When the Spirit of the Lord is upon us we impart not words, but life. Words are only that you may understand what the Word is, but the Word is really life-giving. So when we are covered with the Spirit we are imparting life.
Every time we get up, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we impart life. If you are ready to receive it, it is amazing how it will quicken your mortal body every time you touch this life. It is divine life. It is the life of the Son of God.
I want to lay down a foundation on why Jesus emphasized the baptism of the Holy Spirit, how to receive the baptism, and the cause of the baptism, because Jesus expressed all these things to His disciples. I want to dwell on this to get you to a real foundation for the baptism truth so that you will never wait before God without a clear understanding of what the baptism is for, what you are waiting for, etc.
To begin with, we find a remarkable word in Matthew 3:11:
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh 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.”
The expression of a man who was so filled with the Spirit of God that his very voice became an active process of a divine flame that moved the whole of creation of that day. From east to west and north to south he spoke by the power of the Holy Ghost till people gathered at Jordan in multitudes, drawn by this voice of one crying in the Spirit. What a remarkable word he gave!
Most of us have seen water baptism in action so often that we know what it means. But if I could only get you to see that that form of baptism covering you is the very great desire of God that you should be so immersed and covered and flooded with the light and revelation of the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Trinity, that it shall be filling your whole body. And not only filling but overcovering you till you walk in the presence of the power of God.
O Jesus, let it come to pass that we never do anything in our own strength, but that all we do shall be done to the glory of the Lord! We cannot stop there. That was the first breath of revelation of what should take place for individuals – yes, and communities – yes, and the world.
Come Thirsty
Turn now to John 7:37–39:
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Jesus saw all the people, and He had not only a great heart of scrutinizing inwardly to be able to unfold, He saw things at a glance. He took the situation all in a moment. He knew when the people were about to famish and die by the wayside and supplied all their needs. We must not forget that He was filled with the Holy Ghost. He was lovely because He was full of divine inflow of the life of God. Look how He deals with this thing. He saw the people who had been at Jerusalem at the feast, and they were coming back dissatisfied. My Lord could not have anybody dissatisfied. My Lord could never be satisfied when anybody was dissatisfied. It is not in the canon of history of the spiritual fellowship between Heaven and Earth that you shall be famished, naked, full of discord, full of evil, full of disorder, full of sensuality, full of carnalities. (Photo via Unsplash)
That is what was taking place at the feast, and they came away hungrier than they were. Jesus saw them like that and He said: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. Come, ye thirsty to Me and I will give you drink.”
Oh! The Master could give. The Master had it to give! Beloved, He is here to give now, and I am sure He will give.
Yes, all the heavy hand of God is full of mercy. All the two-edged sword is full of dividing. All His quickening Spirit puts everything that needs to be dead, dead, that He might transform thee by the resurrection of His life.
And this is the order of the Spirit. Can’t you see how He says, “Come, thirsty; come, needy; I will give you a drink that shall create a thirst in you that shall prepare you for the coming of the Holy Ghost, that shall make that spring that I give you a river of living water.”
Which have you got? Have you the spring or the river? The spring is good because it has the same kind of water as the river. But the plentifulness is the river, and the Holy Ghost is the river. That is the reason why Jesus was portraying, forecasting, sending out these wonderful words that He might prepare the people for all the fullness that had to come on.
Your Extraordinary God
I want you to go away from these readings just infused. Make up your mind that you won’t be ordinary. You have an extraordinary God, with revelation. Be determined that you won’t go away as you came, but you will go away endued, imbued with the living touch of the flame of the Master’s torch.
I refuse to be an ordinary man. You say, “Why do you?” Because I have an extraordinary God who makes extraordinary people, and it is between believing God’s plan and not. When we speak this way, we are at the root of the matter that can bring forth anything. Because Abram believed God, every person is blessed today through faithful Abraham. He was an extraordinary man on faith. He believed God in the face of everything.
You would like to be extraordinary, wouldn’t you? You who have been longing for the baptism of the Holy Ghost and every day you have been waiting and tarrying; if you have got to a place of believing, you have got to a place where you have become extraordinary.
Invited into the Greater Works
Now I want to open out the fourteenth chapter of John. It is the Master’s word. It is the Master’s desire. He has just said to them in the twelfth verse, “Greater things than these shall ye do.” Why was His prospective so full? Because He had admiration before Him. Jesus had great admiration before Him when He saw the disciples. He knew He had the material that would bring out that which would prove to the world a real satisfaction – to Heaven and to the world.
