GET BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - IT IS A COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD - that enables us to BE LIKE JESUS

‘..upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ Matthew 16:18

Paul distilled the instructions for salvation down to -

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ 

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' Romans 10:9 & 10

Make no mistake, salvation is the beginning of what Jesus Christ prepared for his Disciples. But it doesn’t stop there.

Even after training his disciples and showing them how to teach and preach - and how to set the masses free from disease, possession, and evil - Jesus was leaving them, so he announced the news of a HELPER to come along side them, to replace their present Lord.

In Luke 24:49 Jesus left his disciples with final instructions:

GET BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - which is to be clothed with POWER FROM ON HIGH.

How important is that? This was more than ‘salvation’. He was preparing men and women to ‘represent him on earth’, and to do everything that he had done:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do SHALL HE DO ALSO; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.’ John 14:12

So this was not about salvation alone - but something much more..

It was about being literal ‘immitators of Christ’. Our Lord walked in power; and he expected his imitators to do the same.

In fact, the apostles were already 'saved' on the day of Pentecost'. Paul told us what the instructions for salvation were:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,

and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,

thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;

and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9&10

THE MALEFACTOR SAVED

The malefactor in Luke 23:42 was SAVED and promised paradise VIZ:

“And he said unto Jesus, LORD, remember me when YOU COME INTO THY KINGDOM.’

⁴³ And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

In just one sentence the man fulfilled the criteria for salvation - He called him ‘Lord’, and believed God would raise him from the dead.

APOSTLES ALREADY SAVED

The Apostles had been calling him 'Lord' for years, and had they had SEEN him 'raised from the dead'. But something was missing- and they still had ‘fear in their hearts’..

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for FEAR of the Jews,

came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.’ (John 20:19)

The disciples were 'afraid' - How were they to speak openly about their faith and duplicate the Lord's ministry - in such a state? They needed to RECEIVE and to experience POWER.

They needed the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE VERY THING MISSING IN SO MANY CONGREGATIONS TODAY.. THE MANIFESTED POWER → OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT COMES ALONGSIDE THE SAINT WHO RECEIVES the BAPTISM.

When Jesus found them afraid in John 20, he gave them the instructions for the Baptism in the holy spirit - BREATHE IT IN! (the devil’s deadly counterfeit thereof, is not ironically called ‘BREATHE’)

‘… And when he had said this, he BREATHED on them,

and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

SHADOWS OF BETTER THINGS IN A BETTER COVENANT

Friend, they had already had the baptism of John. All Jews did; Water baptism was of the Jews. But it conferred no power at all, save that it suggested a man’s ‘repentance’ to others, making it a ritual that needed to be repeated again and again;

Though water baptism DID SERVE as a SHADOW of the true baptism, so that God’s people would recognize the TRUE BAPTISM when it came!

1. Even as the TEMPLE of old was a shadow of the TRUE (the body of the believers),

2. The high priest was a shadow of JESUS Christ (Hebrews 8:1 & 5

3. The Old Covenant was a shadow of the NEW Covenant. (Hebrews 8:6)

4. The Law was a shadow of Shiloh, the Lawgiver - (Genesis 49:10)

5. The tabernacle was a shadow of Christ - the building not made with hands, of which he was the ‘cornerstone’. (Hebrews 9:11 and Ephesians 2:20& 21)

6. The purging with blood was a SHADOW of the ultimate sacrifice (Hebrews 9:21 - 23) AS animal sacrifice was a SHADOW OF THE TRUE SACRIFICE - THE LORD OF GLORY - JESUS CHRIST,

…Which had the devil only known what THAT sacrifice would release in us, he would never have killed him!

‘.. which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.’ I Corinthians 2:8

So ONCE the cat was out of the bag, the devil has done everything in his power to remove this BAPTISM from the Church, and EVISCERATE the power given to us.

In fact, he has created ENTIRE DEOMINATIONS BASED ON THE WRONG BAPTISM.. Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, etc, practice water baptism.

WHAT IS WATER BAPTISM?..

From 1981 to 1990 I had a business in Manhattan called ‘Greater Waiters’. On 24 hours notice I could round up as many as 125 Tuxedo Clad - trained professional waiters. We would serve banquets in locations that had special events; My clients included Barnard College, Columbia University, Al Neuharth’s private dining room at his USA Today executive offices, and… The Jewish Theological Seminary at 122nd street and Broadway. (JTS)

JTS was my longest term client; 10 years. My staff would set up banquets and special events all year long, even preparing the Sukkoth Booths in the late Fall. Every event at the Seminary included Water Baptism - by way of a ‘Hand Washing Station’. Water baptism, as John showed us, was of the JEWS. The practice was FUFILLED by Christ.

‘Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.¹⁴ But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

¹⁵ And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [permit] it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to FULFIL all righteousness. Then he allowed him.’ Matthew 3:13 - 15

Jesus fulfilled water baptism for all time, as he did the Ceremonial Law, and Circumcision. The Baptism of Repentance was another shadow of the TRUE to come:

‘For John truly baptized with water;

BUT ye SHALL be baptized with the HOLY SPIRIT….’ Acts 1:5‘

(Don’t miss the ‘BUT’s in the Bible - They mean EVERYTHING in ferreting out truth.)

