WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST? —2

3. THEY SPOKE WITH OTHER TONGUES

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4).

(i) "...They were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." God wants His House to be filled with His glory. He begins with
filling us individually. Individually we must be filled with the Holy Spirit, and then we shall be filled with the virtues of
Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22). We are exhorted to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph.5:18).

In the first place, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost when they were born -again
and became a new creation. Secondly, they were filled with the Holy Spirit on special occasions: for example, we
read, Peter was filled with the Holy Sprit when he stood before the eminent men among the Jews (Acts 4:4,5,8); the
disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit when they were praying (Acts 4:37); and when they were persecuted (Acts
13:52). Thirdly, we read that Stephen was a man filled with the Holy Spirit in a general way in every day life (Acts
6:7). In the same way you also should be filled with the Holy Spirit right at the beginning of your Christian life, and
on special occasions of testimony, trial, fervent prayer and ministry, and also in general, every day life. Whenever
you feel the work of the flesh is trying to dominate you, and your joy, zeal and boldness for the Lord become cold.
go and wait upon the Lord with fresh repentance and faith, and your strength will be renewed (lsa.40:31 ).

Many believers are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Very often they are filled with anger, hasty words, unclean
thoughts, jealousy, covetousness and ill- feeling towards others. They give room to their old weaknesses, and are
overcome by carnality and become carnal believers.

Waiting upon the Lord

The remedy is, they should wait upon the Lord with repentance and faith. "But they that wait upon the LORD shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall
walk, and not faint" (lsa.40:31 ). Have you experienced the joy of waiting upon the Lord till you are conscious of
communion with Him? In this way have you overcome your discouragement, sorrow, disappointment, fear, jealousy
and carnal desires? If not, seek Him with all your heart and you will surely find Him (Jer.29: 13).

Some people wait in prayer with wrong motives -to speak in tongues and to have feelings of emotional ecstasy.
First of all, these motives are unscriptural and wrong. There is no mention anywhere in the Bible that we should all
speak in tongues at least once in our life, and that this is the proof that we have received the Holy Spirit. Secondly,
the method of repeating some words like 'Praise the Lord' dozens of times with increasing speed advocated by
some people called Pentecostals is a mechanical method and not a spiritual method. Thirdly, it IS against the Spirit
of Christ to declare that all those who have not spoken in tongues have not received the Holy Spirit, thus
condemning many true children of God and even devoted servants of God from Martin Luther's and John Wesley's
times till today. The very fact that many souls have been saved through these men of God is a proof that God has
accepted them and has used and is using them for His glory. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them",
(Matt.7:20). How wrong it is to say they have not received the Holy Spirit because they have not spoken in tongues !

Vain Repetitions

When you go on repeating the same words again and again your mind will become blank. Psalm 136 is full of praise
to God, and every verse gives a reason for praise, and is intelligent praise. But if you repeat words like 'Praise the
Lord' or 'Halleluiah' a hundred times at high speed without mentioning any reason for your praise, that will not be
intelligent praise and your mind will become practically blank. Waiting upon the Lord does not mean waiting with a
blank mind. In fact an empty mind can easily give room for the enemy to work. The man whose mind was empty
was attacked by eight demons and his last state became worse than the first (Matt.12:43-45). Non-Christian
religions have advocated keeping the mind blank and repeating certain words rapidly, as helpful spiritual exercises,
but the Holy Bible rather than advocating such exercises condemns them. The Lord Jesus said, "But when ye pray,
use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do..."(Matt.6:7). Even though a person may appear to be spiritual, when he
advises you to say, "Praise the Lord" in quick succession, or "Glory to God", or "Halleluiah", and keep on increasing
the speed until you burst into "tongues", you can easily discern that this is not the Spirit of Christ, but another spirit,
and this is an angel of light come to lead you astray.

(ii) "...And Began to speak...". The disciples' tongues were loosened, and freed from nervousness and fear. Many
of them had been only fishermen and not scholars, and had no training in public speaking. But now they were
granted divine enabling to speak for the Lord. If you are born again the Lord will grant you also such Divine
enabling, no matter what your physical or educational handicaps may be. "But when they deliver you up, take no
thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you" (Matt.10:19,20).

