Page 63 - SABBATH

Well did John the Baptist speak here when he said, “I have need to be baptized by
You.” This is perhaps the greatest prophecy of this greatest of the prophets, but who has
truly heard what he said? John said in another place:

Matthew 3:11
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me
is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and fire.”

When John said to Yahshua, “I have need to be baptized by You,” it was these two
baptisms of which he spoke. John needed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire,
and so must all those who would enter into perfect Sabbath rest. What does it mean to be
baptized with fire? The word “fire” in the Greek is “pur,” and from this Greek word we get
our English words “pure,” “purity,” “purify” and “purge.” Fire has always been associated
with purification, for it burns up all that is dross, all that is impure. It is the fire of God that
burns up the wood, hay and stubble of our lives. It was the fire on the altar that burned up
the sacrifice of flesh, and it is the fire of God that will also burn up our flesh in this day and
hour.
The apostle Paul shared that it was the will of God that all of the saints present their
bodies as a “living sacrifice” upon the altar of God that their flesh might be destroyed. He
expressed this in another way to the Galatian believers when he declared that those who
walk after the Spirit “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Yahshua passionately expressed His desire when He said, “I have come to cast fire on
the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.” It was from the dust of the earth that
man’s flesh was formed, and it is in this flesh which sin dwells. Yahshua came to cast fire
on the earth of this flesh. Why did He long so earnestly for this work to begin? It was
because He knew that the flesh being consumed, purged, crucified, buried in the waters of
baptism, was necessary in order for the other baptism to be given, the baptism of the Spirit.
When John baptized Yahshua in the waters of the Jordan River, which mark the
boundary of the land of promise, the way was being shown in which the body of Christ must
enter into their inheritance. It is always through death. Those who resist the working of the
cross in their life will not enter into the land of Sabbath rest. Those who refuse to take up
the disciple’s cross will not come to a place of reigning as kings and priests. The word states:

II Timothy 2:11-12
It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we
suffer, we shall also reign with him...

Saints, if we refuse to enter into the waters of the Jordan and be baptized along with
our Lord, we cannot enter into the promised land of Sabbath rest. There is but One Way,
and our Lord has shown it to us. All who try to enter by another way are thieves and
robbers. The Lamb of God laid down His life, and the sheep who follow after Him must also
lay down their lives. “We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Note then what
happened as Yahshua came up out of the waters of the Jordan.

And behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as
a dove and lighting on Him.