In the sermon 'The Gentiles Brought Near -4' by Peter Allison, the speaker explores the baptism of the Holy Spirit as described in Acts 10:44-48. He begins by explaining the Greek word 'baptizo,' which signifies being enveloped by something that permanently changes the condition of the person or object. The sermon emphasizes that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is God-initiated and monergistic, meaning it is solely the work of God and not a result of human effort. This baptism occurs through the hearing of the Word, not through actions like a sinner's prayer or emotional fervor. It is described as a gift of the Holy Spirit, and it often coincides with conversion. The sermon also distinguishes between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and water baptism, noting that water baptism symbolizes the regeneration work of the Holy Spirit but does not directly cause it. Furthermore, believers are encouraged to 'improve' their baptism by continually living in its power, growing in assurance of pardon and grace, and walking in brotherly love. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is portrayed as an ongoing transformation that produces spiritual fruit, such as magnifying God and living a life led by the Spirit.

Please turn in your copy of God's Word to Acts chapter 10. We'll be jumping around a little bit more than normal in the message today, I anticipate. So if you don't have a copy, there should be a copy in the book rack at the back. Acts chapter 10, We'll be looking actually at verse 44-48. But I'd like to just read verse 34 until we have reminded again of the context.

Beginning verse 34, Then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. That word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. For God was with him.

And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us, who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witnessed that through His name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. And 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 were astonished as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. And He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And then they asked Him to stay a few days. May God give us understanding to obey His law and keep it with our whole heart.

Heavenly Father, we give thanks to You for Your Word. It is precious to us. It is the Word of life. It is the truth. Open our hearts to receive it and please sanctify my sinful lips that they may proclaim this truth and keep me, Lord, from error and from straying.

In Jesus' name, Amen. One of the things that makes English very hard to learn is the wide linguistic range of some words. Some words have multiple meanings that have very little in common. And the meaning has to be determined from the context. And so one of the implications of this is that synonyms are not always interchangeable, which can make it difficult to learn the language.

For example, consider The word check. Consider all the ways that we use that word. We ask for a check at a restaurant. That's a statement of money owed. That's a bill.

We write a check. That's the opposite. That's a payment of money. We check a job off a list. That's to deselect something.

Or we check the correct answer. That's to select something. We check our pride. That's a mental or spiritual restraint. We check an army's advance.

Or you check in hockey, check a hockey player. That's a physical restraint. We put a king in check. That's a condition of danger. We check our coat or our luggage.

That's a temporary transfer of custody. We check into a flight or we check into a business. That's a registration of our presence. We check into a hotel. That's an assumption of liability for a temporary residence.

Or we buy a blue check dress or shirt. There it refers to a pattern on a piece of material. You can understand why it can be difficult to figure this all out. You can actually have a check flight. That's a test.

Or you can check the tire pressure. That's to inspect something. Well, the Greek word for baptize, baptizo, is a lot like this English word, check. It has a very wide semantic range, a very wide range of meanings. In this word in the Greek, we can say it has a primary meaning and it has secondary meanings.

So in its primary sense, it indicates what a word one man made up. It indicates an intus position. That's simply a physical envelopment in an element. Physical envelopment in something. It's when you envelop something in something else.

But that something that you envelop it in has the power to influence or to change permanently that in which it envelops. Do you get that? It's the envelopment of something in something else where that something has the ability to change it. That's what the word fundamentally means. Its secondary meaning, however, it refers to something being brought under the controlling influence or the transforming power of something else.

It's often used this way in the Scriptures. The Bible talks about being baptized into Moses. Talking about the people who believed in Moses, they came under his influence. They recognized him and his position. So this word for baptize or baptizo defines a condition.

That of being enveloped in something that permanently changes it, permanently alters it. That of coming under the controlling influence of something. The transforming power of something. So it defines a condition. It doesn't say anything about the actions that bring about that condition.

It's talking about the end result, the end condition, not the actions to get there. For example, to go back to our little word, check. We could talk about, we can check a house. You can check a test. You can check a garden.

You can check an air conditioner. You can check the fire in your fireplace. Or you can check your email. Now, all of those words, all those actions, we can say they have kind of a common sense to them. They all involve some type of inspection, some type of comparing the actual condition with a desired condition.

