Receivinghe Gift of God

The experience of receiving the power fromon high is only the beginning of a fellowshipwhich should lead to the manifestation ofvictorious living.

Victor Paul WierwilleFounder and President of The Way International

In the early 1910s, Dr. Victor Paul Wierwilleseas asked by afriend, "Why don 'tyou searchfor the

eaiest of all things in life which would teach Chris-tian believers the how of a really victorious life?"This challenge was the beginning of his search for the

ce of the power which was manifested in the earlyChurch. "Finally," he writes in his enormously im-portant book Receiving the Holy Spirit Today, "Irealized that the experience referred to as 'receiving the- ly spirit' in the Scriptures was and is actuallyzzailable to every born-again believer today. " In the_:...o.owingarticle, he addresses those who want to bet-- understand and to tap into the power from the Holy• - ·t-and yet not do it in the darkness, fear or

_~;;stration caused by a lack of teaching from God's:,- rd. -Editor

know what fear can do. I know how Sa-[an can frustrate a believer and keep him

- m receiving the holy spirit into manifesta-D_ I know the common fears which kept mem receiving. And in my dealings with be-

evers, I have discovered that most of them.::ave fears similar to the ones I had.

_fast of the fears in regard to receiving the- y spirit into manifestation are due to wrongreaching or ignorance of the Word of God.Our minds have been preoccupied with:.:!Oughtsof what others have said and donerar er than with what the Word teaches. For

y people, there has been a lack ofzeaching, Therefore, certain believers do not

0- - that the gift, holy spirit, power from on-=-~_ is an indwelling reality in the life of

~.- born-again believer.Only when there is a clear and accurate

=id:hi-;ng of the Word of God are fears quickly

dispelled, for knowledge of the Word roots outfear. I know the terrible spiritual and mentalanguish people go through when overcome byfear. I also know the great joy and the over-whelming peace that the believer has whenfears are removed by the Word of God. Wecannot look to God with believing for any-thing so long as we are beset by fear, for fearbuilds unbelief, and unbelief blocks the prom-ises of God.

Some people fear that they are going to askfor something which is not meant for them tohave; they tear that the holy spirit was for thefirst-century believers only. But Hebrews 13:8says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."

This scripture means what it says-that wemay have all that was ever promised or given,and that God's gifts and the manifestationsare not limited to the first century. Ephesians5: 18 admonishes, "And be not drunk withwine, wherein is excess; but be filled with theSpirit [pneuma]."

This is for all believers, because the Book ofEphesians was written to the saints, believers,the faithful in Christ Jesus. Thus, Ephesians5:18 is a definite command from the Word ofGod that we as believers should be filled. Acts2:38 promises that "ye shall receive the gift ofthe Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion]." The prom-ise was made to you, as a believer, and to yourchildren as believers and to all believers untilthe appearing of Jesus Christ.

One of my nagging fears had to do withwhere the experience of manifesting a super-natural ability was coming from. I knew thatthere is such a thing as devil possession and

All gifts ofGod arereceived bybelieving,without anymerit on thepart of therecipient.

The Way Magazine/May-June 1982 5

that Satan does supernatural feats. How couldI be sure I would not be getting a counterfeitexperience when receiving the pneuma hagion?This was perhaps my greatest fear. Luke 11thoroughly allayed this fear.Luke 11:11-13:If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,will he give him a stone? or if he ask afish, will hefor a fish give him a serpent?Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scor-pion?If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts un-toyour children: how much more shall your heavenlyFather give the Holy Spirit [pneuma hagion 1 tothem that ask him?

This makes it clear that a human fatherwould not give evil to his son. Then who canpossibly believe that our heavenly Father, wholoves his children more than any earthlyfather, would allow a seeking child to be filledwith something harmful, wrong or false, whenwith a deep yearning he is believing to be filledwith power from on high according to God'sown Word and will?

So when you come to God, approach Himwith believing and absolute confidence, know-ing that from His hands you receive onlygood. How dishonoring it is to God when weas children trust our earthly fathers more thanour heavenly Father, thinking that He mightallow His hungry children to receive a false orharmful thing when we ask Him for, and be-lieve to receive, the holy spirit into mani-festation.

I also feared that I was not good enough toreceive power from on high. From a humanpoint of view I knew I was not. I had tried foryears to become good enough, but I did notand I could not. The erroneous belief that theholy spirit is given only to those who are good

The gift ofholy spiritequips us withthe ability fora life ofgreater fruit-fulness forGod.

6 The Way Magazine/May-June 1982

is keeping many people from walking intogreat deliverance and power. Remember,God gives the gift because we need it, notbecause we deserve it.

The receiving of any of God's gifts is not initself a proof of goodness on the part of thereceiver. The holy spirit is the gift of God. Allgifts of God are received by believing, withoutany merit on the part of the recipient. Godnever gives the holy spirit as a reward for liv-ing a good, honest life. He gives the pneumahagion to a believer to do in the believer thatwhich no believer can do in and for himself.Romans 10: 10:For with the heart man belieoetb unto righteousness;and with the mouth confession is made unto salva-tion.

Man receives righteousness because ofGod's goodness, not his own goodness. Wecannot raise ourselves by our bootstraps to begood enough to receive any of God's gifts.The experience of receiving the power fromon high is only the beginning of a fellowshipwhich should lead to the manifestation of vic-torious living. An added spiritual gift placesupon us an added responsibility to manifestthis gift in right living.

Remember that a gift is a gift. You maygive your daughter a beautiful new dress, butshe can take your gift and sit down in a mudpuddle. She has freedom of will to do this, hasshe not? But, truly, your daughter shouldrespect your gift and treat it accordingly. So itis with the gift of holy spirit. The recipientshould hold the gift in reverence. We are heldaccountable for the spiritual light we have andthe gifts we possess.

