Chapter 2: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE BHS EXPERIENCE
** Is isn’t that the HS doesn’t speak to us; it’s that we don’t hear, because we don’t listen. **
Most Christians go their whole life on just the first or second step of the spiritual stairway and never awaken to the fact that there is much more available to them if they’ll just look to climb higher. At ground level is the non-Christian. One step up is the nominal Christian. Two steps up is the sincere Christian who tries hard and does everything right; but who doesn’t know there is more to come once they receive the Holy Spirit (HS). Most Christians don’t even know they should look for more.
There is an experience called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (BHS). We’ve all read the poem entitled “Footprints” (of disputed authorship) where we hear of someone who had Jesus walking beside them throughout their life and at times Jesus even carried them. It’s a touching story and for most of us that’s all we know to seek. However, it is possible to have a relationship with God that’s even closer than being carried by Him — and that is to have Him actually living within us. Remember the analogy that we are temples for the Holy Spirit? We’ve heard this many times and find it a nice mental image; but we never knew we could take it literally. And those who do become aware of this as a possibility then have the problem of figuring out how to achieve it.
As for how to gain the BHS experience, the Holy Spirit is able to tell you all you need to know; and this book will serve as step by step guide to help you reach it. But as for how long it will take, that varies from one individual to another. It is affected by how quickly you’re able to make changes in what you do and how you think. For some of us, we’re so stubborn and ingrained with wrong ideas and emotional baggage that it takes quite awhile. So it’s a “good news / bad news” situation. The good news is the steps are fairly easy to understand. The bad news is you may find them difficult to actually carry out.
The first step has two parts. And for many people completing this step is enough to receive the BHS. One thing is to be forgiven for everything between us and God. Remember Is 59:2, “Your sins have hid His face from you.” This doesn’t mean that God hides from us when we’re sinful; it means that our sins are a barrier between us and block our communion with Him.
The second thing is to pray more. No matter how much we’re praying now, if we don’t have the BHS then we’re not praying enough. You may accept that you need to pray longer but are wondering what in the world you can pray for; because after two or three minutes you run out of things to say. Well, once you start trying to identify all your sins, you will have plenty to keep you busy.
Too many people pray like this: “Dear Lord, forgive me for anything I may have done wrong; bless the missionaries across the sea; Amen. Now where’s the TV clicker, my show is on.” If that’s anything like how you pray, you’ll never get the BHS. An example of a better prayer would be: “Dear Jesus, Please forgive me for getting angry. This morning I yelled at my wife; on the highway I got frustrated with other drivers; on the job I snapped at a co-worker and said bad things under my breath about the boss; on the way home I got mad at that guy who cut me off; and this evening I screamed at the kids when they interrupted my TV show. I know I have a problem, but it’s beyond my ability to control. Please take this angry spirit from me. Amen.”
What does it mean to be forgiven for everything between you and God? It doesn’t mean you have to try to think of everything you’ve ever done in the past. For example, you don’t have to try to remember what you did on February 4, 1972. But you do need to identify everything that is an “active” sin in your life today; even if it’s something whose origin dates back several years.
Trying to identify all your sins is harder than it sounds; because while many of our faults are obvious to us, some of them are difficult to recognize due to our wish not to admit they’re wrong. For example, suppose there is someone who hurt us deeply many years ago. We may feel justified in being mad at that person; after all, they were wrong. What is more, we actually enjoy hating them; we get pleasure from thinking of terrible things happening to them. Or perhaps we don’t think of them much anymore, but on those occasions when their name does come to mind, we get a rush of negative feelings. This would be one of those things that is still active but which we don’t readily think of when we’re trying to find everything between us and God.
Another example would be things which we’ve done for so long that we’ve forgotten they’re wrong. Long ago we stopped listening to that little voice telling us it was a problem, and instead we justified our actions in our own eyes. We say, “It’s not that bad. Other people are doing it. I have a right to do it.”, and so on. Alternately, it may be something we don’t practice everyday, but which is laying in our heart waiting for the right occasion to express itself. This would include things such as classism, racism, religious intolerance, political intolerance, and so on.
Another problem keeping you from receiving the BHS may be negative feelings toward God. Perhaps something bad happened to you in the past and He didn’t prevent it. Perhaps someone you loved died even though God could have saved them. Perhaps you’ve been a good Christian and yet He isn’t blessing you as much as you feel you deserve. It’s hard to admit we’re upset with God, because even the thought of being mad at Him seems like a taboo. But denying what we feel doesn’t mean it’s not there. And even if we fool ourselves, we’re not deceiving God. He sees what’s in our heart; yet He’s willing to help us anyway. So if we have these feelings we need to recognize them, and be honest with ourselves, then ask God to help us get over them.
