Participants: Dennis Smith (Host)
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000293
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00:31 Welcome to Faith Chapel. I'm Dennis Smith,
00:34 Pastor of the New Haven, Connecticut, 00:36 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:37 Today, we're going to discuss what I 00:40 think is one of the most important 00:42 subjects in the Bible, the Baptism 00:45 of the Holy Spirit. We will learn what 00:48 the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is, 00:49 and how we receive the Baptism 00:52 of the Holy Spirit? An experience 00:54 that we must understand and 00:56 have in order to meet Jesus. 00:58 So, let us begin with prayer. 01:00 Our gracious Father, I thank you that 01:04 you've given us the gift of your Son 01:06 and the gift of your Spirit. 01:08 I pray that today you'll open our hearts 01:12 and minds to better understand your word, 01:16 and we will see very clearly the wonderful 01:19 gift of the spirit that you've given to us, 01:21 what that gift is and how we're to receive 01:24 the baptism of your Spirit in our life in 01:27 Jesus name I pray, amen. 01:31 I have good news for you today 01:32 Jesus is coming soon. Now, I know Christians 01:36 have been saying that for a long time. 01:38 In fact, I became the Seventh-day Adventist 01:40 Christian back in 1966 and I thought 01:42 things are coming down to the wire back then, 01:44 but a few years have passed since then, 01:47 but today I'm more convicted then ever 01:50 that Jesus is coming soon. 01:52 Why do I believe that? It's not because 01:54 of 9/11s or other terror attacks is not 01:58 because of natural disaster such as earthquakes, 02:01 tsunamis, hurricanes, though all those things 02:04 are signs of Christ's second coming and that 02:06 it is near, but that's not the primary reason 02:08 that I believe in my heart the second 02:10 coming of Jesus is very soon. 02:12 Now, I invite you to turn with me to 02:17 Revelation chapter 7, beginning with verse 1 02:22 through 3. "And after these things 02:26 I saw four angels standing on the four 02:28 corners of the earth, holding the four winds 02:31 of the earth, that the wind should not 02:33 blow on the earth, nor on the sea, 02:35 nor on any tree. And I saw the angel 02:40 ascending from the east, having the seal 02:43 of the living God, and he cried with a loud 02:45 voice to the four angels, to whom it 02:48 was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 02:51 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, 02:54 nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants 02:57 of our God in their foreheads." 03:00 We see from the scripture that God 03:03 is not waiting for more earthquakes, 03:06 for more wars, for more terror attacks, 03:09 that is not what God is waiting for? 03:10 In fact, this text tells us that God is 03:13 holding those things back. Those things 03:16 are gonna come and they're gonna come 03:17 in more intensity as we approach the final 03:20 crisis in the earth's history, but God knows 03:22 that His people are not ready for that 03:25 final crisis. And for that very reason 03:28 He's holding back the winds, 03:30 He's holding back the final crisis, 03:33 He's holding them back for something 03:36 to happen and His people. 03:37 And that verse we just read tells us 03:39 He is holding back the final crisis, 03:42 He is telling the angels do not let 03:44 those winds go until God's people are sealed. 03:47 What's the sealing? That must be rather 03:51 important. Well, if you turn with me to 03:54 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30, we'll find 03:56 out what the sealing is? "And grieve not the 04:00 Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed 04:03 until the day of redemption." 04:05 You see the scripture tells us that we 04:08 experience the sealing through the Holy Spirit. 04:12 And when you read through the scriptures 04:14 you'll find you receive the fulness of the 04:16 spirit by experiencing the baptism of the 04:20 Holy Spirit. So, in a way you and I will 04:23 be sealed and prepared for the final crisis 04:26 and Christ second coming is to personally 04:28 understand and experience the baptism 04:30 of the Holy Spirit. That is why I'm convicted 04:34 beyond any question that the coming of 04:37 Jesus is soon. Because I'm seeing God taking 04:42 the message to receive the baptism of the 04:44 Holy Spirit which is the sealing message 04:46 to His people around the world. 