When David was reading that scripture
from 2 Timothy, particularly verse 12, where Paul said, I
know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. And I was thinking, have you
committed your salvation totally to him? If he doesn't do it all,
you won't be saved. And I thought, yes, I have. That's what saving faith is.
All my eggs are in that basket. If he doesn't do it all, I won't
be saved, but he did do it all. Thank the Lord for that. I want
to preach on the baptism of Christ. Verse 13, then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan and to
John to be baptized of him. Now, the question that arises
immediately in my mind is why would the Son of God be baptized?
I can understand why I need to be baptized and why you need
to be baptized, but the Lord Jesus Christ coming to be baptized? Well, evidently John felt the
same way, but John forbade him. saying, I have need to be baptized
to thee. And comest thou to me? He felt
about as awkward as you would about it. And I would about it
if the Lord came to me and said, I want you to baptize me. I would think, what? Why? I do not understand that. You see, John knew exactly who
Christ was. This is God's lamb. This is the
son of God. This is the creator. This is
God manifest in the flesh. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in him. He knew who Jesus Christ was.
And he said, why would you come to me for me to baptize you? I understand his Hesitance, don't
you? I have need to be baptized of
you. And comest thou to me? Verse
15. And Jesus answering said unto
him, suffer it to be so now. I love the way he says that.
In him saying that, he's saying, I realize that this seems inappropriate
to you. I understand that. but suffer
it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."
Now, what did the Lord mean by that? Thus it becometh us to
fulfill all righteousness. Is he saying, John, you need
to do your part and I need to do my part. And through this
collaborative effort, we'll come up with fulfilling all righteousness.
No, no, no. That's not what he meant at all.
You see what the Lord did. He did as in us. Now, when he's
speaking of us, he's not just talking about John the Baptist
and he's certainly not talking about all of humanity. He's talking
about the same us of which it said, if God be for us, who can
be against us? That's the us he speaks of. And who is this us? whom he did
foreknow, then he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called, whom he
called, then he also justified, whom he justified, then he also
glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, that's the us he's speaking of. Who can
be against us? What the Lord did, he did as
an us, and that's what baptism signifies. That's the meaning
of baptism. It's not a meaningless religious
ritual, just going underwater and coming back up. It signifies
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in baptism, we're
saying what he did, he did as an us, and my only hope of being
saved is being one of those us's in him. That's what we're confessing
in baptism. Now you'll notice, let's go on
reading. Then he suffered him, verse 16,
and Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water. Now that tells us what baptism
is. It's going under, and it's coming up. I am amazed by sprinkling. You don't sprinkle a dead person,
do you? No, no, no, no. All the way down, all the way
up. Speaking of the life, the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
baptism, you are immersed under the water, and you are merged
to where you're completely covered by the water, and you emerge
from the water, that is the mode of baptism. But if that's all
I understand about baptism, there are people who will fight for
this. You gotta go under the water and come back out, and
that's what baptism is. Yes, I agree with that, but do
you know what baptism means? That is the issue. Do you know
what it signifies? In Hebrews chapter six, verse
two, when Paul gives us those six principles of the faith.
He talks about the doctrine of baptisms, plural. Now in the
scripture, there are three baptisms. Number one, there is water baptism. That's what the Lord was doing.
And he was baptized. Number two, there's the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. When a believer is born of God,
they're immersed in the Holy Spirit, they're given life from
the dead. And it's called by the Lord,
the baptism of the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist called it the
baptism of the Holy Ghost when he said, the Lord, when he comes,
he'll baptize you with the Holy Ghost from the fire. And turn
with me for a moment to Luke chapter 12. Hold your finger there, Matthew,
and turn to Luke chapter 12. Verse 49, 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? Now he had already gone through
water baptism. Yet he says, I have a baptism
to be baptized with. And he's talking about the baptism
of fire. He's talking about the wrath of God coming down upon
him and him being completely submerged under the wrath of
God. And when I'm talking about this,
I know I don't know what I'm talking about, but I know it's so. That's
what he experienced on Calvary Street. Now you think about this,
in the darkness, God turned the lights out throughout the whole
earth. And from that darkness, he cried
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now meditate upon that for just
a moment. He really was forsaken by God. Cut off by God. Let me give you a story within
the story. There was another man who was
supposed to be on that cross when the Lord cried out, my God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? He was supposed to be on
that very middle cross. And I think of him waking up
that morning, if he slept at all, he knew he was going to
be nailed to a cross that very day. Now, can you imagine the
stress, the anxiety of knowing that you're going to be nailed
to a cross? He was a notable prisoner named
Barabbas. And that morning he knew this
was going to be his end. And it generally took two or
three days to die when you were hanging on that cross. It only
took the Lord six hours, but generally people would be on
that cross for two or three days, literally nailed to a cross. Can you imagine the dread he
felt at this time? He was sentenced to die on a
cross by the Roman government. He was a murderer. He was a robber. He was an insurrectionist. I wonder if he could hear from
his cell what was going on. I don't know. Perhaps he did,
but you see during those days, the Roman government, this was
instituted by the Roman government on the Passover day, the Passover
day. They would let any prisoner that
the Jews want set free, set free. It was a custom. It was necessary
that it takes place. It was all part of God's purpose,
but this was done as a favor of the Roman government to the
Jewish people to keep them happy. We'll let one prisoner go, whoever
you want to. Now, during this time, the Lord
was being silent. He had been betrayed. He had
been unjustly tried and condemned. And the people wanted him dead.
And he was not speaking for himself. He remained silent. And Pilate
saw no guilt in him. He said, I find no fault in this
man. And he said, let's talk about this custom we got. Would you like him to be set
free? They said, no. Give us Barabbas. Let him be
crucified. Now did Barabbas know any of
this was going on? I don't know. But the people
desired a murderer over the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I don't
think Barabbas knew anything about this. And there he is in
his prison cell. He hears the door open. He's
filled with dread. And the prison guards come in
and say something he totally was not expecting. You've been
set free. Jesus of Nazareth has taken your
place. You have been set free. So here we have the guilty being
set free because one who has no guilt is condemned. Now isn't that what's going on?
Peter calls it the just for the unjust. The guilty is set free. The innocent is condemned. Now what is the one reason for
death? There's only one reason. You understand that, don't you?
One reason, sin. Sin, that's the only reason for
death. By one man, sin entered the world. and death by sin so
that death passed upon all men in that all have sinned. Sin is the reason for death. Now would God punish an innocent
man? Would he? No. God's just. God would not punish
an innocent man. Would God let a guilty man go
free? No. God is just. He's righteous. He cannot let the guilty go free. He said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. Under no circumstance will God
ever clear a guilty man. Under no circumstance will God
ever punish an innocent man. It won't happen. But it seems
like that's what's taking place right now, doesn't it? Well,
I want you to turn to Proverbs chapter 17. This is a very important
passage of scripture. Verse 15. He that justifieth the wicked
and he that condemneth the just, Even they both are abomination
to the Lord. Now on Calvary 3, it was not
the innocent being punished. And here is how. Here's what took place. Christ
took my sin willingly and it became his. We sing that song,
he took my sin and my sorrow and made it his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary. and suffered and died alone. He took my sin. And when Christ took my sins,
the guilty was being punished. And do you understand that? It
was not the innocent being punished. It was the guilty being punished. And he gave me his righteousness. And now because of that, the
righteous The sinless, that's me, that's everybody he represented,
they go free. The justice of God demands this. This is what the Bible teaches.
Christ did what he did as an us. That's why he was being baptized. He was letting us know. Now,
when we are baptized, what we're confessing is my only hope of
being saved is me being in him. That's all my hope. It's all
right there. That's the only thing I hope
in is I'm in him, what he did. I need nothing else. When Christ
was baptized, he was confessing his union with us. That's why
he was baptized. He was showing to us his union
with us. Now I'd like you to turn to Hebrews
chapter two for just a moment. Verse 11, for both he that sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all of what? One. Not too closely joined together. One. I'm one with Christ. Christ is
one with me. That's an eternal union, the
eternal union of God's elect with Christ. Both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause? He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. He says with regard to every
one of his people, that's my brother. That's my sister. That's my child. Verse 12, saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the
church while I sing praise unto thee. And again, I'll put my
trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children, which God
had given me for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.
That's why he became, am I flesh and blood? He became flesh and
blood. that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. For verily he took not in him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren." That's those he's united to. He calls us his brethren. That's a special title, isn't
it? Brethren. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people for that he himself has suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. Now, every believer is so one
with Christ. This is true with regard to you.
