Baptism #3

April 24, 1983

	Shall we pray. Heavenly Father, we’re very grateful for the privilege
of being here in this building. Knowing we are not only assembled with
the Holy Spirit indwelling that little measure, us, but also the Bride
is now gathered around You, the revealed Word, and were so thankful for
that.

	We ask You now to be with us in the study of Your Word. May the
Scripture take its proper rightful place in our hearts and our lives and
may we give heed unto it as a light that shines in a dark place, knowing
that this is the hour the Daystar is arising in our hearts. 

	Let that ‘more sure word of prophecy’ which we know absolutely
deals with the Presence Himself, in this hour coming our way that
there’s nothing that shall not be fulfilled. And we know Lord that
there is a people standing here that shall not see death, but will enter
right into the Kingdom of God immortal. We are very grateful for that,
Lord and we’re to that place where the prophet said if we’re not
Bride, there’s a Bride out there somewhere, and by the grace of God I
will not stand in her way.

	And we’re glad Lord, You brought us this far, knowing if You brought
us this far there’s no doubt that we will go all the way, for hitherto
has the Lord led us. We appreciate that, committing and commending
ourselves unto You and Your grace. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 

	[Blank spot on recording media (tape).]

1.	This is message number 3 on the importance of water baptism, and
it’s quite likely on Tuesday we’ll take number four, and that should
pretty well finish the series. And what we’ll be doing is attempting
to have these messages... We’ll have maybe a couple copies of all [of]
them made, and we’ll have them on file so that they’ll be available
to anyone who wishes to be baptized in water, because I feel that it’s
obligatory on their part to know a little bit more that just have the
understanding that this is something that should be done.

 	So, on the importance of water baptism, for two messages, (That’s
last Sunday and Wednesday.) we tried to point out the importance of
water baptism, and [in] doing so we saw that many people do not regard
water baptism with its due respect because certain Scriptures seem to
minimize its necessity, and that is, people use them in a way that would
minimize the necessity of water baptism, or at least relegate the place
of water baptism, to a place of indefinite importance.

 2.	In other words, it’s not respected. The true value is minimized,
and there’s the constant relegation to water baptism’s value is that
which is vague or very indefinite, so that by the time you view it, the
rites of water baptism would hardly be commensurate at this hour with
the reality that it must have assumed in the First Church Age. Now
it’s even suggested by some that water baptism is not necessary, when
one considers the scope in power and authority of the Holy Spirit
baptism. Such as people would say, “Well, who needs to take the bread
and the wine, when you got the Holy Spirit and the Word?” 

 	So, they conveniently symbolize it, and say, “Well, who needs
symbols when you’ve got the real thing?” So there are people today
who simply do not accept water baptism as a fact. They say “Well,
it’s just merely a symbol, and we really don’t need it.” So, there
is no commitment to it.

 3.	Now, such Scripture that people distort in order to come to such a
conclusion, we saw was over here in 1 Peter, so I want you to be very
familiar with this so that you know how to answer people. As Paul said,
“When it’s time you became teachers, you’ve got to be taught all
over again.” That’s a pretty raunchy situation.

 	However, we are speaking now of the age in which we live, the teaching
of this age is so completely fallacious as to be no longer the Word of
God, but there came a prophet who brought us the revelation of the Word.


 	There’s a certain preacher wrote a book, and he passed it around. I
guess, Lloyd got one, and different ones.... It’s called The Logos and
Rhema, and he’s letting you know there is such a thing as Rhema, which
is like a written Word, a letter, and so on, but the Logos, of course,
refers to that thought expressed, which thought includes the idea,
really the life and so on. And you know, he went into a big song and
dance about that. And one of his statements was while he said, “They
say the prophet came to restore the Word.” Well, he said, “This Word
doesn’t need any restoring.”

 	Well, you see, it’s the same, old, fat-headed, satanic hogwash
that’s brought on the scene all the time, that, you know, “Well,
here it is, and we know it.” 

	Well, fap! Anybody knows you can’t call Jesus ‘Lord’ but by the
Holy Ghost, and there are millions and millions without the Holy Ghost
calling him Lord. [Three second blank spot on recording] ...and pretends
to believe this message. “I’ve got more respect for Jannes and
Jambres,” as Harold Maconda said, “because he carried his own
stick.” Why doesn’t he use his own name instead of using William
Branham’s name. See? So what? They’ll pull that stuff off, you know.


	Well, the Word absolutely is...like Brother Branham said, “Jesus came
according to Scripture but not according to their interpretation of the
Scripture.” Then It needed restoring because there was a time when the
Word was given in Its true understanding. 

 4.	The old prophet said a virgin shall bare a child. He knew very well
that was not virgin as you know, like some people understand it to be,
which back in those days was ‘amah’, which was simply a young woman.
He knew it was a virgin, untouched by a male. She could have a male
child without male intercourse, which would be no way you could have a
male child without a male intercourse, because the woman just contains
one of the x and y chromosomes; the man contains two of them. So, how in
the world could a woman have a baby without male intervention? I’ll
also give you, it would have to come by a certain intervention of
Almighty God. He understood when he gave that Word it was going to be
literally a virgin birth. And then it got to the place It says a
woman--a young woman--was going to bear a child. Well, she certainly has
to be a young woman to bear a child. Sarah had to turn back to bear a
young child.

 	But anyway, see, let this Scripture over here in Peter... They wrest
It where Peter talking about the floods coming upon the earth: he said
there, “The light figure whereunto even baptism doeth also now save
us...” then, he says, “not the putting away of the filth of the
flesh, but of the answer of a good conscience toward God.” 

 	Now, that little thought in there, “not the putting away the filth
of the flesh...” Instead he makes people think, “Well, now, hey,
that’s not the forgiveness of sins, which is true, but it is an answer
of a good conscience toward God,” which, if that is all it really is,
then it doesn’t really mean too much because the main thing would be
the good conscience toward God, and if I’ve got it, God already knows
it. So therefore, even if I weren’t baptized, it’s not such a big
thing.” 

	You see, that’s where their reasoning goes.

5.	Also, in 1 Cor 1:14-17, notice It says:

(14)	I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

(15)	Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

(16)	And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not
whether I baptized any other.

(17)	For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
effect.

	So there again you have an emphasis put on the fact that Paul said,
“Well, hey, I came to preach, not to baptize.” So therefore, because
preaching is the main thing, you instantly relegate, without meaning to,
the baptism to a very obscure place of no importance, so then, if you
weren’t baptized, “Well, so what?” Now, you see, what I’m trying
to get to show you is the more that you get a so-what attitude, you’ve
got nothing left, even if you do get baptized, because your attitude in
the water is, “So what?”

 	“Well, I already got a good conscience.” 

	Doesn’t put away the filth of the flesh. 

	“I’ve already got this; I’ve already got that.” 

	So, you see, instantly when you look at these things, if you don’t
get a real understanding of the value of water baptism, you could be
baptized in water, and it just doesn’t carry an impact.

6.	Let’s go to Acts 8. We’re going to be as little while at this.
I’m sorry to be that way, but... If I’m going to bring back amongst
us the solemnity and the Word-relevancy of water baptism, I’ve got to
take my time and preach it as it’s in the Bible, because that’s
where I got to get it.

	All right, beginning at Acts 8:9... Now notice, now, this is sticky,
you see, why people can get thrown.

