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The Book of ACTS Waits For You
The amazing truth is that you can walk and live in the book of Acts. Many people give up on their faith, before God can release greater power into their lives. You are entering that life by reading this book. You will uncover key truths that the Christian world has not fully developed.
You will enter the book of Acts as you discover…
- what God has made available to you
- how to genuinely believe Him and His word
- how these experiences are to happen in your life
This greater life is possible for you because the book of Acts is the church in action.
The greatest joy of the Christian life is experiencing our God for ourselves. We experience God when we experience His word. You are now entering the book of Acts for yourself. Faith is required to enter where God is. The world says, "Show me and I will believe." In so many words, God says, "Believe and I will show you."
We see the pattern for modern day Christianity through Jesus' followers being baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. According to Acts, when people were "filled with the Spirit," they easily and immediately prayed in a language from the Holy Spirit. This prayer language was not learned but came from the Holy Spirit's inspiration. The bible calls this language other tongues.
If we believe in the New Testament and claim a New Testament experience such as "being filled with the Spirit," then we should have the same results that the bible teaches in the book of Acts. We should be praying in other tongues! How can we claim an experience the bible teaches if we cannot claim the same outcome?
Let me turn to Acts for the scriptural foundation. On the day of Pentecost, the 120 people who were gathered in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 1, verses 4-5 says, "And being assembled together with them, He [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.' "
Moving to Acts 1:8, we see where the risen Jesus says, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…."
In Acts 2:4, the Holy Spirit filled the 120 people who were in the upper room. The bible says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." This group of believers included Jesus' Apostles and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Later in the book of Acts, the first Christians, who were not Jewish, also prayed in tongues in the same way as those in the upper room. In Acts 11:15, the Apostle Peter says, "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning."
Praying or speaking in tongues, an experience for Christians only, is the evidence stated in the bible that the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, or baptized in the Holy Spirit.
To achieve the faith that takes hold of this wonderful promise, settle these facts in your heart as you study God's word. God is for today. None of God's New Testament "gifts" have passed away. We are still living in the era of Jesus Christ, raised from the dead.
What Jesus has done since the beginning of His earthly ministry and through the early church, He still does today. He is the same Jesus. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." What the bible talks about, especially in the New Testament, is for you.
As a young man of 22 years, I learned this experience firsthand. Unschooled in bible doctrine, I had read in the bible that Christians - all Christians - prayed in tongues. I also believed that the God of the bible is the same God today. As a new Christian, I struggled to understand the kind of faith that produces bible results. After three months of failed efforts, I finally received this supernatural gift, but only after learning how to receive God's way.
The first requirement to receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit or being filled with the Spirit is to be "born again" according to Jesus' words in John 3:6-7. Look also at Romans 10:9-10 and Ephesians 2:8.
John 3:6-7, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "
Romans 10:9-10, "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."
As we have said, being saved or being "baptized into the body of Christ" is what happens when a believer receives Jesus and is born again. That's what happened in Acts, Chapter 8, when people believed in Jesus, meaning they were saved. Next, Peter and John came down from Jerusalem and laid their hands on them so they could receive the second experience from God. They were filled with the Spirit.
Acts 8:12, "But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized."
See Acts 8:14-18, "Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given…."
I must ask a MAJOR question, "Why would Peter and John have to come down from Jerusalem for these believers to receive the Holy Spirit, if they had already received the Spirit by believing in Jesus?" They were even baptized in water. You are hearing the answer to my question in this book.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that in Acts 19:2, the Apostle Paul, thinking that he was talking to Christians, asked about twelve people if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed. Evidently Paul thought they could be saved and not be filled with the Spirit.
Acts 19:1-6, "And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' So they said to him, 'We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.' And he said to them, 'Into what then were you baptized?' So they said, 'Into John's baptism.' Then Paul said, 'John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.' When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied."
