Saturday May 21 730 8pm William Bell NT Baptisms 1

Tonight, or this evening, we're going to be talking about the six baptisms in the New Testament and what we want to do is point these out. They're very simple, hopefully for everyone, but just simply to point those out and then to allow you to see how several of them are mentioned in Scripture in terms of how they fit within this overall paradigm of the Bible. So let's go ahead and get underway and talk about them. The first one that we want to mention, which we run across very early in the New Testament, is the baptism of John, John's baptism. You find a reference to that in Matthew chapter 3, where the Bible says, In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and refers to the prophet Isaiah, who spoke about him, but he also tells us that in verse 6, that Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins, but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Brood of vipers, who warns you to flee from the wrath about to come. Now, the first baptism, therefore, we encounter in Scripture is the baptism of John, or what we will call the baptism of John, and again, this is where all the region of Judea and around the Jordan, Jerusalem, etc., came to John in order to be baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. Now once again, John's message had been, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, or is drawn near. So, the kingdom had not yet arrived, but it was on the horizon, it was very soon to appear within the time of John, or at least shortly thereafter the time of John, and yet John was there preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Now this information, of course, he gained through the study of the prophets, particularly of the prophet Daniel, and he saw that it was the time, and of course, Jesus indicates that because Jesus also came preaching the same message, but this time we're looking at what's called the baptism of John, and the baptism of John was a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and so when we look at this, it was with a view to the soon to come, or soon arrival of the kingdom. But by comparison, let's notice that the Lord also preached the same message. It says in verse 17 of chapter 4, from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But when we look at Mark's gospel, Mark tells us that it was the appointed time, and so this was the reason that John appeared, one of the reasons, however, that John appeared in the last days, saying that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. In verse 14, and also verse 15, Mark 1, it says, Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. Now when he says the time is fulfilled, he used a couple of very, very powerful words there. The first one is the word kairos, and it means the appointed time has come. Now this word occurs four times in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1, and in that very verse, it speaks of the great tribulation that was going to come and affect the people of God. And in connection with that same event would be the time of the resurrection. So we're looking at an eschatological event, we're looking at John's ministry as an eschatological ministry because even the book of Malachi, which spoke of John, said that John would come before the great and awesome day of the Lord. And that's Malachi chapter 4, verses 5, and that tells you that this was a prophecy in the Old Testament. Jesus confirmed that John would come, and of course John's being spoken of there as Elijah when it says, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord. But in Matthew chapter 17, and around verses 11-13, it was confirmed that Malachi spoke of John the Baptist. And again in Luke chapter 1, verses 16-17, that he would come in the spirit and power of Elijah and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, etc. This was a reference to John. So this was the reason that he came and was baptizing in the Jordan for the remission of sins. But that is what is called the baptism of John. Now that baptism served its purpose because in Acts chapter 19, after the day of Pentecost, after Jesus' death, we see that there were some who had been baptized with the baptism of John, but they were to be baptized in order that they might receive the Holy Spirit with a different baptism. We'll talk about it a little bit later, but at least you can see when Paul questioned them and he asked them in Acts 19, verse 2, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? So they said, into John's baptism. And then Paul goes on to explain John's baptism, saying that John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him. So John's baptism was not for all time. It was for the last days of Israel and it was in order for them to be prepared to enter the kingdom of God, which was soon to appear. And because he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, it signaled that the last days were there and that John's work was a part of that last day's message and the fulfillment of those last day's prophecies. The second baptism that we want to talk about is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And when we look in Matthew chapter 3 again, in the very same chapter, because there are actually three of these baptisms mentioned in Matthew chapter 3. Now in Matthew chapter 3, beginning and verse 11, and so what's important about this also is that we do not confuse the baptism of John with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But also, we are not to confuse the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the other baptisms that are mentioned in scripture as well. So it's important for us to distinguish them. Now in verse 11, the Bible says, 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, notice, with the Holy Spirit. Now let's just stop there for a moment. I know that the text says more than that. But it says he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Now this is another baptism that speaks about what would happen to those who were in Israel, but it was also connected to the last days. And the reason we say that is because the Bible tells us in the prophecy of Joel that God was going to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. And that prophecy, of course, is well known, but it shows that the Spirit was going to be poured out, and of course, this is styled as a baptism of the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says in Joel chapter 2, beginning at verse 28, and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom he has called. Now there's a lot of controversy as to what specifically, or let me say to whom specifically the baptism of the Holy Spirit referred. Well, without