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Posts Tagged ‘Salvation’

The Mystery of Baptism

Posted in Growing in God, tagged , , , on August 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Matthew 3:11

Did you know that the Bible is written in mysteries which are sealed until the appointed time? (See Daniel 12:8-9; Revelation 6.) We thank God that now is the appointed time when all these seals are being opened and the church can understand these mysteries. The first seal is representative of salvation. The second one, which we will be talking about today, is called baptism; it also includes consecration and sanctification. The outer court baptism, or first baptism, is baptism in water. We read this in Matthew 3:11. John the Baptist speaks here not only about one baptism but two – the baptism in water and the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. There is also a third baptism. This third baptism is found in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

We go back to the Divine plan in the Word of God. Every word in Scripture is natural in its first dimension. It is spiritual in its second dimension and it is in the fullness in the third dimension. THE WORD OF GOD is a DIMENSIONAL WORD. Let me show you this in the Scriptures. In Ephesians 3:17 and 18, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to COMPREHEND with all saints what is the BREADTH, and LENGTH, and DEPTH, and HEIGHT.” One Word can mean one thing in a certain dimension and when you look at it in a deeper dimension, you find it has depth to it. It has height, width, and length. Notice, there is a fourth dimension. It has depth. Normally, depth and height would be the same, but spiritually they are not.

Many of us contend about baptism and are distressed and deceived about what baptism really is. The Word of God shows that BAPTISM IS A COVENANT MADE WITH GOD by a physical operation. You say what kind of covenant is that? When you marry someone, there must be witnesses and a certificate and a ceremony. All this is necessary because we are still human beings. IN THE SPIRIT, when it is written, IT IS WRITTEN. We must go down into the water and be covered by the water and we must arise out of the water. This is the symbolism. If you do not do the symbol right, then you do not have a baptism.

The symbol of baptism is a three-step operation. We baptize in water and the water covers us. This is the symbol of death. We arise out of the water and are covered by the water. This is the symbol of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When we go into a spiritual baptism, the Spirit must cover us over, just as the water covered us. Then you go into the fullness of baptism, learning your lesson from the physical operation.

God says that baptism is making a covenant with Him. The covenant is that you will go the whole way – through death, through burial, and through resurrection. This is the symbolism of baptism. All this is very Scriptural. I would encourage you to study this out for yourself. However, I am pressing it upon you that baptism in water is absolutely necessary. God told Moses the tabernacle must be built according to the pattern. Obedience is absolutely necessary in serving God.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 106-107)

Thought for today: Let us not be satisfied in just one dimension but press forward towards the fullness of our baptisms.

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Faith in the Blood of Christ – Part 2

Posted in The Blood of Jesus, tagged , , , , on August 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: 1 John 3:5-8

When the process of salvation begins to take place, the Holy Ghost with the permission of the individual, begins to pour life and light into him. This is the work of the Blood. The Blood of Jesus Christ, therefore, is the life of Jesus Christ which hovers around everybody. It is not just the believers who have the Blood of Jesus Christ around them. This energy, this life of God, this glory of the Spirit of God, is hovering around every person. Just call upon the name of the Lord and God will answer you immediately. God will save you. What do we mean by the word “save”? The quickening Spirit of God enters into a dead soul and the dead soul becomes a living soul. A living soul begins to respond to God in a way it could not respond before. The chief instrument of salvation, then, is the Blood of Jesus Christ. The Blood of Jesus Christ is the life of God. The life of God is available to all men. Those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Questions are asked: What are we saved from? What are we saved to? If we are saved from something, it must be a salvation unto something. We are saved from the penalty of sin. We are saved from sinning. If any man sin, he has an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the righteous. We are not supposed to sin, but if any man sins, because we were children of sin and it is likely we will sin again, we have an advocate with the Father, BUT there is no deliberate willful sin in the Christian (see 1 John 3:5-8).

The word “committeth” written in the old English CONTINUOUS tense, translates “he that (continually) committeth sin is of the devil.” When God comes into you, when you accept the Blood of Jesus, you receive a quickening. That quickening is to give you STRENGTH not to sin. Temptations will come to you, but you will have the strength NOT TO SIN. Every temptation that comes to you, you have the power to overcome it. When you do not overcome it, then you have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous, who will cleanse you again and give you another opportunity to go forward and sin not.

