The Baptism With The Holy Spirit.
Having re-read my original article I realise it is too long and cumbersome so apart from adding some new thoughts I am deleting quite a large chunk. I now don’t think it necessary to try to prove every aspect of what the Bible has to say about receiving the Holy Spirit. If someone is seeking to receive the Spirit a long article can be off putting and confusing. If you just want to argue or debate then please don’t contact me as I am not interested in arguing or debating, I have done it in the past and it is not profitable.
Since the birth of the Church at Pentecost it has gone through many different periods of experience. It has gone through times of persecution and blessing, times of compromise with the world, times of spiritual dryness and times of great refreshing. We can read of wonderful revivals breaking out in America, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. These are often accompanied by spiritual manifestations as the Spirit moves upon the Church. There is also a deep conviction of sin and many souls are converted. Yet it is not long after that fleshly counterfeits appear, man organizes and takes control, the true revival comes to an end and is followed by a time of spiritual dryness which causes many to fall away, and the church becomes discontented, opinionated, arrogant, carnal and blind.
These periods of dryness can last many years. It is during this time that what is in our hearts is revealed. The Christian who has had a real experience in the past will recognize this as a time to persevere in the faith. It is a time to be vigilant against the many heresies that will invade the church yet also a time to maintain our first love. Others will be misled by the different spirits that invade the church with counterfeit supernatural manifestations. Still others will feel that if God isn’t moving then they need to find carnal methods to attract the ‘unchurched’ into church.
There is also another type of person that rises up at this time. Because he has never experienced anything spiritual himself he believes the time of dryness is the only true Christian experience. He is usually very strong in the “natural man” (the flesh) and therefore he denounces anyone who is heavenly minded or spiritually minded as being a heretic.
In all this confusion we need to turn to the Lord who said “you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. Not so we can perform great displays of supernatural power but that we might be His witnesses. Jesus also said “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13). The apostle John also tells us, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just has it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (1 John 2:27).
Men of God throughout the ages have ministered the gifts of the Spirit. The need for receiving the Holy Spirit for power to witness after the new birth has also been preached throughout the ages. Many of the reformers functioned in the gifts of the Spirit, especially the gifts of healing and prophesy. John Owen, a Puritan in the 1600’s, recognized the need to actively seek and receive the Holy Spirit. D.L. Moody, George Whitefield, J.N. Darby and many others all recognized the need for this second blessing.
I have heard many arguments put forward that would deny the need to receive the Spirit as a second blessing after water baptism. They say that everything was received at the new birth and there is nothing further to receive, they are confusing the time when the Lord gives the Spirit of life and they are born again from above (see John 4:14, John 3:3), with the act of receiving by faith the Spirit which comes upon us and anoints us which also abides in us. This anointing of the Spirit gives us the power to live for Him, and teaches us how to grow in Him and therefore be His living witnesses. By their lack of understanding they cause themselves and other Christians to be void of the faith needed to actively receive the Spirit.
The Spirit that gives life, the Spirit that gives power to witness and the Spirit that gives revelation are not different Spirits but are different functions of the same Spirit.
In John 4:10-14 we read about Jesus talking to the woman at the well in Samaria. He asked her for a drink of water and when she questioned Him why He would ask her for a drink of water “Jesus answered and said to her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (v 10) The woman didn’t know who Jesus was so therefore at this stage she didn’t believe in Him. She asked Him how He could give her living water, “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”” (vs 13-14). This is Jesus telling an unbelieving Samaritan woman that if she believes and asks Him, then He will give her the Spirit of life which will spring up like a fountain of water into eternal life.
When we come to John chapter 7, we find Jesus promising those Jews who are believers that if they are thirsty for more and come to Him to drink then out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Verse 37-39 says, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “if anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink, he who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 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.” (The KJV doesn’t say “heart” but “belly” which I would prefer, but it doesn’t really matter.)
In John chapter 4 it is talking about the water (or Spirit) of life. This is eternal life that the Lord gives when we believe on Him. It is salvation.
In John chapter 7 it is talking about rivers of living water which represents the Holy Spirit who those believing on Him would receive.
When the Holy Spirit comes upon us (the anointing) there is a response from the Spirit of life in our innermost being which rises up and fills us to overflowing. The anointing becomes one with the Spirit within.
