Baptism in the Spirit

[shittim]

Jesus received at the Baptism of John and imparted to the 12, the 12 to the seventy. and on and on to today.

 

[Blackpowderduelist]

The experience at Pentecost in Acts 2..

Was it a personal experience alone?

It was corporate in Acts 2 with the 12. They weren't experiencing it seperate from the assembly.

Was the experience of people having visions and dreams and speaking in tongues referring to today?

That reference was fulfilled in Acts there and then from the prophecy in Joel.

Acts 2 was a unique event that has not been repeated. From then forward men received the gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands by an apostle. Where by they then spoke in tongues and prophecied. What we don't see is the second generation doing this at all even though we have some account of them preaching and making disciples. The example in acts is Philip in Samaria, and with the Ethiopian Eunuch.
Then there is another problem, Peter and Paul gave instruction to the pastors in the pastoral Epistles, in which they detail out a lot of stuff, what one would think would be the most important things for the generations to come. Nothing about continuing the practice. The only one I can see that even hints is a passage that says don't lay hands on anyone suddenly or hastily 1 Timothy 5. Presumably this is about anointing elders and pastors. In textual context it seems almost like an after thought, but it comes on the heals of the standards for being a "ruler" of the church.
And then there is silence on the subject through out the following generation until the late 1800s then in 1902 you have azuza street and suddenly there is Pentecostalism and it spreads from there to world wide.
So forgive my dubiousness but until this can be explained I'm not convinced. It also does not help the amount of false prophecy that has spewed fourth from the Pentecostal movement.

 

[notuptome]

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is to bring to life the soul dead in trespass and sin. The filling of the Holy Sprit is to cleanse and make fit for service to the Lord.

Instead of seeking power the believer is to seek holiness and purity in the Lord. Power and gifts are corrupted by hearts that are unclean and lacking sanctification. You have not because you seek amiss.

One baptism of the Holy Spirit unto eternal life. Many fillings to make clean and able to be used of the Lord.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[shittim]

"What we don't see is the second generation doing this at all even though we have some account of them preaching and making disciples. "

This isn't true, the Church Fathers, after the age of the original disciples and apostles wrote a great deal of how to regulate and use the gifts in the church.

Jesus imparted the Holy Spirit He was given at the baptism of John to the 12, and they to the seventy.
At the cross they no longer operated under His authority thus fulfilling the scripture, "I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter", following His resurrection where He shared "ALL authority has been given to me", He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem and Holy Spirit was brought into the world for each of us to receive.
It happened so long ago we don't know what a world without Holy Spirit presence is like.
best wishes

 

[david-a-servant]

How Can I Be Filled With The Holy Spirit?

Introduction.

1) It is a thing most wonderful, Almost too wonderful to be, That God’s own Son should come from heaven, And die to save a child like me.

2) And yet I know that it is true; He chose a poor and humble lot, And wept, and toiled and mourned and died, For love of those who loved Him not.

3) It is too wonderful for words, Almost too wonderful to be; That God should send the Holy Ghost, To comfort, help, and dwell in me.

William How, 1823 to 1897.

In 2Cor 12v4, Paul says the words and things he experienced on a visit to heaven were indescribable and unspeakable, “anekdiegetos” (Strong’s NT:411) too wonderful for words. In 1Pet 1v8, Peter tells us that our faith, and love for Jesus, causes us to “rejoice with joy unspeakable (“arrhetos” (Strong’s NT:731) inexpressible) and full of glory.” In 2Cor 9v15, Paul thanks God for Jesus, His indescribable and unspeakable ,“anekdiegetos” (Strong’s NT:411) gift to us. God the Father gave the promise of the Holy Spirit, and sent Him to us, “another Helper” like Jesus, another unspeakable gift, too wonderful for words. The Holy Spirit comes to help us in worship, and enables us to express the inexpressible and unspeakable.

The baptism in the Spirit was the secret both of the worship and the power of the early Church. Unfortunately many today are like the Ephesians in Acts 19v1-6, we read in Acts 19v1,2, “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost..” Many who say “I believe in the Holy Spirit” have not experienced His power or gifts, but they are there for us all, if we seek and claim them.

1) Why Our Heavenly Father Desires To Give Us The Baptism In The Holy Spirit.

a) Our Heavenly Father loves to give.

God is love, He is perfectly unselfish and wholeheartedly generous. 1John 4v8-10. Our Father is the most bountiful giver, even to the ungrateful and selfish; He is full of mercy and kindness. Luke 6v35,36, Psalm 103 (all), 107v8,15,21,31,43. Our God of love even gave His own dear Son for our salvation, and with Him He freely gives us all things. John 3v16, Rom 8v31-39.

b) Our Heavenly Father loves us so much.

We are so very precious to God, and He makes us the objects of His wondrous love and affection. John 16v24,27. Our heavenly Father is much more loving and kind than the very best earthly father. Matt 7v7-11, Luke 11v9-13. It is an amazing fact that God loves us with the same tender love that He loves His only begotten Son, John 17v23,26, and Jesus loves us on this same incredible level of love. John 15v9. cf. 13v34. God's love is always a “much more” love, it “surpasses human understanding” and longs to do “immeasurably more than all our highest prayers or thoughts, or hopes and dreams.” Luke 11v13, Eph 3v14-21. Rejoice in His wonderful love, and claim and receive His “exceeding great and precious promises” to you. 2Pet 1v1-4.

c) Our Heavenly Father desires us to know Himself and the Lord Jesus in a deeper way.

