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Most people are troubled by this. The problem arises because most people believe Pentecost was when The Holy Spirit was given to the churches and as this happened only once you are only filled only once with The Holy Spirit, even though Paul uses a present continuous tense - keep on being filled with The Spirit- when talking about The Holy Spirit’s filling.

The filling Paul refers to is of the soul and not of our spirit. As demons leave The Holy Spirit replaces them in the soul or seven worse ones will come back and enter the soul along with the original daemon that was cast out. I have seen this happen from personal experience in another person. This filling replaces the demons that have left and is seperate to the Baptism of THe Holy SPirit which is a specific anointing for the purposes of serving Jesus in His Kingdom (what we call ministry).

People do not realise The Baptism of The Holy Spirit was the second time The Holy Spirit had been given to the disciples and this second filling was to empower them. The first filling was before He left earth and was to mark them as belonging to Him.

John 20:23: Jesus gave them The Holy Ghost to mark them as His.

Luke 24:49: and Acts 1:8 They were to wait until they were empowered from on high (By The Holy Spirit).

Acts 2:2-4: The empowering from on high - the anointing for empowerment and service.

We are all sealed by The Holy Spirit when we choose to follow Jesus but are not necessarily empowered by The Holy Spirit for any ministry as we first need to grow in "The Grace and Knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ". This empowerment comes as we align ourselves more and more with God’s purposes, grow in a more intimate relationship with Him and separate ourselves from the values of the kingdom of darkness so that He can entrust us with a ministry (a service for Him, not necessarily one associated with a church or denomination). The more of ourselves we give to Jesus the more of the soul He can fill with The Holy Spirit.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is to do with Lordship, holiness and purification. As we are delivered from demons through Lordship and repentance we are purified and walk in holiness as the spirit takes more of our soul and personality and are able to hear The SPirit more clearly.

The Christian receives The Holy Spirit as his seal (or mark) that He belongs to Jesus:

"Rom 8: 16 The Spirit himself doth testify with our spirit, that we are children of God;"

The disciples also received The Holy Ghost from Jesus after He had died. The Holy Spirit could not come in His fullness until the requirements for His coming had been fulfilled. Thus the disciples could not receive the empowerment of The Holy Spirit until then (Jesus had ascended) but before Jesus ascended He had marked them as His own.

"John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:"

Thus the Baptism of The Holy Ghost in Acts 2:4 was separate to their receiving The Holy Spirit as a mark of being a follower of Jesus. A subsequent filling is noted in Acts 4:34 (as a result of disciples wanting to do the work of Jesus).

It can be seen that the Baptism of The Spirit (anointing) is for the purposes of doing the work of God and a request of this for any other purpose is not scriptural. Examples of unscriptural Baptism are when a person wants the Baptism for the pleasure of the experience, or in the belief it marks them as being spiritual or when the denomination requires it as a mark of conversion. These are man made reasons and do not do the work of Jesus and Satan happily obliges these people. This is why the Pentecostal churches have problems as people ask for The Holy Spirit’s Baptism for the wrong reasons and they either get nothing or a false filling by a demon instead who can enter as they have opened themselves up to demons through seeking the Baptism of The Holy Spirit for the wrong reason.

We do not receive all our authority at once but as we mature in the Christian life we are given more responsibility and empowerment to do this - in other words, Baptised (anointed) more by The Holy Spirit! Thus we not only are given more empowerment but the wisdom and maturity to deal with this new level of authority and the empowerment that goes with it.

Baptize means to immerse so water baptism is immersion in water. Baptism of The Spirit is immersion in The Holy Spirit so that He is like a covering around you. If baptism is sprinkling then Baptism of The Holy Spirit has no meaning as you cannot be sprinkled with The Holy Spirit. It is all or nothing.

This Covering of The Spirit also marks you in a way that demons can recognise your authority level and role in The Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit in our spirit seals us a belonging to Jesus and prevents Satan taking his place there as our lord. Who seals your spirit is your lord and master.

In our soul the Holy Spirit takes the place of demons that have been evicted (through deliverance) as well as fill any area we ask him too that demons do not occupy.

When we are baptised in the Spirit, The Holy Spirit falls on us as a covering identifying our authority in the spiritual is shown as well as our role in The Kingdom.

