[0:01] Amen. He loves you. He loves me. He loves us. Hallelujah. You may be seated. So, Wednesday night I was all prepared to go through that lesson on baptism.
[0:23] And so the message this morning is going to be on baptism. And I'll just, let me just, you know, there's headings in the book and different things.
[0:39] And so I want to, before I start, I want to tell you what all we hope to cover this morning. And basically, more or less, everything and maybe more than what would have been covered.
[0:59] Conditions for baptism, the meaning of baptism, the mode of baptism, and the baptism of the Spirit. And so turn to John chapter 3.
[1:13] I'm going to start with conditions for baptism. So, when someone desires baptism or someone, who needs to be baptized? It's a good question, I believe.
[1:26] And I want to read one verse in Mark 16, 16. We know it by heart. Jesus commanded his disciples and he commanded us, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
[1:45] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. And so Jesus commanded the disciples to go into all the world and to preach the gospel.
[2:03] And then he says, People that believe and are baptized will be saved. And I'd like to say that I believe many times we don't put enough emphasis and importance on baptism.
[2:24] You know, baptism is a part of entering into salvation. Baptism seals our commitment.
[2:34] It is an outward show, an outward manifestation of what has happened in my heart and my commitment to God.
[2:47] And so, Jesus said here, he said, He that believeth and is baptized. Now, I know there's exceptions. I know the thief on the cross.
[3:00] Jesus said, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And he was never baptized. But let that be, Let that be the exception rather than the rule.
[3:13] You know, there's people today that say it's not necessary to be baptized. It is necessary. And we'll see that today as we go on. Now, what are the requirements for baptism?
[3:27] Well, Jesus said, He that believeth and is baptized. And we'll see that as we go through here. But what is included in believing?
[3:39] So first, I want to start with what Jesus said. Here in John chapter 3, We have Nicodemus coming to Jesus.
[3:49] And he says, Master, we know that you're a teacher from God, Because no man can do these miracles that thou doest, Except God be with him.
[4:03] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, He cannot see the kingdom of God.
[4:14] Jesus just plainly telling him that you must be born again. What does he mean by being born again? Nicodemus asked, How can a man be born when he is old?
[4:28] Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
[4:46] That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
[4:57] The wind bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof, But canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit.
[5:09] Well, Nicodemus still cannot understand it. But let's look at this verse 5. Jesus said, You must be born of water and of the Spirit. You know, the water of the Word, the water often refers to the Word of God, the Bible.
[5:27] And so, let me just say it like this. That when this Word enters your heart, and it pricks your heart, the Holy Spirit convicts you, and shows you that you need, you have a need, and you're not right with God.
[5:45] And you receive that Word by faith. The Spirit will come and will connect in a way that will bring you that seed of Christ, that new creation in your heart.
[6:06] That new man will be birthed by the Spirit of God. So the new birth comes by the Spirit of God. We are born again by the Spirit of God.
[6:19] That's why Jesus said here, What's born of the flesh is flesh. What's born of the Spirit is spirit. You know, that birth by flesh can never please God.
[6:32] That birth by flesh can never enter heaven. Unless we're born again, that new creation in us is the only thing within us that can see the kingdom of God, that can enter the kingdom, that can grasp what the kingdom of God is.
[6:54] And we'll be addressing these things on a continual basis here this morning as we continue on. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says that old things are passed away.
[7:12] Behold, all things are become new. That's what happens when we're born again. It's old things pass away.
[7:23] You know, it's not just deciding to live better or doing better or to reform that old man.
[7:41] That's not what it's talking about. It's a new life. It's a transformed person. It's a new person, a new creation in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:56] I want to look at Acts and see what Peter had to say in Acts chapter 2. Here we have the day of Pentecost and we have the Holy Ghost has come.
[8:12] And then Peter preaches this awesome message. And at the end of this message, in Acts 2 verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
[8:36] Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
[8:51] Peter said, Repent and be baptized. So these people, they heard the word of God. They heard Peter as he preached that message, as he expounded to them the word of God and explained to them what is happening here and all of that.
[9:10] And he ends up, he ends up, this message, in verse 36, he kind of winds it up.
[9:22] He says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.
[9:36] that was the conclusion of Peter's message. I mean, he might have gone on if they would not have interrupted him.
[9:48] But he says, he said, this Jesus, the one that you crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ. He is risen from the dead and he is seated at the right hand of the Father and he sent the Holy Ghost to this earth.
[10:05] That's what you have seen here today. This Jesus that you crucified, the one that you rejected, God has made him both Lord and Christ.
[10:21] And these people, when they heard the gospel, when they heard the word, they believed. And they asked, what do we need to do? And Peter said, repent and be baptized.
[10:32] Repent and be baptized. Now in Acts 8, I'm going to look at this.
[10:43] We don't have time to look at all of these or to read the whole account or anything. But we'll go through this. So we have here, we have the eunuch traveling and reading the prophet Isaiah and God sent Philip out to meet him.
[11:04] And so Philip joined himself. He got on that chariot. He got on there and and he asked him if he understands.
[11:17] And in verse 34, the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee of whom speaketh the prophet of himself or some other man. and then Philip opened his mouth and he preached to him Jesus.
[11:32] And as they went on their way, they came into a certain water and the eunuch said, see here is water, what doeth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
[11:48] And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
[11:59] That's what we're talking about when we say believing with the heart. Philip said, if you believe with all thine heart, no doubts, but you believe with all your heart, then you may be baptized.
[12:14] We're talking about the requirements to be baptized. Well, the answer was, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he commanded the chariot to stand still.
[12:27] They went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing.
[12:45] Now let's look at Romans 10. Romans 10, I believe we'll start verse 8.
[13:03] But what saith it, the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[13:25] Now remember the other verses that we've read that we've quoted. Jesus said that he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
[13:36] And Philip told the eunuch, if you believe with all your heart you may be baptized. And now here Paul writes in Romans, he says, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[13:59] Verse 10, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
[14:16] So we must believe in our heart and we must believe beyond a doubt that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came to this earth to give his life for us, to pay the penalty for our sin.
[14:35] You know, the wages of sin is death and there was no way around it. There was no, there was no way around it but that debt had to be paid.
[14:47] But Jesus came and he paid it for us. Jesus came and he paid our debt for us that we do not have to pay it.
[14:59] And so if we believe that Jesus came as the Son of God and he lived here as a man and he gave his life for us, he shed his blood to pay our sin debt.
[15:15] If we believe that, then we can be saved. And he says here, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
[15:27] So if we believe in our heart, then we must confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus that we believe in him and that he is, he has forgiven us, he has paid our debt and we are set free.
[15:40] And it is, that confession is what, is what brings our salvation into reality in our heart. let's look again at verse 9.
[15:59] If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart. You know, the two are together, they can't be separated.
[16:12] You know, a man that says or thinks that he believes in his heart but he refuses to confess with the mouth, most likely he won't have assurance of salvation.
[16:31] Okay, let's go on. Let's get a few verses in 1 Peter. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18 and 19.
[16:49] For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
[17:11] Jesus, the one that paid our sin debt by his precious blood, that is what has saved us.
[17:23] Seeing ye have purified your souls, verse 22, ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit and unfeigned love of the brethren.
[17:36] See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
[17:52] We are born again by the word of God. This, this, the water, the water and the spirit, the word of God and the spirit of God, that is how we're born again.
[18:04] And, what did it say here? By incorruptible seed. That seed of Christ has come into our heart and it is an incorruptible seed.
[18:16] And that is how we, where is it in Peter? I think it's in 2 Peter, where it says that we are partakers of the divine nature.
[18:31] that is, that is how it happens. That's how it, it comes to us. It's by that seed of Christ that is planted in our heart and that seed grows, that new man grows and we are partakers of the divine nature.
[18:53] The word received by faith, it will, that is what we're talking about. You know, and as we talk about this, I often have to think of Mary and how the angel came to her.
[19:11] The angel came to her and, and, and presented God's will to her that she would bring forth the Messiah.
[19:23] and she said, well, how could this be? And the angel said, the Holy Ghost will come upon you and you, you will become pregnant by the Spirit of God.
