Holy Spirit of Fire

By Tim Henry

Holy Spirit of Fire is a scripturally based book of the how, when, and where of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit of Fire brings the realization of the Holy Spirit from the time of Jesus' walk on this earth, the meaning of the Cross of Calvary for a believer, the day of Pentecost, and what we now have

• Language: English
• Publisher: Authors' Tranquility Press
• Release date: Jul 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958554678

Book preview

Introduction

This book is written about Jesus Christ, the cross, and the Holy Spirit. Because of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you can survive and conquer all things in your life.

As I was led to write this book, my desire to experience a closer walk with Christ was amplified to a place I never thought it could reach. My relationship with God grew stronger and stronger as I wrote this book. I pray that you will evaluate your relationship with God with each message and also seek a closer relationship with Him. I know I have never lived my life the way the men in the Bible lived theirs, nor, as I have realized, have I ever had a relationship with God as they did.

This propelled me to wonder, as I went to church and praised God and listened to people with problems, why God wasn’t moving in our lives as He did in the Bible. As I began to study the Bible and pray for God’s insight, I saw really quickly why things were not happening today as they did for long-ago believers of the New Testament. I hope as you read this book, as I bring out different aspects of the fire of the Holy Spirit and the freedom that was brought forth at the cross through Jesus Christ, that you too will be able to realize some downfalls and needed changes in your life and in the church for Jesus Christ—not a church for Christ full of humanity’s rules, but a church that believes the Bible and the fullness of the love letters from God that enable us to have a more fulfilled life.

I give all the glory and praise to God for my salvation and giving me the insight to write this book. The great thing about salvation and the gifts from God is that one owes no man anything for it all; God did it all through the greatest gift that could have ever been given, His Son Jesus Christ. God, through the Holy Spirit, has also filled me with the knowledge to write the contents of this book.

Thank You!

CHAPTER 1

Jesus and the Holy Spirit from The Beginning

There is no doubt that with every spiritual thing we have, we must first start with Jesus Christ to be able to understand it—including salvation, redemption, sin debt, atonement, eternal life, and the Holy Spirit.

Everything of value that we have within this world and will have in the next, starts with the acceptance of Jesus Christ and what He accomplished, on the cross of Calvary by the Father’s will. If we accept what Jesus accomplished at Calvary, we will enjoy everlasting life in heaven. If we reject Jesus Christ and what He accomplished at Calvary, we will face an eternal life of torment in hell. Through His actions, Christ showed how we need to live and all the gifts that come with our faith in Him, including the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

So, we would all be very remiss if we when we talk about or learn about the Holy Spirit, do not first learn about Jesus Christ, His walk on this earth in the flesh, and the meaning of the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension.

Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin even the mention of his name outraged kings and jealous nonbelievers.

Conceived by the Holy Spirit!

In order to understand the meaning of Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit, you first have to go all the way back to the book of Genesis. After the fall of man, when Adam walked the earth, you have to look at what God said to the man, the woman, and the serpent. God then stated what He would do some four thousand years later. Most of the Old Testament is based on promises of God that would be revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the cross, and the day of Pentecost are some of these revealed promises. In other words, the Old Testament is the promise by the Word; the New Testament is the promise of God by the man Jesus Christ revealed. The Old Testament points to Jesus Christ constantly.

Revelation of Jesus Christ

So the LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

—Genesis 3:14–15 NKJV

Not only did God curse Satan in these verses, but He also let him know that He would be sending a Redeemer, our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ, who would stand between him and the woman and her offspring. That enmity is Jesus Christ.

This is why we have to start with Jesus first, because Jesus’ blood and the cross are the only reasons we even have a breath of a chance at salvation, redemption, and atonement. Jesus is also the reason we have the Holy Spirit in our lives and why we are able to receive the baptism by fire, through the cross. In the Gospels, we learn and read that Jesus was born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Now, the Holy Spirit was here from the beginning. Let’s go back to the Bible, once again to the book of Genesis.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

—Genesis 1:2 NKJV

The Holy Spirit was here in the beginning, before man or even the earth had form.

God speaks of His Spirit, telling us that Jesus would be gifted with the Holy Spirit long before He even lived on earth as a fleshly man. There is no way that a man could have put the Bible together, written by so many people over many thousands of years, and construct such a coordinated writing. The Bible is a divine writing, authored by God.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD.

