Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 17-1] How to Receive The Holy Spirit (Matthew 17:1-13)
(Matthew 17:1-13)
“Now
after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them
up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before
them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as
the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with
Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to
be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You,
one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the
cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear
Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were
greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and
do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one
but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded
them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen
from the dead.’ And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the
scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to
them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I
say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but
did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about
to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke
to them of John the Baptist.”
In
these end times, God has given us members of His church, made us preach
the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world, and enabled
us to spread this gospel to souls in Korea as well. I thank God for
blessing us like this with faith. Today in this last age, both laymen
and every pastor in the mainstream Christianity, including Evangelicals,
are devoting all their attention only to building bigger church
buildings. It takes a tremendous amount of financial resources to
construct a church building. So pastors are now mobilizing all kinds of
schemes to wring money out of their congregation. I heard that a certain
pastor was collecting money almost by force, by nagging his
congregation to death, constantly telling them how his colleague was
building a church that costs $3 million, and how he had to match this.
Although they have built a huge church building with marble walls, there
actually aren’t that many people inside this church. It’s said that by
the time the construction was over, almost every church member had
fled.
I
even heard of a man who, even though he made only about $700 a month
working as a street cleaner, took out a bank loan to offer it for the
construction of his church, and now he has to pay $750 every month just
for the interest payment alone. All his hard-earned money isn’t enough
to make even the interest payment, much less the principal. He is so
broke that his pastor has to assist him a little every month now. So
it’s said that the members of this church have to offer all their
salaries to the church and survive on whatever little allowances that
they may get from their pastor.
Such
things are very common nowadays. Would such people continue to attend
church? No, of course not. When this man can’t even make interest
payments, much less pay off the principal, what joy would he find to
attend church? Since he took out a bank loan and offered it all to his
church, when he thinks about how his money has gone into those red
bricks, he probably can’t stand seeing the church.
My
fellow believer, our church was never such a church. Yet in this world
there are many churches like this. The Lord said that as lawlessness
would abound in these end times, many people’s love would turn cold
(Matthew 24:12). Just how completely have the religionists of the world
departed from the Word of God in their ministry? Even as they say that
the world is a dark place and that its end is near, are they not
exploiting their congregation for money? If Jesus were to come in a few
days, all such ministers’ need is just some money to lead the kind of
life they want. But what’s the use of all this money when the end of the
world is impending?
My
fellow believers, let me make the following point clear here: The Word
of the Bible says that no one knows the day and the hour when Jesus will
return to this earth. There is no record in the Bible that specifies
exactly what day and time the Lord will return, and it only writes about
the signs that indicate the imminent return of the Lord. You should
realize that Jesus will come when the Great Tribulation descends on this
world, when the righteous are martyred, and when the world is
completely destroyed by the plagues of seven trumpets. Jesus will pour
the plagues of seven trumpets on this earth, and it is in the middle of
the seven-year Tribulation, when the authority of the saints are all
broken that Jesus will come. It’s not an exaggeration to say that He
will come when the Great Tribulation is almost over.
You
must therefore never allow yourself to be deceived by false prophets.
There are many people who say, “Jesus will return before the Great
Tribulation. He will lift us up before the Great Tribulation descends on
this world. So why do we need all these material things of the world
when Jesus will return before the Great Tribulation? What’s the use for
them? Offer them all to God. Donate them all to your church to build it
with marble and then let us together go to the Kingdom of Heaven when
the Lord returns. Let’s throw away all our earthly possessions and go to
the Kingdom of Heaven.” Such people are all thieves and frauds.
Almost
all pastors who have not been born again, including Evangelicals,
espouse the theory of pre-tribulation rapture to wiring money out of
their congregation. They say to the congregation, “Why are you trying to
store treasures on this earth, when our Lord will return before the
Great Tribulation?” Such a claim is most likely to be a stepping stone
to fraud. You probably remember how a while ago Pastor Jang-lim Lee from
the Dami Mission misled people by claiming that Jesus would return and
his followers would be lifted up on December 28, 1992, all the while
hiding checks under his bed. Didn’t he also try to flee abroad and was
caught red-handed in the airport with his checks hidden in his shoes?
That man was a complete fraud. My fellow believers, do you know just how
many swindlers there are among today’s pastors? There are way too many.
Out of a thousand ministers, only about 50 are decent at most and the
remaining 950 are all swindlers.
How
can we then discern that these pastors are frauds? A tree is known by
its fruit. Even though their own followers still have sin in their
hearts, these false pastors are not interested in this issue. They are
only interested in money, so when their church members donate money,
they are happy to appoint them to church offices indiscriminately. But
if these church members go bankrupt and can no longer make any donations
to the church, then from then on they give them cold shoulder and
ignore them completely. That is their fruit. It is written, “A tree is
known by its fruit.” So no matter what any pastor says, you and I should
all live diligently, knowing that we have to live in this world until
we go through the Great Tribulation as much as we have to before our
Lord returns. Whatever you do, whether you have a job or run a business,
I ask you to work diligently and lead your life of faith united with
the church. When you unite your heart with the church, let your troubles
be known and ask the church to pray for you, and seek help from your
minister to get you through your hardship. Your minister and your fellow
saints will all pray for you. I admonish you to live your life
faithfully until the day this world ends, until the day your life is
over. Do not delude yourself into thinking that even if you have sin,
Jesus would somehow lift you up if you just believe in Him. As a magnet
lifts up only metals, sinners cannot be lifted up when the Lord Himself
descends from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and
with the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Rapture
means to be lifted up to the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Of course,
Jesus will lift us up. However, the Bible does not say that rapture will
come before the Great Tribulation. It says that this event will happen
well into the Great Tribulation. The Bible says that Jesus will come
with the sound of the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52). When will the
last trumpet sound? It will sound at the end of this world. Why will God
bring the Great Tribulation to this world? He will bring the Great
Tribulation during the last harvest to save the people of Israel. And He
will bring it to stomp on those on this earth who stand against God and
challenge Him impudently. Through the Great Tribulation, God will give
people one more chance. By allowing the Great Tribulation, He will
harvest the souls once more for the last time out of those who had
hesitated and dithered to believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit.
