This is an incident in the life
of our Lord as He deals with people that is very interesting. You'll see as we read, verse
49 and following. The Lord says to those, I am
come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already
kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but
rather division, for from henceforth There shall be five in one house,
house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against
the son, the son against the father, the mother against the
daughter, the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law
against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law. And he said unto the people,
when you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you
say, there cometh a shower, and so it is. When you see the south
wind blow, you say, there will be heat, and it comes to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern
the face of the sky and of the earth, But how is it that ye
do not discern this time? That's very interesting, and
I don't think we'll get to it today. Yea, and even of yourself
judge ye not what is right. Now, I'd call your attention
to verse 50, for it'll principally be our text today. I have a baptism
to be baptized with and how am I straightened until it be accomplished. Let me point out something in
the beginning. about the way that our Lord,
while He were upon the earth, spoke about His coming death,
that He would die upon the cross. The careful reader of the Gospels,
the four Gospels, will discern something about the way in which
our Lord spoke of His coming death in that He used a two-fold
manner of describing the death that He would die. First of all,
at times, and usually in the earlier part of his ministry,
and in the hearing of crowds that were nominal, not really
interested or followers of him, the early part of his ministry,
he used figurative language to describe his death. He used metaphors. He used a
form of speech that could be understood in two ways, and could
be misunderstood in a spiritual sense, and he couched the references
to his death in figurative words which were often misconstrued
by those that heard him, and at times even by his disciples. Secondly, at other times, usually
later in the ministry of our Lord, and especially among the
apostles and the disciples, He told them plainly that He was
going to Jerusalem, that He would be crucified there, that He would
be handed over into the hand of the Gentiles, and the Son
of Man, as He called Himself, betrayed into the hand of sinners. He said that He would die. He
said that He would be buried. And He said that He would rise
again after three days. And of course, the epistles also
use plain language in describing the death of our Lord upon the
cross. Now, concerning that first manner
of speaking about His death that I mentioned. by figurative ways
and in metaphors. Here are some examples of how
our Lord spoke about His death, but He was not understood by
most of the people. You remember John 2, verse 19,
when on a certain occasion, our Lord said to them, destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. Now his hearers
thought that he spoke about the physical temple of the Jews in
Jerusalem. But no, he referred to the temple
of his body, which would live again after three days and three
nights in the grave. There are his words to Nicodemus
in John the third chapter, that he must be lifted up in fashion
like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. And we learn
that he is being lifted up. referred to the death that he
would die upon the cross or the tree that is being lifted up,
did not refer to his resurrection or to his being exalted in the
preaching of the Word or even in his ascension to the right
hand of God in heaven. He refers to his death. when
he said that he must be lifted up. Then there's that place,
I love this place, in John chapter 12 and verse 24, where the Lord
uses this metaphor. He says, unless a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit. If it brings forth much fruit. Now, this figure is not generally
grasped by those that read these words. You'd have to almost be
a country boy or a farmer to understand what is here. The
image is not. of a, quote, green ripe seed
that is cast into the ground, for it would not germinate or
sprout or come up to produce many kernels. A green ripe kernel
would decompose and would be overcome by bacteria, consumed,
and bring forth nothing. The Lord is referring here to
what John Brown, one of the theologians, called Dead ripe seed. That's the kind that you always
plant in your field or your garden. It had passed through and beyond
the succulent stage when it was ripe and juicy and ready for
the table. But Jesus in His cross became
dead first. and then was placed in the tomb. And His resurrection brought
forth much fruit. Because He lived, others will
live. Because He is alive evermore,
it has an effect upon all of the people of God. Now Jesus
knew, in using these metaphors, that most would not understand
these dark sayings, and these proverbs or these parables did
not mean them to be fully and spiritually understood by the
carnal people of the world at that time. For His disciples
were not even able to bear the full truth. So He used figures. And then when the thing actually
came to pass, they remembered that He had said so, and they
made the connection, then remembered they. We read in the New Testament. Now, this passage here in Luke
chapter 12 this morning, is one of the enigmatic. That is, it is mysterious and
hard to be understood and is somewhat obscure unless one is
sharp spiritually or has it explained to them. It is one of those sayings
of the Lord regarding His death that is somewhat obscure. Not only so, but it is no doubt
figurative as well. Our Lord is speaking in the figurative
sense in this play. We understand That going in,
that both the fire and the baptism that our Lord speaks about here
in this text are figurative. It's like that cup. I have a
baptism to be baptized with. I have a cup. which my Father
hath given me, and shall I not drink it?" Now just as a point
of contrast, consider if you would Matthew 16 and verse 21.
