The

Holy
Spirit

J.C. Choate
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 Copyright© 2016, WorldEvangelism Publications

Recorded and used in India as radio sermons

Printed in India
Printed in USA, 3000 copies, 2016

Order From:
World Evangelism Publications
P.O. Box 72
Winona, Mississippi 38967
Phone: (662) 283-1192
E-Mail: Choate@WorldEvangelism.org
Web site: www.WorldEvangelism.org
www.gospelgazette.com

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 INTRODUCTION
This is a series of sermons that was prepared for our radio broadcasts in Colombo, Sri Lan-
ka. The theme of these sermons is the work of The Holy Spirit. There is probably no subject that
is more controversial and, because of that, there is a tremendous need for the truth to be presented
on it.
I have tried to cover all of the different areas pertaining to this subject and the questions
that come out of a study of it. I have also gone all-out to make it as simple as possible, constantly
reminding the student of the different measures of the Holy Spirit and how He has worked from
the beginning. Of course, even more importantly for us, the study deals with how the Spirit works
today. If people in general could ever understand what the Scriptures teach on this, it would clear
up many of the religious problems of our time.
The Spirit has spoken through the pages of the Bible. His word, and especially the New
Testament portion, is directed to us as the complete and final revelation from God. He has said
what He wanted to say, and if we will read and study the Bible, we can understand it. That means
that we can understand what the Spirit does today, and the role that He plays in our lives.
Please keep an open mind and be willing to accept the truth whether it agrees with what
you thought was the truth or not. If you will, then I believe that you will profit much from this
study. That is the purpose for which it was written.
J. C. Choate
Church of Christ
Winona, MS

Secondary Introduction
One series of sermons J.C. preached over Radio Sri Lanka for the listeners on that side of
the world was the material in this book. Originally, it was twenty-six fifteen-minute lessons.
Because of the growing number of people in the world who believe gross error about
the entire subject of the Holy Spirit, I felt that J.C.’s voice still needs to be heard through
printing the manuscripts in edited book form. Of course the greetings and closings of the radio
programs had to be eliminated, as well as the redundancy and review that were needed from one
week to the next for radio sermons to be effective.
The text has now been prepared for use in Bible class situations, with questions added to
each lesson. Members of the Lord’s church need to know exactly what the Scriptures teach about
the Holy Spirit and His work in the past as well as in our lives currently, so that we can guard
against error. Also, because of the lack of study on the part of many Christians concerning God’s
providential working in the world throughout history and on up until today, I have added a few pag-
es to the thirteenth chapter. These stories illustrate the point of providential work during biblical
times, and also some powerful examples in current situations.
We pray God’s blessings on those who study these lessons, that we may allow Him to work
through us to the evangelizing of the lost world.
Betty Burton Choate
Winona, MS 38967
2016

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 CONTENTS
1. Introducing the Holy Spirit.................................................................. 5
2. “He Shall Baptize You with the Holy Ghost, and with Fire” ............ 11
3. Measures of the Spirit........................................................................... 17
4. Why was Simon the Sorcerer Denied the Power of the Holy Spirit? .... 24
5. The Gift of the Holy Spirit ................................................................... 29
6. Spiritual Gifts ........................................................................................ 35
7. Casting out Evil Spirits ........................................................................ 39
8. How does God Speak to Man Today? ................................................. 46
9. The Holy Spirit in Conversion ............................................................. 52
10. “These Signs Shall Follow Them That Believe” ................................ 56
11. The Unity of the Spirit.......................................................................... 62
12. The Sin Against the Holy Spirit ........................................................... 67
13. “When That Which is Perfect is Come”.............................................. 74

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Lesson 1

Introducing the
Holy Spirit
For our study at this time we simply want
to introduce the Holy Spirit to you. We need to
understand — according to God’s word — who
He is, where He came from, His work in the
world today, and many other things about Him.
First, let us understand that the Holy
Spirit is the third person in the Godhead.
There are God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Christ mentioned them in this order when He
said to His Apostles, “Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).
In Ephesians 4:4-6 Paul declared that
there is one God, one Christ, and one Spirit. Writing to the Roman Christians, he mentioned these three
in this statement: “Now I beseech you brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love
of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me” (Romans 15:30).
Again he identified these three in 2 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.”
Some refer to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit as being a “trinity”, since there are three
Persons. Although there are three distinct personalities, yet they are one in essence. Many find
this hard to understand. Some want to believe that there are three Gods. To get around this, there
are those who say that Jesus is Himself, but sometimes He is personified as “God the Father” and
sometimes He is also personified as the “Holy Spirit”. This teaching is known as the “Jesus only”
doctrine, and of course it is false.
Although we may find it hard to understand how there can be one God, one Christ, and one
Holy Spirit, with them being three distinct and separate personalities or divine Beings, yet a “united one”
[which is the meaning of the Hebrew word “one” (achid) that is used to describe God: “Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4)], but this is what the Bible teaches and therefore
we must accept it by faith, whether or not we can understand it with our limited human concepts.
Even though the word trinity is not mentioned in the scriptures to describe God, Christ, and
the Holy Spirit as being three in one, they are referred to as being the “Godhead”. Paul preached to
the Athenians, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the
Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s devices” (Acts 17:29).
Speaking to those who had denied God, Paul declared, “For the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are

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made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
Referring to Christ, he said, “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”
(Colossians 2:9). The Godhead, then, as used in these verses, would be made up of God, Christ,
and the Holy Spirit.
But how long has the Godhead been around? Where we read of one, we read of the others.
We first read of them in the beginning of things, indicating that they existed before creation, or that
they are Deity, being eternal in nature.
The very first verse of Scripture reads, “In the beginning God — Elohim, the plural form
for “God” in the Hebrew language — created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “God”
[Elohim] includes God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Again, we read concerning
creation, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).
John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without
Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). “...And the Spirit of God was
hovering over face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). In these verses of Scripture we can clearly see
that all three Persons of the Godhead were there in the beginning and therefore have always existed.
None of them are created Beings.
If we made a study of each member of the Godhead, we would see that each one had a
role to play or a work to do. This is seen throughout the Old Testament period, as well as in New
Testament times. The Holy Spirit, in particular, inspired and guided various ones to write down the
Scriptures so that they might be preserved and brought over even to our time.
Peter wrote, “For we received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came
such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased,’ and this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy
mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:17-21).
You can see again in these verses that all three members of the Godhead are mentioned, but
especially the role of the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, is depicted as the One through Whom the
Scriptures were given. Paul wrote, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).
It has been said that the Old Testament refers to the Holy Spirit 88 times and uses 18 names
for Him. At the same time He is spoken of in the New Testament 264 times while being called
by 39 different names. It should also be pointed out that five of these names are common in both
Testaments, while 52 different names of the Holy Spirit are used in the Bible.
The Holy Spirit is often pictured by humans as some type of mysterious force or ghost, but
the scriptures portray Him as a person with a personality. He is said to have emotions (Ephesians
4:30), a mind (Romans 8:27), He can speak (1 Timothy 4:1), and He can help with our infirmities
(Romans 8:26), among these many other things:

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 1. By the Spirit we are born in baptism (John 3:3-5).
2. He is our helper (John 14:16-18).
3. He is our seal of redemption (2 Corinthians 1:22).
4. He is our guarantor (2 Corinthians 5:5)
5. It is possible for us to grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30).
6. It is possible for us to quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
7. He leads us (Galatians 5:18).
8. We live in Him (2 Corinthians 3:6).
9. We walk in Him (Galatians 5:16).
10. Through Him we bear fruit (Galatians 5:32).
11. Through Him, we enter the body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:13).
12. He dwells in us (2 Timothy 1:14; 1 Corinthians 3:16,17).
13. He abides in us (1 John 4:13).
14. He strengthens us (Ephesians 3: 16-21).
15. Through Him we put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13).
16. He bears witness that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16).
17. He makes intercession for us (Romans 8:27; Ephesians 2:18).
18. He groans the words we cannot articulate (Romans 8:26).
19. He teaches us (1 Corinthians 2:13).
20. He discerns (1 Corinthians 2:14).
21. We pray in Him (Jude 1:19,20).
22. He gives life (John 6:63).
23. He gives liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).
24. He transforms us as we look into the mirror of the image of Christ
(2 Corinthians 3:18).
25. Through Him we reap life (Galatians 6:8).
26. Through Him we have access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18).
27. We abound in hope through the power of the Spirit (Romans 15:13).
28. It is through the Spirit that we become the habitation of God (Ephesians 2:22).
29. He, along with the church, says, “Come” (Revelation 22:17). This wording, in
itself, indicates strongly that the Holy Spirit is the abiding Presence with
the church in this world, as we together await the coming of our Savior.
In subsequent chapters we will consider the work of the Holy Spirit in Christ, in the Apostles,
in the early church, in the church throughout the centuries, and in the church today. It will be our goal
to present nothing without Scriptural backing, so that whatever lessons we learn may be true to the word
of God, as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
This theme of the Holy Spirit is important because so many people are confused about
Him and His work. While most of the world would reject Him altogether, others go to the opposite
extreme and make the Spirit the center of their focus in lessons and claims, teaching that He works
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miraculously today. Of the three Persons in the Godhead, He has become the focal point of many
religious teachers — not God the Father or Christ the Saviour, but the Holy Spirit. But what does
the Bible say?
The Scriptures show that the Holy Spirit is a personality, the third person in the Godhead.
As with God and Christ, He is eternal: He has always been and will always be. He took part in the
creation and all of the great events throughout the Old Testament period. In this lesson, want to
learn about His work during the time of Christ and the Apostles.
Going back to the birth of Christ, we note that the record says, “Now the birth of Jesus
Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just
man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream, saying,
“‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which
is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call
His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’
“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall
call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’
“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded
him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn
Son, and he called His name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25).
Please note the role of the Holy Spirit in all of this. It was the Holy Spirit who inspired
Isaiah the prophet to write, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Next, Mary
was found with child, with the explanation that that which was conceived in her was of the Holy
Spirit. Finally, all of this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord through
the prophet, that a virgin would bring forth a Son and His name would be Immanuel, or God with
us.
According to Luke 1, Zacharias and Elizabeth also had a child born to them, in keeping
with the power of the Holy Spirit. He was named John and was later known as John the Baptist
because he baptized those who would submit to God’s will. Being the forerunner of Christ, the
one who was sent to prepare the way for the Lord, he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy
to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand,
and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but
He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And
John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’
But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to
fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him.
“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and
behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a
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dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:11-17).
As we saw earlier, Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit, and thus Christ was born
into the world. Now, as an adult, we find Jesus being baptized (immersed in water) by John. As
evidence of the Father’s approval, the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, and God said, “This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
In Matthew 4:1 the record says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.” How did He overcome the challenges and temptations of Satan? He
answered each time with quotations from the Scriptures, whose writers had been inspired by the
Holy Spirit.
We read in John 3:34 that Christ received not the Spirit by measure, meaning that He
received the fullness of the power of Spirit, enabling Him to do the work He came into the world to
do. This statement, by contrast, is implying that others received the Spirit by measure, or that there
were limitations as to what they could do, even with the power of the Spirit.
Christ chose twelve men to represent Him and to carry on His work after His departure.
These men were called Apostles. One of the qualifications for an Apostle was that he had been with
Jesus from the beginning of His ministry through the time of His resurrection. This very specific
requirement shows us that there are no Apostles living today, though some in the religious world
claim that honor.
Knowing that, as the resurrected Lord, He would return to the Father in Heaven, Jesus told
His Apostles, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I
do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John
16:13). He said again, in identifying the Comforter, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would do several things, according to Jesus’ promise: after
the Apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit ( in Acts 2), He would comfort them, guide them in
all Truth, call to their remembrance all the things that Christ had taught them, enable them to
speak in other languages, and to perform miracles to convince the people that they had been
sent of God.
But the Apostles could not do all the work that needed to be done. We read in Acts 6 that the
Lord enabled them to lay their hands on chosen disciples so that they might also receive miraculous
power through the Holy Spirit. While the Apostles had received the baptismal measure of the Holy
Spirit — and then, they, through the laying of their hands on others, could impart miraculous power
to them — these disciples who received the laying-on-of-hands measure of the Holy Spirit could
not pass the miraculous power to others. We will learn more about this as our study progresses.
Finally, at the time of baptism in water, for the washing away of sins, all others received the
ordinary, or non-miraculous, measure of the Spirit, according to Acts 2:38.
The Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles and those on whom they laid their hands,
to enable them to perform miracles and to inspire them to write down God’s word. With the
completion of the New Testament, the Spirit works today through the Word, and with us, according
to teaching of that Word.

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 Discussion Questions

1. Is the Holy Spirit a “thing” (it) or a Person?

2. There is one God [Hebrew: achid, meaning united one, not singu-
lar one] made up of three Persons: ____________, ____________, and
_________ ____________ (Matthew 28:19).

3. What does Ephesians 4:4-6 tell us? Romans 15:30?

4. What is the “Jesus only” doctrine?

5. According to 2 Peter 1:17-21, which Person of the Godhead inspired

the prophets and writers of God’s word?

6. Choose and discuss 5 points from the list of 29 points that inform us
more clearly of the work of the Holy Spirit.

7. Mary was found to be with child of the _________ ___________.

What does this show about the united oneness of the Godhead?

8. What happened when Jesus was baptized?

9. What does John 3:34 tell us about the source of the power by which
Jesus performed miracles?

10. What did Jesus promise the Apostles in John 14:26?

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Lesson 2

He Shall Baptize You

with the Holy Ghost
and with Fire
The scriptures tell us that John the Bap-
tist came to prepare the way for the Lord. In
other words, he went forth preaching repen-
tance and baptism in water. Although Christ
was perfect before God, He also came to John
for baptism in order to fulfill all righteousness.
Later, He would send His Apostles out to preach
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned.” (Mark 16:16).
Explaining the difference between
himself and Christ, John said, “I indeed baptize
you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes
I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: whose fan is
in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but
He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11,12). Now, what was John saying
here? Let’s take a closer look and see if we can’t understand these matters. Surely God wanted us to
know, and surely we can know.
To begin with, John showed that Christ would be much greater than himself. He said that
while he baptized with water unto repentance, Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
There is a lot said in the denominational world about the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of
fire. Both are said to be practiced today. “Holy Ghost baptism” is preached as being for believers
today, and it is claimed that those who have received this baptism have the power to perform
miraculous deeds. “Fire baptism” is said to be a cleansing process or a trying experience that one
goes through at some stage in life. This would prepare that person, it is said, to be of greater service
to the Lord. The question is, does the Bible teach this or does it teach something else?
To understand the baptisms of the Holy Ghost and of fire, we must look at the context in
which this is stated. John pictures a farmer threshing his wheat, fanning the chaff away from the
wheat, and gathering up the good grain to save, but taking the chaff out to burn. Now, he says that
Christ will deal with the people in this way. He will have the power to baptize people with the Holy
Ghost, or to bless them through the baptism of the Holy Ghost. But the chaff, or those who are
evil, will be taken out and burned up. In other words, they will be baptized with fire. John, then,
is talking about two baptisms, one for the righteous and one for the wicked.
As we go through the Scriptures, we see that Jesus promised to send the Comforter, or Holy
Spirit, to the Apostles on His departure. Reading closely the 14th chapter of John, we see that only
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Christ had the power to administer this baptism and only the Apostles were promised to receive it.
With the baptism of the Holy Ghost, they would have the power to remember the things that Jesus
had taught, to teach the truth, to tell of things to come, to speak in other languages, and to perform
miracles. They were to be given this power in order to convince the people that God had sent them to
represent Him and to proclaim His will.
We are told that after they received this power, “They went forth, and preached every
where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark
16:20). But how long did this continue? As long as the Apostles lived, since they were the only
ones that had been promised the baptism of the Holy Ghost. By that time the New Testament had
been given in written form and there was no longer any need for signs and wonders to confirm the
Word, since it had already been confirmed.
There are many who claim to have the baptism of the Holy Ghost today, but they contradict
each other, they teach doctrines that are contrary to the Scriptures, are members of churches that
are not mentioned in the scriptures, and practice things that are in clear opposition to God’s Word.
How, then, can they say that they have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, just as the Apostles were,
and that they are speaking by His guidance? The fact is, they haven’t been baptized with the Holy
Spirit. Such people are deceived and they deceive the hearts of many.
It was through the power of Christ that the Apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2)
received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then, later, when Peter followed instructions to go to
the household of Cornelius and to preach the Gospel to them, he himself was shocked when “...As
I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning” (Acts 10:44-46;
11:15). You will notice that it was not through Peter’s power that these first Gentile converts
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but as a direct working of God. Let this be a warning
to us today when preachers command the Holy Spirit to fall on their “converts”. Humans
don’t command the Spirit of God!
Notice, also, that even though this was several years after the Gospel was first preached on
the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2, from Peter’s statement in Acts 11 we can be assured that
not another person had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit during that interval of time. What was
Peter’s statement? That “... the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.” Peter
himself was shocked about what had happened! Obviously, God used this outpouring as testimony
that He would accept Gentile converts into the church, to prove that He was no respecter of persons
(Acts 10,11), and to fulfill the prophecy of Joel that “all flesh” — both Jews and Gentiles — would
be blessed with salvation through Christ.
These are the only instances recorded in Scripture of any humans receiving the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. The use for this special baptism, and the time for it, has passed. It is not the “one
baptism” of Ephesians 4:5. Still all souls, even today, have been blessed through that baptism since
the Apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit in preaching the truth and giving the written word.
But what about the other baptism, the baptism of fire? Christ would have the power to
administer this one also, not to the righteous, but to the wicked. The Bible teaches that in the last
day Christ will cast all of the disobedient into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20; 20:10). We read,
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone; which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). That, then, is the baptism of
fire that John had said Christ would administer. Let us pray — and strive to be obedient — so that
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we will not experience that baptism.
Baptism is a burial. In the case of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit was
poured out on the Apostles, or they were immersed in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). When the
wicked shall be baptized with fire in the last day, they will be immersed or buried in the lake of fire.
Someone has said that we are too late for Holy Spirit baptism, too early for fire baptism, but we are
just in time for water baptism, which is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
In Ephesians 4:1-4, Paul says, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to
walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness,
with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace.
“There is one body [church] and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of
your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all.”
How many baptisms are there today? According to God’s Word, there
are as many baptisms as there are Gods: only one!
I know, according to the Scriptures, that you have not been baptized with the Holy Ghost —
and I know also that you have not received fire baptism since that baptism has not come yet, but is
to be administered to the wicked in the last day — but the question is, have you been scripturally
baptized in water for the remission of your sins?

The Promise of the Comforter

Jesus came into this world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). We are also told that He came
to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). In spite of that, and the fact that Christ lived a sinless life and
went about doing only good, still He had enemies and would eventually be crucified on a cruel cross.
He knew this, and to be sure that His work would continue, He chose twelve men, called Apostles, to
teach and to train so they could carry on His work when He left this world. He knew also that they
were human, subject to mistakes, would forget many of the things He had taught them, or would not
understand so many of the truths He wanted them to convey to the world. To be sure that they were
perfectly guided and directed, He promised that on His departure He would send the Comforter to them.
In the book of John in the New Testament we read some of the statements that are written
concerning the Comforter. In speaking to the Apostles, Christ said, “And I will pray the Father, and
He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know
Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come
to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me; because I live, ye shall
live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. He that
hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth me shall
be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:16-21).
Christ said to the Apostles, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give
unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If

13
ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater
than I” (John 14:26-28).
Christ then explained, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, He shall testify of Me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been
with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26,27).
Reading further He said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I
go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send
Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on Me, of righteousness, because I go to
My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself;
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will shew you things to come. He
shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the
Father hath are mine, therefore said I, that He shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. A
little while and ye shall not see Me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:7-16).
Now, in all of these verses, these facts come across:
l Christ was speaking to the Apostles only.
l He therefore promised the Comforter to them alone, not to the world, and not
even to the other disciples.
l The Comforter was identified as being the Holy Spirit.
l The Comforter would come upon the Apostles once the Lord had departed.
l The Comforter, or the Holy Spirit, would be with them, make it possible for them
to remember all the things that Jesus had taught them, guide them in all
truth, reveal to them things to come, enable them to speak in other languages,
and make it possible for them to perform miracles.
l Christ only would have the power, or authority, to send the Comforter to them.
l With the Comforter, the Apostles — those who had been with the Lord from the
beginning — would bear witness of Him.
Luke also spoke of Christ’s promise to send the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. After the Lord’s
death, burial, and resurrection, He appeared to the Apostles, “And He said unto them, ‘These are the
words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.’ Then
opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them,
‘Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. But tarry in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on
high.’ And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heav-
en. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and were continually in
the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen” (Luke 24:44-53).
In the biblical record, Acts 1:26 closes with the choosing of Matthias to be an Apostle, to
replace Judas. The verse concludes with, “... And he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.”
We are now ready to begin with Acts 2. Remember that in the original manuscript there were no
verses and no chapters. The chain of thought and activity would have simply continued to the next
14
statement. Therefore the last noun of verse 26 would serve as the antecedent for the pronoun begin-
ning Acts 2:1: “Apostles” and “they”; and it would read, “And when the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they [the Apostles] were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). Continuing,
the record says, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2).
This sound filled all the house where who was sitting? Where the Apostles were sitting.
“And there appeared unto them” (again, the Apostles) “cloven tongues like as of fire, and it
sat upon each of them” (the Apostles, the ones to whom the promise of the Holy Spirit was made).
“And they” (the Apostles) “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them” (the Apostles) “utterance” (Acts 2:3,4).
Then later Peter stood up with the eleven, and began to speak. Now who were these eleven?
Of course, they were the Apostles. Peter explained that these men, these Apostles, were not drunk, as
some in the crowd had mockingly supposed, but that which was happening was spoken by the prophet
Joel, “... that in the last days God would pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh” (Acts 2:14-17).
Did God keep that promise? Yes, ultimately, in that He gave measures of His Spirit to all
who obeyed Him, both Jews and Gentiles:
(1) He gave the Apostles [also, Paul, the Apostle born out of due season] and Cornelius
the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
(2) Then He enabled the Apostles to lay their hands on chosen disciples so that they, too,
might have miraculous gifts of the Spirit as shown in Acts 6.
(3) And finally, all others who obey the Lord, even up to our day, receive the gift or
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is the non-miraculous measure (Acts 2:38).
Continuing the study of Acts 2, we have the Apostles preaching the Gospel to the people
assembled there and around 3,000 obeyed God, repenting of their sins and being baptized. As a
result, they received the remission of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, as promised in verse
38. Verse 47 states that the Lord added them to His church.
In that same chapter it is also pointed out that those who obeyed the Lord continued
steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and that many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles.
Were the signs and wonders done by all the thousands that were baptized? No, the Scriptures
clearly state that, even though all baptized believers were given the gift of the Spirit, only the
Apostles were doing miraculous things (Acts 5:12).
So you can see that all of the emphasis in these passages concerning the outpouring of the
Spirit was on the Apostles. Why? Because only the Apostles were promised the baptism of the
Holy Spirit by Christ. Had the hundred and twenty been baptized with the Holy Ghost, and had
all of those 3,000 received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, then that would have been recorded in
the account of the events of that day. And had all of those received the baptism of the Spirit, with
power to do miraculous things, it would not have been necessary for the Apostles in Acts 6 to have
seven men chosen from among the disciples so they might lay their hands on them, that they too
might have miraculous power. Please think about all of these things, and when you do, surely the
truth will become evident.
The conclusion? No one today receives the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit because
there are no Apostles alive today to be able to give that power by laying their hands on converts.
Those who teach such a doctrine contradict the very words of the Spirit in Scripture.
15
 Discussion Questions

1. John said that the one who would be coming would baptize with
_____ ________ __________ and with _______.

2. In the denominational world, how are these two baptisms explained?

3. Reading John 14, where Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit, to whom
did He promise that baptism? Who was the only one with authority to
administer that baptism?

4. Those who claim to be baptized with the Holy Ghost today ________
each other, teach doctrines that are ____________ to the Scriptures, are
members of ___________ that are not mentioned in the Scriptures, and
___________ things that are in _____________ to God’s word.

5. Besides the Apostles [this would include the Apostle Paul], who else
received that baptism? (Acts 10:44-46; 11:15).

6. Revelation 21:8 identifies the “baptism of fire”. What is it?

7. According to Ephesians 4:1-4, how many baptisms are there today?

8. According to John 14:26-28, the Holy Spirit would do what through

the Apostles?

9. Reading of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:3,4, looking

at the antecedent of “they” in Acts 1:26, and at the specification in Acts
2:14, did the 120 of Acts 1:15 receive the baptism or only the Apostles?

10. Acts 5:12 identifies those who were doing miracles at that time.
When, and by what means, were others enabled to perform miraculous
things? Are there any Apostles alive today to lay their hands on people
to bestow those powers?

16
Lesson 3

Measures
Of the Spirit
The Apostle John said of Christ, “For
He whom God hath sent speaketh the words
of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto Him” (John 3:34). What does
John mean when he talks about God giving the
Spirit to Christ without measure? “Measure”
would imply limitation. In other words, had
God given Christ only a measure of the Spir-
it that would have meant that He would have
been limited as to what He could do, even with
the power of the Spirit. But God did not give
Him the Spirit “by measure”, but “without”
measure. That means that neither God nor the
Spirit would place any restrictions on Christ
when it came to the use of the power of the Spirit.
Our Lord, receiving the Spirit without measure, was able to do miracles, including casting
out devils and raising the dead, calming the stormy seas, turning water into wine, walking upon
water, etc. In addition to all of these, John wrote, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the
presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life
through His name” (John 20:30,31).

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

There are many who believe that all of the Lord’s people, from the Apostles right on down
to the Christians of our day, received or should receive the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit.
Many even pray for that baptism, and some are audacious enough to demand it of God! We are
going to see that this is not a valid expectation.
First of all, keep in mind that Christ promised to send the Comforter or the Holy Spirit upon
the Apostles only. He did not make this promise to all of His followers or to all who would follow
Him in the future.
When we turn to the book of John, we read, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Fa-
ther, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me
from the beginning” (John 15:26,27).
Again, He said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go
away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send
Him unto you” (John 16:7).
Going on, He said, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into
17
all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak;
and He will shew you things to come” (John 16:13). Now, to whom was the Lord speaking in
these verses? If you will read the context and notice what Jesus is saying, it is very obvious that He
is speaking to His Apostles, to those who had been with Him from the beginning (John 15:27). The
question, then, is this: Did the Lord keep His promise?
Before we see what finally happened, consider these statements Christ made to the Apostles
just prior to His return to the Father in heaven: “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”
(Luke 24:49). Could this statement apply to anyone living today? Of course not!
Luke wrote this also: “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through
the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the Apostles whom He had chosen: to whom
also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; and being assem-
bled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but
wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly bap-
tized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts
1:1-5).
Then Jesus said, “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 parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Surely we can see in these statements that
it was Jesus Christ who promised the Apostles the power of the Holy Ghost. That being true, who
received it? The Apostles only, or all believers in general?
In Acts 2 we read, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with
one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts
2:1-4). Reading on through that chapter, we see the Apostles preaching to a large crowd of people,
and approximately 3,000 of them obeyed the Gospel and, on being saved, were added by God to the
church (Acts 2:47) We also have this statement: “And fear came upon every soul; and many
wonders and signs were done by the Apostles” (Acts 2:43).
This was fulfillment of the promise that Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Mat-
thew 3:11,12). The word baptism is defined as being a burial, an immersion, and an overwhelming
action. This “burial” itself may involve water or any number of other things. It may also involve
the Spirit. Therefore the record says that at the time the Apostles had gathered on the day of Pen-
tecost in the city of Jerusalem, “...suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). In other words,
the Apostles were immersed or buried in the Holy Spirit, and as proof of their being filled with
the Spirit they began to speak in other tongues or languages (Acts 2:3,4). These languages were
recognizable because those who heard them were amazed that everyone could hear them
speak in their own languages (Acts 2:6)!
Continuing to read to the fifth chapter of Acts (verse 12), the specification is again made
concerning those who were doing miracles: “And through the hands of the Apostles many
signs and wonders were done among the people.” The conclusion, then, is that only the Apos-

18
tles received the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit on that day. No one prayed for the baptism of
the Spirit and no one commanded the Spirit to come down, as false teachers often do today. Only
God was responsible for that outpouring!
Other than the Apostles (including Saul, who became known as Paul), there is only one
other case of Holy Spirit baptism found in the Scriptures and that has to do with Cornelius and his
household, who were Gentiles. The Apostles were Jews and they had already received the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. To prove that the Lord was no respecter of persons, this family of Gentiles, too,
was baptized with the Spirit.
In Acts 10 and 11 we read about these people. “There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. A devout man, and one
that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God
always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming
in to him, and saying unto him, ‘Cornelius’. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and
said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said unto him, ‘Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname
is Peter; he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side; he shall tell
thee what thou oughtest to do’” (Acts 10:1-6).
This was done, and coupled with the Lord having to teach Peter some lessons proving that
He was no respecter of persons, Peter and others came to Cornelius and his household. The record
continues, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, ‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no re-
specter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with Him’” (Acts 10:34,35).
Peter goes on to preach the Gospel to those who had gathered, and then we read, “While
Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they
of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them
speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, ‘Can any man forbid water,
that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?’ And
he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry
certain days” (Acts 10:44-48).
In Acts 11, we read that Peter met with the church in Jerusalem, explaining what had hap-
pened in Caesarea when Cornelius and his household obeyed the Lord. He said, “And as I began
to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the
word of the Lord, how that He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be bap-
tized with the Holy Ghost.’ Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us,
who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand God? When they
heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, ‘Then hath God also to
the Gentiles granted repentance unto life’” (Acts 11:15-18).
The record here clearly shows that Cornelius and his household received the baptism of the
Holy Ghost, just as Peter and the other Apostles had in the beginning, that is, on the day of Pente-
cost in Jerusalem. Notice that this was something special, not something that happened every time
a person became a believer. Even Peter had to go all the way back to the time that the Apostles
received the baptism of the Holy Ghost to find another example of it.
What about all of the other Christians? Did they receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost? No,
they did not. If all Christians received that baptism administered by God, what would have been so
unique about the Apostles and Cornelius and his household receiving it?
19
 But someone might say, “Surely today there would be some Christians who have been
baptized by the Holy Spirit.” No, not one person today has experienced that special out-pouring.
What would be the purpose of it?
In the first century, the Gospel was newly being declared; the Scriptures were in the process
of being written. For that reason, as the Apostles went out, preaching everywhere “... the Lord
[was] working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” We
have the completed written word to direct us today, and when we obey its teaching the Lord saves
us as He promised He would. Those who claim to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit are basing
their claim on a misunderstanding and misapplication of Scripture — which clearly proves that
they don’t have what they are claiming to have, because the Spirit would not contradict what He
has recorded in the written Word!

The “Laying-on-of-Hands” Measure of the Holy Spirit

Now we want to learn more about the “laying-on-of-hands” measure of the Holy Spirit.
We are especially interested in studying these matters because there are so many misunderstandings
about the Spirit and His work, with countless false doctrines on this subject.
John said of Christ, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God
does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into
His hand” (John 3:34,35). That is, Christ received the power of the Spirit without measure; He
was not limited in what He could do through the Spirit. But if Christ received the Spirit “without
measure”, that means others received Him “by measure”. This would suggest that although they
had the power of the Spirit, still they were limited as to what they could do with that power.
For example, we have seen in our studies that only the Lord had the power to baptize with
the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). To confirm that He had the power of the Holy Spirit
without measure (Matthew 3:13-17), we need to keep in mind that only He could administer these
baptisms.
With regard to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, first of all, Christ promised the Apostles only
that He would send the Comforter — which was the Holy Spirit — to them (John 14:26). That prom-
ise was repeated in Luke 24:49 and in Acts 1:8. We read in Acts 2:1-4 that the Apostles were indeed
baptized with the Holy Spirit. This, then, was the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit. Although
they had received it, and for a purpose, they could not baptize others with the Holy Spirit. This means
they were limited to that extent in their use of the Spirit.
The Apostles were only twelve and they had been commanded to take the Gospel into all
the world; therefore they had a big job to do. Also, in Acts 6 we read where they got involved in
helping with the physical needs of the disciples. At this point the record says, “Then the twelve
summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave
the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven
men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this
business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word”
(Acts 6:2-4).
Let us pause long enough to make a few observations concerning the Apostles’ suggestion.
There are those who advocate that either (1) all Christians do receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
or certainly that (2) they can receive it. But evidently not all of those who had obeyed the Lord
up to Acts 6 had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We know this because, even though they
were “full of the Holy Ghost”, they were not performing any miracles.
20
 Evidently the Apostles understood that the Christians in general did not receive the baptism
of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, that the chosen seven disciples did not possess miraculous power.
Logically, had they received such power, it would have been unnecessary for the disciples to choose
seven men from among them who were full of the Holy Spirit to aid in the work that was to be
done!
Let’s make further observations about the fact that the Apostles asked that seven men be
chosen who were full of the Holy Ghost. That means it was possible to be full of the Holy Spirit
but still not to have miraculous power! But what would be the difference in being full of the Holy
Spirit and having a measure of the Holy Spirit that would empower a person to perform miracles?
Evidently the difference was in the fact that there were different measures of the Spirit. The Apos-
tles received the baptismal measure which enabled them to work the full range of miraculous gifts,
such as speaking in other languages, healing the sick, raising the dead, preaching and writing by
inspiration, and other types of miracles.
However, in contrast, even though the disciples who were chosen to help with the Apostles’
work were full of the Holy Spirit, they had received only the gift — the indwelling — of the Spirit as
promised in Acts 2:38. This gift did not empower the receivers to perform miracles because Acts 5:12
shows that only the Apostles were doing any miracles at that time.
What measure of the Spirit were these chosen disciples to receive? After the selection, the
record says that they were “set before the Apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid their
hands on them” (Acts 6:6). So what was this? This was the laying-on-of-hands measure of the
Holy Spirit. It was the Apostles who laid their hands on the men and, therefore, only the Apostles
had the power to administer this measure of the Spirit.
But what were these seven disciples able to do afterwards? As we read on, we are told that
“Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people” (Acts
6:8). What about the others? They were able to do likewise, as we read in chapter 8, but please
keep in mind that before the Apostles laid their hands on them they could not do these things.
Although the laying-on-of-hands measure of the Holy Spirit enabled these seven disciples
to do miracles, they could not pass this power on to others. For example, Philip went down to Sa-
maria to preach Christ, “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which
Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with
loud voice, 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” (Acts 8:7,8).
Continuing, we read, “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 (Acts 8:14-17).
As pointed out earlier, although the seven received the laying-on-of-the-Apostles’ hands that
they might have the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost, they could not pass that power on to others.
Had they been able to do so, Philip — one of the seven — could have selected worthy ones among
the new Christians to be blessed with super-natural power. Instead, it was necessary for two of the
Apostles to travel to Samaria and to lay their hands on some of the converts to enable them to have
miraculous power so that they could help with the work in that place [remember, the New Testament
Scriptures had not yet been written, so new converts had to have the Spirit’s guidance in their spread-
ing of the Gospel].

21
 Surely the Apostles laid their hands on many disciples all over the country, that is, those
who were honest, sincere, and worthy to receive that special power. This enabled the cause of
Christ to grow and for local congregations to come to maturity. But when the Apostles died, and
those on whom they had laid their hands had died, the miraculous age came to an end! There
was no longer a need for the miraculous, since by this time the New Testament had been given.
Now we have a better way because all of us have the written Word of God to guide and direct us.

22
 Discussion Questions

1. Why did Christ perform miracles? (John 20:30,31). He was given the
Spirit “without measure”. What does that mean, regarding His power?

2. ___________ alone had the authority to baptize the Apostles with the
Holy Spirit (John 14:16-21). What did the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”
enable them to do? (Acts 2:43; John 14:26-28).

3. The Apostles could give the “laying on of hands” measure of the Spir-
it (Acts 6:6). What did this enable the recipients to do? (Acts 6:8)

4. Could the recipients of this measure give any power of the Spirit to
other converts? (Acts 8:5-18).

5. Could the Apostles baptize anyone with the Holy Spirit?

6. When Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household, What

happened? Who caused it to happen?

7. According to Acts 5:12, who was performing miracles at that point in

the development of the church?

8. After the seven were selected to help the Apostles in ministering to

the needs of the church, according to Acts 6:8 and 8:6,7, what were they
able to do?

