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[0:00] The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Tonight we want to talk about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

[0:15] And a rather controversial subject, really. Certainly a subject that where, depending on your background, church upbringing, it's a subject where there are differing theologies, differing opinions.

[0:41] On just what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit... And I would also, just at the outset here, admit to you that even among Baptists, there is confusion.

[0:54] It's not so much necessarily that people have a certain theology they affixed to in regard to Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I mean, there is that.

[1:05] But I think, by and large, there is a great deal of confusion about it. Just what is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? Or, really more technically, we should say Baptism with the Holy Spirit.

[1:19] And so what is it? So we'll get into that here tonight. There are two major views concerning the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, within these two views, there are some variations.

[1:31] We're not going to get that in-depth into the study. But just to kind of identify and briefly discuss the two overarching views concerning the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

[1:48] The first one is... And I would use this heading or this designation, subsequent to regeneration. That is, that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that takes place in or on a believer's life, but not necessarily at salvation, but sometime after.

[2:13] Without any particular regard to how long after. Maybe right after. In fact, some would hold, who hold to this view, they would say that sometimes it can happen right at salvation or right at regeneration.

[2:28] But generally, it happens sometime after. And so, there you have it subsequent to regeneration, sometime after the new birth. And this view is held as a central doctrine of most Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, as well as many Neo-Pentecostal Christians.

[2:51] What world would they be? Well, I've kind of identified them or defined them there. Those who have remained in mainline denominations, whether it's Methodists or Baptists.

[3:03] And so, they're, you know, right here in, you know, of the membership of the local Baptist church and that they still hold a view of the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

[3:16] They hold this subsequent to regeneration. All right, so this is the central doctrine of the Charismatics and Pentecostals. This view holds that though one may be regenerated, born again, without this spirit baptism, without this experience, one is not fully sanctified and does not enjoy full power for service.

[3:42] All right, so again, that highlights the view. It's something that comes after. It's something not only that comes after, but it's something that's added.

[3:56] Something that we need and something that until we have it, we're not quite as full and where we need to be as Christians.

[4:10] All right? You have a question? Yeah, I don't know. What do you mean by Pentecostal? Pentecostal would be a denomination. Pentecostal, there are many different, like United Pentecostals, Assembly of God would be Pentecostal of that root.

[4:26] That would be different than the Baptist, right? Oh, yes. Okay, so we're just talking about Pentecostal. Yeah, yeah. Pentecostal. Baptists are not identified with Pentecostals.

[4:38] I didn't think so. That's what I was kind of thinking. You would have Church of God, Assembly of God, Pentecostal churches, Holiness churches. What would be some of the other names?

[4:50] Four-square churches. Yeah, there's some four-square churches. Some that would just be called non-denominational churches that would hold a Pentecostalism doctrine that would have this particular view on the Holy Spirit or the baptism with the Holy Spirit along with some other views as well.

[5:08] We don't have time to get into the roots of Pentecostalism. Most of them find their origin in Methodism from Wesley. All the holiness churches and Pentecostal churches.

[5:23] Okay? All right. Now, this... Again, let's go over this B again. This view holds that though one may be regenerated... All right, so they're not denying that a person has been born again.

[5:36] You can be born again, according to this view, without this baptism. But without this experience, one is not fully sanctified and does not enjoy full power for service.

[5:50] So it's, again, a subsequent event. Added something you need but don't necessarily have until you've experienced this baptism.

[6:01] See, the terms baptism, filled, received, gift of, and endued, all these terms used in connection with the Holy Spirit, are used to describe one and the same experience and are therefore practically the same, according to this view.

[6:27] All right, now that may be a little confusing because we've not yet delved into the second view, but the second view, which we'll get to in a little bit, would make some distinctions between these terms.

[6:40] That the prime distinction would be between baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Those two are not the same thing. They're two different things.

[6:51] But in this view, where the baptism is subsequent to salvation or regeneration, generally, those who hold that view would make all of these terms the same.

[7:06] It would make them equal. I can't see you back there. I'm so sorry. Maybe it could be that light, the sun coming through that window right there. I see real good. All right.

