Pray with me, please. Oh, gracious and merciful Father.
Lord, we thank you. We praise you, Lord, for your
blessings in Christ. For the joy of baptizing your
servant, Mark Iverson. And Lord, for each one that you
have drawn to this place to serve you in Christ. I pray, Father,
for the salvation of souls. I pray that you might use your
word and make it powerful in our hearts. Use Mark's testimony
of his death and burial and resurrection in Christ to speak to each one
of us that in love we might be drawn closer to Christ. Christ
who died that we might have life in him. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. If you closed your Bibles
would you open them again please to Matthew chapter 3 verses 13
to 17. I cannot get over the fact that
it is such a great privilege for us to be able to baptize
Mark Iverson. My heart is thrilled. And so
this morning I want to tell you about another baptism. That baptism
in which Mark is following. It's the baptism of our Lord
Our Lord who spent the first 30 years of His life on this
earth in relative obscurity, but when the time had come for
Him to embark on His public ministry, for Him to fulfill His prophetic
office, He did it by coming from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized
by John the Baptist. By the way, every once in a while
somebody says something to me that indicates that there's some
confusion about who John the Baptist and the apostle of John
were. They are not the same man. But
some people get fused about that. But anyway, we have Matthew's
account of this momentous event of Christ's baptism in Matthew
3, verses 13 to 17. And it says, 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 he suffered him, then he
baptized 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."
You know, it was just like the Jewish priests in the Old Testament.
When they entered into the priestly office, they consecrated themselves
to God by being washed with water. And so also our great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ, began the great work which he came
in the world to accomplish by consecrating himself to God in
public baptism. Being baptized by John the Baptist,
our Lord Jesus is setting before us an example. It's an example
of obedience to God, which he later commanded all of his disciples
to follow with those who believe the gospel that they preach.
Baptism is an honored ordinance. Matthew 3 verse 13 says, Then
cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized
of him. Does anybody at all think that
baptism is an insignificant thing? Does anyone think that this ordinance
of Christ is non-essential? The Son of God didn't look on
baptism as something that was not important. Christ's baptism
was important to Christ. It was important because it was
His Father's will that He be baptized. The journey from Nazareth
to Jerusalem probably took about three days. And yet our Savior
walked all that way so that He might be baptized by John the
Baptist. I take it from Christ's example
that this ordinance of divine worship is not to be taken lightly.
If Christ our Lord, the head of the church, honored the ordinance
of baptism by submitting to it, surely all of those who profess
to follow Christ must and they will be baptized. But two words
of caution are necessary because this ordinance has been greatly
perverted by lost religious men. First, Let's throw away all of
the creeds and the confessions of men and simply obey the Word
of God as it stands. Let's not add anything to the
Word of God. Let's not take anything away
from the Word of God. Let's just take the Word of God
as it stands. Whenever men begin to tamper
with the Word of God, people are misled. Souls are ruined. And second, We must never attach
any idolatrous or superstitious importance to the order 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. Please hear
this carefully. Baptism doesn't save us, but
baptism is very important. We are redeemed by the blood
of Christ. We are born again by the Spirit
of God. We are saved by the grace of
God. And baptism pictures, and Mark
in his baptism confessed these blessings of grace. But baptism
has absolutely no redeeming value, no saving merit, no effect on
our salvation. Our salvation is all in Christ. Yes, we must never dishonor the
ordinance of baptism by refusing to submit to it, by making it
a mere ritual without meaning, or by altering its form. And
we must never allow inconvenience or trouble to keep us from the
worship of God or from observing this ordinance of divine worship
as it was practiced and prescribed by our Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus went to considerable
trouble and inconvenience to observe this ordinance of worship
by his baptism. It seems he came from Galilee
to Jordan to be baptized. Today, multitudes of people will
call themselves believers and followers of Christ. And then
they'll quickly justify themselves in their neglect of their worship. But you won't find justification
for not worshiping God in the Word of God. The Sheminite woman
that you can read about in 2 Kings 4 rode on horseback every Sabbath
day to go and hear God's prophet at Carmel. although her husband
at the same time hindered her when she went. In David's time
the saints of God passed through the valley of Baca to worship
God at Zion. According to Psalm 84 verse 6,
and the word Baca means weeping. In other words, they passed through
a valley of weeping to go worship God. According to Daniel 12.4
in Daniel's day, Believers ran to and fro to increase knowledge
or to learn more about the Lord God. They went, I guess, every
place where the Lord was preached. In Zechariah 8.21 we are told
that in Zechariah's day the inhabitants of one city went to another city
saying, let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek
the Lord of hosts. In the book of Acts chapter 8
verse 25 we read about the eunuch. who traveled from Ethiopia all
the way up to Jerusalem to worship God. Any man or woman who talks
about being a Christian, who talks about worshiping God, who
talks about being a believer, and yet they still willfully
neglect the worship of God, ought to blush with shame. All worship
of God is important, and the baptism of believers is an important
form of the worship of God. It's a witness to what we believe
about Jesus Christ. And then think about our Lord's
humility in being baptized by John the Baptist. In Matthew
3 verses 14 and 15 it says, 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. and then he suffered him and
John baptized him. It was a great act of condensation
and humility for the Son of God to come to John the Baptist and
ask to be baptized. In all things our Savior constantly
strikes a blow at our foolish pride. He never misses an opportunity
to expose and to condemn our pride both by his words and by
his actions. He constantly teaches all of
those who follow Him to walk in humility. Oh dear Lord, how
I pray that He might take away my pride. Such pride that always
and constantly comes up in my heart. Our Savior was always
the meek and lowly one though. His parents weren't important
people. He was born in a manger and He was raised in obscurity.
