Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

[0:00] In Ephesians 5 verse 17 it says,! Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

[0:23] And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

[0:34] Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Today I want to address the subject of what I believe is a very important subject.

[0:45] A very important subject. And a subject around which there is a lot of controversy in these days we live in especially. And you could say heresies in regards to this subject.

[1:00] So it's an important one and one that we want to get a biblical understanding of. This may be controversial for some here tonight. But nevertheless needful.

[1:11] It's needful. You may differ from me but I trust you'll hear me out and try to take in what I believe is an important Bible teaching.

[1:21] Because there's some heresies around about the world today. And they're spreading their tentacles like a giant octopus. Across denominational lines.

[1:33] It's like yeast in a lump of dough. Causing much damage to the cause of Christ. Causing much damage to your spiritual health and mine.

[1:44] There's much confusion today about teachings about the Holy Spirit. Teachings about the Holy Spirit. And I'm sure you would concur that there is much confusing teaching out there.

[1:58] There's a whole plethora of different camps and there's a continuum of teaching. There are some extremes on either end. But there's doctrinal confusion.

[2:08] And I think it's been encouraged by many popular faith prosperity TV preachers of today. It's like a virus in a body.

[2:19] You know the Ebola virus at the moment. It's awful isn't it? What it does to people. And this is like a virus. A teaching that infects and multiplies and could do harm. Like a poison.

[2:30] A spreading cancer. And I think that what's happening in our world today is that this is happening because there's a lack of Bible teaching.

[2:42] There's a real lack of that. A sound Bible teaching. Because Christians are not attending Bible studies like they used to. And I think that's a great reproach when we don't attend Bible study if we're able to.

[2:55] Because how will we grow as a Christian unless we study the Word as we're told to? And friends people are falling today for all kinds of weird and wacky ideas.

[3:07] And you could say diabolical teachings. Unbiblical, diabolical teachings. Nowadays we have many people who try and base their theology on what they feel.

[3:19] On what they feel. We have some well-meaning people who say, read my book and you get a burning in your bosom. And it will tell you that it's all nice and true.

[3:29] You know who I'm talking about? You get the burning in the bosom. The Mormons say that about their particular book. And if we were to base our theology, our teaching, our doctrine on what we feel, we'd get in all sorts of trouble.

[3:44] And people often say, I've heard people say things like, I've had an experience. I've had an experience. And I cannot deny my experience. I cannot deny my experience.

[3:56] Well, people today, experiences can be changeable. We can have changeable experiences. We can have fickle kind of emotions. And if we were to depend on our feelings and our goosebumps, we'd be on all kinds of dangerous ground.

[4:11] So we cannot build a doctrine on our goosebumps or our emotions or feelings. It would be like building a house on the sands of the sea. If we were to build our beliefs on just our human emotions.

[4:25] It's not a sure guide of what truth is. We need something that's unchanging and dependable. And we have it right here. This is unchanging and it's undeniable.

[4:38] It's dependable. And it's the starting point. Everything must start. It's fundamental that we start with the Word of God as the sound basis for all that we believe and teach.

[4:49] Because, friends, tonight the Bible is sufficient. It's sufficient. There's a doctrine that's called the sufficiency of the Scriptures. In other words, it's complete.

[4:59] It's our final authority. God's Word to men. And it's no longer being added to. It stands complete and completely trustworthy. There's no, thus saith the Lord, outside of what is written.

[5:13] This is what thus saith the Lord is right here. We hold it in our hands and we can note what the Bible calls itself, the more sure word of prophecy. You know, I've been in churches.

[5:24] I can tell you I've been in some wacky churches in my time. And some will consider they can add to the Bible. Now, I'm not talking about the one I'm in now. Or the one over there.

[5:35] I've been in churches where people profess to prophesy. And what they said was even written down. They had someone recording what the person was saying out of their own mouth and write it down verbatim in a book and treasured it as if it were God in the first person uttering words through that person.

[5:56] Now, that's amazing, isn't it? I think that's dangerous ground. I think we've got to be very careful about such a thing. Not search after extra biblical revelation.

