Thank you, Sherry. Thank you,
John. Now go with me to Matthew 3. Matthew's Gospel, chapter
3. Continue to study this blessed
book. Matthew 3. Read with me verses
13 through 17. Matthew 3, beginning with 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 answered and said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then John suffered him. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway, immediately 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 saith,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It was sufficient for this. This is the first public appearance
of the Lord. Jesus Christ as a man. He's spoken
of as a boy in one place. But the first public appearance,
he comes to the Jordan River where John is baptized. And he
comes unto John to be baptized in him. John is the last of the
Old Testament prophets. Our Lord said that. Men prophesied
until John. Scripture says, to Christ give
all the prophets witness. That's what John was doing. And
that's what John does here. So he comes to John, who's going
to bear witness of him. But he first comes to the Jordan
River. Now, I want you to see this.
This is marvelous. The book of Joshua. Go over there.
The book of Joshua. His name, Jesus. is the Greek
name for Joshua, God our Savior. This is amazing. The book of
Joshua is right after Deuteronomy, right after the first five books
of Moses, you find the book of Joshua. After the law comes Joshua. This is amazing. We studied this
once before, but I looked at it again the first time in a
long time. He comes to the Jordan River.
Now, every step the Lord Jesus Christ took was ordered by God
as a fulfillment of Scripture to prove that He's the Christ,
to prove that He's the Savior of His people sent by God. Like Joshua, look at chapter
1, verse 2. Moses, our Lord, is speaking
to Joshua and says, Moses, my servant, is dead. And we could talk about being
dead to the law, but Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore,
he says to Joshua, Arise, go over this Jordan. Thou and all
this people unto the land that I shall give thee. And the land
which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. And
he goes on to say, Everywhere you tread, I've given it to you. Verse 5, there is not a man able
to stand before thee. I will not fail thee. It says
in verse 7, Be strong and courageous to observe, to do according to
the law, that thou mayest prosper. Verse 8, This book of the law
shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein. To observe it. He says, "...to observe to do
it, all that is written therein, then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and have good success." What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ that is. Joshua. Go back to the text now. So our Lord first came to the
Jordan River, like Joshua, though. And He came to John. John, God's
preacher. John was God's prophet. As I said, the prophets give
witness to Christ, and this last one must do so also. And when
John, in Luke's gospel I believe it is, says, he saw him coming
and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. There he is. He gave more witness. But our Lord came to John as
a man. It says, Jesus from Galilee cometh
to Jordan unto John. Joshua came to Jordan unto John
to be baptized of him. The Lord, as a man, did what
he tells us to do. He did what he tells us to do.
He came and he heard the preacher. John was preaching. But John saw him, I know, when
he came and thought, oh my. My, my, I'm preaching to him. The Lord loves His own Word. He loves the preacher of it.
But he came and he heard the preacher, and he was baptized
of it. Look at Matthew 10. Over just
a few pages of Matthew 10, he tells us to do the same. and
believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved." Matthew 10. The Lord said here, whoever will
not receive you won't receive me. In verse 20, speaking to
his apostles, his preachers, and says, it's not you that speak,
but the Spirit of your Father that's in you. Verse 24. He said
the disciple is not above his master or the servant above his
Lord. It's enough for the disciple
that he be as his master and the servant as his Lord. I thought
about this. Though he's the master, he was
first the disciple. Though he is above us, yet he
became obedient. He became a servant, obedient
to his master, who is God. to fulfill all righteousness.
