Magyar Egyház, 2003 (82. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2003-04-01 / 2. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Be Baptized in the Holy Spirít Scripture reading: Acts 2:1-11 Our Lord Jesus taught his disciples extensively about the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of John chapter 15 he said: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth.” v. lb- 17 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” v.26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” 15:26 On the first evening of the resurrection day Thomas being absent Jesus appeared to the disciples behind closed doors. After calming their fear and commissioning them to serve as ambassadors of God he breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Immediately before his ascension another promise came from him: “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:5. The day of Pentecost fulfilled the expectations of the disciples that their Lord had promised. After he had ascended they spent ten days in prayer waiting for something to occur in accordance with his word of promise. They waited in prayer because something was lacking. When Pentecost actually took place they had no doubt that this was what Jesus had promised. Pentecost means the power of God’s presence in men who believe. Peter became altogether different. He revealed a man who was dominated by a force outside of himself. Then there was Stephen. He had power in polemics, power under persecution, power in his personal life. Remember also of Philip, he was in such close contact with God that he received guidance concerning actions. His preaching was attended with such power that even the hostile Samaritans believed in Jesus as the Christ. Pentecost then is all important in our Christian experience. It is as important as anything else in Christian history. The necessity of Spirit Baptism Theologically the baptism of the Holy Spirit was necessary to complete the divine part in redemption. In that work each person of the Godhead had a definite part. The Father planned, elected, ordained whatsoever would come to pass for the greatest good of all concerned. Redemption had its ultimate source in the Father. The Son took on human flesh in order to perfectly obey the divine law and so to bear the penalty of sin thus making the atonement, reconciling men and God. The Holy Spirit makes all of this personal to men by regenerating them and by applying to them the benefits of redemption. What if the work of redemption had stopped at the cross or at the resurrection of Jesus? Without Pentecost and without the work of the third person of the Trinity, Christ might have died in vain. Redemption would have been left hanging in midair, without the guaranteed and effectual conclusion. The task of the Spirit will go on to the end of this age and the baptism of the Spirit means the personal presence of God in the life of the believer. Historically the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was necessary to give our faith a basis in fact. On Calvary God did something that can not be gainsaid. It remains a fact of history. In exactly the same way the fact of Pentecost as a historical baptism of the Holy Spirit is the proof that God can be and is our personal experience here in our church today and his benefits are available for every believer. The method of Spirit Baptism When we speak of the means or method of it we should differentiate between the apostolic Pentecost and our own. At the historical Pentecost the miraculous signs of flames, wind and tongues inaugurated a new dispensation. Today, when through repentance and confession of faith a man is bom again and is filled with the Holy Spirit he should not expect the Lord to repeat the miraculous signs of the first Pentecost. When Saul of Tarsus was filled with the Spirit, he received his sight. But in the case of Apollos the miraculous seems to have been totally absent. So as individuals and as church we are to seek for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But we are not to wait for the gift of tongues or wind or fire exclusively. There is however similarity between the inward experience of the early disciples and that which we may have today. They received an overwhelming experience of God’s presence. In the later years of their lives, had you asked Thomas, John, or Peter what was the one thing they recalled most vividly about Pentecost, it would have been the fact that the same God who seems to have left them with the ascension of Jesus came back to them. Then they had a full consciousness of cleansing, melting of their souls hardness, and taking away of their resistance to God’s presence. The disciples received a sense of ease in the accomplishment of tasks that had formerly been impossible for them. While their experiences were different from ours, throughout the baptism of the Holy Spirit we may have something similar happening in our lives as well. Surrender is a definite act wherein we face the future under God’s choice rather than our own. If we are willing to let him guide our lives and are willing to obey, he will give us the Holy Spirit. This calls for an examination of self and willingness to lay aside all hopes, purposes and fears of ours in order to accept his will. Such an event must be a reality in the life of every true believer. This is how our God will accomplish his purpose of making the preaching of the Word of God effectual. This is how he fills the church with boldness to do its work and carry out her mission and assures us of our salvation. We could not conclude unless we spoke about the time of the Spirit baptism. Those who have already re
