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Posts Tagged ‘Covenant with God’

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Scripture reading: John 3:3-8, Matthew 3:11

Have you ever thought of what baptism really is? Baptism is a covenant that the believer makes with God. It is permanent. It is a death, a burial, and a resurrection. The thing that dies is not the thing that rises. The thing that rises is a Christ thing. The man’s heart, his mind, his soul, and his behavior must change radically. It is not “Oh, I got changed yesterday.” No sir, it is a continuous change, a gradual change. The ugly caterpillar goes into a chrysalis and changes, changes, changes, until he undergoes his metamorphosis and becomes a beautiful butterfly. Until that day, the change is yet continuing, or should continue.

However, this change is arrested, retarded, or stopped by some of the church doctrines that we have. The believer is no longer functioning under God, for he has not made CHRIST HIS LORD. Jesus is my Saviour, oh yes. I did not have to do anything. All I needed to be saved by Jesus was to be a sinner which I did not do; I was born that way. Born a sinner, Jesus saves you, and now you must turn around and make a covenant with Him that you will follow Him all the way. That is baptism. Outside of this, there is no baptism. You could be wet with water until you continuously drip. You will not be baptized unless that consciousness has come to you.

Some of you have been baptized and feel if you go down in the name of Jesus (someone said “Jesus” over you) and come up again, you are made perfect. You are mistaken. Those of you who believe that you are baptized to become a member of a church and get the right hand of fellowship when you are baptized, YOU ARE NOT BAPTIZED. You must make the covenant with God and then go down in the water. That is baptism and you must know what you are doing. Baptism has the following three steps: Water, Holy Spirit, and Christ. Man baptizes you in water, Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. That brings you into the holy place.

There is the outer court, the holy place, and then you are still going on further. You are going into the holy of holies where the overshadowing of God will deliver you from all harm. Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” You will go into the ark of the covenant, where you become a permanent part of God.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 2, pg. 4-5)

Thought for today: Baptism is a covenant that requires continual change until our metamorphosis is complete and we are fully changed into the image and likeness of God.

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[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Romans 8:19-23

I Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the Dead In Christ shall rise first.”

If this passage stood alone then it might not have carried out the point of the dead in Christ so strongly, but in the light of several other scriptures, it is definitely saying that the “dead in Christ” are the First Resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:22-23, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

This passage was dealing with the resurrection of the dead and verse 23 tells us that there will be a certain order in the resurrection. All Christians will not be resurrected or changed at the same time, but there is a Firstfruits company which are those who are in Christ. This is the true meaning of this passage. You will notice that it did not say Christ the firstfruit, but Firstfruits. We see here that the word Christ means the many membered Body of Christ with “the Head Jesus Christ” already risen and the Body now ready to come forth.

“If ye be then risen with Christ…” The only way we are risen with Christ is if we are part of His body.

Colossians 1:18, “And he is the head of the body the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead: that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Revelation 14:4, “These are they which were not defiled by women (the false church); for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”

This is the grandest of the grand prizes. The firstfruits being untouched by the tribulation will be the overcomers which Romans 8:19-23 talks about. They will overcome first their own soul nature, then the world and the Devil. The last victory they will gain will be over death even as they are changed or resurrected to immortality and incorruption. When you overcome your mental attitude, your emotional yearnings, your self-will, and your human desires, through the Blood of Jesus Christ, then you have just begun to be an overcomer.

Nevertheless, the day that we make that covenant with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that might well be the greatest day of our lives.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, August 1984)

Thought for today: Let us therefore make the Covenant to Go the Whole Way with Christ – to follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth.

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: John 3:3-8, Matthew 3:11

Have you ever thought of what baptism really is? Baptism is a covenant that the believer makes with God. It is permanent. It is a death, a burial, and a resurrection. The thing that dies is not the thing that rises. The thing that rises is a Christ thing. The man’s heart, his mind, his soul, and his behavior must change radically. It is not “Oh, I got changed yesterday.” No sir, it is a continuous change, a gradual change. The ugly caterpillar goes into a chrysalis and changes, changes, changes, until he undergoes his metamorphosis and becomes a beautiful butterfly. Until that day, the change is yet continuing, or should continue.

However, this change is arrested, retarded, or stopped by some of the church doctrines that we have. The believer is no longer functioning under God, for he has not made CHRIST HIS LORD. Jesus is my Saviour, oh yes. I did not have to do anything. All I needed to be saved by Jesus was to be a sinner which I did not do; I was born that way. Born a sinner, Jesus saves you, and now you must turn around and make a covenant with Him that you will follow Him all the way. That is baptism. Outside of this, there is no baptism. You could be wet with water until you continuously drip. You will not be baptized unless that consciousness has come to you.

