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Baptism of the Holy Spirit

-by: Elder Michael L.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

In John Chapter 1 verse 3, "And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, the same is he that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

(All through the gospel of John into the book of Acts the bible speaks of the promise of the Holy Spirit.)

John 3:1-8, Speaks of being born again of the water and the Spirit. In verse 7 Jesus says, "Marvel not that I said unto thee that you must be born again."

(This is the starting point in the Christian walk.)

John 7:37-39, (In the last day, the 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 has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

John 14:16-26 Speaks of the promise of the coming comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.

John 16: 7-14 the bible again speaks of the coming comforter.

John 20: 22 "And when He has said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Jesus said this after he had risen from the dead.
(So you can see in the very beginning and all the way through the gospel of John even to the end, the bible speaks of this wonderful experience of the baptism of the Spirit.)

Now we will go to the book of Acts.

Acts 1:4-8
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but "wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

(As you notice in verse 5 Jesus said you will be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days from now. He speaks of this experience of this experience as the promise of the Father in verse 4. The bible also says that being filled with the Holy Ghost will give us power to be witnesses.)

What does being baptized with the Holy Spirit mean?

The word baptism comes from the Greek word baptizo, which means to be fully immersed in.

Acts 2: 1-4
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

(You'll notice that on the day of Pentecost, the 120 believers that were waiting in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit and all spoke with tongues and prophesied.)

There are two things that are noteworthy. The first thing is this; it was on the day of Pentecost that this miracle first took place. The feast of Pentecost was a celebration of the giving of the law. When Moses received the Ten Commandments, as he came down the mountain he noticed the children of Israel had already backslidden in their hearts, they made a golden calf, which they learned to worship in Egypt. The judgment for this sin was that 3,000 people lost their lives this day. This is a foreshadowing of an event that was going to take place on this particular day of Pentecost. For in Ezekiel 11:19 & 20, the Lord said that he will put a new spirit in us and that he will take away our stony heart and give us a heart of flesh. That we may walk in His statues, keep His ordinances and do them, and we shall be his people and he shall be our God. In Acts 2:41 Peter had preached Christ to the multitude gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration of the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people gladly received his word and were baptized into the Christian faith. So you can see how in the New Testament we receive the law of God in our hearts by His Spirit. In the Old Testament, when they received the law, it brought death. In the New Testament it brings life.

The second thing is that they all spoke with tongues as the initial evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. You'll notice that in Acts 2:15-21; Peter says this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, when a person is filled with the Holy Spirit they shall prophesy. (Which means to speak by inspiration).

Acts 8:4-19 Philip was preaching in Samaria and his ministry was accompanied by great miracles of healing and deliverance. The people received his word, were baptized into the name of Jesus but as of yet the Holy Ghost had fallen on none of them. (How did they know this?) Peter and John were sent by the Jerusalem church to Samaria to pray
that these believers would be filled with the Holy Spirit. So you can see that a person can believe in Christ and yet not be filled with the Holy Spirit. In verse 18, Simon who had been a sorcerer, saw something happen when the apostles prayed and laid hands on the believers to receive the Holy Spirit. Although it doesn't specifically say that they spoke in tongues, Simon had already witnessed Philip doing many miracles. He did not offer money to receive that gift. So he saw something wonderful happen when the Samaritan believers receive the Holy Spirit. We believe what he saw was the miracle of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance.

Acts 10:1-48 As we pick up in verse 34, Peter as he's preaching Christ to the household of Cornelius, was interrupted as the Holy Spirit fell on these believers and filled them. Peter and those that were with him knew that this was the gift of the Holy Spirit, for verse 46 says, "that they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God."

Acts 19:1-7 the question was asked by the apostle Paul (Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?) These men were followers of John and although they believed, all they had walked in was the baptism of John. Paul taught them that John spoke of having faith in Christ. Upon hearing this believers were baptized into the name of Christ. Then Paul laid hands on them and prayed and God answered by filling them with the Holy Spirit. Verse 6 says "As the Holy Ghost came upon them they spoke with tongues and prophesied."

So you can see that time and again, as the early believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, the common thread was that they all spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. This fulfils the words of Jesus in Mark 16:15-18 “And these signs shall follow them that believe… they shall speak with new tongues.”