It is winter Down-under. Where I live we have mild winters with overnight temperatures rarely getting down to 0°c. The room temperature can be a bit uncomfortable though if we do not have some sort of heating system. In this rented house we enjoy a slow combustion wood heater- like an open wood fire in a metal box, with a strengthened glass door. It is my job to keep the fire burning. How?
2Ti 1:6 For this reason, I am reminding you to fan into flames the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.
2Ti 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.
Paul is writing to Timothy and says that genuine faith is in Timothy as it was in his grandmother and mother. Then he says For this reason …fan into flames the gift that is in you through the laying on of my hands. The phrases “the laying on of my hands” and “the gift of God” are connected in to what he says next that God has given us a(His) spirit
Act 8:14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God,(they believed) they sent Peter and John to them,
Act 8:15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
Act 8:16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 8:17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
Act 8:19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
Act 8:20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!
Take note of the bold words above. It is obvious that the GIFT OF GOD is the embrace of the Holy Spirit received through the laying on of hands, through prayer-AFTER believing in Jesus. The Apostles and Luke(the writer) were obviously surprised that they had not received the Holy Spirit when they first believed….so they made sure that they did receive Him- The Gift of God. Luke writes in
Acts 8:16 – “For as yet He had fallen upon none of them”
The word here for fallen is epipipto, which means to embrace (with affection) or seize (with more or less violence; literally or figuratively): – fall into, fall on, fall upon, lie on, press upon.(Strongs)
Have you my brother or sister had the Lord Jesus the Spirit embrace you? Have you had Him fall into you yet?
Has Jesus fallen on you or lain on you pressing upon you yet? Believe me you would know if you have!!
This experience is what has come to be known as the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Here Luke says, “For as yet He(the Holy Spirit) had fallen or embraced with affection none of them.”
I will never forget the first time I felt the Holy Spirit -GOD EMBRACE ME. Oh yes, I felt Him and it was so good!! How did the Apostles know that the multitudes had NOT had this experience of receiving the Holy Spirit yet?
We are not told that….but what we are told is that the Apostles knew WHEN they had received the Spirit of God–the Gift of God. They prayed for them to receive the Spirit and laid their hands upon them. The Holy Spirit came upon them.
Act 8:17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
It is plain as day, that if Simon could tell by looking at these Samaritan believers that they had received the Holy Spirit, then something visible or audible or both had happened when they received the Holy Spirit.
Experience tells us that when this occurs it is not always the speaking in tongues.
The Holy Spirit EMBRACES our very spirit and saturates our soul. He is felt. This is one of the most wonderful things a human being can experience…God filling him/her full with Himself. Some may swoon and fall upon the ground weeping or laughing or both! Others may burst into praises in a language the Holy Spirit gives them. Others may squirm around being delivered of demons by the Mighty Holy Spirit. God moves in and takes possession and fills the Temple with glory, ie Himself!!
You will know if you have had the Spirit of God fall upon you….if you have not , YOU CAN.
This is the Promise of the Father for all His children and eventually all men.
But you who have come to believe in Jesus Christ and been baptised in water in His name…what about you?
Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed? That was Paul’s question not mine.
Act 19:1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples
Act 19:2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
Act 19:3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
Act 19:4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” Act 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Again, please see that believing in Jesus is not how one receives the embrace of the Holy Spirit….nor is it by being baptised…but “when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”
Of course we dare not limit God. He can fall upon someone when they first believe..but these two examples which He ensured we could read about show a subsequent experience after FIRST BELIEVING. Paul Himself had this experience. He was knocked off his donkey to the ground and saw the Lord Jesus. Saul believed on Jesus at that moment calling Him Lord. But it was 3 days later when Ananias was sent to him.
Jesus said to Ananias
Act 9:12 And(Saul) hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. But when Ananias actually goes to Paul…
Act 9:17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. (Just as He sent me to India to pray for a brother)
There you see? This is the same experience as that of the Samaritans in Acts 8…and the disciples of John in Acts 19 and of the 120 in the upper room…and the 3000 who were newly saved and baptised on the day of Pentecost. The same experience. They all believed first…and then afterwards received the Holy Spirit.
With Cornelius and his household it was quicker and in a different order!
Act 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
Act 10:45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit(the gift of God- 2Tim1:6) had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
Act 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
Act 10:47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
Act 10:48 And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
So here is the same things. They believed while Peter preached. Their belief is a gift from God. God falls upon them in His loving embrace–the result is praises and prophesyings in unknown, never learned before languages. Amazing. Peter never laid hands upon them–but the Lord sure did!!
The gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on them.
To pour out?
It means ekcheo ekchuno ek-kheh’-o, ek-khoo’-no From G1537 and χε ω cheo
(to pour); to pour forth; figuratively to bestow: – gush (pour) out, run greedily (out), shed (abroad, forth), spill.
Jesus said that the Father will bestow upon you a Kingdom…yes- The Holy Spirit baptism–or embrace brings your spirit into the reality of that Kingdom. Without this experience you do not experience the Kingdom…it all remains out of reach even though you believe in Jesus. You are sadly left to be a believer in your head only , while not having the infilling, the gushing, pouring spillings of the Holy Spirit in you. BUT YOU CAN!! AND YOU MUST…YOU MUST!!
One brother has written
“The record states, “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word. And…they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God” (Acts 10:44-46). Later we find that when Paul was on his way to Ephesus he met some disciples of John the Baptist who had been baptised in water unto repentance, but had heard nothing about receiving the Holy Ghost. “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:1-7).
I speak the truth when I suggest that not one in a million of New Age, Metaphysical, and New Thought adherents have received any such supernatural experience in the Holy Spirit! The fact is, they have not even met Jesus Christ as SAVIOUR! Nor have they experientially appropriated the CLEANSING POWER OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST! I also speak the truth when I say that men whose spirits have not been quickened by HIS SPIRIT are motivated and controlled by the intellect of the soul (carnal mind), rather than by the life of the spirit. That which they perceive as their “inward Christ consciousness” is in reality just the awesome power of their soul life! Just as a man or woman, without a mate, is not a whole person, and therefore missing a dimension of human reality, so the spirit of man which has not experientially been joined to the Spirit of God in a supernatural union of life, is lacking in its spiritual ability and capacity. It is this very condition that spawns the whole system of “intellectual religion” which is pawned off and misinterpreted as spiritual life!” J.Preston Eby
My brother or sister…..see what Eby says above? I agree and so does scripture. If you have not received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit–the embrace with affection–then you are living in your own strength and your own faith and effort. This is dead religion!!! Your spirit longs to join with the Lord Jesus but your head is stronger so you remain only in your soul and intellect. How sad!! You may be a pastor, or a missionary or Sunday school teacher…whatever you are it counts for nothing if you have not received God’s promise- the Gift of God Who is the Holy Spirit of Promise.
This experience of receiving the embrace of God which is the full immersion into the Spirit is God’s promise to you TODAY.
It does not matter that the Apostles have all died. God filled Paul through Ananias- “a certain disciple at Damascus” Acts 9:10
God commands you to wait until you receive power from on high.
Act 1:8a “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;…”
Friend this is a separate thing from initially believing in Jesus Christ. Have you received the embrace of the Holy Spirit? Has He fallen upon you? Today the Lord Jesus wants to give you the embrace of His Spirit, and He can do it without anyone laying hands on you-like Cornelius and the maybe 50 others in his house. All you need to do is ask Father for the Holy Spirit’s embrace. Ask Him to fall upon you like He did in Samaria…or on Pentecost…etc.
Many people have had lies sewn in their mind against this experience and need to have these lies removed through sitting under anointed preaching .
I have laid hands upon people to receive the Holy Spirit and most times they receive instantly. Some speak in tongues straight away, others later at home. A lot of misconception is out there about tongues and the Holy Spirit. He does not take control of your tongue-NEVER! If that happens, it is NOT GOD doing it. But this is not what I wanted to share tonight. The main thing is that we seek to receive the Gift of God, which is the Blessed Holy Spirit.
I will share more on this in the next chapter. This is normal Christianity-the POWER of God coming upon you…falling on you…embracing you with affection and love. It is God’s great Gift to you my friend.
Dennis E. Rhodes
In Australia Contact: +61457 707 417
Unless otherwise stated all Bible verses are taken from the New King James Version –
Thomas Nelson Publishers
