Studies on the Holy Spirit - Amazon Web Services

106 Pages·2004·0.47 MB·English

Studies on the Holy Spirit
By
Kevin E. Wilfley
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Studies on the Holy Spirit
By
Kevin E. Wilfley
Copyright © 2004, Kevin E. Wilfley
All Bible texts quoted are from the New King James Version unless
otherwise indicated.
Page ii
Table of Contents
The Changed Life 1
Who is the Holy Spirit 7
The Witness of the Holy Spirit 12
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit 24
How to Overcome Sin 34
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit 40
How to Receive the Holy Spirit 50
Praying in the Spirit 63
The Disciplined Life 76
The Symbols of the Holy Spirit 79
The Holy Spirit in the Life of Ellen White 84
Biblical References to the Holy Spirit 89
Index to Ellen White Quotations 95
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If You Ask for the Holy Spirit
If you ask for the Holy Spirit
He will make you be so good.
God will fill you with His Spirit,
He promised that He would.
If you ask for the Holy Spirit
He’ll be with you all the day.
Though you may not even hear it,
He’ll be with you all the way.
If you ask for the Spirit Holy
He’ll be with you all the day.
He will give you all His glory
In His own special way.
--Kari Wilfley, Age 9
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The Changed Life
The Past
In the spring of 1979, my senior year of Theology training, I sat on the step of my apartment
and read concerning Oswald Chambers:
"God used me during those years for the conversion of souls, but I had no conscious communion with
Him. The Bible was the dullest, most uninteresting book in existence, and the sense of depravity, the
vileness and bad-motiveness of my nature, was terrific. I see now that God was taking me by the light of
the Holy Spirit and His Word through every ramification of my being.
"The last three months of those years things reached a climax, I was getting very desperate. I knew no
one who had what I wanted; in fact I did not know what I did want. But I knew that if what I had was all
the Christianity there was, the thing was a fraud. Then Luke 11:13 got hold of me -- 'If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? . . . .'
"If the four previous years had been hell on earth, these five years have truly been heaven on earth.
Glory be to God, the last aching abyss of the human heart is filled to overflowing with the love of God.
Love is the beginning, love is the middle and love is the end. After He comes in, all you see is "Jesus only,
Jesus ever." They Found The Secret, pg. 46-47.
On the bottom of that page in 1979 I had written, "I need to pray for the Spirit too!", for as I
read his experience I felt that it applied to my condition. However, I did not give too much
thought to the Holy Spirit at that time because of several factors.
From the time I was a child my parents have warned me about strange experiences
happening in Christian churches that were supposedly the result of seeking the Holy Spirit. Thus,
I have had some fear and prejudice about the work of the Holy Spirit.
In addition, I have believed that since the Holy Spirit is the "Spirit of truth" if I had the truth
I must also have the Spirit. One time a pastor from another denomination told my pastor and I:
"You Adventists have the truth, but you need the Holy Spirit." Afterwards my pastor asked me
what I thought about that. I said, "We must have the Spirit, because we do have the truth." But
my inner emptiness and spiritual lack testified otherwise.
Though my parents did not practice much religion in our home as I grew up, yet they raised
all of us to believe in God. When I was 17 I gave my life to Jesus and began to attend the
Seventh-day Adventist Church. Over the years my mother had done quite a bit of Bible study,
and from what she shared with the family I knew in my heart that Saturday was the Sabbath of
the Lord.
I fought the convictions of God until one night I went to my bedroom, and kneeling down
beside my bed I prayed, "I want to be what You want me to be, I want to do what You want me
to do, I want to go where You want me to go." The next Sabbath I went to church and began to
study and follow the Lord.
I was baptized on February 24, 1973. That was the happiest day of my life. Shortly after
that a person spoke to me in the foyer of the little church I attended saying, "You're pretty
excited about all this aren't you." Thinking this person was happy for me I quickly responded,
"Yes, I am!" The reply surprised me, "Well, just wait a couple of years and you'll be like the rest
of us."
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What does it mean to be like the rest of us? Over the years I have found that many Seventh-
day Adventists are not happy, are frustrated with their Christian experience, are not sharing their
faith, and often love the world more than they love God. This has also been my experience in
the past, and so it was that I wrote on the bottom of Oswald Chamber's testimony, "I need to
pray for the Spirit too!" I was experiencing spiritual frustration because I did not always have the
daily assurance of salvation. I was not overcoming sins in my life. I was not being the husband
to my wife that I should have been. I was not being the father to my children that I should have
been. In short, I felt ineffective, powerless, and trapped.
After college I wanted to be a successful minister, as I believe every young minister does. I
did not want to just keep the status quo going. I wanted to do great things for God. But as I
began to work in the ministry questions began to form as I compared the apostles and Adventist
pioneers with my experience and the church of today. Where was the power? Matthew 10:8
says, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have
received, freely give."
It seemed as if we were trying to accomplish by learning, methods, and programs what the
apostles and others did without them. I read about other Christians such as Oswald Chambers,
Charles Finney, and Dwight L. Moody, and found that the change in their lives and service had
been the result of seeking a closer relationship with Jesus and being filled with the power of the
Holy Spirit.
