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Pt. 3 - The Third Time Is The Charm
I. Introduction
It is small. It is usually unnoticed . . . until . . . the moment a thread is pulled you suddenly recognize its significance and how essential it is to the overall garment, tapestry or storyline. If the thread is removed the picture is incomplete. If the thread comes unraveled the whole is destroyed. Over the next few weeks we are going to examine the most important thread in history. It is a thread that not only runs through our entire story but also ties the story and us together.
Jesus’ final instruction was to wait. Wait for what? Last week, I read to you Jesus' last words.
Luke 24:49
"I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from high.
The writer of Acts repeats this instruction in Acts 1 with one small word change.
Acts 1:4
4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
He said wait for power. He also told them to wait on the The promise. What promise? The baptism in the Holy Spirit.
He makes no doubt about that because in verse 5 He says, "For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus told His disciples to “wait” before they “go” change the world. He knew if they went without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, nothing would happen. He was telling them, “Don’t try to do anything I’ve instructed and called you to do until you’ve received this additional baptism. You’ll only be striving in your own natural ability, and nothing of lasting spiritual value will be accomplished. Wait! Wait for what I promised you—a Helper.”
Jesus commands them to wait on power and on a promise. He apparently knew that the third time was the charm. He knew that if they were going to be able to change the world in them and around them they would need a 3rd baptism.
III. Three Baptisms
a. Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The first baptism is of the invisible baptisms that produces an after affect. You probably already know about this baptism, but you might know it by a different name: salvation.
1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free.
Who is doing the baptizing in this verse? The Holy Spirit.
When we experienced salvation, we were baptized into the same body—the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the agent who did the baptizing.
In fact, we are told concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11, that “And when he comes, he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment; of sin because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
The Holy Spirit convinces us or our need for Jesus and the salvation the He has so graciously provided.
This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but it’s not baptism in the Holy Spirit.
b. Water baptism.
The second baptism I already mentioned. Many Christians are unfamiliar with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In fact, most believers only know about water baptism. The disciples were probably familiar with this baptism as well. They most likely saw this with their own eyes via John the Baptist’s activity in the Jordan River.
Water Baptism is seen with physical eyes. It is a visible indicator of an inward change. This outward and visible baptism is to be sandwiched in between two baptisms you can’t see with your physical eyes; you can only see the after-effects of them in a person’s life.
This baptism falls directly between the 2 invisible baptisms.
If we are obedient to the commands of Scripture, we choose to experience a second baptism, this one in water. This type of baptism is what Jesus had in mind when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). Jesus wanted His disciples to witness so that folks would be baptized of the Holy Spirit and then choose to be baptized in water symbolically showing their friends, family, and associates that they had entered a new life in Christ.
After you have experienced the first baptism of salvation most of understand that we also need to be baptized a second time as a visible statement of faith.
We understand the need of baptism 1 and 2, however, Jesus understood that we also need a 3rd baptism.
c. Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The 3rd baptism (invisible with visible affects) is the baptism IN the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist refers to Jesus, saying, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Scripture clearly shows us Jesus is the one who performs this baptism, immersing us in the Holy Spirit.
This promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit came powerfully to the disciples in Acts 2. Peter delivers a sermon immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. In response to Peter’s preaching, a number of his Jewish listeners fall under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:37 tells us, “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’”
How does Peter respond?
“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call’” (vv. 38-39).
Notice that in the active verbs in these verses, Peter outlines three baptisms. He says:
1. Repent. This is the vital primary step in the baptism of salvation.
2. Be baptized. Peter urges his listeners to follow Jesus’ example by submitting themselves to water baptism.
3. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the third baptism. As Peter indicates here, the Holy Spirit will not force Himself upon anyone. He must be “received.”
From here on out, the third baptism continually follows the first two as an essential, critical part of the Christian life.
For example, in Acts 8 we find the evangelist Philip preaching and teaching in Samaria. After a revival breaks out, many people are healed, delivered from demonic oppression and saved. Then, verse 12 tells us, “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.”
Two of the three baptisms are found in this verse. “They believed” means the people received the baptism of salvation. Then they were baptized in water—that’s two. What about the third baptism—immersion in the Holy Spirit? Let’s keep reading:
“Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (vv. 14-16).
Many years after the Pentecost outpouring, we hear about the apostle Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, recorded in Acts 19: “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ So they said to him, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit’” (vv. 1-2, emphasis added).
Interestingly, the people Paul encountered were “disciples” who already “believed,” meaning they were followers of Jesus Christ. Now notice Paul’s question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Paul doesn’t seem to have any doubt in his mind that someone can come to saving faith in Jesus Christ yet not receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Paul knows that a person can be baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ (salvation) yet not be baptized by Jesus into the Holy Spirit.
By the way, I love the response of the believers: “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” Maybe these people went to church today! Someone told them enough about Jesus so they could be saved, but they hadn’t even heard of the Holy Spirit.
Paul found this so puzzling that he decided to check and make sure these people were actually saved: “And he said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’” (v. 3).
When they said, “Into John’s baptism,” Paul explained what they were missing: “Then Paul said, ‘John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after Him, that is, on Christ Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (vv. 4-6).
Notice what happens when the Ephesian believers receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit: they spoke with tongues and prophesied. We see this pattern again and again throughout the book of Acts.
Do you see the pattern as practiced in the New Testament? The New Testament is supposed to be our pattern isn't it?
So why do we stop short?
Each one of the baptisms represents a distinct work of grace God wants to do in our hearts and lives. Salvation is a miraculous work of grace upon the heart. Water baptism is a work of grace in and upon the heart of man. And a believer’s baptism in the Holy Spirit releases within us the supernatural empowerment to do all that God calls us to do.
III. Close
The disciples waited for power. They waited for the promise. I hope you are waiting. What baptism do you need? Next Sunday we will give you an opportunity to experience all 3 baptisms. As is our practice every Sunday we will give you an opportunity to be saved. We will have water baptisms next Sunday. If you haven't been baptized a second time just bring a change of clothes we will provide the towel. And we will give you the opportunity to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