This word “receive” is important. It is from the Greek word “Lambano” (in the Greek the “o” should have a line above it to be correct). Lambano is a verb, a doing word, a word that involves action. It can also be translated as “take” or “took”. It is something we do. The Spirit of life is what the Lord gives us when we believe. The coming upon us of the Spirit is the unction or anointing of the Spirit that the Lord gives us freely and we need to receive. In other words we receive the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord gives to us, by faith. We believe we have received the Spirit regardless of a lack of feeling or manifestations. We trust God at His word and thank Him for giving us the Holy Spirit. Whenever it talks about the Spirit first coming upon us, it talks about “receiving the Spirit”, that is something we actively do in faith. However, God is not bound by formulas and where necessary can override what is the normal procedure (as with Cornelius). After we have received the Spirit we are told to continually be filled with the Spirit. Our actions in ‘receiving the Spirit’ are not the cause of the Spirit coming upon us; Jesus is the cause of that by His grace and love for us. Our receiving by faith removes any obstacles, such as doubt, unbelief, and feelings of not being worthy, these would hinder us from being filled with the Spirit.
We read in John’s gospel chapter 20 v 22 that when the disciples were in the upper room, Jesus appeared to them and breathed on them saying “receive the Holy Spirit”. This was spoken in the aorist tense which is the past tense, it can be interpreted, “receive at once the Holy Spirit”. He is not telling them here to wait until sometime in the future (the day of Pentecost); rather it is something that is immediate. This reminds us of when God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (see Genesis 2:7). In this case, in the upper room, the Lord breathed life into their spirits, the Spirit of Life. The Holy Spirit became one with their spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17). This is a passive receiving, we believe and therefore we receive. It is the Spirit of Life. He then told them to “Receive the Holy Spirit,” why now and not before He breathed on them? I believe it is because we have a part to play and that is to receive by faith what God has given us, that is the objective side (our standing), that must happen before our experience brings our state up to our standing. Later when He appeared to them just before His ascension to heaven (see Luke 24:47-49 and Acts chapter 1) He commanded them to go into all the world to preach the gospel, however first they must not depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father (the baptism with the Holy Spirit) when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. He didn’t tell them to receive the Spirit a second time but to wait till they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Just as John baptized them in water, Jesus would baptize them in the Holy Spirit. In the upper room they had received by faith, now, seven weeks later, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit in their experience.
The apostle Paul explains it in Galatians chapter 3. In verse 2 he asks the Galatians “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” He is implying ‘by faith’. Then in verse 14 he answers his own question, “That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
In 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Paul tells us what God has done for us in giving us His Spirit, in verse 21 we read, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God” So God has established us together in Christ and has anointed us with His Spirit. In verse 22 Paul tells us that God “has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” It is the same Spirit that anoints us, seals us and abides in our hearts, just different functions.
In Acts 2: 38-39 Peter tells the people that if they repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ they will receive the gift of the promised Holy Spirit, that is the baptism of the Spirit, the falling upon them of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 11:15-16).
In water baptism we witness to everyone that we are identified with Christ. We are united with Him in the likeness of His death and therefore buried with Him through baptism. Our old man is now dead and buried and we are raised up with Him a new creation. It is something we do as a witness. When we are baptized in the Spirit it is something the Lord does to us. It is a witness that we are a new creation in Christ. We also receive the power to be His witnesses.
John the Baptist witnessed of Jesus that He would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Matthew 3: 11). Later Jesus Himself said to the disciples, “For John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1: 5). We know the story how the disciples, on the day of Pentecost, were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Peter said that this was the fulfillment of that which was spoken through the prophet Joel where he said that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh —. These are the last days, they didn’t finish two thousand years ago. We are still living in the last days.
Sometime later Philip preached the word to the Samaritans who received the word with joy and were baptized in water however at this stage the Holy Spirit had fallen on none of them (Acts 8: 16), only they were baptized to the name of the Lord Jesus. Eventually Peter and John came down from Jerusalem and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. So there was a distinct gap between believing unto salvation and receiving the Spirit.
Peter was also sent by God to the house of Cornelius, after having preached the word to them he was surprised to see them receive the Holy Spirit. They were Gentiles and he thought the gift of God was only for the Jews. He would never have baptized them in water or prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit, however on seeing that God had given them the gift of the Holy Spirit he realized that salvation was to the Gentiles as well as the Jews and ordered that they be baptized in water.
When Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him why he had gone to Gentiles. He explained to them how God had sent him and how the Holy Ghost fell on the Gentiles as he had done in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. When this happened Peter remembered the word of the Lord how He said, “John indeed baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost”. He knew that the Gentiles had received the like gift as they had done in the upper room therefore to refuse them water baptism would be to resist what God was evidently doing.