Acts 1:6 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 Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

So the baptism of The Spirit occurs when you are immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit and He surrounds you as water surrounds you in water baptism.

A very clear distinction between receiving The Holy Spirit as a seal of being a follower of Jesus and as a sep arate event is found in Acts 8:14-17

"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 their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."

The Holy Spirit was granted to the Samaritans so they could minister as Christians - obedience to Jesus results in doing His work. This is the other condition for the Baptism - a desire to do His will as evidenced by the persons life and attitudes

As followers of Jesus they would have been marked as belonging to Jesus so this ‘Baptism’ was an anointing for ministry, a king of commissioning of their God-given ministry.

Either this passage is incorrect or the Baptism of The Holy Spirit is a separate event to initial filling of a person’s spirit that marks people as being a follower of Jesus. Sometimes they may simultaneously occur but normally the Baptism is an empowerment for the purposes of doing the work of Jesus and The Father. Sometimes is it is called an ‘anointing’.

Ignore this Baptism (anointing) and you have a church that has no power or spiritual direction and which must use reason, rules and regulations to maintain its presence as the Guidance and power from God are beleived as not being there to live as Jesus said we would.

The problems and excesses occur when the resultant signs and wonders are sought and not intimacy with Jesus - where the manifestation is sought for the sake of manifestation and exhibition of power, and not for the furtherance of the Kingdom of The Father or to bring Glory to Jesus

The purpose of signs and wonders is to witness to Jesus and to bring people to Him through what Jesus has done for them - both spiritually and physically - not to show how spiritual or powerful a church or person is. Any fleshly reason allows the devil entry and will sidetrack and shipwreck that church or revival as has happened in various denominations and revivals this last century.

The person is marked by The Holy Spirit as belonging to Jesus and as that person lives the life of obedience to Jesus which shows He is worthy of it they will be Baptised (empowered/authorised) by The Holy Spirit so He will be able to do the work of The Kingdom of God.

When we become a Christian (a follower of Jesus as our Lord), our spirit is filled by The Holy Ghost so that we are marked (sealed Romans 8:15-17) as belonging to Jesus. Satan sees that and knows we no longer belong to him. Any further filling can only be to our soul (house) where demons and our self ‘live’. As demons are removed, The Holy Spirit fills their place. As we allow more and more self to be removed, The Holy Spirit takes its place. Thus as we are purified and more of the old self is removed, The Holy Spirit fills us to take its place and thus we are filled on a continuous basis by The Holy Spirit.

This baptism is the anointing (authority) for serving Jesus and indicates a persons authority and position in The Kingdom of God.

Jesus was baptised by John and the THe Holy Spirit came upon Him. It was after this baptism that His earthly ministry began and not before.

Let me start by saying God looks at the heart reason for what you do and not what you do or say. So while an action may appear to be wrong, God looks at the heart and sees it was not incorrect as to the reason you did it. His Love and Mercy takes over and He then makes the situation work for your best.

This is in cases where our hearts are right but we have been mislead by people who do not know the truth so that we are in error but not of deliberate rebellion against God which is what sin is. It is an error of ignorance where one who should have guided us into truth led us into error. That is why you should not condemn people as their heart may be right but the outworking of their desire incorrectly expressed and God alone may know the truth.

Why do people seek this anointing (Baptism) of The Holy Spirit. It is not an Baptism, as you received The Holy Spirit in you when you became a citizen of The Kingdom of God so it is not a filling of your spirit. It is not a filling of your soul as demons must be removed for that and it is not a deliverance event although this anointing may happen during deliverance and God or deliverance may happen during the anointing.

Luke 24:2 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Empowerment is to do with authority which is why Jesus said to them to wait until they were authorised by God to minister.

Some of the requirements to receive the Baptism of The Holy Spirit (from Acts)

You must follow Jesus wholeheartedly - no compromise with the world in their life

They were where Jesus wanted them to be (Acts 1:8, they tarried in Jerusalem as instructed by Him).

Their obedience and heart for Him bought them blessings. They were anointed for service and after that event spoke boldly for Jesus instead of hiding in a room.

Acts 19:16 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

There are two gifts mentioned here not one which I why they are listed separately in the list of gifts elsewhere. From what I can see there is no verse that reinforces the prophesying in tongues. By nature tongues are for those that do not understand what you are saying as they speak a different language. Interpretation of tongues is the reverse of this gift. To understand what someone is saying in a language you do not normally understand.

