By: Evangelist W.C. “Dub” Dellinger

Malachi 3:1 says “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” No one else was granted this privilege. Yes, there were false christs and they were false John the Baptists. They did appear later on. Many even today try to imitate John’s Baptism saying I will baptize you and forgive you of all sin. Not knowing any better, they let them do it. The worst is when they baptize a child and forgive it of sins and the child has no sins. You can give the child back to the Lord in dedication. That is all you can do. You are not John the Baptist. You were not baptized with the Holy Ghost while you were in your mother’s womb as John the Baptist was. You can not forgive sins as some pretend to do. Not James, Peter, or Paul could do that. You do have the privilege to ask your Lord to forgive the person and even then the subject that you are praying for must be willing and joining you in the prayer. Never a prayer said over a group of people for forgiveness of even one sin. Never all sins. You can wave a wand, do a St. Vidas dance, and nothing will happen. Let’s learn from David. He wet his pillow with tears all night and God said that He was after my own heart. David was Godly sorrowful of his sins and God forgave him. Sin forgiven has to be personal with the sinner. Yes, only one John the Baptist and he was to prepare the way of the Lord, even to baptize Jesus (what a privilege that was). Even God Almighty was pleased when He said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased! And God gave some instructions. Hear ye him. John the Baptist could only baptize in the name of God and Jesus. Jesus was not our resurrected Saviour until He came forward from the grave. You and I will have to do the same. This is pointed out in the King James Version of the Bible.