the Lord Jesus. Verse 18 says, He died
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  Speaker 1: for sins. That's his crucifixion. Verse 19, he made proclamation.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 21, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Verse 22,
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  Speaker 1: he is at the right hand of God after angels
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  Speaker 1: and authorities and powers had been subjected to him. That's exaltation.
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  Speaker 1: What we have is a survey of the crucifixion, proclamation, resurrection,
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  Speaker 1: and exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. So far, so good.
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  Speaker 1: I'll say more about those in a moment. Third, and
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  Speaker 1: most difficult of all, this paragraph includes a digression. Verses
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  Speaker 1: 19 to 21, I think, form a digression. Sometime you'll
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  Speaker 1: be writing a letter and you'll be mentioning a subject
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  Speaker 1: that is important to you. And it will remind you
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  Speaker 1: of something not as pertinent as the subject, but it
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  Speaker 1: completes the picture and you will add it. It might
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  Speaker 1: take another paragraph. It might just take a sentence. In
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  Speaker 1: this case, Peter completes the thought in verses 19 to
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  Speaker 1: 21 by adding color, adding in his digression some things
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  Speaker 1: that are seldom mentioned in the Bibles. And here, I
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  Speaker 1: might say, are the two knotty issues that every New
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  Speaker 1: Testament student struggles with. One of them has to do
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  Speaker 1: with Christ's descent into hell, to quote the Apostles' Creed,
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  Speaker 1: verses 19 to 20. And second, what appears to be
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  Speaker 1: baptismal regeneration, verse 21, baptism now saves you. It's kind
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  Speaker 1: of like a juicy sandwich, isn't it? We have a
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  Speaker 1: couple of pieces of bread here. In verse 18 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 22, very clear, very simple, very basic. 18, Christ
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  Speaker 1: died for sins. 22, he is now at the right
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  Speaker 1: hand of God in authority over angels and spirits and
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  Speaker 1: all authorities. Very clear. No one can argue. But that
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  Speaker 1: section in the middle is the part that troubles anybody
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  Speaker 1: who takes his Bible seriously. Having looked at the overall,
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  Speaker 1: let me come to the central theme of the passage.
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  Speaker 1: Let's look, if I may, at the bread slices. Look
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  Speaker 1: back again at verse 18. This is one of those
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  Speaker 1: all-encompassing verses that states the gospel in briefest and most
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  Speaker 1: concentrated form. It's like buying a little can of Minute
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  Speaker 1: Maid orange juice that's concentrated. No one drinks out of
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  Speaker 1: that little can. That is, no one sober and in
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  Speaker 1: his right mind. You mix that with a lot more
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  Speaker 1: water and you dilute it so that it becomes delectable
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  Speaker 1: and tasty to your palate. It's too concentrated for you
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  Speaker 1: to take it all in. You have to mix it
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  Speaker 1: with a lot of water. Now, in verse 18 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 22, we have a concentrated statement concerning the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: and it's beautiful. Verse 18, Christ died for sins once
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  Speaker 1: for all. We don't have to relive the death of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: We don't have to anticipate his dying yet another time
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  Speaker 1: or yet another time. He has died once and it
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  Speaker 1: has solved the sin problem. In brief, let me say this.
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  Speaker 1: Before the death of Christ, men and women lived their
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  Speaker 1: lives without hope. They could look forward to the coming
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  Speaker 1: of the Messiah. They anticipated that there would be suffering
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  Speaker 1: and death and payment for sin. In the meantime, they waited.
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  Speaker 1: When Christ came, he was the perfect substitute for sin.
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  Speaker 1: And as a lamb without spot and without blemish, he
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  Speaker 1: hung on the cross and he died. And his blood
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  Speaker 1: became the payment to God for sins. And the anger
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  Speaker 1: of God was assuaged, was satisfied. Because Christ's payment for
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  Speaker 1: sin settled the account. And all the debt that was
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  Speaker 1: against us was wiped away completely. And Christ's righteousness was
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  Speaker 1: credited to our account because of his death, his payment
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  Speaker 1: for sin on the cross. It wasn't fair for him
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  Speaker 1: to die. He was just. And according to verse 18,
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  Speaker 1: he died once for all for the unjust. You may
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  Speaker 1: not know it, but you're mentioned in Scripture. On a
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  Speaker 1: number of occasions, and here is one of those times,
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  Speaker 1: your name could appear in the place of the words,
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  Speaker 1: the unjust. Let me read it in my case. For
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  Speaker 1: Christ also died for sins once for all, the just
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  Speaker 1: for Chuck Swindoll. Or you could put your name there.
