This was my Pentecost Sunday sermon. Some will be interested in the subject (the Baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues), while some will not. I hope it encourages, or at least sparks fruitful discussion. A PDF handout is available here. Thanks for listening and/or reading.
Text: Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-18, 37-39
As we begin Acts chapter 1, Jesus is with His disciples after rising from the dead, and is about to return to the Father.
4 …being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “You have heard from me.” 5 For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 When they therefore came together, they asked him, “Lord, will You at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own authority.
8 But you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Let’s go to the beginning of Chapter 2, and see what happened 10 days later.
ACTS 2:1-18, 37-38
1 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 Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said to them, “You men of Judea, and all you who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says 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 now explains that Jesus has ascended to Heaven and has poured out the Holy Spirit. He tells them that God has made Jesus Lord and Messiah. Skip down to verse 37.
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
On this Pentecost Sunday, I want to share a message entitled, “When the Spirit Comes Upon You.”
Last week, Pastor Glenn launched a new sermon series, called “Sowing to the Spirit.” In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he says, “…walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...” (see Galatians 5:16-18).
We may have a sincere desire to be good, but if we’re honest we’ll admit that just wanting to be good is not enough to empower us to overcome sin and live a victorious Christian life. So, how can we make sure we’re walking in the Spirit and not according to our sinful nature?
Paul goes on to say, “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up” (6:7-9 CSB).
How do we overcome our sin nature and live a victorious life? We need to develop a dynamic partnership with the Holy Spirit. We need to sow to the Spirit.
Paul paints a picture of a farmer sowing seed. Just like a farmer, I need to cast my seed in a good field, one that will give me a good crop. Sowing to the Spirit means I expend my time and my energy in ways that will be spiritually fruitful. Sowing to the Spirit means we’re investing the moments and the hours of our lives into things that strengthen our faith, and our relationship with Christ.
This summer, we’re going to look at some important spiritual disciplines, each one a different way that we can sow to the Spirit. And that leads us to Pentecost.
Pentecost SundayWhat is Pentecost? Some call it the “birthday” of the Church, but maybe it’s better to say that the mission of the Church is what began on Pentecost. It’s the day the Church began to tell the world that Jesus is Lord, and started bringing souls into His Kingdom.
The word Pentecost means “fiftieth.” We call it that because it comes 50 days after Easter. Pentecost was one of the important festivals that God had commanded the Jewish people to celebrate. And it brought pilgrims to Jerusalem from all over the world.
At the end of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem because they would soon be “clothed with power” (Luke 24:49). What an awesome picture: clothed with power! They obeyed the Lord’s command and launched a 10-day prayer meeting. It culminated in the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost morning.
Pentecost marks the beginning of the harvest season, and for sure, the disciples got to witness the start of God’s great harvest. By the end of the day, the church was 25 times bigger than when the day started! ** From that small beginning, there are now two and a half billion people who claim to be Christians, and millions more who’ve gone home to be with Jesus!
Jesus’ first disciples knew Him as the Passover Lamb who had taken away their sins. But then they came to know Him as the One who clothed them in power. God knew they needed to experience Pentecost… as well as the Passover. They became a people of God’s Presence, and a people of God’s power.
We, too, need to be a people of His Presence and His power. The needs of the hour are great; the harvest that’s in front of us is great; and the challenges we face in our own lives are great as well. We need to seek the power of God from Heaven!
It’s only people who know His Presence and His power who can live a victorious life, and carry His message to nations. Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” It’s time to take Him at His word, and receive the gift He offers us: the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
All four Gospels describe Jesus as the one who baptizes people in the Spirit. That means He immerses us and saturates us in the Spirit — just like we’re immersed in water when we get water baptized!
To be clear, we believe every Christian has the Holy Spirit living inside them. But… there’s a deeper dimension of life in the Spirit that we can enjoy — and it’s more than what some have experienced. Maybe it’s more than what you’re experiencing!
Jesus spoke of knowing the Spirit in three different dimensions. And He made it easy for us to understand. He used three simple words to talk about our relationship with the Spirit: with, in, and upon.
Before He died, Jesus told His disciples, “…you know Him [the Spirit]; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). So, the Spirit does lives inside a Christian, but perhaps not all of us are experiencing His power upon us.
