The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has been present from the time of the primitive church and on into the 20th century. However, generally speak­ing, what has been lacking is His concrete influence in the same way that was evident in the early days of Pentecost, in the primitive churches, and among the proclaimers of the gospel at that time. That faith returned and started to grow among the holiness movements in the United States in the 19th century. It was faith in the fact that the Holy Spirit can presently fill the believer so that he/she speaks in new tongues, can prophesy, or become a channel for another of the spiritual gifts. That phenomenon of speaking in tongues began to increasingly appear throughout the world. The Pentecostal movement did not start in a vacuum. Its explosive spread in the 20th century was, however, a surprise.

I will now more intensely observe some central elements in the work of the Holy Spirit. These seem to have a pivotal role in the composition of the Pentecostal DNA.

The Importance of Baptism with the Holy Spirit

In our lives we strive for things that have significance. An athlete is ready to work hard in order to reach his/her ultimate fitness. A cook is ready to spend time in creating a unique taste experience. A musician repeatedly practices tone sequence until he/she is finally satisfied.

Jesus gave the promise of sending the Holy Spirit as the source of power for us. He did not say he would send power, but that He would send the Holy Spirit which would bestow power in us. The Holy Spirit is a person, one of the three persons of the Godhead. That fact provides the correct basis of our attitude toward Him. Power is impersonal. The Holy Spirit sees, feels, rejoices, mourns, comforts, defends, equips, serves, exhorts, upholds. It is important to us that He entrusts us with power. The Old Testament already gave a clear message regarding the Holy Spirit: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” (Zech. 4:6)

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting …All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:1-4) Their waiting was rewarded. The followers of Jesus were always focused on seeing His kingdom estab­lished on earth. He had taught them to pray for the coming of God’s king­dom. The will of God would be realized in heaven as well as on earth. This right expectation needed a correction in emphasis. It was not for them to know exact timetables. (Acts 1:7) There was something more important. Jesus instructed them in this way: “But you will receive pow­er when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Receiving power is connected to the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It has a special purpose. This power is not for bodybuilding nor for boasting about brawn. It is power for service. Jesus did not send His servants out with their own power. His intent was to equip them extraordinarily well for the task He was sending them to accomplish.

This chapter is an excerpt from Arto Hämäläinen’s book, The DNA of the Spirit-Empowered Christians and Churches (2023). Part of the Peace by the Spirit Series.

The promise of the Spirit to the disciples was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. At the same it gave birth to the church. The apostles served the multitude of thousands by leading them to faith in Jesus and by bap­tizing them. The power given to them enabled this action. The power was there for a purpose, for spreading the gospel, for giving birth and providing care for the community of believers, and for the spreading of the kingdom of God.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter reminded his hearers of the promised infilling of the Holy Spirit for all believers. “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39) Unfortunately, this emphasis and the desire for this privilege among the believers started to weaken in the churches during the following centuries. References to the work of the Holy Spirit can still be found long after the first outpouring of the Spirit, but the workings of the Holy Spirit were no longer a center of focus. Here and there people received charismatic experiences. In my home country, Finland, there were people in a few revival movements in the Lutheran church a few hundred years ago who had charismatic experiences such as speaking in tongues.³ The same kind of experiences took place in the history of many other countries.

The attitude of waiting for a filling with the Spirit is no longer at the forefront but remains in the background in many Pentecostal churches. The teaching about Spirit baptism and the steps toward receiving it have been forgotten or at least is very limited. The danger is that the meaning of the infilling of the Spirit is not understood or the experience of the infilling is not expected. The whole picture has somehow become distort­ed. To be filled has become a norm which is to be accomplished in order not to appear to be a lower level Pentecostal. This can lead to mental pressure and to a loss of the whole kernel of the matter. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift, not a result of merit. Jesus taught that God loved His children and gave them good gifts including the Holy Spirit. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” (Luke 11:13)

God is pleased to give the fullness of the Spirit. Therefore, it can be expected without stress or any pressure. It is a gift. What else can we do when receiving a gift than to be thankful? Gratefulness is the basic atti­tude in waiting for it.

