God's mercy is bigger than anything we could ever talk about. It is so big and profound. Don't you dare blame God with being cruel and mean.
He knows what He's doing and He will always do right and you will never be kinder than Him. And this is something God insists upon when we get to the Ten Commandments. God is going to tell His people that I am merciful in the presence of these commandments.
I am still a merciful God. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1st Peter.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Today, Pastor Rick concludes his message called Bringing Us to God as he teaches through 1st Peter chapter 3. There was other men that were righteous such as Enoch long before Noah. Methuselah was named when, his name means when he dies it will come, the flood.
And that is exactly what happened. But God is very patient and very merciful. And so 120 years, every time a hammer hit or struck or a noise echoed from the building of that ark, a sermon was preached. The ark became a pulpit. It became a word to everybody in earshot and eyesight that there is a judgment coming. You believe it or not.
Except for eight of them, they did not believe it. And it was too late when the judgment came, when the rains began. It is the same way in this life. There are those that think they're going to make their way through death after this life without Jesus Christ by rejecting him.
It's not going to happen. And there is the precedence for it. He says, while the ark was being prepared, again, it was a pulpit in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water. Saved through water as in surviving the flood, not saved because the water had some power to take away their sin. We are saved by the blood of the lamb and not the water on the earth. Water baptism saves no one. If it did, then we ought to go out with a fire hose and wet everybody, get them all into heaven.
But it doesn't work that way. Souls are saved because they believe the message and follow its instructions. I would add, it's not enough to acknowledge the message. Someone could say, yeah, I believe that and do nothing more.
Not good enough. One must act upon what they believe. Now, again, weakness is accepted. I have known quite a few Christians who struggled with heroin and perished because of that evil drug, narcotic. And I believe they were right with Christ but they couldn't, they just couldn't beat it in the flesh. Now, some of you might not like that. I hope that you're not that hard-hearted.
I hope you see beyond the physical and into the spiritual. They knew who the Savior was. I mean, if that's not so, if you say, well, they never went over that sin. They couldn't have gone to heaven.
What about you when you drive? Your soul is damned. Not the other guy, you.
So here, verse 21, there is also an anti-type. Let me pause here. This is a tough section to teach from.
Well, at least for me, because you want to, it's not easy reading and it's important information and you want to get it right. So I hope this is going well. If it is going well, you don't have to tell me.
If it's going bad, please don't tell me. There is also an anti-type which now saves. Baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see Peter preaching these things, not just writing them? A man like Peter was more comfortable speaking than he was writing. Paul was probably, you know, both.
He could write, he could read, he could do it all. But Peter strikes me as a man who was a man of, give me that microphone, kind of a guy. And here he says, there's also an anti-type which now saves. But then he has to come to life, baptism.
This is some animation that goes with this. He's not this monotone, not the removal of the flesh, the filth of the flesh, but a good conscience. That's just not Peter. He says, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I saw him. I knew him. He died. And then he was alive again. He spoke to me. He looked me in the eyes afterward.
Not just once. And this comes out in his writing. It comes out in his speaking.
There's no way Silas could transfer this excitement into print. The Holy Spirit does that for us. Read out loud. If you've never read your Bible out loud, not all of it. I mean, you get to, you know, the names that we come across in Nehemiah, for example.
You don't want to try and struggle that out loud. But just the Lord is my, the Psalm, the 23rd Psalm. Or the Sermon on the Mount. Or the first three chapters of Revelation. Or Ephesians, Chapter 4.
Read it out loud. One Spirit, one body, one Father. It comes to life. And we have no right to say, well, you know, it's kind of boring.
No, you're the boring one. The Scripture is alive. It is living and it is powerful. And we know it true to be true. And so here he says there is also an anti-type. That means a prophetic parallel fulfilled.
What does that mean? A type is an illustration long before the event in most cases. And it is not the event. But when the event takes place, the similarities are inescapable.
