Baptism #1

 Its Importance

April 17, 1983

	Shall we pray. Heavenly Father we’re grateful that You’re here with
us in the form of the Holy Spirit, having descended with a Shout, and
not having left us but guaranteed to be here to raise the dead, and then
to take us up to the Wedding Supper to Your own great incarnation where
we crown You King of Kings and Lord of Lords, becoming All and in All.
It’s going to be marvelous. 

	We know this, Lord, by Your Word. We have nothing in ourselves to go
by. We would not have thought of it. We would not at all have considered
ourselves a part of It, but because of You, Your Revelation, Your
kindness, to the invitation to the Wedding Supper, we are so happy to be
a part of It, Lord, and to know we will sit with the great King, and not
simply sit with Him as though we were a part of a throng that we’re
looking on, but sit with Him, who is the Husband of the Bride. And
we’re appreciative of that, Lord. We really do appreciate it. Thank
you from the bottom of our hearts.

	Now we look to You, Lord, for Your Word, to bless us, to guide us, to
show us those things that we surely, although are aware of, ought to be
even more aware of, at this time. So, we give ourselves to You in the
study of the Word and have confidence that You’ll just give us exactly
the right thing to say. 

	In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen. 

	You may be seated

1.	Now [there’s] a lot of sickness around, but I’ve always taken
great consolation, you know, even in sickness. As Bro. Branham said,
something’s got to take you out of this world. I never could
understand how Elisha was sick [] of the sickness wherewith he died. And
you know, he had twice the miracles that Elijah had. You know, many,
many people, I guess, find it hard in the face of the promise of healing
and all those things, to reconcile how that we can get sick. Well, ever
since Bro. Branham said something’s got to take you out of the world,
it’s made me very happy, and I keep thinking, “Well,” as I told
you, “diseases come and diseases go till the last one comes and I go
with it.” And I was thinking along maybe this would be my turn to get
out of here, but no luck! This, evidently, is not it. 

	So, even disease can be very friendly. You know, like the Bible says,
make friends with the unrighteous mammon. Maybe we should make friends
with disease, so to speak...well, as long as it’s the right kind, and
gets you out of here in a hurry, like a good heart attack or something.
I said ‘heart’, not ‘hard’, attack because most of our attacks
are very hard but they are not hard enough to get us out of here. So, we
survive colds, and I’d imagine that’s what’s going around
everywhere. In my phone calls from different parts of the country, I
find people aren’t too happy with whatever it is that’s going
around.

2.	Now, this morning, I want to bring a message on the importance of
water baptism. Now, you notice that every now and then I fill in with a
little pastoral message with the subject which we are considering, which
is immortality at this time, but we are going to look at water baptism. 

	Before we read the Scripture that really pertains to the subject, I
want to let you know, or to advise you, that many people think that
water baptism actually is not tremendously weighty and vitally important
spiritually, even though it is commanded. There’s so many people view
water baptism as something which should be done, and it’s fine. It’s
there in the Bible. But they don’t really appreciate the weight of it
and the place that it has in the consummate plan of Almighty God. Now, I
think, perhaps, this is due in part to the wresting of Scripture, which
is the misunderstanding or deliberately putting a wrong meaning on It.
It’s due to this wresting of Scripture that Peter gives us on this
subject of water baptism in a sort of indirect way. 

	Now, let’s go to that first, just to get you set up with my
thinking—why I’m taking this subject, with this certain thing in
mind. 

3.	Now, 2 Pet 3:14-18. No, not what I want there...1 Peter 3:18-22:

(18)	For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit:

(19)	By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

(20)	Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few,
that is, eight souls were saved by water.

(21)	The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not
the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

(22)	Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels
and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

	Now, that’s a tremendous statement, but many people just sort of use
that as, not really denigrating water baptism, but putting a meaning on
it that is less than the meaning that Peter puts upon it.

4.	Over here in 2 Peter, I was going to read It first, but I read this
other. 2 Peter 3, It mentions there... Just look at verse 15: 

(15)	And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even
as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him
has written unto (us);

(16)	As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in
which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, (That is, they do wrong by it; they change
the meaning of things.) [] as they do also the other scriptures, unto
their own destruction.

	Now, Peter, here, understood that people many times do not put the
right meaning, emphasis, and position and understanding on Scripture.
When he wrote this over here, about how that water baptism is actually
an answer of a good conscience toward God, many people actually take
that, and they say, “Well, hey, there’s really nothing much to
it.” See? “This is just an answer of a good conscience.” 

	When you begin looking at Scripture in that light, we’re too prone to
just begin to move it into a position that God never put it into. 

5.	Now, we look at that verse 21 again: 1 Pet 3:21.

(21)	The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (Now,
that’s a good strong statement. See? Then, cutting in
parenthetically...) (not...putting away of the filth of the flesh, but
(an) answer of a good conscience toward God)... 

	Right away that little thing comes up, “Well, just a minute. The
putting the filth of the flesh away is not involved there, and really
all it amounts to is just an answer of a good conscience toward God. And
He talks about the Resurrection there, and it looks like this thing is
just more or less, at the best you might say, it’s sort of symbolic,
and there isn’t just too much to it.” 

6.	You see, it’s that little parenthetic statement in there that
caused people to wrest the literalization and the strength and authority
of water baptism. So, they take it completely out of context because so
much of modern religion puts the wrong meaning on water baptism. And
when you begin getting away from the actual meaning, the actual reality,
the actual part that water baptism has in the place of God, pretty soon
you become denominationalized and you say, “Well, hey, we baptized
this brother into our church, and it’s water baptism no matter how we
do it into our church. And this is the thing that does it.” And they
get away with Scripture entirely. 

	Even some people go so far as to go to Acts 22:16, and they build an
entirely fallacious doctrine upon it, and they take it so far as where
Paul is saying to this one, who has been converted, he’s got a real
turning to God. And it said here, in the case of… This is really Paul
himself. 

(16)	And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away
thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

	Now, you notice in here that these people don’t heed what Peter said.
They say, “Hey, I want to tell you something. Water baptism actually
cleanses me from sin.” You can just make the Scripture say almost
anything you want It to say.

