Tag Archives: baptize

November 16, 2019 · 9:31 PM

Wind, Fire and Tongues: God’s Spirit In Us

God’s Holy Spirit is his invisible, personal, powerful presence in the world today. The Holy Spirit is not a mysterious impersonal energy force that binds the universe together. God’s Spirit is like Jesus, a co-equal and eternal part of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God’s Holy Spirit was active in the Old Testament as early as creation. Early in Genesis we read that God’s Spirit was hovering over the waters, then God spoke. Later, God’s Spirit empowered select individuals to prophesy and to lead his people. God promised that one day all his people, young and old, men and women, small and great, would be filled with his Spirit.

Jesus affirmed God’s Old Testament promise about the Holy Spirit. After his resurrection, he assured his followers that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, then he departed.

At the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, Jesus’ followers were waiting in Jerusalem as the Lord had instructed. Suddenly there came a noise from heaven like a rushing violent wind. Something like tongues of fire appeared, separating and resting on each of them. They were all filled with the Spirit and began speaking in other tongues.

At Pentecost, God portrayed the powerful presence of his Spirit in three important ways: wind, fire, and tongues. Earlier, Jesus told Nicodemus that God’s Spirit is like the wind. We cannot see the wind, but we see its effects. God’s Holy Spirit is invisible, but we can see the lives changed by his presence.

Wind also reminds us that air is necessary for life. We must breathe the air or die. In the same way that our physical bodies must have air to live, our souls require the presence of God’s Spirit, the wind of God, to give us life. Without the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit, our spirits are dead.

In addition to wind, God’s Spirit was portrayed as fire. When God brought the Hebrews out of bondage in Egypt, his presence led them at night, appearing like a pillar of fire. When the glory of the Lord settled on Mt. Sinai, at the presentation of the 10 Commandments, God’s glory appeared to the people as a consuming fire.

Our God is a consuming fire. The fire of his holy presence burns away all that is corrupt and sinful. God’s Spirit refines us, making us pure and holy as he is holy.

The final representation of God’s Spirit at Pentecost was tongues. In the Old Testament it was common for people to prophesy when God’s Spirit came on them, to speak the word of God boldly, giving the people supernatural revelations from heaven.

At Pentecost, Jesus’ followers miraculously spoke in languages from throughout the world, languages they never knew before. This amazed Jews who were in Jerusalem from various countries. They all heard Galilean followers of Jesus speaking in their various native languages.

Jesus’ followers at Pentecost spoke the mighty deeds of God boldly and openly. The tongue is an appropriate symbol for God’s Spirit because he enables God’s people to speak the wonderful things of God in a powerful manner.

God’s Holy Spirit is our wind, fire, and tongue. He gives us new life (eternal life), he refines us (makes us holy), and he enables us to speak boldly for the Lord (witnessing). What a blessing it is to have God’s Spirit in our lives!

May God’s Spirit always inspire and empower us,

Brother Richard

Why Are We Baptists?

Why do we baptize? First, Jesus was baptized and we want to be like Jesus. In addition, Jesus commands his followers to baptize, and we want to obey Jesus. But what is the meaning of baptism?

After his resurrection, Jesus instructed his followers to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He commanded not merely any type of baptism, but a certain kind of baptism, a baptism that recognizes the Bible’s revelation of God as three in one. In other words, Christian baptism.

Baptism in the New Testament starts with John the Baptist. John’s listeners were familiar with the Old Testament laws about using water in certain rituals for spiritual cleansing, but John’s baptism went further.

John’s was a baptism of repentance. He called on people to turn away from disobedience against God. He baptized those who responded by immersing them in the Jordan River, signifying a comprehensive spiritual cleansing, a radical life change.

John insisted that his baptism was merely preparation for a greater baptism, one which would come through a greater messenger. “I baptize you with water for repentance,” John said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

When Jesus appeared, John recognized him as the one sent by God, the one John was preparing the people to receive. Like John, Jesus also preached repentance, calling on people to turn away from a lifestyle of disobeying God.

