[9] That is to make perfectly plain that this experience was for all: a very difficult fact for these intensely Jewish disciples to grasp.
- Not limited to the original one hundred and twenty, but for the whole body of Jewish disciples—Acts iv.
- For the hated half-breed Samaritans—Acts viii.
- For the "dogs" of Gentiles—Acts x.
- For individual disciples anywhere, and at any distance in time from Pentecost—Acts xix.
"Baptized" may be called the historical word. It describes an act done once for all on that great day of Pentecost, with possibly four accessory repetitions to make clear that additional classes and groups were included.[9] It tells God's side.
[10] Acts i: 8; ii: 17, 33; viii: 15; x: 45; xix: 6.
In this connection it will be helpful to note the significance of the word baptize. Of course you will understand that I am not speaking now of the matter or mode of water baptism. But I am supposing that originally or historically the word means a plunging or dipping into. We commonly think of the act of immersion-baptism from the side of the object immersed because the action is on the side of the thing or person which is plunged down into the immersing flood. But in the historical baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the standpoint is reversed. Instead of a plunging down into there is a coming down upon, exactly reversing the order with which we are familiar, but with the same result—submersion. Notice the phrases in Acts used in describing the baptism of the Holy Spirit on that historical Pentecost: "Coming upon you," "pour out," "poured forth," "fallen upon," "fell upon," "poured out," "fell on them," "came upon,"[10] all suggesting an act from above.
A Four-Sided Truth.
Now notice that the word used at the time of the actual occurrence and afterwards is another word—"filled" and "full," which occurs eleven times in the first nine chapters of Acts. It tells what was experienced by those persons at Pentecost and afterwards. It describes their side. Baptism was the act; filling was the result. If you plunge a book into water you are submerging the book: that is your side. The leaves of the book quickly become soaked, filled with the water: that is the other side. When a baby is born it is plunged out into the atmosphere. That is an immersion into air. It begins at once to cry and its lungs become filled with the air into which it has been plunged. So here "filled" is the experience word; it tells our side.
[11] (1) Luke iv. 18, quo. from Isa. lxi: 1. (2) Acts iv: 27. (3) Acts x: 38. (4) Heb. i: 9, quotation from Ps. xlv: 7.
[12] 2 Cor. i: 21.
[13] 1 John i: 20, 27.