04:48 When I say around the world, 04:49 I mean literally around the world 04:51 in a very short time. He is calling 04:54 His people to be filled with the Holy Spirit; 04:57 He is giving us an understanding of 04:58 what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is, 04:59 and calling us to be filled with His 05:01 Holy Spirit. So, that we can be sealed 05:04 and become just like Jesus. 05:07 So, let's look more closely today at just 05:09 what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? 05:11 Well, when we read in John chapter 14 verse 16, 05:15 Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit. 05:17 He said, "And I will pray the Father, 05:19 and he shall give you another comforter, 05:21 that he may abide with you forever;" 05:24 In this scripture Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. 05:28 And He promised that we would have the 05:29 Holy Spirit forever. And when you read on in 05:33 verse 18 of the same chapter we find. 05:35 Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless: 05:39 I will come to you." In this scripture we see 05:44 that Jesus equates the Holy Spirit coming 05:47 to us with Jesus coming to us. 05:50 So, you see it is through the baptism of the 05:52 Holy Spirit that Jesus comes and lives in us 05:56 fully that's what the baptism of the 05:59 Holy Spirit is all about. And we're told that 06:01 again in the little letter by John in 06:04 First John chapter 3 verse 24. 06:08 "He that keeps his commandments 06:10 dwells in him, and he in him. 06:12 And hereby we know that he abides in us, 06:14 by the Spirit which he hath given us." 06:17 The scripture tell us very clearly that 06:19 Jesus abides in us through the Holy Spirit 06:23 that He has given to us, that's what the 06:25 baptism of the Holy Spirit is all about is 06:27 Jesus living in you and me fully. 06:30 And when that happens we become 06:32 like Jesus and that's what God is calling 06:35 His people to experience today, 06:37 He is calling us out of the Laodicea condition 06:40 and to become just like His Son Jesus. 06:43 There are several words in the 06:46 New Testament that that are equivalent 06:47 concerning the Holy Spirit, 06:48 the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the in 06:50 filling the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the 06:52 Holy Spirit, the early rain. 06:54 You see the baptism of the Holy Spirit 06:56 is the early rain of the Holy Spirit, 06:59 which began on the day of Pentecost. 07:00 Now, the Bible also describes another 07:03 outpouring of the Holy Spirit called 07:05 The Latter Rain. And what we discovered 07:07 from the Bible using the analogy of agriculture 07:10 is that in the Middle East, the seed was 07:12 planted and the early rain came and 07:14 when the early rain came the crop began 07:17 growing to a certain level of maturity. 07:20 And that was important because 07:21 later on the latter rain would come and 07:23 when that rain would come, the crops 07:25 would grow to full maturity ready for 07:28 the harvest. Using that analogy the 07:32 baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is the 07:34 early rain began to fall on the day of Pentecost. 07:37 That experience in the Holy Spirit is 07:41 necessary for you and me to understand 07:43 experience. We must experience the early 07:46 rain baptism of the Holy Spirit we must 07:48 grow under that experience of the 07:50 Holy Spirit to a great level of maturity, 07:53 so that when the latter rain comes 07:56 we will benefit from that last outpouring 08:01 of Holy Spirit power on this earth and 08:04 in our life. The tragedy is that Satan wants 08:08 to keep us from experiencing the early 08:11 rain baptism of the Spirit, he wants to 08:12 confuse us on that, he wants to make us 08:14 afraid of that, but if we do not experience 08:18 the early rain baptism of the spirit, 08:20 when the latter rain comes it could be 08:23 falling all around us and it won't do us 08:26 any good. In fact, we won't even know 08:28 that the Holy Spirit is falling on the earth 08:30 at that time and in fullness. I'd like to 08:35 look at it this way I, I see water baptism is, 08:39 is sort of like the, the marriage ceremony 08:41 when two individual's commit their lives to 08:43 one another, and in water baptism 08:45 we make our commitment, we're gonna 08:46 serve the Lord. And then I look at spirit 08:48 baptism is, as more or less like the 08:50 consummation of the marriage, 08:52 where a man and wife get to know 08:53 one another intimately and that's what the 08:55 baptism of the Holy Spirit is, we get to 08:57 know our Lord intimately. 