So, what Peter is saying here is that the Holy Ghost ‘fell’ on the Gentiles in like manner as He also fell on them on the day of Pentecost. They spoke with tongues and magnified God. This he associated with the words of the Lord when He promised them they would be baptized with the Holy Ghost. The disciple’s terminology for the baptism in the Spirit is always “receive the Spirit” in this case Peter confesses that this receiving of the Spirit is the same as the baptism with the Spirit. This receiving and being filled with the Holy Spirit is necessary for our outward expression in our life, rather than it being our own efforts at glorifying the Lord Jesus in our witness. Our Lord also spoke of this when He said that out of our belly shall flow rivers of living water meaning the Holy Spirit (John 7: 38-39).
In Acts 19 we read that Paul arrived at Ephesus. Apollos had recently left Ephesus and was now at Corinth. Having found certain disciples Paul asked them, “having believed, have you received the Holy Spirit?” now, due to what transpires next I believe he could just as easily have said, “having believed and been baptized in water, have you received the Holy Spirit?”
Paul was uncertain about these men and had the impression that even though they had believed in Jesus, which he presumed, it was possible that they hadn’t yet received the Holy Spirit.
When they said that they hadn’t even heard if the Holy Spirit had come he then asked them, “unto what then were you baptized?” This relates back to Acts 2: 38, “Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost—”. This is the message for those who believe on Jesus. The first step of obedience in a new believer’s life is to be baptized in water, and then they are encouraged to receive the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Him. This was the practice in bible times. Believers were baptized in water and received the Spirit.
It is often said that these men at Ephesus were followers of John the Baptist and not Jesus, this is not really relevant to the point I am making but I think most good commentators see Apollos as preaching Jesus as the Messiah but only with the understanding of John the Baptist who, preached the coming of the Messiah, recognised Jesus as the one chosen of God, identified Jesus as the Son of God, and proclaimed the baptism with the Holy Spirit. However John the Baptist had not seen the cross nor the resurrection of Jesus, even though he proclaimed Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Apollos and these disciples needed the scriptures opening up to them more fully. Quite obviously these disciples had a very poor understanding of Jesus Christ. They did however believe on Jesus that He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God which is the criteria, according to John’s gospel chapter 20:31, for receiving eternal life.
The point I am making is that after explaining to them more fully, Paul then baptized them in water, after that he didn’t leave it there as most would do today (in fact most wouldn’t even have baptized them in water today) but rather he went on to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. In other words there was a time gap between them believing the word, being baptized in water and receiving the Holy Spirit, perhaps only minutes or hours but it followed the sequence of first believing, then being baptized in water and then receiving the Holy Spirit.
These Ephesians also finally received the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues and prophesying.
So here we begin to see a pattern, believing unto repentance followed by baptism in water and then receiving the Spirit. Only in very special circumstances like Cornelius’s household, will believers be baptized in the Spirit before being baptized in water.
When Jesus started His ministry, He came to John the Baptist for him to baptize Him in water. The bible says that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb but when he saw that Jesus had come to be baptized he forbade Him saying “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” Jesus replied and said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3: 15).
After being baptized in water the Holy Spirit like a dove descended and alighted on Jesus. Yes, He was already the Son of God who had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and had the favour of God upon Him, but here He was fulfilling all righteousness by being baptized in water and then anointed with the Spirit and power for service (see Acts 10: 38).
The bibles description of a dove, in contrast with the raven, is that it will not land upon anything dead or unclean (Genesis 8: 9). Neither will the Spirit come upon, anoint and fill anything dead or unclean.
Luke chapter 3 v 22, to, 4 v 19 says that the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him and being full of the Holy Ghost he returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Still in the power of the Spirit He returned into Galilee and going into the Synagogue read from Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He have sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”.
Are we more righteous than the Lord? Or do we need to be obedient and follow His footsteps?
The coming upon us of the gift of the Holy Spirit is the anointing that the Lord gives to His children for power for service. This same anointing abides within us and teaches us all things (1 John 2 v 27). Anointing means to, light upon, to consecrate to an office or religious service. We might say that the Holy Spirit is consecrating us for service.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter, filled with the Spirit commanded them to, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).
So yes it is scriptural and it is for as many as the Lord calls.
Jesus Christ told His disciples that the Spirit of truth would be in them (John 14 v 17). Not only did Jesus tell His disciples that the Spirit would be in them but also that the Holy Spirit would come upon them to give them power for witnessing (Luke 24 v 49, Acts 1 v 8). Paul told the Corinthians that his preaching to them was in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.
