A Baptism of Repentance — Luke 3

0:02 Just feel a need to ask the lord's blessing. Father god, we do thank you for the word of god and we thank you for the the ministry of John the Baptist. We thank you for the lord Jesus most of all and his his sacrifice of himself upon the cross. We pray that you'd bless this meeting in Jesus name. Amen.

0:25 So, I'm my portion assigned is is Luke chapter three. It's mainly on John the Baptist. The last half of Luke three is is the is the genealogy of the lord Jesus. We're not going to get into the genealogy except I'd like to make a remark or two about it. So if you were to read the genealogy in in the gospel of Matthew and compare it to the genealogy in the gospel of Luke, you would you would find they differ quite a bit and say, how can this be, you know?

0:58 Well, the the the reason is that you you have in Matthew kind of the official, genealogy, so people looked at Lord Jesus as being Joseph's son, which he wasn't, right? He was... That was his father-in-law. I mean, I mean, stepfather. And and and so so he say, well, wait, what what what would be marriage genealogy?

1:25 Well, that's what we get in the gospel of Luke is marriage genealogy. And and if you want any help on that, I'm not going to get into it greatly here, but if you want any help on that, McDonald's has a very good section on this genealogy, on how to take the genealogy, so I recommend that to you. It's... The the Luke genealogy is important particularly because because we would have to start... Stop and kind of say, well, wait a minute.

1:56 Jesus wasn't Joseph's son, was he? So this wouldn't be exactly Jesus' genealogy, the one over in Matthew. And so God does take the time to show us what Jesus' true genealogy is. So the helai, which is the first one, past Joseph in the genealogy was no doubt Mary's father. Okay.

2:20 So leave it... Leaving that subject, we'll we'll go into the chapter. I'm gonna read the first three verses. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of I Do... Iteria and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests.

2:54 The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness, and he went into the region around Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Now, when we when we look at this chap... At these verses here, we get the the sense of the historical detail that that Luke gives us here. This is typical of Luke and and we we we might have, you know, may... Maybe naturally, you might say, well, was that necessary to put that detail in?

3:31 And and say, yeah, it it is necessary because because Luke is laying it out for us as a historical reality that there was a historical Jesus that came down here and he lived this wonderful life and and gave himself for our sins. It's important to to put it in a context that you could you can see, hey, this is this is part of history. And and just just to make a point of why that's true, I'm going to read you the first four verses of of the book of of Luke. So Luke Luke starts off saying, in as much as many have taken in hand, to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us delivered them to us, it seemed good to me having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write to you an orderly account most excellent Theophilus that you may know the certainty of those things which you were instructed. And and it's that last verse there that kind of grabs you.

4:48 It's so so that you can know the certainty of the things that you've been instructed. So so when Luke writes, he writes with quite a bit of historical details. So there's this guy over here named Theophilus. He's he's addressed as most excellent Theophilus and and and it implies some sort of honor, possibly he was a government official, we don't actually know. Maybe he was a noble...

5:18 Nobly... Of noble birth, and... But some way or another, he was called most excellent Theophilus. But it also says that he was instructed in these things. That is, I would take it that Luke himself was involved in this teaching of this man.

5:38 It seems to imply that Theophilus was probably a believer that that was being established in in the the word. And so so Luke writes his whole book in in in a sort of a historical context which which allows us to have a sense of the of the accuracy and the the reliability of what he says. That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. Now in our chapter, it starts off by saying, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. So so I'm I'm gonna be be Theophilus for a minute.

6:33 I went to Wikipedia and I looked it up, and and there I felt... I'm sure Theophilus went to Wikipedia too. I went to Wikipedia, and I looked it up, and it's... Oh, it says here that that Tiberius Caesar's reign began in fourteen AD. I said, okay.

6:53 So you got fourteen AD, and he starts... It's the fifteenth year of his reign, so that would be anything after the fourteenth year. It would mean... It would set a date of of John's ministry starting somewhere in '28 or twenty nine AD. I don't know if it's had BC before, it's AD.

