Welcome back to our study of the Holy Spirit. In our last lesson we discussed the biblical evidence that one has received the baptism with the Holy Spirit. We examined three different examples found the in the book of Acts.

Acts chapter 2 which records the Day of Pentecost when 120 disciples were gathered together waiting for the enduement of power that Jesus promised 10 days before His ascension. In these verses we read they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in unknown tongues.

The second example is found in Acts chapter 10. In this chapter, Peter was invited to speak to a group of Gentiles who had not yet heard the Gospel. The Bible says that while Peter spoke the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard his words and they began speaking in unknown tongues and magnifying God.

The third example is found in Acts chapter 19. In the first seven verses we read that Paul shared the Gospel with disciples who were following John the Baptist’s teaching. Once they heard about Jesus, they became believers, were water baptised and when Paul laid his hands on them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with unknown tongues and prophesied.

In all of these biblical examples we see a consistent pattern. When believers received the baptism with the Holy Spirit there was a supernatural manifestation of speaking with unknown tongues. We believe speaking with unknown tongues is the supernatural evidence that a person has received the experience the Bible refers to as the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

We do not believe speaking with unknown tongues is the baptism with the Holy Spirit, rather, we believe that when a person is baptized with the Holy Spirit, or another way to say it, when a person receives enduement of power, the supernatural evidence that once has received is the manifestation of speaking with an unknown tongue.

Speaking in an unknown tongue is simply the supernatural evidence that a believer is now empowered or filled with the Holy Spirit.

I can remember in my own life as a teenager attending my local church. Every Sunday morning we attended what we called a Sunday School class that was held prior to the main service. Our classes were divided by age groups, so my class was designated for teenagers.

I remember one particular morning when our teacher did not open her lesson plan. Instead she opened the Bible and read Mark 16: 17&18. “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my Name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

I remember sitting in that classroom and hearing those words for the first time in my life. I thought to myself, who said those words? These are powerful words. These verses are telling me that as a believer I can experience God’s supernatural power in my life.

It seemed to me that when my teacher read those words, and later I found out these are the words of Jesus, that it was like someone took a hot iron and burned those words into my heart and my spirit. I never forgot them. As a matter of fact, those words started a spiritual journey in my life. From that moment, I began to search the bible concerning this supernatural power.

My search led me to the verses I read to you at the beginning of this lesson. My search ultimately led me to the experience the Bible calls the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I remember the exact time that someone prayed for me to receive this enduement of power. I remember the exhilaration in my spirit and the outflow of the Holy Spirit as I began speaking in an unknown tongue - unknown to me. That experience was 44 years ago. And from that day until this day, a day does not go by that I do not pray or worship God in an unknown tongue.

I cannot begin to count all the benefits of this supernatural experience. Among all the benefits of speaking in an unknown tongue, the most beneficial is the ability to praise and worship my Heavenly Father in ways that extend beyond my own natural thoughts or words. I now have an unending stream of praise and worship that flows from my spirit, by the Holy Spirit to my Heavenly Father.

In Acts chapter 19 we find another very important principle concerning the baptism with the Holy Spirit. In verse 6 we read, “And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied.”

I want you to notice that this verse clearly teaches us that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the doorway into the rest of God’s supernatural power and manifestations. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we are encouraged to desire spiritual gifts. The word desire means to have a longing or craving for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment.

We were created by God as supernatural beings. We have built within our spirit a longing for the supernatural power of God. It is no wonder that Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to desire spiritual gifts.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul gives a detailed list of what we refer to as the 9 gifts of the Spirit, or what I like to refer to as the 9 manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In other words, this list reveals the 9 ways the Holy Spirit desires to manifest Himself in the Church through each and every member of the Church.

When we read through the book of Acts, we constantly reminded of God’s desire to manifest Himself in a supernatural way. Of course we understand the book of Acts records the history of the early church during a period of approximately 30 years. However, one cannot help but to be impressed by the constant sprinklings of God’s supernatural power in that 30-year period of the early church.

We must ask ourselves today, does God still desire to reveal Himself in a supernatural way.  From studying the history of the church from its earliest days until the present, we have a definite pattern of supernatural manifestations. I do not believe this is by accident. I believe it is God’s will for His Church to demonstrate to the world, His power and His Love, through every supernatural method that is clearly revealed in God’s word.

If you have not yet received this biblical experience call the baptism with the Holy Spirit, again let me encourage you to search the scriptures and prayerfully ask God to lead you into this experience. If you have already received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, let me encourage you to move beyond the evidence to the rivers of living water.

Let me encourage you to ask the head of the Church, the Lord Jesus to bring you into a place of greater manifestations of His power. For what purpose you might ask? For the purpose of expanding the Kingdom of God through a powerful testimony. Also for the purpose of bringing a spiritual freshness and power to the local church that helps to build up and strengthen every believer.

It is my firm belief that God did not stop revealing Himself through His church in a supernatural way in the 28th chapter of the book of Acts. What we refer to as the book of Acts should be more aptly named “The Acts of the Holy Spirit though the early Church.”

If the Holy Spirit is still active in and through the believer today, then we should have a continued manifestation of His presence. If there is no manifestation of His presence, then we must search our hearts and the scriptures to see if we have departed from God’s original plan for His Church.

My prayer is for you to begin asking God to reveal Himself to you in a new and fresh way that is consistent with His Word. Open your heart to the fullness of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to manifest Himself through you as He desires. As Paul instructed Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6, “Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”

Let me encourage you to stir yourself up, to have a desire for the supernatural, to allow the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through you.