Foundations of the Christian Life. Chapter 24. The Holy Spirit #5. What is the Baptism in the Spirit?

Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 24. The Holy Spirit #5. What is the Baptism in the Spirit?


We have shown in the last chapter that there is a difference between the Baptism in the Spirit and the Filling of the Spirit. In the previous chapter we discussed the question of, “What is the Filling of the Spirit?” It seems appropriate at this point to ask the question, “What is the Baptism in the Spirit?” The obvious thing to do is to look at the places it is mentioned and see what they say.

Matthew 3:11.
(John the Baptist speaking) "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Acts 1:5,8.
“For John (the Baptist) baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

1 Corinthians 12:13.
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Not a lot of direct references really for something that has generated so much controversy. To these we could add some indirect references:

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."

This verse in Luke is presumably a record of the same talk Jesus had with his disciples so it is not really a separate witness. It does help in that it gives a few more details that were not in Acts 1.

In the Early Church the word “seal” was often used as a synonym for “baptism”. So when Paul talks of the “seal of the Spirit” he is talking about the Baptism in the Spirit. So we could add a few more indirect references:

Ephesians 1:13,14.
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”

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

2 Corinthians 1:21,22.
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

2 Corinthian 5:5.
“Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

There are a few other indirect references we will get to later but this is really about all there is.

From these verses we can see that the Baptism in the Spirit has several other ways of being talked about:

A. Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4,5,8.

Four names or ideas:
* The Promise of the Father. It is called this because the gift of the Spirit was promised in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is, in Hebrew thinking, the words of God, i.e. the Father. So any promise in the OT is necessarily a Promise of the Father. The Spirit was promised by God as part of the New Covenant. Ezekiel 36:26,27. Joel 2:28,29, etc.
* The Baptism in the Spirit. This is the name John the Baptist coined (John 1:33) and Jesus uses it here also. The gift of the Spirit is never called this in the OT so clearly this was a new revelation of God’s purposes from God to John the Baptist concerning the work of the Spirit in the new age.
* The Spirit coming “upon” you. This was known from OT times. As also was the last name given here:
* A “clothing”.

So the Baptism in the Spirit is called an immersion in the Spirit, a clothing in the Spirit’s power, a “coming upon” of the Spirit onto a person.

From these verses we can deduce the following:

1. The Baptism in the Spirit is a gift of power for witnessing.
When we ask, “What sort of power?” we are forced to go back to Mark 16:15-18.

Mark 16:15-18.
“He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

This is another account of the talk Jesus had with his disciples recorded in Acts 1 and Luke 24. Luke researched his work thoroughly (Luke 1:1-4) and presumably drew on many sources for his information. It is generally agreed that Mark’s source was the Apostle Peter.

I do not want to get into the debate as to whether or not these words are authentic. I will leave that to the experts. I see no reason to doubt their authenticity.

The power Jesus gave, then, in the Baptism in the Spirit, was power to continue his work in the way he did it. This is exactly what Luke implies in his preface in Acts 1:1 when he talks of the “things Jesus began to do and to teach”. The implication is that Acts is the continuation of the story of Jesus doing these things, but now it is through the Church, his Body.

So it is power to witness, power to do miracles, to heal, to drive out demons, and so on. It is power to be Jesus, now that Jesus himself is not here.

Ephesians 1:19-23.
Paul is still describing what God has already given us in Christ. It is power – the same sort of power and to the same degree – the power that raised Jesus from the dead and set him on the right hand of the throne of God in heaven.
It is resurrection power. This sort of makes Mark 16 miracles look a little tame.

2. This gift of the Spirit was promised by the Father, God, in the Old Testament. We covered this in Chapter 20.

3. The disciples were to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit.
It was covered by the prophetic timing of Pentecost.

4. The implication is that they would know when they had received the Spirit.
It would not be a matter of doubt for them. They would experience it in a way that left them in no doubt what was happening. Interestingly enough Jesus does not go into details of “How would they know?” He assumes they would know. There must have been some very clear expectations in their hearts as to what “receiving the Spirit” would look like. I will cover this in a later chapter.

5. This gift of the Seal is the deposit, the down payment on the future inheritance we have in heaven.
We have all we are going to get for now but there is more when he comes back. The problem is we don’t understand or enter into the reality of what he has already given us. It is not that we don’t have enough; we just don’t know what we have.