7:11 And and so, I said, oh, okay. That's interesting because one of the things that's interesting about that is, you know, people puzzle about exactly when the crucifixion was was dated and and if if John's ministry didn't start until '28 or twenty nine AD, then that would pretty much support the thirty three AD date which is which is is oftentimes given for. It's interesting, so we can know the certainty of these things were given the historical detail. Now now as earlier in the chapter, earlier in the book rather at the end of chapter one, we had John the Baptist being raised in the desert and then suddenly we come whatever thirty years later and and John the Baptist is still in the wilderness. He's still in the wilderness and the word of God comes to him.

8:11 So John John looked at himself as just a messenger of God, and so he's he's he's there and and God speaks some way to John and and gives him a message that he is to do. Now now as as we go through the life of John, we find that that John seemed to have two two specific purposes or objectives in his ministry. The first objective was to prepare the people for when the Messiah would actually appear, to get them ready to whatever moral preparation of... To to bring them to be an expectation for this to happen and to be set in their hearts to receive him. And the second the second purpose that John had was that when the Messiah would come, John would be the one that would introduce him, and we're gonna see that in this chapter too.

9:12 So John is going to prepare them as well as he is able to do so to receive the Messiah and then when he comes he's gonna say, there he is. There's your Messiah. And so so so it says that John was in the region of Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Okay. Now, we're gonna we're gonna spend some time on that little phrase that phrase, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, but but we're gonna stop a minute and and look at this prophecy that's quoted from Isaiah.

9:58 It's verses four through through six. I'm just gonna read it. Well, before I read it, let me just say that in the Old Testament, there are many messianic prophecies. There were prophecies that were specifically had to do with the time that Messiah would come. And and one of those messianic or or three...

10:16 Actually, different portions in in the Old Testament speak of somebody who would... A messenger that would that would go before the Messiah and would introduce him, it would prepare people to receive him. And this is what... This quotation is one of those three passages. Okay.

10:38 This one's... So as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low. Crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation of god. So that's that's Isaiah's prophecy.

11:08 Now now it starts off with the statement. The voice of one the voice of one crying in the wilderness and so we we say, oh, who's that talking about? Well, John himself looked at looked looked at himself as just a voice, just a messenger, someone that was just gonna say God's word to them. And and it's interesting that that after the after the the preaching of John had come on for some time that the leaders in in in Jerusalem sent down to find out about this John and what he was doing down there. Who is this guy?

12:05 The one that Moses prophesied about? Are are you Elijah? And John says, no. No. No.

12:12 No. Well, who are you then? They said. And and and John's answer was this, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. So he was basically quoting this this verse here.

12:33 John thought of himself as just a voice. A man with a message. A man that that was going to lead them and and and lead them to to prepare the way for the Lord. So so John John has this duty put before him. He is to prepare the way of the Lord.

12:57 That is he is to prepare people to receive the Messiah. And and the way that John prepared the people to receive the Messiah is he preached a message of repentance. We read in the gospel of Matthew that that John preached, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and and he's saying get ready. The king is coming, the Messiah is coming and and and so so part of that message was repent and that's the way John prepared the way. Now, in the next two...

13:45 Or the end of the first verse says, makes make his path straight. So how is how is how is this going to make the path straight? And and it it... I was I I myself had a big question mark, exactly how does this work? And so I I went and got some help and MacDonald was helpful.

14:09 MacDonald suggested this idea that that this verse is talking about the the effects of repentance both in us individually and in us from a society standpoint, that is everybody together. I'll give you an example of that. So so for instance, supposing that there was something going on in our church and we need to repent for it. I'm sure there are, but I mean, there always is things that we need to change. But supposing...

14:42 I'm just supposing. I'm supposing something was the... Then then, it would be nice for me to repent of it or you to repent or that guy over there to repent of it. But but the the most preferable part of all is if somewhere or another we were all united in a repentance, and that was kind of what John was all about. His baptism was was kind of uniting the the the multitudes into a a unified voice of repentance.

15:17 We repent and and waiting for the Messiah to come. And so and and so what kind of effects would you would you expect to have in the hearts and lives of men if they repented? Well, he starts... He says like this, this is Isaiah speaking. Every valley shall be filled.