About now you may be thinking you can’t possibly overcome all these things, so if that’s what has to be done first, then you might as well give up on trying to get the BHS. Well I didn’t say you have to overcome all your sins; I only said you have to be forgiven for them all. Forgiveness only requires that we confess our sins. That is to say, we only admit to God that we have these problems in our lives, and we ask Him to forgive us for them.
He forgives us even before the sins are gone from us. In fact, that’s the way it has to be; because we can’t possibly get rid of our sins by ourselves. We admit we have a problem, then we turn the problem over to God and ask Him to remove it from us. And He will. He will take these things from us once we acknowledge them and ask Him to do so.
If you feel discouraged and doubt that you will ever receive the BHS, remember two verses, and meditate on what they mean for you. You are studying about the HS because you want to be with Jesus and you want to have the Holy Spirit living within you. Where did this desire come from? Jesus tells us in Jn 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him.” This means that even your desire to be with Jesus and to have the Spirit within you comes from the Father; HE put that longing within you. And if He gave you this desire, then you can be sure that He wants you to be with Him. Next we are told in Ph 1:6 “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” This means that you can be sure you will make it as long as you allow Him to continue to work in you. He’s already doing what needs to be done to get you ready, and He will continue until the process is complete. Just keep cooperating with Him and it will happen.
Since even our desire for Jesus is a gift, we are able to pray for a greater measure of this gift. That means you can pray that your desire for the HS be strengthened, so that obtaining the BHS becomes the most important thing to you. This will help you be prepared to receive Him.
Once you think you’ve confessed everything and that all is forgiven, ask God if all is right between you and Him. You probably won’t hear a voice thundering from Heaven giving you an answer to that question. But you should get some sort of sensation or thought that lets you know the answer. God will prompt you in a way that you can understand. So when you ask that question, you should get some sort of feeling in response: either a “Yes” or a “No”. If things are not all right, then you need to keep searching for the thing that is blocking Him. If things are all right, then you’re ready to receive the BHS. Continue your self-searching and confessing until you’re sure that everything is cleared.
When all is forgiven and the way is open, then it’s just a matter of accepting the HS into your heart by faith. At first you may have doubts. “God won’t really come to me.” Or, “What if He makes me do something I don’t want to do.” And so on. But you must push these thoughts away. You must have faith that He will come to you; remember the verse in He 11:6, “Without faith it’s impossible to please God.” Also, remember that God has promised to give you the HS; so He won’t break His word. At this point you need to listen for His voice telling you that He is there. When you get this, welcome Him in and give Him thanks. You will experience a tremendous rush of overwhelming joy, acceptance, and love.
You’ll be able to feel Him touching you in a real and physical way. It may feel like a tingling all over, or a feeling of lightness, or waves of warmth, or a feeling of being hugged from inside, or a particular sensation in one part of your body; or any of a number of other tangible sensations. Along with the physical manifestation will come an awareness that leaves you with no doubt that it is indeed God Himself coming to have a relationship with you.
Enjoy this experience as long as possible. And don’t forget that each day, you need to keep renewing this connection with Him. Once you’re at this point, it will be no problem to pray for long periods. You will want to come to Him often in order to experience this feeling repeatedly. You will be able to feel Him touching you in different ways. At times you will be able to hear Him whispering to you. And on occasion you may get a flash of insight about a certain situation; then as things play out this insight proves to be completely accurate.
He will be patient with you, even through missteps and downfalls, so long as you’re diligently trying to improve. But if you slack off in your efforts, if you stop trying to grow a little more each day, if you take the HS for granted, then that lessening will show that keeping this closeness with God is no longer the most important thing to you. Once the HS slips to second, third, or fourth place in your interests for an extended period, then He’ll leave. Later, once you’re no longer preoccupied and you look for Him, you’ll wonder when He left. “Gee how long have I been neglecting our relationship?” Once you’ve done that you’re likely to find it much harder to get Him back a second time than it was to get Him in the first place. So remember, be diligent!
When you receive the BHS and enter this close relationship with God through the HS, you will find something interesting about your prayers. First, they will be much more effective. That is, many of the things you pray for will actually start happening. Just a small disclaimer: not everything will happen; and you’ll have to learn by experimentation what works, what doesn’t, and why. Second, you will discover that your prayers begin changing their form. You start quoting passages from Scripture, because you recognize these as promises for you. You stop begging and instead just present your desires, knowing that He wants to give you what you ask. You become more bold in approaching Him; just as you don’t fear to talk to your earthly father. You become more secure in your position as a Child of Heaven.
God really wants to be with us and to work through us. He is only waiting for us to be sure that having His Spirit within is what we really want. You must be sure of your desire, and want His presence above all else. After that God does all the rest: in us, for us, and through us.
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