“indeed baptize you with water…but He…will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and fire.” —Matthew 3:11
“Repentance does not
cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When
I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and
through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that,
or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The
reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete
repentance. […] John (the Baptist) is not speaking here of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He will
baptize you….” The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy
Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute
unworthiness.[…] Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where
He does everything.” CHAMBERS
Denominations have risen up over the issue of what “baptism
of the Holy Spirit” means. I will not
debate that. But I will share what the
Word is clear about … (Ephesians 1:13-14)
“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy
Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of
those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” At the point of your new birth, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19) “Do you not know that your bodies are
temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? You are not your own” If you
are a Christian, you have God’s Spirit “in you”. Everywhere .. every day. You have the capacity to either yield to the Spirit
or quench the Spirit … resist His influence.
(Isaiah 6:5-7) Isaiah said
““Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and
I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and
said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin
atoned for.”” Isaiah felt unworthy to be
in the presence of the Lord. He saw
himself for what he was .. unable to do anything about it … but then he heard “your
guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for”
Submitting to the Holy Spirit means that you will sense your
unworthiness and helplessness before the Lord.
But “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” by the blood of
the Lamb. You must get past your
feelings and walk in the facts. Do you
continue to sin? Yes. What do you do
with that? Make excuses for it? Accept it as inescapable? You will never be perfect … but you should
never submit to the sinful life … but sharpen your awareness of the presence of
the Spirit in you, it takes faith to move beyond your feelings of unworthiness
and guilt to a place of peace and forgiveness.
Repentance means turning away from your sin .. you can only do that by
the power of the Spirit and the Word of the Lord. You have already proven, many times, that you
can’t do it on your own. ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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