A Study on the Holy Ghost

̶ Week 16 of38 ̶

By David Wilson

© 2017 by David Wilson

All rights reserved

The Holy Ghost Baptism

When we are saved, we receive the spirit of Christ. This means Jesus comes into our hearts to dwell. We are changed from the old man of sin into a new creature. Our sins are washed away, or more properly, our sins are covered by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This process of salvation is only one of the works of the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost that draws us to God, that brings conviction to our hearts and souls and shows us how lost a state we are in. The Word teaches us that no man cometh unto the Father except the spirit draws him. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is a completely different experience from salvation. Holy Ghost baptism comes when we invite, through prayer, the Holy Ghost to come into our lives and hearts.

Before the Holy Ghost will come into our hearts, we must first prepare ourselves to receive Him. Only when our hearts are sanctified before God will the Holy Ghost come in to dwell. What does it take to receive the Holy Ghost? Sometimes, not being completely surrendered to the Lord will keep a person from receiving the baptism. In the case of one person who sought the baptism for twenty years, she would get close, laugh in the spirit, lay on the floor lost in the spirit for hours, but would never go through to the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. When the night finally came that she received the baptism, she stated afterward that all along, the only thing that stood in the way was her fear of what she would do after she received the Holy Ghost. She was a very shy, timid person, and she was afraid that she might do some of the things that she had seen others do, such as dance in the spirit, roll on the floor, run the isles or whatever. This was enough to keep her from receiving the Holy Ghost, even though she sought it for twenty years. The one thing that we must remember is that the Holy Ghost is a perfect gentleman and will never go against our will.

To receive, we must completely and totally surrender. We must give ourselves over to the Holy Ghost and let Him have complete control in whatever He wants to say and/or do. It goes against our nature to give up control of our bodies, but we must to receive. Then and only then will we receive the Holy Ghost into our hearts. The most important principal a child of God must learn is this, that to have a relationship with God we must learn to totally surrender our lives and will into His hands. If there is to be a unity between God and man, we must learn to put our trust in God and leave it there regardless of the circumstances of life.

(Next week we will read about the Symbols of the Holy Ghost.

If you enjoyed this, you can purchase the book on our website in the Bookstore.)

A Study on the Holy Ghost

̶ Week 15 of 38 ̶

By David Wilson

© 2017 by David Wilson

All rights reserved

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

1 Corinthians 12:3

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

This doesn’t mean that everyone who says “Jesus is Lord” is saved. It means that those who have a real change of heart, through Holy Ghost conviction of sin, can call Jesus “Lord.” For only then can they truly realize what it means for Jesus to be “Lord.” We must be born again; the blood must wash away our sins.

2 Thessalonians 2:13

But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

Again, we come to the word sanctification. A quick definition is: “It is the separation of ourselves from sin, the laying aside or laying down of those things which entangle us in the world.” Sanctification works in two ways. There’s a biblical sanctification we must all come under. It’s the same for everybody, with no exceptions. Then there’s a personal sanctification, where God tests your obedience to his will. You may be asked to do something or give up something that no one else is asked to do, just to see if you will be obedient to His will in your life.

1 Peter 2:1, 2

¹Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking.

² As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.

1 Peter 1:2

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you and peace be multiplied.

(Next week we will read about the Holy Ghost Baptism..

If you enjoyed this, you can purchase the book on our website in the Bookstore.)

9/11/2018

While reading my Bible I came upon Acts 23:11. Right after reading this the thought came to my mind; I would like that to happen to me. The very next thought was “but, I do not want to go through all that Paul did.”

How many times have we heard of people that have had great faith shown in ways that sounds supernatural? If you are like me, you might wish that you had that same great faith. However, have you ever thought of what they went through to get to that point?

We find in the book of Acts, chapter 23, the story of Paul, having been arrested was called to defend himself. How a group of people wanted to kill him. How God worked to protect Paul’s life. Then in verse 11, God let Paul know they would not succeed. God did it by coming to him and talking with him. It makes me want this to happen to me, until I remember what happed to Paul before this.

Then God reminded of the time that someone asked if I would be willing to give a testimony about a period in my life; to me that period was no big deal. I did not then and still today cannot see why that would give me an inspiring testimony. I lived that time because of the prayers that had been prayed and mainly because I felt Jesus right there with me and I willingly state that I only made it because Jesus was with me.

