The Baptism In The Holy Spirit

I.  The situation of the Corinthian Church.

     A.  Paul has written them in regard to speaking in tongues.
           1.  They were abusing the practice and had lost the beauty
                 and blessing of it.
            2.  Unfortunately, Paul addressed the issue by focusing on
                 the negative rather than the positive.
                 a.  He wanted to preserve the practice of spiritual 
                      language.
                 b.  He did not want to condemn it.
            3.  Look what Paul said about the spiritual language of
                 speaking in tongues.
                 a.  "I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you
                       all."  (I Corinthians 14:18).
                 b.  ". . . do not forbid to speak with tongues."  
                                                                      (I Corinthians 14:39).

      B.  Four times in Acts it tells of people receiving the baptism
            in the Holy Spirit.
            1.  Acts 2:4.
            2.  Acts 8:5-25.
            3.  Acts 10:44-48.
            4.  Acts 19:1-7.

      C.  Other references in the Bible are the following:
            1.  Isaiah 28:11-12.
            2.  Mark 16:17.
            3.  Romans 8:26-27.
            4.  I Corinthians 12:10, 13:1, 14:1-39.

II.  The spiritual language is understood only by God to know 
      God's heart.  There are two ways of speaking in tongues:  
      "prayer language" and the "gift of tongues."

     A.  Prayer language.
           1.  Paul talks about speaking in tongues in I Corinthians
                12, 13, and 14 and moves back and forth between the 
                two which confuses people.
           2.  Prayer language is what you get when you receive the
                Holy Spirit.  For everyone.  Can be used at any time.  
                Apostle Paul calls it "praying in the spirit."
           3.  Difference from regular prayer in that you speak to God 
                but instead of using words you know in your own 
                language, you trust the Holy Spirit to give the words He
                chooses.  That can be any language He selects for you.
           4.  The prayer language helps you grow spiritually.  
                                                                         (I Corinthians 14:4).
           5.  Speaking in tongues helps you to talk to God and praise 
                Him exactly as He wants you to, which brings us into a
                more open relationship with Him.
           6.  Wonderful for intercessory prayer.  Helps us to pray for
                the needs of others.  We don't always know but God 
                does.
           7.  Emotion is not that involved because it is our spirit, not
                our soul or body.  Our spirit is what we are made in the
                image of God.  It is through our spirit we have fellowship
                with God.  Your emotions may not be affected when you
                first receive.  However, you will probably be full of joy
                knowing you can.  
           8.  In other words, you don't experience God by becoming 
                all emotional, but when you do experience God, it will
                probably stir your emotions.   

     B.  The "Gift of Tongues."  This is one of the gifts and you must
           know the distinction.
           1.  Remember the spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12:8-10.
                a.  Word of wisdom.
                b.  Word of knowledge.
                c.  Gift of faith.
                d.  Gift of healing.
                e.  Working of miracles.
                f.  Gift of prophecy.
                g.  Discerning of spirits.
                h.  Gift of tongues.
                 i.  Interpretation of tongues.
           2.  Paul calls the gift of prophecy most important.  Don't
                get love mixed up with the gifts.  Love is the number one
                fruit of the Spirit.  (There are nine fruit of the Spirit and
                these are found in Galatians 5:22-23).  When Paul talks
                of love being most important in the 13th chapter of 
                I Corinthians, he means that none of the gifts are of any
                value, and are like a "clanging symbol," if they are not
                used with love.  The gifts are distributed by the Holy 
                Spirit as He decides (I Corinthians 12:11).  Any or all of
                these gifts may work much more effectively within you
                after you have received your prayer language.  The 
                potential to use these gifts have been in all Christians but
                the release of the Spirit brings a better flow of the gifts.
           3.  As you can see, the "gift of tongues" is different than the
                the regular speaking in tongues which is prayer 
                language.
           4.  Remember, the "gift of tongues" is the second way of 
                speaking in tongues.  This gift is given when God has
                something He wants to say to His people when they are
                meeting together.  This is why Paul says in I Corinthians
                12:30, " . . . do all speak with tongues?"  Also, in 
                I Corinthians 14:27-28:  "If anyone speaks in a tongue, 
                let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and
                let one interpret.  But if there is no interpreter, let him 
                keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and
                to God."
           5.  With the prayer language you can speak in tongues any
                time you want to; however, you do not just decide on 
                your own you would like to bring a gift of tongues.  Can
                you see the difference and why people get confused?