Also,
God wants to discern His wheat from the chaff through the Great
Tribulation, as it is written, “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He
will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat
into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”
(Matthew 3:12). When His winnowing fan blows the wind of the Great
Tribulation, the chaff will be blown out and only the wheat will remain
to be gathered into the barn.
This
world is now going through the end times. However, we do not know
exactly on what day, month, and year the Lord would come. So no matter
how anyone may claim that Jesus has appeared on some mountain in a
village or a certain church, you shouldn’t go there. No matter what
anyone may say that Jesus has appeared to some pastor and is speaking
through him, you must not be stirred up by such liars. Once the Catholic
Church of Korea bragged that there appeared a cross in the sky over
their gathering while they held a big outdoor mass. But what use is it
for Christian sinners to see the cross appearing in the sky with their
naked eyes? Just as the Bible says, “For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation” (Romans 10:10), our salvation is reached by believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit with the heart. Until the day the
Lord returns, we must lead our lives of faith diligently.
Look at the Swindlers Deceiving People under the Pretext of the Coming Tribulation of the Last Days
To
wring money out of the congregation, false prophets argue for the
theory of pre-tribulation rapture and make ridiculous claims, saying,
“When I am lifted up, feel free to use my camera on my desk.” Are they
then saying that they will be raptured but not their congregation? These
people are nothing more than swindlers. Let me make it clear for you,
you must never allow yourself to be deceived by such people. God’s true
church keeps superficial adornments for its chapel minimal, and spends
all its resources on spreading the gospel and saving all the people of
the world. Do you think that it’s because we have no money that we put
in a small pulpit like this one here and keep the flower arrangements
small? No, we are also wealthy. However, we live frugally only for the
gospel’s sake.
There
are many charlatans in this present age. Whether it is a born-again
church or not, or a church that preaches the true gospel, if any church
asks you to take a loan out and offer it to build a church building,
then you should realize that its pastor is a swindler, spit at him, and
leave the church. Are we living in such an easy and prosperous age? No,
everyone is having a tough time to make ends meet, and this includes
believers as well. Why on earth does any church need to build a mammoth
building when its members are struggling to make a living? A 3,000
square foot building can be rented for $1,000US a month with a $10,000
deposit, and a two or three-story building for about $1,500 a month with
a $20,000 deposit. So why spend so much money to build a church
building? Will the price of the building go up when it’s completed? No,
it will go down. Why do some pastors then rake in tens of millions of
dollars to construct church buildings? This kind of money is enough to
spread the gospel all over the world for more than ten times.
Do
you think that any pastor with a holy voice is a true pastor? Do you
think that anyone who has graduated from seminary is a servant of God?
No, God must approve this servant. False prophets make only their voices
holy and preach to the congregation, “live virtuously,” but such
sermons are given often enough in ethics classes in schools. It’s
because of sin that people are tormented now and it’s because of sin
that they are suffering. Yet these false prophets are incapable of
preaching to such people about how their sins have disappeared. They
cannot solve people’s spiritual problems, but only speak of superficial
things. The people of the world know such things better. They know
better than anyone else how to live in this world. When people come to
church, they do so to listen to the Word of God and be saved from their
sins. So how can anyone who can’t even meet this purpose call himself a
pastor?
My
fellow believers, it is when we ourselves are denied and humbled that
Jesus is exalted. Is Jesus exalted when a pastor pretends to be holy,
blusters out bravado, and speaks smoothly only in words? No, it’s when
our insufficiencies are exposed that the holiness of Jesus and His
righteousness are revealed. If one is too holy and perfect, then all
that shines is just his own righteousness, while the perfection of Jesus
is not manifested. In reality, everyone is insufficient before God.
Isn’t this true? Of course it is. Yet despite this, there are many
pastors who choose their words carefully only to pretend to be holy,
just like the Pharisees. Did you see any swindler who is not a sweet
talker? When a swindler is about to commit a fraud, he has every word
figured out, ready to tempt his victim with his smooth talking. If a
charlatan looks like a charlatan, then he is a failure.
How
are today’s pastors any different from swindlers? They get paid tens of
thousands of dollars just for giving a few sermons a week. Whenever
they visit their church members’ homes, they also get a thick envelope
filled with cash. But despite all these rewards, is there anything that
these pastors really do for their congregation? When a pastor visits
you, don’t give him a white enveloped stuffed with money. It is only a
matter of fact for any pastor to visit the saints’ homes, pray for them,
and share the Word in fellowship. If you keep offering such envelopes
to your pastor, soon he will be hooked on them in no time and try to
visit you time after time.
Let’s
be honest here. When pastors at worldly churches visit church members’
homes, don’t they offer them envelopes stuffed with money? Of course
they do. But to do so is to turn both the giver and the receiver into
thieves. Both are wicked. Why should any church member offer such things
when a fair salary is already paid to the pastor by the church? Why
should anyone prepare such an elaborate feast for his pastor’s visit?
Pastors already eat well enough; there is no need for you to go through
all that trouble. If your pastor visits you, then ask him whether he had
dinner, and if he says that he hasn’t had one, then treat him to the
usual dinner that you have, not a fancy feast. Don’t fill the table with
all kinds of dishes even when the pastor tells you that he already had
dinner and don’t put an envelope stuffed with money on the table.
If
you have any donations to offer, then just drop them in the collection
box. I will then take them out and spend them all for the gospel. In the
churches of this world, however, it’s a common practice for members to
offer envelopes stuffed with money when their pastors visit them. Also,
instead of putting offerings in a collection box, people put them in an
envelope, write down their names and the amount on its front, and pile
them up on the pulpit. This has become virtually official. That,
however, is a very wrong practice.
No
matter what others may do, as far as you and I are concerned, let us
all serve the Lord until the end of the world and lead our lives to save
other souls. Rather than looking at our own country, let us look toward
the whole world, and spread the gospel everywhere. I also ask you not
to try to front your own righteousness in the church. If it’s beneficial
to God, to the saints, to the servants of God, and to other souls, then
you should swallow your pride, give up your stubbornness, and stop
being so conceited. Whenever any insufficiencies are exposed while
following the Lord, you should admit them right away, saying, “I am a
man of so many shortcomings. This is who I am.” Such people are able to
lead their lives of faith comfortably in the church. It’s such people
who can find grace from God.
In
contrast, those who can’t bring themselves to do this and can’t admit
when their insufficiencies are exposed, saying, “I am actually quite
virtuous. This is not really who I am,” are bound to suffer. As we carry
on with our lives, we may sometimes do good things and we may sometimes
make mistakes. Whenever we make a mistake, all that we have to do is
just admit our wrong-doings as soon as possible and say, “I was trying
my best, but I failed,” and believe that Jesus took away all these sins.
I admonish you all to never be deceived by the spiritual thieves. For
you and me alike, it’s a blessing that we have found God’s church and
are leading our lives of faith inside it.
What Is Jesus Trying to Say by the Account of His Transfiguration?
The
passage that we read today describes an event that took place when
Jesus took three disciples, Peter, James, and John, to a mountain. On
the mountain, Jesus was transfigured before them and His face shone like
the sun and His clothes turned as white as the light. And then Moses
and Elijah came down from Heaven and talked with Jesus. His three
disciples saw this. Suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” The
disciples then became very afraid and fell on their faces trembling in
fear.
Peter
had at first said to Jesus boldly, “Lord, it is good for us to be here;
if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah.” But Jesus was not about to permit this. When
the disciples heard the voice from Heaven, they fell on their faces and
were greatly afraid.
Jesus
then touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” The three
disciples were all trembling in fear, but when they looked up at the
voice of Jesus calling them, they saw that He had returned to His
previous image. That Jesus did not give any response to Peter’s request
to build three tabernacles means that He had ignored it. Though Peter
had requested earnestly, in His dignity, Jesus did not say anything in
return. Then on His way down from the mountain, Jesus said to the
disciples, “Tell the vision of My encounter with Elijah and Moses to no
one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” The disciples then
asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” So
Jesus said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore
all things.”
The
disciples asked this question because Jesus had met with Elijah on the
mountain of transfiguration. We may then also wonder here, “Jesus said
that Elijah has to come first to restore all things, but what exactly
will be restored?” Elijah is actually very important to our salvation.
Why did Moses and Elijah talk with the shining Jesus there? Why did
Jesus show this to the disciples, and what is He trying to say to you
and me today? Why did the scribes and biblical scholars say that Elijah
would come first and restore everything? We may raise such questions
here. Moses is also extremely important to the ministry of our
salvation. That’s because it was through Moses that God gave the Law.
The Lord says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.” It is Jesus Christ who has saved us and it
is through Moses that God gave the Law to mankind. That is what God is
saying.
Moses
received two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments from God. And he
also received 613 commandments outlining the “dos and don’ts” of life.
Moses then delivered this Law to his people. The sacrificial system of
the Tabernacle was also included in this Law. It is according to the
requirements of this sacrificial system that God has saved us.
God
first commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle with specific
instructions. And He bestowed His grace on the people of Israel, so that
they would be able to receive the remission of their sins through the
sacrifice of atonement offered in the Tabernacle. Leviticus chapter four
describes the sacrificial system through which the Israelites were
remitted from their sins by taking the following steps: they passed
their sins to a sacrificial animal by laying their hands on its head,
cut its throat and drew its blood, handed it over to the priests to put
some of this blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and
poured the rest on the ground, and then offered its flesh to God by
burning it on the altar with fire. So in the Old Testament whenever the
people of Israel committed sin, they brought a sacrificial animal like a
bull or a goat, passed their sins onto the animal by making sure to lay
their hands on its head as commanded by God, cut its throat and drew
its blood, and sacrificed it to God. That is how they received the
remission of their sins. God had given all of these requirements of the
Law through Moses.
Moses
also wrote in the Bible that the Savior would come. In fact, it was
also through Moses that God wrote the book of Genesis. My fellow
believers, would it be okay for us to have just the New Testament
without the Old Testament? No, this Old Testament contains the promises
that God gave to us through His servants long ago, before the Lord came
to this earth. God had promised our salvation in the Old Testament and
He fulfilled it all in the New Testament.
The
Israelites in the Old Testament were remitted from their daily sins and
yearly sins through the sacrificial system of the Tabernacle. And
through Moses they came to know the Law of God. It was all through Moses
that the people of Israel came to realize what God wanted from them,
what the Law was, and what sin was. But here in today’s Scripture
passage, Jesus didn’t just talk with Moses on the mountain, but with
Elijah as well. Why then did Elijah have to come to this earth prior to
Jesus? And who exactly is Elijah here? When we turn to Matthew 11:11-14,
we see Jesus saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of
women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who
is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days
of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law
prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is
Elijah who is to come.”
Who Is Elijah to Come? He Is John the Baptist
In
the Bible, Jesus mentioned John the Baptist frequently. So we need to
ask some questions here and search the Bible for their answers: “Why did
Elijah have to come to this earth prior to the Messiah? Why must he
come for everything to be restored? Was John the Baptist indispensable
for our salvation?” Jesus said in Matthew 21:32, “For John came to you
in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax
collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not
afterward relent and believe him.” The Lord said here that John came to
us in the way of righteousness. What is the way of righteousness then?
Jesus explains here that the reason why John the Baptist came was to
lead the entire human race to the right path, to the road to the Kingdom
of Heaven. He said, “John came to us in the way of righteousness, and
he is Elijah who is to come.” In other words, John the Baptist and
Elijah were the ones who had ministered the same kind of work before
God.
We’ve
already examined Moses, so let’s now take a closer look at Elijah. Must
Elijah come to this earth without fail? Before we answer this question,
however, let’s turn to another question first: “Did God really say in
the Old Testament that He would send Elijah?”
The Old Testament ends with the following passage in Malachi 4:5-6:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
The
Book of Malachi here describes just how utterly corrupt the priests of
the time were. So through the Prophet Malachi, God rebuked these priests
extremely harshly. Saying, “All these so-called servants of God are
garbage,” God said that He would send us Elijah before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord before the arrival of the end of
this world.
Why,
then, must God send Elijah prior to the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord? What’s the reason? Is it absolutely necessary
for Elijah to come to this earth? When we turn to 1 Kings chapter 18, we
see how Elijah confronted 850 prophets of Asherah and Baal, and showed
the people of Israel that Jehovah was the real God. Elijah had thereby
led all the people of Israel who were worshipping Idols back to Jehovah
God. He was a powerful servant of God.
Then,
must Elijah come to this world without fail? Yes, he must come without
fail. I will now explain the reason why Elijah had to come without fail.
The Old Testament’s Sacrifice of the Day of Atonement
To
understand the Old Testament’s sacrifice of the Day of Atonement, let
us turn to Leviticus 16:29-34 here: “‘This shall be a statute forever
for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall
afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own
country or a stranger who dwells among you. For on that day the priest
shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from
all your sins before the LORD. It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you,
and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. And the
priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his
father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the
holy garments; then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and
he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar,
and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of
the assembly. This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make
atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.’
And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.”
This
passage describes the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement that Aaron gave
on the tenth day of the seventh month. According to the sacrificial
system of the Tabernacle, daily sacrifices were offered when an
Israelite brought a sacrificial animal himself, passed his sins onto it
by laying his hands on its head, cut its throat and drew its blood, and
gave this blood to the priest along with its flesh. The priest then put
some of this blood on the horns at the four corners of the alter of
burnt offering and poured the rest on the ground. All the flesh of the
animal was cut into pieces, along with the fat that was removed from the
entrails, and everything that was clean was put on and burnt on the
altar, while everything that was unclean was thrown outside. God called
this a burnt offering or a sin offering.
Just
as we cannot blot out all our sins by offering our own prayers of
repentance, God knew that the people of Israel could not eradicate all
their sins through their daily sacrifices. So He established the Day of
Atonement to be observed once a year. Its date was set for the tenth day
of the seventh month. Having set this date for the Day of Atonement,
God raised Aaron, Moses’ elder brother, as the High Priest for the
people of Israel, and through him passed their sins onto their
sacrificial animal. The High Priest first offered a sin offering with a
bull for himself and his household. By laying his hands on the head of
this bull, Aaron the High Priest passed his sins and his family’s sins.
In other words, by first offering this sacrifice that passed the sins of
everyone ministering in the Tabernacle, Aaron ensured that the priests
would all receive the remission of their sins first.
Following
this sacrifice, Aaron brought two goats, and took one of them into the
Tabernacle. Laying his hands on the goat’s head, he passed the sins of
the people of Israel to the goat, saying, “Lord, the people of Israel
have committed such and such sins. They’ve committed adultery, they’ve
committed murder, and they’ve broken each of Your Ten Commandments. I
now pass all these sins to this goat.” He then cut the goat’s throat,
drew its blood, and took this blood into the Most Holy. To step into the
Most Holy, where the Ark of the Testimony was placed, Aaron had to pass
through the Holy Place. So the High Priest took a censor and filled it
with burning coals from the altar of incense, as well as filling his two
hands with finely ground sweet incense, and then stepped into the veil,
thus making sure that the Most Holy would be filled with the aroma of
the incense. Inside the Most Holy was the Ark of the Testimony,
measuring 3.75 ft (113 cm) in length, 2.25 ft (68 cm) in width, and 2.25
ft (68 cm) in height. The cover of this Ark is called the Mercy Seat.
It’s on there that the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the goat seven
times.
Golden
bells were attached to the hem of the garments of the High Priest. So
when the High Priest sprinkled the blood inside the Most Holy, the
people outside could hear the sound of the golden bells. They heard the
bells ringing seven times, as it was set in the sacrificial system of
God. The people of Israel were then assured of their remission of sin,
saying, “As required by God, all my yearly sins have now been passed
onto the sacrificial animal. All the sins of the past year, which I
could not atone with my daily offerings, have now been blotted out.”
That is how the people of Israel received the remission of their sins.
They
obtained the remission of their daily sins by bringing a sacrificial
animal by themselves, passing their sins onto it by themselves, and
killing it by themselves. Their years sins, on the other hand, were
passed on by Aaron, the representative of all the priests of the people
of Israel, on behalf of the entire people. When Aaron died, his first
son succeeded him to minister as the High Priest. The office of the High
Priest continued to be passed down onto the descendants of Aaron, but
at any given time there was only one High Priest representing the people
of Israel. The High Priest was ordained at the age of 30 and resigned
when he turned 50. There lies the reason why Jesus was baptized at the
age of 30.
Like
this, the people of Israel believed that their yearly sins were all
remitted away once and for all. They believed that the Messiah would
come and that He would accept not only daily and yearly sins but also
all the timeless sins by being baptized in a form of the laying on of
hands. They believed that He would be condemned on the Cross and that He
would thereby save the entire human race.
However,
all the priests of the Old Testament were corrupted. Rather than
sacrificing unblemished animals as God had specified, they brought unfit
animals that could not even be sold anywhere, and said to God, “Lord,
please accept our offerings.” When the ordinary Israelites brought
unblemished animals, the priests set them aside all for themselves and
sacrificed blemished animals to God instead. They were corrupt beyond
description. That’s why God told the Israelites to turn to Him in the
Book of Malachi.
Malachi 4:5-6 says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
God
said that by sending Elijah, He would turn the hearts of the fathers to
the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Where
else but here can we find the need for Elijah to come to this earth? He
had to come so that he could turn God’s heart to His people and to turn
everyone’s heart to God his Creator.
When
we turn to Luke, we see that John the Baptist was born six months
before Jesus. John’s lineage was from the house of Aaron the High
Priest. When his father Zacharias went to the Temple to offer sacrifices
on behalf of the people of Israel, God had appeared to him and said,
“Zacharias, I will give you a son. You shall name him John.” Zacharias
was an old man. His wife Elizabeth was also an old woman. As Elizabeth
was long past her menopause, it was completely unthinkable for her to
bear any child, yet God spoke like this in the Sanctuary.
Why
then must Elijah come to this world? And why is it that Elijah who was
to come is John the Baptist? Since Jesus Himself said, “Elijah who is to
come is John the Baptist,” John the Baptist is Elijah to come. This
does not mean Elijah would come in his old self, but it means that God
would establish an earthly priest between mankind and Himself, just as
Elijah had intermediated between God and the people of Israel. That
priest is none other than John the Baptist.