This is how Paul must have felt. It was no big deal because Jesus was with him. He got a visit from the Lord and it did not scare him or put him in the position of being shock because of the life he had been living.

God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are there for us in our daily walk. They are as real and as close as we let them be. The more we pray and the closer we get to them the better life will be. The more peace we will have. The more that people will want our testimony. The more they will want what we have. Jesus, God and the Holy Ghost, thank you for loving us.

C.I. Wilson

A Study on the Holy Ghost

̶ Week 14 of 38 ̶

By David Wilson

© 2017 by David Wilson

All rights reserved

The Holy Ghost in Conversion

The Holy Ghost plays a very important part in the conversion of sinners, for it is the work of the Holy Ghost to convict us of sin.

John 16:8

When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

The Holy Ghost brings conviction to our hearts and makes us realize we have sinned and are lost and on a downward road to a devil’s hell without God. The general theme of the church today is to preach a social gospel. There’s no room for hellfire and brimstone messages in today’s church. Such preaching scares people, upsets their lives, and undermines their sense of security. I sincerely hope this is the case, for the last thing we need is a sense of false security.

We read in the Word that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It does us very little good to preach a gospel that’s only part of the truth. The love of God is a great message, but at the same time the full gospel tells us that, yes, there’s a heaven to gain, but at the same time there’s a very real hell we must shun. The Word tells us we cannot do our own thing, but we must walk in the holiness of God. Without holiness, no man shall see God. Ministers who refuse to preach the full truth of the gospel are keeping the Holy Ghost from performing his work. Without the full gospel message, the Holy Ghost has His hands tied and cannot bring conviction to a heart that has not been warned of sin. These ministers are condemning their people to eternity without God. They become blind leaders of the blind, and they will both fall into the ditch together.

People want a gospel that’s easy to live, without trials and temptations. But the Word tells us we will be tried as by fire. Teaching that the child of God doesn’t suffer trials and temptation is an outright lie of the devil. If we can be fooled into believing there’s no hell, then we have no fear of God and are not compelled to give ourselves totally unto God. The Holy Ghost places conviction in our hearts—fear if you please, for it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. The Holy Ghost conviction is what causes us to cry out to God. That fear, after we give our hearts to Jesus, turns into a love so sweet that words cannot fully explain it.

(Next week we will read more about how the Holy Ghost is involved in conversion.

If you enjoyed this, you can purchase the book on our website in the Bookstore.)

9/1/2018

When I was growing up, in my church the young people were taught what “the church” believed we were not to do. When I reached the age that I could join our church and have the right to vote in elections, one of the questions was, did I know what the church believed. When I asked someone that said it was published in our weekly “paper” and to look there. After looking in a few, I asked my mother and she could not find them there, however, she did know where to find them. Sure enough I knew what they were because I had been taught them along with the “what not to do’s”. They just were not taught as “what the church believes”.

After many years I was visiting another Pentecostal church and heard someone say that they left the church that they grew up in because they only taught “what not to do” and she was tired of being told the negative, so she left and lost her salvation. The good thing is that God gave her time to come back to him. Many do not get the chance to come back to God.

This week I came across an article called Christians Must Be Known For More Than What We’re For, by: Dean Inserra. (see link below article) In this article he states that though it sounds good it is really not as good as it sounds.

When we serve God with all our hearts, we will do the best that we can to emulate Christ. We will show love to those around us, help those who have a need, but we will not be walked all over (Remember the moneychangers in the Temple?).

As we do our best to let Christ shine in our lives every day, we will be known for what we are and what we believe. They will not have to ask, “What do you believe?” as I did in my youth they will be able to tell those around them because they will know how we live.

We must not be like the willow tree that bends whichever way the wind blows, but like the might Sequoia that stands tall and stands through the winds, the fires and the rains.

It is also wise for us all to know what we stand for as well as what we do not stand for. Or as my husband has stated for many years; We need to know where to find what the Bible states about what we believe.

C.I.Wilson

https://factsandtrends.net/2018/08/28/christians-must-be-known-for-more-than-what-we-are-for/