spiritsministry-tonguesandprophecy

8/6/2019 spiritsministry-tonguesandprophecy

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Copyright Like The Master Ministries. All Rights Reserved.Spirits Ministry: Tongues and Prophecy

www.neverthirsty.org

The Spirits Ministry -Tongues and Prophecy

Scripture taken rom the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE,

Copyright The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

The aith which is in Christ, by which He has proclaimed the way o righteous-

ness has sprung up in the desert, and the streams o the Holy Spirit in a dry land,

to give water to the elect people o God . . .

Irenaeus (A.D. 120-202)

Irenaeus Against Heresies

Book 5, Chapter 33

ohn alahan


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2Spirits Ministry: Tongues and Prophecy


Look careully into the Scriptures, which are the true utterances o the Holy Spirit. Observe

that nothing o an unjust or countereit character is written in them.

Clement (A.D. 30-100)

First Epistle o Clement To

The Corinthians, Chap. 45

But ye, being ull o the Holy Spirit, do nothing according to the fesh, but all things according

to the Spirit.

Ignatius (A.D. 30-107)

First Epistle To The

Ephesians, Chap. 9

And the Holy Spirit o prophecy taught us this, telling us by Moses that God spoke thus to the

man rst created . . .

Justin Martyr (A.D. 110-165)

First Apology o Justin

Martyr, Chap. 44


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D wight L Moody, evangelist and preacher (A.D.1837-1899), was preaching one day and lited anempty glass. Tell me, he said, How can I get the air out o

this glass? One man answered, Suck it out with a pump.

Moody replied, That would create a vacuum and shatter

the glass. Ater many suggestions, Moody smiled, picked

up a pitcher o water, and illed the glass with water. There,

he said, all the air is now removed. Then he went on to

explain that victory in the Christian lie is not by suck-

ing out a sin here and there, but rather by being illed

with the Spirit. Some teach that being illed with the Holy

Spirit results in a Christian spontaneously speaking in an

unknown language. This is reerred to as tongues among

Christians. Others believe the illing o the Holy Spirit will

result in miraculous healings and prophecy.

Confusion oday. here is a lot o conusion today

about the ministry o the oly pirit ome are not sure

what the oly pirit does or i we should even have any

thing to do with the oly pirit ome believe that all othe spiritual gits o the oly pirit are occurring today and

others do not hat means some believe that all the spiri

tual gits are active today partial list o the spiritual gits

includes teaching mercy giving administration tongues

healing and prophecy ome advocates present scriptures to

prove their point and others reer to an experience t is

common or believers to change their viewpoint and then

change churches over the issue ome are not sure what to

believe hat is the truth hat does the ible teach hy

is there conusion

ndirectly the apostle eter told us why there is such con

usion about this subject when he said the ollowing about

the apostle aul

. . . just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the

wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speak-

ing in them of these things, in which are some things hard to

understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do

also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (NASB)

2 Peter 3:15-16

eter said plainly that there are some truths in scripture

which are hard to understand ven the apostle eter was

struggling to understand some o the truths about which

aul wrote ere are ible study guidelines that need to be

ollowed to help us understand the ible e study ow

to tudy the ible provides an introduction ome people

are not interested in studying the ible to discover the truth

ey want someone to tell them thers only want to check

and see i that is what have been taught ew are unwill

ing to ask s it possible that maybe just maybe scripture

does not really teach what believe

Apostles & Doctrinal Error. he waters o doctrinal

error were lowing while the apostles were still alive uch

o the New estament was written to combat alse teach

ing here were alse teachings about esus the oly piritsalvation by aith the church and the prophetic uture to

name a ew ter the apostles died the lood gates opened

wider he apostles were no longer present to counter the

errors False teachings about esus the trinity salvation the

uture and the oly pirit washed upon the church in suc

cessive waves

ome o the major errors included ontanism ( 70)

ollowed by abellianism ( ) rianism ( 3)

and acedonianism ( 38) n ontanus

claimed that the charismatic gits given by the oly pirit

had been restored e claimed that he spoke or the oly

pirit and that he was a prophet e declared that the end

o the world was near is teachings did not conorm to

the criptures according to the early church athers e was

anatically legalistic and committed to asceticism e called

his ollowers the spiritual hristians e early church bish

ops and synods eventually declared him to be a alse teacher

Introduction


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and rejected his teaching calling him a heretic

e early church also denounced abellianism because it

claimed that od was not a trinity e ollowers believed

od was like an actor who played the Father the on and

the oly pirit on diferent occasions is view had a large

ollowing within the hristian church; yet they were wrong

e unsettling reality is that thousands o people can believe

something is true and still be wrong! ow many believe

something to be true does not make it true s a result they

believed heresy and taught heresy

e teaching o rianism agreed that the on o od and

od the oly pirit were persons but taught that both were

created beings is is contrary to the teaching o the ible

e ollowers also believed the oly pirit was created by

hrist ey were wrong e ood waters o doctrinal errorwere owing!

very alse teaching has had its ollowers very alse

doctrine must have a group o ollowers in order or it to

be accepted and prolierate at occurred in ev 93

n that passage the oly pirit tells us that a alse teacher

a prophetess had a ollowing od warned both the alse

teacher and those who willingly ollowed her that judgment

was coming unless they stopped od held both the teacher

and the ollowers responsible

Common Hearts. ome years ago a pastor told his

riend that he was convinced his riend was a hristian even

though he did not speak in tongues he pastor had observed

his riends lie spent time with the man and knew that

he loved esus he riend did not know that he was being

evaluated hese two men were wonderul riends heir

two amilies had been together on many occasions caring

or one anothers children and on occasions discussing their

dierent views hile they disagreed about several theo

logical issues they spent time together prayed together ate

many meals together and supported each other hey were

riends his study is presented in that same spirit

THE GOAL. e goal o this study is to explore the teach

ing o scripture regarding the ministry o the oly pirit

e will ocus on the spiritual gits o tongues and prophecy

ur goal is to be objective to be balanced and to seek truth

is study started with the authors willingness to reevaluate

what he believed and ask ave been wrong is study

is or those who honestly want to explore the teaching o

scripture about the ministry o the oly pirit tongues and

prophecy is study is not or those who are looking orsomeone to agree with them

ere are many viewpoints among nonpentecostal en

tecostal charismatic and noncharismatic denominations

regarding this subject None o the groups ully agree with

each other or among themselves because as the apostle eter

said some things are hard to understand o some will

disagree with the conclusions reached in this study because

the conclusions do not agree with what they already believe

thers will agree because they already believe the conclu

sions thers those searching or truth will explore the

study and maybe change their views hatever your con

clusion or your position is in the end we hope that you will

disagree only ater you have studied the scriptures yoursel

and know or yoursel why you disagree


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Who is the Holy Spirit?Scripture clearly states theHoly Spirit is God. One o the best proos that He isGod is ound in the book o Acts. In Acts 5:1-4 we are told

that a couple in the early church had sold some land they

owned, kept part o the money or themselves, had gone to

the church leadership, and claimed that they were donat-

ing all o the money. Apparently, they wanted to impress the

apostle Peter and the church. But it was a lie, and the apos-

tle Peter knew it. So he said,

Ananias, why has Satan fil led your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit,

and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained

unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it

not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this

deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. (NASB)

Acts 5:3-4

n this passage we want to notice that ) eter told nanias

that he had lied to the oly pirit and that ) he had lied tood eter makes it clear that the oly pirit is od

esus also taught that the oly pirit is od in atthew

3 when e told the ewish leaders that they had blas

phemed against the oly pirit

Terefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven

people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

(NASB) Matt. 12:31

lasphemy could only occur against od e ews had

claimed that the miracles perormed by the oly pirit

through esus were the works o atan at was blasphemy

esus quickly warned them and in the warning tells us that

the oly pirit is od oth esus and eter clearly teach

that the oly pirit is our eternal od

He Is A Person. he oly pirit is our loving od e

is a person and not a thing not a sterile power nor a orce

Holy Spirit - Before Pentecost

his act was revealed in an incident that occurred during

the early church when a man by the name o imon saw the

apostles eter and ohn bestowing the oly pirit on those

who believed or received the ord o od (cts 8)

imon had been using magic to impress the crowds and

desired another power so he asked the ollowing

. . . Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I

lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. (NASB) Acts 8:19

e wanted another magic trick and asked or it o eter

responded

. . . May your silver perish with you, because you thought you

could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or

portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

Terefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord

that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.

(NASB) Acts 8:20-22

e did not understand that the oly pirit is not a magical

power nor a orce e oly pirit is not a mystical magic

act e is od a person

ven is names imply that e is a person and is od e

is called the omorter the Living od the pirit o oli

ness and the pirit o ounsel and ight to name a ew

e pirit counsels us e comorts us e is living and is

not just inanimate material e pirit o od has emotion

a will and intelligence e is known as the pirit the oly

pirit the pirit o ruth and by many other names e

pirit is never reerred to as it but as e or im (ohn

7 ; ) cripture reveals that e has emotions

like us since e can be grieved (ph 30) and experiences

joy ( ess ) e gives gits as e desires ( or ;

eb ) and e speaks (cts 09) e is a person! e

is oly


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Ministry Before Jesus. he oly pirit appears in both

the ld and New estaments e was active in enesis

during the lie o esus during the times o the apostles

ater the apostles and e is active today

HOLY SPIRIT& CREATION. e oly pirit appears in the

rst two verses o the ible

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the

earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface

of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of

the waters. (NASB) Gen. 1:1-2

e was present and active during the creation cripture

says that esus hrist was also involved in the creation (ohn

3; ol ); eb ) oth o them were there terenesis scripture is silent about the oly pirit or

about 00 years e appears again in xodus 33 when

e enables a man ezalel to be a skilled cratsman on the

tabernacle is is the rst time in scripture that we are told

the oly pirit lled anyone et we know that the oly

pirit has been active since the day o creation motivating

men and women to believe in od therwise how would

Spirit of God

Spirit of the Lord

Spirit of Our GodSpirit

Spirit of Glory

Spirit of the Lord God

Matt. 3:16

Luke 4:18

1 Cor. 6:11Num. 11:25

1 Peter 4:14

Isa. 61:1

Spirit of Jesus

Spirit of Jesus Christ

Spirit of His SonSpirit of Counsel and Might

Spirit of the Living God

Spirit of Truth

Acts 16:7

Phil. 1:19

Gal. 4:6Isa. 11:2

2 Cor. 3:3

John 14:17

SpiritoHoliness

SpiritoGrace

SpiritoAdoptionSpiritoFaith

Comorter

Rom. 1:4

Heb. 10:29

Rom. 8:152 Cor. 4:13

John 14:26

Names of the Holy Spirit

they believe (ohn 8; or )

MOSES SEVENTY LEADERS. Later oses complained to

od that the burden o caring or the sraelites was too

great o od responded by ofering help seventy men to

help him lead the people

Te LORD therefore said to Moses, Gather for Me seventy men

from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the

people and their offi cers and bring them to the tent of meeting,

and let them take their stand there with you. Ten I will come

down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who

is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear

the burden of the people with you, so that you shall not bear it all

alone. (NASB) Num. 11:16-17

od told oses that e would take a portion o the pirit

rom oses and place im on the seventy men to enable

them to help oses ese men who believed in od needed

the special empowerment o the oly pirit ey were not

able to do their task correctly unless the pirit helped them

t is also clear that the pirit had been empowering oses

already even though scripture never records this act is

4000 B.C. 3000 B.C. 2000 B.C. 1000 B.C. 0 B.C.

ExodusNumbers

Judges

1 Samuel

Isaiah

Holy Spirits Ministry Upon People in the O.T.

Creation

These are specic events recorded in scripture . . .

1 & 2 Chronicles

Daniel

Gospels

Ezekiel


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suggests that other ld estament men and women may

have been empowered by the pirit on occasions but scrip

ture never records those events t is important to note that

we cannot make assumptions when scripture is silent

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD.

Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and sta-

tioned them around the tent. Ten the LORD came down in the

cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon

him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And it came about

that when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they

did not do it again. But two men had remained in the camp; the

name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And

the Spirit rested upon them . . . and they prophesied in the camp.

(NASB) Num. 11:24-26

is is a remarkable passage because we are told that ater

od took some o the oly pirit rom oses and placed

Holy Spirits Ministry in the Old Testament

SpiritoGodwasmovingoverthesuraceothewaters.

SpiritoGodflleda cratsmanwithwisdom,understanding,&knowledge.

SeventyprophesywhentheSpiritwasputonthem.Spirit comesonBalaamandhegivesaprophet'sblessing.

SpiritwasonJoshuawhowill replaceMoses.

SpiritotheLORD comesuponOthniel.

SpiritotheLORD "clothed" Gideon.

SpiritotheLORD causedJephthahtopassthroughGileadandManasseh.

SpiritotheLORDbegantostirinSamson.

SpiritotheLORDenablesSamsontotearaparta lion.

SpiritotheLORDhelpedSamsonkill thirtymen.

SpiritotheLORD cameuponSamsonsothattheropesdroppedo.

SpiritotheLORD cameuponSamuel mightily,andheprophesied.

SpiritotheLORDdepartedromSaul.SpiritoGod cameuponthemessengersoSaul,andtheyalsoprophesied.

SpiritotheLORDwasuponDavid.

HolySpiritwasupontheprophetIsaiah.

HolySpiritenteredEzekiel.

HolySpiritenteredEzekiel again.

ChaldeansdescribedtheHolySpiritasaspiritotheholygods.

SpiritotheLord cameuponAmasiandhespoke.

SpiritotheLord cameuponJahaziel andhespoke.

Gen. 1:2

Exodus 31:3

Num. 11:16-26 24:1-6

27:18

Judges 3:9-10

6:34

11:29

13:25

14:6

14:19

15:14

1 Sam. 10:6-10

16:13-1419:20-23

23:1

Isaiah 59:21

Ezek. 2:2

3:24

Daniel 5:11

1 Chron. 12:18

2Chron. 20:14

im on these men they prophesied e ebrew word or

prophesied is N t means to act like a prophet

e ewish scholar ilgrom says the ollowing about the

meaning o this word

It is not their speech that marked them as prophets but their

behaving in recognizable patterns by which true prophets can be

distinguished from pretenders. (Milgram, Jacob. Numbers. JPS

orah Commentary. Jewish Publication Society, 1990.)

