1-- What Follows Being Filled With The Holy Spirit-- Short

About What Follows Being Filled with the Holy Spirit (compiled by Bill Stevenson) When we try to force our preferences on someone else it is wrong. I have witnessed such happening many times in what many claim is the only way for individuals to prove that they are filled with the Holy Spirit and not just “born again”. Some of these individuals even claim that those who haven’t spoken in tongues are not true Christians or saved adopted children of God. In one large Word of Faith church I was in, the counseling staff was advising individuals to divorce their spouses who didn’t have the gift of tongues. One of the reasons I was fired from my first Christian school teaching ministry because I did not have that spiritual gift yet. I had been “born again” on May 25, 1967. Right after the unjust firing I begged God to give me the gift because it seemed that the Assembly of God church members in two churches I had been in had joy that I wanted too. I received the gift while I was on my bed alone in my bedroom in early 1975. On the other side of the USA in April of 1988, I met someone who was given some of the words I was given. The next year in March, I found myself singing in tongues. I never gave a message from God in tongues in a church service. But I never thought that every Christian had to have the gift. I have been a member of several charismatic churches and visited many. I also have seen charismatic church meetings on TV and been to “faith healer meetings”. But 1 Corinthians 14 was done as the Apostle Paul exhorted in only a few of the churches. In some meetings it seemed that many had the same words or noises during the “speaking in tongues time” as if they were doing such to be accepted. I have read some other famous Bible teachers’ observations, but I would never condemn the charismatic movement. The gift of tongues helped me in my intercessory praying even in churches and the Holy Spirit has been wonderful in His ministries for me (especially teaching me and helping me make decisions). Scripture mentions the Holy Spirit coming upon individuals for specific purposes like for making things for the Tabernacle, for giving information to individuals, for the empowering of the Apostles, and for part of the “born again” experience of Christians. But this Bible study is not dealing with those relations of the Holy Spirit. Most charismatics claim that after the Salvation experience, every new true believer is later filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in a language unknown to him or her, because of this passage and other verses stating that there were similar experiences. Notice my underlines. Try to think why I chose the following passages for this course: Acts 2:1-12; Acts 10:39-46; Acts 19:1-7; Exodus 28:1-3; Exodus 31:1-5; Exodus 35:29-33; Psalm 51:10-13; Isaiah 63:7-11; Ezekiel 2:1-7; Ezekiel 3:4-6, 10-11, & 24-27-27; James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:21-23 & 4:1-19; John 16:7-15; John 20:19-23; Luke 1:11-17, 39-45, & 67-79; Acts 4:114; Acts 4:29-31; Acts 6:1-8; Acts 7:54:56, Acts 8:14-21; Acts 9:17-22; Acts 11:22-26; Acts 13:9:5-12; Acts 13:44-14:4; 1 Corinthians 6: 15-20; 2 Timothy 1:11-14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 & 18-31; 1 Corinthians 13:1 & 8; 1 Corinthians 14:1-14, 18-33, & 39-40; Ephesians 5:18-21; Galatians 5:22-26; Romans 8:1-5, 9, 14-15. Or if you want to see the whole Bible study tool with the Scripture logically formatted and the thought provoking questions, go to http://www.box.net/shared/kzbmra53xv for a free download.

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