WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS OF THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL?

Acts 8:12: But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus the anointed one, they were baptized, both men and women.

Notice: Luke 8:12: Those by the wayside are they that hear; then comes the devil and takes away the word [about the kingdom of God] out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Notice that Matthew 13:19: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understands it, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart....

So, we understand from these verses that Satan is the enemy of the preaching of ‘the word’ about the coming kingdom of God. Why? Because one needs to understand what the message about the kingdom of God is, which is the message of salvation! (Luke 8:12)

So, first and foremost, the essentials of the good news message Jesus brought are the preaching of the good news about the coming kingdom of God and about his name, which is Jesus, who is the anointed one, the Messiah, the coming King of Israel. And since we have been grafted into the Israel of God (Romans 11), he is our King.

We need to realize that Jesus and his disciples preached the gospel about the kingdom of God long before there was any mention of Jesus' death and resurrection, and after his resurrection that same message continued to be preached to the world even as he commanded.

Notice Acts 28:30-31: And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the things concerning Jesus about his death, resurrection, and looking forward to the time when he will return to sit on the throne of David at Jerusalem ruling over all the nations and Israel as a glorified immortal man and doing so with all those who have been resurrected to co-rule and co-inherit all things with him.

Unfortunately, that good news message is not now being preached completely. We only hear about the death and resurrection of Jesus and nothing about the soon-coming Kingdom of God. The message one has to understand in order to be saved... Luke 8:12. Why are no preachers today constantly preaching about the kingdom of God as Jesus did throughout his whole ministry? Why are we not being taught more about how the Sermon on the Mount was given to help us know how to prepare to be a co-ruler in that soon-coming Kingdom of God? When the Kingdom of God arrives, it will be the establishment of the Theocratic Government of God set up at Zion, where Jesus will reign as King of Israel and King of Kings and Lord of lords over all the nations of the world who will come up to pay homage to him at the Feast of Tabernacles every year.

Zechariah14:16: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, [Jesus, acting as the agent of] Yehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Yehovah of armies of heaven, even upon them shall be no rain.

Again, where is the gospel of the Kingdom of God being preached to-day?

Why is it not the emphasis of preachers today? It was at the forefront of the message Jesus brought to Israel and that he wanted preached to the world!

The whole of Scripture is about God's redemption plan starting at Genesis 3:15, where God prophesies that a man born of a woman will have a son who will defeat the Adversary - Serpent - Satan and thus bring about a restoration of all things as they were at the beginning. So we know that the one predicted in Genesis3:15 is the Son of God, the lord Messiah Jesus, who defeated Satan on the tree and, by his shed blood - the sin-offending sacrifice he offered up to his God and his Father Yehovah reconciled all of humanity to his God and his Father Yehovah.

Now, all anyone in the world needs to do to be delivered from God's Wrath is to believe in the one He has sent and, believing in him, to obey his command to repent and be baptized, immersed completely in water. When we enter into the water, we are saying before our God that we are reckoning ourselves as dead to self, and coming out of the water, we realize a newness of life, become a new creation, filled with the Spirit - Breath - Love of Yehovah. At that moment, we have gone through a regeneration process. But that is just the beginning; now we need to be renewed in our hearts and minds to become as our elder brother, the lord Messiah Jesus. Our God enables us to do that by the power of His Spirit - Breath - Love indwelling us.

At that time we have been grafted into the Israel of Yehovah - God, become members of His household, members of His congregation, members of the body of His anointed one, and members of His called-out Assembly. We are also recognized by our God as His temples individually and collectively because of His indwelling Spirit - Breath - Love in us. We also become heirs of the promises made to Abraham and his "seed," Jesus, God's anointed one. And we look forward to co-ruling with the lord Messiah Jesus in the coming kingdom of God, when he will rule over all the nations as King of kings and Lord of lords at that time, all the nations' representatives will come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem - Zion... see Zechariah 14.

Jesus also ratified the New Covenant by his shed blood as a sin-offering sacrifice, which he said he would do as that prophet, the one Moses spoke about – Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:2; Acts 7:37

So, as those who are under the New Covenant, what are we to do? We are to live according to the CREED OF JESUS: Mark 12:26-34.... His creed says we are to love God totally committed to him in obedience, and to love our neighbors as ourselves! That is impossible for us to do unless we are enabled by the Spirit - Breath - Love of Yehovah indwelling us. As we submit to His indwelling Spirit - Breath - Love, we will become servants towards all our neighbors, even as Jesus was the greatest servant of all and still is at this very moment, interceding for us as our High Priest and coming alongside us to help and assist us as we walk on the narrow road towards the coming kingdom of God, which is all that Jesus talked and preached about.

WE are all destined at the resurrection to enter into the coming new age, ruling in the Theocratic Government that Jesus will establish and co-rule over all the surviving nations during the 1,000-year rule.

What an amazing opportunity our God and Father has envisioned for us, and to get where He wants us to be, all we need to do is submit to the guidance of His Spirit - Breath - Love, which enables us to obey the words that He gave Jesus to give to us.

Notice what Jesus says: Matthew 7:21: "Not every one that says unto me, ‘lord, lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of God, but he that does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Again: If we don't obey the words that Yehovah gave to His anointed one, the lord Messiah Jesus, then you won't be in the kingdom of God. Luke 6:46: "And why do you call me, ‘lord, lord,’ and do not the things which I say? So believing in Jesus isn't all there is; after believing that he is the one whom God has sent and being baptized, we all now need to go forward, keeping the creed of the lord Messiah Jesus, enabled by his indwelling Spirit and the Spirit - Breath - Love of Yehovah, and preach about the soon-coming kingdom of God. This is what the disciples of the lord Messiah Jesus are called upon to do continually!

OUR RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE CALLED-OUT ASSEMBLY IS AS A HUSBAND AND WIFE COMMITTMENT

It is in this context that we must return to Matthew Chapter 19, because the lord Messiah Jesus - Yeshua wants to tell us: when we are giving our best, what does he really expect us to give? Many times, we want to give our best, but we don’t know what the best is; we don’t know what we are supposed to give. Hence, we live in ignorance.

The lord Jesus - Yeshua doesn’t want us to be ignorant. He wants us to know exactly what your relationship ought to be with the person sitting next to you, what that relationship is meant to be to one another.

He tells us that in God’s - Yehovah’s plan, this relationship is meant to be spiritually as close as a husband is to his wife.

We are to become a group of people in whom God’s grace is so effective in our lives that we are truly committed to one another, open to one another, genuine and transparent in relation to one another.

If this experience is not happening in your congregation, then your congregation becomes simply a social gathering, a formal “congregation” of people who come in and out, having a vague relationship with one another as fellow Christians, and that is it!

That is not the way the lord Jesus - Yeshua meant us to be.