In the Old Testament Aaron was anointed with the holy anointing oil for service. King David was also anointed as a young lad. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at the commencement of His ministry, and so too should those ‘in Christ’, be anointed with the Holy Spirit in order to serve God and be His witnesses.
Having received the Spirit is it possible to revert back to walking in the flesh? It would appear so. Paul commands us to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5 v 16). This is something that we must do. The Galatians had begun in the Spirit but were now living by the flesh (Galatians 3 v 3). In Ephesians 5 v 18 it is a command to be continually “filled with the Spirit”.
God has put His Spirit in His people. They cannot lose the Holy Spirit. However, we can grieve the Holy Spirit and quench the Holy Spirit. While ever we walk according to law and not faith we are fallen from grace and need to repent. The Holy Spirit has come to point to Jesus and glorify Jesus. When our whole emphasis is on the Holy Spirit or spiritual manifestations we will grieve the Holy Spirit. We need to get back to honouring the Lord Jesus.
To be filled with the Spirit is not a one off thing, if we are to minister in the power of the Spirit it is essential that we keep on being filled. When Jesus said that out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water, He was referring to the Spirit. Only when we are filled, can the Holy Spirit flow forth in ministry through us. To trust in the arm of the flesh and walk in the power of the flesh will quench the Spirit from being able to use us fully.
There are many godly respected ministers from the past who believe in the baptism with the Spirit or as it is sometimes called the second blessing. The finer points of their understanding might change but on the whole they are talking about a spiritual experience after the new birth. These all believe in an experience that revolutionizes our lives.
There are such men and women as, D. L. Moody, F. B. Meyer, A. B. Simpson, Jessie Penn-Lewis, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, George Whitefield and John Wesley.
John Bunyon (according to Burton, John Bunyan’s friend), said that the secret of ministerial power, which is more important than all the university degrees a person can get, is namely, union with Christ, the anointing of the Spirit, and experience of temptation.
I do not believe that there needs to be a long gap of time between getting saved, being baptized in water and receiving the Holy Spirit for service or as a witness with our spirit. Why isn’t there more emphasis in the bible of the need to receive the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Well that is simply because in those days it was expected when a person got saved they would be told that they now must be baptized in water and receive the Spirit. When they obeyed and were baptized then they were prayed for to receive the Holy Spirit. It was a natural step from salvation to being baptized in water and then receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2 v 38). These days they don’t often follow up with water baptism until a long time afterwards. The actual effect of being baptized in the Spirit can vary greatly between people, from a quiet unmistakable witness in the spirit to a mighty falling upon of the Spirit.
Frances R. Havergal writes that she was conscious of having loved the Lord for many years but felt that her experience was not up to the standard of full consecration and spiritual power. One day (December 2nd 1873) she knew she had received the blessing which lifted her whole life into sunshine, of which all she had previously experienced was but as pale and passing April gleams, compared with the fullness of summer glory. “The practical effect of this was most evident in her daily, true hearted, whole hearted, service for her King, and also in the increased joyousness of the unswerving obedience of her home life, the surest test of all” (as told by her sister). Frances, who wrote “Take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord to thee”, believed there needed to be a full surrender before full blessedness.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones quotes J. N. Darby as saying, “That a person may be born again and not having received the Holy Ghost is perfectly certain according to the scriptures” then he quoted from Acts etc. to prove it.
William Kelly, another of the great Brethren preachers around the year 1867, says that believe and repentance are possible without receiving the Holy Spirit in this special sense. He is talking about receiving the Holy Spirit as the Apostles received Him on the day of Pentecost. He says it is a subsequent operation, it is an additional second blessing.
John Owen, a leading Puritan pastor and theologian, recognized two distinct works of the Holy Spirit towards believers. In the first work we have the sanctifying Spirit who comes to all who believe on the Name of the Lord. Here the receiving of the believer is passive, however when the Holy Spirit comes as comforter the believer needs to be active in receiving Him. John Owen says that none can receive the Spirit as Comforter unless they have first been brought to life by the Spirit of sanctification. Believers can receive the Spirit as comforter because they know Him as sanctifier. To receive the Spirit as comforter is an active receiving of the Spirit. Two distinct functions of the same Spirit. (Communion With God by John Owen, abridged by R. J. K. Law. Page 172-173).
