|
|
|
SEE COMPLETE LIST OF ARTICLES ON HOME PAGE
From Ken Raggio's Book"Greatest Doctrines of the Bible" The Baptism Of The Holy Ghost Why everybody needs "The Comforter" By Ken Raggio
The great eternal Spirit of God is our Father and Creator. We are created by the divine Spirit, the only power able to fully instruct and enable us in the ways of life. Without the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit of God, we are disconnected and adrift from the very wisdom and understanding that orders the entire universe.
The Holy Spirit is the life of God. In the ancient Tabernacle of Moses, the Ark of the Covenant was the oracle of God to Moses and the High Priests. They stood before the Ark and listened to the voice of God. It is said that God dwelled between the Cherubims – the golden angels that stood at either end of the Mercy Seat. Although the Ark itself was a man-made box of Shittim wood overlaid with gold, the infinite Spirit and presence of God was manifest whereever the Ark went. When in the days of Eli, the Philistines stole the Ark from Israel, the Tabernacle itself became a charade, a moot exercise of religion, incapable of fulfilling its intended purpose of uniting men with God. Why? Because the glory of God had departed from it. So in the days of David, king of Israel, he constructed a special tent (the Tabernacle of David), fetched the Ark from its exile, and brought the glory of God back into the midst of the people of God. With great rejoicing, jubilant music and dancing, David welcomed God’s presence again. Ultimately, the Spirit of God instructed David to build a Temple that would house the presence of God in a more permanent way than the old tabernacle of the wilderness. When Solomon completed the construction of the Temple, the consecrated priests carried every sacred vessel and artifact of the Tabernacle into the new house of God. When, along with countless thousands of animal sacrifices, prayers and oblations, the priests finally carried the long-lost Ark of the Covenant into the golden-walled, red-blue-and-purple linen-veiled Holy of Holies, the Bible records that suddenly, “the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 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,” 2 Chronicles 5:13,14. The GLORY filled the house. By contrast, the new building was empty. Void. Alone. But when God’s Spirit moved into the Holy Place, GLORY filled the house. That is the exact premise behind every man and every woman being filled with the Holy Ghost. Unless and until you have been filled with the Holy Spirit according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, you are an empty vessel – an empty tabernacle – an empty temple – void, empty, and alone. Without the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, Christianity becomes a charade. When Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you," he was promising NOT to leave us empty, void, or alone, but to fill you and me with His Spirit in the same way the Spirit filled the Holy Place in ancient times. And WHEN HE DOES, you and I will encounter and experience the glory of God like nothing else we have ever seen, heard or felt. Now, let’s look at the theology of this experience. Jesus had just told his disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them in Heaven. That meant that He would no longer be with them physically on a day-to-day basis. No longer would he be there in person to answer their questions, to calm their fears, to do their miracles, or to meet their needs. You can imagine what a sinking feeling the disciples must have felt when they imagined what life was going to be like without Jesus in their midst. But He spoke an enigma to them. “I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.” What does He mean by that?” I am leaving, but I am coming to you.” How can that make sense? PHYSICALLY, He WAS leaving. But He was promising to return in SPIRIT form. The GHOST of Jesus would come back to them. The Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit. A few weeks later, following His death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven, 120 of Jesus’ disciples waited in prayer in the Upper Room, because He had promised that they would be “endued with power after that the Holy Ghost had come upon them.” They did not know what to expect. But on the fiftieth day following his crucifixion, on the day of Pentecost, something unprecedented happened. “When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4. “I will come to you!” The Spirit of Jesus Christ had just arrived. The COMFORTER had come. Their Holy Place was no longer empty, void, or alone. Their empty souls were filled with the Spirit of Christ – the Holy Ghost! Now, and more important for you and me today, Jesus’ promise was not only for those original 120 disciples in the early Church. His promise is to every believer for all time. "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" Acts 2:39. Can you and I have His Spirit in us just as they did on the day of Pentecost? Will Jesus baptize us now in His spirit just like He did them? Do we NEED His Spirit as they did in ancient days? The answers to those questions are practical and Biblical. So much can be said, but let us begin by discussing Jesus' claim that He would not leave us COMFORTLESS. "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Can you remember in your childhood, how you feared when a violent storm raged in the nighttime? Do you remember hiding under the covers while the thunder and lightning scared you and kept you awake far into the night? But suddenly a light came on in your bedroom. In the door stood your mom or dad who knew