This is a summary of a sermon preached Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the baptism of the Spirit. If you don't believe that this is what the old "pope" of reformed theology actually said, then check it out for yourself. In the up coming weeks I will be writing about why I believe this is not a peripheral, side-line, "open-handed", doesn't-really-matter issue for the church today (and throughout all generations). I think that it is particularly relevant to a generation of missional new Calvinists who desire to see the God of the Word (the one One and Only!) made known throughout the world. Also want to pay tribute to the contributors of the "Word from Ern" blog for summarizing this sermon. Hope you are challenged to think and thirst!
Sermon: The Baptism of the Spirit and Regeneration.
Text: John 1: 26, 33
Introductory Comments:
"Perhaps the greatest danger of all for Christian people is the danger of understanding Scripture in the light of their own experiences. We should not examine Scripture in light of our own experiences but we should examine our experiences in the light of Scripture".
"The ... danger then is that of being satisfied with something very much less than what is offered in Scripture, and the danger of interpreting Scritpure by our experiences and reducing its teaching to the level of what we know and experience. And I would say that this ... is the greater danger ... at the present time".
"Look at the New Testament Christian, look at the New Testament church and you see it vibrant with a spiritual life and of course it is always life that tends to lead to excess. There is no problem of discipline in a graveyard; there is no problem very much in a formal church. The problems arise when there is life".
"We discover the following things: there are obviously steps and stages in the Christian life".
1. Principle of Sermon:
"Here is the first principle: It is possible for us to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ without having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit".
"I am suggesting that this is something which is therefore obviously distinct from and seperate from becoming a Christian, being regenerate, having the Holy Spirit dwelling within you".
2. First Proof: The Old Testament Saints.
"They were as much children of God as you and I are".
"If you think that the Old Testament saints were not children of God you are denying the whole of the Scripture. They were. But they had not been baptised with the Holy Spirit".
"But what about John the Baptist himself? ... John the Baptist is a son of God, he is a child of God and yet John was not baptised with the Holy Spirit".
3. Second Proof: The Apostles Themselves.
"Surely it is quite obvious that the apostles were regenerate and were children of God before the Day of Pentecost".
"These men are not only believers, they are regenerate men, the Holy Spirit has been breathed upon them (John 20) yet they have not been baptised with the Holy Spirit".
4. Third Proof: The Apostle Paul.
"It is so vital that we should start with Scripture, not with our prejudices, not with what we think, not what we are afraid of. "Ah" you may say, "Now you have said that tongues are alright". I am sure many are thinking that. You wait a minute; I shall deal with the question of gifts when it comes to the right place. You do not start with that". - I love that quote! I can just imagine the Doctor saying it! But his point is particularly vital for all of a Third Wave persuasion. You don't start with the gifts. We must be primarily concerned with receiving the Spirit in His Person.
Re: Ananias: "He does not instruct him (Paul) on the way of salvation. He is sent to heal him and to fill him with the Holy Spirit, to give him the baptism of the Holy Spirit ... You can, you see receive the Holy Spirit before you are baptised (in water) or the other way round - it does not matter at all".
5. Fourth Proof: Apollos and Cornelius.
"It seems to me this is the only adequate explanation of the story about him. This was the thing that Priscilla and Aquila recognised as lacking in Apollos and about which they told him and it made all the difference to him".
"It is possible for a man to be baptised with the Holy Spirit virtually simultaneously with his belief. Take the case of Cornelius and his household. You remember we are told in Acts 10 that as Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. There it seems that the baptism with the Holy Spirit happened 'as they were believing'".
"Now there is an absolute proof that you can be a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and still not be baptised with the Holy Spirit; that incident proves it. The question at the beginning and what actually happened subsequently. The important point is that there is a difference, there is a distinction between believing and being baptised with the Holy Spirit".
6. Final Proof: Ephesians 1:13
"It is only the believer who is baptised with the Spirit or receives the seal of the Spirit. It is the same order again. The believing is the first thing but being baptised is something that does not of necessity happen at the same time. It may - it may not. But it is distinct and seperatem so the Apostle does seperate them".
"All I am trying to establish is this: that you can be regenerate without being baptised with the Holy Spirit".
7. Conclusion:
"The Scriptures that I have adduced to you show quite clearly that to say, as so many have said and are still saying, that every man at regeneration is of necessity baptised with the Holy Spirit, is simply to fly in the face of this plain, explicit teaching of the Holy Scriptures".
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