BEYOND JORDAN

by Bill Britton

[A note from Gary Amirault, Tentmaker site owner, on this article: I believe God gave Bill Britton some insight into God's plans and purposes. But we all prophesy in part and see in part. In the article "Beyond Jordan," Bill writes that speaking in tongues is the evidence for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I do NOT believe this is true nor do I believe it lines up with Scriptures. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way." 1 Cor. 12:28-31

It should be obvious to the reader that if not all are apostles or prophets or work miracles, etc., then not all should speak in tongues. While I believe it is unscriptural to deny that the gift of tongues is for the modern church, it is equally unscriptural to state one must speak in tongues if they have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe the gift of tongues (one of the lesser gifts) has been one of the most abused and misused gifts in the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements having caused much unnecessary strife. I did not feel at liberty to make the correction in Bill's writings through editing, but I felt the error was serious enough that I had to make a comment. I urge the reader not to throw out the baby with the bathwater because of this error. There are some good foundational truths contained in this article.]

BEYOND JORDAN

The four people walked down the street together, all members of the same family, yet widely separated spiritually. For though they all lived in the same house, and had a natural affection for one another, yet they represented four different classes of church people. One was a Modernist, and had no born-again experience, one was a Fundamentalist, the third was Pentecostal, and the other... Well, I'll tell you about him later.

Things are said or written sometimes that are hard to receive, and we must be very careful that we do not rebel against the words of God. As the psalmist said: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wondrous works to the children of men! For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron... BECAUSE they rebelled against the words of God and contemned the counsel of the most High." (Psalms 107:8-11).

THE MODERNIST

Frances believed in going to church. She belonged to a fashionable church with a beautiful sanctuary, pipe organ, and robed choir. It was the socially accepted thing to do, to be at one of the two services held on Sunday morning. Their minister was suave, dignified, held two doctors degrees, and was well read on current world problems. Frances believed that you could be a better person by going to church and by reading the Gospels. She believed that you could be a better member of society, a better citizen. She believed that everyone should go to church, and should join the church of their choice. But she DID NOT believe in a born-again experience. She did not believe that you could know, this side of heaven, whether you were really saved or not. You just have to wait until the Judgment day, and then when the angels weigh your bad deeds against the good ones, you'll find out whether you made it in or not. But she did not believe in present day experience with God, a "know-so" salvation. That is the modernist point-of view. Return to top

THE FUNDAMENTALIST

George was a born-again Christian and glad of it. He had an experience with God, and he knew it. He well remembered the night, when as a sinner he had come to God and repented. All his sins were washed away, and he had entered a new life. It had been different ever since. Oh, he had been a member of a church and had a good head knowledge of the Bible and religion. But he had never really been saved before. He knew now that you don't just grow up in a church, get baptized and confirmed at the proper ages, and hope your way to heaven. George knew that it took a real experience with God, and he was one that knew you could have one. And though man accepts God's blessings, he knew that this experience was not generated from man's side. It was an operation of the Holy Spirit, a sovereign act of God. George had this experience of the new birth. He was a Fundamentalist. Return to top

THE PENTECOSTAL

Marie was Pentecostal. By that I mean that she not only was saved and had the born-again experience, but she had a second experience called the Baptism in the Holy Ghost. Now the fundamentalist doesn't believe in a second experience. They believe in one definite experience with God, they'll fight for that truth. But when you begin to talk about another experience with God, and speaking in tongues, then you're off the "deep end", in bad error. One experience, they say, is enough to get to heaven. You should just try to get people saved, they tell you, and forget this tongues business.

But the Pentecostals believe in a second experience. A definite experience with God. Do they have Bible for it? Oh, yes, they say ... don't you know that Passover Feast, a type of salvation, is not the only feast? The second feast, the Feast of Pentecost, is a type of this second experience! It's right there in the Bible. You become "filled with the Spirit" through meeting God and accepting a sovereign act of the Holy Spirit. You don't just read the Bible, pray an hour, pay your tithes and attend church and grow in grace until you are finally "filled with the Spirit". Every Christian, Pentecostal or not, should grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. But you don't just grow and grow and get larger and larger until you have the Baptism of the Spirit. Sometimes teenage new converts and white- haired denominational preachers have gone to the altar together and come up speaking in tongues. It is a definite experience, available to all who will receive it.

