We're in Matthew chapter number three and the title of my sermon this morning is why was Jesus baptized?
Why was Jesus baptized? Look down at your Bibles in Matthew chapter three in verse 13
It says then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him
But John forbade him saying I have need to be baptized of thee and comest out to me and Jesus answering said unto him
Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness
Then he suffered him now when it comes to the subject of baptism. We know why we're baptized right now
I know a lot of people out there are confused as far as the doctrine of baptism is concerned
They believe that baptism saves you they believe that if you get immersed in an actual water
That somehow that washes away all of your sins and that's how you get saved
But the funny thing is is the same people who believe this are the same people who believe you could lose your salvation
So if you can lose your salvation
Even after you got baptized how many times you have to be baptized in your lifetime in order to remain saved now
We obviously understand you can't lose your salvation once you have it
The Bible tells us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and now shall be saved the Bible calls salvation eternal life
Meaning you can never lose it. It's eternal it lasts forever. It's not temporary life
It's called eternal life and baptism has nothing to do with salvation
Okay, and I'll explain more about that in just a bit
now when we get baptized we get baptized after salvation and it's for the purpose of
Identifying with the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's typically what we explain to people
but here in Matthew chapter 3 we see that Jesus Christ himself is being baptized of
John the Baptist now
Why does he do that? Well, here's the thing when I explain to people
Why they should be baptized after salvation. I typically walk them through these three
Reasons why okay reason number one why you should be baptized after salvation number one is because it's commanded, right?
In fact, we often say it is the first step of obedience after salvation
So once you get saved the Bible tells us to commands us and God commands us to be baptized
We see that in Matthew chapter 28 and in various other portions of Scripture
We see that God commands us to be baptized because he wants us to identify
With the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in fact when we baptize people here at our church
We often say have you trusted Jesus as your Savior?
They say yes, and we say upon your public profession of your faith in Jesus
I mean
I'll baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and I say buried in
The likeness of his death raised in the likeness of his resurrection and that is that individual
Identifying and letting everyone know I got saved not through the baptism
Okay
Obviously they understand they're not getting saved by getting baptized. They're getting baptized kind of like the way we
Married men wear wedding rings right is to identify. Hey, I'm married. I have a wife
I have a spouse, you know if I take off this ring to wash the dishes or whatever
It may be or you know for whatever reason, you know
I'm not just because I remove doesn't mean I'm not married anymore
Simply a symbolic representation of the fact that I'm married and in like manner that's the way baptism works
You understand so we tell them. Hey, the reason you should get baptized after salvation
It's because of the fact that it's commanding. Okay, and let me just say this if you don't get baptized after salvation
More than likely you're probably not gonna go very far in the Christian life. Say what are you serious?
Are you saying just because I don't baptize or I don't obey this first ordinance of getting baptized
I'm not gonna grow in my faith
Well folks you got to understand if this is the first thing that God is telling you to do after salvation
If this is the very first command that he gives you and you don't obey it
What makes you think you're gonna be the other commands that are found on the Bible, right?
If you can't follow something as simple as being baptized immersed in water making a public profession
of your faith
As I mentioned the first thing I mentioned is it's the first commandment
the second thing we already mentioned is the fact that we get baptized because
It identifies us with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and then thirdly I typically tell him we should be baptized
Because of the fact that Jesus left us an example. Okay, and we see that example in Matthew chapter 3
We see that Jesus Christ himself was baptized and we ought to walk as Jesus walked
You know if Jesus Christ was baptized if he was immersed in water
If he was willing to do that at the hands of John the Baptist how much more should we
Obey that commandment to get baptized as well. That's what I understand when people say well
I don't want to be baptized but you know, I'm gonna obey God in every other area
well, that's funny, you know, can't you just obey Jesus Christ and
And follow his example of what he did which is to be baptized
So why was he baptized was he doing it to identify with his own death burial and
Resurrection we're gonna look at that this morning now turn with me if you would to Hebrews chapter number six
We're gonna come back to Matthew chapter 3 in just a bit go to Hebrews chapter 6
What I want you to notice a couple things first and foremost
I want you to notice that baptism by immersion when we say baptism by immersion
We're referring to the fact that someone gets fully placed into the water. They're fully immersed in the water fully taken out
Okay
Baptism by immersion was not instituted until the latter end of the Old Testament going into the old it's going into the new
Excuse me. Okay, and
so
We don't see explicitly individuals being baptized in the Old Testament. You know, we don't see
local congregations and and believers
We don't see, you know, David baptizing people or the prophets, you know, immersing people into water individually
We don't really see that in the Old Testament
But we do see baptism in the Old Testament because John the Baptist is considered Old Testament
In fact, he's the last of the Old Testament prophets the Bible tells us
Okay, and everything up until the death of Jesus Christ according to the Bible is actually referred to as the Old Testament
now in our in our physical Bibles
Our Bible is split into Old and New Testament and for us the New Testament begins at the book of Matthew
But when you follow what that means to have Old Covenant New Covenant Old Testament into New Testament