getting into the controversy at this point, what's important for us to understand is the limitation or the duration for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now the Bible says in Joel chapter 2 that the Spirit would be poured out in the last days, but it would say this would all happen before the great and awesome day of the Lord. In other words, whatever we would ascribe to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it only continued up to the point of the great and awesome day of the Lord. Now this is why many people believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is still operative in the church today because they believe that the great and awesome day of the Lord is yet future, that it has not occurred. But that doesn't work because God sent John in the last days before the great and awesome day of the Lord, and he sent the Holy Spirit. And yet we see both John coming in the first century. We also see the Holy Spirit being poured out in the first century. But Jesus specifically, when he spoke of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, spoke of the apostles. I'll mention that in just a moment. Now what I'd like to do, however, is go to another text in the Old Testament, and that is in Micah chapter 7 and the verses 15, because Micah tells us that there was a period of time for these miracles or this eschatological outpouring of the Holy Spirit to continue. In Micah 7 and the verses 15, he says, As in the days when you came out of Egypt, out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders. Now some translations will say miracles, some of them will say wonderful gifts, etc. But whatever the translation, what the reference is about is the miracles that were poured out during the time of Israel's deliverance from Pharaoh, their sojourn in the wilderness, etc. All of those things are a part of that period. And so it was for a period of approximately 40 years. Now to further confirm that, we can look in the 7th chapter of the book of Acts, Acts chapter 7, the verse is 36. The Bible says he brought them out, and let me just go back and start at verse 35. It says, This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge, is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. Now, so when they were asking, Well, who made you, Moses, a ruler and a judge? He says that's the one that God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out after he had shown, notice, wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness 40 years. So we're talking about a period of 40 years, and that's what the Bible says concerning the outpouring of the gifts in the last days. And even if you could still see parallels of the pre-wilderness era from the standpoint that he showed them wonders with Pharaoh, et cetera, and, you know, in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for these 40 years. But we also see that that is the parallel in the New Testament. So whatever we ascribe to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we cannot extrapolate it from the 40 year period from the time of the outpouring on the day of Pentecost and following. Now, I mentioned to you that we would look at a specific passage that talks about the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the apostles in Acts chapter one, Acts chapter one. Now, this text in Acts one written by Luke follows up on something that Luke said or rather that Jesus said before his ascension to the apostles. As a matter of fact, he makes this statement in just about every gospel if we were able to to follow it. So let's take a look at it. In Luke chapter 24, just prior to his ascension, the Bible says in verse 45, and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Now, what the Lord was doing was telling the apostles about things that he had spoken to them when he was with them before he had been crucified and before he rose from the dead. So he prefaces that in verse 44 by saying, then he said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I will still with you. In other words, with you before I have died and crucified, because actually Jesus in a sense had left them from the perspective that he had left the old covenant system. And that was his departure that he made, his exodus that he was making from the old covenant system. And so hence he said, while I will still with you. Now we know he was with them in person and physically from that perspective, he was with them at that particular time, but that was physically, he was talking about something a little bit more deeper than that. When he said, while I will still with you, because he was absent from them covenantally speaking in the sense that he had departed from the old covenant system through his death, burial and resurrection. Why? Because in first Peter chapter three and the verses 18, it says Christ was put to death in the flesh, but he was raised in the spirit. You see, he was living in the realm of the flesh and then he rose in the realm of the spirit. So those are two covenantal modes of existence, two worlds. And therefore that's what he means when he says, uh, these are the words which I spoke to you while I will still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. So it says, and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Then he said to them, thus it was written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Now watch verse 49 behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry or wait in the city of Jerusalem. Watch until you are in dude with power from on high. Now watch, he told the apostles because they were the only ones who were there at this point until you are in dude with power from on high. Now if we want to go and check that, we can go to Mark's gospel and when we look at Mark's gospel chapter 16 we have the following and this is the Lord speaking to them, saying to them when he gives them the gospel commission, he said, go into all the world, verse 15 and preach the gospel to every creature or to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned and these signs will follow those who believe in my name. They will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God and they went out, watch this, and they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. So it was the Lord working with the apostles, confirming their word with the accompanying signs. Now what's important and I don't have time to cover this was that the apostles were able to lay hands on the believers and impart gifts to the believers. But the believers could not do that laying on of hands themselves and impart gifts to other believers or to others who had come into the body of Christ. Only the apostles could do that. You can go to Acts chapter 