In Matthew chapter three we see another Samuel, John the Baptist, who was born a priest of the tribe of Levi. Matthew 3
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 8 THE KING’S ANOINTING (1) Bible Verses: Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 3:2 And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight His paths.” 3:4 Now this John had his garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle around his loins, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 3:5 At that time Jerusalem and all Judea and all the surrounding region of the Jordan went out to him, 3:6 And they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. [THE PRIESTHOOD INTRODUCING THE KINGSHIP] The main function of the priesthood is to bring the people to God, and the main function of the kingship is to bring God to the people. According to the Bible, the priests brought others to God so that they might obtain God’s blessing. This is the priestly service. The kings were those who represented God and brought God to others. Thus, the kingship is the ministry that brings God to other so that they may gain Him. Through this traffic of coming and going, man and God, God and man, have real fellowship, true communication. Eventually, man and God become one. This is the ministry of the priesthood and the kingship. The first ministry in the Old Testament was the priesthood. Following the priesthood there was the kingship. All the books prior to 1 Samuel were on the priesthood. But beginning with 1 Samuel the second section of the Old Testament is on the kingship. In the book of 1 Samuel, Samuel represents the priesthood and David represents the kingship. Samuel, the priest, introduced David, the king. The priesthood introduces the kingship. It is the same in the church life today. In Matthew chapter three we see another Samuel, John the Baptist, who was born a priest of the tribe of Levi. Matthew 3 testifies to the consistency of the Bible, for here we see one from the priestly tribe, the tribe of Levi, recommending One from the kingly tribe, the tribe of Judah. In Matthew 3 John appeared as Samuel and Jesus appeared as David. There in the wilderness John was bringing people to God. Hence, he was a genuine priest. As he was bringing others to God, the King came, and John introduced Him. This King brought God to man. John brought others to God, and Jesus brought God to them. [THE RECOMMENDER OF THE KING] When John was born, in Jerusalem there were two main things—Hebrew religion and Greco-Roman culture. John, however, did not stay in Jerusalem where his parents undoubtedly lived. He left Jerusalem and went out to the wilderness where there was neither religion nor culture, but where everything was natural. John ministered there in the wilderness bringing others to God and introducing the King, the One who represents God, to them. This was a strong indication that, during John’s time, the age was changed from the old dispensation to the new dispensation, from the dispensation of shadows and figures to the dispensation of reality. Those priests who wore the priestly robes, ate the priestly food, and stayed in the priestly building burning the incense and carrying out the priestly functions never brought anyone to God. But this “wild,” unreligious, uncultured John brought hundreds to Him. And he also introduced the King to them. When this King was introduced to people and they were truly brought back to God, the kingdom was present immediately. The King with the people is the kingdom. The kingdom was there because both the
King and the people were there. The New Testament begins with the genuine priesthood introducing the genuine kingship. The real priest introduced the real King. This introduction ushers in the kingdom. John’s message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (v. 2). People had to repent because the kingdom was coming and because the King was there. We also need to repent that the King may gain us and that we may be His people. After we repent, the King gains us, and we gain Him. Through the King’s gaining us and our gaining Him, we and the King become the kingdom. The kingdom immediately follows the King. If you receive the King and if He takes you as His people, the kingdom is immediately present. Why has the kingdom not yet come? Because you have not received the King, and the King has not yet gained you. Because you are still far away from Him, the King has not been able to gain you. Thus, the kingdom is not yet here. Rather, it is off somewhere waiting for your repentance. If you repent, the King will gain you, you will gain the King, and the kingdom will be here. When John was there in the wilderness, he was a great magnet drawing large numbers to himself. For this reason, verse 5 says, “Then Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the district of the Jordan went out to him.” Because of his drawing power, many came to John the Baptist. [OUTSIDE OF RELIGION AND CULTURE BUT FULL OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD] Are you today’s recommender of Christ? If you are, then you must be clear whether or not you are still in religion and culture. We must all be in the wilderness, in an environment that is “wild,” not in an environment that is religious or cultured. The proper environment is outside religion and culture, but it is full of the presence of God. If you trace the history of the past few centuries, you will see that every prevailing revival took place in some kind of “wilderness.” When John Wesley and George Whitefield were raised up as evangelists two centuries ago, they mainly did their preaching on the street corners. According to his biography, George Whitefield often preached on the foothills in the wilderness. However, at that time, the Church of England had regulations forbidding the expounding of the Holy Word outside the “sanctuary.” According to these regulations, anyone who preached or taught from the Bible had to do so in the “sanctuary.” Nevertheless, God raised up George Whitefield and John Wesley to conduct their preaching outside the “sanctuary.” The principle must be the same today. But this does not mean that we should copy John the Baptist in an outward way. It means that we should not take either the religious way or the cultural way. Rather, we must take the way that is full of the presence of God. We should not be in the holy city or in the holy temple, but in a place outside religion and culture, yet in a place full of the presence of God. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 9 THE KING’S ANOINTING (2) Bible Verses: Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 3:2 And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight His paths.” 3:5 At that time Jerusalem and all Judea and all the surrounding region of the Jordan went out to him, [PRIESTHOOD AND KINGSHIP IN THE BIBILE] In both the Old Testament and the New Testament there are two basic ministries that constitute the kingdom of God: the priesthood and the kingship. According to the Old Testament, the priesthood was with the tribe of Levi. Eventually, the Old Testament priesthood consummated in John the Baptist, a descendant of this tribe. In like manner, Jesus was the consummation of the Old Testament kingship, which was with the tribe of Judah. Jesus came as a descendant of Judah to be the consummation of the kingship. On the one hand, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ terminated the Old Testament priesthood and kingship; on the other hand, they germinated the New Testament priesthood and kingship. When the priesthood brings people to God and the kingship brings God to the people, there is the heavenly reign, the heavenly rule. This heavenly reign is the kingdom, which today is the proper church life. This church life will continue until the millennium. In the millennial kingdom there will still be the priesthood and the kingship. On the one hand, we, the overcomers, shall be priests and, on the other hand, we shall be kings. Thus, in the millennial kingdom, the priesthood and the kingship will be even stronger than they are today. They will maintain God’s kingdom on earth so that the King may gain the people and that the people may gain the King. After the millennium there will be no further need of the priesthood. In eternity there will be only the kingship because in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem everyone will be in the presence of God. At that time God will be with man. Thus, there will no longer be the need for the priesthood to bring the people to God. In eternity God’s presence will eliminate the priesthood. Nevertheless, the kingship will remain so that those in the New Jerusalem may reign over the nations surrounding the city. This is a summary of the Bible in the light of the priesthood and the kingship. [THE MESSAGE OF RECOMMENDATION] In this message we shall consider John’s message of recommendation. John’s message of recommendation is short, but it is crucial and all-inclusive. Matthew 3:2 says, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” The first significant word in this verse is the word “repent.” Before we were saved, we all were under the direction of our fallen mentality. We were far away from God, and our life was in direct opposition to His will. Under the influence of our fallen mentality, we went farther and farther astray from God. But one day we heard the preaching of the gospel telling us to repent, to have a turn in our thinking, philosophy, and logic. [W]e all have made this kind of turn, which is called conversion. When we were converted, we turned our back upon our past and turned our face to God. This is what it means to repent, to experience a change of our mind. The second crucial word in verse 2 is kingdom. The kingdom denotes a kind of reign, rule. Before we were saved, we were not under any rule. If there had been no police force, government, or law courts to tell us what to do, we would have done whatever we liked. However, when we heard the preaching of the gospel, we turned from a condition of no rule to a condition full of rule. Thus, we are now in the kingdom. Before we were saved, we did not have a king. But after we turned to the Lord, He became our King. Now we are all under the rule of this King.
