Many of us has probably experienced something like this in the past when traveling to a city that is unfamiliar to us. Before we go, we might ask a family member or a friend who knows the city if they can recommend a restaurant to have a good meal. When we arrive at the restaurant, we are hungry and also have optimistic expectations that we are going to eat a good meal because we trust the recommendation of the person who gave it to us, that this particular restaurant is a great place to eat. Sitting at our table, we will probably study the menu intently looking for what was highly recommended for us to order. We give our order to the waiter or waitress and eagerly wait with anticipation for our order to be brought to us. When our meal is brought to our table, we are impressed by the portions and its appeal. But the real proof of everything that we were told about is when we put the first portion of food into our mouth and experience the morsel that far exceeds our expectations and what we were told. As a result of our memorable and delightful experience in that particular restaurant, we would not hesitate to enthusiastically recommend it to others.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit has many similarities to what was just said in the previous paragraph. All born again believers in Christ who have yet to experience the promise of the Father, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, have probably heard about this experience from other believers. Also read about it in their Bibles what Jesus said about this gift from the Father and what the book of Acts tells us about how others experience this promise. Many have also been blessed to be in a congregation where the baptism with the Holy Spirit is taught and experienced regularly but have yet to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Are you with eager anticipation seeking the gift of the baptism with the Holy Spirit that the Father has promised?
On the other hand, we might have already been baptized with the Holy Spirit and regularly worship, praise and pray using our heavenly language.
- 1 Corinthians 13:1, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels…”.
- 1 Corinthians 14:15-16, 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
- Ephesians 5:18-20, 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In addition to this, how active are we in helping with encouragement and Biblical explication those of the family of God who are seeking this spiritual reality in their lives, that Jesus and others spoke about? “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49 “And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38b. Based on our own personal experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, would we enthusiastically recommend the gift of the baptism with Holy Spirit to those who have yet to experience the promise of the Father in their relationship with Him?
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Numbers 23:19
How much do we trust what our Bibles teach us of what our Father God and Jesus His Son says is a promised gift to be received for our lives?
- Luke 24:49, I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
- Acts 1:4-5, 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
- Acts 2:32-34 NLT, 32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.
- Acts 2:38-39, 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Dr. Steve Schell tells us the following reality concerning the experience of the promise of the Father in the born-again believer’s relationship with God and life.
“The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not meant to be a theological truth we affirm but never experience. God intended it to be a very real encounter with His power. And as we’ve seen in the book of Acts, and possibly in our own practical experience, the reception of this power is not necessarily automatic. We may need to pursue it. But as we also learned from the book of Acts, when it arrives, we will know it. It’s simply impossible for the Creator of heaven and earth to fil us with His power and for us to be unaware of it. We may not be able to explain what happened to us, but we know that we have been changed; we will know that God is real and that He now dwells inside us. And as we will learn in the next chapter, when we receive this baptism with the Holy Spirit, we will also discover that we are able to speak in tongues and prophesy.”
In an upcoming study of the baptism with the Holy Spirit we will be seeing what our Bibles teach us concerning the reality and expression of the vocal gifts in the believer and in the church.
“Once we have been born again, we can then seek and receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. But even after receiving it, we must remember that being filled with the Spirit is not a one–time event. We need to be continually refilled with the Spirit in order to renew our lives and ministries. We also need to exercise our prayer language as a part of the Spirit’s flow in our lives.” – Spirit Filled Life Bible For Students
Luke 11:11-13
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Pastor John
