Articles

Jun 28 2015
1

They Spoke With Boldness

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“And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31).

The first thing that Peter did on the day of Pentecost, after he was filled with the Spirit, was speak with tongues. The second thing he did was speak with boldness. The last article I shared was about speaking with tongues and how it is evidence that one has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I want to say a few more things about tongues and then I will move onto another form of speaking, speaking with boldness.
The issue of speaking in tongues has become a very divisive issue in the church today. Because of that, many believers would just as soon ignore the whole topic. I have to be honest and admit that I have done that at times for fear of causing division or chasing people off. However, speaking in tongues is not a subject the apostle Paul avoided. He wrote a whole chapter on it (I Corinthians 14). He mentions it in the 12th chapter as well. So I too must not be afraid to teach about it when needed.
Did you notice when you read what Paul said about tongues, that he never said it was of the devil? He was rebuking the Corinthians for their abuse of it. He was rebuking them for not letting love dominate the using of the gifts of the Spirit. Why do we have so many, supposedly Bible believing Christians, say tongues is of the devil? Now I know the devil uses his false version of the real, but that false comes from the devil not from God. Could it be possible that there is some blaspheming of the Holy Spirit going on?
There are also many Christians that believe speaking with tongues ceased with the first century Apostles. They act as if the Apostles were the only ones that spoke with tongues. If that were the case, then Paul would never have written to the Corinthian church for their abusing that gift. Many Christians believe the things they are told when they first get saved. Some of those things are inaccurate. Nonetheless, some of those believers never really prayerfully study the scriptures. I know of a sister in Christ who was raised up in a church that taught against speaking in tongues. Talking to her one day, she told me that she used to pray for those poor deceived Pentecostal Christians. Then she was filled with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. She quit praying for them, at least in that way, and joined up praying with them. I praise the Lord that the man He used to lead me to the Lord was a Pentecostal believer. I can’t help but to think the confusion it would have caused for me to be told some of the New Testament is not for our generation. I would have had to trust someone to sort that out for me. That is really a dangerous proposition. What a wonderful liberty to just believe the whole Bible as it stands. If the church would just come together and agree that the anointing for ministry that God gave to the early church at Pentecost is for every church generation, all the way up to the day He raptures His church, then the book of Acts would surely make more sense and come alive before the reader. I trust that you will allow the scriptures to develop your doctrine, not the teachings of men.
Have you ever wondered why God chose to use speaking in tongues as a sign that a person received the Spirit? I have, and I believe I have a thought on why that is. God used tongues to show that this power He promised us would flow through our mouth. The releasing of the tongue to the Holy Spirit in a sense opens up the flood gate of power and authority for men to preach.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Enough on tongues, now I want to go on to the topic of this article which is, the baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us the power to speak with boldness. Speaking with boldness is another evidence of being filled with the Spirit. In this day of watered down seeker sensitive messages, that are more like motivational speeches, there is a real absence of bold preaching and teaching. What it really is, is that there is an absence of Spirit filled preachers and teachers. Without the boldness that comes from the Spirit, the pressures from all angles, church and world, will cause the most godly of men to lighten it up a little bit. Just a little bit here and a little bit there until there is nothing there but cotton candy.
For the most part, bold preaching is not appreciated today. Some consider it old fashioned while others refer to it as finger pointing. Some others consider it judgmental or just too negative, but according to the text in Acts 4:31, boldness is what exploded from those that were filled with the Holy Spirit. After Peter received the Spirit and spoke with tongues, he went out to speak to the multitudes, not in tongues but with bold authority and power. It was only about fifty three days before this that he was buckling under the accusations of a little damsel telling everyone that he was one of Jesus’ followers. One preacher said that when Peter was acting like a chicken, God used a rooster to speak to him. That all changed when he was filled with the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached a less than three minute sermon and three thousand men came to know the Lord. How we need Spirit filled preachers today.
What you are likely to hear from preachers and teachers that are not filled with the Spirit are messages and teachings that speak to the practical mind, but do not penetrate the Spirit. They can move the emotion of man to make him want to try harder to serve God. But unless it moves his spirit, he will end up disappointed when he can’t overcome and will feel far from God when the excitement wears off. Preachers that lack the Spirit will preach messages on how to live by biblical principles in a God rejecting society. They will educate the intellect. They will use plenty of scriptures and say a lot of true statements, but there will be something missing. That something is the quickening work of the Holy Spirit “.piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow.” (Hebrews 4:12). We call our Bible the “Book of Life,” yet Christianity can sound like dead religion the way some preachers preach it.
Being filled with the Spirit is of the utmost importance. Consider what John the Baptist said when he first made comments about the one that is coming after him. John called the people to repentance. He taught the people what they should do. However, when it came time to turn his attention on Jesus he did not say, the one coming after me is coming to save you. He didn’t say, the one coming after me is going to deliver you. He didn’t say the one coming after me is going to heal you, feed you or teach you. Though Jesus did all those things, John said,

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11).

There is no other kind of believer that Satan fears more than the Spirit and fire baptized believer. They are the most effective believers on the face of the earth. When Holy Spirit boldness comes out of a believer, the people will take notice.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

There was a man in the sixth chapter of Acts who met the requirement of being filled with the Spirit so he could be appointed as a deacon. His name was Stephen. His time with the church was very short. Why? Because he spoke with boldness. Read what he said.

