Baptised in The Holy Spirit
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Baptised in the Spirit
Baptised in the Spirit
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Today we are looking at Pentecost, at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church.
Thinking covenentally helps us to understand and make sense of what happened at Pentecost.
God made 7 covenants in the Bible, each one is a development on the previous one. God broadens the scope of His covenants each time, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, The New Covenant.
With each covenant there has always been a particular manifestation of God’s presence, and so it is no suprise that with the new covenant there should be a new and greater manifestation of God’s presence.
Pentecost was not some random, unexpected event, it was the natural fulfilment of all of God’s promises to His people throughout the ages.
Manifestations of God’s Presence Throughout Scripture
EDEN
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
God literally walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Until they sinned they were not afraid of Him, there was a friendship there clearly. There were no sacrifices or rituals needed to approach Him, and there was no fear.
MOUNT SINAI
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.
A show of power and glory, the people were afraid.
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
THE TABERNACLE
38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
A guide for God’s people through the wilderness. A comfort to them and a sign to the rest of the nations that God was with them.
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
THE TEMPLE
10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
God’s presence dwelt in the temple. Each year the High priest alone was allowed to enter the holy of holies just once on the day of atonement. If he wasn’t properly cleansed himself, the presence of God could strike him dead.
In each of these various ministrations of God’s presence with His people, His presence was external and would be withdrawn if the people broke covenant with Him and failed to repent.
But right the way through the Old Testament God is promising something greater. A greater outpouring of His presence and an expansion of His glory in the nations.
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
PENTECOST
When Jesus ascended He went in order to send the Holy Spirit, to initiate the new covenant church by Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost was the moment that the New Covenant church came to life, a unique event in the life of the Church. The Spirit of God rushed upon the church and filled them, tongues of fire rested on each of their heads and they glorified God using many tongues!
Many look at Pentecost as a blueprint for normal Christianity, but this is to miss the unique significance of the event. It was the inauguration of the Church of Jesus Christ, a Spirit Filled bride. Pentecost doesn’t need repeating over and over again, it was the moment that the Father and Son sent The Spirit upon the Church, and since that day The Spirit has never left.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is often thought of as a post conversion experience. Something that some Christians experience but others miss out on. Some believe that unless you speak in tongues you haven’t received the baptism of the spirit based on what they read in Acts 2,
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is mentioned a handful of times in scripture - 7 in all. And six of those refer to Jesus’s promise that He would Baptise with the Holy Spirt. The 7th is found in 1 Cor 12:13
13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
The language and syntax in the Greek passage of 1 Cor is almost identical to the other passages about baptism in the Holy Spirit
13 καὶ γὰρ ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι ἡμεῖς πάντες εἰς ἓν σῶμα ἐβαπτίσθημεν, εἴτε Ἰουδαῖοι εἴτε Ἕλληνες εἴτε δοῦλοι εἴτε ἐλεύθεροι, καὶ πάντες ἓν πνεῦμα ἐποτίσθημεν.
This verse is talking about Baptism with the Holy Spirit, and interestingly it says that it was by the baptism of the Holy Spirit that we were made one body. So if someone is not Baptised in the Holy Spirit then they are not part of the body of Christ.
The baptism in or by the Spirit which Paul speaks of here is an experience common to all believers, to all those who are part of the body of Christ. - Rosner
At pentecost the baptism in the Spirit came after believing because it was a unique moment in History - the apostles were crossing over from the old covenant to the new. When we enter into the new covenant we enter into all the promises of that covenant, including baptism in the Spirit.
To say that only a few Christians in all of Church History have actually received the baptism of the spirit is to negate God’s promises to Joel and Jeremiah and Christ himself.
The apostles themselves had extra infillings of the Spirit even after Pentecost - and so do we. These infillings empowered them for ministry and life, and that’s what they do for us too.
We are to expect and pray for extra in-fillings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
But strictly speaking every Christian is baptised in the Spirit because they are IN CHRIST, and the Spirit abides on Him, so He abides on us too.
To believe that some Christians are Spirit filled and others are not is to split the church in two, with first and second class citizens of the Kingdom, this just isn’t something that scripture teaches.
“Baptism in the Holy Spirit” is a phrase that the NT authors use to speak of coming into the new covenant power of the Holy Spirit. It happened at Pentecost for the disciples, but it happened at conversion for the Corinthians and for us.” - Wayne Grudem
God is sovereign over the outpouring of His Spirit and He chooses to give more of His Spirit at certain times than others, and fills some of His people with extraordinary measures of His Spirit for extraordinary purposes.
WHAT DOES BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT MEAN FOR YOU?
1. Power to live the Christian life - Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The impossibility of living the Christian life without the Spirit. new life, strength to overcome, power over the flesh, just like the power God displayed on Sinai
2. Leads you in truth - John 16 , just like the tabernacle led the people of Israel and set them apart. You now have restored fellowship with God, but internally!
3. His glory is displayed in you- Just like Moses’s face shone when he came down from beholding the glory of God, now the glory of God literally resides in you!
27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Why don’t some of us feel like we’re baptised in the Spirit or Spirit filled? Maybe it’s just not something we think about very often. When we begin to think of the reality of the fact we’re filled by the Spirit we begin to feel filled with the Spirit!
Brother Lawrence, the French monk who wrote ‘the practice of the Presence’ devoted His life to remaining in awareness of the Presence of God upon him, so much so that others began to encounter God when they hung out with Brother Lawrence!
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