Many years ago, in another state and in another local church, a friend of mine facetiously labeled me “Brother Agitator”. I was not at all offended and thought it somewhat funny at the time, however, these many years later I realize that perhaps without her knowing it, she had prophesied my true calling.
I am perpetually driven by a holy frustration of the overabundance of sound asleep churches in America, and I realize that’s why I write so critically, and so often about the many causes of this frustration. While I know that churches, as long as they are filled with human beings, will be forever imperfect, that is not where I take issue with them; I take issue with their incredible and indefensible ignorance of God’s Word with regard to one thing: the Person of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not just the essence of Jesus’ thoughts, rather He is a stand-alone PERSON, and by and large our American churches have no clue Who this Person is, other than a placeholder in the Trinity.
Let me introduce you to my best Friend, the Holy Spirit:
Jesus, in Matthew 28, told His disciples to “Go into all the world”, but He then told them in the following historical book of Acts, to ‘wait’ until they had received the ‘promise of the Father’ (Acts 1:4). Mind you, this is after Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
So far, I should have aroused no theological controversy, but the majority of our church denominations are preached to and taught that when a person is “saved”, he or she receives the Holy Spirit…end of story. Here is the controversy: that is not the whole truth…not at all!
In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we can read the very clear, unmistakable testimony spoken by none other than John the Baptist. Here is the testimony of John in easy to read, list form:
Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:7,8; Luke 3:16 and John 1:33. If you take the few minutes it takes to look up and read these verses you will easily see what John is testifying to, that while he was sent to baptize in water (for repentance), Jesus Christ is the One Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Since there are obviously two baptisms clearly mentioned here, what is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and is that still available to believers today? The opening chapters in the book of Acts give one very clear answer to that essential question.
The amazing occurrence that happened to the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, detailed in Acts 2, culminated right after the apostle Peter stated to the assembled onlookers in verse 38, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (water baptism), for the forgiveness of (your) sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The entire context of Acts 2 concerns the crowd witnessing the effects of the baptism of power they had seen in those disciples, who were already believers, as evidenced by the tongues they spoke after the Holy Spirit rushed into the Upper Room. That was, and still is, the fulfillment of the ‘promise of the Father’ previously spoken to them by Jesus, in Acts 1:4.
Our modern Christian churches in America are seen as unique in all the rest of the world as typified by doing the very best they can to obey Jesus’ commandments without being empowered by the power of God, the Person of the Holy Spirit. In effect, our churches seem to be saying, “Thanks for starting us off…we’ll take it from here.” The most generous word I can use for that unempowered mindset is ignorance, and in North America there is no cogent defense against that observation. We are trying to energize slumbering Christianity in America by providing believers with everything they need to drive the car of discipleship while at the same time, denying them the spark plug for the engine.
Just a cursory glance of the history in the book of Acts is summarily replete with accounts of the gospel message being energized by the Person of the Holy Spirit and being spread throughout the known world. Please get this: THE BAPTISM WITH WATER FOR REPENTANCE IS NOT THE SAME AS THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, and this is quite clearly stated and accurately implied throughout the Book of Acts and the rest of our New Testament. Paul wrote his letters to churches he knew to be filled with believers who had been baptized in water AND in the Holy Spirit. Read Acts 19:1-7.
Years ago, I bought a Plymouth Duster in bright purple. I ordered it from the factory partially because I wanted a unique color. I waited for two weeks for the new car to be delivered, and during that time I began to notice many other purple cars. The point is, we humans tend to “see” only what we expect to see, and we are somewhat pre-blinded to anything unanticipated. That’s just how we are.
The Bible texts are very often viewed in the same half-blind way. If you dare to become pre-disposed to recognize the possibility that water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism are distinctly two different things, both part of the normal Christian life, the Bible will come alive as you read it. I guarantee it!
Get to know the Author of the Bible, Who Himself is the Voice of God, and you’ll find Him everywhere! And once that happens you will easily see the only real, true essence of Revival. We don’t need more knowledge; we need more of Him, and He’ll provide the doors to the knowledge we need.
John Miltenberger
Photo: globalawareness101.org
To read more articles by John Miltenberger click here.
