Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. When Jesus sought out John to be baptized in the River Jordan, he was creating a picture for all who would follow him, a public display of our belief in a life after death. Today, final lessons we can take home from the baptism of Christ. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr.
Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer is showing us portraits of Christ. He's calling, come and see Jesus. Pastor, the baptism of Jesus gives us some profound teaching. It really does, Dave.
Jesus said that he was baptized that he might fulfill all righteousness. But in that baptism, of course, as we know, he received the affirmation of the Father, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this really initiated Jesus into the ministry. Interestingly, following the baptism, Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And of course, as we read the Bible, we also recognize that you and I are called to serve the Lord.
We also are loved, we are accepted in the Beloved One. and in that we rejoice. But I'm holding in my hands a book that I want you to have, and I say that from a deep sense of conviction. Following this message, I'm going to be giving you a prayer that you can pray for your children, and at the end, you don't have to add the words, if it be thy will. Imagine learning to pray in such a way that you always are praying within God's will.
For now, let us listen. Yeah. Um Now, Jesus had promised them thrones in his kingdom, but they're saying it's not enough for us to just get a throne. We want to be to your right and to your left. I want to be the prime minister.
And over here, this other guy wants to be the Secretary of the Treasury, right next to where you are. And Jesus said, you don't know what you're asking. Because you don't understand the cross. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism by which I am baptized? And here again, it shows that they didn't know what they were talking about because they said to him, We are able.
You see, Jesus knew that his suffering was going to be totally unique. His suffering was going to be for the sins of the whole world. Nobody could participate with him in that kind of a baptism. But there is a sense in which, yes, they could be baptized. Jesus does go on to say, The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.
In a secondary sense, they could do that. James later on was slain with the sword, and John endured a great deal of persecution before he died. But to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to grant it, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And of course the other disciples heard about it and they were angry, getting to Jesus, before they had a chance to get to Jesus to ask for the same thing. But notice Jesus says, I'm going to go through a baptism.
And in order for us to understand the baptism of Matthew chapter 3, we have to understand the baptism that took place later. He's talking about the cross. He's speaking about a baptism that he will be going through personally where he is going to be under the water of God's wrath bearing our sin. in the Old Testament. being underwater.
Meant being overrun by calamity. For example, it says in Psalm 69, verse 2: I sink in the deep mire where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
So Jesus is saying that As he's being baptized by water. in Matthew chapter 3, which is our text today. This baptism is a preview of the baptism that he is going to endure in the future. When he is going to be crucified on a cross, when he is going to be buried, and when he is going to be resurrected to new life. That's what the baptism really refers to.
And that's why the Bible never refers and connects baptism to birth. Baptism is always connected to death. Therefore, when we give baptismal instruction here at the Moody Church, we point out Romans chapter 6. Being buried with him in baptism unto death, that like as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, so also you should walk in newness of life. That is the meaning of baptism.
It is to identify with Jesus in his death, in his burial, and in his resurrection. Very interestingly, in Matthew chapter 3, The heavens do not open when Jesus is under the water. When Jesus was there dying on the cross, the heavens were closed. It's after the resurrection that the heavens open, and of course, he was able to ascend into heaven sometime later. But there is no voice from heaven.
while Jesus is dying and overwhelmed by calamity, the baptism The baptism. of his tremendous, unbelievable suffering. And so Jesus comes up out of the water. And when he comes up out of the water, it is then that the heavens open. And just like the veil of the temple, which was rent in two, the heavens are ripped open.
You know, I can imagine that saints in the Old Testament sometimes prayed, Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down.
Well, God rends the heavens here. He opens them, and it shows the proximity, the nearness of Jesus Christ to heaven. and heaven to Jesus Christ. and the rest of his life is going to be lived out in the presence, so to speak. of an open heaven.
Just like our lives are lived out. in the presence of an open heaven. And when Stephen was being stoned, you remember, he already began to see the heavens open and Jesus on the right hand of God reminding him again of the proximity, the proximity that there is to heaven. This week I spoke to some people, all of whom had something in common. They were all grieving.
They were grieving the death of a child. That was their commonality. And how wonderful it is that for those who know the Savior, heaven is very, very near. And so Jesus goes down into the water, signifying his death. And then he comes up out of the water.
When we baptize you here at the Moody Church, if you ever notice carefully, we always bring you up out of the water. And there's a reason for that. If we left you in the water. It would be an awesome picture. of death and burial.
An awesome picture of death and burial, but it isn't the complete picture. You're supposed to recognize that with Jesus you are rising to newness of life, and that's why we always bring you up. after you've gone down into the water. And like I like to say, we've not lost anyone yet in the baptistry, yet in the baptistry.
So, Jesus here receives now the Spirit. The Spirit comes like a dove. You remember in the Old Testament, this world was baptized. It was baptized in the flood. of judgment.
And yet the ark rested on a mountain, and Noah sent out a raven, and the raven didn't return because there were plenty of carcasses, and the raven was a kind of bird that loved carcasses, so it was able to live. But the dove returned. He sent it out again. This time it came back with an olive branch. Signifying peace, and Noah knew that the earth was beginning to dry up, and then later on he sent out the dove, and the dove never returned.
Well, we don't know what happened to that dove, but we do know that as the blessed Holy Spirit of God came upon Jesus, the dove being symbolic of purity, of sensitivity, just like the Spirit. He's sensitive to sin. That's why we grieve him when we sin. The Spirit of God comes upon Jesus and anoints him now for the rest of his ministry. Then you have the voice of the Father speaking.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God was giving his approval to the silent years of Jesus. Jesus, you remember. was brought up in a home and we hear nothing about him after the age of 12. Until his public ministry now.
All kinds of theories have arisen as to what Jesus was doing. I was reading some apocryphal scriptures perhaps two weeks ago in which it says that Jesus was using his power almost like a little dennis the menace to do foolish things. Like he would make little clay pigeons and put them in his hand and then blow and the pigeons would come to life and they'd fly away. Shirley MacLean says that during this period of time, Jesus went to India to learn from the gurus there. You know Could I just simply say this?
If you're not interested in facts, talk is cheap. Talk is cheap. We know nothing about Jesus Christ's silent years. I have a friend who was going to write a dissertation on the silent years of Jesus, and his professor says, great idea, then you don't have to write anything. Yeah.
All that we know is. That the Father now says. Behold, my beloved son. In whom? I am.
Well Pleased. There are several lessons that grow out of what we've said today as Jesus here was predicting his mission. What he was saying is that the baptism that I experienced in the Jordan River. Is symbolic of the baptism that I am going to have. When I face the cross, when I die, and when I'm raised again.
And so Jesus is prefiguring his mission. Lesson number one, the entire Trinity is involved. in our salvation. The whole Trinity is involved in our salvation. The Father sends the Son, for God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son.
The Son dies on the cross. The son goes through that baptism. That baptism and ends up being glorified as a result of it. And then the blessed Holy Spirit of God shows us our need and gives us the ability to believe and draws us into. The blessings that come to those who trust Christ.
But the Trinity. works together. You don't have one person doing this independently of the other person. The beauty is, despite the mystery, the beauty is that the Trinity is involved in everything, in creation, and most assuredly in the new creation, giving you a new heart and a new mind. And the Trinity is here.
Let us... Fulfill. righteousness. There's a second lesson. And the second lesson is that our own baptism.
identifies us With the death, the burial. And the resurrection. of Jesus. That's why Romans 6, as we quoted before, is so significant. We are buried with Him in baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead, so also you should walk in newness of life.
Couple of comments. First, clearly. Your baptism does not save you. Jesus did not bring salvation by being baptized in the Jordan River. He brought salvation when he was being baptized on the cross in the tomb and then came out of the tomb.
and was raised. That's how our salvation was purchased. Listen up, those of you. Who are baptized, maybe as infants, and you have this little certificate that you can't quite find, but you could if you needed it. That said, with this water we make you a child of God.
Listen, nobody has the ability to use water to make anybody a child of God. You have to understand that. You could be baptized so often that every fish in Lake Michigan would know your name. Maybe I should change that. You could be baptized so often that both fish in Lake Michigan.
Would know your name. and still be eternally lost. It is not the water that somebody put on you. It's not the water that you went under that is going to save you. It is the water that Jesus went under.
It is the baptism that He endured on the cross that saves us. The Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. How many sins, therefore, are left for water to take away? You answer that question. But there are some of you, God bless you.
You're saved, but you've never been baptized. Just imagine that.
Now, in the New Testament, you didn't have that. I challenge you to read the book of Acts and find a believer who was saved who wasn't baptized. It always says, and they believed and they were baptized. Why? In the early church, they understood.
They understood that when you follow Jesus, you want to be identified in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. And that's why the early church always used immersion, sometimes pouring because of other circumstances. And we can do that too for someone who, for whatever reason, physical reasons, cannot go under the water. But why do you deny the privilege that Jesus gives us? to be baptized.
and therefore say, I want to be. identified with his death, his burial, and his resurrection. There is a third and final lesson. Jesus died, and now I'm talking about his baptism on the cross. Jesus died that the Father might be as pleased with us.
as he was with Christ. I want to say that again because it's so important and some of you. are taking notes for which you will be especially honored. in the day of judgment. No pressure, just tossing out all these.
