And Part 2 - The Holy Spirit & Water Baptism
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. —John 14:16,18
- The Father sent the Son, and the Son
- Jesus intends for us to live with the power and
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” —Acts 1:8
Witness in two ways:
a) Character, the Fruit of the Spirit - building the kingdom
b) Power, the Gifts of the Spirit - releasing the kingdom
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. —Matthew 28:18-20
- Identity is a
- The Holy Spirit is involved in every facet of our spiritual life, especially our
- The Holy Spirit
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. —John 10:10
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, —Romans 8:15-16
- The Holy Spirit shows us
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are
. —Isaiah 43:1b
Water baptism helps us in at least three main ways as we obey the command of Jesus:
a. We
b. We
c. The Holy Spirit
- Baptism is a
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: “I am
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” —John 1:19-34
1. John the Baptist’s Identity (“…Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself” John 1:22, NLT)?
• John then responded that he was a voice crying in the wilderness announcing the Messiah. He knew who he was and what his role was.
2. Jesus’s Identity (“Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” 1:29, NLT)!
And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” —Matthew 3:17
- We see the tempter came to challenge his identity! Jesus responded with “It is written” and
3. Our Identity (“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” Matt 28:19, NLT).
- Just as the Holy Spirit was present at the baptism of Jesus, confirming His identity, so also is the Spirit
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
The children of Israel passing through the Red Sea pictures water baptism:
- It created a
- It
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —II Corinthians 5:17