Walk With Me
Christian discussion of biblical topics, and a dose of daily application. Yes the Bible is still relevant, and we find out more and more each day how relevant it has always been.
Walk With Me
The Holy Ghost and Speaking in Tongues: But do I HAVE to?
What if speaking in tongues isn't a commandment but a manifestation of the Holy Spirit? Join us on today's episode of Walk With Me as we tackle this perplexing aspect of faith. We'll explore the scriptural contexts that discuss speaking in tongues, beginning with the Old Testament instances where God's Spirit moved on individuals and evolving into Jesus' teachings on the Holy Ghost in John 3:3-5. By unearthing these biblical narratives, we aim to clarify that speaking in tongues is a sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit rather than the ultimate spiritual goal. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to our listeners for their unwavering support, as we emphasize the importance of seeking the Holy Ghost earnestly, without misleading intentions.
Dive deeper into the power of the Holy Ghost and its significance for salvation as we examine Peter's influential sermon on the day of Pentecost and its prophetic connections to Joel and Isaiah. We'll dissect Joel 2:28, which speaks of the outpouring of God's Spirit, and Isaiah 28:10-11, which highlights God's methodical preparation for redemption through Jesus Christ. This episode also touches upon the term "scapegoat" and its biblical roots, illustrating the relevance of scripture in our everyday language and beliefs. Tune in to understand the indispensable role of the Holy Ghost in our faith and enrich your spiritual journey with these profound scriptural insights.
Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, jj. It's so good to have each and every one of you here with us today. It's really really wonderful to see all of you who are listening and subscribing to the various platforms and also sharing, especially on YouTube. Now you can share it and through iHeartRadio you can share it, especially on YouTube. Now you can share it and through iHeartRadio you can share it. Thank you all so much. Thank you all so much. I can see that I really do appreciate it, love each and every one of you, and you guys can be listening to any other podcast. I was telling someone to just Google Walk With Me and they did. There were like 4,000 podcasts of Walk With Me. It so just a mere fact that you all are here with us. It really really, I really really appreciate it. I love each and every one of you who are here with us and people. If this is your first time or this is your 100th episode, I love you all the same. Thank you all very much. Thank God for each and every one of you. God is good for us. God is good to you. Thank God for each and every one of you.
Speaker 1:Quick shout out to our sponsors. We got a lot to cover today because we have a question and it's a very pertinent question and when people answer this question wrongly it generally creates a lot of problems. But quick shout out to our sponsors Two Bothers to Lyricists with our intro and outro music and Exquisite Creations. Please continue to pray for her. I've told her that all of you walkers are praying for her and she really appreciates that. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for your well wishes in the email address, in the email walkwithmebiblestudy at gmailcom. Walkwithmebiblestudy at gmail. Thank you all, thank you, thank you, and that's exactly where our question comes from today. If you have any questions or comments or concerns or, like some of you who have sent us well wishes, again, it's walkwithme biblestudy at gmailcom. All one word Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:So today's question again, it sounds as if, like most biblical questions, it sort of sounds like it's a simple question, but when you start digging into trying to answer it, it becomes a very complicated question, because if you just answer a simple question simply, you can kind of send the wrong message, and here on this podcast, we're not going to be sending the wrong message. Now, just as we've always had. It's the same rule when we talk about a scripture, read the verse or two above it, verse or two below it, but preferably the whole chapter. And in this case, in this case, it is absolutely just like in every case, but especially this case we're going to be talking about today Very, very, very important to understand, all right. So, and I've kind of hyped it up enough to say, oh my God, jj, what is the question?
Speaker 1:Okay, the question is what is the scripture that tells me I need to speak in tongues? Now, 99% of you just kind of stopped and scratched your head, and if you did, that's fine. If you laughed, that's okay too, because if you laughed, you know that this is one of the biblical concepts that we follow. That is not exactly enumerated. In other words, there is no scripture that says thou shalt speak in tongues, but the Bible explains it, the Bible talks about it, and, but the Bible explains it, the Bible talks about it, and then the Bible illustrates it. And there's, the problem is with this question is, when people simply answer yes, it sort of leads people in the direction of chasing tongues or just making up gibberish in order to appear to be saved or appear to be full of the Holy Ghost and this kind of leads.
