The Experience We Need

The anointings Jesus got as a boy were valuable. They generated wisdom, the fear of God, grace, and character in Jesus. As Jesus grew, the anointing and fullness of the Holy Spirit shaped him into a young man.

But even by the time he became a young man, Jesus was still lacking something. As the son of a carpenter, Jesus was a skilled worker, and had an income-generating job, but he still didn’t have a ministry. And why not?

Jesus hadn’t yet received power to serve God.

Likewise, many young people grew up in Christian homes, have had God’s grace on them since childhood, and are righteous people. They obtained a good degree of obedience, holiness, and even boldness. They got discipline from their parents, a proper understanding of the Scriptures, and they have a solid knowledge of the Truth.

Scores of these people have dozens of verses of the Bible committed to memory and have always held strong conservative values. Their families are blessed. They sing worship music, know the hymns, and celebrate every Christian holiday. They’ve even made good choices regarding friendship and have kept themselves pure for marriage—but they’re still missing something.

They’re not ready for ministry.

They're not ready to assume a Christian ministry for one reason: They have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit. They’ve never experienced rebirth. They’ve not been regenerated--born again of the Spirit. That’s the experience they need.

God’s Promise Fulfilled

These upright church-going folks need power from on High. They don’t need to feel bad about themselves. They need to recognize their deficiency. They are deficient in power.

They are among the righteous, but they haven’t been born of the Spirit. They have nothing to be ashamed of because their condition is the one Jesus was in before he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus got his baptism of the Holy Spirit at the Jordan River. Prior to that, he had anointings of the Holy Spirit, like the anointing of wisdom and understanding we've described.

The Apostles also, like Jesus, were unfit for ministry until they got Holy Spirit baptism. The Apostles got it in the Upper Room, but permanent abiding power was missing from their lives until their Upper Room encounter. Only after that day did the Spirit of God begin to dwell within them permanently.

When you read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you notice how the Apostles fumble and bumble. Sometimes they fought with one another. Sometimes Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief. Sometimes they couldn’t heal people.

Reading the Gospels, it should be clear to you that something was missing from the lives of the Apostles. Remember how they couldn't stay up late to pray with Jesus the night he was betrayed even after he asked them three times? What were they missing? The baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostles had not yet received the Holy Spirit with power, even up till the day Jesus was taken from them. But the day to receive power finally came—Pentecost! More than 120 believers got Holy Spirit baptism at once in the Upper Room. He came upon them with gifts that would remain with them—as promised!

Spiritual Growth

What was Jesus like as a child? Did he develop through a process of trial and error? Did he make mistakes? Did he learn from his mistakes? Yes, yes, and yes. The Bible explicitly tells us that the boy Jesus committed errors, got physical discipline for it, and developed a conscience--an awareness of right and wrong--as a child.

[God promised David] … I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his Kingdom. He is the one who will build a House for my name, and I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom forever.

I will be his Father, and he will be my Son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him... (2 Samuel 7:12-15)

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste (Isaiah 7:14-16).

So, the Scriptures testify to a stage of development prior to when Jesus had a conscience. There was a time when the boy Jesus did not yet know enough to reject what was wrong and choose what was right. The Scriptures tell us of these days of Jesus’ spiritual growth. Those were the times when our Lord had not yet reached the "age of accountability." 

Jesus needed to develop a conscience just like any other human being. Jesus traversed childhood and learned. The Holy Spirit guided our Lord through the maturing process by anointing him in special ways at certain times during his boyhood.

Jesus’ Great Experience

If we put Jesus’ childhood anointings in perspective, and come to understand that the anointings he got as a child were minor compared to the baptism he got as a man, then we’ll understand the greatness of the baptism in the Spirit.

Baptism in the Spirit is something Jesus waited for. It's something Jesus needed. It was the launching pad for his ministry. Likewise, it's something you must wait for. It's something you need, and it is the launching pad for your ministry.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment Heaven was opened, and he [John the Baptist] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him [Jesus] (Matthew 3:16).

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove… Now Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry... Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Luke 3:21-23; 4:1).

Okay, so Jesus was baptized in the Spirit at around age 30—you already knew that. But do you cherish the truth that you and I must obtain the same baptism today? You and I also must be baptized in the Holy Spirit. If we don't, we do not qualify to minister. The baptism of the Spirit (the One Baptism) is for everyone who will serve God in the Gospel. Jesus was the first to get it, not the last. 

If you have repented, believed, and been baptized in water, you are in the New Covenant. That’s great. Now, the next thing is for you to get the baptism of the Spirit.

Jesus got the baptism of the Spirit as he was immersed in the waters of baptism. That's the gold standard: You get the baptism of the Spirit when you are baptized in water. Try to get the baptism of the Holy Spirit at your water baptism event by asking the person baptizing you to lay their hands on you and pray.

The Apostles got their baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room. The Samaritans got it when Peter and John prayed for them. In those cases, everyone had already been baptized in water, just like Pentecost.

The one passage in the Bible that describes people getting the baptism of the Holy Spirit prior to baptism concludes with those same people getting baptized in water. Why? Because Peter insisted that it had to be done, in order to set the record straight for the Church's doctrine of baptisms: We must be born of water and the Spirit.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, 'Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.' So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:44-48).

For All of Us

It's possible you still don’t grasp what a wonderful privilege the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. Allow us to clarify: Nobody in the Old Testament was permitted to get it. Nobody. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not available to the people of the Old Testament. Not Adam, not Abel, not Enoch, not Noah, not Abraham, nor Moses, or David, Elijah, or any of the prophets or kings of the Old Testament got what they longed for: the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Not even John the Baptist—of whom Jesus said ‘among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater’ (Matthew 11:11)—was able to obtain the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And John really wanted it! But it wasn’t time.

Now is the time. You live in the time when this privilege is available. You can obtain the baptism of the Holy Spirit today if you seek it.

Jesus has made it available to us since the day of Pentecost, 50 days after his resurrection. Unfortunately, that was a day John the Baptist never saw, so he never got the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But you can get the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You live in the Age of the Gentiles. You live under the New Covenant, and the Holy Spirit is available to each one of us. Won’t you follow Jesus’ example and seek that greatest of all ministrations of the Spirit?

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us. He got the experience, and he gives the experience. You must ask God for that same experience.

Jesus has established a pattern for you. Do what he did: Seek the new birth. Seek regeneration in the Holy Spirit. Take action and be baptized if you must. God wants to give his Spirit to you just as much as he wanted to give his Spirit to Jesus!

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:13)!