February 27, 2025 • 15 mins
1Peter 3.18-22 | Ps Alex Huggett | 2.2.2025
© Bentley Baptist Church Inc.
www.bentleybaptist.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
So in a few minutes we are going to have the joy of
baptising Stafford and AbrahamBaptism why do we perform such a
strange ritual?
Baptists are known for being abit particular about how we do
baptism.
It's kind of in our name.
(00:22):
Baptism.
It's kind of in our name andour passage this morning raises
questions.
Says baptism saves you.
Do I really need to be baptized, especially if I already follow
Jesus?
And why on earth has Alexpicked one of the most difficult
to understand passages in thewhole New Testament to preach
about this?
Answer the second question.
(00:44):
Probably because he's a bitstupid, but let's unpack it and
find out.
So Peter writes, for Christ alsosuffered for sins once for all
the righteous, for theunrighteous that he might bring
you to God.
He was put to death in theflesh.
So we talk about the gospelgood news, the good news of the
(01:06):
gospel, the good news of Jesus,begins with some bad news, and
the bad news is that humanityhas rejected God's good way and
chosen our own paths, which sooften lead to evil and
wrongdoing.
We look at the world and we seea mess, and this is what the
Bible calls sin andunrighteousness.
(01:27):
And because of our sin andunrighteousness we are alienated
from God, we're separated fromhim no way into heaven or his
good life.
But the good news is that Godloves us and because he loves us
, jesus, the son of God, who wasrighteous and without sin, so
the righteous one, suffered anddied in our place so that we
(01:50):
could be reconciled with God andenjoy his good life.
That's the basics.
I'm sure most of you know that.
If you don't, I'd love to talkto you more about it later.
The cross was not only God'sway of reconciling us with
himself, however.
It was also God's way ofgaining victory over evil and
(02:11):
death.
We thought about that.
Peter writes that Jesus was madealive by the spirit, in which
he also went and madeproclamation to the spirits in
prison who in the past weredisobedient when God patiently
waited in the days of Noah whilethe ark was being prepared.
Now, what has Noah got to dowith Jesus and what are these
(02:35):
spirits in prison he's talkingabout Now?
There's actually a lot ofdebate over this and what Peter
means here, but I think he'smost likely referring to Genesis
6, 1 to 4, and a book calledFirst Enoch.
Don't try looking it up in yourBible.
It's not there, but it wasevidently popular at the time,
(02:57):
and so Genesis 6, 1 to 4 saysthis Hang on to your hats.
When mankind began to multiplyon the earth and daughters were
born to them, the sons of Godsaw that the daughters of
mankind were beautiful and theytook any they chose as wives for
themselves.
And the Lord said my spiritwill not remain with mankind
(03:19):
forever because they are corrupt.
Their days will be 120 years.
The Nephilim were on the earthboth in those days and
afterwards, when the sons of Godcame to the daughters of
mankind who bore children tothem.
They were the powerful men ofold, the famous men.
Well, people have tried tointerpret this in all kinds of
(03:41):
ways, but most scholars todayand for what it's worth I agree
with them think the best way tounderstand this is also the
weirdest.
So in the Bible, sons of Godnearly always refers to angels.
So what we seem to have here isa story about fallen angels,
(04:02):
the sons of God that slept withhuman women, the daughters of
men who then gave birth to theiroffspring.
These Nephilim Now the Nephilimare thought to have been a race
of hybrid human-demon giants.
You can actually read aboutthem later in the Old Testament
(04:23):
as well.
It's sort of tied up with partof Israel's conquest of Canaan.
So whoever said the Bible isboring, it's full of wonderful,
weird stuff.
So the book of Enoch I mentionedthis book of 1 Enoch.
Well, that picked up this ideaand ran with it.
Have any of you seen the Noahmovie with Russell Crowe and did
(04:46):
you look at that movie andthink what on earth have they
been smoking?
It looks nothing like what Iread in the Bible.
Large parts of it don't.
It's not the interpretation ofGenesis I would have made.
Well, actually, that moviedraws on some of the themes from
1 Enoch, which is why it'salmost unrecognisable compared
to the Bible.
(05:07):
So 1 Enoch, just to cut itreally short, says that because
of their evil, god consignedthese fallen angels, these sons
of God, to a hellish prison.
Now, how literally do you takeall this story?
I really don't know.
Some people think it's literal,some people think it's literal,
some people think it's just akind of parable.
(05:29):
But either way, the point stillstands.
You see, peter writes thatafter his death, jesus was made
alive by the Spirit, that is, hewas resurrected from the dead
and by the Spirit he madeproclamation to these imprisoned
spirits.
And so what's the proclamationhe's making?
(05:49):
Some people think that heliterally went to hell and
preached to them, but I thinkprobably what Peter's saying
here is that by his resurrection, the fact that he has risen, is
the proclamation that is madeto these spirits.
What's that proclamation thatJesus makes by his resurrection?
That God has won.
(06:11):
God rescued humanity from you,evil angels, and the evil you
have inflicted on the world, andGod's judgment on you is just.
And so that's why Peter wrapsup this passage.
We're reading in verse 22 withthis Christ has gone into heaven
(06:32):
and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and
powers subject to him.
God has won over evil and death, and that is good news for you
and me.
Well, back in Genesis we readthat humanity and not just in
(06:56):
this story, but overall humanityreally didn't need the help of
fallen angels to mess things up.
We were doing quite well,corrupting ourselves and, in
fact, the whole world.
So by the time of Noah, itdescribes what is literally hell
on earth.
I mean, you've got demonsrunning around and just weird
(07:17):
stuff happening, and so the verysoil, the dirt, was corrupted
by bloodshed and sin.
And what's the solution?
A deep clean.
So in the great flood, godcleansed the earth of humanity's
vile sins and basically startedagain.
(07:39):
But he rescued Noah and hisfamily in the ark.
So Peter says in it that's theark, a few, that is eight people
, were saved through water.
Now the Bible just,incidentally, makes it clear
that God would have let anyoneelse in on the ark who wanted to
have a ride, but they refused.
(08:01):
So the ark was Noah's and hisfamily's salvation and through
Noah and Mrs Noah, the salvationof all humanity.
And this is where Peter bringsus to baptism.
Baptism, which corresponds tothis, now saves you, not as the
removal of dirt from the body,but the pledge of a good
(08:22):
conscience towards God throughthe resurrection of Jesus Christ
.
Baptism, which corresponds tothe flood, now saves you through
the resurrection of JesusChrist.
Flood now saves you through theresurrection of Jesus Christ.
(08:45):
So in the ark, noah and hisfamily were saved through water.
Peter says Now we are savedthrough water in baptism.
How does that correspond?
See, noah wasn't saved by water, he was saved through water in
the ark, which raises thequestion where's the ark that
(09:07):
gets us through the flood?
Well, peter says baptism savesus, not by washing our bodies
clean, but essentially bywashing our consciences clean
through Jesus' resurrection.
And so Jesus is our ark.
(09:28):
Peter says that baptismcorresponds to the flood.
How so Well, the flood was ajudgment for sin, but it also
cleansed the world from sin.
You remember?
It needed a deep clean.
In the same way, baptism is akind of judgment on our sin and
cleanses us from it.
(09:48):
It's not the water thatcleanses us.
The water is just a sign.
It's a sign of the judgment andcleansing Christ accomplished
through his death andresurrection.
The water didn't save Noah.
The ark saved him from thewater.
And so for us, the water ofbaptism doesn't save us.
(10:10):
Christ does.
Jesus is our ark.
Jesus is our ark, and sosalvation is not a matter of
external ritual but of the heart.
He says it's a pledge of a goodconscience.
And yet, on the other hand,peter says that in some way
baptism does save us.
(10:30):
How so?
It's not the mechanism ofsalvation, it's not the being
sprinkled with water, and as ifmagically, water can save us.
We're saved by Jesus' death andresurrection, but baptism is
the way we receive thatsalvation.
Peter says it's a pledge of agood conscience before God.
(10:52):
Now he could mean that I make apledge to God or that I'm
receiving God's pledge to me.
Either way, baptism is the waythis pledge is conferred.
So consider this In terms ofbaptism having the power to save
you.
Traffic lights Traffic lightshave the power to save you.
(11:13):
Do you agree that traffic lighthas absolutely no power?
You can drive straight throughit and there's nothing that
traffic light will do.
Might be something the otheroncoming car will do, but the
traffic light will do nothing,and yet that traffic light has
the power to save your life.
Baptisms a little bit like that.
(11:37):
Or consider a contract when youenter into a contract, you
usually have to sign something.
Your signature is a sign ofyour commitment.
It's your yes to the terms ofthe contract.
Why do we sign and not just sayyes?
Why isn't a handshake orsomething good enough, or just a
verbal agreement?
Well, it makes it concrete andit provides evidence that we can
(12:02):
turn to if there's a dispute.
And, in the same way, baptismis a way we say yes to Jesus.
