The Body of Christ ... In Baptism (4)

summarized by Dale Shumaker 4spirit@gmail.com

The banding together of Believers after the Acts explosion (Acts 2:1-4), brings us into a new understanding of this dynamic element which now exists called the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft elaborates on what this all means in his chapter, In Baptism, The Body of Christ, chapter 4.
If anything is to be accomplished for God's Glory and the overall well being of mankind, it must be done through the direction and orchestration provided by the Holy Spirit. It will require the collaborate cooperation of the Believers called the Body of Christ... where Christ's Spirit now exists on earth through man. This union when unified, is so powerful and magnificent, that this is truly another incarnation of God manifesting himself through men and women.

Exploding into civilization, coming and never leaving, the Body of Christ (Believers as one group) is now referred to as The Church. It's all who believe in Jesus as their Lord and ban as one with each other.
God's presence then moves within us rather than something on the outside like ceremonies, temples, altars. We, now as connected Believers are the new Temple where God exists in all the Power just as Jesus had when on the earth. That's why being in unity in heart and Spirit is absolutely necessary. This is where all power is now.

The Scriptures say we are built together as the place of habitation of God's Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21-22)

So the believers in unity is the power and significance for seeing the manifest presence of Jesus in our lives today. In the Bible the word manifest means to open to sight. The Holy Spirit has people through whom He can show himself. When the Body of Christ is in proper relationship to God and to one another, The Holy Spirit works through it.

This is no secret of what happened. God forecast it through all His prophets in the Old Testament. Jesus is not a stand alone person. We as a unit, united, cooperating, loving each other as One, are Now Jesus. Jesus went from one person to now a Corporate Unit of many who believe in Him connected by God's Very Own Spirit. God's plan could not be aborted by anyone. His people were ready to receive His plan.

They met in one room and waited for this baptism or explosion of Spirit to deluge over them. Those in this room were different nationalities, sexes, religious backgrounds. Yet they came together and waited as One. They were in one accord, in harmony, one mind. The reason it took ten days for all this to happen was maybe it took that long for them to work out the differences, put them aside, and become one. They probably spent much time in self examination.

The power became internal, but manifested itself externally. The word incarnation is an appropriate word here. Its meaning is to embody in Spirit as an earthly form. It is God, Himself, now dwelling in those who received the Holy Spirit.

Then the explosion of the Holy Spirit came.
1. There was sound. It came as a strong wind going through the place.
2. There was something to see. It looked like fire on top of their heads.
3. There was compound reaction: They spoke in languages unknown, but each person hearing His own language. This noise went abroad. Everyone was amazed and marveled at what was happening. All the17 dialects represented heard people praising God in their own language.That very day 3000 more people became Believers and were added to the Body of Christ.

Koinonia emerged. They were no longer just a group meeting together, but an intimacy among them became obviously apparent. It was an intimate sharing fellowship as all things were considered to be in common and shared by all. This was done to such an extent, no one person in the group was without. All needs were met. Individuals seemed to lose individual identities in the group. There was a vicarious unselfishness to share all blessings with each other.

Unity in all things was the word of the day.
1. They were in unity as One with God.
2. They were one in themselves, one with the Holy Spirit now working vigorously through them. They turned over selfish ambitions for God's directives speaking unceasingly through them.
3. They were one with each other. As Peter spoke to the crowd afterward... He was speaking as the whole group of 11 disciples. A unique occurrence.
4. They were in unity with all Believers. Togetherness was the characteristic of the group, as well as the condition behind why they all had so much power now.
5. They were in communication. The Spirit was communicating through them from the Spirit within them. They had God's voice in them speaking to them.
6. They were in unity in material things. They shared things of value with each other... food, clothing, shelter, houses, transportation. Even though most were in poverty, in their sharing they all become a group without any lack among them. Prosperity seems to promote individualism... individualism weakens Spiritual power. Their power came from their sharing... a new concept of power's origins.
7. They were in unity in witnessing. They had favor with all people and people listened to them. They were amazed that they seemed to know so much, and were bold as an authority in their field even though not educated. The warmth and love they had among each other, attracted many to them.

All this centered around the unity of Spirit as One Group they had. When there is disunity, the power is zapped. We should avoid disunity at all costs. Satan's premiere tool to make the Church powerless is to create disunity. When that happens, Power is diluted, exponentially, from the group. To the same degree, when their is unity, power is added exponentially to the group.

The Unity of Believers Brought the manifestation of God's Presence. A common ministry emerges when we are in unity in any group. As one in Spirit, the specific directives of Spirit become apparent for that particular group. Again, that's why Satan attacks to create disunity. Then power wanes.

From this outpouring of Spirit, all forms of power ministry became evident. The Word of God was preached. The prophetic words of God were expressed through common men. As a group they guarded doctrine so it was stable, and there was fellowship.They ate together and shared together.

Believers were without livelihood due to persecution and ostracism. Those were times of deprivation of family and food. They shared the basics of life with each other.

During all this, they were in constant prayer and worship. As one in worship the powers of the Supernatural presence of God created all forms of Supernatural gifts, healings and miracles of immediate manifestations.

The Very World-Creating Spirit of God was at work... regularly. This is our challenge today.To find ourselves completely lost in our Lord Jesus Christ so that we lose sight of all that brings individualism, division, unfeeling relationships within the fellowship. With the Baptism of Spirit in our whole group, many will come running to us.
(Scripture reference is Acts 2.)