The Holy Spirit and You

[Music]

Hey, welcome to Self Talk. I'm your host, me, Dr. Ray Self. No self puns intended, although I tend to do them. Today, I'm talking about a very important topic, the Holy Spirit and you. I have heard so much confusing and contradictory teaching about this that I, I'm just tired of it. I'm going to do my best to make it clear about the Holy Spirit at salvation and what happens after that, because there's different things the Holy Spirit does, and it's very important that you understand this. This show is dedicated to overcoming the schemes of the enemy, and I'll have to tell you, sometimes bad teaching is a scheme of the enemy. Hope this show blesses you. Don't forget to uh, like it, share it, subscribe, you know, all the cool stuff you do that helps us continue the show. God bless you, and let's get into it. This is Dr. Ray Self. 

Okay, here we go. Let's pray first. Heavenly Father, I thank you for everyone listening to this podcast. I pray that this show will be a blessing to them. I pray, Father, that my words will be true and speak your scriptural truth to the best of my ability. Holy Spirit, come. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. So, I was raised in a, a traditional Southern Baptist church. Okay. And um, you know, I just thought my church was great, and it was great, and we, we talked a lot about uh, salvation, how you know um, if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved. And so almost every Sunday, uh, it was really about the salvation experience, and that's a very important experience. So what is commonly taught is at the moment of your salvation, you receive the Holy Spirit. Now, what happens with so many people is, and teachers, is, traditional teachers, is that's it. You've got the Holy Spirit now. You're saved. And so, you've got all you're going to get. Well, that's really not what the Bible teaches us.

So, I want to make this very clear. When you genuinely confess with your mouth and believe with your heart Jesus is Lord, and you ask Him to come, the Holy Spirit does something amazing with you. At the moment of salvation, a lot of things begin to happen. You are regenerated, which means you're made into a new person. You are also justified, declared not guilty. You are redeemed, bought back from the power of the enemy. You're declared righteousness. You've been given the righteousness of Christ in, in Jesus. You are sealed to the day of redemption. You're given eternal life. And those are amazing things that the Holy Spirit does within you. Totally miraculous, extremely important. That's your first step. And that matters the most. Okay. 

So, when you're saved, the Holy Spirit says, Okay, He comes upon you. He comes in you, and you're now a child of God. You are adopted by God. You become a joint heir with Jesus Christ, a member of the royal priesthood. All these great, great things happen for you, and it is important, and it is crucial, and in my church growing up, that's what they taught and, and I was saved and baptized, and all these things happened to me, and it was great. What I was not taught and did not realize is the Holy Spirit has more for us that He wants to do. Now, some of the traditional churches of the Methodists, the, the Baptists, the Episcopalians, the Lutherans, they all believe that at salvation, that's it. But you see, I believe, and the Bible teaches clearly, that there is more that the Lord wants to do. This– we call it, commonly called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

And so, a clear example of this, and I want you to understand that yes, you receive the Holy Spirit at salvation. That's when you are redeemed and justified and declared not guilty, given eternal life. That's fantastic. But there's something else. There's much more the Holy Spirit wants to do. Now, Jesus began talking about this in Acts 1:8 when he said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Okay. Then we go down, Acts 8, uh, Acts chapter 1, and Jesus continually uh, continually talking here, and He said, uh, He said Acts 1:5, “John baptized with water, but you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So, He was referring to Pentecost when the 120 were in the upper room and the Holy Spirit came on them like tongues of fire, and they received they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with tongues. This group of people, this particular group of people, was baptized with the Holy Spirit. Okay? The Holy Spirit came and fell on them. Jesus told them repeatedly that this was going to happen to them. And it did happen to them in Acts chapter 2. 

