Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday (formerly known as Whit Sunday). So it seems appropriate to Luke’s account of the day when the Holy Spirit came.
Luke wrote at the beginning of the Book of Acts (of the Holy Spirit): Jesus “ordered them [his disciples] not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father
‘This is what you have heard from me: for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1.4-8).
No doubt the disciples, who came from Galilee, were tempted to return home. But Jesus told them “not to leave Jerusalem” (Acts 1.4). Instead they were to wait for “the promise of the Father”. Clearly the Holy Spirit is in mind (Acts 2.33). The promised had been foreshadowed by John the Baptist. To those who enquired whether he was the Messiah, John said, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than is coming… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3.16). As the baptism of Jesus had been marked by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon him (Luke 3.16), now the disciples were promised that they too would experience a ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’. The Spirit who had empowered the ministry of Jesus, would empower them too.
Literally, they would be baptized IN the Holy Spirit. The underlying Greek word (baptizo) is defined in Arndt & Gingrich’s Greek Lexicon of the New Testament as ‘to plunge, sink, drown, drench, overwhelm’. A person could be ‘overwhelmed’ (literally ‘baptized’) by debts, sorrow or calamity; and could be ‘overcome’ (literally ‘baptized’) by wine or sleep. In the first century AD, when Christians were baptized in water, they were not ‘sprinkled’ with water or ‘signed with the Cross’. But were ‘dunked’ into water: they underwent total ‘immersion’ – hence Paul’s described baptism as being buried with Christ and being raised with Christ (Romans 6.1-4). To be ‘baptized with the Spirit’ is to be immersed into the life of the Spirit; to be drenched by the spirit (see Joel 2.23). The promised coming of the Holy Spirit is depicted as an overwhelming experience.
In the New Testament such phrases as ‘the baptism of the Spirit’ or ‘to be baptized with the Spirit’ always refer to the initial reception of the Spirit. There is no ground in the New Testament for the Pentecostal belief that the baptism of the Spirit is a second-stage experience always evidenced by the gift of tongues. By contrast the expression ‘filled with the Spirit’ could refer to an initial receiving of the Spirit (e.g. Acts 2.4; 9.17), or a further ‘filling of the Spirit (Acts 6.3,5; 7.55; 11.24). This further ‘filling’ is not to be viewed as a special ‘second stage’ experience of the Spirit. Indeed, according to the Apostle Paul Christians should constantly seek to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5.18).
On the basis that John the Baptist baptized with water and Jesus baptized with the Spirit, some have wondered whether the ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ makes ‘baptism with water’ redundant. However, this is not the case. On the Day of Pentecost the 3000 who welcomes Peter’s message were baptized in water with a view to receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2.38, 41). Similarly Cornelius and his friends were baptized in water, even although the Spirit had unexpectedly fallen upon them (Acts 10.45-48).
The disciples found it hard to rid themselves of the popular notion that the Messian would restore Israel’s political fortunes. “Lord”, they asked, “is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1.6). However, the kingdom which Jesus called to proclaim was a spiritual kingdom, which would go far beyond the borders of Israel.
Jesus went on to say, “You will receive power”. Although in the Acts of the Apostles the term ‘power’ often refers to ‘works of power’: i.e. miracles (e.g. Acts 2.22; 8.13; 19.11), here the emphasis is on power to speak. When the power of the Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost, a miracle of speech occurred. This power must not be limited to the facility the disciples received to speak “in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2.4). Power is here linked with witnessing: “You will receive power… and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1.8). Although these words of Jesus are often liked with the Great Commission (Matthew 28.18, 19), strictly speaking Jesus does not issue a command. Rather, we have here a simple future tense. The implication is that ‘witnessing in the power of the Spirit’ is an inevitable consequence of being ‘baptized’ with the Spirit. This witness began in Jerusalem and then widened out in a series of concentric circles “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1.8). Commentators have pointed out that here we have the plan of the Book of Acts.
So in summary, when the day the Holy Spirit came, the Spirit empowered God’s people for mission.
I recently came across a book which was the published dissertation of Dr Michael Eton entitled Baptism of the Spirit in the teaching of Dr Martin Lloyd Jones. I found it helpful and stimulating. I have come to the conclusion that Father, Son and Spirit are personal and sovereign beings that we can’t tie down with rules, all we can do is to witness to the scriptures as they reveal God’s truth and love.
One thing I did find helpful, was the thought that Baptism of the Spirit is a way God empowers believers when they are gathered together in his name. It is probably more helpful to think of it as a corporate rather than individual experience.