"Holy Spirit Baptism" & "Exalt Jesus Not Self" Kathryn Kuhlman Gifts of the Spirit talk 10 of 13

Well, today is another one of those heart -to -heart talks. And thanks for those wonderful letters that are coming in expressing your appreciation for the teaching of the Word. And we want that every part of this teaching should come from... the Holy Spirit himself. Well, sir, we continue now on the gifts of the Spirit. And before we go a little deeper into the subject of the gifts, I want to say something again, just for the sake of someone who may be new regarding this ministry. I want to go on record as saying that I believe... definitely in the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. You may call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe in that experience. I have experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Holy Spirit. when literally the Holy Spirit came in, took charge of this body, and it became literally the temple of the Holy Spirit. He is the secret of this ministry. He is the secret of every bit of power that comes through this physical body of mine. He is the secret. are the results of this ministry. It's the Holy Spirit. I'm nothing. I'm only a sinner saved by the grace of God like any other Christian. I have nothing that is out of the ordinary in myself. Nothing. Believe me, I know from whence I've come. I was born in a little... Crossroads of the town, Concordia, Missouri. Oh, I thought it was the biggest city in the world when I was a kid. But you know, everything is by comparison, really. And it's so small, it isn't even on some maps. Little Concordia, Missouri. That little Methodist church where I went to Sunday school. That little Baptist church. Oh, sure. I was born to Emma and Joe Kuhlman. Nothing special about that. I was pretty special to Papa, I'll tell you. But then, so far as anybody else was concerned, a red -headed, freckled -faced kid. The most mischievous kid in Concordia. And if anything went wrong in the schoolroom... No matter how far I was, how remote I was from that which happened, the teacher always looked up and said, Catherine, did you do that? Oh, sure. I know from whence I have come. I have no special talents. When I was born, I wasn't born with anything special. I'm one of the most ordinary people in the world the power of the Holy Spirit. I know that. I am conscious of that every day that I live. I am very conscious of that. The secret of this ministry is the Holy Spirit. And I want to go on record as saying to you, I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe in being filled with the Spirit. I believe in that experience that Jesus talked about before he went away, the very last conversation that he had with his disciples when he said, and ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses. that glorious experience that they received on the day of Pentecost. I believe in that experience that those precious 120 received on the day of Pentecost. And I believe that the experience that they received is for every believer today. Yes, ma 'am. I want you to know exactly where I stand on this. This experience, Peter says, is for you and your children and your children's children and those who are far off, even as many as our God shall call. And if you are a member of his church, been born into his church, if you are a part of his body, then you have been called into this experience. And you're missing one of the greatest experiences a Christian can know if you've not had that experience. But remember something. The Holy Spirit, this wonderful experience that I'm telling you, is... given the believer for one purpose and one purpose only, and that's power for service. It has nothing to do with our salvation. Being filled with the Spirit has nothing to do with my salvation, my conversion. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. It's the atonement that has to do with my salvation. This experience of being filled with the Holy Ghost. The baptism of the Holy Spirit has nothing whatsoever to do with my salvation. Neither does it have anything to do with my being a part of the body of Christ when it is raptured. This experience is for power for service. I realize that. I accept it and I am very careful how I use and what I do with that which the Holy Spirit has given to me. That's the reason in the previous heart -to -heart talk when we were talking about the gifts of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit has a very definite purpose in giving a gift. And remember, the gifts of the Spirit are separate and apart from being filled with the Spirit. The experience of being filled with the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit, is for all believers. But the gifts of the Spirit are given as the Holy Spirit sees fit. to give the gift to an individual. But even when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit, He has a definite purpose in the giving of that gift. It is given by the Holy Spirit that it may be used for the edification of the church and the proclamation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I must no more misuse a gift of the Spirit that is given to me than I can misuse the Holy Spirit or misappropriate the power of the Holy Spirit as He has filled this life and this vessel of mine. Mm -hmm. The gift and the manifestation are all of the Spirit of God within the believer. And when it comes to using those gifts, all must be in subjection to the Lordship of Christ. If, for instance, God has given me some particular gift, I'm not to use that gift whenever and wherever I... that it is fit? No. I am only to use that gift as it is in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It must be controlled by the Lord. In exactly the same way, and you've heard me say it over and over again, that it was the greatest secret that I had to learn. And that is the fact that I cannot control the spirit. I am not to control the spirit. The spirit is to control me. I don't lead the spirit. I don't tell the spirit what to do. When I'm in a great miracle service, thousands of you folk have attended these great miracle services here in the East, in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. When I walk on that platform, I do not control the spirit. I do not give orders to the spirit. I walk out on that stage completely yielded to the spirit. and I just follow along behind him. He controls the whole thing. He's the power. He's the one. It's his power that heals those sick bodies. He's the one who speaks to you. He's the one who convicts men and women of sin and of righteousness. You say, how do you know that somebody way up there in the top balcony has an ear open? How do you know that somebody's been healed of cancer? In that auditorium filled with thousands? And I can't even see everyone in the auditorium? How do you know? It is because I work so in conjunction with the spirit and so sensitive. to the spirit, am so yielded to him as I follow behind him, he speaks to me and I know. We work as one, as a unit. I do not work separate and apart from him. I hope the Holy Spirit makes this plain to your heart. You see, it's so hard to speak of some of these things because they are spiritual. They are of the spiritual. Flesh and blood, the word says, has not revealed this unto thee. These things are only spiritually revealed, and I'm talking to you about the most deeply spiritual things that a Christian can know. But one thing remember, always remember, you are not to use that gift whenever you so desire or whenever you see fit, but only in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Know that. Mm -hmm. Because after all, in the final analysis, he is the lord of all things. One might have the most remarkable gift that was ever given to a human being. But that does not mean that he's at liberty to use it wherever he will. I don't believe that anyone who ever lived or will ever live in the future, was given any greater power or any greater revelation than Paul was given. In my way of thinking, God trusted him with more than he has ever trusted a human being. And yet at all times and under all circumstances, Paul was very careful how he used that which God had given him. He was very, very careful how he used the power of the Holy Spirit. Mm -hmm. And he was the one who said, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. And who could better know this than Paul, he to whom God had given much? Yes, ma 'am. 1 Corinthians 14, the 32nd verse. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. And if any are gifted by God, they are to hold that gift in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ and not make a spiritual nuisance of themselves. Our blessed Lord's authority must be recognized. in the use of the gifts. It's just like that. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. That is, it's not given for show. Oh, I get so, um, I become almost frightened when I see folk who will flaunt. some gift of the Spirit, or want some great spiritual experience before the world, and because of it, try to draw men and women unto themselves. The Holy Spirit, or any gift that he gives, is not given for show. It's not given in order that a man or a woman may attract attention to himself. but is for the edification of others. This in itself is very important. If God gives me any little gift at all, he gives it not that I may gather people about myself, but he gives it to me for the blessing of others, for the salvation of sinners, for the edification of the saints. In John the Baptist, we have a wonderful picture of what every gifted servant of Christ really ought to be, for John said, In other words, he's saying, I am nothing. I am absolutely nothing. Don't see me, John the Baptist. I'm only a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord. And then pointing to the Savior, he says, increase, but I must decrease. And John found his delight in lifting up Christ, not in directing people's attention to himself. You cannot find John for one instant directing the attention to himself. You cannot find Paul. Read your Bible. Get back to the Bible again. Some of you folk haven't studied the Bible for yourself in years. Get back to the Word. It's time we all got back to the Word of God. You cannot find Paul for one instance directing attention to himself. No, ma 'am. The more God gave him, the more the Spirit filled him, the more he received. the more he realized that he was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He must increase, but I must decrease. And all gifts are given that... Christ may be exalted. And in that way, others will find a blessing. They'll never find a blessing in finding me. They'll find salvation when they find him.