I believe firmly that God established patterns throughout His word and throughout the world that He has created. So, when I see a pattern emerge in His word, I tend to think God wants us to learn something from that pattern.
Because I believe that God is a God of order, when I see a pattern emerge, I tend to study that particular subject in depth so as to get as complete an understanding as possible of the subject.
This has been my attitude towards anything concerning God or God’s word even before I became a Christian.
That is the reason when I first started thinking about the things of God, I approached things intellectually. I read most of the New Testament (King James Version, of course), and talked to several people who claimed to be Christians (including one preacher whom I respected). I watched and studied these Christians for a while to see if the just “talked the talk” or if they truly “walked the walk” also.
So I went to Lloyd’s office (the preacher whom I respected), talked with him for a little while, prayed with him, and became an “intellectual Christian”.
Of course, God, in His marvelous grace, would not leave well enough alone. In a matter of a few short weeks, I was completely “souled-out” to Jesus. Although my conversion was then total and complete, I believe that had I died during the interim period, I would have gone to Heaven. God is faithful to His word and to His children. Praise His name.
After I was born again, there arose in me an almost unquenchable hunger for His word. I read the Bible through five or six times during the first year of my new life. All that did was further deepen my hunger for God’s word. I bought (and used) concordances, dictionaries, expositories (Greek and Hebrew), and analyzed everything that piqued my interest. I went to almost every Bible study I heard about, listened to almost every preacher I could, and quizzed almost everyone I found who know more than I did. My wife and I also owned and operated a Christian bookstore and coffee-house during these formative years, giving me access to any Christian book I wanted.
Fortunately, God’s grace saw me through and out of this time of developing. I went through the requisite times of being out of balance in several areas. With God’s word as the standard, however, He has brought me into, I believe, a balanced belief system, filled with time-proven checks and balances.
Through this time, as I alluded to earlier, I began to see patterns emerge in God’s word. One of the most noticeable of these patterns I recognized was that concerning that old church-splitter—the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The first place I saw mention of this Baptism was, of course, in Matthew 3:11-17, Mark 1:4-8, Luke 3:15-18, and John 1:29-34. All four Gospels recorded this event-Jesus’ showing up for His debut into the world He came to save. In all four Gospels, John the Baptist introduced his cousin, Jesus, as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. He went on to say that, even though he (John) baptized with water, Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire.
Right away, John talks about two separate incidents: water baptism and Holy Ghost and fire baptism.
Immediately after this introduction, Jesus asked John to baptize Him. John agreed and baptized his Savior-one incident. After Jesus came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended on Him-another, second incident.
I saw the beginnings of a pattern in these four accounts. John talked about two separate baptisms-then Jesus received two separate baptisms.
There are those who would split hairs and argue that this was a totally unique experience that happened in exactly this way just to Jesus and is different for us today. I find that very difficult to accept for several reasons.
Firstly, Jesus is our example. He spent His life setting examples for us to follow and I, for one, want to experience and do everything I can to be as much like Jesus as possible. If it was good enough for Jesus, it must be good enough for me.
Secondly, contrary to what some would say by arguing that this was the first earthly experience Jesus had with the Holy Spirit, this just cannot be. How could anyone think that Jesus had lived thirty years as God in the flesh and not have had the Holy Spirit living in Him? This second baptism, after His water baptism, was the empowering act that ushered in Jesus’ power-filled ministry, which had not been in evidence before this time.
Thirdly, I have heard it argued that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with its accompanying signs and wonders, died out when the Apostles died out. How sad it must be to worship a God Whose power is so limited. Fortunately, our God is a God Who cannot be limited by our timetables.
I’ve never been able to figure this particular line of thought out. I’ve always wondered who the last apostle was and when he or she died. Did all signs and miracles just suddenly stop at 8:43 PM on August 17, 103 AD? This particular argument is just too vague and too dependent on unknowns to be acceptable. It should not matter anyway when the last apostle died. I believe that it is God’s power that does the healing anyway. Even though all the original apostles died, God did not. He is still alive and it is His power that does the healing.
The fourth and last reason I will list here is the one that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was for the believers of Biblical days and is not for us today. The proof text I have heard used for this argument is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, esp. verse 10. Some would say that the perfection spoken of here is the Bible and, since we have it, we do not need the Spirit-energized gifts. This just does not make any sense. If this were true, we would have all the answers to all the questions. If we had all the answers, we would be living in a perfect world and we obviously are not. The only perfection there is for us to look forward to is Jesus. When He returns, we will indeed have all the answers and indeed live in a perfect world. Then the Spirit-energized gifts can truly stop.
Another point I would like to make here is this: who among us has the right to decide which part of the Bible is for today and which is not? I personally do not feel that God has stepped down and appointed me to take His place yet. He has not appointed you either. We simply do not have the right or the authority to pick and choose which Scriptures we like or dislike for use today. Either all of God’s word stands forever or God’s a liar. There is not much room for debate here.
