His Approval

Thank you, Quran. Thank you, Murray. If you have your Bibles, would you turn with me to Luke chapter three? Luke, chapter three. And today we're going to look at the baptism of Jesus.

And last week we looked at the baptism that John the Baptist initiated. In fact, that still carried in the Christian life. It was a different kind of rite as far as Christians were concerned, that John initiated that had never been initiated before. If a person came from out of the Jewish background and they became to submit to a Jew, then they would have this kind of bath that they would do to become cleansed of their Gentile and become a member of the Hebrew community. But John did a new thing.

John did something where he baptized the people. And that was different. Not only did he do it for the Gentiles who would come, or if any came, but he did that for the Jewish people who would come. There were no exceptions. John was out in the wilderness where God had placed him.

And people would come to see John because he was the first time that they had heard a prophet in something like 400 years. So John was preaching, and as he was preaching about repentance, he. It was a hard kind of message, a judgment message. And there are times that every now and then we need to hear a good judgment message. And what Luke records for us is his wind and fire sermon, which was the axes at the trees.

There's a threshing floor where they would throw up the harvest and the chaff would be blown this way and the wheat would come down and they would gather up the chaff and they'd burn it in a fire and there was a blessing upon the wheat. So here's the hard words. But sometimes we need to hear those kind of in your face sermons that kind of help us look at where we are and where God wants us to be. We see the baptism of Jesus and Jesus comes and joins the group that John has to be baptized in the Jordan River. And the question is, why would Jesus come?

He's perfect in every way. He had imperfect parents, which all of us have imperfect parents. Can I hear an amen to that? And the reason is because they have imperfect children. But.

Jesus parents were imperfect, but he was perfect. And in the temple when he was 12 years old, he felt God move in his life. He was the Son of God, but he was also the Son of man. And he made the first statement that is recorded in Luke when he said, I must be about my father's business. But his parents just didn't understand that.

They were caught up in some Other things. And so he went to be with them for the next Till he was 30 years old. And because he was the oldest son, he had six brothers and sisters. And so it was his responsibility to take care of the family. Last time we hear of Joseph is when he is at the temple.

And obviously Joseph kind of passed away. And so the responsibility for the family lay upon Jesus. And for the next years of his life, from the time that he was probably after 12 until the time he was 30 years old, he took over his father's business and became the carpenter of the town of Nazareth. And he raised his family, gave his mother to James. And there came a day in the carpenter's shop when he took off his apron, placed it on the bench, gave his brothers a business, and headed towards the Jordan river to begin his public ministry.

And when he got there, he knew it was right for him to identify with his cousin who, who was John the Baptist. And so Jesus gets in line with all the other people that are being baptized in the Jordan River. By the way, I baptized Susan in the Jordan river, put her under, counted to 25.

How many of you wives would be secure enough with your husband wife that you'd let your husband put you under the water and count for 25? Trusted me the whole way, and she's been a better cook ever since. So that has been a blessing.

But Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river, and he looks like he was the last one in line. If you have your Bibles, look at chapter three. And in honor of God's word, would you stand as I read for us from beginning with verse 21.

And I'm reading from the King James Version. So now when it was time, it was time. God's timetable is always the right kind of timetable. And right timing is always one of the right things. Now, when all the people were baptized, you see that's in the Greek translation.

That's in the passive sense. Is that not that they baptized themselves, but they had John to baptize them. It came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, that's in the past tense. So after he was baptized, he was praying. That's in the present tense.

And Luke is very adamant about times of prayer. And he puts in times of prayer when Jesus was in key events in his life. You could see him praying. And as he was praying, the heaven was open. The Lord had the idea of all of a sudden it was there and the heaven was open.

And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove, and came upon Jesus. Now he's always had the Holy Spirit from the time of his birth. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but now this is a special anointing that God gives him to start his ministry.

And a voice came from heaven which said, you are my beloved son. And you. I am Eudokimi. That's the word. Greek word.

I am well pleased. May God bless the reading of his Word. You may be seated.

Now, we're in the middle of deer season, and our numbers usually go down during deer season. And I keep telling. Deer hunters, keep telling me, you can worship God out there in the woods just as much as you could worship him in worship. And there's a Greek word for that, and the Greek word is bull. Amen.

Sitting in a deer stand is never a right substitute for coming to worship and joining with God's people. Nobody passes a plate out there, and they. But there's no Christians there to encourage your heart and encourage your life and do you hear from God's Word? And that's an important thing to do, is to have that kind of worship experience. And we need that to kind of recharge our batteries.

Last week, I was with a friend of mine in Camden, and they had their deer hunt for Wilcox Academy, and they were raising money. It was all kinds of deer that were brought in. And I think Morgan Academy has the same thing. They have a deer hunt that they raise money for. So it's a deer season, and there was a wife that just missed that.

She thought her husband was getting something that she wasn't getting, and so she decided she wanted to go deer hunting with him. So he said, okay. So he. He bought her a rifle. 30.

30. Gave her some shells and put on the deer stand. He got down from her in the next deer stand. So as he was sitting there, he heard boom, boom, boom, and thought, oh, no, she shot herself. So he ran down.

He kept hearing this voice that. Her voice saying, get away from my deer. And so get away from my deer. And so this man's voice finally said, okay, lady, but let me get my saddle off of him first.

Now, there's a point to that story, by the way. Somehow you miss my points and get caught up in the story. But here's. Be careful what you aim at for you might shoot it. Amen.

Now, the point is that Jesus, from the time he was 12 years old, aimed at this. I want to be in God's business.

And he's the Son of man, but he's also the Son of God. So there's this divine part of him, but there's also this human part of him.

And so he comes down from Nazareth, leaves his home in Nazareth, comes down to the Jordan Valley where John the Baptist is baptized and he gets in line to be baptized. Now if you look in your scripture verse, you look at chapter 20, the verse that leads us into Jesus baptism. Because what Luke is going to do is he's going to transfer from what John is doing to transfer to what Jesus is doing.

Sheridan Carpenter is the warm up act for Taylor Swift. People don't come there to watch Sheridan Carpenter, but she gets a crowd ready for the main event. And the main event is what's her name? Taylor Swift, whatever. But John the Baptist is not the main event.

And he never tried to be the main event. When they asked him, they said, are you the Messiah? He said, I am not the Messiah. I'm not even worthy to tie his shoes. And one coming after me is mighty than me.

He can baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. And as Baptists, we're very much afraid of getting into the Holy Spirit. But what the Holy Spirit and fire does is he refines our life so that he comes in our life and he lives inside of us and he lets us know what's the impurities of our lives. And he keeps putting his emphasis on these things need to be stopped. And more character like Christ needs to be a start until he finally works on you and he's still working on me and I hope he's still working on you.

But John could not give the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus could give the Holy Spirit. But it first comes to him or came to him at his birth. And that comes in a powerful way to make him ready for his ministry. For his ministry is going to be the most powerful ministry this world has ever seen.

It even comes down to Selma, Alabama. It's a long way for it to come, but it's the most powerful, powerful event in all the world. Change is life.

Now, John, if you look at that last verse, John, not everybody agreed with John and he was having tremendous momentum for people coming to be baptized. But there was a guy named Herod who was an official. Herod was a king and his dad was Herod the king, the one that killed the babies.

Political things that he did were not always right and didn't matter to him, Herod, how many people he affected. And so it says that Herod, well, verse 19, Herod the Tetrarch being reproved. That is John called his name out in a service. It's not Right for you to have your brother's wife. And John and Herodias had had this thing going on, and she was the wife of Philip, and Philip was more passive, and Herod was more aggressive.

And so Herodias kind of lined her life with Herod. And so they moved away. But John wouldn't let it alone. He kept saying it in service. And I really think I've heard of this.

The preacher said, if you can't get your budget, then start naming sinners in church.

So if we get our budget, keep getting our budget, then I won't stand up here and name sinners. But so he named his name. And if you want to see the sordid part of that, in Mark, chapter six, it tells what happened to Herod and Herodias. And she wanted John the Baptist's head, and she wanted it put on a platter. And the greatest prophet who ever lived was silenced.

But the Gospel is never silenced.

And men and women of Christianity come and go, but the Gospel keeps going.

I had a man one time that came to see me who was a church leader. And as a church leader, he came to me and said, Dr. Henry, I want to tell you what's going on. And he said that he had this affair that was happening between he and this lady, and they were meeting in Montgomery, and there they would spend a weekend together. And he was married and had two children, and she was married and had children. And he asked me, what do you think?

Can you imagine him having the audacity, asking me, what do you think? And I said, you need to quit doing that. You need to go to your wife and to confess with her what's going on and start living the Christian life like you are making everybody else think you're living the Christian life.

I wish I knew what he did.

I'll never know what he did. I know what he should have done, and I know he felt guilty about all that. But whether he did it or not, I don't know.

