As already mentioned we encounter God in three ways.  As God The Father, as God The Son and God The Holy Spirit.  It is the person of the Holy Spirit that we are looking at here. The Hoy Spirit is a Person and not an “it”.  As you have received the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and life, so you need to receive The Holy Spirit in the same way.  He will not come into an individual's life in power uninvited.

Jesus said “Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away , the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” John 16v7.  It is clear from this that The Holy Spirit had not come and was not able to come until after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  There does seem to be a difference between The Holy Spirit being with us, as opposed to being in us as John 16v17.  To illustrate this, the disciples saw The Holy Spirit operating through Jesus because The Holy Spirit was in Jesus.  We can say that the The Holy Spirit was with the disciples.  The Holy Spirit came in two distinct ways after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Firstly, The Holy Spirit came when the disciples believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead, when Jesus had showed them His hands and side in John 20v19 to 22 and said “receive the Holy Spirit”.  So we can with some confidence say that as with the disciples when you believed you will have received something of The Holy Spirit just as they did.  “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” 1 Cor 12v3. However this was still not enough to empower them to be the victorious followers of Christ that they needed to be if they were to turn the world upside down  for God.

Secondly, it seems from scripture that this impartation of The Holy Spirit was not enough, and that a further impartation was required.  Jesus spoke of this a little later on in Acts 1 v5 and v8 verse 5 says. “For John (the baptist) truly baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”. Verse 8 says “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”.  

If John 20v19 to 22  “receive the Holy Spirit” was enough, then why was the outpouring of Pentecost necessary?  The answer is found in what the disciples were able to do as a result.  We read in Acts1 v12 to 26 they had the witness of Christ in them, they were empowered to continue in prayer and supplication and to do church administration work.  It was only as a result of the power that The Holy Spirit imparted at the Feast of Pentecost that the Apostles were enabled, empowered, indeed driven out of the Church (upper room) and on to  the streets to proclaim Christ Crucified.

Then incredible Church growth took place. and 3000 people were added to the Church that day.  Acts 2v41.  So being“ baptised with the Holy Spirit” is a requirement if we want to be effective in the Kingdom of God.  

The Apostles and disciples were transformed as a result of the Pentecostal experience from a group that were afraid of the spiritual Jewish authorities, to fearless men of God.  If we are going to be effective men and women of God, Jesus said “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”.    We get the name Baptism of  The Holy Spirit from when Jesus said “you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit" Acts 1v5.

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