Do all speak in other tongues? What did Paul mean when he asked that rhetorical question? Find out in this Little Lessons series with David Servant!

Do all Speak in Other Tongues? (Part 1)

“Do all speak in tongues?” What did Paul mean when he asked that rhetorical question?

We’ve been spending a lot of time on a series of lessons about speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And this is I think the 24th lesson. So we’ve spent quite a few hours studying this. If you’ve just happened to stumble upon this video, please, find the first video and start at the beginning, and that builds a foundation that will build your faith right up to where we are at today. But I mean, you could watch this one. We’re going to talk about that famous passage in Corinthians where Paul asked the rhetorical question, “Do all speak in tongues?” to which the answer was obviously no. And that is often used as an argument against folks like myself who are trying to persuade every Christian that you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit and the initial evidence will be speaking in tongues.

And someone would inevitably say, “But the Bible says so obviously, do all speak in tongues? And the answer is obviously no. And so it may not be God’s will for me to speak in tongues and so you’re teaching us the wrong thing.” Well, okay. You’ve found one verse. But what about those verses where God did baptize an entire group of people in the Holy Spirit, and they all spoke in tongues. On the Day of Pentecost, 120 were gathered in the upper room, and they all spoke in tongues. So did they all speak in tongues? Yes. They all spoke in tongues on that occasion. And in Acts chapter 10, when Peter was divinely led down to Cesarea to preach to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening to a sermon and they all began speaking in tongues, just like the Jews did on the Day of Pentecost.

In fact, that’s what they said. “How could we say no to baptizing these folks who’ve received the Holy Spirit just like we did?” That was years before. And then Acts chapter 19, 25 years after the Day of Pentecost at least, Paul’s traveling through Ephesus, he comes across some disciples. There’s a little confusion because he thinks they’re disciples of Jesus and really they’re disciples of John the Baptist and they are missing a lot of information about what’s happened since John the Baptist. Paul elucidates their understanding, and they then are baptized and then he lays hands upon them and they all spoke in tongues. See? We’re considering the whole Bible, not just one verse. All right, so let’s look a little context here and see if we can find an answer to this, because I’ve laid hands on and prayed for hundreds. And I’ll bet it’s well 1000 people and over the last few decades, Christian people, and heard them speak in other tongues when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

But here’s what I have found. They have to have faith. They have to believe. And if they’re not certain it’s God’s well, if they think, “Well, wait a second, the Bible says, ‘Not all speak in tongues,’ so how could I have faith for that?” Well, then, they can’t have faith for that. You can only receive the Holy Spirit by faith, so you have to be convinced it’s God’s will. That’s what I’ve been trying to do throughout all these lessons. So now we’re going to address this one and try to do a thorough job of it. So I want to read from First Corinthians, chapter 12. Now, in these Little Lessons, I don’t want to take the time to read all of chapter 12, all of chapter 13, all of chapter 14, although it would benefit you to do that, because those are the big chapters about speaking in tongues in the Epistles and the other gifts of the spirit and so forth. So let’s use our brains here and see if the Holy Spirit will help us to understand what is going on.

Paul says in First Corinthians 12, I’m starting in verse number four. No, there are varieties of gifts, and we’ll soon see he’s talking about gifts from the Holy Spirit, but the same spirit. There are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things and all people. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that, do you? If you’ve been around Christianity for a few years, you’ve noticed that there’s a lot of different kinds of ministries, a lot of different kinds of gifts, and the gifts we’re about to read about here, these are foreign to many Christians because they’re actually not even open to them because they think that these things have all ceased with the days of the Apostles. That’s to be regretted. Anyways, we read now starting in verse number seven. “But to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.” And now he lists what we commonly refer to as the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.

“For one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit. To another, the word of knowledge according to the same spirit. To another, faith by the same spirit. To another, gifts of healing by the one spirit. To another, the effecting of miracles. To another prophecy. To another, the distinguishing of spirits. To another, various kinds of tongues. And to another, the interpretation of tongues.” There’s nine altogether there. “But one in the same spirit works all these things distributing to each one just as he wills.” You got it? There’s the nine gifts of the spirit. The last two are of particular or interest for us as we’re talking in this series about speaking in tongues. And we saw the eighth gift of the spirit was various kinds of tongues, and we saw the ninth gift was the interpretation of tongues. And that was two gifts that were in manifestation in the church in Corinth.

Now, if you’ve read these few chapters, you know that among the many problems that the church in Corinth had one of the problems they had was that people were speaking in tongues and there was no interpretation. And Paul tells them to stop. And he basically just says, “Look, if there’s no interpretation, no one’s being edified and you’re just edifying yourself by speaking out in tongues. So just be quiet and speak to yourself and to God, or do it at home.” Now, that, of course, raises the question, if God was giving people in the Corinthian church this eighth gift of the Holy Spirit, various kinds of tongues, why wasn’t he giving them the ninth gift, giving somebody the ninth gift, the interpretation of tongues, if it’s not appropriate to speak out in tongues without there being an interpretation? See the question? And there’s only one possible answer, and it will be affirmed as we read through the facts that will be following this, is that, although speaking in tongues is just always speaking in a language that’s unknown to the speaker, there’s different uses of speaking in tongues.

There is a private devotional gift of speaking in tongues, which we could call praying in tongues. And Paul calls it prayer. We’ll read that. And it’s primarily for your private devotional life speaking to God. It’s what Pentecostals and Charismatics sometimes refer to as, “my prayer language”. And then there is another use of speaking in tongues that is spontaneous. You can’t do it as you will. It only happens as the spirit wills. Whereas praying in tongues, it’s very clear from what Paul said, and we’ll read this, that he could do it any time he wanted, and he encouraged the Corinthians to do it anytime they wanted as well. It’s not as the spirit wills. It’s as I will. I can speak in tongues anytime I want to. But Paul said, we just read it, “One and the same spirit works all of these things distributing each one, individually, just as he wills.”

This is a spontaneous sudden gift of the spirit, just like the other eight gifts of the spirit. Even those people that God uses in working of miracles or in the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, they can’t operate it as they will. That’s totally as the spirit wills. Not up to them. Up to God. So you see these two uses, and the bonafide gift of speaking in tongues that is spontaneously suddenly given to a believer in a church gathering, for example, that’s always accompanied by the interpretation of tongues because God’s not confused and he’s not giving people gifts that Paul is saying, “Don’t use that gift.” Because that’s what Paul’s saying. You read that here. He’s saying, “Don’t be speaking out in tongues, unless there’s an interpretation. If there’s no interpreter, don’t be speaking out in tongues. Be quiet. Speak to yourself and to God.” That was a problem in the Corinthian church. Now, we’re just about out of time. Let’s close by just reading this passage. We’re going to skip over all that stuff in First Corinthians 12 about many members in one body and so forth.

But look at verse 27. “Now you are Christ’s body and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles.” This is something God did. The apostolic gift is the highest gift in the church. And people think, “Well, there was only 12 of them.” No, no. In the New Testament, there were over 20 people mentioned as apostles. They are sent to supernaturally plant churches, basically. That’s what an apostle does. Then there’s a second gift, a second ministry that’s second to the apostle. The apostolic gift is the highest gift. “Second,” Paul says, “prophets. Third, teachers.” So these are listed in order of importance within the body of Christ and these are all ministries. “Then, miracles. Then, gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” So we can say one of two things are true. Either this is a list of ministries, that there are apostles, prophets, teachers, then there are people who can constantly God uses in miracles and gifts of healings.”

Many Bible students believe that that’s the gift of the evangelists, because of the example of the evangelist in the New Testament, Phillip. He had miracles and healings in his ministry. And then we have “helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues” that also would be describing ministries where God anoints people to be consistently used in a certain way. Or we can say that these are ministries and gifts, a list of ministries and also some gifts, but these are all given as the spirit wills and not as anyone else wills, because we keep on reading here, and now Paul asks several rhetorical questions, All are not apostles, are they?” And that’s a rhetorical question. The obvious answer is no, not all are apostles. “All are not prophets, are there?” No. “All are not teachers, are they?” No. “All are not workers of miracles, are they?” No. “All do not have gifts of healings, do they?” Obviously, no.

And now here comes to that question, “All do not speak with tongues, do they?” Obviously, the answer is no. “And all do not interpret, do they?” Obviously, no. “But earnestly desire the greater gifts.” So he’s talking about the use of tongues in public manifestation. And as we keep on reading, we’ll see that it’s very similar to prophecy. Paul basically says, “Tongues plus interpretation is equivalent to prophecy.” So you see, these kinds of tongues are not a prayer to God, which we’ll later on read where Paul talks about praying in tongues. This is a message from God to the congregation that is then spoken in tongues and interpreted by someone so that the congregation, the gathering knows what God just said. And it’s like a prophecy. You see? And this is the only conclusion that can really come to, unless the Bible is nuts, unless Paul was an imbecile, which he wasn’t, and if this wasn’t inspired by the Holy Spirit, which it is.

This is the only conclusion you can come to, that there’s two different uses of speaking in tongues. I mean, it almost sounds like everybody in Corinth could speak in tongues, because Paul encourages them to do that, and we’ll read that later. But there were people speaking out in tongues, speaking out in their prayer language, like any Christian who’s baptized in the Holy Spirit can do any time he or she wants to. And that was inappropriate because it really wasn’t the gift of tongues, which would be similar to prophecy where the Holy Spirit moves upon someone, motivates them to speak out in tongues, and then it gives that same person or another person the gift of the interpretation of tongues so that everyone knows what God just said.

All right, so there’s more to come in this and we’ll take a look at it in our next Little Lesson. Thank you so much for joining me on this one.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

Do all Speak in Other Tongues? (Part 2)

“Do all speak in other tongues?” What did Paul mean when he asked that rhetorical question part two?

We’re continuing our, seems like never ending, series on Speaking in Tongues and The Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but I guarantee you it actually will end, actually before too long. But this is our 25th, I believe, lesson in this series. We’ve covered lots of ground. And, currently, we’re looking at a very familiar verse in scripture within its context. That place in 1 Corinthians, where Paul asks the rhetorical question, “Do all speak in tongues?” And the obvious answer to that rhetorical question is, no. And the next question he asks right after that is, “Do all interpret?” And the answer is, obviously, no as well.

And that one verse, I think, has been used more than any other verse in the Bible to rob sincere, well-meaning Christians of their faith that, otherwise, they would utilize to pray with faith and receive God’s greatest gift for His children. And that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you’ve watched all the other videos that we’ve done in this series you know, of course, that I believe because I think it’s clear the Bible teaches that everyone who’s born again has the Holy Spirit living inside them.

But we’ve also pointed out, from looking at other scriptures, that there is a second and subsequent experience with the Holy Spirit called the infilling of the Holy Spirit or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I don’t claim to have all the answers on all of this. God, of course, keeps us guessing in some areas. Understanding everything fully is beyond, at least, my peanut sized brain. But I don’t want to make the mistake that some have made. And that is basing my entire theology on this particular subject by looking at just one scripture without considering its context, its immediate context, and then its greater context within the New Testament and within the Bible.

All right so, we’ve been trying to do a thorough job that’s why we’ve gone on now for 25 Little Lessons on this subject. We’re not just glossing over the surface. We’re going fairly deep and not looking at just one or two isolated scriptures, but looking at every relevant scripture. And, at the same time, considering those scriptures within their context. And in our last Little Lesson, if you watched that one you know that the conclusion that were forced to come to regarding this rhetorical question that has been utilized to rob so many Christians of their faith, the problem is just not taking the context into consideration.

Because clearly Paul is not talking about that experience that all the Christians, who were present in the upper room on the day of Pentecost experienced that is they all spoke in tongues. He’s not talking about the experience that happened to Cornelius’ household in Caesarea when Peter was preaching the gospel to them, and they all, all spoke in tongues. He’s not talking about that experience that occurred in Ephesus when Paul found some disciples, and wound up laying his hands upon them and they received the Holy Spirit, and they all were speaking in tongues.

No, he’s talking about a ministry of speaking in tongues. Or another way of perhaps looking at is the gift. It’s one of the nine gifts that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, which Paul explicitly says that all nine work as the Spirit wills, not as you or I will. But yet, contained within that same general passage, Paul makes it very plain that he can speak in tongues whenever he wills. So, you see, obviously, there’s two uses, at least two uses of speaking in tongues. And one is the ability to pray in tongues whenever one wills, once one is baptized in the Holy Spirit. I’ve experienced that. And then, the another uses is something similar to prophecy as Paul describes it. And we’ll look at it in this Little Lesson today where it’s not prayer, but it’s more like prophecy where it’s not us speaking to God, it’s God speaking to us. And it puts a genuine bonafide gift of tongues given to somebody to be utilized in that way. There’s always the accompanying gift of the interpretation of tongues.

So, last time we started off in 1 Corinthians 12, we read verses 4 through 11. Then, we went and read verses 27 through 31. And that affirmed all these things, what I’ve just been saying to you in this Little Lesson. But let’s now jump over to chapter 13, the great love chapter and make our way into chapter 14, where Paul begins to describe the problem in the Corinthian Church regarding speaking in tongues, and the remedy that he recommends. That he prescribes, I should say.

1 Corinthians 14:1, “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts. But especially,” Paul says, “That you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation, and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies the church. Now, I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy. And greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues unless he interprets so that the church may receive edifying.”

So this affirms something that I was saying, and I guess I’ll have to add a little bit more information now. Paul’s encouraging the Corinthians to seek all the spiritual gifts, but especially prophecy. And, of course, prophecy would be inspired [inaudible 00:06:50] in a known language. We all know what prophecy is, it’s a message from God. And it’s for edification and exhortation and consolation, Paul said. But he contrasts that with speaking in tongues. He said, “For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God.” So, in this context, he’s talking about how it’s prayer to God. And so, that differentiates at least one form of speaking in tongues with prophecy.

Now remember, the last thing we read in that passage was, “I wish you all spoke in tongues,” he said, “But even more than you would prophesy.” Now, people say, “Well, see, they didn’t all speak in tongues. Paul was wishing they all spoke in tongues.” But not necessarily does that prove that because, clearly, this is within the context of spiritual gifts. And he’s saying, “I wish you’d all speak in tongues, but I also wish that you’d all prophesy.” Well, he just listed, two chapters earlier, both of those as being spiritual gifts that operate as the Spirit wills. And so, Paul very well could be saying not that only a small percentage of the Corinthians actually spoke in tongues, but that just like he wishes they would all be used by the Holy Spirit and the gift of prophecy, he also wishes that they all be used in the gift of various kinds of tongues.

And, of course again, within the context only if there’s the accompanying gift of the interpretation of tongues. And that’s kind of what Paul said here as we just read it. But, “I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more than you would prophesy.” Now listen to this, “And greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues.” Okay, that’s a pretty direct statement. If you prophecy you’re greater than if you speak in tongues, but there’s a caveat unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying. See, his whole point here is we want to edify the church. You guys just speaking in tongues, there’s no interpretation. That’s obviously not the gift of tongues that God is giving as one of the nine gifts of the Spirit that always is accompanied with the interpretation of tongues. And so, it’s what you should be doing in your own private devotional time not publicly in church.

So, then Paul goes on to just talk about the fact that speaking in tongues without the interpretation just doesn’t benefit anybody except the one doing the speaking. Again, he already said it, “The one who speaks has done edifies himself.” So, there’s a benefit right there. And I’ll close on this because we’re out of time for today in this Little Lesson, but we read it. Paul said, “One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.” What does it mean to be edified? It means to be built up in some way. And just as he said, “The one who prophesies edifies the church.” So, it helps the church. It encourages the church. It builds the church up spiritually speaking when you prophesy. But when you speak in tongues it edifies yourself. So, it’s good for you.

And that’s why I pray in tongues every single day. I might miss some days. But every single day, if for no other reason than I know that it’s spiritually edifying to me. And it is. I even understand at least to some degree how it is. It makes me aware of the Holy Spirit in me, and causes me to think about God who understands what I’m saying. And think about the Holy Spirit who’s speaking through me in a language that I don’t understand. Perfect God given Holy Spirit given prayer. And I get the blessing of the edification that comes along with that.

All right, more to say on this. So, there’s going to be at least a part three in this little sub series of the big series on speaking in tongues.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Do all Speak in Other Tongues? (Part 3)

Do all speak in tongues? What did Paul mean by that rhetorical question, part three.

We’re in the midst of a fairly long series on speaking in tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I think this is our 26th lesson if I’m getting it right. I could be wrong about that. We’ve kind of been involved in a kind of a sub-topic here, under the bigger heading of the baptism in the Holy spirit and speaking in tongues, and that is this whole question of what did Paul mean when he said, “Do all speak in tongues?” And it was a rhetorical question. The answer obviously was no. I’ve done my best already to address that in the last two Little Lessons, so I’m not going to punish the people that watch those by repeating everything, okay.

But I want to today continue in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, where Paul is admonishing the Corinthians to think about everybody else, don’t just be selfish when it comes to the spirits against think about being a blessing, rather than just being blessed yourself. And that’s a good word for us all, isn’t it? And the Corinthians were like that. They had a lot of indication of selfishness and carnality within their midst. And one of them was even when they were gathered together and the Holy spirit was in some degree of manifestation and people were speaking out in tongues and there was no interpretation. And Paul was saying, “Hey, no, one’s being edified by that, do that at home.” Okay. But we’ve looked at it in light of Paul’s rhetorical question, do all speak in tongues, and I’ve made my best argument.

And I’ve still got a little more to argue here that Paul was not talking about that ability to pray in tongues that accompanies the blessing of being baptized in Holy spirit, something that every Christian can and should experience. But he’s talking about one of the nine gifts of the spirit that is similar, but different in that sometimes the Spirit wills that someone would speak out in tongues. And if that is the Spirit, there’ll be an interpretation of what was said. And I have been in church services over the last four decades of my Christian life, where I’ve actually seen that in manifestation. And it is really neat. So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, verse number 14, I notice this time, he’s talking about praying in tongues. “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” Now, what can that mean, other than the fact that the source of the utterance is not one’s mind when one prays in tongues, but one’s spirit, one’s inner person, the real you, that when your body dies, that’s the person that leaves, okay, the spirit.

The Bible teaches that we are tripartite in nature, spirit, soul, and body. And when the body becomes an unfit container for the spirit and the soul they evacuate. All right. So Paul says, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays and my mind is unfruitful. I don’t know what I’m saying. What is the outcome then?” Here was Paul solution. “I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.” So can you see very clearly, Paul is saying, it’s up to me. Just as I pray with my mind and my own personal will is involved in deciding when I want to pray and how long I want to pray with my mind, so the same is true when I pray with my spirit or pray in other tongues, I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.

And you see, singing is something that we do by our own volition. If you wanted to sing right now, you could sing. And if I wanted to sing right now, I can sing. And so same thing is true with, once you’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit, you can not only pray in tongues anytime you want to, you can add a melody and sing in tongues. And some of the most beautiful gatherings that I’ve been in among Christians were when everyone in the gathering is singing spontaneous, heartfelt praises to God, many of whom are … I’ve been groups when all of them were singing in other tongues. And of course it’s okay then, because everyone is being individually edified, because all are praying in tongues.

People try to take the letter of what Paul is saying, nor the spirit of it, it’s okay to pray in tongues in groups if everybody is praying in tongues, because then everybody’s being edified themselves. As Paul said, we read it yesterday, earlier up in 1 Corinthians, up in chapter 14, 1 Corinthians. All right. So then Paul says in verse number 16, “Otherwise, if you bless in the spirit only how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say ‘amen’ at your giving of thanks, since he doesn’t know, not know what you are saying?” So the ungifted is the person who doesn’t have the gift of interpreting what you’ve, singing or praying in tongues. And Paul’s saying, “You’re blessing the Lord. You’re giving thanks. But nobody knows it because they don’t know what you’re saying, so they can’t say ‘amen.'”

And he goes on, “For you are,” he said, “giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified.” I told you, I think, early on, that there’ve been three times in my Christian life where I have prayed in tongues, in the presence of someone who understood what I was saying. Not was given the gift of interpretation, actually understood. And in all three cases, I was speaking in Japanese. And one of those cases I said in Japanese, “Thank you, very much.” Well, see, I was giving thanks to God in Japanese. I’ve never learned in any Japanese. And one time. I said in Japanese, on another occasion, and someone who understood some Japanese heard me say it. I said, “You are so good.” Well, I’m blessing God, praising God, you are so good. I say that in English. And I’ve said it in Japanese.

So our praying in tongues and our singing in tongues is, at least, apparently at times, worship and praise unto God. Well, it’s got to be good. It’s got to be biblical and scriptural, right, if it was coming from the Holy Spirit within our spirit. So then Paul goes on here and here’s an interesting verse in 1 Corinthians 14 and verse number 18. “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” Now, he wasn’t saying, I thank God more than you all, that I speak in tongues as if I’m more thankful. He said, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” So obviously Paul valued that ability and exercised it rather frequently to be doing it more than the Corinthian bunch. Okay, so he was an avid tongue talker. And if you don’t like tongue talkers, not only do you not like me, you don’t like the apostle Paul.

All right, now, surely nobody doesn’t like me. So, but Paul goes on, the same sentence, “However, in the church, I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also rather than 10,000 words in a tongue.” So maybe he was speaking 10,000 words in a tongue in his private devotional times and praising God that way, but when he’s gathered together in church, he’s saying that’s not the appropriate time. Okay. So now can you see, I think it’s inescapable. I don’t know if there’s any … could be any other conclusion if there is, I haven’t thought of it. Maybe you can think of something, but I haven’t thought of it, but it seems very clear that it would be wrong to make the conclusion that Paul’s rhetorical question to all speak in tongues is just a carte blanche, a definitive statement that we should never be praying for anyone to be baptized in Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

Because contextually, that’s not what Paul’s saying. He’s not addressing well, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the initial evidence of that which we see in the book of Acts with speaking in tongues, he’s talking about the operation of tongues and other things during a church gathering. Well, on the day of Pentecost, they were all in tongues. We’re they all out of order? No, because they were all speaking in tongues. What Paul said here in 1 Corinthians didn’t have application really then on the day of Pentecost because they were all speaking up. There was no one who was ungifted. There was nobody who wasn’t being edified individually, as they prayed in tongues. When Cornelius’s household in Acts 10, was all baptized in the Holy Spirit and they all began speaking in tongues, were they violating what Paul said here, that they should be quiet when they’re all gathered? No, because they were all speaking, everybody individually was being edified.

When these things are wrong, is when there are people who are ungifted people who don’t speak in tongues, who can’t edify themselves. And they’re just stuck, they’re listening to you speak in tongues and it doesn’t do them any good. So to love my neighbor as myself, I’m not going to treat him that way or her that way. And in Acts chapter 19, when Paul laid his hands upon those Ephesian disciples and they all began speaking in tongues, were they violating the spirit of what Paul said here? No, no. No, because they were all speaking in other tongues. So that’s why it’s okay for Spirit baptized believers, to all come together and all worship God in other tongues together.

And I told you, I’ve been involved in some of those gatherings over the years, and it’s just absolutely beautiful experience to, for everyone to be praising God in other tongues. And there are millions of Christians, tens of millions of Christians around the world. I’ve said this over and over again, who have experienced exactly what I’m talking about. Okay. All right. So I’ll do one more little lesson on this sub theme and probably that will close out this entire series as well. But I want to encourage you, then, to pray and ask God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit. If you’re a believer in Jesus, this is a promise for you. And then by faith, open your mouth and expecting that the Lord will give you the utterance and begin to speak in other tongues. Just don’t speak in any languages that you know, okay.

And you will see that as you step out by faith, that the Lord will help you. And if you’re a little bit embarrassed to do that around somebody else, then just go do it, pray quietly, secretly I should say, somewhere. And that way, when you begin to speak out in tongues, you don’t have to worry about who’s listening to you, okay. And then when it happens to you, please write me and tell me, okay. Some of you already have, and I so appreciate that. And even in the comments below, you can tell others and encourage them, okay.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Do all Speak in Other Tongues? (Part 4)

Do all speak in tongues? What did Paul mean by that rhetorical question? Part four.

We’ve been on a rather lengthy series on speaking in tongues and the baptism of the Holy spirit. I can’t remember if this is the 26th or 27th lesson, but we’re going to actually close it out probably today. Maybe one more, but we’re very close to the end. And we’ve been working our way through these really relevant scriptures in 1 Corinthians 12 and chapter 14. We skipped over chapter 13. There’s relevant stuff in there, but if we speak in tongues when out of love, then you’re just a clanging cymbal. So love is more important. And when Christians fight and divide about speaking in tongues, oh my goodness. That’s a far cry from what God really wants.

So I’m not claiming to understand everything within these chapters. There’s a couple of things that I’ve been scratching my head over for years. One of them is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 in verse number 20, where it seems like what Paul says there contradicts what he says just right after that. Some commentators have suggested that throughout Paul’s letter to Corinthians, he just quotes what they wrote to him, because he is responding to their letter. There’s no doubt about that. And so they recognize it, but we don’t recognize it. And we think, “Wait, Paul, you’re contradicting yourself,” but it’s possible that Paul quoted them. And then he said, “No, here’s my answer.” He didn’t say, “Here’s my answer,” using those words, now let me respond to that. Here’s my answer. But they would have recognized their own words in their letter written to him.

So, just a confession that I don’t understand everything. So, I’m going to skip over what seems like it’s contradictory and just jump into something later on in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, where in verse number 23, Paul says, “Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues,” well see now it sounds like everybody in Corinth could speak in tongues whenever they wanted. So again, that helps us contextually understand that when Paul said do all speak in tongues and obviously the answer was no, he wasn’t talking about the initial evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, but talking about one of the nine gifts of the spirit that operate not as I will, but as the Holy Spirit will. Whereas this, this ability to speak in tongues operates as I will. Once you’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit, you’ll understand that.

So, “Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men,” that is those who don’t speak in tongues, “or unbelievers enter, will not say that you are mad?” See, so this fits into the flow of Paul’s argument that let’s not have a bunch of speaking in tongues in church, if there’s no interpretation. “But if all prophesy,” he says now in contrast, “and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all. He is called to account by all. The secrets of his heart are disclosed. And so he will fall on his face and worship God declaring that God is certainly among you.” So Paul’s argument here is an unbeliever comes in and hears y’all speaking in tongues. They’re just going to say, “Well, this is a bunch of weirdness here.”

But if all prophesy, and apparently the prophecy can be directed at an unbeliever who enters, and disclosing the secrets of his heart. So that goes beyond the simple gift of prophecy into the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom where God spontaneously reveals some little bit of information that you couldn’t have known otherwise. If it’s past or present, that’s the word of knowledge. If it’s future, it’s the word of wisdom. And so, the secrets of his heart, that’s the word of knowledge and operation accompanying the gift of prophecy. All right. This is all so foreign to us, isn’t it? Church services, church gatherings, modern ones, there’s so few that are like this. And it’s really a shame.

Anyways, let’s look at the conclusion here. 1 Corinthians 14:26, Paul says, “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has,” and he lists how, when they came together, everybody brought something with them, a gift from the Holy Spirit to edify everybody else. It wasn’t just people sitting in pews, listening to a sermon and hearing the choir sing. It was more participatory. “Each one has a song.” So that would be some somewhat prophetic. “Has a teaching. Has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” See, these things were an operation in the Corinthian church. And apparently it was pretty regular. He said, “Let all things be done for edification.” That’s the overriding argument of the last couple of chapters. That’s why he said, “Don’t be speaking in tongues with no interpretation.” You want to edify people.

“If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three and each in turn, and one must interpret. But if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church and let him speak to himself and to God.” So there’s the general rule, and that was the general problem there during their gatherings. And again, one more time, we have affirmed what I’ve been arguing for these past few Little Lessons, that the rhetorical question do all speak in tongues is not a reference to the initial evidence that accompanies the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but is a reference to one of the nine gifts of the spirit that operate as the spirit wills and is always accompanied by the gift of interpretation.

So here’s the test. Paul says people are speaking out in tongues and there’s no interpreter. Well, that means God’s not giving people the interpretation. So that means you’re out of order. You don’t have the gift of tongues given by the spirit to minister to the body. What you have there is the ability to pray in tongues, and you ought to be quiet and not be yelling out in your prayer language, as many Pentecostals and Charismatics refer to that ability. Then he says, “Let one interpret.” That doesn’t mean one person interprets all the messages in tongues possibly, but maybe he means we’re trying to discourage competitive interpretations, if more than one person was given the ability to interpret. Again, I can’t say I’m 100% certain about that.

But look at this. “Let two or three prophets speak.” Now, they had prophets in their church and Paul’s encouraging them to speak out. “Let two or three prophets speak and let the others pass judgment.” So we are to judge every prophecy. He said that in other places too. “But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent, for you can all prophesy one by one so that all may learn and be exhorted, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.” So in other words, when God gives someone a prophecy, they don’t have to immediately belt it out. They can sit on it because if someone else is prophesying, and that apparently was a problem in the church. Here are people who are called to be prophets, and yet they’re interrupting one another because, oh, I got a revelation. Well he goes on to say, “For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”

So, God’s doing supernatural things, but there’s a component of human control. Just like, for example, when you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit and you have the ability to speak in tongues, the utterance is supernatural, but the speaker has control over whether he or she is going to speak or not and how long and whether he or she is going to add a melody to it. See? So it’s divine and it’s also human, a combination. And people use that, or I should say people misunderstand that when it comes to speaking in tongues.

They pray to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and then they wait because they don’t want to, “Fake it or do it myself,” and that robs them of the gift, because they think God’s going to just take their mouth and begin to make their jaws flap and make sounds come out. No, no, it’s your mouth, your vocal chords, your lips, your tongue. God’s not going to force you to speak in tongues. You have to yield. He gives the utterance. So if you have spoken in tongues after you’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit and the devil says to you, “Well, that’s just you,” you can say, “Well, you’re partly right, devil, and you’re partly wrong. It’s not just me. It is me though. It’s me with the Holy Spirit helping me to speak in tongues.”

On the day of Pentecost, we read in Acts chapter two, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And the understood subject is they began to speak in tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. And so, they did the speaking, the spirit gave them utterance. And that’s been the experience of millions of Christians who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

I think I’ll just do one more Little Lesson just by way of encouraging those of you who have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues. I’ll give you my best advice and that will close the series. Thank you so much for joining me.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

A Review of the Basics about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

A review of the basics about the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

This is going to be the final Little Lesson in our extended series on speaking and other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And I’m so thankful for those of you that have stayed with me during this entire series. We’ve gone through, not everything in the Bible that could be relevant, but we’ve taken a look at the most relevant scriptures, at least in my understanding.

And I’m thankful also for those who have received the blessing of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and who have written to tell me about it. That’s been a super encouragement to me. And if you’re one of those ones who has received and spoken in other tongues, but you haven’t let me know yet, I’d appreciate if you would do that. And I can rejoice with you. I would encourage you then to use your wonderful gift that God has given you every single day in your personal prayer life. Praying not only in your known language, but praying in that unknown language that the Lord has now enabled you to pray in.

And although you don’t know what you’re saying, you can be certain that it’s perfect prayer. And as we read on our previous Little Lesson, Paul actually said, let him who speaks in unknown tongue, pray that he might interpret. So there’s no harm in asking the Lord to give you some understanding, at least whenever it would be His will for you to understand. I don’t think that we have a promise that we could claim that the Lord’s going to allow us to understand everything that we’re saying in tongues.

But there have been times when I certainly sense when I’ve been praying in tongues, particularly when I have a sense of a burden of prayer, where something seems pressing, and I feel like I need to pray and pray something through that there have been times when I’ve sensed that the Lord’s showing me the situation that I’m praying for, or the person. And who’s going to find fault with praying as best you can with the help of the Holy Spirit. So we know in part right now, Paul said, and we prophesy in apart. We see through a glass darkly or a mirror dimly, whatever translation you read. So we’re not going to know everything or understand everything, but thank God for what we do understand. And we understand that this is a wonderful, wonderful gift.

Now, if you have been with us through most of these lessons or all of these lessons, and you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit yet with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues, let me encourage you not to give up. No reason to give up. I would encourage you to go back to the beginning of this series and watch them all again. And perhaps there could be stuff that you’ll catch the second time around that you didn’t catch the first time around. We know the Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And so if you want your faith to grow and become stronger, the way to do that is to focus on and feed upon the word of God.

And so if I was seeking to be baptized in the Holy spirit, I’d be reading all the scriptures that are relevant to that, that gives me confidence, that this is indeed God’s will for me. So I’d read through those five chapters in the book of Acts, Acts 2 and Acts 8, and 9, and 10, and 19, where we have definite instances of people being baptized in the Holy spirit. And in most cases, it mentions that they spoke in tongues.

I’d read what Jesus said in Mark 16, about one of the signs that will follow the believers is that they will speak in tongues. I would read Luke 11:13, where Jesus said, “If you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” And I would read John 4 and John 7 where Jesus made mention, first of all, to the woman at the well of Samaria, that if she were to ask Him, He would give her living water. It would become within her a well of water springing up to eternal life.

And we pretty much identified that as a cryptic way of speaking about being born of the spirit, because so often water represents the spirit. And that is confirmed by John 7, which I’d also encourage you to study, then Jesus’s words when he stood up at the Feast of the Booths and said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink,” and so forth. And he will have rivers of living water flowing from his innermost being. And John says “This he spoke of the spirit, that those who believe in Him were to receive.” And so that’s a promise right there.

You have to just come to Him and to drink. And one of the most basic things that you need to remember, and I’ve emphasized this several times during this series, is that like most things in the Christian life, it’s a combination of the natural and the supernatural. I mean, we all experience miracles every day of our lives. What I’m doing right now, talking to you, is a miracle when you think about it. I’m communicating ideas, words that form in my mind, and that I’m moving my mouth, and using my vocal chords, and my lips, and my tongue to communicate.

And that’s natural. Everybody does it. We do it all of our lives, oftentimes without consciously thinking about how amazing it is, and the fact that it is miraculous. We eat food every day and we take our fork and stick it in the carrots and put those things in our mouth and chew them up. Never thinking about how miraculous it is that we can actually see the carrot, and see the fork, and actually accurately stab it, and get it into our mouth, and then chew it up, and then swallow it. And then the body takes that and takes the nutrients and nourishes every cell of our body.

I mean, it’s phenomenally amazing. But there is a human part that is played in that miracle. We’re, as it were, cooperating with God. So don’t let the devil talk you out of this wonderful experience, because I’ve encouraged you to pray and then to act upon your faith. Peter walked on the water, but that was a miracle. God was holding him up as he walked across the waves there. But goodness gracious, he had to do the walking. He had to get out of the boat. So there’s the divine part, and there’s the human part. And that’s just, you can say that about so many things.

The miracles in the Bible, Jesus fed the 5,000, but the disciples distributed the food and so forth and the paralyzed guy got up and walked, but Jesus said, stand up. So the guy had to make some kind of an effort. He had to do something. Same is true here. If you have faith, and that’s the main ingredient here. You got to be born again, first of all. But then after that, it’s pretty simple. You just have to have faith. Have faith and have enough faith to open your mouth, and begin to speak, because it’s in the Bible, just like you do anything else that God said you could do, you’d act upon your faith.

If you were Peter in the boat and Jesus was out on the water and said, “Come,” would you just stand there and say, “Well, I don’t want to just do this myself. I want this all to be the Lord and him to get all the glory. I don’t want to just fake it here. And so I’ll just stand here and wait for myself to be supernaturally just lifted out and for God to grab my legs, and make them.” No, you have to do your part, and God will do his part. And once you’ve spoken in tongues one time, then this all makes perfect sense because you’re very much aware that when you speak in tongues, it’s because you decide to speak in tongues from then on.

I mean, I speak in tongues every single day in my prayer life, at least. But in other times, throughout the day as well. And every time I do it, it’s me, I started, I stop it, but the Holy spirit gives me the utterance. So don’t let the devil talk you out of it, because of that, that’s really, I would say that’s the primary stumbling block that I have observed over the years, more than anything else, is Christians are persuaded by the word of God, but they just fail to act upon their faith, with the kind of faith that acts. And if you’re praying and hoping that you’ll be baptized in the Holy spirit is being done. It’s not enough. You got to get beyond hope.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Hope always leaves room for the possibility that what you want, you may not get. Faith is confident assurance. It doesn’t take no for an answer. It forges ahead and says, “God cannot lie, and so this is how it’s going to be. I’m going to pray, and I’m going to get up from my place of prayer. And I will have spoken in tongues, because I’m going to act on my faith, and begin to speak with the help of the Holy spirit give me the utterance.” All right.

So that should be enough. I’ve basically done the best job I can do in this series to help you be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So I just wanted to kind of review the fundamental basics in this final video in this series. Again, don’t forget to let us know. We want to hear the good news about your being clothed with power from high. And I should say, and I’d be remiss not to say this, and I almost didn’t say it, but the speaking in tongues part is great, but there’s much, much more to it than that. Much more to it than that.

The main purpose of being clothed with the power is to be a more effective witness for the Lord. But even that is just part of the overall package. So blessings, blessings, blessings, blessings. “If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,” Jesus said, “how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” I think that means that the greatest gift that God has for his children, now the greatest gift for the world is salvation, and eternal life, forgiveness of sins. But the greatest gift that God has for his children is the Holy Spirit.

And if you don’t agree with me now, I think eventually everyone will agree with that.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post “Do All Speak In Tongues?” What Did Paul Mean By That Rhetorical Question? appeared first on David Servant.

What is speaking in other tongues? Is it biblical? Is it for today? Should you speak in tongues? Learn more in this Little Lessons series with Bible teacher David Servant!

What Is Speaking in Other Tongues? (Part 1

What is speaking in other tongues?

We’re going to begin a discussion today about a very biblical topic, the topic of speaking in other tongues, and it’s sad that it’s a bit controversial within the body of Christ, within the larger church world. It really shouldn’t be because it’s certainly a biblical subject. Jesus talked about the believers speaking in tongues and throughout the Book of Acts on a number of occasions, we read about believers speaking in other tongues, and Paul devotes a couple of chapters that have a lot to say about speaking in tongues in his first letter to the Corinthians. And so, it’s not like it’s a obscure subject in the New Testament. It’s there and you can’t escape it.

