One Baptism (3) by GW North

About twelve months ago, I was privileged to go over to America. One of the things I learned there was not to be weary in well-doing or worry about repeating yourself. Every night—and not only at night, but during the day too—I had the privilege to address this conference out there.

The lead of the conference would have me preach, and then he would follow with an appeal. They do this quite regularly out there, apparently. When I sat back, he accomplished the masterly feat of saying almost the same things after every message. It never failed to evoke a response, praise God. I thought to myself, “Well, I know he's going to say the same thing again that he said last night.” And sure enough, with the absolute minimum of variation, he did say the same thing again.

Not to weary you, I want to speak by the Lord's grace tonight on baptism. We are holding a baptismal service tomorrow, we trust, down in the River Derwent. I want to speak to you on this great subject. Now, I am not a fanatic on water baptism at all. In fact, it’s not quite water baptism that I’m going to talk about—not really—for my subject is the one baptism. You will find my authority in this, and God forbid that any man who stands in my position should preach anything that is not plainly stated in this book.

So if you will turn with me to the Ephesian letter. While you are finding it, if I may, I want to remind you that I find comfort in what I’m about to do. When God made it clear to me that I was to preach on this great truth everywhere I went, I received my marching orders from God. I proceeded to do that in various fellowships, in London meetings, for example. I believe some people who had been in one fellowship were probably also at the London meetings. I’d say, “Oh, I’m probably preaching on the one baptism tonight,” and they’d respond, “That’s all right; we want to hear it again.”

Perhaps some of you may be hearing this for the third time. I want to tell you that I've been over it more than three times, more than four times. In fact, it’s part of my life. I don’t think any man is worth much if he stands up and preaches things that aren’t part of his life. If he only preaches theories, or if he preaches something simply because it’s accepted in his group, he’s not going to be worth much to God.

Let’s turn to this Ephesian letter, chapter four. In verse three, we are told to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So, as I strive to do this tonight, to keep this unity of the Spirit, I assure you I come peaceably. There’s a bond of peace—I’m bound in this to God. This peace must be the umpire and deciding factor in my heart. So, in the bond of peace, because I may say things that might conflict with some of your ideas, I am not deliberately setting out to do that. I only find my commission to preach what I believe from God. Nevertheless, I come to you in the bond of peace and in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Here’s the unity: There’s one body, there’s one Spirit.

You were made to drink into one spirit when you were baptized in it. That's the baptism—it's an inner baptism, an inward baptism. The Lord Jesus plunges you into it and holds you there until you drink it all. That’s right, it's marvelous.

When you're baptized in the Derwent tomorrow, those of you who will be baptized, remember to keep your mouth shut and breathe out through your nose if you're going to breathe at all. But when God baptizes you in the Spirit, open your mouth wide. For in one spirit, you are baptized into one body, and it is accomplished on your part by inward drinking until you're drowned in it—or rather, made alive in it. This, then, is the glorious truth of God.

And you know, as soon as we start moving off the plainly stated things of Scripture, we run into all kinds of bothers. Undoubtedly, this is the one baptism because it's the only one that’s really explained. Oh, you say, but there's Romans 6—now wait a minute; in about two hours' time, we'll come to that. We’re going into Scripture in a moment.

It’s included in it, and that’s what I want to tell you now. The baptism in Romans 6 is a spiritual baptism; it’s in the Spirit. Do you see that? Well, if you don't, perhaps you will before we're through. This is the tremendous thing, and I want to tell you there’s no way into the body of Christ except via the Romans 6 experience. No way.

But you will perhaps enjoy turning with me back into the Bible. Before we do that, perhaps just to peek into Hebrews chapter 6, we will see a word here which you might think could confuse the issue. But in Hebrews chapter 6, we’re told to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and to go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, and of the doctrine—singular, note that—of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. There’s one doctrine of the baptisms—many baptisms in the Bible.

You say, well, now surely you’re contradicting yourself. You say there’s only one baptism, now you’ve just said many baptisms. Oh yes, many baptisms in the Bible. But you see, this has to be understood in the light of what the word says in Romans. Have a look into the Roman letter. In the Roman letter, we're told quite clearly—I’m sorry I just can’t find this reference at the moment; it slipped my eye. It may be in the Corinthian letter. I'm sorry about that, but I can quote it to you. It's the great verse which talks about…oh, it is—it’s 1 Corinthians 8, I beg your pardon.

Verse 5: 1 Corinthians 8, verse 5: "Though there be those that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are gods many and lords many, yet to us there is but one God." Now, there are baptisms many, but to us, there is but one baptism. There are lords many, but to us, there’s only one Lord, and that’s Jesus Christ. There are gods many—I expect I shall see millions of them, so-called, if and when I get out to India by God's grace. But to me, there’s only one God. To us, there’s only one God.

In this sense, you understand there is one great doctrine running through all the many truths and teachings regarding baptism in the book.

One more reference in Corinthians, in the 10th chapter, will launch us out on our investigation of the Old Testament, brethren. Verse 1: "I would not that you 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."

Did you know that when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, it was a baptism? You’re not told that in the book of Exodus. It simply explains that it was the Exodus, the final Exodus from the land of Egypt. They had an immediate going out of their houses of slavery, where they abode when the blood was sprinkled on the doorpost and on the lintel. They came out of their little dungeons, their little hovels. They came out because God brought them out. But He didn't just bring them out of their own little hovels, their little dungeons of imprisonment, or their little rabbit hutches, from which they had to go out every morning, searching for what they could hardly find in order to complete the toll of bricks that only rubbed in the terror and the terribleness of their slavery. God wanted to bring them right out of the land, totally, and He brought them out by baptism.

What a glorious thing this is!

Let’s turn back then into the book of Exodus. We shall see as we trace this great thing through the Old Testament what is really included in this wonderful baptism. You must beware—and we’re all so prone to this—of basing our experiences on facets of truth, on little, little inlettings of light. Oh, beloved, let us beware of trying to base our lives on the little bit of light or knowledge that we have. This makes denominations. All denominations are founded upon a little light. In the name of Jesus Christ, there is a greatness in it all.

