opposition or resistance, there is no potential for progress. There are no shortcuts; there’s no easy way to mature physically, emotionally, or spiritually. You must remain determined and walk humbly with God. Salvation is more than a onetime prayer. It is constantly cooperating with God, dealing with the issues He brings up, keeping a humble attitude, and allowing Him to change you as He sees fit
.
CHAPTER EIGHT
An Abundance of the Holy Spirit for Changing the World
I n the Introduction, I began to teach about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is, unfortunately, one of the most neglected teachings of the church and is the primary reason that there is so little of the abundance of God and His power in today’s church.
Luke, in writing the Acts of the Apostles, begins: “And being assembled together with them, [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirithas come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’ ” (Acts 1:4–5, 8).
The book of Acts is a picture of the New Testament church, the body of Christ. It has been called by many names, but God started just one church. This is not a denomination. It is not the beginning of a church that has changed. All believers bear one Name, and that is the Name of Jesus. All people who put their faith in Jesus and have received His Holy Spirit are in the body of Christ, regardless of whatever denomination they have chosen.
The book of Acts is a pattern for the church in every century. Every generation should produce similar acts within the body of Christ. We should continue the record of the book of Acts by doing the same things! The epistles are the instructions for the church, but the primary pattern in the book of Acts is our example for today.
W HAT THE H OLY S PIRIT D OES
God wrote the Bible for every person. Every believer in every denomination has a right to know what God has given them as members of His church. None are to be denied the power of the Living God in this dark generation in which we are living. All God’s children have a right to know and experience God’s power.
Jesus spoke in the first chapter of Acts about the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to believe what the Lord Jesus says. Do not make void the Word and commandment of God by what your religious tradition says. God is wanting to pour out a mighty revival of the power of the Lord Jesus that restores the church to what it has lost through the centuries.
Jesus spoke clearly about being born of the Spirit. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Jesus also talked as clearly about being baptized in the Holy Spirit, about receiving the power of God, in the verses I quoted previously. When He said, “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” He was not stating a doctrine for any particular denomination. This is simply a Christian doctrine, a command of Jesus, who is the Supreme Head of the church.
Just because we are born of the Spirit in salvation does not mean we do not need Jesus to baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Just because you get a “well” of salvation does not mean that you do not need to be baptized by the Lord Jesus Christ and have “rivers of living water” flowing out of you to a needy world (John 4:14; 7:38).
In salvation, the Holy Spirit does something to you
. He regenerates your spirit and makes you a new creation. Every believer in Jesus has the presence of the Holy Spirit in their spirit. “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). Every believer has the Holy Spirit witnessing with his spirit
.
CHAPTER EIGHT
An Abundance of the Holy Spirit for Changing the World
I n the Introduction, I began to teach about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is, unfortunately, one of the most neglected teachings of the church and is the primary reason that there is so little of the abundance of God and His power in today’s church.
Luke, in writing the Acts of the Apostles, begins: “And being assembled together with them, [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirithas come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’ ” (Acts 1:4–5, 8).
The book of Acts is a picture of the New Testament church, the body of Christ. It has been called by many names, but God started just one church. This is not a denomination. It is not the beginning of a church that has changed. All believers bear one Name, and that is the Name of Jesus. All people who put their faith in Jesus and have received His Holy Spirit are in the body of Christ, regardless of whatever denomination they have chosen.
The book of Acts is a pattern for the church in every century. Every generation should produce similar acts within the body of Christ. We should continue the record of the book of Acts by doing the same things! The epistles are the instructions for the church, but the primary pattern in the book of Acts is our example for today.
W HAT THE H OLY S PIRIT D OES
God wrote the Bible for every person. Every believer in every denomination has a right to know what God has given them as members of His church. None are to be denied the power of the Living God in this dark generation in which we are living. All God’s children have a right to know and experience God’s power.
Jesus spoke in the first chapter of Acts about the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to believe what the Lord Jesus says. Do not make void the Word and commandment of God by what your religious tradition says. God is wanting to pour out a mighty revival of the power of the Lord Jesus that restores the church to what it has lost through the centuries.
Jesus spoke clearly about being born of the Spirit. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Jesus also talked as clearly about being baptized in the Holy Spirit, about receiving the power of God, in the verses I quoted previously. When He said, “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” He was not stating a doctrine for any particular denomination. This is simply a Christian doctrine, a command of Jesus, who is the Supreme Head of the church.
Just because we are born of the Spirit in salvation does not mean we do not need Jesus to baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Just because you get a “well” of salvation does not mean that you do not need to be baptized by the Lord Jesus Christ and have “rivers of living water” flowing out of you to a needy world (John 4:14; 7:38).
In salvation, the Holy Spirit does something to you
. He regenerates your spirit and makes you a new creation. Every believer in Jesus has the presence of the Holy Spirit in their spirit. “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). Every believer has the Holy Spirit witnessing with his spirit
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