The revelation gifts of the spirit kenneth hagin pdf

• The Holy Spirit and His GiftsBy

  Table of Contents Show

  • What are the three gifts of revelation?
  • What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the Bible?
  • What are the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit?
  • What are the inspirational gifts of the Holy Spirit?

  Kenneth E Hagin

  Chapter 1 My Pentecostal Experience................................................................................... 6Raised From the Bed of Sickness.......................................................................................... 6MARK 11:23,24 .................................................................................................................. 7

  God Is Not Nervous! .............................................................................................................. 7The Baptism in the Holy Spirit ................................................................................................ 8The Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth .......................................................................... 9The Work of the Holy Spirit In the Baptism of the Holy Spirit ............................................... 10Tarrying Is Not a Formula For Receiving the Holy Spirit..................................................... 10Any Believer Can Receive the Holy Spirit ............................................................................ 11Biblical Example of Believers Receiving The Holy Spirit Without Tarrying........................... 11Why Wait To Receive a Gift? ............................................................................................... 12The Ephesian Disciples........................................................................................................ 14The Samaritan Christians..................................................................................................... 14Saul of Tarsus...................................................................................................................... 14The Sending End or the Receiving End? ............................................................................. 15The Holy Spirit Gives the Utterance..................................................................................... 16

  Chapter 2 The Holy Spirit in the Denominational Church.................................................. 17Denominational Differences Don't Matter............................................................................. 20The Holy Spirit: God's Promise to You................................................................................. 20The Holy Spirit Is a Person .................................................................................................. 21Extreme Teachings in the Church........................................................................................ 22Does One Receive the Fullness of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth? ................................... 22The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Rivers of Living Waters ....................................................... 23The Same Holy Spirit in the New Birth As in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit ......................... 23Speaking in Tongues Is Not The Evidence of the New Birth................................................ 24New Wine: A Type of the Holy Spirit .................................................................................... 25Born-Again Samaritans Were Filled With the Holy Spirit...................................................... 25The Holy Spirit: God's Giving vs. People's Receiving .......................................................... 26The Ministry of Laying On of Hands..................................................................................... 26Did the Baptism in the Holy Spirit 'Pass Away' With the Last Apostle?................................ 27

  Chapter 3: Two Separate Experiences: Salvation and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit .... 28The Samaritans Born Again Under Philip's Ministry............................................................. 29First Scriptural Witness ........................................................................................................ 30Second Scriptural Witness ................................................................................................... 30Third Scriptural Witness ....................................................................................................... 30The Samaritans Received the Holy Spirit............................................................................. 31Evidence the Samaritans Received The Holy Spirit ............................................................. 31Two Separate Experiences: Saul's Conversion and Baptism in the Holy Spirit ................... 32Saul's Conversion ................................................................................................................ 32

  Chapter 4 The Holy Spirit Within: His Indwelling Presence............................................... 35God For Us, With Us, and In Us........................................................................................... 36

• Believers Are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.......................................................................... 36The Holy Spirit and His Gifts ................................................................................................ 37Greater Is He That Is in You ................................................................................................ 38A Thousand Times Bigger on the Inside! ............................................................................. 39Dare to act on that scripture!................................................................................................ 40The Role of the Holy Spirit Within ........................................................................................ 40The Holy Spirit Within: Our Helper and Comforter ............................................................... 41The Holy Spirit Within: Our Guide in the Affairs of Life ........................................................ 41Knowing on the Inside of You What To Do .......................................................................... 422 CORINTHIANS 5:17...................................................................................................... 42

  Chapter 5 The Holy Spirit Upon: His Infilling Power .......................................................... 44The Holy Spirit Upon............................................................................................................ 45When the Church Began...................................................................................................... 46Born Again, but Waiting for the Outpouring.......................................................................... 47There Is More To Receive of the Holy Spirit After the New Birth ......................................... 47Wigglesworth's Testimony Of Being Filled With the Holy Spirit............................................ 48Speaking in Tongues Is Not Evidence Of the New Birth ...................................................... 49The Holy Spirit Upon: The Gateway Into the Supernatural .................................................. 50My Own Experiences in Prayer............................................................................................ 53Cooperating With the Holy Spirit, The Power Source .......................................................... 55'Something More' ................................................................................................................. 55Basing Our Faith on the Word, Not on Our Feelings............................................................ 56

  Chapter 6 Is It Scriptural To Tarry for the Holy Ghost?...................................................... 57Tarrying Is Not a Formula For Receiving the Holy Spirit ...................................................... 58Bible Examples of Receiving the Holy Ghost ....................................................................... 59The Samaritan Believers...................................................................................................... 59Cornelius and His Household............................................................................................... 60Is It Scriptural To Tarry for the Holy Ghost?......................................................................... 61Saul of Tarsus...................................................................................................................... 61The Ephesian Disciples........................................................................................................ 61JOHN 7:37-39 .................................................................................................................. 62

  The Holy Spirit Is a Gift ........................................................................................................ 64Possessing What Is Yours ................................................................................................... 64Take the Direct Route! ......................................................................................................... 65

  Chapter 7 How Important Is Speaking in Tongues?........................................................... 66Have Tongues Been Done Away With?............................................................................... 67Are Tongues Available for All Believers? ............................................................................. 681 CORINTHIANS 12:27-30............................................................................................... 68

  Ministry Gifts vs. Spiritual Gifts ............................................................................................ 69EPHESIANS 4:11,12........................................................................................................ 69

  Miracles and Gifts of Healings ............................................................................................. 70Helps.................................................................................................................................... 71Governments ....................................................................................................................... 71Diversities of Tongues.......................................................................................................... 71Tongues and Interpretation in Public Ministry ...................................................................... 72The Value of Speaking in Tongues ...................................................................................... 72Speaking in Tongues: The Door Into the Supernatural ........................................................ 76

  Chapter 8 The Bible Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit ....................................... 77Scriptural Witnesses for Tongues As the Evidence of the Baptism of The Holy Spirit ......... 77

• First Witness: The One Hundred and Twenty ...................................................................... 77Second Witness: Cornelius and His Household................................................................... 78Third Witness: The Ephesian Disciples................................................................................ 78Fourth Witness: The Samaritan Believers............................................................................ 79Fifth Witness: Saul ............................................................................................................... 80The Baptism of the Holy Spirit And Speaking in Tongues Go Hand in Hand ....................... 80The Ephesian Disciples: Speaking in Tongues and Prophesying ........................................ 81The Fruit of the Spirit Is Not the Evidence Of Receiving the Holy Spirit ............................... 82The Ministry of the Laying On of Hands............................................................................... 83The Bible Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit ........................................................... 84Misconceptions About Receiving The Holy Spirit ................................................................. 86Magnify the Word, Not Your Experience.............................................................................. 86ROMANS 10:9,10............................................................................................................. 87

  Don't Seek Experiences To Receive the Holy Spirit............................................................. 87An Example of Wrong Instruction For Receiving the Holy Spirit .......................................... 88Falling Into a Trance Is Not Biblical Evidence For Receiving the Holy Spirit........................ 88Experiencing Joy Is Not Biblical Evidence For Receiving the Holy Spirit ............................. 89Not What You Feel, But What You Do ................................................................................. 89

  Chapter 9: Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak in Tongues......................... 91Reason Number 1................................................................................................................ 92Reason Number 2................................................................................................................ 92Reason Number 3................................................................................................................ 93Reason Number 4................................................................................................................ 94Reason Number 5................................................................................................................ 95Reason Number 6................................................................................................................ 95Reason Number 7................................................................................................................ 95Reason Number 8................................................................................................................ 97Reason Number 9................................................................................................................ 981 CORINTHIANS 14:15-17............................................................................................... 98

