You And The Holy Spirit, Part 1: No Shortcuts Series

So if you’re saved today, you’ve ALREADY been baptized with the Holy Spirit! You can’t ask for and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit because it’s not something you have an active part in receiving. Jesus ALREADY baptized you in the Holy Spirit—and every other believer in the church age—2,000 years ago on the Day Pentecost.

Praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like asking for your inheritance from your parents after they’d already given it to you years ago. – They’d say, “What are you talking about? I’ve already given you your inheritance. I can’t give it to you twice.”

You can look through the whole New Testament and you’ll find that, though we’re commanded to BE REPEATEDLY FILLED with the Spirit (which simply means to be constantly controlled by the Spirit), we’re never told to be BAPTIZED with the Spirit. Why?—Because it was already done two thousand years ago.

APPLICATION AND CONCLUSION

So we’ve seen two main points so far this morning: We looked first at WHO THE HOLY SPIRIT IS. – He is a PERSON and He is GOD. Second, we examined WHEN HOLY SPIRIT CAME. – He came on the Day of Pentecost, as we’ll see in detail in a few weeks when we study Acts 2. Next week and the week following we’ll examine what the Holy Spirit does in this world and in the lives of believers. But this morning, let’s make some personal applications to our lives from what we’ve learned this morning.

• First, if the Holy Spirit is a person, do you know this Person?

That’s another way of saying, “Do you know God?” because, remember, the Holy Spirit IS God. Do you KNOW Him?… Not “Do you know about God?” or “Do you have a religion?” or “Are you a member of a church?”—but do you know HIM…PERSONALLY?

In other words, have you been born into God’s family by being saved? Do you have the Holy Spirit living inside you by your faith in Jesus Christ? If not, or if you’re not sure, then I hope that you’ll turn to Jesus Christ as your Savior today.

• Second, if you’re saved, let me warn to be careful about shortcuts in your Christian life.

There are many things in Christianity that purport to give you a boost in the Christian life—that will allegedly help you leap from spiritual babyhood to maturity.

> Our Charismatic and Pentecostal brethren—and they ARE our brethren, and may we never forget that—they talk of “being baptized by the Holy Spirit.”

> The Nazarenes and some old-line Methodists talk of a “second blessing” after salvation that can conceivably lead you to a state of sinless perfection.

> Some say you can jump to the head of the pack by attending some special seminar, or by espousing some particular doctrinal scheme, like Calvinism, or through the teachings of a particular teacher or preacher.

But ALL of these are false hopes that leave believers discouraged and disillusioned when the boom falls and people realize that they are no better—or at best only marginally better—Christians than they were before.

Illus. – I shared earlier how I got involved in the Charismatic Movement. I remember going home to Okinawa, where my parents were missionaries, after that first year of college and found myself somewhat unstable in my Christian life and realizing I had not grown in any substantial ways in my Christian life.