very well how scared you were. They came to comfort you with an assuring hug or a caring word: "The storm will soon be over and the winds will die! The sun will be shining again tomorrow." Mom and Dad's words were comforting. They were peaceful, restful words that soothe and console. Today, even as adults, we still need consolation and comfort that can only come from God. We are NOT truly self-sufficient. We NEED God. We all find ourselves looking deep within our own souls for consolation from time to time. It is normal to try to solace ourselves in times of trouble and distress. But sooner or later, it is inevitable that we will exhaust our inward reserves, and be forced to turn to something or someone else in our environment for comfort, strength and solace. God made us like that. He made us to NEED HIM! Every one of us, child or adult, will eventually "run out of gas," and need more than what we find within ourselves. Where will you go for additional support? Friends? Family? Strangers? We SHOULD turn to God, but in this modern time, with society in denial of God, people try desperately to get along without God. They try to comfort themselves without God’s help. That is why there is such a boom industry of self-help programs that teach such concepts as "Positive Mental Attitude," "Self-motivation," "possibility thinking," and seductive, if not bizarre, new genres of other mind-over-matter techniques. But in the end, self-help always runs down like a battery that cannot recharge itself. Did God make us to need Him? I believe so. He designed our “batteries” to run down without Him. Self-sufficiency will always fail in the end, because HE made us that way. Self-sufficiency is an oxymoron. It cannot be so. Self is never sufficient. A car is not sufficient without gas. A light bulb is not sufficient without electricity. A flower is not sufficient without rain. And you and I are not sufficient without the Holy Spirit in our souls. That is why Jesus said, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Even our fellow men are unable to comfort us. Job, the ancient one whose patience was tested to extremes, met with many calamities. Then his “friends” came forward with verbose explanations. But after suffering through their incessant talking, Job wearied of them and complained, "Miserable comforters are ye all," Job 16:2. Even as Job could not be comforted by his so-called friends, we will eventually make the same discovery of our own friends. Moses figured that out long ago, when he declared, "Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord," Deuteronomy 8:3. The sooner we acknowledge our need for God’s help – yes, for truly supernatural intervention - the better. And of course, the only One who can provide supernatural help is God. God made the human being to need Him. As God created the human body needing food and drink, even so the human soul certainly must have its own food and drink in the form of WORDS and SPIRIT. Not just any words or spirit, but God's Words and God's Spirit. Think about this: Men who do not believe in God search for food for their souls. They turn to common substitutes: common sense - men's words - and human enthusiasm - men's spirit, instead of God's Words and God's Spirit. But sometimes, it is far worse, when men turn to spirits and devils that are not of God. Tragically, men are too often mesmerized or fascinated by any spirit that will manifest itself, and cannot discern when an evil spirit is working to deceive, delude and destroy. Make no mistake about it – NO SPIRIT will ever comfort you like the Spirit of the one true and living God. There is an awesome revelation about the nature of God in the theology of the “Comforter.” Don’t stop now. Read on. The ancient nation of Israel believed that God was their Father, and that He was their Comforter. They believed in Him and trusted in Him for help. Isaiah said, "THE LORD hath comforted his people," Isaiah 49:13. God Himself declared, "I, even I, am he that comforteth you," Isaiah 51:12. King David spoke often of the comfort he found in the Lord, (Psalms 23:4, 71:21, 86:17, 94:19, 119:50). "In His presence is fulness of joy, and at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore," Psalm 16:11. God’s words comforted the ancient patriarchs. Despite the rabid denials of skeptics and atheists of our time, there is a multitude of believers around the world who firmly attest to the comfort they find in God, His word, and His spirit. God's words indeed comforted Old Testament believers. But God determined to do more than speak His word from the heavens. He set out to come down among men and reveal Himself. God desired to step into the human domain. God wanted to dwell among men. He wanted to have fellowship with His creation. He wanted to save them from their sins. So God robed Himself in flesh and walked among men, in the body of Jesus Christ. "The Word was made flesh," John 1:14. The Father's comforting Spirit was upon –and within -that man, Jesus Christ. In Luke 4:18, Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 61, which said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to …comfort all that mourn.” So here is a great theological reality. God the Father, who was Israel’s comforter, was incarnate in a man named Jesus Christ. Because of that reality, the man Jesus could effectually say, “I have come as your Comforter.” Jesus was, in truth, the Comforter. The INVISIBLE comforter of the Old Testament became the VISIBLE comforter in the New Testament. Jesus, The Comforter – God With Us So Jesus’ statement, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" meant that the Spirit of the Father (immortal) is upon the Son of Man (mortal). In Jesus dwelled all the fullness of the Godhead (deity) bodily. Here, we can begin to see that the Holy Spirit is not the third person of a trinity, but is actually the Spirit of the Father God from the Old Testament, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Today, the Holy Spirit is indeed the third MANIFESTATION of God, but not a third person. In the Old Testament, the Father was their comforter. In the New Testament, Jesus was their comforter. Since the days of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit of Jesus is the Comforter to those who will receive. That does not add up to three comforters, but is shows that the Father is in the Son of Man, who gave His Spirit to you and me. It is all one and the same Spirit. This is a great doctrinal revelation that you must not miss. The Father did not cease to be the Comforter when Jesus comforted His disciples. Nor did Jesus Christ cease to be the comforter when the believers at Pentecost received the Holy Ghost. The Comforter is GOD, and GOD is A (singular) SPIRIT. God is one spirit, not three. (There are many spirits that proceed from God, but HE is ONLY ONE SPIRIT.) By deduction, then, it should be said that you CANNOT receive the SPIRIT OF CHRIST without receiving the HOLY GHOST, because it is one and the same Spirit. Until you receive the Holy Ghost, you have not received the Spirit of Christ! Therefore, you have not yet been born again. When we are baptized in the Holy Ghost as they were at Pentecost, we receive the eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, one-and-only Spirit of God. That is like the glory cloud filling Solomon’s Temple, except it is happening to US! "My Father worketh", Jesus insisted. "The Son of Man can do nothing of Himself," John 5: 17,19. Jesus was not introducing Himself as a human Comforter. He emphasized that the Comforter was the Father who was IN Him by incarnation. Jesus was indeed the same Comforter that Israel had known in the Old Testament. Jesus was 'God with us'! The scriptures show Jesus at work as the Comforter. His words were manifest in His works. He said to the diseased woman who pressed through the crowds to touch Him, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole," Matthew 9:22. He comforted the lame, the blind, the deaf, the demon-possessed; alas, "all that mourn." Jesus was not pinch-hitting for the Father. He was not a second-in-command, filling in for the first-in-command. Jesus was not the second member of a triune godhead substituting or replacing the first member. Jesus is a human being, created miraculously in the womb of a virgin by the eternal Spirit, who was both His Father, AND incarnate in His body. The SON is a MAN – but the SPIRIT inside Him is the FATHER! Jesus is the one and only Father come down to us in an earthly tabernacle, “the tabernacle of God,” called the Son. Jesus, the man, had to go away. Jesus' human, mortal role as the Comforter was short-lived, however. God never intended for the ministry of the human Son to continue at that time. Although Jesus had an awesome and miraculous ministry as a human, His wonderful works were geographically confined to the places where He physically traveled. Consequently, only a few people were able to benefit from His comfort and ministry while He remained here in the flesh. The same physical body which was used to reveal the image of the invisible God actually became an encumbrance, a limitation, to the plan of redemption. The Son of man could not remain on earth indefinitely. He explained that "it is expedient for you that I go away," John 16:7. In other words, He informed them that it would be to everyone's advantage for Him to go away. The reason is evident: more lives would be comforted if He were manifest as a spirit than if He remained a mortal man. A greater work for both the Kingdom of God and the Church would be accomplished. Hence His statement, "Greater works than these shall ye do, because I go unto my Father," John 14:12. "Retiring" His mortal human body, and "redistributing" His ghost, His spirit among His faithful followers would multiply the ministry of Jesus Christ thousands of times over, and would be infinitely more profitable to both God and men. The Son of Man In Heaven So where would His body retire to? "I go unto Him that sent me," John 11:33; 16:5, that is, "I go to my Father," John 14:12,28; 16:16,17,28. Jesus human body died on the cross at Calvary. When it resurrected, it was no longer blood-based or mortal. It was immortal, transformed, and bloodless. His body ascended into heaven where it was exalted and sat on the right hand of the majesty on high, where the invisible Spirit Father dwells "in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see," I Timothy 6:16. Since the Father is invisible, Jesus Christ is the only person visible on the throne of God. "For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one," I John 5:7. Revelation 4:2 declares that there is only one throne set in heaven, and only one person sitting on it. Chapter 22, verse 3 calls Him both "God" (our Father) and "the Lamb" (the Son). Whether the angelic hosts desire to see the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost, all they will ever see is "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 2 Corinthians 4:6! No man ever saw God at any time until, like Moses, they saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Why? Because God is and always has been an invisible Spirit. That is the Spirit you receive when you receive the Holy Ghost. As a man exalted by God, Jesus had "All power...in Heaven and in earth," Matthew 28:18. All