Who
was the prophet most prized by God? It was Elijah. That’s why God had
promised that He would send Elijah. In other words, God had said that He
would entrust someone like Elijah with the work of turning His heart to
people and their hearts to God and make him fulfill the role of a
mediator between God and mankind. But isn’t Jesus our Interceder
actually? Why did God then say that He would send Elijah? The reason for
this is because every priest back then was all corrupted. That’s why
God needed to send a prophet like Elijah.
The
Old Testament was to end with the birth of Jesus. It had been
repeatedly prophesied in the Old Testament how the Messiah would come
and how the Son of God would descend on this earth, and so with the
appearance of this promised Messiah, all these prophecies were to be
fulfilled and the age of prophecy was to end.
John the Baptist Was Born Six Months Prior to the Birth of Jesus
God
sent John the Baptist prior to the Messiah. He brought him to this
world through the wife of Zacharias, a priest from the division of
Abijah.
Let’s
turn to Luke 1:5-6: “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea,
a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife
was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were
both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
It
is also written in Luke 1:8-17: “So it was, that while he was serving
as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the
custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into
the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was
praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord
appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And
when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But
the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is
heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call
his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice
at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall
drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the
Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the
children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in
the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a
people prepared for the Lord.’”
This
is what God Himself said to Zacharias. Let’s turn further down to Luke
1:57-63: “Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and
she brought forth a son. When her neighbors and relatives heard how the
Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. So it was, on
the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would
have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother
answered and said, ‘No; he shall be called John.’ But they said to her,
‘There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.’ So
they made signs to his father—what he would have him called. And he
asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, ‘His name is John.’ So
they all marveled.”
Finally,
let’s read from verses 67-80: “Now his father Zacharias was filled with
the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: ‘Blessed is the Lord God of
Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a
horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke
by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began,
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who
hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember
His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To
grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might
serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the
days of our life. ‘And you, child, will be called the prophet of the
Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His
ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of
their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the
Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in
darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
peace.’ So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the
deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.”
Why
did John the Baptist have to come six months before Jesus? That’s
because the Lord had to accept all the sins of mankind from the High
Priest of the earth. When the High Priest died, his son succeeded his
priesthood to continue on with the office, but for several hundred years
before the coming of Jesus, all the priests had turned corrupt. Lusting
after material possessions, these priests had been completely
corrupted. So the lineage of priesthood was cut off. However, God had
preserved Zacharias the priest, a descendant of Aaron the High Priest,
and through Zacharias God brought John to this world to baptize Jesus.
In
the spirit of Elijah, John was to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. And just as
God had made the people of Israel pass their sins onto their sacrificial
animal through the High Priest, so did God make John the Baptist
baptize Jesus in exactly the same way. That is why God had brought John
the son of Zacharias to this world six months before Jesus. In other
words, God sent John the Baptist, who had the spirit of Elijah, as the
representative of all mankind who would pass all the sins of everyone in
this world to Jesus the Lamb of God. John the Baptist was chosen and
raised by God Himself. God had chosen him to carry out this work of
passing all the sins of mankind to His Son, Jesus Christ.
God
had said, “So I will send Elijah. I will strike you if you do not turn
around and refuse to believe in the Word delivered by him,” and
according to this promise, He sent John the Baptist to be born on this
earth. John the Baptist is the very Elijah whom God had promised to send
again. What exactly did John the Baptist do then when he came to this
earth? He passed sin to Jesus in the Jordan River. That’s why Jesus said
to the chief priests and the elders of the people, “For John came to
you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax
collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not
afterward relent and believe him” (Matthew 21:32). John came in the way
of righteousness. He came to this earth to lead us humans to the right
path, so that we may receive the remission of our sins. John was sent to
this earth by God the Father Himself, according to His will. He came in
the spirit of Elijah.
However,
when John the Baptist came to this earth, many religionists did not
believe him. They did not believe that John the Baptist was sent by God,
that he came in the spirit of Elijah, and that he was the very servant
of God who was to baptize Jesus Christ and thus pass the sins of the
world to Him. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes especially,
did not believe him. Who believed him then? They were none other than
harlots and tax collectors. Only outright sinners believed him. Tax
collectors were nothing more than licensed thieves sitting in the tax
office. Although this is no longer the case, in the old days it used to
be the case that any tax collector in Korea could buy a house in just
two years. John had come to this earth to pass all the sins of mankind
to Jesus and he did actually pass them all. At that time, many people of
poor spirit believed in Jesus and the role of John the Baptist, and in
particular, people like harlots and tax collectors who committed many
sins believed in them. Even though John had come to this earth in the
way of righteousness, boastful people did not believe, but harlots and
tax collectors believed.
Let’s
turn to today’s Scripture passage. Jesus brought Moses and Elijah to
the mountain of transfiguration and talked with them. He then said to
the disciples, “Until the Son of Man is crucified to death and
resurrected, you should never tell anyone that I met and talked with
Elijah and Moses.” Hearing this, the disciples asked, “What does it mean
when it’s said that Elijah must come first for everything to be
restored?” Jesus then said, “Elijah has already come, but you treated
him in whatever way you wished. Who is he? He is none other than John
the Baptist.” Our Lord Himself said this. The role of John the Baptist
was the role of Elijah and he is absolutely indispensable for you and me
to be saved from our sins, for the atonement of mankind. For us to be
saved, we need Jesus, and we also need Elijah to come. We need Moses as
well to receive our salvation. Do you understand what I mean?
On
the mountain of transfiguration, Jesus was transfigured to shine like
white snow and the sun. This account is told to us as a precursor of
things to come, that when we are lifted by Jesus on the last day and our
bodies are transformed, everything, from our faces to our garments and
bodies, will all be transformed just as Jesus Christ was transformed. Do
you believe this?
On
His way down from the mountain, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “why then
do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said
to them, “‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.
But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him
but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also
about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He
spoke to them of John the Baptist.”
What
did He mean by this passage? Jesus said to the disciples, “Elijah has
definitely come. He came before I did. He is John the Baptist,”
testifying that when John the Baptist baptized Him, He accepted all the
sins of mankind from John. In other words, Jesus was saying to the
disciples, “I have come to this earth to save you, and I have taken upon
your sins. The one who passed your sins and the sins of the world to Me
is John the Baptist.” As such, John the Baptist was an exceedingly
exalted prophet before God.
This
exceedingly exalted prophet bore witness of Jesus the next day after he
gave baptism to Jesus, saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world!” As John the Baptist passed your sins and mine to
Jesus, and testified in John chapter one, “Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!” we are now able to grasp clearly the
salvation that Jesus has brought to us by taking upon our sins and dying
on the Cross. In other words, thanks to the testimony of John the
Baptist, we have now realized that the Lord has saved us from all our
sins. If there were no testimony of John the Baptist, and if he had not
passed our sins, then it would have been unnecessary for Jesus to come
to this earth, and even if He came, He could not have fulfilled His
will.
Since
God had promised that He would pass all the sins of the people of
Israel through the High Priest, He had to actually fulfill this promise
in the New Testament as well. Jesus came to this earth to take upon the
sins of the world, but who was to pass them to Him? It was John the
Baptist. Jesus Himself described John the Baptist as the greatest of
those born of women. Do men give birth? No. It’s women who give birth.
What does it then mean by the greatest of those born of women? It means
that John the Baptist is the representative of mankind, an exceedingly
exalted prophet, and the last High Priest. To whom did the last High
Priest pass sin? It was to the head of Jesus Christ that John the
Baptist passed the sins of the world by baptizing Him. That is why the
role of John the Baptist is so indispensably important to your salvation
and mine.
The Necessity of the Testimony of John the Baptist
Let’s
turn to John 1:6-7. “There was a man sent from God, whose name was
John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that
all through him might believe.”
The
Light here means that Jesus took upon all the sins of the world and
blotted them out completely, that all the sins of mankind were passed
onto Jesus. John the Baptist passed our sins onto Jesus by baptizing Him
so that through him, everyone would believe in Christ. As it is
written, “That all through him might believe.” How do we then know that
all the sins of your entire lifetime and mine were indeed passed onto
Jesus? Don’t we believe in this because of what’s written in Matthew
chapter three, that all righteousness was fulfilled when John the
Baptist baptized Jesus—that is, when he passed all sins?
It
is written in Matthew 3:13-17: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at
the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him,
saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But
Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is
fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When
He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and
behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.’”
The
word “then” here is when both John the Baptist and Jesus were 30. Jesus
began His public life at the age of 30. It is then that Jesus began His
work of saving everyone. At that time, Jesus came to John the Baptist.
He walked all the way from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by
John. But John tried to stop Jesus at first, saying, “I need to be
baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” At first sight, John the
Baptist realized who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus was the Savior of
this world, and that’s why he declined to baptize Him.
Hebrews
says that Jesus is the High Priest of Heaven. Jesus is the Son of God,
and He came to this earth to fulfill His duties as the High Priest. That
Jesus came to this earth to fulfill the office of the High Priest is
all contained in the name of Jesus Christ. The name Jesus means the
Savior. Christ means the anointed One.
Only
three types of offices were anointed by God. First, when God raised
kings of Israel in the Old Testament, He anointed them through His
prophets without fail. For instance, when David was chosen as the new
king, the Prophet Samuel filled a horn with oil and poured it on David,
saying, “Jehovah God has raised you as the king of the people of
Israel.” He then quickly fled to Ramah. Why did Samuel flee? Because
even though there already was an incumbent king, he had said to another
man, “God has raised you as the king of Israel.” If the current king
heard this, Samuel would have been beaten to death for sure, and that’s
why he ran away for his life after anointing David.
Second,
Aaron the High Priest and his descendents were anointed when they were
consecrated into their priesthood. Nowadays, when a pastor is ordained,
the presiding pastors lay their hands on his head to pray after dipping
their hands into the oil plate. With this laying on of hands, the power
of the preceding servants of God are transferred to the one on whom
their hands are laid. To fulfill the office of the High Priest, one had
to be anointed.
Thirdly,
prophets were anointed. Anyone who obeys and spreads the will of God
had to be anointed without fail. What then, is the spiritual meaning of
anointment? Today’s anointed people are none other than those who have
received the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit into their hearts. No
one who has not received the remission of sins should minister as a
pastor. A pastor who has not been remitted from his sins and whose heart
remains sinful cannot be a real pastor. If there is anyone who is now
ministering as a pastor even as he has not received the remission of his
sins, then he is nothing more than a wage earner. He is a swindler and a
thief. Such people minister only as a matter of profession, just to
make a living.
The
word Christ means the anointed One and only kings, priests, and
prophets were anointed. When Jesus came to this earth, He fulfilled all
these three offices as the King, the Priest, and the Prophet. He is the
High Priest of Heaven. Just as the priests of the Old Testament had
enabled the people of Israel to receive the remission of their sins by
passing their sins to a sacrificial animal and sacrificing it with its
blood, so did Jesus make a sacrifice on our behalf in the New Testament.
But this time He fulfilled our everlasting atonement with His own
blood, not the blood of an animal. Jesus gave up His body as the
propitiation for the sins of everyone in this world, and by being
baptized in a form of the laying on of hands; He accepted all the sins
of the world. In other words, by offering His body to God, Jesus
accepted all the sins of our conscience. Hebrews says that by accepting
all the sins of this world, Jesus completely cleansed His believers’
conscience. It was to cleanse us from all our sins that Jesus was
baptized by John the Baptist. The representative of the earth and the
representative of Heaven had come together. Isn’t this the case? Of
course it is.
God
the Father sent His Son to this earth in the image of man, and made Him
fulfill His duties as the High Priest. To save us humans, God the
Father sent His Son to this earth, made Him accept all the sins of the
world onto His body, and put Him to death on the Cross. God sent His Son
to this earth to blot out our sins and Jesus came to save us by
sacrificing His body in obedience to the will of God. It’s written,
“‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus
came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened
to Him.” As Jesus explained that it was thus fitting for Him and John
the Baptist to fulfill all righteousness, John permitted this and
baptized Him.
The
place where Jesus was baptized is the Jordan River. Formal baptism is
received in a place where one’s body can be completely submerged in
water. Baptism is received in the same way as the laying on of hands. A
pastor would lay his hands on the head of the person being baptized,
submerge him in the water, saying, “I baptize so-and-so in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” and then raise him out of the
water again. This is called baptism.
