The Holy Spirit – The Baptism
Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September
8, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted?
Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
Today’s Water Baptism
Last week we talked about who the Holy Spirit is.
He is a person. He is God. He is holy.
This week I want to talk about God’s power for our lives, the baptism of
the Holy Spirit.
We understand the need for power …
For some of us, one of the first things we check when we sit behind the
wheel of our car is the gas gauge – do we have enough gas to get us where we’re going?
Illustration
Two nuns were driving down a country road when they ran out of gas. They
walked to a farmhouse and a farmer gave them some gasoline; but the only
container he had was an old bedpan. The nuns were happy to take whatever they
were offered and returned to their car.
As they were pouring the gasoline from the bedpan into the tank of their
car, a man drove by. He stopped, rolled down his window and said, “Excuse me,
sisters. I’m not of your religion, but I couldn’t help admiring your faith!”
I’m sorry, but if it isn’t real gas, your car
isn’t going to run, no matter how much faith you have. We need real fuel to power in our lives.
Illustration
A garage man
in Mangum, Oklahoma, answered the distress call of a woman motorist, whose car
had stalled. He examined the car and informed her that it was out of gas. “Will
it hurt,” she asked, “if I drive it home with the gas tank empty?”
What a silly
question!
The Christian
life isn’t going to run if your tank is empty. The car won’t even
start.
The Holy
Spirit has the power to drive the Christian life.
Illustration
When Thomas Aquinas visited Rome,
and was shown the gorgeousness of the papal palace, the pope remarked to him,
“Well, Thomas, the church in our day cannot say, Silver and gold have I none. “
“No,” replied Aquinas, “neither can she say, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise
up and walk.”
For those of us living in America,
we get caught up in the quest for silver and gold, but
what we really need is as Christians is spiritual power.
Dunamis
Jesus connected the baptism of the Spirit with the power of God.
(Ac 1:5 NKJV) for John
truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not
many days from now.”
(Ac 1:8 NKJV) But you
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth.”
:8 power – dunamis – strength, power, ability
We often hear preachers tell us that the word “dynamite” comes from this
word.
And to be honest, the word is many times
translated as “miracles”, “mighty works”, or “power”.
But the root of this word is the common word, dunamai – to be able
Dunamai is a very common word.
Of the 210 times it’s used in the New Testament, it’s translated simply
“can”, “cannot”, “may”, “be able”, or “able” 203 of those times.
I’d like to suggest that we think about the “dunamis” in this
passage as “ability”.
The apostles will be “able” to perform miracles, but in Acts 1, Jesus’ focus
is on them being “able” to witness.
Illustration
Six-year-old Thomas McAlley recently visited Calgary's fire department
headquarters. While there
he was given a chance to dress up in a fireman's uniform and ride on a fire
truck. A photographer snapped him as he
sat on his perch on a boot rack at the fire station.
That is a thrilling experience, we are sure, for a boy, but if there was a
fire, none of us would wish someone who was merely playing games to be in
charge of putting the flames out. We would
want the experienced, adult firemen.
Many Christians are merely playing at putting out the fires of sin and
disobedience. They have the uniform, but
they do not have the ability to help bring their burning world under control. It’s the Spirit that gives us the ability.
Many names
Years ago I decided to do my own investigation into the concept of the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. I had come
to Christ in a Baptist Church, experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit at a
prayer meeting at Melodyland, and went to a seminary
where some of the professors taught that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work today
like He did 2,000 years ago. I was one
confused puppy.
One of the things I did was to track this experience that the apostles had
on the day of Pentecost through the book of Acts and see the language that was
used to describe it. We will look at
three of these descriptions.
Baptism
The Greek word translated “baptize” means simply to “immerse”.
John the Baptist baptized people by
immersing them in the Jordan River.
I don’t think
he “sprinkled” them, first, because that isn’t the meaning of baptizo, but
secondly, if he only sprinkled them, why do it in a river, why not carry around
a bucket of water?
