Baptism with Spirit and Fire
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. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3.11–17
John the Baptist is introduced to us in Matthew 3 with the full force of his personality. Although his name is rather common, there is everything uncommon about John the Baptist. He dresses in the unusual clothing of camel’s hair and he wears a leather belt around his waist. His eating habits were stranger, still; wild honey and wild locusts. My guess is that the honey helped get the locusts down.
Yet, as odd as he appears, there are 2 things that are absolutely true about John. He passionately devoted his life to knowing God and preparing others to know Him. Even before his birth, the angels made this clear to his father, Zechariah…
…for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (16) And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, (17) and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. Luke 1.15-17
According to Luke 1.15, John was filled with the Holy Spirit, while still in his mother’s body. His life would be absorbed with godly passion and his ministry would come reflect the spirit and the power of Elijah and turn the hearts of people back to the Lord.
John’s message was simple. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. By some estimates, John’s ministry reached as many as 1 million people, who left their towns and cities to hear the message. It penetrated their hearts. Multitudes repented and were baptized by John in the Jordan.
The weathered prophet knew the fallen condition of the human heart, their separation from God. His heart beat for them to turn back to God.
As much as he loved the conversion of a person’s heart, he hated the one barrier to that could keep a person’s heart at a distance from the Lord – their sin. John’s baptism was a simple immersion in water and he required a public confession of sins. No class of people escaped the sharp edge of his preaching – the religious and the irreligious, the rich and the poor, the civilian and the soldiers.
The prophet had laser insight into the secrets of men’s hearts and penetrated even the facades of the well-respected, robe-clad Pharisees. Addressing them as a brood of vipers probably might indicate that he was NOT a big fan. He had no tolerance for inauthentic, phony spirituality that left people separated from God and drowning in self-righteousness.
However, when Jesus came to be baptized, John saw something so overwhelming that even he responded with deep conviction. John’s life becomes a lesson for us to see what it takes to connect with The Holy Spirit; attraction, permission, and revelation.
Attraction.
As Jesus stands before Him, He sees into the heart of someone very different from the thousands upon thousands of people, who came to him to be baptized. In Jesus, John sees no sin, no lustful thought, no overpowering ego, and no lies. He sees a purity, a holiness that compels his response. I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
John knew what Jesus was coming to do. 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 (11).
This prophet, this seer of the true condition of people’s hearts saw Jesus and it humbled him, broke him, attracted Him. The waters of Jordan could not wash him, as could the purity and holiness that emanated from Jesus. It took his breath away and consumed his attention. I need to be baptized by You!
Over time, in our journey, we tend to rely on our strength or other people’s strength. Sure, there were occasional trials and we would find comfort and hope in prayer and then return to independent, self-reliance. We can teach because we’re good teachers. We can worship because we’re good worshipers. We give great advice because we’re good counselors.
And, perhaps the subtlest of temptations creeps in to take us captive and we don’t even realize it. We compare ourselves with others and either raise or lower our sense of righteousness and spirituality along a sliding scale of flawed humanity.
We may think we have spiritual gifts, we may presume we are holy, we may rejoice with human successes, but until we see Christ and abandon our reliance upon our self-righteousness, all we will ever have, at best, is religion. But when we truly get a glimpse of ourselves in the presence of the Holy One, the awareness of our insufficiency increases and our desperate plea for His redeeming fullness grows.
Pharisees had the honor and respect of others because they were better at religion. John can see hundreds of thousands of people repent in his ministry because he is a powerful preacher. But somehow, when Jesus shows up, His holy presence compels us to beg from Him what we do not have. I need to be baptized by You!
And He is willing to baptize, to fill your life with the consuming, transforming Spirit of God!
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. John 3.34
This is the prayer that revives. Today, that same prayer, will prove revolutionary in your life. Baptize me with Your Spirit! Immerse me. Fill me. That request can connect you to His purpose, change the course of your life, break the chains of binding habits, remove the barriers to Christ-filled living, empower you to serve Him.
Steven Olford said, “Revival is ultimately Christ Himself, seen, felt, heard, living, active, moving in and through His body on earth.”
If revival depended on you — your prayers, your faith, your obedience — would your church ever experience revival? It is the awakening of a church, a nation – I need to be baptized by You! Let us grasp this truth and cling to it with a desperate grip. We can be so eager to do things FOR God, but never surrender our hearts and lives full TO God. He doesn’t want what we can do. He wants us to be filled with His Spirit and the fire of His Holy Presence.
