2020-10-14 | EVERY BELIEVER CAN BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

EVERY BELIEVER CAN BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Every believer can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Every Spirit-filled believer can then pray for other believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 9:10-18, there is a powerful passage that gives us a testimony of a disciple of Jesus being powerfully used of God.

Acts 9:10 – Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, Here I am Lord.”

What can we learn about Ananias from this one verse?

1.     Every Believer is called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

2.     Every believer can hear the voice of God.

3.     Every Believer is called to obey the Voice of God and offer ourselves to God.

Acts 9:11 – So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold he is praying.

Acts 9:13 – Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.”

4.     Every believer can be honest with God.

Acts 9:15 – But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.”

5.     Every Believer is a chosen vessel called to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Acts 9:17 – And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said,

“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me to you that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

6.     Every Believer is a brother or sister to every other Believer in Jesus Christ.

7.     Every Believer can pray for others to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

The Apostle Paul was born again when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, yet he still needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

To be filled with the Spirit is to receive the power of God.

Acts 1:8 – 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 ends of the earth.

This power to be a witness is described by Jesus as a baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:5 – For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

Baptized – immersed, saturated, pickled

This promised baptism with the Holy Spirit was fulfilled in the life of the disciples in Acts 2:4 on the Day of Pentecost.

Acts 2:4 – And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Every Believer can have a Personal Pentecost and be filled with the Holy Spirit as in Acts 2:4.

How do we minister the Baptism with the Holy Spirit?

1.     Make sure the person with whom you are praying is born again. We must first receive Jesus as our Savior. Romans 10:9

2.     Encourage the person with whom you are praying to surrender to Jesus as Lord. Romans 12:1

a.     Any unconfessed sin is to be repented of and put under the blood

b.     Any people that have offended us need to be forgiven

c.     Any involvement with the occult, witchcraft, or satanism needs to be renounced in the Name of Jesus Christ.

3.     Encourage the person with whom we are praying to now come to Jesus the Baptizer and to ask them to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:8

4.     You can use this prayer from Dennis Bennet in his book “The Holy Spirit and You.”

Heavenly Father, I thank You that I am under the protection of the precious blood of Jesus which has cleansed me from all sin. Dear Lord Jesus, please baptize me with the Holy Spirit, and let me praise God in a new language beyond the limitations of my intellect. Thank you, Lord. I believe You are doing this right now! In Jesus Name I pray.

Now encourage the person to begin to praise God at loud and then to stop praising God in English and trust God to give them a heavenly language.Acts 2:4 reminds us that they spoke as the Spirit gave them the utterance. We must open our mouth and speak trusting God to fill it. They will not understand what they are saying but God will.

Encourage them to keep praying in the Spirit every day. Remind them of the reality of spiritual warfare and to memorize James 4:7.