Wait

November 7–Acts 1-2

“Wait in Jerusalem. . .you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”(1:4-5).

After the cross and resurrection, during the forty day period of powerful and unpredictable appearances, Jesus commanded His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to baptize them with power.

Just as Jesus submitted Himself to the calendar of the Father (“my hour has not yet come”), so the disciples were to resist any temptation to rush ahead in their own strength and understanding.

The Father has a plan and a schedule. The disciples were to wait for God’s gift and God’s timing.

Baptism with the Holy Spirit suggests a full immersion (dipping) into a new element! As a body plunged under water emerges clean (the symbolism of water baptism), a soul plunged into permanent union with the Holy Spirit emerges with new power and peace. Please note, our Lord had NO expectation that His disciples could (then or now) survive and serve without the Holy Spirit! “The kingdom of God. . .is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”(Romans 14:17).

Some teach the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a post-conversion, second act of grace. Something to be “waited on” in believing prayer. I disagree. Like the cross and the resurrection, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a one-time event in history. The Holy Spirit came to the church on the day of Pentecost and now permanently abides in every true believer.

It is, however, a GREAT MISTAKE to teach that we have no need to WAIT on the Spirit for guidance, power and blessing as a regular part of our faith. The filling of the Holy Spirit is a repetitive necessity. Waiting on the Spirit is our daily discipline. “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer,” declares 1:14.

How often we fail, dear one, because we are impatient! The world does not need our energy or wisdom. It needs God, and a full measure of His power is promised to those who wait and pray.

“Be filled with the Spirit”(Ephesians 5:18).

“Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary”(Isaiah 40:31).