There are many, many sound Bible teachers that believe in a second blessing according to scripture. However that doesn’t prove anything because there are also many Bible teachers that don’t believe in it. No matter what scripture might be shown, which to me would show to prove it, others are not convinced, at the end of the day except God reveal it to a person’s heart then nothing else will change what a person believes.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3 v 16, Acts 1 v 5, Acts 11 v 16). Who does the Lord Jesus baptize with the Spirit? John 7 v 37 tells us it is to those who thirst and go to Jesus to drink. Acts 5 v 32 says that God gives the Spirit to those who obey Him. Luke 11 v 13 says that the Father gives the Spirit to those who ask Him.
But how do we receive the Holy Spirit?
We receive the Spirit through faith. What is faith? My wife always says that trust is the expression of faith. I would go along with that and also add ‘assurance’ as a key necessity in faith. Romans 10:17 says “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Galatians 3:2 says, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” To have that assurance needed to receive the Spirit we need to know what Jesus says in the word of God and then believe Him and trust Him. Jesus said, “For everyone who asks receives,” (Luke 11:10a), then from verse 11 to 13 He says, “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? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 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!” That is absolute assurance that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those of His children who ask Him.
Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26)
Also in John 16:7, Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
Jesus has departed and gone to the Father, therefore we can be assured He has sent the Holy Spirit to us from the Father. We can be absolutely assured that Jesus wants us to receive the Spirit that He has sent to us. It is up to us to receive the Spirit.
How do we receive? We believe that Jesus is telling the truth, so we trust Him, thank Him for giving us the Spirit and worship Him. It is as simple as that, you don’t have to feel anything you have to believe Him and trust Him. Once you have done that you have the Holy Spirit, it would be nice to have the manifestation of the Spirit but that is in God’s hands.
Now, there is a difference between praying with the spirit and praying in the Spirit. You can do both but often praying with the spirit leads onto praying in the Spirit. Once you have received the Spirit then I will encourage you to pray with the spirit. How do you do that? You pray to God in an unknown tongue. You focus on the Lord and express yourself to God in a language you don’t know. It may be just two words such as “Thank you”, or “Praise God” but use words that you don’t understand to express how you feel (see 1 Corinthians 14:14-15). Now I would say that that is for your private prayer to build you up in the spirit (see v 4). I wouldn’t give a message in tongues to the church from my own praying with the spirit unless the Spirit filled me up and what I was speaking was in the Spirit. So pray with the spirit privately and in the Spirit publicly.
The manifestation of the Spirit through you will come in God’s timing.
Everyone who believes in Jesus as Saviour and Lord should be encouraged to be baptized in water and receive the Spirit. After being baptized in water they should be prayed for and encouraged to receive the Spirit by faith.
In the book, War On The Saints by Jessie Penn-Lewis and Evan Roberts, after stating that before Pentecost the disciples needed to wait for the Holy Spirit but after Pentecost we need to receive Him rather than wait, they then say, “The Risen Lord poured forth the stream of the Spirit again and again after the day of Pentecost, but in each instance it was without “tarrying”, as the disciples did at the first (see Acts 4: 31). The Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father through the Son to His people, is now among them, waiting to give Himself unceasingly to all who will appropriate and receive Him (John 15: 26; Acts 2: 33, 38, 39). A “waiting for the Spirit”, therefore, is not in accord with the general tenor of the truth given in the Acts and the Epistles, which show rather the imperative call to the believer to put in his claim, not only to his identification with the Lord Jesus in His death, and union with Him in His resurrection, but also to the enduement for witnessing, which came to the disciples on the day of Pentecost.
On the believer’s side, we may say, however, that there is a waiting FOR God, whilst the Holy Spirit deals with, and prepares, the one who has put in his claim, until he is in the right attitude for the influx of the Holy Spirit into his spirit, but this is different from the “waiting for Him to come”, which has opened the door so frequently to satanic manifestations from the unseen world”.
What Jessie Penn-Lewis is saying here is that we don’t sit round waiting with a passive mind until the Lord sends the Spirit upon us but rather we receive by faith, but the actual coming upon us of the manifestation of the Spirit may have to be waited for due to the Holy Spirit having to deal with and prepare us for Him to come upon us.
MLJ says that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the special assurance given to Christians. It is something we should all enjoy, but it is not essential to salvation.
Receiving the Spirit is not essential to salvation, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is. We believe on Him and receive Him as our Saviour and Lord. However, to grow in the Lord beyond just having eternal life then we need receive the Spirit by faith without doubting.
By Mark Greenwood
February 2003 / May 2007/ updated January 2022
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved