Receiving the Baptism With The Spirit

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I was asked to assist a couple who are in Ghana, to receive the baptism with the Spirit. I emailed them and here is the email that I sent. I decided to share it on this forum seeing that it is a forum for those who believe that the baptism and the gift of tongues is for today's church.

Here is the summary of the steps that I use to assist people to receive the Baptism with the Spirit.

1. You must be totally sure that it is the will of God for you. The Scripture says that if you ask for anything according to His will, He will give it to you. If you have a strong desire to receive the Holy Spirit, then that is a good indication that it is God’s will because it is the Holy Spirit who has put that desire within you.

2. Having established that it is God’s will for you, you need to ask Him directly for the gift. “Lord, I know it is your will for me to have the Baptism with the Spirit, therefore I ask you for it.”

3. After asking for it according to God’s will, He will immediately hand it out to you. You need to receive it by taking it from His hands. “He who asks, receives”. You don’t have to wait, you can receive it right away. “Lord, having asked you for the gift according to your will, I now receive it.”

4. At this point, you have the Baptism with the Spirit. You don’t have to wait for an emotional or sensory manifestation. We walk by faith and not by sight. Then again you might feel the joy of the Lord rise up from within you making you want to praise the Lord and rejoice in His presence.

5. Because you have now received the Holy Spirit, you can speak in tongues. You need to activate your faith by stepping out and speaking words and sentences in a language you have never learned. Some have strange sounding words come into their minds and when they speak them out, the language starts flowing out. Otherwise as you step out in faith, you might think, “I am making this language up”, but that is what you do in faith. The difference between speaking meaningless words and speaking in tongues to God is what you believe you are doing. Using your faith like this is quite Scriptural. It is not blind faith. It is based on the previous four steps you have already taken.

A good way of getting the flow going is to think of an urgent matter for prayer, such as someone you know who really needs a touch from the Lord. Ask the Lord to guide your tongue and pray the burden of your heart with the unlearned language. You will find that the flow will come out of you in a whole new language of intercession for the person you are praying for. Then you will get the joy and will start expressing your love and praise to God in that language.

I want to be sure that you know that I am not teaching you how to speak in tongues. Jesus is the Baptiser with the Spirit, and He is the giver of the gift. What I am doing is to give you the steps to give your faith a foundation to allow the Holy Spirit to flow out of you. You might find that you are making up the language when you start, but as the Holy Spirit starts flowing out of you, you will lose the consciousness that you are making up the language because it will be so fluent that you will know that the language that is coming out of you, you could not make it up because it will be flowing too fast without any effort on your part.

I trust that this is helpful to you, and I would love your feedback to know how you get on with receiving the Baptism with the Spirit and the gift of tongues.

 

[SongOnTheWind]

I was asked to assist a couple who are in Ghana, to receive the baptism with the Spirit. I emailed them and here is the email that I sent. I decided to share it on this forum seeing that it is a forum for those who believe that the baptism and the gift of tongues is for today's church.

Here is the summary of the steps that I use to assist people to receive the Baptism with the Spirit.

1. You must be totally sure that it is the will of God for you. The Scripture says that if you ask for anything according to His will, He will give it to you. If you have a strong desire to receive the Holy Spirit, then that is a good indication that it is God’s will because it is the Holy Spirit who has put that desire within you.

2. Having established that it is God’s will for you, you need to ask Him directly for the gift. “Lord, I know it is your will for me to have the Baptism with the Spirit, therefore I ask you for it.”

3. After asking for it according to God’s will, He will immediately hand it out to you. You need to receive it by taking it from His hands. “He who asks, receives”. You don’t have to wait, you can receive it right away. “Lord, having asked you for the gift according to your will, I now receive it.”

4. At this point, you have the Baptism with the Spirit. You don’t have to wait for an emotional or sensory manifestation. We walk by faith and not by sight. Then again you might feel the joy of the Lord rise up from within you making you want to praise the Lord and rejoice in His presence.

5. Because you have now received the Holy Spirit, you can speak in tongues. You need to activate your faith by stepping out and speaking words and sentences in a language you have never learned. Some have strange sounding words come into their minds and when they speak them out, the language starts flowing out. Otherwise as you step out in faith, you might think, “I am making this language up”, but that is what you do in faith. The difference between speaking meaningless words and speaking in tongues to God is what you believe you are doing. Using your faith like this is quite Scriptural. It is not blind faith. It is based on the previous four steps you have already taken.

A good way of getting the flow going is to think of an urgent matter for prayer, such as someone you know who really needs a touch from the Lord. Ask the Lord to guide your tongue and pray the burden of your heart with the unlearned language. You will find that the flow will come out of you in a whole new language of intercession for the person you are praying for. Then you will get the joy and will start expressing your love and praise to God in that language.

I want to be sure that you know that I am not teaching you how to speak in tongues. Jesus is the Baptiser with the Spirit, and He is the giver of the gift. What I am doing is to give you the steps to give your faith a foundation to allow the Holy Spirit to flow out of you. You might find that you are making up the language when you start, but as the Holy Spirit starts flowing out of you, you will lose the consciousness that you are making up the language because it will be so fluent that you will know that the language that is coming out of you, you could not make it up because it will be flowing too fast without any effort on your part.

I trust that this is helpful to you, and I would love your feedback to know how you get on with receiving the Baptism with the Spirit and the gift of tongues.

This is great! Clear, concise and yet thorough. I may use elements of this to explain to my kids, as they are eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Bless you Oscarr

 

[ss51]

"Freely you were given, freely give", seems in this day in age He is pouring out His Spirit more and more and it is getting easier to receive His precious gift.

