The Holy Ghost Said!
Preach My Word
The first and foremost way that the Holy Ghost speaks to people is through God's Word. Until we learn to hear him and recognize him as he speaks to us through the scripture, we probably shouldn't expect him to speak to us in any other way. Since the scripture is spiritually discerned and the natural man can't receive it, only by illumination (or revelation) of the Holy Spirit can we begin to understand it.
The second most frequent way that the Holy Ghost speaks is by a spiritual witness. He bears witness with our spirit of his will, of the truth, and of things that we need to know. Every Christian should expect to continually receive illumination of the Holy Ghost in studying God's Word and to continually receive witness in their spirits as the Holy Ghost leads them.
The Holy Ghost also communicates with us in other ways as he chooses which may be frequent at some times and infrequent at other times. The other ways that he speaks are frequently associated with his indwelling presence and the gifts of the spirit, which are only given to those who have received the Holy Spirit. Because of this, many Christians have gone through their entire lives and never heard him speak except through his word or the inner witness.
When a person is saved, his spirit is regenerated and becomes one spirit with Christ, but the Holy Spirit still dwells outside the person's body until that person is baptized in the Holy Ghost. Even though he was the Son of God, the Holy Spirit dwelt outside Christ's body until he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River and the Holy Ghost came upon him to abide. Jesus thus set the pattern that the early church followed, laying hands on Christians after they were baptized in water and expecting them to then be baptized in the Holy Ghost at that time(see Acts chapter 19). The early church certainly didn't have the doctrine that the denominational church has today, that a person is baptized in the Holy Ghost simultaneously when he gets saved. This false doctrine has robbed most Christians from the fellowship, the power, the gifts, and the joy that the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost produces. I certainly know, because I've been there!
I was raised in a Baptist church and experienced the Holy Ghost speaking to me through God's Word. I joined the church at a young age because my best friend had joined during the previous service. It looked like it made everyone happy when he joined, so I thought that I would do the same thing. Somehow that day, things just didn't seem the same as they did when my friend joined the day before. I really didn't know that the difference was that he got saved first instead of just joining the church. After three or four years, the Holy Spirit made it clear to me that I needed to get saved and that church membership wouldn't save me. Because I was already a member of the church and everyone thought that I was saved, it created a difficult situation for an eleven year old boy. I was proud and didn't want to admit to people that I wasn't saved in the process of getting saved. I struggled with this predicament for over a year, fearing to go to sleep at night, afraid that I might die in my sleep. I guess I thought that as long as I was awake, I might see death coming and be able to get saved right quick.
At twelve years old, we had a great revival meeting at that Baptist church and many people were being saved. I still remember the message that the pastor preached that day and where I was sitting when the Holy Spirit broke the yoke of pride and melted my heart. The pastor preached about the separation of the five wise and the five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and my heart couldn't bear the thought of being left behind as I saw my saved family go on to heaven at the Lord's return. I hit the altar in that church crying out for Jesus to save me without any thought of what people would think. He saved me and the fear of death had to leave that day, never to return.
Like most people, the devil was telling me that nothing happened at church that day, even before I got home. All I could say to the thoughts of the devil was, "By faith, I believe that he saved me because he said that he would if I ask." I had recognized that I was lost and that I needed to be saved. I had recognized that he was the only savior and wanted to save me. I had ask believing and by faith confessed that he had saved me. The devil tried to shake that faith for many years until I received the Holy Ghost. From that day forth, I wasn't only saved by faith, but I also had the seal of God upon me, with which the devil couldn't argue (See II Cor. 1:22, Eph. 1:13, Eph. 4:30). Many Christians are tried and sifted all their lives by fears and doubts because they don't receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. John Osteen, a seminary trained Baptist pastor, said that for nineteen years after seminary, he would wake up at night and even wonder if he was truly saved. However, when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, that thought had to leave because doubt can't argue with evidence.
After getting married and spending several years of disobedience to God, I started attending my wife's home church. It too, was a Baptist church but they really believed in being led by the Holy Spirit. As I began to grow in understanding and walking in light of God's word, I began to sense the witness of the Holy Spirit in leading me. The fruit of the spirit began to be produced in my life and I began to enjoy the sweet fellowship of walking with God. I began to treasure his word and his will above everything else in life. Many Christians don't enjoy the joy of their salvation because of being doubled minded. They want what God has to offer in one hand and hang on to worldly things in the other hand. Needless to say, as I became single minded on God, he began to bless me greatly. I began to continually hear the Holy Ghost speak through revelation of God's word and witness to my spirit.
While teaching a Sunday school class at that Baptist church, there was a wonderful revival in which God not only saved people, but also called several to preach. I had thoughts of God's call to preach from when I had gotten saved, but I had been able to bury them deep enough that I didn't have to deal with them. One Monday morning after that revival as I drove to work at Marshall Space Flight Center, I heard the audible voice of the Holy Spirit speak to me. I had the job of my dreams and was doing great with no thoughts of entering the ministry when the Holy Spirit spoke that morning. He said, "David, I want you to preach my word." Just as when I got saved, when the Holy Spirit speaks to you, you don't forget where you were or what you were doing. I was just coming to the bottom of Brindley Mountain that morning on my way to work. Just to make sure it wasn't my own mind, I said to the Holy Spirit, "If that was you Lord, then I want you to confirm it through Hughlen Murphree this morning." Hughlen was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and worked in the same division that I did.
I had just gotten seated at my desk that morning when Hughlen came to my office. This was unusual for him to come to my office early in the morning because I usually stopped by his office after having a cup of coffee, checking my messages and setting my priorities for work each day. He talked for a little while and as he started to leave, he said, "When you preach your first message, let me know because I would like to hear it." I had never said anything to him about being called to preach or what the Holy Ghost had said that morning. Yet he recognized God's call on my life by the spirit.
I really didn't want to preach because I didn't feel worthy or capable. I was also selfish in not wanting to give up my time to have to study and prepare messages. After I told Hughlen what the Holy Ghost had said and him sensing my reluctance, he gave me an open invitation to come to his church to preach my first message. The Holy Spirit spoke to me a second time that week as I studied my Sunday school lesson. In reading John 3:16, he said, "For God so loved the world that he gave, David, are you willing to give also?" I had to give up my time, my plans for life, my pride, and my self-will in order to say yes to his call. Compared to what he gave for me, how could I not say yes? Instead of teaching Sunday school that next Sunday morning, I went to Hughlen's church and preached my first message.