This is the symbol of the Brazen Altar in the Tabernacle of Moses, or the first seal, and Jesus Christ broke the seal and opened up this deliverance for mankind. This is the place where the bull becomes beef and where the man becomes part of the high priest, and he is going to walk with the HIGH PRIEST, WHO IS CHRIST, through the Tabernacle, even unto the fullness. Let us note, as a matter of sound doctrine, that the high priest never eats the meat in the Outer Court. He takes the meat with him into the Holy Place and he does not eat it until he gets to the Table of Shewbread. There he eats the meat and the bread. Thus THE BELIEVER BECOMES A PART OF THE CHRIST IN THE HOLY PLACE and not in the Outer Court.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 103-104)

Thought for today: Let us thank God for the experience of salvation and let Him lead us to the following experiences as the rest of the seals are opened unto us.

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The Mystery of Salvation

Posted in Christian Walk, tagged , , , , , , , on August 16, 2011| 1 Comment »

Scripture reading: Daniel 12:8-9

The whole Bible, the gospel of the Lord Jesus, is closed up in seven sealed mysteries. Daniel was told that he should “seal up the book,” because it would not be explained until the time of the end. Now, Jesus Christ began to open the seals. [Revelation 6 starts to tell us about the opening of these seals and the effect they would have in the realm of the world.]

The first mystery is the MYSTERY OF SALVATION which Jesus Christ opened up to us. Why do I say it is a mystery? Because not everyone understands it. Even some of us who have received salvation do not understand how, when, and why it works, and what the purpose is.

When God opens up deliverance for man, He brings man to a higher dimension where Satan has the right to attack him in a higher and greater way. When Jesus Christ received the anointing at His baptism, immediately the devil took occasion. Now he had the right to attack Him in a most frontal attack with greater boldness than he had done before. Because of this principle, when the church was born, Satan received the right to do certain things. This is why, when the seal opens, and the Word of God is released, the enemy is also released. This is a DOUBLE MESSAGE, two messages in one – the message of the glory of God and also the message of what happens in the earth when this is done.

Salvation is by the Blood of Jesus Christ. Most people do not understand the Blood. In the Tabernacle of Moses, God revealed it through symbolism. The bull was brought in through the gate by six men. No man comes to God because he loves God, or because he is beautiful and just knows the right place to go is to God. No! We were all hauled in against our will. God set circumstances to bring us in and to bring mankind into salvation. I believe that is why Adam and Eve did not eat of the tree of life. There is something awesome and awful about THE TREE OF LIFE. When you eat the tree of life, you begin to lose your natural life and gain immortal life.

In the Tabernacle, the bull was carried to the place of death, the Brazen Altar. They would tie him down to the four horns of this brass altar. Then they would slay the bull and take the dung and the skin, wrap it together and take it outside the camp to be burned. The meat was washed and ready on the fire of the altar of sacrifice. All this is symbolism telling us what happens to a person in salvation. He is beginning a new life and losing his natural life, preparing to go into the high priest and become one with the high priest Jesus Christ. The high priest puts the meat on the fire where it is roasted and takes it with him into the Holy Place to eat at the Table of Shewbread.

Salvation is when mankind accepts the Blood of Jesus Christ as payment for his sin and receives in turn LIFE instead of the wages of sin, which is DEATH. It is also a beginning of a journey that leads him into his destination in the Holy of Holies.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 98; 100-101)

Thought for today: Let us make sure of our salvation and continue with all diligence our journey into the Holy of Holies.

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The True Light

Posted in The Power of God, tagged , , , on July 18, 2011| 1 Comment »

Scripture reading: John 1:1-9

Sometimes you have a loved one and you are praying for him and you feel that this one has gone too far. When the enemy begins to tell you this person is too bad or has gone too far, it is his work to cut down your ability to intercede. Anyone who says that of himself or of others is being ministered to by the spirits of Satan. The power of the Blood of Jesus Christ reaches beyond the boundary of all the barriers that hell can conceive and that man can put up, and God is able to save us to the uttermost by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Someone says that they abort babies, that they kill babies, that so many of them are being killed, and that they have all gone to hell. We do not know the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ. The Blood of Jesus Christ will reach beyond human consciousness and will bring that fetus or that young child to God. God knows, if He had given that child a thousand years to live, what that child would be. And God judges him upon that basis. He brings salvation to him. He is able to save to the uttermost. Someone else says that men bow down to wood and stone, worshipping other gods and that they are lost. Man is not lost until he rejects Jesus Christ and he cannot reject Jesus Christ until he sees Jesus Christ. When he gets to know Jesus Christ, then he has the privilege of either accepting Him or rejecting Him. God must reveal Himself to man before man can go to hell.