15:39 That's the beginning of the fifth verse. Every valley shall be filled and and and and MacDonald suggested something like this that... Well, he he he gave this general idea of of the effect of of repentance. So so perhaps this would be like, when when we repent, we're going to be sensitive. We're not gonna be self centered.

16:06 We're gonna be sensitive to the needs of others. The valley is... Needs to be filled. Their needs of of the men of men need to be filled. And and actually, just to kinda support that, we have verse, verse 11.

16:21 So at the end of verse 10, they ask, what should we do then? John said, repent. What should we do then? So, well, he says, he who has two tunics, let him give to him that has none. We're we're filling the valley here.

16:37 We're fulfilling the needs of men. And he who has food, let him give likewise. And so so basically, he's filling the valley. This is one application you could make to this. Okay?

17:33 Every mountain shall be... And hill shall be brought low. The crooked places made straight. What about those that are going on in in sin... In sinful and crooked ways?

17:45 And and and so the example that that McDonald used was, well, look at the tax collectors. They were known for being for being... For stealing, basically, for... They would they would would not charge the amount that they were supposed to charge for taxes. Oh, we'll charge Hector 20%.

18:04 And... Well, we don't have to send it to the Romans, so guess where it's gonna go? And and so so they would they would steal the the money of of the people and they would make pretenses as to how much people should pay and then they would they would keep the extra for themselves. So he says, don't do that. Don't don't do that.

18:21 Be honest. So so the crooked places will be made straight, the rough way is smooth. He suggested that that would be like the soldiers. They were they they were intimidating and they did intimidate people and and and people were scared of them. He says, don't do that.

18:39 He said, you you need to be gentle, you need to not intimidate people, You shouldn't accuse falsely. So so so that was the way he he applied that. I thought it was pretty good, especially since I couldn't think of any other way to apply it. So so so very good. So the final the final part of the prophecy that's quoted here is, in all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

19:07 And I like that. Now... So so in our last meeting, we had we had two particularly examples that were given to us. One was the example of of the the the woman that was... Whose lifestyle was not considered acceptable and and and how the Lord Jesus met her alone at the well and how he ministered to her and and and how she came to the point where he says to her, I'm the Messiah.

19:33 And and and she... Something's ringing in her mind, the Messiah. This is the Messiah. And and and so so she goes back to the men in the village and she says, come and and come and and come and see a man that's told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?

19:55 And so so I I I thought that was interesting. So who did he come to? He came to people who were not goody goodies. He came to those that were sinners and knew they were sinners. And then there was the woman in John eight that that that we that we heard about and she was caught in the very act of adultery.

20:18 I always thought it was strange that they they didn't do anything to the man. It's just the woman that was... What? The the finger was put upon. Doesn't seem right, does it?

20:31 Well, she was condemned. They were about to stone this woman, thought they tried Jesus out. And and and his... And and he pricks their conscience by saying, he that's without sin among you, throw the first stone. And and and it says they went out from the oldest to the youngest.

20:54 They they they just couldn't hit hit their consciences were all bothered and and so so the Lord Jesus says to the woman, and I don't condemn you, go and sin no more. Now, I'll tell you that's that's the salvation perhaps that's that's referred to her flesh shall see the salvation of God. Now, I I was all prepared, I still prepared to to talk about repentance and repentance is a sobering thing, where where we're saying, hey, I've sinned and and we're we're going to turn back from our sins, but but let's remember while I'm talking the mercy of God. The mercy of God. So repentance is the key to obtaining the mercy of God.

22:01 I do, and I and I'm quite certain that it's true of each one here that we do find those things, and we need to repent of that. So so I was thinking I was thinking, now, Don, you're gonna preach a message. You're gonna preach a message. Who are you gonna preach to? And I I thought, you know, I need to preach to Don.

22:25 And so please take this message as not going to anybody specifically, but going to me and and perhaps you could share many some of the convictions that I have concerning repentance and the need for us to repent. Okay. So, the seventh verse, well, now remember, John is preaching a message of baptism. He... He's teaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

23:01 That's what he's preaching and so so all these multitudes are coming to John and as as John preaches repent, as John preaches this message and they come to be baptized by him and there's multitudes to come and and it attracts the attention of of all over, it says, all over Judea and and all and over Judea and at the Jordan and mentioned one other place. I'll get to that verse after a little bit since I can't quote it very well but but but this this message goes out and the multitudes come to to hear him. Now, I I would like you to listen to these words and and just see how comforting they are. Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Not very comforting.