In this Exodus book, we find in the fourteenth chapter the story of the baptism of the children of Israel. Did you notice the phraseology in that Corinthian letter? It says that they were baptized "unto"—that word is your Greek word "into"—that we read in 1 Corinthians 12: “In one spirit are we all baptized into one body,” that’s into Christ. So this is your same word. They were baptized into Moses. Glory.

You know, this baptism is the only way into Christ. It's a tremendous thing for us to understand, lest our pleadings, invitations, and half-preachings bring people to a place where they're only in the state that the disciples were in prior to Pentecost, prior to Calvary. But beloved, these people in this mighty baptism had a wonderful experience. And you and I are to know that this great truth is included in this one great baptism. May God open all our eyes and hearts to see it.

You remember that they came out, almost out of Egypt, and were pinned up against the Red Sea. They were planted there by God; God led them there. They were led by God to this great baptism. What a tremendous thing for us to understand. You have to understand deeply, my beloved brothers and sisters, that God leads you to this baptism. He leads you by sundry means and various ways, but He’ll lead you to this baptism.

When you reckon out the Hebrew days properly, as beginning from evening to evening, and you work it out, you will find that these people came up on the other side of the Red Sea the third day, on the day of resurrection. The blood was shed in Egypt, and they came up on the third day out of the Red Sea.

All right, let’s get this clear. It’s precious to know these things.

Pinned up against this great sea of baptism, Moses says, “Fear ye not” (verse 13), “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you this day. For the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” One of Moses’ great mistakes this was, although I see this written on big cards and calendars and stuck up in believers’ houses—they’re staking it on a mistake. For God said to Moses, “What are you saying? Don’t tell the people of Israel to stand still; tell them to go forward.” That’s what it says. Moses was wrong that time.

God’s always right, so don’t preach on that, will you? Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord—revise your sermon list if you do. Amen.

Glory be to the name of the Lord—haven’t we got a wonderful book? It even puts the prophets right. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

He says, “Lift up thy rod” (verse 16), “stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” I want to tell you people something: those of you getting baptized tomorrow, you won’t go through on dry ground. You’re going to get wet—amen, glory, you’re going to get really wet. But the tremendousness that God is showing you is that there is a way through this great baptism. That’s the thing He’s telling you.

You know the great story, how the Egyptians were pursuing these people. They weren’t going to let them go. Pharaoh, the representative of the devil and all his hosts, chased after them still: “Ha, you’ve trusted in the blood! Ha, you say you believe in the blood. Don’t you believe that? I’m still after you, I’m still on your track,” says the devil.

It’s in this baptism that the devil is dealt with—that’s the thing for you to see. It’s in this tremendous thing that you can come into a glorious liberty that the Lord wants you to understand, and you can know complete safety. This is what happened. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the waters closed upon the Egyptians.

Verse 30 says, “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore

Glory be to the name of the Lord. This great one baptism, beloved, of which this is one tiny facet, shows one degree of the truth. It includes Hebrews chapter 2, this wonderful thing that we are told in the Hebrews letter.

In Hebrews chapter 2, this is very much explained to us in verse 14: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." We've read it in Exodus 14, and that’s what happened. It was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ—bless his holy name—who went down into death that he might destroy him who had the power of death, who keeps people in bondage and slavery to him all their lives because of fear.

Praise God, I heard a man talking last week up in Blasewaite Hall with whom I shared a week’s ministry. He said that at a certain time in his life, when God was dealing with him, God spoke so clearly to his heart and said, "Morris, all fear is the fear of death." He couldn't understand that at first, but God said, "Morris, all fear—all fear—is the fear of death." You’d better believe that, because God said it. It’s not a fear of cats, mice, spiders, or warfare; it’s a fear of death. It’s not a fear of going up in airplanes; it’s a fear of death. And of course, it’s right. As soon as he said it, I knew it was right. Didn't you? Glory, amen, and blessed be his holy name.

Jesus went down into glorious death for us. You remember, this is the one baptism, you see. He said in Luke 12, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened until it be accomplished? I want to send fire on the earth," he said, "but I can’t yet; I've got this baptism to go through."

What a precious thing for our hearts to see. He went down into this great baptism of death, beloved, and glory to God, he accomplished in that death the death of the devil. He destroyed him, so far as his power, his right, his authority, or jurisdiction over the children of God are concerned. He has none; his ambitions are destroyed. Amen, glory to his name. Do you believe that?

Don't you see, when Jesus hung on the cross, he was bait? Yes, he was bait. God went down to his weakest moment, and the devil said, "Come on, all you demon hosts, get your chariots, we’re on him!" And they came at him. Praise God, it says in that glorious letter to the Colossians, in the second chapter, that when he hung there in all his weakness, where he was crucified in weakness—2 Corinthians 13 tells us this plainly—at his weakest moment, this blessed God, if you like, was bait. And they came on him like flies.

Glory to God! The scripture says he stripped them off from him, amen, destroyed them, hallelujah. Don't you see? I was going to say the artfulness of God—don't you see the wisdom of God? The weakness of God is stronger than men, and of the devil too, and Jesus dealt with them all.

Have you, beloved? Let’s go back to Exodus 14, just asking ourselves this question: Have you ever, in verse 30, stood on the resurrection side of Jesus' great death, having been baptized into it in the Spirit and through it? Have you ever stood and seen the Egyptians dead upon the seashore? Have you? Glory to God, they’re all dead. Look, strolling along here are all these things that I thought were my overlords, my masters that had power over me—demons, principalities, powers, and I don't know what else. See them all dead on the seashore. You've never been to the sea of this great death yet if you haven't seen this. Blessed be the name of the Lord; it's all accomplished.

