BigChurch
Bringing people together in love and faith
Blogs > gpsysong > In the beginning GOD created.. > GLOSSOLALIA: Declaring the Wonders of God

GLOSSOLALIA: Declaring the Wonders of God  

4/9/2006 1:45 pm

Last Read:
4/15/2006 1:56 pm

 This post continues the discussion presented in previous post on Prayer Language:

What was the evidence of Holy Spirit Baptism?

An examination of all passages in which the immediate, observable evidence of Spirit baptism is described yields one common denominator: glossolalia, that is. speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance.

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues ... declaring the wonders of God” (Acts 2:4, 11).

The “gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God” (Acts 10:45).

The “Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6 ).

While some mistakenly think there were only three or four instances of Holy Spirit baptism in these
accounts, there were in fact no fewer than 162 (allowing ten for Cornelius’ household and twenty for the Samaritan “Pentecost”). This number makes for an undeniable pattern: Of the 162 Spirit baptisms described in Scripture, the only common, immediate, external evidence is not wind or fire or love or joy or prophecy, but singularly and invariably glossolalia.

Pentecostals believe that this evidence given for New Testament believers is the same for twentyfirstcentury believers.

We agree with St. Paul that

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may he thoroughly equipped for every good work”
(2 Timothy 3: l6-17).

We believe that Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would not draw a distorted picture of the early Church for the later Church to emulate. The book of Acts gives facts about water baptism and Spirit baptism, both are vital parts of Luke’s portrayal of the foundational and dynamic Church.

Some Christians have been unnecessarily sheepish about using the historical works of Scripture for
formulating doctrine. Certainly it would be a concern if the historical veracity of the documents were in question or if accretions of myth and legend needed to be peeled away. But such is not the case; the New Testament documents are indeed reliable.

And these documents make it unmistakably clear that God entered human time and space in the Incarnation. And this, the very basis of Christianity, is the great rebuttal of those who would emasculate the historical books of their doctrinal content.

Have you been baptized in the Spirit? Or has this become the missing baptism in your life? Just
remember:
1. John the Baptist prophesied it (Matthew 3: 11),
2. Jesus proclaimed it (Acts 1: 54),
3. The early church practiced it (Acts),
4. The Spirit demonstrated it (Acts 2: 6,8: 18; 10: 44-46; 19: 6), and
5. We must continue it (Acts 2: 39; Ephesians 5: 18 ).

With your mind set on worship and your passion on a needy Church and lost world, open your heart
now and ask your Savior to baptize you in His Holy Spirit. What begins as an initial moment of spiritual utterance can become a lifestyle of worship: speaking, singing, thanks-giving, and submitting.

First, experience that initial moment of Spirit baptism. For it is through this that the prayer language comes.

You Can Have This New Testament Experience!

Although books have been written outlining “steps” to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, there is no simplistic x + y formula that, with scientific inevitability, guarantees this spiritual manifestation.

God’s workings are not so mechanical.

We are not on a celestial scavenger hunt through which we can obtain this and that and finally win the prize. We do not win; we do not earn. We simply believe.

My Calvinist friends may even teach that this belief within me is God’s doing and not my own, further stressing that this
spiritual manifestation is not a result of living a holy life or meeting certain conditions.

Let me say, first, that it is impossible for a non-Christian to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to His disciples,
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14: 16-17).

The baptism in the Holy Spirit occurs
within the context of salvation. If you are a Christian, you are all that you have to be to experience the baptism in the Spirit.

If you are not a Christian, you need to pause here and simply confess your belief in the Lordship of
Jesus Christ.

You may faithfully attend church, you may regularly give money to worthy causes, you may
lead an exemplary moral life, you may even fast and pray and read the Bible, but if you have not
sacrificially submitted your self to the will of Christ, you have not been made regenerate, that is, a Christian. This you must do. Stop and pray now.

If you do not know what to pray, use the following prayer as a model:
Heavenly Father,
I know I’ve sinned.
I need a Savior;
I need Your Son, Jesus.

He is the light of the world;
He is the
light that
I need because I walk in darkness.

