4.6.23 TRACT TO CHRISTIANS

4.6.23 TRACT TO CHRISTIANS

I WANT SERVE GOD MORE. HOW DO I STIR MYSELF INTO GOD'S WORK? JUST READ THIS AND ASK FOR HIS BAPTISM OF FIRE.

LORD, PUT ME ON FIRE FOR YOU!

Baptism (baptizo in Greek) means immersion. Nothing more or less. To be baptized into Christ is to be immersed into Him. This is why the Bible talks of all kinds of baptisms.

Baptism into a man is possible. 

1 Corinthians 10:2

And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

It was a movement headed by Moses.

It was why it was also possible to have John's baptism. Paul asked the beginning Church in Ephesus unto what were you baptized? 

Acts 19:3 (KJV)  And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.

Paul explained John's baptism as follows:

Acts 19:4 (KJV) Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Some remain in the baptism of John. They keep repenting endlessly. They celebrate repentance. They give space for this baptism every Sunday. It's a pity. I know there can be new converts who are always falling and rising, but what of the Elders and the other leaders? That these leaders lead such prayers from Sunday to Sunday implicate them. It seemed like they are yet to overcome sins and sinful habits.

Am I saying, a mature Christian can’t fall? We do! If we fall, do we need to wait till Sunday service to rise? God forbid. I remember when I newly believed. I fell into sin here in Lokoja and the conviction came over me from Lokoja as I started returning to my base then in Idah. It was Friday. On my way, as I was about crossing the Ajaokuta-Itobe Bridge, the Spirit asked me, "Do you know how many were converted on Pentecost Day?"

Of course, I knew that. I said, "Three thousand." 

His next question was, "Do you think that all of them were clean?"

I looked at them in my mind. They came from different countries to worship and return. I know men have always been the same since the fall of Adam. Certainly, some took advantage of the journey to meet as lovers. "No, not all were clean", I answered.

The Lord assured me, "I will help you."

I was new to Him and His ways. I didn't know how to turn that assurance to faith. Faith is always now. I did like most Christians. I began to wait for Him to help me. 

The conviction on me was a terrible one. I was physically clean because I washed my body normally. Only this conviction made me feel like a man who had made ridges on the farm on a hot day and could not see water to wash after such a dusty labour. I was like that from that Friday afternoon all through the Saturday. I was waiting for Jesus to help me. 

I was like Jairus whose understanding of Jesus' power is tied to His physical presence. So he called Jesus to come and heal his dying daughter (Mk 5:21-43). On the way, one woman took over Jesus' attention. She had touched Jesus and was healed. Then the delay began. She went into giving 12-year testimony. I think her story was too long. It while she was wasting Jairus' time that a message came that the daughter was dead.

Mark 5:35 (KJV) While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

Did Jairus learn any lesson? No! Shouldn't he have known that touching Jesus could raise his daughter? That delay would have served Jairus as a baptism of fire.

Instead Jesus went all the way to their house to raise that girl. God will always give us pains that can help us move forward in God.

I didn't get help till the Junior Pastor of my Church then preached the following Sunday and turned my hope to faith. Pastor Enoch Monaka (late) made us pray at the end of the Sunday message and asked us to talk to God about our situations. I talked to Him believing what the Pastor preached:

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That was when I graduated from hope to faith for deliverance. 

    

Acts 19:4

4 Then said Paul, John very/ ly baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. KJV

Jesus has come. We have become ex-sinners. Continuance daily repentance is a mockery of the gospel. Why? The good news is that we died when we gave our lives to Jesus (Rm 6). Sin ought to have stopped. The truth however is that most of us, Christians, keep on falling and rising in sin. That is why God needs to be helping us by setting fire on our tails. 

LORD, PUT ME ON FIRE FOR YOU!

To be cont’d

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