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welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of our God on this Lord's day just a few announcements before we begin just a reminder that our Wednesday night bible study is at 7 30 here at the church and then there is a meeting scheduled with hatniel Perez he is a minister of the Gospel from Cuba and he is going to meet with us and the church in Surrey in Bellingham because of the immigration and the fact that he doesn't have a visa to cross the border we thought a good location like Bellingham would be helpful to facilitate that so that's on Saturday morning at 11 A.M at the United Reformed Church in Bellingham if anybody's interested please contact me I'll give you the address so that you can meet with that brother and then Brennan and Emily stolp have applied for church membership if you do not know them yet please get to know them and then God willing in a few weeks time will bring them in well it's a happy occasion obviously we have baptisms this morning and we want to encourage all of those who are visiting with us to engage in the worship of our Triune God we come to the father through the son in the spirit on the Lord's day and we have that great confidence that Jesus Christ is in the midst of the lamp stand well for our call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 111 psalm 111. and I'll begin reading in verse 1. praise the Lord I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the Assembly of the upright and in the congregation The Works of the Lord are great studied by all who have pleasure in them his work is Honorable and glorious and his righteousness endures forever he has made his wonderful Works to be remembered the Lord is gracious and full of compassion he has given food to those who fear Him He will ever be mindful of his Covenant he has declared to his people the power of His Works in giving them the heritage of the Nations The Works of his hands are Verity and Justice all his precepts are sure they stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness he has sent Redemption to his people he has commanded his Covenant forever holy and awesome is his name the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have all those who do his Commandments his praise endures forever amen will you can turn with me in your hymn books to him number 403 hymn number 403 will stand as we sing together [Music] the Lord is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] see username [Music] birthdays tomorrow here [Music] for a glory and run show me that is [Music] we landed [Music] I will worry my name praying is the world is always [Music] let us pray our blessed and holy father we gather together on this wonderful day to call upon your great and awesome name to Bow before you to come to you through your son our mediator the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray for the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to facilitate this that we may worship you in spirit and in truth we confess that you are at most high we confess that you are from Everlasting to Everlasting that you are The God Who made the world the God who governs it and The God Who has redeemed is a lack out of it and we rejoice in your mercies to us we rejoice in your kindness and in the gospel of our Salvation And as we come this morning to witness baptisms we reflect upon the reality they're not going into this water because they're necessarily good they're going into this water because of what Christ has done in the salvation of Sinners we give praise to you for his life of obedience to that Divine Law we give praise to you for his death as a a substitute and a sacrifice upon the tree and we give praise that he was raised again that third day and as Paul summarizes this wonderful gospel he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification May our hearts be drawn out in worship and adoration may you increase our love for you and may you cause us to to approach you with that fear and that REM uh reverence that is consistent and consistent in the presence of a holy God but may it be mingled with Thanksgiving and gratitude and great joy for there is no better place on the face of the Earth to be than to be in the house of God with the people of God on the day of God worshiping you we ask you would forgive us for all of our sin and transgression we know we are called to let our conduct be worthy of the Gospel yet we find what Paul teaches in Romans 7 and Galatians 5 to be the case we know the flesh lusts against the spirit the spirit against the flesh we know the these are contrary to one another so that we don't do the things that we want we give you praise that that the spirit is at work in our hearts we give you praise that there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness and even now we ask that you would wash us and purify Us in that precious blood and God we do pray for any and all who've come here this morning that are still dead in their trespasses and sins we don't appeal to their wisdom or their goodness we don't appeal to their free will we appeal to the god of absolute Sovereign power we know that you make man willing in the day of your power so demonstrate that even today and open eyes and hearts to behold the wondrous things of your law and of your gospel and may that conviction produce in Sinners that desire for the righteousness and the Forgiveness of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray that for our meeting together here we pray that for other churches in our community we pray that for churches throughout Canada and to the uttermost parts of the earth we know that you have purpose to save a great multitude that no man can number from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and God our hearts Rejoice whenever you bring a sinner out of Darkness into Marvelous Light confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior so do this for your glory do this for the good of Souls and do this for the strengthening and the building of the church that Jesus Christ has promised the gates of Hades shall not Prevail against we ask that you would bless other churches in our community those we have fellowship with those that we have alliance with we pray that you would bless them today as they gather together for corporate worship may you bless the men who are charged with preaching the truth as it is in Jesus fill them with your spirit and use them in a powerful way as well we pray for the Saints in Surrey we thank you for pastor Kirkpatrick and pray that you'd continue to bless him and the ministry of the word there be with pastor maljars and Armstrong and we thank you for the good reports we hear on a regular basis concerning that church church as