The Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Peter, Before and After Kathryn Kuhlman Holy Spirit Series #2 Part 9

Now, we are taking up the study of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Call it whatever you wish. Call it the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Holy Ghost, or being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe in it. I must accept this experience because the Bible clearly teaches it. Believe me. I want you to see something, though, and that is the Scripture, the biblical evidence of having been filled with the Holy Ghost. There are those who say that the scriptural evidence of having been filled with the Holy Spirit is the speaking in an unknown tongue. In other words, how does one know? that one has been filled with the Spirit. What is the evidence of having received this experience? There are precious children of the King who say that the Scripture evidence is speaking in an unknown tongue, that one will definitely that the Holy Ghost will announce His own incoming through the speaking in an unknown tongue. Beloved, even though I believe with all of my heart, I believe it both because it is God's Word, it is the promise of Jesus, and also because of my own promise. personal experience, I still cannot go along with those who contend that speaking in an unknown tongue is the evidence. Do you want to know why? Because Jesus never said that speaking in tongues would be the evidence. of having received this experience of being filled with the Holy Ghost. This is what Jesus said. Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. the speaking in an unknown tongue was to have been the evidence and is to be the evidence of this marvelous experience of being filled with the Spirit, Jesus would have said so. He would have said, Ye shall receive power and speak in an unknown tongue. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. He did not. He gave but one evidence of being filled with the Spirit. Just one. Ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Pause me just... a moment, beloved. Remember something. By his coming, by the coming of the Holy Ghost, he was able to give his own the power to show to a lost world the real value, the actual value of Christ's death. And remember something. You and I are the Only Christ. The world ever sees. You and I. Represent him. Here on earth. You and I. Members of the body of Christ. Members of his church. Are on exhibition. We represent him. Therefore. Through the coming of the Holy Spirit. And by means of this marvelous experience of being filled with the Spirit, we receive power for service, power to represent Him, power to show to a lost and dying world the real power that there is in the person and in the shed blood. The actual value of Christ's death. That was the reason. Exactly the reason that Paul said, watch it. Oh, sure, he said, I speak with tongues more than all of you. Yet, in the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice, I might teach others also than 10 ,000 words in an unknown tongue. In just the next few minutes, you and I are going to do something. We are going to see the difference that this power that Jesus promised would be ours when we were filled with Spirit. The difference that the Holy Spirit makes. in the life of a believer. Turn, if you will, please, to the 26th chapter of Matthew. Begin with about the 69th verse. I shall give you a picture of the before. And Mrs. Stevenson always carries them around with her. She has now for the past seven, eight, nine years. You have the picture of Mr. Stevenson before he was healed. Skinny, bony, emaciated fella, weighing around 100 pounds. And then she says, now look at him. Look at him after he was healed. Look. And there you see a fella who's taken on at least 50 more pounds. Healthy, robust. There he is. What is more convincing than the before and the after? All right, I shall give you the before of a man. Oh, you know him, Peter. We had the before recorded in the 26th chapter of Matthew. Now Peter sat without in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, With Jesus of Galilee. Can't you see this little dame coming up to him? And she says, and there he is, all crouched down, ashamed, afraid of being discovered. Perhaps his arm over his head, hoping and praying that no one would recognize him. Here she comes, tantalizing him. Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him. Here came another one. And said unto them that were there, This fellow pointing to The fellow that was all crouched down in the corner, ashamed, afraid of being discovered, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath. This time he swore, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech. betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. Did you? ever see a man who was more of a weakling than this fella, ashamed of Jesus, ashamed to be numbered among the disciples, absolutely denying him, what was it? A weakness of character, a weakness of the flesh, afraid, a great big yellow streak right there. down his backbone. Here's the before. There he is. Ah, I'm even ashamed to be a part of the family that he belongs to if that's the way he's gonna act, you know? Now watch. What did Jesus say would happen? What did Jesus say would be the evidence of having been filled with the Holy Ghost? What did he say? Ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Now I shall give you the after. The same man, the same personality, the same body. Only one thing has happened to make him different. He had been filled with the Holy Ghost. on the day of Pentecost. Here he is. Watch it now. But Peter, standing up with the eleven. Watch it. He's standing up now. He's not all crouched down there in the corner. He's not ashamed. Oh, you can't find one trace of that yellow streak in his backbone. you can find no timidity whatsoever. No, ma 'am. He's standing up with the eleven and lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words, for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but... the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and he's quoting now the Old Testament. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and all my servants and all my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. Oh, this is glorious. Go on down to the 22nd verse. Here's some more of the evidence of having been filled with the Holy Ghost. He's still speaking. To meditate? Oh, none whatsoever. He's bold. He's given the Holy Ghost boldness. He's being given the power to witness that Jesus said believers would have as an evidence of having been filled with the Holy Ghost. He continues. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you. As ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. Now, what was the result? What was it? This now is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians, I would rather speak five words. With my understanding that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue, why, in speaking in an unknown tongue, what profit would it be to those who hear me? If they cannot understand what I am saying, how can they be converted? Here is Peter speaking in the tongue that they could understand. Speaking with Holy Ghost boldness. Speaking with firmness. Speaking with Holy Ghost knowledge. What was the result? We have the result right here in the same portion of God's word. There it is, second chapter of Acts. He continued. And with many other words, did he testify and exhort. saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Here's the result. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand salts. Isn't that thrilling? Oh, to me, there is no place for argument. It's as simple as can be. Just take the word of God, that's all. It all adds up. Jesus said after I'm gone away, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. I'm going to send the third person. He shall give you an experience the likes of which you've never had before. For he is with you, but he shall be in you. He will fill you with himself. And the evidence of having received this experience is that you shall receive Not of yourself. A supernatural power. His power. The power to witness. And he will use that witness. He will use your vessel. And through the work of the Holy Ghost, there shall be definite results. And the result will be the conversion of men and women. We see that in action in the life of Peter. Peter before, weak. Peter before, spineless. Afraid. A weakling. After he was filled. There was a power not his own. There was a boldness not his own. It was the boldness, it was the power, it was the result of that experience of having been filled with the spirit. And what was the result? I'll tell you. There were added unto them about three thousand souls. who heard him speak under the anointing of the Holy Ghost and received the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Do you want to know what we need in our pulpits today, spirit -filled men and women? Do you want to know what the believer needs today more than anything else? To be filled with the Holy Spirit. It will be then that the unsaved man, the unsaved woman, will feel our influence as Christians. And not until. Amen.