The Holy Spirit: Baptizing the Believer

- In touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Next on In Touch, the Holy Spirit, baptizing the believer. - Have you ever been baptized with a Holy Spirit? Well, some of you would answer that with a great confidence, yes, I have. Others of you would answer that, no, I haven't. Some would answer, I'm not sure. Because there is a great deal of confusion about what the Bible teaches, about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it's probably one of the most controversial subjects today because there's so many different opinions. And usually when you have a controversy, you have those who are extreme on the right and extreme on the left. And then there's that whole vast of people in the middle, they don't have any earthly idea what they believe because they don't know who's telling the truth. And so what I want us to do in this message is to open the word of God and ask ourselves the question, what does the Bible say about the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Now, many people would think, well, with all the controversy and all the questions about it, as long as I'm saved and I'm going to heaven, that's all that matters. And so I don't want to get into all that. My friend, anything in this book, you need to get into.

Because if it were not important, it wouldn't be in here. And if it's in here, it's worthy of our understanding and applying it to our heart accordingly. Now, this is the series on the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. And in this message, the Holy Spirit baptizing the believer. That's the title. I want you to turn, if you will, to Acts chapter one. And I want us to begin reading in the first verse and reading through the fifth verse. And this is Luke's introduction to this whole book of the book of Acts. And this is where all the excitement begins about the Holy Spirit. So he says in the first verse, "The first account I composed, the awfulus, "about all that Jesus began to do and teach, "until the day when he was taken up "after he had by the Holy Spirit "given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. "To these he also presented himself alive "after his suffering by many convincing proofs, "appearing to them over a period of 40 days "and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." Then he says, "And gathering them together, "he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, "but to wait for what the Father had promised, "which he said, 'You heard it from me.'" For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit

not many days from now. Now it's very evident in that verse of scripture that whatever it means, Jesus said, it's going to happen not many days from now and somewhere around 10 days later, Pentecost, that is exactly what happened. Now I want us to look and ask ourselves and clarify our question here. First of all, let's look at the whole idea of what do we mean by baptism. Now I'm not describing this from a Baptist point of view, what does the Bible say? The word for baptism in the New Testament is the word which means to submerge. Sorry friends, it does not mean to sprinkle or to anoint, it means to submerge. Baptism means to take it down like you sink a ship. It also means to place something or a person or a thing into a relationship with someone else or a union with someone else, whereby their condition is altered. And so when we talk about baptizing, we're talking about not only water baptism, but we're talking about spirit baptism. Now with that in mind, I want us to look here what he says when he says in verse five of Acts one, but John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with a holy spirit, not many days from now. And he's not talking about water baptism

because he said he baptized you as worth water, the holy spirit's going to baptize you and it's going to be different. And you'll recall that John, the Baptist said, he's gonna baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire. Now, what is the baptizing work of the holy spirit? The baptizing work of the holy spirit is the holy spirit placing us into a new union with the Lord Jesus Christ, whereby we have a brand new relationship with him. Placing us into Christ, the Bible says, placing us into the body of Christ. That is what the church is. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not brick and mortar. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a body of people who have been born again by the grace of God and by the holy spirit have been baptized into Christ. And this church, like any other local church, is a local assembly of believers who are a part of God's mighty church that is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ scattered all over the world. Now, what I want us to see here is this. When the Bible says that a person is baptized, or that there would be a baptism of the Holy Spirit, not many days hence, what was Jesus referring to? He was referring to what happened at Pentecost, what happened at Pentecost. So let's look, if you will, to Acts chapter 2. And notice what he says here. Remember Jesus said, "What's going to happen is not going to happen many days hence." It'll be just a short period of time. And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven, a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house

