October 16, 2013
Four Forms of Baptism
Baptized in the Holy Spirit
Acts 9:10-19
10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus,who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
How did Paul get baptized?
It was by the laying on of hands.
Saul was on the road to Damascus when suddenly a great light from heaven shone on him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” It was Jesus speaking to Saul and Saul asked the question, “who are You, Lord?”
The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul was astonished and he trembled and asked the Lord what He wanted him to do. The Lord told him to go to the city and he will be told what to do. When Saul got up off the ground, he opened his eyes, but he could not see. And for three days, he was without sight. He neither ate nor drank.
Then God sent Ananias, a disciple from Damascus, to see Saul. Ananias was a little worried because he heard about Paul and how he persecuted those who called upon His name. The Lord gave Ananias a vision to arise and go to the street call Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. Jesus told Ananias that Saul is a vessel that He is going to use and that he will suffer many things for the name of Jesus. So Ananias went to the house where Saul was. He laid hands on him that he may received sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, he received his sight, he arose and was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
In summary, Saul was baptised in the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands by Ananias, a certain disciple at damascus sent by the Lord Jesus Himself.
In conclusion, Paul was only baptized with the Holy Spirit and there was no mention of him being baptized in water.
Baptized in Water
How was the eunuch baptised?
Acts 8:26-40
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I understand, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”[b]
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”[c]
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.
How was the eunuch baptised? Acts 8:26-40
He was baptized in water.
Philip was witnessing to this ethiopian about the Prophet Isaiah. God told Philip to overtake the chariot and start talking to him. He ask him if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch said, “how can I understand unless someone guides me?” So Philip gave him understanding of what he was reading and he got convicted. He was reading Isaiah 53:7-8. Philip was sent by God to explain to Philip what he was reading. They were riding down the road and saw water.
After Philip received understanding, he wanted to be baptized. He asked Philip, “what hinders me from being baptized?” Philip said, “if you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “ I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.” Then he commanded the chariot to stop. Philip and the eunuch went into the water and Philip baptized him.
Philip told the eunuch that the scripture preached Jesus. Philip administered the baptism and baptise him in water.
In conclusion, the eunuch was baptized in water only.
Baptize in the Word
Peter explains the Pentecost
Acts 2:38-41 (NKJV)
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Peter is addressing the multitude of Jews. He was telling them to look to the house of Israel and to know that God has made this Jesus Lord and Christ. When they heard this, they were cut to the heart. They said to themselves, “what shall we do?”
Peter is addressing the multitude who has the conviction of the pentecost. He was telling them that they killed the Messiah. He explained to them what they did. They are now convicted and busted. Then Peter gives them a message of hope. He tells them, “Repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,”
And what is the sin? It is the sin of killing the Lord. They got busted. They proclaimed, “we have killed the Savior, the Messiah.”
Then Peter gave them a message of hope and let every Jew be baptized for the cancellation of his sin which is the murder of the Lord and he shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit which is to sin no more. In addition, he is telling them to be saved from this generation, this generation that crucified the Lord.
How were these people attending this sermon baptized?
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
The Jews were baptized by His word because they had receive His word gladly.
In conclusion, Saul was baptized in the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands by Ananias, but not in water. The eunuch was baptized in water by Philip only but not in the Holy Spirit. But the Jews were baptized by the preaching of Peter’s Word, but not by the laying on of hands by Ananias, nor the emersion of water by Philip, but by the preaching of Peter’s sermon. And three thousand were baptised.
What about the baptism of fire?
Matthew 3:7-12
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto 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 fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 13:30 (NKJV)
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
So the baptism of fire that Matthew 3:11 talks about is the baptism of judgement. This is the judgement for Jesus that separates the sheep from the goats. This is the judgement of Jesus Christ. It has yet to come. This judgement separates the tares and the wheat. When that time comes, all the tares will be burnt up in fire. He will clean out his threshing floor, gather his wheat into his barn, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
The believers are wheat. Those who are not believers are the chaff and will be burnt up. The believers are gather together. This is the judgement, the second coming, the baptism of fire.
Jesus has already release the Holy Spirit. This is the promise of the Father. He will leave us the helper, the counselor, the Holy Spirit. The second baptism of Jesus Christ is yet to come.
So when you hear the false teachers say that they have the baptism of fire, they are preaching judgement to themselves. There is no special baptism called the baptism of fire. That is a judgement of Jesus Christ. You do not want to pray the baptism of fire unto yourself because you are praying judgement unto yourself.
The judgement of fire is judgement upon the tares, the unbelievers.
In conclusion, a person can be saved by any one (1) of the three baptisms: the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or the baptism of water, or the baptism of the Word. The only baptism that brings judgement is the baptism of fire.
After learning the three baptisms, what is the best baptism for you?
The best baptism for me is the baptism of the Word, not having someone lay hands on me or having someone submerge me in water. The baptism of the Word is the true baptism because Jesus is the Word for ” in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. “ (John 1:1) “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Aldwin (Miyagi) Naruse
The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship
Makaha, HI USA
