Have you ever wondered why the church today seems to lack the miracle working power of the early church? Jesus said in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” Some have suggested that the gifts of the Holy Spirit and other miracles experienced by the early church ceased when the last apostles died. They say that, since the Bible was recorded, we no longer need miracles to testify that Jesus is the Son of God. The main scriptural support for their claim is ICor.13:8-12. Verse 10 says, “When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” This is a very weak argument, in light of verse 12 which says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” From this context, it is obvious to most that this is speaking of “heaven.” The gifts will cease when we shall see God face to face, and our understanding
is dramatically increased. 

So, if there is nothing in scripture to indicate that the gifts would cease, then why do we not see the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit in most churches here in the United States today? Let us take a look at what the Bible says, looking at scriptures in context, and the answer should be clear. Scripture after scripture will be given. Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes will be from the New King James Version.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He breathed upon His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Surprisingly, this was not enough. Just before ascending into heaven, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Again, in Acts 1:8, Jesus is recorded as saying, “But
you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me… to the end of the earth.” The common understanding of Acts chapter 2 is that it is when the church was born again. On the other hand, no mention is made in Acts 1 of the disciples receiving new life, or of being born again. Instead of saying that the Holy Spirit was coming to live within them, we are told that the Holy Spirit would “come upon” them and give them power to be witnesses for Jesus. Just a few verses earlier, in Acts 1:5, Jesus had explained, “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” The apostles, along
with many other believers, waited in Jerusalem, apparently gathering in a large upper room. On the Jewish holy day of Pentecost, Acts 2:4 records, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” A crowd gathered, and Peter preached a sermon. He said that what they were experiencing was what had been prophesied by the prophet Joel, “…in the last days, says God… I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall see dreams.” Verse 33 talks about “the promise of the Holy Spirit… which you now see and hear.” Peter ended his sermon (2:38-39) by saying,

 

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Italics added)

That brings the promise of the Holy Spirit, what they were seeing and hearing, all the way to the 21st century!

When someone trusts in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of that person (Romans 8:9). That person is born of the Spirit with life from above (John 3:5). The question is, “Is there a second experience? After someone is born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, is there another experience that they should seek in order to be empowered by the Holy Spirit? In the case of the eleven, Jesus had breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Were they born again at that time? Did the Holy Spirit come to live within them? Scripture does not make it clear, but we do know from Jesus own words that they “received the Holy Spirit” in John 20. We also know from Jesus own words that the disciples received “power” when the Holy Spirit came “upon them” on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. Let us take a further look through the book of Acts to see what the early church experienced.

In Acts chapter 8, Philip, who was one of the first deacons, left Jerusalem and “preached Christ” to the people of Samaria (vs.5). Many believed and were baptized (vs.12). Let us read what happens next in verses 14 through 17: “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” As stated earlier, as soon as a person trusts in Jesus, they are born again, and the Holy Spirit comes to live within them. These people in Acts 8 had believed and been baptized in water, but the Holy Spirit had not yet “fallen upon” them. When the apostles laid hands on them and prayed, “they received the Holy Spirit.” This appears to follow the pattern of the apostles and early believers in Acts 2. It is also interesting to note that the believers in Acts 2 “spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” In Acts 8, we are told that “Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Spirit was given.” We do not know what happened, but Simon saw some kind of outward manifestation when the Holy Spirit “fell” upon these believers.

In Acts 10, the Apostle Peter was sent by God to bring the gospel to a group of Gentiles at the house of a man named Cornelius. Verses 44 through 46 tell us that, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished… because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” The order and timing of events has changed here: “the Holy Spirit fell” upon people as soon as they believed, and even before they were baptized in water. Again, though, we have the outward manifestation of these people speaking in
tongues, and here we are told that this was a sign to the other believers that “the Holy Spirit had been poured out on” them (verses 45-46).

