Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Spiritual Authority
Below is an excerpt from a chapter of my book, Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare.
I am posting this here because it is my response to several e-mails I received from individuals in deliverance ministry who believe being Spirit filled isn't a necessity.
The argument has been made to me on several occasions where people believe they don’t need to be Holy Spirit filled to cast out demons and pray for healing. This is true, there is power in Jesus name and people can cast out demons on that authority alone. What is intriguing to me is that this argument was posed to me by fellow Christians. In the book of John, Jesus reveals to his believers that unless he full fills the Father’s request to go to the cross to defeat Satan, the Holy Spirit will not be released to us. Jesus needed to return to the Father to be glorified and then he sent the Holy Spirit.
7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7
Throughout the book John we see Jesus emphasizing the one he calls Counselor, the Teacher, the spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. Jesus goes on, in the book of John, to discuss life after Jesus when he has returned to the Father. It is the Holy Spirit who will reveal to the generations of believers the secrets of the heavenly realms.
15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:15
We have the Holy Spirit to teach us and be with us and live in us. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God living inside of us.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. Romans 8:9-10
The Father wants his children to be Holy Spirit filled Christians. In the book of Acts, Jesus appeared, after his work on the cross, to his apostles for a period of 40 days. He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Spirit.
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Acts 1:4b-5
The customary example we have from the book of Acts for baptizing a fellow Christian with the Holy Spirit is laying hands on them and praying.
15When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:15-17
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an anointing we receive when we ask the persona, the Spirit of God, to come dwell inside of us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 1 John 2:20-21
If the Holy Spirit lives in us then why are we believers entertaining the argument that we don’t need to be spirit-filled Christians? Reading deeper down into Romans chapter 8, the Word reveals that it is the Holy Spirit that testifies that we are the children of God, we are co-heirs.
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:16-17
Talk about a trust fund inheritance. Hallelujah! Daddy, Abba Father has set up my inheritance! It comes with a kingdom bank account, eternal life, authority, and documentation.
20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21
The key wording to see here is that our citizenship is in heaven, and not will be in heaven. It is a common belief in our churches that you must go to your glory to benefit from this inheritance. All the rights and privileges are available now. It is the Holy Spirit who takes what it is the Father’s in heaven and makes it known to us. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 outlines the Gifts of the Spirit that come from the manifestation of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. Gifts of the Holy Spirit include speaking in tongues, word of knowledge, the gift of prophecy and spiritual discernment. These gifts are extremely important in exercising our spiritual authority.
The gift of tongues is extremely powerful in deliverance and healing ministry. Mark Neitz of City Ministries, Jimi Merrell, and myself were once in a deliverance prayer session where a demon screamed at us with vulgar language on how much it hated hearing us pray in tongues. Utterances of the Holy Spirit, the gift of praying in tongues can also be useful in exposing a demon that is hiding in a person.
The gift of discernment of spirits is extremely important in deliverance ministry. The Holy Spirit warns you through this gift of when a spirit is present but not visible. Spirits don’t like to make their presence known around spirit filled Christians because they won’t win the fight. I mentioned previously that spirits like to trick the deliverance prayer, especially a non-experienced prayer, into believing it has been cast out. Spirits do a great job of faking the person is at peace during a deliverance prayer session. This is where the gift of discernment of spirit is important in evaluating if a spirit is truly gone. Many times it is the combination of word of knowledge and discernment of spirits that tells you a spirit is gone.
Word of knowledge is equally important to determine the entry point of the evil spirit. I don’t talk to spirits they always lie. I ask the Holy Spirit what is the root cause of the torment so the person being prayed for can be healed whole.
The opening story of the deliverance prayer session with Elaine, the nasty demon of murder that manifested was not being very cooperative with us. I used my kingdom authority to engage the enemy and asked the Holy Spirit what is this fowl spirit in front of me? I then told Elaine, “This one is responsible for what happened to your father!” Elaine broke down and cried at that moment. She answered, “My father was murdered.” It’s details like this you won’t get if you’re involved in a spiritual battle without the Holy Spirit. A spirit of murder and death won’t answer too many questions if they don’t recognize your authority. This true authority comes from being a spirit-filled Christian.
