Step Number 2
Show the person who has come to receive the Holy Ghost that anyone who is saved is ready
to immediately receive the Holy Spirit.
ACTS 2:37,38
37 Now when they [the unsaved multitude who gathered as a result of the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit and to whom Peter had preached quoting Joel's prophecy] heard this,
they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men
and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Verse 38 shows us that anyone who is saved is immediately ready to receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
Some people think there are certain things they have to do to qualify to receive the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. For example, some think they have to make restitution for past sins. One fellow
in east Texas once said, "I had to return a pig that I had stolen before I could get the Holy
Ghost."
It is true that sin which has not been confessed can hinder people from receiving the blessings
of God. However, if folks are saved and walking in fellowship with God, they couldn't possibly
be any cleaner than they are right then. Once we confess our sins, the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
I believe that saved people go to heaven
when they die. And if they are good enough to go to heaven, they are good enough to have a
little bit of heaven in them here on earth!
Some people think they have to follow certain standards of dress in order to receive the Holy
Spirit. For example, we were preaching at a certain place and in the meeting a woman came
forward to receive the Holy Spirit. She did receive and spoke with tongues for fifteen or twenty
minutes.
Afterwards, she was sitting down and praising God in English. One fellow walked over to her
and thought she hadn't received because he hadn't heard her speaking in tongues. He also
noticed that she was wearing a wedding ring and he said to her, "Sister, if you will take that
wedding band off, God will fill you with the Holy Ghost."
I whispered to him, "Brother, you are too late. He has already filled her, wedding band and all."
You see, some people have the mistaken idea that they have to court God's favor in order to
get Him to do something for them.
All we have to do is to be saved and walk in the light of
salvation. A person who is out of fellowship, of course, would have to come back into
fellowship with Him.
As I said, some people have imagined that one has to be perfect before he can get the Holy
Ghost. However, even the great Apostle Paul said he wasn't perfect. Yet we know he had the
Holy Spirit.
PHILIPPIANS 3:12,13
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. . ..
13 ... I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
If you could do everything you ought to do and be everything you ought to be without the Holy
Ghost, what would you need Him for? If you can do everything for yourself, why do you need
the Holy Ghost?
Carnal Christians (or Christians who are sense-ruled or dominated by the flesh) can be filled
with the Holy Ghost. How do we know that? Because the Bible says the Corinthian Christians
were carnal, and yet Paul prayed for them that they would come behind in no gift (1 Cor. 1:7).
He was not endorsing carnality, to be sure. He was trying to get them to grow up in God and
outgrow carnality. But as believers yield to Him, the Holy Ghost will help them grow out of
carnality.
Baby Christians can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Carnal Christians and baby Christians —
indeed, all believers — greatly need to be filled with the Holy Spirit because then they will
receive power that will help them (Acts 1:8). Also, if they will walk in the light of God's Word
and be led by the Holy Spirit, He will lead them into all truth and help them to outgrow some
things in their lives which have perhaps hindered their Christian walk (John 16:13).
Therefore, if a person is saved, he is ready to receive the Holy Ghost now. Always lead the
believer who is seeking the Holy Ghost to see that truth.
FFT: Show the person who has come to receive the Holy Ghost that anyone who is saved is ready to immediately receive the Holy Spirit.
ACTION POINT: don't procrastinate! step into power now!
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