08:59 First the commitment and then the 09:02 consummation of the relationship 09:04 and we get to know God. 09:05 And by the way that word knows very 09:06 significant because Jesus tells us the 09:09 only ones that are saved in the end when 09:12 He comes are those that know Him intimately 09:16 and He knows them. I thought I understood 09:22 the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I mean 09:24 as I said, I was baptized in 1966, 09:28 became a Seventh-day Adventist Christian I, 09:30 I've been active as a pastor and 09:32 a layman for a many, many years 09:34 I began pastoring in 1970. 09:37 And I thought I understood the 09:40 working of the Holy Spirit, 09:41 the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 09:42 And then in the fall of 1999, the Lord 09:46 challenged me to look more closely at it. 09:48 And I will just, I will say, it was a bit of a 09:50 struggle for me at first 'cause I had 09:52 a lot of things about the baptism of the 09:53 Holy Spirit. You know, if you, if you 09:55 seek the baptism of the Spirit this might 09:56 happen or that might happen and of course 09:58 think and I already understood it, 09:59 I sort of had tunnel vision and I had some 10:02 pre-supposed ideas about it. 10:04 And so, whenever I read scriptures that 10:05 referred to it, I just kind of read over them 10:07 I think I understood it, but the Lord challenged 10:10 me to look more closely at it. 10:13 And I praise God that He did. 10:15 My life and my ministry has never 10:17 been the same. As I began studying into 10:20 what the baptism of the Holy Spirit it is, 10:22 I began realizing that there are actually 10:24 two works of the Holy Spirit. 10:26 The first work of the Holy Spirit is send 10:29 out to all the world to bring conviction to men 10:32 and women to accept Jesus as their savior. 10:34 That work of the Holy Spirit is available to all. 10:37 There's a second work of the Holy Spirit, 10:40 which is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 10:42 that work of the Holy Spirit is for the 10:45 believer only. Once we accept Jesus through 10:49 the convicting part of the Holy Spirit then 10:52 our Lord says; now I want to come into you 10:54 and I want to fill you and I want to make 10:56 you like myself. I want to make you like me 10:59 in character and in conduct, I want to 11:01 minister through you and that is the baptism 11:04 of the Holy Spirit, the second work of the 11:05 Holy Spirit. We see these two works of the 11:09 Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus. 11:11 When we look we find that Jesus was born 11:15 of the spirit and by the way Jesus is our 11:16 example and everything. 11:17 And so Jesus experience is to be similar 11:22 to our experience we're actually parallel 11:24 to the experience of Jesus. 11:25 And so, when we look at the experience 11:27 of Jesus, Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. 11:30 And so, we too that are believers in Christ 11:31 are born of the Holy Spirit. 11:33 Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit as a child 11:36 and the young manhood to experience 11:39 water baptism. When we are born of the Spirit 11:41 we're led by the Holy Spirit to the point to 11:44 experience water baptism. And then we 11:47 read about Jesus water baptism experience 11:49 in Luke chapter 3 verse 21 and 22. 11:54 "Now when all the people are baptized, 11:56 it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized 12:00 and praying, the heavens were opened, 12:05 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily 12:07 shape like a dove upon him, and a voice 12:12 came from heaven, which said, 12:14 Thou are my beloved Son; in thee I'm well 12:17 pleased." In this scripture we find 12:20 a very clear description of the baptism of Jesus 12:24 and I find something very, very significant 12:26 in this scripture concerning the, the 12:28 baptism of the Holy Spirit in His life. 12:29 We find that it describes Jesus was 12:31 baptized in water and while He has being 12:33 baptized we're told He was praying. 