moment ago as our elder Frederick Marsnak was praying, I hope you were paying careful attention when he was thanking God for the administration of the sacrament of baptism this morning and this evening. And even after that child is baptized this evening, As of Wednesday night, we have somewhere between 16 and 18 babies who have not yet emerged. And yes, we're on top of that. Pastor Anderson and the Children's Christian Education Committee are trying to find a closet where we can put all of these babies. We're rejoicing in the Lord's mercy to us. And so, indeed, we will once again engage in the delightful sacrament of baptism of our covenant children tonight. I grew up in a large First Baptist church and saw, before I turned 18, well over a thousand baptisms, of course, all by immersion. And some of those baptisms, a few, included the explanation that while Jesus was circumcised as an infant, receiving the sign and seal of the covenant then, he was baptized as an adult. If you don't remember that Jesus received that old covenant sign and seal of circumcision in Luke chapter two, we're told when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus. Now, I frequently heard sermons, and I hope you have your Bible open to Matthew chapter three. I'm going to make an appeal to you in just a moment to roll up your sleeves and go to work with me exegetically. But I frequently heard sermons, and if you grew up in a Baptist church, so did you, I'm sure, using this text that asserted this text is the evidence, the model for Christian baptism by immersion. And that premise that this incident is the model for Christian baptism is actually easily refuted. And we will see that momentarily. But I do want to make a request of you, that even if you're not in the habit of being that person who has their Bible open and following along, that you would track with me in your open Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please take the Pew Bible in front of you and use it. If you don't own a Bible, take that one home. We would be glad to put you in possession of God's word. Now, I have no intention of impressing you with my brilliant oratory this morning. But I do want to take you on a journey through the scriptures. And this is in keeping with our normal pattern of expository preaching. If those words are foreign to you, exposition simply means explaining this text in its historical context. That's what exposition is, explaining this text in its historical context. And preaching simply means then applying that text to the mind and heart of the hearer. And so we'll be doing that now and we'll be doing that again tonight as we work our way through the life of Solomon. We'll be preaching 1 Kings 9. And so I hope you'll join us tonight for more exposition. Now this incident, if you're going to grasp it in its fullness, in all the shapes and turns of it, this incident in the life of Jesus is stated in all of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. One of the great Reformation principles of hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation, is to compare Scripture with Scripture. Scripture is self-attesting and self-interpreting with the illuminating help of the Holy Spirit. And when you compare each of the three accounts, what you'll find is no contradiction. They are complementary, not contradictory, but you will notice that each of the three gospel writers, Matthew, then Mark, then Luke, adds slightly more detail, but oh, how important it is. And so let me ask you to, and I realize you're going to be doing this with your copy of God's word. First of all, turn to Mark's gospel, Mark chapter one, And you'll get, this is the most basic of the three accounts. And even after we look at this, you'll want to keep a finger or marker in Mark's gospel. We read in Mark 1 verse 9-11, in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. By the way, this is Mark's unique contribution, is that Jesus is making his way from Nazareth out into the wilderness surrounding the Jordan River. We read, it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending upon him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Then look at Luke chapter three. And again, I'm not trying to be pedantic here. I want you to notice the slight differences, how each gospel writer compliments the others. In Luke chapter three, Luke is focused, if you are mindful of what Luke's strategy is, he's always wanting to talk about prayer, especially the Lord Jesus as our model for prayer. In Luke chapter three, verses 21 and 22, we read, when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, and while he prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased." But the longest discussion of this incident is in our Gospel. We're preaching through Matthew's Gospel, and so look at Matthew chapter 3. This is our principal text in our ongoing exposition of Matthew's Gospel. And what Matthew does is something that neither Mark nor Luke do. Matthew tells us in chapter three about the discussion before the baptism. Look at Mark chapter or Matthew three, pick up the narrative in verse 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 us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed it. When he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Now, notice carefully, once again, these three accounts, what makes them different. Mark chapter 1 tells us this. Jesus came on a specific journey from the northern portion of Israel, from his hometown of Nazareth, just for this event. Luke chapter 3 tells us that while Jesus was praying, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Him. But Matthew chapter 3 focuses on the discussion before the baptism. Now notice carefully, I'm going to make you pay attention to the words. Matthew chapter 3 verse 14, we see that Jesus was baptized by John, but that He didn't receive the baptism of John. That was a baptism for sinners and represented repentance for the forgiveness of sins, we're told in Matthew 3.11. Jesus was not a sinner and therefore could not repent or receive the forgiveness of sins. John's baptism with everyone else who came to him, the tens of thousands who came out of the cities, out into the wilderness, John's baptism was to prepare people for receiving Christ. Jesus didn't need that, He didn't need preparation for receiving Himself. Therefore, though Jesus was sprinkled by John, as we'll see in just a moment, it's called an anointing by John. It was something different than what John was administering to others at the Jordan River. Now remember, the anointing of Jesus, and maybe this is the first time you've heard somebody say this, and this will shock you, and you'll have to go home and do some reading. I hope you do. Remember, the anointing of Jesus was not Christian baptism. I can remember my pastor, oh, 100, 500 times saying, don't you want to be baptized like Jesus was? And of course he's going to say, nah. And so you were always taught the logic that what you see happening to Jesus was that was the model for Christian baptism. But what we're going to find out is it wasn't Christian baptism. Now this is where I'm going to ask you to really do some work. I hope you really have markers for your Bible. Look at Acts 19, and I wanna debunk that idea that what you just saw happening was Christian baptism. It wasn't, it's something unique. In fact, I'll go ahead and tell you. What is happening in Matthew chapter three is Jesus being anointed to enter his high priestly ministry. It's not Christian baptism. In fact, what occurs here is predates the institution of Christian baptism by 33 years. Notice what we're told in Acts 19. Acts 19, we are told when Christian baptism did begin and what John's baptism was. Acts 19 verse one, Paul having passed through the upper regions came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, we've not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? They said, into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, then they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. You see, Christian baptism was not instituted until after the death and resurrection of Jesus, at the giving of the Great Commission. And so what you see happening between John the Baptist and Jesus can't be Christian baptism. That doesn't even exist until the Great Commission, when Jesus gives the mandate to baptize. So back to our text in Matthew chapter 3. I want you to notice this quick interchange that happens. Now most of you are in the habit of thinking, and you're right, that John the Baptist is a man with a spine of steel. That he's not somebody who is easily convinced to follow the crowd. He's not going to do the popular thing. John the Baptist is there with the hordes of people who come out from Jerusalem, all to receive this baptism of repentance. And he looks up and in the long line is his cousin, Jesus. And John is confused and befuddled because he knows his cousin Jesus has no need for a baptism of repentance. And so he's thinking what he's going to say to Jesus. Jesus is in the line because there are hordes. And so when Jesus comes up to him, John, notice what we're told in Matthew 3, 14, John tried to prevent him. And so this, this discussion breaks out and everyone around is confused. Their, their brows are furrowed because John hasn't turned anyone away all day long. Everybody's coming to him for a baptism of repentance. He's saying, that's good. But now he says to this one solitary figure, Look at Matthew 3, 14 and 15. I, I need to be baptized by you. If we're talking about baptisms or repentance, Jesus, I'm not going to engage in an untrue sign. If anybody should be receiving the sign right now, it should be me from you. Jesus says one sentence. one sentence, and it changes John's mind completely. Look at Matthew 3.15. And I want us to unfold what it is in Jesus' one sentence that would change John's mind so quickly. He's not He's not one who would change his mind easily, not influenced by peer pressure. But Jesus speaks one sentence and he immediately changes his mind and places the sign upon Jesus, anointing him. So as soon, look at verse 15, as soon as Jesus asserts that this must be done to fulfill all righteousness, John immediately agrees and places the sign upon Jesus. Now, fulfilling all righteousness, that phrase may be empty to you. Let me pack it for you. Fulfilling all righteousness means scrupulously keeping God's commands. What Jesus was saying to John is he had to be sprinkled, had to be anointed at that time to fulfill the Old Testament law. to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus is our perfect high priest. He perfectly keeps every aspect of the law, moral, civil, ceremonial, the law he is coming to fulfill. Listen carefully. Jesus knows it. John the Baptist knows it. And all Jesus has to say to him is, John, I'm here. It's that time to fulfill all righteousness. The law is talking about, let me take you through a guided tour, Numbers chapter eight, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially, thus you shall do to them to cleanse them, sprinkle water of purification on them. The way you entered the public priestly ministry is through being anointed, according to Numbers eight. Now there's more to it than that, but that's what's happening here. Why was Jesus anointed by John in that moment? Well, to properly and lawfully enter his high priestly ministry. This was the age at which Levitical priests began their public priestly ministry. If Jesus would have come to John the Baptist a year earlier, at 29, By the way, this is why Luke goes to great extent to tell us his age, that he's 30 now. If Jesus would have come a year earlier at 29 and said, John, I'm here to fulfill all righteousness. John would have said, you're going to have to wait a year because you don't meet the criteria yet. But we're told in Numbers, Numbers 4. The