Bible Teaching from the ongoing Online Bible Training Course
VOL. 6 - TRUTH ONLINE BIBLE TRAINING COURSE

ACTIVITY 1 - BIBLE TEACHING

BIBLE TEACHING ON THE HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM
Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The baptism of Holy Spirit is very important in our Christian experience; it is a must for us as the Promise of our Father. But this has been seriously confused in Christianity today that we are only pursuing it in wrong direction and with wrong ambitions. For us to get things right, we need to go back to the Bible, the unchanging written scriptures and clarify things. Why are we so confused about the baptism of Holy Spirit today that we are misinterpreting the Bible and almost getting everything wrong? When there is confusion, Satan is in control because God is not the author of confusion; and where confusion exists, there will be misdirection and distraction, which apparently leads to lost of God's purpose for the subjection of confusion.

Many who claim to be baptized with Holy Spirit are actually not; in fact about 80% to 90% people, including church members, workers, church leaders and ministers that profess to be baptized with Holy Spirit are not really, if we base it on the Bible. And many of us who are longing to be baptized with the Holy Spirit are getting it wrong with the purpose and why we want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit baptism is the promise of the Father through Jesus Christ to all His children. Luke 24:49, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” But what we need to understand and clarify is that, there is difference between having the indwelling of Holy Spirit and being baptized with Holy Spirit.


HAVING THE HOLY SPIRIT
When you surrender your life to Jesus Christ and you accept Him as your Lord, and you become born again, the Holy Spirit comes straight into your life; it is the Holy Spirit that actually helps lead us to salvation. It is the Holy Spirit that comes into your life and begins to guide you in your new life in Jesus. Romans 8:14, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." After we are saved, we begin to grow in the Spirit as the Holy Spirit helps us to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. Without Holy Spirit in us, we can't bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, just as it is not possible for a tree to bring forth Orange tree except it is an Orange tree.

The strength of our spiritual lives depends on how we grow in the Spirit, and how we grow in the Spirit depends on how we obey the Holy Spirit by obeying God's Word, though daily prayer, Bible reading and watchfulness. When we pray daily and read our Bible and obey the Word of God, we become stronger in the Spirit and our spiritual lives are solid. What it means is that we can be strong in the Spirit, and yet not baptized with the Holy Spirit. There are several wrong conceptions about the Baptism of Holy Spirit, that is, what is generally believed the baptism of Holy Spirit will do for you, which are not so. Let's see what Holy Spirit at salvation and growing in the Lord does for you before you are baptism with the Holy Spirit:

(1) Being Strong And Fervent On The Lord.You don't need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit before you can be steadfast and growing strong in your Christian life. Many excuse themselves that their spiritual weaknesses, like rising and falling, prayerlesness and lack of strong faith are due to the fact that they have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit. But the truth is that, you don't need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit before you can do all that. What you need to be strong in the Lord and to grow in your Christian life, prayer life, and in the Word of God and faith is genuine salvation and devotion to God.

(2) Making Rapture Or Entering Heaven.Some denominations claim that you must be baptized with the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues before you can make heaven, such teaching is not biblical. What you need to make heaven is genuine salvation and living a sanctified life, that is walking in holiness and growing every day. Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord."

(3) Having Power Over Satan, Demons and Evil Power.Some children of God are afraid of demonic and evil power, and they think the reason is because they are not yet baptized with the power and special anointing of Holy Spirit. But that is not so, you don't need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit before you can exercise power and authority over every satanic spirit. In the Book of Luke 10:19, Jesus gave His followers authority over demonic power, and they were not baptized with the Spirit then. Jesus said, "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." So that implies, the authority over demons is received before the baptism of Spirit, all you need is genuine salvation. Immediately you give your life to Jesus Christ, you have the authority over principalities and powers of Satan and you can exercise the authority.

Ignorance brings bondage, many Christians today are living under the torment of demonic forces, they complain because they are not yet baptized with the Holy Spirit, and what about those who confessed to have been baptized with the Spirit? They say they are not yet specially anointed, so they can't really exercise authority over demonic power. You do not need to be baptized with Holy Spirit or be specially anointed before you can exercise authority over demonic forces or cast them out; all you need is genuine salvation and living your life to please God.

(4) Starting To Work For God And Healing the Sick.Before you can start working for God, preaching and doing God's work, you need not to wait until you are baptized with Holy Spirit, what you need is genuine salvation and growing in the Lord. Jesus sent His disciples out to preach, heal and cast out demons; in fact, it was like mission work, but they were not yet baptized with the Holy Spirit then.

"And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease....And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:1, 7, 8.

SO WHY THE BAPTISM OF HOLY SPIRIT?
There is only one major purpose and reason for the baptism Holy Spirit as Jesus Christ our Lord said it. Let's see the words of Jesus Christ in Bible:

Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

From this Bible verse, the purpose of Holy Spirit baptism is for service, to witness more effectively; it is for doing God's work more effectively. This means we must have probably started working for God, serving God in His vineyard, and then be baptized with Holy Spirit power for more effectiveness. The Apostles were already witnessing about Jesus Christ, preaching, teaching, healing and casting our demons; then they needed the baptism of Holy Spirit for more effectiveness.

HOW TO BE BAPTIZED
To be baptized with the Holy Spirit, we must first be saved, living to please God by obeying the Holy Spirit, working for God, and then ask God for the baptism of Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, that is, in Jesus name. If you are saved but you are not serving God and working for Him, what do you want God to empower for more effectiveness? If you are not living a sanctified life in holiness and pleasing God, you first need to rededicate your life to Jesus, and be fruitful in the Spirit. If you don't have concern or passion for God's work, you need to first work on that and be filled with God's love for God's work, and then you pray for the baptism of Holy Spirit.

