Baptism in the Holy Spirit — Anton Bosch

The Third Baptism: Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Alright, let's go to John chapter 14, and this evening we are going to deal with the third baptism. Remember we are dealing with the doctrine of baptisms, and we said that there were four. The first one was baptism into Christ, the second one, baptism in water, and then the third one, baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is the one we are going to deal with this evening.

Now, in John chapter 14, and also in John chapter 16, the Lord Jesus provides quite a lot of instruction concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, I think we need to just say by way of introduction that this is a very controversial area.

There are those who are for, and those who are against the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and there are those who take it to extremes. And what we want to simply do this evening is find a biblical perspective.

And so, we need to simply look at what the scriptures teach. We cannot go outside of what the scriptures teach. We cannot practice things that are not written clearly in the Word. But if it is written in the Word, then we also need to be obedient to it.

And so, we cannot remove or take away from the Word. We cannot add to the Word. That is our prime responsibility. And so, we'll endeavor to look at it simply from the point of view of the Word, and not from our own experiences, whether those experiences are negative or positive.

Jesus’ Promise of the Holy Spirit in John 14

So, let's turn to John chapter 14, and let's read from verse 15. If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.

But you know Him, for He dwells with you, and He will be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. Now, Jesus makes quite a few very important statements here. The first is, He says that He has to go away.

The beginning of chapter 14, He says, I have to go to prepare a place for you. But now, here He says, don't be worried, because I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. I'm going to ask the Father, and He will send you the Holy Spirit, and He will fulfill my place.

He will be in my place. And He will teach you, He will guide you, and He will be another Comforter. And so, He speaks about Him as another Helper, or another Comforter. That word Helper there, in the Greek is Paracletos, which is the same word as someone who is your counselor in court.

Someone who tells you what to say. Someone who assists you through the legal intricacies of a legal system. And so, someone who stands by you, and who gives you advice, and who supports you during a court case specifically, but obviously in this case, in life in general.

Now, the second thing that He says about the Holy Spirit, is very important to note in the end of verse 17. He says, But you know Him, for He dwells with you, and He will be in you. Now, remember at this time, this was before Jesus ascended.

This was before the cross even. And so, He says, and this is technically part of the Old Testament. So, He's saying now, you're in the Old Testament times, and the Holy Spirit is with you at the moment.

Now, we know that that is true, because the Holy Spirit is always all over. Because He is God. One of the attributes of God is that He is omnipresent. He is everywhere, at all times. So, the Holy Spirit was with people in the Old Testament.

But He says, He's going to come to you in a different way. Not that He wasn't on the earth before that. Of course He was on the earth. But He's going to come in a different way. And He says that He is with you, but He will be in you.

So, the Holy Spirit, instead of just being with us, is going to be in us. Now, also, in the Old Testament, you'll read that sometimes the Holy Spirit came upon men, and empowered them to do great things, or to prophesy, or to do certain things.

And so, you remember Samson, for instance. It would speak about the Holy Spirit came upon him, and He would get very strong. And He would take a jawbone of an ass, and He would slay many, many men. And then the Holy Spirit would depart from Him.

And He would become like any other man again. And then again, the Holy Spirit would come upon Him, and empower Him for another great miracle. But now, the Lord Jesus says, that's going to change. Instead of the Holy Spirit coming on you, or being with you, He's actually going to reside within you.

The Spirit of Truth and the Work of the Holy Spirit

And so, the relationship with the Holy Spirit is going to change. This is what Jesus, essentially, is announcing here. Now, if we go to chapter 16 of John, just over the page. And I'm going to read quite a long section here, from verse 7 through to verse 15.

And this is part of the same discussion, and the same teaching by the Lord Jesus on the Holy Spirit. And He says, Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.

But if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they did not believe in Me. Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you see Me no more.

Of judgment, because the rule of the world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.

For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak. And He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me. For He will take of what is Mine, and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine.

Therefore I said to you that He will take of Mine, and declare it to you. Now, He is saying a lot of things about the work of the Holy Spirit. But just look, let's look at some of those things very quickly.

The first is, He says in verse 8, that He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. This is not His ministry to the church. So, He is saying the Holy Spirit has a ministry to the church, and He has a ministry to the world.

To those who are saved, and to those who are unsaved. To the unsaved, His ministry is to convict. In other words, to work in their lives, and to make them aware of sin, and of judgment, and of righteousness.