In my own experience, I was a member of a church for six years without a born-again experience. Then I was saved from sin, really saved, and I knew it. It changed my life, I was a new person, released from the power of sin. I testified of it in street services, jail services, preached in youth meetings and brush arbors, etc. I was really saved for five years before I received the second experience of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. I loved the Lord, and I knew that I was saved. But I didn't have the anointing of the Spirit. When this came, this second experience, I was there. I knew I had received something new in my life. It changed my life. I was never the same again. I had a new anointing, a new and glorious touch of God. I appreciate the five years that I knew and served the Lord before I received the infilling of the Spirit. But when the Holy Spirit took control of this vessel more than twenty-five years ago, there was a great change that took place. And the glory is getting greater and sweeter all the time! Praise His Name!

Now the Pentecostals will fight for this truth, and they will declare to you that you can have a second experience with God. They know that it has to be a definite experience, and that you don't just "grow into it". BUT, the strange thing is, they will NOT accept anything beyond that. Even though the Pentecostal theologians know that the Baptism in the Spirit is only the "earnest" of our inheritance, and the "first fruits" of the Spirit, yet they cannot see that there would be anything else for us to receive. A THIRD experience? Another step in God? Another realm in the Spirit? Oh, that has to be error, they say. You must be going "off the deep end". (Where have we heard that before?) Can we actually meet with God a third time? Is there a typical Feast beyond Passover and Pentecost? Let us look into the Word of God and see ....
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THE THIRD EXPERIENCE

Our Lord Jesus Christ has to be the hub and center of all our theology and all our experiences in God. On this foundation we build all great revelation. I'm not just trying to build a new doctrine, or a new theology. I want to show you in the Word an experience in God that was prophesied in the Law and the Prophets many centuries ago.

In II Corinthians 4:5 we read: "For we preach not ourselves, but CHRIST JESUS the LORD. " In the Amplified New Testament it says we preach "JESUS CHRIST as LORD". It is these three words that crystallized to me the truth of this third step in God.

That word JESUS means savior. That is the meaning of the Greek word, and also of its Hebrew equivalent, JOSHUA. We read in Matthew l:21 "Thou shalt call His name JESUS, for he shall SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. " That name reminds us of an experience which we have received called Justification, Regeneration, Salvation, New Birth, or whatever term you have for it. We don't just grow up in a Christian home and automatically have it, but He saves us because He is JESUS!

In Acts 10:38 we read: "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. " This Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Anointed One. "CHRIST" means "ANOINTED" in the Greek, and it speaks to me of another experience and brought me into a new realm in God. Oh, I had been growing in God for the 5 years I had been truly saved. I didn't just sit down and say, "Well now that I'm saved, I guess there's nothing else for me to do until I get another experience". Oh no. You grow in God, in your salvation experience. You learn to pray, to give, to suffer for Christ, and more. There's a growing in the Spirit, and a bearing of the fruit of the Spirit. But when you take another step in God, and receive another experience in God, you face an entirely new realm in God, with entirely new possibilities you never had before. Now that doesn't mean that it's all over. Some say "Well, thank God, I've finally got "it", and talked in tongues, now I guess they will leave me alone for awhile and I can rest as far as religion is concerned. " But they have missed the point and purpose of the experience. I found that when I received the infilling of the Spirit, it was no place to sit down. It was the beginning into a new realm of the Spirit. But what about another step? Another experience in God to bring us to another complete realm in the Spirit that we have never walked in before? Is this scriptural? Let us look.... Return to top

THE THREE FEASTS

All those glorious truths that unfold to us in the New Testament have their roots in the soil of Old Testament types and shadows. One of the most clear and conclusive proofs of the three realms of the Spirit is found in the types of the feasts of Israel. These are given in Leviticus chapter 23.

