UNIT 3

THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We have considered the gift of various ministries which Christ gave to the church; now let us consider His other gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, was to be bestowed upon the church in the form of a baptism. In the New Testament this baptism began to be preached by John the Baptist, and his message is recorded in all the gospels and is quoted by Jesus and Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. Matthew and the other writers of the gospels record that John told his disciples:

John the Baptist also promised that Jesus would give the Holy Spirit without measure! Just before John was cast into prison, he was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim and the Jews were trying to dishearten John because Jesus seemed to be baptizing more people than John was. Rather than challenging them, John tells them that Jesus must increase and he must decrease because Jesus is above all, having come from heaven. The John makes an important statement about Jesus:

The King James Version of the bible adds unto him to the sentence.to make it appear that it is God that is giving the Spirit without measure unto Jesus. However, the words unto him are not in the original and the meaning seems to be that Jesus gives the Spirit to His children without measure. Luke records that on the Day of Pentecost "They were all filled with Spirit" (Acts 2:4). If all were filled, then the Spirit was given to each one without measure. Did Peter receive 100 per cent, and doubting Thomas only 65 per cent? No, I believe the Holy Spirit is a person and may not be parceled out. Jesus also promised the disciples that the Father would give them another comforter who would abide with them forever, he dwelt with them but would be in them. God gives to every man a measure of faith (Romans 12:4), and every one is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Ephesians (4:7). Grace and Faith can be measured, but how do you measure a person. If the Holy Spirit is a person, He can not be measured, He cannot be portioned out in pieces. He is either in you or He is not in you. He does not leak out. He does not leave you half-full or half-empty. He abides with you forever! You may hinder the work of the Spirit in your life; however, He is still there, even if you ignore Him. Paul tells us that the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy (James 4:5). The Spirit is envious of any person or thing that would take our affection away from Jesus.

Jesus, as He was instructing the disciples after His resurrection about the necessity of waiting in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit, reminded them not only of what John had said but also that He had spoken of the promise:

Peter, giving his defense before the elders at Jerusalem for having preached to the Gentiles, reminded them of what John had said:

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter answered the question, "What meaneth this?" by affirming that Jesus

And he further admonished them when they asked, "What shall we do?":

We may assume from the Scriptures that the promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit, or the baptism in the Holy Spirit are all ways of describing the infilling of the Holy Spirit which God had promised to give to His children through His Son Jesus Christ. In addition to the message of John, we have the words of Jesus concerning this experience in the Spirit.

Most of the teachings of Jesus about the Holy Spirit are recorded in the Gospel of John. At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood and cried out, saying,

From this word of Jesus we learn that the Holy Spirit was to be given to those who believe on Jesus; however, He would not be given until after Jesus was glorified or raised from the dead, and the Spirit would be as rivers of living water flowing from the innermost being of the believers. No one received this experience until Jesus had risen from the dead. This is verified by the words that Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost:

The experience of the disciples on the Day of Pentecost is a fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in John 7:37-38.

At the Feast of the Passover, Jesus gave His most complete teaching on the Holy Spirit. He promised another comforter:

Jesus also taught them that the Comforter was the Spirit of Truth, and the Spirit would lead them into all truth, glorify Jesus, and reveal to them the things which God had given to them in Him.

When speaking of the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray, Luke relates the discourse of Jesus on receiving the Holy Spirit:

From this scripture we may assume that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to those who ask God for Him. However, on the basis of other scriptures, some would say that the gift of the Holy Spirit is given by a sovereign act of God when one accepts Jesus Christ. Thus the question arises, "Is the gift of the Holy Spirit given when one accepts Christ as savior or is the gift of the Holy Spirit given subsequent to one's receiving Christ?" Almost all believers accept the fact that everyone who receives Jesus Christ receives the Holy Spirit:

However, the Pentecostal believes that the "gift of the Holy Spirit" is an experience separate from and subsequent to receiving the Holy Spirit in the new birth. He also believes that the "gift of the Holy Spirit" is given to the children of God who ask for it (Luke 11:13), and that the "gift of the Holy Spirit" empowers one for service.

