(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The part of the chapter that I want to look at was in verse 48 where the Bible read, And when they saw him they were amazed, and his mother said unto them, Son, why hast thou dealt with, thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that he sought me? Was it ye not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And the title of my sermon tonight is Christ's First Words in Each Gospel. It's about to be kind of an interesting study to look at what was the first time we see the Lord Jesus Christ speaking in each gospel. Now I think probably we can say with certainty this is the first time we have the words of Christ in the Bible. We see that he's about a 12 year old boy. We see the first time that he speaks to us. If you have a red letter Bible, you know this would be the first time you see red letters in the book of Luke. And it's an interesting, I just kind of want to study each section here and kind of understand what the passage is and then try to connect the dots a little bit. But we see what is he, what is he saying to his parents? They couldn't find him. He had been left off with these doctors of the law. He's preaching in the temple. He's speaking with them. He's asking them questions and they travel off without them. So they come back and they're trying to find him. They finally find him and they're, you know, and then he says unto them, How the these sought me? Wist he not that I must be about my father's business? He wasn't really speaking to the matter at hand. He wasn't really, he was speaking more prophetically because it says in verse 50 and they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. So what was it that he was trying to convey to them? What is the purpose of this verse? What is the meaning? Well, I think it's very simple. It's why was Christ here? What was the purpose of Christ's life? What was his job? What was the business that he had to do? He's making significance here. This is the first time he's speaking to us and he's saying, why don't we think amongst ourselves? What was the purpose of Christ? I mean, if he came down to this earth, if he took upon him the form of a servant and was made the likeness of men, why was it that Jesus Christ came to this earth? Go to John chapter six if you would. The Bible says in John chapter four, it says in verse 34, Jesus saith unto them, my need is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Now if you look up the word business in a dictionary, it says that it's a person's regular occupation, profession or trait, but it kind of gives like sub definitions of that word and it says an activity that someone is engaged in, a person's concern or work that has to be done or matters. So what was the work that Jesus Christ had to do? Cause he said he had to be about his father's business. What does that mean? It means the work that the father had for Jesus Christ. It means the activity that Christ is going to be engaged in. It means his concern, the concern of his life. What is the purpose of Jesus Christ being here? What's the business? What's the work? Well, he said in John chapter four, I read for you that it was to do the will of him that sent him and none of that, but to finish the work that he gave him. He didn't, his purpose was to accomplish the will that God had given him. In John chapter five verse 36 it says, but I am a greater witness than that of John for the works which the father has given me to finish. The same works that I do bear witness of me that the father had sent me. So the works that Jesus Christ did are very significant. Why? Because they bear witness of who Jesus Christ is. We can't accomplish the works that Jesus Christ did. No man can accomplish the works that Christ did. Only the son of God can accomplish the works that Christ did. So they bear witness of him and he says, look, I'm doing these works. They're bearing witness of me and I'm going to finish the work that God gave me. I'm not going to just partially start it. I'm not going to just do a little bit. You know, that should be an example for us that any kind of job or any kind of work that we have in our life, we should purpose in our heart to finish it. We should not be those that would quit on the work that we've been given. We shouldn't just give in halfway. We shouldn't just get a bunch of things started and then just give up on them. I know this is something that maybe I've struggled with at different times in my life. Being a programmer, you get all excited to start the new project. You get started on some application or some type of new development you want to do and then you just kind of get fizzled out and then you kind of want to quit off. You want to, you know, not work on anymore. But you never can show anybody any work when you never finish it. You never want to show somebody a half big cake. You never want to show somebody a half built house. You never want to show anybody a half done anything. You want to show them finished work. That's what, you know, really signifies the things that you've done, shows the accomplishments that you've made. And Jesus Christ, he didn't come to do a half big thing. He didn't just kind of accomplish what he wanted. You know, the Pope, I heard him when he came to the United States, he was talking about Jesus Christ. He said that his life was a failure on the cross. That was when he, that was when he failed when he was on the cross. No, that was when he had finished the work of Jesus Christ. He had finished the work that the Father had given him to do. That was the end that God had ordained for Jesus Christ to die on the cross with the sins of the whole world. That wasn't a failure. That wasn't a half accomplishment. It was a full accomplishment of the law, of the work that God had given him. So look at John chapter 6 verse 27. We're going to get more information about what was the will of the Father? What was the work that he gave him to do? What was it that he was instructing Jesus Christ to do on this earth? Look at verse 27. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed, then said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered his end of them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What signs show us thou then, that we may see and believe thee? What does thou work? So he's saying look, what was the work of God? To believe on Jesus Christ. What was the work that Jesus Christ was doing? It was to get people to believe on him, to believe that he was the Son of God, to believe that he was the Messiah, to believe that he was the Christ. That was the purpose of him coming. That was the work that he was going to do. And they're saying, Well, what work are you going to do? Skip down to verse 38. This is Jesus speaking, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which he hath sent me, that all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. What was the will of the Father? That they would, when they saw Jesus Christ, that they would believe on him, and that Jesus Christ would give all those that believe on him everlasting life. That was the work of Jesus Christ. That was the will of the Father for Jesus Christ, for him to have people believe on him. How was he going to do that? By the works, by the works that he did, by the preaching, by the miracles, by all the things that signify and testify that he was the Son of God. We see even Nicodemus the Pharisee. He's like, Lord, a man come from God. No man can do these miracles except God be with him. He was like, look, you have to have God with you, otherwise you can't be doing these miracles. And when he was doing so many miracles, they were saying, wow, you know, we've never seen anybody forgive sins before. We've never seen anybody raise anybody from the dead before. We've never seen anybody rebuke a spirit out of, you know, a demon out of somebody's body. How could this man not be the Christ? He's testifying that he's the Christ. He's doing all these miracles, meaning he has to be from God. The works proved that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Go to John chapter 10 if you would. I'll read for you from John chapter 14. It says, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I send you, he that believeth on me the works that I do, shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. Now, when we think about it, what was the work that Jesus Christ was supposed to do? He was supposed to get people to believe on him, okay? Now, he says that people that believe on him, his followers, those, he said that they would do greater works. Now, I think that's interesting, you know, how are we going to do greater works than Jesus Christ? I mean, how are we going to do bigger works than him? Are we going to do bigger miracles? Are we going to feed more people with a few loaves of fishes? Are we going to walk on more water? Is that what he's really trying to say there? Now, we think what was the work? It was the work was to get people to believe on him. Now, he went away after three years, but we have like Paul, he has his whole life to go and preach the gospel. He can do greater works like he can get more people to believe on Jesus Christ than even Jesus Christ did, because he has more time, because he's devoting his whole life to it. Jesus Christ had a short ministry. He says, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men under me. Look, obviously, Jesus Christ is the best soul winner, but he had a short, he had an expected end to die on the cross, to finish the works of the Father, and that other men would come and preach the gospel in his name and get people saved. We should do the works, but we need to understand his purpose so that we can understand our purpose in our life, the purpose, the works that God's given us to do. Look at John chapter 10 verse 24. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, how long does thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you believe not. The works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're not of my sheep. As I have said unto you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I my father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good works have I showed you from my father. For which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him saying, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy and because that thou being a man makest thyself God. So Jesus Christ again, he said, look, if you don't want to believe what I said, if you don't want to believe me because of the words that I've testified, just believe me for the works sake because the works testify that I am the Christ, that I am the son of God. I mean, and they said, he says, which of those good works are you going to stone me for? And they couldn't speak anything against the good works. They're like, well, we're not going to stone you for any of the good works for the miracles for the raising of death. We're going to stone you because you make yourself God. They understood that he was making himself God. You know, he only ever said that he was the son of God. They understood that the son of God is God. They didn't have a problem with that. Even when he was saying, hey, I'm the son come from the father. They didn't need to know, oh, he's the father. He's making himself the father. No, he's making himself God because the son of God is God. That doesn't mean he is the father. He's saying he's been sent from the father. He's not doing his own will. He's not, uh, saying his own doctrine. It's the father's doctrine. The father's doing the work. There's a separation there, but they understood that he was still God because they understood what the Bible said. Look at verse 36 says, say ye of him, the father has sanctified and sent to the world. Thou blasphemous because I said, I am the son of God. If I do not the works of my father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe me, not me, believe the works that he may know and believe that the father is in me and I in him. So we get the purpose of Jesus Christ. If you understood in the Old Testament what the purpose of Jesus Christ was, how could you not believe on Jesus Christ? If you understood he was going to come in the flesh and do all these miracles, he was going to preach to the poor, he was going to, you know, raise the people from the dead. He was going to heal the lepers. He was going to do all these works and then he was going to come after John the Baptist. You said, this has to be the Christ. This is the Christ. Look at the works that he's doing. No man can do these works with Jesus Christ. We see Jesus Christ was his first words. You need to know what he's about, his father's business. Why? Because that was going to prove that he was the Messiah that was going to prove that he was the Christ and if we knew Christ's purpose, then we're going to know who Christ is. But he kept saying that he was going to finish the works, finish the works. Go to John chapter 19 if you will. I'll read from you for John 17. It says, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. It's interesting. He said glorify thy son, meaning the father has a son. He really exists. There really is a son of God. There's not just one person masquerading around. There's a father that has a son. His name's God. He's the Lord in three persons, a father, the son and the Holy Ghost. And Jesus Christ is saying, glorify your son. Glorify thy son as thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. And this is life eternal that they may know that be the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou has sent. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do. Notice the father keeps sending him too. The father didn't come himself. He sent somebody else. He sent the son. We see that Jesus Christ was going to finish the work that he had given him to do. How was he going to finish that? How was he going to finish the work to have people believe on it? He said, if I be lifted up, then I'll draw all men under me, signifying by what death he should die. Meaning what? How is Jesus Christ going to die? Just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, he's going to be lifted up on the cross. That was the finishing, the ultimate end to Christ's work on this earth. That's why it says in John 19 verse 30, right after he turned, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost, signifying that Jesus Christ had finished the works that God had given him to do on this earth. Some people would wrongly say that that means that our salvation had been finished or that all the work done in order for us to go to heaven had been finished. That's not accurate because the Bible says that the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not until Jesus Christ is resurrected and sprinkles the blood on the altar, is salvation been accomplished for us. But what was it that Christ had finished? He had finished the work. He had finished the work that Jesus Christ had given him to have people believe on him. Everyone would see if the son may believe on him in capital, everlasting life. The fact that he was going to go and preach the gospel, that was his purpose. Go if you want to skip back just a chapter, go to John chapter 18 if you would. Look at verse 36. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a kingdom? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness under the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. So when he was talking to Pilate, he said, look, I came here to bear witness of the truth. And what did Jesus say in John chapter 14? I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father, but by me. He was bearing witness of who? Of Jesus Christ. He was bearing witness to believe on Jesus Christ. He was preaching the same gospel that we preach. That if you believe on Jesus Christ of everlasting life, the rivers of living water, then you'll eat of this bread and you'll never hunger again. You'll drink of this drink. You'll never thirst again. He was preaching the same gospel that we preach. Go to John, first John chapter three, if you would. First John chapter number three, we're going to see another place where the Bible talks specifically about the purpose of Jesus Christ on this earth. His purpose was to preach the gospel, was to get people to believe on him. Why? So then they can have life. So then they wouldn't go to hell. If we didn't have Jesus Christ do that work, we would all be damned to hell. There's none righteous, no, not one. We can only go to heaven through Jesus Christ, through his sacrifice. Look at first John chapter three verse seven. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that do with righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committed sin is of the devil, for the devil said it from the beginning. For this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Why did Jesus Christ come? To destroy the works of the devil. How? What is the works of the devil? Well, go, uh, if you went to Hebrews chapter two, Hebrews chapter two, the Bible says in Luke chapter eight verse 12, those by the wayside are they that here then come at the devil and take it away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. So what was one of the works that Satan does? He goes around and he tries to take the gospel out of people's hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. What was the purpose of Jesus Christ? That people believe on him, but it was the devil doing the exact opposite. He's going around to all these people that have accepted Jesus in their heart and takes the gospel out of their heart, lest they should believe and be saved. That's why I don't like that phrase. That's why that phrase doesn't really mean anything. Why people can hear that. They go to church, they've heard the gospel, they've heard that Jesus Christ died and the cross was buried and rose again. But then you say, what do you have to do to be saved? They say, be a good person. They might have the gospel. They might've heard it. It might be an eye on their lips, but they haven't believed it to be saved. And then Satan comes along and takes it out of their heart, lest they should believe and be