It fills a predominant place in the early chapters of the Book of Acts and we’re going to take a look at some of those passages when all of the apostles with the exception, of course, Judas, spoke in other tongues. And not only them, but scores of other believers who are present on the day of Pentecost. I think there was about 120 altogether, the Bible says, “and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them,” and they all spoke in other tongues. And so, when modern “theologians”, and I’m going to put quotation marks on either side of that word, “theologian” and modern “ministers”. And I think I’ve put some quotation marks around their names as well, belittle or mock, make fun of, or speak disparagingly of speaking in tongues, you’re making fun of Peter and John and James and Matthew, all the writers, authors of the New Testament. You’re making fun of those guys because they spoke in tongues, so nobody should making fun of speaking in tongues. All right, whether you speak in tongues or not.

All right. And I’m going to ask for your grace and your open-mindedness, because this is a topic that does sometimes ignite some negative passion. And people get upset about it and they talk about the haves and the have nots and how the Christians who speak in tongues think they’re superior to those who don’t speak in tongues and all this kind of stuff that really is just peripheral. And really not worth even talking about because we have the Bible and Christians, that’s our book. That’s the book where we’re all saying, “We believe this. We’re a Bible believing church. We’re a Bible believing denomination, but we’re opposed to anyone who speaks in other tongues.” Well then, that’s kind of a contradiction because you say you’re a Bible believing church, but you’re opposed to anyone who speaks in tongues, so you’re opposed to all the guys who wrote the New Testament that you claim that you believe. Okay, so, it is sad. It is sad, but I’m believing better things for you just because you’re watching this.

The mockers and so forth, they won’t even have watched it, or if they do, they’re taking notes so they can refute it and so forth and God bless them. It’s very clear from the Bible, nobody can refute this, that there’s a connection between speaking in tongues and the Holy spirit. And in fact, even more specific than that, there’s a clear connection between speaking in tongues and Christians initially being baptized or filled with the Holy spirit. Those two, you find those two things together. It’s a component of the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of believers.

And so, any professing believers says, “I don’t want the Holy Spirit working in my life.” Well, how could you be a Christian if you don’t want the Holy Spirit working in your life? That’s what being a Christian is, is the Holy Spirit working in your life. We should all want as much of the Holy Spirit as we can possibly get. And they’ll be taking notes and putting comments to refute what I just said. Because it’s, “Oh, you’re treating the Holy Spirit like it’s some kind of quantitative thing.” The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He, not it, is God. He is a person, but the Bible describes the Holy Spirit in quantitative terms and in fluid terms to help us to understand his working. And again, of course, there’s tons of mystery to this. We’re never going to totally grasp it with our peanut brains, but we can read the Bible.

And the Bible says, “God poured out his spirit.” That’s quantitative, isn’t it. That’s using language of fluidity and liquid poured out. And when the Bible says, “People were filled with the Holy spirit,” that’s quantitative, isn’t it? They were filled. They were empty, but they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Do I understand all that? No. Nobody does, Jesus one time spoke about how those who believe in him, out of their inner most being would flow rivers of living water. And then, John in his commentary, I think this is John chapter seven. He said, “This he spoke of the Spirit who those who believe in were to receive.” So, Jesus himself spoke of the Holy Spirit in using fluid, liquid verbiage. And so, out of their inner most being self, flow rivers of living water. Flowing. All right. And this John said he spoke of the spirit. So, how that all works, I don’t understand nobody does, but this is all biblical.

All right. So, if you’ve been born again, the Holy Spirit’s already been working in your life. If you’re truly born again, the Holy Spirit drew you to Christ, convicted you of your sin, helped you in your faith and your genuine repentance. Okay. Holy Spirit is active, beginning, from start to finish. And the Bible talks about being born of the Spirit. That’s another way of talking about the new birth, regeneration. When our spirit man, the person who lives on the inside of this body, is regenerated, revitalized, goes from a state of spiritual death, to a state of spiritual life, and the Holy Spirit comes to in dwell you at that moment. So, if you’re a believer in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit living in you. And if you don’t have the Holy Spirit living in you, you, you don’t belong to Christ. Paul said that in Romans, chapter eight, I believe. If you don’t have the spirit of Christ, you don’t belong to Him. So, everyone who’s truly believed in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is in them.

But, it’s very clear from scripture that there are subsequent experiences beyond just the new birth that involve the Holy Spirit. Bible speaks about being baptized in the Holy Spirit filled with the spirit and so on and so forth. Okay. So, this is just the introduction, but speaking in tongues in the Bible is connected with the Holy Spirit. And so, anybody who is in favor of the work of the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t be opposed to speaking in other tongues and exploring what the Bible has to say about it. And that’s what we’re going to do in our next few little lessons.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

What Is Speaking in Other Tongues? (Part 2)

What is speaking in other tongues? Part two.

On our last Little Lesson, we began to talk about what the Bible says about speaking in other tongues. And if you didn’t see that video, please stop wherever you’re at right now and go back and view that one, because we’re going to build Little Lesson by Little Lesson and cover a lot of ground. This is going to be a significant series of Little Lessons, and you don’t want to miss a single one if you’re interested in this subject of speaking in other tongues, a thoroughly biblical subject, and an experience that has been enjoyed and experienced by literally millions, and tens of millions, of Christians currently living on the earth. Okay? And I say that to kind of pique your interest a little bit to think, “Well, maybe this is something that I could experience.” And who wouldn’t want to experience anything that’s biblical and that God has for His children? Who wouldn’t? You’d have to be out of your mind.

It’s interesting that the folks who fight the speaking in tongues … Those of us who are trying to help people to understand more about it and actually promote the idea that it’s not just something for the apostolic age, but it’s something for today, those that are vocally opposed to it, the preachers and the ministers and the theologians, if you can get them in an unguarded moment and ask them, “Have you ever prayed to speak in tongues?” And 95% of them will say, “Yes.” It shows they desired it. They desired to experience something supernatural like speaking in other tongues, speaking in a language that they had never learned whereby they could pray and praise God and intercede, but it didn’t happen to them. And so then they make the conclusion, well, it’s not for today, or it’s not for every believer, or they’ll find Bible verses to support their positions. And we’ll look at all those Bible verses that they use to support their positions and look at them in the light of the entire Bible, not just yanking verses out of their context.

So what is speaking in tongues? Speaking in tongues is speaking in a unknown language, a language that you haven’t learned or studied. It’s supernatural, and I’m not making this up. On the day of Pentecost when the original apostles and about a hundred other believers all spoke in tongues, they were speaking all kinds of different languages, praising God in languages that they never learned. And people who were in Jerusalem for that feast from all over the Mediterranean world, rushed together and heard all of these 120 or so believers speaking in their languages, and they were astounded by it. So, that’s what speaking in tongues is. It’s speaking in a language by the power of the Holy Spirit that you didn’t learn. The Holy Spirit supernaturally gives you the utterance.

And I’m one of those tens of millions of Christians who experienced speaking in tongues. It happened to me back in 1976, and I would venture to say that hardly a day has gone by since then when I haven’t spoken in other tongues during my private prayer life, or just when I’m out walking or driving or something. It’s a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful gift that anyone who’s experienced it, and who’s a Christian, of course, you can only experience it if you are a Christian, they would want to share it, like I’m doing right now. They want other Christians to know about it and to receive that blessing because it’s such a huge, huge blessing.

All right, so let’s start by looking at the Bible. Let’s look at what Jesus said. It is recorded in the last chapter of Mark’s gospel that Jesus mentioned speaking in other tongues. And I’m going to, first of all, read you a very familiar verse that you’ve probably heard quoted Lord knows how many times in your Christian life, if you’ve been a Christian for very long. This is Mark 16 and verse number 15, “He,” that’s Jesus, “said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.'” You never hear that those verses are somehow controversial, do you? No, you don’t. Those are hallmark verses of evangelicals and those who … anyone who believes the Bible. You don’t have to be an evangelical to believe the Bible. “Go into all the word, preach the …” You got to believe. You got to be baptized if you’re going to be saved, and if you don’t believe you’re, you’re condemned.

Now, the very next verse, the very next verse fits right into this one, because he’s talking about, if you believe, you’ll be saved. If you don’t believe, you’ll be condemned. And the very next verse, he says, “These signs will accompany those who have believed.” And so here’s what to look for if you’re looking for the believers, according to the head of the church, Jesus Christ. God in the flesh spoke these words.

Now, because of what he said, there are theologians who try to say, “Well, there are some manuscripts that don’t contain,” because remember, nobody has the original gospel of Mark. We just have copies, and copies of copies, and translations that go back a long time. But in some of those ancient manuscripts, you can’t find the next verse. But in lots of them, you can, and that’s why it’s included in every Bible. If you’ve got a Bible, these verses are in here. Now they might have a little asterisk or a little number of saying, “Some of the older manuscripts don’t contain these verses,” but there’ll be there.

“And these signs,” Jesus said, “will accompany those who have believed.” Here goes. “In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues.” Well, there it is. There it is. Jesus, the head of the church, the one who … All Christians say, “We believe in him that he’s the son of God and he never lies, and he died for our sins and he’s coming again. And he’s the great judge of the living and dead, and one day he’ll be ruling and reigning.” That person said, “One of the signs that will follow believers is that they will speak in new tongues.” So I’d say it’s worth our examination, wouldn’t you?

Now, every believer has the authority to cast out demons in Jesus’s name, right? It’s not something that’s just unique to a few. He said, “They will pick up serpents. And if they drink any deadly poison, it won’t hurt them. And they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” Okay. So there’s five signs.

Now, two of them, the picking up the serpents, and if they drink a deadly poison, we don’t find examples of those in the New Testament. We do find believers casting out demons. We do find them speaking in tongues in the Book of Acts. Now, we do find people being healed as hands are laid upon them. In fact, James wrote in his general epistle and he said, “Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them anoint him with oil.” That’s a little different version of laying on of hands, but still a point of contact and touch. And Jesus said, “They’ll lay hands on the sick and they’ll recover,” so every believer, this is a sign that can follow them.

Now, the picking up serpents, we don’t have any example of the believers having snake handling services in the Book of Acts, because that would be testing God, right, and people that do that get bitten sometimes and they die sometimes and it’s nonsense. But we do find near the end of the Book of Acts, Paul, one time being bitten by a poisonous, deadly viper on the Island of Malta, and he just shakes it off in the fire and he suffers no harm. So that’s probably more of what the Lord was talking about there, not having snake handling services, but if, just like in the next thing he says, “if they drank any deadly poison,” not that we’re drinking strychnine to prove that we have faith, but if someone tries to poison us …

I think that the general gist of those things is that these people are going to be supernaturally protected from harm that others try to inflict upon them. We do see that in the Book of Acts. God delivers people. Now, not every time does He deliver people, but many times He delivers His people, so for what it’s worth. But we’re talking in this Little Lesson series about speaking in other tongues, so I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about the other five signs that are, Jesus said, would follow believers. It’s just it’s undeniable that Jesus said, “believers.” If you’re looking for believers, look for the people who … one of the five things you should look for, is there speaking in other tongues?

Okay, so it’s biblical. Don’t get mad at me. I’m just reading from the Bible, okay? Don’t get mad at me. I love you. That’s why I’m talking about this because I want to see you blessed, and I want to see God’s kingdom expand. And we all know, everybody agrees about this, that the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us to expand the kingdom. Right? Right. You know, we should all want, myself included, and I do want more of the Holy Spirit’s work in us and through us, and I’m interested in any way possible that I could get more of the Holy Spirit.

Okay. We’re out of time for today. Thank you so very much for joining. We’re going to talk about this more on the next Little Lesson, so don’t miss it. And if you are a Christian, but you don’t speak in tongues, if you’re spiritually hungry, I’m going to help you. And you’re going to experience a miracle, a miracle that’s going to be ongoing every day for the rest of your life. It’s wonderful. It’s absolutely wonderful, and I so much want you to be blessed in that regard, so don’t get mad at me. Open your heart, open your mind. I’m not trying to win a theological argument. I’m trying to get you blessed and more fruitful in whatever God has for you to do, and the Holy Spirit will help you more.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

What does speaking in tongues sound like?

What does speaking in other tongues sound like?

In our previous two little lessons, we started talking about the biblical topic of speaking in other tongues, a very biblical topic. Jesus talked about it. Paul talked about it in one of his epistles. It’s all through the Book of Acts, and so something worth our study. We’ve already begun to look at this in our previous two little lessons so if you just happened upon this little lesson, you really would be better off if you see the first two, because we’re building on a foundation here, okay. So you can go ahead and watch this. I can’t stop you; can’t reach to that camera and make you do anything, but I’m just telling you, because I love you. And I want you to experience God’s best and we’ve laid a foundation.

So now, I want to talk about today. What speaking in tongues sounds like. Well, speaking in tongues … speaking in other tongues in the Bible is the Holy Spirit given ability to speak in a language and I’ll just keep it that. Speak a language so it could be praying, speaking to God in a language you’ve never learned, or there’s another use of tongues according to scripture and we’ll study this a little bit down the road, where it’s not so much prayer as it is more like prophecy, where God is speaking through an individual in tongues and it’s interpreted. Okay. So that’s down the road, hang in there. But speaking in tongues, it’s supernatural. When Theologians say that speaking in tongues, that’s like our great professors who studied Latin and learned Hebrew and Greek.

If you’re listening to those guys, just turn the channel. They don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. In the Bible, the people that spoke in tongues, it wasn’t people that studied Latin and Hebrew and professors at seminaries; linguists. No, no. On the day of Pentecost, all the apostles and about 120 people spoke in other tongues. And then same thing happened other places in the Book of Acts, right? And it didn’t say on the day of Pentecost, they all went to college for four years and learned how to speak Hebrew, no. They all suddenly started speaking in languages they had never learned. They didn’t know what they were saying, but others who rushed to the place where they were the upper room, heard them speaking in their languages and they realized that these men and women were praising God. And speaking of his mighty deeds, that’s biblical speaking in tongues.

So what does speaking in tongues sound like? Well, it sounds like someone’s speaking a language. If you don’t understand English, for example, if you’re watching this right now, you haven’t got a clue what I’m saying, and I’m speaking in a language that you don’t understand, you can just tell it’s a language, but you don’t know what I’m saying. Right now, you don’t know what I’m … you don’t know that I’m saying that you don’t know what I’m saying. So speaking tongues is just people speaking in another language.

Now, how many languages are there in the world? Well, there’s the major languages, we all know that. English is the most broadly spoken language in the world, but I think more people speak Chinese than English because there’s so many Chinese people. One out of every five people in the world is Chinese.

And then of course there are multiple languages that are widespread. Spanish spoken throughout Latin America. And then you have a Russian of course, spoken throughout Russia and all the former Soviet Union countries. And you’ve just got so many other languages. I mean, there are literally thousands of languages in the world today, but some of them are spoken by just a very small number of people. And they’re actually many cases dying languages. So it’s really interesting, the whole study of linguistics.

Speaking tongues might not only be speaking in an unknown language that’s on the earth today. It could be speaking in a human language of the past because there are dead languages and Paul in his famous passage in 1 Corinthians 13 said, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,” he said. So it’s within the realm of possibilities that speaking in tongues could include angelic languages.

All right. So once you have spoken in tongues, and again, this is only for Christians. You have to be a born again believer in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit has to empower you; give you that ability. You just can’t do it yourself. Once you’ve done it once, then you can do it any time thereafter and you can use it as a regular part of your prayer life as supernatural, Holy Spirit, given prayer. And I absolutely love it. I spend time just about every morning, praying in other tongues and most the time I do not know what I’m saying.

All right. So let me just give an example just in case you’ve never heard anyone speak in tongues and I’m going to speak in tongues and you can listen along and see what you think, okay? (speaking in tongues)

Now, you notice that I started when I wanted to, and I stopped when I wanted to. That’s thoroughly biblical, not in this little lesson, but in a future little lesson in this series, I’ll show you in the Bible where that’s thoroughly biblical. The apostle Paul made it very clear that when he spoke in tongues, it was up to him. He started when he wanted to, he stopped when he wanted just like you do in your known language. You probably didn’t understand anything I said, but you probably recognize that, “Oh, that sounds like a pretty authentic language.” Some people say, “Well, you’re just making that up.” Well, I don’t think so. I don’t think so.

If I was going to make up a language, I think the best I could do would be ooga, booga, wooga, tooga, something like that, but that’s not really a convincing language. I just made that up. But what I was doing previously for that 30 or 45 seconds or so, that was speaking in other tongues. I don’t know what I said. The utterance did not come out of my head. It came out of … Bible talks about the utterance comes out of your spirit and we can pray with our minds, in my case that’d be English because I only speak English, but we can also pray with the spirit. What I just did … And I might also add that I don’t know what language that was.

And since 1976, when I first spoke in tongues, I’ve spoken in many different languages, not the one you just heard. I’ve spoken in actually in Japanese three times to the degree that people who were with me in prayer meetings while I was praying in that language, heard me speak Japanese and told me what I said in Japanese. Okay. That’s supernatural. I said one time in Japanese, “You are so good.” See, I was praising God. One time I said in Japanese, “Thank you very much.” I don’t know how to say either one of those. Right now, if someone held a gun to my head and said, say “You are so good, thank you very much” in Japanese, I would have to say, “Shoot me.” But I have said those things in Japanese. One time, I said in Japanese, according to the person who understood some Japanese who heard me praying, “Come quickly, come quickly. I am waiting.” Well, that’s pretty scriptural, right? Praying for Jesus to come quickly. I’m waiting for Jesus.

This is thirdly biblical. And this is not just something for a minority of Christians or some kind of elite Christian or some kind of people that reach some kind of spiritual status with God. No sir, no ma’am, this is a gift. And if you’ll stick with me over the next little lessons, I’m going to do my best to look at the scripture and explain it in light of what I know and what I’ve experienced and so forth. And I’ll tell you how you can receive this gift and experience the blessing of it too. And your language is not going to be the same language that I got. God’s got a lot of languages.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

What is the connection between Speaking in Tongues and the Holy Spirit?

What is the connection between speaking in tongues and the Holy Spirit?

I hope you’ve also seen the three previous Little Lessons because we started talking about speaking in other tongues, a very biblical subject. If you are just jumping in here in the middle, well, I just advise you to stop where you’re at and try to find the other three videos that precede this one, and watch those first, because we’re building Little Lesson by Little Lesson.

So I want to talk about the connection between speaking in tongues and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He, not it, is God, and who wouldn’t want to get closer to the Holy Spirit? Anyone who’s a Christian, they’ve already experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in being born again. The new birth, being regenerated, born of the Spirit, Jesus said. That’s the work of the Spirit, and anyone who has believed in Jesus, they’ve been born of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit indwells them.

But that’s not the only experience that the Lord wants us to enjoy. There are subsequent in fillings or baptisms in the Holy Spirit that we can read about in the book of Acts. And Paul wrote to the Ephesians and he said, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Well, if they already were filled, he wouldn’t have ever said to them be filled. And in fact, in the Greek, the verb tense is something that we really don’t have in English. It says something more equivalent to be being filled with the Holy Spirit. And so it just implies an ongoing, never ending process of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And he goes on to say speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Those are ways that we get subsequent fillings of the Spirit by ministering to the Lord in worship and prayer. And he inhabits the praises of his people. And that’s an indication that we’re being filled with the Holy Spirit, when you enter into God’s presence and worship and praise him and sing out hymns, and those spontaneous songs that come forth from your heart, true expressions of love for God, worshiping him in spirit and in truth. As Jesus said, you get some filling of the Holy Spirit with that. And everyone who’s experienced that knows what I’m talking about. All right.

So what’s the connection between the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues? Well, it’s fairly safe to say, although we have to have some caution, that speaking in tongues is one of the initial evidences of being filled or could say being baptized in the Holy Spirit. And we’re going to look at some scriptures today and in future lessons that will bear that out.

But let’s go to the Bible. What do you say? And again, my motivation is pure love for you. So if you’re a theologian who’s watching this and you’re just getting hot around the ears and you just can’t wait to get to your class so you can refute it in front of your seminarians, just look at yourself in the mirror and say you’re in need of another dip, because why get mad over the Bible, over something that is thoroughly biblical and get angry at someone like me, who’s trying to help you experience all that God has for you. So don’t get mad.

So we jump out of the gospels into the book of Acts and Luke who wrote the gospel of Luke, wrote the book of Acts. And he writes to this guy named Theophilus, which a lot of folks think is just representative of any hungry soul. The name Theophilus, Theo, God, Philo, phylo, whatever, love. So it means lover of God. And Luke writes the first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach. The implication is that Jesus… now I’m going to talk about the things that Jesus continued to do and teach through his church by the power of the Holy Spirit, until the day when he was taken up into heaven after he had, by the Holy Spirit, given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen.

So Jesus is the head of the church. He doesn’t give suggestions. He doesn’t really ask us to do anything. He gives orders. He gives commandments. It always irks me when I hear preachers say that Jesus is asking us to… no, no, no, Jesus doesn’t ask anyone to do anything. He commands them. He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And he gave orders, Luke wrote, to the apostles, and listen to the order that he gave him and see if it has any application to you or application to the church, in general.

To these he presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Wouldn’t you like to know everything that Jesus said during those 40 days? I sure would. But Luke was led by the Holy Spirit, really to highlight only one thing basically, we could say, that Jesus said during those 40 days. And so no doubt, Luke highlighted what he felt was supremely important, above all else, of all the orders, of all the revelation, of all the instruction, of all the information that Jesus imparted during those times, those many times that he presented himself alive to his apostles over those 40 days. Luke thought here’s one thing that’s more important than anything else.

Gathering them together, Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem. So this is a commandment. He’s not asking. He’s commanding. Don’t leave Jerusalem until. So there will be a time you should leave. But until that time, stay in Jerusalem. He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, which he said, you heard of from me. This is something I’ve already talked to you about, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.

And that wasn’t an exaggeration. It was just a few days later. He spoke to them over a period of 40 days. And the day of Pentecost would have come 50 days or so after Passover. So maybe just 6 to 10 days from then. But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So not many days from now.

And, of course, he told them that when they received the Holy spirit, that they would then be his witnesses. So it was very clear. The Holy Spirit was going to help them to do the job that he wanted them to do. And that was to spread the gospel. For anyone today to think that we don’t need the Holy Spirit, as much as those guys needed the Holy Spirit to do what God wants us to do, you’d have to be very foolish to think something that silly. To think that, well, these guys needed the Holy Spirit, baptism, but we don’t. You can’t be serious. That would be prideful.

John, Peter, James, Matthew, they needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but we don’t know. No, no. Jesus said this is so important. Luke said this was the most important thing that Jesus said to them. Don’t leave Jerusalem until you’ve been baptized with the Holy Spirit.

So we’re out of time and we’ll have to pick up right here next time, but it just gets better and better and better. Loving this. And I hope you’ll stick with me because there are going to be a lot of you watching who right now, you’re a Christian, you’re hungry for more of the Holy Spirit. And you’re going to receive a blessing from the Holy Spirit and you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and you’ll have the accompanying sign of speaking in a language you’ve never learned. Something you can use every day in your personal prayer life.

Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

What does Speaking in Tongues have to do with Getting the Gospel to the Whole World?

What does speaking in tongues have to do with getting the gospel to the whole world?

This will be the fifth in this series. And I hope so much that you’ve already viewed the first four because we are building on a foundation.

And we left off in our last little lesson, we were there in the first chapter of Acts, reading Jesus’s orders to the apostles. Specifically, he appeared to them over a period of 40 days. After his resurrection, he appeared to them many times, according to Luke, speaking to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. And I would have loved to heard all that Jesus shared with the apostles. But Luke was led by the Spirit to highlight just one major thing that Jesus conveyed to them during those 40 days. And that was, he had commanded them not to leave Jerusalem. But to wait. And wait for what? To wait to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

And, of course, they wondered, what’s going to happen out of that. Jesus, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Because they knew enough about the prophecies in the Old Testament, to know that one day God was going to restore Israel to a place of prominence in the world. And Jesus himself will be ruling and reigning over the entire world from Jerusalem. And it’s not hard to find that in the prophets. So they’re thinking that’s the next thing. But Jesus, of course said, hey, it’s not for you to know the times or the epochs which my Father has fixed by His authority. But He said, “you will receive power,” He said, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;” so that was the key. That was what Jesus felt was most important.

You need power and you’re going to receive power from the Holy Spirit, and the consequence of receiving that power. Because what would that power do? Will you be able to leap over tall buildings and lift boulders? No, that’s not physical power, but something in the spiritual realm. And He said, I’m reading from Acts 1:8, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

And so, no theologian, no preacher or teacher could argue with this. No Christian could argue this. This is as plain and simple, as clear as could be. Jesus didn’t think that any of his apostles, whom he had personally trained for three-and-a-half years were ready for the task set before them. His will, for them to take the gospel first to Jerusalem, then to Judea and Samaria, working North and South, as it were. And then, to the uttermost, the most remote places in the world. You have got to be endued with power from on high. You need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And I’m just quoting him, verbatim, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” All contained there in the first chapter of Acts. So it’s just as simple as it can be.

And can we admit, isn’t that really a problem that the modern church has? So little power, power of the Holy Spirit. If you take away the work of the Holy Spirit from the book of Acts, you’re left with virtually nothing. In fact, if you took away the power of the Holy Spirit, the book of Acts, you and I wouldn’t even be Christians. We would have never heard the gospel. Because Christianity would have died after a very short time, persecuted out of existence and forgotten in the dust of history. But because of the Holy Spirit’s power, working through those early apostles, and the gifts of the Spirit that were bestowed upon them, worked through them, the miracles, the signs, the wonders, the casting out of demons, and healings, and all these things that we read about in book of Acts, that’s what propelled the church on to expansion and success. And what got the attention of people to listen to the gospel and take the message seriously. And that’s what’s missing in so many sectors of Christianity today.

And the answer is the Holy Spirit. He’s the one who gives the gifts. He’s the one that empowers. Right? Right. And so, when large segments of the church are opposed to anything beyond just being born again, being saved… Do you think that the apostles were saved at this point in time? Do you think that if they would have died, they would have gone to heaven? I think we can be reasonably certain that they knew the Lord. They walked with Jesus for three-and-a-half-years. He told them that they were saved and assured them that they knew him. So if they would have died, they would have gone to heaven. They were saved. But Jesus said, there’s something else that you need, you need to be clothed with the Holy Spirit’s power here. That’s what you need.

That’s the most important thing at this juncture in divine history. So we heed that message. And I asked at the beginning of this little lesson, well, what does speaking in tongues have to do with getting the gospel to the whole world? Well, what Jesus promised came to pass, they waited in Jerusalem. They didn’t leave Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell upon that place, where they all were. And they all began speaking in other tongues. That was the initial sign of the fact that they had been clothed with power from on high.

And interestingly enough, that sign of speaking in tongues is so interesting. Because what’s the purpose of this power? It’s to take the gospel to every tribe, every tongue. Take it to the remotest parts of the earth. And I’m going to clothe you with power. And the initial sign that you’re going to experience is, all of you, 120 of you, are going to be speaking in various languages of people all over the Mediterranean world, and I guess even beyond. And that’s what happened on the day of Pentecost. They’re all speaking these languages of the mighty deeds of God, God. And again, that was just the evidence, an initial sign. But the point of the whole thing was, is now you’re clothed with the power that you need to fulfill what I want you to do, in taking the gospel to the whole world.

So the big thing really isn’t speaking in tongues. The biggest thing is being baptized in the Holy Spirit and being clothed with his power. But tongues accompanies that. And nothing’s changed, nothing’s changed. And speaking in tongues has existed from that point onward, yes. The church as a whole has waned and ebbed and flowed. But there’s always been this remnant that seeks God. And I happen to be living in a city, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where back in… I guess it was the 1970s, when some people began seeking God at a Catholic University or Duquesne University. And several of those people, I don’t even know if they were just regular laypeople or priests, were baptized in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues. And that was the beginning of what was called the charismatic renewal. It went, ultimately, all of the world. And there’s fruit from it to this day.

And people say, well, those charismatics, they’re a bunch of flakes. Well, you’re right, to some degree, some of the flakiness people within the church world are charismatics. Because they’ve abandoned the word of God for their experiences. And they don’t have integrity. They’re money grabbers and they’re phoneys. But that doesn’t discount what we’re reading in the Bible right now. And the real experience. Amen.

So we’ll read more in Acts on our next lesson because we’re out of time. But we’re going to read about that experience on the day of Pentecost. And then, we’ll read subsequent experience. Because the book of Acts, we find more than one time when new believers, who are young believers, were baptized in the Holy Spirit or filled with Holy Spirit. And they spoke in tongues and nothing’s changed. I’m telling you nothing has changed. And there are millions and tens of millions of Christians around the world who have had that exact same experience. I’m one of them. You could be one of them. The only thing that stands in your way is, what’s going on up here. And that’s what I’m trying to show you, what the word of God actually says. You just need to believe it.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

Where do Pentecostals get their name from?

From where did the Pentecostals get their name? Hi, and welcome to today’s Little Lesson. Thank you very much for joining once again. We are currently in a series of lessons all about speaking in other tongues. And I covered five lessons so far. This will be the sixth. And I ask at the beginning of this Little Lesson, where did the Pentecostals get their name? Well, if you didn’t know the answer to that, we’re about to find out the answer today as we read in Acts chapter two about the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was sent to fall on the apostles as well as scores of other early believers as they were waiting for him to come according to the promise of Jesus Christ.

And that’s where the Pentecostals got their name. Because on the day of Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit fell on those early disciples and we could say in one sense that the church was born. And what characterizes the Pentecostals as being distinct amongst everyone else in the body of Christ who are non-Pentecostals, is that the Pentecostals would hold to the idea, the biblical idea, that there’s an experience with the Holy Spirit that is subsequent to being born again, called either being baptized in the Holy Spirit or being filled with the Holy Spirit. And both of those phrases are biblical phrases.

And it was on that Pentecostal day when everybody in the early church was a Pentecostal because they were all speaking in tongues. And if you would have asked any of them that day, on the day of Pentecost, any of those 120 people, “Is there an experience that is subsequent to salvation?” they would have said, “Absolutely, yes. We’ve just experienced it. We’re all speaking in other tongues of the mighty deeds of God.”

Now some theologians, of course, will say, “Well, that was a one-time experience just to mark the beginning of the church. And we shouldn’t expect that afterwards.” Well, that’s an interesting thought, but it doesn’t hold any water because you have the same thing happening in other places in the book of Acts. And again, theologians are always trying to come up with reasons why you and I shouldn’t expect God to do for us what he did for the apostles, bless their hearts. These guys who are peddling unbelief and robbing people of blessing and robbing the whole world of blessing, really. Because, clearly, this event is what catalyzed the church to then explode in the spreading of the gospel all over the world.

And the Pentecostal movement, which began in California on Azusa Street in the early 1900s, had a similar effect. It spread all over the world. And you can find Pentecostals everywhere these days. I mean, it just birthed missionaries and apostles, and they went everywhere. And it’s still happening today, still happening today, because those Pentecostals continue to preach the gospel. And then after people are born again, they lay hands upon them and pray that the Holy Spirit would come upon them. And they expect that those people will have the confirming evidence of speaking in tongues. And millions, tens of millions of people have had that experience. And not just in Africa and Asia. Here in the United States. I don’t know if there has been millions, but goodness, you take the Pentecostal dominations that would hold to this. Like for example, the Assemblies of God, or the Foursquare denomination, or all the charismatic churches that are kind of like a subbranch of Pentecostalism.

And so when people say to me that speaking in tongues ceased with the apostles, I always tell them, “You got to me a little bit too late.” Because I spoke in tongues for the first time in 1976 when some Pentecostals laid their hands upon me and prayed for me. And I found myself speaking a million miles a minute in some Asian language. I thought at the time it was Vietnamese because I had heard some Vietnamese people talking and chattering one time and what I was saying sounded a lot like what they were saying, but I didn’t know for sure.

And so speaking in tongues has not ceased. There are millions of people, Christian believers, who would tell you it’s not ceased. We’re experiencing the exact same thing they experienced in the book of Acts. Now, but of course, if you believe those theologians instead of believing the Bible, well, you’ll be robbed of the blessing because you have to have faith. That’s very obvious. You have to believe. The disciples believed Jesus. So they waited in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. And at Pentecost, the Pentecostals were born.

So let’s get back to our specific biblical study of Acts chapter two. So they’re waiting, as Jesus commanded them, for power from the Holy Spirit. And then they’re going to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to those parts of the earth. So Acts chapter two, verse number one. “When the day of Pentecost had come…” That was the Jewish feast of Pentecost, seven weeks after Passover, “… they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise, like a violent rushing wind. And it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as a fire, distributing themselves. And they rested on each one of them.” So this was super-duper natural. “And they were all…” Here’s the phrase, “…filled with the Holy Spirit…” And then what’s the next thing? “… and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

So if you’re opposed to speaking in tongues, then you’re opposed to what we just read here in the book of Acts. You say, “Well, I’m not opposed to the book of Acts. I’m just opposed to do it today.” On what basis? On what basis are you opposed today? Because tens of millions of Christians have experienced this. How are you going to explain that? You think they’re all just making it up? You think like some people say they’re all demon possessed? Well, you better be very, very careful when you start attributing the work of the Holy Spirit, people supernaturally praising God in other languages, and you’re saying that’s the work of the devil. You’re borderline blasphemy of the Holy Spirit when your heart is that hard. I pray that your heart is not that hard. But there have been some whose hearts are that hard. They the attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. Not a good idea.

I have spoken in Japanese on three occasions in tongues. Didn’t know what I was saying. Other people translated it who understood some Japanese. And in every case, I was thanking or praising God. And you’re going to say that’s the devil in me? I’m possessed by a demon? Now, I’ve experienced exactly what they experienced. Speaking in tongues. I’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit and I began to speak in tongues. I spoke in tongues. I spoke in tongues. See, I did the speaking, using my mouth, and it’s by my volition, but the Holy Spirit gives the utterance, but I do the speaking. And I’ll stop and pause right there. And I want to talk about this more in our next Little Lesson. But that’s a key element in understanding what’s important about being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

When we pray for people, I have prayed for hundreds and hundreds of people over the years and watched them be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues. Hundreds, maybe more than a thousand. But I haven’t been actually counting with a clicker. And the only thing that hinders them, sometimes, temporarily, is if they wait for the Holy Spirit to force them by uncontrollably… They can’t control it. They think uncontrollably the Holy Spirit’s going to force me, make my mouth move, make my tongue move, use my vocal chords, and I will not be able to control it because it will be the Holy Spirit. And that’s a stumbling block because that’s what people mistakenly think. But that’s not biblical at all. It’s not biblical at all here in Acts. And we’ll read later on in First Corinthians 14, it’s not biblical at all.

You have a part to play in speaking in tongues. You are the one who does the speaking. It’s your mouth, your lips, your tongue, your vocal chords, and your willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit. And as soon as we can get people to see that, that you shouldn’t be waiting around for the Holy Spirit to force you to speak in tongues, you need to have faith, believing that you receive when you pray. That’s what Christ said. Whatever you desire, you desire to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, believe you receive. When? When you feel it? No. Believe you receive when you pray. So you pray and you ask God. And then you have faith. And by faith, you begin to speak. And as you speak, the Holy Spirit gives you the utterance. He provides the language. He provides the language. But you have to be the one who speaks.

And don’t let that hinder you. Many times, I’ve found if I can just get people to see that, then poof, like a light bulb goes off in their mind. They go, “Oh my goodness. I’ve been waiting around for the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit’s been waiting around for me.” Which I think is probably true on a lot of levels for us followers of Jesus who are stumbling along so many times. You must speak. And so if you prayed, and most everyone who is against what I’m saying has prayed, and they’ve asked God. They’ll say something like, “God, if it’s your will, please let me speak in tongues.” And then they wait. And of course they prayed in unbelief because they said, “If it’s your will,” when clearly we have the word of God on it. And then secondly, they’re expecting the Holy Spirit to do what the Holy Spirit’s expecting them to do. “You speak. I’ll…” the Holy Spirit, “… will provide the utterance.” And that’s why you didn’t speak in tongues. That’s the primary reason I’ve seen. Because people, they expect the Holy Spirit to do what the Holy Spirit expects them to do.

When I spoke in tongues for you in that fourth video that I made, you notice I started and I stopped when I wanted to. I was fully conscious of speaking those syllables, just like I’m conscious right now of speaking the syllables that I’m speaking to you in English. But in this case, I know what I’m saying when I speak to you in English. When I spoke in tongues during that fourth video that I made on this subject, on this series, I didn’t know what I was saying. So if you didn’t see that one, go back and watch all of them.

All right, we’ll pick up right here in our next Little Lesson. Don’t miss it.
Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

Why the Church needs More Power from the Holy Spirit

Why the church needs more power from the Holy Spirit.

We have been talking on our little lessons about speaking in other tongues, which we’ve seen from just a few scriptures, and what we’re going to look at more is an initial evidence. It was an initial evidence, the initial evidence for 120 people on the day of Pentecost, when they were waiting for Jesus’ promise to come true, that they would be clothed with power from on high, and then they would be as witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth. And I’ve talked about this. This will actually be, I think, the seventh little lesson on this topic. And my goal, of course, is for every viewer to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

If you’d not watch the other six or so that we’ve done, please, do pause and go back and watch those because we’ve laid quite a foundation. And currently, we’re looking at the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church in Jerusalem, when 120 souls, 120 believers, were baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit, and they all spoke in other languages. And isn’t it interesting? Jesus had said originally to them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem until you receive the Holy Spirit and you’ll be clothed with power from on high. And then you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth.”

So, how long did it take before they were baptized in the Holy Spirit that they were being witnesses in Jerusalem? Well, it didn’t take very long at all because the Holy Spirit not only fell upon them and gave them the ability to speak in tongues, but those in Jerusalem, for the feast of Pentecost, who had gathered from all over the Mediterranean world, heard the sound of the mighty rushing wind and so forth. And apparently, saw the… Perhaps, I’m not sure if they did, if they saw the tongues of fire that rested upon them, or if it’s just the Christians who saw that.

But nevertheless, they rushed together, and they heard everyone speaking in their own languages. These are visitors from all over the Mediterranean world, hearing people praise God. And you know the result. Peter gets up and preaches the gospel to them and thousands get saved in one day. Well, I don’t know about you, but that excites me. And if you take out the power of the Holy Spirit from that Bible story, you have nothing. No salvations, no revival, no one even hearing the gospel, and no one preaching the gospel.