First I want to read Deuteronomy 16:16 "THREE TIMES IN A YEAR shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; IN THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD (that's the Passover), and in the FEAST OF WEEKS (that's Pentecost), and in the FEAST OF TABERNACLES." Notice now, that THREE TIMES they meet with God. Not twice on earth and once in eternity. But three times in the realm of time, within the year. Modernists do not believe in meeting Him at all here, in an experience with God. However, the Fundamentalists stand up for meeting with God ... once. Not three times, just once. But the Pentecostals say:

"No, it's twice in the year, don't leave out the Feast of Pentecost". But the Bible says "THREE TIMES in a year". Which one will you leave out? If the first two feasts are types of experiences in God of Salvation and the Baptism in the Spirit, then why not believe for and accept the THIRD thing that God is about to do in the earth in these closing days of this age?
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PASSOVER

Chapter 23 of Leviticus deals with these three feasts in detail. Let me just briefly mention the feast of Passover, and what it stands for. In I Corinthians 5:7 it says: "For Christ OUR PASSOVER is sacrificed for us." And in John 1:29.. "And John seeth Jesus and said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Now, it is very definitely established that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, fulfilled that Feast of Passover on Calvary, and that each of us individually has to come to the place in God to receive an experience relating to this Passover feast. You MUST be born again. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby ye MUST be saved., There MUST come an experience in God relating to this Passover feast. You go no further in God until you come to this. You don't come to the second experience until you've had the first one. You don't get filled with the Holy Ghost until you get to Passover first. The blood of this Lamb is sprinkled on the doorposts of each individual house, but it is not taken beyond the Veil into the Holy of Holies or put on the Mercy seat. God deals with this part of the sin question at a later date. I trust this speaks to your heart. Return to top

PENTECOST

This is a NEW meat offering. This means a "meal" offering, and does not involve the shedding of blood. Two wave loaves are baked. It is not a carry-over from Passover. It is not a continuation of the previous feast. You don't save portions of the Passover lamb to eat on the day of Pentecost. This was a complete feast (experience) in itself.

We find the fulfillment of this feast in the Early Church in the 2nd chapter of Acts. Nearly all Bible scholars will agree to this, even if they don't believe this is for us today. As Calvary was a fulfillment of Passover, so Acts 2:4 was the fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. This was the earnest of our inheritance. It was not the FULLNESS', nor the completeness of God's plan. But it was the firstfruits, and was given as a WITNESS. (Acts 1:8, 5:32).

"For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also WHICH HAVE THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE SPIRIT." (Romans 8:23) We groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption. Does he say we who have tasted of the Passover and are saved? No, "we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit!' He is speaking of the Feast of firstfruits, Pentecost, which the saints back there had received. He said they were groaning, waiting for something else ... the Adoption, the placing as a full grown son.

"Now He which established you with us in Christ, which HATH ANOINTED us, is God who HATH SEALED US and given the EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT in our hearts." (II Corinthians 1:22) The earnest. Now an earnest is a foretaste. It's not the entire inheritance. In the 13th chapter of Numbers when the 12 spies went in to spy out the land, it says "It was the time of the first ripe grapes". So what they brought back as proof of the goodness of the promised land was the firstfruits. They were not expected to be satisfied to live forever on that firstfruits, but it was a taste and a witness of what was in the land of their inheritance. God expected them to go in and possess the FULLNESS. Some refused because of their unbelief, and they died in the wilderness without ever seeing the full inheritance, but someone finally had faith and obedience enough to go in and possess their possessions.

"In whom you also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye WERE SEALED with that HOLY SPIRIT of promise which is the EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE until the redemption of the purchased possession." (Ephesians 1:13‹14). After they believed, they were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Earnest of our inheritance. "Until" speaks of the time when we no longer have to live on the earnest or firstfruits. You see, the point the scripture is making is that the experience we have received called the Baptism in the Spirit is the firstfruits or earnest of our inheritance, and is to seal us and keep us until the unveiling of the FULLNESS of the Spirit in us. It is a foretaste of what God has in store for us here on this earth, in the realm of time. Return to top

WHEN IS THE INHERITANCE REVEALED?

