He Will Baptize You With The Holy Spirit And Fire

12-07-25

Hoonah-Hadley

Matthew 3:1-12

Call to Worship Psalm 72:1-7,18-19

Daily Verse Matt. 3:11

He Will Baptize You With The Holy Spirit And Fire

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” We want to take notice straight away of God’s oft used phrase, “He will”. God is a promise maker and a promise keeper, as the song says, it’s who He is. His prophetic word of old manifested itself as He said it would, specifically, intentionally and right on schedule. When God says “He will”, it is a certainty, you can trust “He will”, in layman’s terms, you can bank on it. This phrase, is not conditional on the weather, the stock market, geographical location, race, government, age, gender, or any other possible scenario we might conceive of. It is not something we can manufacture, stop or manipulate. 2 Cor. 1:20-22 “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” You want a guarantee that is tried, tested, and true, etched on our hearts eternally? This statement, “He will” is not reliant on our belief, trust, faith, ability, or inability to receive it. Regardless of our best efforts in any direction to encourage it or deny it, all the promises of God are Yes and amen, He will means He will. This statement is made by Christ’s herald John the Baptist and prophesied some 700 years earlier by Isaiah, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.” He will, it’s a promise.

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First of all, the “He” referred to is Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. And what is it that “He will” do? Two things that concern us this morning, first things first, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit…” Baptism in general is a Christian sacrament marked by symbolic use of water to rid the recipient of original sin, it is a submergence in Spirit or purification by Spirit. It means to cleanse or purify, to initiate. John the Baptist prepares the way with water baptism unto repentance, but Christ’s baptism by the Holy Spirit and fire is something altogether more, way more, more than more. What is, who is, the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is a person. John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things… bring to remembrance all things I have said to you.” He “will teach”. The Holy Spirit is a teacher, one that reminds us “all” things Jesus taught. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth”. John 16:13 “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…He will tell you things to come.” John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and when God sends His Spirit you can trust it is “the truth.” The Trinity is the ultimate measuring stick between the truth and a lie. The world calls it “fake news”, God calls it evil. John 8:44-47 “You are of your father the devil…and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him…for he is a liar and the father of it…Because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me….He who is of God hears God’s word; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” How do you know if someone is “of” the truth? Revelation 12:7-9 “And war broke out in heaven…the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” The Holy Spirit will “guide you into all truth.” Satan is a liar, a deceiver, fake news.

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1 John 4:1-6 The Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error. “…do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world…You are of God…They are of the world…Those who know God hear us; those who are not of God do not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” Some folks make a living studying this very thing, doctors making a lot of money sitting on their backside filling out forms, labeling and medicating folks for the very thing God sent a “Helper, teacher, guide”, not to mention a healer, all for free. It’s easy, any one can do it, pick up the book, read it, get on your knees, ask Christ to be Lord of your life, invest in His economy, walk in His way and Bob’s your uncle. As the rope lady’s sign says, “Advice, $5”. People say, “I don’t want you preaching to me.” Without the gospel message, without God’s saving grace, without His mercy, without the blood shed on Calvary’s shore, we’re easy prey for the traveling salesman. When he knocks on our door and we open it, he’s already got a foot hold. We’re quick to listen to Satan’s sermon, we do it daily because it’s easy, looks good, feels good, taste good, is convenient and so on. Read the fine print, the side effects, question the spirit. The wood pile will cure most of what aisles us and if that’s not enough, get yourself some horseradish, blueberries, chin-ups and for crying out loud, get on your knees and get Jesus. Now we want to mention this before we forget, there is the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5 and there is the “gift of the Spirit” in 1 Cor. 12. “Now concerning spiritual gifts…there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit…But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one, for the profit of all…But one and the same Spirit works all these things…” Here’s the point, fruit comes by a slow process of growth, a gift is received in a single transaction.

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One more important note on the Holy Spirit that comes from Luke 11:9-13, the cliff notes, “So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you…If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish will he give him a serpent…? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” How do we receive the Holy Spirit? Ask God. Now let us touch on the baptism by fire. He will baptize you with fire. 1 Peter 1:6-9 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire…receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” In 2 Cor. 4:16-18 Paul calls it a temporary light affliction. “Therefore we do not lose heart…for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Christ baptism by fire is a refining work of God in our lives that makes a correction, a necessary improvement with eternal weight attached to it. Malachi 3:2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiners fire…” God is burning something out of our lives to grow us up, to clean us up, either for maturity or purity. Isaiah 48:10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” Heat brings to the surface, the dross, the inferior, trivial, worthless, waste matter is removed and the metal becomes more pure, more valuable. There is no use saying you cannot go through the fire, the experience is here, and you must go. He will, trust Him. Amen!