The New Testament does not begin until the testator dies and a testator is referring to Jesus Christ
So when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross the Bible says at that point the Old Testament
Ceased in the New Testament began and in fact, you know
If we really want to get detailed about this the Old Testament doesn't begin in Genesis
Okay, though we have New Testament beginning in Genesis in our physical Bibles as a point of reference for us
The Old Testament didn't begin until Moses sprinkled the blood on the book and on the people
Okay
That's when the Old Covenant was actually established in the Old Testament and it was completed at the death of Jesus Christ
So picture this Jesus Christ John the Baptist the disciples as they're ministering. They're actually ministering in the Old Testament still
That's why you see Jesus telling
People to go offer the sacrifices go after offer the gift go present themselves before the priests because these were still ordinances
Institutions and people that were still in place in the Old Testament because that's what they were in. Okay now
Let's look at different baptisms in the Bible. Okay, because here's the thing baptism
Although we associated with physically being immersed in water, it's not always by immersion
Baptism is simply a phrase that means immersion, but it's not always signifying being immersed in water
Sometimes it's just figurative. It's symbolic a symbolic representation of something. Look at Hebrews chapter 6 and verse number 1
It says therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ
Let us go on into perfection
Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God of the doctrine of what?
Baptisms so there we see that there's not only one baptism
There's various baptisms. In fact baptism
Baptisms plural is mentioned here. He says the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of
eternal
Judgment turn with me if you would to Acts chapter 19 Acts chapter 19 if you would
So we see there's more than one type of baptism, okay doctrine of baptisms now
That doesn't mean there's one more than one way of baptizing someone
Yeah, you know some people do it by immersion
Some people do it by sprinkling others do it by pouring water over their head
Others do it in different ways in diverse manners. That's not what that's referring to. Okay when it says that there are doctrines of
baptisms
Plural it's referring to there's different teachings of this concept of baptisms in the Bible
Ephesians 4 you're in Acts. I'm gonna reach you from Ephesians 4 verse 4 says there is one body
One spirit even as you're called one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one
baptism
One God and Father of all who is above all through all in you all now
This is not a contradiction of Hebrews chapter 6
Hebrews 6 tells us that there's different doctrines of baptisms
Ephesians 4 when it says that there's one baptism that's synonymous with saying there's one faith
Because here in Hebrews chapter 4 when it says one baptism is saying one manner of salvation
So when we look at the Bible there are times when salvation is referred to as baptism
Okay, but it's not the baptism by water immersion
It's us being immersed not in water, but in Christ
Because when we get saved when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible tells us that we're placed into the body of
Christ we are fully immersed in Christ. We are baptized
into Jesus you understand
Now obviously this is not terminology that we would seek to want to use today
Okay, when we talk about salvation if we're talking to a brand new person who's not saved
We're not gonna say hey you need to be baptized to be saved because in their minds they already have that connotation
That baptism means water and we don't want to confuse them to thinking that that's what we mean when we say you got
To be baptized in order to be saved
But it would be a biblical concept you understand because baptism simply means to be immersed in Christ now
Obviously we want to specify to people what we mean if we ever use that terminology
But I don't I definitely don't recommend it because you know
There's a lot of biblical words in the Bible that have been twisted by false religions that have been misused
misinterpreted and
Unfortunately, they have a connotation with the unsafe people of this world
For example when we think of the word repentance repentance is a biblical word
But if you tell the average Joe Schmo who's not saved they're not churchgoers. They don't know anything about the Bible
What is repentance they will automatically say well that means you got to return from your sin
Which there's instances in the Bible that that is true, but when it comes to salvation
It's not true the Bible never tells us to repent from sin in order to be saved. Why?
Well because God commands us to do things that are possible
Okay, you will never command us to do something that is impossible and
Repenting or turning from our sin is actually impossible
Because here's the thing you're surrounded by sin
So once you give your back and turn turn your back on one sin, you're facing another
Understand you're always going to be sinning this side of eternity
You will always have this corruptible flesh this side of eternity and so
Repentance is not necessarily a word we want to use when we're preaching the gospel because it confuses people
He said what should I use? Well, just tell them this believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
That's a simple phrase in turn to understand and believe okay
So
Let's let's look at the baptism of repentance
I'm gonna reach you from Mark chapter 1 verse 4 you're in Acts chapter 19
Mark chapter 1 verse 4 says John did baptize in the wilderness and
Preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
So here in Mark chapter 1 we actually have two things that John the Baptist is doing it says that he is
Baptizing in the wilderness
This is referring to the physical baptism and then it says that he's preaching the baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins two separate things and
If they weren't separate he could just say he's baptizing for the remission of sins and that's it
But the reason there's a comma there the reason there's two statements being made there's because there's two separate actions
He's baptizing physically, but he's also preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness or remission of sins
And that's referring to salvation. Let's prove it acts 19 verse 4
then said Paul
John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance
Saying unto the people be baptized in water in order to be saved. Is that what it says?
