“And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” Acts 19:1-6
Again we see that people believed and some time had passed before they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And here again we see that as soon as they were baptized miraculous power followed! Some of us may be baptized with the Holy Spirit right when we are chosen and accept Jesus as Lord, some of us may be filled later, but the important thing is that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The common ground is a believing and having an accepting heart. If you don’t know if you have been baptized with the Holy Ghost, than you haven’t! If you can’t testify of the exact moment when it happened, then you haven’t. I am not trying to be mean, you may very well believe in Jesus as Lord, just as these scriptural examples show us, but look at what Jesus said. “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:38-39
How can we have rivers of living water flowing from us and not know it? When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit our lives are instantly changed, and as we read in the Book of Acts, when people were baptized with the Holy Ghost, supernatural things happened as a result of the baptism. They prophesied, they prayed in tongues, there were healings, mass conversions; power was always associated with the baptism of the Holy Ghost! God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He changes not, so the same holds true today! “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 The baptism and indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not an uneventful or uncertain event in our lives! God does not respect the people in the Bible over us, so if He showed His mighty power through them when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, He will show His power through us! We are all God’s kids and He is able and willing to be all that He is through each and every one of us who believe.
Again we see that people believed and some time had passed before they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And here again we see that as soon as they were baptized miraculous power followed! Some of us may be baptized with the Holy Spirit right when we are chosen and accept Jesus as Lord, some of us may be filled later, but the important thing is that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The common ground is a believing and having an accepting heart. If you don’t know if you have been baptized with the Holy Ghost, than you haven’t! If you can’t testify of the exact moment when it happened, then you haven’t. I am not trying to be mean, you may very well believe in Jesus as Lord, just as these scriptural examples show us, but look at what Jesus said. “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:38-39
How can we have rivers of living water flowing from us and not know it? When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit our lives are instantly changed, and as we read in the Book of Acts, when people were baptized with the Holy Ghost, supernatural things happened as a result of the baptism. They prophesied, they prayed in tongues, there were healings, mass conversions; power was always associated with the baptism of the Holy Ghost! God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He changes not, so the same holds true today! “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 The baptism and indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not an uneventful or uncertain event in our lives! God does not respect the people in the Bible over us, so if He showed His mighty power through them when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, He will show His power through us! We are all God’s kids and He is able and willing to be all that He is through each and every one of us who believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment