He Will Baptize You In The Holy Spirit Series

“He Will Baptize You with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8)

Last week we looked at Christ’s calling of his disciples. He said, “Follow me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” And they left their nets, they left their boats and followed him… Others left their tax-collector’s booth or business practice, commercial ventures, old life or forsook their previous occupations—and they followed-after Jesus.

The commitment to follow Jesus is the commitment to discipleship; following Jesus necessarily—100% of the time, in every case, with ZERO exclusions—following Jesus is about discipleship and disciple-making. This is THE calling to which we have been called; this is the heart-&-vision of Christ for His church…

Mark’s Gospel is a basic textbook/how-to-manual that shows the church how to do the ONE thing Jesus commands us to do: MAKE DISCIPLES…

There are book-ends (a.k.a., “Inclusio”) in 1:17 and in 16:15.

• 1:17, “Follow me—be my disciple—and I will make you to become fishermen of men.”

• 16:15, “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (//Matthew 28’s Great Commission).

…the contents of the Gospel, from chapter 1 thru ch. 16, provide us with all we need to know and describe how we go about doing that. What we have between these “book-ends” is commentary on that ONE singular focus: being disciple-making disciples…

1) Mark’s 1st order of business (1:8) is to familiarize his reader with the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

2) Mark’s 2nd order of business: Announce the Good News (1:14-15).

a. Confession of Sins (1:5b)

b. Expectation the Messiah will come set things right

c. Teaching about the Kingdom

d. Genuine repentance and belief.

3) 3rd—Personal Calling from Jesus: “Follow Me” (1:17).

4) And 4th, Commitment to follow…

So what does that committed discipleship look like? For Mark, you might say that “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will Grow a Great Church!”

And apart from the baptism in the Holy Spirit, there’s nothing great about anything we do…

While JB’s baptism was an outward-sign that pointed to a deeper work, Jesus’ baptism or immersion in the Holy Spirit would cleanse the heart, the soul, the inner spirit. John’s baptism could cleanse the outside with a water-washing that is symbolic; Jesus came to cover us for reals and soak us in something much different…

==>(The following bullets describe the ministry and baptism of the Holy Spirit)<==

• In the gospel, there’s an occasion where Jesus proposed that He should wash his disciples’ feet… Peter said, “No, Lord, I am not fit for you to wash my feet!” And Jesus said, “Peter, if I do not wash your feet, then you can’t be my follower.” And Peter said, “Then Lord, not just my feet, but ALL of me!”

• Jesus MUST wash you; you and I must be cleansed… But the washing that we require is a deeper, spiritual one.

• The OT foretold of a general outpouring of god’s HS. The HS was known to fill certain people at special times, in order that God’s purposes would be accomplished powerfully thru them… But Joel 3 predicts that a day would come when the HS will be poured out upon all humans—and, indeed, as JB put it, with the Messiah came the Spirit whose prevenient work will bring all people into the realm of salvation by grace thru faith…

• To Nicodemus in John 3, Jesus said, “You must be BORN AGAIN…” He explained what that meant: a deeper work of God’s grace. Man’s religion tries-&-tries to cover us with goodness, but that will NEVER save and it will never transform… You must be born again—baptized or immersed in the Holy Spirit.

• This Spirit of God is absolutely necessary, and not just some kind of special add-on for super-spiritual people! Everyone in heaven will have been baptized in the Spirit, no exceptions. You need this! But it doesn’t happen by accident; it will not happen by chance, and it does not occur automatically: it is the heart’s desire for more of God: JB said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” You want more of Christ, and less of self—when your desire for God eclipses your desire to satisfy the selfishness, then the Holy Spirit will baptize you—the Spirit of God will fill your heart, cleanse you thoroughly of all sin, and empower you for service in the kingdom…

• To Timothy (2 Tim. 1:7) Paul wrote, “God has not given us a Spirit of timidity, but one of power, of courage, and of self control.”

• So this Spirit in which we MUST be immersed, that 3rd-person of the Trinity, empowers and enables every believer to communicate the Gospel. That is the ONE thing that ALWAYS occurs:

o Acts 2 the Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus and they spoke clearly to all nations, in various languages, the Gospel of Jesus Christ…