The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Can Come into a Person’s Life in Many Ways

In First Samuel chapter 16 we see an interesting process in which God had already chosen David to replace Saul after Saul became corrupt and began to concern himself more with himself, his public image, and his reign, and stopped paying attention to what God wanted for his life. That anointing became corrupted, and God abandoned him and took His Spirit from Saul. Then another person was sought, who in this case turned out to be David.

One wonders, what was it about David that attracted God? One of the things we have to bear in mind is this: God will move in our lives according to our hearts, according to the purity and nobility of our hearts, according to the selflessness we show regarding our image, our reputation, and our material interests. The Bible says: “The eyes of God roam throughout the whole earth, seeking those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, to show His favor upon them.”

One of the ways we attract the Power of God, the anointing of God, into our lives is by making sure we always maintain a pure heart, a noble heart, a heart that always seeks the glory of God, because that will draw the Spirit of the Lord to our lives.

What happened in David’s life was that he had a simple heart, a generous heart, a heart that cared about the glory of God. Apparently his brothers did not have this quality, and so God passed them over. All David’s other brothers were more attractive than David from the standpoint of what might be desirable in a king and a warrior who had to lead a people in war.

David was a young man who was apparently strong, but he was unassuming; he had no training in warfare, he did not have the height, and he was not as burly as his other brothers. But that did not matter to God, because God can add those things to the life of any individual. What God does not take it upon Himself to tinker with or try to change is a person’s original heart.

When a person is haughty, proud, self-assured, and full of bitterness, resentment, and such things, God passes that person by. But when God sees a simple heart, suitable raw material, the Lord is drawn to it, and the Spirit of God flows toward that person.

That is why, if we want God to move with power in our lives, it is so important that the first thing we examine is our own heart, our own conduct, what is there, the essential quality of our inner being, because that is what will either grieve the Holy Spirit or win His love.

So we see that the Lord is drawn to David and sends Samuel, but He does not tell Samuel whom he is to choose, because God wanted to establish a precedent so that all His people throughout history would understand that what God looks for is the heart, where His Power can dwell in that individual’s life.

And what we know happened was that Samuel arrived at the house of Jesse, David’s father, and, as though in a beauty pageant, they presented to him each of these big, powerful, burly, battle-hardened sons of Jesse. God rejected them one by one, until, almost as an afterthought, they brought in David, who was out there tending the sheep, and God said: That is the one. Anoint him, and I will be upon him.

It says here that “Samuel”—verse 13 of chapter 16, First Samuel—“Samuel took the horn of oil,” a symbol of the Holy Spirit; oil has always been a symbol of the Power of God; “he took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.” And here is the interesting part. It says: “And from that day forward, the Spirit of the Lord came upon David.” In other words, that was like the activation of the relationship.

From then on, from that moment, it was as though the Holy Spirit knew the specific direction of David’s life and would deal with him; there would be revelation, there would be moments of powerful anointing when needed.

So it is interesting, again, isn’t it? There is a specific moment when one receives that Spirit of God. God had plans for David, but He needed to put, how shall we say, new tools into his emotional and spiritual makeup so that he could carry out the work ahead of him. It is as though they removed a low-power cable and gave him a 240-volt cable, or more, so that he could handle the energy of God in his life and ministry.

So it says that from that moment on, the Spirit of the Lord, as it were, dealt with David and visited him. And it is interesting that, from that moment on, things begin to happen in David’s life. Perhaps David did not even manifest anything.

In Saul’s case there were spectacular manifestations and emotional experiences. Saul prophesied; there were very clear expressions and very clear signs that the Spirit had touched him. In David’s case, we are told nothing of the sort. There was simply the pouring out of the horn of oil in the midst of his brothers, and it was as though an invisible but very powerful transaction took place in David’s life. From that moment on, David was firmly established and anointed with the blessing and Power of God, and from that moment on, David had something within him.

It is important that we understand this. The baptism of the Holy Spirit can come into an individual’s life in many ways. I know that many who read or listen to this message have been taught that the baptism of the Holy Spirit can only manifest itself through the manifestation of the gift of tongues.

Fewer and fewer people who know Scripture and are theologically mature preach this doctrine, and I say this with respect for my brothers and sisters who may think differently. If you think differently, please know that I say this with great respect. But the anointing of God, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, can come into an individual’s life in many different ways, and it does not have to come only with weeping and intense emotions, or laughter, or tongues. Those things can even come after that “judicial” transaction, so to speak, that spiritual transaction in which the Holy Spirit is installed with power in an individual’s life.

Now, after that Holy Spirit is in the individual’s life, there should indeed be actions and manifestations showing that that power is present there. That life should become something dynamic, powerful, and effective for the Kingdom of God. But it does not have to be accompanied at that very moment by sensational outward manifestations. Yet we can certainly see clearly that, from that moment on, God installed something like a modem, a means of communicating directly within David’s life and spirit through His own Spirit, as can happen in our lives.

When we are anointed, when we claim and take hold of the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have to believe this and trust in it, and we have to declare it, affirm it, confess it, and expect that something powerful and new will happen in our lives. And if we do so, we then begin, as we were saying before, to do whatever comes to hand in the Name of the Lord. We will see that this anointing will begin to manifest itself and develop, and to do very powerful things, and we will grow in our faith and in our effectiveness in ministry.

In our next message, then, we will see how that anointing, already present in David’s life, begins to manifest itself effectively. My beloved brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you. It is a privilege to be with you. Until our next meditation.