6. Whatever it would be like Jesus painted a graphic picture:
* It would be an experience of the Spirit equivalent to being baptised in water.
* It would be like having a suit of clothes put on you.
* It would be powerful, whatever it was.


B. The Seal.

Ephesians 1:13,14. 2 Corinthians 1:21,22.

This identification of the seal with baptism helps us to understand what the Baptism in the Spirit is for. If we understand the idea of sealing we will understand the content of the baptism in the Spirit.

So what does it mean to be sealed by the Spirit (Baptised in the Spirit)?

THE ANCIENT IDEA OF SEALING.

This term, "Sealing", is a metaphor, or a picture. It comes from the ancient practice of making a signature with a stamp, signet ring or cylinder seal by impressing the design of the seal into damp clay or molten wax. Each person had a seal that was unique to himself.

Uses of the Seal.

(1) When a man bought something he often would put a deposit on it and then seal the article with his seal as a guarantee of the future full payment.

For example: a man might buy 100 bags of wheat. Because of the weight of them he could not take all of them at once so he would take a portion, a deposit or a guarantee with him at the time of sale and that would guarantee the rest of the bags were his. But the bags he left behind he would put his seal on – usually by means of molten wax. This was his way of saying, “I’ve taken some of these but I’m coming back for the rest.”

In the same way when Jesus rose from the dead and went to heaven we are told in Matthew 27 that the OT saints rose from the dead and went with him to heaven. But those who he left behind – including us – he put his seal on – his way of saying, “I’m coming back for these.”

But let’s see how Paul uses this idea.

Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30 - "guarantee", Greek = deposit.

Paul takes the language of custom but he reverses the meaning – instead of those who have gone to heaven being the deposit, now the deposit is the seal itself - the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is God's deposit, his down payment, on our future inheritance in heaven. The inheritance is God himself.

The seal of the Spirit, which every believer has, is ALL that we will get from God until the Redeemer comes to complete the purchase at the Second Coming.

(2) To mark a piece of property to designate OWNERSHIP.
E.g. slaves were often tattooed with the master's seal, or name.

Ephesians 1:14 (GNB) - "He has put his mark of ownership on us"
2 Corinthians 1:21.22 - Greek literally "He has marked us out for his own."
Revelation 3:12 – Christians are given a seal - it is the name of Zion, God's city, God’s name, and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - his new name.

Revelation 3:12.
“He who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.”

In Hebrew thought, to have, or know the name of something, or someone, means to have its character, power, authority. We discussed this fully in Chapter 17 so we won’t go over that again, but to summarise:
To be marked with the name of God and of Christ is to be given their character and authority and power.

When we are baptised we are baptised into the NAME of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From then on we carry that name as a mark, visible in the Spirit realm.

Probably the best way to understand this is with the concept of Auras.

People who are into the occult make much of auras and as a result Christians shy away from the subject – but there is a truth there we need to reclaim. (We should not be scared of discussing such spiritual concepts simply because Satanist's also discuss them. Satan did not invent the Spiritual realm, God did. Satan has only corrupted the meaning, understanding and operation of the Spirit world. It is our responsibility before God to recover the truth.)

What is an aura?
An aura is a sort of glow or light that emanates from every spiritual being. In the olden days people knew about such things and, I believe, they could see them more readily than we can. Of course the Enlightenment taught us that there was no such thing as a spiritual realm so we discounted it, and so have reaped the consequence that we can no longer see them. The ancients used to see them – and often quite clearly. You will have seen old paintings of saints with a sort of “moon” behind their heads – that is a representation of their aura – a halo.

We each have an aura with a colour and pattern unique to us. The important thing to know here is that God has an aura too, as does Christ and also the Holy Spirit. They are spiritual beings.

My own belief is this: When we get saved we ask Jesus into our hearts and the aura of Jesus is superimposed on top of our own aura. Every being in the spiritual realm, every angel, every fallen angel and every demon can see we are saved. This is the seal of God on us.

However when we enter into the experience of the baptism in the Spirit the aura of the Holy Spirit is added to Christ’s and our own. Every spiritual being can see we are now empowered by the Spirit.
(Again I am assuming language I hope to prove in a later chapter.)

The OT types of the seal indicate that it is a mark that is visible in the Spiritual realm. It becomes more visible in the natural realm the more we enter into it experientially.

