Church membership is a vital aspect of Christian life, rooted in the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 and exemplified in the early church's practices described in Acts 2:36-41. The sermon emphasizes that true membership in the body of Christ is not merely a formal affiliation but a genuine salvation and fellowship with God. It highlights baptism as a crucial symbol of the New Covenant, a public confession of faith, and a testament to the believer's union with the Triune God, separating them from the world and formal religion. Ultimately, baptism is presented as a public witness to obedience, redemption, and the unity of the Spirit within the one body of Christ.
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And then we're going to read also from the second chapter of Acts. We begin with Matthew chapter twenty-eight. Verse eighteen. This is what is known as the Great Commission. This portion of the Word of God where our Lord, before he ascended to heaven, gives marching orders to the church in the person of the apostles. or in the persons of the apostles. Verse eighteen, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the earth, at the end of the world.
Amen. Acts chapter two. We read beginning in verse thirty-six. This is Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. This is the birthday of the church. This is the first day of the church's existence. And Peter is preaching. And verse thirty-six says, Therefore, this is the conclusion of his sermon. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
That is the conclusion of his sermon. And now we have the result of this sermon. Verse thirty-seven. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Then they that gladly received the word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayer. May the Lord bless the reading of Ezekiel. Let's pray to God. Our Father, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bow to thank you. We thank thee for thy abundant grace. We thank you for the truths that we sang.
There's so much that we don't know. But there's one thing we do know. We know whom we have to leave. And we're persuaded that he's able to keep that which we've committed unto him against that day. Open our understanding and open our hearts as our word goes forth. May we know thy power and thy blessings. For Jesus' sake, amen. As most of you have noticed in your bulletin for this month, today and next Lord's day are set aside. wherein I am expected to bring two subjects explaining what we've done at our men's business meeting in going to church membership for years ever since we started in nineteen seventy five we've been recognizing those in fellowship but we feel that for the sake of our children who are coming along and If the Lord doesn't come and for the continuing basis of this assembly, that it
is a good thing to have a recognized membership. To be in the body of Christ is very important. But a person can be a member of something without really knowing Christ. I've met unsaved preachers. I've met unsaved church members, a good friend of mine, who was pastor of a evangelical Methodist church. It was evangelical United Brethren, and it became a United Methodist church and a merger. He said he was there for four years, and in four years' time, twenty-eight of the church members were saved.
Our main purpose is that you're saved and in fellowship with a God of heaven, the Lord of glory. But to be part of a local church is a very important thing and to recognize what it means to be part of a local church. And we ask you who are recognized as being in fellowship to follow with us in this step. We had a lot of discussion in our men's meeting about it. And what we've made are some small, there's papers, pages out there. And the first thing we deal with on this page is baptism. And the first step that I'm going to talk about today, I'm going to talk about baptism.
But before I do, I just want to say this page, and if you noted the notes that are in it, that... Our brethren will visit you. Those who are in fellowship, I feel, that we've been recognized over the years. Do not need a visit to see whether they're in Christ. This is for the sake of those who are going to come afterwards, basically. And we've set aside the first words then October to recognize those who are members of Graham Bible Fellowship. Now... The apostles, as you note in Acts chapter two, they followed the teachings of their master, as we noted in the verses read.
They had been commissioned by the Lord of glory before he went to heaven to make disciples of all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in Acts chapter two, we noticed that they were obedient to the commission. of the Lord. In other words, the apostles followed the teaching of their master. The New Testament church is not the same as Israel's theocracy with its temple, its tabernacle. Well, the tabernacle was first and then the temple and later after the Babylonian captivity and their return from captivity.
the various synagogues in different places. The organization of believers in the churches or assemblies was the apostle's way of obedience to our Lord's commission. We read them, they that received the word, that means they were saved. Then they that received the word were baptized. And they continued steadfastly. in the Apostles' Doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers. They acted and taught only as the executors of Christ's will. When a person dies, he leaves a will.
And the person who dies and leaves a will expects the executor to do what the will says. And what is the will of God for us? Make disciples of all nations. and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Therefore there are three things that you will not find in the New Testament. Three things that you won't find in the New Testament. Number one, you will not find an individual or a group or class of believers outside a local church. You won't find that in the New Testament.
Number two, you will not find a believer in the New Testament who was outside the authority and discipline of a local church. You won't find that either. And third, you won't find a believer in the New Testament who wasn't baptized. It's all there. In other words, the apostles simply carried out the will of their masters. It is because of this fact that the first thing on this forum that we ask you to examine is the subject of baptism.
Now it's an amazing thing whenever you talk about baptism. The thing that comes to your mind and the thing that people have argued over the years, how should it be done? Sprinkling, pouring. immersion and I'm not going to go into any of that I believe that anything that has been as controversial as baptism has over the years there's a reason for it and I believe the reason for it is that Satan throws up a smoke screen in order that we don't get the genuine meaning of what it means to be baptized as a child of God.
