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A NEW AND EXCITING AND WONDERFUL
WATERLESS BAPTISM
Thought for the book taken from the
Message delivered on January 18, 2015
Dawsonville, Georgia U.S.A.
©2015 by Ben Howard
All rights reserved. This book cannot be sold,
nor in any way be used for the soliciting of funds.
All scripture quotations are taken from
the King James Version Bible
Published by the Sound Of Liberty
7286 Hwy 53W, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 U.S.A.
www.SoundofLiberty.org
TwoAnds@soundofliberty.org
A NEW AND EXCITING AND WONDERFUL
WATERLESS BAPTISM
First of all, I want to greet each one of you in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Please turn in the Word of God to 1
Corinthians, Chapter 12; we are reading in Verses 12 and 13. The
title of the message is, A New and Exciting and Wonderful Waterless
Baptism. That’s quite a title, isn’t it? A waterless baptism; no
water involved. So let us just give thanks to the Lord in a word
of prayer.
Heavenly Father, we come thanking you, and praising you, and
giving you honor for leading us and guiding us up to this point, just
before the translation of the saints. Lord, I pray that you will help us
to be all that you have ordained for us to be. And, Lord, help us to be
obedient to thy Spirit, the anointing, as we minister the Word. I pray
that you will also bless the hearers; may each one receive that which
you are giving for the glory of God, in the name of Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
So we will be talking about a baptism here that no man can
perform. I realize that some of you might not have heard about
a waterless baptism before, but you are going to today. We are
reading in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. It says, “For as the body is one,
and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being
many, are one body: so also is Christ. (Now we are not talking about
Jesus here; we are talking about Christ, which is the anointing.)
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body (There’s our
waterless baptism.), whether we be Jews or Gentiles (That doesn’t
matter.), whether we be bond or free (And that doesn’t matter.); and
have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” Yes, we are baptized
into that spiritual water. This is the same type of water that Jesus
Christ was talking about when He said in the Book of John 7:37-
39, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that
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believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that
believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given;
because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” So we have read about
being baptized into the body of Christ and rivers of living water
flowing out of you, and it’s not natural water in either case. But
it is scriptural spiritual water that we are baptized into and it is
this spiritual water that we are drinking as the scripture clearly
shows.
Now let’s go on to Verse 14 in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12. It
says, “For the body is not one member, but many.” There is a good
lesson to learn in this scripture. Recently, someone made a
statement about an individual, saying, “This man is actually
Christ in the earth.” That statement has an uncertain sound to
it, because the body is not one member. There is no one person
that can say, “I am Christ,” other than our Lord Jesus Christ,
who became the Christ when He was anointed. But it takes all
of us together to be the body of Christ, which is the wife that’s
baptized into His body; thus making all of us together the Christ
in the earth, the wife of the Lamb. We find this in Verse 27; it
says, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Members (plural); that simply means no one person alone can
be scripturally called the body of Christ, which is now known as
the wife of the Lamb. So together we give praise and honor to
Him, our Husband and King, and He in return honors His lovely
wife.
In the Book of Revelation 11:15 it talks about the Lord and His
Christ, saying, “And the seventh angel sounded, and there was war
in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord and his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Here
we see the King and His Queen, all of us together. And there’s
not any big I’s and little you’s in the body; although each
member has a different function to fulfill. But when it is all said
and done, one member is just as important as the other. Paul
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continues in Verse 15 of 1 Corinthians 12:15, “If the foot shall say,
Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of
the body?” Then in Verse 21, “And the eye cannot say unto the hand,
I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of
you.” Paul is saying that we are one in Christ, and we are
baptized by one Spirit into the one body of Christ. Now that is
the wife who is also the body of Christ. In this hour of the
sounding of this last trump it’s all the same.