Jesus spoke to His disciples about the Holy Spirit after He rose from the dead. He instructed the disciples to tarry at Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Spirit:

In the words of Jesus, the Spirit is to bestow an enduement of power, not a means of salvation. Peter tells that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with power and Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him (Acts 10:38). This is the pattern for all believers. Every believer who receives the Baptism in the Holy Spirit has received the anointing. John tells us that we are anointed:

Every child of God who is baptized in the Holy Spirit has all of the anointing and the power to accomplish God's perfect will for him. I believe that I have been just as anointed to teach this class over the years as Paul was to be the apostle to the Gentiles. God is no respecter of persons; however, God is a respecter of purpose. So, each one who has the fullness of the Spirit is equipped with the power to fulfill God's purpose for his life. He is anointed to do it! An acquaintance of mine has a 1950's Corvette. One beautiful day he was driving on the turnpike, and he decided to see how fast the car would go. There was very little traffic, the conditions were ideal, and the temptation was great. In a short time he was cruising along at 148 miles per hour. Suddenly, he looked ahead and two highway patrol cars were blocking the lanes of the turnpike. The patrol plane had clocked his speed and notified the patrolmen. As the story was being related, a voice spoke inside me and said, "You can do that!"

I answered, "Do What?"

The voice replied, "Go 148 miles an hour!"

The voice continued, "All you have to do is have the faith to get in the car and the courage to step on the gas pedal. The power is in the car. It is not in the driver. You can do it too!"

Then, I recognized the Spirit was teaching me an important lesson from this incident. I have the Holy Spirit. The power is in the Spirit. It is not in my ability. If I have the faith; if I have the courage; if I dare to live and walk in the Spirit, I can do the impossible! However, I might add a word or two of caution. First, with power comes responsibility. You do not need all of the power inherent in the motor of the Corvette to drive down main street in Tulsa. But it is nice to know the power is there if you need it. Most of us have power to do all that we are doing. One day, as I was asking God for more power, the Spirit asked me a question: "What do you want more power for. Do you not have the power to do all that you are doing?" I had to admit that I did, since about all I was doing was going to church on Sunday and Wednesday prayer meeting! I had the power to do that, even though there were a few times that I did not seem to have that much! When the power is needed, the Spirit will provide it!

The next word of caution is that when any of us starts living and walking in the fullness of the Spirit, there will always be someone, as the patrolmen did, park their

hindrances across the road to stop us. Paul describes it very well:

Not everyone is going to rejoice if you begin to obey God. Oral Roberts learned this when he tried to answer the call of God on his life. God told him not to be like other preachers or a denomination but to be like Jesus and heal the people as He did. In the early days of his healing ministry he encountered a lot of opposition.

RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST (John 20:21-22)

A most important reference to the Holy Spirit is recorded in the Gospel of John. As the disciples were gathered together, Jesus appeared in their midst and said unto them:

In order to place this scripture in proper perspective we must look at it in relationship to the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

THE DAY OF PENTECOST (Acts 2:1-39)

In order to understand what is meant by the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, or the gift of the Holy Spirit, we will look at the scriptural accounts of the instances in which people received this experience. By reading the accounts of their experiences, maybe we can gain a perspective about the Holy Spirit. The first recorded instance of the Baptism in the Spirit is on the Day of Pentecost.

As mentioned above, when Peter was answering the question concerning what had happened, he preached that Jesus had been exalted, had received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and had poured the Spirit out on the people (Acts 2:29-33). Peter declared that Jesus had baptized his disciples in the Holy Spirit and that the promise was to all the Jews who were present, to their children, to the Gentiles, and to all whom the Lord would call (Acts 2:32-39).

The overarching question that must be addressed at this time is whether the Day of Pentecost is the birthday of the church, the moment that the disciples were born again in the full sense of the word and received the infusion of the Spirit, or is it a time of the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit upon those who had been born again and received an infusion of the Holy Spirit at an earlier time (see John 20:21-22).