[6:08] In other words, revelation that's outside of what God says here. Extra biblical. We've got to be careful about that. The whole Bible is the word from God that we need. I think I said it before.

[6:19] I have a word from the Lord for you tonight. And it's right here. This is it. I have a word from the Lord for you. And this is it. In my hand.

[6:30] Now, many today yarn on about many kinds of things. That have no foundation in Scripture. You know, you've probably heard of some of these things. This total overemphasis in certain camps, in certain quarters.

[6:44] This overemphasis on experience. It's all about the experience. It's all the preacher goes on about his or her experience. On new revelations from God.

[6:55] On signs and wonders. Now, there are such real things. But do we put the emphasis on such things? Or some who say, go on and on saying, God speaking to them.

[7:08] Saying, blah, blah, blah. God told me this. God told me that. Really? Really? Or on conversations with demons. And outlandish claims.

[7:20] And outlandish claims. Of encounters with God. And angels and demons. And far-fetched tales of visits to heaven or hell. That's getting a bit out of sync with what this says.

[7:32] And we've got to be careful and cautious of that. Other things are naming and claiming it. Or some call it blabbing and grabbing it. You heard that one? Mm-hmm.

[7:43] They blab it and grab it. They speak it into existence. And they demand things from God in prayer. As if he is our lackey. As if God were our servant. Who runs here and there at our bidding.

[7:56] Like some kind of errand boy. Is that our God? No. No, sir. Our God is not some errand boy. Some lackey that runs at our bidding.

[8:07] That we can command him to do this. Or command him to do that. We're to submit to him. To be humble before him. Not to be prideful. We can't command God to do anything.

[8:18] We can only ask him. We can ask him in faith. Believe him. And we can see God work. And God work wonders. And God can answer and bring healing. In answer to believing prayer.

[8:30] But we cannot command God to do anything. And in some quarters there's an undue emphasis on things supernatural. So it's all they go on about. Spiritual revelations and weird manifestations.

[8:43] That are nowhere found in the Bible. That's dangerous ground. Dangerous ground. You see it on the. You've probably heard some of these stories on the internet. Feathers falling down.

[8:54] Or gold dust. Or all sorts of weird and wacky things. It's not in the Bible. Weeping statues exactly. And these are weird things. And the Bible says. Watch out.

[9:06] In the last days. Why is this happening? Because there's a spiritual vacuum. There's this vacuum. You know when you create a vacuum. It sucks things into it. And that's what's happening spiritually.

[9:19] In this Christless culture. In this wordless church. That prevails on planet earth today. A spiritual vacuum. And then we have these people parading around these days.

[9:30] With their names all in lights. Who profess to be great ministers of signs and wonders. Yet you do not see them. Go down to the. Visit the hospitals. And heal the sick.

[9:42] Why is that? They don't go to the cemeteries. And raise people from the dead. Amen. Even though they claim. That they can do such things. Their claims are hollow.

[9:54] And false. We see many Christians profess to believe in divine healing. Like the book of Acts. Yet they are chronically ill. And evidently sick.

[10:05] The claims just do not stack up. Now I'm not denying God cannot heal. God does heal. Praise his name. In answer to believing prayer. Amen. God can heal.

[10:16] And he does healing. We should pray for healing. And trust him. In faith to heal the sick. But he does not. Heal the sick. Like he did in the book of Acts. We don't see that today.

[10:28] The claims do not stack up. We do not see. Healings to the extent. That we see in the book of Acts. Because it's no longer God's emphasis. The emphasis is not on healing. It's on the saviour.

[10:39] It's on the gospel. It's on the gospel message. You know we see people like Reinhard Bonnke. Who have made various claims that have been proven false. It's kind of funny when we see many of these healing movement preachers.

[10:52] Men like Mr. Bonnke. He wears glasses. He wears glasses. Now if he could command healing at the invocation of a mantra. Then why does he need to go and see an optometrist.

[11:05] And have glasses. Amen. It doesn't stack up. It doesn't stack up. People like Benny Hinn. Have been exposed to false preachers.

