So you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Rev. Paul S. Gould 10/20/2009 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Sprit was giving them utterance. Acts 2:4 (NASB) Being filled with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4 is surrounded with controversy in the Evangelical community. Is it for today? How does it get done? What are the requirements? What are the benefits? Why is it important to us? These are questions that continue to be asked about one of the most misunderstood issues in the Bible. This expose is about the process of being filled with the Holy Spirit. I am totally going on the assumption that it is for today and it is the same as it was in Acts 2:4. These other questions will have to be addresses at another time. Being filled or Baptized with the Holy Spirit is a process that starts with John 1:26, 27; “John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. John is saying that he baptizes unto repentance but there is One that will come that will baptize in the Holy Spirit. Verse 33, says “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. When you accepted Christ as you personal Lord and Savior, you were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Spirit of Christ. When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you are baptized by Jesus into the Holy Spirit. This was made possible by the Advent of Jesus Christ when he rose again and went unto His father, ascended if you will to the right hand of His Father. He told us on that day that He would pray to His Father to send the comforter; the Holy Spirit to dwell among men for the building of the Kingdom of God. This was prophesied to the Prophet Zechariah in Zechariah 12:10. “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication , so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for and only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is so that we as Christians will have the power to overcome the strongholds of Satan and the Power to build the Kingdom of God. Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” This is the commission to evangelize the world for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father but He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us evangelize the world. Salvation and the filling or Baptism of the Holy Spirit is two different and distinct processes. We read in Acts 9:17 when Ananias was given the instructions to baptize Saul (the Apostle Paul) with the Holy Spirit. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and by filled with the Holy Spirit.” Saul had already been converted on the road to Damascus by Jesus. The Lord gave Ananias a vision to go to the house of Judas and lay his hands on Saul so that he would regain his sight. At the same time he was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Scripture says that Ananias would find Saul in the house of Judas, praying. If Saul was praying, I believe that he had already accepted Jesus as Lord. Verse 18 says that immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized. So how do we become baptized in the Holy Spirit as was Paul? Let’s turn to John 14. Starting with verse 14; “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Let’s go down to verse 16. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17. That is the Sprit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. This is amazing. First, Jesus says that anything we ask in His name he will do. If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, all we have to do is ask. The next thing that really has drawn my attention is that Jesus says that He will ask His Father to send the Holy Spirit. He uses the word Helper, which is capitalized, suggesting a person. Then He says, that He may be with you forever. This confirms that the Holy Spirit is a person of the Godhead, but we already knew that. Jesus continues to give a brief description of the Holy Spirit and uses the word Him several times and He once more and then caps it off by saying the He will not only abide with you but will be in you. What an amazing affirmation if the personage, description and purpose of the Holy Spirit. HE, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH WILL ABIDE IN YOU. I don’t know about you, but at this point I am ready to accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit with all that I have and all that I am. So let’s put this in perspective so that we can get our arms around it. Go to a Spirit filled Church and find the Church leadership or anyone for that matter that is Spirit filled to pray with you. They will lay their hands on you as you ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit. ALL that is required is your wiliness and a short prayer asking God to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Name of Jesus. By faith you will have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit but the next step is critical because how do you know that you have received it accept by faith? You need to know without a doubt that you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now that you have asked and received the Holy Spirit, you can proceed to the next part. The Elders or Christian workers will pray with you the second time so that you will receive your own prayer language known as speaking in tongues. They will pray in tongues and you will just simply pray whatever comes to your mind. Within a few minutes you will be praying in your new prayer language that only God will understand.
First you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit and only after which you will be able to pray in your prayer language that is powered by the Holy Spirit. It’s that simple. This process will show you that you have indeed been filled with the Holy Spirit without a shadow of a doubt. Two simple steps that will change your life forever; Ask and you shall receive Speaking in tongues as evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. You are now equipped with the Power that God has intended for you to witness for Him and build His kingdom. Acts 4:31 says, And when they prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the Word of God with boldness. This is how the original Church began. It hasn’t changed. It is for today as much as it was two thousand years ago. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Sprit was giving them utterance. ACTS 2:4 (NASB)
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