You Need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit — David Wilkerson

You Need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit — David Wilkerson

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P .O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 214 -963 -8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends.

Some of you have been saved a long time. Some of you have been saved as many as 50 years. Some of you have only saved a year, some of you a few months, some of you just a few weeks. And I thank God for what he's done for you.

Thank God for the joy of salvation. But there's more. I said there's more. Thank God for the joy of Jesus. But there's more. Thank God for deliverance from sin. But there's more, much, much more. In Paul's time, there were believers in Jesus Christ who didn't even know there was a Holy Ghost.

Believers Who Had Not Yet Received the Holy Ghost

Turn to Acts 19. Acts 19, and we'll begin there. They didn't even know. They were saved. They loved Jesus. They didn't even know there was a Holy Ghost. Now some of you have heard the word, the term Holy Ghost, but you don't know much about Him.

And by the way, the Holy Ghost is not it. It's Him. Him. We refer to Him. All right, verse 1, chapter 19 in the book of Acts. And by the way, if you brought somebody with you or you're sitting by a new convert, would you show this to them?

Maybe they don't know where to go in the Bible, but maybe you could share it and let them see it in black and white so they can test me to see I'm not just talking these words, but I'm giving it to you out of the book.

All right? And it came to pass. By the way, folks, please bear with me. I'm not going to preach a normal sermon tonight, a message. I'm just going to let the Holy Ghost have His way and see where He leads us.

So just sit back and thank God for the moving of the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah. No sermon tonight. This is from my heart. And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples.

You see, he found disciples of Jesus at Ephesus. He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Now, New American Standard and some other translations say, Did you receive the Holy Ghost when you believed?

Well, that doesn't matter whether it's since or when you believe, because they had not received the Holy Ghost, even though they were saved. They were not baptized yet. You'll see it right here. He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?

And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Half the city hasn't heard of the Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said unto John's baptism.

They'd been baptized in water. We have a lot of people saying when you're baptized in water, that's the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Well, they'd been baptized in water, and they still didn't know the Holy Ghost.

Then said Paul, John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Now, they still didn't have the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied, and the men were about twelve.

They came out of the water baptized. They had not yet received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They came out of the water, he laid hands on them, and then they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Now, Jesus himself refused to send any of his disciples out and face the world or witness to him until they had the baptism of the Holy Ghost, till the power of the Holy Ghost came upon them.

The Promise of Power in Acts 1

Now remember, his disciples were pure. They'd already cast out devils. They'd healed the sick. They did many mighty miracles, and yet they were not baptized with the Holy Ghost. He was not going to send them out to do his work without the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

They'd been baptized in water. He'd already given them commandments. The Scripture said he'd given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. They had the word of God. They had their commission.

They had their mandate from God. Like many people here today, you've been saved. You've been sent forth. You're a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. But like these disciples and apostles, you need the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

They needed the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Go to Acts 1. Acts 1. Go left all the way back to chapter 1 of the book of Acts. Now, would you look at the book of Acts, chapter 1? Get it? And then look here, up in the balcony here.

I am not preaching some denominational doctrine. This church does not belong to any denomination. We are not assemblies of God. We're not Baptists. We're not Methodists. We're not Catholic. We're just Holy Ghost people who believe in this book.

So, don't let the devil rob you of the truth by saying, Uh-oh, I'm into some cult or I'm into some denominational thing here. This is not a denominational thing. This is the living word of God. Test it.

I'll give it to you. Look at chapter 1, verse 8. Chapter 1, verse 8. This is Jesus speaking. That ye shall receive power. When? After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be with... Now, they were saved.

They'd cast out devils. They'd healed the sick. They're baptized in water. They know the Lord. They've had the commandments of the Lord. They'd walk with Him for three years and He says, You're going to be baptized.

The Holy Ghost is going to come upon you. He had not yet been given. He had not come upon them yet. And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and the outermost parts of the earth.

Hallelujah. Now, I want you to look at Acts 2. And we're going to read a few verses here. Now, these great apostles gathered with 120 in the upper room. I believe Mary's there, the mother of Jesus. Mary and Martha, they're friends of Jesus.

So many... I believe those had been raised from the dead. I believe blind Bartimaeus was there. I believe the leper that was cleansed. I don't know, but I certainly believe that those who were in his inner circle were there who'd been touched by him.