24:00 Right? That's what... This is this is John the Baptist preaching. And by the way, the Lord Jesus himself used that that brood of vipers. Now, if you were to turn...

24:12 We're not gonna turn to it right now. You can turn to it on your own Matthew three has the similar similar account. And in the Matthew three account, we're told that that it was the scribes and pharisees, it was to them that the Lord Jesus specifically said, brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? We generally think of the Pharisees as being hypocritical and they were indeed that. And and when when when they came to the...

24:47 To John, he he recognized the lack of sincerity in in them and and he and he really he really gives it to him, Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bring for... Bring... Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. Now, this is interesting because John would say it's not just we'll talk about exactly what repentance is in a minute.

25:15 But John says this, it's not just repent, but I want to see evidence that you repent. I want to see the fruits that are worthy of that. I wanna see... I I think it would be like this. I want to see a change in your lives.

25:32 I wanna see that. And and so so it's fruits worthy for... Of repentance. And he says, don't begin to say with within yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. For I say unto you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

25:49 Don't don't don't put forth your heritage as something that that would... That makes you worthy of of God's mercies and blessing, that won't help you a bit. And and and I I can remember for years I used to wonder exactly what did it mean when he says, God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And and I got some help from from McDonald some years back. I got some help from McDonald.

26:19 He said this, he said, the stones probably refers to the Gentiles. They're probably the stones and God is able to go go... God is able even from Gentiles, us, to to to raise up children to Abraham and when you go to the to the book of Galatians where where where the apostle Paul was talking about Abraham being the father of faith. He says, those that are of faith are children of Abraham. And I thought, oh, these probably right.

26:54 That's that's a pretty good suggestion that it's that that the stones are really those that that have no claim whatsoever to the Messiah through through heritage. All they can claim is I'm a sinner and I need a savior and and and god raises up children for him out of those. Now now he says, the axe is laid to the root of the trees, therefore every tree which does not bear forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Now, you know you know, during during the breaking of bread, we we we mentioned those two women and and learned about God's mercies to them and and it kind of touched me because I when I read these words of like, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come and and every tree which does not bear forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Pretty serious stuff, isn't it?

28:46 And and and so so the lord the lord presents the need. He presents the judgment of god against sin. Present pre... He presents it in a sobering way so that we'll realize the necessity the necessity of of repenting from our sins. Okay.

29:15 I'm going to take a minute here and I'm going to give you a definition. So so Vine defines repentance as a change of mind or purpose saying, usually it is repentance from sins which is accomplished through a God based evaluation of the character of sin, a yielding a yielding a repulsion within us concerning sin, a repulsion from sin, and a desire to be free from sin. That's repentance. I'm gonna read it over because I I I find I need to let it sink in a little bit. Repentance is a change in mind or purpose.

30:02 It's used to repentance from sins and it's accomplished through a God based evaluation of the character of sin, yielding a repulsion from sin and a desire to be free from sin. Repentance. I like to think of repentance like this. So I'm I'm going along in my life, and I'm doing my thing. I'm doing what my will demands, and I'm not too interested in what anybody else, even God thinks.

30:33 I'm gonna do my thing. And somewhere along the line, I I recognize that there's bad consequences to my sins. I'm spoiling myself. I'm spoiling my family. And and and I begin to sorrow about it.

30:54 It concerns me. I'm convicted concerning it. I'm going along. Finally finally, I I come to this point where I say, I don't wanna go this way anymore. This is bad.

31:06 This is this is this is not gonna have good ending. And so I turn around. I I have a change of mind. I turn around, and now I say, I wanna follow god now. I wanna do his thing.

31:21 I wanna do... Follow his way and and it's repentance. And it's the preparation of the heart of man for salvation. How how are we going to accept a savior? We have to realize our need, don't we?

31:41 That's what repentance is about. It's the... Is is... We could say it like this. Repentance is the moral preparation of heart which leads to salvation.

