Repent and Be Baptized

"The sermon preached in the power of the Holy Spirit invariably commanded men not only to repent, but to be baptized with the Holy Spirit." --Cortland Myers, 1909



In Matthew 3 we meet up with John the Baptist again, who is now calling men to repent and be baptized with water, for "the kingdom of heaven is at hand", meaning near. But what did he say a few days on?

Matthew 3:11-12 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with an unquenchable fire."

And who could do that? Jesus the only begotten Son of God, who must first go through a time of testing and temptations in the wilderness. Did He bring Himself there? No. Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus LED up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." To prepare for that part of His journey Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.

When He was hungry, He was tempted by the tempter to turn stone into bread. When the devil brought Him to Jerusalem (the holy city), he tempted Him to jump off the highest pinnacle of the temple to see if God's angels would catch Him. When the devil took Him to a very high mountain, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory, the tempter offered Jesus these if only Jesus would worship him.

But none of these temptations did Jesus give into. Not just because He is God's Son, The Lord Jesus Christ but because Jesus had the Holy Spirit with Him. As an example for us, Jesus showed us that WE CAN OVERCOME TEMPTATION when we have JESUS, THE WORD OF GOD, and THE HOLY SPIRIT of GOD upon us! That is exciting news!

And what were the first words out of His mouth afterwards? Matthew 4:17 "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And while He made the rounds of the cities healing the sick, teaching in parables and raising the dead, He was forgiving sins, too, to the heart that sought Him in earnest.

Now, we move to Acts 1:4-5 "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Which brings us to Acts 2:1-4 wherein the 120 men and women are in the upper room fellowshipping and praying together waiting for the Promise of God to arrive. Fifty days after the Passover Sabbath had passed is the Day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-16), the feast of weeks (Deuteronomy 16:10), the feast of harvest (Exodus 23:16), and the day of the firstfruits (Numbers 28:26).

Afterwards, these men and women went out into the city streets proclaiming the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is here in Acts 2:38 that we hear Peter say to us, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

But this Promise/Blessing is not given just to them/us, Acts 2:39 "For the Promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Whether 'afar off' means geographically or genealogically, that Promise is still active today; just as the call of God on our lives is!

So, today, we say "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You and your children and those that are afar off."

----Oh, Father God, I repent of all my wicked ways, of the sins in my heart and my life. Have mercy on me and forgive me. Deliver me from an unrighteous lifestyle and lead me in Your Word. Give me Your gift of the Holy Ghost that I might walk and live in Your power. Teach me Your ways and Your will that I might never stray from You again. Fill me and feed me that I may not hunger for the things of this world but be content in You. Be glorified, O my God, in me. In Jesus' Name, Amen. And amen. ----

With One Accord

Acts 2:1-4
"And when the day of Pentecost was full come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it was upon each of them.
And they were all filled with The Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as The Spirit gave them utterance."

The Day of Pentecost is exactly 50 days after the end of the last day of Passover. But was Passover for? Well, in Exodus 12:43=Moses was given the Law of Passover to share with the people of God, and we find that Passover is not a 'what', but an 'it'. 

V. 43: No stranger could eat it
V. 44: Every man's servant whose freedom was bought had to be circumcised first before partaking in it
V. 45: A foreigner and a hired servant could not eat it
V. 46: The Passover was for each household. The whole of the lamb must be consumed with no bones broken.
V. 47: All the congregation of Israel is to keep the Passover.
V. 48: When a stranger visits, and keeps the Passover, every male must be circumcised, then that stranger may draw near to the Passover and keep it; "he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof". 
V. 49: One law for both the the homeborn and the stranger that lives among us

Why is it important to know such things when we are hundreds of years past The Book of Exodus? Knowing what I know and wanting to know more, it is important to me to not just read my Bible but study it out. Therefore, I know that each of these laws can be confirmed elsewhere in the Bible. 

Exodus 12 describes the Passover in detail. It is important that you open your Bible and read therein, as well. The Passover was not just partaking in the unblemished (v 5) lamb, but the blood of the lamb was to be applied to the doorposts of their homes (v 7). For death would sweep through Egypt, and where the blood was applied, death would pass over that household. And they were to remember this day every year with a feast unto to The LORD, through all generations. 

