3 Questions on Speaking In Tongues 1. How do I know it’s real?  Jesus told us to seek it: Acts 1:4–5 ESV 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 How did the Apostles apply it: Acts 19:1–7 ESV 1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all. The fullness of God’s power and presence are available to you; why do you not want all of what God has? 2. Why doesn’t my old Baptist church speak in tongues? Many non-pentecostal denominations are Cessationists Cessationists: people who believe that God stopped giving certain spiritual gifts to the church after the first century AD. They believe that miracles and miraculous gifts, such as healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues, are no longer given by God. Here is their token verse: 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. If you take this verse at face value, of course, you get what they are saying, but the question is this, “when does it end?” This is talking about heaven; love never ends. We even have it in heaven. The same Holy Spirit that we see in the signs and wonders in the book of Acts is the same Holy Spirit that will grow the church like wildfire today. The problem is we are not in full control, so we do not like it! 3. Why don’t your leaders and Pastoral staff pray and speak in tongues? Answer: we come to pre-service to pray or come to really get prayed for, but it’s not always orderly for us to scream it out in service, and here is why: 1 Corinthians 14:26–33 (ESV) 26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.  This verse tells us that if there is a public message in tongues, we need an interpretation so that the church can be built up. Have you ever sat in a service in another language? They worship the same God as you; you know it, but you are not tracking. So that begs the question, why is it ok to pray in tongues by yourself? Romans 8:26 ESV 26 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. Many times, we do not know how to pray, and if we allow the Holy Spirit to pray for us, as Paul teaches here, we can pray the very heart of God. What are our transformational moments? Are you open to whatever the Spirit would do this morning? Do you believe that God can do anything?      3. Are you ready for the fire of God to grow this church?