The Baptism in the Holy Spirit (3): The Teaching of Jesus
There are 2 Stages of receiving the Holy Spirit: (1) When we receive Christ, we are baptised into Him, born again, and receive the Spirit of God WITHIN, for our own personal blessing, holiness and life with God. (2) There is a subsequent experience of the Spirit after salvation, called the Baptism in the Spirit, when we receive the Spirit UPON, for the purpose of empowering us to witness to Christ and for ministry. The PROMISE of the SPIRIT is also called the BLESSING of ABRAHAM (Galatians 3:14), which is a 2-fold BLESSING (Genesis 12:2). Jesus is the prime example of this 2-stage Blessing of the Spirit: (1) He had the Spirit WITHIN from birth, and by the indwelling Spirit, He lived a perfect holy life to God as a man, but (2) He was not empowered for supernatural ministry until He received the Spirit UPON, at His Baptism. The BAPTISM in the SPIRIT is when we are clothed with POWER, by receiving the SPIRIT UPON, enabling us to witness and fulfil our ministry. Jesus’ Baptism in the Spirit is the BLUEPRINT for ours (John 1:33). He already had the Spirit WITHIN from birth, but still needed to receive the Spirit UPON, to clothe Him with power for ministry. Likewise, we have the Spirit WITHIN, from our New Birth, but still need to receive the Spirit UPON, to clothe and anoint us with power to fulfil the Great Commission. He confirmed when God’s SPIRIT came UPON Him, He was ANOINTED with God’s POWER to minister (Luke 4:17-21). He described His Baptism in the Spirit as the Spirit coming UPON and ANOINTING Him to preach, heal and set the captives free. He also said that once the Spirit came upon Him, He rested and remained on Him, and so God’s power was present on Him to heal them. Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah (Anointed One) in 11:1-3, 42:1, 61:1-3.
In the Old Testament, nobody was BORN AGAIN or had the SPIRIT WITHIN, as this was only made available in the New Covenant. Although certain prophets, priests and kings were anointed with the SPIRIT UPON, this was not necessarily permanent, nor for all believers. But in the New Covenant, the SPIRIT UPON is available to all believers (John 7:38-39, Acts 2:16-18), and is permanent. Jesus described these 2 ministries of the Spirit WITHIN and UPON in His TEACHING. (1) He described the SPIRIT WITHIN us, as an everlasting FOUNTAIN of living water (John 4:10-14). (2) Later in John 7:37-39, He described the SPIRIT flowing out of us as RIVERS of living water, making us channels of blessing to others (v38). In Luke 11:9-13, He taught God will give His born again children more of the Holy Spirit if they ask Him (it's not automatic). In the Gospels, He primarily prepared His disciples to receive the New Birth and the Spirit WITHIN. He taught about the New Birth of our spirit by the Spirit in John 3:3-9,16. Then in John 14:16-17, He introduced the Spirit as another Helper like Himself. This means He is like Jesus, (1) a PERSON, not a force, and (2) GOD. He is a Divine Person, given to us. He also said in the New Birth the Spirit will INDWELL us forever: “He will be WITHIN YOU.” So He taught in the New Covenant the Spirit will indwell all believers forever. He explained the connection between the NEW BIRTH and the SPIRIT WITHIN in Mark 2:22. First, God must make our wineskin (spirit) new, and then He can put the NEW WINE of His SPIRIT WITHIN us. Old wineskins were renewed by rubbing them with oil. Likewise in the New Birth, our old spirits were made new and holy by the application of the OIL of the SPIRIT, making them able to receive the NEW WINE of the SPIRIT WITHIN. Then after they received His Spirit within on the day of His resurrection, during the 40 days He prepared them to receive the SPIRIT UPON, which they did at Pentecost (Acts 2).
