The Hope That Comes From Being Baptized Series

Series: 3:16- Numbers That Bring Hope [#31]

THE HOPE THAT COMES FROM BEING BAPTIZED

Luke 3:16

Introduction:

Two Sundays ago, I preached about the meaning of water baptism. This morning, we are going to look at how Jesus’ baptizes us.

Luke 3:16-17 (NIV)

“John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

John the Baptist baptized people with water; but he proclaimed to everyone that he wasn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes. When a person is saved, Jesus baptizes them.

Jesus baptizes with…

1. The Holy Spirit.

When a person is saved, they are resurrected spiritually through the power of Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God lives within you. You have been crucified with Christ, you no longer live; but Christ lives in you. The Holy Spirit is the guarantor of your salvation.

When you are saved, God gives you gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are many spiritual gifts and God decides how many spiritual gifts and which spiritual gifts you have. The purpose of these gifts are to edify the Body of Christ. Unfortunately, most Christians don’t have any clue of what their spiritual gifts are. In fact, I have had many people tell me that they don’t have any spiritual gifts- My reply, “Then you are not a Christian”.

Jesus baptizes with…

2. Fire.

Fire is used for…

? Destruction.

Spiritually speaking, most people think of Hell when they hear about fire; and Hell is a place of unquenchable fire. It is a place of eternal punishment.

Fire is used for…

? Cleansing.

Just as we are told in our text, fire is used to burn up that which is not desired. This reminds me of the Bema Seat Judgment of Christians. Christians will go through the refiner’s fire judgment. Everything in your life that was not of God will be burned up.

Fire is used for…

? Purification.

Purification is the result from a cleansing by fire. After the Christian goes through the refiner’s fire judgment and everything that is not of God is burned up; what is left over is pure.

Conclusion:

If you are a Christian, then you have been purified through fire; and the Holy Spirit of God lives within you. Whether you are filled with the Holy Spirit is up to you; but He is there. You must choose- You can quench the Holy Spirit of God in your life; or you can be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, overflowing.