well we pray for the brothers and Dryden that they would see established a faithful solid church that does proclaim the truth and that does provide the the the need for for Saints to be instructed on a regular basis be with our brothers and in Honduras we thank you for the churches there in sigwet Becky we just commend them to you and to the word of your grace and pray that you would be glorified there and God as we prayed in the last hour for the many churches that are suffering the people of God suffering for the cause of God and Truth in other parts of the world we just pray that they would continue to be faithful that they would persevere that they would be reminded of the tax that all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution we know that this is the devil's tactic we know that this is the the tactic of this world that is estranged from a holy God we know that the nation's rage and the people plot a vain thing they hate Yahweh they hate his Christ and as result they target the people of God for Destruction but we thank you that in the midst of this your word does go forth in the midst of this more people are coming to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in these lands and we look with great encouragement and with great optimism to that day when Christ will have dominion from sea to Sea we know that he will not be frustrated or thwarted in his plan to build his kingdom and we know that it is presently going forward that he must Reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool so God bless the effort today on the part of the people of God to proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus and may it be the case that that many many would come to a saving knowledge of our blessed savior as well God we pray in our own country we don't have the same thing that they see in China or in Cuba but we see increasing encroachment by the Civil State we pray for your blessing upon the church upon image bearers she would help us to be faithful in this present evil age age to shine as lights in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation and give us the courage and the boldness to hold forth your word of Truth and we pray that you would turn the hearts of those in high places in the way of righteousness God we know as Solomon said righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people and certainly we witness that in terms of abortion and euthanasia and the sexual perversion that we see celebrated in Civil Society so God in Wrath remember mercy and again bless your church and cause us to be faithful and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well you can turn again with me in your hymn books to Psalm 99. Psalm 99 a as in Alpha you may stand as we sing together [Music] Glory oh praise him his grace [Music] happy birthday [Music] yeah that's always [Music] you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Matthew there's two passages that I'm going to read and two passages that I'm going to deal with this morning so first Matthew chapter 3 specifically at verse 13. Matthew 3 13 to the end of the chapter then we'll turn over to chapter 20 in Matthew's gospel so Matthew 3 13 then Jesus Came From Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him and John tried to prevent him saying I need to be baptized by you and are you coming to me but Jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for uh for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness then he allowed him when he had been baptized Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting upon him and suddenly a voice Came From Heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased so turn over to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20 specifically at verse 17. Matthew 20 beginning in verse 17. now Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to them behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to Mock and discourage and to crucify and the third day he will rise again than the mother of zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him and he said to her what do you wish she said to him grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on the one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom but Jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with they said to him we are able so he said to them you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my father and when the ten heard it they were greatly displeased with the two brothers but Jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and those who are great exercise authority over them yet it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant and whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for the written word of the living and true God we know all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness and we pray that the Holy Spirit who gave us the word would guide us now as we study as we consider as we Ponder and may it find its Mark in our hearts and may we as Believers rejoice in the gracious work of our savior on behalf of his people and for unbelievers we pray they would see clearly what it means to be saved what it means to be justified freely by grace alone through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone again forgive us for all sin and unrighteousness and everything that darkens our mind and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well as I said this is a happy occasion wherein we have baptisms three of them and I think it does provoke the question as a Baptist Church why do we baptize and there are several answers to that particular question that we can give we could argue from covenant theology we could argue from the clear command of our Lord Jesus Christ and then the pattern of the apostolic church but this morning we're not going to argue from that vantage point we're going to argue from the doctrine of justification by faith alone justification is an act of God's free Grace wherein he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone it is that article upon which the church stands or Falls it is that article that distinguishes us from the Roman Catholic communion they teach that a justification has a sanctification in such a way that it's Faith plus faithfulness in order to be saved but the great Clarion call of the Protestant Reformation was justification by faith alone and then when we asked the question what is justification by faith alone founded upon it's founded upon the life and the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ theology calls this his act of obedience and his passive obedience and in Matthew's gospel we see a reference to two baptisms concerning our lord Jesus the first is literal it's water baptism wherein he comes to John