“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:51-56).

There are only two reasons a man will talk like this to others. He is either filled with hate and self-righteousness, or he is filled with the Spirit of God and given the ability to speak with boldness. Speaking with boldness is so needed today. If we are going to have a church of bold Christians then it is up to you, saint of God, to ask the Lord to fill you with the Spirit. Will you ask Him right now?

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him” (Luke 11:13)?

May 20 2015
0

And Began to Speak with Tongues

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It may be a little old fashioned today to believe that speaking in tongues is evidence of being baptized with the Holy Spirit, but I have to admit that I am one of those who believe it. I don’t care how intelligent a Bible teacher is that tells the church that speaking in tongues isn’t for today. When my Bible talks several times of this phenomenon happening upon receiving the Spirit and then, personally experiencing it just as the early church did, I have no choice but to reject what these men teach. I have had so called brothers try to convince me that it was fake or from the devil or something, but it was too late, it already happened. How could I deny what happened? You can be certain that these men that stand against it, more than likely, are not filled with the Spirit otherwise they would not dispute it. Before I continue, I want you to know that I am not one that makes a doctrine out of experiences. To do that is extremely dangerous and leads to mysticism. However, there are doctrines in the Bible that are backed up by experience. A simple example of this would be healing. When God heals someone, you can be certain that person experienced the healing. That healing would be a testimony to the truth of the word that people can be healed in the name of Jesus.
Let me tell you a testimony of what happened the second Sunday I entered a Christian church. I was born into a Catholic home and went to a Catholic grade school through sixth grade. I remember one day in religion class, my teacher who was a nun, told the class that the Red Sea may not really have split. She then gave a few suggestions of what may have happened. From that day on, my teacher left me with the impression that the Bible wasn’t actually true, but just a good book with examples of how we should live. Now fast forward to the year 1983. I owned a home improvement business at that time and hired the man that would lead me to the Lord. His name was Reed. One day while we were working, Reed told me that his church believed in speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues? I never heard of that. He told me that it is in the fourteenth chapter of First Corinthians. When I got home from work that evening, I opened up my Bible and read about speaking in tongues. It seemed a little strange, but none the less it was in my Bible.
One Sunday I decided to go to church with Reed. Then I went again the next Sunday. Now remember, I was taught that the Bible wasn’t one hundred percent accurate. During the song service that morning, a sister in Christ gave a message in tongues with an interpretation following. When I heard her speak in tongues, I began to weep and I said to myself, “I can’t believe this is true. The Bible really is true! This thing on tongues I read about really happens to people.” A few months later, I too got filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues has several purposes to it. One of them is that it is a sign to unbelievers. “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not..” (I Corithians 14:22). That day in church, God used tongues as a sign to me that His word is the absolute truth. Hallelujah!
Since that day I have had my share of discussions about speaking in tongues as being the primary evidence that one has been filled with the Spirit. I know a large portion of the church does not believe it. Though I am disappointed with that, I have learned to not let it discourage me or judge those that deny it. There is one thing that does irritate me a little and that is when Christians try to make other things the evidence. If you are going to be truly open and honest, through reading the Bible plainly, you cannot deny that speaking in tongues seemed to be the primary evidence. Let’s look at the scriptures of what happened when saints were filled with the Spirit.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).

This potion of scripture has been the most prominent verses used by the Pentecostal church to support that one will speak in tongues after they are filled with the Spirit. It is also where the term Pentecostal comes from. I know that some Pentecostal’s have misrepresented what true Pentecost is, but in simple terms it means to continue on with the same authority and power that was given to those disciples in that upper room. We must continue on with this Pentecostal power until the Lord takes the church home. It is important that you take note of one thing that happened that day. They were ALL filled with the Spirit and they ALL spoke with tongues. Not just the Apostles, not just the men, but the women too. This gives very strong indication that this blessed promise is for every believer. If only some would have been filled that day and only some would have spoken in tongues, then I would hold my peace. One thing I have to say, that has been one of the reasons some saints struggle with the whole idea of being filled with the Spirit, is that many have made it about speaking in tongues instead of yielding their life to be filled with the Spirit. I am aware that this article could seem to be promoting tongues more than the Spirit. Even now, my prayer is that this article promotes an appetite for every believer to desire to be filled with the Spirit.

“Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8:14-19).

There is no mention that anyone spoke in tongues in these verses, but Simon saw something happen to those that received the Spirit because he wanted to buy the power to lay his hands on others so they could receive the Spirit. It could be that Simon heard them speak in tongues.

“And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized” (Acts 9:17-18).

There is no mention that Paul spoke with tongues at this moment, but don’t forget that Paul said, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than ye all” (I Corinthians 14:18).

“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we” (Acts 10:44-47)?

How did Peter and the rest know that these Gentiles received the Spirit? “For they heard them speak with tongues.”

“And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should 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 his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied” (Acts 19:1-6).

Our last portion of scripture shows once again that speaking with tongues followed receiving the Holy Spirit. My question for you is, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? Jesus told us that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask. Will you ask God to fill you today with the Spirit?