III.  The Baptism in the Holy Spirit according to the original Koine
       Greek manuscript.

     A.  Remember, we are composed of "body," "soul," and "spirit."
          1.  Body is the physical part of you.
          2.  Soul is the psychological part of you:  mind, emotions, 
               will.
          3.  Spirit is that part of you that is like God, in His image.  

    B.  This is why when a person believes in Jesus Christ they are
          born anew.
          1.  Paul says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit
               with Him."
          2.  This is the basic baptism which we refer to as "water
               baptism" which is an outward sign.
          3.  The most important baptism, however, is the one Jesus
               talked about.  Jesus had this to say about it in John 3:5:
               "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
               and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." 
               Also, in Acts 1:5:  "For John truly baptized with water, 
               but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
               days from now."
          4.  There is really one one baptism and that is the inner
               baptism that happens when we receive Jesus, when the
               Holy Spirit brings us alive in Christ and God comes to 
               live in us.  

     C.  There are two parts to the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
           1.  First, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you.  You could
                say indwells you.
           2.  In the second part, He begins to move out from within
                your spirit to flood, drench, and soak the rest of your 
                being which is your soul and then body, and then move
                out into the world around you.  This second part is the
                baptism with the Holy Spirit.  
           3.  Jesus says in John 4:14:  "But whoever drinks of the 
                water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the 
                water that I shall give him will become in him a 
                fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
                Later, Jesus went on to say that if anyone really trusts
                Him, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
                out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.  But this
                He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing
                in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet
                given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."  
                                                                                 (John 7:38-39)  
          4.  See how Jesus first talked about an inflow of the Spirit
               and then an outflow of the Spirit?  The inflow is salvation
               which is the first half of the baptism; the outflow is the
               baptism with the Holy Spirit which is the second half of
               the baptism.
          5.  The first half, the Holy Spirit comes in and you are 
               indwelled by the Spirit and you have new life.  The 
               second half of the baptism is when the Holy Spirit who
               lives in your spirit flows out to baptize, soak, drench your
               soul and then your body and brings them to new life.  
               Then, He can flow out into the world from you to bring
               love, peace, joy, and healing to other people.  This 
               equips you to carry out the Great Commission found in
               Matthew 28:16-20.

     D.  You are not trying to get the Holy Spirit to come into or 
           fall down upon you.
           1.  The Holy Spirit is already there if you have accepted
                Christ as your Lord.  John 1:12-13:  "But as many as
                received Him, to them He gave the right to become
                children of God, to those who believe in His name:
                who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
                nor of the will of man, but of God."  You just need to 
                release Him.
           2.  Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; 
                and My Father will love him, and We will come to him
                and make Our home with him."  (John 14:23).
           3.  Thus, what is needed is not an incoming but an 
                outflowing of the Spirit.  

           


  
  

                 

    

       





     

Coming Out Of The Spiritual Closet

Every Christian is on a spiritual journey, i.e., a faith journey.  The Apostle Paul calls young Christians (in spiritual age not chronological age) as being fed milk.  As their faith journey proceeds he says it is time to feed them meat.  For some Christians, the journey is not very long.  For whatever reason they stop growing.  For others, they are content to go half way in their journey but stop at a certain point and absolutely will not go any further.  Then, there are those who are fearless and disregard warnings and ridicule.  These are the braves ones who are on a search for the truth and do not stop just because someone tells them to.  They truly believe that the Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth.  

Todays blog is targeted to non-charismatic folks.  It is directed to the average Christian growing up in a mainline denomination.  Mainline denominations consist of the following denominations:  United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopal Church, American Baptist Churches in the USA, the Disciples of Christ, and the United Church of Christ.  These traditional Protestant denominations are considered to have more liberal theologies.  One variable they all share is that they are all shrinking in membership every year.  

There are charismatic people in every mainline denomination, but for the most part, average church members in these denominations who are charismatic (believing in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit) generally keep it to themselves for fear of being ridiculed by others.  They are literally too afraid to come out of their spiritual closets.  

