The sermon by James Lundquist focuses on the baptism of Jesus as depicted in Luke 3:21-22, emphasizing the rare and significant cooperation of the Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — during this event. It explains that Jesus' baptism was not for repentance, as He was sinless, but to fulfill all righteousness, aligning Himself with humanity and setting an example of obedience. The sermon warns against the heresy of modalism, which suggests that God appears in different forms rather than being three distinct persons. It highlights the visible presence of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove as a testament to Jesus' divine mission, and God the Father's declaration of Jesus as His beloved Son, affirming His role as the Messiah. The preacher underscores that this event marks the beginning of Jesus' public ministry and illustrates the Trinity's unified work in the redemption and salvation of humankind. Believers are encouraged to understand their identity in Christ as beloved children of God, worthy of God's love because of Jesus' fulfillment of righteousness.

Holy Spirit, I believe and I trust in your power to give your word power, to give the preaching power, to give hearing power. It's none of our own strength. I trust that I've got words here and an outline. They're words that I trust that you've put there to help us. Please help me.

Help us to be encouraged through your word this beautiful view we have of you the Godhead how beautiful thank you for giving us this in Jesus name amen well all the Gospels record Jesus baptism they're different they have some different different things that they put in there. Matthew and John have the most detail. Matthew just going play-by-play through it. John really is from the perspective of the witness of John the Baptist. Mark and Luke are focused on the Trinity.

They're really just focused on the activities of the Trinity. I'll bring in of course from especially Matthew and John. But The focus of Luke is on the Trinity, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. We're used to saying Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here it's laid out as Son, Holy Spirit, and Father, so I'll go through it that way.

And although the Trinity is all over Scripture, as I said just a few minutes ago, seeing this level of activity of the Trinity working together is very, very rare, so rare that I really think the only place, you can correct me later, I think the only place is in Genesis let us make man in our own image that may be the only other place we see them cooperating together like this you'll see moments with the Father and the Son like a transfiguration Holy Spirit others working but this level I think this is really the only place. Now let me get out of the way just one thing real quick here. There is a heresy for the younger ones. Heresy means a teaching that goes against orthodox scripture. It goes against this, it's a heresy.

Something to be aware of, something to flee from, not get involved with. There's a heresy called modalism. Now modalism teaches that there's one God that appears in different forms at times. He'll appear as Jesus. He'll appear as the Holy Spirit.

He'll appear as the Father. Instead of saying three persons, it's one God that just appears in different ways, in different forms, what needs to happen, depending on the circumstance. This is heresy. There is one God, one God, co-equally three persons, a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, of course, when I look up, I have to look up, okay, what do modalists do with this text?

They do all kinds of things. And one of the key things they do, I think, their argument is more of that as a magician. A magician, you need to know, the purpose of a magician is to deceive you into believing that what they're doing is real. That's the purpose of all magicians. The purpose of them is to lie to you.

You don't need to be that harsh on a magician that's doing something with a coin or something else. But the purpose is to deceive you into believing something's happening that's not really happening. And I think that's what happens with modalism when I look at them here. They're like, Jesus throws his voice here, does that here, does this. No, that's not what's happening here.

That's not God. They're acting more like a magician than a God in how they handle this text. So just put that out there and use Matthew, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and this Trinitarian text as arguments against it if you come across that in your life. Well in Luke we see this great cooperation of the Trinity for this wonderful event. This is the start of Jesus public ministry at about 30 years old as we see in the beginning of verse 23.

So I'm dividing this into three points. Jesus, God the Son's baptism, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. So let's start by looking at verse 21. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, and while he prayed, the heaven was open. So when all the people were baptized, Jesus came.

I believe they're all still there. There's still a lot of people there. They didn't just get baptized and leave and flee and just say, all right, I'm done here. But we hear, we heard last week especially, John is teaching, John is exhorting them. So they're there listening to John, being taught by John as well.

So Jesus didn't come in the middle of the night. Jesus didn't schedule a one-on-one with John to be baptized out of the view of everybody else. Jesus was out in the open. John the Baptist, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world as he declared to the people when Christ was baptized. Now, baptism, as Jason has been saying, Baptism is an outward sign by being immersed in water of an inward reality of salvation, that one has repented of sin and trusted in Christ alone for salvation.