12:35 Well, what was He praying for? 12:37 Well, as we read the scripture tells us. 12:39 As an answer to His prayer He received 12:42 the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 12:44 Significant point, we find that Jesus did 12:48 not automatically received the baptism 12:49 of the Holy Spirit as water baptism, 12:51 that's what I thought. I thought Christians 12:53 automatically received the baptism of the 12:55 Holy Spirit at the water baptism, 12:56 but we find it can happen at the same 12:58 time as water baptism, but what happened 13:01 and, as the result of Jesus praying and 13:03 claiming the promise that He would be 13:05 baptized with the Holy Spirit. 13:07 And from that point in this ministry 13:09 we read of Jesus being filled with the spirit. 13:11 In fact, in Luke chapter 4 and verse 1, 13:14 we've read that very thing. 13:16 "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost 13:19 returned from Jordan, and was led by the 13:22 Spirit into the wilderness." 13:25 In this scripture we read that as soon as 13:27 Jesus received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 13:30 He is described as being filled with the 13:31 Holy Spirit and at that point in His life 13:34 and ministry now He was led into the 13:36 wilderness and it says to be tempted. 13:38 Jesus faced the greatest temptations 13:41 of His life after He had experienced the 13:43 baptism of the Holy Spirit that is significant 13:46 because Jesus was not ready for the greatest 13:48 temptations of Satan until he was filled 13:50 with the Holy Spirit. Same for you and me, 13:53 you and I are not ready for the greatest 13:55 temptations in our life until we too are 13:57 filled with the Holy Spirit. 13:59 That is why there is no way we're gonna 14:01 make it through the final Christ of this 14:02 earth's history, when Satan is coming on 14:04 with all his power and his deception to 14:06 take God's people down unless we too 14:08 are filled with the Holy Spirit. 14:10 Because the filling of the Holy Spirit 14:13 it gives the power to be victorious 14:15 just like Jesus was empower, remember 14:17 Jesus was not this super human walking around, 14:20 He was living like you and me, 14:22 He was divine and He could used His divine 14:25 power deliver Himself, but if He is gonna live 14:27 like you and me He couldn't do that. 14:28 And so, He had to be victorious just like 14:31 we are to be victorious. And the baptism of 14:33 the Holy Spirit in Jesus life was essential for 14:36 Him to be victorious and it's the same for us. 14:39 So, the baptism of the Holy Spirit again is 14:43 so necessary for us to become like Jesus, 14:45 be victorious over temptation. 14:47 And then we go on in the scripture and 14:49 read in verse 14, it continues to describe 14:53 Jesus. "And Jesus returned in the 14:55 power of the Spirit unto Galilee: 14:57 and there went out fame of him through 15:00 all the region round about." 15:02 This scripture tells us then after Jesus 15:05 came out of the wilderness experience, 15:06 He had been filled with spirit. 15:08 Now, it says He returned in the 15:09 power of the spirit. He began ministering 15:11 in the power of the Holy Spirit because 15:14 He was filled with the Holy Spirit. 15:16 He had experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 15:19 And by the way this is not a once 15:21 and for all experience. The baptism of the 15:24 Holy Spirit is an experience we must 15:25 have everyday in our life. 15:27 In fact, Ellen White describes 15:30 Jesus experience in Christ Object Lessons, 15:34 page 139. "Daily He received a fresh 15:38 baptism of the Holy Spirit. 15:39 In the early hours of the new day the 15:43 Lord awakened Him from His slumber, 15:45 and His soul and His lips were anointed 15:49 with grace, that He might impart to others." 15:54 In this statement by Ellen White we 15:56 read very clearly Jesus daily sought 15:59 the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 16:00 if Jesus needed that you and I need that 16:03 and the New Testament confirms that 16:05 because we read in Ephesians 5 verse 18, 16:08 what Paul says about that. He says, 16:10 "And be not drunk with wine, wherein 16:12 is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit." 16:14 Again when you look at the, the Greek 16:18 verb form for be filled it's a continuous action 16:23 verb. What Paul is saying here is keep 16:26 on being filled with the Holy Spirit. 