saved. They don't really believe it. They don't really fully comprehend it. They've heard the story, but they don't believe it to be saved. Says in second Timothy two verse 26 that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. Satan's taking people captive. He's taking, you know, the gospel out of their hearts. Hebrews two, look at verse 13 and again, I will put my trust in him and again behold I and the children which God has given me for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. The devil has the power of death. What did Jesus Christ come to give? Life is the exact opposite. We see Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. He destroyed what? Death. The power of death. Oh death, where is thy steam? The Bible says for the wages of sin is death. We have death, but Jesus Christ came to give us life by believing on him. He came to destroy his works. Go if you would one other place. Go to John chapter 10 if you would. John chapter 10. I'm going to read for you a couple of other places. Talking about Satan's works, it says in first Peter 5 verse 8, be sober, be diligent because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The devil's going around trying to kill people. He's trying to devour them. He's trying to take the gospel out of their heart. He's trying to take them captive at his will. He's trying to kill them. Revelation chapter 12 in verse 9 it said the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out on the earth and his angels were cast out with them. He's a deceiver. What is the deception? Less people can believe on Jesus Christ and be saved. He's trying to deceive you to not believe on Jesus Christ. In Revelation 20 10 it says and the devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2 it says wherein time passed he walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. He's trying to get people to sin and by their sin to take their own lives through the wages of sin is death. By being destroyed by their sin, by taking the gospel out of their hearts lest they should believe, he's trying to kill people and destroy them and he's deceiving them. It says in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 5 to deliver such and want unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Even a saved person. He could be affected by Satan and by the sin that he deceives him with to kill him to end his life. To take his life by the sin of his life. Revelation 12 verse 15 it says and the serpent cast out his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away from the flood. Saying what? He wants to kill every human being. The purpose of Satan is to get nobody to believe on Jesus Christ and to kill us all. That's what he wants. That's the works of the devil. What did Jesus Christ come to do? To get you to believe on him so you could have life so you wouldn't have death. It says in John chapter 10 verse 10 where I had to turn. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy and I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. What does that mean? Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. The devil wants to do. He wants to steal the gospel out of your heart. He wants to deceive you. Then what does he want to do? He wants to kill you. And guess what? If you don't have the gospel and you die, you're going to be destroyed in hell. That's the works of Satan. But Jesus Christ came to destroy those works, the works that Satan's been doing from the beginning so that you could believe on him and you could have life and you could have it more abundantly. Bible says in Romans chapter 5 wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Yes, everyone sinned. No matter what they say at the door, they sinned. For by one man's offense death reigned by one. Much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Look, the wages of sin is death. Satan came to tempt people so they would sin and then what? They would deserve death and hell and he wants to kill them so they would go to hell. He doesn't want them to believe on Jesus Christ. So we go, go to Mark chapter one now. So we see at the very beginning, what's the point that Jesus Christ is getting across? His first words, I must be about my father's business. Why? We have to understand the purpose of Jesus Christ. It's so crucial. If you don't understand the purpose of Jesus Christ, you're not going to understand the book. You're going to get carried away with diverse and strange doctrines. You can't believe in work salvation if you understand the purpose. If you understand why Jesus Christ came, if you understand that we're supposed to believe on him that life, that it's only through him, that it's the opposite of Satan. Satan wants you to not believe so you'll go to hell. But if you believe on Christ, if you put your trust in him, your faith in his death, burial and resurrection, you'll have a life everlasting. It's super clear. It's such a great way to start out the Bible saying, look, you better pay attention to what I'm saying here. The parent didn't understand at the time, but we can understand now that we have all the scriptures and we need to get in our heart. I love to tell the story. Look, it's all about Jesus Christ. It's all about the death, burial and resurrection. It's all about the purpose of Christ. He gave us four whole books in the New Testament to start off. What? The story of Jesus Christ. It's so important. We can't overlook that. We can't emphasize it enough. I can't preach enough on it. Go to Mark chapter one, look at verse 14. So we're looking at the second time we see, uh, let's not, we'll look at the second place, the second gospel. The first time that Jesus Christ speaks says in verse 14, now after that, John was put in prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. So we have a very explicit, uh, verse right here, a very explicit time where Jesus Christ is saying, what? You got to change what you believe in and just believe the gospel. Believe in the death, burial and resurrection. What was the purpose of Jesus Christ? To preach the gospel. And we