“For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5)
“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals;
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
1. To Receive the Baptism of the Holy Fire
Then, how can you receive the baptism of fire? The baptism of fire descends when you are full of the Holy Spirit. Thus, to receive the baptism of fire, you first have to tear down the wall of sin between you and God. If you have a wall of sin against God, you cannot gain fullness of the Holy Spirit no matter how eagerly you want it. If you have any wall of sin, you should first repent of your sins and break the wall to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Especially, in healing meetings, we pray for the sick only after we let the congregation break the wall of sins through repenting prayer. After that they can pray to receive the fullness and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. By doing this, when a man of God’s power prays for the sick, the fire will descend upon those who are sick, the diseases and germs will be burned, the sins will be removed, and the answers will come down.
If you see with spiritual eyes, there is not only the fire at work but there are various kinds of spiritual lights of God’s power. Therefore, only if you tear down the wall of sin against God and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, you will receive answers to any problem.
In order to receive the baptism of fire, you need not only repenting to tear down the wall of sin but also prayers and praises that can please God. You should store up the aroma of your prayers and praises with all your heart, mind, and strength so that you can move the heavenly throne.
Then, the fire of the Holy Spirit will descend on you so that you will be able to cast off sinful natures and many kinds of problems will be solved. Eventually, you will be able to become sanctified. God’s children should receive not only the baptism of the Holy Spirit
but also continual baptisms of the fire so that they will become sanctified, their souls will prosper, and they will be healthy.
In this way, you can become true wheat, and when the Lord divides the wheat from the chaff, all of you will be able to go into the barn of heavenly kingdom. Just to confess, “I believe,” will not guarantee salvation. You should struggle against sins to the point of shedding blood and try to cast off all forms of evil. This is true faith accompanied with deeds, and by this faith you will be saved.
But this cannot be done by your own effort, so you should receive the baptism of fire. Specifically, you must receive God’s power. To do this, you should praise God and pray to God with all your heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Revelation 3:16 says, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Your faith should not either be lukewarm or cold; it has to grow hotter everyday. You should receive God’s strength within the fullness of the Holy Spirit, come out as good wheat, and gain the qualification to enter into New Jerusalem, the best dwelling place in heavenly kingdom.