The Bible teaches us that it's not just in word only, but in power and demonstration of the Spirit.
Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
1 Corinthians 2:4, "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power".
1 Thessalonians 1:5, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance..."
Back in the early and mid 90's, I witnessed and spoke to people a lot about God in person. And I experienced what those scriptures say personally in my interaction with other people. But first I should go back and explain what happened up to that point.
When me and my sister were kids, my dad sent us to a few different Baptist churches for a while and I was baptized at one of them. My dad wasn't very religious himself, though. And I didn't go to church anymore all through my teens. But I still believed in God. Then in 1990, when I was in my mid 20's, I started crying out to God. And I went out one day to look for a church in the area and found this Assemblies of God that I started going to. I had given my life to the Lord and wanted to be baptized again, because this time it was because I was committing myself to God and wanted to be baptized.
Then about a year later, a friend of mine started going to a church that he found and asked me to come with him to check it out, and he said they have the truth there. I was already going to a church and I had no idea what he meant by them having the truth there, so I kept turning him down. But about the third time I went ahead and went just out of curiosity to see what he meant by them having the truth.
They showed me the scripture in Acts 2;38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost". And they told me about baptism in the name of Jesus. And when they showed me that, I was excited about it, because I found out that I could be baptized in the Lord's name Himself. I thought. "Wow, that's the Lord's name. I can be baptized in His name". Then I was baptized again right after that for the third time, but this time it was in the name of Jesus Christ.
I started going there and found out that it was what they call an Apostolic church. And I began learning more about God and salvation than I ever did before. Besides baptism in the name of Jesus, I also learned about Jesus being God, and about receiving the Holy Spirit with the sign of speaking with other tongues.
They told me about the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues at the Assemblies of God, but said that the Holy Spirit was only given for power to do the work of God, and was only given to some believers, not every believer. But the Apostolic faith teaches that all believers are suppose to receive the Holy Spirit and will speak in tongues. I hadn't experienced that up to that point, but I had given my life to the Lord about a year before that, and I could feel and experience God in my life. So I started wondering about that speaking in tongues thing, and was wondering if maybe I had received the Holy Spirit but just didn't speak in tongues. So I asked a friend of mine about it who I met at the church, and he assured me that if I had received the Holy Spirit then I would have spoke in tongues.
So after I got back home, I went to God about it in prayer and asked Him to let me know if it's true or not that everyone who receives the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues. Then God led me to find Isaiah 28;11 & 12, and showed me the connection between that and what Jesus said in Matthew 11;28, and made me to know that it is true, that everyone who receives the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues.
When God showed me those scriptures and made me to know that, I immediately got on my knees and started praying and asking God to fill me with His Spirit. Then I started thanking God, and started praising and worshiping Him out of faith, believing that He'll fill me with His Spirit, and expecting to speak in tongues when it happens. Then I started feeling something down inside me start pushing up out of me, and I started speaking in tongues. That experience reminded me of what Jesus said in John 7;38 about those who believe as the scripture has said, that out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water. And that's what that experience was like, it was like God's Spirit flowing up out of me like water as I was speaking in tongues.
I felt so rich and full with God and with the love, joy, peace, blessings, and glory of God. Everything around me was all hazy looking, like a dream. It was like crossing over into a whole different world.
After that, I started studying more, and God was teaching me a lot by His Spirit. And I started wondering about the other things, too. I asked God if He really was Jesus. And God led me to the scriptures and confirmed it to me by His Spirit, and made me to know that it is true, that God is Jesus, and Jesus is God, that Jesus and God are one in the same. I wrote a whole message about it years later online recently using those same scriptures plus other scriptures I've picked up on since. I posted it on my blog "Jesus Is God Who Was Manifest In The Flesh".
And even though I was excited about being baptized in the name of Jesus for myself, I wanted to know if God wanted every believer to be baptized in the name of Jesus, or if it didn't matter, because I wanted to know what I should tell other people about it. Then God led me to the scriptures and confirmed this to me, too, and made me to know that it is the will of God for every believer to be baptized in the name of Jesus.
After that, I began sharing these things with other people according to how God had shown me and taught me. And when I laid hands on them and prayed, the Spirit of God would move upon them in a way that they could physically feel it, God bearing witness of Himself to them, and that what I told them about God and about salvation is true. God had also used me in the gifts of the Spirit. God had shown me things ahead of time before they happened. I've laid hands on the sick, and they did recover. I've even laid hands on my aunt's dog that was sick and prayed for her. And this dog, who didn't even understand what I was doing, was completely recovered just a while later and was all happy and running around and playing.
And I was talking to a cousin of mine one time, and I asked God to reveal something to me about her to let her know that what I was telling her about God and about salvation is true. And God showed me something about her from when she was out of state. And when I told her about it, she was really surprised, and said she never had anything like that happen to her before.
I've had many powerful supernatural experiences with God. God had made me to know how real He is, and shown me the truth, and confirmed it to me and assured me of it by His Spirit, and with signs, wonders, and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, both within the Apostolic ministry and in my own life personally.
