1. I am going to speak this morning on the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
2. I'd like to begin by stating that the terms "baptism of the Holy Spirit" and "baptism of the Holy Ghost" are not found in the Bible.
3. In Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, and in Luke 3:16, John the Baptist said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."
4. Then in John 1:33, John the Baptist said, "He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
5. Acts 1:5 says, " For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."
6. "Not many days hence" meant the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the day of Pentecost.
7. Acts 11:16 says, "Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost."
8. First Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

I. EVERY CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCES THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (I COR. 12:13).

1. First Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized."
2. Some have tried to restrict this verse to the church at Corinth, but that interpretation would contradict other Scriptures (cf. I Cor. 1:2).
3. It is taught in some churches that Christians need to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but this is no where taught in Scripture.
4. It is taught by some people that speaking in tongues is evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit but this is not taught in Scripture.
5. Our Lord said in Luke 11:13, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
6. But our Lord was referring to the fullness of the Holy Spirit, not the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
7. Ephesians 5:18 says, "Be filled with the Spirit," but being filled with the Spirit is not the same thing as being baptized with the Holy Spirit.
8. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit is not the special privilege of a select group of Christians. It is the actual experience of every genuine child of God without exception.
9. Some people pray for "more of the Spirit." That is unscriptural. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and one cannot receive a person by installments.
10. It would be better to let the Holy Spirit have more of you.
11. Most references to baptism in water describe it as the initial act of a new Christian. For example, in Acts 8, we see Philip preaching the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts 8:36 says, "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?"
12. "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him" (Acts 8:37, 38).
13. This was a one-time initiation for a new believer, and we see this pattern throughout the book of Acts -- Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9, Cornelius and his household in Acts 10, Lydia and her household in Acts 16, the Philippian jailer and his household in Acts 16, etc.
14. And just as the term "baptism" when applied to the ordinance of water baptism refers to the initial act, never to be repeated, in like manner the phrase "baptized with the Holy Ghost" refers to a one-time initial act that is never repeated.
15. Being filled with the Spirit is a continuous process, but the baptism of the Spirit is a once-for-all operation.
16. The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is non-experiental, but being filled with the Holy Spirit is experiential. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not experiental -- it does not affect one's senses.
17. On the other hand, the fullness of the Holy Spirit produces Christian character in the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22, 23.
18. The fullness of the Spirit produces power for preaching, power for prayer, and power for soulwinning as we see all throughout the book of Acts.
19. Our Lord said in Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
20. The book of Acts shows us normal Christian living. Sadly, what we see today is subnormal. Merrill Unger said, "The filling with the Spirit produces normal Christian experience; and continual filling is necessary to maintain the norm" (The Baptism & Gifts of the Holy Spirit).
21. When the new believer receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, he is introduced into a new sphere of relationship. He is now "in Christ." "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27).
22. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
23. Our Lord spoke of this in John 14:20, when He said, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
24. The Holy Spirit places a believer in Christ, and He places Christ in the believer. This takes place when a person is saved and when he is regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
25. The new believer is now related to all his fellow believers in the body of Christ. Christ is the Head of the body, and all believers are part of the body of Christ (cf. I Cor. 12:7-27).
26. One commentator said, "Unity, not unvarying uniformity, is the law of God in the world of grace, as in that of nature" (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown).
27. John the Baptist said, "I indeed have baptized you with water: but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Mark 1:8).
28. Then right before He ascended into heaven, our Lord said, "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts 1:5).
29. The Holy Spirit baptized the believers into one body on the Day of Pentecost. That began what we call the beginning of the church age.
30. From that time on, every single believer was indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The day of Pentecost was the day that the Holy Spirit came to indwell God’s people throughout this age and forever (cf. Acts 11:15-17).
31. Since then every believer has been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. The Spirit of God has come to dwell in us permanently.
32. A number of important ministries of the Holy Spirit were fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. The disciples were indwelt by the Spirit, and they were all filled with the Spirit, but neither of these ministries of the Holy Spirit should be confused with the baptism of the Spirit.
33. Second Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30 refer to the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 says, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
34. A Christian is sealed the moment he receives Christ as his Saviour. There is only one sealing, and there is only one baptism, and only one indwelling, and these terms should not be confused.
35. The Bible uses precise language and so should we. The Bible speaks of repentance, regeneration, salvation, redemption, and justification. These terms are related but they are not interchangeable.
36. Likewise, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit are all related but they are not interchangeable.
37. There is one baptism, one indwelling, and one sealing, but there could be many fillings. The indwelling, the sealing, and the filling should not be confused with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
38. It is clear from Acts 1:5 and Acts 11:15-17 that the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred for the first time on the day of Pentecost and subsequently was realized when individuals received Christ as Saviour.
39. There has been considerable confusion over this, but according to I Corinthians 12:13, the baptism of the Holy Spirit should be properly defined as establishing a new position and relationship for all new believers. The Day of Pentecost inaugurated a new dispensation.
40. The book of Acts is a transitional book, connecting the Gospels with the epistles; and bridging the old dispensation with the new.
41. According to I Corinthians 12:13, all believers are baptized into one body by the Spirit of God; hence, the baptism of the Spirit is that which establishes both the place and the relationship of the believer in Christ, and in the body of Christ which is composed of all true believers.
42. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is positional in that all believers have this position of being in Christ and in the body of Christ.

II. THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT A SECOND WORK OF GRACE

1. Some churches teach that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience that follows conversion. They see it as "a second blessing" or "a second work of grace" that should be sought after.
2. They teach that this second blessing gives a person much greater spiritual power and boldness, and the ability to live a more victorious Christian life. While much of this teaching is Scriptural, and needful, unfortunately some of it is misleading.
3. When the Pentecostal movement began in the early 1900's, the Pentecostals added speaking in tongues as part of the second blessing. They insisted that speaking in tongues was evidence of being baptized by the Holy Spirit.
4. As I said earlier, the Bible does not teach that. Many unstable people have been deceived and ruined by this error.
5. Throughout church history many great preachers experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit in a powerful way. We can see this over and over again as we read their biographies and sermons.
6. One of the most well known examples is the story of D.L. Moody, who was filled with the Holy Spirit right here in downtown Manhattan.
7. After the great Chicago fire in 1871, D. L. Moody visited the East Coast to secure funds for his relief work. During this trip the hunger for more spiritual power was upon D. L. Moody.
8. "I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York -- oh, what a day! -- I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world -- it would be as the small dust of the balance."
9. Moody and his close associate R.A. Torrey often referred to this filling of the Holy Spirit as a baptism of the Holy Spirit, but it would be more accurate to use the term "filling."
10. For example, in his excellent booklet, Why God Used D.L. Moody, Torrey said Moody, "had a very definite enduement with power from on High, a very clear and definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Mr. Moody knew he had 'the baptism with the Holy Ghost,' he had no doubt about it."
11. Then Torrey went on to describe how Moody was filled with the Holy Spirit while walking up Wall Street here in New York. "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. Time and again Mr. Moody would come to me and say: 'Torrey, I want you to preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost.'"
12. You will notice R.A. Torrey used the terms "enduement with power from on High," "the Holy Ghost came upon him filling his soul," and "the baptism with the Holy Ghost" interchangeably.
13. With all due respect to R.A. Torrey, we should be careful in our terminology. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the same as being filled with the Holy Spirit.
14. I heard a preacher say, "I don't care what you call it, just make sure you get it." I understand what he means, and he is right about the need to be filled with the Spirit, but nevertheless using the right terminology is important.
15. I prefer not to use terms like "second blessing" or "second work of grace" because they are not found in the Bible.
16. I prefer to say, "You need to be filled with the Spirit." Of course, the filling is only for believers. Unbelievers first need to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
17. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "But while believing that a Spirit-filled life is the privilege and duty of every believer, and that as a matter of personal experience it is often realized by means of a distinct crisis after conversion, yet much modern phraseology about 'the Baptism of the Spirit' does not seem to be justified by the New Testament, which teaches that all who are born again have been baptized by the Spirit into the one body of Christ. Instead of seeking some exceptional and transcendental experience, it is rather the true duty of the believer to accept and yield quietly each day to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of Christian living" (The Holy Spirit of God).
18. That is Scriptural -- instead of seeking some exceptional and dramatic experience, believers should "yield quietly each day to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of Christian living."
19. Remember when Elijah the prophet was in the cave. First Kings 19:11 and 12 says, "but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

III. ONE BAPTISM; MANY FILLINGS

1. All Christians have the Spirit, but not all Christians have the fullness of the Spirit.
2. In Ephesians 3:19, the apostle Paul prayed that the members of the church in Ephesus that "might be filled with all the fulness of God."
3. This is what our Lord meant in Luke 11:13 when He said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
4. We should ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We do not need to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit because that took place the moment we were saved.
5. The Bible teaches that the filling of the Holy Spirit involves a special enduement of power.
6. Our Lord said to His disciples in Luke 24:49, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
7. The filling of the Holy Spirit gives us power to win souls. Our Lord said in Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
8. The filling of the Holy Spirit gives us boldness. Acts 4:31 says, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."

CONCLUSION:

1. The great Baptist preacher A. J. Gordon used to tell a story about two tourists visiting Niagara Falls.
2. As they took the beautiful drive from Lake Erie to the falls they were filled with admiration and awe at the size and power of the Niagara River.
3. They were particularly impressed with the rapids just above the falls and stopped there to look. From there they could see the massive mist cloud that always hangs over the precipice.
4. One of the men, having already been there, said, “Come and I’ll show you the greatest unused power in the world.” Taking him to the foot of Niagara Falls, he said, “There is the greatest unused power in the world.”
5. "Ah, no, my friend, not so!” was the reply of the other. “The greatest unused power in the world is the power of the Holy Spirit.”