John the Baptist was the first to speak of the baptism of the Holy Spirit
when he said,
(Mt 3:11 NKJV) I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I
am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
With the baptism of John, John is the one doing the baptizing, immersing people
into the Jordan River.
Some of you will be baptized in water today. I will be holding on to you and when you are ready
I push you down into the water.
With Spirit baptism, it’s Jesus who holds on to us and pushes us down,
immersing us in the Holy Spirit.
Same as salvation?
Some folks teach that every Christian has been baptized by the Holy Spirit when
they first believed and that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is simply a part of
salvation.
They will often point to:
These also tend to be the folks who
teach that the Holy Spirit no longer works in miraculous ways like He did 2,000
years ago.
Personally, I think that a few of
these teachers prefer this teaching, because it helps their people answer the
question that their Pentecostal friends ask them, “Have you been baptized by
the Holy Spirit”? And as every pastor knows, sometimes when people get too
Pentecostal, the church splits.
The belief that the baptism of the
Spirit happens at salvation comes from this verse:
(1 Co 12:13 NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made
to drink into one Spirit.
Paul is describing something that happens to all believers at salvation,
but pay attention to the language.
John baptized people into water.
Jesus baptizes people into the Spirit.
Here (1Cor.) the Spirit baptizes people into the body of
Christ.
There are different persons (John, Jesus, Holy Spirit) doing the baptizing
and the baptizing is into different things (water, Holy Spirit, Body of Christ).
Though the baptism of the Spirit
may take place at the same time as salvation, it is a different experience.
Filling
When the day of Pentecost came, the event takes place, but Luke uses
different language to describe the baptism of the Spirit.
(Ac 2:1–4 NKJV) —1 When the
Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them
divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance.
The phrase “filled with the Spirit”
is found four more times in the book of Acts (4:8; 4:31; 9:17; 13:9) while the
term “baptism of the Spirit” is only used once more (11:16).
(Ac 4:8 NKJV) —8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
“Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
(Ac 4:31 NKJV) —31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were
assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
(Ac 9:17 NKJV) —17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying
his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on
the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled
with the Holy Spirit.”
(Ac 13:9 NKJV) —9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the
Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
Paul also uses this term “fill” as well.
(Eph 5:18 NKJV) And do not
be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit
When a person is drunk with wine, they
are controlled by the alcohol. So a
person who is filled with the Spirit is being controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Illustration
The filling of the Holy Spirit is like
a hand filling a glove.
If I was to take this dirty old work
glove and command it to play my keyboard, frankly I’m not going to hold my
breath.
It doesn’t have the “ability” to
accomplish it.
But if my hand “fills” the glove, then
whatever my hand does, the glove does to.
Or pretty close. The glove won’t
do as good as just my hand…
Yet suddenly my glove has the ability
to play the piano, just like my hand.
When the Holy Spirit fills our lives,
we are “enabled” to do whatever the Holy Spirit wants us to do. We are able to do whatever the Spirit can do
(in a clunky sort of way).
… Upon
Jesus used three different prepositions to describe the different kinds of
relationships that an individual can have with the Holy Spirit.
We see two of them in this passage:
(Jn 14:16–17 NKJV) —16 And I will
pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with
you forever— 17
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you.
The word “with” describes the kind of relationship that every person on
this planet has with the Holy Spirit.
He is constantly tugging at hearts and trying to draw people to Jesus.
When a person chooses to turn from their sin and turn to God, the Holy
Spirit comes “in” to their heart.
But you can have the Holy Spirit “in” you and still be constantly defeated
by your own sin and find yourself fighting against God.
Paul wrote to the believers of the spiritually immature Corinthian church:
(1
Co 3:3 NKJV) for you are still carnal. For
where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not
carnal and behaving like mere men?
And keep in mind, this is even a church that was known for
having spiritual gifts. Yet they were
“carnal” in Paul’s mind.
When Jesus talks about the power of the Holy Spirit, the preposition
changes. It’s no longer “with” or “in”.
