Pastor Barkman, would you stay on the platform for a moment? I have a special presentation to make. You can look at it. What? A book entitled Sermons on First John from the Beacon Pulpit by Pastor Greg Barkman.
I didn't write any book. You can have to explain this. I will. What is my privilege on this Sunday night, July 21st, 2024, to present to you what has been designated Project 51. Project 51 because we had hoped that it would be back from the publisher for our 51st anniversary and homecoming.
We missed that date by a couple of months. But what you hold in your hand is a commentary of the first 16 sermons you preached from the Beacon Pulpit beginning on February 15th, 2015, and concluding on July 12th, 2015. The commentary is the sermon manuscripts transcribed and slightly edited for this commentary. There's a dedication page at the beginning recognizing, honoring, and honoring the 29 charter members who had the desire, the vision, and the courage to begin this church that we know as Beacon Baptist Church. And of those original 29, 11 are with the Lord.
And of the 18 remaining, 18 are still active members of Beacon Baptist Church. Joe and Gail Davis. You, Pastor Barkman.
Marty Barkman. Don Ann Fawcett. Sue Craig. Or Lori Craig. Sorry, Lori. Is Sue here? Yeah, Sue is not here. But those are the ones who are here tonight.
I must say, this is going to be hard. Pastor Barkman, you epitomize the Jeremiah 3 15 under shepherd that God promised to give to his people. He said to the prophet Jeremiah, I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
You've been everything of that to this church for 51 years. Walt Atkins is the brainchild behind this. He came to me over a year ago with this idea. And with the idea of promise that he would serve as the editor if I would oversee the project. And it has been a laborious project. But as far as I know, there were three people that read the manuscripts for the purpose of editing.
Walt Atkins, Pam Atkins, and myself. And the three of us talked among ourselves as we worked our way through this process and were astounded at how the word of God came to us in freshness and in power. We sat here and listened to these sermons preached from this very pulpit on Sunday mornings. And yet, 10 years after the fact, we're reading the manuscripts and the word of God comes to us in freshness. And Walt has added a page or a comment on page 17 that I think captures the impetus and the heart of why we thought this was a worthy project. And it says this, this work is vital to all born-again Christians who want to be certain of their salvation. The depth and breadth of study brought forth words that are too valuable to let fall to the earth and be forgotten. When you notice, this is volume one. It is the purpose and plan moving forward to add volume two and volume three, which would get us through the entirety of your expositional preaching of the book of 1st John.
What else shall I say? There are two endorsements on the back. One from Pastor Don Theobald who says, for nearly 20 years, God has blessed me with the privilege of knowing Pastor Greg Barkman. His life and pastoral ministry bear testimony of God's transforming grace in his family and in the church family at Beacon Baptist. The hallmark of Greg's ministry for over half a century has been faithful expository preaching of God's word. A worthy example of his preaching is found in this series on 1st John. And then Pastor Rick Lesh, having served under Greg Barkman for well over a decade during the formative years of my own pastoral ministry, 40 years later, I still say there are few in my ministry world like Greg Barkman. I saw him preach faithfully even while enduring harsh chemotherapy. God used him to open my eyes to what commitment to ministry and preaching the word was all about. So Pastor Barkman, this has been done to acknowledge your commitment for over half a century of faithful expository preaching to this assembly. And we're all better for it.
I'm flabbergasted. We hoped you would be. We have a table set up in the welcome center and a table there and chair for you to sign copies. And there are 50 copies here tonight and we obviously can get more. But if you're interested in getting a copy tonight, Rose Bradshaw will be behind the Usher station. She will give you a copy and then you can turn around and if you'd be so kind to autograph some of those. You may be wanting to think about what you would want Pastor Barkman to say.
Is it in memory of, in honor of, and dedication to someone? And if you know what you want him to write, tell Rose and she will attach that to a sticky note to the book so that when it gets to him he'll know what you would like him to do. I feel like a celebrity.
I had a meeting with John Guthrie just this week and he said, what do you want to do going forward? You want to write some books? I said, nah, there are plenty of books already written.
I don't have any desire to be an author and little did I know, I already was one. Thank you so very much. This is quite a surprise and a great encouragement. Thank you, my brother. You're welcome. Thank you very much. That's a tough act to follow but and thank you for responding to the announcement that went out in Beacon in the Know for your love for Pastor Barkman and your desire to be here and to honor him by your presence and to participate in this.
