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G.W. North

George Walter North (1913 - 2003). British evangelist, author, and founder of New Covenant fellowships, born in Bethnal Green, London, England. Converted at 15 during a 1928 tent meeting, he trained at Elim Bible College and began preaching in Kent. Ordained in the Elim Pentecostal Church, he pastored in Kent and Bradford, later leading a revivalist ministry in Liverpool during the 1960s. By 1968, he established house fellowships in England, emphasizing one baptism in the Holy Spirit, detailed in his book One Baptism (1971). North traveled globally, preaching in Malawi, Australia, and the U.S., impacting thousands with his focus on heart purity and New Creation theology. Married with one daughter, Judith Raistrick, who chronicled his life in The Story of G.W. North, he ministered into his 80s. His sermons, available at gwnorth.net, stress spiritual transformation over institutional religion, influencing Pentecostal and charismatic movements worldwide.
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G.W. North emphasizes the significance of Jesus' command in Matthew 28 regarding baptism, clarifying that the focus should not be on the specific words spoken during the act but rather on baptizing individuals 'into the name' of the triune God. He explains that the phrase used by Jesus indicates a singular name, 'I AM', which encompasses the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rather than treating them as separate entities. North warns against the common misunderstanding of grouping the names together, asserting that true baptism is about the recognition of the divine presence rather than the verbal formula. He highlights that this name, 'I AM', signifies God's eternal nature and is the foundation of the Christian faith. Ultimately, the sermon calls believers to understand the profound unity of the Trinity in the act of baptism.
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Into the Name - I Am
Returning to Jesus' last command to His disciples in Matthew 28, it ought to be noted that He neither told them then, nor has told anyone since to say anything during the course of baptism. He did not supply us with a baptismal formula, as though He was teaching the science of baptism; He told us to do it, that is all, and in doing so, to administer it with the purpose of baptising people 'into the name of' the triune God, It is therefore quite in order for someone who is totally dumb to baptise someone who is stone deaf into that name. The repetition of words is not the important point of the matter; providing Jesus is there, such a baptism would be quite as valid as any other. What the Lord actually said in Matthew 28 was 'Go ye therefore and make disciples of every nation, baptising them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost'. It is important to note that He did not say 'into the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost', as though to imply that the three should be grouped together in one personal name, for that is not the same thing, To mistakenly think that both forms of expression mean the same thing is to lay the foundation of the subtle error which has now become so prevalent among men. According to all known rules of grammar, the words the Lord spoke were really a shortened form of 'baptising them into the name of the Father and into the name of the Son and into the name of the Holy Ghost', which is a very different and perfectly consistent thing. Further, He did not say 'baptising them into the names of .... etc.', as though He commanded that all of the many names which each person of the Trinity bears must be stated. That would be altogether too great a task. There is a name which each person of the blessed Trinity bears in His own right, whether He be the Father or the Son or the Holy Ghost; each one jointly shares this name with the others. Seeing this is so, without doubt it is into this name that all must be baptised. This simple yet profound name is stated quite clearly in verse 20, 'lo I AM with you always, even unto the consummation of the age'. The name and person into which all must be baptised is 'I AM'; it is the one name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Milleniums before Matthew wrote his Gospel, God had said that He would be known by this name to every generation. It is therefore exactly right to baptise into that name and not into the name of any one person. I AM is the first expression of self-recognition, the eternal consciousness of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. This age is the age of generation into I AM by I AM for I AM in I AM, that is God.
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George Walter North (1913 - 2003). British evangelist, author, and founder of New Covenant fellowships, born in Bethnal Green, London, England. Converted at 15 during a 1928 tent meeting, he trained at Elim Bible College and began preaching in Kent. Ordained in the Elim Pentecostal Church, he pastored in Kent and Bradford, later leading a revivalist ministry in Liverpool during the 1960s. By 1968, he established house fellowships in England, emphasizing one baptism in the Holy Spirit, detailed in his book One Baptism (1971). North traveled globally, preaching in Malawi, Australia, and the U.S., impacting thousands with his focus on heart purity and New Creation theology. Married with one daughter, Judith Raistrick, who chronicled his life in The Story of G.W. North, he ministered into his 80s. His sermons, available at gwnorth.net, stress spiritual transformation over institutional religion, influencing Pentecostal and charismatic movements worldwide.