ALL IN - PART 2
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ALL IN - Part 2
ALL IN - Part 2
Recap Last Week - All In Part 1 - Pentecost Sunday - The Need for the Holy Spirit - empowered to witness (EXPAND)
This is number 7 in our 16 fundamental truths.
Explain 16 fundamentals (no need to list them)
This week, I’m going to be a little more teachy as we cover some of the mechanics of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Terms:
You will often hear Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Filled with the Holy Spirit used interchangeably. This is how scripture uses these terms as well.
When Jesus was describing what would happen He said:
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Then we see this description when the event actually occurs:
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
The terms are used interchangeably, and it draws an interesting picture…
This idea of baptism in the Holy Spirit is rooted in the word baptizo which literally means immerse…
This is why we have a tank and not a bowl. We believe in baptism the way it was done in the New Testament: FULL IMMERSION.
The same image is used of baptism in the Holy Spirit: Immersed in Him… Fully saturated in His presence… covered by His Spirit…
When someone goes into that tank, we have to get the area outside the tank prepared…
We get towels ready…
Because when they come out of that tank after being baptized they are dripping with the water they were baptized in…
When you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, you should come out dripping in what you were baptized in!
You will come out dripping in His presence… Everywhere you go you will drip the anointing…
I think about when my kids are in the pool and I get there, they want to come out and hug me all dripping wet…
I think we should be people who are so saturated with the presence of the Holy Spirit that we come out of this place dripping with His presence and just lather it all over everyone we come in contact with…
This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit!
So when we see the term filled and baptized, it speaks to the origin of the baptism…
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
The Holy Spirit abides IN us as believers…
38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
So the Spirit in us is what we are then baptized into, so when we are FILLED with Him, we aren’t just filled to capacity…
We are filled to overflowing until it flows like a river out of us and we find ourselves immersed in His presence… Baptized in the Holy Spirit!
But didn’t I receive the Holy Spirit when I was saved?
But didn’t I receive the Holy Spirit when I was saved?
Yes!
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
When you belong to Christ, you have His Spirit in you!
So we are not saying you need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to be saved.
You received the Holy Spirit when you received Christ, but there’s another experience in Him where you become immersed in Him!
We see this with the disciples at the end of the book of John:
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
This was before pentecost, yet when pentecost came there was another experience!
They had received the Holy Spirit as the seal of their salvation:
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Yet there was another experience they had in Acts 2! Something more, something supernatural.
For some, salvation and baptism in the Holy Spirit happen at almost the same time. They get saved, then they immediately get baptized, but they are separate events.
So how do we know?
So how do we know?
In Acts 10, we read a story where Peter is preaching to a group of gentiles because he had a vision where God revealed to him that any person who fears God and does what is right is welcome to come to Him…
Although Peter had this vision, the other believers who were of a Jewish lineage were unsure about the idea.
For generations they had been the chosen people and gentiles were not welcome, but now Peter has come to preach to them, and while he is preaching something happens:
Acts 10:44–46 (NASB95)
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.
So the Holy Spirit came and filled these gentile believers… and look how they knew it was genuine:
FOR THEY WERE HEARING THEM SPEAK WITH TONGUES AND EXALTING GOD!
Look at what Peter says in the next verse:
47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”
JUST AS WE DID!
The way they knew is they got it with the same evidence as they did in the upper room:
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
The same thing occurred with Paul at Ephesus:
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
Even when tongues is not explicitly mentioned, it is assumed in the book of acts that Spirit Baptism comes with this expression of tongues.
In fact, it was so obvious when it happened that a witchdoctor named Simon even tried to buy the ability to give people the baptism:
17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
When he SAW. It was no quite or small thing that could be missed. When they were baptized in the Holy Spirit it was with an obvious expression!
And that expression is speaking in tongues.
Let me be clear:
We don’t pray for the evidence. We don’t pray to speak in tongues for the sake of speaking in tongues.
We pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that we can accomplish the mission of God on our life, endued with power from on High…
The emphasis of Jesus was not on the evidence, it was on the power to witness!
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
You will receive POWER! Power to be His witness!
Here’s something else: Tongues is not the ONLY evidence, but it is the initial evidence.
Once you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you will speak in tongues, but after that there should be more fruit!
It doesn’t stop with tongues, because tongues isn’t the destination, it’s the side effect.
The power given is for effective witness and empowered living.
This is not to say there isn’t benefit to tongues. In fact, Paul points out that speaking in tongues edifies yorself:
Speaking in tongues edifies yourself
Speaking in tongues edifies yourself
4 One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.
The one who speaks in tongues edifies himself…
To edify means to build up. So when you are speaking in tongues, you are building yourself up in the Spirit…
In fact Paul goes on to say:
1 Corinthians 14:5 (NASB95)
5 Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues…
He also says,
18 I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all;
Obviously, tongues was important to Paul.
Look at what happens next in our story in Acts:
5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
Look at what they were hearing: the mighty deeds of God!
Although those in the upper room didn’t know what they were saying, they were speaking about the mighty deeds of God!
Tongues is almost always associated with praise. Typically those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit are speaking in tongues and prophesying and praising God in some manner.
In fact, I would go so far as to say most of the baptisms I have ever witnessed happen when that person is praising God out loud and the Holy Spirit shows up!
He will not force you to speak, nor will he take control of your tongue. He simply gives you the words to speak and it is a whole lot easier to say what He tells you when you’re already engaging Him with your words.
You will not understand your tongues.
You will not understand your tongues.
2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
When you are speaking in tongues, you won’t understand the language. You’re speaking the mysteries of God…
Sometimes this is a language understood by someone and sometimes it is a language no one understands.
In fact, don’t discount a funny sounding tongue…
Clicking and the African tribe that welcomed the king through clicks.
Sometimes we pray in the Spirit when we don’t know what to pray for:
Sometimes we pray in the Spirit when we don’t know what to pray for:
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
BUT, Praying in tongues is not a replacement for praying in the language you know.
We pray with both tongues and in understanding:
We pray with both tongues and in understanding:
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
15 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.
We use both! We pray with tongues, but we pray with understanding. We sing with tongues, but we sing with understanding.
It may seem unusual, but we are an unusual people according to Peter.
In fact, when you start to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit you may act a little strange:
You may act strange…
You may act strange…
12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.
15 “For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
They were so caught up in the presence of the Holy Spirit, they were unconcerned about what anyone else thought.
Those around them thought they might be drunk because they were totally out of their natural way of thinking.
When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you’ll think different and act different, but most of all you’ll BE different!
And here’s the best part of the news:
This baptism in the Holy Spirit is AVAILABLE FOR ALL BELIEVERS!
This baptism in the Holy Spirit is AVAILABLE FOR ALL BELIEVERS!
Look at the next two verses:
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
ON ALL mankind!
This is available to all believers! Men, women, sons and daughters, young and old, you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit!
The last thing I want to say before we pray, is that this should be an ongoing experience…
You can see from many of the verses we read today that this was not considered a one-time experience.
You should be baptized and re-baptized, continually going deeper with God, constantly yearning for more of Him.
So this altar call is not just for those who have never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit… It is also for those who like some of you last week… need a fresh baptism…
Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve felt that river open up in you and immerse you in His presence…
It’s time you let Him douse you again…
Will you be baptized?
