In this sermon, the speaker discusses the experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness and how they serve as examples for believers today. The presence of God was symbolized by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, guiding and protecting the Israelites. The speaker shares a personal anecdote of crossing the Sinai Desert and emphasizes the importance of relying on the Lord for deliverance. The sermon also highlights the significance of two baptisms - in the cloud and in the sea - as additional experiences that freed God's people from the dominion of evil forces.

This is tape number 3013. Derek Prince speaking on the Holy Spirit. Message number one entitled, Immersed in the Spirit. The Lord is on the throne. He's moving. Now I was looking for the chorus that we sang at the beginning and though it's in your index, the number of it isn't there, but the third verse says, Holy Spirit, I appreciate you. I think it says you lead me and guide me and in danger you hide me. And that's rather appropriate to the theme I want to talk about tonight. I want to take my opening text from the first epistle of Peter. First Peter chapter one, reading from verse nine through verse 12. First Peter chapter one, beginning at verse nine. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Let's pause there for a moment. I don't want to be controversial, but to me the Spirit of Christ is not identical with the Holy Spirit. I see a very clear distinction. There is the Spirit of the Son of God. I don't want, this is not my theme I don't want to get involved in. But I think it's important to understand this. The problem of the Old Testament prophets was that they spoke in the first person about things that never happened to them. Like David said, they pierced my hands and my feet. They parted my garments amongst them. Wouldn't you be surprised if you've heard yourself saying that and wrote it down and it never happened to you? Isaiah said I gave my back to the smiter and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. It never happened to him so far as we know. That would really be a very strange and difficult thing to understand. If you were prompted by the Spirit of God to say things about yourself that never happened to yourself. And I'm sure this is the problem that's referred to here. The prophets wondered what they were talking about. There are many many examples. And it was revealed to them that they weren't speaking for themselves but they were speaking to those who should follow later. And it was the Spirit of Christ in them speaking in the first person. Speaking about things that happened to Christ but never actually happened to the prophet through whom the message came. So searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Those are the two things that are put in the first person again and again by the prophets. They speak about themselves as the one who suffer and they speak about themselves as the one who's glorified but it never happened to them. So they had this tremendous problem. Why am I saying this? What am I talking about? Who's the message to? And it was revealed that it was not to them but to the believers who should follow later. If you think of the faith of the Old Testament saints it's staggering. Think of the faith of Moses and the people who constructed the tabernacle and carried out all those ordinances of worship and sacrifice year after year after year never really knowing what it was all about. It's a real example of obedience and faith. All right verse 12 unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. Which things the angels desire to look into. So we're at the focal point both of the prophets of the past and of the angels of heaven. Their eyes in a certain sense are focused on us. The prophets looked forward to what we had. The angels desire to look down into it. So that makes it somewhat startling to consider what we have. And what we have was declared or proclaimed by the preachers of the New Testament who preached the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. What I want to think about tonight with you is this. What does that mean to preach with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven? The language doesn't suggest there that it was merely the Holy Spirit speaking through them or anointing them. It suggests that the Holy Spirit was present there with them when they preached. That's the picture that the words give me. And I've come to the conclusion that God never intended the gospel to be preached any other way. But with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. The preachers of the gospel should never be alone. They should always have a miraculous, divine, omnipotent presence with them. The whole atmosphere surrounding the people of God should be entirely different from the atmosphere where the people of God are not. This is with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. If you look at the place where the descent of the Holy Spirit is described in Acts chapter 2. You'll see that the Holy Spirit did much more than just enter the individual believers. Acts chapter 2 verses 1 through 4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire. And it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them to speak. On the day of Pentecost there were three successive phases to the total experience of the baptism. And we could look at them for a moment. Number one baptism. Let's call it immersion. That's not a heresy in a Baptist church is it? And it's really a more correct translation. First of all they were immersed in the Holy Spirit. If they had not been immersed it would have been wrong to call it a baptism. Because an baptism is an immersion. Secondly infilling. They were all filled individually. Each one was filled. Thirdly the outflow. That's the complete experience as I understand it of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And that I believe is the complete pattern. Theoretically you can stop anyway. You can stop at immersion. You can be surrounded, enveloped by the Holy Spirit but never filled. Or you can stop after the second phase. You can be surrounded and enveloped and infilled but have no outflow. But the divine complete pattern is immersion, infilling and outflow. Somebody said impression without expression produces depression. You must have an expression and the outflow is the initial divinely attested supernatural expression of the infilling. But what I want to talk about tonight is this. Immersion. I don't think we've really given enough heed to that. I hear people who teach on receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It's in you all you've got to do is speak. Personally I cannot accept that. Because it