Then I said to the Lord, "I sense a lack of power in my own life, and I know I need the infilling
of the Holy Ghost. And I expect to receive, all right. But I am of the opinion that tongues don't
go along with the baptism in the Holy Ghost, and that they are not for us today."
Immediately the Lord spoke to my heart. I knew it was the Holy Spirit speaking through the
Word of God. That same still small voice that had brought me off a bed of sickness and into
divine healing asked me, "What does Acts 2:39 say?"
I quoted the scripture, "For THE PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39).
Then the still small voice said, "What promise is that?"
I said, "The last part of Acts 2:38 says,'. . . and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' So
the reference here is to the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost." Then I hastened to add,
"But, Lord, I believe in the Holy Ghost. It's tongues I am not sure about." (I had changed it a
little bit this time to "I'm not sure.")
The Holy Spirit always leads us in line with the Word of God. The Word and the Spirit agree (1
John 5:7,8). I am not in favor of just following voices, because you can go wrong following
voices; you can follow the wrong voice (1 Cor. 14:10). But you can never go wrong following
the voice or the leading of the Holy Spirit because He will always lead you in line with the Word
of God (John 16:13; 1 John 5:6-8).
Jesus said, ". . . he [the Holy Spirit] shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John
16:14). And ". . . he shall not speak of himself [But, thank God, He does speak!]; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak . . ." (John 16:13).
Every born-again believer has the Holy Ghost in a measure through the new birth (John 3:5-8;
John 4:14). But this is not the same as the baptism in the Holy Spirit — the enduement of
power from on High that Jesus talked about in Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, and John 7:38. Just
because someone is born again doesn't mean he is filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth
There is the work of the Holy Spirit in the new birth, as we can see by the following scriptures.
JOHN 3:5-8
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
THE SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is BORN OF THE SPIRIT is
spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be BORN AGAIN.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is BORN OF THE
SPIRIT.
ROMANS 8:16