To begin with I want to tell you my story and I want to be certain that the reader understands where I am coming from.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that I personally experienced when I was in my twenties. I pray in an unknown language every day. The big question that is asked most of the time is “What is it for”.
I want to say that, if I can’t verify what is happening in my life and prove it beyond a shadow of doubt with scripture, I don’t want any part of it, therefore I am going to document all that I put in this article with scripture.
I accepted Jesus as my Savior (Messiah) when I was nine years old. An evangelist came to the Southern Baptist Church my parents were attending and when I heard that sermon I was convicted in my heart that I was a sinner; but more than that, I was so touched about what Jesus did for me that I began to cry. I didn’t want to do something my parents would not approve of, so I didn’t go forward at the invitation to accept Christ. Instead, I waited until I got home and I asked my parents permission to do so. I was so touched that I was in tears as I asked them about it. They gave me permission and I did so at the next church meeting. I want you to know that there is no doubt that I had a relationship with Jesus from that time on and I was a different person. I knew that something had changed in my life.
However, during my later childhood and teens, because of the negative influence of my home situation and other things, I drifted away from God. I became angry and rebellious. My life became more and more unmanageable. I still knew Jesus as Savior, and I still could feel his connection with me, but I began drinking and started using drugs and, to make matters worse, got into a marriage that went from bad to a disaster taking me along with it.
Some time went by and I was in my late twenties. I began to notice something about my mother had changed. Please understand that my mother had always been a Godly woman. She led many, many people to the Lord, but I could tell something was different about her. I asked her about what had changed and she asked me to go with her to an Assembly of God Church that she was attending.
I took her up on her invitation and I witnessed the gifts of “Prophesy and Tongues and Interpretation” at work, and though this whole thing was extremely strange to me, some of those messages were just as if someone was, as they say, “reading my mail” and spoke to my heart. In other words the word that people were speaking in English was like someone was talking to me with knowledge of what was going on in my life. At first I thought my mother had revealed my personal life to the members of the church. However, I later discovered that was not so.
I continued to attend the church, as my curiosity was sparked, and I began to learn about the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit”. The more I studied the bible about this gift the more I wanted it, so one night as I went forward to the altar, I asked the Lord to fill me, and, guess what… nothing happened. So I went back the next Sunday night, and the night after that and the night after that and on and on for months and nothing happened. Now you can imagine–I began to think all kinds of things must be wrong with me as, others were receiving this gift but I couldn’t.
However, one night after a meeting, I went home and I read an article on faith and it so touched me that I said “I know that this is a gift, just like salvation”, so if I asked the Lord for it, I must have it.”
With that in mind I knelt in my front room and said, “Lord, I know I have this gift because I have asked for it and I know that if this is a “Gift” I must have it. So I am just going to give my tongue to you and I’ll say whatever comes out of my mouth, even if it sounds like gibberish. You see you can’t speak in your native tongue and speak in an unknown language at the same time. You have to release your tongue to God so he can put the words in you mouth. Now I know this sounds strange and it is difficult for some to do this. Mainly those people who have a strong intellect. That was my problem. I couldn’t get out of my intellect and just, by faith, open my mouth and say what was going to come out. I have experienced this so I know this is truth.
So guess what happened? At first it sounded like gibberish to me, but then something wonderful happened. I began speaking in what sounded like a Chinese or Asian language. I was astounded and filled with a joy and sense of peace that I had never experienced before.
However, guess who showed up… Satan. Not so as I could see him, but in my mind I heard these words very clearly. “What you are doing is from the Devil”. Now isn’t that just like him? He is a master deceiver and a liar. Here I was filled with a joy and peace that I had not experienced before and I knew that Satan doesn’t give you that kind of peace, so I prayed and said “Lord, I am going to trust you and continue to pray in this language, but I ask you to please confirm that this if from you.” So for several months I continued to pray and speak in this language.
Later, I discovered that the language I was speaking at that time was an Asian or a Taiwan dialect, because I ended up speaking in that language with a missionary one day as we were both praying. I was praying in this language ( I felt the “urge” to do so) and she began to rejoice and praise the Lord. Now I didn’t know what was going on and she explained it to me. You see, she was on her way to Taiwan and she was praying and asking the Lord to confirm to her what she was to do when she arrived there.
What had happened was that I gave her, what I have since learned, was a prophetic word from the Lord in a language I didn’t understand, and which sounded like nothing I had ever heard before, except when I was praying “in the Spirit”. I didn’t even know what I was saying, I was just praying in my heavenly language. So what I said to her, in this unknown language, were the directions she was seeking, to know what she was to do when she arrived in Taiwan!
You see I was just a Southern Baptist young man that God was calling back to Him and ended up in an Assembly of God Church. You get the picture, right?
Remember that I stated that if I can’t verify something that is happening in my life and if I can’t prove it beyond a shadow of doubt with scripture I won’t accept it. Therefore I am going to document all that I put in this article with scripture.
WAS THIS JUST FOR THE TIME OF THE FIRST BODY?
Some will say, “It’s not for our time it was just for that era” Then how do you explain Simon Peter’s speech in the book of Acts as quoted below.
Acts 2:38 – Acts 2:39 (NKJV) Then Peter said to them. “Repent, and let every one 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.”
IS RECEIVING THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT SEPARATE FROM RECEIVING JESUS AS SAVIOR?
