Let's turn together for our Scripture reading to Romans 6 as we read together the first 14 verses of Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6, beginning at verse 1. Hear now the Word of God. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. and if you would turn with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal to our confessional reference this morning Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 26 page 33 in the back of the Psalter hymnal page 33 and 34 as we consider together questions 69, 70 and 71 this is the first of five Lord's Days dealing with the sacraments this one and the following dealing with baptism and then the three after that dealing with the Lord's Supper. Lord's Day 26, page 33, as we confess these answers together. Question 69 asks, How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? In this way, Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity. In other words, all my sins. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit? To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in His sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life. Where does Christ promise that we are washed with His blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? In the institution of baptism, where He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, what comfort the believer has that not only does the Holy Spirit of God work or produce faith in his heart so that he believes, But the Spirit of God also strengthens that faith, leads that faith, and brings that faith to perfection one day when that faith will indeed become sight. Through the very Word of God, as we considered last week, through the very Word of God, the Holy Spirit points to the cross of Jesus. And then through the Word and the sacraments, He keeps our eyes focused on that cross. And of course, this is true with holy baptism. Baptism is a subject about and a subject that is concerned with Jesus Christ. You see, there's a most intimate connection between baptism and the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And that intimate connection is that baptism shows me that Christ's sacrifice is indeed to my benefit. The truth of baptism is to give me, as a believer by the grace of God, the assurance that His sacrifice was for me too. You see, beloved, there's no neutral ground here. If Christ's sacrifice is not for my benefit, then it is, then it must be to my hurt. Christ's sacrifice does not leave anyone unaffected. And as a believer, the sacrament of holy baptism is to strengthen one in the assurance that he or she is indeed a member of Christ, a Christian in the full and true sense of the word. As Paul says in Galatians 3, verse 27, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And beloved, as those who are prone to wander, we are in constant need of direction. Even the most godly among us, even the oldest saint among us needs the finger of God to point out to them the narrow path day by day. And therefore, it is to our comfort and edification that the finger of holy baptism points to the cross of Jesus. This is the truth of the preaching of the Word of God before us this morning. And we notice that this finger, first of all, points through the sign and seal. Secondly, it points toward inward renewal. And then finally, we will consider that it points with divine assurance. What is it that the cross of Jesus, meaning His sacrifice, teaches us? As Answers 67 taught us, as we considered last week, it teaches us of our entire salvation. And that entire salvation is summarized in Answers 66 as the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Included in this entire salvation, in this package of salvation, if you will, are all of the blessings of God's grace. And the finger of holy baptism points to the cross of Jesus. It points to entire salvation. And through the sign and seal of the sacrament, a promise is given to those who believe that that entire salvation is ours. It belongs to us. Now question 69 this morning basically asks us how this is. Again, the question says, how does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? Notice it doesn't ask, does it remind you of this? Does it assure you of this? It takes for granted that it does. It's effective in that capacity by the grace of God. So therefore, how does it do this? In this way, Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sins. Remember again, the sacraments are holy signs and seals, and the question again is basically asking how these baptism signs and seals work. How do they do what it is said they do? And notice the catechism answer begins by reminding us that the sign of baptism, The outward washing with water was instituted or appointed by Christ Himself. It was not man-made. It was not man-thought-up. It comes directly from God. As well, Christ attaches seals, promises, guarantees to that sign. That seal or promise to me as a believer is that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was both sufficient to pay for the debt of my sin, It was indeed enough, but also effective for me. In other words, Christ's sacrifice on the cross, His blood, does wash away all my sin. You see, as I see the water of baptism, that ordinary water, boys and girls, that is put into the baptismal font, as I see that water used to baptize infants and sometimes adults, infants, but as God seals them with His covenant promise, then my assurance as a believer is that the covenant promises given to me when I was baptized so many years ago are really a reality by grace through faith. In other words, I have that which was promised. I have all of my sins washed away by the blood of Jesus. Again, this is ordinary water that is put into the baptismal font. Boys and girls, it comes from one of the faucets of this church. It doesn't matter which one. It's just ordinary water. There's nothing special about the water that Mr. Brewer puts in this baptismal font when we have baptism. But that ordinary water represents, it points to something wonderfully special. Now we know what water is used for, don't we? For