In Revelation, Chapter 10, Christ came down (not the man
Jesus Christ) in the form of the Mighty Angel, and that is the
body that we have been baptized into, thus becoming the end
time Christ. I want you to notice, I’m not speaking of the gift of
the Holy Ghost; although the Holy Ghost was Christ in the first
leg of His Spiritual coming, which was first seen on the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-8). Here I want to say that the Holy Ghost
alone is not enough to be the living wife of the Lamb, because
there are two legs of the spiritual coming of the Lord. There’s
one foot on sea and one on land; this is the fullness of Christ, and
that wasn’t to be until now as we have arrived at the very end
time. This spiritual coming is what Paul was prophesying about
in Ephesians 4:13, saying it would be a certain way till we reach
the fullness of the man Christ Jesus. And the fullness of Christ
is both legs of His Spiritual coming. That’s when we get the
understanding of Ephesians 4:5; for here Paul is writing about
the one important baptism for the end time. And by revelation
we get the understanding that he is not writing about water
baptism from this point; but spiritual baptism into the fullness
of Christ, which has become available to us (the living part of
the His wife) at this time. This baptism was not previously
available, so the members of His wife that have already departed
in death will also get all that the living part has obtained at this
time of fullness, because they went into the grave looking for it
and believing for it, and now here it is. They overcame with the
hope of being the wife, and God didn’t disappoint them.
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So I am in Ephesians, Chapter 4, and I want to read just this
one verse here. It’s a short verse, one that we can know by heart.
Paul says, Verse 5, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” One
baptism; now what is this one baptism? Is it water baptism? No.
When we look at this subject of baptism, here we find Paul was
talking about a baptism that didn’t involve water. Also, looking
to the time of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, He spoke about
baptism in a way that would not require any water. For when
the mother of two of the disciples asked Jesus for a favor, saying,
“Lord, I have a request of you; I want one of my sons to sit on
your left hand and one of them to sit on your right hand,” Jesus
bypassed the mother and looked at her sons and said to them,
“Can you be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with?” He was referring to the baptism of persecution and
death. And they said, “Yes.” Then Jesus said, “You will indeed
be baptized with this baptism. But to sit on my right hand and
left hand is not for me to give.” Here we are showing that many
times baptism doesn’t refer to water at all. However, when we
begin searching the scriptures on the natural physical water
baptism, we don’t have to look any further back than to John’s
baptism. John is credited with the introduction of water baptism
as he was the first to baptize the people. But as John was
pointing them to water, he was also pointing them to a greater
baptism in the Spirit.
In Acts 1:4-5, it says, “And, (Jesus Christ) 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.” In Acts, Chapter
2, the Holy Ghost came upon and into the Jewish believers. Then
when those of the Jewish nations heard and saw what was
happening, the predestinated amongst them wanted this same
Holy Ghost. Here is the Apostle Peter introducing water
baptism as an outward sign to the Jews, saying to them that their
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sins would be remitted if they believed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ and were baptized in His name; and it happened just as
Peter said. (Acts 2:38)
First they were baptized in water by the hands of the apostles,
and then they were baptized by Christ Jesus with the Holy
Ghost. Then they went forth as a witness of the resurrection of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And when it came over to the Gentiles,
they picked up the same gospel that the Jews preached there on
the day of Pentecost, which was relating to receiving the baptism
of the Holy Ghost. But as we will see later on in this message,
there would come a time in God’s plan that just receiving the
Holy Ghost would not be enough; for after the Mighty Angel
came down from heaven there is more. And now in order to be
the wife it takes receiving the fullness of Christ; and that’s both
legs of His Spiritual coming as seen in Revelation, Chapter 10.
And as a prelude to the introduction of this end time working,
God sent us the prophet, Brother William Branham, with a
message to the seventh church age, who (first of all)
spearheaded a great revival of much healing and many miracles.
This messenger then finished the mystery of the church ages and
the seven seals. This was necessary in order for the wife to see
the whole picture of how we arrived at this end time move of
God as is contained in the scripture. Now we can believe and
not be ashamed. (Romans 10:11)
Here’s what happened. First there was a great revival called
the ‘Holy Ghost deliverance revival,’ which started in the 1940’s
and came on through the 1950’s; but by the time we got into the
1960’s it began to die away. This was a time when there was
much healing and speaking in tongues and rejoicing. And by
this time, many of the Pentecostal people had picked up the
doctrine that unless you spoke with tongues you didn’t have the
Holy Ghost. And in some circles that is still taught even to this
day. But those that heard the seventh church age messenger
were enlightened to the fact that they were in error, and they
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forsook that teaching and accepted truth. It was during the latter
1950’s and early 1960’s that the messenger began to point us to
Revelation, Chapter 10, as a chapter that would be very
important in the time of the spiritual coming of Christ. The
messenger connected us with what the Apostle Paul wrote about
the coming of the Lord, and he began to tell us how it would be
at the end time. He sent us back to Paul’s writings who
explained to us many revelations about the saints that had gone
before us; telling us that they would rise from the dead and how
that the living would be changed before the catching away
occurs.