So the big question that we hit at the beginning of this is since baptism is a sign of repentance of sin, why was Jesus, who knew no sin, baptized? Well let's get that right away here. Turn to Matthew 3. Here. Turn to Matthew 3.

Matthew 3. I'll read verses 13 through 15. Matthew 3, 13 through 15. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent him saying, I need to be baptized by you and are you coming to me?

But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." So before I get to the reason, let's talk about John here that tries to prevent this baptism, tries to hinder him. The King James, if you look at the King James, I think it's harsher than it needs to be here. He says he forbade him. I think it's harsher because with the word forbade, that might make you think of Matthew 16. This is nothing close to Matthew 16 where Peter, understanding Jesus' teaching of, I have to go to Jerusalem to be killed, where Peter rebuked Jesus, right?

It says Peter rebuked Jesus. He rebuked Jesus saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you." And you famously know, Jesus replied, get behind me Satan. This is not that. This is not that. This is more similar to John 13 when Jesus was washing the disciples' feet.

And Peter resisted saying, you shall never wash my feet. And Jesus tells Peter, if I do not wash you, you will have no part of me what's Peter's reply Lord wash my feet wash my hands wash my head yes all right I want part of you I will do this is This is more closely to that. What John the Baptist does here is more closely to that. Now remember, Remember John, remember from last week, this is John who said of Jesus, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. John views himself as unworthy to do the lowest task reserved for the lowest servant.

Right? That's his view of himself for loosening a sandal strap. A sandal strap. There's no imagery in a sandal strap necessarily. There's no long, there's no big theological discussion on sandal straps.

How much more unworthy will John the Baptist consider himself to baptize Jesus? Think of that. All the imagery there. He'll view himself as way more unworthy to baptize Jesus. John sees himself, he says, here's the one needing baptized.

He's doing all these baptisms. He's the one. He recognizes, this is key, he recognizes himself. I'm a sinner. He's repented.

He's trusted in Christ, but he's saying I'm the one that needs baptized. I need baptized by you, not you to be baptized. Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So John, John baptizes him, right? But in Matthew 3 15 here's Here's the reason why Jesus is baptized.

He tells us Jesus answered and said to John permitted to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, to fulfill all righteousness, to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, to be our acceptable sacrifice, to be the acceptable sacrifice, our substitute, Jesus must fulfill all righteousness. He has to or he's not our Savior or he's not our redeemer. Similar to when we saw Jesus going up to Jerusalem at age 12, and he probably did it every year. Probably went up to Jerusalem every year for the Passover as commanded by God, as a member of his family, going and making these sacrifices for sin. His father is the one leading that, but he's going with them observing Passover, observing the feast, observing that day of atonement.

He who knew no sin was obeying perfectly to be the righteous sacrifice to pay for our sin. Similar here. Christ says to fulfill all righteousness. John Piper, the way John Piper explains this, says, listen to this, baptism meant turning from sin and trusting God. Jesus could confirm both in his baptism.

Jesus resolved not to sin, but to always turn from it, and he committed himself to always trust God. Thus, Jesus aligns himself with the people who turn from sin and trust God. I think John Piper is right. He's aligning himself with us. He's not saying he needs forgiveness for sin, saying I'm committed to never sin to fulfill all righteousness.

I trust God explicitly. He is faithful. R.C. Sproul, quote, Jesus fulfilling all righteousness is a matter of life and death. It is a matter of life and death.

To be our Savior, to provide eternal life, Jesus must be all righteous or we are still remaining in our sin and only have eternal hell in front of us. The wrath of God for all eternity if Christ does not fulfill all righteousness. That is life and death. He fulfills all righteousness and for all that repent and trust in Him alone for salvation, eternal life. He doesn't fulfill all righteousness.

There's only hell for everybody Because we're still in our sin. But although he fulfills all righteousness, if you do not repent and trust in him alone for salvation, you do not have eternal life. But there is one, Jesus Christ the Lord, that did fulfill all righteousness. Without Jesus fulfilling all righteousness, there's no great exchange. What do we mean by the great exchange?