the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3. the second is metaphorical Jesus uses the language of baptism and when we compare that with Luke's gospel we understand that he's speaking about his death he's speaking about his passion so in other words Matthew 3 underscores the act of obedience of Christ that it was necessary that it was requisite that he fulfill all righteousness and then Matthew 2028 specifically shows us that his work on the cross was for a ransom for redemption in order to secure the salvation of his people so in some we need his death we need his blood to cleanse us from all unrighteousness but we also need a positive righteousness by which we can be accepted with God to put it in common parlance we not only need cleansing through his blood but we need to be clothed in his righteousness so that we are fit and able to go to heaven so this morning we celebrate God's Conquest we celebrate Jesus Victory we celebrate what the most high has done in Saving these three people from their sins the water is an emblem the water is a symbol the water is a public Declaration of what God most high has done with them inwardly so let's look at Matthew chapter 3 first the baptism of Jesus by John which underscore scores the the act of obedience of Christ and there's three things to appreciate here first the request for baptism verses 13 to 15 secondly the act of baptism itself in verse 16 and then the significance of this baptism in verse 17. but notice the Lord's initiative there in chapter 3 at verse 13 then Jesus Came From Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him so we see that favorable implication concerning baptism there are some churches that don't practice it there are some churches that practice it falsely the Lord God calls us to not only engage in it but to engage in it in a way that is biblical and scriptural so Jesus dignifies the act by coming to the Baptist in order to be baptized and notice John's attempt to prevent him he was persistent but he was unsuccessful notice what John says in verse 14 John tried to prevent him saying I need to be baptized by you and are you coming to me John the Baptist understood that the one who was coming after him was to be preferred before him John the Baptist was the friend of the bridegroom John the Baptist says in John's Gospel According to chapter 3 that he Christ must increase but I must decrease so on this occasion when Jesus comes to be baptized by John you kind of get the reason why John says I'm not going to baptize you I should be baptized by you there's a reluctance reluctance on his part A hesitancy on his part because of his understanding that Christ was in fact to be preferred among overhand and then notice the Lord's explanation specifically in verse 15. but Jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness Jesus is functioning as a mediator therefore he is a public person he is a public representative at this particular juncture we know that John preached a baptism of forgiveness or remission for sins committed that's not why Jesus is coming to be baptized he is not a sinner he has no guilt there is nothing impure in him such that he needs to be baptized but this marks the public Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ we'll see some significance as we move through the passage but here he specifies the the nature of his ministry he must fulfill all righteousness he must do everything that is pleasing to the father he must obey again we need a righteousness we're not going to produce that righteousness because we're Sinners all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God all we like sheep have gone astray scripture is not silent here the script tells us we're totally depraved that doesn't mean we're as bad as we could possibly be that all of us are Stalin or Paul pot or or the like but it means that every part of us is affected by sin our heart our mind our soul our strength everything about us is depraved but we're also unable to fix the problem with God there's a total depravity and a total inability so it's not that we just hear law go out and perform it and then we win our acceptance from God it's never going to happen we need this representative we need this high priest we need this Prophet we need this King we need this mediator in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the Word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt Among Us why did he become flesh so he could live in obedience to The Father's Law so he could do everything that was specified in terms of our commitment in terms of obligations place upon us and so Christ announces it the outside of his public ministry here that it's necessary it's requisite it is absolutely essential for him to fulfill all righteousness in the Old Testament you have that statement the prophet Isaiah chapter 53 11 by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities and in the New Testament is not silent at the point where we need the righteousness of Christ again we need his death we need his blood we'll see that when we turn to Matthew chapter 20. we need the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but if we don't have that positive righteousness then we're back at the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and we have to fulfill and we have to perform and we have to do so in a way that is perfect Brethren that's a mingling of Law and gospel the gospel really is good news justification is by faith alone and that entails both forgiveness and the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ receive by faith alone so Paul speaks of this in Romans chapter 5 12-19 he summarizes God's dealings with man in two men he says so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous so through Adam can curse through Adam came sin through Adam came sort of estrangement with God but it's through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that there is this righteousness that we receive by faith alone First Corinthians 1 the Apostle tells us that Christ has been made unto us as righteous a righteousness Second Corinthians 5 21 God the Father made him God the son who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him Galatians 2 21 the Apostle says I do not set apart the grace of God for if righteousness comes to the law then Christ died in vain what's Paul's point we need a righteousness we need forgiveness and a righteousness and Christ brings the that Philippians 3 the Apostle rejoices that he's found in Christ not having my own righteousness which is from the law he says but having that righteousness which is from God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ see see we celebrate the death of Christ and well we should but we need to celebrate the Life of Christ and again not just as an example not just as a an ethical precept but as the means by which God accepts Us in the Beloved wherein we are counted righteous for his sake alone so that's what Christ means when he says it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness and on the heels of this explanation we see that this was appropriate for John the Baptist because at the end of verse 15 it says then he allowed him what's he going to do no Lord I'm not going to baptize you no Lord I'm not going to follow through no Lord I'm not of course he allowed him so the Lord Jesus identifies with those of us who need sentence and remission of sins he identifies with all those whom the father had given him Jesus not only identifies with but represents us so this marks his life of obedience to the father with constant constant attention now note the act of baptism verse 16 when he had been baptized that word has a meaning we're not free as the church to redefine the meaning we're not free as the church to change the meaning we ask the church I know this is going to be shocking but we need to obey God with reference to the meaning in our Wednesday night studies we've been going through the Book of Leviticus and there were two fellows by the name of nadab and abihu who after receiving detailed legislation on how to sacrifice before God and then witnessing the approval of God on an authorized sacrifice then prevent a presented Strange Fire To The Lord profane fire that which God had not commanded how do do you think that went for nadab and abaiha do you think Yahweh said well that was the best you could do that was Innovative that was creative that was good no God killed those men and then God ordered the the brothers of those men to pull him away from the sanctuary so that the sanctuary would not be defiled the word baptism has a particular meaning and according to one lexicon a dictionary it is very simple it says to you use water in a right for purpose of renewing or establishing a relationship with God plunge dip wash baptize plunge dip wash baptize those are great sort of explanations Calvin and his institutes if you have the two volumes set translated by battles on page 1320 Calvin admits that the word means to immerse and that's what the text suggests notice what happens according to verse 16. when he had been baptized Jesus came up immediately from the water he came up from it underscoring immersion as the proper manner involved relative to Christian baptism and then notice the opening of the heavens at this particular juncture and behold the heavens were open to him it's a glorious scene it's not alone in scripture you've got that scene at the end of the book of our end of Acts chapter 7 when Stephen is under sort of examination by the Sanhedrin and they're going to Stone Stephen to death it tells us that he was filled with the Holy Spirit he saw heaven open he saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God you see it in the Old Testament prophets the prophet Isaiah says run the heavens and come down there are these instances these scene the prophet Ezekiel Saw this with the heavens opened and it shows God's approbation God's approval God's confirmation of that particular event and I think that's what the text is underscoring and behold meet uh and behold the heavens were open to him and then it says he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting upon him now the holy spirit is not properly a dove this is what's called a theophany a manifestation of God in some particular manner it's like God's not a bush he appears to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 but we're not authorized to say God's a bush we see that say that God demonstrated his majesty and his presence and his power and His glory through the bush just like we don't say that the holy spirit is a bird he's not a dove but he manifests he shows he reveals he demonstrates through this particular media so the spirit of God comes Upon Jesus in this instance he comes Upon Jesus not as the the god the son he comes Upon Jesus according to his Humanity as God the son who is the mediator the prophet priest and King being equipped for that work of redemption that he's undertaking we see the background to this in the Old Testament Isaiah 11 verse 2 the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord those are uh sort of prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and what will be true of him Isaiah 42 1 behold my servant whom I uphold my elect one in whom my soul Delights I have put my spirit upon Him He will bring forth Justice to the Gentiles which incidentally is quoted in Matthew chapter 12 and applied to Jesus Isaiah 61 1 the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach Good Tidings to the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to Proclaim Liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound so the text is not underscoring that the spirit is a dove the text is underscoring that just like the spirit brooded over Creation in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 the spirit Broods now over the new creation the fact that there is a new era launched in the coming of the Son of God to save his people from their sins we would expect the Triune God to be present we would expect the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit to be present we would expect all three persons demonstrating the the glory and the Majesty of God most high and as we move through the text notice what we see there in verse 17. it says and suddenly a voice Came From Heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased the significance of this particular event it underscores the fact that Christ as our savior is going to fulfill all righteousness Christ as our savior has the approval of God the Father our confession speaks about this it says the Lord Jesus in his human nature thus United to the Divine in the person of the son was Sanctified and Anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in whom it pleased the father that all fullness should dwell to the end that being wholly harmless undefiled full of grace and truth he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator and Surety so for our benefit we learn that his mission is going to be one of obedience he's going to fulfill all righteousness and again as a sinner may I encourage you to consider this you need a righteousness you're not going to go to heaven without it and I'm going to tell you right now spoiler alert you cannot fulfill all that God has commanded you're in Adam you're dead in your trespasses and sins you must be born again you must by the grace of God believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent from your sin belief in the Lord Jesus Christ accesses