John Hagee - The Holy Spirit, Its Power and Purpose
If you have your Bibles, turn with us, please, to Mark 16, and we'll begin reading at verse 15. We're beginning, tonight, a journey into the supernatural, as we talk about the power and the purpose of the Holy Spirit. Our roadmap is going to be the eternal sovereign and unchanging Word of God. And our exploration is the power and the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the function and manifestation of its gifts in your life. I'm going to begin prodigiously, slowly, because some of you are hearing this for the very first time. Others of you have heard it before. Listen closely. Miracles may happen and you learn something new. There are four dangers for every Christian, when he begins to explore the supernatural.
Listen closely. The greatest danger is the danger of understanding scripture in the light of your experience. I want you to understand this: we should never interpret scripture by the light of your experience. You should examine your experience in the light of the scripture. And if your experience and the scripture do not coincide, you've had a wrong experience. One of the great problems in Christianity today is that we have experiential Christians. I have this experience, and they try to find the verses to support that experience rather than what the Word of God says. The second danger is to go beyond the scripture or to be contrary to what the scriptures say. I heard a charismatic teacher say the other say: he said, "I don't care what the apostle Paul said. I know because I've had an experience".
Now that's fanaticism. Let me define fanaticism for you. Fanaticism is a divorce between scripture and experience. Say that with me. Fanaticism is a divorce between scripture and experience. The third danger is to put tradition above the clear teaching of the Word of God. Tradition can be found in the teaching of your denomination. Most every major denomination has a traditional teaching that you can no more support in the Word of God than jack and the bean stalk. But people believe it, by the thousands, because it is a doctrinal tradition of their church. The fourth danger is that of being satisfied with something much less than what the Word of God offers in scripture.
When you are dominated by your experience or you are dominated by tradition or something contrary to the Word of God, it is impossible for you to grow in Christ. When you reject truth, you are mastered by a lie. When you reject light, you are doomed to the darkness. The Bible says in John 1:16, "From the fullness of his grace, we have all received grace for grace". Say that with me. "Grace for grace". What does that mean? That means when you come to the Lord, there is one blessing after another. There is one level of spiritual growth after another. There is more in Christ than what you have. When you got saved, you did not get it all. When you got the baptism of the Holy Spirit, if you have it, you did not get it all. When you got one of the gifts of the spirit, you did not get it all.
There is more, much more! It is an eternal river of God, an ocean of the magnitude of God's supernatural. And you grow from glory to glory, precept upon precept, grace upon grace, never exhausting the rich resources of God. Tonight, we're going to share with you the Word of God. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? When do I get it? I'm going to give you ten Bible proofs that you can be saved, have the Holy Spirit in you, yet not experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Why do I need it? And what is its purpose in my life?
Read with me Mark 16:15 and following. Ready? And he said unto them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name, they shall cast out demons: they shall speak with new tongues". Say that again, "They shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover". That is the fourfold commission of the church of Jesus Christ. It has not changed. There is not one verse in this precious text that says that has been subrogated. That is dispensationalism. Dispensationalism says that God had to work in a frame of time in such a fashion, and when that frame of time ended, he could not work in the continued manner in which he did work.
Dear friend, Mr. Scofield put that in the minds of evangelical Christians, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. What he did in the Book of Acts, he can do in San Antonio, Texas tonight. And we release him to do it, in Jesus' name. What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Let me define it briefly in a very oversimplified fashion. It is a second work of grace following your conversion in which the third person of the Trinity being the Holy Spirit fills the human vessel until there is a supernatural splash over manifested by the unknown tongue as evidenced in the Book of Acts. When do I get baptized? You can be baptized immediately after conversion. Everything begins at the cross. Your sins must be forgiven, and then you receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Book of Acts 10, Cornelius and the Italian band. Peter went to the house of Cornelius by a supernatural act of God. When God showed Peter the sheet and the unclean things in it, he was obviously speaking of the gentile people. Understand the Jewish people had had the Word of God for thousands of years, and the gentiles didn't even know it existed. And so God said to Peter, "I want you to go to the house of Cornelius". Pete went in, introduced himself as an orthodox kosher Jew, and said, "As you know, I shouldn't even be fellowshipping with you, but God has sent me to you with a three-point sermon". And he preached the gospel and they were saved. And the Bible says, "And while Peter yet was speaking," Acts 10, "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak as the Holy Spirit of God gave them utterance".
My point is they received the Holy Spirit instantly after their conversion. You can also receive the Holy Spirit and not manifest speaking in tongues for a number of days. Jesus said to the disciples: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost". Say that with me. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost". How many of you know if Jesus says you've received the Holy Ghost, you've received it? Let me give you some Bible illustrations that prove beyond all reasonable doubt that you can be saved, have the Holy Spirit in you, yet not be baptized into the Holy Spirit of God. Here is the verse that people stumble over in this baptismal issue.