Those glorified, exercised, wonderfully modified, and then glorified positions of these fishermen were surely ideal places. What were they? Unlearned, in one place (not that I am going to build on an unlearned position). Ignorant men in another place (not that I am going to build on that). But look – they were unlearned, but God taught them. It is far better to have the learning of the Spirit than anything else. They were ignorant. He enlarged them. They were beside themselves because they had been touched with the divine life. If the Most High God touches you, you will be beside yourself. As long as you hold your own, the natural and the spiritual will be mixed. But if ever you jump over the traces by the power of the new creation, you will find He has got hold of you.
Divine wisdom will never make you foolish. Divine wisdom will give you a sound mind. Divine wisdom will give you a touch of divine nature. Divine life is full of divine appointment and equipment, and you cannot be filled with the power of God without a manifestation. I would to God today that we understood to be filled with the Holy Ghost is to be filled with manifestation, the glory of the Lord being in the midst of us, manifesting His divine power.
Jesus knew that these people He had before Him were going to do greater things than He had done. How could they do it? None of us is able. None of us is capable. But our incapability has to be clothed with His divine ability, and our helplessness has to be filled with His power of helpfulness. This is why He knew. He knew He was going away and that if He went away it was expedient, it was necessary, it was important that another came in His place and took up the same thing in them as He had been telling them: “I in you and you in Me.” There was a plan of divine order. So the Holy Ghost was to come.
When the Comforter Comes
I want you to see what has to take place when He does come:
“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:16–18)
I don’t know a word that could be so fitting at this time as this word “Comforter.” I want to take you with me into the coming of the Holy Ghost. Jesus ascended. When He ascended, He prayed the Father that He would send the Comforter. A needy moment, a needy hour, a necessity. Why? Because the disciples would want comforting.
How can they be comforted? By taking the word of Christ and revealing it unto them. What could help them so much as a word by the Spirit? For the Spirit is breath, is life, is person, is power, the breath of Himself to us, the nature of Him. How beautiful that the Spirit when He came should be the Spirit of Truth! Oh, if we would only read that into our hearts!
Some people have said when the Holy Ghost came, “Could it be an evil power, or could an evil power possess us when we were waiting for the Holy Ghost?” Why brother, when you receive the Holy Ghost, you receive the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of revelation, the Spirit that takes the words of Jesus and makes them life to you. In the needy moment He is the Comforter. The Holy Ghost takes the words of Jesus, and He is so full of truth that He never puts anything to it. He gives you the unadulterated word of truth, of life. (Photo via Unsplash)
What the Holy Spirit Will Do
What will the Holy Ghost do? The Holy Ghost is prophetic. “Be of good cheer. Live in peace. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me.”
You say that is what Jesus said. It is what the Holy Ghost is taking and revealing to us and speaking to us. The Holy Ghost is the spokesman in these days. The Holy Ghost came to be the spokesman, and He spoke the Word. He is still taking the Word and speaking it. The Holy Ghost takes the words of Jesus, and He is so full of truth that He never puts anything to it. He gives you the unadulterated word of truth, of life. “He takes of Mine and reveals it unto you.” What is His? “I am the light of the world.” He came not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him should be saved.
The Holy Ghost takes these words and gives them to you. Here are words of the Master, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will.” Who is speaking? The Holy Ghost in the last days, the Spirit of Truth bringing forth the Word of life. “I will give you rest.” Rest? Oh, there is no rest like it! It can come when you are in the most tried moment.
When my dear wife was lying dead, the doctors could do nothing. They said to me, “She is done. We cannot help you.” My heart was so moved and I said, “O God, I can’t spare her!” I went up to her and I said, “Oh, come back! Come back and speak to me. Come back, come back!” And the Spirit of the Lord moved and she came back and smiled again.
Then the Holy Ghost said to me, “She is Mine. Her work is done. She is Mine.”
Oh, the comforting word! No one else could have done it, but the Comforter came. From that moment my dear wife passed out.
When the Lord reveals unto you that you must be filled with the Holy Ghost, seek only that one thing and God will give you that one thing.
Ah, beloved, it is true to me the Comforter has a word for us this day. He is the Comforter. There is only one Comforter and He has been with the Father from the beginning. He never comes only to give light. The Holy Ghost, when He comes into your body, is come to unveil the King, to assure you of His presence.
The person who says, “I am ready for anything,” will never get it.
“What are you seeking, my brother?”
“Oh, I am ready for anything.”
“You will never get anything.”
“Oh! Well, tell me how to get it.”
“One thing have I desired and that will I seek after.”
When the Lord reveals unto you that you must be filled with the Holy Ghost, seek only that one thing and God will give you that one thing. It is necessary for you to seek one thing first. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
Smith Wigglesworth was an extraordinary student in the school of faith. A man wholly yielded to the Spirit, Wigglesworth became a “Pentecostal phenomenon,” a vessel of God’s supernatural power. This legendary preacher cast out demons, healed the sick, and stirred up passion for God in the hearts of thousands.
Article used by permission: Destiny Image
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