From that time forth, Jesus began to show His disciples
that He must go unto Jerusalem, He must suffer many things there
of the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed
and be raised again on the third day. Now please notice, at that
time, from that time forth, from that time forward, from then
and on in the ministry of our Lord. Now, question that we raise
here in this play. What was the significance about
that time? You saw it here in our text. How can you tell the weather
forecast How can you tell it's going to be hot and you have
nothing in the way of this sign concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? Now please notice, at that time,
we want to look at it. What was so significant about
that time? That Jesus about then, altered
the way that He spoke to His disciples about His coming death. He became much more direct. He
became much more open with them regarding what would happen unto
Him and the death that He would die. And so the answer is, it
followed the grand confessional of the Apostle Peter, there in
Matthew 16 and verse 21. In verse 16 we read, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's Peter's confession. The Lord said, Who do you say
that I am? And Peter openly, boldly, before
all said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He confessed Jesus to be the
promised Messiah. The Christ. The anointed One
of God. the one the Old Testament prophet
spoke of. This is a fixed and a firm resolve
of the apostle, and that upon his divine person he would build
his church, and the gates of hell would not at all prevail
against it. From here on, he began to teach
them the necessity and the certainty of his death at Jerusalem. And in verse 20, not yet to publish
to the people that he was the Messiah. Do not yet make this
publication. that I am the Messiah. You see the reaction of the apostle
Peter in the 22nd verse, still in Matthew chapter 16. The Lord
talked about his debt. Peter rebuked him and he said,
unto him this shall not occur unto you. No, Lord, this shall
not occur to God's Son, to the Messiah, to the blessed One of
God. You probably remember this very
same apostle on the night of Jesus' arrest You'll find it
in John 18 and verse 10, when they came to take the Lord away,
that Simon drew out his sword and he cut off the ear of one
of those that had come to take away our Lord. He would not have
our Lord to be taken away and put to death. The point being,
even his innermost disciple did not fully perceive the necessity
and the certainty of his death until it occurred and he was
raised again. And so for a time, our Lord used
picturesque figures unto them. In our text in Luke 12, verse
49 and 50, we have His statement. I am come to send a fire upon
the earth. And another one. I have a baptism
to be baptized with. Now again, the fire certainly
is figurative. The Lord's not going to burn
up the world literally. and expositors are not sure about
what to make of this fire. Whether it refers to the gospel
being preached and spreading like a wildfire, or a radical
change, brought in by the death and resurrection of our Lord,
and the diffusion of the gospel after the death and resurrection
of the Savior. And concerning this fire, the
Lord adds these words, very interesting, and what I, if it be, already
kindle. Now we can see this is a difficult
phrase. We know it's difficult because
the different commentators are spread all over the map with
regard to it. So let's take the whole verse
together, since the last half is related unto the first half. I am come to cast, or to throw
down a fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already
kindled." Now, verse 50 is much in the same fashion. A statement
and then a commentary. So let's look at it. Some see
exaltation, that the fire was already kindled when our Lord
came. already blazing, already starting,
already spreading, and that with great speed. Secondly, others
see it as a wish or a desire on the part of the Lord, and
they say it is, what do I will? What is my desire? What pleases
me? Just this, that it were already
kindled. That's how some see it. Now concerning
this fire, that Christ came to throw down a fire on the earth,
let's think of something which was said by John the Baptist.
