Bill Johnson - Experience the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Gift of Tongues
Thank you, thank you. Well, I love you too, yes I do. Oh goodness, I keep imagining a group hug, but I’m afraid there’d be fatalities. It’s just wonderful to be together; I just, I just like it. I like hanging out with worshiping people and being led by individuals who have committed their lives to learn how to lead us into the presence and before the face of the Lord. Wow, I’m just amazed; I’m almost too happy to talk, but I’ll talk anyway. Just so wonderful, so wonderful, wonderful to be. I love the holidays too.
I saw this little meme that said, «My favorite thing about the fall is all those mosquitoes go back to hell.» You know, I am a mosquito target. I am! Years ago, we went fishing up at Hat Creek, and I didn’t have waders or anything, but I was in the water wearing corduroy pants. Do you remember those kinds of pants? I don’t know if they still have them or not. I don’t have any, but they’re back; I’ll try to get another pair then. Yeah, maybe we’ll see. I took Cutter’s insect repellent and rubbed it all over my pants to keep them away, and I got 50 bites! I’m not kidding; I counted them! I had 27 or 29, I forget now, in a three-inch circle right here. They eat Cutter’s; they eat insect repellent, they do! I’m sure of it; I’m positive. I was so mad; I was, oh, I was not very sanctified at that moment!
And if I could have, I would have sent every mosquito to hell right at that moment! Yes, I would. Money may not buy happiness, but I’d rather cry in a Bentley than in a bus. I’d take a bullet for you—not in the head, but maybe like in the leg or something. Sorry, that’s… I like it, though. I’m sorry for what I said before I had my coffee. Three Wise Women would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and there would be peace on Earth. We are all mature until someone pulls out bubble wrap. That’s probably enough. Yet another day has passed, and I did not use algebra once. Very interesting! I’ll do one more—when I die, I want my last words to be, «I left a million dollars under the…»
We’re going to read quite a bit of Scripture, so you guys have your Bibles? You’ve got Bibles? Electronic is fine, but hold them up; I want to see them! I love my Bible. Does anyone love your Bible? All right, what I want you to do is open to John chapter 20, put a piece of paper there, and go to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. Genesis 2— we’ll start with verse 4. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Before any plant of the field was in the earth, before any herb of the field had grown, for the Lord had not caused it to rain on the earth, there was no man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became, excuse me, a living being. Verse 7 is our verse, so let’s look at it again: «And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.» God literally breathed life into this hunk of flesh that He had just formed out of the dirt, and when He breathed into it, it became alive. It became a living being.
Now I want you to look at John chapter 20, and I love teaching out of John 20; it’s one of my favorite portions of Scripture to talk about. I can’t do it justice tonight, but we’ll get to the key verse in verse 19. The same day at evening, now this is after the resurrection. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead; many were raised from the dead before Him, but they all died again. He was the firstborn of the dead in the sense that he would never die again. Verse 19: «The same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'»
And when He had said this, He showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, «Peace to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.» And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, «Receive the Holy Spirit.» Verse 22: «And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'» Genesis 2:7 says, «The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.» Now, the firstborn from the dead took his eleven remaining disciples, and He breathed on them and said, «Receive the Holy Spirit.»
You remember where the Scripture says we are a new creation? It actually addresses the fact that we are something that has never existed before. So, when you were born again, you received the Holy Spirit and became other than human. It doesn’t mean we no longer have humanity; it just means we are other than mere human beings—not by anything we’ve done. It’s just a work of grace that God has made us living examples of the resurrected Christ. Satan works to stir up an antichrist spirit. Christ is not Jesus’s last name, right? It’s not Jesus Johnson.
You know, it’s not that at all; it’s Jesus Christ. Christ actually means anointing; technically, it means «one smeared with.» If you were to take a lotion and smear it all over your body, that is a picture of what anointing is. So when it says «Jesus Christ,» it is saying «Jesus, the one completely covered in, smeared with the Holy Spirit.» The antichrist spirit is an anti-anointing spirit. So, Jesus, functioning in the anointing, is what brought such great offense to religious leaders, right? It was the anointing in His speech; it was the anointing in the deliverance; it was the anointing in the healings and the walking on water and multiplying food. It was the anointing, the Spirit of God all over Him, that enabled Him to do what He did.
Now, I can’t belabor this, but He’s eternally God, and He could resort to His divinity; He could turn to His divinity at any time and do anything, but He chose to live with the limitations of a human being, number one, that had no sin, and number two, was completely dependent on the Holy Spirit. He actually provided an example for us that could be followed. If He did His miracles as God, I’m still impressed, but I can’t do it! When He does it as a human being, dependent on the Holy Spirit, He’s providing an example that can actually be followed. Yes, and I may never get it right; I just don’t have any other options. Come on! I don’t have the right to turn down the privilege of following the one who says, «Follow me.»
So, Jesus takes these eleven disciples, and He breathes on them, and I’d like to suggest to you that they became born again because they received the Holy Spirit. This is when they were converted. In the same way that God breathed into the nostrils of Adam and made him a living being, in the same way, Jesus breathed into the nostrils of the eleven, and they became a new creation. It is the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of the resurrected Christ that comes in and transforms us. It is the actual spirit—if you can imagine the tomb of Jesus, and on the third day, the Spirit of God comes and raises Him from the dead—that exact Spirit is doing the same in you and in me. Out of the death of sin, out of the death of slavery, out of all these things, He comes to resurrect us into newness of life. Satan got the surprise of his life! I find it humorous, but I mean it very seriously; he got the surprise of his life because he thought he could destroy the anointing. Let me rephrase it: he thought he could destroy the Christ through death, not realizing that in His death He became a seed that, when it came forth in fruitfulness, led to millions and billions of resurrected ones—little Christs, Christians—now roaming the earth.
Now, what we’ve got to do is learn together and help encourage the people of God to learn who God made them to be. We’re not here to occupy space until we die; we’re actually here to illustrate what the love of God looks like, which requires compassion, which requires mercy, and requires power. Come on! The love of God must be demonstrated in power; it’s not adequately revealed. And so, this is our great privilege. So, Jesus now takes these eleven disciples, and He breathes on them, and they become born again.
Now, if you go to Luke chapter 24, we’ll read a piece of instruction that He gave to His disciples that’s pretty critical. Luke 24, He says, verse 46: «Are you guys in Luke 24? Did you find it? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yep, travel fast with me if you can.» Luke 24, verse 46: «Then He said to them, 'Thus it is written, and it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but Terry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued or clothed with power from on high.'»
So now, He’s talking to eleven remaining disciples who have just received the Holy Spirit. Every born-again believer has the Holy Spirit, but I’d like to suggest that because Jesus came to the same eleven that He had breathed upon and told them not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with power, there was yet another work of grace that He wanted to establish in their lives. And so, when you get to Acts chapter one, Luke wrote Acts and the Gospel of Luke, and so you come to Acts chapter 1 before it’s logical to go right to Acts chapter 1 and pick up where the story left off. So, if you would go to Acts chapter 1, I’m going to make you work a little bit here tonight, so I hope you don’t mind working. And if you do, oh well. I got a note here: «Somebody figured out my password; now I have to rename my dog.»
Sorry, all right? Just slightly off subject. Some of us are easily distracted by shiny things, you know? All right, verse one of Acts chapter 1: «The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach.» Please make a mental note, if nothing else, I have it underlined of anytime you see in the Scripture doing and teaching in the same verse because in our culture, we’re accustomed to teaching without doing. Our culture allows you to be taught how to run a business by people who never owned a business because we value certificates and other things. And I don’t want to say they don’t have value; I’m just saying our culture is different, and biblical culture puts doing and teaching in the same breath. So this is an account of all that Jesus began to do and teach. Sorry.
John chapter 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says, «We know you are a teacher come from God, because no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.» So again, it’s all through the scripture. All right? All that Jesus began to do and teach until the day in which He was taken up, after He, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen. To whom He had also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen during forty days by them. During forty days in speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.
