Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 648, tune Adoration
528. With wonder and with love we
at thy courts appear, thy ways our hearts approve, and thy great
name revere. We own the Lamb, our leader wise,
Nor would we dare his ways despise. We have thy altar here, Thy great
altar here, And thy great name in here. Eden, my land, how deep and wise!
The world began here, through this place of mine. Jesus has no power, His two breasts
shall obey. He's keeping silence fed, and thus he stepped astray. and walk, and make the riches
of the world. As worthy of our God, The King
himself was seen, And shall have self-exalted fame,
The Father in Himself has fame. Come fill our souls with love,
With faith and peace and joy, Oh, when the bright sun comes and come with light. Hail, Father
Trojan, we will ride, in sweet communion, still alive. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to Matthew and chapter
3. Matthew chapter 3. In those days came John the Baptist,
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken
of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And the same John had his raiment
of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loin, and his
meat was locusts and wild honey. then went out to him Jerusalem
and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were
baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many
of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said
unto them, O generation of Vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come, bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves,
we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is
able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down
and cast into the fire. I indeed baptise you with water
unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than
I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptise you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand,
and he will throughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into
the garner, but he will burn up the char with unquenchable
fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan unto John to be baptised of him. But John forbade him,
saying, I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering, said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water.
And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. and lo
a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am
well pleased. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come. We desire to bow before thy great
majesty, to call upon thy great and holy name. And we desire
that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our
Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and
abide upon us. We pray to be led guided and
directed by the Spirit of God, and that Thou, Lord, wouldst
be the master of assemblies here today, and that Thou wouldst
graciously speak, speak unto our souls. May we hear the voice
of our beloved, and that may we behold his countenance, and
may we worship in his holy hill of Zion, May we be favoured with
the divine drawings of a heavenly Father, drawing us unto his best
beloved and all-glorious Son. For none come except the Father
draw. We pray to be drawn and led by
the Spirit of God, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. And we pray that there was witness
with thy spirit, with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
All we do pray, Lord Jesus, that thou wouldst come and stand in
our midst, that we may behold thy glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. For
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All we
pray, Most gracious Lord, that we may indeed behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. We pray, most
gracious Lord, to be made more spiritually minded, and that
our heart and our affections may be set upon things apart. We come, Lord, as poor sinners,
and we prove that we are still poor sinners. were unclean and
unrighteous altogether. And we often have to say with
the dear apostle, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death. Gracious God, we do pray for
thy delivering grace. We pray that where there is darkness,
there may be light. And where there is bondage, there
may be liberty. And where there is a distance,
there may be nearness. that we may be favoured with
thy presence. In thy presence I am happy. In
thy presence I am secure. In thy presence I can easily
all things endure. We pray for dear Lydia that thou
wouldst especially be with her this afternoon and grant that
she may have the answer of a good conscience before God. We do
humbly beseech thee. We pray for dear Will as well
and each of the children. We lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace which is able to build them up
and to grant them an inheritance among them that are sanctified. We thank thee most gracious Lord
for thy mercy to us as a church and as a congregation and we
thank thee that there is that clear evidence that thy spirit
yet remaineth among us. And most gracious Lord, we pray
that there may yet be mighty signs and wonders that shall
follow the preaching of the word. And that thou wouldst be with
us as a church at this time as we rejoice according to thy wonderful
mercy and thy loving kindness unto us. We pray for our brethren,
the deacons, that grace, wisdom, and help may be given to them
in all their responsibilities, both here and there in large
responsibilities among the churches. Do graciously gird them with
all sufficient grace. Remember each one of our brethren
and sisters in Christ. Help us to love each other, serve
each other, bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
that there was yet work among us, and that there was yet grant
thy rich blessing upon the young and rising generation among us,
that they may be brought to living, vital, saving faith in Jesus
Christ, that they may become Followers of thee, and of those
who through faith and patience inherit the promises, that we
may see the fulfilling of that wonderful promise. Instead of
thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless the little ones, the children. We thank
thee for them. We love to see them and hear
them in the sanctuary. We pray that the fear of the
Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, may be placed in their
hearts in their young and tender years. Lord, bless our dear young
friends and graciously bring them to thy feet as poor needy
sinners. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst remember the whole of our congregation. We
think of dear Mrs. Field in her great age and infirmity. And we pray that thou would be
with her and bless her. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy would give us a spirit of real
travail as a church, as a congregation. For as soon as Zion travelled,
she brought forth her children. We pray that there may be an
ingathering, that there may be a building up, that there may
be a renewing, We pray that the glory, light, and power of the
gospel may shine into this village of Lambethurst and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. Precious souls may be gathered
in, the strongholds of Satan pulled down, the kingdom of our
Lord Jesus set up in the hearts of sinners. Let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children, O Lord,
we do beseech thee. Bring our sons from far and our
daughters from the ends of the earth, and they shall come from
the north and from the south, from the east and from the west.
