All the Fullness of God—3 Baptisms
The target of God’s redemption is that you and I would be filled up with all the fullness of God!
• After sin entered the world in Gen 3, God set in motion a kingdom plan of redemption
• Because those made in the image of God had turned from intimacy with God to rebellion with Satan, God sent His Son as the perfect sacrifice for our sin
• But the target of God’s plan was not just that we might be born again, as beautiful and important as that is
• But rather that we would born again to something. That we would be born again into all the fullness of God
• God wants you and I to grasp all the fullness of God in our lives
Ephesians 3:14-20
• The greatest theologian of the Bible explains clearly that the target, the objective of being born again, or our life on earth is:
o Strengthened powerfully by the Holy Spirit o Christ would dwell in your heart through faith o That you would be able to comprehend the love of God o Filled with all the fullness of God according to Holy Spirit power
• God wanted to make the human body a temple. A temple with uncontrollable power
1 Cor 6:19-20 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body [a]and in your spirit, which are God’s.
• It’s interesting that the body is figuratively referred to as the temple because I want to talk about 3 parts into the Holy of Holies in the Tablernacle that I believe correspond with 3 baptisms, 3 aspects necessary in our Christian life
Tabernacle
• Entrance into the Temple or Tabernacle—Jesus
• There were 3 things you had to do to enter into the inner court
o The first thing was an altar where you shed the blood of the lamb—Jesus became our sacrifice at Calvary. His shed blood took all of our sins away when we give our hearts to Christ. . You are a new man/woman
o Second was the laver where you washed with water—this is symbolic of water baptism. After we get saved, we get baptized . Baptism in water the old man is cut off
o Third, a flask where you anointed with oil. The baptism of the HS, before you could go into the Holy of Holies . But the oil represents the Spirit and it’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit where we receive power
• 3 aspects of intimacy with Christ! I see in scripture 3 baptisms as it were
3 Baptisms or 3 Encounters for the Fullness of God
First, turn to 1 Cor. 12:13
1) The HS baptizes us into Christ, into Jesus when you get saved) SALVATION BAPTISM
Second, turn to Matthew 28:18-19
2) The disciples are to baptize in water (after getting saved) BAPTISM WITH WATER
Thirdly, Jesus spoke of a Baptism with the Holy Spriit, an encounter with God for power
3) Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
• There is a difference between the first baptism: “baptism of” and the 3rd is the baptism with or in
Matt 3:11 John speaking “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (in or with meaning the same thing)
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 [a]and fire.
As I said last week, I really don’t care what you call it—though there is a difference between being “baptized into Christ and being baptized with the Holy Spirit” but just get it! All the fullness of God; I want it all don’t you?
• All four gospels, as different as they are, have a few things in common: the life death and resurrection of Christ and the baptism with the Holy Spirit
o Matt 3:11 o Mark 1:8 o Luke 3:16 o John 1:32-33
The Disciples clearly needed all 3 God Encounters, all 3 baptisms
Acts 1:4-8; 2:1
• When the HS came Peter gets up and preaches and hear what He says, vss 37-38 look at the 3 baptisms: repent-get saved, get baptized, and then receive the HS, it’s a gift
• Wait for the Promise—vs 39 it was not just for the original 120, it’s for the children too
• Acts 8:12-17 The 3 Baptisms
• Acts 19:1-6 see the pattern!
1 John 5:7-8 The Three Bear Witness in Heaven and Earth
• Vs 7 John is speaking of the trinity who bear witness in heaven: The Word is Christ—“And the word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
• Vs. 8 Now John is speaking of what bear witness on earth: you see the 3 baptisms, 3 encounters that are crucial to the fullness of God on earth:
1. The Spirit—Spirit baptism 2. The water—is referring to water baptism after you get saved 3. The blood—most closely associated with salvation, for it is only in the shedding of blood that we are forgiven of our sins— "without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins”
• What do they bear witness to? That there is a trinitarian God in heaven—Father, Son, and HS—who are supernaturally working on the earth! They bear witness that Christ and only Christ can change your life—read the verses before and after—all of it brings glory to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ
o When we get saved through the blood of Christ we become a new person, you are born again; you are given a new Spirit and a new heart o When we get baptized in water, the old person is cut off o When we get baptized with the Holy Spirit, we get the power to walk in the new life we’ve received o It’s a complete work
• When you give your heart to Christ and get saved, you go to heaven. The thief on the cross got saved and was with Jesus in paradise that day. He did not have to be baptized in water or the Holy Spirit to be saved • Many people get saved but never experience the power of the HS and they never walk in victory over sin in their life • Many people got baptized as an infant and think they don’t need to accept Jesus and theyre not experiencing God’s victory and power
DL Moody, the great evangelist
there were two humble Free Methodist women who used to come over [51] to his meetings in the Y. M. C. A. One was “Auntie Cook” and the other, Mrs. Snow. (I think her name was not Snow at that time.) These two women would come to Mr. Moody at the close of his meetings and say: “We are praying for you.” Finally, Mr. Moody became somewhat nettled and said to them one night: “Why are you praying for me? Why don’t you pray for the unsaved?” They replied: “We are praying that you may get the power.” Mr. Moody did not know what that meant, but he got to thinking about it, and then went to these women and said: “I wish you would tell me what you mean,” and they told him about the definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Then he asked that he might pray with them and not they merely pray for him. Auntie Cook once told me of the intense fervor with which Mr. Moody prayed on that occasion. She told me in words that I scarcely dare repeat, though I have never forgotten them. And he not only prayed with them, but he also prayed alone. Not long after, one day on his way to England, he was walking up Wall Street in New York (Mr. Moody very seldom told this and I almost hesitate to tell it) and in the midst of the bustle and hurry of that city his prayer was answered; the power of God fell upon him as he walked up the street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very joy. He went out from that place with the power of the Holy Ghost upon him, and when he got to London (partly through the prayers of a bedridden saint in Mr. Lessey’s church), the power of God wrought through him mightily in North London, and hundreds were added to the churches, and that was what led to his being invited over to the wonderful campaign that followed in later years.
John 7:37-39 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those [a]believing in Him would receive; for the [b]Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
• You take a drink and it becomes a river
• The HS is in us as a river. A drink becomes a river.
• I WANT IT ALL, HOW ABOUT YOU
Last week over 75% of the church came forward for more (I may or may not do this before worship or after worship)
• If you want to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, don’t let the devil talk you out of this
• Don’t you let the idea that this is weird stop you. Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t let the enemy talk you out of it
• Disciples: these men have turned the world upside down! Acts 17:6
• Close your eyes and lift your hands to Him and say, “Baptize me in the Holy Spirit”. Don’t’ let feelings get in the way of faith whether you feel it or not. Pray for them…
• As we worship, may God meet you in a profound way