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost".
--- Acts 2:38.
Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
1 Thessalonians 1:5, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance..."
Back in the early and mid 90's, I witnessed and spoke to people a lot about God in person. And I experienced what those scriptures say personally in my interaction with other people. But first I should go back and explain what happened up to that point.
When me and my sister were kids, my dad sent us to a few different Baptist churches for a while and I was baptized at one of them. My dad wasn't very religious himself, though. And I didn't go to church anymore all through my teens. But I still believed in God. Then in 1990, when I was in my mid 20's, I started crying out to God. And I went out one day to look for a church in the area and found this Assemblies of God that I started going to. I had given my life to the Lord and wanted to be baptized again, because this time it was because I was committing myself to God and wanted to be baptized.
Then about a year later, a friend of mine started going to a church that he found and asked me to come with him to check it out, and he said they have the truth there. I was already going to a church and I had no idea what he meant by them having the truth there, so I kept turning him down. But about the third time I went ahead and went just out of curiosity to see what he meant by them having the truth.
They showed me the scripture in Acts 2;38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost". And they told me about baptism in the name of Jesus. And when they showed me that, I was excited about it, because I found out that I could be baptized in the Lord's name Himself. I thought. "Wow, that's the Lord's name. I can be baptized in His name". Then I was baptized again right after that for the third time, but this time it was in the name of Jesus Christ.
I started going there and found out that it was what they call an Apostolic church. And I began learning more about God and salvation than I ever did before. Besides baptism in the name of Jesus, I also learned about Jesus being God, and about receiving the Holy Spirit with the sign of speaking with other tongues.
They told me about the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues at the Assemblies of God, but said that the Holy Spirit was only given for power to do the work of God, and was only given to some believers, not every believer. But the Apostolic faith teaches that all believers are suppose to receive the Holy Spirit and will speak in tongues. I hadn't experienced that up to that point, but I had given my life to the Lord about a year before that, and I could feel and experience God in my life. So I started wondering about that speaking in tongues thing, and was wondering if maybe I had received the Holy Spirit but just didn't speak in tongues. So I asked a friend of mine about it who I met at the church, and he assured me that if I had received the Holy Spirit then I would have spoke in tongues.
So after I got back home, I went to God about it in prayer and asked Him to let me know if it's true or not that everyone who receives the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues. Then God led me to find Isaiah 28;11 & 12, and showed me the connection between that and what Jesus said in Matthew 11;28, and made me to know that it is true, that everyone who receives the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues.
When God showed me those scriptures and made me to know that, I immediately got on my knees and started praying and asking God to fill me with His Spirit. Then I started thanking God, and started praising and worshiping Him out of faith, believing that He'll fill me with His Spirit, and expecting to speak in tongues when it happens. Then I started feeling something down inside me start pushing up out of me, and I started speaking in tongues. That experience reminded me of what Jesus said in John 7;38 about those who believe as the scripture has said, that out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water. And that's what that experience was like, it was like God's Spirit flowing up out of me like water as I was speaking in tongues.
I felt so rich and full with God and with the love, joy, peace, blessings, and glory of God. Everything around me was all hazy looking, like a dream. It was like crossing over into a whole different world.
After that, I started studying more, and God was teaching me a lot by His Spirit. And I started wondering about the other things, too. I asked God if He really was Jesus. And God led me to the scriptures and confirmed it to me by His Spirit, and made me to know that it is true, that God is Jesus, and Jesus is God, that Jesus and God are one in the same. I wrote a whole message about it years later online recently using those same scriptures plus other scriptures I've picked up on since. I posted it on my blog "Jesus Is God Who Was Manifest In The Flesh".
And even though I was excited about being baptized in the name of Jesus for myself, I wanted to know if God wanted every believer to be baptized in the name of Jesus, or if it didn't matter, because I wanted to know what I should tell other people about it. Then God led me to the scriptures and confirmed this to me, too, and made me to know that it is the will of God for every believer to be baptized in the name of Jesus.
After that, I began sharing these things with other people according to how God had shown me and taught me. And when I laid hands on them and prayed, the Spirit of God would move upon them in a way that they could physically feel it, God bearing witness of Himself to them, and that what I told them about God and about salvation is true. God had also used me in the gifts of the Spirit. God had shown me things ahead of time before they happened. I've laid hands on the sick, and they did recover. I've even laid hands on my aunt's dog that was sick and prayed for her. And this dog, who didn't even understand what I was doing, was completely recovered just a while later and was all happy and running around and playing.
And I was talking to a cousin of mine one time, and I asked God to reveal something to me about her to let her know that what I was telling her about God and about salvation is true. And God showed me something about her from when she was out of state. And when I told her about it, she was really surprised, and said she never had anything like that happen to her before.
I've had many powerful supernatural experiences with God. God had made me to know how real He is, and shown me the truth, and confirmed it to me and assured me of it by His Spirit, and with signs, wonders, and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, both within the Apostolic ministry and in my own life personally.
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost".
--- Acts 2:38.
