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In this message we come to the actual anointing of the King (Matt. 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.” It is not easy to see why Jesus came not from Bethlehem but from Galilee and not to Jerusalem but 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. If you came out of Bethlehem, everyone would honor you and give you a warm 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. All those who come to the Lord’s recovery do not come from Bethlehem; rather, they come from Galilee. 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. Even if the president of a nation took the way of the church, he would also have to be one coming from Galilee to the Jordan. Throughout my years of watching and observing, I have seen that those of a high rank who turned to the way of the church were despised and rejected by today’s religion and culture. I am quite certain that if you are still honored and welcomed by today’s religion and culture, you are not on the way from Galilee to the Jordan. 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. Even if there were no opposition to the Lord’s recovery but rather a high appraisal from every Christian organization, the number of those who would turn to the way of the church would still be about the same as it is today, simply because the way of the church is a narrow way. When some consider the church, they may say, “This is the kingdom of the heavens. Certainly this way must be very high.” Although this way is high, it is not high according to your concept. Instead, it is a highway from Galilee to the Jordan.
As we have pointed out, Jordan 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. We all need to say to those who despise and reject us, “Farewell. I shall not seek to be welcomed by you. I am going to the place where I can be terminated and germinated.” In the church life there is no honor; instead, there is termination. Day by day we are terminated. In the church we have a mutual termination. We terminate one another every day, even every hour. But it is a good thing to be terminated. Termination is not the end; it is the beginning, because termination always leads to germination. Therefore, we can testify that every termination becomes a germination.
Sometimes the sisters say, “Brother Lee, the church life is wonderful, but it is often difficult for us sisters. We know that the brothers are the head and that we sisters must submit to them. The brothers are good, but they are too strong. We just cannot take it. Many times they have nearly killed us.” Whenever I hear this, I say, “Isn’t that good? How good it is to be terminated. Isn’t it good for the sisters to be killed by the brothers?”
A few years ago I was invited to a certain church. The brothers there told me that the sisters were so emotional and opinionated that they found it very difficult to have fellowship with them. They simply did not know how to handle the situation. Several days later some of the very sisters in question invited me to lunch. Their purpose in doing so was to have an opportunity to express their opinion. They told me their patience was exhausted because the brothers were so strong. They wanted me to give them the way to go on. Several days earlier I had been pressed by the brothers, but now I was being pressed by the sisters. I saw what a serious and terrible termination that was for both the brothers and the sisters. Both the brothers and the sisters were being terminated. But that mutual termination is very positive. Do you not love to be terminated? 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.
When new ones come into the church life, they may say, “Hallelujah! I have seen the church life! How wonderful!” Whenever I hear this, I say within, “Yes, it is wonderful, but wait awhile. Sooner or later, this wonderful church life will terminate you.” In the church life I have been terminated dozens of times. I have experienced at least ten major terminations. I was terminated in Chefoo, Shanghai, Taipei, Manila, Los Angeles, and Anaheim. The marvelous church life is surely a terminating life. The wonderful church life terminates us all. Be prepared to be terminated. Those who have been in the church life for just a short time are probably still on their church honeymoon. The honeymoon is fine. But as every married couple knows, the honeymoon eventually turns into termination. Nearly every husband has terminated his wife, and every wife has terminated her husband. But this termination is very positive because it brings in germination. Hallelujah, termination issues in resurrection!
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. I assure you that whatever you are, whatever you have, and whatever you can do will all be terminated. It may take a history of ten years in the church to accomplish this. Those who have been in the church for ten years can testify that every part of their being has been terminated. The longer we stay in the church, the more we are terminated. At first, the experience of termination is bitter. But later it becomes sweet. For me today it is sweet to be terminated. After a number of years of being terminated in the church life, you will be happy to be terminated. At first when you are terminated in the church life, you feel ashamed. Gradually, however, it becomes a sweet experience for you. 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. From the time I came into the church life, I have been brought to the Lord again and again. Day after day, the church life brings me to Christ, and it brings Christ the King to me. Eventually, the kingdom is here. This is the reason the church life is the kingdom.
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. My experience told me that the teaching I received from the Brethren regarding the kingdom was not accurate. According to my experience, I knew I was in 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. Because they have not been terminated, some Christian teachers say that the kingdom has been suspended until some future time. They have not been brought to the King, and the King has not been brought to them. Thus, in their daily experience they do not have the kingdom. However, after you have been terminated on the way from Galilee to the Jordan, both the King and the kingdom will be present.
The Lord Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. As a man, the Lord Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist according to God’s New Testament way. Of the four Gospels only John’s does not give a record of the Lord being baptized, because he testifies that the Lord is God. Verse 13 does not say that Jesus came to John to be sanctified; it says that He came to be baptized. Although every Christian likes to be sanctified, no one likes to be baptized in the sense of being terminated and buried. To be baptized is to be terminated. If I told you that the church will not sanctify you, but rather terminate you, you would turn away from the church and say, “I don’t want to stay here. I want to be sanctified. I want the church to make me more holy.” But the church will not firstly make you more holy; it will terminate you again and again. The church is not firstly a sanctifying church, but a baptizing church. Consider the case of the Lord Jesus. He was the true Shepherd. A shepherd always takes the lead. As the Shepherd-King, the Lord Jesus took the lead to walk from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized. He did not come to the Jordan to be enthroned, but to be put to death, to be buried.
