In 1999 and the early days of 2000, interest in the millennium reached fever pitch worldwide. Millennial fever spread like an epidemic as people watched and waited, in varied degrees of anxiety, to see whether the so-called Y2K bug would take down the computer systems of the world and thrust human civilization back into a technological stone age. Many Christians throughout the world also watched to see what the arrival of the new millennium might mean with regard to the Church, Israel, biblical prophecy, the return of Christ, and the end of the world.
Although Y2K turned out to be pretty much a non-event, the arrival of the new millennium does represent for humanity new opportunities and new challenges. The Christian Church, which historically has often been slow to respond, must rise to these new opportunities and challenges or risk losing its prophetic voice before the world. At the same time, we must never change or dilute our message. New opportunities and challenges call for new methods, not a new message. Our gospel message never changes—“Jesus Christ and Him crucified” is fundamental and central—but our methods of proclaiming that message must change to meet new demands. Within biblical parameters, we must broaden our horizons and look to God to do new things as well as to do old things in new ways.
Ecclesiastes 1:9b says “there is nothing new under the sun.” That may be true from mankind’s perspective, but God does not look at things from our point of view. He has said, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Is. 43:18-19). God is always doing new things—He is a God of the new—and the new things He does will always be in line with what He has done in the past, both in spirit and in purpose, because God never changes.
At the dawn of the twentieth century God did a new thing when, in the early hours of January 1, 1901, the Holy Spirit came upon a group of seeking students at a Christian academy in Topeka, Kansas, led by a minister named Charles Parham. In a manifestation rarely seen since the first century, these students began to speak in tongues. Five years later William Seymour, a black preacher who had been deeply influenced by the Topeka experience, was present when the Spirit fell again, this time in a black ghetto in Los Angeles, at an old warehouse on Azuza Street. Once again, the Holy Spirit came with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
From these small beginnings the modern Pentecostal movement was born, growing steadily and inexorably until, at the dawn of the twenty-first century and the third millennium since Christ, the Pentecostal/Charismatic branch is the fastest growing wing in the Christian Church. Today, over half of all evangelical Christians claim the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” with the accompanying evidence of speaking in tongues, and the numbers are still growing with no end in sight. In these last days, clearly, God is doing a new thing.
What does this mean then for the Church in the twenty-first century? What will be the significance of the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” for the Church entering the new millennium? Will the Holy Spirit continue to be a point of division among believers, as so often in the past, or will He become a rallying point of unity for the Body of Christ, bringing us together as never before and empowering us to meet the unique challenges that lie ahead as we seek to prepare the world for Christ’s return?
I am convinced that in the twenty-first century the Holy Spirit’s role in the life and ministry of the Church will be even greater, more powerful, and more fundamental than in the century we have just left behind. Accordingly, the baptism of the Holy Spirit also will assume greater significance than in the past. Our generation or that of our children may well be the one to witness the bodily return of Jesus Christ to earth and the end of this present age. Because of this, the Christian Church even now may be entering the most significant period of its history.
As the light of the gospel shines brighter and brighter throughout the world, the powers of darkness will rise in ever-increasing ferocity to oppose it. Since the days of Jesus Himself, the spirit of antichrist also has been loose in the world. Any spirit, teaching, religion, or philosophy that denies Jesus Christ serves the spirit of antichrist. John the apostle wrote, “Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1 Jn. 4:3).
Today in our world the spirit of antichrist is revealing itself continually in new and more insidious forms. One of the most visible of these is the rise of radical, militant Islamic fundamentalism of the type that inspires ongoing violence against Israel and which lies behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon in our nation’s capital. Such a movement as this exemplifies the spirit of antichrist because of its hatred for the God of the Bible. It hates the Son of God, the people of God, and everything they stand for.
In the face of this and similar threats, the Church, which exemplifies the Spirit of Christ, cannot afford to be divided, yet that is just where we find ourselves. One of satan’s primary strategies all along in his war against Christ’s Church has been “divide and conquer,” and he is very good at it. As long as he can keep us disagreeing and fighting among ourselves, he can prevent us from forming a united front against him and his schemes.