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  Speaker 1: The just for the unjust. Why did he do it?
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  Speaker 1: In order that he might bring us to God. One
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  Speaker 1: very careful student of the New Testament calls this an entree.
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  Speaker 1: Our Lord Jesus Christ in dying on the cross provided
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  Speaker 1: us with an entree into heaven. He gave us access,
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  Speaker 1: and the access to heaven is now permanently paved. It
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  Speaker 1: is available to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: He says he was put to death in the flesh,
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  Speaker 1: but made alive in the spirit. Drop down to verse 22.
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  Speaker 1: What is he doing now? He is at the right
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  Speaker 1: hand of God. Maybe you didn't know that. I meet
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  Speaker 1: people a lot. Who don't know what Christ is now doing.
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  Speaker 1: He has ascended from this earth. And he has gone
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  Speaker 1: back to the place of glory. And in bodily form.
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  Speaker 1: He is the only member of the Godhead. Who is visible.
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  Speaker 1: God the Father is in spirit form. God the Son
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  Speaker 1: is in bodily form. God the Spirit is in spirit form.
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  Speaker 1: The only visible member of the Trinity is the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And he sits at the right hand of
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  Speaker 1: God making intercession for us. He's praying for us. He
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  Speaker 1: is moved with our needs and touched with the feelings
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  Speaker 1: of our infirmities. He is there for us Christians interceding.
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  Speaker 1: He is at the right hand of God and there
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  Speaker 1: is no question of his place of authority. The Apostles
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  Speaker 1: Creed is correct when it says he ascended into heaven
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  Speaker 1: and sits on the right hand of God from whence
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  Speaker 1: he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
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  Speaker 1: Old English for the living and the dead. He will
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  Speaker 1: come to judge both. He awaits his return to this earth.
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  Speaker 1: So far, so good. Now the tough part. Let's get
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  Speaker 1: into the meat of the sandwich, shall we? First of all,
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  Speaker 1: let's address the subject of Jesus' descent, as the creed
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  Speaker 1: calls it, into hell. Verse 19 says, whom also went
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  Speaker 1: and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison who
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  Speaker 1: were once disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting
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  Speaker 1: in the days of Noah, during the construction of the
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  Speaker 1: ark in which a few that is eight persons were
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  Speaker 1: brought safely through water what in the world does that
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  Speaker 1: mean his descent into a prison who were these spirits
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  Speaker 1: that he visited And what is this proclamation, verse 19,
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  Speaker 1: that he made? Let me just draw upon your knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of the scriptures and ask you to remember a scene
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  Speaker 1: back in the days before the flood. It's recorded in
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  Speaker 1: the sixth chapter of Genesis, and when you have time,
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  Speaker 1: you may want to go back and read it. We
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  Speaker 1: are told that during this period of time, the depravity
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  Speaker 1: of men and women reached an all-time high. And it
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  Speaker 1: grieved the heart of God that he had even made humanity.
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  Speaker 1: Did you know that? In Genesis 6, and I think
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  Speaker 1: it's verse 5, there is the statement that God was
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  Speaker 1: grieved that he even made man. Because of the extent
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  Speaker 1: of depravity. If you read in the context of the
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  Speaker 1: first four verses of Genesis 6, you will read that
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  Speaker 1: there was a cohabitation. Some kind of intercourse. Many believe
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  Speaker 1: there was sexual intercourse between spirit beings and women on
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  Speaker 1: this earth. During the antediluvial era, the time prior to
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  Speaker 1: the flood, it is believed that these spirits came in
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  Speaker 1: bodily form and somehow cohabited with human women. And there
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  Speaker 1: arose from that a generation of what one might call freaks.
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  Speaker 1: a strange phenomenon seldom mentioned by preachers and seldom taught
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  Speaker 1: to Christians. When the flood came, there was an ending
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  Speaker 1: of that heinous lifestyle, that super race, that freak generation.