16:32 We find Ellen White conforming that for 16:34 our experience as well, when we read 16:35 in volumes 6 of the testimonies page 86. 16:38 "Impress upon all the necessity of the 16:42 baptism of the Holy Spirit, the sanctification 16:44 of the church, so there will be living, 16:46 growing, fruit-bearing 16:47 trees of the Lord's planting." 16:51 Statements like that help to clarify in me, 16:54 if I automatically had the baptism of the 16:56 Holy Spirit at water baptism. 16:58 Why would I be told that I need to be 17:02 impressed to receive it? And that the 17:05 counsel to me is impress others to 17:06 receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 17:08 No question about it we need to understand 17:10 and personally seek the baptism of the 17:12 Holy Spirit in order to be filled with the 17:15 Holy Spirit. How do we receive it? 17:18 One Acts chapter 1 verse 14 we read 17:21 how they early church received the baptism 17:23 of the Holy Spirit. "These all continue 17:25 with one accord in prayer and supplication, 17:27 with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, 17:30 and with his brethren." 17:34 What we find here is that Jesus said, 17:36 wait till you receive the in filling of the spirit. 17:40 And they did and they knew waiting meant, 17:42 wait in prayer. So, here we find those in 17:45 the day of Pentecost received the baptism 17:47 of the Holy Spirit by claiming the promise 17:50 of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in prayer 17:52 and on the day of Pentecost that promise 17:54 was fulfilled. I wasn't at Pentecost, 17:57 you weren't either. How do we receive the 17:59 baptism of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost? 18:01 Well, if we look in Acts chapter 8 and verse 12. 18:04 We read about a group of individuals called 18:06 Samaritans. "But when they believed Philip 18:09 concerning the things, concerning the 18:11 kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, 18:14 they were baptized, both men and women." 18:17 What we find here is that here was the 18:20 Holy Spirit speaking through Philip bringing 18:23 conviction to Samaritan men and women. 18:25 In fact they accepted Jesus unto the part 18:28 of the Holy Spirit and they were baptized 18:30 in water, but it's significant when we 18:33 read the few verses that follow, 18:35 when we read here in verses 14 through 17. 18:38 "Now when the apostles which were 18:41 at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received 18:44 the word of God, they sent unto them Peter 18:46 and John: Who, when they were come down 18:49 and prayed for them, that they might receive 18:52 the Holy Ghost: For as yet it was fallen upon 18:55 none of them, only they were baptized 18:58 in the name of the Lord Jesus. 18:59 Then laid they their hands on them, 19:02 and they received the Holy Ghost." 19:05 When I was looking at this subject a 19:08 number of years ago now that was one 19:10 of the verses that really posed a 19:12 challenge to me because I was thinking 19:14 I automatically received the baptism of the 19:15 Holy Spirit in water baptism. 19:17 Well, here were Samaritan believers 19:18 who experienced water baptism, 19:20 they accepted Jesus, but they hadn't 19:22 been baptized in the Holy Spirit. 19:23 And Peter and John came and it says, 19:26 laid hands on them and prayed for them 19:27 and they received the Holy Ghost in fullness. 19:32 So, we see again it seems to be very 19:34 clear that an individual does not 19:38 necessarily receive the baptism of the 19:40 Holy Spirit at water baptism. 19:41 Now, of all individuals you would think 19:44 would have been baptized in the 19:45 Holy Spirit at this conversion was Saul, 19:47 who later became the Apostle Paul. 19:49 Saul was the great persecutor of the 19:51 church. He was on his way to Damascus 19:54 on the road to Damascus and, and 19:56 he had a vision and he heard the voice 19:58 of Jesus. There is a bright light knocked 19:59 off his horse, what a powerful conversion? 20:01 A man who is the enemy of Jesus Christ 20:04 persecuting the church became the great apostle. 