those twin benefits of justification forgiveness of sins and the imputation of Christ's righteousness it is received by faith alone there is no better news there is no more glorious truth there is nothing more excellent than the reality that God most high is in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to himself there is an abundance of Grace there is an abundance of Mercy there is an abundance of acceptance with our God through the Lord Jesus Christ remember that scene in Luke chapter 15 all the Sinners and tax collectors draw near to Jesus to hear him what do the Pharisees do what do the scribes do they look down their noses on him they look down their noses on them they say behold they say this man receives Sinners and eats with that this was a a derogatory statement on their part this man receives Sinners and eats with that you can you can sense their their distaged you can you can see their their menacing faces you can see there they're discussed at the thought that this man would receive Sinners and eats with that so what does this man say this man says I absolutely positively do receive Sinners and I absolutely positively do eat with that and then he tells three stories he tells a story about a man who had sheep and he lost one of them and then he leaves the 99 to go find the one what happens when he comes back with that one sheep Heaven rejoices there's a woman who loses a coin and doesn't say well I'm just going to write it off at the end of the year She busily searches for that coin when she finds that coin what happens there's great rejoicing what does Jesus say there's rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents and then the father of the prodigal remember the prodigal son he comes to the father and says you're better off to me dead than alive give me my share of The Inheritance he takes the share of The Inheritance he goes off and he squanders it and then he comes to himself and a lot of people think that he was converted there I don't think he was he came to himself in the sense that if I go back and cast myself upon my father's Mercy I may at least get 3 Hots in a cot I may get three hot meals and a cot to sleep in I'll be treated like one of the hired laborers and I'll get at least something rather than this pig food so when this young man Returns what happens the father sees him from a long way off the father runs to him the father falls on him the father puts a ring on his finger the father puts a rope on his back and the father orders that there be feasting kill that best animal my son who is Dad is now alive my son who was lost is now found do you think that passage in Luke 15 is given to discourage sinners from coming to Jesus do you think that these calls of our blessed savior the last great day of the feast John 7 37 if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink do you think these are calculated to tell you never come near or are they calculated to tell you come near look unto him and be ye saved all the ends of the Earth for he is God and the is no other consider our Lord's teaching in John chapter 3 just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man also be lifted up what happened in the wilderness God sent fiery serpents to bite the whiners to bite the complainers to bite the grumblers and then Moses was instructed to build this Brazen uh snake or this this uh yeah the Brazen snake and set it up and then what was the requisite drag yourself over there and feel the the healing potion come out from it no it was look and live it wasn't sucked of venom out of your bite and then look and live it was look and live why do you think these are told you in scripture to keep you away from God to keep you at arm's length to discourage your approach to the high and holy one he's about that that's why Jesus came into the world Sinners to save God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life see these things again are not given in the Bible to keep you away they're given in the Bible so that you'll flee to him in faith and that's precisely the emphasis throughout the gospel narratives you need a righteousness it is to be found in Christ so verse 17 suddenly a voice Came From Heaven the voice of the father saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased this reflects Isaiah 42 1 that I read earlier behold my servant whom I'm uphold my elect one and whom my soul Delights I have put my spirit upon Him He will bring forth Justice to the Gentiles this this statement from the father refers or rather shows Divine affirmation it shows Divine approbation and it is revelation for us so that we can see that the one who has come has been set apart and proved by God to do what he's been sent to do and before we move to John or rather Matthew chapter 20 you have to appreciate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity we've got the Father the Son and the spirit present at this scene I'll just read our Baptist forefather John Gill he said it would be almost unpardonable almost unpardonable not to take notice of the testimony here given to the doctrine of the Trinity since a voice was heard from the Father in Heaven bearing witness to the son and human nature on Earth on whom the spirit had descended and now Abode the Ancients looked upon this as so clear and full of proof of this truth that they were want to say go to Jordan and there learned the doctrine of the Trinity amen that is absolutely positively true well let's turn now to the passive Obedience of our Lord Jesus I realize that word suggests sort of an inactivity on the part of the Savior but the passive probably is connected to our word passion and it refers to the death of Our Lord so the act of obedience is his positively obeying all the precepts of the law he never sinned he never had a lustful look he never had a lustful thought he never stole he never lied he never cheated he never coveted he never did anything forbidden uh in the law of God by God passive obedience refers to his death on the cross it refers to what he want underwent on our behalf for us men and for our Salvation so if you look at the we look secondly at the baptism of Jesus on the cross notice Matthew 20 17 to 28. we're not going to be able to deal with every jot and Tittle of this but I just want to point out a few things first note the context note the context verses 17 to 20. now Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to them behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to Mock and discourage and to rise again and the third day he will rise again it's a pretty sober statement isn't it you're with your friend you're with your Rabbi you're with your master you're with one that you've grown to love the disciples loved him they had affection for him they spent time