Proof

CHRIST; Gods Gift to The World

Have you noticed how stressed out people are this time of year?

I've noticed that around this time of year, people get very grumpy, they can be easily angered, and are generally stressed out.

What has happened, and why are people so stressed?

~According a survey done by the Credit Council, the average American family will spend around $930 dollars on Gifts and accessories during the Holiday.

~According to Parenting and Family magazine, back in 2005, the Playstation 3 was released and many parents went on a spending frenzy in hopes of purchasing one for a child for Christmas. There was a shortage of Consoles, so the bidding war began on ebay. The highest bid was $30,000. Any other time of year, the Playstation 3 would sell for 399 dollars.

In this study, we'll answer at least two very important questions:

What is Christmas really all about?

What do we do with this information?

Luke 2:8-20

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold,^[b^] an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “ Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”^[c^]

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely^[d^] known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

You can just imagine these shepherds sitting out in the dark...keeping watch over their sheep...

Shepherd facts: The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from wolves and other predators. The shepherd was also to supervise the migration of the flock and ensured they made it to market areas in time for shearing. In ancient times shepherds also commonly milked their sheep, and made cheese from this milk; only some shepherds still do this today.
In many societies shepherds were an important part of the economy. Unlike farmers, shepherds were often wage earners, being paid to watch the sheep of others. Shepherds also lived apart from society, being largely nomadic. Shepherds would normally work in groups either looking after one large flock, or each bringing their own and merging their responsibilities.

The responsibilities were great, for every sheep was held in high value. Notice the way Jesus uses this to make his parable in Matthew 18:12

Example: the parable of the "Lost Sheep"

Matthew 18:12
"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?

So hear they sit in the dark, under the stars, when "Suddenly" the Angel of the Lord appeared and the Glory of the Lord Shone around them.

One second the shepherds are sitting there minding there own business, and the next, they are surrounded by a brilliant light and an Angel of the Lord is standing before them.

The word Around here is tranlated from round "About" in the KJV. About in this context is "perilampō" (to shine around)

Fact: perilampo Peri (around) and Lampo (to shine); which is where we get our word for lamp.

This word is only used one other time and that's in Acts 26 as Paul gives his testimony before King Agrippa.

Paul says in verse 13 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

So we know that this light is bright, for Paul claims it was brighter than the noonday sun.

Its understandable then why it says in verse 9 that they were greatly afraid.

Note: The greek for great is "Megas", where we get our word Mega.

We could say then that these 3 shepards were "Mega" scared!

But the Angel of the Lord immediately calms their fears with some Great news in verses 10 and 11

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This is the beginning of the "Gospel" or "Good News".

The angel say's "I bring you Good news of Great Joy which will be to all people".

Remember the word Megas? Same word here in vs. 10 "Mega Joy".

Notice the "all people".

Look back to Genesis 12: 2-3

2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God spoke to Abraham and in verse three spoke of Jesus being born of Abraham's lineage.

This Good News is for All people to hear and rejoice over! Every man, woman and child needs to hear.

This was a great day of celebration in Heaven too! look at verse's 13 and 14.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 “ Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”^[c^]

^{A "Multitude", not just one or two, but a "Great number": Same word used here in Mark to describe the masses that followed Christ.}

Mark 3:7 ; 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea

The word Host implies and "army of angels".

Imagine the scene of thousands of Angels, the brilliant light brighter than the sun, and all of their voices proclaiming "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

What a scene.

This gives us a glimpse at the Love that God has for us, and how the angels truly celebrate when we are saved.

example: Luke 15:7: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Notice the Order of the Hosts praise.

First: Glory to God in the highest (Highest here is a Superlative: to the highest degree or rank)

second: peace on earth, and good will towards men.

The word "will" here used in conjunction with the adjective "Good" is eudokia (you-doe-kia) which means "Well intent" or "Good Pleasure" "desire".

Then in verse 15 we read

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste

The shepherds left their sheep, and with "Haste" or "urgency" they set off to see this Savior.

Note: they left everything; This news was more important than their lively hood.

What did they do once they had seen baby Jesus? (spread the Good news of Great Joy) vs. 17

And what was the result of this? People began to Marvel vs. 18

Once the Shepherds returned to Mary, Joseph and Jesus, What did they do? vs. 20

What is Christmas about?

What do we do with this information?

Confess: In Context

Romans 10:9

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

We've all heard this verse taught in our churches as a staple of assurance in Faith. "If you confess Him as Lord with your mouth, and believe he was raised, you are saved." But, in context to the time period and the persecution of the early believers, the word "confess" takes on a whole new meaning.

