Well, today is another one of those heart -to
-heart talks. And thanks for those wonderful
letters that are coming in expressing your appreciation
for the teaching of the Word. And we want that
every part of this teaching should come from...
the Holy Spirit himself. Well, sir, we continue
now on the gifts of the Spirit. And before we
go a little deeper into the subject of the gifts,
I want to say something again, just for the sake
of someone who may be new regarding this ministry.
I want to go on record as saying that I believe...
definitely in the experience of being filled
with the Holy Spirit. You may call it the baptism
of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Holy
Spirit. I believe in that experience. I have
experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the
fullness of the Holy Spirit. when literally the
Holy Spirit came in, took charge of this body,
and it became literally the temple of the Holy
Spirit. He is the secret of this ministry. He
is the secret of every bit of power that comes
through this physical body of mine. He is the
secret. are the results of this ministry. It's
the Holy Spirit. I'm nothing. I'm only a sinner
saved by the grace of God like any other Christian.
I have nothing that is out of the ordinary in
myself. Nothing. Believe me, I know from whence
I've come. I was born in a little... Crossroads
of the town, Concordia, Missouri. Oh, I thought
it was the biggest city in the world when I was
a kid. But you know, everything is by comparison,
really. And it's so small, it isn't even on some
maps. Little Concordia, Missouri. That little
Methodist church where I went to Sunday school.
That little Baptist church. Oh, sure. I was born
to Emma and Joe Kuhlman. Nothing special about
that. I was pretty special to Papa, I'll tell
you. But then, so far as anybody else was concerned,
a red -headed, freckled -faced kid. The most
mischievous kid in Concordia. And if anything
went wrong in the schoolroom... No matter how
far I was, how remote I was from that which happened,
the teacher always looked up and said, Catherine,
did you do that? Oh, sure. I know from whence
I have come. I have no special talents. When
I was born, I wasn't born with anything special.
I'm one of the most ordinary people in the world
the power of the Holy Spirit. I know that. I
am conscious of that every day that I live. I
am very conscious of that. The secret of this
ministry is the Holy Spirit. And I want to go
on record as saying to you, I believe in the
power of the Holy Spirit. I believe in being
filled with the Spirit. I believe in that experience
that Jesus talked about before he went away,
the very last conversation that he had with his
disciples when he said, and ye shall receive
power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon
you, and ye shall be witnesses. that glorious
experience that they received on the day of Pentecost.
I believe in that experience that those precious
120 received on the day of Pentecost. And I believe
that the experience that they received is for
every believer today. Yes, ma 'am. I want you
to know exactly where I stand on this. This experience,
Peter says, is for you and your children and
your children's children and those who are far
off, even as many as our God shall call. And
if you are a member of his church, been born
into his church, if you are a part of his body,
then you have been called into this experience.
And you're missing one of the greatest experiences
a Christian can know if you've not had that experience.
But remember something. The Holy Spirit, this
wonderful experience that I'm telling you, is...
given the believer for one purpose and one purpose
only, and that's power for service. It has nothing
to do with our salvation. Being filled with the
Spirit has nothing to do with my salvation, my
conversion. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. It's
the atonement that has to do with my salvation.
This experience of being filled with the Holy
Ghost. The baptism of the Holy Spirit has nothing
whatsoever to do with my salvation. Neither does
it have anything to do with my being a part of
the body of Christ when it is raptured. This
experience is for power for service. I realize
that. I accept it and I am very careful how I
use and what I do with that which the Holy Spirit
has given to me. That's the reason in the previous
heart -to -heart talk when we were talking about
the gifts of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit has
a very definite purpose in giving a gift. And
remember, the gifts of the Spirit are separate
and apart from being filled with the Spirit.
The experience of being filled with the Spirit,
the baptism of the Spirit, is for all believers.