Will anyone coming into the church looking at the way we conduct ourselves in relation to one another really say, “Ah! These are disci­ples of Jesus! Now I have seen the love of God before my eyes!” If they don’t see this? Why? It is because we have not come to the commitment to one another that the lord Messiah Jesus - Yeshua is speaking about. 

Divorce is forbidden because it is the annulment of commitment

Why is divorce forbidden? It’s because it is the annulment of a commitment, and commitment is something deeply spiritual – you give your whole person to the other. And it is precisely here that we dare not give ourselves to the other person for fear that in giving myself, I expose myself to the other person. I might be abused, mishandled, taken advantage of. I dare not give myself, and so we dare not trust each other. We don’t have faith in each other; hence we cannot have love for one another.

We must strive towards this goal that the lord Jesus - Yeshua sets before us: the vision of the called-out Assembly as it was meant to be. Most called-out Assemblies have a long way to go, but that is no reason why we cannot strive to become more like the Messiah Jesus – Yeshua.

Let us turn for a moment to Ephesians 5:21-27:

…submitting to one another out of reverence for the Messiah. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as the Messiah is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the called-out Assemblies submit to the Messiah, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as the Messiah loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her [set her apart], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [the message about the Kingdom of God], so that he might present the called-out Assembly to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Notice that as Paul is talking about the spiritual nature of this commitment in marriage, “as to the lord”, he is coming in and out of the subject all the time, one moment talking about marriage, the next moment talking about the relationships within the called-out Assembly, moving from one to the other and back to the one. For him, he has seen that marriage is meant to portray the spiritual reality of what the relationship of the Messiah to the called-out Assembly should be, and what the members of the called-out Assembly should have in relationship to one another. This is easy to follow because we have just seen that we are to deal with one another in the way that God deals with us, His called-out Assembly in the Messiah. We understand that the one follows the other automatically when you understand these principles.

Let us go on to verses 28-33:

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Messiah does the called-out Assembly, because we are members of his body. “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to the Messiah and the called-out Assembly. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Paul is talking about wives and husbands, which is a very deep mystery. Let me draw three points immediately from here which show you just how our relationship to one another in the called-out Assembly is meant to be modeled on the relationship of husband and wife.

 

1. Love your neighbor: fellow Christians in your called-out Assembly

First, you are very familiar with the saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18 quoted in Matthew 19:19, 22:39, etc.). I am sure if you have ever thought deeply on Scripture at all, you would have often scratched your head and thought to yourself, “How can I love my neighbor as myself?” How is that possible? We are willing to give our best, but how can we love a neighbor as ourselves? He is a neighbor; he is not me. I can love him to some extent, but I cannot love him “as myself” because he is not me. It’s as simple as that.

 

For the Jew, a neighbor is a fellow Jew, or a believer of the same God - Yehovah

The first thing to understand is that the word “neighbor” in Scripture does not just mean any X, Y, or Z.

The word that is translated as “neighbor” in English translates the Hebrew word “rea”, which means a friend, a companion.

It doesn’t just mean a next-door person necessarily, because the word “neighbor” in the Old Testament referred specifically to someone who was your friend; that is, he stood in some kind of relationship to you even if that relationship was quite distant, in the sense that you were members of the same community of people.

For a Jew, “neighbor” did not mean any foreigner, or anyone who happened to sit beside you on a bus or a subway, etc. A neighbor had to be at least a fellow Israelite, or someone who may not be an Israelite but a proselyte, that is, he had the same religion as a Jew, even though he was not a Jew.

Now this is important to understand. Even in the lord Jesus’ teaching, we find that the word “neighbor” does not mean just anyone.

For example, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Jew asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Quite rightly, the Samaritan was his neighbor. The Samaritans are very rightly the neighbors of the Jews, not only literally, by being next door to the Jews but also because they believed in the same God and they read the same Bible. In fact, they shared basically the same faith. The Samaritans were very adamant in their devotion, particularly to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. For them, the words of Moses were absolutely authoritative, far more so than Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or anyone else. Moses was the lawgiver for the Samaritans, so the Jews and Samaritans shared the same lawgiver, and they had faith in the same God. They were indeed neighbors even though the Jews hated them.

After all, there is no hate as deep as a religious hatred, as you have long discovered. The hatred between Protestants and Catholics, between even Protestants of one denomination and another, is absolutely revolting! And such was the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, and vice versa.

“Neighbor”: a fellow-Christian in the same called-out Assembly

When you look in the New Testament, you will find that the word “neighbor” means, particularly and specifically, a fellow-Christian, a member of the same local called-out Assembly, for example, not just a question of different denominations. We can see this especially in Ephesians 4:25, which says:

“Speak the truth with his neighbor, seeing that we are members of one another.”

“Neighbor” is paralleled with “members of one another,” who are members of the called-out Assembly, members of the same body.

This is very important because of these words: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

In Ephesians 5:28 and 33, do you see that it says twice to the husband that he should love his wife as himself? I hope you will notice that very carefully. It is most important to take, for example, the last verse, Ephesians 5:33 – let each one of you love his wife as himself. Why can you love your wife as yourself? He just explained in the previous verse that it’s because you two have become one body, one flesh (v. 31). That is why you can love your neighbor as yourself. If you don’t see your neighbor as being one body with yourself, of course, you wouldn’t love him as yourself. That is the whole point. You cannot give a command like “Love your neighbor as yourself” and leave it hanging in the air without a context. I cannot love my neighbor as myself if I don’t see his/her relationship to me. I can love my wife as myself because she is united in commitment to me, and I am united in commitment to her. We have been united in such a way that we have become one flesh, one body. So, in loving her, of course I am loving myself because we are one body together. But how can I love my neighbor as myself if I don’t see that he/she is one body with me?

You notice twice in this passage that the relationship we are meant to have with our neighbor parallels the relationship meant to exist between husband and wife. Can you see the parallel? It’s so deeply rooted in Scripture that it hit me with astonishing force that I had never considered my neighbor or fellow Christian as spiritually united to me in the same profound manner as my wife is physically united to me!

Look around at the people in the called-out Assembly. Is the person sitting next to me united to me as my wife is united to me? The thought is almost mind-boggling! So I have to love him/her as myself in the same way as I love my wife as myself. I love him/her spiritually, because “as myself” is the spiritual model. Note that it is not a physical connection. Can you look at each one around in the called-out Assembly and say, “I love that person because I am united to that person”? If you don’t feel united to that person, it is because you have not committed yourself to that person, and that person has not committed himself or herself to you. So, because of a lack of commitment to one another, we don’t have the sense of unity; we don’t have the love that enables us to be committed to one another. This takes place when we realize that we are one body. So, the first point is “as yourself.” We see this as true in the marriage relationship, and as true in the called-out Assembly. 

