I want you to think with me about
something in this twelfth chapter, and for those of you who are
interested but were not here in the first hour, I brought
an overview of the whole chapter, and you might want to ask for
a copy of that so you can kind of fit this together. But I want
us to look now this morning, in this second hour, at one particular
passage, a very sobering passage of Scripture beginning with verse
49. Jesus said, I am come, I'm in
Luke 12, 49, I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will
I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Suppose
you that I am come to give peace on earth, I tell you, nay, but
rather division. For from henceforth there shall
be five in one house divided, three against two, two against
three. The father shall be divided against
the son, and the son against the father, and the mother against
the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, and the mother-in-law
against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law." If I declare the gospel and I say, that the
grace of God has to do with his gracious act from before the
foundation of the world to choose a people out of all of the human
race that he might save from their sins, that he might justify
them before his eyes, that he might take them to a final and
ultimate glory to live with him. And if I say that the grace of
God has to do with the finished work of Christ at the cross.
Whereupon the cross, he not only made it possible, but he actually
completed the work and actually saved and forgave and redeemed
and reconciled and justified all those whom God elected from
before the foundation of the world. And if I say The grace
of God has to do with the act of God in the heart in time to
reveal the truth of what he did in eternity and at the cross
so that we might have peace, we might have rest, we might
have comfort. That faith is not that which
appropriates what he has done for us, but it is the gift of
God to see what he has done for us. Someone might listen to those
words and they might say, That is your interpretation. I would say, yes, that is my
interpretation. But I would further say to you
that interpreting is the most important thing we do in all
of this world. It really is. It's the most important
thing we do. Jesus referred to those who do
not discern in verse 56 as pretenders, as hypocrites, as actors. To
fail to discern and evaluate the truth from error, religion
from the true faith, that is hypocrisy. Discerning is the
most important thing we do. You'll notice up here in the
parable that just precedes this particular passage of scripture,
our Lord said of the faithful servant in verse 43, that he
shall find so doing." What is the most important thing that
a faithful servant does? The most important thing. He
interprets. He divides. He looks at that
which is truth and he says, this is truth, this is error. No,
this is error, this is truth. This is conditioned on something
man does, this is conditioned on what God has done. He discerns. We must all be discerners. That is what we are called upon
to do. So it is the most vital thing
that we are to be about is this matter of discerning. But there
is something that we are to discern that is revealed to us in this
passage that is more important than every other matter. I'm not much of a mathematician. Not at all. I can add a little
bit, subtract a little bit, divide when I have to. I have a hard
time when it comes to fractions. I didn't understand the word
problems they gave to us in school. I'm not much of a mathematician. But I appreciate those who have
figured out these mathematical equations and have been able
to formulate things so that it can help us in terms of medicine,
help us go out into space, and help us to build buildings and
all other matters of things that are important. But if a man can
discern all of those things, but he doesn't know truth from
error, all he is is a mathematician. But a man who is able to discern
truth from error, a man who is able to look at the gospel and
say, this is the gospel and be accurate about the gospel, now
that is the most important thing in all of life. Now, the message
I want to present to you that actually the Lord brings to us
is a hard-rending message. It's a sobering message. It's
a message that's hurtful, if you please. Because do we not
all want peace? Do we not all want to get along?
Do we not all want peace in our homes? Of course we do. But what our Lord says is there's
going to be division in the home. There's going to be division
between father and son and mother and daughter. And between the
extended family, there's going to be division. Over what is
it justified for us to divide? Our Lord said there's going to
be division. He said, I'm come for division. Over what is it
justified for us to divide? Well, look with me at this passage,
and I think you will see. He said in verse 49, I am come. I am come from heaven to earth. I am come with a purpose. I am
come with specific goals. I am come to accomplish something. I am come for a definite people.
I am come. It was prophesied that I would
be here, and now I am come. It was typified that I would
be here, and now I am come. Now, the sweet Jesus boy that
is spoken of in religion is not found in this verse. You're just
not going to be able to find him. What does he say? I am come
to send fire. What is fire? Fire is judgment. And he says, I am come to send
fire on the earth. What does he mean? Among men,
when he says on the earth. I'm come to send fire upon this
earth, send judgment upon this earth among men. What about health
and wealth and happiness and a long life? No, sir. I am come to send fire on the
earth among men." And then he asks a question, what will I
if it be already kindled? He says, in essence to them,
What will I do if it's already kindled? What am I about if it's
already kindled? In other words, the purpose of
my coming is judgment, and it's already kindled. Look back with
me to the Gospel according to Matthew, the third chapter. Pretty straightforward passage
of Scripture here concerning John the Baptist and our Lord.
