Why Is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit So Important?
Texts: Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 1:8; Acts 4:31; Acts 2:14-21.
Introduction
1. Illustration: Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited upon Him for ten days, that the Spirit's power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power. (Jeremy Taylor)
2. Throughout the history of the Assemblies of God one of the doctrines that has been key for us in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
a. We have referred to it as our "Distinctive Doctrine."
b. However, over the years it has sometimes been down played or pushed to the side.
c. Perhaps it is time that we rediscover our source of power.
3. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is important for three reasons...
a. It is the promise of God to us.
b. It is the power of God for us.
c. It takes the limitations from us.
4. Read Luke 24:49
Proposition: The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God's promise of His empowering presence.
Transition: The first reason that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important is...
I. It Is the Promise of God to Us (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5).
A. Power From Heaven
1. After Jesus resurrection, He poured himself into his disciples.
His mission was complete, but the work of the Kingdom needed to continue.
a. Now that the work of redemption had been completed someone had to take the message of God's grace to the world.
b. Jesus gave this task to his disciples.
2. As you might imagine, this probably seemed a daunting task to Jesus' disciples.
a. How are we going to tell the whole world about this?
b. What makes you think they will listen to us?
c. He tells them that He was going to send them the Holy Spirit to help.
3. He tells his disciples, “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
a. I want you to pay special attention to the phraseology that Jesus uses to tell them about the Holy Spirit; He uses the word promised.
b. The word being used here in the Greek means "to announce with certainty in advance as to what one will do (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
c. Every time that Luke uses this word it is usually a reference to the Holy Spirit.
d. What Jesus is saying is that like the predictions about Him that came from Scripture came to pass, so would the promise of the Holy Spirit.
e. Jesus is telling them that the task before them may seem daunting, and they were not yet ready for it. However, help was on its way!
f. He tells them to wait here until the Holy Spirit comes, and when he does He would clothe them with power from heaven.
g. In essence, He is saying that when the Holy Spirit comes they would wear power from heaven like a suit of clothes.
h. That just as clothes become a part of your body, so power from heaven would become part of them.
4. Many Bible scholars believe that the Book of Acts is the Gospel of Luke part II. Once again we see Jesus teaching and preparing his disciples for their mission. Luke reiterates Jesus instructions to them when he writes, "Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, 'Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.'"
a. Luke again goes to the time immediately preceding the Ascension.
b. Jesus was "eating with them." At that time He repeated the command, emphasizing that they were not to leave Jerusalem.
c. Again we see that word "promised."
d. They were not yet ready to accomplish the mission he had given them, but he assured them help was on the way.
e. Jesus began His ministry in the power of the Spirit; so must they.
f. It is especially significant to the "promise of the Father" that Jesus gave His instructions through the Holy Spirit (v. 2).
g. The resurrected Jesus was still full of the Spirit, as He had been during all His previous ministry.
h. Just as the Father bore witness to His Son when the Spirit came upon Him (and into Him) in a special way, so the Father bore witness to the faith of the believers by pouring out the promised Holy Spirit giving them power for service.
i. All the preparation and training that knowledge and experience can bring are useless without the proper might. Power had to accompany truth.
j. To make certain the apostles were not only motivated but also supernaturally empowered for their mission (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Acts 1-12).
5. Jesus goes on to say, "John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
a. Jesus had already promised this mighty outpouring of the Spirit to His followers.
b. So had John the Baptist, whose baptism was limited to baptizing in water.
c. Note that Jesus made a clear distinction between baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit (Horton, Acts: A Logion Press Commentary).
d. Now, there are some similarities. When we are baptized in water we are totally submerged in the water.
e. Likewise, when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we are totally submerged in the Spirit.
f. I like to describe it this way; when we are saved we are in the Holy Spirit up to our knees, but when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we are totally covered.
g. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second work of Spirit in the life of the believer that is distinct from salvation.
h. It is the promise of the Father.
B. Promise of Power
1. Illustration: Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, "Go get me a glass of water." Linus looked surprised, "Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me." "On you 75th birthday," Lucy promised, "I’’ll bake you a cake." Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, "Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to."
2. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God's promise.
a. Joel 2:28 (NLT)
“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions."
b. Until the time of Pentecost, God had been selective as to whom he gave the Spirit's power.
c. He had limited it to kings, prophets, and priests.
d. However, through the Prophet Joel he promised that one day the Spirit would be available to everyone.
e. When that day came, he would pour out his Spirit on everyone who came to him and asked for it.
3. This promise of Baptism in the Holy Spirit is for all believers.
a. Acts 2:38-39 (NLT)
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
b. It is no longer for a select few.
c. It is no longer for the spiritual elite.
d. It is for anyone who gives their heart to Jesus.
4. It is Jesus who delivers the promise.
a. John 1:33-34 (NLT)
33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”
b. It is Jesus who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit.
c. It is Jesus who pours out the Spirit on us.
d. Jesus is the one that the Spirit points us to.
Transition: Have you received God's promise for you?
II. It is the Power of God For Us (Acts 1:8, Acts 4:31).
A. You Shall Receive Power
1. Now that we know that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a promise to us, what does it do for us?
2. We find that answer in Acts 1:8, which says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
a. They were to "receive power" (Gk. dunamin, "mighty power") when the Holy Spirit came on them.
b. Then their business was to be witnesses to tell what they had seen, heard, and experienced of Jesus.
c. The call to be His witnesses then makes us Spirit-empowered ambassadors whose lives and ministries are extensions of the Spirit-empowered life and ministry of Jesus.
d. Through the Spirit we have met Him. We know Him. We live by Him, with Him, and in Him.
e. As Christians we need not fail. The baptism in the Spirit is available as an empowering experience. Jesus said, "You will receive power."
3. Jesus, in Matthew 24:14, told His disciples that "'this gospel of the kingdom [the good news of God's power and rule] will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations.'"
a. He also emphasized that His followers could not wait for ideal conditions before spreading the gospel to the nations.
b. The Greek word for witness, is the word from which we get "martyr." As His witnesses, believers must go out and spread the gospel to all nations in the midst of natural calamities and political upheavals, regardless of the cost.
c. How would this be possible? They would receive power as a result of being filled with the Spirit.
d. This would be their key to success in the Church Age until its final consummation, when Jesus returns.
e. There was a marvelous, rapid spread of the gospel in the first century.
f. The tremendous spread of the Pentecostal revival around the world in the twentieth century, and continuing today, is evidence that the power of the Spirit is still working today, evangelizing the world and building the body of Christ (Horton, Acts: A Logion Press Commentary).
4. Later, in Act 4:31, we see this power at work as Luke tells us, "After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness."
a. After they prayed the place where they were gathered "was shaken" (by the Spirit, not by an earthquake), indicating a mighty move of God.
b. As on the Day of Pentecost, there was a physical manifestation of the Spirit's presence, a shaking (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Acts 1-12).
c. At the same time they were all "filled with the Holy Spirit," and in His power they all continued speaking the Word of God "with boldness."
d. This was as great a work of the Spirit as the miracles.
e. That they continued to speak with great boldness is further emphasized in 5:42.
f. Acts 5:42 (NLT)
And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”
g. All the believers, including the apostles, received this fresh filling, empowering them to meet the continued need and the pressures upon them.
h. New, fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit are part of God's wonderful provision for all believers.
i. Just as we can give more of ourselves to Him, He can give more of himself to us (Horton, Acts: A Logion Press Commentary).
B. Empowerment for Service
1. Illustration: "Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you" (Corrie Ten Boom).
2. Jesus has given us a mission.
a. Mark 16:15 (NLT)
“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone."
b. He has given us the mission to preach the Good News everwhere we go.
c. He has given us the mission to preach the Good News to everyone we meet.
d. He has given us the mission to live lives that demonstrate the transforming power of the Good News.
3. Jesus provides the power to complete this mission through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
a. Zechariah 4:6 (NLT)
It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
b. We can't do it in our own strength.
c. We can't do it through our own abilities.
d. We can't do it through our own intelligence.
e. We can only do it through the Spirit's power.
4. Through this power we become Jesus' ambassadors.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
b. The Spirit's power makes us ambassadors of the Good News.
c. The Spirit's power makes us ambassadors of Grace.
d. The Spirit's power makes us ambassadors of forgiveness.
e. The Spirit's power makes us ambassadors of the Cross.