2. Love fellow Christians as husband and wife love each other

The second point is that this is possible only when we observe and accept one another as members of the same body – one body. Again, as you looked at Ephesians 5:31, “as one body” is exactly the whole basis of the marriage relationship. The two are no longer two persons but become one physical unit, one body, one flesh. And yet, in this same passage, in verses 30-31, Paul equates the unity of the called-out Assembly as one body (the Messiah’s body), to the unity found in marriage as “one flesh”.”

In the Old Testament, the word basar which is translated as “flesh” literally means body. The first definition of basar in Brown, Driver & Briggs is body. It can be translated either way you like, as flesh or body. So, husband and wife become one body. The Catholic translation of the New Jerusalem Bible, rightly translates Ephesians 5:31: husband and wife become one body. So just as husband and wife are one body, we, the called-out Assembly, are also one body. The whole terminology of Paul, time and again, concerning the called-out Assembly is that we are one body (cf. Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

However, do you feel that we are one body? Probably not. Our Christianity is far too shallow for that. Our commitment to one another is simply a courtesy commitment. There is no depth in it. We don’t realize that, being bought by the blood of the Messiah, we have been baptized by God’s Holy Spirit into one body, so that we are so united and related to one another as indeed a husband and wife would be members of one body. That is striking, isn’t it 

3. Be subject to one another, and lay down your life for one another

Let us move on to the third and final aspect of this comparison of the internal relationships of the called-out Assembly to a marriage relationship. The wife is to be subject to the husband, and the husband is to love the wife. Remarkably, this is exactly the kind of relationship which defines the relationship between the members of the called-out Assembly. Notice Ephesians 5:21, “be subject to one another out of reverence for the Messiah,” belongs to the previous passage, which is on the internal relationship of Christians, to be subject to one another. This statement is repeated throughout Paul’s epistles, so I hardly need to give you a lot of references on that.

Paul repeatedly tells Christians to regard the other more important than yourself (cf. Philippians 2:3 [NAS]), which means “be subject to” the other one. And “be subject to” in Ephesians 5:21 is the same word in Greek as is used in verse 24 concerning the relation of wife to husband.

In what way should the husband love his wife? He should love her to the extent of being willing to lay down his life for her, “as the Messiah loved the called-ut Assembly and gave himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). That is the same command given to Christians in relation to one another in 1 John 3:16, where it says we are to love one another even to the extent of laying down our lives for one another. In other words, what a husband would do for his wife is precisely what a Christian should do for a fellow-Christian. It is the same command. Isn’t that remarkable?

Now we can see from the whole Scriptural evidence that in whatever way you look at it, the marriage relationship portrays the spiritual relationship between the members of the called-out Assembly. This is how we are meant to relate to one another.

 

Giving your best to God means giving ourselves to one another!

What are we supposed to do to give our best to God? Well, “giving the best” turns out to be giving ourselves to one another, and that turns out to be not so easy to do because you might look at that fellow in the called-out Assembly and say, “Give myself to that guy? Oh no! I might accept one or two people, and I can give myself to them, but not to the others.” Now if the Messiah loved us in that way, where would our salvation be? If the Messiah looked at us and said, “I see some good fellows here; I will die for them, but the others are not worth dying for. Put them on the side.” If we treat each other this way, God will deal with us at the Judgment in the way we deal with others. What will happen to us at the Judgment? God will reject us on the same grounds we rejected others, wouldn’t he? We would be wiped out at the Judgment!

So, I hope that you and I can catch the picture of what the called-out Assembly is meant to be. It’s a very exciting picture! I think you know that we are a long way from where we need to be, but we now have a goal before us we can commit to doing. We know what we must aim for. And when we say that we are going to give our best by God’s grace, what we have to strive for by His grace in this generation, the called-out Assembly will become again what it was meant to be. We must start with the called-out Assembly.

 

God designed marriage to teach us the first step to a community

God meant the marriage relationship to be a kind of beginning in which two people begin to learn to give oneself to the other. For example, if you cannot give yourself to one person, how can you give yourself to the whole called-out Assembly? You start with one person. So, marriage was designed to teach us the first step to a community. That is the beauty of God’s plan. When you look at Genesis, that was exactly God’s plan.” What is the reason for marriage? Genesis 2:18 says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” It is not good for you to be alone spiritually. So, you have to start by entering into a relationship with someone else. You cannot do this with everyone at the same time, so you start with one person. And this is the model for us to begin in the called-out Assembly. Build a relationship with one brother or sister and then build one with another brother or sister. And then another, and another, and so the community grows.

“It is not good for man to be alone,” but if two people are in a marriage, they can still be alone in a sense. God goes on to show this in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Marriage was meant to be the beginning of a new community. “Be fruitful and multiply.” Don’t just stay as the two of you, but increase until there is a whole community of you. This is the very intention of marriage. In the same way, we are to begin by building within the called-out Assembly these kinds of commitments, beginning with one and then two.

TEMPTATION AFTER BAPTISM

What happened after the Lord Messiah Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan? He was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, while he observed a fast for 40 days.

Notice: Luke 4:1-12:

The Temptation of the lord Messiah Jesus

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, he was hungry. 3 So the devil said to him, “Since you are the Son of God, order this stone that it become bread!” 4 And Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘Man will not live on bread alone.’”

5 And he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment. 6 And the devil said to him: “I will give you all this domain and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I want. 7 So if you will pay homage before me, all this will be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered and said to him: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord- Yehovah your God, and serve only him.’”

9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and had him stand on the highest point of the temple and said to him: “Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11 and ‘on their hands they will lift you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”[Psalm 91:12] 12 And Jesus answered and said to him: “It is said, ‘You are not to put to the test the Lord- Yehovah your God.’” 13 And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a while.

Matthew 4:1-4: Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, 2 and after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. 3 And the tempter approached and said to him: “Since you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread.” 4 But he answered and said: “IT IS WRITTEN, MAN WILL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.

The lord Messiah Jesus suffered by being tempted by Satan during his 40-day fast. There are spiritual lessons we who have been baptised can learn and apply to our daily life.

Note what 1 Peter 2:21 says: “The Messiah suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” He suffered for hours when he was beaten, whipped with a cat of nine tails, and nailed to a stake, crucified. Before he died, he offered himself up to his God and his Father Yehovah as a sin-offering sacrifice, so that God could reconcile [bring back] humanity to Himself.

1. The importance of baptism and its connection with God’s Holy Spirit.

You become a true follower of the lord Messiah Jesus only when God’s Holy Spirit lives in you.

Note: Romans 8:9: But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, this person is not of him.

The question we have to ask: When do you receive the Spirit of God as a pledge, as a seal, and as an anointing? The Scriptural answer is, we receive the Spirit of God at baptism when that baptism is accompanied by faith. It is when faith is present that the baptism becomes not only meaningful but vital.

