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June 1, 2021 12:00 am
Notice as well. He says we were all baptized every believer baptize these referring to everyone here in the churches is redeemed is not talking about the super spiritual. Once you got it or those it didn't you know skip the motions five days or you did it you memorize it on the books of the Bible you got it. Now it's at conversion you were baptized by the spirit of God. Every believer has been at conversion experience in the spirit you know that the Bible talks about different types of baptism.
John the Baptist promised two types of baptisms as he introduced Jesus ministry.
He referred to baptism by the spirit and baptism by fire.
What is that me one of the key characteristics of those two baptisms and how to baptism by Spirit and by fire relate to each other will the answer may surprise you. Thanks for joining us today here on wisdom for the heart. Stephen Devi returns to Luke chapter 3 where he explores John's first century revival in a message called baptism of spirit and fire in 1867 Charles Spurgeon prepared to preach at the large agricultural hall there in London, England. Renovations were being made to their sanctuary and so the congregation of some 6000 rented this facility for two months where they worshiped on the Lord's day curious people visited to try to find out what all the fuss was about. Crowds were estimated on Sunday morning anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000 people come to watch and listen as they prepared to hold their very first service in the hall. Spurgeon went over to test the acoustics a large platform had been built for the occasion and he mounted the stairs in the platform walked out to where the pulpit would be arranged and simply raised his voice and quoted behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin he thought the building was empty. Unknown to him until sometime later, a construction crew member was high in the rafters working. He had watched Spurgeon walk in and listened to that verse quoted and immediately was overcome with conviction and trusted in the land. It certainly did take a very long sermon.
Might be a lot longer today. There wasn't any catchy outline just the inspired text through which the Holy Spirit brought a sinner to realize his need of the Savior of the Lamb who'd come to take away the sin of the world. These words were originally delivered by the last Old Testament prophet we call John the baptizer. He appeared on the scene for a few months before being thrown into prison raises voice to deliver a message from God, and most importantly, introduce the Lamb of God, that thousands of people as we learned are streaming out to the banks of the Jordan River to see what all the fuss is about. Their their lock-in and to listen and what happens is interesting that the spirit of God convicts corrupt tax collectors and the hardened soldiers and members of this crowd and they come under the influence of the spirit of God in and repent right then and there of their sins. We really can't imagine this stir that's taking place in the land of Israel go back there to Luke's gospel chapter 3 and let's rejoin this crowd there on the bank of the Jordan verse 15 is where we left off with pick it up there. The people were in expectation, that is, they were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John whether he was the Christ. You got this incredible excitement stirring here. If there were paparazzi.
The bolts within flashing the media trucks would've been lined up along the banks of this river. This is this is really heady stuff. John is being mistaken here by the crowd who assumes he's the one he's the Messiah. When this this is heady stuff be wanting to be mistaken for bad guy. He's being mistaken for the Messiah himself, so before he clears it. I mean, let's take a few photos maybe sell some mugs with a little locust that would've been his brand. Prime the cup maybe vials honey, this is the honey Eden by John. The prime you merchandise your name.
You make the most of it.
That's what you do. We we we tend to skip over this because you John as if he were sinless. They think he's the Messiah to go over to the parallel passage in John's Gospel fall for any of it. Involvement of the flattery or the tension or the massive crowds that John records they came and asked him about who he was in John records he confessed. I am not the Christ, and asked him what then are you Elijah is that I am not well are you the prophet.
They assumed this prophet. Nobody knew his name was just sort of this tradition that an anonymous prophecy to appear maybe here that one could be a messianic title and he answered no, no handing, no high, no, no selfies, no exaggeration, no, no polishing, you know, here and there.
Think about it. When I asked him if he was the Christ.
That is the Chris Doss, the anointed one, the Messiah, he could have said when I was a really nice complement. Did you know that Mary the mother of the Messiah, which is expected came and stayed with my mom and dad in our home and my mother was expecting me about the same time.
I think the Messiah and I we we go way back. No, this is not the Christ. Well, are you Elijah again. He could've answered what you know. Interesting you say that because an angel told my parents that my ministry would resemble the ministry that great prophet Elijah. We are we are so much alike by some honey. He just says I'm not he knows how his answers gets shorter when ours would probably start getting longer. As he and who are you, I'm not the Christ that some are you Elijah. I am not really prophet no none of this turned his head, one about him. He never lost sight of that, I would have much more effective. We would be as a church and as believers we didn't care so much about people thought of us is always a new we thought much of Christ gives us the same conversation, though he focuses on another portion of it. That's why love reading the gospel get the full story.