(Ac 1:8 NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you…
The “upon” relationship with the Holy Spirit is connected to the power of
God. He “comes upon” and “falls upon”
us.
Illustration
Suppose I take a pitcher full of water and place it next to an empty
glass. The water is “with” the
glass. If I pour water from the pitcher
until the glass half full, water is “in” the glass. If I keep pouring and let the water overflow
the glass, that’s a picture of the water coming “upon” the glass. It’s overflowing. Everything around it is soaked.
Illustration
Suppose I invite you over to my
house. You ring the doorbell and I
answer the door. While you are still
outside on the front porch, you are “with” the house. If I invite you in and you come sit on our
sofa, you are now “in” the house. But if
I adopt you into our family, give you the keys to the house, keys to the cars, the
wifi password, control of the thermostat, access to
the television remove, and even our checkbook – that’s what “upon” is about.
When does it take place?
At salvation
For some, it actually does take place at the same time as salvation.
That’s what happened with the first Gentiles to get saved at Cornelius’
house.
(Ac 10:44 NKJV) While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
Peter goes on to compare what happens to Cornelius with the apostles’ own
experience at Pentecost.
These people came to put their trust in Jesus and got baptized in the Holy
Spirit all in one moment, even before they got baptized in water.
After salvation
For others, it takes place after salvation.
The disciples were filled with the Spirit after they believed (Acts 2).
The Samaritans believed through Philip’s preaching and were even baptized
in water, but …
(Ac 8:14–17 NKJV) —14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to
them, 15 who, when
they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet
He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. 17
Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Paul believed in Jesus on the road to Damascus, but was baptized in the
Spirit later through the ministry of Ananias (Acts 9:17-18)
(Ac 9:17–18 NKJV) —17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying
his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on
the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled
with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately
there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his
sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.
The disciples at Ephesus weren’t baptized in the Spirit until Paul came and
noticed something was missing (Acts 19:2-6)
(Ac 19:2–6 NKJV) —2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is
a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he
said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s
baptism.” 4 Then Paul said,
“John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that
they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when
Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke
with tongues and prophesied.
Many Times
Hopefully we will all be filled with the Spirit many times over.
Peter and the others apostles were filled with the Spirit in Acts 2:4; 4:8;
and again in 4:31 (and that’s just what was recorded).
I think that sometimes it doesn’t hurt
to think of us as broken, cracked vessels.
We leak. We need to be
“re-filled”.
We will continue to struggle with our
sin nature until we go to heaven. We constantly
need to keep surrendering to the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Paul commanded
us to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), the original Greek carries the
idea of “be continually being filled with the Spirit”
Receiving it
There are some goofy ideas about how we can receive the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Illustration
A traveling evangelist always put on a grand finale at his revival
meetings. When he was to preach at a church, he would secretly hire a small boy
to sit in the ceiling rafters with a dove in a cage. Toward the end of his
sermon, the preacher would shout for the Holy Spirit to come down, and the boy
in the rafters would dutifully release the dove. At one revival meeting,
however, nothing happened when the preacher called for the Holy Spirit to
descend. He again raised his arms and exclaimed: “Come down, Holy Spirit!”
Still no sign of the dove. The preacher then heard the anxious voice of the
small boy call down from the rafters: “Sir, a yellow cat just ate the Holy
Spirit. Shall I throw down the yellow cat?”
On Thursday nights, we’re going to see
in the book of Acts that there are no formulas.
There are many ways to receive this power from God.
At times it
happened when they were waiting on the Lord (Acts 1:4). It
happened when they were praying (Acts 1:14; 4:31). It happened with the laying on of hands (Acts
8:17). It happened in the middle of a Bible
Study (Acts 10:44).
(Ac 1:4–5 NKJV) —4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded
them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father,
“which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5
for John truly baptized with water, but
you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
(Ac 1:14 NKJV) These all continued with one accord in prayer and
supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His
brothers.