  Reason Number 10.............................................................................................................. 98Chapter 10 Seven Steps To Receiving the Holy Ghost ...................................................... 99Step Number 1................................................................................................................... 100Step Number 2................................................................................................................... 101PHILIPPIANS 3:12,13 .................................................................................................... 102

  Step Number 3................................................................................................................... 103Step Number 4................................................................................................................... 103Step Number 5................................................................................................................... 104Step Number 6................................................................................................................... 106Step Number 7................................................................................................................... 107

  Chapter 11 The Gift of the Word of Knowledge Part1 ...................................................... 108Don't Be Ignorant of Spiritual Gifts ..................................................................................... 109Spiritual Gifts Will Exalt Jesus............................................................................................ 109Gifts, Administrations, and Operations............................................................................... 110The Nine Gifts Categorized................................................................................................ 111Three revelation gifts ......................................................................................................... 111Spiritual gifts that reveal something: .................................................................................. 111Three power gifts Spiritual gifts that do something: ........................................................... 111Three utterance or inspirational gifts Spiritual gifts that say something: ............................ 111The Gift of the Word of Knowledge .................................................................................... 112

• The Word of Knowledge Is Not Natural Knowledge ........................................................... 112The Word of Knowledge Is Not A Profound Knowledge of the Bible.................................. 113The Word of Knowledge Is Not Knowledge of God Through Close Communion With Him 113Biblical Examples of the Word of Knowledge..................................................................... 114The Word of Knowledge to John........................................................................................ 114Word of Knowledge to Ananias.......................................................................................... 114Modern Examples of the Word of Knowledge .................................................................... 116

  Chapter 12 The Gift of the Word of Knowledge Part 2 ..................................................... 117As the Spirit Wills ............................................................................................................... 118The Word of Knowledge To Samuel Regarding Saul......................................................... 120The Word of Knowledge Manifested To Locate a Lost Daughter....................................... 120The Word of Knowledge to Elijah....................................................................................... 121The Word of Knowledge To Elisha Regarding Syria .......................................................... 122

  Chapter 13 The Gift of the Word of Wisdom ..................................................................... 130The Word of Knowledge vs. The Word of Wisdom ............................................................ 132The Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom Can Operate Together........................ 132The prophet of the Old Testament had to have.................................................................. 132The Gift of the Word of Wisdom......................................................................................... 133The Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom Operating Together in The NewTestament .......................................................................................................................... 133Philip .................................................................................................................................. 135Old Testament Examples of The Word of Wisdom ............................................................ 137The Word of Wisdom to Joseph......................................................................................... 137The Word of Wisdom in the New Testament...................................................................... 137The Word of Wisdom to Paul ............................................................................................. 138Conditional Words of Wisdom............................................................................................ 139Jonah ................................................................................................................................. 140

  Chapter 14 The Discerning of Spirits................................................................................. 141What the Discerning of Spirits Is Not ................................................................................. 142Discerning of Spirits Is Not Simply Discerning of Devils..................................................... 142Maintain Balance In Dealing With Demons........................................................................ 143GALATIANS 5:19-21 ...................................................................................................... 143

  Discerning the Similitude of God........................................................................................ 144Discerning the Risen Christ................................................................................................ 145Discerning the Holy Spirit................................................................................................... 145Discerning the Spirit Behind an Operation ......................................................................... 145The Inward Witness As Our Guide..................................................................................... 146The Word of Knowledge vs. The Discerning of Spirits ....................................................... 147

  Chapter 15 The Gift of Faith................................................................................................ 149Gifts of the Spirit Are Supernatural .................................................................................... 150The Gift of Special Faith..................................................................................................... 151The Gift of Special Faith Is Not the Same as Saving Faith ................................................ 151The Gift of Faith vs. The Gift of the Working of Miracles.................................................... 153Wigglesworth and the Gift of Faith ..................................................................................... 154Wigglesworth related his experience: ................................................................................ 155The Power Gifts Often Work Together ............................................................................... 155Casting Out Demons.......................................................................................................... 155GALATIANS 3 ................................................................................................................ 156

  Chapter 16 The Gift of the Working of Miracles................................................................ 158

• Find Your Place of Ministry ................................................................................................ 158The Working of Miracles Defined ....................................................................................... 159Old Testament Examples Of the Working of Miracles........................................................ 161Moses and the Israelites .................................................................................................... 161Elijah and the Widow.......................................................................................................... 161Working of Miracles in the New Testament........................................................................ 161Jesus and the Feeding of the Five Thousand .................................................................... 162Ananias and Sapphira........................................................................................................ 162Paul and Elymas ................................................................................................................ 163The Gift of Faith vs. the Working of Miracles To Deliver From Danger .............................. 163Gifts of Healings More Prevalent In the New Testament ................................................... 164ACTS 6:8........................................................................................................................ 165

  The Importance of the Working of Miracles........................................................................ 165Desire Earnestly Spiritual Gifts .......................................................................................... 167Gifts of Healings: Not Medical Science .............................................................................. 168Gifts of Healings Prominent in The New Testament .......................................................... 169Jesus Ministered as a Man Anointed by the Holy Spirit ..................................................... 170The Gifts of Healings.......................................................................................................... 171Gifts of Healings vs. Receiving by Faith............................................................................. 172Ministering by the Gifts of Healings.................................................................................... 172

  Chapter 18 Gift of Prophecy ............................................................................................... 175Divers kinds of tongues is supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue. ........................ 176The Gift of Prophecy vs. The Office of the Prophet............................................................ 177New Testament Example Of the Gift of Prophecy.............................................................. 178New Testament Example of The Prophet's Ministry........................................................... 178Misuses of the Gift of Prophecy ......................................................................................... 179The Simple Gift of Prophecy Is Not Prediction ................................................................... 180Manifestations of the Holy Spirit In Corporate Worship...................................................... 181The Holy Spirit Manifests Himself As We Seek the Lord ................................................... 181Caution Needed With Personal Prophecies ....................................................................... 182Simple Prophecy Edifies, Exhorts, and Comforts............................................................... 1821 CORINTHIANS 14:3.................................................................................................... 182

  Prophecy in One's Prayer Life............................................................................................ 183Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs By the Gift of Prophecy ........................................... 185

  Chapter 19 The Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues .............................................................. 187Tongues: The Most Prominent Gift .................................................................................... 187The Gift of Tongues Is a Supernatural Sign ....................................................................... 188The Gift of Tongues Is Unique To This Dispensation......................................................... 188Tongues Is the Evidence Of Being Filled With the Spirit .................................................... 189Purposes of Speaking in Tongues ..................................................................................... 190Initial Evidence of Receiving the Holy Spirit ....................................................................... 190Speaking Mysteries Supernaturally to God........................................................................ 190Magnifying God.................................................................................................................. 191ACTS 10:45,46............................................................................................................... 191

  Edifying Ourselves ............................................................................................................. 191JUDE 20 ......................................................................................................................... 191

  Praying in the Spirit ............................................................................................................ 191Be Being Filled With the Spirit............................................................................................ 192Spiritual Refreshing............................................................................................................ 193

• Interpreting Tongues In Our Private Prayer Life................................................................. 193The Gift of Tongues in Public Ministry................................................................................ 194Prophecy Is Equivalent To Tongues and Interpretation ..................................................... 195Speaking in Tongues in a Public Setting............................................................................ 196MARK 16:17,18 .............................................................................................................. 196

  Private vs. Public Operation Of the Gift of Tongues........................................................... 1961 CORINTHIANS 14:18,19............................................................................................. 196

  Tongues is not a teaching gift or a preaching gift............................................................... 197Chapter 20 The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues............................................................. 197The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues ................................................................................. 199The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues In Our Private Prayer Life ........................................ 199The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues In Public Ministry ..................................................... 2001 CORINTHIANS 14:27.................................................................................................. 200

  The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues ................................................................................. 201The Gift of Interpretation Not Translation ...................................................................... 202

  Chapter 1 My Pentecostal Experience

  Raised From the Bed of Sickness

  I was born again on April 22, 1933, at twenty minutes to eight o'clock in the south bedroom of405 North College Street in McKinney, Texas. I was raised up from the bed of sickness on thesecond Tuesday of August 1934, after spending sixteen long months flat on my back with twoterminal organic heart conditions and an incurable blood disease. And my body was almosttotally paralyzed.

