Amazing Facts

Doug Batchelor: Well, the Bible tells us that the greatest of the prophets was Elijah. And the last prophecy in the Old Testament says, "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

And then you turn into the New Testament, and it starts talking about John the Baptist. Now, it's interesting, both Elijah and John the Baptist had miracles at the Jordan River. The Jordan River is interesting because I remember reading in the Bible about the Jordan River before I ever went to Israel, and in my mind, I've seen the Missouri and the Mississippi, and you read about the Nile, that massive river, and then you go to the Amazon, miles across, and then you go look at the Jordan, and you can throw a rock across it.

But it's an unusual river for a number of reasons. It's not very long, and it's not very wide—I think it's 156 miles long—but it's one of the few rivers that actually supplies the water for two seas. Usually, it takes many rivers to supply a sea. The Jordan River supplies two seas. And it is the lowest river in the world. It's considered a sacred river to three major world religions—not only Judaism, but Christianity and Islam—because of the events that take place there.

And there are several miracles that have transpired in and around the Jordan River. One of them being regarding Elijah, who struck the river with his robe and it parted and he crossed. Of course, the river parted when the children of Israel crossed and entered the promised land. By the way, everybody must cross the Jordan. If you ever sing from a hymnal, you'll notice how many times the hymn writers talk about the Jordan River.

And then John the Baptist comes in the spirit and power of Elijah, according to the angel, and he's the one who announces Jesus. And Jesus says that John the Baptist is the greatest of the prophets. He doesn't bring fire down from heaven like Elijah. He doesn't pray and it stops raining. Why is he the greatest of the prophets? Well, we're going to talk about that, but it's connected with the subject of his ministry. He's called John the Baptist.

Now we're going to go to the man on the street. You'll be surprised to see the connection between baptism and these prophetic studies as we continue. But we thought it'd be fun to go out and find what people on the street think about the subject of baptism.

Guest (Male) 1: What do I think baptism is? Well, it's a practice that was started in Christianity terms by John the Baptist. Jesus was baptized by him. We're encouraged to do so by Christ. So if we're devotees of Christ, we should probably get baptized. It's thought of as a reapportion for sin.

Guest (Male) 2: I think baptism is more like a spiritual commitment.

Guest (Male) 3: The original word meant immersion, and it's been not Americanized, but somehow they changed the word. They made a word out of it, but it originally meant immersed.

Guest (Male) 4: It's part of the plan of salvation as he said: repent and be baptized and you'll be saved.

Guest (Female) 1: I was raised Catholic. As I got older, I was like, "Well, you're a baby, what did you do to sin, why do you have to get baptized as a baby?" So there have been questions and you have to find your faith and you have to find what works for you.

Guest (Female) 2: It's just a religious ceremony. Coming from a Catholic school teacher I should know this, right? No, being brought into their faith.

Guest (Female) 3: Being baptized in God's love, really.

Guest (Male) 5: It's something that if you want to become a Christian, they put water on your head or whatever, and then you're a Christian, I suppose.

Guest (Male) 6: It's the symbolic mythological symbol of the question of the full immersion or the drops. So that's what it is according to the definitions as far as I can tell. I don't care about it.

Guest (Male) 7: Do I need to believe in Jesus to be saved? I've got one better for you. I've got it right here. See the app? Bible's right there. 100% to answer your question, yes. 100,000% and not enough of us do out here right now. It's getting crazy out here, y'all, but yes, 100%, I believe in that for sure.

Guest (Male) 8: If you're religious... while I hope so. We all have hopes.

Doug Batchelor: People are all over the map trying to figure this out. You can tell there's a lot of confusion about something. Do you know why I think this is important? It is because, as I mentioned, the last prophecy in the Old Testament says, "I'm sending you Elijah the prophet." Then you turn the page into the New Testament and it tells about this miraculous birth this old couple has of a boy named John, who is filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb.

And the angel says he will go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, and there's many similarities between John the Baptist and Elijah. They were both bold, they lived holy lives, and neither of them were married. They brought great revival. They even dressed the same, even though they're separated by about 700 years. It says they wore a camel's garment with a leather belt.

They did a lot of work in the wilderness. They were very bold in preaching to kings. Elijah told Ahab, "I'm telling you to go gather all Israel together, and it's your sins that have caused this famine." And John the Baptist told Herod, "You should not be marrying your brother's wife." And he lost his head over that. They were fearless.

And the Bible says that the work of John the Baptist in some ways was greater than any work. John the Baptist didn't give a lot of prophecies, but one prophecy he gave, he said, "The work I'm doing is not so important. The one who's coming—I baptize you with water, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And I am not worthy to bear His sandals. He will increase, I must decrease."