And when Jesus rode into Jerusalem as the King of Zion, He didn't
ride on a great white horse, but He rode on a lowly ass. And
when He began His public ministry, it wasn't with pomp and pageanty,
but He began His earthly ministry by being immersed by a man in
a muddy river. In 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9,
Paul said, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, and ye
through his poverty might be made rich. The Lord's servant
John the Baptist, although he was as bold as a lion, was also
a man of true humility. When the Lord Jesus came to John
for baptism, John strenuously objected, not out of a spirit
of rebellion, but out of a spirit of reverence and awe for the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, John knew who Christ
was. John knew that the man standing before him was the infinite God. He knew that this man was his
Redeemer and his Savior. And John knew himself too. John
knew that he was a sinner in need of grace and a sinner saved
by grace through the merits of the Lamb of God that stood before
him to be baptized. But although John the Baptist
was conscious of his personal sin and his own unworthiness
to baptize Christ, when the Lord commanded him to do it, John
baptized him. No man in himself is ever worthy
to do anything in worship and service of the Holy Lord God.
Our only worthiness before God is in Christ. It is Christ's
blood and Christ's righteousness alone that makes us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light as it
says in Colossians 112. And it is Jesus Christ who makes
us worthy to approach our God in our acts of worship. We have
no right in a pretense of humility to refuse any command or any
duty which is clearly set before us by our God as something that
we should do And I'm referring to the Lord's Supper as well
as to baptism. And look at this in verse 15.
If you've still got your Bibles open there, look at verse 15.
Matthew 3, verse 15. When John the Baptist tells Jesus
that he feels unworthy to baptize his Lord, verse 15 says, Jesus
answered and said unto him, Suffer to be so now, for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness." Those are interesting words,
aren't they? Jesus Christ, the righteous son of God, says that
he needs to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Well, why
did the Lord Jesus insist upon being baptized by John? He didn't
have any sins to confess. He was without sin. He had no
sin or transgression to repent of. He was without sin. He had
no iniquities to be washed away. He was without sin. And yet Jesus
told Job that it was necessary for him to be baptized to fulfill
all righteousness. What did this baptism have to
do with the fulfillment of all righteousness? Turn please to
Romans chapter 5 and verses 18 to 21. I'm sure that you know that our blessed Savior fulfilled
all of the requirements of God's holy law for us. He fulfilled
those requirements as our representative, as our substitute, freeing us
from the law's curse and condemnation by His obedience unto death.
Jesus Christ willingly did the will of His Father always. He
was without sin. In Romans 5, verses 18 to 21,
it says, Therefore, as by the offense of one Judgment came
on 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 reigned under death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord." Jesus Christ as our substitute fulfilled
perfectly, fulfilled completely all of the will of God as the
God-man, our mediator, by which we are forever sanctified. In
Hebrews 10 verses 9 and 10 we find the prophetic words of our
Savior. It says, 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. By his baptism, our Savior symbolically
fulfilled all righteousness and established baptism as a standing
ordinance in his church. so that believing men and women
would publicly confess that Christ had fulfilled all of their righteousness
as their substitute. By his baptism, the Lord Jesus
symbolically demonstrated to the church how he would fulfill
all righteousness as our sin-atoning substitute. He demonstrated that
he would do that by his death, burial, and resurrection. And by our baptism, we confess
the same thing. The baptism of Christ, Charles
Spurgeon wrote, was the picture, the type and the symbol of the
work which he, which Christ afterwards accomplished. He was immersed
in suffering. He died and he was buried in
the tomb. And he rose again from the grave
and all of that is set forth in the outward symbol of his
baptism in the River Jordan. Believers' baptism symbolically
fulfills all righteousness. It's an ordinance full of meaning
when it's rightly observed. It's not so full of meaning when
it's not rightly observed. Baptism is to be reverently observed
by all who follow Christ. If our Lord Himself submitted
to it, we can't truly follow Him and refuse to submit to it.