Those three things. Now, if the unbeliever becomes aware of those things, becomes aware of his sin, becomes aware of the fact that there is judgment for that sin, but also becomes aware of the fact that there is righteousness to be found through what Jesus did on the cross, they then can find their way to salvation, and they can turn to the Lord Jesus.

So, that is His function as far as the world is concerned. But now He says, He is the Spirit of truth. Now, you will see that He is called different things in the New and in the Old Testament. One of the names of the Holy Spirit is, He is the Spirit of truth.

He is not the Spirit of lies, or the Spirit of falsehood, but the Spirit of truth. This is in direct opposition to the work of the devil. Remember, the devil is the father of all lies. This is His nature, this is His character.

But the nature and the character of the Holy Spirit is truth. And He will lead us, He says, in truth. And so He says, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority. Now, the question is then, what is all truth?

Will He tell us that it is Wednesday today? No, He is not concerned about that kind of truth. He is obviously concerned about the truth of the Word of God, the truth of Jesus. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life.

So, truth is to be found in Jesus. Truth is to be found in the Word. And in fact, in John chapter 17, the next chapter, the Lord Jesus says, the Word is truth. Your Word is truth. And so the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.

All truth about the Word, and all truth about Jesus. That is the prime function and work of the Holy Spirit to the Christian. So, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak.

He will tell you things to come. So, He is going to tell us about the future. He will glorify me, glorifying the Lord Jesus. For He will take of what is mine and declare it to you. Now, you will see that He is saying, the Holy Spirit will not draw attention to Himself.

But He will draw attention to Jesus. Now, remember what Jesus did. Jesus never drew attention to Himself. He drew attention to the Father. And this is in the very nature of God. And this is something we battle with.

Because we like to draw attention to ourselves. Even from small. A little baby, even before it can speak, knows how to draw attention to itself. By screaming, and acting, and performing, and doing all sorts of things.

That draws attention. This is what we do by nature. But you see that the God, the divine nature, is not to draw attention to Himself. The Holy Spirit focuses attention on Jesus. Jesus focuses attention on the Father.

And so, there you can begin to see how the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit work together. And so, He will glorify me. And then verse 15. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore I say to you that He will take of mine, and He will declare it to you.

So, He is going to take the things of Jesus. What are the things of Jesus? Not just the truths of the Word. But the character of the Lord Jesus. The personality of the Lord Jesus. He is going to take all of the things that pertain to Jesus.

And He is going to reveal those things to us. Now, you can immediately see here that the focus here is not on what we get out of the deal. Or on us, or what we experience, or feel in the process. The focus here is on that which is of God, which is going to be made real to us.

Jesus’ Commission to Receive Power and Bear Witness

And so, you can see the beginning of the emphasis of the work of the Spirit. Now, in Acts chapter 1. Again, we are reading three scriptures here that are all the words of the Lord Jesus. And He is teaching on the subject.

In Acts chapter 1. And this is just before Jesus ascends to heaven. And He is speaking to His disciples on the Mount of Olives. And verse 4 of Acts 1 says,. 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. Therefore when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

And He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.

So again you will see here that the Lord Jesus compares these two baptisms. He says John baptized with water, and obviously Jesus also baptized, or His disciples baptized in water. But He says now there is another baptism which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Now remember this concept of baptism, meaning immersed, covered in, lost as it were, dipped totally in the medium in which one is being immersed. And so in the case of water, being covered by water. But in this case, being covered by the Holy Spirit.

Now there is a different language that is used. Some places the scripture speaks about being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now remember Jesus says He will be in you. But then also it speaks about the baptism, or the immersion in the Holy Spirit.

Now you can see the disciples here immediately say, but now Lord, what about setting up the kingdom? Now they are still thinking that Jesus has come to set up a political kingdom. Remember Israel was under the domination of Rome at this time.

And they thought He was going to deliver them of the Roman oppression. And He says to them, but it's not about that. He hardly answers the question. He immediately says to them, it's not for you to know when this is going to happen.

Now we know when that's going to happen. It's going to happen in the millennial kingdom, which is at the end of the age, at the end of time, which is to come. But He again brings their attention on the work of the Holy Spirit.

