Speaking in Tongues Is Initial Evidence

With...other tongues...will I speak unto this people." ¹ The Spirit gives the "utterance." ² Isaiah says, "This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest." ³ God said, "I create the fruit of the lips" ⁴ and will therefore heal, lead, and bring us into rest and peace. ⁵ Noah would bring rest because it was prophesied that "comfort concerning our work"⁶ would result from his obedience in building the ark.

If you are in Christ, you will be saved because you will "know that (your) redeemer liveth." ⁷ Speaking in tongues is a restful sign that we have received a "Comforter, that he may abide with (us) for ever." ⁸ "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." ⁹

"These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues." ¹⁰ It is a personal privilege for any believer who has "heard the word." ¹¹ At Pentecost, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues." ¹² Also, in the case of Cornelius and his household "the Holy Ghost fell on all them." ¹³ and "they [those present] heard them speak with tongues." ¹⁴ Also, in the case of Cornelius and his household "the Holy Ghost fell on all them" ¹⁵ and "they [those present] heard them speak with tongues." ¹⁶ Furthermore, Peter and John went to Samaria to help believers receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ As the people were baptized in the Holy Spirit, Simon observed ¹⁸ what he could "see and hear." ¹⁹ It was the same in Ephesus. When the Holy Spirit fell upon the believers, they "spake with tongues." ²⁰

But some ask, "What meaneth this?" ²¹ Can't we be baptized in the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues? Paul was baptized, for he said, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all." ²² He also said, "I would that ye all spake with tongues" ²³ and he ordered the Corinthians to "forbid not to speak with tongues." ²⁴

How is this manifested? God pours "out of [His] Spirit upon all flesh." ²⁵ When the Holy Spirit falls upon you, you are filled, and the utterance of tongues is communicated by the Spirit through your spirit. ²⁶

Paul says, "If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth." ²⁷ This is a heavenly language for he said, "I speak with the tongues of men and of angels." ²⁸ You can also "sing with the spirit." ²⁹ However, some might object that with the spirit the "understanding is unfruitful." ³⁰ But if "we know not what we should pray," ³¹ the Holy Spirit knows what another person needs." ³² Intercession occurs when we pray "unto God" ³³ in tongues for that person. You can also "pray that [you] may interpret." ³⁴ to understand what has been spoken.

The reward for a person who prays in the spirit is that he "edifieth himself" ³⁵ and a person is established in the Spirit by "praying in the Holy Ghost." ³⁶

Some argue that speaking in tongues is not for everyone because 1 Corinthians 12:30 asks, "Do all speak with tongues?" However, this reference pertains to one of the nine gifts to the Church wherein "if any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three." ³⁷ This gift is for certain people in specific situations where the "whole church be come together." ³⁸ It is a means by which the unbeliever becomes aware of the existence of God. ³⁹