  When I first started reading the Word of God on the bed of sickness, Grandma would prop theBible up in front of me as I lay there on my bed. I could only read for about ten minutes at atime after that I could hardly see. Then that was all I could read for the day.

  The next day I would read for another ten or fifteen minutes. After a few weeks of reading likethat, I got so I could read for an hour at a time; eventually I could read for as long as I liked.

  As a child, I had been brought up going to Sunday school; I can't remember the first time Iwent to church. Nor can I remember the first time I ever read the Bible. It seemed I had prayedall of my life, yet I had never been born again until April 22, 1933.You see, you can be religious and yet not really be a born-again child of God. But when youare born again, the very same Bible that you have been reading looks different. The Biblebecomes clear and easy to understand when you are born again. And as I read Grandma'sBible, I found that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).

  The doctors had said I could die at any time, so when I began reading the Bible, I beganreading in the New Testament. I reasoned, I might not be alive ten minutes from now, so I willutilize this ten minutes, or whatever time I have, and I will start reading in the New Testament.

  I began reading in Matthew 1:1. When I got to Mark 11:24,I read, ". . . What things soever yedesire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." From the firsttime I read that verse, I never forgot it. I didn't take time to memorize it; it just branded itself onmy mind, so to speak, because Mark 11:24 was my answer for healing.

• MARK 11:23,2423 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, B e thouremoved, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shallbelieve that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoeverhe saith.24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that yereceive them, and ye shall have them.

  However, immediately after I read Mark 11:23 and 24, the devil hopped on my shoulder andsaid, "Yes, but divine healing has been done away with, you know."I said, "Well, thank God, faith hasn't been done away with! This scripture says, '. . . Whatthings soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe . . .' (Mark 11:24). I have never heard anyonesay that believing and faith have been done away with."

  "Yes, but healing has. You know all that healing business has been done away with."I said to the devil, "What about Mark chapter 5? In Mark chapter 5, Jesus said to the womanwith the issue of blood, '. . . Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole . . .' [Mark 5:34]. Mr.Devil, if her faith made her whole, my faith will make me whole." And, thank God, it did!

  At that time, I didn't know of anyone else in the whole world who believed in divine healingbesides me. There was no Full Gospel church in my town at the time, and I had never heardhealing preached. There weren't any Christian radio programs such as we have today; at least,if there were, I didn't know about them.

  After my healing, I began my ministry just as a young Baptist boy preacher. When I heard thatFull Gospel people preached on healing too, I began to fellowship with them becausefellowshipping with those of like-precious faith was just like getting a spiritual shot in the arm. Itbuilt up my faith.

  The Full Gospel folks preached some things I didn't quite understand or altogether agree withat that time, such as the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but I put up with that to have a littlefellowship around the doctrine of healing!

  God Is Not Nervous!

  I wasn't used to church services where everyone would pray all together at one time, and thisbothered me at first. I started to say something about it a time or two to straighten these FullGospel folks out. In fact, I once heard someone else tell them, "Now God's not hard of hearing,you know."

  But the Full Gospel folks just replied, "He's not nervous either!"When these Full Gospel folks invited Christians

  to come and pray at the altar, I would go forward to pray with them. But I would get as far awayfrom them as I could because they bothered me all praying at the same time like that. I wouldget off in the corner somewhere and pray quietly.

• However, after a while the thought occurred to me, These folks knew about divine healing andmy church didn 't. They might know something more here in this area of praying than I do too.So I decided I would read through the Book of Acts and see how the Early Church prayed.

  As I read, I couldn't find one place where they called on "Deacon Brown" or "Sister Jones" tolead in prayer while everyone else remained silent. Instead, I found to my utter amazementthat the Early Church all prayed at the same time!

  ACTS 4:23,2423 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chiefpriests and elders had said unto them.24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God WITH ONE ACCORD....

  The thing that cinched it with me was when I got down to Acts chapter 16 where it says thatPaul and Silas were in jail. Their backs were bleeding; their feet were in stocks. Yet at midnightthey prayed and sang praises to God. And the Bible says, ". . . and the prisoners heard them"(Acts 16:25). Until that time, I had believed in praying to God, but I believed in being quietabout it. But then I saw that Paul and Silas didn't pray quietly, not even in jail.

  The next time I went to the Full Gospel service and they called us to the altar to pray, I got rightin the middle of them and lifted my voice just like they did. When I did, I felt a release in myspirit. The Word of God will set you free. Jesus said, ". . . ye shall know the truth, and the truthshall make you free" (John 8:32). God's Word is truth, and it will set you free.

  The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

  These Full Gospel folks preached something else I couldn't quite accept the baptism of theHoly Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. I believed in the Holy Ghost and inthe baptism of the Holy Ghost. I knew I hadn't received the baptism in the Holy Ghost, but Ibelieved in it. But that "tongues" business that was a bitter pill for me to swallow.

  I had been warned against speaking with tongues. But fellowshipping with Full Gospel peoplewho did speak in tongues was kind of like one fellow down in East Texas said: "It's like aslippery creek bank. You keep fooling around it long enough and you'll slip in."

  As a young boy preacher and pastor of a community church, I meditated and thought on thescriptures concerning the Holy Spirit, and I came to the conclusion that these Full Gospel folkswere wrong about tongues. I concluded that tongues weren't necessary; they weren't for ustoday.

  I decided that believers could receive this enduem ment of power the baptism in the HolyGhost without speaking in tongues. That was my own opinion, of course. It certainly wasn'tScripture.

  I said to the Lord in my heart, "Lord, I know these folks are good people. They are thoroughlysaved born again and they knew about divine healing when my church didn't. I certainlydo believe in the Holy Ghost. And I believe in the infilling of the Holy Ghost, the enduement ofpower from on High.

• Then I said to the Lord, "I sense a lack of power in my own life, and I know I need the infillingof the Holy Ghost. And I expect to receive, all right. But I am of the opinion that tongues don'tgo along with the baptism in the Holy Ghost, and that they are not for us today."

  Immediately the Lord spoke to my heart. I knew it was the Holy Spirit speaking through theWord of God. That same still small voice that had brought me off a bed of sickness and intodivine healing asked me, "What does Acts 2:39 say?"

  I quoted the scripture, "For THE PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that areafar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39).

  Then the still small voice said, "What promise is that?"I said, "The last part of Acts 2:38 says,'. . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' Sothe reference here is to the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost." Then I hastened to add,"But, Lord, I believe in the Holy Ghost. It's tongues I am not sure about." (I had changed it alittle bit this time to "I'm not sure.")

  The Holy Spirit always leads us in line with the Word of God. The Word and the Spirit agree (1John 5:7,8). I am not in favor of just following voices, because you can go wrong followingvoices; you can follow the wrong voice (1 Cor. 14:10). But you can never go wrong followingthe voice or the leading of the Holy Spirit because He will always lead you in line with the Wordof God (John 16:13; 1 John 5:6-8).

