That the steps of a good man, righteous man, are ordered by the Lord. You know, in my ministry through the years, I've recognized a scripture that says, When Jesus told his disciples and tells us, I am the way, the truth, the life. And I've broken that down many times in my messages. But because of Pastor James' prompting today, I feel I need to share before I open my Bible and give you what God's laid upon my heart. We know that the scripture teaches the way to God is straight and narrow. One night as I was praying about that scripture and the fact that Jesus said, I am the way, I got to thinking, how narrow is this gate? And then when I got here some 15 years ago and looked again at Bible Adventure Land, there's a room that the door is the shape of Jesus Christ. Well, what we imagine him to be, how tall he was. But I looked and I studied that one afternoon, and the Lord reminded me that that way that is straight and narrow is about as narrow as the shoulders of Jesus. And unless we walk circumspectly, that means observing, your focus is on walking with him. Unless we do that and we get our eyes off of him, we'll be just like Peter was. We'll begin to sink into stormy waters. But if we will stay behind him and fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, he knows the beginnings of our faith and he knows the end. Thank God for that. Can you say, praise the Lord? Well, the announcements this morning, I want to first of all welcome any guests, first-time guests that are here today. If you're a first-time guest, let me see your hand. We welcome you if you are. And uh even if you've been here before, uh, we ask that you'd please get connected with the QR code that's in the pew right in front of you there. You can uh just scan that with your phone, and it will join you to our church center app, and you can put your name and information in there so we can have a relationship with you and let you know about happenings here at the church. Don't forget Summer of Service. We're collecting donations of personal hygiene products. We have a container in the lobby, uh, deodorant, soap, shampoo, such as that, even toothpaste would be good. So please help us out with that. We need volunteers for the frog follies that are coming up, and that's Saturday and Sunday, August 28th through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the 28th through 30th. All those that volunteer and show up to work, uh, we appreciate that. We'll be putting in a drawing of a pair of Indiana Pacer tickets for one regular season game. So uh the volunteers, we need you. Ladies, Friday night. Well, we already had the banana split uh uh week last week. So is that going on again? Anyone know? Okay, that was in there, so I wanted to make sure. Uh Saturday, July 18th will be the next women's breakfast. That's at 10 a.m. And it will take place at the Cracker Barrel on the east side. Uh you're asked to RSVP Gwen Walker to make reservations for that. And this is the start of a monthly women's breakfast, and it'll be the third Saturday of every month. So get connected with the ladies. Ladies, my wife went Friday night and really enjoyed herself. So uh get connected to what the ladies are doing. Saturday night, August 7th, is a movie night, an outdoor movie night at the Walker's home. And uh we'll be watching the Jesus Revolution. So bring a lawn chair and your favorite movie snack, whatever that means. What is your favorite movie snack? It's mostly popcorn, isn't it? Maybe raisins if you're healthy. No snacks? All right, that's all right too. Tonight I will be continuing my series, and Pastor Ruby mentioned Colossians today in her devotional before the service. We're going to be going with our second lesson of the 13 on the book of Colossians. And what we're teaching tonight, every believer needs. You might think, well, I know it all, and I don't need that. Well, if you've never deeply studied the book of Colossians, it really is about spiritual maturity. How many need more of that? I know I do. The Bible says to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him be glory, both now and forever. So I'm in for growing and I'm in for spiritual maturity. So come and join us tonight in room one at 6 p.m. And we need help with the food bank tomorrow and Tuesday. We meet at 10.30 to box up goods and deliver them on Tuesday. Camp is only one week away. Can you believe it? And if you or someone in your family is interested in camp, see Daniel or Jenny for details on departure and return times. My last announcement, I added, I want to encourage everyone here that has a little gap in your schedule, and even if not, make a sacrifice to come Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. in room one for prayer band. I met with the ladies, those that are meeting there, and encouraged them. And we would begin announcing that prayer is the foundation of any effective ministry. Any church that's going to be effective in their ministry must have prayer meetings. And those ladies have been faithful, and I think it would be a real encouragement to them if we had some men and some other ladies and maybe even couples. Just put that half hour aside Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. in room one. We're intercessors and we pray for those that are sick, and we're going to believe God to perform healings, work financial miracles, and answer our prayer. Amen. We've heard the saying that a family that prays together stays together. Well, I believe that applies to churches too. Amen. That gives us strength as we pray as a family. Amen. Well, I've been very excited about the message today. In fact, I have never preached or taught on this subject before. Back last year on Pentecost Sunday, if