The Relationship Between the Ministry of Jesus and That of John the Baptist Recorded in the Four Gospels

Wholeheartedly, We Must Properly Know and Believe in Jesus

The Lord took on the sins of the entire mankind at once through the baptism received from John the Baptist, and He shed blood on the Cross, died vicariously, and was resurrected from death. Having received the baptism given by John the Baptist, the Lord became the Savior who saved us from the sins of the entire world. Therefore, today’s Christians must think and believe in Jesus in connection with the ministry of John the Baptist. In other words, regarding Jesus Christ saving mankind from the sin of the world, you and I must know and believe in the ministry of John the Baptist in which he had passed on the sins of the world to Jesus once and for all.

In order to do this, we must first realize that Jesus is the ministry worker who fulfilled the all the righteousness of God by having received the baptism from John the Baptist as stated in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All Christians living in this day and age must know both the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus. We must now return to the Word of the Lord, and then we must think why there has to be the ministry of John the Baptist and believe in it. We must now enter into the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus, and then we must renew our current faith even more. Having done so, all those living on this earth must anticipate the arrival of the day when they will all know the righteousness of God. Such faith is to obey the will of God who is perfect.

The Relationship between the Ministry of JESUS and That of

JOHN the BAPTIST Recorded in the Four Gospels

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2006 by Hephzibah Publishing House

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.

ISBN 978-89-282-1020-6

Table of Contents

Preface

1. You Must Know and Believe in the Ministry of John the Baptist (Mark 1:1-2)

2. John the Baptist Was Not a Failure (Matthew 11:1-14)

3. John the Baptist, Who Came in the Way of Righteousness (Matthew 17:1-13)

4. Look at the Ministry of John the Baptist! (Luke 1:17-23)

5. Let Us Gladly Enjoy the Glory of God (John 1:1-14)

6. Do You Know the Ministries of Two Servants of God? (John 1:30-36)

7. Why Did Jesus Have to Receive the Baptism? (John 3:22-36)

8. Spread the True Gospel and Jesus’ Righteous Deed (Matthew 3:1-17)

9. The Relationship between the Work of John the Baptist and the Gospel of Atonement for Our Sins (Matthew 21:32)

10. Jesus Who Came to Blot Out Your Sins (Matthew 3:13-17)

11. Behold, I Send My Messenger (Mark 1:1-5)

12. Let’s Believe in Jesus with the Understanding of John the Baptist (Luke 1:1-17)

Preface

The New Testament begins with the Four Gospels, that is, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All of the Four Gospels dealt with and completely recorded the ministry of John the Baptist. It is because his ministry is so important. Without the understanding of the ministry of John the Baptist, we cannot claim to know the ministry of Jesus Christ.

If so, we can ask ourselves, Was the ministry of John the Baptist recorded in the Four Gospels of that much importance? Pointing out John the Baptist, even Jesus said, And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come (Matthew 11:14). Hence, John the Baptist was a man born on this earth to carry out a special ministry. Jesus also said, And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12). This is true because John the Baptist was born on this earth, and when he baptized Jesus Christ, the sins of this world were passed on to Him. Thus, Jesus was able to take on the sins of this world at once. By having allowed this to be so, the Lord has allowed those who believe in the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus to enter Heaven by receiving the cleansing of sins. This is the meaning inherent in the Scripture passage from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 11, verses 12-14.

Do you believe that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth? If you do, it means that you know the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus completely. However, many Christians who do not understand the ministry of John the Baptist do not know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, and they lead their life of faith only with the fervors of their flesh. Though ignorance, such people do not even try to know the ministry of John the Baptist written in the Four Gospels. Hence, the ministry of John the Baptist has all too long been coming under disregard even among Christians who claim to believe in Jesus. Perhaps for this reason, I find there isn’t that many people who have interest in the ministry of John the Baptist these days. Thus, people are prone to look strangely at those who have interest on this topic. It is because many people have been unconcerned about the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus unwillingly for a long time.

There were Christian leaders who had made many people think it is undoubtedly right. Thus, Christians today go on living ignorant of the ministry of John Baptist. They are those who pursue a faith that is fleshly and legalistic. Because people of this world have been living with a worldly and fleshly egoistic mind, they could not help but follow a path toward destruction.

