LIFTING MY VOICE: THEY SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES(continued)One of my ...

LIFTING MY VOICE: THEY SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES(continued)One of my ...: THEY SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES (continued) One of my Facebook friends, himself a Pentecostal pastor, made an interesting comment followi...

THEY SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES

(continued)

One of my Facebook friends, himself a Pentecostal pastor, made an interesting comment following the second part of this current blog theme. He said: "You don't hear much about speaking in tongues these days." When he said that, I knew he was right. He was stating a reality which my wife and I sensed was so, but would not have been willing to categorically state. This man, having been a pastor for some decades now, in a major Pentecostal movement in Australia, had obviously become aware over time of the apparent diminishing importance given to the experience by Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and movements. Most of these churches would still have in their Statement of Beliefs a clear indication that one their core beliefs is that subsequent to salvation or being "born again", the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues is available to every believer.

Again, as in previous blog posts on this topic, I think of the prophecy of Joel, some eight hundred years BC, confirmed by Peter on the Day of Pentecost as being fulfilled at that time, where the prophet said:

         "And it shall come to pass afterward

          That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

          Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

          Your old men shall dream dreams,

          Your young men shall see visions;

          And also on My menservants

          And on My maidservants

          I will pour out My Spirit in 

          those days." 

After quoting this prophecy, Peter, empowered and inspired by the Holy Spirit, added: "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,

For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." Acts 2:38,39 NKJV

The "gift of the Holy Spirit" referred to here by the apostle Peter is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit the 120 in the Upper Room had received that day, with the manifestation of speaking in other tongues - in that particular instance, languages unknown to the speakers, but known languages recognized by the hearers from other countries gathered together in Jerusalem at that time. 

Peter said the Promise is "to you and your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." He was saying that the gift of the Holy Spirit, with the accompanying evidence of speaking in tongues was to all believers in every era, every generation, to those of all ages, of all races, all backgrounds - in fact, to everyone, Jew or Gentile - who would repent of sin, and receive the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

With the restoration of this Biblical truth to the church in the twentieth century,

the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 were also restored to the church. These nine gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit include: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, the gift of faith, gifts of healings, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues (in public gatherings), and the interpretation of tongues (in public gatherings). (Words in italics added by me). 

The fact is that we, as Christians, are in a war - a battle for the hearts and minds of men and women and children. One of my favourite verses in the Book of Isaiah, speaking prophetically down through the ages to the day in which we live, says: So shall they fear

                            The name of the Lord from the west,

                            And His glory from the rising of the sun;

                            When the enemy comes in like a flood,

                            The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a 

                                   standard against him." Isaiah 59:19

Dennis Bennett, the Episcopal rector in California who, in 1960 became a catalyst for the beginning of the Charismatic Movement, when he announced to his church congregation that he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, stated, that for a Christian to be born again and not baptized in the Holy Spirit would be like sending a soldier to Vietnam without a rifle. In these times of ever-increasing darkness covering the earth, the church needs to avail itself of every provision the Lord makes available to us. That provision includes the Baptism in the Holy Spirit subsequent to the salvation experience, with the provision of the ability to speak in other tongues, not as some quirky aberration of Christian experience, but to better equip the believer for effective ministry for our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ.