David Diga Hernandez - How to Receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit

The key to the empowered Christian life is the influence of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16 shows us that the Holy Spirit empowers us unto holiness and helps us not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The Holy Spirit is the power behind prayer; we see this in Zechariah 12:10. The Holy Spirit is the one who causes you to understand the Word—not just the information but the revelation of the Word, which is spiritual. We see that in John 14:26. He is the one who reminds and reveals; He empowers you in evangelism. We see an example of this in Acts 1:8: «But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.» That power came upon them for the purpose of proclamation. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts; we see this in 1 Corinthians. The Holy Spirit is the key to deliverance and walking in freedom; we see that in 2 Corinthians 3:17: «Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.» Wherever He is allowed to have influence, there is liberty. He helps us to worship—truly worship. John 4:24 states, «Those who worship will worship in spirit and in truth.» That’s revelation by the Spirit, which causes us to truly worship, for all true worship is a response to revelation. So, He does all of these things and more.

Now, I want to show you how to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that you can see an intensification—an increase of the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life—so that He can accomplish all of these things in your life and more. But before I give you the practical how-tos, we need to lay a foundation; otherwise, the how-tos aren’t going to make much sense. Here’s what’s going to happen if I don’t lay a foundation for you: I could just give you keys one, two, and three to receiving the baptism with the Spirit, and you could skip ahead in the replay of this. I’m sure there will be chapters you can skip to, but if you skip ahead and just look at those three points, the problem is you’re not going to understand them. You might say, «I already tried that,» or, «That seems too simple.»

It’s the truth that sets you free; it’s the truth that stirs your faith. It’s knowing the Word of God that helps you to walk in the Word of God. When you know His Word, you can walk in His will. So, as I lay this foundation, please understand that each component is absolutely vital for you to grasp the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. When you understand how the influence of the Holy Spirit works in your life, then those simple keys one, two, and three will make sense. Of course, we know that Jesus is the Baptizer; the baptism with the Holy Spirit comes from the Father giving us that gift, that promise. But there are certain things we do to inhibit or block that influence in our lives, so we’re going to get into that and more.

So again, it’s very important that you understand these fundamental truths so that when we get into the more practical applications, you’ll have that full understanding, and things will start to click. Okay, the first thing I want you to know about the Holy Spirit is that you already have Him. You’re not waiting; you don’t need to beg. You don’t need to plead or do any special song or dance or ritual. You can’t buy the anointing of the Holy Spirit. If you are a born-again believer, you already have the Holy Spirit. Now, I know at first this might not make sense because you might say, «Well, if I already have Him, what’s the point of needing to receive Him?» We’ll cover that in just a moment.

The Holy Spirit is not a reward for the super-spiritual; He is your only chance at being spiritual. Not only could you not be spiritual without the Holy Spirit, but you wouldn’t even desire to be spiritual without the Holy Spirit. He is not our reward for Christian living; He is our source for Christian living. I want to say that again: He’s not our reward for Christian living; He’s our source for Christian living. We have to get this idea out of our minds that we’re working for the Holy Spirit or that if we mess up or make a mistake, God is somehow going to remove His Holy Spirit from us. That doesn’t make any sense. Why would God remove from us our only chance at walking in holiness as a punishment for not walking in holiness? Why would God remove the power for right living as a punishment for not living rightly? It doesn’t make sense.

So, the Holy Spirit isn’t a reward; He’s not someone given only to the super-spiritual or the spiritually elite. There’s no such group anyway; everyone who is considered spiritually elite is actually someone who has just surrendered to the Holy Spirit. We have to get this out of our heads. We have to stop imagining that we’re working for that influence or that we’ll only receive the Holy Spirit if God is pleased with us. No, we receive the Holy Spirit precisely because we can’t please God without Him. Romans 8:9 states, «But you are not controlled by your sinful nature; you are controlled by the Spirit.» Watch this now; you are controlled…