The Holy Spirit Is a Gift
Remember, Paul said to the Ephesians, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" (Acts 19:2). He
didn't say, "I have come down here to pray that God would pour the Holy Ghost out upon you."
And the apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John down to Samaria so that they might lay
their hands on the Samaritan Christians to receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:14-17). Notice also
that they didn't send them down there to pray that the Lord would send the power to the
Samaritans.
You can't buy the gift of the Holy Spirit any more than you can buy salvation. You don't do
anything to merit the infilling of the Holy Spirit. In other words, babes in Christ can receive the
infilling of the Holy Spirit just as well as more mature Christians can.
You don't get the Holy Ghost just because you have graduated to some marvelous degree of
spirituality beyond everyone else, and, therefore, God puts a seal on you saying you are
perfect.
The Holy Ghost is a Gift. The Bible says, ". . . ye shall receive THE GIFT of the Holy Ghost"
(Acts 2:38). And if you are born again, you are ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit right
away. If you had to do one more thing after the new birth to receive the Holy Spirit, then the
baptism of the Holy Spirit ceases to be a gift and becomes a reward. The Holy Ghost is not a
reward; He is a Gift.
Some say that I make it too easy for folks to receive the Holy Ghost. But it's not me who has
made it easy to receive Him. It was God who made it easy to receive this gift. It wasn't me who
said, "Come and drink and get filled with the Holy Spirit." It was Jesus. I wasn't the one who
put receiving the Holy Spirit on a gift basis, it was God.
Someone else said, "Yes, but I don't believe in trailroading' people through to receiving the
Holy Ghost." Well, if "railroading" people through means getting them filled quickly, then that
same person no doubt doesn't believe in "railroading" people through to salvation. But that is
ridiculous!
Actually, it isn't a matter of "railroading" people at all. But we should be getting people saved
as quickly as we can, because they might die and go to hell tomorrow. And if someone is sick,
we should believe in getting them healed quickly.
Salvation is a gift. Healing is a gift. And the Holy Ghost is a Gift. You can receive one of these
gifts just as quickly as you can the other.
Reading in the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the Early Church believed in getting folks filled
with the Holy Ghost as quickly as they did getting them saved or healed, as we have already
studied in this lesson. I not only believe in "railroading" people through to receiving the Holy
Spirit, I believe in "jet planing" them through!
Possessing What Is Yours
Canaan's land is a type of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of all of our rights and privileges
in Christ. Some have thought it was a type of heaven. But Canaan's land couldn't be a type of
heaven, because there were enemies to overcome in Canaan and there were battles that the
children of Israel had to fight.