Now let’s look at some details regarding baptism: The lord Messiah Jesus tells Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” [John 3:5] Notice the importance of water. “Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5). Baptism by water alone is not enough, but “water and the Spirit,” or he will not enter the kingdom of God.

Baptism and God’s Holy Spirit are connected

John the Baptist taught in Mark 1:8: “I have baptized you with water, but he [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” The Lord Jesus is saying you need to be baptized with both water and the Holy Spirit. n fact, the Lord Jesus says again that you need both baptisms in Acts 1:5: “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” It is vitally important to know that unless you are born not only of the Spirit but also of water, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.

Baptism is: 1) cleansed by water; 2) anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel. Note: Ephesians 5:25-26 reads: Husbands, love your wives, as the Messiah loved the called-out Assembly and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Do you see this word " water " again? The lord Messiah Jesus cleanses the called-out Assembly by water and by faith in the word of God. It is not the water alone that matters, but it is the water and faith in the word of God. Paul explains this perfectly clearly. Jesus died with the very purpose that he could cleanse us, that is, make us holy. And how should we be cleansed? We are to be cleansed with the water of repentance and by faith in the word of God.

Now then, how does the lord Messiah Jesus cleanse us with the water of repentance? How does the water cleanse us with the word of God? In baptism, of course!

The apostle Paul explains this very point in Acts 22:16 because that was what he was taught at the time when he came to the lord Messiah Jesus. What was he told? In Acts 22, he was giving his own testimony - he gave his testimony three times in Acts - saying that this was what Ananias instructed when he first came to the Lord in verse 16: And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his [Jesus] name.” How do you wash away your sins? By being baptized and calling on the name of the lord Messiah Jesus.

By comparing Acts 22:16 with Ephesians 5:26, we can see that the lord Messiah Jesus offered himself up to his God and his Father Yehovah as a sin-offering sacrifice and then died that he might make us holy, “having cleansed the called-out Assembly by the washing of water with the word.” How are we cleansed? “Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the lord [Jesus].” We are washed from our sins by baptism as we call on the name of the Lord [Jesus]. That is where faith comes in.

At baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Paul experienced this very blessing in Acts 9:17 when he was baptized, and his name was still Saul.

So, Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Why did the lord Messiah Jesus send Ananias? Two things: Firstly, that the Apostle Paul may regain his sight, because he was blinded when the lord Messiah Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Secondly, that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit. How was Ananias going to help Paul to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ananias laid hands on him at his baptism, and that was how he was filled with the Spirit. Read verse 18: And immediately something like scales fell off his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized.

Using the lord Messiah Jesus as the reference point, when was he anointed? He was anointed in the River Jordan when he was baptized by John the Baptist, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him bodily.

What happened after the lord Messiah Jesus’ baptism? He went forth to preach the gospel. He says a few verses later, in Luke 4:18a, where he quotes Isaiah 61:1-2:

“The Spirit of the Lord- Yehovah is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news (the gospel) to the poor.”

Why was he preaching the gospel? He had been anointed to preach the gospel at his baptism. Why did he not preach the gospel before that? He had not been baptised and anointed. Now that he was baptised and anointed by God’s Spirit, he could go forth to preach the gospel.

2. After baptism comes temptation

God allows temptation of the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus, after baptism, so they can learn obedience.

What happens after you have been baptized, after your sins have been washed away, as you have called on the name of the Lord- Yehovah God committing yourself totally to him as Lord and Master of your life? Acts 22:16. Luke 4:1 and Matthew 4:1 tell us that after being baptised comes temptation. Know that soon after your baptism, you are going to find that the enemy [Satan] starts putting pressure on you to cause you to fail or fall away. All the followers of the lord Messiah Jesus are targeted by Satan to try to get them to fail in their total commitment to the Lord God- Yehovah- and to give up and fall away.

Why does God allow you to be tempted after baptism? For many reasons, but above all, that you may be strengthened by learning obedience through suffering. You must learn. Your profession of commitment is going to be tested. After you are baptized, you are in spiritual warfare, but you need not be afraid.

It is only in battle that you will know how strong you are in the lord Messiah Jesus. It is only when your strength is put to the test that you realize what strength you really have, because of the indwelling of the Spirit of God. It is through winning spiritual battles that you grow spiritually. it is through winning spiritual battles that you grow spiritually. Notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13: God will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to bear.

Satan attacks after every spiritual blessing

Every time a blessing comes, say: “Ah, the attack is going to come! Get ready for it!” Remember what the apostle James says in James 4:7: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Realize God watches over you as the apple of his eye. Bear the reality of spiritual warfare carefully in mind, knowing that your God and Father Yehovah is with you every step of the way.

Anticipate and understand how Satan attacks to ward him off

It is not enough to know that you are going to be tempted, but to know how Satan will tempt you; then you will know how to ward him off.

Temptation 1: Satan will try to influence you to let legitimate physical and material desires control your spiritual life

The meaning of being anointed by God’s Spirit is that God gives you a certain authority. When you were anointed (receiving the gift of the Spirit of God at baptism), what did you get? Among other things, you got the authority to become a child of God. That is what John says: “As many as believed in Him, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). The word “right,” in fact, is the Greek word “authority.” You have been given the authority, the right to become children of God; you may exercise that right. There is a right way to exercise your anointing, and there is a wrong way to do it. The whole point of Satan’s temptation is to get you to do it in the wrong way. Understand that very carefully.

The temptation is that you should use your new spiritual power of anointing to get material benefit. Now that is a very serious temptation. It is to make the flesh dominate over the spirit, to make the flesh the motivation for whatever you do, and if you fall for that temptation, you are back under sin, back in the world, and you have gone back under the control of the flesh. That is the subtle temptation of Satan: Let the flesh determine your action!

Notice that it is the temptation to meet a legitimate physical need. The temptation to sin is not obvious at all, and you are going to find that the most dangerous temptation. The dangerous temptation is not an obvious appeal to do something evil. It is to use what is not bad in itself to slowly draw your spiritual life under the control of your physical desires and needs. Seek God’s direction over your physical desires and needs; follow His lead in knowing what to do.

Countermeasure 1: Always do God’s will

Pray to God and let Him know, “Lord, I desire nothing but to do your will.” If you want to serve God, the only thing that matters as a disciple is to have God in your life. Look for the power of the Spirit.

Countermeasure 2: Fast to bring your flesh under control

Fasting gives you the power to exercise discipline over your flesh. The whole meaning of Jesus fasting in the wilderness was, in fact, to make Satan’s temptation less effective against him. Satan attacks you through your flesh. Then how do you deal with temptation? You fast to bring the flesh under control. Once you learn to control the flesh through fasting, Satan’s means of attacking you are greatly reduced because you have disciplined the flesh. The undisciplined flesh is the surest weapon in Satan’s hands. That is why Satan always uses your flesh to target you. The spiritual man disciplines the flesh. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:27 that he gives himself black eyes, or he brings his flesh under control. You must learn to fast! Learn to bring your flesh under control by fasting. That is what the lord Messiah Jesus did.