The fear of perhaps misusing the holy spiritwas another great barrier in my quest. Iwanted to be sure that I would not misuse thegift if and when the power came to live in me.Salvation is a gift to us as Ephesians 2:8 tells.Even though saved, believers all will sin; yet,when we confess our sins to God, He reestab-lishes us in fellowship. We should never pur-posely want to sin after salvation, after wereceive the gift of holy spirit; but if we sin wedo not mar the perfection of the gift. We onlyharm ourselves, and we have God's faithfulforgiveness if we confess our sins.I John 1:9:If we confess our sins, he isfaithful and just toforgiveus our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrigh-teousness.

Continued on page 26

Receiving the Gift of GodContinued from page 6

All the gifts of God are the meansto an end and not ends in them-selves. The end is that we might belike Christ. The gift of holy spiritequips us with the ability for a life ofgreater fruitfulness for God. Thepower from on high is ours to help usto grow more Christlike.

The gift of holy spirit is nevergiven on the basis of human meritbut on the basis of grace, as the Bibleso clearly teaches. Immediately afterreceiving the holy spirit, power fromhigh, a man has no more Christiancharacter than he had the momentbefore he received, but he now has asource of help and the ability to bringforth spiritual fruit, and this cannotbe overvalued.Galatians 5:22 and 23:But the fruit of the Spirit [pneuma] islove, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,goodness, faith,Meekness, temperance: against such there isno law.

Men are known by their fruit andnot by the gifts they possess. Gifts areno proof of good character. Gifts are

tion he is unable to build the house.If he is given a chest full of all thetools he needs, he receives the power,or ability, to build the house. Hemay, however, sit down on top of thetool chest and fold his hands. It lieswithin his own power to work or toremain idle. The possession of toolsconstitutes no guarantee that he willuse them. So it is with the one whohas received the gift of holy spirit.This believer has power divinelygiven of God; but he, like thecarpenter, may sit down and fold hishands.

Another fear I had was that Imight do something foolish andthereby make myself appear ridicu-lous. Suppose people would say, "Heis crazy."

Again Luke 11:11-13 came to myattention. God never makes anyonedo anything ridiculous or foolish.Every gift of God is a good andperfect gift. Therefore, nothing im-perfect comes with God's gift. Ifsome people have, by their actions,demonstrated foolishness, it was notof God but of their own doing. By

Gifts are received in a moment of time bybelieving, but producing fruit is growth indisciplined Christian living.

received in a moment of time by be-lieving, but producing fruit is growthin disciplined Christian living.

Another fear I had concerned theability or power Christ said wouldcome upon those who received theholy spirit. Many so-called spirit-filled Christians whom I knew were,by their fruit, indicating ineffectiveand powerless lives. If they had theGod-given power, why were they sodown-and-out? I could not under-stand this until one day I realized thedifference between a gift and its use.This point can be effectively illus-trated. A skillful carpenter has abuilding site, a set of blueprints andall the materials necessary to build ahouse according to the plans; but hehas no tools whatsoever. In this situa-

26 The Way Magazine/May-June 1982

their own wills they did that whichwas foolish, for God definitely says inI Corinthians 14:40, "Let all thingsbe done decently and in order."Though someone else fails or neglectsto use the gift wisely or properly, weneed not be stopped from applyingGod's best in our lives. Just becauseone cake fails, the housewife does notforever refuse to bake a cake, nordoes she say all cakes are no good.Just because some may have twistedthe experience of Pentecost, weshould not throw overboard the ex-perience of the power from on high.I Corinthians 14:32 says, "And thespirits [pneumata] of the prophets aresubject to the prophets," whichmeans that all spiritual abilities fromGod are subject to the man who re-

ceives them. The next verse in I Cor-inthians amplifies this truth.I Corinthians 14:33:For God is not the author of confusion,but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Man has freedom of will, and hisuse of the gift is his responsibility.God's gifts do not possess people, butpeople who have God's gifts are re-sponsible for the operation of them.

Don't let fear prohibit you fromcarrying out God's will. Know HisWord in order to have complete con-fidence in the truth that you as aborn-again child of God have beengiven the gift and now have the op-portunity and responsibility ofoperating all nine of its manifesta-tions. Confidence in knowing God'swill, plus your desire to do God'swill, shall give you the impetus tolaunch ahead-speaking in thetongues of men and of angels andoperating the other eight manifestionsof holy spirit as well. (.I

True Child in theContinued from page 14Philippians 2: 15-19:That ye may be blameless and harmless, thesons of God, without rebuke [from God],in the midst of a crooked and perverse na-tion [generation], among whom ye shineas lights in the world;Holding forth the word of life; that I mayrejoice in the day of Christ, that I have notrun in vain, neither laboured in vain.Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrificeand service of your faith, I joy, and rejoicewith you all.For the same cause also do je joy, and re-joice with me.But I trust in the Lord Jesus to sendTimotheous shortly unto you, that I alsomay be of good comfort, when I know yourstate.

Paul wanted to know their state."Standing" was their sonship, whichis to be born again of God's Spirit, to.be in the family. "State" was theirfellowship.with God. He wanted toknow how their fellowship was withGod, so he sent Timothy.Philippians 2:20:For I have no man likeminded, who willnaturally care for your state.

The word "likeminded" is iso-psuchos. It means "equal-souled."Paul, by revelation, said he had noman other than Timothy who wasequal-souled, of "one soul" withhim. This is a tremendous figure of

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