The Holy Spirit and Fire — Sermon by the Very Rev. Dr. Craig Stephans

Let's pray. Father, we pray that you

would come to us now, granting us

knowledge of you. Lord, I pray that you

inspire my words and apply them to our

hearts with the power and conviction of

your Holy Spirit that we would be

conformed to the image of Christ and

live even in this earth in your kingdom

as your sons and daughters through Jesus

Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.

Amen. Please be seated.

Matthew's gospel which Steve just said

just read says in those days John the

Baptist came preaching in the wilderness

of Judea repent for the kingdom of

heaven is at hand. And this is a

proclamation that Jesus would proclaim

as well when he began his ministry

following his baptism in time in the

wilderness. And John goes on to say in

verse 11 that I baptize you with water

for 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 with fire. His winnowing fork is in

his hand, and he will clear his

threshing floor and gather his wheat

into the barn, but the chaff he will

burn with unquenchable fire.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit

and with fire.

When Jesus had died on the cross and was

buried and rose again and appeared to

his disciples over 40 days, he told

them, among other things, to stay in the

city until you are clothed with power

from on high.

Don't leave Jerusalem. Don't try to do

anything until you are clothed with

power from on high. Until you receive

the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

right before his ascension, as they were

asking him, Lord, are you at now at this

time going to restore the kingdom to

Israel? Jesus responded by saying, "It

is not for you to know the times or

seasons that the Father is fixed 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 and all

Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the

earth.

You will receive power when the Holy

Spirit has come upon you. Having been

around Jesus, some of them, for up to

three years, and then 40 days following

the resurrection was not enough.

Having Jesus's teachings was not enough

for them. Having the authority that

Jesus gave them to go and make disciples

throughout the world was not enough.

They needed the power and the fullness

of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the

father, the spirit of Jesus to be with

them, to dwell in them, to transform

them and sanctify them and empower and

equip them for ministry.

And this is God's desire for us. Not

only that we might be his witnesses, but

that we might truly be his children who

know him and are known by him. It is

God's desire that he have an intimate

relationship with each one of us. And

that comes about through the inddwelling

presence of the Holy Spirit in each of

us.

Jesus said during his discourse in the

upper room after the Lord's supper in

John 14:23, "If anyone loves me, he will

John 14:23

keep my word and my father will love him

and we will come to him and make our

home with him." This is God's desire to

make his home in each one of us. And

that occurs through the Holy Spirit that

John said Jesus would baptize us with.

Jesus also said during that discussion,

"If that the Spirit of truth, the

helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father

will send in my name, he will teach you

all things and bring to your remembrance

all that I've said to you. And that when

the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide

you into all truth."

This is

the fulfillment of what John said Jesus

would do. And the Apostle Paul when he

prayed for new believers, he prayed as

he said in Ephesians 1:17 that I think

Ephesians 1:17

was indicative of how he prayed for

believers and for the churches. He said,

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord

Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may

give you the spirit of wisdom and

revelation so that you may know him

better."

This is God's desire that as we walk

with him that we continually know him

better and the means of that experience

is the Holy Spirit whom come who comes

to dwell with us and we know God through

the Holy Spirit and through Jesus and

his testimony

and those fulfill the promise of John

the Baptist who said that this one who

is coming who is greater than I will

baptize you with the Holy Spirit and

with fire. And we see this fulfilled in

the Bible on the day of Pentecost in

Acts chapter 2 verse one after Jesus has

Acts 2 · chapter mention

ascended into the clouds of glory and

took his place at the right hand of God

in heaven. The disciples are all

gathered together there in Jerusalem. It

says about 120 of them. And on the day

of Pentecost, they were all together.

And suddenly there came from heaven a

sound like a mighty rushing wind. And it

filled the entire house where they were

sitting. And divided tongues as of fire

appeared to them and rested on each one

of them. And they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and began to speak in

other tongues as a spirit gave them

utterance. And the testimony of others

is that many from different places

around the world, different languages,

heard the disciples declaring the

wonders and mighty works of God in their

own language.

