The New You and the Holy Spirit Part 2
FIND A GOOD CHURCH.
Don't let minor doctrinal issues prevent you from settling into a good church. If the differences are just some external matters and not core beliefs, I suggest you stay involved. Even if it's not a strong faith-teaching church, it's better to partic.i.p.ate in some local church than not to partic.i.p.ate at all. There are other important benefits you can gain from partic.i.p.ating. If you live in an area where you have a choice, always choose a church that preaches the whole counsel of G.o.d!
A good church preaches everything G.o.d offers in His Word-salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, healing, deliverance, and prosperity! The denomination I grew up in centered all of the preaching on just the forgiveness of sins. Many people (like me) got saved, but they didn't believe that G.o.d's miraculous power was for today. When my father (a leader in that church) became seriously ill, my family and I didn't know how to receive healing from the Lord. No one in our church had faith for it, because we were never taught healing from G.o.d's Word. My father died at 54 years of age, leaving me fatherless at 12 and my mother a widow at 38. Much pain came into our lives as a result of this.
Our church didn't cause this problem, but it sure didn't equip us to overcome it either!
Be part of a church that teaches the whole counsel of G.o.d. Don't stay somewhere that's against the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, healing, and so on. Having your name on a pew or your aunt as the choir director won't help when you're sick. Although you're personally aware that G.o.d heals, you'll be frustrated when you have trouble receiving it, because you don't know G.o.d's Word. To receive prosperity, deliverance, or whatever, you need to be taught G.o.d's Word. Be part of a church you can wholeheartedly support!
A good church preaches faith and grace for the entire Christian life, not just forgiveness of your sins. Many groups teach that all you need to do to initially receive is believe, but that after you're saved, everything is based on your performance. That's wrong! You don't have to earn G.o.d's favor, earn answers to prayer, earn G.o.d's love, earn your healing, or earn anything else.
Everything G.o.d gives you is by grace through faith!
The atmosphere ought to encourage healthy relationships. The pastor should set the tone by being a loving person. It's not necessarily better to go to a big church or a small one. Some big churches have small groups for the purpose of nurturing and maturing believers. Often, small churches naturally have an environment conducive to building friendships and spiritual growth. Whether big or small, your experience in a church will normally come down to the quality of your relationships there.
Trust the Lord to lead you to a good local church. Pray.
Then take some steps of faith. It's His good pleasure to guide you to your place in His body!
CHAPTER 7.
KNOW HIM INTIMATELY.
G.o.d saved you for the purpose of enjoying an intimate relationship with Him from now on! Salvation isn't just "insurance" from h.e.l.l's flames. Neither does G.o.d intend that you receive forgiveness for your sins and then merely survive until heaven. Salvation is so much more!
"For G.o.d so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true G.o.d, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Salvation is getting to know this awesome, wonderful, loving G.o.d for the rest of eternity!
Jesus came to give you eternal life. The idea that salvation is merely "fire insurance" came from the church putting a period where the Bible only has a comma. It's not "For G.o.d so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish" period. So many preachers stop here and emphasize salvation's byproduct of missing h.e.l.l and totally ignore G.o.d's primary purpose- "but have everlasting life." You were saved for intimate relationship with your heavenly Father and His Son!
Jesus came because He loved you! He didn't come as a dutiful Creator under some sense of obligation to rescue His wayward creation. Christ's motivation was pure love, and anyone who loves has a need to be loved in return! G.o.d's compa.s.sion for you in your lost condition and His pa.s.sion to restore you to fellowship with Him was combined into a sacrificial love that endured the cross. With the barrier of sin forever removed, you've been freed to receive His love and to love Him in return!
The relationship Adam and Eve lost has now been restored to you. "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of G.o.d and our Father" (Gal. 1:4). Jesus didn't just save you from a future evil world (h.e.l.l); He also delivered you from this present evil world, according to the Father's will. You are now able to walk and talk with Him!
Get to know G.o.d! "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Ps.16:11). "Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. 1:7-8). True joy and happiness in this life come from your intimacy with G.o.d. Knowing Him is eternal life!
FOLLOW ME.
Become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ! A "disciple" is a learner, someone who follows another. "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"
(John 8:31-32). Learn what G.o.d's Word says, and do what He instructs you to do. As you step out in faith to follow Jesus, the freedom in your life will increase more and more!
