Spiritual Warfare Part 5

Prayer is always important. Praying in the spirit I feel is what gets me through the tough
spots. The Holy Spirit knows what to pray for better than I do. Unfortunately, many of the
false churches have spread a false doctrine that there is no such thing as the baptism in
the Holy Spirit, as a distinct and separate event from the salvation experience. I'll show
you they're wrong.

Acts 8:14 - 17 " Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria
had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who when they were
come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was
fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then
laid they hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."

Now we know the apostles wouldn't lay hands on unbelievers to receive the baptism of
the Holy Ghost, so it is as the scriptures show. There were some believers who didn't yet
know about the baptism in the Holy Spirit (like some of you reading this) and they had
hands laid on them and received. Let's see this again.

Acts 19: 1 - 6 " And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having
passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said
unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him,
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them,
Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul,
John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they
should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they
heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his
hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and
prophesied."

Here it is again. At first, the people were not baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. This
came first. After this occurred they were believers, and Paul then laid hands on them and
they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and prophesied. The baptism is a
wonderful gift.

Acts1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and
ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The Apostles administered the baptism of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.
If there is no one available you can always pray direct to the Lord for this gift. Remember
no one laid hands on the folks who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Read Acts2:1 -
8.

Luke 11:13 " 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?"
So ask.

Eph.1:13 " In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit
of promise."

Eph.4:30 " And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day
of redemption."

So someone telling you that they are a believer and can't get the baptism in the Holy
Spirit is saying that they aren't sealed unto the day of redemption. Problems here. Be
careful, don't be tricked by false believers. A person saying they didn't know about it, or
didn't understand it, is a different story. People telling you there is no such thing as the
baptism in the Holy Spirit, are giving you false doctrines. Use caution. You do want to be
sealed unto the day of redemption, don't you ?

Some true believers have been taught false doctrines, but be careful so as to not to be
snared by a false believer but also try to help the true believer. A true believer will believe
the word of God and desire such a gift from God. I have heard false believers pray in
what sounded to be tongues and even sing in what sounded to be tongues. Most of the
time I heard this they would only speak a phrase or perhaps one or two sentences in what
sounded to be tongues. They could have done this by listening to true tongues and
practiced copying and repeating the sounds. I have never heard any false believer pray in
tongues for any length of time, usually it's just for a few seconds. I can readily pray in
tongues for hours at a time. I try to pray as much in tongues each day as I can make time
for.

1Cor.14:39 " Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with
tongues."

This speaks for itself. So, if you haven't already received the baptism in the Holy Spirit,
let me encourage you to do so and if you already have, let me encourage you to pray
much in the Holy Spirit.

The entire series and much more on www.messianic.biz