Word of Salvation – Vol. 34 No. 20 – May 1989

 

Holy Spirit Baptism

 

Sermon by Rev. W. J. Bosker on Acts 19:1-7

(For Pentecost)

Reading: Acts 1:1-8

Singing: BoW Ps.1a all vss; 311 all vss.

                 BoW H6 all vss; 394 all vss.
                (Call to worship: Joel 2:28-32a)

 

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I want to begin by asking you a leading question.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement:
            “Only some Christians have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.”

It would be interesting to take a poll of the congregation’s answer.  The result might be similar to what we found in our Senior Catechism class:

            50% strongly disagreed.
            25% disagreed.
            25% were neutral, perhaps not sure.

In our days we need to be particularly certain as to what the Bible says about Holy Spirit baptism.

It is one of the major planks of Neo-Pentecostal theology.

“Neo” means “new”.  Neo-Pentecostalism is thus distinguished from an older Pentecostalism beginning in the 1900’s even though it has much in common with that movement.

Neo-Pentecostals usually prefer the name “Charismatics”, indicating their emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The Greek word for “gifts” is “charismata”.  So you can see where their name comes from.

In speaking about Holy Spirit baptism we need to know what Neo-Pentecostals or Charismatics mean by it, and then compare that with what Scripture means by it.

One of the texts which Charismatics use to support their view is Acts 19:1-7.  So we shall use this text as a case study.

In outline we will proceed as follows:

1.  The Charismatic view of Holy Spirit baptism:
            a.  To whom it happens.
            b.  When it happens.
            c.  What it means.

2.  The Biblical view:
            a.  To whom it happens.
            b.  When it happens.
            c.  What it means.

3.  Some implications of Holy Spirit baptism,
            depending on which view you take.

From the outset let us state that we understand the expressions “Holy Spirit baptism, baptism with, in or by the Holy Spirit” to all mean the same thing.

It is popular in Charismatic circles to call Holy Spirit baptism the “second blessing”.  Why they call it that will become evident soon.

1.  Let’s look at our text from the Charismatic viewpoint.

To our Charismatic friends Acts 19:1-7 is a typical example, or pattern in which baptism with the Holy Spirit is a second distinct experience or encounter with God.  It comes after conversion and gives a special power to serve.

Let’s see how they construct their defence.

a)  To whom it happens.

In Ephesus Paul finds some disciples.  Their immediate assumption is that these disciples are Christians.  And why not?  They had received John’s baptism hadn’t they?  And “disciples” was the normal description for Christians in the book of Acts.

So they must have already been Christians.

b)  When does Holy Spirit baptism happen?

Following on from the assumption that these Ephesian disciples were already Christians, Holy Spirit baptism is a second distinct experience or encounter with God.

It is something that happens after conversion.  It came to them through Paul’s preaching and when he laid hands on them.

c)  What Holy Spirit baptism means.

A person’s conversion to Christ is the first stage of the Christian life.  Holy Spirit baptism is the second stage which all Christians should try to reach.

This second stage of Holy Spirit baptism is the subsequent overpowering experience of the Holy Spirit, which is normally (though not necessarily) accompanied by speaking in tongues.

This second stage Holy Spirit baptism is seen as the indispensable step to spiritual power and a full Christian life.

Charismatics who have attained this second stage, or “second blessing” look down sympathetically or at times critically on “one stage” Christians.

They say they feel sorry for “one stage” Christians and wish these Christians could experience the Holy Spirit as they do, as well as be filled with the power they have.

So from the Neo-Pentecostal point of view ordinary “one stage” Christians are missing out on something.  They should seek to experience Holy Spirit baptism and be filled with special power to serve.  Then they’ll become “full” Christians and reach the “second stage”, having received the ‘second blessing”.

Just like these Ephesian disciples!

Now before we proceed to examine the text for the Biblical view, it is wise to qualify what I have just said regarding Charismatics.

Within the Charismatic Movement you will find extremes.  One extreme says you’re not really a Christian unless you have received Holy Spirit baptism and evidence it with speaking in tongues.

The other extreme will accept the believer in Christ as a Christian, at the same time Holy Spirit baptism is preferable though not essential.

* Common to the Charismatic Movement generally though, is this whole idea of “one and two stage” Christians.  There are those who have received the ‘second blessing” of Holy Spirit baptism and those who haven’t.

2.  What does Acts 19:1-7 really teach?

Let’s see what THE TEXT SAYS.

a)  To whom it happens.

We read in vs.1 that Paul found some disciples in Ephesus.  What sort of disciples were they?  Can the context help us?

Immediately preceding this incident we read of Apollos who had been evangelizing in Ephesus.  He taught about Jesus accurately.  That is, what he taught was accurate in as far as he knew.

Luke tells us that Apollos knew only the baptism of John.  That was a baptism of repentance.  A precursor to Christ, who would come after John the Baptist and baptize in the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).

John preached Jesus to come.  It was Jesus who was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  John pointed forward to Him.

