I have been thinking and praying a lot over the past few days about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and how that relates to being a ’sent one’ and a ‘witness’ (John 1:6-7; Acts 1:8 ).

It started a few days ago when I was just reading through my daily verses in John, and I came to 5:33 where Jesus is talking about John the Baptist and He says that “he has born witness to the truth.” O.k. that’s cool. All Christians bear witness to the truth right? Well why is John the Baptist the only man mentioned as a witness to Christ in chapter 5? The other witnesses are the Father (v. 32), Jesus’ works (v. 36), and the Scriptures (v. 39). So this leads me back to John 1:6-8

“There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He…was sent to bear witness of that Light.”

This got me thinking: “Can we be true witnesses of Christ without being sent by God?”

This question led me to other scriptures in the Bible that relate to heroes of the faith having an encounter by which before that encounter they were less ‘active’ and ‘powerful’ in their walk with God but that after the encounter they had a marked increase and greater dynamic of the anointing in their life.

Example #1: Moses - Before the burning bush he had run away from his homeland and was hanging out in the desert. After the burning bush he has a power ministry in front of Pharoah (who’s basically the king of the world), he delivers millions of Jews out of 400 years of captivity, and continues in signs and wonders until his death.

Example #2: Elijah - His Biblical Debut is 1st Kings 17:1 where he shows up out of nowhere and tells the king “it won’t rain except by my word.” He went from “who’s’ that” to “Ahab’s Most Wanted” in one sentence. James tells us that Elijah was a guy just like the rest of us but that he prayed earnestly so it didn’t rain for 3 1/2 years (James 5:17).

Example #3: Isaiah - He’s operating as a prophet for five chapters, and prophesying some pretty good stuff too. But then all of a sudden he has the meeting of a lifetime. He has a Divine encounter with God, and he gets sent by God to prophecy to Israel a decree and a judgment that still stands today.

Example #4: Jesus - In Luke 4 he goes into the wilderness for his 40 day fast being “filled with and led by the Spirit” and he comes out afterwards “under the power of the Spirit.” Immediately He begins His ministry, and need I say more?…

Example #5: The Apostles - They’re all fishermen and even after 3 1/2 years of “Jesus School of Ministry” they still run away, deny Jesus and accept defeat in the hour of testing. But after the ascention they’re in the upper room for 10 days praying and Pentecost comes. They get filled with the Holy Spirit. From that point on the church goes crazy, they have shadows that heal people, they preach sermons that get 3,000 saved in a day and that’s just the start!

On this subject, Art Katz says

“There is a difference between “went” and “sent”. The root word of apostolic is “sent”. However well meaning most of the activity in the church today is self-initiated. We don’t esteem the phenomenon of sending as well as recognizing the difference between the work in those who have been sent and those who just went…Nations that hate us will only hear us if they recognize we are sent from God.”

In all this my point is that I believe there are levels of our personal ‘baptism in the Spirit’ or that there are stages of our being filled with the indwelling Spirit. I think our progression in the Christian faith probably looks something like this.

1. Lost Sinner
2. Saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus
3. Baptism of the Spirit / Receipt of the indwelling Spirit
4. Working out our Salvation
5. Progression of holiness and freedom from sin
6. Progressive increase of anointing on our hearts and our ministry

To muse on steps 5 & 6 for a moment (really these two go hand in hand): I think that as we continue to draw closer to a holy God we can only do so by growing in holiness ourselves. We are designed to be a dwelling place for God but a holy God requires a holy dwelling place. Our progression in the Spirit is directly related to our denial of our selves and our hatred of sin. Every little ounce of sin in our life is a hindrance to the life of the Spirit within us. Every act of rebellion is an axe-blow to the tree of life growing in our soul. Real Christianity ever seeks to be made perfect in God, both in character and gifts.

We all know that we need to deny ourselves as we progress in our faith. That’s not a new concept. What I want to know is how do we get sent?! I think there are lots and lots of Christians in the Church that will live their life and never be sent. The point isn’t to be sent into full-time ministry in Africa or whatever. The point is to be sent as witnesses and as apostles of the Living God; no matter what your vocation. Right now We have a skewed and watered down view of the Baptism of the Spirit. When it came upon a man originally, as it did upon the hundred and twenty at Jerusalem in Acts 2, no one went around saying, “Brother, have you got your baptism?” They were walking with their shoes of, with uncovered heads and uncovered hearts before the eternal God!

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…” (Acts 1:8)

So how to we get from our initial baptism in the spirit to our own personal pentecost where we go from scared fishermen to those turning turning the world upside down?

I love the answer John G. Lake gives:

“You may have God. That is the wonder of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is not a work of grace; it is God possessing you. So beloved, you pray through. Pray through for this church, pray through for this work. Oh, God will come! God will come with more tongues than you have ever heard. God will come with more power than your eyes ever beheld. God will come with waves of heavenly love and sweetness, and blessed God, your heart will be satisfied in Him.”

We will never be sent ones if we casually read our Bible and pray a little bit. We have to do as the Apostles did and “give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4)