The Holy Spirit, section 2

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

THE HOLY SPIRIT

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this book, without changes or alterations, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

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The Holy Spirit In the Early Church

Do you remember the time Moses told Joshua that he wished God would put His Spirit upon all the people (Numbers 11:29)? Those early Israelites had been eyewitnesses to a sensational display of the miraculous. They had seen water turned to blood. They had marched through the Red Sea on dry land. Their daily bread came right from heaven. Still, their faith was weak, and their perception of spiritual realities was dim.

It just goes to prove that sensory observations and experiences do not necessarily result in keen spiritual awareness and a deep appreciation of eternal values. Seeing is not always believing. Under Moses the people saw more miracles in a year than most people do in a lifetime. Yet they were spiritually near-sighted.

Moses was painfully aware of the shallowness of God's people. But he also knew the remedy. If only God would pour out His Spirit upon all the people! The Holy Spirit within them would make the difference.

So for our benefit, God recorded Moses' private remark to Joshua in His Word. In effect, God is saying to us, "Do you get the message? That's what you need, too."

Foretold by the Prophets

Then, through the prophets, God spelled it out clearly. Through Joel He declared the timing ("the last days"), the extent ("on all people"), and some of the exciting details (prophecy, dreams, visions, wonders, signs, etc.). Here is the text of the prophecy:

"Afterward [that is, in 'the last days'-Acts 2:17], I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Joel 2:28-32).

When the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost to inaugurate the Age of the Spirit, Peter stood and announced, "This is that which was was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16 KJV).

The Old Testament prophecies were being fulfilled.

Isaiah delivered God's message about the coming fullness of the Spirit: "The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted... till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high" (Isaiah 32:14,15). "I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants" (Isaiah 44:3).

Ezekiel also recorded what God was going to do: "I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezekiel 36:27). "'I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,' declares the Sovereign Lord" (Ezekiel 39:29).

And so also did Zechariah. We have already referred to Zechariah 4:6 ("Not by might nor by power..."). Later on, in Zechariah 12:10, the prophet adds this promise of the Lord: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications" (KJV).

In the New Testament we meet a person who reminds us of the prophet Elijah. John the Baptist could be called the last of the Old Testament order of prophets.

But he arrived on the scene after a prophetic silence of almost four hundred years. The times were different. The Messiah had arrived. It was not the time to foretell the distant future, but to herald the arrival of events long foretold. Jesus had come to be God's Passover Lamb for our redemption--and to baptize us with the Holy Spirit.

We all love John 3:16. But let's not miss Luke 3:16: "John answered them all, 'I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." John's announcement is important. God doesn't want us to miss it. That's why He inspired all four evangelists to record it (see Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, and John 1:33).

Promised by Jesus

Did Jesus himself say anything about giving us the Holy Spirit? He certainly did! Here are His promises:

"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!" (Luke 11:13).

"I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

"Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified" (John 7:37-39; see also John 14:16,17,26; 16:7-15).

Dramatizing His promise of the soon outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus "breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (John 20:22).

After His resurrection, Jesus met privately with His disciples. What He told them on that occasion is recorded for us in Acts 1:4,5,8:

"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised.... For John baptized with water but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

"... You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

When Peter was describing to the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem the events at Cornelius' house, he told of recalling the words of Jesus:

"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God!" (Acts 11:15-17).

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Then it happened! Jesus had ascended to the Father. About ten days later, about a hundred and twenty disciples were waiting in an upper room in Jerusalem. It was the Feast of Pentecost, and Jerusalem was filled with Jewish pilgrims from other countries. Luke, the Pentecostal historian, gives us the inspired account:

"Now when the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4 NKJV).

All that speaking in other languages caused quite a stir. Excitement swept over Jerusalem. People began moving toward the place where God was in action. Soon the crowd numbered in the thousands. Jews from various parts of the Roman world listened in amazement as they heard God's wonderful works extolled in their native languages. How could a hundred and twenty Galileans do that?

"What does this mean?" The question rippled over the multitude.

"They're drunk on new wine!" mocked some.

But a brand-new Peter--Spirit-filled, bold, dynamic--stood up. He had the answer, right out of God's Word. Loud and clear, his words rang out over the crowd:

"This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy....'

"Exalted to the right hand of God, [Jesus] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear" (Acts 2:16-18,33).

Peter's words hit like a sledgehammer. Deeply convicted of their sins, thousands asked what they must do to be rid of their guilt. Peter answered:

"Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 'For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call'" (Acts 2:38,39 NKJV). Three thousand were converted!

The Spirit in Action

But was that it? Was it all over? Was it just a one-time spiritual extravaganza, with no permanent effect or continued action? By no means! In fact, it was just the beginning of the Age of the Spirit. That's the age we're in right now. And it will continue until Jesus returns.

Let's watch the Holy Spirit in action in some of the early Christians. Observe carefully, because what we see recorded is the divinely inspired pattern for us to follow.