John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Verses 8 and 9, “He (John) was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” This is the Christ who “LIGHTETH EVERY MAN.” We need to make note of this. “EVERY MAN THAT COMETH INTO THE WORLD.”

Why would anybody go to hell? John 3:18 and 19, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” The point at which men go to hell is not because they are sinners, for we were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity and were all children of hell, but then we heard something. We saw something. We believed.

Are we more fortunate than all the other human beings who have not heard and seen? No. Do you know why? Because He “lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). There is no man that can leave this world and face God and say that God never gave him the opportunity He gave others. What he has to say is that God did bring him to consciousness one day. That he did see Jesus and he did reject Him and he is worthy of hell. The point is, God MUST (there are few things that God must do), in order to vindicate His name, reveal Himself to every human being on earth. A man can live godless all his life, but the hour will come when suddenly he will be awakened to consciousness. One minute, one second, will be like an eternity for he will see himself as he really is and see God as He really is and, in that moment, must either accept Him or reject Him.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 93-94)

Thought for today: Remember God is able to save us to the uttermost by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

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Quickened by the Blood of Jesus Christ

Posted in Growing in God, tagged , , , , on May 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Scripture reading: Revelation 2:1-7

We have totally lost sight of Jesus Christ and what He stands for, where He has put us from the very beginning, from the foundation of the world, and the gospel. We need to get back to our first love. Our first love might not necessarily be anything pertaining to the church. When we accepted Jesus as our Saviour, there was a freshness in our first love. If you never had this experience, if never a change came over you, if never the sky looked bluer, if never the earth looked more glorious, if never the peace of God came over you, if never the glory of God came over you – YOU HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED THAT WHICH JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR. Jesus died in order that we might be SAVED. The word saved means reconditioned, reborn, delivered from the thing we were when we were first born of our mothers. We must have a renewing of the mind, a renewing of the spirit, a deliverance from what we were before.

This salvation needs to grow. Many have said that they have received Jesus as their Saviour, are all right, are going to heaven, and can freely do anything they please. This is not salvation. Salvation is a continuous experience, having a beginning and an end. If you turn to Ephesians 1:11-14, you will see that the Word speaks about the end of your salvation. Notice the progression:

11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, AFTER that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Many people do not believe in this progression in God. God is a God of progress and growth. If you are born again, you must grow. You MUST begin to move from that born again position into things higher and into things deeper. Nobody has to preach to you and say that you must do this, and you must talk in tongues, and you must prophesy. Those things do not have to be preached to the true child of God who is following Jesus Christ. The Scripture tells you certain things happen to you as you grow in Christ, but if you do not grow, then you will not have the signs of growth. Some people say that when you receive Jesus as your Saviour, you receive everything. Without going into too much detail, I will say that when you receive Jesus, you receive HIS LIFE to counteract the death that was in you.

God could not do business with a dead man. Therefore, He had to save you, resurrect you, and bring you to the same place where He made Adam. Adam was made a living soul, and you were a dead soul. Dead means you could not respond to God. You could slap or pinch a dead man, you could shout in his ear, but he is dead. That is how God felt towards you for God shouted at you many times. God would touch your body, shake you, wake you up many times but you could not respond to God because you were dead. Now God took some of His life and put it into you through the Blood of Jesus Christ and you became a LIVING SOUL. The Blood of Jesus hovers over the whole world. You can call upon His name and receive His Blood and the Blood quickens you. That is how you know you are saved. No one needs to tell you to say a few words and if you say them right you are saved. This is not a password business that if you say the right password, then you get saved. Nothing of the kind! Sometimes you can get saved by not speaking a word, but just submitting your soul before God and the Spirit of God will come and give you what you ask for. Salvation, therefore, is a quickening of the spirit and a bringing to life of the individual.

When that individual comes alive, he wants living food. Adam was alive but he died because he did not have the Christ. He had neither the Holy Ghost nor the Blood. The Blood first, then the Holy Ghost and then the Christ. This is the right order. After you have been saved, you get the Blood in your soul. When you receive the Holy Ghost, you do not receive the Holy Ghost in your soul. You receive the Holy Ghost in your spirit. The scripture says in Romans 8:16,  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

Those people who have the Spirit of God have within themselves a witness of God that they are the sons of God – little sons of God. Not little gods, but sons of God. Praise be to God.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 29-31)

Thought for today: Are you growing higher and deeper in God? Remember, God is a God of progress and growth and those that are His must grow in Him.

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