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Details about the Holy Spirit:
WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the first person,
masculine gender of the Trinity. He
is humble, self-effacing, eternal,
holy, absolute, omnipresent,
omnipotent and omniscient. He
restrains evil, provokes us to good
actions, convicts us of sin,
illuminates the Word of God, gives
us regenerating power and quickens
us to receive so that our
understanding is enlightened. It is
his office to glorify the Lamb and
the Blood of the Lamb. The Spirit
and the Blood bear witness together.
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Christ came to make men righteous. Men
cannot achieve righteousness by their own
works; rather, righteousness is to be
experienced as a work of the Holy Spirit.
This is radical and immediate. The Holy
Spirit will come as a fire to purge from all
defilement, as a knife to circumcise the
heart. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” is
the Holy Spirit in you bringing forth His
righteousness, Colossians 1:27.
The scriptures speak of a purging of fire
that comes by the Spirit. The emphasis today
has been on “you shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you”, Acts
1:8. However, the work of purity in
sanctification is equally important. This
work of the Spirit that brings cleansing
from all defilement is described as “fire”.
John the Baptist spoke of this when he said,
“He Himself will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and fire,” Matthew 3:11.
Only the Spirit of God can penetrate the
darkness and pull down the stronghold of
evil. His purging accompanies His power. You
do not have to live under guilt and
condemnation. The baptism of fire can purge
you from all defilement.
The prophet asks the question, “Who among us
can live with the consuming fire? Who among
us can live with continual burning?” He
answers by saying, “He who walks
righteously; and speaks with sincerity…he
who stops his ears from hearing about
bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking
upon evil”, Isaiah 33:14, 15. Only by the
purging of fire may one live with the fire
of His holiness.
In the New Testament comes the exhortation,
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement
of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God,” II Corinthians 7:1. The
sanctification of the Lord is complete. The
promise is, “God Himself sanctify you
entirely; and may your spirit and soul and
body be preserved complete,” I Thessalonians
5:23.
Jesus taught that a man’s character is to be
judged by the fruit of the Holy Spirit in
his life. The true test of those who are
genuine followers of Christ is the evidence
of fruit. There are nine fruits of the
Spirit, but the greatest of these is LOVE.
(1)Love (2) Joy (3) Peace (4) Patience (5)
Kindness
(6) Goodness (7) Faithfulness (8) Gentleness
(9) Self Control
Some Of The Following Excerpts Are From
Kenneth Copeland’s Book “Welcome To The
Family”
Before Jesus went to the cross, He taught
His disciples about the Holy Spirit, or the
Comforter. He said, “I will pray the Father,
and He shall give you another Comforter,
that He may abide with you forever; even the
Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, neither
knoweth Him, but ye know Him; for He
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you,”
John 14:16-17.
When you made Jesus Christ the Lord of your
life, your spirit was completely recreated,
and it was the power of the Holy Spirit that
caused you to be reborn. (He writes God’s
laws within the heart. “I will put my laws
into their minds, and I will write them upon
their hearts, and I will be their God and
they shall be My people,” (Hebrews 8:10).
Now He has been there with you ever since,
hovering over you, ready at your request to
enter your spirit and give you His very
power. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “Ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses
unto me throughout the earth. As he
ministered on earth, Jesus said, “The Father
that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works…He
that believeth on me, the works that I do
shall he do also; and greater works than
these shall he do; because I go unto my
Father,” John 14:10,12.
It is the Holy Spirit dwelling within you
that will do these “greater works”. In Mark
16, Jesus commanded His disciples to go
forth in power:
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature…..”
“And these signs shall follow them that
believe;”
“In my name shall they cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues…”
“They shall lay hands on the sick, and they
shall recover.”
As you witness of Jesus and pray for people,
the Holy Spirit will do what is necessary to
bring salvation, healing, deliverance or
whatever the need might be. When the Holy
Spirit lives in you, His power will be in
you to get the job done and to deliver God’s
Word effectively.
The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts to
equip us for God’s service. There are three
categories of gifts.
Revelation Gifts:
(1) Word of Wisdom (2) Word of Knowledge (3)
Discerning of Spirits
Power Gifts:
(1) Faith (2) Healing (3) Working of
Miracles
Inspirational Gifts:
(1) Prophecy (2) Tongues (3) Interpretation
No man will ever understand or discern the
Holy Spirit by natural means. Paul tells us
in 1 Corinthians that His speech and His
preaching were not with enticing words of
man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit of God and his power. He makes it
clear that spiritual things are taught by
the Spirit of God and are not discerned by
the world. The Holy Spirit is endowed with
“understanding” or “wisdom” and knows the
mind of God that He may instruct us.