Permission.
John’s reluctance is understandable. He knows that Jesus has no reason to repent. In John’s Gospel, the same account, John the Baptist said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1.29
Paul writes in 2Corinthians 5.21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” He could see that Jesus takes away the sin of the world. Sin could not be removed from Him!
The Greek verb is in an imperfect tense (διεκώλυεν) and suggests a lingering discomfort by John –“he kept trying to prevent Him.” I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?
How does Jesus respond?
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. Matthew 3.15
Let it be so now (ἀφίημι); it means permit this, allow this. At it’s root it means to abandon. Abandon your reluctance and allow this. John this is the right thing. This is part of God’s plan. This is righteousness. You must permit it and fulfill what God has called both of us to do in this very moment. Jesus understood John’s reluctance and knew that it came from deep spiritual commitment and sincerity. He gave permission for John to do what, without divine instruction, he would never have been willing to do. And what does John do? “Then he consented (ἀφίημι);” same word; he abandoned his apprehension and permitted this to take place in his life.
Jesus came into the world to identify with men; and to identify with men is to identify with sin. He could not purchase righteousness for mankind if He did not identify with mankind’s sin. Jesus’ baptism also represented the willing identification of the sinless Son of God with the sinful people He came to save. In this act Jesus took His place among the sinners of the world. John this is the right thing to do. Permit this. Obey me in this way.
John’s obedience would further God’s redemptive plan. It would connect Jesus to a lost humanity that He came to save. The same is true for us. The very place we obey Jesus can become a place of partnership with Jesus where His life begins to touch others.
What do you need to permit Jesus to do in your life? Our impediments and preventions is simple disobedience, but inviting His Lordship through obedience is a partnership of faith that pleases God and is instrumental in His mission. With obedience comes…
Revelation.
The heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming to rest on him. It is somewhat confusing as to who saw what. Was it Jesus who saw the Spirit of God descending upon Himself. Apparently, John saw what Jesus saw, but apparently no one else witnessed it.
And John bore witness. “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. (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.’ (34) And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” John 1.32-34
This was a revelation for John. It was both confirming and revealing. Until this, John had preached in faith and acted in obedience. This powerful revelation confirmed and revealed Jesus to John in fullness of glory. A fresh revelation of Jesus in your life and mine only comes when we obey Him.
Do you need direction from God? Clarification about His will? Obey him now. Permit His activity in your life now. Sometimes obedience begins with a surrendered, compliant heart.
Each follower of Jesus has an example of a reconnected spiritual life in John the Baptist. Matthew 11.7-11… John was rather raw and untamed about his faith.
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Matthew 11.7–11
Scripture shows us a man consumed with a passion to know God personally and to turn the hearts of men to God. Jesus seems to be saying, “What kind of person were you looking for in John? A reed shaken in the wind, someone so completely shaped by the ever-changing, God-defying winds of society? Someone dressed to impress the religiously elite, in fine clothes? None of these; you saw a prophet, a messenger of God. And more than a prophet; you saw the greatest man, who had ever been born.”
But notice verse 11…
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
In other words, those, who come after Jesus are expected to exceed the God-pleasing, God-appointed life of John the Baptist. Jesus opens up the floodgates of possibilities for those, who see their life in Him. John’s extraordinary life would be joined, even exceeded by those, who will follow Jesus!
Breath fills our lungs. Water fills our thirsts. Fire consumes its fuel. The Holy Spirit is experienced; not debated like a theological idea.
A.W. Tozer wrote in In Pursuit of God
“It will be a new day for us when we put away false notions and foolish fears and allow the Holy Spirit to fellowship with us as intimately as He wants to do, to talk to us as Christ talked to His disciples by the sea of Galilee. After that there can be no more loneliness, only the glory of the never-failing Presence.”
Our lives in Christ should live beyond a tamed, domesticated faith. To know God in the Scriptures must go beyond information to genuine intimacy. We need to read God’s Word, but we also need to hear God’s voice. We need to remember God’s promises, but we need to pray and live and receive those promises. We need to know the God of the Bible, but we also need to experience the God of the Bible.
Lord Jesus, I need to be baptized by You!