To avoid any confusion, let's be very specific in every instance.  Let's take a look at the word "charismatic."  It is not being used in the way we would call Muhammed Ali a person with a lot of charisma.  That's not what we are talking about here.  That's a psychological word.  We are talking about a spiritual word.  The Greek meaning is that of a gift of grace, a spiritual endowment.  It is especially used to designate the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit can be found in I Corinthians 12:4-10. Today, a "charismatic" is a person who has one or more of these gifts functioning in his or her life.  

Most mainline denominations as a whole believe that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped after the last Apostle died.  This position is referred to as "cessationism."  An interesting concept but there is no Biblical foundation for that assessment.  Just because a young man who responds to the question of whether the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are still in operation, and says, "No they are not."  When asked how they know that, they will generally say, "That's what my minister said."  That does not make it true.  

In this blog, I'm not interested in what any particular minister said. I'm looking for the truth.  There are mainline denominations on record who say plainly that their parishioners must not believe in the Gifts.  Again, just because a person, minister, or even a denomination makes pontifical pronouncements does not make it true.  There is no Biblical foundation (chapter and verse) where it says they have ceased.  I Corinthians 1:7 states, "so you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The 12th chapter of I Corinthians presents the Gifts in full operation.  

 In the next blog, "The Baptism in the Holy Spirit," I will present in precise detail with total Biblical foundation (chapter and verse where it is found) on everything we have referred to in this blog.  It is ironic that most people who claim to be "open minded" are essentially "closed minded" when it comes to Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  No one can explore the truth of any situation if your mind is closed before you begin your examination.  In a court of law, a jury is considered to be "truth finders," and they are instructed by the judge to "keep an open mind" so that the truth can be discovered.  The truth will set you free.  

The Sin That Keeps You Out Of Heaven

"Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son."  

                                                                            I John 2:22

The Bible states that the sin above all sins is unbelief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God.  The following verses all come from the first half of the Gospel of John.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke as well as many other books of the New Testament present even more Scriptures.  The following are from the New King James Version and reveal that belief in Jesus is paramount.

3:15-16:  "That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

3:18:  "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

5:21-22:  "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son."

5:24:  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."

6:29:  "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.' "

6:40:  "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  

6:47:  "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."

6:54:  "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

8:24:  "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  

9:35-37:  "Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, 'Do you believe in the Son of God?'  He answered and said, 'Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?'  And Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.'  Then he said, 'Lord, I believe!' And he worshiped Him."  

10:9:  "I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."

10:26-28:  "But you do not believe, because you are not My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."

11:25-27:  "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?'  She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.' "

Six World Views vs. Christianity

1.  Atheism.  This is the world view that says there is no God.

2.  Deism.  This is the world view that says God exists, but doesn't           

                   cause miracles to happen.

3.  Pantheism.  This is the world view that everything is God.

4.  Panentheism.  This is the world view that God is continuing to

                             develop along with the world.

5.  Finite Godism.  This is the world view that God does indeed

                                exist but that God is limited in His power.

6.  Polytheism.  This is the world view that there are many gods.

Let's look at them in detail as you might recognize some of them.

1.  Atheism.  This is basically the view that God does not exist.  Only about 5% of people believe this way.

2.  Deism.  This is the belief that God is indeed a good and loving

God.  Actually, it is quite similar to the Christian view except for one basic flaw:  God does not intervene and there are no miracles nor are prayers answered.  Classically referred to by the example of comparing God to a watchmaker who makes the watch, winds it up, and let lets it alone to finally run down.  This came from the 18th century enlightenment period which placed reason above revelation, i.e., nothing supernatural nor any miracles.  Some very famous deists were Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Paine as well as Benjamin Franklin.  Thomas Jefferson believed in the Bible but he cut out all of the miracles.  Some forms of "progressive Christianity" share a remarkably similar view.  

3.  Pantheism.  This is a world view that has infiltrated the Christian Church, in seemingly innocent ways, e.g., in some Sunday School classes you will see the teacher, oblivious to what she/he is teaching refers to God as, "being in the beautiful trees, being in the beautiful flowers, etc."  However, Christianity believes that we worship God and not what God has made.  This is currently found in New Age materials you can examine in most book stores.  The central focus is that "all is God and God is all."  It can be seen predominantly in Hinduism, Taoism, and some forms of Buddhism.  It is also the view of Western religions such as Christian Science, Scientology, Unity, and Theosophy.  To the pantheist, God is an it rather than a person.  Absolute pantheists truly believe that everything that we refer to as matter is all an allusion and only the mind exists.  Carl Sagan writes these words, "To think we are not God is part of the illusion or dream from which we must awake.  Sooner or later we must all discover that all comes from God, and all is God."  Shirley MacLaine, in her book and television movie, "Out On A Limb," waves to the ocean and says, "I am God, I am God."  Basically, the bottom line is that pantheists believe there is no difference between the Creator and what He has created.    

