LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Experiences with the Holy Spirit
Whatever experiences the children of God have had with the Holy Spirit, there seems to be a common denominator in them: After a first experience of regeneration and sealing at the moment of believing in Christ, there is a second (or many more), of training and filling for Christian service.
On the night of the day the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to the disciples and breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). One might think that this experience was enough. However, some forty days later, before ascending, he tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4), that they will then receive power to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Ten days later, at Pentecost, this occurred, as the Holy Spirit descended upon them "like a mighty wind".
These two kinds of experience seem to be suggested in Ephesians, when in 1:13 it speaks of the sealing at the time of believing, and when in 5:18 it exhorts to be filled with the Spirit; one for salvation and the other for service.
If we examine the lives of God's servants throughout the history of the church, we can observe this same constant. Whatever the era in which they lived, and whatever the sphere of their service, they were empowered with a second experience (or many more) with the Holy Spirit.
When the Christian begins to serve God, the need to be empowered by God becomes more evident. His efforts are useless, his efforts do not bear fruit; the power of darkness often rushes over him like an overwhelming river. What to do? It is necessary to ask for help and to receive strength.
Just as the Lord's command was to wait for the promise of the Father before doing God's work, Christians today should also wait for this experience before beginning anything. The first thing necessary is to ask the Lord for this second experience: The Lord 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?" (Luke 11:13). Later, he told them to wait for the promise of the Father. These two things are necessary: to ask and to wait. Surely, God will grant what He has promised, because God is faithful.
So later, when it is time to give testimony, the Christian will feel that the Holy Spirit is behind his words. The Lord said: "The Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness concerning me. And you also shall bear witness..." (John 15:26-27). The first one to bear witness is the Holy Spirit; then, behind him testifies the Christian. "And ye also shall bear witness...".
In reality, man alone can do nothing in the work of God; neither love, nor worship, nor serve God, if it is not by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we need not only the initial experience, but many more, to be fully qualified.