According to the pattern...

Part 4 - The Holy Spirit

In Matthew chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 we read of Jesus baptism by John in the river Jordan and the audible voice of God confirming the divinity of Jesus. "16 And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straight away out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and resting upon Him: then a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

In Mark chapter 1 v 8 writing about the things that John the Baptist had said he records his words about Jesus: "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." In Acts chapter 1 verse 5 Jesus tells His disciples: "John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

On the day of Pentecost the disciples received this experience. Logically since it was necessary for Jesus and later the Apostles to be baptized with The Holy Spirit then it is at least as necessary for us today. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 Paul urges them: "Do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit" This is written in the "continual" sense expressing that this is not intended to be a one-off experience.

Many times in scripture we see that the disciples and some of the people they prayed for were filled (baptized – same thing) with The Holy Spirit which shows that it was not intended to be a one-off experience but a continual process that takes place in a less sensational way every day of the life of a Christian since we as sinful vessels leak and need to be continually filled again and again.

This experience is intended for all who want to go on in the faith and produce fruit that will last forever, which is what God is looking for us to do. Therefore only those who have truly committed their lives to Christ and are truly born again can have this experience. To receive such an experience is very easy; in most cases receiving will not produce signs as dynamic as those of the Apostles when they were in the upper room.

Just believe the word of God and you will later see evidence in your walk and relationship with God through Jesus Christ that what you have asked for has happened to you in a profoundly deep way. In Luke chapter 11 verses 9 to 13 we are given a promise by Jesus Himself which still holds good to this very day.

He said "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you for every one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knock it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he be given a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

We all need the baptism and continual in-filling of The Holy Spirit to empower us to fulfill the Great Commission that Jesus gave to all His followers and can be found in Mark chapter 16, and to demonstrate the true signs and wonders just as the Apostles did during their days of ministry on earth.

Though Jesus was sinless for the whole of His life He still identified with mankind to such a degree that He even went through the waters of baptism just as every man and woman should do, making a public declaration of faith in Christ Jesus and all that He has won and done for us.

Since Jesus identified with us in this way then we must identify with Him in this way also. It is known as believer's baptism because it is received by a person who is of adult age and understands something of what Jesus has accomplished for mankind through His death on the cross and His rising again to life on the third day.

There was once a man who was a popular religious knowledge tutor who's pupils came up to him and started giving him small details of the events that had happened in his life. Though curious about this he dismissed it from his mind as just something that the pupils were just guessing at and could apply also to literally hundreds of other people.

Then they came up and asked him if he had been taken ill and actually died (albeit before being medically brought back to life) on a certain date. Naturally the tutor replied that he had not but then asked where they were getting all the information about his life from – to which they replied that they had been using an Ouija board and had been in contact with his familiar spirits.

Then it was he realized the significance of the date that they had given him asking if he had died on that date. It was the very day that he had been publicly baptized by total emersion. Clearly having done that the powers of darkness then realized that there was no possibility any longer of having his soul for eternity because of what he had done.

This is a true story and shows the importance of not just being baptized with The Holy Spirit but being baptized in water also. In some countries baptisms are not allowed to take place in public and are sometimes considered a breach of their laws even when they take place in private with a small gathering there.

It is possible to have someone with you in your bathroom and baptize you in the bath tub. Other countries do not have baptismal tanks in their churches so when they have people to be baptized they take them down to the river or beside the sea and baptize them there. Others want to be baptized in the River Jordan just as Jesus was.

Wherever it takes place probably makes no difference at all, but wherever it happens it is important to speak out your faith and trust in God and confess any known sins before going down into the water. This is symbolic of cutting yourself off from the old life of sin and disobedience to God and rising up to a new life and a new and close walk and fellowship with the saviour.

In Paul's letter to the church in Rome (the New Testament book of Romans) he writes on the subject of baptism in this manner: "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, henceforth we should not serve sin. For He who is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead can die no more; death has no more dominion over Him.

For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He lives, He lives unto God. Likewise reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

In the times of the Apostles it was the normal practice for people to receive baptism in water and then receive the baptism of The Holy Spirit, sadly very few churches do it that way round and being taught about the baptism of The Holy Spirit takes place many days after the candidates have been baptized in water.

This is because the church of the 21st century has moved a long way from what should have happened and what actually did happen in the days of the Apostles. However, in these last days God is restoring things and this is one of the things that will be dealt with in the course of time. Meanwhile let us proclaim and act upon the truth of scripture in all matters.

read part 5...