Can you see the obvious point of Paul's question to these people? He did not ask if they were believers in the resurrected Jesus Christ because he already believed that they were. Paul knew that being filled by the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues was a second experience of faith. So, he asked the question we see above to people who he thought were Christians.
There are people right now saying, "When I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I received the Holy Spirit!" My answer to you is, "Yes! You are right! You did!" You were sealed by the Holy Spirit according to Ephesians 1:13, "…in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." As we also see in Ephesians 4:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." You have been born again by the Holy Spirit, and therefore, you are led by the Holy Spirit according to Romans 8:14.
These truths do not set aside the fact that there is a second experience of grace where we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. This infilling of the Holy Spirit corresponds to the experience of all New Testament Christians in the Book of Acts. Now that you have received the most important gift, that is, salvation in Jesus Christ, let's move deeper into the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let's consider for a moment one beautiful aspect about the nature of our God and Father. We receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit by grace through faith. We do not work to receive more of Him. God's nature can only come from God's Spirit being in our heart, making us like Him. See Philippians 2:13, "It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
God knows what He said in Romans 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." God has appointed you to receive this truth.
Did you know the bible calls the Holy Spirit a gift to you? The bible describes the Jewish Christians as being astonished when the Holy Spirit was first poured into the hearts of Gentile believers. The Gentiles are people who are not of Jewish heritage. See Acts 10:45, "And those of the Jews who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also." Do you see God's great mercy? God brings His power into your heart as a gift. A gift is not earned but simply received.
The problem is that we attempt to use worldly thinking to understand spiritual mysteries. The bible is a book of revealed mysteries that God uncovers as we apply faith to specific truths. These truths are difficult to understand unless we allow God to reveal His word on a subject. For example, the fact that Christ lives in our hearts is called a hidden mystery that is revealed to us who believe. (See Colossians 1:26-27.)
Receiving the Holy Spirit in baptism is not easily understood unless we know God's way to receive.
Now, if we are to receive the miracle of other tongues, let us exercise caution to avoid failure through wrong believing. The only sure way to receive God's promises is by following God's word. One way to fall short is being too smart for our own good. Sometimes very intelligent and educated people talk us out of receiving from God. Seeking help to understand the simplest bible teachings often results in confusion and contradiction when that help relies on intellect and false scholarship.
In Jesus' day the Jewish scholars were puzzled at Jesus' wisdom. See John 7:15, "And the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this Man know letters, having never studied?' " You see, His wisdom came through the teaching of the Holy Spirit from His Father in heaven. In the same way, we should learn true wisdom. A signal, that someone is misleading you, is when they turn you away from bible experiences.
We may identify many paths to failure, one of which is to base our faith on our own experiences. Some people say to themselves, "I have tried and it didn't work. So it must not be true." Or they say something worse, "Well, it must not be God's will for me because it didn't happen." This type of comment denies God's word, when His will is expressed in His word. We can never base our faith on our experience above the word of God. Trust me. If something is wrong, the problem is with me and not with God or His word.
Jesus said in Mark 7:13 that those who were entrusted with teaching God's word are "making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down." God's people were taking the power out of God's word by teaching the traditions of men.
Think about this interesting parallel. In Jesus' day, the people representing God rejected Jesus, the Son of God, when He was sent to save them and help them. In many areas of today's church, people representing God are rejecting the Holy Spirit's infilling, effectively keeping Christians away from this person of God.
The root problem remains. God wants to be near His people but doctrines are being taught that keep people away from God's presence. In effect the teachers of God are saying, "You can learn all about God, but do not think that you can experience His presence as found in the book of Acts."
This word is hard, but love will tell you the truth. We must turn from the teachers who fulfill Jesus' words in Matthew 23:13, "For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."
Some Christians who are ready to walk into God's fullness in the Spirit have been persuaded away by wrong teaching and wrong believing. Never be discouraged by the deception of the enemies to your faith. Your victory comes through persistence in God's word. John 8:31-32, "If you abide in My word...you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Your victory is assured if you receive the light of God's word through this teaching. Show your determination to know all of God's word on this subject. You must resist every doubt contrary to the word of God. Then, you will enter into the fullness of the Spirit and pray in other tongues.
