A great teaching brought to you by The Appearance Ministries and Augusto Perez
THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Because God is supernatural, transcending the natural realm, we cannot truly
come to know Him and understand Him unless we move into the realm of the spirit. We
can only truly worship God in the spirit because He is a spirit (John 4:24). For some
inexplicable reason the Lord has chosen us, puny and weak earthen vessels, to manifest
His glory and power on the earth. It is not that He could not do it Himself, or have His
holy angels sent to accomplish whatever mission He needed done. The Lord simply
delights in sharing His glory with His creation, and using us as partners to achieve His
pre-ordained divine plans. Therefore it behooves us to learn and understand His ways,
kingdom and how He desires to reveal His power and glory through us.
In 1 Corinthians 4:20 Paul said: “the kingdom of God does not consist in words,
but in power.” The Holy Spirit is the inner power that God gives us to help us to live in
this world, while we are pilgrims here. None of us is worthy to have the Spirit of God
living in us in this manner, but we must understand that it is by the righteousness of
Christ that we are accepted by God. Our focus must always be who He is in us, and not
who we are in our own strength, ability and intellect. No one deserves this gift from God
or has ever done anything to earn it. For it is only by grace, through faith that we receive
it (Ephesians 2:8-9).
If our goal is to become like Jesus, then we must look beyond our own
weaknesses and inabilities, and rise above the terrestrial so we can enjoy the celestial.
We must move into the invisible, eternal realm to be able to flow and operate in the realm
of the supernatural (2 Corinthians 4:18). Our intimate relationship with the Lord is
directly proportional to the amount of the power of His Spirit that will flow through us.
But the door that we must all go through to step into the invisible, supernatural realm of
God’s kingdom is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Through the Holy Spirit, God pours His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). This
love is not like any human love we have ever experienced or felt. This love transcends
the human and elevates us into the divine. As we are filled with this liquid love, it begins
to transform us and manifest God’s love through us to others (1 John 4:7-13). This is the
kind of love that loves the unlovable, the undeserving and those that hate you and
despitefully use you. When you have this kind of love, you are able to forgive anyone,
anything they may have done unto you. Let’s take a look at this wonderful experience
and how you can receive it in your Christian life.
A. What Is The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit?
This is a topic that causes much confusion and contention in the body of Christ.
I thank the Lord that He allowed me to have the glorious experience of the baptism
of the Holy Spirit the same night that I was baptized in water in a Pentecostal Church
twenty four years ago. However, I noticed through the years that not all believers had
that same experience. I saw many that although they had repented and been baptized
in water, had not been able to speak with tongues. These believers had a genuine
conversion, loved the Lord, lived godly lives, yet in spite of their tears, fasts and
continuous repentance, they were not able to speak with tongues.
The doctrine of the church to which I belonged believed that if a believer did not
speak in tongues, he had not received the Holy Spirit, and therefore had not been
born again. It took me several years of God dealing with me, revealing His word to
me to be able to understand how wrong they were. Every one that has been born
again has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside. “If a man has not the spirit of Christ, he is
none of His” (Romans 8:9). Other groups also have doctrinal errors although maybe
not as extreme. Many Christians believe that there is nothing more after accepting
Jesus as their Lord and Savior and being baptized in water, which is not true. Many
believe that the baptism of the Spirit, spiritual gifts, signs and wonders, apostles and
prophets are not for today. Some even attribute speaking in tongues to the devil,
which is a very dangerous accusation, since they are in danger of committing the
unpardonable sin and can be punished severely (Mathew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-30, 1
Timothy 1:13, Hebrews 10:26).
There is a difference between having the Spirit and being baptized in the Spirit.
When someone is saved by believing with the heart and confessing with his mouth
that Jesus died for his sins, he receives the incorruptible seed of God’s Spirit in his
innermost being (1 Peter 1:23). That person can then be filled with the Spirit that is
already dwelling inside him if he believes and receives with faith (John 7:37-39).
Even in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, He did not do any mighty works until He
was baptized with the Holy Spirit at the river Jordan (Mathew 3:16-17). Although
Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, it was necessary for Him to be empowered by
the Spirit. The early church disciples also were commanded by the Lord to wait in
the upper room until they were filled with power from on high (Luke 24:49).
On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the apostles received a double experience.
