How to Receive the Spirit's Baptism with the Evidence of Speaking in Tongues RIGHT NOW!

God wants you to be a world changer. He wants you to make a difference, to advance the Kingdom of Heaven, and push back the Kingdom of Darkness. He wants you to take His saving Gospel to the ends of the earth starting in your local community. But He doesn't expect you to do this on your own. He knows it's hard, and challenging. He wants to empower you to live out the calling He has placed on your life. He wants to equip you to share the Gospel to the nations, and impact this world for Christ. Jesus called this "empowerment" the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:5, 1:8, 2.4, 10:44-46,19:7)

Maybe you have been seeking and searching for the Spirit's Baptism. You have a longing to be filled up with His Spirit and overwhelmed with His presence in your life. Well if that describes you, that congratulations, today is your day! There is no need for you to wait any longer for a gift that God so desperately wants to give you. I have seen Christians seek the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for years, only to be disappointed. This doesn't have to be the case.

If you have not yet received this blessing which God gives to empower and equip you to live out His calling on your life, then now is the time. You can be Baptized in the Spirit right now, if you will only reach out and receive His gift. Jesus said, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who asks" (Luke 11:10-13). 

We can know that if we ask God for the Holy Spirit, He will not give us a counterfeit. You have no need to feel as though you have not experienced the "Real McCoy". As far a speaking in tongues. It isn't about repeating what someone told you to repeat. That is not right. God will give you to words. Well are you ready to be filled with the Spirit? Then let's get started! 

Get alone with God, and start thanking Him and worshiping Him. Praise Him and thank Him out loud with your mouth, with your words. I have not seen one person receive the Spirit and start speaking tongues with their mouth closed. Just be in His presence praying, worshiping, and thanking God out loud, asking Him to fill you with the Spirit. Tell Him that you receive the Spirit by faith in the name of Jesus. Continue talking to God out loud and when you feel the presence of God, you will feel something stirring and rising up from within you. Just let go and let God do whatever He wants to do in your life. You will feel this rising feeling prompting you to speak new words, or new words may come to your from nowhere. Let go! Start speaking those new words that you feel rising up within you. Continue speaking by faith. It is about letting go, and speaking what is coming to you.

You can pray in tongues whenever you want. You don't have to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon you. Acts 2:4 does not say that the Spirit possessed the apostles and forced their mouths to move. The Bible says they spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them the ability/utterance. They were the ones speaking in tongues, God's Spirit just enabled them to do so. Once you have been Baptized in the Holy Spirit, you already have the ability to speak in tongues, it is then up to you to begin speaking and using that gift.

Go ahead, receive all that God has for you today, so He can empower you to change your world! Once you have received, please comment or message me back telling me the good news! Let's rejoice together in the infilling of the Holy Spirit!

Speaking in Tongues and Evangelism

I have already shown how the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift given so that we can be empowered to witness to the lost. For those who missed that post...

For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.                                                                                          -Acts 1:5

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
                          
                                                                                                  -Acts 1:8

If you read my last post on the Spirit's Baptism you will also remember that Speaking in Tongues is the initial physical evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, whenever people were filled with the Spirit, they spoke in tongues, but why? Why did God choose something so strange as speaking in tongues to be the initial sign of the Spirit's baptism?

Before I answer that, I should point out that there are three different types of "tongues" recorded in the New Testament. The first kind of tongue we find in Acts 2:4

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

                                                                                               -Acts 2:4

Now in this instance, if you keep on reading, they crowd that had gathered understood what these 120 Christians were saying as they were speaking in tongues. This might be the weirdest kind of tongues. The Greeks heard the believers speaking in Greek, the Arabs heard them speaking in Arabic, the Jews heard them speaking Hebrew, and so on and so forth. Each person in the crowd heard what was being said in their own native tongue.

There are reports of this happening today. I have heard of people from different countries coming to a Charismatic service and heard people speaking in tongues, only to find out that they people were speaking the foreigners native language and didn't know it! So this first kind of tongue is man ward.

The second kind of tongue is what many Pentecostals call prayer language. This is when a Spirit-Filled believer prays in tongues in their private devotional time. The Bible says that when we pray in this kind of tongue, we speak "mysteries" unto God. That we are personally build up and edified through this kind of prayer life.

For he who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
                                                                                                -1st Corinthians 14:2

The one who speaks in tongues builds up himself.....

                                                                                               -1st Corinthians 14:4a

So the second kind of tongue is God ward. The third kind of tongue is the gift of tongues accompanied with the gift of interpretation. This is a form of prophecy. It is when someone gives a public proclamation of tongues in a service, and another or that same person gives and interpretation so everyone can understand and be edified.