discretion is now His. "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you," John 16:7. "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me," John 15:26. And logically so! The Holy Ghost proceeds from the omnipresent Father in much the same sense that a glass of water proceeds from the deep blue sea. The Holy Ghost in our lives is a special allotment of the Spirit of the Father; all of God that will fit into a human body! Jesus sent a special dispensation of the Father Spirit back to us The Son Of Man had never been to Heaven. Certainly, the incarnate Spirit of the Father who dwelled in Him had been in heaven. That Spirit had come down from Heaven, but not the man. The man was born of the woman in the fullness of time. It is the fact that the Spirit of the Father had come down into the Son that makes Calvary so awesome: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, that he laid down his life for us," I John 3:16. GOD WAS IN CHRIST, reconciling the world to Himself. After Calvary, the Father's incarnate Spirit was loosed from the Son of Man, and given to a new body – the body of believers. The Church! Like a branch of a tree, Jesus was an extended manifestation of His Father. He came with a mission, which was fulfilled at Calvary. There He made intercession for all men for all times. But after Calvary, Jesus was a man with a due reward. Just before He was crucified, Jesus prayed, "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify Thee," John 17:1. In only a few days, the Son of Man would ascend to Heaven, to sit on the right hand of the one throne of the invisible God. (The following scriptures describe the Son of Man either standing or sitting at the right hand of power; the right hand of the Majesty on high; or the right hand of God: Matthew 22:44; 26:64; Mark 14:62; 16:19; Luke 20:42; 22:69; Acts 2:33,34; 7:55,56; Colossians 3:1. ) Understand this. Jesus was the first mortal man to become an immortal man. (See I Corinthians 15:23). "Wherefore God hath highly exalted him," Philippians 2:9. The Spirit of God quickened His mortal (dead) body. In that solitary act, Jesus became the FIRST MORTAL TO BE BORN AGAIN! Jesus was born the second time by dying, and rising from the dead by the Spirit of God. The Comforter is with us today. Jesus’ glorification was the key event for all of us today who long for the life of God to dwell within us. Throughout Jesus' ministry on earth, He was driven by a desire to fill men with His Spirit. He carefully instructed Nicodemus that "you must be born again", and to be born "of the Spirit," John 3:5,7. He excitedly urged the woman of Samaria to ask of Him "living water". He then explained that His Spirit in her would be like a "well of water springing up into everlasting life," John 4:10,14. Then, "In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given: because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)," John 7:37,38. Jesus - Baptizer of the Holy Ghost Jesus was so obsessed with the desire to fill men and women with His Spirit. He preached it long before it was actually given. In all the above illustrations, Jesus offered His Spirit, but it was still "not yet given". Even in John 20:22, Jesus "breathed on them," (the disciples), "and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost." He commanded them to receive it, showing Himself to be the Giver and Source of it. Yet even then, the Holy Ghost was not yet given. Why wasn't the Spirit yet given? "Because that Jesus was not yet glorified," John 7:39. In order for the followers of Jesus Christ to receive the fullness of God for themselves, Jesus had to ascend into Heaven. "And I", (the Son of man), "will pray the Father", (the eternal invisible Spirit), "and He shall give you another Comforter", (another manifestation of Himself, the true Comforter), "that He may abide with you forever," John 14:16. Jesus - Intercessor and Mediator This man actually had to appeal to His Spirit Father to release this intercessory Holy Ghost unto His followers. He assured His disciples before He went away, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you," John 14:18. He explained exactly who the "other comforter" would be in John 14:17: "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." Get this! The "other comforter" already dwelled "with" them, in the body of Jesus Christ. So the same Spirit that would eventually be IN them, was already WITH them, housed in the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus' own Spirit, or Ghost, was the Spirit that came into them later. John the Baptist informed his followers that "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost," Matthew 3:11. Jesus indicated that once the Holy Ghost was given, "At that day ye shall know that I... (am) in you," John 14:20. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul taught that Jesus' indwelling Spirit was ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His," Romans 8:9. Born Again By The Holy Ghost Jesus determined that every one of His followers should have the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost. He instructed them to "tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high," Luke 24:49. This was a clear command to receive the Holy Ghost Baptism. There was only one way to receive the power. "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you," Acts 1:8. The Spirit Birth brings comfort Earlier, I mentioned the hunger and thirst of every man's soul for spiritual nourishment. Even as the body needs food and drink, the soul needs God's Word and God's Spirit. Our Comforter is the only true source of both Word and Spirit. Imagine the disciples without