Baptism of The Holy Spirit
The phrase evokes the sights, sounds, motions, aromas, miracles and visitors that come from heaven. Baptism refers to an ordinance of the Church in which a pastor submerges a new Christian in water or pours water on his or her head. Holy Spirit is the one of the three persons of the holy Trinity. He is present everywhere at the same time, while God and Jesus remain in heaven. This brief study examines three aspects of the baptism of Holy Spirit. What He does, Who has it? and How long does it last? Readers of Acts will discover the significance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the early Church and for the world-wide Church of today.
What He does:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In Genesis 1: 2 “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” John 1: 1 states that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here, John introduced Jesus Christ. The result was the creation of the entire universe in six days. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: These are the persons of the Trinity.
In Verse 6 the Apostle introduced the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist. Even as he spoke to the people who came to hear him in the wilderness, Jesus arrived to fulfill thousands of years of prophecy. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1: 29 KJV) All four Gospels relate the baptism of Jesus attended by both the voice of God and the “Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.” The rural evangelist did not recognize his own cousin. “And I knew Him not, but He (God) that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, ‘Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. “ (John 1: 32-33 KJV) John complied with Jesus’ request and received that triple confirmation.
The Old Testament includes many super natural occurrences. Those that came from God always had a purpose. “So God created man in His own image,…and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1: 27-28) This is the first time that God spoke to Man in the Scriptures. God and people have communicated with each other from that day until now. Some of our conversation has been audible, and even loud.
After they had eaten of the forbidden tree, the couple” heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.” Adam and Eve had hidden themselves from the One who knows all. When we sin we often try to avoid God, but He speaks a little louder to implore us to return. Enoch was one who continued to walk with God so closely that He didn’t have to die. Noah obeyed God’s command, and he viewed the first rainbow. God had spoken through nature in the world-wide flood. Then He came down and confused the languages of civilization at Babel. (Genesis 11: 7-8) God responded to this confusion two thousand years later with His miracle at Pentecost.
In Genesis 15 God told Abram in a vision that he would father a nation. In chapter 18 He made a bodily appearance. Abraham hailed three men and entertained them at his tent home. One of them promised “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” Sarah was ninety years old at the time and had her doubts. Verse 13 identifies the speaker as the Lord.
The three men had another stop on their schedule. Abraham was escorting them when “the Lord said, (to Himself) Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He was planning the destruction of Sodom where Abraham’s nephew, Lot, resided. “Abraham stood yet before the Lord” to plead for the city. Stephen Schrader termed this appearance a christophany meaning that Jesus Christ was the head of that trio.[1] Other scholars call it a theophany or a representation of God himself.
Holy Spirit visited men and women in the Old Testament. “The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon” Sampson. It left him after he sinned repeatedly. When Samuel anointed David to be the future king of Israel, the “Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” In Psalm 51: 11 he pleaded with God not to take it away from him as He had Sampson before him.
In the Old Testament not everyone depended on God’s Holy Spirit. He often made His presence known in certain situations and then seemed to fade into the background. The prophets had some exciting adventures when they called on God for help. Elijah was one. After watching the prophets of Baal beg for a miracle from dawn to noon, he prayed once and fire came down from heaven and zapped the bullock, “the wood, the stones, and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (Kings 18: 38-19: 16) That was a mountain top experience. When Queen Jezebel found out that Elijah had executed her prophets, she threatened his life. Elijah was so fearful that he ran and hid in a cave. The Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire that rocked his lonely habitat. The Lord was in the still small voice that then told him how to get relief.
Who Has it?
Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He told the Eleven disciples to wait in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father…For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” (Acts 1: 4-5 KJV) He led them as far as Bethany before He ascended into heaven. They returned to the city and alternated between the temple and “an upper room” with the other disciples for the next ten days. Approximately 120 disciples included Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his half brothers. The others were the men and women who had traveled with or ministered with Jesus during the previous three years. Peter asked them to nominate two candidates to fill the office Judas Iscariot had vacated. Matthias “was added to the Eleven apostles. And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (Acts 1: 26 – 2: 1 NASBU) The next three verses refer to the Twelve Apostles.
“And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2: 2 NASBU) There was a loud sound but no wind.
“And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.” (Verse 3 NASBU) The tongues were like fires. Each Apostle had a tongue resting on him.[2]
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.“ These Galileans were telling “of the mighty deeds of God” to devout Jews “from every nation under heaven. “ The Twelve Apostles may have been the only ones who spoke in tongues other than their own. These tongues were not the ecstatic prayer language that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14. In Acts 2: 4 Luke used a rare Greek expression that means “to speak with gravity” that KJV translates “as the Spirit gave them utterance.”The words language and tongue in verses 6 and 8 Luke translates a word that means dialect.[3] This was Holy Spirit’s way to resolve the confusion that began at the tower of Babel when the people wanted to build their own way to heaven. This was the birth of the Church. Jesus ascended to the Father so that His followers would have a comforter and guide all over the world forever.
Then the crowd wanted an explanation. Peter stood and responded. The real miracle occurred when three thousand people accepted Christ. It may have taken more than twelve men to baptize them, but there were enough pools in Jerusalem. [4] Burial with Him beneath the water and rising to new life” was not just a symbol for them. They had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Luke did not record additional sounds or sights from heaven here.
Jesus told His disciples to “be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria…” (Acts 1: 8). Philip, one of the “seven men of honest report,” preached Christ to the people of Samaria. With one accord they believed and were baptized. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard about it, Peter and John traveled to Samaria. Luke wrote that they prayed and laid their hands on the people, and only then did they receive Holy Spirit. (Acts 8: 5-8; 14-17) Howard Marshall believed that “God withheld the Spirit until the coming of Peter and John in order that the Samaritans might be seen to be fully incorporated into the community of Jerusalem Christians who had received the Spirit at Pentecost. [5]
Another red letter date in the life of Peter occurred on his missionary travels. In a vision God answered the prayers of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He told him to send for Peter in Joppa. At the same time Peter had a vision of a sheet full of dead animals including those that Jewish people did not eat. God told him not to call what He had cleansed unholy. When three Gentiles came looking for him, Holy Spirit told him to invite them in and accompany them to the home of Cornelius in Caesarea. When Cornelius and his friends and relatives heard Peter say that those who believe Jesus Christ receive forgiveness of their sins, they began to speak in tongues exalting God. At that moment they received the baptism of Holy Spirit. Immediately Peter asked his associates to baptize Cornelius, his family and friends. Holy Spirit had the new Christians speak in tongues just as the apostles did at Pentecost. Peter and the men from Joppa could begin to understand that there are no second class Christians. [6] Convincing the rest of the Church may take a little longer.
In 1st Corinthians 12: 13 Paul taught that “by one Spirit are ye all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
How long Does It Last?
The moment a believer gives his life to Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit baptizes him. There may be heavenly sounds or sights before or after, but the lack there of does not discount the validity of one’s salvation. Jesus paid for it all. Holy Spirit comes to every believer immediately. He stays with the Christian forever. In John 10: 28 The Great Shepherd spoke about His followers: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. “
Harold Wilmington writes that the ministry of Holy Spirit is perfecting. “That is to say, His new ministry would now be to make all repenting sinners grow in grace and be like Jesus. “[7] Paul wrote to the Philippians (3: 14) that he was pressing on “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Conclusion:
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the beginning of the life of the follower of Jesus Christ. He draws the man or woman. He or she gives his life to Jesus Christ. At that instant Holy Spirit enters that person’s life forever. There may be dramatic signs from heaven, or there may not be. When the follower of Jesus prays and obeys Holy Spirit, he grows spiritually and glorifies God. There is joy in times of tribulation as well as in happy times.
Bibliography
Barrett ,C. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, (ICC. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 1994)
Bock, Darrell L. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007)
Marshall, I. Howard, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980) 1
McGee, J. Vernon, Acts Volume I (Pasadena, Thru the Bible Books , 1976)
John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary Volume 26, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1992
Schrader, Stephen, “Genesis” in Liberty Bible Commentary Volume I, ed. Jerry Falwell, Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982)
FOOTNOTES
1. Stephen Schrader, “Genesis” in Liberty Bible Commentary Volume I, ed. Jerry Falwell, Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour 1986) 53-54
2. C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, (ICC. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 1994) 54
3. John B. Polhilll, The New American Commentary Volume 26, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1992) 98-99
4. Darrell L. Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007) 146
5. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 156-157
6. Vernon McGee, Acts Volume I (Pasadena, Thru the Bible Books , 1976) 126
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