When the Spirit came upon the first Christians, the effect was dramatic. First, the supernatural Gifts of the Spirit began to operate in their lives. God used them to heal, to prophesy, and to cast out demons. As God demonstrated His power, the church grew like wildfire. They were clothed with power, and they boldly proclaimed, “Jesus is Lord!”
Second, when the Spirit came upon people, their own, personal faith was also strengthened. One reason why is that is that they received the ability to speak in other tongues, languages that they had never learned.
Acts chapter 2 says they began to “speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance [or speech].” The Holy Spirit gave them words to speak, words that went directly to their spirits, bypassing their mind.
When this happens, it may be a human language, just like we saw in Acts 2. But the Bible hints that it may also be an angelic language. That’s why people call tongues a “heavenly language.”
Tongues is the unmistakable sign of being baptized in the Spirit. We believe that when you’re baptized in the Spirit, you will speak in tongues – maybe not right away, but you’ll certainly be capable of doing so. In fact, whenever people received the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, they either spoke in tongues, or else the Bible implies that they did (see Acts chs. 2, 8, 9, 10, 19).
Nor was this a one-time experience. Speaking in tongues, often called praying in the Spirit, was a powerful tool from God to help them in their daily living. That’s because when we pray this way, we build ourselves up on our faith. We receive spiritual strength from God.
And tongues was a powerful way that believers sowed to the Spirit. Sowing to the Spirit that way, they reaped a harvest of life and power from Him.
Hundreds of millions of Christians have discovered this blessing over the last century. Receiving the Baptism of the Spirit and praying in the Spirit has been a vital part of our growth here at Harvest Time. We’ve been stronger and more effective because of it. Many people here could testify of how God has empowered them through praying in the Spirit.
But maybe you’ve wondered how this works. Maybe you’ve heard people speaking in tongues and wondered what’s happening.
What’s happening when we speak in tongues?First, when you speak in tongues, you’re the one speaking, not the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t take over people’s bodies. The Bible says “they… began to speak… as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
You’re the one speaking, but you’re speaking a stream of words that comes from the Holy Spirit into your spirit, your inner person. You’re not speaking words that originated in your own mind. Paul talks about this in First Corinthians chapter 14. He says, “…if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful...” (14:14). You see, his spirit is praying something that his mind didn’t produce and doesn’t understand.
Modern science has demonstrated that when people speak in tongues, the language centers of their brains are relatively quiet. It’s somehow different from normal speech.
Second, speaking in tongues is an act of our own will; it’s under our control. Paul said, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also….” (14:15). Notice: Paul could choose when he would speak in tongues. To say it a little more crudely, if you’ll forgive me, he could turn it on, and he could turn it off.
Jesus said that when we receive the Spirit, rivers of living water will flow out of hearts, out of our innermost being. If you’ve been baptized in the Spirit, there’s a river inside of you now, and a flow of speech that you can release out of your mouth. It doesn’t come from your mind; it comes out of that River of God’s Presence that He placed inside us!
We’re going to pray today to receive the Holy Spirit, but before we do, let’s dig in a little deeper. I’m going to quickly share five reasons why you should sow to the Spirit by speaking in tongues. Here are a few reasons why you should you speak in tongues and pray in tongues. First:
1. Speak in tongues to enjoy continual fellowship with the Lord.Paul teaches us quite a bit about tongues in his First Letter to the Corinthians. I’d encourage you to read it on your own: First Corinthians 12 through 14. You’ll discover that the Corinthians spoke in tongues a lot! In fact, they did it so much that it’s pretty much all they did!
Paul corrected them, because of course they needed all the different elements of Christian worship, not just tongues. He didn’t say they were wrong to speak in tongues; the problem was that they were misusing tongues in their public worship. Tongues can be used in public, and Paul told them how. But we learn in those chapters that Paul used tongues extensively in his own, personal times with the Lord.
Paul shows us that speaking in tongues is a way to fellowship with the Lord continually, and to pray without ceasing. The Bible says we should “pray without ceasing.” But maybe you’ve asked yourself, “How in the world can I pray without ceasing? I’d have to quit my job.” I believe praying in other tongues was a way that Paul prayed without ceasing.