First they received the Holy Spirit Jesus sent from heaven, and at the same time they
were baptized in the Spirit to be able to do the work of the ministry that Jesus had
commanded them. As a result, they spoke in tongues and had many other powerful
manifestations of the Spirit. Three thousand were added to the Church that same
day, but the Bible does not say if they were all filled with the Spirit.
In Acts 4:31 it says that the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit. If
salvation and being filled with the Spirit is the same thing, then the apostles were
saved again for a second time in Acts 4. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul said: “For we
were baptized by one same spirit into the Body”. This scripture tells us clearly that
the way to enter into the Body of Christ (the church) is through the Holy Spirit in the
new birth experience. The baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking
in new tongues is different to the new birth experience. Speaking in tongues has to
do with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Paul said: “We all have been baptized into
one Body and made to drink of one spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
When someone who is saved, in thirsty and opens up to the Holy Spirit drinking
from Him, he is filled or possessed with the Spirit of God that already lives within
him (John 7:37-39, Galatians 4:6-7). Thousands of believers have a
misunderstanding of what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is and spend years praying
for God to give them this experience. They do not know that the Holy Spirit is
already inside them and they only have to desire and allow the Spirit to fill and
baptize them.
B. Who Can Be Filled With The Holy Spirit?
Although the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are not a
requirement to be saved, the will of God is that everyone be filled with His Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18). It is so important that the last words of Jesus before He went up
to heaven were about this theme (Acts 1:4-9). The apostle Peter full of the Holy
Spirit on the day of Pentecost confirmed it (Acts 2:38). That’s how the early
apostolic church started and continued afterward as well (Acts 2:42).
In these last days, the Lord is taking the church to its primitive roots, the
apostolic foundation, to the doctrines the spiritual fathers established in the church.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is a right and a privilege for every believer. They
received the Holy Spirit in Samaria (Acts 8:14-20), in Caesarea (Acts 10:44-48) and
in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7). Without a doubt, everyone that believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ in the early Apostolic Church was baptized in water by immersion and filled
with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. This promised
experience is for everyone today, for whomsoever the Lord shall call (Acts 2:39).
C. The Evidence
When we read the Bible, it is evident that every time someone received the Holy
Spirit there was evidence, an external sign that could not be denied. No one ever
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in secret, without someone who is near
finding out. In Jerusalem a group of Jews saw it and heard it (Acts 8:18), and in
Caesarea, the ones that were with Peter heard it too (Acts 10:46).
What was it that the people saw and heard? When the Spirit fell the first time in
the upper room, there was wind, fire and tongues. But the other manifestations that
took place after this initial outpouring did not come with fire nor wind, but only
tongues were heard as the Spirit gave them to speak (Acts 11:15). In the city of
Ephesus Paul asked the people if they had received the Holy Spirit after they had
believed. When they said no, Paul laid hands on them and they received the Holy
Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Paul did not ask them again if
they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit because he heard them himself
speaking in tongues and praising God in angelic tongues (Acts 19:1-7).
The evidence is that when a believer receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he
speaks in tongues as a sign that he has received it. It is not the only sign, but it is the
most prevalent one throughout the Bible that a believer has been baptized in the
Spirit. However, there are many Christians that have never been baptized in the
Spirit and have never spoken in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30).
Why tongues? The tongue can be used to bless or curse. It is the only member
of our body that can corrupt the whole body. It is untamable, full of poison and evil
(James 3:8). Man can control a horse with bit and bridle and can guide a ship with a
rudder; however he cannot tame the tongue. Jesus mentioned tongues as one of the
signs that would follow believers (Mark 16:17). When the Holy Spirit enters and
fills the heart of a person, God reclaims possession of a person’s tongue (Isaiah
28:11). He wants to possess our hearts, minds, bodies, desires and our tongues.
Some people want to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but do not want to speak
in tongues. Paul says in the Bible that he wished everyone spoke in tongues, and that
he spoke in tongues more than they did; and told them not to forbid speaking in
tongues (1 Corinthians 14:5, 18, 39).
D. How Do You Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Let’s take a look at some important steps to receive this wonderful experience of
the baptism of the Spirit.
1. There Must Be Genuine Repentance (Acts 2:38)
Repentance is to turn 180 degrees from the direction where we were heading and
start walking to God, allowing Him to be the Lord of our lives. The moment you
sincerely repent, God will forgive you immediately and you will feel as though a
great weight has been lifted from your soul. Now you can talk to God and ask Him
to feel you with His Holy Spirit, which you may receive right there and then, but
there is second necessary step.
