The Wind and the Spirit

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." - John 3:8

Jesus is explaining that just as the wind has a sound that accompanies it, so likewise the Spirit has a sound that accompanies it. We learn later in the book of Acts, that speaking in tongues is the sound that we hear when a person is born of the Spirit. We cannot see God’s Spirit, but we hear the sound of a person speaking in tongues as God fills them with His Spirit.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:1-2, 4

Later in the book of Acts when Gentiles received His Spirit,

"And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." - Acts 10:45-46

Later, Paul witnessed to disciples of John the Baptist,

"And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." - Acts 19:6

Jesus spoke of being born again.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ... Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." - John 3:3, 5

We see from our human experience, that when a baby is born there is a sound. It is when the baby inhales his first breath that the sound is emitted – the baby lets out a cry. This is how we know the baby is alive outside the womb. He must take a breath, or he will die. If there is no sound, there is a panic: the baby must breath to live.

That breath that a baby receives when he is born in the natural is like the Spirit we receive when we are born again of the Spirit. The breath a baby receives gives him life. The Spirit we receive gives us eternal life.

When the baby takes his first breath and cries out, that is not the end of the story. If he is going to survive, he MUST continue to breath, and if he is a normal baby, he will continue to make sounds. (As the baby grows, his words become more articulate, then become sentences.)

So it is in our new birth experience. If we want to stay spiritually alive, we must continue to be filled with God’s Spirit. And, as Jesus said, there is a sound accompanying the Spirit. We see in the Bible and from our experience today that this sound is speaking in tongues.

Note: “Tongues” means “language” (specially, one naturally unacquired). Tongues as the sign of receiving the Holy Ghost is speaking in a language we do not know, as the Spirit of God speaks through us. We speak in other tongues as God is filling us with His Spirit, trusting and allowing Him to change our words of praise into a language we do not know.

Note: Speaking in tongues when receiving the Spirit is not to be confused with the gift of divers kinds of tongues, which is one of nine gifts of the Spirit given by God to MINISTER to the CHURCH BODY. The gift of faith is another of the nine gifts of the Spirit. Everyone might not have the gift of faith, and everyone might not have the gift of tongues, but EVERYONE must have faith to come to God, and EVERYONE speaks in tongues when they are filled with the Spirit.

Note: Interestingly, both the Hebrew and Greek words for “wind” is the same word used for “Spirit” and “breath.”