Exactly how were all of the water baptisms in the Bible performed, every single one of them?
Today we will speak about the first of the three baptisms in the Bible: baptism by men into water unto repentance.

First we must define the words.
What is the water "baptism of John unto repentance?"

The context of the scripture, Acts 18:24-28 KJV . . .
Who was Apollos and how was he baptized?
     "And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus."
     "This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John."
     "And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly."
     "And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:"
     "For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ."

What did Apostle Paul do?
As it is written . . . 
     "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, « note: yes they were Christian believers."
     "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." [Acts 19:1-2 KJV]

The same is true today of the Church . . .
     We are NOT doing a very good job of making disciples of Jesus; all American Pastors and Teachers!

We are performing Lip service to God, man-pleasers.
Yes, maybe a few minutes per year, during an upside-own and backwards teachings about ... "ugh" ... the Holy Ghost.

The simple fact is:
     — You cannot "KNOW" what you have not EXPERIENCED.
     — You CANNOT teach that which you have not personally learned.

The place in which the Church in Corinth was found in the days of Apostle Paul . . .
     » "We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost."

 . . . is exactly where the American Christian Church is found today:
     » Nobody knows anything about the Holy Ghost;
     » because their Preachers and "teachers" know nothing: they have not Personally EXPERIENCED being baptized — baptized by Jesus — baptized INTO the Holy Ghost themselves.

THIS is where the American Church is TODAY . . .
     . . . this is where 99% of Modern-day American "Christians" are today: they do not Know God — who God is and what God does.

Within the Entire New Testament/Holy Bible;
     + and within the entire Bible translated into English;
     + and over the course of 2,000 years of listening to "the experts" (exegetes and apologists, creeds and "official" church doctrines);
     + with trillions of dollars worth of land titles & brick buildings, bank accounts and vehicles . . . everything which is in this world;
     + with all of the national and international NGO/501.C.3 organizations;
     + with hundreds of thousands of "executives" and mid-level management and "church superiors" helping local churches;
     + and after Two Thousand YEARS of 'Christian' teaching and theology . . .
= we are NOT ONE STEP BEYOND where Corinth in the early church was — when Paul first found them:
     » A city in Turkey which knows ONLY the baptism of unto repentance, the baptism by men with water.

Today — to this very day with the Bible for two thousand years — over 90% of American Christians have received only one baptism of the three baptisms . . . and that "just barely."

Consider also that well over 90% of those American who 'say they are Christians' today are no further than the earliest primitive church.
     The True Testimony of the modern-day "evangelical" and "main line" churches as well as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, all of the Coptics and the Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians . . . the Church of Christ and the Latter Day Saints, the Lutherans and Wesleyans and most of the "pentecostal" or "charismatic" churches in America today . . .
     . . . have the same testimony of the earliest Gentile believers, which is . . .

". . . we have not so much as heard whether there be ANY Holy Ghost."

How were believers baptized in the bible?
As it is written . . . 
     "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism."
     "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."
     "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." [Acts 19:3-5 KJV]

Okay, now the cat is out of the bag . . .
We must tell you how — in the Great Commission — Jesus commanded His Church to Baptize in water.
Jesus told us . . .
     "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." [Matthew 28:19-20 KVJ]
We must remember that, when Jesus was speaking The Great Commission above, that He was must the Resurrected and Glorified Jesus Christ . . .
     . . . and that the disciples had not yet been baptized INTO (i.e. submerged into or covered with) the Holy Ghost.
How do we know this, that the great commission was spoken between the First Day and the Eighth Day of the resurrection?