But the actions to do each of those things are very different. The actions to check your air conditioner are very different than what you would do to check the fire in your fireplace. You see, the word doesn't say anything about the actions to do it. It only tells you about the condition or the result, or what the end state is of being inspected, that of being checked, and being found in a satisfactory or unsatisfactory condition. And so, this word, baptized, doesn't say anything about the actions of how this happens.

It simply has a reference to the final condition, the end state. And so to be baptized then by the Holy Spirit is to come under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. It's to be filled by the Holy Spirit. And this passage, this text that we read beginning in verse 44, relates the first time that the Gentiles are baptized by the Holy Spirit. It's describing a change in their condition that is ongoing, continuous, even permanent.

So what do we learn about this baptism of the Holy Spirit? What does this text tell us about this baptism? This coming under the controlling influence of the Spirit. This being enveloped by the Spirit. Well, we see first that it's God initiated.

While Peter is still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the Word. There wasn't anything that anyone was doing there to specifically initiate on their own this falling of the Holy Spirit, this baptism of the Holy Spirit. God chose the timing. God decided when these people would be baptized by the Holy Spirit. And He chose to do it right in the middle of Peter's preaching while he was still talking.

You see, the Lord moves when and where He will. This baptism is God initiated. It wasn't initiated by anything people had done there. The second thing we see is it's monergistic. It's not the result of human movement to God.

The Holy Spirit is the one who does the moving. The Holy Spirit is the actor here. The recipients of this baptism of the Holy Spirit were passive and unmoving. He's passive in any sense of motion, any sense of action. You see, regeneration is the Holy Spirit acting on us.

It's not us doing something to come to God. The natural man is dead in his trespasses and sins. We are dead in that we are wholly unable to make any movement to God. That's what the significance of being dead is. You are completely unable to do anything.

Completely passive. You just lie there. A dead body just lies there. Those who are dead are unable to make any motion to the Lord, unable to make any steps to the Lord, unable to call upon the Lord. The third thing we see about this baptism is that it comes through the hearing of the Word.

It didn't come through a dramatic reenactment of the crucifixion, or it didn't come through drama of any sort. It didn't come through emotional fervor. We don't see these people being stirred up by a moving emotional talk or music or some other thing to stir their emotions or whip them into an emotional frenzy. We do see that in the Bible. The Ephesian assembly, the mob that gathered in Ephesus at one point, they were whipped up into a frenzy.

It says they were shouting and nobody even knew why they were there. They were just emotionally fired up. But we don't see that here. There's no emotional fervor being whipped up by anything Peter is saying. He's simply stating propositional truths about the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

It didn't come through laying on of hands, as important as that is in its place. There was no laying on of hands here that produced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It didn't come by saying a sinner's prayer or by asking Jesus into their heart, whatever that means. Regeneration came as they heard the Word and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. See, this is an example of the fact that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Romans 10 says this very, very explicitly. How then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach unless they are sent?" You notice every one of those things is present in this entire event. Peter is sent. And he's sent to preach. And He's sent to preach words by which they will be saved.

And as He is preaching those words, they are hearing. And we looked in previous messages about the preparation of Peter and the preparation of those who hear. And it's as they hear this word that this happens. Paul goes on in Romans 10, As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the Gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report?

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This should be a great encouragement to us. It's not the beauty or the wisdom or the rhetoric with which we speak or the methods with which we use. It is the Word of God through which faith comes and hearing of the Word. We can speak the Word.

We can invite people to hear the Word preached. And the Lord is pleased to bring salvation through that. You notice Cornelius had gathered all these people. He invited them to come and to hear the Gospel. And they were all saved.

Fell on all of them as they heard the Gospel being preached. See, isn't that a great relief? We don't have to think of new methods and new ways to reach people or to persuade them. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. He persuades them and He enables them to embrace Christ.

And He does it through His Word. All we have to do is preach His Word. All we have to do is bring His Word. Invite people to hear that Word. The Holy Spirit does the saving.

The fourth thing that we see here is that Luke calls this baptism of the Holy Spirit a gift. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit in verse 45. It is a gift of God. They did nothing to earn this gift. God promises simply to save all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of your own, it is a gift of God." Salvation is a gift that is given apart from the deeds of the law. Paul said earlier in Romans, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ apart from the deeds of the law. The fifth thing we see is that this is not directly tied in time to water baptism. This water baptism happens after the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Did you see that?

