HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM
by Ron Wood
As I continued praying, I became aware of an enveloping warmth coming upon me. The hair on the back of my arms was standing up. I tingled like I was in a mild electric field. It seemed to increase when I lifted my hands toward heaven in worshipful surrender. I had been praying alone in my darkened bedroom. I had lost track of time. I was hungry for more of God. I told him so. I said I wanted more. I couldn’t stand to live without the awareness of his presence. I wanted to preach with power. I travailed to see people healed when I prayed for them. These things had driven me to secret, persistent prayer.
The room seemed somehow filled with light. The presence that had been around me now began to fill me up, like a water pitcher with a rising level. It felt like liquid love. I was intoxicated! No words can describe the joy that flooded my soul as God himself came and answered my cry for more of him.
As I was filled up to the brim, my praise became inadequate. My throat was choked with emotions and words that seemed to jumble together, like I was trying to speak in two languages at once and it wasn’t working. My heart was bursting with praise and love and mere words were no longer able to express the depth of my adoration.
With trembling lips, I gave vent to the gushing of heartfelt worship deep in my soul. I began to pray in the Spirit aloud with words I had never learned.
Since that momentous day in my youth, I have discovered that this precious gift of prayer is always available to me anytime I take time to wait on God and yield to him. Two words describe what began in my life that day: power, for service and prayer; and rest, for a new relationship with Christ whereby he does his work through me. I would hate to think that I would have to live my Christian life without this treasure.
I believe the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the missing ingredient in the modern church. It is the critical key to successful evangelism of this lost world, to a satisfying personal prayer life, and to the development of true community among believers. Anything that helps us win more souls, have more intimacy with God in prayer, and develop stronger ties of love with fellow believers must be a desirable thing. We need the gift of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life.
Being baptized in the Spirit was the expected experience–not the exception to the rule–for believers in the Bible. This baptism is often overlooked by modern Christians due to wrong church traditions. Here are three issues that need to be addressed—
"I got it all." Some believe that you get all you can get when you are first saved, that being born of the Spirit is all there is. If that is the case, then why did Jesus, when he first met the disciples after his resurrection, breath on them and say, "Receive Holy Spirit," (John 20:22) then on the Day of Pentecost pour forth the same Holy Spirit on them again?
We are born again by the Holy Spirit at conversion. We are baptized in (immersed, filled with) the Holy Spirit in a subsequent event. It is a separate experience from being born again. This was established in Acts 8 when new converts were baptized in water and then received the gift of the Holy Spirit in a separate experience through laying on of hands.
"It isn’t for today." Another problem some believers encounter is the idea that gifts of the Spirit ceased about the same time that the apostles’ collection of letters was compiled into our Holy Bible. But Peter said in Acts two that this gift was for all who were "far off" and for the last days. No scripture anywhere states that gifts of the Holy Spirt are to cease. Has the Holy Spirit left the church?
Church history shows that there have always been in every generation those believers who were filled with the Spirit and displayed God’s gifts in their lives. On a global scale, half of all believers today are now charismatic Christians.
"Tongues cause confusion." Finally, there is confusion among some regarding the initial evidence of speaking in tongues versus the similar but different gift of unknown tongues for the assembly. This latter public gift is a manifestation of the Spirit that should normally be accompanied by the gift of interpretation, thus being equivalent to prophecy. Indeed, the public gift is not for everyone. "Do all speak in tongues? The answer, at least for public ministry, is "No." But privately, "Go for it!"
How do you know if you are filled? The evidence is the fruit and the gifts. (See Galatians 5 and 1 Cor 12). The primary fruit is love. Anyone who claims to be filled with the Spirit but doesn’t have love is deceived. Fruit validates gifts. In the book of Acts, the most common initial sign that believers had received the Holy Spirit was speaking in tongues. This is a valuable gift to edify believers in their private devotions.