God Has Already Given The Holy Spirit
He sent the Holy Spirit into the earth on
the Day of Pentecost (Acts, Chapter 2). Now
it is up to you to receive Him into your own
life. You don’t have to beg God to give you
the Holy Spirit. You receive Him just as you
received Jesus - by faith, by believing
God’s Word.
HOW TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT
Now that you are saved, or born again, you
are ready to receive the Holy Spirit. All
you have to do is invite Him in. Once He
lives inside you, He will clean up the
temple. He will help you get rid of habits.
He will move the unclean things out of your
life. He is the power that gets these things
done.
To receive the Holy Spirit, you must do one
thing: Ask!
“And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For
everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that
seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of
any of you that is a father, will he give
him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he
shall ask an egg, will he offer him a
scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children: HOW
MUCH MORE shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke
11:9-13.
Jesus is speaking about a son asking
something of his father. You are a son of
God. You are His child, and He is your
Father. If you go to God and ask for the
Holy Spirit, you won’t get the wrong thing.
God is poised and ready to give you the Holy
Spirit when you ask Him. The Holy Spirit
came to earth on the Day of Pentecost, and
He is still here. He is there with you right
now. The moment you ask the Father for the
Holy Spirit, He will give Him to you. He is
more ready to fill you even than you are to
receive Him. The Holy Spirit is ever
present, ready to move, because He wants you
to be a vital and powerful witness for
Jesus.
Your own will is involved in receiving the
Holy Spirit just as it is in being born
again. God will not force the Holy Spirit
into your life. Without your voluntary
action you will never receive anything from
God.
Receiving the Holy Spirit requires that you
humble yourself before God. You stand before
God open and ready. You give Him your body,
your mind and your Spirit. You say, “Here I
am, asking You to come live inside me.
Because I am asking, I expect You to do it.
Your Word says You will give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask, so I am asking now. Fill
me with Your Holy Spirit.”
Again, you are not to go by your feelings.
You receive the Holy Spirit by faith, not by
feelings.
When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, an
extraordinary thing happens: You are able to
speak in another language. “And they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance,” Acts 2:4. The Holy Spirit
gives the utterance, but you do the
speaking. Nowhere in the New Testament does
it say that the Holy Spirit does the
speaking. God will not force you to speak in
tongues. He will supply the words that are
unknown to you - but you have to supply the
sound.
When you pray in tongues, you are praying
“in the spirit”. Just as English is the
voice of your mind, praying in tongues is
the voice of your spirit. It is your spirit
speaking mysteries unto God. The Apostle
Paul said, “If I pray in an unknown tongue,
my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is
unfruitful,” 1 Corinthians 14:14.
Pray To Receive The Holy Spirit
My heavenly Father, I am a believer. I am
your child, and You are my Father. Jesus is
my Lord. I believe with all of my heart that
Your Word is true.
Your Word says that if I will ask, I will
receive the Holy Spirit; so in the name of
Jesus Christ, my Lord, I am asking You to
fill me to overflowing with Your precious
Holy Spirit.
Jesus, baptize me in the Holy Spirit.
Because of Your Word, I believe that I now
receive, and I thank You for it. I believe
that the Holy Spirit is within me, and, by
faith, I accept it.
Now, Holy Spirit, rise up within me as I
praise my God. I fully expect to speak with
other tongues as You give me the utterance.
Amen
Now, begin to thank God and praise Him for
filling you with the Holy Spirit. As you do,
there will rise up from within your spirit
certain words and syllables that are unknown
to you, so by faith speak. Don’t speak any
more English. You can’t speak two languages
at the same time. Just begin to speak the
syllables that are on your lips. You are
like a baby, and you will begin by speaking
baby-sounding words. (Remember, you have to
use your own voice. God will not force you
to speak.) From this moment on, you are a
Spirit-filled believer. Jesus said in John
14:16, “I will pray the Father, and He shall
give you another Comforter that he may abide
with you forever.” The Holy Spirit is your
comforter, which means Counselor, Helper,
Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and
Standby. You can rely on Him to fulfill all
these areas of ministry.
The Holy Spirit was sent to teach you all
things, to lead and guide you into all
truth, John 14:26; 16:12, 13. You are no
longer alone. The Holy Spirit is the
Comforter who will abide with you forever!
To Continue Your Walk In The Spirit
1. Keep your eyes on Christ, and never look
back.
2. Take a public stand for Christ.
3. Join a Spirit-filled church.
4. Be baptized in water (An act of public
confession, a testimony to the world that
you are a Christian; it also signifies the
death of the old self and a resurrection
unto the new life.)
5. Begin a regular prayer life seeking a
more intimate relationship with God.
6. Read your Bible daily.
7. Be faithful in giving to God (He has
promised to pour out a special blessing on
those who are faithful stewards in their
giving to Him).
MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU!
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