It means he who knew no sin becomes sin for us and we get his righteousness. Christ takes on my sin, it says became sin for us, and because of that for all who trust in him alone for salvation, they get his righteousness. Philippians 3, 9, being found in him, being found in Jesus, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. Romans 5, 19, for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. So also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.

If you think this is only a New Testament teaching, Isaiah 61 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with jewels." There is no garment of salvation. There is no robe of righteousness unless Christ fulfills all righteousness.

So John baptizes Jesus. Yes, I want you to fulfill all righteousness. I will baptize you. When Jesus commands, simple as this, when Jesus commands we obey. When Jesus says do this for it is righteous, we say, yes, Lord.

He immediately, John immediately, no pushback anymore. He understood all righteousness. I need a sinless Savior. I need a perfect Savior, a pure Savior. Yes, I will do this to obey you to obey you my Lord And Luke In Luke Says and while he prayed heavens were open Luke's the only gospel that mentions Jesus praying at his baptism.

There are plenty of people that will guess what Jesus prayed at his baptism and the best it is is a guess. And their guesses are good. Their guesses are definitely good. I love what they guess. They're beautiful prayers that a lot of people have guessed, but all we need to know is that Jesus prayed.

Why do we all, that's all we need to know, that's all that's here. That's enough. Jesus prayed. This is going to be a pattern that we'll see through Luke. Listen to where we're going to come across this, where we see Jesus pattern throughout Luke that we'll come across.

In Luke 5 16 it says, he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. In Luke 6 Jesus prays all night before selecting the disciples. In Luke 9 Jesus is alone praying and later in the chapter was praying when transfigured where the appearance of his face was altered and his robe became white and glistening. Peter, James, and John got to see that happen. In Luke 22 he's praying in Gethsemane.

In Luke 23 he's praying on the cross. We're gonna come across fairly often Jesus praying as a pattern. Plenty of time to really dig in on Jesus prayers where we have specifically things that he prayed about that we'll be able to discuss and learn about. That was his pattern. Let me let Ryle have the last quote on this point.

Ryle says, we see the high honor the Lord Jesus has put on baptism, an ordinance which the Son of God was pleased to use and afterwards to appoint for the use of his whole church ought always to be held in peculiar reverence by his people Baptism cannot be a thing of slight importance if Christ himself was baptized." Christ had a great humility in his baptism. He wasn't concerned, he's Christ, he's God, so he's always concerned about people. But his primary concern wasn't, hey they're going to think I'm a sinner, maybe I shouldn't do this, because they'll think this about me or that about me. No, His concern was fulfilling all righteousness, doing what was commanded, and being our example. That was his concern.

There's plenty of people that think all kinds of wrong things about Christ. That's going to happen. I thought wrong things about Christ before I was saved for sure. And even after saved, I continued to have more and more knowledge because I realized wait, that was wrong of what I was thinking about Christ. I wasn't thinking as much about him as I should.

Great humility. I've talked with people before that, hey, you're Christian, why aren't you baptized? Right, as Ryle says here, it's not a slight thing, this is an important thing of reverence to do, and it's a point of obedience. Like, well, I don't want to stand in front of people, get nervous, I want to talk in front of them. Hey, all those are real.

I get that. All those are real. Look to your Savior who humbled Himself. And I encourage you, if you're in that boat, humble yourself, humble yourself, just proclaim what Christ has done for you and give that sign of the inward reality. So Jesus, God the Son, was baptized.

Point two, God the Holy Spirit. Let me read verse 21 and the beginning of 22. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized. And while he prayed, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him." So here we'll talk about God the Holy Spirit. First, this is not Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time.

That's not what this represents. That Jesus is now filled with the Holy Spirit after all this. Consider this. When was John the Baptist filled with the Holy Spirit? From his mother's womb.

Who is Jesus? He is God. John the Baptist, he is God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from conception, from eternity past. The Spirit is referred to as the spirit of Christ throughout scripture, the spirit of Jesus throughout scripture.

