The Holy Spirit 3: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit 3: The Baptism of The Holy Spirit from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Note: There is an echo that starts about half way through the video. Sorry about that! Can't fix it.

Today I will share what I understand to be the truth about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how you can receive it. In the first two parts of this series we covered "Who is the Holy Spirit?" and then "Ignorance in the Church." I was baptized in the Holy Spirit about thirty years ago, in 1987. Much of this teaching I learned from walking with the Holy Spirit, and gleaning from the teachings of Derek Prince. He has passed on now, but he was always like a mentor to me and my favorite Bible teacher.

There is so much confusion about the Holy Spirit in denominational churches today and I want to keep this simple, but basically, Salvation is not the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. They are two different things. If you say "I got it all at the altar that day", know that I once said that exact same thing. Then I found that I had just gotten "All that I wanted." There is always more to learn about God so please be teachable and keep an open mind about this. Now onto the teaching:

The New Testament speaks of two ways to receive the Holy Spirit. There are two "Sunday Experiences" in the New Testament that are very important to the Christian. Now when the Bible speaks of the first day of the week, it is always Sunday. We will cover two Sundays here, the Resurrection Sunday, and the Pentecost Sunday. 

1) Resurrection Sunday:
Jesus rose from the dead, appeared to Mary Magdalen and then later that day, the other disciples.

(John 20:19–22 NKJV) “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

I believe this was the transition from the Old Testament to New Testament salvation. There were people saved under the Old Testament: think of Noah, Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and more. They were saved through faith in a sacrifice that had not yet happened. They looked "forward" to salvation, where we now look back.

After resurrection Sunday, we have (Romans 10:9 NKJV) “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

For New Testament salvation there are two requirements:

1) Confess Jesus as Lord

2) Believe that God raised Him from the dead.

Now these disciples had already confessed that Jesus was Lord before He appeared to them, but they did not yet believe that God had raised Him from the dead. Resurrection Sunday fixed that. Jesus breathed on them, and they became a new creation just as God breathed on Adam and he became a living being. The disciples received divine, eternal, resurrected life at that moment. They were saved, born again. They had eternal life.

But they had no power, they made no impact, they had no direction in their life. In the next chapter, Peter went back to fishing:

(John 21:3 NKJV) “Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.”

Remind you of anyone? See they were saved, but they had no direction in their life, no guidance. They also had no power and they made no impact. Though the disciples spent time in the temple praying and praising God, Jerusalem went on unchanged. No one noticed them, at least positively.

Jesus made it very clear that there was more to receive than the "new birth". About forty days after His resurrection, when He prepared to return to the Father, Jesus told the disciples:

(Luke 24:48–49 NKJV) “And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The disciples were already born again at this point, "saved", but Jesus told them that more was coming, the power. They did not "have it all" when they became born again. They had not yet received the "Promise of the Father."

Later Jesus told them again to wait for the Promise of the Father in (Acts 1:4–5 NKJV) “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Promise of the Father is "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

The reason is given in (Acts 1:8 NKJV) “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.”

They were to receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. That had not happened yet, no one noticed anything different about them, they were hiding from the Jews and this was forty days after the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus had told them that unless He left, the Holy Spirit would not come to them: (John 16:7 NKJV) “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

When Jesus left, the Holy Spirit came just as He promised.

2) Pentecost Sunday: (7 weeks after Resurrection Sunday)
Jesus ascended to the Father 40 days after His resurrection.

(Acts 2:1–4 NKJV) “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.”

A) The Holy Spirit descended like a "mighty wind" and filled the house where they were sitting. The word "baptize" means to "dip or immerse". When baptized in water, you are usually immersed in water. The disciples were immersed in a house full of the Holy Spirit.

B) They were all "filled with the Holy Spirit." Each one received the Holy Spirit until they were filled.

C) They began to overflow, to bubble over. They began to speak with new languages. (Matthew 12:34 NKJV) reads: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” When they were filled and could contain no more, they began to overflow. The disciples could have stopped at any point. They could have been "born again" and stopped. They could have been "immersed" and stopped. They could have been "filled" and stopped. But why stop short of the overflow? For you who are Catholics, even Peter and Mother Mary were in that upper room and they spoke in tongues. They went the whole way.