Gracious God, let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory
unto their children. We pray for all thy servants,
thy servants here with us, and thy servants as they each stand
upon thee, walls of Zion, that thy servant expect it here tomorrow. Lord, we pray for each one. Grant
that fresh anointing of thy spirit, that they may dip their foot
in oil and be made acceptable unto the brethren, and that the
word preached may be in power in the Holy Ghost and with much
assurance, that there might be mighty signs and wonders that
shall follow the preaching of the word. We do humbly beseech
thee. O for thy great name's sake,
have mercy upon thy Zion. We pray thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, that thou wouldst yet send true labourers into
the harvest, that thou wouldst grant an abundant harvest in
due season. Especially we think of our young
friend expected here tomorrow, and that he may indeed dip his
foot in oil, be made acceptable unto the brethren. We do humbly
beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy would remember all in any trouble
or trial or perplexity or sorrow or sadness or bereavement, that
thou would graciously sustain them and bless them. We especially
remember the prodigals that have wandered from the sanctuary,
from the house of God, from the ways of truth and righteousness
We pray that thou wouldst stretch out thy almighty arm, that thou
wouldst cause them to be in want, that thou wouldst cause them
to return. The appointed time rolls on apace, not to propose
but call by grace to turn the feet to Zion's hill. Lord, let
us see thy work and thy power. Arise, arise, O God of grace,
into thy rest descent. Thou and the ark of thy strength,
and let thy priests be clothed with salvation, and thy saints
shall shout aloud for joy. Oh abundantly bless the provision
of thy house and satisfy her poor with bread. Oh Lord, we
do beseech of thee. Lord, we pray that we each may
be prepared for the services of thy house tomorrow. We thank
Thee for every mercy, every favour. Thy mercies, O Lord, to each
one of us is new every morning, and great is Thy faithfulness.
We thank Thee, most gracious Lord, for all Thy goodness that
has passed before us in the way. Undeserved mercies, loving kindnesses,
flowing from Thy great goodness, and very much aware we are, O
Lord, that every blessing, every favour freely flows through Jesus'
precious blood. We thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, for our little house of prayer. We thank Thee for supplying
all our many returning needs. We thank Thee for our brethren
and sisters in Christ. But we thank Thee that for those
that have come to witness this sacred occasion and pray that
they may be blessed as they come to witness with us the wonderful
ways of the Lord. If you love me, keep my commandments. But above all, we thank thee
for Jesus Christ. We thank thee for the glory of
his name and the fullness of his grace. We thank thee that
the word was made flesh and dwelt among And all this afternoon
may we behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh, we do thank Thee
for that holy life He lived as a man here upon earth, for the
holy law He has fulfilled, magnified and honoured, and thereby glorified
Thy great and holy name. and brought in everlasting righteousness
for thy people. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, for Calvary, where the lamb was slain, where sin was
put away, where divine justice has been satisfied, the precious
blood of the lamb has been shed, the sin of the church has been
washed away. Gracious God. We thank Thee for
that scene of matchless grace, Jesus in the sinner's place.