Interesting things. Jesus died that the Father might be as pleased with us as he was with Jesus, his beloved Son.
Now you can read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And nowhere are we called beloved. And the reason is because Jesus had not yet been baptized at the cross for us. But afterwards, when you read the epistles, it says in Ephesians chapter 1 that God has graced us. in the beloved one.
Paul the Apostle talks about believers. Here's a quote now: He says, You are beloved. To the Father, beloved to the Father. Why? Miserable, wretched sinners, beloved to the Father.
Because we are accepted in Christ. What Jesus did in His baptism on the cross is so applied to us that God says, I accept you as I accept Him. That is the gospel. And therefore Because of Jesus. We can have that kind.
of acceptance. In the Old Testament, sacrifices had to be approved. Oftentimes the process was done by priests. It had to be an adequate sacrifice, even though the sins of the Old Testament were not taken away by the sacrifices, at least not permanently. But there had to be an approval process.
And what the Father does here, and what the Father does at the Transfiguration, and what the Father does just before the cross, is to say, in effect, I approve of the sacrifice. And certainly the resurrection is the Father approving of Jesus. as the sacrifice for those who believe in him. Could I ask you a question? I don't want to ask whether or not you're saved, because you may...
answer that question too quickly. I have a different one for you. Is there evidence that God has done a miraculous work in your life? that can somehow be related to death to sin. Burial.
and newness of life. That in the Bible is the new birth, without which you will not see. The kingdom. of God. It's the baptism of the cross.
that saves those. Who believes? Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you today for the willingness of Jesus to be baptized. To prefigure a baptism that will take place.
Three years later. And he said in the Gospel of Luke, I am to be baptized with this baptized, and oh, how my heart. is strained. Because he knew. what that calamity would be like.
We thank you. Thank you that today we are accepted in the Beloved One. That thou canst think so well of us and be the God thou art. is darkness to our intellect. but sunshine.
to our heart. Help us to walk in that today. And for those who've never trusted Christ as Savior, may they reach out even at this moment and say, yes. Yeah. Believe.
Oh, grant that God, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
Okay.
Well, my friend, if you've never savingly believed on Jesus Christ, this is the moment to do so. If God has worked in your heart as a result of this message, Right now. In repentance and faith receive him. A savior.
Now, many of you may be parents, and you may be wondering how do we pray for our children and our grandchildren.
Well, I want to share with you a prayer that I prayed this morning for one of our grandchildren. Imagine this. It comes directly from the Word of God. And this is my prayer that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you might be able to discern what is best, and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and the praise of God.
Now listen carefully. This is the last week we're making a special book available for you. It's entitled Praying the Bible. by Don Whitney. It will help you to pray biblical prayers and turn ordinary passages into prayers.
It'll change your prayer life. Very quickly, here's the contact info. Go to rtwoffer.com. or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Right now, go to your computer.
Go to RTW Offer. Dot com. Time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. In tough economic times, many people are stressed by money issues. an anonymous running to win listener contacted us with this scenario.
Due to my husband's health issues, he can't work, and we have incurred huge debts. My question is: how much obligation does the church have to help us financially? Is there any scriptural support for this? First of all, I want to identify with your question and say that we are often confronted with this here at the Moody Church. In a time of financial downturn, we have to ask ourselves the question, what is the obligation that we have to those who are seeking employment?
to those who can't pay their bills. and how can we help them?
So, I'm going to give a very simple answer to your first question and also to the second. You ask, How much obligation does the church have to help us financially? And the answer is. as much as they can. And I answer that way because that's the way in which we feel our responsibility, but at the same time, we as a church cannot meet the needs of everyone.
We can help. But we can't provide for everyone who is looking for a job or who is going through difficult times because of debt. And so our policy here at the Moody Church is to take care of those immediate needs. Primarily, we're talking about groceries and the like. Beyond that, sometimes we simply cannot afford to help other believers, but absolutely, the church.
bears responsibility to the extent that it can to help those that are in need. You ask, is there Scriptural support for this? The answer is yes. Acts two forty five. The Bible says that the apostles sold their possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who had any need.
Now nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to sell everything that we have like the early church did. This is a very important point, but... The principle of distributing to those who have need. for people to be willing to contribute to bless and to help others, during a time of a financial crunch, that is biblical. and distinctly Christian.
Some wise counsel from doctor Erwin Lutzer. Thank you, Pastor Lutzer. If you'd like to hear one of your questions answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614.
Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life.
Next time on Running to Win, Jesus is led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Join us as we trace the story of 40 tough days in the life of Christ. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