The undisputed leader of the Swedish Pentecostal movement from its beginning and for a long time after was pastor Lewi Pethrus. To be filled with the Holy Spirit was so important to Pethrus that he travelled to Oslo to meet with Methodist pastor Thomas Barratt for three weeks. The latter had experienced Spirit baptism some time earlier in United States, and was now teaching it in Norway. During those weeks, however, Pethrus did not experience Spirit baptism. “But I received something almost as precious than the very experience,” he writes later. The key matter to him was to understand that it is received by faith, as Paul writes in his let­ter to the Galatians: “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you learned?” (Gal. 3:2)⁴

In the New Testament we find that some people had a special gift in leading people to experience being filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter and John were sent to Samaria where a revival occurred as a result of the work of Philip the evangelist. After they laid their hands on the new believers, they experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit. People like them which have this special gift have been and are still in the churches. In Finland, we have had pastor Arthur Kukkula lead thousands of believers into Spir­it baptism, among them the internationally known evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. It took place when Bonnke was still a young boy. Kukkula could not imagine this teenager becoming one of the most effective gospel preachers ever, leading more than 17 million people to Jesus.

I also experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit as a young boy of 12 years in my home city of Lappeenranta in Finland. Pastor Arthur Kukku­la was praying for me, and I still remember the moment when I received this blessing. Suddenly I felt like heaven was opened and a stream was flowing from there, touching my innermost being. I started speaking in tongues. It was very natural and spontaneous, something which I could not initiate myself.

Although God uses special people for leading others into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, it is important to remember that He is sovereign and acts as He likes. Many people have experienced the filling without any laying on of hands or special prayer. It is the Lord himself who pours out His Spirit, and people are only His servants, but not always needed. The Holy Spirit can fill a person in bed at night, or when he/she is driving the car, when jogging, preparing food, or when reading the Bible, etc. The most important factor is the openness or preparedness of the individual. Mary, the mother of Jesus had a very unique task. Through an angel she received an invitation to fulfill it. A special act of the Holy Spirit was involved in that experience. In receiving a promise, Mary’s attitude was a model for anyone who is waiting for the presence and leading of the Holy Spirit. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38)

We are the Lord’s servants. As Peter taught on the day of Pentecost, the Lord has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to every believer. Along with Mary let us say: “May your word to me be fulfilled!”

How can we be sure we have been filled with the Holy Spirit? What are the signs of it according to the New Testament?

1. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4)
2. “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.” (Acts 10:45-46)
3. “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19:6)

In all of these contexts, speaking in tongues is mentioned as a conse­quence of the infilling with the Holy Spirit. In one case, prophesying also is mentioned. Even there, however, speaking in tongues is mentioned. This has been the foundational teaching of classical Pentecostalism re­garding the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a major difference between the charismatic movement and classical Pentecostal­ism. Although there is some variance among Pentecostals in relationship to this sign, it is very clear, e.g. in the World Assemblies of God Fellow­ship (WAGF). This Pentecostal family includes about 68 million Pente­costals (2018).

The breakthrough of global Pentecostalism took place in Los Angeles in 1906. The infilling with the Holy Spirit accompanied with the sign of speaking in tongues had been experienced in Topeka, Kansas already in 1901. Agnes Ozman, a student in the Bible school there became a witness to the fact that Pentecostal experiences are not a phenomenon only of the first century.⁷ During the entire second half of the 19th century, in the American Holiness movement, there was typically an expectation of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That was the ground from which the Pente­costal revival emerged.

The same was experienced also in my home country of Finland. In the beginning of the last century, Pietari Brofeldt described the expectancy in this way: “We all were surrendered before the face of God in order to receive the Holy Spirit who was promised to all who believe. We were so given up to this issue that we came together in the mornings and often returned by the last tram stopping in a coffee house for eating a porridge.” Brofeldt assumed that there were no more devoted waiters on the infilling of the Holy Spirit elsewhere. His observation was that the concentration was so much on waiting that thanking in faith was left to a lesser role.⁸ In any case, in the long run, people experienced the infilling of the Spirit which led to the breakthrough of the Pentecostal movement in Finland.

Although the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Los Angeles was decisive for the spread of Pentecostalism more than one hundred years ago, Pen­tecostal experiences took place in various locations around the world. The revival in Wales and in the Ramabai Pandita’s girls’ home in India, and a strong spiritual movement in Korea, paved the way for the global Pentecostal movement and were the first heralds for it.⁹

Questions to church leaders:

1. When was the last time that you taught about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit?
2. When was the last time you prayed for the infilling of the Holy Spirit for those who are seeking for it?