Isn’t every Christian spirit-filled? Yes, but there is a greater filling, the anointing, when asking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Once you ask for that special anointing you’re taking one big step into your kingdom authority. It’s that taking of the one big step where God starts revealing to you the spirit realm. The spirit realm is the kingdom of God. Every Christian can experience the supernatural, but when you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit you step into the supernatural, your inheritance and your anointing.
The gift of prophecy is important to build up each other in church. During deliverance prayer I will ask the Holy Spirit to reveal something about the person I am praying for. Many times the Holy Spirit will reveal a spiritual gift being held down by the enemy by means of torment. Many times the gift of prophecy is used by the Holy Spirit to show the person being prayed for that He is present during this session. Our most effective prayer sessions are with people I don’t know. This leaves a bigger impression on them for the believer because they recognize what is coming through is from God.
Lisa and I were at a church where a woman had recognized us as deliverance prayer team members from a house meeting. The woman asked Lisa, after the church service, to pray over her daughter, who had a rash break out on the back of her neck. I was meandering after the church service talking to friends and made my way back over to my wife who was praying over this young woman. I didn’t know what Lisa was praying for so I figured I would jump in and take an opportunity at using the gift of prophecy. When I laid my hand on the woman’s shoulder and started praying I received images in my head of the young woman moving her hands and making creations with her hands as she listened to worship music. The hands were moving to the worship music. I told the woman the prophetic picture I received of her. She smiled and told me she was a prophetic artist studying at the Super Natural School of Ministry at Bethel Church, in Redding California. The prophetic moment built up the young woman and let her know that God was working in her life. That’s why I like praying and using the prophetic over people I don’t know. When God reveals the prophetic through prayer to people we don’t know, the person being prayed for is being touched by God.
With the baptism of the Holy Spirit you step into your citizenship and your marvelous, infinite trust fund from Daddy. It’s withdraw amount is limitless as long as we’re kingdom building. When you are kingdom building, you are not chasing miracles, you are expected to perform miracles. Miracles come from the Holy Spirit. The greatest miracle of all is the miracle of the repentant heart.
I am posting this here because it is my response to several e-mails I received from individuals in deliverance ministry who believe being Spirit filled isn't a necessity.
The argument has been made to me on several occasions where people believe they don’t need to be Holy Spirit filled to cast out demons and pray for healing. This is true, there is power in Jesus name and people can cast out demons on that authority alone. What is intriguing to me is that this argument was posed to me by fellow Christians. In the book of John, Jesus reveals to his believers that unless he full fills the Father’s request to go to the cross to defeat Satan, the Holy Spirit will not be released to us. Jesus needed to return to the Father to be glorified and then he sent the Holy Spirit.
7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7
Throughout the book John we see Jesus emphasizing the one he calls Counselor, the Teacher, the spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. Jesus goes on, in the book of John, to discuss life after Jesus when he has returned to the Father. It is the Holy Spirit who will reveal to the generations of believers the secrets of the heavenly realms.
15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:15
We have the Holy Spirit to teach us and be with us and live in us. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God living inside of us.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. Romans 8:9-10
The Father wants his children to be Holy Spirit filled Christians. In the book of Acts, Jesus appeared, after his work on the cross, to his apostles for a period of 40 days. He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem and to wait for the Holy Spirit.
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Acts 1:4b-5
The customary example we have from the book of Acts for baptizing a fellow Christian with the Holy Spirit is laying hands on them and praying.
15When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:15-17
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an anointing we receive when we ask the persona, the Spirit of God, to come dwell inside of us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 1 John 2:20-21
If the Holy Spirit lives in us then why are we believers entertaining the argument that we don’t need to be spirit-filled Christians? Reading deeper down into Romans chapter 8, the Word reveals that it is the Holy Spirit that testifies that we are the children of God, we are co-heirs.
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:16-17
Talk about a trust fund inheritance. Hallelujah! Daddy, Abba Father has set up my inheritance! It comes with a kingdom bank account, eternal life, authority, and documentation.
