This is one of those subjects that not all Christians agree on or believe in, but it is biblical so here goes. After Jesus rose from the dead and before He ascended back to heaven, He told His disciples, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). But then He added, “But tarry you in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high” (v. 49).
This power Jesus was referring to is imparted through what the Bible refers to in several places as the baptism with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:5, Matthew 3:11). It is so named to portray the idea that as John the Baptist baptized with water, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. The connection between Jesus telling the disciples to go and preach His name among the nations and His telling them to wait for the power from heaven is that they absolutely could not effectively accomplish the former without the latter.
The same is true for us today. Like other countries, America is an extremely tough mission field. We won’t make any significant impact on reaching our nation unless we have been divinely empowered to serve by the Holy Spirit. I have been preaching the gospel for over 30 years, but I know it takes more than a well-crafted sermon to impact the lives of those whom I minister to. It is the Holy Spirit who anoints my message and who touches the hearts of those who listen and who commends Christ to their hearts. All of these have to be at work to make preaching fruitful.
So the Bible says that on the day of Pentecost, “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave the utterance” (Acts 2:4). Oftentimes, some of those in the Pentecostal community overemphasize the speaking in other tongues. There is no denying that in most cases in the book of Acts when the Bible reveals what happened to individuals at the time they experienced the baptism with the Holy Spirit, they spoke with tongues other than those of their native languages. Some recipients also prophesied.
But the point I want to make is that the purpose of the baptism with the Holy Ghost is not to showcase any spiritual gifts that we may operate in as a result of the experience, but the purpose is to divinely empower us to serve the Lord more effectively. “You shall receive power AFTER that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” Jesus told His disciples (Acts 1:8). Since this power He was talking about would come AFTER they received the Holy Spirit, it was a power the disciples did not have already, though their names were written in heaven.
That brings me to my final point. It is important that I make it clear that we become born of the Spirit through faith in Christ, and no other experience is necessary to secure our eternal salvation. But also Jesus wants to baptize us with the Holy Spirit so we can serve Him in power and with boldness and more effectively in these last days.
Copyright ©2012 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
This power Jesus was referring to is imparted through what the Bible refers to in several places as the baptism with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:5, Matthew 3:11). It is so named to portray the idea that as John the Baptist baptized with water, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. The connection between Jesus telling the disciples to go and preach His name among the nations and His telling them to wait for the power from heaven is that they absolutely could not effectively accomplish the former without the latter.
The same is true for us today. Like other countries, America is an extremely tough mission field. We won’t make any significant impact on reaching our nation unless we have been divinely empowered to serve by the Holy Spirit. I have been preaching the gospel for over 30 years, but I know it takes more than a well-crafted sermon to impact the lives of those whom I minister to. It is the Holy Spirit who anoints my message and who touches the hearts of those who listen and who commends Christ to their hearts. All of these have to be at work to make preaching fruitful.
So the Bible says that on the day of Pentecost, “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave the utterance” (Acts 2:4). Oftentimes, some of those in the Pentecostal community overemphasize the speaking in other tongues. There is no denying that in most cases in the book of Acts when the Bible reveals what happened to individuals at the time they experienced the baptism with the Holy Spirit, they spoke with tongues other than those of their native languages. Some recipients also prophesied.
But the point I want to make is that the purpose of the baptism with the Holy Ghost is not to showcase any spiritual gifts that we may operate in as a result of the experience, but the purpose is to divinely empower us to serve the Lord more effectively. “You shall receive power AFTER that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” Jesus told His disciples (Acts 1:8). Since this power He was talking about would come AFTER they received the Holy Spirit, it was a power the disciples did not have already, though their names were written in heaven.
That brings me to my final point. It is important that I make it clear that we become born of the Spirit through faith in Christ, and no other experience is necessary to secure our eternal salvation. But also Jesus wants to baptize us with the Holy Spirit so we can serve Him in power and with boldness and more effectively in these last days.
Copyright ©2012 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
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