If you'd like to turn in your
Bibles to Matthew chapter 3, we'll read verses 13 through
17. Let's begin at verse 13, if you
would. Matthew chapter 3, verse 13.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized
of him. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptized 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, John the Baptist, suffered
him. And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straight away 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. Now let me begin with this. The
loved of God, this is in our handout, first paragraph, page
one. The loved of God, those who God
chose before the world began, those who he sheds his love upon
in this world, are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Now I want
to say that again. The loved of God are redeemed
by the blood of Christ. We are born again by the Spirit
of God. We are saved by the grace of
God. Baptism pictures and confesses
these blessings of grace, but being baptized has absolutely
no redeeming, saving merit or efficacy. We are not saved because
we get baptized. We get baptized because we are
saved. We love the Lord. His commands
are not grievous to us. It is our heart's desire to do
the will of God stated in His word. Some like to point out
that Christ was baptized, should we not be also? And that is true. But seeing it is a command, and
I give you that command from Mark 16, 16, he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. That is good enough for me. His
ways are above my ways. His ways are right and good for
me. His saying so is good enough. Is it a good thing that Christ
got baptized? Absolutely. That puts even more
validity behind the word. Thank you, behind what he says
there. His ways are right and they are good for me. Now, two
words of caution are necessary because this ordinance of baptism
has been so greatly perverted by lost religious people. And the first one is, let us
throw away the creeds and the confessions of men. and simply
obey the Word of God as it stands, without addition or alteration. Whenever we begin to tamper with
the Word of God, thinking that maybe we should do it this way,
or maybe it's meaning it this way, souls are ruined by that. The church Souls are ruined by
that. We must never attach, secondly,
we must never attach any idolatrous, superstitious importance to the
ordinance of baptism. Baptism is a picture of redemption,
but baptism is not redemption. Baptism is a picture of remission
of sins, but baptism is not the remission of sins. Baptism is
a picture of salvation, but baptism is not salvation. The trip from
Galilee to the Jordan, as we read there in the beginning of
verse 13, then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, that trip
is more than a day's travel. And Jesus, our Lord Jesus, went
to the inconvenience of traveling that to observe this ordinance
of worship. Many of those who call themselves
believers and followers of Christ quickly justify themselves in
the neglect of worship. And I've heard those who profess
to be followers of Christ say, well, the thief didn't get baptized,
so I don't see any reason I should either. Folks, that's just plain
nonsense. Absolutely. The thief not being
baptized just proves that baptism is not your salvation. Christ
is our salvation. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't
get baptized. The Lord still says, he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. So because you're a believer
or follower of Christ, some quickly justify themselves and neglect
that worship. Lord help us not to fall into
that sin, page two. We will find no justification
for our slackness in the word of God. There's nowhere in the
Word of God where it'll justify for us to say, well, the thief
didn't get baptized, so maybe I won't either, or this one didn't
get baptized, maybe I won't either. The Shunammite woman rode on
horseback every Sabbath day to hear God's prophet at Carmel,
though her husband hindered her. And that's a story in 2 Kings
4.23. In David's time, the saints of
God passed through the valley of Baca to worship God at Zion,
that's in Psalms 84.6. In the day of Daniel, believers
ran to and fro to increase knowledge, to know more about the Lord,
and that's in Daniel 12.4. In Zechariah's day, the inhabitants
of one city went to another saying, let us go speedily to pray before
the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. That's in Zechariah
8.21. In the book of Acts, we read
of the eunuch who journeyed from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship
God. That's in Acts 8.25. Any man
or woman who talks about being a Christian,
who talks about worshiping God, who talks about being a believer,
and yet willfully neglects the worship of God out of blush,
in shame. And baptism, folks, is worship. We also see in our text John
the Baptist, though bold as he was as a lion, was also a man
of true humility. When the Lord came to John for
baptism out of humility, he forbade him, it says. He strenuously
objected. He said over in Mark, I'm not
worthy to latch the shoes thereof. He said, I'll get to that in
a moment in verse 11 of our same chapter here. He strenuously
objected, but not out of a spirit of rebellion, but out of a spirit
of reverence and awe. Humility, look over in verse
11 of chapter 3, I indeed baptize you with water, he said to the
folks around him, water unto repentance, but he, speaking
of the Lord Jesus, speaking of the Son of God, he that cometh
after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy,
and this is every child of God's thought, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with
fire. John knew who Christ is. He knew