You can just turn back a couple pages if you want to Luke 1. Luke 1 34 and 35. This is where The angel Gabriel has come to Mary to tell her that she is going to bear the Son of God. Verse 34 says, Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." You had the Holy Spirit and Jesus there from the beginning. Now, all the gospels record that the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove. Like a dove. He was in a visible form. The Holy Spirit was in visible form.

People saw it. It's recorded. People saw it. But he wasn't a dove or he wasn't a bird, but in a form like a dove in movement. Probably in movement.

He was seen in some sort of movement. He wasn't a dove, but all the gospels say it was like a dove. Now this happens a lot in scripture from where the people that are witnessing and the writers give the best they can with what they saw, with their human understanding of what we know in the world and can describe it. John trying to describe heaven, right? He does a great job of the words the Holy Spirit gives him to try to describe Paul and describe it.

He just doesn't have words to describe what he saw. Ezekiel, right? So we have these things. But all the gospels record that it was in the form like a dove. So it's not nothing.

I'm not trying to dismiss this dove at all. It's what they had. So it's not nothing. So what do doves represent generally when we look at a world? Universally, doves are symbols of peace, of purity.

In scripture, probably Joseph and Mary brought doves as an acceptable sacrifice. Doves were an acceptable sacrifice, especially if you couldn't afford a lamb, an acceptable sacrifice. And Noah released from the ark a dove that brought back an olive branch representing new life. So at a minimum you could see this, you could look into this and say hey Jesus, Jesus the Holy Spirit all pure will be a sacrifice to bring new life. And saying this, I'd encourage you to consider if using a dove to represent the Holy Spirit is against the second commandment to not make images of God.

I believe it is, but have you consider that? It doesn't mean I'm saying you need to get rid of all books that have doves or anything in there in your house. It's not like the same thing as images of Christ. I'm saying just be careful where you have something that specifically is representing the Holy Spirit. You've got that and you've got this dove because it reminds me of the Holy Spirit.

Just be careful. One of the men in men's study said be careful of putting the Holy Spirit in a box. Right? That's so easy to do when you if you see a dove just put the Holy Spirit in a box or we often another man brought up and we often refer to the Holy Spirit as it right the son right there's a there's a male pronoun the father a male pronoun Holy Spirit we don't set aside as a male pronoun, but the Holy Spirit is a he. The Godhead is a he, right?

He describes himself as a he. So let's be careful putting the Holy Spirit in a box. Now, to help us with that, looking through scripture, said, God, how do you describe the activities of the Holy Spirit? How do you describe the activities of the Holy Spirit? Help me expand my thinking of the Holy Spirit.

I need help here. One help, we sang a song this morning, that song, Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart. Wonderful verses to help broaden our thoughts of the activities of the Holy Spirit. Listen to this, these are all from scripture, If you think one of them is not coming to me afterwards, I'll show you. We'll talk about it.

But Act II is the Holy Spirit. Listen to this. He's your helper, your comforter. The Holy Spirit guides into all truth. The Holy Spirit teaches, gives understanding and wisdom.

The Holy Spirit strengthens. The Holy Spirit gives and increases fruit. He convicts of sin. He regenerates. He renews.

He converts. He seals us. He fills us. He transforms us. He sanctifies us.

He leads us. Especially here, he testifies of Jesus and glorifies Jesus. I want more of that. That's not a dove. It's not a dove.

That's the Holy Spirit. I want more. I cannot put that in a box. I can't. So I'm thankful that God reveals out of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture.

Another purpose of the purpose of the Holy Spirit being here is he's identifying Jesus to John. So if you want turn to John, John 1. In John 1 verses 32 through 34, as I said earlier, the way John records the baptism is really through the words of John the Baptist and his witness. And John may not have talked to John, probably didn't talk to John the Baptist, but through other witnesses that know what John said, John was probably, John the Baptist was probably dead by the time John got to him. It says in 32 through 34, and John bore witness saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and he remained upon him I did not know him but he God that's God but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.

At some point God the Father or the Holy Spirit had told John that he will know who the Messiah is by the Spirit descending and remaining on him. It seems like from these words, John and Jesus didn't cross paths much. They were in different areas. Their families didn't cross paths much, but he knew who Jesus was. I'm sure he heard from his dad and his mom the stories.

