JOHN THE BAPTIST. You might enjoy reading a little background on John the Baptist.
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Mark 1:4-5; And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
John 16:7; "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you".
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BAPTISMS OF JOHN (baptism in Water) AND JESUS (baptism of the Holy Spirit).
Here is an excerpt from 'Got Questions':
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"The baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised by John the Baptist, who said that Jesus “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Luke 3:16). No one understood what John meant until after Jesus had ascended back into heaven (Acts 1:9). Jesus had promised the disciples that He would send "the Comforter" (John 14:26; 15:26; Luke 24:49). His followers were to wait in Jerusalem until the "promise from the Father" came (Acts 1:4). That promise came in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples, and they were never the same again. They were bold in their witness, empowered to perform miracles, willing to endure persecution, and all but one died a martyr’s death. The church had begun. Throughout the book of Acts, that baptism by the Holy Spirit was repeated as people came to know Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, and served to unify the church as the Jewish believers realized that the Holy Spirit was poured out on their Gentile brothers as well."
Here are 4 (and there are more) verses which show that Jesus is inside of us after we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit:
Romans 8:10; "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (definition #2)
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2 Corinthians 4:6; For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
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Galatians 1:15; But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
16 To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
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Galatians 2:20; I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I can't begin to tell you what a difference my baptisms made to me which made me 'born again'. See HUMAN SPIRIT
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Then later, I got baptized in the Holy Spirit, where Jesus came and indwelled me. I realized the power inside of me, which was now infinite. See HOLY SPIRIT
Now I sit here filled with the Jesus and the Spirit of God and I am so happy and complete - a completeness I never had during my former anxious business years.
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I sometimes think to myself 'if only I would have known God earlier in my life - life would have been so different'. But my happiness completeness now makes up for everything, and then, I have all that experience which brought with it knowledge which I can use to help others.
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John eagerly promoted Jesus as the One who could take away the sin of the world and who was more powerful than him.
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John knew ahead of time how he would recognize this Man he was promoting - that there would be a Man who when baptized, would have the Spirit of God descending like a dove onto Him. John then knew that this was the Man he had been promoting.
There was a significant difference between the baptisms.
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John baptized with water and told people to 'repent of their sins'. which they did.
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Jesus was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and as such, had God living inside of Him.
For us, when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we have Jesus who indwells all of us and help us with life. - if we choose.
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Jesus told His disciples in John 16:7 (below) that He was going to leave and that it was to our advantage because he would send the Helper (Holy Spirit).
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Luke 3:16; John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
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John 1:33; And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
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John 1:29-33; The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
Luke 3:21-22; When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
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Matthew 3:16; As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
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TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST:
1:32-34; Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
John 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
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34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
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As you will see from the JOHN THE BAPTIST link, John was a very special person and was destined to proclaim the coming of Jesus.
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John gave baptisms telling everyone to repent and announcing the coming of Jesus.