Remember that The Holy Spirit is given by Jesus on behalf of he Father for the purposes of The Kingdom of God and to seek Him for any other reason is incorrect and may allow Satan access to give you a false ‘Baptism of he spirit’. To seek him purely to be able to speak in tongues is wrong and turns it into an idol, something put before the Will of God.

To seek this anointing as a sign of, or for spiritual growth or to mark yourself as being spiritual is a wrong motive and depending on your heart’s reason for seeking This Baptism may allow Satan to access you and give you a false gift. The fact people guide you to seek this for the wrong reason indicates a possible Satanic infiltration in their own ‘Baptism’. The Holy Ghost never asks anyone to seek something for a wrong reason.

The desire to speak in an unknown language for the sake of speaking in it is also incorrect as this gift was given to be able to communicate with people whose language you do not understand for the purposes of pointing them to Jesus and The Kingdom of God and not for other reasons. Once again, depending on your heart attitude you may have left yourself open to Satan.

Any gift is only is given as necessary for ministry. Any use of tongues not ministering to another is a misuse of that gift.

When Jesus was baptised with John, it was water baptism so the Holy Spirit came down and alighted on Jesus to empower Him for ministry. It was after this baptism that Jesus began His ministry on earth.

So to seek this anointing for anything else but the work of the Kingdom is incorrect and will leave you open to demonic gifts in place of the true anointing of The Holy Spirit.

Any spiritual gift sought for itself apart from the Giver, will be perverted, carnalized, or legalized in some way.

To those who would say, ‘you see a demon in every closet’, we must remember we live in enemy territory and just as the White House or CIA have ‘moles’, why would we think that the enemy of our soul would not have the same tactic and infiltrate the church in whatever means were available to him.

Is it right to pray in tongues so as to edify yourself (build yourself up spiritually)?

The gifts are for the building up of each other (1 Cor 12:7) and for proving the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Luke 8:1-2). The passage referred to is 1 Cor 4:14

1Co 14:4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

The objective of the gifts is to build another up and by this build yourself up.

You could be saying something wrong and not know it so actually doing the opposite of edifying yourself

You are building up your self and not letting god do it so you may be building up the wrong areas of your life as well as missing out on God’s blessing. This is not wrong but it is second best.

We are never to promote our self or build our self-esteem from the things we do, so edifying yourself seems to be against this and will give the devil access to you so that he may even be able to guide these ‘gifts’.

Self-edification (which tongues does unless used as Jesus wants it used) is not from God. We are to let another praise us, someone not of our circle of friends but outside it. Then it will be true praise.

1Co 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

So your understanding of God is not built up and you are not drawn closer to Him. What then is built up? It is not your spirit as you do not understand what you are saying. It has to be the flesh as that is what is left.

The only real case I can think of for praying in tongues is in Romans 8:26,27 when we do not naturally know what to pray for and pray as guided by Holy Spirit for the burden He has placed on your heart. Then He is listening to us and our needs and it is not self-edification but a cry for help.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is done to empower you for ministry. For it to decrease as the day grows old means your empowerment for ministry must also decrease. This does not happen. What usually happens is the day grows old, we do not feel as close to God as we should because we are tired, the flesh seeming to be stronger and more demanding on the mind and the Holy Spirit feels further away. The same thing happens when we lust or have an inordinate desire. The flesh overpowers the spirit’s influence on our mind.

If you do not control your emotions and mind, Satan will use them to control you.

Note that this does not mean we are further from God. We are always in Jesus and never move from that position as that is guaranteed by scripture to all who follow Jesus as Lord. Our earthly feelings are variable according to mood and this is what makes us feel further from God.

It can be seen why we are to discipline the flesh so it does not block or diminish The Holy Spirit’s influence on us.

They can never be taken away (Rom 11:29) but you can drift away from God so you do not hear the Spirit’s voice clearly and cannot use them as He wants you to. We can only really use them properly for the purposes of Jesus in conjunction with the guidance of The Holy Spirit so not to hear his voice means we will not be able to use them as effectively as we can if we are in a proper relationship with Him.

If you blaspheme The Holy Spirit He is removed along with all else except the gifts but these are taken over by Satan so are no longer used or if they are, they are perverted by Satan.

