Baptism of Spirit and Fire
Notes
Transcript
We have now come to part of 1 Corinthians in which it will be necessary for me to preach a number of background messages. Although we will not be addressing the issue of spiritual gifts until we get to chapters 12-14, I want to preach on the significance of Pentecost and the baptism of the Holy Spirit this morning because it so happens that today is Pentecost Sunday.
Pentecost is the watershed of Redemptive History, World History and Your History! It is really not possible to overstate its significance. Using Peter’s Pentecost sermon, I am going to show you from Scripture how Pentecost is...
The Fulfillment of the Old Covenant Promises
The Crown Jewel of Jesus’ Redemptive Work
The Defining Moment of Every Person’s Life
If you have your Bibles turn with me to Acts 2:14-41 or follow along with our projection.
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,
“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
May God bless, this the reading of His holy and infallible Word.
The first point Peter makes in his message is that...
Pentecost is the Fulfillment of the Old Covenant Promises
Pentecost is the Fulfillment of the Old Covenant Promises
Peter begins his sermon by saying what the people had just witnessed was the fulfillment of what the Prophet Joel had prophesied hundreds of years before. There are a number of promises that need to be highlighted in this prophecy; the first promise being that the events prophesied by Joel occur in the “Last Days” (Acts 2:17). This may come as a shock to you, especially considering the fact that Pentecost occurred almost 2000 years ago! However, the teaching John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostles are all in agreement, the Last Days were inaugurated with the ministry of Jesus, especially with His giving of the Holy Spirit to the church on Pentecost. We opened our worship this morning with a call to worship taken from Matthew 3:11:
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The reference to fire has a double meaning: fire both destroys and purifies. In the Prophet Malachi, we find a prophecy concerning both John the Baptist and Jesus:
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
“Who can stand when he [the messenger of the covenant, who is Christ] appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like the fullers’ soap.” A refiner’s fire consumes the dross and purifies the silver and gold.” The meaning is clear, the time of God’s end time judgment has begun! The world is being restored and the true worship of God is being restored. The wicked will be consumed and the righteous will be purified. There is an urgency about the time we live in; Pentecost marks the beginning of the time when Christ will be dividing all of humanity between the sheep and the goats, the chafe and the wheat. This is why at the conclusion of Peter’s sermon the people cried out, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
We will answer that question in the last point of this sermon, but for now, I wanted to you to understand the true significance of Pentecost.
The second promise that is highlighted is that God “will pour out [His] Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). Under the Old Covenant, God’s redemptive purposes were focused upon Israel. Gentile were saved under the Old Covenant, but only by becoming Jews and submitting to circumcision, but Joel foresaw a day when God would pure out His Spirit upon both Jews and Gentiles equally.
The third promise that is found in Joel’s prophecy is the giving of spiritual gifts to all of God’s people. I am not going to elaborate upon this promise now, because we will cover it at length when we get to 1 Corinthians 12-14, but I did want you to see this morning that Pentecost is the fulfillment of this Old Covenant promise.
Finally, in Acts 2:21, we see this wonderful promise:
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
It is this promise that brings us to Peter’s second point:
Pentecost is the Crowning Jewel of Jesus’ Redemptive Work
Pentecost is the Crowning Jewel of Jesus’ Redemptive Work
You would expect that a Pentecost sermon would be about the Holy Spirit, but it is not, it is about Jesus!
Jesus is the giver of the Holy Spirit, and He is about to give the Holy Spirit to the church because of His redemptive work. In verses 22-36, Peter retraces the entirety of Jesus’ redemptive work. His earthly ministry (Acts 2:22). His crucifixion and death (Acts 2:23). His resurrection (Acts 2:24). His ascension, reign and glorification (Acts 2:33-36).
I want to highlight a verse that contains a truth that is easily missed nor appreciated.
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
Notice carefully what is being said here; because Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father, He received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, then Jesus, on the basis of His death, resurrection and ascension gives the Holy Spirit to the church! Jesus is always the giver of the Holy Spirit, in fact, the Holy Spirit is so closely united to Christ that when Jesus speaks of giving the Holy Spirit He says,
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Did you catch that, “I will come to you”?
This is not an isolated example, for example this famous closing words of the Great Commission:
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
How is Jesus with His church? He is with His church by the Holy Spirit!
The one and only sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord! It is not, as we will learn later this summer, speaking in tongues. There are no A-Team Christians in Christ’s Church; all true believers in Jesus Christ have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
This brings us to the most important question in every person’s life, “Am I a true believer in Jesus Christ?”
For this reason...
Pentecost is the Defining Moment of Every Person’s Life
Pentecost is the Defining Moment of Every Person’s Life
As I said earlier in this message, the people who heard Peter’s sermon that morning were cut to the heart. They realized what the coming of the Holy Spirit represented, the End Times had begun and consequently, they cried out in alarm, “Brother’s, what shall we do?”
Because this question is of such importance, we must look carefully at the answer Peter gives.
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
The first thing Peter says we must do is repent. Repentance is the recognition that we are in rebellion against God and stand opposed to His plans. Jesus taught that we are either with Him or against Him. The opening words of Peter’s sermon exposes there rebellion against God and His Messiah:
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
These men and women may not have been in the crowd that cried out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”, but they were not numbered among those who were His disciples. Brothers and sisters, you are either fully on board with Christ or you are not.
This is made clear by the second thing Peter says we must do, “be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.” Baptism is a sign and seal of God’s promise of the forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus. Every person needs to publically claim and profess that promises. As we can see in verse 39, this promise is not only given to believers, but also to their children, this is why we baptized the children of believers. However, baptism, in and over itself does not save; a true, heart-felt public profession must be made.
Have you made a true, heart-felt profession of faith? You can say all the right words, but not believe them in your heart. I said earlier that the End Time nature of Pentecost creates an urgency. We heard a few weeks ago, did we not, that the Apostle Paul said that “the appointed time has grown very short” (1 Cor 7:29). Even now, Christ is sifting hearts; are you wheat or are you chafe? Eternity hangs in the balance!