We thank Thee that He rose again for our justification, and has
bodily ascended into heaven. We have a great High Priest who
has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, we
do thank Thee for the glory of His name, and through Him we
know the love of our Eternal Father, and that through him
we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Come, Lord, this afternoon. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from the heavenly altar. We ask all, with the forgiveness
of all our sins, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us continue by singing together
hymn number 339. This hymn was chosen by Lydia. The tune is Indulgence 547. O my distrustful heart, how small
thy faith appears, but greater, Lord, thou art than all my doubts
and fears. Did Jesus once upon me shine,
Then Jesus is forever mine. Hymn 339. Tune indulgence 547.
? The greater good thou art ? ?
And all my love shall give you ? ? Give Jesus my praise ? ? God be shined, and Jesus is forever
mine ? ? Of Deborah I pray ? ? It shall
be not distant ? ? Eternally the same ? I saw through many angels' eyes
space above the world Therefore, therefore, thou hast
been born in me, hast been born. This all I will and still can
hope Thy spirit will not let me know. And has she delivered my soul I'll see thy face and know that
all is wrong. I trust I shall be saved. greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, the third chapter in the gospel according to Matthew,
and we'll read verse 15 for our text. Matthew chapter three, verse
15. And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be
so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. What a simple, sacred account
we have of the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has led
the way and when we make this way our choice, we are following
Christ. The Apostle, he says in the Corinthians,
be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. And may that sense of obedience
be known and felt this afternoon as we come together for this
sacred service. And we read that John the Baptist,
and we are instructed in the first chapter of John, that John
the Baptist was directed of the Lord to baptise. In the first chapter of John's
Gospel, John tells us that I knew him not, but he that sent me
to baptize with water, something was revealed unto John. And we read in John chapter 1, verse
29, the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of
the world. This is he of whom I said, after
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me, giving their witness to the divinity of Christ. And I knew
him not, but that he should be made manifest at Israel. Therefore
am I come baptising with water. And John bear record saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God. So the sign that was given
unto John when the Lord showed him, there's no doubt that John
baptized exactly the same as we do by immersion and the Lord
had instructed him what to do and there is instruction of course
in this, the hymn writer says concerning the baptistry, view
the rite with understanding, Jesus' grave before thee lies,
be interred at his commanding after his example rise. You know, there's only two sacred
ordinances in the New Testament Church. I rather like what Isaac
Watts, how he puts it, and under the Levitical dispensation of
the Old Testament, there was many, many different things they
had to do three times a year. They had to travel all the way
from the various parts of Israel up to Jerusalem. They had to
offer sacrifices. There was divers washings. It
was quite a laborious thing. They had to continually be doing
something. But Isaac Watts, he says, but
we, that's the gospel church, But we have no such lengths to
go, nor wander far abroad. You see, the gospel is a very
simple thing. And gospel ordinances are very
simple things. And they both, there's only two,
is baptism and the Lord's Supper. They're the two ordinances instituted
by our Lord Jesus Christ, the believer should follow. We believe
very firmly that the admittance into the church is by baptism. And that's according, it's them
that believe. It's the baptism of faith. It's
to be baptized in faith, in Jesus Christ, to be following him. He that believeth and is baptized,
it says. And constantly we read in the
New Testament concerning believing and baptism, that those that
have a different view to us, especially with infant sprinkling,
and that they would say that, oh, well, you practice adult
baptism. No, friends, we don't. We practice believer's baptism.
Sometimes that can be a child, but it's believer's baptism.
And that is the important thing. And that is a vital thing. A
person must have faith. And it's the same with the Lord's
Supper. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily. What is meant by
that statement in Holy Scripture speaking of the Lord's Supper?
He that eateth and drinketh unworthily. What does it mean? It means without
faith. It doesn't mean a person has
doubts and fears, it means a person that literally has no faith.
