Sermon Text: Baptism - who it's for

Kilhorne October 2006 Preacher: Bill
Baptism – Who it’s for Acts 16 Our reading this evening was from Acts chapter 16. It’s on page _____.
Introduction
Last week in church the sermon was about baptism. And we thought about baptism – what it is. Remember, we said it is an outward and visible sign, of an inward and spiritual grace. It is a sign of washing sin away. A sign of Christians being united with Christ in his death and resurrection. And baptism is a sign of admission into the church.
Tonight we are still thinking about baptism. But especially about who it’s for. And as this sermon goes on we are going to say that baptism is firstly for new converts. For people who have just become Christians. And secondly it is for the children of believers.
Now I know this is controversial. And my aim is not to offend anyone tonight. I know that some of us have strongly held views that baptism should only be administered to adults. I don’t want to drive a wedge between Reformed belief and our Baptist or Brethren friends. I simply want to encourage those of you who hold to the old Reformed teachings. Those who follow the old Anglican and Presbyterian ways. That you have nothing to be ashamed of. When it comes to baptising the infants of believers.

Circumcision - The Old Testament sign of the covenant
I am going to divide this talk up into two halves. The first half we are going to call: circumcision – the Old Testament sign of the covenant. And the second half: baptism – the New Testament sign of the covenant. We finished the sermon last week by saying that baptism is a sign of the covenant. A covenant being just a promise that God has made with his people. He has made a promise or commitment to believers. That we have forgiveness of sin through Christ. And that on the last day he will rescue us from judgment. That covenant has its roots in the Old Testament. With Abraham.
You see, all our Christian doctrines have their roots in the Old Testament. Christians cannot just read the New Testament and ignore the old. For example, if you want to know about sin you go back into the Old Testament – and read about the Fall in Genesis. If you want to know about the sacrifice of the cross you go back into the Old Testament – and read about the sacrifices in Leviticus. If you want to know about the Lord’s Supper, you go back into the Old Testament – and read about the Passover. If you want to know about being saved by faith you go back into the Old Testament – and read about Abraham. He was the man of faith. Genesis tells us that Abraham believed God (had faith in God), and he credited it to him as righteousness. Our roots of salvation are with Abraham. He was a sinner saved by grace through having faith. And we too are sinners saved by grace, if we are Christians, through faith.
Way back in history God stooped down and made a covenant with Abraham. A saving promise. And he gave Abraham a sign to mark out that saving covenant. He said that Abraham was to be circumcised. He was to be given that painful mark on his body as a sign. It was a sign of salvation. And the sign was very closely identified with the salvation. In fact sometimes the Old Testament calls the saved person the circumcised. And it calls the unsaved person, the uncircumcised.
What is interesting to us is that the sign was also a sign for Abraham’s children. In Genesis 17 God tells Abraham to apply circumcision to infants born in his home. Genesis 17 says, ‘every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations.’ And in obedience to that command Abraham circumcises Isaac. Just imagine if Abraham had turned round to God and said, ‘Lord, I don’t think I should circumcise Isaac. I think we had better wait until he professes his own faith – and then I will apply the sign to him.’ Imagine if Abraham had said that! How ungrateful! No, God told Abraham to apply the sign to his children. They too were part of the covenant. His children were part of the promise to Abraham. And Abraham obeyed the Lord.
Imagine if we had been living in Old Testament times. And if we had been believers. And if we had been parents. We would have circumcised our children. We would not have turned round to God and said, ‘No. I’m not applying the sign of the covenant to this baby. Who has no faith. I’m going to wait to see if he has faith himself.’ We would never have said that to God. Because we would be being disobedient. And we would be breaking his command. Like Abraham, if you had lived in Old Testament times you would have circumcised your infants. And you would have thanked God for his covenant with Abraham.
Let me read a verse from the story of God’s covenant with Abraham. It is Genesis 17 verse 7. God is speaking, ‘And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.’ Now, obviously we are being told here that the sign of salvation is to be applied to Abraham and his children. But there is an interesting point here. At this stage in Abraham’s story, his children have not been born. They have not had any faith – as I say they had not been born yet. But God was promising to treat them in a special way. He was not just blessing Abraham alone. He was blessing Abraham’s children. God’s covenant was with Abraham and his family – his offspring.
You see, circumcision is not sign of response on the part of Abraham. Many Baptist Christians believe that baptism is a sign of responding to God. He has saved me so I respond by being baptised. But Abraham is not performing circumcision to show that he has responded to God. Or to show that his children have responded to God. They obviously haven’t. They’re not born. No, circumcision is a sign of God’s promise. Not a sign of response. It is a sign of the covenant. God is blessing Abraham and his children just because he wants to. Out of his love and his grace.
We see the same thing in the story of Noah. We know the story. God was going to destroy the world with a flood. But because of his love and his grace he was going to save Noah. Genesis 6 verse 8 tells us, ‘Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.’ So God instructed Noah to build an ark. To save him from the judgment. But Noah was not to be alone in the ark. There were the animals of course. But God also told Noah to take his wife, three sons and their wives. God could have saved only Noah. But he had a special regard for his family as well. Noah’s children were somehow set apart by God. They were special before him.
