The Baptism In The Holy Spirit
The source of the gifts
1 Corinthians 12:4 & 11 - There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Here Paul makes it clear that all the spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit and is the only source of all the spiritual gifts. This passage also teaches us that the Holy Spirit distributes different gifts to each believer.
The gifts are distributed to individuals who are Spirit-filled. When a person becomes saved, the Holy Spirit already knows what spiritual gift or gifts they are going to receive which will empower them to do the ministry that God has for them.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Every time Jesus sent out ministers to proclaim the Kingdom of God, He sent them out with power.
When Jesus returned from the Wilderness, He began His ministry under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:38 - 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.
God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were manifested on the day Jesus was baptized. The heavens were opened as the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. God spoke audibly from heaven declaring Jesus to be the Son of God.
It is extremely significant that the Holy Spirit appeared in visible form, because the following things happened at the baptism of Jesus.
It marked the beginning of Christ’s ministry. It was at the Jordan River that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power and He began His public ministry from that day. It showed the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in ministry. Jesus did not embark on His public ministry without the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
It fulfilled all righteousness. The very presence of the Holy Spirit confirmed that Jesus Christ was all righteousness as He identified with sinners in His baptism. It showed God’s approval of His Son’s identification with humanity through His baptism. For Jesus to provide righteousness for sinners He must be identified with sinners.
It demonstrated God’s approval of Jesus. God declared audibly that Jesus is His beloved Son.
It confirmed the importance of water baptism, not for salvation, but identification with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection.
The Holy Spirit is a Person and the third Person of the Trinity. Jesus is the Anointed One and promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to anoint His followers and to be a help and a comfort to them. The anointing is the manifest presence and power of God upon the life of a believer. It is the abiding effect of the Holy Spirit from the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is the fulfillment of the promise prophesied by many of the Old Testament prophets.
Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, the prophesied Anointed One. When He began His ministry, He read Isaiah’s prophecy publicly in the synagogue and announced its fulfillment.
Isaiah 61:1-3 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healed all that were oppressed of the devil.
The Old Testament anointing is a shadow of the New Covenant anointing. It pre-figures the fulfillment of prophetic promises concerning the anointing of the Spirit upon Jesus in order to break mankind’s yoke of sin and death.
The Jews knew that their coming Messiah would be the Anointed One.
Most references refer to the Person of Jesus Christ as Jesus the Anointed One. The term "Christ" is uniquely His as He is the source of the anointing upon every believer. The Bible warns of other "christs" who are impostors and who operate with a counterfeit anointing.
Jesus said that many will come in His name, declaring that they are “the Christ” and will mislead many. They are not to be believed or followed. According to God’s Word, those who deny that Jesus is the Christ are liars and antichrist.
The ministry of Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are very closely connected.
The true anointing of God will always point to the Anointed One, Jesus, and not just any anointed one!
Many have been anointed and have stayed anointed, even when the favor of God is no longer upon them. The anointing is a serious matter because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
He never takes back His gifts, but great judgment awaits those who misuse them.
Some examples are King Saul, Balaam, and many kings in the Old Testament who were anointed by a prophet or priest of God and yet turned out to be wicked kings.
The Day of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-4 - When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The baptism in the Spirit is not earned or deserved; it has already been purchased for us by Jesus.
Jesus promised His disciples that He would fill them with the Holy Spirit. He made this promise on His last day on earth and this supernatural outpouring of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven and coincided with the Day of Pentecost.
This anointing of the Holy Spirit would be an abiding presence and supernatural ability within every Spirit-filled believer.
This specific anointing clearly occurred on the Day of Pentecost as prophesied.
Pentecost marks the official beginning of the church and the era of the Holy Spirit upon all believers.
When the people of God were in bondage in Egypt, God heard their cry and supernaturally delivered them from the bondage of slavery. His plan provided for an escape from the angel of death that took the life of every first-born in Egypt.
A lamb was sacrificially offered for each family and the blood was placed on the doorpost of every home. This ensured that the angel of death did not take the life of the first-born in that particular home. This was known as the Jewish Passover.
God then led the Israelites through the Red Sea and into the wilderness.
Fifty days after the Passover, Moses went up Mount Sinai and God wrote the Word on the two tablets that Moses provided. Since that time, the Jews have celebrated Passover and Pentecost.
It is therefore no coincidence that God poured out His Spirit on the disciples fifty days after Jesus fulfilled the role of the Passover lamb.
The Passover Lamb had been slain and salvation for mankind was accomplished. It is from this perspective that the Feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, can be fully appreciated.
