And Right After That… Part 1 Temptation: Try to persuade to Evil, Entice, Solicitation or Provocation Baptism: Washing, Cleansing, Ceremonial: to be Made New A Symbolism of being Born Again I would like to speak a little about Baptism and what we have come into today. Much of this will be paraphrased, so be prepared to do a little research, for once I was asked by someone, “Why didn’t you give a full explanation about what your were writing about, I had to go look it up myself!” And I simply replied, “EXACTLY!” So, let’s get started here with Jesus’ Baptism and John’s authority to do so: In John 1: 19-34 it speaks of the priests trying so set John up by asking, “Who are you?” And he simply replied, “I am not the Christ”. Then they asked him, “What do you say about yourself.” And He responded, “I am the voice in the wilderness as said by the Prophet Isaiah!” So what John is speaking here is fulfilling prophecy spoken almost 600 years before, because Isaiah 40: 3 says, “I am the voice in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight a highway for our God.” It also states in chapter 40 how God’s Glory will appear to all shortly thereafter. And also during this conversation John spoke saying, “Even I did not recognize Him BUT THE ONE WHO SENT ME TO BAPTIZE (as we see here God gave him the authority, not man) IN WATER SAID TO ME, “The one you see the Spirit coming down on and resting is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.” I have seen and testified that this is God’s Son.” How about that, an ordinary man, given the authority by God himself, to baptize His only Son! WOW! Notice here also, as John was baptizing in water way before Jesus came before him, that he had the authority to do so. John was a given a specific message, to share with others, that they come to know Christ before Christ had even arrived, sharing the plans of a greater kingdom. And they came to him, believed the message through faith, confessed, and were washed clean by the baptism that was and is still recognized by God Himself today. Mark 1: 4-5 confirms this, “And they were being baptized as they confessed their sins.” And in verse 8 he states, “I baptize you with water, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Matthew chapter 3 also speaks of Jesus Baptism, and John’s authority to do so. But John even though he had been given authority, tried to refuse Jesus by telling Him, “You must Baptize me!” and then Jesus reaffirms John’s position stating simply, “Allow me to be baptized now, it is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.” And I would like to add that, ‘fulfill prophecy’ as well… Praise God today!!! Now let’s take a look at the authority here, the authority to baptize the Christ, by an ordinary man, a man born into sin, and now through Christ we all have that same authority! So if it comes to it today, and we bring someone into the knowledge of the Christ, and they want to be baptized right away, do we wait and try to find someone we think in our own skinny little human thought patterns who has told us they have more authority than ourselves to baptize? Well my friend, we might have just lost a soul. This baptism thing can be done anywhere, because it’s not how we give it, it is how they receive it. So at that, how are we perceiving baptism today? As Jesus spoke, “You shall do greater things than I.” That means each and every single one of us. Now let’s take this baptism thing into a whole new level. Let’s check out Matthew chapter 4, and we see what happens fairly quickly, and after Jesus’ baptism there was a major shift in the Kingdom of Heaven. I speak of the fact that we are now subject to the same rights as everyone else, even the Jews, but now, “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” Remember that verse? Well that’s us folks, the dirty little simple Gentile, and God put us in right up under the noses of the ones He first chose to be partakers... O.K. then, let’s continue on with what also happened right after, as satan was waiting for Jesus and tried to sweep in and steal Jesus’ authority. And satan even used scripture to try to do it! But Jesus’ spoke the WORD, and the WORD is the ultimate truth, and satan was thwarted, by 3 simple verses, going back to the original laws and miracles, Deuteronomy 8:3, Deuteronomy 6:16, and Deuteronomy 6:13. This is confirmed as Matthew Chapter, 4 verses 4, 7 & 10. Now I’d like to ask a couple of simple questions, to get the blood flowing and the mind thinking, and also pray in the spirit when you ask yourself these things, as it will open the spiritual mind’s eye, and reveal some stuff you probably didn’t see in yourself before. Ready for this? So, what happened to you right after you were baptized or had a serious spiritual breakthrough, that satan was waiting for you? Think about them for a moment. What kind of warfare did you have to release right after, that you had to defend your faith in Christ? What temptation came sweeping in under your feet as to try to slip you up? What happened after that major shift in your spirituality? And what kind of warfare can we expect today? Anyway, now that God has given us sonship, and we have gained an inheritance through our baptism, satan has even released himself against us as a church! OOOF!!! Never looked at it that way? Well, it’s a really real thing here folks, satan and his armies. I’m betting he uses our families, our friends, remember Job’s so called friends? And he’ll use our coworkers, bosses and even our jobs themselves. What about our sons, daughters, husbands and our wives? Our phones maybe? The social media today has truly separated us from each other for sure, it’s pretty condemning sometimes too if you ask me. Now let’s get some deep going on here in our heads: HE WILL SEND… demons to affect your mind, your body (physical), and your soul to try to kill steal and destroy the authority God has rightfully given us through baptism that gave us an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven! I know he has used something in our life, because if he hasn’t come against us, we may be walking with him! OUCH!!!! Anyway, he has used something, because he wants us to focus on the things he puts in our way, so we lose focus on our salvation, and the things that Christ has done for us on that fateful day on the Cross. There is retaliation all over the place, you just have to look for it, and learn from the experience, which has either built us up, or crushed us on occasion. And remember, he will even use Christians, as not everything they say is truth coming out of their mouth! You already know the ones I hope… PRAY FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!! What a way to end part one, on the fact that not all Brothers and Sisters in Christ are true to the word, and satan will use them against themselves, and they don’t even realize it, thinking they are doing the right thing. Just Praise God Today, And Raise only Him on the Highest!!! And We can be Defeated by Nothing!!!
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 14:09:57 +0000
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