HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU

 

Read: John 1:29-34

 

When John the Baptist introduced Jesus to Israel, he told Israel in two statements everything it needed to know about Jesus.

 

1. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin

    of the world.

 

2. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus came to do two things: to take away our sins and to baptize us in the Holy Spirit.

 

By taking away our sins he put us into a right standing before the living God so that we can come into God's presence.

 

By baptizing us in the Holy Spirit he enables us to live lives that are holy - Christlike - so that we can manifest God's presence in this troubled world.

 

In the apostolic church these two things

 

          - the removal of sin

- the baptism of the Holy Spirit

 

were always connected. One went with the other.

 

Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the for­giveness of your sins and you shall re­ceive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

In the early church the "rite of confirmation" happened minutes after people were baptized as adults.

 

- Their sins were washed away.

- Then they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

Philip went up into Samaria and proclaimed the gospel. People came to faith in Jesus and were baptized. Then Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Believers were considered incomplete until there was some assurance that the Holy Spirit had really come and was truly living in their lives.

If somebody seemed to be lacking in authority, they would ask,

 

"Have you re­ceived the Spirit since you believed?"

 

So the question today is:

 

Do you know Jesus in these two ways?

 

You may know Jesus as your healer

 

                           - that's not enough.

 

You may know Jesus as the greatest teacher that ever lived

 

                 - that's not enough.

 

Do you know Jesus as the Lamb of God who has taken away your sins?

 

Do you know Jesus as the Lord who has baptized you in the Holy Spirit?

 

1. Do you know him as the Lamb of God who took away your sins?

 

It's surprising how many people know that Jesus went to a cross, but they don't see their sins nailed to that cross.

 

Maybe you think your sins weren't bad enough for God to go to all that trouble.

 

Maybe you think the good you've done out­weighs the bad.

 

But, my friend, the distance you feel between yourself and the living God is caused by nothing other than your sins.

 

            It's not your weakness, your ignorance,

             not the bad breaks you've had. And it's not

             God's indifference – it's your sins.

 

Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity.

 

Do you have clean hands? Do you have a pure heart?

Is your soul free of vanity?

 

There is no substance on this earth that can make your hands clean, or your heart pure, or your soul true but the Lamb's shed blood.

 

Jesus didn't die on that cross to be a hero. He died to atone for the sins of the world – including yours. And until you bring your sins to that cross and surrender them to the Lamb's blood

 

- you carry them yourself,

- all their weight rests on you,

- they cut you off from every good thing God longs to do for you.

 

"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Draw near to him and Jesus will forgive you. He will take those sins away –

 

- they will be gone,

- they will condemn you no more,

- they will master you no more,

 

- you will be free,

- you will be clean and righteous before God,

- you will have peace.

 

2. Do you know Jesus as the One who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit?

 

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts all begin with the same message –

 

John the Baptist baptized with water.

Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

 

John brought people to repentance – Jesus does more:

 

He gives us a new nature.

He makes us sons of God.

He anoints us with power from on high.

 

Nobody had ever been baptized in the Holy Spirit before. Moses and the Prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel were men full of the Holy Spirit - but this Spirit-baptism was something new. This was something that could not happen on earth until the Lamb of God had finished his work on the Cross.

 

Now Jesus' followers were to receive the Holy Spirit from Jesus the same way Jesus received the Spirit from his Father – in fullness, without measure – filled and immersed in the nature of God.

 

And by the power of the Spirit of God in them, these followers of Jesus were to go through yet another baptism---the baptism of fire – suffering. They were to be joined to him in his death. And by this twin baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, they were to bring life and salva­tion to the world in Jesus' name.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an experience that you have at such-and-such a time and then it's over - something you look back on. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a relationship with God that continues through this life on into the next life and forever.

 

It means several things:

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means that a member of the Godhead lives permanently in your body.

 

Your body has become his temple. He is Lord over it. God the Spirit has incarnated himself in you. You are not your own – you belong to him.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means that you are guided and taught by God from within,

 

by his Spirit who dwells in you. He opens scripture to you. He teaches you to pray. He gives you vision and discernment and wisdom which come straight from heaven. He shows you things to come.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means that your tongue has become an instrument of righteousness,

 

instead of the tool of unrighteousness it once was. You speak as the Spirit gives you utterance. You speak praises and prayers to God. You speak words of encourage­ment and counsel and warning and comfort to men, and God confirms those words with signs following.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means  that the love of God rules in your heart.

 

You have a new disposition – a disposition which you know and your friends and relatives know is not your own. You care. You go out of your way for people and it doesn't last three days and quit – it goes on and on.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means that you

are part of a ministering body.

 

You're not an eyeball rolling down the street all by itself, or an ear jumping from tree to tree listening to the latest gossip, or a mouth sitting on the moun­tain top endlessly talking. You are set in the Body by the Spirit and you function in harmony with other believers as the Spirit guides you – you fit in.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means that your life has only one purpose: to prepare the earth for the return of Messiah.

 

You are not here to become rich or famous or more spiritual than other people. You are not here to flit from one shallow pleasure to another. You are here to occupy the earth until the King returns. To make dis­ciples. To lift up the Crucified One before the eyes of men. To call men to repentance. To tell the world what time it is.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means that you are destined for a cross.

 

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And where does the Spirit lead? To a cross – always.... always!

 

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

 

The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

 

If any man would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

 

Now if you have no assurance in your heart that you have this baptism of the Spirit, seek it. Jesus not only came to take away your sins, he came to baptize you in the Holy Spirit. He will do it and you'll know he did it.

Just keep two things in mind:

 

1. Never seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit apart from Jesus.

 

Jesus is the baptizer. If you seek spiritual gifts and spiritual experiences without staying close to the Lamb of God you will get counterfeit.

 

It's true that if you ask your Father for bread you won't get a stone. If you ask him for fish you won't get a scorpion. And if you ask your heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit, he will give you the Holy Spirit through his Son's blood.

 

But you'd better be standing close to the Son,

      you'd better be in the will of Jesus,

      you'd better be in the shadow of the cross.

 

If you're off on a scavenger hunt for spiritual thrills, as many are, you may get the spiritual thrills – but they won't be of God.

 

  2. Never seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit apart from the baptism of fire.

 

"I   baptize you with water ..... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

 

They go together.

 

Remember the time James and John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask".

 

"What do you want me to do for you?"

"Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left hand in your glory."

"You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

 

If you want to share in the power and the life of Jesus you have to also be willing to share in the sufferings and death of Jesus. You want his Spirit-baptism you will have it. But you will have his fire-baptism too. Are you willing?

 

From the right hand of his Father's throne, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit into this place anew today. Just as surely as he died for your sins, Jesus wants to immerse every soul reading these

 

 

words in the Holy Spirit of God. He will do it if you're willing to pay the full price.

 

- If you're willing to let the Spirit take you through fire.

 

- If you're willing to let the Spirit guide you to a cross.

 

On the Day of Pentecost they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

Then they went out and spoke to the world.

Then they went out and suffered.

Then they went out and died.

 

And from their speaking, and suffering, and dying, countless souls were born into the Kingdom of God.

 

May Jesus anoint us this day with the same Spirit, that we may travel the same road – the only road a disciple of Jesus was ever meant to walk – the road that leads through fire to a cross and burns with the light of the Spirit all the way.