SCRIPTURE: Acts 1
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. [ Acts 1:5] The book of Exodus finishes with the tabernacle being ‘baptized’ (filled, covered, anointed) by the glory cloud that represented God [Exodus 40:34-38]. God’s presence and power among them led and empowered them through the wilderness and into the promised land.
When John the Baptist baptized people, it was the symbol of a new beginning, of being flooded by God’s cleansing mercy and stepping out a new person. But that baptism was symbolic of good intentions, not of actual heart-change. Their hearts may have been sincere, but the sinful nature that corrupted their hearts was still there. It is because of sin that no amount of good intentions, self-help or religious ritual can fix our hearts. We have a serious heart disease, a spiritual heart disease. Our problem is spiritual, therefore the solution needs to be spiritual. We need the Spirit of God to enter into our spirit (our inner being, centered in the heart) and rebirth, renew, recreate, revitalize, reform… make us new from the inside out. We need to be baptized by the Spirit of God.
Consider the disciples of Jesus. On their own, even with all their good intentions, they could not understand or follow Jesus without messing up. Jesus has entrusted to them the mission of telling the whole world about Him, but thus far their track record is not that good. Their spirit is willing, but their flesh (i.e. sinful human nature) is weak. That is, until they get a spiritual heart transplant!
Ezekiel prophecies about God giving His people new hearts, living hearts in place of their hearts of stone [Ezekiel 11:18-19] Jeremiah tells about a new covenant, when God writes His will on their hearts [Jeremiah 31:33]. Joel predicts the day when God will pour out His Spirit on everyone [Joel 2:28-29]. These all refer to the baptism (flooding, pouring) of the Spirit.
This is the only hope for the disciples (including the newly appointed Matthias), the only way they can fulfill Jesus’ assignment to take Jesus message to the ends of the earth. By themselves, they are empty balloons, but with the Spirit of God, they are inflated and will soar with God. This is what we will see as we read through the book of Acts.
PRAYER:
Lord, I need Your Spirit to renew and inspire me. Fill me with Your Spirit today.
This too should shake us to our very core. Too many times I can so easily get into a groove of good intentions and realize there is no power in the energy I am pouring out.
Indeed, John the baptizer did the preparation work. He called out a baptism of repentence. Repentence is the preparation for the real seed to be planted into. When the Holy Spirit came, the groundwork in the hearts of that early church was ready.
I love verse 14 where it says, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”
“all with one mind” … “continually devoting themselves to prayer…”
This is a broken crowd. Broken and ready.