The Ultimate Power

Mark 1:8

I was born again in 1990 and now today I believe that at some point I was baptized in the HS
But the truth is that I see many people that don’t live the victorious life over sin
They struggle in every area of their life
They are not progressively growing in their relationship to him
They have been born again, but they have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit
I realized that there is a difference
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you are saved! You’re going to heaven!
But if you are living life that is marked more by defeat than victory, then I am going to ask you today to consider that possibly you have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit
It may be hard to comprehend- I was taught, and believed that I received the HS when I was saved- but this notion this has only been the case for the past 100 years (this is why many struggle after salv)
And I MAY HAVE- but scripture is clear, as you will see that often times in the bible, they believed in Jesus in one place, and then LATER received the HS

Think of this- ARE YOU

Born again, of the Spirit John 3:5 (Jesus is your savior) Baptized with the Spirit Acts 1:5 (he is lord)

Assurance of Salvation Still troubled with doubts The assurance of God’s Spirit 1 John 3:24

Commissioned into God’s serviceNot yet vs Yes Acts 1:8

Anointed to preachNot yet Yes 1 John 2:27, Luke 4:18

Love for soulsOften more out of duty vs. An increasing passion for the lost

Approach to Bible With the intellect vs. With the heart (1 Cor. 2:14)

Bible seen as A book of rules vs Words made living by the Spirit contain the nature of Christ 2 pe 1:4

Spiritual Growth Has stopped Is active and healthy (1 Pet. 2:2)

Prayer lifeIs limited & mostly mental Is becoming inspired by the Spirit rom 8:26

Controlling will in my life _My own will God’s will

Dead to SelfNo Increasingly

Knowledge of God’s will Little to none vs. Growing revelation of God’s word by His Spirit eph 1:17

Victory over Sin _Very limited vs. Progressively overcoming sin Rom 7:17 Rom 6:7

Pride levelPride High Humility Low vs Pride Decreasing and Humility increasing John 3:30

Level of trust/ faith in GodExtremely limitedvs. Growing as spirits words are heard in the heart jn 5:44

Understanding of spiritual thingsVery foggy vs Getting clearer and clearer Matt 13:16

Knowledge ofSatans Works Minimal & often in denial vs Advancing & hence less deceived 2 cor 2:11

Vulnerability to false Doctrine Very vulnerable vs. Decreasingly at risk 2 Tim 2:15

Analogy to OT IsraelStill in the wilderness vs. In the promised land – 2 cor 1:20

Type of child- A prodigal living apart from God spiritually vs abiding who spiritually connected Rom 8:14

in all honesty which of the above two columns best describes your relationship and walk with God?
Is Jesus Christ your Savior but not yet your Lord? Would you like for Him to be?
Would you be willing to give up your right to be self-ruled in order for Him, by the Holy Spirit, to take over the reins of your life? IN EVERY AREA- NOT JUST ONE AREA- FULL SUBMISSION TO CHRIST
Are you willing to ask Him for the Holy Spirit and to believe that He has answered your prayer?

Luke 11:13 …How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those) who ask Him
John 16:13 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
The Holy Spirit wants to make more of Jesus real to me & Jesus makes the Father real
Take away the teaching concerning a Christians need to receive the Holy Spirit and now it will be impossible for that Christian to receive any further revelation of either Jesus or the Father.

Satan loves this! This explains why there has been so much confusion within the body of Christ on the subject of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
In some Christian circles where this doctrine of the Holy Spirit is embraced there has been an over emphasis on certain gifts of the Spirit and then tolerance of fleshly imitations of those gifts.

This has been at the expense of teaching on the principal ministries of the Holy Spirit which are;
to reveal more of Christ,
to empower and anoint for service
and to provide victory over sin through sanctification.
Sadly our spiritual enemy has used this over emphasis on and faking of gifts to cause many to reject the doctrine of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.

In other even larger Christian circles this essential Bible teaching on receiving the Holy Spirit has been set aside because of the assumption, a false assumption, that a Christian receives or is baptized with the Holy Spirit when they are born again.
As a result, a deeper revelation of Jesus Christ, and a real knowledge of the Heavenly Father, His ways and His will, which depend on the Holy Spirit, have been forfeited, because of an assumption.
What happens when we are born again- do we receive the Spirit or receive the Word?

