God’s Posture: Against the Wicked, With the Contrite • 05.18.25
God’s Posture: Against the Wicked, With the Contrite
Isaiah 57:1-21
Hear and be humbled by God’s revelation
- Remember that God sees and knows all things
- Take hope for God shows mercy to the righteous
- Behold God’s posture of judgment against the wicked
- Rejoice in God’s posture of dwelling with the contrite/lowly
Manuscript:
Good morning, church family! It is so good to be back with you this morning. For those who didn’t know, Micaela and I were able to get away for a week to Nicaragua for our 17th anniversary. (Photos) I want to personally thank Fraiser and Pastor Brent for preaching the word the last two Sundays. It is a tremendous blessing to have multiple men who are able and willing to preach the Word in our church family! I hope we do not take that for granted and give thanks to the Lord for his grace to us.
Dismiss 4th + 5th graders
Ushers + Bibles (Isaiah 57; page 732)
We’re picking back up in our study through the book of Isaiah today. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to be with us over the past few weeks in this study. For the last three Sundays, we’ve been hearing some incredible news about God’s eternal covenant of peace with his people. This covenant is based on God’s unbreakable, loyal love (steadfast love; hesed). From chapters 54-56, Isaiah has been sharing the invitation to join God in this amazing covenant by forsaking their former ways of idolatry and turning to God in faith and repentance.
You may recall Fraiser explained the RSVP instructions for the covenant invitation like this: RSVP Instructions: Seek, Call, Forsake, and Return. These are actions that the people must take, which flow from a heart that believes and trusts in God. Then, last week, Pastor Brent showed us that God has thrown the door wide-open in his invitation to join his covenant. The testimony of both Old and New Testament is that God is making a people for himself from every tongue, tribe, and nation! God is calling everyone, everywhere to join themselves to Him by faith, which then produces a righteous life in them. There has been a lot of hope given through the revelation of God’s grand redemption plan.
Yet, at the same time, we also ended on a shocking note last Sunday! The close of chapter 56 was a severe rebuke to the leaders of Israel for failing to do their job of protecting the people from sin. Rather than teach the truth and shepherd the sheep, they were lazy and selfish. They spent their days pursuing their own desires, seeking satisfaction in their own ways. The final verse of the chapter revealed that they were content to waste their days in drunkenness. But God will not let them get away with it. He will hold them accountable for their dereliction of duty. This was a chilling reminder of the danger of unrepentant sin and the need to walk uprightly before the Lord, especially if you are in a position of leadership. God holds us all accountable.
From the heights of God’s covenant invitation in chapters 54-56, we are brought back to the sobering reality of addressing sin in our lives. Today, God is going to further reveal to us his posture towards two different groups of people. Group #1 are the wicked, those who are proud and unrepentant in their sin. Group #2 are the righteous, those who are contrite and humble in heart. Please note that I did not say the sinners and sinless! That is not the distinction between these groups; neither group is without sin. Rather the distinction is in their response to God when he addresses their sin.
With that in mind, let’s read God’s Word in Isaiah 57. Please listen to how he speaks to each group of people.
Isaiah 57:1–21 (ESV)
The righteous man perishes,
and no one lays it to heart;
devout men are taken away,
while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
2 he enters into peace;
they rest in their beds
who walk in their uprightness.
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
7 On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.
11 Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit my holy mountain.
14 And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
“and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
for it cannot be quiet,
and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Hopefully as I read it aloud, you were able to hear and see the two groups addressed in this text. What we just read is simultaneously shocking and comforting. God does not beat around the bush with those who are unwilling to walk in his ways, yet he holds out hope for those whom he will heal and restore. My prayer is that as we study this together, you would…
Hear and be humbled by God’s revelation
Allow God’s Word to have the necessary humbling effect on your own life so that you would be among the contrite/lowly rather than the wicked! Let’s begin our study with a more generalized observation from this passage. We ought to hear and be humbled as we…
- Remember that God sees and knows all things
The way the Lord speaks through Isaiah in this chapter reminds us that God knows all things, and nothing is hidden from him! He knows the difference between one who is righteous and one who is wicked because he knows the hearts of men/women. Nothing can be kept secret from the Creator of Heaven and Earth!