Imagine that it's 30 years after the death and resurrection of Christ. You are working in a Roman camp along with 40 other laborers on a wall. You and 5 others are the only "christians"in the group of 40 men. Your working all day in the hot sun, singing praises to God the Father, when on the horizon you see a squadron of Roman soldiers coming your way. Your hands start to sweat, you heart starts to pound as they get closer to you. As the soldiers arrive, they order all 40 of you to line up, single file. Then, starting with the first man they demand "Confess your Lord!" "Caesar!" he replies, and they let him pass. Then the next "Confess your Lord!" they demand, "Caesar is my Lord!" another replies; and they too let him pass. Until all that is left is your small group of brothers in Christ.

Finally the soldiers make it to the first of your christian brothers and demand "Confess your Lord!" He bows down to his knees and boldly confesses "Jesus of Nazareth is my Lord". In horror you watch a Roman soldier draw a heavy sword and in one swift motion brutally decapitate him and his body falls limp on the ground. Then they demand the next man "Confess your Lord" and he too says "Jesus is my Lord" and likewise they murder him on the spot in front of you. Then the next man too confesses "Christ is my Lord and Savior" and they dose him with oil and set him ablaze to your horror. Amidst the screams and the bodies it's your turn. You walk up, kneel down before the Roman soldiers and they say "Confess your Lord!" and you say......

To confess Christ means that you live for him, and if it came right down to it, you would die for him.

Let's be careful about telling young Christ seekers that by just saying "Jesus is Lord" that they will be saved. Scripture does NOT back up that claim.

Amen.

(Source: Hank Hanegraaff blog. http://hankhanegraaff.blogspot.com/)Normally I wouldn't just copy and paste a post but I felt like this one deserved it.If you are not healed, do you lack faith?

(Source: Hank Hanegraaff blog. http://hankhanegraaff.blogspot.com/)Normally I wouldn't just copy and paste a post but I felt like this one deserved it.

If you are not healed, do you lack faith?

A social media question via Facebook from Frieda recently got my attention. She wrote, “How do you answer people when they tell you, you are lacking faith? My brother is a paraplegic since he was three years old and has prayed all his life to walk. He knows he will walk one day with the Lord but people in the church feel it necessary to comment to him that he doesn’t have enough faith. It has caused him at times to question God on why he cannot get his healing but he does understand that God uses him because of his disability. So what should his answer be to these people?” So imagine this scene you have a paraplegic in the church, and people are telling the paraplegic he doesn’t have enough faith because if he had enough faith he wouldn’t be a paraplegic.

If you look at the reasoning that is used, you hear the echoes of the prosperity teachers. You hear T.D. Jakes saying, “The devil is a liar. Healing is the children's bread. It's promised to us in the word of God…God can do things that medicine cannot do.”[1] So if God has promised us healing and someone is still a paraplegic it means that you don’t have faith in their view.

This of course begs the question: What is faith? Faith teachers have a ready answer for you. They look at Hebrews 11:1 and they say faith is a force, words are the containers of the force, and through the force of faith you create your own reality. So if you learn to access the proper vocabulary, use the right words, you’re not going to be a paraplegic because Hebrew 11:1 says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” So—say the Faith teachers—you have right it there, faith is the substance—the stuff—and words the containers of the stuff.

Of course that’s not what Hebrew 11:1 really has in mind. A proper reading of Hebrew 11:1 in context demonstrates that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Which is to say; true biblical faith is not stuff contained in your words, it’s not a substance a tangible reality, it’s living assurance, a channel of living trust between an individual and their God.

Faith is only as good, therefore, as the object in whom it is placed. We place our faith in God and we say with Job, “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (13:15). The reason for that is that God has given us enough evidence to trust in Him despite the difficulties of life. He had demonstrated to us that in this life we are going to have trouble because we live in a fallen world. So if you’re a paraplegic, it’s not because you don’t have enough faith, it’s because you live in a fallen world. We are called in this fallen world to put our trust in God and ultimately that trust in God is going too eventuate in a new heaven and new earth in which there will be no more paraplegics. Like Joni Eareckson Tada has said, “They will pole vault the pearly gates,”[2] because then the old order of things will pass away, and everything will become new.

