This Word Comes To Us As Well As To John.
SCRIPTURE: …” Upon Whomsoever thou shalt see the, Spirit descending, and abiding
on Him the same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. Jn. 1:33.
To know what the baptism of the Spirit means, how and from whom we are to receive
it we must see the One upon Whom the Spirit descended and abode. We must see Jesus
baptized with the Holy Ghost. We must try to understand how He needed it, how He was
prepared for it, how He yielded to it, how in its power He died His death, and was raised
again. What Jesus has to give us, He first received and personally appropriated for Himself;
what He received and won for Himself is all for us: He will make it our very own. Upon
whom we see the Spirit abiding, He baptizes with the Spirit.
In regard to this baptism of the Spirit there are several times in the Acts for a repeat of the
activity of the Holy Spirit. These we may also have repeated today in every church and
gathering
- Was the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost the complete fulfilment of the promise, the
answer is no! - Is that the only baptism of the Spirit, given once for all to the new born Church? No.
- Or is not the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples in Acts 4, on the Samaritans (Acts
8), on the heathen in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10.), and on the twelve disciples at Ephesus
(Acts 19), also to be regarded as separate fulfilments of the words, \’He shall baptize with the
Holy Ghost\’? Yes.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit AND Spirit of God making our bodies His tabernacle is the
crown and glory of Jesus\’ work. - We have need of it,
- And must know that we have it,
- if we are to live in power and the true Christian life.
We need it. The Holy Jesus needed it. Christ\’s loving, obedient disciples needed it. It is
something more than the working of the Spirit in regeneration.
- It is the Personal Spirit of Christ
- Making Him present within us,
- Always abiding in the heart in the power of His glorified nature,
- As He is exalted above of sin and death,
- And bringing us, as a personal experience, into the liberty from sin to which
Christ redeemed us, but which to so many regenerates is only a blessing
registered, on their behalf, but not possessed or enjoyed. - It is the enduement with power to fill us with boldness in presence of every
danger - And give the victory over every enemy.
- It is the Spirit of the Life of Christ Jesus making us free from the law of sin
and death.
PRAYER: Pray until these become reality in your life. In Jesus Name. Amen.