Peter and John

The healing of the lame man at the temple gate (Acts 3) gave Peter and John another opportunity to present Christ to a large audience. But the religious establishment resisted vigorously and arrested the apostles.

At their arraignment before the authorities, did Peter deny his Lord? Oh, no! What made the difference this time? For one thing, Peter was now full of the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:8-12 records what he said to the religious authorities.

After John and Peter's release, they went to the church and reported the situation. Instead of panicking in fear, the church prayed in faith. What happened? "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (Acts 4:31). A fresh surge of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit swept over them, filling the new converts among them and giving new boldness to everyone.

Spirit-Filled Deacons

Later, social concerns crowded in upon the apostles, nearly diverting them from their first priority, the preaching of the gospel. So the apostles took action:

"'Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.'

"This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism" (Acts 6:3-5).

Church business and social action should be directed by Spirit-filled persons.

Stephen was one of those Spirit-filled deacons. His ministry reached out beyond his immediate social duties, and he began preaching Christ and performing miracles. Soon he was before the council, in trouble with the prevailing religious system.

As Stephen spoke, his words had a deep effect on the council. Still, they would not believe. Convicted but not converted, they chose to suppress the truth that so directly challenged their fundamental presuppositions. Luke records the tragedy and Stephen's triumph in Acts 7:54-60. Verse 55 says: "Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." What a victorious way to go!

Philip was another of the original Spirit-filled deacons. He, too, had a ministry that was not limited to the material needs of people. Soon we find him in Samaria conducting a gospel crusade. Miracles happened and people were saved.

The new converts were happy in Christ. Yet, something was missing. They hadn't yet been filled with the Holy Spirit. That was too important to be neglected. So Peter and John came and "when they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:15-17).

Verses 18-24 are about Simon the sorcerer. He had believed and been baptized. But now the sight of people being filled with the Spirit as the apostles laid hands on them stirred up his old desires (he must have seen and heard something very fascinating!). Lapsing into his old ways, he even tried to buy the ministry of laying on hands. But the gift of God can't be bought. Even today some people, like Simon, want the supernatural if they can get it their way and for their own purposes. They, too, are "in the bond of iniquity" (v. 23).

Ananias

The ninth chapter of Acts relates the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who later became Paul the Apostle. Jesus stopped him in his tracks on the road to Damascus. Later, in Damascus, the Lord sent a disciple by the name of Ananias to minister to him.

"Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:17).

Peter

Acts 10 records the dramatic introduction of the gospel to the Gentiles. For the occasion God chose a devout Roman centurion named Cornelius. Peter was the apostolic messenger. To prepare Peter to go to a Gentile home, the Holy Spirit informed him of the approach of Cornelius' messengers and instructed him to go with them (vv. 19,20).

Peter had barely introduced the gospel to his receptive audience when something happened: "The Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

"Then Peter said, 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have'" (Acts 10:44-47).

Barnabas "was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith" (Acts 11:24).

In verse 28 we meet Agabus, a New Testament prophet, foretelling by the Spirit the great famine that occurred later on in the reign of Claudius Caesar.

Paul

But let's get back to Paul. During a time of prayer and fasting in the church at Antioch, "the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' ... The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia" (Acts 13:2,4).

Paul's first missionary journey took him to the island of Cyprus. At the city of Paphos, a sorcerer named Elymas opposed him. Paul rebuked Elymas in the Spirit. Backing up Paul's words, God brought judgment on Elymas in the form of temporary blindness. As a result, the governor of the island was converted. Read about it in Acts 13:6-12.

From Cyprus, Paul and his missionary team traveled to Asia Minor, where many were converted. True, the conversions were accompanied with persecutions, but "the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52).

When the serious question arose about whether Gentile believers should keep the Mosaic law, the apostles and elders at Jerusalem (Spirit-filled men, remember) took up the matter. Their written decision to the Gentile Christians stated: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements..." (Acts 15:28).

On Paul's second missionary journey, the Holy Spirit directed the apostle where not to go as well as where to go. In Acts 16:6,7 we read: "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to."

At Ephesus, on his third missionary journey, Paul encountered disciples who had not yet received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We talked about these people earlier. "When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:6).

At Ephesus, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul admonished the elders, reminding them that they had been placed in their ministry by the Holy Spirit. Here are his words: "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers" (Acts 20:28).

Paul had much to say in his epistles about the role of the Holy Spirit in his life and ministry, including the inspiration of the Spirit in the composition of the epistles themselves. A look at these will be interesting:

"By the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.... from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:19).

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).

"I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.... I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all" (1 Corinthians 14:15,18 NKJV).

"He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:6).

"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

"He who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 4:8 NKJV).

Also, in 2 Peter 3:15,16, the apostle Peter classifies Paul's epistles as Scripture.

John

Before concluding this chapter, let's talk about one of the twelve disciples, John, the brother of James. The Holy Spirit was mightily at work in his life, too. We notice this particularly in the Book of Revelation, written while John was in exile on the island of Patmos.

