Baptism of the Holy Spirit The Promise Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. During the three years Jesus taught on earth, not much was said concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John prophesied that it would come, and then the subject was dropped. The night he was arrested, Jesus spoke again of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. He never spoke like this in the presence of the multitudes that were often present, but only to the apostles. In the Upper Room (after Judas left): John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - 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 will be in you. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 15:26-27 But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. John 16:12-13 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. Just before His ascension into heaven, Jesus told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they received power. They would be witnesses of what Christ had accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection. Luke 24:46-49 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." From Matthew and Mark, we know this promise was given to the apostles: Matthew 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. Mark 16:14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Acts picks up where Luke leaves off The apostles would receive power when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, not to everyone. Acts 1:1-5 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 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." The Apostles were promised power, and they were the ones who would be witnesses. Acts 1:1-5 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 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." Acts 1:8 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 to the end of the earth." Matthias was chosen to replace Judas and was numbered with the apostles. Acts 1:21-26 Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection." And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Indications that only the Apostles received the baptism of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost 1. The context of the pronoun "they" in Acts 2:1 is the apostles in 1:26, not the 120 in 1:15 as some try to claim. Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then 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. 2. a. Those who spoke in tongues were Galileans Acts 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? b. The apostles were Galileans Acts 1:11-13 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 3. Peter defended the apostles from the accusation of being drunk. The 120 were not being accused of being drunk because it was the apostles who were speaking in tongues. Acts 2:14-15 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 4. After they understood they were guilty of murdering the Messiah, the crowd asked the apostles, not the 120, what they must do. Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 5. The emphasis in the text continues to be on the apostles. They were the ones who were promised the Holy Spirit, and they are the ones who received it. Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Acts 4:33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 5:12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. Acts 5:17-18 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Acts 6:1-2 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." It was desirable for others to wait on tables. Why? Not all were baptized in the Spirit and not all had the responsibility of teaching what was revealed to them. Cornelius Acts 10 records the beginning of the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter is given a vision of a sheet of unclean animals coming down and he was told to eat. God was preparing him to accept the idea of Gentiles being received by God. An angel had Cornelius to send for Peter. Peter begins to teach and the Spirit falls upon the Gentile. Acts 11:1-3 After Peter returned to Jerusalem, the Jews already heard how he went to the Gentiles and wanted to know why. Acts 11:16 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? If this was a common event that happened on a regular basis, why did Peter say, Then I remembered... ? Several years later, there was a controversy over the circumcision of Gentiles. During the debate, Peter refers to the events of the conversion of Cornelius to prove that Gentiles do not need to be circumcised to be saved. Acts 15:7-10 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" We do not know exactly how much time had passed, but enough had passed so that Peter said, "a good while ago". The wording indicates that the events in Acts 10 were not routine, but they were special and they provided special proof to the Jews that the Gentiles were acceptable to God, just as the Jews were. There are two cases of baptism of the Holy Spirit and both times tongue speaking was involved. Tongue speaking is a sign to unbelievers. 1 Corinthians 14:22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. 1. 1.On the day of Pentecost, tongues were a sign to unbelieving Jews to convince them that Jesus was the Christ. 2. 2.With Cornelius, the gift of the Spirit was to prove to the unbelieving Jewish Christians, that Gentiles were acceptable to God. Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not for salvation, but for special purposes. The first time was to bring Jews into the Kingdom of God. The second time was to bring Gentiles into the kingdom of God. By doing this, God kept His promise to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. Even after receiving the Holy Spirit, Cornelius still needed to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Acts 10:47 Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? Acts 10:47-48 Can anyone forbid water, that these should not 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. Then they asked him to stay a few days. The promise to pour out the Spirit on "All Flesh" is limited. It refers to Jews and Gentiles. God did not pour His Spirit on animal flesh, flesh of drunkards, murderers, etc. Very few examples of the limited use of "all" Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Wayne Wells wayneliz@twave.net http://users.twave.net/ncc