ese men acted like prophets and spoke a word or od

t is important to notice that the seventy men did not con

tinue prophesying during their ministry because scripture

simply states they did not do it again (Numbers )

he oly pirit was not continually upon these men eebrew is clear it was a one time event ey had proph

esied as an indication that ods blessing was upon them

or the ministry e had given them


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HOLY SPIRIT &AN UNBELIEVER. e oly pirit appears

once again in Numbers

When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he

did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set his face

toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw

Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon

him. And he took up his discourse and said, Te oracle of

Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is

opened; Te oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who sees

the vision of the Almighty . . . (NASB) Num. 24:1-4

e literal ebrew says that as alaam lited his eyes to see

the sraelites the oly pirit came upon him and then

alaam gave a prophets blessing et the New estamentsays that alaam was a alse prophet in eter and ev

elation is implies that the pirit briey came upon

or inuenced alaam in order to control the blessing that

he gave e alse prophet was not a ollower o od e

ministry o the pirit resulted in prophetic predictions and a

blessing upon srael lready we can conclude that the oly

pirit was continually upon some men in the ld estament

such as oses; but that was not true or everyone including

alaam

HOLY SPIRIT & JOSHUA. ew chapters later we discover

that od commands oses to commission oshua as his

replacement

So the LORD said to Moses, ake Joshua the son of Nun, a man

in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; and have him

stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation,

and commission him in their sight. (NASB) Num. 27:18-19

e character o oshua was extraordinary e pirit isdescribed as being in him e ebrew word translated

as in can also mean at or with ereore we do not

know the nature o the empowerment o the pirit in osh

uas lie t is an error to conclude anything rom the nglish

translation ut again we discover that the pirit is minister

ing through men in the ld estament

HOLY SPIRIT & JUDGES. roughout the book o udges

we nd the oly pirit is very active e came upon thn

iel (udges 390) ideon (udges 3) ephthah (udges

9) and amson (udges 3; 9; ) to enable

each one to do something diferent and uniquely beyond

his capability thniel was enabled to lead srael ideon

was clothed by the pirit to lead the biezrites into battle

is implies a special empowerment e oly pirit guided

ephthah and amson or a variety o activities e ministry

o the oly pirit to each one was diferent t is important

to note that scripture does not indicate that they prophesied

or were lled with the pirit cripture is silent n the book

o udges the ministry o the pirit took the orm o giving

supernatural abilities to judge to provide wisdom to exer

cise great leadership and to perorm exceptional eats at

was allHOLYSPIRIT& SAULAND DAVID. n the book o amuel

we discover that when the oly pirit came on amuel (

am 00; 3) e also came upon some messen

gers o aul ( am 903) as well as avid ( am

3) e pirit came upon aul in amuel 0 when he

was made king and departed rom him in am ater

he was rejected rom being king

ing avid begged od in salm not to take the

oly pirit rom him ater he had sinned against od by

committing adultery with athsheba ing avid under

stood that od could remove the oly pirit rom him e

oly pirit did not come upon ld estament believers and

remain o avid begged od to not remove the oly pirit

rom him e oly pirit came upon people but e did

not remain with them in the ld estament era

nce again we discover that the oly pirit was some

times upon a person in the ld estament era or a period o

time and e was upon other individuals only briey hat

is the message e oly pirit was active in the lives omen; as one result some o these men are highly honored

today

HOLY SPIRIT& PROPHETS. e oly pirit was also upon

the prophets saiah (sa 9) zekiel (zek ; 3)

and aniel (an ) n each passage we discover that the

oly pirit spoke through each prophet


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As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the LORD: My

Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your

mouth shall not depart from your mouth . . . (NASB) Is. 59:21

As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet;

and I heard Him speaking to me. (NASB) Ezek. 2:2

Tere is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the

holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight

and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him.

And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king,

appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and

diviners. (NASB) Daniel 5:11

n the book o aniel we discover that the haldeansdescribed aniel as having a spirit o the gods upon him

is does not appear to be aniels spirit but the oly pirit

o od empowering and enabling him

HOLY SPIRIT & CHRONICLES. hen we come to and

hronicles we arrive at the last book in the ewish ible the

anakh that mentions the pirit coming upon or anoint

ing anyone e person mentioned in the ewish scriptures

upon whom the pirit came was ahaziel

Ten in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came

upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah . . . and he said, Listen, all

Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusa lem and King Jehoshaphat:

thus says the LORD to you, Do not fear or be dismayed because

of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but Gods.

(NASB) 2 Chronicles 20:14-15

SUMMARY. e have covered several thousand years since

the ministry o the oly pirit started at the beginning o

creation e have discovered that gaps exist between therecorded events o the oly pirits special empowerment

o people ountless centuries occurred between the cre

ation and the rst recorded empowerment o a cratsman

(x 33) oses and oses seventy men alaam and

oshua en approximately 00 years occurred beore

scripture records that the oly pirit empowered thniel

ideon ephthah and amson in the book o udges bout

00 years elapsed beore we are told that the oly pirit

came upon ing aul and ing avid e next recorded

empowerment by the pirit is written in saiah about 0 to

00 years later nother 00 years occurs beore we are told

that zekiel and aniel are empowered e next recorded

empowerment in hronicles is another 00 years later en

a 00 year gap occurs beore the New estament tells us that

the oly pirit empowers Zacharius (Luke 7) lizabeth

(Luke ) ary (Luke 3) ohn the aptist (Luke )

imeon (Luke ) and esus e message here is that

the special empowerment o the oly pirit occurred only

occasionally t was not an every day event

et we know that the oly pirit was actively helping

people believe in od and understand (Neh 90; rov

3) omans 7 and omans tell us that braham believed in od and as a result obtained eternal lie

ohn 8 and orinthians remind us that even

the ld estament saints needed the oly pirit to convict

them o sin help them understand divine truth and believe

in od

eter tells us that the prophets were moved by

the oly pirit to write scripture et we are not told in

each book o the ld estament that the oly pirit was an

author in addition to the human author t becomes clear

that the oly pirit has always been active e ollowing

passage is one reminder that all sixtysix books o the ld

estament scriptures were written by the oly pirit

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace

that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries,

seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within

them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and

the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not

serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have beenannounced to you through those who preached the gospel to you

by the Holy Spirit sent from heaventhings into which angels

long to look. (NASB) 1 Peter 1:10-12

e oly pirit was active in the lie o each author o the

ld estament scriptures since every part o scripture is

inspired by od ( im 3)


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n summary

the oly pirit

was active

t h r o u g h o u t

the ld esta

ment giving

people aith in

order to believe

in od e

oly pirit

also wrote the

ld estament

through the

prophets over a

period o 00years ut it is the special empowerment o the oly pirit

that is recorded in the ld estament scriptures t was not

an every day event

eore we move on it is important to remember that the

oly pirit empowered those who ollowed od such as

oses and those who did not ollow od such as alaam

the alse prophet e discovered that the oly pirit min

isters in a variety o ways guiding empowering and giving

wisdom rophesying was mentioned only once Not every

one the pirit came upon prophesied

Ministry o Jesus. hen we come to the New esta

ment we ind that the oly pirit was very active during

esus ministry helping im perorm miracles and cast out

demons n act esus entire ministry was empowered by the

pirit starting with is birth e are told in Luke that

the oly pirit led esus into the wilderness to be tempted by

atan hen atan had inished e led esus back to alilee

hen esus went to a synagogue in Nazareth where e read

rom saiah

which

said that the

oly pirit

would be upon

esus he

e had in

ished reading

the passage

esus declared

that the proph

ecy had been

ulilled he

oly pirit

e m p o w e r e desus throughout is ministry esus died and returned to

lie by the power o the oly pirit t is amazing to discover

that esus also had joy by the oly pirit (Luke 0) he

oly pirit empowered esus because esus lived is lie and

died as a human being even though e was od and did

not sin

Summary. his is an exciting truth because it reveals

that esus took on human lesh and became a human e

lived is lie as you and would except that e was od

and did not sin e could not sin hile e lived on this

earth e depended on the power o the oly pirit to do

the ministry his is a glimpse o how a hristian can live

his/her lie now very hristian should live in total depen

dence on the oly pirit e will see later in the study that

the result will be empowerment by the oly pirit or daily

living esus is our example o how to walk in the oly pirit

(or to be illed with the pirit)

Holy Spirits Ministry to Jesus Christ

BornbytheHolySpirit

HolySpiritdescendedonJesusatHisbaptism.

LedbytheSpiritintothewildernesstobetempted

ReturnedtoGalileeinthepowerotheSpirit

"TheSpiritotheLordisuponME..."

HerejoicedgreatlyintheHolySpirit.

Gaveorders tothedisciplesbytheHolySpirit

MinistryperormedinthepowerotheSpirit.

AnointedwiththeHolySpirit

OeredHimsel-died-bytheSpirit.

Returnedto liebytheHolySpirit

Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35

Luke3:22

Luke4:1

Luke4:14

Luke4:18

Luke 10:21

Acts 1:2

Acts2:22

Acts 10:38

Heb.9:14

1 Pet.3:18


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H oly Spirit Arrives.We have already discovered thatthe Holy Spirit was active on this earth rom the cre-ation to the time o Jesus ministry. Yet in John 14:26, Jesus

told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, the Helper, would not

come until ater He returned to heaven.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My

name, He will teach you al l things, and bring to your remem-

brance all that I said to you. (NASB) John 14:26

esus reminded them the oly pirit would come on at least

three other occasions in ohn

and 7 and in Luke

9

When the Helper comes,

whom I will send to you from

the Father, that is the Spirit of

truth, who proceeds from theFather, He will bear witness of

Me, (NASB) John 15:26

But I tell you the truth, it is to

your advantage that I go away;

for if I do not go away, the

Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

(NASB) John 16:7

. . . And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father

upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed

with power from on high. (NASB) Luke 24:49

esus told the disciples that both e and the Father would

send the elper the oly pirit but only ater e returned

to heaven e book o phesians helps us understand that

when esus spoke o the promise o y Father e was

Holy Spirit - After Pentecost

reerring to the oly pirit

. . . In Him, you also, af ter listening to the message of truth, the

gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in

Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of

our inheritance . . . (NASB) Ephesians 1:13-14

cts 33; alatians 3; and phesians 3 also reer to

the oly pirit the promise n act phesians calls im

the oly pirit o romise e oly pirit was the rom

ised ne!

esus and the Father had

made a promise o some

thing that would occur in the

uture is great promise is

recorded in eremiah 33

3 (eb 873) e prom

ise is also predicted in oel

83 and eter remindshis audience o the promise

on the day o entecost (cts

33) ater he was lled with

the oly pirit and spoke in

tongues (cts 3)

ut what did esus mean that the oly pirit would be

coming i in act e had already been here since the cre

ation e discovered in our overview o the oly pirits

activity in the ld estament that the oly pirit did not

live within a man or woman continuously ater they believed

in od e discovered that the oly pirit let ing aul

and ing avid begged that the oly pirit would not leave

eore entecost the oly pirit never remained within a

believer a saint until he physically died

ut ater entecost the oly pirit would enter a believer

at the point o salvation and remain uring a assover Feast

in erusalem esus explained that the oly pirit would only


12/36



enter those who believed in im en esus added that the

pirit had not yet come

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and

cried out, saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and

drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his

innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this He

spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to

receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet

glorified. (NASB) John 7:37-39

o what did esus mean that the oly pirit had not yet

come i e had already been here since the creation

esus was telling is audience that the oly pirit would

live permanently in a person at is why rivers o living water would ow rom their insides ey would never

thirst again! t entecost the oly pirit came in a unique

and unusual way e came and started living inside those

who believe in esus hrist t this time the apostles experi

enced the power o the oly pirit

Pentecost. ter esus ascended into heaven (cts 9

) the promised oly pirit arrived

And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together

in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like

a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they

were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire dis-

tributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And

they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with

other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (NASB)

Acts 2:1-4

e oly pirit came like a wind and they were lled with

the oly pirit and they began to speak with other tonguesas the oly pirit gave them utterance e reek words

used or other tongues are L e

actual nglish meaning is diferent languages; that is they

spoke in diferent tongues e meaning o is

other o a diferent kind e should note that another

reek word LL means other o the same kind

e word L can reer to the physical tongue

but it usually reers to language or speech ereore the

phrase other tongues literally means diferent languages

or oreign languages e reaction o the crowd in cts

indicates that the apostles were speaking multiple oreign

languages all at the same time when a multitude o olks

rom arthia edia lam and esopotamia heard the

message in their own language

And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and

were bewildered, because they were each one hearing them speak

in his own language, (NASB) Acts 2:6

hat is really amazing is that all o the apostles were talking

t is described as sound yet they each heard the message

in his/her own language t is an error to emphasize soundand dismiss hearing them speak in his own language e

point is that they understood the apostles

en eter preached a sermon (cts 3) uring his

sermon he told the crowd that the promise o the Father

had arrived

Terefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and

having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,

He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. (NASB)

Acts 2:33

eter added that the presence o the oly pirit was obvi

ous by the act the apostles were speaking in tongues Five

verses later he promised that anyone who had believed could

receive the oly pirit by repenting and being baptized

(cts 38)

Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the

name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you willreceive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NASB) Acts 2:38

lease note that some teach that this verse implies one must

have water baptism in order to be saved ut we will discover

later in the section titled aul Lays ands cts 0

that water baptism does not save anyone cts 37 reveals

that those to whom eter made this promise had believed


13/36



already e article aptism and alvation will provide

urther inormation

Spirits New Ministry. he oly pirit had inally

arrived and is ministry to those who believed in od

began a new era e started living inside o believers until

they physically died his starts when the oly pirit places

us into the body o hrist ( orinthians 3) cripture

calls it the baptism o the pirit

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether

Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to

drink of one Spirit. (NASB) 1 Cor. 12:13

orinthians indicates that the pirit lives within

hristians as the proo that eachbeliever will spend eternity with

im

Now He who establishes us with you

in Christ and anointed us is God, who

also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in

our hearts as a pledge. (NASB) 2 Cor.

1:21-22

phesians 3 indicates that the pres

ence o the oly pirit in our lives

also indicates that od owns us and

has secured us or eternity

. . . listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation

- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy

Spirit of promise . . . (NASB) Eph. 1:13

phesians 30 repeats the thought that the oly pirit willlive inside us until we go to heaven is did not happen

beore entecost

Now the oly pirit teaches us ( orinthians )

helps us to pray (omans 83) and convicts us o sin ( ohn

8) e oly pirit also empowers us to live the hristian

lie to ollow im and serve others

. . . to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner

man . . . (NASB) Eph. 3:16

ow does the pirit do this is is the ocus o the rest o

this study

Acts - Being Filled. he empowerment ministry o

the oly pirit is described in several ways in the book o

cts by our key words illed receive baptized and

ell upon e will start with the concept o the oly pirit

illing a ollower o esus hrist

APOSTLES WERE FILLED - ACTS 2:4. e rst time the

oly pirit lled anyone in the New estament occurred in

cts and the apostles spoke in tongues

And they were all filled with the Holy

Spirit and began to speak with other

tongues, as the Spirit was giving them

utterance. (NASB) Acts 2:4

e reek word or lled is the

aorist orm o L which

means to cause something to be

completely ull is means that the

oly pirit completely lled them

t is important to notice the oly

pirit was in absolute control o the

words they spoke e oly pirit

took complete control o them and

spoke through them is lling o

the pirit resulted in the ministry o the ord o od to the

crowd just as it apparently occurred with oses seventy

leaders ongues were used to communicate the message to

those speaking various languages

PETERPREACHESA SERMON- ACTS 4:8. e next time theoly pirit lled someone occurred in cts 8 when the

apostle eter preached a sermon (cts 8) n the previ

ous day beore preaching a sermon eter had healed a man

who could not walk e ewish religious leaders did not

like the ministry o eter and ohn and consequently had

them brought to the anhedrin ouncil (cts ) eter

responded by preaching a message under the inuence o the
http://www.neverthirsty.org/pp/otherbiblestudies/baptismandsalvation/baptism1.htmlhttp://www.neverthirsty.org/pp/otherbiblestudies/baptismandsalvation/baptism1.html