Speaker 1:If you have the Holy Ghost, if you've ever had the Holy Ghost, you can instantly tell when someone is quote unquote faking it. So let's go ahead and start answering this question, because it's going to take the rest of our time that we have. So the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues is not the goal. It is absolutely not the goal. It is a symptom of the goal. For instance, let's use this in a physical sense If you want to get stronger, you're going to lift weight. Well, the evidence of you being stronger is not only that you can lift things that you couldn't lift last year, but that your muscles are bigger. And your muscles being bigger is a symptom when you're not, when you're not lifting things that you've been really working. At the gym, you can tell when people have really been putting in the time, putting in the work, because their physique looks a certain way and it moves a certain way and it behaves a certain Well, this tongue is just a symptom of you having the Holy Ghost, and when I say symptom, I don't want it to make it seem like it's a contagious disease, but it's important to understand that if you go seeking the tongue, you're literally putting the cart before the horse. You're literally putting every cart in the history of man in front of one horse. It leads a lot of people astray. Let's talk about how do I know? This is a symptom. To get started, we've got to start where the incident happened.
Speaker 1:In the Old Testament you had a lot of people where God Spirit moved on them and they did miraculous things. Like we talk about Samson quite a lot. That was the Spirit of God moving on him, the Spirit of God moving on someone, the Spirit of God moving on prophets. But then there was a slight change that meant all the world in the New Testament. And even Jesus said when you are born of the water and of the Spirit, things are going to change, and that's John 3, 3 and 3, 5. He's talking about that. You must be born of the water and of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven. John 3 and 3, 3 and 5. He's talking about that. You must be born of the water and of the spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven. John 3 and 3, 3 and 5. He's talking to Nicodemus. Again, I'm going to move a little bit quickly here, but I, if you. That's why it's good to have this podcast, because you can look at it and I really encourage you to study along with it and remember a verse or two above, a verse or two below, but preferably the whole chapter.
Speaker 1:So at what point in the Bible has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, ever actually been inside someone? And there's only one book that this actually occurred. In the Old Testament it was the Spirit of the Lord moved on someone, or the Word of the Lord came to someone. But in the New Testament, the only time there was the Spirit of God inside a man or was not inside someone, that wasn't Jesus. That book was the book of Acts, and this is the first time this has ever happened. So in order to understand that, we've got to go and find out where this happened.
Speaker 1:The very first time this happened was Acts, chapter 2 and verse 4. And it reads and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. They wasn't just speaking in tongues, hoping to catch the Spirit, and I know we use that term a lot in some churchology folks and you probably want to avoid that, not just hokuhoko, tamatai, tamatai, tamatai, no, no, no, this is actually the spirit of God inside of you, speaking to you and through you simultaneously. It's kind of a deep concept, but it's true. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. This happened first and began after they were filled with the Holy Ghost to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. One of the weirdest things I ever saw in my entire life was I was at a place at a convention and they were giving a tongue-speaking class. My head almost exploded. I couldn't understand. How can you say this thing? It doesn't work. So that's the first time the Holy Ghost was actually given out. That's the first time you have mention of the Holy Ghost given out, and that was to the people that were in the other room. Now, my friend who really had this thing about saying that the Holy Ghost only happened then, on the day of Pentecost, we went round and round about it, but there was other times that he missed where the Holy Ghost was given out again.