20:06 And you would certainly think such 20:08 a man with such a powerful conversion 20:10 even hearing the voice of Jesus, 20:12 seeing a vision, you would think that man 20:14 would have been filled with the Holy Spirit 20:15 at his conversion, but we find out that 20:18 wasn't the case. For when we read over 20:20 here again in Acts this time chapter 9 20:23 verse 17 and 18. "And Ananias went his way, 20:27 and entered into the house; 20:29 and putting his hands on him said, 20:31 Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that 20:33 appeared to you in the way as you came, 20:36 has sent me, that you might receive your sight, 20:40 and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 20:43 And immediately there fell from his eyes 20:46 as it had been scales. And he received his 20:50 sight and forthwith, and arose and was baptized." 20:55 After Saul was converted God sent 20:58 Ananias to Saul. Now, I'm sure that was a 21:00 strange request for Ananias, I mean 21:03 he knew who Saul was? I tell you this, 21:05 sometimes when you're filled with the Holy Spirit 21:07 and you in the Holy Spirit's direction, 21:09 sometimes you'll get direction from the 21:10 Lord that doesn't make a lot of sense 21:11 at the time, but if you know it from the 21:13 Lord is best to move forward with it. 21:15 And Ananias went to Saul and we notice 21:17 in that scripture that God sent Ananias 21:20 to Saul for two reasons. So, that as 21:24 Ananias would pray for Saul by laying 21:26 his hands on him, Saul would received 21:28 his sight also be filled with the Holy Spirit. 21:32 So, there was another clear case of an 21:35 individual who accepted Jesus Christ 21:37 was converted, but had not received the 21:40 baptism of the Holy Spirit. 21:41 And in Saul's case he received water 21:43 baptism after the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 21:46 And the case of Samaritans they were 21:49 baptized in water first and then received 21:52 baptism of the Holy Spirit. So, God does 21:54 not limit himself. The number qualification 21:58 to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit 21:59 is to have accepted Jesus Christ as 22:01 your savior and have your life committed 22:03 to him say Lord I want to serve you. 22:06 Then the Holy Spirits in filling in yours for 22:10 the asking. And I can tell you from 22:13 personal experience it's a wonderful, 22:16 wonderful experience when you seek the 22:18 Holy Spirit and God will answer that prayer 22:21 and He'll begin coming into your life 22:23 and start bringing changes. 22:24 Now, some individuals want to, 22:26 what about laying of hands? 22:27 You're not to be afraid of laying of hands. 22:29 In those two cases we saw there is 22:32 laying of hands for the Samaritans, 22:34 there is laying of hands for Saul. 22:35 On the day of Pentecost there 22:37 was laying of hands. So, laying of hands 22:40 is not a requirement, a person can simply, 22:43 quietly pray to God and claim the promise 22:45 of the baptism of the Holy Spirit because 22:47 we're told here in Galatians chapter 3 22:49 verse 14, "That the blessing of Abraham 22:53 might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, 22:57 that we might receive the promise of the 22:59 Spirit through faith." You see when we pray 23:02 for the baptism of the Holy Spirit whether 23:04 it's laying of hands or not, it's simply 23:07 claiming the promise that God had said, 23:08 I will give you the baptism of the Holy Spirit 23:11 if you claim my promise in faith, that's 23:14 how they received it on the day of Pentecost. 23:16 And that's how they received him and with 23:18 the Samaritans and also with Saul. 23:21 Some individuals wonder about feeling, 23:24 when you seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 23:25 are you gonna feel something? 23:26 You may feel something you may not, 23:28 there's a lot of confusion on that, 23:30 when I sought the baptism of the 23:31 Holy Spirit I felt nothing, but the next 23:33 day changes started happening, 23:36 just my own personal testimony 23:38 I was television not bad stuff, 23:40 but I was watching television, 23:41 I go channel to channel to channel 23:43 I couldn't find anything I was interested in. 23:45 God started to doing something inside of me. 23:47 And then God started driving me to more 23:50 personal prayer and He started leading me 23:52 to study His word more. And the scriptures 23:54 on the Holy Spirit began jumping out at me. 23:56 I began seeing things I have never seen 23:58 before in the Holy Spirit, and the baptism 24:00 of the Holy Spirit. And quietly God began 24:06 moving and bring about this change. 