Take your copy the scriptures if you would now and turn to 1 Corinthians 10. We’ll begin our series through the Prophet Joel next week. This morning, we’re going to. Look at what First Corinthians has to tell us about baptism, please give your full attention before I read and we hear the word preached, let’s ask the Lord’s blessing once more upon those things, let’s pray together.

Our great God and Heavenly Father, we come again before you, Lord, help us to have a spirit always of anticipation and longing Lord, ready to receive what you have for us, and we pray, Lord, hear us and minister to us at this time now through your word. Let the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. We pray this, dear Father. In the mighty name of Christ, and all God’s people said, amen. Amen.

God’s Word Read Aloud

1 Corinthians 10, starting at verse 1. Please give your full attention now, this is the word of God. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, the drink from the spiritual rock that followed them. The rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did. And 23,000 fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.

Now, these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation is overtaken. you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

So for the reading of God’s word, may he indeed add his blessing upon it.

Celebrating the Sacraments

Well, it is truly a blessing any time that we can, as we have this Lord’s Day, celebrate both sacraments ordained by the Lord, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Lord has blessed this church with many baptisms over the years, and there are more to come soon. And I thought it would be good for us to look at scripture’s teaching on the subject of baptism. What does God’s word say about baptism? And so this morning I want to look as we heard at first Corinthians 10 and see what we might be instructed there by it. And we’ll see as we do that the subject baptism is not silent in scripture. Scripture is not silent on the issue of baptism. Scripture shows us what God wants us to do regarding baptism. God’s word tells us indeed who the subjects of baptism are to be, who should come under the waters of baptism.

God’s Promise Has Primacy in Baptism

And so what does scripture tell us about baptism? It tells us that the sign of God has a point and that the promise of God has the primacy. God’s promise has the primacy.

God’s People Have a Common Past

And also the first thing I want us to see is that the people of God have a past. God’s people have a past. God’s people have a common history, a common past collectively. And you’ll notice how Paul begins this text. And notice this, he says, I want you to know, brothers, that our forefathers, our forefathers, you see, Paul is writing to a church made up almost, if not all, entirely Gentile members. And if you know anything about the Corinthian and the church there, in the first and second letters, they were a pretty problematic group. of people, plenty of troubles, plenty of issues that Paul is having to deal with. And yet Paul, the apostle, is still willing to call them brothers, even though some of their sins were rampant and would make most of us cringe and wonder if they should even be called to church at all. And yet Paul, the apostle, formerly the rabbi, trained, an Israelite of Israel, he has no problem addressing them as brothers. as the Church of Corinth Saints by calling. At the beginning of First Corinthians, and he says to this Gentile church that’s struggling in its behavior and in church life, he says, I don’t want you to be ignorant brothers that our forefathers. Speaking together of them, Paul speaking to church that has what no Jewish heritage, no common history, no physical or nationally, not physically or nationally with Israel. And then Paul includes the whole church And he says, you brothers share our history because you are now believers in Christ. The history of the Old Testament becomes your history. Those people back there are your people. They have a common faith and a common God. And this is significant because in our day, it’s the dominant view, right? What? That the church and Israel are two entirely separate things. But when we read scripture in the pages of the New Testament, we see that Paul has no problem joining this Gentile church into the story that’s already being told. He joins them right into redemptive history. And he says, We have this mutual ancestry. We have this mutual faith together that we share. The Bible makes clear. That we, Jew and Gentile are branches grafted into the same roots. And then we are being built into one man in Christ. And it should be clear from the text that there is unity now between believers in the Old Testament and believers in the New. And they are not separated by some sort of different faith or different reality or different plan or way. And this isn’t the only place that we see this, this continuity. We see it throughout the New Testament, right? And think about Paul’s teaching and his normal pattern of things. When he comes to core doctrines, for instance, of the New Testament, like justification by faith, when Paul’s searching to come up with an example, where does he go? He points to Abraham. And he says, remember Abraham and what happened to him? He believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And when Paul is looking for an example of the blessed man who’s had his sins totally forgiven, who’s been purged utterly of all of his shame, he doesn’t refer to the foreign tax collectors or to Peter and his denial of the Lord at the crucifixion. Instead, what does Paul do? He goes all the way back to the Old Testament. And he says in Romans 5, remember what David said? How blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, whose transgressions are covered. Paul makes his case in these instances from the Old Testament, because it’s the history of God’s people. Not two peoples, not two plans. All of the book is the book of the church, old and new. It’s our canon, it’s our book, the people of God. And this continuity, according to Paul, even flows into the sacraments of the church in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And as we see this, we see this in our text this morning, we see that there’s this connection, this mutual history between God’s people in the old and in the new. And what a wonderful, think about, right? What a wonderful truth. that God calls us and he brings us into his story. This unfolding of the redemption of his people, of which he has made us a part. Indeed, reason to praise this God, to delight in his love, and to give him glory. I hope you would agree. And so that’s the common past of God’s people.

