It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, (John 16:7-8, NKJV).
If we believe we are living in the last days, we need the Holy Spirit desperately! The reason I first received the Holy Spirit was because I knew I had to preach the Gospel – with lives changed, souls saved into the Kingdom! I found Christ when I was 8, was baptised in water aged 12. The first time I spoke in my church I was only 13. I advertised, the people came; I preached, but nobody repented! I was shocked because I had grown up with some of the greatest evangelists. I went home and asked my father, who was a great preacher, one of the founders of the Pentecostal movement in Great Britain, what was wrong? I had preached the same Gospel – from the Bible like my father – but nobody repented. My father said, “Because you have not yet received the Holy Spirit!” That night he laid his hands on me and prayed that I would receive the Holy Spirit – but I did not receive – no fire, no power! But from that moment I had only one desire, to meet with God and to receive His power in my life.
For 3 months I prayed without receiving. But I knew that without the power, the fire, the anointing of God, I could never see men’s lives converted. At Easter we used to have three Pentecostal Conventions in London. I determined to go and not leave until I had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit! The preaching was so long in the morning, there was no time to pray for people to receive the Holy Spirit! As a 13-year old I went up to those great men of God on the platform and said, “I only came to receive the fire, pray for me!” They took me to a small room, laid their hands on me, but their minds were on their lunch! I did not receive the Holy Spirit.
I was searching for something which does not come from men, the real power of God. One of those pastors saw my heart, opened the Scripture to me, then when he prayed and laid hands on me, it was as if the roof came off the building, I saw the Glory of God and felt the fire! The fire of the Holy Ghost, the power of God and the Glory of God came into my life! Now I had to become an evangelist! I had to preach Christ, and see the Power! That baptism was only the beginning!
At the Last Supper Jesus taught: ‘It is better for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He has come, will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin and judgement, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you see Me no more.” – John 16:8.
This was a serious lesson which changed my whole life – and it remains with me: “Without the Holy Spirit I can do nothing!” I realised I needed the Fire and Power of the Holy Spirit in order to see lives transformed. If lives are not changed, what is the point of preaching?
How much Holy Spirit do you want? 100 percent? How much self?!! Aged 13, God told me to empty myself of everything, of all my ideas and hopes. I was crying out, “I need this Holy Spirit, I need fire, I need power, I need God, I need Jesus, I need the Holy Spirit! God, fill me, fill me, fill me!” A few days before my 14th birthday, I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, it was a powerful experience, a revolution in my life. It did not come lightly. When it came, it came ‘direct from source’. From that moment on, I began to see people repent and lives changed under the Power of the Holy Spirit. And every day, to this very day, I ask for a new infilling of the Holy Spirit, a new gift of faith.