The Declaration of the Holy Spirit Baptism
The word Declaration means - The act of declaring – A positive or formal statement – Something that is announced or proclaimed.
Matthew 3:11
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
Have you ever given thought to the statement “and with fire” fire that is out of control is a destructive force. However, fire that is controlled can be very productive. And the fire that John the Baptist talked about is a purifying fire that will burns away that which is harmful to the believer’s relationship with Christ.
Here we have the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the one that Isaiah talked about saying, “The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
This is the same John who seeing Jesus coming down the road declared, “Behold the Lamb of God that will take away the sins of the world.” When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John’s baptism, He said unto them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
John then tells them “to bring forth fruits which is worthy of repentance.” He then makes his declaration that Jesus is going to baptize those who believe with the Holy Ghost.
In the book of John chapter seven and beginning with verse thirty-seven, we have this declaration of truth given by Jesus, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”
The term last day, refers to the eighth day, that great day of the feast because it was a day of assembly and offering sacrifices for Israel; these were feasts days to the Lord, an offering of fire, a burnt offering, a meat offering, and a drink offering according to the book Leviticus.
Every feast day that Israel observed they were looking unto Jesus, those special days would bring them closer to their coming Messiah, the one they were looking for and hoped would set up an earthly kingdom and rule from the throne of David.
On this special feast day the priest would drew water from the pool of Siloam, and would bring it into the temple in a golden vessel; and at the time of the morning sacrifice the priest would pour the water mingled with wine upon the altar, and all the people would sing, dance and rejoice with great joy.
It was this great day of the feast that Jesus made this declaration concerning the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer. Saying, “He that believes on me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
Notice the word BELIEVES, this is to say, the one who has faith or is persuaded, having a conviction of things hoped for and the assurance of things not seen. The one who is fully surrendered and will yield in obedience to all truth shall receive the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” I believe that a person that is baptized with the Holy Spirit will have an unlimited flow of the power of God to do great exploits. In chapter fourteen and verse twelve Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my father.”
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not for the faint hearted, it flows out of the belly, meaning the innermost part of the soul and spirit of man, which is the seat of the intellect, emotions and desires. It is a constant flow of the Spirit without measure and is given to the believer that hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
Notice what Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” The key to walking in the power of the Holy Spirit is to have a thirst for the things of God. We have been instructed to seek first the Kingdom of God; all the needful things would be added.
The word thirst means to be famishing having a consuming craving and passion for the things of God. There is nothing like a cool drink of water in the natural to quench the thirst.
When Jesus said, “Come unto me,” He was saying come completely surrender to receive the things of the Father, as light is revealed. Coming to Jesus means a turning from the things of this world to that which pleases the Father. It may means forsaking father, mother, sister and brother to do the will of God.
When Jesus said, “let him come unto me, and drink.” He was inviting men and women to the fountain of life to drink of this water and would never thirst again. The bible says, “With joy you shall draw water out of the well of salvation.”
This prophecy that Jesus gave is the same that was given by the prophet Joel in chapter two and verse twenty-eight saying, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, you young men shall see visions; And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
In verse thirty-eight Jesus said, “He that believes on me, as the scripture hath said.” This means to believe in and obey the good news of Jesus Christ. Many of the early disciples believed, yet asked Jesus to help their unbelief. Many theologians of our day have done a disservice to the word of God by teaching their agenda rather than the concepts of the scripture; many fail to believe what the scripture has to say concerning this Spirit Baptism.
When Jesus was talking about the rivers of living water He was referring to the fullness of the Holy Spirit that believers could receive after Jesus was glorified. “Verse thirty-nine, “But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not ye given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”
After Jesus made a blood offering on the mercy seat in Heaven a type of the earthly, and was glorified this opened up a fountain in the House of David bringing about a new covenant for the church age.
And in the book of Acts we see the early disciples asking Jesus about restoring the kingdom to Israel. And he said unto them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and In Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
We will see in Acts chapter two and verse one through four we see the fulfillment of the Declaration of the Holy Spirit Baptism that Jesus gave. Read Acts 2: 1/4 this was the beginning of the prophecy Jesus gave and continues today to those who will in simply faith ask the Father. “If we being evil know how to give good gifts, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask?”
