Baptism of the Holy Spirit - 1

Matthew 13:19

When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart... 

The above verse talks about the importance of understanding the Word of God. When we do not understand the Word, satan can come and snatch the Word from our hearts.  Therefore, I want to make your understanding about the Baptism of te Holy Spirit clearer in this post. 

To begin with, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit gives the believer the power to be a witness. When Jesus Christ was born, he was God from the very beginning of his Life. The angel spoke of Jesus Christ on the day of this birth saying: Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11). Jesus was Lord from from the very beginning, but even he began his earthly ministry only after receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not preach or perform any miracles before he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. 

For it is written: 

Luke 3:22

And the Holy Ghost descended, in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

When Jesus was baptized by John, The Holy Ghost came upon him in a bodily shape like a dove. After this Jesus was tempted by the Devil for forty day in the desert. When the forty days were over, Jesus began teaching in the synagogues and this is what he said: 

Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;

he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to to preach deliverance to the captives, to set recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

When Jesus Christ said that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him to preach, heal and deliver, he was clearly referring to the Holy Spirit that came upon him when he was baptized at the river Jordan. In an another verse it is written:

Acts 10:38

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the Devil; for God was with him.

Now we believe in God who is one, but exists in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now these three are so depended on each that other that Jesus would not and could not begin his ministry without the Holy Spirit. 

When Jesus was returning back to the Father, the last words that he spoke to his disciples were:

Acts 1:4-9

And, being assembled together with them, 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.

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

The last instructions of Jesus Christ were that the disciples should not begin preaching, healing or delivering without the Holy Spirit. Therefore they waited and it was only after they received the Holy Spirit that they began to preach Christ and about 3000 people were added to the church that day. (Acts 2:41). This is a lesson for everyone who wants to be a witness for Christ. God doesn't want you to be a witness with your own strength and power but you must be a witness with his power. Therefore you must first receive the Holy Spirit before you begin any form of ministry for Christ. We will talk about receiving the Holy Spirit in the next post.