Mark 1:1-8
John the Immerser was a remarkable man. He had character:- his courage is without question and his humility is seen in his recognition of the piety of Jesus before he knew Jesus was the Son of God. His position in the Scheme of redemption was pivotal:- Matt.11:1,13 (This solves the apparent problem of Gal. 4:4 and John’s own admission of the greatness of Jesus). He was filled with the Holy Spirit from conception (Luke 1:15), yet he did no miracles (John 10:41). He had a commission to immerse, prompting repentance, and also to identify the Messiah (John 1:33 – obviously the Messiah must be an obedient one).
He contrasted himself with the Messiah in a number of ways:- he did not think he was worthy to undo Jesus’ shoe latchet, and admitted that Jesus was before me, even though he was born before Jesus. An interesting comparison is made when he said I baptise with water but He will baptise with the Holy Spirit. So John immersed people in water (John 3:23), but that is not remarkable for anyone can accomplish that. Many of you have done it, as have I, and any Christian has the right to do it (with a half-way decent back). (1 Cor. 1:14-17) Jesus never baptised with water (John 4:1,2), but His disciples did. But who can baptise with the Holy Spirit? That’s best answered by asking “Who is the Holy Spirit?”. He is the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14), the third member of the Godhead with authority equal to the Father and the Son (Matt.28:19). So, who can baptise with the Holy Spirit? Who has the authority and power to do that? It would have to be God right? (Luke 11:13 – cf. Matt.7:11 – here is a point of contrast. How good a gift can God give? – He can even give the Holy Spirit! He can give God! (This is not to suggest that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can pray to God for the Holy Spirit outside the will of God). Certainly you or I couldn’t do that (cf. Eccles 8:8). No mere man has authority over God and all prayer must be in accordance with his will. It’s a bit like What is easier, to say your sins are forgiven or to say rise and walk (Mark 2:9) – so, what is easier, to baptise in water or baptise in the Holy Spirit? But Jesus can baptise with the Holy Spirit – why? He’s God! (Matt.28:18; Phil. 2:9). John’s statement is a testimony to the deity of Jesus (as were other statements, if they’d listened – eg. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – a mere mortal could not do that. And so it came to pass that Jesus did baptise in the Holy Spirit – (cf John 15:26; 16:7 Acts 1:4,5; 2:23).
What does it mean to baptise in the Holy Spirit? To enable men to be able to perform miracles? Been done before – Luke 4:25-27. For men to be able to speak infallibly by inspiration? Been done before – 1 Pet. 1:20,21. What does it mean? To cast out demons? Was done before – Luke 10:17. It has to do with the completion of the plan that the Holy Spirit had been revealing through the years – Matt.11:11,13. What the prophets revealed in part would now be revealed in completion by the apostles and prophets (John 16:13; Eph.3:4,5). What the disciples had done in part would now be done in its fulness by the power of the Spirit. The law came through Moses (John 1:17), and though it was by inspiration of the Spirit, it was through one man and can rightly be called the Law of Moses. It was made known through the mouth and pen of one man. John 1:17 further says that “grace and truth” came by Jesus Christ – this doesn’t mean that the law of Moses was untrue, but this is rather a statement of comparison to show that the law did not have the gracious provisions that the New Testament of Christ has. And this New Covenant is called the ministry of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:8), because the Spirit made it known, not through one man, but through 13 apostles and countless prophets who were made able ministers of the New Covenant, and confirmed by countless others who had miraculous abilities also given by the Spirit.
The prophet Joel said that the day would come when God would pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28,29 – Acts 2:17,18). What does pour out mean? It conveys the idea of liberality and abundance. For example it is found in Matt.9:17 where the skins burst and the wine runs out. It is found in Matt.26:7 where an alabaster box of perfume was poured out on His head. It is found in John 2:15 where Jesus poured out the changers money and overthrew the tables. In Jer.7:20 God said my anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, and it is evident that this was not a sprinkling (cf L:ev. 14:15,16).
The term is sued in conjunction with the term baptism (immersion) – Acts 1:5 cf. 2:16,17: Acts 10:45 cf. 11:15-17). And what does all flesh signify? It would be a mistake to assume that God would give the baptism of the Holy Spirit to everyone in the world. Note for example Isa. 40:5, where it predicts the glory of the Lord would be revealed and all flesh would see it together:- this is all groups, Jew and Gentile, would see the glory of the Lord, but not every individual. So Jews and Gentiles were to be recipients of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but not all individuals.
Again, consider this: When John said I baptise you with water, did he baptise everyone? No – Matt. 21:25. When he said He shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit, did he imply that the whole nation would receive personally the baptism of the Holy Spirit? It is in this area of application that so many errors are made. Because God makes a promise to do something, it is not for us to decide how He is going to fulfill that and then expect Him to comply with our will. Because it is possible for God to do something in a certain way does not necessarily mean He will do it that way. God promised to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, but He retained control of HOW He would do it and through WHOM or WHAT He would do it and WHEN. Remember the problem of Naaman’s assumption in 2 Kings 5?
The baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised to the apostles by the Lord personally, to be received at a certain place and at a certain time (John 14,15,16 – Acts 1). It was of the Lord’s choosing, not man’s. No man can demand the baptism of the Holy Spirit and no man can baptise someone else in the Holy Spirit. The Lord promised to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh but He chose the way, the mechanics, the the process, and the instrumentality of it all. He didn’t do it willy-nilly. God has often done things for the benefit of the many through the instrumentality of one. (cf. John 1:17). To get water into a narrow-necked bottle you must pour it through the neck. Even so with the pouring out of the Spirit – the pouring out of the Spirit was accomplished through the baptism of certain individuals in the Spirit. There were thousands of people in Jerusalem in Acts 2, but only 12 received the baptism of the Spirit. These were men chosen before of God (Acts 10:41), even as the next person to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Paul, was a chosen vessel (Acts 9:15 :- remember Peter’s statement to Simon in Acts 8:21 you have neither part nor lot in this matter). These men were all Jewish but God said he would pour the Spirit out upon all flesh. The House of Cornelius were Gentiles who received the Spirit in the same way as the apostles at the beginning (Acts 11:15), but this was an occasion chosen and prepared of God, in the presence of an apostle and six other Jewish brethren for confirmation (Acts 11:12). Up till this time they had no idea that God was going to do this.
Returning to our illustration of the narrow-necked bottle. Once the liquid is poured through the neck it can displace itself across a wide base. Even so it is with the baptism of the Spirit. God poured out the Spirit of Truth through certain individuals but for the benefit of all. Remember God spoke to the fathers by the prophets (Heb. 1:1), and how holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21)? A select group speaking on behalf of God for the wider audience. Now others could receive miraculous measures of the Spirit through the laying on of the apostles’ hands and so was brought to pass the other element of the prophecy of Joel 2:28b,29. – your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions……
If a man bequeaths a gift to the nation, does everyman line up to get a few dollars in the hand? No, it is held in trust for the nation for the benefit of all – it may be land reserved as a national park or a heritage-listed house. The benefits of the baptism of the Holy Spirit were for all: so Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles to guide them into all truth, and the end result is seen in such verses as John 17:20; 20:30,31; Eph. 3:5; Jude 3. The truth has been delivered to the world.
Acts 2:38 reveals that the end result of gospel obedience is the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is not eternal life since that is covered in for the forgiveness of sins. Rather, every Christian has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – Rom. 8:9-11. That is not a miraculous baptism in the Spirit – remember John?, possessing the Spirit from the womb and yet did no miracles (Luke 1:15; cf John 10:41). Every Christian receives the indwelling of the Spirit, not to reveal truth and do miracles to confirm that truth since that purpose has been accomplished. Rather the indwelling of the Spirit is a downpayment on the resurrection body and the heavenly home (Eph. 1:13,14). So it is, that the Spirit of God truly has been poured out into the earth upon all flesh. The benefits of this gift are available to all – obey the gospel.