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John the Baptist preached in the wilderness of Judea. His message was to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The prophet E-sai’as foretold about John the Baptist saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
John the Baptist wore a leathern girdle about his loins and wore other clothes made of camel’s hair. His meat was locusts and wild honey. John the Baptist did not dwell in fine luxury and wear the snow white shirts and perfectly pressed outer garments as many of our evangelists do today. After his sermons he sat down to a meal of locusts and wild honey. He was not served lavishly on banquet tables full of varieties of meats, vegetables, pies, cakes and any and everything else the congregation cooked up. He had serious work to do and serious messages to bring. His goal was only to preach to others “repentance.” He did not look for gold or silver or any kind of payment from anyone that he preached to. Many of our evangelists today will not even go to a group of people to deliver any kind of message unless they know there is a certain salary and the finest of accommodations waiting for them.
In those days many repented at the preaching of John the Baptist from Jersualem, Judaea and the regions around Jordan. John the Baptist baptized them. If these people brought forth good works until their own deaths, they are not sleeping, awaiting the great trumpet sound for all the dead in Christ to arise first.
John the Baptist saw the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to the baptism. He called them a generation of vipers and asked who had warned them to flee from the wrath to come? He asked them to bring forth fruits now if they had repented. He told them not to say within themselves (for John the Baptist read the hearts of the Pharisees and Sadducees) that you have Abraham as your father. John the Baptist told them God is able to make the stones rise up children to Abraham. In other words, God had much greater power than Abraham, and was the father even of Abraham.
He further told the Pharisees and Sadducees that every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. And in other words this means if you the Pharisees and Sadducees do not actually repent and turn from your wicked ways to prove to the others and to God of your true repentance in actual “works or behaviors,” then you will in time be brought down and cast into the fire. So who did the Pharisees and Sadducees think they were fooling? They might be able to fool Abraham, and John the Baptist, but God is greater than Abraham, and God they could not fool. John the Baptist told them he could go ahead and baptize them with water, but he that comes after him, which is God, is mightier than John the Baptist.
John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees God would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire (if they so deserve). God will use the fan in his hand and thoroughly purge the floor to gather up his wheat, but the chaff shall be cast into unquenchable fire. In other words, you will never be able to hide from God anything you do that is unrighteous.
After all this, came Jesus from Galilee to Jordan and asked John the Baptist to baptize him. John the Baptist forbade this to happen. He told Jesus, I am in need of you baptizing me and you ask me to baptize you. Jesus had a purpose for why he asked John the Baptist to baptize him. Jesus told him, I need you to baptize me now so it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.
After John the Baptist baptized Jesus and he came back up out of the water, the heavens were opened up to Jesus, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. Then Jesus heard a voice from heaven which said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Through these scriptures we are taught we must first repent, which actually means to turn away from all unrighteousness and sin to receive a “born again spirit of God” and then be baptized in the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Ghost. After which time, we are to bring forth fruits of good works in the hopes that some day we like Jesus will hear God say to us: “this is my beloved son or daughter, in whom I am well pleased. We also taught that simply baptizing with water does save a man or woman from their sins. Water baptism is in answer to a good conscious toward God. Repentance and then good works until death brings man or woman the actual rewards of eternal life.