What Is the Purpose of Baptism with the Holy Spirit? (Acts 2:1-13)

Today we’re studying Acts 2:1-13, the passage that essentially describes the birth of the Christian church. It begins to answer an important question: What is the purpose of baptism with the Holy Spirit?--The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you’re looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at [email protected] Now --Today’s lesson is exciting, because there’s something for everyone:Those who are into this topicPentecostals, charismaticsThose who are freaked out by this topicChristians from more chill religious backgroundsNon-denoms, mainlineThose who are new to ChristianityNot sure what we’re even talking aboutStart with this: “baptism with the HS” from a pentecostal perspectiveThe concept gained particular prominence during the early 20th-century Pentecostal revival, beginning with the Azusa Street Revival in 1906. It emphasized a powerful, personal experience of God's presence and the manifestation of spiritual gifts.The Assemblies of God is one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the world, founded in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.Foursquare Church - Founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in Los Angeles, California.In the mid-20th century, this emphasis spread beyond Pentecostal denominations to the broader Charismatic movement which embraced similar experiences of the Holy Spirit.The Jesus Movement in the 60’s and 70’s, along with Calvary Chapel. The Vineyard Movement began in the late 1970s and was founded by John Wimber. The first Vineyard church was officially established in 1982 in Anaheim, California.Catholic charismatic movementHillsong, Bethel Church, etc.In these environments you’ll hear about “baptism with the HS”There’s one main evidence: speaking in tonguesSo it becomes a huge focus in these churchesOften becomes the main thingIt’ll freak you out if you’ve never seen it beforeBut what does the Bible say about it? That’s what we’ll answer today: What is the purpose of baptism with the Holy Spirit?We don’t believe things based on how weird or normal they seemWe look to God and his Word in all we do (and believe) First of all, “baptism with the HS” is in the Bible, not just made up by the pentecostals and charismaticsThe term was coined by Jesus! Acts 1:5 (NLT) “John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”This is why the disciples went back to JerusalemPracticed disciplines of connection, prayer, Bible studyWaited on God with great expectationBut not exactly sure what it would look likeBaptism with the HS was a biblical concept way before it was a pentecostal thingThe real question is what is the purpose? That’s what our text will answer todayBecause the Pentecostal movement traces its roots back to Acts ch 2. But I think they get something wrong with how they apply it. So let’s dig in…Acts 2:1-2Summary: All the believers were together for Pentecost - a Jewish holy day that celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses. The sound of a mighty wind filled the house, which to the Jewish mind was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1-2 (NLT) 1 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.Pentecostone of the three great pilgrim festivals of Judaism, along with Passover and Tabernaclescelebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover Leviticus 23:15-16 (NLT) 15 “From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off seven full weeks. 16 Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.”Expositor’s Bible Commentary (EBC): It was originally the Festival of the Firstfruits of the grain harvest (Ex 23:16; Lev 23:17-22; Nu 28:26-31); it was called the Feast of Weeks because it came after a period of seven weeks of harvesting that began with the offering of the first barley sheaf during the Passover celebration. EBC: By the time of the first century A.D., however, it was considered the anniversary of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai and was a time for the annual renewal of the Mosaic covenant… This is important! We’ll come back to this in a bitSoundTornado witness accountsThis was a public thing, not private!WindstormSounded like a wind; but was it actually wind?Wind = ruah (Hebrew) = pneuma (Gk) = spiritJohn 3:8 (NLT) The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”Ezekiel 37:9 (NLT) 9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”Ezekiel 37:10-14 (NLT) 10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army. 11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the LORD has spoken!’”Let’s read on…Acts 2:3-4Summary: Something like flames appeared on each believer, yet another symbol of God’s presence. Previously the disciples had been influenced by the Holy Spirit, but now everyone was indwelt by the Spirit – something Jesus promised would happen.Acts 2:3-4 (NLT) 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.FireEBC: Fire as a symbol of the divine presence was well known among first-century Jews (cf. the burning bush [Ex 3:2-5], the pillar of fire that guided Israel by night through the desert [Ex 13:21], the consuming fire on Mount Sinai [Ex 24:17], and the fire that hovered over the wilderness tabernacle [Ex 40:38]). John the Baptist explicitly linked the coming of the Spirit with fire (cf. Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16).each of themThis represented a shift in how God would relate to his people: now it would be personal, not just corporate. EBC: under the old covenant the divine presence rested on Israel as a corporate entity and upon many of its leaders for special purposes, under the new covenant, as established by Jesus and inaugurated at Pentecost, the Spirit now rests upon each believer individually. In other words, though the corporate and individual aspects of redemption cannot actually be separated, the emphasis in the proclamation of redemption from Pentecost onward is on the personal relationship of God to the believer through the Spirit, with all corporate relationships resulting from this.filled with the Holy SpiritNote: the disciples were already influenced by the HSBeing “filled” is something different, moreJohn 14:16-17 (NLT) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.“indwelling” vs influenceJohn 7:38-39 (NLT) Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)Ephesians 1:13-14 (NLT) 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as...