That's about the extent of his prophecy. The rest of it was teaching about repentance. He said, "Repent and be baptized for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the first words that Jesus began to speak when He started preaching was, "Repent and be baptized for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The New Testament begins and ends with the subject of baptism.

Now, Pastor Doug, I came to a prophecy seminar. That's right, and this is a prophecy subject. And the reason that we inject it where we do is we right now are on the threshold of some very heavy subjects. And we will be making an appeal tonight to those of you here and those of you who are watching that you make a decision to commit your life to Jesus.

Because if you have not committed your life to Jesus, if you are not opening your heart to His Word—Christ said the words that I speak to you, spiritual things are spiritually discerned. And the wise will understand and the Holy Spirit will teach you. If you're still rebelling in your heart against God, then you're not going to understand. But if you submit to the Lord, these things are going to unfold to you and it's going to set your life on fire in a good way.

So let's get into our lesson, you'll understand more as we progress with these questions. Number one, what New Testament prophet came in the spirit and power of Elijah? By the way, the word Elijah means "my God is Jehovah." "For all of the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you're willing to receive it,"—this is Jesus speaking—"it is he, he is Elijah who was to come."

And you read in Luke chapter one, verse 17, "He will go before him in the spirit"—and the angel is telling Zacharias this—"He, your son, this miracle baby, will go before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,"—worded a little different than you find in Malachi—"to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Now how many here believe the Lord's coming?

What was the work of Elijah and John the Baptist? To make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Now, just so you'll understand, when the religious leaders came to John and he was baptizing, they said, "Are you Elijah?" And he said, "No." But when they asked Jesus, Jesus said, "Yes, he is Elijah who was to come." Why did John the Baptist say "no" and Jesus said "yes"?

Because they're asking different questions. The religious leaders are wondering, "Are you the resurrection or reincarnation of Elijah?" and he said, "No." And Jesus said, "He is the one who's coming in the spirit." Now who is the first one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah? Elisha. Elisha, the servant of Elijah, follows Elijah across the Jordan River.

And Elijah says to Elisha, "What can I do for you before I am taken away to heaven?" He says, "Give me a double portion of your spirit." He said, "If you see me when I am going up, it will be so unto you; but if not, you will not receive it." He said, "Well, I'm not going to take my eyes off of you." And it says chariots of fire came down and they scooped up Elijah and he went to heaven in a fiery chariot and Elisha saw it.

And the spirit of Elijah came upon Elisha. Now Elisha's not a resurrection of Elijah. He's getting the spirit of Elijah. So John the Baptist was not a resurrection of Elijah; he had the same baptism of the spirit. And in the same way that Elijah went and he taught all of the sons of the prophets and then he ascends to heaven miraculously and the Holy Spirit falls upon Elisha, Jesus after the resurrection, he appears to the apostles, he teaches them, he ascends to heaven, and he sends the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Amen?

And God is going to do it again because listen to what Jesus said when they were asking about John the Baptist. Jesus said—they're saying did Elijah come in the spirit and power—Jesus said, "Elijah will come,"—now this is after John the Baptist has been beheaded—"Elijah will come and Elijah has come." So the coming of Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord is still future.

And there is going to be an outpouring of God's spirit upon God's people again before the second coming. In the same way that John the Baptist prepared people for the first coming of Jesus, God is going to fill people with the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus. Can you see why this is a prophecy subject? Can you see why we need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and we need to understand what the work of Elijah is?

Question number two, what unique ministry was John chosen for? You read in Matthew chapter three, "In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region roundabout the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan." Why the Jordan?

The Jordan is the lowest river in the world. It's not the cleanest river. Naaman, the Syrian general, was filled with leprosy. A little Jewish girl who had been captured by the Syrians heard the story of Elisha. She heard how Miriam had been healed of leprosy. She said to her mistress, "If my master the general Naaman was with Elisha the prophet, Elisha could heal him of his leprosy."

Naaman goes down, he's desperate to be healed because leprosy, there's no cure. It's a death sentence. He goes down to Israel and eventually he encounters Elisha the prophet and Elisha says, "Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you will be healed of your leprosy." First he's angry, he doesn't want to do it. He says, "The rivers of Damascus are cleaner than all the waters of Israel." Which is true.

But God said, "I want you to go to the Jordan." It's the river where Jesus would be baptized. It's the river God parted for the children of Israel. It's the river that parted for Elijah. It parted again for Elisha. It's a river of miracles. And so Naaman's servants finally say, "Don't be stubborn, master. If he'd asked you to kill a hundred soldiers, you would have done it. But he says wash and be clean."