I want to bring in some of the things in Paul’s writings of just
how it would be at the time these things came into being. Many
began to get troubled as time kept going beyond what they had
planned. So in 2 Thessalonians, Chapter 2, Paul began to show
that certain things were to take place before this event would
happen. That’s recorded in Verse One and 2, “Now we beseech
you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be
troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as
that the day of Christ is at hand.” Many of the saints thought the
Lord was coming in Paul’s very day. But Paul began to show
them that it couldn’t take place right then because something had
to happen (which now has already happened). He said in Verse
3, “Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition:” Now that has already happened, showing
unto us that the rapturing of the wife will take place soon.
Here Paul felt it was necessary to enlighten us more about the
man of sin in Verses 4 and 5, saying, “Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as
God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (He
is picking this up from the Book of Daniel here.) Remember ye
not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” Paul
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reminds them of what has been said, “Don’t you remember what
I told you? Have you forgotten? Have you let it slip your mind?
Just look at yourselves; you’re troubled. You’re all tore up.”
And they were, because many of the saints had died and gone
on. Paul had told them about this in 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4,
how that the dead would be raised first and then we would be
changed. But they were troubled, so he is writing and telling
them about how there would be a resurrection and how it would
all happen, letting them know that their dead loved ones would
raise before the rapture. Then Verse 6 says, “And now ye know
what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.” Paul was
saying, “There’s something holding this thing back.”
There were two events that had to happen before the man of
sin could be revealed. Number one, the whole Gentile world
had to reject Christ (the Word) after God warned them to repent
through the mouth of the prophet, William Branham, at the end
of the Gentile age. (And they would not repent.) Number 2, the
man of sin could not be revealed until Christ, the Mighty Angel,
came to earth after the church ages rejected God. At this time,
God called His Son’s bride out of that last church age to give
unto them the pure Word—those that would love it and move
on with the revelation of it as they heard this last trumpet
message that has now gotten us married to the Lamb. Both of
these events has now happened. So now the antichrist is
revealed. And our marriage has taken place. Watch this. There
is now on earth a people who have been baptized into the spirit
of iniquity and are one with the man of sin in their marriage to
him. Also, now we have been married to our Lord Jesus Christ
by being baptized into the fullness of Christ. We are bone of His
bone and flesh of His flesh by being joined unto Him and having
the fullness of His Spirit. And since we have been married to
Him, there’s nothing to hold back this spirit of iniquity as it
manifests itself in the man of sin. Now, since we have been
married to our Lord Jesus by our spiritual baptism into the body
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of Christ, all this false religious world is baptized into the spirit
of the antichrist and has become one with it, thus becoming the
wife of Satan. (Revelation 17:1-7)
Now in Verse 7, Paul is telling the saints about how the man of
sin is going to be revealed and also about that which witholdeth.
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: (That’s what he told
them when he met the elders in Acts, Chapter 20, “When I am
gone, men will rise up.”) only he who now letteth will let (In other
words, “You don’t have to yield to that spirit of iniquity. You
can stand right firm for the Word of God.” But then watch what
he says. This is a very important verse here. He who now letteth
will let until – watch until.), until he be taken out of the way.” Now
the mystery of iniquity cannot fully work until ‘the restraining
power’ (the Spirit of God) be taken out of the way. The Holy
Ghost power for a Holy Ghost revival has now been lifted.
So the Holy Ghost has been holding this thing back. And it
couldn’t happen while the Holy Ghost revival was going on and
while people had a heart towards God. While God’s Spirit was
here in that manner, the man of sin could not be revealed. There
was a restraining power. The man of sin could not be revealed
until ‘only he who will now letteth,’ until he (the Spirit of God)
be taken out of the way, then he turns it over to the antichrist.
That’s what Paul is saying, and it has become very clear to the
wife. Now, I want to say something, “In this hour that we are
now living in, please wake up and open your eyes. Look
around; the revival is over, except for in the body of Christ,
which is soon to be raptured.