children of Levi from 30 years old and above, even to 50 years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. And so we find out that to be a perfect Thai priest, they have to be sprinkled or anointed, they have to be at least 30. In fact, the criteria to be a lawful priest, a man had to be 30, we're told that in Numbers 4. They had to be called of God, that's repeatedly told us in Numbers chapter 8, Exodus 28. Then they had to be anointed and sprinkled. All three elements now are present as Jesus is standing right there in front of John. When he says to him, it's fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, John says, oh, of course, 30, anointed, called of God. Of course, it's that time. We know that Jesus, of course, is called and approved by God because we'll see it in our text in Matthew 3.17 when the heavens open and the Father speaks out of heaven and says, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And now Jesus is anointed by a lawful priest. This, of course, as I said, is why Luke is very careful to tell us in Luke chapter three, Jesus' age tells us Jesus began his ministry at 30 years of age. And what Matthew wants us to see, stare at the text in Matthew 3 verse 15, what Matthew wants his readers to see is this anointing is Jesus' public inauguration as our high priest. Being anointed by sprinkling was part of his lawful public ordination to be our priest. By the way, if he's immersed, he wouldn't have obeyed the law. If he were immersed, you don't have a Christ. You know what the word Christ means? It means the anointed one, not the immersed one. He's the Christ because he's the anointed one. This anointing is what makes Jesus the Messiah. And repeatedly the gospels tell us that Jesus is the anointed one. When? By John. This is the only time, the only occasion in scripture we have that fulfills all of these statements. It's at this moment when Jesus comes with thousands of witnesses to see John anointing him. Look for one example of how the scripture wants to talk about Jesus being the anointed one. Look at Luke chapter four. And again, I hope you came prepared, had plenty of coffee this morning, came prepared to work with me. Luke chapter four, a very familiar passage. This is Jesus in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. And Jesus wants to talk about being the anointed one. He never speaks of being the immersed one. He's the anointed one, the sprinkled one. Luke chapter four, pick up the narrative at verse 16. So he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he has anointed me. When? Under John. That's what Jesus is referring to. He's quoting Isaiah, says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Then he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In other words, now I have been anointed by John, the Spirit has been poured out upon me, and I'm beginning my public ministry. By the way, this isn't the only occasion. What I want you to see is this is commonplace language, that Jesus is the anointed one. Look at Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10, again, should be a very familiar text to you. This is Peter preaching in his sermon to the household of the Gentile Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. And Peter wants to talk about the same thing, that Jesus is the anointed one, the sprinkled one, never the immersed one. Acts 10, verse 36, the word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. That word, you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit. When? In our text, in Matthew 3. That's what Peter's talking about. And with power, he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Now, another reason why Jesus was baptized by John, anointed by him. Remember, what's happening there by the River Jordan is not the model for Christian baptism. It's something different. This is Christ anointing to be our high priest. If it doesn't happen here, it doesn't happen. Another reason why Jesus was baptized by John was to validate John the Baptist's ministry. To put honor upon John the Baptist because you remember John the Baptist was the one who was the prophesied forerunner according to the last old covenant prophet Malachi. Look at Luke chapter 20 and I want you to notice how much John places honor upon, or how much Jesus places honor upon John the Baptist and his ministry, especially his ministry of administering a baptism for repentance. In Luke chapter 20, Jesus pulls out his cousin according to the flesh and his baptizing ministry and does so to place honor upon him. In Luke chapter 20, We read, as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, the chief priest and the scribes together with the elders confronted him and spoke to him saying, tell us by what authority are you doing these things? Or who is he who gave you this authority? Now here's the answer. The answer is Jesus is doing this because he's been anointed, he's now a lawful high priest by John. So he could have said my authority comes from John. I've received lawful powers to be the high priest by my anointing from John." But Jesus goes on and said, I'll ask you one thing and answer me. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? And what he's doing there is acknowledging that John's baptism is a heavenly incident. What you see here in Matthew chapter 3 in our text. This was divine mark by God. Well, I want you to notice as well, look at our text back in Matthew chapter 3, there's more happening than just the baptism or the anointing of Jesus. There are four distinct events connected with the anointing of Christ. This is a rich, a full text in Matthew chapter 3. There are four things that happen, and so I don't want you to go home today and just say, wow, Carl is such a brilliant exegete, I hadn't known that before, and be so astounded at that. What I want you to see is there's a complex of events. This text is a lot bigger than just a sign, the sign of anointing. There are four events connected with the baptism. The prayer, the opening of heaven, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father from heaven. Now, the first one, the prayer, you're going to have to look at the parallel text. Look at Luke chapter 3, keeping one finger in our text. Remember, we have three texts to work out of, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In Luke chapter 3, we read these words in Luke 3.21, It came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, and while He prayed, the heaven was open. Jesus enters His public ministry in absolute dependence upon His Father. That's why He's praying. Jesus was in the habit of praying. We see private prayer being the constant practice of our Lord Jesus, and it's Him that we're to slavishly imitate. I don't want to just say that when we see that being His constant practice. I want to prove it to you. For example, in Matthew chapter 14, we see that Jesus sent the disciples away and went to a mountaintop to pray. In Mark chapter 1, we're told that Jesus, long before daylight, gets up and goes to a solitary place for prayer. In Luke chapter 5, we're told these words, Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. In Luke 22, we have the most well-known of the examples of our Lord's private praying. On the night before he would go to the cross, we see him doing what he had always done. We read, he went out to the Mount of Olives as was his custom. And when he came to the place, what place? The place where he usually went to pray. You see, our Lord had set times and places for prayer. So I'd stop and ask. If the sinless, omniscient Lord Jesus needed to spend regular time alone with his Father, how much more do you and I, who are wretched and foolish, need to spend time in the private place with God? But Jesus was especially in the habit of praying at those defining moments in his public ministry. In Luke chapter six, just before he chooses the 12, Jesus goes and prays. In Luke chapter nine, just before he questions the 12 about his identity and is about to reveal to them completely that he's the Christ, the Son of God, he prays. In Luke chapter nine, as Jesus takes his central circle of disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration, he prays. In Luke 11, what is he doing before the disciples say, teach us to pray, he's praying. And then on in Luke 22, on Monday, Thursday night, just before the arrested trial and crucifixion, Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane praying. And then even on the cross, even when every breath is agony, Jesus still continues to pray. So the first event you should see connected with the baptism is the prayer. Nothing ever essential or important in the life and ministry of Jesus is going to happen apart from communication with the Father. Nothing. The second event connected with the baptism is the opening of heaven. This is astounding. Look at our text, Matthew 3 verse 16. We read, when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him. This picture of heaven opening means God is acting. He is stepping down from heaven to address people. Remember what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 64? Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. That's what's happening right now. In the anointing of Jesus, we see how God answered the prayers of his people and did indeed open the heavens to come down. And then the third great event that happens connected to the baptism is the descent of the Holy Spirit. Look at the text, Matthew 3.16. We're told, he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. You remember how John just never could get over this. Whenever he talked about Jesus, he had to immediately talk about the descent of the Holy Spirit. So in John's Gospel, John, we were told, bore witness saying in John 1, I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I've seen and testified that he's the Son of God." So notice in our text, Matthew 3.16, the Spirit is said to descend like a dove. Why a dove? Let's dig in very deeply here in this moment, this incredible moment where the Spirit is descending upon Christ. Why a dove? In the scriptures, a dove symbolizes a couple of things. When you think of every time a dove is used as a symbol, it always comes down to one of two things. The first is gentleness. When the spirit comes upon Jesus, it is to show his meekness and gentleness. Remember in Matthew 10, when Jesus sends out his disciples, he says, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Doves have no talons or sharp beaks. They're harmless. In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus even says, I am gentle and humble in heart. The dove perfectly pictured that. Believer, aren't you joyful today that Jesus is filled with all gentleness? That he has no harshness, that he won't break a bruised reed, that he loves peace and reconciliation? The second thing a dove typically symbolizes, it's one or the other, either gentleness or purity. So when the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove upon the Lord Jesus, it's to show that He's the Holy One, the pure One. Of course, this doesn't mean that Jesus was not previously filled and equipped with the Holy Spirit, but merely indicates that he's now been equipped by the Holy Spirit with official ministerial gifts to appear openly as the Messiah, as the Christ, the Anointed One. What's the effect of this anointing by the Holy Spirit? Peter says it this way in his sermon in Acts chapter 10. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. A fourth thing happens in this complex of events as John is anointing the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus prays. The heavens are opened. The Holy Spirit descends like a dove. And fourth, look at verse 17 of our text. You hear a voice coming from heaven. Look carefully what the voice says, and so we can determine who this is. This is my beloved son. It's the voice of the Father, the voice of the first person of the Godhead. And notice what the Father says. He doesn't just identify and say, this is my beloved son. He has to add in this. in whom I am well pleased." This is the endorsement of heaven. This is like the endorsement of a political candidate, except infinitely better. What is it that the Father is pleased with? Now think about this moment. Stare at Matthew 3.17. What grounds would the Father have to be pleased with the Son? Listen carefully. The Son's perfect obedience. that the Son wants to fulfill all righteousness, all that is pinned in the Word. And so He doesn't try to usurp His office as the Anointed One, as the Christ, when He's 26 or 29. He waits until that moment when He's 30. And so now, when it's lawful, when He can fulfill all righteousness, He comes to John the Baptist. And so the Father says, I am well-pleased in Him. He's well-pleased in the Son's perfect obedience. The fact that the son is always about the father's business. Jesus frequently says things like this in John 6. I've come down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. Or in John 8, I always do those things that please my father. On multiple occasions in the Gospels, the Father restates his endorsement, his approval of the Son. Remember on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father speaks out of the glory cloud in Luke 9 and says, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, hear Him. He does so in the last week of our Lord's life and ministry in John 12. I'm astounded by this. I want you to be astounded too. Wouldn't you agree that we can know of no higher love than the love that the father has for the son? Look at verse 17 and be astounded. The father is publicly confessing, this is my beloved son. There is no higher love than the perfect love the father has for the son. Yet think of the good news of the gospel. because of the Father's deep love for you. A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking to a woman. She said, I know that the Lord doesn't love me. I said, why would you say that? And she said, I walked out this morning and I had a flat tire and I was late for work. I said, that's it? That's all you got? That's your basis for thinking that the Lord doesn't love you? Yes, because if the Lord loved me, I would never have flat tires. Here's how much the father loved you. The father was pleased to take his beloved son, and to use the language of Isaiah 53, was pleased to crush him, to bruise him. Why? For you. Because he loved you so deeply. The father took his beloved son. and in the most horrific way poured out his own wrath upon him that you might have eternal life. How do we apply this word? Let me make a few applications to us. One thing this text is teaching us is the Trinitarian nature of our redemption. You see in this text the presence of all three persons of the Godhead. If you came here today and you struggle with the Trinity, my friend, dig in deep on this text. This is as good a Trinitarian text as other, although there are dozens, all through the New Testament. You see in this text the presence of the three persons. Notice carefully, the Son being anointed, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking. Any conception of the work of Jesus being a Lone Ranger work is deeply flawed. He does His work in the power of the Holy Spirit and in perfect pleasing obedience to the Father. We should be reminded that all three persons of the Godhead are equally concerned in the deliverance of your soul from hell. The enemies of your soul are mighty. But the lovers of your soul are much greater. The Father loves you. The Spirit loves you. And the Son loves you. And this has been true since all eternity. The second application you should see is this text shows us that every prophecy of God will be fulfilled. Listen to this prophecy that's given when you read Isaiah chapter 11. It's given hundreds of years before the incarnation. But again, not one prophetic word of God can fall to the ground unfulfilled. Isaiah writes in Isaiah 11, 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 the fear of the Lord. When did the spirit, when was the spirit poured out upon him? Right here, Matthew chapter three. Every single prophecy of God about the Lord Jesus Christ must be fulfilled. Another application for those of you legal scholars. This text shows us how Jesus meets the legal necessity of two witnesses. You remember from Deuteronomy chapter 19 that for any fact to be proven true, there had to be at least two witnesses. This is the law of evidence from scripture. to testify to the absolute acceptability of Jesus, we have two witnesses. The Father speaks, gives his witness out of heaven. The Spirit descends. And so you have the two most impeccable witnesses to Christ's legitimacy, that he indeed is the high priest. He has received the anointing. He is now legitimate as our high priest. And Jesus meets the legal necessity. Two witnesses. What two could be better than the Father and the Spirit speaking? Final question for you, do you wonder if you'll be acceptable to God? If you're in Christ, you're accepted in the beloved. When you understand what it means to be united with Christ, to have union with him, to be in Christ, it means, look at those words in verse 17. To you who are united to Christ by faith, who have put your trust in him alone, you're now accepted in the beloved. For Jesus is the accepted and beloved son. If you have union with Christ, You're deeply loved by the Father. Let's pray together. Our Father prays to you. All praise be to you for publicly showing Jesus to be your beloved son, the one who's been anointed, marked out, the one who meets every requirement. And so, Lord, now strengthen our faith in Christ alone. Let us look to him as our only high priest, as the acceptable one and the beloved one. Strengthen our love to him and our faith in him, we pray in Christ's name.