So he takes off his armor, and Naaman the leper goes down in the muddy Jordan. He humbles himself. Repentance must come before cleansing. He humbles himself, all his soldiers, he sees his leprosy. He dips himself one time, two times, and every time he noticed nothing's happened, but every time he went down he was humbling himself—lowest river. He who humbles himself will be exalted.

He went down the seventh time and something happened. All of a sudden his missing fingers and toes and flesh that had been destroyed and ravaged by leprosy were restored. Not only was it restored, the Bible says his flesh came to him again like the flesh of a little child—read about it in 2 Kings chapter five. He gets baby skin. You get born again.

He came out of the water jumping and screaming and splashing and praising God. It happened in the Jordan River. John the Baptist is sent down to Jordan because it's a symbol of cleansing from the leprosy of sin. So this prophet begins his ministry, people humbling themselves, repenting to accept Jesus.

Number four, according to the Bible, how many different kinds of baptism are acceptable? The Bible says there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Now there is one truth, there is one truth we're baptized into. There's one true spirit of God. God the Father, Son, and Spirit are one. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one. God is perfectly united.

There aren't many different truths. By the way, I know there are many different denominations in the world today. Do you know that's not God's will? Jesus said all people will know that you are My disciples by your love for one another. How many groups are there going to be when Jesus comes back? Mark of the beast, seal of God. Lost, saved. Goats, sheep. Narrow road, wide road. With Jesus, against Jesus.

You know what's going to happen? God's got good people in many churches. You agree? There's going to be a shaking in the world—great time of trouble. People are going to go back to their Bibles. They're going to hear messages like this. Jesus said, "Many sheep I have that are not of this fold. Them also I must call." And there will be one fold and one shepherd and we will base our teachings on one Bible and one truth.

Now there are many divisions right now, and this is not God's will. The devil comes to divide. Jesus wants us to be united, but just not for the sake of unity—united on the Word. You know how many different things are called baptism? They're not baptism. I've heard some people say, "You can do 1-800 we'll baptize you over the phone." That's called the dry cleaning method.

In some churches they sprinkle rose petals and some say just a few words that are spoken. Some baptize face forward three times—once for the Father, once for the Son, once for the Holy Spirit. Some people say all that's necessary is baptism of the Holy Spirit, you don't need water baptism. There's all of these different ideas of what baptism is, but the Bible says there's one.

Does it matter if we do things God's way? Yes, it does. In fact, doing it the wrong way can be sacrilegious. I heard about a pastor that he told his church, "Well, baptism's a symbol," and it's true it is a symbol. The water in a baptistery, it's H2O. And it's a ceremony, but it's a very important ceremony with meaning.

And I heard of a pastor he told his congregation, "Well, since communion is just a symbol," he said, "this week for communion instead of having the unleavened bread and the unfermented grape juice, we're going to have Big Macs and Coke." Now how many would agree that there's something really wrong with that?

But you know, there's folks who'll say it doesn't matter as long as you're sincere. No, it does matter. And how you're baptized matters. You want to follow Jesus' example. Amen.

Question number five, Jesus is our example. How was He baptized? A Christian is a follower of Christ. What did Jesus do? It says, "Jesus came and He was baptized by John in the Jordan." For one thing we notice he needs a river, so there's a lot of water there. And immediately coming up from the water—in order to come up out of the water you need to do what first? Go down in the water.

The word baptism, "baptizo," it's a Greek word, it means immerse, submerge, covered, buried. It means the old life is washed away every bit of it, you come up new. You're completely immersed, completely washed, completely buried, you come up new. Jesus did this as an example for you and me. Did Jesus get baptized to wash away His sin?

No, He says, "I'm giving you an example that you should do as I have done." And He came up from the water. John baptized in the Jordan. If all He needed was a few drops of water, he could have baptized with a canteen anywhere. Could have baptized in Jerusalem by a spring. But the Bible says that he needed a river.

Number six, how did Philip baptize the treasurer of Ethiopia? Some of you remember the story that Philip, one of the evangelists, started out as a deacon and he became an evangelist. The Holy Spirit sent him down to the deserts and there was this very powerful, successful Ethiopian treasurer for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia, but he was a believer in Jehovah. He had the Jewish scriptures, he had gone up to the feast to worship God.

He was coming back from the feast, maybe it was Pentecost. He's coming back and he's riding along in his chariot and he's reading from the Prophet Isaiah about the Messiah. He's actually reading the prophecies about the Messiah's suffering. And God told Philip, "Go down to the desert." He goes down to the desert and this guy's riding by on the highway, he's reading from the scroll, and Philip said, "Do you know what you're reading?"

