Untitled

Speaking in tongues occurs as a result of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. If the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not necessary for salvation then speaking in tongues is not necessary for salvation.

Acts 19:1 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,

2 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.

3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

4 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.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

v1 The people at Corinth were followers of Jesus. They were called disciples and were not asked to confess Jesus as Lord

v3-5 They had been baptized by John the Baptist so too identify them with Jesus they were the baptized in His Name.

As it can be saying. They had a salvation before they even knew of the Holy Spirit so to say that baptism of the Holy Spirit or speaking in tongues is necessary for salvation is to contradict The Word of God.

Many people are troubled by this Baptism. The problem arises because most people believe Pentecost was when The Holy Spirit was the first given to the apostles and disciples and as this happened only once you are only filled only once with The Holy Spirit, even though Paul uses a present continuous tense - keep on being filled with The Spirit- when talking about The Holy Spirit’s filling.

The filling Paul refers to is of the soul and not of the spirit. As demons are cast out of the soul The Holy Spirit is asked to replace them in the soul or seven worse ones will come back and enter the soul along with the original demon that was cast out. I have seen this happen from personal experience in another person. This filling by The Holy Spirit replaces the demons that have left and is separate to the Baptism of The Holy Spirit which is a specific anointing for the purposes of serving Jesus in His Kingdom (what we call ministry).

The results of the Baptism of They Holy Spirit surrounds the person like a cocoon so that the person is immersed in it. This is why it is called a baptism and not a filling

People do not realise The Baptism of The Holy Spirit was the second time The Holy Spirit had been given to the disciples and this second filling was to empower them. The first filling was before Jesus left earth and was to mark them as belonging to Him.

John 20:23: Jesus gave them The Holy Ghost to mark them as His.

Luke 24:49: and Acts 1:8 They were to wait until they were empowered from on high (By The Holy Spirit).

Acts 2:2-4: The empowering from on high - the anointing for empowerment and service.

We are all sealed by The Holy Spirit when we choose to follow Jesus but are not necessarily empowered by The Holy Spirit for any ministry as we first need to grow in "The Grace and Knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ". This empowerment for ministry is a result of aligning ourselves more and more with God’s purposes, growing more and more in intimacy with Him and separating ourselves from the values of the kingdom of darkness so that Jesus can entrust us with a ministry (a service for Him, not necessarily one associated with a church or denomination). The more of ourselves we give to Jesus the more of the soul He can fill with The Holy Spirit.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is to do with Lordship, holiness and purification. As we are delivered from demons through Lordship and repentance our soul is more purified and walk in holiness as The Spirit takes more of our soul and personality and we are able to hear The Spirit more clearly. This results for continuously choosing to make Jesus Lord in all we do.

The Christian receives The Holy Spirit as his seal (or mark) that the person belongs to Jesus:

The disciples also received The Holy Ghost from Jesus after He had died. The Holy Spirit could not come in His fullness until the requirements for His coming had been fulfilled (namely Jesus leaving the earth). So that the disciples could not receive the empowerment of The Holy Spirit before then.

The Baptism of The Holy Ghost in Acts 2:4 was separate to their receiving The Holy Spirit as a mark of being a follower of Jesus. Another example of this subsequent filling is noted in Acts 4:34 (as a result of other disciples wanting to do the work of Jesus).

It can be seen that the Baptism of The Spirit (anointing) is for the purposes of doing the work of God and a request of this for any other purpose is not scriptural. Examples of unscriptural Baptism are when a person wants the Baptism for the pleasure of the experience, or in the belief it marks them as being spiritual, saved or when the denomination requires it as a mark of conversion. These are man made reasons and do not do the work of Jesus and Satan happily obliges these people. This is why the Pentecostal churches have problems as people ask for The Holy Spirit’s Baptism for the wrong reasons and they either get nothing or a false filling by a demon instead who can enter as they have opened themselves up to demons through seeking the Baptism of The Holy Spirit for the wrong reason.

We do not receive all our ministry at once but as we mature in the Christian life we are given more responsibility and empowerment (spiritual authority) to do this - in other words, Baptised (anointed) more by The Holy Spirit! Thus we not only are given more empowerment but also the wisdom and maturity to deal with this new level of authority and the empowerment that goes with it. This occurs as we pass the trials He sets us to prepare for each new level of ministry and authority (that goes with the ministry).

God tests hew to show Satan you are worthy of this new empowerment as well as to prepare you to use this new authority and empowerment correctly. Only as God prepares you for it will you be able to handle this new authority in the way God desires you to use it.

The church is full of ministers, who are disillusioned or burnt out as they have taken on authority God has not prepared them for or anointed them for so they work in it and strength it cannot spiritually.

