The answer is a resounding NO! Jesus
promises a blessing that will make our lives completely different. In the
opening chapter of his Gospel, John says this to us. "Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from
heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the
one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the
Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’"
(John 1:32-33, NIV) He will baptize with the Spirit! John, the Baptist, was preaching change: “Turn
to God,” he told those who came to hear him. He led them into the Jordan River
where they were dipped under the water, a symbolic cleansing from old
ways. But, that baptism was remarkably
different from the one that Jesus would offer.
John’s baptism was temporary. Jesus would offer a permanent life change when
He gave the Spirit.
The contrast between those two baptisms is nowhere clearer than in this story. "While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul
took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some
disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul
asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.
Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to
believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they
were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on
them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and
prophesied." (Acts 19:1-6, NIV)
The full experience of the Christ-life is impossible apart
from an experience of the Spirit. We may be convinced of truths. We may work at
aligning ourselves with God’s ways. We may aspire to be better people. All those
things are good, but a new life is based on the coming of the Spirit. Without Him, we are attempting the
impossible. With Him, everything is
different. As surely as a living tree
produces fruit, a Christian who is filled with the Spirit will be characterized
by "love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians
5:22-23, NIV)
While there is no formula for receiving that empowering
experience, there is a pattern. Desire Him. Wait for Him. Surrender to Him.
Pray, and faithfully receive Him.
I pray that the word from the Word will stir that desire in
you to know a new kind of empowered Christian life. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8,
NLT) "On
the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one
place." (Acts 2:1, NLT) "And
everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other
languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability." (Acts 2:4, NLT)
"In those days I will pour out my
Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy."
(Acts 2:18, NLT)
____________
The Baptism of the Spirit is not just for a spiritual elite,
not just for mystics. He will fill
you. It is apt that the imagery of
baptism is used. When we baptize a new believer, we go into the water. There that
person ‘surrenders’ himself to the one baptizing and is plunged under the water,
coming up dripping, saturated. In the
same way, if we would be baptized in the Spirit, we will give control to
Christ, allowing Him to saturate us with the Holy Spirit, marking us as transforming
persons!
The disciples were told ‘wait’ for the Spirit before they
set out to tell the world about the Resurrected Christ. Acts 2 describes the wind,
fire, and tongues that came over them with the Spirit’s arrival. We tend to get
fixated with those phenomena forgetting that the greater effect was the power
they found in Him that day. They went out – changed and ‘changers.’ That experience, which we call “Pentecost”
after the Jewish festival during which the Spirit came, was not unique to that
time and place. There is a Pentecost for you and me. Are you baptized in the Spirit? Is there an intimacy with God, an empowering
experience, a marked difference in you? That
is what He does!
____________
There's nothing worth
more that will ever come close
No thing can compare
You're our living hope
Your Presence
I've tasted and seen
of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes
free and my shame is undone
In Your Presence Lord
Holy Spirit You are
welcome here
Come flood this place
and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what
our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your
Presence Lord
Your Presence Lord
Your Presence
Oh God how we love
Your Presence Lord
Let us become more
aware of Your Presence
Let us experience the
glory of Your goodness (Lord)
Bryan Torwalt | Katie Torwalt
© 2011 Capitol CMG Genesis (Admin. by Capitol CMG
Publishing)
Jesus Culture Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
CCLI License # 810055
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