Entering The Spiritual House

Volume I: The Spiritual House Series

By Rev. and Mrs. J.R. Goodwin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PREFACE

At this time in which God has chosen to pour out His Holy Spirit upon a spiritually thirsty and needy generation, it seems there is very little material published which is scripturally and experimentally sound to serve as a guideline for those who have entered into this modern Canaan. "Entering the Spiritual House" has been the result of the request of many who have had the privilege of sitting under the teaching of Rev. and Mrs. J. R. Goodwin to put into print his teachings on the subject of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Reverend Goodwin and his wife are uniquely qualified to write such a book. Theirs has been a truly Pentecostal ministry spanning about fifty years.

There are those today who are new in this experience and are endeavoring to teach things regarding the Spirit which they know very little or nothing about. Consequently, they are going beyond what the Bible teaches and are perpetrating error. They are misrepresenting one of God's greatest gifts to His church in a day that He is pouring out His Spirit upon all flesh to prepare the church for the coming of the Lord.

God, who has always honored His Word and those who have faithfully declared it, has richly anointed the Goodwins' ministry in this glorious outpouring of His Spirit in our day. Rev. and Mrs. Goodwin have been instrumental in helping many denominational ministers and laymen come into the Bible experience of being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. The church which the Goodwins pastored for twenty-one years, First Assembly of God in Pasadena, Texas, has become known internationally as well as nationally.

Having studied many of the works of Howard Carter of England, one of the leading contemporary writers on the subject of the gifts of the Spirit, God enabled the Goodwins to meet and minister with Reverend and Mrs. Carter. It proved a great blessing that God should bring two such great ministries together—one from England and the other from the United States. During these occasions notes were compared, ministries were evaluated and were found to be quite complementary to one another.

The efforts in transcribing and compiling the thoughts in this book have not been bound to scholarly rhetoric as much as to capturing the personality, idioms, and flow of thought of the author with the hope of giving the reader the full benefit of the complete message as it was delivered originally.
Sincere appreciation and deepest gratitude is extended to Irene Cleary and Letha Gruver for their untiring work in transcribing, typing and other efforts of love in bringing this work into print.

With all my heart I thank God for the privilege that has been mine of working with such wonderful pastors and teachers as the Goodwins since 1936. May God bless them as authors and you as readers.

 

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Chapter One

ENTERING THE SPIRITUAL HOUSE

"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all" (I Cor. 12:1-6).

The nine gifts of the Spirit to the church, which are listed in the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians, are manifested through those vessels through whom the Holy Spirit chooses to work. "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" (I Cor. 12:11). These gifts work when the Holy Spirit wills to choose a vessel and to do that which He desires to do through this vessel.

It is the Holy Spirit who works these things through vessels. We will be talking about these "vessels" shortly, but first we want to consider the spiritual workings.

In the original manuscripts, the word "gift" does not appear. It has been furnished by the translators with the thought of giving us a better understanding that it is spiritual gifts which are the basic principles of the teachings here. However, first we are to consider spiritual matters. We are not to think of these as some gifts that are given to us to use at will. We must first be spiritual, and this is done by our coming into Christ.

No person is a spiritual being until he comes into Christ. We are made new creatures by coming into Him. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:14).

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Paul describes this new man in the seventh chapter of Romans where he describes the difference in a man before he comes to Christ and after he is converted. Referring to himself before he was saved, Paul said, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not" (Rom. 7:18).

So we see that in the natural man "dwelleth no good thing." It is after we are born again that the goodness of God begins to be produced from our inner man. The inner man is the one who is converted. The inner man is the one who seeks to follow God.
When we come to Christ we crucify the old man, the natural man. We refuse to give in to those natural desires that would cause us to transgress against the will of God.

The natural man receiveth not the things of God. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he commended Him for His wonderful works. He even stated, "We know you are from God." But Jesus replied, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." He even repeated it, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). He was telling Nicodemus the importance of being a new person.

Nicodemus, like Saul of Tarsus, was an important man in the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Council of the Jews. He was an outstanding man, no doubt, in the study of the scriptures. Nicodemus saw Jesus in a different light from what Saul of Tarsus saw him. He was physically closer to Him in the sense of seeing, hearing, and observing. He saw Jesus in the flesh, he heard His preaching, he; observed His miracles. But he had not been born again.

When we are born again we become spiritual beings, and from that time on we are to increase our knowledge of the Lord and grow in Christian maturity. We are to let the workings of God's great truths ever teach us, train us, correct us, and make us subjects meet for the Master's use.

Paul admonished Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15). This word of truth needs to be divided rightly. There are those who try to make the scriptures fit their particular beliefs rather than making their beliefs fit the scriptures. They "penknife" the Bible, cutting out those portions here and there which do not coincide with their pet doctrines. If we cannot make all the Bible blend together without seeming contradictions in our reading and our understanding, then we are missing the mark. We should study to show ourselves approved unto God. We should rightly divide the word of the scriptures — the word of truth.

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This is what we are admonished to do after we are born again.

Anybody can read the Bible. I read the Bible quite a bit before I was ever a Christian, just looking for contradictions in it. I grew up in a hotbed of agnosticism, and I fancied becoming one. But I was a little afraid to declare myself an agnostic because I couldn't help but believe that there must be a personal God. I thought that Jesus Christ must have come into the world and must have done what was recorded about Him.

One day a friend and I were talking about another young man who worked where we did. He was an outstanding Christian young man and we both liked him, but we sought to find some faults in him. We thought he was a little too religious. He wouldn't enter into some of our off-color joking, even with the boss. We thought he was just too far out. But we did have to admit one thing about him. I said to my friend, "There's one thing about those Pente-costals. They have more Bible for their teaching and preaching than anyone else that I know of."

Pentecostal doctrine takes its basic truths from Pentecost, the day the Lord Jesus Christ baptized His church in the Holy Ghost. From that day on the church went into the world to preach the gospel and to let the Lord confirm the Word with signs following. And this is still going on today.

This is the church that the apostle Paul is writing this letter to concerning spiritual workings, or spiritual gifts.

Paul has assured us that to be spiritual we have to crucify the old man. Our spirituality increases as we learn God's Word, and as we obey what we learn from His Word.

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If we are disobedient to the Word, if we go out and take other people's property when the Word says, "Thou shalt not steal," we cannot grow in the grace of God. And it would have been better for us not to have even been born again if we are going to practice sin in this manner after we are born again.

In this twelfth chapter of I Corinthians, Paul said that concerning spiritual gifts, "I would not have you ignorant." To be ignorant is simply not to understand some things on the particular subject at hand. For example, if someone should ask me questions about outer space and all the technicalities of sending missiles into outer space, I could not answer him intelligently. I am quite ignorant on such matters. I enjoy reading about it, but if it were to come right down to the practical workings of such things, I wouldn't even know which button to push!

And so a lot of people are just that ignorant about spiritual things. That's why Paul said, "I would not have you ignorant" concerning spiritual matters.

We can find a lot of places in the Bible where ignorance is exposed. When Paul was persecuting the church before his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, he did it ignorantly. Even though he had killed the saints, and put others in jail, yet God had mercy on him, forgave him and showed him the truth.

Regardless of how far one may have stepped from these truths which we are studying in the book of I Corinthians, if he will study them with an open mind, God will make them plain to him. If that individual will say, "Lord, this is written in your Word, and surely if these things were in operation in the early church, they couldn't be altogether gone in these days," I believe he will come into an understanding of it.

I am so glad that the Lord baptized me with the Holy Ghost some six months after I was saved. I was truly born again, my sins were washed away and I began to live for Jesus Christ and enjoy the blessings of God. Then on Thanksgiving Eve in the church when the Lord filled me with the Holy Spirit, I enjoyed it immensely. I did not have any high, hilarious type of feeling. I was just as calm as I could be, but I simply enjoyed speaking in tongues.

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It is a marvelous experience. You, dear reader, who are filled, know that. If you are not filled, if you are a believer in the scriptures and in what Jesus taught and did, and if you believe it is genuine and that it is for us today, you will soon be filled. But those who are turning it down altogether and will have no part in it — it is a sad plight for you. I trust you will read the scriptures, be fair and say, "Lord, open my understanding to these things. Let me know; let my doctrine be true. If these things are not for us, show me where they are not." There are a lot of people trying to find where they are not, and no one has ever found that. They cannot find any justifying scriptures.

After saying that he didn't want these Corinthians to be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts, Paul said, "Ye know that ye were Gentiles ..." Gentiles had no fellowship with the commonwealth of Israel. They were separated from the covenants of God. They were without God in the world (Eph. 2:12).

Then Paul said something else about them. He said they were "carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led." Idol worship is something that God does not tolerate at all. The person who is worshipping idols has no fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot put Jesus Christ up beside a false god or an idol.

In the Old Testament we read of a time when the ark of God had been brought back to Israel by the Philistines (I Sam. 5). The Philistines brought the ark into the house of Dagon, their false god. That night the idol fell and broke in pieces. God would not allow an idol to stand beside the ark in which He had put His name.

Not only had these Corinthians to whom Paul was writing worshipped idols, but Paul said that they "were led." They had an inward leading. The word used in this passage is the same word that is used in Luke 4:1 where Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. It refers to an inward leading. Many people have an inward leading. Some seemingly do not recognize it, but we all have inward leadings in various ways.

When the Spirit of God is dwelling in us, we have a leading of the Holy Spirit, and He will lead us into all truth. That truth is the Word of God.

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He is not going to lead us like so many want to claim. They say, "Well, if I am doing anything wrong, the Holy Spirit will show it to me." No, He did not say He would show us our wrongs. He said He would lead us into all truth. Jesus said, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth . . ." (John 16:13).

