Willow Ridge Sermons

January 4th, 2026 • "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'" – Matthew 3:16-17

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Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast, where you can listen to audio from our most

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Good morning. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Matthew

chapter 3. Echo a couple of things that Pastor Dave said. For our first-time guest, thank you

again for being here at the end of the service. My wife Erin and I will be back here at our

connections table. We'd love for you to stop by for just a moment. We would love to meet you,

introduce ourselves to you. We'd love to be able to learn your name. And then by chance, if you have

any questions about who we are as a church, about any of our ministries, we'd like to have the

opportunity to answer those questions for you. So please stop by. Also, at the very end of the

service, where's mine at? Right here. We'll be partaking in the Lord's Supper together. So if

you're a follower of Jesus Christ, whether you're a member of this church or not, and you would like

to participate in partaking of the Lord's Supper, we would invite you to. And if you did not get

your elements as you came in, they are right back here. And at any point in time, you can slide back

there and then grab those. I do want to echo what Pastor Dave said about our soup and chili

night next Sunday at five o'clock. We would love for you to be there. We'd love for you to be a part

of it. It's one of my favorite nights that we can gather together as a church family. There's not any

programming. It's just an opportunity for us to sit down, fellowship, sit around a table together. And

we got a lot of new faces around here. And so that for you, for the new faces, it's a great opportunity

for you to come in and meet some of those of us that have been around here for a while. And if

you've been around here for a while, it's a good opportunity for you to come and to meet some of

the new people and interact and fellowship and have that. So make sure that you come back next Sunday

night. And then our discipleship studies, you know, we're, we're in that new year. We're in that new

time. Like we've all got, uh, we're either going to eat better. We're going to exercise more. We're

going to save more. You know, we're going to spend less. We're all setting our goals for the new year.

We need to do that. And I would argue that that one of the greatest goals that you can not only set

for you, but for your family is involvement and engagement in discipleship. Families making sure

that you've got your kids here for discipleship, for the youth, for their discipleship, but also for us

parents that we can come together. And whether it be a part of a small group, a women's group,

a men's group, any type of study that we do outside, uh, outside of the campus or the ones that we do

on here in the discipleship studies, we want to encourage you to do that. There's a lot of wonderful

ones that we've got lined up for this next quarter. Uh, we've got one for moms. We've got one for,

uh, for men. So ladies and men's, we've got walking through the new Testament, uh, every thought held

captive will be led by Tawana and Brent. Um, but also, um, Aaron and I are leading one. And I'll be

honest with you. Uh, we feel a little bit, um, intimidated by, by leading this one. Um, so the first

message that I ever preached, I was 24 years old, uh, Donald Pope, who was the pastor at Town Creek

Baptist Church where I served at the youth pastor. He said, I want you to preach next Sunday and I want

you to preach on parenting. It's like, okay, I didn't have kids. Right. And so I walked up feeling

very inadequate with talking about this. Right. Um, and Aaron and I, uh, felt, felt led this past

spring break. We were off, we were camping and we were reading through and you guys know Emma and

Grace and her seniors in high school this year. And, and we're talking through college stuff as their

junior year last year and looking forward and kind of coming to the realization that, you know,

they're, they're, they're entering into like that adult phase. And we begin to talk about, you know,

like each stage of life, you parent a little bit different than you had before. And so, um, uh,

Aaron was, was reading a blog, I think at the time or an article online. And it was about a couple of

different books. And one of them was this book, doing life with your adult children by Jim Burns.