you recall, I preached on the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And I don't know if it was the first word message or the 1045 that I preached. I mentioned something that Pastor Julie honed in on, and I said, there are more than just baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Ghost in Scripture. And many people don't know that. There are many more baptisms in Scripture. And today, in my limited time, I'm going to try to go through a large majority of those. How many of you realize that there are more than those two? Raise your hand. Alright, good, good. You're going to find out a lot of detail that you may have never heard before. So I'm going to ask this morning before we pray that everyone would get their Bibles, whether it's on a phone or you have it in your hand, and turn to Romans chapter 6. Now we've heard Ruby quote from Romans chapter 6. We've heard Pastor James last week quote from Romans chapter 6. But I don't believe the Holy Spirit is finished with Romans chapter 6. So we're going to be looking at that in a moment. But could we stand and lift up our hands or hand if you're holding your Bible? And we're going to enter his gates with thanksgiving. Father, we glorify you today. We praise and magnify you. You are El Elion, the supreme God. There are no kings, there are no presidents, there are no leaders on the face of the earth, or under the earth, or above the earth that are greater than you. You are our God and we worship you and we lift you up and we glorify you. You are worthy to receive the glory, the honor, the power, and the praise. And we come to you in the mighty name of Jesus, that name that is above every name. And we plead the blood of Jesus over those that are gathered in your sanctuary today. Lord, may our eyes be open, may our ears be unstopped, may our minds be clear, may our hearts be receptive to receive this teaching. And may we grow from it and may we be influenced by it. And Lord, on this day of baptism, as we plan to baptize some ten people on this platform, we ask for your grace on their lives. We ask, oh God, that you'd allow them to see what we've sung of a few moments ago. Where you lead us, we're going to follow you. And Lord, may we all be filled with gladness and joy in the celebration of souls coming into the kingdom of God and being redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. I praise you today for the honor and privilege to be here in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, Pastor James, for the honor to be behind this desk. We believe that there are certain things that are fundamental truths in the Word of God. There are other things that we could probably debate with others, of those of different denominations. But one thing that we believe, we believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ saves us from our sin. And through receiving him, we receive the gift of eternal life. As many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that call and believe upon his name. I'm going to talk this morning for about 30 minutes on the baptisms in Scripture. Now I may go a little faster than some of you would like, but our time is limited. The first thing I want to say is I've given this message this morning a theme. And I want you to try to remember how important the theme is, because every baptism in Scripture is God's invitation to leave one life and to enter into another. Did you hear that? Every baptism that I will share this morning is God's invitation for us to come out of something and go into something. That's what baptism is. Now, if I were to ask every person in this room, what comes to mind when you think about the word baptism? And I'm sure that most of us would immediately think of someone standing in a baptistry like Pastor James did so uh creatively last Sunday morning. I'm sure his feet got cold by the time the service was over. But you'd think of someone being immersed in a river like the Jordan River, like some of you have been immersed in after accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. But did you know that the Bible speaks of several baptisms? Some involve water, some involve the Holy Spirit, one involves suffering, one involves the nation of Israel. You might not have realized that. But the scripture gives us very clear mandates that these were all baptisms. No, no, that's not all of them, but I'm going to share on a majority of those. So one, when we picture judgment, usually we picture something different than what I want to bring out from God's word today. One pictures judgment and one pictures identification, yet every baptism in scripture points to one person. And his name is Jesus Christ. With feet like brass and eyes like fire. He is the I am, he is the great one, he is the living one, and he loves us and calls us to leave that old life behind and to enter into another. Now the Greek word for baptism is baptizo. Now it's important to understand that it does mean to immerse, it also means to overwhelm. But I want to bring out something that else that it means that you may have never heard. It means to identify. Now let that soak in for a moment. Notice this one is so unused. Identify is a word that we need to focus on for a few moments. Whenever someone is baptized in scripture, here's what happens: they were identifying with God's plan, God's covenant, God's servant, ultimately God's Son. That's who we identify with as believers today. We leave the world of sin. We leave the world of rebellion, and we identify with the risen Savior and His character and his integrity, and that's who we follow. We don't follow churches, we don't follow memberships and churches, although they're very important. It binds us