Tuesday
Leroy Cloud Notes
Leroy Cloud
“I’m concerned that the baptism of the Holy Spirit isn’t being preached in the church today.”
He shared stories about churches in places like Hong Kong, Egypt, Thailand and Cambodia refusing to preach about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
“If we’re going to reach our world we need to get people baptized with the Holy Spirit. “
We have to approach it in a little different way; by the words we use in teaching on the subject, we have acceptance or rejection.
We should look at the Old Testament. Jesus died on Passover, fulfilling OT scriptures.
One of the big turnoffs is ‘you need the Spirit.’ I was preaching in India. Head of school of ministry was head of Presbyterian association, who was head of Billy Graham association there. Teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit – talk about the errors of the Pentecostals tomorrow (that will bring the evangelicals out.) He said to me: ‘Thank you, you’re the first Pentecostal who ever let me in heaven.’
Was preaching at a retreat. They asked me to speak to a Chinese lady who wasn’t a Pentecostal. She didn’t want to be there because they didn’t think she was a Christian. They told her ‘I need the spirit’. ‘I told her, I can look at your face and tell you have the Spirit.’ She was surprised. When I made the altar call three days later, I heard her speaking in tongues during the altar call.
When we say we have the indwelling Holy Spirit. To be baptized is to flow from the inside. To touch a world that is lost.
What is the step of faith we are seeking? Do not say ‘physical initial evidence.’ Those are not Biblical words. They turn us off when we use those words. I didn’t know that until I talked to some of the charismatic theologians. We say ‘it’s not works’.
The Bible doesn’t say the HS speaks in tongues. It says ‘they speak in tongues’. He’s waiting for you to take a step of faith and stop talking from your head and start talking in your Spirit. We need to use Biblical terms. We understand step of faith when we were baptized in water and confessed with our mouth.
Instead of us winning a battle for the cause we cherish, why not talk about winning the lives of the people?
Remember, it’s not how much of the Spirit you have but how much of you the Spirit has. So everyone who is saved has that ability.
Now the arguments against he baptism of the Holy Spirit coming from the evangelicals of the dispensation:
They thought Pentecostals were totally ignorant because they were dispensationalists and believe in the supernatural.
They started dispensationalism to do away with the supernatural.
It never disappeared – just restored in the 1900s.
The Pentecostal movement was the fastest growing movement of anything religious or non-religious in the world. The Holy Spirit is the answer.
We have such a privilege of ministry to all denominations.