THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Acts 10:1-46
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: NOSTALGIA
REMEMBER WHEN:
1. Marriages were likely to outlast all 3 wedding gift toasters?
2. Paperbacks had more passion on the covers than in their contents?
3. The only person you could find at a store at 3 o’clock in the morning was a burglar?
4. Someone said, “If you’re longing for the ‘good old days,’ just turn off the air conditioning!
5. Living in the Past can be a deadly thing if it robs us of the significance of the present! The Day of Pentecost was never meant to be a terminal event. God wants His people to continue to be baptized and filled with His Holy Spirit so they can accomplish His will.
6. Acts 2:1-4; “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
B. THESIS
1. I want to speak to you about something vital to the Early Church and vital to the church today.
2. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit came upon the early believers, filled them, and caused them to speak in other languages.
3. The Book of Acts portrays this event as not isolated, but a widespread phenomena which was considered normative to the N.T. believers.
4. Though some have tried to teach this experience is “not for today,” they have no biblical basis for this and, in fact, are contradicting the Bible’s N.T. teaching to say that.
5. Rather, the Bible portrays this experience as VERY IMPORTANT:
a. Our Lord Jesus told His disciples (not just the 12, but ALL the disciples) not to leave Jerusalem until they were baptized in the Holy Spirit;
b. In Acts 8, after many Samaritans had been saved and baptized in water, Philip sent for Peter and John to come lay hands on them, for the Holy Spirit had not yet “fallen upon any of them.” (this also confirms that salvation and Spirit baptism had two separate purposes).
c. The Apostle Paul’s first question to new Christians (Acts 19:1-2) was to ask whether they had received the additional experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
6. Let’s look at one more instance where God emphasizes the importance of this experience.
C. TEXT
3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants 8 .…and sent them to Joppa. 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” 23 The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 33 [Cornelius said,] “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
D. TITLE
1. We see here the trouble God went to to help Cornelius get to the place he could experience salvation and the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
2. The title of this message is, “The Importance of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
I. A MAN SEEKING FOR GOD
A. TWO INGREDIENTS FOR REVIVAL
1. A person who is hungry for God.
2. An anointed vessel to bring the Word.
B. FATE OF IGNORANT HEATHEN
1. What will happen to the lost who’ve never heard about Christ? God will guide them to the knowledge of His Son.
2. Jesus said, “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me” John 6:45, NIV 1983.
3. Abraham learned of God’s Son (Jn. 8:58); Job knew of God’s Redeemer (Job 19:25); David knew of God’s Son (Ps. 2:7,12); Agur knew of God’s Son (Prov. 30:4); Daniel, the 3 Hebrews and Nebuchadnezzar knew of God’s Son (Dan. 3:25).
4. A California magazine recently published the results of a survey of over 600 ex-Muslims who now follow Jesus. "Although dreams appear to play a minor role in the conversions of Westerners, over a quarter of those interviewed [as former Muslims] emphatically confirmed that dreams and visions played a vital role in their conversion, and helped them in difficult times," the survey said.
5. If we can’t or won’t reach out to Muslims, God will come to those most sincere to help them come to salvation in Christ!
II. STEPS: CORNELIUS FILLED WITH SPIRIT
A.GET PETER IN POSITION
1. In 9:34, God sent Peter to Lydda to heal the paralyzed man Aeneas.
2. In 9:40, the disciples at Joppa asked for Peter to come to raise up the dead Christian, Tabitha. Joppa is a seaport, 30 miles south of Caesarea, within one long-days walk of Caesarea.
3. NOW THAT PETER IS IN POSITION:
B. GOD SENDS AN ANGEL TO CORNELIUS
1. Acts 10:3-6, 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
2. So Cornelius sent men to Joppa to retrieve Peter.
C. DIRECTIONS GIVEN TO PETER
1. As Cornelius’ men get close to Peter’s location, God gives Peter a vision to prepare him to go to Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:9-23).