(9)	But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the
same city used sorcery, and he bewitched the people of Samaria, giving
out that himself was some great one:

(10)	To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying,
This man is the great power of God.

(11)	And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had
bewitched them with sorceries.

(12)	But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the
kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women.

7.	That’s right. Men and women got to be baptized. Even children are
candidates.

(13)	Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he
continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs
which were done.

(14)	Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria
had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

(15)	Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might
receive the Holy Ghost:

(16)	(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

(17)	Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy
Ghost.

(18)	And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands
the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

(19)	Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he
may receive the Holy Ghost. (Now he’s switching, you see, from the old
days, he’s going to make a gimmick out of this.)

(20)	But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou
hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

(21)	Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not
right in the sight of God.

	Now, this man that’s saying this is the fellow that wrote ‘The
Answer of a Good Conscience Towards God’. Now the question comes up
how good of a conscience did this man have towards God when he got
baptized in water? See? You got to think of these things.

 8.	Repent! Start all over. You had a wrong understanding of this; now
you’ve got to get a right understanding of this, because the word
‘repent’ means ‘changing your mind’...be changing your mind.
That word in there is ‘be changing your mind’. Repentance is a
once-for-all, yet continuing, thing. You never say, “I have
arrived.” You’re always moving. The changing of the mind which lies
within that channel, that merely takes you to a higher and deeper
revelation, not contrary.

(22)	(Be having therefore a change of mind.) …of this thy wickedness,
and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven
thee.

(23)	For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and...the
bond of iniquity.

 	Now, this is the prime example of why people pervert 1 Pet 3:18-22,
wherein he said water baptism is not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh, but of an answer of a good conscience toward God. Now, they
say here is the case where this man evidently did not have truly a good
conscience before God, but he went in the water, came up out of the
water, evidently things weren’t right as they should be at that time. 

9.	So therefore, they say, “See, water baptism, well, it’s there,
but then, so is also the Straits of Gibraltar and I don’t see any
particular reason to swim in them.” And there’s a lot of confusion
on water baptism, that’s why one person says, “Hey, we need the Holy
Ghost, never mind water baptism.” 

	Somebody else says, “Well, it’s just little symbols, so we’ll
just make a little symbol out of it.” Somebody else says something
else, until today there is a lack of the definitive scriptural
understanding of what water baptism really is. Now I don’t claim
I’ve got all the answers. We’re trying to get some of them.

	Now, this has led to a prevalent and greatly accepted saying that
unbalances the Scripture on water baptism: “You can go down a dry
sinner and come up a wet one,” and you certainly can. You go down a
dry sinner, come up a wet one.

 	I’m not going to say anything bad about Simon, but I’m not going
to say too much good, either, because something wasn’t right. You see?
Now, that you can go down a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner is true.
Now, I said that’s true, but it is not necessarily ‘the truth’.
Ha! That’s the difference. See. In other words, I’m saying it’s
right that you can go down a dry sinner and come out a wet sinner, but
that’s not the truth. We are trying to get to the truth of water
baptism, you see? And this is what’s wrong.

	Now, you say, “Bro. Vayle, I don’t know.”	

	Well, I do know, because I know that your subconscious, which you have
allowed through the years to come on down here, is more you than your
conscience, because your conscience will draw on your subconscious,
because there is no such thing as learning, except from what you have
already learned. See?

10.	So, it is not the truth, especially as we see in Acts 16:25-34. Now,
let’s take a look at that. Here’s another case.

(25)	And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:
and the prisoners heard them.

(26)	And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations
of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened,
and every one’s bands were loosed. 

 	Now, you show me an earthquake that would do that. Open the doors?
What would happen, an earthquake here that happened naturally in one of
our cities, and it hit a hospital? Would all the doors open?  Let’s
say that we had padded cells and locked doors, and an earthquake comes
and every door opens and everybody walk out in his right mind? Because
it said the prisoners were loosened. That means the handcuffs fell off,
the shackles fell off the feet and they walked out. Let’s have
earthquakes like that. I think myself that God would be very happy to do
it if we were very happy to believe for it, or get a new understanding
of God.

(27)	(Now,) and the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and
seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have
killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. (And he was
responsible. He said, “I won’t give them a chance of torture, I’ll
just take the easy way out.)

(28)	But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm: for
we are all here.

(29)	Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and
fell down before Paul and Silas,

(30)	And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

(31)	And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved, and thy house.

(32)	And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all...in his
house.

(33)	And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their
stripes; and (he) was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

(34)	And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before
them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

	Now, here’s a fellow, he never came up a wet sinner. So, you just
don’t pit scripture against scripture. You can begin to see that there
is a negative side in the sense that you can have a case like Simon, but
you can have a case like the Philippian jailer.

11.	So, we want to look at the positive side, or exactly what is said
about how important this ministration is in the church, and it is a
ministration. Now, to do that we must strike a balance immediately. That
is, sure, there is a time when water baptism is an event, you know, that
it’s just a formula; that’s all it comes to: it’s a formula. But
there is also a time when the event is made a part of the Word of God in
action, within the scope of redemption.

 	See, this, what was done, in the case of perhaps Simon the Sorcerer
and others, no work of redemption had been done. See? Now, in the area
where a work of redemption has been done, this must be applied. Do you
follow me? See? Now you got to strike the balance, and the balance is
yes, this formula, this what is done, this ministration, there’s a
time when it’s not a part of the reality of the Word of God in
redemption and there’s a time when it is. 

12.	So, we read the Scriptures which form the great axis upon which this
subject actually turns or revolves. All right. We go to Mk 16:14-16. Now
this is where we really start.

(14)	Afterward he appeared unto the eleven (That’s Jesus at the
resurrection.) as they sat at meat, and upbraided them (He scolded them)
with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not
them which had seen him after he was risen.

(15)	And he said unto them, Go (you) into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature.

(16)	He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; ...he that
believeth not shall be (condemned.)

	All right. Do you notice categorically what it says? Go and preach, and
the preaching will bring believing, and the believing will bring baptism
in water, because he said you are to preach and you are to baptize. 

 	Now, you will notice in here It says the believing brings salvation;
the lack of believing brings condemnation. So, water baptism does not
add to grace. It’s not a measure of grace and a part of redemption, as
is the believing, which is predicated upon hearing the Word of God. 

13.	Let’s go to Matthew 28. These are the end-time references of Jesus
and the Resurrection concerning preaching and baptism. 

(16)	Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain
where Jesus had appointed them.

(17)	...when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some (were that)
doubted.

(18)	And Jesus came and spake unto them, and said, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth.

(19)	Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

(20)	Teaching them to observe all things (whatever) I...commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the- (Ages.)

	Luke chapter 24, another time, when He met them in His glorified form. 


(46)	And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ
to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

(47)	And that repentance and remission of sins should be (re)preached in
his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

(48)	And ye are witnesses of these things.

(49)	...behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye
in...Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

14.	Now we go to Acts, the 2nd chapter. Of course, that is the great
chapter, Pentecost got her baptisms in there. Now watch. 

(37)	...when they heard this,...

	Now they must have heard something, in fact, they heard a whole
dissertation on the presence, birth, and presence by birth of the Lord
Jesus Christ, his ministry, his death, and his resurrection, his
exultation, the outpouring of the Spirit.

(37)	Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and
said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do? (Just like the Phillipian jailer said, “what am I going
to do to be saved?”)

(38)	Then Peter said..., Repent and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins……(Repent would be
having, therefore, a change of mind.) and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

(39)	For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to (many)
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

(40)	And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save
yourselves from this untoward generation.

15.	Now, where was the salvation? In the hearing of the Word and
believing It. Changing their minds from what they once believed
concerning that Word. And how then believing how they stood. They had a
complete re-understanding, or new understanding, of the Word, which
placed them in another position from which they had formerly placed
themselves. See?

	Now, hearing...that is what was bringing salvation. Now, It says:

(41)	Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:... 

	Now, you can’t say one thing about those baptisms and say, “Well,
you think a bunch of those went down dry sinners and came up wet
sinners?” 

 	I haven’t got the least idea! But I’ll tell you one thing: three
thousand didn’t, because it said three thousand were added. So, you
better believe they did not go down dry sinners and come up wet sinners.
And you better believe that this is the true record of the requirement
of Almighty God as the part of the Word acting in you and your reaction
toward the Word.

16.	All right. Now, if we look again at Mk 16:14-16, which we took as
the major axis of water baptism, to get the thing lined up right: 

(16)	He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
(doesn’t believe)...

	There’s no use in getting baptized. And if you don’t believe (Now,
it looked like Simon had the wrong thing.) and you do get baptized, it
hasn’t done you any good, really. See? All right. “He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved.” Now, what is that based on, the
believing? Preaching the gospel. And he that does believe shall be
saved. 

	So, if we look again at Mk 16:14-16, especially verse 16.

 (16)	He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; (and) he that
believeth not shall be damned.

	You can readily see that this was fulfilled in Acts 2, the first part
of verse 41: “Then they that gladly received His Word were
baptized.” So, that tells you what baptism is about: receiving the
Word of God. 

17.	Now, notice. See? Acts 8:12 also fulfills Mark 16. Over here in Acts
8:12 It says here:

 (12)	But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the
kingdom of God, and the name of (the Lord) Jesus Christ, they were
baptized, both men and women.

 	And how do you think they were baptized? In the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. On what grounds? On the grounds of preaching. Preaching demands
a water baptism, a water baptism demands the preaching. The preaching is
supposed to bring a repentance or a change of mind, and the water
baptism will follow it. Now, that’s just plain as A-B-C. Acts 9:17-18:

(17)	And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting
his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared
unto thee in the way as you came, hath sent me, that thou mightest
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

(18)	And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and
he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

	Now, the confrontation with Christ the Word, who said, “I am
Jesus,” made him a believer. And immediately he was a candidate for
water baptism, and he couldn’t stop it. 

 	Now, he could have gone down a dry sinner and came up a wet sinner.
I’m not going to argue that, but that does not destroy the scriptures.
That’s one of those scarecrows, one of those bugaboos, one of those
things the devil likes to throw in and say, “Ha! Well, it doesn’t
always work. So, who needs it?”

	Well, fap! I have a lot of things in my house that don’t work. I
either get them fixed, or I just go right back and get a new one. In
other words I’m not stupid as a human being, and I should certainly be
less stupid as a spiritual person.

18.	Let’s go to Acts 18:5-11. 

(5)	...when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, (they were)
pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

(6)	And when they opposed themselves, (Now notice what happened to those
Jews, they opposed themselves.) and blasphemed, (Then you notice what
happened?) he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon
your own heads; (for) I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the
Gentiles.

(7)	And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house,
named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the
synagogue.

(8)	And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord
with all his house; and many of the Corinthians (having) believed…were
baptized.

	Now, we are coming right to the Gentiles. Now, notice; these people
here, the Jews, turned down the Word of the hour, and the minute that
they fought It, they blasphemed. Now It says here, these people
didn’t; they received It. They worshipped God and, consequently, they
were baptized in water. 

(9)	Then spake the Lord to Paul in a vision by night, Be not afraid, but
speak, and hold not thy peace:

(10)	For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for
I have much people in this city.

(11)	And he continued there a year and six months, teaching (them) the
word of God… 

	Now, remember; Paul himself said, “I did not baptize very many. He
said only in the house of Gaius, and he said Stephanus, and a couple
more.” 

 	Now, Paul might not have done the baptizing here, but we know
positively it was incumbent upon the people to be baptized. 

19.	Now, these scriptures, or these scriptural allusions, or pointing
to... You allude to a thing, you point to it. These scriptural allusions
of baptism in water set the record straight by perfectly illustrating Mk
16:15-16, “Go ye into all the world, and preach...” and “...He
that believeth ... shall be saved...”  See? And those are the ones
that you baptize in water. Now, it’s just something laid down there
that we believe. 

	This also vindicates Paul, in 1 Cor 1:17...what we looked at. Now,
remember; Paul is in this ministry, the same as these other brethren
were. Now he says here:  

(17)	For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: 

	Now, is he saying here, “I don’t have any use for baptizing. I am
not supposed to baptize”? No, what he is telling you, he was sent to
preach, because without preaching truth, baptism’s no good anyway. And
if you don’t receive the truth, what have you got? But if you do
receive the truth, then you will be baptized in water. See?

20.	Then they gave it. Certainly. It brings out Mark 16 perfectly, yet
notice, in 14-16. [1 Corinthians 1:]

(14)	I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

(15)	Lest any should say...I had baptized in mine own name.

(16)	And I baptized… Stephanas: (besides that, I cannot recall).

	Now, notice that Paul saw this thing carried out that Jesus demanded in
the Book of Mark and Acts 19:5-6. Now, Paul... I might as well read
It...more than that. [Act 19:1-3]

(1)	And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having
passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and
finding...disciples,

(2)	He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye
believed? And they said unto him,We...not so much as heard whether there
be any Holy Ghost. 

	In other words, “What are you talking about? We don’t understand
what you are saying.”

(3)	(Well,) he said (what were you baptized unto?) 

21.	Now, notice right there! What were you baptized unto, if you
didn’t hear about the Holy Spirit coming? So the water baptism is the
link between believing unto salvation, and being sealed in by the Holy
Ghost. Now, he knew they believed something, he knew they had been
baptized, but flat, something wrong, because he knew nobody had the Holy
Ghost. So he began to ask the question, “have we got some kind of a
messed up baptism with the Holy Ghost? Have we got some kind of an
experience here that doesn’t add?” 

	You know, listen to me. People are so scared, is it going to tramp on
somebody’s toes to find out if the thing is real? “Oh, we should all
love everybody, be sweet and nice, and never mind this.”

	Well, I’m going to... I’m not going to be a never minder, because
It says right here, I’m interested in what you fellows really got,
because he said “Something is not right.” He said, “What were you
baptized unto?”

	They said, “Unto John’s baptism.”

	Well, he said, “Hey, that’s wrong. It was okay for its time, but
it’s no good anymore. Because you see, John baptized unto the One who
is coming, He has already come and gone. And now you get baptized in His
Name in order to receive the Holy Spirit.”

	Well, they said, “We don’t even know if there be any Holy Spirit.
You better preach us a sermon on that.”

 	So, he preached them a sermon, and when they heard the sermon, they
said, “That’s fine now, I’ll buy that.” They said, “That’s
great, now we understand what John was trying to tell us--what this was
all about.” 

22.	So, what happened? They’re baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and they receive the Holy Ghost. Now, thus, as we see such scriptures as
1 Pet 3:21, 1 Cor 1:17, [and] so on, we know there is nothing contained
in those verses to detract from the mighty importance of the very
command of God to baptize in water. 