7.	So, there is a problem with actually everything that’s in the
Bible—I don’t care what it is. You talk about ‘marriage and
divorce’. There’s fifty answers, and forty-nine are wrong, if not
all fifty, and we’re looking for the right one. You talk about birth
control, and that’s got answers. And you go to the Bible and find a
dozen statements that you might want to look at and work at, and you
could be wrong. There’s hardly anything in Scripture that people can
not wrest, that is, twist and take out of its context or take out of its
true meaning. And even water baptism goes from the place that where,
“Well, it really doesn’t mean anything.” And then it means too
much. Look; there has got to be a middle of the road, and we’re going
to try to see what the middle of the road is. 

8.	Now, what happened is that many people don’t understand first of
all that there are two baptisms. One is the baptism in water, and one is
the baptism with the Holy Ghost. And they are both spoken of in
Scripture, and both of them have two different things entirely to
accomplish in the plan of Almighty God.

	Now, when it comes to water baptism, it means the entering in to water,
for immersion, which we will discuss. The baptism with the Holy Ghost is
the entering in to Christ—not by water, for one does not enter into
Christ by water. There is no way. For those who believe, therefore, that
water baptism placing you into any church, and I don’t care if its
sprinkling or immersion or any way that you ever employ it, and think
that you are in Christ, that is a hundred percent fallacious. You can
only get into Christ by being baptized by the Holy Ghost. The baptisms
are two different things entirely.

9.	Now, many do not realize that Rom 6:3-10 refers not to water baptism,
but being literally baptized into Jesus Christ. Now, let’s just take a
look at this.

(3)	Know ye not, that as so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death?

	Now, you say, “Well now, that sounds all right. That’s being
baptized into Christ. Now, what is that?” 

	Well, that’s not water. But let’s read a little further and it
begins to look like water.

(4)	Therefore...we are buried with him by baptism into death.

	Now, you see, there you are. You go right to a place where you could
say, “Hey, that’s water, because water symbolizes the person dying
and coming up anew. So, that’s got to be water.” 

10.	And you’d be surprised the people that make that water. There’s
all kinds of them. There’s a whole great denomination that is based
upon that. And then, remember that there are many people who understand
one God, not as we do, but they believe in one God, and they have
regenerational baptism...and this very Scripture:

 (4)	Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life.

(5)	For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection:

(6)	Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

(7)	For he that is dead is freed from sin.

(8)	Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him:

(9)	Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death
hath no more dominion over him.

(10)	For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth,
he liveth unto God.

	Now, that is not water baptism—no way, shape, and form. That is the
baptism with the Holy Ghost. All right.

	What we are really after is to show that water baptism is very, very
important and wonderful, and absolutely necessary, because the
consequences of it naturally lead to the rebirth or the baptism of the
Holy Ghost which we are speaking of. This is the baptism with the Holy
Ghost, but water baptism actually precedes it. Water baptism is
literally the second step in the plan of God to a complete regeneration
and redemption. Now the Bible warns you can’t put anything in that’s
not in there already; you can’t take anything out.

11.	Water baptism is step number two. One, two, three. Now, let’s just
look at the one. That’s the one person we are told to look to and to
consider, and when we do, because it’s a command to consider him...
Let’s see what he had to do with water baptism. Now, that’s fair.
I’m taking my time working around to get right where I want to go.
Hebrews 12:1-2:

(1)	Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, (That’s unbelief.) ...let us run with patience the
race that is set before us,

(2)	Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith; who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

	Now, It tells you and me that we are to consider Him who was here in
physical flesh and walked as a man upon this earth. So, there it is.
Now, what about this One that we are to look to? Is there something
concerning water baptism that we can see in his life and apply to ours? 

12.	Well, let’s just go to the Book of Mark, and we’ll begin to see
what I hope we will see this morning. Mk 1:1-11.

(1)	The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

(2)	As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my (servant) before
thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 

	Now, that’s concerning John the Baptist, who came before Jesus
Christ. And John is:

(3)	The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight.

(4)	John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins. [Brother Vayle skips verse 5.] 

(6)	And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a
skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

(7)	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.

(8)	I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost.

	Now, notice; John’s baptizing in water; Jesus is going to baptize
with the Holy Ghost. Now, watch:

(9)	And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

(10)	And straightway coming up out of the water...

	Now, not out of the water to the river bank, but he was plunged into
the water, and as he came up out of the water and stood upon his feet.

(10)	...the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon
him:

(11)	And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.

14.	Now, let’s go to Jn 1:24-34. We’re getting some history here now
because here we see we’re supposed to look to Jesus, and he’s
baptized in water. And we’ve got to find out about his baptism. 

(24)	And they which were...of the Pharisees.

(25)	…asked him, (That’s John.) and said unto him, Why baptizest
thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?

(26)	John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there stands
one among you, whom you (do) not know;

(27)	He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose
shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

(28)	These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing.

(29)	The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (Now, notice what
he called him.)

(30)	This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man which is preferred
before me: for he was before me.

(31)	And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel,
therefore am I come baptizing with water. (Now, just keep those things
in mind. He said he’s the Lamb; he’s got to be manifested.)

(32)	And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

(33)	And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me, Unto whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and
remaining on him, the same is he (that) baptizes with the Holy Ghost.

(34)	And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 

	And that’s as plain as the nose on your face. He tells you exactly
what was going on. And he tells you what happened. 

15.	All right. It is very evident that the one we are admonished to
consider, to gaze at sincerely, was baptized in water. Now, he did not
miss it nor neglect it. It was the part that he was to do. Now, notice.
He who was that... Notice who it was that was baptized is revealed to us
in Jn 1:1-4.

(1)	In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.

(2)	The same was in the beginning with God.

(3)	All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made
that was made.

(4)	In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (And in verse
14:)

(14)	And the Word (That one, the logos, became flesh) and dwelt among
us, (And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth.

16.	Now, that’s the one that is spoken of also here in Philippians 2.
Now, just bear with me as I put it together for you. [Phil 2:5-11]

(5)	Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

(6)	Who, being in the form of God, thought it not (a prize to be grasped
and retained) to be equal with God: (That word ‘robbery’ is entirely
out of line.)

(7)	But made himself of no reputation, ...took upon him(self) the form
of a servant, ...was made in the likeness of men:

(8)	And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

(9)	Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and gave him a name
which is above every name:

(10)	That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

(11)	And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. (Now, that tells you who He is.) 

17.	We also go to Heb 2:14-18.

(14)	Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might
(bring to nothing) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
(That’s bring him down low where he loses his power entirely and is
thrown into the Lake of Fire.)

(15)	And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.

(16)	For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on
him the seed of Abraham. (He became a man like you and me.)

(17)	Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be the merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people.

	Now, all I’m doing this for is to show you that Jesus, the one that
we talk about, the one that we claim to be the Lamb, the Savior, and
everything else, this one was baptized in water for a very special
purpose, and it was not omitted. He had to do it. And then you can play
it down all you want and say, “Why was it really necessary? What is
there to it?” Well, there is something to it, it was necessary.

18.	All right. Now, see how Jesus told them why he must be baptized.
Now, let’s go to Mt 3:13-17. We have to get all the Scripture we know
on this subject—well, not all of it! We’ve got to get enough of It
so we can see just where we are in this subject, what water baptism is
all about, because we ought to know. 

	See, the reason I preach this way... I knew nothing! I was told so much
ridiculous things about water baptism that, “Well, it really didn’t
matter, but it was sort of the thing to do.” Oh yes, it really did
matter, but… And it was a long time before I began to realize, “Hey,
this is part of God’s plan, and you don’t fool with it. You obey it.
You walk just according to that word.” 

19.	Now, Mt 3:13-17:

(13)	Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized
of him.

	Now, this one that we know to be the Son of God, this one that was
pre-incarnated, this one who had the glory shared with the Father
because he was the physical manifestation of the attributes of the
Father... 

	Now, I know that’s tough, but I’ll get into that someday and
explain it all out very, very clear.

	And he was there. He’s the one that said, “Lo, a body has thou
prepared for me.” This is the one of whom it was said, “This is my
beloved son in whom I’m pleased to dwell.” And he’s coming to a
prophet to get baptized in water. Now, you can’t get away from it. No
way you can get away from this Scripture. It says right here.

20.	John said, “I have need to be baptized of thee.” Why? Because
this is the one that baptizes with the Holy Ghost and Fire. Now, John
said he’s preferred before me because he is before me. He said, “Why
are you coming to me?”

 (15)	And Jesus...said, (all right,) Suffer it to be so now: for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness…

	This is something I’ve got to do that is right to be done, and I
can’t get away from it. And if this isn’t fulfilled, it just
doesn’t add. Do you follow me? Okay.

(15)	… Then he (allowed) him.

(16)	And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

(17)	And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am...pleased (to dwell; or ‘in whom I am pleased’. The other
Scripture says, “I am pleased to dwell.”)

21.	All right. Now, if we quickly go to Jn 1:29, we’re going to see
something here.

(29)	The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him, and says… 

	Now, he doesn’t say this is the Son of God. This is the one that I
know is the Son of God. What does he say? He says:

(29)	...(This is) the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world. 

	This is a sacrifice designated to take away the sin of the world.

	And Jesus said, “Not now.” Listen, this is prior to when he went
into the water. It was after he went in and came up, that the Holy Ghost
came in and the voice said, “This is my beloved Son.” In the
meantime, this was the voice of God in John that said, “This is the
sacrifice.”

	Now, it’s at this time of the sacrifice that Jesus came to John and
said, “Baptize me.”

	And John said, “Hold it. You should baptize me.”

	And he said, “No, because as the sacrificial lamb it behooves me to
be baptized in water.” 

22.	Now, Bro. Branham didn’t know the answer. And the theologians
didn’t know the answer. So, being a prophet he went to God, and he
said, “Why was it that Jesus had to be baptized in water?” And the
answer came back: it’s the washing of the sacrifice. 

	Now, let’s look at the washing of the sacrifice: Lev 1:1-13. Then
we’ll bring it all together for you so you’ll understand water
baptism, why you are baptized in water, and why everybody’s got to get
baptized in water. And why there’s nothing in the Word of God that’s
sinful or trashy, or that you fool with it, that you don’t exalt...

	See, we’re here for one reason: to exalt the Word of God,
brother/sister. That’s why I have a face like a flint and a heart like
an old maid. You know, she won’t have a man around her. You aren’t
going to get around me! I’m hard-hearted on these things because,
look, I was cheated. And I’m not going to stand before any group of
people on judgment day by the grace of God, and they’ll say, “Well,
Lee Vayle, you didn’t preach everything you could preach; you cheated
us.”

23.	Now, let’s look at the Levitical sacrifice here: Lev 1:1-13.

(1)	And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the
tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

(2)	Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of
you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the
cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. 

(3)	(And) if his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him
offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary
will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

(4)	And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and
it shall be accepted for him to make (an) atonement for him. 

	That means simply, when he put his hand on it, that was the same as him
dying for his sins. In other words he said, “This is my substitute.
Personally, this is my substitute. It’s mine.” 

24.	Are you getting what I’m saying? Because we’re talking about a
type of Jesus Christ. This is my substitute. Now, all right.

(5)	And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD…

	Now, do you understand what he is saying? I am going to kill him! Your
sins put Christ on the cross. See? Your sins keep him from being king
because he has got to be high priest, mediator and intercessor. You’re
gumming up the works! Put my hands up say, “That’s right. I do that
freely. No one’s coercing me.”

(5)	…(You) kill the bullock and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall
bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that
is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 

(6)	And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

(7)	And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and
lay the wood in order upon the fire:

(8)	And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and
the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the
altar:

(9)	But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest
shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made
by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

(10)	And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, ...the sheep, or of
the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without
blemish.

	Now, I want you to notice something. This is a male without blemish.
You hear what I said? It’s a male without blemish. Yeah. Nothing wrong
with it. It’s a lamb. Now, okay.

	(11)	And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the
LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round
about upon the altar.

(12)	And...cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the
priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is
upon the altar:

(13)	But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the
priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it’s a burnt
sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

	Now, we don’t have to read any further about the fowls and all, but
you can go pretty well to the same thing there. 

25.	Now, all right. Thus we see the Lamb, the sacrifice, was baptized or
washed in water. And then, notice Jn 1:32-33.

(32)	And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and...upon him.

(33)	And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me.

	Now he said, “This is the Lamb of God. This is that one that, after
he’s gone down in the water, identified, you’re going to see the
Spirit of God fall.” 

26.	Now, you ready? Jn 7:37-39.

(37)	In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come into me, and drink.

(38)	He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water.

(39)	(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because...(Christ)
was not yet glorified.)