No that they should believe on him. We should come after him that is on
Christ Jesus, so acts 19 is a commentary on Mark chapter 1 verse 4
All right, we read Mark chapter 1 verse 4 we see the baptism of repentance
We read Acts chapter 19 in verse 4 and it operates as a commentary
It basically expands the meaning of what baptism of for the remission of sins really means
Okay, it means to believe on Jesus Christ. That's what it means. Okay. So when John the Baptist is in the wilderness
He's he's preaching the baptism of repentance. He's telling people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ which should come after me
Okay, go to Colossians chapter number two
Actually skip Colossians to go to 1st Corinthians chapter 9 1st Corinthians chapter 9
I'll read to you from Colossians 2 and
Verse number 12. It tells us buried with him in baptism. Okay
Wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead
Now, let me ask you this when I baptized you if I baptized you that I just keep you underwater. I
Didn't baptize you into death
Yeah, it's just like stay down there, man
It's like hey, you got to obey the Lord here. Okay
No, obviously this is figurative language that's being used here
Okay, when it says buried with them in baptism, it's referring to the fact that you died with Jesus Christ when you got saved
Okay
You crucified the flesh that the the old man has died. Obviously we understand that we still have the flesh
But Jesus Christ has paid for those sins and we're buried with him. Okay
Look at 1st Corinthians 9 now. There's a false religion out there
Known as the Church of Christ and in reality, we're the real Church of Christ
Okay
Any church whether Baptist or not that that preaches the right gospel and has the right doctrine is a Church of Christ
Okay
And so now we're not gonna change our name to Church of Christ because of that same first point that I made
Which is there's a negative connotation to that
I understand when people think of Church of Christ
I think of this what I'm about to show you or I'm about to say the Church of Christ are
Believe in what's referred to as baptismal regeneration
Which means in order to be saved you have to be baptized. That's the way you get saved
Okay, you know, but here's the thing if we were to look at the physical act of being baptized
That's a work of righteousness
Right and the Bible tells us not by works of righteousness, which we have done but according to his mercy
He saved us. So obviously he's not referring to the physical baptism when it says we have to be baptized
In order to be saved. It's not referring to that because that's a work of righteousness. Okay
But they will often point to passages of Scripture
Dealing with baptism in context of salvation and use that as a means to prove
Quote-unquote that you have to be physically immersed in water in order to be saved
But this is often when I show them look at 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 16
By the way, they say that the gospel is baptism
You know because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and they associate the gospel with baptism
Well, let's look at what Paul said in 1st Corinthians 9 verse 16 says for though I preach the gospel
I have nothing to glory of for necessities laid upon me
Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. So what is Paul saying?
He's saying that preaching the gospel is something that's very much important to him, right?
He says a necessity is laid upon me
Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel for if I do this thing willingly
I have a reward but if against my will a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me
We can say that the Apostle Paul dedicated his life to preaching the gospel
It's something that God commissioned him to do and all of us but specifically we're looking at him
He gave him that commission to preach the gospel to all the Gentiles to the heathen
Nations to win as many people to Christ
This is what's referred to as the gospel and he says this woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel
Right. I mean it sounds like it's pretty important to him
This is my ministry. And if I don't do it woe is unto me. Okay now go to chapter 1 of 1st Corinthians
1st Corinthians chapter number 1 because remember the Church of Christ teaches this. Oh
No, the gospel, you know to be saved you have to be baptized. That's what the gospel is
Well, look at 1st Corinthians 1 verse 13 is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or re-baptized in the name of Paul
I thank God that I baptized none of you. Whoa, hold on Paul. What do you mean?
You're thanking God that you didn't baptize. That's like saying you thank God that you didn't preach the gospel to any of these guys
I thought this is I thought you said woe is you Paul if you preach not the gospel yet here we see
He says I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Christmas and Gaius
Lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name
And I baptized also the house of Stephanus household of Stephanus beside
I know not whether I baptized any other look what it says for Christ sent me not to baptize
What I
Thought you said woe is me if I preached not the gospel and
You Church of Christ is saying that the gospel is getting baptized
Here we see that Paul saying. Oh, no, Jesus didn't send me to baptize
So there goes your your doctrine of baptism for the remission of sins
Physically getting baptized for the remission of sins because Paul specifically saying here Christ sent me not to baptize
But look what it says but to preach the gospel
So if he's saying but to preach the gospel
He's making that distinction that preaching the gospel and baptizing people physically are two separate things
So Church of Christ when they say no the gospel is the baptism
Well, you're contradicting what the Bible says here because Paul said Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel
Not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect
And this is exactly what the Church of Christ is doing
They're making the cross of Christ of none effect because they're preaching you have to be physically
Immersed in water in order to be saved. Okay, that's not what the Bible teaches
Now go to Acts chapter 1 if you would act chapter 1
I'm a read to you from Romans chapter 6 in verse number 1
Says what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid?