PR

This chapter is an excerpt from Arto Hämäläinen’s book, The DNA of the Spirit-Empowered Christians and Churches. Used with permission.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The “NIV,” “New International Version,” “Biblica,” “International Bible Society,” and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission.

Notes

Please see Arto Hämäläinen’s book, The DNA of the Spirit-Empowered Christians and Churches for complete citations.

³ J. Ruohomäki, 273, Aikamedia, 2009.

⁴ Pethrus, 97.

⁵ Ibid., 101-103.

⁶ Miller, 2005, 332.

⁷ Synan, 2001, 1.

⁸ Brofeldt, 1932, 30.

⁹ Anderson, 2013, 25-36.

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye,

To Canaan’s fair and happy land where my possessions lie,

I am bound for the Promised Land, I am bound for the Promised Land,

Oh who will come and go with me, I am bound for the Promised Land!

Years afterward, I remember my mother saying of that event, “When the pastor put me under the water I thought I would sink out of sight — but when he raised me up I felt like I would soar into the heavens.” She said it well. A glorious resurrection awaits our burial with Christ. We normally think of Baptism and Communion as being separate Christian events. In reality, they are dual-expressions of one perfect experience of the believers’ identification with Christ. We should not receive one sacrament and neglect the other. Hear me carefully: In Baptism we are visibly put into the Body of Christ; in Communion, the Body of Christ is visibly put into us. This public-identification with Christ acknowledges us as being “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.” Romans 8:17.One of the medieval Christian fathers described the duality of this relationship with God in this way: He said, “Thou art in Christ and Christ in thee, knit together inseparably, so that one cannot be parted from the other …”

There is a unification of Old and New Testament truths in this Baptism/Communion example which we have rarely fathomed. The revelation is clearly laid before us in illustrations both of Moses and Christ. We have a parallel of this in salvation when the Holy Spirit puts Christ into us–and in spiritual-baptism when Jesus puts us into the Holy Spirit. Some may object to this language but careful Bible study will show it to be true. Romans 6:3-4. Galatians 3:26-29. Acts 1:5. In an identical way, Israel was baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. In the first, the water of the cloud descended upon them; in the second, they descended into the water of the sea. I Corinthians 10:2. This dual-baptism is the ideal portrayal of Baptism in the Spirit and baptism in water. One is visible, the other invisible, but both are available to us. Peter carefully explain that water-baptism does not result in the “removal of the filth of the flesh,” or being born-again, but is the “answer of a good conscience towards God,”1 Peter 3:21.

Image: Vince Fleming

David Rhea, the young man from Tennessee who has traveled with me since 2000, was water-baptized during the revival at the Brownsville Outpouring in Pensacola, Florida, 1995-2000. Two pastors accompanied him into the pool but in the moment he was immersed, the power of God hit the water like a lightning-bolt, knocked the pastors to the sides of the tank, left David electrified, comatose, floating on the surface of the pool. Men watching from the sideline raced into the baptistry and carried him out. What happened? God attested the validity of the Baptism to the congregation and filled David afresh with the Holy Spirit. Such events should be commonplace when believers are “buried with Christ”. If it isn’t happening it is because the modern Church is giving converts less than Jesus provided. At Christ The Rock Church where Laurie and I worshiped in Boca Raton, Florida, years ago, worship was frequently attested by the miraculous presence of God. Perry Comas was pastor. Regarding our identification with Christ in baptism, Paul explained in Romans 6:1-15:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not resent your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The Apostle enlarges this concept when he wrote the Galatians, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” 3:26.

Communion

Image: David Weber

Of Communion, Paul said, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). In “proclaiming the Lord’s death,” we formally declare that we now share in the death He died for us. That is, we have been “crucified with Christ,” have expired to this life, been buried with Him in the grave of baptism, and raised again to “walk in newness of life.” What He did in actuality, we receive in surrogate-adoption. In this understanding it is impossible to separate the unity of Baptism and Communion. Paul’s writings regarding Communion fortify the statement of Jesus who said of the bread and wine, “Take, eat, this is My body.” Matthew 26:26. That is, in the analogy of His being the “Bread of Life”, He is entering us. In Baptism, we are entering Him. Baptism and Communion are both outward expressions of one inward experience. When combined, they provide a complete identification of the believer in his relationship of “Christ in him and he in Christ”.