9. What were the primary reasons for the use of miraculous power —
miraculous inspiration of teachers — during the first century?

10. When did the miraculous age come to a natural ending? By that
time, what had been completed?

23
Lesson 4

Why Was Simon

the Sorcerer
Denied the Power
of the Holy Spirit?
Continuing the account of the spread-
ing of the Gospel in the first century, we read
that Philip went down to Samaria to preach
Christ to those people. But rather than to give
you a gist of that story, I would prefer that we
read the text to see what happened. It says,
“And the people with one accord gave heed
unto these things which Philip spake, hear-
ing and seeing the miracles which he did.
For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice,
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.
“But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used
sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one, to
whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘This man is the great power of
God,’ and to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sor-
ceries. But 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. Then Simon himself
believed also; and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding
the miracles and signs which were done.
“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.
“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost
was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I
lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.’
“But Peter said unto him, ‘Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought
that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this
matter; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness,
and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that
thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.’
“Then answered Simon, and said, ‘Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these
24
things which ye have spoken come upon me.’ And they, when they had testified and
preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Gospel in many
villages of the Samaritans” (Acts 8:6-25).
Philip was one of the seven on whom the Apostles had laid their hands so that he might
have the power of the Holy Spirit, and he was the preacher who went down to Samaria to proclaim
Christ to those people. In Samaria, in addition to his preaching, he did many miracles to show that
he was truly speaking God’s message, casting out evil spirits, and such like.
As a result of all of this we are told that many believed Philip’s preaching the things con-
cerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and both men and women were baptized.
This good news traveled up to Jerusalem where the Apostles were at that time. They re-
alized that these new Christians, a distance from the church in Jerusalem and without any written
Scriptures to guide them in their spiritual life, needed help. Peter and John went down to Samaria,
to pray for them and to lay their hands on them, so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. Then,
through the inspiration of the Spirit, those who would be given the gift of “prophecy” (according
to the Greek meaning, “Declaring the message of God which cannot otherwise be known, whether
dealing with the past, the present, or the future”), would be miraculously enabled to edify, encour-
age, and comfort the Christians (1 Corinthians 14:3).
Now, a question: Why didn’t Philip bestow miraculous power on the converts? Why was
it necessary for two Apostles to travel to Samaria in order to give the needed gifts? This passage
shows us clearly that only those who had been baptized in the Spirit were enabled to give mi-
raculous power to others. Why didn’t Philip do it? Because he couldn’t! He was not an Apostle!
Back to Samaria: Another man lived there who had quite a reputation. He was Simon the
sorcerer, or the local magician. He had deceived many to the point that they thought he was a great
person. Simon was only a magician, and he knew that what he was doing was not real. In contrast,
he recognized genuine miracles when he saw them, and now on hearing the Gospel, confirmed by
the miracles, he also wanted to obey God.
The Apostles came down and gave certain baptized believers miraculous power, but not
all who were baptized received this power. Simon was not in the number who received the power
of the Holy Spirit, but he witnessed what happened. Instead of requesting that he also be given the
gift to perform true miracles, he asked the Apostles to give him the power to lay hands on others
to enable them to perform miracles.
These were two entirely different measures of the Spirit: The Apostles had been baptized in
the Holy Spirit by God’s outpouring. As a result, not only could they perform all the different mir-
acles, they could also give miraculous power to others. However, those who were given this laying-
on-of-hands measure of the Spirit by the Apostles could do only particular miraculous things. Accord-
ing to the further explanation given in 1 Corinthians 12, individuals were given individual gifts; some
could speak in another language, some could prophesy, some could do miraculous healing. In this
way, the church as a whole was fully equipped, but the Christians were also interdependent, needing
the input of each other’s gifts.
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries,
but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all
in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is
given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to

25
another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the
same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (1 Corin-
thians 12:4-11).
What Simon wanted was the ability to give miraculous power to others, and he offered
money to the Apostles. Perhaps he was so accustomed to deceit and bribery that he automatically
attempted it in this new situation. Having become great in the eyes of the people through his sor-
cery or magic tricks, he no doubt thought that if he had the power of the Holy Spirit he could create
a host of his own miracle-working followers and would really be a big man.
This is precisely why only the Apostles were given the power to pass gifts on to others.
Had others been able to do that, some would have been tempted to offer it for a bribe or to give it
to their relatives and friends, those who might not even know the significance of it. Of course, man
cannot command or deceive God, so none of this corruption would have been allowed.
Simon’s attempted bribe did not work. Peter simply responded by saying, “Thy money per-
ish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money”
(Acts 8:20). In this way Peter explained to him that he completely misunderstood how all of this
worked, that certainly the gift of God could not be bought with money. He then rebuked him, pointing
out that his heart was not right before God, that he needed to repent of his wickedness and pray to
God that his thoughts might be forgiven. Peter concluded, “For I perceive that thou art in the gall
of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8:23). In other words, Simon had gone about as
low as he could go. He was completely wrong.
Peter was able to say these things because Simon had heard the Gospel and had obeyed it.
That is, as a Christian, a member of the church, he had sinned, but it would not be necessary for
him to go through the acts of obeying the Gospel again and being baptized. Being a child of God
already, he simply needed to repent of his sins and pray to God that he might be forgiven. To the
credit of Simon, he did not resent Peter’s rebuke by trying to justify what he had done, but rather
he said, “Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come
upon me” (Acts 8:24).
With that, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem and Philip went elsewhere. But what about
Simon? We would have to assume that since Peter rebuked him, telling him to repent and to pray
to God for forgiveness, and since Simon responded by acknowledging his sin, asking Peter to pray
for him, that he indeed was restored to his first love and now he would once again be considered a
faithful Christian.
Does that mean that the Apostles then laid their hands on Simon, that he might have the
power to do miracles? No, there is no indication of that, and for three reasons:

l As had been the case in Jerusalem where the seven had the hands of the Apostles laid on them,
yet others did not, we see that not everyone who had been baptized in Samaria was given mi-
raculous power.
l In Simon’s case, because he was widely known for his false “miracles”, done through sorcery,
there would have been the danger that people would have heard of what he was doing now
as a Christian and would have attributed that power either to Simon himself, or to whatever
he might have claimed as his source in doing his witchcraft; this would also have brought the
church, itself, into that fellowship of sorcery, in the minds of onlookers.
l To have received the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit might have proven to be too great
a temptation to misuse that power. As someone has wisely said, “A man might be forgiven for
robbing a bank, if he has repented of his sin, but you wouldn’t want to turn around and make him a
26
teller at that bank; that is, one who is in charge of handling money there.”

Receiving the laying-on-of-hands measure of the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with one’s
salvation, but certain of the Lord’s people were chosen to be given these gifts so that they could
render a greater service to the Lord’s cause in that day. Today we do not have to lean on such mi-
raculous things since we have the New Testament to reveal God’s will to us and to all mankind as
we go forth to proclaim it to a lost world.

27
 Discussion Questions

1. When Philip made converts in Samaria, what was the result of their
baptism? (Acts 2:38) 1. the ______________ of their sins; 2. they received
the gift of the ________ __________.

2. Were they baptized with the Holy Spirit?

3. Did philip lay hands on certain ones to give them miraculous gifts?

4. According to Acts 8, who came to Samaria, and for what purpose?

5. Why did Philip not enable the new converts to do miracles?

6. What specific gift did Simon the sorcerer want?

7. Was Simon a true convert? What was his response to Peter’s rebuke?

8. How do we know that not every covert in Samaria was given miracu-
lous power?

9. What is the logical reason, considering Simon’s background, that he

was not selected to receive miraculous power?

10. Why do we not need miracles today?

28
Lesson 5

The Gift of the

Holy Spirit
We have studied about baptism of the
Holy Spirit and the laying-on-of-hands mea-
sure of the Holy Spirit, and now we come to
the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is promised to
all Christians.
While the Apostles were baptized with
the Holy Spirit, and a chosen number of the
disciples received the laying-on-of-hands mea-
sure as administered by the Apostles, all others
who have obeyed the Lord — including all of
those up to our time and even up to the time the
Lord returns — have received the “gift of the
Holy Spirit”.
When we turn to Acts 2 we have the re-
cord telling us how the Apostles were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, a Jewish feast day, at a time
when Jews had come together from all parts of the world. It was at this time that the Holy Spirit of
God came upon the Apostles, and — being baptized by the Holy Spirit — they began to speak in other
tongues, or other languages, actually in the languages of the people who were assembled there on that
day. This was followed by Peter and the Apostles preaching Christ as the resurrected Lord to a great
throng of people. Continuing, the record says, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in
their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37,38).
In these verses we see that those who became believers in the Lord repented of their sins,
were baptized for the remission of their sins, and that they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The
gift of the Holy Spirit is to be distinguished from the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the giving of the
Spirit through the laying-on-of-hands as administered by the Apostles. When reading about these in
the Scriptures, each one can be seen to be different from the other, according to the context in which it
is found. For example, in Acts 2:1-4 we can see clearly that the Apostles received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. In Acts 6 and Acts 8 we have the Apostles laying their hands on certain of the disciples
that they might have the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. However, in Acts 2:38 the gift of the
Holy Spirit was promised to all who would obey the Lord, in order that they might have the remis-
sion of their sins and a new fellowship with God as His children.
Again, in Acts 6 we can see that the seven chosen from among the disciples had not re-
ceived the baptism of the Holy Spirit or else there would have been no need for them to have re-
ceived miraculous power through the laying on of the Apostles’ hands. Yet, it is said that they were
good men of honest report, that they were full of the Holy Spirit, and wisdom. What does it mean
when it says that they were “full of the Holy Spirit”? For one thing, it did not mean that they had
29
the power to do miracles, speak in other languages, and such like. Rather, it meant that they sim-
ply had received the non-miraculous measure of the Spirit. When did they receive it? When they
obeyed God and had the remission of their sins, according to Acts 2:38. That is the same non-mi-
raculous measure of the Spirit that every person receives when he obeys the Lord to be saved from
his sins. In other words, that is the measure of the Spirit that the Lord gives today when one obeys
him.
When Peter and the other Apostles were brought before the council in Jerusalem to explain
why they were continuing to preach when they had been commanded not to do so, they explained
to the High Priest and those with him, “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His
right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath
given to them that obey Him” (Acts 5:29-32).
While it might be said that the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the laying-on-of-hands mea-
sure of the Holy Spirit were given to selected ones of those who obeyed God, certainly the gift of
the Holy Spirit — the non-miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit — was also given, and continues
to be given, to all those who obey God. You can see here that it is the Holy Spirit Himself who is
given to the obedient, and if that is so, then the Holy Spirit Himself must dwell in the Christian.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Christians, “Finally then, brethren, we urge
and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received
from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we
gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you
should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his
own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not
know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter,
because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For
God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not
reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. But concerning brotherly love
you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love
one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:1-9).
In this setting Paul is encouraging these Christians to remain pure and clean and to have
proper respect and love for one another since they belonged to God and the Holy Spirit had been
given to them. In the context, it appears that Paul is speaking to all Christians in general, and in
doing so he says that God had given them the Holy Spirit.
Paul said to the Christians at Corinth, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God
destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16,17).
Again, he said, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at
a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians
6:19,20).
Paul was clearly saying that our bodies are the temple of the Spirit, but how can He live in
a Christian in a non-miraculous way? In the same way that Christ dwells in us (Colossians 1:27),
and God dwells in us (Ephesians 4:6), and of course we dwell in Christ, and in God (Romans 6:3,4;
Galatians 3:26,27).
30
 (Romans
... that He8:6)
would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might through His Spirit in the inner man... (Ephesians 3:16)
... one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians
4:6).
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (Romans 8:9).

There are those who deny a literal “indwelling” of the Spirit, saying that He indwells
Christians only representatively through the Scriptures. Their logic is that the Bible was inspired
by the Spirit, so He dwells in us through the Word. There are several problems with this doctrine,
beyond the fact that when they read verses saying that the Spirit dwells in us, as in Romans 8:11,
they are forced to parenthetically insert “through the word” in order to make it read like their belief
says: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you [through the
word], He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dwells in you [through the word]. Doesn’t Revelation 22:18 have something
to say about “adding to the word”? “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that
are written in this book....”
Beyond that problem, there is the fact that when Peter preached, saying that those who re-
pented and were baptized would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament had not yet
been written! How could the 3000 on that day receive something that would not be completed for
decades, if the “gift” of indwelling was the Scriptures, not the Spirit, Himself?
And then there is the problem that people living under the Old Testament portion of the
Scriptures were never described as being given the “gift of the Holy Spirit”. They had God’s word
dwelling in them. Why is it never said that the Holy Spirit was “indwelling” the nation of Israel?
And, finally, humans imbibe various amounts of Scripture throughout their lives. If the
“indwelling” is only as they have the Scriptures in their hearts, do some have 20%, others 35% of
the Spirit — and what about those who have even memorized large portions of Scripture and yet
were never baptized correctly according to the specifications in Acts 2:38? They may actually have
more of the literal Scripture in their heads than do many who are part of the Family of God, so do
they have more of the Spirit dwelling in them even though they never complied with what God
required a person to do to be given “the gift of the Holy Spirit” in the first place?

Was the “Gift of the Holy Spirit” Miraculous?

In the absence of a careful study of the Scriptures, most people assume that anything that
has any connection with the Holy Spirit has to be miraculous. For instance, they think that the bap-
tism of the Holy Spirit and the laying-on-of-hands measure of the Holy Spirit would enable their
recipients to do “miraculous things”, and they are right. As we have seen in our study so far, both
the Apostles and those on whom they laid their hands had the power to do miracles. No one living
today can honestly claim such power, though, since the Scriptures clearly show that the Apostles
and Cornelius and his household were the only ones to receive that measure of the Holy Spirit, and
they have been dead hundreds of years.
There are many today who believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Acts 2:38
was also a miraculous measure of the Spirit. It is true that even the baptism of the Holy Spirit was
31
referred to as a gift, as in the case of Cornelius and his household. Let us note, though, that Peter
not only referred to the baptism of the Holy Spirit as being a gift in relation to Cornelius and his
household, but he also referred to the baptism of the Holy Spirit as being a gift in relation to the
Apostles receiving that same baptism. He said, “Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift
as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand
God?” (Acts 11:17). Peter was showing that the Lord was teaching them, by giving the baptism of
the Spirit to Cornelius and his household, that the Gentiles had been accepted of God as well as the
Jews.
Yes, the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a gift, and so was the laying-on-of-the-Apostles’-
hands measure of the Spirit, but “the gift” referred to in Acts 2:38 was another gift. In this case,
it was a non-miraculous measure. How do we know this to be true? By reading the context to see
whether or not those who received that gift were able as a result to perform miracles and to speak
in other languages.
Keep in mind that several thousand had obeyed God and therefore had received the gift of the
Holy Spirit by the time we come to Acts 6, where the Apostles laid their hands on seven chosen disciples
that they might have the miraculous power of the Spirit. This means that if “the gift of the Holy Spirit”
in Acts 2:38 was a miraculous gift, giving its recipients the ability to perform miracles, why did seven
have to be chosen later to be given special powers by the Apostles?
Please note, too, that the Apostles stipulated that seven men be chosen from among the dis-
ciples, and one of the specific requirements was that they must be “full of the Holy Spirit”. If being
full of the Holy Spirit meant that they already had miraculous power, then there would have been no
need for the Apostles to give any special gift by laying their hands on them! Obviously, being “full of
the Holy Spirit” did not equate to having miraculous power. So what was meant by the expression?
It simply meant that the Holy Spirit had been given to them because they were among the 3000 who
had obeyed the Lord in baptism.
There are any number of references in the Scriptures that tell us that those who obey God
receive the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit dwells in our body, which is the temple of God, that God
dwells in us, that Christ dwells in us, etc. Now, there is nothing supernatural about the indwelling, that
is, nothing of a miraculous nature. How is one born again? How does the blood of Christ wash away
our sins? How does the grace of God save? How does faith operate in our hearts? There are some who
see the miraculous in all of these things, but they are not miraculous; rather they are done according to
the spiritual laws God has set in motion.
The same people would call physical birth miraculous, or escaping death in a car accident,
getting through an operation, or overcoming a dreaded disease. There is nothing miraculous in any
of these things. God set into order physical and spiritual laws, and events are governed by those
laws. Therefore, children are not born miraculously, but through the natural laws of child birth, and
the same is true with all other physical things.
In the spiritual realm, Christ did perform miracles, and so did the Apostles and a chosen
number of disciples who were given the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, for a specific time and
for specific purposes — to prove that the spokesperson and his message were from God. However,
with the completion of the revelation of the word of God, the miraculous age came to an end.
To the other extreme, some oppose the idea of God’s interaction with events in this world
to the extent that they deny altogether that the Holy Spirit is doing any work today. In other words,
they would frown on the idea that He actually dwells in the Christian, or that God and Christ live in
the Christian. They would reduce prayer and the providence of God to figures of speech, not

32
real promises. They would also depict any one who believes that the Spirit dwells in the Christian
as being charismatic or Pentecostal. Those people are mistaken, and they are denying plain word-
ing in the Scriptures. Their beliefs are not based on truth but are a reaction to false doctrine,
and that reaction devolves into an equally false doctrine itself! They could be described as
“... having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2
Timothy 3:5).
While the gift of the Holy Spirit is not miraculous, the Holy Spirit is given to each one who
obeys God. The Christian therefore receives the Spirit as the earnest, or down payment, or proof,
of his salvation:
(Romans 8:6) establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has
Now He who
sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:21,22).
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit
as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 5:5).
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in
whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the
guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the
praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:14).

We therefore believe we are in the Lord and the Lord is in us. We believe God hears and
answers prayers and He works mightily through providence. At the same time we believe that the
work of the Spirit, in answer to prayer, through providence, and all that is sacred and divine, is done
today in harmony and in keeping with the Spirit’s word — or the word of God — as contained in the
New Testament. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in our lives and in the things we teach, can contradict
one word that is written in the Scriptures. God works today, and the Spirit lives within us, but it is
within the framework of what is said in His word.

33
 Discussion Questions

1. What is promised to all Christians?

2. From the previous lessons, explain the differences in the “measures” of

the Holy Spirit.

3. Reading Acts 6, the Apostles instructed the Christians to choose men of

__________ _________ and _________ of the _________ _________, to aid
in the work of caring for the church.

4. Did these seven men have “the Holy Spirit”?

5. After the Apostles prayed and laid hands on them, what happened?
(Acts 6:8).

6. First Thessalonians 4:1-9 urges Christians to be pure because God has

given “____ _____ _______ _________.”

