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Q: I am confused. I want to do things right...How do you lead someone into
receiving the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. Are we suppose to what we call (tarry) with them?
A: Thank
you for your letter. I will try to answer it briefly. However, the
things you bring up require much more teaching than I can do in a short
post, so please be patient if I do not tie up all the loose ends.
The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is a much confused doctrine. Many have
used
it to teach their own version of what it should be. But please consider
these points.
1. We are never commanded to seek the baptism
of the Holy Ghost.
After
the resurrection of Christ, the disciples were told to "wait for
the
promise of the Father." This does refer to the baptism with the
Holy
Ghost. However, common Christians since that time have never been told
to
seek this baptism.
2. Every true believer has the Holy Ghost
dwelling them.
They cannot get
more of Him. Romans 8:9 states, "Now if any man have not the Spirit
of
Christ, he is none of his." That is, if you have Christ, you have
His
Spirit. If you do not have the Spirit, you do not have Christ.
3. However, before the book of Acts, this
was not so. Believers did not
automatically have the indwelling Spirit of God. Consider these verses:
John 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on
him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that
Jesus was not yet glorified.)
John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
You see, the Spirit of God was with them, but He had not began to dwell
in them. That would come to pass after Christ was glorified--that is,
resurrected and ascended into heaven with His glorified body.
4. The baptism of the Holy Ghost refers to
the time on the day of
Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Ghost came on all of them that were
gathered.
It was never meant to be an individual gift. Rather,
it was a
mass submersion into the Holy Ghost for the purpose of giving them power
to be witnesses for God (see Acts 1:8). The baptism with the Holy Ghost
has never occurred on an individual basis but always with a group of
people. Also, it is historical and there is no command anywhere in
scripture telling us to seek another Pentecost. That is the teaching
of
man.
5. Speaking in tongues was a
special gift for a special time.
(See the article linked at the
top right of this page.)
It was used to spread
the gospel and to prove that the spoken word of the disciples was
indeed from God. Though it came on the day of Pentecost, it has never
been required for any proof of spirituality of any kind. Paul himself asked,
"do all speak with tongues?" (1Corinthians 12:30). He meant that all did
not speak with tongues. In 1Corinthians 14, he refers to speaking in tongues as
a lesser gift, not nearly as important as showing love or preaching the word. How
could this be a requirement for receiving the Holy Ghost? It is not.
6. What we are commanded to seek after
salvation is the filling of the
Holy Ghost; not the baptism with the Holy Ghost (an event in Acts);
not
the baptism by the Spirit (an invisible event occurring at the
time of
salvation); not the indwelling of the Spirit (a gift given to every
saved
person).
The filling of the Spirit does not give us any
more of the
Spirit. In fact, a Christian cannot have any more of the Spirit than
he
or she already has. But the Holy Spirit can have more of us. That is
the
filling of the Holy Ghost.
Consider your life as a house with many rooms. When you got saved, the
Holy Spirit came to dwell in your house and He will never leave you.
You
can never have more of Him than you do now. However, you can lock up
certain rooms of your life and keep the Holy Ghost out of them. In
Ephesians 5:18, we are commanded, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein
is
excess; but be filled with the Spirit." Just as a drunkard surrenders
himself to the influence of alcohol (he is said to be "under the
influence"), so we are to surrender ourselves entirely to the influence
of the Spirit of God. We are to be under His influence. We are to open
every room of our life to Him and let Him have full control of our lives.
This is what we are to seek from the Lord--not the baptism with the Holy
Ghost.
Even in this long post, I have left much out. I hope this is a help to
you. May the Lord bless you as you seek to follow Him.
Till He comes,
Pastor David Reagan