In my ministerial experience I encountered tremendous family troubles I could not counsel
away. There seemed to be little response to my preaching. Sometimes terrible attitudes and
conflicts would arise in meetings. I was not winning many souls for Jesus.
I seriously considered quitting one night after one of those board meetings. As I walked
alone that night I prayed, "Lord, why did you call me into the ministry. I don't seem to be doing
much good for you." As I poured out my heart an impression came to me over and over again
saying, "Read Testimonies to Ministers."
Now, I don't live my life by impressions because impressions and feelings cannot be trusted.
Impressions can come from anywhere including the devil, but I didn't think the devil would tell
me to read "Testimonies to Ministers"! As I read that book the constant solution offered was,
"You need the Holy Spirit."
About that time I was reassigned to another church. For me a new church is an opportunity
to put past failures behind and do better. I longed to get off to a good start and really see God do
great things, but one day I had an experience as a result of my own ignorance that cast me into
the depths of despair. This experience was the last straw physically, mentally, emotionally and
spiritually. I entered into depression. I couldn't sleep, nor eat. I did not want to see anyone, and
if I went out I had to have my wife with me. I couldn't make my mind process thoughts as it
should. I seemed to be in a daze, and fear gripped my heart as I had never felt it.
For the first time in my life I felt what David wrote in the Psalms. However, at times he
would say something like, "For no fault of my own has this trouble come upon me." But I
couldn't say that. It was because of something I had done, even though it was an accident that
my trouble had come upon me, so even the comfort of the Scriptures seemed to be taken away
from me.
Then it was as I was pleading with God for help and searching that I came upon this
statement:
"If in our ignorance we make missteps, the Saviour does not forsake us. We need never feel that we
are alone. Angels are our companions. The Comforter that Christ promised to send in His name abides
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with us. In the way that leads to the City of God there are no difficulties which those who trust in Him may
not overcome. There are no dangers which they may not escape. There is not a sorrow, not a grievance,
not a human weakness, for which He has not provided a remedy." Ministry of Healing, pg. 249.
As I read those words that so aptly fit my case I literally felt a divine presence that was tall
standing behind my right shoulder. It felt as though he placed a hand on my shoulder as I read,
and I felt a change go through my body. I held that book to my chest in great joy and began to
memorize the above passage. From that moment I began to heal.
The words, "The Comforter that Christ promised to send in His name abides with us," went
deep into my heart and brought back to my mind all the previous wonderings and longings. It
was as if a flame was ignited in my heart. I had to know for myself what the Bible and Spirit of
Prophecy taught about the Holy Spirit.
I laid aside every other duty possible and poured myself into a study of the Scriptures. What
I found changed my life, and it is my hope that as you study your life will be changed too until
the words of John will be true for you, "But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2.
The Change
In 1 Samuel 10:6 it says, "Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will
prophesy with them and be turned into another man." That's what I have needed. To be turned
into another man--to be changed, and that is exactly what the Holy Spirit has been sent to do.
As I studied the truth about the Holy Spirit I discovered that what I needed was to be
baptized, or filled with the Holy Spirit. Biblically there is no difference between the baptism of
the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Spirit. In Acts 1:5 Jesus said, ". . . you shall be baptized
with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." He was, of course, referring to Pentecost. Now
notice how Acts 2:4 records that event. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. . ." The
words "baptized” or "filled" are both used to explain the same experience.
What do you think--is it possible for a person to appear spiritual and yet be empty inside? I
came to the conclusion that Luke 11:24-26 was true for me--I was well garnished but empty. I
was adhering to church doctrine and standards, but inwardly I was struggling. How happy I was
to learn that Jesus had sent me a Helper!
In John 16:7 we are assured that the Holy Spirit would be our Helper. I discovered the Holy
Spirit would strengthen my assurance in Jesus, give me victory over sin, transform my
devotional life, and empower me for service. But, as good as all this seemed to me I was
concerned. After all, I had never heard anyone in the church speak about the Holy Spirit. Was I
getting into some kind of heresy? This troubled me greatly, for not only did I not want to
embrace error myself, but I did not want to lead others astray.
"I saw that the shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, those
who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, before they advocate new points
of importance, which they may think the Bible sustains. Then the shepherds will be perfectly united and
the union of the shepherds will be felt by the church. Such a course I saw would prevent unhappy
divisions, and then there would be no danger of the precious flock being divided and the sheep scattered
without a shepherd." Early Writings, pg. 61-62.
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In keeping with the above counsel I requested time with my ministerial director to have him
review the things I had studied. I was pleasantly surprised when he not only agreed to give me
some time but gave me a whole afternoon! When we got together I carefully covered the
conclusions I had come to. At the end I asked him what he thought, and he replied, "It's all true."
In great relief and mounting joy I said to him, "If this is true, then my whole life will be
changed." And that's just the reason the Holy Spirit has come--to change my life, and yours into
a beautiful reflection of the character of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
1. Rom. 8:16 - The Holy Spirit will convict us of the assurance of salvation, just as Jesus
was assured that He was the Son of God.