Well, some say baptism doesn'tsave you and you don't need to
be baptised to be saved.
And, as I've said, it's truethat baptism is not magic.
We're saved by trusting inJesus, and without faith,
(12:23):
baptism is meaningless.
And so Romans 10, 9, verse 9says if you confess with your
mouth Jesus is Lord and believein your heart God raised him
from the dead you will be saved.
God raised him from the dead,you will be saved.
And yet we also read in RomansRomans 6, verse 3, that we're
baptised into Jesus' death andrise with him into new life.
(12:48):
In Matthew 3.15, christ therighteous one said he had to be
baptized to fulfill allrighteousness.
Now, if Christ the righteousone had to be baptized to
fulfill all righteousness, howmuch more do we who are
unrighteous?
In Acts 2.38, the apostle Peterpreached repent and be baptized
(13:11):
in the name of Jesus Christ forthe forgiveness of your sins.
And in Acts 22, verse 16,ananias says to Paul to be
baptized and wash away your sins.
Isn't that interesting?
So I still maintain baptismdoesn't save you, jesus does.
Salvation consists of confessingJesus as Lord, believing in his
(13:36):
death and resurrection for theforgiveness of sins, turning
from sin and self to God andbeing baptized.
Now, baptism is of no effectwithout faith, but it is a sign
and a pledge of faith to God.
And not to mention, it'scommanded by Jesus in Matthew.
(13:58):
Here's the long and the shortof it, if that's gone over your
head.
Jesus suffered for our sins sothat we can be reconciled with
God and share in his victoryover sin and evil.
And in baptism we say yes toGod.
Baptism is the way God has givenus to become Christian, and
(14:23):
this morning Abraham andStafford will say yes to Jesus
as they're baptised.
They're making the pledge of agood conscience before God that
saves them through Christ'sresurrection.
So my question for you thismorning is what about you?
Will you believe and bebaptised?
(14:43):
If you haven't been, will youconfess Christ as Lord and
Saviour and repent of your sins?
Friends, if you don't knowJesus or you haven't been
baptised, can I urge you to doso?
Give your life to God and bebaptised that he can give you
(15:07):
eternal life.
And if you'd like to do that,I'm not going to invite you,
unless you're desperate to jumpin the pool this morning, though
I probably wouldn't stop you,but come and talk to us about
that.
We've got more baptism servicesplanned for the year in the
not-too-distant future.
So in a few minutes we are going to have the joy of
baptising Stafford and AbrahamBaptism why do we perform such a
strange ritual?
Baptists are known for being abit particular about how we do
baptism.
It's kind of in our name.
(00:22):
Baptism.
It's kind of in our name andour passage this morning raises
questions.
Says baptism saves you.
Do I really need to be baptized, especially if I already follow
Jesus?
And why on earth has Alexpicked one of the most difficult
to understand passages in thewhole New Testament to preach
about this?
Answer the second question.
(00:44):
Probably because he's a bitstupid, but let's unpack it and
find out.
So Peter writes, for Christ alsosuffered for sins once for all
the righteous, for theunrighteous that he might bring
you to God.
He was put to death in theflesh.
So we talk about the gospelgood news, the good news of the
(01:06):
gospel, the good news of Jesus,begins with some bad news, and
the bad news is that humanityhas rejected God's good way and
chosen our own paths, which sooften lead to evil and
wrongdoing.
We look at the world and we seea mess, and this is what the
Bible calls sin andunrighteousness.
(01:27):
And because of our sin andunrighteousness we are alienated
from God, we're separated fromhim no way into heaven or his
good life.
But the good news is that Godloves us and because he loves us
, jesus, the son of God, who wasrighteous and without sin, so
the righteous one, suffered anddied in our place so that we
(01:50):
could be reconciled with God andenjoy his good life.
That's the basics.
I'm sure most of you know that.
If you don't, I'd love to talkto you more about it later.
The cross was not only God'sway of reconciling us with
himself, however.
It was also God's way ofgaining victory over evil and
(02:11):
death.
We thought about that.
Peter writes that Jesus was madealive by the spirit, in which
he also went and madeproclamation to the spirits in
prison who in the past weredisobedient when God patiently
waited in the days of Noah whilethe ark was being prepared.
Now, what has Noah got to dowith Jesus and what are these
(02:35):
spirits in prison he's talkingabout Now?
There's actually a lot ofdebate over this and what Peter
means here, but I think he'smost likely referring to Genesis
6, 1 to 4, and a book calledFirst Enoch.
Don't try looking it up in yourBible.
It's not there, but it wasevidently popular at the time,
(02:57):
and so Genesis 6, 1 to 4 saysthis Hang on to your hats.
When mankind began to multiplyon the earth and daughters were
born to them, the sons of Godsaw that the daughters of
mankind were beautiful and theytook any they chose as wives for
themselves.
And the Lord said my spiritwill not remain with mankind
(03:19):
forever because they are corrupt.
Their days will be 120 years.
The Nephilim were on the earthboth in those days and
afterwards, when the sons of Godcame to the daughters of
mankind who bore children tothem.
They were the powerful men ofold, the famous men.
Well, people have tried tointerpret this in all kinds of
(03:41):
ways, but most scholars todayand for what it's worth I agree
with them think the best way tounderstand this is also the
weirdest.
So in the Bible, sons of Godnearly always refers to angels.
So what we seem to have here isa story about fallen angels,
(04:02):
the sons of God that slept withhuman women, the daughters of
men who then gave birth to theiroffspring.
These Nephilim Now the Nephilimare thought to have been a race
of hybrid human-demon giants.
You can actually read aboutthem later in the Old Testament
(04:23):
as well.
It's sort of tied up with partof Israel's conquest of Canaan.
So whoever said the Bible isboring, it's full of wonderful,
weird stuff.
So the book of Enoch I mentionedthis book of 1 Enoch.
Well, that picked up this ideaand ran with it.
Have any of you seen the Noahmovie with Russell Crowe and did
(04:46):
you look at that movie andthink what on earth have they
been smoking?
It looks nothing like what Iread in the Bible.
Large parts of it don't.
It's not the interpretation ofGenesis I would have made.
Well, actually, that moviedraws on some of the themes from
1 Enoch, which is why it'salmost unrecognisable compared
to the Bible.
(05:07):
So 1 Enoch, just to cut itreally short, says that because
of their evil, god consignedthese fallen angels, these sons
of God, to a hellish prison.
Now, how literally do you takeall this story?
I really don't know.
Some people think it's literal,some people think it's literal,
some people think it's just akind of parable.
(05:29):
But either way, the point stillstands.
You see, peter writes thatafter his death, jesus was made
alive by the Spirit, that is, hewas resurrected from the dead
and by the Spirit he madeproclamation to these imprisoned
spirits.
And so what's the proclamationhe's making?
(05:49):
Some people think that heliterally went to hell and
preached to them, but I thinkprobably what Peter's saying
here is that by his resurrection, the fact that he has risen, is
the proclamation that is madeto these spirits.
What's that proclamation thatJesus makes by his resurrection?
That God has won.
(06:11):
God rescued humanity from you,evil angels, and the evil you
have inflicted on the world, andGod's judgment on you is just.
And so that's why Peter wrapsup this passage.
We're reading in verse 22 withthis Christ has gone into heaven
(06:32):
and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and
powers subject to him.
God has won over evil and death, and that is good news for you
and me.
Well, back in Genesis we readthat humanity and not just in
(06:56):
this story, but overall humanityreally didn't need the help of
fallen angels to mess things up.
We were doing quite well,corrupting ourselves and, in
fact, the whole world.
So by the time of Noah, itdescribes what is literally hell
on earth.
I mean, you've got demonsrunning around and just weird
(07:17):
stuff happening, and so the verysoil, the dirt, was corrupted
by bloodshed and sin.
And what's the solution?
A deep clean.
So in the great flood, godcleansed the earth of humanity's
vile sins and basically startedagain.
(07:39):
But he rescued Noah and hisfamily in the ark.
So Peter says in it that's theark, a few, that is eight people
, were saved through water.
Now the Bible just,incidentally, makes it clear
that God would have let anyoneelse in on the ark who wanted to
have a ride, but they refused.
(08:01):
So the ark was Noah's and hisfamily's salvation and through
Noah and Mrs Noah, the salvationof all humanity.
And this is where Peter bringsus to baptism.
Baptism, which corresponds tothis, now saves you, not as the
removal of dirt from the body,but the pledge of a good
(08:22):
conscience towards God throughthe resurrection of Jesus Christ
.
Baptism, which corresponds tothe flood, now saves you through
the resurrection of JesusChrist.
Flood now saves you through theresurrection of Jesus Christ.
(08:45):
So in the ark, noah and hisfamily were saved through water.
Peter says Now we are savedthrough water in baptism.
How does that correspond?
See, noah wasn't saved by water, he was saved through water in
the ark, which raises thequestion where's the ark that
(09:07):
gets us through the flood?