The gift of tongues is a spontaneous utterance in a heavenly language, an overflow of the Holy Spirit which liberates the prayer life of the believer. (Acts 2:1-4; 1 Cor. 14:4) It flows from the heart, not from the head. Another manifestation of being filled with the Spirit is prophesying. This is declaring the mind and heart of God in a known language, flowing up out of your heart, not composed logically in your mind. (Acts 19:6) This distinguishes it from preaching.
Prophecy is the primary gift of the Holy Spirit for the church. We are all encouraged to seek this gift so the church can be built up in the Spirit.
What is the normal pattern for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit? For you, there may be no pattern! God may fill you in a way that is unique and wonderful. Yet we do see God repeating certain aspects of this experience. Peter defended the Holy Spirit coming upon the Gentiles by saying, "As on us at the beginning..." (Acts 11:15) He appealed to an authentic pattern.
This pattern is laid out for us in Acts chapter two. Let’s examine this pattern and see how it applies to us today.
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (Verses 1-4 NASB)
Remember, they had just been praying, waiting on God for his presence and power. They were all in one accord. They were expecting something from heaven. They were not disappointed!
Here is the sequence of events–four stages, if you will–of Pentecost.
- The presence of God came into the place where they were.
- The power of God came upon each person in a bodily way.
- Each one was filled internally with the Holy Spirit.
- Each one began to speak forth the Spirit’s promptings.
Do you see the stages of God’s increasing manifestation? God’s presence (not just his omnipresence, but his tangible manifest presence) first came into the place, then came upon them physically, then filled them up inside, then overflowed through them with supernatural praises in a language given by the Spirit. It had discernible stages.
In my experience of assisting people to have faith to receive this wonderful gift, I have noticed that anyone can halt this progressive pattern at any point they wish. For instance, the Holy Spirit can come upon a person and we can notice the trembling, the flushed face, the heat of God’s energy, and stop right there and go no further. Or, the Holy Spirit can fill someone and they can sense the supernatural joy, the explosion of peace, the rising song of the Spirit in their heart, and stop right there.
The Holy Spirit is a gift offered to us, not a force that controls us. In fact, when I am being filled with the Spirit (an on-going repeatable experience- See Ephesians 5:18), my mind is clear and I am fully aware of my circumstances and in control of my faculties. I choose to yield to the Spirit. If we say, "No more, Lord!" he will respect our wishes.
Jesus said in John 7:37 that those who thirst and believe will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The secret to an overflowing heart is having a desperate thirst for more of God. In one sense, the overflow of verbal gifts is simply the visible icing on the cake to the invisible power and presence of God that fills your soul. Are you really thirsty? Then come to Jesus and ask him to fill you. He is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit!
In my experience of over forty years, this gift has magnified my love for Jesus, given me power to pray heart-felt prayers, prompted me to know the will of God, and "primed my pump" to prophesy mysteries. My personal prayer language is a precious source of edification to me. With the apostle Paul, I can say, "I thank God I speak in tongues" (1 Cor. 14:18) and "do not forbid to speak in tongues." (1 Cor. 14:39)
Let’s realize that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is healthy and normal. Maybe our Christian walk has been sub-normal for so long that when we see normal we think it is strange!
Be grateful for God’s manifest presence. His wonderful love-gifts are signs of grace. They should produce a sense of awe, a reverential fear and acknowledgment that God is here, that his kingdom has come among us in power.
© 2001 by Ron Wood. Ron and his wife, Lana, have been pastors more than 30 years. He has served as a State Coordinator for the U. S. Strategic Prayer Network. Ron is best known for his prophetic writing ministry. Ron & Lana are a ministry team. They are members of Reconciliation Ministries International led by Bishop Joseph Garlington. Ron & Lana were sent to Africa to help equip emerging apostolic leaders in the developing church. If you wish to copy this article for free distribution, permission is hereby granted to duplicate it provided there are no changes or omissions made to this article and this byline is included. The author asserts his moral rights of ownership. For more information or helpful literature, visit our web site at touchedbygrace.org, or e-mail us at ron@touchedbygrace.org.