John starts by saying, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10 KJV). And so we follow him as he experiences things in the Spirit reminiscent of the visions that came to Ezekiel:

"At once I was in the Spirit" (Revelation 4:2).

"Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert" (Revelation 17:3).

"He carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high" (Revelation 21:10).

Repeatedly, the Book of Revelation emphasizes that its message is from the Holy Spirit. (See Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22.).

We have briefly traced some of the workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of a few of the early Christians. Two things should be emphasized. First, what we have noticed was not the full extent of the Holy Spirit's ministry in these people. Instead, they are only the few examples preserved for us in the Scriptures. Paul's references in his epistles indicate that his whole Christian life was lived in the fullness and blessing of the Spirit of God.

And second, these people were not alone in living the Spirit-filled life. All the writers of the New Testament (as well as the Old) were inspired of the Holy Spirit in the transmission of the written Word of God. Of the Lord's immediate disciples Hebrews 2:3,4 says:

"How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

And 1 Peter 1:12 declares that the facts of the gospel "have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven."

So the promise has been fulfilled. The Holy Spirit has come. We have watched Him at work in and through the Christians of the first century. No wonder it was said of them that they had "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).

And the Holy Spirit is still working in the world, reproving, convicting, striving to set men's hearts right.

The Holy Spirit and the World

The Holy Spirit is talking to people. That does not necessarily mean He is speaking in an audible voice, though He might. But He's communicating.

In John 3:5-8 Jesus told Nicodemus: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (NKJV)"

In other words, we do not see the wind, but we witness its effects. Similarly, we do not see the Holy Spirit, but we observe His influence on the human spirit. He urges the sinner to repent, trust in Christ, and live for God. The person responds. What happens? The person is changed--completely. He or she is a new person--born again, born from above, born of the Spirit.

The Spirit Communicates

The Holy Spirit can transmit a thought directly from His mind to ours.

Although He can speak in an audible voice (or even a subaudible voice), usually He places His message directly upon our consciousness. Sometimes this involves bringing us into circumstances or situations that convey a message and prepare us to think about the truth.

If you are not a Christian, the Holy Spirit is working constantly to get the gospel across to you. He labors incessantly to call your attention to the Word of God. The Bible is His message to you. Hebrews 3:7,8 says, "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." He sharpens your conscience. He urges divine reproof upon your soul (see Proverbs 1:23). Jesus said, "He will convict the world of sin" (John 16:8, NKJV).

It is very clear, then, that the Holy Spirit does not influence the mind of man by direct physical force. The idea of forcing people to obey God from the heart is absurd and contradictory. Genuine obedience must be willing obedience.

True, God uses physical events to speak to people. And often He presents truth with such shocking clarity that the sudden awakening causes people to tremble, weep, or fall to their knees. But the Holy Spirit does not drag people to God against their wills or apart from their wills.

The Spirit Persuades

His ministry to the human mind is a moral or persuasive ministry. He seeks to move the heart or will with truth. He assembles infinite values, eternal considerations, and powerful logical motives. Then He combines them and thrusts them onto the intelligence of the sinner, focusing the full weight of their logic on his reason in a grand and gracious crusade to sober him up to eternal realities and to move him to God and away from his selfishness.

But it is obvious that moral or persuasive influences can be accepted or rejected. For example, suppose you see a man standing on a high ledge. He's about to jump. You have no way to restrain him physically. A call has gone out for a net, but it appears he's going to jump before it arrives. It's all up to you. What do you do?

You have only one tool--persuasion. So you urge him not to jump. You address his reason, using the strongest considerations and most serious facts you can muster. You appeal to his emotions with all the tender passion you can call forth. With everything within you, you plead with him. But what he does with your plea is totally up to him. The decision is his alone.

You have done all that can possibly be done; the responsibility rests strictly on the shoulders of the man himself. He can do one of two things. He can weigh the facts and consider the values you have presented to him with such sincerity and feeling, and abandon his suicidal purpose. Or he can throw it all to the wind, look at you with contempt, give himself over to his unreasonable impulses, and plunge himself to his destruction.

So it is with the unconverted. Sin is moral and eternal suicide. The Holy Spirit gathers solemn facts, eternal values, infinitely valuable interests, weighty considerations, and powerful motivations. Any one of them ought to be sufficient to move the stony heart of man. The Holy Spirit combines them and lays them out before the intelligence. Truth fills the sinner's horizon like an ocean viewed from the beach. But what the soul does with all the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit is strictly its own choice. The door to the human heart is locked from the inside. Christ knocks, but He will never break in.

The sinner can respond to the appeal of the Holy Spirit and let Christ in; or he can reject His light, drown the voice speaking to his reason, crucify his own intelligence, sear his conscience, cling tenaciously to the cheap idols of his heart, press on stubbornly in his own chosen path of self-gratification, and plunge himself at last into outer darkness!

One of the two will happen. That fact is certain.

The Holy Spirit is giving Himself to the thankless task of trying to win precious souls from self-destruction. But so long as people hold onto their self-indulgences, they frustrate the Holy Spirit and make it morally impossible for Him to save them.