If this were the only instance in the Bible of Holy Spirit Baptism, there would not be any sort of pattern. The Bible goes on, however, to speak over and over about this subject.
The Apostle John took five chapters (John 13-17) to explain Jesus’ leaving and the Holy Spirit’s coming to His followers. (Especially read John 14:15-31 and 16:5-15.) Evidently, Jesus and John both felt that this subject was extremely important to Jesus’ followers and to us today. So we Christians of today must realize its importance as well. There have been thousands of books written about Jesus’ return, yet He basically gave us only one chapter in each Gospel explaining this subject. How much more important He must have considered His leaving and the Holy Spirit’s coming. Here in John’s Gospel alone, five chapters are devoted to this one subject.
Even with this in-depth teaching directly from the Master Teacher Himself, Jesus showed us that there was more required of His followers than just this teaching. After Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again, He appeared to His followers in John 20:21, 22. Here, Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. So, from this moment on, the followers had the Holy Spirit living in them.
Evidently, Jesus still did not feel that they were ready yet. So He told them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came. Then they would receive the power they needed to do Jesus’ work properly.
The Book of Acts is our real source concerning the Holy Spirit Baptism.
There are six specific instances in Acts where people are baptized in the Holy Spirit, seven when we include Ananias laying hands on Saul in Acts 9:13-19. In each instance, there is an immediate change in the lives of the ones who are so baptized. Let’s look at each instance.
The first instance is in Acts 2:1-28, 38-47. This is the most famous example. It was on the Day of Pentecost. About 120 believers (including Jesus’ mother Mary and His brothers) were gathered in one place, praying and tarrying. Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came. These were many of the same followers of Jesus who had left Him alone while He was being arrested, beaten, and crucified; at least one (Peter) had emphatically denied even knowing Jesus. Jesus, in John 20:21, 22, had appeared to His followers and breathed on them so the Holy Spirit was already living in them to a degree. Now they were obediently following Jesus’ command to tarry in Jerusalem until such time that the Holy Spirit came over them in power.
In this Scripture passage, we see the results of the first wide-spread New Testament appearance of the Holy Spirit-they felt a mighty rushing wind, saw tongues as of fire, and heard the believers speaking in other tongues. God does know how to make an entrance! This was an important turning-point in the lives of these believers. The immediate result of this happening was the birth of the New Testament church. Verse 41 says 3000 people were added to the church. Verse 47 adds that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 4:23-32 is the second instance of a Holy Spirit appearance. Peter and John had just been released from jail. They went to the house or meeting-place where other believers were gathered. After reporting what had happened to them, Peter and John asked God to “stretch out” His hand and work. And He did. Verse 31 says that the place was shaken; they (the believers) were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and they “spoke the word of God boldly”. The immediate result of this Holy Spirit appearance was again, a shaken house; again, a Spirit-filling; and again, they spoke God’s word boldly.
The third specific Holy Spirit appearance is recorded in Acts 8:14-25. This is the story of Simon the magician. Peter and John had gone to Samaria from Jerusalem because the Samaritans had “accepted the word of God”; in other words, they had started becoming Christians. When they arrived in Samaria, Peter and John realized the people had been baptized as befits becoming Christians (water baptism) but had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit. So, naturally, Peter and John laid hands on them and prayed for them to be Holy Spirit-baptized.
Verse 18 said that “Simon saw the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands”. The only manifestation that would be immediately evident had to be speaking in tongues and/or boldly speaking the word of God as in the previous examples.
The immediate result of this incident was changed lives, truth proclaimed, and the Gospel being preached throughout Samaria (v.25).
The fourth specific Holy Spirit-baptism occurrence is found in Acts 10:44-48. This is the first recorded instance we have of Gentiles being Holy Spirit-baptized. As Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on the hearers in such a powerful way that they immediately began speaking in tongues and praising God. Then they were baptized with water (vv.47,48). The immediate result of this happening was their speaking in tongues and praising God.
In Acts 11:15-18, we find Peter back at denominational headquarters in Jerusalem, recounting to the Board of Elders what had just happened. He emphasized that these Gentiles received the Holy Spirit baptism just as the believers did on the Day of Pentecost (vv.15-17). Praise God that the elders listened and bid Peter and the Gentiles godspeed (v.18).
In Acts 18:24-28, we find the fifth specific Holy Spirit-baptism occurrence. This is the story of Apollos, a Bible scholar, as he came to Ephesus and met Priscilla and Aquila, who had become believers after listening to Paul’s teaching.
Apollos had come to Ephesus to teach “the way of the Lord” (v.25). He was a scholar, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He taught accurately about Jesus (v.25), which tells me that he had to have known Jesus. Verse 25 says that he had been “instructed in the way of the Lord”. This is the same type of phrase that Luke (the author of Acts) used to describe new believers in Samaria in Acts 8:14. I also believe Luke’s mentioning that Apollos taught about Jesus accurately shows that Apollos was already a Christian when he came to Ephesus and began teaching.
