Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.

4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

7 And all the men were about twelve. - Acts 19

 

I believe in this day and time people have their own personal motivation and ego confused with the actual Holy Spirit. Human ego is not Holy Spirit. If Paul were to return in this time he would ask the same question, 'Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?"

 

Here are examples of people getting the Holy Spirit....

Example of a Wesleyan Church Service

I believe that these gentlemen were save, they just needed the witness of the Spirit within. The old fashion mourners bench is of great assistance!

 

And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away. - 2 Samuel 18:9

I believe people can be caught up in a great intellectual oak, hanging there between heaven and earth, thinking they have the Holy Spirit.... When in reality they are a million miles from God, in which the Apostle Paul goes on to say....

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. -1 Corinthians 2

 

Does the Holy Spirit cause people to grow cold?

 

If they did receive the Holy Spirit, and the heart grew cold and stony along the way.... Then they went out of the Spirit into the flesh, as happened with the Galatians. Many are calling flesh Spirit these days. Which makes me wonder what happened to the Spirit, if they did indeed receive, along the way.

 

Many are mixing the party life and the Christian life these days. I questioned one Baptist lady on her worldly way of living and she replies, "are you trying to threaten my salvation?"

I think it would be good to encourage people to seek more of the Holy Spirit in this day and time.

 

And.... The personal ego is not the Holy Spirit.

 

And, thankfully, the Holy Spirit is not religious melancholy.

 

If E = mc2 then we can divide and conclude that...

Mass (m) = Energy (E/c2)

And there are three varieties...

Natural E/c2 - All mass is basically cooled plasma
Mental E/c2 - Mentally, A mathematical formula, but this has chemical and spiritual properties as well.
Spiritual E/c2 - E (motivation, warmth, love) / c2 (faith, hope, charity, joy)

A path to Spiritual Anointing....

1. Hope - All things begin with a hope
2. Faith - Motivation is a child of faith and hope
3. Charis - Grace - A powerful neighbor of caritas
4. Dynamos - Greek for virtue and motivation
5. Eucharisteo - Much grace... Gratitude
6. Charisomai - Well favored - A lucky kind of feeling
7. Euchrestos - Greek for profitable
8. Chairo - Greek for cheer - "Cheerio mate!"
9. Chara - Greek for joy
10. Chrestotes - An 'Aunt Bee' kind of Goodness
11. Charisma - Heavenly Graciousness
12. Chris ma - Heavenly Anointing - The Holy Grail!
13. Chris tians - The anointed people!
14. Chris t - The anointed one!

A truly Spirit filled Christian will have a spiritual energy and light as well as a knowledge of biblical doctrine. Early on Billy Graham had this spiritual anointing in his ministry, where you could spiritually sense God in the ministry of the word.