Come, There Is Drought, We Are Thirsty, Come Holy Spirit Come, Rain Down Upon Us, Fill Us Now.

There was an utterly crucial thing that the apostles needed in order to be the most effective instruments in the hands of the living Jesus.

 They needed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Today we see Christians who are not baptized in the Holy Spirit.

 They live entirely on a mental level when it comes to their Christian walk.

They have retreated into doctrines, traditions of man and dogmatic theology.

The mark of the false church is that it loves to talk about itself.

But that is not how Jesus changed the world through obscure men and women gathered in Jerusalem.

Jesus commanded the apostles to stay and be baptized with the Holy Spirit:

" And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 

  Literally, what Jesus said to these eleven disciples (Judas now having left them) was, "Stick around in Jerusalem." 

That is the literal Greek expression. "Stick around!

 Don't go outside the city until the promise of the Father has come upon you."

 Why?

Because you'll make a mess of it if you try witnessing without this.

 This is an essential.

 You cannot be an effective Christian if you are not operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Every attempt made to advance the cause of Christianity which does not arise from that source only destroys the message God wants to convey.

 "It is absolutely essential," Jesus says to these men, "so don't try anything without it. Just wait, for, in a few days, you will receive the promise of the Father."

 It is the means by which the risen life of Jesus becomes available to us, continuously and constantly.

All that he is made available through all that I am.

This is why it was important that the Holy Spirit come because it is by means of the Spirit that Jesus' life is made available to us.

 These early Christians never witnessed about the church at all; they witnessed about the Lord, what he could do, how we would work, what a fantastic person he was, how amazing was his power, what he could do in human hearts.

The twentieth-century church is too often talking about what the church is, how great it is, what it ought to be doing.

It has its eyes focused on itself.

 But that was not true of the early church.

 Its eyes were focused on its Lord, and it was a witness to him.

The power is resurrection power.

An irresistible, quiet power.

There is no way to oppose it, no way to overthrow it, no way to stop it.

We see that there are two baptisms, one, a ritual to be immersed and covered in water.

And the other, a reality to be covered and immersed in the Holy Spirit.

They had been baptized in water, but that ritual was not enough, they now were told to wait for something, a reality that Almighty God, the Father had promised.

So when Peter explains what is happening in the baptism with the Holy Spirit, he says in verses 16–17:

This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

So when Jesus said in Acts 1:4, "Wait for the promise of the Father," what he meant was, "Wait till the promise of Joel 2 is fulfilled." The promise of the Father is what is now being experienced by the disciples.

This is confirmed in Acts 2:32–33.
 Cyril of Jerusalem observes:

 "as he, , "who is plunged in water, and baptized", is encompassed by the water on every side, so are they that are wholly baptized by the Spirit-
Cateches. 17. sect. 8. p. 247.

Earlier John the Baptist had led a brief renewal movement among the Jewish people by calling them to repent and receive forgiveness for their sins and be baptized as a sign of their new relationship to God (Luke 3:3).

But John made it clear that the Messiah was coming soon and would baptize the people not merely in water but in the Holy Spirit. In Luke 3:16 he says:

I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

 So Jesus is saying here in Acts 1:5, "This is going to happen in just a few days—you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. John immersed you in water; I am going to immerse you in the Holy Spirit. John drenched you in water; I am going to drench you in the Holy Spirit. This is something you need in order to be effective instruments of my life in the world. You need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit." 

So the main question to now be asked is,"Why do we need this baptism of the Holy Spirit?"

The essence of being baptized with the Holy Spirit is when a person, who is already a believer, receives extraordinary spiritual power for Christ-exalting ministry.

Some men would refer to this spiritual power as "the anointing" of God for service of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, we read: 

"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." Thus are we taught that there is a divine resident in every child of God."

 I think it is clearly taught in the Scripture that every believer has the Holy Ghost dwelling in him. 

 He may be quenching the Spirit of God, and he may not glorify God as he should, but if he is a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost dwells in him. 

But I want to call your attention to another fact.

 I believe today, that though Christian men and women have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, yet He is not dwelling within them in power; in other words, God has a great many sons and daughters without power.

 Now I tell you when the Spirit of God is on us for service, resting upon us, we are anointed, and then we can do great things.

I believe this is a mistake a great many of us are making; we are trying to do God's work with the grace God gave us ten years ago.

 We say, if it is necessary, we will go on with the same grace. 

Now, what we want is a fresh supply, a fresh anointing and fresh power, and if we seek it, and seek it with all our hearts, we will obtain it. 

The early converts were taught to look for that power. 

Philip went to Samaria, and news reached Jerusalem that there was a great work being done in Samaria, and many converts; and John and Peter went down, and they laid their hand on them and they received the Holy Ghost for service. 

I think that is what we Christians ought to be looking for- the Spirit of God for service - that God may use mightily in the building of His Church.

Acts 19 we read of twelve men at Ephesus, who, when the inquiry was made if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believe, answered: 

"We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." 

 I venture to say there are very many, who, if you were to ask them, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you first believed?" would reply, "I don't know what you mean by that." 

They would be like the twelve men down at Ephesus, who had never understood the peculiar relation of the Spirit to the sons of God. 

I firmly believe that the Church has just laid this knowledge aside, mislaid it somewhere, and so Christians are without power. 

Sometimes you can take one hundred members into the Church, and they don't add to its power.

 Now that is all wrong. If they were only anointed by the Spirit of God, there would be great power.

The great question before us now is, Do we want it?

