Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith. The baptism of the Holy Spirit places all who believe in Jesus into a new community, a fellowship of those indwelt by the Spirit as evidence of their new birth in Christ.
Some see the baptism as a special anointing whose mark is speaking in tongues. Today, what the Bible says. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Wind with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, what will you say to those who've never spoken in tongues and feel left out?
Well, you know, Dave, the answer to that question I think is coming up in the message that I'm about to preach. we have to understand that the purpose of tongues, as I point out scripturally, is to show to people that the gospel of Jesus Christ is now going to go forth in all the different languages of the world. And that'll become clear even as I expound the second chapter of the book of Acts and other passages in Corinthians. I'm so glad for the many of you who join us. We here at Running to Win delight in the fact that we have partners who pray for us.
and I cannot over exaggerate the importance for you to uphold us in prayer as we continue with this ministry. But also, I'm so thankful for the many of you who support us financially. I realize that not all of you are able to do that, but if God has laid this ministry on your heart, would you connect with us? Right now, we're in the middle of a matching gift challenge. That means that any gift that you give will be doubled.
What an opportunity to give. Can I give you some contact info very quickly? You can go to rtwoffer.com. or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-18. Mm-hmm.
9337. Yeah. Would you join me, please? as we pray together. Father, we ask very specifically that you will help us to understand what Jesus meant.
When he said, I in them, and thou in me, and they in us. Help us to understand that terminology in a new way. And pray that it will be transforming for us as the Holy Spirit of God. has his way. We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen. Perhaps you've not heard of the names Ira and Ann Yates. But they were a couple in the 1920s who lived in West Texas. And they were on a farm that was not doing very well at all. In fact, they wondered whether or not they'd be able to pay their mortgage.
And so they were having hard times wondering whether or not they'd have to give up their land because of the financial pressure that they experienced. But on a whim, Mr. Yates decided to invite the Transcontinental Oil Company to come to their farm. and drilled to see whether or not they had any oil.
Well, as it turns out, a thousand feet down under the ground, they discovered one of the greatest. caches of oil That has ever been found here in the United States. It's my understanding that it is so. Millions and millions of barrels. In fact, I checked it on Wikipedia this past week, and if I read it correctly, they still are pumping.
Oil out of this gusher. What a marvelous find beneath the soil. As I think about that, I can't help but think that we are sitting on tremendous wealth, the wealth of the Holy Spirit. and the freedom of his ministry. What a tragedy it is if we find ourselves spiritually poor, unable to function, and not.
Understanding and entering into the blessed work of the Holy Spirit of God, whose intention is to help us transform us. and make us the kind of people that we ought to be. I've been reading the book of Acts this week and I come across phrases like this: And the early disciples walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort. of the Holy Spirit. I meditated on that phrase, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, or one like this: and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
And of course we know, as we shall discover, that one of the most indisputable marks of the work of the Spirit is joy indeed. Let me ask you a question because this series of messages is not intended to simply fill your mind with truth. Let me ask you a question. If you've been here before and you've been listening to these messages, Have you connected with the Holy Spirit of God this week? Is there something that you did this week that is attributable not to your natural talent and ability, but something happened because the Holy Spirit of God worked in you?
I like what Jim Symbolus says. When we walk in the Spirit, he says, we are able to do that which is beyond. ourselves. And today we're going to learn that the Holy Spirit wants to do something in us that is very much. beyond ourselves.
The title of this message is actually The Gift of Community. And that might seem like a strange topic in light of the fact that what I want to do is to speak to you today about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But it won't be long in this message until you will see the direct connection between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and community, community, communing with Christ and with one another. That's what the baptism is all about, as we shall discover when we open God's Word. And I have to say that when I talk about the baptism of the Spirit, Unfortunately, there's a lot of confusion and a lot of misconceptions in people's minds about it.
And there are two reasons for that. Number one, because oftentimes it is confused with the filling of the Holy Spirit.
So somebody who really has an experience with God and God's intimacy is upon them and they experience the Holy Spirit in a new way.
Sometimes they talk about it as being the baptism of the Spirit. The famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who founded this church so many years ago, I believe that he used that terminology. Moody said that he was walking one day in New York City, and it seemed as if the Holy Spirit came upon him so powerfully that he went to some friends and asked if he could be in a room alone. And he said, as a result of that, As a result of that, he said, his ministry was changed as he had unbelievable intimacy.
With God. And I believe, I didn't check it, but if I remember correctly, he called it the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think Moody would have been more accurate if he had called it the filling of the Spirit or renewing the filling of the Spirit. because the terminology can get a bit confusing. Then let me say that another reason why people are confused about it is because it is so often associated with tongues.
and speaking in tongues, and you can understand why. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus said in verse 5, the Holy Spirit shall baptize you not many days from now. And then you read Acts 2 and discover that they're speaking with tongues, and so people say, well, it was really the baptism of the Spirit.