God’s Sign Has a Point: Baptism in the Old Testament

And then we see that God’s sign has a point. So let’s look at what baptism means in the Old Testament, according to the new and what we can learn from that. And in doing so, we will see that the subjects baptism are laid out for us as well. Paul is very clear about whom he’s speaking in chapter ten of first Corinthians. And he says, all were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And Paul says that there was baptism that took place in the Old Testament. And he uses some interesting references there to the cloud and to the sea. And when he does this, he teaches us about our present Christian life and telling us this part of history. We want to understand what he’s talking about when he does so.

The Cloud: Sign of God’s Presence

What does he mean that they were baptized in the cloud and in the sea? Is this cryptic language that we can’t really grasp and it’s just mysterious to us? Well, what is the cloud? What is the cloud? When we go through the Old Testament, some of you, these bells may be ringing for you, but you’ll notice that the cloud has a particular reference in the Old Testament. The cloud is what? It’s a sign and a symbol of God’s presence with his people. And so, for instance, when Israel is led out of Exodus, as we heard, the cloud is there by day, the pillar of fire by night. That’s God’s way of showing them that he is with them. Or think about the tabernacle. And it’s constructed or the temple in the temple is built. This cloud comes and it descends and it fills the entirety of the tabernacle of the temple in order to show what to show that God’s presence has come and he is there with his people. Think about when the people gather at Mount Sinai. The cloud comes, remember, and settles upon the mountain so that they know that God has arrived. So when Paul references the cloud, he’s clearly making a reference to God’s presence.

The Red Sea: Baptism into Salvation Through Judgment

It’s a specific incident that takes place in the Old Testament that we read about this morning. In Exodus 14, that God’s presence is with Israel in the sign of the cloud. He’s leading them out, right? They’re in a panic. The Egyptians are behind them, and we see this cloud leading them out. And then it rises and it goes to the back and becomes their rear guard to defend them. And Paul says regarding this cloud that they were under it and that they were baptized into it. And so Paul calls the movement of the cloud over them, oddly enough, a baptism. He then goes on to say that they were baptized in the sea. That may sound strange to us. Because the Egyptians were the ones who got wet. They were the ones seemingly who were baptized. But he clearly refers to this as a baptism. And so what’s going on here? We know the sea is referring to the Red Sea. And this is the well-known incidence of the crossing of the Red Sea, the great redemptive act of the Old Testament.

And if we look at what happened leading up to the passage in Exodus 14 that we read this morning, we see that God sent the angel of death on the night of Passover. And Pharaoh finally says, take your people and get out of here. He’s broken. And the Israelites start their journey in haste towards the promised land. And then they realize that Egypt is now following them. Pharaoh has changed his mind and he wants to come after them and bring back his labor force. And remember our forefathers in the faith, right? Remember their disposition, their attitude, right? These mighty, brave, courageous men. Remember their response. What was it to Moses? Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is it not? This what we said to you in Egypt, leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Not brave, not courageous. They’re saying you brought us out here to be murdered by this army that we clearly can’t fight. This is not the height of faith in Israel. They are panicked. They don’t know what to do. God tells Moses to instruct the people that He is going to be with them and for them. God is going to fight on their behalf.