I mean, the disciples were in the upper room and they were praying, but there’s no preaching going on. There’s no one being saved. There’s no revival. But as soon as they’re baptized in the Holy Spirit, God gathers a crowd for them, and Peter and the rest of the apostles get up and start preaching, and thousands of people are saved. Thousands of people, in one day. So, let’s read about it, okay? And focus on that in this little lesson and see how it applies to me and to you.

Now, there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. So, almost seems like he’s saying that these folks living in Jerusalem at that time were not just from the Mediterranean world, but beyond. I don’t know, but when this sound occurred, they heard the mighty rushing wind, they came together and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished saying, “Why, are not all those who are speaking Galileans?”

So, they’re up from Galilee down here in Jerusalem, up there around the Sea of Galilee. And these are just kind of backwards folks here in Jerusalem. They’re not world travelers. They’re not linguists. They’re not great scholars, learned people. But we hear them. How is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes, and Elamites. Well, Elam would be the modern-day nation of Iran, and residents of Mesopotamia and Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia. That’d be in modern-day Turkey. Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya, around the Cyrene, so we’re in North Africa. And visitors from Rome, all the way from Italy. Visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them in our own tongues, speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying one to another, “What does this mean?” So, speaking in tongues was like part of the sign, to the unbelievers. Caught their attention. Yet, even within the Pentecostal ranks today and the Charismatic ranks, we’re like putting our light under a bushel. We don’t want to tell anyone that we speak in tongues, or let them hear us speak in tongues, or tell them our testimony about how we spoke in tongues, and speak in tongues every day, because they’ll think we’re weird.

Well, that’s what they thought back in that day. Some of them did anyways. What does this mean? So, there were those who were sincere and perplexed about this sign, but others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” Now, what a stupid observation that was. Yeah, that’s what people do when they get drunk. They speak fluently of the mighty deeds of God in languages they never learned. Is that what you notice when people get drunk? You walk past a bar down in the height of your town? Is that what they’re all doing in there? They’re all speaking in languages that they’ve never learned and praising God?

No, that’s a stupid observation by people who can’t explain it. And so, what I’m suggesting is that you, dear Christian, seek the Lord so that you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues. And then don’t hide it under a bushel. Tell people, even though some will think you’re crazy. Tell them that you’ve experienced a miracle. You’re speaking, you speak in a language that you never learned. Fluently. It is absolutely incredible. And we should be a little more bold about this. What do we got to lose?

People already think you’re crazy if you’re a believer in Jesus. But it’s hard to deny a bonafide miracle, and every single Christian can experience this. That’s biblical, and it’s also confirmed by the experience of tens of millions of Christians around the world. Now, no doubt some theologian, or someone’s going to write in a comment, “Oh, you’re wrong. The Bible says, do all speak in tongues?” And the obvious answer to that rhetorical question is no. But if you’re going to base your theology on one verse, and ignore the context of that verse, and then ignore the broader context, like what we just read in Acts and we’re going to be reading further, as we continue our study in the coming little lessons.

You’re going to base your theology on one verse? That’s your business. But every theologian, every true pastor each will tell you, it’s a mistake to base your theology on one verse, because you could be misunderstanding it. And clearly, when Paul is saying, ask that question, “do all speak in tongues,” he’s not talking about what we’re reading here because on the day of Pentecost, guess what? They all did speak in tongues. We just read it. They all spoke. It wasn’t a single one among those 120 who didn’t speak in tongues. Everyone spoke in tongues.

So, when Paul says, “do all speak in tongues,” read the context and figure out what he means by that. Well, what he means by that, read it, he says, “Are all apostles?” Well, the answer to that obviously, is no. Only a few within the body of Christ are called to be apostles, sent ones to take the gospel and plant. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No, not all have those various callings and gifts. And one of those special callings, along with apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, working on miracles that Paul lists there. He talks about, “Do all speak in other tongues?” He’s talking about the ministry of speaking in tongues, where we’ll be talking about that later, where it’s very similar to prophecy, where a person by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit speaks out in tongues. And there’s an accompanying gift of the interpretation of tongues, and not all have that, because that operates as the spirit wills.

But this, what we’re reading about right here, we’re going to read about it in First Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14, where Paul makes it very clear, praying in tongues or speaking in tongues as a part of your devotional life is not as the spirit wills, it’s as you or I will. Sure. Paul said it very plainly. “I will pray with the spirit. I will pray with the mind. I will sing with the spirit. I will sing with the mind.” That’s as he willed it. But he very plainly said that the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and including tongues and interpretations, that works as the Spirit wills. You can’t just drum that up.

And that’s one mistake we see sometimes in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. Someone yells out or speaks out publicly, and it’s not a message in tongues that’s accompanied by the gift of interpretation. That gift is someone just speaking out in tongues, like these folks did on the day of Pentecost, and like they did in the Corinthian church, the same thing. They had trouble, people speaking out in tongues, but there was no interpretation. Well, if it was the real gift of speaking in tongues, why would God give someone the ability to speak in tongues, a message for the church from God, and not give someone else the interpretation, the gift of interpretation, or give that same person the interpretation?

It wouldn’t make any sense at all, would it? No, it wouldn’t make any sense at all. So, these people in Corinth were speaking out in tongues, but not the ministry of tongues that’s designed to edify the whole church through the accompanying gift of interpretation. No, they’re just speaking out in what Charismatics and Pentecostals often refer to as their prayer language, for which your mind is unfruitful, Paul said, most of the time. You don’t know what you’re saying.

Okay, well, we’re out of time for this little lesson. Thank you so much for joining me. Much, much, much more to come. Okay? And keep listening. My goal is to build your faith, so that you can pray in faith and know exactly what to expect. If you’re a believer in Jesus, this is something that belongs to you, and you should and need to experience it. It’s a huge enhancement to your spiritual life. And who knows what else God might give you or do through you after you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit? You’re going to have more power than you had before. Because that’s clearly the main component here of why God wants us to be filled or baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Can you be a witness for Jesus apart from the Baptism in the Holy Spirit?

Can you be a witness for Jesus apart from the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

If you are a regular viewer you know we’re currently in the middle of a series about speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, not an obscure subject in the New Testament. We’ve already done seven of the lessons and we probably have at least seven more to go in this series so there’s a lot to learn and a lot of scripture that we can look at and we will look at, I think all of it or most of it anyways. And if you’ve missed those first seven little lessons on this subject I would recommend that you go back and view those before you view this one. Okay. It would just be for your greater benefit.

Now, the question we want to address in this lesson is can you be a witness for Jesus apart from the baptism in the Holy Spirit? And it goes without saying, it’s irrefutable, that Jesus considered that there’s no way that his apostles, the 11 guys, now Judas defected of course but the 11 men whom he personally trained and discipled for three and a half years he believed it was imperative that they be clothed with power from on high, that they be baptized in the Holy Spirit before they attempted to be his witnesses on the scale that he wanted them to be his witnesses. Because that’s what he said, we’ve looked at that scripture a couple of times already in these little lessons on this subject.

Jesus told them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem until you’re clothed with power from on high. Wait, not many that days from now God’s going to pour out his Holy Spirit.” And so they did, they waited there in Jerusalem. They were all Galileans but temporarily they stayed in Jerusalem. Not just the 11 apostles but also 109 other devoted believers were there in the upper room on the day of Pentecost about 50 days after the Passover, after Jesus was crucified. They were there when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. And it was, many theologians say, the birth of the church.

Now nobody can disagree about what I’ve just said that Jesus felt it was necessary for them to stay in Jerusalem and wait to be clothed with power. But some theologians will say that nowadays when someone’s born again that’s all the Holy Spirit that they’re ever going to receive. You’re baptized and the Holy Spirit at that point in time when you’re born again and don’t be praying for any subsequent experiences. Well, when I examine the word of God on that question I can’t come to that conclusion. I think we’d all agree that the 11 apostles and most likely the 109 other devout believers who were there on the day of Pentecost they were already saved prior to being baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. If they had died they would have gone to heaven. So that shows that it’s possible at least to be saved, to have eternal life and to not be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Now you could still argue well were they born again prior to the day of Pentecost and is that really what happened on the day of Pentecost that they were born again. I’m not going to go into that right now but nobody can argue that Jesus believed this and this is the subject I want to talk about. It was imperative that the apostles be clothed with power by the power of the Holy Spirit. And these are men trained personally by Jesus for three and a half years. These men who had gone out and actually preached and actually been used by God in miracles but Jesus believed you need to be clothed with power from on high at this point in time. And he said, “And then, then you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the other most parts of the earth.”

And goodness, just what Jesus said, came to pass on the day of Pentecost when they were all together in one place the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they all began speaking in tongues. And then shortly thereafter, Peter and the other apostles are preaching the gospel to the crowd that has gathered because of the violent rushing wind that they heard there, the supernatural experience there. And then they hear when speaking of the mighty deeds of God in their own languages, these are people who are living in Jerusalem from all over the Mediterranean world and scores of languages they heard these apostles speaking in even though none of them knew what they were saying. They were all Galileans and they only spoke one or two languages probably.

So just as Jesus said, the Holy Spirit empowered those guys to be amazing witnesses. Being clothed with that power and that supernatural element of the mighty rushing wind and hearing them all speaking in tongues drew the crowd, got the interest of all those visitors in Jerusalem and that then gave them the opportunity to preach the gospel. And Peter is preaching with absolute boldness and quoting scriptures and so forth and then 3000 people get saved on that day, the day that the Holy Spirit came on them to help them to be Jesus’ witnesses. Well, I’d say it worked pretty good wouldn’t you say so?

Okay. So to answer our question of course you can share the gospel or proclaim the gospel without the experience of the apostles and the 109 other believers experienced, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Of course, Christians are doing that all over the world right now. They’ve been doing it for centuries. But do we have God’s best in that? I mean, wouldn’t we all agree that if there was more power available from the Holy Spirit that’d be good to get it? If there was something that would help you to be a better witness don’t we all agree that why would you not want that?

And so, I think that amongst in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles that hold to that distinctive doctrine that there is a subsequent experience with the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think many of them have missed the real point of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They focus on the speaking in tongues which is a component, it’s wonderful, it’s an element, it’s a blessing. But the real purpose of the baptism Holy Spirit is to empower people to be witnesses for Jesus and who could argue that that wouldn’t be a wonderful thing?

I mentioned this in a previous lesson, I don’t know if I did a good enough job in really explaining it but remember Jesus said, “Stay in Jerusalem,” not until you speak in tongues. He said, “Stay in Jerusalem until you’re clothed with power from on high.” And he didn’t say stay in Jerusalem until you’re clothed with power from on high and then you’ll speak in tongues. He said, “Stay in Jerusalem until you’re clothed with power from on high and then you’ll be my witnesses.” See the speaking in tongues is really just a peripheral thing. The main thing is to be his witnesses because that’s the most important thing. And we get all focused on the tongues because of that.

And it’s interesting that the sign that accompanied the clothing of power to be a witness, the sign of speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost and any other time anyone spoke in tongues, it’s a divine reminder that God wants us to be involved in his great commission and to reach people of different tribes and tongues and ethnicities. Every time a Pentecostal or a Charismatic believer who speaks in tongues and prays in tongues they should be thinking, “Wait a second now. There’s a symbolism behind this too. It’s not just the ability to speak in tongues or pray in tongues to God the father but it’s a reminder that God loves people who are not like me who speak a different language than me whom he wants to hear the gospel, who he wants to bring into his kingdom.” Amen. Amen.

So that’s often overlooked in Charismatic and in Pentecostal circles. So, to come all the way around now and to answer that question. Well, you can be a witness for Jesus but you can be a better witness for Jesus if you’re clothed with power from on high and you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit who was given for one reason is to help you be a witness. All right. And look, what’s different between most of the modern church today and the church of the book of Acts can’t we just all agree that the major difference, and there are probably more than one that we could enumerate here but the major difference is the modern church so lacks the power of the Holy Spirit.

But here’s the thing, anytime people are filled with the Holy Spirit or baptize with the Holy Spirit and then they have the initial evidence of speaking in tongues generally what follows is an expansion of the kingdom and a furtherance of the gospel. I mean, if you study the Azusa Street Revival which was the beginning of modern day Pentecostalism around the turn of the century happened in Azusa Street I believe in Los Angeles, California the result from that was kingdom be expanded all over the world. Pentecostal missionaries were called everywhere and they proclaimed the gospel. And then secondarily, they proclaimed that you could be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And then they laid hands upon people to be baptized with the Spirit. Those people spoke in tongues, they were empowered to be witnesses and that kept it going, multiplying by the power of God. So, it wasn’t some man’s system or organization, it was the Holy Spirit and Jesus is glorified in that.

So who wouldn’t want more gifts of the Spirit and more miracles and more manifestation of the Holy Spirit? I don’t care if you’re Pentecostal, Charismatic or what, if you just love God you’re not going to debate with me on this that it’d be wonderful if we could live in the book of Acts. Well, I personally am persuaded that we can but if we resist the Holy Spirit and resist the plain teaching of the word of God and say, “Speaking in tongues is for the early church and all those miracles are for the early church and so we don’t as the Bible tells us to do covet the gifts of the Spirit.” And if we say, “No, we’re never going to pray for anyone to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” Even though Jesus Christ himself said, I’m quoting Jesus now, “If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

So, Jesus believed that people who can look to God and say, “You’re my father,” which that’s people who are born again. There’s no one who can say that God is their spiritual father except those who are born of the Spirit. They are the children of God. And Jesus believed the children of God if you be evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Jesus believed it was okay and proper and right for believers, children of God, to be asking the father for the Holy Spirit.

Okay, well, that’s food for thought in this little lesson. All right. And we’ve got much more to cover. My goal is by the end of this you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in a language you’ve never learned. And once you do it once well then it can be a part of your everyday devotional life and who knows what else God might have for you. We’re way out of time but I’m sorry I get excited about this because it’s so wonderful. The Holy Spirit is God’s best gift to his children absolutely beyond the new birth but then he offers that to everybody. But to his children his best gift is the Holy Spirit. Okay. If you’ve never been to davidservant.org please check us out there. That’s where we’ve got a couple of decades of compiled teaching and written articles and books and video links and so forth and it’s all there for your spiritual edification.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Is it will of God For You to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit?

Is it the will of God for you to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?

We want to continue the current series on speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This will be the ninth Little Lesson. We’ve laid quite a foundation, and we’ve got quite a long ways to go. But I was thinking to myself, prior to filming this Little Lesson, as I review some of the former ones so that I can know exactly what I’ve said so far, these could be the most important Little Lessons that I’ve ever done. And that’s no exaggeration, no exaggeration. Because if I can succeed in opening the minds and hearts of Christians to the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues, I know it will revolutionize their spiritual lives and it will make a huge difference for all eternity.

One of the key verses we’ve been honing in on, on the last couple of Little Lessons, is the fact that Jesus told the men whom he had been training for three and a half years, that they shouldn’t leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. And then, and only then would they succeed at being his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts here. And that has been the testimony throughout all of church history, in the book of Acts, as well as every time thereafter. When Christians testify of having been baptized in the Holy Spirit, what inevitably follows is a spreading of the gospel and an advancement of the kingdom. Because that’s one of the Holy Spirit’s primary jobs, is to help us to succeed in spreading the gospel and making disciples. And for us to think that we can do it without his help, we’re fooling ourselves. And that’s why the church is so weak and that’s why “Christians” and I’m going to put those quotes up here now, many of those folks are absolutely no different than the non-Christian population.

Why? Because they haven’t really been born again, they’ve heard unanointed preaching and are teaching explanation of some aspect of the gospel. There’s no Holy Spirit unction to help the preacher. There’s no proof that what they’re saying is true. There are certainly no gifts of the Holy Spirit or evidence of the supernatural power of God. There’s really very little, if any, conviction by the Holy Spirit, because we’re not even preaching a true gospel. That’s another subject in itself. But what we’re getting is converts, people who joined the church and think, “I’m on the way to heaven,” but they’re not. Followers of Christ are not disciples of Christ. They have no interest in being baptized in the Holy Spirit, witnessing… They’re just phony Christians. But I’m not speaking in these Little Lessons to the phony Christians, I’m speaking to the spiritually hungry people. The ones that Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst…” Now he said, “For righteousness.”

But doesn’t the Holy Spirit fit in there somewhere? He’s the Holy Spirit, right? And so if we get more of the Holy Spirit, it’s not going to make us a less holy or less righteous in how we live our lives, right? Right. Okay. So lots to say on this topic, and I just hope that you’re following along. And I’m leading up to the fact that I’m going to give you enough information that you can pray with absolute certainty, that you’ll be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. And if I can succeed at that, the ramifications can be fantastic. I read at least one of the comments to the second video I did on this. A brother wrote and said, “Hey, David, I want to thank you for being faithful to this word.” He said, “You laid hands on me.” I think he said something like in 1983 or something and, “I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke the tongues.” And he said, “I’ve spoken in tongues every day since then.” It was the early 1980s when it happened, I don’t know the exact year.

But that brother today, I happened to know this for a fact, he’s serving right now, as we speak as a missionary in Kenya, preaching the gospel and winning people to Jesus and discipling them and helping them to follow the Holy Spirit in their lives. See, so just bike by being faithful to the truth, not being ashamed of the Bible, not being ashamed of being labeled a wacko, Pentecost or something, there’s a missionary in Kenya. And that’s just one of the examples of the fruit that has been forthcoming. And so not only do I want you, if you’re a believer to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, but I want to help you be able to minister that same experience to other believers. And the sky is the limit, as far as the fruit. And when you get the Holy Spirit, you get more than just speaking in tongues. Oh my goodness, you get more. So on the day of Pentecost, Peter and the apostles received the Holy Spirit and they were anointed to preach the gospel.

There was Holy Spirit conviction. Peter was quoting from Joel about, “This is what God promised in the last days. He’d pour out his Spirit upon all flesh.” So what you’re seeing is a manifestation of the Spirit here and inspired utterance. It’s like prophecy. It’s not… Well, it was like prophecy in one sense. Everyone was speaking in tongues, supernaturally, prophetically, right? And although they may not have understood what they were saying, everyone who gathered from around Jerusalem who heard the mighty rushing wind, heard them speaking of the mighty deeds of God. So it was in essence, prophecy. Not prophecy in the strictest sense, but prophecy in certainly one sense, the more I think about it here. Okay. So let’s keep on reading. I got to get through Acts 2, because I want to get to all the other places in the book of acts, where it talks about people receiving the Holy Spirit, people who were already born again. But something happen to them subsequent to salvation, and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. And supernatural things happened, like speaking in tongues.

This is in the Bible, so we got to get to those, but I just want to continue on and finish up in Acts 2. So Peter preaches this very convicting sermon to all those who were gathered. Some were mocking saying that they’re all drunk, but others were perplexed and sincere and wondering, this is supernatural. And so it says, when they heard Peter’s preaching, “They were pierced to the heart.” I like that, the Holy Spirit is able to do that. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostle brethren, “What shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent.” I love it. I love it. What happened to that word in the gospel today? The very first word of Peter’s instruction of what to do was, “Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.” And look at this, “And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So in his first sermon, Peter is talking about how it’s essential for these people, who haven’t even yet made the step of repentance and baptism, that they too needed to receive the Holy Spirit.

That he had said, “What you’re seeing right now, this is the Holy Spirit.” So I guarantee you, Peter wasn’t saying, “Well, you’ll all receive the Holy Spirit, but don’t expect to speak in tongues. No, no, no. That’s just unique for this group.” And the people that heard that, I mean, they just heard a sermon that starts off that, “In the last days, I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind, and you’re going to see these signs and wonders and one of them is going to be prophecy. And you’re hearing us all prophesied by the power of the Holy Spirit right now. And so if you repent, if you are baptized, if you believe, you too will receive the Holy Spirit, just like we are receiving the Holy Spirit.” And so, although the scripture doesn’t record the 3000 being baptized in the Holy Spirit, it does record them, mentioned that they were baptized. They’re all expecting the very same thing that they witnessed that happened to Peter and the other apostles and the 120 on that day. Because Peter is telling that, and he doesn’t stop there.

He says, “For the promise…” What promise? The promise he’d just been reading in Joel, that in the last days, I’ll pour out my Spirit upon who? All mankind, this is not for a super duper elite spiritual group of just 120 Christians. This is for every Christian who believes. The pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh. And it’s going to happen one day. That’s just the beginning of the fulfillment on the day of Pentecost. He says, “For the promise of the Holy Spirit…” That’s the subject. “The promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off and as many as the Lord, our God shall call to himself.” So he’s just referring to points in his sermon. He said that Joel said, “Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.”

This is an all manifestation of the Holy Spirit being poured out. Peter says, “This promise, this promise that we’ve just read about in Joel is a promise to you and of course, to your children, because that’s what Joel talked about. This is going to happen to your children.” I love it. I love it. See, so the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for every Christian, not just the Pentecostals. No, not just for some group of super… It’s for you to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And so I encourage you, as we close this Little Lesson, study Acts 2. And then join with me on our future Little Lessons, as we look in Acts 8 and Acts 9 and Acts 10 and Acts 19 and 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 13 and 14. There’s a lot of stuff about speaking in other tongues in the New Testament and it ought to be brought back up to its place of prominence in today’s church.

That I’m sorry to say to you, even the Pentecostals and the charismatics as it were, are hiding their light under a bushel these days and not mentioning these things as much as they did at one time, because they had just tried to be more accepted. May God have mercy on us and may we repent of being ashamed of the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Amen.

Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

More Proof that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to Salvation

More proof that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to salvation.

If you’re a regular viewer, you know that we’ve been studying speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. A thoroughly biblical subject, and we’ve made a lot of progress. This will actually be the 10th little lesson. I hope that if you’re tuning in for the first time, you just pause and go back and watch the other nine, and that way you’ll get the foundation that we’ve laid to this point. But for those who are regular listeners, you know that we’re currently in the book of Acts. We’re looking at every example now where the Bible talks about Christians receiving the Holy Spirit and either being baptized in the Holy Spirit or being filled with the Holy Spirit. These phrases are synonymous phrases. And we looked, of course, in the day of Pentecost, everybody’s spoke in tongues amongst the 120. And nobody can argue that their baptism in the Holy Spirit was subsequent to salvation.

Now, some theologians will tell us that, well, that was a unique experience for the early Church to birth the Church and we shouldn’t expect that to happen from that point onward. I suppose that could be an argument worth listening to if there were not other examples of the same or similar things happening throughout the book of Acts, and the fact that it’s also mentioned in the epistles at least in 1 Corinthians. So we’re trying to do a thorough and honest job here, not a tricking through taking verses out of their context, or by coming up with a human explanations that don’t hold weight against the Scripture. I, for one, am not ashamed of the Holy Spirit, and I’m not ashamed of speaking in other tongues because it’s thoroughly biblical. Every author of the New Testament spoke in other tongues. All right. And tens of millions of Christians around the world today speak in tongues as a regular part of their prayers and their prayer to the Lord. We’re going to go today to Acts chapter 8. This would be the second instance that refers to Christians receiving or being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

It occurs after the persecution that arose in the early Church in relation to the martyrdom of Stephen. You recall that Saul of Tarsus was a major player in the persecution of those early Christians. And subsequently, Christians scattered from Jerusalem. We begin reading in Acts chapter 8 and verse number 4. “Therefore those who had been scattered went about preaching the Word.” How about that? Why don’t more Christians preach the Word? Why are so many Christians silent about their faith? Well, one very plausible reason could be that they’re not baptized in the Holy Spirit. And that’s really the important thing. Speaking in tongues is a part of it, but the important part is being a witness and having other people hear the gospel. Well, all of these early Christians who on the Day of Pentecost, 120 of them were baptized in Holy Spirit. Peter promised the 3,000 who were born again on the day of Pentecost that if they would repent and if they would believe in Jesus, they too would receive the promise of the Holy Spirit and so would their children.

So this is a church that’s activated by the Holy Spirit and not just by some kind of intellectual understanding. Well, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and he began proclaiming Christ to them. Phillip is later identified as an evangelist. “And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard him and saw the signs which he was performing.” He was baptized in the Holy Spirit and he had gifts of the Spirit operating through his evangelistic ministry. He wasn’t just trying to persuade people by human arguments. No. Like the apostle Paul said, “I don’t let your faith resting in the wisdom of men, I want your faith resting in the power of God.” Well, what were those signs and wonders that Phillip was performing? “In the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice.” Jesus said … we read this in this series, one of the signs that will follow believers is that they will cast out demons. That was the very first thing of the five signs that Jesus listed in Mark chapter 16.

We need this to return to the Church of Jesus Christ. “And many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city.” Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there? Wouldn’t you have loved to see that happen in your city? That’s not going to happen apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. And if the Church in your city is resistant to the basic stuff that I’m teaching … Nothing to do with me, I’m just talking about what the Bible says. So clearly, what is the pattern that God has laid down for the Church? The Church is a Spirit-empowered body of believers. That’s why they’re effective in evangelizing and spreading the gospel, making disciples. Now, the story then begins to focus on one interesting convert here. We have to read this in order to understand the part about folks being baptized in the Holy Spirit. So let’s get the context. “Now, there was a man named Simon who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria.” This guy has got supernatural power, but it’s from the dark side, demonic supernatural power.

He’s got the attention of the people of Samaria with his magic arts and he’s claiming to be someone great. “They all from the smallest to greatest were giving attention to him saying, ‘This man is what is called the great power of God.'” That’s Simon. We call him Simon the magician. But he wasn’t just a sleight of hand type guy. Maybe he had an element of illusion, but he’s got something else going on. He’s got everybody in Samaria convinced that he’s operating by the power of God, the great power of God. Now, imagine if any of the modern day evangelists who have no power, no supernatural power. No casting out demons, no paralyze and lame people healing, unlike Phillip who went down [inaudible 00:07:07]. Imagine that any of those had come to Samaria and preached the gospel, they’d have been laughed and scorned. They’d have gone off with no results whatsoever because the supernatural power of Simon the magician would have been greater than what the evangelist would have had, what the proclaimer of the gospel would have had. And you see really, the people are attracted to the supernatural. That gets their attention.

There still is that element of the supernatural within the demonic supernatural today in witchcraft and all of this stuff, and people are drawn to it because they can’t explain it. Whereas the Church says, “Well, miracles have ceased. That was just for the apostolic case, so don’t expect that from us.” The angels must be weeping over that kind of theology. It says, “And they were giving him attention because he had a long time astonished them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized men and women.” Now, why did they convert? Because Phillip had more power than Simon the magician had, and he was someone who had the power of the Holy Spirit evident in his ministry backing up his message. Get this. This is fantastic. “Even Simon himself believed.” So he saw things he’d never seen before. He wasn’t getting lame paralyzed people healed under his magic arts. Demons weren’t coming out of people, more likely they were going into people, or speaking through people.

But he wasn’t getting them delivered, so he saw, “There’s a bigger power than what I’ve experienced. So Simon himself believed and he was baptized. So we’ve got all these new converts down in Samaria. They’re believers according to the Bible and they’re baptized according to the Bible. Phillip would not have baptized them, had they not professed faith in Christ and he’d been persuaded that they were genuine believers in Christ. Again, “Even Simon himself believed that after being baptized, he continued on with Philip. As he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he …” The guy who was amazing other people, “… he was constantly amazed.” And because we’re out of time as we have to stop today, I wish we didn’t have to stop because the rest of the story is what I really want to get to. But we’ll get to it on our next little lesson, just with a very quick review about the context. It’s so important to get the context. Simon and all the Samaritans were believers, baptized believers. But Peter and John came down for a specific reason from Jerusalem to Samaria. What was the reason?

So that they could be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Wow. Does that fit into your theology? Well, if it doesn’t, it will the next time we get together.

Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

Were Peter and John Pentecostals?

Were Peter and John Pentecostals?

We are now in the middle of a series of lessons on speaking in other tongues, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My goal in all of this is to get you, and I’m talking to believers in Jesus Christ now, you, baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues, and I’m not ashamed. And I’m doing it not through human argument, but just by looking at what the scripture says. Today, we’re going to read a story that we started in our last lesson about Peter and John, who had the same goal that I have, that I’ve just announced to you.

What’s my goal? My goal is to get you baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Peter and John, we’re going to read their story, they traveled from Jerusalem to Samaria for the exact same purpose. That’s right. It’s explicit. No one can deny it. No theologian, no preacher, no minister, no pastor. Nobody can deny that what the Bible plainly says, that the express purpose of Peter and John traveling from Jerusalem to Judea was to get new believers, people who had already believed in Jesus, people who had already been baptized in water, to get them baptized in the Holy Spirit. And so Peter and John believed that just because you’re born again, that’s not the end of your experiences with the Holy Spirit. Just because you’re born of the spirit, just because you’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that’s not the end. There’s still something wonderful for you. It’s called being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

And when I asked at the beginning of this Little Lesson, were Peter and John Pentecostals, I’m saying that a little bit tongue-in-cheek. There was no such things as a Pentecostal back in the days of Peter and John. But the Pentecostals do distinctly believe that there’s an experience subsequent to salvation, and it’s referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and we’re going to read about it today. So if you didn’t watch the last Little Lesson, at least I hope you watch that one before you watch this one because we got the context last time about Philip preaching in Samaria, and the Sumerians giving heed to his gospel because they saw the signs and the wonders, and they believed, and they were baptized. And this guy who was a big shot down in Samaria, who had been doing all kinds of magic and stuff, but by demonic, satanic power, he himself believed, and he himself was baptized, and he was following Peter and John wherever they went because he was constantly amazed, it said in Acts, Chapter 8, and it looks like around verse number 13.

All right, so we’re going to start in verse number 14. Now when the apostles, well, who are the apostles? We know who the apostles are. When the apostles in Jerusalem, all the apostles who were still up there in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God. So there’s debating this. These were not people who were unsaved and needed to be saved. They believed according to the Book of Acts, they were baptized according to the Book of Acts, and now we read that they had received the word of God and all the apostles heard about it. And so what did all the apostles do? Again, these are the big shots. These are the guys who were with Jesus for three and a half years.

They sent them Peter and John. So all the apostles sent Peter and John from Jerusalem to Samaria, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Wow! Does that fit your theology? Do you believe that it’s right to pray for people who have been born again, baptized in water, who have received the word of God according to apostolic testimony? Do you believe it’s right or wrong to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit? If you believe it’s wrong, that’s contradictory to what we just read in the Bible that you claim to believe. Okay?

This is actually impossible to refute. There’s no theologian who can say Peter and John didn’t come down to Samaria to pray for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. There’s no theologian who can say these people weren’t already born-again believers in Jesus who were baptized in the water and who had received the word of God.

So to try to make this story fit standard North American theology, it’s impossible. It doesn’t fit! Because standard evangelical North American theology says that when you’re born again, that’s it. You’ve got the Holy Spirit in you and don’t ask for anything more. Peter and John didn’t believe that, nor did any of the apostles in Jerusalem. So I’m going to stick with them myself, and I’m going to pattern my ministry after their example, not after some seminary professor who doesn’t have any faith in the most basic, clear description like this, that we just read in Acts, Chapter 8.

To make it even more clear, the apostle Paul says too, about these new believers, speaking about the Holy Spirit, for He, that would be He, the Holy Spirit, this is verse 16, had not yet fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So again, it affirms that they’ve been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit hasn’t yet fallen upon them. That’s why the apostles sent Peter and John down to pray for them, pray for them that the Holy Spirit might fall upon these believers. It’s so simple, only a theologian could miss it. Only a theologian could miss this.

So what happens next? Verse 17. Then they, that’s Peter and John, began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. So what they came for, it worked. They did it! These people who’d previously not received the Holy Spirit, were receiving the Holy Spirit. And how do you think they knew that they had received the Holy Spirit? The same way they knew that just not too long ago on the day of Pentecost, they, Peter and John and all the rest of the apostles, had received the Holy Spirit. They heard them speaking in other tongues. Now you say, well, but the Bible doesn’t say that. Well, okay, I’ll grant you that the Bible doesn’t say explicitly right here that they spoke in tongues, but let’s keep on reading because that’s the only logical conclusion.

We keep reading now. When Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostle’s hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Well, clearly, Simon saw something that he was willing to pay for. And if all he saw was just the disciples laying hands upon the believers and saying receive the Holy Spirit, and there was no manifestation whatsoever of anything supernatural, why would Simon want to buy that? There’d be no reason. Now remember, Simon himself was kind of a miraculous guy prior to his conversion. We read about this on our last Little Lesson. You can read it yourself if you didn’t watch that Little Lesson. In Acts, Chapter 8 he was a magician, not just a slight of hand magician, but a guy that was delving into the demonic, satanic realm, and astounding people in some area with his magic arts. But he saw the miracles that Philip was doing, the casting out of demons, the lame and the paralyzed who had been healed, and he repented and he believed, and he was baptized. And he began following Philip wherever he was going because he was astounded, as God worked through Philip.

And now, so he’s seen demons cast out. He’s seen lame and paralyzed people walking and rejoicing. He’s seen some pretty astounding things, the ministry of Philip. And of course he’s seen miracles through his own life, not ministry, but his magic arts prior to his salvation. So why is he trying to buy the power to impart the Holy Spirit? Because he saw something super-duper-natural occur when Peter and John laid his hands upon those new believers. They were receiving the Holy Spirit, and obviously they were speaking in other tongues. And so here we have then, the second instance in the Book of Acts of people receiving the Holy Spirit. In this case, just like on the day of Pentecost, it was subsequent to salvation. And on the day of Pentecost, everybody who received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues. In this case, everyone that Peter and John, those young believers, they received the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t explicitly say here that they spoke in tongues, but it’s obvious that something supernatural happened and it wasn’t demons coming out. It wasn’t lame and paralyzed people being healed. What else could it have been other than speaking in other tongues? And if you read after some of the early church fathers, they agree with that because that’s what was passed down through church history. And so there you have it. Okay.

So I challenge you today to believe the Bible. And you perhaps are just like those believers in Samaria. You’ve received the word of God. You believe in Jesus, your sins have been forgiven. You’ve been baptized in water. Well, there’s something else for you, being baptized in the Holy Spirit. You say, “Well, how will that happen to me?” Well, someone can lay hands upon you, but that’s not absolutely necessary and I’ll talk about that in a future Little Lesson in this series.

Till next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

The Apostle Paul’s Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The Apostle Paul’s baptism in the Holy Spirit.

We’re going to continue in this Little Lesson our current series on speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a thoroughly biblical subject. And today and probably in our next lesson, we’re going to look specifically at the example of the Apostle Paul. We know that the Apostle Paul, the guy who the Holy Spirit used, the Lord used to write two thirds of the New Testament I guess, somewhere in that vicinity. He was a Pentecostal by modern definitions.

He said to the Corinthians in one place, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” And those Corinthians, they were a tongue talking bunch. He wrote a couple chapters addressing some of their mistakes in regard to speaking in tongues. So Paul said, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” Well, he did not take a dim view of speaking in tongues. He had a very high view of speaking in tongues, and obviously he spoke in tongues rather frequently. To say, “I speak in tongues more than all of you,” there in Corinth because they were speaking in tongues quite a bit.

So when people make fun of people that speak in tongues, and again, I understand when those who are not Christians make fun of it and just think it’s all foolishness. But when prophesive Christians make fun of speaking in tongues and speak disparagingly of those of us who are trying to maintain a biblical stance on this very important topic, it’s got to be grievance to the Holy Spirit. Again, the Apostle Paul spoke in other tongues, and he did it a lot. Okay, so who amongst Christ followers wouldn’t want to speak in other tongues? I just can’t imagine that anyone would be opposed to it on any grounds whatsoever. Certainly there’s no biblical grounds. And if there are allegeable grounds, I intend to get to those alleged biblical grounds and look at those instances in the context of all of the New Testament.

In any case, last time in our Little Lesson we were looking in Acts chapter eight. There are actually five instances in the book of Acts where scripture speaks about people being filled with the Holy Spirit or being baptized in the Holy Spirit in an initial experience with the Holy Spirit that in most cases is subsequent to their salvation.

The last time we looked at Acts chapter eight, remember when Phillip went down to Samaria and he’s preaching Christ to them. That they believed his good news and they were being baptized, men and women alike, and then when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John who came down to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. These are people who have been born again, believing in Jesus, baptized in water, but the apostles in Jerusalem said, “There’s something else you need. You need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So we’re going to send Peter and John down there and they’re going to pray for you that you might be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And sure enough when Peter and John did that, they were filled.

And although it didn’t say there that they spoke in tongues, we discussed that at length because Simon, also a new believer himself, a former magician trying to buy the power to impart the Holy Spirit. So obviously he was seeing something very supernatural.

If you missed any of the previous videos on this series, go back and view them. It’ll help you more as we continue in this one.

So now we’re going to jump to the third instance in the book of Acts where it talks about somebody being filled with the Holy Spirit in an initial experience but after their salvation. And they guy, no other than the Apostle Paul. When we meet him here in Acts chapter nine, he’s not the Apostle Paul. He’s Saul of Tarsus, chief persecutor of the church. But God has a plan for him.

On the road to Damascus, he’s got their papers with him to arrest Christians in Damascus, and he’s struck down by a blinding light. He hears an audible voice, and all the people that are traveling with him also hear the voice, and the voice says, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And Saul responds, listen closely now, this is Acts chapter nine in verse number four, “Who are you, Lord?” He recognized that whoever it was, this was the Lord speaking. I mean, again, struck down by a blinding light, knocked down, and hearing an audible voice. Who else can that be but God himself, right?

So, “Who are you, Lord?” And the Lord says, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Now let me ask you a question. Do you think that Paul, Saul of Tarsus, became a believer? He didn’t have to pray about it very long at this point and time. He’s hearing the audible voice of God saying, “I’m Jesus. You’re persecuting me. You’re on the wrong side of history here, buddy, and it’s time for you to get on the right course.” Paul later said he was shown mercy because he acted ignorantly in his unbelief. So God had astounding mercy on the chief persecutor of the church.