And they're in the upper room. And all of them having known Him, walked with Him, there was something more for every one of them, even the mother of Jesus. There's something more. And here it is, 2nd chapter.

And when the day of Pentecost, verse 1, was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and set upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. How can anybody say speaking in tongues is of the devil when the Spirit of God is giving the utterance?

It says the Spirit of God gave utterance. How can it be of the devil when the Spirit of God is speaking? I've heard people say, well, Mormons speak in tongues. There are a lot of cults that speak in tongues.

Well, those cults also have a false gospel. They have a false Jesus. So what if they have a false tongue? The gospel is false, and everything else is false. Why not a false tongue? It's just a counterfeit of what is real.

It just proves that there's something real. The devil wouldn't try to fake it if there wasn't something real, genuine. We've had people all say, oh, they speak with tongues, you know, so it must all be wrong.

Well, their whole gospel, many of these cults, their whole gospel is wrong. The Bible said there's another gospel, there's another Jesus, and there's another tongue that's not of God. But there is, look at the same chapter, chapter 2, verse 36, beginning to read.

Verse 36, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you've crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to all the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Peter said to them, repent. All right, you've repented, haven't you? The Lord took away your sins. There's something more. And, and, and, something more. Be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

Yes, we do that, baptized in water. But there's more. And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Even as many as the Lord our God shall call. You tell me where you find in that verse that he stopped it. Tell me where God stopped. Speaking with tongues or healing? So many churches in this city that love Jesus say healing stopped with the death of the last apostle.

That's not what it says. This promise is unto you, your children, your children's children, as many as the Lord our God shall call. As long as breath is in our living bodies. Hallelujah. Glory be to God.

Signs, Miracles, and the Baptism in Samaria

I'm just getting started. Go to Acts, the 8th chapter, the 8th chapter. Philip goes down to Samaria and has a great move of God in this chapter. Philip's full of the Holy Ghost. What a man of God he is.

The 8th chapter, verse 5. 8th chapter, verse 5. Do you have it? Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and he preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

For unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. Now look at me, folks.

Look, a great moving of God. The lame are leaping. Devils are coming out of demon-possessed people. People are getting saved. They're believing on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's fine, but there's more.

God sent his Holy Ghost squad down from Jerusalem to tell them that there's more. Tell them that there's much more to it. And I'll tell you what, verse 14. Now when the apostles which were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, then they sent unto them Peter and John.

That's God's Holy Ghost squad. These men are full of the Holy Ghost. You talk about baptism and these men were baptized. He said, hey, God's moving down in Samaria. People are getting saved. People are being healed.

The devil's absolutely fleeing in all directions. Something's happening. Even sorcerers are getting saved. Witches are getting saved. We've got to get down there. Look at verse... When they came down, they prayed for them.

What? That they might receive the Holy Ghost. Well, I thought you got the Holy Ghost when you're saved. You're saved through the ministry of the Holy Ghost. You can't be saved without the ministry of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit opens your heart. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus. There's a difference between that ministry of the Holy Spirit and convicting and bringing Christ to your heart. And there's another matter of ministry of a baptism of the Holy Ghost.

That simple illustration. You can be... The glass can be filled, but you put that glass down in a tub of water and it's baptized. It's not just filled. It's baptized. It's inundated. It's covered. It's just possessed by that water then.

Verse 17. Now, when they laid hands on them, they received the Holy Ghost. Look at verse 16. For as yet He was fallen upon none of them. They were saved. They were casting out devils, but the Holy Ghost had fallen on none of them.

Only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They'd been baptized. Ah, great miracles, signs, wonders. But they had not yet been baptized with the Holy Ghost. Is that clear in your Bible? Before I go on, wave at me or something.

Let me know you see that in your Bible. Alright. You want to see another evidence? Go to chapter 10. It's all through the Bible. You know there's a man by the name of Cornelius. He's a devout, righteous man.

This man's so holy, he got his whole household saved. His whole house was devout. He was such a holy man. Such a man of prayer. Even his servants were devout. Even his soldiers were devout. He was a centurion.

And Cornelius got a visit from an angel. This man was so hungry, he knew there was more. This man was marvelously saved. He loved Jesus with all his heart. This man was so devout. A man of prayer, and he knew there was something reaching out in him like some of you tonight that have been genuinely saying, Did you love Jesus?