In the meantime, do not follow the Faith teachers or swallow their formulas, they are dead ends and deceptions. The last thing you want to tell a paraplegic is that he doesn’t have enough faith. Some of greatest faith bearers and exemplars of faith that I have met in my life are blind people. Joni Eareckson Tade, a quadriplegic, is my hero of faith and she taught me the true meaning of faith. Through the overflow of a life spent in a wheelchair, she has blessed the lives through her faithful service of literally millions of people around the globe. So encourage those that are hurting that they will one day walk with the Lord and have pity for people in the church who find it necessary to tell people that they don’t have enough faith.

Vain: Producing No Result, Useless.

What is wrong with these statements?

HI, I'm Mike. I used to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes per day. I loved to smoke cigarettes. I hated people that would tell me to quit. Why would I quit, I love smoking. Then one day it's like the light went on in my head and that day I quit smoking. Now I hate cigarettes. I can't stand to see other people smoking because I know what it does to their health.

Even worse, I can't believe I smoked for all those years.

Sure, I still like to smoke cigarettes, just not as many.

~~~~~

Hi, I'm Sara. I used to be an alcoholic. I used to drink all day, all night. I wouldn't stop drinking until I passed out. One day I realized that alcohol had ruined my life. I lost my house, my job, and my family. But, got professional help and I'm a totally different person now. I am a new creature. I see now the evils of my alcohol addiction.

Don't get me wrong, I still like to drink alcohol, just not as much.

~~~~~

I'm Darren, I used to beat my wife. If she'd say something to me that was condescending, or out of line, I'd just punch her square in the nose. She knew better than to talk back to me. But one day, the light came on and I realized just how precious she really was as a person, as a wife, as the mother of my children, and as a human being.

She is the love of my life and I would never want to hurt her again.