On the morning Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended to Heaven, before returning to earth and appearing to His disciples for the next 40 days, before His final Ascension (John 20:16-17). The 4 Purposes for His first Ascension: (1) To fulfil the Feast of First Fruits on the day of His resurrection (1Corinthians 15:20-23). The First Fruits of the harvest must be offered up and waved before God, to be accepted by God on behalf of the whole harvest (Leviticus 23:10-11). Therefore, He had to ascend to Heaven and appear before God to offer Himself as the First Fruits, to be accepted on our behalf. (2) To present His Blood in Heaven (Hebrews 9:12). Thus, it was not appropriate for Mary to touch Him before He made these holy offerings to God. But after He came back from Heaven, He allowed other women and His disciples to touch Him (Matthew 28:9, Luke 24:39, John 20:27). (3) To receive all authority in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:9-11, Daniel 7:13-14). (4) To receive the Holy Spirit on our behalf, in order to pour Him out (Acts 2:33). He must have received the Spirit from the Father on the resurrection morning, as already that evening, He imparted the Spirit to His disciples (John 20:22).
In the Old Testament, nobody was BORN AGAIN or had the SPIRIT WITHIN, as this was only made available in the New Covenant. Although certain prophets, priests and kings were anointed with the SPIRIT UPON, this was not necessarily permanent, nor for all believers. But in the New Covenant, the SPIRIT UPON is available to all believers (John 7:38-39, Acts 2:16-18), and is permanent. Jesus described these 2 ministries of the Spirit WITHIN and UPON in His TEACHING. (1) He described the SPIRIT WITHIN us, as an everlasting FOUNTAIN of living water (John 4:10-14). (2) Later in John 7:37-39, He described the SPIRIT flowing out of us as RIVERS of living water, making us channels of blessing to others (v38). In Luke 11:9-13, He taught God will give His born again children more of the Holy Spirit if they ask Him (it's not automatic). In the Gospels, He primarily prepared His disciples to receive the New Birth and the Spirit WITHIN. He taught about the New Birth of our spirit by the Spirit in John 3:3-9,16. Then in John 14:16-17, He introduced the Spirit as another Helper like Himself. This means He is like Jesus, (1) a PERSON, not a force, and (2) GOD. He is a Divine Person, given to us. He also said in the New Birth the Spirit will INDWELL us forever: “He will be WITHIN YOU.” So He taught in the New Covenant the Spirit will indwell all believers forever. He explained the connection between the NEW BIRTH and the SPIRIT WITHIN in Mark 2:22. First, God must make our wineskin (spirit) new, and then He can put the NEW WINE of His SPIRIT WITHIN us. Old wineskins were renewed by rubbing them with oil. Likewise in the New Birth, our old spirits were made new and holy by the application of the OIL of the SPIRIT, making them able to receive the NEW WINE of the SPIRIT WITHIN. Then after they received His Spirit within on the day of His resurrection, during the 40 days He prepared them to receive the SPIRIT UPON, which they did at Pentecost (Acts 2).
On the morning Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended to Heaven, before returning to earth and appearing to His disciples for the next 40 days, before His final Ascension (John 20:16-17). The 4 Purposes for His first Ascension: (1) To fulfil the Feast of First Fruits on the day of His resurrection (1Corinthians 15:20-23). The First Fruits of the harvest must be offered up and waved before God, to be accepted by God on behalf of the whole harvest (Leviticus 23:10-11). Therefore, He had to ascend to Heaven and appear before God to offer Himself as the First Fruits, to be accepted on our behalf. (2) To present His Blood in Heaven (Hebrews 9:12). Thus, it was not appropriate for Mary to touch Him before He made these holy offerings to God. But after He came back from Heaven, He allowed other women and His disciples to touch Him (Matthew 28:9, Luke 24:39, John 20:27). (3) To receive all authority in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:9-11, Daniel 7:13-14). (4) To receive the Holy Spirit on our behalf, in order to pour Him out (Acts 2:33). He must have received the Spirit from the Father on the resurrection morning, as already that evening, He imparted the Spirit to His disciples (John 20:22).