"But WHEN that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." (I Corinthians 13:10). The context shows here that he is speaking about the gifts of the Spirit. Prophecy, tongues, word of knowledge. He is not talking about the Scripture in part, but he speaks about the gifts that operate in the part realm. So that which is perfect is not the establishment of the canon of scripture, as some claim, but it is the perfect operation of the FULLNESS of the Spirit. The gifts as we know them now are a "part" of that operation, but only operate in part. But when is that "WHEN" going to come to pass? When does the fullness come? The Apostle Peter gives us the answer:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, TO AN INHERITANCE incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME." (I Peter 1:3-5).

Now notice, friends, that he is speaking here of the Inheritance. Not the firstfruits or the earnest. This came to the early church. They already had that. But they were still looking forward to receiving the inheritance. And I don't mean a gold mansion in the sky, but the inheritance is the fullness of what the earnest was a foretaste of! Glory to God!

Peter goes on to say in verse 13 that something is to be brought to us at the "revelation" (appearing) of Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean that you are going to be translated to something somewhere in the sky, but it is coming to you. When? At the revelation, or appearing of Jesus Christ. There is something to be brought to us. I want to read Hebrews 9 :28 out of the Amplified New Testament:

"Even so it is that Christ having been offered to take upon himself and bear as a burden for the sins of many, once and once for all, will appear the second time, not carrying any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, BUT TO BRING TO FULL SALVATION those who are eagerly, constantly, and patiently waiting for and expecting Him". Yes, praise God, He's coming, and at His coming. He will bring us to full salvation, to our full inheritance! I Thessalonians 5;9 says: "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation (full salvation) by our Lord Jesus Christ."

So we have another feast here. FEAST OF TABERNACLES. We are not dealing with doctrines here, but we are dealing with experiences in God. The Modernist would tell you that the Feast of Passover has nothing to do with the experience of salvation. But I can tell you on the authority of God's Word that this feast is a type of our experience of the new birth, or justification. The Fundamentalist would say, "That's true, but the Feast of Pentecost has nothing to do with a further experience." Then the Pentecostal leaps into the picture with a shout that the second feast certainly IS a type of a present day experience available to us, and they speak in tongues to prove it. But they go right on to say that the third feast of Tabernacles has nothing to do with any further experience or realm in God. When are we going to learn? How dumb can we be, trying to fight off God's gracious blessings? God help us not to be deceived again.
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THE THREE VEILS

The Bible gives us many other pictures and types of this great truth in addition to the three feasts of Israel. One beautiful type is found in the Tabernacle. At the bottom of the inside cover of this book is a chart or diagram of this Tabernacle. Of course, whole books could be written about the many spiritual truths found in this. Old Testament pattern, but I want to limit our investigation to the three Veils. I have marked the first one the "Outer Gate", the second is the "Door of the Tent", and the third is the "Inner Veil" into the Holy of Holies. Each one of them was made of 100 square cubits of white Linen with beautiful cunning work wrought into it. Each of them had to be passed through in order to come to a certain place in the Tabernacle.
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THE OUTER GATE

This was the veil before which they brought the animals to be slain. And this door had to be passed through in order to come to the Brazen Altar where the blood was placed and the burnt offering offered up to God. The first thing you saw when you passed through this veil was the big bloody brazen altar which to us represents Calvary.

This represents Jesus the Savior. He said "I am the door??. There is no other way to get in, you must come in at the door. This brings us face to face with the Blood. Here is where sin is dealt with. Passing through this veil represents an experience we have in God, passing from death to life in Christ. This brings us into the outer court where the blood is shed, and where the washing by water takes place at the laver. But there are more curtains or veils or experiences yet to pass through. Return to top

DOOR TO THE TENT

Look at the diagram. Passing through this second veil, like eating of the second feast, brings us into the Pentecostal realm. It is a place of spiritual ministry. It is the place of testimony, of spiritual bread, and the offering up of the prayers and praises of the saints. It is the place of the seven branch candlestick, representing the Church. This Church got its start on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. It has the lamps that are full of oil and kept burning.

