Tongues Part 8 How do I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Acts 2:38-39

“Repent” here means, “To change one's mind, i.e. to repent”, and “to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

A person can receive the Holy Ghost before or after water baptism. Repentance, however, must come first.

We come to Jesus by faith.

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

By repentance, we turn our heart, our mind, and our life to Jesus and away from sin.

Jesus gave His life for us, because He loves us. He loves us so much, that a suffered and died for us, so our sins could be forgiven. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead.

Now we can receive God’s Spirit in us.

A good place for a person to receive the Holy Ghost is at church, when there is an “altar call”. This is a call to those that love Jesus, that want to give their life to Him, and want to receive the gift of His Spirit.

At church, our minds are focused on God. We are in an atmosphere where other people also have their minds on God.

In this setting of prayer, worship, and the message of the word of God, it is easier to feel the presence of Jesus.

When we go to the altar, we often find others who will pray with us, worshiping with us, and encouraging us as we draw closer into God’s presence.

We receive God’s Spirit when we focus our whole attention on Jesus and His love for us. By our worship and thanksgiving, we draw closer to Him and He draws closer to us. (James 4:8)

It seems when we raise our hands in praise and worship, we are reaching out to Him, praising Him.

When we worship and talk to Him, we communicate our heart and love.

With our mind, our heart, our hands, and our voice focused on Jesus and how much we love Him, the presence of the Lord comes upon us. We feel His love and peace.

Sometimes there is a feeling of humility in the awesome presence of His holiness. Sometimes we have tears of thanksgiving. When we humble our self before the Lord, He lifts us up.

To allow Jesus to fill us with his Spirit, we must allow Him to change our words, our tongue.

This requires trust in the Lord. This requires wanting His Spirit more than our pride of speaking in a tongue we do not know. It requires letting go to God and not trying to take control our self.

When we surrender to God, He fills us with His Spirit.

Jesus can fill us with His Spirit wherever we are that we allow Him to fill us with His Spirit.

We can receive His Spirit in a house, in a car, on a mountain top, in a valley.

Receiving the Holy Ghost takes us to a dimension of peace and joy that we will not want to leave.

It is a place we can return to.

When Jesus fills us with His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, He not only gives us peace and joy, but also the power to live our lives pleasing to Him.

By His Spirit, we can live our life with victory over sin.

Part 7 There is a difference between the gift of the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues. The gift of the Holy Ghost is a promise to us when we repent of our sins and are baptized in Jesus name for the remission of our sins.  

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Acts 2:38-39  

The gift of the Holy Ghost (the Spirit) is necessary for salvation. 

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." - Romans 8:9  

When people receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, they speak with other tongues. 

They spoke in other tongues when they received the gift of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost.

 "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:4 

They spoke in other tongues at the house of Cornelius when they received the gift of Holy Ghost. 

"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 10:45-46a 

John the Baptist’s disciples spoke with other tongues when they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

"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  

The gift of tongues is different from the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is one of the gifts of the Spirit given to believers for the edifying of the church. 

“Edifying” means, “(the act of) building, building up, a metaphorically, edifying, edification, i.e. the act of one who promotes another's growth in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, happiness” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)  

“It expresses the strengthening effect of teaching… (the idea conveyed is progress resulting from patient effort)”. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary) 

It is not necessary to have the gift of tongues for salvation, or any of the other gifts of the Spirit, which are all used for edifying the church, the body of Christ.  

In the following verse, Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church about two of the gifts of the Spirit. He is talking to them about the gift of tongues, and the gift of prophecy.  

"I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." - 1 Corinthians 14:5  

“Prophesieth” means, “to break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or praise of the divine counsels, or (for the above verse), under like prompting, to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, comfort others (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) 

"To be a prophet, to prophesy," is used (a) with the primary meaning of telling forth the Divine counsels (Vine’s Expository Dictionary) 

It is necessary for the gift of tongues to be used with the gift of the interpretation of tongues, in order for the church to be edified. If there is no interpretation of the message in tongues, then no one understands what has been said, and the church is not edified, which is the purpose of the various gifts of the Spirit. 

"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret." - 1 Corinthians 14:27

Part 6 The Holy Ghost in Samaria

"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." - Acts 1:8  

"... And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." - Acts 8:1  

What Jesus said of Samaria was about to be fulfilled! 

"Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them." - Acts 8:5  

"And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city." - Acts 8:6-8  

"But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." - Acts 8:12  

They were baptized in Jesus name – yet they had not received the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

"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.)" - Acts 8:14-16  

Receiving the Holy Ghost is so important, that the apostles sent Peter and John on a special trip from Jerusalem to Samaria to pray for the people to receive the Holy Ghost! 

"Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." - Acts 8:17  

"And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans." - Acts 8:25

Part 5 Where else in the Bible did people speak in other tongues when they received the Holy Ghost? 

In the book of Acts chapter 19, Apostle Paul came upon disciples of John the Baptist. These disciples had been baptized unto repentance, for this is what John the Baptist preached. They had not been baptized in Jesus name. Neither had they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Paul discovered this in his conversation with them. 

"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, 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." - Acts 19:1-2 

Paul then checked out their baptism. 