What
then, does it mean by the baptism of Jesus? Baptism has meanings such
as “to be washed,” “to be buried,” and “to be transferred.” Through the
baptism of John the Baptist, Jesus accepted all sins. This was God’s
promise. Since it was God’s promise, it was fulfilled exactly as
promised when Jesus obeyed the Father. Just like in the Old Testament,
in the New Testament also, Jesus the sacrificial Lamb was baptized by
John the Baptist, the representative of mankind. It was through this
baptism that Jesus accepted all the sins of the world. It was fitting
for Him to thus fulfill all righteousness. In other words, it was
fitting for Jesus to blot out everyone’s sins with His baptism. Jesus
said, “Give me baptism, and I will receive it. Pass all the sins of the
world to Me, and I will accept them all through you. It is thus fitting
for Me to make My believers sinless.” That’s why Jesus was baptized.
One
should not stand against this gospel without even knowing the Bible
properly. Jesus said in the Bible, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it
is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The word “thus” here
means that Jesus, having come to this world as the Savior, accepted all
the sins of mankind in this way through John the Baptist. That is what
the word “thus” means here. The phrase “for thus” is “hoo’-tos gar
(οϋτως γάρ)” in Greek, which means, “the most fitting,” “by this
method,” and “no other means besides this.” For Jesus to shoulder the
sins of the world, He had to be baptized by John the Baptist, the
representative of mankind. Jesus Himself had to accept the sins of
mankind. That is why He said, “Thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.”
The
“righteousness” here, which justifies all people by making them
sinless, means “justice,” or “rightfulness.” This work that Jesus did to
make us sinless when He came to this earth is the right work. It was to
do the right thing that Jesus was baptized by John. None other than
this was the very first thing that Jesus did when He began His public
life at the age of 30—that is, accepting all the sins of mankind by
being baptized. That is the meaning of the original text.
It
is written, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from
the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And
suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.’” It’s said here that when Jesus came out of the
water after His baptism, the gate of the heavens was opened, the Holy
Spirit descended like a dove, and the Father said, “This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In other words, God the Father was
saying, “My Son obeyed My will by being baptized by John the Baptist,
and thus accepting mankind’s sins.” That is why the Father was rejoiced
in His heart. It was because of His Son that God the Father found joy.
It
is written, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16). The world here refers to all mankind. Like this, God
sent His Son to this earth and made us sinless by passing all the sins
of the world to this Son through His baptism. Jesus then carried all our
sins to the Cross, and in our place He was put to shame, stripped of
clothes, and whipped forty times minus one. He bore all sufferings and
all curses, was crucified, and shed all the blood that was in His heart.
That is how He has saved us. “God so loved the world” means that out of
His love for us, God the Father sent His only begotten Son to this
earth, made Him be baptized and crucified, resurrected Him from death,
and has thereby saved us perfectly. God has perfectly saved you and me
who believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood on the Cross,
all those who believe in the meanings that are contained in His
righteous acts. Do you also believe this?
In
John 1:29, it is written, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward
him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!’” The next day refers to the day after John had baptized Jesus.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him the next day, he
testified, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!” In other words, John the Baptist bore witness of Jesus, saying,
“None other that He is the Son of God who is carrying the sins of the
world as our propitiation. He is our Savior who is shouldering the sins
of the world. As He was baptized by me, He is now carrying the sins of
the world.”
Did
Jesus really take upon all our sins by being baptized? Absolutely! By
receiving His baptism, Jesus washed away all the sins that were in our
hearts. Jesus said that He accepted all our sins through His baptism. If
Jesus indeed accepted all our sins through His baptism, then did He not
have to die? He had to die, of course. That is why baptism means “to be
washed” and “to be buried.”
My
fellow believers, is the role of John the Baptist absolutely necessary
for us to receive our salvation? It’s absolutely indispensable. The
Bible speaks about the work of John the Baptist countless times. Those
who do not believe in this fact believe in God all on their own,
interpreting the Bible by themselves and leaving out whatever they want
to leave out. We have to grasp here that anyone who believes in God by
cutting off all the Word of the Old Testament will be deleted from the
Kingdom of Jesus, and that anyone who believes by adding to the Word of
God will be heaped with curses. In the Old Testament, the people of
Israel passed their daily sins to their sacrificial animal by laying
their hands on its head without fail. The sins accumulated over a year
were passed onto the sacrificial animal with the High Priest laying his
hands on it on behalf of the people on the tenth day of the seventh
month. As the High Priest sacrificed to God on the Day of Atonement, the
people were freed from all the sins that had accumulated over a year.
Likewise, when Jesus came to this earth, He took upon all our sins once
and for all by being baptized by John, died on the Cross at once, and
has thereby saved us once for all.
When
the disciples asked Jesus why Elijah had to come first, Jesus told them
that he had already come and that he was none other than John the
Baptist. That’s because John the Baptist had fulfilled all righteousness
by baptizing Jesus.
How
did John the Baptist’s life end? At that time, King Herod was
committing so many sins that John the Baptist had to point out his sins.
For exposing Herod’s wrongdoings, John the Baptist was imprisoned and
eventually beheaded. He was martyred on this earth after passing every
sin to Jesus, and bearing His witness, saying, “Behold! He is the Lamb
of God who carries the sins of the world. None other than He is our
Savior.” Even though John was martyred on this earth, he was not a
failure. He passed away after fulfilling all his duties. He had said,
“He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). John the
Baptist faded away after fulfilling all of his role. He didn’t need to
be exalted anymore by the Israelites. John the Baptist bore witness of
our salvation, saying that Jesus accepted all the sins of the world and
took them away and having thus fulfilled his call, he was martyred. As
such, we must realize what a great man John the Baptist was and believe
in his ministry.
Why Do We Emphasize John the Baptist Like This?
Some
people ask us, “Are you the followers of John the Baptist?” But Jesus
said in the Bible, “Even though John came in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him, though tax collectors and harlots believed.
These tax collectors and harlots will enter Heaven first, while you will
be forsaken.” Jesus continued to emphasize John the Baptist and his
ministry. He said that John the Baptist came in the way of
righteousness. Just as God had promised, John the Baptist passed all our
sins to Jesus for us. That is why God had said that He had to send
Elijah. Do you understand this?