 	Water baptism is a part of the Gospel, and it cannot be evaded or
avoided. But it was never a vehicle of grace, as is the Blood and the
Holy Spirit, for water does not have redemptive qualities in it, and it
simply cannot impart merits to the candidate as do the Blood and the
Spirit; neither is it a substitute for anything, and certainly no life
is imparted from it. But it’s there, and it’s a part of it.

 	Okay. It is exactly as said by Peter, “an answer of a good
conscience toward God.” It is man identifying himself with God so that
God may answer back to him. See? It is the man saying that he has
accepted God according to the Word revealed to him, and then, God
identifies the man by pouring out His Spirit upon him. 

 	See, that’s the link! See, that’s the link between the death, the
resurrection, the substitution, redemption by Blood, justification, and
sanctification. That’s the link: water baptism--between those
spiritual things to the next spiritual, which is the baptism with the
Holy Ghost. Now, that is the precedent, and that is the procedure.
Precedent and procedure are laid right here before us with a fair
explanation to this point. 

23.	Now, we would really like to see these statements perfectly
illustrated, what I read about them, that there’s no grace in water
baptism, there is no life, there is no blood. We want to see them
illustrated, as perfectly as we can. So, we go first to Acts 8:26-39
because this is the Holy Spirit in action in the First Church Age. All
right. This is after this little fiasco with Simon. Now, here is
Phillip, down there in Samaria. 

(26)	And the (messenger) of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise,
and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto
Gaza, which is desert. 

	He gave him explicit instructions, better than the AAA would ever do.
Believe me, I’ve had their maps.

(27)	And he arose and went:...

	...even after I paid for it. You get this for nothing! Amazing grace!
I’m not kidding. I tell you, when God speaks to your heart, you’ve
got no problem. When the AAA gives you a map, I read it backwards
every...  Sure glad we have four lane highways. I don’t know about you
guys, I get more lost around this country, fifteen years ago, then you
can shake a stick at, but I never had any trouble with God. If He ever
spoke to my heart, it was everything. That was the best road map in the
world. And this is tremendous: He gave him a road map.

(27)	And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of
great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the
charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

	Now you see, this point way back from old King Solomon, when the Queen
of Sheba came down, and these people were literally worshipping-blacks.
In other words they worshipped the true God but they were black. They
still have a race of people right today that’s are black Jews from
this here, I understand. I don’t remember their names. I’m not much
for history, but it’s true anyway. 

24.	Now:

(28)	(He) was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the
prophet.

(29)	Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this
chariot.

(30)	And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet
Esaias, and [he] said, ([Do] you understand what you’re reading?)

	This man is reading out loud. He was smart. If you read out loud and
pray out loud, you get more than if you just pray silently--your mind
wanders. This old boy was pretty smart; he was reading out loud there,
maybe reading it unto God, so to speak.

	“You understand what you are reading?”

(31)	And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? 

	A lot of people say, “Well, I read the Bible. It doesn’t do me a
bit of good.”

	Read it anyway! At least you are not going down to Phillip’s barn,
John’s barn, boozing yourself up or something

25.	(31)	And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

(32)	The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a
sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so
opened he not his mouth:

(33)	In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall
declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

(34)	And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom
speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

(35)	Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and
preached unto him Jesus.

(36)	And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and
the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

(37)	And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you
(certainly) can (be baptized.)...(Now, listen what belief in his heart
said.) I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

	“Hold the chariot,” he said. “Stop the horses.” Said,
“Here’s water, I’m going to get baptized right now.”

	Now, there’s a perfect example, a perfect example of what it’s
about--what is done. Then how can somebody minimize it or put it to
symbols or say “Well, maybe, it could be, but...”

26.	There is nothing negative in this. Look, you can make anything
negative and mute. Very simple, you could take a radio and hit it with
an axe; it would be negative and mute in one minute just because you
couldn’t get a certain channel. Or you could pretend amateur repairman
and cross the wires and watch the thing squawk and squeal, and if you
don’t disconnect your speakers, just about rattle your house down. You
can do the same with water baptism.

 	See, this is exactly what is happened even to simple water baptism,
until Methodists, Presbyterian, I think Reform Church, Roman Catholics,
Greek Orthodox, take a little dab of water for a drop... Show me a
scripture for a little child who can’t even talk. How could a child
repent? There’s nothing to repent of. If he could talk he would say,
“I repent of my stinking parents for bringing me here in sin.” 

	Preach it, baby! Little baby, come on.

	I’ve heard some funny stories, you know, about little kids, supposed
to... One just three months old said, “Christ is coming soon” or
something, then died. I don’t believe that for nothing. That’s a
bunch of hogwash in my books. But if some little kid did tell his
parents, “You conceived me in sin. I’m shaped in iniquity,”
(That’s what David said after he’s an old man.) I could understand
that. What was a little baby? A little baby can’t hear anything! Their
little smiles are mostly gas pains to begin with. 

27.	What are they doing? See, this is... Well then, some carry it too
far. They say all you got to do is be baptized in the church and
you’ve got it made. Show me that! [gap in message] Here...you’re
getting it? You’re getting the picture.

	No preaching or reading--it’s the same thing, because Revelation
says, “He that heareth and he that readeth.” You’ve got the facts
right in there; you can be read or heard. Until there comes to a place
where the human mind can repent, it doesn’t mean anything. 

	You say, “Just a minute, that man could be thirty years of age and
can’t repent.” 

	You heard exactly what I said. Unless that person can repent, he’s
not going nowhere, because there is nothing in there to receive it.
Jesus said that to the Pharisee. He said, “You can’t hear My Word
because there’s nothing in there to get it.”

	That’s right. Let’s get down to sovereignty, right down to brass
tacks. So here, water baptism is laying right here in the scriptures,
and it is absolutely necessary. And the reason I’m preaching this way
because I want to restore the solemnity, the sincerity, and the
importance of this right within this church, or we’re not a restored
church. We’re just playing on the fringes. See? There’s got to be
the understanding.

28.	All right. We are reading in Acts, we were in Acts 8: 26-39,
somewhere in there. We read enough of it. He said in verse 39, “They
came up out of the water.” Now, there are some people that say,
“We’ll go in the water, when you are in the water, I’ll...”

	Have you ever seen this pictured by some of these churches where Jesus
is standing there, and John the Baptist has got a jug in his hand? Yeah,
he reaches in the water and gets the jug of water and pours it on his
head. And that symbolizes burying? No, you don’t do that. You see?
It’s the devil behind it. The devil perverts everything, and if he can
pervert this, he’s happy. Yep.

	Philip was down there...come up out of the water...Phillip was caught
away by the Spirit; the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. 

29.	All right, notice, specifically, verse 35.

(35)	Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and
preached unto him Jesus.

(36)	And as they came to a certain… (The eunuch now was fully
convicted. He had repented. He had accepted the preaching of the Word on
Jesus.)...and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what hindered me
to...?

	Now, notice. Now I want you to get this please, because I’m going to
bring this stronger than ever. Philip, after preaching, must have
conveyed something to this man that the Holy Spirit used, and he said,
“here’s water. I’ve come this far, let me go another step.
What’s to stop me?”

