New Salem Baptist Church

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

May 18, 2025

We saw last week that in addition to whole communities, and even whole nations, needing revival that God’s own children sometimes need revival. We saw three results of an enlivening by the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians:

• They will be more joyful.
• They will have greater contentment.
• And they will be empowered to fulfill their purpose of being witnesses to the truth of the gospel.

I don’t know about you, but I think that I could use more gladness in my life. I think I need to learn how to be more content in the same way that the apostle Paul learned how to be content. And I think that I need to be a more consistent witness to biblical truth, especially the gospel.

Do you feel these needs? If you do, then this message is for you! If enough of those in this church would experience an enlivening by the Spirit of the Living God, then the church as a whole will, too, be revived.

Last week we proved that two results of being filled with the Holy Spirit are gladness and contentment. We barely touched upon being witnesses to the truth. By God’s grace, today we will see how we can be bold witnesses.

Many Christians are fearful to share the gospel. It’s not right to allow apprehension to dissuade you from speaking the truth, but it happens all the time.

We need the power of the Spirit to energize us and overpower our timidity. This was the Lord’s promise to his first disciples:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”[1]

The Lord Jesus gave his disciples power to be witnesses. And the way he empowered them was by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Before we answer this question it is a good idea to consider what the baptism of the Spirit is not. It is sensible to do away with the misconceptions before going over the right conceptions.

[1] The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the receiving of the Holy Spirit when a person comes to faith in Christ. This is as common belief among those who are cessationists, that is, those who believe that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit are no longer operational.

However, this notion can easily be shown to be in error:

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”^[2]

Observe that this took place the same day that the women found the tomb empty and then spoke to the risen Lord as they left the tomb. Therefore, this took place before Pentecost. The disciples received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

[2] The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not that to which Paul refers in I Corinthians 12:

 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.^[3]

Here it is quite clear that the element into which we are baptized is the body, that is, the church. And the Holy Spirit is the agent who is doing the baptizing.

In stark contrast, when the baptism of the Holy Spirit is referenced, the disciples are baptized, that is, immersed, into the Spirit. The agent who doing the baptizing is the Lord Jesus (Luke 3;16).

The verse in First Corinthians refers to the Spirit baptizing us into the church and the baptism of the Holy Spirit as seen in Acts is the Lord Jesus immersing us in the Spirit. Different things!

[3] The evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is not exclusively speaking in tongues as some Pentecostal groups teach. It can be an evidence. But it is not the only one. One could be baptized in the Spirit and not speak in tongues.

Having dispelled mistaken notions, let us look more carefully at what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. In order to have power to be a witness we need the filling of the Holy Spirit.

These terms refer to the same thing: the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and the outpouring of the Spirit.

Regarding this, our Lords first promise is in Acts chapter one:

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”[4]

We see the fulfillment of this promise on the day of Pentecost:

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. ^[5]

Now we see that they were all “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, the expression, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” is an alternative expression for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. [6]

But, as I said during the misconceptions portion, tongues is not the only evidence:

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.[7]

So, we see that speaking the word of God with boldness is one of the manifestations of being filled with the Spirit. Do you lack boldness? Then seek to be filled with the Spirit!

[Application] Oh! How we need the Spirit of the Living God to empower us! How then do we receive it? I often give three things that I encourage you to put into practice what the word of God calls us to be or to do. There are only two things that we can do in the hope of being empowered from on high.

[1] The first thing that we must check about ourselves is whether we have a deep desire for righteousness. Maybe we did. Do you now?

Hear the words of our Lord:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.[8]

Hunger and thirst are the two strongest drives that a human being can have. If you doubt that then you probably have not fasted much. When you have not has fluids for a long while you not only get a strong desire to drink but it becomes a matter of life and death.

It is meaningful that our Lord used these words, hunger and thirst, to describe the desire that God has for our desire! It pleases God when our yearning for righteousness is as strong as the hunger of a starving man or the thirst of a laborer working under the hot sun.

Of course, it is so right to desire the Holy Spirit in abundance. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with righteousness because the Spirit is righteous.

Should we not desire gladness, contentment, and even a willingness to speak the truth? These are the very things that the Spirit brings! Thus, we should long for the Spirit! We should hunger and thirst for it!

So, first we check ourselves to see if we truly long for the Spirit.

[2] The second thing we must do, if we truly have the desire, is to ask for it.

There is an ultimately important passage in this regard. We considered this passage when I gave a message on prayer six weeks ago.[9] It is so applicable that we must revisit it.

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”[10]

Do you see how our Lord resolutely taught the importance of being persistent in prayer? When we considered verse 9 last time, I pointed out that the most accurate translation of that verse is as is seen in the New Living Translation (among others):

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9; NLT)

We cannot give up asking. This is our tendency. We pray for something for days, maybe weeks, maybe months, and we do not receive what we asked for, so we give up. Jesus is teaching us to not stop asking!

This is true of any yearning that we may have. But see how our Lord ends this section – ‘how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” His teaching on persistence is especially applicable to receiving the Spirit of God!

How often we ask will be determined by our hunger. Ask more than once per day!

“Lord, I don’t have as much gladness in my life as I would like and as you would like. I am not as content as I could be. Especially, Lord, I confess that I do not speak to others about your gift of salvation as I ought. I cannot work up these things in myself, so I need a greater supply of your Spirit! Fill me with your Spirit, Lord! Fill me, Lord, I implore!”

Some of us need reviving. Our church needs reviving. Let it begin with you. And when the Lord answers do not turn back but keep pressing on! And, be prepared for new things to happen to you and to our church.