The bible explains praying in tongues as praying from our heart, which is our human spirit. When the Holy Spirit fills our human spirit, then we can pray from our heart and not from our mind. This is the miracle and beauty and wonder of praying in tongues. Praying in tongues is speaking with our mouth and vocal cords, yet the words do not come from our minds.
By faith we speak words that rise from our innermost being. This is why we can pray the will of God in a mystery. The Holy Spirit is giving us words that pray the exact will of God through us. God, the Spirit, is speaking through us to God, the Father.
Let's clarify the idea of praying in mysteries. The bible says in I Corinthians 14:2, "For he [she] who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him: however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." You see, we have said that these words are not words of our understanding or in the language that we naturally speak. We do not even understand the words - but God does. Praying in tongues is sometimes called our prayer language. Other tongues is a personal prayer language for speaking only to God.
A wonderful benefit of praying in this way is that the devil cannot attack our weaknesses nor can he see the direction that God is using to gain victories through our prayers. Now, we are not going to get upset about the devil because Jesus defeated him. However, by praying in tongues, God has given us a way to pray in mysteries. His will is brought to pass without the devil ever seeing God's plan. The devil cannot understand the language of the Spirit of God spoken through us.
In warfare, armies need to communicate without the enemy knowing their activities. Our prayer language is a kind of secret code to protect God's information from our enemy. We are praying on the battleground of the earth!
I once heard a special-forces soldier talking about the principles of war. This combat veteran said that a country's military must get on the offensive to win. You cannot win a war on the defensive. Glory to God, our Father! He has given us a hidden language to pray on the offensive. We can be proactive and not reactive. We can pray for people and events unknown to us through the wisdom of God. We can even pray our own future victories in ways unknown to the powers of darkness through these mysteries spoken in other tongues.
See I Corinthians 14:14, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." This scripture explains how our mind is not working on the words when we pray in other tongues. This presents an obstacle to people because their mind has always been in control of their tongue. Now, to pray in tongues, the mind is not involved. The person speaks with his (or her) mouth and vocal cords, but the words come from the human spirit. You see, as we said earlier, the Holy Spirit lives in and fills our human spirit, or our heart.
A distinction is made between the Holy Spirit (with a capital S) and the human spirit (with a lower case s). If you will look closely at I Corinthians 14 and verses 2, 14, and 15, you will notice the word "spirit," lower case "s," and not "Spirit," because the bible is referring to our human spirit. You are a spirit, living in a body, and you have a mind, or a soul. (See I Thessalonians 5:23.)
Your soul is not your human spirit. Your soul is where your "will" or "willpower" resides. When your soul is saved, Jesus sets your will free to live and serve Him, gaining you spiritual freedom in Christ Jesus.
Now, you understand why people will refer to praying in tongues as "praying in the spirit." Our human spirit prays in the Spirit or in other tongues. Again, because our human spirit prays, our mind is not working on forming or comprehending words. We can actually carry on other thoughts while praying "in the spirit" or in other tongues.
The bible is flooded with examples of believers who prayed or spoke in tongues. If there was one instance of this experience being available to believers, I would desire it. However, numerous examples make the evidence overwhelming that believers can - and should - pray in tongues.
If you will receive this gift, you must build your faith so that you can conclude, undeniably, that the bible: -- is trustworthy so that you can have faith in its teaching
-- shows that speaking in tongues is for today
-- demonstrates that speaking in tongues is for everyone and not just a few select believers
Let's spend a little time talking about faith. You cannot believe in something that you do not know is yours. Therefore, faith is available to everyone who will believe the bible. Faith requires you to be sincere. Do you know that, when Jesus was on the earth, the unbelief of some amazed Him so much that he was astounded at their ability NOT to believe? They doubted to such an extreme that Jesus was amazed. I too am amazed that people can read the New Testament and not see that God wants us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and pray in other tongues to God.