Some of you have been baptized and feel if you go down in the name of Jesus (someone said “Jesus” over you) and come up again, you are made perfect. You are mistaken. Those of you who believe that you are baptized to become a member of a church and get the right hand of fellowship when you are baptized, YOU ARE NOT BAPTIZED. You must make the covenant with God and then go down in the water. That is baptism and you must know what you are doing. Baptism has the following three steps: Water, Holy Spirit, and Christ. Man baptizes you in water, Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. That brings you into the holy place.

There is the outer court, the holy place, and then you are still going on further. You are going into the holy of holies where the overshadowing of God will deliver you from all harm. Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” You will go into the ark of the covenant, where you become a permanent part of God.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 2, pg. 4-5)

Thought for today: Baptism is a covenant that requires continual change until our metamorphosis is complete and we are fully changed into the image and likeness of God.

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Romans 8:19-23

I Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the Dead In Christ shall rise first.”

If this passage stood alone then it might not have carried out the point of the dead in Christ so strongly, but in the light of several other scriptures, it is definitely saying that the “dead in Christ” are the First Resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:22-23, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

This passage was dealing with the resurrection of the dead and verse 23 tells us that there will be a certain order in the resurrection. All Christians will not be resurrected or changed at the same time, but there is a Firstfruits company which are those who are in Christ. This is the true meaning of this passage. You will notice that it did not say Christ the firstfruit, but Firstfruits. We see here that the word Christ means the many membered Body of Christ with “the Head Jesus Christ” already risen and the Body now ready to come forth.

“If ye be then risen with Christ…” The only way we are risen with Christ is if we are part of His body.

Colossians 1:18, “And he is the head of the body the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead: that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Revelation 14:4, “These are they which were not defiled by women (the false church); for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”

This is the grandest of the grand prizes. The firstfruits being untouched by the tribulation will be the overcomers which Romans 8:19-23 talks about. They will overcome first their own soul nature, then the world and the Devil. The last victory they will gain will be over death even as they are changed or resurrected to immortality and incorruption. When you overcome your mental attitude, your emotional yearnings, your self-will, and your human desires, through the Blood of Jesus Christ, then you have just begun to be an overcomer.

Nevertheless, the day that we make that covenant with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that might well be the greatest day of our lives.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, August 1984)

Thought for today: Let us therefore make the Covenant to Go the Whole Way with Christ – to follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth.

Read Full Post »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: John 3:3-8, Matthew 3:11

Have you ever thought of what baptism really is? Baptism is a covenant that the believer makes with God. It is permanent. It is a death, a burial, and a resurrection. The thing that dies is not the thing that rises. The thing that rises is a Christ thing. The man’s heart, his mind, his soul, and his behavior must change radically. It is not “Oh, I got changed yesterday.” No sir, it is a continuous change, a gradual change. The ugly caterpillar goes into a chrysalis and changes, changes, changes, until he undergoes his metamorphosis and becomes a beautiful butterfly. Until that day, the change is yet continuing, or should continue.

However, this change is arrested, retarded, or stopped by some of the church doctrines that we have. The believer is no longer functioning under God, for he has not made CHRIST HIS LORD. Jesus is my Saviour, oh yes. I did not have to do anything. All I needed to be saved by Jesus was to be a sinner which I did not do; I was born that way. Born a sinner, Jesus saves you, and now you must turn around and make a covenant with Him that you will follow Him all the way. That is baptism. Outside of this, there is no baptism. You could be wet with water until you continuously drip. You will not be baptized unless that consciousness has come to you.

Some of you have been baptized and feel if you go down in the name of Jesus (someone said “Jesus” over you) and come up again, you are made perfect. You are mistaken. Those of you who believe that you are baptized to become a member of a church and get the right hand of fellowship when you are baptized, YOU ARE NOT BAPTIZED. You must make the covenant with God and then go down in the water. That is baptism and you must know what you are doing. Baptism has the following three steps: Water, Holy Spirit, and Christ. Man baptizes you in water, Jesus baptizes you in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. That brings you into the holy place.

There is the outer court, the holy place, and then you are still going on further. You are going into the holy of holies where the overshadowing of God will deliver you from all harm. Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” You will go into the ark of the covenant, where you become a permanent part of God.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 2, pg. 4-5)

Thought for today: Baptism is a covenant that requires continual change until our metamorphosis is complete and we are fully changed into the image and likeness of God.

Read Full Post »

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