BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing July 2017 E-magazine English | Page 2

JULY 2017
The Baptism of The Holy Spirit
A. Lionel
I was already a believer when I joined
Engineering College in Karaikudi in 1965 for my
graduate studies. But the first thing that brother
Stanley and his prayer group members in the campus
wanted to know was whether I had received the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. I was not quite
comfortable with this question because of my church
background. However I was very impressed with the
lively worship and powerful witness of this group. I
started studying the Book of Acts afresh. Before I had
hardly come to the end of the Book, I was convinced
that the first blessing I should seek from God was the
gift of the Holy Spirit. The other passage that
appealed to me most was Apostle Paul's first question
when he met a dozen disciples in Ephesus, “Did you
receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”(Acts
19:2).
By the Grace of God, I was baptized with the
Holy Spirit in a couple of weeks. I soon found myself
helping others receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
An unworthy vessel as I am, the Lord has been using
me to lead hundreds and thousands of believers to
experience the infilling of the Spirit. I have put
together in this article what I have learnt from the
Scriptures and observed from experience to
encourage you to receive the Holy Spirit and also to
lead others into this experience.
Stay Aflame!
Spiritual fervency is a must if we are to be
effective instruments in the hands of God. Note what
the Bible says, “Not lagging in diligence, fervent in
spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom 12:11). Apollo was
“fervent in spirit” and he greatly helped “those who
had believed” (Acts 18:25,27).
Fire begets fire. Spend sufficient time each day
with the Lord, in prayer and Bible meditation. Walk
transparently before the Lord claiming the cleansing
of His blood every moment. Give God the first place
in all your affairs. Obey His revealed will in every
area of your life. God is the source of all blessings but
we are the channels. “All people will be blessed
through you” (Gen 12:3c). Stay full of the Spirit (Eph
5:18,19). See to it that nothing blocks the flow.
Thirst Is A Must!
The Pentecostal experience of the disciples
followed days of expectation. The Lord Jesus had
evoked in them a genuine interest in the baptism with
the Holy Spirit by explaining to them the blessings
and benefits. It applies to us also. We should also help
the people to understand the blessings of this
experience. Unless we help to create in them a deep
thirst and intense hunger, their prayers will be half-
hearted and they will go empty. God fills the hungry
with good things but sends the disinterested away
empty (Luke 1:53).
Blessings Of Infilling
Among the numerous blessings of the infilling
of the Holy Spirit, the following are the primary ones
that a believer needs to understand.
1. The Love of God
“God has poured out His love into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).
The love of God manifested in the sacrifice of
Christ is immeasurable. It is the Holy Spirit who
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