[11:16] People like Benny Hinn. Are essentially false preachers. Who are making claimed healings that can't be substantiated. There's many who have done research into these things.

[11:28] They've searched these things out. They've looked at these claimed healings. And Benny Hinn has been exposed as fraudulent. It doesn't stack up. People like David Wilkerson.

[11:39] As much as he said a lot of good things. He's made false prophecies that have been exposed. He's been exposed as a false prophet. Yet people still swallow more and more of the same.

[11:52] It doesn't stack up. What am I saying tonight? I'm saying that I believe based on the evidence that we see today. There are no apostles and prophets in the biblical sense that are alive today.

[12:04] This is evident. It's evident. Any people who made these claims to be such today. Have been shown to be imposters. Fakes, frauds and phonies. We can look at many names.

[12:16] I could give you a big list. And show you these things. And show you very clearly. The ministries of an apostle and prophet were in the foundation stage of the church. In the foundation stage.

[12:28] In Ephesians 2 it says that the church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Paul puts it that the foundation stage was that time when the apostles and prophets laid the foundation.

[12:42] As Paul himself said how he was a part of that master building of the church. And yet today friends.

[12:53] Seriously. There's many who claim to be apostles and prophets. And the Bible tells us to be aware of these things. God tells us in the Bible that in the latter days there will be false prophets, false apostles.

[13:08] And it tells us that Satan himself will masquerade as an angel of light. Seeking to replace or corrupt the word of God every chance that he can. And sideline it with a circus show of man's making.

[13:23] You see in some quarters they don't scarcely open the Bible and speak Bible verses. It's all about the experience. It's all about the show.

[13:37] And the devil has joined some churches. He's a member in good standing. And he's joined their boards even. Brothers and sisters we need to be alert to these things. Because error is abounding.

[13:49] The word tells us it will be in the latter days. And we must have the truth. The unvarnished, unadulterated, undiluted truth. Why? Because deception is all around us.

[14:00] The word tells us that we should take heed that we be not deceived. There's dangerous teachings. And that's what I'm speaking of tonight. I know this might be an unusual kind of slant.

[14:12] Some of this you might not have heard put in such a way today. But we must know the Holy Spirit. And be filled with the Spirit of God.

[14:23] Be filled with the Spirit of God. In Ephesians 5 it says be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. We need to be Spirit filled. But what does this mean?

[14:35] What is the true Spirit filled life? What is critical is that we understand who the Spirit is. Who is the Spirit? He is the Holy Spirit.

[14:46] He is the Holy Spirit. So one of the things, one of the hallmarks of the Holy Spirit is holiness. When the Holy Spirit touches our lives in the reality, there will be a holiness that will mark us.

[15:01] The true Spirit filled life will be a life that is marked by a holiness. Another character trait of the Spirit of God is His Spirit of truth.

[15:13] The Spirit of truth in contrast to the Spirit of error. So let me touch on some things. And look, this might get a bit controversial. I'll admit that tonight.

[15:24] But please, I pray, check the things out with the Scriptures to see if it is so. To discern what does the Scriptures actually teach. I put it to you tonight, we're witnessing a wholesale departure from the Word of God.

[15:40] But in many churches today, in many churches today, it's a sad reflection that many churches that once stood strong and sure, they had a resounding, sound gospel message, declared forthrightly and fervently, are now meandering in the going with the flow.

[15:59] Going with the flow. And many people today talk much about the Holy Spirit. It's like that's the be-all and end-all, the Holy Spirit. And they teach people what they call speaking in tongues.

[16:12] Speaking in tongues. I think this is an important subject that needs careful analysis and scriptural study. What does the Bible actually teach us about tongues?

[16:23] What does the Bible actually tell us about the speaking in tongues? And back in the New Testament, we see specific occasions and circumstances where tongues happened.

[16:35] This is how we can know what the Bible says, by going back to the Bible and seeing what the Bible actually teaches us about tongues. There are certain Bible references in Mark, chapter 16.

