At that time, because my spiritual life was extremely shriveled, I couldn't go on quickly, knowing that being filled with the Holy Spirit was the only way out. On the other hand, being hindered by reason makes me more resistant and unwilling to accept the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I didn't want to hand over my sovereignty to God until I was really cornered.
However, it took God nearly two years to prepare my heart: on the one hand, I had to admit such a thing through various holy spirit-filled teachings, spiritual books and personal experiences of others. On the other hand, God let me die spiritually. At that time, my spiritual life was extremely boring. As Paul said, "I won't do what I want;" I will do bad things that I don't want to do. ... how bitter I am! Who can save me from this dead body? (Rom。 7:19,24) What kind of struggle and pain I feel inside makes me yearn for the Holy Spirit more and more, knowing that only by being filled with the Holy Spirit can I live a victorious life as a Christian.
Finally, at the time appointed by God, light triumphed over darkness. "The law of giving life to the Holy Spirit freed me in Christ Jesus, and freed me from the law of sin and death! (Rom。 8: 2) At the moment I was baptized, the Holy Spirit set me free! Since then, God has been in power in me! At that time, God did a new thing to me, that is, open a road in the wilderness and a river in the desert, and I will never dry up again! Suddenly, from my stomach, a flowing river gushed out!
I was able to get personal revival and experience great changes in my life because I heard the teaching of the Holy Spirit full of truth, and then I longed for it, and finally I sought it myself. What I am telling you now is my own personal experience. If a person who has no experience of the Holy Spirit is preaching the truth of the Holy Spirit, he has no idea what he is preaching! He will only mislead others. Because this truth needs people's personal experience to understand. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth, and he will lead us into all truth.
Repentance will bring the promised Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, the disciples gathered in Kyle's upstairs to wait, and were later filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter stood up and gave a loud testimony for Jesus. Hearing this, everyone felt deeply hurt. Because they saw the disciples' performance, God's word pierced their hearts like a two-edged sword, and they longed for the same experience, so they asked Peter, "What should we do?" "(Acts 2: 37)
So Peter gave them the clearest instruction on how to receive the Holy Spirit: "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins can be forgiven, and you will receive the Holy Spirit. For this promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, whom the Lord our God has called. "(Acts Chapters 2, 38 and 39)
First of all, we should repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, so that our sins can be forgiven, and then we can get the holy spirit given by God. The blood of Jesus is always before the Holy Spirit. If Jesus didn't shed blood on the cross to make atonement for us, the Holy Spirit couldn't live in us, because the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit and can only live in innocent people. Therefore, the premise of accepting the Holy Spirit is repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins and becoming a truly reborn and saved Christian, and then the Holy Spirit can live in you and fill this temple.
Secondly, it is said that the Holy Spirit is God's promise to us, not only to us, but also to our children, so children can be filled with the Holy Spirit from an early age, and even some babies are filled with the Holy Spirit in their mother's womb, just like John the Baptist. Moreover, this promise is also for all people far away. The spirit of God is not limited by space, and anyone who is called by God can receive the Holy Spirit. It is important that we believe what God has said, and every word can be accomplished for us.
There is always a need for someone to preach the truth full of the holy spirit, so that people will know what to do. Just like on Pentecost, people heard Peter's personal testimony. Because Jesus paid such a high price and died for us, he poured out the holy spirit promised by the father. As long as we repent today and get forgiveness of sins from the precious blood of Jesus, we can also get the promised Holy Spirit. It is important to teach clearly in this way. If no one preaches the truth full of the Holy Spirit today, how can people know that they are eager for such an experience?
At the beginning of last century, there was a Pentecostal movement. Not many people had this experience at that time. Only a small number of people have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the phenomenon of speaking in dialects is highlighted. Later, because of their persistence and dissemination of this truth, they were resisted by the universal church at that time, mistaken for heresy, and subjected to all kinds of exclusion and persecution. But they didn't back down and didn't give up telling such an experience. Later, gradually, the truth of Pentecost was spread, and people everywhere experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The fastest growing church in the world today is the Pentecostal Church, because this is the truth restored by God in the church. Because the predecessors paid a great price, we can hear such a blessed truth today, so that we can also experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now we should also continue to preach the truth of Pentecost and let more people enter the reality of this truth.
Repent, repent, remove all obstacles. Second, we must repent of our sins. Confession is very important. A person can't be filled with the Holy Spirit, often because he is hindered by sin. Even what people think of as "petty sins", such as not forgiving others, not living in peace with others, or being overly attached to something, will become an obstacle for you to accept the Holy Spirit as long as these things occupy your heart. If you really want to receive the Holy Spirit, God will tell you what is holding you back. Sometimes it may be our pride, years of prejudice and adherence to the old traditions of the church. All this must be put down before the holy spirit fills us.