People who are waiting for God to convert them against or apart from their own will are living in a delusion. No one can be born of the Spirit until he stops resisting the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is urging sinners to submit to Christ immediately and on the spot. So long as sinners refuse to do this, they are making their own salvation impossible. They might as well try to drive both ways on the street at the same time. In both cases, we have to make up our minds which direction we are going to take.

So the Bible says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Galatians 5:16,17 NKJV).

God requires us to walk in all the light we have (see James 4:17). In ignorance a Christian might frustrate the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. But a Christian cannot live in willful disobedience to the Holy Spirit and remain a Christian. Romans 8:14 makes this clear: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (KJV)

Resisting the Holy Spirit

"No one can serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24). Each one of us is either obeying the Holy Spirit or disobeying Him, submitting to Him or resisting Him, working with Him or against Him. Between each one of us and God exists either harmony or discord, peace or conflict.

The Bible says, "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV).

The word "natural" is psuchikos in the Greek of the New Testament. It means sensuous. The natural man, then, lives in the realm of the senses only. He refuses to receive the things of the Spirit of God. He cannot receive them as long as he will not. He has no time for the things of the Spirit of God. Because he is concerned only about his sensuous world, spiritual things do not interest him. They do not contribute to his self-gratification, and so they are foolishness to him. They are foreign to his system of values. Therefore he resents and resists every intrusion by the Holy Spirit into his little self-world. The Holy Spirit reproves him of sin, but he resists ("receiveth not," KJV) even this.

How then can the Spirit of God reveal the riches of Christ to a person of such a mind? It is impossible. He cannot receive them until he becomes willing to listen to the Holy Spirit. He cannot be saved without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, a light he fights every step of the way (see John 3:19,20).

Earlier I mentioned Stephen's speech before the council. As he addressed the rulers he leveled this charge at them: "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (Acts 7:51).

Let's look at that statement for a moment. Remember, these were religious men. They attended worship, tithed, gave alms, prayed, read the Scriptures. Their public conduct was highly accepted. Yet Stephen charged them with always resisting the Holy Spirit.

Think of it! While they attended worship, while they tithed and gave to the poor, even while they carried out such devotional exercises as praying and reading the Scriptures, they were resisting the Spirit of God. They did not resist the Spirit of God often; they resisted Him always. It might come as a shock to some people to know that a person is sinning even while praying if his heart is not surrendered to God.

These men spent their lives in religion. Yet they were continually resisting the Holy Spirit. How could this be? Because their motive was wrong. It was selfish. Jesus summed up their strict religious observances, and then disposed of them all by saying, "But all their works they do for to be seen of men" (Matthew 23:5 KJV). In other words, their motive was wrong, and the motive is what counts with God.

So you do not become a Christian by joining a church, or even by becoming a minister. You must surrender your heart to Cod and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

God said long ago, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" (Genesis 6:3, KJV).

Strife implies resistance. So the very fact that the Spirit of God is striving with man indicates that man is resisting. If people were truly willing to be converted, the Holy Spirit would have no problem at all. But the Holy Spirit has to wrestle with men because they stubbornly refuse to do the very thing they must do for God to save them: repent and believe the gospel.

But the gentle Holy Spirit does not take that kind of abuse forever. The people of Noah's day found that out. It's a sad day to the heart of God when the Holy Spirit, consistently frustrated, has to "call it quits" on a man or woman.

How do people resist the Holy Spirit? By resisting the truth as He presents it to the mind. This is done in various ways: rejecting the truth outright, putting off obedience to some future time, ignoring the Holy Spirit by diverting the mind to something else, embracing doctrinal error or some religious deviation. In short, any course of action other than honest, total, and immediate surrender to God is an act of resistance to the Holy Spirit.

What does this lead to? What are its consequences? Jesus said:" 'If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!'" (Matthew 6:23).

As the Holy Spirit is grieved, the heart becomes hard and cold. Truth no longer affects the soul. Some even pride themselves at being able to sit through a gospel meeting without being moved by the truth. What a horrible condition!

As people grow old in sin, they usually become less interested in the gospel, less affected by its presentation. This is not the result of maturity, but of hardness of heart. The mind becomes settled in error, delusion, and self-justification. People in this condition are in real danger of being abandoned by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:

"Blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31,32).

One might disobey the Father, and also reject the Son. But when the gentle influence of the Holy Spirit is quenched, who is left to plead with the soul?

People who have reached this stage are on the spiritual critical list. Their only hope is to throw themselves upon the mercy of Christ without delay. The door to mercy is still open to "whosoever will."

The Bible records the tragedy of some who were successful in resisting the Holy Spirit. "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul" (1 Samuel 16:14 KJV). And concerning rebellious Israel we read: "But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy" (Isaiah 63:10 KJV).

How horrible when a person's attitude and life become so obnoxious to the Holy Spirit that He can stand that person no longer! Isaiah 45:9 says, "Woe to him that striveth with his Maker." (KJV)

Look at that precious soul! All heaven is filled with tense anxiety over him, and yet he trifles. Against the opposition of the Holy Spirit and his own reason, he stubbornly rejects Christ, his only Hope of eternal life. He dashes recklessly on, crashing through every roadblock the Spirit of God throws in his path. Gospel warning lights are flashing. Once the siren of conscience shattered his complacency as he raced down the broad way that leads to destruction. But now it is almost silent.

Now he is on the precipice. The Holy Spirit makes one last desperate effort to save him, but he wrenches himself loose from the Spirit's loving, restraining grasp and plunges himself into everlasting misery and woe. The sight is unbearable. Heaven groans in grief.

Some of the most tragic words are found in Jeremiah 8:20: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."' Once he basked in the sunshine of God's great harvest summer, thinking, There's plenty of time; there'll always be another gospel service, another altar call. I'll always feel the tug of the Spirit." Then he awoke in the dark, lonely, tormenting, eternal night to realize the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and he is not saved!

So the Holy Spirit is not inviting forever. Proverbs 29:1 warns, "A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy."

God is patiently telephoning people's hearts. But if the sinner continues to ignore ring after ring, the time will come when the Holy Spirit hangs up. So let us answer now, while He is still calling.

"So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts'" (Hebrews 3:7,8).

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV).

The Holy Spirit In You

Earlier, we followed the Holy Spirit as He was at work in the first-century Church. The good news is that He is still here and He has not changed!

In the 20th century, the Church experienced a new awareness of the Holy Spirit. Increasing numbers of Christians of many denominations are realizing what it really means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Dissatisfied with cold, formal religion, they hunger for a greater spiritual reality. They long to experience a dynamic Christian life.

And God is answering! The Holy Spirit is filling these believers and going into action in their lives, just as He did in the New Testament. They have found a new dimension in the Holy Spirit. Have you?

"Me?" you ask. "Is the Holy Spirit interested in me? Do you mean that I can experience Him personally?"

You certainly can! And beginning right now we are going to talk about the Holy Spirit and His personal relationship to you as a Christian.

The Spirit Draws Men

As we noted in the previous chapter, the Holy Spirit convicted us of our sins and made us aware of our need of a Savior. He drew us to Christ. Were it not for the Holy Spirit, no one could be saved, for without the Spirit's influence, no one would ever come to Christ. In John 6:44 Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." Then in John 12:32, He stated: "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

So, then, no one will come to Christ unless the Father draws him. And how does the Father draw man? By the lifting up of Christ on the cross. God draws people by the gospel, and that gospel is Jesus Christ crucified for our sins and risen for our justification. God in Christ draws all men. Some respond, others refuse.

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17). The Holy Spirit working with and through the Bride (the Church) called us to Christ. He led us to Calvary, the fount of cleansing. (See Isaiah 4:4.)

We were born again--made new--as a result of the gracious influence of the Spirit, "not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5; see also John 3:5-8).

We are washed, sanctified, justified through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Paul desired "that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:16). Other Scripture passages describe this sanctification:

"You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).

"From the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

"[You are] elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Peter 1:2, NKJV).

"You have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit" (1 Peter 1:22, NKJV).

The Holy Spirit gave us access to the Father, "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18 KJV).

The Spirit Dwells Within Us

At our conversion, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us, witnessing (testifying) to us that we are now the sons of God, and making us happily aware of our sonship as believers.

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:9-16).

"I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 9:1).

"Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'" (Galatians 4:6).

"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us" (2 Timothy 1:14).

"This is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us" (1 John 3:24).

"We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13).

Also at conversion, the Holy Spirit placed (integrated) us in the body of Christ, the Church. First Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (KJV)

As Christians, God has given us eternal life in Christ (1 John 5:11,12). As long as we remain in Christ, we have eternal life from Him, just as a branch has life as long as it remains in the vine (John 15).

So Romans 8:1-6 says, in part: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.... that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Life and peace continue as we continue to live "according to the Spirit," pursuing spiritual things out of love for Christ.

"For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13).

"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (Galatians 6:8; see also 2 Timothy 1:14.).

Led of the Spirit

Let it be emphasized again: It is just as impossible to make pleasing the flesh our goal and pleasing God our goal at the same time as it is to travel in two opposite directions at the same time. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters."

Paul encourages the Christian to be led by the Spirit: "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Galatians 5:16-18 NKJV).

The law is for those who love the flesh and the things of the world. It sets boundaries for their lusts to inhibit their destructiveness in society. It tells the sinner how he ought to live. Sometimes, for selfish reasons--health, reputation, self-esteem, religious pressures or sentiments, fear of punishment, gratification of an emotional attachment to others--the sinner will try to "live right," as he says, without really giving up the desires of the flesh. But his miserable legalism fails. It has no motivation beyond his own desires. He is the slave of his chosen master, sin. Repressed, condemned, he cries out, "Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24 KJV).

