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The teachings in this website were given from the Holy Spirit over a period of many years. They have been written with much prayer, fasting and supplication unto the Lord our God. They teach you how to walk with Jesus Christ from birth to death.

If you have any questions about any of these teachings, you may contact Brother Don Ragsdale at the following address: don@skywatchmin.org

There are several baptisms mentioned in Scripture, each one has an important part in the Believer's life. We are going to deal with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the utterance of speaking in tongues. This baptism is important as it is foundational and brings the Believer to undergo some of the other baptisms.

We are going to study the New Testament, in this regard. And, now let us pray: Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before you, boldly by the Blood of the Lamb, through the veil, that is, the body of our Lord, asking for your Spirit of understanding to come and open our eyes as to the truth of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. We bind up the power of darkness in our minds, that the work the enemy has done in our minds be destroyed. We thank you, Holy Father, for giving us the children's bread. In Jesus's Name we give you all the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

An important place in Scripture we find the mentioning of the Holy Spirit being given, comes from our Lord Jesus' teachings in Luke 11:9-13. He is teaching on prayer. Jesus gives the model prayer, then gives an example of an intercessory prayer and why it is answered. Then our Lord explains more,

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of your fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (NIV)

Here, He brings into being that when the Father's children ask for the Holy Spirit, they will be given Him. To understand Scripture, one must understand that Jesus is the very Word of God. God, our Father, does not speak the way we speak. His Word is the very life of the Word spoken, forming into being the very understanding of the definition of the Word given. You have to understand that when Jesus speaks, He speaks in this manner!

(As a note, a great hindrance to receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is unforgiveness. One MUST forgive, to receive Him.)

In John 6:63 , our Lord clearly says:

"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

Only to the Believer, does the Scripture reveals spirit and life, for only to the heirs of salvation does the Holy Spirit speak. In I Corinthians 2:12-16 , the Spirit of the Lord inspired Paul the Apostle to pen:

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that comes from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Another place our Lord Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit is found in John 7:37-39. Here, He speaks of the Holy Spirit as "living water".

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."

Here, we see very clearly that the Holy Spirit is "indwelling" in a Believer. For the "living water will flow from within him."

Finally, the Lord Jesus spoke these words to His disciples in Acts 1:7-8:

"He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Very plainly stated by our Lord is that the Believer will receive power when they receive the Holy Spirit. The demonstration of this is shown in Acts 2:1-4:

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

It is from this event, the Pentecostal movement is based. It is this event the Charismatic has its foundation. This is the fulfilling of Joel 2:28 , the outflowing of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh. Again, we stop here to explain Scripture.

In the times before our Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit was given only to certain men and women to fulfill certain purposes of God. This is termed as the "former rain". In Joel 2:28 , we see the outpouring of the "latter rain", upon all the Believers who ask for the Holy Spirit. It does not mean all flesh, everyone regardless whether they are born again or not. The Lord always speaks of ONLY the children of God. "All flesh" means all those Believers all over the world who are born again.

In Acts 4:31 , it is recorded:

"After they prayed, the place they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

In Acts 9:17 , it is recorded:

"Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

In Acts 10:44-46 , it is recorded:

"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God."

And in Acts 19:6, it is recorded:

"When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied."

The Acts is the first recordings of the Church in action. Here we see the Holy Spirit given upon the Believers in various ways and under various conditions. Why? Well, now let us look into Scripture to see what the Spirit has to say.

The sign of the Holy Spirit upon someone is the "tongues", unknown language as some Bibles call it. There are two mentioning of tongues. One, in the place of assembly, or in a gathering, to be interpreted for all to hear the Word of the Lord. Two, the Believer's personal prayer language to God, understandable ONLY to God. It is this latter tongue of which we speak.

I Corinthians 14:2,4,14 it is recorded:

"For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit."

"He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church."

"For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful."

These Scripture points clearly that there is a real purpose of having the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the utterance of speaking in tongues.

We find recorded in Romans 8:26-27 an insight into the supernatural:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

It is recorded in Jude 20 these very important words:

"But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit."

This statement opens the way into the supernatural. It speaks of something greater than something of man. Our faith is called "holy", (something separated unto God). We are called to build ourselves up, separating ourselves unto God. And to speak to God in the Holy Spirit. Why does the Holy Spirit inspire the writer to say such a thing? Our minds are unable to fathom such understanding. It requires the Spirit's revelation to comprehend such a statement.

We are going to open the door to your understanding into this matter, and it is going to change you forever. We are going into the battle ground of the supernatural, into the spiritual realms to see why it is so important for each of us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in these "tongues", our prayer language.

First, into Ephesians 3:10 we enter boldly:

"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord."

It is here we see so clearly our purpose. We see our Father's intent. The children's lives are to reveal the manifold wisdom of the Father NOT to mankind, but to a spiritual world! In otherwords, our Christianity is not a witness to this physical world, but to the spiritual world that forever sees all things of our lives, including our very private times! And, since the spiritual world surrounds us, we cannot hide from it for we stand as light before it's darkness. We are on display unto it! God is so proud of us that he makes us known to these rulers and authorities that we are his children. Therefore, we have a very important part to play in the spiritual realms, though we live in earthen vessels.

Look at Ephesians 6:10 :

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."

The Lord spoke in Acts 1:7-8, that we would receive power from on high when the Holy Spirit comes on us. This is the power Ephesians speaks. The utterance in tongues is a sign unto the heavenlies, of ones receivership of the gift of the Holy Spirit! It tells the rulers and authorities that the Believer has been given the "mighty power of God"! Why is this so? For what reason is this so?

Ephesians 6:12 tells us:

"FOR OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST THE RULERS, AGAINST THE AUTHORITIES, AGAINST THE POWERS OF THIS DARK WORLD AND AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS."

Now, do you see? We live our lives for another purpose entirely, than for this world. This world is only an instrument, a place of training, to prepare us for our spiritual lives when we leave these vessels. We are to fight the good fight of faith, reach the high calling, the mark we are to obtain, then join our Lord at his side to rule and reign with Him! A child cannot fight, only one trained is able to obtain maturity in the use of weapons.

Ephesians 6:17-18 concludes:

"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

When we speak in "tongues", the Spirit speaks. It builds our faith. We speak unto our Father the right request. We stand against the forces of evil in our prayers in "tongues". We speak supernatural! We become a supernatural people, taking on the very nature of Christ and we begin fulfilling John 14:12:

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

We are to receive the Power of our Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are to speak in tongues and build our holy faith. Tearing down strongholds and destroying the works of the devil is our supernatural calling in this life. We are to set the captives free; loose the chains of darkness that binds; heal the sick; free the oppressed, and overcoming all the power of the enemy. It is only in building up holy faith can this be possible, for our minds are transformed to the mind of Christ. And then, with this built up faith, we can speak to the forces of this world and the forces of the heavenlies!

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