Of course he did. And he heard that it was the son of Joseph and Mary, their family. And then God reveals, especially reveals to John at the baptism, hey this is how you'll know who the Messiah is. You will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. That's not the only places where we get this confirmation.

Isaiah 11 2, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 61, 1 that Jesus quotes in our recitation text in Luke 4, The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor." Now one thing here on the Lord has anointed me, there are many, and it could be, There are many that see Jesus' baptism as an official anointing. Hey, it could be. I'm not against that teaching at all.

I'm not trying to dismiss that at all. That could be exactly what's happening here. Jesus is being officially anointed for this work. But notice, whether it's here at his baptism or not, we do know that Jesus was anointed for this work. He was set aside for the work of saving people, being our Redeemer, being our Savior.

He was anointed for that. So whether that's happening here or not, fine. But he was anointed for this work set apart. In Matthew 17, 18, where he quotes Isaiah 42, 1, it says, Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him. So we have these declarations from Scripture.

This is how you will know who the Messiah is. And John got specific confirmation, when you see this you know. So then John with great confidence can tell the people, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This makes me think, how many signs do we need? How many signs do the Christian, do the religious leaders of that time and the people need to say this is the Christ?

Isaiah 29, in Isaiah 29 and in 35 it says, you will know the Messiah by His healing the blind, healing the deaf, healing the lame, and healing the dumb. Dumb just means those that can't speak. He makes them to be able to speak. Isaiah, as we just read, also tells us the Spirit will be upon him. And we literally see this at the baptism.

Friends know. And although they rejected him, know now Jesus is the Messiah. This is your Redeemer, as John proclaims, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. So I also want to consider John's statement in Matthew 3, or John's statement in the Baptist statement in Matthew 3 and John 1 and in Luke 3 16 that we'll come to or that we had last week that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. So I'm digging that a little bit more.

Again, baptism is immersion, is submerging, is overwhelming, right, that outward sign of an inward reality. If you're still in John, you can John 3, 34, 34 and 35, or 34 through 36. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and is given all things into His hand.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him." The key here that I want to draw our attention to is in verse 34, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The NSVB says he doesn't give the Spirit sparingly, right? He gives them not sparingly or NIV without limit. This reminds me of one of my favorite verses, I remind myself often, John 1-16. And of his, of Jesus' fullness we have all received and grace for grace that that means the way I've described it in in the limited form I can is is Jesus dips into this ocean of grace.

And just right there, just imagine an ocean. Yes, it's vast, but there are limits to an ocean. But it is vast, and it's deeper than the highest mountains. It is vast, this ocean. But he dips into this well of ocean to dispense grace to you and it doesn't diminish a bit.

It's still as full as it's ever been. As Jesus has been dispensing grace to people for 6, 000 years, it's as full now as it was six thousand years ago however long he's been dispensing grace Jesus could dispense grace to everybody on the planet billions of people right now all this grace just overwhelm everybody on the planet with grace say you just wonderful thing he saved everybody by grace right now his grace wouldn't have diminished one little bit he's an infinite God infinite grace and and this reminds me of this has been baptized by the Holy Spirit reminds me of that right in verse 34 God does not give the Spirit by measure. In other words, when we combine this being baptized by the Holy Spirit, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, He immerses you, He submerges you, He overwhelms us with the Holy Spirit. So as Jesus has grace for grace, unlimited grace, He has the infinite, boundless, unlimited Holy Spirit to immerse you with. Look at this love God has for you.

What He gives you. So now let's now go back to that list. Think about that list from earlier now in light of being baptized by the Holy Spirit, being immersed by the Holy Spirit. He immerses you in help. He immerses you in comfort.

He immerses you in guiding you into all truth. He immerses you in teaching and instructions. He overwhelms you with understanding and wisdom in his strength and fruit, in his conviction of sin, in his transforming and sanctifying and leading us. And he immerses us, overwhelms us, submerges us in his testimony of Jesus and glorifying Jesus. I want to be overwhelmed by all that.