Back in the 1950’s and coming into the 1960’s I could put up a
tent and have a meeting almost anywhere, and people came out
and many ran to the altar and repented. But now that spirit of
conviction is lifted and gone. Since this revival spirit lifted, the
antichrist has come on the scene and sealed the wedding with
his wife. Now watch as we read. Verse 8, “And then shall that
Wicked be revealed,” When? When the Holy Ghost is taken out of
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the way; when God takes the Holy Spirit anointing away.
Understand here that we are not saying that no one can be saved
or anything of that nature. But ‘the day of whosoever will, let
him come’ is now seen only in the days of past history. This is
because the spirit of revival is taken away. “And then shall that
Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”
Verse 9 says, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan
with all power and signs and lying wonders,” Now watch; listen to
the Word. Verse 10, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish; (Notice, the same thing that caused the man
of sin to be revealed is the same thing that caused people to reject
the things of God.) because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved.” God said there would come a condition
that would cause the Holy Spirit to be lifted off the people.
There is an environment amongst the people that allows this to
happen, because they don’t love truth to begin with. This
condition foreshadows the opening of the bottomless pit as
spoken of in the Book of Revelation 9:1-12. The door is open in
part here, as it says in the Book of Revelation that an angel comes
down from heaven and is given a key and he opens the
bottomless pit and there will be locusts come out on the face of
the earth. It is demons going forth. And then in the middle of
the week, Satan will be cast out of heaven and into the earth to
take over, and he will do basically as he pleases for that
tribulation period until God stops him in his tracks at the coming
of ‘the Lord and His Christ.’ But before Satan can do his damage
in the earth to God’s natural people Israel, he has to deal with
Michael and his angels.
The Book of Revelation talks about it, and also the Book of
Daniel. The Book of Revelation says, “There was (is) a war in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought against Satan and his
angels. (Revelation, Chapter 12) And Satan prevailed not and
neither was his place found in heaven anymore, but he is cast
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down into the earth, knowing that he had but a short time to
work.” He works with great wrath. And what you are seeing
now in this pope (man of sin) that looks so good and so sweet is
not going to last. Just watch; he’s going to turn into a real
monster in the days ahead of us and begin to persecute the saints
and cause them to be put to death for not accepting his ways,
especially his liberal theology. Again, Paul is saying that the
Holy Spirit will be taken away and then the man of sin will come
and do his thing. And it is already happening.
Verse 11 says, “And for this cause (Now watch.) God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” They can’t help
it. Why? You might ask, “Would God really send them strong
delusion?” Yes. Now let’s ask ourselves, “Why?” Because they
love not the truth that they might be saved. And because they
don’t love it they reject it; that’s why God has let a strong
delusion come upon them and they believe the lies of this spirit
as it has embedded itself in modern religion; and they all will be
damned in the end. Remember the Spirit has been lifted because
they received not the love of the truth, and another spirit came
right in (the spirit of delusion) and they believed the lie that this
man of sin is Christ, the anointed of God. And that is the day
and the hour that we are living in.
So while the Lord Jesus Christ has married us (who are the
wise virgins of Matthew 25:1-13) by spiritual baptism into His
body, for this cause we have become one with Him, His flesh
and bones, as His one and only beloved wife. At this time the
antichrist has sealed the vows with his wife as she willingly
yields herself to him in marriage; she is the great whore that has
become his wife. (Revelation 17:6)
Well, the point I am making here is that the Holy Ghost came
on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached, “Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost;”
and there was a great time of revival in and around Jerusalem.
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But sadly it only lasted for a few years before the Jewish church
began to fall away. And then the Gentiles which had accepted
the gospel of the revelation of the Holy Ghost had a revival for
a few years also and then they fell away. From here the Jewish
church (for the most part) went back under the Law of Moses as
they fell from their Holy Ghost first love. And as the Gentile
church did likewise, they went into the church ages, and Christ
Jesus said, “Thou art fallen from thy first love.” Then after this,
the Holy Ghost wasn’t even seen anymore like it was in the Book
of Acts. But we do see Christ Jesus as High Priest walking
among the seven candlesticks, making intercession through the
long time of the church ages of about two thousand years.
