Washed in Holy Fire

Washed in Holy Fire

(My Testimony of Receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit, written Dec 2019)

The Promise

John answered, saying unto them all,
I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
Luke 3:16 KJV

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:4‭-‬5‭, ‬8 KJV

The Fulfilment of the Promise

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:1‭-‬4 KJV

That event happened to me almost exactly as described in Acts 2 some 30 years ago.
I was in my Secondary School when my teacher invited me to her church camp.
I came to the service to be prayed for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit in a childlike manner, not knowing much about it nor knowing Jesus personally.

I remembered that it was in a hall, and the congregation gathered, hungering for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We prayed hard and waited for quite some time standing, eyes closed, expecting to be filled (though I am not sure what I was to be expecting).

It became very warm. I was sweating profusely all over although there was good ventilation. We kept going for a while and then an atmosphere of stillness came over the hall. The praying and crying has not stopped at this point.
Just then, a gust of wind came from nowhere. It was a relief for me, in the now fully sweat covered body.

And then it happened.

Suddenly, one of the people in the crowd broke out loudly in an unknown language.
One after another followed in waves after waves.

Not knowing what that was, I was struggling in the flesh against a subtle urge, not actually knowing why I was struggling.
It got more and more intense and I got more and more heated.
Just then, a brother beside me encouraged me to speak it out,
"Speak it out! Speak it out! Don't control it!"

In the midst of this unknown struggle, I decided to do as he said and tried to open my mouth and make a sound. Once, twice and then before I knew it, it came out. I was speaking in other tongues and I have full control of it in determining when to stop and when to speak again.
After the event, it was mentioned that one of the brother witness tongues of fire resting above each of our heads.

I was never the same again though it took quite many years for my mind to be renewed to the mind of Christ.
Something changed inwardly forever. I have a new eternal, incorruptible, righteous spirit begotten of God. I am a new creation.
Christ is in me! The Holy Spirit dwells in me!

The Way, The Truth and The Life

Fast forward more than 10 years.
I came to read the Word of God for myself in the Spirit rather than hearing man's interpretations and explanations.
It became really alive for me.
I started to ask God the tough questions what that Baptism I received really is, why is it not reproduced commonly in most of the churches that I have seen, why nobody that I knew of personally is doing what the Word is saying and living and acting the way Jesus lived and did and has commanded us.

And he said unto them,
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these SIGNS shall follow them that BELIEVE;
In my name shall they cast out devils;
=> they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.
Amen.
Mark 16:15‭-‬18‭, ‬20 KJV

Therefore, I started to obey His Word and do these instructions as much as I am lead to do, according to what the Holy Spirit has put in me.

Others Receiving the Gift

1) One day, my two sisters became curious in my speaking in other tongues and I shared with them that anyone that hungers for Christ will be able to received it.
I laid my hands on their head, following after the example in Acts and prayed for them to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Nothing happened that day.

However, the next day or it could have been a few days after the event, my elder sister told me that she has got it in the night!
She has been thirsting for the blessing and without any signs whatsoever and she was awaken in the middle of the night breaking out in an hour or more of speaking in other tongues.
Shortly after, checking with my younger sister, I told her to try speaking out in tongues while both of us prayed in other tongues. It didn't take long and she just utter out an unknown tongue almost naturally without much struggle.

2) With these testimonies on hand, I shared with a friend who was living in US through online chatting and prayed for him. He had been fascinated years ago that I was able to speak in other tongues. As it turned out, after sharing with him my sisters' experiences, he too was awaken in the middle of the night in an uncontrollable speaking in other tongues.

3) Subsequently, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, I have been able to organise a few groups of 3 or 4 believers consisting of both adults and children on separate occassions to pray for their receiving of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Not every one of them spoke in other tongues as a sign of their believing. Therefore, without this clear evidence I am unable to declare that everyone that I laid my hands on received the precious gift of the Holy Spirit that the Father so desired to give us.

Conclusion

The lesson is clear.
Those who really did thirst and hungered for Him and willingly surrendered their highly intellectual self-will in a childlike manner, all received the blessing and spoke in other tongues.
Those who resisted (for fear of looking foolish) were not able to speak in other tongues and so there is no easy way to know whether they have received the gift.

There is one misunderstanding which I have observed.
People often look upon being "filled with the Spirit" as something that comes with a mighty stirring of the emotions, a sort of heavenly glory that comes over them, something that they can feel strongly and mightily; but that is not always the case.
Sometimes, people received it without any or much emotions.
In many instances, they need to take hold of the subtle urge and take the first step to consciously speak out a sound bravely even if it appears foolish or nonsensical at first and then the Presence of God will come down subsequently to meet their obedience and give their spirit the utterance they have asked for.

I do not want to lay down the way in which it is to come to you, but I want you simply to take your place before God, and say,
"My Father, whatever it may mean, that is what I want."
If you come and give yourself up as an empty vessel and trust God to fill you, God will do His own work.

Finally, we must judge all of our experiences and understandings by ALL of the Word of God, rather than judging any Scriptures by our own experiences or even the negative as well as positive experiences of other saints that we see or read about.

The Word of God is our Final Authority.
It does not contradict itself in any parts whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, in any other way.

If we find on occasions that it does, it is ALWAYS our own understanding that is not in line with the very Word of God.

He said unto them,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
Acts 19:2 KJV