Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Unity of Purpose
“He (Jesus) will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit”
Breaking the Barriers
John
3:1-2 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and
said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no
one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." NKJV
I
have read this verses many times and have been captured by its many aspects and
descriptions. There are many individual
things we can learn from but the most important thing was Nicodemus’ nighttime
confession. Have you ever been obsessed
with what God is doing in your life? You
know, the “who”, the “what”, the “where” and most importantly, the “why”.
Nicodemus has been painted in many different ways. I see Nicodemus as desperately
confessional. We know Nicodemus paid
attention to what Jesus was doing.
Nicodemus also gave serious thought about Jesus and what Jesus was doing
and saying. The weight of what Nicodemus
experienced even before meeting Jesus was too much for him to bear alone. There were questions to ask, things to
discuss, there was a need for greater understanding as to purpose and
motive. Nicodemus just had to know now
and would not wait till the morning!
Nicodemus
comes to Jesus at night and makes his confession. It is interesting because it is a statement
of things already acknowledged about Jesus:
1. “we
know”
2. A
teacher
3. From
God
4. Do
signs
5. God
is with Jesus
From
this confession an amazing discussion of questions and answers flow between
Jesus and Nicodemus. In the middle of
the discussion Nicodemus hears Jesus declare John 3:16. This is one of the most powerful discussions
ever documented because it had eternal truth, truth born of honest
confession. I really do not what
happened to Nicodemus after that fateful discussion. Yet there are two major incidents documented
by John.
In
John 7:50-51, Nicodemus defends Jesus.
Nicodemus’ defense of Jesus relies on the nighttime conversation. Read this for yourselves.
In
John 19:38, Nicodemus joined Joseph of Arimathea in asking Pilate for the body
of Jesus and purchase 100 lbs. of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus’ body for
burial. The “Rabbi” had become the “disciple.”
Honest
confession results in amazing and revealing conversation with God which results
in powerful changes in our lives. Are you ready to make that confession?
Prayer
of Preparation:
Jesus,
we to, like Nicodemus make our confession.
We know you are our salvation. We
know you want to be Lord of our lives.
We know you are working in our lives.
We confess to you we just do not understand all of it. We have many questions, many thoughts, we are
wondering about many circumstances.
Ultimately we know we must come to you for understanding. Like Nicodemus, teach us the things we really
need to know! Come Holy Spirit and teach
us all things.
Sermon
Mark
1:4-9 4 And so John came, baptizing
in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins. 5 The whole Judean
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their
sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt
around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more
powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and
untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit."
Wow,
what a statement, “he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” As we consider the relationship between Jesus
and the Holy Spirit, this is a powerful statement of purpose! What is John revealing to us about this
relationship between Jesus, the Holy Spirit and us? What is the significance of what is being
said, first to those who are hearing this amazing declaration and second to us
as the “generation of the Holy Spirit?”
Followers of John the Baptist
I
am always intrigued by the followers of John the Baptist. John was an amazing messenger of God. His church or synagogue was the desert
regions; his message was baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; the
whole Judean countryside and the people of Jerusalem went to hear him. And the results were awesome; the people were
confessing their sins, and being baptized.
And
who was John the Baptist? Was he the
Rick Warren of Jerusalem, was he the Joel Osteen of the desert region? Was he the R.C. Sproul of Orthodox Judaism;
the John MacArthur, the Chuck Smith, the Bill Hybels of the mega-churches? No, John the Baptist was a much simpler
man. He reflected the nature of the
majority of people in Judea, but his message was radically different. The attraction to the messenger was based on
two interesting things:
·
John lived out his message in contrast
to the Pharisees
·
John addressed the questions of the
people in his message
The
people disconnected from the synagogues and from the Temple found a “teacher”
in the wilderness. And for all that his
message was to the people; John himself acknowledges it is incomplete.
More
than just repentance and baptism, John spoke of a greater one than he whose
ministry would be even more powerful and effective than his own ministry. John states “7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more
powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and
untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit.”
·
More powerful than I
·
I am unworthy
·
I baptize with water
·
He will baptize with the Holy Spirit
What
a contrast John describes between himself and Jesus and ministry of each. What is it about Jesus baptizing with the
Holy Spirit. Why would this be
significant to the hearer, to the followers, to John’s own disciples? For a people in political, economic and
spiritual bondage, this pronouncement is HOPE!
The same hope read and understood in the Old Testament.
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Isa
32:15 “…till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes
a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. NIV
There
are many promises in the Old Testament about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
and its impact of the people, especially spiritually. Yet this passage intrigues me because it
introduces a series of verses that speak to the transformation; economic,
justice, righteousness, peace, security and property. For the people, the baptism in the Holy
Spirit represents total transformation!
Contemporary Application
If
this is the message of John regarding the Holy Spirit what is the message of
Jesus regarding the Holy Spirit?
John
7:37-39 On the last and greatest day
of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty,
let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever
believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By
this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been
glorified. NIV
Jesus
is saying the Holy Spirit is for those who are thirsty, for those who dare to
drink will have transformed hearts, hearts filled with living water!
You, Me and the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit
There
is great confusion about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis on the gifts and fruit is a
great distraction from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. We seek external manifestations of the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit as proof. The
promise of the Holy Spirit is not the gifts of the Holy Spirit or the fruit of
the Holy Spirit, the gift is the person of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus
spoke of “streams of living water will flow from within him.” This is about transformed lives. From out of the deserts, from parchedness of
life, from within comes the living water!
This is about life, the abundant life; this is the true evidence of the
Holy Spirit. How are you living inside
of you? Panic, fear, doubt, anger,
anxiousness, pain, broken, addicted, in bondage this is the evidence of a life
without the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!
I
get the whole Pentecostal and Charismatic doctrine thing. And I do not necessarily disagree with the
overall doctrine. But the Holy Spirit is
first about life, eternal life; power for living out the Kingdom of God; and it
is about Lordship! And while I find it
repugnant to minimize the fullness of the Holy Spirit, I also find it equally
repugnant to reduce the Holy Spirit to a matter of gifts, signs, wonders,
manifestation and fruit.
The
Apostle Peter stated “Acts 2:38-39 Then
Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the
promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as
the Lord our God will call." NKJV
Have You Received…?
Like
Nicodemus, have you come to make confession, to repent, to receive? This promise according to Peter is “to all
who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
by Grace Alone!
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