24:07 And even they're in your music I, I started 24:09 enjoying I, I wasn't listening to bad music 24:11 but, but I just wanted to hear religious music. 24:14 Everything focusing on the Lord, 24:16 that's what I began realizing it starts 24:17 happening when you seek the baptism of 24:20 the Holy Spirit. God will began moving in 24:22 your life you see you may or may not feel 24:24 anything initially, so do not base your claiming 24:28 of the promise, of the baptism of Holy Spirit 24:29 on feeling, is not a matter of feeling, 24:32 it's a matter of faith, don't be afraid of it. 24:35 I've known individuals that did feel something, 24:37 I've known individuals that have not, 24:39 but He will fulfill that promise and He will 24:41 come into your life. And I will guarantee of this, 24:43 He will make it His presence known to you. 24:46 And He will open up ministry to you, 24:48 I mean I never planned to write any books, 24:50 but He is, He is led in, in some books on the 24:53 subject. So, it's been such a blessing to see 24:56 God moving in the lives of individuals in some 24:59 very powerful ways who decided to say, 25:01 okay Lord I'm gonna take at your word and 25:03 seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 25:07 I know beyond any question today God is 25:10 calling a people to come out of their Laodicean 25:13 condition, to experience baptism of the Holy 25:15 Spirit. He is taking this message on the 25:18 baptism of the Holy Spirit to His children 25:20 around the world. It is a message 25:22 that is not an optional message; 25:24 it's not just simply a nice teaching. 25:26 It, it is something that we must understand 25:29 and experience, if we're living when 25:31 Jesus comes because it is only through 25:33 the baptism of the Holy Spirit that 25:34 we'll be prepared for the coming of Jesus. 25:37 It is only through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 25:39 the early rain then later the latter rain 25:41 that we're sealed. And as we saw at 25:43 the beginning of this message of that is 25:45 what God is waiting for? He is holding 25:47 back the crisis that's gonna come up on 25:49 this earth very soon. So, we could be sealed 25:53 and prepared for that crisis. 25:54 That is why if we do not experience 25:56 the in filling of the spirit in fullness. 25:58 We will not experience the full sealing 26:00 process in our life. And we will not be ready 26:03 for the final crisis when it comes. 26:05 There is a statement in the writes of 26:08 Ellen White that clearly confirm this. 26:10 It is found in Letter 15 written in 1889 to a 26:13 Dr. Berg. "Nothing but the baptism of the 26:17 Holy Spirit can bring up the church to 26:20 its right position and prepare the people 26:22 of God for the fast approaching conflict." 26:25 This statement cannot be made more clearly. 26:29 We're told here that nothing, 26:32 but the baptism of the Holy Spirit will bring 26:35 us to the position where we must be 26:36 in our relationship with God. 26:37 There is no option, there is no second 26:40 possibility, it is only through the baptism 26:42 of the Holy Spirit that we can be brought 26:45 to the right position in order to make it 26:47 through the final crisis. That is why 26:50 God is taking this message on the baptism 26:52 of the Holy Spirit to His children around 26:53 the world because the final crisis is coming. 26:56 The second coming of Jesus is near. 26:58 You see, it is not a matter of what we know, 27:01 but who we know. We can know all the 27:04 doctrines, but if we don't know Jesus Christ, 27:07 we will not be ready for that final crisis 27:09 and the second coming. And it is only 27:11 through experiencing the baptism of the 27:14 Holy Spirit that we will get to know Jesus 27:16 intimately. It is only that relationship that 27:19 will get us through. Are you willing to be 27:22 filled with God's Spirit? Are you willing to take 27:25 seriously God's call to become a man or woman 27:28 of prayer, to become a man or woman 27:31 who is daily seeking the in filling of the 27:33 Holy Spirit? Are you willing to commit your 27:36 life to God 100 percent say, Lord, here I am. 27:38 Fill me with your Spirit, I give you permission 27:41 to bring the changes in my life that 27:43 you choose to do. Because it's only that 27:46 kind of commitment and resolve that will 27:48 prepare you and me for the second 27:50 coming of Jesus. And I pray that will 27:52 be your commitment to God today. |
Revised 2014-12-17