Verses 14 and 15 say, “But John would have prevented Him, saying, I have need to be baptized by You, and You are coming to me? But Jesus answering said to him, Permit it now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he permitted Him.” John did not understand very well, He wondered how Jesus could be baptized by him, and he thought that he should have been baptized by Jesus. This indicates that John was still somewhat in his natural life. Although he had been soaked in the Holy Spirit for more than thirty years, some natural element still remained. His word in verse 14 was uttered according to his natural concept. Thus, in answering him the Lord seemed to say, “You must permit Me to be baptized. Don’t frustrate Me by your natural concept. Do not think that because I am mightier than you I don’t need to be baptized by you. Permit Me to be baptized so that we may 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.
Righteousness is a matter of being right with God. Suppose God opens a door in the ceiling of a room and says that this is the proper way to enter the room. Anyone who does not enter the room through that door is not right with God. Perhaps you would say, “I don’t agree with entering the room through that door. According to my concept, this door is not right. The front door or the side door is the right door.” Your way may be right in your eyes, but not in God’s eyes. Righteousness is not a matter of your opinion; it is a matter of God’s ordination.
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. Otherwise, He would have lacked the righteousness of passing through this doorway. After the Lord answered him in such a way, John understood and baptized Him.
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 Lord Jesus, as the King of the heavenly kingdom, took the lead to be terminated. In this way He fulfilled righteousness in the eyes of God. Thus, He was the right person to establish the kingdom of the heavens.
The Lord was baptized not only to fulfill righteousness according to God’s ordination, but also to allow Himself to be put into death and resurrection that He might minister, not in a natural way, but in the way of resurrection. By being baptized He lived and ministered in resurrection even before His actual death and resurrection three and a half years later. According to our understanding, the Lord Jesus was put to death on the cross and resurrected on the third day. But in the eyes of God and according to the Lord’s realization, He was put to death three and a half years before His crucifixion. Before He began His ministry, He was already put to death and resurrected. Thus, He did not minister in a natural way. His ministry was absolutely in His resurrection life. Thus, He entered into the gateway of righteousness and walked along the pathway of righteousness. Whatever He did on this pathway was righteous.
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.” Through baptism the Lord Jesus entered into the gateway of righteousness, and then He walked continually along the pathway of righteousness. Therefore, He was the just One, the righteous One (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14).
Verse 16 says, “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 as a dove and coming upon Him.” Not only was Jesus anointed through baptism, but He was also anointed with the Holy Spirit.
In His baptism the Lord rose up from the water. This signifies that after His death and burial, He was raised from the dead.
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. It should be the same today with us.
Because the Lord Jesus was baptized, fulfilling God’s righteousness, the heavens were opened to Him, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father spoke concerning Him. His being baptized to fulfill God’s righteousness pleased God. Thus, 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.” I can testify that my sweetest times of hearing God’s speaking have been times of termination. Perhaps I was terminated to the point of tears, but my termination opened the mouth of the Father, who spoke a sweet word to me. He only said, “My beloved child.” This simple word is sufficient. It is full of mercy and grace. What a comfort and a strength it is for Him to say, “My beloved child”! In the church life we have many experiences like this. However, seldom are such things experienced outside the church. In the church life, when we are terminated, the heavens are opened, the Spirit comes, and the Father speaks. We have an open heaven, the anointing Spirit, and the speaking Father.
Verse 16 says, “He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him.” Before the Spirit of God descended and came upon Him, the Lord Jesus was born of the Spirit (Luke 1:35), which proved that He already had the Spirit of God within Him. That was for His birth. Now, for His ministry, the Spirit of God descended upon Him. This was for the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1; 42:1; and Psalm 45:7 to anoint the new King and introduce Him to His people.
A dove is gentle, and its eyes can see only one thing at a time. Hence, it signifies gentleness and singleness in sight and purpose. By the Spirit of God descending upon Him as the dove, the Lord Jesus ministered in gentleness and singleness, focusing solely on the will of God.
The Lord Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit (1:18, 20). He was born of the Holy Spirit and constituted with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was His constituent. Nevertheless, He still needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When He was in the womb of the virgin Mary, He was constituted with the Holy Spirit. This means that He was a constitution of the Holy Spirit. That was something inward. Outwardly, He still needed the Holy Spirit to come down upon Him.
Since the Spirit was in Jesus before He was baptized, why did the Spirit come down upon Him? Are these two Spirits? Was not the Spirit of God in Jesus? Certainly He was. Then why did the Spirit still descend upon Him? Was the Spirit within Him different from the Spirit who came down upon Him? Is the Spirit who descended upon Him another Spirit in addition to the Spirit who was already within Him? If you say that these two were one Spirit, I would ask how these two Spirits could be one. The same Spirit who already indwelt the Lord Jesus came down upon Him. Did Jesus have the Spirit or not? Yes, He did. Why then did the Spirit still descend upon Him? I am here with you. Since I am here, how could I still come to you? Although it is not possible for me to be here and yet still be coming, it is not impossible with the divine Person. The Lord is wonderful. At the same time, He can be both here and also coming. Is Christ in you or is He in the heavens? He is both in us and in the heavens. Thus, the Lord is both here and coming.
Verse 17 says, “And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I delight.” While the descending of the Spirit was the anointing of Christ, the speaking of the Father was a testimony to Him as the beloved Son. Here is a picture of the divine Trinity: the Son went up from the water, the Spirit descended upon the Son, and the Father spoke concerning the Son. This proves that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit exist simultaneously. This is for the accomplishment of God’s economy.