Ironically enough, one of the greatest points of controversy and division in the Church, at least for the last 100 years or so, has centered on the question of the role and ministry of the Holy Spirit and, in particular, the nature and meaning of the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” How sad it is that we have allowed ourselves to become so divided over the One who was given to the Church as an agent of unity. For far too long we have allowed the Holy Spirit to become a point of religious or doctrinal dispute that separates us, when all along His purpose is to unite us in Christ. Paul considered the issue important enough to give these instructions to the believers of the church in Ephesus:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:1-6).
He addressed the same theme with the Corinthians:
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
Throughout the New Testament, the presence of the Holy Spirit is closely associated with unity among believers. Much of our modern controversy and division over the Holy Spirit has to do with the character of His presence and work in us and the nature of the “baptism” through which He fills and empowers us. It is this “baptism of the Holy Spirit” that we need to understand.
For the sake of clarity and understanding, I want to state plainly that I believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a separate act of God’s grace apart from but in conjunction with salvation, although it frequently occurs at the same time. All believers receive the Holy Spirit as the agent of regeneration when they first come to Christ, and He takes up permanent residence in their hearts. Based on my own experience and that of many other dear believers and friends whom I know, as well as the witness of nearly 30 years of ministry in the United States and around the world, I believe that there is another “receiving” of the Spirit available to believers, a “receiving” or a “baptism” of the Holy Spirit, not for salvation, but for power in ministry.
I realize that there are many sincere and committed believers who love Jesus who will take issue with me at this very point. It is not my desire or intent to throw down a gauntlet of challenge at the feet of any of my brothers or sisters in Christ, particularly those who disagree with me on this matter. We have too much in common to let this divide us, and too much work to do to allow it to sunder our fellowship with one another. The central issue is Jesus Christ. Anyone who can affirm with me that “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and that the heart and soul of our message is “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” is my brother or sister in Christ. These affirmations give us the common bond of faith that we need in order to fellowship together and work together to advance the Kingdom of our Lord.
With matters of the Spirit, as with anything else, we must examine all things by the unchanging standard of God’s Word. Even the Bible, however, leaves room for God to do the unexpected. The four Gospels, and particularly the Gospel of John, make it clear that not everything that Jesus said or did was recorded. Not every sign or wonder or work that He performed was written down. This should allow us some flexibility when deciding whether or not something “new” that is happening is of God. Even if something is not explicitly stated in Scripture, if it falls into the pattern of that which Scripture affirms, and in no way violates the express teaching of Scripture, we are usually safe in embracing it as a work of God, even if it is new to our own experience.
I want to discuss the baptism of the Holy Spirit from my perspective—what it is and what it means—not as a gauntlet of challenge or an instrument of division, but as an invitation to reexamine this wonderful gift of the Lord, His power for His Church in every generation, and especially as we enter the new millennium.
Once, when the apostle Paul was in the city of Ephesus, he met some disciples, whom he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2a) Upon their reply that they had never heard of the Holy Spirit, Paul probed further and discovered that they were disciples of John the Baptist, having received John’s baptism in water for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Paul then told them about Jesus, the One to whom John had given witness as the Son of God.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all (Acts 19:5-7).
In a way, I as a young believer was like those disciples of John. I was born in Africa to Indian parents. When I first came to Christ, I was genuinely born again and was baptized publicly in the Indian Ocean. Even facing the threat of persecution, I wanted to follow the Lord faithfully, but at that time no one taught me about the significance of the Holy Spirit to my Christian life. No one told me about the strength and power of the Spirit that were available to help me grow strong in faith and ministry.
Some years later, when I was just entering graduate school in the United States, I received the news that my mother, who was living in England, was dying of a terminal illness. I did not have the money to go see her. A great cloud of depression came over me, and I heard voices inside telling me that I was a failure. I was a big nothing because I couldn’t even visit my mother when she needed me the most. Emotionally distraught over my mother’s illness, I readily agreed with these inner voices. Then they began to say, “You know, it would be better if you just ended it now. End it now. End it now.”