that the man standing before him was the infinite God, his
Redeemer and Savior, and he knew himself too. He knew that he
was a sinner in need of grace and a sinner saved by grace through
the merits of the Lamb of God who stood before him. Though
he was conscious of his personal sin and unworthiness to do so,
when the Lord commanded him to do it, John baptized him. No man is worthy to do anything
in the worship and service of the Holy Lord God. I want to
stop there for a moment because that's something God's ministers,
and I've spoke about this with Pastor Gene many a times. I just,
I can't believe God is using me to preach His Word. You know,
Gene said that for 38 years. I can't believe God is using
me to preach His Word. That's just the way God's people
are. We don't feel we're worthy of
anything that the Lord might use us for. But when the Lord
sends us to do something, and we know it's the Lord sending
us, how dare us turn away from it? Just because we think we're
unworthy. John the Baptist didn't turn
away. When the Lord said, do it, he
did it. Now I want to read this again, because I want you to
see something here. See in verse 15 of your Bible,
where the red letter there, see where it says, suffer it to be
so? Those words, it to be so, are
in italics. That means that they're not of
the original language. Suffer now. If you read it like
that, you can really get a hold of the demand, the command that
God is saying here. It's not just suffer it to be
so, but suffer now. Suffer it now. Suffer now. Do it now. For thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. That's what we're talking about
here. conscience back in our handout
paragraph just above the bottom there. Though he was conscious
of his personal sin and on the order that he was to do so, when
the Lord commanded him to do it, John did it. He baptized
him. No man is worthy to do anything in the worship service of the
Holy Lord God. Our only worthiness before God
is the Lord Jesus Himself, Christ. He is our worthiness. He is our
sufficiency. It is His blood and righteousness
alone that makes us meet, that means fit to be partakers of
the inheritance of saints in light. That's what we read in
Colossians 1.12. And it is Christ who makes us
worthy to approach our God in all acts of worship. Some have
come to me and said, I want to wait. I don't want to participate
in the communion right now. I just don't feel worthy to do
so. Folks, we're never in this flesh
going to be worthy to do so. It takes the worthiness of Christ
to bring us to approach God in all the acts of worship. We have
no right in the name of humility to refuse any command or duty
clearly set before us by our God just because we feel unworthy. So why did the Lord Jesus insist
upon being baptized by John? He had no sins to confess. He
had no transgressions of which to repent of. He had no iniquities
to be washed away, yet he told John that it was necessary for
him to be baptized, to fulfill all righteousness. But what did
his baptism have to do with the fulfillment of all righteousness?
Well, we know that our blessed Savior fulfilled all the righteous
requirements of God's law for us as our representative, freeing
us from its curse and condemnation by his obedience unto death.
That's what we read in Romans 5, verses 18 through 21. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
By the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. that as sin hath reigned under
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. We also know that he fulfilled
the will of God as the God-man, as our mediator, by which we
are forever sanctified. And we read that in Hebrews 10,
verse 5 through 14, wherefore, when he cometh into the world,
speaking of Christ, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest
not, but a body hast thou prepared me. in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
for sin now has had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book, it is written of me, to do thy will, O God."
This is the Lord fulfilling the will of God. To do thy will,
O God, above when he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings
and offering for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hath pleasure therein
which are offered by the law, then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest, standard daily,
ministering, offering, sometimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins, but this man after he had offered one
sacrifice for since forever sat down on the right hand of God
from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool
for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."
By one offering. Not many, but one. Why was it
just one? Well, because it's a perfect
offering, that's why. The offering of the Lord Jesus
Christ, page four. By his baptism, our Savior symbolically
fulfilled all righteousness and established as a standing ordinance
in his church by which believing men and women publicly confess
the fulfillment of all righteousness in him. That's important, in
him. By his baptism, the Lord Jesus
symbolically demonstrated how he would fulfill all righteousness
as our sin-atoning substitute. He fulfilled all righteousness
when he said on that cross, it is finished. Everything that
needed to redeem God's people unto God the Father, it was done. All righteousness was fulfilled. By his baptism, the Lord Jesus
symbolically demonstrated how he would fulfill all righteousness
as our sin-atoning substitute. And by our baptism, we confess
the same. The baptism of Christ, wrote
Charles Spurgeon, was the picture, the type, the symbol of work
which he afterwards accomplished. He was immersed in suffering.
