Bible Readings:
Malachi 3:1 – 7; 3:16 – 4:5
Matthew 3:1 – 17
Sermon Outline:
I Malachi – my messenger (about 400 BC)
Malachi 3:1 (NKJV)
1“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 4:4–6 (NKJV)
4“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.
5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
6And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
II John the baptizer (30AD)
III Jesus’ baptism
Matthew 3:16–17 (NKJV)
16When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Baptism signifies that the old Adam in us is to be drowned and destroyed by daily sorrow and repentance, together with our sins an evil lusts; „and that again the new man should daily come forth and rise who shall live in the presence of God in righteousness and purity forever. — Martin Luther
Baptism points back to the work of God, and forward to the life of faith — J. Alex Motyer