This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. — Acts 2:32,33
This lesson has a twofold purpose: Number one is to help those who have not yet received the infilling of the Holy Ghost. Number two is to help Spirit-filled believers pray with those who are seeking to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Any layperson can take the following seven steps and help any Christian get filled with the Holy Ghost without any tarrying or waiting.
I was preaching in a certain meeting once where about sixty-five people had been filled with the Holy Ghost. In one of the daytime services, someone asked, "What are we going to do when you leave, Brother Hagin?" You see, all that the people had known in the past was to struggle and struggle in order to get believers filled with the Holy Ghost. One of the women who was an outstanding altar worker said, "In every meeting, I always pray with people to receive the Holy Spirit until my throat almost gives out. And after the meetings sometimes I've had laryngitis for a month." I told them about these seven steps to receiving the infilling of the Holy Ghost. That night seven believers came forward to receive the Holy Ghost, but I didn't pray for them. Instead, I prayed for the sick who came forward for healing and sent these seven people into a prayer room, telling the altar workers, "All right, go back there and get them filled, following the instructions I gave you earlier today." They went to the room and came out in ten minutes' time with six of the seven having been filled with the Holy Ghost! They apologized for not getting the seventh one filled, but it turned out that he wasn't even a Christian, and he didn't want to get saved. You see, you can't get the Holy Ghost without getting saved first.
One of these workers was so thrilled to learn how to help people receive the Holy Ghost that she could hardly wait to go visit her mother who lived some distance away and help her be filled with the Holy Spirit. "Mama has been seeking the baptism for nineteen years," she told me, "but now I know she will receive." Several months later I was back in the same church to hold meetings again, and this woman told me, "I drove about one hundred and fifty miles to my mother's home, and Mama was outside waiting for me. I said, 'Mama, just come on into the house. I can't stay long. I'm going to have to get back home. I only have time to attend to the business I came for — to get you filled with the Holy Ghost."' "But, you know, I have been seeking a mighty long time," her Mama answered.
The woman related, "I told her, 'I know it, Mama, but now you are going to receive.' We went into the house and I said, 'Just sit down and open your Bible to Acts chapter 2.' I sat down on the seat next to her and spent ten minutes with her just sharing the Word. Then I laid hands on her and she received the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues!"
The Seven Steps To Receiving the Holy Spirit
I list here the same seven steps which I have used in my revival meetings across the country to help believers receive the Holy Spirit.
Step Number 1
Help the believer see that God has already given the Holy Spirit and that it is now up to that person to receive God's free Gift. Above everything else, help the believer see that he is not to beg God to fill him with the Holy Spirit. The promise that the Holy Spirit was to be given was fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, and He has been here ever since. After that time God hasn't given the Holy Spirit to anyone. Now people simply have to receive the Holy Spirit. For instance, let's look at what the Apostle Paul said some years after the incidents recorded in Acts chapter 2. ACTS 19:1-6 1 ... Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye RECEIVED the Holy Ghost since ye believed? [He didn't say, "Has God given you the Holy Ghost?" He said, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost?"] And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
Paul didn't tell these disciples to pray that God would give them the Holy Ghost. The Bible says, ". . . the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied" (Acts 19:6). Notice also Acts chapter 8 which occurred some years after the Day of Pentecost. ACTS 8:14,15 14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD [concerning salvation ], they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might RECEIVE the Holy Ghost. The apostles didn't pray that God would give the Samaritans the Holy Ghost. They prayed that they might receive the Holy Ghost: "Then laid they their hands on them, and they RECEIVED the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:17). God hasn't given the Holy Ghost to anyone since the Day of Pentecost, but people have received Him. The Holy Ghost is already here for believers to receive.
..... To be continued
FFT: Help the believer see that God has already given the Holy Spirit and that it is now up to that person to receive God's free Gift.
ACTION POINT: Correct your mindset and activate your faith!
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