So you can see they are earthly minded. They are thinking about a political kingdom. But Jesus is thinking about a spiritual issue. And He's saying, but in fact I'm going to give you the Holy Spirit. Now notice what He says in verse 8.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria. And so the Holy Spirit is there to empower us. Now we can see that from the Old Testament.

When the Holy Spirit came upon men, they were able to do mighty deeds. Samson was able to pull down those pillars of that great palace in which he was. And killed many Philistines in that experience. Men were able to speak great things of God.

Daniel was able to prophesy the things that would come. Not only the coming of the Lord Jesus, but right through to the end of the age. Now He says, you will receive power. But notice the emphasis. You see, now the problem, one of the problems today is that there's an over or wrong emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit.

The power of the Holy Spirit for us to do all sorts of amazing things. But notice what the Lord Jesus says. What the Holy Spirit will do for us. He will empower you to do what? To be witnesses to Me. To be witnesses to Me.

Now notice the language very carefully. He's not saying, so that you may witness for Me. But He says, you will receive power and you shall be witnesses. Now those are two different things. Someone who gives witness or witnesses to an event or something.

Or someone who is a witness. These are two different things. And so you can go into a court of law and you can testify to something. You can say, this is what I saw. And your testimony may be true or may not be.

That doesn't matter. But that's giving witness. But Jesus doesn't say, you will give witness. He says, you will be witnesses. You will be witnesses. So in other words, He's saying, your whole life is going to demonstrate what you're testifying to.

So it's not just a vocal expression. It's not just what you say with your lips. But it's in fact what your life says. And He says that you will be witnesses. You will be living testimonies. And this is an Old Testament concept which was prophesied in the Old Testament.

That this is one of the things that would happen in the New Testament. Is that the law would not just be written on tables of stone. But it would be written upon our hearts. And from our hearts it will find an expression in the way that we live our lives.

In the way that we do things. The way that we act. And especially the way that we react. These things should testify to the resurrected Christ. Should testify to the Lord Jesus. Now also you'll see here that the emphasis is not on the experience they would have.

It doesn't speak about them having goosebumps or them experiencing anything. The emphasis is on the consequence or the fruit of this experience. And the fruit of this experience is that they would be living testimonies to the risen Christ.

The Book of Acts and the Priority of Deeds

And then of course He says not only here in Jerusalem. But in Judea, Samaria and to the outermost parts of the earth. This was His plan for the spread of the Gospel. Now we know that this is true. Because when one looks at these guys in the Book of Acts.

One sees that the Book of Acts is called the Book of Acts. Not called the Book of Sayings. Or the Book of Preaching. Or the Book of Teaching. It's the Book of Acts. It's the things they did. And you'll see it begins.

The book is begun by saying. The former accounts are made of Theophilus. Of all that Jesus both began to do and to teach. And so the Book of Acts is about the things that they did. And that they taught.

Which is a continuation of the ministry of Jesus. Notice it says the things that Jesus began to do and teach. The inference is that this book now. That we're reading here. The Book of Acts. Is what Jesus continues to do.

But not from a nursery perspective. But from heaven. Through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Empowering the church now to do those things. Which He had begun to do. And so the emphasis is on the doing.

Not so much on the speaking. And you'll see immediately pick up. That there are some people who overemphasize the speaking part. But in fact Jesus is here emphasizing the doing part. All right. Now having established those basic principles.

Five Accounts of Spirit-Filling in Acts

And these are the promises that Jesus gives in John. And here in Acts chapter 1. Now let's go to the Book of Acts. And let's have a look. And there are five accounts in the Book of Acts. Of people who were filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And I want us to look at each one of those five. Because from those we will learn very valuable lessons. And the first one is right here in the next chapter. In Acts chapter 2. Probably going to talk a bit fast tonight.

Some people complain that I speak too fast. But we have a lot of material to cover tonight. And I'd like for us to get a total overall view. Now Acts chapter 2 tells us about the day of Pentecost. And it says in verse 1.

That when the day of Pentecost had fully come. They were all with one accord in one place. Now remember Jesus had told them in the section we've just read. That they must go into Jerusalem. And they must wait there until this promise has come.

And so there they were waiting. And verse 2 says. And suddenly there came the sound from heaven. As of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire.

And one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And began to speak with other tongues. As the Spirit gave them utterance. And so here was the first time. That people were filled or baptized with the Holy Spirit.