Then we read in John 17:17 where Jesus said as He prayed to the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." You and I get our guiding light from the Word of God. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psa. 119:105).

Some people, while claiming to seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit through some inward conviction or feeling, are actually deluded into following such leadings into the actual practice of sin and claiming that the Holy Spirit led them into it.

Someone will become enmeshed in a horrible sin and still say, "But I believe God was in it." However, God is not in any sin. He is not a partner in any wrongdoing that anyone commits. God cannot be tempted with evil, and He is not going to lead any man into evil. God does not lead us to treat our neighbor wrong. Paul said, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor . . ." (Rom. 13:10). If we are in God and God is in us, we are operating in the spirit of love.

Many people are led to do wrong all right, but they are not led of God. They may feel that the spirit leads them to do something, but it is not the Holy Spirit. Some of the heathen religions are led to throw their children to the alligators. Such human sacrifice is strictly forbidden by God in the scriptures.

Just recently I was told about a group that gathers periodically in the mountains. The sins and diabolical transgressions that are practiced by them in the name of religion are beyond human imagination. They drink blood, which Paul commanded that believers abstain from in the first letter written to the churches by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. Afterward the members of this sect indulge in all kinds of lewd orgies. Such acts are rejected of God, and those who commit them are destined for the lake of fire. Yet these people feel in their spirits that they are led to do such things. If they would just study the Word of God, however, they would soon see that their leading is wrong.

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There are several cults today which claim to be Christian, yet practice such things. Be sure that any "leading" one may have which does not coincide with the Word of God is not from God.

Concerning spiritual gifts, there is nothing in Paul's writings here to indicate that they would pass from the scene, that they would not continue on from one generation to another. There are those, however, who are trying to relegate these out of the church. There is not a scripture on which they can stand that would tell us that these things would cease any time before Jesus comes.

The scripture some use to try to prove that these spirt-ual workings have ceased is in this same epistle which we are studying — in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians. In this chapter Paul told what real love would do and how it would lead us. He told what real love would be in you and in me. We would do no evil, we would not get all puffed up, we would not be filled with envy, we would not brag on ourselves, we would not behave unseemly nor would we seek our own.

Then he said, "Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away" (verse 8). Many take this to mean that these spiritual gifts were to vanish away with the first generation of the New Testament period. Let's see if that's what Paul meant.

He went on to say, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child. I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (verses 9-12).

Paul said that when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. It will not be done away until that day. And according to the teachings of the scripture, that day is when we leave this world and go to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. When we all get together in heaven, there will be no need of prophecy, there will be no need of speaking in tongues, there will be no need of any of these spiritual workings. Then there will be no need of the gift of the word of wisdom, or the word of knowledge because we will be endowed with all wisdom and all knowledge. We'll be perfect in the entire degree of perfection.

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Paul himself didn't claim to know everything then. He said, "I know in part. Now we see through a glass darkly . . ." If there were anyone today who knew more about God or the workings of God than Paul did, then he could say, "I know a lot more than the apostle Paul did. I don't need any supernatural gifts." Even though Paul stated that he didn't know it all, he still knew so much more than anyone else about God's plans and purpose for His church.

If we would just learn a little bit of what the apostle Paul knew, we would know more than to say that these spiritual gifts were to cease. God intended them to function in the New Testament church throughout the centuries. They were to be in use until that day when the church is caught out of the world. This is the church that Jesus Christ established on the Day of Pentecost. He built it upon a rock and "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).

He endued this church with power on the Day of Pentecost to go out and minister, and all through the book of Acts we see the operation of the Holy Spirit. In scenes which we have of the church in the Bible, we see that there was "speaking in the Spirit." This is generally believed to be speaking in tongues, because wherever they were speaking by prophecy it was definitely mentioned that a prophet prophesied. But it is not always expressly stated where a message in tongues and interpretation was given.

The early church was admonished to practice these things, to contend for the faith that was delivered unto the saints once and for all. They were also warned that some would slip into the church and try to divert them from these teachings, but that they were to beware and not allow themselves to be led astray.

Shortly after I was baptized in the Holy Ghost, I began talking with a friend at the plant where I worked about things in the Bible. When he learned where I attended church, he said to me, "Those are fine people down there, but they are misled." We met together every noon at lunch and got out our Bibles and talked about things in the scriptures. We never argued. There was no bitterness between us about differences in doctrine. One day he suggested bringing his minister to talk to me and I agreed.

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The first thing this minister asked me was, "Did you receive the Holy Ghost like the apostles did?"

"All I know is that I received an experience while seeking God through Jesus Christ that exactly parallels this scripture," I said, pointing to Acts 2:4.

As we talked further on this subject, he seemed to become somewhat agitated. As it inevitably does when discussing the subject of tongues, this verse in I Corinthians 13:8 came up: ". . . But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." When he used this verse to argue that the Bible says tongues should cease, I replied, "It also says that knowledge shall vanish away. Do you suppose that is the reason you can't see these things?"

