Scriptures for The Baptism In The Holy Spirit I. Jesus Is The Baptizer. Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal stra…

[Dr. Henry, President of the AOCI]

Scriptures for The Baptism In The Holy Spirit

I. Jesus Is The Baptizer.
Luke 3:16 John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

II. Why You Need the Holy Spirit Baptism
John 14:15-18 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 16:13-15 "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. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

III. The Promise of the Father
Luke 24:49 "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."
Joel 2:28-29 "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."
Acts 1:4-8 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 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."

IV. The First Experience
Acts 2:1-16 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. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs-we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel."

V. The Continuing Experiences
Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said to them, "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. 39 "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 8:14-17 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts 9:17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Acts 10:44-47 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47 "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
Acts 19:1-6 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John’s baptism." 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes immediately to indwell them. This gives the individual the ability to develop the character of Christ in their life. This Christ they have received now wants to baptize that person in the power of this Holy Spirit. When this happens this gives the individual the ability to do the ministry of Christ.
All Christians need a baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is ready to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

VI. How Do I Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?
1. Be sure you are saved.
2. Surrender all your life to follow Christ completely.
3. Ask for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
4. Believe God will give you the Holy Spirit.
5. Exercise what God gives. (For most people a credential sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak in tongues. I personally believe that this is the "Normative" sign yet there are many men and women who have experienced this overflowing of the spirit with other sign gifts of the Holy Spirit. The evidence for you being a Christian are the fruits of the Spirit and the evidence for experiencing the baptism in the Spirit are the gifts of the spirit )
6. If you need help, go to a mature Christian that has had this experience.

VII. Remember Why You Receive a Baptism in the Holy Spirit
So you can be a powerful witness for Christ! It is important for you to associate with other Christians who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. It would be wise for you to be in a church that can help you learn to work with the Holy Spirit in becoming a powerful witness of Jesus Christ.

It is also very important to remember that IT IS NOT required that someone "speak in tongues" in order to be saved. There are cults around who make this experience a requirement for salvation and this position DOES NOT fall under the pale of orthodoxy.

Whichever view you agree with, we know that the Bible talks about it, encourages it, and offers it and you are free to decide to believe either way. This falls under the non essentials and we are free to have internal biblical debates that will help us sharpen our theological saw and challenge us. My hope is that this article will motivate all of us to continue to study the topic and to prayerfully consider what our heavenly Father would have us to believe. I am sure He will not give us a stone or a snake as He is a good God who loves to bestow gifts upon us and provide a help to live our Christian lives.

God bless.
Dr. Henry