Holy
Spirit and Fire
Matthew
3:11
I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Growing up in a home where both my mother and father were ministers and going to Pentecostal churches, it was not unusual to hear talk about “being baptized in the Spirit”. The phase had a very clear meaning to me. It meant that an individual had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit, sometime after salvation and in prayer and worship they spoke in a new language or tongue. Often following that experience new doors of opportunity to minister often flew open. There was a new desire to serve the Lord and an empowerment to accomplish the tasks He gave you.
In
recent years though, I have observed a pulling away from this experience.
Even in Pentecostal churches He (Holy Spirit) has been subdued to a point
that it is hard to tell a “Spirit-filled” church from others that have
disallowed Him to work on the basis of church
doctrine. I have watched as whole denominations have tried to quench
the observable gifts in the name of order.
But what has happened is that in many cases, order overrode the freedom
of the moving of the Holy Spirit.
Services
are shortened to one hour so we might have multiple opportunities to seat more
people. Everything is wonderfully
organized to get solid song worship in, announcements, offering and sermon.
It moves like clock work. Those
wanting a touch by God are invited to a counseling room where trained workers
minister to their every need. It
all happens so fast, so efficiently. Then
like rewinding a tape, we do it all again for service two, three or four.
Many
people are finding this boring. The
crowds are walking away from services without a belief that they got in touch
with God. Something new is dancing
on the wind. The purpose of church is not great worship or great sermons, it is
finding the Savior of our souls. People
want to see Jesus. Anything less is
not enough. The work of the Holy
Spirit is just that. He brings each
of us into the presence of Christ and so inundates us with His presence it is
like being baptized in a pool of love. You
feel welcomed, loved, healed and refreshed in the arms of the Lord.
In our own personal lives, as well as in our churches we need to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire once again. Why not take an opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit to come into your heart and bring His holy fire. Then let’s just see what happens.