The
Bible therefore says in 1 Peter 3:21, “There is also an antitype which
now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ.” The antitype that saves us is Jesus’ baptism. Isn’t
Jesus’ baptism the antitype that saves us? Of course it is. Didn’t Jesus
bear our sins when He was baptized? He indeed bore all our sins. All
the sins of your entire life, all the sins of my entire lifetime, all
the sins of your children’s lifetime, and all the sins of your parents’
lifetime—Jesus took upon all these sins through His baptism. As it is
written, “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism.”
Jesus
saved us, right? Indeed, by being baptized and crucified to death,
Jesus bore all the condemnation of our sins. It is by believing in this
baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, by believing that Jesus has
become our Savior, that we can receive the remission of our sins. Do
you believe this?
However,
now that we have received the remission of our sins, does this mean
that we wouldn’t commit any sin with our bodies? No, we still commit sin
even after attaining our salvation. So to prevent us from any
misunderstanding, the Apostle Peter said in the Bible that the remission
of sin means “not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience toward God.” As Jesus was baptized in our place,
we are now sinless. However, this means that we have been saved by
faith, not that the filth of our flesh has been removed. Peter said that
it is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Even after receiving
the remission of our sins, we still commit sin with our flesh from time
to time. But this sin is also a sin of the world. This sin, too, was
passed onto Jesus. So, by faith we have obtained a good conscience
before God.
Is
there any sin in your heart? No, there is no sin. Is it easy to say
that you have no sin in your heart? Try to say this in front of other
people. Their jaws will drop in shock when you say, “Do you have sin? I
have no sin in my heart!” They’ll be so aghast to hear you say this. Yet
our own conscience says that we are now sinless before God. Because all
our sins were passed onto Jesus when John the Baptist baptized Him, we
have no sin in our conscience. Because we believe, we have no sin.
It’s
written, “The answer of a good conscience toward God.” Why are we now
able to come out to stand before the presence of God? That’s because all
the sins that we commit in this world everyday, and all the sins that
we will ever commit until the day we die, were all passed onto Jesus
when He came to this earth and was baptized. Nailed on both His hands
and feet, Jesus said while bleeding to death, “It is finished!” And
rising from the dead again in three days, He ascended to the Kingdom of
Heaven. By believing in this, we have now been made sinless and received
the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven with a good conscience. Jesus is the
Savior who came to this earth to save mankind and forever blotted out
the sins of the world once and for all. The Lord has saved us. Then has
He not made you a man of good conscience? He really has made you so.
Because
Jesus was born on this earth to save us, was baptized by John the
Baptist at the age of 30, endured countless suffering for three years,
and was crucified, we are sinless. It is written, “But He was wounded
for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah
53:5). By being baptized, Jesus accepted the sins of the world,
including the blemished sins that we commit everyday, and by dying in
our place, He has saved us. So given all these things, how could we say
to God that we have sin? Anyone who knows this and believes in it cannot
say to God that he has sin. No believer can have an evil conscience,
for he has a good conscience before God. When God has saved me so
clearly, how could my sins still remain? I have no sin. The Lord has
saved me. I am a righteous man. The Lord has made me a righteous man. He
has made me God’s child.
The
Bible says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12),
and it also says, “With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). My
fellow believers, do you believe in this? Faith is to believe with the
heart. It’s the answer of a good conscience toward God. Those who
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit confess the following:
“Father, as Jesus bore my sins by being baptized, and as He shed His
blood to death, You have saved me like this. God, I have now come to
stand before Your presence by placing my faith in Jesus. I believe in
You.” Our faith is not based on our own emotions. The Bible said, “There
is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism.” The Apostle Peter
believed so. But what about you? Do you also believe so? I, too, believe
in this. The Lord has indeed saved us in this way. I am so grateful to
Him. Even though we are sometimes insufficient, because the Lord
actually took upon all our sins, we are now God’s children. We believe
in this gospel always with our hearts, and whenever we commit sin out of
our insufficiencies, all that we have to do is just admit our
wrongdoing.
Now,
I would like to tell you a few things about prayers of confession. Some
of you probably still have a desire to offer prayers of repentance,
right? Someone who is used to offering prayers of repentance is bound to
have this urge out of habit. When you commit sin after receiving the
remission of your sins, you should offer prayers of confession, saying
to God, “Lord, I’ve committed such and such sins.” Rather than asking
God to forgive you, admit your sins honestly before God, saying, “Lord,
I’ve sinned.” And affirm the gospel once more, realizing, “These sins
were also all passed onto Jesus when He was baptized.” When we recognize
that these sins were also all passed onto Jesus when He was baptized,
we can feel even more gratitude for our salvation.
That’s
why 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When
we confess our sins, the Holy Spirit speaks to us in our hearts,
saying, “Do not worry, for those sins were also all passed onto Jesus
Christ when He was baptized.” That is why we are now living with our
faces lit like the sun. It’s because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in
our hearts that we are thankful to God and able to lead a joyful life
always. We have been saved despite our insufficiencies and that is
precisely why we are always thankful. After all, if God had saved us for
our own merits, who among us would thank Him? It’s because He has saved
us despite our flaws that we are grateful. So in this world, only those
who are flawed are saved. But more flawed people do not believe in this
gospel and that is why they are heading to hell. Since these people
don’t realize just how flawed they are, they resist in stubbornness,
only to be cast into hell.
If
you believe in the Lord, you will go to Heaven. When this world turns
even darker, our Lord will come. Because we believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit before the Lord, we are God’s own children. We
have become God’s people by faith. The Lord has clothed us in such
amazing love that it’s impossible for me to describe it all in this
hour.
So
as you go to bed tonight, I ask you to ruminate on this love. I am sure
that you will find yourself laughing out of joy helplessly, saying to
yourself, “Whoa! How amazing it is that I am a righteous person and that
I now have no sin!” Your spouse or children may then think that you’ve
gone mad, but even so, you have received such a great joy that you
simply cannot hide it.
So
feel free to testify in the Church how the Lord has blotted out all
your sins and tell everyone just how happy your heart is. And if you
have any questions about the Word, then simply ask around to any saint
in the church. All your questions will be answered. There are many big
brothers and sisters in the church. Those who have received the
remission of their sins only recently are the youngest.
I give all my thanks to God for remitting away all our sins. Halleluiah!
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