Jesus, the Holy Spirit Baptizer (April 13, 2025)
Sermon Outline for Sunday, April 6, 2025
PASSAGES: Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; John 1:32; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:23–24; Colossians 3:9–10; John 14:16; Luke 4:1; John 3:34; Luke 4:14; Acts 10:38; Matthew 12:28; John 16:7; John 17:5; Luke 24:49; John 15:26; Acts 2:33; John 14:12
Out of 400 years of silence, John the Baptist announced “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” But John didn’t stop there. YES, Jesus came to save us from our sin, and that is the most important part, because without this plan of salvation, nothing else matters. Salvation is the key that unlocks the door for so much more! John also preached that Jesus shall baptize with Holy Ghost and with fire.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BAPTIZER
The Gospels bear a fourfold record of this prophecy of John the Baptist.
Matthew recorded the prophecy –
Matthew 3:11 ~ “I baptize you with water for 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.”
Mark recorded an abbreviated version –
Mark 1:8 ~ “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Luke recorded something like Matthew –
Luke 3:16 ~ “John answered them all, saying, “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.”
John expanded the prophecy –
John 1:33 ~ “I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’”
In all four of the Gospels, Jesus Christ is set forth as the Holy Spirit baptizer. The fact that the Holy Spirit has taken such care to record this passage in each of the Gospels is evidence of the importance of the experience. It is not only by these four disciples that the baptism with the Holy Spirit was foretold, but also by Jesus Himself. When His earthly ministry was coming to an end and the Cross and Resurrection were behind Him, Jesus announced –
Acts 1:5 ~ “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
When Jesus spoke, He spoke with the same definiteness that John the Baptist spoke. He said, “You will be …”. Without a doubt, Jesus and John were talking about the promise of the Holy Spirit that was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and that was accompanied by the outward physical evidence of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance.
Why? Why did Jesus Christ and ultimately God, believe that it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to change how He interacted with man, the way He did in the Old Testament? In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come down and dwell with man only on special occasions. He never remained upon men. John 1:33, John goes out of his way to point out that when the Spirit descended upon Jesus, it was unique: He abode, and He remained upon Christ.
John 1:32 ~ “And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”
So again, we ask ourselves, why is the change?
God knew that no man or group of people were powerful enough to live for God or to convince others of the foolishness of the gospel …
- that love is more powerful than might.
- that God’s Son actually came to earth as a man.
- that God’s Son died but was raised from the dead, conquering death.
- that the cross is the way men are saved from sin, death and hell.
- that man can be born again, literally born again and made into a new creature by believing in Jesus.
- that man can live forever by being born again through belief in Jesus.
Christ knew that man needed a supernatural power, the power of God Himself. He knew that the very presence of God’s Spirit had to enter into the very heart of man and …
- impart the divine nature of God
2 Peter 1:4 ~ “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
- recreate his being completely
2 Corinthians 5:17 ~ “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Ephesians 4:23–24 ~ “and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 3:9–10 ~ “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
- live within his body, giving the believer the power to control his life for God and to courageously proclaim the gospel to a world that would consider it foolishness and often react in violence.
START, PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2025
THE MEANING OF BAPTISM
John Baptized with water, but Jesus baptized the the Holy Ghost and with fire. It has been said that individuals came dripping from the hands of John, but they came burning from the hands of Christ. The baptism with fire is not something separate and distinct from the baptism with the Spirit. The fire expresses the intensity and the power of the divine baptism. It means that a soul baptized with the Holy Spirit is a soul on fire, a soul consumed by the flames of Pentecost, a soul that has been changed!
The word baptize ordinarily means “to dip”; therefore, the believer is dipped in the Spirit. The word is sometimes used with reference to dipping garments to dye them. So the baptized man is one who is dyed through and through with the Spirit. He is Spirit-dipped, Spirit-saturated, Spirit-soaked and Spirit-drenched.
At the beginning of this message, let us understand that this baptism with the Holy Spirit, which is the crown and glory of Jesus’ ministry, it not just a historical experience or a memorial of past glory; it is a continuing ministry of Jesus Christ for believers today. Look back at John 1:33 and you see the word baptize is used. This word of linear force indicates that baptizing with the Spirit is a continuing part of Jesus’ ministry; He continues to baptize believers today. For those who say that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a thing of the past, not for today (I have even heard preachers/teachers say it is demonic), let’s look at what Jesus said …
ESV ~ John 14:16 ~ “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”
KJV ~ John 14:16 ~ “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”
AMP ~ John 14:16 ~ “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever”
The scripture is clear, the Holy Spirit, He is here to stay!!!
THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BAPTIZER
- Jesus and the Fullness of the Spirit
Christ received the fullness of the Spirit.
Luke 4:1 ~ “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness”
John 3:34 ~ “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.”
At the Baptism of Jesus, the Spirit descended upon Him and abode with Him. This was His anointing for the ministry. And it was by the power of the Spirit that Jesus carried out His ministry. Every phase of Jesus’ earthly life was intimately connected with the Spirit.
- Jesus and the Guidance of the Spirit
The Spirit is evident in the ministry of Christ from His baptism to His ascension. No part of His life, ministry or miracles can be divorced from the leadership of the Holy Spirit. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and after His wilderness temptation …
Luke 4:14 ~ “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.”
… He returned equipped for His work. No matter how brilliant, talented, polished, magnetic, no one can do God’s service effectively without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
- Jesus and the Anointing of the Spirit
Acts 10:38 ~ “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
When Christ was anointed with power, He went about doing good, doing God’s Will. The anointing motivated, actuated, and propelled Him to do God’s Will. Jesus acknowledged that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him and provided the anointing for Him to preach the gospel, to heal the sick, to bring deliverance to the captives, and it was through this same Spirit that brought all miracles and allowed Him to cast out devils.
Matthew 12:28 ~ “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
The coming the Holy Spirit was dependent upon the ascension, the exaltation and the glorification of Jesus Christ.
John 16:7 ~ “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 go, I will send him to you.”
His departure prepared the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He could not be with them in the fullest sense unless He departed from them. The choice lay between Christ in a bodily fashion or the divine Spirit capable of being universally present at all times. In the days of His flesh, He was limited by space and time. But His departure made possible the coming of the Spirit, who could be with the disciples constantly, everywhere, at all times. The Comforter, unbound by flesh, could be in an unlimited number of places at once, working miracles and doing the work of Christ. By His departure His local presence was changed into a universal presence.
THE EXALTATION OF THE BAPTIZER
In His humiliation, Christ longed for His original glory.
John 17:5 ~ “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
This was not a selfish desire, because He knew what it would mean to His disciples.
Luke 24:49 ~ “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
John 16:7 ~ “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 go, I will send him to you.”
He spoke of praying for and giving of the Holy Spirit …
John 14:16 ~ “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”
… and of sending the Holy Spirit.
John 15:26 ~ “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”
The culmination of Christ’s exaltation was the authority or power of baptizing with the Holy Ghost as was foretold by John the Baptist and announced by the Lord himself. When He ascended on high, He gave gifts unto men. The Spirit was Christ’s ascension gift to the church. It was this point that Peter drove home to the multitudes on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:33 ~ “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
THE BAPTISM AND THE BAPTIZER
The purpose of the advent of the Spirit was to empower believers to continue the ministry and works of Jesus Christ. The Spirit, who equipped Jesus for His mission equips, His disciples to carry on.
John 14:12 ~ “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
The baptism of the Spirit is a glorious baptism of divine energy. The Holy Spirit is to be to each of us what Christ would have been if He had remained among us and been our personal companion and guide.
The Spirit is come to give NOT a new revelation but an interpretation of the OLD revelation of the mystery of Christ’s birth, the wonder of His life, the glory of His cross, the miracle of His resurrection, the truth of His ascension and the reality of His return.
Let’s face it, there are those who are looking for a NEW revelation of Pentecost; however, it is not a new revelation that we need, but a back to the basics and a reaffirmation of the OLD revelation of Jesus Christ, which is ever new. Today, there is a great deal of talk about the church needing to be relevant … guess what? Jesus Christ is relevant to our times, to our youth, to our students, to our kids, to our young adults, to our middle aged and to our senior adults … Jesus Christ is relevant! Jesus has transcended every age, every time, every change. The theme of the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ. The Spirit came to glorify Jesus and to take Christ and show Him through us to the world.
Then, the next Sunday is Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, “The Truth About Easter”.
Pastor Andy Lambert
Call/Text: 205.642.8744 ext 101