Hope and pray that the Lord will
bless this. Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 10. We're here this afternoon. because two believers in and
on the Lord Jesus Christ want to confess Him in believers'
baptism. We're here for a confession. We're here for an open admittance,
an open declaration, an open acknowledgement. of union
with Jesus Christ. That's what we're doing here.
We're here to openly confess union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're here to confess something. But more importantly, we're here
to confess someone. The man, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Look right here in Matthew chapter
10 verse 32 says, Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. How comforting is that? That's the Lord speaking. Whosoever shall confess me. We're here to confess Him. There's
a point I want to make come the end of this message, and it's
this. We're here to confess Him. Union with Him. Love to Him. You know, it's one thing to want
to be married. I wanted to be married before
Hannah and I got together. And it's one thing to want to
be married, but it's another thing to know who you want to
marry. Big difference. In this ceremony,
we're confessing the fact that we know whom we have believed. Believers' baptism is different
from religious immersion in the sense that we're confessing a
man. We're not just confessing, I
want to go to heaven. We know whom we have believed.
I want to be united to Him. This is not about church membership. It has nothing to do with it. This is not about finishing the
last step of salvation. Well, everything's looking good,
it's going well, we just need you to get in the water. It's
not about that. This is about confessing a loving
union with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the substitute
for sinners, the Prince of Peace, the altogether lovely one, and
His name is Jesus Christ. This is an open declaration that
I died in Him. Union. What does that mean? Here's what
it means. It means He died so I don't have
to. That's what it means. Why? How? Go with me over to Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians 2 verse 11 says, Wherefore
remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who
are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God
in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us. Having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace. and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and
to them that were nigh. For through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father." Now therefore you are
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God." That is union. This confession
says, I died in Him, and I rose in Him, and I live in Him, and
He lives in me. Union. That's what this is. It's
union. If we get to the heart of baptism
and the heart of salvation, it's union. That's what it is. It's
union. Now, why do we become compelled
to confess this? Believer's baptism is actually
a humbling thing. It's kind of embarrassing. It
really is. It's hard to do. What we're saying is, I was wrong
in religion. All my life, I wasn't confessing
Him. I was confessing myself. Look at what I've done. Well,
at least I've done this. Oh, I'm thankful in my mind that
I got that taken care of. Confessing my own works. It's
a renouncing of who I was and what I believed before. That's
half of what this is. Just as much as it's an acknowledgment
of who He is and what I believe now. What compels a believer to want
to have this ceremony? What compels a believer to officially
come forward and say, I want to confess Christ. You know what
it is? It's the same thing that compels
a man to spend all that he has and get down on one knee. Love. Love for one person. Does love begin at the wedding
ceremony? Man, I'm looking forward to getting
married. I can't wait to love her. No. It's a confession of what's
already there. Does salvation begin at the baptism
ceremony? No. It's a confession of what's
already there. Those of us who have confessed
marriage, we all have our own story to tell. The story of how
our union came about. And every soul that has been
united to Christ has a story to tell. Every single one. And
interestingly enough, every soul that has been united to Christ
has the exact same story. Let me show you what it is. Go with me over to Genesis 24. This is a love story, and we're
going to look at it from the bride's point of view. Genesis
24 verse 1 says, And Abraham was old, and well stricken in
age. And the Lord had blessed Abraham
in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh. And I will make thee swear
by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that thou
shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites,
among whom I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my country
and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac." Now look
at verse 9. and the servant put his hand
under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swear to him concerning
the matter." The first thing that happened
in this union was a covenant was made. That's the very first
thing that happened. The father purposed to choose
a bride for his son. And this is amazing. This hit me. I studied this and
it just hit me. Think about this. He said, this
bride is not going to come from Canaan. Canaan is the promised
land. That's what we're trying to get
to. We're trying to get to a land flowing with milk and honey.
And the father told this servant, My son's bride is not going to
come from the promised land. She's going to come from Ur of
the Chaldees, the land of idolatry. And our Lord could have given
anything or body to His Son for a bride. He could have created
a perfect, sinless being that was never outside of the realms
of glory. But He said, His bride is not
going to come from here. You go all the way down there.
And that's where you're going to choose this bride from. Abraham represents the father.
