And I'm Brother Anthony, welcoming you to 'Bible Believers', where we focus on the present Truth - what Jesus is doing now.
God has only so many children. So there will only ever be so many Christians. When the last saint is born-again, God takes them Home to the Wedding Supper, and the world enters the great tribulation. That day is fast approaching.
We are the LAST generation. There can be no more. Jesus said, that the generation which sees Israel restored to the Homeland would not pass away through old age before the Millennium. Soon cometh the earthquake, marking the end of the Gentile Age. He's patiently waited almost 2,000 years for His Wife to make Herself ready.
If you and I are serious with God, and not just 'playing church', we'd better realize the lateness of the hour, get up to speed, do our Spiritual homework, and search the Scriptures to recognize OUR day and ITS Message.
You can't rely on me, or your pastor, to DO your religion for you. Your minister or kind old priest can't save you. We're responsible to God for what we teach. If it IS faith in the present Truth, We must first receive that faith from God. We can preach It to you, and prove It by the Bible, but you must understand and receive It from God, personally. you must prove It in your Bible and take His Word. God is the Word. The Bible IS God in the Form of paper and ink, as Jesus was God in the Form of a virgin-born Man. We must personally meet God in the Word. For each one of us must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
Last week we spoke of the new birth which is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And we discovered that 'seeing' is understanding, or faith. Faith is a clear understanding of the revealed Word of God.
And we paraphrased I John 1:7, which says, 'Unless our life is manifesting the present Truth God is fulfilling now, we are not, and cannot come under the blood, or be born again'.
We must recognize OUR day in the Bible and receive ITS Message, or we CAN'T become a part of Christ's Body, the true Church. Ww can only be born of the Word He is fulling now.
Let me ask you a question. What is the promise of God's Word for this day? I'll give this to you for your homework. You search the Scripture and write down just what God promised He would do in this day.
Are you happy?
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The new birth is oneness with God. And God is the Word so the only way we can be one with God is to be in agreement with His Word by faith. That is, we must understand His Word, which is to have His mind, or FAITH.
If we view the new birth as a theologian would teach It we'd speak of three stages of Grace. Justification by grace through faith, sanctification by the blood, and the sealing or baptism with the Holy Ghost. These three steps of faith make up the new birth.
God redeems His children the SAME way as He redeems this earth from which our bodies are made. In II Peter 3:5-13, He refers to THREE stages of the earth. The OLD world before the Flood. The PRESENT world we live in now, and the NEW world that's yet to come.
God lays out His plan of redemption so clearly. What He's done to redeem His world is the same plan He's using to redeem His people! For the unchangeable God changes none of His ways.
He's led us to Himself by three stages of grace so He can dwell in us, just as He's taking the world through three stages of grace to purify it so that he can live on earth throughout Eternity in His family.
God is perfected in three's. Malachi 3:6 says, 'I am the Lord and I change not'! Therefore, if He saved the first man He ever saved by the shed blood of an innocent One, He will have to save the next one; and every one He saves the same way. If He healed a man at any time, be it in the days of Jesus, the apostles, whenever it was, when the same conditions are met, He's got to do it again! He doesn't change. Men change, times change, dispensations change, but God remains the same - perfect! What a hope that ought to give sick people.
If ever He healed a person, He has to do it again, when the same conditions are met. If He ever saves a man, He's got to do it on the same grounds He did it the first time. If He ever filled a man with the Holy Ghost, He's got to do it on the same grounds He did the first time. If ever He raised a man from the grave, He must do it the second time and every other time on the same principle. He doesn't change.
What hope that gives us! It's not some man-made theory, but His unchangeable Word!
You say, "Is it the Truth?"
He said, 'Let God's Word be true, but every MAN a liar ... Heavens and earth will pass away, or change, but My Word shall never fail'.
'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine'; and remember all Scripture will be fulfilled! Every Word of it!
Notice, how God makes it plain to us? II Peter 3 was a great confirmation how a good loving God redeems man through those three stages of grace!
The first step is a revelation of the true Oneness of the godhead and repentance towards God, followed by water baptism: 'Repent and be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ'. Showing that repentance was genuine, and to remit our past sin.
That has nothing to do with future sin. It only remits. 'Repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ'. What for? remission: the taking away of past sin; has nothing to do with the future.
Only your past sin is remitted - what you have done.
You can't repent for what Adam did. You never did it; Adam did. You're just forgiven for what you've done. The old nature is still there. Let me illustrate. Picture this in your mind.
Let's draw two hearts. Here is a human heart, and here is a human heart. This one over here has a snake in it - that's sin. He has his life. This one over here has a dove in it, which is the Holy Spirit and He has a Life. This first one here has malice, hatred, envy. what's causing it, is this fellow here, the snake. Now this one over here has love, and joy, and long-suffering. What does it, is the dove.
Now, when you repent and are baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, you're forgiven of your sins. But you've only erased the record of this past: malice, hatred, envy, etc., the thing that made you do it is still there. That snake, the old root of evil, it's still there.