Tongues, prophecies, knowledge will all vanish away one day — when we get to heaven. For we will have no need of them then. We will worship our Saviour face to face.

In the next chapter of I Corinthians Paul wrote, "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men but unto God . . ." (I Cor. 14:2). I have never found any reason to object to anyone's speaking to God. We believe in praying, and Paul made this a much closer personal contact with God than our praying in our known language. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26). Here we see what the Spirit will do for the saints. He will make perfect intercession for us ac­cording to the will of God, and Paul highly recommended that we pray in the Spirit. At various times in his writings he encourages us to sing in the Spirit and pray in the Spirit.

After saying ". . . He that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men but unto God," Paul went on to say, "for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." He was saying that he that speaks in tongues does not understand what he is saying. The language is unknown to him, but it may not necessarily be unknown to everyone that hears him. Although he could be speaking a heavenly language ("Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels ..." (I Cor. 13:1), it is more likely that he is speaking an earthly language. Yet it is not one which he himself knows.

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". . . Howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." We can readily see that when we get to heaven — when that which is perfect is come — there will be no mysteries. We will know then as we are known. We will have an understanding of all things. We will understand fully how God created the earth in the beginning, how He created the universe, how all of these things came into being.

Our scientists are discovering many new things, but they will never find out all things working here, in the natural mind. The only way we can find out the deeper things of God is to have an experience like Jeremiah had. Jeremiah said, "I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void . . ." (Jer. 4:23). Jeremiah said he saw it! He didn't read about it. He saw it. He saw it back there at the creation of the earth when it was first covered with water. It was without form and void. This is the kind of experience we must have to get into even the deeper things that are permitted to us here on earth.

Moving on now in our study of the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians, let us look at the third verse: "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Paul was saying that no man who was speaking by the Spirit of God would relegate Jesus to a second place. He could not call Jesus of no value. Yet there are those today who consider themselves to be as great as Jesus. They take the scripture, ". . . He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12), and claim that they are doing greater things than Jesus did when He was here on earth.

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When the early church, newly empowered by the Holy Spirit following the Day of Pentecost, went forth preaching the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, the Lord confirmed the word with signs following. These disciples saw great miracles in their ministry, multiplied many, many hundreds of times in number.

They saw the fulfillment of Christ's promise, ". . . Greater works than these shall ye do; because I go unto my Father." They were not greater in quality, but greater in quantity. As their ministries multiplied through the lives of others converted to Christ, like an ever-widening circle when a stone is tossed into a pond, miraculous happenings increased and spread throughout the world.

When I hear some Christians claim that they are doing greater works than Jesus, I am reminded of the Bible illustration in Luke 12:16-21 of the rich man whose harvest was so plentiful that he was at a loss to know how to store it. Then an idea flashed through his mind. "And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods" (verse 18). The word "greater" is used here as it was used by Jesus in John 14:12 to mean greater in quantity, not greater in quality.

Another thing which we see in this third verse of Paul's letter to the Corinthians is that no one will call Jesus accursed if he is speaking by the Holy Spirit. We have seen people come to be filled with the Holy Ghost who did not have a right spirit, and would pretend that they were speaking in tongues. It was immediately apparent that it was not a true experience.

We have also seen people seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit who had sin in their lives and were just pretending in order to try to cover up their sin.

But we know that Jesus died for the ungodly, and the most ungodly man in town can come to Jesus Christ and confess his sins to God, confess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and surrender his life to Him. Not only will God give him eternal life, but He will also fill him with the Holy Spirit.

You and I might be standing on the sidelines wondering, "How could God do this? I know how mean this person is.

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Why, even last night he was involved in some terrible things, and here tonight he's trying to cover that up." However, he would not be covering it up himself. If he had honestly, sincerely come to Jesus Christ our Lord, His blood in the eternal Spirit washed all those sins away. He was then just as pure at that moment as he would be twenty years later, or perhaps purer because the years of righteous living and good works still could not make one more pure than the blood of Christ which "cleanses us from all unrighteousness" (IJohnl:9).

Paul went on to say in this same third verse, ". . . No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Now, you and I can say that Jesus is our Saviour. We would likely use the word, "Lord." But we would still be lord of what we were saying. I might say, "I'm going to walk across the room," and I can because I'm lord over what I am saying. Even as I preach a sermon, I may have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, but I am still lord over what I am saying. I say the things I want to say.

But when we are filled with the Holy Ghost and begin to speak with other tongues, we are not lord of what we are saying. He is Lord, and we cannot say He is Lord except when the Holy Spirit is using us completely.

When a person stands up and gives a message in other tongues, he is not lord over what he is saying. And the person who speaks forth the interpretation is not lord over what he is saying in the sense that he premeditates what he will say next. He is saying it and more or less hearing it as it comes forth.