	All right. You’ve got the sacrifice. You’ve got the washing of the
sacrifice. You have got the actual symbology of the death and
resurrection, and then comes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the
people.

	Now, notice; Jesus himself went down under the water and came up before
the Holy Spirit came upon him. It was incumbent upon him that he go into
the water.

27.	So, here is what we are seeing, and don’t fail to get the
simplicity. Jesus was first of all baptized in water, then came upon him
the Holy Spirit, filling him, or the baptism with the Holy Ghost. If he
is our pattern, and we know that he is our pattern, water baptism is a
must, or the right preceding step to the rebirth, or the baptism with
the Holy Ghost.

	Now, there you are. Now somebody says, “Well, I think, maybe, I
don’t have to do it.” 

	Then you want a better example than Jesus? The very person that you
would claim to be your Savior you’re denigrating. Something doesn’t
add up! See? [It] doesn’t add up.

	It is baptized in water, and then it is Spirit filling us. That is
exactly what was said by Peter on the day of Pentecost. 

28.	Let’s go to Acts 2:37-39.

(37)	Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and
said unto Peter and to...the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do?

	They were pricked in their hearts. Conviction had fallen upon them.
See? “I’m wrong; something’s got to be done about me.”

(38)	Then Peter said unto them, Repent… 

	...which means ‘be having a change of mind, get your thoughts lined
up, get right with the Word of God, get God’s thoughts instead of your
own thoughts’.

(38)	…and be baptized every one of you in the name of (the Lord) Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.

	It tells you right there. Repent, be baptized, be filled with the Holy
Ghost. Now, that’s absolutely what happened there on the day of
Pentecost. 

29.	It’s what It says in Jn 7:37-39.

(37)	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.

(38)	…out of his belly (as the Scripture has said,) shall flow rivers
of living water.

(39)	(But this spake he of the Spirit…which...was not yet given;
because that (Christ) was not yet glorified.

	And Peter said, “God has glorified him; the Holy Ghost has fallen.”
They said, “What will we do?” He said, “Simple! Change your
mind!”

	Change your mind about what? You’re not under law anymore; you are
under grace. There is a new era ushered in. Be baptized in water, and
come and get what God has for you. Now, that’s exactly what he said.

30.	Now people want to put it this way; they want to put it that way;
they want to put it here; they want to put there. And by that I mean
they want to put a little delaying tactic over here, a delaying tactic
over here, a condition over here... Shut up! If you can’t say what the
scriptures say, shut up!

	I’ll tell you why: because by your words you are justified and by
your words you’re condemned. If you say opposite to God, you make God
a liar. You’ll go to the Lake of Fire. So, have fun!

	I’m a rough preacher and a tough one, and you know it and I know it.
But we’re not here to fool. I’ve got no time for this hogwash I was
taught years ago. We’ve got a vindicated Word in this hour—not that
It wasn’t always vindicated. There It stood. 

31.	But people thought they could fool with It. And you know, they
fooled with It. It’s brought [us to] the place where right today....
And you know where we are? We are in a church, a church world that
denies the very Word of God that set their hearts to destroy what they
are supposed to build up. You’ve got doctors that are supposed to keep
the people healthy and well, and they’ve got a union to destroy the
very people and precepts they are supposed to work on and help. We’ve
got a government that’s supposed to run right, and they destroy the
very precepts of the land that we are in. Everything is gone to
destruction. 

	Then people say, “Well, you should be nice, Bro. Vayle, and talk
about this love.”

	I can’t wait for the fire of judgment to fall! 

	You say, “Why?” 

	Because he can’t wait, either.

	I’m not blood-thirsty. I’d run at the sight of blood, especially
mine! don’t worry. But I tell you what: there’s something happened
this last couple of years.

32.	All right. We’ve got the pattern. It’s wise to go back then to
study the water baptism of Jesus. 

	To begin with, ‘baptism’ simply means ‘immersion’. In this case
it is placing into and placing under water. Immersion means placing in
water, placing under water. Not to sound sacrilegious, but it’s the
actual truth of the matter. It’s like taking a dish to a dishpan that
is full of water. You put the dish in the water and you take the dish
out of the water. It’s that simple.

	Now, that’s too simple. People want to put a lot of ideas about it.
Like when you were little kids, little girls especially—boys worse
than ever. [They] don’t want to do dishes, so the parents teach them
little songs about the dish in the water. They get you doing little
things, you know… Fap!

	We are not playing washing dishes, brother/sister. It’s just what It
says. Water baptism is immersion. It’s going into the water, under the
water, coming out of the water, going to the bank.

33.	Now, here is what I am getting at. This baptism of Jesus, though it
corresponded to the washing of the sacrifice, (Now, listen.) and it was
the washing of the sacrifice, did not do one thing for him, except to
identify him as the sacrificial Messiah.

	Now, listen; in plain English, this washing, or baptism, did not clean
him up. He was already clean. Now, listen. They offered clean
animals--clean animals--in the sacrifice. See? He was clean! It did not
make him acceptable as though he were not already acceptable. It
didn’t.

34.	Let’s go to Jn 1:24-29 again. Let’s get this down flat now,
because we’ve got to understand just what the Scripture’s all about.

(24)	And they (said unto him that)...were of the Pharisees.

(25)	And they asked (John the Baptist), and said unto him, Why baptizest
thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

(26)	John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there
standeth one among you, whom you (don’t) know;

(27)	He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose
shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to (loose).

(28)	These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing.

(29)	The next day John sees Jesus coming…, and says, Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

	Now, listen. Remember; the Word of God said ‘provide your own oxen,
provide your own sheep, provide your own turtle dove,’ and now God is
providing His. 

35.	All right. Let’s go to Isa 42:1 to see It.

(1)	Behold my servant, whom I (delight) uphold; mine elect, in whom my
soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him…

	There’s not one thing said there that Jesus needed cleaning up. He
was already clean. All right! Let’s just show that a little further.
He’s called the sacrificial Lamb. He’s called the one that God
ordained. The one in whose soul He is pleased. He’s pleased with him. 

36.	Let’s go to Ex 12:1-11. We want to get the picture right,
brother/sister, so we understand what we are doing here. 

(1)	And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
saying,

(2)	This month shall be the beginning of months unto you: it shall be
the first month of the year to you.

(3)	Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to
the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

(4)	And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him...his
neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the
souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the
lamb.