with him he was in their midst how would they not love him he's all together lovely he's Chief among ten thousand there's everything in Jesus wherein Sinners should love him I know we reflect upon the fact that they don't but that's because of sin and depravity and those things I mentioned earlier there's nothing owing to Jesus that would cause us to not love him he is life itself he is love itself he is the the blessed one now on the heels of this statement that he's going to go die look at what happens in terms of the disciples then the mother of zebedee's sons came to him with her sons kneeling down and asking something from him and he said to her what do you wish she said to him grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom seems a bit insensitive doesn't it he's just said he's going to go be brutalized in Jerusalem he's going to be mocked he's going to be scourged he's going to be crucified and what do they want they're jockeying for position we want to be on your right hand and we want to be on your left hand we want Prestige well part of the emphasis of this passage at least by way of an application is to demonstrate that the cross always precedes the crown see they're getting a little bit ahead of themselves they want Crown but they don't want to cross I think we get ahead of ourselves sometimes too don't we we want Crown but we're not into this whole cross thing we want all the benefits and the blessings and the Privileges and the protection but these afflictions don't really work for us we can be like these disciples from time to time I I just want to be ushered into your presence I I want to take my seat either on the right or on the left in your kingdom there is probably that in all of our hearts to do one degree or other it's kind of the escape hatch you look around at the world today and boy Lord take me now I don't want to have to sort of stick around and see what what further menacing they have planned for us in the future I mean we're looking at some horrific things already if the last three years were any indicator that they might have horse to to which we can only imagine so we might just say take me Lord well Brethren it might be the case that there's a lot more Horrors that you and I have to go through you look at the history of the church there were a lot of Horrors that the people of God had to encounter before they received that Crown so the problem of the sons is Zebedee and their mother is inkling here is that she wants position for her babies she wants position for her boys she wants them to sit at a place of prestige when it comes to the kingdom of Jesus they want the crown before the cross notice how Jesus discourages this thought notice what he says in verse 22 Jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with so he tells them they don't know what they're talking about they don't know what they're asking they don't know the nature of the question and so he's going to set them straight and later on in the passage he's gonna he's gonna point to gentiles and he's going to say don't don't rule like them the kingdom of God is not you know everybody on the bottom serving the guy on the top rather the kingdom of God is to flip that and and invert it if you want to be first in the Kingdom you'll be last if you want to be great in the Kingdom you'll be leased so certainly points to Gentiles is a bad example on how to seek prestige in the kingdom of God but before that he deals with this cup and this baptism what does this mean well the cup is metaphorical the cup refers to God's Wrath so look at what he says in response you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink you'll meet with that cup again in Gethsemane remember when Jesus says father if it is possible let this cup pass from me it's not talking about a physical cop he's talking metaphorically and the cop is the cup of God's Wrath you see this in the Psalms Psalm 11 5-6 you see it in the prophets God is going to give the cup of his wrath to the nation of Babylon this cup signifies the Wrath and fury and Judgment of God so when Christ goes to the Cross it's not just as an example he's not just going there to teach us what it looks like to love one another he is going there to satisfy Divine Justice he is going there to exhaust the Wrath and fury and Judgment of God so he says to the disciples you don't know anything about this cup and you haven't even got the ability to drink from this cop and then he uses another metaphor and this time baptism look at what it says and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with now this is not his first or water baptism that we just saw in Matthew 3 13-7 17 this is a metaphorical use of the word baptism remember the the English sort of rendering of baptism what does it mean it means to plunge it means to dip it it means to immerse the the word was used outside of the Bible to speak to battle sea battles and when a ship was struck by a projectile it was baptized that doesn't mean it just sustained a little surface damage that means that it sunk that means that it was overwhelmed by the enemy and that's the manner in which Jesus is using the language I mentioned Luke's gospel Luke 12 50. Jesus says to the disciples but I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am till it is accomplished so you've got that first baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ wherein we see his act of obedience he must fulfill all righteousness but we have this second baptism a metaphorical use of the word to underscore his death on the cross he must drink the cup of God's Wrath and he must be baptized he must be overwhelmed by Divine judgment on behalf of his people he not only needs to positively work out a righteousness that can be imputed to us but he also needs to deal with the sin problem how does he deal with the sin problem he deals with it by going in or going to that cross in our stead he takes our punishment he takes our penalty he takes the judgment and wrath of God that you and I deserve Matthew Poole makes the observation here he says this baptism spoken of here by our savior this is a comment on Luke 12. he says is the same mentioned in Matthew 20 22 and Matthew 20 23 and can be understood of nothing but his passion see we need both these baptisms we need the Fulfillment of all all righteousness but we need this overwhelming death on our behalf to cleanse us from our sin and filth John Gill says but the baptism of his sufferings is meant which are compared to a baptism because of the largeness and abundance of them he was as it were immersed or plunged into them so that's how he seeks to extinguish this jocking for position on behalf of the sons of Zebedee but notice what he goes on to say with reference to these two men in