Now, God brought these people out, as we’re often told, that he might bring them in. I mean, God says it himself: I will bring you out that I may bring you in. And it was God's intention that these people should immediately, comparatively, go right into the promised land. But this they refused to do because, beloved, they had never had their sin dealt with. They'd never had their sin dealt with.

God had shown them mercy and grace and had taken pity on them in their weakness and in their bondage. He loved them for the father's sake, he said, and so he came to them in Egypt to bring them out. But their sin wasn't dealt with, as yet there had been no institution of the system of sin offerings—not yet. They would have picked that up en route to the promised land. Is that right? Yes, of course, it’s right. Don’t be afraid to believe the Bible.

Preachers may stand up and preach from Exodus 12 and bring New Testament truth, basing it on the blood of the lamb. But you mustn't lose sight of the fact that in the Old Testament picture, they never had their sin dealt with. That's why all these people kept grumbling, groaning, moaning, finding fault with God, saying, "It's not like you said, let's go back to Egypt." All this sort of thing, and all the time, if you've got it in your heart that you want to go back to the world, go back to its dancing, lusting, picture-going, card-playing, drinking, smoking, horse racing, boy hunting, girl hunting—all the time you want to go back to that, it's because your sin's not been dealt with. Your sin’s not been dealt with. It’s sin that is akin to all that. That’s the simple, simple answer.

Now let's go on. These people were brought out, and they refused to go into the promised land, kept on refusing to do what God wanted them to do. Then, when God said, "No, you're not going in," they said, "No, we will." You see, that’s it. That's the obscenity of the human heart that thinks it makes faith decisions without its sin being dealt with. Nothing of the sort. The heart of faith is the heart that just implicitly believes the Lord and does what he says when he says it, and can’t say, "No, I'm not going to do it when you want me to, God," and then come back about a month later and say, "Well, now I'm ready to do it."

It’s a good job we’re in an age of grace, because these people, who weren't in the age of grace but were in the age of law, refused to do what God said. God had that whole generation dealt with—that whole generation of men died. So that when they finally got to the place where they were going into the promised land, none of those men had been baptized. God had intended the Red Sea baptism to be sufficient, and they should have gone in. But they didn't go, so God said, "Well, you can't get into the promised land unless you're baptized into it. You can't get into the promised land unless you're baptized into it."

You can't suddenly say, "Well, we're all okay, and of course, my father believed in baptism, but I don't," and all that sort of nonsense. So in order to get into the promised land, this was really the continuation that forty years has really blotted out. This is really taking the same thing up. Jordan need never have been—to give us great preaching matter and material for second blessing sort of stuff—it need never have been. If they'd been obedient and gone in, they would only have needed the second experience because the first had been negated. And it wasn't a second experience for them; it was their first. Get that—it was their first. That old generation had all died; now it was a new first experience for them.

And hallelujah, blessed be God, he's like this. He takes the opportunity, and he teaches a greater lesson. So we have another picture into the doctrine—here's another baptism. But it was only meant to be the one baptism. It's only preachers who don't understand that preach as a second one. Got that? Isn't that clear to you? Am I being honest or not?

Yes, we've got to be honest. We've got to face the book, face the truth. We're not breeding a generation of doctrinal preachers; we’re wanting men and women who believe the book, see the thing clearly, and move in understanding and revelation. And if a man won’t move in his light, he’ll never get revelation.

That’s why some people’s revelation stops—because they then go rail-raiding, roading along a denominational line.

Beloved, when you break free from all that, and you let God show you, you dare to let Him teach you. Oh, what a difference! Praise God. So now we're in the book of Jesus. Now, you know the book of Jesus comes after the books of Moses. Jesus always follows Moses. The book of Jesus is called Joshua—that's the Hebrew name. That's right; now we're in the book of Jesus. Bless Him.

Now, you will notice that in this baptism, Jesus is right in it. In the other baptism, Moses wasn't in it. Moses was used to divide the Red Sea. Perhaps it might be reasonable to assume that Moses was the first one to step into the Red Sea. He may not have been. He might have said, "Well, since all you people are so afraid, I'll stand at the back. I'll come last, and I'll be the first one the Egyptians get. When he eats me up, this old devil, you'll be all right." I would possibly think he stopped at the back because he had to stretch his hand back out over the sea. If he'd done it at the front, they'd have all gotten drowned. So, am I being logical or not?

Of course. So, he goes to the back and holds up his hand. And this is the miracle, the greater miracle. We always lessen God's miracles. If you read this story properly, you mustn't think they were all over before the sea started to flow back. Oh no, the greater miracle was that while their way was still open, the sea was closing in behind them over the Egyptians, and the way was bloodied out. That's right. This is the greater miracle. They were still marching up on the dry land, and all behind them is death—death to the devil, death for his hosts. Glory be to God.

All right, Moses wasn't really in this. But when you get to Jesus' book, or Joshua's book, you'll find in chapter three where the great baptism occurs, this time in Jordan.

God commands the priests to take up the Ark. In verse six, Jesus, if you like, speaks down to the priest, saying, "Take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass over before the people." And they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people. And the Lord said unto Jesus, "This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, 'When you come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan.'" And it was very, very wonderful.

Verse 14: It came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, the priests bore the Ark of the Covenant before the people. And as they that bore the Ark came unto Jordan, the feet of the priests that bore the Ark were dipped in the brim of the water, for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest. You see, it was harvest time. God was reaping His harvest now, all right. He was reaping this kind of first fruits. Amen. He was reaping His harvest.

The waters, which came down from above, stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam. Did you know there was a city called Adam? No? Did you know we talk about a man, Adam? Did you know there was a city, Adam? Very far away from old Adam, this takes place. Hallelujah. It's the new Adam now; it's Jesus. Hallelujah. And you know, the Ark of the Covenant is the greatest single type of Jesus in the Old Testament. And so that Ark had to go over. And as soon as it was dipped in the waters, the waters scattered and fled.