I quote Charles Spurgeon again. He said, Shall I refuse to follow
my Lord? Shall I think that there is nothing
in the ordinance of which he said, thus it becomes us to fulfill
all righteousness? Turn please to Romans 6 verses
4-6. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
made sin for us, he was slain under the wrath of God and buried. And when Jesus Christ had put
away sin, He rose from the dead because he had accomplished our
justification as our substitute. And when believers follow Christ
into the watery grave of baptism, we are publicly acknowledged
that our only hope before God is in this fact. Jesus Christ
accomplished for us, in his death and in his resurrection, as our
substitute, all that is required to make us righteous before God. Then rising out of the watery
grave of baptism, we symbolically pledge our allegiance to Christ,
walking with Him in the newness of life and in the hope of the
resurrection. In Romans 6, verses 4-6, Paul
said, 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 the newness of
life. For 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. And everything that I have said
about the baptism of Christ, which we are to copy from Christ's
baptism, should indicate to you clearly that baptism is by immersion
only. Matthew 3 verse 16 says, 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.
There are many people, not in this congregation I pray, but
there are many people who believe the doctrines of Christ, as we
do, And yet they, in good conscience, are opposed to our insistence
on baptism as an ordinance for believers only. And they also
disagree with us on the fact that baptism can only be performed
by immersion. Baptism isn't baptism unless
it's done by immersion. I don't see how they can take
the Bible as the Word of God and still hold to their position
that you can baptize without immersion, but they do. So I
feel I have to point out clearly Matthew 3.16 and declare to you
the obvious thing that you can see from this verse. Baptism is immersion. Immersion is not the Baptist
method of baptism. Immersion is baptism. Sprinkling
is sprinkling and pouring is pouring. Baptism is immersion. Have I said it clearly enough? Matthew 3, verse 16 says that
Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water. There is absolutely no reason
for Matthew to make that statement except to show us that baptism
must be performed by immersion. I pray that this doesn't offend
anybody here. I don't think it does for you all, I don't preach
God's Word to please men, and so I say that without immersion,
there has been no baptism. I think I can't say it any clearer
than that. This isn't a light thing. John Gill says about this
verse 16, he says, we learn this from it, that since it is said
that he came up out of the water, he must first have gone down
into the water. must have been in it and was
baptized in it. That Christ should go down into
the river more or less ankle deep, or up to the knees, or
up to the waist, that John should sprinkle water on his face or
pour it on his head is ridiculous. It can't hardly obtain any credit
with persons of thought and sense. End of John Gill's quote. I kind
of messed it up, but that's what he said. It is only by immersion that
we can testify to our Lord's death, burial and resurrection
in Christ. Turn please to Romans 6 verses
3 to 6 again. We looked at 4 to 6 before, but
let's look at verse 3 to 6. Baptism is always represented
in scriptures as burial. In Romans 6 verses 3 to 6, Paul
asks, Know you not that so many of us were baptized into Christ,
were baptized into His death? Verse 4, 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
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of His death, talking about baptism, 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." And
again, in 2 Colossians 2, verse 12, it says about Christ that
we are buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised
him from the dead. And again, in 1 Corinthians 15,
1, Paul said, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel,
which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein
you stand. And then skipping down to verse
29, it says, Else what shall they do which are baptized for
the dead? If the dead rise not at all,
why are you then baptized for the dead? When you bury a corpse
in the earth, You don't throw a few grains of dirt or sand
in his face. You put him under the ground.
And a man is not buried in baptism by sprinkling a few drops of
water in his face either. He must be immersed in water. That's the picture. Into death. Baptism is a believer's testimony
that he has died in Christ, been buried in Christ, and has been
resurrected to a new life in Christ. And that witness is important. Without immersion it isn't the
same witness. It's an ordinance of God and
any alteration of the method of baptism is a perversion of
the ordinance and a denial of what it represents. Baptism represents
the gospel of redemption and righteousness by Jesus Christ
alone in his death, burial, and resurrection. And then in Christ's
baptism we have a beautiful picture of the Trinity of God. Matthew
3 verses 16 and 17 says, 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 lighted upon him. And, lo, a voice from heaven,
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Here, in Christ's baptism, we
see the interest of the triune God in the work of redemption.