And the man said, "It would really help if someone could help me understand it." He said, "Well, I can, just so happens I know what that verse means." And he began to talk and he's the first hitchhiker in the Bible. He invited him up in the chariot and they rode along together and he began to preach from the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, including the prophecy in Isaiah.

And the man's heart began to burn within him and he said, "This is the truth. Jesus was the Messiah. I heard about Him. This is what I've—" and he said, "I want to be baptized." They understood the teaching of baptism. And they're passing by water. Now that could have meant they're passing by a couple of creeks that run down into the Mediterranean; it could have been they're not far from the ocean.

Do you know the Bible says you can be baptized in the ocean, you can be baptized in a river, you can be baptized in a lake, you can be baptized in a baptistery, but you need to be immersed. And he says, "Here is water, what does hinder me?" Philip said, "If you believe with all of your heart you may." Believing the Bible. And notice what it says here in Acts chapter eight: "Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the—"

Is it pretty clear they're being immersed? He went down into the water, he came up out of the water. The Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. This is the first biblical example of someone being beamed from one location to another. Now think about how important baptism must be that God tells Philip to go down to the desert so he could preach to this man and baptize him.

The Gospel of Mark begins with baptism. The Gospel of John begins with John the Baptist, baptism. The Gospel of Matthew ends with baptism—"Go ye therefore teach all nations, baptizing them." If the Gospels begin and end with the subject, then do you think it's important? God wants us to make a commitment to Him. Baptism is as important to a Christian as a wedding is to a marriage.

And we're going to bring that out. It's the covenant that you make where you finally... people say, "Yeah, one of these days I think I'd like to be a Christian. Yeah, one of these days, yeah. I kind of believe it in my heart." "Are you a Christian?" "Yeah, maybe, getting there." You know, it's like people say, "Are you married?" "Ah, not really, maybe, could be. I'm getting there." No, I mean, you've had the ceremony, you're married or you're not. Right?

You make the decision and there's certain rights and privileges that come after marriage—at least it used to be that way. Amen. That you don't have before. And God is offering certain power. Do you know the Bible says repent and be baptized and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Acts chapter two: "For the promise is unto you and your children and as many as the Lord God shall call."

Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit came down like a dove. If you're going to be able to live the Christian life, get ready for the second coming, understand the things we're teaching, you need the Holy Spirit. Because spiritual things, Jesus said, are spiritually discerned. Christ said the words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. It's not just black ink on white paper, friends, there's a living power in God's Word.

And if you make a commitment, say, "Lord, I want to follow You," He says, "Then you will understand if you're willing." Number seven, what other truths are conveyed and symbolized by baptism? Answer: "Therefore we are buried with Him,"—so it's a symbol of death—"we're buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised,"—it represents a resurrection from the dead—"by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in a newness of life."

So when a... how many of you have seen a biblical baptism by immersion? Of course, that's what Baptists practice and many churches practice biblical baptism where the minister and in some cases the elder will officiate, and they lower the person down briefly, they're immersed, they bring them back up. It's a symbol of cleansing, it's a symbol of new birth.

Friends, I hope you've been blessed by today's message. But really the reason we do this is so that people might know Christ. Information is not going to save us; it's a relationship with Jesus, the one who died on the cross for your sins. You must personally accept Him. And that's the most important thing and why we do these programs. If you've not asked Him into your heart before, then I'd encourage you to do it right now. His arms are open wide. Just come to Him as you are and ask Him.

I trust you're being blessed by what you're watching. If you want to be doubly blessed, then you're going to want to get the Prophecy Odyssey study guides that go along with these presentations. There's 15 study guides, they're beautifully illustrated, and they will greatly enhance your Bible comprehension. After our study today, you might have some questions about baptism.

If so, you're going to want a copy of our lesson called "Purity and Power." This Amazing Facts study guide answers many important questions about the Bible ordinance of baptism that was practiced by Jesus Himself. To get your free copy, simply follow the instructions on the screen and we'll send it to you. You can become a Bible expert with the Amazing Facts "Storyicals of Prophecy" Bible study experience, now available in 18 languages.

These 24 easy-to-read lessons will give you confidence about what the Bible really says about last-day prophecy, the afterlife, and so much more. Even better, it's absolutely free at storyicals.com. Don't miss out, get the answers you need for a happier, healthier life today at storyicals.com. What you've seen just now is only part one in this presentation. Make sure and join us for part two in our next broadcast for some of the most important points on this topic and to complete the corresponding study guide. Until then, God bless.