Well, peter says baptism savesus, not by washing our bodies
clean, but essentially bywashing our consciences clean
through Jesus' resurrection.
And so Jesus is our ark.
(09:28):
Peter says that baptismcorresponds to the flood.
How so Well, the flood was ajudgment for sin, but it also
cleansed the world from sin.
You remember?
It needed a deep clean.
In the same way, baptism is akind of judgment on our sin and
cleanses us from it.
(09:48):
It's not the water thatcleanses us.
The water is just a sign.
It's a sign of the judgment andcleansing Christ accomplished
through his death andresurrection.
The water didn't save Noah.
The ark saved him from thewater.
And so for us, the water ofbaptism doesn't save us.
(10:10):
Christ does.
Jesus is our ark.
Jesus is our ark, and sosalvation is not a matter of
external ritual but of the heart.
He says it's a pledge of a goodconscience.
And yet, on the other hand,peter says that in some way
baptism does save us.
(10:30):
How so?
It's not the mechanism ofsalvation, it's not the being
sprinkled with water, and as ifmagically, water can save us.
We're saved by Jesus' death andresurrection, but baptism is
the way we receive thatsalvation.
Peter says it's a pledge of agood conscience before God.
(10:52):
Now he could mean that I make apledge to God or that I'm
receiving God's pledge to me.
Either way, baptism is the waythis pledge is conferred.
So consider this In terms ofbaptism having the power to save
you.
Traffic lights Traffic lightshave the power to save you.
(11:13):
Do you agree that traffic lighthas absolutely no power?
You can drive straight throughit and there's nothing that
traffic light will do.
Might be something the otheroncoming car will do, but the
traffic light will do nothing,and yet that traffic light has
the power to save your life.
Baptisms a little bit like that.
(11:37):
Or consider a contract when youenter into a contract, you
usually have to sign something.
Your signature is a sign ofyour commitment.
It's your yes to the terms ofthe contract.
Why do we sign and not just sayyes?
Why isn't a handshake orsomething good enough, or just a
verbal agreement?
Well, it makes it concrete andit provides evidence that we can
(12:02):
turn to if there's a dispute.
And, in the same way, baptismis a way we say yes to Jesus.
Well, some say baptism doesn'tsave you and you don't need to
be baptised to be saved.
And, as I've said, it's truethat baptism is not magic.
We're saved by trusting inJesus, and without faith,
(12:23):
baptism is meaningless.
And so Romans 10, 9, verse 9says if you confess with your
mouth Jesus is Lord and believein your heart God raised him
from the dead you will be saved.
God raised him from the dead,you will be saved.
And yet we also read in RomansRomans 6, verse 3, that we're
baptised into Jesus' death andrise with him into new life.
(12:48):
In Matthew 3.15, christ therighteous one said he had to be
baptized to fulfill allrighteousness.
Now, if Christ the righteousone had to be baptized to
fulfill all righteousness, howmuch more do we who are
unrighteous?
In Acts 2.38, the apostle Peterpreached repent and be baptized
(13:11):
in the name of Jesus Christ forthe forgiveness of your sins.
And in Acts 22, verse 16,ananias says to Paul to be
baptized and wash away your sins.
Isn't that interesting?
So I still maintain baptismdoesn't save you, jesus does.
Salvation consists of confessingJesus as Lord, believing in his
(13:36):
death and resurrection for theforgiveness of sins, turning
from sin and self to God andbeing baptized.
Now, baptism is of no effectwithout faith, but it is a sign
and a pledge of faith to God.
And not to mention, it'scommanded by Jesus in Matthew.
(13:58):
Here's the long and the shortof it, if that's gone over your
head.
Jesus suffered for our sins sothat we can be reconciled with
God and share in his victoryover sin and evil.
And in baptism we say yes toGod.
Baptism is the way God has givenus to become Christian, and
(14:23):
this morning Abraham andStafford will say yes to Jesus
as they're baptised.
They're making the pledge of agood conscience before God that
saves them through Christ'sresurrection.
So my question for you thismorning is what about you?
Will you believe and bebaptised?
(14:43):
If you haven't been, will youconfess Christ as Lord and
Saviour and repent of your sins?
Friends, if you don't knowJesus or you haven't been
baptised, can I urge you to doso?
Give your life to God and bebaptised that he can give you
(15:07):
eternal life.
And if you'd like to do that,I'm not going to invite you,
unless you're desperate to jumpin the pool this morning, though
I probably wouldn't stop you,but come and talk to us about
that.
We've got more baptism servicesplanned for the year in the
not-too-distant future.
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