Acts 10:45-46
The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.
How did the Jewish believers who accompanied the Apostle Peter know that the Gentile believers they had visited had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit? The Bible says because THEY HEARD THEM SPEAKING IN OTHER TONGUES AND PRAISING GOD.
This teaches us an important principle, saints. When people are truly filled with the Spirit, there will be evidence. You can’t be Spirit-filled and nothing happens to you. You can’t be Spirit-filled and speechless. When you’re filled, there will be an overflow. Remember also that the Lord Jesus said out of the abundance (fullness) of the heart the mouth SPEAKS (Matthew 12:34).
Compare also what happened on the Day of Pentecost. Scripture says the newly Spirit-filled believers in the Upper Room SPOKE in tongues as the Holy Spirit enabled them and and SPOKE about the wonderful things God has done in the languages of their audience (Acts 2:4,11).
Likewise, Paul teaches that when we’re filled with the Spirit we’ll ADDRESS one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, making MELODY from our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:18-19). That means Spirit-filled people love to PRAISE God. They want to sing to the Lord a new song. When you’re truly filled with the Holy Spirit, something will happen to your mouth. Something will happen to your speech. You’ll be inspired and empowered to pray in a new language, to praise God, to sing and to prophesy.
Before we wrap up, there’s an obvious question we must address. It’s this. Is everyone who speaks in tongues filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, it depends! It depends on whether one’s speaking in tongues is an overflow of the Spirit-baptism or the product of gimmicks. What does that mean? If someone coaches you to speak in tongues, your tongues are not an evidence of the Spirit but a result of human effort.
So, our emphasis is not on the evidence but on the SOURCE. Saints beware! Don’t take shortcuts. I’ve met people who are impatient to earnestly seek the genuine baptism in the Holy Spirit so much that they settled for gimmicks. Look, you’ll never enjoy the authentic gifts of the Spirit if you accept counterfeit spiritual gifts!
On the other hand, some believers are too indifferent to seeking the true baptism in the Holy Spirit that they are happy to go on without any biblical evidence manifesting in their lives. They say to themselves “if God wants me to speak in tongues, He will make me”. Well, that’s actually untrue. For we know from the word of God that it is the will of God for all believers to speak in tongues (see Mark 16:17). It’s not about whether God wants it for you, but it’s all about how much you desire to experience His will for your life. It’s about whether you’re hungry enough. It’s about whether you believe. If you truly believe, you’ll receive.
Pastor Josh