Speaker 1:And we're going to talk about Acts, chapter 19., verse 1. Let's go with verse 1. Now, just to kind of summarize it, because, remember, read the whole chapter if you need to. Paul was talking to somebody and he had come through the upper post and he found disciples that had already been baptized. They asked him straight up have you received the Holy Ghost? Well, we don't know anything about a Holy Ghost. And Paul said well, how was you baptized? He said, well, under John's baptism. So then Paul said yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1:Paul baptized with repentance, but you should believe on him that Christ asked him, that is to say on Christ Jesus. And when he heard that they got baptized in Jesus name, paul laid his hands on them. And then it happened in this order again the Holy Ghost came on them and they speak with tongues and prophesied. It happened in that order again the Holy Ghost came on them and they prophesied. So this tells you that one must happen. First, because now we have two different situations where it happened. One happened before the other and now Acts, chapter 10, verse 42.
Speaker 1:Now, this was the real one, and the reason why I say the real one is because this shocked a lot of people and it shocked Peter and Acts, chapter 10, verse 42. And he commanded the priesthood to the people and testified which was ordained of God, to be judged quick of the dead and to give all the prophets witness that, through his name, whosoever believes in him shall receive the remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. Now, what's missing right there? Oh no, don't worry about it, just clip your head, just clip that on your brain. And they, of the circumcision which believed, were astonished as many as came with Peter. Why? Because the Gentiles also poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the very first time in Acts, chapter 10, where Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost. Now, how did they know they had got the Holy Ghost? Did God tell them no? In verse 46, it said, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Now, this was actually before they got baptized. So I mean, I've seen a lot of people get baptized before they were baptized, but they had already received the word of God in their heart.
Speaker 1:Now, this same Peter knew exactly what was going on, because this is the same exact Peter that stood up on the day of Pentecost and gave this 28 verse sermon, one of the shortest sermons you'll ever hear in a history of sermons and at the end of it, during this sermon, he mentioned. This was that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel. So what, then, was he thinking about in prophet Joel? So let's go to the book of Joel, verse chapter 2. Alright, and then the book of Joel, verse, chapter 2.
Speaker 1:All right, and then we're going to go down to and I kind of lost it right here oh, and it shall, and it's going to be 2 and 28. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. That means Jews and Gentiles, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids. In those days will I pour out my spirit. So Peter was just talking about the fact that you get in the Holy Ghost. This is that incident that Joel was prophesying, because God had told him that this was going to happen. But, jj, it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that when you pour out the spirit upon our flesh, that he's going to speak in tongues. Okay, that's granted, because we didn't want you chasing tongues at this time. We're still in the Old Testament prophesying.
Speaker 1:However, in the book of Isaiah, he is very specific about what's going to happen once this Holy Ghost falls on you. Isaiah, chapter 28. And this is something that we it's very hard as people, you and I, to kind of get through and kind of assimilate into our own heads, and so why things took so long to happen. So we're going to go to Isaiah 28, verse 10. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept. In other words, this rule must be built on another rule. This doctrine must be built on the doctrine, line upon line, line upon line, line upon line. Here a little and there a little. Verse 11. And this verse seemingly sticks out and seems incongruent with the verse it says, well, with the context it says in verse 11. But with stammering lips and another tongue. Will he speak to his people, whom he said this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary, weary to rest, and this is the refreshing. Yet they would not hear.
Speaker 1:What is he talking about here? He's talking about the entire, um, everything that that god did, as far as bringing adam from the fallen state all the way down to the flood, all the way to the children being in egypt in slavery, out of slavery, all the way up to the point where all the conditions were just right, and god had set everything in motion so that he could come as flesh and be crucified as the sinless lamb and his spirit could be poured out, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. It's like building a house If you hastily build a house, then the house will have shoddy construction and you know, the first little windstorm comes along. You've got a house that collapses on itself. But this is not what we're talking about.
Speaker 1:We are talking about how God brought it to pass and why he did it the way he did. Now you and I can ask God, maybe when we get up there, why it took him 4,000 years to design precepts upon precepts here a little, there a little. Because he had to put these things in order in order for the conditions to be just right, to fulfill all of his prophecies that he had done, all of his promises that he had done. And he was telling us, before he did it, exactly what he was doing. He was setting us up back for the entire human race to be redeemed, back into heaven, and yet, as we saw, they would not leave. How many times did Jesus say the comforter will come. How many times did Jesus say I am the way. But yet the Jews, for the most part, would not hear.