Herod was involved in this situation and then obviously felt guilty about that because he kept coming back to hear John, but he never did anything about it. And the last time he sees Jesus is when Jesus is brought to him right before the crucifixion. And Jesus says not a word to Herod. Because I think you get to the point where sin has such a hold on you that you have a hard time letting it go, but it doesn't let you go.

And Herod's story is a very sad, sad story.

He should have been in line Repenting. But he chose to keep putting it off and keep putting it off until he got to the point where he couldn't put it off.

Now Jesus comes and joins a line of those that are to be baptized. And John is baptizing in the Jordan. Why does Jesus need to be baptized? He's perfect in every way. But Philippians 2 tells us that he was humble himself and became obedient, even to the point of the cross.

So he comes in line. He joins the line. Jesus loves me. This I know. For his baptism tells me so, because he identifies with me and you.

He identifies with our struggle. In fact, he is on the cross, taking on our guilt and our sinfulness, like a surgeon pulling out the cancer of sin and makes it so you and I have a remedy for our sinful situation.

As the line got smaller and smaller, then he walked out into the water, and John the Baptist looked at him. And John noticed something. He noticed that he was the Messiah. And Matthew tells us how he was when he was baptized, that John said, look, I have need to be baptized of you. And yet here's Jesus saying, no, it's the right thing to do.

Not that I have sins, but because I'm identifying with your message, and I'm the one that's going to complete this message. And so John baptized him. And as he came up out of the water, if you look back at your scripture in verse 21, as he came up out of the water, he is on the side praying because he's beginning his public ministry. He's doing what God has told him to do. He is in the center of God's will.

And so he's on the side, he's praying. That's in the present tense. He continues to pray when he gets to key points in his life, as I said before, that he's always on his knees praying. Sometimes like he's in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's face down praying, but he's praying.

That's an example. If you say anything, if you in my name, Jesus said, you can ask it. And I will respond.

So here he is praying. And as he's praying, there was this spiritual moment, a spiritual kind of thing, that sometimes there are things that happen and God happens in your life that just cannot be explained. When you do what he says, then you watch and see what he does. And he brought this guy a spiritual moment to Jesus, and he needed it. And there are times that Susan and I need it.

As we come here on Sunday morning, we woke up this morning and it was cold this morning, let me tell you. And in Fairhope, we have three weeks of winter. And I think we've had three weeks and one week this past week. We let our. All our faucets running.

But God just kind of confirmed again that this is where I need you to be. It's a place that I need you to be. And you're standing, you two are standing in my approval as you come to First Baptist Church. And we need that every now and then. All of us need that to kind of confirm in our lives that you're heading in the right direction and you're doing the right thing.

So as Jesus is praying, all of a sudden the heavens are open, because here's the way to salvation through Jesus Christ. There is no other way to be saved. There's no other way for heavens to open. Not being good, it's not doing good works. It's not being a member of a certain denomination.

It's not this or that. It is in Jesus Christ as our personal savior, the heavens are open. Not only were the heavens open, it's the idea that we could see some things. And if you know in scripture, there was Stephen who was being bombarded. And as they are bombarding him with stones, the heavens open up.

And the Lord stands up and welcomes Stephen to heaven. And I've used that so many times in a funeral service about how the heavens open.

Not only were the heavens open, but also the Holy Spirit came down. It's something you could see, it's something you could observe, the Holy Spirit coming down and it rested upon Jesus. And as it's rested upon Jesus, it's in the form of a dove. And if you remember the story of Noah, he sent the dove out, the dove came back, he sent it out again, and then it disappeared. And the idea was this, judgment is over.

God's grace is waiting for Noah. God's judgment is over, and there's grace. It also, as the dove comes down, it gives him that kind of strength. The dove represents a form of peace because it's a peace that overrides the storms in life. And Jesus is going to face not only what John faced, the opposition that comes his way, but he's going to face things that are against him.

And you and I face those in the Christian life. There are those that do not want to hear, especially in the world in which we're living in, they don't want to hear about Jesus.

But there's a peace that Paul says that passes understanding. You can't understand It. You can just feel it, and you know it.

And I know a lady, Susan and I just prayed with a lady this past week who had her hands and her feet cut off.

She was Thanksgiving preparing her meal, and all of a sudden, this infection was throughout her body. And she was taken to the emergency room. And they said, the only way you're going to survive is if we cut off your hands and cut off your feet.

It was a shocking kind of moment. How do you deal with that?

And yet, as she went into surgery, I put my arm, shoulder and said, God still has purpose for you.

And she said this. I can feel his peace.

