Life Walk Lesson 83 — What Jesus Does: Baptism by Water and Fire
Matthew 3:11 [CEB]
11 “I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The One who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
Luke 3:16
6 John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:14-20 [CEB]
14 “John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”
15 Jesus answered, “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.” So John agreed to baptize Jesus.
16 When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him.
17 A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.”
Born of Water, and Baptized by Fire
Nehemiah 9:20 [NKJV]
“You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.
Isaiah 44:3
“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring;”
Matthew 3:11
“I indeed baptize you with water into 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. [Masoretic text omits fire]
Matthew 3:16
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.”
Mark 1:10
“And immediately, coming up from [out of] the water, He saw the heavens parting [torn open] and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.”
Luke 3:16
“John answered, saying to all, ‘I indeed baptized you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, Whose sandal straps I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
John 1:33
“I did not know Him, but He Who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon Whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
John 3:5
“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”
The Apostles were still baptizing converts after the ascension of Jesus as we see here:
Acts 8:39
“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.”
Acts 10:47
“Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
In context, Peter is explaining his experiences with the Gentile converts who received the baptism by the Holy Spirit before they received water baptism, in a culture which still believed it was not right for a Jew to associate with a Gentile — but God had other plans.
Acts 11:16
“Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Now the Apostle John expands on the concept, by teaching about the blood of Jesus in addition to the water and the Spirit, which completely cleanses us.
1John 5:6-8
6 “This is He Who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit Who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
Revelation 22:17
“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
Isaiah 55:1-2
1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”
Dominion Restored
Before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses wrote these directives:
Deuteronomy 8:10-16 [CEB]
10 “You will eat, you will be satisfied, and you will bless the Lord your God in the wonderful land that He’s given you.
11 But watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commands or His case laws or His regulations that I am commanding you right now.
12 When you eat, get full, build nice houses, and settle down,
13 and when your herds and your flocks are growing large, your silver and gold are multiplying, and everything you have is thriving,
14 don’t become arrogant, forgetting the Lord your God:
the One who rescued you from Egypt, from the house of slavery;
15 the One who led you through this vast and terrifying desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, of cracked ground with no water;
the One who made water flow for you out of a hard rock;
16 the One who fed you manna in the wilderness, which your ancestors had never experienced, in order to humble and test you, but in order to do good to you in the end.”
The Lord speaks to the Prophet Ezekiel in this manner — the CEB translates “Son of Man” as “Human One”:
Ezekiel 2:6 [CEB]
“And as for you, human one, don’t be afraid of them or their words. Don’t be afraid! You possess thistles and thorns that subdue scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words or shrink from their presence, because they are a household of rebels.”
God equips us with everything we need to defeat the enemy of our soul, the devil and his demons. Thistles and thorns, are a product of the curse [Genesis 3:17-19] Even this is more powerful than the devil against our souls.
Luke 10:19
“Look, I have given you authority to crush snakes and scorpions underfoot. I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.”
The Word of God Breaks the Devil’s Yoke
As recorded in Matthew 17, Jesus has just come down from Mountain Hermon, where the evil spirits who rebelled against God in the days of Jared, Noah’s father, had agreed together and sworn to destroy God’s creation.
Jesus had just been transfigured before His disciple’s eyes, and spoke with Moses and Elijah. At the foot of the Mountain, He sees His disciples and a demon-possessed boy, who has often been thrown into water and the fire, the way in which the counterfeiter, the devil, tried to kill the boy.
Mark 9:22
“It has often thrown him into a fire or into water trying to kill him. If you can do anything, help us! Show us compassion!”
Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 17:11-13 [CEB]
11 “Jesus responded, “Elijah does come first and will restore all things. 12 In fact, I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they didn’t know him. But they did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way the Human One is also going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples realized he was telling them about John the Baptist.”
For more on the concept of “In the Spirit and Power of Elijah” see Life Walk Lesson 67.
God’s desire is to sow His Word, and His covenant of love directly into our heart, just as He promised the Prophet Jeremiah. [Jeremiah 31:33-34]
Let’s look, for a moment, at the Parable of the Sower and the kinds of Soils all of us encounter in our journey with God — the testing of our faith and belief in the Word God sows in our heart.
Matthew 13:3-17 [KJV]
3 “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”
Now let’s look at the circumstances of unbelief, and lack of faith, in the hearts of those surrounding the demon-possessed boy.
Matthew 17:14-21 [CEB]
14 “And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”
Unbelief usually represents a human being’s distrust in the goodness of God — that is why it is such a sin in the eyes of God. God’s desire is that we are completely convinced that He is our Father and that He is Good, that He loves us, and that He desires the very best for His children who love Him, trust Him, and ask Him for help in all their circumstances.
The concept of fasting, to get closer to God, as we have been taught in modern times, is an interesting one, for in Isaiah 58, and Matthew 25:31-40, God desires we get closer to one another, and take care of one another, and in so doing we show how much we love God.
Perhaps we need to take a look once again at how God views fasting, and how it impacts our circumstances, as recorded in Isaiah 58.
The time period in which Jesus was born was a time of Roman rule, of evil and treachery, of tyranny, of abject poverty, enslavement, idolatry, and all manner of evils, just as it was in the days of Noah, and Lot.
God desires that we love one another, take care of the needs that there may be, and help one another — which was not prevalent in the days of Noah, nor in the days Lot, and of the destruction of the five cities as we have seen already.
Have Faith in God, believe, and take Him at His Word
From Isaiah 58
Loose the bonds of wickedness
Undo heavy burdens
Set the oppressed free, and break every yoke
Share your bread [food] with the hungry
House the poor, and outcast
Cover the unclothed
Don’t hide from your own flesh and blood [take care of your family]
This is the very opposite of the lifestyle of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and their surrounding communities.
The Outcomes of Caring
From Isaiah 58
Your light shall break forth like the morning [Matthew 5:3-16]
Healing shall spring forth speedily
Your righteousness will go before you [as did the Angel of the Lord for Israel]
The Glory of the Lord will be your rear-guard [as did the Angel of the Lord for Israel]
When you call on God, He will answer and say, “Here I AM.”
Isaiah 58: 9b-12
9 “…If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought,
and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”
Truly, we are called to walk the narrow road, with God as our Leader, Who is directing our steps so that we can live well, without being tossed to and fro by the storms of life, nor the distractions which try to take our life with Him from us.
We have been given authority over the evil spirits which [1Enoch 15:11] “afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences.”
Those afflicted by eating disorders are affected by the demonic realm and need deliverance just as much as the epileptic child at the foot of Mount Hermon, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit can break these yokes as easily as, “In the Name of Jesus, rise up and walk,” as Peter declares to a crippled man. [Acts 3:6]
The disciples learned a valuable lesson that day at the foot of Mount Hermon, which we have the benefit of observing, and putting into practice. Fast, yes. Pray, yes.
It goes without saying, however, that a continual lifestyle of walking with, and believing and obeying God, is imperative for a successful journey with Him. Then, when we encounter trials, tests of our faith, or the need for delivering others out of oppressing circumstances, or even demon-possession, we will have put on the whole armor of God, and then we are fully equipped to be sent for such purposes.