Their soul has not been quickened. They've not been brought to faith
in Jesus Christ. Now, it says a person that partakes
of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper does so to the damnation
of their soul. It's a very solemn thought, isn't
it? So both of these sacred ordinances are limited to those that have
faith. to those who've been born again
of the Spirit. And they can give evidence that
they've been born again of the Spirit. They've been convinced
of their own sin. And they've been brought to see
their lost condition. And they've also been brought
to see that Jesus is the way to God. Not that I'm laying down
very specific things here, friends, but these are vital things And
by saying not so specific, what I mean is that some people are
led very gently. Very gently. Just like we read
in Isaiah, hear a little, there a little, line upon line, precept
upon precept. There's a gradual opening up
of the truth in their hearts. And of course the vital thing
is that Christ has been made precious. both in the desire after him
and in the enjoyment of him, in some little way Christ has
been made precious. The apostle puts it this way,
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. What a mercy if that is the case,
the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost. sense and a realization given
Personally it's a very personal thing real religion is a very
personal thing It is what goes on between your soul and a holy
God. That is what real religion is
When we're when we're born again When we're brought from spiritual
death into spiritual life The Lord Jesus speaking through
John in the book of the Revelation, blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such a second death hath no
power. So the vital point for us is,
what is the first resurrection? It's when a poor sinner is brought
from spiritual death into spiritual life. Doesn't the Apostle Paul
say in the beginning of the Corinthians, you hath he quickened who were
dead, in trespasses and in sins. Now, that is really laying before
you the persons that are to be baptised, those that believe. Those that have the assurance
of faith, those that have had the forgiveness of sins, they're
all things very desirable, but they're not absolutely necessary
for salvation. A person that's raised up to
a sweet home in the Lord Jesus Christ and brought to love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth and desiring continually
to be near him and to hear his voice and to see his countenance. These are evidences of the new
birth, of being quickened, of being
brought from death unto life. How about each one of us here
in this chapel this afternoon? Have you been brought from death
into life? Has your soul been quickened
into life? These are vital things. You see,
It's only those that are born again, that are brought from
death into life, that shall reach glory. You might say, what do
you mean? Well, it's very clear in scripture,
we've just quoted it. Blessed and holy is he that has
part in the first resurrection, on such the second death has
no power. The second death is being cast
from the presence of God into eternal damnation. That is what
the second death is, is eternal death. But those that have been
born again will not endure the second death. They've been delivered
from it through the finished work of Jesus Christ, through
the precious blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's what
he came to do. He came to save his people from
their sins. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. that which was lost. The whole
need not a position, but they that are sick. And if there's
one thing the true child of God knows is they're sick. They know
it, they feel it. They know the sense of sin. Do you know, friends, I've never
seen it so clearly. Recently I preached from that
word, and first time I've ever preached from it, It is the spirit
that quickness, the flesh, profiteth nothing. And I've never seen
so clearly how that our flesh profits nothing. That's why the
apostle writes Romans 7, when he says, that which I would,
I do not. That which I would not, I do. I find a law within
my members. When I would do good, then evil
is present with me. It is the spirit that quickness,
our flesh, doesn't profit. It's sinful, it's corrupt. It
always will be sinful and corrupt. It always will be unclean and
unrighteous altogether. I remember years ago, before
I was brought into gospel liberty, that word walked up and down
in my very soul, turn again, O son of man, and thou shalt
see greater abominations than these. And every time I turned
again, there was more sin and more sin. And eventually I was
brought to see that all the sin, all the wickedness, all the evil
that is in this world, all the unrighteousness, the immorality,
the seeds of it, are all in my heart. You know, friends, that's
a very crucifying view of what we are by nature, sinners. What we always will be by nature.
