This sermon delves into the concept of being immersed in two ways: through water baptism and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, emphasizing the total immersion experienced in both. It explores the significance of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit as highlighted in the four Gospels and the fulfillment of this promise on the day of Pentecost. The sermon also discusses the seal and down payment of the Holy Spirit, illustrating how speaking in tongues serves as a visible and audible seal of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

You see, there are two ways of being immersed. There's the swimming pool way, where you go down into the water, go under the water and come up out of the water. That's water baptism. But then there's the Niagara Falls way. I remember the first time I stood and watched Niagara Falls, I said to myself, you couldn't be under that for one second without being totally drenched. That's the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Every place that it's described, it indicates in one way or another that the Holy Spirit came down over them from above. So we're talking about two immersions. Immersion in water, you go down into it, you go under it, you come up out of it. Immersion in the Holy Spirit, you just go under it and it comes down over you. But in either case, you're totally immersed. Not just partially immersed, not sprinkled, but totally immersed. Now it's very interesting that the introduction to each of the four Gospels, specifically states that Jesus Christ will baptize in the Holy Spirit. I think far too little attention has been given to this. I want to read the four passages in each of the Gospels. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 11. John the Baptist says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he who is coming after me, that's the Messiah. It's mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And then in Mark chapter 1 and verse 8, we get the introduction there. John the Baptist is speaking, he says, I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And then in Luke 3 and verse 16, the version that's given in Luke's Gospel. John the Baptist says, John answered and saying to them, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandals strap I am not worthy to lose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And then in John's Gospel, chapter 1 verse 33. So this is part of the official introduction of Jesus, by his forerunner John the Baptist. And in every one of the introductions, in every one of the four Gospels, it's specifically stated that Jesus will baptize his people with the Holy Spirit. Now in John's Gospel, the introduction is a little fuller. Beginning at chapter 1 verse 29. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And then he went on to say in verse 33, I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit, the Holy Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I've seen and testified that this is the Son of God. So John there says three things. This is the Lamb of God, this is the Son of God, and this is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. We are all so wonderfully familiar with the statement that Jesus is the Lamb of God. But it's only stated in one Gospel. Whereas in all four Gospels, it's specifically stated that Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. In other words, it's one of the most important things that we need to know about him. It's wonderful to know him as Savior, to know him as Lamb of God, but that's not the end. It's also very, very important that we come to know him individually and personally as the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Now after his earthly ministry was completed, after his resurrection, in Luke chapter 24, I'm sorry, in Acts chapter 1 verses 4 and 5, Jesus repeats this promise. It's really hard to overemphasize how frequently this promise is given in the Gospels. In Acts chapter 1 verses 4 and 5, it says of Jesus, being assembled together with them, his disciples, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said, you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So Jesus was careful to repeat the promise with which John the Baptist had introduced him, that he would be the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Now almost all commentators on the Bible agree that the fulfillment of this promise of Jesus is recorded in Acts chapter 2 verses 1 through 4, the day of Pentecost. So I want to read what the Bible says there and then briefly consider exactly what is implied. Acts 2 beginning at verse 1. Now when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues or other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance, or as the Spirit gave them to speak. So there are three successive phases of that experience. First of all it was a baptism. The Holy Spirit came from above and immersed them. It filled the whole place where they were sitting. They were immersed from above. Secondly, each one of them was individually filled with the Holy Spirit. It was not just a collective experience, but it was an experience in which each individual had his personal share. And thirdly, there was an overflow, a supernatural outflow from the infilling. And this is in line with a principle that's stated in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34. Matthew 12, 34. Just the latter part of the verse. Jesus is saying, For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. I represent that by saying, when your heart is filled, it overflows through the mouth in speech. And there are a number of passages in the New Testament where it speaks about people being filled with the Holy Spirit. I've looked at each passage and in every case, the next thing that happened was that person spoke, prophesied, spoke in tongues, whatever it might be. So this is a universal principle. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. When the heart is filled to overflowing, then the overflow takes place through the mouth in speech. And that's what happened on the day of Pentecost. When they had been filled, then they all began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance, or as the Spirit gave them to speak. And it's very important to understand that this is a matter in which God and man have to cooperate. God filled them, but they began to speak. The Holy Spirit didn't do the speaking, they did the speaking. The Holy Spirit gave them the language. I've met so many, and my background for many years has been in the Pentecostal movement, who've said, brother Prince, I want God to do it all. I met a man who said, I've been tarrying 25 years, and he said, I'm waiting for God to do it all. I said, you'll tarry for the rest of your life, because it's not scriptural. God will do his part, you have to do your part. You do the speaking, God gives the language. But God will not do the speaking. They all began to speak as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak. And let me say, it's true they tarried or they waited till the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. After that, there's no record that anyone ever tarried for the Holy Spirit. He had been given. Now I want to say a little bit about the way that the Apostle Paul describes this. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 22. He says, 2nd Corinthians 1 22, well we read verse 21 as well. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God. Who has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit. So Paul says two things. The Holy Spirit is a seal and it's a deposit. In Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 14 he uses similar language. Ephesians 1 14, he says, verse 13, in whom also, that's Jesus, having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. And in the margin it says for guarantee, down payment. So the Holy Spirit, the baptism, which is visible, which is audible, which is not merely something that happens inside you and cannot be seen by others. It's something that can be seen and heard. Paul says it's two things. It's a seal and a down payment. So first of all it's a seal. You already belong to Jesus but this publicly identifies you as belonging to Him. He sets His public seal upon you. I don't know whether any of you can remember the days when we used to send registered mail and you had to seal it with hot wax. Can you remember those days? And then you had to put an imprint on it. That's exactly what the Holy Spirit is. It's a seal, it's hot wax. And then Jesus puts His imprint on it and it sets you apart. And you know registered mail is treated in a special way. It's much more carefully looked after. And when you've been baptized in the Holy Spirit you're registered mail. You get special attention from heaven's post office. Now the second word is a down payment or a deposit. And this is a, this happens, I'm very interested in languages, this happens to be very interesting. Because in Hebrew the word is Arbon. In Arabon. In Arabic it's Arbon. In Swahili it's Araboni. In other words, the same word goes all the way through. And I used to live and speak, I used to speak Arabic when I lived in Jerusalem years ago, with my first wife. And I always remember a scene in 1947. We just moved into a new house in Jerusalem and we needed to buy material for the curtains. So we went to the old city and we found a man who was selling curtain material. And we saw what we wanted. And these figures are not exact, they're just to give you an idea. We needed 20 yards and the price let's say was $5 a yard. So the total price was $100. And we said to the man, now listen, we don't have all the money with us, but we'll give you one-fifth, $20 as a down payment. You know what he called that in Arabic, Arbon. Arbon. And we said now, when we've given you the down payment, you've got to remember two things. It belongs to us. You've got to set it apart for us. You can't sell it to anybody else, because it's for us. Second, our down payment is our guarantee that we'll come back with the rest of the money and take the material. And that's what the baptism in the Holy Spirit is. Jesus puts a down payment on you and sets you apart for himself. And after that, you're not for sale to any other customer. Secondly, it's his guarantee, I'm coming back to take you. And when I come back, I'll come back with the rest of the payment. And then you'll be mine forever. Such a brilliant vivid picture of what the baptism in the Holy Spirit is. Now, what is the seal? This is a question that people might dispute. But I want to say that as far as I'm concerned, the New Testament only indicates one seal. And that is speaking with other tongues as the Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives you to speak. Now I'm aware, and probably some of you are, there are movements, the Rastafarians in Jamaica is one, where people who are in other cults speak in tongues. This frightens some people. They say, well how do I know I'm going to get the right thing? Well Jesus said, if you're a child of God, please note that. And if you ask your heavenly Father for a piece of bread, he will not give you a snake. In other words, if you ask for the right thing, you have a written guarantee from God, you'll get the right thing. You don't need to be afraid. Now if you're not a child of God, that promise doesn't apply. You have to be a child of God. Jesus said if you ask your heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit, he will give it to you. So the seal is something visible, something audible, something public. A seal cannot be secret, otherwise it doesn't accomplish its purpose. The seal is as in Acts 2, they all began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them to speak. Now I want to say four things about that. First of all, that was the seal the apostles themselves received in their own experience. Jesus said wait in Jerusalem until you receive the Father's promise. So they waited for ten days. When the Holy Spirit came and they spoke with tongues, they never waited anymore. It was the seal they had received in their own experience. Secondly, it was the seal which they accepted in others. And we look at one remarkable case in a few moments. Thirdly, they never asked for any other seal. Let me repeat that because it's very important. See I've met so many people over the years who said, brother Prince, how do I know if I've been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I've had this or that experience, I've really been praying and seeking God, but how can I know? My answer is, you can know when you receive the seal. When you first begin to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives you to speak, you've got it. I would prefer to say you have Him, because it's not just an it. It's a person you've received. So let me say those three things again. It was the seal the apostles received. It was the seal which they accepted in others. And they never asked for any other seal. Furthermore, the New Testament does not offer us any other seal. There's no alternative offered in the New Testament. Let's look at what Jesus said in Luke 24, verses 52 and 53. After His resurrection, when He was taking farewell of His disciples, He said, Luke 24, 52 and 53. And they worshipped Him. I'm sorry, excuse me. This is a different thought that I want to bring out. A lot of people have said, well, I got so happy, I'm filled with joy. I was praising the Lord all the time. Isn't that the seal? Not according to the New Testament. It's wonderful to be filled with joy. It's wonderful to be praising the Lord. But it isn't the New Testament seal. And I'll tell you how I know. Because after the resurrection of Jesus, it says that right at the end of Luke's gospel, when He'd been taken up into heaven, they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. So they had great joy. They were continually praising and blessing God, but they had not received the seal. And they did not receive that until the day of Pentecost. And Jesus said, tarry or wait until. They never waited any longer. After the Holy Spirit came and they spoke with tongues, that was the end of waiting. Now I think there's one particular case in the book of Acts, which demonstrates this so vividly. I would like to turn there. It's in Acts chapter 10, right at the end of the