In fact, you may recall back in chapter 29, God rebuked those who sought to hide their plans from him:
Isaiah 29:15–16 (ESV)
15 Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
God knows what you say in the inner rooms, hiding in darkness. He knows the thoughts and intentions of your heart. This can either be terrifying news, if you are bent on wicked ways, or it can be incredibly freeing news, if your desire is to please the Lord. There is a real reminder that the posture of our heart before God is very important. Are you proud in heart? Are your desires predominantly about yourself and what you want? Or are you seeking the Lord? Do you desire to know what he wants and to live in a way that pleases him? These are two completely different ways to live!
And, as we have heard today in Isaiah 57, there are many times when God doesn’t even need the power to know and see our hearts, because our speech and actions readily reveal what we are living for! The language of verses 3-13 reveal that these people were parading their sin out in the open. They were not afraid to act upon their wicked desires. Everyone could see and observe them.
And that is certainly bad enough – for others to witness wicked ways. But what we’re remembering right now is that God the Just Judge sees and knows it too. And he will righteously address what he observes – whether that is proud/unrepentant ways or a humble/contrite heart.
I hope that taking this reality into consideration this morning is already having the intended effect of humbling you before your God. Let’s move from a generalized observation to a more specific action from the text. Looking at verses 1-2, you can hear and be humbled as you…
- Take hope for God shows mercy to the righteous
These two verses serve as a bit of an interruption between the rebukes of 56:9-12 and 57:3-13. They can seem a bit odd at first glance. Why does God speak about the righteous in the midst of rebuking the wicked? Well, he tells us that it is a mercy of God to remove the righteous from calamity (literally ra-ah = evil, wickedness, depravity). Rather than continuing to live in the midst of a people who are constantly doing evil and bringing God’s judgment upon them, God graciously takes the righteous out of the world to spare them additional pain and suffering.
Have you ever thought about death in that light? There are situations where it is a mercy of God to simply end the life of the righteous, so that they can enter his eternal peace and rest. To go and be with God is better than to stay and endure the oppression of man and brokenness of sin.
Now, when does God determine to show mercy in this way? We do not know. These things belong to the secret counsel of God’s will. And that is humbling for several reasons:
- It is humbling because it reminds us that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8-9)
- It is humbling because who are we that the Creator God would be mindful of us? (Ps. 8:3-4)
- It is humbling because it reminds us that our days are limited (Ps. 39:4)
- It is humbling because God’s mercy is undeserved (Eph. 2:1-4)
- It is humbling because who are we to be judged righteous? (Rom. 3:21-26)
Though these verses are short and sweet in Isaiah 57:1-2, they are informed by incredible truths that are further unpacked in the Scriptures. I love how rich the Word of God is and I want to encourage you to never grow weary in studying it! Praise God that He has a plan to show mercy to the righteous by rescuing them from evil. If your life is dedicated to loving and serving God, that should humble and excite you this morning! But, if your life is dedicated to loving and serving yourself, then this reality should confront you, which brings us to the hard truths found in verses 3-13a. Let’s review these verses again:
Isaiah 57:3–13a (ESV)
3 But you, draw near,
sons of the sorceress,
offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
4 Whom are you mocking?
Against whom do you open your mouth wide
and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
the offspring of deceit,
5 you who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
you have brought a grain offering.
Shall I relent for these things?
7 On a high and lofty mountain
you have set your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and the doorpost
you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
you have gone up to it,
you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
you have loved their bed,
you have looked on nakedness.
9 You journeyed to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far off,
and sent down even to Sheol.
10 You were wearied with the length of your way,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
and so you were not faint.
11 Whom did you dread and fear,
so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
did not lay it to heart?
Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
and you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not profit you.
13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
The wind will carry them all off,
a breath will take them away.
The call is to hear and be humbled as you…
- Behold God’s posture of judgment against the wicked
The Lord does not withhold his honest assessment of those who have chosen the path of proud, unrepentant sinful living. These are the wicked, those whose heart’s desires have led them to speak and act in rebellious ways towards their Creator. Listen carefully to discern whether you might be found in this group… Here is how he describes them.
Though he made their mouths, they use their words to mock him and stick out their tongues at him. (Apparently that sign of disrespect is universal!)