How is it possible that some people reject the word of God while at the same time professing faith in God and the bible? For some truths in the bible, you have to try really, really hard to explain them away. The mere thought of trying to NOT believe God for His blessings and gifts runs contrary to our whole purpose as Christians. I WANT what God has. I want all of what God has, and God wants me to have it! I do not want to "Cafeteria Line" what God has. When I say "Cafeteria Line," I mean picking one thing and leaving another: "I'll have the mashed potatoes but not the green beans."
Someone says, "Well, praying in tongues is not necessary. It's extra, like dessert." Great, I'm having the steak, the potatoes, the vegetables, AND THE DESSERT! I am not trying to get away from what God has. I am not trying to explain it away. I want it a hundred times over! What's available, I want. I especially want more of the Holy Spirit because He is the third person of God. If I can have more of God in my life, what a fantastic privilege! Are you listening to what God wants for you - more of Himself inside of you! In regards to other tongues, most disbelievers fall into one of these pitfalls.
1) They are simply unaware of what the bible says on the subject.
2) They fail to understand what the bible says on the subject.
3) They believe in error, subscribing to a mistaken belief, thinking:
-- God does not fill people with His Spirit today.
-- Everyone is not included.
-- If God wants them to have it, then He will give it to them.
-- Praying in tongues is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit.
-- If they get "the gift" of tongues then God moves their tongue and "makes them" speak in tongues.
-- Some special feeling must come on you, allowing you to speak in tongues only at special times, thus limiting the benefit of God's power for daily living.
Calling on God through faith in His word and faith in Jesus Christ will not permit anything counterfeit to happen to you. For you to call on the word of God and not receive something from God is impossible. The devil cannot perform God's word with signs and wonders.
In talking about Christians, Jesus says in John 10:29 "...no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." Later, we will read the passage in Luke 11:11-13, which tells us that God our Father will not give us something bad while we are seeking His goodness. Jesus said that when you are asking for the Holy Spirit, your Heavenly Father will not give you a stone for bread, a snake in place of a fish, or a scorpion for an egg.
Perhaps you are wondering whether God still does this today. First, you are too late. Millions of people are praying in tongues. A real life experience is occurring in the hearts of Christians which you can hear and judge for yourself. This fact makes it hard, if not impossible, to deny.
Notice in Acts chapter 8:18 that a man named Simon saw that through the "laying on" of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given to new Christians. Closer review will show that these events do not specifically say that they prayed in tongues. How do we know that they did? The answer is - by the evidence of all other scripture which we see in Acts, chapters 2, 10, and 19.
We know that in Acts, chapter 8, the believing Christians received something that could be observed. The early church was so clear about the resulting evidence of praying in tongues that this is implied. When you see the same result over and over, as they did, and as modern Christians do when they believe this truth, then you know what happens when someone says, "They received the Holy Spirit." They pray in tongues.
This is the evidence that Simon saw. This was understood by Luke as he wrote these scriptures by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For someone to conclude any other kind of evidence they would have to "make something up" because the scriptures throughout the book of Acts give only one possibility. These Christians in Acts, chapter 8, had the same result that we see in the other chapters in Acts.
Observing the hesitancy by many Christians, an honest person will conclude that some people do not want the responsibility of receiving a gift from God that they do not understand. That is why I am teaching you on this subject, so that you may know and understand the things that are freely given to you by the Spirit of God. (See I Corinthians 2:12.)
Numerous scriptures reveal God's will for you to have this gift. After Jesus' resurrection, He knew that this experience was coming for every believer who wanted it. See what Jesus said in Mark 16:17, "And these signs will follow those who believe...they will speak with new tongues."
I have personally used these many scriptures to instill the prayer of faith in the hearts of believing Christians. Many, many people, without fail, have received this beautiful gift, which is available to every believer in Jesus Christ.
