In
Luke 24:45-49, Jesus commanded His disciples to wait in Jerusalem
until they were clothed with power. This is the promise of a baptism or
plunging into the Spirit; of a saturation, soaking, covering, or
overwhelming of the Spirit; of an enveloping, enclosing, or clothing in
the Spirit; or of a filling with the Spirit.
They had previously been born of the Spirit in the upper room when they
saw the resurrected Lord and believed (
Romans 10:9-10). There Jesus had
breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (
John 20:22) This
verse has also been translated as
“Receive (admit) the Holy Spirit” (Amplified)
“Receive at once the Holy Spirit” (Wuest’s Expanded Translation)
“Receive here and now the Holy Spirit” (Malcolm Smith)
"The upper room on the resurrection day was a maternity ward. Pentecost
was a baptismal service," David J. du Plessis.
This experience of being clothed in or with the Spirit is mentioned at
least 3 times in the Old Testament.
Judges 6:34 “...the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and
took possession of him...”(Amplified Bible)
the spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon (Jewish Publication Society)
the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon (KJV margin)
the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon (RWebster margin)
the spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon (Rotherham)
the Spirit of Jehovah hath clothed Gideon (Young’s Literal Translation)
1 Chron. 12:18 “...the Spirit clothed Himself with Amasai...” (SFLB
margin)
the Spirit clothed Amasai (ASV margin)
the spirit clothed Amasai (Jewish Publication Society)
the spirit clothed Amasai (KJV margin)
the spirit clothed Amasai (RWebster margin)
the spirit, clothed Amasai (Rotherham)
the Spirit hath clothed Amasai (Young’s Literal Translation)
2 Chron 24:20 “...the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah...”(SFLB margin)
the Spirit of God clothed itself with Zechariah (ASV margin)
the spirit of God clothed Zechariah (Jewish Publication Society)
the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah (KJV margin)
the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah (RWebster margin)
the spirit of God clothed Zechariah (Rotherham)
the Spirit of God hath clothed Zechariah (Young’s Literal Translation)
The Spirit Filled Life Bible, edited by Jack Hayford, has a note at
Judges 6:34 which says, “in Hebrew this literally means ‘The Spirit of
the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon.’” This is referenced again in the
forward to the book of Judges where it says, “Literally, the Spirit of
the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon. The Spirit empowered this
divinely appointed leader and acted through him to accomplish the
Lord’s saving act on behalf of His people.” This book introduction was
written by Cheryl Lynn Hetherington, Professor of Old Testament at ORU.
This same Bible has a note at
1 Chron. 12:18 which says, “’The Spirit
came upon’ literally means ‘the Spirit clothed Himself with.’” This
note and the introduction to the books of Chronicles were written by
Larry D. Powers, a professor at LIFE Bible College.
Think about it! According to this God actually clothed Himself with
frail, weak human vessels to act, work and accomplish His will. This
means He could actually clothe Himself with us to do His work. In 2
Cor. 6:16 the Message reads “...each of us is a temple in whom God
lives. God Himself put it this way: I’ll live in them, move into them;
I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people...”
2 Cor. 4:7 in the New
Living Translations says, “But this precious treasure --this light and
power that now shine within us-- is held in perishable containers, that
is, in our weak bodies.” As he got dressed each day, John G. Lake made
a habit of walking over to his mirror, pointing to it as if to another
person and saying , "God lives in that man in that suit of clothes. And
where that suit of clothes goes, God goes." And, commenting on 1 John
4:4, which says “...greater is He that is in you than he that is in the
world,” Smith Wigglesworth said, “I am a thousand times bigger on the
inside than I am on the outside.”
What these verses are saying is that the Spirit of the Lord, whom some
of us refer to as God the Holy Ghost, can clothe us with Himself and He
can clothe Himself with us.
Spirit of the living God,
fall fresh on me.
Spirit of the living God,
fall fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me,
fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God,
fall fresh on me
Come, Holy Spirit.
Fill me. Possess me.
Saturate me, Control me.
Dwell, settle down, and be at home in me.
Flow through me.
Shine through my countenance.
Think through my mind.
Seek through my eyes.
Weep through my tears.
Listen through my ears.
Smile through my face.
Kiss through my lips.
Speak through my mouth.
Touch through my hands.
Reach, embrace, and lift through my arms.
Carry through my shoulders.
Travel through my feet.
Love through my heart.
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