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  Speaker 1: There was a judgment that fell upon those spirits who
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  Speaker 1: cohabited with women. And they were placed in a location
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  Speaker 1: called in the original Tartarus, not Hades, not even the
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  Speaker 1: Lake of Fire, a special place which is described here
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  Speaker 1: as a prison. Let me show you a couple of
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  Speaker 1: verses that help illustrate this. One is in Peter's second letter,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 2, verse 4. He's describing false prophets and wicked times.
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  Speaker 1: And he gets to 2.4 and he says, For if
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  Speaker 1: God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast
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  Speaker 1: them into hell, there's that word, and committed them to
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  Speaker 1: pits of darkness reserved for judgment. And he goes on
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  Speaker 1: to describe Noah and his time in the flood. That's
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  Speaker 1: one reference to these angels who sinned having been cast
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  Speaker 1: into hell. One more, and that's that little book of Jude,
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  Speaker 1: just before the revelation. Only one chapter. Locate verse 6.
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  Speaker 1: And angels, that would be fallen angels, who did not
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  Speaker 1: keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode... He,
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  Speaker 1: capital H, and correctly so, the Lord has kept in
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Another reference, there are a few more, a little more
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: obscure than the two I've read to you, but especially
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: wanted you to see the passage in Peter and this
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: one in Jude. These fallen angels, which I have called demons,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: in their perversion have been judged. I personally believe they
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: are set aside in judgment awaiting the final day when
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: they will be cast with their ruler, Satan himself, into
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: the lake of fire, the place that was originally created
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: for him and his demons. Now back to 1 Peter
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: chapter 3. What is the proclamation? Well, it is very
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: helpful for you to know that this is not the
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: word for declaring the gospel. This is a word for
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: simply making a proclamation. A caruso. You can think of
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: the Italian singer. It'll help you remember. Caruso. It is
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: a word for a herald who makes a proclamation that
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: the king has made this particular decision or is declaring
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: this edict. It is a proclamation of any kind. It
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: is not necessarily a good news proclamation. That would be
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: saying or giving the gospel. But that's not this word.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: This is a word for heralding a statement. So all
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of this put together, I come up with this conclusion.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: I believe verses 19 and 20 describe the time after
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Jesus died. His body was taken down and placed in
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: a grave. But his inner being, his soul and spirit
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: descended into the shadowy depths of the earth. into the
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: place of Tartarus where these wicked spirits were kept. And
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: he proclaimed to them his victorious death over sin and
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: his power over the enemy, Satan himself. It was his
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: declaration to them that caused them to realize their work
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: had been in vain. All of their attempts to, may
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: I say it, sabotage the cross to keep it from happening,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: were null and void. And he went to that place
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: to declare to them his victory at Calvary. Go back
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: to this passage, will you? He went and made proclamation
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: to the spirits now in prison who once were disobedient
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: when the patience of God kept waiting in the days
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: of Noah. I can't let that passage go by without
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: leaning forward and saying to anyone listening right now. That
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: if you are without Jesus Christ, it is the patience
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: of God that allows you to keep living. It is
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: the patience of God that gives you breath for tomorrow's dawn.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: You live as an unjust, unrighteous individual. who if you
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: died this moment would have no merit to give you
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: favor in the eyes of God. No human righteousness will
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: cause God to say, ah, welcome into my eternal home.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: For you or for me to get to glory eternally,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: we must come through the merits of Jesus Christ. That
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: proclamation is now made to all who will listen and
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: all who will believe. You are now, like verse 20,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: disobedient and because of the patience of God who keeps
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: waiting in this day as he did in the days
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: of Noah during the construction of the ark then and
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: during the building of the church now. You are watching
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: without knowing it. You are watching the building of an ark.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: It happens to be an invisible ark. It happens to
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: be a building that is wrapping around the world. It
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: is the church of Jesus Christ. The body of Christ
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: is being built. Unless you are in the Lord Jesus Christ,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: you're not a part of that body. And the patience
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: of God waits for you to believe. He waits for you. Now,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: in those days, only a few believed as in this day.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Notice in verse 20, only eight persons were brought safely
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: through the water. That brings us now to the second
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: question in verse 21, where we read, Verse 21, baptism
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: now saves you. And, you know, when you first read that,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: you go, whoa, let me look at that. Surely that
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: I need to read that out of the mirror. I'm
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: reading that wrong. That's not exactly what it says, but
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: it is. And it troubles many of us. Why does