Are you still questioning whether praying in other tongues is for everyone? Look in Acts, chapter 2. How many people were in the upper room? Answer: 120 people, including men and women. How many were filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues? See Acts 2:4, "And they were all filled with the Spirit and began to speak with other tongues…." Answer: 120 people were filled with the Spirit, and 120 people prayed in tongues.
If you will look closely at the many scriptures we are studying, you will find in every example in the Book of Acts (the book of the church in action), there were no exceptions. All believers received this experience. Any exceptions simply are not there.
Some people look at the occurrence within the upper room in the book of Acts and want to say that it was some kind of unique, one-of-a-kind experience. However, when the first Gentiles were filled with the Spirit, they spoke in tongues in the same way as happened in the upper room in the beginning.
See Acts 11:15, when Peter explained to the other church leaders in Jerusalem, "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning."
See Acts 10:44, "…the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word." Acts 10:46, "For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God." The Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
In Acts 19:6 you will read where approximately twelve men all received this experience of praying in tongues.
All descriptions in the bible are clear on this point. You never see your Father-God excluding any believer from this gift of being filled with the Spirit as evidenced by praying in other tongues. Notice Luke 11:10-13, Acts 2:38, Acts 5:32.
Luke 11:10-13 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil [earthly], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Jesus spoke these words. Did Jesus know what He was talking about? Or was he "winging it" as we so often hear today? Was Jesus "flying by the seat of his pants?" Did He speak in error? Of course He did not. What did He say? People would ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, and the Father would give the Spirit to those who ask.
Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' "
Consider two prophets in the Old Testament who predicted, or prophesied, that this experience was coming to the modern church.
Isaiah 28:11, "For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people...."
Joel 2:28, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh...."
Peter understood what Joel was talking about because he referred to Joel as he explained their experience of speaking in tongues. The people in Peter's day witnessed the fulfillment of Joel's words. (See Acts 2:16.)
Isaiah was a great prophet. We see him talking about an experience that he could not understand, but God understood. Isaiah could not know this experience because no one could be "born again" until Jesus had died for sins and had risen from the dead. However, God knew that He would move in this way by the Spirit in our day.
If you will follow Isaiah to the next verse, a startling benefit seems to be offered with praying in tongues. Verse 12 says, "'This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,' and 'This is the refreshing;' yet they would not hear." Some Christians search their whole lives for their Heavenly Father's peace, fulfillment, and rest, yet we forsake one of His methods for peace when we do not receive the prayer language of other tongues.
I am confident that you are hearing the word of God and receiving God's best. God's will is being revealed so that you may enter into His design for your life. Then, you will know the fullness of Jesus' words as spoken in Matthew 11:29b-30, "...and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke [hitch to you] is easy and My burden is light."
Without faith we will never receive God's promises. Some people say, "If God wants me to have it, He will give it to me." No, this way of thinking does not agree with God's nature. God's ways are based upon faith. He requires faith. When you were saved, you believed something and did something - you received Jesus and His salvation for your life. We just read in the book of Luke that we must "seek to find" and "ask to receive."
Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. We cannot receive God's will for our lives unless we actively seek His will by faith and believe His promises. What God says in His word is His will for you. God calls us to accept His words by faith and receive the answer that is promised in His word, before any evidence is seen. This is real bible faith! Anything else is a cheap counterfeit, a forgery, a "fake" faith. God only honors His kind of faith.
The believer, who receives the gift of being filled with the Spirit, as evidenced by praying in tongues, has achieved two very important milestones.
-- He or she has believed God with the kind of faith the bible teaches, which I call the God-kind of faith.
-- He or she fully understands that the individual uses his or her own voice to speak in tongues, that God does not move the tongue and mouth and vocal cords for the person.
To receive this precious gift and anointing of the Holy Spirit, our faith must first be the faith taught in the bible. So, let us look to the holy scriptures for our teaching.
See Romans 4:17, "(As it is written, 'I have made you a father of many nations') in the presence of Him whom he believed - God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did…."