Jesus and the Disciples 

Luke 22:14-22: “When the hour had come, Jesus sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, ‘With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in *remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!’” (The Greek translation says, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” anámnesis = To “recall” = to “recollect” in the sense to “call back”; “ana” = repeat, return, do again, more than mere remembrance but to “re-experience”. To remind; reflexively to recollect: – call to mind, bring to, call to, put in, remember. “Memorial” recreates the event. Much more than mental recall. Luke 22:19).

The careless attitude typifying much of the Evangelical Church regarding both Baptism and Communion is staggering. We have demoted these holy observances to casual formalities. How dare we! How dare we make anything God provided in tribute to His Son as our perfunctory ceremony! How dare we insult the Cross and the grace that flows from it! We Protestants criticize Catholics for their ritual–while, instead–we should approach the Lord’s Table in the same fervent desire of which Jesus spoke–covering our faces, groaning in the awareness of our sin, and at the same time bursting into inexpressible joy and celebration for His grace! An incredible chaos of emotions? Yes.

Baptism 

Image: Jametlene Reskp

Baptism in water is our public declaration, that, like the grain of wheat falling into the ground, its outer shell dying but its inner-life being freed to come forth, so we also have died to the self-life and its carnal ambitions, have been literally buried with Christ in a grave of water, and been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. Above all else, baptism is a proclamation of our total surrender and submission to Jesus Christ. With Paul we may then say that “We have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live, yet not ourselves, but Christ lives in us, and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself for us.” Philippians 2:5-16: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus …”

Baptism in water should be attended with miraculous signs, exorcisms of demons, fillings of the Holy Spirit, and other holy attestations. Tertullian, ad160-225, the greatest theologian of his day, in instructing new believers said they should rise from the water of baptism, praying, and expecting the charismatic gifts of the Spirit to come upon them.

Baptismal Hymn

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,

And cast a wishful eye

To Canaan’s fair and happy land,

Where my possessions lie.

Chorus:

I am bound for the promised land,

I am bound for the promised land;

Oh who will come and go with me?

I am bound for the promised land.

O the transporting, rapturous scene,

That rises to my sight!

Sweet fields arrayed in living green,

And rivers of delight!

O’er all those wide extended plains

Shines one eternal day;

There God the Son forever reigns,

And scatters night away.

No chilling winds nor poisonous breath

Can reach that healthful shore;

Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,

Are felt and feared no more.

When I shall reach that happy place,

I’ll be forever blest,

For I shall see my Father’s face,

And in His bosom rest

I am bound for the Promised Land …

PR

From Charles Carrin Ministries monthly newsletter, Gentle Conquest (September 2020). Originally published as “Thou Art in Christ — And Christ in Thee!” Used with permission. http://www.charlescarrinministries.com/gentleconquest

In January 1991, I attended the National Reserve Officers Association Midwinter Conference at the Washington, D.C. Hilton Hotel. I was an Air Force Reserve chaplain with the rank of Captain. I had initially decided not to go to the conference.

One week before it began, however, I received a telephone call from the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver, Colorado. The voice on the other end stated, “May I speak with Chaplain Linzey?”

Image: Jeremy Yap

“I am he,” I replied.

“You have been selected by the Military Airlift Command Headquarters at Scott AFB, Illinois, to go with orders to the National Reserve Officers Association Midwinter Conference at the Washington, D.C.

Though I could have declined the offer, the Holy Spirit instantly told me to go. I discerned something unusual in the phone call. I said to the sergeant on the phone, “Yes, I will attend. Please send me the tickets.”

The tickets arrived that Saturday. I arrived Sunday in Washington, D.C. The conference began on Monday morning. My orders were to attend leadership seminars each day. On Tuesday, the second morning of the conference, at nearly 10:00 a.m., while I was going down an escalator between leadership seminars, another Air Force officer, Major Rick Kuhlman, was coming up the other escalator. As we passed one another, I noticed that he was looking directly at me. I had never seen him in my life. Naturally, I looked away.

When I reached the bottom of my escalator and got off, I heard a commotion. I turned around just in time to see the major running down his escalator to catch up with me. He introduced himself. “I’m Major Rick Kuhlman. Are you a chaplain?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“I saw the cross on your uniform while you were coming down the escalator. There are 1,300 officers and their wives at this conference. You are the only Air Force chaplain I have seen here. We are having an Air Force luncheon at 12:00. I was asked to give the invocation because no Air Force Chaplain was known to be present. Would you be willing to give the invocation?”