Speaker 1:Everything was fine in the beginning, but then things went crazy because God knew that he was coming down to hang on a cross so that sinless blood could be shed. And the sinless blood had to be shed so that our sins could be remitted, our sins could be washed away. Our sins did not have to be rolled forward another year. We'll talk more about that, about how we had a time when you would come and you would sacrifice. You would roll sins forward another year, and every year there'd be all the sins we'd quote-unquote placed on a goat and then send it out into the wilderness. By the way, that's where we came up with the term scapegoat. We would escape judgment by putting our sins on this goat. That's where we got the term scapegoat. So if you ever sit and wonder about whether the Bible is being real, there are very subtle hints in our own language and our own vocabulary that tell us the Bible is real. You won't find it, but that's exactly where we got that term scapegoat.
Speaker 1:So now, when we talk about what the Holy Ghost is actually there for, the Holy Ghost is not there for you to come to church and show everybody how holy you are. It doesn't make any difference. I have to work very carefully. The Holy Ghost is not to say, hey, this guy is a preacher or that lady is an evangelist or what have you? Having the Holy Ghost is just the bare minimum of getting to heaven, and so we talk about it. If having the Holy Ghost is the bare minimum to get to heaven, then speaking in tongues is the symptom of the bare minimum of you being saved, and that's saved in the future tense, not saved in the past tense. Notice, I said we'll be saved. So it's very important that we understand that and I'm actually talking to me too that we maintain that connection with God. If God is pouring out His Spirit on us, then God can also take His Spirit away from us. And why would God do that? Because you're still living in sin. There are people that I have seen.
Speaker 1:And the other question that comes up and I'm about to address here, I guess, in a sort of kind of way, is why does it take so long for some people to get it and others don't? Some people don't get it because they don't believe it. I mean, I don't know. Some people don't get it because there's something in their lives, something that they have picked up that they won't let go of, maybe a belief like, say, in the Trinity. There could be some sort of belief, some sort of belief that they may have to be damaged. They have to talk to God about it and repent, and there may be a certain attitude that they have to repent. Here's a good example. There is no way you can have the Holy Ghost and be racist, because racism is a sin and I'm only touching on this because I had somebody come to me with that but there's no way you could have that sin in your life and have the Holy Ghost. Now can you get the Holy Ghost? And can you get the Holy Ghost and be racist? Could be.
Speaker 1:I've seen a lot of drug addicts actually get the Holy Ghost and then the Holy Ghost and then the Holy Ghost work on them to clean up that drug addiction. I've watched the Holy Ghost change people and I'll never forget. I had a friend by the name of Tyrone Wren back in Kansas, and Lydell Cox. Watching these guys touring the Holy Ghost was the most satisfying thing I've ever experienced in my life and it guided me, even though they were younger than I was. It guided me watching the power of the Holy Ghost in these young men.
Speaker 1:And yeah, they always spoke in tongues. You know they came to the altar every Sunday. They came up there every Sunday, every Sunday night, every Sunday night. They was in that altar every single Sunday night, every time there was an altar call. I don't care if it was Sunday morning or Tuesday night at a revival. If there was an altar call they were in that altar. And at first I kind of was like, well, I got the Holy Ghost, why do I need to go back to the altar? But then I realized they were going back to the altar to get a deeper relationship with God.