30.	Now, there better be some kind of a dynamo moving in the people
toward water baptism, or something is wrong somewhere. Now, that’s
what I want to talk about. That’s what I wanted to get you as far as
we’ve gone. Now, I’m going to tell you that dynamo doesn’t move if
you have some mealy-mouthed preacher that denigrates it, [] denies it,
waters it, or misuses it. A person that started out in redemption will
have something that demands water baptism. I don’t care what anybody
says because this Bible proves it. 

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, why didn’t I have it?”

	Because you had a mealy-mouthed, itchy-eared preacher, who preached his
creeds and his dogmas for a salary. Let him be where I’ve been. I
didn’t even have too much truth back there. No guaranteed salary, no
nothing, except everybody wanted to get in your pocket and ride you to
death. 

31.	I want to tell you: with Christ you can stem the swelling tide and
cross over Jordan in full flood. You don’t have to have your stinking
creeds and your dogmas and associate yourself with the cult of Satan,
the church of the antichrist. There should be something so preached in
this Word, as the First Church Age men like this would say, “What
stops me from water?”

	God Almighty could reveal his Word; God reveals That. Oh, this great
Seven Seal mystery: this great this and this great church and this great
thing. Ah, take your lousy, rotten stuff and burn it because it is going
to burn. Let’s get down where the nitty-gritty is.

	God moving on a person, there should be this here. It should be in the
preacher, it should be in the people, it should be in the penitent ones
coming in. 

32.	All right. So, just as soon as he said, “Now, what was the
answer?” 

 	Why he said, “If you believe with all your heart, the answer of a
true conscience toward God. If you really believed that this one died
for sins. This is that one that fulfilled Scripture. This was that
Messiah. Do you understand that in Him the Gentiles trust? You don’t
even have to go that far. You go to the place where he is the only
sacrifice for sin; when you need help, He is the only One to give you
help.”

	And he said, “All right,” he said. “I’ll believe that he is the
Christ. I believe he the Son of God. I believe that’s the one that
should come into the world and die for sins. I see that’s the one in
Isaiah.” He said, “Now can I get baptized in water?”

	He said, “Absolutely.”

33.	Now then, for greater emphasis... Now here’s where we are coming
to: the greater emphasis. We’re all Scripture, Scripture, Scripture.
We go to Acts 10. As much as I don’t like to read whole scripture
passages, I’m going to read them. 

(1)	There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of
the band called the Italian band,

(2)	A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave
much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

(3)	He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an
angel of (the Lord) coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

(4)	And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it,
Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God.

(5)	And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is
Peter:

(6)	He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side:
and he’ll tell thee what you ought to do. 

 	There’s another roadmap. And people say God can’t tell you what to
do. Do you know why God can’t tell you? Because you’re not like
Peter and Cornelius. You’re not just busy sitting back, in the sense
of sitting back from the world and biding your time and doing the things
of God. 

 	See, this man here was trying to serve God. He was praying, and he was
giving alms, and he was thinking nice thoughts, and he got himself all
cooled down. He wasn’t all gung-ho. He just got himself nice and
quiet. And God slipped in the nice quiet time and tells him. 

34.	That’s what I keep telling you folks, if you ever get in neutral,
God will talk to you. If you never get in neutral, God will never talk
to you because you have too many...you know. You are trying to run too
many directions!

 	Some of you young people want to get married. The most important thing
for you to do is to get so quiet before God, you know that’s the
person for you. And when you both really know that’s the person for
you, you are as good as married. So therefore, you come to me, I’ll
have my license right away. I’ll marry you here in a few days Sure. It
won’t even cost you nothing. I don’t marry and bury for money. Some
people want to give me gifts sometimes, but I really don’t need it.
God never told me to do things like that. He told me to, you know, take
care of you. And if you’ve been prayed out, and you know who your wife
is, know who your husband is, you know... I won’t go into that any
further. I’m just telling you, it works the same way. You’ve got to
learn to get quiet. You learn to get neutral. 

 	If you ever get neutral, you can hear from God, just like a shotgun
shell went off. I know what I’m talking about. Some of the biggest
decisions in my life were absolutely made that way. When you know you
know. This old boy sitting here... Just get quiet. Learn to get quiet.
Don’t get gung-ho for anything but God. 

[Congregation member answers.]

	Huh! That was the way to put it. Almost missed that one myself.
That’s the answer! That’s the answer! Sure! I could preach a sermon
on that, but I hate to spoil a bad sermon now to get any worse.

35.	All right. He said, “What is it, Lord?” 

	Beautiful!

	He said, “Your prayers and alms go up for a memorial. I’ll send you
to Joppa. I’m going to give you a road map.” [Acts 10]

(7)	And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he
called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that
waited on him continually;

(8)	And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to
Joppa.

(9)	On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the
city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray… (Now here’s old Peter
praying, the centurion already done got through praying.)

(10)	And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they
(were going to get the meal) ready, he fell into a trance,

	A lot of people fall into sin. This fellow fell into a trance. When you
get messed around, you fall into sin. You pray to God, you fall into a
trance. That’s true. That can happen. I kid you not. That’s
beautiful.

36.	(11)	And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto
him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down
to the earth:

(12)	Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild
beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

(13)	And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

(14)	(And he)  said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that
is common or unclean. (In my whole life.)

(15)	And the voice said, What God has cleansed, (don’t you dare call)
common.

(16)	This was done (three times): and the vessel was received up again
into heaven.

(17)	Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had
seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had
made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,

(18)	And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were
lodged there.

(19)	While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him,
Behold, three men seek thee.

(20)	Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting
nothing: for I have sent them.

(21)	Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from
Cornelius; and (he) said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the
cause wherefore ye are come?

(22)	And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that
feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was
warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee unto his house, and to
hear words of thee.

(23)	Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter
went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
(Took a nice little group down to hold a baptism service.)

(24)	And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius
waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and (his) near
friends. 

	Now, they have a real group; they are going to have a good time right
now. You can see that coming up.

37.	(25)	And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at
his feet, and worshipped him.

(26)	But Peter took him up, saying, (Now) stand up; I myself also am a
man. (Just like you are. Don’t do that.)

(27)	And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were
come together.

(28)	And he said..., Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man
that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but
God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
(See, the blood of Christ is very effective.)

(29)	Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, (Or arguing the
point.) as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye
have sent for me?

(30)	And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour;
and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood
before me in bright clothing,

(31)	And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in
remembrance in the sight of God.

(32)	Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is
Peter; (that) he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea
side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. 

	Now, that’s the whole purpose of this. Peter has to preach.

38.	(33)	Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast done well
that thou art come. (It is wonderful, your presence amoungst us.) Now
therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that
are commanded thee of God.

	Now, he said, “God told me to bring you here; so therefore, you must
have something from God for me.” 

	So, he said, “Get moving!” Now, he said, “That’s what it is all
about. There’s no more time to chatter; just, this is it. Talk!”

(34)	Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, (That’s one time, open
your mouth.) Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

(35)	But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted with him.

(36)	The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

(37)	That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all
Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

	Now notice, he capitalizes on the history which they already can begin
to build from. See? He said, “I’m going to settle this question
about this one called Jesus.”

39.	(37)	That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all
Judaea, (verse 37) and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John
preached;

(38)	How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of
the devil; for God was with him.

(39)	And we are witnesses of all (these) things which he did both in the
land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

(40)	Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; (That’s
in the resurrection.)

(41)	Not to all the people, (and) unto witnesses chosen before of God,
even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 

	Now, a spirit doesn’t eat and drink. See? That’s why all the idols
leave food untouched. Jesus came and ate it, see?