This is our holy representative. Down in verse 40. Look at verse
40. It says, He that receiveth you,
receiveth me. He that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet,
the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. Christ came
to John, the prophet, to hear him preach and be baptized of
it. And he acknowledged before all
the people, this is God's prophet right here. What he's preaching
is the Word of God. And he was baptized. Amazing,
isn't it? Amazing. In the next chapter,
we're not going to look at it, but he commends him before the
people, doesn't he? He said, who did you go out to
see? The prophet or the man? This is God speaking through
this man. Some of them didn't like John, didn't they? Some
of them didn't like Christ. Some of them didn't like either
one of them. But Christ acknowledged him,
this is my preacher, this is God's preacher. And he, what's
the word, he sanctioned John, didn't he? He sanctioned the
word John was preaching. I love that. That really struck
me when I looked at it. You know, and the Lord blessed
the preaching of John and the rest of them. The Lord said,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, I'm there.
I'm going to be there not only for their salvation,
their comfort, their peace, their comfort, their fellowship, but
to show you I approve of what they're saying. I approve of it. Poor preacher? Yes. Poor gospel? No. A feeble attempt at preaching
the Scriptures? Yes. But it won't fail. Feeble? Yes. Failing? No. I love
that. I take great comfort in that. Christ said, My Word won't return
void. I wish the Lord would bring that
to my mind every time I stand up here. I feel like such a failure
most of the time. I don't feel like getting up
here. God said, where two or three
are gathered, I am there. You preach My Word, it won't
return void. I'll honor it. You honor Me,
He says I'll honor you with My presence. And so He did. John. John was just a man. But
the Lord came to him. The Lord listened to him. Heard
him. And you know, we used to go and hear our daughter give
speeches when she was just a child, didn't she? Just a babe, out
of the mouth of a babe, babbling, bumbling, crumbling. We thought
it was wonderful. That's our daughter there. Well, I liked that. I needed
it. You came to be baptized of Him,
to be baptized. John didn't understand this.
John didn't understand it. John said, The Lord came, John's
baptizing people, baptism of repentance. We're going to see
what baptism is. And here came the Lord Jesus
Christ. John knew who he was. He said, that's the Lamb of God.
That's the Son of God. He that is from above. I'm not
worthy to tie his shoes. And Christ said, baptize me. And John said, no. Forbade him there, see that?
Forbade him, Lord. Why? He didn't understand that. He said, I have needs. You want
me, a man, to baptize you? Oh no, you baptize me. I'm the
one that needs baptism of repentance. I'm the one. You don't need this
baptism. He didn't understand that. Like
Peter, this ring of bell, like John 13, when the Lord was washing
feet. You remember that? The Lord took
a basin of water and a towel, girded Himself, and came down
to the feet, the dirty feet of His disciples, and began to wash
their feet. And Peter said, No! Don't do
that! Lord, don't wash my feet! Don't get down there like that!
Get up! And our Lord said, If I don't
wash you, you have no part in me. If he's not baptized, we
have no part in him. And he said there that when he
was washing his feet, he said, what I do now, you don't know,
but you will. And I hope you will too in a
minute. I hope you'll know. Well, Peter said, then we'll
wash me all over. And there he washed me all over. He said,
you'll wash. He didn't understand. He did,
didn't he, John? He finally understood. I see. And I believe John did
too. And I hope we will. The Lord says, Suffer it to be
so now. And He said, look and hear our text. He said, It becometh
us, verse 15, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. He said, so John, it's okay. John said, okay. Now, baptism. John was baptizing. The baptism
of repentance, it said. Baptism is a command of our Lord
to every sinner to confess Him. Baptism is a public profession
of faith in Christ, confession of sins, and profession of faith
in Christ. Baptism is a picture of Christ
crucified, buried, risen. Okay? That's what baptism is.
And baptism was a command by our Lord to every sinner that
believes, that looks to Christ. He said, go into all the world
and preach the gospel. He that believeth, and is baptized
shall be saved. Is it vital? Is it necessary
we be baptized? Yes. Can you be saved without baptism?
