The Most Important Baptism
Good Morning, I pray that you will be blessed in Christ and experience victory today and every day. You are not ordinary because you have been born from above. You are His child and that means you are more than an overcomer through Jesus!
In our family it is a Christmas tradition, every Christmas Eve, to watch A Christmas Carol with George C Scott. I love the opening scene as a funeral carriage somberly makes its way down a foggy busy 1800’s London street and the narrator says, “Old Marly was as dead as a door nail, and this must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come from this story I am about to relate.”
Jesus was as dead as a door nail but after three days He rose from the dead, and that must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come from what I am about to share with you.
Before Jesus was put to death on the cross He spoke things to His disciples to prepare them for His departure.
John 16:5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Jesus said much more than this to them. He told them they would be persecuted for being His witnesses. He said the things He had spoken that they struggled to understand, would be made clear, but only after the Holy Spirit (The Helper) had come to them. He said, “It is to your advantage.” Imagine how that must have come across to these men who had left everything to follow Jesus. They had given up all and been filled with wonder and amazement by Him. They loved being with Him. Jesus had been with them daily, but Jesus understood something that they did not yet comprehend. They needed the same person of the Holy Spirit who was helping Jesus fulfill all righteousness and accomplish the Father’s will. Thus it was to their advantage that Jesus depart; for if He were to stay, the Holy Spirit would not come to them. Jesus was prioritizing the presence of God in their lives by promising the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s fullness.
If the coming of the Holy Spirit was to the advantage of men who had personally been with Jesus and were called His friends, how great of an advantage might the Holy Spirit be to us who have never seen Jesus?
A key emphasis of the ministry of Jesus involved the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist prophesied it before hand,
Matthew 3:11 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 and fire.
The disciples had seen Jesus alive after His death, and He taught them for forty days before ascending. I believe that after seeing Him alive and being caught up to heaven that they would have been ready to tell others about Him. I believe that is why Jesus commanded them to wait in Jerusalem.
Acts 1:4 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; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
If these guys were merely afraid and needed a dose of boldness why would Jesus need to command them to wait?
I believe Jesus did not want them trying to minister without the promised Holy Spirit. “Which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;” In this statement is proof that Jesus spoke often to these disciples about the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. The good news was and still is to be advanced with practical evidences as well as power. The presence of God involves the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit expresses the power of God. He should never be expected to change who He is or set His power aside just to meet with us.
Always remember that you are loved with an everlasting love by a faithful God who cannot lie and you have everything you need in Christ. Go and enjoy the adventure that is yours when you live submitted to the Holy Spirit each day!
