From the ministry archive
Water Baptism and the New Birth
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins... And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Mk. 1:1-4,7,8). Here we have the account of what the scripture calls "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ." We can clearly see from this passage that John the Baptist was THE man that God sent to "prepare... the way of the Lord." In fact John was the ONLY man that God sent to directly prepare the way for his Son, and to introduce him to God's people of Israel to whom Jesus was sent. John's message about Jesus is something that has too long been vastly overlooked and disesteemed among God's new testament people, the body of Christ. It was a super simplistic message for certain, in which he told what he himself was doing, which was baptizing in water; and what Jesus was GOING to do, which was and is to baptize with the holy Ghost. Everything John had to say was for the purpose of preparing the people for Jesus and what he was going to do, as the scripture states. John gave the people a few simple instructions on how to repent, which also was preparing the people to be ready for what Jesus was going to do for them (Lk. 3:10-14). And again, what John told us that Jesus was going to do was to baptize with the holy Ghost. We do have a record also of what God himself actually said to John in regard to what he had sent Jesus from heaven to accomplish: "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost" (Jn. 1:33).
It's evident by this record why John's message was simply about the fact that Jesus was going to baptize with the holy Ghost. God TOLD him that was what Jesus was coming for. We know that Jesus was here for over three years, and that he died on the cross of Calvary to pay the price for all of mankind's sins. We also know that he rose again on the third day, and after forty days on earth after his resurrection he ascended back to heaven (Acts 1:3,9,10). So after three years of ministry, and after his death at Calvary and his resurrection; what did Jesus deem most important to tell his followers before he permanently left their presence physically? Well, I'll give you a hint; he was not in disagreement with what John preached about him, or with what God told John about him: "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:4,5). So it's pretty obvious that God, his Son, and the man that God sent to prepare the way for his Son, were all on the exact same simplistic page about why Jesus came to earth, and what it was that he accomplished for our sake. There's just one more thing I want to catch up on about the beginning of the Gospel, and that is what happened AFTER Jesus went back to heaven: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1,2,4). Just like Jesus said, his followers were baptized with the holy Ghost several days after he went back to heaven. So now I want to come to the point of these unmistakable Bible facts. Seeing that these were the things that comprised the beginning of the Gospel, and that "Jesus Christ [is] the same, yesterday, today, and forever;" it is more than safe to say that there is no Jesus, and there is no Gospel, apart from the baptism of the holy Ghost with it's God-ordained sign of speaking with other tongues. If you can't see that, then read carefully again through the scriptures that are quoted above. You can also read this: "Now the Lord IS that Spirit" (II Cor. 3:17).
There are no tricks here, just constistent scriptural evidence that paints a very clear picture. The only Gospel that exists is what Jesus Christ administers from heaven, and what Jesus administers from heaven is the exact same thing that God said he would administer, and that John said he would administer, and that JESUS said he would administer. And that is what? You guessed it, the baptism of the holy Ghost. Period. Or at least to God, and the messenger he sent, and this Son that he sent, it's 'period.' The problem we are faced with is that MAN just can't put a 'period' on that indisputable truth. Think about it; the only way we can be justified, or in right standing with God is by faith in Jesus, and according to Jesus faith in him produces the baptism of the Spirit (Jn. 7:38,39; I Cor. 6:11). The apostle Paul was very much in agreement with these things as well: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). And again: "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Gal. 3:14). So it is evident that being baptized with the holy Ghost by Jesus is how we are justified, or made right with God; which is clearly why God, and John, and Jesus, were so focused on everyone understanding that this is what Jesus was coming to earth for; namely to do what it would take to be able to baptize us with his Spirit. I declare to you by that same holy Spirit that EVERYTHING that is done by Jesus in the earth, that pertains to his Gospel, is done through the channel of the baptism of the holy Ghost. You name it, whether healing, casting out demons, miracles, prophecy, word of knowledge; or any other operations of the Spirit, it is all encompassed in the overall experience of the Spirit baptism (I Cor. 12:4,7,8,13). Not to mention the love, and joy, and peace; and every other fruit of God's Spirit. It is ALL by means of, and through the channel of the baptism of the holy Ghost (Rom. 5:5; Rom. 14:17; Gal. 5:22,23; etc, etc.). Man has put his own mind and his own hands to the Gospel of Christ, and has pieced it out until an enormous portion of the power, the love, the holiness, the peace, and the unity of the Spirit has been squashed out of our fellowship and service of the Lord. If it isn't coming by direct means of the baptism of the Spirit, then it simply isn't the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Period! Again.
Faith in Jesus is enough, and the empowerment of God's Spirit that results from that faith is enough (Acts 1:8; Rom. 1:16). If we would throw everything but that overboard, then this Gospel ship would sail with the freedom and assurance that it was built for. All of the modern Christian traditions that are astray from and apart from the simplicity of the Gospel, have served only to weigh us down and drive us apart. There is no new birth or born again experience with God before or apart from the baptism of the holy Ghost with the sign of speaking in tongues. Not in the Bible anyway. Nor is there any such thing as 'receiving' the holy Ghost before being 'baptized' with the Spirit. It isn't there. 'Getting saved' is simply not to be found anywhere in the scriptures. Go ahead, look for it. Water baptism was fulfilled by Jesus and his holy Spirit baptism, and the apostle of the Gentiles let us know that there is now only "one baptism" (Mat. 3:15; Mat. 5:17; Eph. 4:5). 'Communion' is what we have when we do not shut Jesus out, and he comes in and "sups with us, and us with him" (Rev. 3:20). Jesus made it clear that he would fulfill the old covenant Passover, which was what the last supper was; and that the fulfillment would be in and of the Spirit (II Cor. 13:14; Mat. 26:29; Lk. 22:16; Jn. 6:54,62,63). 'The trinity' is a confusion that blinds us to how we are made 'one' with God and his Son, and with one another; which is by means of Christ being in us, he in the Father, and us in them; as John 17:23 says. And again, it is by means of the Spirit baptism that we are in Christ and in the Father, and vice-versa (I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Jn. 14:23; Eph. 4:5). The Spirit is the life substance that dwells in God and his Son, and Jesus came that we could have that same divine life dwelling in us (Jn. 5:26; Jn. 10:10; Rom. 8:2). A 'person' cannot dwell inside of another person, but the life substance of God and his Son, who are two persons, will dwell in us if we believe on Jesus with all our hearts. That addresses a few of the headliner errors that have quenched the Spirit of God among us, and there are many more. Nonetheless, if we will seek God diligently and be willing to receive his ways and let ours go, we can be free from all of the confusion that has long divided and weakened us. The only thing we can afford to hold onto is the holy Spirit of God that Jesus died and rose to baptize us with, for it alone is that light burden and that easy yoke that Jesus has put on us (Mat. 11:28-30). Amen, for now.
