The Holy Spirit-Part 6
We trust today’s message encouraged and guided you in your journey of following Jesus. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or to be used for a sermon group discussion. CLICK HERE to find a discussion group. Enjoy!
Sermon Title: Receiving the Baptism in the Spirit
Main Scripture: Luke 24:49-53; Acts 1:4-8; James 4:8
If you’re going through this discussion with a community group this week consider taking the time to read the provided scripture to catch everyone up!
Summary:
Pastor Ryan gave a brief teaching about receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We learned that the baptism is a gift we do not earn but simply receive. Because it is a gift from God, we must look to God and ask. Our desire and hearts play an important role in receiving the baptism in the Spirit. It’s Jesus’ desire to baptize us, but is it our desire to receive what He has for us? There is no formula in Scripture on how exactly to be baptized, but what we do see is important. Believers in the early church who were baptized in the Spirit were seeking and living for God. The believers were following Jesus, praying, praising, and living for God. Pastor Ryan challenged us to be like the early church who desired to follow and obey Jesus, who waited in expectation and prayer, together. Who were hungry for more and drew near to God, therefore, God drew near to them. Pastor Ryan encouraged us to come to the table of fellowship with God, Jesus is there waiting to give us more, the gift, the promise, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The more we draw near, the more we are drawn to what Jesus wants for us.
Notes:
Two weeks ago I answered, “What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?” We learned that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the promised gift of the Father for all believers. This baptism is when Jesus baptizes a believer in the Holy Spirit, separate from salvation and water baptism. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian church...We’re going to spend time today in this service seeking and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’m going to teach for a moment but then we're going to pray together around the altars and in this room.
When I was first baptized I wanted more of God. I wanted to be close to God and I was seeking him on a daily basis. What I didn’t realize was how powerful the experience would be. The day I was baptized, I had never felt the presence of God like that before. There was such joy, peace and comfort. I would later discover I had more confidence and courage to live and serve God. The work that needs to be done in our world needs believers strong in the Lord and equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit.
“With this baptism comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4,8; 1 Corinthians 12:1–31). With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as an overflowing fullness of the Spirit (John 7:37–39; Acts 4:8), a deepened reverence for God (Acts 2:43; Hebrews 12:28), an intensified consecration to God, and dedication to His work (Acts 2:42), and more active love for Christ, for His Word, and for the lost (Mark 16:20).” https://ag.org/Beliefs/Position-Papers/Baptism-in-the-Holy-Spirit
Remember the purpose of Spirit-Baptism
The purpose of the baptism in the Spirit is twofold…Worship and work… “The baptism in the Spirit deepens our worship of the Lord through giving us a language of praise that we have not learned—speaking with other tongues. It also gives us power in our Christian witness...” Wood, George O.. Living in the Spirit
R.A. Torrey’s point of the missional Spirit: The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not primarily intended to make believers happy, but to make them useful. It is not intended merely for the ecstasy of the individual believer, it is intended primarily for his efficiency in service. I do not say that the baptism in the Holy Spirit will not make the believer happy; for as part of the fruit of the Spirit is “joy,” if one is baptized with the Holy Spirit, joy must inevitably result. I have never known one to be baptized with the Holy Spirit into whose life there did not come, sooner or later, a new joy, a higher and purer and fuller joy than he had ever known before. But this is not the prime purpose of the baptism nor the most important and prominent result. Great emphasis needs to be laid upon this point, for there are many Christians who in seeking the baptism with the Spirit are seeking personal ecstasy. They go to conventions and conferences for the deepening of the Christian life and come back and tell what a wonderful blessing they have received, referring to some new ecstasy that has come into their heart, but when you watch them, it is difficult to see that they are any more useful to their pastors or their churches than they were before, and one is compelled to think that whatever they have received, they have not received the real baptism with the Holy Spirit. Ecstasies are all right in their places. When they come, thank God for them—the writer knows something about them—but in a world such as we live in to-day where sin and self-righteousness and unbelief are so triumphant, where there is such an awful tide of men, women and young people sweeping on towards eternal damnation, I would rather go through my whole life and never have one touch of ecstasy but have power to witness for Christ and win others for Christ and thus to save them, than to have ecstasy 365 days in the year but no power to stem the awful tide of sin and bring men, women and children to a saving knowledge of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Torrey, R. A. (Reuben Archer). The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit (pp. 104-105).
