John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

To be filled with the Holy Spirit does not mean having the carnal nature eradicated. It does not mean cleansing from sin. It does not mean "sanctification," The dear Lord Jesus had no sin. He had no evil to burn away. He did not need any cleansing. So the fullness of the Spirit does not mean cleansing, does not mean purification, does not mean sanctification. God's people do need cleansing, and may have it. But the fullness of the Spirit is something else. Jesus is our pattern in this matter, and the fullness of the Spirit did not mean that Jesus was cleansed or purified or sanctified by this experience. The fullness of the Spirit means something else. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pg.71]

Jesus, when He was filled with the Holy Spirit, did not talk with tongues as an outward manifestation. There was no sound of a cyclone, a rushing mighty wind, as at Pentecost. There were no visible tongues like as of fire resting upon Him. Why would Jesus talk with tongues? All these present were Jews, all understood the same language, and Jesus did not talk in any foreign language, and did not need to. That is never given in the Bible as a sign of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And if Jesus did not need that evidence, then neither do we who are commanded to follow His example. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pg.71]

The Saviour did not have the Holy Spirit come upon Him just as an ecstasy, a matter of His own personal enjoyment. I am sure His heart was glad. I am sure He was pleased to hear the Father's voice from Heaven commending Him. But that voice from Heaven was chiefly for the onlookers. That visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit, like a dove lighting upon Him, was for John the Baptist and for others who saw it. Jesus surely knew, without the outward sign, that the Spirit of God came upon Him and that the Father was pleased with Him. I do not say that there is no joy in the fullness of the Holy Spirit....There is always joy in being in the center of God's will, in having God's power, in doing His Work, and in seeing the blessed fruit of His Gospel. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pgs. 71-72]

By God's grace, I will not give up a thing that is promised to New Testament Christians! If some teach baptism essential to salvation, I will not go with them but I will still teach people to be baptized as Jesus and Paul did. If some make the lord's Supper into a mass, and put forgiveness in the hands of a priest, I will not go with them, but I will still teach Christians that Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of me." I cannot throw away part of the Bible because somebody has misinterpreted it! Si I cannot, I must not, turn my back upon the marvelous teaching of Pentecost, that Christians must be filled with the Holy Spirit if they are to do the work of God acceptably, even though some have gone to fanatical extremes concerning the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pgs. 89-90]

It is immediately clear that John the Baptist, Zacharias, Elisabeth and the Lord Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost just as people were filled with the Holy Ghost in the book of Acts. And in every case they began to witness with power, the enduement of power from on high. They began their soul-winning efforts with supernatural help from God. That is what the fullness of the Spirit brings! To be filled with the Spirit means to be empowered for witnessing. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pgs. 132-133]

You may claim to be "sanctified," but if you do not have soul-winning power you are not filled with the Holy Spirit! Oh, be satisfied with nothing less than the power of God to help you win souls! For to be Spirit-filled means, always, empowered witnessing. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pg. 140]

Joel had foretold, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that "in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy . . ." And again, "And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." Now Peter says, by divine inspiration, that Joel's prophecy is fulfilled at least in part. Here are the people filled with the Holy Spirit, as Joel said, and they prophesy!
So when people preached the gospel and witnessed for Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, they were prophesying. It is only incidental that some of them prophesied in foreign languages. But the important thing is that they did prophesy, that is, they spoke for Christ by divine revelation and by divine enabling, and this was called prophesying, and it came, we are told, as a result of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon Christian people. - John R. Rice [The Power of Pentecost, pg. 178]