Speaking for the Lord is very essential as you can see from Rom.1 0:9, 10. "That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation ". So
dear child of God, by faith let your tongue be loosened for the Lord. Speak for Him at every opportunity: (1) to
unbelievers in testimony; (2) to God, in prayer; and (3) in the House of God (in the congregation of the saints) in
church -prayer, in worship and according to His will in the ministry of the Word. Do not allow your talent to lie hidden
for lack of diligence in you.

(iii) "...with other tongues...". The 120 disciples did not speak with the tongues of angels (1 Cor.13:1); nor in an
unknown tongue; but they spoke with 'other tongues' which could be understood by the people who were gathered
around them. They did not speak in a language, which no one could understand and be benefited by.

The people standing around the disciples were unbelievers, who were now filled with wonder as to how these
unlearned men of Galilee could speak in the language of other countries. Besides this, they were also impressed by
their zeal in declaring the wonderful works of God (Acts 2:11). Thus their hearts were prepared by the Holy Spirit to
receive the Gospel, and when Peter gave the word, three thousand souls were converted and testified in the waters
of baptism. Their speaking in "other tongues" was blessed by God and made profitable to many. "Wherefore
tongues are for a sign, not for them that believe, but to them that believe not" (1 Cor. 14:22).

I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD—4
BAKHT SINGH

The Lord Jesus Christ died as a grain of wheat to bring many sons into His heavenly glory, and He will fill the whole
heaven with those sons. That power was released when He died, was buried, and rose again. This is a simple truth.
If a grain of wheat has so much power to produce hundreds of grains, how much more the Creator, the Lord Jesus
Christ !

When He was upon this earth, no man could touch Him. When his enemies came to Him in the garden of
Gethsemane, as we see in John 18:4-6, our Lord asked, "Whom seek ye?" They replied, "Jesus of Nazareth". And
He said, "I am he". As soon as they heard those words they went backward and fell down. They were afraid to
touch Him. Yet He gave Himself for us that we might be more than conquerors. He did not die as a martyr. He gave
Himself to bring us to the highest power in the whole universe. And that power is being offered to you also. Has that
power come into you? Does it work in you? Are you being raised up higher and higher with the same power every
day? Do you find yourself victorious in suffering, persecutions, trials, poverty and what not? Many Christians are
weeping Christians. They have no right to be called Christians. God's Word says so. "...if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom.8:9). Again He said, "Whosoever believeth on me hath everlasting life". That
proves what kind of life you have. That is why God promises all these seven things -tribulations, temptations, trials,
famines, sword, suffering and persecution -to show us His power; while others start crying and weeping, we can be
more than conquerors.

Now see how the same power worked in the Lord Jesus Christ as He moved from place to place. You find an
illustration in John 4:4. "And he must needs go through Samaria". The Samaritans were extremely hated and
despised by the Jews, so much so the Jews would not even drink water from the hands of a Samaritan, as we read
in verse 9, ".the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans". That is our condition as sinners. We are a people
despised and rejected because of our sinful nature and sins. According to Isaiah, we are called "filthy rags". Now for
a purpose, our Lord was determined to go through Samaria. Evidently, the disciples were not happy to go that way.
They knew that they would not be able to get food or water there, But the verse says, "He must needs go through
Samaria". He had decided to go that way, because His eyes could see far off a woman in need. His eyes can see
everything. When Philip met the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time, he went in search of Nathaniel and after much
search he found him and said, "Nathaniel, we have found the Messiah". So he brought him to Christ and
straightway the Lord said, "...Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee". His eye
can see everything. He is our Creator. He has all power. His eyes saw that woman telling her family, "I'll go at
midday to draw water". If she went there in the morning or evening many would see her. To avoid their look she
went at midday. Our Lord knew her plan before she planned it and that is why He said, "I must needs go through
Samaria".

Just at the right time, our Lord came to Jacob's well. His timings and His ways are so perfect! His movements and
His times were controlled by Heaven itself. He came to the side of the well and being weary He sat there...The
disciples went to buy some food in the town. He became tired, weary and hungry to show that He knows our
weariness, tiredness and hunger. He was showing how anew power can come into us, and make us victorious.
See, from hunger, tiredness and weariness, the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples became a means of blessing to
the woman at the well.