How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer there in?
Knowing that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death
Therefore we are buried with them 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
So again, it's reiterating the fact that when we get saved we are placed in Christ. We are immersed in Christ
We're fully enveloped in Christ
This is why Jesus said I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither
Shady man plucked them out of my hand why because we're fully in the hand of Christ you understand
Of course Christ hand is in the hand of the Father and no man is able to pluck them out of his hand as well
So that is the baptism of repentance. That's what that's referring to
Okay, we don't have to be physically immersed and wanted to be saved
All you have to do is believe on Jesus Christ and that's synonymous a synonym
Excuse me
Familiar phrase that goes along with that is being baptized
Now again, we can use that terminology amongst ourselves because we know what it means
But it's not something we want to use for an unsafe person because of the negative connotation that is attached to it
But another form of baptism is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Okay, look at Acts 1 verse 5
For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized
I'm sorry, go to Acts chapter 2. I'm sorry about that. Go to Acts chapter 2
The
Bible says in
Matthew it says for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
Not many days hence now. This is another phrase that is often perverted as well
Okay, where you have Charismatics and Pentecostals that we use this to say well
You know, you've got to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and this is often synonymous with what speaking in tongues
It's often synonymous with doing diverse miracles and all these things
But what is the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Is that really what it is?
Well, look at Acts chapter 2 verse 41, or excuse me, Acts chapter 2 and verse 1
Getting my numbers mixed up here
and when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and
there appeared unto them clove in tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost and began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance now
I'm not gonna rehash my sermons about speaking in tongues because it's pretty obvious what this is referring to
It's referring to actual languages. Okay
Now when someone was filled with the Spirit in this particular portion of time, okay
the inauguration of the New Testament
God enabled his people to be filled with the Spirit in such a way that he gave them special
Abilities such as being able to speak in a different language without having to learn that language. Okay, we don't have that ability today
You know if I wanted to just preach the gospel in Russian
I would not be able to do it. I can act like I'm doing it
I can maybe sound like I'm doing it, but I'm not gonna speak Russian because I don't know Russian. Okay
That was a particular gift that was given
To the apostles in order to preach the gospel to the people who were coming to Jerusalem during that time
But this happened when they were filled with the Holy Ghost. Okay, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit
Today we can still be baptized with the Holy Ghost, but the difference is this we're not gonna just speak in in different tongues
Okay, we're not gonna speak in different languages. We're not gonna perform miracles. What are we gonna do?
We're gonna priest the gospel boldly
We're gonna preach the Word of God
Boldly, we're gonna stand for truth
We're gonna be able to do things and and and accomplish great things for God and just serve the Lord and obey his commands
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, this is what it means to be baptized with the Holy Ghost now
This is not necessary for salvation either
Because when we get saved the Bible says that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise until the day of redemption
He is sealed within us
He never leaves us, but the baptism of the Holy Ghost is referring to the filling of the Spirit
Okay, now go to Mark chapter 1 if you would go to go back to Mark chapter 1
So we're talking about the baptisms the different baptism doctrines of baptisms
The first one is the baptism of repentance
Referring to getting saved. The second one is the baptism of the Holy Ghost being filled with the Spirit and
The third one is the one we're most familiar with because we do it a lot which is water baptism, okay
Why do we practice water baptism where where we physically immerse a believer in?
Water and as I mentioned this was not instituted until the latter end of the Old Testament
Old Testament believers did not do this. Why is it being done today? Look at Mark chapter 1 and
Verse number 5 first thing I want to point out is this is that Jesus Christ was not the first person to be physically baptized
Okay, people often think that because you know, he did it by as an example
But he was not the first individual to be physically immersed in water
look what the Bible says in verse 5 and there went out unto him all the land of Judea and
They of Jerusalem and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan
Confessing their sins now people have often asked like, you know, why are they confessing their sins?
You know, that's kind of weird. Do we is that what we have to do when we get baptized, you know
Do I have to talk about all the stuff that I did before and you know, confess my sins
Well, first of all, it doesn't say that they audibly confess their sins
Right because someone could actually get baptized and confess their sins thus within themselves unto the Lord
Understand secondly, we don't know if this happened like as they were being baptized. They could have been baptized came out
They're getting right with God. They're confessing their sins. They're repenting of their sin. They're getting right with the Lord. Okay, I
But we see there that there's people prior to Jesus Christ being baptized
getting baptized as well and
What we see is that a common theme throughout the New Testament is that when a person gets saved
They immediately get baptized thereafter Acts chapter 2 verse 41 then they that gladly received his word were baptized
Acts 8 12 and when they believe Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ
They were baptized both men and women
Acts chapter 8 verse 36 and they went on their way
They came into a certain water and the eunuch said see here is water
What doth hinder me to be baptized?