The message that comes out of that parallel is inescapable. And so when you, when we read about, for instance, as I mentioned earlier, the sin offering and the sinner puts his hand on the animal to be sacrificed, that is a snapshot, an illustration of what happens when Christ takes our sin upon him. He is our sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And so you put your hand, it was very personal, you put your hand on that animal and your sins were symbolically transferred to that animal. When Christ died on the cross, every believer that comes to him, your sins are transferred factually to him and washed away in his blood.
He is overcome. And so a type is a God-given illustration in advance so that you would know that God speaks to people. This evening we'll be talking about the Ten Suggestions, the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. Again, repeated in Deuteronomy, but we'll be in Exodus 20.
Listen to this. And God spoke all these words. God speaks to his people. And he continues, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. You see, it's very personal. We don't have a distant religion, a distant God.
It's very much hands-on. And so when he says, there is an anti-tite, that's Peter getting a little theological, but he's right on with this. The pattern is consistent, the pattern is understandable, and it is inescapable.
While the type may be imperfect, the fulfillment is sure. And so those sacrificial animals, we see the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and we connect the dots and we say we get it. He says, which now saves. There's an anti-tite. There's the fulfillment of this prophecy that saves.
That's what he is saying. Baptism. What does that word mean? We think baptism always means getting wet.
It does not. Baptism means to be immersed in something. It happens to be water when we do it symbolically, you know, the outward sign of the inward event. It is a sermon. It is a sermon to encourage the saved and to preach to the lost. And so where he says, which now saves, baptism. That baptism that he is referring to is the rebirth in Christ, not water. 1 Corinthians 12. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body. You see, it certainly isn't talking about water baptism because you can't do that through water baptism. He continues, Paul does in 1 Corinthians, where the Jews are Greeks or the slaves are free and have all been made to drink into one spirit. You see the imagery that he's putting out there, trying to get us to understand the spiritual events that engulf us.
When Jesus said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, how do you do that without being immersed? I was reading something about Samuel Rutherford, a great Christian man from long ago, and just saying to myself, you know, when I started out studying and, you know, becoming a pastor, I felt I could do these things that these other men did. Wesley did it. I'll do it. I can nail a letter on a wall.
Luther did it. I can do it. I have since found out that I cannot be a Rutherford.
I cannot be these men. God will have to settle for whatever it is I can bring up. And he's good with this. And I'm becoming okay with it, too. Because I don't have a choice.
But I've also seen much fruit because of it. And I'm not going to badmouth God and say, you did not make me a John Knox, therefore the things that you've done through me don't count. I will not say that. I will say thank you, Lord, for what you've given me.
I will stand my watch and be satisfied with his portion. The baptism which saves us is immersion into Christ, not water. The blood of Christ saves, not water. This baptism took place on Calvary where he immersed himself in the mission of God on our behalf in death for the sinner. Luke's Gospel, chapter 12, verse 50, Jesus says, but I have a baptism to be baptized with. Now, he had already been water baptized with John to fulfill prophecy.
He's certainly not talking about water baptism. He says, I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am till it is accomplished. He knew the cross. He knew the prophecies.
He knew what lay ahead of him. And yet, the night that he was betrayed as they left the city of Jerusalem to cross the Kidron Valley, he was singing hymns to God. Many of those who were burned at the stake for Jesus Christ went out in a blaze singing hymns to God. Many of them were thrown to lions and wild beasts, went out singing praises to God. That's how they stared down death.
They overcame him with the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony because they did not love their lives to the death. And so, as we go to the water for the physical baptism, we acknowledge symbolically that we have been buried with Christ. Another one takes hold of us.
There's no self-baptism in Christianity. And another one takes hold of us and submerges us completely under the water, symbolizing our death, our burial. The old me is gone. Another one pulls me up out of the water, symbolizing a new life in Christ now. I've been born again.