  Jesus said, ". . . he [the Holy Spirit] shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John16:14). And ". . . he shall not speak of himself [But, thank God, He does speak!]; butwhatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak . . ." (John 16:13).

  Every born-again believer has the Holy Ghost in a measure through the new birth (John 3:5-8;John 4:14). But this is not the same as the baptism in the Holy Spirit the enduement ofpower from on High that Jesus talked about in Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, and John 7:38. Justbecause someone is born again doesn't mean he is filled with the Holy Spirit.

  The Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth

  There is the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, as we can see by the following scriptures.

  JOHN 3:5-85 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ofTHE SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is BORN OF THE SPIRIT isspirit.7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be BORN AGAIN.8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst nottell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is BORN OF THESPIRIT.

  ROMANS 8:16

• 16 THE SPIRIT itself I Himself ] beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the childrenof God.

  The Work of the Holy Spirit In the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

  From these scriptures, we can see the work of the Holy Ghost in the new birth. But there isalso a work of the Holy Spirit that God desires to perform in the life of every believersubsequent or following the new-birth experience, and that is called the infilling of the HolySpirit or the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That is what Jesus was talking about in Luke 24:49 andActs 1:8.

  LUKE 24:4949 And, behold, I send THE PROMISE OF MY FATHER upon you: but tarry ye in the cityof Jerusalem, until ye be ENDUED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH.ACTS 1:88 But ye shall receive power, AFTER THAT THE HOLY GHOST IS COME UPON YOU: andye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, andunto the uttermost part of the earth.

  I had told the Lord that I believed in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but that I wasn't sure aboutthe tongues part. The Lord spoke to me again, "What does Acts 2:4 say?"

  Of course, I could quote these scriptures from the Book of Acts, but just because you have theWord in your head does not mean that you really know what it means. In other words, youneed to have the revelation of God's Word in your spirit to really know and understand what itmeans.

  I quoted Acts 2:4: "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with othertongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." I got that far and said again, "And they were allfilled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak. .. ."

  Then I exclaimed, "Oh, I see it! I see it! It says, '. . . they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, andbegan to speak WITH OTHER TONGUES' [Acts 2:4]. And when I get filled with the HolyGhost, I will begin to speak with other tongues too! Lord, that settles it. I am going right downto the Full Gospel preacher's house and receive the Holy Ghost."

  Tarrying Is Not a Formula For Receiving the Holy Spirit

  I then walked over to the parsonage and knocked on the door. The Full Gospel pastor came tothe door. I said to him, "I've come to receive the Holy Ghost."

  He said, "Son, you need to wait." (From that day until this I have never been able to figure outwhy anyone would ever tell someone to wait to receive the Holy Ghost!)

  Someone may ask, "Haven't you ever read in the Bible where it says to tarry? And everyoneknows that 'to tarry' means to wait." Yes, but that is not a formula for receiving the Holy Ghost,because Jesus actually said, ". . . TARRY YE IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM, until ye beendued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

• It was just as necessary for that group, the 120 who gathered in the Upper Room, to be inJerusalem as it was that they wait or tarry. So if waiting were a formula for receiving the HolyGhost, then why take the word "Jerusalem" out of this verse?

  In other words, if it's still necessary for us today to wait or to tarry in order to receive thebaptism in the Holy Spirit, then it must be necessary for us to go to Jerusalem to do it!

  Also, the 120 people in the Upper Room weren't waiting in the sense that they were gettingready and preparing themselves to be filled with the Holy Ghost. No, they were waiting for theDay of Pentecost to come. The Holy Ghost could not be given until then.If they had been waiting and preparing themselves before they could receive the Holy Spirit,the Bible would have read, "When they were ready, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."But it doesn't read that way.

  In Acts 2:1 and 4, the Bible says, "And when THE DAY OF PENTECOST WAS FULLY COME. . . they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. . . ." (We will cover whether it is scriptural to tarry toreceive the Holy Spirit in greater detail in Chapter 6 of this study course.)Someone said, "But waiting gets you ready to receive the Holy Ghost." No, it doesn't. Gettingsaved gets you ready. The Bible mentions the only requirement for receiving the Holy Ghost. Itsays, ". . . the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even asmany as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39).

  In other words, the promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is for as many as have receivedJesus Christ as their Savior.

  Any Believer Can Receive the Holy Spirit

  By saying a person has to wait in order to receive the Holy Spirit, people are really saying aperson has to clean himself up first. But you can't clean yourself up except through repentanceof unconfessed sin (1 John 1:9). The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses believers from allsin (1 John 1:9). If you are blood washed, you are ready right now to receive the Holy Spirit. Ifa person who is saved is sincerely seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit, he can receive.

  LUKE 11:9-139 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, andit shall be opened unto you.10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him thatknocketh it shall be opened.11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if heask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how muchmore shall your Heavenly Father give THE HOLY SPIRIT to them that ask him?

  Biblical Example of Believers Receiving The Holy Spirit Without Tarrying

  Any believer can ask the Father for the Holy Spirit and receive this precious Gift withouttarrying or waiting. For instance, after Cornelius and those in his household were saved, theydid not have to wait to receive the Holy Spirit.

• In fact, they were not only saved but they were filled with the Holy Ghost almost at the sametime (Acts 11:14,15). In other words, after salvation, they didn't have time to get "ready" toreceive the Holy Spirit; they didn't wait or tarry for the Holy Ghost. They received the Holy Spiritimmediately without having to get "ready" (Acts 10:30-48).

  In recounting this experience to the apostles and brethren in Jerusalem, Peter explained thatthose in Cornelius' household received the Word that was preached to them and were saved.Then they were immediately filled with the Holy Spirit.

  ACTS 11:11-1511 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where Iwas, sent from Caesa area unto me.12 And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethrenaccompanied me, and we entered into the man's house. ...13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and saidunto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be SAVED.15 And as I [Peter] began to speak, THE HOLY GHOST FELL ON THEM, as on us at thebeginning.

  Also, there is something in Acts 10:45 and 46 that tells us that speaking in tongues goes handin hand with the baptism in the Holy Ghost.

  ACTS 10:45,4645 And they of the circumcision which believed [the Jewish believers] were astonished,as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out THEGIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST.46 FOR THEY HEARD THEM SPEAK WITH TONGUES, AND MAGNIFY GOD....

  You see, if it hadn't been for the evidence of speaking with tongues, the Jewish believerswould never have accepted the Gentiles into the Church, because speaking in tongues is whatconvinced the Jews that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles! It was strictly aJewish Church up until then.

  Even Peter himself didn't know that the Gentiles could be saved until he had the vision which isrecorded in Acts chapter 10. When the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Gentiles, itastonished the Jewish believers who accompanied Peter to Cornelius' house.

  Why Wait To Receive a Gift?

  Thank God, God showed me His Word on the subject, so I knew I didn't have to wait or tarrybefore I could be filled with the Holy Spirit. I saw in God's Word that if believers in the Book ofActs didn't have to wait to receive the Holy Spirit, then I didn't have to wait either.I also knew that when I received the Holy Spirit, I would speak in tongues. When I told this FullGospel pastor, "I've come here to receive the Holy Ghost," and he said to wait, I blurted out,"But it won't take me long to receive!"

• The church was having a revival service that night, and it was then already 6:00 in the evening,so he wanted me to wait and seek for the baptism of the Holy Ghost in the service.But I knew I would have to wait until after 7:00 when the service started. Then I would have towait until the preliminaries were over. And then I would have to wait until the preaching wasover. In other words, it would have been about 9:00 that evening before I could have gotten tothe altar. But why wait to receive a gift?

