The Holy Spirit Experience
The Holy Spirit Experience
Acts 2:38 “...and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” … The Holy Spirit experience is for all…
We believe we are baptised into the Body of Christ (the Church) through the Holy Spirit
In the Bible we read:
for by one Spirit are we all baptised 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 (1 Corinthians 12:13)
Receiving the Holy Spirit is essential to join the church. Without it, we are not yet in the “one body”.
Different terms, same experience
There are several terms used interchangeably in the Bible; all speaking of the same definite experience:
- “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4)
- “baptised with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5)
- “Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8)
- “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38)
- Holy Spirit to fall on them (Acts 8:15-17)
The coming of the Holy Spirit foretold by Jesus
Jesus prepared His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He first told them He would be going away, but then gave this encouragement:
… I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you (John 14:16-18, emphasis added)
Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit experience. He makes this absolutely clear a few verses later:
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things… (John 14:26 emphasis added)
The Holy Spirit had been with them, but a new phase was about to begin; it would now be in them. This happened for the first time on the day of Pentecost. We can read about what happened in Acts chapter 2:
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place… And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1, 4)
Is being filled with the Holy Spirit automatic after believing?
Some preach that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is automatic upon believing and that therefore whether or not there is an accompanying sign is irrelevant. But in Acts 8 we read of those in Samaria who had “received the word of God” but still needed prayer “that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”). Although they had believed and were baptised, they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Philip, and then the apostles in Jerusalem, were aware of this (meaning it was clear that they had not yet received the Holy Spirit, and also clear that whether the Spirit had been receieved was something that could be determined by an observer).
When they eventually did receive the Holy Spirit, the occasion was so dramatic that the con-man Simon offered money for a similar ‘power’.
In the Revival Centres Church, everyone has received the Holy Spirit with a definite experience
The receiving of the Holy Spirit experience should be the confident expectation of all who repent and are baptised. But if you do not speak in other tongues you do not yet have God’s confirmation on your steps of faith.
Do not settle for any less than the full Bible experience. The apostles thought it necessary to come down and pray to ensure that the Samaritan believers received the Holy Spirit. We read in the Bible:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9)
If you want to receive the Holy Spirit Experience for yourself, then you need only ask. See Here for more details.
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