20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20-21
The key wording to see here is that our citizenship is in heaven, and not will be in heaven. It is a common belief in our churches that you must go to your glory to benefit from this inheritance. All the rights and privileges are available now. It is the Holy Spirit who takes what it is the Father’s in heaven and makes it known to us. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 outlines the Gifts of the Spirit that come from the manifestation of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. Gifts of the Holy Spirit include speaking in tongues, word of knowledge, the gift of prophecy and spiritual discernment. These gifts are extremely important in exercising our spiritual authority.
The gift of tongues is extremely powerful in deliverance and healing ministry. Mark Neitz of City Ministries, Jimi Merrell, and myself were once in a deliverance prayer session where a demon screamed at us with vulgar language on how much it hated hearing us pray in tongues. Utterances of the Holy Spirit, the gift of praying in tongues can also be useful in exposing a demon that is hiding in a person.
The gift of discernment of spirits is extremely important in deliverance ministry. The Holy Spirit warns you through this gift of when a spirit is present but not visible. Spirits don’t like to make their presence known around spirit filled Christians because they won’t win the fight. I mentioned previously that spirits like to trick the deliverance prayer, especially a non-experienced prayer, into believing it has been cast out. Spirits do a great job of faking the person is at peace during a deliverance prayer session. This is where the gift of discernment of spirit is important in evaluating if a spirit is truly gone. Many times it is the combination of word of knowledge and discernment of spirits that tells you a spirit is gone.
Word of knowledge is equally important to determine the entry point of the evil spirit. I don’t talk to spirits they always lie. I ask the Holy Spirit what is the root cause of the torment so the person being prayed for can be healed whole.
The opening story of the deliverance prayer session with Elaine, the nasty demon of murder that manifested was not being very cooperative with us. I used my kingdom authority to engage the enemy and asked the Holy Spirit what is this fowl spirit in front of me? I then told Elaine, “This one is responsible for what happened to your father!” Elaine broke down and cried at that moment. She answered, “My father was murdered.” It’s details like this you won’t get if you’re involved in a spiritual battle without the Holy Spirit. A spirit of murder and death won’t answer too many questions if they don’t recognize your authority. This true authority comes from being a spirit-filled Christian.
Isn’t every Christian spirit-filled? Yes, but there is a greater filling, the anointing, when asking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Once you ask for that special anointing you’re taking one big step into your kingdom authority. It’s that taking of the one big step where God starts revealing to you the spirit realm. The spirit realm is the kingdom of God. Every Christian can experience the supernatural, but when you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit you step into the supernatural, your inheritance and your anointing.
The gift of prophecy is important to build up each other in church. During deliverance prayer I will ask the Holy Spirit to reveal something about the person I am praying for. Many times the Holy Spirit will reveal a spiritual gift being held down by the enemy by means of torment. Many times the gift of prophecy is used by the Holy Spirit to show the person being prayed for that He is present during this session. Our most effective prayer sessions are with people I don’t know. This leaves a bigger impression on them for the believer because they recognize what is coming through is from God.
Lisa and I were at a church where a woman had recognized us as deliverance prayer team members from a house meeting. The woman asked Lisa, after the church service, to pray over her daughter, who had a rash break out on the back of her neck. I was meandering after the church service talking to friends and made my way back over to my wife who was praying over this young woman. I didn’t know what Lisa was praying for so I figured I would jump in and take an opportunity at using the gift of prophecy. When I laid my hand on the woman’s shoulder and started praying I received images in my head of the young woman moving her hands and making creations with her hands as she listened to worship music. The hands were moving to the worship music. I told the woman the prophetic picture I received of her. She smiled and told me she was a prophetic artist studying at the Super Natural School of Ministry at Bethel Church, in Redding California. The prophetic moment built up the young woman and let her know that God was working in her life. That’s why I like praying and using the prophetic over people I don’t know. When God reveals the prophetic through prayer to people we don’t know, the person being prayed for is being touched by God.
With the baptism of the Holy Spirit you step into your citizenship and your marvelous, infinite trust fund from Daddy. It’s withdraw amount is limitless as long as we’re kingdom building. When you are kingdom building, you are not chasing miracles, you are expected to perform miracles. Miracles come from the Holy Spirit. The greatest miracle of all is the miracle of the repentant heart.
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