The Holy Spirit Baptism was for ALL those who would be disciples and serve Him.. NO EXCEPTIONS - GET THE BAPTISM was Jesus’ FINAL commandment to his Church:

‘And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you:

but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high’. Luke 24:49

So there was more to the Lord’s coming than salvation;

Salvation was of the Jews too.. yet they had never been ‘clothed’ with power!’ (and still arent’ save that they get born again and baptized in the holy spirit).

In fact, that’s why Moses gave them Psalm 91. For the Jews to be safe, they had to hunker down.. hide behind the blood sprinkled lintel, or hope for angelic protection.

NOT SO JESUS! AND NOT SO HIS CHURCH.

PSALM 91 WAS GIVEN BY MOSES TO ISRAEL; POWERLESS, FEARFUL ISRAEL.

PSALM 91 HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, AND NEVER HAS.

IN FACT AS OFTEN AS CHRIST QUOTED MOSES, HE NEVER ONCE QUOTED PSALM 91!

Do you remember who quoted Psalm 91 in the Gospels? It was not Jesus. It was satan:

And [satan] saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written,

“He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11, 12

Was that Scripture? YES. But like SO MUCH SCRIPTURE QUOTED FALLACIOUSLY TODAY - you MUST DISCERN TO WHOM IT IS WRITTEN.

The Lord knew to ‘not receive it’, and rebuked the devil. Would God the Church would do the same..

The Church is founded on MUCH BETTER PROMISES; The CHURCH is to be the fulfillment of everything that was left UNDONE in the Old Testament by the Jews - who in their perpetual infidelity to God, PROVED that righteousness could not come by the Law. They failed miserably.. so WHY IS THE CHURCH REGRESSING AND SUBJECTING THEMSELVES TO ANYTHING THAT CHRIST DID AWAY WITH?

Christ did not risk leaving his Church to languish in disobedience and unbelief, as Israel did 59 times.. finally ending up in the captivity of Babylon.

To ENSURE our success.. Jesus sent a HELPER - the HOLY SPIRIT, that would ‘come along side’ the baptized believer and enable them to DUPLICATE HIS MINISTRY. He sent a ‘PARALKETES’.. a ‘HELPER’.

The word ‘Helper’ is used 3 times in John 14, 15, and 16; though the King James translates it ‘Comforter’, which is truly is, yet HELPER is the more accurate translation given the fact of what he was sent to do.

The Greek word is Παράκλητος, Paraklētos - and means someone that ‘comes alongside’.. to HELP YOU DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.

In fact, he has a Many-Fold Mission:

1. He will TEACH you ALL THINGS.

2. He will REMIND YOU of EVERYTHING the Lord has said..

3. He will Witness Jesus CHRIST to the world through you

4. He will SHOW YOU THINGS TO COME.

‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,

He will teach you all things, and

bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.’ John 14:26

‘But when the Helper is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,

even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,

he shall testify [bear witness] of me.’ John 15:26

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:

and he will shew you things to come.’ John 16:13

The HOLY SPIRIT has been called the ‘EYES and EARS’ of the Church..

It is CONFERRED ONLY by the BAPTISM in the HOLY SPIRIT.

Water does not convey holy spirit power, only holy spirit does.

After Pentecost, and the FIRST OUTPOURING of the HOLY SPIRIT - the disciples were FILLED WITH COURAGE - The same men that were behind closed doors in John 20:19 were now.. ‘We ought to obey GOD rather than man.”

And they set at once to HEALING people and working miracles.

The new birth is the FIRST STEP - without which no man will see the Kingdom of God. But without POWER there is no difference between Christianity and the ‘religions’ of earth. (And WHAT a dreadful condition this absence of the use of our power and authority has left the world in.)

In John 3, Nicodemus said to Jesus -

“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God:

for no man can do THESE MIRACLES that thou doest, except GOD BE WITH HIM.” John 3:3 

Nicodemus - a high ranking Jew, like so many thousands of others, followed Jesus and believed in him BECAUSE of the MIRACLES that he performed.

It is the BAPTISM of FIRE - also called the Baptism of the holy spirit - that confers on all of us - born again Christians - the POWER to duplicate the miracles of Jesus Christ - AND to follow his commands to: *'raise the dead', 'heal the sick', 'cast out demons',.. 'Receive revelation', 'discern spirits', and so much more.

(* Mark 16:15 - 18, Luke 9:1, Luke 10:1 etc)

The sum total is simple - GET BORN AGAIN - by calling him 'LORD', and believing that GOD raised him from the dead.¹ Then get the baptism in the holy spirit.

It is the START Of the walk of power.

I know. I was baptized in the holy spirit in 1978 and from that point on, Jesus has been talking to me, and I have ROUTINELY operated all 9 of the manifestations of holy spirit listed in I Corinthians 12:7 - 10.

If I told you all the miracles of power I have seen since that Baptism, I’d never finish writing..

God bless you

Victoria

1. He did not raise himself. GOD raised him, (else he wasn't dead) Jesus is NOT GOD. God is his FATHER. IF JESUS WAS GOD - then John 14:12 would be a LIE. For we cannot do what GOD DID. (Can you make a star?) Jesus said ‘Not my will, but thine..” When he ascended he sat down on His Father’s RIGHT HAND. Stop confusing the issue. As Peter rightly said, and was commended by the Lord - “Thou art the Christ - the SON of the living God’.