Did you know there's something much, much more? There's more for you. And he knew there was more. So an angel said, Go call for Peter. And Peter will come and he'll tell you what you need. And I want you to start reading with me, if you will, please, in chapter 10, verse 44.

Verse 44. Peter's been preaching for just a short while. He didn't want to go down to house of Cornelius because these are Gentiles. He was a Jew. And he had not yet gotten enough religion. Perhaps, I don't know.

He just had to have a vision. God gave him a vision. And by vision told him, Don't call anybody unclean. And he went down and he preached Jesus to them. And look what happens in verse 44. When Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost interrupted his sermon.

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water? Now, for those who say baptism in water is a baptism of the Holy Ghost, they'd already received it.

Now they're going to go down in water. Can any man forbid water to these that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? They got the Holy Ghost while they were baptized in water.

Is it true? We've got a big cult here in New York that's reaching many, many hundreds of young people. They're going after college students and they say, You go down in water, you're saved by baptism and you're filled with the Holy Ghost.

When you go down and come out of the water, you're saved and you're baptized. Well, that is nothing of any Bible merit whatsoever. All kinds of scriptures refute that. Being baptized in water is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

There is something more. Glory be to God. You see, they received the Holy Ghost. And you know what they did when they received the Holy Ghost? We heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Now, that's the third time the Holy Ghost has come with inevitable evidence of speaking with tongues.

Now, the Assemblies of God and other Pentecostal groups call speaking in tongues the initial physical evidence that the evidence of the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongues. I prefer to call it the inevitable evidence.

In other words, eventually, somewhere along the line, you're going to be so in love with Jesus that you won't be able to express it in your own language. You're going to speak a heavenly language because you won't know how to express what's in your heart of the love of Jesus.

I'm not going to take off my shoe tonight. But I remember, remember I told you about the preacher who said, You don't ask for the tongues when you go to buy a pair of shoes. You ask for the shoes and the tongues come with them.

Do you remember when Saul got saved? Ma, there was no man saved any more convincingly than Saul. Light came out of heaven and struck him down, struck him blind. He's led by men by hand in blindness to a little room in Damascus.

And he's there praying and seeking the Lord. And he gets a vision and a word from the Holy Ghost said, Saul, there's going to be a man by the name of Ananias. He's going to come and lay hands on you and you're going to receive your healing and you'll be told what to do.

And Ananias gets a vision and the Holy Ghost says to him, Saul is waiting for you. And Ananias said, He's a killer. He's out to kill a Christian. The Lord said, No, I saved him. I struck him down. He's a man of God.

He's a man of the word now. He's a chosen vessel. I'm going to send you to him now. And he gave him the address down the street called Straight. That's a good street to be on, Straight. A lot of you on Straight Street, but there's more for you.

There's more. I want you to go to, let's see, let's go to Acts 9. Go back to Acts 9. 9th chapter, verse 15. Verse 15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way. See, Ananias is arguing with the Lord. So this man means evil and he's trying to bind up the Christians.

But the Lord said to him, Ananias, Go thy way, for he, Saul, is a chosen vessel to me, to hear, bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. I'll show him how many great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

And Ananias went his way, entered into the house, and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul. You know he's saved. He's brother. Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and what?

Be filled with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost came upon Saul and he was baptized at that moment. Hallelujah. Now, let me tell you, look this way a minute. Let me tell you why you need the Holy Ghost. Baptism.

The Holy Ghost as the Spirit of Truth

You need the Holy Ghost baptism to break the spirit of the world that still lingers in you and drive out all the remains of the stronghold of the enemy. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is, that's when he moves in.

This body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, the scripture says. The moment you yield to the Holy Spirit, and the moment you've set your mind, I'm going to serve Jesus with all my heart, I'm not going to live a double life, I give my body to be the temple of the Holy Ghost, that moment the Holy Ghost moves in and he puts the devil on notice.

I live here. You're out, I'm in. And the Holy Ghost says, get all your baggage, all of your remaining little lust, you missed a spot in the corner, get it out, get it out. The Holy Ghost is a policeman.

I'll tell you, he stands there to police it. He says, devil, every claim on this body is lost. I have come to make Jesus Lord of this house. I am going to reveal Jesus in this body. I'm going to reveal Jesus in this mind.