Now, what I'm going to do in the next few moments, please pay very careful attention. Because we are going to look at this biblically, and you must understand. Before we get to the implications, which are really huge and momentous and involve you and me. We just need to do a little bit of spade work regarding terminology. When the Holy Spirit of God, and if you have your Bibles, would you turn to Acts chapter 2?
Because we're going to be beginning there. In Acts chapter 2, that remarkable chapter. But what you must understand even as you turn to it is this. That when the Holy Spirit came at the day of Pentecost, There were many different ministries of the Spirit. The disciples certainly were baptized by the Holy Spirit.
They were filled with the Spirit, and no doubt they also received the sealing of the Spirit. which we're going to discuss in another message in this series. They received all of that, so please keep in mind we just must keep the ministries of the Spirit separate and use biblical terminology.
Now with that, notice in Acts chapter 2, it says this. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and filled the entire house where they were sitting. and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them. and rested on each one of them And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now, you'll notice that if anything, The Filling of the Spirit is what produced the tongues, not the baptism of the Spirit.
Now we know that the Spirit of God baptized them at that point, and in a few moments I'll tell you what that looked like and what that is, but for now just notice it says they were filled with the Spirit.
So if anything, it isn't the baptism that produces tongues, it's the filling that produces tongues, the filling of the Spirit. We must keep these ministries distinct.
Now, I referred to this passage in an earlier message, and I don't want to go over that material again, except to say this. As some of you know, I believe that we can show from the New Testament that this special gift of tongues was a special gift at that time showing that from now on the gospel is going to go to all the different Gentile nations. And that these were actual languages that people spoke. If you read the next few verses in Acts chapter 2, you'd discover that all the dialects are actually mentioned from the different countries of the world. And so I believe that this gift, which was exercised in this transitional period in the first century, It's interesting that it always is connected with showing that the gospel is going no longer simply to the Jews, but to the wider culture.
And that was its dramatic process. purpose. But it is interesting that after the transition is made, the gift of tongues basically dies out. All throughout the centuries of church history, but it reappears early in the 20th century as something entirely different.
Now it isn't languages that are spoken, it is an ecstatic utterance, it is some kind of heavenly language, it's not an actual language that linguists could translate, it's something else. And from there on, you have different versions. There are those who say that they go into this trance, they don't know what they're saying, others say that it's It is something else that they do know they're saying. That is a huge discussion. And whether or not that really is the biblical gift of tongues or something else.
I'm not prepared at this point to go into that discussion, except to say that the New Testament gift was actual languages. This appears to be something quite different.
So the point is this, though, don't miss it, that at the day of Pentecost, clearly they were baptized by the Spirit, because Jesus predicted they would be. And they were also filled with the Spirit, and as I mentioned, very probably, obviously, also sealed with the Spirit. All those ministries took place on that very, very special day.
Now with that background, what we're going to do is to look at the most important verse in the New Testament on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You know, the book of Acts is that transitional book, so you have these various experiences and terms that are perhaps used, and we don't know exactly sometimes what was meant. And the reason that we turn to the writings of the New Testament by Paul and Peter and James is because they were led of God to explain. What otherwise might be left somewhat unclear in a book like Acts. And so we go to the clearest verse, and from there, it explains a lot.
The clearest verse in the New Testament regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit is actually found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
Now, You can turn to that if you wish, 1 Corinthians 12, but also keep your finger in Acts 2 because we're going to see what the baptism produced. And for that, we are going to go to the experience of the early church in Acts chapter 2. But here now we finally understand what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is all about. You'll notice it says chapter 12, verse 12. For just as the body is one and has many members, And all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit, or in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slave or free. And all were made to drink Of one Spirit. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? The baptism of the Spirit is the work of God by which, when we believe on Christ, We become members of the body. of Christ.
That's why You'll notice that the Apostle Paul says that it's true of all Christians who have believed on Christ.
Now, there were carnal Christians in Corinth, but Paul didn't say.
Now, the baptism of the Spirit, those of you who are spiritual, you've received it, but some of you carnal people haven't. No, if they were converted by the Holy Spirit. And by the way, what that means. The conviction of the Spirit and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. That's the next message in this series, so don't miss it.
But the point is that Paul didn't say that some of you have the baptism, but others of you don't. No, he says, by one Spirit are we all, as believers, baptized into one body. That's why in the New Testament you never have a command to be baptized by the Spirit. I said that once to one of my friends who is in the modern tongues movement. I said, show me a text.
Where it says, I'm to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. He admitted, of course, that there was no such text. Why? Because. It is a gift that God gives to all who believe, and they become members of the body of Jesus Christ.
