In four of Paul's epistles he recognizes the Spirit at the door of entrance to this kingdom. He mentions it seven times in ten verses in this connection, but nothing whatever about water baptism.[146] Paul knew of no door to this kingdom by way of water baptism or he would have told us of it, for this door and how we may enter is just what Paul was emphasizing. Our Lord's memorable Sermon on the Mount, which occupies the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of Matthew is mostly about this heavenly kingdom, the blessed who possess it, the unrighteous who cannot enter and how we may all attain it, but not one word about water baptism. This ancient ordinance was far away from the mind of our Lord amid the dim and receding shadows of Judaism[147] when he taught that multitude on the Mount and gave his kingdom to his saints, the poor in spirit, the pure in heart, the meek and the merciful, and encouraged us all to seek first this kingdom, which he said those only can enter who do the will of our Father in Heaven.[148] The kingdom of God is mentioned more than sixty times and the kingdom of Heaven twenty times in the New Testament but water baptism is never once named nor alluded to in any of those eighty texts. This silence impressively suggests that water baptism is entirely foreign to this kingdom and must belong to another dispensation. Plainly no door of entrance to this kingdom by way of water baptism had been discovered at the time the New Testament was written. Jesus said that he himself was the door to this sheepfold and that he is a thief and a robber who climbs up some other way.[149] We read that John baptized with water but Jesus should baptize with the Holy Spirit, and with fire;[150] and again: Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God; and again: Except a man be born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.[151] This birth from above; this birth by water and the Spirit; and this baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire are all three plainly one and the same divine operation and there is no water baptism either mentioned or implied: Yet man who is prone to substitute the letter which killeth for the spirit which giveth life, long ago perverted this testimony of Christ to Nicodemus by construing "born" to mean "baptized" and thus by changing one Scripture word he would close the kingdom of God against his fellow man who would not come to him and be baptized with water.[152] But we trace through history from the beginning a seed or remnant who constantly protested against such sacramentalism and by legions sealed their testimonies with martyr's blood.[153]