They are those who are burning with lust, who slaughter their children. These were two practices found within the idolatrous religion of the Canaanites. Their fertility cult used sexuality as a way of bargaining with the gods for agricultural success. They also worshipped the pagan deity, Molech, through child sacrifice, hoping that it would protect them against death by satisfying the god of the underworld. These activities were absolutely prohibited by Yahweh, the One, True God! There was no room for them to be “sanctified” as religious activities when what they truly were was the epitome of self-worship and ungodly desires. They expressed their desire for selfish pleasure and control in these forms of idol worship.
As the passage continues in verses 6-10, we find a people who are exhausting themselves in their pursuit of selfishness and idolatry. They go down to the valleys to worship false gods, then up to the high mountains to engage in sexual immorality, they’re even willing, if it were possible, to go down to Sheol in search of fulfillment. No price was too great, they would send out envoys to pagan nations to try to win favor. The picture that is being painted of the wicked is that they spare no effort to get what they want! To hijack the words of Marvin Gaye:
‘Cause baby there ain’t no mountain high enough
Ain’t no valley low enough
Ain’t no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you, babe
Except in this case, it is the wicked singing this about their sinful, idolatrous desires. We might get a laugh out of the absurdity of that illustration, but it is not a laughing matter at all. This is as real as can be. Though these people were wearied by the amount of effort they put into their idolatry, they did not take that as a reason to give up. Oh no, instead we are told in verse 10 that they reinvigorated themselves to keep pursuing their desires! They doubled-down!
This language ought to be shocking to us! It is meant to be a great warning against pursuing this path of sin and wickedness. God is fully aware of how we live. He sees it all. Though he had been gracious and patient with the nation of Israel/Judah, they had persisted in their sin. They believed a lie and forgot about God, failing to take to heart the truth of who He is and what He had done. And the outcome of this lifestyle, as he declared, is that their “righteousness” and “deeds” would be of no profit to them on the day of judgment. Verse 13 reveals God’s posture towards such people:
When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away.
In the day of judgment, there will be no one to deliver. The wicked will be carried off by the wind, a mere breath will take them away. These are sobering words. Please allow them to humble you today. These words are not solely for the benefit of Isaiah’s original audience, but for us as well. (Main points)
It would be the height of folly to fail to realize that the proud and unrepentant of our day are in the same group as the proud and unrepentant of their day. Those who trust in idols and give their lives to selfish, vain pursuits will have no hope on the day of judgment. As verse 21 soberly concludes, “There is no peace for the wicked.”
Anyone who is thinking clearly should be on the edge of their seats right now. We all know people in our lives who are in this group. Perhaps you are here this morning, and you know that you are in this group. You have no love for God and no desire to live for him. If you do have a form of religion, it is one that puts you at the center of the universe. If that is you, I’m thankful you’re here and I hope you’re considering what you are hearing.
We would do well to pay close attention to the danger the wicked are in. These are people we live with, people we see on our commutes each day, people we call neighbor or friend… This is a sobering reality, and we must not take it for granted. We must recognize that these people are worshiping, but they are worshiping something other than the One, True God who created them and can save them. Like the people of Isaiah’s day, they have sought out salvation and purpose in all the wrong places.
If you zoom out for just a moment and consider this chapter in light of what has come before it, the contrast being presented by Isaiah is shocking. He has told us that the eunuch and foreigner who puts their trust in God will receive eternal life, but the Jew who engaged in vain idolatry and took the covenant for granted would receive judgment. That was a hard message for the Jews! The point being that God desires a people whose hearts are for him, regardless of their ethnicity, and he rejects those who live selfishly and treat him as an entity who can be manipulated into providing what they want.
This begs the question – how do you view and treat God? Do you view him as some cosmic genie whom you can treat however you want and still receive a good outcome? OR do you view him as the Creator who reigns over all and respond to him in humble obedience?
Throughout the book and yet again today, Isaiah has given us a BIG view of God. He is the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy (v15). We are created beings whose lives are meant to be lived in response to His glory and purposes. Coming to grips with this is essential for every single one of us and those with whom we share this life. If you’ve never recognized your need to orient your life around God and live for him, then the call for you today is to confess your rebellion against the King of Kings and to ask him to forgive you and help you to follow him in faith! In fact, at the end of our service, we’re going to hear from several individuals who have chosen to publicly do just that today through believer’s baptism. They are going to share their testimonies of faith in Jesus Christ and share how they desire to follow God for the rest of their days.