Here's what John says. In Matthew 3 and verse 10, he says, Now also the axe is
laid upon the root of the trees. This is a parable-like saying.
It's a picture of judgment. Axe laid to the root of the tree.
You're going to kill it. Therefore every tree which brings
not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that
comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy
to bear. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Spirit." And that word, and, I think is better translated,
even fire. Or it could be translated Holy
Spirit or fire. "...whose fan is in his hand,
and will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into
the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire." John says our Lord came for the purpose of judgment and
for fire upon this earth. And our Lord says that it is
already kindled. He's saying that judgment is
imminent. Judgment is unavoidable. Judgment is upon Israel in particular
and upon the Pharisees in particular. Judgment, I say to you, is in
this age. You remember our study of the
parables of the in the 13th chapter of Luke, where he spoke of the
parable of the tares. Do you remember what that parable
concerned? It was the presence of false
religion. And then he gave a parable of
the mustard seed. Do you remember what that was?
It was the parable that concerned the abnormal growth of false
religion. And then he gave the parable
of leaven, and it was the parable of the corruption of false religion. And then he spoke of the judgment
that was already existent, but he said that their judgment is
also future, because in the 40th verse of the 13th chapter he
says this, Therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the
fire, so shall it be also in the end of the world. So what
he's saying is that there is present judgment and there is
future judgment. Jesus also said in Matthew 25,
Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels. The Bible says much more about
judgment and the place of judgment than it does about heaven. We
would rather talk about heaven, think about heaven. I'd rather
encourage you to heaven, but I want you to know that there
is a devil to escape, and there is a hell to shun. And our Lord
says, I am come to send fire upon the earth. Even though there
is the presence of judgment in this world even now, and will
be to the end, there is a worse judgment yet to come. So I say
with the kindest words I know how to speak to you, with the
gentlest way I can. Our Lord came for judgment, and
there is a judgment that is coming at the end of this age. And then
in verse 50, he uses what I always regard as the biggest little
word in all of the Bible. But. In other words, there's
a judgment that is coming. I've come for judgment, make
no mistake. But. And if you can understand what
he's talking about in verse 50, you are a blessed individual.
You have hope. You can have confidence. You
can have comfort. You can escape this devil. And you can escape this judgment. But, I have a baptism to be baptized
with. How am I straightened? till it
be accomplished. Now he's not talking about his
earthly baptism, is he? Because he's already been baptized
by John the Baptist. This is on in the progress of
his three and a half years of ministry. And he says, I have
a baptism in the future to be baptized with. The word baptize
is the word in the original language and is transliterated into our
language, therefore carrying over the same sound, baptizo,
baptize. The word baptize means to merge,
to merge. When I leave here today, I will
drive to Columbus And I will merge onto the highway. I'll
go out onto the highway, and I'll become one with the traffic
that is heading north and east. And I'll make my way, and I'll
make several merges at various points with traffic that is going,
and I'll become one with them. This word baptized means to merge. It also means to emerge. So it
is the act of coming together. But it's also a word that means
to submerge. So it means to be brought under.
So it's to merge with. It's to emerge, become one with.
And it's to submerge, it's to be brought under. It's also a
word that means to immerse. To immerse. Like a ship that
is immersed beneath the waves. Or a man who is so immersed in
drink that he becomes drunk. Or a scholar who is immersed
in his studies. Or a woman who is immersed in
her trials and troubles of life. Or as here, it is a man who is
immersed in his mission. That's what he's talking about.
His mission. I am come. Clearly, baptism is
not sprinkling. It's impossible to have a biblical
view of baptism and it be sprinkling. That's impossible. There is no
such thing in the Bible whatsoever. Nor is it of a passive infant
or of an easily persuaded child. That is not baptism. It cannot
be. Baptism concerns completeness. I become complete, become completely
part of the traffic when I merge with the other traffic. I become
completely part of the water when I am immersed in the water.
The person truly being baptized has an understanding mind. He
knows what he's doing. He has settled affections toward
that which his mind is fixed upon. And he has a determined will
that this is what I need to do. This is what I ought to do. I
believe something. I'm going to identify with it.