The third crucial word in verse 2 is heavens. John said to repent for the kingdom of the heavens. The term “the heavens,” a Hebrew idiom, does not refer to anything plural in nature; rather, it refers to the highest heaven, which according to the Bible is the third heaven, the heaven above the heaven. Therefore, the kingdom of the heavens is the kingdom of God in the third heaven where He exercises His authority over everything created by Him. This kingdom of the heavens must come down to earth. This heavenly reign must descend to earth to be the authority over the earth. [THE WAY OF RECOMMENDATION] Now let us consider how John the Baptist was able to bring others into the kingdom. John’s ministry was to bring others to God (Luke 1:16-17). John the Baptist, a genuine priest, was “filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). There is no doubt that as he grew from infancy to adulthood, to the age of thirty, he was continually immersed in the Holy Spirit. Because he was flooded and saturated with the Holy Spirit, he could be bold. It is a serious matter to stand against the current of the age. To do this requires a great deal of boldness. How could John the Baptist be so bold as to stand against the Judaistic religion and the Greco-Roman culture? He was bold because for thirty years he was being immersed in the Holy Spirit. He was a person thoroughly soaked with the Spirit. Therefore, when he came out to minister, he came out in the Spirit and with power. Yes, he wore camel’s hair as a sign of his repudiation of the old dispensation. But that was merely an outward sign. There was also reality within him, and that reality was the Spirit and the power. The reality in John was not just the presence of God, but also the Spirit of God. John was immersed, saturated, and soaked with the Holy Spirit. Spontaneously this caused him to be a great magnet. He could be a magnet because he himself had been fully charged. With John there was the Spirit and the attracting power. Therefore, as Luke 1:16 says, he turned many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. (The Lord here is the equivalent of Jehovah.) Even those priests who served God in the temple by lighting the lamps and burning the incense had turned from God and were far away from Him. Elsewhere in the New Testament we are told that many priests turned to God (Acts 6:7). Thus, even the priests, the ones who served God, needed a turn to God. Therefore, John the Baptist was used to turn many to the Lord. Verse 3 says, “For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” This verse reveals that John the Baptist was one who prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight. To prepare the way of the Lord and to make His paths straight is to change people’s minds, to turn their minds toward the Lord and make their hearts right, to cause every part and avenue of their heart to be straightened by the Lord through repentance for the kingdom of the heavens (Luke 1:16-17). John the Baptist prepared the way and straightened the paths. This indicates that the way was rough, full of hills and valleys. In some places it was very low, and in others it was very high. But John came and paved the way, leveling the hills, filling the gaps, and making the way smooth and flat. John also straightened the paths, which were full of curves. The fact that John paved the way and straightened the paths means that His ministry dealt with the mind and the heart. When many heard John’s word, they repented, and their way was paved and their paths were straightened. Therefore, the King was able to come in. This is true repentance. Genuine repentance prepares the way for the Lord as the King to enter in. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 10 THE KING’S ANOINTING (3) Bible Verses: Matthew
3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. 3:15 But Jesus answered and said to him, Permit it for now, for it is fitting for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness. Then he permitted Him. 3:16 And having been baptized, Jesus went 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 coming upon Him. 3:17 And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. [“FROM GALILEE TO THE JORDAN”] In this message we come to the actual anointing of the King (3:13-17). Verse 13 says, “Then came Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptized by him.” Two of the crucial words in this verse are Galilee and Jordan. This verse does not say that Jesus came from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to be sanctified. It says He came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized. We need to consider the significance of the phrase “from Galilee to the Jordan.” We also need to see why He came to John, who was a “wild” person, not to the high priest, who would have been a cultured and religious person. Moreover, we need to know why He came to be baptized, not to be sanctified. In the New Testament, Galilee, a despised region, signifies rejection. Jesus did not come from Bethlehem because at that time Bethlehem was a place of honor and welcome. But if you came from Galilee, everyone would despise you and reject you. Jesus came from such a despised and rejected place. This place was not rejected by God, but it was rejected by religion and culture. Do not try to come from a place of honor and warm welcome, but come from a place