40.	(42)	And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify
that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of (the) quick
and dead.

(43)	To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall (have) receive remission of sins.

	Now, notice; the preaching is believing in him, and you get remission
at that point.

(44)	While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word.

(45)	And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as
many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured
out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

(46)	For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then
answered Peter,

(47)	Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

(48)	And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then
they prayed they him to tarry certain days.

 	Now, you will notice in here, verses 1-33 was the setting. There is
the setting right there. How did it occur? How did Peter get there to
preach? All right. Here is the preacher there to preach. 

41.	Now, Peter opens his mouth. Now, verse 34...and he preaches through
to verse 43. And from 44-46a, you will find out there what actually
happened. The Holy Ghost came upon them because Peter had preached the
Word of Faith. And the Word of Faith brought the Holy Spirit, which
it’s supposed to do. Now, you notice, water had not taken place. So,
water is not the conveyer of a grace, but then he said, “Who can
forbid it?” So, you’ve got to have it. So, no man can turn it down. 

 	Now, it should have been in between. But evidently there was no way
God could do this. In order to bring the truth of the revelation of the
seed of Abraham being among the Gentiles, so He did it His Own way. Then
Peter, right away knowing that believing brings water baptism, and water
baptism, having believed, signifies that God will answer back to you
because you answered back to God--publicly... See? So, God lets them be
full of the Holy Ghost. 

42.	Now, notice again, [verse] 46b, said here:

(46b)	Then answered Peter,

(47)	Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

(48)	And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord…

 	So, the beautiful thing is: can any man forbid water? So therefore,
water must never be forbidden. It can not only not be forbidden, it is
commanded. God doesn’t deal with foolish things, and leave foolish
scripture in the way, as though we can take It one way and then another
way, as though there’s not a set perfect way. See, the church got away
from it. 

 	The Roman Catholic church itself has the records, and I have seen part
of those records through Time magazine, that in the first century the
Roman Catholic Church baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
then made up its own baptism. And from that time on everybody’s gone
astray, which is a pitiful, pitiful thing, because if you destroy one
thing, you’ll notice you’ll destroy another. And Peter did not
destroy; he held to it.

	He could have said, “Well hey, what is all this? The Gentiles really
don’t need the water. Ha! Well, we’ll just skip this.”

	Now, it wasn’t a vehicle of grace; it was a witness. It always was.
That is what John says, “See, when this one comes to the water, God
says that’s the witness.”

43.	Now, let’s elucidate. Verse 47, “Who can forbid water?” And
we’re going to get that perfectly from Acts 11. Now, we’re going to
read a bunch more, to verse 17. There’s a lot of reading, but I’m
sorry about that. We’re just going to... If I take too long, we’ll
just close, and we’ll finish it Tuesday. I’ll have to preach anther
message Sunday, which doesn’t bother me one little bit. We’ll just
continue to get everything we can get in here. [Acts 11]

(1)	And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the
Gentiles had also received the word of God. 

 	Now, It didn’t say they heard they ‘received the Holy Ghost’. It
said, ‘received the Word of God’. Now, they knew they had to receive
the Word of God to get the Holy Ghost. They knew they had the Holy Ghost
to receive the Word of God, for the promise is unto you.  The
manifestation is the interpretation. See, to you first, then to the
Gentiles...there in Jerusalem, Judah, Judea, Samaria, uttermost parts,
for the promise is unto you: Jews, your children: Jews, and to all that
are afar off: Gentiles. Now there it is, here is your interpretation
because here is the manifestation:

(2)	And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the
circumcision contended with him,

(3)	Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and did eat with them.

 	Now, a lot of people right today they get very unhappy because...
There’s a big argument now: is He here, or is He not here? And of
course, those who say He’s not here expect us to shut up and not to
contend. Well, I’m a contender. I don’t understand these guys. They
want you to shut up while they run around yelling. 

44.	I just got word from a phone call in Norway that a man over there
has sent word out that on a certain tape in Beaumont that I said a
certain thing, which I didn’t say. Now, either the guy does not
understand English, or else he is a bare-faced liar. So, don’t think
we are not going to have trouble. There’s geezers in here that gave
trouble. Let’s understand it.

 	A lot of people think, you know, that salvation is a pool being prayed
by the holy angels. Well, I’ve got news for you: there are a bunch of
dirty angels, and they play dirty pool. Pardon my language, but that’s
the way I talk. Oh, I could talk much sweeter. Fap! What’s it going to
get you? Gets you a reputation of being nice. That’s one thing I will
not tolerate. I’m known as a troll already, so I can take care of the
goats who want to go across the bridge.

45.	... Well, they said, “Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and
didst eat with them. What a terrible thing!”

	Ah, Peter, he just kept his cool.

(4)	(He just) rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it
by order unto them, saying,

(5)	I was in the city of Joppa praying: (Good old Peter, he’s pretty
cool at this point. He didn’t used to be this cool.) and in a trance I
saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet,
let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me...

 	Now, you see, they had visions, too. Now, if they had said, “Well,
Peter, you didn’t have the vision,” they would have cut their own
throat because It said your old man will see dreams, your young men will
have visions. And so, they had visions, too. Like Agibus could prophesy,
these fellows were really alive with the things of the Spirit, and boy,
they were moving in high gear. Let me tell you, they didn’t have one
of those gears... What’s the floating gear called, that puts the car
in cruise? They had a passing gear, and when you jammed down, that thing
roared, boy! You bet. They were in passing gear in the Gospel. That’s
right. I kid you not. This was the age of the Lion roaring. You didn’t
have a bunch of namby-pambies here!

46.	Why, he said, “I had this vision:”

(6)	Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw
fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things,
and the fowls of the air.

(7)	And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.

(8)	But I said, (hold it), Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at
any time entered into my mouth.

(9)	But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed,
(don’t you call that) common.

	Now, you see, he had them right over the barrel. See, the vision is
running true to the Word.

(10)	And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into
heaven. (Where it came from.)

(11)	And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the
house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.

(12)	And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover
these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s
house: (that’s Cornelius’s house.)

(13)	And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood
and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname
is Peter; (and these men will tell you that’s the truth.)

(14)	Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and...thy house shall be
saved.

(15)	And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at
the beginning.

(16)	Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how...he said, John indeed
baptized with water; but (you’ll) be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

 	How come he didn’t remember that at Pentecost, at his own baptism?
He didn’t. He didn’t! I’m sorry about that, but I’ve got to
disillusion you nice people, and you are so nice you know, and I’m so
cruddy. It’s hard to disillusion you that Peter only woke up to what
Jesus said later on. But I’m very happy to tell you: if you and I
should wake up later on, thank God we woke up. 

	And Peter didn’t say, “Well, you know, I’ve very embarrassed,
people; so therefore, this can not be a real true revelation or a true
vision, because you see, I should have known back there, and when I
didn’t know back there, this can not be right.”

	It was like new truth to this fellow. The Word was like a new truth. 

47.	Do you love the Lord? That’s fine. Just don’t love me; just love
the Lord. I can be pretty nasty up here. I won’t be nasty to you. You
know my way of preaching. Look:

(16)	Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John
indeed baptized with water; but (you’ll) be baptized with the Holy
Ghost.

 	He said, “I even remembered my promise.” Look; anybody being
filled with the Holy Ghost in a church moving on with God does something
to everybody there, even though he has already been there. It awakens in
him a greater revelation. Every water baptism ought to do something to
us vicariously.