(5)	Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye
shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

(6)	And...keep it up…fourteen (days) of the same month: and the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the (night).

	In other words He said, you are going to get a certain one that’s
absolutely healthy and perfect, and you are going to watch it for
fourteen days to see that there is nothing brewing in it that could make
it unhealthy. In other words, fourteen days of incubation.

	And Jesus was given his lifetime to prove...and he said, “Which of
you convinceth me of sin or finds me wrong in one word?” He was the
perfect Lamb of God, so the washing didn’t add to it. The washing
didn’t add to this lamb that was killed. The washing did not add to
that oxen or whatever it was that was...didn’t add to it. See. 

37.	Let’s find what it’s all about. [Lev 1:10-13]

(10)	And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of
the goats, for a burnt-sacrifice; he shall bring...a male without
blemish.

(11)	And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the
LORD: and the priests, (and) Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood
round about upon the altar.

(12)	And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and
the priest shall lay them in order on the wood (which be upon) the fire
(that’s) on the altar:

(13)	But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the
priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar.

	Now then, there’s a washing with the sacrifice. Okay, in verse 10
notice:

(10)	And...his offering shall be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or
of the goats, for a burnt-sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without
blemish.

	It’s without blemish. In other words, it has already been approved of
God. See? So, the washing doesn’t make it approved. The washing
doesn’t cleanse it. I hope you’re getting what I am driving at here
because this is the whole thing we are dealing with. That’s what Peter
said. It is not anything but the answer of a good conscience towards
God, but it’s there. It doesn’t wash away your sins. This washing of
the sacrifice did nothing to make Jesus perfect. It did nothing to make
the sacrifice perfect. But it was there in a type when he would be
baptized. 

	And just hold your thoughts because I’m going to bring you to them. I
haven’t brought you to it yet, so don’t get all puzzled and wonder
about it. I’m going to take you right to it. 

38.	All right. He was already approved of God. Let’s go to Acts
3:12-15.

(12)	And when Peter saw it, he answered..., (This is where the lame man
got healed and everybody wondered.) ye men of Israel, why (do) you
marvel at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own
power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

(13)	The God of Abraham, ...of Isaac, ...of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied
him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

(14)	But (you) denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a
murderer...be granted unto you;

(15)	And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead;
whereof we are witnesses.

	Now, he was already approved. Now, if he was already approved, the
washing in water did not further approve him. All right. So, we see it
wasn’t water baptism that approved him or made him fit, that is, a fit
person—not fit into the scheme of things, but fit. 

	His baptism in water was a public display or witness to his fitness, to
be what he came to be. That’s exactly... I am coming, baptizing, and
this one that is going to be baptized is the one that is making the
public display that he is the one. It’s a public display. It’s a
witness. All right.

	His baptism in water was a public display, a witness to his fitness, to
be what he came to be, which is our redeemer by His Own Blood. Then when
he came up out of the water the Holy Ghost filled him. It was the
witness that he witnessed to God, and God witnessed back, by filling him
with the Holy Ghost. It was the public display. Now, he came up out of
the water, and the Spirit filled him. Actually, God incarnated Himself
in Jesus at that time. 

39.	So, let’s go back now to the Book of Peter. Sorry, but people have
just taken and either made too little or too much of Peter, and they
miss the point entirely. And it’s a pitiful thing they do,
because...my, my! They should leave It as It is! [1 Peter 3]

(18)	For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put unto death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

(19)	By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

(20)	Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, wherein the ark was a preparing…few, that
is, eight souls were saved by water.

	Now, he is talking about the people in the ark, where the water saved
them but took away the rest. So therefore, they were saved by water, and
they were saved, also, to coming down on the new land, which God had
renovated. The water saved both them and the land. Now, let’s watch
carefully what he says in here. Now:

(21)	The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not
the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

	He’s telling you you’re making a witness to the public that you
believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your sins,
that you’re going to come back and take the world over. That’s
exactly what you’re doing because that is what the Resurrection is
about. If Christ be not raised, then we don’t rise. We are of all men
most miserable. I’m coming back to take over.

	See, I’m a part of the Resurrection. I’m a part of the new setup. 

	You say, “I’m looking forward to it.” 

	That’s what your water baptism is all about. See?

40.	So, we see, then, in verse 21 that Jesus stood there before God in
that water. That’s what we are looking at—that figure. Jesus stood
there in that water before God, and he was answering back to God, before
men and women who looked on that. He was now ready to identify with God
through the baptism with the Holy Ghost. He stood there, as a witness
that he was that one and identifying with God through the baptism with
the Holy Ghost, because when he fully took his position to witness... 

	Do you understand what I am saying? When he fully took his position
before the people in that water and came up out of the water, God came
right down on him and identified him and said, “You’re the one
that’s going to take over.”

	Now, look; you’re not going to deny the truth, because that’s the
truth. And he said the light figured in Noah’s ark. Now, they didn’t
die, and they didn’t go down in the water; the water carried them up.
See.

	See. Now, it doesn’t put away the filth of the flesh. Jesus had no
filth of the flesh to put away. It doesn’t put yours away. It is an
answer to the fact that you have repented unto justification, and
you’re already forgiven, and the Blood has made you perfect before
God, so that now you can be filled with the Holy Ghost, just the same as
he was, and come and take over.

41.	So, we see then in verse 21 that Jesus stood there before God in
that water, and he was answering back to God, before men and women. He
was literally answering back to God as a witness to them, and those men
and women looked on, and they saw that he was now ready to identify with
God through the baptism with the Holy Ghost. And you can see this
perfectly in Mt 3:13-17. So, let’s go back and look at it. Matthew
3:13-17, we read It already.

(13)	Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan [unto John], to be
baptized of him.

(14)	But John forbad him, saying, (He held him back, “Look,” he
said:) “I (should) be baptized of you, and you come to me?

	Now, people say, “Hey, I need the Holy Ghost. Who needs this water
baptism? Ho, it really doesn’t matter too much, my brother/sister, as
long as you get the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah.” 

	What Holy Ghost do you get outside of proper baptism? Tell me. You get
anointing; that’s all you get. Ho, ho, ho, listen. I thank God today
for a revealed Word. I’m an angry preacher. I’m angry at all the
junk and the hogwash, the corruption that I’ve been taught. What might
I have been as a saint of God had I had the right teaching? False
doctrine and false dogmas destroy. Oh sure. 