And what sealed that was a line of a hymn that sealed that teaching
right into my very soul. nor can I promise future good
to bring. We cannot. We can't do it. It's impossible. You know, one
of the great errors in the Galatian church was that the Judaizing
teachers there were teaching the believers that now they were
believers, now they were saved in Christ, they could now, as
a believer, produce a righteousness which was acceptable to God.
and the Apostle immediately saw the fallacy, the awfulness of
such a doctrine. We're sinners. It's the similar
type of thing that we read of John Wesley's sinless perfection,
that we are able to bring our flesh to such a state of sanctification
that we become perfect, we become sinless. Of course that is absolutely
opposite to what the Holy Scripture teaches us. Sinners, we always
will be sinners, we're saved in Christ through that great
salvation. As John, we've read together,
John said, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world. That is where our salvation is,
it's in the finished world. of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. You know, there's some vital
things spoken of here. In the beginning of this chapter,
John the Baptist, he came and he says, saying, repent ye, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And when Christ himself began
his earthly ministry, he himself said the same, repent ye, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the apostles on the day of
Pentecost, what was their message? Repent ye, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. And the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. What
is it to repent? Well, it's a divine work and
grace of the Holy Ghost in the heart. The word often used, especially
in the Old Testament, is return. Repent, return. To turn away. The literal meaning of the word
repentance is to, the apostle calls it repentance toward God.
A sinner is turned away from the ways of sin in this world
to face God. That's what repentance is. That's
the literal meaning of it. It turns right round. A lot of
people get very mixed up and they say, well, weeping and crying
and mourning is repentance. So in one sense, they're right.
They're the fruits of repentance. But the literal meaning of repentance
is to turn right round. Repentance toward God and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ. You think of those words and
may we examine ourselves in the light of God's word. except ye repent. Every truly
born-again believer is brought to repent. Indeed, and I've often
said it to you, repentance and faith are bedfellows. They always
go together. They never come in the singular. You can't have repentance and
no faith, and you can't have faith and no repentance. There
are some people that seem to think you can, and they seem
to think that they can be baptized and be a church member and we're
following the Lord and yet they live in the world and of the
world and the ways of the world and the fashions of the world.
There's no repentance. There's no turning away from
the ways of sin and unrighteousness. That's what repentance is. But
doesn't the hymn writer say, a sinner may repent and sing,
rejoice and be afraid. So when that real repentance
is wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost and the precious spirit
of faith is given, and then we believe to the saving of our
soul, Christ is revealed. That's what it means to believe,
Christ is revealed. Revealed unto us as the way,
as the truth, as the life. You're able to then say, if ever
my poor soul be saved is Christ. must be the way. You know, the
baptism of John, it's called the baptism of repentance. And
the baptism of Christ is a baptism of faith. John taught repentance. He says, and he speaks here in
this chapter, verse 7, and when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Who has warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? But then he makes this very clear,
bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves,
and this was a classic view of the Jews, the Sadducees and the
Pharisees, we have Abraham to our father, For I say unto you
that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. In verse 11 he says, I indeed
baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me,
the glorious person of Christ, he that cometh after me is mightier
than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Then cometh Jesus from
Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. Now we can
understand the reticence of John the Baptist. John forbade him saying, I need
to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me. Jesus answering said unto him,
suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Then he suffered him, but John
the Baptist was to baptize the Messiah, the Son of God, who had been looked for for millennia,
waited for, and here he was. He was to baptise the Christ
of God, the Messiah. He said it on more than one occasion,
didn't he? Behold the Lamb of God. It's very instructive, actually. John is really the last of the
Old Testament prophets, ushering in the glorious person. He's
the messenger that went before Christ. But it's quite pointed,
isn't it? Behold the Lamb of God. which
taketh away the sin of the world. Look, he's the last of the Old
Testament prophets. And look at the testimony of
the Old Testament. In the Jewish or Levitical dispensation,
there was a lamb slain every morning. Every day. Once a year there was that special
Passover feast where the lamb, each house took a lamb unto itself
and the lamb was slain. His blood was taken. painted
on the side post and little of the door. So there was something
very special under that Levitical dispensation of the lamb. And
then we read of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was led as a lamb
to the slaughter. What a beautiful emblem of Christ
is the lamb. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
as a sheep before a shearer's dam, so he opened not his mouth. led as a lamb to the slaughter,
wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The
chastisement of our peace was upon him. You see, John says,
who taketh away the sin of the world. Of course, the Arminian would say
to you, that means he takes away the sin of the whole world and
there's a sufficiency in the blood of Christ for the salvation
of the whole world. But it doesn't mean that. It
means the uniqueness in the whole world of this one way of salvation. That's what it means. He taketh
away the sin of the world. He's putting another way in the
acts. There is none of the name given
under heaven whereby ye must be saved, but the name of Jesus
Christ. Doesn't matter who you are, what
tribe you belong to, what color your skin is. Wherever you live
in this world, there is only one way of salvation. And that
is the same meaning in those beautiful well-known words, God
so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. In him alone. It's in what he has done alone. This is what we're brought to
trust in and look to. What Jesus, the son of God, and
the vital point, of course, is he's the son of God. He's declared
to be the Son of God with power. He's the eternal Son of the eternal
Father. He is God manifest in the flesh.
