In Matthew chapter 3, we'll begin reading verse 1. It says, In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham, And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, gather his wheat into the gardener, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh, verse 13 says, then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And, lo, a voice from heaven sang, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Today I want to preach a message on the subject of, consider the subject of, baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the Spirit. This is a subject that many people inquire after. It's a topic of great concern of a great number of folks. But it's one that, as I look back through my notes, it's one I've never preached on before. And so I thought that since we had just finished a study on the gifts of the Spirit, I thought it might be a good idea to kind of take a look at this. this subject as we have kind of also looked at scriptural water baptism lately and kind of consider because every once in a while you'll hear folks who say well And they'll say it, they'll pray it even. They'll pray something to this effect. They'll say, Lord, baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Quoting the passage from Matthew 3. The question is, do they really know what they're asking? And I believe that as we get into this and look, We're going to take this in two parts. We're going to look at baptism with the Holy Ghost, and then we'll look at the fire portion of it next time, perhaps. But I don't believe they know what they're asking for, or else they wouldn't ask for it. These are some things we want to take a look at today. And we want to look at, do they know what they're asking for? And then also, are we, as Baptists, in error for not praying that way? Because if you're like me, you've been around for a while, you've been amongst Baptists for a while, and that's not a prayer that we hear in Baptist churches. The Bible, of course, speaks much of water baptism, and we've preached about water baptism. I've preached on it from this pulpit. Brother Craig has preached about it. Brother Barry has preached about it. Brother Reggie preached about it. We go back through Baptist history, and you'll find that Scriptural water baptism is a Baptist Bible doctrine. In fact, as you search through the Scriptures, you'll find baptism is spoken of a lot in the Scriptures. And whenever we look at it, we find that that is in the main what the New Testament is talking about when it speaks of baptism. And so, when we Look up and do a word study for the word baptism. We find, and of course we could get into the argument, what the word baptism means. And you can do that on your own. Just in case you listening to this and you don't know, here's a clue. Baptism always means immersion. It can't mean anything else. But whenever you get in and you study the word and you follow it through the New Testament, in the main, most always, it means water baptism. What we want to do, and I hope you've got your flipping fingers with you today, as the old preacher used to say, we're going to just kind of look through some Bible verses here. And I want you to kind of see with me Water baptism is what's spoken of and even required in these passages. In Mark chapter one, Mark chapter one, in verse five, It says, and there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. I'll try to go kind of slow here as we go through these because Josiah's learning to turn in his pages, so I don't want to go too fast, but you can jot these down in your notebook too if I do go too fast and go back and look at these. But you see there that they were in the river Jordan being baptized, indicating clearly that it's water baptism. In the book of John chapter three, John chapter three, Verses 22 and 23. Notice what it says there. John 3, 22 and 23, After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Anon, near to Salem, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. So again, water baptism. There was much water there. These fellows that think that a little water will do, would have had an interesting discussion with John, wouldn't they? John had to go where there was much water. What these fellows are doing with a little water is something, but it ain't baptism. It ain't baptism. But definitely, it is water baptism that's being spoken of there, not spirit baptism. In Matthew chapter 28, the commission to the church in Matthew 28. And verse 19, Matthew 28, verse 19, he says, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Verse 20 says, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, lo, I'm with you always, even until the end of the world, amen. So this baptism in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, this is water baptism, not Holy Spirit baptism. That's what the church is commissioned to do, is water baptism. Until the end of the age. Over in the book of Luke, chapter seven, Luke 7. Verses 29 and 30. It says, and all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. Interesting. being baptized with what? The baptism of John, that's water baptism. And interestingly enough, if you go up one more verse, look at what he says here. For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. For he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. water baptism. Very important. Even in our text there, Jesus submitted to it, was baptized, water baptism. We get out of the Gospels there, we find in Acts chapter two, The Day of Pentecost. Acts 2. Verse 38. Well, verse 37, it says, now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for or because of the remission of sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Again, water baptism. Verse 41, then they that gladly received his word were baptized. Same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. If you go on into the book of Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter eight, verses 36 and 39 through 39, As they went on their way, Acts 8, 36, as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. He answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. There are other passages that we could read. But my point is, you can go home and search the scriptures to see whether these things are so, but my point is that when you hear people that say, I've got Holy Spirit baptism, I don't need water baptism, they are incorrect. For in the New Testament, when there was indeed Holy Spirit baptism, We find an emphasis