Philip said if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is
The Son of God and of course
He was baptized Acts chapter 19 verse 3 says and he said unto them unto what then were ye baptized and they said unto John's
Baptism the implication there is that these individuals were fully fully immersed in water after they received the preaching of John the Baptist
Of course, we know Matthew 28 is the Great Commission where it says go ye therefore and teach all nations
Baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son of the Holy Ghost and
I want to emphasize this is that baptism is important folks. We don't want to de-emphasize
baptism just because there's people out there who are using it wrongly or
Just because it does, you know, it has nothing to do with salvation people perverted that therefore we should not baptize people
I think it's important to baptize people
And one of the reasons I believe it's important is because of the fact it's it's mentioned in the Great Commission
Right. It's mentioned in the Great Commission
God has commanded us that when we get someone saved they get immediately immersed in water thereafter to identify with Christ
But another reason is because we want people to make a public profession of their faith. Why not?
Right, we want people to identify with Christ and when they get saved not to be ashamed of getting saved
Or get ashamed of being baptized in this church
You know because our church is not necessarily like other churches
Okay, you know
I'm not I'm not a special pastor, but you know, there's not a whole lot of people that would like to associate themselves with me
For obvious reasons and so, you know, we publicly baptized someone, you know
It means a lot when someone actually gets fully immersed in our church because they're saying well, you know, we go to first works
I got baptized at first works
I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they're probably gonna catch some flack because of it, too
Probably gonna get some persecution. Hey if you get baptized in our church because it's gonna go online
You know, you're probably gonna get some flack from your family
Friends co-workers or whatever, you know people that you know because you're associated with that hate group or whatever, you know
But it's something that God has commanded us to do and in fact think about this, you know
We're not just called Baptist cuz it sounds cool
Although I think it sounds cool
You know, we're called Baptist because we are known for
fully immersing
believers after salvation
Understand that's what we're known for and in fact
That's something that our enemies would often cause they would say those are the Baptist the Anabaptist the people who would rebaptize people
Because you had a lot of people who are getting baptized through the Catholic Church or whatever and they would get saved thereafter
And the Baptist pastors in Europe would baptize them in in water after salvation and they would say why are they getting baptized?
They were already baptized in the Catholic Church
So they would call them the rebaptizers the Anabaptists that's what that means and the name stuck
Amen, that's why we're known as Baptist because of the fact that we baptize believers
After they have gotten saved, okay, and we're following the scriptures here now
We're to have you turn go to Matthew chapter 3
So with that being said we know the doctrine of baptisms
We know what baptism of repentance is when it comes to salvation
We know what baptism of the Holy Ghost is to be filled with the Spirit
We know what water baptism is which is to identify with the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Let me say this if you have not gotten baptized in our church. Hey, the water is ready to go
Should get baptized today, okay
Look
At Matthew chapter 3 verse 13
It says then come with Jesus from Galilee to Jordan to John to be baptized of him
But John forbade him saying I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me
Jesus answering said unto him suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness
Then he suffered him. I always thought that was an interesting phrase there
You know thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness
You know, and then he suffered him and he ended up baptizing. So this is obviously something that
Jesus said that John the Baptist understood like, okay, I get it now
Okay. Now what does that mean when he says thus it becometh us to fulfill all
Righteousness, what does that mean when he stated that well think about this
When Jesus Christ came
He came to fulfill the law not to destroy it right the Bible says in Matthew 7 verse 17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets
I am not to come to I am not come to destroy
But to fulfill and this isn't referring to God's moral law
Although obviously we know that Jesus Christ was perfect. He perfectly fulfilled the moral law
He didn't murder anybody you didn't you know commit adultery didn't steal. He didn't lie
He didn't take the Lord's name in vain. We obviously understand that he kept those moral laws
But really what this means is this he became a fulfillment of those Old Testament ordinances
understand and
So when he says when he says that he came to fulfill the law
It's synonymous with him saying let us fulfill all righteousness
Okay, let us be the culmination of what we've seen in the past now the problem with that is this we don't see anybody
getting baptized in the Old Testament
We don't see anybody getting fully immersed any individual getting fully immersed in the Old Testament
So what does that specifically mean? Well in order to understand what that means?
We first got to understand obviously what baptism is which is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Well, let's look at all three of these go to 1st Peter chapter 3 1st Peter chapter 3 if you would
So if he by getting baptized is fulfilling something in the Old Testament
We got to ask ourselves this
You know what part of the death burial and resurrection was pictured by water in the Old Testament
Because remember it's referring to water, right?
