Baptism Of The Spirit Series

INTRODUCTION

Paul is now on his 3rd missionary journey and we find him in the city of Ephesus

Paul is a traveller and with the sole reason to spread the gospel of Christ

Now Ephesus was a mighty and influential city in its day

Ephesus became the home for Paul over this period

Now although this city was influential with its trade and business, it was also a city that was caught up in idolatry, black magic and other occult practices

The residence of this city worshipped a god named Artimus which was supposedly a goddess of fertility.

There was a huge statue of this god stood in the temple of Ephesus

Once a year a huge festival used to take place in honor of this god where people used to do stupid things

Clearly from this one can see that the enemy had control of this city

As Paul arrives, once again he sees such an opportunity for the gospel to be preached

Wherever we go or wherever we are, there is darkness around, which is such an opportunity to minister the gospel of grace to our people who are lost

We need to be a people who maximise on the grace of sharing the gospel

We should take our example from Paul

We should also take our example from Jesus, who often had compassion on those who were lost

The people of Ephesus were lost and in need of a Saviour

Now what’s interesting to see is that Apollos whom we met in the previous chapter had come from Ephesus and is now in Corinth

Clearly he had been ministering here, but as we learnt last week that he didn’t have the full truth:

• That the Messiah they were waiting for, had come already

• Had already offered His life for many and died on the cross

• Resurrected on third day and is now seated at the right hand of the Father

• Further to that is that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on believers

We find that Paul meets a few converts of John the Baptist

And they like Apollos still don’t have the full truth

1. JOHNS BAPTISM- WATER BAPTISM

Now Apollos must have ministered to these guys and here they are all still awaiting the Saviour

Paul approaches them and asks them what baptism have they received

To which they reply, johns baptism, which is baptism in water

John’s baptism was only a sign of repentance from sin only, not a sign of new life in Christ

At the Jordan river, John was baptising people for their sins

John was the forerunner of Jesus, he prepared the way

Now Jesus had come already at this point

We even see Jesus being baptised by John himself

Not that Jesus needed to repent of any sin in His life, he did it to identify with us

Water baptism in itself does not save you, Jesus does

Baptism is only a sign of cleansing from sin

There is no magical thing that happens in the water

It is an outward declaration to everyone present that you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour

Water baptism is important, because here you are declaring to the world and also the enemy that you are identifying your life with Christ

That’s the reason why we don’t believe in infant baptism, because this is baptism for believers

APPLICATION

We see that Paul here according to scripture, baptises these 12 men again

Why, because they now understand what has happened and chose to identify their lives with Christ

You and i need to be baptised in water

If you were baptised as a baby, then you need to be baptised again

Please note that you will not loose your salvation if you are not baptised in water

But Jesus asks us to do that, don’t neglect it

If you have been baptised in water, please talk to us

2. SPIRIT BAPTISM

We then find in verse 6, that Paul placed his hands on them and they were baptised in the Spirit

But why did Paul take the time in explaining about the Spirit to them?

Because they needed the Spirit in their lives to live the Christian life

You may ask the question, when i believed did i not receive the Sprit?

Yes you did, at conversion; the Spirit came and sealed you into the family of God

At that point you became and son/daughter of the most High of God

At that point you were taken out from darkness and brought into His marvellous light

You are sealed for life

BUT, there is another baptism or infilling that place in the life of the believer

This baptism gives one power to exercise the gifts of the Spirit and live a fruitful Christian life