[19:44] You know, the Spirit of God brings that seed of Christ in our heart and if we are like Mary, Mary said, be it unto me according to thy word and if we are surrendered and yielded to him in the same way that Mary was, then that new life is birthed within us.
[20:07] Hallelujah. Born again of the Spirit of God. You know, the Apostle Paul, when he was Saul, he was on his way and that light, that light knocked him off his, off down on the ground and, but then when he, when he was there in, in town and Ananias came to him, what did Ananias say to him?
[20:40] He told him, arise and be baptized, wash away your sins, wash away your sins.
[20:53] You know, there's some of these things, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins.
[21:05] You know, we cannot overlook the importance of baptism in our conversion experience.
[21:16] Now let's turn to Romans 6. And to me, Romans 6 is probably the main, the greatest portion of Scripture that deals with baptism.
[21:37] Romans 6 He tells us here the meaning of baptism. He tells us here the mode of baptism.
[21:49] He tells us so much about baptism here. Now let's read it. Start in verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
[22:02] God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
[22:21] So when we are baptized, what does baptism stand for? It signifies, and we'll see this maybe later, but I believe it is a show to all the witnesses that are here witnessing it, and to the principalities and the powers that we have decided that we will follow Jesus.
[22:47] We've made up our mind, we've committed ourselves, we have given him our life, we've been born again, we have the new life within us, and now we are sealing that commitment openly, publicly showing to everyone that we have made that decision that we will serve Jesus the rest of our life.
[23:16] And so when we go into that baptismal water, he says, don't you know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, we were baptized into his death.
[23:36] So we are showing by baptism that our old man has died with Christ. Our old man, he needs to be on the cross, he needs to die with Christ.
[23:50] And that's what baptism shows, is that our old man, he has died with Christ. verse 4.
[24:06] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
[24:24] We are buried with him in baptism to show that our old man has died with Christ. But then we are raised up and we are raised up in the likeness of his resurrection to show that we will now walk in newness of life.
[24:44] in newness of life, a new life, a new life in Christ. Old things are passed away.
[24:55] Behold, all things are become new. that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
[25:22] even so now in our new life we walk in the glory of the Father.
[25:33] We walk in the power of the Spirit of God. We walk not according to the dictates of the flesh, but now we walk by the power and the direction of the Holy Ghost.
[25:48] that's what we're showing when we take baptism. We are showing to the principalities and the powers that I'm no longer in that old kingdom.
[26:05] I'm no longer under the power of Satan. I have renounced the world and Satan and everything in it and now I have given myself that I will follow Christ every day of my life for the rest of my life.
[26:22] Hallelujah. Verse 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
[26:40] Hallelujah. If we're planted together in the likeness of his death, then we can also rise. You know, without death there can be no resurrection.
[26:54] If Jesus had not died for us, then God would not have been able to raise him from the dead. But Jesus was dead and God by the spirit of God raised him from the dead.
[27:12] and now and now we, we show this likeness that our old man dies and we're going to keep him on the cross.
[27:25] We keep him on the cross and the new man can live. The new man can live. Hallelujah.
[27:38] Hallelujah. We talked about fasting. We plan to fast this coming week. In reality, what does that do?
[27:51] It weakens that man of flesh, the one that is causing all your trouble, the one that opens the way for Satan to tempt you, the one that he's always, that's Satan's ground and it's his way into your life.
[28:09] So when you fast, you weaken him and when you seek God, you read the word and you hear his word, you're feeding the new man. Hallelujah.
[28:29] Verse 6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence forth we should not serve sin.
[28:44] Hence forth we should not serve sin. That is the will of God. That is what he's asking of us, is that we keep that old man under.
[29:02] Like Romans 12, 1 says, that we present our bodies a living sacrifice. Yes. So our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin.
[29:26] If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death has no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
[29:46] Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof.
[30:05] Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
[30:22] For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. what then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace?
[30:35] God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin and a death or of obedience under righteousness.
[30:51] righteousness. You know, these are decisions we make every day. Every day when you are tempted, you make that decision.
[31:02] Are you going to keep that old man on the cross? Are you going to satisfy the lust of the flesh? Which will it be? Which will it be? Are you going to keep him on the cross?
[31:13] Are you going to keep him in the grave? Or are you going to allow him to live? Are you going to allow him to live? verse 16.
[31:32] Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? It's either sin under death or it's obedience under righteousness, which is it?
[31:50] Which will it be? Which will it be? Today, tomorrow, next week, next month?
[32:12] Verse 6. That old man, that old rebel is crucified. that old rebel that exalts himself against God, that old rebel that's always conniving to get his own way, that old rebel that, you know, he's just always just trying to figure out a way.
[32:40] He's crucified. Let's keep him on the cross. let's keep him there. Yes, Galatians 5.
[32:55] Just a couple verses there. We need to keep moving on. Galatians 5, verse 16 says, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
[33:17] If we walk in the spirit, hallelujah, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, verse 24.
[33:29] They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.
[33:46] You know, I believe that in Paul's day, they faced the same things that we do today. They had people saying they live in the spirit, but they were living after the flesh.
[34:01] And so here he says, he says, if you live in the spirit, then also walk in the spirit. And if you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
[34:14] He says, those that belong to Christ, those that have given their heart and life to him, and they have committed themselves in the waters of baptism, they also have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
[34:39] Not just saying that we've crucified the flesh, but we don't allow those lusts and desires and those affections, those things that the old man loves, we don't allow it to live, but we keep it on the cross.
[34:58] That's what he's saying here. Colossians 2.12 Start in verse 11.
[35:11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ buried with him in baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead.
[35:40] And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened to gather with him having forgiven you all trespasses.
[35:52] And he continues but we'll stop here. You that were dead in your sins he has quickened us and made us alive.
[36:03] He has resurrected us in the newness of life. If we are buried with him then we can also rise with him. How does it say here?
[36:18] Wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God. Hallelujah. Yes.
[36:29] He has raised us again. Yes. Hallelujah. He has raised us again. Buried with him we can also be risen with him. In 1 Peter 3 and verse 21.
[36:50] 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 22. I want to read this in the Amplified and baptism which is a figure of their deliverance he's talking about Noah and so on but does now also save you and I like this phrase in the Amplified from inward questionings and fears not by the removing of the outward body filth or bathing, but by providing you with the answer of a good conscience, inward cleanness and peace before God because you're demonstrating what you believe to be yours through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[37:47] So what Peter's saying here is that when you take baptism, you are sealing your commitment to God and you are doing this because your conscience has been cleared from all the sin of your past and you are demonstrating that you believe that you have received the life of Christ.
[38:14] You believe that. And so he says here, baptism, it does now save us from inward questionings and fears.
[38:29] And let me just tell you, let me just say like this, if you have been baptized with a true believer's baptism, which is what we're talking about this morning, you know, if you were, you know, baptism before you were a believer does not count.
[38:48] But if you have been baptized with true believer's baptism, when the devil comes and he tempts you and he wants to tell you that, that, oh, you're not saved and you don't belong to Christ and you failed today and all of that, you can just tell him way back on so-and-so day, I went down to the river and I got baptized and I sealed my commitment to the Lord Jesus and that is the way it is today.
[39:23] If I have failed, I confess my sin and Jesus takes it away and I'm still his child and you cannot take it away from me. You know, many people throughout their life, they will question, the devil will bring questions, but we can have this mark.
[39:49] Your baptism day can be your mark. It can be that stake in the ground that you can go back to and it's still there. Hallelujah.
[40:00] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 1 Corinthians 10. Here we have Paul.
[40:17] He's talking about the children of Israel. And Israel, Israel is a, there's many types in their life and in their journey.
[40:32] And here we have the children of Israel. We'll start reading in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
[40:52] They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they did all drink the same spiritual drink for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ.
[41:07] But with many of them, God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples through the intent. We should not lust after evil things as they did.
[41:21] Neither be idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. And he goes on. And don't tempt Christ and so on.
[41:33] But we'll stop here. But I want to point out a few things about Israel. You know, he's talking about when they went through the Red Sea.
[41:43] So they were slaves in Egypt. And many times we use this, Egypt as a type of the world. And we were all slaves in Egypt, in the world.
[41:56] We were slaves there to Pharaoh, to Satan. We were slaves there. Now just follow with me a little bit. Israel's journey. So Moses came.
