Rev Dr Edgar Mayer; Living Grace
Toowoomba Church; Message: on
Luke 3-4; Date: 17 July 2011
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Purpose In Power
John the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth
both descendants of priests had
captured the imagination of an entire nation. There he was in all the
country around the Jordan preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and he was a fiery preacher
not gentle with anyone saying (for instance) John 3:7-8:
You brood
of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in
keeping with repentance
Why
would anyone come out to him for this kind of message? This wasnt
user-friendly preaching. Yet, the time was right for someone to speak the
truth. People were aching for the truth about themselves and John offered them
a solution. He said to them: If I baptize you if I dunk your body
in the water of the Jordan River and wash you clean with water God (at
the same time) will wash you of all unrighteousness and forgive you every
sin that you have ever committed. You will be clean.
This was an amazing offer which people actually
experienced. They sensed
they knew that there was a fresh
beginning with God. They were forgiven what could be better (for anyone
of us) and therefore they began to
wonder about John. Could he be the one the Christ the Messiah the
promised Saviour? Could what they have
experienced with him be the fulfillment of all of Gods promises in the past?
The Bible records Luke 3:15: The people were waiting expectantly and
were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah.
This was good. People were siding with God.
Only, John surprised the crowds with a stunning suggestion: They had seen
nothing yet. God would do much, much, more through another person. He told them
to raise the bar of their expectations. How high is your bar this morning? With John people had forgiveness is not forgiveness enough even today
among us in the church? No, this is what
John said to them Luke 3:16-17:
I baptize you in water. But one
who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not
worthy to untie. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit
John baptized in water for the forgiveness
of sins and the one after him
Jesus Christ (let me say this now) would
do the same. The baptism in water would continue in Jesus name for our
forgiveness. This foundational blessing would not be taken away but Jesus would
also do so much more. He would baptize in the Spirit. As people were completely
covered by the water of the Jordan River dunked and overwhelmed so Jesus would drench us in the Spirit of
God. This would be so much more than mere forgiveness. I know how stunning this
must sound but John said: But one who is more powerful than I will
come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you
in the Holy Spirit.
This needs unpacking. After he had died on
a cross and rose from the dead after three days, Jesus taught his disciples again
about the meaning of his suffering and explained to them that on account of his death and resurrection
repentance and forgiveness of sins
would be preached to all nations. This was to be the basic message of salvation
(and this remains the most important Christian message today) but then Jesus also added another promise
which picked up on Johns earlier announcement. He said Acts 1:4-8:
John
baptized in water, but in a few days you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you
What Jesus did not do at the time was to
explain what the baptism in the Spirit was. Nowhere in the Bible is there a
definition of this experience or a check-list of what should happen in the
baptism in the Spirit. There are simply testimonies and they are not all the
same. For instance, the very first time a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came
from heaven and filled the whole house. The disciples saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them (Acts 2:1-5). But neither the sound of wind nor the
tongues of fire would happen again in the Spirit baptism of other people.
Therefore this morning if
you like a neat and tidy description of the process, it is not there. Why?
Because we are not in control. God is. Let him do it for you the way he deems
best. Trust him. The good news is that you will know when it has happened to
you. You wont have to verify the baptism with a check-list because a baptism
is a dunking. It will be all over you.
However, we may need to clear up another
source of confusion. Jesus said that the disciples would be baptized in the
Spirit as John baptized in water. Here it seems that the Spirit is much like
water a fluid or
substance which could be used for
immersing someone in their baptism: John in water; Jesus in the Spirit. Then, the Bible can speak of God pouring
out the Spirit on people (Acts
2:33) and people being filled
with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). This
kind of language again makes the Spirit of God into a substance maybe a
fluid that can be poured out and fill
people up. Yet, the Spirit of God is not a substance but a person. In fact, in
the mystery of God our one God he
is the third person, next to the Father and the Son, and, thus, every believer
is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew
28:19, emphasis added). Jesus also
called him the Advocate and the Spirit of truth:
John
16:7-14 (NIV, emphasis added):
the
Advocate
I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world
to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will
guide you into all the truth
He will glorify me
The Spirit has a mind (Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13), will (1 Corinthians 12:11) and emotions (Romans 8:26-27; 15:30;
Colossians 1:8). Lying to him is lying
to God (Acts 5:3-4). What the Spirit
wants is that we fellowship with him (2 Corinthians 13:14). Therefore, the experience of being baptized
in him being immersed in him is
not the immersion into a substance but describes the overwhelming intimacy with
him as a person. Being full of the Spirit is enjoying the most passionate
presence of a person with us.
