Intro:
The story we have here focuses on John the Baptist. John the baptist is an interesting character specifically at the time of this story. We first are introduced to John the baptist before he is born. Jesus’ cousin. What’s interesting is that in our text today, in spite of that John says ‘I did not know Him’, meaning He didn’t know who the dove would rest on, indicating that He was the Messiah.

So John came to prepare the way for the Messiah and in so doing He goes into the desert… seems like an odd plan… he had taken the Nazerite vow… camels hair coat with a leather belt… ate locust and honey and preached in the desert where many would come to hear his message and be baptized.

That last idea is probably the one most important to explore and gain understanding in light of the text. He was there baptizing people… why? What is the the point?... We have to understand the message in his method…

Many of us in the Christian faith see baptism as a point of Christian practice… Jews practiced baptism/mikvah, ritualistic cleansing…

John was expressing a need for repentance, cleansing, and a new path forward. What was going on wasn’t working, wasn’t right, wasn’t going to bring the hope and life and righteousness that was required to bring freedom to God’s people… prepare your hearts for the messiah… repent and get ready for God to do something…

Repent and be baptized, cleansed, renewed, make straight the path because God has a plan. Why do I say understanding the message in John’s method of baptism is the most important idea to understand in this morning’s text?

Then John gave this testimony:

“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

In Luke 3 we see John’s intent even more clearly:

“I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

And even with that I want you to hear the next part of his declaration about the work of the Christ:

“His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

John’s baptism we understand as one of repentance that brings about a change in mindset preparing the individual for the work of the Messiah and he transfers that expression from his work in water to Christ’s work in the Holy Spirit.

Christ’s baptizes in the Spirit as an expression of repentance bringing about a preparation for the work of the Messiah in our lives. John baptizes in water but Jesus Christ baptizes in the Holy Spirit.

This is important to grasp. First understand this, baptizo, the greek word used here is about a immersion, a flooding over that brings about transformative change… (bapto v. baptizo… pickle story… 200 years BC, physician Nicander, recipe for making pickles… n order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (baptô) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizô) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change.

Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit because there is a need for us to be permanently changed for the plan God has for us. (IMPORTANT reality… We cannot do it in our own humanity… this is the reason for the coming of the Holy Spirit… living God… nothing in our humanity provides the materials needed for righteous living… cant live without sin, cant find God’s direction, cant manage the struggle of this life in accordance with the calling of Christ without the Holy Spirit.)

You have to understand that is at the center of what Christ came to do because its what He knew we need. Jesus essentially quotes John in Acts 1 where he says, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” And again, Jesus tells the disciples, “it is good that I go because then the HS will come and will convict of sin, comfort the believer, lead us into truth.”

When we come to Christ we receive the Holy Spirit to permanently change us for the work Christ will do in us. And that is a mighty work not something we can do in ourselves… have you ever thought about that? What is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer? There are two important, foundational lists found in the New Testament that tells us what the Holy Spirit provides for us to do the work to which Christ is calling us. What lists am I talking about? Now as I reveal it think for a moment, HOW IN THE WORLD would you be able to do it without the baptism of the HS.

The first list is found in Galatians 5 and I’ll give you the context for the sake of the contrast:

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Everything stated in v 19-21 is EASY, we see people living that without effort. Why? Why do people not have to work at that? Why is there no need to train people how to be jealous, fits of rage, discord, selfishness… think about it.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. And how do you do it? Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit the Christ does in the life of the believer is the immersion that permanently transforms us.

Now think about the second list I want to visit… its found in 1 Corinthians 12, we just read the fruit of the Spirit, that which comes by the SPIRIT alone now hear the gifts of the Spirit:

“7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

The supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit to the church to build up the Church as it does the work of the Church… (pick a few, describe, examples, not in our ability… like fruit…)

I want to remind you of something… the passage we referenced in Acts 1 where Jesus says John baptized in water but I will baptize you in the Spirit. Let’s complete His thought there: he said,

“you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

And what happened? Acts 2… Pentecost… and they became witnesses… the church grew, the people were equipped… we need the to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, a permanent transformation that comes about as a result of immersion in the Holy Spirit… to do ONLY that which can be done by the Holy Spirit.

Closing:
And as I close I want you to know, although I believe we receive the Holy Spirit, are baptized in the Holy Spirit upon salvation, I believe we should be seeking to be immersed in the Holy Spirit again and again to receive the empowerment we need. A day of Pentecost is available to every believer on any day.

In closing I want to bring your attention to Ephesians 5… A letter written specifically to believers. People who received the Holy Spirit at salvation, in chapter 5 he speaks about the contrast between the world and the church… He says:

“15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”

The words here indicate an ongoing seeking of the filling of the Holy Spirit to live in the Spirit… and the filling of the Spirit referenced here to make full, to fill up, to fill to the full, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure, fill to the brim… We need to be filled with the Spirit… we need a filling, to full measure, to the brim of the Holy Spirit… to be submersed and overflowing in the Spirit.

We do not live in the Spirit, pursuing the presence of the Spirit so that we can exhibited the fruit of the Spirit and manifest the gifts of the Spirit… but we NEED to as a church and as individuals. You cannot do it without it.

“make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

He baptizes us in the Holy Spirit so we can be permanently transformed, empowered to do the work He has… are you living in that transformation?