On Sunday morning, Timmy and his 13 year old sister Becky begged his parents that he stay home. “Do I haveeeeee to go?”, Timmy and Becky whined. “Yes, you have to go so we won’t offend David,” said his mother. They pouted all the way to the church building.
That morning the building was packed. Everyone obeyed the preacher’s admonishment that everyone bring a family along. The attendance was 250, a new record for the congregation! The elders and deacons had to set up chairs in the foyer and down the aisles! “A delightful problem!”, they said. We were lucky to get seats in the front row.
The singing started with “The Old Rugged Cross.” Right away, I knew the theme of today was centered around the crucifixion! Then they had the Lord’s Supper, a memorial to the death of Jesus. Timmy had no idea why they were doing this. After we sang “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross,” The preacher started his lesson, and sure enough, he said his lesson was on the death of the Lord.
He started his lesson on the condition of mankind. He started from the beginning:
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image and likeness, male and female. Then the preacher lamented the decline of man: Genesis 6:5
But God saw that the wickedness of people was great in the earth. All their thinking was toward evil every day.
Jeremiah 17:9
9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it?
Isaiah 55:6-9
6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; call to him while he is nearby! 7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They should return to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.
8 “Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds,
9 for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.
Ephesians 2:1 - Ephesians 2:3
You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air and of the spirit now working in disobedient people, you once lived. Among such people we all at one time lived in our fleshly desires, indulging the cravings of the flesh and of the mind, and by behavior we were children of wrath, as the rest.
Timmy was crushed that mankind had sunk so low! He felt totally helpless!
Right then, the sermon took a turn for the better. The preacher said that mankind’s old tarnished image can be renewed into the likeness of God:
Colossians 3:9-10
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
Then the preacher offered a message of hope through Jesus:
John 3:16
God so loved the world that he gave his unique Son, so that no one who believes in him will perish, but he will have eternal life.
He explained that the belief in this verse was a figure of speech called a synecdoche , where one part stood for the whole plan of salvation and a continual and life-long faithful life afterwards.
Then he explained that Jesus came to earth to establish a new covenant, or promise, to His people.
Then he said that mankind reached a new low point of committing evil, that the religious establishment of the time rejected its very Lord and Savior and arranged for one of His closest disciples to betray Him. Timmy slumped in his seat in sadness.
Then the preacher described the whips digging deep cuts on the body of Jesus. Timmy felt a chill in his spine! He could almost feel the whips lashing his own back! Then the preacher described the nails being driven in His wrists and feet to the cross and His Body being jolted when the cross was lifted and dropped in the hole that would keep it upright. Then he described how Jesus had to prop Himself up the cross for seconds at a time just to catch a breath of air and how slowly He suffocated to death! He described how the skies turned black, a sign that His Father had forsaken Him, the pain of Hell itself!
All of this was too much for Timmy! He was weeping uncontrollably! His mother told him, “You’re taking the story way too seriously!” The preacher overheard the conversation in the front row and said, “How I wish everyone would take the story of Jesus to heart like that precious boy in the front row. I will cheer him up!” Then he told of how Jesus rose from the grave 3 days later. A smile appeared on Timmy’s face. Then he spoke of how Jesus rose to Heaven several weeks later. And then Timmy was overjoyed when the preacher said that the resurrection was to give us hope:
1st Corinthians 15:20
20 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
Then he gave the reason why the death of Jesus had to happen:
Romans 5:6-8
While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the godless. Rarely will one die for a righteous man, yet for a good man perhaps someone dares to die. But God displayed his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died on our behalf.
Timmy’s mood changed from rejoicing to horror! “What have I done?!”, thought Timmy!
Then the preacher had the congregation turn to Acts 2:27-38:
Acts 2:37-38
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Then Timmy stood us and shouted, “Pricked in the heart is how I feel! Do I repent and be baptized too and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?”
Timmy parents nearly had a heart attack! They pulled him down to the pew, but the preacher said, “I’m delighted that this boy interrupted! I wish all was as eager to learn! Yes, you have to do the same things they did to be saved!”
“What is repentance?”, Timmy asked. The preacher answered, “It’s changing your heart to turn from sin and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.”
“What is baptized?”, Timmy asked. The preacher answered, “Baptism comes from a Greek word meaning to immerse or submerge….like a submarine.” He continued, “When I put you under the water, your life as it is now is over. When I raise you up, Timmy no longer lives, but instead it’s Christ living in Timmy!” Timmy said, “Christ is too tall to live in me!” The 249 others laughed! The preacher said, “The way Christ lives will be in your heart.” Timmy replied, “Now I get it! But what does remission in verse 38 mean?”
The preacher answered, “Remission means forgiveness. We are forgiven when we are baptized.” A visitor stood up and exclaimed, “That’s not what my church teaches! We are forgiven before baptism!” The preacher said, “Lets look up Mark 16:16 and 1st Peter 3:21.”
16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
21 And this is a picture of baptism, which now saves you by the power of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Baptism is not a removal of dirt from your body; it is an appeal to God from a clean conscience.
Timmy then said, “Then what keeps me from being baptized?” The preacher answered, “Great question! Lets look up Acts 8:36-37”
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Timmy said, “I confess that Jesus is the Son of God!” The preacher replied, “Are you ready to live a life based on what you just said, because after baptism, we are to be faithful until death (Revelation 2:10) and faith that doesn’t produce works is dead (James 2:20).” Timothy said, “Yes, so what are we waiting for? I want to be baptized right now and be a full grown Christian!” The preacher laughed and said, “Baptism is the beginning of your Christian life. You will learn something new every day and grow up to be like Christ. Let’s get you started! Let’s bury you into that water!” And thus Timmy became a Christian that day.
But the story doesn’t end there. After his baptism, they sung an invitation hymn and the rest of Timmy’s family and the visitor wanted to be baptized. The visitor said, “If my baptism last year at that other church wasn’t for forgiveness of sins, then I truly wasn’t forgiven.”
Then the preacher said, “My back can't stand baptizing 3 other people…so Timmy, after we get their confessions, I’ll let you baptize your sister.” Timmy’s eyes got wide open and beamed the brightest smile!
Timmy said to Becky, “Now you’ll REALLY be my sister now!”
And the preacher, with a wink and a tear in his eye told the congregation, “That boy is sure growing up fast!”