2. THE VISION
a. To Peter, it had to be one of the most bazaar moments of his life. His vision couldn’t be the product of strange dreams caused by indigestion, because Peter hadn’t eaten and he wasn’t asleep.
b. True -- hunger pains can cause delirium, esp. among full-gospel preachers – because they’re so used to being full.
c. Suddenly Peter saw a ‘giant sheet,’ as big as a football field, but gathered at the corners, coming down.
d. Looking inside, Peter saw it was full of bugs and zoo animals – snakes, reptiles, zebras, giraffes, bears, lions, hippos, buzzards.
e. These creatures were NOT ON THE MENU, esp. for Jews. But it was God’s brown-bag special for Peter.
f. God told him, “Kill and Eat!” Peter remarked that these were forbidden for Jews. But types and shadows of the O.T. were passing away, being fulfilled in Christ!
3. God corrected Peter’s thinking, “It’s ok to go to Gentiles.” Why? Because God wants to fill them with His Spirit. They are his ‘other flock’ Jesus had mentioned (Jn. 10:16). That was the ultimate outcome.
4. It was important enough to send angels and visions and maneuver an apostle to an adjacent location.
5. And when the Spirit “fell” on them, He exhibited the same sign of tongues as at Pentecost, which Peter declared proved it was the same experience (“So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” Acts 11:17).
III. SPIRIT BAPTISM CLARIFIED
A. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH SALVATION
1. The Empowering is not to be confused with salvation. The Holy Spirit has a different ministries for different purposes. a). It is clear from Luke 10:20 that the apostles were saved before the day of Pentecost, and that Jesus had even breathed the Holy Spirit on them in regeneration (John 20:22). b). At the Samarian revival (Acts 8:5-18), the people heard the Word preached (6), believed on Christ(12), or baptized in water (12), and later were baptized in the Holy Spirit – the empowering (17).
2. In Acts 19: 1-7 Paul specifically asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit since they "believed." He obviously saw a difference between “believing” on Jesus and “receiving” the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
B. NOT A MINOR POINT OF N.T. TEACHING
1. Prophesied by Old Testament prophets
2. John the Baptist prophesied it -- Matthew 3:11
3. Lord Jesus taught and commanded it: John 7:3, 7-39, 14-16; 20:22; Mark 16:17-18; Luke 24:49.
4. Luke described its coming: Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-17; 9:17; 10:44-46; 19:1-6.
5. Peter preached about it: Acts 2:14-41.
6. Paul commanded it: Ephesians 5:18; 1 Corinthians 12, 14.
7. Jude promoted it: Jude 20.
8. it is promised to all: Acts 2:38-39.
C. POWER REFILLINGS NECESSARY
Just like your phone needs to be re-charged, so do Christians. This happened frequently AFTER the Day of Pentecost!
1. Acts 4:8, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit…”
2. Acts 4:31, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
3. Acts 13:9, “Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said…”
4. Acts 13:52, “And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
5. HUMOR. There was a young man who complained that whenever he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was like a bucket with holes. The Spirit merely drained out of him. His friend said, "That may be true, but even a bucket full of holes can be filled with water if it is immersed in the river and left there."
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones -- who is NOT a Pentecostal preacher -- but was pastor at Westminster Chapel, in London, England, said to his reformed congregation:
2. "I want to talk to you today about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You may call it what you want, but I want to know, have you experienced the fullness of the Spirit? I know all of you listening to me come as I do from a Reformed background. But it’s not good enough. I know that all of you would want to say to my question about the Holy Spirit, ’Well, we got it all at conversion; there’s no need for any more experience.’ Well," said Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "I have only one other question to ask you. If you got it all at conversion, where in God’s name is it?"
[illus. from A/G pastor, Mark Schaeufele]
B. THE CALL
1. Well Pastor, can’t we live the Christian life without the baptism in the Holy Spirit?
2. Yes – just like you can live now without hands, feet, hearing and sight! But you’ll be deaf, blind, lame, and maimed.
3. Why not seek God’s best?
4. Prayer for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and refillings for those already filled.