Unique signs occurred at the initial outpouring of God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit filled the place where the disciples were waiting and was symbolized as wind or breath.
At the same time, the Holy Spirit appeared to them as tongues of fire, symbolizing the consecrating work of the Holy Spirit indwelling God’s people as His new temple.
Everyone also spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost.
Jesus told His disciples that certain signs would accompany those who believe, and speaking with new tongues was one of those signs. In the early church it was the usual manifestation when receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:22 - Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.
The tongues of Pentecost meant that in Christ, God reversed the confusion of languages and division of peoples stemming from His judgment at the tower of Babel.
Peter boldly explained the meaning of what was happening, to the stunned onlookers. He quoted the prophet Joel declaring this supernatural event was a fulfillment of prophecy.
The manifestation and characteristics of the anointing experienced on the Day of Pentecost by the one hundred and twenty believers in the upper room may today be experienced by every believer, with the same power, signs, and characteristics.
The outpouring of God’s Spirit on the Day of Pentecost is an event that was foretold by many of the Old Testament prophets.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit serves as the basic foundation for God's operation of the gifts of the Spirit. The key to operating in the gifts of the Spirit in the church is the Baptism of the Spirit.
These gifts are not limited to just a select group of believers. The anointing is for all.
The Bible teaches that the anointing empowers, enlightens, mediates, corrects, facilitates, enriches, heals, and transforms. The purpose of the anointing is always good and virtuous.
God may anoint someone to accomplish a limited, temporal purpose, or He may anoint to fulfill a deep and profound purpose. The specific depth and purpose of the anointing may vary, but whenever God wants to touch people and change their lives, He will anoint them for that purpose.
Although the Holy Spirit was active throughout the whole of the Old Testament and during the life and ministry of Christ, Pentecost marked a new beginning of the work of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit remains with those who receive Him and the anointing is now available to each and every believer constantly, for the needs and emergencies of every day.
He no longer comes upon certain men or women occasionally and fleetingly.
It is this constant supply of divine power and anointing that distinguishes the Pentecostal ministry of the apostles from the time when Jesus was ministering on earth. He had to delegate His power and authority for each mission.
At Pentecost:
*All believers were anointed
*All races were anointed
*Male and females were anointed
*Old and young were anointed
*All classes were anointed
The church
Spiritual Gifts are special abilities that the Holy Spirit gives to the followers of Jesus Christ to build the body of Christ and to make the church effective in ministry.
Matthew 16:18 - And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Building the church is something in which the Lord Jesus is directly involved and is an operation of Holy Spirit.
The church was birthed on the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
In the church today, we find many people who are not baptized in the Holy Spirit. There are also those who received the baptism years and years ago. The Word of God teaches us that baptism in the Holy Spirit precedes ministry.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to empower ordinary believers for supernatural ability and to equip the church with spiritual gifts and ministries.
Acts 1:8 - But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is an essential part of our identity as Christians and equips us for the fulfillment of our destiny and is essential in order to effectively minister the Kingdom to a lost world.
Every born again person already has the Holy Spirit. They are born of the Spirit and already have the Holy Spirit through regeneration.
However, the dimension of power that God wants for His children can only be reached through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is God's will that every Christian be baptized in the Holy Spirit and that they speak in tongues. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not the same as regeneration.
Although the Bible does give examples of people who were baptized in the Spirit at the same time as their regeneration, this is not always what happens. The Book of Acts reveals that repentance, baptism in water, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit do not necessarily happen in the same order all the time.
The Holy Spirit enters our human spirit when we are born again of the Spirit of God and Jesus comes into us by His Spirit. However, there is an empowering by the Holy Spirit which is distinct from being born of God.
John 20:22 - And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit”.
The apostles received the Holy Spirit in regeneration before the ascension when Jesus breathed on them and they were born again of the Spirit through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
However, this was before the day of Pentecost. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the baptism in the Holy Spirit which would empower them for ministry.
They obeyed Jesus and ten days later, they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
In the case of the Apostles, the baptism in the Spirit and being born of the Spirit were two separate events. They were born of the Spirit when Jesus breathed on them before the ascension, but were baptized in the Spirit on the day of Pentecost after the ascension.
In the case of Paul, he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and confessed Him as Lord.
Acts 9:17 - And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Three days later, God instructed Ananias to lay hands on Saul so that he would receive his sight and that he could be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit gives us the same possibilities of relationship to the Father and power in ministry as Jesus had on earth. God wants us to move into these possibilities.
