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Fundamentals of Christianity 2
Lesson 10
The Baptism of The Holy Spirit
John (the Baptist) also told the people, "Someone more powerful is going to come. And I am not good enough even to stoop down and untie his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!" (Mark 1:7-8)
And, being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. " For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days from now". When they therefore came together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them," it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power. But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world." (Acts 1:4-8)
And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, you men of Judea, and all that dwell at Jerusalem, known this, these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (Acts 2:1-18)
What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
It is a submersion of the Holy Spirit. It is a separate and distinct experience from our born again experience. It is our enduing or receiving of supernatural Holy Ghost power. It is when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and fills us to overflow and we are given spiritual gifts and supernatural abilities.
Who is the baptism of the Holy Spirit for?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:38-39)
It is for every born again believer in Jesus Christ. It is not necessary to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to get to heaven but it has many powerful benefits for us. Every child of God should be baptized in the Holy Spirit and is greatly missing out on the full Christian life if they do not. No where in God's word are we made to believe the gift of the Holy Spirit is for a certain select group of Christians. It is for all who will believe, ask and receive.
Why should every Christian be baptized in the Holy Spirit?
Through the baptism, we receive power to become powerful witnesses for Jesus. Not only do we receive boldness to speak God's truth but also we receive the supernatural power through the spiritual gifts to do the works of God with miracles, signs and wonders. We are given the supernatural ability to fulfill our commission from Jesus, thus being his powerful witnesses through our actions.
And He (Jesus) said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. And miraculous signs will follow those who believe. In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well. (Mark 16:15-18)
Without this special receiving of supernatural power, we cannot do these things. No mere human can do supernatural works of God without His power given through the Holy Spirit. This is God doing God sized work through us! With the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are able to go about destroying the works of darkness and setting the captives free from the torments of darkness just like God wants us to.
What will happen when I am baptized in the Holy Spirit?
You will feel God's power come on you.
This will feel different for everyone. For me personally it felt like a tunnel of love entered my head. It swirled around and around on the inside of me and left through my feet. When it left, I collapsed on the floor submersed in God's power and presence. I had joy like I had never felt before.
You can expect to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gives you the words to speak.
Tongues are a language that you have never learned, given to you by the Holy Spirit supernaturally. You will not understand what you are praying, but God will. Tongues are the first sign that you have for sure been baptized in the Holy Spirit. You may speak many words, phrases and sentences in tongues or you may begin with only words or even syllables. In either case, your prayer language will grow, develop and change as you use it.
I did not speak in tongues immediately because I didn't really understand what had happened to me and that I could, even though there were words in an unknown language in my spirit that I could have spoken. No man taught me about this baptism. God himself taught me that there was more that He wanted me to have it. He told me He was about to turn the power on for me. I had received no teaching and did not understand even what the power was when I received.
I began to speak in tongues a couple months later after I received better understanding of what to do with what the Holy Spirit was giving me. I have heard many testimonies of Holy Ghost baptisms and they are all different. You may feel a lot or you may not feel much at all. If you receive or not is not based on what you feel. I can promise that whatever you do feel, will be wonderful. Everything God has is wonderful. There is nothing at all to fear in receiving from God. He is so gently and loving.
Paul exhorts us to pray in the spirit as well as praying with our understanding regularly. In other words, don't only pray in tongues when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit then stop. It is a powerful gift given to you to use daily to edify or build yourself up in the things of God. Tongues have many uses and benefits. We will discuss the gift of tongues along with the other gifts more in later lessons.
You also may prophesy.
Sometimes in the bible, they did prophesy when they were baptized and some of the time they did not; but they all spoke with tongues.
You can expect to live a more powerful life for God now, being a more powerful witness.
Tongues are the only gift you can operate at your own will, but now you can expect to begin to operate in the other gifts as you mature in the Lord and subject yourself to His authority in your life.
You can expect to have a much more powerful prayer and worship life.
Expect to hear God more clearly and more often. To what extent depends on you, how much time you spend praying in tongues and how surrendered you become to God's will for your life. God wants to use us powerfully, but He has to be able to trust us with His power. When you pray in tongues you are praying God's perfect will for your life, you can expect to begin to grow very strong in the Lord as you pray in tongues daily.
How Do I receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
The gift of the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost 2000 years ago. God has already done His part. Your part is to believe and receive. This is the same way you received your salvation and the same way you receive everything from God. You must believe, ask and receive by faith.
First you must believe that what God's word says about the baptism is true and is for you. If you don't believe you will never receive it. You must deeply desire to have God's gifts. If you don't want them, you will never have them. The only thing we are commanded by God to covet is His spiritual gifts. To covet means to deeply desire.
You must ask, in faith, believing that you have what you ask for.
But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For do not let that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord; (James 1:6-7)
It is that simple. As with all things we pray for, expect to receive. You have no reason not to expect God will give you what you are asking for. It is His plan and His will that you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
Which one of you fathers would give your hungry child a snake if the child asked for a fish? Which one of you would give your child a scorpion if the child asked for an egg? As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. (Luke 11:11-13)
In the bible some people were baptized in the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands and some did not. A Spirit filled believer can lay hands on you and pray for you to receive or you can pray and ask God yourself. The most important part is that you know in your heart God's word is true and the gifts of God are for you also.
Whether someone lays hands on you or not begin by confessing to God that He is your God and you desire to be baptized in His Spirit. Ask Him to forgive you of any sin in your life. Out loud say, Lord by faith I now am baptized in your Spirit. Take a deep breath in as an act of your faith. You will feel God's power and presence come upon you. Do not speak in English. Impressions of words will come up from your belly or from your spirit. God speaks to us through our born-again spirit, not through our mind.
By faith begin to speak out those words. You will not understand what you are saying, but God will. You are praying to Him. The Holy Spirit will not make you speak. You must do the speaking yourself just like you always speak. The supernatural part of it will be what you are speaking (a language you have never learned). They are words given to you by the Holy Spirit. Don't worry about what it sounds like. There are many different languages in the world. Yours may sound very different from anything you have heard or it may sound similar to a language you have heard.
Satan will attack you immediately. He will try to instill fear. He will tell you it isn't real. He will tell you that you are a fake, along with other lies. Satan is a liar. He is the fake. He understands the power you gain against him through this baptism. Satan has fought long and hard to dispel doubt and confusion concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit and all the spiritual gifts in the body of Christ. Many have bought His lies and have never received God's marvelous gifts. Satan doesn't want anyone to receive, but he cannot stop you. Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee. Put your trust completely in the truth of God's word. Test the word and like millions of other believers you will find that it's words concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit are true and are for you today!
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. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39)
Weekly Challenges:
Scripture Memorization: I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. But He who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; (Matthew 3:11)L.O.V.E. Challenge: You need God's power in your life. Prepare your heart to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When you are ready, we will pray with you to receive.
Scripture Reading and prayer: Read a chapter of the Bible each day working your way through the New Testament. Pray at least 20 minutes each day. Once you are baptized in the Holy Spirit also pray in tongues daily for at least a few minute.