Truth About Baptism (Part 1)

Can one be saved without being Baptized? NO

Can one be saved by water immersion by another person (preacher, etc..)? NO!!!!!

Let me explain by sharing a story. Once there was young lady, she felt the need for the Lord in her life, she was so ready to give up on life itself, ready to take her very life cause there was nothing to live for. One day she sat down with with a friend, who was a pastors wife, and they talked about what Christ had done for her on the cross. The bible was opened, and they read together out of God's Holy Word. The lady felt the touch of the Lord with in her heart. That day a true conversion within was made, she knew with all her heart Jesus had saved her. A new life within her was born, she had never felt anything like it. The church she had begin attending was different from the pastors wife had attended. The lady made a public confession of her new faith, the pastor then told her, she now would become a candidate for baptism and that he would baptize her to following Sunday. She was very excited but at the same time she was left confused. She spoke to the pastor and he went over a few scriptures with her. That of John 3:1-7; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38-41; Acts 22:12-16, and a few others. Still she was left confused, This man here was telling her unless she is baptized by this water he is speaking of she can not be saved. She went home and prayed, and prayed and prayed some more. She knew with all he heart and mind and soul she was saved already, Jesus saved her, and what this pastor was telling her did not make any since and being so new to God's Word she wasn't sure. So after much praying she decided it was time she understood what was written within God's Word better, so she took her bible and she opened it and begin reading and this was what she read, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jer.2:13. She fell to her knees and Thanked the Lord with everything in her it was as if the Word itself spoke directly to her. She knew right then and there she had been saved that day and she now knew she had been baptized already, Cause the Lord Himself Baptized her through the fountain of Living Waters from within Him. For He himself was the fountain of living waters. She then prayed, “Oh Lord, my Lord, teach me thy Word for thy Word is living within me, help me understand what I know not.” The whole following week she read and read, and studied and studied, she begin by looking up the word baptize in the back of her bible in the bible dictionary, It took her to many verses in the Bible. One's such as, Matt.3:11 where John says, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but 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”

After much much studying on the subject she realized that so many even that of Paul had received the same baptism she had. Cause it is Jesus that is able to wash away her sins, no preacher or teacher can wash away her sins, but Jesus and Jesus only is able to do that. About that time she had been listening to a Christian station on the radio and a song came on and the song that was playing was

What can wash away our sins? What can make us whole again? Nothing but the blood. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can wash us pure as snow? Nothing but the Blood, Nothing but you blood King Jesus! Again that overwhelming feeling came over her as she fail into some joyful tears, for she knew the Lord was leading her into His Truth.

At that point she decided to learn more on the blood, she begin to see what God's Word had to say about the Blood. About that time she heard a knock at the door and it was her friend, the pastors wife which helped her understand what Jesus had done for her on the cross. She sat and told her friend all the stuff that had taken place, the other Sunday and then how she has been learning all she can of the Holy Word of God, and how God was touching deep within her with His Word. Her friend sat there in tears crying with joy because sitting here was one who was truly being converted. God was working her heavily transforming her very life into something worth living for. They cried together in joy, and the lady's friend said let me share something with you. She went to Hebrews 10:22 and read, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” She held this new believers hand and said Only Jesus can wash us with pure water, no man or woman can wash you with a water more pure this this. Then she took her to Revelation 1:5 and it said, “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” The in which we are baptized by is the fountain of living waters that can only come by Jesus. Even King David in the old testament come to understand this, by acknowledging the Lord by saying, “For with thee is the fountain of life...” also, John acknowledge to every one, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but 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” As you see man can not save you by immersing you by water. Only Christ can and the water He offers is only found within Him for He is the Fountain of Living Waters. For out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38). Jesus says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

She asked her friend, “were you ever baptized by a preacher”, The pastors wife replied, “Yes, and knew when I was it was such a breathe taking experience, knew it didn't save me, cause Jesus had already saved me through His living water He offered, for He washed me clean of my sins. But I wanted it to be my testimony of Christ in my life to others, I belong to Christ, and I am alive with Christ forever more.”

The following day was Sunday, she went to church where her good friend went and there her husband the took the lady and baptized her in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. When she came out of the water she looked up and said unto the Lord, “May this be my testimony of You Dear Lord for every one here to see, that You have Risen me back to life and I am yours forever more.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

True Baptism comes from within Christ Jesus our Saviour. For out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water. Man can not save no one, Jesus does the saving, not man. Remember when Jesus was on the cross and just before He died He gave up the ghost, what happened next? The soldier came and speared Jesus in the side, and their flowed out of Jesus water and blood.