(Revelation, Chapters One through Three)
So what we are learning today is that after this it came time for
God to begin to restore the church back to what it was at the
beginning. He restored back the doctrine of the Word, as well
as the Spirit of the Word. This included restoring the baptism of
the Holy Ghost as it was at the beginning. This restoration
started in 1906 in the city of Los Angeles, California. That’s
when it began to make a big impact on the world. And although
there were a few isolated cases before then, it did not make a
lasting impact until this time as the people began to pray and
seek God and they began to speak with tongues. And as they
looked back in the Word they said, “The Bible says to speak with
tongues.” Then it was on down the road, maybe ten or twelve
years later, people began to say, “In Bible days, they baptized
using the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of saying,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” That’s when the Jesus name
people began to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then the trinity folks began to persecute them for their new
revelation, but they stayed with the Word; although they kept
their doctrine that one had to speak with tongues as proof that
they had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost; and some
Pentecostals still teach that even to this day.
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Paul in speaking of the Holy Ghost said that there would come
a day when He will be taken out of the way. This is speaking of
the Holy Ghost being lifted, which was providing the Spirit for
the people to have respect for God and His Word. Another way
of showing this is the fact that the gospel angel leaves the Gentile
world and is seen of John coming into Jerusalem, bringing the
Spirit of revival to Israel; just as this gospel left Israel and came
into the Gentiles in the days of Paul. This in no way means that
an individual who is born again will lose the Holy Ghost or that
someone God is dealing with as an individual is cut off from
receiving salvation. But there has been another spirit that has
been turned loose, and that spirit works in that fallen realm with
all deceivableness. For God has sent a strong delusion, and the
reason He sent a strong delusion is because they didn’t love the
truth that they might be saved. Do you see how important it is
to love the truth? The Holy Spirit has been lifted in this hour;
especially on the fallen Gentile church as well as this world. But
even in this sad condition, the wife is baptized into the body of
Christ and has become the wife of the Lamb.
Now we understand that an important thing has happened in
this last day as we have witnessed the first leg of His spiritual
coming being restored back. God did this just before the Mighty
Angel (Christ) came and that completed the two legs of His
spiritual coming. This was for our engagement and marriage.
That’s why we can say we are the wife of the Lamb. Please
remember here that Paul’s part of this was only to get us
engaged for this marriage. And so the engagement had to be re-
instated before our marriage, which is why the first leg had to
be brought back just before our marriage which takes place after
the second leg of His Spiritual coming. So now let us rejoice for
the marriage has taken place! And now the Gentile part of this
body (wife) (Ephesians 2:14-18) has re-introduced this gospel to
the elected in Israel that are ordained to be a part of this last
trumpet message which is to the wife of the Lamb. This is now
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taking place, just before the two prophets of Revelation, Chapter
11, begin to prophesy as the 70th Week of Daniel begins.
When we read about the time that Peter went to the Gentiles’
house (Acts, Chapter 10), we find they were baptized with the
Holy Ghost without any water involved at the beginning,
because while Peter was preaching the Word of God to them, the
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word. And the
Jewish brethren that came with Peter were so shocked, because
God had baptized these Gentiles with the Holy Ghost just as He
did the Jews on the day of Pentecost. So what could they say,
except to give them the instruction that Peter gave on the day of
Pentecost. So he asked the brethren that came with him, “Can
any man forbid water that these should be baptized?”
Remember here that they had already received a waterless
baptism, see, so the brethren took them and baptized them in
water. But Paul taught that in the end time there was going to
come another baptism that was going to be so great; for we
would be baptized into Christ, becoming the very body of
Christ, the wife of the Lamb. He didn’t teach, “You’ve got to be
baptized in water to get this.” It’s the same thing in this hour,
because baptism for us in this hour is similar to what
circumcision was to the Jewish believers. For some of the Jews
were saying, “You’ve got to be circumcised or you can’t be
saved.” (Acts 15:1)
Paul told us that circumcision was a type of the cutting away
of the flesh, and among other things is a reminder of where
having trouble in the flesh usually begins. The Catholic Church
tried to deal with the subject of having trouble in the flesh by
forbidding their priests and nuns to marry in order to stay clear
of the sacred relationship that God ordained for only man and
woman in marriage. Paul said, “It is the circumcision of your
heart that is important.” In other words, get the lust out of your
heart and you won’t have any trouble with your flesh. The
circumcision of the flesh has nothing to do with it. Circumcision
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in that day was similar to water baptism in this day after we
have come out of the church ages. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1:17, “God did not send me to baptize, but He sent me to preach
the gospel.” Paul brought us revelation about a baptism that was
greater than water baptism, because he said when you are
baptized into the body of Christ, you become a member of His
body. You are part of Him; you’re His flesh and bones! And
then he says in 1 Corinthians 6:17, “He that is joined to the Lord
is one Spirit.” You’re a member of the body of Christ, and since
we have Christ in us, we’ve been created and made new.
Ephesians 4:22-24, “That ye put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind: And that ye put on
the new man (being baptized into His body), which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness.”
I’ve been in services where the Spirit of God would move and
almost everybody would seem to be slayed under the anointing.
I’ve seen them laying in the floor quivering and shaking in the
Pentecostal revival. Well, that’s what they did on the day of
Pentecost. They really got baptized. But here we are talking
about a double portion, more than just getting baptized with the
Holy Ghost; because we are dead and our lives are hid with
Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) And the Word says that we are
translated into the Kingdom of His dear Son. (Colossians 1:13)
This is only for the wife in this hour. This is the last will and
testament of Christ the wife. For where a testament is, there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Therefore, we
stand whole-heartily with Paul on his statement, “We are dead
and our life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3) Then in
Romans 6:7-8 it says, “For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if
we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” A
testament is of force after men are dead; now because we receive
the full results of what Jesus Christ did at Calvary, the law of the
Spirit of life goes into force on our lives when we are dead and
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our life is hid with Christ in God. Otherwise, it is of no
strength—unless there is a death. We overcome death because
we died with Christ and now ‘live with Him’ goes into force.
This is according to Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me.” Then in Revelation, Chapter 7, it
shows the saints of the tribulation period have to give their lives
to activate their last will and testament to bring it into force.
So what I’m saying here is that if you are filled with the Holy
Ghost in this hour, the next step for you is to be baptized into
the body of Christ by receiving the revelation of this last trump
message; then along with all the other members you will see the
same thing in the Word. That is going beyond Ephesians 4:13.
It is said that the church will be this way till we reach the fullness
of the stature of the man Christ Jesus. This makes the waterless
baptism simple to see by revelation; and again, the natural water
baptism becomes similar to what circumcision was in Paul’s
day, because there if you were circumcised that was all right and
if you weren’t it was all right. So here’s how it was in the
beginning. Sometimes they were baptized first in water, and
then received the Holy Ghost. Then at other times they received
the Holy Ghost, and then were baptized in water. But now, not
any of that matters as we are talking about a waterless baptism.
Keep in mind that God didn’t send Paul to baptize. He’s the one
that began to prophesy about another baptism, and now we
have it.
Now here’s one thing I want you to notice. Paul was sent to
call out a people to eventually become the wife of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they would come from both the Jews and from the
Gentiles. The wife comes from all nations. And being baptized
with natural water is not mandatory in this hour of taking and
eating the little book to be the wife of the Lamb. But being
baptized into the body is a necessity to put you inside the body
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(inside Christ). In Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul began to tell about
the making of a new man (that’s the body of Christ). Ephesians
2:14-16 says, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one (Jews and
Gentiles), and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby;”
What brings us into one body? There is a message! It brings our
minds, our hearts, and our souls together. That’s what the
waterless baptism is all about. Verses 17-18 says, “And came and
preached peace to you which were afar off (Gentiles), and to them that
were nigh (Jews). For through him we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father.”
Now I want to go to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10, to show you
about another baptism. I’m telling you about a new exciting and
wonderful waterless baptism. That’s the baptism for the wife.
Even in the Old Testament as Moses brought the children of
Israel through the wilderness, they also had a waterless baptism.
They didn’t baptize a single person in water, but they were
baptized unto Moses by a message. Verses 1-4 says, “Moreover,
brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our
fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (Now
watch.) And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
(Moses brought them through the sea on dry ground and
through the wilderness where there was a cloud by day and fire
by night throughout the entire journey. They came through the
wilderness but there was no water baptism seen.) And did all eat
the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for
they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: And that Rock
was Christ.” Now watch. They were baptized unto Moses; and
there wasn’t one baptismal service ever done.
