We open the word of God now to Matthew chapter 3. In the first 12 verses, you have John the Baptist ministering. John the Baptist came, and then the scribes and Pharisees came, and then Jesus came. Verse 13 of Matthew chapter 3. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptized by him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Permit it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented to him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. We're considering these Sunday evenings the important events in the earthly life of Christ. We've considered his birth and now his baptism. Many people are perplexed about the baptism of our Lord Jesus, and this, I think, is because they don't take it in the full context of the Bible. The word baptize has two meanings. There is a literal meaning, which is to immerse, to dip, to plunge, and there is a figurative meaning to be identified with. Now it's not my purpose this evening to discuss denominations. My own particular conviction is that the scriptural mode of baptism is immersion. However, we don't make that a test of fellowship or spirituality. When I was pastoring Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, My people often heard me say from the pulpit, I would not go across the street to try to make anybody a Baptist, but I would go to the end of the earth if God called me to try to make him into a Christian. Because my purpose as a preacher of the word of God is to share the word of God and win people to Christ and build people up in Christ. People have different denominational convictions. So my purpose tonight is not to try to make a Baptist out of anybody. If that were the case, I wouldn't be in this pulpit or be the pastor of this church. But my own conviction is, and it's pretty well backed up by New Testament scholars, that the New Testament mode of baptism was immersion. The advent of other forms of baptism is for a different reason. When our Lord Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized, It is then my conviction that he entered into the water, he went under the water, he came up from the water, and then he emerged out of the water. It was a baptism by immersion. There are those who say that Jesus was baptized because this was the entrance into his priestly ministry. You people know from your Bible study that when they ordained the priests back in the Old Testament, they washed them completely, then they robed them in their priestly garments. That's a beautiful theory except that Jesus was not entering into his priestly ministry. He did not enter into his priestly ministry until he ascended to heaven where he is now interceding for us at the right hand of God. I think it's important for us to understand why Jesus was baptized because it involves us as his followers and as Christians. May I suggest to you tonight that there are three reasons why the Lord Jesus was baptized. If you understand these reasons, I think it will help you in understanding your own spiritual relationship and perhaps your own baptism. Reason number one, he was baptized that it might be revealed who he is. This was his introduction, his presentation to the people of Israel. Turn to John chapter one, where John the Baptist explains this to us. John chapter one, beginning at verse 25 A committee came from the Jewish council, and said to John, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor that prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you whom ye know not. 27 He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to lose. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me. And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. The same is he who baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw and bore witness that this is the Son of God. John the Baptist came to prepare the nation for the Messiah and to present the Messiah to the nation. Now he prepared the nation for the Messiah by his baptism of repentance. This may come as a new thought to some of you, but I believe it's biblical. John's baptism Being a baptism of repentance, being a baptism that prepared the way for the coming of Christ, is different from the baptism we practice today. I'm not talking about mode. I'm talking about meaning. For example, you'll open the Word of God to Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19, the Apostle Paul comes to Ephesus and he finds certain disciples and he says to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said, we have not so much as heard whether there is any Holy Spirit or whether there's any Holy Spirit given. He said unto them, unto what then were you baptized? And they said unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him who should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. Now, when we baptize here at the Moody Church, we're not asking people to look for one yet to come. nor are we baptizing unto repentance, preparing them for one who is to come. The baptism that we practice looks back to a finished work of one who already has come. So John's baptism was a peculiar baptism for that period. He was preparing the people with repentant hearts, proving their repentance by their baptism for the coming of the Messiah. And then when the Messiah came, he presented the Messiah to the nation. You can imagine what a tremendous event this was. Here comes from Nazareth all the way down to the Jordan a carpenter. He enters into the water. He is baptized. The heavens open. A voice is heard. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. A dove comes and settles upon him. In distinction he is singled out. And then John the Baptist can point to him and say, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. The first reason for his baptism was that he might be presented to the nation. The second reason for his baptism was that he might endorse the ministry of John the Baptist. Now, John's ministry was a ministry of repentance, not a ministry of reconciliation. John was so unlike our Lord Jesus. John was a rough man of the wilderness, and Jesus was a a very tender, loving, patient man of the city. John was a Nazarite. He did not cut his hair. He did not drink strong drink. Jesus Christ was not a Nazarite. He was a Nazarene, but not a Nazarite. He did drink strong drink, so much that they said of him, he's a drunkard and a winebibber. John the Baptist would never accept an invitation to a party. Jesus mingled with the people, including the publicans and the sinners. Now, John's ministry came from heaven. I think it's important that we note over in Matthew chapter 21 that John's ministry was not something he invented himself. Matthew chapter 21, verse 23. And when he was come into the temple, The chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and they said, You see, Jesus had cleansed the temple. By what authority doest thou these things? Who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. And he goes back three years. The baptism of John, from where was it? Was it from heaven or of men? Now, there are those who teach us that John's baptism was the natural development of Jewish proselyte baptism. It doesn't say that in the Bible. They say it was something that other sects had practiced and he sort of picked it up. It doesn't say that in the Bible, notice. Was it from heaven or was it of men? And they reasoned with themselves saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, why did ye then not believe him? But if we shall say from man we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. They should have said, We will not tell. We're cowards. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Our Lord is saying here John's baptism was from heaven. The ministry that John had was given to him from heaven. When the Lord Jesus Christ came and was baptized, he was endorsing John's ministry. He was saying to the people, this is the man sent from God. I am the word, but he's the voice. He is a burning and a shining lamp, but I'm the light. He points to the Lamb of God. I am the Lamb of God, but I want you to know I am endorsing John's ministry. It's rather obvious here that the spiritual leaders of the day did not endorse John's ministry. They avoided it. Of course, John ultimately was arrested, put into prison, and his head was cut off because he dared to stand up for the truth of the Word of God. I'm going to linger a little while in Matthew 21, if I may, because the Lord follows this with three parables. First, the parable of the two sons. A certain man had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go to work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward he repented and went. He came to the second and said the same, and he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Which of the two did the will of his father? They say unto him the first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not. But the tax collectors and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." He is endorsing John's ministry. He is saying God the Father sent John. Now the next parable is the parable of the vineyard. You remember that story where the man let out his vineyard and they beat up all of his servants. Finally, he said, I'm going to send my son. They said, aha, here comes the son. Let's kill him and take the inheritance. Jesus said to them, what's he going to do to those people? And they say in verse 41, he will miserably destroy those wicked men. He'll lease his vineyard to other farmers who shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Then Jesus says, the kingdom of God can be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits. Parable number one, God the father sent John the Baptist. Parable number two, God the father sent his son. In parable number three, in Matthew 22, you have the parable of the marriage feast, where the king sends his servants, and they won't listen to him, and so he destroys their city. These three parables hang together. God the Father sent John the Baptist, and the Jews permitted John to be killed. God sent his son, and the Jews asked to have him killed. God sent his servants, endued by the Holy Spirit, and they killed them. Their sin kept getting worse. They permitted John to be killed. They asked for Jesus to be killed. They killed Stephen. They killed James. And the whole trouble began when they refused to listen to John the Baptist. Had the nation listened to John the Baptist, they would have been spared all the trouble that they went through. And so the second reason why our Lord was baptized was because he endorsed the ministry of John the Baptist. Now what's that mean to us today? It means this, until a person acknowledges he's a sinner and is willing to take the place of a sinner, he can't be saved. When the scribes and Pharisees came to John's baptism taking notes, they had their little tape recorders and they were putting notes in their tape recorder, and they were taking pictures of John's baptism, getting all of a big file on John the Baptist. Instead of coming and saying, we're sinners like everybody else. We need to be saved. We want to be prepared for the Messiah. That's why John looked at them and said, oh, you generation of vipers. A viper is a snake. Satan in the Bible is the serpent. What he's saying is, oh, you generation of snakes, you children of the devil, who warned you to flee from the Raptaka? Until we repent, we really can't be saved. Now, the third reason why our Lord was baptized, and I think the most important reason, it was a picture of the way he was going to save us. a picture of the way he was going to save us. Would you go back to Matthew chapter 3, please, and look at verse 15. I can understand why John the Baptist would say, look, you ought to baptize me. Jesus answering said, permit it to be so now. It'll never be done again. Permit it to be so now. for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." That word thus is translated in other places in this manner. Jesus is saying to John the Baptist, in this manner it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. The question is, who is meant by us? Does it mean Jesus and John the Baptist? Can you conceive of John the Baptist helping God fulfill all righteousness? I don't think so. I don't think that Jesus is saying, John, by your baptizing me, you and I are gonna fulfill all righteousness. That doesn't make sense. Who is meant by us? The whole Trinity is here in this passage. You have God the Son in verse 15, You have God the Holy Spirit in verse 16. You have God the Father in verse 17. So what is Jesus saying? He stands there in the Jordan, and that itself is significant. He stands there in the Jordan, and he says to John the Baptist, I want you to baptize me, for in this manner, through death, burial and resurrection. God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are going to fulfill all righteousness. How did Jesus Christ fulfill all righteousness? By being baptized? No. That was only a picture of his baptism on the cross. You will look with me, please, at Matthew chapter 20 and verse 22. The mother of Zebedee's children came asking for some thrones for her sons. And Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And very foolishly they answer and say, We are able. He saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. Now he has a similar expression in the gospel of Luke, and you ought to notice that verse. Luke chapter 12, verse 50. Our Lord says, I have a baptism to be baptized with. and how I am constrained till it be accomplished." What baptism is he talking about? His baptism on the cross. When all of the waves and the billows of God's wrath went over him, he himself said, what happened to Jonah is going to happen to me. You want a sign? I'll give you a sign, the sign of the prophet Jonah. What happened to Jonah? Death? burial, resurrection. What