If you can be baptized, then it's necessary. If you cannot,
like the thief on the cross, no. But what the Lord says to
do, we must do, right? And his people delight to do
so. But baptism is... And they say that Peter at Pentecost said this. Listen
to this. Peter at Pentecost preached. After he preached, Christ crucified,
buried, risen, reigning. He said this. Listen. They said,
what must we do? He said, repent and be baptized. Every one of you. Every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ, that's what it's all about, for the remission
of sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost. Christ in a moment
is anointed in the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a symbol, a picture
of, as we said, the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a confession. When a person
comes to be baptized, this doesn't do anything for anybody. It didn't
do anything for the Lord Jesus Christ. It didn't do anything
for Him. It bore witness of Him. I'll
say this, he was doing something for us by doing that. But it's a picture, and when
you get in that pool, when a person gets in that pool, that's just
water. Remember John said, this is just water. I'm baptizing
with water. When he comes, he'll baptize
you with the Holy Ghost and fire. But what it is, is a confession
of sin, death. When you're baptized, you're
standing there, And someone puts you under that water, under that
water. The word baptize means to be
overwhelmed, covered, and we say immerse, put down under. When you bury someone, you don't
sprinkle dirt on them. You dig and they go down and
you cover them completely. Christ, we heard Brother Crabtree,
didn't we, preach on the death and the burial of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was buried, buried. We come to confess or profess
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to tell all men that He is our
salvation by baptism. And what this is also is a confession
of sin, that when Christ was crucified, I was crucified. I deserve to die under the wrath
of God Almighty. I sinned. Not Him. I sinned. But He's my substitute. And when
He was buried, I was buried. I deserve to be buried, put out
of sight. This old man, let it be gone
forever. This body of death. Bury it. Take my sins with that old fellow
and put them out of sight. Death. That's what we're saying
when we come to bed that night. But, you don't keep somebody
under the water, do you? What happens? You bring them
out. Somebody's doing this. You don't
do it to yourself. A man. A man has to do it. And you bring them out to the
water. And what that's showing is Christ's resurrection. He didn't allow His Holy One
to suffer corruption. He was crucified yet. He was
buried yet. But He rose again. He rose. He is our life, our resurrection. And He rose again. And we say
when we come out of that water, we say, I rise. When Christ arose,
I was quickened together with Him. Quickened. I rise to walk
in newness of life. And like I said, baptism doesn't
do anything for anybody. It doesn't do anything for the
Lord. It doesn't do anything for the Lord. It's just water.
But Peter said it's the answer of a good conscience. The answer of a good conscience.
God says do it. You know, there's some of us,
I was this way. I made a profession when I was
real young, 12 years old, under some emotional something. But
I later proved that I didn't know Christ. I was a prodigal
son. I just took off. I wasn't interested in the gospel.
But God, I must have been His because
He left the 99 and came after me. I came back. Well, the doctrine
became a voice, the voice of Christ Himself. Rather than depravity of man,
I knew that and cut my teeth on it, it was my depravity. Rather than I believe in the
sovereignty of God, I began to see God as sovereign. Rather than, I believe Christ
died for His sheep, and particular redemption I saw, I hope He died
for me. Rather than just, well, the Holy
Spirit, I believe He's invincible. He got a hold of me. And here I am, and rather than
just believe, yeah, I believe the saints will persevere, I'm not leaving. This is the
Word of Life. Brother Crabtree once called it perseverance of
the saint. Perseverance. They persevere
and they preserve. But it's the answer of a good
conscience. So, was I already baptized? No,
no, no. I didn't even know Christ. I
knew the truth here, but I didn't know Christ. Many of you were
in religion, weren't you? That wasn't the true Christ?
It wasn't. And when God revealed Himself to you, then you forget
the things that are past, and you come and you say, I want
to confess this Christ. I've got to confess this Christ.
And it's the answer of a good conscience. And you're never
satisfied. I remember, I don't know how
old I was, but I wasn't satisfied. It just haunted me. Haunted me
until one day I said, I've got to confess Him. I've got to get
in that pool. Well, people are going to think
you weren't saved up to this point. Well, who cares? Big deal. There ain't no seniority
in heaven. As a matter of fact, the last
is first. Whoever is baptized last is going
to get the front row seat. And I tell you, every time somebody
is baptized up here, I want to turn right around and say, now
do me. Right now, but you're the preacher.