He died and was buried in the tomb. He rose again from the
grave and all that is set forth in the hour symbol of his baptism
in the river of Jordan. Believer's baptism typifies all
righteousness being fulfilled in Christ Jesus. It is an ordinance
full of meaning, which when rightfully observed, it is to be reverently
observed by all who follow Christ. If our Lord Himself submitted
to it, how can we follow Him and refuse to submit to it ourselves? Again, Spurgeon wrote this, he
says, Shall I refuse to follow my Lord? Shall I think that there
is nothing in an ordinance of which He has said, Thus it becometh
us? to fulfill all righteousness?
Now, I thought about that for just a moment, because we're
about to see in 16 and 17 the full trinity of God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. If you think about that,
when he said, when the Lord was made, thus it becometh us to
fulfill all righteousness, was the Lord, and this is just an
opinion, so I don't want to I didn't see anything in any commentary
that went one way or the other with this, but if you think about
that, the Lord could have been speaking of us as the Trinity.
It becometh us. But He also could be speaking
of us, the people of God, the family of God, the church of
God. Because we do the same in Him. Not in our getting baptized ourselves,
but in claiming, or in going through the ordinance of baptism,
we're claiming our fulfillment of righteousness in Christ, in
what he's done. So that us could mean either
one, either the Trinity or the people of God. Brother Don Fortner,
third paragraph, page four. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
he says, when the Lord Jesus made sin for us, he was slain
under the wrath of God and buried. When he had put away sin, he
rose from the dead because he had accomplished our justification. When believers follow Christ
into the watery grave, we publicly acknowledge that our only hope
before God is that which he accomplished for us in his death, his resurrection,
as our substitute. Now rising up out of the watery
grave, we symbolically avow our allegiance to Christ, walking
with Him in the newness of life, in the hope of the resurrection,
as we read about in Romans 6, verses 4 through 6. Therefore
we are buried with Him in baptism into death, that like as Christ
was raised 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 in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection, 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." What wonderful grace
that God would give us this ordinance of baptism symbolizing his death,
his burial, and his resurrection. Folks, many have turned this
ordinance into great lasciviousness, a wicked ritual. They have come
to say baptism is a sign of your salvation, or if you're not baptized,
you're not saved. Lord, keep us from this evil
ourselves. As I said in the beginning, the
loved of God are redeemed by the blood of Christ. We are born
again by the Spirit of God. We are saved by the grace of
God. Baptism pictures and confesses
these blessings of grace, but being baptized has absolutely
no redeeming, saving merit efficacy. We are not saved because we get
baptized. We get baptized because we are
saved. Next, we're given a solemn and
wonderful sight, the beauty of the Trinity hand in hand As it
says in Matthew 3, 16 and 17, And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightaway out of the waters. And, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove and lighting upon him. Verse 17, And, lo, a voice
from heaven sang, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Here we see the interest of the
triune God in the work of redemption. as one. Here is a display of the Holy
Trinity, an identification of our Lord Jesus as the Messiah,
and a declaration from heaven where it says, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Here is everything that is solemn
and glorious. The scene before us ought to
be considered with the utmost care and awe. For there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one, as we read in 1 John 5, 7. Here
the three persons of the Triune God distinctly manifest themselves. God the Father speaks by a voice
from heaven. God the Son incarnate in human
flesh stoops to the watery grave. And God the Holy Spirit descends
from heaven in the form of a dove, lighting upon our blessed Savior.