Transition: Are you living in the power of the Spirit?
III. It Takes Limitations Away From Us (Acts 2:14-21).
A. Upon All People
1. One of the great effects of Baptism in the Holy Spirit is that it takes away limitations.
a. It removes obstacles.
b. It removes distinctions.
c. It removes excuses.
d. It removes "I can't" from our vocabularies.
2. On the day of Pentecost Peter said, "No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel..."
a. Peter once again comes back to the idea of promise.
b. Peter said, "This is what was predicted by the prophet Joel."
c. Joel, like the other Old Testament prophets, did not see the time span between the first and second comings of Christ.
d. Even Peter himself probably did not see how long it would be.
e. He did see, however, that the Messianic Age is coming, and probably hoped it would be soon.
3. Then Peter reminds the people what Joel predicted would happen, "‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.'"
a. Peter is emphasizing the fact God's purpose to keep pouring out His Spirit or to pour out His Spirit again and again on "all people" (Gk. pasan sarka, "all flesh").
b. In the Hebrew "all flesh" usually means all humankind.
c. However, "Flesh" can also speak of frailty, and this fits with the fact that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is an empowering experience.
d. The Spirit wants to give us power and make us strong.
e. "All people" (v. 17) is then broken down to sons and daughters.
f. There is no distinction in the Pentecostal experience with regard to gender. This is another indication that all the 120 that were in the upper room were baptized in the Spirit, including the women.
4. Young men would "see visions" and old men "dream dreams" (v. 17).
a. No division with respect to age would exist.
b. Even upon male and female slaves, which are what "servants" actually means, God would pour out His Spirit.
c. In other words, the Spirit would pay no attention to social distinctions.
d. Though there were probably no slaves among the 120, twenty percent of the population of the Roman Empire were slaves and in many areas slaves composed as high as eighty percent of the population.
e. All the Epistles refer to the believers as servants (Gk. douloi, "slaves"), rather than disciples ("learners").
f. They asked nothing for themselves, claimed no rights, and gave everything in the service of their Master and Lord.
g. Even the brothers of Jesus, James and Jude, call themselves servants, or "slaves," of the Lord Jesus (Horton, Acts: A Logion Press Commentary).
5. Peter also stresses that the only time limitation would be the return of Jesus when he said, "'before that great and glorious day of the LORD arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.’"
a. This verse gives the purpose of the outpouring.
b. Through this empowering the Holy Spirit will do His convicting work in the world, not just in the end but throughout the age—right down to the great Day of the Lord.
c. All during this period, whoever calls on the name of the Lord for help, that is, for salvation, will be saved (Horton, Acts: A Logion Press Commentary).
B. Limitless Power
1. Illustration: "How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none..." (A.W. Tozer)
2. Jesus takes away our limitations by baptizing us in the Holy Spirit.
a. Philippians 4:13 (NLT)
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
b. He takes away the limitations gender.
c. He takes away the limitations of age.
d. He takes away the limitations of social status.
e. It doesn't matter who we are, or where we come from, when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit we have no limitations.
3. Jesus takes away our limitations because the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
a. Romans 8:26 (NLT)
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning’s that cannot be expressed in words.
b. When we don't know what to pray the Holy Spirit helps us.
c. When we don't know what to say the Holy Spirit gives us the words.
d. When we don't know what to do the Holy Spirit shows us how.
e. When we don't have the strength the Holy Spirit energizes and empowers us.
4. Jesus even takes away the limitation of how much of the Spirit we can have.
a. Ephesians 5:18 (NLT)
Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.
b. The grammar of this verse calls for a continual action.
c. In other words, be continually filled with the Spirit.
d. There are no limitations as to how much of the Holy Spirit we can have.
e. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not like Lays potato chips; you can have more than one.
f. It's more like the autobahn; you can go as fast as you want!
Transition: Are you ready to take off the limitations?
Conclusion
1. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is important for three reasons...
a. It is the promise of God to us.
b. It is the power of God for us.
c. It takes the limitations from us.
2. Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?
a. We believe that the initial proof is speaking in tongues.
b. Acts 10:45-46 (NLT)
45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too.
46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
3. Have you asked God to give you a fresh filling of the Spirit?