  I have now been associated with Full Gospel folks for many years, and in all that time, I havenever told anyone to wait to receive the Holy Spirit, or for that matter, to wait for anything thatGod freely offers us in His Word.

  If someone says he wants to get saved, you don't say, "Wait and come to church Sunday andthen seek salvation." If someone wanted you to pray for his healing, you wouldn't say, "Wait."No, sick people want to get healed immediately, especially if their bodies are in pain. Salvationis a gift; healing is a gift; and so is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

  Because of my obvious eagerness, the pastor said reluctantly, "Well, come on in then."I stepped in the door and the pastor said to me, "I know you can receive the Holy Ghost rightaway because we read about it in the Acts of the Apostles. But when you have to wait a longtime before you receive the Holy Spirit, the experience means so much more to you."

  The pastor continued, "Take me, for instance. It took me three years and six months to receivethe Holy Ghost. Oh, I waited and I waited; I tarried and I sought. Now that I've finally received,the Holy Ghost really means something to me."

  I said, "Well, poor old Paul didn't know that. I wish you could have gotten to him and told himabout waiting. He didn't know that, because he received the Holy Ghost immediately whenAnanias laid hands on him [Acts 9:17,18]. Paul didn't wait or tarry or seek."

  I continued, "But then, all Paul ever did was write about half the New Testament! Of course, hedid more single-handedly in the years of his ministry than any denomination has done in fivehundred years put together. But if you could have gotten to him and told him to wait for threeyears and six months to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, then maybe the Holy Ghostwould have meant something to him too!"

  I went into the living room and knelt down in front of a large chair. I just closed my eyes andshut out everything around me, and I lifted my hands to God. No one told me to do it, but I justlifted my hands (that's pretty good for a denominational boy).

  I said, "Dear Lord, I've come here to receive the Holy Ghost." I repeated in my prayer what Ihad just learned from Acts 2:39 and Acts 2:4.

  Then I said, "Your Word says that the Holy Ghost is a Gift. Therefore, I realize that the HolyGhost is received by faith. I received the gift of salvation by faith. I received healing for mybody by faith. Now I receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that You offer by faith too."

  God Has Already Given the Holy Spirit: Believers Need Only To Receive This GiftThere is something here that folks need to see: The Holy Spirit was given on the Day ofPentecost, and He has been here ever since! God hasn't given Him to anyone since the Day of

• Pentecost. God gave the gift of the Holy Ghost once on the Day of Pentecost, and He nevertook back that gift. Now it is just a matter of folks receiving Him.

  I can't find in the Acts of the Apostles where the disciples ever asked anyone, "Has God givenyou the Holy Ghost?" But I do read where Paul asked, "Have you received the Holy Ghost?"(Acts 19:2). In other words, the emphasis is not on God's giving because He has already donethat. The emphasis is on man's receiving.

  In the life of Jesus, we see an example of man receiving what God has already provided theHoly Spirit: "Therefore [Jesus Christ) being by the right hand of God exalted, and havingRECEIVED of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost..." (Acts 2:33).Jesus received of the Father ". . . the promise of the Holy Ghost. ..." And after Jesus receivedthe promise of the Holy Ghost, the Bible says He "... hath shed forth this, which ye now seeand hear" (Acts 2:33).

  The Ephesian Disciples

  We see another example of man receiving whatThe Holy Spirit and His GiftsGod has already provided the Holy Spirit in Acts 19

  ACTS 19:1,21 ... Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certaindisciples,2 He said unto them, Have ye RECEIVED the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And theysaid unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

  When Paul came to Ephesus, he didn't ask the question, "Has God given you the Holy Ghost?"He asked, ". . . Have ye RECEIVED the Holy Ghost since ye believed?. . ." (Acts 19:2).

  The Samaritan Christians

  We see in the account in Acts chapter 8 that after the Samaritans were born again, it was onlya matter of their receiving the Holy Spirit.

  ACTS 8:14,1514 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received theword of God[ concerning salvation ], they sent unto them Peter and John:15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might RECEIVE theHoly Ghost.

  Notice that it says ". . . that they might receive the Holy Ghost" (v. 15). Peter and John didn'tpray that God would pour out the Holy Ghost on them. They prayed that the Samaritans mightreceive the Holy Ghost. Acts 8:17 says, "Then laid they their hands on them, and they receivedthe Holy Ghost."

  Saul of Tarsus

  Saul was born again on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:4-8). God sent Ananias to lay hands onSaul that Saul might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

• ACTS 9:1717 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on himsaid, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thoutamest, hath sent me, THAT THOU MIGHTEST receive thy sight, and BE FILLED WITHTHE HOLY GHOST.

  Ananias didn't say, "God has sent me to pray for you that He would give you the Holy Ghost."And Ananias didn't say, "God has sent me to pray for you that He would pour His Holy Ghostout upon you." Ananias said, ". . . [JesusI hath sent me, that thou mightest . . . be filled with[receive] the Holy Ghost" (Acts 9:17).You don't pray that God would send salvation and save someone; God has already done thatthrough Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. You pray for that person to receive salvation.You don't pray that God would send healing and heal someone. You pray for that person toreceive healing. There is nothing wrong with the sending end. If people fail to receivesomething God offers, the problem is not with God; something is wrong on the receiving end.

  The Sending End or the Receiving End?

  A number of years ago, a minister friend of ours was going out West to visit a relative who wasdying of cancer. She was the wife of another minister. My wife and I felt led to go out there withhim to pray for her.

  After we arrived, we all prayed for two days and nights for this minister's sick wife. We ate onlyone meal a day. We slept only three or four hours a night, getting up early in the morning to gointo the room to pray where the woman was bedfast.

  On the second night I said to my friend, "Something is wrong. I have been saved for sixteenyears and healed for fifteen years, but never have I prayed this long for anything withoutgetting an answer, and I hate to start now.

  "Something is wrong with our praying," I said. "What I mean is this: In this little town there isonly one radio station. If the radio in your car failed to pick up the local station, you wouldn'tphone or write a letter to that station and say, 'You'd better have your radio station fixed. Myradio won't pick up the broadcast.'

  "Nothing would be wrong with the sending end. You would have to work on the receiving end.So in the morning when we go into that room, let's concentrate on the receiving end."

  The next morning when we gathered at the woman's bedside for prayer again, I told everyonethat we were missing it somewhere that the fault was with us and certainly was not withGod. The woman on the bed began to cry and said, "Oh, the trouble is with me. I have failed."

  I said, "Wait a minute, Sister. Don't condemn yourself, because if you do, you can talk yourselfright out of faith. Maybe you have failed. Who of us hasn't? But you asked the Lord to forgiveyou, didn't you? And First John 1:9 says, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just toforgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' So if you've repented andhave asked God to forgive you, He has forgiven you and cleansed you from allunrighteousness. You can stand in the Presence of God as though you have never doneanything wrong."

• I explained, "When I say something is wrong on the receiving end, I don't mean there is someterrible sin. I just mean that somehow we have not gotten in a receptive 'mood,' so to speak,for it is a matter of receiving the healing that is already yours.

  "In other words," I continued, "your healing was already paid for on the Cross; therefore, wedon't have to talk God into the notion of healing you." After explaining a little more about herredemptive rights in Christ, we began to pray.

  The woman who was dying with cancer was saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, a pastor's wife,and a Sunday school teacher. But we discovered she had much doubt and fear. In fact, doubtand fear was hindering her from receiving the healing that God had already so graciouslyprovided for her in redemption.

