Slides: Baptized With the Holy Spirit

Baptized with the Holy Spirit
David Feddes

John 1:29-34

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

"This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit."

How did Jesus speak and act with such power? By the Spirit!

For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. (John 3:34)

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

Who is the Holy Spirit?

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete (Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate) to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. (John 14:16-17)

• The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, sent by Father and Son to live in believers and to help us.

Who baptizes believers in/with the Holy Spirit? Jesus does!

He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes in/with the Holy Spirit. (John 1:33)

This Jesus God raised up… Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. (Acts 2:32-33)

Where else does the Bible speak of Spirit baptism?

John said of Jesus, “He will baptize you with/in the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16) “He will baptize you in/with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8)

Jesus said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in/with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5; 11:16)

For in/with one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

 

Who has been baptized in/with the Holy Spirit?

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

• All Christians in Christ’s body, the church, receive Spirit baptism.

When did Jesus baptize the first disciples with the Holy Spirit?

You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. (Acts 1:5)

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:1-2)

• Jesus baptized his church with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

When does Spirit baptism happen for Christians today?

Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized 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. (Acts 2:38)

• We are baptized in the Spirit the moment we inwardly repent of sin and receive forgiveness through Jesus’ blood. Water baptism is the outward sign of forgiveness and Spirit baptism.

Is the two-stage experience of the disciples a pattern for us? No.

They received this remarkable new empowering from the Holy Spirit because they were living at the time of the transition between the old covenant work of the Holy Spirit and the new covenant work of the Holy Spirit. Though it was a “second experience” of the Holy Spirit, coming as it did long after their conversion, it is not to be taken as a pattern for us, for we are not living at a time of transition in the work of the Holy Spirit. (Wayne Grudem)

Do all Spirit-filled people
speak in tongues? No.

• What Pentecostals mean by “speaking in tongues” is not what happened on Pentecost. On Pentecost believers were speaking other known languages, not ecstatically uttering sounds. (Acts 2)
• The Spirit gives ecstatic utterance as a gift to some but not all. (1 Corinthians 12)
• Many of history’s mightiest Spirit-filled Christians never spoke in tongues.

Are there ever amazing new experiences of the Spirit after conversion? Yes!

• Such experiences are real and may have huge impact, although it is not biblically accurate to call such experiences “baptism in/with the Holy Spirit.”
• “Be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)
• Do not grieve or quench the Spirit by denying or despising powerful filling.

 

Is the Spirit always spectacular?

Sometimes Holy Spirit does spectacular things, but often the Spirit is unspectacular.

• Gradual and quiet, not just sudden and astonishing
• Steady spiritual disciplines, not just instant empowerments
• Organization, not just ecstasy or impulse
• Biblical instruction, not just special visions
• Lifelong influence, not just grand moment

Who are you in the Spirit?

• The Holy Spirit implants and activates the Christ-life as it’s meant to be expressed in your unique personality. He doesn’t make you somebody else. He makes the true you flourish according to the Creator’s design.
• Don’t seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit so you can be who God didn’t design you be or do what God doesn’t assign you to do.
• The Holy Spirit equips and empowers you for your particular calling and task, not for someone else’s task.

What does the Spirit do for us in the new covenant age?

• Convicts: sin, righteousness, judgment
• Enlivens: born again to new, abundant life
• Indwells: love, assurance, help in prayer
• Reveals: Jesus, Bible, personal path
• Transforms: glory, fruit
• Empowers: force, fullness, spiritual gifts
• Unifies: one body, fellowship, bond

How can Spirit-baptized people gain greater fullness?

• Honor: Marvel at the privilege of God the Spirit living in you, and desire God’s glory.
• Repent: Confess all known sins and turn from anything that offends the Spirit.
• Surrender: Commit every part of yourself and all your goals to the reign of Jesus.
• Ask: Pray for the Spirit to increase and intensify his presence and power in you.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

"This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit."