Last Sunday I taught on Water Baptism (read it here). This week we look at Spirit Baptism. My
text is still Acts 18:23 - 19:10 where both are
encountered.
I am going to make 5 assertions which have guided me in my preparation.
You may or may not agree with them, but they set out up front my starting point
and assumptions:
1. Spirit baptism / baptism in the Holy Spirit is a New testament
reality.
2. It most often occurs at or after water baptism ... but not always
3. It is sometimes accompanied by some kind of overwhelming physical
manifestation ... but not always
4. In present day Evangelicalism there are varying beliefs regarding
what constitutes Spirit Baptism ... most of the 20th century the focus fell on
the importance of speaking in tongues ... then other charismatic manifestations
were stressed ... and the century closed with the Toronto Blessing
phenomenon/controversy
5. All of the above have led to a situation in many Christian churches
where the free move of the Holy Spirit is feared and even circumscribed in that
people decide "This is how the Spirit will move/manifest in our
church"
Those are my presuppositions which are based on my personal experience
over 23 years of full time Christian ministry.
Two quotations have guided my thoughts as I've work through a number of
texts on the subject. The first is:
"The Christian life is not hard to
live
- it's utterly impossible to live
!
Only One can live it !
Let Him ! In you."
The Christian life is impossible to live: surely anyone whose been a
Christian for some time knows that! Last week we heard Jesus say to us:
This morning we heard God's words:
Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am
holy. Lev 19:2
So, "The Christian life is not hard to live - it's
utterly impossible to live ! Only One can live it ! Let Him ! In
you."
We cannot live the Christian life on our own, but, as the Scripture
says:
I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me. Phil 3:14 and Jesus taught that the way
Christ strengthens us is by giving us a Helper, who is called the Holy
Spirit.
So much for my first quotation, "The Christian life is not
hard to live - it's utterly impossible to live! Only One can live it
! Let Him ! In you."
The second is from the man called and used by God to lead the 18th
century British and American Evangelical Revival, John Wesley, expressing his
fear for the revival movement, who had mockingly become known as Methodists although
they never existed as a separate denomination in his lifetime:
‘I am not afraid that the people called
Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am
afraid that they might only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion
without the power'
I have long believed that we modern and post-modern evangelicals are
fulfilling Wesley’s prophetic concern for the evangelical movement, worrying
endlessly about the form of our religion, while neglecting the power of that
accompanies God's grace?
Power is meant to accompany the preaching of the gospel. Paul says this
on a number of occasions:
My message and my preaching were not
with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.1 Cor 2:4-5 ?apostolic time
For the kingdom of God is not a matter
of talk but of power. 1 Cor 4:20 ?
... our gospel came to you not
simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep
conviction. 1 Thess 1:5
I hope by now that if you needed convincing of the need for the Holy
Spirit in your life, that you are more convinced.
The question arises regarding when, how, and how often we receive the
Holy Spirit?
Do we receive a full measure of Him for the rest of our lives at
conversion, or do we need to be "re-filled" over and over again ...
and will these refillings or fresh annointings always be the same, or will they
differ?
Does God's economy of "daily bread for daily needs" apply to
the Spirit? Do I have to have a demonstrable manifestation when the Spirit
comes upon me ... must something physical/visible take place?
This last one is an important question because many have come to call
this physical, sometimes overpowering, manifestation of the anointing of the
Holy Spirit ... they've come to call this "baptism in the Holy
Spirit", implying that if you don't have such an experience (crying out in
tongues, or falling down, or prophesying) then you haven't actually received
the Holy Spirit ... and sometimes make you feel as if you're somehow a second
class Christian citizen.
This is really why these particular verses from Acts are so
serendipitous because they've called us to look at baptism and to draw our
context from what baptism means. And what does it mean: plain
and simply to be immersed in. Our baptism in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is our willful, in other
words our choice, to become immersed into them, into God, into His way, His
life, His truth ... surrendering, turning from, repenting of our ways, our
lives and our truths. As I said last time, although we use the language of
inviting God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit into us ... it is far more accurate
to see the Christian life as a life lived in Him, caught up in Him and in His
ways … His way for the church …. Not your or my way for the church … His ideas
regarding what should happen here when we worship like this, not our ideas of what
should and shouldn’t happen here during a time of worship.
So, there are a whole lot of texts which speak into our subject this
evening. I was going to work through them and try and “convince you” but I
sensed the Lord saying “Let me do the convincing Cedric”. So, they are all
still on my blog, but I’m not going to look at them … you can (they are immediately below this sermon). I’m going to
jump to my summary:
If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit already dwells within you. When
you purchase a mechanical item that runs on batteries, frequently the notice
"Batteries Not Included" is printed on the box. The Holy Spirit --
your source of power for living -- is "included" when you receive
Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Therefore, you do not need to invite the
Spirit to come into your life as a separate prayer from your salvation prayer.
He came to live within you when you became a Christian, and Jesus promised that
He will never leave you.
The moment you received Christ, the Holy Spirit not only came to indwell
you, but He imparted to you ... spiritual life, causing you to be born anew as
a child of God.
There is but one indwelling of the Holy Spirit, one rebirth of the Holy
Spirit, and one baptism of the Holy Spirit -- all of which occur when you
receive Christ… but … because of sin, we leak … and because of God’s economy we only get daily
provision for our needs and He taught us to ask for our daily bread.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, is not a once-for-all experience.
There are many fillings, as is made clear in Ephesians 5:18 and these can be
experienced in many and varied ways. Sometimes these are such overwhelming
experiences that folk will identify these as their Baptism in the Holy Spirit
and unfortunately sometimes come to believe that those who have not experienced
such sudden and powerful experiences have not yet received the Spirit. This is
simply not true ... they are rather the ones in the gentle mist who experience
the Lord over a long period of time and get just as blessed as those who
suddenly step into the torrent of the Spirit's presence … but both happen.