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: it say that? The whole reason I have taken the
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: time to build a context for this verse is so
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: that you won't go astray in your interpretations. Be careful,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: by the way, when someone who hopes to destroy or
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: weaken your faith pinpoints a particular verse or a statement
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: out of a verse and says, aha, see there? Look
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: at what the Bible says. And then lifts out of
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: context this one line that seems so destructive to your faith.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: Every passage has a context and taken out of its context,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: it can be made to say anything. Every cult, every
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: religious cult, I know anything about. about will quote verses
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: from the Bible to support their position. Wrenched from context
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: and misstated, I might add. So in context, what does
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: this mean? Well, I think we must first of all
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: understand that The flood is in the apostle's mind. He
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: has said so in verse 20. It was the flood
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: that brought death and destruction to those who didn't believe.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: It was also the water that brought deliverance to those
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: who did. Namely, eight of them. Noah's family. Noah, Mrs. Noah,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: their three sons, and their wives. For the only eight
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: in all that era Who believed? Imagine that. The multiple,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: multiple millions of people, only eight, got in the ark.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Along with the animals, only eight human beings believed. Now,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: it was the ark floating on the water that got
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: them through it. All of this was a beautiful picture
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: to the early church. And the ark was not infrequently
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: used to describe salvation. It is our ark. The cross
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: is our ark. It is our way of life. It
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: is the way to get through the death-like world about us.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: And baptism came in as a beautiful expression or picture
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: of the waters of death. In fact, Paul picks up
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: the idea in Romans chapter 6. So again, hold your place.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Go back to the book of Romans and stop at
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: chapter 6. What shall we say then? Are we to
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Or do you not know that all of us who
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: from the dead through the glory of the Father, we
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: too might walk in newness of life. Now keep looking
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: at those two verses I just read. Those last two verses.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: When a person is baptized, he is making a proclamation
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: without words. He is standing or she is standing in water,
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: which is a picture of death. When that individual is
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: immersed in the water, that person is picturing death and burial.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: When the person is brought up out of the water,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: it is a picture of being raised into a new
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: kind of life. Baptism is an illustration of of this
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: marvelous deliverance that has been ours through the provision of Christ.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: We go into the water, a picture of death. We
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: go under the water, a picture of burial. We come
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: up out of the water in our immersion. Coming up
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: out of the water, we picture, we illustrate, we portray
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: in vivid fashion a new kind of life. We went
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: down dry. We came up wet. We went into death
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: with the Lord Jesus. We come out of death as
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: he did in resurrection. It is a marvelous picture of
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: what has happened to us in our salvation. Now back
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: to Peter. Look again at verse 21. Corresponding to that,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: to what? To the beautiful illustration of the ark causing
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: deliverance for those people, baptism in the same way symbolizes that.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: In fact, look at the parenthesis, which is in my Bible,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: the New American Standard Version, a hyphen, a dash on
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: the page. Parenthesis. Not the removal of dirt from the flesh.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Baptism doesn't do that, either literally or symbolically. He states it.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Not the removal of dirt from flesh. It does not
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: cleanse you as a bath does. Nor does it cleanse
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: you within. But indeed it is an appeal to God
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: for a good conscience. That which saves is faith in
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. Illustrated beautifully in baptism as we
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: come out of the water. That is through illustrating the
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Living Bible has a fine
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: paraphrase of what I've just read. That, by the way,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: is what baptism pictures for us. In baptism, we show
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: that we have been saved from death and doom by
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not because our bodies are
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: washed clean by water, but because in being baptized, we
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: are turning to God and asking him to cleanse our
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: hearts from sin. Now you understand why in a baptismal
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: service we will have each candidate speak of his or
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: her faith in Jesus Christ. Because there is nothing in
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: the waters of baptism that will give cleansing of the flesh.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: But the water does illustrate beautifully what has already happened
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: in the life of the redeemed. It reminds me of
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: the Lord's table where we serve the elements of On
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: a regular basis. In our church. We have a piece
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: of bread. And we have a little cup of juice.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: And as we serve this to all the saints who
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: are in attendance. And in worship. We say. This. Represents
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: his body. This represents his blood. The Lord Jesus gave that.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: That cup. That piece of bread and said this is
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: my body. take and eat. This is my blood. Could
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: not have been literal body or literal blood because he