When John the Baptist spoke of baptism, he spoke of it as first
being agreeable with baptism as repentance and faith. Can an infant repent? Can a small child? actually repent? Do they understand the gravity
of their sin and their state before God? And can they understand
the matter of law and the legal satisfaction? Oh, let us be careful. Do not pressure small children.
They cannot do what you ask them to do, though they will agree
to do almost anything you want them to do. Baptism. has to do with a mind
and an affection and a will that is fixed in a certain way. The
person who is truly baptized has a consciousness of his moral
corruption and of his spiritual inability. He becomes submissive
to baptism. A believer is baptized denying
himself and confessing the gospel of free grace conditioned on
Christ alone. In true baptism, the whole person
is immersed into the water. From the bottom of his feet to
the very last hair on the top of his head, he is immersed in
water. Where the mind says go, the body
goes. Where the body goes, the mind
is present. The baptismal waters are consuming. They are abundant. They are encapsulating. The person baptized is plunged
into the water, and he is covered in the water. The person becomes
one with the water. He is inseparable from the water,
and the water is inseparable from him. That's baptism. That's baptism. Christ was baptized. Christ was baptized, and his
baptism physically upon this earth showed something about
himself and that is that he became submissive to the hand of a sinner
so he could identify with sinners. Turn with me to the book of Romans
chapter 6. His physical baptism upon this
earth was an identification with sinners. But the baptism that he's talking
about supersedes that, goes beyond that, fulfills that. Look what
he said in Romans, the 6th chapter, verse 3. Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into
His death? How were we baptized into Christ?
We were baptized into Christ by union with Him in His death.
We were placed in Him as a sovereign act of God. God viewed those
He chose from the foundation of the world as being in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Baptism here is union with Him. It's one with Him. It's the completeness
in Him. Just like a man immersed in water. But this is not water baptism.
This is the death of Christ. This is the suffering of Christ.
This is His identification with sin. And when He died, look what
happened in verse 4. Therefore we were buried with
Him by baptism into death. This is not His earthly baptism,
nor our earthly baptism. This is His baptism in suffering
and death. And then here is the result in
verse 7. For he that is dead is freed,
and that word freed is justified from sin. So complete, so complete
was the identification of Christ with sinners. So complete was
his baptism into death that death died. Now think about it. Death died. He brought an end
to death. He brought an end to death for
His people. And those who died with Him are
now justified. That's the declaration of that
verse. When He died and when we died with Him, we were also
in the same act justified from all guilt and from all wrong. John the Baptist was startled.
that the Lord would want to be baptized of him. And Matthew
says that he forbade him. Can you imagine a man forbidding
God? Can you imagine this man, John
the Baptist, who said, I'm not worthy to hold his sandals or
to latch his sandals together. Who am I? But he tried to forbid
him. No. No, you can't do this. You shouldn't
do this. Oh, but he should. He could. He had to. That's the reason that he came.
He came in order to picture it, his identification with sinners,
and then to fulfill it in time. Like all things under the old
covenant, it was a picture and a type. But his identification
with sinners in its completeness is the completeness of what he
accomplished in his death and his suffering. And so complete
was it that those who were in him, all their judgment was put
away and they were justified. Now everything that he did in
this world was as a substitute from the cradle to the grave
It was as a substitute. What was it the Apostle Paul
said? Though rich, yet for your sakes, for your sakes, he became
poor. In heaven, he came to earth for
one purpose. It was to be a substitute. It
was to be a substitute. What did the angel say? Call
his name Jesus, Savior, Joshua. Joshua is the picture. He is
the fulfillment. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. The psalmist recorded in prophecy,
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. Our Lord was
ready to die from his youth up. You and I are ready to live.
We are always trying to live. When you're a teenager, you're
looking forward to the life that's in front of you. When you're
a mother or a daddy, you're looking forward to the life that's in
front of you. Now that some of us are growing toward the sunset
of life, we're still doing our best to live. But the Lord said,
I'm ready to die from my youth up. Isaiah wrote that He has
surely borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Both John and Matthew
recorded Jesus as saying, Now is my soul troubled, and my soul
is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. On the cross, the
sin-bearing substitute became a substitute for us, and the
gospel is summarized by Paul for what took place on that cross,
saying, For he was made sin for us. That's exactly what he was
identified with, was sin. for us. Paul also said in Galatians
3 that he has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? By
being made a curse for us. In Ephesians chapter 2 it says
he has given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to
God. We don't give offerings. We don't
give offerings. We give gifts. He made the offering. He made the sacrifice. All we
do is give back a portion of what He has given to us. He gave
Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. Peter said,
"...who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree."
