A wealthy businessman in London, walking through his massive building, counting his assets, reviewing his flourishing empire. He had everything money could buy, yet something was eating him alive from the inside.
As he paced through his offices, he heard something that stopped him dead in his tracks: the sound of pure, unshakable joy. It was coming from a simple doorkeeper a young boy who was whistling with such contentment that it made this millionaire’s heart ache with emptiness the contrast was staggering a man with everything feeling miserable and a boy with nothing radiating supernatural peace what did that boy possess that all the businessman’s wealth couldn’t purchase.
Acts 2: 4 tells us that when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. But there’s so much more to this story than just speaking in tongues.
Let me tell you what happened when this rich man discovered the secret that changed everything. The businessman couldn’t shake what he’d witnessed. He returned to his office, but his money felt meaningless, his success hollow. He had an aching void that his bank account couldn’t fill.
You know what that feels like, don’t you, Church? Having all the external blessings, but feeling empty inside, like a whitewashed sepulchre. Beautiful on the outside, but dead within.
When he couldn’t find peace, he went back to find that boy. I want you to come into my office, he demanded. Once they were behind closed doors, the desperation poured out. Tell me, what makes you so happy and cheerful?
Listen to what that young doorkeeper said. Oh, I used to be so miserable until I went to a little mission and heard about Jesus. Then I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. I am always whistling inside. If I am not whistling, I am singing. I am just full.
Did you catch that? The boy didn’t just say he was saved. He said he was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s the much more that Romans 5:9 talks about.
But here’s where it gets incredible. The rich man obtained the address of that little mission from the boy and showed up to their next service. He sat by the door, probably planning to slip out unnoticed. But when the power of God moved so strongly that night and the altar call was given, something broke inside him.
He responded, God saved him right there, and just a few days afterward, filled him with the Holy Spirit.
You won’t believe what happened next. This dignified businessman found himself back at his executive desk, shouting at the top of his lungs, Oh, hallelujah! The same spirit that made a poor doorkeeper whistle with joy. had transformed a millionaire’s morning into supernatural celebration.
But I want you to hear this testimony that perfectly captures the difference. Some African boys were once asked to explain the distinction between being saved and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Their answer was so simple yet profound: Ah, when we were saved, it was very good, but when we received the Holy Spirit, it was more so.
Many of you have never received the more so. You’re living in the very good when God wants to give you the more so.
Romans chapter 5 verse 9 says we are much more than saved we’re kept by his life. But look at how many times that phrase much more appears in Romans 5.
Paul wasn’t stuttering when he wrote this. God wants to emphasize that salvation is just the beginning.
When the day of Pentecost had fully come, Acts 2:1 tells us, they were all in one accord, in one place. Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven, like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then appeared divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Church, what a wonderful divine position God intends us all to have. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is like having a great open door into all the treasury of the Most High.
When the Spirit comes like rain upon mown grass, he turns barrenness into greenness, dryness into springs, until your whole life becomes vitalized by heaven.
But here’s where most Christians get stuck they settle for salvation when God offers the baptism in the Holy Spirit. They’re content with forgiveness when God wants to give them power.
Look at Samson in Hebrews 11 he’s listed as a man of faith chosen by God from his mother’s womb but notice this, the power of God came upon him only on certain occasions.
Yet, we who have received the fullness of the Holy Spirit can have the anointing that abides forever.
Even when Samson fell into sin, lost his strength, and had his eyes put out by the Philistines, there came a moment of restoration.
His hair grew again while he was grinding grain in that Gaza prison, and when the Philistines wanted him to entertain them in their temple, he prayed this prayer.
O Lord God, remember me, I pray. Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God.
God answered that prayer with such power that when Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, he pulled the entire Philistine temple down, destroying more enemies in his death than he had in his entire life.
If God could restore a fallen judge like Samson, what can he do for you?
There’s power in the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin.
No matter what kind of backslider you’ve been, you can return to your first love and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Here’s what most believers don’t understand. You need a double cure.
First, you need saving and cleansing. But then you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit until the old man never rises anymore, until you’re absolutely dead to sin and alive to God by his Spirit.
When Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River, we see the beautiful picture of the Trinity manifested right there on the banks.
The voice of God came from heaven as he looked at his beloved Son coming out of the waters, and there the Spirit was manifested in the shape of a dove. Notice that a dove is the only bird without gall. It’s so pure, so gentle, that at the least disturbance it moves away.
Friend, no person can be baptized with the Holy Spirit and harbor bitterness.
But listen to what Jesus said at the Feast of Tabernacles in John chapter 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water
John explains that Jesus spoke this concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive. Jesus saw all those people coming back from Jerusalem dissatisfied after the feast. They had come seeking spiritual fulfillment but left hungrier than before. My lord could not have anybody dissatisfied. He could never be satisfied when anybody was dissatisfied.
So, he cried out, Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, come to me, you who are thirsty, and I will give you drink.
Which do you have, church? Do you have the spring or the river? The spring is good because it has the same kind of water as the river, but the river means plentifulness, and the Holy Spirit is the river.
But let me tell you about what happened in Switzerland that will show you how God deals with our fears about receiving the Holy Spirit.
There was a woman who came to me after being healed of a terrible, carnal passion that had bound and hindered her for years. She said, now that I feel I am healed and that terrible bondage is gone, I feel that I have a new mind.
I believe I would like to receive the Holy Spirit, but when I hear these people screaming, I feel like running away.
Later, we were at another meeting in Switzerland, where a large hotel was joined to the building where we were meeting. At the close of one of the morning services, the power of God fell. That’s the only way I can describe it. The power of God fell.
This poor, timid creature, who couldn’t bear to hear anybody scream, screamed so loud that all the waiters in this big hotel came out with their aprons on and with their trays to see what was happening.
Nothing was especially up. Something had come down. The Holy Spirit had so altered the situation that this woman could stand anything after that.
When God begins dealing with you on the baptism, he starts with the things that are most difficult.
He starts with your fear. He starts with your human nature. I also remember 2 handsome young men who had just earned their degrees. and were dressed like preachers. When I asked if they wanted to receive the baptism, they said, we don’t believe in it the same way you do. We don’t believe in receiving the Holy Spirit as those people do.
I said to them, you are dressed up as if you would like to have it. You’re dressed like preachers, and seeing that you are dressed like preachers, it’s a pity for you to have the clothing without the presence.
When they realized that Peter and John and the rest of the apostles had received the baptism exactly as we were describing, they came forward.
They were beautifully dressed when they started. In about half an hour’s time, they looked strange.
They had been rolling somehow; I had not caused them to do it. But they had been so lost in and so controlled by the power of God that they were just rolling all around and their clothes were rumpled.
But their faces were wonderful what had happened they had received it just as the first Christians had received it at the beginning.
Let me share something very personal that shows you the reality of the Holy Spirit as our comforter when my dear wife was lying dead. The doctors could do nothing. They said to me she is done; we cannot help you. My heart was so moved, and I said oh God, I can’t spare her.
I went up to her and I said, ‘Oh, come back, come back and speak to me. Come back, come back.’
And the Spirit of the Lord moved, and she came back and smiled again.
Then the Holy Spirit said to me, ‘She is mine. Her work is done. She is mine.’
Oh, the comforting word. No one else could have done it, but the Comforter came. At that moment, my dear wife passed away.
Beloved, the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. There is only one Comforter, and he has been with the Father from the beginning. He comes only to give light.
When the Holy Spirit comes into your body, he comes to unveil the King, to assure you of his presence.
Church, let me tell you something that’s going to challenge most of you.
The majority of Christians today are content with spiritual mediocrity. They’re satisfied with just enough Jesus to get them to heaven, but not enough to transform their daily lives with supernatural power.
Most believers will never seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit because they’re afraid of what people might think. They’re scared of losing control.
They’re comfortable with predictable, powerless Christianity that fits neatly into their Sunday morning box.
But listen to me, you cannot live the abundant life that John 10:10 promises without the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
You cannot walk in the authority Christ intended for you while operating on salvation alone. You cannot experience the much more of Romans 5 while settling for spiritual minimum wage.
The person who says, “I am ready for anything”, will never get it. You must be specific in what you ask.
As Psalm 27: 4 says, one thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek.
When the Lord reveals to you that you must be filled with the Holy Spirit, seek only that one thing, and God will give you that one thing.
After the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will have power. God will mightily move within your life. The power of the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, inwardly moving you until you know there’s a divine plan different from anything you’ve had before.
That rich businessman could have stayed in his misery, counting his money while his soul ached. But he took a step that most Christians refuse to take. He humbled himself, went to that little mission, and opened his heart to receive not just salvation, but the fullness of God’s Spirit.
1 John 2:20 declares, you have an anointing from the Holy One.
Many people, instead of standing on the rock-solid word of faith, and believing that they have received the baptism with its anointing and power, say, oh, if I could only feel that I have received it!
My friend, your feelings rob you of your greatest place of anointing. Your feelings are often a place of discouragement.
You must get away from the sense of all human feeling or desire. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are from above.
When you have received the baptism, you have an anointing. The anointing has come. The anointing remains. The anointing is with us. But what if you have not lived in the place where the unction, the anointing, can be increased?
Then the Spirit is grieved, and you are not moved. You feel that all the joy is gone.
The same anointing that God gave to Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power is with you. And you do not need that anyone teach you. The same anointing will teach you all things.
What about you? Are you going to remain spiritually bankrupt while claiming to be rich in Christ?
Are you going to keep whistling in the dark when God wants to fill you with his supernatural song?
The baptism in the Holy Spirit isn’t some optional upgrade to your Christianity. It’s God’s intended norm for every believer.
It’s the difference between having religion and having relationship, between having form and having power, between surviving and thriving in the Kingdom of God.
Make up your mind that you won’t be ordinary. You have an extraordinary God who gives revelation.
Be determined that you won’t go away as you came, but that you will go away endued, infused with the living touch of the flame of the Master’s torch right now.
The Holy Spirit is calling you to receive the much more.
Just like Samson prayed for strength one more time. Just like that rich man responded to the altar call. Just like that young doorkeeper opened his heart to be filled.
God is offering you the same supernatural encounter. Everything is available right now.
Salvation, sanctification, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and healing. God is working mightily by the power of His Spirit, bringing to us a fullness of His perfect redemption until every soul may know that God has all power.
Don’t let another day pass, living below your spiritual inheritance.
Don’t remain content with very good when God is offering you more so.
Don’t stay in the shallow end when God wants to baptize you in the deep waters of His Spirit.
Father God, we come before your throne with hearts wide open, hungry for the much more you’ve promised in your word. Just as you filled those disciples on the day of Pentecost, just as you restored Samson in his moment of surrender, just as you transformed that rich businessman’s emptiness into supernatural joy, we ask you to baptize us afresh in your Holy Spirit right now.
Fill every empty place in our hearts, Lord. Turn our spiritual dryness into springs of living water. Let your Spirit sweep through every weakness and transform us into new creations.
We refuse to settle for spiritual mediocrity any longer. We declare that we will not be content with just salvation when you offer the fullness of your power.
Holy Spirit, come like a rushing, mighty wind into our lives. Make us so full of your presence that we whistle with supernatural joy, that we shout your praises from our very core, that we become living demonstrations of your mighty power.
Let heaven sweep through us and dwell within us until we are completely possessed by your divine life.
In Jesus’ mighty name, we pray and believe. Amen.
I believe with all my heart that as you’ve discovered the truth about God’s much more today, you’ve been activated to receive the fullness He intended for your life.
The understanding you’ve gained about the baptism in the Holy Spirit is already working to create divine dissatisfaction with spiritual mediocrity and holy hunger for God’s supernatural power.
Start each day this week by praying, Holy Spirit, I refuse to settle for very good when you offer more so. Fill me afresh with your power.
Ask God to show you specific areas where you’ve been living below your spiritual privilege, and surrender those areas to his transforming power.
But here’s what I really want you to understand: receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit is just the beginning. The question is, how do you actually operate in the anointing you’ve received?
Most Christians struggle because they don’t understand the foundational truths of the baptism. They live by feelings instead of faith and miss the extraordinary life God intended. Discover the essential foundations every Spirit-filled believer must know to walk in their divine anointing.
By Smith Wigglesworth