There's a peace that passes understanding, and it overrides the storms in life, and it's only there by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But then this voice from heaven, not only were heavens open and the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus, but this voice from heaven said, you are my beloved son.

Not only are you my beloved son, you're loved, but in you I am well pleased. And I don't know how many children would love to hear that and never hear that from their parents. I remember a girl telling me that I knew my dad loved me. He just never told me he loved me.

Or a son that said, I wish my dad gave me that kind of voice and said, you know, you're special to me, and God has made you special. And how children just hunger to hear that and never hear that from parents.

You're my beloved son. And so starting his ministry, Jesus had the approval of God as he begins his ministry, and he never got away from that approval. And back and forth, he would go to the Lord in prayer when situations would come up, and he'd go to the Lord for direction and strength, and God would give him that direction and strength. And he always had God's approval upon his life. And that's an important thing, to have God's approval upon your life.

I always want God's approval on my life. I want his approval on me as a husband, as a father, as I come before you every Sunday as I try to deal with my grandchildren. How many of you know how to deal with grandchildren? And they color my toenails. Amen.

I just share that with you. There's a secret that you and I only have, but only my grandchildren can color. Montonia. I always think, you know, if I have a wreck and I go to emergency room and they look at my colored toenails, then they would say, I'm not sure if we want to deal with him or not.

When I graduated from high school, which was the greatest high school ever, ever existed. You say that, Leonard. Amen. ALBERT G. Parrish High SCHOOL okay, well, men were men and women were women and you knew the difference. Amen.

But I wanted to play football and nobody offered me a scholarship. So I went walked on it at Sanford. And they moved me from running back because I was too slow to being a guard. And I was a 175 pound guard in college football. And I was on the third string.

And the reason I was on third string, that was the only last string we had.

So it was a long, long. We came in August and two a day practices in August were just kind of. It was hot. And so after practice I'd go in the gym and lay down and give me an upper 10. Any of you ever drank an upper 10?

I got an upper 10 and just kind of went back and just why am I here? You know, why I'm getting my head beating. My roommate was Sterile. Rayner Steril was on a golf scholarship. And I'd come in like beaten up, like been in a danger zone.

And Sterile was talking about his finger hurt him.

And then I knew I should have been playing golf instead of playing football. But our first game was against Mississippi State and they beat us 40 to nothing. It was a long day for Sanford at Mississippi State. And I remember those cowbells. I think hell's a place where they ring cowbells for them.

But our next game was kind of a junior varsity game. And it was with Marion Institute. And I was going to get to play quite a bit. And so we were in the dressing room getting ready over there, Marion. And in fact, the guy across from me was Joe Moore.

Joe was playing for Marion Institute and we would later be roommates at Auburn. But as I was getting ready, I had all my stuff on and I heard somebody say, hey, fellas, have you. Can you tell me where Jerry Henry is? And it was my granddaddy. My granddaddy was a little bitty man on the Fluker side of our family.

He was an engineer for the Southern Railroad. But I was the first one on that side of the family that played college football. And so he came in and granddaddy talked to me for a while and told me good luck on the game. And then he turned around to walk out. And I turned around to go finish putting my shoulder pads on.

And then he turned around and he walked over to me and he put his arm around me and he said, I'm so proud of you.

There are moments in life that are frozen in your mind. And no matter how you get and how many things come and go, you never forget those moments.

And this was my moment with my granddad.

He's gone on to be with the Lord. But I'll never forget that moment in that dressing room. I'm so proud of you.

I want to use that as kind of one of these days as I stand before the Father and I want to hear him say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And I hope that's your idea today.

I hope that's your want to today to have God's approval on your life and on your character. Now, we're going to have an invitation in a moment. Maybe there's some things you need to get right with God. Maybe God's approval on your life, wherever that may be. Or maybe there are places in your life that you don't have God's approval.

And he's opened the door. He opens heaven for you to come to him and get those kind of things straight. But the greatest thing in our life that could ever, no matter whose approval you have, the most important approval you have is God's approval on your life.

Now, would you bow your heads with me for just a moment?

And I always like the invitation to be some time where you and God have that time together. For where two or three are gathered, then God's here with us. And he speaks. He's been speaking ever since creation. And he speaks in those inner places in our life.

He comes to us in that still small voice.

And maybe there's some places that you need to hear that voice.

Herod heard it until he couldn't hear it anymore.

And maybe there's something that needs to be done in your life. And maybe the invitation is a time to make that decision.

Dear Father, open our hearts, open heaven. May the Spirit come down. And may we hear your voice of approval. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.