The power and anointing of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was meant for the entire church age. The same is evident in the 21st century church.
The main purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is to multiply Jesus' earthly ministry of preaching, healing and casting out demons so that He can touch the whole world with His love and His power.
The outpouring at Pentecost was the historic beginning of an era which was to be characterized by a continuous outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
This outpouring of God’s Spirit is meant for the church for the whole time of her earthly reign. In these days in which we live God is still pouring out His Spirit upon His people.
Acts 2:38-39 - Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
Throughout church history, Christians have struggled to receive the visitation of God when it came because they may not have liked the package in which it came. The Jews did not receive Jesus because they heard He was from Nazareth and also because He threatened their religious system.
Both Jews and Greeks rejected some of the early church evangelism because the apostles were unlearned and uneducated men. Jewish believers had problems with Gentile believers and vice versa.
The Holy Spirit is a gift. If you are born again, you are ready to receive the gift. If you have to do something to receive it, then it ceases to be a gift and becomes a reward.
How do we know if we have received the Holy Spirit? The real manifestation of the infilling of the Holy Spirit is the new acquisition of power! There are several manifestations of this new power.
Jesus shows us that there is a clear purpose why we are filled with the Spirit.
Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
The Holy Spirit:
*Imparts spiritual truth
*Endows with power
*Fills believers
*Makes intercession
*Imparts gifts for ministry
It is God's desire for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The life and vitality of the church is the result of God's people being filled with the Holy Spirit. Pastors and church leaders need to be filled with the Spirit so that they might be led and empowered by the Spirit.
Christian men, filled with the Spirit, would be more effective, loving, and patient husbands and fathers. Many of the conflicts that we deal with in our churches and homes are caused by the fact that we are not filled with the Holy Spirit!
Be continually filled
“Collapse in the Christian life is seldom a blowout; it is usually a slow leak.” (How to Give Away Your Faith, pg. 185, Little, Paul E.)
The Bible not only commands us to be filled with the Spirit, but we are to be continually filled.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit is essential experience but God intended it to be just the beginning of an ongoing experience, a continuous filling by the Holy Spirit. The effect that the Holy Spirit has on our lives will slowly diminish as His presence in our lives gradually leaks away.
Ephesians 5:18 - And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled continually with the Spirit.
A key to growing in the Spirit is to ensure an acceptable level of fresh oil.
God told Moses that the anointing oil had to be fresh. King David asserts that the anointing of fresh oil upon his life will ensure the defeat of his enemies.
The same principle applies to the New Testament anointing of the Holy Spirit. Believers who wish to be effective need to continually receive a fresh outpouring of God’s anointing upon them.
In Bible times lamps filled with anointing oil were ignited to provide light.
The lamps in the temple had to have a continuous supply of oil. The light was not allowed to go out. This oil represented the fiery presence of the Holy Spirit.
Today, New Testament believers are God’s temple and His light, shining the brightness of Jesus everywhere by the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Believers too must be filled continually with the Holy Spirit and learn to see beyond the natural.
The Word teaches Christians to be continually filled with God’s Spirit, thus ensuring a fresh outflow of the anointing.
It should be noted that after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts 2, the disciples experienced another outpouring soon afterwards in Acts 4.
The outpouring of the Spirit is definitely not a once off experience but something that must be engaged in willfully and obediently every day. It should always form part of our daily prayer routine. We must continue to walk in the Spirit and to be filled continually with the Spirit.
This lifestyle generates an increasing thirst for more and more of our innermost being to be filled with the Holy Spirit and we have an infinite capacity within us to accommodate as much of the Holy Spirit as we want.
God gave us His Spirit to help us, to empower us, and to enable us. We cannot be effective without God’s Spirit.
Receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit
Anyone who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior can receive this gift and be baptized in the Holy Spirit. There is no journey to receiving the Spirit. It can be received at any time at any place by faith. It can simply be received.
You can appropriate the filling of the Holy Spirit right now if you accepted Jesus into your life.
Sincerely desire to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
If one genuinely desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit one should first repent of any and all sin and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Confess your sins. By faith thank God that He has forgiven all of your sins – past, present and future – because Christ died for you.
Because the Holy Spirit is appropriated by faith, have an expectant attitude and believe that God will fulfill His promise to you.
Be willing to yield control of every part of your being to the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit means to be controlled by Him, for the Holy Spirit is a person, not a substance, an influence or a mere power.
Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Ask Jesus to fill you with the Spirit. Take several deep breaths as symbolic of breathing in the Holy Spirit when you ask to receive the baptism in the Spirit.