Today, of course, I recognize that this was the devil trying to thwart the destiny and purpose that God had for my life. That night, however, I was in deep distress and began to pray; there was nothing else I could do. To my surprise, the Lord Himself came and baptized me in His Holy Spirit. I was bubbling in tongues and for hours could not stop singing in the Spirit. At the same time, the Spirit drove out of me three demon spirits of death, depression, and suicide. On top of it all, the Lord miraculously healed my mother and she lived for another 20 years.
Although I did not realize it at the time, I was experiencing personally the “rivers of living water” that Jesus Himself promised in John 7:
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).
The setting was Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, a great eight-day festival characterized by joy and celebration, which commemorated Israel’s journey in the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan and celebrated God’s presence with His people. One of the significant characteristics of the feast was the daily processional of the priests carrying a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam to pour out at the base of the altar in the Temple. Although it is uncertain whether this processional normally occurred on the eighth and final day of the feast, it was on that day that Jesus extended His powerful invitation.
Jesus “cried out” to the people and spoke to them of “rivers of living water.” John explains that Jesus’ words referred to the Holy Spirit, who would come after Jesus was glorified. That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost revolutionized the Church, even at its very beginning, transforming it from a small, weak, insignificant group into a powerhouse of faith, signs, and wonders that transformed its culture and environment within two generations. I believe that in our day the Lord wants to revolutionize His Church again, not only in the corporate sense, but within our individual lives as well. As on the day of Pentecost, the instrument of that revolution is the Holy Spirit.
For the last 1900 years, with a few exceptions, the Church for the most part has not fully recognized who the Holy Spirit is or fully acknowledged His importance in its life and mission. Jesus’ death accomplished two things for us. First, His shed blood made it possible for us to be saved and brought into a right relationship with God. Second, His departure opened the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful, absolutely awesome gift Jesus gave to us when He gave us His Spirit! The living presence of the Lord abiding in our hearts is more precious than anything earth could ever offer us. As it says in Proverbs:
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her (Proverbs 3:13-15).
Although the passage is speaking specifically about wisdom, it is with the understanding that God is the source of wisdom. From our perspective as followers of Christ, this equates to the Holy Spirit, who gives us the wisdom of God, who teaches us all things, and brings to our remembrance everything that Jesus said (see Jn. 14:26). The living presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts makes all of us who are believers the richest people on earth.
In John 7:37-38 Jesus invited all who were thirsty to come to Him and drink and promised that all who believed in Him would have their hearts flowing with “rivers of living water.” Every human being, without exception, has that spiritual thirst, although millions are not consciously aware of it. Just as our physical bodies need water every day to survive, so our spirits need the life-giving spiritual water of the Holy Spirit every day in order to thrive. The more water we drink, the healthier we are physically. By the same token, the more of the Holy Spirit we “drink,” the healthier we are spiritually. The baptism of the Holy Spirit enables us to drink freely of the Spirit, not just tiny sips but great draughts of refreshing living water.
After only three days without water the human body begins to shut down and approaches death. In the same way, people all around us are dying without the supernatural water of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” That is a very simple invitation, yet there are so many people who do not accept it simply because they do not know that they are thirsty.
People who do not know Jesus do not turn to Him because satan keeps them in the dark by confusing their minds. He diverts their attention from their true spiritual thirst by drawing them into the occult, New Age, or Eastern religions, and by seducing them with false promises of happiness through materialism and the pursuit of riches. All of these may appear at first to quench thirst but prove in the end to be dry wells.
Unfortunately, there are many Christian believers as well who have rarely if ever experienced their hearts flowing with “rivers of living water.” Their sense of thirst has been dulled either by ignorance of the Holy Spirit or by doctrines or teachings that insist that the gifts and fullness of the Holy Spirit are not available for believers today.
The only way to quench our spiritual thirst is with daily draughts of the Holy Spirit. We need to “drink” of the Spirit every day. Jesus did not promise us a glass of water if we came to Him, but rivers of living water. He is so generous, giving freely and liberally to all who humbly seek Him.