on water baptism and the necessity of it, and even the command for it. Not a command for the lost to be baptized, but the command for the saved. If you've been saved, if you've been born again, then you ought to be baptized, to follow the Lord in baptism, to follow the Lord in scriptural baptism. That's what you ought to do. That's the command that is given. That's the request. That is what has been given. That's the pattern. Once you're saved, You ought to be baptized, to follow the Lord in water baptism, scriptural baptism. Search the scriptures and you'll find no pattern. You'll find no command for Holy Spirit baptism. It's not there. For the past 26 years, I've been preaching, studying the word. I haven't found it. I've sat under the preaching of some well-studied men, read some well-studied men. They've not mentioned it. Where is it? It's not there. But sadly, There are some people out there who think that they've gotten Holy Spirit baptism and they don't need water baptism. And so let's look at our text here in Matthew 3. In Matthew 3 and verse 11, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. So check this out. Spirit baptism was the figure. Water baptism was the literal. It follows that the literal should not be avoided, shunned, or neglected. What we have in this passage is some contrasts going on here. The contrasts between the baptizers, John and Jesus. And we have the contrast between the baptisms, the baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Ghost. We also have contrast between the subjects of the baptisms. John baptized in water only those repentant believers who were trusting in Jesus as their Savior, while Jesus baptized in the Holy Ghost some Christians. Understand, it wasn't all. When you look through the scriptures in the New Testament, you'll find that not all, Not all Christians were baptized in the Holy Spirit. And as we'll see later, he will baptize in fire all sinners who die without Jesus Christ. But not to get too far ahead of myself here. The design of this baptism of the Holy Ghost was to confer power on Christians, whether they had been baptized by water or not. But nowhere In each one of the examples, they either had received water baptism or they were shortly after. But nowhere in the scriptures do you find that one of the baptisms superseded the other. You just don't find it. What is this Holy Spirit baptism? First of all, Let's look at what it's not. It's not conversion. We've got to understand that it's not conversion. The subject of conversion or regeneration is a sinner. When we look at the first instance, in Acts chapter two, for instance, or even here in the promise, but let's go to Acts. Let's go to the book of Acts just to kind of get a good clear picture. Acts chapter one. And let's start with, let's start with verse four. Acts one and verse four. And we'll go down to verse eight. And being assembled together with them, talking about Jesus, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not. for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. So here's the early church. Jesus is fixing to leave, and he tells them to wait until the Holy Spirit comes. Now, if this is conversion, what we've got is an unconverted church. What we've got is that through the Gospels, an unconverted group of men following the Lord. There was one, yes, his name was Judas. And that's neither here nor there for this topic. But it's not what we're dealing with here. What it would mean is that the thief on the cross, Jesus said today, you'll be with me in paradise. How's that possible if baptism in the Holy Spirit is conversion? Because that hadn't happened yet. What we've got is a problem with the Old Testament saints. What we've got is a problem dealing with anything that happened, anyone who died prior to Acts chapter two and moving forward. But it's not, it's not that at all. Furthermore, in the New Testament, where there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, there is no instance anywhere where a lost sinner receives the baptism of the Holy Ghost. What do we have here? We have his church. What's a church? Baptized believers. What were they told to do? To wait for the Holy Ghost. We'll get into that here shortly. Go with me to Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, verse 49. He says, and behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with the power from on high. You see, they were told to wait. They were told to wait. Over in the book of Acts, chapter 8, Acts 8. Verse 12, But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, both the name of Jesus Christ Sorry, my glasses are making spectacles of themselves this morning. Try this again. But when they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles, which were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, They sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost." You see here, they believed, and then he says, they were baptized, and then In verse 16, as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized. So they were believers before the Holy Ghost had come. In Acts chapter 19, same thing. Acts chapter 19. Same thing, verse one. And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus, finding certain disciples. He came unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard, whether there be any Holy Ghost. Paul was inquiring about the Holy Ghost in Ephesus. Not in the sense of conversion, but in the sense of baptism, you see. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? When we believe, all believers receive the Holy Ghost in the sense of conversion, but this isn't what he's talking about there. And this baptism of the Holy Spirit is not conversion. And so that's not what he's talking about here when he's talking about Holy Spirit baptism. In fact, if you go on down in verse 5, when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. That's talking about water baptism. Paul had to scripturally baptize them. And it says then in verse six, when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. You see, they were given the gifts of the Spirit, which as we said before, as we examined in our previous message, those gifts were temporary. So it wasn't conversion. Otherwise, these guys weren't saved by grace. They were saved by Paul. And the scripture doesn't talk about that. The scripture doesn't indicate that. In fact, to think such a thing is blasphemy. But yeah, that's what some folks preach. They may not say it. They