And we read through some of the aspects of that. And here's what I say. If you are a parent of a child

who is an adult, and I'll say like looking through this, I don't think it really matters what age of

adult they're at, whether it's 18 years old or, or, or anywhere above that. Right. And, and you're

wanting to grow as a parent with them and grow as a parent with us as we walk through this. I want to

encourage you to sign up and be a part of that. I will say we are coming to facilitate a discussion

by no means. Do we feel like, uh, we have perfected this as our kids haven't even made it to 18 years

old, but, but a lot of wonderful opportunities, uh, for you guys to get connected. I guarantee you,

there is absolutely something for everyone that we have through small groups, through our studies,

and would love for you, uh, to be a part of that. But I'm excited as we get into Matthew chapter three,

as we continue on in that. And so I want to read to you from this morning's passage, Matthew three,

when we read verses 16 and 17, before we go into our time of prayer, it says,

and when Jesus was baptized immediately, he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were open to

him. And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice

from heaven said, this is my beloved son with who I am well pleased. Would you pray with me?

God, we thank you for the beauty and the perfection of your word. God, as we come to it this morning,

Lord, would you speak fresh to us? God, would you communicate to us and would our minds and our ears

and our hearts be receptive to your message? God, if any part of this is, is of me, by me, or for me,

Lord, may you remove it and may it all be of you and by you and for you, for your name and your glory.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We started our Christmas series this past month, the first

Sunday in December, and Josh opened up our Christmas series by preaching in Matthew chapter one,

starting in verse 18. And so we were looking at where we're going to go. I was like, let's just stay

in Matthew and keep journeying through there through 2026. Now, Matthew starts his gospel through an

interesting narrative. And it's one that, as we've talked through it in December, we've mentioned it,

but we haven't really focused in on it. And I want us, as we go through this, to kind of focus in on this

aspect of Matthew, because it'll help us understand how Matthew flows through the life of Jesus of what

we're going to see. And, and this is that Matthew is going to continually point to the kingship of

Jesus, that Jesus is King and the kingdom of Jesus that we are called to be a part of both the King

Jesus and the kingdom that he is over. So as we read through, as, as we piece through, we see what it

looks like for Jesus to be King. And then what it looks like for you and I to be a part of his kingdom.

Now, when you look in Matthew chapter one, you can see this in the lineage of Jesus. It is through

King David. Matthew 1, 1 starts off by talking about Jesus, the Christ from the son of David,

the son of Abraham. Abraham came before David. So why is David first? Because he's the king. And we see

Jesus in the lineage of King David. The angel appears to Joseph and Joseph is the descendant of King

David. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the town of the kings from King David. So we see very early on

in Matthew chapter one, this emphasis that Matthew is going to give that Jesus is King. Then in Matthew

chapter two, the wise men come and who are they looking for? The King of the Jews. They're looking

for Jesus, the King of the Jews. That's the title that they're looking for. Who feels threatened by the

birth of Jesus? King Herod. Why is he afraid? Because he's afraid that Jesus will come and take his throne.

So from Matthew chapter one, Matthew chapter two, what we get in the birth of Jesus is this baby

has come and he's King. And he's King. So what's this King going to be like? What's this King going to

come and do? What's it going to look like for the King to call people to him? Well, when we go from

Matthew chapter two to Matthew chapter three, there's about 30 years of time that spans from the end of

chapter two to the beginning of chapter three. So there's a large gap in the life of Jesus that we

miss out on, but what we'll really capture is his three years of earthly ministry all the way until

Matthew 28 until Jesus gives the great commission following the resurrection of Christ. So join with

me. Let's read Matthew chapter three, verses one through six. It says, in those days, John the Baptist

came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who

was spoken by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the

way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt

around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all of Judea and the region

about the Jordan were going out to him and they were being baptized by him in the river Jordan

confessing their sins. So let's pause here for just a few minutes. And as we look to Jesus, we're going

to look at this guy known as John the Baptist or maybe better translated John the baptizer. Now when

most people read through or think through Matthew, we think through the birth narrative of Jesus in

Matthew chapter one, and then we can kind of skip over, I know at least in my mind, I can skip over