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oly pirit e was lled with the oly pirit

e ible does not state whether eter spoke in tongues

or not but it is clear that the oly pirit supernaturally

enabled him to preach ter a brie discussion by the mem

bers o the anhedrin ouncil eter and ohn were ordered

not to speak about esus; but they reused to obey onse

quently they were threatened and released n response the

early hristians prayed or boldness to continue speaking

the ord o od

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered

together was shaken, and they were al l filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak the word of God with boldness. (NASB) Acts

4:31

nce again the lling o the oly pirit resulted in hris

tians speaking the ord o od this time with boldness

STEPHEN, THE MARTYR- ACTS 7:55. tephen was the rst

martyr recorded in the New estament is martyrdom

started when some men o the ynagogue o the Freedmen

including both yrenians and lexandrians and some rom

ilicia and sia started arguing with tephen (cts 9)

e are told that tephen was speaking under the inuence

o the oly pirit (cts 0) and the men could not win

the discussion s a result they plotted his murder and suc

ceeded (cts 7) hen tephen was asked by the igh

riest i the slanderous reports were true tephen preached a

sermon while lled with the oly pirit (cts 7)

But being full of the Holy Spirit . . . (NASB) Acts 7:55

nce again we see that the lling o the pirit resulted in

individuals speaking the ord o od and speaking it with

boldnessPAULS CONVERSION - ACTS 9:17. e third time the book

o cts records that the oly pirit lled someone is in cts

97 when

. . . 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 be filled with the Holy Spirit. And

immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he

regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized . . . (NASB)

Acts 9:17-18

Notice that even though aul had already believed in esus

hrist he had not been lled with the oly pirit cts

8 indicates that aul already knew that the orgiveness o

sins was by aith and only aith esus had told him already

et aul was not lled with the oly pirit until nanias

arrived e lling o the oly pirit occurred ater he was

saved that is orgiven his sins is is called salvation

PAUL & BAR-JESUS- ACTS 13:9. everal chapters later we

are told that the apostle aul had to conront a man called

aresus aresus was a magician and alse prophet whowas trying to prevent aul rom telling a politician ergius

aulus the good news about esus hrist News in those

days was most oten communicated orally and not by the

New ork imes ergius aulus was a oman proconsul

an important oman o cial onsequently aul con

ronted aresus ere is the account

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,

fixed his gaze on him, and said, You who are full of a ll deceit and

fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will

you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? . . .

(NASB) Acts 13:9-10

hen aul spoke he was lled with the oly pirit ach

time that aul has spoken by the pirit tongues are never

mentioned et aul did speak in tongues according to

orinthians 8 is is a reminder that scripture does not

reveal everything that occurred in one place

PAULS & BARNABAS LIVES - ACTS 13:52. e last timethat the lling o the oly pirit is mentioned in the book

o cts occurs in chapter thirteen t occurs ater a conron

tation between aul and arnabas and some ewish leaders

ter aul and arnabas let the city o ntioch we are told

that aul and arnabas were lled with the oly pirit

And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the


15/36



Holy Spirit. (NASB) Acts 13:52

hat does it mean that they were continually lled with

the oly pirit e reek word or continually lled is

the imperect tense o L is implies an ongoing

condition ey were constantly joyul and the oly pirit

was constantly empowering them

SUMMARY. o ar we have discovered that the lling o the

oly pirit resulted in the apostles speaking in tongues on

one occasion and preaching o the good news about esus

on multiple occasions by the apostles eter and aul and the

martyr tephen hen these men were lled the oly pirit

empowered them with words and boldness e empower

ment to speak in tongues is never mentioned in the ld es

tament but empowerment or the ministry o the ord ood occurred with the seventy elders o oses

Acts - Other Empowerments.e have skipped some

other events in the book o cts in order to discover what

scripture was reerring to when it said that a person was illed

with the oly pirit Now we need to explore what scripture

means by receiving the oly pirit alling upon and

speaking in tongues

APOSTLESSPOKEIN TONGUES- ACTS 2:4.e have already

discovered that the apostles spoke in tongues when they were

lled with the oly pirit in cts

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak

with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

(NASB) Acts 2:4

is is the only time the New estament records that the

lling o the oly pirit included the speaking in tongues

n every other occasion the New estament reers to the

lling o the pirit and tongues separatelyPETER LAYS HANDS - ACTS 8:18. ur rst stop occurs in

cts 88 where we discover that eter and ohn had been

sent to the believers in amaria (cts 8) so that they

might receive the oly pirit at is the amaritan believ

ers had believed in esus hrist already (cts 8) had been

baptized in water already (cts 8) but they had not yet

received the oly pirit (cts 87) hen eter and ohn

arrived they laid hands on these believers

Ten they began laying their hands on them, and they were

receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit

was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles hands, he

offered them money, saying, Give this authority to me as well . .

. (NASB) Acts 8:17-19

curious magician imon saw this event and wanting

another magic trick asked to purchase the trick t is obvi

ous rom the passage that something visible happened when

the apostles laid hands on the new hristians; otherwise

imon would not have noticed anything e would not have

ofered money or the trick id the new believers speak

in tongues when they received the oly pirit or did theyprophesy as oses seventy leaders did e answer to the

question is unknown

PETER LAYS HANDS - ACTS 10:44. n cts 0 we

are told that eter went to aesarea and shared the good

news about esus to ornelius a odearing man and his

amily who were entiles e told them that everyone who

believes in im receives orgiveness o sins hile present

ing this good news eter was surprised when the oly pirit

was poured out upon them

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell

upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circum-

cised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the

gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting

God . . . (NASB) Acts 10:44-46

is was an amazing event e ewish believers who were

with eter did not expect the oly pirit to be poured outon the entiles ey thought that the oly pirit was only

or the ews e proo that the oly pirit was poured out

on the entiles was that they spoke in tongues e next two

verses are also important because they indicate that water

baptism is not necessary or salvation or to have ones sins

orgiven


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Ten Peter answered, Surely no one can refuse the water for

these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we

did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name

of Jesus Christ. Ten they asked him to stay on for a few days.

(NASB) Acts 10:47-48

Later eter will explain in cts 7 that these entiles

had already believed in esus hrist beore they spoke in

tongues is means that they were saved beore they spoke

in tongues and beore they were baptized in water eter is

clear and logical the oly pirit had already been poured

out on the entiles then that is proo they are hristians

already ( or 3 3; ph 3) cts 7 tells us

that the tongues the entiles experienced was identical to

what the apostles receivedt is important to notice that speaking in tongues does

not prove that a man or woman believes in esus hrist

ese entile believers believed in esus hrist but they did

not immediately speak in tongues at occurred ater they

believed

JOHNTHE BAPTISTS DISCIPLES - ACTS 19:6. e last time

in the book o cts that we are told the oly pirit came

upon or on someone occurs in cts 9 n cts 90

we are told that aul ound about twelve disciples o ohn

the aptist and asked them i they had received the oly

pirit when they believed (cts 9) ey answered No

o aul asked nto what then were you baptized ey

answered nto ohns baptism en aul said

. . . John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the

people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in

Jesus. (NASB) Acts 19:4

hen the men heard this they were baptized in water aullaid hands on them and they spoke in tongues and proph

esied

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the

Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the

Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues

and prophesying. (NASB) Acts 19:5-6

Notice that these men believed were baptized in water and

then spoke in tongues Faith came rst is is the second

time that we have seen water baptism and the empowerment

o the oly pirit ollow aith Faith always comes rst

SUMMARY. t is important to note that the lling o the

oly pirit resulted in men speaking in tongues on only

three recorded occasions in the book o cts at entecost

when some entiles believed and when twelve disciples o

ohn the aptist believed e amaritans may have proph

esied as oses seventy leaders did

ongues occurred at key transition points e apostles

were lled with the oly pirit and spoke in tongues at the

inception o their ministry in order to obtain power or min

istry at is why esus encouraged them to wait until theelper came e oly pirit helped them in their ministry