And his servant represents the spirit. The spirit's going to
go call a bride. That's what's about to happen.
Verse 10 says, And the servant took ten camels of the camels
of his master, and departed, for all the goods of his master
were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia
unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel
down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening,
even the time that women go out to draw water. This servant went
straight to the well, And this Word is the well. When we're dying of thirst and
when we need refreshing, we come to God's Word, don't we? That's
where we come to, God's Word. And by His mercy and grace, we
draw out living water. Well, this servant is going to
meet the bride of the Son at the well. That's where he's going
to... That's where the calling is going to come from. and he's
going to meet a particular bride, okay? Look at verse 12. It says,
And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee,
send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master
Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well
of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out
to draw water, and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom
I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee that I may drink,
and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink
also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant
Isaac. And thereby shall I know that
thou hast showed kindness unto my Master. And it came to pass,
before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out,
who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor,
Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder, and the damsel
was very fair to look upon, a virgin. Neither had any man known her,
and she went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came
up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray
thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink,
my lord. And she hasted, and let down
her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she
had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy
camels also, until they have done drinking. and she hasted
and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto
the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man
wondering at her held his peace, to know whether the Lord had
made his journey prosperous or not." This is what our Lord said
about His bride. Amazingly enough, My people are
going to be willing in the day of My power. Verse 22 says, And
it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man
took a golden earring and half a shekel weight, and two bracelets
for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold. That's fruit
of the Spirit. Faith, hope, love. Verse 23 says, and said, Whose
daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee. Is there
room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? And she said
unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milca, which
she bare unto Nahor. She said, Moreover unto him,
we have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head
and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord
God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master
of his mercy and his truth. I being in the way, the Lord
led me to the house of my master's brethren. And the damsel ran
and told them of her mother's house these things. So this servant
came to Rebekah's house. Alright, now look at verse 33.
And there was set meat before him to eat. But he said, I will
not eat until I have told mine Aaron. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am Abraham's servant,
and the Lord has blessed my master greatly. and he is become great. And he hath given him flocks,
and herds, and silver, and gold, and men's servants, and maid's
servants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife,
bare a son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath
he given all that he hath." He said, I'm here for one purpose
only. And that's to tell you about
the Son. It's the only reason I've come.
Verse 37. And my master made me swear,
saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of
the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, but thou shalt go unto
my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto
my son. And I said unto my master, Peradventure,
the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The Lord,
before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper
thy way. And thou shalt take a wife for
my son of my kindred, and of my father's house." Then this
servant repeats what just happened. This servant revealed the covenant. He said, this is what happened
between Abraham and myself. concerning a bride for the Son. He revealed the predestination
of how he came to this well. He revealed the irresistible
grace. He revealed the gifts, the gifts
of faith. He told them everything that
had happened. Verse 48 says, And I bowed down my head and
worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham,
which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's
daughter unto his son. And now, if you will deal kindly
and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that
I may turn to the right hand or to the left. Then Laban and
Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord.
We cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before
thee, take her and go. And let her be thy master's son's
wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass that when
Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord,
bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth
jewels of silver and jewels of gold." What do you think those
are? He brought forth the unsearchable
riches of Christ. And then look after that, it
says, "...enraiment." He put a robe on her. What do you think
that is? That's a robe of righteousness. The blood of the Lamb. jewels
of silver and jewels of gold and raiment, and gave them to
Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and
to her mother precious things. And they did eat and drink, he
and the men that were with him, and tarried all night, and they
rose up in the morning. And he said, Send me away unto
my master. And her brother and her mother
said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days." That means one
year. "...at the least ten months." After that, she shall go. And
he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered
my way. Send me away, that I may go to
my master. And they said, We will call the
damsel, and inquire at her mouth." Now, a confession is about to
be made. Well, let's call her and see
what she says. She's heard about a man who is the Son of the Highest, and He's the heir of all things. She's been given the gifts and
the calling of God. She's already been given a robe
of righteousness. She's heard about Him. She's
seen a glimpse of Him with eyes of faith. But she has not yet
with her own two eyes seen this man. Everything that she's seen of
this man is as though it's through a glass darkly. Verse 57 says,
And they said, We will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth.