But Jesus went beyond John. Jesus provided forgiveness for disobedience by sacrificing himself on the cross as a sin offering. And Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, sending God’s Holy Spirit to empower his followers with a new life that is pleasing to God and fruitful for his kingdom.

John’s words were fulfilled in the Early Church. Baptism in Jesus’ name is a sign of receiving God’s Holy Spirit, the invisible, personal, powerful presence of God. God’s Spirit is a fire that purifies the life of the believer, a lifelong process of being changed into the image of Christ.

The symbolic meaning of Christian baptism is elegantly and powerfully communicated in Romans 6: Believers are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life. This demonstrates that Christian baptism is by immersion. It is a picture of death and resurrection, the old life of sin is buried and dead, the believer is raised to walk in a new life.

Finally, John, Jesus, and the Early Church all baptized only those who responded by faith to their message. Baptism is for believers. Baptizing those whom we hope will believe in the future creates a group mixed with believers and unbelievers. The Church consists of believers.

So Christian baptism is a symbolic act done by immersion to everyone who has exercised saving faith in God’s Son Jesus, which begins with repentance. It is a public act affirming that the person is a new creation, forgiven and reconciled to God the Father, sealed and empowered by the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

“Baptist” is a name that was given generations ago to those who dared to practice Christian baptism even though it was out of step with the institutional churches of the day. Baptists have endured and thrived because our faith and practice is built firmly on the immovable rock of God’s eternal truth.

May the fire of God’s Holy Spirit purify us for God’s service and God’s glory,

Brother Richard

What Is A Disciple?

Jesus has given us a great mission. We are to make disciples of all peoples. But what is a disciple? Jesus’ instructions help answer that question.

First, he says that we should baptize disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. So disciples are baptized believers. To make disciples, we bring people to saving faith in Jesus and baptize them.

Next, Jesus says that we are to teach disciples to obey all that he has instructed us. Disciples are learners. But they are not just learning information. They are learning to obey. Disciples don’t just know Jesus’ teachings, they apply Jesus’ teachings to everyday life. To make disciples, we instruct them in living the Christian life.

So far, so good. But can we be more specific? In our personal evangelism classes, we use a working definition of “disciple” so that we know what we are trying to accomplish. Here it is: A disciple is a baptized believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who is attending Sunday school regularly. Now that definition is simple, but it gives us something objective to shoot for.

Once disciples are made, they begin to grow spiritually. How do we define a mature disciple? Our definition must be more comprehensive. First, a mature follower of Jesus will attend church regularly. For Grace Baptist, that is Sunday school, Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening discipleship, Wednesday evening prayer (or working with children), and any other ministry activities that are necessary.

Second, a mature follower of Jesus finds a place of service in the church and serves faithfully. Many opportunities for service are available: Sunday school teachers, greeters, musicians, children’s workers, cooks, counters, property maintenance, drivers, and much more.

Next, a mature follower of Jesus gives tithes and offerings to the local church.

Also, a mature follower of Jesus reaches out to people outside the church, looking for open doors of ministry, looking for opportunities to talk about Jesus. Part of being a disciple is making disciples, that is, helping others come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Finally, a mature follower of Jesus is someone who faithfully attends to personal spiritual disciplines, like reading the Bible, prayer, worship, and fasting. These disciplines are spiritual sustenance to followers of Jesus. Without a steady diet of Christian spiritual disciplines, a follower of Jesus will be spiritually anemic.

So our goal is for every follower of Jesus to be faithfully attending, serving, giving, sharing and growing in Christ. All of this is done in the local church. We grow toward maturity in Christ together, in fellowship, a fellowship which provides the encouragement and accountability that each of us needs.

Making disciples is an ongoing mission. These goals are never finished in this life. No individual believer reaches perfection in this age. We always have room for growth. And, no local church should ever stop reaching new souls for Jesus. Those new believers must then be grown toward maturity. And God’s kingdom advances.

So, let’s be disciples and make disciples!

May God’s Spirit inspire and enable us to do great things for his kingdom,

Brother Richard Foster

Tag Archives: baptize

Wind, Fire and Tongues: God’s Spirit In Us

Why Are We Baptists?

What Is A Disciple?

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