This temple is cleansed by the blood of the Lamb of Jesus, and this now is my house to teach and train, and bring up this child of God in the nurture and admonition of Jesus Christ. And everything Jesus said, I'm going to bring it here.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and he will bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've said unto you. I have often wondered why some who call themselves Christians can still dabble in sin, and they say, well, it's like a number of years ago over Teen Challenge, the leader of a prostitution ring here in New York City, very notorious prostitution ring, came in to my office.

Someone said, that prostitution ring has been in the headlines. The leader of that is out in the lobby, wants to talk to you. She came in and laid a mink coat on my desk. And she said, Mr. Wilkerson, my mother is Pentecostal, and I've been the leader of this ring, and I think there were some 25 women that worked for her.

I don't remember the exact number, but there's a number of women that worked for her. She used to make her tricks pay a thousand dollars for a weekend for a special seat on the plane for her cat. I mean, she had it in a special way.

She bundled the cat, and she'd have to have a special seat. She was a high-priced call girl. And she said, I am desperate that cat died, and I begin to think of eternity. And she said, I remember the prayers of my family.

And she was under deep, deep conviction. It wasn't just because the law was after her. But she said something I've heard so many times. She said, Mr. Wilkerson, I was two people. I never thought that was me.

That was someone else playing a role. I hear that from actors, I hear that from actresses who play R-rated movies, filthy, dirty, violent movies. God hates violence so much He destroyed the earth over it.

God hates violence more than He hates anything else on the face of the earth. It's despicable in the eyes of God. Jesus won't even touch a man who's a part of that, or a woman who's a part of that kind of activity.

And I say that in love. But I'm telling some of you, when the great moving of the Holy Ghost comes, if you're in show business, God, the Holy Ghost, is going to show you that He cannot keep His hand on you.

You cannot be baptized with the Holy Ghost. You cannot walk in the fullness of Jesus and still be a double-minded person. You can't do it. The Scripture makes it impossible. And she said, it was a game.

She said, it wasn't the money that I wanted. It was just something in me. It wasn't the matter of being needed. I always pictured myself as not involved. Not involved. It's someone else. That's a split personality.

Steve Fox: From Rock Star to Missionary

A number of years ago, it's been probably 8 to 10 years ago, a young Japanese rock star came to my office in Texas. The number one rock group in Japan. He was an English boy, but born and raised in Japan.

And he became the number one. Steve Fox was the number one rock star in Japan. Thousands and thousands of young people flocked. And in the process of being a star, somewhere along there, the Holy Spirit came to him, dealt with him about his sins, and he gave his heart to Jesus.

And when he came to my office, he was in a dilemma. He said, Brother Dean, I go to certain pastors and they say, Oh, what an opportunity to be a witness for Jesus. Stay in it. Pass out Bibles. Pass out tracts.

He wound up throwing little Bibles out in the crowd. But you know, the thing that bothered him was that young people on the side that he was witnessing to, about Jesus, they were saying, Well, there's nothing different about you.

Why should I want your Jesus when you're just like me? You're just like me. And it stuck in his craw. I said, Steve, he said, Brother Dean, I've got a wife and I've got a child. I need the money. I've been told by some outstanding ministers and evangelists that I can do this and that the Lord has made me a star so that I can be a witness for Jesus nationwide.

Japan needs somebody like that. It's so close to the gospel. I said, Steve, that's a lie from the pit of hell. I said, do you love Jesus with all your heart? He said, yes, I do. He said, you need to be baptized with the Holy Ghost, but if you're going to be baptized with the Holy Ghost, you're going to lay down the whole world.

He said, well, Brother Dean, how am I going to reach Japan then? I said, you're going to do that through the power of the Holy Ghost. You'll do it as a missionary and not as a rock star. Steve knelt in my office and made a total surrender of his life to the Lord.

He said, all right, Jesus, here I am. I've got no money. I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. I said, the first thing you do, you get your rock group together. There were five, I think, four or five in his group.

And I said, you break the news that it's all over. He said, I'll do it. He went back and told them. And some of them nodded their head, well, it's about time, is what they were thinking. You say one thing and live another.

