The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit Part 2
Acts 2:1-13
(From Steve Meenho Kang, Live by the Spirit (Bloomington, IN: Westbow Press, 2022)
Currently we are going through the message series, “The Holy Spirit.”
During this series, we are examining things that are related to the work of the Holy Spirit.
First week, we talked about “the person of the Holy Spirit.”
Today we will talk about “the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
Many Christians attend worship services, small group, and Bible studies.
But they are not experiencing God in their lives.
They do not experience the joy and power of God in their lives.
They long for passion, joy, and peace, but they do not experience them.
They want to have a living relationship with God, but they only maintain a superficial relationship with God.
God feels so distant.
We know that God wants to do more with us than what is going on now.
There are scars that He wants to heal.
There are insights that He longs to reveal.
There are powers that He wants to give.
But we do not experience these works of God.
Why?
Even though God wants us to experience Him in our lives, this will not happen automatically—unless we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
After His resurrection, just before He ascended, Jesus gave this prediction.
Acts 1:4-5 say this:
4 On 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. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus told them that He would send the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the disciples must stay in Jerusalem and be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Then on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down and filled the place where the disciples were, and they were all baptized by the Holy Spirit.
Before we go any further, I would like to explain what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the initial coming of the Holy Spirit to a person.
Historically, this took place at Pentecost.
But today, it takes place whenever a person trusts Jesus and is born again.
When a person believes Jesus, God baptizes the person with the Holy Spirit once and for all.
That person does not need to be rebaptized over and over.
It is once and for all experience.
After the initial baptism of the Holy Spirit, then the person must do what is necessary to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
And that is the topic that we will think about next week.
In Acts 2, the disciples were baptized by the Holy Spirit.
And these are some things that we must know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I. We must be aware of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (vv. 1-4).
Verses 1-4 say this.
1 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.
The day of Pentecost had arrived, and the Holy Spirit came down upon these Christians.
They were baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Some supernatural signs were demonstrated when the Holy Spirit came—a sound, a sight, and strange language.
There was a sound like the blowing of a violent wind that came from heaven.
What seemed to be tongues of fire came and rest on each one of them.
And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in other languages.
These three supernatural signs demonstrated that the Holy Spirit had come.
Once they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, they were no longer the same.
They had the power to overcome their weaknesses.
They had the power to overcome their sins.
They were able to witness Jesus boldly, heal the sick, and cast out demons.
When they were baptized by the Holy Spirit, they experienced God’s power in their lives.
But nowadays why do so many Christians live powerlessly?
It is because they do not know that they have the Holy Spirit in them.
They are just like those Christians in Ephesus.
In Acts 19:2, Paul went to Ephesus and met some people who believed in God.
He asked them… “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
These people believed in the God of the Old Testament.
However, they did not know Jesus and were not yet baptized by the Holy Spirit.
In fact, they did not even know about the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, Paul told them about Jesus, and when they were baptized with water, they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
When we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes into us and we are baptized by the Holy Spirit.
We must know that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
We must be aware of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
II. We must be aware of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (vv. 4-11).
Verses 4-11 say this.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
These disciples had different backgrounds, education, training, temperaments, and political affiliation.
Because of this, they often had conflicts among them.
They even argued who among them was the greatest.
Then… it happened.
The Holy Spirit came down on them, and they were baptized by the Holy Spirit.
And they began to speak in other languages.
During this time, there were many people from many nations who came to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Pentecost.
All these people from many nations heard the wonders of God in their own languages.
This was a very significant event because it was the reversal of what had happened at the Tower of Babel.
According to Genesis 11, people rebelled against God, and they built the Tower of Babel.
In Genesis 1:28, God commanded them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
But in Genesis 11:4, people rebelled against God and said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
God told them to fill the earth.
However, they rebelled against God and wanted to stay in one area.
They tried to make names for themselves rather than rely on God for the blessing.
Therefore, God confused their language and scattered them all over the world.
However, what happened at Pentecost was the reversal of the event at Babel.
At Babel, the people were unable to understand each other.
But at Pentecost, people heard the declaring of the wonders of God in their own tongues.
At Babel, the people were scattered.
But at Pentecost, they were united in the Holy Spirit.
What happened at Pentecost symbolizes a new unity in the Holy Spirit that transcends racial, national and linguistic barriers.
Because of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, we too can have the power to overcome issues in our lives.
Racial issues.
Gender issues.
Marital issues.
Generation issues.
These are not just social issues.
They are spiritual issues.
Unity in these areas can only be achieved by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
This is only one area that I am talking about.
Other issues and problems in our lives can only be solved by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
If we want to love our spouse deeply…
If we want to love our children unconditionally…
If we want to break destructive habits…
If we want to make wise decisions…
If we want to overcome temptations…
If we want to love others supernaturally…
We must use the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us.
We must be aware of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
III. We must be aware of the costs of following the Holy Spirit (vv. 12-13).
Verses 12-13 say this.
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
The Holy Spirit’s power was demonstrated in Jerusalem.
And many understood the meaning of the gospel and believed.
However, others denied the miracles and scoffed at those who were baptized by the Holy Spirit.
“They are drunk!” they said.
But how could drinking alcohol help them speak a language that they did not learn?
Obviously, these people were just unwilling to recognize God’s transforming power in the lives of others.
Even today, when we live a life that is led by the Holy Spirit, we will experience oppositions.
These oppositions may even come from people who are close to us: our parents, our friends, our coworkers, and other Christians.
They will say that we are too extreme.
They will say that we are not very realistic.
They will say that we are too committed to God.
When we experience this kind of opposition, it is easy to get discouraged and angry.
But how did these Christians handle the situation?
In Acts 2:14-40, Peter stood up with others to witness Jesus.
And 3,000 people believed and got baptized that day.
Just like them, when we experience opposition, we must use them as opportunities to share the gospel.
But why is it that when we are led by the Holy Spirit, we will face oppositions?
We must remember that we are in a spiritual battle.
Satan is not happy when we are living Spirit-led lives.
And he will try to bring us down.
He will not leave us alone.
When we are trying to live spirit-led lives, we will face oppositions.
Our enemy will try to discourage us by any means.
We must be aware of this, so that we will not be easily discouraged.
This is why I get excited when I experience spiritual oppositions.
It is a sign that I am doing something right.
It is a sign that I am doing something that Satan hates.
When we try to live spirit-led lives, we will face opposition.
We must be aware of the costs of following the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
The power of the Holy Spirit is in us.
However, this power is not demonstrated automatically.
It requires the emptying of ourselves.
The disciples made so many mistakes when they tried to live on their own.
Now they knew that they could not live their lives apart from God.
They knew that they needed the Holy Spirit’s power.
This is why after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples waited patiently for the Holy Spirit to come.
We too must acknowledge that we cannot do life without Him.
We cannot build a blessed, God-honoring family on our own.
We cannot raise healthy, God-fearing children on our own.
We cannot protect our loved-ones from harm on our own.
We cannot maintain our health on our own.
We cannot be the model workers in our work places on our own.
This can be done only when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Each time we acknowledge our inadequacy, He empowers us with the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
This requires humility and confession.
The key to the Holy Spirit empowered life is cultivating an attitude of perpetual emptiness.
This brings a perpetual fullness.
We must stop being self-sufficient.
We must rely on the Holy Spirit who dwells in us for His pow