This is true with regard to me as believers. What he did, I
did. What he suffered, I did. I suffered. When he kept the law, I kept
the law. When he pleased God, I pleased
God. When he died, I died. When he was raised, I was raised. As he sat down at the right hand
of the father, there's somebody sitting down with him. everyone
that's united to him. Right now, as I'm talking to
you, I'm seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That is true
of every believer. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. And that means he was slain for
somebody's sin before the foundation of the world. And he was raised
from the dead before the foundation of the world and every believer
stands complete in him. Now back to our text of Matthew
chapter three. And Jesus for 16, when he was
baptized. I remember reading Charles Spurgeon
talking about this and he said as only he could say it, surely
the waters blushed as they received their creator under the water
and coming back up. I believe they did. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up when he arose out of the water
and look what happened. Straight way out of the water
and lo, the heavens were opened unto him. And they were open
to somebody else, everybody in him, everybody he was united
to. You see, when we're baptized,
we're declaring our sure and only hope of heaven is union
with him. And he was baptized to declare his union with us. And that's why he's not ashamed
to call us brethren. When he was baptized and went
up straightway out of the water, lo, the heavens were opened to
him. Now, during this time, look what
else happened. The Trinity is taught in this
passage of Scripture. I've heard people say, well,
the Bible doesn't teach the Trinity. The Word's not even in there.
Well, I know the Word's not even in there, but duh. I mean, look
at this. The Father speaking from heaven,
God the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon the Son of God. That's the Trinity, one God and
three distinct persons. And I, and I, you know, we think
of the relationship between the Father and the Son and a whole
lot more than this. What about the relationship between
the Father and God, the Holy Spirit? God the Holy Spirit descending
from heaven like a dove and lighting upon him. And John the Baptist
said, God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. He was filled
with God the Holy Spirit. He completely rested in and trusted
God the Holy Spirit to strengthen him for everything. Oh, the near-dear
relationship between God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And John the Baptist witnessed
this It's the Spirit coming down like a dove, the emblem of peace,
and lighting upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And then what happened
next? Verse 17, and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, this is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And the first thing that jumps
out to me about the way the Lord said this, he did not say, this
is my beloved son with whom I'm well-pleased. Although he was,
he said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased. In Christ is the heart and soul
of the gospel, according as He hath chosen us in Him, before
the foundation of the world, that we should behold Him without
blame before Him, in love, having predestinated us under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ 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. This is my beloved Son in whom."
That's every believer standing. In whom. In whom I am well pleased. Now there are three times God
the Father is said to speak from heaven. Here, and then on the
Mount of Transfiguration. when he said the same thing,
only adding one thing. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye him. And that's when Peter
made his foolish request. Let's make three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And that's when
the bright cloud overshadowed them. They hit the dirt. They
thought we're in trouble. And that's when he said, this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. I must hear his voice. And then in John chapter 12,
let me read this to you. It's when the Lord said, Father,
glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Well-pleased. If you're in Christ,
listen to me. If you're in Christ. Right now,
present tense, God is well pleased with you. And that's hard to get hold of.
As a matter of fact, it can only be gotten hold of by faith. But
here's the truth. In Christ, God is well pleased
with you. Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. That's what Christ says with
regard to every single one of his people. That's what the Father
says. He is well pleased with me present tense. Now turn to 1 John 4 for a moment.
I know you're familiar with this passage of scripture, but sometimes
it's better to be looking at it. First John chapter four. Verse 17, herein is our love
made perfect that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. Now hold on. Boldness? Standing before God in judgment
and having boldness? How can that be? Here's the only
way this can be. As he is. Because as he is, so are we in
this world. Right now, present tense. Is the father well pleased with
the son? You know the answer to that question.
The father is well pleased with the Son. Now however well pleased
he is with the Son is how well pleased he is with me and you.
Now that, like I said, that can only be known by faith. But I
believe that. By his grace I believe that God
the Father is well pleased There's no spot. There's nothing for
him to be displeased with. He sees you as altogether beautiful,
sinless, holy, because you're in Christ. That's who he is.
You are who he is and being in him. That is how the father is
well pleased with the son. Now, what does someone have to
do to be somebody God is well pleased with? You know, if you love somebody,
you want them to be pleased with you. If you don't care about
whether or not they're pleased, you don't really love them. But
if you love somebody, you want them to be well pleased with
you. You crave their approval. You've
got it. The Lord is well pleased with
every single one of his people. And I want to look at where this
word is used. Would you turn with me to Matthew
chapter 12? Matthew chapter 12. This is a quotation from Isaiah
chapter 42, verse 14. Then the Pharisees went out and
held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when
Jesus knew, he withdrew himself from thence and great multitudes
followed him and he healed them all and charged them that they
should not make him No. That's amazing, isn't it? I would
want everybody to know. But the Lord told them, don't
tell anybody about it. You see, he wasn't trying to
gain a following. He didn't think, well, more people know, more
people believe. He didn't believe any of that
kind of foolishness. He wasn't trying to gain a following. Verse
17, that it might be fulfilled. which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet saying, behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved
in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him.
We just read of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon him.