particular at verse 23 you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my father he's not saying that their death is going to be substitutionary in nature it's not saying that they have a lot of people that they will die for he's simply referring that they're going to meet their end in very unsavory ways James the son of Zebedee gets his head cut off according to Acts chapter 12. John the son of Zebedee ends up on the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Our Lord now before you get it in your head well what could be wrong with an island out in the age yet it was a it was a prisoner Colony it was Exile it was a bad place to be so Jesus underscores that they themselves would know something of suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ Our Lord and then notice with reference to our last observation here he not only gives the revelation of his death in terms of going to Jerusalem that it will be a metaphorical baptism where he'll be overwhelmed with death but then he gives the reason the rationale the explanation in verse 28. says just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many this functions in two ways in the narrative it explains why he's going to Jerusalem go back to verse 17. now Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the 12 disciples aside on the road and said to that and then look at chapter 21 verse 1. now when they drew near Jerusalem if you've read the story up to this part you might wonder why is he going back to Jerusalem they they hate him there they despise him there they they load them there they want to kill him there well obviously he knows that and obviously that's the purpose for which he comes so the rationale of verse 28 is not only why he's going to Jerusalem but the rationale of verse 28 is why he came in the first place why the word became flesh and dwelt among us why he assumed our Humanity with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof and yet without sin why does Jesus do what he does he came not ought to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many this word Ransom is closely connected to Redemption it's through the blood of Jesus Christ we have a ransom we see that in first Timothy chapter two at verse 6. we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace Ephesians 1 7. you've got that Redemption background in the book of Exodus it's God's Redemption of the people of Israel out of the land of bondage out of Egypt that is the purpose for which the Savior came this idea that he's just an ethical teacher that he's just the starter of a new religion that he's just a model for our behavior all of that is true to one degree or other but the Apostle Paul condemns that mindset when he says the Jews are the great seek after signs and the Jews for the Jews the the cross is a stumbling block but for us those who are saved Christ is both the wisdom and the power of God it is redemption that we stand in need of it is cleansing through his blood our sins need to be forgiven if you're not a Believer here this morning this is your problem you may have a lot of problems economic family uh Society civil government I'm not going to say you don't but your big issue the big problem that you have today is that God is angry with the wicked every day I'm not trying to pick on you I'm not suggesting that I'm somehow better all of us in this room were conquered by that Grace we know of which we speak we know that if God is able to save wretches like us he's able to save wretches like you as well we need that Ransom we need that Redemption we need that righteousness we need in summary to be cleansed in his Precious Blood and clothed and is absolutely perfect righteousness well in conclusion we have The Obedience of Jesus Christ as the very linchpin for our Salvation he took on our Humanity so he could obey the Father's Law in our stead he took on our Humanity so he could suffer the father's wrath in our stead he was delivered up for or because of our transgressions and he was raised for our justification that first baptism underscores his act of obedience this second metaphorical one underscores his passive obedience to the law in fact our confession says but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness if you've missed you know the previous however many minutes let me just tell you you need righteousness you need forgiveness and the only place to get that is in the person and in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ when this brother and these sisters go into the water today we don't congratulate them on good decisions or on their better Free Will than the rest of ours we praise God we Express gratitude we welcome to the fam welcome them to the family of Faith to be sure but the reason for the baptistry the reason for the sinner going into that water and coming up again is because of the finished work of the Savior it's because of Christ and him crucified and resurrected it's because of what Christ accomplishes in the gospel and this is why we see the necessity for gospel preaching as crucial what does man and Sid need wherever he may be he needs the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ he needs to hear of this one in whom there is salvation and by way of encouragement to the three that are being baptized I always like to read this bit out of spurgeon's autobiography for those of us in our church you've heard this many times you're going to hear it one more time at least maybe another if we have another baptism in the not too distant future Spurgeon speaks and I just say this to encourage the Brethren that are going into the water today May 3rd in the afternoon I was privileged to follow my Lord and to be buried with him in baptism blessed pool sweet emblem of my death to all the world may I hence forward live alone for Jesus accept my body and soul as a poor sacrifice tie me unto thee in thy strength I now devote myself to thy service forever never may I shrink from owning thy name witness ye men and angels now if I forsake the Lord I vow to give Glory alone in Jesus and his cross and to spend my life in the extension of his cause in whatsoever way he pleases I desire to be sincere in this solemn profession having but one object in View and that to glorify God blessing upon thy name that thou Hast supported me through the day it is thy strength alone that could do this thou hast thou wilt thou Hast enabled me to profess thee help me now to honor thee and carry out my profession and Live the Life of Christ on Earth amen a good reminder and I want to encourage the newly to be baptized I don't know how to refer to them baptize Baptiste I I don't know but the ones being baptized I want to encourage you see at our church when they get baptized they're also joining our