[16:48] Our Lord referred to tongues. He said, these signs shall follow, speaking of tongues. Then in Acts, there's three passages. In Acts 2, 10 and 19.

[17:00] Two, three passages in Acts 2, 10 and 19. And then we see in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, we see the subject of tongues explained.

[17:13] In chapters 12 through 14. And tongues are not referred to anywhere else in Scripture. There's a reference in the Old Testament that gets to that shortly.

[17:26] So firstly, what is tongues? A simple definition of tongues. Simple definition is tongues means languages. That's what it means.

[17:37] That's what happened in Acts 2. And then it was repeated in the other occasions. It was known human languages. They may have been unknown to some people present, but they were known human languages.

[17:53] It says, they heard them speak in their own language. And New Testament tongues is consistently described as human language. So to understand tongues, we need to go back to the first mention.

[18:07] One of the important principles of Bible study is go back to the first mention in your Bible. Where does God talk about something first up? And tongues we see happened early on in the Bible.

[18:22] In the Tower of Babel. Right back in the Tower of Babel, what was happening? Man had built this great tower. The maker made for himself. And he was getting pretty cocky and proud and vain.

[18:35] And then God judged. And God confused the tongues of the nations. God confused the tongues of the nations at Babel. It was a sign of judgment.

[18:48] A sign of judgment. Likewise, in many quarters of Christendom today, we have the Babel. Or confusing babbling of false tongues.

[18:59] A confusing babbling of false tongues. It's confusion still. It's confusion and it's error. So what was the purpose of tongues? We've got to go right back to the Old Testament.

[19:10] Why did God give us tongues? And what is it all about? In Isaiah 28, you might want to turn there. Isaiah 28 from verse 10. We read about tongues.

[19:21] It's an important Bible verse that Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 14. Isaiah 28. I'll let you turn there. We're going to practice something.

[19:36] We need to know what does the Bible actually tell us about the subject. And Isaiah 28 verses 10 through 14. Isaiah is speaking.

[19:49] The Lord speaking through Isaiah. And he says, For precept must be upon precept. Precept upon precept. Line upon line. Line upon line. Here a little.

[20:00] There a little. For with stammering tongues and another tongue will he speak to this people. So then he said, This is the rest we're in. We're in.

[20:11] We're with you may have caused the wearing to rest. And this is the refreshing. Yet they would not hear. God says that with stammering tongues and another.

[20:26] Sorry. With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. Then it goes on that he's going to hear the word of the Lord.

[20:37] Verse 14. You scornful man. You that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. This people were the Jews. The people of Jerusalem. The Jews. And it was prophesied why tongues was to be given as a sign to the Jews.

[20:52] It was a sign of judgment. Just like it was back at Babel. Just like it was back at the Tower of Babel. As a sign of judgment when God scattered the nations and brought the confusing Babel or babbling of confusing tongues.

[21:07] It was a sign of judgment again. At the New Testament church. And 1 Corinthians 14.22.

[21:18] Paul refers back to this same reference. Isaiah 28 is referred back to in 1 Corinthians 14.22.

[21:30] When we get that context of where the essential teaching about the practice of speaking in tongues is found. 1 Corinthians 14.22. Paul tells us that tongues are for a sign to them that believe not.

[21:46] A sign for unbelievers. It's kind of strange in these days where some people think it's a sign for believers. You know, you somehow speak in tongues and that's a sign God's touched you and it's a sign to believers.

[21:58] Well, it's not. God says it's a sign for unbelievers. It's a sign to them that believe not. 1 Corinthians 14.22. So it was a sign.

[22:11] Some spiritual gifts are called sign gifts if you like. And it's part of the foundation of the church. And one of the sign gifts is tongues. In verse 21, Paul relates how God will speak unto this people.

[22:25] The sign was for this people. Who are this people? This people, again, it refers to the Jews. Tons was a sign to this people, to the Jews.

[22:37] That is why God gave tongues as a sign to this people, which always refers to the Jews. As a cross reference with Isaiah 28 verses 11 to 13 explains.

