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  A FALSE ASSUMPTION
  by G.W. North
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Summary: The speaker warns against a false assumption that a specific
experience is necessary for the Baptism in the Spirit, and encourages
listeners to seek a genuine experience.

Topics: "Discernment", "Holy Spirit"
Scripture References: Matthew 7:15-20, John 14:17, Acts 2:4, Romans 8:16, 1 Corinthians 12:30, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 4:30, James 1:5, 1 John 4:1

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DESCRIPTION
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G.W. North addresses the misconception surrounding the necessity of
having an Acts 2:4 experience to validate one's spiritual encounter,
arguing that such assumptions can lead to confusion and mislabeling of
genuine experiences. He emphasizes that while some may seek physical
demonstrations like speaking in tongues as proof of the Baptism in the
Spirit, this can result in false experiences being accepted as genuine.
North warns against the dangers of self-induced emotional states that
can mislead individuals and churches into believing they have received
the Holy Spirit when they have not. He encourages believers to focus on
the true essence of the experience, which may include feelings of
warmth, joy, and love, rather than mere physical manifestations.
Ultimately, he calls for discernment to ensure that the genuine
experience of the Holy Spirit is not overshadowed by false assumptions.

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CONTENT
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Upon the supposition that the above assumption is true, it is not an
uncommon thing to hear people asking if someone has had an Acts 2:4
experience, the implication being that unless the answer is 'Yes', then
the experience is not valid. Even if it were true, such a postulation is
very confusing to say the least, for there is very little present day
evidence to shew that people now have an identical experience to that
which took place then. Here and there it happens that the tongue spoken
is recognized by a hearer, but the occurrence is comparatively rare, and
certainly, whenever it may have taken place, it has never been in such
profusion and diversity as upon the day of Pentecost. However, when a
person's vital experience seems to be parallel with a scriptural verse
of so great importance, it is very easy to think that must be the
genuine experience, and that any variation from it must be wrong.

This kind of unwarrantable thinking, once accepted, provides hasty minds
with ground for the development of the initial evidence theory. From
there it is an easy step to promote the error into a tenet of faith and
a received doctrine. Under such misapprehensions, many a true experience
of Baptism in the Spirit has been wrongly labelled 'an anointing',
simply because there has been no demonstration in Tongues. What is meant
by that term is not very clearly defined. In fact it is not true. On the
other hand, because some kind of incomprehensible verbal demonstration
has taken place at the time, many a false experience has been
erroneously called the Baptism.

Again because of this false assumption, many have laboured long in
states bordering upon hysteria to produce some kind of sounds which may
prove acceptable to those who pray with them, hoping that someone will
pronounce the demonstration to be genuine. These occasions are often
accompanied by feelings of great heat, or by physical contortions or
deep breathings, all of which are self-induced and sometimes encouraged
and extremely dangerous. So great is the state of confusion in which
many churches lie to this day.

Lest the false should displace the genuine, it must be said that the
glorious experience may be received to the accompaniment of a most
blessed sensation of being enveloped in warmth, or flooded with joy, or
consumed in love. These, as well as speaking with tongues, are all of
them absolutely valid; the thing that is wrong is the search for
physical demonstrations and sensations. So surely as these be sought,
stereotyped substitutes for the real baptism will become the accepted
procedure.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/gw-north/a-false-assumption/
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