This fulfilled what John the Baptist

said Jesus would do. Baptized with the

Holy Spirit and with fire. The fire that

accompanies the baptism of the Holy

Spirit. Maybe those tongues of fire that

are lighted on each of the disciples. It

may be the fire of judgment that John

says Jesus will enact when he judges the

wheat and the chaff and the wheat is

gathered into barns. The chaff is cast

out and burned in the fire. I think that

fire that accompanies the baptism of the

Holy Spirit is also the purifying fire

of the Holy Spirit that accompanies his

presence and work in a person's life.

That fire of God sanctifies us, making

us holy, conforming us to the image of

Christ. It burns away the dross of our

hearts and our lives so that we can be

purified as gold is purified.

So I have two questions for you today.

The first is have you been baptized with

the Holy Spirit and the fire by Jesus?

And the second is if you have, have you

been baptized by the Holy Spirit and

fire? Today,

John the prophet is telling us that this

is what Jesus will do. He will baptize

with the Holy Spirit and fire. And Acts

shows us that this happened on the day

of Pentecost and thereafter.

And it is what continues to happen

today.

Now, if you answer no to the first

question, you may wonder, well, how do I

become baptized in the Holy Spirit and

fire? How do I receive this experience,

this gift? Well, many who heard Peter's

sermon on that day of Pentecost when

they when he explained what was

happening

asked that same question. And Peter said

this to them in Acts 2:37.

Acts 2:37

Now when they heard this, they heard his

sermon about how Jesus had been

crucified who was the son of God, but

God raised him up from the dead. God

exalted him to the right hand of the

father as king of kings and lord of

lords. And then the people responded and

they were cut to the heart. And they

said to Peter and the rest of the

apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

And Peter said to them,"Repent and be

baptized, every one of you, in the name

of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of

your sins, and you will receive the gift

of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is

for you and for your children and for

all who are far off, everyone whom the

Lord our God calls to himself."

So the answer to that question is, if

you answered no to have you ever been

baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire

and how does that happen? And Peter

instructs us to repent of our sinfulness

and turn to Jesus. And if we haven't

been to be baptized in water in the name

of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of

our sins and you will receive the Holy

Spirit. Because the promise made by John

the Baptist, the promises made by Jesus

regarding the Holy Spirit wasn't only

for those disciples who happen to be

there on the day of Pentecost. It is for

all who are even far off whom the Lord

calls to himself and gives the grace to

call upon him.

the promises for all of us to use Paul's

language in Romans chapter 10 as to well

Romans 10 · chapter mention

how do we receive the Holy Spirit in

chapter 10:es 9-11 he says if you

confess with your mouth that Jesus is

Lord and you believe in your heart that

God raised him from the dead you will be

saved for with the heart one believes

and is justified and with the mouth one

confesses and is saved for the scripture

says everyone who believes in him will

not be put to shame. For there is no

distinction between Jew and Greek. For

the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing

his riches on all who call on him. For

everyone who calls on the name of the

Lord will be saved.

So the answer to that question, how do

we receive and be baptized in the Holy

Spirit in fire is by believing that

Jesus is raised from the dead, that he

is Lord, confessing that with our mouth,

and calling upon his name, receiving his

salvation and the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, this reception

is a yielding to the Holy Spirit and to

his fire that purifies and sanctifies

us. So, if you've never received that,

then you can receive it right now by

following these instructions that Paul

gives to us and that Peter gave to us.

And you can do it right now by saying

these words quietly, this prayer.

Jesus, I turn to you.

I believe you are Lord and that you died

for my sins.

I believe that you rose again from the

dead.

I ask you to save me and to fill me with

your Holy Spirit.

And you can pray to the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit of Jesus, come into my life

and make me your own. And amen.