[22:50] And it's interesting when we look back to the record of the occurrences of tongues in the book of Acts. Whenever tongues occurred, whenever tongues was used, Jews were present at every time.

[23:02] Jews were there. So what is the purpose of tongues? The purpose of tongues was a sign to unbelieving Jews.

[23:13] If there's unbelieving Jews who haven't heard about the Christ, then tongues might be helpful to them. But otherwise, it's not actually helpful. Tongues are a sign to unbelieving Jews.

[23:27] It was a sign to the Jews that salvation was no longer restricted to the Hebrews, the children of Israel. But God had opened the floodgates. God had opened the doors to the Gentiles to receive the Gentiles also.

[23:42] That is why it was foreign languages. Now back in the prior to Acts 2, God had always spoken in the language of the Hebrews.

[23:54] Now God, the Holy God, the reverent God that we love and serve, had never spoken in other languages before. This was the first time he did. As the sign was given, as his message was given in various different languages of the nations present in Acts 2.

[24:14] So it was a sign of judgment against the Jews. A sign of judgment pronounced against Israel. And then we see what happened next. In 70 AD, the temple was destroyed.

[24:27] The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. And then things changed. There was a big turnaround, a big change then.

[24:38] What does the Bible teach us about tongues? 1 Corinthians 13, 8 says in part, Whether there be tongues, they shall cease.

[24:49] Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. They shall stop. Tongues shall stop. Now there's a Greek man who knows Greek, strangely enough.

[25:00] And he says that the Greek rendition here of this word we have, cease, it means shall come to an absolute end. Tongues shall cease.

[25:12] They shall come to a stop. There's no sense of restarting here. There's no such teaching in the scriptures. Tongues shall cease. They shall come to an absolute end. God says right here, tongues shall cease.

[25:26] So the question is when? When did they cease? We've got to check back through history now. We're going to do some history lesson here now. When did tongues cease?

[25:37] When their purpose was fulfilled? What does church history tell us? If you look back through church history, you see speaking in tongues talked about in the Bible.

[25:49] You see some isolated references and then no more discussion from AD 70, pretty much right through till 1900 AD.

[26:02] You don't see tongues through church history for this huge period, this huge gap. They're not there. They ceased. They stopped. Tongues ceased when their purpose was fulfilled.

[26:16] Since 70 AD, when the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed. What happened then? The sacrifices stopped. The temple was torn down and the Jewish sacrifices stopped.

[26:30] The Jewish laws were disturbed and could not function any longer. The Old Testament, the Old Covenant was effectively destroyed and hindered.

[26:41] Absolutely. In 70 AD. And we see at that same time when Jerusalem was judged, when the Jews had rejected their Messiah, God sent this judgment in 70 AD.

[26:55] When the Roman armies invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. God says tongues shall cease and they did. They did. So what about Pentecostalism?

[27:08] What about Pentecostalism and the teachings of the charismatic movement? What is all this about? We've got to look back again at the Genesis.

[27:20] Look back at the beginnings. Where did Pentecostalism begin? And who was behind it? Now some claim tongues restarted around the century, around the turn of the century, around 1900.

[27:34] And it was in a particular place called Azusa Street. This was one place that was prominently identified as many would regard as the birthplace of Pentecostalism.

[27:48] Pentecostalism was birthed in the midst of strange delusion, error and excesses. Azusa Street. We told in accounts that Azusa Street was a place of meetings filled with all kinds of strange manifestations, jabbering, shaking, jerks, barking.

[28:08] Observers commented that there was hypnotic manifestations and fleshly contortions. Mediums and spiritualists joined in. And people were possessed by these fits and spasms.

[28:23] Where did it begin? Largely we could say it began at this very place, Azusa Street. The so called Azusa Revival.

[28:35] And who did it begin with? It began with men and women, largely discredited, with wacko doctrines and practices. You look back to the Pentecostal pioneers, the ones who founded Pentecostalism.

[28:48] They were wacko in their doctrines and practices. And the so called tongues of today is not biblical tongues. It's simply not. It's simply not. It's no language at all.