2. You Need to be Baptized in Water
In repentance you die to a life of sin, and in water baptism you are buried (see
chapter 2). When you come out of the water, it is symbolic of your resurrection to
newness of life and God can then fill you with His Holy Spirit at the moment of
baptism, while you are still in the water. God does not always move in the same way.
Some receive the Holy Spirit before they are baptized in water, others afterwards
(Acts 10:44-48). The important thing is to be obedient to His commandment (Acts
5:32).
3. Offer Him Sincere Worship from the Heart
Worship is not the same as giving thanks to God in prayer. It is something that
maybe you are not used to doing, especially if you are a man. Do not be nervous,
tense or fearful, it will only make it more difficult to receive the gift from God. Feel
relaxed, comfortable, with confidence to receive what the Lord wants to give you.
Think about Jesus with His arms stretched towards you. Raise your hands to Him as
if you were going to embrace Him, and start to worship Him with expressions like:
Alleluia! Glory! With worship that comes out of your innermost being, not from your
mind.
God loves this kind of worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). After all, is
that not what you always have desired; to love God in spirit and in truth, without any
barriers or obstacles; to be in him and him in you, in an inexplicable spiritual
ecstasy? (1 Peter 1:8).
4. Have Faith That He Will Fulfill What He Promised
God is not going to give you something that is not good, something that can
harm you. If men being evil know how to give good gifts to their children, how
much more will our heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?
(Luke 11:9-13). Ask with faith, confidence and insistence and you will receive
living waters from God. You have already obeyed the Word, done your part, now
God will do His part, you only have to receive. Proceed to make contact with God,
where you are going to feel His divine presence. A warmth will touch your heart,
and possibly you will be surprised when you feel hot tears running down your
cheeks, while you speak words of love and gratitude for his forgiveness and great
love for you (John 3:16).
5. Let the Holy Spirit Immerse You
When you feel the presence of the Lord no dot stop, but continue to worship
Him. Warmth will touch your heart. You have to leave the dimension of human
thought and cross to the dimension of the Holy Spirit. God’s ways are not our ways
(Isaiah 55:9). Your attitude has to be like that of a child (Mathew 18:3), and confide
in Him one hundred percent. Like a child believes and obeys, so likewise you start a
spiritual transformation. You will find yourself sinking more and more into the ocean
of God’s love. Your lips will start to shake, and tears will start to run down your
cheeks, your voice will intensify. Stretch your hands like a child towards the strong
arms of your Heavenly Father. Talking about the baptism of the Spirit Jesus said: If
anyone thirsts, come to me and drink; he that believes in me, as the scripture says,
out of his belly shall flow living waters” (John 7:37-39).
6. Drink of the Living Water Jesus is Giving you to Drink
No one can drink with his mouth closed. God says: “Open your mouth and I
will fill it.” Got cannot fill your mouth if it is closed. Some people do not receive
the infilling of the Holy Spirit because they close their mouths, or do not open them
enough. Open your mouth with confidence and let the Lord fill it with angelic words
that He will put in your heart. You are thirsty of that living water, receive it. Thirst
is one of man’s most urgent needs and can be quenched with water or with some
other beverage. But the thirst of the soul can only be quenched with the water that
proceeds from heaven (Isaiah 55:1; 44:3; Revelation 21:6, 22:17).
If you try to quench the thirst of your soul with things of this world, you will
realize that your spiritual thirst will not be quenched (Job 29:23). You can be
surrounded with water, but you will die of thirst unless you open your mouth and
drink. In the New Testament, the word spirit also means breath. Breathe deeply this
breath of God and you will speak freely the words that He is giving you to speak.
7. Give the Control of Your Tongue to the Lord.
On the day of Pentecost, everyone started to speak in other tongues as the spirit
gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). The same way a teacher shows the students how to
say a poem, she does not say the poem, but only shows them what they must say.
The same way, the Holy Spirit does not force anyone to speak in tongues, nor does it
speak through anyone as if they were phonographs. What the Spirit does is guide,
giving us words or suggesting what we should say. It is not begging or persuading.
The disciples on the day of Pentecost spoke the words the Spirit suggested to
them, but it was them who spoke voluntarily. They did not care how strange the
words were going to sound, nor what the people thought; they just spoke in faith
whatever the Spirit gave them to speak. Not everyone speaks the same when they
are filled with the Holy Spirit; some speak in a low voice, others scream, but it
always starts with short words of one syllable. While those words are there, say
them again and again until He gives you more to say. While you are receiving, He
will continue to give you more.