The Holy Spirit has come to reveal Jesus and the Father to us. John 15v26, 16v12-15, Eph 1v15-23, 3v14-21. The disciples were full of joy and praise before Pentecost, because of a glorious fellowship with their risen Lord; however, Jesus promised, and they experienced, a new and greater revelation of their Lord and spiritual realities, at their baptism in the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Beset as we are by the world, the flesh and the Devil, earthly armour fails us, we can only overcome by God's help, the baptism in the Spirit is His answer to our needs and the wickedness around us. The revelation of God to the inner depths of our souls, is the only thing that can bring spiritual victory and satisfy our deepest longings for God. 2Cor 3v12-18.

d) Our Heavenly Father wants to manifest Himself to the Church and the World.

Though the disciples had the Lord Jesus with them, and many of them had experienced His ministry through them to a remarkable degree, He told them plainly that the baptism in the Spirit would give them a more powerful ministry for Him. Acts 1v1-8. Paul said, in 1Cor 12v7, “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the common good;” “manifestation” is “phanerosis” (Strong’s NT:5321) which means “a making visible, a shining forth, an appearing, a making known in a definite and tangible manner.” Mark 4v22, 16v14, 1Cor 2v9,10, 2Cor 4v2. The baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended to bring an overwhelming sense of the presence of God. God does not intend us to apprehend spiritual things or the Holy Spirit's presence by blind faith alone, the healing of the sick, the release of Satan's captives, make it plain that God is in the midst of His people. 1Cor 14v23-25, Acts 8v5-14. Jesus said that people needed the evidence of signs and wonders to help them believe, He, therefore, did many signs and wonders, for the very purpose of creating faith and saving the souls of His hearers, and sent out many preachers with miraculous ministries to do the same. John 4v48, 5v19-25, 10v37,38, 11v15, Luke 9v1,2, 10v1-9, Mark 16v17,20, 1Cor 2v4, 2Cor 12v12, Rom 15v18,19. Even the greatest miracles will fail to win some people, Jesus said that many of Israel's religious leaders had seen and hated Himself and the Father, they rejected His gracious words and mighty acts. John 15v22-26, Matt 11v20-24. Rejection of God when He is manifested in great signs and wonders, is the final act of spiritual suicide. Mark 3v22-30. This was why Jesus refused to give a sensational sign to the sceptics of Matt 12v38-42; they did not need a sign, they already had a multitude of them, they needed to genuinely repent of their sins and accept Christ.

Spiritual decadence is due to a lack of a vision of God and His gifts and ministries. Judges 2v7-11, Prov 29v18. History shows that when we get away from God, we rely more and more upon what we can do, and are less able to trust God for the miraculous manifestations of His presence. When we do this, we shall find, as Israel did, that our enemies are always stronger than we are. God does not glorify unholy human endeavour, but He does delight to show His power to those who trust Him, particularly if the odds are stacked against us, and we are in great need; so He used Jonathan and his armour bearer, Gideon and his 300, to defeat great armies, and David the shepherd boy to defeat the giant Goliath, and Christ's despised apostolic band to lay the foundation of His Church. 1Cor 1v26-31, Eph 2v19,20.

2) The Scriptures Show That The Baptism In The Spirit Takes Place AFTER The New Birth.

The apostles were born again years before their baptism in the Spirit.

The apostles were converted before Pentecost; their names, like those of the 70, were “written in heaven,” Luke 10v20; they were “clean,” John 15v2,3; they were not of the world, and belonged to God, John 17v6,9-16,23; they had received Jesus and believed in Him, and He said they were His friends and brethren. John 1v12, 15v15, 17v8, Matt 12v48-50. At Pentecost these believers received the baptism in the Spirit that had been promised to them. Acts 2v1-4. We know from John 7v37-39, that the Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified, and that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was not available to the Church until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The following records in Acts show that Christians received the baptism in the Spirit AFTER their conversion, not at conversion.

The Samaritans were baptised in the Spirit a considerable time after their conversion.

At Samaria many accepted Philip's sign-attested ministry and became joyful believers in Jesus; it was several, even many days later, that Peter and John came to Samaria to lay hands on these born-again, and water-baptised converts, that they might receive the baptism in the Spirit. Acts 8v5-19. The Samaritans were full of faith and joy; but they were not baptised in the Spirit until Peter and John prayed for them. Joy, peace, sanctification, or love, cannot be looked upon as a claim for being baptised in the Spirit; these are the even more important “fruit of the Spirit,” which are the result of abiding in Christ and being led of the Spirit. Gal 5v16-25. To be a balanced Christian we need both gifts and fruit, both “great grace and great power.” Acts 4v33.

"The apostles were converted before Pentecost; their names, like those of the 70, were “written in heaven,” "

If this statement were true, why did Jesus say in Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

I'm convinced that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was the time of Peter's conversion. He received power to preach and teach and strengthen his brethren. If Christ called this a conversion, why should we attempt to make claims of conversion at any other time?