Bible Study # 18
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Introduction
One of the most precious and valuable gifts God has given to the church in this dispensation of grace is the fulfilled promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ did not begin His ministry without first being baptized with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32, 33; Matt. 3:16, 17). Because He knew it was impossible to carry out God’s ministry effectively without this equipping, He emphatically commanded the Apostles: “Behold, I will send the promise of My Father upon you; but you tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are invested and supernatural that the apostles and the first Christians did was the result of that holy and powerful endowment of the Holy Spirit.
If we make a serious and sincere study of the history of the Christian church, we will realize that the church began to be powerless and incapable from the moment it stopped believing in, longing for and asking for the promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Just as the Galatians fell from grace, the church fell “from the Holy Spirit” when it abandoned its faith in the powerful ministry of the divine ‘Paraclete’ in order to trust in human letters, methods and resources. All the apostasies, vices, schisms, crimes, scandals. Atrocities and other sins committed by the church throughout the centuries of its history have been due to its rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit.
God in His mercy and faithfulness has raised up in this century a faith in the “forgotten promise,” and the result has been glorious: “The blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt. 11:5). The church has once again come to live in Pentecost and “in the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). The most striking evidence of this final move of the Holy Spirit is not so much the manifestations, miracles and wonders, but the beautiful work of “restoration of all things” that the Lord is carrying out in the lives of believers. Added to this is the divine fire in evangelism that has brought about mass conversions, and the longest-lasting revival since apostolic times. Praise be to God! — Let us now study our subject.
1. Who was the first to be baptized with the Holy Spirit?
John 1:32, 33; Matt. 3:16, 17
2. Who is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit?
John 1:33
3. How did Jesus describe the extraordinary experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit within the believer?
John 7:37- 39
4. Many of those who deny this biblical teaching claim that all believers have been
Why, if the apostles already had the Holy Spirit and had even done many miracles in the name of Jesus, did the Lord promise to endue them with the power of the Holy Spirit? Luke 24:49
5. What did the Lord call the promise that was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost?
Acts 1: 4, 5, 8
6. The rejection of the doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit by the majority of Christians is based on their reluctance to believe in the manifestations or the miracles of the experience.
How much of the supernatural was there in the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise on the day of Pentecost?
Acts 2: 1-21
A. “A strong wind blew and filled the whole house” (Acts 2:2).
B. “Tongues, divided as if of fire, appeared to them, and settled upon them” (Acts 2:3).
C. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues…” (Acts 2: 4).
D. Everyone understood in his own language (Acts 2: 5-11).
E. “There was a loud noise” (Acts 2:6).
F. The people saw something strange or unusual in them (they thought they were drunk or intoxicated) (Acts 2: 12-15)
G. Peter explained the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a promise made by God through the prophet Joel (Acts 2: 14- 21).
H. In that prophecy the promise was described as something extraordinary and supernatural
1) Prophecies v. 17 first part
2) Visions v. 17 last part
3) Dreams v. 17 last part
4) Wonders v. 19 first part
5) Signs vs. 19, 20
6) Salvation v. 21
I. Most important of all, Peter understood the purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 2: 21-36).
J. The Holy Spirit worked in those who heard and were “pierced in heart “ (Acts 2:37).
K. In Peter’s answer (v. 38) we see the two works of the Holy Spirit: conversion and empowerment.
L. There were conversions in great numbers (v. 41)
Bible Study # 18 (Page 3)
M. The believers continued steadfastly in the doctrine, in fellowship , in the breaking of bread and in prayers (v. 42).
N. Many signs and wonders were done by the apostles (v. 43).
O. The fruit of love and fellowship was seen (vs. 44-47)
P. It is good to clarify that Peter’s whole powerful sermon on the day of Pentecost , and the result of it, was the answer to the question of the multitude who, struck by the wonders, asked: “?What does this mean ¿” (Acts 2:12). In other words, the message preached by Peter is an explanation of what the baptism with the Holy Spirit is, and why God gave it to the church from that moment onward. It is an answer to the historic event and to the personal experience.
7. Those who refute the doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit in order to limit the experience of speaking in tongues to something occasional, assert that God gave them the ability to speak in other tongues only so that everyone present there could understand the message spoken by the apostles.
Of what race were all those who were in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost? Acts 2:5
Note:
The text says that all were Jews, from every nation under heaven. If all were Jews, then all spoke Hebrew (Acts 22: 1, 2; 21: 40).
We know the determination of the Jews that their children speak their language and preserve their culture and religion. Peter, without a doubt, preached his sermon in Hebrew because everyone understood him (Acts 2:37).
If everyone understood Hebrew, then the reason God gave the gift of tongues was not so that they could understand the message, but so that they would see that what was happening there was the work of the power of God.
8. What did the apostles do with the Samaritans who had received the Gospel and had been baptized in the name of Jesus? Acts 8: 14-18
Note:
Observe what verse 16 says: “For as yet it had not come down upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of Jesus.” This clearly shows that the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit was something subsequent to conversion and not the same thing as the opponents of this holy biblical teaching teach.
9. What was the experience of the apostle Saint Paul after his conversion? Acts 9:13-18, compare with 1 Cor, 14:18.
10. What is the initial sign upon receiving the baptism with the Holy Spirit
A. The day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-8).
Bible Study # 18 (Page 4)
B. The converted Samaritans (Acts 8: 14-18)
Although it does not say that they spoke in tongues, it is evident that they did so because what caught Simon’s attention was that when the apostles laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. How did Simon know that they had received the Holy Spirit? They were experiencing something visible that showed they had received the promise.
C. Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:17-19; compare with 1 Cor. 14:18).
D. The Gentiles in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48; 11:15-17)
E. The disciples of Ephesus (Acts 19: 1-7).
F. The experience of the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12: 13, 14: 14: 1-40
11. What does Saint Paul prove to the disciples of Ephesus? Acts 19:2