see very plainly that he was preaching the gospel that you should stop believing in yourselves. You should stop believing in the Pharisees religion. You should stop believing in anything else, but just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent ye and believe on me. What was the big, you know, false doctrine of the day? The Pharisees are willing to justify themselves is what it says over and over. They wanted to go to heaven because they thought they were observing the law or they were righteous because of the law or they were some kind of special person because they were Abraham seed. But he says, look, think not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham to our father. You got to believe on Jesus Christ if you want to be saved. That was the message Jesus very clearly preached. Go over to First Corinthians chapter 15. So we're going to define what the gospel is then because someone would say, well, the gospel is that you got to repent of your sins. The gospel is that you got to, you know, turn over a new leaf. The gospel according to the Pentecostals is that you got to get filled with the spirit and you got to get all the tongue speaking and you got to go and jump down the aisles. Have you received the gospel, brother? Have you got the full gospel? You see these signs where they say we're a full gospel preaching church. We preach the full gospel. We better get a definition from the Bible then about what the gospel is. It says in First Corinthians chapter 15 verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein ye stand by which also you are saved. If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain, for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. So very clearly we have the gospel defined by the Bible, not by man, not by what somebody else thinks. No, what the Bible says. It's the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. That's what Jesus Christ preached. I don't have enough time to go through it, but we see a lot of examples where Jesus Christ preached this. He's saying to the disciples, look, I'm going to be betrayed into the hands of men. I'm going to be lifted up. I'm going to die and I'm going to rise again the third day. And a lot of times the Bible would say they didn't quite understand what he was saying or Peter even rebukes him. He's like, no Lord, don't die. We see Jesus Christ was preaching the gospel. His whole ministry was preaching the gospel. Now obviously there was other times where he preached other sermons. He preached on righteousness. We have, you know, the sermon on the mount, we have the sermon on the plane and false teachers and false prophets like to stick there. They like to go there and then try to prove some kind of workspace salvation. But we already figured out what the purpose of Christ was, wasn't it? It was that we should believe on him so that we can have life everlasting. We see here he's preaching the gospel. What is that so that we can be saved? Go if you would to Luke chapter 20, Luke chapter 20. I'm going to read for you a couple other places. So the Gospel of John is super clear what the gospel is. The Gospel of John is super clear about how to be saved. But sometimes I think when reading through Matthew, Mark and Luke, maybe it's not as evident that the gospel is there. We don't necessarily see it being explicitly stated, but there's many times where Jesus Christ is preaching the gospel, says that. It says in Matthew chapter four verse 23, and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. So Jesus Christ, when he was going up, he was preaching the gospel everywhere he went. Now we have some recorded sermons where it wasn't really emphasizing the gospel necessarily, maybe just righteousness or or following God or being a disciple. But that doesn't mean he wasn't preaching the gospel and all those gospels as well. It says in Luke chapter four verse 18, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captains and recovering of the sight to the blind, to set them at liberty, them that are bruised. So we see again preaching his purpose, his words, to preach the gospel, to heal those, to prove that he was the Christ. In Luke chapter seven verse 22, it says, then Jesus answering said unto them, go your way and tell John what things you have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk, the leopards are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. Over and over the Bible says Jesus Christ is preaching the gospel. It says in Matthew 11 verse five, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the leopards are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor of the gospel preach them. A parallel passage. Look at Luke chapter 20 verse one where I had you and it came to pass that on one of those days as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came unto him with the elders. So again, all through the other gospels, all through the entire Bible, Jesus Christ is preaching the gospel. He's preaching the gospel in the New Testament. He's preaching the gospel in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. Over and over we see him preaching. He starts out the book of Mark doing what? Repent ye and believe the gospel. You know, I, when I think of a fee, I'm sorry, the church of Ephesus when it talks about in Revelation and it will say that they have forgotten the first works. I always like to point to Mark chapter one because I say, what was the first thing that Jesus Christ was preaching in Mark chapter one? Repent ye and believe the gospel. It's the first works to go out and preach the gospel. Jesus Christ makes it evident. He was going out preaching the gospel. That was the work that God had given him to do. That's what he was doing over and over and over again was preaching the gospel. Super clear. So let's go to Matthew chapter three. Let's look at another gospel. Let's look at the first time that we have Jesus Christ's words. Matthew chapter three, look at verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him saying, I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me? And