TONGUES -- THE INITIAL EVIDENCE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT !

TONGUES -- THE INITIAL EVIDENCE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Speaking in tongues always is manifested when people are baptized in the Holy Spirit: "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and begin to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). I do not argue, however, with those who claim to have the Holy Spirit even though they never have spoken in tongues. After all, the Holy Spirit does a work of regeneration of the human spirit when a person is born again, and the Bible tells us that "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16). Many years ago, as a young preacher hungry for the deeper things of God, I came to the conclusion while reading the New Testament that if I received the same Holy Spirit that the disciples did on the day of Pentecost, I wanted the same accompanying sign. And if I didn't have the same sign --- of speaking in tongues -- I had no scriptural evidence that I was filled with the same Holy Spirit they were filled with. I simply ask God to fill me with his Spirit. Just as one would asked Jesus Christ to be Lord of his or her life. Thank God, I did receive that same Holy Spirit and did speak with tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. Smit Wigglesworth once argue that he already was filled and baptize with the Holy Spirit, even though at that time he had not spoken in other tongues. Many dear believers hold this position. When he heard that some people are in an Episcopal (angelican) church was speaking in tongues, he went to see about it. He found that the pastor, his wife, and many of their members had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. They asked Wigglesworth, "Do You Have the Holy Ghost ?" Wigglesworth replied that he did. "Well, have you spoken with tongues ?" They asked. "He replied, No, but I'm just as much filled with the Holy Ghost as you are !" He replied. After a while, however, Wigglesworth begin to see the necessity of speaking in tongues. He went to the Episcopal rectory to ask the pastor to pray for him, but he wasn't home. The pastor's wife, however, said, "I'll pray for you." Wigglesworth said, "lay your hands on my head and prayed that I'll get the tongues." "You don't want the tongues," she said. "You want the Holy Ghost. The tongues would take care of themselves." Wigglesworth argued, "But I already have the Holy Spirit !" "Never mind, just kneel down there," the pastor's wife said. She was tired of arguing with him. Wigglesworth knelt, and as hands were laid upon him, the power of God came over him and he began to speak in other tongues. He later said, "the Holy Ghost settled all my arguments for me. I had been arguing and discussing the subject with them every day that I had the Holy Ghost just as much as they did. In a moments time I saw that I really never had been filled with the Holy Ghost. I had had some wonderful experiences as a minister as God blessed me and anointed me to preach, and many had been saved and even healed, but I never had been filled with the Holy Ghost until then. "When you get an experience inside the word of God, you have an experience outside the realm of argument. Before, I only had an argument, but now I have an experience with God." There are different purposes for ministering in tongues in a public assembly and speaking with tongues in your prayer life as a spirit baptized individual. This is the seal of God upon the individual's life, not the tongues but the baptism in the Holy Spirit. However, the essence of tongues is the same, and the source of the tongues -- the Holy Spirit --- is the same in both cases.