Read John 1:32-34. Circle the words that stand out to you? What is the Lord saying to you?
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
I trusted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when I was in high school. In the following year, I made the public declaration that Jesus Christ was my Lord through water baptism. I died to my own ambitions in life and surrendered my life to Jesus. Many of us have taken the step of water baptism as commanded by the risen Lord in Matthew 28:18-20. If you haven’t may I encourage you to do so as an outward profession of your faith in Jesus Christ.
John was commanded to baptize with water so that Israel may know who is the Messiah. There is a parallelism that when Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit so that Israel may know who are the followers of the Messiah. This baptism happened on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers in the Upper Room enabling them to testify of the resurrected Jesus. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon a few individuals but in the New Testament the Holy Spirit comes upon every believers and indwells them. The baptism of the Holy Spirit enables the followers to be bold witnesses of Jesus (Acts 1:8).
Within myself, I am reluctant to share the Gospel with others, but when I ask His Spirit to enable me, the Spirit strengthens me and guides me in what to say and how to share with others. It is Spirit who is working in and through me. And through my sharing with others people, they know that I am a follower of Jesus. I have spoken in the name of Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. The Spirit wants to work through you and me to proclaim the resurrected Lord. Will you be willing to be a channel for the Holy Spirit to show His power through your life? Stand aside and see what the Spirit can do through you and me.
-Kingston Tong