(17)	Forasmuch then as God gave (unto) them the like gift as he did unto
us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could
withstand God?

	Well, he couldn’t say, “Dear hearts and gentle people, we have boo
booed. Now Cornelius, I’m sorry. Gee, son you just don’t know how
sorry I am. I know you are a wonderful fellow, and look, I know it.
Look, I can’t deny what has been going on, but you know, we’ve got
to put a stop to this.”

	He said, “Who was I to withstand God? He said, “When I saw this
Scripture and It dawned on me...” (not at the time I was born again,
but the time this fellow was born again), he said, “I saw it! I saw
it!”

48. 	Why are people so afraid of seeing things? I never saw serpent seed
until I got kicked in the teeth by a prophet called William Branham. I
never saw the baptism of the Holy Ghost until he took my head off,
screwed it around several times to get it off, then screwed it on
several times to get it back on again. I don’t feel bad about that; I
feel great. Thank God I’m learning. It shows I can’t be too stupid. 

	Well, that’s up for question. I’m not going to argue the point.
I’m happy the way I am; you be happy the way you are. You don’t
think I don’t got it; I don’t think you don’t got it. Let’s face
it, it’s up to God. It’s up to our own personal gifts.

49.	Now, he said, “Who am I to withstand God?” He said, “Bring on
the water!”

	Now, let’s get it. See, I’m not making this up. I’m telling you
what the Bible said. What the thing is, brother/sister, until it begins
to dawn on you of a reality here, and a pertinency, (See?) what are you
going to do but sit around in your old frame of mind, “Well, ah, well,
well, well...”

	What if I suddenly said, “Cheesecake!”

	You say, “What kind? Cherry, strawberry, chocolate?” 

	“Huh, what you got?”

	Ah-huh! I’ve got you right where I want you. Shame on you! And shame
on me, but that’s the truth. That is the truth. There is a vitality,
my brother, in this age that was in the first age, and don’t you
believe otherwise, or there is something wrong somewhere. 

 	That’s why they hate this understanding of the Presence, because it
is taking young men and revolutionizing their lives and setting them on
fire. And it doesn’t set them on fire to say see how nice we are, and
see how nice our church is, and we have confessed our sins, and we have
done this, and hallelujah we are so nice. They scream about Jesus like
eagles screaming back! It’s a reality.

	It’s kind of like Bro. Branham saying, “Here, why aren’t we
prostrated on our faces before…?...?”

	“Oh, I’m a nice guy! ...?... Like chickens and turkeys.”

	Ah! Strike that off the record! I told you I wasn’t nice. And I done
proved the point and spoiled the whole thing!

50.	... Yeah, he said, “What was I to withstand God?”

	William Branham came on the scene. Jesus came on the scene. Paul came
on the scene. Great men of God all come on the scene, and they all try
to withstand God. I want to tell you, men that are really called of God
never try to withstand God. Gamaliel stood there and said, “Hold it,
hold it, hold it.” He said, “Just leave it. If it’s not of God, it
will die, and if it is of God, it will come back and get you.”

 	If William Branham was that prophet of God, this earth will be at the
Great Tribulation, and the people who defied him will die the death
which is not common to men. It will be by universal fire--the judgments
and plagues which are not common. It will be called, as the insurance
companies call it, an act of God. Yeah. Truth!

	All right. We see that there. Now, we are not through yet, because we
are just getting to where we want to go. It’s only one o’clock.
Nobody’s in a rush except me, and I’m very relaxed!

51.	So, we go to Acts 15:1-6.

(1)	And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and
said, Except (you) be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot
be saved.

 	Now, that’s not what Jesus said. He said, ‘Preach and believe, and
you get saved.’ And you get baptized in water, not circumcised. Now,
water baptism can be a type of circumcision, which very nicely we can
talk about. Sure. Circumcision is certainly not the Holy Ghost. It’s
only a type. It was a sign in the flesh. The sign in the flesh now is
the Holy Ghost in you, the hope of glory. Now:

(2)	(And) when...Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and
disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and
certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and
elders about the question.

(3)	And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they
caused great joy unto all the brethren.

(4)	And when they were come to Jerusalem,... 

	Let’s go to Jeffersonville or Tucson or somewhere. When they were
come to Jeffersonville, they were...no, Jerusalem...

	...they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders,
and they declared all things that God had done with them.

(5)	But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed,...

	Now, there’s a bunch of Pentecostals of this hour who came out of
Pentecost, but Pentecost didn’t come out of them. So, they’re going
to have you no matter how they get you. They are going to tell you all
kinds of things to hold you in subjection and bondage. So, if you
don’t end up with all your salary shot, it’s most of it. Hey,
that’s a nice thought. Then I could say more things, but then, I’d
be nasty. 

52.	All right. Let’s just keep reading. It said here:

(5)	But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command
them to keep the law of Moses.

	See? What good did it do them? It just killed Christ by doing it.

(6)	And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this
matter.

(7)	And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto
them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made
choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of
the gospel, and believe.

 	Now, I want you to notice something here. Every one of these people,
no doubt, were full of the Holy Ghost, but wholly fallible. So, how much
do you know just because you are baptized with the Holy Ghost, unless
God sets apart a ministry that really knows for you?

53.	That’s why I said a while ago, this fellow with this brain of his
that’s thoroughly incapacitated by the enemy, and his tongue was used
by the devil, said, “The Word does not need restoring,” as though we
really have it! Why does he pick up different versions? Why does he go
to the Greek? Why does he do a lot of things?  [Blank spot on tape...]
Right here! That whole bunch of people, that no doubt they baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Ghost and talked
with tongues. Stood right there and argued, “Let’s go back to the
law.”

 	Well, I’m going to tell you something: the Holy Ghost didn’t let
them down. He said, “Somebody knows the answer, so you guys don’t.
Let’s get the guys who know the answer. That’s the truth. A
messenger in every age hath the Word for the hour. Don’t think God
lets you down. Whole bunch stood up, arguing and fussing. 

54.	(7)	…Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know
how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by
my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

(8)	And God, which knoweth the hearts...

 	Not the male sex organs! Yes. He doesn’t look at your primary sex
organs or something else. It’s hearts. You could be like Brother
Branham said, dying, “Oh God, I never committed adultery.” So you
didn’t commit adultery; well, go and do it, because you are going to
hell anyway.

	Later on William Branham could sing:

Nothing in my hands I bring, 

Simply to Thy cross I cling.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 

Let me hide myself in Thee....

On Christ the solid Rock I stand...

 	These bunch of birds standing, “You better be circumcised!”
There’s neither male nor female on Christ and no woman should ever be
circumcised. What utterly ridiculous, filthy, adulterous, clap-trap,
hogwash, and balderdash. 

55.	“God, which knoweth the hearts.” That’s what he said:

(8)	And God, (knew) the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy
Ghost, even as he did unto us;

(9)	And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by
faith.

 	And that’s what we are talking about. When a man truly is
regenerated, justified by the Blood of Jesus Christ and knows he is
forgiven, and goes into that water, that is the witness unto God,
that’s a conscience void of offence toward God. Your sins are washed
away by the Blood. You claim it, and God, knowing your heart, gives you
the Holy Ghost. That’s why Simon couldn’t get anywhere. God knew the
heart. God dealing with the heart doesn’t say just Word; he said
water. Then stand back. Then he said, “Let’s see where it goes.”
Sure.

