The Infilling of the Holy Spirit: Christ's (His) Discipline for Kingdom Living

By Dr. Edward Lee Johnson Sr.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit may include speaking in tongues, but it's not limited to tongues, and neither is tongues the only evidence of being Spirit-filled. The Holy Spirit is not a performance gift but a character gift. When the performance is over, one must live a disciplined lifestyle daily.

As a child, I thought that the Holy

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Apr 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887386386

Dr. Edward Lee Johnson Sr.

Edward is a second-generation Pentecostal preacher (pastor) who believes that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God.He believes that the body of Christ should be one unifi ed force in every city across America and the world and that the Holy Spirit is how weaccomplish unity. He is the author of the Destiny Family Series, which are books for married couples, singles, men, women, divorce recovery, teenagers, and children. He is married to his lovely wife, Stacey, and they have six children and twelve grandchildren.

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The Infilling of the Holy Spirit

Christ’s (His) Discipline for Kingdom Living

Dr. Edward Lee Johnson Sr.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents, Johnie and Thelma Johnson. (Dad survived Mom and is currently ninety-nine years young.) To my godmother, Willie Mae Rivers, my wife, Stacey, my children—Edward Jr. Ayana, Gregory Shantelle, Kristain DeQuincey, Garrett Carrie, Cameron, Jazmynn—and our twelve grandchildren. It’s also dedicated to my New Vision Cathedral Church family and the body of Christ at large. We are living The Amazing Kingdom Life!

The primary unifying force among Christ’s followers on earth today is the Holy Spirit. Without Him, competing interest of fleshly (selfish) desires will keep us at odds with one another. 

And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22).

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One: The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Chapter Two: The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

Chapter Three: Transformation of the Holy Spirit

Chapter Four: The Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost

Chapter Five: Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Chapter Six: The Holy Spirit’s Conviction

Chapter Seven: The Holy Spirit, Our Healer

Chapter Eight: The Holy Spirit, Our Comforter/Teacher

Chapter Nine: The Holy Spirit among Us Today

Summary

Spirit-Filled and Self-Governed Living!

List of Sources

Preface

When I first vividly remember hearing the words Holy Spirit, I was in my late twenties or early thirties. As a child growing up in the Pentecostal Church, Holy Ghost is what we were taught. However, the two terms have the exact same meaning. Our culture has a lot to do with the way we interpret scriptures, and for this reason, Christianity and biblical terms can become very confusing if you don’t have some basic understanding of the culture and the context of the scriptures. Hebrew, Greek, and some Aramaic words are the languages that the Bible was originally written in. You don’t need a theological degree to access these languages; a computer would do just fine. In fact, interpretation of the Bible is fairly simple. However, you cannot interpret the Bible from our modern culture, and this is where a lot of Christians get confused. You must familiarize yourself with as much as possible of the ancient region in which the scriptures were written.

The primary reason for writing this book is to make the Holy Spirit relatable in very basic terms. Sometimes, scholars can write in such a way that the average person could never grasp the meaning of what they are trying to convey because they don’t have any extensive biblical training. I think we have forgotten or are just unaware that Jesus and most of His disciples were not scholars. They were the common people from the lower echelon of society. Here is how the gospel of Mark describes the reception of Jesus’s ministry. It was the common people that gravitated to His ministry. Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son? And the common people heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37).

The numerous roles that the Holy Spirit plays in the life of believers are immeasurable, but for this study, I will highlight some key roles as it relates to our personal relationship with Him. It’s imperative that you understand the characteristics of the Holy Spirit and the intimacy that we are required to have with Him. The Holy Spirit is a person, and we should relate to Him as such. Many Christians think about God and Christ as far-removed religious figures. But until you understand that the Holy Spirit should be present in you and you can communicate with Him just like you would a trusted friend, you will never have complete access to His help.

The Holy Spirit can feel our pain, He can be grieved, and He can be spoken to. So much of what we have been taught about God and the Bible is taken from Christian scholars who talk a lot about personal life experiences and not enough about the role that the Holy Spirit plays in our daily lives. You can have some of the same experiences that the biblical characters had with God if you cultivate a great relationship with the Holy Spirit. I hope that this book will be a guide to steer you back to the pages of the Bible and away from too much of what we get from social media and network television. Not that these sources cannot help, but the Holy Spirit Himself is our Master Teacher. And unless the individuals that you choose to draw from in your spiritual walk have the understanding that this book will convey, you are going to come up short in your walk with Christ. It’s the primary reason there is so much division among Christians today.

In Galatians 5:17–22, Paul makes a clear distinction between those who are filled with the Holy Spirit, from individuals who are controlled by the lust of their flesh. I will explain this principle in detail in chapter 3, Transformation of the Holy Spirit. I strongly suggest that you master the definition of each of the words in verses 17 through 22 to make sure that you are not in violation of a Spirit-filled life. In Galatians 5:22, Paul explains the characteristics of a person who is walking in the Spirit. In this era of history, the Holy Spirit is teaching His body to stay free of the trappings of religious traditions that cannot be found in the scriptures. The Holy Spirit does not pit individuals or groups against one another. The difference we may share in local assembly affiliations, ethnicity, nationality, or gender should not interrupt the unity that believers should have in the Holy Spirit. In this book, the scriptures will speak to you. However, you must cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit to learn how to discern the voice of God through the scriptures! He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Revelation 2:29).

Introduction

I have spent the last four decades of my life trying to understand why there is so much divisiveness that takes place among Christians who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I’ve witnessed over the years of my life how un-disciplined some Christians can be, and yet they claim to be Spirit-filled. It’s the absence of the Holy Spirit in their lives or the grieving of Him that is the fundamental reason for our divisiveness. With the exception of a few years as a backslidden teenager, all of my nearly seven decades of life have been in church. I was born and raised in the church that my ninety-nine-year-old father started nearly a decade before I was born. Growing up, we were vigorously taught about the Holy Ghost and that it was necessary for us to receive His baptism. So, there were many days and nights of what we called tarrying services. We were told by the older saints that we had to get on our knees and call on the name of Jesus until we started to speak in tongues.

Of course, as a child, I was quite confused about what all of this meant, but out of obedience, we followed their instructions. Those tarrying services (praying your knees) seem to have been long drawn out as many wallowed over the floor and babbled words that we did not understand. Some was a genuine move of the Spirit, and much of it was just zeal and ignorance. In spite of what may have been religious confusion, it helped to shape my foundation for God to eventually give me the wisdom I needed to make sense of it all.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Yes Lord, Hallelujah, Thank You, Jesus, and Praise the Lord are just a few of the many expressions that the church mothers were shouting in our ears in order to prime us to receive the Holy Ghost. In my case, it was my mother and three of my aunts who spent the most time with us over the summer (when we were out of school) and during church revivals. Many times, those who were seeking the Holy Ghost would have to be carried out of the church after service and put in their cars because they were so engrossed in the moment. Those who were praying over us would make sure to listen for what they perceived as an authentic move of the Spirit, or you would have to keep coming back until they signed off on you as being filled with the Holy Ghost. They wanted to hear you speak in tongues.

This was all adopted from the second chapter of the Book of Acts when the disciples received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And in more recent times, Pentecostals, Baptists, Charismatics, Methodists, and many other churches had seeking services. The seeking era seems to have left most churches, but the Holy Spirit is yet waiting for us to engage and unite in His presence. I will talk extensively about the Pentecostal Movement during the Azusa Revival that took place in California in 1906–1915 when we get into the last chapter of the book. I’ve come to the realization that much of the culture that was created around the infilling of the Holy Spirit is not in