Matthew chapter three and I can jump and land in Matthew four, right? It's the temptation of Jesus. And we

see Jesus, we'll look at this next week, right? And see Jesus overcoming the temptations of Satan. And then we

come into a very powerful passage in Matthew chapter five, the greatest sermon that's ever been preached, Jesus

in the Sermon on the Mount. But sandwiched right in between there, between the birth of Jesus and the

temptation of Jesus is this interaction by John the Baptist and he's going to have an

interaction with Jesus and what John the Baptist is doing. And this is very important, what John

the Baptist is doing. John the Baptist is serving as a form of Elijah. That God in God's word tells us

that before Jesus comes that there's going to be someone like an Elijah who is there proclaiming and

preparing the way for Jesus to come. And this is what we see. This is why in a lot of ways we see this

difficult or different dress that he's wearing in the practices of his life of being set apart in the

wilderness is he's the prophet who God has chosen to come before Christ to pave the way to proclaim that

Jesus is coming. And so what I want us to do this morning in looking at John the Baptist is to look at

John the Baptist and look at John's method and his message. To look at his method and his message.

Because it's not just important for Jesus coming, but it's important for us even though Jesus has come.

That we look and we understand John's message and John's method. It says there in verse 1,

And those days John the Baptist came preaching. Preaching. Like what I'm doing now. That he came preaching.

But it looks different. It's a little bit different. This word to preach is the word to herald. To herald.

What in the world does that mean? What does it mean to herald something? Well to herald would be a responsibility

or an activity that was given to someone who would then be called a herald. A herald would herald.

And they would go before royalty. Very specifically they would go before a king. So before a king would

come into the palace room or the king would come into the courtroom, the herald would come before him

and announce and declare and to give the titles and to say that the king is coming. But there was also

another aspect of a herald that I think is important for us to know. That is the king would move maybe from

the palace to a town, right? Like sometimes the king would send messengers out there or ambassadors.

And in fact in the New Testament when it says that we're ambassadors of God, that's a royal title.

That we come with the message of God, speaking for God as ambassadors.

But a herald would go from town to town to announce to the people that the king was coming.

So imagine if you got the announcement that coming to your town that the king was going to be there.

Right? That you are hearing that announcement so that you can prepare, so that you can be ready.

So John is saying to the people, make sure that you're ready because the king is coming.

Well, who's the king? The king's coming. You better be ready. You better be ready.

But then the second thing that the herald would do is it says prepare the way or to make the paths

straight. You see, a herald would also not only go forward and announce that the king is coming,

but literally the herald would go on the road that the king's caravan would travel down.

And if a bridge were washed out, the herald would be responsible for getting the crew together to

rebuild the bridge. If there were holes in the road, the herald would be responsible for making sure

that the road was removed of all holes. That literally, that the pathway to the destination

is made clear, is made smooth. So here's what John the Baptist is doing.

He is saying to the people, you need to prepare because the king is coming

and I'm going to prepare the way through the message that I tell you.

You see, John's not going and making the roads smooth for Jesus.

John's preparing the road of the message of the gospel to the hearts of the people who are going to hear it.

And this is what we see from John the baptizer, that he brings a message and he's bringing a method.

So what is his message?

What is his message?

Very simply, his message is repent.

Repent.

The king is coming.

Repent.

The king is coming.

Repent.

Matthew 3, verse 2.

Repent.

For behold, the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

The kingdom of heaven

is here.

Jesus

himself

and your response

is to repent.

Coming to Jesus

means being willing to deal with your sin.

Dealing with your sin

doesn't mean perfecting yourself.

I think a lot of times what we think coming to Jesus means is

once I've got my life a little bit more in order,

once I've got my life laid out a little bit more the way that it needs to be,

once I've worked through some of these issues in my life,

once I've worked through the work that the Holy Spirit is designed to work in me to do,

but once I've done the work without him,

then I'll be ready to come to Jesus.

The problem is,

you and I can never do the work that we need to do apart from the Holy Spirit to ever come to Jesus.

So what we're called to do

is not figure ourself out,

but what we're called to do

is to repent of the sin that's in our life.

Now,

what does it mean to repent?

What does that mean?

That's a word in church

that we throw out all the time.

Well, you need to repent.

You've got sin in your life.

I've got sin in my life.

What do we need to do for the sin that's in our life?

Well, we need to repent.

But what does repentance mean?

When you look biblically at this concept,

this command that God gives us to repent,

the aspects of repentance are actually a threefold part.

That we can actually do things that look like repentance,

but they're not repentance.

They're self-serving when done isolated.

But when we see biblical repentance,

we see the fullness of what God has called us to.

So the first aspect of repentance that we see

in the context of scripture is confessing.

It's confessing.

We need to confess our sin.

So what does that mean?

What does it mean to confess?

And how can we practice that?

So here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to randomly call on one of you

to come up here

and display confession for us.

All right, y'all ready?

Jack.

Just kidding, buddy.

Just kidding.

That's my daughter's boyfriend.

Just kidding.

I love you, man.

I love you.

I'll pay for that one later by my daughter.

That's not confession.

That's manipulation, folks.

That's what that is.

Confessing our sin is not in an aspect.

Now, there are parts of that, right?

Where we confess our sins to one another

is what James calls us to do.

That we are to do that.

And it's a biblical concept that we have

and it's a beautiful piece of what it looks like

to be in community.

That we can come to one another,

confess our sins,

hold each other accountable,

and there's great healing in that.

But here's the true heart of confession.

The true heart of confession is this,

is I take responsibility for my sin.

I take responsibility for my sin.

It's not my mama's fault.

It's not my daddy's fault.

It's not my wife's fault.

It's not my kid's fault.

It's not my neighbor's fault.

It's not my boss's fault.

It's not your fault.

It's not God's fault.

It's my fault.

Confession is God, I've done this.

And here's the beauty of confession.

God's never surprised when we do it.

He already knew.

He saw it.

He was there.

But it's me taking ownership

in what I've done.

The second is not just confession,

but it's sorrow.

Sorrow.

Being sorrowful for your sin.

You know, we use this statement

when we parent sometimes,

when we're disciplining our kids

and they're sad, right?

Especially when they're little.

Like, are you sorry because you did it?

Or are you sorry because you got caught?

I think sometimes we are sorrowful

because we got caught.

And God says, no, no, no, no, no.

You need to be sorrowful

because of what you've done.

And ultimately, our sin is against Him.

That's why David,

after his encounter with Bathsheba,

comes in confession

and repentance before the Lord

and says,

against you and you alone have I sinned.

Had David sinned against Bathsheba?

Absolutely.

Had David sinned against Uriah?

Absolutely.

Had David sinned against the whole nation

as he negated his kingly duties

to give in to a moment of lust?

Absolutely.

But in his sorrow,

what David knew was his sin

was against God and God alone.

So we're confessing.

We're taking responsibility for our sin.

We're in sorrow,

so we're grieving over our sin.

And then the third is to turn.

To turn.

Turning from your sin.

Literally, to repent

means to change path,

to change direction,

to change one's mind.

So now I no longer,

in repentance,

choose this sin

that I've pursued

and that I've gone after

and that I've worked for,

but I literally,

within me,

there's a change

and a turn

and a new direction

away from what I long for

and pursuing what God has.

You see, repentance

is more than saying,

my bad.

Repentance

is more than saying,

I'm sorry.

Repentance

is more

than saying,

maybe I'll do better next time.

Repentance

is an open,

honest

response

before God.

Because here's the deal,

I can confess my sin,

I can announce it

to all of you right now,

but not grieve it

and not desire differently.

You see,

I can be sorrowful

for my sin,

but blame others,

carry it with me

and choose to remain

in my own sin.

You see,

I can,

I can in my own power

choose a different path

in life,

but yet never take ownership

of my sin

and never grieve over

my own sinful choices

and behaviors

that I've created

and that exist

in my life.

You see,

repentance is not taking

what is easy

and then I'll do that

and live on this island

of repentance,

but repentance

is embracing all of it.

And John is going out

and saying,

Jesus is coming,

prepare for the king.

Prepare.

Jesus is coming.