You'll find it in Matthew, the third chapter, and it is in two
verses. That would be verse 10 and verse
12. They speak of judgment and of
division. Here's verse 10. And even already
is the axe laid, at the root of the trees, and every tree
that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into
the fire." That's part of the judgment that would come when
Messiah appeared. Then we look at verse 12, whose
winnowing fan, or literally a fork, we called him a pitchfork, is
in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and he will
gather his wheat into the garner, we call it a barn, but he will
burn up the chaff with fire unquenchable." Now, fire here, a couple of prophecies
from Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter
3 and verse 2. Who may abide the day of His
coming? Who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire
and fuller's soul. Then you have Malachi 4 and verse
1. For behold, the days come that shall burn as an oven, and
all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and
the day that comes shall burn them, saith the Lord of hosts."
Again in John 9, verse 39, "...for judgment I am come into the world,
that they which see not might see, and they which see might
become blind." Proverb by our Lord. Matthew 10 and 34, Luke
12 and 51. Suppose that I am come to give
peace on the earth, I tell you, nay, but a division. A lot of people have the idea
that the Lord came to unite all people under one banner and one
thought. The Lord said not that. I came
to bring a division. Now coming to chapter 12, verse
50 of Luke, as to the Lord's strong desire that the fire,
in verse 59, be kindled. Then we look at the but, in the
beginning of verse 50, but or an, but or an, in order that
the fire be kindled, I have a baptism to be baptized with. Seems that
that's the order of thought and the continuity of the text. Yes, I'm come to throw down a
fire and how I will that it were already kindled. But, he says,
in order under that, I have a baptism to be baptized with. Again, the baptism is figurative. As Gil said, it does not refer
to water baptism, as the Lord had some time ago been baptized
in water by John in the third chapter of Matthew. Nor was it baptism in the Spirit
of God, for that too had come upon Him. He was already anointed. The Spirit of God, without measure,
had been given to our Savior to perform His work. But this
baptism with which He must be baptized was just ahead. It was before Him. It was not
behind him, having already taken place. It was future. It was
coming. I have a baptism to be baptized
with. Now there can be no doubt that
the Lord referred to his coming sufferings that he was appointed
to endure. And not only his suffering, but
also the death that was appointed unto him to die. And he likened
it, or used the figure of a baptism, something he was to be baptized
with, something that he would undergo, something that he would
be immersed into. Well, let's remember something.
That is that the Lord used this same figure on another occasion
in addressing the request of James and John, or of their mother. And that request was that in
His glory, or in His kingdom, one sit on the right hand, the
other sit on the left hand of our Lord. You have it in Matthew
20, 20-23. Mark records it in 10.35-40. When the request was put to our
Lord, grant, Lord, that my sons may sit one on the right hand
and one on the left hand, our Lord's response was, you know
not what you ask. Then He says this, can you? Are you able, to Peter and John
and the other, are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? To sit
on the right hand, on the left hand, are you able to drink the
cup that I drink and undergo the baptism that I will undergo? This occurred even as the Lord
was on His way to Jerusalem and to the cross. And in verse 17-19
of that chapter 20 of Matthew, the Lord is going to Jerusalem
and He has the twelve with Him. And He does something affectionately
and amazing. He takes them aside And he tells
them plainly, that is the twelve, taking them aside, he tells them
plainly, we're going up to Jerusalem. And so do they think, oh, we're
going to Jerusalem where He can teach and preach and be in the
temple and such like. No, says the Lord, the Son of
Man shall be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests, the
scribes. They shall condemn Him unto death. They shall deliver Him to the
Gentiles. He shall be mocked. He shall
be scourged, He shall be crucified in Jerusalem. And the third day
He will rise again. He forewarns them, Mark 10 and
32. tells us they were amazed, they
were afraid when they saw the temper of our Lord and heard
the words of our Lord. And so it is that in His kindness
