Witnesses of Christ and the Promised Spirit

Presented Himself alive by many infallible proofs

1. Jesus Christ did not merely say that He was going to resurrect; rather, He demonstrated it

2. He showed Himself by infallible proofs so that there would be no doubt in their mind that He had risen

3. These proofs were unmistakable and convincing in a decisive manner

   1. Christ continued to show Himself to the apostles over a span of 40 days

   2. The infallible proof was not the tombstone being moved, nor was it predicated entirely on emotion, but through the infallible proof of Jesus literally showing Himself to them (Luke 24:33-43)

   3. These proofs would be unmistakable because

      1. They were intimately familiar with Christ; thus, they would know who He was

      2. He appeared to all eleven of the apostles; it would be very unlikely to deceive all eleven of them

      3. Christ was with them for forty days; this would be plenty of time to notice deception

4. They were not merely accepting something that they wanted to believe (this went against their original thoughts, not something that they conspired together).

   1. The reality is that even the apostles of Christ were not fully convinced of the words of Christ after His death (Matthew 16:21-23)

   2. While Christ was on earth, teaching them of these things, they did not believe, understand, or want to believe what He was saying.

   3. Luke 24:10-11 and Mark 16:10-14: Christ rebukes them for not believing those who had come and given the report of His resurrection

   4. Thomas demanded empirical evidence (John 20:24-29)

   5. These infallible proofs would make it undeniable for the witnesses to not understand what they have witnessed

5. The eyewitnesses were not only the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

   1. Christ died, was buried, and rose according to the Scriptures

   2. They saw Christ alive; 500 of them at the time when Paul is writing this states that most of them were still alive

The operation of the Holy Spirit is greatly misunderstood today

1. One person said that they have the Holy Spirit just as Paul did; therefore, she did not need the words of Paul because she was just as inspired as he was

2. Some people believe that they cannot become a Christian unless the Holy Spirit forcefully comes upon an individual and forces them to be a Christian – a Calvinist belief known as Irresistible grace

3. Doctrines are taught that they were first inwardly baptized by the Holy Spirit, and then they are baptized in water as an outward expression of a saving inward baptism

4. To have a proper understanding of the Holy Spirit baptism today, we have to look at what God promised concerning the Holy Spirit, and the predictions of the Holy Spirit.

Prediction of the Holy Spirit Baptism

1. The mention of the promise of the Holy Spirit baptism is first referenced in Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33

2. In these first four verses, John the Baptist is anticipating a time when Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit

3. Joel 2:28-32 prophesies the event that in these last days the Spirit will fall upon them

   1. This prophecy is foundational to understanding the Spirit in the New Testament

   2. We cannot look at the reception of the Spirit in the book of Acts without taking into consideration to the foundational passage that this is

4. Christ characterizes the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the promise of the Father in Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4

   1. This was predicted by John the Baptist

   2. It was prophesied by the prophet Joel

   3. It was promised by Jesus Christ

Purpose and Fulfillment

1. The Purpose was miraculous in nature

   1. John 15:27 – the apostles would bear witness because they had been with Christ from the beginning (which goes with Acts 1:8

   2. John 14:26 - would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance everything Jesus had said to them.

   3. John 16:13: they would be brought into all truth

2. The Fulfillment of this promise

   1. After Christ ascends into glory with a glorified body

      1. Passages in John do not explicitly state “Holy Spirit baptism”; however, the context is in regard to the coming of the Comforter (which is the Spirit, John 14:26)

      2. Jesus informed them that He must ascend up into glory before they can receive the Spirit (John 16:7); Jesus anticipates this being a reality when He ascended back into heaven in Acts 1:10-11

   2. Acts 2:1-4: they are going to receive the Holy Spirit and begin speaking in other languages

   3. Acts 2:17f Peter states that this is that day which was spoken of by the prophet Joel.

Who the Holy Spirit baptism was for

1. Jesus promised it directly to the apostles in Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, 8

2. Cornelius would be the only other case where someone is going to be directly baptized in the Spirit by Christ

3. Acts 10:44: As Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on them, and they began to speak in tongues and magnify God

4. Acts 11:4 Peter responds to a contentious crowd and expounds to them what happened, giving them an orderly account of everything that happened with the inclusion of the Gentiles into the body of Christ.

5. Acts 11:15 Peter states, “As I began to speak,” the Spirit fell on them as it did upon us at the beginning

The baptism of the Spirit would be when they are directly baptized by God Himself

1. The apostles, when they were baptized in the Spirit, had the ability to give miraculous gifts to others through the laying on of hands

2. It was possible for someone to be saved without the Holy Spirit falling upon any of them (Acts 8:12-17 – The Holy Spirit had not fallen upon any of them)

3. If the baptism of the Great Commission—to be preached and practiced till the end of the world—is essential to one’s salvation, and if Holy Spirit baptism is not essential to one’s salvation, then it is clear that the baptism of the Great Commission is not Holy Spirit baptism… If it is the case that there is ONE baptism, and if it is the case that the baptism of the Great Commission is water baptism, and if it is the case that the baptism of the Great Commission is for all time—from Pentecost of Acts 2 to the end of time—then (1) it is the case that the one baptism (of Eph. 4:5) is WATER baptism, and (2) it is the case that there is now no such thing as Holy Spirit baptism” (Roy Deaver, The Spiritual Sword, 5:3, 29-33; emphasis supplied).

4. This account disproves Pentecostal denominations

This was a promise and not a command

1. You cannot obey a promise; it is a declaration or assurance that someone will do something, give something, or bring something about in the future.

2. A command is something that you do.

The miraculous gifts of the Spirit were for a specific purpose and time

1. Hebrews 2:3-4 to confirm the word of God

2. Mark 16:16-20 to confirm the word of God

They were going to be done away with when the fulness of truth has come (1 Corinthians 13:8f)

1. Contextually, they were dividing based upon who baptized them and the point is made that they are going to go away

2. Love is what is going to hold the church together after these gifts have ceased

3. the in part, partial revelatory

   1. Process through the miraculous gifts would cease. Contextually, the “perfect” refers to the completed revelation of God’s will. When God’s will was revealed in its totality, the miraculous gifts, which were the vehicles of inspired revelation, would cease to operate in the church. Consequently, no one today possesses a miraculous gift or performs any miracles characteristic of the first-century church. Those who maintain that spiritual gifts continue to reside among God’s people today falsely imply that God’s revelation was never fully completed. This, then, makes Jesus tell a falsehood when he states the apostles would be guided into all truth (John 16:13)

   2. The perfect would be the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25)

   3. If this was going to be up until the point that Jesus was going to come back that would leave no room for Paul’s words to come to fruition