31:52 Actually, Paul gives this principle. We'll we'll turn to it. This second second Corinthians chapter seven verse 10. While we're turning out, I just wanna repeat again that that repentance is is a subject that is is... That affects both the unbeliever and the believer alike because we...

32:16 The unbelievers, we we have things that we need to repent of too. Okay. So it's chapter seven verse 10, second Corinthians. It says, for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. I'll read that again.

32:36 Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. So my little illustration, I think, is pretty good. We we we we become aware of the consequences of the pathway we're taking and the sin becomes odious to us. So we say, I'm... I don't wanna go this way anymore.

33:00 We turn around to go God's way and and so it starts with Godly sorrow, a wholesome fear of God. That's why he speaks of judgment, isn't it? And it leads to reaching out to God for mercy and forgiveness. And I believe that's the sense of the statement when it says, it's the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. It's that which leads to to salvation.

33:57 We're not gonna turn to it right now, but it's in Luke 13 about some people that the Tower of... Was it Siloam? Fell on top of these people and killed 18 of them maybe? And and then then the lord... They...

34:11 Well, they came and told the lord Jesus about this and the lord Jesus said, do you think these men were worse than other men? He says, no. Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish. It's a universal need, isn't it? Except unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

34:31 Peter described it like this. This is this is in Acts three nineteen. This is at the time that that Peter and John went into the temple and and the and the man sitting lame at the at the beautiful gate of the temple and they they take him by the hand and lift him up and his strength comes back to... There were... He was healed wonderfully and and miraculously and the whole crowd just gathered around.

34:56 They wanted to they wanted to to they wanted to to... Excuse me. They wanted to to know what was going on there. And so Peter tells them about... See, these were these were the crowds that shortly before had given their their cry of crucify him to the lord Jesus and the...

35:25 And and and Peter says, you crucified the Lord of glory. Pretty serious. And and so Peter then says, repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out at the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Okay. So now I'm running out of time, but I'll I'll...

35:56 There's a portion I want to talk about and so I'm going to... I'm gonna have to turn to this. Acts 17, you can turn to Acts 17 where I'm going to I'm going to not read the whole thing, but Acts 17 gives us a basis for understanding the importance of repentance. So in Acts 17 is where Peter is in Athens and and he's on the Areopagus that... I I think that's...

36:29 Isn't that called also Mars Hill? He he he was he... And he was preaching to the Athenians and and he says he says in in in a... I'll read I'll read it. He said, men of Athens, this is verse 22 of chapter 17.

36:42 Men of Athens, I perceive in all things, you're very religious. For as I was passing through and considering the object of your worship, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown god. By the way, historically, there's records of this unknown... This altar, the unknown god. Quite an interesting story.

37:04 Maybe for another time, but it's it's quite interesting that that the history has a record of of how that came to be. And Peter says, therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you, God, who made the world and everything into it in it. Since he is lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands. And so so Peter Peter is saying, you know, I saw this altar to the unknown god and and I wanna introduce you to this this this god who you worship without knowing. I wanna introduce...

37:42 And he's the creator god, this one that you don't know. Says 25, nor has he worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything since he gives to all life and breath and all things. And then this is an important verse, and he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth. He has determined their pre appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling. So it's saying, God has put each one of us into the circumstances of life where we are.

38:29 Because that's what Peter's talking about. So he says, god has put you wherever he's put you, he put you there, and and this is what you need to do. So that they would seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from anyone... From each one of us. And so he's saying, now now, God has put you there and your your responsibility now is to seek after that God.

39:00 And and and it may be groping to you, but don't not do it. Make sure you do it. And and he says, it's in the hope that you'll grope for him and find him. That's the objective that you would find him. He says, though he's really not very far.

39:20 Now, I believe that it's kind of like this that that you'll find it in in Psalm 19. So so talking about creation, the psalmist says says, it it has a voice that that is heard in every language. In other words, the witness of creation is a universal witness for this creator God. And and and so so in in in... And so every man is responsible for that witness of creation that stands before us and his responsibility is at this, they would seek after God.