You know why it is important to know this? To understand what happened in the beginning of New Testament times, at the end of Christ's ministry and the beginning of The Holy Spirit's ministry. 
For with Christ's ascension into heaven He gave them one more word, one more thing they must do: "You shall receive power, after that The Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8). 

And it is in Acts 1:14 that we find they who wanted this power, the disciples and the women who also followed Christ, gathered together, praying for this Holy Ghost power which Christ had promised them. Which brings us to Acts 2:1-4. 

With one accord and in one place
A sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind, which filled all the house
Cloven tongues like fire upon each one of them
All filled with The Holy Ghost
All speaking in other tongues, as The Spirit gave 

In verse 5-12 we see that this power was immediately put forth. Each Israelite and stranger who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover heard the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ in his own native tongue. You can imagine the shock and awe effect that was upon all who heard these men and women proclaiming the gospel boldly and with such passion! 

Where is our passion? Where is our fire? Where is our boldness? 

"Lord, rekindle me. Light the fire of  Your Holy Spirit within my heart that I might be filled with Your passion for the lost. Give to my tongue boldness of speech, without fear of reprisal. Fill me to day. And let this my prayer be each day until Your return or You call me home." Amen. 

John 20:19-23

What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? What is His job? The Father is God the Creator. The Son, is God the Redeemer. But who is this Holy Spirit? He is God the Re-Creator.

The Holy Spirit is God working on the inside of us, doing the work of the transformation. You see, God doesn't just tell us what He wants us to be. That's the work of the Father.

He doesn't show what He wants us to be. That's the work of the Jesus, the Son. God actually gets inside of us; starts making us into what He wants us to be. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 11:2 is a prophetic verse of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and reveals to us the working of the Holy Spirit. "...and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." We see in this verse that the Holy Spirit's job is to instill us with WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, COUNSEL, MIGHT, KNOWLEDGE AND FEAR of the LORD. That's a might big job description right there. And only one person in the trinity gets to do it: Holy Spirit.

Now, you and I may be going through some tough times right now. Do you feel as if God is far away right now? Well, He isn't. Luke 4:1 lets us know that "..And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...". Wow. Do you realize what this means? Right after His water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit LED Him into the wilderness. Why? To do battle with the enemy and overcome the temptations and obstacles Satan lays before us.

We are taunted, mocked, discredited; offered power, glory and fame. The devil wants us to believe that he is greater than God and do more for us than our God can. BUT GOD, through the Holy Spirit, shows us how to overcome, to battle and win, these minor pitfalls. Jesus was able to make it through each battle, each temptation, because the Holy Spirit was with Him. It is through the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit that Scripture which we read and study, is brought to mind to rebuke Satan. God's Word reveals the devil to be the liar and manipulator he really is.

In Luke 4:3 Satan tempted Jesus with hunger. "turn this stone into bread". Luke 4:5-7 Christ is tempted with power "worship me and I will give you everything you see" Luke 4:9 "jump" Prove yourself and that your God is who He says He is.

Christ made it through the wilderness because He had the Holy Spirit with Him. Jesus showed us by example that when we have the Holy Spirit on us, working in us, that we, too, can make it through the wilderness. You and I are not going to make it through any wilderness journey without Him. If you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, now is the time to ask God for it.

"O, Lord, I need Your Holy Spirit to come into my life, to give me power to live the life which You have ordained for me. Endow me, Lord, with the wisdom, the understanding, the knowledge and the fear of the Lord, that I may live a life that glorifies God. Fill me, use me, teach me all of Your ways that Your Name would be glorified and Your kingdom increased. I need You, Lord. Now more than ever before, more everyday, I need Your Holy Spirit living in me. Teaching me every second of my day to walk in the power of Your Word, changing me "from glory to glory"; advancing in spiritual knowledge of how to overcome every little satanic arrow that is flung in my direction. O Lord, I recognize that I am nothing without You; that with You revealing more and more of Yourself to me every second of my life through the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit I am able to walk in humility and grace. Baptize me." Amen