You WILL receive a baptism of Fire and Power! My whole ministry has been about the Fire and Power of the Holy Ghost! I want to talk from Acts 1.8 – this is the beginning for the Church, these are Christ’s last Words before He leaves His disciples and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. He’s telling them, preparing them, warning them for what is going to happen. Jesus is telling the disciples, “I’m going to leave you, all the responsibility is going to be on you. But YOU will receive Power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” This is a challenge to us all, this is the last message Jesus is giving to the disciples – they have all seen HIS Power, they have all seen HIS miracles – UNLIMITED Power. But now He says, “YOU will receive Power!” This is the message to us all, today, YOU WILL receive POWER – after the Holy Spirit is come on you!
BUT there must be EVIDENCE. Amongst Pentecostals, it is generally agreed that scripturally, the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking with tongues – and miracles. In all the debates I had in my early years, amongst all the other students, teachers, pastors, it seemed they only focused on speaking in tongues as the evidence. But it is not just speaking in tongues, it is also the evidence of miracles of healing.
Don’t let the Fire go out!
1 Kings 17:10-14. This is the story of Elijah and the widow woman. There was famine, devastation in the land, and all this poor woman had left was one cruse of oil and enough flour to make one cake for herself and her son – the last meal before they would die. And the prophet says, “First make me the cake...” And he told her to prepare the flour and the vessels and pour out the oil... Scripture says the oil did not fail! The more she poured out, the more there was left! That should be our experience! This is the challenge I am taking, this is the message I am taking as I fly out on my first post-Covid major ministry in just 2 days from now: that cruse of oil that I have, that anointing, that Power, that Fire that I have – WILL NOT RUN OUT!
Yes, I’m in my 90th year, but as long as I go on preaching, the oil will not run out! However tired or exhausted I may become, the oil won’t run out! I want that to be a challenge to us all. Read the story in 1 Kings 17 again, how that, in that desperate situation, that cruse of oil was only effective when the widow tried to empty it, when she used it, when she poured it out... All the time that last drop was sitting in that vessel, it remained limited. But the moment she began to pour it out, every vessel was filled, and as she poured there was still more left. This is what has to happen in our lives. The blessing of God, the Power of God has to be flowing through us!
I learned a long time ago, there is one thing wrong with a pond or a pool of water. A pool of water, if left, will become stagnant. The only thing that keeps it fresh is when there’s movement - water coming in one end and out at the other. It’s the flow that keeps the freshness. It’s the same for us – we’ve got to receive the anointing, but it’s got to go out! It’s got to be poured out. It’s that constant flow that renews the anointing. That’s the story behind the vessel that never ran dry.
I want to encourage you and encourage myself in two things: that I must never let that Fire go out as long as I live; and that cruse of oil – it wasn’t the woman, it wasn’t the prophet – it was God that filled it, and that filling never failed! That’s the blessing and the anointing of God – IT WILL NEVER FAIL! God bless you!