The baptism of the Holy Spirit happens first. After that, they are baptized with water. So this refutes the idea of baptismal regeneration. The idea that we are saved in our water baptism, which is actually a more common belief among Christians than I realized. There's a rather humorous incident of that.

A number of years ago, I ran a school, a Christian school that had a requirement, the board stated a requirement that at least one parent had to be a Christian in order to send their children to the school. And so I, being the new guy, newly brought in to run it, I saw that and so I began to interview parents to make an assessment whether they were Christians or not. How are we supposed to know this unless we talk to them and ask them to tell us, to see if they have a basic understanding of the faith, of who they're believing and trusting and for salvation. And so I would do these interviews, I had teachers come in, and we participated in these interviews. Well, the board got wind of it, and some were puzzled by why I would do that.

And it turned out, I learned to my amazement, that what they meant by saying that at least one parent had to be a Christian was that at least one parent had been baptized. That's what they meant by it. Because for them, being baptized was the moment that one became a Christian. The moment they went into the water, then they became a Christian. And so they had said, that's what they meant.

I had no idea that's what they meant. Well, at least one person was converted through that misunderstanding. They received a letter denying them admission because they weren't believers, and that became the occasion of them being saved, hearing the Gospel and being saved. They'd been longtime members, longtime baptized members of a local church. The Lord used that to save them.

So, The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not directly tied in time to water baptism. The sixth thing we see about this baptism of the Holy Spirit is that The Holy Spirit is poured out. It says in verse 44 that the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard. And then in the next verse that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on these Gentiles. In the baptism of the Holy Spirit here, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the Gentiles.

People aren't immersed into the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word. It's just the opposite. The movement is with the Holy Spirit and He is said to be poured out. That's one reason why we baptize by sprinkling or pouring and not by immersion because The mode of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is by pouring or sprinkling.

The scriptures, the prophets speak about God, He said He would sprinkle many nations. And actually, we don't have to just depend on analogies here like this. The mode of baptism is commanded in Scripture and it's always that of sprinkling. That's the only mode that's ever commanded. Seventh, we see that this baptism of the Holy Spirit happens at the same time as salvation.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit happens at their conversion. It's when they believed. It happens actually as Peter is saying, whoever believes on Him will receive the remission of sins. And as he's saying those words, they heard those words and they believed those words and they were saved. The Holy Spirit fell on them and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11, 14, the next chapter, ties these words which Peter spoke to their salvation actually very explicitly. We see it indirectly in this text, but the next chapter makes it explicit. We read there that the angel told Cornelius that Peter would speak words by which he and his household would be saved. He will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved. And as Peter told those words, he heard them, they all believed, and the Holy Spirit fell on them in the work of regenerating them.

Eighthly, we see that following this baptism, this baptism of the Holy Spirit produces fruit. It produces fruit. Produced immediate fruit in the lives of these believers. They magnified God. They magnified God.

And in order to magnify God, we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We cannot magnify God any other way. It's not possible. Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Jesus, the eternal Son of God who became flesh and dwelt among us, the second person at Trinity, no one can say that He is Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit. So there is evidence then in their lives of this work of the Holy Spirit. It produces fruit. This is how we can recognize believers.

We can't see directly the falling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus that the work of the Spirit was like the wind. You can't see it. You can't see it. It blows where it wills.

But you do see the effect of the wind. You see the trees move. That's the effect of the wind. But you don't see the wind. We don't see the work of the Holy Spirit, but we see the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit.

By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another. If you bear fruit, then that's how we know. It's by our fruits that we are known as the children of God. And those who bear no fruit, those whose lives bear no evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit, aren't believers. There's no such thing as an unfruitful believer.

Those who bear no fruit, they're cut off. Those branches are cut off. They are removed. They also spoke in tongues. And Now that is a gift of the Holy Spirit, but not everybody receives that gift.

Paul says we should desire gifts, but we should desire them earnestly. But not everyone receives all the gifts, or not everyone who receives a particular gift receives it in the same measure. Paul deals with length with that in his letter to the Corinthians that we are all different members and we all have various gifts that we've been given. So not everybody is given the gift of speaking in tongues, but these people were, just like the first pentecost five years or six years earlier. Now, the Gentiles receiving this Holy Spirit, being baptized by the Holy Spirit, was surprising to the Jews who saw it.