(Ac 4:31 NKJV) —31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were
assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
(Ac 8:14–17 NKJV) —14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15
who, when they had come down, prayed for
them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only
been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy
Spirit.
(Ac 10:44 NKJV) While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit
fell upon all those who heard the word.
Jesus taught very simply on this
subject:
(Jn 7:37–39 NKJV) —37 On the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out,
saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water.” 39
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in
Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus
was not yet glorified.
Thirst
dipsao - suffer from thirst; those who painfully
feel their lack of
This is the condition
(subjunctive).
If you are not thirsty, it won’t happen.
I think this may be why sometimes it takes hard times for people to finally
come to Jesus because they just don’t realize what a mess they are in, they
don’t realize how thirsty they really are.
On our own, we really are powerless to do what is right. Paul wrote,
(Ro 7:19 NLT) I want to
do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it
anyway.
Is that you? Do you
realize how much help you need? Are you
thirsty?
In the twelve step programs, the
first step to victory is learning to admit that you are powerless. Because you
are.
Come to Jesus
Play Thirst video
clip.
If you’re really thirsty, you better come to the right place to drink.
Jesus is the One who baptizes. He’s
the one who immerses us in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the only one who had paid the price for your sins, allowing you to
come into a personal relationship with God.
There is a power greater than you who can help you change. His name is Jesus.
In the twelve step programs, the
second step is to believe that a power greater than yourself can restore you to
sanity.
I’m here today to put a name and a
face on that “higher power”. His name is
Jesus. He’s the one who can give you the
ability to change.
He helps you change through the work of the Holy Spirit.
(Ga 5:16 NKJV) I say
then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
If you want to change, you MUST come to Jesus. He will pour the Holy Spirit on you.
This is the first of two actual
grammatical commands in this passage.
This is something you must do.
You MUST come to Jesus.
Drink
It really isn’t that hard to drink, is it?
To drink a glass of water, you first have to open up your mouth.
Imagine drinking a glass of water with your mouth closed.
To receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, you don’t open your mouth, you
open your heart.
Is your heart open? Are you ready to
let the Holy Spirit overflow you?
This is the second of two
commands. You must not only come to
Jesus, but you MUST drink. You must yield.
You must open yourself up to
the Holy Spirit.
Believe
Jesus didn’t say, “He who feels this tingle down his back will have rivers
of living water ...”. He said, “He that believes ...”
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is based on trust, not on feelings.
This is not a command (it’s a
present participle). It would seem that
this is what is assumed that you are already doing.
When Elijah was going through a crisis, he decided he needed to run away.
He ran hundreds of miles to the south until he came to Mount Sinai, where
he hid out in a cave, seeking God’s help.
(1 Ki 19:11–12 NKJV) —11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the
mountain before the Lord.” And
behold, the Lord passed by, and a
great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces
before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and
after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord
was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and
after the fire a still small voice.
It’s with the still small voice that God showed up.
Some of you may experience the great and strong wind. Others of you may have your world shook. Others may feel the fire of God.
But don’t confuse God with these experiences, as powerful
and good as they might be.
God was in the “still small voice”.
You won’t know that you’re baptized in the Spirit by the feelings you feel
but by whether or not you simply trust that Jesus has baptized you.
Paul wrote,
(Eph 5:18 NKJV)
…be filled with the Spirit,
Grammatically,
the phrase “be filled with the Spirit” is in the form of a command. We are commanded to be filled with the Holy
Spirit.
John wrote,
(1 Jn 5:14–15 NKJV)
—14 Now this is the confidence that we have
in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15
And if we know that He hears us, whatever
we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Is it God’s
will that you be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Would God command you to be filled with the Spirit if it wasn’t His
will? (no)
Closing
Do you need the power of God in your life?
Are you thirsty?
Are you ready to come to Jesus for the answers that you are looking for?
This morning I want to give you the opportunity open your heart to the work
of God.
Some you have been fighting what God has been wanting to do in your life.
Take your first step. Surrender.