The Holy Spirit: Can You Live Without Him?
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
.Contents
Introduction
1. Who Is the Holy Spirit?
2. Why the Day of Pentecost?
3. Do We Really Need the Holy Spirit?
4. Was the Holy Spirit Only for Early Christians?
5. Are You Afraid of the Holy Spirit?
6. Are You Offended by the Holy Spirit?
7. Have You Ignored the Holy Spirit?
8. What Happens If We Refuse the Holy Spirit?
9. Have You Blasphemed the Holy Spirit?
10. When Are We Baptized in the Holy Spirit?
11. How Are We Baptized in the Holy Spirit?
12. How Do We Know If We Have Received the Holy Spirit?
13. What Is Speaking in Tongues?
14. How Much Control Do We Have over Spiritual Gifts?
15. Is It Wrong to Question the Spiritual Claims of Others?
16. Can You Lose the Holy Spirit?
17. Can You Be an Overcomer without the Holy Spirit?
Conclusion
Introduction
You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
—Acts 7:51
The man who spoke these words, Stephen, was about to become the first Christian martyr. The people to whom he was preaching were the religious elite of Israel. They were supposed to be God’s chosen people, the sons of Abraham. However, they were nothing less than full-blown enemies of God’s Holy Spirit.
The proof that they were against God’s Spirit was evidenced in their hatred of everything Stephen said and did. If they had been led by the Spirit of God, they would have recognized God’s Spirit in Stephen. Instead, everything in them was offended by everything in him.
What about today? What about all those who profess to be Christian, but their entire religious existence is a testimony against the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit? Do you have to be stoning fellow believers before God considers you an enemy of His Spirit?
In more than two thousand years has anything really changed among those who think they are doing the will of God by opposing the work of the Holy Spirit? Is it reasonable to profess oneself as a friend of God all the while being a stranger to or an enemy of His Spirit? Why do so many who call themselves followers of Christ become so uneasy while discussing the Holy Spirit?
And what if we do believe in the Holy Spirit? Are we automatically filled with His presence because we say we believe in Jesus or prayed a prayer? Is being baptized in the Holy Spirit necessary or optional? Will Jesus still consider you one of His followers if you decide to live without His Spirit, in whole or in part?
Just as there are those in the world who reject Jesus Christ, there are those in our churches who also reject the Holy Spirit. There are churchgoers everywhere who stand in complete disbelief and trepidation to one of the most amazing promises the Lord ever made to His people. It is a promise for every believer in Christ, young and old alike, to be filled with the same Spirit that empowered Jesus as He walked on the earth.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13–14)
Adam sinned, and as a result, man was separated from the presence of God. Then Jesus came and died for us. But He did not die just so we could avoid hell and go to heaven. He died to make a way for something much greater, the Spirit of God living in us.
So how do some who profess loyalty to Christ respond to His Spirit? The same way the religious leaders of Israel did. They attack, malign, ignore, reject, avoid, and even blaspheme the very presence that Jesus died to restore.
In Luke 20:9¬–16, Jesus told a parable about a man who leased his vineyard to caretakers. These caretakers eventually turned against the landowner. When the landowner sent his son to make things right, the caretakers killed him. In light of those who killed the master’s son, how many modern caretakers act the same on this side of the cross?
The Son, who was killed and raised back to life, has gone back to His Father and waits to return. In the Son’s absence, the Father has now sent His Spirit. But do the new servants accept His Spirit any better than the old ones accepted His Son?
Sadly, in some religious circles, believers are often taught how to live without the Holy Spirit, even from the moment they come to Christ. Sometimes this learning is taught directly, and sometimes it is passed on indirectly. Even in churches that profess to be Spirit-friendly, believers often learn a whole philosophy of Christian life that is inconsistent with the life of the Holy Spirit.
They are taught how to be Christian without Him. They are taught how to build the church without Him. They are taught how to overcome sin without Him. They are even taught how to be filled with Him without Him.
Is there even such a thing as a Christian option without the Holy Spirit? If there is, where did it originate? And why do so many in the modern church downplay the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit?
Why is it that so many who embrace the baptism done by men in water readily reject the baptism done by Christ in the Holy Spirit? Are they so spiritual that they do not need Him? Do they think they can be everything Jesus died to make them with only a partial baptism? Have they ever stopped to consider the consequences of resisting the Holy Spirit, let alone rejecting Him?
In spite of every scriptural truth written about the Holy Spirit and the necessity of His presence in our lives, Christian unbelievers cringe at the very mention of His manifested presence. For some, it is not just a matter of doubt or uncertainty; it is actually a matter of contempt and hate. But why are there followers of Christ who treat the Holy Spirit like an infection to be avoided at all costs?
Is it because of those who have misrepresented the Holy Spirit or who have abused His gifts? Is it because of certain gifts some find difficult to accept, like speaking in tongues? Is it because we have been taught not to believe? Is it because we do not understand what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Is it because our Christianity is in question? Maybe it’s all of the above.
In fact, people turn against the Holy Spirit for all the same reasons that Jesus is refused and rejected. The only difference is that most of those rejecting Jesus are outside the church, while most of those rejecting the Spirit are inside the church. Where do you stand?
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
• Have you ever had a question about God’s Holy Spirit?
• Just what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
• Are the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit for today?
• When and how are we filled with the Holy Spirit?
• Does talking about the Holy Spirit make you uncomfortable?
• Are you offended by God’s Spirit because of the abuses of others?
• Is there a counterfeit spirit at work today?
• Do you worry that maybe you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit?
• Have unmet expectations left you disillusioned with God’s Spirit?
• Has uncertainty caused you to put off the Holy Spirit?
• Are you afraid of the Holy Spirit because of what He might make you do?
• What is speaking in tongues? Is it real, and is it necessary?
• Have you ever considered what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means for eternal life?
• Why do so many in our churches either reject or misrepresent the Holy Spirit?
This book seeks to answer these questions and more in the most direct and simple way possible.
About the Author
Nearly one year after becoming a Christian, at the age of fourteen, a young teenager named Chuck Jones had a life changing encounter with God’s Holy Spirit. After reading in the Bible about how important the Holy Spirit was to early Christians, he began wondering. Too young to be aware of any controversies and too trusting to be afraid of what God might do, he decided to ask God for His gift if it was real.
With no one else to show the way or intervene, his prayer was answered. Having begun his Christian walk with a background that did not emphasize a relationship with the Holy Spirit, Chuck would later rely on the example of his parents for the inspiration to believe in that which God had promised. It was in this simple faith and desire that a young teenager was given something that changed the course of his life forever.
What began in the prayer closet of a boy desperate for more of God culminated nearly thirty-five years later in the writing of this book. Chuck would later become a bible college graduate, church janitor, school teacher, oil field roughneck, and a telecommunications technician. His life is not a lesson in human greatness as much as it is a story that is played out every day in the lives of God’s people. It is the story about regular people who want to become everything that Jesus Christ died to make them.
Chuck has served as a church elder, teacher, and worship team member in Pearl, Mississippi since 1989. He is still there with his wife, four children, and church family.