the Comfort of Jesus' words which they had daily relied upon. Did Jesus' departure mean there would be no more comforting words? Not at all! The Holy Ghost definitely speaks when He arrives. God said, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," Joel 2:28. Stammering lips and other tongues Isaiah began to itemize; "For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to His people," Isaiah 28:12. It certainly seems strange that God would choose "stammering lips" to comfort His people. And why wouldn't God speak to them in their own tongue, instead of another tongue? But Isaiah said, "This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing," Isaiah 28:11,12. The fact is that when the Comforter comes, we receive both Words and Spirit. The heralded event first takes place in Acts 2: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," Acts 2:1-4. The Pentecostal experience described in these verses is the basis of many hundreds of millions of people around the world who now claim to be "Pentecostals." The entire Pentecostal movement and all the Pentecostal denominations and Pentecostal churches far and wide spring from this biblical account. The Spirit Speaks Audibly It is significant to notice that when the Holy Ghost is given, you will hear the sound of its arrival. Jesus told Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listest, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit," John 3:8. The Spirit comes invisibly, like the wind. But it also comes audibly, like the wind! How else could the Spirit comfort if it used no words? Peter considered the sound of speaking in other tongues to be the evidence that members of Cornelius' household had received the Holy Ghost. "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God," Acts 10:46. It was just like the experience that had occurred to them in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost, saying "these...have received the Holy Ghost as well as we," Acts 10:47, and "the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning," Acts 11:15. Again, in the city of Ephesus, Paul preached, and "the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spoke with tongues," Acts 19:6. The precedent is set. You will speak with unknown tongues when you receive the Holy Ghost. Jesus Himself ordained it: "They shall speak with new tongues," Mark 16:17. Why the Spirit speaks strangely But the objection arises: "What good are stammering lips, and other tongues?" Paul answers. "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful," I Corinthians 14:14. We have absolutely no obligation to justify the strangeness of speaking in an unknown tongue. It is not necessary to know or understand what is being said. It is right and proper for us to assume that as we speak in other tongues, the Holy Ghost is inspiring a very special kind of communication which Paul described as "intercession for the saints according to the will of God," Romans 8:27b. It is impossible to appreciate the Baptism of the Holy Ghost until it is a personal experience. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is an unknown-tongues-speaking experience designed by God as a facility to intercessory prayer. Speaking in tongues is intended to be a comforting experience. "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God: for no man understandeth him," I Corinthians 14:2, "howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, for he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God," Romans 8:26-27. In addition, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself," I Corinthians 14:4. Speaking in tongues edifies - 'builds up or establishes' the person who is praying. How can anyone argue that God no longer works in this manner, when a world full of evidence shows that He does? Words Spoken By The Spirit "What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also," I Corinthians 14:15. No wonder that Paul boasted, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all," I Corinthians 14:18. The Holy Ghost does much more than inspire one to speak in other tongues. He comforts through His ministry. "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied," Acts 9:31. You can be comforted. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost," Acts 2:38. Nothing can deprive you of it, if you desire it. "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," Acts 2:39. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not an optional experience for the believer. One is not born of the Spirit prior to receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. You do not receive the Spirit of Christ before you receive the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of Christ is the exact same Spirit as the Holy Ghost. Until a person has received the Holy Ghost, he or she has not received the Spirit of Christ; and has not yet been born again. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you," Romans 8:9-11. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Please continue to this article: Praying In The Spirit (excerpted from my book, "Praying on Purpose, Praying for Results"). Then, understand more about how the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ. I am continually writing new content for this site. Please return often for more material, and tell your friends about www.kenraggio.com , too! THANKS! And God bless you! Ken Raggio 
Click here for BOOKS and VIDEOS by Ken Raggio ALL ARTICLES WRITTEN BY KEN RAGGIO, Copyright 1988-2010 Articles may not be republished on the Internet without express permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Thanks for coming by!
Donate to this Ministry |