Acts 10:44-46 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. (45) 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. (46) For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”
The second account we will look at occurred when Peter first preached the gospel to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house in Caesarea. While Peter was still preaching, they all believed and were instantly born-again. The moment that happened God acknowledged them by pouring out the Holy Spirit upon them (Acts 15:7-8). In the passage of scripture quoted above we see that all the Gentiles were baptised in the Holy Spirit on this occasion, because this passage declares that the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard Peter preach. This passage goes on to tell us that the Jews who were with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. The reason the Jews were astonished was because until that day, the Jewish believers were convinced that salvation was only for the Jews. So what did the Jews see that convinced them salvation was also for the Gentiles? Their thinking changed when they heard the Gentiles speaking with other tongues and magnifying God. Notice that as a result of the Gentile believers being filled with the Holy Spirit they all spoke with other tongues, not just a select few.
Acts 19:1-7 “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples (2) 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." (3) And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So, they said, "Into John's baptism." (4) 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." (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. (7) Now the men were about twelve in all.”
The third account we will look at occurred in Ephesus when the apostle Paul met twelve disciples of John the Baptist. Initially Paul assumed that these men were disciples of the Lord Jesus, and so he asked them if they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit since they believed. When the men replied that they knew nothing about the Holy Spirit, Paul asked them into what were they then baptised. When they replied that they had been baptised into John’s baptism, Paul realised that they weren’t born-again. And so Paul preached the gospel to them, and after they confessed Jesus as their Lord and Saviour he baptised them in water. After that Paul laid hands on each of the disciples and they were all baptised with the Holy Spirit. On this occasion not only did they all speak with other tongues however, but they also prophesied. But I want you to notice that they spoke with tongues first. Notice also that as a result of these disciples being filled with the Holy Spirit they all spoke with other tongues, not just a select few. And so we can see from these three accounts that it is entirely scriptural for every believer to receive the gift of other tongues when they are baptised with the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:2-15 “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. … (4) He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself … (14) for if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. (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.”
We have seen thus far that all saints baptised with the Holy Spirit receive the spiritual gift of other tongues. In order for us to more clearly understand this gift, we need to discuss one of the fundamental differences between the New and Old Testament saints, i.e. the New Testament saints are spiritually alive while the Old Testament saints were spiritually dead. The reason the Old Testament saints were spiritually dead was because unlike the New Testament saints, they couldn’t be born-again; for they could not meet the requirement of believing that God had raised Jesus from the dead and confessing Him as Lord (Romans 10:9). After Jesus was raised from the dead He went into Abraham’s bosom to preach the gospel to the Old Testament saints so they could be born-again (1 Peter 4:6), and thus return with Him into heaven (Ephesians 4:8). Because New Testament saints are spiritually alive, their spirits can commune with God, whereas the spirits of the Old Testament saints being spiritually dead were unable to commune with God. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that New Testament saints are able to commune with God both with their understanding and with their spirits. The Old Testament saints however, were limited to communing with God with their understanding only. As we can see from this passage God has given the New Testament saints a spiritual language called tongues, which enables them to speak to Him with their spirits. The question is then asked, what is the purpose of other tongues? The apostle Paul answers that question for us in this passage by revealing two main purposes for this gift. The first purpose is to enable the believer to pray with their spirits, for this passage declares that when believers pray in tongues it is their spirits that are praying. And so we see that when believers pray with other tongues it is their spirits that are praying and their minds have nothing to do with it, because their minds do not understand the language spoken. So why is it so important for our spirits to be able to pray? Because our understanding is extremely limited, Paul teaches us that we do not know what we should pray for as we ought (Romans 8:26). Our spirits on the other hand know exactly what to pray for, because the Holy Spirit who resides within our spirits reveals to our spirits what to pray for. And so God in His infinite wisdom has given the New Testament saints the spiritual language of other tongues which enables them to pray God’s perfect will for any given situation. Therefore because believers praying in tongues pray the perfect will of God, that prayer is always heard and always answered. The second purpose for the gift of other tongues centres on the fact that, unlike our minds, our spirits understand the language spoken. The above quoted passage states that he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. In other words our spirits are edified or charged up. The reason for that is obvious. Because our spirits are speaking words given to them by the Holy Spirit, those words are filled with the life of God, and so our spirits are being fed with pure life as they speak. And so we see that tongues enables believers to walk in the fullness of the Christian life that God intended. No saint can reach their full potential in Christ unless they regularly speak in tongues, which is why Paul thanked God that he spoke with tongues more than all (1 Corinthians 14:18). And so you can readily see that the gift of other tongues is of great advantage to the believer. Because God shows personal favouritism to no man the gift of other tongues is available to every believer, not just a select few (Galatians 2:6).
Michael E.B. Maher
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