I will witness the ministry of John the Baptist recorded in the Four Gospels. I cannot but also witness the ministry of Jesus Christ. I cannot but continue this work until all the Christians throughout the world know the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus. To properly understand the ministry of Jesus, one needs to possess a proper understanding of the ministry of John the Baptist. By all means, I wish for you to humbly accept the witnessing of these two ministries by comparing it with the Word of God. I will not try to witness the current doctrines of Christianity. Instead, I will witness the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus written in the Four Gospels exactly in accordance with the Word of God.

The Lord Speaks to Us Ever More Strongly about the Importance of the Ministry of John the Baptist

Now, mankind must accept in their hearts the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus, and thus, walk toward the throne of grace and be clothed in grace of God. If you intend to return to Jesus Christ, you will first have to know and accept the ministry of John the Baptist. If you try to understand the ministry of Jesus without having a correct understanding of the ministry of John the Baptist, you will fall into numerous errors and enormous pain. You must not turn the ministry of Jesus Christ useless by disregarding the ministry of John the Baptist.

Right now, do you have a proper understanding of the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus? If there remain sins in your heart despite your faith in the ministry of Jesus Christ, then it is clear that you do not know the ministry of John the Baptist. The Lord spoke to all of us about the need for the ministry of John the Baptist. The Bible says that should you and I not believe in the ministry of John the Baptist and resist it, there awaits a fearsome judgment for that sin. Our hearts are led toward Jesus Christ because there have been God’s love and the ministry of John the Baptist.

Right Now, I Want to Ask Today’s Christians Just How Much They Know about the Ministry of John the Baptist

I have much doubt about Christians’ faith today. If they try to understand the ministry of Jesus Christ without the knowledge of the ministry of John the Baptist, they will enter into tremendous emptiness, chaos, and darkness. In other words, they will remain as fools. Yet, because they go on claiming right now to believe in the ministry of Jesus Christ without the knowledge of the ministry of John the Baptist, I just feel stifled.

I have no choice but to speak out this Truth. I say to such ignorant Christians: You are not aware of yourself being situated in a state of not knowing the ministry of John the Baptist. What do you think about the ministry of John the Baptist? Concerning the receiving of salvation by believing in Jesus, are you perhaps thinking that it doesn’t matter whether you know the ministry of John the Baptist or not?

We must think about the reason why God had it written in the Book of Malachi chapter 4 in the Old Testament, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, (Malachi 4:5). It says that God was willing to send Elijah in His Time. Then we arrive at the question, Why did God send John the Baptist to this earth? We must understand that God the Father had promised to send Elijah to this earth prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus testified that John the Baptist was Elijah to come according to God’s promise, as it is written:

"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" (Malachi 4:5-6).

How good would it be if today’s Christians could understand that this passage was speaking about John the Baptist? They would then be able to receive many blessings before God. However, most of Christians these days are losing out on God’s blessings for not being able to fully understand this passage, so, I will preach this fact repeatedly.

Why did the Lord in the above passage say that He would send the prophet Elijah prior to passing judgment on this world? It is said that the prophet of God Elijah will come to this earth, lead God’s heart toward us and also lead us who are in the image of God toward God. We can see these words of prophecy get realized in the ministry of John the Baptist appearing in the New Testament.

The content of this book, The Relationship between the Ministry of Jesus and That of John the Baptist Recorded in the Four Gospels, will provide much help to Christian sinners who know and believe in the blood of the Cross only. It will also enlighten them on what the ministry of God truly is. Because they have had disregard for the ministry of John the Baptist and passed it by, they have believed only in the blood of the Cross up until now. Therefore, they haven’t been able to receive the true blessing of God sent down through Jesus Christ. Are you not one of them? Then, you must become the believers of God’s love and His righteousness by becoming aware of the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus from now on. You must give back the glory to God and desire to receive the infinite blessing of God by entering into these two ministries that constitute the righteousness of God.

Certain People These Days Try to Revert Back the Ministry of John the Baptist into Something Meaningless

It is because such people think that John the Baptist and his ministry were failures. They did not understand the ministry of John the Baptist properly. Furthermore, they didn’t even try to know it. They were saying that John the Baptist, instead of properly recognizing Jesus Christ, had doubted Him, falling into temptation. They say that the passages in Matthew 11:2-3 led them to think like that. It is written in Matthew 11:2-3, And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" With these passages as the basis, they claim that John the Baptist had doubted Jesus Christ, instead of believing in Him as the Savior, but that is absolutely not the case.

John the Baptist did not doubt Jesus being the Savior. Rather, he wanted to send all his disciples to Jesus to make them Jesus’ disciples. Andrew and John were the case. I think there had been some stubborn disciples who didn’t obey their imprisoned teacher who told them to go to Jesus Christ and believe in Him. I am sure that John the Baptist wanted to send his stubborn disciples to Jesus before his death.

Are you a part of the multitude who doubt the ministry of John the Baptist and his faith? The faith and the ministry of John the Baptist shows that he was someone who had believed in the divinity of Jesus and His being the Savior, and especially the one who had passed on the sin of the world to Jesus. He wasn’t an unbeliever. On the contrary, he was someone who had believed in Jesus Christ’s divinity and His being the Lamb of God and the one who had given Jesus the baptism led by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we know that he said those words because he had wanted to guide his disciples to Jesus Christ. It was because he knew that he would die a martyr in the near future and return to God.

Certain people do not know the ministry of John the Baptist and yet, try to ignore it. Indeed, they are foolish. They mustn’t do so. If you want to believe in Jesus Christ who has come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit as the Savior, before all else, you must know the ministry of John the Baptist and recognize that he was a messenger sent by God. You must remember that he was the servant of God who had passed on the sins of this world at once by giving Jesus Christ the baptism. This work wasn’t something he had done arbitrarily by himself; but instead, he had given Jesus Christ the baptism in accordance with the will of God the Father. Because John the Baptist had passed on the sins of this world to Jesus Christ, he goes on to witness that fact to us the very next day of Jesus’ baptism by saying, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29) He was the very person who had given Jesus the baptism of passing on the sins of this world to Jesus at once at the Jordan River.

Also, he had completed the ministry of Elijah who was promised to be sent in the Book of Malachi chapter 3 and 4 in the Old Testament. You must remember the Word of Jesus in which He said, And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come, (Matthew 11:14). Like so, in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, Jesus speaks about John the Baptist being Elijah mentioned in the Old Testament and the importance of his ministry. Therefore, if you who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior have disregard for his ministry, then you must turn around and have a proper faith. In the Book of Malachi chapter 4, verse 6, the Lord said that He will unsparingly render judgment upon those who do not come back to the Lord by ignoring his ministry for their sins.

Also in the Bible, Jesus says that John the Baptist was someone who had carried out a very important ministry. The passage in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 11 verse 12 says, And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, and this passage speaks about John the Baptist carrying out the work of passing on the sins of this world by giving Jesus Christ the baptism and also about Jesus being able to go to the Cross for having taken on the sins of this world at once by receiving the baptism. Thus, John the Baptist was able to witness by looking at Jesus and saying, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the Truth that the Bible clearly speaks of in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Once again I say to you: People who have a disregard for the ministry of John the Baptist will receive a terrifying judgment from God. I want you to bear in mind that the Lord speaks of the entire Truth of salvation in the Four Gospels. If a person disregards the ministry of John the Baptist written in the Four Gospels, then that person cannot accurately understand the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Now we all must realize the importance of the ministry of John the Baptist and become thankful by faith for the righteousness of God perfected in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Both the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus are precious and indispensable ministries for our salvation.

By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we all must become those who live out our faith receiving God’s blessings by attaining the remission of sins and entering into the will of God. I wish for you right now to be those who are thankful by faith for Jesus Christ, who has come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and for the ministry of John the Baptist who had faithfully carried out the ministry of God.

I hope that all the miraculous blessings of God be with you!

June 30, 2006 Paul C. Jong, Author

SERMON 1

You Must Know and

Believe in the Ministry of

John the Baptist

< Mark 1:1-2 >

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets:

‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You.’"