Speaking in tongues is one of the best tools available to us for drinking of the Spirit. It helps us become clear and open “tributaries” for the rivers of living water. Tongues opens the door not only for us to receive God’s blessings but to be His instruments in blessing others as well. In my own life and experience I have discovered a major key to success that I readily recommend to other believers. It is simply this: Commit yourself to pray in tongues for 30 minutes every day and see how much your life will change over the next year. This is not a magic formula, but a spiritual endowment that releases the water of the Spirit to flow in and through our lives.
The Holy Spirit is the administrator of all the gifts and treasures of God and He makes all the resources of the Kingdom of Heaven available to believers. He holds the key that opens the door to the Lord’s blessings, and says to us, “Okay, go on in and get whatever you want.” As followers of Christ we are children of God and all the treasuries of glory belong to us.
If the Holy Spirit administrates the gifts of God, then the baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us access to them. First Corinthians 12:11b says that the Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts “to each one individually as He wills.” One of those gifts is tongues. The Gospels of Luke and John, as well as the Book of Acts, link the Holy Spirit with the provision of wisdom, understanding, and power to believers. The Book of Acts also clearly associates the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the outward manifestation of speaking in tongues. Whenever direct reference is made to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that baptism is accompanied and signified by speaking in tongues on the part of those who have just received the Spirit.
Speaking in tongues was such an integral part of the Pentecost experience that to attempt to deny or play down its significance is to destroy much of the meaning of that event. Because it represents the presence of the Holy Spirit, taking tongues out of Pentecost removes its spiritual backbone, leaving “a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5a).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit releases in us the grace of speaking in tongues, which is the language of the Spirit. It is the language that we as the Bride of Christ can use in speaking to our Bridegroom and which He can speak to us—two-way communication at a much deeper level than human language is capable of. It is similar to that which the psalmist described when he wrote, “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me” (Ps. 42:7). Speaking in tongues is an expression of love and communion producing an intimacy with the Lord that is too deep for human words.
By its very nature, tongues is endowed with intercessory power. Like the Navajo “windtalkers” of World War II, whenever we speak or pray in tongues we make use of an unbreakable code that excludes and frustrates our enemy, the devil, in all of His schemes. Speaking in tongues is like installing a “firewall” on our spiritual computer: It prevents satan from “hacking” into our system to infect it with his “virus” of evil and corruption.
Just as the computer revolutionized and transformed the face and fabric of modern society in less than one generation, I believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit will revolutionize and transform the face and fabric of the Church during the first generation of the new millennium. Today we have learned to “speak” an electronic language that was unknown 50 years ago. In the same manner, more and more believers will learn a new spiritual language that will prepare and equip them for Kingdom work in the new millennium.
Another significant value of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is that it helps give us stable and reliable direction for our lives. For centuries sailors, explorers, armies, and other travelers have depended on a simple device to show them the right way to go: the magnetic compass. Even earlier, before the age of the compass, men learned to determine their position and direction in reference to Polaris, also known as the North Star. Both of these methods involve using north as a fixed reference point from which position and desired direction may then be determined.
As long as the proper conditions prevail, a compass and the North Star are reliable guides. A cloudy night, however, will shroud Polaris from view, and any magnetized material brought close enough to a compass will cause it to give an incorrect reading.
All of us need a reliable “compass” to help us determine our direction in life. Where are we going? How are we going to get there? Which way do we turn? How do we know which path to take?
Fortunately, God has provided us with such a compass: His Word. The Bible is our spiritual compass that will help us find our way, keep us from getting lost, and point us to our fixed reference point—truth. If the Bible is our compass, the Holy Spirit is the needle that always directs us to “true north.” The Scriptures relate north to the dwelling place of God, to His very presence and Person:
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King (Psalm 48:1-2).
In another sense, Jesus Himself is “true north,” because it is to Him that the Holy Spirit points us always. True north never changes, and neither does Jesus. He is reliable and steadfast, “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). If we trust and follow the Holy Spirit, He will lead us unerringly in the footsteps of Jesus and into our full destiny as children of God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).
God has two specific purposes in mind for each of us: to deliver us and to direct us. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to accomplish the first through His death on the cross and His resurrection. To accomplish the second, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of all who place their faith and trust in Jesus. The directions He has given us to follow are so basic and simple that even a child can understand them:
…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37).