Are we making progress? I sum up what we
have said so far: 1)
Forgiveness is basic and precious but
there is so much more in the baptism in the Spirit. Therefore, raise the
bar of your expectations. 2) Even
though there is no Bible definition of the experience or a check-list of what
must happen, you know when it has happened to you because a baptism is a
full-on immersion. 3) The
Spirit is not a substance but a person. When the Bible speaks of being
immersed in the Spirit or being filled with him, the intent is to explain the
intimacy with a person. We could not be any closer to the Spirit or enjoy any
more of his benefits than being immersed in his very self.
This morning, I want to continue clearing
up confusion. What is the purpose of being baptized in the Spirit? What can you
look for and expect? I will demonstrate the three main outcomes of the Spirit
baptism by examining what happened to Jesus when he was the first person that
was being baptized in the Spirit. However first get
a taste of two testimonies. They are from Lutheran pastors who (maybe
like you) have been struggling with
this whole concept. [Abbreviate and retell in your own words.]
Larry
Christenson: The Charismatic Renewal Among Lutherans, Minneapolis: Lutheran
Charismatics Renewal Services 1976, p14-18: [This testimony is not from the
author of the book but is quoted from Lutherans,
the Spirit, the Gifts, and the Word, unpublished manuscript edited by a
group of Missouri-Lutheran pastors, June 1973, pp.8-13. In the 70s and 80s the
15,000 Lutheran charismatics that gathered annually in Minneapolis remained the
largest annual meeting of Lutherans in the country (Vinson Synan: The
Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company 1997, p263).]
In December
of 1963 I attended a meeting in a private home. There were forty people
present, the majority of them Lutherans. The atmosphere of warmth, love, and
friendliness was something highly unusual, especially in a big city setting. I
had never met Lutherans quite like this. People were embracing each other and
praising God with every other word. What could possibly have gotten to them?
After a rousing singing of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, the meeting got
under way. The leader spoke for some time. After his presentation he asked
those who wanted to receive the Spirit baptism to raise their hands. I was
sitting in the front row, wearing a clerical collar.
Do you want
to receive the baptism of the Spirit, Pastor? he asked. Yes. Do you want to
come forward for the laying on of hands? No. (Before all these lay people?
He had to be kidding!)
Afterward I
asked to hear a demonstration of tongues. Suddenly there was a hum and babble
throughout the room. Someone began to sing in the Spirit. It wasnt unpleasant,
but it didnt make much sense either. All at once I thought I heard some
vaguely understandable words coming through. I leaned over and listened
carefully. A housewife sitting next to me just happened to be praying one of
the Psalms in ecclesiastical Latin.
That night I
got home very late. For some reason I was deeply disturbed. Had I heard Latin
or not? Why were these Lutherans so different? Was God really pouring out the
Spirit again in these days? After two big slugs of bourbon I drifted off into
deep, but troubled sleep. And then I had a dream which indicated that the
deepest layers of my personality had been uncovered. A secret, private chamber
in that inner self had been broken into, and that which had been guarded and
repressed all my life became explicit in the dream. Perhaps this is why it is
so hard for some to surrender fully to God. God will not lie on the surface
like seed on hard ground, but insists on getting down to the underside of our
motivations where all our real willing and doing spring forth. Perhaps this is
why some alcoholics and drug addicts make it, and others do not. Before we
can surrender to the power of God perhaps we need an authentic self to
surrender. He will not settle for one of those will-o-the-wisp, phantom,
surface selves that come and go like Mayflies on a summer day. God wants to
deal only with that deepest, hidden self, no matter how dark, ugly, or guilty
it may be.