Apollos knew that Jesus was to come.  But it was Priscilla and Aquila who invited him into their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately (Acts 18:26).

They explained to him that Jesus had come!  He had suffered and died to obtain forgiveness of sins.  He had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven.  His Spirit was poured out working faith in people’s hearts.  Knowing this Apollos could now teach Christ MORE ADEQUATELY!

So the disciples in Ephesus were perhaps followers of Apollos, or through him followers or disciples of John the Baptist.

Paul must have sensed that they weren’t yet disciples of Christ.

That’s why he proceeded to ask them a few questions.  In that sense they were NOT YET CHRISTIANS.

The Charismatics have assumed incorrectly that this text teaches a second stage Christianity.

These disciples hadn’t yet reached the “first stage”!

b)  When were these disciples baptised with the Holy Spirit?

Paul’s question in v.2 is very much to the point.  “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

The underlying thought is that faith in Christ is accompanied by a reception of the Holy Spirit.

There is no grammatical support to separate faith and receiving the Spirit as if they are two separate events.

As if, for example there is a first stage – of becoming a Christian, then a second stage of receiving, being baptised with the Spirit.

“When you believed”, asks Paul, “did you then receive the Holy Spirit?”

These disciples then give an astonishing answer!  They say “No”, meaning they haven’t received the Holy Spirit.

And they add that they “have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”.

There is an alternative way of understanding their reply (given in the margin of the NASB) which reads: “No, we have not even heard whether the Holy Spirit has been given”, that is, whether He is available to us.

It is difficult to imagine disciples of Apollos or John the Baptist not knowing anything about the Holy Spirit.  Much more likely they hadn’t heard the Holy Spirit was available to them.

* Whichever way we take it, the conclusion is the same.

These Ephesian disciples hadn’t yet believed in Jesus, so consequently they hadn’t yet received the Holy Spirit.

Paul, fully aware that Christian baptism is baptism into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (as per Matt.28:19 – Christ’s command), asks these Ephesian disciples the obvious question:

“Then what baptism did you receive?”

When the disciples answered, “John’s baptism”, Paul got straight to the point.

He basically did for these Ephesian disciples what Priscilla and Aquila had done for Apollos.

Paul told them to believe in Jesus, who was the One coming after John the Baptist.  The object of their faith.  The One to whom John pointed.

He didn’t tell them to pray and seek the Spirit.  Paul didn’t say they should seek a second experience, a baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Paul simply preached Christ!  He preached the gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ, the One in whom we should trust.  Now these Ephesian disciples heard the fulfilled gospel for the first time!

Having heard this gospel the Ephesian dozen believed and were given Christian baptism.  Their faith in Christ was accompanied by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel had come to Ephesus!  Pentecost had extended to this part of Asia with all the accompanying signs of Pentecost in Jerusalem.

As Jesus had promised in Acts 1:8 – “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Luke’s purpose in Acts has been to show how the infant church of our Lord Jesus Christ grew from small beginnings.  The gospel had now come to Ephesus.

c)  What Holy Spirit baptism means.

The natural meaning of the text with regard to Holy Spirit baptism, or receiving the Holy Spirit, is that this reception occurs together with faith in Christ.

THE TEXT SPEAKS OF A ONE-STAGE CHRISTIANITY.  All those who believe in Christ as their Saviour from sin have received the Holy Spirit.

To build a “second stage”, “second encounter”, “second blessing’ doctrine upon this text is to build on shaky ground.

Using details such as disciples of John the Baptist, who didn’t know what Jesus did and came to do, who knew little about the Holy Spirit, can hardly be a Biblical model for a two-stage Christianity.

Our Charismatic friends are in error to say that we are to believe in Christ for conversion and then need to believe in the Holy Spirit to receive Him and be filled with the Spirit’s power.

As believers we need to be encouraged that we have not “missed out” on a second blessing.

By God’s grace alone we have believed in Christ and at the same time have received the Holy Spirit.  Indeed without the Spirit’s work we would not be able to believe in Christ!

In their theology, Charismatics are trying to address a problem that concerns all Christians.

How is it that many Christians don’t live out their lives in the power of the Spirit who dwells within us?

The Charismatic Movement has done the Church a favour in raising this question and seeking to answer it.

Yet, the way they answer the question is not the Biblical way.

Let us focus on this issue as we view…

3.  The implications of Holy Spirit baptism.

a)  First of all, and only briefly, you can see the implications of the Charismatic interpretation of Holy Spirit baptism as that of a second stage experience.

This inevitably results in a distinction between Christians which is potentially divisive and fosters jealousy.

It is essentially the same problem Paul addressed to the Christian church of Corinth in 1Cor.12-14.

Those who claim to have received the “second blessing” of Holy Spirit baptism look down on those who haven’t.  They feel themselves to be superior.  Spiritual pride is a constant danger.

Those who “miss out” on Holy Spirit baptism feel inferior, unwanted, powerless and seem to have failed to reach the Christian ideal.  At best they’re Second Class Christians.