Notice here in verse 16. This is what Luke records. John answered them all saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He says Jesus is stronger and superior Johnson is not doing his temporal Jesus is going to do something internal. What I'm doing is is temporary, which eases canoes eternal. I'm just the messenger.
When you meet the Messiah and then John uses an illustration here of the household servants most menial task in this generation. Understand sewers run developed the garbage, the waste of humans and animals that which is all part of walking the street and the lowest ranking servant in the household would take care of the filthy household sandals. John is saying I am not even worthy to do that. I'm not even worthy to get my hands dirty on the laces of his sandals, Jesus were to come and it is auditorium today.
I think we all quickly realize that we don't deserve that either that we would just be delighted to be able to fall at his feet. This is John's humility not to focus on John's prophecy. The last part of her 16 look there. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit will be experienced initially at Pentecost is the spirit of God sends and begins the dispensation of the church unknown in the Old Testament. Unknown to the prophets unique parenthetical period of time where God sets aside the nation rejects him and includes now both Jew and Gentile in the church and the Holy Spirit came on someone in the Old Testament is now about to immerse someone into the body of Christ. Every believer by the way is baptized with the Holy Spirit does not be proven by something supernatural, something miraculous. Some sign gifts some ecstatic utterance. It all has to do with coming to life in Christ. In fact, Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers to the church. Therefore, in one spirit, we were all baptized into one body. Jews are Greek slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit we were. That's past tense. He's writing to the entire church saying you were in the past reference to their conversion takes place when you're born again by faith in Christ. The spirit of that moment immerses you baptizes you and part of that immersion is into the body of Christ. It is impossible to be a believer without having been baptized by the Holy Spirit. That's part of regeneration notice as well. He says we were all baptized every believer baptize.
He's referring to everyone here in the churches is redeemed is not talking about the super spiritual. Once you got it or those it didn't. You know, skip devotions five days and you did it with you memorizing other books of the Bible you got it.
Now it's at conversion you were all and by the way, he also says in in chapter 12 in verse 29. Not all of you speak into. Not all of you are involved in miraculous event, but all of you were baptized by the spirit of God. Every believer has been at conversion. You experience the immersion of the spirit, so this prophecy reveals the coming of the Holy Spirit, who is now involved in every aspect of your life.
Much of it were not even aware that John also prophesies of another event fire universe. 16 he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. What's the fire. John actually makes it clear enough. I think it is in preaching and supervisor our opinions. Notice his explanation. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire and a notice for 70's winnowing fork is in his in his pitchfork, which they would throw the wheat stocks in the air shaft would blow away the wheat father the ground. He's gonna gather then the wheat kernels into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
John is simply echoing the consistent prophetic message of another coming baptism of fiery judgment on what you listen to the prophet Daniel before centuries before he describes this terrifying scene. Christ is the ancient of days at the messianic term takes a seat. Here's what he writes in Daniel chapter 7. As I looked thrones were placed in the ancient of days took his seat court is about to open his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames its foundation, like burning fire, a river of fire issued and came out from before him thousand thousands served him, and 10,000×10,000 stood before him. It is to be judged. The car sat in judgment, and the books were opened. I mean this scene here is nothing but fire it's wrapped in the context of fire.
10,000×10,000, that's all hundred million hundred million people are being judged that term actually means it's humanly impossible accountable. Hundreds upon hundreds of millions of people are about to be judged and swept into this river of fire and the warning is to never stand before him alone, but to have his John would write his epistle your advocate, Jesus's defense is the only one that will count rather scary with the truth than placate you with empty promises. I thought I pulled from a newspaper article is a section mysteries to be when I got the news and disturber.
We call it called faith. Although there was much in their one of them guys answers questions supposedly answering biblically in the Bible is not in the reader, but I clipped this one out because it's so clearly categorized the world's religion. Someone had written into the newspaper. This individual that inner Jesus at the you can get into heaven except through him when he John's Gospel Jesus on the way the truth and the life. No one. No one gets in. No one gets into the father.
The father tells except through me. In this answer. Man wrote them back. That was way too restrictive. Everyone's getting into heaven as long as their sincere in their faith which you've heard that he then went on to illustrate that a Buddhist monk will get into heaven because it is sincerity in God will consider him then in that day to be." Anonymous Christian. He explained that he got that catchphrase from a Jesuit priest which was helpful because you'll find that the Bible is no such thing as an anonymous Christian within the journals want to rebuke this individual by suggesting that somebody might be judged by God. He wrote and I quote, it's not your job to tell people they are damned.
