Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer. “Lord Jesus, I ask that you search our hearts and see if there be anything wicked in them. We ask that your Holy Spirit show us what you are saying to us today. I ask that the words on this page would jump out to us as you speak to our hearts and minds truth and life. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Matthew 3:11-12 NASB
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
When John the Baptist if he was the Messiah, he said: “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3:11).” Notice he was not talking to Jesus’ disciples, rather it was a statement to everyone. This is important for it is a direct counterpoint to those who would say the gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease after the written word of God was made. Jesus when speaking about His leaving this earth said: “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come (John 16:13).” Jesus when appearing to the disciples without Thomas said this: “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained (John 20:22-23).” This is the gift of the Holy Spirit it is a separate event from what would occur next.
“Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:4-5).” Notice that they had already received the Holy Spirit from Jesus when He breathed on them. Then this happened: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue crested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out (Acts 2:1-4).” This is a spiritual gift, the ability to speak and understand a language which the disciples did not know before. But more than that it was the power of the Holy Spirit that was bestowed upon them. This is the baptism with fire that John the Baptist spoke of. Notice that prior to this event the disciples, except for when Jesus sent them out two by two, had not been empowered to heal, perform signs and wonders, and preach the gospel with conviction. However, after this event that changed.
At the words of the disciples and the speech of Peter were empowered to preach with “fire” in that it now “pierced to the heart (Acts 2:37)” of those who heard it. “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself (Acts 2: 38-39).” Again, this is the gift of the Holy Spirit, not the Baptism with Fire. This event occurs a second time after Peter and John had been arrested and released. They prayed asking for the ability to speak “Your words with all confidence, while You extend Your hands to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).” It was then after this prayer that: “the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).”
When Phillip had spread the message to Samaria and the new believers had been baptized with water and had not yet “received” the Holy Spirit, Peter and John went down to them: “and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit. (For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Again, this appears to be the gift of the Holy Spirit and not the Baptism with Fire. That occurs separately with suddenness and seems to be directly given from Holy Spirit rather than through the laying on of Hands.
When Saul of Tarsus was visited by Ananias following Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus this happened: “So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened (Acts 9: 17-19).” Notice it seems that Ananias lays hands on Saul and the scales fall from his eyes. Then after getting up He is Baptized in the Holy Spirit with fire.
This is the second part of Matthew 3:11-12. He burns up the chaff (this is the part of the wheat stalk that is useless and is plied up and then using a winnowing fork they throw it into a fire to be burned up) and throws it into the fire. These are the worldly sins and attitudes in us that the Lord must remove in order to use us effectively. Paul in this example has been transformed and goes from persecuting the church to proclaiming the gospel to anyone who will hear it. Suddenly he is inspired to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God (Acts 9:20).” I say all this to show that the gift of the Holy Spirit and subsequent Baptism are still for us today. The gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus “breathed on to the disciples” is seemingly transferred from believer to believer via the laying on of hands. While the Baptism with fire seems to be directly from the Holy Spirit Himself. While this may be the gift of the ability to speak and understand another language, the real gift is the power to proclaim the word, and these are accompanied by signs and wonders as well. That did not cease as some claim. It was for them in the first century and is still needed today for the furtherance of His kingdom today.
Perhaps you do not know the Lord yet and this is all foreign to you. If you have not received Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I implore you to do so now. All He asks for is for you to accept the free gift He gave you. Therefore, humble yourself and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of all. He alone is all powerful and you submit to His authority. Next you must believe He did what He did. That is; die on a cross and rise again from the dead. These are both actions of faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for with evidence not seen. Meaning you believe even though you don’t have physical evidence to prove it. I know you made it to this page for a reason and the Holy Spirit is working on your heart. The Father has drawn you and He alone can reveal to you the truth of what I am saying. I know that He is now, and you need to take a step of faith and pray these words with me.
Right where you are; say these words out loud: “Jesus I confess that you are Lord of all, I yield my will to your will for you are greater than me. I believe you came to this world and lived a sinless life; I believe you suffered and died on cross for my sins, I believe they put your lifeless body in a tomb, and three days later you rose from the dead. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me. I also ask that you send me your Holy Spirit to give me power to live a sanctified life and to lead me into all truth. In Jesus name, Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, I urge you to contact us here so that we might come beside you and hold you up in prayer as you begin your journey with Jesus. I assure you that we have all been where you are. We may have committed different sins, but we are just as guilty, nonetheless. We all needed forgiveness and someone else supported us as we began our Journey with Him.
Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying. I pray that God will send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us. So that we can fulfill the mission He left us in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” lockman.org.
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