John the Baptist Prepared the Way of the Lord

Mark 1:2 says, Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You. My fellow believers, you can find the righteousness of God only if you throw away your preconceived notions and follow the Bible as the Word of God guides you. So when you read God’s Word, you must read it after forsaking your own thoughts and carnal desires. Only then can you realize and believe in the will of God that He wants to fulfill. The same principle applies to today’s Scripture passage as well. It is when you cast aside your fleshly thoughts and follow the Word of God as it leads you that you can properly understand the ministry of John the Baptist and the ministry of Jesus.

The messenger whom God sent before Jesus is none other than John the Baptist. Why did God say in Matthew 11:10-11 that He sent John the Baptist to you and me? Why did John the Baptist have to be sent six months before Jesus Christ was born on this earth? The reason for this was so that John would fulfill his duties as the High Priest of the Old Testament on this earth. Another reason was for him to pass the sins of mankind to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. As a descendant of Aaron the High Priest of the Old Testament, John the Baptist had been sent to fulfill the priesthood of his house by the will of God. Six months before Jesus was conceived by the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist was conceived by God in Elizabeth’s womb, a descendant of Aaron the High Priest. This was done for the sake of the righteousness of God, to pass the sins of mankind to Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of Luke introduces John the Baptist as the son of Zacharias, one of the priests from the division of Abijah. This means that John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, was born from the division of Abijah, one of the grandsons of Aaron the High Priest. The division of Abijah here refers to his descendants. In other words, it refers to the descendants of Aaron the High Priest.

When the descendants of Aaron increased in number, King David established a rotating order for their priesthood, and Aaron’s descendants offered sacrifices according to this order. These sons of Aaron, who were all from the house of the High Priest, could minister as priests in turn for 15 days according to their respective divisions. Aaron’s descendants faithfully fulfilled their ministry as priests for the people of Israel; some as High Priests and others as common priests. That’s because God had given the privilege and blessing of serving as priests only to Aaron’s descendants.

The evidence for this is found in 1 Chronicles 24:1-19; let’s all turn to this passage here: Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests. Then David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to the schedule of their service. There were more leaders found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and thus they were divided. Among the sons of Eleazar were sixteen heads of their fathers’ houses, and eight heads of their fathers’ houses among the sons of Ithamar. Thus they were divided by lot, one group as another, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of the house of God, from the sons of Eleazar and from the sons of Ithamar. And the scribe, Shemaiah the son of Nethanel, one of the Levites, wrote them down before the king, the leaders, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Levites, one father’s house taken for Eleazar and one for Ithamar. Now the first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezekel, the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. This was the schedule of their service for coming into the house of the LORD according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.

Let us also turn to the account of the Day of Atonement when the people of Israel offered their yearly sacrifices to God. This scene is described in Leviticus 16:29-34: ‘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."

You must realize here that it is to the descendants of Aaron whom God had entrusted the office of the High Priest forever. It is the forever-unchanging Law of God for Aaron’s descendants to fulfill the office of the High Priest. For the atonement of the people of Israel, God made the High Priest offer sin offerings every year on the tenth day of the seventh month.

After the passing of the age of the Old Testament, and the age of the New Testament began, John the Baptist was born in the house of Aaron the High Priest to fulfill the ministry of passing all the sins of mankind to Jesus Christ by baptizing Him. Put differently, John the Baptist’s role was to fulfill the office of the last High Priest of the Old Testament.

Mark 1:1-2 Speaks of the Ministry of John the Baptist

It’s written in Luke 1:5, 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. This passage mentions that both Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were Aaron’s descendants. What we need to realize here and believe from this account is the ministry of John the Baptist and the gospel mystery of the water and the Spirit.

John the Baptist was born from Zacharias and Elizabeth, and these two belonged to the house of Aaron, the first High Priest of the Old Testament. God made John the Baptist born to Zacharias and his wife so that John would, first of all, inherit the office of the High Priest on this earth. As the representative of mankind who would baptize Jesus, John the Baptist was to fulfill the duties of the last priest of the age of the Old Testament. This was the providence of redemption found in Jesus Christ, and the work of the righteous covenant of God found in this providence and of His pleasure.