—Isaiah 11:2 NKJV

In Isaiah, the Lord told the world of the power that Jesus would possess through the Holy Spirit.

What Is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. He is fully God. He is eternal and omnipresent, has a will, and can speak. He is alive. His ministry is to bear witness and glorify Jesus, His name means comforter, peace, love, truth, and He is always a gentleman.

But when the Comforter has 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 KJV

Jesus, speaking to His disciples, lets us know the duty of the Holy Spirit—to always glorify Christ through the Spirit’s workings in our lives.

Manifestation of the Holy Spirit

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 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 divers kind 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.

—1 Corinthians 12:7–11 KJV

The purpose of the Holy Spirit today is to allow all believers to profit the church and move a lost person to believe in Jesus, while giving glory to Jesus Christ and what He did at Calvary

The Birth of Jesus through the Holy Spirit

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

—Matthew 1:18–25 KJV

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; of his kingdom, there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

For with God, nothing shall be impossible.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

—Luke 1:26–38 KJV

The Gospels make it very plain that Jesus was conceived from the Holy Spirit. Jesus had to be born of the Spirit because if man had been involved, He would have been born into sin. Jesus was God, who took on a fleshly body to give us our salvation. God sent His Son so that you and I may have eternal life with Him. Jesus came from the portals of heaven and was there before the earth was even set on its foundations. Jesus was there to see Satan cast out of heaven like a bolt of lightning.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and overall the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

—Luke 10:17–20 KJV

Not only does Jesus let us know that He was in heaven when Satan was cast out, but He also tells us not to rejoice over the power that one will have through the Holy Spirit, but to rejoice that our names are written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life once we accept Him as our Savior because of His accomplishment on the cross.

And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and

Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

And she spoke out with a loud voice, and said, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

—Luke 1:41–44

Now, if Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and Elisabeth’s womb was also filled with the Spirit, it certainly makes sense that Jesus had the Holy Spirit in His life before birth. If the Holy Spirit was around at creation, He was certainly here for the greatest birth ever.

As many of you know, John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus. He walked around in the wilderness, preaching, teaching, and baptizing with water. He was constantly proclaiming that the Messiah—his cousin Jesus—was on the way. John the Baptist said that though he baptizes with water, he who was coming would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

—Luke 3:16–17

This fire baptism was first mentioned by John the Baptist

—the Holy Spirit of Fire!

John explained what would happen to someone when he or she was baptized in the fire of the Holy Spirit. Just as the people of the Bible shook the wheat up in the wind, Jesus would, through the Holy Spirit, fan out the bad. Jesus would then build a fire in the believer that was so hot it would burn out all of the chaff—the bad—in one’s life. Once one was ignited with the fire of the Holy Spirit, one would want to glorify Jesus in all of his or her actions.

Think about it this way. A prostitute comes into church, dressed in her normal prostituting wear, to ask Jesus into her life. The prostitute gets her salvation and gets filled with the Holy Spirit of fire as well. The next time she comes into church, she is in different clothes, her mouth has cleaned up, and her makeup and smile are different. This is what the salvation of Christ—as well as the fire of the Holy Spirit—will do in one’s life. What did salvation do for you?

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

—Matthew 3:12

The Bible speaks of cleaning the wheat—in other words, collecting the good wheat into the barn and burning up the rest, the chaff. Christ is trying to do just that with each and every believer every day through the Holy Spirit: take out what is bad and harmful to us, leaving the good, pure, and cleansed so that He can work through us. Fire is always used as a purifier, and how much better to have the fire of the Holy Spirit inside, cleansing daily!

Now, do you understand a little more about the baptism of fire? Let’s look at this in terms that we can all understand. The fire is the purging, the cleaning of the heart and soul, and is needed constantly because all of us are going to fail and thus need to step into the fire daily. The only way we can purge daily is to read the Word of God, pray, fast, and seek to be led by the Holy Spirit. Just going to church and saying I am a Christian is not enough.

The fire of the Holy Spirit will bring out the precious things that endure through God—love, repentance, humility, forgiveness, faith, and worship—if we make God number one in everything that we do. As we go through the fire, these things become stronger and began to prevail more in our lives. These are the works that the Spirit carries out and builds upon.