In Acts 19, the Apostle Paul came across “some disciples.” We read in verses 2 through 6, “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.’ And he said to them, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ So they said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ 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.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and
prophesied.” The first question that arises is, “Why is Paul asking these ‘disciples’ if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed?” We know that all true believers have the Holy Spirit inside of them. Besides, how were these people to know if they received the Holy Spirit if, as most churches teach today, there is no outward sign or manifestation of
His presence? Paul expected them to know. Notice also that, once again, we have people who are disciples of Christ, who have now been baptized in the name of Jesus, upon whom the Holy Spirit has not yet fallen. It may have only been minutes later, but “when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with
tongues and prophesied” (verse 6).

What truths are clear from these references in the Book of Acts? First of all, there is a second experience possible for born-again believers, through which they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection. In Acts chapters 8 and 19, we clearly have believers upon whom the Holy Spirit “had not
yet fallen.” Since Romans 8:9 tells us that all true believers have the Holy Spirit inside of them, this “falling on” or “empowering,” or being “baptized with the Holy Spirit” must be something different than simply having the Holy Spirit living within us. Secondly, this experience is something that you can “see and hear” (Acts 2:33). This experience is
accompanied by outward manifestations, especially that of “speaking in tongues.” These might be inconvenient truths for some, but they are the clear teachings of the Bible.

Why is the 21st century church in the United States so powerless? One reason should be obvious. Jesus told His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they were “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). They had already “received the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22), but they needed more. They needed the Holy Spirit to “come upon” them. Today, most Christians are taught, “As soon as you are born again, you have it all.” There is no seeking of a second experience called “the baptism of the Holy Spirit,” or “being filled with the Spirit.” It is true that we receive the Holy Spirit as soon as we are born again, but, like the early church, we need more. We need the power that, according to the word of God, only comes through that second experience.

Jesus surely had the Holy Spirit living within Him from birth, but it was not until after His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove, that He began to do miracles. After His baptism, Luke 4:1 says, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit…”, and 4:14 says, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit to Galilee,
and news of Him went out through all the surrounding regions.” He went into the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth and read,

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD”
(Luke 4:18-19).

Why is this important to us? Philippians chapter 2 tells us that Jesus laid aside his prerogatives as God. He lived on this earth as a man. When He did miracles, He did them by the power of the Holy Spirit, the same way that we, by faith, should be able to do them today. Read Luke 4:18-19 (above) again, and realize that these words should
also be our commission, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon us to preach the gospel to the poor, etc.” We need to be “clothed with power from on high.” We need the “baptism with the Holy Spirit.”

In Luke 11:13, Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Again, why would we be taught to ask for something that we already have… unless there truly is something more that God wants to give us. In a way, it is not “us getting more of Him,” but it is “Him getting more of us.” The English word “baptize” comes directly from the Greek word “baptizo,” which means to dip, dunk, immerse, or submerge. A bucket was baptized into a well and filled with water. Cloth was baptized in dye, and the color permeated every part of the fabric, permanently changing its appearance. If a ship filled up with water and sank, it was said to be baptized. When we ask God to baptize us with His Holy Spirit, we are asking Him to fill our whole life and being with Himself. Instead of us trying to bring Christ into our conversation, His Holy Spirit will flow through us like “rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

In 1Corinthians 12:7, Paul says, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.” He makes it sound as if each believer will be receiving at least one of the supernatural spiritual gifts listed in verses 8-11 of chapter 12. Today in the United States, there are whole congregations where none of these “manifestations of the Spirit” are clearly evident. Could it be that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the gateway or prerequisite for believers to be able to receive these gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1Corinthians 12? Obviously, if a congregation is taught that none of these experiences are for today, their members will not have faith to receive these gifts. There are also
churches today which teach that the gifts are for today, but there is no second experience. Not surprisingly, though they say that they believe that the gifts are for today, one rarely “sees or hears” the gifts in any of their meetings. It is only in churches and denominations which teach the “second experience” of the baptism with the Holy Spirit that one “sees and hears” the supernatural gifts listed in 1Corinthians chapter 12. In verse 31, Paul tells the Corinthians to “earnestly desire the best gifts.” Let us begin by earnestly desiring the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Let us be “clothed with power from on high!” In the next section, we will give some simple suggestions about how to receive this experience.