The Lord Jesus fasted for forty days because he was a man trained to fast. The Son of God knew what it was to discipline the flesh. That is why he could fight the spiritual warfare against Satan so effectively. Through the whole period of forty days of temptation, he fasted, shutting off his flesh to the attacks of the enemy, thus greatly reducing Satan’s capabilities against him. The man of God is hard to attack because he has got his flesh so well under control.

Countermeasure 3: Feed on God’s word

We come to our final point in Luke 4:1-4. The lord Messiah Jesus answers Satan from Deuteronomy 8:3, saying:

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 KJV).

1. Spiritual life depends on God’s Word to live

Just as you have to live physically by eating food, you have to live spiritually by eating the word of God.

2. Grow spiritually by feeding on God’s word or die

Secondly, it is not enough just to be born again in the spiritual life. If you are going to continue to grow spiritually, you must eat the word of God. It is wonderful to be born spiritually, but you must feed on God’s Word if you are going to survive.

Peter says: “Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk” (cf. 1 Peter 2:2). What is that milk? The word of God! That is the way you can live and grow.

3. Always do God’s word in your life

What does it mean to feed on God’s Word? Feeding upon God’s Word means doing it, not just reading it. You don’t actually live spiritually until you live according to God’s Word. That is very important. Feeding on God’s Word is not just to understand or know it, it is to live it! Conform your life to God’s word.

Summary

Baptism is essential. It is being cleansed by water and anointed with the Spirit of God – that is, given God’s authority to preach the gospel.

After baptism comes temptation. Satan’s first principle of attack is to tempt you to put your personal, material, worldly, fleshly desires above the spiritual.

How then shall we meet temptation? First, by always doing God’s will, and so be filled with his Holy Spirit. Remember the first words in Luke 4:1-2: “And Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days into the wilderness, tempted by the devil.”

We are not going to fight the spiritual warfare in our own strength. We are given the Spirit of God to overcome temptation.

The second thing is: bring your body under control, and fasting is a very useful means. It is not the only means, but it is a useful means. Exercise is a way of disciplining your body. Do you let yourself get sloppy? Jog, cycle, run, or do some light weight-lifting if you like. Whatever the exercise, get your body under control. The athlete controls his body. But use fasting also wisely, moderately, to bring the body under control.

Finally, feed constantly on God’s Word by living out the spiritual principles in your life. Then you will experience God’s power in your life.

THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL VISION IS DOING GOD’S WILL

The Scripture says the Word of God is a two-edged sword, and a sword is not for playing games. A sword pierces into the heart, as Scripture says, and reveals a person’s innermost thoughts. That can either bring life or heal, just like when an operating knife removes a tumor or whatever it is, or it can kill your old life. No one who wields the sword of the Spirit is likely to be popular.

North America does not have the preconditions for having spiritual vision. A very small minority of people can hear the Word and catch the vision.

PREREQUISITES FOR HAVING THE VISION OF GOD- YEHOVAH         1. Be baptized: Be determined to do God’s will, whatever it costs.

This message is based on Matthew 3:13-4:17:

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS

3 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him: “Permit it now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted him. 16 Now after he was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming upon him. 17 And behold, there was a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

THE TEMPTATION OF THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS

Matthew 4: Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, 2 and after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. 3 And the tempter approached and said to him: “If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread.” 4 But he answered and said: “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the highest point of the temple 6 and said to him: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will lift you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus said to him: “On the other hand it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord- Yehovah your God to the test.’” 8 Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him: “I will give to you all these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord- Yehovah your God, and serve only him.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and began ministering to him.

First, this passage begins with the baptism of Jesus. The spiritual life begins with baptism. If you don’t begin at baptism, you don’t begin at all. Baptism is the first step for anyone, and Jesus is no exception. Therefore, at the baptism of Jesus, John the Baptist said to Jesus, “You shouldn’t be coming to me to be baptized. I should be baptized by you.” The first recorded words of Jesus that we have when he began his ministry are: “LET IT BE SO NOW.” That is, “You baptize me because it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” What does “fulfill all righteousness” mean? In simple language, Jesus was saying to John the Baptist, “The question is not that I am superior to you but let us do God’s will so that we fulfill all righteousness.”

THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL VISION, THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL LIFE IS DOING THE WILL OF GOD- YEHOVAH

Doing God’s will fulfills all righteousness; not fulfilling His will is not fulfilling all righteousness. No one gets into the kingdom of God except on this one condition that is fulfilled in Jesus’ baptism: Be baptized because it is God’s will. The life of a follower of the lord Messiah Jesus is about wholeheartedly, joyfully doing God’s will. The first thing the lord Messiah Jesus did in order to do God’s will, he was baptized, and this is how Jesus begins to “fulfill all righteousness.” Do you want to do that? Unlessm first and foremost, there is the precondition to do God’s–Yehovah’s will, whatever it costs, there’s no sense in talking about vision.

2. OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS THAT BLOCK DOING GOD’S WILL

There is actually no break between Jesus’ baptism and the temptation. Immediately after his baptism comes the temptation. The second point is this: the moment you want to do God’s will, as Jesus does, temptation comes straight away, trying to stop you in your tracks. If you stand on your ground and say: “I will do God’s will!” Satan will come in, and he will work on you, tempting you and try to turn you off course. If Satan turns you a little bit, you will miss the mark.

3. REPENT: TURN FROM HUMAN VALUES TO GOD’S VALUES

The third thing that we notice is Jesus’ proclamation of God’s kingdom in Matthew 4:17: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” “Repent” means more than feeling sorry for having sinned; it means turning around completely. The Greek word is metanoia, the change of mind. Repentance revolutionizes your thinking. And there is no revolution under the sun that man has ever devised that is as radical as the teaching of the lord Messiah Jesus.

Repentance is turning completely away from human values to God’s values, which is impossible for man. No one who has been in touch with God- Yehovah in the lord Messiah Jesus’ life and teaching has ever been the same again. He becomes a totally changed person. The revolution takes place from within as you are enabled by God’s Spirit to be completely changed, converted. Why does Jesus preach about repentance?

Why do we need to turn completely around? It is because of God’s kingdom. What is the kingdom? What does it achieve? Where is it going? And what will be the final outcome of this scenario at the end of the days? The kingdom of God is the central element of the New Testament. The message the lord Messiah Jesus brought was the good news of the coming Kingdom [kingship] of God. It is the message of salvation!

4. RESPOND TO BECOME A DISCIPLE

After the proclamation of the kingdom, that is, the preaching of the sovereignty of God, there comes the calling of the disciples. In other words, God needs to involve us in that project, and that’s where vision comes in. If that vision can be passed to us, and it can be passed to us, we will follow Him. When the first disciples caught the vision, the world went aflame, and 2,000 years on, the gospel keeps on moving. There are live parts of the called-out Assembly that continue the work.