They were astonished, it says, to see the Holy Spirit poured out on the Gentiles. This, And it's interesting that Peter doesn't say they should be circumcised, which was the sign in the Old Testament, the Old Testament sign of regeneration. He says they should be baptized, which is the New Testament sign of the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. But see, this Holy Spirit being poured out on all the Gentiles was promised in the Old Testament. In Joel 2, we read that God telling Israel, then you will know that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am Jehovah your God and there is no other. My people will never be put to shame. And it will come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh." It didn't say just the circumcised Jews, just the descendants of Abraham. It says, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. And also on my men servants and my maids servants, I will pour out My Spirit..." And there's that word pour again. "...pour out My Spirit in those days." This was the passage that Peter referenced at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on them. And remember, there were people that were saying, well, these are drunk, because they were speaking in tongues.

And Peter says, no, they're not drunk. This is what's happening in front of you. The Holy Spirit has fallen on these people and they're speaking in tongues. This is what was prophesied in Joel. So that's the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But we also have in this passage water baptism. These two baptisms are combined together in this passage. And that's actually... There aren't that many passages that speak this clearly about both of the baptisms at the same time. So what can we say about water baptism?

Well, the first thing we see is that water baptism represents the work of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. And we see this because Peter thinks of baptism when he sees the Holy Spirit fall on these people. That's what he connects in his mind. He sees the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and He says water baptism. Because water baptism represents the work of the Holy Spirit.

It doesn't represent what we do. It doesn't represent our faith. It represents the Holy Spirit falling in regeneration, The baptism of the Holy Spirit. You see, this is what Romans 6 teaches. And I'd like to take just a minute, if you will bear with me, to draw talk about a little bit more.

In Romans 6, verse 3, Paul says, Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? What does it mean to be baptized into His death? Those who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. And these people at Cornelius and his house were baptized into Christ Jesus. And Paul is saying when they are baptized into Christ Jesus, they were baptized into His death.

What does that mean? To be baptized into His death. Well, to be baptized into Christ Jesus means to come under the controlling influence of Jesus Christ. It means that He is our Lord. And we are so united to Christ that in being baptized into Christ, we are also baptized into His death.

To be baptized into His death then means that we come under the effect of His death in such a way that it permanently changes our condition. That's what baptized means. So Romans 6, 4 then, the next verse continues, Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism unto death. Because we've been baptized into Christ, We've been baptized into His death, and that means therefore, because of that, we've been buried with Him, also through this baptism into death. What does it mean to be buried with Christ?

We've died with Christ, We're buried with Christ. Well, verse 6 explains, saying, Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for He who died has been freed from sin." So to be baptized into His death means that we have been crucified. Our old nature, our old man has been crucified with Him so that we are no longer slaves of sin. We've died to sin. Romans 6 verse 10 says, For the death that He died, He died once and for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Likewise, you also reckon yourselves, that counts yourselves, to be dead into sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, to be buried with Christ into death means that our old nature has been crucified with Christ, so we're no longer slaves of sin and we are now led by the Holy Spirit. And this happens only by the regenerating work of the Spirit. That's the only way we died to our sins when the Holy Spirit baptizes us and we're regenerated. Titus 3 says, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by according to His mercy He saved us.

How? Through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. That's how we've been saved. The washing of regeneration. It's the work of the Holy Spirit.

Or in Romans 8, but you are not in the flesh. Romans 8 verse 9, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh." That's what is represented by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration. Now we need to ask here in this Romans 6 passage, what baptism is Romans 6 talking about? Water baptism or the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Are we united to Christ by water baptism or by the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Do we cease to be slaves to sin by water baptism or by the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Is our old man crucified with Christ by water baptism or by the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I think it's obvious, right? All these things that Paul is describing in Romans 6 happen by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think it's obvious, right?

All these things that Paul is describing in Romans 6 happen by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There's no water at all in Romans 6. This is not talking about, in any way, about water baptism. Unless, I guess you believe in baptismal regeneration that all these things happen through water baptism. The baptism in Romans 6 is not water baptism, it's the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And so we can say then that this Water baptism though represents the baptism of the Holy Spirit. See, some would look to Romans 6, I've spent time on this, because some would look to this as the place where They say water baptism represents death, burial, and resurrection in Christ. But it doesn't. Water baptism represents the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So back to Acts 10 then.

The third thing we see about this water baptism is that they are baptized in the name of the Lord. Peter says, baptize them in the name of the Lord. Now this is not a contradiction with Matthew 28, which says to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You see, it's because there is one God, one Lord, and one name for God. Isaiah, we see this, that this one God has...