  When we prayed and believed God and dealt with the real problem, we got results. In thiscase, God directed me to cast a spirit of doubt and fear out of the woman. (The evil spirit wasnot in her spirit because she was a believer, but it was affecting her mind her thinking.)When I cast that evil spirit out of her mind, the woman immediately raised up in bed and beganto praise God. She got up and went into the living room and knelt down and praised andthanked God. That afternoon she ate dinner with us.

  The Holy Spirit Gives the Utterance

  I said all that to say that the problem is never on the sending end with God. If there is aproblem, it is always on the receiving end with us. We must just learn to receive freely theblessings God has so graciously bestowed upon us in our redemption, which includes theinfilling of the Holy Spirit.

  So as I knelt in that Full Gospel parsonage in April 1937, I said to the Lord, "Lord, the HolyGhost is a Gift. I received salvation by faith. I received healing for my body three years ago byfaith. Now I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by faith. And I want to thank You now, HeavenlyFather, because I receive the Holy Spirit."

  Then I said to the Lord, "By faith I have now received the Holy Ghost. Thank God, He is in me,because Jesus promised that in His Word. And I say it with my mouth because I believe in myheart that I have received the Holy Ghost. Now I expect to speak with tongues becausebelievers spoke with tongues on the Day of Pentecost. And thank God, I will, too, as the HolyGhost gives me utterance."

  After I had prayed that, because I was grateful for the Holy Ghost that I had just received andfor the speaking with tongues that God was going to give me, I said, "Hallelujah, hallelujah."But I had never felt so "dry" in all my life saying that word.

  Feelings and faith are far removed from each other; in fact, sometimes when you feel as if youhave the least faith, that is when you have the most faith because you do not base your faithon feelings. So I said, "Hallelujah" about seven or eight times, even though it seemed as if thatword was going to choke me!

  About the time I had said "Hallelujah" seven or eight times, way down inside of me, in my spirit,I heard these strange words. It seemed as if they were just going around and around in there.

• It seemed to me that I would know what they would sound like if they were spoken, so I juststarted speaking them out!

  So about eight minutes from the time I first knocked on that pastor's door, I was speaking withtongues! The pastor had said, "Wait," but instead of waiting, I spent that hour and a half beforethe church service speaking in tongues! It is much better to wait with the Holy Ghost than towait without the Holy Ghost!

  I believe in waiting on God, of course. We should have tarrying meetings for people who areSpirit filled. It is more wonderful to tarry and wait in God's Presence after you've been filledwith the Holy Ghost than it is to wait in God's Presence before being filled with the Holy Spirit.Also, notice that you don't speak in tongues, and then know you have the Holy Ghost. No, youknow you have the Holy Ghost first, and then you speak in tongues. Notice Acts 2:4: "And theywere all filled with the Holy Ghost. ..."

  If we stop reading there, we would know that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. But if wecontinue reading, we find, ". . . and [they] began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gavethem utterance" (Acts 2:4). Speaking with other tongues was a result of those believers havingreceived the Holy Ghost. You receive the Holy Ghost first; then you speak in tongues.During that hour and a half that I was speaking in tongues, I had a glorious time in the Lord.You see, speaking in tongues edifies you. First Corinthians 14:4 says, "He that speaketh in anunknown tongue edifieth himself . . ." Therefore, speaking in tongues is a means of spiritualedification or building up.

  Linguists tell us that there is a word in our modern vernacular that is closer to the meaning ofthe Greek word than "edify" and that is the word "charge." We charge a battery; we build it up.

  JUDE2020 But ye, beloved, BUILDING UP YOURSELVES on your most holy faith, PRAYING INTHE HOLY GHOST.

  In other words, when a person prays in the Holy Spirit, he charges himself up. He buildshimself up like a battery that is charged or built up. Edifying yourself by speaking in othertongues is just one of the many blessings that God has provided through the baptism in theHoly Ghost. And this wonderful blessing, this glorious gift of the Holy Ghost, is available toevery born-again believer.

  Chapter 2 The Holy Spirit in the Denominational Church

  In times past, it has been my privilege to speak on the subject of the infilling of the Holy Spirit,or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to Full Gospel groups and to conduct special services all overthe country. A great number of people have always been filled with the Holy Spirit in theseservices.

  A move of God that we now call the Charismatic Movement took place during the '60s and'70s. That move of God was characterized by thousands of believers in denominationalchurches being filled with the Holy Spirit. In my own ministry, this was a time when I sawhundreds of denominational people receive the Holy Ghost.

• For instance, in just three Bible classes I conducted once at a convention in Texas, more thanone hundred people were filled with the Holy Spirit. In these classes, a denominational ministerand his wife received the Holy Spirit and upon returning to their church in Florida, they sent metheir church bulletin. In it they openly announced they had received the Holy Ghost and spokewith other tongues.

  I also noticed in the bulletin that the chairman of the board of their church had also given histestimony about being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking with tongues. There were morethan five hundred people attending Sunday school in this church. And the people were tellingthe full-gospel story!Another denominational minister and his wife also received the Holy Ghost at this convention.And a minister from Chicago from still another denomination also received the infilling of theHoly Spirit.

  Two ministers from a very conservative denomination also attended that convention. There areseveral different branches of this particular denomination, just as there are in otherdenominations and among Pentecostals.

  All of the different branches of this particular denomination were conservative, but some wereultraconservative. One of these two ministers attending the convention in Texas was from anultra-conservative branch. The one who was conservative received the baptism of the HolySpirit right away, but the ultraconservative minister didn't receive until the last day of themeeting.

  What bothered this ultraconservative minister and hindered him from receiving the baptism ofthe Holy Spirit was that he didn't believe in women preachers. And the first time he cameforward to receive the Holy Ghost, two women preachers approached him to pray with him.

  (Many times it seems to work that way, doesn't it? God doesn't want us to be prejudiced aboutanything! He wants us to be in agreement with His Word.)

  Because of this minister's preconceived ideas that women shouldn't be preachers, this tookhim aback and hindered him from receiving the Holy Spirit. He asked me, "Do I have to believein women preachers before I can receive the Holy Ghost?"

  I said, "No, you don't. At one time, I didn't believe in women being preachers either. But if youlet it bother you, it can hinder your faith and therefore hinder you from receiving the HolySpirit."

  And we must remember, too, that when we do receive the Holy Spirit, that doesn't mean weknow everything. In some of these areas, the Holy Spirit will change our thinking because theBible says He will guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

  For example, Peter and all of the apostles had been filled with the Holy Ghost for ten years,but they still didn't know the Gentiles could get saved. They didn't receive that revelation untilPeter saw the vision while praying on the housetop, and God spoke to him and said, ". . . whatGod hath cleansed, that call not common" (Acts 10:15). Then Peter was sent to preach thegospel to Cornelius and his household, who were Gentiles (Acts 10:1-45).

• So I said to this minister, "As long as you let women being preachers bother you, it will hinderyou. The devil will use anything he can to get your mind off of God and on something else totry to bring you into confusion. Just stay open to God and let Him tell you whatever He wantsto tell you. If you knew everything you should know and if you were everything you should bewithout the Holy Ghost, what would you need Him for?"

  This minister finally received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And, sure enough, when he wasfilled with the Holy Spirit, it was a woman preacher who prayed with him! After he was filledwith the Holy Ghost, he said, "Now I believe in women preachers!" It didn't take him long tochange his mind.Actually, when you get filled with the Holy Ghost, you will see that a lot of things you thoughtwere so important, aren't so important after all. And a lot of your prejudices and preconceivednotions will fall away to the truth of God's Word as you get your mind renewed (Rom. 12:2).This minister went back home and within one month's time he had gotten sixteen believersfilled with the Holy Ghost. Particularly in the days of the Charismatic Movement, one sawdenominational people get filled with the Holy Ghost. That number is still multiplying eventoday. For instance, with just this one man in a few days' time after he was filled with the HolySpirit, the number of believers filled with the Holy Spirit was multiplied by sixteen. I rejoice inwhat God is doing in these days!