Baptize means to immerse so water baptism is immersion in water. Baptism of The Spirit is immersion in The Holy Spirit so that He is like a covering around you. If baptism is sprinkling then Baptism of The Holy Spirit has no meaning as you cannot be sprinkled with The Holy Spirit. It is all or nothing.

This Covering of The Spirit also marks you in a way that demons can recognise your delegated authority level and role in The Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit in our spirit seals us a belonging to Jesus and prevents Satan taking his place there as our lord. Who seals your spirit is your lord and master.

In our soul the Holy Spirit takes the place of demons that have been evicted (through deliverance) as well as fill any area we ask Him too that demons do not occupy.

When we are baptised in the Spirit, The Holy Spirit falls on us as a covering identifying our authority in the spiritual is shown as well as our role in The Kingdom.

Acts 1:6 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.

So the baptism of The Spirit occurs when you are immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit and He surrounds you as water surrounds you in water baptism.

A very clear distinction between receiving The Holy Spirit as a seal of being a follower of Jesus and as a separate event is found in Acts 8:14-17

"Acts 8:14-17 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."

The Holy Spirit was granted to the Samaritans so they could minister as Christians - obedience to Jesus results in doing His work. This is the other condition for the Baptism - a desire to do His will as evidenced by the persons life and attitudes

As followers of Jesus they would have been marked as belonging to Jesus so this ‘Baptism’ was an anointing for ministry, a kind of commissioning of their God-given ministry.

Either this passage is incorrect or the Baptism of The Holy Spirit is a separate event to initial filling of a person’s spirit that marks people as being a follower of Jesus. Sometimes they may simultaneously occur but normally the Baptism is an empowerment for the purposes of doing the work of Jesus and The Father. Sometimes is it is called an ‘anointing’.

Ignore this Baptism (anointing) and you have a church that has no power or spiritual direction and which must use reason, rules and regulations to maintain its presence as the Guidance and power from God are not believed as being there to live as Jesus said we would.

Problems and excesses occur when the resultant signs and wonders are sought and not intimacy with Jesus - where the manifestation is sought for the sake of manifestation and exhibition of power, and not for the furtherance of the Kingdom of The Father or to bring Glory to Jesus

The purpose of signs and wonders is to witness to Jesus and to attract people to Jesus and His Kingdom through what Jesus has done for them - both spiritually and physically - not to show how spiritual or powerful a church or person is. Any fleshly reason allows the devil entry will sidetrack and shipwreck that church or revival as has happened in various denominations and revivals this last century.

The person is marked by The Holy Spirit as belonging to Jesus and as that person lives the life of obedience to Jesus which shows the person is worthy of this baptism (greater authority and ministry) they will be Baptised (empowered/authorised) by The Holy Spirit so they will be able to do greater works of The Kingdom of God.

When we become a Christian (a follower of Jesus as our Lord), our spirit is filled by The Holy Ghost so that we are marked (sealed Romans 8:15-17) as belonging to Jesus. Satan sees that and knows we no longer belong to him. Any further filling can only be to our soul (house) where demons and our self ‘live’. As demons are removed, The Holy Spirit fills their place. As we allow more and more self to be removed, The Holy Spirit takes its place. Thus as we are more and more purified and more of the old self is removed, The Holy Spirit fills us to take its place and this is how we are filled on a continuing basis by The Holy Spirit.

This baptism is the anointing (authority) for serving Jesus and indicates a persons authority and position in The Kingdom of God.

Jesus was baptised by John and the The Holy Spirit came upon Him. It was after this baptism that His earthly ministry began and not before.

Let me start by saying God looks at the heart reason for what you do and not what you do or say. So while an action may appear to be wrong, God looks at the heart and sees it was not incorrect as to the reason you did it. His Love and Mercy takes over and He then makes the situation work for your best.

This applies to beliefs where our heart is right but we have been mislead by people who do not know the truth so that we are in error but not of deliberate rebellion against God which is what sin is. It is an error of ignorance where one who should have guided us into truth led us into error. That is why you should not condemn people as their heart may be right but the outworking of their desire incorrectly expressed and God alone may know the truth.

The Baptism is an empowerment as that is how Jesus described what happened at Pentecost.

Empowerment is to do with authority which is why Jesus said to them to wait until they were authorised by God to minister. So it is something you wait for until God provides it for you.

Some of the requirements to receive the Baptism of The Holy Spirit (from Acts)

You must follow Jesus wholeheartedly - no compromise with the world in your life

You must be one with Jesus and His Body and not a church, denomination or other Christian type organisation as Jesus does not recognize there is. Jesus recognizes only his body, the local assembly cause the family group.

