10: The Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Part Two)

John the Baptist talked about the Messiah baptizing his people in the Holy Spirit. But so did Jesus, after his resurrection and before his ascension. And though the disciples were dull about a lot of things, they had the right idea about the Holy Spirit.

^{Acts 1:1}The first book I wrote was about everything Jesus began to do and teach ² until the day he was taken up into heaven. Before this, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Jesus told the apostles he had chosen what they should do. ³ After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the forty days after he was raised from the dead, and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God. ⁴ Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, “Wait here to receive the promise from the Father which I told you about. ⁵ John baptized people with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶ When the apostles were all together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, are you now going to give the kingdom back to Israel?”   ⁷ Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. ⁸ But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”  (New Century Version)

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which the disciples conclude is the gist of being baptized in the Spirit, was prophetically associated with the kingdom coming. Jesus was speaking to his disciples, after his resurrection, about the kingdom of God and about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so naturally they thought the kingdom might be coming immediately. Giving the kingdom “back to Israel” was their expectation of God’s next move, but Jesus put a pause on that.

If the kingdom was coming immediately, Jesus would have said so. Instead, he says the timing of that is up to God, suggesting that it will not come immediately. Yet, the Holy Spirit is going to come to them and with Him will come power to be witnesses to Jesus in a concentrically expanding space from Jerusalem. Something different about the kingdom is happening. Even though the king of the kingdom has come, and inexplicably been killed, but then raised to life, and even though the Spirit is going to be given, the kingdom is not yet. It is the last days of prophecy, but the length of those last days has been increased.

And witnessing or giving testimony to person and work is a priority. Jesus’ disciples need power from the Spirit to engage in this priority. Why do we need power?  We will see that the need for power is fourfold:

1. We need confidence in the truth of who Jesus is and what He teaches (and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth)
2. We need signs to confirm the truth we preach (miracles)
3. We need the ability to live the truth, a further confirmation in our witness that it is the truth
4. And we need conviction of truth in the lives of unbelievers whom God has called to salvation, because only God can convert someone, and God the Holy Spirit, Jesus told us, will bring that conviction (John 16:8-11)

^{John 16:8} When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.