This great apostle valued tongues tremendously. In fact, he told the Corinthians, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all…” (1 Cor. 14:18). Now, remember, these are the Corinthians he’s talking to, who had turned their church services into “tongues services.” And yet Paul still says he spoke with tongues more than all of them.
This means Paul spoke in tongues a great deal when he was not in church. He must have been doing it all the time! If this apostle, who accomplished so much for God, felt that tongues were that important, it should demonstrate their value to us as well.
Now, we certainly need to pray to God in our own language, and Paul does say that he prays with his spirit and his understanding, his mind.
But speaking in tongues is a unique way to keep communing with the Lord throughout the day. It’s something you can do on the go, and when you’re in between things. You can do it when you’re busy, and you only have a few minutes. You can do it even when you’re busy doing other things, things that may not require your focused, mental attention.
Any time, day or night, you can simply say, “Holy Spirit, I’m yielding my tongue and my spirit to you right now – pray with me, and pray through me,” and then begin to fellowship with Him, supernaturally.
It’s something God gave us so we could keep on releasing those rivers of living water into our environment—releasing the River of His Presence easily, and constantly. Why not begin to speak in tongues as a way to enjoy continual fellowship with the Lord?
Here’s another reason you should speak in tongues:
2. Speak in tongues to be built up in your inner man.In First Corinthians 14:4, Paul says, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.” In the Greek, that word “edify” means to build or construct something, like when someone builds a house. But it was also used as a figure of speech to talk about building up and strengthening a person.
Somehow, speaking in tongues causes God’s power to be released within us. Remember, Jesus said that the Spirit would flow out of us like rivers of living water. So when we speak in tongues, we’re being refreshed by His Presence; His power is being released within us, and out of us.
The Apostle Jude says much the same in his Letter. Jude says, “…you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…” (20-21a).
Tongues builds me up on the inside, so I’m more ready to minister, more ready for what comes my way. Praying in tongues helps me stay conscious of the Spirit’s Presence and activity – what He’s doing, how He’s moving. I become more sensitive to the Spirit. I can better partner with Him.
Many would suggest that the more we speak in tongues, the more we’ll see the other Gifts of the Spirit operating in our lives—healing, prophecy, and so on—because we’re more yielded to the Lord. That also makes us more ready to minister. In terms of our personal challenges, it makes us more conscious that the Lord is near — more aware of His ability to help me, when I’m facing temptation.
Speak in tongues, and do it often, as a way to be built up in your inner man!
Another reason to speak in tongues is this:
3. Speak in tongues to receive revelation from Heaven.In First Corinthians 14:2, Paul says, “…he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” In the Bible, a mystery isn’t something that we need to figure out, like Sherlock Holmes. In the Bible, a mystery is something that’s been hidden by God, until He decides to reveal it to us.
Paul says no one understands our heavenly language. That’s intriguing. Many believe that includes the Devil and his servants as well. But God understands it. After all, when we’re speaking in tongues, He’s the one who gave us those words to pray in the first place.
So, as we pray in the Spirit, God is downloading His mysteries to us, causing us to say and pray things that only He knows. But over time, you may find Him unpacking some of these mysteries into your conscious mind. Over time, you may notice God giving you fresh spiritual insights, or helping you see new connections in His Word. Confusing situations may become clearer; you may become wiser than before. Paul says, “we have the mind of Christ,” and this is a powerful way to seek God for the wisdom of the Lord.
Paul himself had so much revelation, and remember: he spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthians. I think there’s a connection between his frequent tongues speaking and the great insight he possessed. Speak in tongues, to receive fresh revelation!
Here’s another reason to speak in tongues:
4. Tongues helps us to excel in our worship.Speaking in tongues enables us to worship in a way that surpasses the limits of our human mind and emotions. It can help us worship in an unhindered way.
Tongues are very often expressions of praise. On the Day of Pentecost, tongues were used for praise, not for preaching. We read how the crowd said, “…we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11b).
In First Corinthians 14, Paul mentions singing with the spirit! I wish we had time to go deeper into that. He also talks about blessing or giving thanks with the spirit. He says when you do this, you’re giving thanks well, as long as it can be interpreted for the benefit of others. (I’ve never seen somebody give thanks in tongues for the Thanksgiving turkey, but maybe someday I will.)
