Today’s message : Baptism in the Holy Spirit
“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.
And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.”
Acts of the Apostles 2:1, 4
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a turning point in the life of all christians, or when they are filled again with the Holy Spirit.
Years ago, I started reading and studying about the Holy Spirit in the Bible and came to one conclusion: I needed to be baptised in the Holy Spirit because I felt that my life wasn’t good enough, I was a Christian but something was missing in my life.
So I started praying and asking to God for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
One of these nights, I was praying, it was 2:00 in the morning and God visited me, and I was finally baptised by the Holy Spirit. I began speaking in tongues, and my Christian life dramatically changed from that day on.
This baptism I‘m talking about is an “immersion of the Spirit.” When you are baptised with the Holy Spirit, you will receive strength, power and boldness to speak about Jesus, to accomplish His work and to overcome sin in your own life.
When John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, he said two things:
First: Jesus will take away the sins of the world. John 1:25
Second: Jesus will baptise you in the Holy Spirit. John 1:33
Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Baptiser alongside The Holy Spirit.
When John the Baptist baptised people He would say: Don’t think that baptism in water is all you need.
The Baptism in water deals with your past, it washes away your past mistakes and your old life.
John said: I can baptise you in water, but I cannot do the other baptism for you. Someone coming after me will do that! (Matthew 3:11)
Some churches teach about baptism in water but don’t teach that Jesus is the one who baptises in the Holy Spirit. Some churches have the wrong teaching: they believe that receiving Jesus and being baptised with the Holy Spirit is the same thing.
When in fact, the New Testament talks about believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit as completely separate things. And it’s perfectly possible to have one without the other.
When Paul went to Ephesus he said to some of Jesus’ disciples:
““Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.”
Acts of the Apostles 19:2-4, 6
It’s perfectly possible to be one of Jesus’ disciple and not be baptised in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said I came to give you life and give you life to the fullest (more abundantly)
John 10:10
When Jesus comes into your heart He gives eternal life. This eternal life is within us now and it continues forever.
But after giving us eternal life Jesus Christ’s second assignment is to give us an abundant life.This abundant life comes through our Relationship with the Holy Spirit
That’s why John the Baptist said 2 different things about Jesus: Jesus is the Lamb of God, the lamb who was slain for our sins but also The Baptiser with The Holy Spirit.
Eternal life does not exist outside of salvation. Abundant life does not exist outside of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not baptise anyone in the Holy Spirit while He was on this earth.
That assignment only started when He went back to heaven.
Jesus wants to do two big things in your life: to give you eternal salvation and the second most important thing, more important than healing, deliverance or financial breakthrough, it’s to introduce you to the person of The Holy Spirit.
Eternal life doesn’t exist without Jesus and there is no abundant life without a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
It’s in the Holy Spirit where we find abundant life. In Jesus is eternal life.
Jesus gives me eternal life and when He gives me eternal life, He says, now I want to introduce you to the person of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35 , John 3:5)
He was not only conceived by the Holy Spirit, He was also filled with the Spirit.
When you become a Christian and repent from your sins, it’s the Holy Spirit who produces this miracle.
We were lost in false religions, some of us even tried to take our own lives but the Holy Spirit came to protect you and convinced you from your sin.
Every Christian (born again) has the Holy Spirit within; when you get saved you receive the Holy Spirit. Even if you do not speak in tongues, even if you don’t have the gift of prophesy, even if you don’t see visions, even if you don’t feel anything, the Holy Spirit lives in you, He in dwells in you.
Even when you struggle with temptations, even when you struggle with doubts, you have the Holy Spirit.
When we sin as Christians our fellowship is affected, our fellowship with God may be broken, our intimacy is affected, but He is still there.
Any married person understands that, the difference between being together and having intimacy.
You can be in the same bed and not be intimate. You can be in the same car and not talk each other. You can be in the same house, be legally married and not have a connection to each other, no fellowship, no love, no intimacy.
Why? Because intimacy is different than simply having a relationship. Relationship is: you get married, you get the paper, you move in together, you live in the same house, but intimacy is completely different.
If you are born again you have the Holy Spirit within you, but the Holy Spirit wants more, He wants intimacy with you. He wants closeness with you.
How is that intimacy achieved?
For the Holy Spirit to be intimate with you, you have to give the Holy Spirit your attention. When you give Him attention, intimacy begins.
After attention comes affection. You became affectionate, meaning that you give your time, you give Him your thoughts, you desire the Holy Spirit.
You’re aware of His presence while driving, working, eating… You give Him your attention, your time, your thoughts and your affection.
Example: your wife is working in kitchen, you are aware of her, you give her your attention by coming around and giving her a hug from the back, and kissing her.
It’s what the Holy Spirit wants us to do with Him in a regular basis throughout our day. When we give the Holy Spirit our affection, we say Holy Spirit, I love you.