He meets in private with the twelve and tells them what it
is that they are to expect in Jerusalem. Mark 10.34 includes,
they shall spit upon the Son of Man. Matthew 20.22, Mark 10
and verse 38, He mentions two things, a cup to drink and a
baptism, both referring to the coming suffering and death that
He would meet with in Jerusalem. This cup was full of bitter dregs. when he tasted death for every
elect. It was full of bitterness, but
he drank it for the sake of his brethren." Hebrews 2 and verse
9. And the Lord uses the phrase,
taste of death, in John 16 and 28, Mark 9 and Luke chapter 9
and 27. As do the Jews in John 8, 52. They use that expression, taste
of death. Now, the Lord referred to a cup
in the garden. The supper being finished, They
go over the brook Cedron, into the garden, and our Lord mentions
there a cup. And here is the heaviest agony
of our Savior of all as He faces the cross. Matthew 26, 39, and
verse 42. And He rebuked Peter for trying
to deliver the Lord from those that came to take Him away. For he said in John 18 and verse
11, put the sword back into its scalper. The cup which my father
gave me to drink, shall I not drink it? the cup and the baptism. Two ways of expressing the same
thing. Two parts that make up the whole
of the suffering and the death of our Lord. Now first let's
look at the cup. Shall I not drink it? Our Lord said. Now we know that
this cup was given to Him by the Father. The cup which my
Father hath given me, and that's God, the Father hath given me. It was appointed by the Father. It was set before Him by the
Father. This cup was not set before our
Lord by the devil. nor by the Jew, nor by the Roman. The Father hath given him this
cup to drink. He took it to be the cup prepared
by the Father that he must drink. Shall I not drink it? he asked. That is, I must. I will drink it. It will not
pass away, except I drink this cup prepared by my Father. Then do you ask, What is in the
cup? What is in it that makes it so
distasteful to God's holy and righteous One? What makes His
soul sorrowful unto death as He speaks of it in the garden? Gil said, John Gil, that is,
that by the cup is meant the wrath of God, the punishment
due to sin, just as mixed up in the cup for our Lord. For
remember, He is about to be made sin. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse
21. He is about to endure the curse
of the law. Galatians 3 and 13. The Father has commanded the
sword of His justice to arise out of its scalper and go forth
and smite His servant. The prophecy. of Zechariah 13
and verse 7. What a wonderful prophecy that
is. Awake, O sword, and go and smite
the shepherd. even my fellow. His soul is about
to be made, or about to make, an offering for sin, as Isaiah
53, verse 10 through 12 has put it. So let's go back now to Luke
chapter 12, and the expression used, I have a baptism to be
baptized with. A baptism to be baptized. Now, to repeat it for clearness,
the Lord, though speaking figuratively in cup and baptism, is referring
to the dead that he will die. It is also very clear, is it
not, yes it is, that the Same word used here in referring to
water baptism is the word used by the Lord, I have a baptism. The word baptisma and the second
word baptized, to be baptized, baptizo, the meaning of these
words is to immerse. is to submerge, is to dip or
to put in or to put under. This is the meaning and the only
meaning of this word in the New Testament. I remind you of this
and emphasize it because there are some that we call Paedobaptists
agree that the word in every place means to immerse. that it means to put under. And then what do they do? They
sprinkle and call it baptism. Some bring this to bear even
on the passage in Luke 12 and verse 50 using sprinkle instead
of baptism. For example, I read it, Matthew
Henry wrote Christ called His sufferings a baptism, quote,
for He was watered, or sprinkled with them, dipped into them,
sprinkled with His own blood, unquote. And there's Linsky,
takes a swipe at immersionist out of this text in Luke 12,
saying we only spoil the figure by saying that Jesus was immersed
in his sufferings Unquote. They wanted to be sprinkled instead
of immersed. But the cup and the baptism went
beyond his misery and his suffering and included also the actual
physical death of our Lord. We dare not say that he was sprinkled
with death. We say that he was immersed in
death. He went into death. He died. He was buried in the
tomb. He entered into what is called
Hades, in Acts the second chapter, into death, into the grave. Ah,
but he saw no corruption. The grave could not hold him,
it could not corrupt him, and it could not swallow him up.