And Satan, whenever you get to a subject in the Word of God, that he's controversial. Remember one thing, ask yourself the question, why so much controversy about this? And the moment you do, and the moment you study the subject for yourself, and I tell you, I thank the brethren for giving me this opportunity to teach on the subject of baptism today. Because my heart has been warmed by a fresh look at what does baptism mean. And I want you to notice three things this morning. First, we want to talk about the contents of baptism. Second, we want to talk about the confession of baptism.
And third, we want to talk about the character of baptism. Three things. And then we want to apply those truths in a fourfold way. I have a lot to do. Number one, the contents of baptism. A lot of times we also hear when we talk about baptism and we argue about it is it's simply obedience to the command of Christ. And that's what a lot of people take it to be, simply obedience. And it ends there. It's a lot more than that, my friend. Baptism is one of the symbols of baptism. of the New Covenant. That's really what it is.
One of the symbols of the New Covenant. John the Baptist baptized those who repented, and he also baptized our Lord. And when our Lord came to John the Baptist to be baptized of him, our Lord said something to him in Matthew chapter three and verse fifteen. He said, suffer it. Now that word suffer is in Old English for permit it. permitted to be so in order to fulfill all righteousness. Wasn't our Lord absolutely righteous in what he did and in what he was?
Yes. But what does it mean to fulfill all righteousness? Our Lord had come, beloved, to institute something new on earth through the redempting work of Calvary's Cross, and it is what is known as the church. He said, I will build my church and to bring into being the blessing of the new covenant. In other words, in the new covenant, we have something that never had in the old. We have righteousness now imputed to the believer when he believes we are declared to be the very righteousness of God in him.
And when our Lord was baptized, all three members of the Godhead were involved. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove. Our Lord was baptized as a man. And God the Father opened heaven and said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Under the new covenant, when a person is born of God, three things take place that become a reality. Number one, we know that God the Father chose that person in Christ. God the Father has been active. Number two, that person has been redeemed by the blood of Christ.
The work of Calvary's cross. And number three, the Spirit of God has taken the work of Calvary and has applied it to the believing sinner. So just as the one who is declared righteous by God when he's saved, God the Father has done a work, God the Son has done a mighty work, and God the Holy Spirit has done a mighty work. All three members of the Godhead are acknowledged by the believer, for the Lord Jesus said, baptizing them in the name of the Father. He elected him. In the name of the Son, he redeemed him.
In the name of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit applied that great redemption to him. This is what is acknowledged by the believer when he's baptized. is the contents of baptism. But we move to this morning from the contents to the confession. Since the apostles made baptism imperative in every place, they could not fulfill the Great Commission if they didn't. You know, we have an idea today. If I am, I am, if I'm not, I'm not. You know, it's entirely up to you. It isn't entirely up to that.
The apostles were commissioned by the Lord to make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And if the apostles hadn't done this, they would not have been true to the fulfillment of the will of our Blessed Lord. Number two, did we see the apostles were faithful? The number two, the confession of baptisms. it separates believers from the heathen world. It is a testimony that God the Father has done a mighty work. He chose them in Christ. God the Son has redeemed them at Calvary's cross, and the Holy Spirit has come in power in applying that great redemption in their lives.
In other words, They are no longer united to the Eden world, any more than Israel was united to Egypt after God brought them through the Red Sea. They were separated from them. You see, friends, if regeneration, being born of God, is an inward and a spiritual work in salvation, and I trust you've been born of God, that you have a new heart, that you know that you're saved by God's matchless grace. That's an inward work. Nobody can see it. You see, nobody can see it.
But friends, baptism is a symbol to the local church and also to the world. And the believer signifies by his connection to the divine personality the mediatorial sovereignty. of Christ, his atonement accomplished at Calvary's Cross. But there's a negative side. What baptism is not? Baptism doesn't remove sin. Sin is removed by blood. The blood of Christ shed on Calvary's Cross. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.
It is the blood of Christ that makes atonement for the soul negative as Peter says in first Peter three twenty one it is not putting away the filth of the flesh but in that same text he speaks of baptism as something positive it is the answer of a good conscience toward God those who object to baptism after they're saved usually say well the thief on the cross was never baptized That's true, but you're not on a cross. And neither are those who believed on the day of Pentecost. And Peter commanded them to be baptized.
That brings us to the character of baptism. In the second chapter of Acts, I was careful to notice in our reading that Peter did not mention baptism on the day of Pentecost until those under conviction cried out, Men and brethren, what must we do? It wasn't until after that. Peter recognized, first of all, a work done by God in the heart. They were under conviction. It was then that he mentioned it. Furthermore, baptism is a logical conclusion in Acts chapter two to everything that preceded it. When you come to Acts chapter two, verses forty and forty one, it's a logical conclusion.