"The Holy Spirit is a Person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.
When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that
we are the children of God." Evangelism, pg. 616
"God has provided divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our human resources are
unequal. He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illumine
our minds and purify our hearts." Prophets & Kings, pg. 660.
2. Eze. 36:25-27 - The Holy Spirit will give us victory over our sins and make us obey like
Jesus did.
"It is through the mighty agency of the Holy Spirit that the government of Satan is to be subdued and
subjected. It is the Holy Spirit that convinces of sin and expels it from the soul by the consent of the human
agent. . . Through the merits of Christ men may be able to exercise the noblest powers of his being and
expel sin from his soul." My Life Today, pg. 43.
"The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by the power of God in the third Person of
the Godhead, the Holy Spirit." Evangelism, pg. 617.
3. John 7:38-39 - The Holy Spirit will fill us with love, joy, peace, and the other fruits to
reflect the character of Jesus.
"It is evident that truth has been planted in the heart by the Holy Spirit when it is loved and cherished,
and regarded as a sacred endowment. Love will then spring up in the heart like a well of living water,
springing up unto everlasting. When this love is in the heart, the worker will find no weariness in the work
of Christ." Review & Herald, Vol. 3, pg. 121, Feb. 13, 1894.
4. Acts 4:13, 31 - The Holy Spirit will impel and empower us to witness for Jesus.
"All that the apostles did, every church member today is to do." Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7,
pg. 33.
"The church is not now the separate and peculiar people she was when the fires of persecution were
kindled against her. How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! I saw that if the
church had always retained her peculiar, holy character, the power of the Holy Spirit which was imparted to
the disciples would still be with her. The sick would be healed, devils would be rebuked and cast out, and
she would be mighty, and a terror to her enemies." Early Writings, pg. 227.
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"The hearts of the disciples were surcharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that
it impelled them to go to the ends of the earth testifying. . . . They were filled with an intense longing to
add to the church of such as should be saved." Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, pg. 31.
5. John 16:13 & 2 Thess. 2:10 - The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and give us a love
for the Bible, the words of Jesus.
"May the same Holy Spirit which inspired the Bible take possession of your hearts, leading you to
love His word, which is spirit and life." Counsels on Stewardship, pg. 52.
6. Romans 8:26-27 - The Holy Spirit will give us a meaningful prayer experience.
"Christ, our Mediator, and the Holy Spirit are constantly interceding in man's behalf, but the Spirit
pleads not for us as does Christ who presents His blood, shed from the foundation of the world; the Spirit
works upon our hearts, drawing out prayers and penitence, praise and thanksgiving. The gratitude which
flows from our lips is the result of the Spirit striking the cords of the soul in holy memories, awakening
the music of the heart." SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, pg. 1077-78.
"The Holy Spirit will be given to those who seek for its power and grace, and will help our infirmities
when we would have audience with God." SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, pg. 1078.
By the power of God we all may become a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). The
Bible promises, "For this promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as
many as the Lord our God will call." Acts 2:39. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." The promise of a changed life, and the power of
the Holy Spirit is for everyone.
"I saw that it is the privilege of every Christian to enjoy the deep movings of the Spirit of God. A
sweet, heavenly peace will pervade the mind, and you will love to meditate upon God and heaven. You
will feast upon the glorious promises of His word." Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, pg. 159.
When we consider the wonderful power God has made available to us through the Holy
Spirit no wonder Satan has worked so hard to keep God's people in ignorance and fear such as he
has done to me. For:
"Wherever the need of the Holy Spirit is a matter little thought of, there is seen spiritual drought,
spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death." Acts of the Apostles, pg. 50.
Should we study about and pray for the Holy Spirit?
Some have thought that we should not teach concerning the Holy Spirit because the King
James Version says in John 16:13 "He shall not speak of Himself." However, the KJV also says
in John 12:49-50, & 14:10 that Jesus did not speak of Himself, but that does not mean we should
not teach about Jesus.
Others have been concerned that if we pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit we may
receive a false spirit. Jesus addressed this in Luke 11:11-13. He said: "If a son asks for bread
from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a
serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
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Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" The best advice in the study of any topic of
Scripture is: "Test all things; hold fast what is good." 1 Thess. 5:21.
"Christ, the Great Teacher, had an infinite variety of subjects from which to choose, but the one upon
which He dwelt most largely was the endowment of the Holy Spirit. What great things He predicted for the
church because of this endowment. Yet what subject is less dwelt upon now? What promise is less
fulfilled? An occasional discourse is given upon the Holy Spirit, and then the subject is left for after
consideration." Selected Messages, book 1, pg. 156-57.
"The Holy Spirit is to be presented in every discourse. What wonderful statements Christ has made
concerning His Representative to the world! This is the theme of encouragement to be kept before the
people." Ms. 8, 1898.
"Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to
receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it?" Testimonies for the Church, vol
8, pg. 22.
"Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given.
The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all
other blessings in its train." The Desire of Ages, pg. 672.
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