Notice that when they come to the Red Sea, they don’t say, this is awesome. It’s baptism Lord’s Day. That’s what we’ve been waiting for, where we make our profession of faith and everyone knows our commitment to the God of Israel. That’s not what they say. That’s not their attitude. What they find when they come to the Red Sea is certain death, either by the army behind them, or they can die trying to get their children and their stuff through the Red Sea in front of them. This is not salvation in their eyes. This does not look like good news to them. This is not the pure waters of baptism that we’re normally used to and associate. These people are so certain that this will lead to death that they say, again, it would have been better for us to have died in Egypt.

But God commands, and the east wind comes. And it begins to separate the waters. And dry land appears. And then the whole nation marches through on dry ground, on dry land. And think about that image for a minute. We’ve heard this before. This isn’t the first time in scripture where something like this the scripture tells us about. Where else can you think when we’ve seen chaotic waters that are commanded to be separated by the presence of wind? In the very opening pages of scripture, it says that the earth was formless and void. The spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. Creation is covered entirely by water. In the very spirit of God, right, the same word. or wind, spirit, the spirit of God, Ruach Elohim, is hovering, blowing over the waters, right? The Ruach, the wind, the spirit of God, commands that the waters be separated, God does. And he separates the waters, and finally what appears? It’s dry land, a place where his people can be established, where Adam and Eve can live and dwell after his commandments and glorify his name.

The same thing is taking place here at the crossing of the Red Sea. The God who commands the light to shine forth from darkness, the God who commands that the waters be separated at creation, separates these waters, and dry land appears, and the people walk through, ultimately bringing forth to a brand new creation they come into. They’re leaving behind the old world that they are coming from. These aren’t the only stories in scripture that tell us about these same elements that contain these same things. You’re probably thinking of the great cataclysmic flood, the time of Noah, where God kind of undoes creation, all of creation, and then he recreates. And there’s a mirror image there. Like that creation, the world is what? Covered in water. And there’s only one family floating atop those waters safely. And what does it take, ultimately, for dry land to appear? God sends a wind. And the waters receded. And behold, dry land appears. And Noah and his family walk out onto what is literally a new creation. It’s a place where they are established to walk in God’s ways and to live before him in faith.

So there’s this connection in scripture that we see here. And we see, as we heard in 1 Peter, Verse Peter 3, verses 20 and following, he refers to the flood in reference to baptism as well. He’s able to look back at the flood and says, that’s a baptism. Like Paul looks at the Red Sea and also says, that was a baptism. And as these people walked through the waters of the sea, because of God’s divine, providential sending of the wind and dry land is created, and behold, a new creation is being entered into by the people of God who were saved through it.

And notice as Israel passes through the waters, Egypt is left behind and they are renounced. Israel is done with that old way of life. They’re being issued forth into a whole new way of life. God is calling his people, now by his name, through this action. Notice what’s going on. They renounce that old life. God’s name is placed upon them. They become his people through this action. And they are called from that time forward to live For him, you notice in Exodus 14, right, before he parts the sea, they have no faith, which is interesting. Prior to their baptism, they don’t give a grand profession of faith. They have very weak faith, if any faith at all. They say it would have been better for them to have died than for God to lead them out here to be slaughtered. It’s only when, it’s only after the Red Sea crossing that they turn back and they see the Egyptians, dead in the water, and they say, now I believe. Look at what God has done. Their faith comes after baptism.

As we read in Exodus 14, verse 30, thus the Lord saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

The New Testament, as we heard, clearly calls this action in Exodus a baptism. We see the pattern there. God is teaching us here in this pattern. God’s people have a past. The sign has a point. And God’s promise is the primary thing. It’s the primacy of this whole endeavor, right?

Baptism is not primarily first and foremost about our profession of faith. Many times when we look at it, we think the core of baptism, the very center of it is our announcing to the world that we’re going to follow God, that the one being baptized is the active party. It’s about him or her. I’m sure you’ve heard this. That sentiment is somewhat understandable, right, regarding everything that’s going on and the truly subjectively emotional, glorious thing with the objective. It’s definitely a responsibility to follow God that flows from baptism, even as we heard earlier. But this is not its essential meaning. This is not the essential point and meaning of baptism. That’s not what’s happening in baptism. That is a byproduct of baptism.

