The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Acts 1:8
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.”
The Holy Spirit's baptism is vital to our Christian walk if we’re going to be effective disciple-makers. The book of Acts tells us that this baptism's primary purpose is to be a witness to Him! What a privilege to have the Spirit of God fill us and empower us for His mission. God wants to use you to reach the lost and to make disciples! This baptism is distinct from, yet subsequent to, the born-again experience. You can be a born-again Christian and yet not be baptised in the Holy Spirit. Although it is certainly possible to receive the Holy Spirit's baptism at salvation, they are not necessarily a package deal. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a secondary experience that we seek and receive by faith.
I remember when I first began seeking God for this empowerment of the Spirit. Before I was married, I lived with a friend and we purposely rented a larger house than needed so that we could dedicate an entire room to prayer. We were very disciplined; the only things that took place in that room was prayer and worship. There was no conversation with one another or anyone else. It was only conversation with God. It was in that place that I sought the Lord to be fully, without a shadow of a doubt, filled with the Holy Spirit. The word baptism means to be fully immersed. I wanted to be fully immersed! I didn’t want to be a flickering match; I wanted to be filled with the all-consuming fire of God! So, I was seeking Him for hours and hours in prayer.
One day, I was a couple of hours into seeking God, and he answered my prayer! By faith, I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit; God filled me! My whole body was trembling and shaking, and I began to speak in a heavenly language. It was so supernatural; my friend and I knew that I couldn’t make this up even if I tried. I was speaking words so quickly and yet fluently. This beautiful language bubbled up and overflowed out of me. In my heart, I knew this was the book-of-Acts-encounter that I had been asking God for. This encounter lasted for hours and was coupled with crying and joyous laughter. Following that encounter, I noticed an increase in fruitfulness for God. I was having divine encounters and seeing souls saved!
I’ve also learned that the Holy Spirit's initial baptism is not supposed to be a one-off. Even though I’m filled with the fullness of God, and I’m Spirit baptised, I hunger for God to fill me continually.
Acts 4:29-31
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
These disciples in Acts 4 that are being filled with the Holy Spirit are the same disciples we read in Acts 2 who received the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit! They are the same disciples who the Spirit filled in the upper room, and yet, the Holy Spirit filled them again! This is clear Biblical data to confirm the Holy Spirit's baptism is not just a one-off experience. As believers, we must understand the necessity of being baptised in the Holy Spirit on an on-going basis. We need to be baptised in the Holy Spirit to be effective witnesses to Him!
If you would like to learn more about the Holy Spirit's baptism and dive deeper into this subject, we have created a full module on our Bible Revival Online School!