8 and you can see where when those in Samaria received the word of God through Philip who could perform miracles, why? Because the apostles had laid hands on him, he sent or they sent to Jerusalem for Peter and John who when they came down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit and they laid hands on them and the people received the Holy Spirit. And that's when Simon the sorcerer said, give me this power so that on whomever I lay hands, they will also receive the Holy Spirit. So Simon and that whole narrative demonstrates to us how the Holy Spirit was imparted to others, but to the apostles it was given to them directly by God. And that's a distinction that I believe is very, very important when looking at this. And you can see the same commission in Matthew 28. It is not as detailed as Mark's gospel, but it is the same because what he tells them is I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. And that is a reference to the same text here. The Lord went working with them through the accompanying signs. That's how he was with them. Now, if we go to Acts chapter one, therefore, having looked at Luke chapter 24, where he says, behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but wait or tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued from power on high. So when we get to Acts chapter one, the Bible says, and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father, which he said, you have heard from me for John. Now watch truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel because they knew that the power of the Holy Spirit had to do with the regathering of Israel, et cetera. But nevertheless, he says, you shall receive power. Verse eight, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Now notice that he says, you speaking again to the apostles shall be witnesses to me. What kind of witness? I believe that's the word martyria. It talks about, uh, it refers to an eyewitness of the Lord. And that was one of the qualifications of an apostle that he had to have seen the Lord after his resurrection. Actually, it says beginning from the baptism of John onto his resurrection. Now when we look, therefore, in verse 21, after Judas had fallen and they had to choose another apostle, it says, therefore, all of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of the resurrection. And so they appointed, uh, a proposed to Joseph was called Barsibas, who was surnamed justice and Matthias. And they prayed. And of course, watch verse 25, uh, asking the Lord, which of these two have you chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression failed that he might go to his own place. Now Jesus selected 12 of them to be his apostles. One of them, Judas failed. Now they're selecting a successor to Judas and they cast lots in the lot, fell on Matthias. Now watch. And he was numbered with the 11 apostles. So the message was to the 11 apostles and it is to them that Jesus said for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy spirit, not many days from now. And so it's, it is for that reason that we view the baptism of the Holy spirit upon the apostles and their ability to impart gifts to others, et cetera, uh, from that perspective, uh, that does not mean that others did not receive the Holy spirit through the laying on of their hands. But there was a distinction between the authority given to the apostles and that given to the others. Now, the next baptism that we want to talk about, and we can only just briefly mention it, but we'll have to cover it in another lesson. Um, and that is the baptism of fire. Now I remember as a very young man, uh, I used to hear people talk about, they wanted to be baptized in the Holy spirit and in the fire. And uh, there were Pentecostal groups out there that claimed that they were being baptized in the fire. Well, ladies and gentlemen, uh, let me just say briefly, um, I don't think anyone wants to be baptized in the fire. As a matter of fact, uh, you cannot do it from the perspective that it was prophesied by John in Matthew chapter three. And there are reasons for that. And we'll get into that on next week. But for the most part, we are out of time for today. And so we want to remind you to tune in once again on next Saturday evening from six 30 to 7 p.m. Central time for the All Things Fulfilled broadcast on right here on the NOW Network. Visit our YouTube channel at All Things Fulfilled, our website at All Things Fulfilled and download our mobile app. Before we go, uh, as you know, the world almost is getting involved and in some sense the world is involved because not only, um, and I'm speaking about the war in Ukraine, uh, between Russia and Ukraine, um, it is not just Russia, but now we see, um, the USA and we see NATO, uh, the, uh, European, uh, alliance, et cetera, all beginning to in some way, uh, support and, um, provide arms, et cetera, for, uh, the war, um, in Ukraine, uh, supplying arms to the Ukraine. And which basically means that that's what they're doing. They're supporting the war, uh, they are participating in it, uh, they have their military weapons that they're, uh, that they're providing for it, et cetera. And there's talk of nuclear destruction or nuclear warfare, uh, that could possibly go on because, you know, it's very clear that Russia has these nuclear, uh, weapons. It's very clear that the USA has them and, uh, other countries have them as well. Uh, but nevertheless, uh, some people are terrified, they are frightened and they are afraid that our world is going to be destroyed. Well, uh, I do know that if nuclear weapons are dropped, it's going to destroy the lives of many people. It's going to do quite a bit of destruction to, uh, property and, uh, to all of the things that we, uh, consider as a normal way of life. But I mean, we've been going through that for the last two years where we've had upheavals. But I want to mention to you a book called, Will Planet Earth Be Destroyed? Uh, this is a book that I have written and I suggest to you that this book tells you why that no matter what happens, they're not going to destroy the earth and they're not going to destroy all life from the earth. So it should be some encouragement to you. It goes into a detailed exegesis of second Peter chapter three and I believe that it really provides some great insights for you. The responses that I'm getting back from the book have been very, very good. And so I would encourage you to read that and it might give you a little bit more encouragement through these trying times that we have. So at least you can know God's will for the matter. With that, I'm William Bell signing out saying you have a very pleasant, uh, good evening and we'll see you again on next week.