When I
awoke, my head was still buzzing a little from the bourbon
Before the
confirmation class, scheduled for 10.30am, I went into the church for a few
minutes of private prayer and devotion. The sanctuary never failed to impress
me, no matter how many times I entered it. With balcony seating there was room
for over a thousand worshipers. The magnificent pipe organ could rattle the
giant stained glass windows which rose almost from the floor to the 55-foot
ceiling. The tower held some twenty-odd tons of bells, and the narthex was a
charming museum filled with expensive mementos of a glorious Germanic past. The
thick walls and heavy carpet muffled the sound of the busy streets. It felt
like home, the house of God, right in the middle of the world.
The pulpit
was elaborately carved in highly polished red cherry wood with Martin Luther
dominating the front. It was placed above and in the back of the altar as a
symbol of the high status Lutherans give to preaching
Here too
were the hidden scenes of many a fervent prayer, especially after I had begun
to preach in Spanish as well as German and English every Sunday. Oh, God! Let
me out of here! I dont even know this language in which I am about to preach!
Lord, youve got to take over! I have no message for this people! Sometimes
the prayers of the waiting congregation would carry me up those last few steps
and the Spirit would whisper encouragement as I groped desperately for the
right words.
Now, as I
knelt before the communion rail, just to the right of the marble baptismal
angel, I heard myself saying, God, you and I are going to have it out this
morning. Either you are going to be real, or I am going to quit. You can have
the whole thing back this church, my ministry, and me. Im just going through
the motions. I cant even stand to hear myself preach any more. At that moment
I was convinced that hell for ministers was being forced to listen forever to
tape recordings of their own sermons.
Suddenly a
voice, clear and distinct, said, The Gift is already yours; just reach out and
take it. Obediently I stretched my hands toward the altar, palms up. I opened
my mouth and strange babbling sounds rushed forth. Had I done it? Or was it the Spirit? Before I had time to wonder, all
sorts of strange things began to happen. God came out of the shadows. He is
real! I thought. He is here! He loves me!
For the
first time in my life I really felt
loved by God. I laughed and danced for joy. The whole church was bathed in a
soft, golden light. The world was turned inside out. Everything looked as fresh
and new as the first morning of creation. Every cell and atom of my body
tingled with the vibrant life of God. Every electron in my being slapped its
hands and praised the Lord. God, where have you been all this time? Were you
locked behind that silly babble, or hidden under that desperate prayer of
surrender? So near, and yet so infinitely far; so complex and yet so terribly simple
how can we ever understand you? Give us this
key, so that we can unlock you for the whole world.
Suddenly, I
wanted to run out on the street and tell everybody: Stop the traffic! Stop the
trains! Listen! God is alive! Hes really alive and real! He just told me back
in the church!
But there
was a confirmation class waiting. When I floated in on that pink cloud, there
was a sudden and unusual silence. They stared at me in silent wonder. Did it
show? Was there a secret sign on my forehead, or perhaps an angel sitting on my
shoulder? Did my face shine like that of Moses when he came down from the
mountain? I, too, had talked face to face with God. Years later two members of
the class told me that I had talked for ten minutes in a strange language they
couldnt understand. They thought it might have been one of the many languages
I was interested in. As a postscript, I should add that that was the only time
in which the tongue got beyond conscious control.
For a few weeks I experienced a kind of euphoria that
I had never known before. As I walked the streets I kept chanting, Im alive,
Im alive, God is real, He loves me, He loves me. Every bird and every breeze
joined in the chant. The traffic and the trains were praising God, and every
raindrop sparkled like a jewel in Cartiers window. The next week my wife and I
attended a magnificent performance of Handels Messiah. That was a foretaste of heaven. In my new joy I understood
why, after this work literally flowed out of him, Handel could only weep. How
glorious God truly is! And if praising God in heaven is anything like that
December night, its no wonder that we grow impatient and irritable with the
things on earth!
Paul Teske: Healing For Today, Alachua: Bridge Logos
Foundation 2010, p33-35: In the fall of 1994, the Navy chaplain corps asked me
to give a presentation
in Newport, Rhode Island
The morning I arrived, I
met an acquaintance, a Baptist chaplain whom I had not seen in fifteen years.