But the Christian is led by the Spirit. He has renounced the flesh and abandoned its gratification. He is not repressed, because he has found full, unrestricted freedom in pursuing the things he really loves--the things of Christ. Obedience to Christ comes easy to him. It is a matter of love, not a religious duty. The "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" has made him "free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Motivated by love, he lives right because he wants to. He is not under the law, because he does not need the law to keep him in line. Because he walks in the Spirit, there is no condemnation. To him, Jesus is truly Lord.

Now, we cannot live both lives at the same time! Slavery to sin and freedom in Christ do not coexist in the Christian. The Bible makes that very clear. Those who seek to fulfill their own desires do not have the Spirit: "These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit" (Jude 19). And sinners, Jesus said, cannot receive the Spirit: "The world cannot accept him [the Spirit of truth], because it neither sees him nor knows him" (John 14:17).

These two opposing motives--loving God and loving the flesh--produce completely different and incompatible results in one's life. The kind of fruit produced in our lives reveals which motive rules our hearts.

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and the like; of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:19-25 KJV; see also Matthew 3:8; 7:15-20; 12:33; Romans 6:19-23; 7:4,5).

The Spirit in You

The New Testament teaches that the Holy Spirit is present in all believers, collectively and individually. Speaking of believers collectively, Ephesians 2:22 says that in Christ "you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Also speaking collectively, 1 Corinthians 3:16 asks, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"

But speaking of believers individually, 1 Corinthians 6:19 exclaims, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."

Although the Holy Spirit lives in all believers, not all are filled with the Spirit. There is a difference between the two, one of kind as well as degree. Let me illustrate. Suppose you move to another house. While in the moving process, you pile your things in the kitchen and living room. The utilities are not turned on yet. So for the first day or two you live on cold cereal and sandwiches. You are in, all right. You are living there. But you are not yet fully utilizing the house's facilities. You are glad to be in, but you will be a lot happier when all the utilities are turned on and you can start putting the whole house to use.

Just so, the Holy Spirit has come to live in every believer. But He wants to do more than that. He wants to fill you. He wants to turn on all the utilities, so to speak, and mobilize your whole being for His purpose. This is called the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

This baptism, or infilling, of the Spirit is referred to in the New Testament as God's seal upon the believer. It is God's public announcement of divine possession and commission. As such, it is the beginning of His dynamic ministry in us. The work of the Holy Spirit in us will be complete when God by the Spirit raises us from the dead. In that victory all believers will share, because Romans 8:11 specifies that all who are indwelt by the Spirit of God will be raised to eternal life, not only those who are filled.

"You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:13,14).

"[God has] set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 1:22). "Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 5:5).

"Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23).

The Spirit of God does not want to wait until the drama of the resurrection to go into action in our lives. While looking forward to that glorious exercise of His power in us, we can experience His fullness right now. This is the privilege of all believers--now, today. "'The promise is for you'" (Acts 2:39).

In fact, it is more than a privilege. It is an obligation. The command of Ephesians 5:18 is "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Be filled and stay filled (literally, "continue filled"). The general pattern is found in Acts 2:38: Repent; be baptized in water; then be filled with the Spirit. But, remember, this is a general pattern, not an inflexible rule. Salvation is always first, of course. No unsaved person can receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:16,17). Water baptism is usually next, followed by the infilling of the Spirit.

There are exceptions in the order following salvation. Cornelius and his group are a classic example. We read about it in Acts 10:44-47. They were filled with the Spirit before being baptized in water.

Acts 2:38 tells us that the infilling of the Spirit is a gift. We cannot earn it. If we could, it would not be a gift. So we do not beg for it. We ask. Jesus said, "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" (Luke 11:13).

Conditions for Receiving the Baptism in the Spirit

Although we cannot merit the gift of the Holy Spirit, we must meet the two conditions for receiving: obedience and faith (we could say faith alone, for true faith always implies obedience):

"We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him" (Acts 5:32).

"Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?" (Galatians 3:2).

We do not become good so we can be saved. We become saved so we can be good. Just so, we do not become deeply spiritual so we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit so He can lead us into deeper spirituality.

Laying On of Hands

There is no set ritual for receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the disciples were sitting (Acts 2:2). Some have received standing, others have received lying in bed!

The Scriptures do contain a general pattern however. But remember it is a general pattern, not a hard-and-fast rule. It involves "laying on of hands." God has granted to some a particular ministry along this line. Acts 8:17 speaks of Peter and John ministering the Spirit.

Philip did not have this gift or ministry, although he performed great miracles at Samaria. A sizable church emerged in Samaria under his preaching, but not a Spirit-filled believer in the whole congregation, only Philip. When the apostles Peter and John arrived, however, they laid their hands on the converts and they received the Holy Spirit. It was when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands that he offered them money so he could do the same thing (Acts 8:15-19).

The Ananias who prayed for Saul was not an apostle, but God sent him to lay hands on the recently converted Saul. When Ananias arrived, he "went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus... has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit'"(Acts 9:17).