You don't know,

you can't wait,

you can't stop it.

Jesus is coming,

so repent,

confess,

grieve,

turn.

Confess,

grieve,

turn.

So today,

not just simply say,

will you repent,

but today,

would you confess?

Today,

would you grieve?

And today,

would you turn?

It's what it looks like

to come to Jesus,

but it's also

what it looks like

to be obedient

to Jesus.

So John's message

is to repent,

but John's method

is baptism.

John's method

is baptism.

Read me verses 7

through verse 12.

but when he saw

many of the Pharisees

and Sadducees

coming to his baptism,

he said to them,

you brood of vipers.

Who warns you

to flee from the wrath

to come?

Bear fruit

in keeping

with repentance

and do not

presume

to say to yourselves,

we have Abraham

as our father.

For I tell you,

God is able

from these stones

to raise up children

for Abraham.

Even now,

the axe is laid

to the root

of the trees.

Every tree,

therefore,

that does not bear

good fruit

is cut down

and thrown

into the fire.

I baptize you

with water

for repentance,

but he who is

coming after me

is mightier than I.

He's talking

about Jesus

whose sandals

I am not worthy

to carry.

He will baptize you

with the Holy Spirit

and fire.

His winnowing fork

is in his hand

and he will clear

his threshing floor

and gather his wheat

into the barn,

but the chaff

he will burn

with unquenchable fire.

John's message

is repent

and John's method

is baptism.

During the days

of the Old Testament

and at this time

as well,

baptism was not

a common practice.

The only people

who were actually

baptized

were Gentiles

who decided

to become followers

of Yahweh.

So when they wanted

to come in

to the Jewish faith

and to be followers

of God,

these Gentiles

would be baptized.

but we see

something different

with John's baptism.

You see,

if you were born

in ethnically Jewish,

then you didn't

have to be baptized.

But look back

at verse 5 and 6.

Then Jerusalem

and all of Judea

and all the region

about the Jordan

were going out

to him

and they were baptized

by him

in the river Jordan

confessing their sins.

these are Jewish people

getting baptized.

And the Pharisees

and the Sadducees,

they don't like it.

Now if you're new

to the Bible,

I want to encourage you

to stay here

with us week in

and week out.

And what you'll find

as we go through

the New Testament,

as we go through Matthew,

that what we'll see

is when God works

and when God moves

and when Jesus

is doing what Jesus does,

the Pharisees

and Sadducees

always have something

to complain about.

And that's what we see

right here.

Jewish people

were coming out

to be baptized

and this enraged

the Pharisees

and the Sadducees

in fits of anger

because they

and their ethnic Jewishness

were like,

we don't have to do this.

We are sons of Abraham.

Why should we have to do

what the Gentiles

have to do?

John says,

bear fruit

in keeping with repentance.

I don't care

that this is

who you belong to

if you're apart

from the work

and the plan

of God.

You see,

the Pharisees

and the Sadducees,

all they thought

they needed

was their ethnic standing

in order to stand

as holy

before God.

In John's hand,

brothers,

you need the king.

You need the king.

And the way

to the king

is found

in repentance.

And when these people

were coming,

they're coming

as a symbol

to show

the change

of what God

has done

and what God

is doing

in their life.

You see,

when we celebrate

baptism,

baptism

is not

you coming

to do an act

to get yourself

saved.

It's not.

And anyone

who preaches

that,

anyone who teaches

that,

preaches a gospel

of works.

Not of the Lord.

But baptism

is both,

I want us to get

this,

baptism is both

a symbol

and a command.

Jesus commands

us to baptize.

We are commanded

to be baptized.

So while it

doesn't save us,

it is an act

of obedience

that God

has called us to.

So I don't want

to lighten

the importance

of it

and just say,

well,

it's just a symbol

because it is a symbol

but it's a symbol

with meaning

and it's a symbol

that we're commanded

to obey

in coming

to God

through faith,

through repentance

to Him.

And this is

what we see.

this is what

we see happening.