Come into my life, Lord Jesus.
I believe that You died on the cross
and rose again to wash me clean of my sin.
Come into my life and take control;

I commit myself to You.
Thank You for coming
into my heart and saving me, Lord Jesus.

In Your name I offer this prayer. Amen.

This prayer may sound simplistic to you—too easy to be true. That’s because Christ Jesus has taken all the complexity, all the work out of the salvation event. Once you begin studying the Scriptures you’ll discover more about God’s salvation; you’ll discover the magnitude of the cost of your salvation and the cosmic struggle.

Even now, unfathomable powers of evil are working (and have been for millennia) to keep
men and women, boys and girls from repeating with sincerity the above prayer. On the other hand, angels in heaven are rejoicing over those who have repented and entered into eternal life with God (Luke 15: 10).

Only a very foolish person would not give up what he cannot keep (the pleasures and wealth of this world) to get what he cannot lose (spiritual blessings, even eternal life).

Some of you are not Christians and did not
pray the above prayer; I urge you now to defy the forces that would turn you away from life with God and return immediately to that prayer of salvation and rejoice with the angels of heaven, now and forever!

As God has taken the labor out of our salvation, so He has taken it out of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

There was a time when the disciples of Jesus had to tarry for the coming of the Holy Spirit, but now He has come once and for all. There need be no tarrying for Christians today.

If you are a Christian, the experience
of the Holy Spirit is your birthright. As a Christian, the Spirit of God has taken up residence with your spirit and awaits to be released into the rest of your being-soul (mind, will, emotions) and body.

I said earlier that the salvation event is the context of the release of the Spirit. Salvation is indeed the only prerequisite for this experience. This is not to say, however, that the Spirit preempts or overrules a Christian’s will and forces the experience upon him. The Holy Spirit would never do this. He looks for believers who are willing to participate in this faith experience.

There is no danger of a Christian with a bias against this experience finding himself speaking praises unto God in a heavenly language.
Furthermore, there is little possibility that a person will express himself in tongues while harboring even honest doubt about the experience.

You need to declare a moratorium on your doubt.

Set aside any preconceived negative notions that you might have. Rest assured, your heavenly Father will not allow you to receive anything that will do you harm, especially when you are asking for something for the benefit of the Kingdom of God, and not for yourself.

Jesus said,
Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will
give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Luke 11:11-13

Since the Pentecostal baptism comes by faith, doubt and disbelief must be left behind. If the Spirit is to find release within you, faith must become desire, not only desire to be used of God but desire to communicate with Him on a higher plane.

Naturally, your desire will be controlled by some motive, and if you desire to speak in tongues for the wrong reason, you are setting yourself up for a sad experience. Dennis Bennett has written that “the first purpose of the baptism in the Spirit is simply joy (Bennett, How, p. 94), that it is the Christian’s joy that motivates him to witness. The baptism in the Holy Spirit brings joy, for service.

The words of Jesus to His disciples were,
“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ).

In Acts 4 a group of
Christians “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (verse 31). This filling resulted from the prayers of Peter, John, and others who, facing threats of the Jews, had refused to be silenced (4:18-31).

ARE YOU READY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM?


Receive the Gift of The Holy Spirit

Wanna go deeper?
Receive the Gift of The Holy Spirit
Toronto Blessing Part II: Soaking Prayer
Praying in the Spirit: How Prayer Language Comes by R. Graves
Evidence of The Holy Spirit at Work
Blaspheming Holy Spirit
Jesus: Ultimate Example of Being Holy Spirit Filled!
GLOSSOLALIA: Declaring the Wonders of God

Robert W. Graves is the author of Increasing Your Theological Vocabulary, Praying in the Spirit (Chosen,
1987) and The Gospel According to Angels (Chosen Books, 199. He is a Christian educator and a
former faculty member at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas.
This chapter from Praying in the Spirit appeared in the Fall 2000 (Vol 3, No 4) edition of
the Pneuma Review. Copyright © Robert Graves. All rights reserved.
gpsysong
2050 posts 

4/9/2006 2:36 pm

 Receive the Gift of The Holy Spirit

Become a member to comment on this blog