The Life of our Lord
Jesus fulfllled the pattern we are to follow as we respond to His command. This was to fulfill all righteousness. (right doing.)
Mat 3:15 (NIV) Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
Jesus said that we were to follow Him, hence there was this need for Him to be baptised that we might follow. Note in verse 16 he came out of the water. This was full immersion!
Mat 3:16 (NIV) As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up OUT OF the water.
Mark 1:10 (NIV) As Jesus was coming up OUT OF the water,
It was at this time He began His ministry in all its fullness. This point in time symbolised the seperation theme. The Father and the Holy Spirit were involved and the acknowledgement of sonship which implies the placing of the fulness of the name.
Mat 3:17 (NIV) And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Disciples’ prayer: Hallowed be your name
Hallowed means to consider the name righteous, holy and set apart. i.e. separated. Why consider a name in such a special way? We need to understand that names are considered differently to our usual concept when studied in the bible context.
Two ideas should be understood.
a. The giving of the name.
b. The name and the person.
Naming
In the giving of a name the senior person is exercising authority over the one being named. e.g. Adam naming the animals, or when a parent names a child.
When God named or renamed a person this was an act of either regeneration or condemnation. The act confirmed the person in the possession of some quality of being. God had, as it were, fixed his nature, capacity and destiny.
Gen 17:5 (NIV) No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations
Gen 32:28 (NIV) Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
Mat 1:21 (NIV) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The name and the person became linked together. The name became the person, the name was the person revealed. The nature was actively present.
Gen 17:5 (NIV) No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Prov 18:10 (NIV) The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Isa 30:27 (NIV) See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.
Where a name giver places his own name upon the person named it signified the closest joining of the two persons into one unity.
Jer 14:9 (NIV) Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!
Receiving the name
Naming becomes most important in Christian baptism. The scripture literally says we are baptised INTO the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 8:16 (NIV) because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.Acts 10:48 (NIV) So he ordered that they be baptized in(into) the name of Jesus Christ.
The receiving of a name scripturally implies the setting aside or seperation unto a particular calling. It involves a seperation from the former life. The act of immersion baptism illustrates this perfectly. The old life is buried in the water and the new seperated life rises and walks in a new existance joined in unity with the name and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Disciple’s Walk: Separation
As disciples all believers are to follow Jesus and be baptised. This is a direct command of the Lord and should be full immersion baptism as this is the only way we can truly follow Him. This involves more than just getting wet. Repentence and belief, death and burial, resurrection and the impartation of the name and seperation unto God’s purpose are all involved.
Because of these factors children before the age of understanding and reason cannot be baptised.
Mat 28:19 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them IN THE NAME OF the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mark 16:16 (NIV) Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
Acts 2:38 (NIV) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
Ministry in the name
The question needs to be asked; what is the Father’s name? what is the son’s name? what is the Spirit’s name? For the disciple the name of Jesus is often used in prayer and deliverance ministry. To pray in the name of Jesus implies that the person praying understands that this is not just speaking words but invoking in all its power the righteousness and power of the Lord. To have clean hands and a repentant heart is the foundation for effective prayer.
In the book of Acts the disciples baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of the command of Jesus in Matthew.
Mat 28:19 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in (into)the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Parables: the Tares and the Wheat
Mat 13:24-30 (NIV) Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'”
The weed referred to is probably the bearded darnel which resembles wheat but when mature is easily distinguished. The darnel is a stiff plant which does not bend before the wind.
Isa 45:23 (NIV) By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.
Phil 2:10 (NIV) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
The interpretation clearly points to the end times when a separation will take place. The gathering together of the just and the unjust and their seperation is clear.
The key verses are …
Mat 13:41-43 (NIV) The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This is a gathering out of His Kingdom (the mystery kingdom,the NOW kingdom, the kingdom of God within you) The tares are destroyed in a furnace of fire.
2 Th 2:8 (NIV) And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming.
They do NOT as some teach have the millenium (1000 years)to become acceptable.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
The seven churches: The Church at Smyrna
(smyrna = suffering,bitterness or death)
Rev 2:8 (NIV) “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.
This church is the example of separation even from life itself. In Romans baptism is likened to death, we are to reckon ourselves dead and so separated from the worldly.
Rom 6:3-6 (NIV) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
Another separation is seen in the ones who say they are Jews and are not.
Rom 2:28-29 (NIV) A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
(circumcision = a cutting apart,a separation)
The ones who were truly born again were separated by the trials that come upon the church in the days of persecution. They had an abiding faith and were willing to die. Separation unto literal death was involved in their calling as it may be for any of us.
They were ‘ poor ‘ but ‘ rich’ . The church at Laodicia was ‘rich’ but ‘ poor ‘
James 2:5 (NIV) Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
Church History
The great separation time from AD 303 (Diocletion) to AD 313 (Edict of Constantine) saw terrible persecution of he church. This was ten years. Typically in biblical interpretation a year often equals a day.
Rev 2:10 (NIV) Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Many were indeed put in prison, and there were many who died in the arena and the like during this time.
The Overcomer’s Condition
Rev 2:9-10 (NIV) I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!
They were poor in a worldly sense but rich in heavenly treasure.
Luke 18:18 (NIV) A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The problem of the rich ruler was not so much that he was wealthy but his attitude to the riches. He had not achieved a separation from the deceitfulness of riches. Hence the Lord’s words to him,”Sell all you have …
Overcomer’s Reward
The overcomer was not to be hurt by the second death.
James 1:9-12 (NIV) The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. 12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Rev 20:14 (NIV) Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
The feasts of Israel: The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Exo 12:15 (NIV) For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
Exo 12:18-19 (NIV) In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.
All leaven was to be put out of their houses. This was a type of that which was to come in the spiritual realm.
1 Cor 5:7 (NIV) Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
This is the picture of separation of the pure meal of the Word from that which may corrupt.