Instead of baptism being a profession of faith from the one being baptized, what is it? It’s a sign of what God is doing to his people. promise that God is making. It’s the sign of His presence with and for His people. It’s God’s way of saying what? I am doing something for you. I’m opening up a new way of life for you. I’m bringing you through these waters. I’m establishing you as a nation. God is the active participant. They don’t even want to be there. And yet after God does these very things, they begin to change their view of Him.

And notice that Baptism in this text is a sign of what? Salvation through judgment. These things that are called baptisms, the flood of Noah, clearly the waters are judgment waters. God has judged the world. The salvation for God’s people comes through those judgment waters. Or the Red Sea. Again, notice Israel aren’t the ones under the water. It’s the Egyptians. Those waters of judgment through which salvation comes for God’s people. So the water is first and foremost a sign of God’s judgment. But thankfully, that judgment is borne out on others and not the recipients who are blessed with the blessing of baptism.

And also notice when we think about this Red Sea and Exodus’s crossing to which Paul is referring, who was there? Who goes through? Who is baptized in this incident? Children. Literally children were baptized in this event. There’s no way around it. When the Israelites go from Egypt, they’re clearly instructed to take their children with them.

Notice what Paul says again. All of Israel was in the cloud and in the sea. All of Israel was baptized. All of them had these things done upon them. And so literally, small children and infants were brought through baptism way back then. And we see that there is a historical community that we are connected to. And they have a historical baptism that the Bible presents to us in the New Testament, clearly calling it a baptism. And everyone is involved, old and young.

The Requirement After Baptism: Faith

And we have to ask, what are the implications of that baptism? What is the requirement of that baptism? What does it ask of us? Well, what’s required after baptism, after they’re baptized, is faith. It’s faith. How do we know this? Again, look at when we think of Corinthians, Paul is trying to teach them something. And he says, Do not be unaware. These things took place as examples for us. These things happened to them as an example were written down for our instruction. And he uses this illustration of Old Testament Israel.

And he says, Look, these people had a baptism and they had a meal, spiritual food and spiritual drink. And they drank from the spiritual rock and the rock that followed them. Rock was Christ. Paul is telling us to look at the similarities here. They were God’s people. They had sacraments like baptism in the Lord’s Supper, right, a sign and a meal. They had Christ with them in the wilderness.

And then in verse nine, notice what he says. We must not, like they did, put Christ to the test, right? A wonderful text, by the way, showing us that, yes, indeed, the Old Testament speaks of Jesus. And Paul says that they had all of that, but some of them, what, did not mingle all of those benefits with faith. And what was the result? Paul records the history of the Old Testament people. They perished in the wilderness.

Paul is definitely giving us a warning here in 1 Corinthians 10. It is a very stern warning. Beware that you do not do what they did, lest you fall in the wilderness like they did. So there’s this historic community that we are connected to. They had a baptism. That baptism included infants, children of all ages and those in the covenant community, all of them. And they required faith after baptism.

Baptism in the New Testament: The Same Pattern Continues

What does that mean for us? We saw in the Old Testament that baptism refers not to signs of the participant’s faith, first and foremost, and not even signs merely of salvation, but rather they were a sign of judgment waters through which salvation comes, redemptive judgments. And we have an anemic in a week, and we shortcut our full understanding and the glory of what this sign is if we don’t recognize this.

In each of these examples in the Old Testament, both adults and children were involved in baptism’s watery judgment that leads to their salvation and ultimately leads to a new creation. And so we have to see the pattern there. The question ultimately is, is that still true in the New Testament? Has God changed his way? Is that how baptism is spoken of in the New Testament as well?

So we look at the imagery that’s used in the New Testament, and we draw some other conclusions, right? In Mark 10, James and John come to Christ. You remember what they say? When you come into your kingdom, we want to sit at your right hand and your left. And how does Jesus answer them? He says, can you be baptized with the baptism I’m about to be baptized with? He’s referring to here what’s coming at his crucifixion. And he looks forward to the cross, and he says, there I will be baptized. Can you do the same thing? And it shouldn’t surprise us that the cross is looked at in the scriptures as a baptism. How does that make sense? It makes sense if you realize that the flood of Noah and the crossing of the Red Sea, those judgment waters came and destroyed the enemies of God. And that’s exactly what’s happening on the cross. God is pouring out his wrath and his judgment on his enemies, and he’s doing so through the crucifixion of his son. Our sins, our death, our destruction is being borne by the one on the cross, and he is baptized as he is baptized with the wrath of God. God pours out on him, all of his fury for the sins that we have committed. And it shouldn’t surprise us, because when we talk about baptism, those images, in one sense, come to mind, even if we don’t make all the clear connections, right? When Paul says, we are buried with him in baptism, how do you get buried? You have to die. You die first. And Paul’s already making a link between Christ’s death and our baptism when he speaks this way. And so when we look at the cross, we see that that was the judgment waters of God being poured out upon his son, our just judgment upon the one in our place. And it’s a redemptive judgment. Praise God. It’s a redemptive judgment.

