A good strategy for any enemy who is about to face a formidable
foe, would be to somehow take his greatest weapon out of his hand.
In military action, this is very often the strategy used-to somehow
wipe out the strongest weapons of an enemy, thus making him easy
prey.
The devil has used just such a tactic against the Body of Christ.
Jesus told the church, "Ye shall receive power after the
Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me..."
(Acts 1:8) The Bible teaches us that we as Christians are involved
in a struggle, or fight, or warfare against evil forces.
Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places." 2 Corinthians 10:3,4 says, "For though
we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds . . ."
We are involved in such an intense battle for souls. The devil
is out to kill, steal and destroy. It is very important that we
have all the weaponry which is available to us.
We know that God is good. He is our commander-in-chief. He
would not send us into battle to fight a tank with a pocket knife.
No, He has given us the weapons to win the battle.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the endowment of power from
on high. When the early church received this dynamic power, the
Bible records that they spoke with other tongues. The teaching
of speaking or praying in other tongues is very clearly spelled
out in the pages of the Bible, and yet Satan has managed to bring
all sorts of confusion into the church concerning it.
Some churches actually teach that speaking in tongues is of the
devil.
This is clearly unscriptural. If the Bible says that the disciples
received the Holy Spirit (not a devil spirit) and that they then
proceeded to speak with tongues (See Acts 1:1-4) and if Peter
clearly taught that "this promise (of the gift of the Holy
Spirit) is unto you and to your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," (See
Acts 2:39) then I think we have to realize that the gift of tongues
is from God and is for today.
To say that the gift of tongues is of the devil is to put oneself
on very dangerous ground. During Jesus' ministry, He was accused
of operating in the devil's power when He cast out demons. He
then warned His accusers of the danger of blaspheming the Holy
Ghost. They were ascribing the works of God to Satan. They were
equating the Holy Spirit to the devil's spirit. And that is very
dangerous indeed.
Other times, people will say about the gift of tongues, "Oh,
that's a lot of gibberish," or "that's a lot of nonsense."
Again, this type of statement is totally unscriptural and shows
a lack of knowledge of God's Word. It may be pleasing to the natural
man to make such a statement, but it is not in accordance with
the thought of God. You see, the natural man (or oftentimes the
carnal Christian as well) does not receive the things of the Spirit
of God.
Look closely at what the Scriptures say. The carnal man may say,
"That's a lot of gibberish," but the Spirit of God in
the Holy Scriptures says, "For he that speaketh in an unknown
tongue speaketh unto God; for no man understandeth him;
howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." (I Cor.
14:2)
Did you notice what he said? He said, number one, that the person
who is speaking in tongues is speaking unto God and, number two,
he is speaking mysteries.
Is speaking to God nonsense? Is speaking mysteries (hidden
truths) gibberish
Certainly not!
Paul goes on to say, "He that speaks in an unknown tongue
edifies himself . . ." (I Cor. 14:3) To edify
means to build oneself up. Well, naturally, if you are speaking
forth the mysteries of God through your spirit man, you are going
to be building yourself up. In Jude 20, this is confirmed. "But
ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost."
Praying in the Holy Ghost is praying in tongues, because when
you are praying in unknown tongues, you are praying from your
spirit man as you are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Praying in
your native language is called praying with the understanding.
Praying with the understanding is important. A Christian should
never stop communicating with God in the understanding, but some
people would have you believe that unless you are praying with
the understanding, your prayer is not of value.
Paul explains this very carefully in I Cor. 14:14, "For if
I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my
understanding is unfruitful." It is my spirit, rather than
my brain, that is praying when I pray in tongues. Paul then goes
on to say, "What is it then, I will pray with the spirit,
and I will pray with the understanding also..." (I Cor. 14:15)
Some people only want to participate in one type of prayer--the
prayer of understanding. They then proceed, oftentimes, to call
the other type of scriptural prayer, gibberish, or nonsense, or
"of the devil."
Notice what he said in Jude. He said praying in the Holy Ghost
will build you up in the "most holy faith." Don't
you think that if you are facing a formidable foe, you would want
all the armor you could get? If I were facing Goliath, I would
want to be built up in my "most holy faith, praying in the
Holy Ghost."
The Body of Christ today needs to be built up. For too long we
have tried to fight a spiritual battle with carnal weapons. We
have used our programs, our methods, etc., but we have lacked
the power of God in the area of the spirit.
Why?
Because we have ignored a valuable part of our weaponry--the
baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.
It may be more comfortable for you to ignore the call of God to
be endued with power from on high. It might help you keep your
social standing in some cold, dead church. But that doesn't mean
it is the will of God.
In the early church, every time someone was converted to Christianity,
they were immediately ministered the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8 records an evangelistic crusade of Philip. People from
the city of Samaria were converted and baptized under his ministry.
But as soon as the apostles in Jerusalem heard about the crusade,
they sent Peter and John to the city "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.) Then laid they their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."
Some teachers will try to tell you that you get all of the Holy
Ghost that there is when you are born again. But, here we see
that they didn't. Certainly they were saved. They were converted
and baptized. And, of course, we know that by virtue of the new
birth they had received the Spirit of God.
But the apostles knew that they needed something more. They
needed the endowment of power from on high, the endowment of power
to be witnesses. They didn't want them fighting a Sherman tank
with a pocket knife. They wanted them properly equipped.
Are you properly equipped today, saints? Are you filled with the
Holy Ghost and power? Or have you decided to be a man-pleaser
rather than a God-pleaser?
God wants you equipped. He wants you to be filled with the Spirit
. . . endued with power. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you
will find. Knock and it shall be opened.
In Luke 11:13 Jesus says, "If ye then being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
What is the requirement for you to receive the Holy Spirit?
Ask!
Prayer this simple prayer today:
Dear God, I thank you for Jesus Christ. I thank you that He died
on the cross for my sins, that I might be a vessel fit to receive
the power of God from on high. I confess with my mouth that Jesus
Christ is MY Lord and Savior. I believe He died for my sins and
rose from the dead to give me victory. And now Lord I ask you
to fill me with the Holy Spirit. Give me power and enable me to
pray to you out of my spirit. I receive it by faith now, in Jesus
name. Amen.