[29:00] Linguists have studied it and studied it. They tape recorded it and they found it to be no language at all. Not even resembling a language. It is false.

[29:11] Thus Pentecostalism began. And it's continued the same down through history. It is built on a foundation of sand. Friends, I'm talking from experience.

[29:22] I was a Pentecostal. I identified as a Pentecostal. I spoke in what I thought was tongues. I spoke what I thought were prophecies. And now I consider it to be false.

[29:33] False. False from its inception. Right from the beginning. Right from the beginning where it was marked by excesses, heresies and deception. I'm saying this in love to you tonight.

[29:46] And now through the charismatic movement, it's leading people into the ecumenical one world church system of the Antichrist. There's Catholics today who testify.

[29:57] They have found that their speaking in tongues helps them to worship Mother Mary and the saints better. Yeah. They say that their tongues help them to worship their idols.

[30:09] This teaching and practice is contrary and disobedient to the word of God. It's a work of emotional hype and deceiving spirits. It's not the work of the Spirit of God.

[30:21] The Spirit of God will always act in accord with His word in decency and in order. Now you may say, preacher, you can't deny my experience.

[30:34] You can't deny my experience. I say to you that the word of God denies your experience. And that is enough said. The word of God denies your experience.

[30:45] You must face up to what the word of God says to you tonight. Biblical tongues was always a known human language at every occasion. Someone can test further. There's tongues of angels.

[30:57] Biblical tongues were a known language. And angels always spoke in a known human language. Even in the book of Revelation, when you get to the book of Revelation, as it describes the future and the eternal events in heaven, there's no evidence there that the angels and John conversed in an angelic language.

[31:18] But it was rather a known human language. Times shall cease. And they did. And they did. In 70 AD, when Titus and the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem, as the judgment that was foretold by our Lord came upon the Jews for rejecting Christ's gospel.

[31:37] And the doors were opened to the Gentiles for you and me to be saved. And the words of God said, What we are seeing today, sadly, are counterfeit manifestations. Brothers, sisters, I urge you tonight.

[31:50] We so badly need discernment today. Some will try and say that they use a prayer language. They say that they have a prayer language. And this practice is based on one single scripture text.

[32:05] 1 Corinthians 14, verse 14. This practice is based entirely on a misunderstanding of one single scripture text.

[32:16] 1 Corinthians 14, verse 14. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is Paul saying here?

[32:28] The prayer would be unfruitful. It would not edify anyone, which was the context tongues should edify. It would not edify anyone who did not speak that specific language.

[32:41] Paul was not actually recommending this practice. He wasn't recommending the practice of speaking in an unknown language here. It is actually teaching us to pray with our understanding.

[32:52] The whole context is a rebuking of the misuse of the tongues as the people were disordered and selfish. They were not employing the use of their tongues, these languages, to bless and edify others as God had intended.

[33:04] Paul was not saying that tongues is a private prayer language that can't be understood. Now this is a relatively latter day heresy.

[33:15] It wasn't even known in the early stages of the Pentecostal movement. This is a relatively new innovation that's been spawned by the charismatic movement. Paul is pointing out in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 14, The meaning of the futility of speaking in a language that is unknown to the hearers.

[33:34] What we pray in a language unknown to others we understand, but it is unfruitful because it does not profit those who hear it, who do not know the language except it be interpreted.

[33:45] So the context here in 1 Corinthians 14, edification is the context. So build up others. If someone is speaking in a language that is unknown to the hearers, how is that edifying?

[33:57] The person is left speaking to the only one who can understand God. So the Bible does not teach a private prayer language. This is yet another deception.

[34:09] The babble and gibberish that some people use is actually not scriptural prayer. Because it is not with the understanding also. It's a nonsense. It's a nonsense. We are to pray with the understanding.

[34:22] Friends, I urge you today. We want to pray. Pray with the understanding. Pray our understanding what we pray. Pray intelligently. Pray led by his spirit into truth.

[34:33] We need to exercise discernment in these desperate days. Friends, tonight God calls his church to purity in the midst of a rotten world. And we see the need for a genuine reviving again.