Again, we would have done this at our 51st anniversary and homecoming but we just missed some deadlines and we got them from the publisher as quick as we could. Well we're back in Mark chapter 1 and God's silence of 400 years has been broken as John the Baptist comes on the scene of redemptive history to prepare for and announce the coming of the long-anticipated Messiah King. And just as John had been being prepared by God in obscurity in the wilderness of Judea, the Lord Jesus Christ comes to him at the Jordan River where John has been carrying on a ministry and some think for probably about six months and he comes to John the Baptist and submits himself to baptism.
Now I want to say a few things as background that you might find interesting. As far as we know, John and Jesus never met as adults prior to this. They met each other in their mother's respective wombs but John grew up in obscurity in the wilderness of Judea and Jesus in relative obscurity in Nazareth of Galilee. They were both about 30 years of age when they met but I find it astonishing to me that two unique men that had incalculable purposes and God's redemptive purposes lived perhaps 80 to 100 miles apart and had never met as adults. Now John knew who Jesus was. His parents knew that Mary was carrying the Messiah and he no doubt was told that by his parents. Historians believe that John's parents probably died when he was a relatively young child. I don't know too much more about that or any details in the scriptures about that but we find these words in John's account.
In fact, all four of the gospel accounts record the baptism of Jesus. And let me see here. Where am I? Well, what happened here?
My eyes are playing tricks on me. Yes, John chapter one. Listen to the fact that the scriptures affirm that John did not know who Jesus was. It says, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
This is he of whom I said after me comes a man who is preferred before me for he was before me. In verse 31, I did not know him but that he should be revealed to Israel therefore I came baptizing with water. And John bore witness saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove and and he remained upon him. 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 him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. As important a role as John the Baptist played, in going back to the as important a role as John the Baptist played and how God uniquely prepared him and he was the the one who broke 400 years of silence. John's ministry was relatively short. His ministry, his public ministry lasted about a year until he was imprisoned and gave us life for the cause of truth.
So we need to be careful about measuring a person's worth in terms of how long they live on the earth. This man had an incredible privilege and a place in God's redemptive history but again public ministry lasted a very very short time. Well I'm mindful of the time tonight and that we have a congregational meeting to follow so let me give you three points and walk walk us through that as we look at these verses in Mark chapter 1. I want you to see number one the anticipation of Christ's ministry in verse 8 of Mark 1. Number two the inauguration of Christ's ministry in verse 9 and then the trinitarian affirmation of Christ's ministry in verses 10 and 11. Number one the anticipation of Christ's ministry. John as he was baptizing those who were coming out of the land of Judea and from Jerusalem he says this to them in verse 7.
There comes one after me who is mightier than I whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. That raises the question there's a contrast there between John's baptism and the baptism of the spirit that Jesus will confer. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Well let me say first of all what it's not. It's not a second work of grace. It's not a second experience that we are we are taught in scriptures to seek. I was a relatively new Christian and was had a business association with an insurance agent and this lady was a Christian and I had talked to her about recently coming to faith in Christ and she said well I'm going to pray for you that you get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Well I'm a new Christian I don't know what she's talking about really and we talked a little bit more and she was telling me all that's when the Spirit of God comes upon you in a special way and let me tell you what the baptism of the Spirit is. It is a supernatural work of the Spirit of God whereby he unites a belief a believing sinner to in union with Jesus Christ. We are brought into vital living union with Jesus Christ and it is an act of the Spirit of God that does that. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
It's a one-time event. It's not to be repeated and it's not for some elite group of Christians but it's for all Christians. Every born-again believer has been baptized by the Holy Spirit.
Now that's very brief and short and I need to be brief and short tonight but anybody tells you that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is some second blessing that you are to seek and that the Bible teaches that the Bible does not teach that. Again it is a work of the Spirit of God whereby he brings a believing sinner into vital living union with Jesus Christ and that union is something that is maintained throughout our lifetime and beyond. So that's the anticipation of Christ's ministry. John came ministering but his ministry was one of preparation. It was one of pointing towards the person and ministry and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But secondly let's think about the inauguration of Christ's ministry because it tells us there in verse 9, it came to pass, it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
It came to pass. We can easily skip over those words but it reminds me of what we find in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4. But when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now that is a reference to the incarnation in the fullness of time but also I think it came to pass in those days that there's been preparation going on, preparation in the life of John the Baptist and obscurity, preparation in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and it was time for Jesus's public ministry to be inaugurated and to begin and it is Jesus who comes and he is in the crowd of people who are coming to be baptized by John and he submits himself to John's baptism. Now we say well why did Jesus need to be baptized?