is occurred among the ews and a number o visitors in

erusalem

e book o cts states that ater the apostles had learned

that some amaritans had already believed in esus hrist

they sent eter and ohn to visit them and to lay hands on

them istory tells us that the ancient ews and amaritans

were not very riendly to one another e amaritans lived

north o udea and south o alilee is is the region in

which the woman at the well lived (ohn 738) the

amaritans spoke in tongues ater hands were laid on them

it would have been a sign to the apostles that salvation was

ofered to them too! (t is possible they prophesied as oses

seventy elders did)

ongues occurs a third time in the book o cts ater

some entiles believed in esus e apostles were surprised

onsequently a council was convened in erusalem to dis

cuss this important news (cts ) hy did the entiles

speak in tongues e answer is provided in the book oomans

For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ

has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the

Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in

the power of the Spir it . . .(NASB) Rom. 15:18-19


17/36



e empowerment o the oly pirit conrmed the apostles

good news about esus and their character

e last time that tongues occurs in cts is recorded in

cts 9 when some wandering disciples o ohn the aptist

believed in esus hrist e disciples had heard about the

coming essiah rom ohn the aptist but they did not

know that esus was the essiah

e know that speaking in tongues occurred on only

three recorded occasions in the book o cts at the begin

ning o the new ministry o the oly pirit ater some en

tiles believed in esus and ater some wandering disciples o

ohn the aptist believed ach time tongues conrmed the

message o the apostle and the salvation o the believer

ongues also occurred in the church in the city o orinth

as indicated throughout orinthians n that passageaul reveals that he also spoke in tongues ( or 8) e

apostle tells us that tongues are a sign to the unbelievers

So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to

unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to

those who believe. (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:22

ongues are a sign that the messenger and the message are

true and are rom od ebrews 3 cts 33 and

orinthians tell us that the power o the apostles (see

cts 30) conrmed the ministry o the apostles

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed

to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both

by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the

Holy Spirit according to His own will. (NASB) Heb. 2:3-4

And with great power the apostles were giving test imony to the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon

them all. (NASB) Acts 4:33

Te signs of a true apostle were performed among you with allperseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. (NASB) 2 Cor.

12:12

od has used miracles since the ld estament to

authenticate is message through is prophets ne ld

estament event occurred when lijah raised a widows son

( ings 7) n the New estament a crowd was amazed

A.D.30 A.D.40 A.D.50 A.D.65A.D.60

Acts 15

Jerusalem

Council

cts 18

Paul in

orinth

Acts 27

PaulsTrip

ToRome

Acts 11

Paul in

Antioch

35

Filled

Pentecost

Acts2:4

Filled

Paul Filled

Acts9:17-18

Filled

Paul atAntioch

Acts 13:9,52

Spoke in Tongues

GentilesActs 10:44

Spoke in Tongues

PentecostActs2:4

Filled

PeterPreaches

Acts4:8

Spoke in Tongues

or Prophesied (?)

SamaritansActs 8:18

Filled

StephenMartyred

Acts7:55

Acts 9

Pauls

onversion

Spoke in Tongues

JohnsDisciplesActs 19:6

1 Corinthians

Written

Ephesians

Written

Galatians

Written

Acts 10

Peter Visits

Cornelius

Romans

Written

Timeline of the Spirits Ministry - Filling, Tongues, and Related Scriptures

45 55


18/36



when esus healed a demonpossessed man (att

3) e people began to wonder i esus was the on o

avid n Luke 7 esus proo to ohn the aptist and his

disciples that e was the promised ne were is miracles

eter repeated that same message in cts ohn 030

3 is probably the most amiliar statement in the gospels

that od uses the miraculous to authenticate is messenger

and message

Terefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence

of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have

been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the

Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

(NASB) John 20:30-31

nce again od used the oly pirit to authenticate the

apostles as messengers and their message as divine

Summary. eore entecost the oly pirit did not live

within a believer e helped men and women believe in

od but empowerment or ministry appears to have been

isolated to individuals and was sometimes temporary he

ministry o the oly pirit at and ater entecost was unique

and dierent rom is ministry beore entecost

od the Father had promised that the oly pirit would

come in a new way to give believers new lie to satisy our

thirst or im like rivers o living water and to empower

us or spiritual living and ministry e visible result o the

empowerment o the oly pirit was the spread o the good

news about esus hrist through the ancient world and the

conversion o many resulting in their believing in esus

hrist

t entecost the rst display o the power o the oly

pirit occurred when the apostles were lled and spoke in

tongues ongues were recorded two more times in the book

o cts (cts 0; 9) or a total o three times and pos

sibly a ourth in cts 88 ose are the only occurrences

o tongues in the New estament except or orinthians

From a historical point o view the last recorded event

o tongues in the New estament occurred about one year

ater orinthians was written in about e oly

pirit had authenticated the ministry o the apostles and

the acceptance o the amaritans (they may have spoken in

tongues or prophesied) the entiles and anyone else whobelieved in esus

cripture teaches that when a person becomes a hristian

the oly pirit starts living within the believer e book o

cts has recorded occasions when believers were lled with

the oly pirit and did not speak in tongues cts 7 and

cts 3 indicated that tephen and arnabas were lled

with the oly pirit is implies that the lling o the oly

pirit was not limited to apostles t was or every believer

ach time the book o cts reers to the lling o the pirit

the result it that the good news about esus is shared and

spread except or cts 3 e will discover in the next

section o this study that the oly pirit empowers believers

in other ways e oly pirit is a elper at is why e

came!


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M oment of Salvation. At the moment a man or woman believes in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spiritinstantly perorms miraculous events in that persons lie.

One o the most important events is that He regenerates us

or gives us new lie.

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in

righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of

regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured

out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being

justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the

hope of eternal life (NASB) itus 3:5-7

is passage captures a lot o truth ere we are told that the

oly pirit not only regenerates us (gives us new lie) but

also justies us (declares us to be just) and ready or eternal

lie e are also told that the oly pirit is poured out

upon us richly that is true then every believer has the

oly pirit at the very moment o believing in esus hristere is no condition in this verse is is a statement o

act

s we have already discovered the oly pirit also secures

us or eternity e places a seal o ownership upon us

. . . listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation

- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy

Spirit of promise . . . (NASB) Eph. 1:13

e also places us into the body o esus hrist according to

orinthians 3

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether

Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to

drink of one Spirit. (NASB) 1 Cor. 12:13

is is not water baptism since the oly pirit is the one

perorming the action ome have stated that this passage

reers to an event that occurs ater one becomes a hristian

and one must ask or it ut this passage says that all are

baptized e reek word is N which means all

every whole at is no one is let out e oly pirit

enters the lie o each hristian at the moment he/she

believes at was esus promise in ohn 73839 at is

also the apostle auls teaching in itus 37 aul repeats

this truth in alatians when he says

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all

of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves

with Christ. (NASB) Gal. 3:26-27

Notice that every one who believes in esus is baptized into

esus or 3 says that every believer in esus hrist is

baptized into one body and alatians 37 and or

7 make it clear that that body is hrists body

Now you are Christs body, and individually members of it.

(NASB) 1 Cor. 12:27

ny man or woman who believes in esus hrist is spiri

tually baptized into hrists body ( or ) is occurs

when the oly pirit is poured out upon us when we believe

(itus 37) and not later

His Ministry Is Needed.et we need something more

es the oly pirit is living inside each genuine believer

but phesians 3 tells us that we need something more in

order to be strengthened

. . . that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,

to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner

man . . . (NASB) Eph. 3:16

at is we need the oly pirit to strengthen and empower

Holy Spirits Ministry Today


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every person who believes in esus hrist to live as od

desires

any years ago a man was standing next to an nglish

gentleman looking at the Niagara whirlpool rapids when he

turned to his riend and said ome and will show you

the greatest unused power in the world aking the nglish

gentleman to the oot o Niagara Falls a tremendously large

waterall he said ere is the greatest unused power in the

world! Not so! was the reply e greatest unused power

in the world is the oly pirit o the living od! at is the

truth ome hristians are attempting to live the hristian

lie without the power o the pirit

o how can we be empowered to live as od would want

us to live e answer is ound in alatians 3 and

phesians 7 alatians calls it walking in the piritand phesians calls it being lled with the pirit

Walking In he Spirit. od tells us that there is a great

beneit to walking in the pirit and there is a great problem

when we do not

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire

of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the

Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another,

so that you may not do the things that you please. (NASB) Gal.