[7:17] There you go. It's just kind of a glare. Is it glaring back there for everybody? All right. Okay. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is held to be a definite, conscious experience.

[7:31] And one may know whether or not he or she has received it. So it's experiential according to this view.

[7:43] Now, obviously, the implication is the other view we're going to look at here in a little bit would identify this event, baptism with the Holy Spirit, as something that is not perceptible.

[7:58] It's not an experiential thing. Not something you feel. All right. It stands to reason if this is something that's going to happen, an event that's going to happen separate from the conversion or regeneration, your salvation experience, then it's going to be something you would experience, something you would feel, something you would know.

[8:27] E. Some Pentecostals say regeneration imparts life with the baptism with the Holy Spirit, power for service is imparted.

[8:39] I may be a little confused with the way I worded that and I would say I did a poor job of that. But in parentheses, here's what I've just said. Regeneration equals life.

[8:51] Baptism of the Holy Spirit equals power. All right. So there's the separation between the two. Life, that is in the sense of spiritual life. So when you're saved, you are born again.

[9:01] You have the new life. New life in Christ but not yet have the power of the Christian life. That comes with the baptism. All right.

[9:11] So you see the distinction that is made there. Baptism with the Holy Spirit, though separate from regeneration, again, according to this view, nevertheless, may occur at the same time.

[9:28] I mentioned this a while ago and a prime example would be Cornelius in Acts chapter 10 verse 45. And if you know anything about that passage, you know that he was saved and filled with the Spirit.

[9:43] The Holy Spirit came upon him. And anyway, there's an example. All right. So subsequent to regeneration. G, most, not all, who hold this view believe that speaking in tongues is the evidence of this baptism.

[10:03] there are a number of elements or offshoots of Pentecostalism or the charismatic movement that would say most definitely the proof not only of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but many would even say of salvation itself.

[10:29] That that's proof that the speaking in tongues, that manifestation must take place and if it's not taking place, you've never been baptized with the Spirit. It reminds me of a story and I may have told this story.

[10:45] It's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. It was told by a professor at, not at my seminary, but at college. which I had returned to my alma mater, Southwest Baptist University, for a, it was a seminar on the January Bible study that particular year.

[11:03] I don't remember what the Bible study was, but I never will forget this professor who told this story. And he said that he had, as one of his students, a young man who was part of the apostolic church.

[11:23] And he was all the time inviting the professor to his church. You know, he just wanted to come. He said, I know you're never going to join our church and be a part of us, but I just really want you to come to our service sometime.

[11:36] And of course he always had some excuse why he couldn't go. He didn't really want to actually. He admitted that. But he said finally, I said, well I'll just visit his church on this particular Sunday night.

[11:50] He said, I think they were having some kind of revival. And so he attended. And lo and behold, that particular night a young lady was saved. And they were going to baptize her right then.

[12:03] Now, in this particular denomination or system of belief, they believe that when you're baptized, when you come up out of the water, you come out speaking in tongues.

[12:17] And so he said that he was sitting there and they had the curtains drawn and they opened the curtain and there's the pastor and there's the young lady that was saved and two or three other ladies that were in the baptistry with them to kind of attend.

[12:35] And so he baptized her and when she came out of the water nothing happened. She just stood there and the pastor waited for a moment and he said he could tell he was kind of whispering in her ear.

[12:51] Didn't know what he told her. But they baptized her again. Went back down into the water and back up and nothing, nothing happened.

[13:04] And the third time or the second time the ladies that were up there kind of huddled around her and they baptized her a third time. And still nothing.

[13:17] And he said the curtain closed and he said I never did find out what happened to them. But I'm not trying to be disparaging to them.

[13:27] I don't agree with that theology but they're very serious about it. But this is kind of part of many different variations on this view.

[13:39] that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in relation to speaking in tongues. Some very, very over the top like I think that one would be. And others that may be a little milder.

[13:52] Okay. Here's the second view. And these again are just two broad categories. The second one, and you could have guessed this one, simultaneous with regeneration.

[14:03] Not subsequent to, but simultaneous with. That is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at conversion, at regeneration, at that very moment, not later, but at the same time, simultaneously, at the new birth.