That's what John said. Baptize me. Let me confess Him
again. Rather than be an embarrassing
thing, it's a delightful thing. Got to do it. Got to do it. Baptism. Why did
Christ do this then? He doesn't need any repentance. Why did Christ do this? John
didn't even understand. He said there in verse 15, it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. John said, OK. Now, he's not
telling John, you and I are going to work out a righteousness together. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Let me read to you, if you want
to follow along, you can. Romans 3, these verses that you
know so well. I went back and read them again,
and my, my, what a blessing. Romans chapter 3, he's not telling
John, you and I are going to work out a righteousness. You
and I are going to fulfill the law. It's you and I need to keep
the law. I'll keep it, you can keep it.
I'll show you how to keep it, and you can keep it. Oh, no,
no, no. A thousand times no. The Lord comes here in the very
beginning of his work, and the first thing he does is baptize. He's the covenant head. He's
our righteous representative. He who, in the Scripture, says,
Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight
to do thy will, O my God. Thy law is within my heart. He
came to do everything that's required for God's people. He was sent by God to glorify
God. Man had never done it since Adam. There wasn't a just man on the
earth that doeth good and senteth not one. Here he comes. Lo, I'm here. God must be glorified. The law must be kept. He said,
I've come to do thy will, O God. And what he did was not to show
us how, but to do it for us. In the beginning of his work,
he comes, set forth, he says, here I am, the righteous one,
I'm going to fulfill all righteousness. I'm going to do this for my people.
And this baptism. In another place, he said, I
have a baptism to be baptized with. With fire. I'm left to go under the wrath
of God. I'm left to be made sin. Buried. Scripture says, look
at Romans 3, verse 20. By the deeds of the law. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. But by the law, what's the law
for? By the law is the knowledge of
sin. But now, the righteousness of God. Brother Walker preached
in Romans 10, didn't he? Huh? The righteousness of God.
What is that? It ain't a what. It's who. Romans 10 forward, Jesus Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes in
it. Not him and us working it out. He is the righteousness
of God. Without the law, read on, being
witnessed by the law and the prophet. Here John is standing
there watching it. He heard him say, it behooves
us to fulfill all righteousness. The righteousness of God which
is by faith of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,
that is, to God, faithful to His law, true to His honor, His
glory. And it's unto, imputed to, all
and upon all, them that believe. What is? His righteousness. And it's because there's no difference.
He said up there in verse 9, we were proved before, they're
all under sin. All the bunch of sinners, because all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. So, verse 24, being
justified freely. How? Not by law, not by you doing
it, by Him doing it. By the grace, the gift of God,
which is the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom, that
is Christ God sent forth. declared to be the propitiation,
the bloody sacrifice, the mercy sea, through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness, his righteousness for the remission
of sins. God said in Leviticus 22, it
shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall be perfect. Well, we're
not perfect. We can't keep... He was. He is. Read on, verse 26, "...to
declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that God might
be just and a justifier of..." Who? Those that believe in Jesus. I could just close my Bible right
now, right? That's it. And so Christ came to be baptized.
Why did He say us? It behooves us. It becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness. Because He was us. We were in Him. When Christ was
doing that, I wasn't born yet. Was I? Were you? No. Who's He
doing that for? All of His people. They were
in Him. What He did, we did. Like a pregnant woman. Like a
pregnant woman. That baby in her, whoever loves
her, loves it. Whoever accepts her, accepts
it. Wherever she goes, it goes. When she sits down, it sits down. If somebody accepts her into
their house, that baby is accepted. Right there is what it means
to be in Christ. When He came, He was us. We were in Him. Lo, I come to do thy will." He
did it. I did too. I did too. God's well pleased for his righteousness
sake. He's pleased with me. He didn't
cry. God accepted him. All he did. I'm accepted in the beloved. Christ was buried. I was too.
Christ arose. I did too. Christ sat down. What does it say, John? We're
seated with Him in heaven. Our Lord said, you don't know
what I'm doing right now, but you will. He becometh us. He behooveth us. Mac, you've
got to be as righteous as God to get in heaven. You can't do
it, can you? Christ did. And if you're in
Christ, you did it. God looks at you as righteous, holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in God's sight. But, but, but, God said, don't
you complain what I've done. You see, we didn't do it. He
did it. And look what happened. Back in our text. Go back to
Matthew 3. When he was baptized, it says
here, That verse 16, when Jesus went, when he was baptized, went
up straight way out of the water. Now, the fact that he went up,
what does that mean? He went down. And Scripture says
that he that ascended is first he that descended. But, you know,
there's so much confusion among unbelievers about baptism. It's not sprinkling. That is
a ridiculous denial of the Lord Jesus Christ, what He did. It
is. And I know there were some Presbyterians
years ago, men we know and love, that did this. Well, they were
just ignorant. They were ignorant. Sprinkling? We're not told to
sprinkle, baby. No, no, no, no. This is for believers. It's a picture of Christ being
buried and washing in His blood. A spit bath won't clean you. Where did that come from? Spit
bath. You ever take one? You're not
washed, are you? You've got to douse yourself
with all kinds of stuff. The only thing that will wash
you is you get down under that water and just wash, don't you? There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's vein, a pool of Bethesda. We've got
to get down in, be washed all over from head to toe because
there is no soundness in us. A little sprinkling won't do
it. You need to throughly, wash me throughly, bury me, bury me. You wouldn't want to be around
you if we didn't just sprinkle a little dirt on your body. Christ went down, that's to tell
us plainly, tell us plainly that baptism is by immersion. But
it's more than that. Much more than that. He went
down, it says, straightway, He came up out. Well, of course
He did. If He went down, He's got to
come up. Well, but the Spirit of God says, straightway, He
came out of that water. The word straightway means immediately.
What is this telling us? It's telling us that when Christ
died, sin's gone. Immediately. It's gone. Put away. There's no long, drawn out, oh,
you're going to have to wait and see. No! Blood was poured
out on the mercy seat and God said, accept it. Immediately! When he died, he put away our
sin, put it away immediately. He that believeth, not some day
will find life, half life. That soul that on Jesus hath
leaned for repose, that moment, that moment, immediately accepted. What this is showing us is when
Christ arose, We're not waiting on a resurrection. We've already
been raised. Now, it's just so. It's just so. We were quickened together with
Him when Christ was seated. We're already seated. And, you know, this ought to
give us I don't know if I can bring this
out, but one of the old writers said most people live in such
an attitude of defeat and failure and despondency and despair and
so forth because they're looking at themselves, looking around
them, looking everywhere but a seated substitute, a mercy
seat, a reigning, ruling Lord, a sovereign wonderful Lord who
is merciful and gracious and loving and kind who came to this
earth to save His people, who smiles on His people. If you
look at Him, what you'll see is a smiling face. Yes, you will. If you really look to Him, you
won't see anger. You're really looking to Him.
Lord, have mercy. You'll get it. And, and, and,
why aren't they all downcast within me, David said. Hope in
the Lord. Look, we've got one who's entered
into the veil for me and seated right there. And everything's
mine. I have my beloveds and he is
mine. When the Shulamite found him,
she was troubled till she found him. When she found him, her
troubles were over. They're seated. They're already
there. I'll tell you another thing this is showing us. Immediately
he arose or came out of the water. It's also showing us that when
we laid these bodies in the ground, just as soon as that breath of
life leaves your body, you're with the Lord. You're with Him. Be absent from the body, praise
the Lord. It says, in a moment, a twinkle
in an eye, that when you close your eyes in death, they're going to open in glory. When whoever says, Amen, you're
going to wake up and hear the Amen. Immediately. What does the Lord
say to that thief on the cross? Lord, remember me. He said, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. He said, barely
I say of thee, barely I say of thee, today, shalt thou be with
me in paradise. The minute you lay this body
down, the minute the Lord lays it down, you're going to wake
up in glory immediately. It's a great way. And look, three
things happen. Three things happen. It says,
lo, the heavens were opened unto him. The heavens were opened unto
who? Christ. The way into the Holy of Holies
was opened unto who? Christ, the high priest to come
in. He's not entered into the earthly
place, the place made with hand, but in the heaven itself. And
it says, because, you know, he's us, and because Open the gates,
Psalm 24 says. Open the gates. Somebody's coming
in. Who? King of glory. What's that behind
Him? That's His people. Because He... Heaven's open to Him. It's open
to us. There's a man in glory. And look,
a whole bunch of men with Him. Heaven is open. Heaven was parted. The clouds disappeared. The veil
was rent. The way into the holiest was
open to Christ. And if we're in Christ, it's
open to us. Heaven's way is borrowed to us, but in Christ it's up. We're accepted in the beloved. And you know in the story of
Joshua? Go back and read it. It says
when Joshua and the priests put their feet in the Jordan, And Joshua went over first, and
he said, come. And all the people passed over. Heaven opened to Christ and all
that were in Christ. And then look at the next thing
that happened. It says, the Spirit of God descended like a dove
and lighting upon him. It's all about him. What he did,
because what he did, and who he did it for, It's all about
Him. The Spirit of God, like a dove,
came in a bodily form, I believe, like a dove, and lighting on
Him. John's watching this, and we
are too. What's this mean? The Spirit
of God, like a dove, bore witness of Him. The Spirit beareth witness
of Christ. Isn't that what he's called?
The Spirit of Christ. He says, he'll take the things of mine and show
them unto you. John said, in John's Gospel,
he said, I knew him not, but he that said unto me, when you
see the Spirit descending on him, that's him. John said, I
saw him. So John said, that's him. The Spirit of Christ, the Spirit
of God reveals Christ to all his people. That he's the Christ,
the Lamb of God. A dove, we read that in Psalm
of Solomon chapter 5. That's why we read it. A dove
in his purity, his holiness. It says, thou art fair, thou
hast dove's eyes. Dove's eyes. You ever looked
at the eyes of a dove? Innocent looking, aren't they?
Pure looking. That's our Lord, our Holy Lord.
A dove. Do you remember what it was that
Noah put out the window to see if the flood that had destroyed
all mankind was abated, that the waters were abated, that
there's hope of life. You remember what kind of bird
it was? A dove. And the dove left. Did he come
back? What did he have in his mouth?
An olive branch. That's peace. He's our peace. He left. Oh, John, but he obtained
peace for us by the blood of his cross. He's dove's eyes,
all right. The Holy Spirit descended on
him like a dove to show him as our peace offering. Also, a dove
is harmless. It says he's holy, harmless,
separate from sinners, undefiled. This earth is full of violence.
This man, tender, meek, lowly, gentle, the lamb. Though he's
a lion, he's a lamb. Though he's an eagle, he's a
dove. Superficial. Though he's to be feared, yet
he says, fear not. Nothing to fear in the company
of this man. Like a dove. And a dove for faithfulness.
