A word of Wisdom: The Evidence of Having Received the Gift of the Holy Spirit
The Evidence of Having Received the Gift of the Holy Spirit
Revelation 1:4 KJV
Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Revelation 3:1 KJV
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars;
Revelation 4:5 KJV
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Revelation 5:6 KJV
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Who are the seven Spirits of God which are in Jesus in Isaiah 11:1?
Isaiah 11:1-2 KJV
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And
1) the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
2) the spirit of wisdom
3) and understanding,
4) the spirit of counsel
5) and might,
6) the spirit of knowledge
7) and of the fear of the LORD;
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What is the purpose of the seven Spirits of God in Jesus?
Ezekiel 36:27 KJV
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
John 16:7-8 KJV
Nevertheless I tell you the truth;
It is expedient for you that I go away:
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
[8] And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Luke 24:49 KJV
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
The purposes are,
1) to put His spirit (the seven Spirits), the Comforter within us
2) to "cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them"
3) to " reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"
4) to "be endued with power from on high"
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Fulfilment of the Promise of God to put the seven Spirits within us:
Acts 1:4-5 KJV
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
[5] For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Here, we are told "the seven Spirits of God" or "His spirit" or "the Comforter" is the Holy Ghost.
Jesus Christ is the one who will fulfill the Promise of God after His ascension and being glorified.
He shall baptised us with the Holy Ghost to put within us.
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How is the Promise of God being fulfilled?
Acts 2:1-4 KJV
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
[2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
[3] And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
[4] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Take note that v4 is the evidence of having been baptised by Jesus.
It is the clear, visible proof that one has received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This is shown by the reactions of the unbelievers who witness the sign. Although they cannot physically see nor comprehend the disciples having received the gift of the Holy Ghost but they were able to clearly and physically see and hear the miraculous evidence of them speaking in other tongues.
Acts 2:5-6,8,12,14-18 KJV
[5] And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
[6] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
[8] And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
[12] And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another,
What meaneth this?
[14] But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them,
Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
[15] For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
[16] But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
[17] And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
[18] And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Peter is clearly saying that the miraculous speaking in other tongues is the fulfilment of the Promise of God to pour out "His spirit within us" and is to prophesy, in which the unbelievers saw and heard.
Acts 2:32-33 KJV
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
[33] Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Peter even goes on to spell out clearly for us that the speaking in other tongues that the unbelievers saw and heard is the believers' having received the Promise, the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38-39 KJV
Then Peter said unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
[39] For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
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Have ye received the gift of the Holy Ghost since ye believed,
with the evidence of the utterance of other tongues given by the Spirit?
Without the evidence of speaking in other tongues, how else will you be able to identify with an absolute confidence and assurance that you have received the gift of the Holy Ghost?
This is the only place that the Word took to lengths to elaborate extensively, specifically to us the clear evidence of speaking in other tongues.
Why would you not believe in the Word of God?
Your unbelief in the Word of God does not change anything.
It does not change the truth of what has happened in Pentecost nor does it change the fact that you too can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues,
It does not change the Word of God.
Will you choose to fear not but believe only in the Word of God and not in the carnal traditions and teachings of men?
Reference:
The Evidence of Tongues vs The Gift of Tongues
Just read the 14th chapter of I Corinthians! The Holy Spirit will bring clarity to your understanding of the Gift, you will or have received!!! Glory!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, 1 Cor is written to the community of believers who have all received the gift of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of other tongues and should be understood as such.
DeleteSo 1 Cor 14 cannot be understood as "not all spoke in tongues".
1 Corinthians 14:5 KJV
I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
In fact, 1 Cor 14 is not referring to the initial evidence of utterance in other tongues of the baptism with the Holy Spirit but it is actually a continued discussion of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor 12:7-11, the gift of divers kinds of tongues, prior to this chapter
There is a difference between the initial evidence of other tongues and the gift of divers kinds of tongues, which is really prophesying to the Church in an unknown tongue.
They are not the same thing.
One is the evidence upon receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (as described multiple times in Acts) and the other is one of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:7-11) of the believer who has already received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
One is the utterance (of the spirit of man) given to the born again believer upon receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit,
the other is a gift belonging to the Holy Spirit and not the believer
The following 2 verses refers to the evidence upon receiving the Promise of God but that is not the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit which is a new thing not mentioned in the OT since the seven Spirits are not sent to man and only the 1) Spirit of the LORD came upon them in OT.
Isaiah 28:9,11-12 KJV
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
[11] For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
[12] To whom he said,
This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Mark 16:17 KJV
And these signs shall follow them that believe; ...they shall speak with new tongues;
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How do we reconcile this understanding then, one might ask?
Well, although the Bible did not specifically address this difference, if one has been "observing all things whatsoever Christ has commanded us" and following after the apostles' teachings and traditions in the laying of hands to impart the Gift, one will find and "see" the distinct difference between the evidence and the gift of tongues to prophesy, having experienced both tongues.
In my own experience of personally leading like 20 believers to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, I have observed that a few (2 or 3) of them who have received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, initially uttered in tongues upon receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit but subsequently after that they were not able to do so anymore either out of a non-desire or lack of confidence or even out of a subsequent unbelief.
The majority continues to be able to speak in tongues thereafter.
There is also one particular instance of them where after the initial evidence of tongues, the girl was not able to speak any more but she earnestly coveted for the gift of tongues and eventually received the supernatural ability to speak in tongues.