Let us fervently seek the true baptism in the Holy Spirit, so as to be cleansed and to be made like Jesus

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Jesus was tempted in all three of those areas, remember. "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn into bread." Jesus was being tested, there, in the area of the body. The Lord resisted through the written Word and prevailed over Satan. Then the devil said: "Throw yourself down from the Temple, come on, put on a big show". That temptation was levelled at Jesusí soul, to provoke Him to self-exaltation and make Him seek the approval of men through an amazing achievement that had nothing spiritual about it. Once again, Jesus resisted, refusing to perform a miracle for the sake of an exhibition. That sort of temptation will often come to us in our own lives : we are tempted to make a display of the gifts the Lord has granted us, to make a show of the power of God, not really to benefit others, but simply to bask in the approval and glory that comes from men ! Jesus never did such a thing : He did the most wonderful deeds, but always out of sheer obedience to His Father, without ever putting Himself in the limelight. Once again, He resisted Satan through the Word of the Lord. Then came the ultimate spiritual temptation : "If only you will worship me, I will give you all the kingdoms of the world" Satan was perfectly aware that the kingdoms of the world were going to be given to Jesus Christ, but only after He had been crucified in order to redeem mankind. When the Lord comes into His own, very soon, when He returns to reign on earth, He will reign over an earth that is wholly His, for He has redeemed it with His Blood. What Satan wanted was to turn Jesus away from the Cross, so he set up a spiritual temptation : "Worship me !" Jesus resisted through the Word and drove the devil away. The devil left, and waited for a further opportunity, which came when Jesus was to be crucified.

 

What I wish to point out is that Jesus was able to resist those temptations and attacks from Satan through the Word of God, which is Spirit and Life ; He was in a position to do so because He was filled with the Holy Spirit and consecrated to God. We must do likewise ! There is no way we can resist the enemyís temptations unless we too are filled with the Holy Spirit and wholly consecrated to the Lord.

 

Let us now take a look at the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Perhaps you are not concerned here, but I do believe that on the whole, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is greatly underestimated in the Church. It is not considered in the way the Lord wishes us to consider it. Very often it is viewed as an opportunity to exercise spiritual gifts, to exercise the power of the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, to perform miracles, and so on. However wonderful those things are, and they are, indeed, gifts from God, I do not believe that they are the Lordís main purpose. When the Lord grants us the baptism in the Holy Spirit, it is to cleanse us and to make us like Jesus. The other things will follow, of course : if we become more and more like Jesus, we are going to do the works He did, and manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the glorious deeds of the Lord, but everything will be in the right order. One should not seek the works and the power of the Holy Spirit unless one is wholly consecrated to the Lord, unless one seeks obedience to Him, above anything else.

 

In the fourth verse of the first chapter of Acts, Jesus "gave them this command : ëDo not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirití."

 

I sometimes hear preachers saying : "Now that the Holy Spirit has been given, there is no need to wait !". In one sense this is true, because the Holy Spirit has indeed been poured out, He is on the earth, He is everywhere. However, we must have a correct understanding of this, because if we have not received the fullness of the Holy Spirit, we need to wait on the Lord so as to receive that fullness, and we need to pray for it. Even though the Holy Spirit has been poured out in abundance all around me and throughout the world, I myself may not have received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It doesnít make sense to say : "Oh, well, since God has now sent His Holy Spirit, thereís no need to wait any longer, so letís go out straight away and spread the Gospel, and work for Jesus ; letís get on with the job !" The command Jesus gave to His disciples is also for us. Seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit as soon as you become a Christian, and keep on asking the Lord to go on filling you with His Spirit every single day ! It is not enough to pray just once, to say : "Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit !" the day you turn to the Lord for the first time. It does not suffice to have been baptised in the Holy Spirit and to speak in tongues, and so on. You must not stop there and say to yourself : "All right, now Iíve got it all, I donít need to pray about that any longer." Every single day you need to ask the Lord : "Lord, renew me in Your Holy Spirit, and give me more of Him. Let there be an ever-increasing flow from the wellspring."

 

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