You must be were where Jesus wants you to be (Acts 1:8, they tarried in Jerusalem as instructed by Him).

Their obedience and heart for Him bought them blessings. They were anointed for service and after that event spoke boldly for Jesus instead of hiding in a room.

Is it right to pray in tongues so as to edify yourself (build yourself up spiritually)?

The gifts are for the building up of each other (1 Cor 12:7) and for proving the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Luke 8:1-2). The passage referred to is 1 Cor 4:14

This verse is almost like a warning by Paul that it is selfish to edify yourself and not devote your energies in service to the body

The objective of the gifts is to build another up and through this build yourself up. This is why we are told to build one another. As you serve others and help them mature, you yourself are matured.

You could be saying something wrong and not know it so actually doing the opposite of edifying yourself

You are building up your self and not letting God do it so you may be building up the wrong areas of your life as well as missing out on God’s blessing. This is not wrong but it is second best.

We are never to promote ourself or build our self-esteem from the things we do. Edifying yourself seems to be against this principle and will give the devil access to you so that he may even be able to guide these ‘gifts’.

Self-edification (which tongues does unless used as Jesus wants it used) is not from God. We are to let another praise us, someone not of our circle of friends but outside it. Then it will be true praise.

So your understanding of God is not built up and you are not drawn closer to Him. What then is built up? It is not your spirit as you do not understand what you are saying. It has to be the flesh as that is what is left.

The only real case I can think of for praying in tongues is in Romans 8:26,27 when we do not naturally know what to pray for and pray as guided by Holy Spirit for the burden He has placed on your heart. Then He is listening to us and our needs as well as prying for us so it is not self-edification but a cry for help.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is done to empower you for ministry. For it to decrease as the day grows old means your empowerment for ministry must also decrease. This does not happen. What usually happens is the day grows old, we do not feel as close to God as we should because we are tired, the flesh seeming to be stronger and more demanding on the mind and the Holy Spirit feels further away. The same thing happens when we lust or have an inordinate desire. The flesh overpowers in some degree The Spirit’s influence on our mind.

If you do not control your emotions and mind, Satan will use them to control you.

Note that this does not mean we are further from God. We are always in Jesus and never move from that position as that is guaranteed by scripture to all who faithfully follow Jesus as Lord. Our earthly feelings are variable according to mood and this is what makes us feel further from God.

It can be seen why we are to discipline the flesh so it does not block or diminish The Holy Spirit’s influence on us.

They can never be taken away (Rom 11:29) but you can drift away from God so you do not hear the Spirit’s voice clearly and cannot use them as He wants you to. We can only really use them properly for the purposes of Jesus in conjunction with the guidance of The Holy Spirit so not to hear His voice means we will not be able to use the gifts as effectively as we would if we were in a proper relationship with Him.

If you blaspheme The Holy Spirit He is removed along with all else except the gifts but these are taken over by Satan so are no longer used or if they are, they are perverted by Satan.

Why do you want the gifts? If to be more spiritual then your motive is wrong and the devil will give you his version of them. If it is to minister, then you may get them if they will assist you with the ministry God has planned for you.

1Co 14:12 It’s no different with you. Since you’re so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don’t you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church?

Prophesying is not just telling the future. It is speaking Gods words to the church to build them up as well as warn them to repent. This is the main role of a prophet. Telling the future is not important as it confirms the prophets gift but does not mature the church, hold on a prophecy may encourage a person to endure in trials.

If you are so concerned about the body that you want a gift, serve the body out of His Love for them and God will then give you a gift to help you. If you serve so God will give you a gift you make the same mistake of prosperity theologians. That says God must do something if you do something. God must prosper you if you give more than you have to.

God says to show that you are worthy of a gift and then He will give it to you to bless you so you can serve Him more.

They ignore one important factor. God does not honour the flesh and serving to get a gift is fleshly as it is from the wrong motive. It could also be a sin by not doing what God really wants you to do. He may want you to do something else He needs done and you are not doing it as you are pursuing your will and not His will.

Should one test themself to see what gifts they have and what gifts they want or think they need?

To do this assumes you are the person who chooses the gifts you need and not God and that you need to see if God has not given you a gift you think you need. You are saying God does not know what he is doing as He has not given you something you need.

The Father gives them to Jesus who allocates them as we need them and the Holy Spirit imparts them to us. You are given the gifts you need to minister for Jesus and not the ones you think you need or others say you need. So to say you need a gift and then strive to obtain it is to leave yourself open to Satan giving you a polluted version of that gift.

That is a problem with the church. People seeking gifts they do not need and Satan giving them his version so that they minister from the flesh and not The Spirit.

Do not seek to obtain a gift as God will need to take you through suffering and trials to prepare you to be able to properly use that gift.