There is a fine line here and I would not even say that I could draw a line with an extra-fine penpoint to show you the difference. I can't. I can only say that when someone gives an interpretation of a message in tongues, it is by the Holy Spirit giving the interpretation, it is not his. He is not speaking of his own mind. He is speaking from the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is anointing him and his spirit speaks it out over his vocal cords anointed with the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost giving him the utterance.

James tells us that the tongue is the most unruly member of our body, and he puts up quite a challenge for men to tame it. "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8). Although man himself cannot tame his tongue, the Holy Spirit can. When the Spirit gives us utterance, our vocal organs do the speaking, we give the sound, but He gives the utterance. It comes out in the language which He desires it to come out regardless of what that language is.

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On the Day of Pentecost it was the Holy Spirit who gave the disciples the utterance in other tongues. Men from various nations of the world heard these Galileans speaking their native tongue and understood them. What a marvelous and thrilling experience this must have been for speaker and listener alike. I personally cannot find anything any greater than the very Spirit of God giving me the utterance. When He comes in, He will be Lord over you and over me.

Continuing in his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul said, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all" (verses 4-6). This is the first time that the word "gifts" refers to the operation of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Naturally, when we receive the Holy Spirit, this is a gift to us. Jesus promised that He would send back to us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Preaching on the Day of Pentecost, Peter said, "Repent, and be baptized . . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). He was not talking here about the gifts of the Spirit in the sense of the gifts of the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, etc. If he had been, the wording in this text would have been different. But he went on to say "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (verse 39).

Peter talked about the Holy Spirit being a person, and Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as "He" or "Him." So we see that we do not receive "it" — an experience — but "Him" — a Person.

He is a gift, and how much greater it is to have Him who does the giving of these spiritual gifts than to have the gifts themselves. Of course, we could not have "them" without "Him." He has to come before these workings can operate in our lives.

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Jesus has chosen ministers for His church, as recorded in Ephesians 4:11. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." He has placed these ministries in the church. In the next verse we see their purpose. "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

When the Holy Spirit takes one of these ministers to work one of the spiritual operations through, this person is ministering the things of the Lord through the Spirit. For instance, the word of knowledge will reveal things that are either present or past. And how many, many marvelous healings we have in our churches where the Holy Spirit uses a yielded vessel to manifest God's healing power.

We see these gifts of the Spirit operating in the lives of saints as well as ministers. It is usually not to the same degree or measure as in the ministry, however. The saints gather the people in, and the ministers build them up, they perfect them. They do the work of the ministry. But the saints can pray and see healings and other marvelous manifestations of God's power as they allow themselves to be used of Him.

The Lord has never called a body of saints to the ministry. He separated and called individuals to the ministry. Jesus said to His disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain . . ." (John 15:16). These were His followers that He was talking to, those who had been with Him all the time, to whom He said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you . . ."

So we see that God sets some apart for special service, to be ministers of His church. We should esteem this place highly.

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Chapter Two

THE INFILLING OF THE SPIRIT

In this chapter we will deal with two questions: (1) Do we speak with tongues when we are filled with the Holy Ghost? (2) Do we receive the gift of tongues when we are filled with the Holy Ghost?

To the first question we answer an emphatic "yes"! Let us look to the scriptures for reasons as to why we can answer this positively with such assurance. Jesus said, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me" (John 15:26). Then in the next chapter we read where Jesus said, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come" (John 16:13). Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes in, He will "testify," He will "speak".

The apostle Paul, as well as the other writers of the Bible, declared this same truth. All that had anything to say about this experience of being baptized in the Holy Ghost certainly agreed that all speak with tongues.

Even back in the Old Testament we see prophecies concerning speaking in tongues. Isaiah, who talked more about the coming Messiah and the New Testament age than perhaps any other prophet, wrote, "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear" (Isa. 28: 9-12).

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We see this happening on the Day of Pentecost. It was a startling thing to the Jews from various nations who were gathered at Jerusalem to hear these Galileans speaking in the languages of the nations from which these Jews had come. They gathered at Jerusalem annually for one of the three great feasts which were held there. Some might have come to all of the feasts, but certainly this group witnessed something greater than they could have anticipated.

While they were there the Holy Spirit was poured out according to the Word of God just exactly as Jesus had promised and as Isaiah had prophesied. The “rest” which Isaiah had predicted “wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest” descended upon those waiting hearts and spoke forth in “stammering lips and another tongue.”

When writing to the Corinthians concerning speaking in tongues, Paul reminded them that the prophet Isaiah had already told them this would happen. He said, “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord” (I Cor. 14:21).

I want to point out two other phenomena which preceded the speaking in tongues at Pentecost.
(1) “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting” (verse 2).
(2) “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them” (verse 3).

In the lives of the nation of Israel, when any great change took place or any great event was ushered in, it was always witnessed by fire and by wind. These were signs from God that all Israel might know this was from the Lord. Thus, hearing the sound of a rushing mighty wind and seeing the cloven tongues of fire, any Israelite who had been taught in the scriptures should have understood immediately that this was of the Lord. It was accompanied by God’s signs.