together as a family. But we identify with the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to take a journey through the Bible, and I've got a brief time to do it. So we're going to walk through the Red Sea. We're going to stand beside John at the River Jordan. We're going to watch Jesus step into the water. Then we'll stand with Paul in Romans chapter 6, and we're going to discover what it really means to be buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him in newness of life. And I want us to remember one statement throughout this entire message, and it's our theme. Can you remember it? Every baptism in Scripture is God's invitation to you and me to leave one life and to be led into another. So there's two words I want you to remember that are easier than my thing. You ready? Out, in. It's as simple as that. We came out and we've gone in. Amen? How many are redeemed this morning by the blood of Jesus? You've got a reason to shout on that one. I'm redeemed by love divine. Glory, glory. Christ is mine. All to him I now resign. The old song says, I have been redeemed. So let's begin with the first baptism in Scripture. Are you ready? You got your seatbelts on. And I didn't give Romans 6 at the beginning. We're going to use that a little bit later, Corey. So keep that one. Keep your thumb on that one. It's Noah's baptism. Noah's baptism was about leaving the old world. Our first picture of baptism isn't found in the New Testament. It's found in the days of Noah. In fact, Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 20 and 21, I know they're going to put those on the screen, but you can follow in your Bible. Here's what it said. Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was given divine inspiration to write these words. He said, which sometime were disobedience. When once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, we know it took a hundred years, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. The like figure whereunto every baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of this flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now I want us to read that carefully. Peter does not say that water saved Noah. Nowhere does he say that. In the King James Version, it may appear to be that way. In fact, the water was God's judgment, was it not? Is that not the way he destroyed wickedness in those days? It certainly was. But what saved Noah and his family? It was the Ark, wasn't it? It was the Ark that He told him to prepare because he knew that His word was true. And Noah and his family worked for a hundred years. I think it was Sammy Kaba that mentioned a couple of weeks ago, or maybe it was last week when he was here, about how he worked so hard and didn't have a lot of converts, did he? And sometimes the ministry is like that. But the ark became God's provision in the middle, hear me, of his judgment. What a beautiful picture that is of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ark was God's provision. Like Jesus is the ark, and he invites us to come in, and the door is open, wide for us to come. So Jesus is our ark, but outside the ark was judgment. Inside the ark there was safety. Amen. Outside of Christ, there's condemnation. Do you remember what Romans 8:1 said? There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now, where are we as believers? Paul wrote, There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ. How can we be in if we didn't come out? Do you hear what I'm saying? What is baptism? It's a coming out of one thing and going into another. And you'll notice that phrase very clearly in Romans 8:1. In Christ. So the word in is very important in our teaching this morning. Christianity is not merely believing a bunch of facts about Jesus, it's being placed into him. That's what baptism is. It's going into Jesus Christ by faith. Let's imagine there was a terrible storm, like the one that we recently had in Newburgh. The sirens are sounding, the winds were increasing, and that was Father's Day night just a few weeks ago. And we began to find that, hey, I remember there's a storm shelter nearby. Would it help me escape the storm simply by knowing that? Would it help me simply by admiring? Isn't that a beautiful shelter? Would it help me to read a brochure about it? Would it help me to stand beside the storm shelter? No. I have to come out from where the storm is, hello. And I have to go into the storm shelter. That's what Jesus is to us. He is a shelter in the time of storm. But just believing that he was a good teacher, just believing that he was the Son of God, the devils believe and tremble. But Jesus says unto us, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in spirit, and you will find rest unto your souls. Oh, hallelujah. Reading a brochure about Jesus is not what you need. Admiring how wonderful he was is not what you need. You need to come in to him and leave the world. Likewise, no one is saved just by realizing that Jesus died. We've got to trust him with our very lives. Can I ask you a question? How many of you have merely learned about Jesus that are in this audience today? I don't care how long you've been coming here. Are you really in him? Have you placed your faith and your life in him? And there's a world of difference. One leads to information, but the other leads to transformation. And how many of you know we need to be transformed? There's a statement worth remembering that I wrote down. The safest place under God's judgment has always been inside God's provision. And today, God's provision is Jesus Christ. Now, Noah teaches us that salvation comes through God's provision, but our next baptism teaches us what happens after salvation. God doesn't