So he said, “I’m Jesus whom you’re persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.” Well, there’s the test right there if Saul of Tarsus became a believer because believers obey, especially when they’re hearing the audible voice of God. So does Saul say, “Well, no, this is just a hallucination. I must’ve eaten too much pizza last night.” Oh, no, no, no, no. He goes to Damascus and he waits there, and he waits there to be told what to do.

By the way, his eyes were open, but the Bible says he couldn’t see anything. He was blind. So they had to lead him by the hand into Damascus. I’m reading from Acts chapter nine, verse number nine. He was there three days without sight and neither ate nor drank. Okay. So I fasted for longer than four days before, but I always drank water. It’s actually dangerous not to drink some liquids longer than three days. You get so dehydrated. But he had an experience with the Lord, and he wasn’t about to do anything that the Lord didn’t tell him explicitly to do. He’s a believer in Jesus Christ at this point and time. Anyone who says that Saul was not a believer in Jesus, they must have jello for brains because, I mean, how could he not be a believer in Jesus Christ at this point and time?

And as we read this story further, we’ll see even more evidence, incontrovertible evidence that Saul of Tarsus at this point and time was a believer, and he was a believer during all those three days as he waited for the instructions of what he should do next. He’s waiting literally on the Lord.

So we are going to read in our read in our next Little Lesson the story of when God sent a guy by the name of Ananias to lay hands upon him, and it’s at that time that Saul of Tarsus received or is filled with the Holy Spirit. So I’m going to base my theology on the Bible. I don’t care what anybody says. They say, “Well, when you’re born again, you got all the Holy Spirit you’re going to get. There’s nothing more after that.” Well, if you’d asked Saul of Tarsus that around this time in his life, he’d say, “I’d have to disagree with you on that because I was a believer in Jesus Christ for three whole days and understanding now more what happened to me, I was born again because I believed in Jesus. I was saved. My sins were forgiven. But three days later God sent a guy to me that I would be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

All right. Anyways, the evidence is mounting, and the whole purpose of this, not that we care so much about the Apostle Paul. He’s dead and gone up in Heaven for 2000 years almost now. I’m concerned about you. Yeah, that’s why you’re watching this video I suppose because you have a spiritual hunger. You’re not satisfied with where you’re at or what you have. You want more, and I’m going help you because the word of God builds faith into us. Amen.

Until the next time, may the Lord continue to bless you.

Was the Apostle Paul Baptized in the Holy Spirit subsequent to his salvation?

Was the apostle Paul baptized in the Holy Spirit subsequent to his salvation?

We’re continuing our series on the speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And I think this is, goodness, maybe our 10th Little Lesson on this subject. If you’ve missed the previous ones, it would be best if you would go back and find the other ones on YouTube, because we’ve laid a lot of foundation. And the whole reason I’m doing this is the same reason that the apostles sent Peter and John down to Samaria after they responded to the preaching of the gospel by Phillip the evangelist. The Bible says that the apostles, all the original apostles, except for Judas, of course… Matthias was selected to be his replacement… all of the apostles in Jerusalem said, “Here’s something very important for the new believers in Samaria. They need to be filled or baptized in the Holy Spirit.”

And so they sent no one less than Peter and John down for the express purpose that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and they laid their hands upon them and they were. And so when people say that when you’re born again, that’s the sum total of all the experience that you might have with the Holy Spirit, well, obviously the apostles didn’t believe that. Peter and John didn’t believe that, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone down to Samaria. So currently, in relation to our very last Little Lesson… we’re in Acts chapter nine now. We’re looking at the third of five instances where somebody was filled with the Holy Spirit or baptized in the Holy Spirit.

And in this case, it was Saul of Tarsus. In this case, he was already born again. When you believe in Jesus, you’re born again. Everybody who knows anything about the Bible knows that. Saul of Tarsus believed in Jesus when he asked, “Who are you Lord, that I’m persecuting?” And he said, “I’m Jesus whom you’re persecuting, but get up and go into Damascus and wait there for instructions.” And so he obeyed his Lord. He was a believer. How could he not have been a believer after being struck down the road to Damascus and hearing the audible voice of God? Come on, and then being led as a blind man into Samaria.

He’s waiting there in Samaria. I’m going to pick up the store where we left off last time. He doesn’t eat or drink anything for three days. He’s waiting there. And now in verse number 10 of Acts chapter nine, there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. Oh, I’d love to follow a rabbit trail right there, because we have this false dichotomy in so many Christian circles today that you can be a Christian but not be a disciple. That’s ludicrous, unbiblical. If you’re not a disciple of Christ, you’re not a believer in Christ. Every true believer of Christ is a disciple of Christ. If you’re not a disciple of Christ, you don’t really believe in him. That was my rabbit trail.

And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias,” and he said, “Here I am Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”

Now this is, of course, a truncated version. Luke can’t tell us every single detail in the book of Acts. We don’t know perhaps everything that the Lord said in this vision to Ananias. In fact, we get a hint later on that the Lord definitely said at least a little bit more as to the purpose of why he needs to go to Ananias.

Now I don’t understand why God just didn’t do it himself. Why does he have to send somebody to lay hands upon Saul of Tarsus so that he can receive his sight. God knocked him down on the road to Damascus without anybody’s help. He didn’t send Ananias, say “Go out there to road to Damascus and touch Saul and he’ll be struck down.” No, God did all that by himself. God can do anything by himself. But for some reason he wanted to use Ananias in this case.

And Ananias, even though he’s having a vision of the Lord, he has a little objection. But Ananias answered, “Lord. I’ve heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem. And here, he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. So, Lord, I don’t want to show myself to this guy who’s out. He’s liable to put me in handcuffs.” Obviously God didn’t tell Ananias all the details of how this guy, Saul, just got knocked down and so forth. So Ananias had some objections, but listen, what the Lord says to him. I love this.

But the Lord said to him “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine. And what specifically? To bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” All that came to pass over the next few decades of Saul’s life. And you will follow as minister in the book of Acts. At the end, he’s talking to kings. At the end, you’ll get the actual story, but he’s there in Rome to make an appeal before Caesar himself. Wow.

And then God said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” That’s another story, too, but let’s keep with the topic, verse 17. So Ananias departed and he entered the house. He found the street called Straight and found that house of Judas then, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul.” Now I suppose you can say that he was saying that fellow Jewish brother. But God has just told Ananias that this man is a chosen instrument of his to bear his name before the Gentiles, kings and the sons of Israel. And he’s going to suffer for the name of Jesus.

Surely Ananias believed this guy’s saved, this guy is a born again believer. He’s a brother, not just a Jewish brother. He’s a brother in Christ and he’s had a dramatic transformation. Now he was coming here to put the brethren in prison, but he’s turned into a brother himself. And so there’s that reassurance when Ananias tracks him down, and he says, Brother Saul, brother Saul.” So one more proof that three days earlier, Saul of Tarsus became a born again believer in Jesus Christ. You with me? “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming has sent me so that you may regain your sight.”

We already knew that was going to happen, didn’t we, because that’s what Luke told us that Lord said to Ananias in that vision. But here’s something that the Lord told Ananias in that vision that Luke didn’t record initially. “So that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” There it is, just like happened in Acts chapter eight, just one chapter before this, when Peter and John came down to the believers in Samaria to pray for them to lay hands upon them, that they might be filled with Holy Spirit. Now God is sending Ananias to lay hands upon Saul that first of all that his eyes might be opened. He wouldn’t be blinded anymore, and so that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit. So there was at least two purposes in the Lord sending Ananias to Saul. Get your sight back, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Subsequent by three days to his salvation. So once again, once again, if we’re going to go by the Bible and not go by what some folks believe or teach, go by the Bible, being filled with the Holy Spirit was subsequent to salvation. And so it can and should be with you if you are a believer in Jesus, like Ananias and like Saul of Tarsus. Amen. I’m trying to build your faith to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. If you’re born again, you already have the Holy Spirit in you, no doubt about that. No doubt about that. But this is a subsequent filling of the Holy Spirit.

And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight and he got up and was baptized and he took food and he was strengthened. So it actually doesn’t tell us the instance of Ananias laying his hands upon him and him being filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke just didn’t record it. I kind of wish he would have, but if Luke had recorded everything that happened, the book of Acts would be an encyclopedia.

Now we’ve established beyond any doubt whatsoever that Saul’s, the apostle Paul’s, experience was a baptism in the Holy Spirit three days after he was born again, just like in Acts chapter eight, the Samarian Christians baptized by the Holy Spirit filled with the Holy Spirit after salvation, just like on the day of Pentecost, same thing. They were all believers, believing in Jesus, had eternal life and their baptism in the Holy Spirit was subsequent to their salvation.

Did Saul speak in tongues? Well, it doesn’t say right here that he spoke in tongues, but we know that he spoke in tongues sooner or later because he himself testified in First Corinthians chapter 14, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” I think it’s around verse number 12 of First Corinthians chapter 14. Look it up for yourself and see. So Paul was a tongue talking guy. He was a Pentecostal. But back in those days, you didn’t have Pentecostals because all the Christians were Pentecostals. So they didn’t have to come up with a special term for those people.

All right. All right. Well, I hope you’re learning something. Hope your faith is growing. At any point in time in the series, you can pray and ask God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and he will answer your prayer. But I still got more to say on this. We’ve got two other instances in the book of Acts to look at and their faith. Then we have to go to First Corinthians 14.

So we’re going to be spending some time on this. I’d like to hear from you. You can say something in the comments, or you can send us a message in some way and let us know that you prayed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and you have received and spoken in tongues. That’ll make me glad.

All right, until next time, may the Lord continue to bless you.

The Holy Spirit falls in Joppa

The Holy Spirit falls in Joppa.

I’d like to continue in this little lesson with our current series on the baptism and the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues, a thoroughly biblical subject. And this is gone on for quite a few weeks now, and we still have many scriptures to cover because we’re looking at what the Bible has to say on the subject. And it’s only by hearing what the Bible says that your mind is renewed and your faith will consequently be built to the point where you, if you are a believer in Jesus, can get to that place where you can by faith receive the most wonderful gift that God has for his children: the baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

And this is an experience that’s received by faith and so you have to have doubts removed, and many people have been just inoculated against the truth, because they’ve heard so many things that are negative on this subject that it’s not for today, or it’s not for everybody or that it’s of the Devil or something like that. And so they can’t have faith to receive. They don’t have any faith to receive, because they don’t believe that it is God’s will for them. So I’m trying to undo all that. Sometimes I think my job is not so much teaching as it is unteaching. That’s how it feels sometimes.

Hey, we just got a communication from one of our beloved viewers here just yesterday. I’m going to read it to you because this encouraged me and it should encourage you as well. I don’t know if it’s a man or a woman. I’m just going to imagine that it’s a woman, but I’m not sure. But she says, “Thank you. Last night, I sang in tongues first, not talked, but it was more natural and I didn’t overthink it that way.” So she was just saying it was easier for her to begin to speak by singing in other tongues than it was talking or speaking without a melody in other tongues. And I’ll mention something about that in a minute.

She said, “It’s amazing!” And I agree. It is amazing. It’s a miracle. She said, “I have watched all of the series so far,” so she’s watched everything that I’m encouraging you to watch if you haven’t watched it, if you’re just cutting into this one. “I’ve watched all of the series so far and it gave me the confidence, because my whole life I was told it was evil.” Well, here’s somebody going to church all their life and hearing messages that speaking in tongues is evil. Oh Lord. What a sad state of affairs when you go to church and hear this speaking in tongues is evil or wrong, or of the Devil. Everyone who wrote the New Testament spoke in tongues. The Apostle Paul said, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” He was thankful that he spoke in tongues. He didn’t say it was evil.

She said, “Nothing evil about it. So much joy.” Amen. When you get the Holy Spirit, more of the Holy Spirit. Again, if you’re born again, you already have all the Spirit in you. This is a baptism or a filling of the Holy Spirit. “So much joy.” Then she says twice, “Thank you. Thank you. I’ve been forever blessed by your help. Glory to God.” And amen. I’m going to give the glory to God, because it’s nothing I did except I just share the word of God, but it’s the word of God and it’s the will of God, and it’s the power of God, and it is God, because the Holy Spirit is God. So who wouldn’t want more of God? If you’re a Christian, I mean, who wouldn’t want more of God?

So this is for you, this is why I encourage you to go back, and if you haven’t watched the first, I think, 11 or 12 videos, go back and watch them. Get your faith built up. Okay? And we want to continue building your faith in this little lesson so that you too can receive the baptism and the Holy Spirit. You’ll find it’s a joyous thing. It’s a wonderful thing.

And she’s going to find that now that she’s been baptized in the Spirit and she’s sung in other tongues, she’ll be able to sing in tongues anytime she wants to from then on. And if she cuts out the melody, she’ll be able to speak in tongues as well, any time she wants to, because that’s how it works. This is the experience of millions of Christians throughout Christian history and on the earth right now. Right now, there’s millions and millions of Christians that know exactly what she’s experiencing, because they’ve experienced it as well.

And the Apostle Paul said it. He said, “What’s the outcome?” He said, “I will pray with my mind and I’ll pray with the Spirit.” If you read it in context, he’s talking about praying in tongues. “I’ll sing with my mind,” he said, “and I’ll sing in the Spirit.” Singing in other tongues. This is in First Corinthians 14. We’ll cover that down the road.

Okay. So now we’re going to break back into the Book of Acts. We’re looking at all five instances in the Book of Acts where it talks about someone being baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, we’re asking two questions on every occasion that we read about. Was the experience subsequent to salvation? Because somebody will say that, once you’re born again, that’s it. And secondly, was there any manifestation, like speaking in other tongues, that occurred? Because when people say, “Well, we shouldn’t expect that…” “Well, we’re looking with the Bible,” I say.

And so far we’ve looked at Acts 2, Acts 9 and Acts 9. And in all three of those chapters, there’s been stuff about relevant things about speaking in tongues and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’m not going to review right now anyways, but we’re now we’re going to go to Acts Chapter 10, the story of when the first Gentiles heard the Gospel. And you know the story. I’m not going to take time to go through that story again, but you can read the whole thing in Acts Chapter 10.

And Peter is divinely led to go down to Joppa there on the coast of Israel to preach the Gospel. And he’s never preached the Gospel to any Gentiles before. It took a vision from God to get Peter to get down there and preach the Gospel. And Cornelius, the guy who did the household work, Peter [inaudible 00:06:49] to go. He’s had this vision. I might start reading in Acts 10, verse number 30. Cornelius said… Now, this is what he’s saying when Peter shows up at his door. “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments.” Sounds like an angel.

“And he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God.'” So he was a Gentile who was seeking God. “And he said, ‘Therefore, send to Joppa. Invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you. He is staying at the House of Simon the tanner by the sea. So I sent for you immediately and you have been kind enough to come.'” What a polite guy. “‘Now, then, we’re all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.'”

So they’re waiting. This is a divine appointment for Peter to share the Gospel with Cornelius and all of his household, so his family, and I think he had some servants and so forth. So we’re not going to have time to finish the story on today’s lesson. We’ll pick up in the next lesson. But, “Opening his mouth, Peter said, ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation, the man who fears him and does what is right is welcomed to him.'” We could preach a sermon on that.

“‘The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, and he said he is the Lord of all. You yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all these things he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. God raised him up again on the third day and granted that he became visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he Rose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him, all the prophets bear witness that through him, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin.'”

So Peter has done a fine, fine job of preaching the Gospel right there, and he’s told these Gentiles how they can have their sins forgiven. They only have to believe in Jesus. And I want to tell you, this was a prime group. They were waiting for the good news. And so they didn’t wait one second to believe. They believed instantly, and God went right to work. Now we’re going to have to wait until the next little lesson to see what happened, but God poured out his Holy Spirit upon them, and we’ll see where they were speaking in other tongues. Peter said, just like we did back in the day of Pentecost about, I think it was nine years earlier or something. All right. So we’ve gone a little bit over our time for today so I’m going to have to stop there. It’s a cliffhanger here.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Can you be baptized in the Holy Spirit at the same time you’re Born Again?

Can you be baptized in the Holy Spirit at the same time you’re born again?

We’re continuing our current series on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues. I hope you’ve watched all the previous videos because we’re just going through what the Bible has to say. And right now we’re in the middle of one of those stories in scripture where the Holy Spirit fell on people and they spoke in other tongues. And that’s what we’re talking about, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues.

So I wish we could have finished this on our last little lesson because it’s in Acts chapter 10. I believe that the chronology, Bible chronologers who try to figure out when all these things happened, for example, in the book of Acts. We know approximately when Jesus died, and so forth, and when the day of Pentecost was it, so as they trace it all out, Acts chapter 10, when Simon Peter is divinely led to go down to Joppa to preach the gospel to the first group of Gentiles who would hear the gospel, a guy by the name of Cornelius and his household there in Joppa, it was nine or 10 years after the day of Pentecost.

So when people say, for example, that, well, this baptism of the Holy Spirit thing and the speaking in tongues experience, that was just for the apostles. Well, wait a second, nine or 10 years later, here’s Peter, one of the apostles, who spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost. Now he’s preaching the gospel to Gentiles in Joppa, and they’re speaking in tongues and Peter testifies. It’s just like what happened to us. So when people say, “Well, it’s just for the early church.” Well, wait, how early? Just for the first 10 years? Well, guess what, we’re going to read another story that dates after this at least a decade where people speak in tongues. It’s all through beginning to end in the book of Acts.

And it’s for today, praise the Lord. And I say that without shame or apology, that’s what the biblical record indicates so clearly. So Peter is preaching the gospel to these people who are primed. Cornelius has had an angel tell him, “Go get Peter. He’s going to tell you how you can be saved.” And so they’re all waiting. They’re just hanging on his words to find out how they can have their sins forgiven. And we read, on our last lesson, Peter’s sermon to them. And he gets to a point in his sermon where he’s talking about Jesus, and his miracles, and that he was crucified, and he was raised from the dead, and he commissioned Peter and the apostles to go and preach the gospel.

And then he says, about Jesus, “Of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.” That’s Acts 10 and verse number 43. And so now they know. Now Cornelius and his entire household know, well, the way that we can have our sins forgiven is believing in Jesus. They’ve got the gospel. And I love this story so much because I love reading about people that are hungry for God. So many times we share the gospel with people who aren’t interested in it at all, and they don’t care about their sins being forgiven. But if people were wise, that’d be the main thing on their mind. How do I get my sins forgiven?

And Cornelius, he was a guy who prayed regularly, and a guy who gave to the poor, gave alms to the poor. And he’s following his conscience as best as he can. And so the Lord leads Peter. Here’s a guy with an open heart. Let’s go tell him how his sins can be forgiven.

So here’s where it gets cool in Acts 10:44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell. Folks, beloved the viewer, according to the Bible sometimes the Holy Spirit falls on people. And when he falls things happen. He doesn’t just fall and nobody knows it. How could God come upon you and nothing change? That’s a crazy thought isn’t it? The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. Now, what do you think they did? Well, you know what they did. They just believed. They believed everything Peter said, in fact, in his sermon Peter says, “You know this stuff. You know about how we went about doing good and healing all those… You heard about his miracles, went about doing good, healing all those oppressed by the devil.” Acts 10:38. Jesus didn’t do these things under a bushel.

Jesus was famous as far as the news would travel, and his ministry was predominately kept amongst the Jews. Sometimes he ministered some Gentiles, but the Gentiles heard about it. How can the eyes of the blind be opened and crippled people walk and the news not spread? So they knew it. And Peter reminds them, “You’ve heard of all this stuff.”

So he says, “If you would just believe in him, your sins will be forgiven.” What did they do? They immediately… They were instant believers, instant believers. And so God responds. And the Holy Spirit falls upon everyone who’s listening to the message and listen to what the commentary of Luke is. All the circumcised believers, that’s the Jewish believers, who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles. These are people that the Jews generally had no dealings with, avoided at all costs. These are the dirty, sinful, immoral, ungodly Gentiles.

And they had no conception that Jesus died… They should have some conception because Jesus said it, but it just hadn’t sunk in that Jesus died for everybody. And how did they know that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles? Here’s how they knew, verse 46:4, because they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. That’s how they knew. Then Peter answered, “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did. Can he?” That was a rhetorical question. Well, we got to baptize these people. I mean, they’re saved, and they’ve got the Holy Spirit, and he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

Well, of course they wanted to know more and grow in their faith and their understanding all about Jesus and how they could please him. Okay, so in this case they spoke in tongues. It’s irrefutable. Nobody, no theologian, no pastor, no preacher, no teacher, no TV guy, no seminary guy, nobody can say anything but that. They spoke in tongues nine or 10 years after the day of Pentecost.

Now, some theologians, I read one guy years ago, who said, “Well, this was unique. This was unique. It happened because, on the day of Pentecost, God was confirming it to the Jews that he loved them. And then, now, this is a unique now too, God is confirming it to the Gentiles that he loves them and they can also be saved.” But you know, in his nasal commentary he never quoted one scripture because you can’t find a New Testament that says, “Well, this was unique. This was God’s unique sign at this time to the Jews then to the Gentiles.” And by the way, we’re going to come to another scripture in Acts chapter 19, where it’s 20-some odd years later after the Pentecost. And once again, God’s doing the same thing, people are being baptized in the spirit, speaking about it. And it’s not some unique first time thing for the Gentiles or for the Jews. It’s for every Christian.

Okay. Now, was their baptism in Holy Spirit subsequent to their salvation? Well, only by seconds, only by seconds. And I’ve had cases where I’ve seen that happen in my own ministry, where very hungry, receptive, believers are baptized in the Holy Spirit, not days, not weeks, not months, but within minutes of their salvation. And I think in my next lesson, I’ll start it off by telling you a story about one of those people because I’ve never forgotten it. It happened, goodness, probably about 40 years ago. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Until next time, may the Lord continue to bless you.

A lovely Story About Someone who was Baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in Other Tongues

A lovely story about someone who was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues.

We’ve been spending some time now exploring the very biblical and very important topic of speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

And if you are just watching this video and this is the first one you’ve watched in this series, I would encourage you to stop and go find the first one and watch all of them before you watch this one, because we’ve been laying a foundation, endeavoring to build your faith so that you too can receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

And it’s just been so lovely just to go back into the Word of God and see what the Bible actually says about this. The Bible is the pure source. It’s like going upstream all the way to the source where the water is flowing from the spring into the little stream before it heads downstream and gets polluted by the factories along the big rivers and so forth. And that’s what’s happened to this topic. A lot of theologians have dumped their theology onto the pure and simple truths of the Word of God and really messed it up. And unfortunately, they’ve just educated themselves right out of any faith, any pure, simple, childlike faith in what the Bible says.

So when theologians tell you that speaking in tongues is not for today, well, they’re wrong. When they tell you it’s of the devil, they’re wrong about that. Okay. Jesus said, “One of the signs that will follow the believers is that they will speak in tongues.” And we’re currently working our way through the Book of Acts, looking at every instance where somebody was filled with the Holy Spirit or baptized in the Holy Spirit or spoke in tongues and so forth. This is no obscure subject in the Bible.

So the last time we were together, we were looking at Acts chapter 10, where God divinely connected the Apostle Peter, who at the time was up in Joppa in Israel, and a guy by the name of Cornelius, a Gentile down in Caesarea. And I’ve actually been to both those places myself. I’ve been blessed to go to the ruins of Caesarea. I’ve been to Joppa as well. Actually, today it’s called Jaffa. And if you’ve ever eaten a Jaffa orange, that’s where Jaffa oranges were developed. That’s why they’re named Jaffa oranges.

But in any case, there’s Cornelius seeking the Lord in Caesarea. Peter’s having a vision up in Joppa. And God puts them together. And we read this story in Acts chapter 10. We didn’t read the entire story, but you can read it for yourself, and you probably know it. And as Peter is preaching the gospel to these hungry Gentiles, the Holy Spirit falls upon them. And all of the Jewish believers who are there with Peter on this mission are amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the Gentiles. And I should say the dirty, immoral, we-don’t-have-anything-to-do-with-them Gentiles.

Remember, if you’re keeping the story, when Peter went to Jerusalem, he was called on the carpet for eating with Gentiles. And so he tells them, “Well, I was divinely led by God to go see these people, and I wasn’t the one. I didn’t even pray for them to be saved or to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I mean, God just sovereignly did this. So how can you guys argue with God?” So he persuaded everybody in Jerusalem that God was reaching out to the Gentiles now. So this is a great, great, great story.

Anyways, in our last lesson, I was pointing out the fact that God baptized those Gentile believers within seconds of them believing in Jesus, because Peter just got to that point in his sermon where he said, “Everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of their sins.” And they were primed and ready, and they believed in Jesus instantly. And then God poured out his Holy Spirit upon them, and all the Jewish believers knew they were baptized in the Holy Spirit for one reason, because they heard them speaking in other tongues, just like it happened to them about nine years earlier on the day of Pentecost. Okay?

So I was mentioning this in our last lesson. I said, “Is it possible to be baptized in the Holy Spirit simultaneously as when you are born again?” Well, apparently it is in some cases. And I mentioned that I’ve seen that happen under my ministry over the years. So I’m going to tell you one story about one person that I know, still know him today, who was baptized in my Spirit within minutes of being born again.

I was preaching at a church in Bellaire, Ohio, just a small church. I think it was a Sunday night, and I don’t know how many people were there, maybe 30 people or something, just kind of a small storefront church, but lovely people. And I don’t even remember what my sermon was about, but at the time end of my sermon, I gave an invitation, an altar call, for anybody who wanted to give their life to Jesus and be born again, to receive the forgiveness of their sins.

And then as I gave that invitation, then I gave a second invitation. I said, “Now, and if you’re already a Christian and you’d like to be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, I’d like to pray for you as well.” I had everyone bowing their heads and closing their eyes. And I was counting hands as we have learned to do. And only one person lifted their hand for salvation. And I think about five or six people lifted their hand to want prayer to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

So I invited them all forward and split them into two groups. And I made the five or six or so people who wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit kind of wait, and I led the one person who wanted to receive Jesus in a prayer of salvation. And I asked him the questions. Do you believe in Jesus Christ and that he has died for your sins? And are you ready to make him Lord of your life and turn from your sin? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

And I said, “Okay, let’s pray.” And so I led him in a prayer, repeat this prayer after me. And he prayed. And I said, “Okay, well, that’s great. Now if you really believed, you are really born again.” I said, “So you just stand over here, and I’m going to now minister to these other folks who already were Christians and who want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Well, I’d like to receive the Holy Spirit too.” And of course, I knew that he was born again. He had the Holy Spirit living in him already, but remember, we’ve been talking about what the Bible talks about, an experience subsequent to salvation.

And I said, “Oh, no, you probably need to just wait awhile. Probably there’s a class at this church that you could take and learn more about it. That way your faith can grow and so forth.” And he said, “I’m ready right now know.” And so I quizzed him further, and I could tell his faith was strong, and that’s the key ingredient. You have to believe.

So I said, “Okay, come on over here with this group.” And I gave them a little instruction. I asked them the simple question, “Are you a believer in Jesus?” They all said, “Yes, we’re all believers in Jesus.” Well, that’s the only prerequisite. I said, “Do you believe it’s God’s will for you to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues?” Oh yes, they all believed that. And I think my sermon might have been on that subject, so that’s why they probably had some pretty strong faith in that regard.

And so I said, “Okay. And so I’m going to lay my hands upon you. And as I touch you, that’s the moment we’re going to believe that we receive, because that’s what Jesus taught. Whatever you do desire when you pray, believe that you receive. Don’t believe you’re going to receive. Believe you receive when you pray.” So I said, “As soon as I touch your hand,” that’s kind of the moment to release faith, I said, “I want you to receive the Holy Spirit and open your mouth and just begin to speak out in whatever wants to come out, because God’s going to help you speak in a new language.”

So I did that one-by-one, and they all started speaking in tongues, as I recall. And then I got to this brand new Christian. He’s only been a Christian for just minutes by that time. And he closed his eyes. And I said, “In the name of Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit.” He didn’t hesitate one second. Didn’t stutter for any length of time. Just opened his mouth and began fluently speaking in a language he had never, ever learned.

Now I’ve seen this hundreds and I guess thousands of times, so it’s not any surprise to me. But I thought, “There. Praise the Lord. A young believer, he’s qualified.” You don’t have to be in some state of spiritual superiority or something like that. No, just cleansed by the blood of Jesus and believing. And he received. It was glorious. And that guy today, his name is Mike, he eventually went to Bible school and got married and then pastored a church, I think up in Montana, for a while and spent some time overseas for awhile.

And then eventually, I heard about a church that was looking for a pastor in West Virginia. That was something like 20 or 30 years ago, I think. And he and his wife went down there and tried out, and they elected him to be the pastor. He’s still the pastor today. And the Lord has given him a beautiful ministry there, he and his wife. We’re still friends, and the Lord has used him over in the Baltic nations in Europe and so forth to preach and teach over there.

And it all just started by a sermon by yours truly. Again, not that I’m anything at all. But never underestimate the power of one sermon if it’s based on the word of God. Never underestimate what could happen with one sermon. And so he was born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaking in other tongues, all within minutes. And think of all the fruit that has come forth from just that one sermon, that one person. Who knows what’s happened to the other people who were baptized in the Holy Spirit that night? Okay. You can’t get enough of the Holy Spirit.

All right. We’re way over time here for today. Thank you for joining me. I think on our next Little Lesson, I’m going to tell you another story about a friend who was baptized in the Holy Spirit. It didn’t happen quite so fast for him, and I’ll teach you a little bit about the faith that’s necessary to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So you don’t want to miss that one.

All right. Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Another Lovely Story About Someone Who was Baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in Other Tongues

Another lovely story about someone who was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues.

This is a special edition of Little Lessons because I’m out of my bedroom office where I usually am and I’ve navigated here down to the first floor of my house. This is the room we call the sun porch because it’s got windows on three sides, which you can see two of those sides. Lovely room, you kind of feel like you’re outside here.

But anyways, if you’re a regular viewer, you know we’ve been talking about speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I’m starting to get some communications from some of our viewers who say, “I received. I’ve prayed and I’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit and I’m speaking in tongues.” I think I’ll read one of those ones to you tomorrow that was kind of inspiring or not tomorrow, but our next Little Lesson. It was inspiring to me.

But we’ve been working our way through the Book of Acts and looking now at we’re in Acts chapter 10. We’re not going to actually go there today, but I’m kind of making reference to that story of when the Gentiles. Brand new, brand new baby Christians. They’ve just believed and God pours out his Holy Spirit upon them and within seconds of being born again, they’re baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The point of that is so as far as we’re concerned today, is that it proves that you don’t have to reach a state of super duper spirituality before you can receive what I’ve been trying to get all of my viewers to receive. These folks were Gentiles. This is acts chapter 10 in Caesarea. Peter comes down from Joppa, preaches the gospel and they believe and within seconds of them believing in Jesus, God causes the Holy Spirit to fall upon them and they are baptized in the Holy Spirit and they’re speaking in other tongues.

When the devil tells you, “Well, this can’t be for you because you’re just not holy enough.” Well, the way you get holy is by being cleansed and forgiven of your sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now I recognize that as Christians, we need to strive to obey the Lord, but when you blow it, you can get forgiveness just as easily as you got it initially, confess your sin and he forgives you and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. Don’t let the devil talk you out of it for that reason.

And anyways, I told you a story in our last lesson about a friend of mine, who this was almost 40 years ago, who was baptized in the Holy Spirit within minutes of being born again at a church service where I was preaching in Ohio and today he’s a pastor and he’s been in the ministry for decades.

I’m going to tell you another story that happened even before that. This was 40 years ago and this happened actually about 10 feet from where I’m sitting right now, because this house where I currently live, my mom and dad purchased this house when I was five years old. I’m 62 now. 57 years ago, my mom and dad bought this house and then my wife and I bought it from them about 20 or so years ago. And they lived with us until they went to Heaven. But I was teaching a Bible study one summer for high school and college students here in the living room, which is just 10 feet from me, right over here. I think there were 15 or 20 young people there and I was a young person myself.

I was just in my early twenties and I taught a lesson on the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Just teaching some of the things that I’ve been sharing with you over the last, I don’t know, 14 or 15 or so Little Lessons here, but I just did it in one message. I might’ve spent 45 minutes to an hour showing them all the scriptures, trying to build their faith, to convince them that this is something that they could receive. And when I was done, I asked them to all bow their heads and I prayed to the Lord and then I said, “I want to give all of you an invitation. I’d love to pray for you tonight if you’d like to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. The only requirement is that you be a Christian already and that you believe. That’s it.” And so I said, “If you’d like me to pray for you tonight, just raise your hand.”

Well, only one person of that 15 or 20 young people raised their hand. And so after I was done, I said, “Okay, well thank you so much.” We all opened our eyes. And I said, “Only one person has lifted their hand, this young man named Don.” And I said, “I’m going to take him down in the basement of the house here and I’ll pray for him there.” I had a reason for doing that. Because see, they didn’t believe they were all full of doubt. And sometimes Jesus, before he got ready to minister to people like healing them or something, he flushed everybody else out because he wanted to get the unbelief out of the room because that unbelief just dampens the atmosphere. It hinders you. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. If you doubt the word of God, you’re not getting points, I’m just telling you. You’re not getting points, but God’s merciful. But when the disciples doubted, you read the stories where they were doubting, Jesus wasn’t happy, was he? He was a little bit ticked off when people didn’t trust him. It’s insulting to God when we don’t trust him.

But anyways, but God is still merciful. I took Don down in the basement and I give him a little instruction, just like I always would have done. And I said, “Now I’m going to pray for you. We’re going to receive the Holy Spirit. Believe we receive. Let me pray. The moment I touch my hand on your forehead, that’s the moment I want you to release your faith and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and just open your mouth and begin to speak in tongues.” He said, “Sure. Okay.” And we were just sitting in chairs across from each other. I prayed a prayer. And I said, “Now Don, in the name of Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit.” And I laid my hand on top of his head just as a point of contact because I don’t have anything. There’s no electricity going on in my hand.

And I never forget. He was kind of tightening up his face and tightening up his mouth and his eyes and he just kind of, he must’ve done that for about 20 seconds and he goes, “I don’t, I just, I don’t have anything.” And I said, “Oh no, no. Again, you have to have the faith here. You have to. You’re going to have to use your own mouth. You can’t wait for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s a gentleman he’s not going to force you. You might feel some unction, something, but whether you feel anything or not, you just have to have the faith so let’s pray again.” Same thing. I prayed. I said, “Now Don, in Jesus’ name receive the Holy Spirit.” And I touched his forehead and same thing. He kind of gritted up his teeth and his eyes and fist, he just, he was a really into it.

And then, but after about 30 seconds, he just went, just in kind of a desperate exasperation. “I’m just not getting it.” and I said, and I’m thinking of all those people upstairs who were just waiting to see if this is real. And I’m thinking if I don’t get this guy to speak in tongues, this is the end of my ministry. I just go get a job somewhere and forget about being in the ministry because I’m a failure. A lot was riding on Don succeeding to be baptized the Holy Spirit.

I tried to hide my desperation that I said, “Look Don, I prayed for plenty of people and you’re no different. God loves you.” I said, “But you can’t keep your mouth shut. You’re going to have to least have enough faith like Peter. Peter, God, didn’t transport him out of the boat and force him to walk. He had to step out of the boat. There’s a human side to all this. You have to step out of the boat and begin to walk and then God will keep you up on top of the water. You got to open your mouth and you just do something with your mouth and your vocal cords and begin to speak and as you have the faith, God will give you the utterance and you will be speaking in other tongues.” And I said, “Now let me pray for you one more time. And this time I don’t want the clenched up face, open your mouth.”

You better open your mouth. And so he goes, “Okay, okay.” And I could tell that there was a spark there this time that looks like we’re going to make it this time. “In the name of Jesus, Don receive the Holy Spirit.” And I touched him and he opened his mouth and started speaking out fluently in a new language at the top of his lungs. And I knew everybody upstairs could hear it through that floor right over there. I was like, all right, yay, God. And then Don, after about five minutes of yelling in tongues, he starts singing in tongues at the top of his lungs. And Don has a great singing voice and he just belted it out. I’m just going, “Thank you, Jesus.” Because I knew they could all hear it upstairs. We both prayed in tongues for a while. And then I said, “Well, let’s stop. Now that it’s happened to you, you can do this any time you want to.”

And so we came upstairs and I tried to hide my pride. But I felt so good and they were all wanting to ask him about it and they did. And he talked about it and I could tell we were penetrating now some of that unbelief and all those folks kept coming back to my Bible study and by the end of the summer, I would take them down in the basement, maybe by twos, by threes, by ones, by the end of the summer, every single one of them, if my memory serves me correctly, every single one of them was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. And I still know Don to this day, he’s an old high school friend. And in fact, he’s on the board of the Ministry of Heaven’s family. He’s a dentist in Oklahoma. Went to dental school and all and as most dentist hopefully do. And he’s a great blessing and the Lord used him in many lovely ways, been on mission trips and medical mission trips, different parts of Latin America.

Never underestimate, I’m telling you again, the power of one sermon based on the word of God. Now, you can give these sermons that are these self help sermons that you see sometimes on TV and yeah, people get a little blessing, but I’m talking about God’s word. When you share God’s word and people believe it, miracles can happen. And that night a miracle happened. Another miracle. And many nights after that, as we had that weekly Bible study, miracles happened as people, as Christians were baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

I hope that what you can get from this is that all it takes is faith and, “Faith without works or faith without corresponding actions,” James said, “is dead.” You have to act upon your faith. And so if you believe you receive the Holy Spirit when you pray and you’re expecting that you’ll be speaking in tongues, you need to cooperate and speak. And you’ll always be doing the speaking, but the Holy Spirit is the one who gives you the utterance, but you have to speak. And we’ll study this further when we get to First Corinthians 12 and 14 to show you that it’s not the Holy Spirit forcing anybody to do something. It’s us cooperating with the Holy Spirit, which isn’t that kind of how all of life works? Is the Holy Spirit forcing food into you? Or do you actually have to put a fork into your carrots and put them in your mouth?

Well, it’s a miracle, the carrots are a miracle, your mouth is a miracle, your whole digestive system is a miracle. It’s miraculous how God takes carrots nourishes and makes cells out of those carrots in your body. But it’s not any less miraculous if you spear them with your fork and put them in your mouth, not any less miraculous. We have our little teeny tiny part to play. God’s the miracle person and he does what we cannot do. And this is how it is with the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

But this is lovely. When that happens to you, then it gives you insights into how faith actually works. It can just open up a whole new vista of a spiritual dynamic when you receive this miracle.