Was this the gift of tongues? We do not find that this kind of utterance was interpreted. On none of the occasions recorded in the book of Acts where speaking in tongues was the evidence that the Holy Spirit had come — that the believers were now filled with the Holy Ghost and their bodies had become the temples of the Holy Spirit — does it say that there was an interpretation given to this type of speaking in tongues. This speaking in tongues was not given for interpretation. It is not the ministry of tongues. It is not the gift of tongues.

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The word “gift”, as mentioned in Chapter One, was used only in the church after the gifts of the Spirit were working in the church. Paul encouraged these spiritual workings in every New Testament church. But the church at Corinth had allowed them to get out of bounds. There were some things that were not good, and he had to write this letter to correct these errors. This does not mean, however, that he was trying to do away with tongues and spiritual gifts. Certainly not! He was merely trying to teach them the scriptural use of the gifts.

Some churches which once had the power of the Holy Spirit in their midst have allowed it to ebb away, and are spiritually poorer because of it. All through the pages of church history we find evidence of the operation of the Spirit. One highly esteemed historian, Conrad Von Orelli, Ph.D., University of Basil, Basil, Switzerland, wrote about such New Testament experiences during the Dark Ages. Even then every time a revival would spring forth these supernatural workings of the gifts of the Spirit were witnessed. Some testimonies I read would rival present-day happenings.

In the early days of the Methodist movement there was so much of the operation of the Holy Spirit that they were branded as fanatics. But they had a genuine move of the Spirit.

Other movements also started out dynamically in the operation of the Spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit and even going on into the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. This power was present then and it is still in the world today. It is still in the church. And if you and I don’t want it, all we have to do is to stop giving ourselves to it, cease to declare it, quit preaching it, and the moving of the Spirit in our midst will be snuffed out.

When Jesus stood in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from a scroll which was handed to Him, He read from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).

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Jesus intimated here that these things will happen when you and I preach them. If we will be faithful to the preaching of the Word, these things will be manifested. There is not a preacher in the land who should be sitting back and not allowing the Holy Spirit to operate through him with signs following.

After telling the disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, Jesus sent His disciples out. As they went forth and started preaching, the Lord confirmed the Word with signs following. He will always confirm His Word.

But if you sit back and say, "Well, I know they had it in the early church, but we do not have it today," you surely will not have it. The Holy Spirit will not run over you with anything. But if you will preach this truth and say, "Here I am, I am nothing of myself, but I am preaching what God said," you will see these same signs confirming your ministry.

As we have said, when the hundred and twenty were filled with the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost and spoke in other tongues, there is no mention of a spiritual interpretation for it. The Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem for this annual feast understood the languages that were spoken because they were the languages of their countries. Therefore, since there was no interpretation, this would not be the gift of tongues, for according to Paul's teachings in the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians concerning spiritual gifts, the gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues must work together. Paul said that if there were no interpreter, then the one who speaks in tongues should hold his peace.

Thus we see that the initial infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues is separate and apart from the gift of tongues. We do not receive the gift of tongues when we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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The next instance in the Bible where people received the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues is recorded in the tenth chapter of Acts. As Peter preached to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Ghost fell on them. The Jewish brethren who went with Peter to Cornelius' house were amazed that the same Holy Spirit which filled them would also fall on Gentiles. "And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost'' (verse 45).

How did they know that the Holy Ghost was poured out on these Gentiles? "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God . . ." (verse 46). This agrees with Jesus' statement, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come ... he shall not speak of himself . . . He shall glorify me. . ." (John 16:13-14).

It had been the Jews' intention to keep this experience for themselves. They never had any idea that the gift of the Holy Spirit was for Gentiles as well. Even when Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature . . ." how far did they go? They went to Jerusalem and were going to enjoy this until Jesus returned, set up His kingdom, and made the Jewish nation the rulers of the world. But the Lord had other plans. The Jews were scattered throughout the world by means of terrible persecutions upon the church.

Peter was commanded by the angel to take the message of Jesus Christ to Cornelius' house. The thought of mingling with Gentiles was repulsive to Peter. God had to convince him by repeating three times the vision Peter had on the housetop of a great sheet being let down out of heaven filled with all kinds of unclean beasts. God had a ministry for him to the Gentiles.

Later when Peter was called before the council in Jerusalem for going to Gentiles, he defended his actions by telling them how as he preached the Word to them "the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:15-17).

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Notice, there was no mention here that when these Gentiles spoke in other tongues there was any interpretation. This was not a message by the Holy Spirit in the operation of spiritual gifts. This was not the gift of tongues.

We read of another outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the nineteenth chapter of Acts. When Paul was passing through Ephesus, he found some disciples of John and asked them, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" (Acts 19:2). They replied that they had not heard that the Holy Ghost experience had been given. They were believers who had been baptized unto John's baptism.

