The Promise of the Spirit

I was stopped at the pedestrian crossing across the road from Brisbane's central post office. There was a man standing there selling newspapers. So I decided to witness to him while waiting for the lights to change.

"Are you a Christian?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, "I'm a Catholic".

I wanted to examine his faith a bit further though. So I asked, "Do you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead?"

"Yes," he said.

"Do you confess with your mouth that God raised Jesus from the dead?"

"Yes".

I thought to myself, Well that's good enough for me.

So I thought I'd share with him about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. If he isn't already saved, he'll get saved in the process, I thought to myself.

Sometimes that's a good approach to take with Catholic people. They have all the right words about Jesus: but they can readily tell if they've received the Holy Spirit or not!

So I told him about the experience of being baptized with the Holy Spirit, and about speaking with tongues. He had never received such an experience and listened heartily. Finally I asked him if he would like to receive the Holy Spirit. He eagerly said yes.

So I laid hands on him, and he began to praise God and I heard him speaking in another tongue. All of this took place on the roadside at peak hour by a busy inner city pedestrian crossing.

Then the lights changed, and I said I had to go. I left him there smiling, with a glowing face, praising His Lord.

"The promise [of the Holy Spirit] is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39)