Now, his obedience was not enough, though necessary. His suffering
in the flesh was not all that he must undergo. He must also
enter into death. He must die. A baptism of suffering
and of death awaited him, and it began to seize upon him in
the garden. when there as He knelt and prayed
and said, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. Matthew 26, 38, Mark 14 and 34. And this was the travail of his
soul that Isaiah spoke about, chapter 53 and verse 11. Though it is likely that the
prophet of God had in mind the fruit of his travail, like a
woman travails and delivers and there is the fruit. of her travail. The Lord, in travailing, brought
forth many sons unto glory. The blessed Jesus had gone as
it was determined. Luke 22 and 22, He had given
the words that He had heard from the Father. He had given evidence
of His being the very Son of God with power. He'd been reviled,
despised, rejected, blasphemed by his very own nation. As David Brown wrote, he had
pressed through every stage of his suffering but the last one. And the last one was the most
severe. For that hour had come. not just the hour, but that hour
had come, the hour purpose planned before the world when He, slain
in the purpose and the decree of God before the world, Revelation
13 and verse 8, would be actually slain and put to death as the
Lamb of God without spot and without blemish. Nothing remained
now as our Lord agonized in the garden and began to taste the
bitterness of that cup and the agony in His soul. Nothing remained
but the betrayal with a kiss, arrested, condemned, beaten,
taken, and crucified upon the cross by wicked hands. And our
Lord, in His omniscience, knew all of this. Sorrow began to
seize upon the blessed soul of our Lord. The curse of the law,
the exact measure of God's wrath, began to seize Him as He was
there in the garden. then he immersed in his suffering
and in his death. For the sword of God was about
to be unsheathed and about to receive the command of God, go
smite, go smite, go and smite. Not smite the wicked and the
ungodly and the crucifiers of our Lord, but, O sword of justice,
go and smite, my darling, son, my very own fellow. Yes, the sword of God's divine
wrath unsheathed. And as A.W. Pink said, it returned
not to its scabbard until it had been soaked in the blood
of Christ at Calvary. In our minds, I We might see
Isaac yonder bound in Genesis 22 upon an altar, the wood all
stoked around the altar, the matches are the fire ready, and
Abraham reaches for the knife that he had brought with him
when Isaac at that moment is spared. And a ram is substituted
in the stead of Isaac. That's in Genesis 22. But God did not spare his own
son. even at the last minute as he
did Isaac. He didn't spare him. He delivered
him up for us all. Paul writes in Romans 8 and 32,
there was none to take his place. There's no ram caught in the
thicket. There's no criminal that can
be brought and put there in his place. Not only did none take
his place, but we read in the scripture that God did not lessen
the strokes any, even though they were against his only beloved
son. He exacted the full measure required
by His righteousness and His justice when it was His own Son
that was paying. Yes, our Lord had a baptism to
be baptized with, a suffering and a death to undergo, a death
to die. Now is it at hand. Now is it
inevitable and soon. Our Lord will be upon the cross. Then let us know His words, His
feeling. How am I straightened until it
be accomplished? Now the word straightened is
soon echoed with a variety of meanings, compressed, restricted
on both sides, pressed in the margin as it pained. If you look
at the King James, Paul uses the word in Philippians 1 and
23, I am in a strait between the two. The words used in Acts
18 and verse 5 to describe Paul. Paul was pressed in the spirit. one and the same Word. In Luke
19.43, it is keeps in. Nevertheless, Christ went resolutely
to His death upon the cross. He endured the cross, despising
the shame. He laid down His life. He made
no attempt to avoid the cross, though He could have slain everyone
in Jerusalem with a word of His mouth. He could have called legions
of angels to deliver Him, but He did not. By His own power,
He could have delivered Himself. He gave His back to the smiters. He laid down His life as the
Good Shepherd of the sheep. And the sufferings of our Lord
were twofold. First, there were those from
men. the blasphemy, the beatings,
the crown of thorns. the mocking, the scourging. But
then there were those sufferings that were from God, the latter
of these being the worst, for they were sufferings in soul. In soul. My soul is exceedingly
sorrowful unto death. I would like to close with two
sayings of our Lord and how Appropriate they are, these two points in
his life. First of all, the saying of our
Lord, John 17 and 1. The crucifixion is near. The
great prayer of our Lord after the upper room discourse to all
of the disciples. And our Lord said, the hour is
come. Father, glorify thy Son with
the glory that he had with you before the world began. The hour
is come. I think it would be that hour
is come. And then the last cry, upon the
cross, it is finished. As our Lord was about to yield
up the Spirit to the Father, And he cried out, it is finished. Salvation's work is done. Sin is put away. The curse of
the law has been endured. The righteousness of the law
is fulfilled. It is finished. And our Lord
gave up the ghost into the hands of the Father. A baptism to be
baptized with And he endured it to our good and the salvation
of many.