As they prepare

the way

for the King,

the message

is repent,

the method

is baptism,

and then what

is happening

is people

are being pointed

out,

oh,

those are

the disciples

of John.

those are the ones

who are waiting

for the King.

Those are the ones

who are prepared

for His arrival.

They've repented,

they've made

their path

straight.

So He

comes to them.

Baptism

is a symbol

and it's a symbol

that paints

a powerful picture.

For us,

we practice

believer's baptism

when someone

has put their faith,

hope,

and trust

in Jesus Christ

as their Lord

and Savior.

And if you

are here today

and you've put

your faith,

hope,

and trust

as Jesus Christ

as your Lord

and Savior,

whether you did it

in here

during a worship service,

whether you did it

younger when you're

at a VBS

or at a youth camp,

whether you did it

on a job site,

whether you did it

on Bible study,

I don't care

where you did it

when you put,

whether you've done it

through filling out a card,

through saying a prayer,

through having a conversation.

If you put your faith,

hope,

and trust

as Jesus Christ

as your Lord

and Savior,

God has commanded you

to obey Him

in believer's baptism.

And then with that,

what it communicates

and what it speaks to

in your relationship

with Him.

Number one,

it's a picture

of you saying,

I can't save myself

from my sins.

I needed to be saved

and Jesus saved me.

And Jesus saved me.

And He did it

not when I was clean,

not when I was good,

not when I was right,

not when I was made perfect,

but He did it

and that old person

walking into that water,

that person is a symbol

of who they were

before Christ,

covered and filthy

in their trespasses

and sins.

And then they walk

into the water.

And in doing so,

the Bible tells us,

I've been crucified

with Christ.

I've died to myself.

I die to my sins.

And as Christ went

into the tomb,

they go into the water.

And as Christ came

out of the tomb,

we come out of the water,

being washed

and made clean

by the blood of the Lamb.

To not live

and walk

of who we were,

but to be

who He's called us

to be.

That I am now,

the Bible says,

a new creation

in Christ.

The old has gone,

the new has come.

And that's

who we are

in Him.

John looks at

these Pharisees,

he looks at

the Sadducees

who are picking apart

all that's going on,

all that's happening,

and he points

to a different aspect

of Jesus' future ministry.

He says,

not only is the King

coming,

but the King

will also serve

as the righteous judge.

The King

will also

serve

as the righteous

judge.

We're back

at verse 12.

His winnowing fork

is in His hand

and He will clear

His threshing floor

and gather His wheat

into the barn,

but the chaff

He will burn

with unquenchable

fire.

He paints a picture

of what Jesus

will do

in judgment

in the separation

of those

who are part

of the kingdom

and the removal

for those

who are not part

of the kingdom.

You see,

the beauty

of the gospel

is that

the gospel message

says,

for whosoever

will come,

for whosoever

will come.

So I'm going to tell you,

I don't care

how dirty,

how nasty,

how filthy

your past is.

I don't care

how sinful

you were last night,

how sinful

you were this morning.

I don't care

about any awful

evil deed

that you think

that you've done.

The greatest lie

that you could ever

believe is God

could not forgive you.

And Jesus says,

John says,

that He can

and He will

and He loves to

and He delights in it.

So whatever you've done,

whatever you're doing,

the message

is repent.

Repent.

And come to Jesus.

Repent.

And come to Jesus.

Repent.

And come to Jesus.

But the Bible's clear.

That in judgment,

there's going to become

a time.

The image that John gives

is what a farmer would do

after his grain was harvested.

He would go in

and the grain

would be in a pile

and he would take

his winnowing fork

and he would go

into the pile of grain

and he would throw it up

in the air.

And see,

the grain

was heavier

than the chaff.

And so the grain

would fall to the ground

and the chaff

would blow

through the wind

and it would land

on the other side

of the floor.

And he would go through

and he would separate

the good

from that

that would face destruction.

And at the end,

as the grain

was separated

from the chaff,

the kingdom

would be separated

from the others.

and it would be swept up

and it would be tossed

into the fire.

