432. Prayer Day Conference Testimonies 1928

Wherever God uses the Word, He is present. God cannot speak to people without using words—in order that He can be understood. But the Word is Christ, through whom all things have been created. John testifies: “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.” Jesus’ desire was for the sons of men. God wanted to satisfy this desire, since all things were created through Him and for Him. We can learn from all that we see in nature. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Light radiated from Jesus Christ. People receive their light from Christ, just as the earth receives its light from the sun. Light shone in the darkness, in other words, into the darkened human heart and mind, but the darkness did not receive it. John came to testify about the light, but he himself was not the light; he pointed to the light and said: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The true light came into the world because Jesus bore the light within Himself. And this is John’s testimony: “I am not the Christ.” What then? Are you Elijah? No. Who are you then? I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord!” I baptize with water for the forgiveness of sins. This was the voice that also cried out to us when we received the forgiveness of sins. John was the greatest born of women—of mankind—but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. John remains as a man favored by God, but he is outside the kingdom of heaven, since the least in this kingdom is greater than he. Jesus bore this kingdom in an earthen vessel, and so do we, for the kingdom of God has come into us. Jesus offered Himself in the power of an eternal Spirit. The flesh was nailed to the cross. The kingdom entered into Jesus—behind the veil. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” After He had ascended to heaven, He sent the Spirit who brought the kingdom of heaven. We need to distinguish between the baptism of John and the kingdom of heaven. Acts 19:1, ff. Most Christians today only know the baptism of John. Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures; he was instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught faithfully about Jesus even though he only knew the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila had heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:24-28. After this he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Today’s Christians also need to be taught the way of God more accurately. They do not know Jesus other than as a sacrifice of atonement for sins. They speak almost exclusively about sinning and receiving grace, in other words, the forgiveness of sins. Christ as the power to overcome sin is quite unknown to them. The kingdom of heaven is accompanied by God’s Spirit and the breaking down of the flesh. This costs something; you have to suffer, and so people choose to remain in the baptism of John because they are not willing to suffer. But you must seek to enter the kingdom! Take it by force! Let the sufferings come; let the testimony of the blood come forth in your life; let your own life go!

Moses forsook the treasures of Egypt. He chose rather to suffer with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Heb. 11:25. The kingdom of heaven bears within it the three witnesses: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Certainly the baptism of John points towards the testimony of the blood, but does not contain it. But the kingdom of heaven has it in itself, and this kingdom is within us. Jesus speaks many parables about the kingdom of heaven. It is compared with good seed which is sown in a field, but then the enemy comes and sows tares. These were to grow together until the harvest. That is the way it was for Jesus; He had to live together with a Judas, and He bore him and called him “Friend.” He, in His immeasurable faithfulness, even covered him, so that His disciples did not know who would betray Him. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed; it is smaller than all other seeds, but it grows large. The roots of this tree eat away at the body of sin, and the tree grows so large that the birds of heaven can build their nests in it. Jesus had to speak about the kingdom of heaven in parables, because no one had any previous knowledge of this kingdom. They only knew about the forgiveness of sins. The kingdom of heaven is also like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it was all leavened. The leaven was placed in the meal, and it leavened the whole lump. That is the way the kingdom of God grows and spreads. The will of God is itself the kingdom of heaven, and it demands our life in this world. Many will seek to enter the kingdom of heaven but will not be able. They press forward, but their flesh and self-will stand in the way like a wall. The price is too high, and so they fall back on the baptism of John, the forgiveness of sins. The kingdom of heaven requires that the flesh with its lusts and passions is on the cross.

John testified to the light, but he was not the light. To be illuminated is different than being a light yourself. We must become a source of light like the stars, and not just a cold planet like the moon. But no one who only holds to the baptism of John will become a source of light. Jesus had light and life within Himself. Therefore, give up your own will and put God’s will in its place; then you will lay hold of the kingdom of heaven.