No earlier than the first evening of He Is Risen: We know that on the first evening of His resurrection (as soon as Jesus first appeared in the locked room in Galilee), that all ten of the disciples present STILL did not believe that "God had raised him from the dead."
     1. Mary told the disciples that Jesus was risen, but they Did NOT Believe; as it is written: "It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not."[Luke 24:9-11 KJV]
     2. Even when Jesus appeared to them that evening in the locked room in Galilee, the ten disciples STILL did not believe that "God had raised him from the dead" as it is written: "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them ... But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit."[Luke 24:36-37 KJV]
     3. Even after the Resurrected and Glorified Jesus Christ Himself PROVED that He was risen, after Jesus had PROVEN that He was not "a spirit" (aka "an apparition" or "a ghost" of a dead man), they did NOT BELIEVE; as it is written: "And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?" [Luke 24:38-41 KJV]
     4. After Jesus had PROVEN one time more that He was risen from the dead still they DID NOT BELIEVE; as it is written: "... he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them." Luke 41-43 KJV]
     5. AFTER Jesus had proven to them that He was indeed raised from the dead . . . still Jesus had to explain to them why eating proved to them that He was not 'a ghost;' as it is written: "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." [John 24:39 KJV]
     6  Only THEN did the disciples become believers. Before that moment they were still unbelievers. Yes they we 'the elect" but they had not yet received the indwelling of the spirit; as it is written: "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, 'Receive ye [now] the Holy Ghost'." [John 20:22 KJV]

The simple FACT is that the disciples could not (yet) understand what Jesus was speaking to them at that time . . .
     . . . because they had no (yet) been baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Yes, Jesus did bless them with the ability to understand many things; as it is written:
     "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
     "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures." [Luke 24:44-45 KJV]
That all happened to the disciples on Resurrection day . . . exactly Forty Nine Days BEFORE. . . they were baptized with the Holy Ghost. A week of weeks later they received the promise of the Father, when Jesus baptized them (i.e. submerged them into, aka they were covered by) the Holy Ghost on the Feast of Weeks (a week of weeks, 49 days, after His resurrection — it is not "pentecost" which means "fifty days" which it was not 50 days).

They could not *KNOW* the baptism of the Holy Spirit until after they had personally EXPERIENCED being baptized by Jesus Christ into His Holy Spirit.
That came forty nine days later!
Please, read and believe the bible.
    Again, one cannot *KNOW* what they have not (yet) *personally experienced*
          Neither is one able to *TEACH* or to *PREACH* what one *does NOT KNOW*

While we are discussing the Great Commission, when does Jesus command us to BEGIN DOING the Great Commission?

First things first: We should notice that when Jesus gave us the Great Commission; Jesus also commanded us to NOT go out preaching to the world immediately; rather we are commanded to WAIT for the promise of the Father.
As it is written: "I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." [Luke 24:49 KJV]



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Question 1: What exactly is "the promise of my Father" that Jesus spoke of?
     » The promise is exactly the same promise which Jesus commanded the disciples to wait for; as it is written:
"For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." [Acts 2:39 KJV]

Question 2: And how did Jesus say we would receive the promise of the Father?
     » He said that it would come "upon you" ... not "within" but UPON you.
 Jesus in fact pours out the Holy Ghost *UPON us* ... which is the exact inverse of *within us*.

Question 3: after we have obediently ...
     1. tarried for the promise of my Father and
     2. received power from on high;
... what did Jesus COMMAND us to DO when we baptized with water?
     » what did Jesus SAY were the words which we say, while we are baptizing with water unto repentance?

Answer 1. Jesus said: "in the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Answer 2. Notice that "the NAME" above is specifically singular, not plural.
     » Correctly translated what Jesus DID SAY was: "baptizing in the [ONE Name] of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost."

» NOTICE: that Jesus DID NOT say: "baptizing in the THREE NameS of the trinity."

(HEAR Jesus) + (BELIEVE Jesus) + (OBEY Jesus)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ — He has made it so very simple for us to follow Him, so very easy for us to become His Disciples.
All we must do is to Hear Him, Believe what the Lord says, and then to do what He tells us to do.
How hard is that?

HINT: seems to difficult because we ...
     (do not HEAR Him) + (do not BELIEVE Jesus) = (therefore do not DO what He has TOLD US to do)

But the rock upon which Jesus built His Church, the Apostle Peter, did not merely recite words.
     » Rather Peter OBEYED the Word of God . . .
Yes, Peter (DID hear) & (DID believe) & (did OBEY Jesus)
     » he DID the Word of God, he did not merely recite the squiggles of black ink in on a white piece of paper.