But that boy surrendered totally. We raised some money and sent him to Hawaii to a Bible school, to a missionary training thing. And God so anointed that boy. He has a radio program in Japan now. He's a missionary all over Asia, running many, many souls to Jesus Christ.

Tell me God sent you in the schmuck to make you a witness that's alive from the pit of hell. That's the devil lying to you, my friend. That's the devil lying to you. That's your way of holding on to something.

And you can't be baptized with the Holy Ghost with that in your heart. And if you'll give it on, the baptizer will come on you and make you a true witness, and you will be used of God. You don't need any of the devil's baggage for Jesus.

He said, well, you really, my goodness, you're really coming down on that. Well, God told me all week that I had to. Some of you may never hear it again. You'll go to some church where a compromising preacher will pat you on the back and say, go on, you be a witness.

That's not what this Bible says. I don't understand. Well, turn to 2 Corinthians. I won't prove it. Don't take my word. Take the Holy Ghost for it. 2 Corinthians. I don't know how anybody who loves Jesus can bypass this.

I don't know how you can face this unless the Spirit of Truth is not in you. That's why you need the Holy Ghost. He's the Spirit of Truth. Listen to me. Before we go into this, I've wondered how do people read what I'm going to read to you now and distort it or wink at it and not deal with it.

There are some of you dear folks that have been coming to this church for a year or two sitting under a strong, strong word. The word that comes forth tonight is coming with youngs in the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and the word that comes forth here every week is anointing of the Holy Ghost.

And yet some of you have not changed. You've not left the world. You're still attached. And I say, God, how can it happen? It's black and white. And may I tell you why? It's because they have not opened themselves to the Spirit of Truth.

The Holy Ghost, when He comes to baptize you, comes as a Spirit of Truth. And the preacher won't have to tell you. You'll read it. You'll tremble at it. And you'll obey it. You will lock in it because the Spirit of Truth shows you that it's God speaking.

Not man. It's God. And I tremble when I read this. Have you gone to 2 Corinthians 6? I'm going to put this to you straight. How can you name the name of Jesus? How can you say you're Christian, and then you're going to mix with the world?

Verse 14. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? And what agreement hath Christ with Bilal, or the devil?

Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore, come out. Out. Holy Ghost make that real. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth. And if you have any of the Holy Ghost in you, that's going to pierce you like a knife. You're going to say, Holy Ghost in me make that.

I won't wink at it. I won't bypass it. I'll face it. Come out from among them. And be ye separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing. Some of you have been into an unclean thing. How do you go out and rent those filthy R-rated movies?

And still say you want the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or you're walking in the Spirit, or you want the Spirit of Truth? Impossible. And I'll be a father unto you. You'll be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Seeking the Baptism by Faith

All right, look at me please. That's why you need the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Because when He comes, He comes as the Spirit of Truth. And then you don't... I'll tell you what. Some of you may be able to sit right through my preaching and even get mad at me.

You say, I don't like that kind of preaching. That's hard. Jesus is love. The Gospel is good news. I thought the Holy Ghost was a comforter. Bob has a red hot sermon on how the Holy Ghost comforts. You know how the Holy Ghost comforts?

He's a consuming fire. And He comes and convicts you of your sin. And He gives you power to burn it out. And you are comfortable then. Nobody's more comfortable than those who have been delivered from sin.

That's comfort. Hallelujah. Some people picture the Holy Ghost as an English mammy who comes around. No matter how you feel, all the sins you like. Come on, honey. Come on, honey. No. He shines the light of Jesus in your heart.

He said, get rid of that and you'll be alright. You'll feel good once you deal with that. Glory to God. Hallelujah. When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.

And He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, Jesus said. For He shall receive of mine. He will show it unto you. And you need the baptism of the Holy Ghost so that you know how to line up your life with Jesus.

The Holy Ghost is the plumb line of God. And that reveals Christ in fullness. And you line everything up to that plumb line. That's what the work of the Holy Ghost is all about. Now, let me ask you. Do you want the Holy Ghost?

Do you want the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Do you want the Holy Ghost to fall on you? Alright. Let me tell you what that means. First of all, you've got to be convinced it's for you. That Jesus is still baptizing.

That He's still falling on believers. He's still possessing bodies. We've heard, a lot of you believe, many of you believe that the devil can possess bodies. Don't you believe the Holy Ghost can possess bodies?