Till next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

The Importance of Faith to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit

The importance of faith to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Hi, welcome to today’s little lesson, and thank you so very much for joining me. All of our regular viewers know that we’ve been on a… It seems like a long series, but it’s worth spending time on, about speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. In the last two of the lessons, I’ve been telling you stories about people whom I’ve prayed for, who’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit, spoke in other tongues. Over the years, if I had been counting them, I’m sure it would be at least in the hundreds, maybe in the thousands. And I never get tired of it. I never ever get tired of it. I never get tired of praying in other tongues, because once you’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit and you have initially spoken in tongues, then you find that you can do it anytime you want. The Holy Spirit’s always there within you, ready to give you the utterance.

And that’s thoroughly biblical. On the day of Pentecost, it says that those 120 that have gathered there in the upper room, it says, “They began to speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them the utterance.” The Holy Spirit doesn’t do the talking. No, sir. No, ma’am. You must do the talking, the speaking. It’s your mouth, your tongue, your vocal cords, your teeth, whatever you use to speak. But the Holy Spirit is the one who gives you the utterance to be able to speak in a language that you’ve never learned. And I mentioned in our last lesson, and this is kind of what I want to develop in this little lesson, the importance. This is just a fundamental, this is so important that in order to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, you have to believe. You have to have faith.

If you’re saying, “Lord, if it’s your will, please baptize me in the Holy Spirit,” can I tell you what’s going to happen? It’s his will, but you won’t get it, because you doubt, see. You have to have faith. And if you doubt, and if you reveal your doubt by saying, “Well, Lord, if it’s your will.” So, what you’re saying is, “Oh, Lord, I don’t know whether you want to baptize me in the Holy Spirit or not.” And so, how could you have faith then to be baptized in the Holy Spirit if you’re not sure it’s God’s will for you? All you can do then is hope. But faith, the author of Hebrews said, is the assurance of things hoped for. Right? Faith and hope are not the same. Hope always leaves room for the possibility that what you want, you may not get. Faith is assurance. It goes beyond hope. I’m certain that I’m going to receive this.

And in fact, Jesus took it one step further. He said, “Whatever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive it, and you shall have it.” So, Jesus said we have to get beyond believing we’re going to receive it, and we have to believe we receive it when we pray.

So, I’ve told you a couple of stories about people that I prayed for. In the last lesson, I told you a story about a guy that I had to pray for him three times. Not that it took three times for God to finally hear our prayers, it took three times before my friend, whom I was praying for, to exercise his faith. And had he done that the first time we prayed, we wouldn’t have had to pray three times. Okay? There’s nothing wrong with praying three times, but just recognize that the first two, if you didn’t receive the first two times, it’s because you had unbelief.

And people get mad about this. I feel so sorry for those people. Can I just say it honestly but with compassion? If you get mad about this, that shows that you need to adjust. Okay? There could be a little pride sneaking in there. And so, we need to humble ourselves, and admit that if it’s not working, it’s not God’s fault. God’s perfect. We are not.

And then the apostles, Jesus’ closest friends, sometimes they doubted. Remember, Peter doubted. He was walking on the water, and by faith. But when he looked at the wind and the waves, then he doubted, and that’s when he began to sink. And Jesus said to him, “Why did you doubt?” I think later on when they got in the boat, put him back in the boat. But notice, Jesus still had mercy on him, but he was still correcting him. When the disciples failed to cast out a demon, Jesus said, “Oh, this unbelieving and perverse generation. How long am I going to put up with you? Bring the kid to me.” Because the apostles had tried and failed. And one time they prayed, “Lord”… They asked, “Lord, increase our faith.” He said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could be moving mountains, guys.” So, the fault’s not up in heaven, the fault’s down here on earth. We need to correct ourselves.

Now, you have to believe it’s God’s will. That’s why I’m doing all these lessons. And if you haven’t watched them all, if you’re just watching this one, and this is the first one you’ve watched, well, go back, and let your mind be transformed, by the word of God, by all those promises that will build your faith until you get to that place where you can pray with assurance, “Lord, I know it’s your will for me to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and so I pray now expecting to receive right now. I believe I receive when I pray, not someday, right now.” And when you do that, and you act upon your faith, you do something with your mouth and your vocal cords, doesn’t have to be much, but you’re going to have to move them.

Now, in the third little lesson that I did on this, I demonstrated speaking in tongues. I’ll do it again, just for the sake of showing you how. I’m the one who’s speaking. I am totally conscious of my mouth moving and making sounds. I don’t know what I’m saying. It’s the utterance. The language is not coming from my brain. I never learned this language. It comes out of my spirit. So, here it goes.

(speaking in tongues).

That’s speaking in tongues. I don’t know what I said. I wish I did. And the cool thing is, I know it’s not coming out of my brain, because… For example, I’ve tested this. I found if I’m reading a book or let’s just say I’m reading the Bible, and my wife walks in the room and she starts conversing with me. I can’t do two things at once. I can’t be carrying on a conversation with her, and at the same time reading, continuing to read and understanding. I got to close the book or put the book down and focus on her. I can’t do that. Or for example, I can’t read the Bible and at the same time, recite multiplication tables, because my mind can’t do those two things at the same time. I’ve got to either recite the multiplication tables and not be reading and comprehending, or vice versa.

But I found that I can be reading the Bible and praying in tongues fluently, continually because I’m not using my mind to speak. I’m using my mind to read and comprehend. This utterance comes from the Holy Spirit out of my spirit. And the beautiful thing about this… There’s so many beautiful things about this, and this is why I want you to have it. And I’m not ashamed, and I’ll never be ashamed. Because this is biblical, no matter what any preacher says. One of the beautiful things is that it teaches you something about faith, because when you receive an instant miracle, and all of a sudden, you’re speaking in a language you’ve never learned, oh, my goodness. One person who has been watching these videos just wrote to me and said, “Oh, there’s so much…” She prayed and received. She said, “There’s so much joy in this.”

And it is. It is wonderful. When you receive a miracle, you realize, oh, my goodness, this is how it works. You have to pray with faith. And the Bible has been saying this all along. Jesus said, “Whatever you desire when you pray, believe you receive.” Jesus said in Matthew 21, 22, or 23, 24. It’s in there somewhere. “Everything you ask in prayer, believing you shall receive.” I think that’s Matthew 21, 22. Everything you ask in prayer, what? Believing you shall receive. So, you have to believe. So many times, Jesus said to people whom he healed, “Your faith has healed you.” And so, if they wouldn’t have had faith, they wouldn’t have been healed. I know that’s hard for some proud people to accept. A lot of preachers don’t like to hear anyone say that, but it’s the truth.

And James said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously without reproach, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being an unstable man.” See, James said, if you don’t have faith, you can’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. But you won’t expect it because you don’t want faith. The people that have faith, oh, my goodness. God loves it, for some reason. Because they’re not insulting him. When we don’t believe him, it’s insulting to God, because he can’t lie.

All right. So, I said all this to say, before you’re going to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, you have to have faith. You have to believe it’s God’s will. That’s why, what I found, and this will be a little lesson for all of you who want to help other people see the Holy Spirit. Ask them two questions before you pray. “Do you believe…” Well, ask them three questions. “Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Have you been born again?” Because they have to… You don’t want to pray for someone who hasn’t been born again.

Number two, “Do you believe it’s God’s will for you to be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues?” Listen, if they say, “Well, I don’t know,” don’t pray for them. They’re not ready. Or if they say, “Well, I sure hope so,” don’t pray for them. They’re not ready. Only pray for them if they say yes. And without hesitation. Yes, because it’s in the Bible.

And then ask them the third question. “When I lay my hands upon you, will you speak in tongues?” That’s the real test. Because if they really believe it, as they just said a second ago, then the answer to the next question is yes. God keeps his word. But if they say, “Oh, man, I’m really hoping I’ll speak in tongues,” don’t pray for them. Say, “Oh, you’re not ready.” You got to go from hope to faith.

So, soak yourself in all these promises from the word of God, and come back to me when you’re ready, when you know, when you believe that you’re going to speak in tongues when we pray. And of course, you don’t need anyone to lay hands upon you or pray for you. You can go straight to God. But sometimes, it helps people to feel like somebody’s praying for them, and someone who has confidence. And of course, one who’s ministering the Holy Spirit can encourage the one who wants to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But your faith is contagious. Faith is contagious. Remember those four guys that lowered their friend through the roof? The Bible says, Jesus looked up and he saw their faith. They were all believers. They were all encouraging their friend. “Let’s get you to Jesus. If we get you to Jesus, you’re going to be healed.” They all believed. I like believing friends, people that encourage me to have faith.

So, when you ask them those questions and they say yes to all of them, you don’t have to wait another second. You can say, “In Jesus’ name, receive the Holy Spirit” and lay your hand upon them, and they’ll be speaking in tongues, just like that. Because they’ll open their mouth. They’ll have so much faith that they’ll have so much expectation that they’re expecting right then to speak in tongues. And so, of course, they’re going to… and… out is going to come, speaking in tongues.

Okay. All right. We’re going to get back into the word of God in our next little lesson, talk more about these things. I think we’ll go to Acts chapter 19, and look at another case where believers, thoroughly saved, but they had not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they got baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Little Lessons Viewers are being Baptized in the Holy Spirit and Speaking in Tongues

The little lessons viewers are being baptized in the Holy Spirit and they’re speaking in tongues

We have been spending some weeks now on a specific topic, biblical topics speaking in other tongues, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And I know this is not the most important thing in the Bible. Believing in Jesus Christ as the son of God and making him your Lord is the most important thing in the Bible, but this is right up there near the top. God’s greatest gift to the world is Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. But God’s greatest gift to His children. Those who have believed in Jesus is the Holy Spirit. And He gives the Holy spirit to everyone who believes in Jesus. If you’re born again, you’re born of the spirit you have in you– The Holy Spirit.

Jesus said that, “Whoever believes in Him there’ll be a well of water within him springing up to everlasting or eternal life. But he also spoke in another place about the Holy Spirit being akin to rivers of living water flowing from your innermost being. So that’s kind of contrast. I think it’s in John 4, where Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit in us being a well of water springing up to eternal life. So just imagine a bubbling spring. That’s a nice, nice thought. But then He said in John 7, “Whoever believes in me”, as the scripture said, “From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water”. And then John goes on to comment this. He spoke of the spirit. So, there’s no doubt about that. He was speaking of the spirit and the water is symbolic of the spirit.

But in this case, it’s not just a little spring bubbling up. It’s rivers of living water flowing out of your innermost being. See, that’s the purpose of this second experience with the Holy Spirit. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit or being filled with the Holy Spirit. Then we go from the spring to the rivers. We’ll look at that more closely, once we finish our study in the book of Acts here, but speaking of the rivers of living water, I just got a communication from one of our beloved viewers. He tells us his name.,– It’s Mark. So God bless you Mark for writing to us. And he writes, I’m quoting from his letter verbatim now. “It has been a little over a week since I praying in tons as a result of watching these videos”. That’s great to hear! So you haven’t just been wasting my time here.

There are some of you who believe and are receiving and there’s going to be a whole lot more before we’re done. He said, “I know that praying in tongues is real, because now I’m praying with power”. The word power is in all caps “POWER!”. And that exclamation point. Now, I don’t know, how he actually knows that it could be just that he’s getting this wonderful feeling of power because when you do pray in tongues, you’re conscious of the fact that, wow! This, transcends my ability. This is the Holy Spirit, giving me utterances, perfect prayer, perfect praise to God. How could that not be powerful? But he’s feeling it here. And then he says, look at that ” Great changes are taking place”. And then he puts in capital letters, “DELIVERANCES exclamation point!

Now, I don’t know if he’s talking about deliverances for himself where maybe being delivered of, old habits or something, or he’s praying for other people and they’re being delivered of stuff. And I don’t know, what’s all wrapped up in his use of that term “Deliverances” because that can have different connotations. We could talk about just deliverance from, habits, or thoughts or emotions, bad emotions or could be deliverance from demons. Oh, that is scriptural. There are demons and people need to be delivered from them. But he said this now, “Before I pray in tongues, I always ask the Holy spirit to give utterance, to pray through me”. Well, I can tell you, Mark, you don’t have to even ask that, that happens automatically. Whenever you pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit’s going to give you the utterance and then, he says, “I thank him for praying through me”.

Well, that’s great! It’s good to be thankful for everything the Lord does for us and through us. And then he says, “Whenever I have a specific request”, so he’s got something in his mind that he wants to pray about. He says this, this is interesting — I thought. “I always ask the Holy spirit to pray through me, for that request”. And then he says, and “he does” capital D-O-E-S. “He does”, exclamation point, “in tongues”, exclamation point. “May God richly bless you”. He says to me, so that’s interesting because he’s saying I have a request in my mind something that I want to pray about. And so I asked the Holy spirit to help me to pray for that situation. Well, can you think of any reason why God wouldn’t answer that prayer? And you just say, now Lord there’s a situation that I’m concerned about, and I don’t know how to pray,– In fact that’s scriptural.

“We don’t know how to pray as we are”, that’s in Romans 8, isn’t it. “We don’t know how to pray as well, but the Holy Spirit helps us”, Paul said in Romans 8. So he’s saying, “I asked the Holy Spirit to help me”. And then, you know, for this request. And then he prays in tongues and he’s trusting that the Holy Spirit is answering his prayer as he’s praying it’s about whatever he asked to pray about. And I don’t see anything wrong with that. Uh, there’s a bit of mystery here, but, I can’t imagine that God would be displeased with that. I find myself that’s a practice of my own. If I have something, you know, a situation I’m praying about, “I pray with my mind,” as Paul said in the 1 Corinthians 14, in my case, it’s English. That’s my only language I know.

And then I realized to myself, yeah, there’s all kinds of factors that I’m unaware of here. Whatever it is I’m praying about. So I find myself then switching over and praying for a while in tongues and people that have done this for a long time, they’ll even tell you about times where they have felt that all of a sudden the Spirit is burdening them to pray about something and they get a burden of prayer and they pray through that burden until they feel a release from that burden. And so they feel, you know, somewhere in other than that the Holy spirit is using them. Now, I don’t even know why God needs us to pray. That’s beyond my peanut brain, but I’m not gonna stop praying because I don’t understand why he needs us to pray. But there’s lots of stories that have been told that I’ve heard over the years of people that were led to pray.

And they had some sense of what they were praying about the person or the situation. And later on, they found out maybe weeks or even months later that on that very day. And that very time they were praying and had a sense, they were praying for a certain person or a certain situation, that person or that situation was going on, right as they were praying. You know. So what a beautiful ministry that you could have a prayer ministry saying, “Lord, I just want to be a vessel of prayer and I can pray in other tongues”. And how could that, how could you, how could you be making a mistake praying in tongues? Paul said, “Pray without ceasing”. And this is I think incorporate and yet, I don’t know how you could pray in any literal sense without ceasing, without being able to pray in tongues.

And Paul said, “I thank God. I pray in tongues more than you all”. He spoke that to the Corinthian bunch who are really into tongues. So, Paul valued it very much And I encourage you to pray in tongues. Once this happened to you, the first time, you’ll see that it can happen to you anytime. You can do it anytime thereafter. Alright. So anyways, Little Lesson’s viewers are responding, in faith, the word that I’ve been sharing from the Bible and it’s working they’re praying to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and they are, are speaking in tongues just before I filmed this video, I got an email from some dear friends up in Canada and they said, I’m so glad you’re talking about this because this is something we’ve been longing for in our lives for a long time.

And they’re just wonderful people. Like I don’t even think about it without tearing up a little bit, cause there’s such a wonderful people. And I think, “Oh my goodness, I’m so happy that they will soon be baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues”. And I’m so happy for you, even though I can’t see you. Uh, but if you’ll just, if you haven’t watched all the lessons, just go back and watch them. I’m not sure which one we’re on now. I’m thinking it’s like 16 or 17 or something, but, um, just go back, find them on YouTube, at David Servant’s channel . And watch them all. And if you have questions after you watch them, then, you know, send us your questions. I’ll do my best to answer if I can. Okay, well, goodness gracious.

We’re out of time for today, I intended to get into another place in the book of Acts, where we have another incident of people being baptized in the Spirit. This is a really interesting one. So we’ll do it at our next Little Lesson until then.

Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

25 Years After Pentecost, people are still being Baptized in the Holy Spirit and Speaking in Tongues

25 years after Pentecost, people are still being baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

We’re talking about speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and our beloved viewers are listening. Their faith is growing and some of them are already praying and receiving this most wonderful, wonderful experience. I’m telling you, there’s nothing like it. And once you’ve prayed in tongues, you’re a changed person because it’s a miracle and you realize God’s using me to pray in a language that I’ve never ever learned, and it’s perfect prayer, and it’s Holy Spirit inspired prayer. It helps you to walk closer to God after this has happened to you because you’re just more conscious of His presence.

And if you make it a discipline where every day during your devotional time, you spend some time praying in tongues and throughout the day. You’re driving in your car and you’re all by yourself. You shouldn’t be doing it out in public where people think you’re a nut, but when you’re by yourself, you can talk to the Lord in other tongues just real quietly, or you can do it real loud if nobody can hear you. It’s just absolutely wonderful. If I had one wish that I can make come true, well, the first wish would be the whole world would believe in Jesus, but the second wish would be that every believer would be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. And don’t get me wrong, the Holy Spirit’s got a lot more to offer than speaking in tongues.

I mean, there’s the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit that are listed there in 1 Corinthians 12. But this is the door. This is where it starts being clothed with power from on high. That’s what Jesus said to His disciples. Wait in Jerusalem. Don’t leave. Don’t try to do anything until you’re clothed with power from on high. And then, then, you’ll be my witnesses. Right? So, that’s another benefit that comes with more of the Holy Spirit. We’re a better witness than we were before. Oh, it’s just marvelous. So, I’m glad you’re listening. I’m glad you’re spiritually hungry. If this is the first video you’re watching, stop, go watch the other ones, and make sure you get it all.

Okay. So, now today we’re going to be in Acts 19, and Bible scholars who try to figure this stuff out say that what you and I are about to read from Acts 19 occurred somewhere between 25 and maybe 28 years after the day of Pentecost. Okay? So, Jesus ascended to heaven 25 years earlier. And on the day of Pentecost, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They spoke in tongues. And we’ve looked at several instances over the course of reading through parts of the book of Acts where the same thing happened. Acts 8, Acts 9, Acts 10, and now Acts 19. 25, at least, maybe 28, maybe a little more years after the day of Pentecost.

Now, listen closely. Try to just forget what they told you and just be open to the pure, simple Word of God. Okay? Because you have just as much right to read the Bible as any theologian. And the Bible was not written for theologians. Right? The book of Acts was written by Luke and he wrote it to a guy named Theophilus, which many people think wasn’t even a real person. He just represents anyone who’s hungry for God because Theophilus, that actually means lover of God.

So, if you’re a lover of God, this was written for you. And the book of Acts wasn’t written so that we can reminisce about the good old days and how wonderful it would have been to live back then. It was to show us the pattern, the pattern for the church. All right. Are you ready? Acts 19:1. It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and he came to Ephesus. He eventually wrote a letter to the Ephesians but this was before that. And he found some disciples. So, he’s located some people, Luke calls them disciples here and he said to them, he asked these disciples… Listen to this question and how revealing it is. Paul, the apostle Paul, the guy that wrote two-thirds of the New Testament asked this theological question of these disciples. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Now, think about that question, what that reveals.

Paul, talking to some people he just met, who Luke calls them disciples, he asked the question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Now, that shows clearly that Paul believed that you could believe in Jesus but not have received the Holy Spirit. Now, we never would want to put all our eggs in one basket. We would never want to say this verse is the sum total of all theology. No, God gave us the whole Bible. So, there’s plenty other scriptures that show us that everyone who believes in Jesus is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They’re born of the Spirit. But we’re going to see here, as we keep reading, that Paul is talking about the second experience that should commonly occur for every born again Christian. And that is, he calls it here, receiving the Holy Spirit. He assumed they received Jesus, but did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed. Now, listen to their answer. And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

So, this is completely foreign to them. We wouldn’t even know about the Holy Spirit. Who’s that? What’s that? You asked us if we received the Holy Spirit. We haven’t even heard there is a Holy Spirit. So, obviously, they didn’t receive him because they didn’t even know it was possible to receive him. And so then more clarity is coming as the conversation goes. So, Paul says, he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So, obviously, although Luke didn’t record it, in their initial conversation here, they had said they had been baptized. He knew that they were baptized and he was assuming that they were baptized in Christian baptism, which, again, I’m not going to fight about this, but they’ve been baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And so that seems like maybe that’s why Paul is asking them, “You never heard there’s a Holy Spirit, but you’ve said you got baptized in water.” Well, if you were baptized in the water, he’d have said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” because that’s what it says in Matthew 20:28, when Jesus said, “Go into all the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.”

And so there’s a little confusion here. And so to answer his question, “Into what then were you baptized?” they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Oh, the light bulb goes off for Paul. You’re baptized, but you never received baptism, a Christian baptism. You go all the way back to John the Baptist. You repented of your sins and he baptized you, and that’s all the further you’ve ever gone in at least 25 years actually… Excuse me. It could have been as many as 30 years ago, these guys were baptized by John and whatever they got from John, it stuck. They’re trying to follow God, but they didn’t know the rest of the story. Oh my goodness.

So, Paul begins to explain. “Okay, I got it now. You’re baptized. You weren’t baptized in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit because you’re baptized by John.” So, he said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him.” And that is what John did. Right? And then Paul goes on, “That is in Jesus.” So, they didn’t stick around long enough to get that message from John. So, look at this. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So, Paul said, “Hey, good that you got baptized by John. But Jesus said you’re supposed to be baptized in a Christian baptism.” And it says here they got baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, which some people take that verse and say, “You see? They didn’t baptize the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They baptize in the name of Jesus.”

I’m not going to fight about that. When I baptize people, I always baptize them in the name of the Father and the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus. I just make sure I get it all covered. All right. Now, we’re out of time. What a cliffhanger this is, but we’ll pick up here in our next Little Lesson and you’ll see what happens next. But these are people who, again, Paul said, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” It’s irrefutable that Paul believed that one could believe but not… Believe in Jesus because that’s what he assumed at first, because he knew they were baptized disciples. Paul believed you could be a baptized disciple of Jesus but not yet have received the Holy Spirit. There’s no arguing with that because that’s what his question reveals. Okay.

Until then, may the Lord bless you richly.

The Holy Spirit falls in Ephesus

The Holy Spirit falls in Ephesus.

We’re doing a series on speaking in other tongues and the baptism and the Holy spirit. And we’ve been doing this for weeks now, laying a foundation, and our viewers are having their faith growing in all this. Their knowledge, first of all, is increasing. Their understanding is increasing. And consequently, their faith is growing. And some are praying with faith and receiving what the Bible calls the baptism in the Holy Spirit and they’re speaking in other tongues and they’re quite excited about it. I’ve read a couple of their testimonies already to you as we’ve been going through this series.

So in our last little lesson, we left off in Acts chapter 19. 25 to as much as 28 years after the day of Pentecost, Paul is on one of his missionary journeys again and he’s separated from Apollos. Apollos is at Corinth. Paul’s traveling now through Ephesus. Excuse me. And he finds some disciples there and there’s little confusion because he thinks they’re disciples of Jesus, but he finds out that, “Oh my goodness, no, you were baptized but under the preaching of John the Baptist and you’ve never heard the rest of the story, what happened after John.”

So Paul thought there was something missing, something wrong because he asked them this question. This is in Acts chapter 19 in verse number two, these disciples, he said, “Did you receive the Holy spirit when you believed?” So he’s assuming that they believed in Jesus, but he’s wondering if they received the Holy Spirit. So that shows that Paul believed that there was experienced subsequent to salvation or believing in Jesus, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Well, they were clueless. They said, “We didn’t even hear there was a Holy Spirit.”

John says, “Well, how did you get baptized then?” And they said, “We were baptized by John the Baptist.” Paul realizes, “Oh my goodness, these guys are living 30 years in the past. We’ve got to bring them up to date.” And he says, “Hey, John baptized with the baptism of repentance telling everyone to believe in the one who was coming that is Jesus.” So they’re right on with the program. So if they didn’t believe in Jesus prior to this moment when they’re talking to Paul, they now have become believers in Jesus. You can be sure of that because the next verse we read that Paul baptizes them in water. Even though that they were baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river, now they’re getting Christian baptism and Paul would have never baptized them if they hadn’t made a convincing profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Right? Right.

And when they did that, of course, they were born of the spirit. So the Holy Spirit did it work in their spirit. And I think there’s plenty of evidence to indicate in the Bible that they were then indwelt by the Holy Spirit. There was the well of water springing up to eternal life. We’ll look at that in future little lessons, but now comes a very interesting part of this story. So as soon as Paul has baptized them in water, these are new believers, it says, “And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them.” Huh?

See? Subsequent to their salvation within perhaps minutes. But subsequent. Paul didn’t say, “Okay, you’ve got everything there is to get now. Nothing more. Go in peace. Be warmed and be filled.” No. He said, “Okay, now you’re born again. And now we need to get you clothed with power from on high. You’ve got the Holy Spirit indwelling you. Now we need the Holy Spirit upon you. We need those rivers of living water flowing out of you,” John chapter seven. And so he lays his hands upon them so that they would receive the second experience, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And when he does lay his hands upon them, they start… It says they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. These Ephesians got something even more than speaking in tongues at that time. One of the nine gifts of the spirit began to operate through them and they began to prophesize. So they get inspired utterance in other tongues, and they get inspired utterance in their known language, prophesy.

And then Luke says in verse number seven, “There were in all about 12 men.” So that’s the start of the church at Ephesus. The church in Ephesus started with 12 tongue talkers, 12 Pentecostals. Boy. I know that’s hard for anti-tongues fundamentalists to swallow, but it’s irrefutable from the Bible. And why there’s opposition against speaking in other tongues is totally beyond me especially by churches that claim to be Bible believing churches. We believe the Bible, but we won’t let that speaking in tongues stuff around here.” Well, you don’t believe the Bible. You don’t believe that part anyways, what we just read?

“Well, that was for the early church only,” some say. Well, I’m sorry, but millions of millions of Christians, tens of millions of Christians around the world today have experienced exactly what these folks in Ephesus experienced. And I’m one of them and some of our viewers are newly baptized in the Holy Spirit and they’re speaking in tongues and I’ve read their testimonies to you as we’ve been going through these lessons.

All right? All right. So this is good stuff. And don’t get mad, get glad. Okay? Listen you old dried up prune, you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit and you won’t hate people like me anymore. God will set you free in a million ways. All right? And I’m telling you what? God is so good. He’s so mercifully. He baptizes old prunes in the Holy Spirit if they believe in Jesus, if they’re believing prunes and if they’ll believe that it’s God’s will for them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

So you notice in this story, there’s no intimation that Paul said, “Well, this is for some of you and not for all of you,” because we know that Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “Do all speak in tongues?” And the obvious answer to that rhetorical question is no, not all speak in tongues. Now we’ll cover that when we get to it in 1st Corinthians. But you notice that in this case, all spoke in tongues just like on the day of Pentecost, all spoke in tongues. It’s not just something for a few.

Now, you say, “Well, then how come Paul said do all speak in tongues?” Well, because Paul wasn’t talking about specifically what we’re just reading about here. Paul was talking about ministries. Ministries. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Do all speak in tongues? No. Well, there’s actually a ministry that it involves speaking in tongues, but it’s not what we’re reading here in Ephesians chapter 19 or in Acts chapter two or other places in acts where it talks about people were baptized in the Holy spirit and spoke in tongues. Okay? There’s different usages of tongues.

Paul talks in 1st Corinthians about how when I pray in tongues, my mind is unfruitful. If there’s no interpretation, I should keep quiet in church. But there’s clearly a gift of the spirit called various kinds of tongues, which is always accompanied by the gift of interpretation. See? So that’s a public ministry of tongues. What we’re reading about here is not. This is a private devotional gift for the most part. You’re not supposed to do it publicly. Primarily, you’re supposed to do it privately because there’s no interpretation and your mind is unfruitful. You don’t know what you’re saying.

But if God’s called you to be an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor, a teacher, or someone who has the ministry of tongues, you’ll be giving messages in tongues to groups of Christians and it will be accompanied by the interpretation so everyone will know what was said because Paul said, “If you just speak in tongues, no one knows what you’re saying. What good is that for anybody else except for you? You’re only edifying yourself. You’re not edifying anybody else.” So in this case, you see all these folks receive the Holy Spirit because that was the first question Paul asked them. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? He was a Pentecostal, I guess.

And when he finds out they hadn’t even been baptized in Christian baptism, he takes care of that. And then he goes back to the real thing. I asked you, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit? You didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit. Well, now we’re going to help you see the Holy Spirit. I’m going to lay my hands upon you. You’re already born again. You’re already saved. If you died right now, you’d go to heaven. But now we want the rivers of living water flowing out from your innermost being. You need more of the Holy Spirit than just what you got when you’re born again. So now you’re going to be filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized in Holy Spirit, and it’s evidenced by outcome speaking in other tongues.

All right? You got it. I made it just biblical here. Biblical. And I read a theologian one time who wrote a book against what I’m talking about here. And he had all his explanations, but no basis in the Bible whatsoever. And I feel sorry for him misleading all of those people who believed what he wrote. Robbed them of God’s greatest blessing for his children, the baptism in the Holy spirit. And not only do you get blessed, but then you become more of a blessing. Then you can pray with the help of the Holy Spirit in a deeper way and you will find other things happen in your life once you’re baptized with the spirit to make you a bigger blessing.

So when people preach against what I’m talking about right here over these last weeks on little lessons, you’re not only robbing people of blessing to be baptized, but you’re robbing them of being a blessing to a greater degree by virtue of the fact that they’d be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You don’t want to do that. You don’t want to do that. And I know God’s merciful, but He sends people like me to try to stir you up a little bit and maybe shake something out of you or shake something into you that you’ll start taking seriously what the Bible has been saying all along.

All right. So keep watching. And again, if you haven’t watched all of them, watch them all and your faith will grow. And then when you’re baptized in Holy Spirit, you speak in tongues, please let me know. All right? Okay. A lot more to say on this subject.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The final Verdict on the Book of Acts regarding the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

The final verdict on the Book of Acts in regard to the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

We’ve just completed a survey of the Book of Acts, every place we could find something relevant to the topic. And we found actually five places in total where the historical record that Luke recorded for us in the Book of Acts says something about people being baptized in the Holy Spirit or filled with the Holy Spirit, of the Holy Spirit falling upon a group of people, and any place we found mention of speaking in tongues. And we found actually a total of five places. They are in Acts Two, Acts Eight, Nine, and 10, and Acts 19.

And in this Little Lesson, I want you to just review them to try to determine if there’s a consistent pattern in what we’re seeing, because I don’t believe that the Book of Acts was recorded so we could all think about how wonderful it would have been to live back in that day, but we can never ever experience what they experienced in our day. No, I think it’s recorded for us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to help us always know what is the pattern for Jesus building his church, and he builds his church by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s quite evident in the Book of Acts. You take out the Holy Spirit and his work for the Book of Acts and you’ve got nothing really of any significance left. And if there’s anything that the modern church needs more than anything else, besides actually a return to a biblical Gospel, we need the power of the Holy Spirit.

So as we looked at these five instances in the Book of Acts, we were looking for little indications that would help us understand the pattern that we should expect for ourselves today. Was the baptism in the Holy Spirit that we read about in these chapters, did it happen simultaneous with salvation? When people believed in Jesus, did they get all that they could possibly get of the Holy Spirit at that moment, or were there instances where the baptism in the Holy Spirit was subsequent to salvation? And was there speaking in tongues mentioned as the initial evidence in these various cases? And if there was, did just a few speak in tongues or did all speak in tongues? And so by looking at this survey if the Book of Acts, it’s going to help us to know what is God’s will for us? And then, of course, that’s the whole of this series, is to build faith in you so that you can receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, like I have received and like tens of millions of other Christians have received.

Okay, so let’s go through the survey very, very quickly, but not rushing. Acts Chapter Two, on the Day of Pentecost, 120 people were in the upper room. The Holy Spirit came upon them. They had these manifestations of tongues of fire sound like a mighty rushing wind, and so forth. That’s unique for that instance. But there was speaking in tongues, and everybody, there’s no indication that only a few, only a small percentage of this. No, it seems to indicate that all 120 spoke in tongues. So the initial evidence for there, baptism in the Holy Spirit for 120 people was that they spoke in tongues. And was their experience subsequent to salvation? Well, yes, of course. All those 120 people, had they died prior to the Day of Pentecost, they would have gone to heaven. So they were saved. Now, I think, just to be fair, they couldn’t have been baptized in the Holy Spirit simultaneous with their salvation, because it wasn’t till the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Okay, so in all fairness to the actual record.

So then we went to Acts Chapter Eight when, after the great persecution that arose in connection with Stephen, Phillip later is called an Evangelist, goes down to the Samaria, preaches the Gospel to them in Samaria, and this is a little bit of a missionary activity here because these are not just straight, strict, pure bred Jews, and so forth. But many people are responding when they see these miracles that are done by the Holy Spirit through Philip. We read, and this was really a crystal clear scripture that, when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, and so there’s proof. They had received it. They actually had been baptized in water, and there was no doubt they were safe. Phillip would have never baptized them had they not made an authentic profession of faith in Jesus Christ. But when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John down to them, two preeminent Apostles to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

So the baptism in the Holy Spirit was subsequent to salvation by days, weeks, maybe even months for the Christians in Samaria, the new Christians there. Did they speak in tongues? It doesn’t say they spoke in tongues, but Simon the magician, remember this one, he saw something fantastic happening when Peter and John were laying hands upon people and they were being baptized in the Holy Spirit. He had already seen great joy. He had already seen many miracles, demons being cast out of people, already seen paralyzed and lame people walking according to the record in the Book of Acts. So what he saw it must have been fantastic, because he tried to buy the power to be able to do what Peter and John did, and they, of course, rebuked him for it. So some of the early church fathers, they’re writing’s say, “What was it that Simon saw?” He saw them and heard them speaking in tongues.

So it doesn’t emphatically say they spoke in tongues, but something very supernatural was happening. It’s safe to assume that it was speaking in tongues. And, again, it was subsequent to salvation, and no indication that just some, all. Acts Chapter Nine, Saul on the road to Damascus, a big persecutor of the church. He’s knocked down on the road to Damascus. And you know the story. He’s blinded. He’s led into Damascus. He’s told to wait there, and then eventually God sends one of his servants, Ananias, to go and lay hands upon him that Paul, Saul, might receive his sight and that he might also receive the Holy Spirit, according to Ananias’ own testimony. And so there’s no doubt that Saul was saved prior to Ananias getting there to lay hands upon him to receive his sight. Because on the road to Damascus, he was knocked down by the Lord. “Who are you, Lord, that I am persecuting?” “I am Jesus.”

Well, I think that probably Saul believed in Jesus from that point onward, and he obeyed his new Lord and went to Damascus. There’s no way he wasn’t a Christian at that point in time and didn’t believe in Jesus. Come on. So it was three days after he was born again that Saul, later Paul, was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t say Luke didn’t record that he spoke in tongues right there, but we all know that Paul the Apostle was a tongue talker. He told the Corinthians, “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” And did all speak in tongues? Well, there’s only one guy. Yes, all did. Paul did. Acts Chapter 10, when Cornelius’ household receives the Gospel from Peter, who comes down from Joppa by divine direction. And as he’s preaching the Gospel, the Holy Spirit falls upon them. So, in this case, was their baptism in the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation? Doesn’t seem like it was. It seems like it was simultaneous, or if not simultaneous, within a second of them being born again.

Now, understand, the Jewish believers and Peter who were there, they had a hard enough time believing that Gentiles could be saved. This was the first time. And they would have never, ever laid their hands upon these guys and prayed for these guys to be baptized in the Spirit. God did it sovereignly. Was there speaking in tongues? Yes, that’s how all the Jewish believers knew that they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, because they heard them speaking in other tongues. And Peter said, “How could we refuse water in baptism for these folks that have received the Holy Spirit just like we did years ago on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem?” I think it was nine years earlier. So, subsequent to salvation? No, but did they speak in tongues. Yes. Was it all or just a few? It seems like it was all. And then finally Acts Chapter 19, Paul is on his missionary journey up up in Ephesus. He comes across some disciples. This is pretty recent in our little lessons.

And you remember the story, he asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Obviously, Paul believed that it was subsequent to salvation. And after he then led them to the Lord, in a sense, and baptized them in Christian baptism, then, then after they’re saved and have made a profession of faith in Christ, then he lays his hands upon them and they all start speaking in tongues. So it was their baptism in the Holy Spirit was subsequent to their salvation. They spoke in tongues and it wasn’t just a few of them, it was all 12 men. And there you have all the evidence. Now, there are theologians who try to tell us, bless their hearts, that, “The Book of Acts is not a theological book, but it’s just a historical record for us. It’s not a pattern for the church and we shouldn’t try to build any doctrines from the Book of Acts. Oh no, it’s just a historical rendition. But if we want theology, we should go into the Epistles and such.”

Well, where is that in the Bible? Where does it say anywhere in the Bible that the Book of Acts is just a historical record, that we shouldn’t build any theology from the Book of Acts? Oh my goodness. Come on. This is so easy only a theologian could miss it. This is so obvious only a theologian could miss it. There are words of Christ in the Book of Acts that you won’t find anywhere else in the Gospels or in the Epistles. That’s right. In one of the sermons of one of the Apostles, he said, remember the Lord told us, “It’s more blessed to give than receive.” That’s only in the Book of Acts. “But we don’t want to pattern or anything after the Book of Acts because it’s just a book of history and not theology.” No, no, no, sir. You’re wrong, and you need to get a Christian life, because just because you’re a theologian doesn’t mean you’re a Christian.