[14:21] This is the major non-charismatic view. Now, that's a real smart way to put it. The other one is the charismatic view. This is the non-charismatic view. Okay. this view makes a distinction between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

[14:41] And the idea being, or the claim being, that many of those who have a doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a doctrine that includes an event that's going to take place after salvation, that what they really are referring to a believing in is not the baptism, but the filling.

[15:02] The filling of the Holy Spirit. And according to my view, the filling does come after. And not just once, but many times.

[15:15] You know, not just a quote, second blessing, as many of our Pentecostal friends would call it, but yeah, a second blessing, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and on throughout our lives.

[15:28] Many fillings. Now, we're not going to get into the biblical doctrine of the filling of the Holy Spirit until next time, but anyway, so in my view, and this is my view, and probably your view, most of you, that it's subsequent that there's a difference between the baptism and the filling.

[15:50] Two terms are not the same, but are very different in meaning. I kind of skipped ahead in my thoughts. Spirit baptism, as in water baptism, is a one-time event and never to be repeated.

[16:03] On the other hand, the filling of the Spirit may seldom, and I would come close to disputing that a little bit, I think, for a true believer, there will be fillings of the Holy Spirit, and if it's seldom or next to none, then I think maybe you ought to examine your life to see if you're truly in the faith, but at very least, I would say you don't have a lot of warrant to believe that you're a true born-again believer if you've never experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy Spirit in your life.

[16:40] So it can happen seldom or often, would often be experienced. Baptism is the historical event. This would be a good way to conceptualize this.

[16:53] It's the historical event, that is, it takes place at the new birth, whereas the filling of the Holy Spirit is the human experience that is continual.

[17:04] And I would add to that that the baptism is not something you feel or sense or experience, but the filling of the Holy Spirit is very experiential. And at Pentecost, both took place at the same time, and this can be true today.

[17:24] I mean, what I mean is, there are people who, have you ever heard the expression, you know, old so-and-so got saved, and when he got saved, he got saved good.

[17:38] You know, it was just one of those conversions that was so dramatic and so, and then it's like that, that person just, you know, hit the ground running.

[17:49] And sometimes it happens that way, and there's just this immediate empowering and filling of the Holy Spirit in that believer's life. Whereas others are saved, and yet they, it's obvious that they're saved, and things have changed, and they are starting to exhibit some fruit, but they, for a time, still struggle, struggle with some old habits and such, and it doesn't just simply go away that quickly.

[18:22] And so, that's what we mean there, that the two can happen at the same time. Simultaneous with regeneration, under C, I've given you Billy Graham's point of view concerning the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

[18:37] He's written quite a bit on the Holy Spirit, and here's his view. there is only one baptism with the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer.

[18:49] One, right, because we're only saved once. And, though we're not going to get into the subject of eternal security here tonight, but because we believe we're eternally secured in Christ, then, and since we believe that the baptism, the immersed, being immersed in the Holy Spirit is something that takes place simultaneous with the new birth, then it can only happen once.

[19:17] It can only happen once in the life of the believer. Two, this baptism with the Holy Spirit takes place at the moment of conversion or new birth, which we've already discussed.

[19:30] Third, this baptism was initiated at Pentecost, and all those who come to know Jesus as Savior share in the same experience. That's where it all started when the Holy Spirit came upon believers.

[19:46] There is no biblical data which indicates that the baptism with the Holy Spirit should ever be repeated. In fact, the only way that you could argue for that, you would first have to argue that you could lose your salvation, and we need to be saved again.

[20:03] You have a hard time arguing that. Seven passages in the New Testament which speak directly of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Four of these passages were spoken by John the Baptist as referring to a future event.

[20:20] That is, this is before, obviously before Pentecost. And here are the passages. We're not going to look at all of those. I mean, these are all the four Gospels, and John's is worded a little bit differently.

[20:35] I'm going to look at that one here in just a minute. The others are almost identical. They're all saying the same thing. But John's passage reads like this. I do not know him.

[20:46] It's what John the Baptist is saying. Not know him in the spiritual sense he's talking about. I wouldn't know him if I saw him. But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

[21:05] And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. There's the passage. Now, we can make a few comments about that passage.