Before I was baptized in the spirit, God had dealt with me in all aspects, and it was not until those obstacles were removed that he filled me with the Holy Spirit. At that time, God shone on me. Apart from some obvious sins that need to be forgiven by him, I still have some wrong ideas that must be changed, otherwise these will become obstacles for me to accept the Holy Spirit.
At that time, God let me know that five things stood in my way. First, I am so afraid of supernatural manifestations that I can't completely open my heart to the Holy Spirit. Because I don't know what will happen when the holy spirit appears! In the past, although the mind knew that God was a spirit, it never experienced his appearance. When God shines on me, I ask God to give me peace and eliminate all my fears.
Second, my reason still can't accept such a thing. It is precisely because God transcends human reason that my reason becomes an obstacle! I asked God to take away my doubts, make me a child and simply accept it.
Third, I couldn't accept the phenomenon of speaking dialects at that time, and I always thought it was heresy! But later, God let me see such a thing in the Bible. Even today, people still receive the same experience, which makes me speechless. So I was moved and said to God, "Lord, if you want me to speak in a dialect, I will speak in a dialect!" " ! 」
Fourthly, I have seen many people always cry and laugh when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. I think that's too emotional to accept! I always feel that it is good to believe in God in my heart, but is it not good to be quiet? Why do you always have to laugh and cry and react so fiercely? As a result, God reminded me: Who is God? Who the hell is the Lord? Sovereignty belongs to him, and he can do whatever he wants. My prejudice and my tradition can't stop God's sovereignty over me. I have to obey and entrust everything he wants to do to me. Finally, I am willing to obey god: "Lord, if you want me to cry, I will cry;" I'll laugh if you want me to. I'm desperate anyway. Do what you think is good! 」
Fifth, the biggest obstacle at that time was that although I hoped God would resurrect me, I didn't want to devote myself to serving God all the time. I have been arguing with God and saying, "God, I just want to serve everything. I will earn a lot of money to dedicate to your Ministry. Please don't keep calling me to preach. But god didn't give in at all, until finally I completely surrendered and handed over all my sovereignty! At that time, I said, "God, it's up to you! I gave my future and everything to you! "At present, the Holy Spirit comes to me, so I am full of the Holy Spirit, and I have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. Since then, my whole life has been completely turned over by God! God's power breaks through all obstacles and makes the spring inside me gush out living water again. God removed all the stones blocked in the well, and the well blocked for many years finally gushed out a flowing river!
So many things may become obstacles for us to accept the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and everyone faces different obstacles. You must seek God's light yourself, and then deal with it in the same way, and repent thoroughly, so that God can truly gain sovereignty over us. Jesus will come into us and fill us. He will sit on the throne and become our real master. All sins and idols must leave, so that the Holy Spirit can live in us.
Therefore, confession and repentance are very important. The clearer you know about sin, the easier it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. What often prevents people from accepting the Holy Spirit is not some explicit sins, but some hidden pride crimes or hidden sins, which is usually the darkness that people are most unwilling to face. People may not know it, but God can clearly see that he always wants you to deal with these evils. When the light comes, the darkness can no longer be hidden, and the Holy Spirit can't fill you until you deal with it clearly.
Today, there is still a wrong idea, which has become an obstacle for many people to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It is that as long as they believe that Jesus is baptized, they are baptized by the Holy Spirit, so there is no need to pursue the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Pray for God to have mercy on us and shine on us, so that we don't think we have it, but see that we still lack it. It's not that we don't need it, but that we really need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, truly repent and correct our ideas. Repentance is not just crying, but turning around and taking a completely different road. Since then, ideas have been updated and changed, instead of sticking to past views, they have followed and obeyed the truth. In other words, repentance is a change of mind.
Believe that the precious blood of Jesus is purified. Third, believe and be baptized. When we hear the truth filled with the Holy Spirit, confess our sins and repent, we must believe that our sins have been forgiven by the precious blood of Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit can live in us and fill our temple. Today, as long as you are a Christian, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in a dialect. This is God's promise, no doubt. We should believe God's promise and be baptized, because only true Christians can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
It is true that some people are baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit before being baptized, but only if they believe in the Holy Spirit first. Just like in Cornelius' house, these Gentiles repented and believed in Jesus after listening to Peter's sermon, and now they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They were baptized first and then washed with water. "He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16: 16). We must be baptized in the name of Jesus.
How do we know today whether we are really reborn and saved? The Holy Spirit bears witness in our hearts: "The Holy Spirit bears witness with our hearts that we are children of God. (Rom。 8: 16) When the Holy Spirit enters you and fills you, you will know that you are really saved. Therefore, everyone who believes in Jesus should immediately seek the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit, let him enter you, fill your whole person, and take charge of your power, so that you can clearly know that you belong to him. ......