5. FOLLOW GOD’S WILL AND EXPERIENCE THE INDWELLING POWER OF HIS SPIRIT IN YOUR INNER BEING

The power of the kingdom of God goes into action in the world when the disciples follow His will. All those who have walked in the will of God have experienced that power of the kingdom of God. The sick are healed, the dead are raised, demons are cast out, and all kinds of miracles start happening. He works only when there is a need, and when compassion calls for it.

6. LIVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE THAT GOD STIPULATES

The powerful teaching of the lord Messiah Jesus about what kind of people are in the kingdom of God is found in Matthew chapters 5 to 7. The lord Messiah Jesus tells us what the quality of life is that God expects of those who are committed to doing His will. Matthew Chapter 8 to the end of Matthew Chapter 28 tell you the implementation of the kingdom of God. I point to the following pre-conditions because you must fulfill these requirements in order to have the vision of the kingdom of God.

HINDRANCES THAT BLOCK OUT OUR VISION

1. MATERIALISM

We will return to the part about temptation, and I would like you to notice three things about how Satan tempted the lord Messiah Jesus. Many people have fallen from the faith because they were no match for Satan’s skill and cunning, and because within their hearts there was a readiness to respond to Satan’s temptations.

The three temptations of the lord Messiah Jesus in the wilderness:

THE THREE TEMPTATIONS

1.   Turn stones into bread: Satan told Jesus to use His divine power to satisfy His extreme physical hunger. Jesus replied that human life depends on God's word, not just food.

2. Throw Himself from the temple: Satan dared Jesus to jump from the highest point of the temple and trust God to save Him using Scripture. Jesus answered that Scripture also warns against putting God to the test.

3. Worship Satan for worldly kingdoms: Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and offered them to him in exchange for worship. Jesus ordered Satan to leave, stating that people must worship and serve God alone.

These tests challenged Jesus' physical needs, trust in God, and obedience to His mission over worldly power. Jesus resisted every temptation by quoting passages from the Book of Deuteronomy.

The need for bread is the essence of materialism. The great problem about the first-world countries is that we are full of good things, full of materialism, which is why people from poor countries want to immigrate to first-world countries.

Notice: The more you have of the world, the more the world has of you. No one who is so possessed by the materialism of the world has any vision.

 Materialism. The world. What is the world? In the Bible, the world is simply a system in which Satan controls you without you knowing it. He uses materialism and other things that we will come to, and you don’t even know that you are being controlled. That’s called “insidious.” Satan doesn’t want you to know that he exists. Then he works quietly. It’s dreadful, isn’t it? The world is insidious.

The world is a system of thought, government, and society where Satan gets you to believe that you are doing what you really want to do, and that it is very good for you. Look at yourself and see how much materialism is a factor in your life. The interesting thing about materialism is you will never be satisfied. There’s no limit. That’s how it works – insidiously. You don’t realize you are being pushed along by this hidden force of greed. That’s all it is, but you call it “security.” “Security” sounds much nicer than “greed,” doesn’t it? The word is “greed.”

2. RELIGION – A CORRUPTED CHRISTIANITY

The second temptation is: religion. The world exploits everything, including religion. Religion is a tremendous power, and the world knows that you can’t stand up against such a power. What do you do? You assimilate it to your own purpose. We have to know that Christianity, as a religious system, is very powerful in North America, in the United States in particular, because the majority of people are Christians in one sense or another, and they can put you in office if you get their votes, or you don’t stand a chance if you don’t.

YOU WILL HAVE VISION IF YOU CONSTANTLY COMMIT TO DO GOD’S WILL

This means that every true Christian has to be in touch with God. Why am I convinced that God is real? It’s because I know God tells me what I need to do, what I may do or may not do to keep in the center of his will. As His creatures, we are committed to doing His will. We don’t have to wait until we are regenerate followers of the lord Messiah Jesus.

First, we do His will, then He reveals Himself to us. “If any man does the will of my Father, he will know whether the teaching is from God.” (John 7:17). The more you are committed to doing God’s will, the more you will experience that He is real. The more you experience him, the more you are committed to doing his will. And so this cycle gets more and more intense.

If you have that pre-condition to do his will, you will have vision, and the vision gets clearer and stronger. I stress again that you say, “I am ready, O God, to do your will,” just as Jesus said, “I have come to do your will,” in Hebrews 10:7. Constantly commit to doing God’s will.

We have a Christianity that only wants the promises but none of the conditions. Christianity is corrupted.

As soon as you begin working and money starts flowing into your bank account, causing it to grow, “the world has more of you and God has less of you” – the world gains a greater hold on you while your relationship with God weakens.

2. DEMOCRACY – THE WILL AND POWER OF THE PEOPLE

First, we saw materialism locks out vision. Secondly, we saw religion; a corrupted Christianity does that too. Let me come to the third hindrance that blocks out vision. What is in the third temptation of Jesus?

Matthew 4:8-9 reads: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and pay homage to me.” Satan was saying to Jesus, “Give me some honor, give me some face, and I will give you all the kingdoms.” Is he bluffing? No, Satan is the fundamental power behind all earthly power. But the earthly powers neither want to know it nor believe it. What does it mean?

If we can’t succeed in our earthly goals by materialism, by our own effort and gifts, if we can’t succeed by even using religion, then if you are desperate enough, just give Satan some honor, and he will give you what you want. You can only thank God that God himself is a far greater power than Satan. Foolish are the people who turn to Satan rather than to God. In North America, Satanism - even in its undercover forms such as spiritism and the New Age - is widespread. Satan says, “Just give me a bit of honor, and I’ll give you what you want. I have the power to do it.” And he does. To have the kingdoms of this world is to have power, control, ability to do your will.

What is the kingdom of God? We are using an archaic word, “kingdom.” It should be the reign of God over mankind. It has to do with his “sovereignty,” also an archaic word. “The kingdom of God” means God’s power reigning in the world and in your life. In the Bible, there is only theocracy, that is, the power of God. “theo” from the Greek word theos means God, and “cracy” from kratos in Greek means power. The Bible only knows the power of God. You have two choices: either you choose human power and authority as the ultimate power on earth, which is the present reality, or you choose God’s kingship.

ISRAEL THREW OUT THEOCRACY

Israel was a theocratic state in the beginning. God ruled Israel through his representative, Moses. Moses only did what God commanded him to do. If you don’t have this kind of person, obviously, you cannot run a theocracy. But eventually, Israel liked to be like other nations who had kings adorned in magnificent attire, extravagance, and ceremonial splendor. The servant of God, Moses, was always humble and meek. There was no glory of a monarch who rode in chariots and marched with armies to show to the nations. They had a man of God but no pomp and grandeur. They had justice and truth but none of the trappings of the world.

Finally, they wanted to get rid of theocracy. They wanted to have a king who could go around behaving like the kings of other nations, and in the end the kings of Israel became as corrupt as the kings of other nations. Eventually, Israel got what they wanted: their king who behaved like a king of any other nation. Ultimately, God was pushed out, as they turned to idolatry. Theocracy was pushed further and further away until Israel perished as a nation. If God had not had mercy upon them and raised them out of the grave after 2,000 years, there wouldn’t be an Israel left. Do they worship God in Israel now? No. Do they love God now as they did in the time of Moses? No. That is the State of Israel today.

DEMOCRACY IS GOOD FOR THE AFFLUENT, NOT THE POOR

Democracy is wonderful as long as you have the financial means to sustain your livelihood. Democracy is wonderful when you live in an affluent country like Canada. Very often, people don’t bother to vote. Who cares who is in government? You just give me my social benefits and don’t you touch that. If you do, I’ll throw you out in the next election. That’s the point: The people do have power. Psychologically, what occurs is that the respect for authority diminishes to the extent that there is no longer any respect for authority. That means gradually we have no respect for authority because the power is in our hands, and we transfer this mentality into our relationship with God. That is terrifying!

A REVERENCE FOR GOD DOES NOT EXIST

“What is man,” Scripture says, “that you are mindful of him?” We have grown up in an environment that is inimical to reverence for God. The fear of God doesn’t exist anymore in the churches. I don’t see anyone fearing God. I have reverence for God because I know His power. I know who He is. The precondition for vision, which comes with a reverence for God, does not exist. We cannot have vision because the precondition doesn’t exist. The world has gone into us so insidiously, even as Christians, that we are not even aware of it. Therefore, I don’t blame you if you are not aware of what’s going on. It’s just like cancer working. You don’t even know it’s there. In our democracy, where we exercise our power, the ideals of materialism, comfort, and ease have shaped our thinking since our youth.

Without vision, the people die of spiritual starvation (Proverbs 29:18)

CLOSING PRAYER

O God, in these days when it is so difficult to know you, to have a vision of yourself, to experience you in your reality and power, when the world tries to beckon us from this and that direction with all its charms and fascinations. God, may it be that in these last days, perhaps you will still raise up one or two people, or even three or four, who will say, “O God, even in this situation, I just want to do your will.” And we know that you will give your vision to such a person. Hear our prayer. Amen.

SUBMISSION TO GOD’S WILL FULFILLS ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS

Matthew 3:13-17: 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it now, for in this way IT IS RIGHT FOR US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Then he permitted him. 16 Now after he was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming upon him. 17 And behold, there was a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Remember when the lord Messiah Jesus was 12 years old; he told his parents, who had been looking for him, and found him in the Temple: “I must be about my Father’s business.”

WHY DID THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS SUBMIT HIMSELF TO JOHN’S BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE?

These words, “I must be about my Father’s business,” sum up, in essence, the spirit of the Lord Messiah Jesus, his character, and the direction of his ministry; therefore, it contains a very important spiritual principle which indicates the secret of the Lord Messiah Jesus’ power as our redeemer.

THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS’ BAPTISM CHARACTERIZES HIS DISCIPLES' BAPTISM

We have to point out that John’s baptism is not identical to Christian baptism. This distinction is clearly made even in Acts 19:1-6: And it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland regions and came down to Ephesus and found some disciples. 2 And he said to them: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him: “But we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said: “Into the baptism of John.” 4 And Paul said: “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who was to come after him - that is, in Jesus.” 5 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

That Paul baptized again those who were baptized with John’s baptism in the name of Jesus. He pointed out to them that the baptism of John was of a preliminary character. It was not equivalent to, and not adequate for, Christian baptism.

THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS IDENTIFIED HIMSELF WITH SINFUL MAN.

Why did the Lord Jesus come to John the Baptist to be baptized? It was in order to identify himself with sinful man. It finds its justification in the words of the lord Messiah Jesus’ reply when John the Baptist prevented him: “It is fitting for us.” He did not say, “It is fitting for me,” but “It is fitting for us.” By using the word “us,” he identifies himself with John the Baptist and with mankind generally.

It is quite correct to say that he accepted this baptism as a man. He identified himself with sinful mankind generally, because unless he did identify himself with us, how would he die for our sins? He had to be a man to die for us. “He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11), to be associated with being one of us. Although we are sinners, he identified himself with sinners.

SPIRITUAL REASONS FOR JESUS’ SUBMISSION TO JOHN’S BAPTISM

Jesus submitted to the baptism of repentance to fulfill God’s ordinance.

We see here “the Lamb of God,” at a little over thirty years old, relying totally on the power of God in him to live a life without sin.

John the Baptist was an impressive figure of a man – a prophet of Israel. Israel had not seen a prophet in Israel for over 400 years. No wonder this man caused quite a stir. But he himself confessed that not only was he not the Messiah, but also was unworthy even to be a slave of the Messiah, to untie the leather latches of Jesus’ sandals. He only recognized himself as being a servant who prepared the way for the Messiah. You read this in the passage just before the one we are studying now, where he spoke of his own ministry.

Then, when he saw Jesus, he recognized him as someone whose righteousness was greater than his own. When Jesus came to him, he said, “I should not be baptizing you. You should not be submitting to my baptism, to my ministry. I should be submitting to you, to your ministry.” He recognized that Jesus was far greater than himself when, after he had baptised the lord Messiah Jesus, he witnessed Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming upon him. 17 And behold, there was a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” When John the Baptist heard God say, “This is my beloved Son,” he realized Jesus was the Messiah.

The question is: Why does the greater submit to the lesser?

The Lord’s teaching, “Let it be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” shows us his character and the spirit in which he was to become the God-sent Savior of the world. If only we can capture the spirit of the lord Messiah Jesus.

When we study the Bible, our focus should be on entering into the spirit of what God- Yehovah wants to reveal to us. The apostle Paul says, “the letter kills (and it can kill), but the Spirit makes alive” (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6: 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also makes us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Can you see the beauty of the Spirit revealed here? The greater submits to the lesser. That is the pattern of Jesus’ ministry all along: the greater submits to the lesser. He could easily have said, “This is a baptism of repentance.” Which of you convicts me of sin? You admit that I have no sin; therefore, I don’t need this baptism.” But Jesus will submit to the baptism of repentance if it is an ordinance of God.

THE CENTRAL DISEASE OF CHRISTENDOM: REFUSAL TO LEARN TO BE SUBMISSIVE

Christians often say: “I believe in God and in Jesus Christ, but why do I need to be baptized? I don’t need baptism.” What a striking contrast! Jesus, who really did not need to be baptized in the sense of a legal obligation, yet committed himself to be baptism. But these sinners don’t feel they need to be baptized because, in their minds, baptism is not essential. The one who [Jesus] does not need to be baptized nonetheless submits to baptism, and those who most urgently need to be baptized do not regard it as important for themselves to be baptized. They have not yet understood the spirit of the Messiah.