I still beat her, just not as often.

~~~~~

I used to be a lost sinner. I loved my Sin. I would sin, sin, sin, sin and sin some more.

I was lost spiritually, and It ruined my life. It cost me so much, but I still loved it.

But one day, a friend took me to his church.

I asked Jesus into my heart and He saved me.

Now I see how wicked and vile my sin is.

How Righteous God is and how filthy my sins are to him. Behold, I'm a new creation.

Sure, I still like to sin, just not as much.

See the Hypocrisy? God does.

If you say you have a new relationship with the Lord,

You'd better have a new relationship with sin.

If you don't have a new relationship with sin,

You do Not have a new relationship with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:2

²By this gospel you are saved,

If you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.

Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

I Never Knew You

71% of Americans claim to be Christians. That means that over 215,000,000 people in the United States, are "christian".

So if so many Americans are "Christians", then we could assume the following.

Today 3,700 babies will be murdered in abortion clinics.

2627 will be killed by "christians"

Today there will be 36 DWI fatalities

25 of which will have been caused by "christians"

Today 45 people will be murdered

32 of them will die at the hands of "christians"

Today 243 rapes will be reported

173 of those will involve a "christian" aggressor.

Today 2,600 vehicles will be stolen

1,800 of those cars will be stolen by "christians"

6,088 burglaries will be reported today.

4,322 of those burglars will be "christian"

Today 2,284 violent physical assaults will take place.

over 1,600 of them will be perpetrated by a "christian"

Do you see a problem here?

"I Never Knew You!"

Matthew 7:23

1 John 5:3

"For this is the Love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are Not Burdensome."

Littered throughout the writings of John are clues, or evidences, that John gives us to let us whom believe in the Son of God know that we have Eternal Life. From the first verse to the last we see that there are many tell tale signs that we can rest assured in our salvation. Or, on the contrary, that we need to closely examine ourselves and our faith should we fall short of them. Today, I want to look at only one.

"For this is the Love of God"

In other words, we might re-phrase this "So we love God if" or "You know you have Gods love in you if".

"We keep his commandments"

This is not the first time we see this phrase in the New Testament. Remember in John 15:10 ~ "If you keep my commandments you will abide in My Love, just as I have kept my Fathers commandments and abide in His Love."

So we understand that when we abide in God's love and He abides in us, we will keep his commandments. But John takes it one very important step further in the latter part of verse 3 when he states "And his commandments aren't burdensome."

I think John went out of his way to phrase this like this for a reason.

What reason? I think there are at least two reasons.

1. I believe that he is simply trying to cut off at the knees any remaining belief system that would have you believe in a "works" based salvation.

2. I think he is showing and emphasizing the relationship we should have with God. i.e., that we hold the same views as our Father in Heaven on issues of sin and of the great commandments.

Here's an example of what I mean.

Before I found the love of my life and married her, I would have never imagined being "tied down" to just one woman. In fact, the thought of spending the rest of my precious, self centered, life with just one person seemed "burdensome" to say it mildly. But then, one day by the grace of God, I met Heather. Now, I can't imagine spending one day away from her. The thought of being close to another woman is repulsive and I can't believe how wrong I was in the past about monogamy.

In the same way, before we enter into a relationship with God through the blood of His Son Christ Jesus, we do not have the ability to love Him, much less the desire to. But, when we are truly born again, we are in a real relationship with God and we strive to keep His commandments. Not because we have to, but because we want to. And, to go one further, looking back we can't believe how we managed without Him for so many years.

Like any other relationship, we need to nurture our relationship with God if we want to grow in it. We should be willing to be in constant communication with him through prayer. We should desire to read his word daily so we can learn about our Lord. And we should naturally be drawn towards other brothers and sisters of our Father in Heaven. All of which should come naturally and with joy. None of which, to those of us who love Him, shall be burdensome.

Piper's 7

According to John Piper, there are 7 reasons for why preaching is not enough for real growth in a believers life and why a "small group" is just as necessary today as it was when the church was first forming.

1. The impulse to avoid painful growth by disappearing into a crowd in corporate worship is very strong.

2. Then tendency toward passivity in listening to a sermon is part of our human weakness.

3. Listeners in a big group can more easily evade redemptive crisis.

4. Listeners in a large group tend to neglect efforts of personal application.

5. Opportunity for questions leading to growth is missing.

6. Accountability for follow through is missing.

7. Prayer support is missing for individual issues.

An Exposition into The Baptism with The Holy Spirit

I recently had a friendly online debate with a gentleman whom pastors a local Assemblies of God church here in the Ozarks in regards to the biblical meaning of being "Baptized with the Holy Spirit". This or similar phrases appear in the text in many different locations and contexts, in both New and Old testaments, and has been the center piece for debates between denominations for years.

According to the local AOG church, this is the evidence that you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. (source: church website)

The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The baptism of Christians in the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the initial physical sign of speaking in other tongues (unlearned languages) as the Spirit of God gives them audible expression (Acts 2:4).

Let's look at Acts 2:1-4

¹ When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now, we all know that there is more to this particular story. Let's read on...

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.”

2 things jump out at me. 1) Each man heard his own native language. 2) They heard them speaking of the "Wonderful works of God."

Let's go back a bit in Acts to get some more Context. Lets look at Acts Chapter 1:4-8

And being assembled together with them, He (JESUS) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to 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.” ⁶Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Question. Why did they (the disciples) need to wait in Jerusalem?

Answer: To be "baptized by the Holy Spirit" and after which to receive the "power" to be witnesses of Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Look again in Acts 2.

Question: What happened when the Pentecost came and they (the disciples) were baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Answer: They (the Jews from all over the world who happened to be in Jerusalem) heard the "Glory of God" being witnesses to them, in their own native tongue, from Gentiles. (Other tongues, i.e., "power")

