Dear Tracey

I read your topic on the above link and replied under your topic, but since you wrote it so long ago, I felt I had to start this new topic just to confirm my suspicions.

I am not too happy with the Bible.com site since I don't agree with some of their comments.
This is what I wrote previously:

"I had a look at the bible.com site that you recommend and I don't think it is a wholesome site at all . My reason is this: It states the following in answer to the "Baptism in the Holy Spirit" question on their "Bible Answers" page:

"The baptism in the Holy Ghost is a crisis experience just as our initial conversion experience was. We cannot be gradually baptized in the Holy Spirit, just as we cannot be gradually baptized in water. Certainly we can be gradually filled with God's Spirit, but one day that "filling" will spill over into a baptism or complete immersion in the Holy Ghost. Many believe they need not ask for this experience because they think they receive the Holy Spirit at conversion. While this is true in the sense that the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and in us, to plant the seed of life in Christ, it is not true that we are completely filled with His Spirit unless we ask for it. "...How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13).""

They are talking here about two baptisms, the 2nd only being the true receiving of the Holy Spirit. That is definitely not biblical according to my limited knowledge. Also, our sin tends to act as a block to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. The more we lay those sins at the foot of the cross, the more the Holy spirit will work in us - it is a process of denying the "old man" in us. We can't just ask for that allpowerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit that they mean. What is the use then of us learning to lay down the old man and trusting Jesus more and more. My wife and I are currently (the past ± 4 months) going through a trial period like this, where the Lord is teaching us to trust Him completely. It is really a PROCESS because we ultimately want to do things for ourselves. We want to be independant and not dependant on God because of our sinful natures. That is why we need to deny ourselves through His conviction, because we can not do it otherwise. We are not capable of denying ourselves without having the Holy Spirit in us, and which we receive when "we" have decided (we only decide after the Holy Spirit has softened our hard hearts) to follow Christ.

They also say:

"The Holy Ghost is God's gift to us. As we are baptized in His Spirit we will find that we will experience the gift of speaking in tongues, plus all the other gifts of the Spirit when needed, if we continue to follow Him (I Corinthians 12, 13 and 14)."

I am sure this has been dealt with before on this message board. We receive a gift/s of the Spirit only as and when He decides. Some of us might only recieve one gift, others more than one, and we can recieve it at any time of our life after conversion to Christ. It usually occurs when we realize that we have a gifting in a certain area and that we need to develop that gift. Most of all, the gift of tongues is not proof that we have recieved the Holy Spirit.

Tracey, as I said in reply to you previously, I don't blame you. We all make mistakes. But I think we all should be very careful when we recommend a site (or anything else for that matter), to first make sure that it is truly biblical. I am sure there are various members of this message board that can help check out a site to see whether it truly is God's word they proclaim. IDEA: Maybe a seperate message topic should be set up for this, to see whether sites are right or wrong in their content according to God's Word, especially for those who are not so certain about biblical/doctrinal issues. A verdict can be made about a site and then the good ones can be sorted from the bad ones.

I welcome any comments on this posting.

In His name.

Anthony

Anthony,

I think you have it perfectly right.
1. The Holy Spirit's gifts are made operational in you as and when required by th Spirit. It is also true that some Christians in an assembly may be granted some or all of the Gifts and you can see it operating at different times. This, I think, is what we should strive to, for the Spirit to use us with all the Gifts as and when necesary.
2. Talking in a strange tongue is not always a sign that one has received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. My home languages when I was a child was Flemish and English. When I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I spoke in pure Flemish.
3. Jesus promised the Church that He will supply the Spirit to the Church when He (Jesus) goes to the Father, to comfort us, to teach us and to lead us. If one takes this promise and, with prayer and meditation, examine what Jesus said, you must come to the conclusion that the Spirit has been given to manage our whole life, every single aspect of it, whether we're sleeping, eating or working or even spending leisure time with our loved ones. It not only applies to our Church attendance, but our whole lives. The Spirit has been given to make you aware of Life abundant in God and to teach you to draw nearer to God, so you can experiance His abundance and lastly to lead yo on a path of righteosness so you can draw closer to God.

Eventually you realise the absolute truth as Jesus states it in John 15:7 "If you dwell in Me and My word in you, you may ask ANYTHING of the Father in My Name, and you will receive it."

Keep up the good working of allowing the Spirit to comfort you, to teach you and to lead you in every aspect of your life.

III John 2 " I wish that it goes well with everything where you are concerned, in your body as well as in your spirit."