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: was alive with his own body and blood intact. This
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: represents my body and my blood. I carry in my
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: wallet a picture of my family. On occasion, I will
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: show that picture to friends who've never met my family
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: and I will say, this is my family. No one
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: has ever said, oh, your family's paper? No, no one
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: in his right mind causes me to feel that my
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: family is a piece of paper on photographic film. No.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: This is a representation. This is an example. This is
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: a picture of my family. In the same way with baptism,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: the same way with the Lord's table, these things represent
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: that which has saved us. It is really through the
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: resurrection of Jesus Christ that our salvation has been made secure.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Let me mention a couple of very practical principles as
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: we wrap our thoughts up here. The first has to
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: do with these statements I made earlier in the message.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: When unjust suffering seems unbearable, remember the crucifixion. I know
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: you've heard that before, and it may not be an
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: original thought to anyone who hears me right now, but
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: it will be a comfort. When unjust suffering seems unbearable,
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: remember the crucifixion. I don't know what it is. It
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: isn't magical. It is mystical. It is, in fact, phenomenal
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: how focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ's body hanging on
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: the cross as a payment for sin. It is amazing
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: what that does. to help alleviate the pain in my life.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: About the time I start thinking my suffering is terribly
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: unjust and I turn my attention to his, it does
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: a lot to solve any sense of bitterness or resentment.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: When the unjust suffering seems unbearable, remember the crucifixion. Here's
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: a second thought. When the fear of death steals your peace,
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: remember the resurrection. When the fear of death steals your peace,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: remember the resurrection. I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: the maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: his only Son, Our Lord. Conceived by the Holy Ghost.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Born of the Virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate. Was crucified. dead,
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: and buried, descended into hell on the third day, rose
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: on the right hand of God from whence he shall
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: come to judge the quick and the dead. You know
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: the most significant part of the creed? The first two words.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: I believe. Otherwise, it's just a statement someone came up
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: with and a body of prelates, bright, godly, religious minded
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: men honed that statement so that it puts in simple
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: form the salient features of our faith, but You know,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: that's their statement. But do I believe it? That's the question.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Do you believe it? Let's think about that. I'd like
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: you to bow your heads. I'd like to deliberately pause
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: and help you pause long enough to focus on it.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: Eyes closed, sitting quietly and listening. I want you to
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: remove yourself from your present world where you are probably
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: rather healthy, relatively happy, fairly well taken care of, not
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: too many worries about tomorrow. And I want you to
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: catapult yourself to the last day of your life. Last day.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Perhaps even last hours. You don't know when it will come.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: It could come as you drive. On that freeway or
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: that highway tomorrow. It could come next month. As you're
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: in the plane that goes down. It could come next year.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: When it is discovered that. Your body carries a disease
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: that's terminal. It's going to come. Your last day. Imagine death.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: The end of life. Believe me, your concern right there
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: at that epical moment will not be an understanding of
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: some naughty passage of scripture. It will have to do
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: with your standing before the living God and telling God
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: Him what you believe. You see, that's why Jesus Christ
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: is always relevant. His message of salvation is so pertinent
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: to life. Because you're not really ready to live until
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: you're ready to die. My invitation to you is a
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: firm one and it's based on the confidence of Scripture
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: Get into the ark. Be one of the eight. Get
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: into the ark. You're surrounded in this world by literally
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: millions of people who have made the wisest decision they
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: could make in life. Submit your will to God. Accept
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: the fact that Christ did indeed die for you. And
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: I invite you To come to him. Father thank you
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: for the truth of your word. For its clarity and
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: its simplicity. And Lord it is so exact. There isn't
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: any wobble room. We do believe. We freely and willingly
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: and happily believe. With great relief our father we believe.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: we state we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: died for us. We believe he suffered unjustly. And yet
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: his payment was sufficient to wash away our sins. And
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: now that he has been raised and ascended, our Father,
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: we believe in confidence that he is alive and is
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: coming again. Give us a sense of peace when we
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: face death. Give us a sense of hope when we
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: suffer unjustly because of Christ's crucifixion, proclamation, resurrection, and exaltation.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: I pray in his wonderful name. Amen.
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Hope Beyond the Creeds, focusing fully on
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, was copyrighted in 1989, 1990, 1996, 2006, and 2011.
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.