Too often we try to judge spiritual things by fleshy standards, deciding what a person has or has not received from God according to how they act outwardly. Let's say three people come forward to receive the holy ghost. One of them receives and just stand there speaking very quietly with other tongues. Another receive and also speaks with tongues, but he gets so happy he runs up and down the aisle. The third one speaks with tongues and dances a little jig for joy. Then he cries and hugs people around him.
The next day someone ask who were present, "what happened at the service last night?"
"Well," someone says, "three received the holy spirit, but two of them really received!"
But the truth is, the two showed more outward emotion didn't receive any more of the holy spirit than the person who only spoke quietly in other tongues.
I learned a long time ago that you can't tell what is in a book by looking at the cover. You also can't tell whether a person has received the holy spirit by his outside actions at the moment unless it's speaking in other tongues.
Sometimes people just get stirred up emotionally, shouting and carrying on and making a lot of noise, and it doesn't mean a thing in the world. Of course, other times a display of outward emotion is a result of a true spiritual experience. But whether or not a person has truly received from the Lord is not determined by his outward emotions; it is determined by his heart.