Therefore one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

                                                                                            -1st Corinthians 14:13

So now we see the three kinds of tongues. Two of them are man ward, one is God ward. But what does all this have to do with evangelism? The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is given to empower us for evangelism, so why do we need tongues to evangelize? Jesus told us not to worry about what to say because we would be given the right words at the right time. That it would not be us speaking but the Holy Spirit speaking through us. (Luke 12:12,13)

So when we speak in tongues, it is a sign that we are willing to submit our mouths to God in order to be used by Him. As I have said before, God does not want us to share the Gospel by our own might or power, but by His Spirit. He does not want us to win the lost through reason, arguing, strategies, training, etc. He wants us to win the lost through a demonstration of the Spirit's power. We are to evangelize in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When you speak in tongues, that means you are a place in your walk with God, that you will let the Holy Spirit use you and speak through you. So when you do encounter the lost, the idea of God given you the words to say by the power of the Spirit, will not be so new and foreign to you. That is why it is the initial evidence of the Spirit's Baptism. It is a sign! It is a sign that the Spirit Baptized individual speaks not of the own accord, but by the power of the Spirit of God!

Can We Lose Our Salvation?

"Do you believe in 'once saved always saved?'" I can't tell you how many times I have been asked this question. Once Saved Always Saved is a belief that once you accept Christ, it is impossible to fall away. Your "saved" forever regardless of how you live or what you believe. This has led to a popular question; can a Christian lose his/her salvation?

To me, it seems like a rather ridiculous question. I mean, sure it's possible. If a Christian were to completely renounce Christ, reject the Gospel, reject the Word, and deny God, then yeah, they could lose their salvation. But who in their right mind would do that? The question just seems way too theoretical for me with almost no practical value to warrant such a debate.

Now, I have noticed when I respond this way people say, "well, what I mean is can you lose your salvation by sinning?" In other words, how much sin is too much sin before you stop being saved? That's a very dangerous question. The moment you begin to answer that question, you are automatically talking about a works based, performance based Gospel.

There's no way around it. If there is an affirmative answer to the question" how much sin is too much sin before you lose your salvation?" then our salvation is dependant if only by a small portion, on our own goodness. We know that salvation by works is the greatest heresy in the New Testament. We know that claiming to made right with God by our own goodness is harshly condemned ins scripture. That's why this is such a dangerous question.

What people really want to know is, can a person get saved, go and live their life how they want too, and still be saved. I think this is another ridiculous question. There's no merit to it because no Born Again Christian is going to accept Christ, then go out and just live it up, party like rock star and sin like heathen... Now I know that raised some major doubt eyebrows and I'm sure many of you wonder whether I live in the real world, but let me explain.

When you are born again, there is a change that takes place. You receive a new heart with new desires. Your going to want to live for Christ. It's just part of your new identity. Sure, you may do some things you shouldn't do, get involved in things you shouldn't get involved in, even go down a road that you shouldn't go down.... maybe two or three times. But at the end of your life, the sum of who you are, is a person perusing Christ. Despite your failures and wanderings, you never said, "Forget it, I'm done. Forget God, forget Christ, forget the Word. I reject it all want nothing to do with it."

That's what  I mean. No human being, is going accept Christ as the savior then immediately Turin around and say, "Okay, got that over with. Now let's ditch this stupid Jesus stuff and go live it up!" If someone ever did, they clearly never were saved to begin with and therefore couldn't lose their salvation since they never had it to begin with.

Like I said, it's a ridiculous question. Can a Christian lose his/her salvation? Sure... in theory, but why would they?

Social Justice is the Fruit of Salvation

    Of all the things to be divided over, somehow Christians have become divided over whether or not we should put a strong emphasis on helping people.... Yeah, I know. Yet, we will go to small group this week, the worship service this Sunday and wonder why people don't like to associate with us.With such a politically charged culture around us, you would figure that we could find something else to be divided over than helping those in need.

    The dispute is in the emphasis. Some Christians focus on social justice and only social justice. To them, the Bible, morality, living a spiritual life, and especially sharing the Gospel are at most a low priority and at least trivial and not relevant at all. The priority is in the here and now, the tangible things of life which is of course, the plight of humanity. On the other side, there are Christians that acknowledge the importance of social justice, but that is about the extent of their involvement. To them, humanities eternal plight and needs far outways any physical needs. What good is it to feed a man who is hungry if he still is going to die and go to Hell one day? Then there are those who claim to be in the middle just so they won't be labeled as either or so they won't offend anyone. And in the midst of it all is Christianity's reputation and ultimately the reputation of Jesus Christ Himself. Way to go brethren...

    Our debates about the importance of social justice not withstanding, Jesus made an interesting connection between social justice and the Day of Judgment.

"Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from me you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' They will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick and in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me.'"
                                    -Matthew 25:41-45
   
    It is significant that one the most severe warnings about Hell from Jesus is made in the context of social justice. This is because social justice does indeed have much to do with the Gospel, the death and resurrection of Christ, and our salvation. As I have said in previous blogs, the real tragedy of "The Fall" is that mankind lost its ability to represent God and govern on His behalf, and that the goal of the Gospel is to restore humanity back to the position of rulers and priests so that we may in turn bring God's dominion of peace, equality, and justice to earth. On a personal level it means that Jesus Christ died on the cross to to remove everything that holds you back from your dreams, and rose from the dead to restore you back to a position of positive influence in your community.