Okay, so I have come to the conclusion that if you’re going to have a New Testament experience, you need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit at some point in time after you’re born again, unless God sovereignly baptizes you in the Holy Spirit within a second of when you were born again, like he did to the folks in Samaria. But that was an exception, not the rule. The general pattern we see the Book of Acts is baptism in the Holy Spirit subsequent to salvation, initial evidence, evidence that pervades all of these. Now, again, some had unique things. On the Day of Pentecost, they saw tongues of fire. They heard a mighty rushing wind. In Ephesus, they not only spoke in tongues, they prophesied. But the consistent thing throughout all of them is speaking in other tongues. So that’s the initial evidence that you could have faith to expect. And is it just for a few or does the Book of Acts indicate that it’s for everyone who believes, every believer? The Book of Acts confirms it’s for everybody. It’s not just for a few.

And you say, “Yeah, but the Bible says, ‘Do all speak in tongues?'” And the answer is, obviously, no. Yes, I know that we’re going to come to that eventually. I have briefly touched on that in the past, but you don’t want to build your theology on one little scripture. That’s a rule. Build your theology on the entire revelation. That’s why I’ve just looked at all five examples in the Book of Acts. So hopefully, your faith is growing. If you haven’t already been baptized in the Holy Spirit, well, why don’t you pray and ask God and faith and believe you receive when you pray and open your mouth, expecting that the Lord will give you the utterance by the power of the Holy Spirit and start speaking in other tongues? We’re getting reports from our viewers that that’s exactly what some of them are doing. And there’s a lot more to come.

All right. I’m happy. I hope you’re happy. And don’t quit. Don’t give up. Don’t lose any hope. Nope, nope, nope, nope. Stick with us and keep watching these lessons.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

You have the Well of Water, but do you have the Rivers of Living Water?

You have the well of water, but do you have the rivers of living water?

We’re in the midst of a series of lessons on the biblical topic of speaking in other tongues, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And my, my, my, has it been fun. And it’s been so nice to hear from a number of our viewers that they’ve been listening, and faith has grown in their hearts, and they’ve prayed, and they’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit. They’re now speaking in tongues every day and loving every minute of it. And if it hasn’t happened to you yet, this could be your day. It’s just a matter of your faith getting to the point where you’re convinced it is the will of God and you desire it.

And then believing that you receive when you pray, as Jesus taught us to do. Now, in today’s lesson I want to just consider two things that Jesus said. They’re both found only in the Gospel of John. Both about the Holy Spirit. And I want to show you, this is one more indication, and I would never just take these couple of verses and build my total theology on them. But these two passages that we’re going to look at, I think add weight and evidence to what I’ve been persuaded of and trying to persuade you of all along here, is that there is a second experience subsequent to salvation, and it could be referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The initial evidence for that is speaking in other tongues. It doesn’t matter what denomination you are, what church you go to.

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, this is for you. You don’t have to be a charismatic or a Pentecostal. In fact, I’d kind of almost encouraged you not to be a charismatic, because there’s so much goofiness in charismatic circles. Okay, Lord have mercy. John chapter four, and this is the very familiar story, when Jesus was talking to the woman at the Well of Samaria. We’ve been looking at Samaria lately here in the Book of Acts. But Jesus asked her for a drink, because the disciples have gone into the city to buy food. And she’s a little bit taken back by the fact that he, a Jew, was asking her, even speaking to her, a Samaritan woman.

Because as we read the commentary in John’s Gospel in chapter four and verse number nine or so, it is Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him. And he would have given you living water.” Jesus is speaking in somewhat cryptic terms at this point in time, but he’s trying to grab her interest. She doesn’t get it at first. She said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with. And the well is deep, where then do you get that living water?”

You are not greater than our father. Jacob, are you who gave us this well, et cetera, et cetera. And so Jesus responds and he says, “Everyone who drinks of this water. This water in Jacob’s well, will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” And so, again, I’m sure she was scratching her head to some degree, as he’s saying these things. But you know the rest of the story, how Jesus supernaturally knows that she’s had five husbands and so forth. And gets her attention, and she becomes like an evangelist there in Samaria. But here’s what I want to focus on. Jesus promised, I can give you living water.

You’ll never thirst. Well, he obviously wasn’t talking literally about literal water. He’s talking about something spiritual here. Living water. And if you drink it, you’ll never thirst. Well, that means it fills a spiritual hunger for you. That once it’s filled, you never have to have that hunger ever again. And that water, it’s akin to a well of water. And it has something to do with eternal life. Getting eternal life. The water that I give him will become in him a well. So you become a well. And water is within you, and it springs up to eternal life. I’m not claiming to understand everything that Jesus is trying to convey in that or all the spiritual significance. But I think it’s very clear, he’s talking about the Holy Spirit, symbolized by water. And if you believe in him, drink of his water as it were, your spiritual thirst is satisfied.

You’ve found what you’ve been looking for all your life. It’s the answer to everything. And you get eternal life. And so you have this deposit of Holy Spirit in you that gives you eternal life. There’s probably other ways of looking at it. But that’s the basic message here. Okay? Now, it doesn’t actually say here that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit. But now we’re going to go just three chapters later in John chapter seven. This is when Jesus travels up to Jerusalem during the annual feast of booths. When all the Jews make these little huts and live in them for a little while. We read in John 7:37. Now on the last day, the great the day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone is thirsty…” Well, here’s that thirsty theme again. It reminds me of what Jesus said to that woman at the well.

“If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink.” Jesus is offering some kind of water. Obviously not physical, literal water, but something symbolized by water. He, who believes in me, as the scripture said from his inner most beings shall flow rivers of living water. Now, this is different than what Jesus said to the women at the well. To her, he’s talked about a well of water within you springing up. Bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep. Springing up. Bloop, bloop, bloop. I should say bloop. Springing up to eternal life. But this time he talks about from your innermost being. You drink from Jesus, something, because you’re thirsty. And then the consequences, the result is out of your inner most being flow rivers of living water. This is a little different picture than the little spring of water. Now, in this case, it’s very clear because John gives the commentary. But this, he spoke of the spirit.

So there’s no doubt now, in John seven at least, the water represents the spirit. Whom those who believed in him were to receive. For the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. I think it’s safe to say, because the similarities between John four, Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. And what Jesus said in John chapter seven, as it’s recorded there. Again, both times he talked about being thirsty and drinking of water that he gives. John, in chapter seven, says, he’s talking about the spirit. Well, what else could he have been talking about in John chapter four? Comes in you a well of water, springing up to eternal life. Here’s my thoughts as we wind this down. I’m inclined to believe that in John chapter four, Jesus was talking about being born again. Being born of the spirit.

Everyone who believes in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live and dwell inside that person who believes. You get eternal life. It’s wonderful. It’s for your primary benefit, for your own personal benefit primarily. But in John chapter seven, Jesus was talking about something a little different than that. Same Holy Spirit, but a different work of the Holy Spirit. I think he’s talking about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. A different experience than being born of the spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, different experience than being just in dwelt by the spirit when you’re born again.

And this is not primarily for your benefit, it’s actually primarily for the benefit of others, because it’s symbolized here, by rivers of living water flowing out from your inner most being. Well, that’s pretty exciting, isn’t it? Okay. So if you want to be a blessing, if you want to serve others, administer to others, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’d seem like this would be a good place to start. Get a drink of that water from Jesus and get those rivers start flowing.

And one of those rivers is the river of tongues, speaking in other tongues. It is wonderful. All right. I only brought all this up just to show you, here’s one more indication in scripture. Because the scripture is consistent in its testimony along these lines. There is an experience subsequent to salvation. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the rivers of living water flowing out from you.

After I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, that’s when I started feeling those rivers. I can only say that all the fruit that has come forth from my life, that’s when I was… Certainly, after I felt called to ministry. But all the fruit in my life, anything that’s good and lasting anyways, because I’ve had a few Ishmael’s here and there. But all the blessings to other people have been… It all started when I was baptized in the Holy Spirits and those rivers started flowing.

And those rivers have flown all over the world now. I’m trusting that there’s going to be more rivers flowing, but not just for me, but for you. The more rivers we can get flowing, the better here. Right? Okay. Okay. Believe, and receive, and pray and ask the Lord, “Please, baptize me in the Holy Spirit, because I want rivers of living water flowing from me.” And then say, “I believe it.” Because it’s clearly your will. We just read it in John chapter seven. It’s your promise. And so I believe, I receive as I pray. Because that’s what Jesus said to do. Don’t believe you’re going to receive, believe you receive when you pray, Mark 11:23 and 24. And then have faith. Step out in the water, open your mouth and let it flow. Begin to speak in another language. You will be conscious that you are speaking.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t make you, doesn’t force you. He gives you the utterance. You do the speaking. Okay. When that happens, let me know. Okay. And I won’t tell anybody else too.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Proof Positive That God Wants to give you His Holy Spirit

Proof positive that Jesus wants to give you his Holy Spirit.

Those of you who are regular viewers know that we have been embarking on a series about speaking in other tongues and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And this will actually be our 23rd little lesson in the series. So I don’t think we’ve ever gone longer in any series than this. We’ve got hours and hours of teaching now. And if you’ve missed the first 22 lessons, it would be great if you’d go back and find the first one, then work your way in this direction so that you’re caught up with the rest of us. And also so that your faith is founded in all of the scriptures that we’ve already looked at so closely. And today I want to look at another very relevant scripture to this topic, words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

He is the authority. He is the head of the church, he’s he in charge of the body of Christ, and so I’m going to stick with Jesus, even if Jesus contradicts what any theologian, past, present, or future tells me. Any preacher, any pastor, it doesn’t make any difference. Jesus has the final word on every topic. And I found a scripture in Luke’s gospel that if you have any doubts whatsoever, if there is an experience with the Holy Spirit that is subsequent to salvation, because as I’ve said over and over again in this series, if you’re born again, you’ve had an initial experience with the Holy Spirit. Sure, you’re born of the spirit, you’re in dwelt by the spirit. Jesus compared it to a well of water springing up to eternal life. That’s what he told the woman at the well of Samaria. “If you ask of me, I’ll give you living water.”

We’ve covered all that in the past. And so I’m not going to go into it again, but if you have any doubts whether it’s right or appropriate for someone who’s already born of the spirit, already in dwelt by the spirit to ask God for another experience with the Holy Spirit, which the Bible calls being baptized in the Holy Spirit or being filled with the Holy Spirit. If you have ever had any doubts about that and you shouldn’t by now, if you’re following this series, because we’ve looked at the historical record of the Book of Acts, and we’ve seen the experiences of the early church and how they clearly believe that there was a second experience that followed being born of the spirit, called being baptized in the Holy Spirit. If you still have doubts, I’ve got a scripture for you that should erase any doubt today. And it’s found in Luke chapter 11 and verse number 13. But before I read that verse, I want to read another verse that’s similar to it that Jesus said something very similar at a different time. It was actually during the sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. So let’s read that first.

This is from Matthew seven and verse number 11. Jesus said to his disciples who were listening that day, “If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” Now let’s just pause right there and think about Jesus’ logic. Or maybe a better way to say it would be Jesus’ progression of persuasion, progression of thought here. “If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” So even evil people who are basically bad people, even terribly rotten people give gifts to their children. They have that much virtue in them, at least that much. So that’s the comparison.

If you Jesus, speaking to his disciples now, the people who decided to follow him. “If you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” Now, listen, “how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him.” What a fantastic promise and what a beautiful faith builder that verse is, because it helps us to understand how good God is. I love giving gifts to my children. All my children are grown and married and have their own children. I still love giving gifts to my children and now to my grandchildren, because I love them. I’m their father, I’m their grandfather. And so Jesus is saying, you understand that, well, God, who’s not evil at all, who’s perfect in purity and love. How much more will he give good gifts to those who ask him? So all we need to determine is, what kind of good gifts is he talking about there?

All right, well, Jesus said something very similar as recorded in Luke’s gospel. And this is the verse I really wanted us to look at in today’s little lesson, Luke 11 and verse number 13. Listen to this one now. This was spoken on a different occasion, but Jesus borrowed some of the same progression of persuasion. “If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” So instead of saying, give good gifts, he said, give the Holy Spirit. So clearly Jesus believes that the Holy Spirit is a good gift that the father desires to give to his children. And what is so undeniably obvious in this verse is that it, once again affirms the idea that there is a second experience with the Holy Spirit beyond just being born again, because this is a promise to God’s children.

How much more will your heavenly father? Well, God is not the heavenly father of those who are not born again. Oh my goodness, no. Spiritually speaking, those who are not born again, they have Satan as their spiritual father. At one time, Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, you are of your father, the devil. He was a liar from the beginning. And so are you guys. And so only those who have believed in Jesus, repented of their sins and been born again, can honestly say and claim that God is their spiritual father. So this is a promise to those who have already made that step. God is already their spiritual father. They’re already born again. We know they’re already born of the spirit and in dwelt by the spirit, but here’s a promise to those people. “If you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

That’s a promise only applies to Christians, those who have already been born of the spirit. And apparently according to Jesus, in spite of what any theologian or other preacher or teacher might tell you, apparently Jesus believes it’s right, appropriate, biblical for Christians to ask their heavenly father for the Holy Spirit. And there you have it. It’s inescapable, it’s irrefutable, it’s there in black and white, or if you’ve got a red letter edition of the Bible, it’s there in red and white, the very words of Jesus Christ. And so this entire series of lessons, my primary motivation of course, is to persuade you that it is God’s will for you as a born again believer to then be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And the biblical record and evidence shows us that the initial sign that will accompany that, the biblical sign, is speaking in other tongues.

So there you have it. And of course, this is just one little 10 minute little lesson. We’ve, again, covered quite a few hours of teaching on this already. So this is just one more snippet, but it’s a snippet that adds to the preponderance of the biblical evidence of what is God’s will in this matter. Okay. So hopefully, if you weren’t persuaded until today, now you’ve been persuaded.

In our next couple of lessons, we’re going to look into what Paul said in First Corinthians about speaking in tongues and how it ought to be utilized properly within church gatherings and the difference between receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues and something that’s similar to that, but yet distinct from that. And that is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit called various kinds of tongues, which always, if it’s the true gift, always has the accompanying gift of the interpretation of tongues.

All right. So we’ll look into that and see what Paul has to say. Thank you so very much for joining me.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post What Is Speaking in Other Tongues? appeared first on David Servant.

In this episode of Little Lessons, Bible teacher David Servant offers hope to those who have had an abortion in the past and wonder if God will forgive them. Learn more!

In this little lesson, I want to address those women who have had an abortion. And I guess I could also include those men who have encouraged the women they’ve been impregnated to have an abortion, because they’re equally as guilty, and equally as in need of forgiveness from God. Let me preface all this by saying, and this is a kind of a follow-up on my last Little Lesson, which I really, really hope if you haven’t seen that one that you will watch it, because it goes into the core issues.

But let me preface all this by saying that God has pretty much pointed his finger of condemnation to all of us, yours truly, as well as every other human being in the world. The Bible makes it so clear that we’re all sinners, to some level. I grant you, some are worse sinners than others, and God would say that as well. There’s wicked people, and there’s very wicked people, and there’s the uber wicked people, but you’re in that spectrum somewhere. And I like to think that I was, not of the higher echelons of that spectrum, but God is our judge. But regardless, abortion is not the only bad thing that we do. And I’ve got lots of skeletons in my closet. Now, I’m not feeling guilty as I was at one time.

And why? Because I’m certain that I’ve been forgiven. I’m not saying those things never happen, but I’m certain I’ve been forgiven. Why? Because that’s the overriding message that God has been sending to humanity for thousands of years now in various forms and fashions. That if you will ask for forgiveness and if you’ll turn away from your rebellion, your sin, doing things your way, he gives you a fresh start. And it gives you a fresh start, but it gives you like a big boost of health too in the way of putting the Holy Spirit into people who truly repent and who truly believe in Jesus. Okay. So, what I’m saying in this little lesson is not only applicable to women who had an abortion and they’re feeling the horrible weight of guilt. And let me just change what I just said though. That horrible weight of guilt, that was the wrong adjective, that weight of guilt that a loving God is sending you, because he wants you to repent and receive his forgiveness.

You see, so do you understand that guilt is from God and it’s designed to motivate us to repent. That’s what’s going on with guilt. And so, right there, just intuitively, you know that if God’s making you feel guilty for something, it’s because he’s offering you forgiveness. If he didn’t care, if there was no opportunity for forgiveness, then there’d be no need for God to make you feel guilty. But that guilt is conviction from God. And so, I’m not just speaking to people who’ve had an abortion, or women who’ve had an abortion, or men who have encouraged women they’ve been impregnated to have abortions or whatever, or anyone who’s encouraged anyone to have an abortion for that matter. I’m not just speaking to them. I’m speaking to everybody in humanity right now, and my former self. Okay.

But I came to that place where the weight of guilt upon me was sent by a loving God to motivate me to wake up to my misery, and my rebellion, and believe in Jesus, believe that he is who he simply claimed to be and proved who he was by his many miracles and so forth, and turned from my sins. It happened. It happened. And all that is in the past. And the Bible says that if anyone is in Christ, because that’s part of the package that God gives us, you get put into him. It’s mysterious on some levels, but you can understand it to some degree. We’re placed in his body and we actually become one spirit with the Lord. Why? Because his Holy Spirit then comes to live in those who believe in him. And he’s one with his spirit. And so, we’re in him and he’s in us. And we’re one with Christ since that’s why the Bible, the New Testament, which says we’re members of his body and so forth. And we take a communion, the Lord’s supper, the Eucharist, whatever you might call it, that’s also symbolic.

Christ is coming inside of us, because he is inside of us. All right. So, will God forgive you? Well, not automatically, no. Forgiveness is predicated upon your doing two things. Number one, you have to ask for forgiveness. So, you’re admitting that what you did was wrong. You’re humbling yourself. So, you’re not so prideful in justifying all these things that you’ve done, that you know that are wrong, abortion included. So, you humble yourself. “Okay, Lord, I’m agreeing with you. I blew it. I’ve blown it many times in many ways, on many levels. I’m a sinner. Please forgive me.”

If you just say, “Well, okay, I’ve got forgiveness. So, now I’ve got a license to keep on sinning. I can just keep asking for forgiveness.” See, now that shows that you’re really not sincere. Naturally, with true asking of forgiveness, there would come at least a sincere desire of repentance that I’m determined to chart a new course from here on. Even if I stumble, and fall, and fail, my heart has fundamentally changed. I’m now aligned with God and I’m going to do my best with his help to obey him. All right. So, yes, God will forgive you if you’ve had an abortion. And guess what? Here’s some more good news. When you die, you won’t go to hell. You’ll go to heaven. And guess what, more good news, that child or those children whom you aborted, they’ll be there. And more good news, guess what? They won’t be holding it against you, because God won’t be holding it against you. And they, like him, will have forgiven you.

It’s an excellent deal from God. That’s why the Bible repeatedly says, “We’re saved by grace.” You can’t earn your way into heaven. It’s way too late for that for all of us, because we all sin. I mean, you know, you read the first story in the Bible about Adam and Eve, well, all they did was eat an apple for crying out loud. And that little thing was enough to alienate them from God. So, I’ve done a lot more than just eat an apple. Okay, so we desperately need forgiveness and it’s available to everybody. Praise God. Praise God. So, I encourage you to receive it and begin to enjoy your life more more God intended it.

And then look forward to an eternal life exactly how God intended it.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post “I’ve Had an Abortion. Will God Forgive Me?” appeared first on David Servant.

What do you tell someone who is pregnant and contemplating an abortion? In this Little Lessons series, Bible teacher David Servant speaks with compassion and the truth of God’s Word to help guide those who find themselves in this situation. Learn more!

I’m Pregnant and Contemplating an Abortion. What Should I Do? (Part 1)

I’m pregnant and contemplating an abortion. What should I do?

Today we will take one Little Lesson and speak directly to women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, and are contemplating an abortion, and giving my best advice. And so that’s what I’m about to attempt to do. First of all, let me say how much I sympathize with any woman who finds herself in such a predicament. Of course, we know that, everybody knows, it’s undeniable, that pregnancy is a trial, particularly in the final months of that time. My wife and I have had three kids and boy, my heart has gone out to my wife during all three pregnancies and not to mention the delivery of the baby.

Now, my wife had wonderful experiences by comparison to so many women because her labor and deliveries were so quick, but that’s not always the case, as we all know. And God bless women for bearing children. It is not the easiest thing in the world and I’ve often thought to myself that men who get women pregnant, particularly men who get women pregnant out of wedlock, as a part of their fair recompense they ought to duct tape bowling balls to the stomachs of those men for about three or four months, just to give them a small understanding of what they’re putting this woman through. And then of course, the labor and delivery is just kind of a precursor to what is to come after that baby’s born. Yeah, they are cute and they bring a lot of joy, but that’s the beginning of years and years of responsibility and devotion to that child.

And so many women have used those undeniable facts as justification to get an abortion, which is worse. To get an abortion and terminate this pregnancy, or to go through all that, ramifications which will go on for years, and years, and years, and even go so far as to say that this was the right thing to do or the loving thing to do. And I can actually understand to a degree how a woman could come up with that kind of justification. Having been guilty of coming up with justifications myself, not ever for an abortion, but for things that deep within your heart you know are wrong, but you’re facing a very difficult decision. So I’m just starting off by saying, great amount of sympathy. Any woman who’s considering an abortion is, not any woman, but most women are finding themselves in a difficult situation, very difficult situation.

Not one that I’m going to say though justifies getting an abortion. In any case, my advice then is to take responsibility for what has happened. Now, we as human beings are so apt to want to find somebody else to blame for our troubles and legitimately many times there are other people to blame, but we’re very apt to take no responsibility or blame for the consequences of our wrong decisions. So, yeah there was a guy involved, let’s say that you’re pregnant out of wedlock, there was a guy involved and so he bears part of the responsibility. It’s not just all your fault, but yet you were likely, unless you were raped, a willing participant and you also made a poor decision. Fundamentally the decision that you made that was wrong is that you gave your body to a man who didn’t deserve it.

You don’t want to give your body to any man who isn’t already committed to you till death do us part in a lifetime covenant of marriage. And the fact that, again if you’re pregnant out of wedlock, now speaking to those dear women, pregnant out of wedlock, that was the fundamental mistake that you made, and again, he’s to blame. He also shouldn’t be expecting any woman to give him her body to whom he is not committed in a lifelong covenant of marriage. Why? Well, there’s so many obvious reasons, but one of which of course, is that… Well, you’re experiencing it, you’re pregnant and that has ramifications for the rest of your life. Go through with having that baby then you have a responsibility to raise that child and so forth, and huge ramifications.

And so that is why God has so clearly said that fornication, that is sex outside of marriage, is wrong. It’s immoral, because God loves us he doesn’t want us facing these predicaments and these less than best situations in our lives where we actually have to contemplate terminating a pregnancy. God doesn’t want you to face that and so own up to this, okay? Just make a decision. I’m smarter now, I’m wiser now, and I’m not going to give any man my body who isn’t committed in a lifelong covenant. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee that it will be a lifelong thing because a lot of people get married and wind up divorced, but a person who is unwilling to even get married, you know there’s something wrong there, right? If they want your body, but they don’t want to marry you, stay far away.

And then if you do find a guy who’s willing to marry you, again that eliminates some of the risk, but not all the risk. And so I could give a couple of lessons on how to know if you can trust these guys who are willing to marry you, but who might bail out later on down the road. Okay. Again, this is a Little Lesson, not a long lesson. I would never encourage you to terminate your pregnancy, because that’s just a nice way of saying killing the life of another person who’s within you. And if you watched my previous two Little Lessons on abortion, and as we went through the logic of why abortion is wrong and immoral, then I’m just reaffirming that. That’s a horrible choice and it’s not one that ends your problem, then you have to live with the consequences of the knowledge of what you did for the rest of your life.

You’re a participant in the murder of your own child. Okay? And that’s not… According to Bible, that’s not just something that you’ll deal with the rest of your life it’s something that you could deal with after your life is over when you stand before God and give an account for your life. Okay? So this is serious stuff, so take responsibility, and then you have to… So don’t terminate your pregnancy, keep your child, bring your child to full term, let it be born, and then you have to make a decision whether or not what’s the right thing to do at that point in time. And for many women, the right decision would be to put their child up for adoption, because there are thousands and thousands of married couples who would love to have children, but can’t for some biological reason and they would love to raise your child.

And I get it, heartbreaking thing for a mother then to give up a child, there’s an instinctive desire to take responsibility. This is my child and to raise this child myself. So that’s a very hard decision, but again, you’ve put yourself in a place where you’re having to make these hard decisions. So just face up to it. That’s a great sign of personal growth and maturity when you can take responsibility and set off on a new course.

Now, in my next lesson, I’m going to talk about some even more fundamental things that are really the root stuff in all of this that will solve, not just this problem, but if you can fix that, you can solve a lot of problems. Okay. All right, and now if you’re pregnant in wedlock and you have an unwanted pregnancy, same advice. You’re married, you’re having a child, keep your child. Again, you would have the option of putting your child up for adoption as a brand new baby. As you and your husband would make a decision on that if it’s so difficult for you, but I think you’d want to keep that child, and raise that child, and enjoy all the blessings of raising a child. Okay. So don’t miss the next Little Lesson, because I actually have more to say that’s even, I think even more important and more fundamental. All right.

So thanks so much for joining me on this one, hope to see you next time. God bless you.

I’m Pregnant and Contemplating an Abortion. What Should I Do? (Part 2)

So, you’re pregnant, and it’s an unwanted pregnancy. Now, if it’s a wanted pregnancy, well, I’m as happy as I can be for you. And you’ve got a wonderful journey ahead of you, not without its challenges and difficulties, going through pregnancy, going through delivery, then raising a child, it’s a big, big, big job. And one for which we often feel unprepared and we kind of learn as we go on in uncharted territory.

But in any case, if you’re pregnant and, for example, out of wedlock, and you’re contemplating an abortion because of that, I’ve addressed that in the last Little Lesson, go back and watch that Little Lesson. And I tried to look at the fundamental root problem here. And I said, if you’re pregnant out of wedlock, a mistake that you made was you gave your body to a guy that wasn’t committed to you in a lifelong covenant of marriage. And so, make a decision that you’re going to not do that any longer.

And any man who wants your body without promising you a lifetime commitment, is a jerk. You heard it right from me. He doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t deserve anything from you. He’s a selfish jerk. Run from that jerk. He’s just using you, he’s abusing you, he’s asking for something that he’s not willing to pay for. All right. So just run from those kinds of men. And you even take your chances with the men who will promise till death do us part, because a lot of them change their minds after they make their promise at some point down the road, but you got a better chance anyways if you can find a guy who’ll at least say, “I’ll marry you.” And will actually go through with the marriage.

And there’s lots of great guys out there, but you’ve got to be wise and take a little bit of… I’m looking for the right word. Respect yourself. Respect yourself. No man deserves your body unless he’s willing to commit to you in a lifetime covenant of marriage. All right? All right.

Now, I said last time I want to go even deeper into the fundamental problems here because, if you’re contemplating an abortion seriously, it would reveal, not only are you in a difficult situation, but that you need to do some self-examination overall and ask yourself some really, really pressing questions.

Now, I’m going to say this without, in any way, pointing the finger because I’ve been through this, as is everyone who’s ever been truly born again that is, you repented of all sin, not just like trying to say, “Well, I think I will do better next time in this one area.” No. You’re turning your back on anything and everything that God would want you to turn your back on. Again, His commandments are because of His love for us. He wants our lives to be enhanced with as much blessing as possible and obeying His commandments is the ticket to that. When God says, “Don’t commit adultery.” It’s not because He’s a celestial kill-joy, it’s because He loves us. I want you to have great marriages. I want you to have the best sex and it only happens in marriage.

Okay. So, God loves us. And so, I don’t want to be condemning at all because all of us who’ve been born again, have come to that place in our lives where we had to face up to the fundamental problem, and that was, “I’m not submitted to God.” And like the old Frank Sinatra song, “I did it my way.” That’s our whole problem, we’re doing it our way. We’re not submitted to the One who created us unless we get into so much trouble all the time. We face the natural consequences of being rebels against our Maker.

I’m looking into the camera lens right now, and that camera was designed by someone to do something like what we’re doing right now. Well, if I tried to use this camera to row a canoe or something, it wouldn’t be working so well, would it? Camera wasn’t made to row a canoe. You weren’t made to do things your way, you were made to love and serve and obey God.

So that’s the core problem for all of us, not just for those of you who are contemplating an abortion, that’s the problem with every one of us. And some of us make the big switcheroo that we’re so happy about, we wish everyone would make the big switcheroo. And that is, we admitted, “I’m a wretch, I’m a rebel. I’m a sinner against God, and I’m suffering because of it.” And we changed, fundamentally at our core. We said, “God, I surrender. I am no longer doing things my way. I’ll do things Your way. You made Jesus Christ the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and so, I’m going to line up with that. Jesus becomes my King. Jesus becomes my Lord because He is the Son of God. And I believe that I’m going to have to stand before Him one day and give an account for my life.”

And here’s the thing, God’s fair, God’s just, He’s loving, He’s merciful, He’s patient, He’s kind, but His mercy and patience don’t last forever, they run out. Well, guess what? When we die, the Bible talks about, Jesus warned about, all the apostles warned about, we’re all going to have to stand in front of God and we’re going to reap what we’ve sown. We’re going to be repaid according to our deeds.

So, here’s the good news I have for you, you can escape getting what you deserve by repenting of your sins, believing in Jesus, and receiving the forgiveness that’s available from God by no other means than through Jesus. The alternative is to keep going your way, keep suffering all your miserable life, and then when you stand before God, hearing Him say, “Okay, let’s do a review of your life. And now I’m going to repay you exactly what you deserve.”

So if you’ve had an abortion and a baby has been dismembered in your womb, sucked by a suction tube, you’re going to experience that same thing in the afterlife. The same terror that your baby felt in the womb, you’re going to feel that same terror as some kind of big suction tube comes to you and rips you to pieces. And that’s just the beginning of the terrors. If we all get what we deserve, hell is it. If God repays people justly and fairly, they reap what they sow, people that get abortions, at some point in eternity, are going to be aborted.

I know that sounds absolutely terrible, and it is, but I’m saying it to try to motivate you to be motivated to do what I did. I’m going to escape the consequences of all those things that I have done that were wrong in my past, because I took God’s offer and not only did He forgive me, as He promised, He put His Holy Spirit in me, and now I just want to serve Him, and I want to tell other people about the blessings of serving Him and the same thing would happen to you. It’s absolutely wonderful, it’s the best thing. And if you miss out on this, you’re miss out on the best thing.

Okay. So, that’s my most fundamental advice if you’re contemplating an abortion. Ask yourself the more fundamental question, “Have I submitted my entire life, my entire being, to God? And do I believe in Jesus Christ?”

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post I’m Pregnant and Contemplating an Abortion. What Should I Do? appeared first on David Servant.

Can someone believe that a woman has the right to abort her baby and still be a true Christian? Bible teacher David Servant addresses this sensitive question in this Little Lessons series. Learn more!

Can You Be a Christian and Pro-Choice?(Part 1)

Can you be a Christian and be pro-choice?

We all know that the abortion debate is very heated and emotionally charged, and each side has clearly delineated what they believe. Those of us, like myself, who are pro-life are against abortion under essentially any circumstances. Some of us might make an exception if a mother’s life is actually endangered and when you have to make a choice between a mother or her child actually surviving, which of course is such a rare, rare, rare thing.

Then the other side has labeled themselves to be pro-choice, because they are focusing on the argument that nobody should have the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. If she wants to terminate her pregnancy, the state doesn’t have the right, no religion, no other individual has the right to dictate to her what she can and cannot do with her body.

Well, those of us who are pro-life would argue that there’s not one body involved here, and I think that’s irrefutable. There are two bodies (who could actually intelligently debate the fact that there are two bodies?) in a pregnancy, because if you allow that pregnancy to keep going, nobody can debate that another body comes out of the woman’s body, right? That body just doesn’t magically appear. It grows and develops for nine months inside the body of its mother. There’s a body of some sorts from the moment of conception when sperm unites with egg and an embryo begins to form.

The folks on the pro-choice side are reticent to even … Well, they would never refer to the embryo or the fetus as a baby or a person, because that of course totally destroys their viewpoint. Because everyone agrees, even pro-choice advocates, that it’s wrong to kill babies. Oh, excuse me. No, not recently. One state has come up with a law that it’s actually okay to let a baby that’s born live die. That would be technically called infanticide. They’ve taken immorality in this whole argument to a new level never, never seen before that now it’s okay to kill, or I should say allow a baby to die by withholding from it what it needs to survive.

Well, oh my goodness. Those of us who are born again, believers in Jesus Christ, we have a hard time even understanding why this is even something that is discussed, because to us it’s just so obvious the immorality of the pro-choice side. Because again, even amongst the pro-choice side, there’s a whole spectrum of conviction on when it’s okay to abort a baby. They usually delineate it by trimester. Many, many, many pro-choice folks believe it’s wrong to abort a baby in the third trimester. But why? Because the quote unquote “fetus” so much resembles a baby, just like that baby’s going to look the moment that it’s born, that the resemblance there is too much for their conscience to say it’s okay to kill that thing.

May we also add to the depth of the morality here, the means of killing these innocent babies in the womb is so barbaric, it almost defies description. Again, this is why we wonder how this could possibly be something that’s even discussed, the issue, pro and con.

Different methods of abortion. Of course, we’re probably all familiar with the whole suction tube concept where babies are literally ripped to shreds within the wombs of their mothers. Ultrasounds reveal that they resist that suction to try to get away from it, recognizing the danger of it. It’s an absolutely barbaric, horrific thing.

If someone were to say … For example, let’s say someone posed the idea nobody has a right to tell a mother whether it’s okay to take a big industrial suction machine and suck her two year old toddler into a small tube piece by piece as that child screams in absolute terror as its flesh is ripped to pieces and that toddler is literally dismembered in the most barbaric fashion, if anyone suggested that, we would say, ” Something’s very, very wrong. Something’s very, very, very wrong with you.” No one suggested that, because it’s so outlandish. So outlandish. Even though occasionally mothers do kill their toddlers and they wind up being put on trial and going to prison for it.

See, so when you just break this down logically, the pro-choice, the pro-abortion side doesn’t have much to stand on. That helps us to answer the question, can you be a Christian and be pro-choice? Well, what if we asked the question, can you be a Christian and believe it’s okay to kill toddlers by ripping them to shreds, sucking their little bodies through a tiny suction tube that dismembers them and rips them to shreds? I think we’d all say no way. Not only can’t you be a Christian, can you even be a human being and believe that that would be morally acceptable?

The question kind of gets answered for us here. If in fact the quote unquote “fetus” is a baby, which it has all the parts of a baby … Children can be born incredibly premature, the fetuses, and the survival rates are incredible given the right attention and care. They have all the necessary parts to survive outside the womb given the right kind of care.

There’s a heartbeat detectable at six weeks. Six weeks. A number of states have passed the heartbeat bill now that if there’s a detectable heartbeat. It’s interesting, because the pro-choice folks are debating that now. Is it really a heart? Is it really a heartbeat? It should be better called cardiac activity, but not an actual heartbeat. See, they’re grasping at straws at this point to try to get away from what’s so obvious, that that’s a baby.

Just yesterday, I was sitting here … I’m about to close, because I’m over my time. I was sitting right here and I watched a Bald Eagle swooped down and grab a fish and carry it off. One of those moments that you go, “Wow!” Of course, in the United States it’s illegal to ruin, destroy a Bald Eagle egg because the Bald Eagles for a long time were on the endangered species list. I believe it’s still illegal to harm a Bald Eagle egg. Why is that? Because everyone knows if you destroy the egg, you’ve destroyed a potential future Eagle. No one debates that. Well, even if you can say somehow it’s not a human being, no one can debate you’re killing what’s going to become a human being. Right? Okay.

I’ll do a part two on this and talk a little bit more to try to answer this question. Thank you so much for joining me.

Until next time, the Lord bless you.

Can You Be a Christian and Pro-Choice?(Part 2)

Can you be pro-choice and be a Christian, part two.

We’re going to continue what we started on on our last Little Lesson. If you didn’t see that one, it’d really be good to view that one, because we went into some of the specifics of the abortion debate, much of which surrounds of course what is that growing thing in mothers’ wombs. Because the pro-choice, the quote unquote “pro-choice” folk will argue that that’s not really a child. That’s not really a baby. It’s not a baby till it’s born. Then it’s a human being. Then I guess it has inherent rights that it shouldn’t be murdered.

Although, even that has been introduced in some barbaric places, which always has been called infanticide, the killing of a baby. It’s barbaric. What’s so amazing is that in those states of America and in those countries where abortion is legal right up until the time of birth. It’s bizarre logic that it’s okay to kill, stop the life, rip to shreds, poison, dissect, whatever you want to call it, the methods used to kill that baby that’s almost been born. That’s morally acceptable, but as soon as that baby escapes the womb, then somehow it’s not morally accepted. Well, it’s hard to know what to say in response to that kind of logic, because it’s not logical. There’s nothing else in life where such a logic would be applied.

We were talking in the last Little Lesson about the fact that eagles, bald eagles, which I saw one just yesterday here, it’s a federal crime to destroy a bald eagle egg, because why? Everyone knows no matter at what stage the development of that eagle, that embryonic eagle is at inside of that eagle egg, everyone knows that if you leave it alone, it turns into an eagle. If you kill it at any stage, even right after that egg drops out of the eagle mother’s body, at that stage of development, it doesn’t make a difference how early or late it is, you destroy the egg, you’re destroying a future eagle. Right? All right. It’s just obvious.

Now, let me share something that I didn’t share last time. This is where I wanted to go on this Little Lesson. I shared the fact that those of us who are opposed to abortion, who are pro-life, we do wonder why this is even a topic of discussion. I mean, it’s mind boggling to us that anyone even has to discuss this, because it’s so obviously, abortion is so obviously immoral. Even the argument of a woman has a choice. Well, half of the people who are aborted, either by being poisoned or dismembered or whatever, are women, female. They had no choice, see. If you’re going to argue based on, well, women should have a choice, well, what about the choice of that baby? As Ronald Reagan used to say, “I notice that all the people that are for abortion were born,” or something to that effect.