Your heart att.i.tude should be, Lord, I know You love me, and I love You too. Show me what to do and I'll do it! I follow You! Lay everything out before Him, and make no reservations. Recognize that He is G.o.d and you're not.
Hold nothing back from Him, because He's already given you everything-He laid down His very life for you!
The truth shall make you free. "Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). It's only the Word you know and follow that makes you free. You can carry your Bible under your arm and set it beside your bed, but until you put His Word in your heart, it won't do you any good. Meditate (chew on) His Word until it becomes a part of you. Once you believe it to the point of taking action, you'll know the Word intimately. When this knowledge comes, it'll set you free!
I strongly suggest you get my teaching "Eternal Life." It expounds much more on your relationship with the Lord.
YOU'VE CHOSEN WISELY.
Welcome to G.o.d's family! If you take to heart what I've shared with you and do it, you'll be well on your way to maturity.
I've included for you a helpful list of my teaching materials available that discuss in much greater detail many of the topics I touched on in this book (see "Recommended Materials" in the back of the book). G.o.d will use them to further deepen your roots and strengthen your foundation. I strongly encourage you to get a hold of them as soon as possible!
Choosing to make the Lord Jesus Christ the center of your life is the greatest decision you'll ever make! I congratulate you for choosing wisely. As your brother in Christ, I wish to leave you with this word from G.o.d our Father: "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen" (2 Pet. 3:18).
The Holy Spirit
INTRODUCTION.
Millions of Christians today have received G.o.d's power into their lives through the separate, distinct experience called "the baptism in the Holy Spirit." Wherever you go in the world-Africa, Asia, Europe, North or South America, Australia-these believers are aggressively and effectively advancing the kingdom of G.o.d!
I grew up being told that G.o.d's miraculous power had ceased on earth with the pa.s.sing of the early church. This led me to believe that I had received all of the Holy Spirit I could get at salvation. After being saved for many years, I became frustrated with my powerless, defeated Christian life. In desperation, I sought the Lord with all my heart and stumbled into the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This powerful encounter with G.o.d revolutionized my entire life!
Today, over thirty-five years later, my relationship with the Lord is deeper and stronger than ever. I regularly see miracles of every kind, and my teaching ministry literally reaches around the world. None of this would have been possible apart from the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit!
Whether you are newly born again or have been saved for many years, G.o.d's Word clearly reveals that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is necessary, standard equipment for living a fruitful and fulfilled Christian life.
The Lord Himself commanded: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). I encourage you to do so today!
CHAPTER 1.
EMPOWERED LIVES.
I was born again at eight years old. Our pastor had preached a message on h.e.l.l in church that morning. Even though I hadn't done many terrible things in my young life, I recognized that I had sinned and fallen short of the glory of G.o.d. I knew "h.e.l.l" was a place where people who didn't accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior went.
This concerned me, so I asked my father about it. He explained G.o.d's holiness and how sin separated me from Him. He also told me how G.o.d's justice demanded that I go to h.e.l.l. Then Dad made it clear that Jesus came to forgive my sin and suffer the punishment in my place. I remember praying with my father to receive the Lord right there in my bedroom. Immediately, I felt an inner release as peace flooded my heart.
The next day at school, my friends noticed the change in me before I'd told anyone of my conversion. "What's different with you?" they asked. When I answered that I'd been born again, they immediately started making fun of me for being a Christian. Although these cla.s.smates recognized an initial difference at my conversion, subsequent evidence of my faith in Christ was meager at best.
My closest friend from grade school never knew I was a Christian until he saw me recently on television. He'd just gone through an extremely difficult time in life and had reached out to receive the Lord from the absolute end of his rope. While visiting with each other for the first time in over thirty years, he was totally shocked to discover that I'd been a Christian the whole time we were friends together growing up!
My faith simply didn't affect anyone else's life! I prayed six months straight for my father to be healed, but nothing happened. He died when I was twelve.
Although I easily overcame temptations others yielded to, the tangible demonstrations of G.o.d's power described of believers in the Bible were noticeably absent from my life. Basically, Christianity to me was just the doctrines and beliefs I held inside.