That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Now, there's a command to be filled with the Spirit. We'll talk about that at a later time, but no command to be baptized by the Spirit. The bottom line is this. Jesus said on one occasion, isn't this beautiful? Jesus said in John 14, He said, the day is coming when the Spirit of God comes, and he says, when that happens, I will be in you.
We all know that. We're indwelt by the Spirit if we belong to God. I will be in you, and you will be in. Me, that's the baptism of the Spirit. We are baptized into Christ.
Now The implications are huge. When you and I are born, we are born according to the Bible in Adam. That is to say that Adam is our father. Adam is the one to whom we have loyalty. It becomes a symbol in the New Testament to the flesh, to the old life.
To who we are as sinners. That's Adam out here. And now the Bible says, and by the way, that little expression, in Christ, that we are in Christ. I haven't counted them, but I've been told it occurs perhaps almost a hundred times in the New Testament. We are now in Christ.
We are in Christ. And that gives us two things. Number one, an entirely different obligation. We are no longer obligated to serve Adam with all of his desires and sins. You understand the symbolism.
We have no longer any obligation to do that. But now we have the privilege of serving Christ because we belong to Christ. But furthermore, belonging to Christ and being in Christ.
Now is the real core of our identity. That's who you are. You're somebody who belongs to Jesus and you are in Jesus. Jesus The difference between being in Adam and being in Christ is huge. If you die in Adam, The Bible says you die in your sins.
If you die as a believer, you die in Christ, in the Lord. Two different lifestyles, two different eternities. Wow. all because of Jesus Christ. Have you learned to pray before you get out of bed?
I hope you do. I've told you before that before I roll out a bed in the morning, When I'm just reminding myself that there's a day ahead of me, I try not to think of all the things I have to do. Number one, at my age, I can't remember them all. I have to look at a list.
So there's no use. But what I do is, I do pray, as I did this morning, Lord, glorify yourself in my life today at my expense. I hope that you pray that every morning. But secondly, What you should also do is pray and thank God that your core identity is you aren't a banker, you aren't a teacher, you aren't even a mother or a father. Your core identity.
is somebody who is in Christ and belongs to him. That is really who you are. Thanks. to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. who put us into Christ.
So the first thing we learn about the baptism is it unites us. It unites us. With Jesus Christ. And by the way, you know, I made this reference to praying? Do it.
Do it. Learn to thank God before you get out of bed as to who you are and say, I thank you, Lord Jesus, that I belong to you. I thank you that I am in you, and that is the core of who I am as a redeemed person. And begin your day that way. you'll find out it'll go much better.
After that.
So first of all, it unites us to Christ. Secondly, it unites us to each other. You'll notice what the text says. In 1 Corinthians. We are baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, overcomes all racial distinctions.
You are no longer fundamentally a Jew or fundamentally a Greek. You belong to Christ. Slaves are free. That a slave is just as much a member of Jesus Christ's body. As the free man, the poor is just as much a member of Jesus Christ's body as the rich, slave or free, all such distinctions.
Later on in the book of Galatians, Paul says, thanks to the baptism of the Spirit, That there is no femininity or masculinity. It's not a matter of being male or female. We are one in Christ, connected to each other. Understandably so. Because when you stop to think of it, Jesus is the head of the church.
We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And you'll notice that my hands are connected to the same life. and the same system of life as my head or my toes, we are members of the body of Jesus Christ, therefore of necessity members one of another. We belong to each other. You know, I've noticed this.
It's been my privilege on a couple of occasions to. To be in different parts of the world, even in places where they speak a different language. And in many instances, I've preached through an interpreter. But it's wonderful to know that when you meet another believer in no matter what part of the world it may be, Instantly and intuitively By the Spirit there is a bond that you sense. of oneness with this person.
because we share the same life.
Okay. My friend, my own heart rejoices even as I ponder the fact that we share the life of Jesus Christ one with another as believers. You know, speaking about being in different countries, did you know that running to win is in 50 different countries in seven different languages? Very quickly I have in my hands a letter from someone who listens in Arabic. This person says I'm a pastor in a rural area in this primarily Arabic-speaking country.
Your teaching challenged my congregation to examine what we are clinging to. Let me ask you a question. Would you pray about helping us even as we continue to expand this ministry? We are right in the middle of a matching gift challenge. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy so that you can write down this info.
you can go to rtwoffer.com. That's RTW Offer. Of course, RTW Offer is all one word. rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-888 218 9337. My friend, you are a part of the testimony that I have just read.
Thank you. Right now, go to RTW Offer. You can write to us at Running2Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. When the Holy Spirit lives in a believer, there's an immediate bond between that believer and another believer in Christ, even someone you don't know, and even in a foreign country with a language barrier.
Next time I'm running to win, why that intangible sense of fellowship happens as soon as you meet a brother or sister in Christ. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