wouldn't be a baptism. And in every single place in the book of Acts where you can read a description of people receiving the Holy Spirit, the language indicates the Holy Spirit came down over them from above. You see there are two ways of being immersed. Number one is the swimming pool way. You go down into, pass through, come up out of. But there's another equally valid way of being immersed. It's the Niagara Falls way. How many of you have ever seen Niagara Falls? All right. Well I remember the last time I stood there I said to myself you wouldn't have to be one second under there you'd be immersed. Totally. Totally enveloped in water. Well I believe each way is part of the experience of the Christian. Baptism in water is an immersion where you go down into and come up out of. But baptism in the Holy Spirit is an immersion where the Holy Spirit comes down over you and immerses you. And I dare to say linguistically this is 100 percent valid. Either is validly described as an immersion or a baptism. So they were all immersed in the Holy Spirit. And notice the language at the end of verse two. It filled it. I like the it. Some people say the Holy Spirit is always he. I don't find that. He's both he and it. He's both personal and impersonal. He's in both realms. It, the presence of the Holy Spirit, filled all the house where they were sitting. So every one of them individually was immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The reality of the Spirit of God in that place. It totally filled as if it were in this building tonight. This building would be filled from the front to the back, from the ceiling to the floor, with the presence of the Holy Spirit. And bear in mind that it is perfectly scriptural and true to experience to talk about the Spirit of God filling a location. There have been times in the history of revival when the presence of God has actually filled areas. If you read the Finney's autobiography, you find that in some of the places where Charles Finney preached, the power of the Holy Spirit came down and permeated an entire community, sometimes a town. And it was an actual objective fact that every person that came into that town got saved. They could not walk further on the street. The moment they come to that point, they dropped on their knees and cried to God for mercy. This is a historically attested fact. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina about a couple of years ago and they showed me a Presbyterian church. And they said some considerable number of years back, they said everybody that came near that church started to tremble and shake no matter where they came from. And people came for many, many miles to see what was going on. The area was permeated with the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is absolutely valid and it's our inheritance. We shouldn't be living in less. I'm going to try and show you tonight from a picture from the Old Testament what this means. And this I believe is what's included in the phrase, with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. It's not just the Holy Spirit in you, but it's the Holy Spirit with you, over you, around you, in front of you, behind you. I believe this is one of the secrets of the success of Catherine Kuhlman's ministry. She has, I've heard her talk, she says the Holy Spirit is almighty God. He's here. He's a person. He can work anywhere, at any time. He can do anything. I believe we're coming closer to that. At the end of a healing service in San Antonio, I got the Pentecostal pastor on one hand and the Baptist pastor on the other, stood between them and said we'll pray collectively for all the sick. And three people came up afterwards and said without anybody laying hands on them, they received an instantaneous physical miracle when we pray. If we can only grasp this fact, if we can reckon with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and he should be, he's our, he's our right. We're entitled to it. We're living below the level of God's provision, if we live without this supernatural presence. Wherever we go. I remember when we left the home in London where we lived and when we had our congregation, our ministry, which is known to several people here tonight. When we put it up for sale, or the lease for disposal, a very obviously unconverted real estate man came along and walked around and looked at everything. And without us saying a word, he said this, he said after all you can't put a price on atmosphere, can you? We hadn't said a thing to him, see. But he felt something there. And I believe that when we're living in our inheritance, wherever we go, wherever we're assembled, there should be this supernatural presence. Not just in us, but with us. Now let me give you the scripture that will lead us into the Old Testament. First Corinthians chapter 10, verses one and two. First Corinthians chapter 10, one and two. Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant. You notice Paul was more discreet than some of us. He didn't say you are ignorant, but he implied it. I've, I've been, my wife and I've been with the Sherrill's since we saw you last. That they've been trying to sort of prune us a little bit. And get us a little more civilized in our expressions. And say you can't say that. So it's going to be interesting to see what we do end up by saying. Because we're working on a book with them. But we, we were definitely made to realize that we were too blunt in our expressions. So I'm trying to learn, you see. Now I don't say you're ignorant, I say I just wish you weren't ignorant. Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant. How that all our fathers were under the cloud. And all passed through the sea. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Then we just read verse six. Now these things were our examples. And verse 11. Now these things happened unto them for ensamples or types. It's the Greek word types. And they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. So the experiences of Israel in their deliverance from Egypt. Are examples, types or patterns. And they have a lesson to teach us as believers at the close of this age. Now in the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. We can trace three successive phases. Number one, faith in the blood. Number two, baptism. And really this is to be subdivided. One in the cloud. Two in the sea. This is very clear. And it says there are patterns. Well faith in the blood of the Passover lamb, obviously corresponds to faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. And we have to openly declare our faith. Just as Israel had to strike the blood where it could be seen on the outside of their house. And Paul says in first Corinthians 