So to be baptized by the Holy Spirit can be summed up in three points:

1, Dedicate yourself to Jesus. Genuine salvation, living a consistent godly life in pleasing God, praying daily and reading God's Word with watchfulness.

2, Devote yourself to God's work. Preaching and doing the work of evangelism. You must have passion for God's work before you can be empowered by the baptism of Holy Spirit to do more.

3, Desire the Baptism of Holy Spirit by asking, keeping asking until you receive, and keep doing God's work while asking. The baptism of Holy Spirit is God's Promise, so yours is to ask and wait faithfully till you receive it; you need not to bother yourself on when exactly to receive it.

Note: Though, usually, we must first be saved, living to please God and serving God before receiving the baptism of Holy Spirit, there are some unusual cases where God baptizes people even from the moment of their conversion, like the case of Cornelius and his group. Acts 10:44 - 46.

EVIDENCE OF HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM
Here is where many are missing everything about the real baptism of Holy Spirit. Let's read again from the Bible

Luke 24:49, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Many Christians claim and even preach that the evidence of the baptism of Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, but that is not so, not even biblical; that is where many are missing it. From these two Bible passages we read above, the only evidence of Baptism of Holy Spirit is POWER. Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Acts 1:8. That is the only evidence of the baptism of Holy Spirit. Since we already have Holy Spirit when we are saved, the baptism in it is the enduement of power, that is the purpose of Holy Spirit baptism - to be endued with Power. Luke 24:49, "but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

Speaking in tongues is a sign of the baptism of Holy Spirit, not the evidence. Mark 16:17, "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues." The sign is not as important as the evidence. If you think you are baptized with the Holy Spirit without the enduement of power from on high, you only have sign that you are close to the real thing, and not yet have it. If you are speaking in tongues without being endued by the power of Holy Spirit, being manifested in your ministrations, it means you don't have the baptism of Holy Spirit yet. If a Christian claims to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, simply because he speaks in tongue but with no power from on high that makes the difference, it means the person just bypassed not baptized. How will you be baptized with the Holy Spirit and your life and ministration is void of the power of God unto salvation?

You can fluently speak in tongues without the baptism of Holy Spirit, but it is not possible to be baptized with Holy Spirit without enduement of power from on high. So, is it possible to be baptized with Holy Spirit without the expected speaking in tongues? It may be possible. There is difference between speaking with tongues of angel, saying what no man understands except by the interpretation of Spirit, and speaking with new tongue of another people's language.

When the Apostles were baptized in Acts 2, they were speaking new tongues of other countries' languages, so people from the countries understood the speaking. Acts 2:1-6, "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language."

But Apostle Paul mentioned other speaking in tongues which no man understands except by the gift of interpretation of tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:2, "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries."

Today, when most believers speak in tongue, the genuine speaking in tongues, they say things that no man understands as Apostle Paul said it, and that is one of the gifts of Holy Spirit; likewise speaking strange language of another tribe by the utterance of Holy Spirit is also a gift. I read about D. L Moody who was enraptured with the Joy of the Lord when he was baptized by the Holy Spirit, probably without speaking in tongues. So, when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, there must be a strange sign like speaking in tongues or others, but there must be evidence of the enduement of the Power from on high.

POWER FOR WHAT?
How will you know if you are endued with power? Is it by doing more miracles? Not really, doing miracles is also one of gifts which everybody may not have, but the evidential power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for powerful witness about Jesus, by strong boldness, utterance for preaching which cannot be resisted by sinners, and winning souls into God's kingdom more than before. After the Apostles were baptized with the power of Holy Spirit, they were winning souls in thousands. So when you are baptized with power from on high, you will experience more soul winning in your ministration more than before, the believers will experience more edification in your ministration more than before and you will be imparted with at least a gift of Holy Spirit where you may specialize to minister. If you are baptized with power of Holy Spirit, you will win souls now and then in your ministry, the souls will remain; you will also be empowered to edify the believers. The end result of the baptism of Holy Spirit is soul winning and edification of saints by the utterance of Holy Spirit.

We must all desire to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, the evidence is enduement of power from on high which will be evidential in our prayers and ministrations.Have you been genuinely saved? Have you been serving God? Then seek for the Bible baptism of the Holy Spirit with power from on high. Do not worry that you have not receive it, but wait until you receive it.

Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

PRAYER
Pray for what you need first: Salvation, restoration, or love and passion for the work of God.

Ask God to baptize you with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of the Holy Spirit.

Keep asking until you receive, most importantly is to keep living holy and keep working for God.

Activity 3: QUESTIONS AND ANSWER

Who is Holy Spirit?

What is the difference between having the Holy Spirit and being baptized in the Holy Spirit?

What is the evidence of the baptism of Holy Spirit?

What is the purpose of the Baptismof Holy Spirit?

How can a child of God be baptized with the Holy Spirit?

What are the difference between the signs and evidence of Holy Spirit?

ACTIVITY 4: BIBLE READING - GOSPEL JOHN CHAPTER 9

During this program, we are extensively reading the Gospel John. You will read, meditate and share your understanding from the Bible reading.

After reading, you will send your UOR – understanding of reading, what you understand by the help of Holy Spirit from the Bible passage you read.

This is the volume 6 of the Truth Online Bible Training Program – 2014.

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