Great is the mystery of God, as God was manifest in the flesh. And then you have those, I quote
them so often, don't I, in John chapter 1, and the Word. That term, the Word, applies
to the divine nature of the Son of God. That's what it means. and the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. In that profound mystery of godliness,
in the womb of the Virgin Mary, there was a union made between
the divine and the human, and the Word was made flesh. He took
into union with his divine nature, a sacred, holy, human nature,
becoming bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. And he lived here,
upon earth, in that human nature, as a man. And yet he's the son
of God. It's such a mystery. The infinite
and the eternal takes him to union with himself, that which
is finite. And in the person of Christ,
in that deep mystery of godliness, there's not two persons, there's
one person. the Son of God, who assumed human
nature. That human nature that he took
into union with his divine nature never had an existence separate
to Christ. The Holy Ghost overshadowed the
womb of the Virgin and immediately the Son of God assumed that human
nature, becoming bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. So there's one person with two
natures. That is the profound mystery
of Godliness. One person, the Son of God, the
Son of Man. Where both those terms are constantly
used in scripture, aren't they? Mainly in the New Testament,
you find it in the Old as well. The Son of Man. And when the
term the Son of Man is used, it's highlighting his human nature. And when the term the Son of
God is used, it's highlighting his divine nature. But this one glorious person,
this one profound mystery of godliness, God, manifest in the
flesh. The apostle, he says in Galatians
chapter 4, made of a woman, made under the law. It's an important
statement, you know. The scriptures say the law was
made for man. So when the apostle makes that
statement he's making a statement that jesus was a real man he
was made of a woman made under the law that he might redeem
them that are under the law how was he to redeem them there's
a twofold sense what is called the active obedience and the
passive obedience of christ The active obedience is that he lived
as a man here upon earth, a life that was pure and holy, and in
so doing, he fulfilled and honored and magnified that holy, righteous
law of God. He said himself, I come not to
destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And that is what Christ has
done. He's fulfilled that holy, righteous
law that you and I have broken that you and I find utterly impossible
to fulfill it because of our sinful nature. What the Apostle,
he says in the eighth chapter of the Romans, that the law was
weak through the flesh. The law itself wasn't weak, but
our flesh is weak. It's a sinful inability to fulfill
its holy commandments. But this man, the man Christ
Jesus, There's something to me, my beloved friend, so beautiful
in the perfect obedience of Christ. His holy, sinless life. He did
no sin. Sin is any transgression of the
law of God. He did no sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. What a fullness there is. Now,
in that perfect obedience of Christ is the righteousness of
the believer. It's portrayed before us in Holy
Scripture as a robe of righteousness. A robe of righteousness. It's
Christ's righteousness. It's lovely in Ezekiel chapter
16, comely in my comeliness. The believer is comely in the
comeliness of Christ, in the righteousness That is what the
believer receives by faith in Christ. They feel and know that
they are unrighteous, but they are brought to see by faith that
Jesus was righteous and pure, and the law was fulfilled in
him. He said, I come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And that's exactly what Christ
has done. In that pure, that holy, that
spotless life that he lived as a man for 33 years upon earth, But then there's the passive,
that's the active obedience of Christ. What is the passive obedience
of Christ? When he submitted himself as a man, the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, when he bowed before his Holy Father,
not my will but thine be done, that's the passive obedience
of Christ. When he suffered and bled and
died, what his children should have suffered forever in eternal
damnation, Christ suffered in his own person as the holy God
man. When he was brought before the
rulers of this world and set at nought and mocked, it's the
passive obedience of Christ. Think of Peter when he took the
sword and was going to cut off the ear of the servant of the
high priest. And Christ immediately put the
ear back on and healed him. The cup that my father has given
me, shall I not drink it? That's the passive obedience
of Christ. This is the way. This is the
only way of salvation. When he was in the garden of
Gethsemane, under the tremendous weight and the sin of the church
you know we need to understand what the garden of Gethsemane
means and what it represents. It means when the sin of the church was
laid on Christ. Isaiah chapter 53 he laid upon
him the iniquity of us all that is what happened in Gethsemane.