	John push it to one side. He said, ‘Hold it. Suffer it to be so.
I’ve got to make a witness here. There’s a witness involved in
this.’ 

42.	Listen; in the First Church Age, they put much on that witness. The
minute you got baptized, you were stigmatized. Now, it’s, “Well,
which church are you baptized in, honey? Were you baptized in the
Catholic Church? Well, which Catholic Church? The eastern branch or the
western branch or the middle branch? Oh, you’re Protestant? which of
the several hundred?”

	I went down to Florida years ago. And this man was a Church of Christ,
but he saw the Baptists had more business, so he said, “I’ll become
a Baptist.”

	I said, then, “You were baptized?” 

	And he said, “Yes, I was baptized in the local church.”

	I said, “Hogwash!”

	He was baptized for a buck, for the price of a few gallons of gas!

43.	What were you baptized to? Come on! You’re sitting here and you
tell me you have the Holy Ghost, and I have no doubt that that you have.
But did you hear preaching like this before this message? No, you
didn’t hear preaching like this, because it wasn’t open to us.
Everything was played down. 

	“Well, nothing really matters as long as you love Him.” 

	Well, what makes you think you love Him?

44.	I want to tell you something: John the Baptist made a very big
mistake here by saying to Jesus, he said, “Why do you come to me? He
said, “I ought to be coming to you.”

	And yet it wasn’t a big mistake, but it was a big mistake. John was
wrong! John got so wrong when the chips were down, after screaming
“behold the Lamb of God. that’s the one. I know him! That’s it,
that’s it, that’s it!” 

	When the chips were down and the going got rough, he sent his secret
believers to Jesus to ask “Hey, were you really the one, or did I make
a mistake?” 

	I don’t care two bits about any prophet in the sense of the word.
It’s this Word that counts. It never was the prophet per se. It was
the Word in the prophet. Oh, John was as human as anybody. And I loved
that about Bro Branham. I knew him as the human being. I thought that
was the tops. 

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, you are nuts!” 

	I thank you. You paid me a compliment! Nicest thing anybody could say,
because they usually say a whole lot worse than that.

	He said, “Listen, why do you come to me?” 

	And Jesus said, “Hold it.” He never argued; he never explained it.
He said, “Just let it go this time. Just let it go and do it.”

45.	Even John didn’t have the full revelation. Do you know we’re
getting it? Oh, you know that I’m a mess. I never pretended… But
look; he takes the beggars off dung heaps and make them... I mean, if
you don’t smell like a manure pile, you ain’t going to get to Glory;
face it. You may as well just admit it. I just get so thrilled at times.
I could scream—just scream. All I want to do is scream because there
are no words to express it.

	But we have what nobody else ever had. We’re going to walk into
immortality. He just said, “Look, don’t try to figure it out.” He
said, “Just, just...just do it.” 

	People looked at the Bible under the Seven Seals, and they try to peek
under the Seven Seals. They couldn’t figure it out. He said, “Just
wait,” “Just wait,” “Just wait,” and people couldn’t wait.
One day a prophet, vindicated, came and ripped the seals off to our
understanding—yours and mine. And now they say, “Well, they are not
ripped off.” 

	People can’t suffer anything. Huh?

46.	Can you let your own thinking go this morning? That’s what really
counts. Well, he said, “Let it ride,” “Let it ride.” He said,
“There’s something in here that’s got to be fulfilled—a
righteousness.” In other words there’s something that has got to be
done, complying with the law, so that everything in the law is
fulfilled. 

	“I am the sacrifice.” And the sacrifice was perfect, or it
couldn’t be accepted. The washing is the witness. And somebody had to
wash it. So, John takes Jesus and immerses him in the water, and
there’s your witness right there to this sacrifice, to the whole
thing.

47.	Jesus came out of the water, baptized. The heavens were open. The
spirit of God came upon him, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my
beloved Son, and I’m pleased to dwell in him.” And that’s after
water baptism, when you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and
identified with him, and you’ve said, “That’s my Savior. I stand
with him and go down in that water and come up.” It [says] God will
baptize you with the Holy Ghost. See?

48	So, we come to the place of the most definite and the definitiveness
of the understanding of water baptism, exactly as It says in 1 Pet 3:21.
It is not the putting away of the filth of your flesh. No. No way!
That’s been taken care of through justification, through your
repentance; not the putting away of the flesh, but of an answer of a
good conscience towards God. I can go into the water now, because I know
in Whom I have believed.

49.	I wasn’t baptized as a kid. I was sort of… the preacher came by.
Sure, I was baptized, Lutheran style, as a tiny baby, you know, zap, zap
or something. Then I go to this Methodist, this combination
Methodist/Presbyterian. And the worst thing in the world is a hybrid.
Methodist should stay Methodist and Presbyterian, Presbyterian, but they
got together. What a mess we had. Sixteen years of age now when I was
supposed to join the church, and so he does a little cross on my head
with a couple of drops of water. Hogwash!

	How would you like to baptize your cat that’s dead? In other words
I’m talking about burying it--and you put three drops of sand on the
dead cat and you say, “He’s buried.” Oh, brother/sister, if you
deal with idiots, you’ve got to talk their language.

	They put three little drops on my head. Then they said now we are going
to take communion, and I was scared stiff. Why was I scared stiff?
Something inside of me not yet born unto God, but that little germ in
here, that little gene, was saying, “Hold it, boy. You better not do
it.” 

	And I was praying to God that I wouldn’t do it, and that guy didn’t
like communion anyway, so we didn’t have it. And I never ever took it
in an unbaptized—at least in an unregenerate—state. Now, I can take
it today fully, because I am one of His. I have followed every step,
proper baptism, everything, foot-washing. We’re in it. It’s a
witness to God. Oh yeah, I am glad.

50.	Now, it said here, the heavens were opened, the Spirit came down,
and he was full of the Holy Ghost. That is what Peter said. He said
repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. Why? Because, brother/sister, the Blood has made you
perfect. 

51.	Let me look at that sacrifice. I’ve got too many scriptures here,
and time is running out. I don’t want to take too much more time. You
have got the picture anyway. Let’s see what we can do with Romans 5.
We’ll go to, let’s say, Romans 5 and a couple more. Let’s look at
It. Now, [It] says here in verses 6-9:

(6)	For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly.