Okay. Now, again we wonder why this is even a topic of discussion, because abortion is murder. It’s the killing of a baby, or it’s the killing of what will, everyone agrees, will become a baby. You can’t escape that. We wonder how can, how can people even discuss this? Why is this even a matter of discussion? This is so obvious. Yet some of us who are believers in Jesus Christ and who are solidly pro-life can remember a time when we were not solidly pro-life before we believed in Jesus. Yet once we believed in Jesus and were born again and became what the Bible says new creations, a light went on. A light bulb came on into the darkness, and we suddenly found ourselves solidly, strongly pro-life, and again scratching our heads at anyone who had any different viewpoint.

That’s the really good news. The Bible teacher that people who are not believers in Jesus Christ, people who are not born again, they’re in darkness, and they’re in darkness on many, many, many levels. The Bible talks about how their minds have been darkened, and their understanding has been darkened, and they’ve been blinded and so forth, and they’re walking in the darkness. But then the Bible talks about how Jesus brings them into the light, and they now have the light, and they’re in the light, and they should continue to walk in the light. All these similar terminologies and phrases about darkness and life.

We want to be careful, and I’m going to be careful to point the judgmental finger of condemnation towards pro-choice folks, because I was never in that camp actually, but yet I could have been in that camp. That possibly existed. I’m saying that from the standpoint of I know many people who are in that camp who, when they were born again, when they believed in Jesus … Born again means the Holy Spirit then comes to live inside of you. The Bible says you’re a new creation in Christ. One translation says you’re a new species, 2 Corinthians 5:17. So you’re changed, radically changed. That’s one of the indications of the grace of God saving you and working in you that you’re no longer in darkness, you’re no longer blinded. You come out of the darkness and you’re in the light and you just, “Oh my goodness. Abortion is wrong.” Of course it’s wrong. It’s a no brainer.

If you’re pro-choice, I’m just going to be honest with you and say it with all the compassion that I can, you’re not a Christian. You’re not on the road to heaven. The Bible that Christians say is our book says in 1 John 3 no murderer has eternal life, and that’s part of the package of salvation, right? When you believe in Jesus, you’re born again and he promises you, you’re going to live forever, eternal life with him.

Okay, so here’s the good news. Although I’ll say that I was never pro-abortion, I was certainly pro-sin and in the darkness before I was born again. I was a sinner to a great degree and still find myself to be, although improved, imperfect, and hopefully making progress in that regard as I continually try to follow Jesus. But here’s the good news. Really the issue is not whether you’re pro-choice or pro-abortion. The real issue is, are you born again? Do you believe in Jesus? Then let him take care of what you should believe. Because I guarantee it, if you’re pro-choice, if you think abortion is okay, if you believe in Jesus and make him your Lord and begin to then become his follower to try to do what he says, his Holy Spirit comes to work on the inside of you and your mind will be changed. You’ll be thinking totally different about this subject. You’ll be joining my side on this. Okay.

All right. Now, not everyone who’s pro-life is born again, by the way. There are tons and tons of just decent moral people who understand the obvious immorality of killing a baby in the womb and they’re not born again yet. Okay, so don’t be thinking, well, just because you’re pro-life you’re on the way to heaven. Oh no, no. You have to believe in Jesus and you have to be born again.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post Can You Be a Christian and Pro-Choice? appeared first on David Servant.

Gaslighting is defined as a tactic used to gain power by making a victim question their reality. How can you identify and protect yourself from gaslighters in your life? Learn more!

How can you protect yourself from gaslighters?

I want to build a little bit more on my last Little Lesson in which I discussed how you should respond when somebody accuses you of being defensive. Well, Of course, you know as well as I do, everybody knows this, people defend themselves. People go to court to defend themselves. They spend tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend themselves, and there’s nothing wrong with defending yourself. It’s natural. Everybody does it. But gaslighters, and I’ll explain that in a little more detail in a second, will sometimes accuse people with whom they are in conflict, “Well, you’re so defensive,” as if that’s a fault and something unusual about you that makes you a flawed individual. You’re defending yourself.

Well, Jesus defended himself frequently. I mentioned on our last lesson that Job spent an entire book of the Bible defending himself and God considered him the most righteous man on the face of the Earth, so it’s not wrong to defend yourself. And I did a little lesson by that title. So, what is gaslighting? Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation where the gaslighter tries to make his opponent, or his a victim, doubt his or her perceptions. Let me read a more technical definition of what gaslighting is that I pulled up from Wikipedia. Listen to this. Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group… so not necessarily just done by an individual, it can be done by a group, a gaslighting group… covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group. Okay?

So, this can be done by individuals or groups and it can be done against individuals or groups. And here’s what it does, it makes them question their own memory or their own perception or their own judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes including low self esteem. So, the gaslighter is just trying to make you doubt your own perceptions and your own judgment. And it’s done in some covert manner, it’s not just blatantly said. Now, here’s some of the methods that they use: using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation. That’s a big word for lies. Gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and de-legitimatize the victims’ beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred. See, there’s one I’ve seen and experienced and suffered myself. Gaslighters rewrite history.

“Well, that never happened. No, you’re not remembering that correctly. You’ve got that all wrong.” So, they’re making you doubt your judgment, your perception, or your memory. Here’s another one: belittling the victim’s emotions and feelings. So, they don’t have a substantive thing to say in a conflict and they’re not going to accept blame or ask forgiveness themselves. So, they resort to illegitimate means of gaining the upper hand and belittling a person’s feelings or their emotions, is a way of that gaslighters work. Finally, also it could include the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. I mentioned in the last lesson the term gaslighting came from a play that was adapted to a movie in the 1940’s about an evil man who was trying to drive his own wife crazy and he did it by different ways.

One way is he turned down the gaslights in their house so that they dimmed, and she perceived that and she commented on it, and he would say, “No, you must be losing your mind. Something’s wrong with you. I haven’t touched the lights.” And he’d be up in their attic, rooting through boxes, I think he was looking for jewelry of some woman he had murdered or something, and she would say, “I hear these noises like someone’s up on the attic. Have you been up in the attic dear?” “No, I haven’t been in the attic.” So, he’s making her doubt her perceptions and trying to drive her crazy. I never saw the movie so I don’t know if he succeeded. He probably succeeded. And so, that’s how gaslighters work. They will try to make you think that there’s something wrong with you. A very common line is, “You need to see professional help because you’re just mixed up.”

So, they’re coming across as concerned about you. “You need to seek professional help.” I had some folks say that to me one time, and honest to goodness, I had thought to myself, I never said it but I thought to myself, “Boy, these people need professional help because, look at their lives and look at their relationships. They’ve got problems.” But I never said it. And yet, those very people are telling me that I need professional help. I need to go see a psychologist. So, that’s gaslighting, making you doubt your own perceptions and judgements and gaslighters rewrite history. They make ad hominem attacks when they have nothing substantive to say to you because they don’t have the facts so they have to attack you, belittle you and your emotions.

“You’re so emotional about this. You’re overreacting. You’re so defensive,” and so forth. It’s all just a form of gaslighting. They don’t have anything substantive to actually say. All right, that term gaslighting, according to Wikipedia, and I knew this before I read it in Wikipedia, but it’s now been used in clinical psychological literature. So, psychologists use that terminology to describe a common thing that happens to good, honest, sincere people. And that’s the thing, as I said in the last lesson, I’m going to close on this, when you’re a good person and you love people and you’re sympathetic to people, that’s the kind of people that selfish people look for. They’re their predators.

How can I gain from this trusting person? That’s what they’re all about. And people enter into marriage on that basis sometimes. And boy, does it ever wind up with a lot of suffering and heartache on the part of the abused person and the victim of the gaslighter. You can look on YouTube and there’s just hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands for all I know, of videos by psychologists that are on this topic and on related topics. Pity the person who has suffered. So, how can you protect yourself from gaslighters? Well, Jesus said be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves, I think he said doves or children, either way same idea.

That’s the trouble, so many of us who are sincere, good people, we’re as innocent as doves but we haven’t been as wise as serpents. And so, we don’t believe people could ever treat us like they ultimately do because we would never treat anyone that way. Never. So, we just can’t imagine other people doing it and it shocks us when other people try to take advantage of us or use us or abuse us. It’s just so foreign to what we’re all about. But eventually you learn and sometimes it’s a hard lesson. A very, very, very hard lesson. But, with a little experience, you learn to beware of the gaslighters. Oh, I want to close with one thing. Gaslighters, and selfish people in general, are very reticent to ever communicate by any means by which they will be ultimately then held accountable.

For example, they would never let you record a conversation because they know it could be used against them in the future. They don’t want to communicate via writing because they know that’s something that could become referenced later on. Well, in conflict… again, face-to-face is a good way to work it out with a friend… but deep conflict it needs third parties involved. So, the gaslighters can’t say, “I never said that.” Well, then the third party can say, “Oh yes, you did. I heard it.” And could even resort to written communication to where, “Let’s settle this in writing. I’ll write to you and you respond in writing. That way we’ll have a record. No one can say I never said that.” And they’re going on record, and good people don’t mind doing that.

Good people don’t mind doing that even if they know the potential is they could be proven wrong in what they wrote by facts that are later revealed. But they’re not worried about that because they’re for the truth, even if it’s against them.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

The post How Can You Protect Yourself From ‘Gaslighters’? appeared first on David Servant.

How do you respond to someone who tells you that you’re being too defensive? Is it wrong to defend yourself when you believe yourself to be innocent? Learn more in this episode of Little Lessons.

Have you ever been accused of being defensive? Well, I know that I certainly have. And I’ve, consequently, pondered what would be the best way to respond to that accusation? Because, at the time, I didn’t have much of a response. And let me preface all this by saying that, can we all agree that bad people look for good people to take advantage of?

When you’re a sincere, sympathetic, kind-hearted person people, with less than pure motives, look for those kinds of people to take advantage of because they’re likely to be trusting and even gullible. And so, anyone who’s been a trusting, kind, compassionate person eventually finds themselves being taken advantage of. Sure, it’s absolutely inevitable because the world is full of people who have less than pure motives, and who are very self-centered, and their whole goal is to get what they can get for themselves. They’re all about themselves.

So, you’ll find yourself, then eventually, in conflict. And nice people hate conflict because they just want to get along. They love serving others. They love loving others. And when it suddenly dawns on them that they’re being taken advantage of, or misused, or abused in some way, shape, or form, that’s when conflict, if it hasn’t already started, is going to escalate because that good person, that sincere person values the relationship. And they’re going to try to work it out, and make it work. And they’ll be conciliatory, and understanding, and listening and so forth. Try to understand the perspective of the person with whom they’re in conflict.

Well, people who are bad have excuses, and they always try to deflect the blame away from themselves to the good person whom they’re trying to take advantage of. So, this is the stuff of life. And sooner or later, you’re probably going to be accused of being defensive because you are. They’re making accusations against you, and you’re defending yourself. They’re misstating things, they’re twisting the truth, or they’re misrepresenting the facts. And so, you, at your own defense, say things that are defensive. And then, they come up with a line, “Well, you’re so defensive.” Well, that’s a form of, what is known as, gaslighting.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that terminology before. Gaslighting, it is derived from a play back in the 1930s, a British play. And that was adapted from a movie back in the 1940s, I think, by the title Gaslighting. And there was a bad guy, and there was a good guy. The good guy was a woman. And the bad guy and the good guy, the bad man and the good woman were married. And he was selfish. He really didn’t care about her. And he was trying to take advantage of her. And so, he had this plot to try to make her doubt her perceptions, to drive her insane. And then to, ultimately, have her committed to an insane asylum.

And he did that, in part, by turning down the gas lights. But that was back in the days of when people lit their homes through gas and so forth. And so, he turned them down, and his wife would say, “It seems like the gas, the lights are dimmer than they were before.” And he goes, “No, they’re not. They’re just bright as ever been. Something’s wrong with you. You’re the problem. Your perceptions are wrong.” And he had other means, and methods to, ultimately, drive her insane because she doubted herself. And he did it by psychologically manipulating her.

When someone accuses you of being defensive that’s a form of gaslighting because they’re simply saying to you, “Well, the problem is you. That’s the problem. See, you’re defensive.” But the truth is, all you’re doing is responding to accusations that are made against you. And you don’t agree with them, you don’t believe them.

Now, let me back up just one second. We ought to be humble, and listen carefully and weigh accusations that are made against us. And maybe even seek counsel to see if there’s an agreement. Outside counsel, someone who’s a third-party, who has nothing to gain or lose. So, I’m not saying that you should defend yourself under every circumstance. If you’re a guilty, you should say, “I’m guilty. You’re right. I was wrong. Forgive me.” But gaslighting is a technique people use when they have nothing substantive to actually accuse you of any longer. And so, now, they’re resorting to attacking you, and ad hominem attack. “There’s something wrong with you. You’re defensive.” Well, that has no substance at all, as an argument because you’re simply responding, counteracting their lies, their misperceptions with truth. Again, if you have the truth on your side, if you have the facts on your side.

So, the person who has to resort to such an argument, “You’re being defensive,” they’ve lost the argument. And that might be an appropriate thing to say to them right there. “Well, that’s not a substantive argument whatsoever. You’re making an accusation and it’s just adding to the accusations you made, but there’s no substance to it whatsoever. Of course, I’m defending myself, you’re accusing me. What do you want me to do?”

Now, some people will even say, I had a gas-lighter do this to me, and he said, “Well, Jesus never defended himself.” Well, that’s nonsense. That’s a lie. Jesus defended himself many, many, many times. Read the Bible, read the Gospels. I’m just reading in my private devotions here, which kind of prompted me to do this little lesson, the Book of Job. And what does Job, but a book in which Job defends himself against the accusations of three, actually four in the end, people who are demanding that he confess his sin? And he throughout all of it, he maintains his innocence. And near the end, he has the boldness to even cite specific examples of what they’ve accused him of, he’s not guilty of it. So, is it wrong to defend yourself? Well, Job, the man whom God considered to be the most righteous person on the face of the Earth, defended himself in a lengthily discourse.

I’ve had people say to me, “Oh, but you’ve gone on for so long in your defense.” Is there a rule against that? You respond to accusations. If they give 10 accusations, you give 10 responses. Pretty simple. So, Job is a long book. Job spent a lot of time defending himself. And because he knew the truth. He knew that he was not the flagrant sinner that his friends were saying that he was. And people who are Godly, they defend their reputation because their reputation means a lot to them. And the Bible says that, “A good reputation is to be desired above silver and gold.” Bad people really don’t care about their reputation. All they care about is themselves.

All right so, to answer the question that I posed at the beginning of this Little Lesson, how should you respond when someone accuses you of being defensive? You can just say that, “There’s no substance to that whatsoever. Of course, I’m defending myself. You’re accusing me wrongly. If that’s your best argument, I guess, the argument’s over because you just lost.”

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post How Should You Respond If You’re Accused of Being Defensive? appeared first on David Servant.

Some claim that the Bible is difficult to understand. In this Little Lessons series, Bible teacher David Servant argues that the basic, most important facts of the Bible are not hard to understand at all. Learn more!

Why Is the Bible So Difficult to Understand? (Part 1)

Why is the Bible so difficult to understand?

That’s the question that I posed at the outset of this Little Lesson. I want to now rephrase that question because I don’t think it is really an accurate question. It’s not an honest question in one sense, because the Bible really isn’t that difficult to understand, generally speaking. It’s got stories, it’s got Proverbs, it’s got letters written to actual people who, from all we know, understood what was written to them. It’s meant as a communication from God to humanity, to me, to you. We don’t want to really say that the Bible is hard to understand. I think more accurately, we could say parts of the Bible are hard to understand. Or maybe even better, small parts of the Bible are hard to understand.

You’ve got this class of scholars, we call them theologians, who spend their adult lives studying the Bible. We often think about how they don’t agree and they interpret different passages differently. Amongst the denominations and the various sects of Christianity, they debate and argue over this and that and the other. We often magnify the differences and then use that as a means to prove that the Bible must be hard to understand because there’s so much differentiation in its interpretation. But may I suggest, and fairly boldly suggest here, that if you took all those people who disagree on various parts of how to interpret scripture and were able to assemble them and discuss everything that they agree on, I think what we’d discover is that they agree on the important stuff, 99%, because the Bible’s not that hard to understand.

We learn about God in the Bible. Well, everybody agrees that God is all-powerful and God is all-knowing and God is omnipresent and that God has no beginning and God has no end and God is love, God is righteous, God is a consuming fire, God is pure, God is holy, God is merciful, God is gracious. All these important aspects about God’s character and His personality and His being, everybody who reads the Bible is going to come to the same conclusion. It’s inescapable. Now, there might be some nuances, sure, and some people might empathize God’s justice and holiness over His love, and some emphasize more His love than His justice and holiness, but they all agree that God’s got both components of those aspects within His personality. And God’s attitude towards people and what the Bible has to say about people. The Bible says people are sinners and they need the grace of God if they’re going to be saved, and God’s merciful and He gives them time to repent, and He offers everybody’s salvation and so forth. 99% of all the people who read the Bible are going to agree on that.

I realize that there are some who say that Jesus didn’t die for everybody and so forth, and they’ve got their proof techs, and they say that God predestined some to be saved and some to be damned, but those are actually the minority. I’ve ministered the Word of God in, I think, about 40 countries many times in the past to pastors and spiritual leaders and so forth, and those who subscribe to the idea that God doesn’t want to save everybody and Jesus didn’t die for everybody, they’re in the small minority. Anyways, the big things there’s a lot of agreement on.

Now, the small things are the things that people debate over, and we need to keep that, for crying out loud, in perspective because we divide over these things and we put signs in front of our churches to let everyone know that we’re not like those people down the road or that church right next door, we are this kind of a Christian because it’s all based on a specific doctrinal stance. It’s a shame. It is a shame.

The average person reading the Bible can gain enough wisdom to have a relationship with God and to know how God wants him or her to live. Right? Right. Okay, so it’s the little things, the little things that people debate over, there’s disagreement over, and then therefore we could say, “Well, okay, must be hard to understand because all these smart people, these theologians, don’t even agree on this.” All right, so I’ll grant you that.

Now, why? Why? Why is that? Why are the small portions of the Bible difficult to understand? I submit that there are a number of reasons, and the one that I’m going to propose in the remaining short time that I have left in this Little Lesson is that it’s hard to understand because we have a limited capacity to understand. When you look at all the creatures that God has made on this earth, a lot of variety there. We got butterflies and we got elephants and we’ve got bacteria. A lot of creatures. It’s obvious that God gives each a capacity of understanding. It’s also obvious that the human species is by far and away superior in this sense. People have a much greater capacity, a mental capacity.

It’s interesting that scientists study animals, will often say, “Wow, this particular species really is highly intelligent.” Like dolphins, for example, because they can learn things and remember things. But even the dolphins compared to human beings, I never saw a dolphin writing computer programs yet. They’re still subpar to human mental capacity. But there’s a limit to human mental capacity. In fact, even within the human species, we know this is obvious, that individuals have different capacities. There are people that we term as geniuses who have an IQ that’s higher than the average, so they have a greater mental capacity. I often find myself saying, however, that certain concepts are above my pay grade because I know that I’ve got a limited capacity and that I’m not a genius. Even some of the geniuses, I don’t think they can understand some of these things either.

I’m going to close with this one passage of scripture, and then in our next Little Lesson I’m going to go into it a little more deeply. I’m going to do a part two on this, so don’t miss it. This is actually from the Apostle Paul and from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, he said, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” So he’s admitting we have a limited knowledge, and even if we prophesied, that is speaking by the inspiration of God, even that’s partial. We’re not speaking out everything that God knows. Of course, God knows everything, so He allows us to understand so much.

Then the Apostle Paul gives this beautiful analogy, which I think is often ripped from his context to make it mean something it doesn’t mean. We’ll read it briefly here and then we’ll pick up here in the next Little Lesson and go into it deeper. He said, “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man I did away with childish things.” I think that Paul’s using an analogy of how children, when you’re a child, you have a limited capacity to understand. Children ask their parents questions at times, and the parent realizes, if I explain that to you, you’re not going to get it because you don’t have the capacity yet to understand that. Maybe when you’re a teenager or fully an adult, you’ll have the foundational understanding that then we can build upon that to answer that question you just asked.

We’ll talk more nest time about why parts of the Bible are so difficult to understand. Hope to see you then. God bless you.

Why Is the Bible So Difficult to Understand? (Part 2)

Why are some parts of the Bible so difficult to understand?

This is going to be a continuation of our last Little Lesson in which we addressed the same question but I didn’t say everything I wanted to say. So if you didn’t see that one, I hope you’ll stop right now and go find that one and watch it because we’re going to build on that foundation.

But we laid a little foundation in that the Bible isn’t actually hard to understand. The important basic concepts about who God is and how he relates to people, very clear. Anyone who reads the Bible, even the lowest IQ person, is going to come up with the conclusion that God’s good. Amen. And that God’s holy. And God gives commandments, and God is also merciful. And everyone’s going to come up with that. So the most important things we can all understand and all theologians agree about those things. It’s the little things that we fight about and we scratch our heads over sometimes.

Let me take, for example, the subject of Calvinism, which I have talked about on Little Lessons before. Now, I’m not a Calvinist. Calvinists believe that Jesus didn’t die for everybody. And they believe that because God only wants certain people that he’s preselected to be saved. And the rest, of course, if he doesn’t want them to be saved, the only conclusion is that he wants them to be damned. And that’s what Calvinists believe. I don’t believe that. But I’ve studied Calvinism quite thoroughly and I know all the proof texts that Calvinists use. And I have to confess, yikes, some of them are pretty good scriptures, and you could make a case for Calvinists. So I sometimes jokingly say that I’m about a 30% Calvinist, in all honesty, because I believe the whole Bible, and you can’t escape some of those Calvinistic proof texts.

But again, we don’t want to base our theology on just a limited number of verses. We got up open our minds to say I accept the whole Bible. That’s why I’m 30% Calvinist. Now, logically I know you can’t be 30% Calvinist. And logically, I also know that Calvinism can’t agree with the opposite viewpoint, which would be, I call it non Calvinism. Arminianism is often how it’s referred to. And they’re diametrically opposed to one another. They both can’t be true. But yet, I also understand that with my peanut brain, maybe there’s things I can’t understand, how to my mind things appear incapable of being reconciled but not to God. Because God’s much higher pay grade. He knows everything. He understands everything.

So when you reach that place spiritually that you can just admit, “I don’t know everything. I have a limited mental capacity. That’s how God made me. And things that appear contradictory in scripture, it may be just beyond my understanding. And I just believe it. I just accept it. And one day I won’t have that problem anymore because I’ll have a better mental capacity when I get a new body.”

So we were reading in our last Little Lesson a scripture that I think illustrates this really nicely, a passage in First Corinthians 13 that I think oftentimes is ripped out of its context and made to mean something that it really wasn’t intended to be meant that way by the Apostle Paul. Let’s start reading in verse number three. “Love never fails.” You know all that good stuff he wrote about love in the first two verses. “If there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes…” Now the perfect is not the Bible, in spite of what some people think. Read the context. The perfect comes is when Jesus comes and his kingdom comes and we all have resurrected bodies, the culmination of God’s eternal plan. “When the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.”

And so we have partial knowledge. That’s what he just said in the sentence before. Well, then we’ll have no longer partial knowledge. I don’t know if we’ll know everything, but we’ll know everything we need to know. And every question we have will be answered. That’s going to be great. You won’t need Little Lessons anymore in that time. So now here’s the analogy I was talking about. Paul said, “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things.”

Now, I think that oftentimes that little sentence there is used to say, well, we need to grow up spiritually and not be spiritual children. That’s what Paul is saying. But that’s actually not what he’s saying. This is in the context before and after about the fact that we have impartial knowledge. And a beautiful analogy is children who have impartial knowledge when they’re children, but as they grow and develop and mature mentally, they have a greater capacity of understanding. And every parent knows that kids sometimes ask questions and you realize there’s no sense me even giving you the answer because you won’t understand the answer. Well, Paul is trying to tell us that’s how it is with us and God. You could ask him a question and he could give you the answer, but you’d still be as clueless as you were before he gave the answer because you don’t understand the answer. You don’t have the mental capacity.

I’ve watched some discussions on YouTube between some brilliant people, and they start using terminologies that are foreign to me, or they’re building on concepts for which I’m unfamiliar, and so they lose me. And I can’t understand them because they’re at a higher level. It’s above my pay grade. Well, that’s how it is with life in general. There’s just things that we just can’t understand. And there are some things in the Bible you just can’t understand. That’s one reason why the Bible is difficult to understand. Parts of the Bible are difficult to understand. And there are other reasons.

Now, just so you get the context, let’s keep reading. “For now, we see in a mirror dimly.” So the analogy is you’re looking in a mirror, but you’re getting a lousy reflection of yourself. Other translations don’t say mirror. They say we’re seeing through a glass darkly. And I actually like those translations better than the New American Standard version in this case, because you’re looking out, trying to get an understanding of what’s out there. You’re not looking at yourself in a mirror. You’re looking out there trying to understand what’s truth, what’s perception here. But the window is imperfect. It’s clouded for some reason. Maybe it’s dirty or whatever so you’re not getting a true, accurate picture. “For now we see in a mirror dimly,” or, “through a glass darkly,” “but then face to face. Now I know in part…” See again, the context here is partial knowledge, and that’s the child analogy is found within the context. “But then I will know fully just as I have been fully known.”

So good news. All those things that we’re scratching our heads over right now, we’re not going to be scratching our heads over one day. And all theologians who get to heaven will be in agreement. And that’ll be the end of all denominations, hallelujah, and all the theological debates and all the division, because everyone will be going, “Ah, now I understand.” Now, you got to realize there’s other reasons that parts of the Bible are hard to understand because God obviously didn’t want people to fully understand them until a certain time came. Some of the prophecies were like that.

I’m going to close on this part of scripture. The Bible itself admits that parts of the Bible are hard to understand. The Apostle Peter, writing in his general epistle to the church, his second general epistle to the church, he says, and this is chapter three, verse 14 of Second Peter. “Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother, Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking to them of these things in which are some things hard to understand.” So even Peter thought some of the things that Paul wrote were hard to understand. That makes me feel a whole lot better if even Peter had trouble with some of the things Paul wrote. And look what he says, I got to close on this now, “which the untaught and the unstable distort, as they do also the rest of scripture.”

So what he’s saying, the unstable and the untaught twist Paul’s words, just as they twist the rest of scripture. He believed that Paul was writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and his writings qualified as scripture. And so they were twisting Paul’s words, just like they twisted the rest of the scripture. So we don’t want to twist Paul’s words, try to force a meaning into them to fit our theology. Let’s just try to be honest, take the whole Bible. And let’s admit we have a limited capacity to understand. And we can pray and God will help us, but you’re not going to have full, complete knowledge and understanding until you make it to glory. So that’s why it’s important to keep on that narrow path.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post Why Is the Bible So Difficult to Understand? appeared first on David Servant.

Did you know that the Bible teaches that there is more than one future judgment we should prepare for? How can you be ready to stand before the judgement seat of Christ? How will ministers be judged? Learn more in this new Little Lesson series with Bible teacher David Servant!

Two Coming Judgments That All Of Us Should Prepare For (Part 1)

Two coming judgments that all of us should prepare for.

We are going to discuss and begin to discuss the answer to a question that one of our beloved viewers wrote to us concerning the future judgment or, as this beloved viewer wrote, judgments, because he figured out, as anyone does, who reads the New Testament, that there’s not just one judgment coming. There are several, at least several. And sometimes it’s hard to figure out and theologians have been wrestling with some of this stuff for a long time, but trying to figure out, “Well, who goes to what judgment? And what’s the chronology? Will some of us go to two judgments?”

And I’ve concluded that it’s safe to say that we all should be preparing for at least two coming judgments. And the reason I say that is because it’s very clear from the New Testament that both of those coming judgements are not the same judgment, at least by all biblical appearances. But believers are going to be present and judged at both of these future judgments. Now, I haven’t figured out all the chronology of it, where it fits in. Of course, when you try to figure out chronology of things in the future, you have to understand that figuring out a chronology is something that people do who are living in the realm of time, and once time ceases, chronology suddenly becomes irrelevant. Right? Right. Okay.

Well, it’s actually a scientific fact that time does stop at the speed of light. That’s something that Professor Einstein suggested. And it has since been actually scientifically validated by the acceleration of subatomic particles and so forth and how their half-life changes as they approach faster and faster speeds. So, anyways, all interesting stuff, way beyond my pay grade and probably yours too. So let’s not try to figure out the chronology. I mean, you could rack your brain over those things, trying to figure that out. But let’s look at at least two of the judgments that the Bible says believers are going to be experiencing. There’ll be believers there. Now, will all believers be there? Well, it sure does seem like it, when you read these two passages. Okay.

So the first judgment for which we should all prepare is a judgment that I’ve been talking about for a long, long time. In fact, the ministry that I direct, Heaven’s Family, this particular judgment that I’m about to talk about is really the core revelation behind everything that motivates us at Heaven’s Family. And if you know Heaven’s Family, you know that we’re serving the Lord through our staff and through our partners all around the world, trying to serve the people whom Jesus referred to as the “least of these,” the least. Those are Jesus’s words. They’re found in Matthew Chapter 25, in what is known as the Olivet Discourse. And how I would love to look at the entire Olivet Discourse right now, but I just want to look at the ending of the Olivet Discourse, because this is kind of where it all leads. Because of all the things that Jesus revealed in the Olivet Discourse and what is to come, the New World and when Jesus Himself rules the world and there’s only one kingdom, the Kingdom of our Lord and the Kingdom of His Christ.

There’s a way to be ready for that. And Jesus has made it quite plain and clear in His word, and one of the big keys is found near the end of the Olivet Discourse. So let’s take a look there, the Olivet Discourse. I’ve got it here. This would be just the final part, Matthew Chapter 25, verses 31 through 46. You probably know it, but it doesn’t hurt to look at it again, does it, from the Word of God. So Jesus said, speaking of Himself, we all know, “But when the Son of Man…” He could have said, “When I come in my glory.” Now He said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory. And all the angels with it.” Well, how many is all? It sounds like all to me. And I studied it out in the Greek and it actually means All. “Then He will sit on His glorious throne.” So He’s coming in His glory, but He’s bringing His throne with Him. That’s interesting.

“All the nations will be gathered before Him.” Again, how many is all? All is all. “All the nations.” Now, we think of nations like the United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia, China, et cetera, of which there are, I guess, a little over 200, but the Greek word translated nations there, in most translations is the word “ethne” and you probably figure out that the English word ethnic is derived from that Greek word ethne. And it’s not necessarily always a reference to geopolitical nations, but more so to what the Bible refers to as families, people groups, ethnic groups of which there are, I think… Well they can be divided up and then re-divide and re-divided, but there are 10s of 1000s of those. And some of course are waiting for the first time to have someone come to them and share the Gospel to them, because the Gospel generally spreads and stays confined within ethnic boundaries, because people share the Gospel with my kind of people. It takes a missionary to cross a culture. That’s another subject.

He’ll gather all the ethne before him. And he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. So this is a split of all the nations, all the people of all the nations, into one of two categories that will exist at this judgment of the sheep and the goats. And metaphorically, they’re referred to as the sheep and as the goats. And he will put the sheep on his right, Jesus said, and the goats on his left. And if you study Scripture, you know that it’s fortuitous in some ways to be on someone’s right, more so than it is to be on their left. Okay.

Not that we’re going to build any big doctrine on that, but it’s very clear that the sheep on his right got the preferential treatment here, but not because they were favored because of some arbitrary whim of the King Jesus, but because of what they did or did not do, which goes against the grain of a lot of evangelical theology, does it? Because we know and we believe, and it is true that we are saved by grace through faith, not because of works, but that very undeniable biblical truth needs to be coupled and balanced with the also undeniable biblical truth that faith without works is dead and it cannot save us. And so true living faith is validated by obedience. And so that’s why you can say that the sheep here were saved by their faith, but not by a dead faith, not just by a profession of faith, but by a living faith that resulted in the evidence of transformed lives. They were lovers.

Okay. I don’t want to give it all away here. “Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”” And so this is the culmination of an eternal plan. From the foundation of the world, God has been preparing a kingdom for this group of people who are metaphorically referred to as the sheep. And so these are the people that are here at the kingdom, so they’re Christians, right? They’re Christians.

So I told you, we’re going to talk about judgments for which we all must prepare. It seems like this would be a good one to prepare for, because it’s all the nations, and not just saying the leaders of the nations, not to saying representatives of the nations, but all the nations, obviously people. And some of them inherit the kingdom. Some we’ll read, as we can do this in a future Little Lesson, are cast into the eternal flames. Okay. So this would be a good one to get ready for if you’re a Christian. And even if your eschatology somehow precludes the fact that you will be at this judgment, and let’s say that you’re right, is it safe to conclude that your judgment will be by different criteria in that somehow God’s going to be unfair in all of this? And this is an exclusive judgment with exclusive criteria just for this group of people at that time and then everybody else is judged on a different criteria. And on that criteria, they’re cast into hell. That wouldn’t be logical, would it? Nor would it be consistent with the character of God.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Two Coming Judgments That All Of Us Should Prepare For (Part 2)

Two judgments for which we all should prepare. Part two.

Hi. Welcome to today’s Little Lesson. Thank you so much for joining me. It is my delight to share with you and answer as best that I can possibly give with the help of the Holy Spirit and my peanut size brain, to a question written to us by one of our viewers about the future judgments and how does that all fit in. So, if you didn’t see the first, part one of this, you ought to go see part one, because I’m not going to spend all the time reviewing. Okay, we’re just going to get right into it.

So we were studying the first judgment, which clearly the New Testament mentions that there’ll be believers present. That is the future judgment of the sheep and the goats, in which Jesus solemnly declared that there’s coming a time when all the ethnic, all the people groups of the world, all of the languages, tongues, and tribes, no one’s going to be exempt. They’re all going to be brought before his throne. And he will separate them like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. There’ll be two categories, the sheep on the right, the goats on the left. So every person watching this little video right now, and the person giving this video right now, is either going to be in one category or the other.

So you say, “Well, which category will I be in?” Well, I’m glad you asked that question because Jesus clearly reveals that. And so you can know which category in. Now, I will warn you that Jesus doesn’t always follow the teachings of the modern church. I guess he has that right, seeing as how he’s Christ and Christianity kind of has his name in it, and he started it, and he is God, by the way. So Jesus never mentions to the sheep here that you’re saved by grace through faith. I guess that’s okay. You okay with that? A lot of preachers aren’t okay with that for some reason. So they have to invent all kinds of theological concoctions to explain away what is so obvious here.

This is so easy to understand, only a theologian could misunderstand it and then come up with nutty things. I heard one sermon, one time about a guy who said that Jesus talks about the judgment of the sheep and the goats notice and all of the discourse that follows the tribulation period, so that’s when this will happen chronologically. And he gathers all the nations. And then he separates them sheep and the goats. And he says, “You did it to the least of these, my brethren,” well, Jesus was Jewish. And so he’s talking about how each individual nation, this is the judgment of the nations, they bring that out. He’s talking about which nations will be permitted to enter into the millennial reign in which nations will not be. And it’s all dependent on how they treated their Jewish brethren, the Jews living in Israel during the tribulation.

Now, if that isn’t the most farfetched, unnatural, perverse interpretation of this part of the Olivet Discourse, I don’t know what is because you have to ignore so many facts. Listen, Jesus, didn’t say blessed are you to get the end of the millennium, and depart from me, you wicked ones, you don’t get to enter the millennium. This is heaven or hell. This is eternal life or eternal damnation.

And think of how stupid it is to think that if you happen to be living in a nation that during the tribulation period was a little bit friendly toward Israel, you get eternal life. But if you are a God-fearing, Jesus-loving Christian who happened to live in a nation that politically aligned itself against Israel during the tribulation, you get the eternal flame. It doesn’t really fit the rest of the Bible that well, does it? Isn’t it amazing that people that call themselves preachers and teachers could even advocate such nonsense as that?

Your call, but to me, it’s just like, golly, is that perverse. But when you’re a perverse, you have to come up with perverse explanations to things that don’t agree with your perverse theology.

This is going to be Matthew 25:44. “Come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Oh, I love that kind of stuff, man. God’s been thinking about this from before he created the world. He planned a kingdom for a certain group of people, identified here as the sheep. Now why? What’s the criteria? That these people get eternal life, why? Jesus said the next sentence for, F-O-R, not F-O-U-R, but for, or simply it would be because I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink. I was a stranger. You invited me in. Naked, you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.

Never mentions faith, never mentions grace, never mentions praying the sinner’s prayer, never mentions cigarettes, tithing, going to church, reading the Bible. All these things are good and important, but Jesus, the head of the church, reveals what’s important here. What characterizes Christians?” By this shall all men know you are my disciples,” Jesus said, and disciple is synonymous word with the word believer or Christian, at least true believer, true Christian. “By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.” John wrote 1 John 3:14. “By this we know we pass from death to life,” spiritual death to spiritual life, “because we love the brethren.”

And so that’s what Jesus is saying here. Your works validated your faith in me. And you were transformed, born again by my spirit. Blessed. And it was evident in your life. Jesus never mentioned doctrine, nothing about theological belief. Didn’t say, “Oh, you had it right about the Trinity, unlike those folks down the street. You belonged to the right church. You were baptized according to the proper formula. You listened to the right people on the radio.” No, no. All, at this judgment, completely irrelevant.

No, you cared for the “least of these”. Actually, he said, “You did it for me,” he said. That’s an incredible revelation right there. Well, the righteous will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?” The King, Jesus is going to say, “I will answer and say to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine..”

Well, the foolish interpretation of this is to say that Jesus is talking about the Jewish nation. One time, they brought Jesus’s physical brothers and sisters to him, and they wanted to see him. And he said, “Who are my brothers and my sisters?” I think he said my mother. He explained, those who do the will of God. So to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me.

Christ lives in everyone who believes in him, including those who are suffering. And oftentimes, these kinds of sufferings are experienced by believers because they believe in Jesus. That’s why they go hungry and thirsty at times and are sick and in prison. And so true believers care about their suffering brothers and sisters in Christ, period. End of sentence. End of story.

