The Bible Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
led me to Acts chapter 8. He called my attention to the fact that the apostles who abode in
Jerusalem sent Peter and John to Samaria to lay hands on people to receive the Holy Ghost.
Philip had a wonderful ministry in Samaria. He got people saved by the hundreds and healed
by the scores. But he didn't get anyone filled with the Holy Ghost.
The Early Church believed in special ministries just as the Bible teaches. Therefore, the
disciples sent Peter and John to Samaria because they had a special ministry of getting folks
filled with the Holy Ghost. They had a ministry of laying on of hands. In fact, Peter called being
able to lay hands on people to receive the Holy Ghost a "gift of God" (Acts 8:20).
When I lay hands on folks who have already received the Holy Spirit, I often know immediately
by the Holy Spirit that they are Spirit filled without their telling me. But, remember, any
revelation would have to be a manifestation of one of the revelation gifts in operation.
Helping Others Believe They Have Received
In this meeting in Texas that I mentioned, we were praying and laying hands on people to
receive the infilling of the Holy Gh ost. I had laid hands on several people and they all received.
Then I laid hands on a certain man and the minute I did, I knew by the manifestation of the
Holy Spirit that this man had received the Holy Spirit some time in the past.
I stopped praying and said, "You have received the Holy Spirit sometime in your life. You have
already been filled."
He said, "No, no, I haven't."
"Perhaps I am wrong then," I said. "After all, I am human."
But if I do miss it, it wouldn't be because God has missed it. It would be because I somehow
failed to listen or respond to Him as I ought.
No human is ever going to get to the place of perfection. Even the great Apostle Paul said,
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. . ."(Phil. 3:12).
Ministers can miss it, but that doesn't mean God misses it or that the ministers don't have the
right gift operating in their lives. Sometimes we may just fail to receive accurately what God is
saying to us.
For example, when talking on the telephone we sometimes fail to pick up everything that
someone
on the other end of the line has said. In the same way, I don't always get everything God is
saying to me. But that doesn't mean that these gifts of the Spirit are not genuine.
I laid hands on this brother again and began to pray. I had the same manifestation again and
knew that he had already been filled with the Holy Ghost.
I stopped praying, took my hands off of his head, and with more assurance this time, said,
"Now, Brother, you have received the Holy Ghost at some time or another."
Again he stated very emphatically that he had not, so I began to pray for the third time.