Then on March 23,1968, I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit!Something within me exploded, and my understanding of G.o.d immediately shot through the roof. It took many years of renewing my mind before I was able to explain to others the things I instantly knew in my spirit. In fact, my mother thought I'd lost my mind, because of the sudden, radical, outward transformation of my soul, my thinking, and my actions. My intense, new zeal for G.o.d, coupled with a lack of wisdom, even got me kicked out of a few churches. I'd become a fanatic overnight!
You never would've heard of me if I hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit! I would have maintained my nominal salvation, surviving until heaven and making practically no eternal impact here on earth. This prior lack of victory and outward manifestation of G.o.d's power isn't unique only to me. I've read many, many testimonies of people who experienced the same thing- even in the Bible!
LIKE A DOVE.
Jesus Himself did not manifest the power of G.o.d until He had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Angels p.r.o.nounced Him Lord at His birth, but nothing that typified Christ's ministry-preaching, healing, casting out demons-occurred before the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of G.o.d descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:16-17). The baptism in the Holy Spirit served as the turning point from natural to supernatural in Christ's life.
Jesus immediately began His ministry after being anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led Him into the wilderness to confront the devil (Luke 4:1-13). He emerged victorious and then boldly declared in the synagogue of His hometown, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken- hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord"
(Luke 4:18-19). From this point forward, Jesus did what He was anointed to do!
Many times, the Lord admitted His total dependence upon the Father and the Spirit. He did His Father's will as the power of the Holy Spirit flowed in and through Him. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit always worked together in complete cooperation. As a part of this interdependent, triune G.o.dhead, Jesus would not and could not do any miracles until the Holy Spirit had come upon Him.
G.o.d never does anything independent of His Spirit.
Therefore, welcoming the Holy Spirit into your life is absolutely essential for you to experience the victory and abundance G.o.d has provided. If the sinless Son of G.o.d had to be baptized in the Holy Spirit before beginning His ministry, how can anyone presume to be an effective Christian without it?
RUCKUS IN THE TEMPLE.
The disciples were spineless wimps before receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. These men had followed Jesus for three and a half years, observing His miracles, hearing His teaching, and experiencing everyday life with Him. They exhibited weakness, immaturity, carnal- mindedness, and strife. Upon Jesus' arrest, all their promises to stay with Him-to death if need be-went right out the window. They forsook Him and fled for their lives in terror!
Peter denied Jesus three different times just hours after pledging his "undying allegiance." His natural strength wilted before a damsel, the high priest's maid, and certain others as they each successively asked, "Aren't you one of Jesus' disciples?" Swearing and taking oaths, he answered, "No, I don't even know the Man!" Peter wept bitterly when he realized what he'd done. He hadn't wanted to deny Christ, but in his own human strength, he was powerless not to do so (Matt. 26:69-75).
Then Peter and the other disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit. "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 rushing mighty wind... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:1-2 and 4). They instantly transformed into powerful witnesses and testified of Jesus with great boldness. Three thousand were saved and water baptized that first day alone (Acts 2:41)!
Shortly thereafter, Peter and John healed a lame man in front of the temple and caused such a ruckus preaching the Gospel that the religious leaders threw them in jail (Acts 3-4:3). Thousands more believed their message, so the leaders interrogated Peter and John to find out what was going on. "And it came to pa.s.s on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" (Acts 4:5-7).
Peter boldly confronted the same men who had crucified Jesus! "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom G.o.d raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:8- 12). Peter publicly declared to the entire Jewish leadership that belief in the G.o.d of Abraham alone was insufficient for salvation. He clearly told them to believe on the name of Jesus Christ, whom they themselves had killed, or face eternal d.a.m.nation. Peter left them no avenue of escape: Either accept Jesus or reject Him!
The same men from whom the disciples once fled were now backing down in the face of the disciples' inspired boldness: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it" (Acts 4:13-14). The miracle worked by the disciples completely silenced the religious leaders' opposition. What a difference the baptism in the Holy Spirit makes!
CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS.
Our Lord's last words to His followers before ascending were clear instructions regarding the Holy Spirit. If your work on earth was done and you were about to turn your entire kingdom over to a small group of people, your last words to them would be very important.
Jesus commanded His disciples not to do anything until they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. "And, being a.s.sembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence... But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:4-5 and 8-9).
