The book of Matthew begins with a wonderful Person. He is the issue of many human generations mingled with the Triune God. Such a wonderful Person was proclaimed to people as the kingdom. He Himself was preached as the kingdom. This wonderful Person was preached as the seed of the kingdom and was sown into the earth of humanity. Out of this seed the kingdom will grow until it reaches maturity, the full manifestation of the kingdom.
Both Matthew 13 and 25 are very crucial and strategic chapters. Matthew 13 tells us that this wonderful Person has sown Himself into us as the seed of the kingdom and that this seed grows and produces transformed material—a treasure and pearls. The following chapters reveal that these transformed items are for the building up of the church, which is the reality of the kingdom. Chapter twenty-five tells us that everyone who is in the kingdom is likened to a virgin. We are neither robbers nor gentlemen; we are virgins. Whether we are males or females, we are all virgins holding a burning lamp and going forth out of this world to meet our Bridegroom. However, we need to gain an extra portion of the Triune God to fill our vessel, our soul. Our need today is an extra portion of the all-inclusive Spirit as the oil. This means that all of the inward parts of our being must be filled, occupied, and saturated by the Lord. This will bring us to maturity and will make us ready for His coming. We will be prepared for the full manifestation of the kingdom.
This must be a controlling vision to all the churches today. It should not be taken as mere knowledge or doctrine. This must be a vision that governs the church life. Every aspect of the church life should be continually governed by this vision. Under His grace and by His mercy I can testify that I am under this vision. This vision has become not merely a doctrine but a governing principle to me.
Now we come to the end of the book of Matthew. This book ends with the command to baptize people into the Triune God and with the Lord's promise that He will be with us all the days until the completion of this age (28:19-20). These verses are profound and all-inclusive. We all must realize that we have been baptized into the Triune God. To be baptized into the Triune God simply means to be put into the Triune God. In Matthew 28:19 the Triune God is likened to the water of baptism. When we baptize people into water, this signifies that we put them into the Triune God.
In Matthew 28:19 the King James Version uses the phrase, "in the name." Under the influence of this translation, many Christian teachers think that to baptize people into the Triune God is simply a ritual or a form. Some even argue about the proper name in which to baptize people, whether in the name of the Triune God, in the name of the Lord Jesus, or in the name of Christ Jesus. The arguments over this point have even caused some divisions. Several years ago, while I was in the Philippines, a dear brother who loved the Lord and was seeking the Lord came to me with a good intention saying, "Brother Lee, I know that you people practice immersion. I would like to know in what name you immerse people. Do you baptize them in the name of the Lord Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ or in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?" I asked the brother what he meant. He answered, "There is a big difference in which name you baptize people." I asked him, "In what name do you baptize people?" He replied, "We baptize people in the name of the Lord Jesus. It is wrong to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It is also wrong to baptize people in the name of Christ Jesus. You must baptize people in the name of the Lord Jesus." I said, "Brother, you are altogether too much. I beg you to forget about all these things. Whether you baptize people in the name of Jesus Christ or in the name of Christ Jesus or in the name of the Lord Jesus or in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, does not really matter. As long as you are putting people into God, it is wonderful." He said, "No brother. It is not a small thing. You must realize that here in the Philippines some churches practice baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We practice baptizing people in the name of the Lord Jesus." I replied, "Brother, there is no doubt that you are just a strange, peculiar sect. I must speak the truth." We must see that it is not a matter of baptizing people in a certain name.
Once when I was in Houston, I spoke on this subject and even demonstrated how a pastor might baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Afterward a Southern Baptist pastor who was in the meeting came up to me and said, "Brother, the message was wonderful, but you were mocking me." I answered, "Brother, I have no intention of mocking you or anyone else. I am simply telling the truth to the Lord's people that baptism should not be a ritual or a form. It must be a fact."
What should we do with a person who has recently believed in the Lord Jesus? We must put him into the Triune God. We must baptize him into the Triune God. Then he will be a person in the Triune God. Whenever we baptize people, we must exercise faith based upon the Lord's clear and faithful Word. The Lord said, "Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name..." The Greek preposition here should not be translated "in" but "into." The Lord told us to baptize people into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Since the Lord has given us such a faithful Word, we must stand upon this Word with full faith and authority. Whenever we baptize people, we must do it in a living way. We stand on the Word of the Lord to baptize people into the Triune God.