That's a good question isn't it? Well John recognized that Jesus was not a candidate like these that he was appealing to, to confess their sins and to for the forgiveness of sins, that Jesus was the sinless son of God. He did not he did not qualify for that baptism.
That baptism was inappropriate for him. In fact John argued, Mark doesn't tell us, there's of the three synoptic gospels that speak of this, Mark gives us the shortest version. He gives three verses to it. Luke gives five verses to it. Matthew gives quite a bit more to it. So we're not doing a study of the life of Christ because if we did we'd be looking at these other passages. We're doing an explanation of the life of Jesus Christ passages. We're doing an expositional study of Mark.
So Mark's very brief here. He's very brief but John he was initially unwilling to baptize Jesus because of what he knew about the character of Christ. Jesus was holy, spotless, undefiled, and without sin and that's why he hesitated to baptize him because John's baptism was a baptism for sinners and Jesus was not in that category. So Jesus came to be baptized for two reasons.
Number one, to fulfill all righteousness and number two, to divinely authenticate his ministry. In Matthew chapter 3 and verse 15, Jesus said this. He's responding to John and John's unwillingness and reluctance to baptize Jesus and he says permit it at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
To fulfill all righteousness. Jesus was going to take the place of identification with sinners. He was not a sinner but the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all, the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 53. Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So Jesus submitted himself to baptism for righteousness sake.
It was the first act of his ministry. One commentator put it this way, the one who had no sin publicly identified himself with those who had no righteousness. Yes, it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. There seems to be a hint here in verse 10 as to the mode of baptism.
I wouldn't die on this hill but you tell me what the language sounds like to you. And immediately coming up from the water, immediately coming up from the water, we weren't there but it sounds to me like Jesus stepped down into the Jordan River where John the Baptist was officiating and it sure sounds to me like it, well I know one thing it's not, this is not being, he wasn't being sprinkled. Immediately coming up from the water, coming up from the water, Jesus was in the water. And it sure would seem to me that if he's identifying himself with sinners and it is a picture of what he's going to do through his ministry that he's going to die for sinners in their place and he's going to rise again on the third day that we would see that being portrayed in the baptism much like we do here as we administer believers baptism. We say buried in the likeness of his death, raised to walk in newness of life. That's where we get that pattern. It was fitting for him, that is for Jesus to be baptized in order that he might fulfill all righteousness both as an act of obedience to the father's will and as a way to identify with sinners for whom he would die as a righteous substitute.
So I'm moving quickly here. We've seen this introduction to Jesus's ministry and then the inauguration of Christ's ministry. I want you to see number three, the Trinitarian affirmation of Christ's ministry.
The Trinitarian affirmation of Christ's ministry. Again back to verse nine, it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John into 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.
There are two elements here, there's one visible and there's one audible. The son was anointed by the Holy Spirit, that was something that was visible, and then there was the heavenly voice of affirmation. They're recorded in verse 11, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The spirit, like a dove, was descending upon him. The third member of the Trinity descended and lit upon God the Son, providing a visible symbol of divine blessing, of authentication, and of empowerment at the outset of Jesus's ministry.
Now Mark does not say that the spirit is a dove, but that the spirit took the form of a dove. There was this visible manifestation, and again it is in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2, the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. Isaiah 42.1, I have put my spirit upon him. So at Jesus's baptism, the Holy Spirit visibly anointed him as a public declaration of his messianic kingship. The spirit came upon him to empower him for ministry. The spirit's descent was also a visible sign to John and everyone else who was there, that Jesus was indeed the Messiah King who had come. Each member of the Trinity simultaneously are present at Jesus's baptism. The Son, in his humanity, physically standing in the water, the Holy Spirit visibly descending upon him, and the Father in heaven, audibly voicing his approval.