John was the first one that came baptizing. And Jesus said,
“John came baptizing with water.” Acts 1:4, “And, being
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assembled together with them (that’s Jesus meeting with the
disciples), 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.” Now being
baptized with water and being baptized with the Holy Ghost are
two different things. And the baptism of the Holy Ghost was
leading up to the baptism into the body of Christ. By one Spirit
we are all baptized into the body of Christ; meaning we have
been put into the body of Christ.
Now you can have the baptism of the Holy Ghost and even
believe in a trinity. Most folks I knew that claimed to have the
Holy Ghost believed in a trinity. Most of them belonged to a
denomination. Now some of the Catholics are saying they are
getting the Holy Ghost because they can speak with tongues.
But the Holy Ghost is given to lead us and to guide us into all
truth—to lead us to a place where we are baptized into the body
of Christ and become His wife. There is a marriage that has
taken place. What I’m talking about is not baptism into a church;
that is not marriage to our Lord Jesus. And the Word of God
says, “His wife has made herself ready; and she is clothed in fine
linen clean and white, which is the righteousness of the saints.”
And we depend one hundred percent on His righteousness.
And because we are created in holiness and righteousness, that
is our life; that is what is in us. And by our being baptized into
the body of Christ, we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in
God.
Again, I want to highlight what Colossians 1:13 says, “We have
been translated into the kingdom of light, into the Kingdom of
His dear Son.” That is not what we see out here in the church
world today. That is not what we see among the Pentecostal
people today. Yes, some of them have received a baptism as God
poured out His Spirit. He poured it out for a season to wake up
a people. But now He has lifted it and that left the people
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wondering what has happened. But the wife knew that there
was another step to go on to, but the foolish virgins don’t see it.
There is another step which baptizes one into the body of Christ.
And once we get there, according to the Book of Revelation, we
go no more out; because that is the city Heavenly Jerusalem
that’s in the Book of Revelation, where we go in and we go no
more out. (Revelation 3:12) In other words, we are not in one
day and out the next. That’s what many in this religious world
do today.
Paul tells us that right at the end time the Spirit is lifted, the
man of sin will be revealed. But the Spirit of God will be here to
provide the overcomers with grace to stand in that hour. But for
us there’s Revelation, Chapter 10; the Mighty Angel came down
and brought us the little book that has set our hearts on fire—
and that is our tree of life! We took it from the angel’s hand and
immediately ate it up. All the saints of the other ages ‘ate of it’
in their time period. But we take possession of it. Yes, we take
the little book and eat it up and are translated. We are changed
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, to be caught up to meet
the Lord in the air, just after those that died in the Lord are
resurrected! Amen, this is Christ, who is the wife of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We got baptized with a waterless baptism into the
body of Christ and that shows our marriage to the Lord. This is
where we have one mind; it’s the very mind of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Looking at Ephesians 4:13 again, we see that the church was in
the virgin stage coming up through Verses 11 and 12 bringing
us to this place in God’s plan, “Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:” Now here’s what
we are looking at—the wife expressing all the things that Jesus
Christ would express if He were here as a man. We’ve reached
the fullness of Christ. So if we saw Jesus Christ standing here,
what we are doing and what He would be doing would not be
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different; because we are expressing the fullness of the stature of
the man Christ Jesus. That’s because He sent His Spirit down to
us. That’s when Christ came in Revelation, Chapter 10—the
Mighty Angel roaring! And we are baptized into Him and we
are the very Christ in the earth—just as Paul said, “Ye are the
body of Christ.” He didn’t say that we would type it out, or that
we would look like it. No. He said, “Ye are.” And we have been
baptized into Christ, how? By one Spirit we are baptized; and
that is the waterless baptism. So that out-strips all these other
baptisms. So here again, just like circumcision was, when they
came to Paul’s message, whether they were circumcised or not
didn’t make a bit of difference.