that is despised and rejected by religion and culture. The way from Galilee to the Jordan is the correct way for the church. The way of today’s church life is not from Bethlehem to Jerusalem; it is from Galilee to the Jordan. The way of the church is a narrow way. [J]ordan was a place of burial and resurrection. Thus, Jordan signifies termination and germination. The children of Israel traveled through the wilderness for about forty years, and eventually they were all buried in the Jordan River. Hence, the Jordan terminated them, ended their history of wandering in the wilderness, and terminated the age of wandering. But the Jordan also gave them a new beginning, for it germinated them and ushered them into a new age. It was the Jordan that brought the children of Israel out of the wilderness and into the good land, which is Christ. This is the significance of the Jordan. In the church life our way today is the way from Galilee to the Jordan, the way from rejection to termination and resurrection. If you have never been terminated in the church life, get yourself prepared. I can assure you that in the church life we all shall be terminated, because we are on the way from Galilee to the Jordan. The church life truly is wonderful, but not wonderful according to our concept. The wonderful church life sooner or later will terminate us all. It will both terminate you and germinate you. [THE KING WITH THE KINGDOM] We are on the way from Galilee to the Jordan, from the place of rejection to the place of termination. It is in this place of termination that we meet the King. Here, in the church life, is where we meet Him. again. Day after day, the church life brings me to Christ, and it brings Christ the King to me. Eventually, the kingdom is here. I was taught by the Brethren that the kingdom had been suspended until a future time. I was also taught that the church today was not the kingdom. But in my experience I gradually realized that every time I
was terminated I was brought to the King and the King was brought to me. In my experience this was the reality of the kingdom. It was through experience that I first came to know that the church life is the kingdom. Every time I was terminated, I met my King, and the kingdom was present. This is not a matter of doctrine; it is a matter of experience. Later, through further study of the New Testament, I received light on the matter of the kingdom, and my experience was confirmed. Now I can boldly say that according to the New Testament the kingdom is here today. [A]fter you have been terminated on the way from Galilee to the Jordan, both the King and the kingdom will be present. [TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS] Righteousness is to be right by living, walking, and doing things in the way God has ordained. In the Old Testament, to keep the law that God had given was righteousness. Now God had sent John the Baptist to ordain baptism. To be baptized is also to fulfill righteousness before God, that is, to fulfill the requirement of God. The Lord Jesus came to John, not as God, but as a typical man, a real Israelite. Hence, He must be baptized to keep this dispensational practice of God; otherwise, He would not be right with God. To be baptized is to be righteous in the eyes of God. The termination and germination of our being is righteousness before God. One who has been baptized, who has been terminated and germinated, is right with God. God’s economy is to terminate our natural man and germinate us with a new life. If we would be right with God, we must be terminated in our natural life and germinated with His divine life. Termination and germination is the highest righteousness. [THE OPEN HEAVEN, THE DESCENDING OF THE SPRITI, AND THE SPEAKING OF THE FATHER] At the time of John the Baptist, God ordained baptism as the way. Anyone who wanted to enter the kingdom of the heavens had to pass through the gateway of John’s baptism. Not even Jesus Christ could be an exception. Even He had to pass through this gateway. When the Lord Jesus comes back, many will say to Him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many works of power?” (7:22). The Lord will say to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, workers of lawlessness” (7:23). The Lord will seem to say, “You are a lawless person. I never approved of you nor agreed with what you did, because you did not do things in resurrection. All the good things you did were done in your natural way and in your natural life. You are not righteous; you are lawless.” The Lord’s baptism to fulfill God’s righteousness and to be put into death and resurrection brought Him three things: the open heaven, the descending of the Spirit of God, and the speaking of the Father. His baptism opened the heavens, brought down the Holy Spirit, and opened the mouth of the Father. The way we can have an open heaven, the descending Spirit, and the speaking of the Father is to be terminated. Many of us can testify that whenever we have been terminated, the heavens have been opened. On the contrary, whenever we were welcomed and honored, the heavens were closed. Whenever we are terminated in the church life, the heavens are opened. Moreover, every termination brings down the Holy Spirit and opens the mouth of our heavenly Father. At that time the Father will say, “My beloved.”
Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