membership so our church gets a bit stronger today not stronger for more numbers but stronger for more faith more people conquered by our savior and we reflect on that promise that'll build his church and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it so you enter into our church we want to receive you with open arms and with joyfulness and thankfulness and pray for you pray for us and as we go forward in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the spirit may God indeed bless and may God indeed help and may God indeed use his word for drawing more Sinners unto himself through that blessed savior the Lord Jesus Christ well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the Lord Jesus we thank you for his life and death and Resurrection for that mission wherein he saves us from our sins we pray today for Adrian for Rihanna and for uh Corey we just commend them to you and to the word of your grace and pray that this would be a most blessed day that they would Echo the sentiments of our brother Spurgeon that they would resign resolve to serve you each and every day to bring glory and honor and praise to you and may we all be reminded in this local body to go forward in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit bless the preaching of the Gospel throughout the Earth and add to your church such as should be saved and we pray through Christ Our Lord amen I'm going to ask my brother Steve Lawson to come up he'll lead us in a hymn while we go and change our clothes it's right there I'm sorry 4047. thank you 447 you got it um uh please turn with you in your handbooks through 447 447 and allows you to please stand [Music] foreign [Music] my heart is [Music] in your grace my eyes [Music] can I prove it right [Music] now [Music] us [Music] ES [Music] I'm sorry I meant to mention before because we began at him if any parents who have children downstairs you go get your children so the people looking after doing the babysitting downstairs they can be often participating in the uh in this doctor's service and then as our usual customers we invite all the children to come to have more of a front row seat so they can participate and not be able to see the baptisms up close [Music] I'm just gonna read the form and then we'll get to it well I always like to remind us again of what we're doing and why we're doing it our confession as a good summary statement concerning the Christian doctrine of baptism in chapter 29 paragraph one of second London Confession of faith that says baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection of his being engrafted into him of remission of sins and of his giving up all to God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of Life those who do actually profess repentance towards God faith in and obedience to our lord Jesus are the only proper subjects of this ordinance the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water wherein the party is to be baptized in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit immersion or dipping of the water or person in water is necessary to the new administration of this ordinance so again a good summary statement can concerning our doctrine of Christian baptism it's been a joy and a pleasure to get to know these Brethren I commend them hardly to to our church Corey has been a blessing I just admire her her profession of Faith again I'm not congratulating her she's such a great girl and that's why she's here but God has saved her by his grace and for his glory she understands the imputation of Christ's righteousness she understands justification by faith alone and that is the kind of people that we want in terms of building this particular local church so I'm going to ask a series of questions and then baptize her do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally his father Son and Holy Spirit do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve his punishment for your sins do you believe that Jesus Christ the son of God lived in obedience to God's law died as a sacrifice and substitute for Sinners and Rose on the third day do you believe in Jesus Christ Alone to save you from your sins and do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ amen ities and baptize you in the name of father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit [Applause] thank you conditions to our church we invite the children up one man has defined the regulative principle of worship in a very accurate way he says In Worship the Christian church is to to preach the word of God to pray the word of God to read the word of God to sing the word of God and to see the word of God we see the word of God in the order sentences or sacraments of the church we see the word of God in the Lord's Supper the death of Christ on behalf of his church we see the word of God in baptism we see that it is an outward external emblem or symbol of what Christ has done in the heart the Holy Spirit has regenerated these three the holy spirit is granted The Graces of faith and repentance the Holy Spirit has brought them to this place of identifying publicly with our Triune God so that's why we want the kids to see the word of God in terms of these baptisms I'll pray and then we'll close our service by seeing the doxology and praise to God our blessed father we thank you for this wonderful day we thank you for the day that you have made that you have called us out of Darkness into Marvelous Light in terms of Salvation you've called us out of the world the six days we labor the six days we live in the world you call us to this foretaste of Heaven the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ the psalmist was absolutely spot on that he'd rather be a A doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness David captures the the heart and soul of the Christian profession I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord we thank you that we see your power demonstrated in the salvation of these three we thank you for strengthening this local church we pray that you would bless and watch over us and grant us help and Grace to glorify honor and praise you our blessed Father Son and Holy Spirit and we pray in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ amen when you can turn to 568 uh Steve come back up and and lead the singing of the doxology or I'll stay here that's good 568 the doxology in praise to our Triune God thank you [Music] [Applause] Lord praise [Music] on [Music] abortion and lot let me pray and close this service father thank you for the Lord's Day worship thank you for the brothers and sisters assembled here go with us now may we know your face shining upon us may we know your keeping of us and may we know your grace and we pray through Jesus our lord amen you may be seated