So when it comes to being baptized into the body of Christ,
whether one is baptized in water or not, or whichever way one
may have been baptized, it doesn’t make a bit of difference. For
now it’s a waterless baptism. It’s a message that is sounding
forth. It’s the sounding of the last trumpet. (1 Corinthians 15:51-
52) This is the same as it was with Moses’ group; not a one of
them were baptized in water, but Paul said they were baptized
unto Moses. Read the Old Testament and show me where
anyone was baptized of Moses’ group. No, they believed Moses.
They followed Moses and God brought them through. We don’t
follow a natural man now, but we follow the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is our Moses; and He sets in the church ministers
(leadership) to assist us in our moving into the mind of Christ.
That’s the way we have the very mind of Christ. And we don’t
say, “Well, I don’t know about this.” Well, we have the mind of
Christ, and we do know! It’s not something that we debate. We
are no longer tossed to and fro, and we edify one another in love
as we grow up into Him.
So Christ, the Mighty Angel, came down in Revelation,
Chapter 10; the second leg of the coming, which puts the whole
spiritual body here. He put one foot on sea and one on earth.
“Remember the feet!” That’s what the voice said in the dream
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that I had, “Remember the feet!” When this took place, we
didn’t ask, “Were you baptized in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost? Were you sprinkled? Did a priest pat water
on your forehead when you were a little baby?” Well, that’s
what some are still doing now, and it’s all a futile exercise. There
are even some that are baptizing their babies, and there is no
scripture for it. And as far as salvation is concerned, the Holy
Ghost will quicken that seed if there is one in there to quicken.
Otherwise, you get to speak in tongues, you get to shout, you
get to run the isles, you get to roll in the floor (of course, we don’t
see that anymore), but then when He lifts the Spirit off, you go
back and be the same person you were to begin with. I’ve seen
it over and over, through the years.
I’m going to read that in Verse 24 of Ephesians, Chapter 4, one
more time. “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness.” When we were
baptized with our spiritual baptism we were re-created. We are
not the same person as before our baptism. We became a new
creature in Christ Jesus. Remember, Paul didn’t condemn water
baptism, but he said, “God didn’t send me to do that.” He said,
“There is another baptism; and this baptism is a waterless
baptism where we are baptized into the body of Christ.” That is
marriage. That’s when we became bone of His bone and flesh of
His flesh. Amen. A waterless baptism—that is the only one that
counts. Whether someone was baptized in this church or that
church or how they were baptized has nothing to do with it. Just
like you coming in here shouting and dancing in the Spirit; that
has nothing to do with it if it doesn’t get down into your soul
and change your life or if He doesn’t create you a new creature
in righteousness and true holiness.
This is a new and exciting and wonderful waterless baptism
for our day and has brought to pass the marriage. Paul saw it
coming, but the church fell away. But God said, “I will restore.”
He restored it back and brought it back, and not just the first leg
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(the Holy Ghost), but here came the fullness of Christ Himself.
And that is 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4, “The Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout.” We know what that is. A
message went forth calling a people out of all religious systems
and churchanity. That was the first phase of His Spiritual
coming. Then the second phase of this coming came with the
voice of the archangel. And now the third phase of the message
is the last trump of God, which is what we are hearing and
reading now. And the dead members of the wife are going to
rise, and we which are alive and remain are going to be changed.
By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. We could say,
“By the baptism of the Holy Ghost ye all spoke with tongues and
went out and formed your churches. But we have been baptized
into the body of Christ; that’s why we have the same mind and
we are not tossed to and fro. We have received our spiritual
baptism and both legs of the spiritual coming of Christ.” Let us
pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your Word. And I pray that you
will take this Word and that you will use it for your glory. And may
the people receive the things that have been said today as the Holy Spirit
reveals it to each heart and each soul. May each one realize this is a
new exciting wonderful waterless baptism. We thank you now, Lord,
and we praise you. Have your way now with this message. We pray
in Jesus Christ’s wonderful name. Amen.
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AUDIO/VIDEO SERMONS AND BOOKS
All sermons by Brother Ben Howard are recorded on Cassette
tape, CD's, DVD's, and Mp3 formats. Also, there is a collection
of published books that are available for download or by
request as well. Please feel free to visit us at our website often
as new materials are constantly being added, or write to our
postal address below.
Sound Of Liberty
7286 Hwy 53W, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 U.S.A.
www.SoundOfLiberty.org
TwoAnds@soundofliberty.org
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