“Yes, I would be delighted to,” I said.

“What denomination are you?”

“Pentecostal Church of God.”

“Meet me at the head table. I’ll save a seat for you and we’ll get more acquainted.”

Two hours later, I met Major Kuhlman at the head table in the banquet hall. Just after the program began, I was introduced to deliver the invocation. While we were eating, I asked Major Kuhlman about his background. He told me he was a born-again Christian and Southern Baptist by church affiliation. We had a delightful time of fellowship.

After the luncheon, we parted ways. However, Major Kuhlman caught up with me again in the main corridor outside the banquet hall.

“Tonight, there is going to be a prayer meeting. Would you like to come?” he inquired.

“I would be delighted to attend.”

“I don’t know where it will be yet. I’ll give you a call this evening with the details.”

“That will be fine. I look forward to it.”

After the leadership seminars had concluded for the day, I had dinner and went to my hotel room to rest before the prayer meeting. At approximately 6:00 p.m., the phone rang in my room. It was the major.

“Good evening, Chaplain Linzey,” the major said.

“Good evening Major Kuhlman,” I replied.

“The prayer meeting will be at 7:00. Can you still attend?”

“Yes, I would like to,”

“We have not found a location yet. Can we have it in your room?”

“Certainly,” I answered. “I look forward to it.”

“There will only be two people coming—a first lieutenant and me. The first lieutenant is a missileer from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. His name is P.K. Wheeler. He goes by ‘P.K.’”

“That’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to it,” I replied.

As soon as we hung up, the Holy Spirit immediately told me that someone was going to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit at the prayer meeting. I did not know whether it would be the major or the first lieutenant. But I began praying that God would give me guidance to minister effectively to that individual. Neither did I know how the prayer meeting would be conducted, but under the leading of the Holy Spirit, I began to review the Scriptures I had planned to share with them and then spent time on my knees beside my bed praying.

Promptly at 7:00 p.m., there was a knock on my door. I opened the door, and there stood the major and the first lieutenant.

“Good evening, Chaplain Linzey.”

“Good evening,” I replied.

“I would like to introduce you to First Lieutenant P.K. Wheeler,” the major said.

“I’m glad to meet you. Please, come on in.”

After we were seated at my small hotel room table, the major said, “P.K. is a relatively new Christian. This morning you stated that you were a Pentecostal chaplain. Would you pray with P.K. to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?”

My heart melted. The major instantly confirmed what the Holy Spirit told me when I hung up the phone an hour earlier.

“I would be glad to. Let’s open up the Word of God,” I replied.

For about thirty minutes, I read the Scriptures about how the Holy Spirit came upon judges, prophets, kings, and military leaders temporarily to fulfill a specific task; the promise of the Holy Spirit in Joel 2:28-29; John’s forecast of Jesus as the baptizer in the Spirit in Matthew 3: 11; Jesus’ prophecy of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Luke 24:49; the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-4; the subsequent filling of the Spirit in Acts 8:14-17, 10:44- 46, and 19:1-7, each with the manifestation of speaking in tongues. Then I explained the difference between devotional tongues and the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14.

Afterward, I took a few minutes to answer questions the lieutenant had about the Scriptures.

Then I said to the lieutenant, “The major and I will be praying in the Spirit. During that time, I will lay my hand on your head to receive the baptism just as the apostles laid hands on believers to receive the baptism. Your lips will begin to tremble. At that moment if you will open your mouth and enter in with us by speaking anything you did not know, you will be speaking in tongues in a matter of moments.”

So the major and I began praying in tongues. After about a minute, I laid my hand on the lieutenant’s head and said, “Raise your hands.” Instantly, his lips began to tremble and he energetically began speaking in tongues with us.

After about 20 seconds, I said, “Stop.” I explained that the reason I told him to stop was to show that he was in full control of his speaking, as the Scripture says, “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32, MEV). Then to prove that he could begin speaking in tongues anytime he wished, I said, let’s pray in tongues some more.” We did.

I gave him further instruction about praying in the Spirit daily. Joy was all over his face, and we continued having a spiritual time of fellowship. The major was filled with excitement and said, “I have never heard it explained so simply before and I have never seen anyone receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit so easily.” He had been praying earnestly for the lieutenant to be filled with the Spirit. And it finally happened!

As soon as the men left my room, I lay down to rest again, and immediately, the Holy Spirit told me that this was the reason why He told me to accept the invitation to come to Washington, D.C.

A year later, I phoned Major Kuhlman to ask how the lieutenant was doing and asked, “Is he still speaking in tongues?”

“Yes, he’s still speaking in tongues, and he wants to know the Scriptures you shared with him, because he’s telling his Baptist pastor about it. Why don’t you call him up?”

The following day I phoned the lieutenant. He said, “I believe our meeting in Washington, D.C. was a divine appointment.”

“I believe you’re right,” I replied. “Have you been sharing your experience with others?”

“I’ve been sharing it with my Baptist pastor, and now he wants the baptism in the Holy Spirit, too! Would you please tell me again those Scriptures that you shared with me?”

“Certainly,” I answered.

Major Kuhlman also asked for the list of those Scriptures so that he could effectively teach others about the baptism. I have followed the biblical model for decades in ministering in the baptism in the Holy Spirit and I have seen thousands receive it as a result. To many people, the baptism in the Holy Spirit seems difficult to receive or only for the especially holy. In reality, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is clearly and simply presented in Scripture. And it is for all believers.

Here are the Scriptures I shared in Washington, D.C., and the five Scriptural I followed that can help you in praying with others to receiving the baptism in the Spirit:

1. Study the Scriptural foundation by reading Joel 2:28-29; Matt. 3:11; Luke 24:49; John 7:37-39; Acts 1:8, 2:1-18, 2:38-39, 8:14-17, 10-44-46, 19:1-7; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19, 12:13, and 14:10 and 14.
2. Inform the believers that you will begin to pray in the Spirit (speak in tongues).
3. Inform them that when you lay your hand on their heads, to raise their hands and enter in with you. They are not to speak in their native language. As Oral Roberts said, “Get with those who are praying in the Spirit and enter in.”
4. Encourage them to speak out by faith, for every utterance has meaning with God according to 1 Cor. 14:10 (MEV). It is impossible to make a mistake. There is no counterfeit.
5. After believers speak in tongues, encourage them to do so daily. Believers who do not speak out by faith should not be made to feel guilty. Be encouraging and willing to pray together with the believers again if they need more encouragement.

May God bless you as you lay hands on and pray with others to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

PR

This teaching series on “The Baptism with the Holy Spirit” explores the biblical and theological foundations of the experience known as the baptism with the Holy Spirit or the reception of the Holy Spirit as confirmed by speaking in tongues. In the process of explaining the experience, Verna Linzey relies heavily on biblical resources. Thus, the presentation comes both from personal experience and from biblical research. The variety of discussion is significant, moving from the nature of the Holy Spirit Himself through the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Verna Linzey then shows the workings of the Holy Spirit through the Old and New Testaments. Finally, Verna Linzey, in showing how to receive the Holy Spirit and the necessity and results of receiving the Holy Spirit baptism add the practical application that will apply to everyone.

Listen to all 19 teachings:  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/vernalinzey

Special thanks to Jim Linzey, Verna’s son, for preparing this introduction to the lecture series.

It is from the Eastern tradition of which Symeon is a part that we are given the foundational, theological concept of theosis. Theosis is the deification of an individual Christian by the grace of God.¹  Deification, also known as divination, is the process by which humanity becomes assimilated, or united with God. This occurs through the energies of God by which God communicates. Deification is understood as a five stage process. The first stage was the deification of human nature that occurred in the Incarnation. As it is based upon the Incarnation, it is concurrently based upon the salvific work of the Christ who was incarnated. It is this salvific work which is the provision of the means for our divination and is the second stage in the process. Deification is, in fact, part of that redemptive work. It is in essence the recapitulation of humanity; that is, it provides for a new ontological reality of humanity.²  It is the τελοσ and culmination of salvation. The third stage is in the initial salvation of the believer which is understood as coming at baptism. The deification of the individual commences in principle at this point. The fourth stage is the process of growth that occurs in the individual believer’s life, the process of emptying of the self and becoming in union with God. This stage is not unlike the concept of Christian perfection as found in Wesleyan thought. The final and full deification of the believer occurs in the reception of the individual into heaven, the beatific vision. For Symeon, deification is the highest possibility for humanity, for it is becoming a god by adoption, not that the creature becomes Creator, but the creature is allowed to share in the divine nature through the grace of God.

New book introduces readers to the coming of the Holy Spirit seen throughout Scripture.

Spirit Baptism in the Old and New Testaments (Not Just Acts) is an e-book recently written by Dr. Andrew Gabriel for a general Christian audience. Gabriel is a Canadian Pentecostal theologian and the author of three books and numerous articles and essays, many of which focus on Pentecostal theology and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Debates about Spirit baptism often focus on interpreting key passages in the book of Acts or Paul’s letters. As the title of Gabriel’s book implies, this book invites readers to think beyond Acts (or the Pauline letters) to the whole canon of Scripture. Gabriel begins with the observation that the Scripture describes the Spirit baptism that took place at Pentecost with numerous metaphors. He then presents key passages throughout the Bible that describe the outpouring of the Spirit with these metaphors.

A central point in this short book is that the Old Testament includes numerous expectations that would accompany the coming of the Spirit. As Jesus baptized believers at Pentecost, these promises begin to be fulfilled.

Overall, Gabriel’s e-book invites readers to come to the Bible with fresh eyes and to reconsider their interpretation of Spirit baptism in light of the whole canon of Scripture.

Spirit Baptism in the Old and New Testaments (Not Just Acts) is available for free download here: https://www.andrewkgabriel.com/spirit-baptism-ebook/.

Do you want God to use you? God has put every believer on a journey to become more like Jesus, to walk in the power of the Spirit to proclaim his kingdom. In this excerpt from his book, Say What? A Biblical and Historical Journey on the Connection between the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, and Tongues, Jeremiah Campbell helps us see the barriers that can keep us from receiving the fullness of the Spirit. Approaching this from a classical Pentecostal perspective, he offers tools to overcome those roadblocks and receive what God has for us.

Tongues accompanies the baptism in the Holy Spirit as an evi­dential gift. However, a gift cannot merely be given, it must also be received. Many individuals ask, “why don’t I speak in tongues? Why don’t I receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit?” We must re­member first of all that we don’t determine the giving of the gift, the Spirit determines when and to whom to give spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 2:11). However, on the receiving end, we must also understand that different reasons, albeit even subconscious rea­sons, cause us to refuse the gift even when the Spirit gives it. In this section I propose seven specific reasons (although this list is not all-encompassing) that cause individuals to refuse what the Spirit offers, the inspiration for the first five came from evangelist Rob Enloe (2013).

1. Anti-Pentecostal Baggage

This mentality comes from an underlying fear of a counterfeit experience. From a young age, many people erroneously learned that the gift of tongues comes from the devil, or that the gift is not biblical. Therefore, they understandably refuse to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit, let alone open their mouths, lest they actually speak in tongues. Such a perspective also creates fear and dissen­tion among Christians, developing an “us vs. them” mentality.

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:11-13).

John Wesley

Wesley called attention to the inward, experiential dimension of faith. This emphasis was in part a reaction to the Calvinism that permeated the social and political life of the English world in the seventeenth century. Also undergirding the movement was the “living faith” Wesley imbibed from his encounter with German Pietism. Wesley’s contact with the Moravians, Pietists within eighteenth-century Lutheranism that drew from Catholic mysticism, gave him an awareness for the emotional dimension of faith. This led to his personal conversion, during which as he described, “I felt my heart strangely warmed.”[1] Wesley understood the Christian life as consisting of two separate experiences of grace—conversion (or justification), and Christian perfection (or sanctification). The first, justifying grace, covered over all the “actual sin” one had committed. Sanctifying grace, on the other hand, was given for the “residue” of sin that remained after one became a Christian—the inherited (original sin) from Adam.[2] According to Wesley, sanctifying grace occurred subsequent to the justifying grace of conversion. Wesley refers to the reality of this subsequent sanctifying experience as “Christian perfection,” “perfect love,” and “heart purity.”[3] While this experience is gradual and works itself out over the entirety of the Christian life, as Peter Althouse explains, there is also an instantaneous dimension of sanctification for Wesley. It is this latter “crisis” sense that undergirds the Holiness view of sanctification and the Pentecostal baptism in the Spirit.[4]

The history of the Day of Pentecost dates back to 1500 BC when God gave Moses the Law on Mount Sinai. Fire appeared to symbolize God’s presence. On the Day of Pentecost in Acts, God made His presence known through the fire and gave us the Holy Spirit. The difference between Sinai and Acts was that His presence would now be permanent under the New Covenant. Jesus said that He would never leave us nor forsake us and He fulfilled His Word by sending the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, the fire separated and hovered above the head of each believer present. The Holy Spirit gave tongues as a manifestation of His indwelling. These tongues were as diverse as the separation of the flames and, like the Holy Spirit, were permanently given.