merely save us, but he also delivers us from bondage. Let's look at Israel. The scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 through 2, if you could put that on the screen, that the Israelites were baptized unto Moses. What does that mean theologically? What does that mean in a way that we could break it down and share truth with those that have never understood that scripture? It means simply one thing: leaving bondage. That's what the journey out of Egypt was all about. And look at what 1 Corinthians 10 1 and 2 says. Moreover, brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud. That's the way God led them by day, and passed through the sea. Listen to this. And were all, how many of them? I didn't hear that. All of them were baptized unto Moses. Honing on that word, unto, unto Moses in the cloud. Excuse me. And in the sea, baptized unto Moses. In the cloud and in the sea. With our mindset being there has to be water for baptism. These verses are going to seem strange to us this morning. And maybe you've never taken a deep dive. No one got wet in this baptism. The waters of the parted Red Sea stood up on either side. And how did Israel cross the Red Sea? On dry ground. So why does Paul call it a baptism? Because Israel identified with Moses as God's anointed and chosen deliverer. For over 400 years the Israelites were slaves. Every morning they woke up under Pharaoh's authority. Every night they went to bed in chains of bondage, spiritually speaking, and many of them physically speaking. But when God raised up Moses, woo! The Passover lamb was slain. The blood was applied to their doorpost. The death angel passed over, and Israel marched out of Egypt free from bondage. Listen, this is such a wonderful truth from God's word. They reached the Red Sea and had nowhere else to go because behind them was Pharaoh's army. Before them stood an impossible obstacle. Then God did what only God can do. He opened up a way where there seems to be no way. And God's still making a way for you and for me. They had reached the Red Sea, and behind them was the army of Pharaoh and a mighty army. Israel walked through, but Pharaoh could not follow. And when they reached the other side, they were no longer slaves. And that's exactly what happens to the sinner when they come to Jesus. Satan no longer owns you. Sin no longer rules you. Death has no final word because Paul declared it in Romans 6 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but you are under grace. Hallelujah. Suppose you hear of a prisoner that has just been released after 30 years behind bars, and the judge declares you're free, and the prison doors swing open, but instead of walking out in freedom, the prisoner looks and says, Man, I'm comfortable with that cell. And he walks back in. What would you think of that? You'd think like I did. Isn't that foolish? You've just been released. You've been in prison for 30 years. Most of your life. Let's say he's 45 years old. He went into prison when he was 15. Most of his life has been spent behind bars. And the being comfortable with that lifestyle, he runs back to. But you know what? Here's the sad dilemma. Many Christians that sit in our churches today do the very same thing. They might come to the Lord, oh, jubilantly saved, and God delivers them from drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, whatever it is. But they look back at that lifestyle too much, like Lot's wife looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah. And having begun coming out of something and into Jesus, maybe they were even baptized in water. But they looked back at what they used to have. And many have gone backwards instead of forwards. What Egypt keeps calling your name? Is it old habits? Maybe it's old relationships, maybe it's old bitterness, maybe it's old addictions, maybe it's old fears. But remember, you can't enjoy God's promised land if you're longing for Egypt still. And we have people in our churches, unfortunately, that have that type of mentality. God didn't bring Israel out so that they could keep looking back, but did they? Yes. We wish we were back in Egypt, they said. We don't know what to do. We're wandering around in circles. We don't have anything to eat. There's no water. And they murmured and complained and they longed to go back into bondage. God help us. God didn't save you. God didn't redeem you to have you go back into your old life. But he saved you to stay in him where the safety is. Noah teaches us salvation. Moses taught us about deliverance. Now God sends one final prophet before the Messiah arrives. And his name is John, and he has one message. Who knows what John the Baptist's message was? Come on, shout it out. What did John bring? What was it? Repent. Repent. Repent. He said it over and over and over and over. Matthew 3, verses 1 through 11, give us the picture. And John's baptism, John's baptism is about leaving sin behind us. Look at it with me. Matthew 3, verses 1 through 11. In those days, John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then went out him, Jerusalem and all Judea and all the regions around about Jordan and were baptized of him in Jordan. What were they doing when they were being baptized? They were confessing their sins. Later on in that excerpt of Scripture, he says, I indeed baptize you unto repentance. Unto what? Repentance. That's a byproduct of the word statement. He shouted it out most likely. Repent and be baptized. That's what John the Baptist did. That was his ministry. I shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire, he prophesies. I baptize you with water, but one comes along after me, who's mightier than I, whose shoes I cannot loose. I cannot even touch his feet. He's so mighty. He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Now imagine the scene. For nearly 400 years, Israel had not heard the voice of a prophet. Heaven had seemed silent all during that time. And then suddenly, out of the Judean wilderness came a rugged preacher clothed in hair. That's what it was, eating locusts and wild honey, and he was crying out, repent. I think it's Daniel Felder that played him one year. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. I think it was Jeremy, last Easter production that we did. But he was crying out what John the Baptist cried out. Repent, why? For the kingdom of God is at hand. Do we believe the kingdom of God is at hand? Do we believe these are the last of the last days? Then we should be crying out, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Now John didn't preach prosperity. He didn't preach popularity. He preached one message and it was repentance. And the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means a change of mind that results in a change of direction. What are we doing first? We're coming out. What are we doing second? We're going in. Repentance is more than feeling sorry for my sin. Many may feel sorry that they're caught for sinning, but biblical repentance means turning from our sin out and turning to toward God in, coming into the family of God. John's baptism didn't save anyone, it prepared people's hearts to receive the coming Messiah, and it was an outward testimony that they recognized their need for forgiveness and were ready for God's promised Savior. Oh, how he transitioned from repent for the kingdom of God is at hand to behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. John was preparing the soil of Israel's heart for the seed of God's word. And what is that? It's Jesus Christ. He is the word, the living word. Now imagine a farmer is preparing for his harvest or his crop to grow at the first of the year in the springtime. Before he plants seeds, he has to move rocks, he has to break up hard ground, he has to pull weeds. Only then is the soil ready. And that's why John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Messiah. He was preparing the hearts of those in that area, in that region. And God still prepares our hearts before he changes our lives. Sometimes it's through conviction, sometimes it's through disappointment. Oh, we've all had that. Sometimes it's brokenness. Sometimes it's unanswered questions. Whatever the method God wants to use, the purpose is to bring us all to repentance, to receive Jesus, because repentance is not a destination, it is the very doorway, as I shared earlier, as wide as the shoulders of Jesus. You've got to stay behind him and be watchful and diligent and focused on following him. John's baptism prepared the way for Jesus Christ. But then something remarkable happened. The one who had no sin stepped into those same waters where sinners were confessing their sins. Why? The baptism of Jesus, let's talk about that for a moment. The baptism of Jesus was not because Jesus had sinned. Old fasten your seat belts, church. It was because he was identifying with hurting lost sinners. Jesus was perfect. But read Matthew 3, 13 through 17 with me. Then comeet Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee. And comest thou to me? And Jesus, answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now. For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight away out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Now John was possibly confused, and rightly so. He knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus had no sin. He even protested, I have need that you baptize me. It's a common thing around Bible Center to hear the statement, well, even Jesus was baptized. But I want to go farther than that by asking, why was Jesus baptized? If he was sinless, if he'd never done anything wrong, why? Why? It was a common thing in those days for people to come to John the Baptist who needed to repent and turn from their wicked ways, but Jesus wasn't one of them. He was baptized not because he needed cleansing, not because he needed forgiveness, but he was baptized to identify himself with the people that he had come to save. The sinless Son of God stepped into the place of sinners. And this moment at the Jordan River was foreshadowing the cross. He who knew no sin in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for he, God, made him who knew no sin, Jesus, to be sinned for us that we might become, become the righteousness of God in him. In him we live and we move, and we have our being. What's the word? Not just believing upon him, but appropriating that belief by coming in so he can sup with you and me. There's three beautiful truths, and my time is almost gone. I might not even finish. I won't be able to, most likely. But first we see the humility. The king stood before common people. The creator entered waters that he had created. I also see a very clear definition of the Trinity, the triune Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Look, the Son is the one baptized, the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father declares, This is my beloved Son. That's where we get the triune Godhead. And there is an evidence of it right there. One God revealed in three persons. And thirdly, before Jesus preached one sermon, before he healed one sick person, before he performed one miracle. The Father declared his pleasure with his son. Identity came before ministry. You must be identified with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior before you can do your ministry that He's called you to do. Oh, Pastor, you sound like you're saying that we all need to be perfect. I