And then there were the non-Pentecostal disciples Paul found at Ephesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, they were filled with the Spirit (Acts 19:6).

But Acts has instances of people receiving without the laying on of hands, Cornelius and his household for example (Acts 10:44-47).

The lesson is that we are not to reduce the work of the Holy Spirit to a set of forms, rituals, or symbols. He is God. We do not manipulate Him. He moves us. His ministry does not consist in mechanics, but dynamics.

The Initial, Physical Evidence

We are ready now to tackle the question of the initial, physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Notice, the emphasis is on initial, physical evidence, because evidences of the fullness of the Spirit in the life of the Spirit-filled believer are many. Many of them are much more important than so-called ecstatic utterances.

Nevertheless, in this Age of the Spirit a uniform, observable evidence that the Holy Spirit has filled the believer and introduced him or her into the Spirit-filled life is important. And God has wisely provided such an evidence. It was very prominent on the Day of Pentecost, so prominent that it above all else attracted the attention of the public. I refer to speaking with other tongues by the direct activity of the Holy Spirit. Let's read the record in Acts 2:1-4:

These were languages that the ones who were speaking had not learned, nor did they understand them. But they were real languages just the same, not gibberish. They had vocabulary and syntax. So it was throughout the New Testament. So it is today.

Scriptural Evidence

No verse of Scripture states in so many words that a believer is baptized in the Holy Spirit only if he or she has spoken with other tongues. But the general import of the Scriptures is that this is so.

The Acts of the Apostles serves as our pattern. In some instances in Scripture where believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit, no specific evidence is mentioned. Just the fact is reported. But whenever the Scriptures record specific accompanying experiences, one is always mentioned: speaking in other tongues. Being the common element makes it highly significant.

And even in those instances where no accompanying experiences are recorded, the Bible implies that they did exist. In fact, they were so dramatic in Samaria that they excited Simon the sorcerer.

Paul was baptized in the Holy Spirit, as was almost everyone in the first-century church. In I Corinthians 14:18 he said, "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you."

When did Paul start speaking in tongues? The New Testament does not say, but logically and Biblically we may assume that it was at the time Ananias laid hands on him.

We do have a very strong statement in Acts 10:45,46: "The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God."

Couple this with Peter's report in Acts 11:15,17, which reads in part: "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.... So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us,...who was I to think that I could oppose God!"

The fact that Cornelius and his group "spoke in tongues" was the conclusive evidence to Peter that they were filled with the Spirit. No other immediate evidence was needed, and no other would have been sufficient or conclusive.

From these facts it is safe and proper to state that speaking in other tongues is not only the initial, physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but also the uniform evidence, the one evidence without which it cannot be said that the person is baptized in the Spirit.

Why Tongues?

But why did God choose speaking in other tongues to be the initial, physical evidence? For several reasons. Here are a few:

It is an observable evidence. Without an observable evidence, the question of whether a person was filled with the Holy Spirit would have to be left up to subjective personal introspection and/or the examination by Christians of each other's lives. Both procedures are negative and tend to a condemning and faultfinding attitude. God was wise in giving us a dramatic, observable, unmistakable evidence.

It is a uniform evidence. Without uniformity in the evidence, its value as an evidence would be reduced to the point of uselessness.

It is a verbal evidence. As such, it demonstrates the personality of the Holy Spirit. He is not a mere force. He speaks! Only a personality can communicate verbally. On the believer's part, verbal communication is one of his highest human activities. It expresses his unique humanity. It represents his highest intellectual and spiritual capacities.

Commitment to the control of the Holy Spirit in verbal expression demonstrates the total surrender of the human personality to God, a surrender that is necessary for both the initial infilling of the Spirit and the continued fullness of the Spirit.

It is a supernatural evidence. As a supernatural evidence that glorifies God and confesses the lordship of Jesus, it is a witness to all that the work is of God. God is doing something, not just man. This places the whole experience beyond mere psychology, although the human psyche is involved.

Purposes of Tongues

"But I have heard that tongues is the least of the gifts, and that it is not for everybody. Why make it so important?"

Most Christians have missed a very important point about speaking in other tongues, namely, that the Bible recognizes three distinct uses, or purposes, for glossolalia, or speaking in tongues. (The scriptural rules for one use of tongues do not necessarily apply to the others. Also, the significance of one use does not necessarily affect the significance of the others.)

Here are the three uses, or purposes:

The initial, physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Here tongues is not the gift. The Holy Spirit himself is the Gift. Tongues serve as the immediate evidence. If you have not yet been baptized in the Spirit, do not seek tongues. Seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The tongues will come as a matter of course.

Devotional assistance. Praying in other tongues is a valuable asset to the devotional life of the Spirit-filled believer. In 1 Corinthians 14, the apostle speaks of private devotional tongues and indicates that this use of tongues is distinct from the gift of tongues as a public utterance.

In devotional tongues, the person "does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him" (v. 2). He edifies (builds up) himself spiritually (v. 4). Jude 20 says, "Build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit."