And that's how he comes. And you can

share that with anyone who may wonder.

And if you're praying that and have not

been baptized in water in the name of

Jesus, then I encourage you to come see

me or Father Brian and let's do that.

Three times in the book of Acts, chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2, 10 and 19, when people receive the

Holy Spirit for the first time, it's

accompanied by some signs, some

manifestations like speaking in tongues,

like prophecy. And sometimes there are

outward signs that accompany the coming

of the Holy Spirit in someone's life.

Sometimes there is no there are no

outward signs and the Holy Spirit comes

and does a quiet and inner work at that

time. But whether there are outward

signs or a quiet inner working, the Holy

Spirit brings new life. And he comes to

bring transformation and sanctification.

And he comes to bring empowerment

by his person, by his presence. So not

only can we be transformed to know the

Lord, but we can be transformed and

empowered to be witnesses to help other

people know the Lord by our words and

our deeds.

The Bible shows us that spiritual gifts

do accompany the coming and work of the

Holy Spirit in someone's life. Jesus

wanted his disciples to be equipped with

those spiritual gifts and empowered for

ministry before going out and serving as

his witnesses.

When discussing spiritual gifts, the

Apostle Paul gives some instructions and

guidance in 1 Corinthians 12:4.

1 Corinthians 12:4

He says there are varieties of gifts but

the same spirit. And there are varieties

of service but the same Lord.

And there are varieties of activities

but it is the same God who empowers them

all in everyone. To each is given the

manifestation of the spirit for the

common good. For to one is given through

the spirit the utterance of wisdom and

to another the utterance of knowledge

according to the same spirit. To another

faith by the same Spirit. To another

gifts of healing by the one Spirit. To

another working of miracles. To another

prophecy. To another the ability to

distinguish between spirits. To another

various kinds of tongues. To another the

interpretation of tongues. All these are

empowered by one in the same spirit who

aortions to each one individually as he

wills.

So just as those early disciples who had

been with Jesus, who had seen his

miracles, who had heard his teaching

needed the Holy Spirit to go out and to

be his witness, likewise we need the

fullness of the Holy Spirit or the

baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need his

purifying fire to work in us to

continually sanctify so that we can be

his witnesses today because there are

just as many lost and desperate people

today as there were then. And they need

somebody to be a witness.

The Apostle Paul

in this midst of discussing spiritual

gifts, he gives us that wonderful

elaboration on love in 1 Corinthians 13.

And following that that chapter where he

defines love and emphasizes it in 1

1 Corinthians 14:1

Corinthians 14:1, he exhorts the church,

pursue love and earnestly desire

spiritual gifts, especially that you may

prophesy.

And this leads me to the second

question. Have you been baptized by

Jesus with the Holy Spirit and fire

today?

The exhortation to pursue love indicates

that this is an ongoing seeking and

pursuit and endeavor by each and every

Christian and by the church as a whole

to go on seeking to be filled with the

presence and power of the Holy Spirit

and to be filled with his love.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit,

described another way by Paul in

Ephesians 5:18, is being filled with the

Ephesians 5:18

Holy Spirit. And he encourages us to be

filled and continue to be filled with

the Holy Spirit. So, it's not a one-time

and done event. It's an ongoing pursuit

of continual baptism in God's presence,

immersion within and without by his Holy

Spirit, and being conformed to the image

and character of Christ.

And he is not just the spirit, he is the

holy spirit. So his working in us brings

about holiness. There can be no

compromise with the holy spirit and with

sin. If he is in our lives, he is going

to be working to sanctify us and to

distance us from sin and from the

entanglements of the flesh, the world,

and the devil. He is the Holy Spirit.

And being baptized in the Holy Spirit

produces a continual growth and becoming

holy.

And it also that includes a continual

demonstration and experience of the

fruit of the Holy Spirit that are all

characteristics of Christ that the Holy

Spirit brings about in us. Being

baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire is

all about abiding in Christ by the Holy

Spirit's presence and lordship in our

lives.