Exodus 34:33-35.
“When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.”

2 Corinthians 3:13,14.
“We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.”

The glow of our aura in Christ can increase to the point where natural eyes can see it.
I remember one morning I briefly visited a Catholic priest. As he opened the door it was like being ushered into the presence of God. His face just glowed with a supernatural light. It was an amazing experience.

It has been reported to me that many Satan worshippers can see these auras. When they walk past people they can see their aura. Not only that they are aware when a Christian is walking towards them as they can see the aura of God or Christ on the person. The astounding thing one person told me is that they can tell if a Christian is living in spiritual victory or not by the condition of their aura. This should make us wonder what “spirituality” is emanating out of us and how does it impact other people.

Revelation 7:1-8; - the people of God are marked out by God's seal.
“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”

Revelation 14:1-5.
“Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.”

Revelation 3:12.
“He who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.”

Everything said of the 144,000 is said of Christians in Revelation Chs 1-3. Jewish methods of interpretation demand that we are to line up the passages and see them as talking about the same people, the Church of God.

There is no mystical group of 144,000 “whatevers” during the Tribulation doing something we don’t know anything about. There will not be 144,000 Jewish prophets or evangelists running around saving the world in the last days. To interpret Revelation that way is to make the symbolic literal and then the whole thing becomes self-contradictory and nonsense. We ought to be warned by this single fact: nowhere does the Bible say the 144,000 are "evangelists" or "prophets". The popular representations of who they are and what they do are an invention in the minds of certain Christian teachers. Better to just accept what the Bible says about them and not put extras in.

Identifying the 144,000:

The 144,000 are the Bride of Christ, which is the Church (Ephesians 5:32). We see this clearly as being so from the picture of the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21:2.
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

It is clear immediately that we are not intended to see here a physical literal city. It is the Bride of Christ that is being talked about; not a city made up of walls, stones and gold streets. The different things said of the city here are all symbols to teach us some things about the way the Bride lives.
The “city” refers to the people of the city – we are the “living stones” that make up the city. Jesus is not going to "marry" a physical city with gold streets and trees. The whole picture is intended to be symbolic.
The use of the city to represent the people of the city is a standard OT way of referring to the people. Have a read of Isaiah 4-66 where this sort of identification is fundamental to understanding what is said. The same is true in the Psalms where the city nearly always means the people of the city, not the bricks and mortar.
The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ.

Revelation 21:16.
“The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.”

It is represented a cube (Revelation 21:16).
A cube has 12 edges each one is said to be 12,000 stadia long, i.e. a perimeter of 144,000 stadia.

144,000 is the external dimensions of the Bride of Christ, the City of Zion.

144,000 = 12x12x12x10x10
12 = the church, Zion (Revelation 21,22).
10 = completion.
I.e. 144,000 = the perfectly completed church.

John is not describing a physical/literal city of gold and stone that extends out into space for 12,000 stadia, i.e. 1500 miles.

144,000 is a symbolic number that represents the limits of the city, the people of God, the Bride of Christ, the Church. We become members of the city by accepting Christ as Saviour and we are sealed with the seal of God.

Question: What about Revelation 7 where it says there were 12,000 from each tribe?

Answer: Revelation 21:12.
The city has 12 gates. Each gate has a name of one of the 12 tribes on it. To come into the city we have to “come in” through the gates, i.e. we have to become “Israelites” to be part of the Bride of Christ.
We “enter in” by becoming a member of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

But we are not to understand this in a literal sense; i.e. literal converts to Judaism, taking Israeli citizenship, or anything like that. To take this literally would be to say that only Jews will be saved and be part of the Bride of Christ - and we know that isn’t true. Rather it is talking about the true “Spiritual Israel” the covenant people of God, redeemed by Christ and brought back into covenant relationship in the New Covenant. When we accept Christ we are marked with gifts of the Spirit that give us characteristics of one of the 12 tribes in terms of purpose and ministry.

The reality is this: We are the 144,000!!!! Sealed with the Seal of the Living God.

Revelation 13:16-18 - the World is sealed by Antichrist - he owns them.
“He (the Antichrist) also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.”

