07. Baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire - II
This baptism with the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father - Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 2:33, John 14:16,26.
The promise was not limited to the believers of those days only, but was and is for all believers - Acts 2:39.
Most people are baptized with the Holy Spirit after they have been saved, e.g.:
see Acts 2:38;
the first disciples were baptized with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost - Acts 2:1-21, 33;
Paul was saved on his way to Damascus and was baptized with the Spirit three days later - Acts 9:1-18
An example where we see, that the baptism with the Holy Spirit took place at the moment of conversion, we find in Acts 10:44; according to Acts 11:13-14 Cornelius was not saved yet, when he called for Peter to come.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit has a twofold result: power and cleansing:
Luke 24:49 - …..until you are clothed with power from on high.
The power will be given to us for two purposes:
to be witnesses - Acts 1:8
throughout the book of Acts we see, that the disciples are witnessing of Jesus in the power of the Spirit;
Paul too; see 1Cor.2:4-5, 4:19-20, 1Thess.1:5.
to equip us with the gifts - everywhere, where
the disciples went, signs followed: Acts 2:43, 5:12, 6:8, 8:6, 14:3 and 15:12
When people were baptized with the Spirit, the gifts started to appear and to manifest:
the disciples in the Upper Room; Acts 2:4 - tongues;
Cornelius and his relatives and close friends; Acts 10:44-46 - tongues;
the disciples at Ephese; Acts 19:6 - gifts of tongues and prophecy;
Paul; Acts 9:17-18, 1Cor.14:18;
the believers at Samaria; Acts 8:12-17.
Cleansing - Purification
Holy Spirit and fire: Luke 3:16;
cleansing their hearts by faith: Acts 15:8-9
refreshing: John 7:38;
the fruit of the Spirit shows the cleansing work of the Spirit in our lives: Gal.5:22-24, Rom.5:5, 1Cor.13:1-3; the fruit of the Spirit, especially love, draws people to Jesus.
John.16:7, 8
He (the Holy Spirit, the Comforter) convicts us of our true state before God and of the awful consequences.
John 3:5
He brings about the new birth, when we believe in Jesus Christ (See 1Pet.1: 3). We must realize, that the Spirit uses the Word of God (for it is His Word - Eph. 6:17). In order to come to a place where we realize our need of Jesus as Saviour, the truth about our sin and ourselves has to break into our minds and hearts. This calls for the supernatural work of revelation. We need to emphasize, that like human physical birth, this is a one time work, that the Spirit does once and for all, and places us into a relationship with our Creator that He will never break.
Rom. 8:15,16
He confirms our salvation in our hearts reassuring us, that we are God’s children, and He adopts us into His family.
1Cor. 6:19
The Holy Spirit comes to live within us permanently. Jesus promised this (John 14:16), for a dwelling place of God (Eph. 2: 22).
Rom. 8:9
Every born again Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within him.
1Cor.12:13
He baptizes us into the body of Christ, by which we become a member of the true universal church of Jesus Christ.
Eph.1:13,14
We are sealed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).
John 14:16
He is the Helper, helps us along in the Christian life. He is the One called alongside.
John 14:26
The Holy Spirit comforts the believer. The Comforter or Helper comes from the Greek word Parakletos, which in turn is made up of two words: para (alongside) and kaleo (called); hence He is the called-alongside One (cf. Acts 9: 31) to help the believer.
He reminds us of past things we have heard.
John 16:13
He will guide us into All truth. We need this spiritual revelation in order to grasp Truth, as the natural man does not discern the things of the Spirit (1Cor. 2: 7-14). He declares to us the things to come (which He has already done to a great measure through Paul and John and others; many things about the last days were revealed, e.g. the rapture, revelation, etc.).
Rom.15:16
He sanctifies the believer (2Thess. 2:13, Eph. 5: 25, 26). This is often a slow and long process, done by revelation, conviction, and empowering us to be victorious, our next point…..
Rom. 8:2,13
He enables us to overpower the old nature within us. This is of course linked with the empowering of the Spirit in order to enable us to live (be) witnesses for Christ.
Eph. 3:16
He strengthens us in the inner being, very much as David said in Ps. 23: He restores my soul...
Rom. 8:11
He also strengthens (quickens) our physical bodies in the struggle of life.
Rom. 8:14
We are led, guided in our daily lives, by the Spirit (cf. Acts 16: 6, 7).
Rom. 8:26
He helps us in our weaknesses, our human weaknesses.
Rom. 8:27
He intercedes, prays for us.
Eph. 5:18 – 20
He helps us to:
praise God in song,
minister to each other in song, and
give thanks to God in everything.
Eph. 2:18
He provides a means of access for us to the Father. He is our means of direct spiritual communication with the Father from our side to Him in prayer, and from His side to us in leading, revelation, inspiration, etc.
Isaiah 11: 3
The Spirit enables us to see with the eyes of faith.
1Thess. 4:16, Rom. 8:11, 2Cor. 4:14
The last final work of the Spirit in the lives of the believers is to resurrect our bodies from the grave at the last trumpet, to translate us from the corruptible to the incorruptible state, in order that we may stand before our God, and enjoy His Presence for ever more!