[42:08] God sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh and to bring them out of Egypt into the promised land. So Moses goes to Pharaoh.
[42:20] And he, time after time, he says, let my people go. And of course, Pharaoh refused and so on. And finally, Pharaoh tried to make a compromise.
[42:31] He says, well, who's going to go? Well, you men go and you sacrifice to the Lord. And after all, you shouldn't take your families and small children out there in the desert.
[42:43] It's not safe. But Moses refused to compromise. And later he said, well, you know, take your families, but leave your herds here.
[42:54] And so, you know, the devil today, he will try everything he can to get you to compromise, to keep you from making a full commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[43:10] He will do anything. You know, he has nothing to lose. He'll let you go to church. He'll let you, he'll let you, he'll let you be a preacher.
[43:22] He'll let you do anything. He doesn't care as long as he has that little bit of compromise in your heart. But what did Moses say?
[43:33] He told Pharaoh, he said, we will go. Our families will go. And our little ones and our herds, we're going to go. There will not a hoof be left behind.
[43:45] Hallelujah. No compromise. There is no compromise in the kingdom of God. We don't compromise with our enemy. You know, we don't draw a line and say, well, devil, okay, you can come to here, but that's where you stop.
[44:01] No. We don't compromise with the devil. Well, anyway, so, Israel left Egypt.
[44:15] And they come out. And so it was, what was it, a couple days, a day or two. And God led them.
[44:27] He told Moses exactly where to go. It was not a mistake. He told him, you come and you camp there by the Red Sea. And so that's where they went.
[44:41] And all of a sudden, here comes Pharaoh and all his army. And they're surrounded. And there's no way out. There's no way out.
[44:53] The Red Sea on one side, Pharaoh and his army behind them, 600 chariots. These men were slaves. They weren't soldiers. What hope did they have?
[45:08] What hope was there for them that day? Well, God opened the Red Sea.
[45:21] He told Moses, you put out your rod. And that sea will part. And you go through that sea on dry ground. And they did.
[45:34] They went through. And once they were through, you know, those chariots, they come right behind. But God was there in between the children of Israel and the army of Pharaoh.
[45:50] And then God started taking the chariot wheels off. The Egyptians, suddenly they found out, they figured out that God is fighting for the Israelites.
[46:03] What are we going to do? But it was too late. Moses, God told Moses to again, to, what did he do?
[46:16] Did he take away his rod? Or whatever he did, and the waters returned to their full strength. And the whole army of Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea. Now let's think of this.
[46:30] what happened there. You know, to me, these people, they belonged to Pharaoh.
[46:44] They were slaves in Egypt. They were Pharaoh's slaves, right? But the waters of baptism, what happened?
[46:55] the enemy was cut off. And no longer did they belong to Pharaoh. They now belong to God. And I believe that in a way, that is part of the significance of baptism, is it seals your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[47:22] It seals, it seals the question of ownership. I now belong to Jesus. I renounce you, Satan, and all your hosts, and all the world, and the lust, and the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.
[47:42] I renounce it. I no longer follow after those things. I now belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. I will serve him the rest of my days. You know, Pharaoh never again came after them.
[48:04] They had many other enemies, but Pharaoh was not to be found. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 3.
[48:22] Here we have John the Baptist was out, and he was baptizing.
[48:40] The Bible tells us that John the Baptist was full of the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. What an amazing, amazing testimony.
[48:52] But God did that. He had, he, he, he, he had a special work for John the Baptist.
[49:06] And he filled him with the Spirit of God. And here we have John the Baptist. He was baptizing here, and all the people, he was there in the Jordan, and people were coming to him, and being baptized.
[49:23] They were confessing their sins. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they also came to his baptism. And in verse 7, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
[49:44] Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
[50:00] And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
[50:11] I indeed baptize you with water and to repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.
[50:23] He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner.
[50:35] But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. So here we have John the Baptist and he's telling them about the baptism, his own baptism and the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
[50:52] And he says, there's one coming that will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Our Lord Jesus, he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
[51:06] He is the one that comes and lives in our heart and gives us the power of the Spirit of God. You know, there in the day of Pentecost, in Acts 1, it says, ye shall receive power.