Let me say about verses in the Word of God, "I don't want to" is the brother of "I can't". Say that with me. "I don't want to" is the brother of "I can't". In other words, there are none so blind as those who refuse to see. And if you do not want the supernatural, one excuse is just as good as the other. So I'm not giving you this so that you can say, "I have something about which to hang my biases and prejudices on". I'm showing you a verse of scripture that people, who have difficulty in the Holy Spirit, have difficulty with.
1 Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one spirit are we all baptized," speaking of our baptism into the body of Christ. We are all baptized into the body of Christ at conversion through the Holy Spirit, but this is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is saved is saved because the spirit draws him. Romans 8:9 says, "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his". The Bible also says, "No man cometh unto the father except the spirit draw him".
So I want you to know that when you are a sinner, and the Holy Spirit drew you to the Lord, you came and you received a measure of the Holy Spirit being in you, but that was not the baptism. Now, to the ten illustrations. And the point that I am making in all of these illustrations is that you can be a believer. You can be a believer and you can have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and not be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is contrary to a major doctrinal teaching of evangelical organizations in America. Consider, first, the Old Testament saints. Abraham is introduced by Paul elaborately as the father of all who believe. Jesus said of Abraham, "You shall sit down in the Kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob". How many of you know if Jesus said Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are in the Kingdom of God, they're in the Kingdom of God?
"Abraham saw in my day and he rejoiced". He saw it afar. The point that is being made here is that Abraham was in the Kingdom of God, but he did not have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Turn to Ephesians 2, and look at a verse of scripture with me. Paul taught that the gentiles were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, but they were strangers from the covenants of Israel, having no hope without God in the world. And then he says in Ephesians 2:19, read: "Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens", say that word with me, "Fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God".
What are gentiles when they are saved? Fellow citizens. Who are the saints? The saints are the Old Testament Jews: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Turn to John 1:26, and look at the verse of scripture there that says, "John answered them, saying, 'i baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom you shall see the spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost". Here in John 1:26 and John verse 33, John is making a clear distinction between baptism in water and baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The third verse I want to give you is John 7:37 through 39. Turn there. Circle it in red. If you don't have a sanctified color, just use any color that you have. And if your Bible is too good to write in, get one that's not that good. John 7:37 says, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me... Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the spirit, which they that believed on him", were they saved? Yes. "They that believed on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost had not yet come". They believed but they did not have the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Go to John 20. This is after the resurrection. Jesus met the disciples in the upper room. And the Bible says again, "And he breathed on them, and said, 'receive ye the Holy Ghost'". They manifested that 50 days later at Pentecost. Acts 8, turn to the Book of Acts 8. One lady wrote me a letter the other day, and said, "Pastor, I don't have enough fingers and hands to follow you in the Bible. Slow down". I'm trying to get to the end of where I have to go tonight. Listen in high fidelity: will you please?
Acts 8, beginning at verse 14: "Now when the apostles were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them". They were believers but they did not have the baptism. "(...Only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost". Next is the case of Paul himself in acts 9. He was smitten on the road to Damascus. When he was smitten on the road to Damascus, he said, "Who art thou, Lord?... And what wilt thou have me to do"? And you know the conversation that he and the Lord had.
How do you know that Paul was saved there? Because the Bible says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved". Paul is saying, "Who art thou, Lord... And what wilt thou have me to do"? How many of you recognize that is surrender? I do. Then in acts 9:17, Paul goes to the house of Ananias, who had come from the prayer meeting over at the Cornerstone Church. And Ananias said, "Brother Paul, the Lord told me that you were coming". And he put his hands upon him and scales fell off of his eyes, because the Jewish people are judicially blinded from the identity of who Jesus Christ is. And the scales fell off of his eyes and he received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, as the Word of God describes in that verse of scripture.
The seventh Bible evidence is in Acts 19:2. Acts 19:2, turn to that please. "And he said unto them, have you received", read it with me, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed"? Do you see that? How many of you can see in that simple verse of scripture there is two experiences here? "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed"? You believe first, and then the Holy Ghost came second. "And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them: and they spake with tongues, and prophesied". Continue. Matthew 3:11, this is the eighth verse.
And you say, "Pastor, why are you teaching this in such a belabored fashion"? Because many of you have had it drilled into your brain that once you get saved, that's really fundamentally supernaturally all there is. If you can cross this bridge, I'm going to open the door for you into a whole world of the supernatural signs and wonders of God. But I'm trying to break you out of an intellectual prison that you've been incarcerated by tradition and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. That's why I'm dwelling on this to such length.
Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist is speaking. "I indeed baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than i... He (Jesus) shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire". How many of you can recognize that as a separate experience from water baptism? The ninth evidence, Acts 1:4 and 5. "For John baptized with water: but before many days, you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit". That is the ninth verse. Here is the tenth biblical evidence in Ephesians 1:13. Paul is reminding the gentile Christians of how they became Christians. "In whom ye also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth", do you hear that? "After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise," Ephesians 1:13.
There are ten Bible evidences that plainly, clearly, irrefutably say there is a difference between water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Now in your mind, the two baptisms can be immediately compared as follows: a candidate for water baptism is a sinner, who has confessed his sin. The baptismal element is water. The purpose is a witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ: and that you are laying down your old life. For people who were baptized in this water tonight, when they went down in the water, it was a public testimony that I'm laying down my old life, and when I come out of the water, I am a new creature in Christ Jesus, and I'm walking the new walk with the Son of God. That is the testimony. The result is entry into the body of Christ.
Now, consider the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The candidate is the baptized believer, Acts 2:38. Jesus was baptized in water. After he was baptized in water, the Holy Spirit descended upon him. Acts 8:14 through 17 confirms the same. The baptismal element is not water: it is the Holy Spirit, according to Mark 1:8. The baptizer is not a preacher: it is Jesus Christ, Matthew 3:11 and Mark 1:8, Acts 1:8 and Luke 24:49. The result is the reception of the Holy Spirit with the accompanying gifts and power. There is an energy crisis. There is a supernatural war going on. There is, in the heavenlies, the powers and principalities under Satan. There are demons and there are evil forces in the heavenlies whose design is to destroy, to rob, to kill and to destroy everything that you like.
The church of Jesus Christ will be powerless to function if they do not have the supernatural enduement power of the Holy Spirit. Our society is being scattered by drugs, by witchcraft, by cults with rock music that have demonic lyrics and have a destructive nature, by a homosexual society in total rebellion against God, and by a spirit of rebellion that's turning America upside down. What is the solution? The solution is for the church of Jesus Christ to be endued with power from on high, the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit: that the power that we have is greater than the power of hell in the streets of this nation!
God is a supernatural God. You are saved supernaturally. You are healed supernaturally. You are baptized in the Holy Spirit supernaturally. Speaking with other tongues is a supernatural event. Don't be afraid of the supernatural. The church that is not supernatural is not natural! In the New Testament, it was a natural thing for the church to be supernatural. When you go to seminary, your professors teach you the Book of Acts was an exception, and therefore, you're not to think that the Book of Acts continues into the 20th century. Read my lips. Hogwash!
Acts 2:4, "And when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, they began to speak the Holy Spirit, speak with tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance". Acts 19:2, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit since you believed"? Acts 2:39, "For the promise is unto you, and unto your children, and unto all that are afar off". I'm a long way away from Acts 2. I'm 2,000 years from Acts 2. But I want you to know the river of the Holy Spirit of God is flowing through this place, and I'm in it: thank God! What are you going to do with this verse? 1 Corinthians 14:5, Paul said, "I wish that you all spoke with tongues".
I have heard some very gifted speakers, teachers, and Bible scholars split their tongue three ways trying to explain that verse away. But it says what it means, and means what it says. 1 Corinthians 14:39, "Do not forbid to speak with tongues," period. You need not be phi beta kappa in theology to understand that. It is as simple as red paint on a red barn. It means what it says, and says what it means. We have the problem today that people want to confine the Holy Spirit of God and not release it.
Saints of God, hear what I'm saying. We are in a supernatural warfare of which Paul very graphically described in Ephesians 6. He said, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood". Say that with me. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood". Demons in hell are not afraid of seminary degrees. They are not afraid of tradition. They are not afraid of your experience. They're not afraid of what your denomination thinks. But they are afraid of the blood of Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit of God burning in a New Testament, supernatural, signs-and-wonders believer. And I want that to happen. I want you to get so full of God: you feel like you could anoint a garbage lid and the thing come alive!
I had a missionary tell me, a missionary from Africa, tell me how an African witch doctor stands in one place for three days, chanting to become a witch doctor, praying for the demon powers to invade him so that they can be unleashed, and then demonstrate to the people that he is indeed a worthy witch doctor by having fresh fish every morning when they are hundreds of miles from a body of water, a literal fact. Now tell me when you go into a village like that with your degree just how you're going to impress those people? Shhh. They want the signs and the wonders.
What's a sign and a wonder? The sign is what God does. The wonder is man's reaction to what God has done. Please understand signs and wonders are still for the church today, and they're released through the Holy Spirit of God. Do you know what's happening in America? Young people, by the millions, are bailing out of our evangelical churches and going into Satanism and devil worship and human sacrifice and animal sacrifices, because they are searching for the supernatural.
And the reason they're searching for it is because their church lost it. And their church went to a rut and a routine and a religious ritual in which they tuned God out and tuned the Holy Spirit out, and they put the Word of God in the casket of a tradition and have refused to release it. I'm saying to you, saints of God, it is my heart's cry that we release God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit at Cornerstone Church until the sparks of revival leap from these walls into the streets of this city and spread to America, and all of the world says "Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father"!