happened to Jesus? Death, burial, resurrection. In the New Testament, baptism is not identified with birth. Nobody is saved by being baptized. Baptism is identified with death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. When our Lord went into the waters of the Jordan, and when he was immersed and brought up, it was death burial, resurrection. It was a picture of his baptism on the cross where he fulfilled all righteousness. That, I think, is the third reason why our Lord was baptized. He was telling people through this record, there's only one way anybody can ever be saved, through my death, burial, and resurrection. Now, Terry, but a moment or two to think of something rather interesting. He was baptized in the Jordan, not in the pool of Siloam, in the Jordan. Bible students are not too clear. They're not in agreement as to the exact place today where John baptized. We have the names of the places. We aren't sure where they were. It makes no difference. He was in the Jordan. Do you remember when Joshua took the children of Israel across the Jordan? Remember that? The waters opened up. Do you remember what they did? They took 12 stones and put them right in the middle of the Jordan River. They crossed over and they took 12 more stones and put them on the shore. And then the waters came back. What do you have? Death? burial, resurrection. The crossing of the Jordan River was for Israel a picture of death, burial, resurrection. Now here comes the Lord Jesus, who is Joshua. Jehoshua, Jehovah, is our salvation. Just as Joshua led the children of Israel into their inheritance, so Jesus Christ, through death, burial, and resurrection, leads us into our inheritance. Moses didn't do it. John writes and says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews says Moses didn't lead the people in. It was Joshua who led them in. It's a picture of our Lord Jesus. Now think of something else. This is interesting. When my Lord was baptized, as he came up from the waters, a dove lighted upon him. Doves are interesting. It's a picture of the Holy Spirit, the peace of the Holy Spirit, the purity of the Holy Spirit, the fidelity of the Holy Spirit. You know where the first baptism is in the Bible? The flood. A global baptism. Peter tells us that in 1 Peter chapter 3. God sent the flood and the flood completely immersed and buried the earth. Death, burial, but that same water raised up an ark and placed it on a mountaintop. Death, burial, resurrection. And you remember that Noah let a raven go and the raven found all sorts of crummy things to feed on and stayed out there. Let the dove go. The dove came back and brought a an olive branch, which is a picture of peace, and then he let the dove go again. The dove didn't come back. And you can read all the way through the Old Testament, you won't find that dove. He turned that dove loose and that dove kept looking for some place to land. Couldn't land on Abraham, he was a liar. Couldn't land on Jacob, he was a schemer. Couldn't land on David, he was an adulterer. Moses was a murderer. kept flying around looking for someplace to land. And then the Lord Jesus Christ came. As he came up out of the water, the dove landed on him. Here was one who was holy, harmless, undefiled. Here was one on whom the Spirit of God could come. And the voice of the Father speaks and says, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. and he's still well pleased with his son. He's not well pleased with us, but if we're in his son, he's well pleased with us. And so our Lord was baptized as a picture of his baptism on the cross when all of the waves and billows of the judgment of God came upon him for you and for me. Where does this leave us today? What does it mean to us today? Well, you saw seven people baptized this evening. What did we say in that baptism? We said that you have been identified with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. How? Through water? No, through the Holy Spirit. John said, I baptize with water. One is coming after me. He shall baptize with the Holy Spirit. And when you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into your life and baptizes you. That is the figurative meaning. He identifies you with Jesus Christ. You belong to him. And so our baptism in water is simply an outward expression of that wonderful inward experience. Strictly speaking, we should never say baptized as Jesus was baptized because we aren't John the Baptist and we aren't using John's baptism, which was a temporary baptism pointing forward to the coming of the Savior, a baptism of repentance. Strictly speaking, we should never say baptized as Jesus was. If we mean by mode and you agree with immersion, yes. But if you mean by meaning, no. When my Lord entered the Jordan, I wonder what his heart was saying to him. He knew that down at the end of that road lay a Roman cross. It was a relatively simple thing to submit to the arms of John the Baptist and be immersed in death, burial, and resurrection. But, oh, there would come a day when he would pray, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And he submitted himself to his baptism on the cross. Thank God that it ends with resurrection, not just death, burial. Death could not hold her prey, Jesus my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord. And today, He's a living Savior. And when you trust Him, a beautiful thing happens. Oh, if some sinner here tonight says, I want to believe in Jesus Christ. My friend, when you believe in Him, a beautiful thing happens. The Holy Spirit comes in. Your old life is buried. Your old life is buried. All of the sin and the filth and the dirt and the rot and the disease and the wickedness, it's buried. And you rise up to walk in newness of life. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. That's why he was baptized. saying to you and me, this is what will happen to me on the cross. So I am persuaded to say to you, you can be baptized. If you will trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will be identified with him in his victory with the old life buried and raised again to walk in newness of life. You can follow your Joshua into your inheritance. You can claim your promised land. through death, burial, resurrection. That is why Jesus was baptized. Let's pray together. Gracious Father, how much our Savior endured for us. Oh, we have heard through the music tonight. We've heard from your word preached. how much he has done for us. And I pray, Lord, for that one, those two or three here tonight who have never been saved, never been born again, oh, that tonight they might come and trust Christ. Thank you for the beautiful ordinance we have that pictures this to us. May each of us be able to have the answer of a good conscience toward God in this matter. abundantly blessed as we extend your invitation tonight. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.