I believe, and many commentators with me, that this act on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) was a fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 28:11-12, Joel 2:28-32, John 15:26, Acts 1:4-8) and the speaking of tongues was a power given unto the disciples as a sign to the Jews.

Greek Commentator Kenneth S. Wuest addressed this issue in Volume III of "The Greek Studies of the New Testament".

~One might say "I am a Christian, but I do not have the Holy Spirit because I do not speak in tongues," quoting Acts 2:4, 10:46, and 19:6. But lets us be careful to note the Acts 2:4 refers to the languages of the individuals mentioned in Acts 2:8-11, that the speaking of tongues in Acts 10:46 was an evidence for that time given to the Jews, that the Gentiles had also received the Spirit, the need for which is now past, and that Acts 19:6 has to do with a special case where Jews had come into salvation under the Old Testament dispensation of law and were now receiving the added benefits of the Age of Grace, a case which cannot occur today.~

It's worth noting that the text that Peter quotes in Acts Chapter two is from the Prophet Joel. He quotes to the Jews present in Jerusalem Joel 2:28-32, which is clearly a prophecy focused on the Age of Grace that came at Pentecost.

¹⁷" 'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
²¹And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Paul tells us through his letter to the church of Corinth that tongues are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers.

1 Corinthians 14:21-22

²¹In the Law it is written:
"Through men of strange tongues
and through the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
but even then they will not listen to me,"says the Lord.

²²Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers;prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. ²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

In verse 21 (above) "this people" are the Israelites, the Jews. And they will hear Gods word through the lips of foreigners.

Notice that Paul says in v22..."tongues are sign for unbelievers" and then in 23) he says. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

See the contrast? Here's why I believe Paul says this. In Context, the Unbelievers in verse 22 are the Jews Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 28:11-12 (Paul gives reference to this in verse 21) However, the "unbelievers" and "some who do not understand" that Paul refers to in verse 23 are not Jews, or are unable to understand the language spoken by the Church.

Imagine at the Pentecost that instead of the disciples speaking in 12 different tongues that they all spoke of the "Glory of God" in 1 single language or tongue. Only one of the Jew's in Jerusalem would be effected by this miracle of God, and the rest would be left scratching their heads wondering what these crazy Galileans were saying. Hence what Paul writes above in verse 23. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

So in review, to the best of my ability to understand the scriptures, given my studies in the Greek Translation and holding each text in light of it's context, I have to state that I differ with my brother in the Assemblies of God Church in my idea's of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. I believe that the speaking of Tongues was a gift of the spirit given to the disciples and other new believers as a sign to the Jewish people that the "Age of Grace" had begun. And that Jew and Gentile alike could be saved and baptized into the Body of Christ.

Not every gift from the Spirit is the Gift of Tongues.

⁵I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:5)

In other words...I wish all of you could receive this gift of speaking in tongues, yet I know that all of you wont. Besides, I would rather you receive the gift of Prophecy.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

⁴There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,¹⁰to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.¹¹All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

1 Corinthians 12:29

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Lets' look at the actual "Baptism with the Holy Spirit"

Matthew 3:11 (New International Version)

¹¹"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Dr. A.M. Fairbairn said "He is no theologian who is not first a grammarian"

A.T. Robertson said "All correct theology must pay careful attention to the grammar of the Greek text, for a person is correctly understood only when his hearer or reader applies the rules of grammar which the speaker or writer uses."

If for example I said "Man, that car is really cool." If you were unfamiliar with "English Slang" you might translate that to say that "Man, that car is really cold." and could miss the meaning behind the statement.

If we look at 1 Corinthians 12:13 ¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body" This "body" is obviously the Body of Christ. (Quoting Wuest in "Word Studies in the Greek New Testament") "The word "Spirit" is in the instrumental case in Greek. Personal agency is expressed occasionally by the instrumental case. At such times, the verb is always in the passive or middle voice. The Greek construction here follows this rule of Greek grammar. The personal agent in this case who does the baptizing is the Holy Spirit. He places or introduces the believing sinner into the Body of which the Lord Jesus is the living Head. The verb is in the past tense, referring tot a past action, and is referring to a once and for all act....

In Acts 1:5 "ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.", thus the meaning of the Greek word, "to place" or "introduce into," gives us the purpose of the baptism by means of the Spirit into the body of Christ. In Romans 6:3 and Galatians 3:27, we have this same operation of the Spirit (only into a vital union with "The Head of the Body"."

Laymen's terms: When we believe, The Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ.(1 Corinthians 12) We receive the Holy Spirit through the "anointing" of the Spirit (Acts 10:38, Luke 4:18, II Corinthians 1:21-22, 1 John 2:27) and the Spirit can and may give us "Spiritual" gifts as He determines. However, to say that because you do not speak in tongues is evidence that you have not been baptized with the Holy Spirit is biblically incorrect. If we are to take and hold Acts 2:4 up as (evidence of ALL baptisms with the Spirit) we must also expect to hear a mighty rush of wind and see flames of fire that appear as tongues upon our shoulders.

most of the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts comes in the form of "Boldness" to speak and witness the "Word" and teachings of Christ.

Acts 4:8, 4:31, 5:32, 9:28, 13:46, 14:3, 18:26, 19:8, 28:31 just to name a few.

Closing thoughts...

In my studies on this subject, I have found that over 300,000,000 people in the world claim to speak in some sort of "Unknown Language". Some of these professors of this gift are Christian, some profess similar gifts and practice Shamanism, or Paganism. (Even voodoo) all of which call it "tongues" or "Glossolalia".

We've already learned from Christ in Matthew 7:22-23 ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

So, I would suggest that if you speak in tongues, but have not love...Pray.

If you speak in tongues, but live in habitual patterns of sin...Pray

If you speak in tongues and hate your brother...pray

If you speak in tongues yet can blaspheme the Lords name without conviction....Pray.

^{1 Corinthians 13:8} Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away