Now often I don't feel like it. It doesn't seem like it. It doesn't seem like it. And I pray for more. I have access to all of that.

As I go through life, I'll go through ebbs and flows. There'll be times when I'm increasing in my knowledge and wisdom of Christ and His great love for us, like wow, I'm being overwhelmed. There's other times, I think so little of sin. I need way more conviction. Holy Spirit, convict me and I know what that prayer means.

I prayed it several times and when I'm honest about that prayer, I know what it means. I know what it can be coming on me. I know. But I need that. I need that.

And in testifying of Jesus, the Holy Spirit proclaims Jesus is the Christ. He loves proclaiming Jesus is the Christ and that's what he's doing here. When he remains on Christ, He's proclaiming this is your Christ. This is your Messiah. This is your Savior.

So now point number three. Let's move on to God the Father. God the Father. Let me read verses 21 and 22. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized.

And while he prayed, the heaven was open, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said, You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased." There are other well-known times when God came and spoke directly and audibly for people to hear. You have Adam in the garden, God comes and speaks to him. You have Moses, the burning bush, the great I am passage And at Mount Sinai you have Job when God comes and speaks to him out of the whirlwind. Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? You have Jesus.

You have that Jesus transfiguration where God speaks to Peter, James, and John. This is so much different than those. This is God the Father acknowledging His love, His love and his pleasure with Christ. This is my beloved son. This deep, deep love he has for Christ.

This beloved one. When God calls him, this is my beloved son, God is saying he is worthy of my love. Think about that. For God the Father, the perfect Holy One, to say that someone is worthy of my love, worthy in and of himself, not because of anything he's done, he's just worthy of it in and of himself. He's completely pleased in everything Christ has done for all eternity, saying, you are worthy of my love, you are my beloved son.

He loves to make much of his love for the Son and declaring publicly his great love for Jesus. On the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17 and Luke 9, he says these same words, you are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased, and he adds, hear him. Hear him, we'll come to that and Luke can talk about that more. In 2 Peter, Peter says, 2 Peter 1 says, for he, for Jesus, received from God the Father honor and glory When such a voice came to him from the excellent glory this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased When he says well pleased this this isn't hey, son. I'm happy with how you're doing.

Keep at it, keep going. I'm happy with you. This isn't me talking to my sons who do great things, and they surprise me with wonderful stuff. I'm like, wow, that's awesome. It's not even the same there.

This is Isaiah 42.1 where Matthew quoted, I said earlier, this is a, behold, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit on him." The Father is well pleased, delighted, his soul delights, of in Christ, the one that is worthy of God's love. He's been pleasing for all of eternity and there's never been a time when God is not pleased with Christ. That includes on the cross when Christ who knew no sin became sin for us. He may be most delighted in him then, if that's possible to be more delighted and more pleased in him.

That includes that. So here we have the rare sight of the Trinity, God the Son, God the Spirit, God the Father, the Godhead cooperating and acting at the same time for this wonderful proclamation that the long-fore-expected Messiah has come. The Redeemer has come. The work of redemption is happening. All those sacrifices that pointed to the Messiah to come are about to be fulfilled.

All that, all the prophecies are about to be fulfilled. And you have none less than the Trinity declaring this. Think on that. Oh, the angels were wonderful. The angels to Zachariah, the angels to Joseph, the angel to Mary, those are wonderful.

But any of us like wow and angels but the Trinity comes and says this is my beloved son. This is the Messiah. I am showing you who it is. Believe it. Know it.

Hear Him. Listen to Him. He will redeem you. He is redeeming you. Let me give you a couple applications.

Two. The first one. By spending more time learning about God the Father's love for God the Son we will learn more about God's love for us by spending more time learning about God the Father's love for God the Son we will learn more about God's love for us. The Father's love for Christ and His redeeming work includes loving His adopted children through Christ as if we were always His natural-born children. As if we had never been, by nature, children of wrath.

As if being in Ephesians 2 never happened. Well, it happened. We know it happened. Christ knows it happens. But he treats us as if we were never children of wrath, that we were always, always children of God, always clothed in righteousness.