Just like children do not speak great words at first, but start by saying simple
words like “dada”; it is the same when you start to speak in tongues. You are starting
to form words with your lips and tongue. This is the way every person starts to
speak naturally and supernaturally, in our own native tongue and also in the tongue
of angels (1 Corinthians 13:1). Someone helped us, encouraged us, syllable by
syllable, word by word, phrase by phrase. Our Heavenly Father is pleased as any
human father would be, when you start to say words in the language of the spirit He
wants to hear. Can’t you hear His voice encouraging you: “Speak my child, speak.”
E. The Pentecostal Language
The Holy Spirit will prompt you to express yourself in the following ways:
1. Stammering Lips (Isaiah 28:11)
This happens when your lips and tongue start to shake. If this happens, speak
clearly in faith. This is a sign that there is another tongue present. This is where
many people stop the Holy Spirit from manifesting, because they insist in speaking
in their own language when He is guiding us to speak in His language. You will
continue to stammer as long as you persist in speaking in your own native tongue.
When you start to babble and stutter, immediately stop trying to speak in your own
language and start to speak in the unknown tongue. You cannot speak two languages
at the same time. It is not possible. When you feel that God is present to baptize you,
do not hinder the Lord by repeating words or phrases in your known language.
Sometimes while the Spirit is trying to lead a person to speak in other tongues,
because of the blessing the person is experiencing, they start to say: “Glory, glory,
glory” never allowing the Holy Spirit to baptize them. When the Holy Spirit comes
upon you to baptize you, do not say anything in your own tongue, but say the words
and sounds He is giving you to say. Do not drown them in your unbelief.
When you feel the words of the Spirit inside of you, you will feel an urge to say
them. This may happen when you are praying, reading the Bible or just worshipping
the Lord. When you feel the urge to say these words, do not reject them, obey Him
and you will speak in tongues. Some people expect the Spirit to do everything, or
think these urges are from the flesh. But the flesh will never lead anyone to the
baptism of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17). The flesh is opposed to tongues. It will
tell you that it is you who are inventing the words, or you are just repeating what you
heard someone else say. The flesh wants to express itself and cause you to continue
to speak in your native tongue, and not in angelic tongues.
2. Strange Sounds and Words
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the one that initiates speaking in
tongues. Those sounds and words do not come from your flesh or your imagination,
the Holy Spirit is giving them to you. Some people have even seen themselves in
dream speaking in tongues, and when they woke up they simply continued speaking
in tongues.
When you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, simply continue the internal
impulses and start to speak in tongues without knowing what you will say. It is an
act of faith (Hebrews 11:8). The key word is to trust in God. Without knowing
exactly what you will say, you allow God to guide you while you are speaking. Do
not doubt; prepare yourself to speak in tongues when God fills you with the Holy
Spirit. God is giving you words to say, do it with confidence and faith.
The Holy Spirit has already been given. God does not have anything else to
give; it is you who has to receive. Receive it confidently, simply and calmly. Do not
be nervous or rigid; do not doubt or resist it, but simply open your mouth and drink
the living waters He is giving you. Speak those strange sounds that are coming from
your heart, say them again and again and you will start to fill the bubbling sensations
starting in the pit of your stomach as you are being filled with His Spirit. Continue
to drink and don’t stop until you are satisfied.
F. After Your Pentecost
This is what you have waited for and desired all your life. Your spirit has united
to His. What a joy to know that He has filled you with His presence, and you are
now the temple of the Holy Spirit. Thank and worship Him every day for giving you
His precious Holy Spirit. Once you have been filled with the Spirit, do not remain
there but renew your experience daily by drinking the living waters and letting Him
fill you again and again. When the living waters are flowing inside of you, you will
start to speak in tongues again. Each refilling can be more glorious that the original
baptism.
When the believers are not directed to these new outpourings of the Spirit and to
win others to the Lord, gradually they start to dry spiritually. Tell others about the
experience you just had with the Lord, and watch how God will use you to touch
many lives for His glory. One of the reasons you were baptized with the Spirit is to
be a witness for Christ and to win others to the Lord. Your spiritual growth is very
important, and to achieve that spiritual growth you need to pray, fast, read your Bible
and attend a local church where you will be taught the word of God and how to live a
Christian life.