[51:22] After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and into the othermost parts of the earth.
[51:34] Ye shall receive power. That has always been the mark of the Spirit of God. That has always been the true mark, whether a man has the fullness of the Spirit or not.
[51:56] Now, some people say, well, we're born of the Spirit so we have the Spirit of God. Yes, we do. But, do you have the fullness of the Spirit?
[52:11] Are you full of the Holy Ghost? Do you have that power of the Spirit of God within you today? We'll be looking at that for a short time yet here today.
[52:26] So, how, how do we receive that baptism? How do we, how do we become full of the Holy Ghost?
[52:41] You know, there's many verses, like Ephesians says, be not drunken with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And other places, filled with the Spirit, be full of the Holy Ghost.
[52:54] Do not quench the Spirit. You know, do not, what's that other word? Do not quench the Spirit and, maybe we'll get there later.
[53:10] so let's look at this. So he, in verse 7, he asked them, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
[53:29] He says, bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. But now let's look at verse 10. Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.
[53:42] And I believe what he's saying is now in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, which is just being introduced to humanity here.
[53:55] In the New Covenant, the axe is laid to the root. You know, in the Old Testament, they would bring their sacrifices and they would confess their sins and they would kill an animal and a lamb or whatever it was and that blood would cover their sin.
[54:16] But it was never dealt with. But Jesus came to deal with the root. That's what we've been talking about.
[54:28] That man of sin, the man that is buried, in baptism, the man that is buried when we're born again, that man, he must die.
[54:40] The axe is laid to the root. Verse 11, I baptize you with water unto repentance.
[54:51] He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
[55:04] Now, what? Verse 11 comes with that baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. His fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor.
[55:19] You know, just think of the fire. You know, the Holy Ghost comes as fire and it searches the hearts and it burns. It doesn't miss anything.
[55:30] It burns out the dross, the chaff, all of the things that are against God or that are a hindrance in the kingdom of God. They must be burned out.
[55:42] They must be burned out. The fire. It says, and not only is it fire, but it's fanned.
[55:52] It's, you know, what is hotter than a fire with air blowing on it? It gets exceedingly hot and nothing.
[56:05] All the wood, hay, and stubble in our life, it must burn. It must burn. Be removed. It says, He will thoroughly purge.
[56:20] If He will fill you with the Spirit of God, He will thoroughly purge you first. There's not room, there's not room for any self if Jesus is on the throne, if the Holy Ghost is going to control your life, if He's going to live there, King Supreme in your heart, then that old eye has to be on the cross.
[56:47] There's no room for two, just one, just one. That is why, you know, ideally, ideally, yes, people get full of the Holy Ghost when they get born again.
[57:05] Sometimes it happens, but I believe more times than not, it does not happen that way. And not necessarily your fault if it didn't.
[57:18] But we go from here today and on a layout of the path. I want to show you what Jesus is looking for.
[57:33] So here we have well, I don't think we'll read further, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
[57:50] You know, if the Holy Ghost is going to rule in your heart, you know what's going to happen? He's going to make you holy. So anything that defiles, anything that is unholy, anything that does not belong to God must go.
[58:09] It must go. Now let's go on. Where are we going? Okay, Acts 19 and verse 2.
[58:24] Here we have Paul came through this area. Well, Apollos was at Corinth and then Paul came to Ephesus and he was finding certain disciples.
[58:39] They found disciples, men that believed, men that were following Christ. And he asked them the question, he said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
[58:54] they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And, you know, so there's a couple things here.
[59:09] I believe the very reason that he asked is probably he had seen other people that believed in Jesus, but they had not received the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
[59:29] And so when he came there, you know, maybe he noticed that there was something missing, but he asked them this question. I think that it is legitimate to ask this question, especially because there's many people in today's church world that were never really taught about the power of the Holy Ghost and the need to be full of the Spirit.
[60:03] church. So we asked them this question. And he goes on, and they were baptized, and he laid his hands on them, and the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied.
[60:27] the anointing of God will not come on the unclean.
[60:40] That is why he will thoroughly cleanse, and he will purify. Now let's turn to Romans chapter 12, a verse that we hear many times.