Jesus answered and said unto him, suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered and Jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were open unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son and whom I am well pleased. What a great portion of scripture. What a great moment in the gospel. But we see Jesus Christ's first words, suffered to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. So what was happening in this passage? Jesus Christ is being baptized. What an important doctrine today. What an important thing to get in our hearts is baptism. And we see that Jesus Christ said, why was he doing it? To fulfill all righteousness. If you want to fulfill all righteousness, if you want to be right with God, you have to be baptized. That's the first step in obedience. And those that don't want to get baptized, that end up thinking it's not important, they're never going to really live a life for God. They're never really going to fulfill all righteousness. They're really not going to go out and be the most zealous Christian because if you have a heart right with God, you're going to get baptized just like his example. And we see it's so important to Jesus Christ. Go to Romans chapter six. And it's interesting that he equates baptism with being righteous or fulfilling righteousness or living righteously. So that must signify to us, hey, maybe baptism has something to do with this. Maybe these two things are connected. I don't think Jesus Christ is just saying this just on a whim. Nothing in the Bible is accidental, accidental, coincidental or just, you know, happenstance. It's there on purpose. There's a reason why he said that. It says in Acts chapter 19 verse four, it says, then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which had come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So you know what we need today? We need the baptism of repentance. That's what John the Baptist was preaching. Preaching of what? You repent of what you believe in and you believe on Jesus Christ and then you're baptized. You say, hey, now I'm going to get baptized because I believed on Jesus Christ. You know, one of the ways I like to explain it is I say being baptized doesn't save you, but it helps signify in your mind the decision you made to trust Christ. The fact that you're buried with him in the water and that you come back out signifying that you're trusting in his death, burial and resurrection of the payment for your sin. Helping just solidifying your mind. Hey, I trusted Christ. I know that I believed in him. I'm going to go and get baptized as a symbol of what he did for me. And it helps signify that in your mind. But let's go to Romans chapter six verse one. See what the Bible talks about baptism. See what Jesus Christ was saying. It says in verse one, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer there? No, he not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore, we are buried with them by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together, the likeness of his death, we shall also be be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with them, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more. Death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died into sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed into sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. What was the purpose of Romans chapter six? He's saying, look, we shouldn't keep sinning. I know you've been saved. Grace is going to abound. You can't do anything to go to hell. So why don't we sin anymore? Why should we stop sinning? Because we want to walk in newness of life. If he paid for all of our sins, if he paid all the debt for us, if we're freed from sin, why would we walk any longer in there? And what does baptism do? It helps us have a good conscience towards God. It helps us signify, hey, now I want to walk in newness of life. Before Jesus Christ, I couldn't live a life without sin. I was taken captive by the devil at his will. I was in the bondages of sin, but now that he saved me, I can walk in newness of life. I can fulfill all righteousness. I can do the things that are right. I can be pleasing unto God. The Bible says without faith, it's impossible to please him, but now that you're saved, you have the ability to please him. So why wouldn't you want to please him? Why wouldn't you want to walk in newness of life? That's the significance of baptism. So, you know, the person that says, I don't want to be baptized. They say, I don't want to live a new life anymore. I don't want to stop sinning. I don't want to try and be righteous. I don't want to be pleasing unto God. That's the type of attitude that goes along with not wanting to be baptized because if you understand the significance of being baptized, it's, hey, I do want to follow Christ. Hey, I do want to walk in newness of life. I do want to be his disciple. I want to be, you know, living a better life now. Not like Joel Osteen style. Go to 1 Peter chapter 3. I'll read for you from Colossians 2. It says, and for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the God at bodily and ye are complete in him which is in the head of all principality and power. In him also ye are circumcised in the circumcision made without hands and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Buried with them in baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh have be quickened together with them, having forgiven you all trespasses. What a great verse. Having forgiven you all trespasses. So now that you've been forgiven all your trespasses, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. No, we were buried with them in baptism. So we shouldn't continue the sins of the flesh. We should be putting those off on the body. We should try to live in holiness and righteousness and be perfect as our father which is in heaven is perfect. That's what Christ commands us to follow his commandments, to fulfill all righteousness. Look at 1 Peter 3 verse 21. The light thickener wherein to even baptism doth also now save us. Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You know some people have more sin than others. And when you've lived a very sinful life or maybe you have some kind of sin that's haunting you and then you get saved, wouldn't it be nice to then have a good conscience towards God? And what the Bible is saying, look, baptism can be that conscience, that good conscience. Now that you've been saved, you can be baptized to say, hey, now I'm going to try and walk in newness of life. Now all my sin, I know that all my transgressions have been forgiven. I know that they're not going to be remembered. God's not going to, you know, impute these unto me after my life. I'm not going to go to hell because of them. So now I can have a good conscience towards God. I can say from now on I'm going to live my life for God. From now on I'm going to try and fulfill all righteousness. From now on I'm going to try and live the life that God has for me. The importance of baptism. Let's go to John chapter one. We'll look at the last place. So we have the purpose of Christ. What was the purpose to have people leave on? Then we see that Jesus Christ was preaching the gospel. Then we see what? He was getting people, he was having people baptized, right? He was setting the example of baptism and saying, this is how you fulfill all righteousness. Let's look at John chapter one verse 36. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, behold, the lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following and saith unto them, what seek ye? They said unto him, which is to say being interpreted master, where dwellest thou? So in this portion we have Jesus Christ. He's going along and he's picking up disciples. He's picking up followers and they say unto him, uh, he says unto them, what seek ye? That's the question that we should all ask ourselves today. What are you seeking today? What is it that you're trying to seek today? Are you seeking the pleasures of this life? Are you seeking to have some great job? Are you seeking retirement? Are you seeking the pleasures of this world? Are you seeking just to gratify the lusts of the flesh? Maybe you're seeking nothing. Maybe you're just so apathetic. Maybe you're seeking death. I mean, the Bible says, uh, all them that hate, hate the Lord love death. But what is it that you're seeking? Are you seeking Jesus Christ? I'll read for you a couple of scriptures. Proverbs eight verse 17. I love them to love me and those that seek me early shall find me. If you seek Jesus Christ, if you seek the Lord, you will find him. What's the step after you learned the purpose of Christ? What's the step after you get saved? What's the step after you get baptized? It's the seeking. It's the following. It's the be a follower of Jesus Christ. It says in Jeremiah 29 13 and he shall seek me and find me when he shall search for me with your, with all your heart. Are you searching for Jesus Christ with all of your heart? Have you decided a purpose in your heart? Hey, I'm going to continue to seek Jesus Christ. I know I'm saved. I know I've been baptized. What am I going to do now? See Jesus Christ with all your heart and guess what he promises. You'll find it. You'll find the Lord. Bible says in James chapter four verse eight, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, he sinners and purify your hearts. He double minded. You know, even though I've been married for eight years, which isn't maybe a long time unless you consider it to the average American marriage, but even for just the eight years, I see the depth of a relationship. I continue to draw closer to my wife. I learned more about her than I knew, you know, the seven years or six years or the first years that we've been married. I continue to grow closer. Our relationship gets deeper. The same thing as the Lord Jesus Christ. We should never settle for just that, you know, shallow relationship for just the, Oh, I kind of know him. Oh, we're acquaintances. He's heard of me before. I've heard of him. No, we should continue to seek him to know him deeper. We should draw nigh to God so he can draw nigh to us so we can have a much fuller relationship. The Bible, you know, describes certain men in the Bible having great relationships with the Lord, deep relationship with the Lord, him imparting many things into their heart, then becoming very wise because they just excited to continue to seek God their whole life every single day. Not just, well, I know I'm saved and baptized. Now I'm just going to see, you know, the pleasures of this life or do whatever I want or go and do whatever. No, we need to seek Jesus Christ says if you love me, keep my commandments. My husband seek the Lord while I may be found. Go to John chapter 15. John chapter 15. I have one last kind of thought I want to look at. This is kind of interesting. It says in John chapter 15 verse 14, ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. Now wouldn't it be cool to be called Jesus Christ's friend? But he's saying, look, if you do whatsoever I command you. I don't believe that the Bible says that just every saved person is Jesus Christ's friend. It says if you love me, you can keep my commandments. If you're doing what I said, then I'm going to call you my friend. Go to James chapter two. I think that this verse is a key to understanding James chapter two. The Bible says that wisdom is justified of her children. And when you think about that phrase, what does justify me? A lot of people, you know, the primary definition, especially when you think of the context of the Bible, salvation, to be just, to be declared righteous is what the Bible would say. Declared righteous in the sight of God. But justify in and of itself can mean, uh, something a little bit more basic. It could just mean that something's true. It could just justify means this is right or this is true. Obviously in some context you would say this person is righteous or true in the sight of God, but that doesn't necessarily always the right interpretation of that word because what does it mean to say wisdom is justified of her children? Are we declaring wisdom righteous before God? No, it's just saying that wisdom is proven right or proven true by its children. What does that mean? Think about the proverbs. Okay, the Bible says that wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging. Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Now when you apply that in our society today, you find a drunkard or a wine bibber, you say, hey, this guy is deceived. This guy's a moron. This guy's a fool. And guess what? Wisdom is justified of her children. Why? Because we can see that wisdom executed in people's lives and it proves that it was true. You can see that that was right. We can see that proverbs are right because of their children. Meaning what? When you, when you see an exercise in the world today proven true, the day is long, the wisdom is justified. That's why when they were speaking things against Christ that weren't really true, he's saying, well guess what? Wisdom is justified of her children. So what you're saying doesn't really come to come to pass or doesn't really line up with the reality. Guess what? It's not true. It's not wise because everything that's wise is true. Comes from the Father above, God of wisdom. Look at James chapter two verse 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he'd offered Isaac upon, Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works? And by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Likewise also is not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. Now some people try to say, well this is proving that we need, you know, works to be saved. But so far from the truth, this scripture by itself proves that wrong. Look at verse 23. And the scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Now right after that word we see what? A semicolon. Now semicolon divides two separate thoughts. It compounds two different thoughts. So the first thought is what? He believed God and it was imputed unto righteousness. Why did Abraham get saved? Because he believed God by his faith. It had nothing to do with works. It's separated by that semicolon. So let's look at the second part though. And he was called the friend of God. So something different. Another thought is that Abraham was called the friend of God. Now how was he called the friend of God? And why was he called the friend of God? Well let's look at the next verse. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Meaning what? Well the faith was how he got saved. The faith was how he was declared righteous. But then what's the second part of that? He was declared the friend of God because he was justified by his works. His works is what justified him to be called the friend of God. Why? Because you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command. That's how you're justified to be the friend of God. You're not the friend of God because you're saved. You're the friend of God because of your works. And that's what he's preaching in James chapter 2. You need to do some works. Faith without works is dead. But we see Rahab. It also talks about her right? Likewise also was not the Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way? Meaning what? God was just to spare her life. All those in Jericho were damned. They were supposed to be killed. But he was justified in saving Rahab's life because what? Because of her works. She kept the two spies. So we see again by their works they were justified in what way? But it has nothing to do with salvation. Abraham was justified to be called the friend of God. Rahab was justified to be saved. Her life was saved and spared by the destruction of Jericho. The body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead. The body is not the spirit. The spirit is not the body. They're two separate things. Salvation is one thing and works is another thing. That's why it's separated by a semi-colon in verse 23. But even this own passage proves that salvation is by works only or by believing only. And that has nothing to do with works. So in conclusion, I think it's interesting when you take all these first words of Christ and you think about one verse. Go to Matthew 28. When we think about one thing, what is what is the great commission in the Bible? It says in Matthew 28 verse 19, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you and lo I am with you always even at the end of the world. Amen. So once you have the purpose of Christ, what do you do? You go and you preach the gospel. You tell all the nations. Then what do you do? You get them baptized. And then what do you do? You teach them to observe all things whatsoever. You teach them to follow Christ. You teach them to be the disciple of Christ. We see in the first words of Christ in each gospel, it preaches the great commission. It preaches the whole Bible is so connected. I mean, it's not man's invention. It's obviously the fingers of God. And we see, we can take example of his first words in each gospel and see the important messages carried out throughout the entire Bible. It's the great commission. It's the purpose why we're on this earth too. He said, look, you're going to do greater works than I, so we know what Christ's purpose was. What was it to get people to believe on him? That's the works that we should be doing greater than him. That's what he wants us to do. That's the will of the father is that we would go out and preach the gospel, fulfill the great commission, baptize them, and then make disciples, make followers of Christ. That's the point so that we can be friends of God. Let's close in prayer. Thank you father so much for your example. Thank you for the words that you've given us, that they weren't just vain words, but they had so much importance. I pray that something that I preached would maybe resonate in our hearts that we'd see the purpose that you laid out for us, that we also could fulfill that purpose to go out and preach the gospel. Thank you for everyone in this room. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.