This cannot please the Holy Spirit.  Nor is it the way in which He works.

b)  What are some of the implications of the Biblical view that the Holy Spirit is given to all who believe?  That is, that no believer in Christ exists who has not been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

 * There is a UNITY among believers.

 * In Christ there is an EQUALITY among believers
            which promotes inter- dependence and co-operation.

        Paul makes this conclusion in 1Cor.12:13:
            “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether
             Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and
             we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

*  Our baptism in the Holy Spirit, when we first believed, is the beginning of the Christian life.  That’s an important point!

By the unutterable grace of God we have already been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing.  That’s what Paul says in Eph.1:3.

With the Holy Spirit living in us we have access to the mighty power of God.  He is there!  He is waiting to use us!

But will we let ourselves be used by Him?  Will we submit our will to be obedient to His will?

We as Christians have the Spirit of Christ as a precious possession.  It then becomes our responsibility to constantly and progressively appropriate the spiritual blessings we already have in Christ.  To make them our own and to grow in Christ!

Michael Green, in his book, “I believe in the Holy Spirit”, describes what the Charismatics call “Holy Spirit baptism”” as “False Linguistics: Genuine experience.’

In other words, Neo-Pentecostals wrongly call what is a genuine Christian experience, Holy Spirit baptism.

Let’s look at a couple of practical examples:

i)  Do you think it is possible for a believer, one who has been baptized in the Spirit, to fit this description?

I love the Lord, but I just don’t feel spiritually alive.  Somehow the joy of knowing Jesus has escaped me.  I see other Christians who are excited, turned on, happy, content… and I wonder what’s wrong.  Why can’t I feel that way too?’

Sound familiar?

Of course a believer, a Spirit-baptized person, can feel a loss of joy, a lack of assurance.  FOR VARIOUS REASONS.

a)  A Christian on earth has never “arrived”, as if perfection can be reached this side of heaven.  The Bible describes the Christian life as a struggle, a race, a marathon.

b)  We’re not always bubbling over with joy.  The Christian life is more than froth and bubble.  Sure, we have our ups and downs.  But that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit comes and then withdraws completely.  That’s impossible for the Christian.  The believer is sealed with the Spirit (Eph.1:13).

c)  The fact of the matter is that we as Christians often grieve or hinder or resist or quench the Holy Spirit.  We stifle the fire of the Holy Spirit by being disobedient or by clinging to the sins which our sinful nature finds attractive.

Sin and the Holy Spirit are an unholy combination.  Our sins grieve the Holy Spirit.  We offend Him by remaining in sin.

Let me illustrate this:

Imagine two close friends.  One repeatedly badly offends the other.  The friendship becomes strained.  You decide it’s better if you don’t see each other too often.  So you withdraw from each other.

That’s how it is with the Holy Spirit.  It is as if He withdraws, and is not as fully present as he could be.

We need to repent and renounce our sin.  Find forgiveness in the blood of Jesus.  Then the Holy Spirit will fill us again and the result will be a return of joy and happiness and a willingness to serve the Lord.

Scripture nowhere, never, commands us to be baptized with the Spirit.  There is no need for it!  God graciously does that when we believe!

But Scripture often warns us, even commands us, not to grieve or resist or hinder or quench the Spirit.

Unrepented sin and personal selfishness are spiritual kill-joys to the believer; it will lead to a lack of joy and a spiritual lethargy and lifelessness.

Let us all heed that warning.

ii)  Consider this second example:

Our Neo-Pentecostal friends might put this question to us:

How do you account for the fact that some professing Christians who could be described as “lukewarm” Christians, experience a sudden, dramatic spiritual awakening?  If this is not that second experience, that baptism in the Holy Spirit – then how else can it be accounted for?

“Lukewarm” Christians do exist.  Jesus chastised the church in Laodicea for being lukewarm (Rev.3:16).

When lukewarm Christians experience a sudden, dramatic spiritual awakening it is due to the combination of their personal submission to the Lord, and the greater work of the Holy Spirit as He proceeds with less hindrance in the life of a believer.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t start His work again from scratch.  The believer is not re-converted, but renewed.  Rededicated to growth and renewal, resulting in a greater love and commitment to the Lord.

It’s like a resurgence of faith.  Leading to recommitment, rededication, greater growth and Christian maturity.  Praise God that he does work this renewal of faith!

This experience can be sudden and dramatic.  It may also be slow and progressive.  The experience may be genuine.  I say that with a word of caution.  Never forgetting that the Devil is a specialist at counterfeit.  There is some “spiritual experience” around today which is plain rubbish and hot air.

But where there is a genuine resurgence of faith it’s not the “second blessing” or a second stage Christianity.  It’s wrong to call it Holy Spirit baptism.

Let every believer then be encouraged that you have not missed out” on the “second blessing”.  Rather you HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT!  You have access to His power!

At the same time heed the warning not to hinder the work of the Spirit by living a lifestyle in conflict with the Holy Spirit’s work in us.  Instead, continue to grow in the fullness and the fruit of the Spirit by abiding in Christ.

AMEN