John the Baptist was God’s servant raised according to the providence of redemption in Jesus Christ. In other words, it was according to the will of God that John the Baptist was born in the house of Aaron to fulfill the office of the last High Priest on earth. Being born in the house of Aaron, John the Baptist ministered as the High Priest of all humankind. Here we need to examine his role in more detail and reach a definitive understanding. Only then can we properly believe in the ministry of Jesus Christ who came to save us from all the sins of this world. Although we often think about Jesus as the Savior of mankind, when it comes to Elijah to come, who is mentioned in Malachi chapter 4 in the Old Testament, we have actually been too indifferent.

To appreciate why it is so necessary for every Christian in these end times to understand the ministry of John the Baptist, we need to once again turn to the Word of God. We need to reconsider the relationship between the ministry of John the Baptist and that of Jesus. If there were no connection between John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’ ministry, then we would have no reason to be interested in the ministry of John the Baptist anymore. However, there is a reason for us to take interest in John the Baptist. That’s because his ministry is indeed intimately related to the ministry of Jesus.

This is more true today because the hearts of most Christians still have not been completely washed from sin, and because of the need of Christians around the globe to really return to Jesus Christ who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When it comes to the ministry of John the Baptist and that of Jesus, it’s absolutely indispensable for us to know and believe in the reason that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Only then can we understand the reason why Jesus shed His blood on the Cross for us after being baptized by John. John the Baptist was God’s messenger sent to this earth by God the Father almost at the same time as Jesus Christ His Son was sent. As the last High Priest of the age of the Old Testament, John fulfilled this ministry by baptizing Jesus.

That is why God said in Mark 1:2, As it is written in the Prophets: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ You should realize here that the writers of the Four Gospels in the New Testament all draw our attention to the ministry of John the Baptist first before speaking of Jesus Christ. Mark, a disciple of Jesus, first introduced the ministry of John the Baptist, which was passing the sins of the world to Jesus. That’s because Mark knew that John the Baptist had to pass all the sins of this world to Jesus by baptizing Him. It’s because John the Baptist was the very man who passed mankind’s sins to Jesus through baptism.

So quoting a passage from the Old Testament, Mark is saying that John the Baptist was God’s servant prepared beforehand according to His providence. The reason for this is only when we all understand the ministry of John the Baptist properly can we also properly understand and believe in the ministry of Jesus. John the Baptist was the messenger of God the Father sent to this earth six months prior to Jesus. In other words, he was God’s ambassador sent to pass the sins of this world to Jesus. Chosen by God among the High Priests of the Old Testament, John the Baptist was God’s servant who was to pass all the sins of this world to Jesus by baptizing Him, and to thus fulfill his priesthood.

Therefore, his ministry was a blessed one, and he was God’s servant who played an important role in fulfilling the righteousness of God. John the Baptist was the blessed one who, together with Jesus, was indispensable to fulfill all the righteousness of God (Matthew 3:15). He was, in other words, God’s servant who made it clearly known that Jesus would become the Savior of all sinners. Thus, we should not fail to notice the fact that all the writers of the Four Gospels introduced the ministry of John the Baptist prior to the ministry of Jesus. Before finding out about Jesus’ ministry, all of us must first realize the importance of the ministry of John the Baptist.

Both spiritually and actually, John the Baptist was God’s ambassador sent from the Kingdom of Heaven. It is through the ministry of John the Baptist, who came from the Kingdom of Heaven in obedience to the will of God, that we can understand the ministry of Jesus Christ properly. If we have the proper understanding of the ministry of John the Baptist, then we can also grasp easily that Jesus bore the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, all to become our Savior. So we can see that the Four Gospels in the New Testament invariably write about the ministry of John the Baptist, God’s servant.

Why did God send John the Baptist, a descendant of Aaron, before sending Jesus at the beginning of the New Testament era? This shows us that just like Aaron the High Priest, who had passed all the yearly sins of the people of Israel to the scapegoat by laying his hands on its head in the age of the Old Testament, John the Baptist is the very man who passed all the