Here we have the most majestic meeting of the three persons
of the Holy Trinity about the work of redemption, page six. As in the beginning of creation,
the triune God said this, he said, let us make man. So as
in the beginning of redemption, it seems that he's saying, let
us redeem man. In Ephesians chapter 1 we read
in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Right there we see God the Father,
God the Son of whom the blessings are in and the Spirit the spiritual
blessings of heaven. Verse four, according as He has
chosen us in Him, God the Father chosen us in His Son, before
the world, before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath
abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure,
which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in our earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. that we should be to
the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom
ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of the truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption. of the priest's
possession and to the praise of his glory. Page seven. The
salvation of our souls is the united work of all three, the
triune God. It was planned and purposed by
God the Father, it was purchased and obtained for us by God the
Son, and it is performed and sealed, as we just read in Ephesians
chapter one, sealed in us by God the Holy Spirit. And lastly,
the Lord tells us plainly, it is Christ's work that God accepts. It is the works of his beloved
son that please the Father. And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. How significant
it is that the man Christ Jesus is here declared to be God's
son. As he portrays his death, his burial, and his resurrection
as our substitute. He is as fully God in his lotus
humiliation as he is in his highest eternal glory. The glory and
perfection of our Savior as God in his essential divinity was
even slightly diminished, or was not even slightly diminished,
by his incarnation, his obedience, and his death as our surety. Again, I quote from Brother Don
Fortner, whenever we read anything about him in the book of God
that appears to limit his knowledge, power, or being, we must never
fail to recognize that such limitations only reflect the genuineness
of his humanity. and his voluntary subjection
to the will of God as Jehovah's righteous servant for the accomplishment
of our redemption. And I'll give you an example
of that. It says he had to learn obedience. Now, as God, he didn't
have to learn anything, folks. But as the man in flesh, we take
those kinds of statements to understand the significance that
it means of Him in the flesh. You understand what I mean by
that? So, going on, He who is God, our Savior, is God and man
in one glorious person. He is truly and fully, perfectly
God, and He is truly and fully and perfectly man. It is He,
the God-man, our mediator, in whom and through whom and by
whom we have access to the everlasting acceptance of the eternal God.
We just read that in Ephesians 1. That was the purpose of that
to show us. It's through Him and Him alone.
God the Father is well pleased with Christ and only with Christ. He is well pleased with his person.
He is well pleased with his obedience. He is well pleased with his sacrifice. And he's well pleased with the
picture in his baptism. Page eight. He is eternally pleased
and satisfied with his son as his servant. Listen to the words
of Isaiah 42.1. Behold, my servant. whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him,
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He is infinitely
and eternally well pleased with the sacrifice of his son as the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We read that in
Revelation 13, verse 8, and all that dwell upon the earth shall
worship him. He was well pleased with his
assumption of our nature, with his obedience to the law, bringing
in everlasting righteousness with him being made sin for us,
bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, enduring the penalty
and curse of his holy law against sin to the full satisfaction
of justice as our substitute. Yes, the father is well pleased
with his person, with his righteousness. his satisfaction and his atonement,
by which his law is magnified and honored and his justice is
satisfied. But the voice from heaven did
not say, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. It's not what it said at all.
No, the voice from heaven said this. He said, this is my beloved
son in. Did you catch that? Not with, but
in. This is my beloved Son. In whom
I am well pleased. Aren't you thankful for that?
We ought to be. The God of glory is well pleased
with all who are in His Son because of His Son. That's what that's
saying. All of those who are in Christ because of what He
has done, God the Father is well pleased. Isn't that amazing? He looks at us. all of us, and
He's well pleased with us in His Son. How thankful we ought
to be for that, that God, the God of glory is well pleased
with all who are in His Son because of His Son. He is well pleased
with us in Christ, for He made us the righteousness of God in
Him. God is not only well pleased
with His Son and in His Son, He's well pleased with all of
His people as well. In Him, He loves us with an everlasting
love. As the Son, our surety, He is
delighted with us from eternity. So the Father took delight in
us, rejoiced over us, accepted us, and blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. in His Son, as we just read in
Ephesians 1, before the world began, as we just read, page
9. God shall rejoice over them with
joy and singing forever. Them, speaking of those who are
in His Son, who forever, and He will be resting in His love,
as we read in Zephaniah 3, 17. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save, He will rejoice
over thee with joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy over
thee with singing. Robert Hawker wrote this passage,
and I want to quote this in closing tonight. It just blessed me greatly
to read. Robert Hawker's got a way of
saying things that I don't want to place a man any higher than
he should, but he's got an eloquency of his ability to write. May
the Lord mercifully grant that the whole Church of God, through
divine teaching, may be enabled to keep in unceasing remembrance
the Father's testimony to His dear Son. And while my soul and
the souls of all His redeemed are thus continually hearing
and receiving the precious assurance of God's being well pleased with
His dear Son, for his redeeming love to his church and his finished
salvation for his people, O for grace to love him whom Jehovah
in all the persons of the Godhead loves, and to delight in him
in whom Jehovah delighteth, precious Lord Jesus, I would say, And
then he quotes from Psalm 73, 25. Whom have I in heaven but
thee? And there is none upon earth
my soul desireth but thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Amen.