40:06 I I love the verse and I think it's in the Psalms that says, if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Twenty eighth verse, where in him we live and move and have our being as also some of your own poets have said for we are also his offspring. Therefore, since we are the offspring of god, we ought not to think of the divine nature like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by the art of men's devices. Truly, these times of ignorance god overlooked, but now god commands every man...

40:44 All men everywhere to repent. God commands all men everywhere to repent. This is the way back to God. It's through repentance. It's it's recognize our...

41:02 Recognizing our need, turning away from our sin, turning to him, and and we find that he's rich in mercy. Okay. Why is it important that we repent? This thirty first verse. Because he, god, has appointed a day in which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained.

41:24 He has given assurance to all by raising him, Jesus, from the dead. So so he is... This is this is kind of like the verse that we read in Luke three that said, who who warned you to flee from the wrath of God? God say, it's real. There there will be a judgment for sins and and and is it Hebrews nine twenty seven?

41:51 It says says, after death, the judgment is appointed unto men once to die, but after death, the judgment. The the importance is solemnity of of the solemnity of the warnings that God gives us. Yeah. But what about those two women? What about those two women?

42:16 Well, the answer I believe to those two to to those two women is is this, that God's mercy is great and they both they both were caught in the web of where they were and and yet they found mercy with god. Now, I know I'm out of time but I'm just want to I just want to do this one thing back in Luke three. I'm going to skip I'm gonna skip right down to where John introduces Jesus because that I said was the second great purpose that John had in his ministry was to reduce... Was to to to... Okay.

43:03 So we're in Luke chapter three and it it was to it was to introduce the Messiah. So, we we know we know we know from the gospel of Matthew how the lord Jesus came to John to be baptized. How would you feel if if if you were baptizing and and John and Jesus showed up and said, I want you to baptize me. But John was was... He he he wasn't quite ready for that, was he?

43:36 But Jesus said, no. This is this is this is important. Just... You you go do it. This is fulfilling righteousness.

43:43 And so so so we're we're to... Okay. So, the twenty first verse, when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized and while he prayed, the heavens were opened and this holy spirit descended bodily in a bodily form like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven which says, you are my beloved son and you I am well pleased. Now, in in the first chapter of the gospel of John, I'm just gonna try to say it because I've run out of time. So in the first chapter of the gospel of John, John himself, John the Baptist himself tells the details of this.

44:31 And so John so John makes a statement. He says, I didn't know him, but he that sent me to baptize said, the one on whom you shall see the spirit resting on him and remaining on... Coming on him and reigning... Remaining on him, he's the one that baptizes with the holy spirit and fire. And and so John says, that that that was what God had told John.

44:58 This is how you'll know him. I thought it was interesting that it says John didn't know him. Whatever exactly that means, it certainly means that that he didn't know that he was Messiah. That that one he didn't know. And and so so John baptizes Jesus.

45:21 He's he's... Has a definite respect for the lord Jesus. He baptizes Jesus and wouldn't you know it says that as as Jesus comes up and it says Jesus was praying, so it was quite quickly after that. Then, as John watched, this bird, this white bird comes fluttering down out of heaven. It lands right on Jesus.

45:47 I've often wondered exactly what it means it remained on him. I I know in one sense, always remained on him, but but did... Does it mean it just like the bird sat on his shoulder? I don't think so, actually. What I really think is that it sunk right down in him because he he was filled with spirit.

46:08 But but that's that's only the pondering of Don. But but the wonder of it was that that the holy spirit came down like that and it came right upon him and then while I I'm sure John was watching open open mouth and then from up above comes a a God voice. And it says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. So when John when John tells about in Gospel of John, he says he says this, he says he he says, I have seen and bear witness that this this man is the son of God. I have seen and bear witness.

47:01 And, of course, he's just echoing of what God said to him. God said, this is my beloved son. And he says, I've seen and bear witness that he's the son of God. And right after that, he says, also this is the lamb of God. And he is the answer to the solemn problem of judgement against sinful men.

47:22 He is the answer. He's the lamb of god, the one that came and died for our sins. And if you haven't trusted the lord Jesus, he's the one to come. We'll praise his holy name. Father God, we thank you for the for the word which which teaches us teaches us, Lord, what our need is.