God didn't put you in charge of dispensing salvation.
Tickets God put you on earth to witness to your faith by keeping your heart open in your mouth shut. Doesn't quite sound like the great commission, but this is the popular gospel of the world they don't want to believe in damnation are not really sure how you get into heaven but I guess you need to be sincere in whatever it is you believe it. In the meantime, don't warn anybody. Just keep your heart open and then your mouth shut. Beloved, if you saw your neighbor's house on fire. Today you wouldn't go over there and plant flowers in her yard you in the water dog.
He wouldn't go wash their car, you wouldn't try to show them a much you love them unless you want to show them how much you love them by warning them that their houses on fire just as Noah warned his world 420 years.
There is the judgment coming which is global water called the flood Judith of the yarn so we now based on Scripture and the revelation of God's word to us. We are commanded to warn our world of the next coming judgment which will be by fire, Peter makes a very clear if I can accept 10 Peter's preaching and he refers to something that's easy to overlook because were never given the accounts in and in the Gospels were never told.
This is when Jesus said this, but Peter reveals it is these preaching in acts chapter 10 is what he says. Jesus ordered us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God. God the father to be judge of the living and the dead. That is all of unbelieving humanity and that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin.
Through his name over to God the father is appointed God the son to serve as the final judge in this great courtroom that Daniel talked about in the John describes to get this the same Savior who today while anybody's alive offers to forgive and save sinners will one day in the future be seated not as a savior, but as the job to render this verdict. Didn't Jesus know.
Didn't Peter know that Jesus wanted him to keep his mouth shut.
No, look at it again. Jesus ordered us to proclaim to the people that he's a coming judge that journalist is tragically wrong. Jesus is right doesn't matter how sincere you are and what you are trusting in the Messiah a few months ago I read a commercial airliner landing at an airport. One night were flying into a small town in the US and their instruments confirmed by the control tower informed them they were about 15 miles from their destination. Somehow they got distracted in conversation and then they saw airport landing lights.
This is it, and they sort of ignored their instruments and they landed what happened to be a small regional airport not designed for commercial airliners. Just a few miles from their correct destination landing strip wasn't long enough for a passenger plane in the nearly crashed the plane over the ledge before it fortunately skidded to a stop below all the tires terrified everybody at the investigation that took place. Both pilots said they honestly thought they were landing the airplane at the right airport. It was an airport. The lights were on the coast was clear. This is an and of course the lesson the meals are right, it was obvious it don't matter how sincere you are in landing a plane.
If you're landing in the wrong place. You might be a sincere Buddhist today. You might be a sincere Baptist, you might be a sincere Muslim or Mormon or Methodist, are you landing in the right person. Luke will write later to his friend Theophilus. Jesus is the only way he writes there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saving how clear can he make it there is no one hell's there's no one else there's no other name under heaven. How big seven there's no wonder there's no other name. No nobody under heaven who can save us in the mission of the church is to take this name this person Jesus to the world and to invite them and maybe you're the one he needs that invitation today to to landing him to be immersed by the spirit by faith in Christ into the body of Christ is the baptism you need. We also been ordered to take to the world, warning that those who reject him as the Savior will one day stand before him as a judge and hear them deliver hear him deliver this verdict to them as they are sent internally to be baptized, immersed in this link of fire.
So what about you is he you are coming Savior, or your coming judge if you're a Christian. The mission of the church is your personal mission as well.
We invite all who will listen to come to him as Savior to be baptized by the Holy Spirit into the eternal family of God. If you're not a Christian. The message for you is to respond in faith to the gospel today.
This is wisdom for the heart.
Stephen Davey has a concise, easy-to-read explanation of the gospel called God's wisdom for your hard we have this resource available in a print version and we be happy to send you a copy today. Give us a call at 86 648 Bible that number once again is 86 648 Bible or 866-482-4253 again were happy to send you one complementary copy of this resource. God's wisdom for your hard if you like information about getting multiple copies to share with others.
We can help you with that as well. This presentation is also available on our website, you can go to wisdom online.org and you'll find this under the about tab.
It's also on the wisdom international smart phone app right on the home screen of that app you'll find a button that says gospel. What's great about that is that you can share the message of the gospel with people as you go about your daily life will we have one more message to go in this currency. Stephen's been working through Luke one through three in a series called good news of great joy. Join us for the conclusion next time here on wisdom of the heart