BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

  By Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke

In one of my African campaign meetings  in November 2000  over one million people had a tremendous experience at the same time. They were all baptized in the Holy Spirit.

In Europe, I’m sure 90 per cent of the people have never even heard of such a thing. To them, the Holy Spirit means no more than mathematics to sheep. The things of the Spirit of God belong to a realm that’s a million light years away, metaphorically speaking, from the godless world in which we live today. There’s nothing else like it. 

That gulf has always been there. People don’t know what it’s like to meet Jesus Christ until they do. And they don’t understand people who have already met him, especially people he has baptized in the Spirit.

THE SIGN OF CHRIST

Now, what was the first thing ever said about Jesus? It was this amazing prophecy: that he would baptize people in the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16). John the Baptist was sent by God to announce that Jesus was coming and to tell people how they would be able to identify him. There are religions allover, but Christ stands apart. Before he even began his ministry, people were told that he was to be recognisable as the person who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. 

We have a right to know who we are dealing with. There are many spirits, many religions and many experiences. What guarantee of authenticity do we have? How can we be sure that we are dealing with the real Christ and not some impostor? The sign of the true Son of God is that He baptizes in the Holy Spirit. Ask Jesus to give you the Spirit and you will not get a scorpion  that is his promise.

Interesting to note is that Jesus didn’t baptize in the Spirit while He was here on earth, but only after He had gone back to heaven. The plan was for us to recognize the signs of His presence after He had gone by His heavenly role, which is to baptize in the Spirit. Baptism in the Spirit wasn’t a sign given to the disciples when they were with Him. It isn’t just something we read about which took place long ago in history. It was – and still is – the sign of his present identity; it has never been changed or withdrawn. It was to characterize Jesus for the whole Christian age. 

WHAT IS BAPTISM?

The word “baptism”might seem strange to us today, but in fact, it’s quite an ordinary word in Greek, meaning “dipped” or “immersed”. It was particularly used to refer to dipping cloth in dye. It’s a wonderful image! The cloth was in the dye and the dye in the cloth. As the cloth soaked in the dye, it took on its colour. Baptism therefore has to do with taking on the character of the element into which something is dipped. John the Baptist baptized people in the chilly Jordan River and left them wet and cold. Christ’s baptism in the Spirit, meaning we take on the character of the Spirit, is like liquid fire. 

The Bible tells us that God’s character is that of a consuming fire. Fire in Scripture carries several meanings, not always negative. Luke 3:17-18 (NIV) reads: “‘He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.” Fire means good news, not judgement.

FIRE TRANSFORMS DRY BONES

In the story of Ezekiel’s prophesying to the valley of dry bones, the bones came together and became an army of living men of flesh and blood. God breathed life into those lifeless bones. But there’s another way to deal with dry bones  by fire. Perhaps you have some bone china at home. It’s very fine table ware, and rings like a bell when you tap a spoon against it. Bone china begins as tons of old bones, ground to powder. That bone dust is mixed with white clay, which is then moulded, shaped and decorated and passed through a kiln. Out of the fires then comes lovely pure white china to grace our tables.

There are drybone Christians  bonedry Christians, we would say. But when these spiritual skeletons, lifeless believers, are baptized in the Holy Spirit and get God’s fires in their very bones, they come out as vessels for God to take up in his purposes.The process leaves its pure, unmistakable and wonderful mark. Just like a potter using his kiln, God uses fire to produce his work. “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”(Ephesians 2:10). We are his good work, made to produce good works. 

FORGET ABOUT THE FEELINGS

The baptism in the Spirit brings permanent power but not a permanent feeling of power.We don’t measure power by feelings, or by what we see. Wires, which are able to carry 110,000 volts, look exactly the same whether they are carrying current or not.Similarly, we cannot judge our own muscular power by feelings, but only by experiment. Strong men don’t feel their strength. They can’t sit down and enjoy strength at the fireside. However, when asked to lift a heavy weight, they know their strength and just do it. 

The power of God is treasure in “jars of clay” as Paul says (2 Corinthians 4:7). When we sit and rest, or if we are busy in this or that concern, we don’t feel full of power. If anything, we feel completely ordinary; we’re not aware of  His mighty power with us. Nearly all prayers for power are really for a sense of power, to feel the throb or pulsation, but actually that is to miss the point. Strength is evident when it is used. A man lifts the dumbbells, and his strength shows. Spiritual power is latent strength in our spirit. But when the circumstances call for it to be used, that strength is there. The supply is immediate, matching the need as it arises.

Some never do anything for God because they don’t “feel” that they have the power or strength. They go on praying for power before they take action. Just because they don’t feel powerful, they keep on praying for what they probably already have. What a waste of time and effort! If they know God, His power will be there when it’s needed. Rich men don’t carry millions of dollars around with them. They can draw on their resources whenever they please without having to have their pockets stuffed full of money. We don’t need to be trembling under the weight of divine power from breakfast till suppertime. And anyway, it isn’t up to us! What we do is because He has all the power  not us. That’s all that matters. 

I’ve just talked about strong men. Does their strength compel them to work with great energy and gusto? Not at all! 

They can be strong but lazy. Perhaps they never do anything else with their time than use it to build their muscles. The kind of power some people ask God for is really for something to enthuse and drive them to witness and work, a compelling power, overcoming their lethargy, or overwhelming their fear and reluctance. They want God to give them such a push that they can’t help but go out and about and just find themselves witnessing, propelled into service. That’s just pie in the sky. It won’t happen. God never compels you to serve Him in spite of yourself. 

This is often the kind of thinking that lies behind prayers for revival: “Revive me, O Lord, put some go into me, capture me and send me.”That’s a futile prayer. We’ve many incentives, we can be exhorted and encouraged by all and sundry, but no unseen force will lever us out of our fireside chair into the street. To get up and go is our part of the bargain. God is waiting for us to take that step. He asks, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”(Isaiah 6:8). There’s no conscription in the Kingdom of God. Just one thing is sure: once on our feet, confronting the devil, we can expect the Spirit of God to be with us.

 GOD BLESS YOU RICHLY

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