See the water in which one is truly Baptized, is within Christ. Jesus said unto Nicodemus, “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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

There is nothing wrong in being baptized by water by a preacher, but one needs to understand IT DOES NOT SAVE YOU! This is taught by them who have been taught themselves to believe it this way. Then they so badly misunderstand whats truly being said. John truly understood this for he himself said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance...” But he so wanted them whom he was speaking to understand, I can baptize you with water unto repentance, but he could not save them, yet here is John trying to tell them, “...BUT 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”

It is HE, JESUS that baptizes you, not man. There is only ONE WAY unto the Father and that is Jesus Christ.

I was baptized by a preacher and i'm so glad I was, not that it saved me cause it didn't, knew Jesus had already saved me, when He drew me to Himself I was athirst and came to Him and out of His belly did I find the fountain of living water flowing freely. But I tell you what being baptized by water by a preacher did do, it gave me something to stand upon, went through this symbolic act an awesome public statement, I belong to the Lord, and in Him i'm able to over come the World Just as He did, and in Him, i'm resurrected unto life forever more. Nothing can hold me down. For He is my Resurrection, He is my every thing, no other death holds this kind of Power. Me being baptized out in the public as this was such a statement I made of Christ being in me and I didn't mind showing people I belong to the Lord. I'm not ashamed to call Jesus my Lord and Saviour. 

God Bless you all! 

Jesus in every book of the Bible

In Genesis Jesus is the Ram at Abraham's altar
In Exodus He's the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus He's the High Priest
In Numbers He's the Cloud by day and Pillar by night
In Deuteronomy He's the City of our Refuge
In Joshua He's the Scarlet Thread out Rahab's window
In Judges He's our Judge
In Ruth He is our Kinsman Redeemer
In 1 and 2nd Samuel He's our Trusted Prophet
In Kings and Chronicles He's our Reigning King
In Ezra he is our Faithful Scribe
In Nehemiah He's the Rebuilder of everything that is broken
And in Esther He is the Mordecai sitting faithful at the gate
In Job He's our Redeemer that ever liveth
In Palms He is my shepherd and I shall not want
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He's our Wisdom
And in the Song of Solomon He's the Beautiful Bridegroom
In Isaiah He's the Suffering Servant
In Jeremiah and Lamentations it is Jesus that is the Weeping Prophet
In Ezekiel He's the Wonderful Four Faced Man
And in Daniel He is the Fourth Man in the midsst of a fiery furnance
In Hosea He is my Love that is forever faithful
In Joel He baptizes with the Holy Spirit
In Amos He is our Burden Bearer
In Obadiah our Savior
And in Jonah He is the Great Foreign Missionary that take the Word of God into all the world
In Micah He is the Messenger with beautiful feet
In Nahum He is the Avenger
In Habakkuk He is the Watchman that is ever praying for revival
In Zephaniah He is the Lord mighty to save
In Haggai He is the Restorer of our lost heritage
In Zechariah He is our Fountain
And in Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings
In Matthew Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God
In Mark He is the Miracle Worker
In Luke He's the Son of Man
And in John He is the Door by which everyone of us must enter
In Acts He is the Shining Light that appears to Saul on the road to Damascus
In Romans He is our Justifier
In 1st Corinthians He is our Resurrection
In 2nd Corinthians He is our Sin Bearer
In Galatians He redeems us from the law
In Ephesians He is our Unsearchable Riches
In Philippians He supplies our every need
And in Colossians He's the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily
In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians He is our Soon Coming King
In 1st and 2nd Timothy He is the Mediator between God and man
In Titus He is our Blessed Hope
In Philemon He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother
And in Hebrews He's the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant
In James it is the Lord that heals the sick
In 1st and 2nd Peter He is the Chief Shepherd
In 1st, 2nd and 3 rd John it is Jesus who has the tenderness of love
In Jude He is the Lord coming with 10,000 saints
And in Revelation, lift up your eyes, Church, for your redemption draweth nigh;
He is our King of Kings and Lord of Lords

It's Just Awesome!!!

Engraved!

(by John MacDuff)

"Behold! I have [en]graven thee upon the palms of my hands!"  Isaiah 49:16

"Behold," says Immutable One, "I have engraved you on the palms of My hands!"
Not on the mountains, as colossal as they are--for they shall depart;
on no page of nature's vast volume--for the last fires shall scorch them;
not on blazing sun--for he shall grow dim with age;
not on glorious heavens--for they shall be folded together as a scroll.
But on . . .
  the hands of might and love,
  the hands which made the worlds,
  the hands which were transfixed on Calvary, --I have engraved you there!

No corroding power can efface the writing, or obliterate your name!

You are Mine now--and Mine forever!

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand!" John 10:28

God is no respecter of persons

I am sure many of you have heard these before

Moses stuttered.
David's armor didn't fit.
John and Mark was rejected by Paul.
Timothy had ulcers.
Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death and denied Christ three times.
Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer, so was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worry-wart.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse? So did Peter, Paul--well, lots of folks did.