And they called Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And
she said, I will go. Whom having not seen, she loves. She already loves him. Is this your story? This is mine. Rebecca, what do you confess? I will go. I confess His name. I want to
be His bride. I want His name to be my name.
That's what I want. Wherever He lodges, that's where
I want to lodge. I want His people to be my people. I confess that He is God and
I want Him to be my God. Verse 58 says, And they called
Rebekah and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she
said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their
sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they
blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be
thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed
possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose
and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed
the man, and the servant took Rebekah and went his way." Now
this point right here, This verse, this point right here is where
we all are in our journey. In our own story, this is where
we are right now. We are in the journey. We're
right now traveling through the land. And God's Holy Spirit is leading
us along the way. And I've always loved the thought
of this. We're going to take just a minute and read between the
lines. The distance from Ur to Canaan
is about 550 miles in a straight line. And they didn't travel
in a straight line. Most of their travel, they had
to follow the Euphrates River. So it's estimated that they traveled
between 800 and 900 miles on the back of a camel. It took
a while. It took a long time. Now all along this journey, you
know, and I don't think I'm reaching very far here, you know that
Rebecca is asking this servant, what's Isaac like? The whole
time. Tell me about Isaac. Tell me about him again. What all did you say about him
now? I'd kind of like to hear that again. And if this servant would have
started telling her about what materials the streets were made
out of in Canaan or the newest mansions that had been built
in Canaan, Rebecca would have said, I don't care about any
of that stuff. You tell me about Isaac. I just want to hear about him.
Tell me about him one more time. Just tell me one more time. So this servant being a faithful
servant to his master, what do you think he did? He glorified
Isaac. He told her that Isaac was the
promised son. Rebecca, you don't understand. This is the miracle child. God told, this is the child that
I'm going to call all my people through. He said, Rebecca, your husband
is the promised one sent from God. All kindreds of the earth
are going to be blessed by God through Isaac. Being a type of
Christ. God said, if anybody's going
to be called, if anybody's going to be blessed, it's only going
to be through your husband. He is God blessed forever. She said, tell me more. That servant said, let me tell
you about his character. You've never met a man like this
man before. He loves his father. His father loves him. He is a
faithful and obedient man. All of the word and the will
of His Father, He obeys. All of it. He obeyed even to
the point of death. Let me tell you what your husband
did one time. There came a time when the father had to kill his
own son. And not only did Isaac not rebel,
he carried his own wood to the sacrifice. The father laid his
own wood on him. The father said, "'Son, you must
be the sacrifice.'" And Isaac willingly crawled up on that
altar and said, "'Not my will, thine be done.'" Because of that,
Rebecca, because he made himself an offering for sin, his father
has highly exalted him. And amongst the seed of Abraham,
all his children, he's given Isaac a name that is greater
than every other name. He's put every single thing he
has into his hands. Isaac has been appointed heir
of all things. And Rebekah, in your union to
him, With Him, you are going to also
freely receive all things. You know what Rebecca had to
be thinking? Why me? Why me? What did I ever do to
deserve this? That servant said nothing. You didn't do anything. It was
all done for you, and it was all given to you by my Master.
All glory, honor, and praise be unto my Master." Now look
at verse 61 with me, Genesis 24 verse 61. And Rebekah arose in her damsels,
and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the
servant took Rebekah, and went his way. and Isaac came from
the way of the well Lahoroi. For he dwelt in the south country,
and Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide.
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold, the camels were
coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes,
and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel, For she said unto
the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to
meet us? And the servant said, It is my
master. There he is in all his glory. I told you. You know what she was thinking?
You didn't tell me the half of it. The half wasn't told. I could never have imagined His
beauty. He's the most glorious thing
I've ever seen. I'm so unworthy of Him. The end of verse 65 says, Therefore
she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all
things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his
mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife,
and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after
his mother's death." What an absolute privilege it is to confess
union to the Lord Jesus Christ. I died in Him. I rose in Him. I live in Him, the altogether
lovely One. Who on this earth would not want
to confess union to Him? Who on this earth? That Ethiopian
eunuch said, Here is water. What doth hinder me? Philip said, If you believe with
all your heart, you may. And that eunuch said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that too. You believe
that too, don't you? And you believe that too, don't
you? Well, let's go confess Him. All right.