Well, here's the thing. Where was the most water placed on this earth that killed the most people
The flood right the flood destroyed the entire world st. 8
Right and when we look at the story of the flood
It's a perfect representation of our salvation
The eight folks that were in Noah's family who were in Noah's ark
Represent all believers who are placed into the ark who is representative of Jesus Christ because we're placed in Jesus
You know, we're fully immersed in Jesus
The door is shut just as when we get saved the door shut
We're sealed until the day of redemption. We're saved
No, and by the way, it's it's a door which no man can open
That when Jesus closes no man can open
Okay, and isn't it interesting that the Bible refers to Jesus as being the what the door in John chapter 10
Okay, and in order to be saved
From God's wrath we have to go through that door
And if you try to go in any other way, you're a thief and a robber, you know, etc
As the Bible puts it but where was that ark place? It was baptized in water
Filled with what death?
Let's get a little graphic here. Okay, it's Bible
Folks, you know, I know we all have shown our children the pictures of Noah's ark and it's all cute
It's a little boat and it's just like they're all happy and the giraffes all smiling and you know
Everything is all hunky-dory and everything
But it wasn't like that at all
Noah's flow was very morbid
Okay, because let's just let me just be honest with you. There's dead bodies floating everywhere
Okay
Mixed with dead animals dead vegetation. I mean God literally destroyed the world
Okay, you know he he and he had no problem doing it
He saved eight people alive and literally
Poured his wrath upon the world with the worldwide flood. Okay
it's a pretty morbid scene if you think about it and
Jesus who pictures the ark
Was immersed in that water of death
Okay
Look at first Peter chapter 3 verse 18 for Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust
The he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the spirit
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison
Which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah
While the ark was a preparing wherein few that his eight souls were saved by water
The like figure one to even baptism doth also now save us
Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh
But the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
so there he relates our salvation to actually what took place on Noah's ark and
Just as the eight were placed into the ark and the ark was baptized in the worldwide flood in a flood of death
In like manner were placed it to Christ we are partaking of his death now, here's the interesting thing, okay
because it rained upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights and
What happened at the end of that flood the the ark came up out of the water?
Right, and what do we see in Matthew when Jesus Christ gets baptized?
He goes into water and explicitly goes out of its way to say that he came up out of the water
We see the dove descending upon the ark just as we see the Holy Ghost like as a dove
Descending upon the Son of Man known as Jesus Christ
You see the pictures there
The symbolic representation that we see there
So the ark is in the water is in the flood of this death
No one his family are not experiencing that at all
They're not experiencing the flood the death of the flood
The ark is the ark is bumping into bodies and animals and all types of things folks. I
Know it's sick. It's morbid, but I mean it's reality
Hey, the Bible is real folks. Okay, and sometimes there is no happy ending throughout the Bible
There is a happy ending at the book of Revelation, but sometimes the Bible does not have happy endings
We're talking about families men and women and children all perishing in the flood
Okay, and this ark is surrounded by that
Now, what does the Bible tell us about Jesus Christ in Hebrew chapter 10 verse 9?
It says but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death
Crowned with glory and honor the he by the grace of God should taste death
for
every man
Now, let me ask you and this is a fairly simple question
That anybody who drowned in the flood come up out of the flood
No, let me help you with that. No, everyone drowned. Okay, everyone died, but you know the ark came out and
Because the ark came out guess who also came out Noah and his family came out
So we're saved by his death. Yes, we are saved by the death of Jesus Christ
Not only his death, but we are saved by his death
That's part of the equation of our salvation is the fact that we're saved because he was crucified on the cross
Okay, he suffered that death for us now turn to Matthew chapter 12
Matthew chapter 12 when we get baptized
It represents his death
Burial and resurrection we get baptized to symbolize something that took place 2,000 years ago
When Jesus Christ died was buried and he resurrected when he was baptized
He was also signifying that but he was signifying the symbolism if you can believe that
From the Old Testament the death being Noah and the flood. Okay. How about the second one the burial?
You look at Matthew chapter 12
I'm gonna reach you from Jonah chapter 1 chapter 2 verse 1 then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly and
Said I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell cried
I and thou hurtest my voice for thou has cast me into the deep and the midst of the seas and the
Floods come past me about all thy billows and thy waves
Pass over me then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet
I will look again toward thy holy temple thy waters come past me about even to the soul the death
Closed me round about the weeds were wrapped about my head
I went down to the bottom of the mountains the earth with their bars was about me forever
Yet has thou brought up my life from corruption Oh Lord my God
So what is this referring to is referring to the Prophet Jonah who disobeyed God?
God had to chastise him and allow him to be swallowed up by a whale. Okay?