There was 120 of them at this occasion. And it tells us the languages that they spoke. So they began to speak in languages that they had never learned. You'll see that it says in verse 8. And verse 7 says.

They were amazed. They were people in the city. And they were amazed at what they heard. And they said. Look are not all these who speak Galileans. And how is it that we hear each one in our own language.

In which we were born. Parthians and Medians and Elamites. Those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia. Pancha, Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia. Egypt and the parts of Libya. Adjoining Cyrene. Visitors from Rome.

Both Jews and proselytes. Christians and Arabs. We hear them speaking in our own tongues. The wonderful works of God. And so these men. They, the people, the onlookers were saying. But in fact these guys are Galileans.

They don't know these languages. And then it lists all the languages which they spoke. So they spoke miraculously by God's power languages. Which they had never, that they'd never heard. That was the one thing that was happening here.

The second was that there were tongues of fire that appeared on them. And the third was that there was a sound of a mighty rushing wind. These were the three visible things that happened on this occasion.

Now of those, the sound of the wind and the tongues of fire only appeared here. It doesn't appear in the other ones. In the other four accounts we have in the book of Acts. It is also not taught anywhere in scripture.

That these things are part of the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And so we cannot extrapolate that and say. There's got to be a sound of wind. There could be. But there doesn't have to be.

Or that there's got to be tongues of fire. There could be but there doesn't have to be. Because the only time it happens is here in the book of Acts. And when something happens like that. We can say well yes that was what happened on that occasion.

But that does not have to be a doctrine. It's not something that has to happen in every other occasion. This is what happened here and this was a special occasion in many respects. Because it was the first time that it happened.

Okay. Now let's go to Acts chapter 8 and here's the second account. And what happens here. Now remember Jesus said that there will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. And then the outermost parts of the earth.

Now this is in Samaria. This is the third phase in the spreading of the message. From Jerusalem to Judea which is the area. The province just around Jerusalem. Now Samaria is a little bit further away.

And the gospel has now reached to that point. And let's read from verse 14. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard. That's Acts 8 verse 14. 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. Whereas yet he had fallen on none of them. See the language again here speaking about them falling on them. And they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

So they had been baptized in water. But not in the Holy Spirit. You see the two things there. Now this is very important. Because there are other people who say no. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the same as when you get born again.

That it's the same experience. It's not a separate experience or a separate event. But you can see this is clearly a separate event. Because these people had been baptized in water. They would not have been baptized in water if they had not been born again.

If they had not given evidence of having accepted Christ. So they had been if we can speak in the language of baptism. They had been baptized into Christ. They had been baptized into water. But not yet into the Holy Spirit.

And so you can see that this is a third and a separate experience from the first two. And so many people get confused and they say no no. But when you get saved then you receive the Holy Spirit. No you can see from this that it's a separate event.

And verse 17 says when they laid hands on them they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles hand the Holy Spirit was given. He offered the money saying now this was a witch doctor who had got saved.

And he says well I also want this ability to give people this power. Give me this power also verse 19. That anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him your money perished with you.

Because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter. For your heart is not right in the sight of God. And so he's saying it's not something that we can buy from God.

Not with money or with anything else. Now remember the first of the principles that we dealt with. The very first foundation dead works. The repentance from dead works. There's nothing we can do in order to buy anything.

Or to bribe God into doing something for us. God gives us things because he is gracious. And we do things for God because we want to praise him. And we want to bless him by the things that we do. Because we are grateful for what he has done for us.

But not in a buying and a selling situation. But you can see here that this man thought he could buy this gift. And Peter says no your money perish with you. There's no way you can buy this gift. Now let's go to Acts chapter 9.

Saul’s Filling with the Holy Spirit

Next chapter. And what happens here is Paul has now gone or Saul as he was then. Goes down on the road to Damascus. He sees this great light. He meets Jesus as his saviour. He was a religious Jew up to this point.

But did not believe in the Lord Jesus. He gets saved. And then in verse 17. Sorry let me just fill you in before this. God then speaks to a man called Ananias. Paul sorry had now. Let me go back one step again.

Paul had now been struck off his horse. He was blind because of this great light. He had seen something of the Lord Jesus. He is led by hand into Damascus. And he now stays in the city there. And God now directs another man called Ananias.