As I greeted my friend, he surprised me by telling me that he knew I would be
there that morning. I asked him who told him and he said, The Lord! I laughed
and suggested that we meet for lunch. I met Alan at his office that afternoon
for our lunch date. I again asked him who had told him I was coming, and he
said that the Lord had told him in worship a couple of days earlier. His
assured answer caught my attention, and I asked him to explain himself. He told
me that he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit several years earlier and his
life had been changed ever since. After listening to his story, he invited me
to pray with him before we went to lunch. I agreed, and he began to pray. I am
not sure how long we prayed, but two significant petitions of his prayer
penetrated my heart.
During his prayer, he exhorted God to lift the burden
of control off my shoulders. As soon as he said this, I started weeping. The
weeping turned quickly into uncontrollable sobbing, and the sobbing shifted
into a snot-blubbering, uncontrollable meltdown. I emotionally dumped the
contents of my soul in his office. Then he prayed that God would give me the
patience to wait on his timing. We prayed for a while longer and finally we
went to lunch. Following a lengthy discussion over a small corner table in a
local seafood dive, I bid him farewell and departed for my three-hour drive
back to Westport.
While driving south on I-95, I began to pray. These
prayers seemed to flow into a time of weeping. The tears and songs were
intermittent without regard to content or context. All of a sudden, I heard
myself speaking what seemed to be incoherent noise. I tried to stop, but I
found that I had no control over my sounds. I would switch back to English for
a short period, then back to the gibberish. I felt confounded and out of
control. My anxiety level was rising just short of panic. It took me more than
a few miles to realize that whatever this was, it was not going to subside. I
continued to wrestle with my own will to manage or control the situation, but I
found that I could not stop shifting back and forth between English and this
noise. If this was from God, I thought, then he was going to have me convince
me with a sign. I suggested he show me the number five. I looked up and saw
that I was quickly approaching Exit 55 on I-95. I saw milepost 55. The speed
was 55 mph! This is too subliminal [below
the threshold of conscious perception, ed], I thought. I need another sign.
Lord, if this is really from you, let the next car
that passes me have a two on the license plate. (Now in Connecticut, license
plates consisted of three numbers and three letters and were rarely displayed
on the front of the automobiles.) I slowed down and the next car that passed me
had three 2s in the license plate. I began to cry and praise God, because I
knew that the strange sounds erupting from my mouth were the tongues of praise
initiated by the Holy Spirit. I knew that the Holy Spirit had released a
spiritual language in me I was speaking in tongues! I wept, laughed, felt an
incredible joy over my entire being, and continued to speak this new and
delightful language.
Anxiety returned as my thoughts shifted to what
awaited me in Westport. I was connected to a traditional Lutheran church with
several hundred traditional Lutheran members and an ex-independent Baptist
wife, none of whom believed in this stuff. My joy slowly dissipated, and my
mind flooded with worry and concern. I knew that the gift I had just received
was real; I also knew with the same degree of certainty that the battleground
ahead of me would be difficult. I moved quite well in my own strength and
power, but now I sensed that the power of God would trump anything I previously
brought to the equation. I knew that the greatest test of my life rested at the
end of my drive home. What I did not know in that moment, but would later come
to fully realize: God would have his way!
The testimonies are as expected not the same but there are similarities: 1) The baptism in the Spirit was an experience
that was absolutely significant and they knew when it had happened to them.
2) It went beyond forgiveness
because the one pastor described quite well how he was desperate even in his
forgiven state. He said: God, you and I are going to have it out this
morning. Either you are going to be real, or I am going to quit. You can have
the whole thing back this church, my ministry, and me. Im just going through
the motions. I cant even stand to hear myself preach any more
God, where
have you been all this time? 3) Both times, the Spirit demonstrated that he was a holy Spirit that
would challenge even the hidden sins. The one pastor had a revealing dream,
which brought to light the repressed and guarded secret in his life, and the
other broke down when his friend prayed about the burden of control which kept
him in a place of not receiving more of God. As the Spirit confronted the sin
in the pastors lives, he prepared both of them for the infilling. 4) The two pastors had emotions of incredible
joy and praised God with laughter. 5) Both times, the baptism in the Spirit came with the spiritual gift of
speaking in tongues which is the phenomenon of speaking Spirit-directed words.