Acts I9:I – Acts I9:7(NKJV) “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples he said to them,“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed”? So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all.
The important thing to notice in the above verse is the question was asked by the Apostle Paul, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” So these people were already “Believers in Christ”.
WHAT DID JESUS AND THE APOSTLES HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS AND WHAT DID HE SAY WAS THE PURPOSE?
Acts I: 4 – Acts I: 8 (NKJV) 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which, He said: “you have heard from Me”, “For John truly baptized with water, there is one that will come and He will baptize with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel”? And He said to them: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”.
Now, if this was for only that time did they go “to the end of the earth”? I think not, because Jesus said that the Word of God would be preached to every “nation”. Really nation is not the correct word in the Greek. It is “ethnos” which means every ethnic group. This being the case I believe we are very, very close to the reappearing of our Messiah and we should be doing everything possible to “make ourselves ready”.
John 7:37 – John 7:39(NKJV) “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me. as the Scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water,” but this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”.
Jesus said: Matthew I2:30 – Matthew I2:32(NKJV) “He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. “Therefore I say unto to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. but that blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven men.” “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the one to come”.
For your own sake, if you don’t accept this as being true or you don’t want this gift that’s OK with me. But, for your sake, please don’t go around saying that this is from Satan, because calling what is of God and saying it is from the devil is blasphemy.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE IS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BEGINS TO MINISTER IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS WORD OF THE LORD?
Acts 8:4 – Acts 8:8(NKJV) “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city”.
I want to share just a few of the things I have personally experienced over the years by being “Baptized in the Spirit” and receiving my heavenly language.
1. It has given me power in my life that I never had before i.e. power to deliver me from bad habits that I couldn’t do on my own.
2. Power to pray for others and see them healed. Power to pray to God for either my self or someone else when I am not sure how to pray, because I know that the Holy Spirit knows what needs to be said and done.
Rom 8:27 “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God”.
3. The ability to praise God as never before. As Paul states:
1Corinthians 11:3 “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God will say the Jesus is accursed: in fact no man can really say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost”.
4. An intimacy with God that I have never experienced before.
5. One of the most important aspects of this gift is that it opens the door for one to move in the other gifts i.e. Prophesy, Interpretation of a word from the Lord, the gift of healing and the gift of the Word of Knowledge. At first I didn’t know anything about this gift, but I was using this gift while working with people in counseling as the Lord would reveal things to me about the person I was ministering to that I could not have known without a supernatural revelation, as I have never met them before. There is not sufficient space here to go into detail. If you want to know more please contact me and I will provide more information regarding this wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father.
I would like to share some of the things I have discovered along the way and as I have studied the scriptures.
1. Not receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit does not mean that one is not “saved.”
2. Not receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit does not mean that one cannot do good works, ministry etc. There are many good ministers and people of God that have good ministries. God will always meet you where you are and work through you. What I have personally observed is that there is a greater power that God wants to give us who have believed so that we can minister to an unbelieving and dying world, as Jesus said:
John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father”.
3. Not receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit does not mean that one who has received it is a better Christian than one who has not received, they just have the opportunity, if one applies themselves and is willing to learn how to use this gift as intended, it gives them more access to the power of God. After all, I am just quoting what Jesus said:
Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high”.
4. When a person is “saved”, they do receive a portion of the Holy Spirit. I know this, because when I accepted Jesus as my Messiah, I had the Holy Spirit in my life to a degree; but when I received the gift of the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” I entered into a whole new “realm of the workings of the Spirit”.
MISUNDERSTANDING AND ABUSE
In my opinion, there has not been any gift from God that has been more abused and used for personal gain that this one.
I have seen people try to force it on others–to say that they were not saved if they didn’t have this gift as well as people getting into pride and abusing their gift and the attending gifts of the Spirit. However, I encourage you, not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Now, I will say there are times that a person will act differently or strangely, because they are yielding to the supernatural power of God and are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, (this is not a “trance” as God does not take away your free will) and please don’t equate this with “Channeling a this practice is satanic.)
Our Heavenly Father will never override your free will. Additionally, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and only moves as we yield to Him. If you want an example of how the Holy Spirit works, just read the book of Acts with fresh insight. You will read about what happened when those who tarried in the upper room and those that witnessed them when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were speaking languages they did not understand and it appeared that they were intoxicated (Acts: 2:1-12). Also, It does take some time to learn how to move in the Spirit, as Paul admonished the Corinthians, that “all things be done decently and in order”. I have heard so much criticism of this gift from the Lord as Satan hates it, because he knows that if you will begin to move “proficiently” in the “Gifts of the Spirit” you will become a tremendous threat to his kingdom.
It is really sad to see that so many churches are getting away from sound doctrine and not teaching on foundational principals about the things of God. Many have become what has been termed “Seeker friendly.” By that I mean some churches don’t minister in the gifts of the Spirit anymore, and more than that, some don’t even want to teach or preach about the “Blood of Jesus” and other basic teachings because they don’t want to “offend” anyone. I would rather take a chance of offending a person than being disobedient to my Heavenly Father.
I hope this article has been informative and I you want more information please email a request and I will see that you get some materials on this subject or respond to any questions you may have.
May our Heavenly Father bless you and I pray that He will enlighten you and quicken this word to you. If you have questions or want more information, please use the web site message tool to contact me.
Larry Asbill
Minister of the “Good News” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Messiah