Personally, I have had both experiences and have come to believe that the
overwhelming experiences can be a pitfall since so many people who have
experienced them long for them again, almost to the point of putting the
validity of their faith in the experience instead of the clear teaching of the
Word of God. We must allow God to move as He sees fit and when we do, we will
hear a tongue from someone, someone else might have an interpretation, someone
else might have a word of knowledge which when shared brings physical healing
to someone else, and someone else might start prophesying … and so on and so on.
This may come as a surprise to you, but here at Meadow Way we have an
excellent document setting out where we stand on these issues. We encourage the
private use of the gift of tongues and I have heard some of you doing that
quietly while we worship or pray ... we realise that if this occurs aloud in
worship, we should wait for an interpretation ... we correctly are puzzled at
the phenomenon of falling over backwards, but recognise and won't be surprised
if folk sometimes just fall ... we acknowledge the reality of words of knowledge
and ... I quote "The elders will look at additional opportunities to
incorporate the gift of prophesy into our services."
So it might well be that we have the form of religion and the forms to
prove it ... but perhaps not the power, the power of prophecy, the power of
knowledge, the power of an interpreted tongue and so on (you have been here
much longer than I, so you will have a better answer than I)... and not because
the power isn't here, not because the Lord doesn't want to move in a unique way
here at Meadow Way, certainly not because we aren't Christians ... but simply
because we haven't created an environment where we encourage, explore and open
ourselves up to what God might want to do. We need to believe, have faith, that
God wants to move in this way in our midst; otherwise we become like Jesus’
hometown, where He could do little because of their lack of belief. Do you
believe, with the elders, that God can move in this way in our midst? I'm not
asking if you want Him to move (because I know that the things I mentioned at
the start, especially some of the abuses might mean that you don't want Him to
move, if that’s what moving means) ... I'm asking if you believe that God can
move in our midst in a way that manifests His power and (again in the words of
the elders) "builds up His church." Hopefully the belief will
overcome the "not wanting" or the fear.
This evening let’s decide to not go one day more without asking God
daily, for the daily bread and water of His Holy Spirit. It is in the context
of asking for the Holy Spirit that Jesus, in Luke, teaches us to ask, seek and
knock and I close with the words of Jesus
‘So I say to you: ask and it will be
given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who
knocks, the door will be opened. ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a
fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a
scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him!’ Luke 11:9-13
Amen
Let's look at some Scriptures for more truth regarding our baptism in the Holy Spirit.
John answered them
all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come,
the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with
the Holy Spirit and fire.'
Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit. This is not some new charismatic or Pentecostal idea. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is as old as the gospel.
Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit. This is not some new charismatic or Pentecostal idea. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is as old as the gospel.
As soon as Jesus was
baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
Jesus was baptised in the Holy Spirit ... His whole ministry was immersed in the power of the Spirit.
Jesus stood and said
in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes
in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within
them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later
to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not
yet been glorified.
Jesus' references to water are often references to the Spirit ... and here we see an important illusion to thirst which we will feel over and over again and which needs to be quenched on a daily basis, otherwise we will surely wither and die. You know that many Christians are withered and dried up don't you? Now you know why? You must drink regularly.
Jesus' references to water are often references to the Spirit ... and here we see an important illusion to thirst which we will feel over and over again and which needs to be quenched on a daily basis, otherwise we will surely wither and die. You know that many Christians are withered and dried up don't you? Now you know why? You must drink regularly.
Very truly I tell
you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will
do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
I'm a great believer that the Word of God generally means just what it says ... we get onto very dangerous ground when we start saying: "Well, it doesn't mean what it says, it actually means something else." This verse should just make us thirsty for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives
When the day of Pentecost
came, they were all together in one place … All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
All of them ... all of them ... (now don't shout out because you might embarrass yourself) ... how many disciples were there on the day of Pentecost ... 11 ... 12 ... no, in Acts 1 we are told there were 120. All of them receive the Holy Spirit. Have you?
All of them ... all of them ... (now don't shout out because you might embarrass yourself) ... how many disciples were there on the day of Pentecost ... 11 ... 12 ... no, in Acts 1 we are told there were 120. All of them receive the Holy Spirit. Have you?
Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off ...’
Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit ... you and your children?
‘When the apostles
in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter
and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive
the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them;
they had simply been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and
John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.’
It would seem it might be possible to not receive the Spirit at conversion and baptism, but at a later stage. Have you received the Holy Spirit.
It would seem it might be possible to not receive the Spirit at conversion and baptism, but at a later stage. Have you received the Holy Spirit.
While Peter was
still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The
circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of
the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them
speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, ‘Surely no one can stand
in the way of their being baptised with water. They have received the Holy
Spirit just as we have.’
Here some people receive the Spirit after conversion but before baptism.
‘While Apollos was
at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus.
There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when
you believed?” They answered, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
So Paul asked, “Well, what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they
replied. “Paul said, “But John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told
the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On
hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul
placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in
tongues and prophesied.’
Here we have a group, a church, who have come to belief, but have not been baptised in Christ or in the Holy Spirit, and so Paul baptises them into Christ and then, through the laying on of hands, they receive the Holy Spirit.
Here we have a group, a church, who have come to belief, but have not been baptised in Christ or in the Holy Spirit, and so Paul baptises them into Christ and then, through the laying on of hands, they receive the Holy Spirit.
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.
Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
Paul here is talking to Christians who have been baptised into Christ and in the Holy Spirit, but he says regarding the Spirit, carry on being filled (in the original Greek, "be
filled" means "keep on being filled constantly and continually.")
