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RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOSTThe scriptures show that "speaking in tongues" as a "sign" of receiving the Holy Ghost was prophesied, and exemplified of in the "shadow" and "type" in the giving of the 10 commandments on Mount Sion. Receiving the Holy Ghost is having the law written on our hearts... 2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. Therefore the same elements are involved in receiving the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-4) that were involved in the giving of the 10 commandments (Exodus 19:17-20). Namely- A. God brings the people before Him- "Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God" compared with "they were all with one accord in one place" and "Gather my saints together unto me" B. There are physical manifestations- "The whole mount quaked greatly" compared with "there came a sound from heaven AS OF (i.e. descriptive, not actual) a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting" and "it shall be very tempestuous round about him" C. There is the presence of fire- "the LORD descended upon it in fire" compared with "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues LIKE AS of fire, and it sat upon each of them", "a fire shall devour before him", and "upon earth he shewed thee his great fire" D. God speaks- "Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice" compared with "they... began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit (God IS a Spirit!) gave them utterance," "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence," and "thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire" E. The law is written on tables of stone/flesh- "And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai... and Moses went up" compared with "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," "Our God shall come... that he may judge his people" "that he might instruct thee" God said that He teaches us through similitudes such as the above. Hos 12:10 "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." Something I'd like to point out about God answering Moses by a voice, as an instruction through a similitude, of speaking in tongues as the "sign" of receiving the Holy Ghost- IT WAS GOD THAT SPOKE. Therein is a major stumbling block FOR THOSE WHO REFUSE to believe that you ALWAYS WILL speak in tongues at the moment you receive the Holy Ghost (which is synonymous with being "born-again by the Spirit"). There are people who "speak in tongues" at will, and that is NOT speaking as the Spirit (God) gives the utterance. Since speaking in tongues is to be done- "as the Spirit gives the utterance" tongues are NOT a work of man- they are a confirmation from God, through the man. To say that speaking in tongues is a work, or to have a person make themselves speak in tongues, would be, in similitude, to say that it was Moses' works that made God "answer him by a voice" or that it was Moses himself that spoke, and not God. Do you see the difference? These similitudes make things perfectly clear. Because if it fits in one instance, it must fit in the other also. It is VERY important not to elevate the speaking in tongues above the issue of receiving the Holy Ghost. Receiving the Holy Ghost is a VERY glorious experience... 2Co 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? Those who deny this experience completely, or that cheat themselves or others out of it by imitating it through making themselves gibber, do God and their souls a GREAT disservice! 1- SCRIPTURES ON TONGUES |