Remember, Paul said the person who speaks in tongues isn’t speaking to men, but to God. There’s an old hymn says, “Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise!” Maybe you’ve wished you had a thousand tongues to praise Jesus! Tongues can enable you to express your joy in an unhindered way, a way that goes beyond articulate speech. Words of Earth are inadequate to sing His praises, so I think He gives us words from Heaven to help!
So, singing, worshiping, giving thanks in tongues – these allow us to release our praises in a greater way, when we don’t have the right words—or perhaps enough words—to praise our Savior. Tongues helps us to worship beyond the limitations of our humanity!
One more reason why you should pray in tongues:
5. Tongues can revolutionize your prayer life!Speaking in tongues helps us pray for things we’re not aware of, and helps us to partner with the Holy Spirit in new ways. In Romans chapter 8, Paul talks about a way the Spirit prays through us. He says:
“…Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27 ESV).
So, while Paul doesn’t explicitly use the word “tongues” here, I believe his language includes tongues also. Notice, he says the Spirit helps us in our weakness. That word help means to work together with someone on a problem. For example, if I were pulling a heavy object with a rope, and you came along and grabbed that rope and pulled with me, that’s the word Paul’s using. It means we’re pulling together against something.
So, Paul says we don’t know what to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings. The prayers we speak in those times are really coming from the Spirit. After all, the only mouth He has to work with down here… is yours!
And notice that it’s not a matter of how to pray, but what to pray. It’s not about the style of your prayer; it’s about the content of our prayers. There are times we simply don’t know what to pray. So this is a great blessing from the Lord.
This kind of praying enables you to pray for things you know nothing about, because the Spirit is giving you content; He’ll give you the words to pray.
When we pray in tongues, we speak… as the Spirit gives us the words to speak.
And according to Paul, the Father understands the heart of the Spirit when the Spirit prays. That’s a great encouragement. It lets me enter a new realm of prayer in which I can benefit from the fact that the Holy Spirit has perfect knowledge of God’s Will. This means we’re praying, as Paul says, "according to the will of God.”
That’s why some people call praying in tongues a “perfect prayer,” because we’re literally praying exactly what God wants us to pray in that situation. By praying this way, I can also avoid selfishness in my prayers; I can avoid praying for what I think somebody needs, instead of praying for what God knows they need. Church, so many people have wonderful testimonies of miraculous answers to prayer that came this way.
Go the Lord and invite His help in praying this way. When we don’t know how to pray or what to pray, the Holy Spirit knows how to pray God’s Will. Spend time praying in the Spirit for that person, or for that difficult problem. The Spirit desires to help us: He wants to come alongside you, grab a hold of that difficulty with you, and pull on it together with you. What a blessing!
Incorporate this into your prayer life! Take advantage of the fact that by praying in the Spirit, you can release prayers that have been crafted according to the perfect will of God. Remember, Paul seems to have thought it was so important to speak in tongues that he did it more than anybody else in the church!
I like to think of it as cheating! God is giving us the advantage in prayer. Think about it:
You have a perfect prayer partner living inside of you. He goes wherever you go.
He’ll pray with you and for you, whenever you need, whenever you want.
He never gets tired, and He never gets tired of you. He never says, “Oh, sorry, something came up. I can’t pray with you tonight.”
What’s more, He always prays the Father’s heart for you, always prays the will of God.
Let’s take full advantage of our relationship with the Holy Spirit, our Heaven-sent, perfect prayer partner.
Today, we seen five reasons why you should speak in tongues and pray in tongues.
· It’ll revolutionize your prayer life.
· It’ll help you to worship, and receive revelation.
· It’ll build you up, and help you enjoy continual fellowship with Jesus.
It’s a powerful way to sow to the Spirit, and experience God’s victory – a way to sow that’s always available.
Through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Jesus makes all these blessings available to His Church. Today, on Pentecost Sunday, have you been baptized in the Spirit? Have you experienced His rivers of living water? Let’s seek Him today for a powerful outpouring of the Spirit. We want to be a people who can pray in the Spirit, and be clothed with His power.
You shall receive power… when the Spirit comes upon you!
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