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, …by the word of God,…
James 1:18 And it was of His own free will that He gave us birth as sons by His Word of Truth,… AMP
Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;…
Here are three references to being born again and none of them refer to receiving the Holy Spirit,
the book of Acts just about every reference to unbelievers being converted to Christ or saved, uses the expression “they received the word of God” and is silent on receiving the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them (the Church). See also Acts 8:14, & 11:1
numerous examples in scripture of people receiving and being Baptized with the Holy Spirit and in each case let’s honestly ask the question, and let God’s word answer, were these people already saved or not? Were they born again, of the Holy Sprit, and then later Baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Please ask and let God’s word answer–did they receive the Spirit after being saved?
Jesus Christ Luke 1:31-35 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS…..”The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you;… JESUS- Born of the spirit
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him,… (the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry) JESUS Baptized in the Holy Spirit (Also in MarK)
The Disciples John 6:69 Also we (disciples) have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Born Again of the Spirit (1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,..)
Acts 2:4 And they (the disciples) were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Baptized)
The Samaritans Acts 8:14-15 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, (born again in Jesus Christ) they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (baptized in the Spirit)
Apostle Paul Acts 9:17 And Ananias …said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Saul (Paul) was already a brother in Christ before receiving the Holy Spirit.
The Ephesians Acts 19:2 And he (Paul) asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed on Jesus as the Christ? And they said, No, …AMP
Baptized with Acts 19:6 And as Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit the holy spiritcame on them;… AMP
To be filled with Holy Spirit means to be ruled by the Holy Spirit by receiving Him
what does the Bible says are the principal evidences that a person has received, been filled by, anointed with or baptized with the Holy Spirit?\
Is speaking with other tongues always the initial evidence of Baptism with the Spirit?
Jesus: Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him (Jesus)
Luke 4:18 (Jesus speaking) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (No tongues)
The principal purpose of Jesus being baptized with the Holy Spirit, 30 years after being conceived of the Holy Spirit, was to commence His public ministry in power consisting of preaching God’s word, healing the oppressed and doing good. There is no reference to Him speaking in tongues.
Disciples Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.(Tongues)
Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (No tongues)
Samarians Acts 8:14-17 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,… Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (No tongues)
Paul Acts 9:17 And Ananias …laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, …has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (No tongues – but later there were)
Gentiles Acts 10:44-46 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished,… For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. (Tongues)
Ephesians Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. (Tongues)
Eph 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; KJV (No tongues)

in Church history: you can’t say the azuza street revival of 1906 isn’t of God, just as much as you can’t say that AW Tozer wasn’t filled with the HS
Can you be Baptized with the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues – Yes
Can you be Baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak with new tongues – Yes
Are tongues the exclusive initial evidence of the Baptism with the Spirit- No
Can tongues an initial evidence of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit – Yes
1 Cor 12:30 (Paul) …Do all speak with tongues? (the implied answer – No)
1 Cor 14:5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied;
1 Cor 12:31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
(Chap.13:4) Love is patient, love is kind…
What then determines whether the Baptism is accompanied by speaking in tongues or not?
First of all God, for they only spoke in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance,
secondly has there been any teaching on this and other gifts of the Spirit, for how can a person believe of that which he has not heard?,
lastly whether a person has the desire for and belief in this particular gift.
If this gift is less emphasized in some circles today it could be because of the temptation for people to imitate in the flesh the genuine gift and the tendency for inordinate emphasis on this gift to the neglect of the major ministries of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.
Walking around talking in tongues never saved anyone!! (met many disgusting tongue talkers)

These ministries naturally correspond with the principal evidences of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
The principal ministries of the Holy Spirit and evidences of the Baptism with the Spirit

Love: Increased love from God, increased love for God, for the lost and the brethren Rom 5:5

Power: A supernatural power to preach and teach a full salvation with boldness and without the fear of man, not as an advocate but as a witness to the things preached. Acts 1:8

Fire: A baptism with fire where God’s living words burn deep within the belly, the eyes are ablaze with Christ’s passion and the tongue is aflame with the gospel of God. Luke 3:16

Truth: A deepening relationship with God through an increasing heart knowledge of God’s words of truth as now revealed by the Spirit thus diminishing lies and deception. John 16:13

Prayer: A growing ability to let our prayers be guided by the Spirit into the will of God Rom 8:26

Overcoming sin: A new found power, that didn’t exist before, to say no to myself. Gal 5:16

Trust: An enhanced ability to believe God & His word so more of His will can be done Jude 20

Nature change: God progressively changes my selfish nature with Christ’s nature 2 Cor 3:18

Obedience: God’s own Spirit now causes me to obey His word – a better covenant eze 36:27

Guidance: My heavenly Father now offers to lovingly lead me in every area of life Rom 8:14

Christ in me: No longer a distant God, now a revelation that Jesus Christ lives in me 1 John 3:24

Just because I may have fully surrendered my life to God and received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit doesn’t guarantee that I will remain submitted all the time.
I can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) through yielding to the temptation to sin, through disobedience, and through unforgiveness.

I can quench the operation of the Holy Spirit (1 Thes. 5:19) in a meeting by speaking against something of the Spirit that I don’t understand and, at the same time, defiling myself.
This is why God invites me in Ephesians 5:18 to be being filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning to constantly and deliberately renew being fully submitted to Christ’s yoke and under the control of God the Holy Spirit.

So how Do you Get baptized in the Holy Spirit?

1. You must be born again- Jn 14:17 The world cannot receive the HS
Your heart must be cleansed to receive it
2. I must believe I can receive it Acts 2:39 this baptism is for you and your childrens children
3. I must honestly recognize if I don’t have the Holy Spirit- gut level appraisal
Here is an easy question, does my life mirror the disciples lives before or after they received the HS
4. I must see my own need of the HS
5. I must allow an intense desire for the HS to grow in my heart (are you ruled by the flesh)
6.I must allow my heart to hear (JC- you are clean bc of the word I have spoken)
7. I must obey God- I must be fully submitted to his will
8. I must not be afraid of handing over control of my life, Luke 12, Rom 14:17, Phil 2:13
9. I must pray and ask my FATHER to give me the Holy Spirit
Luke 11:13 If you then, 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!
If God promises it, we should take him at his word! He wants us to take him at his word!
Mark 11:24 whatever you ask, believe you have received it
Gal 3:2 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?

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The Ultimate Power