In verse 17, the priests that bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people had passed clean over Jordan. And so, in this baptism, Jesus is magnified, Jesus is glorified. Right there in the center, God is magnifying Jesus. God is making this great Joshua wonderful in their eyes. Praise God. And this is what the scripture is telling us, beloved.

When Jesus went down into death, when He hung on that cross and then yielded up His spirit, He lay there in death for three solid days. He was there; His body was there. Glory be to the name of the Lord. And He stayed there till all His people had clean passed over.

This is why, when you read your New Testament, you read old Paul saying, "When Jesus Christ died, I died." When you read your New Testament, he says, "I reckon…" I can see this, he says, that if Jesus died for all, then we're all dead. They all died. You see, Jesus did such a tremendous work on that cross, beloved. He was God manifest in the flesh. And when He died, it was a death in the power of God. Yeah, it was a death in the glory of God, and it dealt not just with Himself. If He’d been a mere man, it would have been His own death and resurrection. But because He was God-man, it was our death and resurrection too.

Now, that's what Romans 6 is all about. This is another picture in that same death, where Jesus Christ dealt with the devil and all the demon hosts. He dealt very far away from that old city Adam. Glory be to God. He dealt with the old man, Adam—dealt with the inherent sinner that indwells every man and woman. He dealt with him. That's what Romans 6 is all about.

Let's turn to Romans 6, shall we? When we do this, we see the wonder of our Bible. We see the glory of it. It's all in here; it all integrates. Now, isn't this a marvelous thing? Joshua wrote this book thousands upon thousands of years before Paul wrote the Romans. And you see, it all fits in, which is all by the same author—that is, by God. Hallelujah.

And so, in Romans 6, we read this: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. By no means. God doesn’t know any way that you can, not according to His provision, by no means. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" You could only live in what you’re alive to. That's right.

I'm not alive to the sea, so I can't live in it. A fish is alive to the sea, and it gets its living from the sea, and it can live in the sea, but I can't. You can only live in what you're alive to. And if you're still alive to the world, if you're still alive to its rottenness, if you're still alive to its cursing and swearing and filthiness, if you're still alive to its system, it's because you've got sin in you still.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. He says we can't live in sin if we're dead to it.

Do you know, dear Brother John Williams, that we laid his body, as we say, to rest only a few weeks ago? He couldn't live in this world any longer, so we put his body under the ground. He couldn't live in this world; he was dead. He couldn't live here.

That, praise God, wonderful, isn't it?

"Know ye not," says verse three, "that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ..." Now, the baptism is in 1 Corinthians 12. We read that by one Spirit we are all baptized into Jesus Christ, into one body. As many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death.

Blessed cross, wonderful gateway right through into this glorious body of Jesus Christ! 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. For if we've been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body—this body of sin, this body that only displayed and moved in and worked sin—should be destroyed, nullified, made of none effect, that we’re not going to be brought in bondage through our bodies. Amen! They’re going to be bodies of righteousness and bodies of holiness now. They’re going to be bodies of God, and not bodies of me, not bodies of the devil, and not bodies of the world.

Blessed be the name of the Lord! This is what the glorious revelation of that scripture in Joshua is all about: that our blessed Lord Jesus—if you want to know why He hung there, why He hung there—He hung there until such time was fulfilled in the purposes and in the calendar of God that we all should pass over in the miracle of His death and in the glory of His resurrection. Isn’t that a marvelous thing?

I’m in the promised land. I’m in, I’m in! Are you? You might be in some tomfool land that the devil's promised you—that you can get satisfaction here, that you can get peace here, that you can get what you want here. You might be there, but you can't stand before God with the name "Tom Fool." You've got to stand before God with the name of Jesus Christ written on your forehead. Let it be the name of the Lord!

That's why Paul found no excuse, no difficulty in saying, "With me, I’ve been crucified with Christ." Marvelous! This is the key to it, that Jesus, the Ark, and Joshua stood there in the midst of Jordan, and they all had to go over via the Ark—via the Ark.

It wasn’t a way of safety, beloved, was it? They weren't fleeing from anyone; they weren’t running away. It was just to teach them this lesson. The devil’s dealt with; now it’s you I’m dealing with—you! You see? Let me repeat something that I said the other night. It’s important for us to have this in our hearts.

We’ve been taught from childhood, evangelically—thank God for the great evangel! We’ve been taught that we've all got sin in us. Is that right? That in the self of every one of us is sin. And that’s not true. The biblical teaching is that it’s self that's at the center of sin, and not sin at the center of self. That’s what the Bible teaches.

And all that group time, that self of yours is there: self-will, self-expression, self-pleasing, self-centeredness, self-assurance, self-assertiveness—the great ego that the psychologists like to play around with all the time—that’s there. My friend, you’re in sin. It doesn’t matter if you're a very nice self. As our sister said this afternoon, "Been to Girton, and brought up to be a lady and have servants wait on you." It doesn’t make any difference—not a scrub of difference. If you knew how to keep your fingernails clean and say, "Oh yes," instead of "shut up," politeness is often a cover for sin.

Not that I'm advocating impoliteness. Even Jesus politely knocks at the door; He doesn’t force it. He says, "I knock at the door. If you open the door, I’ll come in."

Hallelujah, what a wonderful and glorious Savior our Jesus is! And so then, beloved, we've seen this second great picture of the one baptism.

And the third picture, we find in Second Kings, in Two Kings chapter two. It came to pass—this is one of those lovely chapters of the Bible—it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

Now, keeping your finger in there, go back to Joshua. It’s great to be able to search your Bible, isn’t it?

All right, now you'll see the glory and beauty of this Bible. When the children of Israel passed over Jordan, you're told this in verse 19 of chapter 4: "The people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal." Glory be to God! Glory be to God, the story is still continuing.

There’s another part to this. All those years, all those chapters, all those events have come and gone, and now we're back at Gilgal. For, beloved, you and I are to learn that in the great water baptism, there is a fiery baptism too.

Let’s go on, shall we?

