Spiritual Experience • The Big 10
Baptism in the Holy Spirit — Power for Living
Before Jesus left the earth, He told His closest followers one very specific thing: "Don't go yet. Wait in Jerusalem. Something is coming that you're going to need." These men had walked with Jesus for three years. They had seen miracles. They had heard every sermon. They knew the truth. And still, Jesus said: wait. You're going to need more than what you have right now.
That "something" came on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit fell on those gathered believers like fire, and the world has never been the same since. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said:
There's a word in that verse I want you to see: power. In the original Greek, it's the word dunamis — the root of our English word "dynamite." Jesus wasn't promising His followers a warm feeling. He was promising supernatural, transformative power to be His witnesses in the world.
Here's something that helped me understand this better. The Bible uses three different prepositions to describe our relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with every person before they're saved — that's the Spirit gently convicting, drawing, and calling. When we give our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us — that's the indwelling presence of God that every believer receives at salvation. But there is also a distinct experience where the Holy Spirit comes upon us in a powerful, empowering way — and that is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul encountered a group of believers in Ephesus who were Christians — genuinely saved — but had never heard about this deeper experience. Paul laid hands on them, prayed for them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began to speak in other languages (what the Bible calls "tongues") and to prophesy. Their faith was ignited in a whole new way (Acts 19:1–6).
Notice the tense in that verse: be continually filled. The baptism in the Holy Spirit isn't a one-time event you check off and move on from — it's a lifestyle of staying open to God's Spirit, allowing spiritual gifts to flow through you, listening for His voice, and being used by Him in ways that will surprise you.
I'll say it plainly: I want that in my life. I want the spiritual gifts to operate more fully. I want to hear God's voice more clearly. I want to see Him move in ways that can only be explained by the Holy Spirit. And I want that for you too.
Next Step: Ask God to fill you afresh with His Holy Spirit. Come to one of our altar times and let our team pray with you. You can also attend our Spirit-Filled Life Foundation Class to go deeper in this topic.