Mark 11:22-24, "So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
The God-kind of faith calls things which are not in existence as though they already exist. True faith trusts God that - what He said would happen - does indeed happen - and happens when we pray. In other words, true faith receives what it believes at the time of prayer because this kind of faith knows that God always fulfills His word by His Spirit. God causes His specific words of promise to become reality in our life when we believe those words.
Before I had learned to receive this gift by faith, I spoke with a friend named Dave. Dave witnessed to me that he had learned that Christians can pray in tongues today just like in bible days. I asked Dave if he could pray in tongues, and he said, "Yes." Then, as a close and curious friend, I asked Dave, "Pray in tongues for me so that I can hear what it sounds like." You see, I had never before heard it done. My friend Dave understood part of what faith is, but not all of what faith is, because he replied to me, "I can't pray in tongues for you because I believe that I have received the gift but I have not prayed in tongues yet!"
Well, Dave had not yet obtained the faith that RECEIVES what it believes. He had not yet acted on his faith by speaking in tongues as a step of faith. I have prayed with many people who all have immediately received this gift when I explained that you must act on your faith by speaking or praying in tongues before you know how.
Many times I will lay hands on them, which I call a "point of contact." This means that when I lay hands on the Christian, I will ask the person to speak "NOW!" in tongues. This is the point of action to release faith - - NOW! In other words, laying on "of hands" can be a "release point" of faith.
The God-kind of faith says, "God fill me with Your Holy Spirit" and then believes that He does it. This believing says, "I possess the end result," and "I will act now on what I believe." Faith is NOW, not later, not sometime, not someday. This is why we don't have to wait on God to receive this gift. He has already made it ours at the time when we believe His word.
What God gives is yours now, when you decide His word is true and receive it by faith. Again I say, if I believe that God does what He says, then I will speak in other tongues when I don't know how. This is trusting God's promise with action because God cannot lie. (See Numbers 23:19 and Psalm 89:34.)
This is how I received this mighty gift. So I know this is available for every believer. Before receiving the gift of tongues, I spent three months "trying" to believe God because I did not know what faith is. I kept opening my mouth and waiting for God to move my mouth or do something. You see, God had already done something. He promised the Holy Spirit to those who believe, but I did not believe like the bible explains.
When I finally started using my mouth to speak words that my mind did not understand, God gave me the utterance of words that flooded from my human spirit in a "release" like water. I immediately began to speak in tongues when I had never done so before.
Make no mistake - from the moment you believe that you receive, you are the one who uses your voice to speak in other tongues. God by the Holy Spirit gives you the utterance or, in other words, prompts what you speak, but your vocal cords speak. You are doing the speaking.
God does not move your tongue and mouth and vocal cords for you. Your "part" is to move your voice as He gives you the utterance. The major failure of almost all Christians is that they do not know that they must speak in faith before they experience this gift. Remember: you must believe that you have what you don't have before God gives it to you. As I said before, faith receives the promise before any evidence is seen. See the following scriptures.
Acts 2:4, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and [they] began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Notice that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and "they" began to speak. They did the speaking, and the Holy Spirit gave them the words or utterance.
Acts 10:44-46, "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God."
Who does the speaking? Answer: "Them," meaning the people. The Apostle Peter and his companions heard "them speak" with tongues. God was not moving their voice for them, but they were speaking as the Holy Spirit moved on their human spirit with words that we call other tongues.
Now, I want to offer you one help in this process. This is a personal note to people with the struggle I had. My problem was how to release my speech function from the control of my mind and yield my voice to my human spirit. Because your mind has always been in control of your speech abilities, you will do better if you will start praying in other tongues in a fast, quiet "rumble" of a whisper.
The more you use your tongue to speak, and the less you use your lips, the easier it is to start speaking in tongues. Praying in a fast whisper makes the action simpler because your mind interferes less with your speech control, that is, not getting in the way of your mouth and tongue. This approach will help you yield more easily to the language of the Holy Spirit as He moves upon your human spirit.
