Religious column by Dr. Bob Allen:I hope to do a very deep, complete and helpful teaching on the Spirit of God. This will take a few messages, and it will be for the person that is seeking truth; so stick with it. I want to help you receive, and maintain a greater presence of the Spirit of God in your life, so that you can have a greater measure of the presence of Jesus.

Why do I want to spend so much time talking about the Holy Spirit? Because He talks about Jesus to you. My friend you can learn all about Jesus, but you cannot experience Him without the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.

1Cor12:3 “No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” No man can know Jesus apart from the Holy Spirit because He isthe revealer of Jesus. The better you know the Holy Spirit, the more He can teach you about Jesus.

John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb just for the purpose of revealing and testifying of Jesus to the world.
Is the sealing of the Holy Spirit at salvation, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost by Jesus the same? Do you know the difference? You need to know.

Eph 1:13 ”After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise”. You are set apart for God, you are sealed, set apart, zip locked in when you accept Jesus.

Eph4:30 “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
The Power Baptism
Luke24:46-49 ”And He, Jesus said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high”.

Power from on high is real power! Have you got it? How much does your church have?

John 20:22 When Jesus breathed on the apostles and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” They were sealed, but the Holy Spirit was not given out until Jesus was with the Father.

Acts1:8 Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” You want to be a witness, get the power.

There is a big difference in being sealed, and being baptized. The Holy Spirit only comes upon you when you are baptized in Him by the Lord Jesus.

This is a test: do you have the power to witness, and does the Holy Spirit come upon you? If in fact, He does not come upon you, you do not have the power of witness. Now the witness may be in the words you speak, or even some of the work that you do. You can be taught to do that, but the question is, is the anointing to witness in you?

Matt.3:11 John the Baptist: ”said I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire”. Has He done this for you, my friend?

John1:33 John said, “Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost”. From the day that John the Baptist baptized Him in the Jordan River and the Father spoke: This is My beloved Son; the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus like a dove, and until Jesus departed the earth, He remained upon Jesus only. Not one other person received the Holy Ghost after Jesus was baptized. He remained only on Jesus. However, Jesus gave His disciples power when He sent them out and, of course, John the Baptist, who was filled from his mother’s womb, was killed, or removed.

The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father given by Jesus. Have you had that experience yet? Were you baptized into the Holy Spirit and was He baptized into you by the Lord Jesus? The Holy Spirit who seals you at the new birth can’t do this, only Jesus baptizes you with the Holy Ghost.

The baptism of fire by the Lord Jesus consumes, burns out, purges, and cleanses every hindrance that stands between you and God.
Heb 12:29, “For our God is a consuming fire.”

Rev4:11says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created”. God purges you because he wants to take pleasure in you and because He hates sin and wants to purge you from it.

The baptism by Jesus in the Holy Ghost is real, and I have experienced it, and so can you. When I was baptized in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit came upon me just like in the Book of Acts; I actually had Spirit in my mouth for about an hour, while the Spirit talked. It was a super natural power that’s not of this world. Ask, seek, and knock and you will receive.

If, my friend, you love Father God, and want to please and serve Him, the Holy Spirit is your enabler. If you love, and desire more of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit is your contact, your helper.

You can’t use a carnal mind to discern a spiritual truth.
If you have prayer needs, I would be glad to pray with and for you. [email protected]