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Matt. 3:1-17; 4:1-11 is concerned with the King’s anointing. This section of the Gospel of Matthew is in three parts: the King recommended (Matt. 3:1-12), the King anointed (Matt. 3:13-17), and the King tested (Matt. 4:1-11). In this message and in the message following we shall deal with the recommendation of the King.
Matthew chapter three covers the recommendation and the anointing of the King. In this chapter firstly the recommender of the King, John the Baptist, is himself recommended. Matt. 3:1 says, “Now in those days John the Baptist came.”
John the Baptist was born a priest (Luke 1:5, 13). In the life-study of Genesis we saw that the birthright included three items: the double portion of the land, the priesthood, and the kingship. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, should have received all three items of the birthright. However, due to his defilement, he lost the birthright. As a result, the double portion of the land went to Joseph, the priesthood, to Levi, and the kingship, to Judah. The main function of the priesthood is to bring the people to God, and the main function of the kingship is to bring God to the people. According to the Bible, the priests brought others to God so that they might obtain God’s blessing. This is the priestly service. The kings were those who represented God and brought God to others. Thus, the kingship is the ministry that brings God to other so that they may gain Him. Through this traffic of coming and going, man and God, God and man, have real fellowship, true communication. Eventually, man and God become one. This is the ministry of the priesthood and the kingship.
The first ministry in the Old Testament was the priesthood. Following the priesthood there was the kingship. All the books prior to 1 Samuel were on the priesthood. But beginning with 1 Samuel the second section of the Old Testament is on the kingship. In the book of 1 Samuel, Samuel represents the priesthood and David represents the kingship. Samuel, the priest, introduced David, the king. The priesthood introduces the kingship. It is the same in the church life today. If we are genuine priests, then we shall also become kings, for the priesthood always introduces the kingship. First we are priests bringing others into the presence of God. Then we become kings bringing God to them.
Every true evangelist is a king. If you are not a king, you are not qualified to preach the gospel. In 28:18 and 19 the Lord Jesus, the King of the kingdom, said, “All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations.” Here the Lord told the disciples to go with His authority. Those who go with this authority are kings in the kingdom of heaven. Without doubt He shares this authority with us. Therefore, we must go and disciple the nations, that is, preach the gospel to subdue the rebellious ones. As we go to preach the gospel, we must be kings.
Many Christians do not know God’s secret in His economy. When you are burdened to preach the gospel, you must first carry out the function of the priesthood. In order to preach the gospel you must first go to God as a priest and bring others to Him. Through the priesthood you will be authorized and anointed, and then you will come out of God’s presence to be a king. The proper preaching of the gospel is the issuing of a kingly edict. It is the utterance of a kingly command. Consider Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost. Although he was a young Galilean fisherman, he nonetheless was a king. Every proper evangelist must be a king.
We have seen that the priest introduces the king. The first occurrence of this was Samuel’s introduction of King David. In Matthew chapter three we see another Samuel, John the Baptist, who was born a priest of the tribe of Levi. Matthew 3 testifies to the consistency of the Bible, for here we see one from the priestly tribe, the tribe of Levi, recommending One from the kingly tribe, the tribe of Judah. In Matthew 3 John appeared as Samuel and Jesus appeared as David. There in the wilderness John was bringing people to God. Hence, he was a genuine priest. As he was bringing others to God, the King came, and John introduced Him. This King brought God to man. John brought others to God, and Jesus brought God to them.
As sinners we came to God through John’s ministry. By repentance we came into God’s presence. That was the ministry of the priesthood, the ministry of John the Baptist. We all have come into the presence of God through John. It was John who brought us back to God. Then the new King David, Jesus Christ, brought God to us. Through John’s ministry of repentance and Jesus’ ministry of imparting life, we have all been made priests and kings. Today we are the continuation both of the priest, John the Baptist, and of the King, Jesus Christ. If you are a proper Christian, then you are firstly today’s John and secondly today’s Jesus. Young people, as you go to the campuses, you must be real priests. You need to say, “Lord, have mercy on these people. O Lord, remember all these young people. I bring them to You.” This is the priesthood, the ministry of John the Baptist. After you bring others to God, immediately, in a sense, you will become Christ bringing God to them so that they may gain God. This is today’s priesthood and kingship.
Although John the Baptist was born a priest, he forsook the outward position of the priest. By the outward position of his birth he was not a real priest, but a priest in figure, a priest in shadow. In 3:1 John came preaching in the wilderness as the true priest. John the Baptist’s preaching was the initiation of God’s New Testament economy. He did his preaching not in the holy temple within the holy city, where the religious and cultured people worshipped God according to their scriptural ordinances, but in the wilderness, in a “wild” way, not keeping any old regulations. This indicates that the old way of the worship of God according to the Old Testament was repudiated and that a new way was about to be brought in. The wilderness here indicates that the new way of God’s New Testament economy is contrary to religion and culture. It also indicates that nothing old was left and that something new was about to be built up.
The dispensation of law was terminated by the coming of John the Baptist (11:13; Luke 16:16). Following the baptism of John, the preaching of the gospel of peace began (Acts 10:36-37). The preaching of John was the beginning of the gospel (Mark 1:1-5). Hence, the dispensation of grace began with John.