Think about how difficult this must have been for the disciples! Jesus had preached G.o.d's Word and demonstrated His power on earth like no one ever before. Due to this, the religious leaders had Him killed and buried. To their natural minds, it appeared that Jesus had been just another man. Yet three days later, He arose from the dead exactly as He prophesied, validating everything He had said. As if that wasn't enough, Jesus spent forty more days on the earth teaching His followers before they personally watched Him ascend to His Father in heaven. These disciples had incredibly good news-news worth shouting from the rooftops- but Jesus commanded them to sit on it temporarily!
Why? They needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit!
It's absolutely wonderful to be born again and forgiven of your sins, but you won't be an effective witness until you have the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When He comes, you'll be able to live in victory and testify in power. The Holy Spirit enables you to more fully experience your salvation and to effectively share with others the awesome things G.o.d has done for you!
Many Christians sincerely love G.o.d, but they serve Him in their own power, because they haven't been baptized in His Spirit. This results in deadness. "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. 3:6). When believers try to minister out of their own carnal knowledge and ability-even when they say and do the right thing-it just doesn't carry any spiritual weight. So much of the deadness in the church today stems from believers attempting to minister without Holy Spirit empowerment.
Jesus Christ Himself testifies and ministers His life through Holy Spirit-empowered witnesses. Your Spirit- energized words and deeds will carry weight to positively impact other people's lives for the kingdom of G.o.d. The Holy Spirit is the One who will help you experience the promised life of victory and abundance. If both Jesus and the early believers needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit in order to live powerful Christian lives, so do you and I today!
CHAPTER 2.
BAPTIZED IN.
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
If you believe the Word of G.o.d, you cannot dispute the existence of a "baptism in the Holy Spirit." Speaking of Jesus, John the Baptist said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire"
(Matt. 3:11). Christ was baptized in the Holy Spirit (Matt.
3:16, Mark 1:10, and Luke 3:22). The early apostles, including Paul, were baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4 and 9:17-18). Whenever people were born again in the book of Acts, they also received the baptism in the Holy Spirit soon thereafter.
Many Christians claim that the baptism in the Holy Spirit comes automatically at salvation. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). They recognize the Spirit's work in drawing people to G.o.d and a.s.sume that they get all of the Holy Spirit they can the moment they're born again. Although it's true they have the Holy Spirit once they're saved, that doesn't mean they've been baptized in Him!
RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.
It's one thing to have the Holy Spirit and quite another for the Holy Spirit to have you! There are major differences between having the Holy Spirit present in your life and having the Holy Spirit in control of your life. Spiritually speaking, it's night and day.
Jesus told His disciples, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16-17).
Prior to Jesus' resurrection, the Holy Spirit couldn't be received the way we are discussing. He was present with the disciples and worked through them (as evidenced by the miracles they did), but He wasn't in them. This was because the fullness of the Holy Spirit couldn't be received until after Christ had ascended back to heaven in glory.
When the Holy Spirit is in you, rivers of life flow out from your innermost being. "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" (John 7:37-39).
Not just a trickle or a cupful, not even a well you have to pump, but rivers of living water will bubble out from within you like an artesian spring!
Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit who had been with them would one day be in them. That day arrived shortly after His ascension. "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 rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of 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 utterance" (Acts 2:1-4).
THE POWER SOURCE.
Those who don't believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second, separate experience from salvation erroneously teach that G.o.d's miraculous power ceased with the pa.s.sing of the first apostles. They don't believe in the gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, or casting out demons-nor living in victory over sickness, disease, and poverty. They believe that if you see any of these miracles occurring today that G.o.d Himself did in the Bible, it's the work of the devil. Something's wrong with this theology!
The Holy Spirit is the power Source! Reject Him, and you won't see miracles, healings, demons cast out, or speaking in tongues. Accept Him by receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and you open yourself to G.o.d's supernatural power working in all these wonderful ways-but you must receive the Source in order to have His power!
A SEPARATE EXPERIENCE.
The Bible makes it clear that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate experience from salvation. The only way you can miss this is if you have some kind of religious prejudice against it. In Acts 8, Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ. Seeing the miracles he did, many believed and were water baptized (Acts 8:5-12).
When the church in Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Peter and John to check it out. They arrived, saw those who had been saved, and then laid hands on them to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17).