These words may seem to be gibberish to the person because the Spirit-directed words
do not come from a learned language but from a language which the Spirit gives
either heavenly or another human language (for instance, ecclesiastical
Latin).
This morning I will not
explain this gift of speaking in tongues except to say that this gift is
not the primary purpose of being baptized in the Spirit. Christians pay a lot of attention to this gift because for some it
seems a little weird and others notice that many a time the release of this gift comes together
with the infilling of the Spirit and frequently serves as a sign that the infilling has happened. As a person yields
control of the tongue to God, the Spirit can be poured in and the entire
infilling can happen.
Thus, there are numerous Bible references
where the baptism in the Spirit came with the gift of speaking in tongues:
Acts 2:4:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts
10:44-46: While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on
all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter
were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on
Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Acts 19:6:
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they
spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Hence, the gift of speaking in tongues is
not insignificant and in
Gods wisdom and design both pastors
of the previous testimonies received this gift despite their reservations and
fears. Yet, this gift as good as it is is not the main purpose of the baptism in the Spirit. Like all other
gifts, it simply serves the chief goals of a Christian life.
What then are the chief goals? What is the
purpose of being baptized in the Spirit its main benefits? I attempt to answer this question now by examining Jesus own
experience with the baptism in the Spirit. In general, he promised us that we
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes (Acts 1:8) and his own taste of this kind of power happened
when he was about thirty years old. I read from the Bible:
Luke
3:21-22: When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And
as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in
bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I
love; with you I am well pleased.
Immediately as the Spirit had come upon him Jesus heard for the first time in his
life the voice of his Father and the
voice like never before assured
him that he was loved. The Father said: You are my Son, whom I love;
with you I am well pleased. This is
the same that happened to one of the pastors in the previous testimonies. He
said: For the first time in my life I really felt loved by God. I laughed and danced for joy
For a few weeks I
experienced a kind of euphoria that I had never known before. As I walked the
streets I kept chanting, Im alive, Im alive, God is real, He loves me, He
loves me.
Do you know are you sure that
you are being loved by God? Have you already been baptized in the Spirit? If
Jesus needed to hear his Fathers voice, you need to hear it too. We all do. We
have no power unless we know our identity as sons and daughters of God. God
loves you and he wants you to know: You are the one whom I love; with
you I am well pleased. I have forgiven you and now I rejoice over you.
This is a big theme in the Bible and I give
you just one more Bible reference:
Romans
8:15-16 [NIV]:
but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba,
Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are Gods
children. [See also Galatians 6:4; 1 John 4:24.]
This is the first outcome of the baptism in
the Spirit: Assurance. We know that he loves us and we trust him like the children that we are by crying out Abba, Father. The Spirit of sonship is on us. This is
what matters to God first and foremost our relationship with him that we receive his love and love him back
with everything that we have (see also Matthew 22:36-40; Revelations 2:1-7;
3:14-22).
[In other places, the Bible identifies the
gift of assurance as the seal of the Holy Spirit or the deposit of the Holy
Spirit which is the experienced guarantee of our eternal inheritance:
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 [NIV]:
He
anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts
as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2 Corinthians 5:5 [NIV]:
God
has
given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Ephesians 1:13-14 [NIV]:
Having
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is
a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance
]
The second outcome of the Spirit baptism also
becomes evident immediately. We read in the Bible:
Luke 4:1-2:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil
Full of the Spirit, Jesus would be able to
fight even the devil and prevail against him in a forty-day-long battle with
numerous temptations. There would be victory over sin. This is promised to all
of us. Maybe this is why John the Baptist was longing so much for the one that
was to come after him. He offered forgiveness he already offered forgiveness for sin but not necessarily the power to stop
sinning. This kind of power comes with being baptized in the Spirit. Do you
have this kind of power? Do you have victory or do you need more of the
Spirit? He is holy and makes you holy. This is what the Bible promises:
Romans
6:14: For sin shall not be your master ...
Romans
8:13:
by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body
Galatians
5:16:
live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the
sinful nature.
