Gtcotr/ws080923
Acts
8 NKJV
3 As
for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off
men and women, committing them to prison.
4 ¶
Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
5 Then
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
6 And
the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and
seeing the miracles which he did.
12 But
when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of
God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.
14 ¶ Now
when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the
word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15 who,
when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit.
16 For
as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
I believed and prayed a sincere prayer of repentance and salvation, and I was baptized in water, in the name of Jesus, in the summer of 1967. To this day there is no doubt in my mind that I was forgiven of my sins, washed in the blood of Christ, and was born-again at 12 years old that day. I was no longer like some of my friends who had no conscious conviction of sin. Each time I strayed from God’s will for my life I felt it. Somehow different than guilt, shame, or fear, I felt more of a disappointment. I didn’t really feel judged but rather loved and forgiven.
There is a certain sadness which comes along with disappointing someone who loves and forgives you so much.
From the summer of 1967 to the summer of 1980, 13 critical years in my life, I grew into a man with a wife and two kids, working a job and going to church. I loved Jesus and had committed my life to Him, but something was missing. I didn’t even know what it was until I found it.
After studying the Word of God with an open heart and praying for God to lead me with wisdom and truth, I came to believe in what many people call the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience that was available to every born-again Believer after salvation in a separate moment of life. I read that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was a baptism of power. Specifically, the power to be a witness.
My only previous exposure to the baptism of the Holy Spirit was the year or so I spent at the age of 14 and 15 attending a small country old time Pentecostal Church which my uncle pastored. There were only about 20 people or so in that congregation, mostly women and children, which met for singing and preaching 4 times each week, including Saturday nights. I went because my uncle would let me and his three oldest boys all play guitars during the singing. But as soon as I got a car, Saturday night Church was not the place I wanted to take my date … at least not a second time.
The Church service at my uncle’s Church was a bit loud and active. At certain times in the singing or preaching, people would start speaking in tongues and get up and dance or spin around, shake, run around the Church, lay on the floor, or give a message to the congregation which someone else had to interpret. Then, just as quickly as it broke out, the preaching or singing would just start back up again just like it was a normal occurrence.
As I said this was my only exposure to the Holy Spirit and quite honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to experience that. I liked all the people who did but still, I didn’t want to lose control of myself in public and let the Holy Spirit take over and make me shake or scream or take off running. I had been raised going to a Baptist Church where that just didn’t happen.
However, studying the Word of God for myself I continued in a sincere attempt to follow and serve the Lord, I found the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to be a constant experience and clearly separated from salvation much like water baptism. Both the Old and the New Testaments paint a clear image of people who have been saved subsequently being covered by water baptism and then covered by the Holy Spirit.
With those things in mind and with the preponderance of scriptures pointing to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as personal experience available to every born-again Believer, I opened my heart and prayed a sincere prayer to God. I said Lord, if the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today and if it is for me, fill me with your Holy Spirit and baptize me with power to be a witness. As I continued to pray, I began to hear my words change to a language I now know as my heavenly prayer language. Since that night, I have never been the same and that flowing river of prayer coming from my heart, not my mind, has never stopped.
Now, over 43 years later I credit the Holy Spirit with keeping me on track, being my guide, teacher, and comforter. I have experienced having greater access to my spiritual gifts. It was definitely the next best step in my spiritual walk with God.
It’s not about tongues and I have never lost control or been embarrassed by the Holy Spirit. Several times I have yielded myself and in as much as possible, lost myself in a spiritual moment of prayer, praise, and worship. I long for more times of refreshing in the presence of the Lord.
I do not believe I am somehow more saved than I was or that God loves me more or something like that. But I do want to testify that there is a marked and evident power in my life to be a witness for Jesus Christ. And I have seen this same testimony unfold in the lives of so many others.
The Apostle Paul experienced this same filling of the Holy Spirit, and he preached it everywhere he went. When he had walked through the upper regions of Turkey, Paul came to Ephesus on the Aegean Sea, and he found 12 disciples teaching a message of repentance and water baptism whom he imagined were already born-again believers. Listen to Paul’s first question:
Acts 19 NKJV
2 he
said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said
to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he
said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s
baptism.”
4 Then
Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the
people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on
Christ Jesus.”
5 When
they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Have you received the Holy Spirit since you have become a Believer in Jesus Christ? If not, or if, like these 12 disciples, you don’t know … you can be filled with the Holy Spirit right now.
It happened to Cornelius and his whole household while Peter was preaching to them. You can read about it in Acts 10:44-48. They were saved and then filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in tongues, and then they were water baptized.
Would you dare to pray a simple prayer with me? We will pray along the same lines I prayed over 43 years ago. Lord, if the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today and if it is for me, fill me with your Holy Spirit and baptize me with power to be a witness.
Now, begin to pray and thank God out loud and yield yourself to the Holy Spirit like hundreds of millions of Born-Again Believers have before you.