Like the spiritual gifts, the fruit of

the Holy Spirit builds up ourselves and

others. It's not just about us. In John

John 15:5

15:5, Jesus says, "I am the vine, you

are the branches. Whoever abides in me

and I in him, he it is that bears much

fruit. For apart from me, you can do

nothing. Being baptized in the Holy

Spirit is about becoming. It's also

about doing.

It is the fruit in ourselves and it is

the fruit that is expressed and acted

through us. Like spiritual gifts,

the fruit is not just for us, but it's

our for our edification and for the

edification or building up of others.

In Galatians 5, as Paul is leading up to

the fruit of the spirit, he describes

the Christian life like this, walk by

the spirit, be led by the spirit, live

by the spirit, and stay in step with the

spirit. And as we do that, God's fruit

of the spirit is produced in us. And

that fruit, of course, is in Galatians

Galatians 5:22–23

5:22 through 23. The fruit of the spirit

is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

self-control.

As we serve the God who himself is love

and his spirit is the very presence of

love. Love is the priority of the Holy

Spirit in our life. It's not just the

first in the list of fruits. It is the

first and primary fruit in our lives.

The fruit of the spirit is love. Not to

diminish the others, but Paul tells us

in Romans 5:5 that the love of God is

Romans 5:5

poured into our hearts by the Holy

Spirit. To be baptized in the Holy

Spirit with and fire is to be filled and

really overwhelmed by the love of God,

the unfailing,

the unconditional love of God.

To be baptized in the Holy Spirit every

day

is to receive that love for ourselves

every day and to be so filled with that

love that it overflows through us to

others. It is only by the Holy Spirit

that we can love others as we love

ourselves.

We have to make it a continual endeavor

in our lives to receive that love of God

for ourselves.

>> There may be nothing more important.

There be may be nothing more worthwhile

than to sit in the presence of the Lord

without distractions

and let him pour his love into our

hearts.

In fact, another way of asking the

question, have you been baptized by the

Holy Spirit and fire today could be,

have you sat in the presence of the Lord

and received his love for you today? To

receive his love to such an extent

that it flows out of us to others. When

Jesus said that those who believe in him

out of their hearts would flow rivers of

living water and he indicated the Holy

Spirit who was to come by that Holy

Spirit who fills us and flows through us

expresses himself in love.

God is love. John 17:26, which is the

John 17:26

concluding petition in Jesus's high

priestly prayer that he prays at the end

of that upper room discourse following

the Lord's supper as he is about to go

to the garden where he will pray and

then be arrested and put to death. His

last petition to the father for the sake

of his followers is this that the love

with which you the father have loved has

loved me may be in them and I in them.

Jesus's final prayer there for the

church is that the love that the father

has for Jesus may be in them and that he

himself is in them.

The answer to that prayer is the baptism

with the Holy Spirit and fire that the

very presence of God, the very love of

God would be in us in the form of the

Holy Spirit, the person who is God

and this promise is for us. So what is

our responsibility?

Jesus has done the work. He has done the

work to wash our sins away by his blood

to make us righteous and acceptable and

at peace with God. Our responsibility is

to receive the gift of salvation and to

receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit

in our lives each and every day to say,

"Holy Spirit, come fill me with your

presence. Pour the love of God into my

heart. Bear your fruit in me. Enable me

to be a witness to you with the

spiritual gifts that you have for me

and come and fill me

today and every day and to surrender

ourselves to him to have freedom to move

in our lives to surrender ourselves to

him to be sanctified to say no to sin

and temptation and yes to his holiness.

So as I close, I want to close with the

blessing of the Apostle Paul that he

makes in Romans 15:13 to the church. May

Romans 15:13

the God of hope fill you with all joy

and peace in believing and by the power

of the Holy Spirit, may you abound in

hope. Amen.