The things that the flesh and self-hold dear include manipulation, envy, drunkenness, idolatry, adultery, witchcraft, strife, jealousy, domination, money, sex, glory, power, greed, hate, bitterness, spite, vengefulness, and other human strengths that only bring us down and work against us. These fleshly desires cannot live in the fire of the Holy Spirit. These things of the flesh are of Satan, and Satan will not stay where the fire of the Holy Spirit dominates.

Look at the last five commandments of the Ten Commandments God delivered to Moses. The first five have to do with Spirit and worship and honor to God. The last five all have to do with the flesh, which has to be burnt out daily.

SIX: You shall not murder.

SEVEN: You shall not commit adultery.

EIGHT: You shall not steal.

NINE: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

TEN: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

—Exodus 20: 13-17 NKJV

Keeping in mind that we must abide by all the commandments, look at the tenth one: you shall not covet. Look how much sin coveting causes. Coveting can cause you to break all the other commandments. Coveting can lead to committing adultery, theft, murder; bearing false witness (lying); dishonoring parents; cursing God; putting things in front of the Sabbath; putting an image before God (money, children, a woman or man, a car, a boat, etc.); and creating something in the place of God (lust of the flesh—to put oneself at the top instead of God). Once we have not given God the glory, we ought to get ready for the fire—not with the fire baptism, but in hell.

We need to constantly seek Jesus and the Holy Spirit with the baptism of the fire of the Holy Spirit. Since we as fleshly humans could not live by the law, God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge gave us something else

—His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who in turn gave us Salvation, the Comforter; the Holy Spirit by the way of the cross.

Understand this if you understand nothing else in this book: had Jesus not come to this earth as our witness, died on the cross, been resurrected on the third day, and ascended to the Father, we would have nothing. I mean nothing—no hope of salvation or help from the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Everything we have and can be thankful for came from Jesus Christ and the cross, period.

CHAPTER 2

Jesus Foretells and Promises

Jesus foretells and promises the Holy Spirit just days before His death on the cross of Calvary. Jesus made a promise regarding what He would do for all mankind and spoke of a baptism He would have to undergo to do so. This baptism was one of pain, suffering, and shedding of blood at Calvary. If Jesus had not gone through this baptism, we would have neither the promise of eternal life nor the opportunity to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and with fire.

The promise of the Holy Spirit

But when the Comforter has 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 KJV

But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that

I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

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.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

—John 16:5–15

To understand these Scriptures is to understand that the Holy Spirit is for the glorification of Jesus Christ, not man. There are so many people whom God desires to use through the Holy Spirit who got so caught up in themselves that they take their eyes off of what God desires and thus start stumbling. Yes, they fall. Do you remember the mention of coveting in the previous pages and what it can lead to through the flesh? Jealousy, part of coveting, can also result in never receiving the Holy Spirit in your life.

Surprised? How many times have you heard someone say, I have never received the gift of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and I have been going to church for twenty-five years—and this person just received two weeks after he or she was saved? Jealous people, always wanting what someone else has instead of what God has for them, will never receive what God desires for their lives. Like a rotten apple that spoils the whole crate, a jealous person can cause division in a church. Do not put yourself on a pedestal in front of God; you will fall. Go back to your Bible and read what Isaiah wrote about Satan. Remember, Jesus even stated that He saw Satan cast out of heaven like a bolt of lightning, and it was because of his jealousy of God.

How art thou has fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weakens the nations!

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

—Isaiah 14:12–15 KJV

Remember also that God owns the cattle of a thousand hills. Most of these people who never receive the Spirit and fall usually don’t even understand why. They continually ask God why when the answer is that they never yielded to Jesus, whom the blessing comes from. Instead, they kept themselves in the way, possibly putting themselves on a pedestal. This is quite possibly the little old gray-haired lady who sings in the choir, whose family helped start the church in 1880, and who feels she has a place. These same people are why the church does not grow and why the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit cannot move there. Jesus Christ, through the cross of Calvary and the Holy Spirit, is the only way. This is why being unable to recognize the flesh can be so harmful. This is why we as mortal men need to desire a daily purging through the Holy Spirit and the fire baptism: we are all sinners and will fall short. We must get ourselves out of the way!

