I. The situation of the Corinthian Church.
A. Paul has written them in regard to speaking in tongues.
1. They were abusing the practice and had lost the beauty
and blessing of it.
2. Unfortunately, Paul addressed the issue by focusing on
the negative rather than the positive.
a. He wanted to preserve the practice of spiritual
language.
b. He did not want to condemn it.
3. Look what Paul said about the spiritual language of
speaking in tongues.
a. "I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you
all." (I Corinthians 14:18).
b. ". . . do not forbid to speak with tongues."
(I Corinthians 14:39).
B. Four times in Acts it tells of people receiving the baptism
in the Holy Spirit.
1. Acts 2:4.
2. Acts 8:5-25.
3. Acts 10:44-48.
4. Acts 19:1-7.
C. Other references in the Bible are the following:
1. Isaiah 28:11-12.
2. Mark 16:17.
3. Romans 8:26-27.
4. I Corinthians 12:10, 13:1, 14:1-39.
II. The spiritual language is understood only by God to know
God's heart. There are two ways of speaking in tongues:
"prayer language" and the "gift of tongues."
A. Prayer language.
1. Paul talks about speaking in tongues in I Corinthians
12, 13, and 14 and moves back and forth between the
two which confuses people.
2. Prayer language is what you get when you receive the
Holy Spirit. For everyone. Can be used at any time.
Apostle Paul calls it "praying in the spirit."
3. Difference from regular prayer in that you speak to God
but instead of using words you know in your own
language, you trust the Holy Spirit to give the words He
chooses. That can be any language He selects for you.
4. The prayer language helps you grow spiritually.
(I Corinthians 14:4).
5. Speaking in tongues helps you to talk to God and praise
Him exactly as He wants you to, which brings us into a
more open relationship with Him.
6. Wonderful for intercessory prayer. Helps us to pray for
the needs of others. We don't always know but God
does.
7. Emotion is not that involved because it is our spirit, not
our soul or body. Our spirit is what we are made in the
image of God. It is through our spirit we have fellowship
with God. Your emotions may not be affected when you
first receive. However, you will probably be full of joy
knowing you can.
8. In other words, you don't experience God by becoming
all emotional, but when you do experience God, it will
probably stir your emotions.
B. The "Gift of Tongues." This is one of the gifts and you must
know the distinction.
1. Remember the spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12:8-10.
a. Word of wisdom.
b. Word of knowledge.
c. Gift of faith.
d. Gift of healing.
e. Working of miracles.
f. Gift of prophecy.
g. Discerning of spirits.
h. Gift of tongues.
i. Interpretation of tongues.
2. Paul calls the gift of prophecy most important. Don't
get love mixed up with the gifts. Love is the number one
fruit of the Spirit. (There are nine fruit of the Spirit and
these are found in Galatians 5:22-23). When Paul talks
of love being most important in the 13th chapter of
I Corinthians, he means that none of the gifts are of any
value, and are like a "clanging symbol," if they are not
used with love. The gifts are distributed by the Holy
Spirit as He decides (I Corinthians 12:11). Any or all of
these gifts may work much more effectively within you
after you have received your prayer language. The
potential to use these gifts have been in all Christians but
the release of the Spirit brings a better flow of the gifts.
3. As you can see, the "gift of tongues" is different than the
the regular speaking in tongues which is prayer
language.
4. Remember, the "gift of tongues" is the second way of
speaking in tongues. This gift is given when God has
something He wants to say to His people when they are
meeting together. This is why Paul says in I Corinthians
12:30, " . . . do all speak with tongues?" Also, in
I Corinthians 14:27-28: "If anyone speaks in a tongue,
let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and
let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him
keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and
to God."
5. With the prayer language you can speak in tongues any
time you want to; however, you do not just decide on
your own you would like to bring a gift of tongues. Can
you see the difference and why people get confused?
III. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit according to the original Koine
Greek manuscript.
A. Remember, we are composed of "body," "soul," and "spirit."
1. Body is the physical part of you.
2. Soul is the psychological part of you: mind, emotions,
will.
3. Spirit is that part of you that is like God, in His image.
B. This is why when a person believes in Jesus Christ they are
born anew.
1. Paul says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit
with Him."
2. This is the basic baptism which we refer to as "water
baptism" which is an outward sign.
3. The most important baptism, however, is the one Jesus
talked about. Jesus had this to say about it in John 3:5:
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God."
Also, in Acts 1:5: "For John truly baptized with water,
but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
days from now."
4. There is really one one baptism and that is the inner
baptism that happens when we receive Jesus, when the
Holy Spirit brings us alive in Christ and God comes to
live in us.
C. There are two parts to the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
1. First, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you. You could
say indwells you.
2. In the second part, He begins to move out from within
your spirit to flood, drench, and soak the rest of your
being which is your soul and then body, and then move
out into the world around you. This second part is the
baptism with the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus says in John 4:14: "But whoever drinks of the
water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the
water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Later, Jesus went on to say that if anyone really trusts
Him, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this
He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing
in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet
given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."
(John 7:38-39)
4. See how Jesus first talked about an inflow of the Spirit
and then an outflow of the Spirit? The inflow is salvation
which is the first half of the baptism; the outflow is the
baptism with the Holy Spirit which is the second half of
the baptism.
5. The first half, the Holy Spirit comes in and you are
indwelled by the Spirit and you have new life. The
second half of the baptism is when the Holy Spirit who
lives in your spirit flows out to baptize, soak, drench your
soul and then your body and brings them to new life.
Then, He can flow out into the world from you to bring
love, peace, joy, and healing to other people. This
equips you to carry out the Great Commission found in
Matthew 28:16-20.
D. You are not trying to get the Holy Spirit to come into or
fall down upon you.
1. The Holy Spirit is already there if you have accepted
Christ as your Lord. John 1:12-13: "But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name:
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God." You just need to
release Him.
2. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him
and make Our home with him." (John 14:23).
3. Thus, what is needed is not an incoming but an
outflowing of the Spirit.
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