Most of us would agree that the disciples could not be born again until after Jesus died upon the cross as the sacrifice for sin and arose as our high priest to take His blood into the Holiest of Holies, into heaven itself. The Old Covenant was in effect until Jesus by His death on the cross instituted the New Covenant. As the writer of the Hebrew letter said

Jesus is the firstborn of many brethren; therefore, Jesus is the prototype of the Christian, and there could not be a "Christian" until Jesus rose from the dead. Those who believe that SALVATION and the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT are the same identical experience and are just different names for one's being incorporated into the body of Christ, and that there is no SUBSEQUENT experience after SALVATION, would designate the Day of Pentecost as the birthday of the church, the day the disciples were born again and incorporated into the body of Christ by being baptized in the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, those who believe that the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT is not SALVATION, but is an experience SUBSEQUENT to SALVATION, would designate the Day of Pentecost as the time when the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon born-again believers to empower them for ministry. In support of their explanation of the Day of Pentecost, they would point to the experience recorded by John as the time the disciples received the Spirit and were born again:

On the day He arose from the dead, Jesus infused them with the Holy Spirit, and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were daily in the temple praising and blessing God. If one puts off conversion until the Day of Pentecost, the disciples must of necessity be in a state of spiritual uncertainty for almost 50 days--from the death of Jesus until the Day of Pentecost--before they were converted.

So we must answer the question in light of our understanding of the scriptures. Is the Day of Pentecost the birthday of the church, that is, the day on which the disciples were fully converted by receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit? Or, is the Day of Pentecost the day that the disciples, having received the Holy Spirit in the new birth (John 20:22), were endued with the power that Jesus promised them (Acts 1:18)?

A Pentecostal would answer the question of SUBSEQUENCE by pointing out that the disciples were converted when Jesus breathed on them and imparted unto them the Holy Spirit in the new birth (John 20:22), and that the impartation of the GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT with the EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost was an experience subsequent to the new birth, which

gave the disciples an enduement of power for ministry.

The persons who believe SALVATION and the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT are the same identical experience would say that the disciples were born again on the Day of Pentecost by being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Peter gave the scriptural means for such an experience when he said,

They believe that there is no SUBSEQUENT experience following SALVATION and the so-called EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues is not a normative experience for all Christians.

THE CITY OF SAMARIA (Acts 8:5-17)

The next account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is in the city of Samaria. Philip went to Samaria and began to preach to them about Jesus. The whole city was stirred, many were healed, and many believed and were baptized in water. However, no one in the city received the BAPTISM of the Holy Spirit. Luke records that

This account of the Samaritans receiving the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT presents special problems for those who do not believe in a SUBSEQUENT experience of the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT after SALVATION. Their usual answer is that the salvation experience of the Samaritans was faulty and they were not converted until Peter and John laid hands on them, even though the record states that "they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ" and that "they were baptized, both men and women" (Acts 8:12). On the other hand, Luke does not record that the Samaritans spoke in tongues when Peter and John laid hands on them that they might receive the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. So here we have a definite SUBSEQUENT experience of the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT but we do not have the EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues.

Luke makes an interesting observation in this account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:

On the Day of Pentecost Peter had established a formula for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit:

For almost ten years this seemed to be the pattern for the believers to receive the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT--repent, be baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. However, Luke, by reminding us of this pattern, sets the stage for a new development in spiritual experience: believers may receive the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT before

they are baptized in water. This occurs when Peter goes to the house of Cornelius to preach to the Gentiles.