Why you want the gifts? If to be more spiritual then your motive is wrong and the devil will give you his version of them. If it is to minister, then you may get them if they will assist you with the ministry God has planned for you.

1Co 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

1Co 14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

1Co 14:12 It’s no different with you. Since you’re so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don’t you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church?

Prophesying is not just telling the future. It is speaking Gods words to the church to build them up as well as warn them. This is the main role of a prophet. Telling the future is not important as it confirms the prophets gift but does not build the church.

If you are so concerned about the body that you want a gift, serve the body out of His Love for them and God will then give you that gift to help you. If you serve so God will give you the gift you make the same mistake of prosperity theologians. That says God must do something if you do something. God must prosper you if you tithe more than you have to.

They ignore one important factor. God does not honour the flesh and serving to get a gift is fleshly as it is from the wrong motive. It could also be a sin by not doing what God really wants you to do. He may want you to do something else He needs done and you are not doing it as you are pursuing you will and not His will.

Should one test themself to see what gifts they have and what gifts they want or think they need?

To do this assumes you are the person who chooses the gifts you need and not God.

The Father gives them to Jesus who allocates them as we need them and the Holy Spirit imparts them to us. You are given the gifts you need to minister for Jesus and not the ones you think you need or others say you need. So to say you need a gift and then strive to obtain it is to leave yourself open to Satan giving you that polluted version of that gift.

That is a problem with the church. People seeking gifts they do not need and Satan giving them his version so that they minister from the flesh and not The Spirit.

Do not seek to obtain a gift as God will need to take you through suffering and trials to prepare you to be able to receive that gift.

How much are you willing to suffer to be prepared for a new area of ministry and receive the gifts you will need for that new area of ministry?

Develop the ones He has given you and wait for Him to prepare you and give you new gifts.

Purification from the things of Satan, burying and rising from the dead with Jesus as He did in His death and resurrection when He carried our sins and punishment for us on that cross. (Redemption)

Anointing for service. Result of obedience and is a spiritual state and a spiritual reward as we are given more service to do for Him and the anointing to do that service.

Identification with Jesus resulting in a willingness to suffer for His Will and purposes just as HE did for The Father.

This occurs when God immersed you in trials and sufferings to purify you and mould you into His image through the denial of your self (flesh) for the purposes of doing His Will. Fire signifies refining and God refines you by immersing you in fiery trials as Peter called them. Any Christian not facing their trial is a Christian not growing. Hence the lukewarm church in revelation was comfortable as they did not oppose the works of evil or were not willing to pass through the trials associated with the resisting of evil. They were also not growing as they were not making a stand for the things of God.

(Eph 5:18) And be not drunk with wine, in which is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

When the Holy Spirit falls on a person there are various manifestations. The person may become ‘slain in the spirit’ where the power of The Holy Spirit is so strong in the person the conscious mind cannot handle it. They may ‘laugh in the spirit’ for which there is no biblical example. There is ‘rejoicing in the spirit’ but that is not uncontrolled laughter but a feeling of joy at what God has done and they may also dance as david did.

The problem with seeking a spiritual experience for the sake of it or being seen to be spiritual, is that God does not honour that endeavour, but Satan does so you will manifest a spirit but it will not be The Holy Spirit but a demon.

So we are told not to ‘get drunk with wine’ using the flesh to get the feeling of The Holy Spirits filling but to seek His Spiritual filling instead.

When do we receive The Holy Spirit and how often do we do this?

We receive The Holy Spirit when we become a Christians (Rom 8:17). The next stage is anointing through the Holy Spirit for purposes of ministry. At various times we are filled with the Holy Spirit for one of four reasons:

Refreshment and quickening of our spirit

For healing

To take the place of demons that have been cast out

To anoint us for ministry.

As we seek holiness and a deeper relationship with God we purify ourselves as we work at out salvation The Holy Spirit can take over more of us and in that sense fill us more. But this is a gradual thing and not normally noticed, unlike the four events above when the presence of The Holy Spirit is felt to some degree.

We do not need to be filled to be anointed by The Holy Spirit. The filling replaces demons and purifies our soul more. The anointing is for promotion (authority) and is based on maturity and service and not how much we are filled by The Spirit.