That's when and where and how our sins were born to their completion,
in His body on the tree. He's not bearing sin anymore
because He's not on the tree. You ever think of that? He bore
sins and bore them to their exhaustion in his body on the tree. But
then he resurrected out of the grave, he ascended up into heaven,
and he reigns in heaven on the ground of what he accomplished
upon the cross. And what he did upon the cross,
he did without sin. Scripture says in Luke 1 and
verse 35, it refers to him as that holy thing. that is born
of thee. Mary wasn't holy, but the holy
thing that was in her was the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
There is only one who is holy, and that is God. God was in her.
How in this world can we wrap our minds around the fact that
while he was in the womb of Mary, he ruled the world with his own
hand? But he did, because he is God. The scripture says in Isaiah
that he has done no violence and neither is there any deceit
in his mouth. But you and me, we're always
struggling. Keep it honest. Keep it straight. Keep it right. Do what's right. And him, in his heart, he never
struggled with doing what was right. Peter referred to him
as a lamb when he died. As a lamb. without blemish and
without spot. The writer of Hebrews said that
he was holy and harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Separate
from sinners. Now he identified with sin, but
he was separate from sinners. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, it
says he knew no sin. 1 Peter 2, verse 22, it says
he did know sin. And 1 John 3 and 5 says, in him
is no sin. While many have erred at this
point, we know. What a shocking thing that men
would refer to Jesus as having to be a sinner in order to bear
sin. Now, the Bible tells us how He
did it. If you'll turn over a few pages in Luke there to chapter
22, we're told exactly how He bore our sin to completion. Here's
a quotation from Isaiah 53 in verse 12, in verse 37 of Luke
22. In the middle of the verse it
says, He was reckoned. Do you see it there? He was reckoned
among the transgressors. Do you know what that word reckoned
is? Logizimai. Do you wish you could say that?
Logizimai is a word for reckon, impute, account. He was accounted
to be among sinners, but he wasn't a sinner. Sin was imputed to him so that
when men looked upon him, they looked as a sinner, but not in
the eyes of God. Any man who looks upon him as
a sinner does not look upon him as God does. And a man who does,
does not see the gospel. He does not see the nature of
what Christ accomplished upon this earth. He does not understand
the baptism that he came to be baptized with. Now, so complete
was this imputation. So complete was this reckoning that there was no sin to be born
anymore. As in this baptism, as you cannot
be separated from the water, he became inseparable from the
sin he bore. True enough. But he did it without
becoming a sinner. No rebellion in his heart. No
will against God. If that was to be impossible.
How could the just die for the unjust if he were a sinner? It would be the unjust trying
to die for the unjust. That would not work. How was
it done? It was done by imputation. And
so complete was it that he bore it to its very exhaustion. No sin to be held anymore. How
could God lay sin upon him and he bear it to his exhaustion
and me still be charged with sin if I'm chosen from the foundation
of the world? That's impossible. Look what
he says back in our text. I have a baptism to be baptized
with. This baptism he's talking about,
I declare to you, is his death, is his suffering. It's his substitution. It's what he did upon the cross.
Everything in his life moved toward it. And now he says, how
am I straightened? That's not a word we use like
that. It's a word that means compelled. You know, I have a
word that's translated here in my Bible that's translated as
pain. I'm pain. I'm compelled, I'm
pained. I cannot escape it until it be
accomplished. Accomplished. What do you think
that word accomplished is? Remember when Jesus said, Terrestia, it is finished? That's this word. till it be finished. I have a
baptism to be baptized with and I'm compelled toward it. I'm
paying toward it. I cannot escape it until it be
accomplished. Now the question is, what did
he accomplish? Most of religion is telling you that he accomplished
for you an opportunity. He accomplished for you a chance.