The Bible says: May the Fellowship of The Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14
We must say: Holy Spirit I need you, Holy Spirit take control of my life, Holy Spirit I have a lot of work to do today and I don’t want to do alone, I want You to be with me. Holy Spirit, I need you so much.
Then something begins to happen, you begin to fell His anointing and His presence, and then eventually, you are going to see His power flowing in your life.
Every Christian (born again) has the Holy Spirit but many Christians don’t have an intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
In the same way that some people get married, but don’t enjoy their marriage. Just because you have a legal paper, being married does not mean you actually enjoy your marriage.
“Don’t be drunk with wine, which will ruin your life, but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18
Apostle Paul commands us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
In the past I used to think the Holy Spirit randomly chose people and He filled them at random, and if you are the lucky one you got anointed with the Holy Spirit.
Here the bible says the Holy Spirit doesn’t decide whom He fills. We can ask to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
The bible compares being drunk in wine to being filled with the Holy Spirit.
For example: Alcohol does not randomly choose people whom to make drunk. Smirnoff or Guinness don’t have a list and say: He, her and them, then go to the door of their houses, open their mouths and force themselves down their throats. You all know it doesn’t happen like that.
Nobody gets drunk by sitting in the house and doing nothing. No!
You go to a place where there are drinks and ask for them to be served to you. And they get brought out to your table, not into your mouth, then you take it, open your mouth, you drink it in and you start felling happier, you become very extrovert and you change your personality, you can also later get a big fine for drunk driving and go to jail.
The Holy Spirit fills us in a similar way. When you are thirsty and open your mouth, the Holy Spirit begins to move in. When you open your mouth in prayer the Holy Spirit begins to come in.
When you open your mouth to speaks in other tongues the Holy Spirit begins to come in.
You don’t get filled because the Holy Spirit enters into you. You fill yourself up with the Holy Spirit by putting yourself in the right place and by opening your mouth.
The job to be filled with the Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit’s, it’s yours and mine.
The Bible says: If you don’t get filled with the Holy Spirit, Satan will always has a counterfeit, it’s going to be alcohol for some, for others cigarettes, for others pornography, Netflix, for some it’s going to be social media, eating, shopping, because you will always look to be filled up by something if not by the Holy Spirit.
You May try to fill up with different things but you always will feel empty, you always will feel broken. Because only The Holy Spirit fills and fulfils us.
That’s why the Bible says:
Walk in the Holy Spirit and you will not fulfil the desires of your flesh. Galatians 5:16
In other words: when I’m full of the Holy Spirit I will still have the lusts of the flesh, I may still want to do bad but I will have the power to overcome that sin.
Remember: The Holy Spirit doesn’t fill us, we get to fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit.
He is already available, it’s like oxygen, it’s there and you breathe it in, you take it in.
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit – Matthew 4:1
Remember: Whatever you are filled with will determine how you will be led.
If you’re filled with alcohol, alcohol will determine how you drive, it will determine how you behave.
Many of us want the leading of the Holy Spirit but being led is a consequence that comes from being filled up.
You will start being led by the Holy Spirit after you are filled. That’s why we should always pray: Lord fill me up, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Because when you are filled up, you will start to be led by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is with us today and He wants to minister onto us.
If you have already been baptised by the Holy Spirit, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again.
I want to encourage anybody here today who has not baptised by the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues to seek that today. You can receive it today.
We are a church that believes in all that it’s written in the bible.
Jesus spoke about it
“And these signs will follow those who believe: they will speak with new tongues;”
Mark 16:17
Jesus said these signs will be in the life of who believe: They will speak in tongues.
All Jesus’ disciples experienced speaking in tongues. Cornelius, Paul, et.
Today we are going to create the opportunity for that to happen.
How can you receive that?
37 “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
39 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.”
John 7:37-39
How can you receive that?
1- Be thirsty
2- Come to Christ as the baptiser
3- Drink—receive with open mouth
The result: Outflow in speech
There are two ways in which Satan may try to attack you:
1- “That’s not real, you’re inventing it yourself.” Answer: “I’m doing the speaking, the Holy Spirit is giving the words.”
2- “How do you know you got the right thing?” Answer: Because God promised that if I ask Him for one thing, I will never get the wrong thing. (see Luke 11:9–13).
It’s very simple: you open your mouth and say Holy Spirit fill me.
How do you speak in tongues?
Whatever comes to your mind that’s not English, or Portuguese or your own language, you begin to speak.
Then you’re going to say: but that’s me speaking! And yes! It’s going to be you. The Holy Spirit doesn’t manipulate you, He uses you. He uses your faculties to minister to you.
The Spirit fills, you speak, you speak and the Spirit fills.
May you be filled with the Holy Spirit, just as the apostles, who after being baptised in the Holy Spirit, went out everywhere testifying to Jesus with signs and wonders.