More About the Holy Spirit

Today we talked about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Bethel Temple (Acts 2:1-42), You can listen to the sermon at www.betheltemple.net . For those who care, there are more Scriptures that speak to the issue of the Holy Spirit, such as Acts 4:23-31; Acts 8:9-25; and Acts 10:44-46. While across the Evangelical world, there is wide understanding and acceptance of the role of the Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Trinity, oftentimes Pentecostals/Charismatics are viewed as at best on the fringes of orthodox theology. This is unfortunate as the positions held by classical Pentecostal denominations: Assemblies of God, Church of God, and Pentecostal Church of God, Church of God in Christ, Foursquare. hold views with regard to salvation the same with orthodox Christianity. Some non-Pentecostals are quick to associate the "tongues will cease" language of I Corinthians 12:31 as a prophetic call that the manifestations of the Spirit would eventually cease, rather than look for an empowering experience that follows the explicit instructions of Jesus. They would choose to refer to Acts 2:1-42 as "The Birth of the Church", exclusively while ignoring Jesus's instruction in Acts 1:8 to wait for an enduement with Power. While it is true that the Apostle Paul regulated the expression of Spritual manifestations in I Corinthians 12:1-31 and 1 Corinthians 14:1-40, he did NOT exclude the expression of spiritual manifestations in public worship. Romans 8:1-38 is loaded with information about the activity of the Spirit in the life of the believer. There is so much more to the Christian life than just checking the block for fire insurance. John 20:31 declares that John's epistle was written so that we would believe, and having believed, have "live in His name". This abundant life is certainly been the characteristic of Classical Pentecostals who wanted more of God. As an ordained Assemblies of God minister, it's my belief that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is for ALL believers and is requisite to any kind of abundant life. That is not to say that non-Pentecostals have not had tremendous experiences with God, are doing many great things for the Kingdom of God, and faithfully represent Christ to the world. We all stand equal at the foot of the cross. But it's important, I think to ask the question that was asked of the Samaritan believers in Acts 19:1-7 "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when YOU believed?"