We must *KNOW* what we are doing, we must *KNOW the nature of God*

El Elohim, the Highest of the Most High, the omnipotent and all-knowing authority in both Heaven and in Earth (Jesus Christ) told His disciple Peter to baptize in the ONE NAME of the Godhead, aka "the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost."

The bible tells us that in Jesus resides ALL of the Godhead, aka "the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." [Colossians 2:9]
Therefore, when God Himself was speaking out of Peter's mouth to those who were gathered from across the entire known world  . . .
     . . . when the words of God to the whole world were OBEYED by Peter . . .
He was not merely recited as some dead ritual.
The bible tells us "be ye baptized in the name of JESUS" . . . which is the exact and PERFECT execution of the Great Commission whichJesus told Peter . . . and the Christian Church Today . . . to do.
As it is written: 
    "baptizing in the [ONE - Singular] name of Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost."

The real question is 'Why does the Church follow the wildly popular *trendy* heresy, the greatest sin: unbelief in our Lord and our God?"

Why is it so difficult for Modern-day Christian Pastors and teachers, theologians and apologists and other exegetes/unbelieving "christians" to . . .
    . . . to do what we are told to do . . .
         — which is to OBEY the Living Word of God,
     . . . rather than not believing the Word
          — which is thinking that performing a RITUALIZED RECITAL of written words is what Jesus commissioned them to do?

The unfortunate fact is: their recital of *their theology* (not God's) in deadly performing the rituals-of-men . . .
     . . . are the exact same sin as mocking God, they are saying "That's good enough and close enough for God."
As it is written . . "Be ye not deceived; God will not be mocked."

Regarding how Jesus in the Great Commission commands us to baptize ... Peter got it exactly right.
Peter did not recite dead words: squiggly marks of black ink on a white piece of paper . . .
     ... as did the Pharisees and the scribes, whited sepulches performing the dead words: "baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Rather Peter DID SPEAK the LIVING WORD of God.
Peter said to the whole world exactly what Jesus commanded us all to say . . 
     ... Peter rather OBEYED JESUS in the Great Commission: "be baptized every one of you in the NAME of Jesus Christ ..." [ Acts 2:38 KJV]

Why do unbelieving Pastors and teachers read the bible ... but REFUSE to believe the bible?
Because the Modern-day Christian Church is greatly-fallen.
Instead of obeying the Living Word of God, the church is relying upon the words of MEN,
     ... and those men do not seek the Truth, rather they rely upon their own Understanding.
     ... because they do not HEAR the word of God
     = therefore they cannot OBEY the bible, as it is written . . .
     "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
          after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world,
          and NOT after Christ." [Colossians 2:8 KJV]

Why not instead simply recite the bible?
     » Because if: you will (READ) + (BELIEVE) + (OBEY) ... the very next sentence in Colossians;
     » Then you will: KNOW that Apostle Peter ...
          + all of the Church in the entire bible
          = exactly OBEYED the Great Commission.
The very next verse in the Colossians above . . . te verse which NO PREACHER today will dare to quote . . . is:
     "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." [Colossians 2:9 KJV]

Who is "the Godhead" above, what does the word mean?
Hear One Simple Truth: he man-made word "trinity" does not appear in the entire bible . . .
     » You may refer to any of the *many reliable translations* of the bible
... but do not rely upon any of the hundreds of *INTERPRETATIONS of MEN* versions.

As the Holy Scriptures, the recorded word of God, CLEARLY and unequivocally tells us above:
     "In the physical body of JESUS Christ resides
     ALL OF the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost."

"The promise of the Father" is and was and always will be:
     » Jesus baptizing us with FIRE and
     » with Jesus baptizing us with the Holy Ghost.

How can those who have not learned . . . profess to preach or to teach?