say, well, baptism with the Spirit, that's conversion. Look at it in the light of Scripture. Is it? And it's not. It's not. Some of the worst errors in the world can be cured by examining the Scriptures. So others will come along and say, well, it's not conversion, it's sanctification. We won't go there for time's sake, but if you go into 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14, and you'll find that many who had been baptized by the Spirit, they had all these gifts. What were they? They were selfish. They were proud. Far from being sanctified. So what was going on then? What was it? Let's let the Bible speak for itself. In the book of Acts chapter two, when this first started happening, some of the people who saw it, what did they think? Well, they started hearing, These fellows speak in their own language. Verse 12, it says, they were all amazed and were in doubt, saying one to another, what meaneth this? Others mocking said, these men are full of new wine. So there was a lot of confusion at first. They questioned it, just like people question it today. What's going on? Praise the Lord, Peter was there. The Holy Spirit inspired the word of God to record what really happened and it says in verse 14, but Peter standing up with the 11 lifted up his voice and said unto them, ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words, for these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Peter did exactly what every good Baptist preacher does, and that is he got out the Word of God and said, hey, here's what's going on, and I'll tell you. Because the Holy Spirit never, ever, ever acts contrary to the Word of God. That's true today, and it was true then. And Peter knew it was a fulfillment of prophecy from Joel 2, 28 and 29. This was, what was going on in those days, in the New Testament times, was accreditation of God's people, particularly His church, as God would seek, select to empower certain of them to do some great things, some miracles, so they could overcome some great obstacles in the way of the propagation of the gospel. And that's what was going on. Nothing more, nothing less. Just like we talked about in the gifts of the Spirit, those days of Spirit baptism are done. There were some gifts of the Spirit that correlated with the Holy Spirit baptism, and those days have ended. In Ephesians chapter four, in Ephesians chapter four in verse five, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Some of these fellows get into this and they say, well, that means spirit baptism. No it doesn't. No it doesn't. That means water baptism. That means scriptural Baptist baptism. That's what that means. It doesn't mean that Paul was wrong. in saying that there is one baptism, doesn't mean that the Lord was wrong in submitting to John's baptism. In fact, the current movement of Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement, the idea of being baptized by the Spirit and that sort of thing. That started about a little over a hundred years ago, I guess. In fact, as I was studying, you know, the Bible must be our only rule of faith in practice, but I do like to read the writings of other men. I'm thankful for them. So sometimes I'll read, I'll read articles that I agree with and sometimes I'll read articles of men that I don't agree with. But about a hundred years ago, a little over a hundred years ago I guess, B.H. Carroll was dealing with some of these things as it all kind of started out. What he said was true then is true now. I just want to read what he wrote. He said, you'll hear, as I have heard ever since I was a child, such expressions as this. Oh, I have received the spirit baptism, which is the main thing. You may always question that statement and demand scriptural proof. You may always question the conclusion designed and drawn from the statement, which is, I have received spirit baptism, therefore the other is unimportant. You may also sometimes hear men pray, baptize us in the Holy Ghost. Be sure you understand what that means before you offer that prayer. Ask yourself this question, why should I pray for it? Why should I wish to speak with tongues? Why should I wish to heal the sick by word? Why should I? Those things were for a sign. They were to accredit the gospel. They were to close up and finish the book of revelation. Now, do you wish to write a new book of the Bible? If you do, that means that you think what is here is not sufficient, and it means that you take precisely the same position as the spiritualists when they say, we want a fresh gospel. God help you to study his book, to study it profoundly, to allow no floating proverb to set aside the plain, thus saith the Lord. Oh, that men who bow to the name of Jesus Christ would bow to the truth of Jesus and let him be the word as well as the savior. Let his word settle every question of Christianity and that book, the Bible, and that book only be regarded as truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You see, the movement, just so you know, started with some Baptists who got a little stir crazy because they thought that their services were dull and uninteresting. And so they started pulling in some ideas that weren't scriptural. And now it's exploded. We got to understand the scriptures on these things to know what is right and what is wrong. Do we need the spirit today? Absolutely. But we need him in the context of the scriptures. Understand the truth of the baptism in the Spirit. And for that matter, understand the truth of water baptism, too. Get in God's Word. Study it. Use it for the glory of God. I guarantee you, He'll bless you for it. I know He's blessed me. He's blessed this church. He blessed B.H. Carroll, a host of others. Brother Reggie, others that have gone on before us. You know, I hope, you know, I don't preach these kind of messages to create arguments with people, but I do hope that the Spirit of God will use these messages to convict. and certainly cause people to search the scriptures earnestly. And if you've never been saved, I pray that the Lord will save you. If you've been saved and you've never been scripturally baptized, I pray you'll be baptized scripturally. If not, here at this church, if you're listening somewhere else, You need help finding a church, contact us. We'll help you find a church where you can be baptized scripturally. If we can help you in any way, you let us know, but may God get the blessing in this. Brother Barry, would you please pray for us?