Speaker 1:And this is where the benefit of having the Holy Ghost speak in tongues is not about showing JJ that you've got, you know, you're some great chosen one of God. It's about you getting a closer relationship with God, me getting a closer relationship with God, getting that altar. I mean, as long as I was in Junction City, this young man was in the altar every single time church was open and his walk was amazing and I haven't seen him in 30 years. I think I'll ask my friend Pastor Roberts in Junction City how he's doing. But I actually spoke to Brother Cox, I think, last year. Oh my gosh, it's been two years now. Yeah, two years now. I actually saw him and he's still going strong, all the things that men go through. And he's still the God going strong, all the things that men go through. And he's married and got kids. Now, please understand, walkers. Again, this speaking in tongues is not about me showing you the opposite. It's about me making that connection with God and me fulfilling John 3.3 and 3.5.
Speaker 1:So yes, in the simplest form, yes, I should be speaking in tongues somewhere somehow. Do I have to do it? And if I do it, does it make me saved? I think that's the question that I think we should try to figure out how to ask. If I speak in tongues, am I saved? Yes and no. The question should be do I need the Holy Ghost to be saved? And how do I know I'm not? Yes, we all need the Holy Ghost to be saved. We all need the Holy Ghost to be saved. We all need the Holy Ghost to make it happen. How do we know we have it? Because the speaking tongue of the Spirit is utterance and the Holy Ghost begins to guide us and change us and help us get rid of things that we can't get rid of on our own.
Speaker 1:If you have a problem with a little bit of words coming out of your mouth whenever you know just odd times Holy Ghost fixes that. If you got a problem with stealing, holy Ghost fixes that. And here's a and I'm just going to be real with you guys right now. Jj had a problem with sticking to his honor. I consider myself the best now. Jj had a problem with sticking to me. Honestly, I considered myself the best thief inside Mississippi, no matter which side of Mississippi I was on. I considered myself the best thief anywhere and the best liar Boy. I could let a lie roll off my tongue anywhere.
Speaker 1:I got the Holy Ghost and I remember. I will never forget. I remember I went to I had two brothers, brother Clarence Bean and Brother Timothy John, and they were really working with me. You know, getting rooted and grounded in the Holy Ghost, right? They asked me a question. I had gotten the Holy Ghost and I had noticed some things. They asked me a question about something I had done and my mouth went. I said in my mind the lie that I was going to tell them and what came out was not the lie that I said in my mind to tell them. What came out was the absolute truth. And I can never forget Brother John kind of dipped his head and shook his head and Brother Bean kind of rubbed his face and I realized I had told him the truth. And the truth was not a very pleasant truth, but it was the truth. And I had been going through this period of did I have the Holy Ghost? Did I not have the Holy Ghost? And that's when I really realized, even through speaking in tongues and all of that sweating and snobbing and snot rolling and all of that, I really knew then that I had the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:But this thing will. There will be different things that will manifest in different people, but the one thing, the two things that will happen automatically, is that right off the bat you will speak in tongues. And, number two, you will be guided into all truth, and that means things that you're wrestling with is it a sin or is it not will be guided out of your life, will be burned out of your life, so to speak, either through trials or just through revelation life, so to speak, either through trials or just through revelation. Now we can talk about more effects of the Holy Ghost, but right now I just wanted to answer that question. Yes, you will speak in tongues if you have the Holy Ghost and you need the Holy Ghost to be saved. But just speaking in tongues just with no spirit behind it ain't going to help. I think that's the best way I can answer that. So I know we're out of time. Thank you so much for joining us. If you have follow-up questions that we may have to fix this again. I feel like this is sort of rushed, but we will do this again, maybe not next week, unless you guys send me more questions. If you have follow-up questions, send them to me.
Speaker 1:Welcome to BibleStudy at gmailcom. Welcome to BibleStudy at gmailcom. Thank you all so much, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for your continued support. Thank you so much for the feedback, even on the YouTube videos. Thank you so much for that. Even on the YouTube videos. Thank you so much for that, thank you, thank you, thank you. Love each and every one of you. I'll see you on the next one. Go out and tell somebody that you love them, tell them that God loves them and tell them that God cares about them. A lot of people don't think that God cares, especially in this day and age. Just tell them that God cares, especially in this day and age. Just tell him God loves you and God is reaching for that. All right, god bless you all. See you all in the next one.