Now, all of this does not mean that the children of Old Testament believers were automatically saved. Just because they had the sign of the covenant on them. Circumcision was just one aspect of bringing them up as part of a covenant family. In Genesis 18 verse 19 God says this about Abraham. ‘For I have chosen him [Abraham] in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.’ So Abraham had a responsibility. Not just to circumcise his children. But to teach them. To teach them God’s Word. And to keep them in the way of the Lord.
You perhaps know Psalm 103 in the Old Testament. It is a favourite psalm. Psalm 103 verse 17 says, ‘The loving-kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children.’ Somehow God promises to show great blessing towards the children of believers. He has a special regard for the families of his people. That is why he instructs that they should be marked out with the sign of the covenant. And in the Old Testament that meant that infant boys should be circumcised.
Baptism – The New Testament sign of the covenant
Let’s move on now to the New Testament. And hopefully you can see where we are going. In the Old Testament when God saves someone, he blesses their family. And he instructs that the sign of the covenant be put on them. And that was circumcision.
In the New Testament things develop. Jesus comes. He dies and rises again. And Christians are told to go and declare this gospel to the nations. God’s salvation goes beyond Israel. His covenant is with those who come to Christ. The sign of the covenant therefore changes. It moves from circumcision to baptism.
On the day of Pentecost Peter preaches a sermon. The Holy Spirit has come. There have been the tongues of fire and the rushing wind and the foreign languages. And a crowd has been drawn. So Peter gets up and preaches to them. He tells the crowd in Jerusalem that it has crucified God’s promised king – Jesus, the Christ. The crowd is cut to the heart. They are guilt stricken by what they have done. And they want to know how they can be rescued – how they can be forgiven. Peter, in his sermon, goes on to explain. Acts 2 verse 38, ‘And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off.”’
I hope you can see the similarity with Genesis. There is a similarity between what God told Abraham, and what Peter tells the crowd. A promise was made to Abraham and his children. And a promise is being made to the Pentecost crowd and their children. In Abraham’s case the sign of the promise (or covenant) was circumcision. In the crowd’s case - they were to be baptised.
Of course those who responded to Peter’s message were baptised. They were not Christians. Then they believed Peter’s gospel. And they were then baptised. That is why it is right to baptise adults. And why the Reformed churches (like the Church of Ireland) are happy to do so. If someone comes from a non-Christian background. And they have never been baptised before (either as an adult or an infant). And they believe the gospel. Then they should be baptised. Like Peter challenged the Pentecost crowd to be. But their children should also be baptised. Just as Peter said.
It is not surprising that there are several cases of household baptism in the New Testament. We read one of them tonight. The story of the Philippian jailor. It is a wonderful, exciting story - God breaking Paul and Silas out of prison. The earthquake. The drama as the jailor is about to kill himself. And then Paul tells him about God and the way of salvation. Naturally he is baptised. Look at verse 33, Talking about the jailor. Verse 33, ‘And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptised at once, he and all his family.’ Notice that his family is also baptised.
If we had read a few verses earlier in Acts 16 we would have seen someone else becoming a Christian. Like the jailor she also lived in Philippi. She was called Lydia. We are told that the Lord opened her heart (to the gospel) and she was baptised – and her household as well. Another household is mentioned at the start of 1st Corinthians. Paul describes how he baptised the household of Stephanas.
We are not to understand these households and families as not having any children. That would be very hard to believe. No, the natural way of reading those episodes is to say that the children of believers were baptised.
There is obviously a link between having faith and being baptised. We said last time that it is like the link between inheriting the throne and being crowned. When did Elizabeth the second become the Queen? Well, when her father died. It was her royal privilege. But then there was also a public ceremony. The fact that she was queen was publicly celebrated. It was formally confirmed. She was made queen at her coronation.
In the same way a believer’s child is formally made a member of Christ at his baptism. Of course, he has been ‘in the Lord’ from birth. Because his parents are Christians. But that fact is confirmed and celebrated at his baptism – at the public ceremony. So, if a believer’s child dies – either before or after his baptism – we have confidence to believe that that child will be with Christ in heaven. Not because of his baptism. But because he is being covered by his parents’ faith.
You see, the children of Christians are special in God’s sight. I mean could anyone really say that the children of Herod are the same as the children of God’s people? Surely not. They are special. In fact 1 Corinthians 7 verse 14 says, ‘your children … are holy.’ Paul is talking to Christian believers in Corinth. Again, he is not saying that they are automatically saved. Would that it was so easy! No, like Old Testament believers, Christian parents have a responsibility to bring them up in the way of the Lord. We are to teach our children, and pray for them. By the way it is not enough just to bring them to Sunday school. We are not told in the Bible to bring our children to Sunday school. Mothers and fathers are to read the Bible with them themselves. Especially fathers. We are to make time to be with our children. We are to be more concerned about them becoming Christians than about their career, say. Or whether they’ll earn a lot of money.
And of course we should never give up on our children. No matter what age they are. Sometimes a person baptised as a child may not fulfil their baptism until well on in adult life. Parents should keep witnessing to a person like that. And explaining their own faith to them.
Conclusion I’ve tried to show tonight how baptism is the sign of the new covenant. It follows on from circumcision, as we saw last week. That means that a new convert to Christianity should be baptised. You should, if you are a Christian. But that also your children are now special in God’s sight. And you should apply the sign of the covenant to them too.