where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues as a fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. It is interesting, listen now, that on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit visited those believers, the Bible does not say they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. The Bible says they've all filled the Holy Spirit, and the manifestations, none of the baptism, but of the manifestations of the filling of the Spirit was, that they began to speak in foreign languages so that the people who were there from all over the world of that time, who were there worshiping, they understood in their own language the gospel of Jesus Christ. So oftentimes we take that passage and we say, "Well, what happens today is we're still being baptized with the Holy Spirit." In this light, when you are saved by the grace of God from the moment the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, not many days hence, and baptized that group of believers into the body of Christ, beginning the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, from that moment on every single person who has received the Lord Jesus Christ, likewise has been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. Now let me show you the difference, there is the distinction between the filling of the Holy Spirit and the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit. So I want to give you some comparisons, and let's begin with this comparison. First of all, that the baptism, this is comparison number one, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is nowhere commanded in the Bible. Now if the baptism of the Holy Spirit is, if it is as many people teach that it is, and you will hear preaches and teachers say, "You need to get baptized with the Holy Ghost." Well the Bible doesn't say that. Nowhere are we commanded to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, because that is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of every single believer. We are not commanded to be baptized by the Holy Ghost anywhere, but the Bible does teach us that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit in the last message, in the series, dealt primarily and completely with just that command, that we are to be being filled with the Holy

Spirit, and therefore being filled with the Holy Spirit, it will affect every single area of our life. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not commanded, the filling of the Holy Spirit is commanded. The second comparison I want us to see here is this, and that is the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is a position, and the filling of the Holy Spirit is a provision. For example, go back over to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 for just a moment. When Paul is speaking here of the church, he says, verse 13, "For by one spirit we were all baptized into what? Into one body that is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of us were baptized, so that when you are saved likewise you are placed into him. When we say, for example, that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and when he died on the cross he atoned for the sins of how many people? How many? All right, now. But his death on the cross is only applicable to those who do what? To those who receive him. So when Jesus Christ baptized, when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, he baptized every believer. Now when a person believes today in the Lord Jesus Christ, what happens? They are placed into union with him. So when we say position, we are talking about a new relationship. That is, we have become a part of the body of Christ. We have a relationship with each other. And the filling of the Holy Spirit is not for relationship, but the filling of the Holy Spirit is provision. That is, in the filling of the Holy Spirit, we receive what? through the work of the Holy Spirit. In the filling of the Holy Spirit, there is the power of the Spirit of God working in and through our lives,

and we are able to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in their life for a daily walk and the work that God has called us to do. Nowhere does it say the baptism of the Spirit does that. The baptizing work is something completely and entirely different. The third difference is this. That the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit deals with the relationship, whereas the filling of the Holy Spirit deals with my behavior. That is, when you and I are placed into union with Him, that deals with relationship. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that affects our behavior. Once you're saved by the grace of God, once you become a new creation in Christ Jesus, once you're baptized, only one time into the body of Christ, it has nothing. Listen, our relationship can no longer be tampered with. We are sealed under the day of redemption, the Bible says, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and therefore, when we think in terms of the filling of the Holy Spirit, what do we say? First of all, in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that must be a desire. There must be cleansing, there must be yielding, there must be asking and there must be a believing. When it comes to being baptized with the Holy Spirit, that is the work of the Spirit placing us into union with Christ so that we say,

we are in Christ Jesus and He is within us. We have a brand new relationship and a brand new union with Him. Likewise, the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit takes place in salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit can take place in salvation but usually takes place at some later time, some later point in time. Now, when a person is saved by the grace of God, there are many things that go on that never aware of. When a person is saved, the Bible says what? They're forgiven of their sins and when the burden of guilt rolls away, both and likely that is the one thing that you and I sense. We sense the relief and the release of the guilt and the burden of our past sin. But the Bible says in that moment you're justified. You don't feel that, that you're reconciled. You don't necessarily feel that, that you are glorified. You certainly don't feel that, that you are sealed. That's no feeling about being sealed. And the Bible says that we are baptized by one Spirit into that body. We don't feel that. What we feel is the release of the guilt and the burden and this awesome sense of the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, another difference we see here is this, that baptism, that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a single act, whereas the filling of the Holy Spirit is an act of the Holy Spirit whereby it is repeated oftentimes.

