PENTECOST SERIES II - Speaking in Tongues

(Notice: I deliberately endeavour to make my posts as short as possible. I usually don’t write all there is to on a particular subject so feel free to contact me and subject me to an inquisition) MY AIM FOR THIS POST IS TO BRING YOU TO THE REALISATION THAT THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS RECEIVED BY FAITH AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH SPEAKING IN TONGUES. Once you believe you have received it after following the steps (check series 1 here: https://www.saint.tips/single-post/2018/05/16/PENTECOST) you are baptised, just walk in it. Don’t based your faith on any physical manifestations because we walk by faith, not by sight - 2 Corinthians 5:7 as well as the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned - 1 Corinthians 2:14 I love the Holy Spirit. He is so real to me. I love hanging out with Him and talking to Him. In fact when I speak with Him, I feel, he feels a bit like I do when am with my second son. And you might ask what is it about my second son? My son, is a living, breathing questionnaire *chuckles* he can literally weary you with loads and loads of questions. And honestly, sometimes I get exasperated. But when I want to get irked, I remember I nudged him to do so years back as part of his continuous learning process, so I keep calm. But I know the Holy Spirit doesn’t get exacerbated from my curiosity. He answers immediately sometimes, other times he refers me to the word to look at that scripture He brought to my remembrance, again. And this has been my experience, upon a second look, words pop out from the seemingly familiar scripture again and floods my heart and mind with fresh revelation. And some times, He says nothing. But I don’t relent I will like the High Priest bear the questions in my heart always till He responds in His unique way and time. One of the things I have been curious of is this: CAN YOU BE BAPTISED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHOUT THE EVIDENCE OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES? Or to put it in another way, IF I DON’T SPEAK IN TONGUES, DOES THAT MEAN I DIDN’T RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST BAPTISM? Before I continue, I need to write this in bolden words: I believe in speaking in tongues, in fact, 98% of my prayers are done in tongues. I teach it, I encourage it and I pray for people to receive it. I believe that speaking tongues is ONE of the keys (not the ONLY KEY) that unlocks the Power of God. I believe that God’s power is received after the baptism of the Holy Spirit as Jesus said in Acts 1:8. Having said that, let’s delve into it. There is a popular evangelist who recently has gone to be with the Lord, who people have said that he doesn’t speak in tongues. (I can’t personally verify that but it is common knowledge) So they conclude that he wasn’t baptised in the Holy Spirit. I beg to differ. I believe he was based on Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus made it clear in this verse that when the Holy Ghost comes up on you, which is the baptism of the Holy Ghost, something happens: you will receive POWER. This power is for witnessing Jesus from your Jerusalem to the end of the world. This evangelist, it is said have preached to about 300 million people in 180 nation’s across 6 continents and has won millions to Jesus. If that doesn’t sound like the result of the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST, I wonder what then is. But this man it is said never spoke in tongues! You might ask what am driving at? Is there a baptism of the Holy Ghost that excludes speaking in tongues? No! What I’m saying is that, speaking in tongues is part of the Holy Ghost Baptism Package. My cable T.V provider structures their channels into different packages for example they have the sports, movie, entertainment packages and many others which when put together might be over 200 channels. There are many of these channels I have never watched at all. But are they included in my package? Yes they are. And I discovered that most of the channels I don’t watch are actually free. And a bulk of them are international stations aired in languages I have neither heard nor understand. And this is exactly how, for some people, speaking in tongues is like. Because they grow up in environments where they don’t understand or teach it, they struggle to grasp it. Some even antagonise the concept, when they eventually get born again, it becomes a struggle to avail themselves of the gift of tongues. Remember, IT IS FREE IT COMES WITH THE HOLY GHOST BAPTISM PACKAGE but they never get to flick it on. So though these believers have received the baptism, but because of the way it is taught, believe they didn’t because they didn’t experience the gift of speaking in tongues. Some others think that an unusual force will come move their lips and they will ‘magically’ speak in tongues. That’s not also the way it works. There’s no magic here friends, the word was clear on that: Acts 2:4 (NKJV) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. You have to do the speaking as the Spirit gives you utterance. We shouldn’t pressure people or ostracise them when they don’t speak in tongues but we should teach the benefits and encourage them to desire it and ‘flick on that channel’ as it is part of the package. They already have the gift, they just need to grant the Spirit utterance. Jesus only spoke about tongues ONCE but he spent time talking about the Holy Ghost Baptism. He spent time talking the person of the Holy Spirit and relationship with Him. Tongues accompanied the Baptism of the Holy Spirit ONLY THREE TIMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Acts 2:2-4, 10:44-46, 19:6. Emphasis was on PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST which I believe includes speaking in tongues but not limited to it. Join me as I conclude my thoughts on the Pentecost Series on the subject of speaking in tongues with a critical analysis of 1 Corinthians 14. See you soon. Click this link to subscribe: www.saint.tips/signup Chukwudum Obi.

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