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20a).
…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
God saved and delivered us that we might love and serve Him. The Spirit of God always leads us in that direction; He keeps us always facing and following God. It does not matter what others say or think. We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. If we turn aside from Him to listen to someone else, we will get lost.
The Holy Spirit is our Guide. He is so faithful. As we trust the Spirit’s guidance, as we pray, and as we speak in tongues, He will not let us lose direction. His purpose is to prepare us and deliver us safe and sound into the hands of our Bridegroom. Just as the Holy Spirit helped Jesus stay the course during His earthly life, so He will help us stay the course on our journey. The Holy Spirit is the needle in our spiritual compass, and if we follow Him faithfully, we will find ourselves safely home in the arms of Jesus.
Jesus promised that His followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and that power would enable them to be His witnesses throughout the world. A corollary to this that is often overlooked because it is not directly stated is that with the power of the Spirit comes the unity of the Spirit. Divided or unfocused power often dissipates quickly, wasting much valuable energy. A divided Church will have a hard time fulfilling the Great Commission. Through the Holy Spirit, the Body of Christ has been given tremendous power, but we must be united in purpose and fellowship if we are to exercise our power to its fullest effect. The same Holy Spirit who gives us power wants to bring us to unity.
That is the pattern of Pentecost. The Spirit came with power and united the 120 believers in that upper room. They began to speak in tongues and went out into the streets where people from every part of the Roman Empire heard the gospel in their own language. Through the power of the Spirit, 3,000 of them came to Christ that day and that same Spirit brought them into unity with the other believers.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.…Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:42,44-46).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not only a baptism of power, but also a baptism of unity. In the work of God’s Kingdom, power and unity go together. Where the Spirit of God holds sway, the people of God dwell in peace and one accord.
The Spirit-baptized Church of the new millennium will be increasingly characterized by the removal of dividing walls— traditional barriers of race, culture, and socio-economic status. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11). Rather than thinking in terms of “white” churches, “black” churches, “Hispanic” churches, “rich” churches, “poor” churches, “high” churches, or “low” churches, we will see ourselves truly as one body in Christ, one family in the Lord.
Although certain doctrinal and theological distinctions between individuals or groups undoubtedly will remain, the influence of the Holy Spirit will create a general environment of unity amidst diversity: unity in essentials, diversity in non-essentials. The essentials are those central and fundamental truths upon which the Christian faith rests: the absolute authority and integrity of God’s Word as our standard for everything; personal repentance of sin and faith in and devotion to Jesus Christ; the unchanging bedrock message of Jesus Christ crucified, buried, risen, and returning; and dependence on the Holy Spirit for power in daily living and ministry. The nonessentials are everything else.
As believers we have a commission from Christ, a responsibility to proclaim the gospel and make disciples in every nation and help set the stage for the return of Jesus and the establishment of His ruler over all the earth. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24:14). The Holy Spirit gives us both the power to proclaim the gospel with authority and the unity to live that gospel daily as credible witnesses before a spiritually hungry but skeptical world.
This is the same gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus preached and taught His disciples to preach. It is the same gospel that they preached fearlessly in the Book of Acts, a gospel of power that changed lives. It is a gospel that I call the “full gospel” because it was the Word of God proclaimed in spiritual power with signs and wonders accompanying. Jesus preached and performed signs and wonders; so did the apostles and others in the Book of Acts. I believe this “full gospel” is for today as much as it was for the first century, based both on the example of the New Testament Church and on Christ’s promise in the Gospel of Mark:
…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:15-18).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit draws us into the supernatural realm of signs and wonders. Flowing in the Spirit’s power we can preach with authority, cast out demons, heal the sick, and through speaking in tongues, pray in the language of Heaven. If we desire to walk in the way of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be halfhearted or noncommittal; we must be prepared to be changed. Holy Spirit baptism brings transformation. He gives us a new heart, a new outlook, a new attitude, and a new language, and teaches us to have the mind of Christ.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the conduit or pipeline for the power of effective living. Speaking in tongues is the key that unlocks that power, the “superconductor” that speeds its passage through the pipeline. It is the bridal language of the Bride of Christ.