The Declaration Of The Holy Spirit Baptism

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.