Hi, my name is Sarah Crockett and I’m part of the GOD TV team and I’d like to welcome you to God Today. Today, I want to talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit out of Matthew chapter four. I’m going to just jump right in with you. I want to read Matthew three verse, let’s see 14 through 16. It says, “But Jesus replied, ‘Let it be, so now it is proper for us to do this, to fulfill all righteousness. As He was talking to John the Baptist, John the Baptist is saying, “I can’t baptize you. And He’s like, ‘No, we need to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Verse 16, “as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was open and He saw the spirit of God, descending like a dove and lightning on Him and a voice from Heaven said, ‘This is My Son, whom I love, with Him I am well-pleased.”
Two things. Jesus got baptized. If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for us. He got baptized in water, but the second part is what I want to focus on…that once He was baptized, He’s, the scripture, we just read talks about the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove descending on Jesus. He had the baptism in water and then He had the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit, Bill Johnson says, the Holy Spirit is in us for our sake and He comes upon us for the sake of others. Ephesians 1:13 says the Holy Spirit is inside of us as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance. So when we accept Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. But this, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus had is available for you and I!
In Acts 2 Jesus, He is resurrected, comes back and hangs out with the disciples. He’s getting ready to go back into Heaven and He’s like, “I have to go so that the Helper will come.” He tells the 120 to…the 120 in Acts 2 (I combined the 120 that were in the upper room)…He told them to wait until the Helper came. And so they’re there, they’re waiting and praying, and the Holy Spirit falls on them like tongues of fire. This is funny. You’ll love this, when I first got saved and I read that, I thought it was like, you’re tongue with fire on it. I’m like tongues of fire?! But I later came to understand that when, like on a bonfire, the flames that flick back and forth, that is a tongue of fire. It’s called a tongue of fire. So that’s acts two is where we see not just Jesus have the Holy Spirit, like we just read in Matthew 3, but that the Holy Spirit is available for you and I today.
He’s not just in us, Ephesians one 13, that deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, but He comes upon us, to empower us. Then if you look at the book of Acts they’re speaking in tongues and they come out, speaking in tongues, preaching the Gospel and everyone’s like, what happened to them, they look drunk? If you read the scripture, Peter’s like, “No, this is what this is” and he preaches the Gospel and thousands of people get saved. The Kingdom is a demonstration of the power and then the preaching of the Gospel. You can’t just have the Word of God. You need the Spirit of God.
I want to invite you right now. If you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, right where you are, I just want you to put out your hands. And I just want you to invite the Holy Spirit. Just say, “Holy Spirit, come. I invite You to come and remain on me, just like you did on Jesus, the dove.” I believe right now, as you’re praying, that I just release the Holy Spirit, would you just fall wherever they’re watching right now and just touch them with Your love, touch them with Your comfort, touch them with Your power in Jesus name, amen.
If you experienced something, if you felt the Holy Spirit, which I believe many of you have. If you prayed that prayer, let us know. You can email us at [email protected]. Let us know what’s happening. We want to hear your testimonies. I bless you with Holy Spirit encounters and I’ll see you soon!