The sin of the church was transferred from the church onto Christ. And it's then that Christ said,
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, this cup
of suffering and sorrow and pain and grief and agony, let this
cup pass from me, but not my will, but thine be done. That is the passive obedience
of Christ. He submitted himself, to those
terrible sufferings, in love to his church, in love to his
father, who gave him the church, and in love to the church, he
stood in her room, place, and step. He became her sin-bearer. And as the apostle says in one
of the epistles, he took our sins. There in the garden, he
took our sins, and he nailed them to his cross. He nailed
them to his cross. And you know, friends, in this
service of baptism, the grave of Christ is before us. And what it represents when the
believer goes down to be baptized, that they humbly trust that Christ
was baptized in those terrible sufferings on their behalf. when he was wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death. Death had no claim whatsoever
on the person of Christ. Why? Because he was sinless.
The wages of sin is death. Death had no claim whatsoever
on the person of Christ. but it did as a substitute. He
came to take the sin of his people, and that is why he suffered.
But notice what it says, he became obedient. It was a passive obedience. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. When he was on the cross of Calvary,
he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. What does
that mean? He commended his holy human soul
into the hands of his eternal Father. And in so doing, he entered
immediately into death. It was a divine act of the Son
of God. I have power to lay down my life,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. You see, this doctrine of baptism,
which is, and Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be
so now. for thus it becometh us to fulfil
all righteousness. Then he suffered him. In the sixth chapter of Paul's
epistle to the Romans, he speaks so beautifully there of the doctrine
of baptism and of what it represents and what it sets before us. So
Romans 6 and verse 3, know ye not that so many of us as were
baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into his death. Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been
planted together, this is the meaning of baptism, If we have
been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall
be also in the likeness of his resurrection. So when the believer
is immersed in the water, buried with Christ, in the grave of
Christ, that's all their hope. And then when they come up out
of the water, risen with Christ, That's the meaning of baptism,
buried with Christ, risen with Christ, the finished work of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead
is freed from sin. You see, my Look at verse 9,
knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more,
death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he
died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord, dead unto sin. alive unto God and Jesus answering
said unto him suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness. So what do we see from this passage? That to walk, a believer to walk
through baptism is a righteous thing, is a right thing. is ordained
by our Saviour. He gave us a pattern to follow,
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why we are Baptists. And this is why we baptise by
immersion, because we believe it's the scriptural mode of baptism. And it comes out here, that Jesus
goes down into the water, And he went up, straight way out
of the water. We have that record given to
us in the Acts of the Apostles when Philip was to baptise the
Ethiopian eunuch. And he'd obviously preached unto
him, Jesus, because it says beginning at the same scripture he preached
unto him, Jesus. in the same scripture as Isaiah
chapter 53 and that the eunuch was reading and then Philip opened
his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him
Jesus and in preaching unto him Jesus he must have preached unto
him baptism because the eunuch would not have known and as they
went on their way there came They came unto a certain water,
and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me
to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the
chariot to stand still. And they went down both into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptised him. And when they were come up out
of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that
the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing."