That the names are applied to all of the persons. The names of God are applied to all of the persons. Just look at Isaiah 9-6. Everybody recognizes this is talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but what does it say His name is? For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father." See, the name of Father is given to Jesus.

And it goes on, Prince of Peace, and so on, of the increase of His government. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom. You see, so when Peter said they were to be baptized in the name of the Lord, he's not contradicting the Matthew 28, he's simply stating something in a concise way. That is the name of God, the Lord. But we also finally see that baptism is done by proper authority.

Peter commanded that they be baptized. This wasn't done by the authority of families. This wasn't Cornelius on his own authority doing this. And the question of authority is a very significant one. By what authority do you do these things?

The Jews were frequently asked Jesus. And Jesus would answer those questions or at least recognize, sometimes didn't answer them if they wouldn't answer another question, but He always recognized the validity of that question. It's a good question. By what authority do we do things? Sometimes today there's a movement for anybody to baptize.

Anybody that you want to can come baptize you. But here we see that this is done strictly under authority of somebody who has been commissioned to preach the Gospel. It's often interesting that people that will baptize their own family by their own authority or some other person are very reluctant to conduct a wedding, a marriage, by their own authority. And yet, that is something that fathers have authority to do. It's the authority of the father, of the bride and the groom, by which a marriage is conducted with the consent, of course, of the bride.

But that is something in the authority of the home. But baptism is not. Baptism is something done by the authority of those who are commissioned to bring the Gospel. So in conclusion, what can we learn from baptism? It's not something that just happened in your past with no effect today.

It's not repeated, right? You can't repeat something coming under the controlling influence. It's not repeated. But we are to improve our baptisms. And how do we do that?

What does that mean? Well, it's... Improving our baptism is something that we do all our life long, as the larger catechism speaks about, especially in times of temptation and when we are present at the baptism of others. We improve it by serious and thankful consideration for it and in nature. What does it mean?

This is why it's helpful in temptation. It's saying that we have died to sin and we no longer live for it. We're no longer under its dominion. Our old man has been crucified. And we need to remember that, especially in times of temptation.

But we can also give thanks for that when we see it administered. That the fruit that we bear, we can give thanks to the Lord for, it's His fruit in us because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We improve our baptism by giving serious consideration to the privileges and the benefits that are conferred in it, and the benefits that are sealed to us in baptism. The privilege of being adopted into the family of God, of being called by His name, of our sins being forgiven, and of us being declared righteous. These are all the privileges and the benefits, some of the privileges and the benefits that are conferred by it.

We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. We improve our baptism by being humbled by our sin, falling short of and walking contrary to the grace that is given in baptism. We also improve our baptism by growing up in assurance of the pardon of our sin, in having growing confidence, assurance, that in Christ we are accepted to the Father, And we are recipients of His mercy and grace. That we are His children. That we have a right to come into His presence, to come before His throne with boldness.

That's the right He gives to us as His children. And so we can grow. We improve our baptism as we grow in our assurance of pardon, in our assurance of His grace in our life, our assurance of His blessing upon us. And we improve our baptism by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ into whom we are baptized. By drawing strength for the mortifying of sin and for grace to do what He calls us to do.

We improve our baptism as we remember that in it we are filled with the Holy Spirit. And I should point out that baptism is the initial filling, it is the initiation. But we are continually to be filled with the Spirit. And so we endeavor to live by faith in Christ and to draw our strength from Him and not in the flesh. And we improve our baptism as we walk in brotherly love with one another, because we're all baptized into the same body by the same Spirit.

So may the Lord grant to us that we are continually filled with the Spirit and improving our baptism and living into the strength, appropriating the strength of Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension in our lives. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank You for this sacrament of baptism, for all of the grace that you confer in it, received by faith. We thank you for all that our water baptism symbolizes. The rich blessings that You have poured upon us in adopting us as Your children, in pardoning our iniquity, in declaring us as righteous in Your sight, in receiving us into the heavenlies, in seeding us with You.

Because we, through this baptism, have been united to You. Oh Lord, may we possess those possessions that You have given to us. And may we live in the power, by the power of your Holy Spirit, seeking to be filled by your Spirit, to have emotions that are controlled by your Spirit, to have words that are Spirit-filled, to have thoughts that are Spirit-led. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.