The Holy Spirit and His Gifts | Page 101

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