Secondly comes sanctification, which sets our mind in order for holiness, to think right. Sanctification is a compound Greek word which means cleaned and set aside for service. But that snake is still there.
Next comes the baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire so God may dwell in us. The Fire of God cleanses our heart from sin and puts the Holy Ghost inside. The snake is killed. Then we bring forth the same Life this dove did in the other fellow, because that's the Life that's now in us.
If we went down to the fowl yard and picked up a drinking glass or tumbler from the filth and muck. Yuck! It's covered in manure and dirt, and you couldn't use it. But that types God calling us, and justification by grace. Next, we'd take that glass and baptize it under water. Then we'd give it a good cleansing with disinfectant. That types sanctification, making it holy and ready for use. But it's not in use until it's filled. And the Bible believer who is justified and sanctified is not in use until He's been filled with the Spirit of God.
That's why Jesus told Peter, 'After you are converted, or filled with the Spirit, then you can strengthen your brethren'. God never changes. The way He sent Jesus is the way He's sending us. He sent Jesus full of the Spirit, and He won't send us until we are full of the same Spirit. Three stages or steps in grace.
The natural birth types the Spiritual birth. In the natural, when a woman gives birth to a baby, the first thing that happens is breaking of water, then blood, and then the shock of cold air or a slap from the doctor spanking the little fellow, and the spirit of life enters and away he goes screaming. Water, blood, spirit.
And a Spirit babe is born into the Kingdom of God the same way: Water, Blood, Spirit.
Now sanctification, the second stage, cleanses and sets the mind of the heart in order of holiness. 'As a man thinketh in his heart so is he'.
Sanctification only sets him aside for service.
A man can repent of sin and be justified yet still be thinking of, say he's an immoral man. Every immoral-looking woman he sees, that desire is still there. Maybe he's a drunkard. Every time he smells a drink, it's still there. See? But when he's sanctified, that cleanses the desire out of him. It takes the want of it away. He can still be tempted, but the want of it is gone. But he's still not right. Then, he is baptized with the Holy Ghost and Fire; burnt out, cleaned up, and put into the service of God.
It is possible for a man to be justified without being sanctified, or sanctified without being justified, and it's possible for him to be justified and sanctified without the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and eventually be lost. I want to prove by Scripture that all three stages are required for the new birth.
Too many of today's ministers take their people to justification and no further. Take the Baptists who teach that we are born again when we believe. The Bible says, 'you receive the Holy Ghost after you believe' (Acts 19:3; 2:38; Ephesians 1:13). And many encourage people to speak with tongues without receiving the Holy Spirit.
Didn't Jesus say, it would be so close it would almost deceive the very elect if that were possible? He also said many would come in the last days - that's now - and say, 'Lord, Lord, in Your Name we spoke in other tongues, healed the sick, and prophesied. And He will say, depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. I never even knew you'.
Don't think the Gifts of the Spirit have anything to do with the new birth. They do not. And they never did.
Let's take Judas Iscariot, an apostle chosen by the Lord Jesus. He had the gifts of the Spirit and no less a part of the ministry than the others. According to John 4:1-2 he was justified by grace through faith and baptized. He was sanctified by the Word of God, and prayer, John 17:17. But he failed to die to his own ideas, and go ALL the way to Pentecost, to be born-again.
All three stages are required. I John 5:6-10 compares the natural birth with the Spiritual birth. 'This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record or witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. These three witnesses are one God, not three gods.
And there are three witnesses that bear record in earth, the spirit of mortal life, the water, and the blood. These three agree in one natural birth. They are not one but they make one natural birth.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself..' that's the Witness we want in us - the Holy Ghost. And you cannot have the Holy Ghost without having the Father and the Son, because these three are One. One God in three major Dispensation Claims or Offices, not a trinity: God above His people as Father, God with His people as the Son, and God in His people as the Holy Ghost.
Get it? You can be justified and baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and still not be sanctified. You can be sanctified and not justified, and you can be justified and sanctified without the Holy Ghost. All three are required for the Spiritual birth, as they are for the natural birth. These three agree in one. But you can't have the Father without having the Son and the Holy Spirit because these three are One.
Notice how this came to pass in the corporate Body, as God added line upon line, precept upon precept, Word upon Word. The Message grew through Martin Luther from justification to John Wesley. His ministry added sanctification to Luther's justification. Then, in the age of the Pentecostals, the baptism of the Holy Ghost was added to them. These three Messages comprise the complete birth. That's why there can't be any more ages. We're at the end time. Three stages. The baptism cleanses the heart with the Holy Ghost.
He's called the Church through justification; called it through sanctification; then filled it with the Holy Ghost and Fire. He took it through this process, so He, the Holy Spirit Himself, the Son of God, could dwell in the human heart. He redeems the earth where we'll live, through the same process of Salvation.
Notice the antediluvian world. He gave it a water baptism, covered it over with water in Noah's Flood. Typing our justification, and showing that this fallen world is on its way back to a restoration to Eden's innocence again. Then Jesus came and shed His Blood upon it, cleansing it and claiming it. sanctification. But it's still the same old sinful world that we live in now. When he took Jesus upon the mountain, Satan tried to make Him break God's plan of redemption by giving Him this sinful old world without purchase of the Blood.