Not cool at all because you know, it's probably not a very pleasant place to be in the belly of a well
But when you read the account here, he's talking about the sea weeds, you know wrapping around his head
It's like okay that makes sense
You know whales can swallow that but then he talks about being in hell and we know Jonah did not go to hell
right
He talks about being at the bottoms of the mountains. We know that Jonah did not go to the bottoms of mountains
He was in the ocean. He was baptized in the ocean, right?
God's wrath was very much on Jonah. His punishment was on Jonah
We can see that clearly but a lot of things that he said about his experience wasn't necessarily his personal experience
He was prophesying of Jesus Christ
Of what something that he was going to experience and the proof of that is found in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 39
Look what it says, but he answered and said unto them and evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign
Preach that on a sunny morning. Amen and there shall no sign be given to it
But the sign of the Prophet Jonas for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly
I want you to notice this so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth
Now if you're to place someone in the heart of the earth, then you can say yeah, they're below the mountains
Yeah, the bars are compassing them round about yeah, they are in hell because the Bible explicitly
Describes hell as being in the center of the earth
So what was Jonah representing he was representing the fact that when Jesus died his soul descended into hell
Okay, now a lot of the modern versions would like for you to think well no he descended into Abraham's bosom
But Abraham was not in hell folks. He is in heaven when he died. Okay. He's still in heaven today
This is referring to the literal help. Okay, and you know, sometimes people they kind of have a knee-jerk reaction at that
They're just like why do you're saying that Jesus went to hell folks?
The Bible says that he went to hell and to prove that acceptor to it says my soul was not let his soul
Was not left in hell neither that his flesh see corruption the Bible says and the proof look from a logical perspective
We understand that he went to hell because of the fact that if we died to pay for our sins
Where would we go to hell?
So if Jesus Christ is dying to pay for our sins
That means he went to hell as well and it's explicitly said throughout the Bible that that's exactly where he went
And even if you were to discount all those other scriptures, then you would have to say that Jesus took Jonah out of context
Right because he specifically said like as Jonah's was three days and three nights in the in the well's belly
So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and Jesus knew what Jonah chapter 2
said
about
The prophesying of Jesus being in hell you understand
So when Jesus Christ died when he talks about his burial
Yeah, it's referring to his physical body being buried it in or being placed in the tomb
But more specifically is referring to the fact that his soul
Descended to hell what is it that he ascended but that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
That's what the Bible says
Okay
So just as Jonah was baptized in water in the well's belly in like my in like manner
Jesus Christ was baptized in fire
When he died and he went to hell, but of course he was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption
This is why the Bible says that Jesus has the keys to death and of help
This is why in in Revelation chapter 1 we see the description of the glorified Christ with his feet as
Brass although it as though it burned in a furnace
There's a reason it gives that description there because he actually went there, okay
But his soul was not left there. He had power over death. He was able to conquer death
He was able to be victorious over hell and he came out of that
Okay, so what do we see here so far we see that the death baron resurrection is pictured
by a global baptism
with Noah and the ark
The ark being baptized in water surrounded by death
We see that his burial is pictured with Jonah when he goes into the center of the earth, okay
To receive the punishment and by the way, doesn't Jonah say that God forsook him
And what did Jesus say my god my god why hast thou forsaken me, right?
Go to 1st Corinthians 10. Here's the last point
Because we're looking at the pictures of death baron resurrection, what is the picture of the resurrection?
Well, the third story that we can look at is Israel
coming out of Egypt
being led of Moses
Going through the what the Red Sea
Okay
Now obviously we understand that Moses is actually an Old Testament picture of Jesus Christ. You look at many parallels
Okay, isn't it interesting that Moses was also placed in the Ark of bulrushes and placed into the river, right?
And obviously he was not left there. He came out of that as well
But look at 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and verse number 1
It says moreover brother and I would not have I would not that you should be ignorant
How that all of our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and we're all
baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and that all eat the same spiritual meat and that all drink the same
Spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ now
Let me explain a couple things here and I'm pretty much done. Okay, go to Colossians chapter 2
Colossians chapter 2. So what do we see?
When
Moses took the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. What is that known as?
The particular word that I'm looking for is not necessarily found in the Bible
It's used as a title for one of the books in the Bible. It's known as the what the Exodus, right?
