“The people were waiting expectantly and were wondering in their hearts if John (the Baptist) might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’” Luke 3:15,16
I believe that in every Christian’s heart there is a desire to receive all that God has for them and as they walk in their new found faith they earnestly seek for just that. This is exactly why so many people wish to be baptized in water after they come to know the Lord. This is good and the right thing to do. Jesus was even baptized by John and when John objected, (for he thought that Jesus should have baptized him), Jesus insisted in order to fulfill all righteousness. But we cannot stop there, Beloved! For John said that he baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This tells me that we should not only seek to be baptized with John’s baptism, but also Jesus’. Why are we satisfied with just the one and why shouldn’t we seek the other two? Do we really wish to be baptized by Jesus? What kind of experience is it to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire? Who reads a novel, only to put the book down before the last chapter or who leads a race only to stop just short of the finishing line? How much of what God has for us do we miss because we fail to seek after Jesus’ baptism as we have sought after John’s water baptism?
While Paul was at Ephesus he asked the believers if they had received the Holy Spirit since they had believed. They told him, “No.” They hadn’t even heard there was a Holy Spirit. “Well, what baptism did you receive?” he asked them. “John’s baptism,” they told him. Paul instructed them that John’s baptism was unto repentance and that the people should believe on the one who would come after him, namely Jesus Christ. Paul prayed for the believers there at Ephesus and when he placed his hands on them they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Acts 19:1-7 “Wait just one minute, Pastor Jim. That’s where I draw the line! I am not interested in speaking in tongues.” Can I make just a couple of observations? First, if you think that Jesus wants to baptize you just so you will speak in other tongues, you are completely wrong! Jesus wants to baptize you into His Holy Spirit so that you will be empowered to live in and according to His Word. Second, if Jesus wants to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire, who are we to “draw the line”? Don’t we want all that God wants for us? Is it because deep down we are really afraid to place ourselves completely into His hands. And if that is true, aren’t we actually saying then, that we are not sure of God’s intentions to us or His plans for us? Beloved, God wants us to receive all that He has for us; for our blessedness and for our welfare. Let us not shrink back from God. His plans for us are for our good. Remember, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish will give him a snake instead? Or, if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”