Scripture: Luke 24:49-53; Acts 1:4-8
How do you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?
The Scripture does not give a formula for receiving the initial filling of the Spirit but the following considerations are helpful and encouraging:
All believers are candidates. There is one requirement, you must be born again of the Spirit to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. (Reminder: you don’t have to be baptized in the Spirit to be saved, this is a subsequent experience).
The Holy Spirit already indwells all believers.
Baptism in the Spirit is a gift (Acts 1:4).
Does a person after he or she is saved have to achieve a certain level of holiness or a certain number of merits before he or she can receive this baptism? No, because the baptism is a gift and if we earned it, it would not be a gift.
The Holy Spirit is ready to fill any vessel that WANTS to receive Him. He does not come in because we have attained a particular level of holiness.
Does this mean we come to Him with a wicked heart bent on doing evil and expect the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Absolutely not. We should already desire and be living holy lives. The point being made is you do not have to go through a series of trials and promotions to receive this baptism.
Jesus wants to baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Want what Jesus wants!
We can’t earn the gift but we can seek, pray and ask for it. This is what Jesus’ followers did. They had a desire to receive what Jesus wanted to give.
They obeyed Jesus by going to Jerusalem. Jesus commanded them to wait in Jerusalem. Our scriptures show a church that had a desire to obey Jesus and be where Jesus wanted them to be.
They waited in expectation in Jerusalem for the promised gift to come upon them. They were hungry and open to receiving this promised gift of power through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
They gathered together to pray and praise God. They were all seeking and worshipping God, together. (Luke 24:52-53; Acts 1:14; 2:1). The disciples joined in prayer with great frequency and singleness of purpose. They pray, expecting Spirit-baptism. Their constancy in prayer and praise prepares them for receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Believing and expectant prayer provides the spiritual environment for receiving the fullness of the Spirit. Prayer and praise often lead into a baptism experience.
Draw near to God and He draws near to us. God already desires and wants to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower us.
James 4:8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty, is divided between God and the world.
When our hearts are consumed with sin and divided between God and the world we won’t typically be seeking God for blessings. We’ll typically be ashamed to even come to God in prayer or our prayers will be more about confessing sin and not receiving the Holy Spirit.
God, convict us, purify our hearts, we confess that sin and other things have taken up room in our hearts and desires. Forgive and cleanse us. May our desire for more of you be greater than any desire of sin or this world.
Draw near to God, daily. Come to the table to commune with Him. Jesus is ready to baptize you in the Spirit.
Encouragement for those seeking:
Seekers should not get discouraged or get under self-condemnation if the baptism experience does not take place when they expect. God’s timing may differ from ours. His pouring out of the Spirit can not be put into a box. Throughout church history, the Holy Spirit has been poured out in unexpected places and times.
Seekers who are more private in their prayer and praise may be baptized in private, but some who are like this have had very public experiences at church services, conferences, and in Bible study groups.
We continually pray and ask for Jesus to baptize us.
Takeaways:
The work that needs to be done in our world needs believers strong in the Lord and equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the baptism in the Spirit is twofold…worship and work…
Draw near to God and you’ll desire what Jesus wants to give!
The Holy Spirit is ready to fill any vessel that wants to receive Him.
Discussion:
What was a big takeaway for you from today’s message?
What are the purposes of being baptized in the Spirit?
How do we know the early church was hungry and ready to receive the baptism in the Spirit?
How important is drawing near to God in receiving the baptism?
How will you intentionally seek the baptism and continual filling of the Spirit this week?
What questions do you still have about this doctrine?
The most important decision you will ever make!
Are you ready to experience salvation and be transformed we encourage you to say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I see my sin and how wrong it is. I see how without Jesus I’m lost. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for saving me from my sin, my past, this world, and your judgment. I repent, I turn away from that life and I put my faith and life in Jesus! Amen!
We would love to know if you made the decision to accept this wonderful gift from God. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hoped you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!