In 2 Kings—sorry, I meant chapter 2, verse 2—Elijah says unto Elisha, "Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel." And Elisha said unto him, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." So they went down to Bethel.

The sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, "Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today?" And he said, "Yea, I know it. Hold ye your peace." He wasn’t very happy about it. And Elijah said unto him, "Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho." And he said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." So they came to Jericho.

The sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha and said unto him, "Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today?" And he answered, "Yea, I know it. Hold ye your peace."

Elijah said unto him, "Tarry..." I want you to notice this word tarry. You might have read of it somewhere else in the Bible. I suggest you start in the Acts of the Apostles. Note this word tarry, and see the inherent truth in Scripture. Elijah said to him, "Tarry, I pray thee here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan." And he said, "See where he had to go—to Jordan," linking him right back to Jordan from Gilgal. He went from Gilgal just over Jordan to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, from Jericho to Jordan. Praise the name of the Lord! I wish I had time to preach a bit about those four things now.

And he said, "As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." And they too went on. The head and the body went on together. Did you see? The head and the body. Elijah was the head; Elisha was the body. All right, he poured water on Elijah’s hands. Elijah was the head, so the head and the body are going, and the head’s going to be taken away. Why, it seems like the day of Ascension, doesn’t it? Hallelujah! Praise God!

And we’ve got a wonderful Bible, haven’t we? Let’s go on.

Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off, and they too stood by Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, wrapped it together, and smote the waters. And they were divided hither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee." And Elisha said, "I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me."

And he said, "Thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so." And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Elisha saw it, and he cried, "My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!"

And he saw him no more, and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smote the waters, and said, "Where is the God of Elijah?" And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over.

Praise God! This man, Elisha, the body, came back from the dead. You remember that the head led him to Jordan and smote the waters, and they went back over Jordan into the wilderness side. They went through death; they went in together, they went through death together. Glory be to God! And Elisha, Elisha comes back from the dead. Hallelujah! He comes back from Jordan, and here he is; then he comes back with the power of the Lord.

You may remember that in Luke 24 we’re told so clearly, "You shall be endued with power from on high." And that word "endued" means clothed. That's why when the mantle came down, the clothing, the clothes came down. The head’s clothes came down—glory! The cloak of the Most High. And he rends his own weakness, his own clothes of servitude, and puts on the mantle of the head. And he comes back, baptized in fire, through the waters. The wind and the fire are there—they were there on the Day of Pentecost: the mighty rushing wind that blew, the great fire that came down from heaven.

Oh, glory! And they came out, baptized in the Holy Ghost. That's the third and greatest picture in the one baptism. Hallelujah! Glory be to God!

This is what Jesus said. He said, "I’ve got to go away. I’ve got to go away. If I don’t go, the Holy Ghost won’t come. I’ve got to go away. The head’s got to be cut off from you, thy head’s got to be taken away from thee." And they wept, and they said, "Oh Lord, you know..." They didn’t understand God’s plans. He said, "I must go away. If I don’t go away, the Holy Ghost can’t come; He won’t come." And if I don’t go away—praise the name of the Lord—so Jesus went away. He went away via that death, He went away via that resurrection, He went away via that glorious ascension. He went away, and they tarried, as the head said to Elisha, "Tarry ye, tarry ye."

Praise God! And they tarried. And old Elijah, he said to Elisha, "Ask me what you want, ask of me what you want." And he said, "Lord, that I may have a double portion of thy spirit." He said, "You’ve asked a hard thing." He didn’t regard leaving this world as hard; he didn’t regard that as hard.

I want to tell you, the hardest thing that Jesus Christ ever had to do was go through those glorious preliminary and preparatory things at Calvary, in order that you might receive God and be filled with God. Fancy a man being filled with God! It’s normal and natural for him to be filled with self; it’s normal and natural for him to be filled with sin; it’s normal and natural for him to be filled with the devil and demons. But it’s not normal to be filled with God. This was the hardest thing that Jesus Christ had to do.

He said, “You’ve..." He didn’t give His disciples a chance to ask for the Holy Spirit. He did tell them once; He said, "You could ask, and you could receive the Spirit." Read Luke 11. He said, "You could ask if you only knew." And they didn’t ask. They didn’t ask. That’s the terribleness of it. They were so content to know Jesus Christ after the flesh. They were so content to dwell in the loveliness of His beatific smile. They were so content to be helpers and co-workers together with Him in feeding the 5,000. They were so content to see His miracles displayed, to raise the dead. It was so wonderful to be the chosen helpers, workers, and servants of Jesus Christ, and to join with Him in His own sacred unction.

They had nothing of themselves, but they had Jesus outside of themselves, and were content to have this wonderful election and choice of God. But Jesus wasn’t content. Jesus wasn’t content. He said, "You’ve got to have the Holy Ghost. You’ve got to have the Holy Ghost. I’m going away. I’m going away. You’ll idolize me." Jesus would have been their idol unless He’d gone away and been their God.

And Jesus is only your idol until, beloved, you know this glorious indwelling. He’s only your idol; He’s the Christian myth until this happens to you—I mean the Christian myth as far as your experience is concerned.

And he comes back. "Where’s the God of Elijah?" My word! Where’s the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? In me.

Bless him. You know, I do like to turn to this. Let's look at this in John chapter 14. In the 14th chapter of this great gospel, beloved, the Lord shows us the real truth.

You see, because of the preachments, ideas, and little stultifying things—the meanness and narrowness of people's minds, even though they be well-intentioned people. You remember what I said the other day: "Oh Lord, save us from well-meaning people." They're always trying to do us good, but they do us a certain amount of good, while also doing us harm in that they don't give us the best. And we’re content then to rest in the good. Our biggest trouble is with people who only want the good things. They don't want the best things. That’s our biggest trouble.

In John chapter 14, we read these glorious words. He’s speaking of the day of Pentecost in verse 19. He says, "Because I live, ye shall live also." At that day, when you live also, it's undoubtedly the day of Pentecost. They didn't live before then. It can only be the day of Pentecost He’s talking about. At that day, verse 20, "You shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

Judas, not Iscariot, said unto Him, "Lord, how is it that Thou would manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" Jesus answered and said unto him, "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." That’s on the day of Pentecost. So instead of a double portion, you’ve got a triple portion. You’ve got the Holy Ghost, you’ve got the Father, and you’ve got the Son. So don’t stint yourself and say, "Give me a double portion." You ask for the glory of the unlimited fullness of God. Get into the great threefoldness of it all. Amen.

Oh, it’s wonderful to be here. You know, we do suffer, beloved. We suffer from people who will condition our minds to Old Testament terminology. That’s right—they’re great at it.

Beloved, we need to be brought into the things that Jesus said. Of course, the Holy Ghost inspired the Old Testament, but even He could only inspire according to the covenant. And now we’re in this great newness of Jesus. Hallelujah. This glorious thing. Amen.

Oh, I want to know this: Have you been into this one great baptism where you’ve seen that the devil is dealt with, and all the demons, as far as you’re concerned, are dead? As we were thinking the other morning, we keep ourselves, and the wicked one doesn’t touch us. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Have you ever been there? And have you seen, beloved, that you’ve been buried—dead and buried?

I heard a fellow give some good advice to another fellow the other day while we’ve been in this conference. They were standing there talking, and I sort of hove in sight. Then I hoved to at their invitation, and I stopped there a little while. I heard him say to the other chap, "What you need is to go away and die somewhere." Don’t worry—that’s very good advice. Amen.

This is the trouble, beloved. Have you ever been to that place where you just know you’re dead? You just know you’re dead. Eh? Are you? Do you know you’re dead? Praise God, and that you’re alive with a new life, and you’re buried—buried.

Now, the great feature of burial is that you bury them and leave them alone. You don’t dig them up to look and see if they’re all right. Really, to make sure they’re buried? You take God’s word for it, beloved. Alleluia. You know it’s right. They often take my word for it now. There are plenty of people. I’ve been to Somerset House; if it gets up, they take my word that somebody’s buried. Yeah, my written word. There it is, and I’ve signed the certificate. They don’t say, "Well, we’d better go down there. Let’s open this grave and see if this person’s really buried." They take my word for it. They take the written word for it.

Glory be to the name of the Lord. You’ve got the written word for it, beloved.

You've got the written word for it. You've got the certificate signed by God. You’re buried—and a good job too. Amen. Alleluia. You’re dead and you’re buried, and aren’t we glad? Glory be to the name of the Lord. Alleluia. Oh, praise the name of the Lord.

Buried with Him by baptism into His death. You can’t get into this baptism of the Spirit unless you come this way, and don’t let anybody deceive you. Don’t let anybody deceive you. This is the trouble. So many people are so utterly deceived. There’s only one way into the one baptism, and Jesus Christ opened the way. He said, "It’s my baptism. I’ve got to be—I’ve got a baptism to be baptized."

And do you know what that baptism was that Jesus Christ had? A spiritual baptism. Oh, I know, He literally died physically. He literally died. But oh, beloved, Jesus Christ had never known death in His life. Never. In all eternity, Jesus Christ had never known death. Jesus Christ comes forth to die, and He was plunged into a condition He’d never, never, never known.

And do you know why He was plunged into that? Because I needed it, and He did it for me. And He took me with Him. I bless His name, He took me with Him. And I was crucified with Him, and I was dead with Him, and I was buried with Him, and I’ve risen with Him. And He’d even granted me, by His grace, a sort of look down into hell with Him too. And I see that the devil’s dead. I see that all right.

You say, "But surely we’re waiting for him to be put in the bottomless pit, chained up down there, and sort of put in a lake of fire?" For me, he’s there already. God grant two eyes to see it.

"Well, don’t you have to cast devils out of other people?" Well, more’s the pity, yes. They haven’t seen it yet. They haven’t seen it yet. Glory. "Don’t you have to pray for the devil to leave people alone and stop tormenting them? Get their oppressions off them?" Yes, more’s the pity. They haven’t seen it yet. It’s becoming a light to them now, and they can see that they can get clear.

And I want to say to any of you in this room tonight, you can get clear of depressions, oppressions, bondages, fixations, and obsessions. You can get free of great possessivenesses that your very being wants to hold on to. That’s all self-exaltation, all a lot of it. Hallelujah.

Why, Harriet Beecher Stowe once accused her husband of cultivating indigo. Don’t understand that? Well, he was a depressant, and he sort of loved it. That was him. Yes, that was him. Some people just love it. Oh, they love it. It draws attention to themselves. They get all the deliverance people going around them in circles, standing over them. They love it. My word, you can hold the center of the stage that way.

God dug a grave for you. God dug a grave for you. He dug a trap for the devil, too, in the Red Sea. What a Red Sea! It flooded up out of Jesus’s heart and fountained out through His wounds. It ran from the stripes and the plowed furrows on His back. It ran from the spike holes in His hands, from the spike holes in His head. It ran down, and the devil—the devil met his Waterloo, or shall we say, it was his Calvary. Hallelujah.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. And it’s all over, beloved. It’s all over.

And we’re in days when there’s much talk about areas of possession. People are dividing us all up now. They’re analyzing us into spirit, soul, and body. And it’s all very nice, and you can read all the right books about it. But I never saw once—now, the first time you see it, I’ll give you my phone number. I won’t be there long, only a few days, and then I’m sort of off. But if you find it, you can read through the Acts of the Apostles, and you can read through all the Epistles. Now, you can easily do that in a week if you want to. And as soon as you find that anybody needed deliverance after they’d been baptized in the Holy Ghost in the early church, you write and tell me. Will you write and tell me? Well, what’s gone wrong?

I want to say that this mighty baptism—if you’ll go into it properly, instead of just getting a Pentecostal baptism, or a Baptist baptism, or a holiness baptism, or whatever baptism you might want to go in for—if you’ll get the right baptism, it’ll deal with every area of your being, for it’s being filled with God.

Hallelujah. It’s the death and destruction of the old and the infilling with the new. Amen. That’s not to say if you have had some experiences of these things in the past and you’re still troubled, you shouldn’t ask to get clear. You should, my beloved. I’m only saying that it can be laid at the ground of pernicious partial teaching.

Glory be to the name of the Lord. I’m baptized into Jesus Christ, and it’s wonderful. Amen. And when I was baptized into Jesus Christ, I lost my old heredity, tracing back to the old Adam. I gained a new heredity, going back to my Father in heaven. I gained it. Oh, and it’s wonderful. It’s wonderful. Praise the name of the Lord.

And you and I can come into this tremendous thing and walk in this glorious way with the Lord. So when you come, say, to the Gospels, we find that God raises up a man and He calls him John—John the Baptist. And you know that he comes in the desert, and he comes to Jordan, and he calls people to the Jordan. Praise God.

And you know where John was baptizing? Do you know the name of it? Beth Abra—the house of crossing. It was almost certain he stood at the exact spot where Joshua originally led the children of Israel through. And that’s where John came, back to the very spot, back to the place. I wouldn’t be surprised if, when Jesus went into Jordan, His foot stood on the exact place where the feet of the priests stood firm in the other Hebrew Joshua’s day. I know Jesus was a Hebrew too. Hallelujah.

The great continuity of truth. He stood there at the house, or the place, of crossing. Glory be to the name of the Lord. And He walks into Jordan. And old John had been saying this beforehand. He’d been saying, “This one—He’s going to baptize you. It’s the great baptism. I, indeed, have come baptizing you with water for the remission of sins.” But he goes on to say, “There standeth one among you, mightier than I. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire, whose fan is in His hand. And He will truly purge His floor, and He will gather His wheat into His barn, and He’ll burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Then cometh Jesus. And He stands down. I do believe I’ll ask Him personally when I see Him, if I will bother about such little niggling questions—whether it’s so or not. You haven’t got to take this part as gospel about where His feet stood. But this is what I love to think. Same as I love to think that old Nicodemus really got born again on the day of Pentecost. Yes, I believe it. I believe Joseph of Arimathea was one of a hundred and twenty-two. That’s what I like to think. There’s no scriptural evidence for that, but that’s what I like to think. You can think things as long as you don’t preach them as gospel, you see.

And it was wonderful. And John says, “You want to know why I’ve come baptizing with water? So that He might be made manifest to Israel. That’s why I’ve come baptizing with water.” Amen.

And Jesus stands there in Jordan—not a sin in Him. Not a sin to confess. Not a stain on His conscience. Nothing. And the heavens are opened unto Him, and the dove comes down. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And He stands in Jordan and identifies Himself with the sins of His people. Call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He stood in the place where all the others had stood, confessing their sins. And figuratively, Jordan flowed down into the Dead Sea. And it was all fulfilled: “I will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” You see? The great Dead Sea. Jesus is standing there, the glorious Lamb.

He comes up, and He moves out. And He dies on that cross. And He puts away sin. And He deals with it completely. And He slays the old man. And He finishes with that tremendous mocker and masquerader that loves to go through religious things, and can believe the highest and most pious things, and can say the most wonderful prayers, and be the biggest kind of hypocrite you ever did meet—that old Adam. Yes. And He deals with him. He nails him down there.

And I want to tell you, if you want to cross this great Jordan, if you like—if you want to cross right into Jesus Christ—you’ve got to see that you’ve got to get very, very, very, very far away from old Adam. All of him, friends. All of it. You’ve got to get the cross’s width away. You’ve got to get the grave’s depth away. All of it. All of it.

Hallelujah. Praise Him. And you will be baptized into Jesus Christ. And it’s the Holy Ghost. And there’s no other way of being baptized into Jesus Christ than being baptized in the Holy Ghost. And I want to tell you that in the Holy Ghost tonight, there is that all-powerful cross of Jesus Christ. It’s all in the Spirit. It isn’t the wooden cross. No, it’s not the wooden cross. It’s the real cross. Amen.

And that real cross is in the Spirit. That real blood, that real life of Christ is in the Spirit. The sacrifice is in the Spirit. The atonement is in the Spirit. The death is in the Spirit. The burial is in the Spirit. The resurrection is in the Spirit. It’s there. It’s all there. Glory be to God.

There’s only one baptism, and there’s only one way into Jesus Christ. It’s being baptized into Him. Praise God. To be a member of His body, alive, functioning, part of Him. Bless the Lord.

Have you had this one baptism?

You say, well, what are we going to do tomorrow then? Is that John's baptism? Do you know the craziest thing I hear these days? They say, "Oh, you've been baptized. Well, that's John's baptism." That's a lot of nonsense. We don't go in for John's baptism. Do you go in for John's baptism, brother?

They say, "Oh, well, it's the baptism of repentance for remission of sins." Who told you that? This is the false teaching that's about.

Hallelujah. Why does He—why do we—baptize then, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost? Why do we do that? Well, there it is. He said, "That day will all come, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Will all come, He said.

Somebody said to me, "Are you going to baptize in the name of Jesus?" I said, "Not particularly." But we will baptize you in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name, we'll baptize you into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Like I'm preaching in Jesus' name now. I'm preaching in Jesus' name. That's right. If you come out for healing and deliverance, you'll get healed and delivered in Jesus' name. It won't be me. That's what Norman's been trying to tell you. It's nothing to do with north, or south, or east, or west. It's Jesus. And therefore, you'll be baptized tomorrow in Jesus' name, but in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

If Norman will be in Jesus' name, you'll be baptized into the name of the Father, and the Holy Ghost. I tell you, it's Norman. I'm not going to stand in that door, window, and get cold. Why should I?

Lovely. You know I would if it was necessary, but I've got a good volunteer. Oh yes, it's all right. It's voluntary, isn't it, Norman? You'd love that, wouldn't you? Praise God.

Beloved, beloved, do you know all the reality of this great baptism? Do you? Well, you can. God intends you to. God intends.

Do you know all the reality of it? You people here that perhaps have been baptized in water in your life, do you know the reality that the devil is destroyed so far as his power and authority over you and your life is concerned? Do you know that? Or is he still haunting you, dogging you, driving you, frightening you? Is he?

Praise God. Come on, come and stand on the shore. Come on, come on. This is what this book's for. It's written so that we can go and stand everywhere we want. I can stand on Pisgah's mount, but I don't want to because you only see the promised land from there. I can stand on Hermon’s mount and be in the promised land and let the dew come down on me. I can stand on Calvary’s mount and let the blood come down on me. Hallelujah. And I can stand on that great glorious mount of revelation and let the holy Jerusalem come down on me. Amen.

It's all in the book. I can stand in the Garden of Eden and I can stand on the golden street because of the glory of the thing that's written here. It's the sure ground and the sacred testimony and the only truth that there is, revealed from heaven, encompassed in the book. Amen. The devil is dealt with. Demons are dealt with.

All fear is the fear of death. It's dealt with. You’re afraid of dying, man, woman, underneath it all. That's all. Something will die away from you—that's what you're afraid of. Something will happen.

You're not a wage chaser. Hallelujah. You've settled in your heart that you don't care whether you've got all the degrees and honors and oxons and cantabs you can possibly have, and yet you're prepared to wipe up excreta off the floor or sweep the roads. That's right. Without a complaint. That's right. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. This is our God. Jesus finished the old man. Glory be to the name of the Lord.

I don't come up with the same reactions at all. I see, though even yet I may be obeyed, that in my baby prattle and reaching out for things that yet I want as toys that must yet be tools in the end. I've got the manners of my Jesus. That's it. The new man’s there, even if he's only in his infancy and development in me. But he's there. That's the wonderful part about it. Glory be to God. Amen. Amen.

Is that right? How about your clothes? What's the use of being a new man if you've not got your clothes of power on? Is the fire burning in your heart? Have you got power from on high? Have you? Have you rent your old mantle? You don't do anything in your own powers. You don't do anything in your old clothes. You don't do anything by your old abilities. Nothing. Glory. You've moved into the permanent power, the positive power of Jesus. And it doesn't matter whether you scrape the potatoes or cast the devil out—it's the same power. Glory. Glory.

They think it’s something that you heal the sick with.

I want to tell you something: you sweep the room with it. You don't put on a house coat and a dust coat for one thing and a power coat for something else. That's not the way I found it. Glory be to God. Hallelujah. The coats come down from heaven. Hallelujah. The clothes come floating down out of the fire, out of the wind. They've come out of the power of the elements of God. They're here to deal with everything from the head onto the body. Jesus, I'm baptized into thy life. Really, Lord, into thy powers, into thy abilities. I'm in it. I'm into the new man altogether. Was your baptism that kind of a thing? Glory to God. And you tonight can come in here, beloved. You've got to come. Amen. Amen.

I know that because of specious doctrines or certain emphases in preaching—because faith comes by hearing. This is what the Bible says. And if you only hear certain emphases and if you only hear certain doctrines and if you only hear certain things, the faith for that comes as you hear it, and you enter in as far as you know. And I want to tell you that God wants to take you farther. Are you ready? Some of you can speak in tongues now. How about that old man? God would rather have you dead and buried than you speaking in tongues, believe me. Don't want the old man speaking in tongues. He's the chap that keeps on saying his 20 words all over again. He's so limited.

Praise the name of the Lord. You can always tell when it's genuine; a man grows in stature in the gift he's got. The depths, the heights, the lengths, the breadths—the precious maturity of God comes out in all his ministries. You find his ministry changes. You find his expressions change. You find he's learning. He's coming out of the copying method, you know, where you sort of all sorts of things like that. He's learning of God. He's growing. Oh, glory. And this is that sacred thing that God wants to do for us all.

Now, how far have you got? How far have you come? You've still got further to go. Now, of course, we've all got further to go if we take it in its widest sense. I mean along this line in which God is speaking to us tonight. Listen, beloved, the first two baptisms—nobody got wet. It was a sort of a general, national thing, but in this, I want to tell you, it's an individual thing. You've got to know the sacred burial with Jesus Christ. I know it's only a symbol and a figure, beloved. Why should you hold back? Give me one reason.

Give me one reason that will stand in heaven why you should hold back. It doesn't matter whether it's agreed on earth. That's not the point. It's whether it will stand in heaven or not. And can you tell me this? Can you give me any reason, you people who believe your old man and your sin are dealt with, why you shouldn't be ministering in the gifts of the Spirit? Why you shouldn't know a great new empowering to move in a realm in the body of Jesus Christ?

Can you give me one reason why it shouldn't be for you? Are you the outcast? Are you the one that God didn't include? Or are you the one that he loved? You've got to endeavor to keep the unity, and I see seven ones in this unity, and one of them is the one baptism, and you've got to endeavor to keep it. Are you endeavoring to keep it? Or are you endeavoring to dodge it?

Bless the name of the Lord. Not me, Lord. Oh, Lord, I want to be in it. Lord, glory be to God. Do you want to be in it? Tell him yes or no. Go on, be straight with him. Are you willing to mend your ideas if they've been built wrongly? Are you willing to reshape your doctrines? Are you willing to believe there's only one baptism that can't be varied or twisted or changed for anybody to accommodate anybody's ideas?

Glory be to God. I had to change mine. I had to change mine, but Jesus is famous for this. He's renowned at changing people's ideas. He changes their minds, and he changes their spirits, and he changes their souls, and he changes their habits, and he changes their destinies, and he changes their behavior patterns, and he changes them from weakness to strength, and he changes them from strength back to weakness, and he does almighty things. Glory be to God.

Now you seek God. We'll pray together.

Original audio at https://biblebase.com/download/1368/