Neither John, the new priest, nor Jesus, the new King, was in the old way. According to the old way, the priests stayed in the holy temple in the holy city, wore the priestly garments, ate the priestly food, and observed the priestly rituals. But with the coming of John the Baptist, all that was terminated. That was not the reality; it was a shadow. Now with John the Baptist, the genuine priest, reality came. As the real priest, John came to bring the people back to God. That was his ministry.
John fulfilled his ministry by living in a way that was absolutely contrary to religion and culture and outside both of them. Verse 4 says, “Now John himself had his garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey.” According to the regulations of the law, John, who was born a priest, should have worn the priestly garment, which was made mainly of fine linen (Exo. 28:4, 40-41; Lev. 6:10; Ezek. 44:17-18); and he should have eaten the priestly food, which was composed mainly of fine flour and the meat of the sacrifices offered to God by His people (Lev. 2:1-3; 6:6-18, 25-26; 7:31-34). However, John did altogether otherwise. He wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle, and he ate locusts and wild honey. All these things are uncivilized, uncultured, and not according to the religious regulations. For a priestly person to wear camel’s hair was an especially drastic blow to the religious mind, for the camel was considered unclean under the Levitical regulations (Lev. 11:4). In addition, John did not live in a civilized place, but in the wilderness (Luke 3:2). All this indicates that he had altogether abandoned the Old Testament dispensation, which had fallen into a kind of religion mixed with human culture. His intention was to introduce God’s New Testament economy, which is constituted solely of Christ and the Spirit of Life.
We have seen that during John’s time being a priest was a matter of religion, of wearing priestly robes, eating priestly food, and dwelling in a priestly building. When anyone conducted himself as a priest, everyone thought of him as a religious person, a person in religion. But here in Matthew 3 we see a real priest. Instead of staying in the priestly building, he went out to the wilderness, to a wild place where there was neither religion nor culture. There in the wilderness he lived in a “wild” way, eating locusts and wild honey. His honey was not the cultured honey processed and sold in stores today. It was wild honey. John was a real priest living in such a “wild” way. However, if you try to copy him, you will be false.
John was truly outside religion and culture. He not only ate wild things, but he also wore camel’s hair. Notice that the Bible does not say that he wore camel’s fur, which would have been somewhat orderly, but camel’s hair, which certainly must have been messy. Furthermore, his leather girdle was probably not very refined. John was truly “wild.” Nevertheless this real priest was the recommender of the King.
From the time of John the Baptist until today, a great many people have been brought back to God through the ministry of John. Whenever we tell others to repent, we should remember John the Baptist.
The ministry of John the Baptist was outside both religion and culture. When John was born, in Jerusalem there were two main things — Hebrew religion and Greco-Roman culture. John, however, did not stay in Jerusalem where his parents undoubtedly lived. He left Jerusalem and went out to the wilderness where there was neither religion nor culture, but where everything was natural. John ministered there in the wilderness bringing others to God and introducing the King, the One who represents God, to them. This was a strong indication that, during John’s time, the age was changed from the old dispensation to the new dispensation, from the dispensation of shadows and figures to the dispensation of reality. Those priests who wore the priestly robes, ate the priestly food, and stayed in the priestly building burning the incense and carrying out the priestly functions never brought anyone to God. But this “wild,” unreligious, uncultured John brought hundreds to Him. And he also introduced the King to them. This King was the One who brought God to repentant people.
When this King was introduced to people and they were truly brought back to God, the kingdom was present immediately. The King with the people is the kingdom. The kingdom was there because both the King and the people were there. The New Testament begins with the genuine priesthood introducing the genuine kingship. The real priest introduced the real King. This introduction ushers in the kingdom.
John’s message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (v. 2). People had to repent because the kingdom was coming and because the King was there. We also need to repent that the King may gain us and that we may be His people. After we repent, the King gains us, and we gain Him. Through the King’s gaining us and our gaining Him, we and the King become the kingdom. The kingdom immediately follows the King. If you receive the King and if He takes you as His people, the kingdom is immediately present. Why has the kingdom not yet come? Because you have not received the King, and the King has not yet gained you. Because you are still far away from Him, the King has not been able to gain you. Thus, the kingdom is not yet here. Rather, it is off somewhere waiting for your repentance. If you repent, the King will gain you, you will gain the King, and the kingdom will be here.
Many Christians who are preaching the gospel today do not know the divine principles in God’s economy. If we would be real evangelists, real preachers of the gospel, we must firstly be John the Baptist. This means that we must be priests, not formal priests, priests in shadow, but genuine priests, priests in reality. After we become such priests, we must also be Jesus Christ. This means that we must be the King who brings God to others. When we go to God praying for others, we are priests bringing them to God. But when we come out of God’s presence and go to the people, we are kings bringing God to them. If we do this, they will repent to the King, the King will gain them, and the kingdom will be present.
The proper church life today is the kingdom. We all have repented, the King has gained us, and we have received Him. Now we are one with the King, and the kingdom is here with us. Hallelujah, the kingdom is here right now! All this depends upon the recommender.
My burden in this message is to emphasize the matter of the recommender. Are you today’s recommender of Christ? If you are, then you must be clear whether or not you are still in religion and culture. We must all be in the wilderness, in an environment that is “wild,” not in an environment that is religious or cultured. The proper environment is outside religion and culture, but it is full of the presence of God.
When John was there in the wilderness, he was a great magnet drawing large numbers to himself. For this reason, verse 5 says, “Then Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the district of the Jordan went out to him.” Because of his drawing power, many came to John the Baptist. I hope the young people who go to the campuses will stand there as magnets. If you are such a magnet, others will flock to you. First you will be the priests appointed by God to bring others into His presence. Then you will be able to introduce the heavenly King to them. At that time, you will not only introduce the King to others; you will actually be the King. Thus, you will give a command to others, and many will turn to Christ. In this way Christ will gain the people, and they will gain Him. Then, immediately, the kingdom will appear on the campuses. This is the proper way to carry out the preaching of the gospel.
We have seen that the place of recommendation was neither in the holy city nor in the holy temple, but in the wilderness. Verse 1 says that John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness, and verse 3 says, “For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, A voice of one crying in the wilderness.” It was according to prophecy that John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness. This indicates that the introduction of God’s New Testament economy by John was not accidental, but planned and foretold by God through Isaiah the prophet. This implies that God intended His New Testament economy to begin in an absolutely new way.
If you trace the history of the past few centuries, you will see that every prevailing revival took place in some kind of “wilderness.” When John Wesley and George Whitefield were raised up as evangelists two centuries ago, they mainly did their preaching on the street corners. According to his biography, George Whitefield often preached on the foothills in the wilderness. However, at that time, the Church of England had regulations forbidding the expounding of the Holy Word outside the “sanctuary.” According to these regulations, anyone who preached or taught from the Bible had to do so in the “sanctuary.” Nevertheless, God raised up George Whitefield and John Wesley to conduct their preaching outside the “sanctuary.” The principle must be the same today. But this does not mean that we should copy John the Baptist in an outward way. It means that we should not take either the religious way or the cultural way. Rather, we must take the way that is full of the presence of God. We should not be in the holy city or in the holy temple, but in a place outside religion and culture, yet in a place full of the presence of God. I hope the young people will bring this matter to the Lord and pray, “Lord, make us today’s John the Baptist. Lord, take us into the wilderness and show us how to be genuine priests to bring others to You and how to introduce You to them as their King.”
The Gospel of Matthew is absolutely different from the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is a book of life, whereas the Gospel of Matthew is a book of the kingdom. In John Jesus is life, but in Matthew He is the King. According to the book of Matthew, the Jesus we are to receive is the King. As we consider the Gospel of Matthew, we must be thoroughly and deeply impressed that we are now in the kingdom. Everything written in this book is related to the kingdom. Therefore, we must look into this book from the angle of the kingdom, viewing every chapter and even every verse from the perspective of the kingdom.
The repentance called for in chapter three is for the kingdom. You must repent because you are not in the kingdom, because you are not under God’s authority. You must repent because you have not yet submitted to the authority of Christ or come under His kingship. Although you may not feel that you are sinful, as long as you are not in the kingdom, you are a rebellious one. As long as you have nothing to do with the kingship of Christ, you are in rebellion and must repent. Repent of not being in the kingdom! The genuine Christians of today are saved, yet many of them still are not in the kingdom. Thus, even these Christians must repent. As long as you are not under the kingship of Christ, you must repent. If you are not actually in the kingdom of the heavens, not under the heavenly ruling, you must repent. It does not matter how spiritual, holy, or good you are. The only thing that matters is whether or not you are under the heavenly ruling. If you are not, it means that you are not in the kingdom and that you must repent. If you are not in the kingdom, you are in rebellion. You consider yourself scriptural, fundamental, and holy, but in actuality you are rebellious. Even your spirituality is a form of rebellion against the kingship of Christ. You care for your spirituality, not for the kingship of Christ. This indicates that you are in rebellion, that you are not in the kingdom. Repent of your rebellion! Repent of not being in the kingdom and of not being under the kingship and authority of Christ! This is the basic thought of the Gospel of Matthew.
Do not think that Matthew is only for unbelievers, outsiders, or Gentiles. Many of us have never heard the Gospel of Matthew. I do not know what kind of gospel you have heard, but I do know that you need to hear the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of the kingdom that requires you to repent of not being under the kingship of Christ. We all must repent to the Lord and say, “Lord, forgive me. Even today I am still in rebellion. I am not under Your Lordship, Your authority, Your heavenly ruling. Lord, I confess that I have been ruled only by myself. Lord, grant me a true repentance for my rebellion, for my not being under Your authority.” We all need to repent. Praise the Lord that John the Baptist and this ministry of the priesthood are still with us! On the one hand, this priesthood brings us to God; on the other hand, it recommends the heavenly King who brings God to us. When we receive this King, He gains us, and the kingdom is here. This is the Gospel of Matthew.