I have another birth. Everything is different, all because of his sacrifice. And so, this verse here in Peter cannot mean we have another baptism. Pardon me, let me just read the verse again. There is also an anti-type which now saves us baptism. He's not talking about the water baptism, but the baptism of Christ, the immersion of Christ on our behalf. Now, for those, I don't know, I haven't met anyone in a long, long time who still believes that you have to be baptized to be saved.
That is a hyper-legalism. It is the blood of Christ. Otherwise, a thief on the cross was lied to.
Well, I mean, maybe, I don't know, what happened? Did he baptize him after death when Jesus said, today you will be with me in paradise, if you can get baptized? Thank God that was not the case. It would imply that Christ died for nothing if you still had to do something to bring about salvation. By grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest anybody should boast. Stand before God, you've got to let me in. I have been dunked.
This is part of the problem. We'll come to this baptismal regeneration, that there are those that think that if you wed a baby, you're going to be saved. Babies can wed themselves, still not be saved. So crucified with him, Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ in life. I now live, I no longer live in the flesh, but in Christ who loved me and died for me. Romans 6.4 speaks about us being buried with Christ, brought up from death to life because of Christ. Therefore, we are buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. Again, when Paul is writing this, how do you think his face, have any of you written a letter to anybody, or typed an email?
And I mean one other personal, where your brow point, the face, your countenance changes because you're concentrating on what you're writing. Well, how did Paul look when he wrote, therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, knowing that he was once the cause of Christian persecution himself, but now was forgiven and used by God as an instrument. Our communion table and our water baptism, both preached to lost souls and saved souls alike. That's why it's always wonderful to see many of you come out to the water, it's not a rebuke for those of you who don't, but when we have a water baptism, there are those of you who have been baptized long ago and you still come out. You come out just to be there for your brother or sister in Christ. Don't undervalue that. It is a heavy statement.
What's the alternative to that? You get baptized in a lonely place. Why should that be? Why should there be so many Christians who have been baptized, knowing what it means, not be there to cheer on another one who's being obedient to the commandment of God. So I would encourage, yes, if you go to a baptism that you know is a solid baptism, be there if you can, and then if you're not, it's again not a rebuke. Same with the communion table. If I'm going to miss a Sunday, let it not be communion Sunday. It's when the saints come together, we preach a sermon together in a way that happens nowhere else on the planet. Only true believers can execute the communion table. It takes Christ, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and those saved by grace to come to the table.
Otherwise, it has no meaning. Anybody can sit and take bread and take from the vine, and it's not communion. It's when you do it in Christ, recognizing that you dodged a bullet of judgment, that it becomes special. He says, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.
They're receiving you. Conscience is the shadow of the broken law, one saint said. The shadow of the broken law. In other words, you know, you're moving along and then you see just a shadow of your error. The law is broken, and there's an impact. It touches you. It bothers you.
It does not always bring about victory, but it often does. When we come to Christ, is there anyone born again that has not felt the evil of their sin and how close they came to going to hell? I'll never forget when the light turned on, when I realized I was wrong. Jesus is the Christ, my Savior. I was going to hell. If I had died a second before it, conscience was now alive. I recognize it was someone greater than me. I had no theology, but I had Jesus. I knew that I was safe because of Him, because I had come to Him, because I heard His voice. I felt His presence.
I knew it to be so. That has made Christians powerful throughout the ages. For instance, I often think about today when Satan starts throwing his lies at you and causing you to doubt the Bible, all you got to do is look over at Israel and say, you got to be kidding me. We have proof, living proof of the veracity, the truth, the trustworthiness of our scripture.
No one else has got this. But what did the saints do before Israel became a nation again? During those thousands of years of their wanderings, what did the believers, what did the Reformers have? They had faith, born of touch. They knew Christ. They knew Him. They knew God.
Just as I was explaining my own conversion, I knew I was safe. I knew He was there. I could hear Him. I could feel Him. The presence of Christ was in my life.