Anybody have any mourning doves around you? You ever see one
by itself? Always doing that, ooh, ooh,
just one. Why is it doing that? It's lost
its mate. A mourning does while we call
it that. They'll never have another. They're true to their mate. Till
life, till death do they part. Having loved his own, He loved
him to the end. He's a faithful husband. And then, last look. So this dove landed on him. Heaven
opened. A dove landed on him, proving
this is the Christ, then the greatest witness of all. God, who hadn't spoke for thousands
of years. God spoke. Look at it. God spoke. Lo, a voice from heaven
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Is there any doubt who this is? The voice of God, this is my
beloved Son. This is my beloved Son, the only
begotten, beloved, well-loved Son of the Most High God. God says He cannot contain Himself. He cannot contain Himself. And
He never said this before about any human being, that when His
Son was made flesh and dwelt among us, God spoke out loud. At first, John heard it. Then
next, the three disciples on the mountain heard it. And then
a bunch of people, hundreds around, heard his voice. But here, he's
speaking mostly to the Son. And he said, Be my well-beloved,
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. God was well pleased
with his person. He's altogether lovely, everything
about Him. His mercy, His love, His grace, His walk, His talk,
His speech, His faithfulness. He's well pleased with His work.
Obedient. You know, our daughter, we were
so blessed, weren't we, with an obedient child. We were talking
about how it would be the greatest trial on earth to have a disobedient
child. Many of you have gone through
that. But a great blessing to be blessed with an obedient child
in us. One that gives you pure joy.
God said, I'm well pleased for His righteousness sake. We brag
on our sinful children, don't we, Steven? They're just like
us, but we brag on them anyway. Why? They please us. Oh, my,
the Son of God. Well pleasing. Holy. Holy. Because He's obedient unto
death, Oh, God gave him a name above everything. We say to our
children, if you'll be obedient, the sky's the limit. If you'll be willing and obedient,
you'll eat the good of the land. God said, Christ was, so God
gave him the land. The sky wasn't the limit. He
gave him that too. Because he was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Took upon himself the
form of a servant. God hath given him a name above
every name. Who is it? This is my Son. And all the angels bow to Him. Let every creature bow and worship
Him. This is my Son. I love Him. You love Him. I love you. Well pleased for His obedience,
for His sacrifice, for His generosity. Aren't you pleased when your
children are generous with others? Oh, he was rich, yet for our
sakes became poor. God is well pleased. Well pleased. The Savior. Christ said, The
Father loveth me because I lay down my life for the sheep. You know, I told you a story
about my brother who was my hero as a boy. He was a role model,
wasn't he, Dad? He was a role model, wasn't he,
Mom? He really was an upstanding, fine, young man. I looked up
to him. I admired him. I wanted to be
like him. And he was very good, very successful at what he did,
good at it, and even in the Army. But you know what contributed
to his honor more than anything? In his life, he was honorable
to his parents and admirable to me. But when he died for his
country, now, now he's doubly honored. Understand? Anyone who lays down
their life for others, And we don't deserve it. But
he did. Got double honor there. Oh my,
God said, this is my beloved son. Lovely in life. Lovely in personality. Admirable in his character. Glorious
in his person, his personality. I'm well pleased with his obedience.
Well pleased with his generosity. But since he laid down his life
for sinners, God has highly exalted him. Highly exalted him. And what do you think God thinks
about people that don't care? Somebody desecrate these people
that burned the flag. What do you think about that?
People that burned the flag? It's just a flag. It covered my brother's coffin. It covers my grandfather's coffin.
Ron, it'll cover your coffin. Anybody that served there, it'll
cover it. You died following it, didn't you? Didn't you, Henry? What do you think about people
burning the flag? What do you think God thinks about people
that trot underfoot the blood of the Son of God? Hmm? He said, burn it up. But my people? Those that love
my son, God says, I'm well pleased for his righteousness. What's
all this mean to me? I'm going to be baptized. How
about you? I'm going to confess Christ. How about you? It behooveth
us. It becometh us to confess. He said so. Spirit of God, I
need Him to show me who Christ is. I need Him to lead me and
guide me. He hath not the Spirit of Christ.
He's none of His. I need Him, don't you? I need
heaven opened. I need to know the way in. That's
Christ. I need the Father to be pleased. I want the Father
to be pleased with me. How? Here He came. There He comes. Below I come.
Everyone that looks to me. You're well-pleasing to God.
That's hard to believe. All right. I quit. We're going to go and leave.