7. Our bodies are called the __________ (Greek: Naos) of the _______
_________, because “_______ ______ ________ _____ _______ ______
_________” (1 Corinthians 3:16,17).

8. Quote Ephesians 3:16; Romans 8:9; what do these verses say about the
Holy Spirit?

9. What has to be parenthetically added to the Scripture if we limit the

“indwelling” of the Spirit to be only “through the word”?

10. What does 2 Corinthians 1:21,22 say about the Holy Spirit?

34
Lesson 6

Spiritual Gifts
We have already studied lessons on the
baptism of the Holy Spirit and the laying-on-
of-hands measure of the Holy Spirit. We have
also talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit as
being a non-miraculous measure in nature. In
discussing the gifts of the Spirit, we are think-
ing in terms of the miraculous gifts that came
through the miraculous measures of the Holy
Spirit.
Actually, only the Apostles and those
on whom they laid their hands had spiritual gifts
of a miraculous nature, and only the Apostles
had the power to bestow miraculous gifts on
others. Paul, being an Apostle, wrote his Ro-
man brethren, “For I long to see you, that I
may impart unto you some spiritual gift to
the end ye may be established” (Romans 1:11). In other words, he wanted to visit them, to lay his
hands on some of them that they might have various miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. That would
enable them to strengthen the work there and to help spread the cause of Christ, because at that time
the New Testament had not been fully written, so the young church in Rome lacked the spiritual guid-
ance of those who could preach and teach through the inspiration of the Spirit.
Different gifts served different purposes. Paul said, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual
gifts, but especially that you may prophesy [the word does not necessarily mean “foretelling fu-
ture events”; in this case it carried the idea of preaching and teaching the word of God by the guid-
ance of the Spirit.] For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no
one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies
speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies
himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but
even more that you prophesied, for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with
tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification” (1 Corinthians
14:1-5).
Paul was showing here that the gift of prophesying was greater than other gifts because,
through this, God’s will was being revealed. While speaking in languages was important, it was
useful only as the tool for revealing to the audience the prophesying or teaching that was being
done. From this text we can see that there were times when one had a particular spiritual gift —
perhaps Aramaic was a person’s mother tongue, but he was given the gift to speak Greek without
studying it. That gift would be priceless in the Greek-speaking world. However in fleeing from
persecution, if he went to Persia he would need someone to interpret into the Persian language. If
no such person was present, he should not begin to preach a sermon in Greek, which none of the
congregation could understand.
35
 Paul dealt with this problem, “If therefore the whole church be come together into one
place, and all speak with tongues [various ones in the church having miraculous gifts to speak in
different languages, and all verbalizing some spiritual lesson in the language they had been given], and
there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if
all prophesy [preach the Gospel], and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he
is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and
so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
“How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm,
hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be
done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue [a language not common to
the people of that area], let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let
one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him
speak to himself, and to God. [In Pentecostal churches today, the claim is made that the reference
to “tongues” means a heavenly language that only God understands; this passage says that if no one
was present who could interpret — so it was a known language — the person must not begin to
speak. Such Pentecostal outbreaks are a violation of the clear wording of this Scripture.] Let
the prophets [those given a message of doctrine or exhortation by inspiration of the Spirit] speak
two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the
first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be
comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:23-33).
Why would the Spirit inspire some in the assembly of the church to speak up with a mes-
sage of Truth? So that congregations would not devolve into a one- or two-man domination; sev-
eral were inspired to contribute to the lessons being taught so that the Christians would be interde-
pendent, all having part in the teaching and the work of the church.
Paul said to the Corinthian Christians, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do
not want you to be ignorant: you know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb
idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the
Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy
Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries,
but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works
all in all.
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one
is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through
the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same
Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of
spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But
one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He
wills” (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).
In the foregoing scripture we can clearly see that Paul is talking about miraculous gifts
of the Spirit. He speaks of the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy,
discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues or languages, and the interpretation of tongues or
languages. It should also be pointed out that individual Christians were given individual gifts,
according to the Spirit’s discerning of the hearts and abilities of the recipients. As we learned pre-
viously, the record of Simon the sorcerer — though a baptized believer — becomes evidence that
not every Christian was given one of these special gifts.
36
 A careful analysis of these verses shows that:
l Through the “laying-on-of-the-hands” measure of the Spirit, the recipient did not receive power
to do whatever miracle needed to be done at the time. Instead, one person was given the miracu-
lous ability to speak a particular language; another was given the ability to interpret that language;
another was given the inspiration to preach God’s message; another had inspired wisdom, another
inspired faith, another the power of healing, another the working of other miracles.
l In all of this Paul was simply dealing with the problem of various disciples having different gifts
and teaching them how to use them so they and others would be benefitted. In other words, if there
was someone in the meeting who was speaking in an unknown tongue, or a language unknown to
people in the assembly, and no one was there with the spiritual gift to interpret, it would be better
for the first man to remain silent. Spiritual gifts were to be used to teach and to edify, not to cause
confusion.
l The purpose of all of these gifts was to confirm the Word, to make believers, and to edify the
church. We must stress again that at this time the people did not have the New Testament in written
form, so it was necessary to lean on these props until the writing of the Word could be completed.
Even the miracles that Jesus did were to confirm the Word. We read, “And many other signs truly
did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are
written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye
might have life through His name” (John 20:30,31). After the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrec-
tion, and His return to the Father in Heaven, the record says concerning the Apostles, “And they
went forth, and preached every where, the Lord confirming the word with signs following.
Amen” (Mark 16:20).
The Hebrew writer said, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken
by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recom-
pence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first
began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him; God
also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts
of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will?” (Hebrews 2:1-4).
Finally, Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians, “But unto every one of us is given grace
according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7). Going on, he says concerning
spiritual gifts, “And He gave some, Apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind
of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ: from who the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase of
the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16).
So these special gifts of the Spirit were temporary, for the purpose of helping the church to
grow and spread prior to the giving of the New Testament in written form. Once the New Testa-
ment came these miraculous gifts ceased.

37
 Discussion Questions

1. In discussing “gifts of the Spirit”, we are thinking in terms of the

___________ ________ that came through the laying on of the Apostles’
hands.

2. A clarification: Acts 2:38 promised baptized believers “the gift of the

Holy Spirit”, or the Spirit as a gift. The spiritual gifts (“gifts of the Spir-
it”) enumerated n 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 were miraculous gifts bestowed
only through prayer and the laying on of the Apostles’ hands.

3. List 8 of these miraculous gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).

4. Paul said to the Roman church that he wanted to come to see them so
that he could give them some spiritual gifts. This tells us that no ________
was involved in the beginning of the church there.

5. What did Paul say was the purpose of the gifts? “_______ that ______
______ __________ ___________” (Romans 1:1).

6. Selected ones in a congregation had a miraculous gift. Not all Chris-

tians had a special gift. True or False

7. How did this diversity of gifts among members edify and stabilize the
congregation?

8. Why were the gifts necessary? What was not yet available for the guid-
ance of the churches?

9. The gifts, according to Ephesians 4:11-16 were until “we all come in
the ______________ of the _______, and of the Son of God.”

10. When did the miraculous gifts cease?

38
Lesson 7

Miraculous Signs:
First Century
or Today?
Casting Out Evil Spirits
There are many in the world today who
believe that devils, demons, or evil spirits pos-
sess human beings. They also believe that these
spirits enter people without their permission and
control their lives. Finally, they believe that it
is only with the help of a believer in Christ who
can work miracles that these invading spirits
can be cast out. Does the Bible teach this?
We know that in the days of Christ and
the Apostles demon possession did occur. Christ Himself cast out evil spirits on several occasions.
For example, we have this story of Jesus casting out such a spirit:
“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man
with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him,
no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the
chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could
any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs,
crying, and cutting himself with stones.
“But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him. And cried with a loud
voice, and said, ‘What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure
thee by God, that thou torment me not.’ For He said unto him, ‘Come out of the man, thou
unclean spirit.’ And He asked him, ‘What is thy name?’ And he answered, saying, ‘My name
is Legion: for we are many.’ And he besought Him, saying, ‘Send us into the swine, that we
may enter into them.’ And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went
out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea
(they were about two thousand), and were choked in the sea.
“And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they
went out to see what it was that was done. And they came to Jesus, and see him that was pos-
sessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they
were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the
devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray Him to depart out of their coasts.
“And when He was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil
prayed Him that he might be with Him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him,
39
‘Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and
hath had compassion on thee.’ And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how
great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel” (Mark 5:1-20).
Of course this was just one occasion in which Jesus cast out evil spirits. The Apostles,
having been baptized with the Holy Spirit, also had the power to cast out devils (Mark 16:17). Even
those that the Apostles laid their hands on, that they might have the miraculous power of the Holy
Spirit, could cast out evil spirits. For example, when Philip went down to Samaria to preach to
the people, the record says, “And people with one accord gave heed unto those things which
Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with
loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with pal-
sies, and that were lame, were healed” (Acts 8:6,7). It seems that in the days of Christ and the
Apostles, God allowed the devil some special freedom to enter into certain people until Christ, the
Apostles, or those on whom the Apostles had laid their hands, could come and cast him out. This
proved that the Lord had power over Satan.
But there were those who accused Christ of casting Satan out by the power of Beelzebub
— Satan, himself. The record says, “Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil,
blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and
saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, ‘Is not this the son of David?’ But when
the Pharisees heard it, they said, ‘This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the
prince of the devils.’
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, ‘Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall
not stand: and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his
kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them
out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God then
the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house,
and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house.
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad’”
(Matthew 12:22-30).
The fact is, Jesus cast out devils by the power of God, and so did the Apostles and those on
whom they laid their hands. If they had been working through the power of Satan, then naturally
they would not have cast him out. Please keep this in mind as we consider events in our day.
Now when the miraculous age passed away with the death of the Apostles and those on
whom they had laid their hands, the devil was no longer permitted to enter people against their
will. A just God could not allow defenseless people to be controlled by Satan when they were not
choosing to serve him, and in an age when miracles are no longer providing any way of escape, if
Satan had that power.
This means there are no devils, demons, or evil spirits living in people today as in the days
of Christ and the Apostles. There are those who claim that the devil possesses people now, and there
are those who say that they have the power to cast out devils. But who are these people? Are they
of God? Check them out and you will see that they are of religions that we do not read about in the
Bible. They are preachers who do not even profess to be members of the Lord’s church, they do not
wear the Lord’s name, and they teach things contrary to the Scriptures. In other words, from all of
their markings, they appear to be of Satan, themselves! As Jesus said, how can Satan cast out Satan?
No, people are not possessed by the devil today as they were in the days of Christ and
the Apostles. The devil is in the majority of the people, not miraculously but because they have
40
allowed him to come in, and to stay in them, and to influence them for evil — but he is not there
without their consent. Furthermore, they can personally rid themselves of the devil any time
they choose to repent of their sins and to obey God.
Those who are ignorant of God’s word and have been deceived by false teachers are often
taught by religious leaders that the Devil can possess people today against their will. Sometimes
those who have a physical handicap or disease, or those who are mentally ill, are said to have an
evil spirit in them, but this is not true. These are preachers and “witch doctors” who prey on igno-
rance and superstition. Their goal is to convince listeners that devils live in people today and that
for a price they can cast them out. Guess who gets “the price”?! It is obvious that power and
money are the motives behind these spiritual lies.
We should fear the devil and all of his evil ways and influences, but we should always re-
member that he cannot come into our lives unless we allow him in. Again, we can rid ourselves
of him anytime we want to do so by simply believing in the Lord, repenting of our sins, con-
fessing Christ to be the Son of God, and by being baptized for the remission of our sins, as is
clearly stated in Acts 2:38. Through our obedience we replace the devil with Christ as being the
Lord of our lives.
Miraculous Healing
It is commonly taught among a large number of believers in Christ that miracles are still
being performed. Preachers and promoters of this type of thing are usually very emotional, list-
ing the miracles that Christ did, and the different Scriptures that have anything to say about the
miraculous. They also refer to verses like Hebrews 13:8 where it says, “Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and today, and forever.” That is true, but those words within themselves do not mean
that Jesus is performing miracles today. The first man and woman were created by a miracle, and
Christ took part in that creation, according to Genesis 1:26,27 — but He is not creating new people
today from the dust. So it is not enough just to quote some verse of scripture out of context and then
use that to try to imply it is teaching a certain thing just because we want it to teach that. Rather,
we must take a look at miracles and see who performed them, why they were performed, and if it
is the Lord’s intention and promise that they be done today.
Again, those who teach that miracles are for people of our time make an emotional appeal
to the sick, the crippled, the dying, and others who believe that a miracle is perhaps their only way
to survive or to be helped. Many preachers use this approach to become famous and rich. Their
preaching is almost altogether on the Holy Spirit and on the miracles that Jesus did. Then they
promise that all the sick and afflicted today can have a miracle in their lives if they will only believe
in Jesus. Yet, the hospitals continue to be filled with the sick, operations continue to be performed,
millions of dollars are spent on medicine to take care of man’s ills, and people continue to die. If
miracles were still being performed as they were in Jesus’ day, all of this would change radically.
It is a fact that not all of the sickness, diseases, ills, and deaths of Jesus’ day ended as a result
of the miracles He did. We must remember that He did not come to heal all of these maladies through-
out the world. He did not come to heal all of the cripples, to give sight to all who were blind, to give
hearing to all of the deaf, and to raise all of the dead. He performed miracles, not just to heal people,
but for the purpose of convincing them that He was sent by God and that He truly was the Son
of God. He came to seek and to save the lost, to save the souls of men (Luke 19:10)!
If you will read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you will see again and again that
the emphasis was on the people believing, after seeing the miracles He did. For instance, we read,
“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in His
41
name when they saw the miracles which He did” (John 2:23). Later John wrote, “And many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this
book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life through His name” (John 20:30,31).
So Jesus performed miracles to make believers. Those who were healed, etc., were phys-
ically benefited, it is true, but that was not the primary purpose for the healing. Again, the real
purpose was to make believers of those who witnessed the miracles. Faith healers of today leave
the impression that the Lord’s purpose for healing people was simply to make them well. Accord-
ing to the things they advocate, there should be no sick people and no one should ever die, and if
they died, they could be raised up again. But the strange thing is, their claims prove to be false, and
things continue as always.
I want to show you where these so-called healers miss some wonderful opportunities. For
example, back when the Prime Minister of India was assassinated, wouldn’t it have been wonderful
if one of these healers had raised him from the dead? Years ago when John F. Kennedy, President
of the United States of America, was killed, why didn’t someone like Oral Roberts go and pray over
his body and raise him from the dead?
Of course there have been many other such opportunities that “faith healers” have passed
up. But why talk about these world figures? Because if they could be raised, just think of the pub-
licity it would bring in favor of miracles. People everywhere would become believers in Christ
because of such miracles. But do you know why they did not attempt to raise these people from
the dead? Simply because they could not! Of course they would use all kinds of excuses. They
would say that it is not they who do these miracles, but it is Christ. They would say that it would
be tempting the Lord to ask him to raise any particular person from the dead, but if the Lord was
working through them, and if it would be a means of making believers all over the world, then why
would that be tempting Him? And why have these famous “faith healers” not been able to raise
their own family members from the dead, and why do they themselves die in old age and from
disease? Their lying claims are evident when we look at the sickness and death in their own lives.
Oh yes, they will claim to heal backaches, heartaches, headaches, fevers, and lots of invis-
ible things like that, but doctors will tell you that most of man’s ills are “in his head” and can be
“healed” if the individuals believe strongly enough in the person who claims he can heal them. But
we are waiting for these people to restore some legs, arms, give sight to the blind, and such like.
When they begin to do these things, more people would certainly take note of what they are saying.
But these wonders are beyond their fraudulent powers.
What is a miracle? Someone has defined it as being that which is done contrary to the
law of nature, like making something from nothing, or restoring a leg or arm that has been lost,
or raising the dead, and many other such things. A miracle is not simply something that we don’t
understand. We don’t understand how many things work, but they work according to the law of
nature, or through some scheme or pattern that man has been able to devise.
Christ, the Apostles, and those on whom they laid their hands, were the only ones in the
New Testament who were able to perform miracles. They did so, as we have pointed out, to make
believers. This was before the New Testament had been given in written form. After it was com-
pleted and given to man, the miraculous age ended. We no longer need miracles to produce faith
in our hearts. Paul said, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”
(Romans 10:17). If you will not believe what the Lord has said in His word, then you would not
believe even if you saw a miracle.

42
 It is not that the Lord is no longer able to perform miracles; it is not that He is powerless
and that His people are without power. The fact is, He and His people have as much power as ever,
but God has simply chosen a different way — actually a better way — of doing things.
What way could be better, you might ask. I’ll tell you: there are Hindu “holy men” who
claim to do miracles; there are “witch doctors” who claim to cast out demons; there are Pentecos-
tal denominational preachers who claim to do miracles. Now are all of these claims true? If you
doubt them, how can you prove or disprove them? Can you go to India to sit at the feet of the Hin-
du teacher? Can you go “behind the scenes” to check the claims of the preacher? No, we cannot
chase around the world, verifying or exposing truth and error. How can we know whether or not
to believe a teacher? By listening to his words and comparing them to the Scriptures. When
everything these men are teaching is contradictory to God’s word, we can KNOW that they are not
doing miracles through the power of our Lord! God’s “better way” to be convinced of truth is
through the written inspired Word He has given to the world!
Miracles, signs, and wonders were only temporary. We do not have to depend on them
today since we now have the word of God to read, study, believe, and obey. As we do so, the Lord
saves us and blesses us. For what more could we ask?
Speaking in Tongues
Mainly among the Pentecostal and charismatic groups, but also among some of the other
religious groups, there is the belief that God’s people today receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and, as a sign of that, the recipients speak in “tongues”. Their idea of speaking in tongues is making
some unrecognizable sounds which, in defense, they refer to those sounds as being a heavenly lan-
guage that only God understands. Sometimes when one supposedly has received the Holy Spirit,
but is still “unable” to speak in these sounds, they admit to imitating what they hear others saying
in order to be accepted. This is not something I have made up to be critical of these people, but it
is what some of them have told us after seeing the error of their way and leaving such a movement.
Let us now go to the Scriptures and see what the Bible teaches on this subject. Christ
promised that after His departure He would send the Holy Spirit to be with the Apostles (John
14:26). When the Apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit, one of the signs was that they began
to speak in other tongues, “as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). The record goes
on the say, “And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation
under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were
confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:5,6).
As the story continues, people from many countries were there, and were amazed as well
as confused. They concluded that since these were only poor, uneducated Galileans who were
speaking these languages, they must be drunk [What a stupid explanation, on their part!]. But Peter
explained that they were not drunk as the crowd had supposed, since it was early in the morning,
but that which was happening was according to what Joel had prophesied in the long ago, that in
the last days the Lord would pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:7-17).
The Apostles, as pointed out, were able to speak in other languages as a result of having the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Lord knew they would be preaching the Gospel to many people of
many different languages in different parts of the world in the decades to come, so He gave them the
miraculous ability to speak in the local language regardless of where they were, without having to
learn all of those languages or to depend on translators. This would be both a means of convincing
people that they had been sent by God to proclaim His will, and would also enable the Apostles/dis-
ciples to move quickly in the spreading of the Gospel.
43
 But what about the “unknown” tongue? It was simply that! Because of persecution, there
was a great deal of moving from place to place by Christians. Even though a man had the mirac-
ulous gift to speak in a certain language he had not studied, if he was assembling with a church in
which no one spoke that language, he was forbidden to “show off” his gift by speaking what would
sound like gibberish, of no profit to his hearers. If a translator was there who could speak that
language, and could translate it, then the individual could speak; otherwise, he was told to remain
quiet.
Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: yet in the church
I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others
also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:22). We have already
shown that one of the reasons for the Apostles and those on whom they laid their hands to be able
to speak in tongues or other languages, was to convince hearers that they had been sent by God,
and therefore to make believers of them. However, when you go into a modern-day service where
“tongues” are supposedly being spoken, it is made up of people who are already “believers”. Even in
this, these people are not following the scriptural procedure.
But what about those who received the ordinary measure of the Holy Spirit, or the non-mi-
raculous measure as spoken of in Acts 2:38? Could they speak in other languages? No, they could
not, and there is no example to be found in the New Testament where they were ever able to do so.
Furthermore, since there are no Apostles today, and those on whom they laid their hands have died,
there is no one today who can miraculously speak in other languages as was done in the days of
the Apostles. Some claim they can do this, but they only speak in some jibber-jabberish which no
one can understand. When they go into other parts of the world where other languages are spoken,
they must either take time to study that language to be able to speak it, or they must get someone to
translate for them. That should prove they do not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit and therefore
they are unable to speak in tongues as the Apostles did in their day.
Finally, Paul said the day would come when tongues would cease. That is, the day would
come when miraculously speaking in languages would come to an end. When would that be?
When the New Testament was finally given to man in completed form. Paul said, “Charity never
faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they
shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we
prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away” (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). What is the “perfect” that he speaks about here? James calls
it the perfect law of liberty, which is the New Testament, because there is no other perfect thing
existing in this world. Miracles, tongues, and such like, were only helps or props to assist man
until the New Testament could be given, but once the New Testament came, there was no longer a
need for these other things.

44
 Discussion Questions

1. What do some believe today about “demon possession”? Were there

cases of “demon possession” during the time of Christ and the Apostles?

2. The power of Christ and the Apostles to cast out demons proved what?

3. Skeptics accused the Lord of ____________ out ___________ by the

power of _____________ (Matthew 12:22-30).

4. Would a just God allow defenseless people to be controlled by Satan,

against their will, during a time when miracles are no longer worked?

5. Those who claim that satan possesses people today are the same people
who claim to be able to do what?

6. How can we know that these people are not doing anything by God’s
power?

7. We should ______ the devil and all of his _________ ________, but we
should always remember what?

8. If modern-day “faith healers” raised some world-renouned person

from the dead, what effect would that miracle have on the world? They
claim to be able to raise the dead; why don’t they do that?

9. When a “faith healer” goes to a country where another language is

spoken, can he miraculously speak that language?

10. According to 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, the time would come when mi-
raculous works would end. When did that happen? What is the only
“perfect” thing in the world today?

45
Lesson 8

How Does God

Speak to Man
Today?
Numerous people believe that God
speaks directly to man today, separate and apart
from the written word. They commonly say that
God spoke to them and told them to do so-and-
so, or that the Lord revealed to them that such-
and-such was about to happen. God doesn’t
speak to me that way — does He speak to you
in that manner? If He speaks to one person di-
rectly to reveal some truth, and doesn’t speak to
others, wouldn’t that make God a respecter of
persons? Let us see what the Bible says.
It is true that God has spoken at different times in different ways. In the beginning, He
spoke directly to the patriarchs or to the fathers of the households and they told their families what
God had said. Later God spoke to the prophets and then they passed on that information to the peo-
ple. Finally, God spoke through His Son, Christ Jesus. The Hebrew writer had all of this in mind
when he said, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1,2).
Peter declared, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of
His majesty. For we received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such
a voice to Him from the excellent glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were in the holy mount. We
have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:16-21).
First, notice that Peter was referring to the time when the Lord was transfigured before
them and they heard a voice from heaven, which said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased; hear ye Him” (Matthew 17:5). John wrote of Christ as being the Word, the one who
had come to deliver God’s message. We read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John
1:1,2). Later he said, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples,

46
which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name” (John
20:30,31).
Second, the passage from 2 Peter 1:21 states that holy men of old spake as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may
be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). When Paul refers to
the Scriptures being inspired, he is talking about the Holy Spirit directing that certain ones write down
the word. He guided them, or directed them, in what they wrote. It is verbally inspired. It is God’s
word, not man’s word; therefore, it completely furnishes man to every good work. God knew what
He wanted to say to man, and He said it, and the Holy Spirit inspired or directed its writing. Peter
again wrote, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life
and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter
1:3). Notice that the Lord has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness. How has He
done that? Through His word.
The Apostles were given the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then they laid their hands on
chosen disciples that they might have the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. This was done to
guide and direct them into all the truth, since up to this time the New Testament had not been com-
pleted and given to man. Paul said when that which was perfect was come — referring to the New
Testament — then miraculous helps would cease. Finally, the word was given in completed form,
and James declared, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed”
(James 1:25). He also said, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves” (James 1:22).
Christ said that this word would never pass away. Hear Him, “Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). Then Peter said, “But the
word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached
unto you” (1 Peter 1:25). John wrote, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of
the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18,19).
Concerning the Gospel Paul preached, he said, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed
from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel: which is not another;
but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preach
any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).
In all of these verses, it sounds as though the Scriptures are from God, they have been given
to man in completed form, and only they are to govern our spiritual lives. Paul tells us, “So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). What “word of
God” is he referring to? The only written word of God that we have, and that has been revealed to
us in the pages of the New Testament.
Is God giving new revelation today? Is He telling some of us something He has not told
the rest of us? Certainly not. If we do not have all of God’s revelation, and He is still revealing

47
His will to man, what good is the Bible? If He is still speaking to man, then we have no way of
knowing what He wants us to do, or who might be telling the truth and who might be fabricating a
new “revelation”. It would be very confusing for God to tell one to do one thing and another to do
something else. If the Lord forbids us to add to His word, how can we think that He would violate
His own command by giving a new message of inspiration to someone?
This should convince us that God is not speaking to any person today, separate and apart
from His word. But as with “miracles”, speaking in “tongues”, etc., notice that those who claim
that God is speaking directly to them are contradicting one another, accusing each other of not
being of God, and furthermore, they are in all kinds of man-made churches, wearing man-made
names, and worshiping in ways God has not authorized. Surely if God was speaking to these peo-
ple, He would not be telling them to do things that are contrary to what the New Testament teaches.
Called to Preach
There have been stories told of how some claim they were called to preach. One man said he
saw in the sky these letters: G-P-C. He concluded that this meant “Go Preach Christ”. After hearing
him preach a very unbiblical sermon, someone remarked that since he had been a farmer, the letters
surely meant “Go Plow Corn”! Others have claimed that the Lord spoke to them and commanded
them to go preach. Some have had “dreams” and others have had “visions”, all claims of miraculous
events. But does God call men to preach His word? If so, does He call them in these ways?
Prior to the Lord’s return to the Father in heaven, He gave this great command, “Go ye
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15,16). Again, He said,
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com-
manded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew
28:19,20). Notice the command: go and preach the Gospel. To whom? To the whole world,
even to every creature. Who should go? The Apostles and their converts. That comes right on
up to our day since we have been converted to the Lord, so therefore we must go and preach.
Please notice that nowhere in the New Testament do you have God’s people seeing signs in
heaven or having visions or hearing a voice telling them to go and preach God’s word. Neither do
you have the Lord calling anyone today in that manner. He has already commanded His people to
do that work. Why would He need to visit someone personally to ask them, to command them, or
to pressure and force them to preach His Gospel?
When we were sinners, out in the world, the Lord called us to come and obey Him — but
how did He call? Through a dream or a still, small voice? No! Paul said to the Thessalonian Chris-
tians, “Whereunto He called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:14). He calls us in the same way, through the preaching of the
Gospel, as it is proclaimed from the written word, inviting souls to come unto Him. Christ said,
“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke
upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
The Gospel, therefore, has been put in earthen vessels, that is, given to human beings,
those who belong to the Lord, to carry it forth to the world (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul said that even
if an angel should come and preach a different Gospel than what he had preached, the curse of
God would be upon him (Galatians 1:6-9). That is to say, the Lord has revealed His Gospel in the
Scriptures. Those who obey it are to take it to others, and upon hearing it and obeying it they, too,
48
have been “called by the Gospel”. As a result, they too, share the responsibility of proclaiming the
message of Jesus Christ.
It should be pointed out that while all are to take the Gospel to others, it must be understood
that this does not mean that everyone is expected to stand in a pulpit and to preach publicly. Wom-
en are forbidden to usurp authority over men by speaking to a mixed audience. The ladies of the
church can teach men and women privately, they can teach ladies groups and classes of children,
but in a mixed worship assembly of adults they are to remain silent (1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy
2:11). There are women preachers today in denominational groups. Every time they stand before a
mixed adult group, even if they preached the truth, they would be personally disobeying God. As
far as I know, 100 percent of them not only disobey God in their public preaching, but they further
do a disservice to God and man by preaching error.
What about the men? Well, not all Christian men want to be public preachers, or even have
the ability or training to do so. If this be the case, they should not publicly preach, but they should
still make opportunities to share the Gospel in private studies. On the other hand, if one has obeyed
the Gospel, is a member of the church and a faithful Christian, has the desire to preach the Gospel,
has the ability to do so, and will study and prepare himself to preach, then by all means the Lord
would have him to preach His word.
Again, there are those today who claim they had no ability, no knowledge of the Scriptures,
but God called them to preach, and God gives them the message they are to deliver “as the Holy
Spirit puts the words in their mouths”. What they are teaching is error, and it is blasphemy that
they would blame the Holy Spirit for what they teach. Even if the Holy Spirit miraculously guided
people today in their preaching — which He does not — He would not guide them to preach any-
thing contrary to what is already written in the Scriptures. Listen to the preachers who claim that
God has called them to preach, and listen to the things they say, supposedly being guided by the
Holy Spirit, and you will see that they teach many things not found in the Scriptures, they contra-
dict themselves, and furthermore, they are in churches we do not read about in the Bible, and they
wear man-made names. How could these people represent the Lord? They do not. They may be
preachers, but they are preaching error and damnation.
We should listen to John’s warning, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spir-
its whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1
John 4:1). John said that many false prophets, teachers, or preachers had gone out into the world,
and that is just as true today as it was then. But he said we should test these men, we should com-
pare their preaching with the word of God. If the things they say are not taught in the Scriptures, if
their doctrines do not harmonize with what the Lord has said, regardless of what they claim, they
are false preachers.
John said, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If
there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, nei-
ther bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2
John 9-11).
Yes, we need preachers today, and lots of them, those who have been called through the
teaching of God’s word, and those who preach only the truth. We need men who love the Lord and
the souls of men and will give their lives in spreading the cause of Christ. We don’t need hirelings,
those who want to preach just to have a job, or who will preach even error if they are paid for it. Paul
said to the young preacher, Timothy, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus

49
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and
doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of the ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1-5). We
would do well to think seriously about what Paul has said here. Those who presume to break the
bread of life to others will one day answer for what they have taught. We must be sure to preach only
the Gospel — but we must also be sure to preach all of the Gospel, in clarity and in love, whether it
pleases the audience or not.

50
 Discussion Questions

1. Hebrews 1:1,2 explains that God has spoken to man in what ways?

2. The prophets and writers of the Old Testament spoke by inspiration of

_____ __________ ___________, according to 2 Peter 1:21.

3. How are people guided today? by direct messages from God, or by the
written word? (James 1:22).

4. What warning is given in revelation 22:18,19 about adding to the word

or subtracting from it?

5. “If any _________ preach any other ___________ unto you than that
ye have received, ______ ______ _______ ___________” (Galatians 1:6-9).

6. These verses teach what three things?

7. There are people today who claim that God is giving them special rev-
elations. Do they contradict one another? Do the contradict Scripture?
Are they members of man-made churches? Do they worship in ways not
authorized by God? Would God be giving them contradictory doctrines?

8. Does God miraculously call people to go and preach today? Peo-

ple who make that claim invariably teach things contrary to Scripture.
Would God do that?

9. We are warned not to __________ every _______ (1 John 4:1).

10. How does God judge those who teach things contrary to the doctrine
of Christ? How will He judge those who are supportive of such false
teachers? (2 John 9-11).

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Lesson 9

The Holy Spirit

in Conversion
It is important that we know who the
Holy Spirit is and how He works, and if He
works in our lives today. A good case in point
is the role of the Holy Spirit in conversion.
Conversion, of course, has to do with a
change that takes place in one’s life. According
to the Scriptures, conversion results when one
believes in God, repents of his sins, confesses
Christ to be the Son of God, and is baptized to
wash away his sins. There are at least elev-
en cases of conversion set forth in the book of
Acts, showing that all the people did the same
thing in their obedience to the Lord. But what
role does the Holy Spirit play in all of this?
Please go with me to John 3 and let us read and give some thought to the new birth as taught
by Jesus. The record says, “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, ‘Rabbi, we know that thou art
a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him.’ Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus saith unto him, ‘How can a
man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be
born?’
“Jesus answered, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must
be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spir-
it.’ Nicodemus answered and said unto him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered
and said unto him, ‘Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not
our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell
you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down
from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven’” (John 3:1-13).
Please notice the conversation that took place between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus.
Here was a Pharisee, a very religious man, but one who believed in Jesus. Evidently being afraid
of the Jews, and what others might say, he came to Jesus by night. This man is mentioned on two
other occasions, once when Joseph of Arimathea pleaded the case for Jesus, and the other time was

52
when Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloe, and he and Joseph took linen clothes with the spices
and wrapped Jesus for His burial. But Nicodemus acknowledged his faith in Jesus when he said,
“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles
that thou doest, except God be with him.”
As the record continues, Jesus responded by telling him that he would have to be born
again in order to enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom or church had not been established yet,
but it would soon come into existence, and the only way that one could enter the kingdom would
be through a spiritual birth.
Naturally, Nicodemus thought that Christ was talking about physical birth, and so he want-
ed to know how a man could be born again when he was old. In response, Jesus explained the type
of birth He was talking about. He was not referring to a physical birth because, unlike the Jewish
nation, this new kingdom would not be made up of people being physically born into it. The birth
that Jesus had in mind was a spiritual one. This spiritual birth would be brought about through a
physical act, that is, being born of water. There is only one act of obedience in the Scriptures that
has to do with water and that is baptism. John, we are told, baptized where there was much water
(John 3:23). Christ was baptized in water (Matthew 3:13-17). Saul was told that he should arise
and be baptized to wash away his sins (Acts 22:16). Also, Paul said that through baptism we enter
Christ (Romans 6:3,4), and that being in Christ we are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). This,
then, was what it meant to be born of water.
In the second place, the birth that Jesus had in mind would also involve the Spirit. He said,
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”
(John 3:5). As we have seen, being born of water obviously has reference to baptism, but what role
does the Spirit play in all of this? Actually, being “born of the water and of the Spirit” is all tied
together. You cannot do the one without the other. To understand the involvement of the Spirit
here, let us go over to 1 Peter 1:22,23, and there we read, as Peter talks to Christians, “Seeing ye
have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
That means that to be born again one must be born, not through corruptible seed or by physical
birth, but of incorruptible seed or by the word of God. Now who gave the word? The Spirit, of
course. Christ said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Christ then commanded that
the Gospel, the word, the truth, should be taken to all the world (Mark 16:15). So when one hears
that word and he becomes a believer (Romans 10:17), and he acts upon a knowledge of the word,
and obeys it, the Lord saves that person. Christ said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).
What does it mean to be born of water and of the Spirit? It just simply means that the Spirit,
through the word, directs a person to believe in Christ, repent of his sins, confess Christ as the Son of
God, and be buried with the Lord in the waters of baptism. Through this obedience, one is “born
of water and of the Spirit”, or that he “obeys the Gospel”, or that “he obeys Christ”, that is, as
the Spirit through the Scriptures directs him to do so. In this action, both water and Spirit are
involved. Does it mean the Spirit miraculously leads one to salvation, or that one is born of water
and of the Spirit separate and apart from the word? The answer would be no. Salvation here is not
through some miraculous occurrence, but it is according to God’s spiritual law that when one obeys
the Lord’s teaching, he is saved. On the other hand, those who fail to obey that law cannot be saved.

53
 Let’s look at the human condition. At the time of one’s physical birth, he was innocent,
accepted by God, and if he died he would be among those who will enjoy eternal bliss. But when
he reached the age of knowing right from wrong, he became a sinner through his wrong choices.
Romans 3:23 says, “...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” Sin separates us
from God, so that soul becomes dead spiritually in sin. What is necessary to make him alive
spiritually to God? A new birth! 2 Corinthians 3:6 says that the Spirit gives life! The picture?
We were dead in sin, but when we were born of water in baptism we were also born of the Spirit as
new babes in the Family of God — into the church! Now, God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us, creating
that new spiritual life and identifying us as children of God. Notice what is explained in Romans
8:13-17:
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death
the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are
sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
The record says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. The Lord explained to Nicodemus that we don’t always understand how these spiritual
things are brought about. We cannot see the wind, but we can see the results of the wind. Neither
can we see the word of the Spirit as it works on the heart of an individual, producing faith that leads
to obedience and life, but we can see the results of it: the convicted soul obeys the Lord, is saved,
enters the Lord’s kingdom, the church. This, then, is the new birth and this is the role the Spirit
plays in conversion.
All physical births are the same, being based on the natural law of procreation. This is
equally true with spiritual birth. God does not save one person in one way, and another person in
another way. He saves all in the same way, that is, according to the law that is shown in the Scrip-
tures, and then the new Christian is to bear fruit, bringing others to a knowledge of God.

54
 Discussion Questions

1. There are those who claim that it is only by the “direct operation of the
Holy Spirit” that a person’s heart can be opened to God. Does the New
Testament teach this?

2. What is conversion?

3. What did jesus tell Nicodemus a person must do before he can see the
kingdom (church) of God?

4. What is the only way by which a soul can enter the church?

5. Nicodemus mistakenly thought Jesus referred to physical birth. Ex-

plain in your own words what the expression “born again” means.

6. What does it mean to be born of water?

What does it mean to be born of the Spirit?

7. What happens in physical birth? [new life]

What happens in spiritual birth? [souls that are dead in sin are made
alive by the quickening of the Holy Spirit (John 6:63)].

8. What is the incorruptible seed that grows in our hearts so that we

can experience the “new birth” through baptism into Christ? (1 Peter
1:22,23).

9. Second Corinthians 3:6 says what?

10. When we experience that new spiritual birth, how are we to live, ac-
cording to Romans 8:13-17?

55
Lesson 10

“These Signs
Shall Follow
Them that
Believe”
After Christ’s death, burial, and res-
urrection, and just before He returned to the
Father in heaven, He gathered His Apostles
around Him, “And He said unto them, Go ye
into all the world, and preach the Gospel
to every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that belie-
veth not shall be damned. And these signs
shall follow them that believe; in My name
shall they cast out devils; they shall speak
with new tongues; they shall take up ser-
pents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received
up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every
where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen”
(Mark 16:15-20).
There are those who believe that all Christians today, or at least some of them, can cast out
devils, speak in “heavenly” tongues, handle poisonous snakes without being hurt, drink poisons
without dying, and can heal the sick. They base their belief on Mark 16:17,18. But does this text
say that Christians in general, and today, would have the power to do these things?
We must keep several things in mind when we talk about “the miraculous signs that would
follow those who believe”.
l First, we must remember that Jesus promised the Comforter, or the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, to the Apostles only (John 14:26; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). They, in turn, were given the power
to lay their hands on select disciples that they too might have miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit (Acts
6; Acts 19). What was the purpose of these gifts? Paul wrote to the Roman church, “For I long to
see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end ye may be established” (Ro-
mans 1:11). The people to whom he was writing were Christians, but obviously they had no special
gifts. Paul was an Apostle, and he wanted to come to Rome because he had the power to fill that
void through giving gifts of inspired teaching, faith, wisdom, gifts of healing, of discerning spirits,
etc., vital gifts that were designed to guide the church during the decades when the writing of the New
Testament was taking place.
However, throughout the pages of Scripture you will not read of all Christians in general
receiving miraculous gifts of the Spirit, and it is also clear that only the Lord’s Apostles could be-
stow those gifts. All the Apostles have been dead for 1900 years! That means there are no Chris-
56
tians today who can do miraculous things! Some who claim to follow Christ also claim to have this
power, but in reality they have never performed the first miracle by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Neither can they. Such people are deceived, and they deceive those who follow them.
l Second, if Jesus’ statement, “And these signs shall follow them that believe” is a
promise to all Christians, why did the Apostles have to lay their hands on chosen disciples to
enable them to have miraculous power? Everyone who had been properly baptized should have
already been able to do miraculous things! But no one had such power until the Apostles laid their
hands on them. For example, Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ unto them. We
are also told that the people gave heed to the things that he taught, “Hearing and seeing the mir-
acles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were
possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed” (Acts
8:6,7). When did Philip receive this power? When the Apostles laid their hands on him, as well as
on six other disciples. Before that, these men had received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38),
and were full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3), but they did not have the power to do miraculous
things!
l Third, if Jesus’ statement, “And these signs shall follow them that believe” applies to
all believers, then all Christians from that time up to our time should have the power to do
miraculous things, such as to speak in other languages, to handle snakes without being hurt,
to drink deadly poison without dying, to cast out devils, and to miraculously heal the sick.
But all Christians cannot do these things, and even those who advocate that Christians in general
received this promise will admit that not all can do miracles. Of course, they make excuses like,
“Their faith is not great enough,” or “It is not I that can or cannot do these things, but only the
Lord,” or they “... don’t want to ask the Lord to do these things lest I tempt Him,” but where does
the Bible teach any of this? If God gave Christians in general and throughout time the power to
perform these miracles, then any and all Christians can do them today. Yes, the Apostles had mi-
raculous power, as did those on whom they laid their hands. Besides healing the sick, speaking in
other languages, casting out devils, etc., the Scriptures tell us about the time a serpent bit Paul, and
those looking on thought that he would surely die, but he did not die. He simply shook the snake off
into the fire and went on his way (Acts 28:1-10). Some in modern times have deliberately handled
poisonous snakes to prove their power over them, but many of those have been bitten and died. To
read of one recent illustration, “Google” snake-handling preacher dies — of snakebite.
l Fourth, keeping all of the foregoing things in mind, if you will go back and read
through Mark 16 you will find in the context that the Lord was talking to the Apostles about
their duties and what would follow. The pronoun, “them”, is mentioned often, and this always
referred to the Apostles. When Christ said, “And these signs shall follow them that believe,”
He was referring to the Apostles and not to Christians in general. If He referred to Christians in
general, why didn’t Christians in general do those things He said would follow? Did the Lord lie?
No! This promise was made to the Apostles, and the Apostles were able to do all of those things. In
referring to the individual to whom the Gospel would be preached, and the one that would either
obey it or would not obey it, Christ said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but
he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). The promise concerning the miraculous
signs was that they would follow the Apostles and those who had been given miraculous gifts, not
the ones who obeyed the Gospel as a result of their preaching. But again, to be sure that this was
the way it was, re-read the Scriptures and look at those who were able to do those signs and those
who were not able to do them. That should convince everyone that the promise was made to select

57
believers — the Apostles and those to whom they gave special miraculous gifts, in order to
prove that they were of God and to edify the church.
No, there are no Christians today speaking in other languages without studying them. Nei-
ther are there Christians today who are casting out devils, miraculously healing the sick, and all of
the other miraculous things the Apostles did in their day. If so, why don’t they clean out all of the
hospitals, raise all of the dead in the cemeteries, give sight to all of the blind, give new arms and
legs to those who do not have them, etc.? Do you know why none of them are doing these things?
Simply because they do not have such power.
Take note of these recent news reports concerning “faith healers”: “Nigerian Healer’s
Church Collapse Kills 67 South Africans”. “T.D. Joshua, born in 1963, is a faith healer who
says he can heal cancer, AIDS and other illnesses, according to the church’s website. His
church has a branch in Ghana and runs a Lagos-based television channel, Emmanuel TV.
Three previous churches run by Joshua were destroyed, the group said on its website. A
storm blew off the roof of the first, a flood washed away the second and the third ‘collapsed
due to severe weather conditions,’ it said.”
This report concerned a crusade by the well-known “faith healer” Benny Hinn [Google:
“Benny Hinn Healing Crusade Ends in Controversy”]:
“Evangelist Benny Hinn arrived in Nigeria for his much-advertised Healing Crusade.
He flew into the country aboard his Gulfstream III jet with a retinue of bodyguards. But a
few days later, Hinn left Nigeria in annoyance and disappointment. He was irked by the low
turnout at the event: only an estimated 300,000 people attended the crusade instead of the
six million that had been expected.
“Hinn was visibly angry because of the huge amount of money he had invested in
the crusade. ‘Four million dollars down the drain,’ he is said to have shouted on the final day
of the event. The vice president of Benny Hinn Ministries, Jon Wilson, gave a breakdown of
the money. He said $3 million was spent on hotel accommodations and technical infrastruc-
ture, while $1 million more was used up by members of the local organizing committee.
“Pentecostalism has therefore become a thriving business in Africa. In fact, it has
become the shortest route to wealth and affluence for the continent’s teeming population of
unemployed youths. Local pastors employ all sorts of tricks and techniques to extort mon-
ey from gullible folks (as well as foreign friends). They use this money to build magnificent
churches, erect costly dwellings, buy luxurious cars and aircraft, and live ostentatiously,
while their church members languish in poverty, misery, and squalor.
“In most cases, pastors tell the faithful to give money to God so that God will bless
them in return. They tell the people of the divine favors that come to those who pay their
tithes and make offerings regularly.
“Africans are suckers for magic, miracles, and paranormal claims. Generally, among
Africans, there is a deep-seated belief in supernatural forces that intervene and alter human
destinies for good or ill. These spiritual forces are believed to work in magical and miracu-
lous ways, through signs and wonders that confound the human mind. And the evangelical
churches are capitalizing on this superstitious element in African thought and culture to
peddle and propagate their paranormal services. They promise divine healing and instant
solutions for problems and diseases. Pentecostal pastors claim they have the power to
make the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, and the infertile give birth....”

Divine Healing or Miraculous Healing?

Some people are obsessed with the idea of miraculous healing. When one denies that God
works in this way today, the question is asked, “But you believe in divine healing, don’t you?” My
58
response would be this: “I believe in divine healing, but not miraculous healing.” “But what is the
difference?” you might ask. My answer: “All healing is divine, but not any miraculous healing is
being done today.”
If we think the only way God can work is through the miraculous, we are mistaken. Yes,
He has worked in the past at times through super-natural means, but even during that age, miracles
were few and far between. The Apostles and those on whom they laid their hands could be in just
so many places. All other Christians were unable to do miraculous things, which means the masses
of the people had to depend on divine healing and the effects of the law of nature.
Divine healing means that God is involved in the healing, but through natural means. God
made the world and all the things therein. He made the plants and herbs, and surely within them
is everything the body needs for healing, just as they contain all the nutrients needed to feed and
sustain our bodies. Through His blessings, men and women have studied and learned about the
physical body and its needs, they have learned about the medicinal properties of plants, and they
have developed hospitals to provide for the sick. Humans have the skills, through their study and
training, to perform delicate operations to repair different parts of the anatomy. Could we say, then,
that God is involved in man’s healing? Most certainly so.
Jesus taught that those who were whole had no need of a physician, but those that are sick
(Matthew 9:12). Luke, the author of the books of Luke and Acts, was spoken of as the beloved
physician (Colossians 4:14). Jesus told of a Jew who was traveling down to Jericho and fell among
thieves and was left for dead. Both a priest and a Levite — religious people — saw him in this
great need but passed on by. But a Samaritan, a traditional enemy of the Jew, saw him and had
compassion on him. He bound up the man’s wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and took him to an
inn to be further cared for. Why did he pour oil and wine into his wounds? Because these were
healing agents. Do you suppose the Lord had anything to do with his wounds being healed?
Finally, Paul instructed Timothy, “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy
stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). It should be pointed out here
that Paul gave this advice in the day when miracles were still being performed! Why didn’t he mi-
raculously heal Timothy? Because Timothy was already a believer, and miracles were performed
to make believers, as we read in Acts 8, and to confirm the word (Mark 16:20). They were never
intended to be used just for the sake of making people well! Since the New Testament has already
been confirmed, and inasmuch as faith is produced now by hearing the word of God (Romans
10:17), miracles are no longer needed. What would be their purpose today?
In the next place, how does prayer fit into this picture? Do we pray for the sick or our needs
because we expect a miracle? If miracles are not being performed today, what is the purpose of
prayer? Well, what about a father and his children? When the children make requests of him, does
he respond with a miracle? We know that he does not. How does he answer his children? Through
natural means that are at his disposal. Furthermore, he grants requests that are in the children’s
interest. If they ask something he is unable to give or that is not best for them, his answer is ‘No’.
The same is true with God. He is our Father and we are His children. He loves us and wants to give
us those things we request. At the same time, He knows what we do not need. If what we want is
not in our interest, then He will not give it to us. But if He can give it providentially, and if it is for
our good, He will certainly answer our prayer by granting our requests through natural means.
Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if the son

59
ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7-11). Now
again, does the Lord have to perform a miracle to answer the prayers of His children? Of course
not.
We pray for bread, but God gives us health and the know-how to earn money so that we
can have bread. God could create bread and put it in our hands, but He has not chosen to do that,
nor has He promised to do so, and neither will He do it. If we or our friends are sick, we may ask
God to heal us. He could miraculously heal us, but He has not promised a miracle, and neither will
He overrule nature to perform one. He has given us the knowledge to see a doctor, to obtain the
medicines and to take them according to instructions, and He would also have us to get proper rest,
food, etc. Now when we do that and we get well, who healed us? Did God answer our prayer or
not? Or did we just accidentally get well? Or did we heal ourselves?
Christ tells us that God knows what we need even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8). John
says, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to
His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that
we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (1 John 5:14,15).
Yes, God heals today. No, not miraculously. He doesn’t have to do anything to prove His
power. He has already done that again and again. And He can still do what He wants to do, but
He has chosen to work through natural and spiritual laws that He has revealed in His word. The
natural laws relate to the physical needs of man and the spiritual laws concern obeying the Gospel,
receiving the remission of sins, and having the hope of eternal life.
May God help us to believe in the Lord enough to let God have His way instead of being so
weak that we demand God do things our way. The fact is, we cannot impose our will on God, but
we must humble ourselves before Him and yield our will to His.

60
 Discussion Questions

1. What did Jesus tell the apostles to do just before He returned to heav-
en? (Mark 16:15-20). What signs would be seen among converts?

2. Some people today believe they can speak in “heavenly” tongues, drink
poison, handle snakes, etc., but be protected by the Holy Spirit. Does Je-
sus’ promise in Mark 16 apply to all people of all time? To whom was He
speaking?

3. To review, to whom was the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and the accompanying miraculous power made? (John 14:26).

4. If Jesus’ promise that “these signs shall follow them that believe” ap-
plies to all people of all time, why could only the Apostles do miracles, as
recorded in Acts 5:12?

5. If Jesus’ promise that “these signs shall follow them that believe” ap-
plies to all people of all time, can all the members of the congregation of
which you are a part do these things? Can any do them?

6. Recently, a Pentecostal preacher who had a TV program died from a

poisonous snake bite. Was this God’s failure to keep His promise or was it
a misapplication of Scripture?

7. What happened to a Nigerian “healer’s” church building and to people

who were attending his meeting? Did he raise them from the dead?

8. How do Pentecostal preachers take advantage of the African supersti-

tions and beliefs in magic and demons?

9. What is the difference between miraculous healing and divine healing?

10. How can God answer prayers without the use of miracles?

61
Lesson 11

The Unity
of the Spirit
The Apostle Paul wrote these words
to the Ephesian Christians, “I therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye
are called, with all lowliness and meekness,
with longsuffering, forbearing one another
in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in
you all” (Ephesians 4:1-6).
Here Paul talks about the unity of the
Spirit. He says there is one Spirit. He is a person, a member of the Godhead (Romans 1:20), asso-
ciated with God the Father and God the Son.
Each one in the Godhead had a part to play, a particular work to do. The Holy Spirit guided
and directed various ones in the writing of the Scriptures, including both the Old Testament and the
New Testament. In the Scriptures we have the verbally inspired word of God (2 Peter 1:20,21; 2
Timothy 3:16,17).
The Scripture is also said to be the word of the Spirit, or the Spirit of truth, again and again
(John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). Paul referred to it as the sword of truth (Ephesians 6:17). The Hebrew
writer said, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
The word of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is unified throughout. It is complete and
final. Through it, God has said what He wanted to say, and all that He wanted to say. It does not
contradict itself. It will not lead one person to do one thing and another person to do something
else. It is not to be added to or subtracted from or substituted for in any way (Revelation 22:18,19;
2 John 9-11). Paul said that he had preached the one pure Gospel, being guided by the Holy Spirit
of course, and if anyone came preaching another Gospel, even though he be an angel from heaven,
the curse of God would be upon him (Galatians 1:6-9).
The Spirit breathed life into the word, and therefore when one takes it into his heart, believ-
ing it and obeying it, it becomes the means of saving him. Peter declared, “Seeing ye have puri-
fied your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see
that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:22,23).
Jesus gave the parable of the sower and in doing so He told how the seed, the word of God, fell on
62
different types of soil. Some seed fell into good soil, was received by good hearts, and as a result it
sprang forth and produced good fruit (Matthew 13). Life was in the seed, of course, and the Spirit put
that life into the seed, which is the word of God.
The Apostle Paul said, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into
one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Paul is not talking here about Holy Spirit baptism, but is refer-
ring rather to the fact that the Spirit leads one through His teaching, or through the word of God, to
obey the Lord, and a part of that instruction is to be baptized into the one body, the one church of
the Lord.
There are many things attributed to the Spirit that the Spirit, Himself, never authorized in
the New Testament, which He inspired. For instance, the Spirit, through the teaching of His word,
would not lead one person to be baptized by immersion and another to be sprinkled, etc., to enter
the church, and He would not have one person to “join” one denominational group and someone
else to “join” another group. Through the one baptism — burial in water — the Spirit adds us to
the one church established by Christ, just as is recorded in Colossians 2:12: “...Buried with him in
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead.” We read in and Acts 2:47, “And the Lord added to the church
daily those who were being saved.”
When we have entered the one body, the church of Christ, Paul says that we “have been all
made to drink into one Spirit.” That is, we continue to drink of the Spirit, or to follow the word
of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Christ spoke of us partaking of the water of life and the
bread of life so that we might no longer thirst or be hungry.
Until the Spirit had completed His job of giving His word to man, He enabled the Apostles
and chosen disciples on whom they had laid their hands to do miraculous things to convince the
people that they were from God and that they had been sent by God to deliver His message to them.
Once the Spirit had inspired various ones to write down God’s word, and the New Testament was
given to man in completed form, there was no longer any need for miraculous things, and so they
ceased. Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 13.
Notice, then, the unity of the Spirit, and how the Spirit revealed truths that produced unity
or oneness. God is not divided, Christ is not divided, and neither is the Spirit divided. Rather, they
are one, they are united, they work together, they likewise have spoken words that will unite us and
make us one.
The Spirit reveals in the word that there is but one Gospel, one way to be saved. Christ has
said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15,16).
If all will hear that Gospel, believe it and obey it, then all will be saved the same way — the Lord’s
only way of saving the lost. One cannot be saved in any other way.
The Spirit tells us in the word that there is but one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). The world
says there are different baptisms, but the Spirit says there is one, that it is a burial (Romans 6:3,4;
Colossians 2:12), and that it is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
The Spirit, through the written word, also tells us that there is but one body or one church
(Ephesians 4:4). Again, we hear constantly from man that there are many churches. Even those
who claim to have the miraculous guidance of the Holy Spirit are to be found in churches that are
not even mentioned in the word of God. Would the Spirit reveal in His word that there is but one
church — and of course that is Christ’s church (Matthew 16:18) — but then lead some to be mem-

63
bers of churches that are not mentioned in His word? Surely not. The Spirit is not divided, and He
would not lead some people to be something religiously that would be in contradiction to what He
has said in His word.
Paul wrote, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he
that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7,8).

The Fruit of the Spirit

Paul listed some of the works of the flesh and, in contrast, he now talks about the fruit of
the Spirit. He said, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying
one another” (Galatians 5:22-26). To the Ephesian Christians Paul said, “For ye were some-
times darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the
Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), proving what is acceptable unto the
Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10).
Now what does it mean to have the Spirit? Peter said that on obeying the Lord we receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). That means the Holy Spirit is given to us, to dwell within
us, to make us alive again to God: “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also
the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. (Acts 5:32). The seven disciples
chosen to receive special miraculous power through the laying on of the Apostles’ hands were men
who were full of the Holy Spirit: “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of
honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
(Acts 6:3).
Paul tells us, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:
knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience, and experience, hope:
and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:1-5). Again, he said, “For the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans
14:17).
Paul continued by saying, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace....
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the
Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
64
 “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye
live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adop-
tion, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are the children of God: and if children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so
be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:1-17).
Explaining how the Spirit works in the Christian, Paul says, “Likewise the Spirit also
helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that sear-
cheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for
the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26,27).
Paul wrote to Titus, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating
one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved
us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).
Again, what does it mean to have the Spirit? In the verses of scripture we have read we
see that all of those who obey God receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, that is, the indwelling of the
Spirit. The Spirit dwells in the Christian as God and Christ dwell in him (1 Corinthians 8:6). Paul
said that the physical body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16,17; 6:19,20).
The Spirit helps us to bear our infirmities and makes intercession for us according to the
will of God. Knowing that we have obeyed the words of the Spirit, as revealed in the pages of the
Scriptures, the Spirit — the words of the Spirit — agrees with our spirit that we have done God’s
will and therefore we are the children of God.
Having the Spirit, and following the direction of the word of the Spirit, we bear the fruit of
the Spirit. Paul speaks of this fruit as being love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance or self-control, and righteousness. There is no need to define these
terms because all of us know their meaning. They are good things that no law would forbid. Nei-
ther would it take a miracle or the guidance of the Holy Spirit, separate and apart from the word, to
produce this type of fruit. This fruit is produced when we obey God and continue to walk according
to the word of the Spirit.
The Scriptures have much to say about the Christian and the Spirit’s role in his life. The
sad part is that so many see the Spirit only in relation to the miraculous. Many Christians shy away
from studying about or talking about anything that has anything to do with the Spirit lest they be
accused of believing in miraculous works in the lives of Christians today. In denying one error, we
must not go to the other extreme and create an error of our own by “... having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof...” (2 Timothy 3:5). Rather we must see the work of the Spirit in
regard to the miraculous as in the days of the Apostles, but we also need to see the work of the Spirit
in relation to Christians today. We don’t want to teach that the Holy Spirit is doing things today that
He does not, but neither do we want to reject His present role in the lives of Christians. If we live,
it is because He lives in us, making us the children of God.

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 Discussion Questions
1. Is there division among those who claim to believe in Christ?

2. What is the basis of the unity God wants? (Ephesians 4:1-6).

3. What particular work was done by the Holy Spirit? In Scriptures we

have the verbally ___________word of _______ (2 Peter 1:20,21; 2 Timo-
thy 3:16,17).

4. When we study, believe, and obey the word of God, the Scripture be-
comes the means of _____________ us from our sins (1 Peter 1:22,23). As
christians, what does it mean that we have all been made to drink into one
Spirit? (1 Corinthians 12:13).

5. Through inspired Scripture, the Spirit tells us that there is one ______,
one ___________ (Ephesiand 4:4) What does this say about all the divi-
sion in the religious world, with thousands of denominational churches?

6. Being born of the Spirit, what fruit are we to bear as Christians? (Ga-
latians 5:22-26).

7. We are _________ by faith and have __________ with God through Je-
sus. How is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts? (Romans 5:1-5).

8. If, as Christians, the Spirit of God dwells in us, what are we promised
in Romans 8:11?

9. Our body is the __________ of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16,17;

6:19,20). How does He help us (Romans 8:26; Ephesians 3:16-21).

10. When people equate the Holy Spirit with miracles, they are missing
the meaning of many passages of Scripture that show His involvement
in our lives as Christians. Review the work of the Holy Spirit during the
days of the Apostles. Review the passages we have studied that show His
work in the lives of Christians today.

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Lesson 12

The Sin Against

the Holy Spirit
The Bible teaches that “all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of
God” (Romans 3:23). It also says that all
who will believe in God, repent of their sins,
confess Christ as the Son of God, and are bap-
tized in water can be saved (Mark 16:16; Acts
2:38). Naturally, those who will not obey these
commands cannot be forgiven. The Scriptures
were given through the power of the Holy
Spirit, so in dealing with the word of the Spir-
it, we are not dealing with man, or even with
the Apostles, but with the One who has given
God’s final revelation to man. Much depends
on how we look at the Holy Spirit, our attitude toward Him, and whether we accept Him or reject
Him.
The Scriptures talk about “the sin against the Holy Spirit”, stating that those who commit
that sin cannot be forgiven in this world or in the world to come. Christ said, “Wherefore I say
unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Mat-
thew 12:31,32). Mark makes a similar statement in Mark 3:28,29.
There are other such verses found in the scripture. For instance, John spoke of a sin that is
unto death. He said, “If any man sees his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall
ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death:
I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto
death” (1 John 5:16,17).
Paul made this statement: “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The Hebrew
writer declared, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put
Him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).
The Hebrew writer says again, “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
looking for the judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that
despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer

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punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son
of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unho-
ly thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know Him that hath said,
vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall
judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:26-
31).
Peter wrote, “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and over-
come, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from
the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the
true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:20-22).
In all of these Scriptures, I think we can see some similarities. We have read about “the sin
against the Holy Spirit”, “the sin that is unto death”, “quenching or putting out the Spirit”, “crucify-
ing unto themselves the Son of God”, “sinning willfully”, and “going back into the world to remain
there”. In other words, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit or the sin against the Holy Spirit and
the sin that is unto death is simply the rejection of the miracles and the inspired testimony of the
Holy Spirit of God. I think the story of Ananias and Sapphira is a good case in point here. Peter said
that they had lied to the Holy Spirit, and they were struck dead on the spot for that sin (Acts 5).
The Holy Spirit came to reveal God’s word. He empowered Christ to do the miracles that
proved He was the Son of God. When Jesus made the statement in Matthew 12 about “blasphemy
of the Holy Ghost”, what was the scenario? Jesus knew that there had been false Christs before;
He knew that He looked like an ordinary Galilean; He knew that people could have questions and
doubts about Him being Who He claimed to be, so they could learn the truth and could be forgiven.
But the miracles He did by the power of the Holy Spirit as evidence of the truth of His claims could
not be denied. They were real, and they were the last word of proof. However, if on-lookers could
see those miracles, and then conclude that they were done by the power of Beelzebub — Satan —
there was no evidence left for convincing them. They had rejected the Spirit, and of course when
one rejects the word of the Spirit and the knowledge of the sacrifice that Christ made that one might
be saved, then there is no means left by which he can be saved. There is no way to reach him.
There are many in this lost state, and it is one of the saddest things in the world. Whatever you and
I do, let us never go so far as to reject the Holy Spirit and His revelation concerning Christ and the
salvation that we have through Him.
Any sin that man commits is bad and wrong, and can finally cause him to be condemned in
the judgment. He may not intend to leave this world without obeying God, but because of putting
off salvation and never getting around to repenting and being born into the body of Christ, he will
be lost. Others who have become Christians may choose to go back into the world, to deny the
Lord and to live a life of sin. In some cases, they have so hardened their hearts that no one can
say words to them that will turn them back to God. They would be the blighted souls described in
Hebrews 6:4-6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put
Him to an open shame.”

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 All kinds of possibilities have been suggested as to what constitutes “the sin against the
Holy Spirit”. Some think if one commits that sin, that even though he or she wants to repent, God
will not allow him to be forgiven. Of course, this is not true. Some of those on the day of Pentecost
who obeyed God and were saved, and were added to the church, were among those who took part
in crucifying Christ. Surely if they could be forgiven, anyone can be forgiven, provided they repent
and obey God.
Paul remembered the time when he persecuted the church. This bothered him, and he
referred to himself as the chief of sinners, yet he obeyed the Lord, his sins were washed away, and
he became a great worker for God (Acts 8,9,22; 1 Timothy 1:15). Surely if Paul could be forgiven
of his sins after all he did in opposing Christ, then anyone today who will submit themselves to the
Lord can also be saved.
Those who could not be forgiven, and cannot be forgiven, are those who really believe that
the works of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in the New Testament, were the works of Satan. Why
will they not be forgiven? Because there is no tool left with which they can be brought to faith and
repentance. Their sin is “unpardonable” because of their staunch unbelief.
And those who were obedient to the Gospel and knew the fullness of the Scriptures but have
turned away from that faith are also in a perilous state. Why? Because there are no words that anyone
can say to them to bring them back to God. Unless they decide, themselves, to turn [and that is highly
unlikely], no outside voice can bring them to renewed faith.
Regardless of the sin one has committed, if he dies with his sins, he will be lost. The Scriptures
nowhere teach that there will be a second chance or that family members and friends can pray one out of
his lost state so that he can eventually be saved. The Catholic doctrine of “Purgatory”, and that money
can be paid to get a soul out of that lost condition is nowhere in the Scriptures. Instead, the Bible tells us
that now is the time to prepare to meet God (2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 9:27).

“Ye Know Not What Ye Ask”

“And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and
said unto them, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be betrayed to the
chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the
Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.’
“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down
and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him,
‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left,
in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you
able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ So He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink
My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand
and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.’
“And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But
Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over
them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among
you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever
desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:17-29).
According to Mark 10:35, the sons of Zebedee were James and John, and their mother
requested that they occupy chief positions next to Jesus in His kingdom, or church, once it was
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established. Jesus immediately responded by pointing out that she did not know what she was ask-
ing. She did not understand that Jesus would die and that He would be baptized with suffering on
the cross. The Lord asked if they would be able to bear such torture and then answered by saying
that even though they might be able to do so, still it was not in His power to grant their request. It
appeared that the mother of these disciples was interested in securing positions for her sons, either
out of selfishness or motherly concern, but Jesus explained that if they wanted to be great, they
should minister to others.
The point I want to make here, however, is that many in our day don’t know what they ask
when they request of the Lord those things that He has never promised. I am thinking especially of
those requests that are related to the Holy Spirit.
For example, many ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Lord would say to them,
“Ye know not what ye ask.” This baptism was never promised to believers in general. The Com-
forter, or Holy Spirit, was originally promised to the Apostles only (John 14:26; Luke 24:49; Acts
1:8). Cornelius and his household also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit to convince the
Apostles that the Gentiles had been accepted by God as well as the Jews. This is clearly brought
out in Acts 10 and 11. But if these people would only read and study the Scriptures they would not
ask the Lord for that which He will not give them.
The same individuals think that the baptism of fire is administered by the Lord in our day.
They are also in error about this. The baptism of fire is something that will be carried out in the
future. At that time the Lord will cast the wicked into the lake of fire and punishment, and this will
be the baptism of fire. Surely no one would ask for this baptism if he were really aware of what it
is. Please read Revelation 21:8.
The Pentecostals and charismatics demand that the Lord perform miracles through them.
They say that they have the power of the Holy Spirit and they command, “Heal! Heal!” No, these
people do not have the power of the Holy Spirit and neither will the Lord respond to their shouts that
He miraculously heal the sick, or raise the dead, or whatever else they may tell Him to do. We read
in the Scriptures that only the Apostles and those on whom they laid their hands were able to perform
miracles (Acts 2:43; 8:6,7). Since we do not have any Apostles today, and none of those to whom
they gave miraculous spiritual gifts are still living after 19 centuries, there is no one present who can
perform miracles by God’s authority.
Many claims are made, but one after another of the famous “miracle workers” have been
exposed as frauds. When the Apostles did miracles, everyone knew that true miracles had been
performed. They raised the dead, cast out devils, and did other things that were recognized to be
miracles, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Remember, the real purpose of miracles was to make be-
lievers and, in the first century, that was the result. Today only claims are made: unseen maladies
are “healed” but no arms are restored, no sight is given to the blind, no dead people are raised. It
would be good for gullible people to remember Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:24: “...there shall
arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch
that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
There are denominational preachers today who are asking the Lord to cast out devils, but as
Christ said, “Will Satan cast out Satan?” Surely if the Lord was going to give the baptism of the Holy
Spirit to anyone today to enable them to do miracles, to cast out devils, etc., he would bestow that
power on those who obey Him, who are members of His church, and who wear His name according
to the Scriptures. Of course, He has not promised that power today, even to people who are in the
church. Those who expect to have miraculous power know not what they ask.

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 Many of these same people ask the Lord through prayer to save them and those who re-
spond to their preaching. Surely they know not what they ask. God has no where in the Scrip-
tures said that salvation from sins is the result of prayer. After one becomes a Christian, when
he fails and commits a sin, he is told to repent and to pray for the forgiveness of those sins, accord-
ing to James 5:16; but to become a child of God, Jesus said “He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mark 16:15,16).
Isn’t it strange that the people who claim to have the power of the Holy Spirit are not even
knowledgeable about what the Holy Spirit has said through the written word? They even ask the
Lord to speak to them today as though He has something special to say to them. They seem not to
know that God has spoken in the New Testament and has said all that He wanted to say. If He had
wanted to say more, He would have done so, but if He was going to say something more, it would
be for everyone — not just some select person, here and there. And we can know for a fact that He
would not tell somebody something that would contradict what is written in His Word.
We must not be deceived. We certainly have a right to call on God, but we should not do
so in ignorance and ask Him to do things that He has not promised to do. Rather, we should know
what the Lord has said, and then we have His assurance that He will hear and answer our prayers if
they are in harmony with His will (1 John 5:14,15).

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 Discussion Questions

1. Since Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned, how can sinners be
saved? (Mark 16:16).

2. Can sinners be saved in any other way? Are there many “ways of sal-
vation” taught in the denominational world today?

3. Jesus said that all kinds of sin (even words spoken against Himself)
could be forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (Matthew
112:31,32). Why? Is the Spirit greater than Christ? [Contemporaries,
only seeing the ordinary Jew that the physical Man seemed to be could
be forgiven of their initial unbelief when they saw the miracles that were
done through the power of the Holy Spirit. That power provided the
proof that Jesus was truly the Son of God, as He claimed. If onlookers
attributed that power to Beelzebub, there was nothing left with which to
convince them and to bring them to obedience.] Rejection of the power of
the Holy Spirit meant that there was no tool left with which to bring them
to faith and obedience -- so they would die in their sin, unforgiven.

4. How would you define the “sin not unto death”?

How would you define the “sin unto death”?
If a person repents of his sin, will he be forgiven?
If a person dies without repentance, will he be forgiven?

5. If a person fully understands the truth and obeys the Gospel, but then
turns his back on it, why do his brethren have no additional truth with
which to bring him to repentance? If he returns, it has to be from his own
conscience and change of heart, not the reasoning of others.

6. Again, why is it worse for one who knows the truth and falls away than
for someone who has never come to that knowledge (2 Peter 2:20-22)?
[Because he knows what he is leaving and no longer treasures it.]

7. “The ___________ of the ______ _______ or the _____ against the

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Holy Spirit and the ______ that is ________ ________ is simply the
______________ of the miracles and the __________ ________ of the Holy
Spirit of God” (Matthew 12:31,32).

8. Who are the people who cannot be forgiven? [those who do not repent]

9. Discuss some of the things people wrongly ask of God during this age.

10. What warning are we given in Matthew 24:24?

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Lesson 13

“When That
Which Is Perfect
Is Come”
For the final lesson in this series on the
work of the Holy Spirit, what could be more
appropriate than to consider the words of the
Apostle Paul, when he said, “But when that
which is perfect is come, then that which
is in part shall be done away.” (1 Corinthi-
ans 13:10) According to him, something per-
fect was coming and something that was in
part would be coming to an end. What was
the “perfect” to which he was referring in this
statement? And what was he talking about
when he spoke of “that which is in part”?
Again and again we have talked about Christ sending the Comforter or the Holy Spirit to
miraculously guide the Apostles to make certain that the truth was preached and that no mistakes
be made. Also, select disciples were chosen that the Apostles might lay their hands on them to give
them the miraculous power of the Spirit so that they might have help in the work of evangelizing
the world. All of this was done to convince the people that the Apostles and teachers had been sent
from God, using the miracles to confirm the word they were preaching and to make believers out of
those to whom they were preaching. Finally, when the New Testament was completed and given to
man, this miraculous period passed away. From that time down to this day, those who would know
of God and His will for them have only to go to the New Testament for that information. Paul tells
us that faith now comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17).
But let us turn to 1 Corinthians 13 and read that well-known chapter to see what Paul had
to say about the coming of the perfect will of God. Hear him, as he says, “Though I speak with
the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or
a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and
all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily pro-
voked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there
be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we
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know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that
which is in part shall be done away.
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:
but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass dark-
ly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1
Corinthians 13).
While this chapter is primarily known for its emphasis on love, and especially with its con-
cluding remark, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these
is charity,” still there are other statements that need our special attention.
Please notice that Paul says, “Charity never faileth: but whether there by prophecies,
they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it
shall vanish away.” Paul lived in the miraculous age. He was an Apostle and therefore he had
been baptized with the Holy Spirit. This being the case, he was able to do miraculous things, such
as speaking in other tongues or languages, etc. But he said that while charity or love would never
fail, miraculous prophecies, speaking in other languages, and inspired knowledge would come to
an end. In other words, the natural order of things would continue, but those things of a miraculous
nature would cease.
Paul goes on to say, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.” Again, he is hav-
ing reference to miraculous knowledge and prophesying. He says that they were in part— that is,
only select people in the church had those gifts, and the gifts themselves were but for a limited time.
They were props or like scaffolding around a building during the time it is being constructed. The
church had only recently been established. It was young and growing, and it did not have the New
Testament in completed form to lead or direct it. So these miraculous helps were there to give the
needed assistance until the New Testament could be given in written form.
Paul concludes, “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away.” Those things that he describes as being in part were the miraculous things
that were given for only awhile or until “the perfect thing” would come. Some try to explain this
by saying that Paul had reference to the coming of Christ, but this is not so. Why? Because his
wording is referring to “that” — a thing— not “He”— a person. Also, Paul says that three things
would remain — “faith, hope, and love”— after the perfect thing had come. It would be obvious
that he could not be having reference to the coming of Christ because faith and hope will then end
in eternal reality!
Since Paul was prophesying about a “thing”, we must conclude that he is referencing the
completion of the New Testament, the completed and perfect will of God. How do we know this?
Because there is no other perfect thing in this world! How providential is it that the Apostles’
deaths, the normal ending of life for those to whom they had given the miraculous gifts, and the
completion of the New Testament would all have taken place during the latter part of the first cen-
tury! With God’s word available to mankind, the miraculous things were no longer needed, and
therefore they came to an end. James supports this when he said, “But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).
Paul illustrates by saying, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” He was
simply showing that in the infancy of the church, all of these miraculous helps — these childish

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things — were needed, but once it grew to maturity and had the New Testament to guide it, these
miraculous things ended.
He illustrated the point again by saying, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but
then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” He was
explaining that, in the miraculous period, individual Christians knew only part of the whole word
of God. It was like looking in a mirror in a dark room; that is, one couldn’t see his whole image
clearly. But the promise was that the day would come when every soul would be able to look into
the New Testament and see himself as he really was. This is exactly what James says in James
1:22-25. Paul concluded with the fact that at that time he knew only in part, but the time would
come when all people could fully know God’s will.
We must understand that the miraculous age ended with the coming of the New Testament.
God has fully revealed His will, and if one wants to know what the Lord would have him to do with his
life he must go to the New Testament. God is not speaking to man separate and apart from His word.
Today we have so-called miracle workers telling those who want to be saved to come for-
ward and to repeat the sinner’s prayer: “I believe that God for Christ’s sake has pardoned my sins”.
How dare they claim that God is working through them? Can you read anywhere in the Scriptures
where Peter, Paul, or any other Gospel preacher asked their hearers to come forward and to say
the sinner’s prayer if they wanted to be saved? There is no such prayer given in God’s word!
The Spirit works today, but only through, and in harmony with, His word. While the Holy
Spirit is not working in human beings in a miraculous way, He works through the word to make
known God’s will and to reveal Christ who is able to save man from his sins. What greater work
could He do than this?

Does God Work in our Lives Today?

[This part of the lesson has been incorporated from lessons written by J.C.’s wife, Betty.]
At this point in our study, some might conclude that God has completed His active
involvement with the affairs of this world. He allowed His Son to die on the cross for our sins,
enabling us to obey His Gospel to be saved and to become a part of His Family, the church. The
Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible so that we would have specific words to guide us in
our obedience to God and in the living of our daily lives. The Book of Revelation closes with the
promise that one day Jesus will come on the clouds of heaven, ending this world and bringing all
humans to judgment.
It is true that the miraculous age has ended because the work of salvation, of establishing
the church, and of confirming the fact that the men speaking and writing God’s message was
completed during that first century. However, if we notice carefully, throughout the pages of
the Old Testament as well as the New, we will see that most of God’s work has not been of a
miraculous nature! The miracles were the exceptions to the rule, when a new prophet had to be
authenticated, or a new message was being spoken by the inspiration of the Spirit. We see miracles
with Moses’ work of freeing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and the preservation of the
nation during the wilderness years (Exodus). The three Hebrew “children” and Daniel were saved
from Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath by God’s obvious intervention (Daniel 3 & 6). We see miracles
when Elijah called down fire from heaven to destroy the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).
Today when people harden their hearts to God and the Bible, it’s like they are shaking their
fists in His face and shouting, “There’s no God!” But God doesn’t send a bolt from Heaven to burn

76
them to cinders! He’s not doing miraculous punishments anymore. Instead, in the Bible He warns
EVERYBODY that the same Jesus who died to save us from our sins will come back one day TO
BE OUR JUDGE. Jesus Himself said that the righteous obedient ones will go away to everlasting
life, but He will say to the disobedient, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
We can see a strong dividing line in God’s dealings with humans. From the creation until
the Bible was completed after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, God spoke directly to some
people, and His messengers and prophets did many miracles to prove that they were speaking God’s
words. But after the Bible was completed, God has worked through what is called “providence”. Lt’s
go to the Bible and see some additional examples!
There is the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer in the fight they had with the Philistines.
We can see providence in God’s help there:
“Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, ‘Come, let us go over to
the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing
restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.’ So his armorbearer said to him, ‘Do all
that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.’
“Then Jonathan said, ‘Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show
ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still
in our place and not go up to them. But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up.
For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.’
“So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Phi-
listines said, ‘Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.’ Then
the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, ‘Come up to us,
and we will show you something.’
“Jonathan said to his armorbearer, ‘Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered
them into the hand of Israel.’ And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his
armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armor-
bearer killed them. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was
about twenty men within about half an acre of land.
“ And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The
garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great
trembling. Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the
multitude, melting away; and they went here and there” (1 Samuel 14:6-16).
Now, some questions: Did God tell Jonathan to go and fight the enemies of Israel? No.
Did God tell Jonathan what he should use as a sign that God would help them win the battle? No.
The sign Jonathan had spoken was that the Philistines would tell them to come up the side
of the steep hill. Being on their hands and knees would make it easy for the Philistines to kill them
as they were climbing, so it took a lot of faith on Jonathan’s part to start that climb, but he did. And
they had a great victory! The Bible doesn’t say that any angels were seen killing the bad soldiers,
but there was a strong earthquake! Now, do earthquakes happen, just naturally? Yes, they do! So
we would say that God used nature to providentially help Jonathan and his armorbearer defeat the
enemies of Israel.
Another time that God fought for Israel, behind the scenes so that nobody saw an angel or
knew that God was doing it, was when King Sennacherib of Assyria was camped around Jerusalem,
planning to totally destroy the city.
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 “After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem ... to Hezekiah king
of Judah, and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Sennacherib king of As-
syria: “In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem?” And they spoke against
the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth — the work of men’s hands.
“Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed
and cried out to heaven. Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of
valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to
his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring
struck him down with the sword there” (2 Chronicles 32:9,10,19-21).
The Scriptures tell us that God sent an angel, but historical records say that the whole army
died of some terrible disease that struck them that night! Nobody actually saw an angel!
According to Hebrews 1:14, “Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to
minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
One time the king of Syria was making war against Elisha the prophet. This is the record
in the Bible of what happened: “Therefore he [the king] sent horses and chariots and a great
army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the
man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses
and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’
“So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who
are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’
Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:14-16).
So the whole place was filled with angels, there to protect Elisha, even though nobody
could see them! That’s God’s providence at work!
Too often, today, people will exclaim, “That was a miracle!” about some unexpected
thing that happened in their lives. But what is a real miracle? It is the setting aside of the law of
nature: raising the dead, restoring a lost arm or leg, giving sight to the blind.
In contrast, let’s consider another excellent biblical example of God’s work through
“providence”. What is providence? It is God’s “behind the scenes” use of anything and
everything at His disposal, without overruling the laws of nature which He set in motion
as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. In Romans 15:30-32, Paul made these requests of the
church in Rome: “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the
love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, (1) that I may be
delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and (2) that my service for Jerusalem may
be acceptable to the saints, (3) that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may
be refreshed together with you.” God answered those prayers, but not through miracles.
The second thing for which the Roman Christians were to pray was that Paul would be
received by the church in Jerusalem. Acts 21:15-20 records that brethren from Caesarea and
Cyprus accompanied Paul, “And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us
gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the
Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord.”
How did God deliver Paul from those who sought his life in Judea, which had been his
first prayer request? Acts 22:22-25: When the Jewish mob began to cry out that Paul was not fit
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to live, God used the commander of the Roman army to rescue him. Acts 23:11-22: After his
arrest, God used Paul’s nephew to bring word to the commander that the Jewish leaders were
plotting to kill Paul when he would be brought to the council to defend himself. Acts 23:23-31:
In response, the commander called two centurians and had them to gather 200 soldiers, 70
horsemen, and 200 spearmen (with a mount for Paul to ride on) at the third hour of the night,
to bring the prisoner safely to Felix. Acts 25:12: Again, when the Jewish leaders laid charges of
treason against Paul, as a Roman citizen he appealed to Caesar, using the Roman law as his shield.
Paul’s third request concerned his desire to come to Rome, to strengthen the church there.
Following his arrest in Jerusalem, Acts 27 & 28: When Paul was being taken as a prisoner on a ship
to Rome, a bad storm came up. After many days, Paul urged the sailors to take food, assuring them
that everyone would be saved. “And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave
thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. Then
they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. And in all we were two hundred
and seventy-six persons on the ship.
“And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away
and escape. But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and
commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and
the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped
safely to land” (Acts 27).
So in this case, God used a Roman ship, sailors, and soldiers to take Paul to testify of
Himself in Rome! Even things that belong to governments really belong to God! So Rome got
to pay for Paul’s trip! Do you see again that, without the use of miracles, God providentially did
what needed to be done so that Paul could safely reach Rome and make the appeal to Caesar? Of
course, while he was there he was allowed to have his own rented place so that he was able to have
interaction with the church, to impart spiritual gifts to Christians, and to strengthen the body of
Christ. Prayers answered!

Providence at Work Today

In a similar situation today, the communist Chinese government, as a whole, does not “al-
low” the teaching of Christianity. However, because English is the international language, they
want that language to be taught in their colleges, so what do they do? They bring in teachers to do
that work. Through the years, many American Christians have lived in China, faithfully teaching
the English language. Their fare to China is paid by the government, they are supplied with
living quarters, and they are paid a salary. While there, they are also teaching the Gospel in
private settings, which is a known fact by government officials, but those officials don’t interfere
as long as no disturbance is caused. What irony, that the atheistic communistic government in
China is paying for the country’s evangelizing, which it actually forbids!
Another example of God’s providential working in this age: Missionaries were about to
move to a new country. For years they had been trying to go to India, but now a family of American
Christians working in the little country of Sri Lanka was asking someone to come there and help
them start the Lord’s church. What to do? What to do? The missionaries were praying for God to
open the right doors and to close the wrong doors. Their part was to apply for visas [permission to
live in the country]. The husband had an Indian visa, which meant that there should be no problem
getting a visa for the family. So they said, “If the family gets a visa, we’ll conclude that God wants
us to go to India. If we can’t, we’ll believe He wants us in Sri Lanka.”
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 The visa was denied, so they moved to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, and began to teach
the Gospel to anyone who would listen. The missionary advertised a two-week school for those who
might be interested in studying the Bible. A certain well-educated man, who had just gotten out of
a business with his father-in-law, and currently had no job, saw the ad. He said to himself, “I’m not
working. This is an opportunity to go to a Bible school.”
Before the end of the two weeks, he was baptized and became a great helper in having
home Bible studies. In a few months the missionary family moved to India. As they were studying
with people, and able to begin the church in New Delhi, they looked into the possibility of having
programs over the radio stations operated by the Indian government, but they were told that Chris-
tian religious broadcasting wasn’t allowed in that Hindu nation.
Then they heard some exciting news: the radio station in Sri Lanka, called “The Giant of
Asia” was allowing Christians to use their towers for broadcasting! The coverage was most of the
Eastern side of the globe! What a great blessing of God! The missionary knew preachers in India
who spoke several of the major languages, so he was sure everything could be arranged — but
what about a reliable person to manage the contracts with the radio station? Oh yes! God had been
looking ahead, and a zealous, trustworthy Christian was already in place in Colombo!
What happened? Through the years of the “team” working together, millions of people in
India have been able to know that Jesus died for them, and many have obeyed Him in baptism! God
does work all things together for good!
I’ll tell you another story that shows His providential care. You know that Jesus has told
Christians to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and our work really is to go and to teach
so that people will want to learn more about God and to obey Him. But God knows that there are
those who are already looking for Him, even though nobody has come to teach them. Those are the
people He takes care of through providentially pulling many things together!
A man in Burma worked at the airport in Rangoon as an air controller. One day he met a
man from India who was also an air controller. They began talking, and the Indian man said that he
was studying a Bible course from an American missionary in Thailand, sponsored and supported
by American Christians. He gave the address to the Burmese man who wrote for the course. Then
he and he and his family very carefully studied each lesson. They became convinced they needed to
be baptized, so the missionary from Thailand flew over and studied further with them and baptized
them into the body of Christ! That was the beginning of the church of Christ in Burma! Now there
are many Christians in that country, and even Bible training schools! But look at God’s reach in this:
from India to Burma to America to Thailand and back to Burma, and working over several years
of time! God’s hand is not shortened that He cannot do whatever is needed, and He looks ahead in
His preparations, and He never forgets the work He’s weaving together!
Later it was found that literature printed in Northeast India had been shared across the
border among people in Western Burma, and numerous congregations of the church had developed.
One of the converts had gone to South India to a Bible school, and then had returned to Burma.
When he learned about the existence of the church in Rangoon [Yangon], he settled there, working
with the church in a local Bible school and in evangelizing cities and villages throughout the country!
Another amazing thing happened to a missionary in Pakistan. One day a man came to the
gate and was looking at the sign that said “The Church of Christ Meets Here”. He came inside to find
out more about the church, actually checking to see if he could worship with them in good conscience.
Through several hours of discussion, the missionary learned that the man, a doctor, was from the
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mountainous area of Iran, bordering Russia. He said he was a part of a group of Christians there,
and that the church with which he worshiped numbered about 5,000!
Their history? He said that some of the men who had seen the star of Jesus were of his
tribe, and they had followed the star to Bethlehem. After they returned home, they waited until the
baby would be grown up and would be able to do the work He had been born to do. They returned
to Israel and were there in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, among the crowd that heard Peter
and the other apostles preaching that at last the kingdom of God had come! They were baptized
and waited there for some time, learning from the apostles and writing down what they called “The
Sayings of Christ”. When they came home again, they taught their families and their tribal people
what they had learned, so that they became Christians too.
The doctor had a very correct understanding of the Gospel and of how to become a Christian
and to worship God. He said that his people had been persecuted to the point that they had isolated
themselves in the mountainous regions. Later, when the missionary was in Iran again, he went to the area
the doctor had told him about, at the edge of the mountains. The only way he could go further would
have been by horseback and with an interpreter, so the journey had to stop there. People in the area did
tell him, though, that lots of Christians used to live there but they had moved into the mountains.
So you see how God can bring people together, to supply what is needed for someone who is
already looking for the Truth!

Conclusion
Jesus’ promise to His disciples — and to us — “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to
you” (John 14:18), is the certainty on which we build our lives. He never promised that we would be
shielded from all negatives; in fact, He warned that there would be persecution. But He is with us and He
has given us the strength of the Holy Spirit at the time of our baptism to aid us in our Christian walk:
Romans 8: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Je-
sus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit
of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the
flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death
the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are
sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can-
not be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He
makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
God does what is best for us and for the particular situation in which we are being challenged. If
we do our part, trusting in Him to do what is beyond our ability, He will not fail.
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 Discussion Questions

1. The miraculous working of the Holy Spirit would end when “_______
_______ _____ _____________ _______ ________” (1 Corinthians 13:10).

2. Many would wonder why God does not do miracles today, feeling that
an overwhelmingly powerful tool has been laid aside. We should remem-
ber, though, that even in the age of miracles there were the sorcerers who
deceived people with their claims. Separating the real from the lies would
have been difficult, especially if one only heard of the “miracle” and did
not see it himself. Today, magicians do amazing things that could easily
pass as “miracles” if they were in the “religious business” instead of the
“entertainment business”. There are multi-millionaires who demand,
“Heal, heal” and people believe they are genuine, in spite of the false doc-
trines they teach.

3. What is the tool used today to make believers and to nurture new
Christians?

4. Is God’s word — the New Testament — the ultimate, world-wide, all-

time authority, telling us God’s unchanging will?

5. If we didn’t have that word, confirmed by the miracles of the writers,

and if we were at the mercy of people here and there all over the world
who were claiming to be speaking for God — claiming to do miracles
— how would we be able to verify what would be true or false? With
communication as it is today, living in one country, we might hear of
some amazing claims made by a Hindu “holy man” or a witch doctor or
a “faith healer” in a country on the other side of the world. If we did not
have God’s word to prove or disprove their teachings, how could we judge
the validity of the “miracle” they would be claiming? Thank God, we live
in the age of “_____ _______ ____________ _____” (1 Corinthians 12:31).

6. How did God save Jonathan and his armor bearer through providen-
tial aid rather than miracles?
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7. What happened to Sennacharib’s army, according to God’s revelation?
What did the historians record about the cause of death of the army?

8. Discuss the three things for which Paul asked the Roman Christians to
pray in Romans 15:30-32.

9. Did the brethren in Jerusalem approve of Paul’s work with the Gen-
tiles, after hearing the details?

10. What were the tools God used, providentially, to rescue Paul from
the Jews who wanted to kill him? Were any of these miraculous?

11. How did it become possible for Paul to live in Rome and aid the
Christians there?

12. People from how many nations were involved in bringing the Gos-
pel to Rangoon (Yangon), Burma?

13. Was it vital that converts were made in Sri Lanka before the open-
ing of the opportunity to preach the Gospel over their radio stations?

14. What account did the man in Pakistan give of his people in Iran?

15. Discuss the involvement of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Chris-
tian, according to Romans 8.

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