(7)	For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for
a good man some would even dare to die.

(8)	But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.

(9)	Much more then, being now justified by his blood… 

	That means ‘declared righteous’. Now, listen. God justifies the
ungodly; he calls the ungodly ‘righteous’. Now, He couldn’t do
that with His Own Son, because he had to be godly to take our place.
See? That’s why there had to be a lamb without blemish. See?

	And the washing identified him from all the others out there. This was
the sacrifice for sin. So, it couldn’t be just burned; it had to be
identified. They said wash it. Now, here comes Jesus, the perfect Lamb
of God; wash him. Now you can burn it. Now, therefore, God called the
ungodly just, and if you are not ungodly, you can never be just. 

52.	You say, “Well, I don’t think I was born a sinner.” 

	That’s fine. You can never be born again. I didn’t write the Bible,
but believe me, I can read It. I have a pretty good vocabulary, too. I
used to understand words a whole lot better than I do now, but I still
understand them pretty good because I am not completely ignorant.

	See? In due time he died for the ungodly. But God commended His love
towards us in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
than being now justified by His Blood, called righteous by His Blood, we
should be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being
reconciled, we’ll be saved by His life. And He tells you flat: if the
Blood did it and you go to the water, then He fills you with the Holy
Ghost. 

	And if the Blood did this much, what does the life of God himself do?
Oh, man! You’re locked in and you’re sealed in, it’s all over,
forget it. Just love Him and glorify Him and get rid of your own
thoughts and ways and say, who cares about anything but Him? That’s
all that’s left. 

53.	Let’s go to Hebrews 10. I won’t read too much, but I want you to
get this on the Blood. I want you to understand why you go to water
baptism. Why, when you repent and you believe on Him for your Savior and
you lay your hand on him, so to speak, and you say, “This is my
sacrifice, this is the Blood that was shed for me,” what does it do
for you? Let’s find out. Hebrews 10:4-14:

(4)	For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins.

(5)	Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he said, Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (...in
other words, not bullocks and this and that.)

(6)	In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

(7)	Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of
me,) to do thy will, O God.

(8)	Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and
offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein;
which are offered by the law;

(9)	Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He takes away the
first, …(to) establish the second. 

	The first sacrifice is gone; the second is in. Blood of goats and
bullocks are gone; the blood of Christ is in. All right.

(9)	Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He takes away the
first, that he may establish the second. 

(10)	By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the
(blood) of Jesus Christ once for all. 

	In other words we are separated entirely unto God. The next thing is to
be sealed unto God. All right.

(11)	(For) every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

(12)	But this man, after he’d offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down on the right hand of God;

(13)	From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

(14)	For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified (by the Blood).

(15)	Whereof the Holy Ghost...(comes in upon us and says, “That’s
right. It’s all over.”)

54.	Now, what’s the step? Repentance, then get in the water and expect
God to fill you. See, way back in our day, they said, “You’ve got to
go to tarry.” 

	Find me that in Scripture. They’ll tell you a lot of things. But I
want to find one person, find one Scripture, that contradicts Peter:
repent and be baptized...in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, ...and
you shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

55.	Back there in the Book of Acts they went down and had a revival in
Samaria. They preached about Jesus Christ and His Blood. The people got
wonderfully saved. They saw the miracles, and they knew that Christ was
risen, and they said we accept this one as our sacrifice, and they
baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostles came
down and laid hands on them. They all were filled with the Holy Ghost.

	Repentance. Be baptized. Be filled with the Holy Ghost.

	How in the world can you escape? See? That’s what we look at. All
right. Your repentance or change of mind, brings you to the need of help
for salvation. That can only come by blood because It says over here in
the Book of Hebrews, the same Book, in Heb 9:22:

(22)	....almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without
shedding of blood is no remission. (of sins)

	Then, if the Blood has been shed and you stand there and say
“That’s my sacrifice,” your sins are gone. Then you’re baptized
in water, and God said, “Okay, I’ll seal him with the Holy
Spirit.” 

56.	All right. Once you repent, which is actually to receive Christ and
His Blood for remission of sin, that’s your change of mind. You say,
“All right, I don’t depend on the church. I don’t depend on a
record. I don’t depend on anything. I’m depending on Him and His
Blood.” 

	Then that Blood cleanses you and brings you to the spot where the Holy
Ghost can come upon you because you have been made perfect in God’s
sight. 

	Now, you see, the water didn’t do it. The water was the testimony.
The sacrifice was already perfect. Before you go in that water, you’re
already perfect, as far as what the Blood does for you.

	The next thing you are baptized. The next thing the Holy Ghost comes
in, seals you back to Almighty God. See? All right.

57.	Thus we see Acts 2:37-39 never changes—no way, shape or form. But
let’s go back and look at It and read a little further. For he said,
“You shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto
you—Jews—and to your children—Jews—and all that are far
off—that’s Gentiles, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
That’s Jew and Gentile.

	The promise is to everyone. What promise? The baptism with the Holy
Ghost. On what grounds? There’s a sacrifice been offered. Identify
yourself with it. Stand in the public, and let them know by water
baptism. 

58.	Now I’m going to close. I’m not going to worry about any more
notes. If you haven’t got it by now, come back again. We’ll hit it
one more time or two, or three more times. 

	Listen to me. Way back in the old days they had these Christians, they
were godly people. And they had the spirit of the oxen upon them, which
meant sacrifice. And when the Romans persecuted them terribly—now this
was not the Roman Catholic Church per se, but this was Rome itself, and
the heathen nations. 

	And they persecuted these people. And they had them in a lake in
Switzerland, I think it was, or up near Germany. And the lake was
completely frozen over. And they took all the clothes but a little light
garment that the people had on. There was forty-two of them. Forty-two
people who were going round and around on the ice, knowing they’d fall
dead one by one, frozen to death of frost and malnutrition. And the
soldiers were there to see that they kept moving.

	They began crying, “Forty-two saints marching unto Glory, forty-two
saints going unto God.”

	And the guard stood there, and he watched them, and something began to
happen in his soul. One of them fell dead upon the ice and they said,
“Forty-one saints marching to Glory, forty-one saints marching unto
God.”

	And he threw down his sword, he threw down everything, and he embraced
Christ. He raised his hands and he said, “Now, forty-two saints!”