  To be honest, as a young preacher I didn't believe I would live to see the supernatural indemonstration as I saw it during the Charismatic Movement of the '60s and '70s. If someonehad told me years ago about what would be happening now, it would have been beyond mycomprehension. Years ago, I never would have believed certain things to be possible that havehappened even in my own ministry!

  For example, a minister from the denomination I came from was filled with the Holy Ghost. Hewas the pastor of a church with two thousand members enrolled in the Sunday school programalone. This pastor's deacon was also filled with the Spirit.

  In fact, this deacon was filled with the Holy Ghost first. Then the deacon kept talking to thepastor about it and finally got him to attend a Full Gospel meeting. The pastor saw what theBible has to say about the Holy Ghost and was filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke with othertongues!This deacon's brother was a member of a Pentecostal church and had been for nearly twentyyears, but he had never received the Holy Ghost. The pastor and the deacon brought thedeacon's brother to the meeting so he could be filled with the Holy Ghost too.

  It used to be the other way around: Pentecostal people usually got denominational people filledwith the Holy Ghost! But we have lived long enough to see things change because nowsometimes denominational people are the ones getting Pentecostal church folks filled with theHoly Ghost!

  I preached a meeting in a denominational church in Texas once where ninety-five percent ofthe church received the infilling of the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues. It was aglorious service filled with thrilling testimonies, and the service had that warm glow to it likePentecostal services of years ago.

• It was wonderful and refreshing to be a part of what God was doing during the CharismaticMovement. And I'm glad I am a part of what He is doing today!

  Denominational Differences Don't Matter

  We should share this wonderful experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit with everyonewho is hungry for God. For example, if someone fell overboard and I had a lifesaver, I wouldn'task him what church he belonged to before I threw him the life-saver! And if he didn't belong tomy church, I wouldn't refuse to throw him the lifesaver either!

  If people are drowning, they need help. If people are lost, they need salvation. And if Christiansare hungry for a deeper walk with God, they don't have to become a member of any particularchurch before they can be filled with the Holy Spirit!

  The Holy Spirit is a Gift. We should just get believers who are hungry for more of God filledwith the Spirit. And, thank God, we are doing that. Of course, we should always encouragebelievers who are not members of a local body to join a good church and become faithfulmembers, so they can grow in their Christian walk. But joining a church is not a prerequisite toreceiving the Holy Spirit.

  In just four services of a local chapter of a Full Gospel group, I once saw 143 people filled withthe Holy Ghost. That's a real revival in itself, isn't it? And some folks think God is not on themove! Thank God, He is. It is not what you think the Bible says that counts. And it's not whatsomeone told you the Bible says. It is what you know for yourself about God's Word thatcounts. And God will confirm His Word with signs following.

  The Holy Spirit: God's Promise to You

  ACTS 1:5,85 For John truly baptized with water; but YE SHALL BE BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLYGHOST not many days hence. ...8 But ye shall receive power, AFTER THAT THE HOLY GHOST IS COME UPON YOU: andye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, andunto the uttermost part of the earth.ACTS 2:32,3332 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the FatherTHE PROMISE of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

  Notice that in Acts 1:5 and 8 Jesus spoke of the promise of the Holy Ghost to the Church the Body of Christ. He said, "... ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost..." (Acts 1:5). And inActs chapter 2, we see the fulfillment of that promise: ". . . he [Jesus] hath shed forth this,which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:33).

  Then in Acts 2:38 and 39, Peter told the people that the promise of the Holy Spirit was given toas many as believed.

  ACTS 2:38,39

• 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name ofJesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive THE GIFT OF THE HOLYGHOST.39 For THE PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, evenAS MANY as the Lord our God shall call din other words, those who are born again].

  The Holy Spirit Is a Person

  Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a Person in John 14:16: ". . . I will pray the Father, and he[the Father] shall give you another Comforter, that HE [the Comforter, the Holy Spirit] mayabide with you for ever."The Holy Spirit is a Person. In other words, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive Him,the third Person of the Godhead, not an "it." Jesus said, ". . . that HE may abide with you forever" (John 14:16).

  Some people say it like this: "I received the baptism." But they didn't receive the baptism, theyreceived the Holy Spirit. Sometimes folks say, "I am filled with the baptism." But they are notfilled with the baptism; they are not even filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That is not ascriptural statement. No, they are filled with the Holy Spirit Himself the third Person of theGodhead.

  Receiving the Holy Ghost is more than just an experience. When you receive the Holy Ghost,a Divine Personality, He comes to live in you, to dwell in you, and to make His home in you.Receiving the Holy Spirit Is Just the Beginning

  Also, we must not be so concerned with the outward initial experience that we miss the realityof the indwelling Presence of the Holy Ghost. If we have been filled with the Holy Ghost, weshould be conscious of His indwelling Presence at every waking moment. We shouldn't haveto look back to some experience that we had at an altar years ago as our only contact with thisDivine Person the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit should become more real to us every singleday.

  I received the infilling of the Holy Ghost more than fifty-five years ago. When I first received theHoly Spirit, I spoke in tongues for an hour and a half, and I sang three songs in tongues. Butthat experience was the least part of this fifty-five years of being filled with the Holy Spiritbecause that initial experience was just the beginning.

  But to hear some people talk, the initial experience of receiving the Holy Spirit was the greatestthing that ever happened in their lives. Of course, in one sense that may be true, because thatwas the beginning. But some people haven't experienced anything since then!

  However, if the Holy Ghost is living in you, you can have scriptural experiences with God andin His Word every day. You don't have just one experience and that's the end of it. No, whenyou receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a Divine Personality the Holy Spirit comes tolive within you! Every day you can experience His indwelling Presence.

  The infilling of the Holy Ghost is not for sinners; it is for believers. Referring to the infilling ofthe Holy Spirit, Jesus said, "Even the Spirit of truth; WHOM THE WORLD CANNOT RECEIVE.. ."(John 14:17).

• The world cannot receive the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. The world canreceive eternal life, however. The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave hisonly begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but haveEVERLASTING LIFE" (John 3:16).

  Jesus Christ is God's Gift to the world. The world can receive Christ as Savior. A sinner can beborn again. But a person has to be born again before he can receive the baptism of the HolyGhost.

  Extreme Teachings in the Church

  There are some extreme teachings in the church today. When I speak of the church, I am notspeaking of any particular group or denomination. I am speaking of the church world as awhole.

  I began my ministry as a denominational preacher, and I know what that particulardenomination teaches. And I have been among Full Gospel people for a great number of yearsnow, and I know what they teach. I have found that we have extreme teaching that isunscriptural, even among Pentecostals.

  Does One Receive the Fullness of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth?

  The denominational church that I belonged to taught me that if you are born again, then youhave the Holy Ghost and you have all the Holy Ghost there is to have. They are partly right,but mostly wrong in that assertion.

  They are right in that if you are born again, you do have the Holy Ghost because there is awork of the Holy Spirit in the new birth (John 3:5-8; Rom. 8:16).

  It is the Holy Spirit who imparts eternal life to the unregenerated spirit of the sinner (Titus 3:5-7). It is the Holy Spirit who recreates the sinner's spirit and makes him a new creature in ChristJesus (2 Cor. 5:17). It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness with the spirit of the born-again one

  that he is a child of God (Rom. 8:16).But this is not the same as the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), or the enduement of powerfrom on High, even though the Holy Spirit is present in the life of the born-again believer.Jesus illustrated the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation for us very beautifully in the Gospel ofJohn. In chapter 4, Jesus was talking to the woman of Samaria at the well about salvation.Salvation: The Well of Water

  JOHN 4:13,1413 ... Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:14 But whosoever drinketh of THE WATER that I shall give him shall never thirst; butTHE WATER that I shall give him shall be in him A WELL OF WATER springing up intoEVERLASTING LIFE.