The point i'd like to make is, God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Have you ever considered that we also should not be no respecter of persons either, as our Heavenly Father is no respecter of persons? We don't know whom God has chosen and for what. The next person you meet, may be dressed in dirty rags, drunk and stumbling into others, causing a mess. Or maybe its some who is shy and scared to death of being around crowds of people, depressed and suicidal. You may never know but they may be another Peter, Paul, a Martha or another Jeremiah to come along that God has chosen, for He is no respecter of persons. God may have called you to reach out to these very ones that when time comes they themselves also will be able to reach out to others.

Today's Word - The Refiner's Fire

Written by a dear friend...

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

The words in this scripture are not words that most of us welcome with open arms. They have somewhat of a threatening and gloomy sound to them that leave us suspicious of what is going to happen next.

In America, we have been shielded from religious persecution. Divine Providence has protected us against many assaults that would have otherwise destroyed us.

In our infant stages of establishment, we were vibrant in our faith and bold in our proclamations. "In God We Trust", was printed and stamped upon all our currency without any objection.

During the American Revolution, the cry of the American heart was for more Bibles. The Commandments of God were a humble display of our faith. "One Nation under God" was our motto." Without argument, we placed the Ten Commandments on land assigned to the Federal Government. It symbolized a higher Justice System.

God prospered us beyond measure; he granted us privileges that other nations only dreamed of. We grew into the greatest nation upon the earth, then we took our precious liberties, and turned against all that is righteous, holy and true.

Little by little, we exchanged our freedoms for bondages until we reached a place of absolute immorality from the church building to the White House.

Many times, we were sent warning signs from the heavens in way of disasters, whether man-made, natural or God-given. We quickly recovered and resolved to set things in order only to turn again to greater wickedness.

Our nation is NOW so morally depraved that homosexuals sit in the highest seats of authority and determine for us what they deem profitable and necessary to the sustaining of our Country. The innocent are brutally murdered in the womb and we have the un-embarrassed audacity to ask God to bless our Country!

We have laid the ax to the root of our Godly Heritage and have proclaimed our Independence from anything and everything that appertains to the Great God who founded us as a Nation.

Now we must beware concerning the fiery trial, which is to try us. Do not count it a strange thing, rather consider it a purifying thing that purges the dross from the silver that there may come forth a vessel fit for the Refiner.

Malachi 3:2-3 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

2 facts about 'The Approaching Day of The Lord'

One of several headlines in the News recently...

Japan’s earthquake shifted balance of the planet by Liz Goodwin
The areas closest to the epicenter of the quake jumped a full 13 feet closer to the United States, geophysicist Ross Stein at the United States Geological Survey told The New York Times.

The world's fifth-largest, 8.9 magnitude quake was caused when the Pacific tectonic plate dove under the North American plate, which shifted Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet. The quake also shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds,

Twice now in within 13 months has the earth shifted on it's axis, Chile in February

According to NASA, the huge earthquake, believed to be one of the largest ever recorded, has shifted the axis of the Earth. The incident shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds, and shifted the axis 2.3 milliarcseconds.

Then there is the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake it is said, “With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. This earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm (0.5 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.” Taken from the 'Schools Wikipedia Selection' on the web. 

There are several places within Scripture thats tells us about when the Lord returns. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard (read, Is.24:18-22). In Eze.38:19-20 and Rev.6:12-17 both of this mentions a earthquale taking place the mountains shall be moved out of there places. 

FACT - With the earth being moved on its axis, causing the entire planet to vibrate, Mountains are now, already beginning to be moved out of their places. The Day of the Lord is just around the corner. 

ANOTHER FACT - Each time the earth is being moved on its axis, its taking away a very small part of each day. So our days are beginning to be shortened. May not by much but they are being shortened and these earthquakes are not yet down. More are coming. 

And the Lord say in His Word...

Matthew 24:22   And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

  Mark 13:20   And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. 

Is your soul prepared to meet the Lord? 

Every Knee Shall Bow!

 

Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Philippians 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

It seems much of the time there is nothing I want more then to get out of this world. What a blessing it will be when we shall be gathered together unto Jesus in the air and forever be with Him. Always in His presence, praising the Father and the Lamb forever. Giving them Glory. Where the ways of this world shall never be seen again.

Yet, there is one other day I can't wait to see and be part of and that is the day in which every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So many people deny Christ, mocking, making fun of our Lord, making fun of our Heavenly Father, making fun of them who places their trust and love in the Lord. We are looked down upon and persecuted for the name of our Lord we confess. All honor glory and power belongs to our Father and to the Lamb of God, His Son. There is one out there that looks to take away that glory, but that day shall come and EVERY KNEE, EVERY TONGUE in heaven, in earth, and under the earth, shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!!! What day this shall be when ALL Honor, Glory is given unto God where it belongs.