According to Acts 1:14-15 about 120 believing Jewish people (men, women and children) waited in Jerusalem. Among them were the 12 apostles, including Matthias who replaced Judas. According to Acts 2:1-4 these were the first believers to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. As a result, 3,000 people became new followers of Jesus. The disciples did not know that the crowd of international Jews could understand what they were speaking; all they knew was that they were praying in the Spirit. They were not even preaching. If they were preaching they would have gone to where the crowd was eating, drinking, and celebrating the Feast of Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit came with fire and the sound of a whirlwind. These believing Jews were worshiping in their native tongue (their intellect) and then began praying in the Spirit. The unbelieving Jews heard the whirlwind, saw the fire and knew God was present. When they went to the nearby house where the disciples were praying, they saw and heard believers worshiping in the Spirit, and heard the Gospel in their own languages. This was corporate tongues offered up to God.

According to Acts 2:5-13, cynics accused the disciples of drunkenness. This is when the preaching began. Peter, responding to the charge of drunkenness, preached in Acts 2:14-18 that this was what Joel prophesied (Joel 2:28-29). Many Jews who then believed asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter said to them in Acts 2:38-39 that if they repented, they too would receive the Holy Spirit, as promised to all their descendants. In other words, Peter showed that salvation was the prerequisite for receiving the Holy Spirit and that this gift was expected to be manifested by speaking in tongues.

The Jews received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in 33 A.D. through the divine sovereign will of God.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit in Samaria

Acts 8:4 tells us that Philip the evangelist was led by God to preach salvation to the Samaritans and perform miraculous signs. God delivered these Samaritans of evil spirits and healed numerous paralytics and crippled individuals. Consequently, many Samaritans were saved and baptized in water. We know that the Samaritans technically received the Holy Spirit simply because they were saved. Romans 8:9 says that if people belong to Christ then they have the Holy Spirit. Luke challenges us with his terminology when he says that the Holy Spirit had not come upon them. The problem was that the Samaritans did not manifest the Holy Spirit through speaking in tongues at that moment.

A New Handbook on the Pentecostal Experience

Verna Linzey’s new book, according to scholar James D. G. Dunn, is a “restatement of classic Pentecostal convictions on baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues.” Russell P. Spittler calls this book “a new handbook for those interested in the Pentecostal experience.” Dunn, Spittler, and nearly two dozen other international scholars commend it to the Christian church worldwide. Recognizable names to Heritage readers include, William W. Menzies, Frank D. Macchia, Wonsuk Ma, David G. Clark, Maximo Rossi, Jr., Don Meyer, Vinson Synan, and Allan Anderson.

The work differs from most other books on the Pentecostal experience, writes Spittler, in his foreword, in that it includes pastoral counseling and practical advice for those seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The scope of the book makes it an ideal gift for those who are asking questions on the Pentecostal doctrines and experiences, as captured in the front matter: “The variety of discussion is significant, moving from the nature of the Holy Spirit Himself through the experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and explaining speaking in tongues. The book then shows the workings of the baptism and speaking in tongues through the Old and New Testaments. Finally, the chapters on how to receive the Holy Spirit and the necessity and results of receiving the Holy Spirit baptism add the practical application that will apply to everyone.”

Perhaps Wonsuk Ma, [then] academic Dean of Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, sums up the most important value of the book: “May the Pentecostals become more Pentecostal through the revival of the spiritual baptism, and for this prayer, this is an excellent book ‘for the rest of us!'”

Verna M. Linzey has ministered worldwide for more than 50 years. She is also the author of the hymn, “O Blessed Jesus.” She is the [widow] of retired U.S. Navy chaplain, Bible teacher, and author, Stanford E. Linzey, Jr.

Reviewed by Wayne Warner

This review originally appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of Assemblies of God Heritage and is used with permission.