It’s also interesting what happens once these judgment waters are poured out, right? And so think about it. If the Old Testament pattern is waters of judgment, God sends the wind, ruach, spirit, then new creation, right? Is this what we see in the New Testament, the same pattern? Judgment waters, God sends the wind, new creation. Or is that something that’s left behind? God’s changed his way of doing things. Well, notice that once Christ has died, And once God, by the power of his spirit, raised him from the dead, he comes forth as the first man of the what? Of the new creation. And as Christ ascends, what is the first thing that takes place? Right. Acts says that suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind that filled the entire house where they were sitting. And they began speaking in tongues and fire sits above their heads. The spirit comes in a form in a sound of rushing wind. Right. And what is the result of this wind? The spirit coming down on all these people speaking in tongues. You remember. We read the 3000 people are added to the church. Judgment comes, the wind comes, new creation begins. And all of a sudden, those who are lost and dying are being born anew.

By the end of this event, where the mighty Russian wind comes down, the spirit comes down, Peter then, under the inspiration of the spirit, he decides on that day, at the end of this sermon, to say this, Acts chapter 2. The promise of the Holy Spirit that has been poured out that you both see and hear the promises for you and for your children and for all who are far off. That’s glorious, right? Remember who Peter’s talking to. He’s talking to Jews from every nation under heaven. Jews that have been raised steeped in the New Testament, their scriptures. They know the promise to Abraham, I’ll be God to you and to your children. And through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. These are Jews who know that when God rendered, redeemed them from Egypt, their children were part of those promises. They’re Jews who know that on the eighth day, their sons are set apart from the world by receiving the sign of the covenant, and they are circumcised. Jews who teach their children from the very youngest years, you are part of God’s family.

And these Jews hear the first sermon of the New Testament church, of the new creation church. And at the end of that sermon, Peter says, The promise is for you and for your children and for the Gentiles. Would they at all be shocked that their children are being included in something that God is doing? No, not at all. They would have been completely normal to them. What would they have been shocked by? What would have been put off by? What would have grabbed their attention? They are shocked that the Gentiles are to come in. Not at all that their children get to come in. It’s always been part and parcel of their faith. And Peter tells us there that that is going to continue. And that’s why we see in the rest of the Book of Acts that when an individual believes that they have and if they have a household, who else is baptized, right? Everyone in the household. They all are brought into the visible church and receive the sign of the covenant to which they belong. That way of faith continues from the Old Testament into the new.

Notice we see this not only in the Book of Acts, When you open the epistle to Ephesians, for example, and Paul begins to instruct the church, and remember what he says, remember the flow of Ephesians. He says, listen as I tell you about all the blessings that you have in the heavenly places. You are seated right now with Christ in heaven. God, who foreordained all things before the foundation of the world, he chose you before you were born to be part of God’s family. You who were dead in your trespasses and sins, you’ve been made alive together with Christ. And he goes through all the blessings, this glorious blessings, this doxology of salvation. And then he begins to instruct the church. And he says, Husbands, love your wives like Christ loves the church. Wives, submit to your husbands as to Christ. And then he addresses the children. And he says, Someday in the future, when you grow up and you reach some magical age of accountability, and you become Christians yourself, then obey your parents in the Lord, for this will be right. That’s not what he says to the children when he addresses the children, that’s not his word to them. Paul doesn’t make any differentiation to the congregation between young or the old, and he even goes on to masters and servants. Right. Paul and Ephesians covers the whole household. And he says, all of you have the same promises that come from the first three chapters of this book. All the blessings I’ve told you about in those chapters, I’m speaking to each one of you. And he says, children, obey your parents. Notice. In the Lord, for this is right. This is the first commandment with a promise. And he quotes the promise from the Ten Commandments that was clearly given to Israelite children because they were part of the covenant community. Beautiful continuity. God has not changed. And this doesn’t change as we come into the New Testament as far as how God views our children.