The disciples received the manifest supernatural power from on high that Jesus had spoken of, and everyone knew when it happened.

1) They received "Boldness" and where they had been hiding behind closed doors for fear, they now began to preach in the streets.

2) They received supernatural revelation. Without a Bible or a concordance Peter suddenly preached "This is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel…" An hour earlier he would not have known that. The scriptures became alive to them.

3) They were released to the apostolic mission. Peter never talked about going fishing after the day of Pentecost.

4) Within a few hours, all of Jerusalem felt the impact. When the disciples had been saved, no one had noticed. But after the Baptism of the Holy Spirit everyone around knew it. 3,000 people were saved the first day.

Resurrection Sunday |   Pentecost Sunday
Resurrected Christ       |   Ascended (Glorified) Christ
Inbreathed Spirit           |   Outpoured Holy Spirit
Result: Eternal Life       |   Result: Power from on High

So the baptist that says he got the Holy Spirit when he was saved is right, but, he didn't get it all. None of us have received it "all." You might have “received all that you want to have” and stopped. There is always more that we can receive from the Lord. Jesus doesn't give "recommendations", He gives orders. When He said "Receive the Holy Spirit", that is a command.

From Acts chapter 2 onwards in the New Testament, the phrase "Receive the Holy Spirit" always refers to the Pentecost Sunday experience, not to resurrection Sunday and salvation.

Examples of Resurrection, and Pentecost experiences:

1) Phillip went down to a city in Samaria and preached Christ to them, and they believed and were baptized:

(Acts 8:12 NKJV) “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.”

Jesus said "Go into all the world and preach the gospel. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). These Samaritans believed and were baptized, so we have to conclude that they were saved. Then the Apostles sent Peter and John to them:

(Acts 8:14–17 NKJV) “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”

The Samaritans believed and were baptized in water, they were saved, but they didn't get anymore from Phillip. Then when Peter and John came, those Samaritans were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Some leaders can only take you so far.

The Holy Spirit had not "fallen" upon them. Each time the Bible speaks of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He always comes from above.

2) The house of Cornelius (Acts 10). Now the Jews did not believe that "Gentiles" could even be saved, but as Peter began preaching to them the Holy Spirit fell on them and the Jews were "astonished."

(Acts 10:44–48 NKJV) “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.”

These believers were baptized in reverse order. They received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and then they were baptized in water. Peter heard them speaking in tongues and said "they have received the Holy Spirit just as we have,” that was all the proof that he needed.

3) Paul in Ephesus (Acts chapter 19). Paul met some disciples there and felt that something was lacking in their experience and he asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit:

(Acts 19:2–7 NKJV) “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

If everyone automatically received the Holy Spirit when they were born again, then this would be a meaningless question so these are two separate things he is talking about.

So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all.”

The Seal of The Holy Spirit:
Paul spoke of the “Seal of the Holy Spirit” in several places:

(Ephesians 1:13 NKJV) “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

(Ephesians 4:30 NKJV) “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

(2 Corinthians 1:21–22 NKJV) “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

A seal is something that marks an object out visibly and distinguishes it out from all others. Like the “Seal of the President of the United States of America.”

The distinctive seal or mark of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is: "Speaking with other tongues.” It is the outflow of the Holy Spirit. It sets us apart.

1) It is the seal that the Apostles received (Acts 2:4). They tarried until the Holy Spirit came, but never again.

2) It is the seal they recognized in others (Acts 10:44–48). Peter did not believe that gentiles could become Christians, but when he heard them speaking in tongues, he said “baptize them, they have received the same as we have.” He didn’t wait around on fruit or check their doctrine.

3) The Apostles never asked for any other confirmation.

4) The New Testament offers no other seal alternative.