The whole point of Revelation - and it is put in many ways – is that there is a conflict going on. It is between those who serve God and those who don’t, those who dwell in heaven and those who dwell on earth, those who are sealed with the seal of God and those who are sealed with Satan’s seal, 666 - in the last days, and it is no different today. You have a choice which seal you will be marked with – it can be the mark of the beast or the seal of the Living God. You will be marked with a seal - about that you have no choice. But you have the choice which seal you will be marked with.

(3) Such a seal shows that the object so marked is under the owner's authority and protection.

Revelation 9:3,4.
“And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

Ezekiel 9:3-6.
“Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.”


(4) Often a person would give his son, or trusted servant, his signet ring - his seal, thus giving him DELEGATED AUTHORITY to carry out his business for him. With the seal one person could act or sign on behalf of another.

Genesis 41:39-44 - Joseph.
“Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."
Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt."

Matthew 16:18,19.
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Matthew 28:16-20.
“ Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Authority is being given here. This is the same thing as we read in Acts 2:33 “Having been given the Holy Spirit” just different words saying the same thing. The Holy Spirit is the authority of God where the rubber meets the road.

Genesis 1:1-2.
"The Spirit of God brooded over the waters."
How God works is like this: The Father conceives an idea. The speaking of that into being means it becomes Christ who is the word of God. But it is the Spirit who carries out that word and brings it into actuality.
The Spirit is the authority of God where the rubber meets the road.

Genesis 24: Type: Abraham (God, the Father) sends out his unnamed servant (the Holy Spirit) to get a Bride for his only son (Christ). The Servant has complete authority to give whatever gifts he feels is necessary to the bride to get her to come – 10 Camel loads of gifts. The servant has complete authority to act on behalf of the father in finding a bride for the Son.
The Spirit is the authority of God where the rubber meets the road.

Now let’s bring this idea back to our NT scriptures.

This is amazing – we need to see what is happening in these scriptures:

1. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Christ; i.e. the complete control of the Spirit of God has been given to Christ by the Father. The “command” of the Holy Spirit passed from the Father to the Son.
2. Christ has then poured out that Spirit – that authority – on his body, the Church, so that all authority in heaven and earth is now invested in the Body of Christ, the Church.
3. This must mean that the “command”, if you like, – I can’t think of another word that carries the meaning I want – of the Holy Spirit has passed from Christ to the Church.

We are asking God to send his Spirit in revival – but he has already done that, so that request is redundant. He did it on the day of Pentecost and he has never withdrawn it.
But he has also given us that authority to command the Spirit to work on our behalf to achieve God’s purposes. It may be that God is waiting for us to rise up and use what he has made available to us – then we will see the move of the Spirit we desire.

2 Corinthians 1:22,23 (RSV) - "he has commissioned us".
The gift of the Spirit is a commission, an allowance, a permission, to do Christ’s work in Christ’s way in the power of the Spirit and see the same sort of results he saw.

John 14:12-17.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you.”

* “the works that I do you shall do”
* “and greater works than these shall you do”
* “Whatever you ask in my name I will do” – says this twice in case we are thick and miss it.
* Then immediately in that context Jesus talks about giving us the Spirit. See how it all ties together?

The Seal thus speaks of having delegated authority to carry out defined tasks.

Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Spirit comes upon you” but it is not power in the sense of "raw power", it is power in the sense of "authority".

There are two ideas of power and we need to distinguish between them.
1. There is power – “raw power”, and
2. There is authority, which is “power to command.”

We need to be clear on this point. When the Baptism in the Spirit comes on us we do not suddenly get the power of the Spirit in our lives and find ourselves able to do supernatural things at will. It is not a gift of "raw power" like that. Rather the actual “raw power” still belongs to God, to the Spirit, and it remains that way. But what we get is authority, “power to command” the Spirit in certain given contexts and actions.

So it is not a case of receiving “raw power”, but a case of receiving “authority to command”. And “authority to command” always has limitations and restrictions on it.

This raises the question: What are the limits of the authority we have been given? We can use the power of the Spirit only where we have authority to use it.

What are the God given areas of authority in which we can use the power of the Spirit, i.e. call on the Spirit and have a reasonable expectation that God will act according to our words?

Well in the context Jesus gives the promise at least – when we are witnessing to Him and spreading the gospel. This would seem to be the minimum area of our authority to command the Spirit.