Now, here's where traditional churches stop. They go, "Okay, there it is." So, you're saved. The Holy Spirit comes upon you. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And, and that's it. The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, and he's been here ever since. Well, He's omnipresent. So, He is everywhere. And the first time He fell on believers was at Pentecost. But when you see in scripture, and see, the traditional churches teach, well, all right, you're saved, you get the Holy Spirit, that's it. But you see, the Bible doesn't support that. It doesn't support that. When you go down to Acts chapter 8, and this is important. Now, bear with me. You need to understand this. In Acts chapter 8, there's a story about Philip. Now, this is a very important story to explain my point here because there's more to salvation. There's more the Holy Spirit wants to do with you after salvation. I want you to get this. So, in Acts 1, in Acts chapter 8 verse 4, “therefore those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” Verse 5, I'm going to read the, about another four or five verses here. “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. And the crowds of one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them, shouting with a loud voice, and many who had been paralyzed, and the lame, were healed, and there was much rejoicing in that city.” Then it goes on to talk about Simon the magician, who became a believer. Okay. Verse 12, a very critical verse. “When they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” So, here you have an evangelist who goes to another town and begins preaching Jesus and healing the sick and doing all kinds of miraculous stuff. And it says the people believed on the name of Jesus Christ and were baptized. So, these people were saved. They had received the Holy Spirit. But hear me now. But, or the, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. 

So we go on down and we, we go on down a little bit further. Okay. And let me just get back to what happened after that. So let me find my verse here. Give me one second here. So Simon the magician believed, people were baptized. People were saved. Amen. Amen. Chapter– Acts 8:14 is a very interesting verses. This verse actually changed my life. So it says, "When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not yet fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.” Now, this is interesting because, well, because I thought when you were saved, you got the Holy Spirit. Well, in this case, people were saved, and they were redeemed, and they were born again. But there was something more that the apostles wanted to do. They laid hands on them that they might receive and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, to me, this is a second work of the Holy Spirit. The first thing the Holy Spirit does is, in salvation is, He redeems you, justifies you, gives you eternal life. But now you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is where you receive the power. The second thing the Holy Spirit wants to do is give you power to be a Christian. They laid hands on them. They were receiving the Holy Spirit. Okay. Um, now it's, even the, uh, Simon the magician, he was so amazed by what they were doing, he was willing to pay them for that. Okay. 

So you say, well, here's two different things. There was salvation, and there was a baptism or a filling with the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. Well, maybe you're not convinced. So we go to Acts 19, which is a very inter– another passage about this. Acts 19:1. It happened while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.” So Paul's traveling, he found some believers, and he said to them, “‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’” And they said, “‘No, we haven't heard whether there is a Holy Spirit,’” and “‘What were you baptized into?’” “‘John's baptism.’” “‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling people to believe in Him who was coming, that is in Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” And then Paul laid his hands on them. The Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

So what we see here is people who were saved, and then, which was great, and then something else happened to them, which is called, commonly called the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the filling of the Holy Spirit. So this is what I want to tell you today. Yes, you receive the Holy Spirit when you're saved. But there's more He wants to do. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit, is the power of God. And what you see, for instance, in this scripture in Acts 8, these guys began to speak in tongues and began to prophesy. You also see, uh, that the Spirit falling in Acts 10 and people beginning to speak in tongues. Then, the Bible says uh, a little bit later he said, "Do not be drunk with wine, but,” Paul said, "but be,” be “continually filled with the Holy Spirit." So, you can get– when you get saved, the Holy Spirit does something to you. But what I want you to understand is there is something more the Holy Spirit wants to do for you. It's called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And it is the power of God. He wants to give you power to be an effective witness for Christ. 

Some of you know my story, but I was baptized and saved at 10 years old. When I was 10 years old, now, I'm going to show my age here. At 10 years old, it was 1961, John Kennedy was president. When I was baptized, and um, my life changed. I was a Christian. I knew, even though I was 10 years old, I remember my life changed. I remember, I'll never forget this as long as I live. I remember coming home that Sunday. It was Easter Sunday, actually. I remember coming home. I walked out in my backyard, which is uh, East Memphis, Tennessee, and I noticed that things looked different. It's like the sky looked bluer, the grass looked greener, everything was more vivid. Literally, the world had changed around me. Everything seemed more vibrant and more alive, and I felt more alive. I knew something had changed in me. So, we rock along. That was 1961. Rock along for about 25 years. We get up to 1986. My life was in shambles at this point. Um, you know, well, I guess I'm 30, I thought, it was 10, so I guess I'm 31 years old there or 35 years old there. So, my life was in shambles. And some of you have heard this story, but my mother introduced me to a man called John Boatright. I'll never forget him. Incredible man. And she told me, she says, "Ray, my friend named John prays for people in his home. And I've seen miraculous things happen when he prays for people.” Well, my life was in shambles. I'm looking for an answer. I need anything, any kind of help I can get. 

