Optional, Shmoptional!
...is what I say!
...is what I say!
Here we are in this age and season of "the Prophetic", and God's end-time program, and there is more compromise and "options" and variations, than ever before! With the onslaught of "political-correctness" and peoples' rights movements, even the once...narrow-mindedness...of True Christians has been seriously threatened.
BUT THANK GOD the True Prophetic is being empowered and directed by God to set things straight! "To tear down, uproot, and then rebuild", as the TRUE prophetic ministry has always done.
We don't necessarily need "extreme" prophetic, or "fanatical" prophetic; what we simply need, and what GOD provides in the hour of need...is TRUE prophetic. Mind you, the true prophetic will certainly look EXTREME to the nominal or luke-warm Christian.
We don't necessarily need "extreme" prophetic, or "fanatical" prophetic; what we simply need, and what GOD provides in the hour of need...is TRUE prophetic. Mind you, the true prophetic will certainly look EXTREME to the nominal or luke-warm Christian.
It used to be, and I remember when I was first saved, that certain Doctrines were not optional or open to compromise in any way. They were reached and set in place by certain anointed men of God having received Revelation from the Scriptures by the Spirit of God. The "Faith Statements" of various Full Gospel, Pentecostal type Churches weren't open to discussion or debate, just because certain individuals found them too restricting.
"Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ" according to Acts 2:38 was one such solid foundational Revelation which we all SAW and appreciated as a Scripturally sound ordinance NOT to be compromised or wavered from.
Well, thank God there are still some of us who cherish TRUTH, and the original Foundation upon which God's Temple shall be built. Foundational Truths do not change. The original apostles laid those foundations, and they are not to be reset or altered in any way, no matter how much carnally-minded religious folk may fuss and stew about it.
"...built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief corner stone:" Also, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 2:20 & 1 Corin. 3:11)
"...built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief corner stone:" Also, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 2:20 & 1 Corin. 3:11)
Here we have it laid out as plain as can be...Jesus Christ is THE ONLY foundation upon which the Church is built. The Revelation of the Name of Jesus Christ, and our identification with that Name in water baptism secures our entrance and place in the Temple of His Body.
We've all reached a new town in our travels, and do you remember?...just as you are entering the town there is a sign which says, "attend the Church of your choice", and then they will have a list of the Churches. Well, since when, as true Christians, do we have the right to "go to the Church of our choice"? When I see these signs I think to myself, "God, what Church would YOU have me go to?" God,what Church do YOU go to?!!! That would be the question to ask, don't you think?
You see, quite seriously now, it says in the old Testament in Deuteronomy 6:6 and in many other places it says, "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in"...and verse 15, "...in the place which the Lord shall choose". Over and over God emphasized to Israel that it was in the place where He chose TO PLACE HIS NAME that He would meet them. Now, we know that this was a foreshadowing of the True Spiritual Temple of God which was to be brought into existence in the New Testament.
Let me ask you now, where was the Name of God placed in the New Testament fulfillment of God's Temple...the place where He would choose to dwell and meet with us? It was in the Man Christ Jesus! Jesus Christ was the FIRST Temple which God was fully pleased to dwell in...and He indwelt Him "in Fullness". And what was the Name of this Living Spiritual Temple?...of course, His Name is Jesus Christ.
Now, this "Place", this meeting place...is not even some building where the Name of Jesus is properly honored, but it is actually a place of REVELATION...the Revelation of His Body. It is that "secret place" of the most high God, revealed only to those who are His own.
Only those who are His own are led and drawn and quickened into this Spiritual Temple of the Body of Christ. They are identified with and baptized (immersed) into this Temple in the NAME of the Temple..."Jesus Christ". This is the Key to the door of that Temple...the Body of Christ, and there is NO OTHER WAY IN!!
So now, is this new Testament ordinance of baptism "in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ" optional?
Well, lets put it this way, if you can find ANYWHERE in the new Testament (book of Acts esp.) where anyone was baptized in the titles of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" , or any other way, you write me and show me.
Well, lets put it this way, if you can find ANYWHERE in the new Testament (book of Acts esp.) where anyone was baptized in the titles of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" , or any other way, you write me and show me.
You see, Peter did exactly what Jesus told him to do in Matthew chapter 28 verse 19. He (Peter) obeyed those instructions given by Jesus and told the people in Acts 2:38, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins..." That NAME is the Revelatory embodiment of all that God IS and ever planned to BE for us.
We are even actual living cells and members of that Temple, that Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are CALLED by that same Name. We pray to the Father in that Name. We cast out devils in that Name. We are to do ALL THINGS in that Name. And when people fuss about this and demand to be baptized in a 'trinitarian formula' of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit", it shows their lack of Revelation and honoring of the True Foundations of God.
Now, in this season of much "Prophetic ministry", it is truly amazing how soon they are proven false as they reject these Foundational Truths which the original apostles and prophets lived and died for, and suffered for in the process of establishing.
Or what?...do you think it is okay to build on the foundation of your choice?
As I began by saying, there used to be a time when precious Christian Truths and Doctrines were not optional! We were persecuted and despised because we would not compromise "the Faith which was once delivered to the saints".
Well, my friend, that time still is! And this is all part of the end time plan of God to separate the wheat from the chaff, and bring forth a true manifestation of the Sons of God who still find Refuge in the Name of the Lord. It is foundational Truths such as these which secure for the Elect true Discernment and true Effectiveness for God.
God bless you now as you consider these things in the Light and True Anointing of God's Spirit.
We can be communicated with at 3rddayrising@live.ca