There is a clear display of the Holy Trinity. The Lord Jesus
Christ is identified by the Holy Spirit, who descends as a dove,
and the voice of God from heaven, which says, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Turn to 1 John 5, verse 7, please. I think this is one of the best
pictures of the Trinity that I know, but it's supporting exactly
what's happening in Christ's baptism. As you're reminded by
the testimony of Mark Iverson in his baptism, you can picture
the baptism of Christ in your mind. It is an insignificant
thing when a believer testifies of his belief in a triune God,
and we should look on it as both a solemn and as a glorious testimony,
because God Himself testified and revealed Himself in Christ's
baptism. As 1 John 5-7 says, For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one, they
are one God. In the baptism of Christ, the
three persons of the triune God distinctly revealed themselves.
God the Father speaks by a voice from heaven. God the Son incarnate
in human flesh stoops to the watery grave. and the Holy Spirit
of God descends from heaven in the form of a dove lighting upon
our blessed Savior. In a similar way that the Lord's
Supper reminds us of the salvation work of Christ on the cross as
Christ shed his blood for the sin of his people. Here in Christ's
baptism we have a most majestic picture of the three persons
of the Holy Trinity meeting together about the work of redemption
as Christ began his public ministry. Just as it was in the beginning
of creation, When the triune God says, let us make man, so
also at the beginning of redemption work He said, let us redeem man. The salvation of our souls is
the united work of a 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
in us by God the Holy Spirit. You know that Jesus Christ is
fully God. And so it's very significant
that the man, Jesus Christ, is declared to be the Son of God,
even as he portrays his death, burial, and resurrection as our
substitute. Jesus Christ is as fully God
in his lowest humiliation as he is in his highest eternal
glory. The glory and perfection of our
Savior as God in his essential divinity was not even slightly
diminished by His incarnation, obedience and death is our surety. Whenever we read anything about
Christ Jesus in the book of God, which appears to limit His knowledge,
power or being, We must never fail to recognize that those
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. He who is
God our Savior is God and a man in one glorious person. He is
truly and fully and perfectly God and He is truly and perfectly
fully and perfectly man. It is He, it is Jesus Christ,
the God-man, our mediator, in whom and through whom and by
whom we have access to an everlasting acceptance with the eternal triune
God. It is the Son of God who is well
pleased His Father. But there is one more sweet and
rapturous fact that is revealed in verse 17, if you would look
at it please. The declaration of God on this
occasion is that this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God the Father is well pleased
with Christ and only with Christ. He is well pleased with Christ's
person, with his obedience and with his sacrifice which is pictured
in Christ's baptism. Turn please to Isaiah 42 and
verse 1. God the Father is eternally and
infinitely pleased with his Son as his Son. He is eternally pleased
and satisfied with his son as his servant. In Isaiah 42.1,
the father says about his son, Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him,
and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. God the Father
is infinitely and eternally well pleased with the sacrifice of
His Son as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13 verse 8 says, And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship Him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And
God the Father was well pleased with Christ's assumption of our
nature. with his obedience to the law, with him bringing everlasting
righteousness, with him being made sin for us, with his bearing
our sins in his body on the tree, and with 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, 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.
The voice from heaven said, and hear the difference, this is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Not with whom, but in
whom I am well pleased. How thankful we ought to be for
that. It seems like a small distinction, but it isn't. The God of glory
is well pleased with all of those who are in His Son because of
His Son. He is well pleased with us in
Christ, for He has made us the righteousness of God in Him.
God is not only well pleased with His Son and in His Son,
but He is also well pleased with all of His people in His Son. In Him, He loves us with an everlasting
love. Just as the Son, our surety,
was delighted with us from eternity, as Jesus Christ says in Proverbs
8.31, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and my delights
were with the sons of men. And so the Father took delight
in us, rejoiced over us, accepted us, blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in His Son before the world began. As Ephesians 1 verses
3 to 6 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. According as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. having predestinated
us under 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. And just as the Father's delight
in his Son is immutable, just as it is unchangeable, so also
his delight with and the pleasure with his elect in his Son is
unchangeable, is immutable. He will rejoice over them with
joy and singing forever, resting in His love. Zephaniah 3.17 says,
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's reflection on
this passage should be the reflection of our hearts after reading it.
Robert Hawker said, 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 of 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, Oh, for the 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, 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."
Well, I pray that You each might see and believe for yourselves
the testimony that Mike Iverson has made to us today. And that
it might be the testimony of each of us that we have died
in Christ, that we are buried in Christ, and that we are risen
again to a new life in Christ. Amen.