Life on Wings - A Tribute to Dr Ern Baxter

The "Coming Upon" Baptism ...

I've been accused before of not saying very much about my local church. This is a deliberate decision - as this website is intended to address and reprint Dr Ern Baxter's works and not so much about my personal life. However I can't let this morning go by without a mention. The Presence of the Spirit was powerfully present during the worship (and that's without singing 'Draw Me Close to You'). Our pastor Nick Todd preached an absolutely outstanding message from 1 Corinthians 2 on "The Wisdom of the World and the Wisdom of God" (it will be available as audio later this week). In working through the text he touched on an amazing truth that I haven't heard for a while.

(1 Corinthians 2:4, 5) Nick said that our faith is not just based on words but on the power of God. In preparing for the sermon he looked at a lot of verses where the word "Upon" is used, and saw that when it is used of God coming down "upon" someone - it is usually associated with a giving of power and that person will react or respond in some way - either physically or verbally. In hearing that, I remembered that Dr Ern Baxter similarily did a word study on "Upon" and its use in conjunction with God touching someone and its results. So I dug it out of my Archives and retyped it here. The results are very stirring.

Numbers 11:25 (NAS).
"Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed {Him} upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do {it} again".

Numbers 24:2.
"And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him".

Judges 3:10.
"The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim".

Judges 6:34.
"So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him".

Judges 11:29.
"Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon".

Judges 14:6.
"The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done".

Judges 14:19.
"Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes {of clothes} to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father's house".

Judges 15:14.
"When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire".

1 Samuel 10:10.
"When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them".

1 Samuel 11:6.
"Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry".

1 Samuel 16:13.
"Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah".

1 Samuel 18:10.
"Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing {the harp} with his hand, as usual; and a spear {was} in Saul's hand".

1 Samuel 19:20.
"Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing {and} presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied".

1 Samuel 19:23.
"He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah".

2 Kings 3:15.
"But now bring me a minstrel." And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him".

1 Chronicles 12:18.
"Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty, {and he said,} "{We} are yours, O David, And with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you!" Then David received them and made them captains of the band".

2 Chronicles 20:14.
"Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph".

Ezekiel 1:3.
"The word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of the LORD came upon him".

Ezekiel 33:22.
"Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He opened my mouth at the time {they} came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless".

Luke 3:22.
"And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

Acts 2:3.
"Then there appeared divided tongues, as of fire and one sat upon each of them".

Acts 19:6
"And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying".

Acts 10:44.
"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word".

Acts 19:6.
"And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied".

Revelation 11:11.
"But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came upon them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them".

Why is it stirring? Because it seems evident from Scripture that when the Holy Spirit comes upon an individual or a corporate body of believers, then power is imparted and they are changed! It's so exciting - our church is starting a week of prayer this week, and Nick specifically mentioned that praying for the Spirit to come upon us as a church would be top of the list. Has anything changed? Do we have the right to expect and long for the Holy Spirit to come upon us still? And when that happens we will indeed "see and hear" something? Ern Baxter certainly thought so.