56.	So, we look at it. Hurry. Chapter 15. That’s right. Verses 1-6 was
the setting; verses 7-9 was the baptism with the Holy Ghost: answers
back to the circumcision of the heart, not the circumcision of organs.

 	So we see that water baptism is on the part of the candidate, for
eternal life. That is, we see what it is on the part of the candidate
concerning eternal life. It is his answer to God. It is his witness to
God before Him. See, you’re dealing with eternal life. You’re
dealing with the things of God. What has it got to do with it? It is his
answer toward God. It is his witness before men. 

57.	All right. Since this is so, we better know what the correct witness
is to begin with. It is the witness to what has been heard through
someone’s preaching. That is exactly what It says in Mk 16:15-16.

(15)	And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel…

(16)	He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ...

	See? That is what God said here. Jesus said in his resurrection, “Go
into all the world and preach the Gospel.” Exactly!

	That brings us to Rom 10:17. And It says:

(17)	So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 	A man is justified by faith, declared perfectly righteous on no other
grounds than faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Lord, for
remission of sin. In other words, he stands there as that vessel. God
says He justifies the sinner, calls him righteous. That is that step.
Then water baptism is the witness. Then God answers back by proving his
righteousness, which is filling him with the Holy Ghost. 

58.	Now, we’d be here a long time yet, but I’m going to let you go.
So, we come to the place, thoroughly seen what we have looked into,
concerning water baptism. In the realm of the Spirit, convicting even a
sinner, there is the consciousness of the necessity of water baptism. In
other words, it is though that something began to churn within him. 

	“What can I do, what is there to show what I have laid a hold of
because of what has laid a hold of me?”

 	Well you know the great cry is for the Holy Spirit. So, water baptism
is, first of all, the answer and every church must preach it and
practice it right to the hilt. So therefore, the gospel of repentance
must always be preached to every creature under heaven. That’s what It
says: to every one. 

 	And every one must be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and if your baptism is in Jesus’ Name only, you have a wrong baptism.
If your baptism is in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, you
still have a wrong baptism. If you even doubt your baptism, though it
has been correctly done, because it was in a wrong church, or you had
wrong ideas, or you’re fearful, Brother Branham said you stop exactly
where your faith stopped, then get baptized over again, though I don’t
like to see people baptized over and over again, until you have a
conveyer belt line. 

	You might as well put it in church, and everybody today jump on and
swoosh, run you through the car wash. Not even the car wash. It’s
ridiculous. 

59.	I’m not here to preach a water baptism...a water baptism...a water
baptism, like a cracked gramophone record. I’m here to tell you what
the truth is, and when you come to the truth, and you come to the place
where you are baptized unto the truth, that’s done it! For years I
thought an answer of a good conscience toward God eliminated everything
else. I said, “Who needs to be rebaptized? Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
what is the difference?”

	But there was a difference, the prophet said, “Thus Saith the
Lord,” there was. So, I got rebaptized. I did it. Now, I can look back
and say “Well, I was in quite a frame of mind. I didn’t understand
the Seals as I do today. Hopefully understand right. I didn’t
understand this; I didn’t understand that”

 	I could go back and get baptized and baptized until the day I drop
dead, waste all my time and somebody else’s time. Forget it! You’ve
been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, understanding that
is it. You’ve been filled with the Holy Ghost. What more do you want?
That’s the scripture. Are you going to try to add? Or are you going to
try to take away? It won’t work!

 	So, the answer, you see, of that good conscience toward God: the Word
of the Hour comes, Christ died for the sinners. This is that One we were
looking for. This is that One spoken of. A man convicted, he comes under
repentance. He said, “I want that, that’s mine! Oh God!”

	You’ve come right to the place of water baptism. Why? Because
you’ve heard the Word and you believe. And the next step is God will
fill you with the Holy Ghost. See? That’s the idea.

60.	All right. I’m not going to take any further. I’m going to stop
right here on this verse. We’ll recap on Tuesday and finish it off. We
just take this step-by-step through the Gospel to see these things and
hopefully add a few more notes to bring you to the end of the hour.
It’s just...I’ve only got four pages out of nine. We are just going
to let it go at that. All the Scripture time, but I trust you understand
a little better now, and you’re a little more aware of...

	Your zeal for the word of God, brother/sister, is not something
measured where you have some little Gallop poll, or some little
thermometer, or better still, some indicator, and you say this truth in
the Bible squeezed, oh, that’s a red thirty degrees hot. But you say,
“That’s very good. But I want you to know, I like this something
better,” so you give it a bigger squeeze, and you say “Hey, that’s
sixty degrees hot.” But you see, there’s a third subject I like
better still, so I gave it a harder squeeze, and you say, “Hey.” 

	Now, let’s pretend this is Celsius, because I’m getting tired of
Fahrenheit. It will take me too long to get there. Now we are up to
ninety degrees, which is almost boiling. And somebody else comes along
and he said there’s nothing like sovereignty--squeeze and knocks the
end of the thermometer clean out. Huh?

 	No! It’s all the Word of God. I’m so glad that I could come under
conviction hearing the Word. I’ve very, very glad. I’m very, very
glad they pointed me to something else. I’m not glad they pointed me
wrong and got me all confused, but hey! Yeah, I was one of those guys
who really needs to be baptized in water. 

61.	The Gentiles got the Holy Ghost first before they got water, so
I’ll get the Holy Ghost first, then I’ll get water. And boy, did
that set me back! I wasn’t baptized with the Holy Ghost for years
later. And then they said, “Hey, I’ve got to get baptized in
water!”

	I’m going to tell you what did it. Wrong teaching! If you get
somebody preaching to the people and say, “Hey, the minute that you go
in that water, you’re born again,” you watch what happens. Give that
person his room. They’ll get to speaking in tongues. What does it
mean? Nothing. Witnesses all around the country how people speak in
tongues go into abject sin from that point on. Didn’t even get an
anointing evidently.

	Look; the Bible is clear. Repent, through preaching. Receive It of Whom
It is preached, that He is your savior. Be baptized in water as a
witness, and you will receive the Holy Ghost. 

	Oh, you say, “It’s too simple!”

	Yeah, it was too simple for Eve, too. The devil came on and said,
“Now ha ha, hold it, hold it, hold it,” he said, as though the
mystery lies here. “I’ll tell you a few things to add to it.” 

	Ruined the whole thing! It was too simple! It was too simple for Adam,
to just be co-regulator under God, the headship. And the animals come by
and name them all. Ha!

62.	How many of you people like biology? How about I you name two
hundred animals right now in a row. Zoology, better still. What’s the
difference? We are not in the zoo anyway, but something like that. How
many know the names of what, forty butterflies? There’s only what?
about a half million! Huh? Adam, just be there and God just breathed
through you! It was too simple, he had to mess it up. And they’ve been
doing it all these years, just messing it up! 

	In the day of Pentecost, Peter said, “Hey,” he said, “Man,” he
said, “these fellows received the Holy Ghost, who can forbid water?”

	And Phillip is preaching to a man in a chariot, telling them as
they’re going down the road, he said, “That’s wonderful! I believe
that. Can I be baptized in water now?”

	“Well,” he said, “if you believe with all your heart.”

	“Sure,” he said, “Come on, let’s go down there right now.”

	[End of tape]