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL (Acts 9:1-18)

THE HOUSE OF CORNELIUS (Acts 10:1-47)

As a result of three visions given to him on a housetop in Joppa, Peter was constrained by the Spirit to go to Caesarea to the house of Cornelius. When he inquired of Cornelius why he had sent for him, Cornelius related to him how an angel had told him to send to Joppa and ask Peter to come to speak to them. As Peter began to preach,

The Pentecostal would emphasize the fact that the reason the Jews with Peter knew that the Gentiles had received the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT was that they heard the EVIDENCE of speaking with tongues; however, it is difficult for the Pentecostal to prove that this BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT was subsequent to an experience of SALVATION. The angel had promised Cornelius that Peter would tell them words by which he "and all thy house shall be saved," and as Peter preached, the Holy Spirit fell on them.

In his defense before the apostles at Jerusalem concerning his preaching to the Gentiles, Peter rehearsed for them the story of his visions and also the angel's visit with Cornelius:

The most important difference between the experience of the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT as received by those at the house of Cornelius, and the other recorded experiences, is that they received the experience before they were baptized in water. Therefore, it is difficult to establish a doctrinal position in which SALVATION and/or the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT is/are imparted in water baptism. Also, it is difficult to point out a single method whereby one may receive the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. As Oral Roberts says, "God uses a variety of methods to baptize individuals in the Holy Spirit."

The usual answer to these difficulties is that each of the recorded occurrences of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that does not conform to a preconceived doctrine is an unusual situation: the Samaritan's experience was unusual in that they were a mixed race--Jew and Gentile; the situation at Cornelius' house was unusual since this was the beginning of salvation for the Gentiles; and the next recorded instance of the outpouring of the Spirit is unusual since it involves persons who knew only the baptism of John the Baptist.

THE DISCIPLES AT EPHESUS (Acts 19:1-7)

The major discussion concerning this account revolves around the question of SUBSEQUENCE: "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" Is the "receiving" SUBSEQUENT to the "believing" or is the "believing" and the "receiving" simultaneous? Some Greek grammarians would argue that the aorist tense used in this statement always has the connotation of simultaneous action; however, other scriptures that have the same aorist tense constructions cannot be construed as simultaneous action. For instance, in the statement of Jesus concerning marriage in heaven:

If the aorist tense always portrays simultaneous action, this man died at the moment he married his wife, and he left no children. Also, in the account of Ananias and Sapphira, Luke records,

If the above rule of grammar be true, the young men were carrying Ananias out and burying him at the same time. Quite an accomplishment. It is difficult from the grammatical rules of the aorist tense to determine the relationship between the "believing" and the "receiving." We bring our own theological bias to the scripture and interpret it accordingly. The Pentecostal would, however, argue for a SUBSEQUENT action in the Ephesians' experience based upon the fact that they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, were baptized in water, and then Paul laid his hands on them that they might receive the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. There must of necessity have been a time lapse between believing, being baptized in water, and then having Paul's hands laid upon them--at least two and possibly three separate events. The Pentecostal would also point out the fact that their receiving of the Holy Spirit was known by the EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues and prophesying.

OTHER SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

The Pentecostal, in further support of his position, would refer to Paul's letter to the Ephesians which implies that the Ephesians were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise after that they believed:

Many non-Pentecostals criticize the Pentecostals for building a doctrine of the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT on the writings of Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, which is a history book. Others emphasize that Paul's teaching about the Holy Spirit is different from that which is expressed by Luke, and, therefore, Luke's teaching on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is inconclusive.

Paul seems to have written very little concerning a doctrine of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. One of his most important statements is in his letter to the Corinthians:

The question is whether the preposition en is instrumental--"by one Spirit"--

or locative--"in one Spirit." Does Paul mean that the Holy Spirit "baptizes the believer" into the body of Christ and the scripture refers to the experience of SALVATION? Or, does Paul mean that "in one Spirit," which is the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, the believer is initiated into Christ? Some would say that the scripture is not pivotal because Paul says that we "have been all made to drink into one Spirit" and that may refer to the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.

As we have reviewed the scriptural references to the doctrine of the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, the GIFT OF THE SPIRIT, or the PROMISE OF THE FATHER, we can see that there are various interpretations of the same scriptures. Therefore, each individual must "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). We now turn our attention to the teaching of the church concerning the BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT after New Testament times.