This was the question Apostle Paul asked from a group of believers
Acts 19:1-7
1. For the early church, baptism in the Holy Spirit was not an option, but a necessity!
(Acts 2:1-4, Acts 8:14-17, Acts 9:17-18, Acts 10:44-48)
Each time men and woman received new life, they were also filled with the Holy Spirit, and power, and with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
2. You can’t receive something you don’t know about!
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17 KJV
3. Holy Spirit can only come after Jesus Christ of Nazareth has cleansed your life.
- Only the blood of Jesus can set you free and give you a new life.
- The Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit!
With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
Hebrews 9:12 NLT
- By faith in the Son of God, we can receive this new life (John 3:16)!
4. After surrendering your life to Jesus, you get water baptized!
- Outside declaration of what has taken place on the inside: expressing the total change that has taken place on the inside, also on the outside.
- Commitment to Christ! (Mark 16:16)
5. In Acts 19: As Paul laid hands on these 12 men, each one received the Holy Spirit!
- Paul himself wrote in 2 Cor. 4:7 that this “great treasure” is in “like fragile clay jars”. Clay jars today are different than in Apostle Paul’s time, but treasure is the same.
- We receive this treasure and power from Jesus, and He uses vessels even today.
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
- You don’t have to wait – the Holy Spirit is here. You can receive!
- Today we come to the Lord in faith, to receive, and the promise is:
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.
Acts of the Apostles 2:38-39 NLT
To repent means to
Change the direction
You were going one way, your own way, the world’s way, a sinful way, but you turn to Jesus, and change the direction of your life!
Change the way you think
This promise is to us today, and for your family, and for our nation!
You can turn to Jesus and place your trust in Jesus with all your heart – and receive the precious gift of the Father: The Holy Spirit.