I teach this method because my stumbling block was tied to my mind's control of my tongue. I could not "let go" until God showed me that speaking in the way I am describing simplifies the process for hard cases like me. This is one reason that I believe with all my heart that if God reached me with this gift then He can reach anyone!
The act of praying in tongues is available to the believer at all times as he or she wills to pray. Praying in tongues is like a water faucet that you control. You can turn it on and off whenever you want. God will not come upon you and "make you speak" in tongues at a time when you do not want to speak.
You can pray in tongues whenever you want to pray, for as long as you want to speak, and then stop when you want to stop, and then start again as you choose. The praying is all under your control. The gift is from God for prayer - for you to use as you will - for your benefit, to the end that God's purposes are accomplished in the earth. God receives the glory.
Now, let's address the confusion in this subject concerning spiritual gifts. In the list of "Gifts of the Holy Spirit" in I Corinthians 12:10, there is a vocal gift called tongues and interpretation of tongues. This is not what we are talking about in this teaching.
Some people who don't have the experience of spiritual gifts have tried to explain what they don't have, and have thereby taught in error about the "Gift of the Spirit" of tongues. They mistakenly talk as though it were the same as praying in tongues. In truth, these are two different experiences. The "Gift of the Spirit" of tongues is as the Holy Spirit wills and will not occur as we will.
I Corinthians 14:2, "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him: however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries."
You see, if the person speaks to God, then this type of "praying in tongues" has nothing to do with a church service or speaking to people. This is the sign of being filled with the Spirit which we are talking about in today's teaching. Importantly, you must understand that there are two types of "other tongues."
1) Private prayer to God. 2) A public gift spoken to people in the church with an accompanying interpretation of tongues. People hear the words of the interpretation in their spoken language as God's Spirit communicates spiritual insight to the congregation.
Some Christian teachers, though sincere, are sincerely wrong when they call the first type of tongues a special gift. This is a destroyer of faith. No one can receive by "the prayer of faith" for a special gift, because we do not know if it is ours. Such special gifts are always for someone else, and not us. This places people where God does not put them: they become the "have NOTS!"
Generally, when people do not walk in this bible truth, they must explain why, because we see it in the bible. Explaining "other tongues" as a special condition for other people takes the responsibility away from us. All such ideas are from not understanding God's Spirit and from a lack of bible teaching.
In everyday life, if you want to understand how something happens, or how it works, then talk to someone who has experience with it. Don't ask people who are not experiencing it. The people with experience are the ones who know something! I am talking about other tongues because I have experience from the word of God. For Christians, all experiences are always tested against the bible. I know what I am saying. I am like Peter and John in Acts 4:20 when they said, "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
Ultimately, as instructed, the complete truth is found in the bible as the word of God. As I have said over and over, only wrong teaching and wrong believing will prevent you from walking into the book of Acts with this experience. Every question raised against believing God's word is another attempt to trip you up. You have been presented the truth. The choice is yours. Having heard the truth, will you believe?
If you will take the time to study Acts, chapter 2, you will see that both types of tongues were in operation the first time that God poured out His Holy Spirit on the earth. We understand from history that those disciples were most likely in an upper room at the Jerusalem temple. The Holy Spirit fell from heaven with a loud wind in the appearance of tongues of spiritual fire upon their heads. At this moment the 120 disciples were praying in other tongues to God while the crowd in Jerusalem came running to them as they heard the loud wind of the Holy Spirit.
The crowd in Jerusalem was there because of the Jewish festival of Pentecost. They had traveled from other parts of the region and of the world. As they came to the area of the upper room, the crowd heard the 120 disciples speaking in the different languages of their home origins. This shows us that the disciples were praying in other tongues to God but also were speaking as a Gift of the Spirit of tongues. We know this is true because their "other tongues" were understood by the people present as the Spirit willed. During this time, the disciples were praying to God, and they were also understood by the people listening.