And if you will do whatever they tell you to do, Some say light
candles. Some say get sprinkled. Some
say go down into the water. Some say keep penance. Some say
just believe. Whatever they tell you to do,
that's what they say he accomplished, an opportunity. But do you know
what the Scriptures say? The Scriptures say Christ was
delivered because of our offenses. And he was raised again because
of our justification. Now, he wasn't delivered in order
for us to commit offenses. It was because we had already
committed offenses. And he wasn't raised again in
order for us to be justified. He was raised again because we
were justified. And then it goes on to say, having
therefore been justified. By faith we have peace toward
God. What did he accomplish? He accomplished
an actual removal of guilt. An actual righteousness that
God reckoned to his people so he could look upon them with
eyes of peace and therefore we could look toward him with eyes
of peace. And that's what we do with faith is we look toward
him with eyes of peace. In type and symbol and direct
revelation the scriptures declare God acting as the judge of the
universe looked upon the single obedience of Christ toward those
who were in him in his death from the foundation of the world
in order for them to be justified in the act of Christ's baptism. His full identification with
sin and with sinners, and before he left the cross, the chosen
were forgiven and redeemed and justified and reconciled in the
eyes of the Almighty God." That is your interpretation. I say
to you, it is. I stand upon it. I am not ashamed
of it. I am glad about it. What occurred
in Christ's blood in the sacrifice? is a watershed. You know what
a watershed is, don't you? Water falls on top of a ridge
and some of it goes this way and some of it goes that way.
That's a watershed. And your interpretation of what happened
in Christ's baptism is a watershed. Now, you can't help it. You can
try to avoid it. You can say, I'm not going to
think about it. As soon as you do, you've fallen
on one side of the watershed. It is a watershed. And the truth that I have declared
to you, the truth that is in the scriptures, is foreign to the thinking of
men. People you know, people I know.
People I work with. People I serve. It's foreign
to them. Because what they want to know
is, what must I do? But this watershed goes all the
way back to the beginning. That's why there was a Cain and
there was an Abel. Because the removal of sin by
a blood sacrifice and that alone, was not enough for Cain. And
when God looked upon Abel's sacrifice and accepted it, Cain became
so angry. He said, I'll have your life
for that. And those who are out in the
world of religion, if we were big enough that we caused trouble,
that's what they'd want to do with us. I say to you, it's a watershed.
Now, why do I say that? Because in verse 51, suppose
you that I am come to give peace upon the earth. Now, that's what
they're telling you about the first Baptist and the first Methodist
and the first Presbyterian. And ones that go under the name
of grace, they're telling you that he came to bring peace upon
the earth. But he says, I tell you in verse 51, now look with
your own eyes, it's not just me, I tell you nay, but rather
division. What I accomplished in my baptism,
or will accomplish in my baptism, will bring division. And it will
bring it in the worst place that any of us would want. Verse 52, from henceforth there
shall be five in one house divided, three against two, two against
three. Father, verse 53, father divided against the son, son
against the father, mother against the daughter, daughter against
the mother, mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law. Why does the Lord go to that?
Why does He say all those things? Why couldn't He just stop? Because He wants to make His
point clear. What I will accomplish in my death is a watershed. And division is inevitable. We'd
all prefer peace. I'd rather be able to get along
with everybody in the religious world. I really would. But I
can't. I just can't. There is a time
to discern. The history of the church
is replete with separation over trivial and insignificant matters. I work with a lady that goes
to a Southern Baptist church, and they have a big Christmas
program every year. They're having some difficulty
putting on their big Christmas program, and so they're having
to move their practices to Sunday night. And on Sunday night is
when the praise team met. I'm not sure what the praise
team is exactly. Praise team met on Sunday night and so the
praise team became aggravated with the Christmas program people. And they had a division. Now
that's trivial. That's trivial. That's insignificant. But this
is not trivial. This is not insignificant. This
is foundational. This is bedrock. This is vital.
The announcement of the gospel. is a declaration of sin put away
and God's people justified. God told Isaiah to go and tell
the church her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. So
that's why I come declaring to you this morning. I don't come
offering to you an invitation to do anything. I come declaring
to you that God's people's sin has been put away and His people
are justified and pardoned. Faith is the gift of God to see,
understand, rest, find comfort in that which Christ accomplished
in His baptism 2,000 years ago. It is my prayer that God would
give us hearts full of peace and rest. May our fellowship,
yours and mine, your congregation and the congregation I serve,
always Be of a kindred spirit toward that finished work of
Jesus Christ as the sin-bearing substitute. That is the only
ground. I discern before you this morning
that is the only ground of fellowship for God's people. Let's pray
together. Our generous and gracious Father,
Would you bless the word that you've given to us this morning
to our poor, feeble hearts. I pray we've been able to see
Christ once again. And we rest in his merit and
for his sake. Hear us now, we pray. Amen.