Does Every Believer Have the Holy Ghost?
Paul's question, "Have ye received the holy Ghost since ye believed?", was asked of a group of Ephesian disciples who had, as shown by the inquiry, "believed". Not only had they believed, but they had also been baptized with water; yet, according to their own testimony, they had "not so much as heard whether there be any holy Ghost." Think of the multitudes today who have believed and been baptized with water; still, they are without the promise - the holy Ghost! As we meet people from around the world via the internet, it is amazing how people have been persuaded to believe a lie. Sincere seekers of Jesus, are told by false ministers that because they believe in Jesus, and because they have "confessed him as Lord" (with their mouths), that they have the holy Ghost. This my friend is deceit. If you believe this, it is quite possible for you to die in your sins, because believing in Jesus is NOT the same as receiving the Spirit of God. Yes, believing is a good start; but let's not stop with that. As Paul told his Roman friends, "without the Spirit ye are none of his", so we too tell the believer, "you must receive the holy Ghost". The principal reason so many followers of Christ now have not yet received the holy Ghost is the same reason that the twelve Ephesian disciples had not yet received it; that is, they were taught by a man who himself had not yet received the holy Ghost. Namely, "Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in the Spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John" (Acts 18:24-25). Of course, "when Aquila and Priscilla [a Spirit-filled man and his wife] had heard [him teaching], they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly"; that is, they explained the truth concerning Jesus's perfect baptism, a truth that is unquestionably needed among multitudes today who have been taught only a form of repentance and water baptism. There are other examples in the Bible of believers who did not (for a short time) have the holy Ghost. For instance, when "Philip went down to Samaria, and preached Christ unto them . . . the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city." Moreover, we are told that "when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. . . . Now when the apostles 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 it was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then [Peter and John] laid their hands on them, and they received the holy Ghost." The early congregation did not wait to tell believers about the holy Ghost baptism, but straightway they brought them into the fullness of the Spirit. The Apostles did not tell believers the the baptism of the holy Ghost was something "extra"; or that is was one of the "gifts", and therefore an "option". My friend, those early believers were never left to go their own way, but were immediately made partakers of the blessed holy Ghost - the most marvelous experience that can happen to us this side of heaven. Oh, that it were so today with all those who have believed the message concerning Jesus! God has provided for His children the power to live a rejoicing life through the holy Ghost. This life was not for the apostles and early congregation alone, but for every believer in every generation. Reader, this includes you and me. The coming of the holy Ghost into one's life does not bring a burdensome responsibility to live up to some disagreeable command, as many seem to think; on the contrary, it brings God's gracious offer for a victorious life here among men. And this life is not only the believer's privilege, but it is also God's command (Acts 1:4; 17:30). Oh, how we need more workers with the experience that Aquila and Priscilla possessed - a fullness of the Spirit and power of God! And how we need more men like Apollos, who wasn't too proud to repent when more light was given to him! He became one of Paul's best helpers, spreading the light of the gospel to others! It is evil for ministers to tell the unconverted that their sins have been washed away prior to being baptized with the Spirit. This will hinder them from truly repenting, for God will not give a believer the holy Ghost until they do repent! But if a person has been told they have already repented, then it is quite possible they never will. "Have ye received the holy Ghost since ye believed?" If it was appropriate to ask first-century believers this question, it is appropriate to ask believers now. A believer today who hasn't received the holy Ghost is, in this regard, no different from Jesus's disciples before they received it. The followers of Jesus had been conceived by the word of God (Jn.16:20-24) and were told by Jesus that their names were written in heaven (Lk.10:20); nevertheless, they did not yet have the holy Ghost in them (Jn.14:17). There is, and there always has been, a believing before receiving the holy Ghost. Indeed, my reader, the baptism of the Spirit is an experience that every sincere believer will pursue. In the earliest congregation this was the case. No one who was conceived by the word of God ever stopped seeking until he received the baptism of the Spirit, the gift of God. No friend, you do not have the Spirit merely because you believe. You are not born again merely because you believe. A person is not born again until the Spirit of God comes into their flesh and they "cry out Abba, Father". That crying out, is the speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. It is what every believer will continue to believe in, and pursue, if they are indeed, truly believers. We read in Acts 5:32, "And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the holy Ghost, which God hath given to them that obey him." Now, reader, can't you see that if you haven't yet received the holy Ghost, it is because you have not been obedient? And if you have not been obedient, then you have been disobedient, have you not? Disobedience, as students of the Bible know, is "as the sin of witchcraft". Such sin, my friend, brings condemnation to the heart; and condemnation will destroy any believer if he doesn't repent and rid himself of it. Jesus, alone, bestows this blessing. And he bestows it upon all those who "repent and believe the gospel". It is AFTER believing that the repentant soul receives the Spirit: "...in whom also AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" (Eph.1:13). It is appropriate that this verse was written to the Ephesian believers who had believed in Jesus, but had not yet been born again until they had been baptized with the holy Ghost. And that is why every believer does not have the Spirit simply because they have believed. God is looking for those who will believe the truth, and forsake the foolish doctrines of Christianity which stop short the work and power of God in the believer's heart.
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