How much are you willing to suffer to be prepared for a new area of ministry and receive the gifts you will need for that new area of ministry?

Develop the ones He has given you and wait for Him to prepare you and give you new gifts when He has prepared you to be able to use these gifts probably for the ministry He is calling you to.

Purification from the things of Satan, being symbolically buried in water and rising from the dead with Jesus as He did in His death and resurrection when He carried our sins and punishment for us on that cross (Redemption).

It is very hard to have the same degree of identification and symbolism when a person is only sprinkled. But as baptism is not necessary for salvation it is identification with Jesus that is important and not the way it is done.

It is anointing for service and is the result of obedience, and is a spiritual state and a spiritual reward, as we are given more service to do for Him as well as the anointing to do that service.

Identification with Jesus resulting in a willingness to suffer for His Will and purposes just as He did for The Father (Rev 12:11).

This occurs when God immersed you in trials and sufferings to purify you and mould you into His image through the denial of your self (flesh) for the purposes of doing His Will. Fire signifies refining and God refines you by immersing you in fiery trials as Peter called them. Any Christian not facing their trial is a Christian not growing. Hence the lukewarm church in revelation was comfortable as they did not oppose the works of evil or were not willing to pass through the trials associated with the resisting of evil. They were also not growing as they were not making a stand for the things of God.

It is, it probably is the same as the baptism of suffering just being viewed from a different perspective.

When the Holy Spirit falls on a person there are various manifestations. The person may become ‘slain in the spirit’ where the power of The Holy Spirit is so strong in the person the conscious mind cannot handle it so they pas out (or similar). They may ‘laugh in the spirit’ for which there is no biblical example. There is ‘rejoicing in the spirit’ but that is not uncontrolled laughter but a feeling of joy at what God has done and they may also dance as David did.

The problem with seeking a spiritual experience for the sake of it or for being seen to be spiritual, is that God does not honour that endeavour, but Satan does so you will manifest a spirit but it will not be The Holy Spirit but a demon.

So we are told not to ‘get drunk with wine’ using the flesh to get the feeling of The Holy Spirits filling but to seek His Spiritual filling instead.

We receive The Holy Spirit when we become a Christians (Rom 8:17). The next stage is anointing through the Holy Spirit for purposes of ministry. At various times we are filled with the Holy Spirit for one of four reasons:

Refreshment and quickening of our spirit

For healing

To take the place of demons that have been cast out

To anoint us for ministry.

As we seek holiness and a deeper relationship with God we are purified and as we work out our salvation through faithful obedience to Jesus, The Holy Spirit can take over more of us and in that sense fill us more. But this is a gradual thing and not normally noticed, unlike the four events above when the presence of The Holy Spirit is felt to some degree.

We do not need to be filled to be anointed by The Holy Spirit. The filling replaces demons and purifies our soul more. The anointing is for promotion (authority) and is based on maturity and service and not how much we are filled by The Spirit.

By all means seek this Baptism and associated giftings but first count the cost of obtaining them and ask yourself are you willing to pay it!

Signs and wonders are one result of The Baptism of The Holy Spirit (the empowerment and authority to do these)

Mark 8:12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

People who seeks signs will not find them unless the demonstration of these gifts serve God’s purposes which is to draw people closer to Him or to Salvation. This is because God wants you to seek Him and not His works.

The devil will give you the signs you are seeking so you will follow his brand of Christianity which divides and destroys the Body of Christ and is a form of idolatry as the signs become much more important that the giver.

This is the danger in Pentecostalism and why there are so many leaders who fall and churches die! They stop seeking Jesus and glory in the signs.

When you stop seeking God solely and look for His works rather than for Him in them you have a form of idolatry. Satan then has easy access and soon error creeps in, ministers fall and churches die.

Signs are used by God for His purposes and not to fulfil our desires for them. He does not have to do them and will not if they are sought instead of Him.

This is the danger of signs and wonders that they replace He who gave them (as people become blinded by the miracles and lose sight of the miracle giver, Jesus). Paul Said

The world is looking for the supernatural. The Church is generally not providing this as they minister and usually do not demonstrate the Power and Authority of The Kingdom of God, so Satan has been able to present his version of the gifts and win many people away from following Jesus to his new age cult and religions.

When the church demonstrates The Kingdom of God in the Power of The Holy Spirit and the Authority of Jesus, only then will people be won for He and His Kingdom.

If you are not demonstrating The Kingdom of God you had better find out why and what you need to change in your life to be able to do this. Only as you demonstrate The kingdom of God can you minister as Jesus and the Apostles did.

Only as you hear The Holy Spirit and be led by Him will be in a position to do this and live as a citizen of The Kingdom of God should live.