[60:57] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
[61:14] You may not conform to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[61:29] Be not conformed to the world, but be transformed. And how are we transformed? By the renewing of the mind. We are transformed. Transformation, that new birth, not reforming the old, but being transformed and the new creation.
[61:47] But notice verse 1. He beseeches us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, that we are holy.
[62:00] And if we are holy, then we are acceptable to God. And he says it's only a reasonable service. So present your bodies a sacrifice.
[62:14] You know, and as I was meditating and preparing for this, I just had to think, you know, when the sacrifice, when Elijah, when he made that sacrifice and he cut, he cut the bullock to make it fit the altar.
[62:33] And it's the same for you and me today. You know, God doesn't prepare an altar to fit you. No, but he cuts you down to size that you fit on his altar.
[62:45] And I believe that when that sacrifice pleases God, then is when the fire will fall, the fire of the Holy Ghost, the fire.
[63:03] Remember what we read in Matthew, he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. fire. Yes, the fire of the Holy Ghost.
[63:15] That is what we need, that we will be, that we, that we will be conformed to his will and that we can walk in the will of God.
[63:29] Now let's, let's see here. Here. Here. You know, there's a couple of verses talking about Jesus in Hebrews.
[63:49] Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. He says here, verse 8, but unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
[64:06] A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou has loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
[64:24] I believe, let me just, let me just present to you that I believe that if you will be anointed by the Holy Ghost for his service and endued with his power, then you must be like Jesus and you must love righteousness and hate iniquity.
[64:46] It's the only way that he can pour out his spirit upon you is if you are like that, that you hate iniquity, you love righteousness.
[64:58] righteousness. Yes. Now, you're talking about Jesus in chapter 10. He said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
[65:11] That was the heart of our Lord Jesus. He came to do the will of God. That was his heart and that is why he was anointed above his fellows and that is why that is how you will receive the anointing of the Holy Ghost is when you desire more than anything else to do the will of God.
[65:46] Now, in chapter six, let me read, let me read the first three verses.
[66:03] Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
[66:25] He admonishes us to leave these basic principles and to go on to perfection, and then He says, this will we do if God permit.
[66:39] You know, and why would God not permit us to go on? You know, I believe that sometimes He's still, you know, there's still something in our heart that we're not aware of.
[66:51] You know, the children of Israel, what is that verse? It says, He tried them and He tested them in the wilderness to see what was in their heart, and that thou mightest know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
[67:18] You know, He will try us and He will test us. You know, I think so many times, I believe that the time of trying and testing is the time in the wilderness, back to the children of Israel, and their type of the Christian life.
[67:38] You know, they had this great deliverance at the Red Sea, but then they were faced with the wilderness, wilderness, and all of that, and the unbelief that kept them from entering the land of Canaan.
[67:49] But then 40 years later, they finally again came to Jordan, and there they were, and two and a half tribes said, Moses, you know, this is a good land here, could we just stay here?
[68:05] You know, Moses was wroth, but he did then allow them to stay. I believe many Christians today are just like those two and a half tribes.
[68:22] They're content where they are at. After all, I'm a Christian. I go to church every Sunday. I have a good fellowship.
[68:35] I, this, I, that, or whatever. But they're content where they're at. They're content without going on into the fullness of what God has for them.
[68:49] Just like the two and a half tribes. They didn't cross over, but they, they lived on the wrong side of Jordan, I might say.
[69:01] the fire upon the sacrifice, the Holy Ghost.
[69:13] Now, let's turn to John 14. The very words of our Lord Jesus. Jesus. Maybe sometime we'll read the whole chapter, but for lack of time, we will read verse 23.
[69:40] If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
[69:55] Is there anything more powerful than that? If a man will love Jesus, what will he do?
[70:09] Jesus said he will keep his words. And if we love Jesus, and we keep his words, we live for him, we live for him.
[70:25] What does he say? His promise to us is that he will come. It says, my father will love us. If we love Jesus, the father will love us, and we, Jesus and the father, we will come, and they will make their abode with us by the Holy Ghost.
[70:48] you know, if we are full of the Holy Ghost and he has his way in our heart, there's no room for self.
[71:02] There's no room for that old eye. There's no room for carnality. There's no room for foolishness. There's no room for that stuff. Jesus is asking us today, is there anything you love more than me?
[71:25] You know, he asked Peter, lovest thou me more than these? Do we love Jesus more than these?
[71:36] Do we love him more than the things of this world? Do we love him more than the things of this life? Do we love him more than self, family?
[71:46] Do we love him more than reputation? How important is your reputation to you? Do you love him more? Do you love him more than the things of this world?
[72:00] The pleasures of this life, the comforts of this world? Will you identify with him? Will you identify with his cross?
[72:16] Will you take up his cross daily and follow him? Will you bear the shame and the reproach of the cross of Christ? Will you submit to the righteous processes of God?
[72:35] You know, when he takes you through a trial to test you and to see what's in your heart, do you submit to the righteous processes of God?
[72:49] Are you submitted to his holiness? Are you trying to manufacture your own? You know, the Bible says, be holy for I am holy. are you surrendered?
[73:08] Fully, 100% sold out to our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there's a couple examples that Jesus gave concerning the kingdom of God in Matthew 13.
[73:26] He said here in Matthew 13, in verse 44, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in the field, in the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof he goeth, and he selleth all that he hath, and he buyeth that field.
[73:52] Are you willing to sell it all for Jesus? Are you willing to sell it all? to buy that field, that treasure, that treasure hidden in that field.
[74:06] Verse 45, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. When he had found one pearl of great price, he went and he sold all that he had, and he bought it.
[74:21] He sold all that he had, and he bought it. You know, Jesus told the rich young ruler, he said, one thing more you lack, sell that you have.
[74:32] Today I'm telling you, what you have, you must sell it spiritually in the kingdom of God. What is of your own self, what is what we hold dear, we must lay it on the altar, that we might buy this treasure.
[74:54] This treasure is Jesus. All the fullness of the Godhead bodily is in Jesus. Draw nigh to him and he will draw nigh to you. If you get the fullness of Christ, you will have the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
[75:11] Have you received that power? Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Have you received that power?
[75:24] you know, in the land of Canaan, as they were getting ready to cross over, God told Joshua, he said, everywhere the sole of your foot treads, that I am giving to you.
[75:51] You know, it's the same way in our spiritual life. If we will conquer it, it will be ours. Yes, it will be ours.
[76:05] You know, I talked, I brought out about the two and a half tribes. You know, we also have a New Testament example in Revelation, the church of the Laodiceans.
[76:20] they were rich and they had need of nothing. They had need of nothing. You know, when we see ourselves as, well, I'm okay, I'm a Christian, I have need of nothing, we are getting on dangerous ground.
[76:41] We're getting on dangerous ground. Jesus wants us to grow. He wants us to grow more and more like Him.
[76:53] He wants us to be more and more yielded to Him. Yes, that He can fill us with that power, that He can come upon us with that anointing for service.
[77:04] yes, dunamis power, the miraculous power and ability and strength of the Holy Ghost.
[77:18] Yes, there's so much more. I believe we'll stop. There's so much more.
[77:30] We'll never, we'll never complete it anyway. But, we'll be looking at a lot of these things this coming week again.
[77:48] Do you have that power today? If not, it's available. It is available.
[78:00] The promise, you know, Peter told the people there at the day of Pentecost that message is that the promise is to you and to your children and to as many as the Lord our God will call.
[78:17] That includes us today. The Holy Ghost is for us just as much as the church there on the day of Pentecost.
[78:30] Let's stand for prayer. Lord, we come to you.
[78:49] Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you've sent the comforter, the Holy Ghost, to live within us and to lead us and to guide us into all truth, to empower us for your service.
[79:11] And Lord, I pray, Lord, Lord, that we will allow you to search our hearts and to try us and to see if there's any hindrances.
[79:29] Oh, Lord, and to dig that channel deeper that the Holy Ghost can flow deeper in our hearts and in our lives. Lord, help us to not be like the Laodiceans, to not be content where we're at today, but to continue going deeper with you and seeking to walk with you in the fullness of your spirit.
[80:01] Lord, work that in us. Your word says that you work in us both to will and to do your good pleasure.
[80:13] Lord, might we be willing vessels in your hands we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.