So, I go to visit John with my mother. I walk into John's house, and the first thing he said was, "Hey, Ray, have you heard the of the baptism of the Holy Spirit?" And I said, "John, I don't even know what you're talking about." So John took me to Acts 1, which I just shared with you. He took me to Acts 8. He took me to Acts 19. And I said, "Oh, wow. That's, that, that's powerful." And he said, "Would you like to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?" Now, remember, I'm a Christian, guys. And I said, "Yes, John, I would. I'm looking for answers." So John, he was kind of funny. He did ask me to repent of some things. He said, "Ray," he gave me a list of things to repent of. “Have you ever done tarot cards? You ever been to a psychic? You ever played with a Ouija board? Uh, you ever practiced yoga? Have you ever been involved with astrology? All these stuff that are occultic?” And I said yes to a lot of them, and I asked, I repented, asked the Lord to forgive me. And then John put his hand on my shoulder, and he said a prayer. I don't remember the exact prayer, but it went something like this. “Lord, I baptized my brother Ray with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, come.” And as he was praying over me, I, you know, I, I walked into his house. I was a nervous wreck. I was depressed. I was discouraged. All of a sudden, I felt perfect peace. And I felt this warm sensation flowing all over my body, like somebody was pouring oil all over me. And it was like warm oil flowing from the top of my head down on my neck and my face and on my shoulders. And my whole body just became completely at peace. And then I felt this incredible sense of love. Love like I've never felt before. And as I'm feeling this, all of a sudden, I began to get this realization of power. I knew something powerful was happening to me. The prayer was, "Lord, I baptized my brother with the Holy Spirit." Now, I'm a saved Christian, folks. Maybe I wasn't walking as close with the Lord I need– as I needed to, but I was saved.

So, he prayed for me. I couldn't move for a long period of time. I do remember my mother asking me, "Ray, are you okay? Ray, are you okay?" And I remember thinking, I really, mother, mom, just be quiet. I don't know what's happening here, but it's really good. Because I felt incredible. The sensation was amazing. So when I kind of, so to speak, came to, John said, "Hey, Ray, um, now I want to tell you something. You may feel some funny words coming out of your mouth." Because he was talking about the gift of tongues. And I said, "Well, John, I don't feel any funny words." He said, "Well, if you do, don't let the devil tell you it's gibberish. That'll be the gift of tongues." I said, "Well, John, if I get the gift of tongues, I'll be sure and let you know." So, no, no tongues there. So, we had a nice evening, and uh, I began to drive home, and as I'm driving home, I began to speak a simple tongue. Just a foreign tongue. It just came to me. Now, listen, I'm not a teacher that says you have to speak in tongues; if you don't speak in tongues, you don't have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But I am saying when you get the baptism of the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy Spirit begin to flow. Now, John told me after he baptized me with the Holy Spirit, he said, "Ray," he basically, “I'll give you some options.” He said, "Ray, you’ll lay hands on the sick, and you'll see them recover." He said, "You'll speak with tongues." He said, "You may cast out demons." And he said something interesting. He said, "Ray, you'll read the word of God, and you'll see things and understand things in the word of God you've never understood before." And everything he told me would happen, happened to me. 

And I want to tell you something. My passion for God, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially prophecy, began to flow in me. My life changed with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Don't tell me you get the baptism of the Holy Spirit automatically at salvation. Now, some people, maybe they do, but I know I didn't, and I know millions of others have not. And the teaching that this baptism of the Holy Spirit is not for today, or it's automatic at salvation, it's just wrong. I'm telling you, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit is real. And we all need it. And if you have never received it, you need it. You need to find a Holy Spirit-filled elder or pastor to lay hands on you who understands this. 