But before we get to that celebration, there is still a major revelation left unaddressed… How does God deal with group #2 – those who are contrite/lowly of heart? And how in the world can anyone truly be a part of that group?
Let’s look for our answers as we review the text again:
Isaiah 57:13b–19 (ESV)
But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
and shall inherit my holy mountain.
14 And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 For I will not contend forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
and the breath of life that I made.
17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
19 creating the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
“and I will heal him.
In this final segment for today, the call is to hear and be humbled as we…
- Rejoice in God’s posture of dwelling with the contrite/lowly
To be contrite or to have a lowly spirit means to be crushed or humiliated by your sin and its consequences. This passage is shocking in its revelation of how God views and responds to these people. As he was just in his judgment of the wicked, so he is patient in his discipline, healing, and provision of new life for those who are broken underneath the weight of their sin and its effects. In answer to our questions posed just a moment ago, the way God deals with these people is quite different. He does not overlook their sin, but he addresses it in a redemptive manner. He confronts it and enables them to respond in obedience. He leads and heals the penitent sinner so that they are comforted and experience peace with God.
The declarations God makes here are nothing short of amazing. He promises that those who take refuge in him shall possess the land, inherit his holy mountain, and shall have direct access to come to Him. We’ve heard a few times throughout Isaiah this imagery of a raised highway built to allow God’s people to come to him – nothing will keep them from Him! There is great confidence that this will be the outcome because it comes from the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy. The One, True God has promised it. The Incomparably Great God who is exalted above all things also dwells with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit. He promises to revive their spirit/heart – he will bring them to new life!
But how can this be? For whom among sinful men is truly lowly and contrite in this manner? This is the dilemma for mankind. Verse 17 reveals that even when God corrects us, we just keep backsliding in the way of our own hearts. We are stubborn people! But verse 18-19 bring hope of God’s restorative, healing work! Despite our brokenness, God acts to heal and lead and restore. Why would God act this way towards anyone? It all comes back to the finished work of the Servant from Isaiah 53. He has made a way for many to be accounted righteous!
Isaiah 53:10–11 (ESV)
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
It is only because of the Servant’s finished work that any of us can have the hope of being declared righteous and empowered to live righteously, as described here and in other passages.
God is the one who makes this incredible redemption possible, first in saving us from our sin, and second in equipping us with new hearts and desires to live righteously for him!
Commentator John Oswalt had this insightful observation on God’s initiatory, redemptive work:
If God is not to be angry forever, what is he to do? He cannot wait for the people to be reconciled to him. Somehow he must reconcile himself to them. In fact, that is just what he has announced he will do through the ministry of the Servant (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18–19). So then, he can declare that having seen their sinful ways, he will take steps to heal them. They are helpless to heal themselves; they are wandering in thick darkness, looking to mediums and wizards, and the only hope is for God to break through with his own light (cf. Isa. 8:19–23 [Eng. 9:1]).
To those who have been crushed by their sin and its effects, whose spirits are broken, the God who dwells with them offers healing without condition, and comfort without repayment. What a motive to turn to him! Of course, the arrogant and the proud will have no need of God’s healing, leadership, and strengthening. This is why the verse ends with the explicative and to his mourners. God will restore comfort to those in Israel who are crushed and broken for their own sins and those of the nation (cf. 61:2–3; 66:10). Any others need expect nothing but trouble. (NICOT)
God is the One who moves towards us! He initiates the restoration of relationship and makes every step of that restoration possible through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the empowering work of His Holy Spirit.
God has revealed that we cannot live for him apart from his redemptive work in our lives. Left to ourselves, we are bent to go our own selfish way. We will become the proud and unrepentant. We need Him to do a work of redemption in us! And throughout the Bible there has been a tension in the reality that God acts in grace to choose and save some. This is a tension that I continued to feel in this passage as I prepared for today.
The Bible is clear that no one is righteous, no not one. That is everyone’s spiritual condition on their own. BUT GOD. He is gracious and kind to give people new hearts that can turn from sin and believe in him.
