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About Jesus Steve Sweetman My Journey Through The Ecclesiastical Maze Part 9 The
Baptism In The Holy Spirit And Tongues It was in a Tuesday night
meeting at Christ Centre In Lexington Kentucky when I first heard of the
experience called the
“Baptism in the Holy Spirit”. It
was briefly mentioned during the gathering and further explained to me
personally after the meeting. I was used to routinely
singing hymns from a hymn-book, with the emphases on the word
“routinely”. These
people approached singing much differently than what I had known. During
a time of quietness between songs came what seemed to me to be a song
directly from Heaven. A few
people began to sing quietly in tongues.
Others joined in this spiritual song until its volume of praise
filled the room, after which the song died down and slowly faded away.
I was merely a spectator.
I didn’t know how to participate, so I stayed afterwards to get
whatever I needed to join in. I
was told that I needed “the Baptism in the Holy Spirit”.
I took them at their word and agreed to be prayed for.
I was a little nervous, but someone told me that was normal
before meeting Jesus. These guys gave up on me
because nothing happened when they laid hands on me, so they told me to
accept that I got this experience by faith.
That meant that I had to trick my brain into thinking that I had
received what I asked for even though it appeared I didn’t receive
anything. Sorry, but
that’s my interpretation of their words.
They thought that I should simply act as if I did get what I
asked for. But how could I act on something
I couldn’t find but was supposed to have?
I’ve never believed in such “mental gymnastics” as my
friend Bob Cary called it years ago.
Some people that I call “hyper-faith people” believe this
thinking is Scriptural truth, but I believe it’s a faulty
understanding of what faith is. Those
praying for me weren’t “hyper-faith people”. They
just didn’t understand what they were saying.
So although I left the meeting impressed with what I saw, I was a
bit frustrated that I couldn’t join in. One thing I realize now
is that my nervousness had nothing to do with meeting Jesus for the
first time. I had already met Him. I
was nervous because I was in a new situation. Another thing I now
realize is that I was told that I would receive the Holy Spirit into my
life when I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Well, that’s not really right.
I had already received the Holy Spirit into my life when I was
born again. That’s what
being born again is all about according to what Jesus told Nicodemus in
John 3. You are born again when the Holy Spirit comes into your life
once you initially repent and give your life to Jesus.
So it’s clear to me
that I already had what they were asking Jesus to give me, and that’s
why nothing happened. What I
didn’t have was gift the of tongues, but they weren’t specifically
asking Jesus to give me that gift of the Spirit.
They were asking Jesus to baptize me in His Spirit and they
wanted to see some evidence that He had.
They saw nothing, so I needed to accept this by faith.
Another thing I didn’t
have was proper teaching on tongues and how to worship Jesus in spirit
and truth as Jesus says we should in John 4:23. I
was only taught to sing from a hymn-book, something I couldn’t do
since I couldn’t see well enough to read the hymn-book. I won’t get bogged down
on why I think as I do because you can read a detailed account in my
internet book entitled “Rethinking The Baptism In The Holy Spirit”
at http://stevesweetman.com/bhs/bhs1.htm.
To put it simply, I
don’t believe in any second work of grace, whether it’s Entire
Sanctification or the Baptism in the Spirit.
If you read closely every incident in the book of Acts that
people use to prove the Baptism in the Spirit as a second experience
subsequent to salvation, you’ll notice that it wasn’t
a second experience for those people.
What I do believe in is a “daily work of grace” where we
experience the presence of the
Holy Spirit as He strips away the carnality from our lives one inch at a
time. I know this
explanation won’t satisfy traditional Pentecostals but time and space
prohibits me from writing a detailed explanation.
As it is with much of my thinking, I seem to be positioned
somewhere in between opposing denominational doctrines.
In other words, I’m a “doctrinal misfit”, not fitting into
any one denominational system. Living outside the walls
of denominationalism places
me in the alley-ways of the “ecclesiastical maze” that allows me to
see all the parts of the maze from a less biased perspective, or so I
think. If you want to corner me on the issue at hand, I tell people that
I’m Pentecostal/Charismatic by experience but not by doctrine.
“By experience” because I do pray in tongues.
“Not by doctrine” because I don’t believe in the Baptism in
the Spirit as a second work of grace. That
puts me in between the two opposing camps on this issue where I can
watch the doctrinal missile flying over my head from one camp to the
other. I’m just hoping a
low flying missiles doesn’t blow my head off some day.
As is often said, the truth often lies between two extremes.
After leaving I know that not all of
what is called tongues is really tongues, yet abuses don’t negate the
reality of a thing. I wanted
this gift from Jesus, even though one older non-Pentecostal man told me
that I should seek the “Giver of the gifts” instead of seeking the
“gifts of the Giver”. I
understood what he was saying, but I just felt that Jesus might let me
have this gift. I didn’t
see any harm in asking for it. I’ve
learned that if Jesus doesn’t give me what I ask for, I don’t have
to get bent out of shape. I
accept His decision. He is
the Lord, not me. So I asked my friend
Robert how somebody like me who wasn’t all that bright might speak in
tongues. He told me that if
I said “halleluiah” real fast ten times my tongue would get all
tangled up and flip over and I’d start speaking in tongues.
Of course he was kidding.
Robert might have been
kidding but the following isn’t funny.
During my search for tongues I noticed some tricks of the trade
certain Pentecostals used to help people speak in tongues.
I recall being at the altar of one church when I overheard the
pastor tell a man kneeling beside me to repeat his words of tongues
after him. So the pastor
slowly spoke in tongues while this man copied him. I don’t figure
that’s the way it works.
I was also told that I
needed to step out in faith on my own by simply making up some of my own
words of tongues. Once I
started saying any funny thing that came into my mind the Holy Spirit
would see my faith and would give me the real thing.
I don’t figure that’s real tongues either.
None of
these tricks of the trade sat well with me, but that didn’t
hinder my search.
These attempts to get people speaking in tongues are simply
man’s attempt to duplicate the work of the Holy Spirit, something that
often happens in the “ecclesiastical maze”. Here’s a side note as I
see it. There are two aspects to tongues.
There’s “praying in tongues” as seen in 1 Corinthians 14
and there’s “speaking in tongues” as seen in 1 Corinthians 12 and
14. Praying in tongues is
prayer in an unknown language. Speaking
in tongues is meant to be spoken during a gathering for all to hear.
I believe that Jesus gave
me three different and specific words in tongues on three different
occasions. I believe a
sovereign act of God took place in late autumn of 1971, and once again
it was in my bedroom. I was playing my guitar and singing praises to
Jesus when I sang these three words of tongues. At that point the Holy
Spirit enveloped me and I began singing all sorts of words in tongues
for an hour or so. A divine
miracle had taken place. The
Holy Spirit, who already resided within me also came on me and gave me
this special gift. I’ve
prayed in tongues pretty well every day since, and do you know what?
I didn’t have to say “halleluiah” ten times real fast.
I didn’t have to copy someone else. I
didn’t have to invent my own tongues, and I didn’t have to trick my
brain into thinking I received something I didn’t.
To make one thing clear,
I certainly don’t believe one who prays or speaks in tongues is any
better than one who doesn’t. What
makes one better is his ability to love and serve those whom Jesus has
placed before him at any given time, as seen in 1 Corinthians 13. I wish the church
wasn’t split over tongues. Actually, what I understand the Bible
saying about these things should be a uniting factor since it’s a
middle position between the two sides. As
I write these words it’s been 38 years that I’ve been praying in
tongues and I haven’t fallen off the deep end yet.
I appear to be just as normal as the next guy. Well okay, me
being normal is my own personal opinion.
You may think differently.
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