'By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit,' (1 John 4.13, NKJV).
The Spirit of Jesus, or the Spirit of Christ, sometimes referred to as the Spirit of God, is the Spirit we receive at conversion. Receiving the Holy Spirit is a totally seperate baptism. You can only receive the Holy Spirit after you have received Christ. The first Scripture I want to refer you to is from Romans 8, 'Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death,' (v1-2). In this passage it is clear that through Christ we receive the Spirit of Life, this is your conversion. In verses 9-11, Paul continues referring to the Spirit of Christ, 'You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.'
Like Jesus, we must receive the Holy Spirit in order to be effective in ministry. The Holy Spirit is the empowerment. The reason I first received the Holy Spirit was because I knew I had to preach the Gospel – with lives changed, souls saved into the Kingdom! I found Christ when I was 8, was baptised in water aged 12. The first time I spoke in my church I was only 13. I advertised, the people came; I preached, but nobody repented! I was shocked because I had grown up with some of the greatest evangelists. I went home and asked my father, who was a great preacher, one of the founders of the Pentecostal movement in Great Britain, what was wrong? I had preached the same Gospel – from the Bible like my father – but nobody repented. My father said, “Because you have not yet received the Holy Spirit!” That night he laid his hands on me and prayed that I would receive the Holy Spirit – but I did not receive – no fire, no power! But from that moment I had only one desire, to meet with God and to receive His power in my life.
For 3 months I prayed without receiving. But I knew that without the power, the fire, the anointing of God, I could never see men’s lives converted. At Easter we used to have three Pentecostal Conventions in London. I determined to go and not leave until I had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit! The preaching was so long in the morning, there was no time to pray for people to receive the Holy Spirit! As a 13-year old I went up to those great men of God on the platform and said, “I only came to receive the fire, pray for me!” They took me to a small room, laid their hands on me, but their minds were on their lunch! I did not receive the Holy Spirit.
I was searching for something which does not come from men, the real power of God. One of those pastors saw my heart, opened the Scripture to me, then when he prayed and laid hands on me, it was as if the roof came off the building, I saw the Glory of God and felt the fire! The fire of the Holy Ghost, the power of God and the Glory of God came into my life! Now I had to become an evangelist! I had to preach Christ, and see the Power! That baptism was only the beginning!
If you want to be effective in ministry, you MUST be filled with the Holy Spirit!
When we are born again we receive the Spirit of Life, but when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the Spirit of Power!