To now go and pray for Paul. And verse 17 says. And Ananias went his way and entered the house. And laying his hands on him said. Brother Saul the Lord Jesus who appeared to you. On the road that you came and sent me.

That you may receive your sight. And be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales. And he received his sight at once. And he arose and was baptized. And when he had received food he was strengthened.

And then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. Now I want you to take note again. You'll see here that Ananias entered into the house. Verse 17. Laying hands on him said. Brother Saul. So was Saul saved?

Was he born again at this point? Yes he was. Otherwise Ananias would not have addressed him as brother. He had met Jesus on the road to Damascus. So he was born again. But he was not yet filled with the Spirit.

The Spirit Falling on Cornelius’s Household

And again he prays for him that he might receive the Holy Spirit. Again a second or separate experience. Now let's go to Acts chapter 10. Now what happens here is that Peter now goes. And he preaches for the first time to Gentiles.

In the house of Cornelius. And in verse 44. Acts chapter 10 verse 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. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered. Can anyone forbid water that these should be baptized.

Who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And then they asked him to stay a few days. So again you can see the same thing happening here.

Now it's interesting about these last two events. That in both these occasions. In Paul's experience and in these of the household of Cornelius. Water baptism followed baptism in the Holy Spirit. So it doesn't have to be in that order.

You don't have to first receive Christ or be baptized in Christ. Then be baptized in water. Then baptized in the Holy Spirit. It doesn't have to necessarily. That would be the general order. It would normally be in that order.

But it doesn't have to be in that order. Obviously coming to Christ has to be the first thing. Nothing happens before that happens. But then the other two can be swapped around. In some cases people are baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit.

Before they are baptized in water. And in other cases people are baptized in water first. And of the five occasions in the book of Acts. You'll find that two of them. They were baptized in water after they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

So the order is not important. Then let's go to the last one. Which is Acts chapter 19. And this occasion now is at Ephesus. And this is also very important. Because this account is given to us. Because this is a long time.

This is a lot of years after the day of Pentecost. Some people say that these experiences were only for the establishing of the church. At the very beginning. But this is many years later. And this is still happening.

And so we can see that this experience continues to happen. Amongst the believers. Even long after the day of Pentecost. And so in Acts chapter 19. Let's read the first six verses. 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. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him. We have not as much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.

Now notice again. He finds certain disciples. So are these people Christians? Yes they are Christians. They are called disciples. Paul says to them. Sorry. Peter says to them. Sorry it is Paul. Paul says to them.

Have you received the Holy Spirit when you believed? In other words when you put faith in Christ. Remember the second principle. When you put your faith in Christ. Did you receive the Holy Spirit then?

In other words they were believers. They were born again. And they said no. We didn't. In fact they said we don't even know. We never even heard about the Holy Spirit. Apollos now we know at this stage.

We found out that Apollos was teaching about the Lord Jesus. But he didn't know everything that. And he in fact is taken aside by a couple of people. A husband and a wife. And they teach him more fully.

And they teach him certain things which he didn't know. At this point he didn't know about the Holy Spirit. And in fact he didn't even know about baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Remember in Matthew chapter 28. He says baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now you can see why Paul says. But what baptism were you baptized with? Because if they were baptized correctly in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

They would have heard. At least heard of the fact that there is a Holy Spirit. But they said we have never heard of the Holy Spirit. So he says but there's something wrong then. You were baptized with some different baptism then.

And so he questions them. And verse 3 says. He said unto them with what were you. Into what then were you baptized? They said into John's baptism. Now remember John's baptism was a baptism of repentance.

Which was separate but a forerunner to the baptism of the Lord Jesus. And then Paul said John indeed baptized with baptism of repentance. Verse 4 saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him.

That is the Christ Jesus. And when they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them. The Holy Spirit came upon them. And they spoke with tongues and they prophesied.

The Holy Spirit’s Many Ministries

And so you can see again how this happens. Now we need to move on a little bit faster. The next section I'm going to deal with now. Is what is the work of the Holy Spirit? What is the function and the ministry of the Holy Spirit?

And I'm not going to go through all of the scriptures. Because otherwise we'll never finish in time. But maybe let's just look at. Yeah let me give you. We'll just look at odd ones in between. But if we go back to John chapter 4.

You'll find that the Holy Spirit helps in worship. Jesus speaks to the woman at the well. And he says that the true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth. And so one of the things the Holy Spirit does for us.