I love what A.B. Bruce said in his commentary on this. Listen to how beautifully he speaks to this. He says that it indicates that not only the Son loves his followers enough to suffer the pangs of hell in their stead, but that also the spirit fully cooperates by strengthening him for this very task, and that the Father, instead of frowning upon the one who undertook it, is so very pleased with him that he must need render asunder the very heavens that his voice of delightful approval may be heard on earth.
Isn't that beautiful? You know, we need to be skilled in our handling of the scriptures. When you hear people say, well the Bible doesn't teach the Trinity, you can't find the Trinity anywhere in the Bible. Hello?
Could it be any clearer? All three members of the Triune Godhead are manifest here in this presentation. A voice came from heaven. You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Can you entertain in your heart and mind God the Father having the same disposition toward you because you have cast yourself upon his Son in believing faith, that you are an adopted Son of God, that you are hid in Christ, that you are as accepted by God the Father as Jesus his own Son is? God is well pleased with you and me if we have cast ourselves upon Jesus and are trusting him and him alone. If that truth would find lodgement in hearts of people, it would transform lives.
There are people walking around bruised and hurt and trying to recover their past. My father never affirmed me. I never heard my father say he loved me, yah yah yah, and I've heard grown men 50 years old lamenting that and finding that as an excuse for a wayward life. It's sad when people impose upon the Heavenly Father the failures of their human father. May God help us to have an understanding of the Father that is informed by the scriptures and not our past.
It's freeing, folks. God the Father is smiling upon us tonight because he's pleased with us, because he's pleased with his Son. Can you receive that by faith tonight and rejoice in who you are in Christ? It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John into Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water of the earth, Jesus came to the place of the Lord Jesus Christ. And was baptized by John into 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. It is not by accident that the next thing we're told is that Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tempted of the devil for 40 days. He needed the strengthening of the Holy Spirit. He needed the empowering of the Holy Spirit. He needed the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And he needed the affirmation, and I'm talking about Jesus and his humanity, he needed the affirmation that the Father was pleased with him. Jesus, the Scriptures tell us, he came to do the Father's will.
He came to please the Father. Hebrews tells us that. And folks, we need to orient our lives around that one dynamic. If we are children of God and God has set his affections on us and has redeemed us, it ought to be our heart's desire to live our lives for his pleasure, to please him. And if we can settle that on our minds, there will be times that we'll be caught between a rock and a hard place, particularly if we have an orientation to be a people-pleasing person.
There are times we're caught. Well, if I say this, this person will be pleased, this person will be upset with me. What do I do?
How do I respond? And rather than getting pulled hither and yon, if we could say, you know what, it really doesn't matter what this person thinks or that person thinks, I'm going to say and do those things that please him. And if I have his approval, then I'm not going to worry about who is pleased with me, because the Father's pleased with me. That will help you tremendously in life to have that orientation, that purpose of life.
I am going to live my life for the honor and pleasure of Almighty God, out of gratitude for what he has done for me. We've been listening to Paul David Tripp in this video series here in the auditorium, that your walk with God is a community project. And he reminded us this morning that we've been redeemed so that we will no longer live for ourselves. We're so self-oriented in our Adamic nature. But when God invades our lives, we have a reorientation, and it is a vertical orientation first.
And until that's in place, we're not going to be right with people on a horizontal level. We must be right with God. And once we have that settled and find our identity in Christ, it will inform and do so much for our earthly relationships.
Well, I on purpose was briefed tonight because of what is planned. So let me pray, and we'll get on with the rest of the activities. Father, we thank you for your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly left the glories of heaven, came in his humanity, grew up in obscurity, submitted himself to your will, O Father, and set this example before us, this public identification. How we thank you for his willingness to bear our sins in his own body on the tree.
How we thank you that you were pleased with him because of the work that he came to do and submitted himself. Father, may we orient our lives likewise, that we will not be ashamed of our stand with Jesus, that we will be a soldier, we will be an emissary, we will be an ambassador, we will be his representative, we will be salt and light in the place in which you've placed us. Help us, Father, to settle that in our hearts and minds, even as we live out this week. Help us to have a deeper appreciation for the Lord Jesus Christ and for what he came to do for sinners like ourselves, that there was not a thing we could do to reconcile us to you, that we are reconciled through and only through the blood and righteousness of your dear Son. Thank you again for the Word of God. Thank you for setting the Lord Jesus Christ before us again tonight. Bless our reception of the Word of God. May your word find lodgement in our hearts, and may it bear fruit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