Exodus is referring to the mass exiting of a nation from
Egypt being there for 450 years and going into the promised land
So Moses who's representative of Jesus is
Leading the children of Israel out of the period of 450 years in Egypt
Going through the Red Sea and taking them to this new chapter of their life
Known as the promised land
also known as the Old
Testament
That took place the baptizing of the Red Sea took place after Egypt prior to the Promised Land it was in that transitional
Period you understand
Where he's taking them out of those things. Well when Jesus Christ is baptized
He's doing the same thing
he's taking the children of Israel out of the Old Testament and
transitioning them into the New
Testament does that make sense?
so just as Moses along with Israel was baptized in the Red Sea transitioning them into the Promised Land and more specifically
The Old Covenant in like manner Jesus Christ when he was baptized physically
He was transitioning Israel and the rest of the world to come out of the Old Testament going into the new
And what does the Bible tell us? Well tells us this when he was baptized, you know, John the Baptist is like
Why are you asking me?
to baptize you I
should be baptized of you and
Jesus said we must fulfill all righteousness
And he's like I get it and he suffered him. So what's the point of that?
Jesus Christ being baptized was the last symbolic representation of all of those Old Testament pictures that we see
the flood
Jonah
Moses and he's saying now it's fulfilled because I'm actually here
It must be fulfilled that it must be done
For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness fulfill the scriptures
So, you know often the Old Testament is a representation of something in the New Testament
Here we kind of see it backwards. Jesus Christ is actually symbolic. You're representing something that actually took place in the Old Testament
Isn't that interesting?
You know the animal sacrifices the meats drinks diverse washings and cardinal ordinances were physically done in the Old Testament
And then we see the fulfillment of them in the New Testament Jesus Christ
Physically got baptized to represent something that it was actually done in the Old Testament
Look what the Bible says in Colossians chapter 2 verse 14
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us referring to Jesus here, which was contrary to us and
Took it out of the way
Nailing it to the cross. What does he say? What was it? What was being nailed to the cross the ordinances?
and
Look, it's why you got to thank God for this. Okay, the New Testament is better the New Covenant way better
People who want to abide in the Old Covenant and try to keep the Sabbath
You know these people who are like we got to keep the Sabbath. I asked them. Sorry also doing the sacrifices, too
Because you know, that's part of it
Part of keeping the Sabbath is also doing animal sacrifices, which by the way is a very messy job
Okay
Because you got to do it morning and night every single day every single week every single month all year long
Okay, that's a lot of killing of animals PETA would have
It would have a heart attack, okay
Because this was being done all the time
Meats drinks divers washings, you know, you couldn't eat pork. You couldn't eat shellfish in those days
Are you doing that if you're keeping the Sabbath, you know?
And by the way, these people most people who are keeping the Sabbath didn't even do it the biblical way
They're just like, oh, you know, just don't go to church on Sunday. That's what keeping the Sabbath means to them
Okay
No, the Bible tells us that these ordinances were actually nailed to the cross. I thought Jesus was nailed to the cross
Yeah, he's the fulfillment of those ordinances
So when Jesus was nailed to the cross
Those ordinances that represented Jesus was were nailed also look at verse 15
Having spoiled principalities and powers
He made a show of them
openly of who of the ordinances
triumphing over them in it let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or inspect of a holy day or of
The new moon or of the Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ
So what we see here is that when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross
He wanted all believers to look upon him and say oh
That's what that meant. Oh
That's why that ordinance was instituted in the Bible. Oh, that's why the animal sacrifices were being done
Oh, that's what this meant. Why because he made a show of them openly
when Jesus Christ came
He fulfilled all righteousness
We always understand that he's righteous. He's the righteous one, but he also fulfilled all righteousness by actually
accomplishing showing forth
Manifesting being the culmination of all of those ordinances, but even before all that happened as
He was transitioning into the New Testament
He was baptized
He was immersed in water to figuratively represent
Noah's flood it represents death
To figuratively represent Jonah and the well which represents Jesus Christ going to hell to figuratively represent
Moses taking Israel through the foot through the Red Sea which represents his resurrection going into the New Covenant
Because the New Testament began
As he died right when he died, okay, and that's why
Jesus was baptized
So if you guys could just take all that and tell that to new people, okay
Just take everything that I just said just condense it and say this is why I really appreciate that. No, I'm just kidding
But now, you know because you know that sometimes you read portions of Scripture. You're like, why does it say that?
I don't know why it says, you know for thus it become at us to fulfill all righteousness
What does that particularly mean in relation to baptism? Well now we know
He is
Doing the last symbolic representation of what we see in the Old Testament with the flood
Jonah and Moses going through the Red Sea. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father
We thank you so much for your word
Thank you so much for the symbolism and the layers that we see Lord and
Lord help us to have a greater appreciation of your word and may this give us a greater appreciation of
salvation of
Jesus being baptized and
Recognize that the Bible is not a shallow book at all
so many different layers so many different truths so many different angles that we can learn about Lord and
one thing that we can walk away from as we
Delve into this particular topic is the fact that everything in the Bible has purpose
Everything does sometimes when we think when we read something it's seems out of place. It's never out of place
It's just a deeper meaning to that and I pray God that you help us and give us a deeper understanding
May the Holy Spirit continue to teach us. May you be honored and glorified in all that we do in Jesus name we pray
Amen