SUMMARY:

The Seal of the Spirit is the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to us to show:

(i) That we belong to God.
(ii) It is his NAME.
(iii) That we are under his care and protection.
(iv) That he will finally bring us into the full realization of his promises.
(v) That we have his authority and power to do his work.

An Illustration:
A battery – Is “power for a purpose”. To all intents and purposes the battery is dead. I can touch the terminals and feel nothing. But it is “power for a purpose”. When we put it in the right context – e.g. a torch – then the power inside is released as the designer intended.

Question: What is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for?

In the OT when the Spirit came “on” someone it was always for a purpose – there was a divinely ordained task for them to complete and they needed the anointing or power of the Spirit of God to enable them to do it.

Examples:
* Gideon: Judges 6:11-16, 34.
* Jephthah: Judges 11:29.
* Samson: Judges 14:6, 19.

This seems to be the case in the NT also.
It is the last aspect – we have his authority and power to do his work – that gives us the key to maintaining the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as a vital force in our lives. It is a gift of authority and power to enable us to do certain defined tasks for God.

The Promise:
Matthew 28:19,20 - all authority is given to Christ – therefore “go and make disciples” – this is our task. It is said in different ways in the Bible but they all mean much the same thing. But they had to wait until the authority came to them.

The Fulfilment:
Acts 2:1-4.
v14 – Peter begins for the first time to exercise the gifts God has just given him.
V41 – The results.

When we move out to do the task God has given us then his authority will be released in us and the results will happen. The problem is not with God – he has given the authority and determined the task. The problem is with us – we need to walk in obedience to the gift God has given us in the Seal of the Spirit and in the task he has determined we use it in.

The Seal, or Baptism in the Spirit, is not given to us so that we can feel good or enjoy God for ourselves. The Seal is given so that we can perform a God given task in the power of God – to reach out to others.

We maintain a living experience of being immersed in the Spirit by giving it away to others.
This is a paradox - but in this it is just like God. We retain by giving away - it sounds contradictory but it is the key to keeping the gift of the Baptism in the Spirit vital in our own lives.

So the implication is clear – if we want to live in the power of the Baptism, or Seal of the Spirit and experience as an ongoing thing for ourselves the blessing of it then there is only one way to do that – we must give it away. Not that we can, because the gift of God is ours’ forever. But our attitude must be not “What can I get out of this?” but “How can I bless others with this gift of the Spirit that God has given me?”

The Key to living in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is simply to be doing the job God has commissioned us to do – make disciples, be ministers of reconciliation – however you want to say it.

The minute we begin to squander experiences of the Spirit on ourselves that is the minute they will start to dry up. The more we give the Spirit away the more we will experience his blessing.

When we give it away then what we find is that his character, his power, his authority, rests more on us because he knows we are a trusted vessel who will not indulge ourselves but will bless others. With that intent we show we have the same heart as God – who sent his Son into the world to bring blessing.

Acts 1:8(above).

It is a gift of power for TWO purposes:

(i) Victorious living - "BE witnesses". It is power to “BE”.

(ii) Service - "be WITNESSES".


WHAT ABOUT IT TODAY?

So often we live in shame, defeat and poverty. We do not exhibit the power of God. There is no indication that things should be any different for us today. We can prove DOCTRINALLY that every Christian SHOULD have this power, but where is it?

The answer to this question is to be found in understanding another principle in God's word. We will BEGIN to look at this in the next Chapter.

HOMEWORK:

The Baptism in the Spirit is power for witnessing. We can expect God to turn up when we do the work he has assigned us to do.

Begin to ask God to give you opportunities to witness to Christ. Offer to pray for people who are sick or in need and expect God to come through with an answer. Answers to prayer are not always immediate – check up in a few days to see what has happened to those you pray for.

Get some gospel tracts that explain the way of salvation that you can give away to those you pray for.

Don’t forget to use the transformer verses. Speak them out daily. Pray them into your life.

TRANSFORMER VERSES.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 3:11.
(John the Baptist speaking) "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Acts 1:5,8.
“For John (the Baptist) baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

PRAYER:

Father God, I thank you that you have poured out your Spirit on us and given us power to be witnesses to Christ. Grant me opportunities to witness to Christ this week. Come through with your power to confirm my witness, I pray.
Most of all, grant me sensitivity to know when you are giving me an opportunity and give me boldness to take those opportunities that are presented to me.
In Jesus name I ask, Amen.