No one, regardless of their educational attainments, can properly minister in the House of the Lord without the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. There is no other way into the sanctuary except through this veil. Passing through this veil is an experience with God, the experience of being filled with His Spirit. Here was a spiritual priesthood that ministered in the sanctuary daily. The first veil brought us to the blood, to Calvary, to which the Fundamentalist will heartily say Amen. The second veil brings us to the oil, to Pentecost, and multitudes of Spirit-filled people will attest to that. But where does the third veil take us? "Oh, no", cry the Pentecostals, "We have come through two veils, let us stop now. We can't go through that third veil." Well, friends, I have news for you. The book of Hebrews says that Jesus made a way so that we COULD go through that third veil into the Holy of Holies, and that He has already gone there as a forerunner for us. Let us look at that veil and see what is behind it. Return to top

THE HOLY OF HOLIES

Passing through this third veil is a type of something the Church has not yet come to in reality. By faith we are there with Him, now. But in experience it is yet to come. But thank God, the scriptures indicate that this shall take place in the last days, the end of this age, and we are now come to that time. So we can expect another great move of the Spirit to bring us into a realm never before touched by Adam's race. Glory to God!

My purpose in this message is not to explore in detail all that is in this realm, but only to prove by the scriptures that there is such a place. If I can get you to see that there is more in God for you, then perhaps I can stir you out of your religious complacency. We have camped around this Pentecostal mountain long enough. It is time to see that God has more for us, and to get ready to move into it.

The High Priest went into this place only once, and that in the END of the year. The blood of the Passover lamb did not go back here. That blood was to be put on the doorposts of each house, to deal with the sins of the individual. But on the Day of Atonement it was not the individual he was dealing with, but with the whole nation. So that sin was put out of business altogether. Back here was Life. Here was where God said He would meet with man. No death, no sickness, no failure here. Only the fullness of God. Much more could be said about this place, but let it suffice to say that there is such a place, and it is available for us. It is part of the plan of God. Quit letting man tell you that there is no more for you in God. That argument has kept people from the first veil, out of true salvation, it has kept them from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and now it is holding some back from the fullness of God. Sure, I know there is a 30 fold company in this harvest. There is also a 60 fold. But if you really love and desire Jesus Christ as much as you say you do, why wouldn't you want to be in the 100 fold? The 30 fold comes through the first veil, the 60 fold comes through two veils, but if you want to be in the 100 fold, you will have to go all the way. Three veils. Return to top

THE THREE BAPTISMS

Here is another picture of this same thing. Israel had three baptisms. Each one relates to an experience we have in God. I Corinthians 10:1-2 tells us about two of these baptisms (which is as far as we have gone to this present time) .. "Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea: and were ALL BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES IN THE CLOUD AND IN THE SEA." Now there was a baptism unto Moses. This baptism through the Red Sea brought them out of Egypt and deliverance from bondage and slavery. It was at this time they ate the Feast of Passover. This speaks to us of the experience of salvation, the deliverance from slavery to sin. Praise God!

They were also baptized in the Cloud. This cloud represented the Holy Spirit. It was their Guide through the wilderness journey. It was a Comfort to them from the heat of the desert sun. It provided rain and refreshing. It was protection from their enemies. As a pillar of fire, it gave them light in the darkness. All these things the Holy Spirit does for us. Being baptized in the cloud was to them a picture of our being Baptized in the Holy Spirit. It was with them all through the wilderness journey. Praise God!

But now we come to a third baptism. Just as passing through the Red Sea on dry ground was a baptism unto Moses, so the passing through the Jordan River dry shod was a baptism unto Joshua. A new baptism. Under new leadership or ministry. A new people, all the rebellion and unbelief gone, buried in the wilderness. See how they prepare to cross Jordan. It is the time of the Harvest, Jordan is swelling its banks. It is the worst possible time to try to cross, in the natural. But we are not doing this by the natural. The carnal man has to die. The carnal mind cannot operate. This must be by the Spirit. Return to top

YE HAVE NOT PASSED THIS WAY

Now we see them getting ready to cross over into the Promised Land. In Joshua 3:1-4 we find them rising up "early in the morning". A new day is dawning. The officers pass through the host with the instructions. They are to keep their eyes on the Ark of the Covenant. In verse four they instruct the people: "Yet there shall be a space between you and it (the Ark), about TWO THOUSAND cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: FOR YE HAVE NOT PASSED THIS WAY HERETOFORE."

Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ (the true Ark of the Covenant) conquered the waters of death and passed into the Promised Land as a forerunner for us. There He waits, until His Body follows Him in and conquers this promised Land, putting all enemies under His feet. You see, beloved, this next move of the Spirit does not bring an end to everything, a cessation of all activities, as we have been taught. It actually brings us into a place of great conflict, but with the power to conquer every enemy. Satan shall be bound, and all his princes and demons shall be put in chains. This honor have the saints of God (Psalms 149).

So many are crying out for an old time revival of the "good old days". Oh, no. You see, friends, what God is taking us into now in the end of the age has never happened before. Not to grandpa, not to Paul and Silas, not to the early Church. Ye have not passed this way before. They were under the cloud, yes. They came out of sin, yes. But they did not yet pass over this Jordan. I know some of you won't like this. But you'll have to wrestle with the Word of God, not with me. It's too plain. God made it simple. This is the realm of the unlimited measure of God. Romans 12 tells us that we have the Spirit by measure, we have faith by measure, and prophesy according to the proportion of faith given us. But in John 3:34 we read of another realm: "For he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God, and GOD GIVETH NOT THE SPIRIT TO HIM BY MEASURE". The Spirit without measure. The fullness of God. There it is. And it is needed as we cross over Jordan into a land where the enemy lives. War in heaven. But no place found any longer for the enemy. He is cast out. Praise God! This is the THIRD baptism. It brings us behind the Veil, over Jordan, into the Promised Land. Get ready.
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JESUS CHRIST AS LORD

Paul said that he preached Jesus Christ as LORD. This involves a great deal. It involves His absolute dominion over your life. This is the step that must be taken in order to walk in this third realm of the Spirit. We can have our sins forgiven, and still have the carnal man ruling a lot of our life. We can even be filled with the Spirit, walk in the Pentecostal realm, and still go our own way. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, which was famous for speaking in tongues and gifts of the Spirit, yet he told them that they were yet carnal, full of strife and divisions and uncleanness. Sounds terrible, and it is, but it is so anyhow. Some tongue talking Pentecostal people who have received two glorious experiences with God are some of the most carnal Christians I know, full of strife and lust and unbelief. This ought not to be so. But it is.

You preach Jesus as Savior., and people will get saved. This is so. I have preached evangelistically in churches, tents, camp meetings, jails, T.B. Hospitals, on the foreign mission field, street corners, school houses, factories, homes, on radio and many other places. When people hear the message of salvation, some are sure to get saved. I know this to be true.

When you preach Jesus as the Christ, the "Anointed One", the one who baptizes in the Holy Ghost, then folks will be filled with the Spirit. All they need to do is to hear the message. I have preached in various kinds of churches, Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Nazarene, and others. Where ever you tell people that Jesus is the Baptizer, some will reach out and receive. I spoke in a Nazarene church, told them that they could receive the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues, and some did. Why is it so many good Baptist folks, fine born-again Christians, do not have the Baptism? Is it because they are not good enough for it? Of course they're not, and neither are you. But that's not the reason. God doesn't give the Holy Ghost to those that are good enough. He gives it to those who hear and believe and receive. They don't have it because their ministers won't preach it. They won't preach Jesus as Christ, the anointed ... the baptizer.

Why is it so many churches never see anyone healed in their services? Because they don't preach Jesus as the Healer. If they would preach healing, people would get healed. "Faith cometh by hearing, by hearing the Word of God." The Episcopal churches preach healing, have regular healing services, and people get marvelous healings. This is not just a Pentecostal monopoly. Whatever you preach Jesus to be, there will be results in that area of people's lives.

