160 Evidence for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
I find it interesting that when we read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we don’t look at them as historical books giving an account of what happened in the past. When we look at the Gospels, we recognize that they represent something new that started with the coming of Jesus Christ in power and authority to save and heal; here is the important part: that power and authority continue to this day. Why, then, do we look at the Book of Acts as a historical account of the early Church instead of looking at Acts as the start of the Church coming into power and the authority of the Holy Spirit continuing to this day? If I have learned anything as a Christian, it is that I can’t pick and choose what I want to believe in the Bible! All of the Bible was relevant then and is relevant today. Show More
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Even Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to fulfill the call of God upon His life. The Holy Spirit of God descended upon Jesus at His baptism by John the Baptist. Look at Luke 3:21, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the Heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You, I am well pleased.” Only then did Jesus begin to demonstrate God’s power and authority. How much more do we need the Holy Spirit to move in God’s power and authority?
Immediately after Jesus’ baptism in water and the filling of the Holy Spirit, He is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil in Luke 4:1-13. Jesus is victorious over the lies and trickery of the devil because of the Spirit of God working in Him. This is an important point that can’t be overlooked; we also need the working of the Holy Spirit to overcome the temptations of the devil in our everyday lives.
After the trials in the desert, the Bible says in Luke 4:14, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.” In the same way, our testimony of overcoming temptation and sin should be a testimony of how the Holy Spirit helped us to have the victory. God is not glorified when you overcome sin by your efforts and mind but when the Spirit of God leads you to resist sin.
Then in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Notice that Jesus was anointed to fulfill the Great Commission, the very same commission He has given each one of us. What does the word anointed mean here? According to a Bible Dictionary:
- Consecrating Jesus to the Messianic office and furnishing him with the necessary powers for its administration.
- Enduing Christians with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
I like how my good friend Pastor Frank Parrish defines the anointing. “The Anointing is none other than the Person and presence of the Holy Spirit, bringing with Him the necessary power, authority and gifts to fulfill the Father’s will in a given moment of ministry or assignment.”
The conclusion is that when we operate under the Holy Spirit, that is the anointing. The anointing is not about style, or how one presents themselves, the anointing is manifested by the Holy Spirit as that person submits to the guidance of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul makes it clear that it is not about skill or human performance in 1 Corinthians 2:1, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
The Evidence for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take some time to look at the scriptural evidence in the Old and New Testaments.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was prophesized in the Old Testament
Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant of Law and introduced the New Covenant of Grace.
The New Covenant was prophesized in Jeremiah 31:31 & 33-34, “Behold, the days are coming, the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.“
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was prophesized in Joel 2: 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” This is the same scripture that Peter quotes in Acts 2 to explain the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to the onlookers on the Day of Pentecost.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was prophesized in the Gospels.
John the Baptist prophesized the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Mark 1:7 when he spoke of the coming Messiah. “And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” The baptizer of the Holy Spirit is Jesus, Himself.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was prophesized by Jesus in the Gospels.
Jesus was illustrating the graciousness and goodness of God in giving good gifts to His children. Luke 11:9, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Notice that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
Jesus was talking to the religious leaders who were so entrenched in what they were taught that they could not see the truth speaking to them. John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Jesus made it clear that the fullness of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit could not come until He ascended to the Father.
Then in Luke 24:46, Jesus confirmed the promise of the Father, “Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” That power from on high was none other than the Holy Spirit, which was needed to overcome the trickery of the devil in the lives of Believers and to fulfill the ministry call of the Great Commission.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost as the Christian Church was birthed as described in the Book of Acts.
In Jesus’ own words, He said in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Then we witnessed the fulfillment of the promise as the Holy Spirit came to anoint the 120 who were in the upper room. Notice that it was not just the 12 Apostles, but all the disciples of Christ in the room, beginning with Acts 2:1, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Notice that they were all filled, and they all began to speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit directed them.
Closing
As I close today, I want to make an important final point. When a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they have believed, and repented of not believing in Jesus in the past, a miraculous thing happens. The Holy Spirit comes to live in them! The Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation; He is our confidence that we are Born-again. However, this doesn’t mean that they have the sensitivity or awareness of the work the Holy Spirit wants to do in and through the individual. This awareness can only happen when a person acknowledges the Holy Spirit’s desire to anoint the individual with authority and power. This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In plain language, a person can be Born-again and not Baptized in the Holy Spirit. They are going to Heaven, but the Christ-centered life for them is a struggle and is filled with the sense of trying to be a good Christian in their own human strength.
The person who is Born-again and filled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, always knows that they are never alone and have the spiritual anointing to resist temptation, overcome the plans of the devil, and experience joy and peace in whatever circumstances they find themselves in.”
Let me put this another way; every Believer had a moment in time when they experienced making Jesus their Lord and Savior. They repented, believed, and the Holy Spirit came to live in them; thus, they were saved. We could put all of this in one phrase, they surrendered to Jesus and received all the benefits of becoming an adopted child of the God most high.
To move in the fullness of the power of God, promised to us by Jesus, we must surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This particular experience of surrender to the Holy Spirit is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I will talk more about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in my next post.