Now, there's division in the church. There's millions of Christians who understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit and have received it, and their life has changed. And there's millions of other Christians who've never received it because they don't think that, that's, that's necessarily for today, or you get it the moment you're saved, blah blah blah. All I'm telling you is yes, you receive the Holy Spirit when you're saved, and He redeems you and justifies you, gives you eternal life, but there's also more He wants to do. He wants to give you His power. The power of God. The power to be a witness of God. And you know, when you go to Corinthians 12, a very famous scripture that I just, I just love. I love, love, love Corinthians 12, you'll see things that happened after the baptism of Holy Spirit. And he's talking to the Corinthians, and he says, "Concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be aware." Okay? And then he says in 1 Corinthians 12:7, "To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given a word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith, to another gifts of healing by one Spirit, to another effecting of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues." In other words, he starts talking about supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, and this is a whole nother topic, but I want to touch on this. When you receive the Holy Spirit, and you're baptized with the Holy Spirit, supernatural gifts should start flowing in you. In Corinthians, it talks about words of knowledge, things you could not know, words of wisdom, wisdom you could not have, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits. These are supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit because you are full of the Holy Spirit. Okay? Now, listen. There's other gifts out there, but they're not supernatural. There's teaching, exhortation, serving, administration, compassion. These are natural gifts. Don't let people tell you that's a supernatural gift. It's not. Compassion is a natural gift that God created in you. Exhortation is a natural gift that God created in you. Teaching is a natural gift that God created in you. Hospitality, serving is a natural gift that God created in you. They're mentioned in Romans 12, verses 6 through 10. By the way, there's natural gifts. But the supernatural words of knowledge, words of wisdom, prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues, all this comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Bible tells us again to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “...don't be drunk with wine, but be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.” And so, yeah, you get baptized with the Holy Spirit. And my life changed when I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. But I continually want to be filled with the Spirit of God. I continuall– I just want to be refreshed and refilled. 

So yes, you receive the Holy Spirit when you're saved. But yes, there's more that He wants to do. He wants to baptize you. He wants to immerse you with His power. And if you have not ever received that, I want to pray for you right now. But I encourage you to do it, you know, with your church, with an elder. Now, listen, some churches are going to disagree with me. And that's sad because I really think scripture is very clear that there is, you receive the Holy Spirit of salvation, but there's more He wants to do. He wants to come upon you and give you power, okay? Which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Hope this made my point clear. I get excited. Listen, if you want to get me stirred up, you talk about the Holy Spirit because I know what happened to me. I know what happened to me in 1986. I know what happened to me in 1961. And I know my life changed forever after I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. I began to prophesy. I began to lay hands on the sick, and I saw people healed right in front of my eyes. I cast out demons. All these things happened to me after I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. And my passion for God, my understanding of the word of God changed forever. Am I excited about it? Absolutely. Do all Christians need it? Absolutely. So, I'm going to pray for you before I get all wound up. I'm already kind of wound up. Maybe too much coffee today. I found some really good coffee. I was up in Canada last week. Oh my gosh. I brought some with me. Actually, I bought it down here. 

Heavenly Father, I thank you, Lord, for each person listening to me. I pray, Father, that my words ring true to them. And Lord, I know it's, that you have so much for us. And Lord, I thank you for everyone who believes in your name, listening to me. And Father, if they're willing to receive now, I ask for the Holy Spirit to fall on each one, to baptize. Lord, I'm just going by faith, I'm just going to declare, Holy Spirit, that for those who are willing, those vessels who are willing and ready, that you will baptize them now with your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, come upon each listener to this podcast. Holy Spirit, fall on each listener to this podcast right now. Fall upon, fill us completely, Father. Fill completely, Holy Spirit. Touch, Lord, completely from the top of their head all the way to the soles of their feet. Holy Spirit, baptize, fall upon, completely fill, completely empower each person listening to this podcast who's willing to receive right now, Father. Come, Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. More Lord. More Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Praise you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. I'm gonna give it just a few seconds here. You're listening to the podcast. Let's just be still together for a few moments here… Thank you, Lord… Thank you, Lord… Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. 

This show's been a little bit different. I get stirred up sometimes, especially when I hear a teaching that's not correct in my humble opinion. Thank you for listening. This is Dr. Ray Self. Remember, you know, uh, International College of Ministry makes this show happen. It's a ministry. It's a college that I founded back in 1998. You know, we do offer degrees in theology and ministry, prophetic ministry, Christian counseling. We also have a life coach certification and a Christian counseling certification. If you're interested in any of those things, don't, don't stop. If the Holy Spirit's convicting you, go to icmcollege.org and enroll or, or if not, get a free evaluation or even sample some free lessons. icmcollege.org. I thank you so much for listening to Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self, and God bless you.

[Music]