 

[ss51]

Words of knowledge are being received more freely as well. These all spring from the same gift, the gift of Holy Spirit, just as Jesus received from john the Baptist and imparted to the12, and they to the 70, unto today. There are not separate gifts, there are differing manifestations of the same gift

 

[cj.]

I was asked to assist a couple who are in Ghana, to receive the baptism with the Spirit. I emailed them and here is the email that I sent. I decided to share it on this forum seeing that it is a forum for those who believe that the baptism and the gift of tongues is for today's church....

Hi Oscarr,
Why you direct seekers to make sure it is God's will for them to be baptized with the Holy Spirit rather than point them to Scripture which establishes his will in the matter?

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hi Oscarr,
Why you direct seekers to make sure it is God's will for them to be baptized with the Holy Spirit rather than point them to Scripture which establishes his will in the matter?

An interesting question. I use that first point to ensure that the person is not being forced into something they don't understand and may not want.

I don't support a group of people button holing a believer and putting pressure on him to receive some kind of sensory experience which they say is the baptism with the Spirit. I have seen too much of that happening in Pentecostal meetings.

There is too much codswallop being taught and pushed on to believers, especially in hyped up, emotionally charged meetings, where believers are made to feel guilty if they don't shake, jerk, or fall over under the "influence", of a spirit that may not even be the Holy Spirit.

You are correct. The believer needs to know the Scriptural foundation of what the baptism with the Spirit is and what to expect when they are baptised with the Spirit. The trouble is that too many believers are forced into receiving something they are told is the Holy Spirit, when it very well could be a fake sensory experience that comes from the flesh.

When I introduce a person to the baptism with the Spirit, it is in a relaxed environment, away from a church meeting, where I explain the Scriptures, and the important steps of faith to receive the baptism with the Spirit, and the assurance from Luke that if they ask for the Holy Spirit, they will get just Him and not some flesh sensory experience.

Using the steps of faith is cold-blooded and clinical. It involves faith in God's Word, and not faith in emotion or some type of sensory experience like goosebumps up the spine, or shaking, jerking, or falling down. Taking the person through the steps of faith involves total self-control, with the believer knowing exactly what he or she is doing.

I also explain the purpose of praying in tongues, and that it is not an ecstatic experience. All it is, is speaking words and sentences in a language they have never learned, by deliberate, self-controlled faith on the basis of 1 Corinthians 14:2. A person can pray in tongues without the slightest emotion, but there is the sense that the Spirit is flowing out of him and the witness of the Spirit that what he is praying is directly communicating to God in the Spirit.

So, I take time to ensure that the person knows what he or she is receiving, and that it is on a Scriptural foundation, and not because some over-enthusiastic speaker in a hyped up meeting environment yelling over the microphone for those who want the Baptism with the Spirit and tongues to come forward and be prayed for.

 

[tturt]

Criticized folks til it happened to me.. God caused me to laugh. I didn't even know God did things like that. Only lasted a brief time. Then as unexpectedly as it started, it stopped. Dont need anybody`s seal of approval. Know it was God. A merry heart doth good as a medicine.

BTW, Derek Prince said God caused him to experience laughter also.

 

[tturt]

Here's some scriptures that says they fell - in all directions:
-2Ch 5:14 "So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God."
-Rev 1:17 "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:"
-Eze 44:4 "Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked, and the glory of the Lord filled his temple. And I fell facedown."
-They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” John 18:5-6
-"Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face." Num 22:3

They trembled including:
-"And all the people saw the thunderings, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw [it], they trembled, and stood afar off,"
-"Then were assembled to me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the unfaithfulness of those that had been carried away; and I sat overwhelmed until the evening oblation." Ezra

They laughed including-
"Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing: then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath done great things for them.... Jehovah hath done great things for us; [and] we are joyful." PSA 126:2-3
"...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in [the] Holy Spirit." Rom 14:17

 

[cj.]

An interesting question. I use that first point to ensure that the person is not being forced into something they don't understand and may not want.

I don't support a group of people button holing a believer and putting pressure on him to receive some kind of sensory experience which they say is the baptism with the Spirit. I have seen too much of that happening in Pentecostal meetings.

There is too much codswallop being taught and pushed on to believers, especially in hyped up, emotionally charged meetings, where believers are made to feel guilty if they don't shake, jerk, or fall over under the "influence", of a spirit that may not even be the Holy Spirit.

You are correct. The believer needs to know the Scriptural foundation of what the baptism with the Spirit is and what to expect when they are baptised with the Spirit. The trouble is that too many believers are forced into receiving something they are told is the Holy Spirit, when it very well could be a fake sensory experience that comes from the flesh.

When I introduce a person to the baptism with the Spirit, it is in a relaxed environment, away from a church meeting, where I explain the Scriptures, and the important steps of faith to receive the baptism with the Spirit, and the assurance from Luke that if they ask for the Holy Spirit, they will get just Him and not some flesh sensory experience.

Using the steps of faith is cold-blooded and clinical. It involves faith in God's Word, and not faith in emotion or some type of sensory experience like goosebumps up the spine, or shaking, jerking, or falling down. Taking the person through the steps of faith involves total self-control, with the believer knowing exactly what he or she is doing.

I also explain the purpose of praying in tongues, and that it is not an ecstatic experience. All it is, is speaking words and sentences in a language they have never learned, by deliberate, self-controlled faith on the basis of 1 Corinthians 14:2. A person can pray in tongues without the slightest emotion, but there is the sense that the Spirit is flowing out of him and the witness of the Spirit that what he is praying is directly communicating to God in the Spirit.

So, I take time to ensure that the person knows what he or she is receiving, and that it is on a Scriptural foundation, and not because some over-enthusiastic speaker in a hyped up meeting environment yelling over the microphone for those who want the Baptism with the Spirit and tongues to come forward and be prayed for.

Got it! Thank you, sir.