Because you see,

there's a message.

All can come.

All can repent

because there's going

to become

a time.

Here's the question

I have for you this morning.

When that fork

is put in

and that grain

is tossed up

in the air,

where would you fall?

Where would you fall?

John says to the Pharisees

and the Sadducees,

you're going to be

the ones burned up.

You try to stand

in your self-righteousness.

You try to stand

in your heritage.

You try to stand

in your ethnic eliteness

and none of that

is going to find you

acceptable before God.

The only way.

The only way

is Jesus.

So now verse 13.

It says,

when Jesus came

from Galilee

to the Jordan

to John

to be baptized

by him.

Now John

would have prevented

him saying,

I need to be

baptized by you

and do you

come to me?

But Jesus

answered him,

let it be so

now

for thus is fitting

for us to fulfill

all righteousness.

Then he consented.

And when Jesus

was baptized,

immediately

he went up

from the water

and behold,

the heavens

were opened

to him

and he saw

the Spirit

of God

descending like

a dove

and coming

to rest on him.

And behold,

a voice from heaven

said,

this is my

beloved son

with whom

I am

well

pleased.

I want to be honest

with you,

this is a difficult

part of the Bible.

This is a hard

passage.

Because what we

know

is that

John's calling

people to repent

and then after

they repent,

they're baptized.

well,

why do they

need to repent?

Because they're

sinners.

So Jesus

comes up

to John

and says,

baptize me.

Now John

knows.

John knows.

John's like,

Jesus,

I'm not saying

you're wrong,

but

I don't know,

man.

I think

you should

baptize me.

And Jesus

says,

no,

no.

This

is what

must be

done

for it's

fitting for

to fulfill

all

righteousness.

So John

says,

okay.

And he

goes

and he

baptizes

Jesus.

Why?

I think

there's

two,

all right,

I've got

two,

I've got

two reasons

that are

going to be

on the

screen.

This

one's

not

going to

on the

screen.

should

have

been

on the

screen.

apologize.

Why

was

Jesus

baptized?

First

one,

not

going

the

screen.

This

is the

picture

of the

trinity

that we

get.

This

is the

picture

of the

trinity

that we

get.

And we

see what

just

happened.

see the

obedience

of the

Son.

The

obedience

of the

Son.

The

obedience

of Jesus.

In 30

years of

his life,

sinless.

And

he's come

and he's

come for

a purpose.

Don't

forget,

don't forget,

the

journey

his

kingdom.

The

means

crown

will

through

cross

and

crown

thorns.

see the

obedience

of the

Son.

The

second

thing that

we see

right

through

here

in the

trinity

is the

anointing

of the

Holy

Spirit.

The

anointing

of the

Holy

Spirit.

Now

this

does

not

mean

that

Jesus

did

not

have

the

anointing

the

Holy

Spirit

before.

But

what

this

marking

the

ministry

Jesus

what

will

happen

and

what

will

take

place.

see

the

obedience

the

Son.

see

the

anointing

the

Holy

Spirit.

Oh,

and then

we see

the

approval

the

Father.

hear

the

voice

the

Father.

All

this

coming

together.

I think

in the

baptism

see

the

clearest

evidence

the

Trinity

Scripture.

But

then

other

reasons

and these

will be

the

screen.

Why

was

Jesus

baptized?

Jesus

came as

example.

Jesus

came as

example.

When

we go

through

we look

and we

see

Jesus'

life.

Jesus

loves

man

loves.

loves

some

difficult

people.

serves

some

difficult

people.

The

greatest

traitor

the world

has ever

known,

Judas,

is going

experience

the

depth

relational

intimacy

with

Jesus

only to

sell him

for a few

pieces of

silver.

And

Jesus

loves.

And

Jesus

serves.

And

Jesus

speaks

truth.

And

Jesus

points

people

God

and

calls

people

repent

and

Jesus

loves

the

unlovable

and

Jesus

pursues

all that

he has

encountered

and

Jesus

obedient.