Paul said that he preached Jesus as Lord. This is most important. More important than healing the physical body. That He might be absolute Lord of our lives, have dominion in His own Kingdom. For we are His Kingdom, and He is our King and our Lord. We have preached Him as Savior. We have preached Him as Baptizer and Healer. And people have been glad to say: "Yes, Jesus, we will let you take our sins away, and we appreciate you healing our bodies and providing our needs and filling us with the Spirit, but from here on out we'll make our own decisions and row our own little boat." Isn't that just about the picture with so many?

But the time has come that we must preach Him as LORD. For He must have a Body over which He IS Lord, in all that it means. When Jesus was here on earth, the Father had a Son that responded to His every wish. "I always do those things that please the Father", said Jesus. "Not my will, but thine be done". He walked in this realm continually, and by this the Father was magnified exceedingly. Now God has given Jesus a Body, a Body made up of many members. A Body over which He is to be the absolute Lord and Head. "That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ IS Lord, to the glory of God the Father." This is the Lordship we are preaching. We preach Jesus Christ as Lord. "They that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God."

We have preached Him and received Him as Savior. This is as far as many preachers seem to have gone. "Be delivered from sin, come to church, pay your tithes, be a good Christian according to our standard, and that's it. That's all there is for you on earth, The next thing is Heaven." But others have preached Him as Christ, The Baptizer. They have taken the second step: "Be saved from sin, get the Baptism and speak in tongues, get the right kind of water baptism, and you've got it made." Well those two steps are fine and necessary, but don't stop there. There's one more thing. He must be Lord. This can only come to those who have gone through that third veil, through death to self. Self and Christ cannot both be Lord. Self must die. Christ must rule supreme. Perhaps you think that you have already arrived, and that everything in you is in subjection to His will. But there are areas of your life that have not been touched yet, and self still rules. But we preach Him as Lord, and this must bring results. A people will come through this last death, and a resurrection into His Life and Lordship. Glory to God! Return to top

THE HIGH CALLING

"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto these things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14) Paul, with all his knowledge, consecration, and attainments, still recognized that he had not yet reached God's ultimate for him. Here he was, at the close of his ministry, sitting in prison, yet still reaching higher in God. What an indictment against those self-complacent doctors of theology who think they have reached maturity, and are satisfied with what they have. Paul had eaten the Feast of Passover. He had partaken of Pentecost. But he realized that there was still something more to come. He constantly urged the Church to open their hearts and their understanding to it, and to be filled with ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD!

As Paul says in Colossians 1:26, these things have been kept hid until the time for the revealing. He saw these truths, and wrote about them. But when the time for the Restoration came, men could not see them until the Spirit opened their eyes. Did you ever wonder why the great theologian Luther never preached on the Baptism of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, and gifts of the Spirit? It was not time for it. Why didn't Finney, Moody, Spurgeon, Cartwright, and others of their day preach about healing and miracles and tongues and interpretation? God kept them secret until the right time. These men were mighty men of God in the things God revealed to them.

But when the time for the restoration of Pentecost came, little common men who didn't know one tenth of the Bible that these great theologians knew, moved right in and began to preach the deeper truths of the Holy Spirit. Because the door, the second veil, was open!

And now, in the end of this age, it is time for the third veil to be entered. It is time to cross Jordan. You are going to have to pray about this, now that you have heard the word. I knew that this revelation would cause some controversy. I could have just kept quiet, and enjoyed this for myself. But no. It is not for an individual. It is for His Body. God is going to have a Body of people that is going to break into this thing together. Don't try to tell me that you are already there, when the Body has not yet come in. If you get through this veil, you'll go in with His Body. It will bring us into a conflict such as the world has never seen before. And the end of that conflict will be absolute and utter destruction of all demon forces, putting every power of evil under the feet of the Body of Christ, that Christ may be victorious over all. Praise God for His glorious plan! Return to top

Let the song of the Lord rise from within thee. Let His praises ride on high! For the day of His glory is at hand, and the time of our ascension is nigh! Watch thy spirit with diligence, and guard against the flesh. Be thou submissive unto Him, and let nothing hinder thee from entering into His glory! Thou art come to the hour when the precious ointment flows over the Head, down upon the beard, to the skirts of His garment! Praise ye the Lord! Return to top

*This article was put into electronic format by Richard Lieber, March 2000.