The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

Why a Disciple of Christ Needs

The BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

(An Updated Encore Presentation)

By Ken Simmons?

Most of you know the story of how the Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times before His crucifixion, but did you know that only fifty days later this same Peter was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and when he spoke some 3,000 people were saved, and only a few days later more than 5,000 more were saved?

The reason for such a dramatic change in Peter, a disciple of Christ, is that he fulfilled the prophecy of John the Baptist when John declared,?

“I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I will come after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie, and He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

That day later became known as The Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, when about 120 people were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit fell on all of them and they were literally baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. From that day on the Holy Spirit radically and dramatically changed His disciples with the supernatural power of God. That day was also the beginning of what would later be known as “The Church,” the Body of Christ, and that newly-formed and supernaturally empowered church would turn the known world upside down with the Good News of The Risen Christ.

It was Jesus, who said, in Mark 16:15-18, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

That change in Peter soon became evident. Shortly after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost Peter and John went to the temple to pray when they met a man who had been crippled since birth, who was begging for money, and Peter said,

“Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you now. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

Peter then took the man by the right hand, helped him to his feet, and immediately the man was seen “walking and leaping, and praising God”?(see John 3:1-11 NKJV).

That event was so dramatic that the Pharisees were in an uproar. They thought that once they had managed to kill Jesus the whole movement would die out, but instead, the power of God spread and dramatically changed peoples’ lives all across the known world, and that same power will continue until the end of time.

Later, it happened that when the mere shadow of Peter fell on people they were miraculously healed, and others were healed by simply touching pieces of the Apostle Paul’s clothing.

Unfortunately, over the centuries, what began as a living, breathing supernatural entity began to transform into something noticeably less alive, less supernatural. It became a religion.

As an author/writer, I have often said that the Christian faith was, from the beginning, intended to be supernatural, but when it became a religion it lost all of its supernatural origins, becoming little more than a religious institution.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can reject religion and replace it with the supernatural power of God in our lives.

Today it has been confirmed that many have been raised from the dead in places such as Lagos, Nigeria, and it has also been confirmed that 16 people were raised from the dead in Brazil in recent years. And yes, the same has happened in America.

Andrew Wommack, a teacher of God’s word, who has a television program that is seen worldwide, told of a time when his son, who had been dead for more than four hours, and was lying on a slab in the morgue with a tag on his toe, but when they came to view his body in the morgue he miraculously sat up, spoke with them, and he continues to serve the Lord to this day. Yes, his son was miraculously raised from the dead.

A similar event happened with my mother, who was on mechanical life support in the hospital. When I met with her cardiologist he said that she was, for all intents and purposes, dead. There were no signs of life in her, and a machine was breathing for her otherwise dead body. Her doctor then asked if I wanted to pull the plug and let her body die because she had no signs of life in her.

I told the doctor, “I have my mother’s power of attorney, and nothing is going to happen to her without my consent.”

Next, I told everybody to leave the ICU, including the doctor, and then I prayed in the spirit over her for about half an hour, but since nothing happened my wife and I decided to leave. We then drove the 25 miles or so to home and upon entering I heard the phone ringing so I rushed to answer it. When I picked up the phone my younger brother was on the other end and he was screaming,

“Ken, you’re not gonna believe this. Mom’s alive, she’s well, and she’s going home tomorrow.”

My mother was miraculously healed, sat up, and went home the following day. She lived several more years before finally going home to be with the Lord. ?

I have also seen a case where a heroin addict and ex-con, who had been a cellmate with the infamous Charles Manson for four months, and in fact, he still has a tattoo on his ankle put there by Charlie Manson.

But when I first met him he had been hemorrhaging due to his heroin habit, but when I led him to Christ and prayed with him he was healed instantly of both the hemorrhaging and his heroin habit and he went on to share his story around the world, and that same Bill Davis has led literally tens of thousands to Jesus since then.

It is for reasons such as these that those who want to be a disciple of Jesus truly need the baptism of the Holy Spirit because it is the source of power that is desperately needed in a sick world that is crying out for help today. ?

I had been raised in a denomination that told its congregations, “This all died out with the death of the disciples.” But soon my personal experiences put that myth to rest. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is as vital to the early church in the days of Jesus as it is today.

Something amazing happened to me in 1968 when an ex-con and former heroin addict, who had been radically changed by his surrender to Jesus, laid hands on me and I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I found myself on the floor, and I was flooded with light. If my eyes were closed, all I saw was light, and if open, again all I saw was light. I also experienced something so strange and wonderful it’s hard to describe. I felt the Holy Spirit moving over and through my body in wave after wave after wave, and it was then revealed to me that this was the very same spirit that entered the tomb where Jesus had been laid, and raised Him from the dead. That radical revelation forever changed my life.

I, along with literally millions of others, am living proof that this movement of the Holy Spirit did not die out, but it is alive and well today.