Finally, the goal of the baptism in the
Spirit is to convey power for mission work. This outcome was also experienced
by Jesus first and was on display immediately. As he returned from his fight with
temptations, he entered a new season in his life and without delay began his saving work of preaching and performing miracles. This is how
he explained these new developments to the people in his own hometown:
Luke
4:18-19 [NIV]: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lords favour.
As the Spirit had anointed him as the Spirit had come upon him he had the power and commission to preach
good news to the poor and heal the blind and oppressed. It is the same for us.
Jesus said to his first disciples and by extension to all of us today:
Acts 1:4-8
[NIV]:
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth.
Do you experience power for mission work?
Are your words cutting through? Do you sense that God is setting up encounters
for you and do you have the boldness and passion to share the good news. The
one pastor from the previous testimonies said: Suddenly, I wanted to run out on the street and
tell everybody: Stop the traffic! Stop the trains! Listen! God is alive! Hes
really alive and real! He just told me back in the church! Do you have this kind of passion and
conviction or do you need more of the Spirit? Are you being baptized in the
Spirit? It is available to you.
I sum up the three basic outcomes of the
Spirit baptism: 1) The Spirit assures us of the Fathers love.
2) The Spirit grants us victory
over sin and empowers us to holiness. 3) The Spirit grants power for mission work. Thus, the three main benefits of our immersion in the Spirit are in
three words: 1) assurance,
2) holiness and 3) mission.
In closing, I will show how the three main benefits
of being baptized in the Spirit are connected. We again learn from Jesus. The
Father told him first that he was his much-loved son. He assured him of his
identity; then it was precisely his secured identity that made him prevail over
temptations. The devil would always attack Jesus by questioning his sonship.
Was he really the child of God? Was there not more proof required? The devil
egged him on, saying: If
you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread (Luke 4:3). If
you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here (Luke 4:9). Do you give in to temptations easily?
Could it be that you sin because you try
to fill a void in you which can only be filled by knowing that you are the son
or daughter of the Father in heaven? The Father knew that if Jesus was being
assured of his love by a Spirit-immersion experience he could hold out against Satan. He would
remain holy.
Then, the battle with the devil and
overcoming temptations made Jesus ready to live out the third main benefit of
his Spirit baptism, that is: to do mission work in the Spirits power. Jesus
entered the wilderness full of the Spirit (Luke 4:1) but (an increase seems to have come)
the Bible says Luke 4:14: Jesus
returned to Galilee in the power of the
Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. None of us is ready to wield the power of
the Spirit, unless God first builds character in us and put us to the test.
Unless we learn to prevail against temptations, we cannot be trusted with the
power for mission work we are not ready because we would abuse the power: preach for personal gain, perform
miracles for personal glory, heal the sick for money and fame.
Can you see the progression? First, Jesus
received the assurance of his identity. He knew that he knew that he was the
much-loved Son of God. Then, it was his assured identity that made him prevail
over temptations. He needed no further proofs of his sonship and nothing was as
precious as his love-relationship with the Father. Finally, his victory over
temptations the testing
of his character made him ready to
wield great power in mission work without becoming corrupted. It is the same in your own life: You go
from assurance certainty of who you are in God to battling temptations and victory over sin the testing and
maturing of your character in holiness to
power for mission. You go from assurance to holiness to mission.
If you have not yet been baptized in the
Spirit, do you want this for yourself? If you have been baptized in the Spirit,
could it be that today
you need refreshment a refilling
because you have compromised your
intimacy with him? Test yourself. Do you know what it is when the Father tells
you: You are the one whom I love; with you I am well pleased. I have
forgiven you and now I rejoice over you. Do you experience victory over sin or do you live in defeat? Do you
have the power to say no? Then,
what about the power and passion for telling everyone: Stop the
traffic! Stop the trains! Listen! God is alive! Hes really alive and real! He
just told me back in the church! John
the Baptist encouraged everyone to raise the bar of their expectations. He said
Luke 3:16-17:
I baptize you in water. But one who is more powerful
than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will
baptize you in the Holy Spirit
This morning let Jesus baptize you in the Spirit. Simply want it; he will do it.
Amen.