The subject of witness-bearing in the power of the Holy Ghost is not sufficiently understood by the Church.

 Until we have more intelligence on this point we are laboring under great disadvantage.

 Now, if you will take your Bible and turn to the 15th chapter of John and the 26th verse, you will find these words:

 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."

 Here we find what the Spirit is going to do, or what Christ said He would do when He came; namely, that He should testify of Him.

 And if you will turn over to the second chapter of Acts you will find that when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost, and testified of what Christ had done, the Holy Spirit came down and bore witness to that fact, and men were convicted by hundreds and by thousands.

 So then man can not preach effectively of himself.

 He must have the Spirit of God to give ability, and study God's Word in order to testify according to the mind of the Spirit.

The witness of the Spirit is the witness of power.

 Jesus said, "The works that I do shall ye do also, and greater works than these shall ye do because I go to the Father." 

I used to stumble over that.

 I didn't understand it.

 I thought, what greater work could any man do than Christ had done? 

 How could any one raise a dead man who had been laid away in the sepulcher for days, and who had already begun to turn back to dust; how with a word could he call him forth?

 But the longer I live the more I am convinced it is a greater thing to influence a man's will; a man whose will is set against God; to have that will broken and brought into subjection to God's will - or, in other words, it is a greater thing to have power over a living, sinning, God hating man, than to quicken the dead.

 He who could create a world could speak a dead soul into life; but I think the greatest miracle this world has ever seen was the miracle at Pentecost.

 Here were men who surrounded the Apostles, full of prejudice, full of malice, full of bitterness, their hands, as it were, dripping with the blood of the Son of God, and yet an unlettered man, a man whom they detested, a man whom they hated, stands up there and preaches the Gospel, and three thousand of them are immediately convicted and converted, and become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing to lay down their lives for the Son of God.

 It may have been on that occasion that Stephen was converted, the first martyr, and some of the men who soon after gave up their lives for Christ.

This seems to me the greatest miracle this world has ever seen. 

But Peter did not labor alone; the Spirit of God was with him; hence the marvelous results.

Are you baptized in the Holy Spirit? 

You need to seek out those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

 Get them to lay their hands upon you and pray over you for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Have you received the Holy Spirit baptism?

 Paul asked the disciples of John the Baptist this in Acts 19:2
 
   He was told that they had not heard anything about the Holy Ghost.

 So Paul explained some things and then baptized them for a second time (only this time, in the name of Jesus).

Afterward, when he laid his hands on them, they received the Holy Ghost!

Many professing Christians have never heard this because most ministers do not believe this Bible experience is for people today.

However, regardless of the theology or doctrines that most ministers have been instructed to teach, the question above should be asked of every professing Christian today.

 Those who are truly independent thinking Bible students will search it out for themselves in the scriptures, and will find out what the Bible has to say about this matter.

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5, "... Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Romans 8:9 tells us, "...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
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 How does one know when they receive the Holy Ghost?
 
  Some ministers teach that the Holy Spirit is received "automatically" ... with no apparent outward manifestation ... when a person "believes" and accepts Christ as their personal Savior.

However, in Acts 8:12-17, we read about people who believed, yet they had NOT received the Holy Spirit.
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Acts Chapter 8

12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

 Acts 8:17 - Then laid they [their] hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

2 Timothy 1:6 - Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

1 Timothy 4:14 - Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

If there is no one to lay hands upon you, it is still very possible to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
 
We are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith.

How did you become a Christian?

 By faith. "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast." "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him."

You receive Christ by faith.

 You live by faith.

Everything you receive from God, from the moment of your spiritual birth until you die, is by faith.

Do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

You can be filled right now, by faith.

 The "just shall live by faith."

You do not earn God's fullness. You receive it by faith.

 Now, is it God's will for you to be filled and controlled by Him?

 Of course it is -- for it is His command!

Then right now you can ask God to fill you -- not because you deserve to be filled, but on the basis of His promise.

We are leaky vessels that need to constantly be filled.

 Being filled with the Holy Spirit, however, is not a once-and-for-all experience.

There are many fillings, as is made clear in Ephesians 5:18.

 ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be (GR:be ye being) filled with the Spirit,

 In the Greek language in which this command was originally written, the meaning is clearer than that in most English translations.

This command of God means to be constantly and continually filled, controlled and empowered with the Holy Spirit as a way of life.

Pray this prayer with me now in faith:

"Dear Father, I need You. I hunger and thirst for a more vital relationship with You. I admit that I have been in control of my life. As a result, I have sinned against You.

"Thank You for forgiving my sins through Christ's death on the cross for me. I now confess and turn from my sins and surrender the control of my life to the Lord Jesus. By faith I invite You to fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled. You promised to fill me if I ask according to Your will. I pray this in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ.

"To demonstrate my faith, I now thank You for filling me with Your Holy Spirit and for taking control of my life. 

Amen."

 Now, if you sincerely prayed that prayer, you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

 You will begin to experience a greater love for God.

You will want to spend time with Him in studying His Word and in prayer.

 You will want to trust and obey God and His Word.

 You will want to share your love for Christ with others who do not know Him.

There will be power when you trust and rely upon the Holy Spirit to move through your yielded life in your service for Christ.

***

Come O Holy Spirit, Come And Rain Down Upon Us.

Fill us and empower us to do the will of the Father.

Help us in our neediness, we come to You as your adopted children who depend upon You and rely upon You and cling to You like Velcro.

Lord We Wait Upon Your Spirit.

Fill us now...