No.2: What Gives Evidence That a Person Has Holy Spirit? (rs
p.381 3p. 382 1)
S: Student N: Natasha
N: Good day Student, how are you doing?S: Im ok Nat, though I
got a fine telling-off from my aunt yesterday?N: Telling-off? About
what if I may ask?S: She argued that while Jehovahs Witnesses are
nice, there is no evidence that they have the Holy Spirit, since I
never saw any evidence of Holy Spirit like miraculous healing,
speaking in tongues, or anybody shaking with power when the spirit
enters into them at the Kingdom Hall. For this reason she said I
should discontinue studying the Bible with Jehovahs Witnesses until
you show me such evidence that you have the Holy Spirit.N: Well
Student, thanks for bringing your aunts concern to me rather than
keeping it to yourself. But as to what gives evidence that a person
has the Holy Spirit, dont you agree that what the Bible says is
more to be trusted or believed that what your Aunt?S: Yes I do; the
Bible is Gods word!N: Exactly, so lets look at what the Bible says
about evidence that someone has the Holy Spirit. And the best
person to start with is Jesus himself. We can look at Luke 4:18 to
see whether Jesus felt that the purpose of Holy Spirit upon him,
and the evidence it give, involved him trembling, shaking, speaking
loud or speaking in tongues. You can read it.S: [Read Luke 4:18].
N: Notice in this text Jesus says Jehovahs spirit was not on him to
make him shake or tremble or speak in tongues but to make him
declare good news to the poor, to make him proclaim liberty to the
captives. His not doing those things would be evidence he did not
have Holy Spirit. Even when he received Holy Spirit from God to
expel demons Jesus did not shake or tremble like persons who catch
the Holy Ghost in some of these churches do! For proof, you can
look at the account in Luke 4: 31-35 in your spare time, where
Christ, with Holy Spirit upon him, expelled a demon by simply
saying come out. So evidence that Jesus had Holy Spirit primarily
involved his declaring the good news.S: But that explains Jesus.
What about his followers, how would persons know whether they had
the Holy Spirit?N: Well, Acts 1:8 can tell us. Ill read this one.
So you see Student, the primary evidence that his followers
received Holy Spirit would be their becoming witnesses of Jesus to
the most distant part of the earth. Their not doing that would be
evidence they had not received Holy Spirit. Also, , when they did
receive that spirit, according to Acts 2:1-11, observers were
impressed by the fact that, although the ones speaking were all
Galileans, they were speaking about the magnificent things of God
in languages that were familiar to the many foreigners who were
present, not in unintelligible tongues. But the record does not say
that there were any emotional outbursts on the part of those who
received the spirit.S: Well that is clear. I am beginning to see
that evidence that a person has Holy Spirit does not involve such
emotional outburst as is often in Church services on TV. N: Thats
correct Student. But for an even clearer statement from the Bible
as to what evidence of ones possessing Gods spirit involves, we can
turn to Galatians 5:22, 23. You can read that. The Bible is clear
here that evidence showing that one possesses the Holy Spirit is
whether they exhibit its fruitage in their dealings with others,
such as love , joy, peace, patience, etc. It is this fruitage,
rather than outbursts of religious fervor, that one should look for
when seeking to find people who truly have Gods spirit. S: Thanks
for this explanation. I will share with my granddaughter, because I
can certainly that in the light these Scriptures, Jehovahs
Witnesses certainly have Jehovahs Holy Spirit, evidence of which
can be seen in their declaring the good news, being witnesses of
Jehovah to the most distant part of the earth, and their
demonstrating the fruitage of Gods spirit in their lives.N: Im glad
you see things that way Student. Thank you for your time.