chapter. You know the story, Peter had been supernaturally directed to the household of Cornelius. He really didn't want to go there, because it wasn't correct for him as a Jew to enter the house of Gentiles. And much less to eat with them. But under pressure from God, he went and he took with him six other Jewish believers. He wanted to have witnesses. And while Peter was speaking to them, talking to them about Jesus. In Acts 10 verse 44 it says, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. Now it's interesting how far he'd come in his sermon. The previous verse he says, to him Jesus, all the prophets, give witness that through his name, whoever believes in him, will receive remission or forgiveness of sins. And those simple-minded people in the household of Cornelius, believed it. And received forgiveness of sins. And once they'd received forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit was prepared to come upon them. See? So it said, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed, that's the Jewish believers, were astonished. As many as came with Peter. Because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Remember they came there, not believing that the gospel was for anybody but for Jews. They didn't believe Gentiles could become Christians. But when they heard them speak with tongues, they said this is it. We can't argue. And why did they believe? It says, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. They didn't have any other evidence. And they didn't ask for any other evidence. Now some people today would say, well, they should have hung around and waited for about six weeks to see if they really brought forth the fruit. But they didn't. You see, we're not talking about fruit, we're talking about a gift. They're two different things, both of them very important. A gift is received in a single transaction. Fruit comes by a slow process of growth. Now some of you have just been celebrating Christmas. And doubtless some of you had a Christmas tree, is that right? And on the Christmas tree, or under the Christmas tree, you placed your gifts. And the people for whom the gifts were designed, came, picked the gift off and received it. That is all. A gift is received by a single transaction. Fruit on the other hand, grows on apple trees, it doesn't grow on Christmas trees. And that takes time, it's a process. Now please understand, fruit is extremely important. But don't confuse fruit with a gift. What we're talking about is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Something that can be received in one simple transaction. And so, then Peter answered about the people in the household of Cornelius. Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we. In other words, he made no difference between these people and what happened on the day of Pentecost. And later on, reporting to his fellow Jews, who were criticizing him. And complaining that he shouldn't have gone and spoken to Gentiles. Peter says in Acts 11 verse 15, As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning. There's no mention there, in the household of Cornelius, of a mighty wind or tongues of fire. But the one thing that identified the experience was, they all began to speak with other tongues. So I say, and I believe it cannot be questioned. This was the seal the apostles received. This was the seal they accepted in others. They never asked for any other seal. And I cannot find any other seal offered in the New Testament. Now I know, I probably know better than most of you, that speaking in tongues is sometimes considered, I don't know, strange, unorthodox. Even some people call it demonic. I remember a time when there was a dear evangelical minister who would not walk on the same side of the street with me. Because he knew I spoke in tongues. See, well I forgive him. But I don't endorse his opinions. See God sometimes puts at the beginning of an experience, something that's a kind of stumbling block. And if you're not really in earnest, you'll be put off. People speaking a language they've never learned, and maybe getting very excited, to some people, is offensive. I want to suggest to you that basically we from the Anglo-Saxon, European, American background have got a pretty false picture of what Christianity is really like. First of all, we think about it as very dignified. When you get in church you don't speak in a loud voice. You stand or sit and sing the hymns, but you wouldn't really get excited about anything. That's the picture of Christianity that I grew up with. And I was going to church eight times a week for ten years, so I'm not without experience. But it's not the New Testament, it's not the biblical picture. And you see, we suffer a lot, many of us, because we're not really free to express what God is doing in us. You read about the people in the Bible. They cried, they shouted, they groaned, they clapped their hands, they danced, they sang. They got excited. But the one who provides the excitement is the Holy Spirit. Remember what Ruth and I quoted at the beginning. Now may the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. What makes us abound in hope? The power of the Holy Spirit. How many of you today don't respond openly? How many of you really abounding in hope? How many of you excited about Jesus? How many of you are just bubbling over, you can't keep quiet? That's how we should be. That's how we should be. And all this staid, dignified, solemnity really doesn't have much to do with the New Testament. I'll come to a few examples in a minute. Let's go on. Now there are two ways that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is administered in the New Testament. One is direct from heaven. It just falls on people. That was on the day of Pentecost. That was in the house of Cornelius. The other is by the laying on of hands. And that is described in three places. In Acts chapter 8 verses 14 through 19. Acts chapter 8 verses 14 through 19. This is in Samaria. Now when the apostles who went to Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent Peter and John to them. Who when they came down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Now those people that heard the gospel preached by Philip. They believed and they'd been baptized. That's stated clearly earlier in that chapter. They were saved but they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. And the apostles were not satisfied. They didn't rest content with the fact that these people had been wonderfully saved. They wanted more. For as yet it says in verse 16, he the Holy Spirit had fallen upon none of them. But notice it speaks about him falling upon them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they, the apostles, laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. So that, in that instance the Holy Spirit was ministered through the laying on of hands by other believers. And in the next chapter you read how when Saul of Tarsus who became Paul was there in the city of Damascus, a disciple Ananias was sent to him, laid hands on him, prayed for him that he might be healed and receive the Holy Spirit. So Paul received through the laying on of the hands of Ananias.