5:16-17

od says that when we walk in the pirit we will not ulll

the desire o the esh al 9 tells us that the result is

sin i we do not walk in the pirit

Now the deeds of

the flesh are evident,

which are: immoral-

ity, impurity, sensual-ity, idolatry, sorcery,

enmities, strife,

jealousy, outbursts

of anger, disputes,

dissensions, factions,

envying, drunken-

ness, carousing, and

things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have fore-

warned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit

the kingdom of God. (NASB) Gal. 5:19-21

e deeds o the esh are evil ut the result o walking in

the pirit is the ruit o the oly pirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such

things there is no law. (NASB) Gal. 5:22-33

e ruit o the oly pirit in the lie o one who ollows

esus is spiritual growth towards holiness but the deeds o

the esh are evil ereore we should not be surprised that

there is a war between the esh and the oly piritFilled With he Spirit. ut how do we walk in the

pirit alking in the pirit involves a constant illing o

the oly pirit in our lives phesians 78 tells us how

that occurs

. . . but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get

drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the

Spirit . . . (NASB) Eph. 5:17-18

o be lled with the oly pirit means that the oly pirit

has complete control o us Notice ods illustration in ph

78 e commands us to not become drunk with wine

but to be drunk with the oly pirit o be drunk means

that wine has taken control o our senses at illustrates the

meaning o the reek word lled t means to make ull

complete t was

also used to reer to

someone who was

lled ull o oode will o od is

that we be lled ull

o the oly pirit or

controlled by im

hen we allow this

to happen we will

be


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. . . speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

always giving thanks for al l things in the name of our Lord Jesus

Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in

the fear of Christ. (NASB) Eph. 5:19-21

piritlled hristian will have joy in the heart thankul

ness and humility towards others or submission ese are

the marks o a piritlled hristian e passage does not

talk about any other spiritual experiences

Constant Filling Is Walking. o be illed is ods will

and to walk in the pirit has a great spiritual beneit a

lie increasingly illed with holiness o be constantly illed

with the pirit results in victory over sin peace and joy in

the heart and submission/humility towards others ut inorder to be illed with the pirit we must ask od to have

the oly pirit take control o us to ill us just as the

apostle aul prayed or the phesians ne must want im

to take over his/her lie t is also important to remember

that in order to continue being illed with or walking

in the pirit you must coness your sins to od the Father

every time you realize that you have sinned and ask the oly

pirit to take control o your lie again ne should also

spend as much time reading studying and meditating upon

the ible as he/she can his is what it means to live our lie

in the pirit o od he oly pirit changes lives gradually

gives us increasing victory over sin provides peace and joy in

our hearts and gives us a tremendous longing to know im

e will never be perect ven though you will still sin you

will see od at work

t is important to notice that neither alatians 3

nor phesians 7 describes anything out o the ordi

nary hat happens when the oly pirit takes control is

described in ph 9

. . . speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

always giving thanks for al l things in the name of our Lord Jesus

Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in

the fear of Christ. (NASB) Eph. 5:19-21

e last part o the passage reers to submission and the

oly pirit provides an example in verse wives submit

ting to husbands usbands will also love their wives (ph

) children will obey their parents (ph ) and ser

vants will cooperate with their employers (ph ) ese

are the deeds that result rom the ruit o the pirit (al

3) alatians 3 describes the result o a day

byday lling o the pirit that is walking in the pirit in

verses 3 and ph 7 describes the deeds o the

pirit

Evidence of the Spirit. ome years a alvary hapel

pastor told his congregation that he had been asked hat

is the evidence that have the oly pirit e responded

that the ruit o the pirit described in al 3 was the

most important evidence love joy peace patience kindness goodness aithulness gentleness selcontrol phe

sians 9 gives us a second list

piritual gits are supernatural abilities that the oly

pirit gives to each person who believes in and ollows esus

hrist ( or ) e supernatural abilities include such

things as teaching leading nancial giving speaking in

tongues healing and mercy or example wo lists o them

can be ound in orinthians 70 8 and omans

8 ome have said that these spiritual gits are a sign or

an indication that a person belongs to od so how does

one determine i a person has a spiritual git or just a natural

ability ow do we know that a gited teacher is spirit lled

or anointed ( ohn 0) a highly trained proessional or

someone with natural ability e answer is ound in their

personal walks with od and the spiritual growth o those

who interact with them e answer is not ound in how

many ollow them

ome claim that the git o tongues speaking in tongues

is a sign that a person belongs to od cstatic speech hasbeen identied in many parts o world in various religions

thers in the world display ecstatic speech and they do not

belong to od o how do we know the genuine signs rom

the alse t is important to note that the ible never tells

us in specic words that tongues or another spiritual git is

a proo that someone belongs to od n act we are given

other signs or indicators to look or


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Listen to the postle ohn who wrote these words

Tese things I have written to you who believe in the name of

the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

(NASB) 1 John 5:13

hat did he write or record or us hat were the things

or the signs that a person belongs to od hat did he

record ere is a series o evidences that a person belongs to

od ) he or she believes that esus was od ( ohn

) ) he or she obeys od ( ohn 3) 3) he or she loves

others ( ohn 8 ) ) he or she conesses their sins to od

( ohn 9) and ) he or she seeks to be holy ( ohn 30)

e entire book o ohn was written with a series o evi

dences marks or signs that a person is a hristian

We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has

given us. (NASB) 1 John 3:24

t is extremely interesting to note that while spiritual gits

such as teaching tongues or mercy are not mentioned as

evidence that a person is a hristian the evidences o the

ruit o the pirit are listed most notably love hy did

the postle ohn not mention spiritual gits and instead list

other criteria

hen esus told the parable o the sower o the seed in

atthew 383 e described our diferent kinds o

seed ome ell beside the road on rocky places among

thorns and on good soil e seed that ell on good soil rep

resented those who hear the good news rom the ible about

esus hrist believe in im and ollow is seed produces

a lot o ruit some a hundredold some sixty and some

thirty o what type o ruit was esus reerring quick

word study o the New estament reveals that ruit reers

to the ruit o the pirit (om 7; 8; ph 9; hil

; eb ; 3; ames 38) nce again none o

the spiritual gits are reerred to or used as a proo that a

person is a hristian outside o the book o cts n cts it is

clear on two occasions that tongues were used to prove that

salvation had been ofered to two groups o people the ews

hated amaritans (cts 88) and the entiles (cts 0)

ut the git o tongues was not automatically displayed when

the amaritans believed t occurred only ater the apostle

aul appeared is indicates that a person could believe in

esus hrist and not necessarily speak in tongues

ese are important points because they indicate that theapostles looked to other signs or indications that a person

was a hristian and not to spiritual gits ey looked to the

signs o the ruit or the work o the oly pirit in the lie o

a person

Summary. e need the oly pirit to help us under

stand that we are sinners lead us to od give us aith to

believe place us into the amily o od seal us regener

ates us help us pray help us understand the ible empower

us or ministry change our lives help us minister to others

through is spiritual gits and display the ruit o the pirit

in our lives he oly pirit is essential to every hristian

hat is why we are commanded to walk in the pirit and to

be illed with the pirit he result o both o these is victory

over sin submission peace joy singing time in the ord

o od and love e can thank the oly pirit or is min

istry in our lives


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Role of Spiritual Gifts oday. We have already dis-covered that the oly pirit gives various types o spiritual gits or supernatural abilities to help the ollowers o

