So when we're looking at the word ‘Baptisms’, and the teaching of Baptisms - the teaching of baptisms is about you being immersed into something you were not in before. It's about being placed into something; and it always concerns change. So when we look at these different baptisms, every one of them represents a change in your lifestyle, in some kind of way.
So what are the different baptisms? 1 Corinthians 12:13 says: “By one spirit, we are baptised into one body”. The Bible talks about us being baptised into Christ. That word Christ means ‘the anointed one’. It can represent: Jesus Christ, who was Jesus of Nazareth - the anointed one. It can represent the body of Christ, which is also called God's Christ, the body of Jesus Christ on this earth - His representation. So one of the baptisms is a baptism into Christ: into Him, Jesus Christ; and into His body.
The second baptism is referred to in Romans 6:3 - “as many of us were baptised into Jesus Christ, were baptised into His death”. So a second baptism is a baptism of water; so we are baptised by a person, and we're dipped into water. I was put into a river - it wasn't a river in flood, but it was a great river. I've tried to baptise people in rivers in flood - it's quite fun really, you've got to hold them real tight! So there's a baptism in water; and we sometimes have quite a separation in time between a person receiving Christ, and being baptised in water. We'll see in the Bible that was not so - they just baptised them as soon as they believe.
In some cultures, you can believe in Jesus Christ - to them, He's just another God; but the day you get baptised - you have sent a clear message to everyone: I'm a Christian. So in some cultures, the day you are baptised, is the day that it's clear to everyone: who you are, and where you stand. So water baptism, for some, in some cultures, means the difference between life and death. The day they get baptised, they're shut off from their family, shut off from their relatives, shut off from the culture - and now they are really living a different life. They've entered a new way of life.
So the third baptism in Luke 3:16 – “Jesus will baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” - so there's a baptism in the Holy Ghost.
So each of these baptisms is an entrance; it's an entrance into something that has changed. So the baptism in the Holy Ghost is an entrance for you, into the supernatural realm. Some people never go past that. They never go past the entrance, or the doorway; but the baptism in the Holy Spirit enables you to enter the realm of supernatural living - because of what the other two baptisms mean.
Finally, a Baptism in Fire – “He'll baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire”. So the baptism in fire, basically that represents a change taking place in your soul. As you go through difficult experiences of life, which the Lord allows you to go through, and it's like a fire begins to hit your life.
How many have been through a fiery experience recently, or the last year? The purpose of it was very simple - it was to bring change in your soul. It's to help you to see the need to let go control, and to learn how to surrender and yield to the Lord, and let His life flow through you.
So even though we put our hand up, and said: Jesus Christ is my Lord; we find as we walk with God, many areas are unsurrendered, and fiery experiences can being dramatic change internally in our life. From that, we begin to grow further and further into the purpose of God.