Paul then told them, "John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus" (verse 4). They accepted Paul's teachings and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Paul laid his hands upon them and "the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues ..." (verse 6).

Here again we see the evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit is speaking in other tongues. We also note that again there is no mention of an interpretation being given.

There is one account in the book of Acts where there is no mention of speaking in tongues when the people received the Holy Ghost. In the eighth chapter of Acts we read where Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to the people. Hearing Philip's message and seeing it confirmed with signs following, the people believed and were saved. "And there was great joy in that city." (verse 8).

In verses 14-16 we read, "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)" This passage of scripture would seem to indicate that some have stronger ministries than others along certain lines. Although Philip had great success in winning many converts to the Lord Jesus Christ, it was felt that the ministries of Peter and John were needed to lead these new converts into the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

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"Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost" (verse 17). It does not say here that they spoke in tongues. However, the events that followed lead us to believe they did.

"And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomso­ever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost" (verses 18-19). Evidently Simon must have seen or heard something which impressed him so much that he offered to buy this unique power. Bible scholars agree that Simon heard the believers speaking in tongues when they received the Holy Ghost.

So we see from examples in the Bible that when New Testament believers received the Holy Ghost, they spoke in other tongues.

(Editor's Note: At this point in the original taped lesson, the Holy Spirit spoke a message in tongues through Mrs. Goodwin, and Reverend Goodwin gave this interpretation: )

"I will show you many proofs of this experience if you will but read my Word prayerfully and listen to the exhortation that is given by those who are searching the Word and giving it out to you. You would say, 'But I cannot believe this thing.' If you cannot believe this which was given from heaven, then you cannot believe that eternal life comes into your heart and your spirit and saves you from the wrath of God which is to come.

I will show you many more things than all this that has been talked about by my servant if you will but yield to me and humble yourself and say, 'Lord, I am honest, I want to be honest, I will walk with you in whatever light you give me from your Word. Let me see your Word. Show it to me, I will walk in it.' Then I will show you more than you have ever seen before."

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Chapter Three

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

Earlier we talked about the spiritual house and the gifts of the Spirit which Paul wrote about in the twelfth and fourteenth chapters of I Corinthians. Even though we may mentally accept these things as scriptural, and believe that they are for the church today, if we do not act upon them nothing will happen. We know that faith without works is dead. If we do not have works with our faith, we can make statements of faith all day long and that is all we'll have— statements but no actions. But when we act on the Word in faith believing, we will find things happening in our lives.

In verse 28 of I Corinthians 12 we read, "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." Then Paul asks the question, "Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues: do all interpret?" (verses 29-30).

He then admonishes us, "But covet (desire) earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way" (verse 31). The word translated "covet" here is not the same word used elsewhere in the New Testament to mean the old carnal nature of covetousness. Paul meant that we should desire earnestly the best gifts, or the best operations of the Holy Spirit.

Then he said that he would show us a more excellent way, and following is the great love chapter of the Bible: I Corinthians 13.

The mighty workings of the Holy Spirit are much more forceful when we are filled with love. Paul was talking here about "agape" love, that it, a pure love, the love that is imparted from a greater to a lesser, in this case imparted from God to us. If we are not recipients of it from God, it will not manifest itself in our lives.

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Paul said, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal" (I Cor. 13:1). This "agape" love is the highest quality of godliness that we can achieve in our spiritual lives. This is not to diminish the importance of the spiritual gifts which Paul talked about in the preceding chapter. He was just saying that all these gifts, as wonderful and important as they are, profit us nothing if we do not have love.

While love is the common denominator in all the gifts of the Spirit, they are divided to each one as the Holy Spirit wills. "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" (I Cor. 12:8-11).

Just as Paul said that not all are apostles, or prophets, or teachers, so he tells us here that not ail will have these spiritual gifts. It is as the Spirit wills. Notice that verse 28 says, "And God hath set some in the church . . ." Notice that it is God, not man, who does the appointing. And it says that He sets "some," not everybody.

They are listed here in their order of importance. The apostles are mentioned first of all for they are the highest position in the church. Next is the office of the prophet. "But we don't have prophets in these days," someone might say. If they were not meant for us now as well as then, why would they be in the New Testament church? Why would the Lord give gifts to the New Testament believers and take them away from us in a day when we need them more than ever?

I will grant you that there are many people in the world today who call themselves prophets falsely. But there were also many false prophets in the days of Jeremiah. There were false prophets in Moses' time and in Elijah's. In fact, Elijah once had to go against four hundred and fifty of them. But he wasn't one bit afraid of all of them put together because he was anointed by God (I Kings 18:19-40).

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The fact that there is a counterfeit does not nullify the genuine.

Nowhere in any of Paul's extensive writings to the church did he intimate that one day these things would cease. Nowhere did he even hint that they were not for believers everywhere, in all times.