Rejoicing on what Christ had done and what had been revealed
to him. Here, I believe what we have
in our text here is this, in a sense, and exhortation, suffer
it to be so now. If ye love me, keep my commandments,
suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Then he suffered him. There's
something else here, friends. And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water. And lo, the heavens were
opened unto him. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from
heaven saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This was the witness. This is my beloved Son. this
is the revelation of the Trinity in this sacred ordinance. We
have Jesus, the Son of God being baptized, we have the Holy Ghost
alighting upon him from heaven, and then we have the voice of
his eternal Father speaking from heaven. So there is what we might
say divine approbation upon this sacred ordinance of believers'
baptism. In my mind it just goes to Mark
chapter 16 and there in Mark 16 again it's clearly set before
us verse 15 Mark 16 verse 15 and he said unto them that's
unto the apostles go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature he that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned and these
signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they
cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues,
see what the Lord would do. And in Matthew we read, of course,
baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost. There's this divine approbation
that flows like a thread through Holy Scripture on the sacred
ordinance of believe as baptism. And Jesus answering, said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil
all righteousness. Then he suffered him. May the Lord add his blessing. After the singing of this hymn,
I would like you all to remain standing, please. Hymn number
427. The tune is Whitburn, 435. Jesus, and shall it ever be,
a mortal man ashamed of thee, ashamed of thee whom angels praise,
whose glories shine, to endless days. Hymn 427. Tune Whitburn
435. ? The Lord's love ? ? The shame
of me ? ? The shame of me ? ? In angels' praise ? Victory shines through endless
days. O shame the bitter sin of God,
Worthy, dear one, to love you must come. We shed tears weep
on thy decline. ? Oh, this divine ? ? And soul
of mine ? ? The shame of this world ? ? God's the same ? ? Late in the
evening ? ? Good shape of evening ? Tis midnight, bring my soul to
thee, Bright morning sun, its darkness flee. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave And when I plunge in its warm
shade, As I ? Hear His name ? ? Hush little
Jesus ? ? Hush little Simon ? ? May I believe to love shall reign
? ? And teach to fight the good to pray ? Till then, Lord, is my mercy paid? Give thee, my Lord, the Savior's
favor, And the many years my Lord will give. That Christ is Lord, the shape
of me. ? Heard my voice ? ? Chained upon
my cross ? ? The chained decide ? ? Chained upon my cross ? this world of course, and yield
unbeaten to it. is the usual practice that we
give a word to the person that is to be baptized on the confession
of your faith. And I believe this word seemed
to just fall on my spirit this morning in Solomon's Song, Chapter
1. If thou know not, O thou fairest
among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock,
You know this is the answer of Christ to his bride, his spouse. She says, tell me, and I know
you know what this is like, tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,
where thou feedest and where thou makest thy flock to rest
at noon, For why should I be as one that turneth aside by
the flocks of thy companions, that now you come to join one
of the flocks of his companions? And then his answer, and may
it be a word special to you, if thou know not, O thou fairest
among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock.
Now, what are the footsteps of the flock? the footsteps of Christ,
my sheep, they follow me. So the footsteps of the flock
is following Christ and that is what we're doing here this
afternoon. I pray that as you go forth from
this day that you may still be able to follow Christ and to
look to Christ and to plead to Christ. Now as the eunuch took
Rather Philip took Eunuch into the water, so let us proceed.
My dear sister in Christ, upon the
confession of your faith in Jesus Christ, I baptise you in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. ? Hail, all the new-weds in time
? ? May gentle angels lead thee home ? ? May tender love ? O Lord, it is done as thou hast
commanded, and yet there is room. Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and forevermore. Amen.