esus hrist minister to one another orinthians

says that the oly pirit is the one who decides which gits

are given to each believer

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing

to each one individually just as He wills. (NASB) 1 Cor. 12:11

orinthians 70 8 and omans 8 list the di

erent known gits t is possible that other spiritual gits

are given or the edication o the saints but the ible

does not mention any others e lists include exhortation

giving helps or serving prophecy ruling or leading mercy

teaching administration discerning o the spirits aith

knowledge prophecy healing miracles tongues and the

interpretation o tongues

ach hristian is given a spiritual git od sometimesgives hristians a combination o these gits For example

one hristian might have the git o teaching and knowl

edge while another believer might have the gits o aith

giving and ruling nother might have the spiritual git o

leading and mercy hen the oly pirit gives these gits

e might give one hristian a stronger git o teaching

than another n other words the messages rom one person

may have a greater impact that those rom another speaker

od gives spiritual gits so that we can help other hristians

grow spiritually and express our love to them

phesians 7 amazingly indicates that these spiritual

gits are also hrists gits

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of

Christs gift. (NASB) Eph. 4:7

n the verses that ollow we are told that the gits also include

apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as

evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of

the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body

of Christ . . (NASB) Eph. 4:11-12

is passage indicates that the purpose o the gits is the

edication equipping and building up o the saintsDiscovering Your Spiritual Gift. ow does one dis

cover his or her unique combination o spiritual gits he

best way is to ollow your hearts desire and start minis

tering to others od has given you a spiritual git e

most likely has placed a desire in your heart to use it you

ask od or guidance ollow your hearts desire and then

attempt to objectively determine i others are being encour

Tongues, Prophecy & Knowledge

Spiritual Gifts Given By God

Romans 12:6-8 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, 28

Exhortation

Giving

Helpsorserving

Prophecy

Administration

Discerningospirits

Faith

Healing

Helpsorserving

Ruling

Leading

Mercy

Teaching

Interpretationotongues

Knowledge

Miracles

Prophecy

Tongues


24/36



aged and motivated by your ministry this occurs then

it is an encouraging sign you have discovered one o your

spiritual gits t is possible or hristians to have a mix o

supernatural abilities or spiritual gits o the treasure hunt

will continue

ome hristians who have the git o giving just love to

give money to others ome men and women have the git o

mercy and love to care or others e best way to discover

our gits is by attempting to use them oday churches and

groups use surveys and questionnaires in an attempt to help

hristians discover their spiritual gits Unortunately this

method has serious problems survey can never determine

the diference between a natural ability a natural desire

and a spiritual git nly by using ones spiritual git and

sensing the Lords blessing on the use o that git can onedetermine the oly pirits supernatural git urveys and

questionnaires are awed or that purpose

Which Gifts Are Active oday re the gits otongues and prophecy still active today ould you have one

these spiritual gits ome in the hristian community say

that some o the gits are no longer active ome o the

spiritual gits that are in question include the speaking in

tongues the interpretation o tongues and prophecy eal

ing and miracles are also questioned

ANOTHER STUDY. od has always healed both the hris

tian and nonhristian esus example illustrates the truth

o that statement e git o healing was illustrated in esus

lie e was a healer e git o healing results in od heal

ing a person through someone e git o miracles is a mys

tery but it is possible that it was illustrated by esus when e

calmed the waves on the ea o alilee

OUR FOCUS. e ocus o this document has been the

rst three spiritual gits in question e will study the gits

o healing and miracles on another occasion ereore thequestion beore us is re tongues and prophecy or today

e have already discovered that the oly pirit has been

active on this earth since the creation down through the

ld estament period at entecost and during the lives o

the apostles e have discovered that the oly pirit came

upon the ld estament saints and lived within and lled

New estament hristians e New estament specically

says that the oly pirit lled some who spoke in tongues

as part o that lling e book o alatians and phesians

describe the result o a hristian being lled with the oly

pirit e descriptions did not include speaking in tongues

or prophesying ese discoveries indicate that tongues and

prophesy are not necessary to prove that the oly pirit is

ministering through a hristian person can believe in

esus and ollow im and not speak in tongues or prophesy

e amaritans are proo o this statement ey believed

in esus ey had entered into eternal lie but were not

lled with the oly pirit until the apostles came later (cts

8)

e ible reers to the git o tongues only in the New

estament and no where else the books o ark cts and

orinthians is occurred in ulllment o cts 7 owe must ask id tongues cease ater

Ministry of ongues and Prophecy. ongues are men

tioned one time in the book o ark ive times in cts and

iteen times in orinthians he passage in ark occurs

in a questionable section o scripture that is not included in

the better manuscripts cts gives us the history o tongues

which we have already covered orinthians presents the

theology o tongues in chapters

1 CORINTHIANS 12. hapter twelve discusses spiritual

gits in general and includes tongues owever at the end o

chapter twelve the oly pirit reminds us through the apos

tle aul that no spiritual git is given to every hristian

All are not apostles, are they? Al l are not prophets, are they? Al l

are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are

they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak

with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? (NASB) 1

Cor. 12:29-30

Notice the comment that ll do not speak with tongues

do they e expected answer is No! roughout or

inthians the oly pirit has been discussing their sins and

sometimes rebuking them or their tolerance o sin is

passage is the rst clue that the orinthians are abusing the

spiritual git o tongues in some way

1 CORINTHIANS13. e second clue to the existence o a


25/36



problem comes in or 3 when the oly pirit says that

tongues without love is just like noise

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have

love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (NASB) 1

Cor. 13:1

e third clue that a problem exists comes in verses 8

0 when the oly pirit tells them that tongues will cease

but prophecy will continue until the second coming o esus

hrist e will investigate this passage later

1 CORINTHIANS14. e ourth clue that the orinthians

have a problem in the area o tongues is the discovery that

chapter is devoted to the topic o tongues is has been

the oly pirits pattern throughout the bookn chapter we discover that the oly pirit repeatedly

compares the spiritual git o tongues to the gi t o prophecy

ach time e encourages them to seek the spiritual git o

prophecy instead o tongues For example

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that

you may prophesy. (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:1

Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you

would prophesy . . . (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:5

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be

infants, but in your thinking be mature. (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:20

Terefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not

forbid to speak in tongues. (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:39

hy does e encourage them to seek prophecy over

tongues veryone can understand prophecy but tonguesrequires interpretation e spiritual git o prophesy edies

but tongues without interpretation does not ( or 3)

From verses 9 the apostle aul repeatedly reminds the

orinthians that tongues does not ediy without an inter

pretation

ree verses later ( or ) the oly pirit says

that tongues are a sign to unbelievers and prophecy is a

sign to believers rophecy edies both the unbelievers and

believers ongues without interpretation in the church was

prohibited by aul

e orinthians desired a more visible git tongues

pparently they minimized the other gits especially proph

esy n response the oly pirit through the apostle rebuked

them or their preerence or tongues with this comment

I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you al l; however, in

the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I

may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a

tongue. (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:18-19

ey had missed the point that edication through the

teaching o the ord o od was more importantongues Will Cease. s prophecy preerred as a spiri

tual git over tongues or 39 tells us that we should

desire to prophesy more than to speak in tongues

Terefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not

forbid to speak in tongues. (NASB) 1 Cor. 14:39

ven though prophesy is preerred tongues are not to be

prohibited at is prophesy is the greater git orinthi

ans 380 also indicates that prophesy is preerred

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be

done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowl-

edge, it will be done away. For

spiritsministry-tonguesandprophecy

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