[34:47] Many churches are going this way because it's popular to run with the crowd, to go with the flow. But rather let us seek after God. Let's seek after God in accordance with his word.

[34:58] This must be our guide. And he will guide us. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. We need a brokenness to repent of our itching ears and our backslidden hearts.

[35:10] And seek after God afresh. Seek souls. Seek his face. Abandon man-centered faith and our spiritual apathy. Abandon our neglect of prayer, our neglect of the word.

[35:23] So, friends, I urge you tonight to be encouraged. This is meant to encourage you with scriptural truth. We could go into much more detail, into much more content to analyze the various passages in the book of Acts.

[35:38] Read them for yourself. Read where it happened. Read what the context was. It was God pouring out his spirit in Jerusalem. And God speaking through the languages of manifold nations in Acts 2.

[35:53] And then God blessing again as he poured out his spirit into different cohorts of other believers, including Gentiles, who God manifestly saved.

[36:04] It was a token of God's presence and it was a sign of God's judgment to the Jews in their rejection of the Messiah. So, friends, today we must get back to the Bible. We want to see God's glory.

[36:16] We must be healed of our spiritual blindness as we take the blinkers off and start to search the scriptures and see if these things are so. Because the word of God must be our rule of faith and conduct.

[36:28] Paul says be filled with the Spirit. We're not denying the Holy Spirit. I do not deny the Holy Spirit. I do not deny the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit.

[36:39] We need the Holy Spirit of God. We need the Spirit of truth. We need the Spirit of Christ. We need the Spirit that we will not act in accordance that is contrary to accordance with God's work, but we'll act in accordance with the scriptures.

[36:56] So, we see what are the characteristics of a truly Spirit-filled Christian. I want us all to be such Christians here. To be truly Spirit-filled, spiritual Christians.

[37:09] Some of the things I'll put to you, some evidences of the Holy Spirit manifesting in our lives. In Galatians 6, verse 14, Paul says, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.

[37:29] A crucified, self-denying life. That should be a manifest token of God's Spirit at work in your life. A surrendered life. Romans 6, verse 13, Neither yield your members, your body, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

[37:52] A surrendered life. That's another sign. A surrendered life. Galatians 2, verse 20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

[38:07] And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. A Christ-like life is a sign of the Spirit of God at work in you.

[38:22] Galatians 5, verse 22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

[38:33] Against such there is no law. A fruitful life is a sign of God's Spirit at work. Acts 1, verse 8, But ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses.

[38:47] After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Power to witness. To be an effective witness for Christ. To be one who reaches out with his love, with a soul-winning message.

[39:00] And John 15, tells the fruits again, Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. A life that glorifies God that bears much fruit.

[39:12] And another one. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20, For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

[39:24] A life that glorifies God. Don't we want these things, brothers and sisters? To have that, that surrendered life, that Christ-like life, that fruitful life, that life that bears witness, that life that glorifies God.

[39:40] I urge you tonight, search the scriptures, see if these things are so. See if what I'm telling you is the truth. What is the purpose of tongues? Why did he give it?

[39:52] Will it cease? Did it cease? It did. And friends, we need to be very alarmed at the dangerous false teachings abounding.

[40:03] Lord, we pray tonight, help us to have discernment in these desperate days. Help us, Lord, to have discernment, to search the scriptures. Lord, help us to seek after you with our whole heart.

[40:15] Help us, Lord, to put aside our experiences, whatever they be, if they're contrary to your word. Help us to put aside experiences and manifestations that do not measure up with your word, your holy scriptures.

[40:28] Help us, Lord, to be led by your spirit. Your spirit will guide us into all truth, into all truth. We love you, Lord. We thank you for every soul, every family, every heart, every home.

[40:40] Lord, let our ears be open to what your spirit would say to your church. Bless us, Lord, as we go our different ways. Guide us in the steps ahead that we might walk in your footsteps, Lord Jesus, we pray.

[40:53] For your sake we ask it. Amen. Amen.