That's what they had. That is bigger than looking at Israel, though looking at Israel is huge. You want to talk back to the devil next time he starts telling you the Bible's not true? How come this—Jesus said, come unto me, all you who labor and I have you laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.
Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly, and you will find rest from your souls, and I am here to tell you I've tried that many times and still not found the rest. Then what happens? Endurance.
That's what happens. Tighten up the straps on your armor, and you keep moving because He is faithful, and He does not guarantee a cozy environment in the midst of a cursed world. He wants truth. He wants obedience.
He wants endurance, and I want to give it to Him. And so, in those times I look over and see, well, there's Israel. God's word is sure. I don't understand all of what's going on and how it works out all the time, but I know enough to not back down from my faith. And so, now, in these days, it is more delightful to remember the presence of Christ than any other visible proof, because that's internal. That cannot be taken from you. No bad church on earth can ruin that for you, the internal presence of Christ, the immersion in the Holy Spirit.
Well, I don't know where I was at. Oh, well, infants, of course, they have no conscience, so, you know, the child infant cannot deny or receive the gospel message. That's why we do not wet them with water. We have a child dedication before the body, and we don't encourage the little ones to be baptized ahead of time. We want them to be able to say, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and here is why, after they've been tested, and it's not just mom and dad's religion.
Now, if the child is adamant, no, I'm ready. Then we're going to baptize him. We won't be blaming us for barring him from baptism, but what we try to do is filter out disingenuine baptisms, because we get people in their latter years of life come up and say, when we have baptisms often, I was baptized as a child, but I really didn't, I didn't know what I was doing. I did it because mom and dad, you know, whatever, and so do I get baptized?
And we, in those cases, we, yes, absolutely. It doesn't count if your conscience is not moved. You have to understand enough of the gospel to receive Jesus Christ. It's not a rabbit's foot. Here, kid, put this in your pocket.
You'll be safe now. Verse 22, and we'll stop there. What about all those who may not, who may have a handicap and they cannot?
I mean, there are those with autism and various, you know, things that happen. God's mercy is bigger than anything we could ever talk about. It is so big and profound. Don't you dare blame God with being cruel and mean. He knows what He's doing and He will always do right, and you will never be kinder than Him. And this is something God insists upon when we get to the Ten Commandments. God is going to tell His people that I am merciful.
In the presence of these commandments, I am still a merciful God. Well, verse 22, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him, and yeah, you've got that right. In no way, when it says He's at the right hand of God, in no way does that indicate that He is inferior to God the Father. Isaiah 48. Before I read Isaiah 48, not the whole thing. So if God says to the Son, I am going to sit you with Me, well, you're not going to sit Him on His lap.
It's going to be the right or the left. I'm going to sit you with Me. You will have the glory I have. Isaiah rings in on this, something again the cults don't get. I am Yahweh, that is My name, and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. I don't share this.
They're not worthy. Then why is He sharing it with Christ? Because He is worthy. That is why. Exodus 20, I will read.
I do have it here. Then Yahweh said to Moses, thus used to say to the children of Israel, you have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Thank you, Lord. And He talks in more ways than just speaking with the voice. Angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. That's sovereignty. We close with this verse.
Though I'm just kind of getting warmed up now, maybe we could, you know, cycle through again. But anyway, Colossians 1, for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him, Jesus Christ. That's sharing the glory of God, because He's God the Son.
That's why. We're so glad you tuned in today to study the book of First Peter on Cross Reference Radio. Cross Reference Radio is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. And we're blessed to bring you God's word with each broadcast. If you'd like more information about this program or want to listen to additional teachings from Pastor Rick, please visit our website crossreferenceradio.com. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never have to miss a program. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music or your favorite podcast app. We hope you'll tune in again next time to join us as we continue our study through the scriptures right here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-03-23 21:37:42 / 2024-03-23 21:47:13 / 10