Paul says in 1 Corinthians that when a person prays in tongues, his spirit prays but his understanding is unproductive (14:14). In verse 15, Paul describes his personal experience: "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also" (KJV). The context and the wording imply that praying in the Spirit involves praying in other tongues.

I share the apostle's desire that you would speak with tongues (v. 5). Don't miss this very valuable ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Did you ever desire to unburden your heart to God in prayer, but your vocabulary just did not contain the words to express what you felt? That's where the Holy Spirit assists. He supplies His vocabulary, enabling the human spirit to experience total release toward God:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:26,27).

Needs exist that we are not aware of. But the Holy Spirit is. He can lay a burden of prayer upon us. We might know nothing about the need. So the Holy Spirit frames the petition in a language of His choosing and lifts it to God from our hearts and lips. Not only is this a privilege; it is a command. Ephesians 6:18 exhorts us to pray in the Spirit: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perserverance and supplication for all saints" (KJV).

What is true of intercession is true also of worship and praise. Oh, how delightful it is to open the deep wellsprings of our human spirit and pour out to God adoration and praise uninhibited by the limitations of our own vocabulary! So then, because the rules of 1 Corinthians 14 refer in general to public utterances, they do not apply to devotional tongues. For example, private devotional tongues are not to be interpreted.

A "gift" for public utterance. The exercise of the public gift of tongues comes under the strict rules of 1 Corinthians 14. To be of any value to the church, all such utterances must be interpreted. We shall take this up when we consider the gifts of the Spirit.

When Will Tongues Cease?

First Corinthians 13:8 tells us that the time will come when prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled, and knowledge will pass away. Verse 10 informs us that this will take place "when perfection comes."

But when is that? Frequently the statement "when perfection comes" is interpreted to mean the completion of the New Testament canon around the end of the first century A.D. The assertion is then made that because the Bible is now complete, prophecies, tongues, and partial knowledge are done away.

Nowhere does the Bible even remotely suggest that the gifts of the Spirit, including tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophecy, were ever intended to be a first-century substitute for those parts of the New Testament not yet completed. They do not now, and never did, serve as a temporary standard of faith and practice. They are for "strengthening, encouragement and comfort" (1 Corinthians 14:3), and their genuineness and message are always to be judged by the Scriptures themselves. "Perfection" in verse 10 must refer to the consummation of this present age, and that is the only time reference in this passage.

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 13 is not a contrast between the gifts of the Spirit and the Scriptures. It is a contrast between the temporary nature of the gifts and the eternal quality of love. The view of the chapter is to the eternal in contrast to the temporal, of heaven in contrast to earth.

The Corinthian church had emphasized the gifts of the Spirit to the neglect of the fruit of the Spirit. Thank God we don't have to choose one to the exclusion of the other! We can have both. In choosing both we simply keep in mind which is permanent and which is temporary.

Comparative Spirituality

"But what about great Christians who have never spoken in tongues and yet have won more people to Christ than most Pentecostals?"

This is a question that is often raised.

The Holy Spirit is very gracious and willing. He will always work in our lives to the fullest extent possible in whatever capacity or dimension we have experienced Him. Let us never underestimate the indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of the non-Pentecostal believer. He is there, and He is active.

A letter I wrote to Christianity Today (which they published) speaks to the point:

"I believe that comparing Pentecostals with great non-Pentecostals of the past and present misses the point. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not intended to make the least Pentecostal greater in Christian stature and productivity than the greatest non-Pentecostal. We are on the wrong track when we start comparing ourselves among ourselves. The question is not: 'Am I a greater Christian than my non-Pentecostal brother or sister?' The question is:

'Am I as a Pentecostal a more dynamic, victorious, productive, Christ-like Christian than I would be if I were not a Pentecostal?'

"The fact is that 'all that baptism signified by tongues produces' has not been equaled, much less surpassed, 'in the lives of Christians who have never spoken in tongues.' Great as such Christians are, were they to become Pentecostal in experience, they would find their lives enriched by the Holy Spirit in a way previously unequaled in their personal spiritual history. (Christianity Today, Vol. XVII, No.7, January 5, 1973, p.24. Used by permission of the publishers.)

Philippians 1:19 speaks of "the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a goal; it is a beginning. It is not a spiritual destination; it is the door into the Spirit-filled life. As important as the initial experience is, continuing in the fullness of the Spirit from then on is even more important.

Some think of the Spirit's fullness as a reservoir. Once filled, they struggle to keep it from "leaking out." Occasionally, they experience "refillings" to keep the reservoir full. But this is not the ideal experience.

We do not receive the Spirit by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith (Galatians 3:2), and that is the way we experience His continued fullness--by the life of faith, a "faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6).

Jesus did not speak of the Spirit as a stored reservoir, but as rivers flowing out from within the believer (John 7:38,39). A continuous, daily inflow from God and outflow to others of the fullness and ministry of the Holy Spirit--that is the ideal Pentecostal experience.

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