When the gifts of the Holy Spirit are ministered, how loud a person shouts has nothing to do with their effectiveness. When the Holy Spirit manifests a gift in a person’s heart, if he whispers, he will get the same results. The point I am trying to make here is, if you have had these kind of encounters please do not associate it with the operation of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in your life. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:33, "for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." When You witness confusion and disorder with the gifts of the Holy Spirit manifested, what you are witnessing are God’s gifts manifested with the flesh of men being manifested. You must learn to distinguish between that which is Spirit and that which is flesh.

I am not saying that when we gather together in Jesus’ name that there will not be times of great joy in the awareness of Jesus’ goodness that may not lead to loud shouting and excitement, but when this happens I believe it will be in evidence to all. All will sense this in the Spirit and be a part of it, not confused, wondering what is going on. The Psalmist writes, "Worship the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." (Psalm 2:11). The implication of this Scripture is that we are to be discerning in our practice of worship, not out of control. Jesus is a God of order and leads us in order in our worship through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is a good God and will never do anything to harm us. If tongues is from Jesus, whether we understand its purpose at present or not, it is good and will lead to good. This is true of the other spiritual gifts as well. Paul states, "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophecy." (1 Cor 14:1). Why? Because only through the spiritual gifts, brought into submission to the Word of God, can we come to the truth about our needs, all our needs whether spiritual, soulish or physical. Anything we do without God’s spiritual gifts is worldly and in league with and in control of demonic forces. Anything that comes from Jesus is good and will lead to our edification and deeper knowledge of our Savior and our well-being spiritually, soulishly and physically; for that is the purpose of spiritual gifts.²⁴

If, after seeking Jesus about why you are not able to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit He shows you this fear of the unknown is the reason, then simply pray and ask Jesus to free you from your fears and He will. As we already noted, the Psalmist David wrote, "I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." (Ps 34:4).

You need not be intimidated over your fears. Jesus loves you and cares about your fears, but He also wants you to be freed from your fears so that you can enter into His full plan for your life. Therefore let Him do just that, free you from your fears. Then in His time and way, He will lead you into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. You need it to be all that He wants you to be.

Sometimes, because of the heart attitudes of some men, depending on where we may be at at present, it may not be to our best interest and development in this experience to receive it at that point. The end result may be rather than your being able to grow and mature in it properly, because of the degree of intimidation, your circumstances may do more to drive you away from its full release in your life, rather than to nurture it.

It maybe also that because of what Jesus is doing with your life at present, to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at this point, would interfere with that work. I think it is significant that Jesus did not lead me into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit until two days before I went to Hawaii with a singing group called "Light Stream" from Peoples Church of Fresno, California back in 1972. It was the first real missionary endeavor I had been on and Jesus knew I needed this backing of power to be as effective as He wanted me to be on that trip. It was Jesus’ time for me to receive it and the circumstances that followed were perfect for its initial manifestation and development in my life.

If, after seeking Jesus, he shows you this is your problem, your circumstances, His word to you is to trust Him to bring you into it in His time and when it will be best for you and the purpose of His kingdom. He loves you. He knows what is best. In the mean time, just praise and thank Him that He has it for you in His time. "But as for me, I trust in You, O Yehovah; I say, You are my Elohim. My times are in Your hand. . . ." (Ps 31:14-15).

Peter stated in Acts, "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." (Acts 5:32). This passage is not dealing with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives, which we receive when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, for Paul states in the book of Galatians, "This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" (Gal 3:2). Jesus stated in the Gospel of Luke, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13).

Jesus by faith freely gives the Holy Spirit to all believers who accept Him as Savior and Lord of their lives, for as was established at the beginning of this Section, we are, ". . . sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise." (Eph 1:13-14). Also established was the point that being indwelt by the Holy Spirit does not mean necessarily that one is empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is what Peter is referring to in Acts 5:32. Peter is simply saying that the more we walk with Jesus and obey Him the more of His Holy Spirit He will release through us.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an empowering for ministry outreach and release, and the necessary discipline to bring us to that place of release. So, as Peter states in Acts 5:32, in an indirect way, before God is going to give the power of the Holy Spirit to some one in the form of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, he has got to first have the desire to want Jesus to make his life consistent with it.

What do I mean by being consistent with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? I am talking about a heart attitude. A heart attitude which says, "Jesus, I am totally committed in word, action, and deed to do Your will and purpose, and I want to glorify you with my life whatever the cost." The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ provision to empower those who want to really live for Him to be able to really live for Him, because we cannot do it in the flesh. We cannot be effective for Jesus in the flesh. "It is the Spirit who creates-alive; the flesh profits nothing. . . ." (John 6:63). If you have asked Jesus for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and have not received it, it may be that your not really surrendered to it in your heart. Surrendered in the sense that you have not come to a place of giving up your right to speak or do what you want when you want to, but only according to Jesus’ will. To ask Jesus for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is to ask Him to do this kind of work in you.

"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty-thousand? Or else while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." (Luke 14:28-33).

Let us remember that according to Acts 1:8 the main purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to be witnesses of the total salvation of Jesus Christ: spirit, soul and body which included mind, heart, emotions, and conscience; not for a spiritual high or emotional experience. If, after seeking Jesus, He shows you that you fit into this category, and you still want to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, ask Jesus to so deal with your heart until you come to a place of being willing to do anything Jesus wants at any cost. I have heard Oral Roberts say many times, "Give your all to Jesus, and He will give His all to you."

If you have been seeking Jesus to Baptize you in His Holy Spirit and have not been able to receive it, do not start self-analyzing yourself and try to figure out which one of these categories you fit into. Paul says we are not qualified to judge ourselves,

"But to me it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord." (1 Cor 4:3-4).

Only Jesus is qualified to judge you, not you or any one else, so the thing you need to do is turn to Jesus and ask Him which category you fit into. Only Jesus knows your heart. Paul again says in this same passage,

"Therefore do not go on judging anything before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God." (1 Cor 4:5).

Paul is saying in this passage that Jesus is the answer to your need, not yourself or anyone else. Paul is saying that once you have looked to Jesus for your answer through prayer, then wait for His answer as to why you are not able to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Do not assume anything about yourself through your own reasoning. If you do, you will only make it that much harder for yourself to get the right answer from Jesus. Jesus knows your constitution intimately. He is the only one who does. Because He does, only He knows the right answer.

Once He shows you what the problem is, agree with Jesus, since he cannot lie, and ask Him to do whatever needs to be done so that he can bring you into the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in His time. You cannot save yourself, neither can you sanctify yourself. Only Jesus can, because he is your only answer to everything, so let Him do it in His way and in His time. He loves you. If Jesus does not give you a specific reason why you are not able to presently receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, His answer then at that point through His silence is to simply trust Him to bring it about in His time and way according to His perfect purpose and plan for your life individually.