They tried to give Abraham the land, but he bought it for so many shekels of silver before the people as a ensign, a witness: 'Let it be known this day that I've bought this place'! A purchase. And Satan tried to give Jesus the kingdom, which belongs to Him now. Tried to give it to Him as a gift, but Jesus wouldn't receive it, because Satan would still have a claim upon it. It had to be bought!
As Christ called the Church to repentance, and baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, sanctification by the blood, and with the Fire of God, burnt out the filth so He could come and dwell in the human heart; this world is to receive its baptism of Fire.
The baptism of Fire is to cleanse it from sin, from sickness, from disease, germs, from sinners, from the Devil and all of his group. They're to be cast out into the Lake of Fire. Holy Fire from God comes down from Heaven and burns it up to make it ready for God to dwell in. For in the New World that is to come, God will dwell in the earth.
You say, "God? He dwells in the human heart."
But, He and the Bride become one, and they go to their home in the New World. And the same plan of redemption is used to redeem both the world and the persons that live in it.
The heart has to be cleansed like that, before God can come in the Person of the Holy Ghost, which is Christ, coming to dwell in the human heart. It must first be repentant and baptized in water in His Name (not three of His many Titles) to show Who it belongs to. then it must be cleansed by the Blood of Jesus. Then the Holy Fire from God comes and burns out all the desire of sin, all the nature of the world. Therefore, he who sins willfully after receiving the knowledge of the Truth... Then again the Bible said it's impossible, for a man who's born of God cannot sin; he does not sin. There's no way for him to sin. How can he be a sinner and redeemed at the same time? How can I be in the pawn shop and out of the pawn shop at the same time? Oh, He redeemed us by His Blood; cleansed us by His Spirit, then comes to dwell in us, the Church (not the denomination, the Church).
The antediluvian repentance brought water baptism. Then Christ came and shed His Blood upon it to cleanse and to claim it. Next comes the destruction of the world as it is now. All the sin in heavens above ward off blessings from God. Satan is the Prince of the power of the air. Thunderbolts of lightning, sheets of ice and rain, typhoons and storms, come from Satan the prince of the power of the air!
It's baptism of Fire will cleanse it from all germs, all diseases, all sicknesses even all the spiritual things (as It did for us) to prepare it for God to dwell in, in this great age that's coming, the New Earth.
He redeems it in the same way He redeems His people. His plan of redemption is the same. For He's the unchangeable God.
That was, Debbie Byrne, with, 'Lost In Your Eyes'. Christians who have caught the vision, find themselves in His Presence, the apple of His eye, and the center of His world. Now let's catch up on one of the discussions on Bible Believers' web site.
Anyone on the 'Net can call Bible Believers', 24-hours a day, seven-days a week. Teaching sermons, freeware Bibles, Concordances, Books, Bible games and much, much more is available for download. Users may participate in Conferences with other believers across Australia and throughout the world, for the cost of a local call.
When I was asked if glossalalia or speaking with other tongues is the evidence of the baptism with the Holy Ghost? I responded:
Not according to the Bible! Remember, the Holy Spirit falls upon all flesh, the just and the unjust, believers, make believers and unbelievers. The same rain that is sent for the wheat, falls also upon the tares.
Today multitudes of tongues speakers and sign-workers refuse the Holy Spirit or Word, like Balaam, Caiphas, Judas and the ten spies refused It. To refuse the Word for your day, is to refuse the Holy Spirit, and shall never be forgiven in this world, or in the world to come. So it is possible to be baptized with the genuine Holy Spirit, and lost.
Satan can impersonate all nine gifts of the Spirit, and the five-fold ministry, but he cannot impersonate the true evidence of the New Birth, which according to Jesus, is faith or the righteousness of a life lived by a clear understanding of the Word for your day (Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-16; IJn. 1:7; 4:1-6).
The True baptism with the Holy Ghost is the New Birth. And the evidence is not "SPEAKING" but "HEARING" what the Spirit is saying to the True and nominal churches, and manifesting what Scripture prophesied for the saints of this present hour. Not impersonating the word already fulfilled in the dispensations of Luther, Wesley, or the Pentecostals.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter spoke in Galilean, yet everyone "HEARD" in his own tongue. They did not speak, they heard what the Spirit was speaking. So did believers of five nationalities who spoke five different languages and lived in the house of Cornelius (Ac. 2; 10; 11).
The foolish virgin often speak with other tongues, but without the Holy Spirit. So search the Scriptures and find what God prophesied for this day, and ensure you are fulfilling the Word of this hour.
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It's wonderful to read of the heroes of faith, the Miracles of Jesus, and what God did in ages past. But what is He doing now?
God is only making epistles of the present Truth. We must recognize OUR day and ITS Message, because as Christians, we can only manifest the Word He is fulfilling now.
When we can see the PRESENT Truth coming to pass in OUR lives, we have found OUR position in the Body of Christ. We KNOW we are born again and sealed to the day of our redemption. radio004.html
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