In our discussion, we are talking about other tongues in private prayer to God. We are describing our bible experience in a way that will not confuse or mislead people but will explain its application to our individual lives. In the verse that follows, we see that Paul values speaking in tongues in private prayer and thanks God for it.
I Corinthians 14:18, "I thank God I speak with tongues more than you all."
So, you can confidently add this experience of God's power and influence into your life, as you read this testimony from the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Simply use praying in tongues with wisdom, just as Christians strive to be wise in all their conduct and words, bringing glory to God and the Lord Jesus.
Certainly, some people misuse or misrepresent praying in tongues. However, just because someone misuses money, that does not mean we shouldn't use money. Let's take the good from what Paul is saying. God is to be thanked for our ability to pray in tongues more than others. In other words, praying in tongues is beneficial and desirable.
One benefit of speaking in tongues is that we are edified, or built up in our human spirit. In other words, we make ourselves spiritually stronger. I Corinthians 14:4, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church." Now, let's not get all high-minded and say, "Well, I will prophesy and edify the church." We need to edify ourselves and the church. If we are edified, we will make a better church. The more we are edified, the more we will edify the church. The point is this: let's not do the one and leave the other undone. Let's do both.
Now look at Jude, verse 20, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit." This again teaches us that praying in the Holy Spirit, or praying in tongues, builds us up and make us stronger, which will make us better Christians. We will better serve and glorify God.
I Corinthians 14:15 tells us we should pray in English (or our spoken language) and pray in other tongues, and we should sing in our spoken language and in other tongues. Singing is for the worship of God and the Lord Jesus, which we are to do in our own words and in the spirit (other tongues). God's best way is to pray and worship in both methods. Do not settle for second best when God's best is available to you.
I Corinthians 14:15, "What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding."
Finally, may I speak to precious Christians who mistakenly think that they can pray in tongues only at special times by some special moving of the Spirit? The scriptures in this chapter show us that, if we are to edify ourselves or build ourselves up by praying in tongues, then we have to be able "to will" to pray in tongues. In other words, it has to be under our willpower. How else could we follow the encouragement to pray in the spirit if we cannot choose to do so? This would be a contradiction of scripture as we read this encouragement in I Corinthians 14:15 and Jude 20.
We can also consider Paul's instructions in I Corinthians 14:18-19. In verse 18 he is in effect saying that he is choosing to pray in tongues more than the Corinthian church that is zealous about tongues. Then, in verse 19, Paul is correcting the Corinthians for speaking or praying in tongues at the wrong times. Obviously, this type of prayer is under every Christian's control, or otherwise Paul would be blaming people for something that they could not control.
Well, your time has come to remove every doubt, believe God's word, and JUMP IN by faith. Now, this gift - available for every believer in Jesus Christ - is yours. Believe God that you now have what His word says you can have. Then, ask God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
Believe that you receive the gift immediately; then, YOU SPEAK and God will cause words to flow as YOU SPEAK. You have to start speaking or this experience will never happen…that's faith.
One final testimony about Sam - Sam is the son of a Pastor in a denomination that does not teach these truths. I shared these same scriptures and prayed in faith with Sam to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. He immediately prayed in other tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance without a pause. I asked Sam, "Why did you so easily accept and believe this truth?"
Sam replied, "Because it's in the bible."
Dear reader, your turn is now.
Believe the bible and step into the book of Acts by faith. God has been waiting for you!
Remember our earlier suggestion, as you start to speak in other tongues, in your step of faith. Pray quickly and quietly only in a whisper, as your tongue "rumbles" under your breath. This will prevent your mind from taking over a function that has always been under its control: your speech. Pray softly and form the words with your tongue, without using your mind, but as the Spirit leads you…and be filled with the Spirit. To God is the glory forever and ever. He is the only true God and wise King. Remember: Jesus is Lord and He changes lives forever. He can and will change your life!
Scriptures quoted in this teaching are taken from the New King James Version of the bible.
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