one thing, it's an agent of growth. It is necessary to the life of plants and animals and people. but it is also a cleansing agent. A shower or a bath without water wouldn't be a shower or a bath. We need water. Boys and girls, you know this especially when you get dirty outside. You need water to clean off the filth and the sweat and the dirt from our bodies. And that's why water is such a fitting example for or a fitting sign pointing to the Gospel promise. For those who believe by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, The promise is certain, as the catechism says. It is beyond the shadow of a doubt that just as water cleanses the dirt off the outward body, His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity. In other words, all my sin. My certainty as a believer is that I have the thing promised in baptism. The spiritual benefit is just as sure and real as the outward act, just as we can feel the realness and the wetness and the coolness or the warmth of the water in the same way this inward cleansing is very real for those who are born again. We must always remember, especially as young boys and girls, that the inward cleansing, the forgiveness of sins, the washing away of our sins is not a result of the water dripping on and running down the head. That water itself does not wash away our stain of sin. Forgiveness is the result of God's promise secured by Christ, believed by faith. And He has given baptism to help us understand with our eyes that this promise is real. Baptism is a visible sermon of the washing away of the sins of those who believe. But as a believer, this promise is not that I will be washed or I will be forgiven, but that I am washed. I am forgiven. And that means that as a covenant child, when I am brought to the faith, when I believe by the grace of God and begin to understand these things, then I know. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my sins have already been washed away. Because that forgiveness is not a reward for my belief, but I believe because that grace of God is mine. God's promise in baptism is not mine because I believe, but I believe because of God's promise worked in me by the Holy Spirit. Our children are given this promise, even all of God's covenant promises as infants, as even adults who come to the faith. When they are baptized, are given these promises as well, but our children that are instructed in this, in the home and through the church and in the Christian school, and boys and girls and young people, when you come to understand and believe this through the leading of the Holy Spirit, then yours is the assurance that this has been done for you. Forgiveness of sins. The assurance of faith is having been washed, having been cleansed. But you see, we're passive in this, aren't we? It's something that happens to us, not something that we do. We don't bathe ourselves in the blood of Christ. He washes us with His blood. God places His promise upon us. And later then, as the Holy Spirit moves us to stand and profess this assurance, then we become active and demonstrate this, this assurance by partaking of the Lord's table. Young people, do you understand what this means? It means that your baptism must lead you to the Lord's table. This means that God gives you the responsibility to claim His promise given to you in your baptism. To claim it as your very own. If you don't claim it, you give evidence of rejecting God and rejecting His promise. But God's promise is a rich treasure, beloved. Baptism is not something that simply takes place in the setting of the visible church and after an infant is baptized, then there's no more significance. It is God's promise and as a believer, I may call upon God's promise in full assurance each and every day of my life. And as we become aware of God's promises and believe, then we also live in the joy of these promises, which includes the new life that Paul speaks of in Romans 6, verse 4. And that finger of baptism continues to point us to the cross of Jesus. And every time we witness baptism, as we hope to do next week again, the Lord willing, every time we witness baptism, As believers, as we see this visible sermon, we too, even again the oldest among us, must remember and believe that His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, all my sins. Now the older version of the Catechism uses the word pollution instead of impurity. And pollution is an excellent word. It's a good word to describe this because we know that pollution, especially when we think of the air pollution in certain large cities, as I used to drive into when I came out of the mountains into the valley by Los Angeles every day. Pollution infiltrates everywhere. Wherever there is pollution, the entire space is filled with it. Boys and girls, just like, I may have said this before in this church, but if you put a drop of poison in this glass of water and stir it up, the whole glass of water becomes poisonous. The poison infiltrates every bit of that water. I don't think any one of us would take a drink on a challenge. And that is sinful man. Totally depraved, so that every part of him, his entire being, is saturated with the pollution of sin. Well, how complete then is the cleansing of Christ's blood and spirit? Isaiah says, Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. This is talking about a total and complete transformation. Beloved, this is the joyful assurance of the believer. The covenant keeper. Not the covenant breaker. Because only the believer, the saint, expresses the deepest conviction of the soul that I am polluted, I am poisoned with sin. The catechism is a believer's confession. It is not talking here about covenant breakers, those who reject the name of Jesus and the promises of God. It's talking about believers. It's talking about those born again. You see, water demonstrates the need to be cleansed. But if one isn't dirty as an unbeliever claims to be, then he has no need of being cleaned with water. Only believers who have first confessed baptism's condemnation by the grace of God, that I am a sinner in need of God's cleansing grace, only they have this God-given assurance. We confess that we with our children are conceived and born in sin and therefore are children of wrath. And only when the Holy Spirit opens my sinful eyes, my spiritual eyes, to see my desperate need, and only when I am humbled before God to seek my salvation apart from Him, only then can I rejoice in the witness and promise of baptism as it points in the second place toward inward renewal. Just as the water cleanses the outside of the body, baptism teaches us that the blood and spirit cleanse the inside, my heart and my soul, with Christ's spiritual cleansing. Question and answer 70 once again. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and spirit? To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in His sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life. Beloved, baptism is a promise of two different but inseparable truths and they are justification and sanctification. For the sake of the shed blood of Christ, God of His grace alone forgives all of my sins and sees me as righteous with the imputed righteousness of Christ and therefore pronounces me not guilty. John writes in his opening benediction in Revelation, to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, my sin is washed away by the blood of Jesus. But if that is all, then that's only partial redemption. not only is there conversion of heart with regeneration but there must necessarily be conversion of life as the Holy Spirit works in sanctification to indeed make us as God sees us and that is righteous John the Baptist said I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to carry He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Now, we know that fire is a symbol of purification. This fire is baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Bible speaks of gold and silver being refined in the fire in order to remove the dross and the impurities. And in sanctification, the Holy Spirit burns away with His holy fire. He burns away the sin and the pollution and the impurities of our soul. He breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free. God's people not only have the right to be called children of God by the blood of Calvary, but He also renews in them the characteristics and the traits of sons and daughters of God so that we once again manifest, demonstrate, mirror the image of God. And this is accomplished by the Holy Spirit by making the saved one with the Savior. Those for whom Christ died are made one with Him, members of Him through which His lifeblood flows. One who is a member of Christ by faith lives like Christ. And that is in obedience to the law of God which is a reflection of His holiness. Paul says again in verses 3 and 4, Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Baptism points to the death of the old man, the man of sin, and dying daily more and more unto sin and living more and more unto God. That is, as the Catechism says, living holy and blameless lives. Again in verses 12-14, Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law but under grace. Again, as Paul says in verses 1 and 2, what should we say then? Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We die to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Beloved, Jesus Christ is the vine and believers are His branches. And as Paul says, Christ lives in them and through them. And just as the branch draws life-giving sap from the vine, the traits, the residue of the old man, that old man that has already been put to death, that residue dies more and more, and the new man in Christ lives more and more. This life is a continual process of dying to the old self, putting away the old desires, and living to Christ. And He gives us the obligation to seek the development and the maturity of that new life. With Christ in us, beloved, we are able, as Paul says, to work out your own salvation, for it is God who works in you. Beloved, forgiveness of sins and renewal of life are as two sides of the same coin, and both are secured by the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. These which God has joined together cannot be separated. And that means for the true child of God, even as Paul makes clear, it is impossible that that new life would not be visible. Indeed, sometimes it's painful putting to death the old man, the things that still cling to us against our will. The water baptism didn't hurt, at least most of us don't remember it. The water might have been cold, but it didn't hurt. But the Spirit baptism, that which scorches and burns away all that is unholy and all that is untrue, that sometimes hurts. Yet the truth is those who understand their baptism and claim God's promises can't help but to live antithetical in the world. Can't help but to walk in the light opposed to those who walk in the darkness. They cannot continue to sin so that grace may abound. Why? Because they died to sin. Sin is no longer their ruler, their master. It no longer reigns over them. Christ does. They're no longer slaves of unrighteousness, but slaves of righteousness. When that renewal of life through the Spirit is not evident, that then is evidence that the salvation of life by the blood of Jesus is just a fantasy. True renewal of life means to live in and from God's grace. He is the one who sanctifies His people and He calls us to be active in living that sanctification. But of course, we may not confuse this with being sinless because we will not be able to boast of that until glory one day. The baptism form rightly says, and if we sometimes through weakness fall into sins, we must not therefore despair of God's mercy nor continue in sin. But that doesn't mean that we don't have to worry about our sin. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't be conscious of our sin. It doesn't mean that we can become comfortable with our sin. We are to be humbled because of our sin. But even then, our comfort is not to be found in our own repentance and strength, but our comfort is to be found in our anchor Jesus Christ and God's eternal covenant of grace. Isaiah 54 verse 10 says, For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has mercy on you. That means whoever prayerfully pleads upon these promises will not be turned away and cannot be lost. Beloved, the water of baptism is a sign of separation between the old man and the new man. And it is a lifelong sign and seal never to be forgotten. God's people are called to drink daily from that fountain. And even though that sign and seal is only administered once, It's significance like celebrating the Lord's Supper throughout your life. The significance of baptism is lifelong. The believer's whole life is anchored in baptism in the name of the triune God. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, guarantees and assures forgiveness in baptism. And that means the petition, forgive us our debts, is anchored in baptism. From the Father we have the promise of a covenant relationship. He is our covenant ally in the arena of life. who adopts us as children and heirs, who has at His disposal all the resources we need and who never forsakes us. And this means He will provide us with all good things and avert all evil or turn it to our profit, as the catechism says elsewhere. And therefore the petition, give us this day our daily bread, is also anchored in baptism. As well the promise of the Holy Spirit is His completed work of sanctification as one day He presents us without spot or wrinkle in the assembly of the elect. And this means that baptism in His name is a guarantee of the perseverance of the saints. And therefore, the petition, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, is anchored in baptism. Young people, your baptism is not something you can ignore or worry about later. Your baptism marked you as a child of the covenant and therefore distinguished you, set you apart from the children of the world. The cross of Jesus is always to be before your eyes. You see, true baptism and unholiness cannot go together. And therefore, when you are where you should not be, or when you are doing what you should not be doing, if the cross, if the finger of baptism isn't pointing in your face, then something is not right. As you come to understand the meaning of your baptism, you begin to define God's promise given to you. And you are called to live in the light of His promise. Finally, and very briefly, the finger of holy baptism points to the cross of Jesus with divine assurance. Question and answer 71, once again. Where does Christ promise that we are washed with His blood and Spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? In the institution of baptism where He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sin. Beloved, the sacrament means absolutely nothing apart from the Word of God. It is governed by the Word of God and it is effective in its assurance only within the boundary of the Word of God. These passages quoted in the Catechism's answer prove that baptism indeed symbolizes the washing away of sins unto eternal life and that this is to be the confidence and the assurance set aside for believers. These passages, especially Mark 16, verse 16, point out the necessity of faith in order to have baptism's assurance that those who are baptized do not receive that which is promised and sealed by baptism unless they come to and have faith. By grace, through faith, the promise of baptism is ratified. It is confirmed. Baptism into the name of the triune God is God's advanced promise for life for those who believe. And therefore, we must be busy with our baptisms day in and day out because our whole life is anchored in the promise of baptism. But this means also, beloved, that baptism daily speaks against the covenant breaker. Not all who are baptized are necessarily saved. Paul says in Romans 9, verse 6, For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel. Some, indeed, reject God's promise. Some, as it were, drown in the baptismal font. For those who reject the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, their baptism is also a seal. It's also a guarantee of something. For hell. You see, beloved, baptism is always a grave. Romans 6 verse 4 says, We were buried with Him through baptism into death. Those who are buried with Christ also rise and live with Him in newness of life. But those not buried with Christ, for them it is an eternal grave. Their baptism will testify against them one day that they rejected the promise of God. The water of the Red Sea symbolized baptism. It was a sign of separation through which God's people were saved, but Pharaoh's army, God's enemies, found those waters to be their grave. The same was true with the flood. Believing that Noah and his family were saved in the ark from the waters of the flood, but the wicked world found those waters to be their grave. Those who ignore the finger which points to the only way, truth, and life will one day be ignored as Jesus says, Depart from me, I never knew you. But His promise is this. Those who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ enjoy the cleansing, the perfect cleansing power of His blood, which alone makes one acceptable to enter the presence of God. Amen. Shall we pray? Dear Heavenly Father, for those who need to see in order to believe, as really we all are, we thank You for the visible sermon of baptism and also the visible sermon of the Lord's Supper. The visible Word of God that You've given to us. We thank You for the promise of baptism that for those who believe our sins are washed away completely, never to be seen again. What comfort. What assurance. What joy there is to be in our hearts and lives and indeed, O Lord, may that joy direct us each and every day. Father, we pray that we would indeed desire to live holy and blameless lives before You, remembering that when we do sin, when sometimes through weakness we fall into sin, we are not to despair of God's mercy, for Your mercies are new every morning, and great is Your faithfulness to Your promise that all of our sins are forgiven. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name, Amen.