There are a lot of preachers, elders, ministries, laymen, and so on whom God wants to use through the Holy Spirit, but someone always lets the little foxes in to spoil the vine. We as fleshly mortal men and women have a hard time forgiving and forgetting—in other words, being Christ like. Some people get the Holy Spirit in their lives and start using the gift as a vendetta against others instead of being led by the Spirit as Jesus foretold. They start an I, I, I game with a person they don’t like who does not have the baptism.

Do not hinder the Spirit. God will not tolerate this action by His servant. If you have been in a Spirit-filled church, you have seen that person who got in his or her own zeal and started speaking, too. If your spirit does not line up with the actions and words of people, getaway, and do not follow the words they speak. If someone has done something to you in the past, do not dwell on it. Pray for that person and watch what God will do in your life. Do not lose your opportunity to be used by God to glorify Jesus.

Sometimes we cannot get our eyes off what has happened in our past and let it hinder us in doing what God wants to do through the Holy Spirit today. This is a trick of Satan. When you became a child of God, He forgave your sins through the cross of Calvary and threw them in the sea of forgetfulness. Do not live in this self-condemnation. Do not let Satan use this trick against you!

There are times in churches, it is sad to say, when people hunt green monsters at every turn. You know if you hunt a green monster long enough and keep planting a seed for him, you will more than likely find him. Let me show just a simple example. If someone tells a brother or sister, "You know, I can sing as well as Sister Jones, and the preacher always puts her upfront, and you know she … that is how easily the seed of jealousy can get planted by a non-praying person.

The religious person in the congregation will commit these acts all the while claiming to be a Christian or acting for the good of the church, all the while planting a bad seed in the congregation. This covetousness just planted a bad seed that will spread like wildfire in the church. Non praying people who lack the Holy Spirit’s fire in their lives are usually green when they see someone getting a blessing from God or being a blessing for the glory of God.

The church is full of non-praying people, by the way. I have had people ask me, Why are you and your wife at the altar all the time? Is something wrong? My answer would be No! I just want to get closer to God, each and every day. I have been in some churches where the pastors, elders, or people with ministries never come to the altar to pray; nor do they pray with someone else at the altar. I have often wondered how they could expect God to move in this church when they as leaders do not lead or act as the witnesses they need to be as leaders.

It is time for us, people of the churches, to quit being unfilled and start to pray, pray, pray—and then watch what God will do in our lives through Jesus Christ, the cross, and the Holy Spirit. Pray with others, for when you pray with and for others (including those who have done you wrong), God will move through the Holy Spirit like you have never seen. This is part of the purging. The fire of the Holy Spirit will start burning the chaff out of your life.

Pastors, if you want your church full of people seeking God, start praying that every church in your community that preaches the message of Jesus Christ will fill up first. Get jealousy and competition out of your church. Start preaching the Word and a-practice-what-you- preach-theology, and God will fill up your church. The Spirit will draw them. We all have to get ourselves out of the way and put Christ first! Pastors and laymen who want to see the works of the Spirit, start praying for others. Get yourselves out of the way. Put Jesus and His Word at the center of your lives, and the gifts of the Spirit will open up to you like you have never seen.

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to us in His Word while talking to His disciples.

When Jesus started telling of what was going to happen in the coming days, He also gave us another promise, one that would come through faith and believing in him. If you believe in Jesus Christ and His crucifixion, you will receive the Holy Spirit as well. All of us receive the Holy Spirit in our lives once we ask Christ into our lives. But God wants us to have an infilling of the fire of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, which we will get into later.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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 KJV

Had Jesus not been crucified on the cross, rose on the third day, and ascended to the Father, in heaven, we would not have the Holy Spirit to allow us to do the great things He promised. Notice Jesus said this would include anyone who had faith in Him. This means all believers, Jew and Gentile, even today.

Let me say this as well. There is not a ten-, six-, four-, or two-step method to salvation or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on the cross, and had He not been crucified, we would not have the Holy Spirit. There is not a ten-, six-, four-, or two-step method to prosperity, either. Read the Father’s Word—the Living Word.

Every Gift Is from God

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

—Matthew 6:30–22 KJV

This is where so many people get hung up. We have prosperity preachers running around, saying, Send me $24.95 (or whatever), and you will receive a blessing! This is wrong! Read the verse above again. God tells what He will do if you seek Him first. When you seek Him first, the Holy Spirit will also be working in your life. Trust, believe, and have faith