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The Three Baptisms
of Jesus
(1John 5, 5 - 8) 'Who is it that overcomes the world; but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Holy Spirit, and the water and the blood; and these three agree in one.'
The water and the Spirit and the blood represent the three 'baptisms' of Jesus on earth and are the combined witnesses to Jesus as the one who was to come.
(Deuteronomy 17, 6 - 7) ' On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; on the evidence of one witness a person shall not be put to death.'
(Malachi 4, 4 - 6) 'Remember you the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgements. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, least I come and smite the earth with a curse.'
(Matthew 11, 10 - 14) ' "For this is he of whom it is written, 'Behold I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. Truly, I say to you, among them born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist; not with standing he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffered violence , and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John and if you will receive it, this is Elijah who was to come." '
(John 1, 29 - 34) ' The next day John sees Jesus coming and says "Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. This is He of whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me for He was before me. And I knew him not; but that He should be manifest to Israel , therefore I came baptising with water. " '
1. Baptism by water
(Matthew 3, 13 - 15) 'Then came Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, to be baptised by him. But John forbid Him, saying. "I have need to be baptised by you., and you come to me?" And Jesus answered and said," Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he baptised Him. '
Jesus gave us the example of baptism by immersion.
2. Baptism by the Holy Spirit.
(Luke 3, 16 - 17) 'John answered them all ,"I indeed baptise you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of his sandals I am unworthy to untie,; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather his wheat into his granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.'
Remember the parable of the former and latter rains.
(Matthew 3, 16 - 17) 'And Jesus, when He was baptised, went up straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him.'
Now these two baptisms took place one directly after the other, as John had said. It is important to remember that it was only after this point in time that Jesus worked the miracles for they were done by the Holy Spirit and not by Jesus Himself.
(Acts 2, 1 - 4) 'And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven of a mighty rushing wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave hem utterance.'
Peter talks about his meeting with the gentiles at the Roman soldiers house.
(Acts 11, 15 - 16) ' " And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us in the beginning. The I remembered the words of the Lord, how He said John indeed baptised with water but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit." '
(Acts 13, 9 - 12) 'Then Saul (who also is called Paul) filled with the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him and said, "O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord.? And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind , not seeing the sun for a season." And immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness; and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.'
Again remember that the works of the Holy Spirit are solely for the glorification of the name of Jesus, whether Jesus Himself seemed to perform them or any Christian since.
(Mark 10, 38 - 40) 'But Jesus said unto them, "You do not know what you are asking; can you drink of the cup that I am drinking or be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with? And they said to Him, "We can". And Jesus said to them," You shall drink of the cup that I drink and with the baptism that I am baptised with you shall be baptised. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared." '
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(Luke 12, 49 - 50) ' "I am come to send fire on the earth; and would that it was already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptised with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished."
Here Jesus speaks of His own crucifixion where His blood will be shed for the sin of mankind. At this time He had already been baptised with water and with the Holy Spirit so the baptism He speaks thereof must be that of His own death.
(John 5, 28) ' Then said Jesus to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of man (to crucify Him), then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of myself; but as the Father has taught me, I speak these things." '
(Acts 1, 21 - 22) ' "So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day He was taken from us - one of these men must become with us a witness of his resurrection." '
(Acts 4, 33 - 34) 'And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.'
So these three witnesses are to show that Jesus is the Son of God, as claimed; the three baptisms of Jesus which, strangely enough, were to come to many of his disciples through out the years that followed until this day.
The Sheep and the Goats
As we have already seen, Jesus takes what happens to his disciples very personally.
(Acts 9, 1 - 6) But Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed, he approached Damascus and suddenly a light from Heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And he said, "Who are you Lord?" And he said "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
Thus, as already mentioned. Jesus takes what happens to his disciples is very personal to him as well, and one should not forget the words,
(Romans 12, 19)' Beloved, never avenge yourselves , but leave it to the wrath of God, so it is written "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord."
There are in fact two days of judgment. The first for those who rise to meet Jesus Christ in the air when he returns with his angels at the end of time.
(Matthew 24, 29 - 31) 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the power of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.'
(1 Thessalonians 4, 16 - 19) ' For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of the trumpet of God. Then the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.'
(Revelation 20, 4 - 6) ' Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and the word of God and who had not worshipped the beast or its image and who had not received the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years was ended. This is the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power . Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him for a thousand years.'
Now comes the Day of Judgement for all the others.. Please note that it is the peoples of the nations that are judged. and not the nations themselves. Also that those of the first resurrection have had their reward, by being with Christ on earth for the one thousand years. After the second judgment, those who are the "sheep" and those of the first resurrection are treated the same.
(Matthew 25, 31 - 46) ' " When the Son of man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne, and the peoples of all the nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the righteous people on his right hand and the others on the left. Then the King will say to the people on his right, "Come, you that are blessed of my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you received me into your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me."
The righteous will then answer him, "When Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you into our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?" The King will reply," I tell you whenever you did this for one of the least important brothers of mine, you did it for me."
Then he will say to those on his left," Away from me, you that are under God's curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! I was hungry but you fed me not, thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger but you would not welcome me into your homes, naked and you would not clothe me. I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me." Then they will answer him. "When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and would not help you?" The King will reply, "I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me."
These then will be sent off into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life." '.
It is important to note that the term 'brothers of mine' refers to the disciples of Christ, male and female, young and old (and middle aged for that matter), in fact all disciples of the Lord. So those on the right did a kind act to the disciples of Christ and those on the left refused to do a kind act to the disciples of Christ. As far as Jesus was concerned, the 'kind act' and the 'refuse to do the kind act' were as unto himself.
Please note that this does not mean that the disciples of Christ have a racy time. See that it is the disciples who are hungry and thirsty and in prison and sick etc etc. Being a disciples of Christ is not some easy way in this life for we all suffer from the same sort of problems of everyone else, but not including the problems arising from the works of the flesh! Yet even more because we are the disciples of Christ then persecution is added to the list. We disciples of Christ are aiming for the ultimate future state.
(Matthew 5, 10) ' "Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" '
(John 15, 20 - 21) ' " Remember the word that I said unto you, ' The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they keep my sayings, they will keep yours." '
(1 Thessalonians 2, 14 - 15) ' Our brothers, the same things happened to you that happened to the churches of God in Judea, to the people there who belong to Christ Jesus. You also suffered the same persecutions from your own countrymen that they suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us.'
(John 16, 33) ' " These things I have spoken to you that you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." '
(Revelation 21, 3 - 4) ' And I heard a great voice of heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with people and He will dwell with them and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them , and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away." '
So who has the tears and pain, sorrow and death then? Why the disciples of Christ of course. All this is to prepare you for the thought that the power of the anti-Christ is coming and you must be ready, not resting upon an easy way out that those who claim Old Testament prophesies and happenings for we have seen that they passed away at the coming of John and Jesus promised no such thing as an easy way of being a disciple of his.
(Revelation 12, 1 - 4) 'And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed in the sun, and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child cried, travailing at birth and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another great wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon the horns. And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered to devour her child as soon as it was born.'
So the woman, representing the Church of Jesus, with the sun as her crown (remember the parable of the sun and the moon?) and the moon under her feet (this is a place where conquered kings were placed by the winners), and the twelve stars representing the twelve apostles with the rest of the stars being the other disciples of Christ, is strong against the devil, for now. The third of the stars brought down to earth from heaven signifies a third of the disciples of Christ who become the second seed of the parable of the sower.
(2 Thessalonians 2, 1 - 4) 'Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet him, that you are not soon shaken in mind or are troubled, neither by spirit or by word or by letter from us as that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no man deceive you in any way for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the man of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped ; so that he as God sits on the throne of God, showing himself as he is God.'
(Isaiah 9, 14 - 15) 'Therefore the Lord shall cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err and they that are lead by them are destroyed.'
Note that it is the great red dragon's tail, the prophet that teaches lies, that brings down the many stars from heaven to earth, many disciples from belief to disbelief. Truly the weeds have grown strongly in the church and men have been sleeping all the time.
So where are we then , we disciples of Christ who have never suffered persecution and had a soft run as a Christian, to do? Now we know what is coming, rather soon I fear, and so we must be prepared for the worst, the anti-Christ himself. Most assuredly we must believe, be prepared, be rooted and grounded in the faith of Jesus Christ, be strong with other disciples of Jesus'
Above all, not be deceived by the false prophets that are already here. - These include the "secret rapture" false prophets,
- the "Christians will be rich and happy for it is God's will" false prophets,
- the "come into our group and we will save you from what is to come" false prophets,
- "Jesus did not come in the flesh" false prophets,
- "Jesus was not born of a virgin but had a normal human father" false prophets,
- "Mary, the human surrogate mother of Jesus is so ascended and sinless herself that she is now co- redeemer with Christ" false prophets,
- "science knows all and there is no God or if there is one, He will be so far away that it doesn't matter anyway" false prophets,
- "Jesus did not die on the cross or was replaced by some other person" false prophets
and especially - "I am the new Christ for this time" really false prophets.
Above all read your Bible but be careful of the translation for not all Bibles are following the true translation of the original words. If in doubt, compare the words with the good old King James but not so much the New King James.
(1 John 2, 19) ' They went out from us but they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would not doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they may be made manifest that they were not all of us.' Jesus warned -
(Matthew 24, 23 - 26) ' "Then is any man shall say to you "Lo, here is Christ , or there; believe is not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not forth: behold he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as lightening cometh out of the east, and shines even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." '
(Matthew 7, 15 - 16) ' "Beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits." '
Remember that the weeds in the field were planted by the devil and the sleeping men were those who were supposed to be awake to his doings.
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