[21:18] First of all, all four, well not just that one, but the other three as well, all four are in general agreement in their basic content. All four are John the Baptist speaking, same event, just seen from different perspectives.

[21:34] A couple of them eyewitnesses, a couple are giving testimony directed from eyewitnesses, but are all saying the same thing. Number two, John relates the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit to be the same one upon whom he witnesses the Spirit descending and remaining, and that, of course, is Jesus.

[21:56] All right, it's Jesus, he's speaking up here, who will baptize with the Spirit. Third, these verses indicate that Jesus will baptize believers with the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit will not just come upon believers apart from a relationship with Jesus.

[22:15] And then, I guess there were just three in that. All right, number two, one passage was spoken by Jesus after his resurrection as referring to a yet future event.

[22:29] Acts 1, 4-5, and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have heard from me, for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

[22:48] So, Jesus is referring to this inaugural event that is going to take place with the disciples, followers of Christ, and an event that will take place then with every believer from then on out.

[23:03] The implication of this passage is Jesus reaffirms John's prophetic statement and he associates the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the promise of the Father. And this is his promise, the Holy Spirit's a gift.

[23:18] Two passages look backward to the events and experiences of Pentecost as fulfilling the promises spoken by John, John the Baptist that is and Jesus.

[23:29] All right? Acts 10, 44, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word, and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

[23:50] For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. So there was the manifestation that confirmed it. And then the other one, Acts 11, 15, 17, And the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.

[24:07] Here is his, this is his testimony. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God.

[24:26] Now, a few comments about, especially that last passage, Peter is testifying to the church of Jerusalem concerning what had happened at the house of Cornelius.

[24:38] Again, a reference to that story. And Peter compared what the Spirit did among the Gentiles, that would be Cornelius and his household, what the Spirit did among the Gentiles, he's comparing that with what he had done at Pentecost.

[24:57] So, he's saying this is the same thing happening once again here. First with us, Jews, and now with Cornelius.

[25:09] The Spirit fell upon the Gentiles while they were hearing the word of God in the same manner as he did on the disciples at Pentecost. Alright, so this is what Peter is teaching us here about the passage.

[25:26] We'll get to why the tongues with these Gentiles, and I read that passage out of Acts 10, where we have Samaritans pretty much having the same type of experience.

[25:41] We go from Jews to Samaritans to Gentiles, and seemingly repeats of the event that took place at Pentecost, repeating those two times, with the Samaritans, with the Gentiles, and then after that we don't hear of it anymore in that way.

[25:59] So, what's all that about? We'll get to that in a little bit. One passage speaks about the wider experience of the believer. 1 Corinthians 12, 13, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit.

[26:19] So, by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. That's the wider experience. And just to make a few comments about that, the baptism, number one, it's obvious from the passage that it's common to all believers.

[26:39] By one Spirit we were all, all believers, all of us, baptized into one body. So, it's common to all believers. This baptism was a past event to the believer's life.

[26:52] And I threw in a little Greek verb tense there, aorist tense, meaning this is a completed action. It's something that's not an ongoing event, not a progressive event, not something that happens subsequently, time after time, but a completed event.

[27:10] This baptism is completed, never to be repeated again, and that's the way Paul wrote it. This baptism refers to the believers being incorporated into the body of Christ.

[27:23] And that's just another way of saying or describing the conversion, the new birth, incorporated into the body of Christ. And so, that's when the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place.

[27:37] Scripture nowhere exhorts believers to seek this baptism, nor is there any distinction made between those who have or have not been so baptized.

[27:48] Now, what's the point there? Well, a couple. Number one, we do hear from various corners, various segments of the church today, mostly from those who are attached and affiliated with the Pentecostal movement, that this is something we need to seek for.

[28:11] We need to seek this. And, in fact, I have had a number of, even some people in my churches in years past, who have really prayed for me that I would seek after this.

[28:26] And I said, Brother Don, you'll never have the power in your ministry until this happens to you. And so, you need to seek for it and pray for it. And this is the view, but there's nowhere in Scripture are we exhorted to seek after this baptism.

[28:42] Now, the filling of the Holy Spirit is something different. And, again, I think the confusion with many is that they equate the two. Baptism, filling, the same thing.