In connection with Paul's writings here to the Corinthians, let us look at the twelfth chapter of Romans. He began the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians by saying, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant." He was writing to the church at Corinth concerning spiritual gifts. In the twelfth chapter of Romans he began by telling them that he was going to deal with them about a dedicated, consecrated life.

The preceding chapters in Romans were concerning Israel, how they were cut off and the Gentiles were grafted in because the Jews had rejected Jesus as the Son of God. As he told them he was showing them a great mystery, he also issued forth a warning. He told them that Israel fell away in unbelief, and warned them to take heed lest the same thing should happen to them. They were not cut off in order that the Gentiles might come in — they needn't become proud and think that God cut Israel off to choose them ahead of Israel. Paul said they went away because of unbelief and thus the Gentiles were chosen.

The next chapter begins, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:1-3).

Notice in verse 3 that Paul cautioned Christians not to think of themselves more highly than they ought. I think we can take that one step further and say that man should not think more highly than he ought to think, not just concerning himself but in many different realms. We don't only have to be puffed up in ourselves to miss God. We can miss God by just thinking so highly in the sciences, about business matters, or other areas of this world that we can't believe God.

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There are plenty of people who do not think too highly of themselves, yet they read after some highly educated scientist who doesn't believe in God and is trying to prove that there was never any such thing as the creation or resurrection.

We can also think too highly regarding some pet doctrine we might have. A lot of times these are just theories and to try to prove these theories we take scriptures completely out of context. The scriptures do not contradict themselves anywhere. Man sometimes contradicts the scriptures.

We should not think more highly than we ought, but we are "to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Notice that Paul didn't say that just a select few should have faith. He said that "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

Then we read in the fourth and fifth verses, "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." This refers to the whole body of Christ, to us as individual human beings.

Paul goes on, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith" (verse 6). The words in this verse, "gifts" and "grace," both come from the original Greek word "charisma" and "charis." The word "charisma" is translated "gift" fifteen times, and is translated "grace" one hundred and twenty-nine times.

When Paul said "let us prophesy" in this verse, he is not talking about the gift of prophecy which we read about in the twelfth chapter of I Corinthians. He is talking about being able to give out prophecy, to tell, to have the spirit of it. ". . . The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10). If we give that out, let us do it according to the "proportion of faith."

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We cannot go beyond our faith in telling what Jesus can do or what He does do. We must be true. God does not want us to lie for Him. Paul said, “For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?” (Rom. 3:7). If we go out and lie about it, we will be judged as a sinner. So let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Whatever amount of faith we have, we can testify for our Lord.

The next verse begins, “Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering . . .“ Ministering here does not refer to ministering spiritual gifts. This means general ministering. It applies to those who minister the Word, to those who minister of their goods. It is the same word which applied to those that ministered in Herod’s house. It means to serve, to help others, to minister unto others. How wonderful it is to minister to the needs of others. To minister the gospel. To minister to the poor.

We cannot be true Christians and forget to minister to the poor. Neither can we forget to care for those who have faithfully labored for us in the ministry. Wherever there is a need, “let us wait on our ministering.”

Verse 7 goes on to say, “. . . Or he that teacheth, on teaching.” If a person is going to be a teacher, he has to wait on his ministry of teaching.

In the next few verses Paul gives us a picture of what the Christian life should be. He said, “Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality” (Rom. 12:8-13).

Remember, Paul said earlier in this chapter that the Christian should not be conformed to this world, but should be transformed by the renewing of his mind. He should be fully committed, consecrated, dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. He should put aside all the things of the world and concentrate on matters of the spirit.

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To see a picture of just such a man, let us look at the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk. Here was a man who had complete confidence in God and total commitment of self to serve Him. He was unreservedly sold out to God. Habakkuk said, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines: the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places . . “ (Hab. 3:17-19).

Habakkuk was declaring that no matter what his circumstances in life, no matter how dark or desperate his hour might be, he would rejoice in the Lord. He would look to the Lord for his strength. He would trust in God for power to overcome life’s hardships.

This is just what Paul is teaching us in the twelfth chapter of Romans.

Paul further urged, “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Rom. 12:14-18).

Would this be possible unless the believer had not first been “transformed by the renewing of your mind . .”? Paul put first things first. Before telling them the duties required of Christians. he gave them the key to how all of this would be possible — not in our human strength, but by becoming “transformed” by the power of God!

This chapter concludes with the words, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengence is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19-21).

 

This is the greatest course of life!

As we have studied Paul's writings in I Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, we saw him speaking in I Corinthians 12 about spiritual operations. No mention is made of these at all in Romans 12. It talks simply of the total commitment of the Christian's life. It urges all believers to be completely sold out to God for the happiest, highest type of Christian life.

Although not all of us can have the spiritual gifts Paul talks about in I Corinthians 12, we can all have the good graces of the Lord Jesus Christ by the gift of eternal life as we follow the teachings of His Word.

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