There is something like mankind that refuses to submit, that will always argue: “Why is this and that necessary? Why does God make this ordinance? It’s not fair that wives should obey husbands. People who claim to be Christians have not learned or understood the Spirit of God that guided the lord Messiah Jesus in all he said and did.

The lord Messiah Jesus refused to take any glory to himself. Rather, he humbled himself. He did not say to John the Baptist, “I am greater than you. Why should I submit to your baptism?” On the contrary, when John objected, he pleaded with God’s servant, “John, tolerate it now. Even if you don’t like the idea of my submitting to your baptism, please accept it all the same. Allow me to be baptized by you.” Oh, that touches the heart! The greater submits and pleads to be accepted into the ministry of the inferior.

IN SERVING GOD, YOU WILL OFTEN BE MISUNDERSTOOD, AS THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS WAS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD.

In serving God, you are going to be misunderstood, time and time again. Your purest motives will be misinterpreted. When you preach from the purest motives, even your preaching will be misinterpreted.

Notice: John 10:2-5: 2 But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 For this one the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 Whenever he sends out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 And they will never follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Our prayer should be: “Lord Messiah Jesus, help me always be your sheep, listening to your voice, following after you, just as you follow after your God and Father Yehovah.”

The lord Messiah Jesus was not afraid to be misunderstood. People will distort what you do or preach out of the purest motives to attack you. Don’t let their actions discourage you.

JESUS SUBMITTED AS THE GREATER TO THE LESSER

The lord Messiah Jesus was concerned with right­eousness. His desire was to fulfill God’s righteous ordinance of repentance, which could only be achieved by submission to John’s baptism of repentance. Have you got this heart of submission? If not, don’t be in God’s work because there is no future whatsoever for you there.

If Jesus had not entered into his ministry with a complete willingness to submit to God and to John the Baptist, who was inferior to him but still a servant of God, he would not have been chosen by God to become the Savior of the world. You must learn this attitude of submission if you are going to serve God and to experience God’s fullness and power in the life of a disciple of the lord Messiah Jesus.

Let us always ask for God’s help to always treat others as better than ourselves. This is the attitude of submission.

GOD CLEARS THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS

What about being misunderstood then? When we walk with God, trust him to work out all the misunderstandings. And that is precisely what God does. Notice what happens when the lord Messiah Jesus comes out of the water after he was baptized. A voice from heaven speaks, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Some people thought it was thundering. It was God speaking! God put his seal upon the lord Messiah Jesus. Why? It’s precisely because he submitted so completely as a servant to the servant of God, John the Baptist.

JESUS HUMILITY: SUBMITTING TO JOHN THE BAPTIST, A SINFUL MAN.

Notice the Lord Jesus’ humility as he came voluntarily to John the Baptist and asked to receive his baptism. That deeply impresses me. The more I ponder the Lamb of God receiving baptism at the hands of a sinful man, the more I am humbled!

John the Baptist was a great servant of God- Yehovah, but he had very serious faults that the Bible points out. In Matthew Chapter 11, we notice that John completely faded in his spiritual courage. It is disappointing to see, but it’s nonetheless true. In Matthew 11:3, you will read that as John the Baptist sat in prison, somehow, he wavered, and he sent a messenger to the lord Messiah Jesus saying, “Are you he who is to come, or do we look for someone else?” Alas! The great servant of God, John the Baptist, wavered! He took offense at Jesus at the critical moment, so that the Lord Jesus had to say in verse 6, “Blessed is he who is not offended by me.”

The Lord Messiah Jesus still held John in esteem even though he wavered (cf. Matthew 21:25). He still spoke of him as that mighty servant of God. Jesus reveals Yahweh God, who lives in him, who does not estimate us according to our weaknesses and failings. God remains constant and unchanging towards us, while we may change in our relationship to him. Isn’t that beautiful!

The Bible tells us frankly, that John the Baptist, great as he was, hesitated towards the end. But still, the Lord Jesus came to this man of God and submitted to his ministry, not because John the Baptist was an incomparably wonderful person with no faults and failings. Not at all! But it was because he was a servant of God, and because God’s ordinance of repentance was being fulfilled through John the Baptist’s baptism. These things are deep for us to understand.

THE LORD MESSIAH JESUS CALLED FOR REPENTANCE AS HE SUBMITTED TO A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE

The Lord Jesus never asked anyone else to do something that he himself did not do. When Jesus called others to repentance, he himself had submitted to a baptism of repentance. Repentance means a total change of mind.

The lord Messiah Jesus did not change his mind regarding sin, but he did make a change after his baptism and his victorious battle with Satan in the wilderness. From this point on, he gave up his secular job as a carpenter; he left his home and made a very fundamental change – the time had come for him to go forth to preach the gospel, the good news about the Kingdom of God, the message of salvation.

JESUS’ CONSTANT OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WILL FULFILLS ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS

This is the keynote which marks the whole of the lord Messiah Jesus’ ministry, and he preached it not so much in words as by his life in submitting himself to a servant of God, John the Baptist, far inferior to himself. He submitted all the same to fulfill all righteousness.  Righteousness was his central concern.

How do you fulfill all righteousness? It is fulfilled only through total submission to God and to all his ordinances, to his servants, to his people. That is something we all need to learn because our whole nature rebels against it. We want to stand up for ourselves. We want to be number one. In fact, “number one” is the term for “you” in today’s language. The carnal natural man thinks of himself as number one.

The lord Messiah Jesus submitted himself to every institution and ordinance of God. It has been noticed, for example, that although the lord Messiah Jesus was without sin, he partook of the Passover sacrifice nonetheless; isn’t it remarkable? Although God sent him to be the Redeemer, Mary offered the prescribed offerings for sin: the redemption of the firstborn. He fulfilled every ordinance of God. Although he had no sin, he submitted to the baptism of repentance, but that did not import sin into his life, did it? Of course not! What it shows is his obedience to the will of God. He has given us an example to follow in his footsteps.

OBEY THE WILL OF GOD- YEHOVAH AND GOD WILL BECOME REAL TO YOU

Practice obeying the will of God- Yehovah in your life; We should continuously submit ourselves to every commandment of God, and submit more fully to him. That secret may be hard to practice, but it’s so simple. You will find that if you do this, there will be power in your life, and joy of fellowship with God. God will become real to you. Then you will experience a new joy, a new power, a new fellowship with God- Yehovah.

HE WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS

Try living in submission to God- Yehovah, obeying all the words He gave the lord Messiah Jesus to give to us, and He will answer your prayers beyond all your expectations! He will overwhelm you with His kindness as you live in submission to Him, doing His will in your life.