L09 – Wait! ... Wait?
Part 01 – Introduction to The Holy Spirit
[4] Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;
[5] for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
Please Note: Please read the Book of Acts as a prerequisite for Lessons 9 trough 14.
In lesson eight we heard Jesus tell us that He and the Father were going to be within us and that we were the Temple of God on earth. He no longer dwells in a tabernacle made with hands, but in our earthen bodies. We are the temple of God in the Spirit. ( 1Co_6:19-20 ; Eph_2:20-22 ; Rev_21:3 )
Jesus also said the the Holy Spirit would "take of Mine and will disclose it to you" ( Joh_16:14-15 ). He, the Holy Spirit, will take all that Jesus wants us to know and have and bring it to us and disclose or reveal it to us in great detail. He will "teach you all things" ( Joh_14:26 ), in fact, He will "guide you into all the truth; " ( Joh_16:13 ). He, the Spirit of Truth, is God. God that lives within us. God who is ever present. We are one with God. Once we have accepted the pardon offered to us through Jesus, there is a union of our spirit with His spirit and we are one.
As we have been told by Jesus, the supernatural work that He (the Holy Spirit) is to do in us is real, intimate and wonderful, but what we have discussed so far is only an introduction to all that He has come to do. There is much more that we need to be introduced to and need to see of what His presence brings to us.
In the Old testament whenever anyone was being dedicated to the service of God, they were anointed with oil. ( Exo_28:41 ; Exo_29:7 ; Exo_29:21 ; Exo_30:22-25 ; Exo_30:30 ; 1Sa_10:1 ; 1Sa_16:3 ; 1Sa_16:13-14 ; 1Ki_1:39 ; Isa_11:1-5 ; Isa_61:1-3 ). People that are anointed and dedicated to the Lord are called holy, consecrated and sanctified to God ( Exo_28:41 ). All of the words that God has used, holy, consecrated, sanctified, when speaking of those He has chosen to serve and represent Him, illustrate that God wants them set apart dedicated wholly to Him. The anointing oil is a symbol of His placing His Spirit upon all who will serve Him. He puts His seal of authority on and anoints with His Spirit all those whom He has chosen. He says, "Be Holy for I am Holy" ( 1Pe_1:16 ). God intends for those who represent Him to keep themselves to Him only, walking before Him with a perfect heart. ( Gen_17:1 ) He also doesn't intend for them to perform His will in their own strength, but He intends to perform His will through them by His divine power and authority. ( Joh_5:19 ; Joh_5:30 ; Joh_8:28 ; Luk_4:14 ; Act_10:38 ; 1Co_15:10 )
Jesus began His public ministry immediately after He was baptized by John in Jordan. At His baptism, as He was coming up out of the water, the Father anointed Him for His service by having the Holy Spirit descend upon him in the form of a dove, stating His approval of His Son. ( Joh_1:26-34 ; Mat_3:11-17 ; Mar_1:8-11 ; Luk_3:16-23 ; ) After Jesus was baptized in water, He received His Baptism in the Holy Spirit for His anointing for consecration for service to God. This event was the beginning of a whole new way that God has chosen to anoint with oil. He no longer uses the perfumed oil He prescribed in Exo_30:22-25 , but He uses Himself, His Spirit, the One the oil represented. Just like Jesus is now the sacrificial lamb, the Holy Spirit is now the anointing oil. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the fulfillment of all the symbols of the Old Testament. Jesus patiently waited until the Father anointed Him to begin His public ministry, now Jesus is telling His disciples to wait until He anoints them before they begin their public ministry.
Just as people were immersed in water being baptized for repentance for sins John said that Jesus would be baptizing or (immersing) us in the Holy Spirit. ( Joh_1:33 ) (Gr: baptizo; to dip. Immerse, submerge for a religious purpose, to overwhelm, saturate, baptize.)
We are to be immersed in the Holy Spirit by Jesus.
Jesus said that out of the innermost beings of those who believed in Him would flow rivers of Living Water, referring to the Holy Spirit. ( Joh_7:37-39 )
It would follow, if Jesus needed to receive His baptism before His ministry began, that He would tell the disciples to wait for their baptism or anointing for service.
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