    So the purpose of our salvation is restoration of first, our own lives, and secondly the restoration of our community through our own influence. So then social justice is the purpose and evidence of our salvation. This is why Jesus uses it in connection with such a dire warning of Hell. Jesus said every "tree" that does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. That fruit is described in scripture as "acts of righteousness". Another word for righteousness in scripture is, justice. The fruit our Lord is looking for is social justice.

    Lets be clear. This does not negate the Biblical truth that those who are saved are saved by Grace ALONE through faith in Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn, rate, or merit salvation. There is nothing we can do or not do to make us right with God. There is no amount of good deeds that can cover or make up for our sins. Righteousness and good standing with God is a gift that He deposits into our account, not a wage earned or a loan to be paid back. It has already been paid for with the blood of Christ. Social justice however is the evidence or "fruit" of the transformation that has taken place within us. So go out there and show the world that your life has been restored, or at very least, go argue about something else.

The Goal of the Gospel... Restoration

    When God created the human race, He had very specific instructions.

"God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish and the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'"
                                                                                                         -Genesis 1:28

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
                                                                                                          -Genesis 2:15

    God's original purpose for mankind is to rule and govern the earth on His behalf as His representatives. This becomes clear when you fast forward to the end of the Bible. What we find in Revelation 21 is a new city. It is much more than a city however. It is a new utopian society from which mankind rules with God. We find this theme again in Isaiah.

"They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat."
                                                                                 -Isaiah 65:21-22

    From Genesis to Revelation we see a common theme for the purpose of mankind; to build a society. To bring God's utopia of peace, equality, and justice to earth. The Bible begins with mankind in a garden, and ends with mankind in a city.

    The tragedy of the fall is that mankind lost its ability to represent God and govern on His behalf. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we no longer lead our society as we should. Then came Jesus. The restorer. Lets look at the first public sermon of Jesus.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind. To release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
                                                                                                       -Luke 4:18-19

    In His first public sermon, Jesus makes it clear that His ministry is one of restoration. Throughout the New Testament concluding with a New Heaven and New Earth, we see Christ seeking to restore the human race back to the position of rulers and priests.

    Now what does this "restoration" look like on a personal level? God has placed dreams in you. He has put ambition in you. He has placed the desire and the drive to do good, and to influence your society and impact your world.

    But we are a fallen people. Fallen meaning we have corruption in us that prevents us from making the difference in society that we were intended to make. All over the planet we see mankind bringing pain and suffering because of these flaws. Perhaps you have seen them in your own life. You try to do good. You try to make an impact and be a positive influence but it never seems to work our right. Sometimes there are consequences to your shortcomings.

    Jesus Christ died on the cross to remove everything that holds you back from your dreams and rose from the dead to restore you back to a position of positive influence in the community. Embracing the savior means embracing your original destiny to make your world a better place while at the same time forsaking everything that's makes it an unfair painful place to be. This is the goal of the gospel, not only for the world or the human race, but also for you. To restore EVERYTHING that was lost and taken from you.

The REAL Tragedy of "The Fall"

    To some, it's a familiar story. God created Adam and Eve innocent and without fault. Then He placed them in a paradise that the Bible calls, "The Garden of Eden". God gave Adam and Eve absolute freedom except for one rule. They must not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge or they will die. One day, Eve was tempted by the serpent and her and her husband broke that one rule. With that one act of disobedience sin, suffering, and spiritual death entered the world. Our relationship with God was severed. This was indeed a tragedy.

    Was this the worst of it though? Lets look at the bigger picture. Why did God create Adam and Eve in the first place? What was the original purpose for the human race?

    The Bible says in Genesis 1:26-30 that God made mankind after His own pattern and put His own identity in the human race. He goes on to give humanity dominion and authority over the whole earth. He commands mankind to fill the earth and rule it. So we can infer from the scriptures that the original purpose of the human race was to be placed in charge of God's creation. So then the real tragedy of "The Fall" was that humanity lost its ability to represent God and govern on His behalf.

    This in ability to govern is self evident in our society today, especially in our own government here in the United States. Ours is a house divided. We lack the simple unity needed to govern the nation entrusted into our care. Our lack of leadership is evident in our environment. Daily our planet is negatively effected through the release of pollutants and neglect. God delegated the responsibility of caring for the earth to us. We are failing that mandate.

    Then there is our fellow man that are suffering. We let crime, violence, and injustice thrive in our societies. We leave the education system broken and inadequate thus neglecting our inheritance and our future. The poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick and the dying. We either leave these to fend for themselves, or not do enough to fix the broken systems that facilitated the environment which caused their suffering. This is the tragedy of the sin of Adam and Eve. We have lost our ability to lead as God's representatives. This is what is meant by the statement, "we live in a fallen world". Its not so much a fallen world as it is a fallen race leading the world.

   There is hope however. There truly is a Gospel given for man's redemption. God sent another man created in His own image. This man, unlike Adam the first man restored humanity to our original calling by His life, death, and ressurection. He died to recover what was lost and to restore what was. This man was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This is the goal of the gospel. To restore human beings to the position of rulers and priests so that we may in turn bring God's utopia of peace, equality, and justice to earth.