In John 17, this is Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane, we often call it the High Priestly Prayer, in John 17 Jesus is praying this, and I have declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. Think about that. Just spend a lot of time thinking on that. His prayer, He is Christ, it came to pass. This happened.

This isn't wishful thinking or wishful prayer this actually happened jesus says I want the love with which you love me god the father to be the same love for them and it is on go back to what I just said a few moments ago. Remember, God the Father to Jesus, you are my beloved Son, worthy of love. Beloved Son, worthy of love, beloved Son. Romans 1 7, to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ again Paul in Romans 9 and he God also in Hosea says also in Hosea I will call them my people who were not my people. Here it is.

Listen to this. And her beloved who was not beloved. Because Christ fulfills all righteousness. And for all who repent and trust in Him alone for salvation, You are now beloved and you are by Christ made worthy of the love of God. That's the same love the Father has for Christ.

I'm not worthy in and of myself. I have no worth in and of myself of the love of God. I'm deserving of the wrath of God. But when Christ saves, when the Holy Spirit saves, when God saves, when He saves, He closes you in the righteousness of Christ. And He completely redeems you.

And He's paid for every sin, everyone, everyone you know about and everyone you don't know about and washes you white as snow as clean as wool when he does that and he adopts you as children he makes you beloved worthy of his love We do not need to sheepishly go before God and ask him for his love. We don't need to sheepishly go before Him and try to bargain for His love. Right? We don't need to do that. Through Christ, we are beloved.

The more we study, the more I will look into, and this was true this week, the more I look into how the Father loves the Son, the more I understand the Father's love for me, Christ's love for me, the Holy Spirit's love for me. And it's so wonderful, so encouraging, so helpful. Let me finish this application with reading from Ephesians 1, Ephesians 1, 3 through 7. Blessed Be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved." Christians, you are beloved. You are beloved.

There's no greater love with which you can be loved by. And the love of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, by our God. In the last application, It was the cooperative work of the Trinity to save you and keep you. I'm not against the signs that say Jesus saves. Here it is, right?

It's all about Christ saving. All about it. We have four gospels focused on the work of Christ, not against that terminology by saying Jesus saves. But it is the work of the Trinity, ultimately, to save you and to keep you. Listen to Galatians 4, 4 through 7.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons and because your sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son that's the Holy Spirit into your hearts crying out Abba father therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir of God through Christ." And that's a whole other message that we had going through Ephesians. You think about the love God has for you, the same love that the love he has for Christ and then think that you're a joint heir with Christ with God. That's a whole other one you can go back to when we went through Ephesians. I'm sure that's out there in our history. But it's the Trinity that saves you.

They cooperate because of this great love they have. God the Father sends the Son and the Spirit. John 6, 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." Then you have God the Son redeeming. We've talked a lot about that. God the Son redeeming.

God who is holy and commands us to be holy and we are not. We have sinned and we deserve the wrath of God. So we are separate. We are enemies of God, but Christ came Lived the perfect life as our substitute in our place that we are commanded to live Died the death we deserve taken on the wrath of God for our sin, and then conquering sin and death, rose again from the grave, and for all who repent and trust in him for loam for salvation will be saved, will have eternal life and john 16 john 16 we have God the spirit and and his work to redeem john 16 readers a few verses sign verse 8 and When he'd I think this I think this was read earlier. I think Taylor may have read from this earlier And when he that is the Holy Spirit has come he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

To be saved, you need convicted of sin, and of what is righteous. And then verse 13 and 14, However, when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he will guide you in all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and Declare it to you Who saved you? God the Father God the Son The Holy Spirit saved you You are beloved daughters and sons of God Jesus came and fulfilled all righteousness for that to happen. Let's pray.

First, Jesus, thank you. Thank you for filling all righteousness. Yes, humbling yourself in baptism, then ultimately humbling yourself to the point of death, even the death of the cross. To take on sin the wrath of God. That we could be redeemed.

What great love is this? What kind of love is this? It's your love that I want to know more, I want to proclaim more, to trust more. So help us Holy Spirit. Thank you Holy Trinity for giving us this word.

Amen.