We must seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost because today the Church is staring helplessly at the misery of the people. Our backs are now against the wall because of all the ridicule of the Church by a dying world. It is time to rise up and wait on the Lord till we are endued with power from on high so that we may face this demonised generation.
The power of Pentecost is fully revealed only in those that are totally surrendered to the Holy Ghost. God will trust us with full Pentecostal power only if we are baptised by His Spirit. As long as we stop where the water is only to our ankles, or knees, or loins, we will continue to only see mercy drops not the showers of blessings. The hindrance here is us, not God; only we, by ourselves, can limit the Holy One of Israel!
Candidates for the baptism of the Spirit
Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a candidate for the baptism of the Spirit. The only condition required of them is thirst for the Spirit. God is not really looking for perfection in us to baptise us in the Holy Ghost. If God required perfection, none of the 120 disciples that waited for Him in the upper room on the day of Pentecost would have qualified. They were fearful and did not even understand the kind of kingdom Jesus was establishing. Even up to the day Jesus was taken from them, they were asking Him if that was the time He would restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1: 6). They still thought He was establishing an earthly kingdom that would oust the Romans and set Israel free. The twelve apostles also often disputed with each other as to who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of God.
We can see God is not really looking for perfection in us in order for us to be baptised in the Spirit in the fact that the feast of Pentecost is celebrated with two loaves of bread made with yeast.
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seven sabbaths shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the first-fruits unto the Lord. (Leviticus 23: 15–17)
Yeast is a symbol of sin and imperfection. The two loaves of bread are symbolic of Israel and the Church of Jesus Christ. God chose these two nations by covenant on the day of Pentecost not because they were perfect. If God required perfection, He would not have entered into a covenant with the children of Israel. Time and again they murmured against the Lord in the wilderness despite all His signs and the wonders they saw Him perform when He delivered them from Egypt. Likewise if God required perfection, He would not have entered into covenant with the Church of Jesus Christ.
Thirst for the Spirit
It is thirst for the Spirit that drives us to seek to be filled and baptised. How passionately we desire to be filled and baptised by the Spirit of God depends on us individually. Jesus’ call on the last day of the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem was addressed to those who were thirsty. Jesus stood and cried, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” This shows us that the condition for the infilling and baptism of the Spirit is our thirst for Him. We can see an example of the thirst for the Spirit in this psalm written as a song for the sons of Korah. It is an intense yearning for God.