Baptism in the Holy Ghost

In order to be baptized, we must give absolute surrender to God.

1 Kings 20:1-4 ~ “And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have”

Ahab gave what was asked of him – absolute surrender. This is what God wants from us.

Look at two other verses:

Acts 4:8 ~ “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost”

Ephesians 5:18 ~ “Be filled with the Spirit”

Acts 4:8 – is a narrative; tells what actually happened.

Ephesians 5:18 – is a command; tells what should be done.

First we must understand that being filled with the Spirit does NOT mean a state of high emotion. Nor does it mean absolute perfection or a level at which there can be no more growth. Being filled with the Spirit is simply this: The whole personality is yielded to His power. When the soul is yielded to the Holy Spirit, God himself will fill it.

How do we prepare ourselves for the baptism of the Holy Spirit? How did the disciples prepare themselves for the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

The disciples had a three year baptism course. They had forsaken all to follow Jesus. Jesus asked the fishermen to leave their nets; He asked another to leave his tax collecting. Peter says, “We have left everything to follow you!” – their homes, their extended families, their work, their good name. They were mocked and laughed at for leaving all to follow Jesus. People called them the disciples of Jesus, which was considered a mockery. When Jesus was despised and hated, they were hated too. They identified themselves with Him; they utterly yielded themselves to do His will, to go wherever He commanded. We must forsake all to follow Christ! We are not talking about sin.

QUESTION: Where in the Bible does it say that the Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell in an unclean temple?

This verse is NOT in the Bible in these words, HOWEVER we can read scriptures and see that God will not allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in an unclean temple. God wants an ABSOLUTE SURRENDER to Him.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ~ “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

1 Corinthians 6:19 ~ “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Now that we have briefly looked at Absolute Surrender to God; we need to look at the fact the devil wants to STOP the move of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:12-15 ~ “Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)”

Six things that we see from these verses:

• Obey Jesus. We see that the disciples returned to the very center of the opposition against Christ. They are taking a step of faith.
• Center around the appointed leaders. Leaders appointed by God/Christ are to be the leaders of the church and believers must be centered around them if they wish God’s presence and blessings. It is not our agenda, nor the leaders agenda, but it is God’s will and agenda we need to follow.
• To continue in one accord. The disciples were in the upper room for one reason; to seek and wait upon the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
• To pray steadfastly. They continued, persevered, endured, persisted, and stuck to praying.
• To have a leader who willingly leads.
• To heed what the leaders says. Notice in the upper room that all 120 believers listened and gave heed to Peter’s leadership. No leader could lead unless the people are willing to follow. God’s presence and blessings are dependent upon the believers following the leader God has given them.