59.	See. Listen. I want to tell you something, brothers/sisters. Enough
people don’t realize you have to identify with Him. That’s the whole
thing is what it’s all about. Water baptism is your public testimony
that Jesus Christ died upon Calvary. But he just didn’t die upon
Calvary, he died for you personally. He died for you personally. 

	That you received Him and His Blood is the only way to salvation.
Knowing that water baptism is your witness and when you are baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s literally saying “I belong
to Him and Him alone.” And when you say that and you mean it, and He
knows that you mean it, the next thing that He does, he fills you with
the Holy Ghost, which is that ring, that signet, that seal. 

60.	Let me read It to you. It says over here in the Book of Ephesians,
which we’ve read so many, many times because you know I’ve preached
out of that. It’s a very important last day message, which is ours.
And he said here, in Eph 1:13.

(13)	In whom ye also trusted (hoped), after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, (and of course, were baptized in water to show your witness)
ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 

(14)	Which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of
the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. 

	And like our good friend, Noah, who was sealed into the ark after the
waters were about to come... Now, look; let’s face it. It’s a good
thing he was sealed in. 

61.	Now, that’s not a true type of the baptism with the Holy Ghost,
but let’s just change it just a little bit without hurting anything
because I don’t want to hurt any Scripture and violate any of It. But
let’s understand this one thing, that old Noah at the time of the
flood, after which we could say represents the great destruction coming
on the earth, which is true and all that sort of stuff... But he was
sealed in there by God, so that he couldn’t get out if he tried to get
out, and nobody could get in if they tried to get in. Now, let me tell
you something, when you are sealed with the Holy Ghost, there is nothing
else can get in and nobody can get out. 

	That Saturday night message I preached on Easter eve, concerning we
were once padlocked unto sin and death, when God ripped that padlock
off, He turned around and put another padlock on us. Yeah. But this time
it is a good one. This time it’s where we are sealed into Him.

62.	Listen, brother/sister, don’t ever forget it. Understand this
perfectly, completely. Understand it now, and don’t let it get away
from you. It is simple as A-B-C: Christ died for the ungodly. 

	Paul said this is the Gospel. If you believe that Jesus Christ died for
your sins, there is one step left for you to do. Go and get baptized in
water in the name of Jesus Christ. You have done everything you’ll
ever need to do. The next thing He will do, which is to fill you with
the Holy Ghost.

63.	You say, “Brother Vayle, what will I feel like that?” 

	Forget you feelings. I don’t know what you’re going to feel like.
You could have a feeling and be entirely wrong. What do you care what
you feel like? It’s His Word that said He would do it.

	I don’t have any feelings anymore! Everything I believe is against
feeling! I’m feeling rotten! It’s time to die! I want to get out of
here, but I can’t even tell you that! I want to be out of here by
tomorrow morning. If I don’t, I sure have to get to my good friend,
Dr. Biery, because I’m getting that same thing back in here again.
Maybe I’ll die with it. I’m not dying from a bad arm, but I could
die having a bad arm and a lot of other things. 

	I’d like to get out of here, but I’ve got more news for you. I’ve
got to tell you what the Word of God says. “I shall not die but
live.” You say, who are you? I’m simply the one who tells you what
the Word of God is. I’m not going to make Him a liar. 

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, aren’t your feelings against it?”

64.	How good did Abraham feel at a hundred years of age, crotchety old
cane, and God said “Hey, you’re going to have a son.” 

	“Yeah, me and who else?” 

	He said, “Hallelujah, you hear that, Sarah?”

	She said, “Ha ha ha! You said that before, too.”

	People say, “Yeah, he said that years ago about that He’s supposed
to be here.” 

	And, yes, they said that back in 1876, but He wasn’t. But He’s here
now! Oh, I’m not excited, I’m just really excited. Yes sir! Oh,
listen; forget your feelings. Forget your feelings. 

65.	If you don’t know where you stand, I’ve got news for you.
We’ve got one to be baptized today. Let’s have some more. If you
don’t know where you stand, you can only go as far as your faith has
taken you. And if It hasn’t gone any further, maybe you summon your
faith because I don’t know your hearts. That’s just where you
stopped. Get baptized anew in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and say,
“God.” If you don’t know if you have the Holy Spirit, get down in
that water and say “That’s your Word, Lord,” and forget your
feelings. They’ll destroy you. 

	Oh, yeah. I don’t have any feelings on the subject anymore because I
know I’ve got the Word. 

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, I don’t think you are much of a Christian”

	I don’t either! That makes us unanimous! But God does. So, that makes
us both out!

65.	Hallelujah! You love Him today? I love Him with all my heart! 

	Let’s rise.

	

	Heavenly Father, we’re here in Your Presence, and just keep
mentioning we are here in Your Presence does so much. As the prophet
said, if we really believed, we would all be lying prostrated at Your
feet on the floor, literally is the word groveling is a sense of our own
unworthiness, and yet we have lost that in the fact of the adoring of
Your wonderful Person, because we know we are one with You. 

	We respect that, honor it, O God, love it, appreciate it to no end. We
can’t tell You enough how we love You and how we’re willing to
stand, Lord, on Your Word. We are not worried any more about feelings
and manifestations and experiences, but we’re leaning on the one
experience of him, Who stood there and said, “Suffer it to be so now.
I’ve got to be identified before the people, identify myself” 

	Then hanging there on the Cross, was able to give His life Blood. Lord,
you raised him up for our justification. Oh, the blood of Jesus! O the
blood of Jesus makes me white as snow. And the Holy Ghost seals us, and,
Lord, we know that’s true, and we stand on It. Thank God!

	We’ve passed away from this idea of emotions and all of these other
things that don’t mean anything but roadblocks and detours and
problems. We’re right back to the Word of God, and there isn’t any
problem because You stand behind It.

	Lord I... For those that are baptized, or that one Lord, I’ve got the
faith today to believe that there must be the infilling of the Holy
Ghost. There has got to be the passing not of life from death only, but
a filling, a sealing, of a dynamism, Lord—not going any more by
experience, but going by the Word of God.

	Lord, I thank You for that privilege today. Thank You, Lord, that You
should so honor a people, Lord, that make Yourself known to us. It’s
just too much, Lord. It is just too much, but we accept it,
(Hallelujah!) not upon the strength of a feeling, but upon the definite
identification in this hour. We praise Thee, oh God, and give You the
glory. In Jesus’ mighty Name we pray. Amen.

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