4.  Panentheism.  This view has also been referred to as "process theology" and is taught in some Christian seminaries.  The radical feminist movement has endorsed it as well as liberation theology.  The central message is that God is continually changing as the world changes.  God is in the process of becoming all that He can be.  This belief system was originally taught by 20th century philosophers such as Alfred North Whitehead and others; however, it is in reality taken from the ideas of Plato.  Basically, the bottom line is that God is not perfect but is evolving and striving for perfection.  God needs our help to finally be perfect.

5.  Finite Godism.  This view sees God as not perfect nor all that powerful.  God is basically limited in His power and as a result of this limitation, He should not be blamed for all the bad things that happen here on earth.  Amazingly, Rabbi Kushner in his incredibly popular and best seller book, "When Bad Things Happen To Good People," while coping with the premature death of his son, came to this dramatic conclusion, "God wants the righteous to live peaceful, happy lives, but sometimes He can't bring that about . . . there are some things that God does not control." 

6.  Polytheism.  This is the view that believes that there are many finite gods who reign within and over different realms of the universe.  For example, Poseidon was considered the god of the sea and so they would worship Poseidon when they would go on a sea trip.  If they were going into battle, they would then pray to Aries.  There were many different gods for different events. 

If you are very observant, you will notice various aspects of these different world views creeping into the Christian Church from time to time.   

The First Prophecy

The first prophecy of the Bible is found in Genesis 3:15:

          

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."   (New King James Version).

The context of this prophecy is the original sin and fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  

There are three parts to this great prophecy.  Part number one:

God is talking to Satan and God is telling him that from this point on there is going to be enmity, i.e., war.  From that time forth there will be two kingdoms:  the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil and they are still in conflict to this day.  All Christians are in the kingdom of heaven (Gospel of Mark uses kingdom of God, but it is the same thing).  The kingdom of the devil will be filled with his followers as seen in John 8:44 when Jesus tells the ungodly, "You are of your father the devil . . . "     

Part number two:  

The war will be between Satan's followers and "her Seed."  Who is "her" and who is the "Seed?"  The "her" is the virgin Mary.  Galatians 4:4 tells us, "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman . . . "  Please notice the "Seed" is capitalized.  In the NKJV of the Bible, all deity is capitalized to present clarity and avoid confusion.  Also fascinating is that "seed" throughout the Bible is almost always referring to the man.  I believe that this is the only verse that refers the seed to that of a woman.  The "Seed" refers to the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Redeemer.  Jesus will be the "Second Adam" and correct the mistake that the first Adam made.  

Part number three:

"He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."  Satan bruised the heel of Jesus on the cross.  However, when Jesus rose from the grave, He  bruised (crushed) Satan's head.  Satan was defeated at the cross and his doom is predicted explicitly in Revelation 20:10, "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire . . . "

Due to Adam and Eve's fall from grace, their dominion of "every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28) which God had given them authority over, was taken by Satan.  Paul refers to Satan as the "god of this world" many times, e.g., II Corinthians 2:4.  

To make this even more thorough, examine the "Temptations of Christ" found in Luke, especially Luke 4:5-6, "Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish."  So, who delivered all this authority to Satan?  It sure was not God.  Satan took it from Adam and Eve at their fall from grace when original sin came into the world.  

Now, the coup de gras is delivered in Matthew 28:18, when Jesus, after resurrecting from the dead and immediately before ascending to heaven, says His last words on earth, which is called the Great Commission, " . . . All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth . . . "   That means the devil has none.  Jesus, as the second Adam, has taken back the authority that the first Adam had lost.  

And so, what we have here is the first prophecy in which God promises to us the eventual defeat of Satan which would come from Eve's descendents.  Our Redeemer lives.  We know how all of this ends.  And to Jesus goes all the power and glory, forever and ever.