A Note From Our Pastor
Return to Blog
Our Greatest Need #7: Leaky Vessels
February 13, 2021
On the Day of Pentecost Peter tells us that when the people were under the conviction of sin, they asked what they should do, Peter answered, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…” (Acts 2:38a). Peter does not stop there, he goes on to say, “…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…” (38b). Peter is clearly saying that for those who repent and are baptized by water, the reception of the gift of the Spirit is part of the package! The teaching is plain, with repentance comes the gift of the Spirit.
Paul makes it even more clear. He says: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9). If we have not accepted Jesus, the Spirit does not abide in us, because it is the Holy Spirit who brings Jesus in! If you have given yourself to Jesus, it is because the Holy Spirit has baptized you! If the Holy Spirit comes into our lives when we are baptized why are there so many statements in Ellen White’s writings saying we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Ellen White wrote of Christ that “daily He received a fresh baptism (infilling) of the Holy Spirit,” (Christ’s Object Lessons, 139). The baptism of the Holy Spirit is given to us upon surrender of our lives to Christ. He comes into our lives every time we surrender, not just once, but as many times as we yield to the love of Christ. Accordingly, the baptism of the Holy Spirit needs to be accepted by faith. Why are so many Christians and churches dead? Because they have stopped receiving the Spirit whom they once received. The baptism of the Spirit can only be real, as long as it is a recurring infilling of the Spirit – time and time again. The reason for this is because we tend to be “leaky” vessels, as Ellen White calls it. (Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, 102). Our sinful nature always pulls us away from God. And leaky vessels, in order to remain full, must be filled time and again. Surrender and ask for the Holy Spirit daily.
