The power of Holy Spirit baptism

Hungry for the power to serve God like the early Christians did? You need to be baptised with the Holy Spirit and fire, explains Eric Gaudion

Peter was scared, beads of sweat forming on his furrowed brow as he checked the doors were locked for the tenth time. The upper room was crowded with groups of people praying and huddling close for comfort… so much had happened in the last seven weeks that was scary.

Jesus being brutally murdered on Good Friday, for instance, followed by amazing moments of almost unbelievable encounters proving that he had risen from the tomb. And then there was that awesome experience of watching the Lord ascend bodily into heaven just ten days ago.

That’s when the realisation really hit: “It’s over to me now. The keys of the kingdom are in my shaking hands. We’re all locked in here, but there’s a world out there, just waiting for the message he has given us. How on earth do we achieve that, and fulfil the great commission that he assigned us?”

Within hours, however, Peter and the 119 others alongside him were to discover the answer: the baptism in the Holy Spirit! They would never be the same people again.

Read the second chapter of Acts and ask yourself, “Have I really received this power to witness for Christ and serve God like these early Christians did?”

The events of the first day of Pentecost in the church age resulted in the conversion of more than 3,000 people. Amazing signs were seen, such as the appearance of flames of fire over each person’s head. Speaking about those individual flames of fire, the late Reinhard Bonnke, well- known apostle to Africa, declared that ‘they were in fact potent and portable power stations which would move with the people wherever they went’.

Ordinary folk from northern Galilee began worshipping God using the many languages of the people gathered in Jerusalem, astounding onlookers. Windows and doors, previously locked in fear of the Jews, were flung open to welcome them and invite them in! Total transformation is the only term for it. Thousands were converted in a day and the global church was born.

And that was only the beginning. The book of Acts reveals at least four more occasions when believers received the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15-17, 9:17-18, 10:44-46, 19:1-7), often marked by speaking with tongues and prophesying. The lives of the followers of Jesus would never be the same again.

My personal Pentecost

My own experience of being baptised in the Holy Spirit came about a year after I first became a Christian in my mid-teens on the island of Guernsey where I grew up. I had joined up with a couple of other young people who were keen to try and share our faith with our own generation and had formed a gospel music band called ‘Soul Enterprise’. We were very stretched musically and probably depended more on decibels than talent in our output, but we were keen.

The trouble was our witnessing was hardly resulting in any fruit. We were entertaining young people and providing them with the early foundations for later hearing disorders but we were not seeing lives changed.

Then the pastor of a local Elim church got in touch. He had attended a coffee bar where we were singing one night and said that while we were doing well, we lacked ‘an anointing’. This sounded intriguing, and a bit like a chest rub, but left us confused. He asked us to meet with him at his home.

Settling into his front room, we listened with rapt attention to him explaining that we needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This was what the disciples of Jesus had been promised by the Lord (Luke 24:45-49, John 14:15-26, 16:1-15, Acts 1:5) and received on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. It led to the fearful Peter becoming a bold preacher and all of them being anointed with power to witness for Christ.

We had each been baptised in water following our conversion experiences, because we really wanted to do all that God expected of us, but we were unaware of this kind of baptism – being soaked in the power of God’s Spirit!

As the pastor explained to us the biblical background for this teaching, we were getting more and more hungry for this. He told us that the Holy Spirit is not just a power, but a person – the third person of the Trinity. He explained to us that Jesus foretold that he would send the Spirit after his ascension to be, not just ‘with’ the disciples, but ‘in’ them! (John 14:17).

I really wanted this deeper experience of the Spirit, especially when the pastor showed us the prophecy of John the Baptist in Luke 3:16: “I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

The crunch came for me when we read together the promise of Jesus in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” I was so aware of my powerless witnessing for the Lord and longed to be more effective.

The pastor prayed for us, and very soon afterwards all of us were baptised in the Holy Spirit. I was filled with a sense of overflowing joy, laughing uproariously in the Spirit, whilst my girlfriend alongside me, now my wife, was weeping copious tears as we both spoke in tongues, worshipping God and thanking Jesus for his amazing gift.

The most notable outcome of that experience was that we saw large numbers of young people coming to faith in Jesus. Our playing had not improved, but our praying was transformed, and the result of our witnessing too was now very different. God’s Spirit was anointing us, leading us, inspiring us, and convincing those with whom we spoke that they also needed Jesus (John 16:8).

Catch the wave!

Now retired, we have returned to Guernsey. Near our home on the west coast is a surfers’ paradise, Vazon Bay. Whatever the tide there are crowds of people of all ages trying to catch the waves there, riding the surf for no greater thrill than feeling the surge of the powerful elements under their feet. They give their time and effort freely to learning what it takes to catch the wave and ride its power in all weathers. Their passion for their sport is remarkable. As I watch them, sometimes I pray, “Lord, I want to ride the wave of your Holy Spirit’s power.” How much does this matter to you? As Paul the apostle urges us in his writings, are you filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7, Eph. 5:18)? Do you have supernatural power surging under your prayer life, and your witness for Christ? Are you riding the wave of God’s Spirit who is moving so powerfully in all the earth?

You can, and you can do so today. Ask someone who knows about this experience and has received their own baptism in the Holy Spirit to share more with you, and to pray with you and for you. I am so glad that one pastor took the time to point out to me the lack of power in my own Christian experience and pray with me to receive heaven’s answer.

As Peter, now more radically different from his previous fearful self than he could ever have imagined, declared loudly to a crowd of thousands: “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [For] the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call,’’ (Acts 2:38-9). You can catch God’s wave today!

eric Eric Gaudion is a retired Elim pastor in Guernsey and has been a missionary in Zimbabwe and Seychelles. He is married to Diane. His latest book is 'Through the Storms: a manual for when life hurts'.