One time a person is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is what? Placing us into this indestructible union. This union, this relationship with Christ that can never be severed. You see, the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is what God does to us, what God does in us that really to some extent we can place it this way. We can say that it's passive, that is, it isn't something we do, it is something He does in us and for us, whereas the filling of the Holy Spirit is a matter of a choice that you and I make. Now, then also baptism is an unconscious gift of the Holy Spirit whereby, that is by the Holy Spirit, whereby the filling is a deliberate definite known act. That is when you and I are saved and God places us into Christ Jesus, we don't feel that's unconscious. But when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that's something that you and I can go back and say on that day, at that moment, I know that I was filled with the Holy Spirit because I remember exactly what happened. And this is what happens, people say, "Well, have you got the baptism?" And what they mean by that is not what we mean by that. Yes, when I receive the Lord Jesus Christ is my personal savior. The Apostle Paul says, "I was placed into union with Christ."

And you remember that Paul's favorite word, all of his theology can be wrapped up in the whole idea of the union. In Christ Jesus, in Christ is Paul's big word for the whole Christian life. Because when you and I are saved, the Bible says that we are placed in the Christ Jesus in that beautiful, inseparable union where we are forever. And that's why we don't think in terms of the Christian life of us holding on to God in times of great difficulty, but rather God has an eternal grip on the life of every single believer because we being placed in the union with Him sealed us forever as a child of God. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. So whereas on the one hand we are saved, it's an unconscious work. The filling is the conscious work. And then we said, for example, that the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit happens to every single believer. Whereas the filling of the Holy Spirit, that's not necessarily true. That is, there are lots of people who have never been filled with the Holy Spirit. Some of them don't even know what it's all about, don't know how, never felt in a need or in a desire. Whereas the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is a universal work of the Spirit of God in the life of every single person who has ever been born again. Now somebody says, well, when you think about different views about the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, I will not be critical of anyone else. This has nothing to do with the gifts. There's no doubt in my mind that the Holy Spirit does give gifts, different gifts the

Bible says to whom so ever He will. But that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Turn if you will the first Corinthians chapter 12, because you see, what we do is we get these things, we mix them up and when you mix them up, it sounds good, but what does the Bible say? He says in verse 11, first Corinthians 12, "But one and the same Spirit," that is the Holy Spirit, works all these things, all those gifts previously mentioned, distributing to each one individually just as is that a capital H or a little H, capital H just as He wills. So if it is the work of the Holy Spirit to give the gifts, it is the response of the believer to receive the gift by faith and exercise that gift to the glory of God. And so we're not talking about any specific gift. Listen, don't confuse the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit with some particular Spirit you give because the Bible doesn't. And even though they spoke in those foreign languages that day, that's the evidence, listen, that's the work of the filling of the Holy Spirit. And I'm not here to discuss in this particular message the gifts, excepted to say, don't mix the gifts with the idea of the baptism. The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit helped happen at Pentecost, every single believer is baptized into the body of Christ and the Spirit of God is the one who determines which spiritual gift you and I receive. Now look in verse 12, "For even as the body," that is the body of Christ the church, "is one, yet it has many members, all of us. And all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ." Listen to that. All of us, the Bible says a one. He says, "One body, so also is Christ, for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. For the Jews, Greeks, slaves, free, all made to drink of one watt, of one Spirit, for the body is not many members, is not one member, but many."

Now, should you believe in the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, absolutely. It happens, it happens at salvation, it settles my eternal future, baptized into Christ inseparable from Him. The filling of the Holy Spirit, that is my responsibility to yield my life to Him, to walk in Him and to obey Him. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, whichever gifts, whichever gifts the Holy Spirit who has filled me, determines that I should have, that is the gift. Now, here's what I want you to see. Friends, you can't live in sin. You can't live in disobedience to God and exercise spiritual gifts to the glory of God. And the very idea that you can just live any old way, just so you've been baptized with the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, no. The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, happened at salvation. The filling of the Spirit, I am responsible for daily. And the Spirit of God who is indwelling every single believer will equip every single one of us with every gift he knows we need. When is the last time we deliberately, willfully, knowingly chose to serve the living God in the power of the Holy Spirit? He gave the Spirit for ministry primarily. Why do they give the gifts? Read those gifts in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. All of those are from ministry. All of those for the giving of ourselves away. And so what is He doing? In the filling of the Holy Spirit, He is equipping us to serve Him. The baptizing work of the Spirit is the foundation. That's the foundation upon which we live. We have a relationship, we're in union with Him, we're in the body of Christ. So no question about that. There is a baptism of the Holy Spirit. No question about that being a feeling of the Holy Spirit. No question about that being gifts, but let's get them in their right order. And that is, at salvation, baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ Jesus forever. Thank God.