"And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism." - Acts 19:3  

Paul found out two things from their reply. First, these disciples knew about the Holy Ghost. They just weren’t aware that the Holy Ghost had begun to be poured out.  

How did these disciples of John know about the Holy Ghost? Because John the Baptist preached about it: 

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:" - Matthew 3:11  

The second thing Paul found out from their reply is that their baptism was simply one of repentance, for John the Baptist baptized with water “unto repentance.” 

What was Paul’s answer to them? 

"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." - Acts 19:4 

What was there response? 

"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." - Acts 19:5 

Here is an example of people being re-baptized. Even though they had already been baptized once, because they had not been baptized in Jesus name, they got re-baptized.  

These men had now been born of water, partially obeying the Gospel. They now needed to be born of the Spirit to fully obey the Gospel. 

"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

Here is yet another example of people speaking in other tongues when they received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  

They were now in obedience to the gospel. These men had now entered into the New Covenant.

Part 4 Tongues and Cornelius the Gentile 

There was a devout man, pious and godly, that was a gentile. He was a God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generous donations to the needs of the Jewish people. He faithfully prayed to God. (Acts 10:2) 

Anyone that knew Cornelius must have thought he had a special place in heaven. 

One day, while Cornelius was fasting and praying to God, he had a heavenly vision. Although by appearance Cornelius was saved, he had not been baptized in Jesus name for the remission of his sins, nor had he received the Holy Ghost. 

Because Jesus loves us all so much, He went to great lengths to bring a man of God, a preacher of the gospel, with the message of salvation to Cornelius. (Acts 10:3-23) 

When Peter arrived at the house of Cornelius, all his family and close friends had come together. Cornelius told Peter, “Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.”  

While Peter preached the gospel, the Holy Ghost fell on all those which heard the word. (Acts 10:44) 

How did Peter know that they received the Holy Ghost? 

Because he heard them speak with tongues and praise the Lord. 

Here is another example of where people that received the Holy Ghost spoke in tongues as the sign that God had filled them with His Spirit. Peter testified to those in Jerusalem, telling them Cornelius and his household received the Holy Ghost just as they received the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost. 

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning." - Acts 11:15 

When Cornelius and his household received the Holy Ghost, Peter COMMANDED that they be baptized in Jesus name. They received the gift, but had not entered into the covenant of Jesus’ baptism!  

"Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" - Acts 10:47  

"And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days." - Acts 10:48

Part 3 Where in the Bible did people speak in other tongues when they received the Holy Ghost? 

The first place that people spoke in other tongues as a sign that they had been filled with the Holy Ghost was in the upper room in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.  

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ... 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, 4 

Henceforth, tongues would be the sign of the infilling of the Holy Ghost. 

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning." - Acts 11:15 (Acts 10:44-46) 

There are some people that teach that the reason why the disciples in the upper room spoke in tongues, they say was so the hundred and twenty disciples could preach to all the different languages that were present. This is not true. 

On the Day of Pentecost, Jews were gathered from nations from all over the world to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple for this special holy day. (Deuteronomy 16:16) These Jews most likely spoke Hebrew, their religious language, as well as probably speaking either Latin or Greek, the languages of the Roman Empire. In addition, these Jews also spoke the language of the country they were from. (Acts 2:5-6) 

"And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. ... And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?" - Acts 2:5-6, 12 

Apostle Peter, standing up with the other eleven apostles, was the preacher on the Day of Pentecost. He began his Gospel message to the multitudes that had gathered by explaining that what they had just witnessed had been prophesied by the prophet Joel. (Joel 2:28) 

Speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost was not for the purpose of preaching. The speaking in tongues was a sign that the Spirit had been poured out on believers.  

"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;" - Acts 2:14-16  

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" - Acts 2:17  

Peter concluded his message by letting all the Jews know that they could receive the Holy Ghost, just as the hundred and twenty disciples did that were in the upper room. 

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Acts 2:38-39  

Henceforth, tongues would be the sign of the infilling of the Holy Ghost. 

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning." - Acts 11:15 (Acts 10:44-46) 

To be continued…

Part 2

Why did God choose “tongues” as the sign that a person has been filled with His Spirit?  

The Bible says that although the tongue is a very small member, like a bit in a horse’s mouth or the tiny rudder on a great ship, the tongue can control our whole body. 

"For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth." - James 3:2-4  

"Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." - James 3:5-6  

The Bible says that no man can tame the tongue – that it is “an unruly evil” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon: “that can not be restrained”) defiling the whole body. 

"For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." - James 3:7-8  

It makes sense that God would choose the seeming impossible, taking control and taming our tongue, to show that with Him all things are possible. To allow God to take control of our tongue, changing our words into words we don’t know the meaning of, takes on our part, a big step of faith and trust. 

When we give God full control in our life, we can receive His Holy Ghost.  

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Acts 2:38-39  

When we speak in tongues, it is the sign that we have allowed God to fill us with His Spirit. 

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:4  

When we speak in tongues as the Spirit gives us the utterance, we are allowing God to tame our tongue that is an “unruly evil” and that no man can tame. Tongues are a sign that we are surrendering our whole self to Him, the tongue being the last to surrender. 

To be continued…