The Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Difference between revisions

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:''The evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost today is just the same as it was back in the day of our Lord. It is receiving the Word of truth for the day in which you live. Jesus never did stress the importance of the Works as He did the Word.<ref>169-4, PERGAMEAN.CHURCH.AGE, CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.5</ref>
:''The evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost today is just the same as it was back in the day of our Lord. It is receiving the Word of truth for the day in which you live. Jesus never did stress the importance of the Works as He did the Word.<ref>169-4, PERGAMEAN.CHURCH.AGE, CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.5</ref>
The problem with William Branham's interpretation is that it is not based on the Bible.
The scripture does say that:
:''When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 16:13.</ref>
However, this passage can only be interpreted properly by the context of Jesus' words.  Who was he speaking to?  The disciples!  When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit did lead them into all truth and they wrote it down on paper to form the New Testament, the source of truth for Christians.  It is clear that the apostles were the divinely authorized agents through which the Holy Spirit proclaimed the final revelation of Jesus Christ.
Indeed, the apostles claimed this revelatory power (John 20:31; 1 Cor. 2:13; 1 Thess. 4:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 1 John 2:19; 4:6), claiming the church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20). The early church recognized this authority and “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). The apostles were the eyewitnesses of Christ (Acts 1:22), even Paul (1 Cor. 9:1; 15:5–9). Since these divinely authorized channels of “all truth” died in the first century, it follows that divine revelation ceased with them. If revelation ceased, there was no longer a need for miracle signs of a new revelation.<ref>Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 471.</ref>


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