How To Receive The Holy Spirit:
We Ask The Father - Luke 11:11-13
1) Be Thirsty - John 7:37-39
2) Come To The Baptizer (Jesus) - John 1:33
3) Drink - Breath Him in - John 20:22
4) Release The Outflow - Matthew 12:34-36

Questions That Will Come Immediately:
1) You Are Doing This Yourself!
2) How do you know that you got the right thing?
3) It Sounds Silly!

Asking: The Father promises to give us the Holy Spirit if we ask Him for it:

(Luke 11:11–13 NKJV) “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

In other words, an earthly father whose child asks him for something good, would never give them something bad, and neither will our Heavenly Father.

Some say that it is not scriptural to ask for the Holy Spirit, but Jesus told us that we have the right to ask. If you are a born again child of God and you ask Him for the Holy Spirit, He will never give you something bad. We do the asking.

1) Be Thirsty: (John 7:37–39 NKJV) “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. ”But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

This means that you know that you need more of God than you have. That you can’t do it alone. You want more, that is thirst. You don’t have to paid your tithes or any other good work to qualify, just be thirsty for more of Jesus.

2) Come to the Baptizer: (John 1:33 NKJV) “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

It is Jesus that baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. No human can baptize you in the Holy Spirit. We come to Jesus, He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.

3) Drink: It sounds simple, but is often the most difficult part for many. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. You cannot be baptized in the Holy Spirit without opening your mouth. You have to take in the Holy Spirit, to physically breath Him in. You can keep him out by being self conscious or ashamed of what you will look like in front of others. Get somewhere alone if needed. I know many people that were baptized in their bedrooms alone.

4) Release The Outflow:
(John 7:38 NKJV) “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

(Matthew 12:34 NKJV) “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

It is a supernatural infilling and it will be a supernatural outflow. You will begin speaking in a language that the Holy Spirit gives you, that you will not understand, and probably never will. It is super natural.

Questions that will come immediately: These are some questions that satan will use to try and discourage you from continuing on. Everyone that has been baptized in the Holy Spirit have been asked this:

1) Thats not real. You are doing it yourself! (Acts 2:4 NKJV) “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

That is exactly right. It is YOU speaking as the Holy Spirit give you the words. You have to use your mouth and speak what He gives you. The Holy Spirit does not do the speaking, He gives you the words. You do your part and He will do His. God will not do it all, and He will not make you speak. God gave us a free will and He will not overrule that. You have to open your mouth and let Him speak through you. You can turn it on or off at anytime.

2) How can I be sure that I got the right thing? Because in Luke 11:11 Jesus told us that if we ask for the right thing, that He will never give us the wrong thing.

3) It sounds silly. All languages that you do not understand sound silly at first. My wife is Chinese and when we are around her mother and her friends, I don’t understand a third of what they are talking about. This is perfectly normal.

Prayer To Receive The Holy Spirit:

Nowhere is a prayer. Pray it sentence by sentence. You are praying to Jesus who is the Baptizer. When we get to Amen, stop praying. No more English, no more Spanish, say nothing more in a language that you know. After Amen, only speak words coming to you in a new language.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
I believe that you are the Son of God
And that on the cross You died for my sin
And rose again from the dead.

I trust You for forgiveness
And for cleansing.
I believe that You have received me
As a child of God.
And because You have received me,
I receive myself as a child of God.

If there is any resentment in my heart now
Any un-forgiveness against anyone,
I lay it down now.
I forgive every other person
As I would have God forgive me.

If I have ever been involved in the occult
I acknowledge that as a sin
I ask for Your forgiveness.
And I loose myself now
From every contact
With satan and with occult power
In the name of Jesus.

Now Lord Jesus,
I come to You as my Baptizer
In the Holy Spirit.
I present to You my body,
To be a temple for Your Holy Spirit.
I yield to You my tongue
To be an instrument of righteousness.
To worship You in a new language.

By faith I receive this now
And I thank You for it
In the name of Jesus,

AMEN.

Now breath Him in and when you are ready give Him your voice. You do not need to be ashamed of the Holy Spirit coming in. He is a guest of honor. You have to speak out loud.