5 7, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. So the application of the Passover to Christ is endorsed by the New Testament. Now the blood started Israel on their redemptive route. But it did not get them out of Egypt. And if there had been nothing more than their faith in the blood of the Passover lamb. The armies of Egypt would have caught up with them and taken them back into bondage. And I believe this is a real lesson. Though I honor the blood of Jesus Christ and believe it to be the only basis for our redemption. Yet as a way of deliverance from the dominion of this world and of Satan. It is not the total provision of God. There were two more experiences that got God's people out of that area of dominion of evil forces. You could say two baptisms, in the cloud and in the sea. But significantly enough, Paul doesn't say that. If you look in verse two, says they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. He does not say they were all baptized in the cloud and then they were baptized in the sea. Now you may think I'm splitting hairs but it is really significant. Paul says in effect there was one baptism in two elements. The cloud from above, the sea down into which they went. You see some Baptists, not the ones here tonight, will put all their emphasis on one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Meaning water baptism. But on the basis of this analogy, I would say if all that's all you've got, you've done half a baptism. Not one baptism. Because the complete baptism is in the cloud and in the sea. And almost every place in the New Testament where one is mentioned, the other is mentioned. The New Testament believers never separated the cloud from the sea or the sea from the clouds. It's very clear what they're types of, isn't it? The sea is a type of what? Water baptism. And the cloud, baptism in the Holy Spirit. Notice how accurate it is. The cloud they didn't go down into, it came down over them. They were immersed in the cloud, coming down over them from above. To my way of thinking, this is the clearest, most complete pattern from the Old Testament of baptism in the Holy Spirit. And for the remainder of my study tonight, I want to take you through some of the statements made in the books of Moses about the cloud. I think you'll find that this is a very beautiful picture. I want you to bear in mind right from the beginning that the cloud is a type of the Holy Spirit. As we come to each passage, bear this in mind and apply it to your own relationship to the Holy Spirit. Let me also point out before we go into this, that the final separation and deliverance from Egypt was not accomplished by the blood, nor even by the cloud, but by the sea. It was the sea that was the final cutoff point. The Egyptians could not follow them through the sea. And the final cutoff is water baptism. Water baptism is not just a ritual, or a ceremony, or a strange requirement. It's a part of the total provision of God for salvation. And I say salvation. I got this from Jamie Buckingham, and I told him I liked it, and I was going to use it. He said that's all right, go ahead. I use slightly different language, but the basic truth is the same. Regeneration is an event, or an experience. Salvation is a process. And water baptism is part of the salvation process. You cannot miss it out. It's so clear when you see the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. It was the water that saved them from their final contact with Egypt. The other beautiful picture of water baptism is in 1st Peter chapter 3, where it speaks about the days of Noah. When the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism, that also now save us. See the ark is always a type of Christ. So in the days of Noah, the believers entered into the ark. And in the ark they passed through the waters. And by the waters they were saved from the ungodly world. The wicked could not pass through the waters. Likewise the Egyptians could not pass through the waters. And I say this for anybody here tonight. If you have not been baptized as a believer by immersion, your salvation is incomplete. You don't have a legal right to freedom from demons. They have a legal right to stay on your tail and trouble you. Because the cutoff is water. The Egyptians couldn't follow Israel through the water. And the ancient world couldn't follow Noah and his family through the water. The water saves from the ungodly. And you'll usually find when you get water baptized, it is a cuddle. If you do it with the full understanding and faith, you'll lose some of your friends. Most of us have gone that way. It really is. And all the more in non-Christianized countries like India or amongst the Jewish people. The Jews object to your talking about Jesus the Messiah. But they get real upset when you get baptized as a Jew. Likewise the Indians. For the whole pagan world, the real cuddle, the real separation, the real declaration, I'm not in your camp any longer, is water baptism. And God intended it that way. I remember in 1946 studying in the Hebrew University. And as far as I know, that's in Jerusalem. As far as I know at that time I was the only Gentile student. And I felt it. I felt really cut off. Not deliberately, they were kind enough and courteous enough. And I thought here's two cut-offs. I'm cut off from them, by water baptism. They're cut off from me by circumcision. And it's a, it's a, it's a clash of cut-offs. And really it was a very, very strong feeling. Being completely, in a certain sense, alienated. And now we'll go back to the Old Testament. And we'll look at some of the main pictures of the cloud. This is where you can help yourself. In other words you can fill in the background, the details and apply it to your own life. Exodus the 13th chapter. Verses 21 and 22. Well we're to read verse 20. And they took their journey from Succoth and encamped in in the edge of the wilderness. This is still inside Egypt's territory. And the Lord, I want you to notice that right from the beginning, the presence of the Lord was always in the cloud. The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way. And by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Remember that they were going through a very barren, unfriendly wilderness. How many of you have ever crossed the Sinai desert? Is there anybody here? Well I have too. And I crossed it on an open railway car and I experienced both the heat and the cold. I was escorted to some military supplies that were going from Cairo to Haifa. When we got to the other end of the journey out of four soldiers I was the only one that didn't go into hospital. And that was thanks to the Lord. Please stop your machine at this point and turn your tape over.