Last week we sang the song Come Ye Sinners which went like this:
Come ye sinners
Poor and needy
Weak and wounded
Sick and sore
Jesus ready stands to save you
Full of pity love and power
If you are weary and heavy laden by your sin or the sins of those around you, draw near to God through faith in Jesus! He delights to dwell with the contrite/lowly. He is the One who can revive your spirit/heart. He is the provider of new life and eternal peace! “Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal him.” That is the promise!
This happens as we are saved from our sin through faith in the Suffering Servant who died in our place. We know that this Suffering Servant is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Salvation is the ultimate need that God has addressed in Jesus, but he also provides daily grace in which we can stand. As we have heard today, he dwells with us.
If you have not heard the latest Firm Faith podcast it is all about God’s Presence with His People. I would recommend giving it a listen this week! In that podcast, Jack and Jordan draw our attention to the promise from Jesus that when he departed he would send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. And in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he confirms this is what happened:
1 Corinthians 3:16 (ESV)
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
This is incredible news! God is not far off, but within believers. If you are in Christ, He could not be any nearer to you than he already is. *pause* – Are you ready for some personal application? (walk slowly through these)
I want to encourage you to reflect on the reality that God dwells with you. Allow that to comfort you in your trials and sufferings. Take time to consider how he has healed and comforted you. Think about the ways you used to live and how he has changed you since saving you. Open your mouth and lift your voice in praise to him for the good fruits of salvation that you see in your life! Again, that is exactly what is about to happen as we celebrate believer’s baptism with some folks in our church. They are rejoicing in God’s work in their lives and unashamedly declaring to the world that they follow Jesus!
If your faith is not in Jesus Christ, then I want to again exhort you to pay attention to what you’ve heard today. God is gracious to tell us his posture is against the wicked and with the contrite. You have the opportunity today to respond in brokenness over your sin and to turn to God’s provision for new life. You can move from group #1 to group #2 through faith in Jesus! Please do not ignore this opportunity to be a part of God’s people.
“Peace, peace, to the far and to the near and I will heal him… But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet… There is no peace for the wicked…” Don’t you want peace in your heart/soul? Then turn to God and live for Him. I’d love to talk with you more about that after the service.
*pause*
Baptism
As I’ve mentioned throughout the sermon today, we have four individuals who are publicly professing their faith in Jesus Christ through believer’s baptism today. They want the world to know that they have turned from sin and are following Jesus. What a privilege it is to end our service with these baptisms.
Baptism is an act of obedience for all who follow Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus’ last command to his disciples was to go and make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all that Jesus taught.
As we see in Scripture, baptism is a public profession of a spiritual reality in a person’s life – namely that they have responded to Jesus Christ in faith for the forgiveness of their sins and that they desire to live for him. Baptism is not earning these folks any merit with God, but it is an act of obedience and worship. We have the privilege of witnessing this declaration, celebrating with these individuals, and partnering with them on the journey of a life of faithful service to Jesus.
In the Scriptures, we see that baptism is done after a person professes faith in Christ and it’s done by immersing them in water. The reason for this is that it symbolizes the person’s unity with Jesus’ own death, burial, and resurrection. Consider what Romans 6 teaches:
Romans 6:1–4 (ESV)
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Going under the water symbolizes the person’s death to their sin (the old way of life) and coming back up again symbolizes their being raised from the dead to new life (following Christ).
If, after listening to these folks today, you realize that you do not have a testimony of faith like them, I would love to talk with you about that after the service. If you’re here and you’ve never taken the step of obedience to be baptized as a believer, then I would encourage you to email the church and let us know that you’d like to do so as soon as possible!
Here is the plan for our baptisms today:
- There are 3 individuals being baptized now and a 4th after the 11am service
- Adleigh Flaherty
- Silas Tranicek
- Ellie Mesman
- Joslynn Dunlap (11am)
- In just a moment I will pray then dismiss you to go out to the front lawn where our baptismal tank is set up.
- Parents, please pick up your kiddos first and take them with you to the lawn.
- For those who are being baptized, you’ll go to the microphone where Pastor Jordan will be standing. When it is time, he will have you share your testimony and then head to me to be baptized.
Let’s pray.