  Here we see that Jesus was speaking of the well of water or the work of the Holy Spirit insalvation. Jesus referred to salvation as the well of water.

• The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Rivers of Living Waters

  In the following verses, Jesus was talking about the rivers of living water which characterizethe work of the Holy Spirit in the infilling or the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

  JOHN 7:37-3937 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any manthirst, let him come unto me, and drink.38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERSOF LIVING WATER.39 (But this spake he of THE SPIRIT, which they that believe on him should receive; forthe Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

  The water in both John 4:13,14 and John 7:37-39 is a type of the Holy Ghost. But notice thattwo different experiences are mentioned: salvation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.First, to the woman at the well of Samaria, Jesus said, ". . . the water that I shall give him shallbe in him a WELL OF WATER springing up into EVER-LASTING LIFE" (John 4:14). This isreferring to the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation or the new birth. In John 7:37-39, thereference is to "rivers of living water." Jesus said, ". . . out of his belly [or innermost being] shallflow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). This is referring to the experience of the infilling of theHoly Ghost in the life of the born-again child of God.

  The Same Holy Spirit in the New Birth As in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

  I was a member of a denomination and had been healed by the power of God. After that, Ifellow-shipped with Full Gospel people because they preached divine healing, and it stimulatedmy faith. You need to fellowship with people of like-precious faith in order to stay strong infaith.

  However, these Full Gospel people also preached the baptism in the Holy Ghost and speakingwith tongues. People in my denomination said, "Those Pentecostal folks are good people andthey're all right in many ways. They preach a lot of good things, and much of what they preachis true." But I was warned by many who genuinely cared about me to be careful about that"tongues business" because they said that was of the devil.

  However, in the course of time, I was filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speakingwith tongues. And I know from experience and from the Word of God that the baptism of theHoly Spirit is not of the devil. I didn't get some spirit that I didn't have before and didn't knowanything about. It was the same Spirit the Holy Spirit.

  The same Holy Ghost whom I became acquainted with in the new birth the same Spirit whobore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God was the same Spirit that gave meutterance in tongues.

  I told my denominational friends, "You said that speaking with tongues is of the devil. Well, if itis, then the new birth is of the devil too. For the same Holy Spirit who led me to Christ, and thesame Holy Spirit who bore witness with my spirit that I am a child of God, gave me utterance intongues."

  You see, when you are born again, you don't have all the Holy Spirit there is to have. There isa further experience; an experience subsequent to the new birth that God desires every one of

• His children to experience. Jesus said, ". . . If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink"(John 7:37). In the infilling of the Holy Spirit, one can drink of the rivers ofliving water until hegets full!

  Someone asked, "How can you tell when you get full of the rivers of living water; that is, afteryou are filled with the Holy Ghost?"

  Acts 2:4 tells us how we know when we are filled: ". . . they were all FILLED with the HolyGhost, AND BEGAN TO SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES...." If you are a believer, it is just assimple as Jesus said it is in John 7:37. Just come and drink and keep on drinking until you getfull. And when you get full, you will start speaking with other tongues. That is the initial sign orevidence that you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

  Speaking in Tongues Is Not The Evidence of the New Birth

  So you see, on one hand, an extreme teaching in many denominations is that when a persongets saved, that person has all the Holy Spirit there is to have. However, on the other hand, anextreme teaching and error in some Full Gospel circles is that no one is really saved unless hehas spoken in tongues. But speaking in tongues is not an evidence of the new birth; it is anevidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

  We know that the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is not forthe world for unbelievers because of something Jesus said in John 14:16,17.

  JOHN 14:16,1716 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he mayabide with you for ever;17 Even the Spirit of truth [the Holy Spirit]; WHOM THE WORLD CANNOT RECEIVE,because it seeth him not, nei ther knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth withyou, and shall be IN you.

  Jesus said that the world cannot receive this experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. NowGod does have a gift for the world, and that gift is salvation. The Heavenly Father has anothergift for His children, and that is the gift of the Holy Ghost.

  LUKE 11:1313 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how muchmore shall YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

  God isn't the Father of everyone. He is the Father of those who have been born again andrecreated in His image and likeness (2 Cor. 5:17). We hear a lot about the Fatherhood of Godand the brotherhood of man, and that God is the Father of all of us as humans and that we areall brothers. But that isn't true.

  In John 8:44, Jesus said to the Pharisees, the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, "Ye are ofyour father the devil. . . ."So you see, God is only the Father of those who have been bornagain. And to those who have been born again, God the Father gives the gift of the HolyGhost.

• New Wine: A Type of the Holy Spirit

  MARK 2:21,2221 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old gar-ment: else the new piece thatfilled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.22 And no man putteth NEW WINE into old bottles: else the NEW WINE doth burst thebottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but NEW WINE must beput into new bottles.

  Jesus said that no man puts new wine in old bottles. Back then, people used animal skins asbottles to hold wine, and they supposedly could use those skin bottles only once because ifthey let them lay longer than about a year, the skins would dry up and crack. Then if new winewas put in them, the skin bottles would burst.

  In the Scriptures, wine is a type of the Holy Ghost. And God couldn't give the Holy Ghost in Hisfullness to a person unless he was made a new creature. (Thank God, through Jesus Christ,man can be made a new creature in Him!)

  Jesus said if you put new wine in old wineskins, the wineskins will burst (Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22;Luke 5:37). If He put the Holy Ghost into folks who had not been born again, they would burst;they would not be able to contain Him!

  A person must become a new creature before he can be filled with the new wine the HolySpirit. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature . . ." (2 Cor. 5:17). When youhave been made a new creature, you are ready to be filled with the new wine the HolySpirit.

  Born-Again Samaritans Were Filled With the Holy Spirit

  The scriptures that helped me see the truth of God's Word that the new birth and the baptismof the Holy Spirit are two separate experiences are found in Acts 8:5 and 12.

  ACTS 8:5,125 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them....12 But when they BELIEVED Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom ofGod, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

  Were these Samaritans saved? According to Jesus they were. He said, ". . . Go ye into all theworld, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall besaved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15,16).

  Notice Acts 8:14: "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria hadreceived the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John."

  Then in the first Epistle of Peter, we read, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but ofincorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23). TheseSamaritans had received the Word of God, so according to Peter they were born again.Paul said, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God untosalvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16). Philipwent down to Samaria and preached Christ to them. The Samaritans believed on Jesus andwere baptized. They were saved.

• As a denominational preacher years ago, these scriptures in Acts 8:5 and 12 helped me to seethat if you were saved, you had experienced the working of the Holy Ghost in your life, but youhad not actually received the infilling of the Holy Ghost. For in these scriptures, we see that theEarly Church believed that receiving the Holy Ghost is an experience subsequent to orfollowing salvation.

  We know this because the Bible says, ". . . when they [Peter and John] were come down,prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:15). The disciples didn't prayfor the Samaritans to get saved. The Samaritans were already saved. Peter and John prayedthat the Samaritans might receive the Holy Ghost.

  The Holy Spirit: God's Giving vs. People's Receiving

  As I discussed in Chapter 1, there has also been much misunderstanding in the Body of Christon the question, Does God give the Holy Spirit to believers? Or do believers merely receive theHoly Spirit because God has already

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