And it begins with a time element. then when they got to this point then they that believed they that received the word were baptized you see our prayer of the Lord in John chapter seventeen was that we all might be one and I want you to turn now to Ephesians chapter four Ephesians chapter four, verse one. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all holiness and meekness, with all suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit.
The unity of the Spirit has been made. We're not told to make it. We are told to keep it. Ah, in the bond of peace, there is one body. There is but one church. There is one spirit, even as you are called, in the hope of your calling. It is only one spirit, the Holy Spirit, who applies the work of Christ to the sinner. one hope of your calling, one spirit. Then he adds, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
In other words, we have been united to Christ. First Corinthians chapter twelve, verse thirteen, for by one spirit, where we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, bond or free. And you and I, in this text, are commanded not to make, we can't make it, but to keep the unity of the Spirit live. There is but one Lord, there is one faith, there is one baptism. And that one baptism, I believe, is a recognition by the child of God. When he comes as a believer, when he's saved by God's matchless grace, as we read in Acts chapter two, then They that received the word, that salvation, were baptized.
Now let's apply this truth in four ways. First, I believe that application number one is this is the confession of the believer. I believe this is what is meant in Matthew chapter ten and verse thirty-two, where our Lord says, whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven, but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven. And I believe that the genuine confession of the child of God is in baptism.
Here's where I disagree with a great evangelist, who in getting people to come to the front Or to get out of their seat and come forward. Where he uses this every time I hear him. And see him. He uses this text. But this text is a genuine confession with a mouth. And with a whole body. Of what it means. To have God the Father do a work. To have God the Son do a work. And God the Holy Spirit do a work in the life. And I'm not out to find fault for the preacher.
But beloved, there are multitudes of people who go forward, but who are never baptized. Only a local church can do this. And God has committed the evangelism of the world. to the local church. This is a genuine confession of the believer. That's application number one. Application number two. Because our Lord was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. We should therefore submit to this ordinance because he has imputed his righteousness to us.
We are commanded. to make disciples and to baptize them. This is a believer's true confession before the world, and it's a believer's true confession before the local church. It separates us from the world. Number two, it separates us from formal religion. And number three, it testifies to our union. to the triune God. Beloved, there isn't anything else that's important. Our union with the triune God, that means that we're saved by God's master's grace.
And the testimony to that is our baptism. Application number three, in baptism we have a picture of our complete redemption. We are baptized in the name of the triune God, God the Father who chose us, God the Son who redeemed us, and God the Holy Spirit who applied that great redemption to us. Application number four. In baptism, we have the answer to the prayer of the Lord for unity. I don't know of anything that has divided Christians more than baptism.
Do you? What's the difference between Presbyterians and Baptists? Usually it boils down to baptism. Arguing over a mode. What's the difference between a believing Methodist and a believing Baptist? It's arguing over baptism. And we're not here to argue over it. That accomplishes nothing. But do I recognize that by being saved, by believing the word of God, I'm united to the Lord of God.
And baptism simply, as a symbol of the new covenant, establishes before the world and before other believers that I'm part of that company that makes the new covenant of whom the Lord says their sins and iniquities will I remember no more forever I put my law in their heart I read it in their mind I put my law in their minds and I write it in their heart You see, I believe this is a one baptism because of our union with him. The unity has been made.
Here is our public witness to the world. Here is our public witness to other believers. Here we manifest obedience to the will of him who commissioned us. to make disciples of our mission. May the Lord take this word and bless it to everyone. My soul has been blessed afresh by realizing that in baptism, when I was baptized, I wish somebody would have told me this then, when I was baptized, I just did it because I felt this is what I should do.
You know, when a person was saved, they were baptized. That's what the Word of God said. But I didn't realize the implications of my relationship to Christ as a symbol of the New Covenant, as a message to the world, and as a message to other believers. Oh, friend, this is the first step. and to realize this truth and I'm glad that the brethren made me study this in order to speak this morning if you're here without Christ just remember what they did on the day of Pentecost they heard the gospel that God had made that one that they crucified Lord in Christ and he seated on the throne of the Father in heaven And they were pricked in their conscience.
And they turned and cried out, what shall we do? And Peter said, believe and be baptized. I trust that this will bless your soul as it has mine. Let's stand together for the benediction. Our Father, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we want to thank you this morning for the truth of your word. We realize that as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have definite responsibilities. And we who take leadership in the local church have responsibilities toward those who claim to be thine own.
And we pray that we may not shirk our responsibilities. but that we will take them and use them to bring honor and glory to thee, to teach thy word, and to see the reality of the relationship that the believer has with the Lord of glory. Hear us in these things and bless thy word to every heart for Jesus' sake. Amen. you