At the point we are willing to surrender and yield and our lives cleaned up filled with the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the privilege. And when the Spirit of God, who is indwelling us, begins to exercise the gifts which he has given to us, your life is going to make an impression to the glory of God. Not only is it going to make an impression, it's going beyond that, your life is going to begin to make an impact. Listen, he said to them, you're not ready. Imagine that. You're not ready after all the head expense. You're not ready. You're not ready until Pentecost. You're not ready until, listen, you're not ready to go out as a group of 12 or group of 120. Can you imagine what they would have done? Can you imagine Peter saying, well I'll tell you, this is the way I'm going to do it. John would have said, this is the way I choose to do it. And so what happens, they could have gone off in all directions. But on the day of Pentecost, the Bible says the Holy Spirit came upon them, baptizing them into Christ. They began, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in the languages and the tongues of the people who were there and they began to understand what happened. God, God molded that group of people together through the work of the Holy Spirit and that is where the church began. And so we are together. And how often did Paul speak of the unity of the fellowship? How often did he speak of the oneness among the people of God because that's where the church began? The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit has marked every single one of us as a child of God. The Bible says we have been sealed under the day of redemption by Him. What for? To serve the living God. And that church in the New Testament, they began the Bible says, to preach the Word of God, they began to share the Word of God, persecution came, and finally it was the persecution that sent them out to the uttermost parts of the earth to do what God called them to do. And it appears in your first read the New Testament that more than likely things was to get the supposed to there in Jerusalem and they were just enjoying being together. They had oneness of mind, heart and spirit, gave up what they had, began to share what they had, and then God allowed enough persecution to come to get Jerusalem so hot. They had to leave Jerusalem. The Bible says Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. And remember what he said? He said, you shall receive power. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you and ye shall be my witnesses. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. He says when the Holy Spirit comes, the power is going to be there. And the reason the power is going to be there is in order that you may preach and teach the gospel the world over. That's why I want us to see the distinction. Baptize once, feel many times, exercising the gifts daily in the power of the Spirit of the living God, so that every single believer is walking in the Spirit, living in the power of the Holy Spirit, serving God under the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you realize why you are saved? Because the Father, and that an act of His sovereign grace, chose to save you and me and give us to Christ as a trophy of His death. Now, I don't know where you are in your relationship to God, but let me say first of all, if you've never been saved, that's step number one. when you're saved, what does he do? And I keep repeating this because I want them to start echoing in your mind. So when you witness to somebody about Jesus Christ, then tell them what God's done. Don't just say now that you're forgiven and leave him. Tell them what God's done. He's forgiven you of your sins. He's redeemed you. He's justified you. He's reconciled you. He sanctified you. He sealed you. He's baptized you. And now you can be filled with the Holy Spirit right now and walk out of this place. Fill with the Spirit, the power of God within you ready to release through you what God wants to do in into your life. What a wonderful privilege we have of being a child of God. But you know, if you don't know what you have, you can enjoy it. But once you know who you are in Christ and what you have in him, that my friend the inside of us who has equipped us to do everything God's call us to do. Baptized once at salvation, filled many times the expressions of the gifts as we serve the living God and we have the privilege moment by moment, day by day of doing that. And Father, we love you and praise you for your wonderful word. We pray that the Holy Spirit will clarify in our minds the truth of our word so that we may with boldness and confidence and assurance.

All for ourselves to you, understanding that we have the power within us to do whatever you call us to do. We love you, we praise you, and we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit as our guide, as our teacher, as our comforter, and the one who empowers us for the work in Jesus' name. Amen. [Music] [MUSIC PLAYING]