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The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

In the early twentieth century, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit forever changed the world.  This revival gave birth to what would later become the Pentecostal Movement.  The Pentecostal Charismatic Movement today numbers approximately six hundred million.

This revival had it roots in the holiness movements of the late 1800’s, and the revival that began in Topeka, Kansas, and later spread to the Asuza Street Mission in Los Angeles, California. 

One of the characteristics of this revival was the Infilling of the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking with other tongues.  This experience is defined in the Bible as the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  What does it mean to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?  It means to be immersed into the Holy Spirit, to be in-filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we might live an overcoming life. 

In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist gave this prophecy, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

In Acts 1:5 Jesus told us before He ascended into heaven “John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 

The Full Life Study Bible commentary reads, “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit will bring personal boldness and power of the Holy Spirit into the believer’s life in order to accomplish mighty works in Christ’s name and to make the believer’s witness and proclamation effective!” 

How many of you would like to experience that personal boldness in your Christian walk today?  Then I would like to invite you to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Since the outpouring of the twentieth century the phenomenon of speaking with tongues has been a subject of great interest, as well as great controversy. The Bible teaches that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift that is available to every believer.

In Acts 2:1-4, we learn that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon 120 men and woman as they prayed and earnestly sought what Jesus called the “Promise of the Father.”  In verses 3-4 it reads, “There appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Why does God use the tongue? In James 3:6, the Apostle writes,  “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.  The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by hell.”

When we speak with tongues we yield what James 3:8 calls the unruly member that no man can tame.  When we speak in tongues we give evidence that the whole person is yielded to God. God uses the most unruly member of the body as a symbol of the Spirit’s complete control of the believer.

God chooses tongues because He desires to tame our tongues.  On the Day of Pentecost at the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit, He tamed the untamable, and the uncontrollable human tongue.


The Baptism of the Holy Spirit will cause you to be bold in the things of God.  Why not seek to experience this wonderful infilling of the Holy Spirit today?

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