DON’T MISS OUT!
Gospel tract by Peter J. Peters, Church of Christ pastor
Tract in mp3 audio format (from avoiceofthanksgiving.wordpress.com)
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There are a lot of things people don’t want to miss out on in life, but…
IF YOU MISS THIS, YOU’VE MISSED ETERNAL LIFE ITSELF!
It’s Humbling
It’s Important
It’s Mandatory
What is it?—Read on…
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The following words spoken from Him who defeated death itself when He resurrected from the grave—JESUS CHRIST described the scene, and those in it who missed it. They missed out on it.
“Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:23 KJV
NOTICE—from the words of Jesus Christ how deceived, surprised, and dismayed they that heard these words were. THEY HAD MISSED IT and now were going to miss out for eternity.
WHAT WAS IT THEY MISSED AND WHY??
Notice they thought and felt they were Christians. They were believers. That is obvious for they said to Him “have we not prophesied in thy name?”, have we not “in thy name cast out devils?” and “in thy name done many wonderful works?” Notice that Jesus did not deny
that they had, they had done all these things, BUT they missed it, and now it was too late for them. They were believers. There was not one of them in the crowd that didn’t believe John 3:16…
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”. John 3:16
OBVIOUSLY IT TAKES MORE THAN JUST BELIEVING IN JESUS AND JOHN 3:16
So many today are told by religious leaders (who may or may not be sincere) that all one has to do to be saved, as they say, is believe on Jesus. It’s called the faith only doctrine, which itself is a misnomer, for faith is acting on what one believes to be true. The Apostle Peter was given the keys to the kingdom…
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19
In Acts Chapter 2 it was Peter’s preaching to the very crowd that was involved in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ fifty days previous that caused the people to say…
“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37
NOW, IT’S VERY HARD TO MISS THE APOSTLE PETERS’ ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION!
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
People, for the most part, are not being told by their religious leaders to do this. Instead, they are simply told to believe, to accept Jesus, let Him come into their hearts, say the sinner’s prayer, etc, etc.
Baptism, true genuine Bible baptism, is immersion in water. Not sprinkling, not pouring, not a Holy Ghost experience, not dry cleaning or any other counterfeit that men, with the assistance of satan, dream up. It is immersion in water; full and complete immersion in water.
It’s what John the Baptist did…
And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and they were coming and were being baptized. John 3:23
It’s what was done in Acts Chapter 8…
And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing. Acts 8:36-39
It’s what Romans Chapter 6 describes as a
burial…
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3-4
WHY ARE SO MANY MISSING THIS? YOU CAN’T MISS IT ONCE YOU REALLY LOOK FOR IT YOURSELF.
So why are so many missing it? Notice the words of Jesus that we’ve just read were preceded with the words:
“Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”—Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven” Matthew 7:15&21
The way you tell a falsehood (and the one who proclaims it) is to compare what is said to what the Bible says. Remember, the one saying it may believe it himself as this may be what he was himself told, but be that as it may, your life and eternal life is dependent on what the Bible tells! And it tells believers in Christ to…
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
Jesus said “Beware!”—Beware of the false prophets whose motive may be deception, or human pride that keeps them locked into their own deceptions, who will try to argue this simple point and even try to use other Scriptures in their reasoning. Beware! Also beware of reasoning “what difference does it make?”… Why risk your whole eternity on falsehoods and human reasoning? (Read the story of Naaman, whose ‘reasoning’ almost kept him from going down into the water to be cleansed-2 Kings 5:8-14).
This tract was prepared with the prayer that you the reader would not miss this, and miss out as those people Jesus spoke of did in Matthew 7:23.
WHY SOME WILL MISS IT!
It’s simple. It’s called repentance. The believers in Acts 2:37, who asked what to do, were told to first–REPENT. Repentance involves changing ones mind, it involves surrendering ones will to the will of their master and king Jesus Christ. It is the desire to do His will, not ours. The Bible likens it to dying to our will and living to do His will. If you will not do this, you will not most likely get baptized. And even if you did, it would do no good. You must, as a believer, repent before you are baptized.
Many have been baptized, i.e. immersed in water but not for the right reason. In the faith only doctrine there are a number of churches that do baptize, but not “for” the remission of sin; not “for” the forgiveness of sins…
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 NASB
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 KJV
These churches baptize for what they call “an outward sign of an inward grace” or because you are already saved. They deny the obvious, that baptism is part of God’s plan of salvation. How much more obvious can God make it than Acts 2:38 or 2 Peter 3:21?
And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you– not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience– through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21
Often, to try to get you to deny the obvious, false teachers will point out that the thief on the cross was not baptized and he was saved (Luke 23:43). This is true, but this truth doesn’t invalidate the truth of Acts 2:38.
You see, the thief on the cross was given salvation prior to the death of Jesus. We today live after Jesus died on the cross, and was buried in the tomb and then resurrected. We live in what the Bible calls the New Testament which did not begin until His death, burial, and resurrection…
And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Hebrews 9:15-17 KJV
Today, for one to get the salvation Jesus willed to us, we must follow the dictates of His last will and testament. The Bible testifies to you thru the Holy Spirit inspired words of the Apostle Peter who was given the keys to the kingdom what to do. Don’t miss it…
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
One last point for this brief tract. Don’t deny the truth of Acts 2:38 because of the grace and power and love of God.
Many have had religious experiences, many have had what are called ‘conversion experiences’ where their lives have been changed or where they, as believers, repented and changed their lives. They had prayers answered and did works for Jesus (Just like those did in Matthew 7:23). If this has already happened to you, it is God’s grace, power and love you have experienced, but it doesn’t change what you must do to be saved, according the Word of God, the Bible.
Saul of Tarsus had a religious, Holy Ghost experience where he finally saw the light and even surrendered his will to Jesus (Acts 9 and Acts 22). BUT then WHAT WAS HE TOLD TO DO?
‘And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’ Acts 22:16
(If you were to take time and read the book of Acts you will note there was not one conversion in that book where the person was not baptized.)
NOTE: If your baptism wasn’t done properly, there is a Bible precedent for you to be re-baptized. See Acts 19:1-5. WHY RISK IT?
A SIMPLE SUMMARY ON PROPER, BIBLICAL BAPTISM
1.
Believe that Jesus Christ is and was the Son of God and King of kings.
2.
Repent! Repent of your sins, meaning surrender your life to the King. Do His will over your will. Try to sop doing wrong, and start doing right. You die to your old way of life. (THEN you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that is a helper that helps you when you try.)
3.
Be Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ FOR the REMISSION of your sins. Baptism is immersion (or burial) in water, and it is where you contact the shed blood of Jesus Christ that washes away sin (Acts 22:16). (Prior to being baptized and as proof of your belief, confess out loud that He is the Son of God. See Romans 10:9 and Acts 8:37.)
When you do the above, you are then born-again of the water and the spirit (John 3:5) and become a member of His corporate body, which is the Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6:4-6
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Proverbs 16:25
There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death…
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