From this position, it stands to reason that what Priscilla and Aquila did when they welcomed Apollos into their home and “explained to him the way of God more accurately” (v.26) was to lay hands on Apollos and pray for him to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I realize that it is not uncommon to hear the thesis that Priscilla and Aquila led Apollos into becoming a Christian. A thorough study of this passage, however, can only lead to the conclusion that they prayed for him to be Holy Spirit-baptized.
The result of this prayer is shown in verses 27 and 28. Apollos became an even more powerful preacher/teacher and was able to prove to many Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
The sixth specific Holy Spirit-baptism happening we will look at occurs in Acts 19:1-7. Paul had returned to Ephesus and met twelve disciples. Luke refers to them as “disciples”, meaning that they were already Christians.
Paul found out that they were believers and had already been water-baptized, having received John’s baptism. He had already determined that they had never even heard of the Holy Spirit. So Paul took the next natural step: he laid hands on them, and prayed that they be baptized “in (or into) the name of the Lord Jesus”.
The immediate result of this was that “they spoke in tongues and prophesied”. There can be no doubt that this was a Holy Spirit-baptism because the Biblical pattern had been followed and the results were the same as in Acts 8 and 10.
The one other Scripture passage that refers to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that I would like to touch on is found in Acts 9:1-22. This is the story of Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
In verses 1-9, we read of Saul, who had been on a “mission from God” to wipe out all those heretical Christians. Jesus Himself took care of Saul, appearing to him and ministering to him in a powerful way.
Jesus was not through with Saul just yet though. The Lord arranged for a man named Ananias to meet with Saul. Ananias laid hands on Saul and prayed for Saul to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The immediate result of this event was something like scales falling from Saul’s eyes, allowing Saul to see again. Saul then got up and was baptized. Verses 20-22 go on the say that Saul, after just a few days, reversed his original stand and began a powerful ministry of preaching and teaching that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. His ministry was one of the most powerful in the history of the church, possibly the most powerful ministry of all time.
All of the Scripture passages I have used prove that there is a pattern concerning the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The pattern is that there can be two separate baptisms: one being John’s baptism, or the baptism or repentance (Acts 19:4). John himself said that he baptized with water (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:6, Luke 3:16, and John 1:26).
The other baptism is the Holy Spirit baptism. John the Baptist said that this how Jesus would baptize-with the Holy Ghost and fire. And that is how the Bible shows it happening: in two different acts. That is how it happened to Jesus, to His followers, and all through the Book of Acts.
The baptism of John-a baptism of repentance, a baptism into the Body of Christ.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit-a baptism of power.
The first baptism, symbolized by water, is a baptism that shows one’s acceptance of Jesus as personal savior. It brings a person out of sin into eternal life, out of darkness into light, out of bondage into freedom. One must become a believer to experience the change necessary for salvation. Then, according to the Scripture passages we have looked at and seen emerge into a Biblical pattern, there is another step.
This step is the baptism of the Holy Spirit-a baptism that is symbolized sometimes by tongues, sometimes by fire, sometimes by prophesying, sometimes by boldly preaching and proclaiming God, sometimes by your house being shaken, but always by power. Each example shows lives changed by the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Thank God for both baptisms. Covet both baptisms. Seek both baptisms. Both are received simply by asking in faith.
And go into the world as a believer, changed and empowered, that the world might see Jesus in you and in the world.
There are two last things I would like to share with you. First is about your standing with God. Have you ever asked Jesus to become your Savior? If you have not done this, the Holy Spirit baptism is not for you. John 14:17 says that “the world cannot accept Him (the Holy Spirit), because it (the world) neither sees Him nor knows Him”. Unfortunately, if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are of the world. Therefore, you cannot accept the Holy Spirit, since you can neither see Him nor hear Him. In short, you are lost and not a member of the family of God. I pray that you think about this, talk to a Christian friend or relative, and consider Jesus. Get a Bible and read it. Please do this, for the sake of your eternal soul. Then ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins. Ask Him to become your Savior and Lord of your life. You will never regret it. And never is an eternity.
Secondly, if you are already a Christian, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I hope that what you have read helps birth in you a hunger for that empowering that the Bible shows comes with Holy Spirit-baptism. If you have been born again and have allowed Jesus to by your Lord and Savior, you are on your way to Heaven, to be with God for all eternity. The baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers you to begin walking victoriously, as Jesus did, while still in this physical, earthly body.
The most important thing you can do right now is simply ask God what He would have you do. Then, when He answers, be obedient to what He tells you. If He tells you to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, find someone who believes in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for today and ask them to pray for you. Just as in Biblical days, God will honor your prayer. Then, by faith, expect God to do the same with and to and for you as He did with believers 2000 years ago.
I believe you will be pleased with the results. And so will God.
DEVELOPED OVER MANY YEARS OF STUDY, THOUGHT, AND PRAYER.