So are you a sheep or are you a goat? Well, there’s the answer. We just read it. If your life isn’t characterized by any of that, and then you’re not a sheep. When I first saw this, as a pastor, I brought it up to my congregation. Oh my goodness. And I was emboldened to forthrightly say that if your life resembles the goats here more than the sheep, even though you’re sitting in church this morning, you’re a goat. And if you died, you wouldn’t inherit eternal life. You might be listening to these sermons of mine, you might be teaching Sunday School, who knows what you’re doing. But if your life resembles the goats, this is what Jesus said. I didn’t write this. This is not my thing. I’m just a newspaper delivery boy in this case.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

Two Coming Judgments That All Of Us Should Prepare For (Part 3)

Two judgments for which every one of us should be preparing, part three. Hi, welcome to today’s Little Lesson and thank you so very much for joining me. We’re going to build on the foundation that we laid in our last two Little Lessons and we know that there are at least very clearly two judgments that are yet to come. Judgements, I mean not by cataclysmic judgments, like the judgment of God falling on Sodom and Gomorrah, I’m talking about judgments where God the great judge has people stand before him and they give an account. He judges them based on standards, which he himself has set and revealed and one of those judgments at which the New Testament makes very clear is one in which there will be believers and at the same time unbelievers at that judgment and there’ll be separate is that future judgment of the sheep and the goats. Believers are metaphorically referred to as sheep and unbelievers are metaphorically referred to as the goats.

Now, I don’t know a lot about sheep and goats, but I know a little bit about them and I’ve asked some people who actually owned sheep and goats, the differences and there are some differences in their basic demeanor and attitude. Generally speaking, the goats are not so cooperative whereas his sheep love to follow and so no doubt, that’s part of what Jesus was intimating even in choosing those metaphorical terms. The true Christians follow Jesus, let me add to that. The true Christians love Jesus and if you love Jesus, you’re going to love him seated at the right hand of God and you’re going to love him incarnated in dwelling other believers. If those other believers in whom Christ is dwelling are suffering and you have the means to be able to do something to relieve their suffering, you’ll do something.

That’s what the judgment of the sheep and the goats is all about. It’s a revelation of the truth of who’s really saved, so we already covered the sheep and the sheep were a little bit surprised that they had done all these things for Jesus when in fact they’d only been doing them for each other. Jesus says when you did it to these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you’ve done it unto me so what a privilege. Think about it, if Jesus was on the earth right now and you knew Jesus was thirsty I bet you’d want to bring him something to drink and if he was sick, I bet you’d want to go visit him. If he was in prison, I bet you’d figure out a way to go see him.

Well, here’s what Jesus is saying to all of us, whoever read Matthew 25 verses 31 through 46. Jesus is here, he’s within, he indwells all believers by the holy spirit and so our love for Jesus is actually measured by our love for each other. In particular, those within our ranks who are suffering well, so many people who are watching this video like me are living in nations where there is no real overt at least governmental or powerful persecution of believers, but many parts of the world believers are suffering and they’re even suffering these kinds of sufferings that Jesus talked about. I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was a stranger. I’ve had to run for my life, I was sick, been exposed to the elements, I was in prison.

Yeah, it’s illegal to serve Jesus here and so, Jesus was saying true believers. Those who love me give the evidence for it by how they relate to these folks called the least of these and so that’s the reason that heaven’s family, the ministry that I’ve been blessed to direct now. We’ve got lots of wonderful people who work for us, I’m just the nobody that was the first one here, but working all over the world to relieve the sufferings of our persecuted and disadvantaged, marginalized brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world. We’re trying to build God’s kingdom, what we’re doing as a drop in the bucket and we’re thankful for every other ministry that’s got the same kind of focus. Every Christian should, that should be a component of every Christian’s life and if it’s not we have to ask the question am I a Christian?

Now, it’s possible that you could just be ignorant of this and therefore there is mercy and grace for you, but if you’re watching this video right now you’re not ignorant any longer, are you? Okay and it’s amazing how little Matthew chapter 25 verses 31 through 46 are mentioned in modern pulpits because it’s not attracting great crowds, but Jesus didn’t say go into all over the world and attract great crowds. He said, go into all the world and make disciples, a disciple is someone who follows Jesus and obeys him. We’ve gotten through about half of this judgment, this future judgment and I think we should all be prepared for this because even if somehow you could escape this coming judgment. You could say, well this is really just for the people who are living judged right after the tribulation period.

Okay, so maybe you’re right, I wouldn’t want to bet eternal life on that. But, even if that is the case, don’t you think that we ought to heed what Jesus said here? Because, the criteria for which he set for these people that we’re reading about, that now maybe you’re claiming that you’re not going to be a part of them. Do you think the criteria for them is going to be different than the criteria for you? He’s going to say to you, “You prayed a little sinner’s prayer and you never evidenced any kind of living faith. You live just like people who don’t believe live, but because you prayed the prayer and you went to ABC church, and the pastor told you you’re going to go to heaven. Well, come on in, we make an exception for you.”

Is that possible? I don’t think that’s possible, if I know God at all. He’s fair, he’s just, he shows no partiality and so the criteria that he sets for these people to inherit eternal life, how could they be different for anyone else? Definitely doesn’t make sense, well just to make it crystal clear Jesus then will say to those on his left. Now, this is the goats, “Depart from me accursed ones into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” I think the implication there is that God never really wanted any people to go to hell, when hell was originally created. It was prepared, Jesus said, for the devil and the rebel angels who followed him. What a tragedy it is that anybody’s going to go there, but according to Jesus there’s going to be people who are going to go there to the eternal fire.

Now, some folks interpret that as meaning that you’ll be eternally tormented and some interpret that as meaning you’ll just be … The fires are eternal, but the suffering is not because you’re annihilated. It’s not my purpose to go into all that, but either way you’re not getting eternal life if you’re with the goats and why? Does he say because you smoked cigarettes, you didn’t go to church, you didn’t pay your tithes, you didn’t subscribe to a certain doctrine about the trinity? No, because for I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, you didn’t invite me in naked. You did not clothe me sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Nothing about grace, nothing about faith, only about works because works are what validate that a person has received the grace of God and has a living faith, and the goats didn’t.

That’s why the Bible says that we’re judged by our works, because the works show have we been transformed, have we been born again. Do you love the brethren and is it evidenced by sacrifices that you make to relieve the sufferings of those within the body of Christ who are facing the toughest times?

Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

Two Coming Judgments That All Of Us Should Prepare For (Part 4)

Two judgments for which we should all be prepared, part four. We’re looking at two judgments that the new Testament reveals, that there will be believers present. And I’ve already shared for three little lessons details that I think will be relevant. And if you’re interested in this topic and you haven’t seen those three, well, why don’t you just stop right now and go back and watch those three and then come watch this one, because you’ll be so much better off.

So we’re currently looking at this first judgment, commonly known as the judgment of the sheep and the goats. There are believers present, because there are people here who inherit eternal life after Jesus pronounces their judgment based on the criteria that they gave evidence for their living faith, by their love for the least of these in whom Christ lives. Okay? So we’ve covered all of that.

And now, we’re just in the thick of the last part of Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46, where Jesus the King was coming with his throne and all the angels, and he’s addressing the goats who he put on his left. And they, they didn’t realize it perhaps at the time, but they were doomed, but it suddenly dawns on them. And he says, “Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire,” which wasn’t even prepared for people. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. It’s a shame that any human being has to go to the eternal fire.

And why are we not giving you eternal life? Why are you being cast into the eternal fire? Because I was hungry and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, you didn’t give me a drink. I was naked, you didn’t clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit me, and so on. And so, I have said, and I wish every preacher would say this rather frequently, because it’s true. One day Jesus is going to say to you and every person who’s ever lived it, if the scripture means anything, he’s going to say one of two things, either I was hungry and you fed me or I was hungry and you did not feed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink, or he’s going to say, I was thirsty and you did not give me a drink. That’s it.

And so, it’s very easy to figure out whether you’re in the category of the sheep and the goats. And it’s also easy to switch categories. If you’ve discovered you’re a goat, well, you can repent, ask Jesus to cleanse you from all your sin and come to live inside of you and have mercy on you. And he will. Oh my goodness, that’s the Gospel. That’s the Good News. And he’ll put his Holy spirit in you and transform you. You’ll become a lover, particularly a lover of other people like you who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. And when you find out about those that are suffering within our ranks, you’ll be willing to make sacrifices to try to relieve their sufferings. That’s the message of this part of the Olivet Discourse.

So like the sheep, the goats here were also kind of baffled about, how did we not do that for you, Jesus? And they themselves will answer. I’m reading now from the 44th verse of Matthew 25. “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?” They’re scratching their heads. And no doubt, some of these folks, if not a lot of them, were like churchgoing people. Listened to a lot of sermons, claim the Bible’s promises, and whatever else people do who don’t really understand what it means to believe in the Lord Jesus. It means to repent. And it means to give him your life and start serving him and obeying his commandments with the help of his Holy Spirit. That’s what it means.

So the implication and their objection here is, Lord, if we would have seen you suffering like that, well, of course we would have done something. We’re your people here. We’ve read the Bible, we believe in you. But Jesus says, “Then he,” or he could have said, then I, speaking of himself, “will answer them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did not do it to me.”

And so, they showed by their lives, by their actions that they didn’t have faith in Jesus. They might have had faith in American Jesus, or some version of Jesus. But they didn’t have faith in Bible Jesus, because Bible Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He’s coming back to judge the earth in righteousness and reign, rule over all those who have repented of their sins and believe in him. And so, if your Christianity is nothing more than you prayed a little prayer and you accepted Jesus as your personal savior, that’s not enough.

Here’s one more proof of that undeniable fact. I wish it could be a shouted from the housetops. I wish it could just be preached in the pulpits. So rare that it ever is. But here’s the most tragic part. Jesus then says, very solidly, no doubt, “These will go away into eternal punishment.” But then, the good part is, going back to the sheep, “but the righteous into eternal life.”

And so, there’s the choice for every human being. That theme is consistent throughout the scripture. You’re either righteous or you’re not righteous. You either love Jesus or you don’t love him. If you do love him, you obey him. Doesn’t mean you’re perfect, but you’re concerned about pleasing him and you’re striving to obey him, and there’s fruit and evidence in your life.

And some of that fruit is, you have love for the brethren. By this we know we’ve passed from death to life, 1 John 3:14, because we love the brethren. “By this shall all men know you are my disciples,” Jesus said, I think John 13, what, 35. If you have love one for another. So that’s the telling thing, love for the brethren and not just, we pass out handshakes and hugs in church and that’s how we show our love, and pass the peace during those five seconds. No, no. You’ll invest your time and your money to relieve the sufferings of persecuted and suffering brothers and sisters in Christ.

And I think that’s just common knowledge around the world where Christians are suffering so much for their faith in Christ. In nations like the one I’m living in, it’s not just always a given that you’re going to suffer a great deal. Now, we all have to suffer some. You’re going to be rejected by some friends and family members when you believe in Jesus, normally, but those are small sufferings compared to people in some nations where they’re executed or their lives are threatened and they have to flee for their lives because they believed in Jesus.

And so, regardless, but I don’t think Jesus is saying here, this doesn’t apply to the people that lived in North America in the early two thousands because they just didn’t know. No, I think we all know that our brothers and sisters around the world suffer for their faith and you ought to be involved. And there’s many excellent ministries. I’m fearful of naming some of those ministries, because by the time you watch this video, they may not be as excellent as they were at one time.

But as I’m speaking right now, there are some excellent ministries that minister to the persecuted church around the world. They’re doing a great job and they’ve been doing it for years. Not that they’re perfect. There’s no such thing as a perfect ministry. And the ministry that I direct, Heaven’s Family, definitely, we are involved in that. And as I’m sitting here right now, I can vouch for Heaven’s Family, because I’m watching it very closely. But that’s a way that people who live in non-persecuted, non-suffering nations can get involved with the suffering church around the world. Okay?

So I’ll close as I often do with our Little Lessons. And again, by the way, next time we’ll get into the second judgment that the new Testament teaches, that all Christians will be a part of. This one seems like there’s a pretty good chance that all Christians will be involved in it. And if not, certainly, if they’re not, they’ll be judged by the same criteria. But we’ll look at a judgment, there’s no escape from the Bible, that all Christians are going to stand at that judgment seat one day. And so, we’ll learn how we can get ready for that. Okay? It’s similar to how we get ready for this one. Okay? Obeying Jesus.

Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus, and ask him to forgive you. And he’ll give you eternal life and you’ll be transformed. You’ll want, you’ll get a new desire, a new heart, okay? That’s the blessing of the gospel and the grace of God. Jesus said to the sheep, “Come, you who are blessed of my father.” Once again, the father’s getting the glory and the credit for the transformation and the future of the sheep. Okay?

Till next time, may the Lord richly bless you.

How Can I Be Ready to Stand Before the Judgment Seat of Christ? (Part 1)

How can I be ready for the judgment seat of Christ? This is going to be a continuation of the four previous little lessons in which we began to talk about scriptures referenced to two future judgments at which Christians will be present. We’ve covered the first of those two. The future judgment of the sheep and the goats of which Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:31-46.

We’ve gone to that in great detail. The sheep and the goats were judged by their deeds. They were repaid according to their deeds. That’s a theme that is just inescapable regarding any future judgment because God is fair. God is just. Things that people think they got away with during their earthly life, they’re going to discover that they didn’t get away with it at all.

Those who realize that you can’t get away with anything before God, hopefully most, if not all of those people, repented of their sins and turned away from sin and started serving Jesus. Because they believed, truly believed in him. The Bible makes it very clear that their sins are forgiven. They will not have to suffer receiving what they deserve but they will still be judged according to their deeds.

That’s the theme we want to explore on this Little Lesson and perhaps one or two others that will follow it. I’m going to start off today in a passage of scripture near the end of the Paul’s epistle to the Romans. He’s talking about Christians have different views on various issues. Is it okay to eat meats that are sacrificed to idols or not? That was a big deal in the early church.

Should we practice Sabbath keeping and following the festivals and feast days found in the Mosaic law as new covenant believer? These are things that the early church wrestled with. You’ll find those themes surfacing in the epistles. We’re breaking in the middle of something. I’m not going to go into all that because we want to talk about the future judgment that you’ll be standing at and that I’ll be standing at.

Paul wrote in Romans 14:10. “But you, why do you judge your brothers?” See, because someone’s saying, “They’re wrong. “No. You’re wrong. We’re doing the right thing.” “No. You’re doing the wrong thing.” These are issues of personal conviction and not necessarily clear biblical revelation. Why do you judge your brother? Again, why do you regard your brother with contempt?

We will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Paul’s point is you don’t need to be judging anybody. It’s not your thing. We’re all going to be judged by God. He knows everything unlike us. He’ll do a good job. Don’t worry. Paul quotes from the Old Testament. He says, “For it is written.” In the New American Standard Bible from which I’m reading this, this is in all caps. Making it clear to us that this is a quotation from the Old Testament.

“As I live,” says the Lord. “Every knee shall bow to me. Every tongue shall give praise to God.” Everyone’s going to bow one day. Hopefully, you’ve already bowed willingly. In the future, you won’t be bowing unwillingly. Paul then derives from that. “So then, each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

He doesn’t see that promise of every niche abound, every tongue give praise to God as being simply a time where you say, “I praise you, God. I bow my knee before you.” That is going to be much more elaborate than that. We actually have to give an account of ourselves to God. That’s pretty sobering. One day, I’ll stand in front of God and give an account. Based on what? The opportunities that he gave me, the gifts, the talents, the time he gave me.

What did I do with it as a steward of his manifold grace? All right. Looking at another scripture and this one is actually in 2 Corinthians 5:9. Similarly, Paul also wrote, “Therefore we also have as our ambitions.” This is what they’re all about. We have as our ambition, whether at home or absent. If you read the context, it’s not talking about being in your physical house, your residence or out on a trip somewhere, on a vacation.

Whether you’re at home, that is spiritually you’re living in your body or you’re dead or you’re out of your body. Either way, we have as our ambition. Whether in our body or out of body to be pleasing to him. That’s the definition of a true Christian. Okay. Because we must all appear before his judgment seat. Rather before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, listen closely. So that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body.

You’re going to be judged when you’re out of the body but you’re going to be judged. It doesn’t just get erased. Okay. I’m out of my body now so that has no relevancy. No. What you did in your body will have relevancy what you receive when you’re out of your body. Okay? Each one may be recompensed or repaid for his deeds in the body according to what he has done. He goes on to say, “Whether good or bad.” All right. Food for thought there. Right?

Again, the theme surfaces is that God is a righteous judge. People reap what they sow. God repays them according to their deeds we read in Romans 14 and now again in 2 Corinthians Chapter Five. A lot of interesting rabbit trails we could follow here. Let’s try to stay on the main trail. Everything that we did prior to our repentance and belief in Christ, we are forgiven that. You don’t have to worry about those deeds being brought up.

Things that you’ve done as a Christian that you’re ashamed of since you believed in Christ, if you’ve confessed those sins, the Bible makes it very clear. God forgives you of those sins. Those things are not going to be brought up. Okay. You may realize and if you don’t, I hope I can help you realize that as Christians go through their lives, they’re not always 100% devoted. They’re not always 100% on track. Their motives aren’t always 100% pure.

They’re not dealing with it the way that they should. Because if we dealt with it correctly and are forgiven, that wouldn’t be an issue when we are judged. So many of us, we’re not dealing with everything. There are unresolved spiritual issues, motives, sins of omission as well as commission that we’re not confessing and not making it right. I’m not pointing the finger. I know that I’m in that same category. Okay.

It doesn’t just get erased when we die. It’s still an issue. We’re going to hear what God has to say about it all. We’re going to be repaid. There’s rewards. You say, “Are there punishments?” Well, yes and no. The punishments are the loss of the reward. That’s often how God works. Okay. I could go into more detail on that. I’ll stop. This is a judgment seat where God’s going to deal with us. Things that are hidden are going to come to light.

We’re going to make it right. We’re going to miss out on things that we could have been blessed with, whatever the rewards are in heaven. There’s obviously different degrees of authority given to believers who are faithful in the future. Different levels of authority, different rewards. Those who have made greater sacrifices are going to receive greater rewards. Because God repays everybody according to their deeds. Okay.

If you don’t get anything else out of it, get this. Your deeds, what you’re doing. Every prayer, every act of kindness, every act of obedience, every resistance of temptation, every cup of cold water given. God’s keeping track of it and he’s going to reward it. By the same token, neglected responsibilities, wasted opportunities that are gone. God’s keeping track of that, too. All right.

This is so important. Good for me to hear myself say this stuff. It’s just good for me to hear it, too.

There’s a book I wrote on my website that you could read for free called The Great Gospel Deception: Exposing the False Promise of Heaven Without Holiness. Okay. It’s a look at the modern gospel that has unfortunately tricked so many people to thinking that they’re okay. When according to the Bible, they’re not okay. Okay?

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

How Can I Be Ready to Stand Before the Judgment Seat of Christ? (Part 2)

How can I be ready for the judgment seat of Christ? Part two.

We’re looking at a sobering topic, the future judgments, that is when people stand before God and specifically those months before which Christians will stand. And we’re now into the second of those judgments that scripture makes so clear, and that’s the judgment seat of Christ.

Some who teach on this are often quick to put out that in the Greek, it’s the Bema seat, and quick to point out that that was a term derived from the ancient Greek Olympics. When all the runners in a race came up to the stands as you see them in the modern day Olympics. And they have a first, second and third prize, and they’re quick to point out that this is only a judgment that passes out rewards.

And I fundamentally agree with that, but I think that sometimes that teaching is this misleading because we just read in our last lesson on this topic from 2 Corinthians 5:9, where Paul says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds done in his body, according to what he has done.” Paul says. And then he has these words, “Good or bad.”

And so, the bad things, and again, the word in the Greek, can be translated evil or wickedness. Foul loss is the Greek word there, bad, foul loss. I think we got our modern day word foul from that English word. So, God’s not just going to be patting us on the back. It’s not going to be, “Oh, well done good and faithful servant.” If there’s issues unresolved, because we didn’t confess them, didn’t get them straightened out before we stood there. They’re going to be brought up. Okay?

Okay. So, this is sobering and a lot of it deserves our meditation. Now, then the theme that keeps recurring when you study the future judgments is the theme that God repays everyone according to their deeds. And, Jesus himself said in Matthew chapter 16 and verse number 27, I’m reading it now from the New American Standard, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his father and his angels, and will then repay every man,” and woman, of course, “according to his deeds.”

And so what people thought they may have gotten away with all their lives. No. No, you don’t get away with anything. And, this is the wonderful message of the Gospel. The only way to escape what you deserve is to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus and be forgiven. And then, because Jesus took upon him our sin and he was the propitiation, the one who took the wrath of God for our sakes.

That’s the only way to in this sense of escape what we deserve, but no Christian that I have ever met, is perfect. And, we’re all on a spiritual journey, as the Holy spirit is working within us. And, as we devote ourselves to, to try to obey God and do what his word says and so forth.

But I haven’t met anyone yet that I felt, including myself, I know myself pretty well, who’s really reached it yet. So, we’re working out our salvation with fear and trembling as the Apostle Paul wrote. So, it’s not just going to be pats on the back. It’s going to be, “David, I told you to et cetera, et cetera. Why didn’t you?” That type of thing.

And in the end, it doesn’t mean you don’t make heaven. Okay? And we’ll talk about that more in a future little lesson. Now here’s a great passage from the second chapter of Romans. Paul’s great Magnum Opus, of his gospel. And it’s full of logic. It’s addressed to all the Jewish objections that he was running into back in his day and so forth.

And this is so beautiful because he says, “Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you, who judge practice the same thing.” Let me just sum it up. When you point to someone and say, “Oh, look at that terrible adulterer.”

You’re confessing that you know it’s wrong, because you’re condemning them for it. And, you yourself have committed adultery on some level. Okay? Even if it’s just lust, Jesus said you’ve already committed adultery in your heart. Okay? So, you’re without excuse.

When you condemn other people, you testify before the court of heaven, “I know right from wrong.” So Paul goes on, “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, Oh man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things, and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Well, that would be quite illogical to think so. Or, “Do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience.” That is, God has had mercy on you. He hasn’t made you a french fry, because he’s giving you time to repent, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance. All right? Great verse.

Now, listen to this because this fits our theme of how to get ready, be prepared for the judgment seat of Christ. “But, because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart,” see you got to repent to be a Christian. You have to repent, “but because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself, in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will…” And now this is all in caps in my Bible indicating he’s quoting from the old Testament. “Who will render to each person, according to his deeds.”

This is like the cardinal, bedrock, foundational truth of the future judgment. God is going to repay everyone according to their deeds. Now, listen to the two categories of people then that Paul breaks this down to.

So, you can understand, no judge your own self. What kind of deeds do I have? And, what can I expect to be recompensed for? “To those who by perseverance,” that is people who are tempted to quit, but keep on going. “To those who by perseverance in doing good.” So they keep doing what’s good, and they persevere in it. “And who seek for glory,” nothing wrong with seeking for glory for yourself, from God. Glory from God, not glory from man.

“Seek for glory and honor.” So, there’s nothing wrong with seeking, hoping, wishing, longing, striving to receive glory and honor from God. And when God says to people, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That’s receiving honor from God. Isn’t it? And being rewarded, that’s receiving honor for God. But, listen, “To those who by perseverance and doing good seek for,” the three things, “glory, honor, and immortality.

I want to live forever. What do they get? He said, “eternal life.” Now, notice he never said anything about believing in Jesus, grace, faith. No, it’s all about works because you’re going to be repaid according to your deeds. Now, where does faith and grace and the gospel fit in all this? It’s only those people who have believed the gospel, who have repented of their sins and who are doing good.

Nobody else is really doing good. Even the good that unbelievers do oftentimes is, if not all the time motivated from some selfish motive. They want people to see them, how good they are. It’s a virtue signaling, “Look how moral I am.” But they hate God. How can you hate God and be a good person? You’re a pervert. You’re a rebel without a cause. You need to repent.

So, that’s what people who persevere in doing good, and that’s only the Christians really. The true Christians, not the phony Christians. Those who in perseverance in doing good, seek for glory and honor and immortality, they get eternal life. Those are the saved people.

But, “to those who are selfishly ambitious,” and that’s the cardinal characterization of the unbeliever. They’re selfish. It’s me. It’s all about me. “Selfishly ambitious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,” what will they receive? They’ll receive wrath and indignation.

So in case you didn’t understand that Paul summarizes it in the next verse, and this is the one we’ve got to close on for this Little Lesson. “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first and also of the Greek.” And it doesn’t make any difference if they go to church. Doesn’t make a difference.

There’ll be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil. So, you’re either characterized by doing good or doing evil. It’s black and white, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good. And then he says, “To the Jew first and also to the Greek,” for there is no partiality with God.

We are out of time. We’re way out of time on this Little Lesson, but I hope you’re seeing the obvious truth, that just saying I’m a Christian because I prayed this little prayer to accept Jesus as my personal Savior. And, if there’s been no transformation, there’s really been no faith. If there’s no good works, a good life.

Characterized by obedience, doing good. You’re not yet a Christian. Okay? Not yet a Christian, but you can become one. It’s very simple. Repent, and you will no longer be storing up wrath, but you’ll be storing up blessing for yourself. Okay?

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

The Coming Judgment, Especially for Ministers

The future judgment, especially for ministers.

In the last few Little Lessons, I think five or six, we’ve been talking about the future judgment, judgments at which people stand before God and give an account, and He reacts and He rewards and He condemns. And we’re looking specifically at judgments of which scripture speaks of, judgments that will be attended by Christians. And today is going to be the final judgment we’re going to look at. I initially talked about two future judgments, and this third one could be the same as the second one. Or, it might be a judgment exclusively reserved for those whom God calls into vocational ministry service, people that God has called and appointed to be, for example, pastors and teachers and evangelists and prophets and apostles and missionaries and there are other categories as well, people that serve God in a vocational way.

And the truths that we’re going to look at and try to unpack today, I’m sure also have application to those who are not called to vocational ministry, simply because they’re principles that emanate from the character of God and what He’s revealed in general about Himself, His fairness, His righteousness, and the future judgments that are coming, okay? So don’t think as I talk about this judgment that all ministers are going to experience one day, and if you’re not called to be a vocational minister, that somehow doesn’t have any application to you. Actually, I have no doubt it has application to you, and so listen closely, okay? Because we’re all … God has prepared good works from the foundation of the world that for all of us, that we should walk in them. You just may not be called to full-time vocational service, but all of us are called to specific good deeds, so what we read today from the Bible has application.

In Corinthians, Corinthians was a problem church that Paul had planted, and one of the problems was there were divisions. They were fighting over who their favorite teachers were. Some were saying, “I’m of Apollos,” who was a great teacher. Some were saying, “I am of Paul.” And so, in trying to straighten out their thinking and give them the right perspective, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3 in verse number 5, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed. Even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one, I planted, Apollos watered.” And so Paul came and founded the church, Apollos came in afterwards and encouraged the saints and taught, and so he watered those seeds, those gospel seeds.

But Paul gives the glory and credit to God, but he says, “But God was causing the growth.” So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who causes growth. That’s a great message. I’ll pause right here just to say, too many times, Christians are enamored by their favorite teachers and they need to realize that your favorite teachers are nothing. Give glory to God. If you’ve got a teacher that you like, who helps you understand something and is anointed or whatever, well, then give praise to God, because it’s all … that’s where the praise belongs.

Now, “He who plants and he who waters are one,” Paul said, so why are you chopping us up and picking favorites? We’re on the same team. But he says, “However, each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” That’s based on the fact that God is fair and He’s not really dealing with anybody, generally speaking, as a group. He deals with us as individuals.

But then Paul uses this metaphorical analogy. He says, “For we are God’s fellow workers, but you, the Corinthians, are God’s field.” He’s already talked about how he planted and Apollos watered. Then he brings up another analogy, “You are God’s building,” and he’s going to build on that building analogy in the next paragraph. He says, “According to the grace of God, which was given to me,” which again, Paul’s always saying, “Give God the glory, give God the credit. We are nothing.” But, “According to the grace of God, it was given to me, like a wise master builder,” he’s like the general contractor, “I laid a foundation.” That’s what apostles do, plant churches, “and another,” probably speaking here of Apollos and a few others, “is building on it.”

But Paul says, “Each man must be careful how he builds on it, that foundation, for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Now listen to this. This is where it gets very interesting. “Now, if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, or precious stones,” actually, he didn’t say or. He said, “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident, for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire.” And the fire will test the quality, not the quantity, interestingly enough, but the quality of each man’s work.

Now, I don’t know if you notice in those building materials, there were six that Paul listed there, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, three are very valuable things, gold and silver and precious stones. The other are relatively common things and not near as great as value as gold and silver and precious stones: wood, hay, and straw. The three that are valuable are non-combustible, incombustible, and the three that are not survivable are very combustible, wood, hay, and straw. You light a match, they’re burned up.

And so he says, “God’s going to test the quality of each man’s work the day, that day, when He tests it.” It will reveal the quality because He’s going to put it through a fire. So he said, “The day will reveal it.” It’s not evident now so much to those who are not so discerning. They think there’s a lot … these certain ministers are doing a great work, because look at the size of their church, for example, or look at how many followers they have, or how many views they have on YouTube. Wow, they’re popular. They must be the great ones. But maybe not so necessarily in the eyes of God, and it may not be evident now, but it’ll be evident later when those works go through God’s fire.

So I always kind of like to imagine this conveyor belt that when ministers die and appear before Jesus, which all of us must, there beside us are all of the things that we’ve done, all our ministerial works, all of our building of the kingdom, quote unquote, sometimes. So we put it on the conveyor belt and Jesus pushes the button and that conveyor belt lurches to life and it starts taking all of our works towards this flaming furnace, and in our works go. And then we walk around to the other side, when the conveyor belt brings those things out of the furnace and we see what’s left. Well, we’ll find out then, if we built with wood, hay and straw, all that comes out is ashes. “Wow, buddy, you thought you were doing something, but you really weren’t doing much of anything.”

But if it comes out the other side, gold and silver and precious stones, well then, whoa, it endured the fire. The quality was tested and it was proven to be good, and so you are rewarded. Now I’ll keep reading so I don’t get ahead of the Bible. “If any man’s work, which he has built on, it remains,” that is, after it goes through the fire, “he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss.” Loss of what? Loss of reward, loss of honor, loss of, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” from the Lord.

But listen to this, here’s a little bit of encouragement, “but he himself will be saved.” So yeah, this is not a salvation judgment. We’re not trying to judge your salvation. Now, you believed. You were doing some stuff, but maybe your motives weren’t pure. Maybe you weren’t teaching the truth, and so you’re teaching manmade doctrines just because they were more popular and they got you more views and more money, and so forth. So that all got burned up. Sorry, but come on in. You’re saved.

Paul says, “Yet so as through fire,” we can say by the skin of your teeth, okay? So that’s a bit sobering. And as I said at the beginning of this little lesson, don’t think that just because you’re not called to vocational ministry that this has no application to you because like I said, we’re all supposed to be doing good works. And so your motives aren’t important, that building on the foundation is important with the truth. There are so many that are out teaching their own ideas because they’re popular and it builds their ministry, and it all looks great now, but when the work’s through the fire, it’s going to be a big disappointment.

So ministers are supposed to teach the oracles of God. That is what God says. That’s what ministers ought to be saying, pastors, preachers, teachers, evangelists, even the gospel has been so corrupted. You so rarely hear anyone even mention repentance and so forth anymore. What kind of gospel is that? Well, it’s no gospel at all. When it goes to the fire, bunch of ashes come out the other side. All those converts who prayed that little prayer at the end and accepted Jesus as their personal savior, it all comes out as ashes. Well, too bad, but at least you get a ticket into heaven.

All right, so this, like I said, could be the same as the second judgment that we talked about in this series, but it could be an exclusive judgment just for ministers. And in this context, that’s kind of how it sounds, doesn’t it? Sure it does. Okay. So many who are first now will be last then. And many who are last now will be first then. People you’ve never heard of who have served God faithfully in hidden and seemingly insignificant ways, their quality is so precious to God, it’s gold and silver and precious stones. And they’ll be hearing, “Well done, good and faithful servant. And you were faithful in a few things. I’ll put you in charge of a lot here. Rule over 10 cities.” All right.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you.

The post Two Coming Judgments That All Of Us Should Be Preparing For appeared first on David Servant.

Are we living during the beginning of the end times? Bible teacher David Servant discusses this possibility in this episode of Little Lessons. Learn more!

Is this the beginning of the end?

Today we want to talk about what’s going on around the world. A lot of Christians are looking at some of the current events, like myself, and wondering is this the beginning of the end? Because we’re blessed as believers, we know the future. You think about how incredible that is, and we take that for granted. Think about if you’re not a believer and you don’t have faith in the word of God, and again, it’s stupid not to have faith in the word of God.

This book has proven itself to be 100% accurate so far in predicting the future, and it’s been doing that for hundreds and hundreds of years. It’s irrefutable. And so know there’s still things in the word of God that have not been fulfilled yet, and we know something about the last days and the end times. And so we’re looking therefore at what’s happening in our world right now during this pandemic that’s circling the globe, the coronavirus and all of the political turmoil and upheaval.

Just yesterday, there was a horrible blast in Beirut, Lebanon, where I think currently they had the death count at 135 people and thousands of people injured and so forth. Hundreds of thousands of people are now homeless, and that’s a country that’s already been suffering so much because of the influx of refugees from the Syrian war and so on and so forth. And those who are watching current events know that the world is in upheaval and the United States government keeps printing and borrowing more and more money, increasing the national debt. Trillions of dollars just in the last few months in order to keep this economy going that has been shut down in part by the virus and so forth, and so times are interesting.

I’d ask you to, first of all, think however about other times in human history and even recent, fairly recent human history when things were even worse. I’m 62-years-old, and so I’m certainly not able to remember World War II, but can you imagine the folks who were living during that time and what they were thinking? Is this the end of the world and we we’ve got battles going on all over the world and people are trying to take over the world and so forth. It fits the end time scenario quite well.

And yet all that stuff passed and things actually got a lot better. And so that’s always a possibility that we ought to consider when we’re in times like this, because it’s so easy just to say, “Oh my goodness, this has to be the end of all things.” And again, people have thought that many times in the last couple of thousand years, that surely this is it and it’s all being set up and so forth. And so let’s leave room for that possibility.

However, that being said, we do know enough about the end times to be able to look at current events and make some very interesting observations. Now we know the big deal, one of the big characteristics of the end times, of course, is the rise of the antichrist, that’s unmistakable in Revelation and a couple of Paul’s writings. And he obviously does rise to power in part through military conquests, and we’re, of course, not seeing that anywhere that I’m aware of.

But before the antichrist comes to power, comes to greater power through military conquest, of course, he has to come to power politically and through some kind of political posturing or intrigue and then circumstances have to be set up in that region where he first begins to gain power. Again, Hitler, wasn’t just singing in the choir one day and then decided, “I think I’ll just try to take over Europe,” the next day. He had to rise to power in Germany and circumstances had to be ripe for his very nationalistic message to be embraced by so many of the people in Germany at the time, you see.

So that’s interesting because what we’re seeing in the world today, the world’s sharing one big problem, and it’s an economic problem spawned on, at least in part, by the Coronavirus. And we’re, here in America, we’re all already hearing there’s a shortage of change, coins. I wonder what’s precipitating that? I’m sure that there’s some reason, there’s going to be some logical reason. But some people think, “Well, they’re just setting us up. They’re going to eliminate change and then pretty soon they’re going eliminate cash. And then it’s going to be everyone has to have a card and it has to have their ID associated with it. And then, of course, there’s going to be the chip in the hand or on the forehead and no one will be able to buy or sell.”

And so we’re seeing the little gravitation and by those tiny little signs. And we’re also seeing a rise in openness to the ideas of greater degrees of socialism and which means, of course, much more government control and all based on the idea of equality and some of these so-called moral ideals. That we are our brother’s keeper and so even if our brother is a lazy bum and a liar and a thief, we owe him some money. Some of our money, which of course is not biblical at all.

But anyways, there’s a much greater openness. We see that particularly among the millennial generation and much more inclined to say the government ought to be running things more and they ought to be taken the money from wealthier people and redistributing it to the poor. And we know that always winds up in economic disaster. Anybody who’s ever studied communism and the higher forms of socialism knows it’s doomed to failure.

I think it was a Margaret Thatcher who said something to the effect of, “Socialism, it works great until you run out of other people’s money.” That’s exactly the truth. Well, with the national debt, of course increasing, you can’t just keep borrowing money forever. You have to have enough money to make the payments. And you can’t, as a government, you just can’t keep printing money.

Another sign of our economic turmoil here is the price of gold. It has really shot up over the last, I guess, year or so, and it’s reached higher levels than ever before. And some economists and folks like myself will actually hold to the idea that actually gold doesn’t ever increase in value. It’s only worth so much. It takes so much work to get gold out of the ground. There’s only so much gold out there and so forth and so that’s what it’s worth. And so gold doesn’t really fluctuate in price. It’s the currencies, so the dollar and other currencies, which people use to buy gold, that’s decreasing in value.

Well, that happens when governments print money. That’s the definition of inflation. When governments create money out of thin air, because anyone can print paper and say, “This is worth something.” That’s what the government does, and as long as people believe that, it works. When people stop believing that, it doesn’t work any longer, and that’s going to happen actually. It’s happened many times historically around the world where governments just print themselves and oblivion.

In Zimbabwe, for example, there was a time when they were printing, I think one trillion Zimbabwean dollar notes, and people were using them as toilet paper because they were absolutely worthless. And so these are things that we see that can precipitate what would ultimately lead to a one world government, people being open to that idea politically, turmoil where nations are going to be rising against nations, as Jesus said, and that’s when the antichrist is going to play his cards and so forth and come out on top. And that’s when the persecution of the Christians, because we’re going to be the really bad guys. They’ll be calling us the haters, because we’re not going to take the mark of the beast. We’re not going to bow down to the anagrams.

You understand the antichrist ultimately claims to be God and the people of the world by and large believe it. And so you can’t be a Christian and say, “The antichrist is God.” And so that could cause you to lose your life. All right.

So these are things. So I would say yes to answer the question that I posed at the beginning of this lesson. I would say, yes, we’re at the beginning of the end times. How long it will stretch out? I don’t know, and it is very possible that all of these things could be overcome just like World War II eventually ended and things got better for quite a while. That could happen. But I guess that’s not what I’m thinking anyways.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you richly.

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