[28:53] So, we don't seek after the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Nothing in the Bible says that. And then the last part of that statement, I think, identifies a problem within the charismatic movement where there are the haves and the have-nots.

[29:07] or, if not just those two categories, there are those who have not at all, and then those who don't have as much.

[29:20] And then there are those who really have a good dose. And so, there is a tendency, because we're all human, and the flesh is involved in our outlook on things, no matter how much we'd like to deny that.

[29:36] that there is then this tendency for a kind of spiritual elitism that takes place within the church, because there are those who are more spiritual, those who have had more baptism, those who speak in tongues more often, and so forth.

[29:52] But there's nothing in Scripture anywhere that describes that kind of scenario, where there are those who have and those who have not.

[30:03] Two controversial passages I think I'm going to have to read the passage, Acts chapter 8.

[30:24] Acts chapter 8, verse 5. And the multitudes with one accord, heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

[30:40] For unclean spirits from crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed, and there was great joy in that city.

[30:52] There was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the great power of God.

[31:11] And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. When they believed Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized, then Simon himself also believed, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

[31:35] Now, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

[31:49] Now, this is the Samaritans, all right? for as yet he had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

[32:01] Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit and when Simon saw that, and then you know the rest of the story. Now, the controversy is, what is this?

[32:13] They were saved, baptized, but they didn't have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, didn't have the Holy Spirit come upon them at the same time.

[32:23] And so, you know, Pastor, I thought you said a while ago that they happened at the same time. This is an event that took place, that took place just this way for a certain reason.

[32:37] It was not included in the Scriptures to be a normative thing. That is, that this would be an ongoing experience for believers. This is something quite different.

[32:49] Before I talk about that, the other passage is Paul and the followers of John the Baptist at Ephesus and Acts 19, verse 1, and it happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, he said to them, do you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

[33:18] Did you rather? And so they said to him, we've not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? And so they said, into John's baptism.

[33:31] Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

[33:44] And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all. And that's as far as we need to go on that passage.

[33:56] Now, what are we to make out of some of these passages? And I mentioned Acts 11 as well. Well, I didn't include that here, but I think really it should be included here as one of those controversial passages.

[34:12] That is with Cornelius. Here's a couple things to consider. These passages are related to the transition from the Old to the New Testament period following the death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the church.

[34:31] That's what we have in Acts. We have the birth of the church and the transition of the gospel from Jews to Samaritans to Gentiles really to the uttermost parts of the world.

[34:51] There's a strong emphasis on salvation in each geographical region of the church. So, the gospel is branching out and needing to be validated as it goes out from Jerusalem and moves out from there.

[35:11] Strong emphasis on salvation as we move along and a strong emphasis on the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit in each of those regions where we have in Acts.

[35:24] And it does not have to be normal that exactly the same experience is happening each time people are saved because that's not what the intent of the writer of Acts Luke, really the Holy Spirit, that's not his intent to lay before us what is now going to be the norm and a pattern that should be followed from there on out that was never the intent.

[35:52] And so, the conclusion God in these passages is giving them each of these regions and really indeed not just regions as it moves out from Jerusalem but even ethnic groups giving them a Pentecost.

[36:14] This is the sign actually to the Jews that the gospel has come to Jerusalem. That's where it began. That's where Pentecost took place.

[36:25] That's where the Holy Spirit is first given and the church is birthed. But also in Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. So, it's very easy to see that when Jesus gave his commission to the disciples there in Acts 1.8, go ye, and he says, you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth.

[36:53] And then you can just take the rest of the book of Acts and that is the outline. First Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the world. First the Jew, then Samaritans.

[37:04] Samaritans were half Jew, half Gentile, then Gentiles, Cornelius, and on out from there into Ephesus, which would be representative of the uttermost parts of the world.

[37:19] And so we have no spiritual, and the other conclusion we need to come to is we have no spiritual power apart from the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. And that's going to lead us to the subject of the source of that power and how we experience that power.

[37:37] And it's not, it begins with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I mean, you have to be saved to begin with, but that power is realized in increments and by degrees as we walk through our life and as we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, through the fillings of the Holy Spirit and not the baptism of the Holy Spirit.