|
| |
| Section: Basic Christian Living:
courses for new Christians |
|
Beginning with God |
|
3. Power for
Living: |
|
|
Receiving the
Holy Spirit |
-------------------------------------------------------------
The
Christian's source of power
Receiving the Holy Spirit—or
baptism in the Holy Spirit, as it's often called—is the
final part of the package-deal of salvation (Acts 2:38), along
with repentance and faith, and baptism in water as a believer
in Jesus.
|
| The Holy Spirit
gives you spiritual power so that you can not only cope
with life in general but also be an effective messenger in transmitting
the gospel to others. It is the risen Lord Jesus who pours out
his Spirit in this way (John 1:32-33).
Acts
1:8 'You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses.'
|
 |
Is this
for all believers or just a few high-flyers?
It's for all Christians,
not just a select few. God promised: 'I will pour out my Spirit
on all people' (Acts 2:17). Concerning the gift of the
Holy Spirit, Peter proclaimed: 'The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off—for all whom the
Lord our God will call' (Acts 2:39). That means it's for
you!
|
 |
Besides, if all God's children are to be his
witnesses, and if they can't be effective witnesses without receiving the
Holy Spirit, then all God's children should expect to receive him. |
To send out a new believer to face a sinful
world without the power received in this way is like sending out a new
recruit into battle with no weapons. God gives the Holy Spirit to equip you,
his soldier in the spiritual battle.What
other blessings does receiving the Holy Spirit bring?
 | You are enabled to pray
in the Spirit and sing praise in the Spirit (in tongues)
as distinct from normal prayer and praise expressed in ordinary
language (Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 14:15).
|
| Your spiritual
ears become sensitive to the voice of God's Spirit (Acts
13:2; Mark 13:11; Acts 1:1-2).
|
|
| You become
eligible for the gifts of the Spirit and a new level of
God's power in your life (1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Corinthians 1:5-7;
Acts 1:8).
|
| You begin to live your daily
life in the Spirit and gradually produce the character-fruit
and graces he brings forth in you (Galatians 5:16-23, 25).
|
|
 |
Don't
all Christians have the Holy Spirit?
Yes, in one sense they do.
No-one can repent and believe in Jesus in the first place without
the work of the Spirit within them. You were 'born of
the Spirit' (John 3:5), and Paul tells us that 'if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ'
(Romans 8:9).
But his work within you up
to this point is often quiet and in the background. God intends
you, in addition, to have a conscious experience of the
Holy Spirit coming on you. This often happens when a person comes
up from the water at their baptism. Ideally, repentance and faith, being baptised, and receiving
the Holy Spirit belong together—part and parcel of the single
business of becoming a Christian. Unfortunately, incomplete teaching
has meant that many people enter into their full inheritance
in bits and pieces. But better late than never!
|
How
do you receive the Holy Spirit?
Sometimes the Lord baptises
believers in the Spirit by a sovereign act. This is what
happened to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and
to the household of Cornelius in Acts 10. At other times, it
happens through the laying on of hands, as in Samaria
(Acts 8).
|
 |
Looking at it from the seeker's point of
view, however, you receive the Holy Spirit in the same way as you receive
all the blessings of God: by faith. The following steps may be helpful.
| You need
to ask the Lord to cleanse you from all outstanding sin so that
you can approach him with confidence. In other words, you need
to clear your conscience (Acts 24:16).
|
| Then it's important to ask
him for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said: |
Luke
11:13
'If you . . . though you are evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!'
| Having prayed, and believing
God has heard your prayer, begin to praise God and worship
him with thanksgiving. Do it out loud. This is a powerful
means of drawing near to his presence to receive the Holy Spirit:
'Come near to God and he will come near to you' (James 4:8). |
|
 |
Reach out
in love and worship
to the Lord, speaking or singing your praise to him. At this
point, a fellow-Christian may lay hands on you to impart the
Holy Spirit, just as 'when Paul placed his hands on them, the
Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied'
(Acts 19:6).
Expect to feel the Lord's
presence in a new and powerful way. No-one in the Bible ever
received the Holy Spirit and didn't know it.
|
Speaking
in tongues
Receiving the Holy Spirit will
normally cause you to speak in tongues. This isn't a language
you've learnt, like school French. It's a spiritual language
that expresses what's in your heart. As such, it isn't a function
of the mind. In fact you don't understand what you're saying;
it sounds like nonsense syllables.
Some ask, 'Do I have
to speak in tongues when I receive the Holy Spirit?' That's the
wrong question! You don't have to speak in tongues, but
when the Lord baptises you in the Holy Spirit you can,
and will, provided you don't let prejudice and fear hinder
the Spirit.
|
So what's the
point of it? The tongue is the hardest part of the body to tame
(James 3:7-8). God wants to demonstrate his mighty power in you
by tackling the toughest part first. So expect to speak
in tongues when you receive the Holy Spirit.
|
 |
| When the Spirit comes upon you, he will
prompt you to speak strange syllables or words as you yield to his
direction. Your own natural words will seem inadequate to praise God the way
you'd like to. The Holy Spirit will then lead you and encourage you (but
never force you) to speak out in tongues. Once you begin,
you should expect the language to start flowing naturally. You
won't understand the words you're saying, nor should you expect
to, 'for anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men
but to God. Indeed, no-one understands him; he utters mysteries
with his spirit' (1 Corinthians 14:2).
In this way you'll experience
for yourself what happened at the beginning at Pentecost, when
'all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them' (Acts 2:4). Henceforth
there will be no doubts as to whether or not you have received
the Spirit!
When you have experienced the
full package-deal of repentance, faith in Jesus, baptism and
receiving the Holy Spirit, the foundation of your Christian life
has been laid and you can go on to build a mature life in God.
Continually filled
with the Holy Spirit
|
| Receiving the
Holy Spirit is the gateway to a life of being continually filled
with the Spirit. We are to 'live by the Spirit' (Galatians
5:16).
The initial receiving of the
Spirit, or baptism in the Spirit, is a once-for-all experience,
whereas being filled with the Spirit is meant to be something
ongoing—a way of life. The apostle Paul said:
Ephesians
5:18
'Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead,
be filled with the Spirit.'
|
 |
| Literally, his statement is,
'Go on being filled with the Spirit.' How can you experience
this? Paul gives us a clue in the way he
contrasts the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives with the influence of
alcoholic drink. While the two are utterly different, there are parallels,
too. The drunkard is a habitual drinker who becomes controlled by drink.
Every aspect of his life is influenced by it—his behaviour, his family life,
his job, his driving, his finances. In a similar way, the Spirit-filled
person is dominated by the influence of God's Holy Spirit in every area of
life.
|
| How does a drunkard stay drunk? He keeps
drinking! And you will stay filled with the Spirit by being every day alert
to his presence and letting him fill your life. You yield to his influence
by feeding on God's Word, the Bible, by prayer, speaking in tongues,
thanksgiving, worship, and fellowship with other Christians.
Alcoholism dulls the senses and drags its victim down. But
living filled with the Spirit enhances every aspect of life, lifting the
Christian to a higher level of everyday fulfilment and usefulness to God.
Are you living this way?
|
 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
