Holy Spirit Part 2

The last words that Jesus spoke to His disciples before He returned to Heaven are found in Acts 1:8 which says: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. NLT “But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall receive power and tell the people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. The Greek word that is translated to the word ‘Power’ is “Dunamis” which is more correctly translated as “Strength and Ability”, this is what you receive when you are filled with the Holy Spirit and I have experienced this strength and ability over my lifetime. The truth of this verse is so evident on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and preached for the first time and 3000 people were saved. In Acts 4:4 it says that 5000 more were saved and in Acts 2:47 it says that “The Lord added daily to the church those who were being saved”. When Peter and John were arrested and taken to the Sanhedrin it is recorded in Acts 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and unlearned men, they marveled, and they realized that they had been with Jesus”. We see the truth of acts 1:8 in action for the disciples had strength and ability and people were being saved. We read in chapter 8  that when persecution came to the church in Jerusalem that Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to them and multitudes were saved. In verse 14-15 we read that when the Apostles heard what had happened that they sent Peter and John to them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. Verse 17 says: “When they laid their hands on them they received the Holy Spirit”.  This suggests that all people previously who were saved were filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19 we read that when Paul first visited Ephesus and found some disciples the first thing he asked them was “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And when they replied no! Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Not only were the Apostles but Paul was adamant that believers should be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is also important to understand what Paul had to say about speaking in tongues – using your heavenly language. In 1 Corinthians 14:4a says: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” NLT “Is strengthened personally in the Lord” AMP “Improves himself”. It is good to realize that when  I choose to use my heavenly language I am being strengthened in the Lord and we understand it is impossible to be too strong, but it is possible to be weak and God wants us to avoid being weak. Next in 1 Corinthians 14:2 says: “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to man but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries” AMP “Because in the Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things”. This is an area in which I have struggled in, because I do not know or understand what I am saying, at times I have limited the amount of times I have used my heavenly language. However, in recent years I am using my heavenly language more and more as I understand the importance and effectiveness of using my heavenly language. 1 Corinthians 14:15 teaches us that it is our choice to use our heavenly language for God cannot make us use it. And in 1 Corinthians 14: 18 Paul tells us that you cannot use your heavenly language too much. Today it is so important that we impact the world in which we live and we do this by being continually filled With the Holy Spirit.