Application: Baptizing Covenant Children Today

And that is why, brothers and sisters, we brought not only this dear sister this morning, but these covenant children this morning for baptism, without shame and without apology, yet with praising and thanksgiving. We affirm that God has done what he has said through all of history, that he is a God for us and for our children after us. And notice these waters are just the beginning of their walk with Christ. These waters will call them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ day after day, and to repent of their sins day after day. These waters will name them. And these waters that were judgment for Christ, their Savior, will become a sign of their salvation. But they will also be for them a warning, just like we are seeing here in 1 Corinthians 10.

So dear brothers and sisters, you who have come yourselves under the waters of baptism. Christ has named you with his own name to you are the promises of God. They demand that you repent and believe not once, but every day of your life as you every day and always look to Christ, your savior. You see, it doesn’t just demand that from the little ones that we baptism that we baptize. It demands that from all of us, from all of us. which is why when we pour out the water of baptism, we are required to warn the congregation. You remember your own baptism by which you were vowed to God. He put his name and his claim upon you. As you pass through those waters, you renounce the world, the flesh and the devil. And now God is calling you and he’s saying, I’ve blessed you with myself. Don’t turn back on those blessings. Continue to repent, continue to believe.

You see, this is not some sort of strange, magical guarantee. This is God’s promise and blessing of himself for us. Incredible. It’s glorious. And it requires what? Of us faith in the God who gives the gift. And that requirement is all lifelong. We throw ourselves on the work of Christ, our Savior. We rest in his strength. We rely on his provision. in greater measure, ongoingly, day after day, as we’re conformed to His image through the Spirit, through the means God has appointed. Because in those waters of baptism, the very judgment that you and I deserve was already poured out on Christ, the one who bore those floodwaters and was drowned underneath them so that you and I might be set free. Free not to sin, but free from sin. That we might live before the face of God as new creations that we now are.

And if we have failed in those things, and when we fail to do so, the glory is that we look back and cling to those promises of God made when he marked us, when he signed us. And then we might reaffirm through faith and repentance that Christ is ours and we are his. You see, baptism shows us that we are God’s all life long. And it says to us that God calls us to make every decision for Christ that we might all life long look to the one who bore the judgment that we deserved in our place and in gratitude give ourselves again and afresh to him. And if we have fallen and when we have fallen to repent of those things and to look to who we are through baptism once again by the work of the spirit on the basis of Christ’s work. This water defines you. Baptism tells you again who you are, even when you don’t feel like it does. His promise and his gift is greater than our feelings and our failures.

So may you remember, dear Christian, who you are this day and every day, and look afresh to Christ for your salvation and for your very life. And may we pray and plead these promises for our precious children. that they, all life long, as they appropriate for themselves the promises therein, as they exercise the faith that God gives them, that they will believe in the same faithful Savior who has claimed them in these waters of baptism, as we too remember and rest upon Christ, who is our life and our peace. What a glorious God we have. What a beautiful, wonderful, glorious word and history he has given for us. May we believe it and remember it. Christ indeed is our life and peace. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Our almighty and loving God, we do praise you for your work in our lives. We do praise you for calling us out of a dead and dying world and giving us faith in Christ. eternal life, and a home in glory. We pray that you would help us ongoingly to remember your promises to us, to remember the objective proclamation and truth of your word, even more than our own subjective wavering and weakness and falling, Lord, that we remember what you say is true. We would always look to you, look to your work in our lives and your promises, Lord. Help us, give us faith, Lord. Give us sanctification as we pursue our Savior in thanks and gratitude. Change us, make us to be evermore the people you have called us to be. Lord, we pray that you would help us to know that we have died and been raised in newness of life, Lord. We ask that you would continue to be with us even as we worship now and hear intercessions ongoing. We praise you and we thank you. We ask it all in Christ’s name. Amen.