And he shall show judgment to the Gentiles, a perfectly just
salvation. He shall not strive nor cry,
nor neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised
reed shall he not break. What's weaker than a bruised
reed? A smoking flax. You've seen a candle just getting
ready to go out. Ember's about to die. What's
he say about that smoking flax? He shall not quench till he send
forth judgment unto victory, and in his name shall the Gentiles
trust. Turn to Colossians chapter one. Verse 15, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature? For by him
were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers. all things were created by him
and for him and he is before all things and by him all things
consist and he's the head of the body the church who is the
beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he
might have the preeminence for here's why It pleased the Father. That's the same word. It was
well pleasing to the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Two things from that. It pleased
the Father that all the fullness of the Godhead dwell in the body
of Jesus Christ. But not only that. It pleased
the Father that in Him should all the fullness of salvation
dwell. That means it's not anywhere
else. It's all in Him. He's made unto us wisdom and
righteousness, sanctification and redemption. That's all the
fullness of salvation. Don't look anywhere else. It's
all in Him. Don't look to yourself. Don't
look to your experience. Don't look to your works. Don't
look to your feelings. All the fullness of God's salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It pleased the father. It was
well pleasing to the father for that to be the way it is. Luke 12, 32, he says, fear not
little flock for it's your father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom. Fear not little flock. You know, the Lord's flock all
seem insignificant in this world. Little, little, fear not little
flock. It's the father's good pleasure.
That's the same word to give, not for you to earn, to give
you the kingdom. Galatians one, turn with me now. Verse 15, but when it pleased God, when it
was, that's the same word, well-pleasing to God. When it pleased God who
separated me from my mother's womb. Believer, when you were
born, God had separated you from your mother's womb and He put
His hand on you. You might not have known it at
the time, of course, you did know it at the time and when
you were an unbeliever with no love for God, you didn't know
what it meant to trust Christ, His hand was still upon you.
And he was bringing you to the place where you would bow the
knee to his dear son. I love the way Paul says, when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and
he called me by his grace to reveal his son in me, not just to me. You see, if all he did is reveal
his son to me, that won't be enough for me. I'll forget him,
I'll leave him, something will go wrong. But he revealed his
son in me, Christ in you, the hope of glory. To preach him
among the heathen, immediately I convert not with flesh and
blood. I didn't try to get man's opinion
on this. Turn to first Corinthians chapter
one. Verse 18, for the preaching of the cross,
the word of the cross, the doctrine of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it, the doctrine,
the preaching, the power of the cross, of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the power of God, for it's written, I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God. It was well pleasing
to God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Never underestimate the importance
of the preaching of the gospel. Now one final turn to Hebrews
chapter 13. Verse 15, by him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Now, he doesn't just
say, let us offer the sacrifice of prayer and praise to God continually,
does he? He doesn't say that at all. He
says, by him. Would you want your praise to
come into God's presence apart from the Lord Jesus Christ? There's
nothing meritorious in our praise in and of itself. And we're aware
of that, but by him. It's a sweet savor to God. It's acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ, by him. Therefore, let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks to his name. Now that word giving thanks,
my marginal reading says confessing. And when we confess his name,
we're giving thanks for his name, aren't we? When we're confessing
his attributes, who he is, we're mighty thankful he's that way.
Now look what he says in verse 16. But to do good, there's a lot that goes on under
that description. To do good, being merciful, being
gracious, being generous, being whatever doing good represents. But to do good and to communicate. Now that word means to give. To give. To do good and to communicate. Forget not. And I think the reason he says
Forget not is because we're so likely to forget. And that's
why it says, forget not. Four, with such sacrifices, God
is what? Well pleased. Now you know as
well as I do that you're giving and doing good in and of itself
is no good. God couldn't be pleased with
it, you know that. But in Christ, Anything done out of love to
Him, God is well pleased. And the reason He's well pleased
is because He's well pleased with His Son. He's well pleased
with everybody in Him. He's well pleased with everything
His people do for His glory. He's well pleased with it. And
it's not because it's well-pleasing. There's enough sin in everything
I do to set the world on the hellfire. And I really believe
that. I mean, there's enough sin in this sermon to send me
to hell. I'm very aware that there's enough
sin in my prayer. There's enough sin in my giving.
I go on and on. But through Christ, it's well-pleasing
to God. Now, if you're in Christ, you
want me to tell you how you can know if you're in Christ? If
being in Him is your only hope. That's simple enough, isn't it?
Is being in Him your only hope? If you're in Christ, God is well
pleased with you. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, your
son. How we thank you for the glorious privilege of being in
him. And Lord, being in him, let us
know that you're well pleased with us. What joy, what rest
there is. to know that as He is well-pleasing
to you, so are we in this world. Bless this message for your glory
and our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.