didn't say that. I said you need to identify with Jesus Christ in salvation. Let the redeemed of the Lord do what? Say so. But don't be ashamed. The word of God said, if you are ashamed of me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before my Father, which is in heaven. The Father declared his pleasure and approval to his son Jesus. Many people today believe they've got to earn God's acceptance through performance. But Jesus reminds us that relationship comes before service. We can't serve the Lord effectively without a relationship with him. We serve because we are loved. We don't serve to become loved. Some people are all about serving. You know, they almost do flesh hooks in some ways to try to be so tired and worn out that God will receive them and love them. No, we serve him, Bill Gaither said, because we love him. He's given life to us. So our ministry to serve him is because we love him. Some have spent their entire life trying to prove themselves to God. Listen carefully. If you belong to Jesus, your acceptance rests in him and not in your performance. Somebody needs to hear that today. Noah points us to salvation. Moses pointed us to deliverance. And John points us to repentance. Jesus points us to identification. And now, at the end of our time, I'm just going to highlight it because our time is gone. Being baptized into Christ. This is the heart of the gospel. It's not the same as water baptism. It's not the same as Moses' baptism. It's not the same as Noah's baptism. It's not the same as John's baptism. And it's not the same as Jesus' baptism. Because baptism into Christ is the heart of Romans 6. Put verses 3 through 5 down. Know ye not that so many of us who were baptized into, oh, mark that word in your Bible. Baptized into Jesus Christ. We're baptized into his death. Therefore, we are buried with him. We're what? What does burial signify? Dying, doesn't it? We are buried with him by baptism unto death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in, there's that word again, newness of life. For if we have planted to get been planted together in the likeness of his death, in other words, if we died, we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection. We've been buried. The old man is dead. I believe it was the Imperials years ago that wrote that song where at least saying it, Watergrave. In my heart there's been a mercy killing. The man I used to be has finally died. And the death of this man was a final way of uh revealing. The man I used to be has been crucified. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I. But Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This is the mountain peak of our journey. Everything we've studied so far has been leading to this truth. Paul is not primarily talking about water baptism, he's talking about our spiritual union with Jesus Christ. When you trusted in Jesus by faith, his death became your death. Are you with me? His burial became your burial. With Jesus, the new you lives because of Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 7 17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. And behold, all things are becoming new. Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say your old life was remodeled. He does not say your old life was repaired. He says the old life died when Jesus died. And that Greek insight is newness of life. The Greek word is chiononos. And it means referring not merely to something recent, but to something new in quality, something entirely different from what existed before. God doesn't polish up our old nature. That's not good enough. He gives us a new nature. A caterpillar doesn't become a better caliber caterpillar. It becomes what? A new creature. It becomes a butterfly. It doesn't improve its old life. It receives a new one. And that's why what God does in our salvation. You're not simply a forgiven sinner. You're a new creation in Christ. Stand to your feet this morning. And if you're born again, lift up both of those hands as high as you can get them and say, Thank you, Jesus, for the blood that you shed on the cross for me. Thank you, Jesus, that old things are passed away. Oh, the song, this old house, the song, I am a new man. The song that the old is passed and the new is come reminds us, oh God, that He has a new daddy now, that little boy and girl does. Because the old man has been put underground and the new man has been resurrected in newness of life. So many Christians continue living as though nothing has changed. Why do we carry the guilt that Jesus has already buried? Why do we cling to the sins that He nailed to the cross? Why? The answer is simple. Remember who you are. You're not fighting for victory, you're living from victory. Hallelujah! I'm victorious because of Jesus. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am complete in Him. And then the water baptism. That's what we'll be seeing today. Father, I thank you for Pastor James and Julie and for their love for the lost. I thank you, Lord, for Carson and Carissa in children's ministries. That during VBS they gave altar calls for these children to give their lives to you. And because of that, they are in you, buried with you. And Lord, they're going to be raised symbolically, coming out of that water in water baptism. Thank you today for the time that we've had to share. And we ask that you to bless each one and those that may not be right with you today. They can come to the foot of the cross just like we have. And I pray that you would come into their lives and renew every one of us. We rededicate our lives to you. We are in you and we live, move, and have our being because of that. In Jesus' name. You're welcome to come to this altar.