And

I think

we can't

miss

this.

That

Jesus

comes

and

sets

example

what

we are

to not

just

but

what

we are

to be

what

means

obedient

God.

But

then

lastly

and I

think

there's

probably

the

strongest

evidence

from

this

Jesus

came

as a

substitute.

Jesus

came

as a

substitute.

believe

that

there was

never a

point of

time

where the

cross was

not on the

mind of

Christ.

and

that

what

Jesus

going

being

free

from

sin

identify

with

sinners

and

become

the

substitute

atonement

the

substitute

recipient

of the

penalty

that we

deserve.

The

Apostle

Paul

writes

in 2

Corinthians

for our

sake

for our

sake

made

him

to be

sin

who

knew

sin

that

him

might

become

the

righteousness

God

that

free

from

sin

lived

sinless

life

came

substitute

himself

take

our

punishment

and to

give

his

perfection

and so

now

that I'm

Christ

now

that I'm

the new

creation

now

that I'm

the new

man

and who

God

has now

created

to be

covered

by the

blood

of the

lamb

that

while

I'm

still

flawed

still

got my

issues

and

repentance

needs to

consistently

a part

of my

daily

moment

by moment

life

because

Jesus

when

God

looks at

sees

the

perfection

Christ

that

day

when

it's

tossed

from

the

floor

not

through

own

works

but

through

the

works

Christ

I'll

found

holy

will

you

will

you

I'm

going to

ask the

band

if they'll

come back

to the

stage

as we

prepare

for our

time

response

number

one

for

you

today

have

you

repented

have

you

repented

whether

it's

the

first

time

many

times

have

you

repented

have

you

confessed

your

sin

and

owned

your

sin

and

your

responsibility

have

you

been

sorrowful

and

grieved

over

your

sin

before

God

and

God

alone

and

turned

to a

different

way

Jesus

way

have

you

been

obedient

baptism

publicly

telling

the

world

your

public

profession

faith

that

Jesus

the

way

and

Jesus

has

become

your

way

but

you

seek

him

your

substitute

and

during

this

time

worship

will

you

prepare

take

the

Lord's

supper

with

will

look

the

bread

representing

the

body

Christ

that

was

punished

and

paid

for

the

price

your

sin

and

mind

and

take

the

cup

the

new

covenant

and the

representative

of the

blood

that

washes

and

makes

clean

makes

new

God

come

you

today

response

your

word

there's

anyone

here

who

does

not

know

Christ

their

Lord

and

Savior

God

pray

that

today

through

the

leading

your

Holy

Spirit

Lord

they

would

know

that

there's

religious

act

that

can

save

them

there's

self

righteous

work

that

can

perfect

them

it's

simply

to come

Jesus

through

faith

and

repentance

and

God

there's

anyone

here

Lord

followers

Jesus

prepare

take

the

Lord's

Supper

before

we sing

a note

of a

song

before

participate

the

taking

together

Lord

may we

first

come

you

in a

heart

brokenness

in the

heart

repentance

God

confess

our

sins

you

sins

Lord

numerous

name

they're

ours

did

them

chose

them

God

and we

choose

the

lesser

when

the

greater

there

God

grieve

over

the

sin

that's

our

life

Lord

may we

know

that while

we have

sinned

against

those

near us

around

in our

lives

Lord

above all

else

we have

sinned

against

a holy

God

and we're

sorrowful

for what

we've

done

God

may we

turn

longer

pursue

the

ways

of the

world

the

ways

of our

sinful

heart

but

pursue

the

obedience

that you've

called us

because

your way

is better

your way

is satisfying

your way

is filled

with hope

and with

goodness

and love

and it's in

Jesus name we

pray

that's it for

this week's

message

be sure to

check back

next week

for a new

episode

and in the

meantime

you can

visit us

online at

willowridgechurch.org

or by searching

for Willow Ridge

Church on

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and YouTube

thanks again

for listening

you

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