But the gifts of the Spirit are given as the
Holy Spirit sees fit. to give the gift to an
individual. But even when it comes to the gifts
of the Spirit, He has a definite purpose in the
giving of that gift. It is given by the Holy
Spirit that it may be used for the edification
of the church and the proclamation of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I must no more misuse
a gift of the Spirit that is given to me than
I can misuse the Holy Spirit or misappropriate
the power of the Holy Spirit as He has filled
this life and this vessel of mine. Mm -hmm. The
gift and the manifestation are all of the Spirit
of God within the believer. And when it comes
to using those gifts, all must be in subjection
to the Lordship of Christ. If, for instance,
God has given me some particular gift, I'm not
to use that gift whenever and wherever I... that
it is fit? No. I am only to use that gift as
it is in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. It must be controlled by the Lord. In
exactly the same way, and you've heard me say
it over and over again, that it was the greatest
secret that I had to learn. And that is the fact
that I cannot control the spirit. I am not to
control the spirit. The spirit is to control
me. I don't lead the spirit. I don't tell the
spirit what to do. When I'm in a great miracle
service, thousands of you folk have attended
these great miracle services here in the East,
in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. When
I walk on that platform, I do not control the
spirit. I do not give orders to the spirit. I
walk out on that stage completely yielded to
the spirit. and I just follow along behind him.
He controls the whole thing. He's the power.
He's the one. It's his power that heals those
sick bodies. He's the one who speaks to you.
He's the one who convicts men and women of sin
and of righteousness. You say, how do you know
that somebody way up there in the top balcony
has an ear open? How do you know that somebody's
been healed of cancer? In that auditorium filled
with thousands? And I can't even see everyone
in the auditorium? How do you know? It is because
I work so in conjunction with the spirit and
so sensitive. to the spirit, am so yielded to
him as I follow behind him, he speaks to me and
I know. We work as one, as a unit. I do not work
separate and apart from him. I hope the Holy
Spirit makes this plain to your heart. You see,
it's so hard to speak of some of these things
because they are spiritual. They are of the spiritual.
Flesh and blood, the word says, has not revealed
this unto thee. These things are only spiritually
revealed, and I'm talking to you about the most
deeply spiritual things that a Christian can
know. But one thing remember, always remember,
you are not to use that gift whenever you so
desire or whenever you see fit, but only in subjection
to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Know that.
Mm -hmm. Because after all, in the final analysis,
he is the lord of all things. One might have
the most remarkable gift that was ever given
to a human being. But that does not mean that
he's at liberty to use it wherever he will. I
don't believe that anyone who ever lived or will
ever live in the future, was given any greater
power or any greater revelation than Paul was
given. In my way of thinking, God trusted him
with more than he has ever trusted a human being.
And yet at all times and under all circumstances,
Paul was very careful how he used that which
God had given him. He was very, very careful
how he used the power of the Holy Spirit. Mm
-hmm. And he was the one who said, the spirits
of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
And who could better know this than Paul, he
to whom God had given much? Yes, ma 'am. 1 Corinthians
14, the 32nd verse. The spirits of the prophets
are subject to the prophets. And if any are gifted
by God, they are to hold that gift in subjection
to the Lord Jesus Christ and not make a spiritual
nuisance of themselves. Our blessed Lord's authority
must be recognized. in the use of the gifts.
It's just like that. The manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
That is, it's not given for show. Oh, I get so,
um, I become almost frightened when I see folk
who will flaunt. some gift of the Spirit, or
want some great spiritual experience before the
world, and because of it, try to draw men and
women unto themselves. The Holy Spirit, or any
gift that he gives, is not given for show. It's
not given in order that a man or a woman may
attract attention to himself. but is for the
edification of others. This in itself is very
important. If God gives me any little gift at
all, he gives it not that I may gather people
about myself, but he gives it to me for the blessing
of others, for the salvation of sinners, for
the edification of the saints. In John the Baptist,
we have a wonderful picture of what every gifted
servant of Christ really ought to be, for John
said, In other words, he's saying, I am nothing.
I am absolutely nothing. Don't see me, John the
Baptist. I'm only a voice of one crying in the
wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord.
And then pointing to the Savior, he says, increase,
but I must decrease. And John found his delight
in lifting up Christ, not in directing people's
attention to himself. You cannot find John for
one instant directing the attention to himself.
You cannot find Paul. Read your Bible. Get back
to the Bible again. Some of you folk haven't
studied the Bible for yourself in years. Get
back to the Word. It's time we all got back to
the Word of God. You cannot find Paul for one
instance directing attention to himself. No,
ma 'am. The more God gave him, the more the Spirit
filled him, the more he received. the more he
realized that he was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
He must increase, but I must decrease. And all
gifts are given that... Christ may be exalted.
And in that way, others will find a blessing.
They'll never find a blessing in finding me.
They'll find salvation when they find him.