There’s that phrase again! «Which He said you have heard from Me. For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.» Still alive. Verse 6: «Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? ' And He said, 'It’s not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth.'» Here’s what I want you to notice: a couple of things. First of all, is the commandment that the Lord has for His followers to be clothed with power. It’s available; it’s a gift. And He tells His original eleven, and then, of course, He appeared to actually, in the 40 days after the resurrection, there’s 50 days between His resurrection and Pentecost. Pentecost means 50, but He departed 10 days previous, and in that 40-day period, He had actually appeared to over 500 people with very many infallible convincing proofs that He was alive.
Now, I don’t know why only 120 showed up to the prayer meeting, but 500 heard about it. Sounds like a normal church right there; that’s pastoral sarcasm, so just adjust to it. Yeah, that’s all right. But here’s what I want you to notice: in verse three, he talks to them about the Kingdom, right? Things pertaining to the Kingdom. Then in verse five, he says, «For John will baptize you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.» He addresses the Kingdom, and the first subject he discusses after addressing the Kingdom is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Now, they asked him in verse six, «Will you at this time restore the Kingdom?» He said, «It’s not for you to know.» But then he takes the subject back to the baptism in the Holy Spirit: «You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.» Are you guys still following? Is everyone still alive?
All right, so this is Egypt over here. Sorry, all you dancers; you’ve been in Egypt all night, but, uh… bad joke. Bad joke. So, this is Egypt, and Israel are slaves in Egypt. They put the blood on the doorpost of the house, which was their deliverance—that’s when they were set free from slavery. I was just looking at a Psalm earlier tonight; it says Egypt was glad to see them go. They had suffered so much of God’s dealings with them as a nation that they sent them with all their treasures and everything. So, here’s Israel; they put the blood on the doorpost of the house and are literally set free. When they are set free, they end up coming to a body of water called the Red Sea.
Now, in 1 Corinthians 10, it says that Israel went through the baptism of Moses. So, this Red Sea, even though they didn’t get wet, the fact is they went deep into the sea. I read something recently that it could have been as deep as several hundred feet down that they had to go into and then come back up the other side. So, here’s their blood; the blood sets them free. They come to this body of water called the Red Sea, they go through a baptism, and then before they come to the promised land, there’s another body of water. But this one is not a still body of water; it is a river.
In John chapter 7, the Holy Spirit is referred to as a river. Now, please take note: two and a half tribes decided to live on this side of the river; nine and a half went through the second baptism into a promised land that I would like to suggest is the picture of the Kingdom—the Kingdom of God, a present reality that we have the privilege and responsibility to steward and to live in here and now, and to discover with everything that we do.
Jesus said, «Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.» Repent means to change the way you think; change your perspective on reality because I brought my world with me. If you don’t change your perspective on reality, you can live an entire lifetime within reach of everything you ache for, and you’d never know it’s there. So, here is a river that separates.
Now, Israel was commanded to stay in harmony and unity, regardless of what side of the river they lived on. Remember that it’s not haves and have-nots; it’s not privileged and unprivileged. It’s one nation, but there was a choice made: two and a half tribes lived on this side of the river; two and a half tribes lived on this side of the river. If you can imagine going through this second baptism, what I’ll call it, the second baptism, many people when they’re baptized in the Holy Spirit pray in tongues, but they never explore the land they just inherited. They stand on the banks of the river and pray in tongues for the rest of their lives, and that’s awesome because it’s a glorious gift; I’m going to talk about it in a minute because it’s one of the greatest privileges we have. But to merely experience a prayer language and not explore what this world looks like that we’ve just inherited is really sad.
See, Jesus actually modeled and illustrated what the promised land looked like. Promises get you there, and part of the problem is we want everything brought to us; we don’t want to pursue. Let me illustrate this just for a quick moment. The Apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, said, «Take the promises, the prophecies that have been given to you, and fight with them so that you come into your destiny.» So, here I am right now in my life, but God sees me here. What he does is he brings me every promise that I will need to get from here to there, and he gives it to me in the reading of Scripture, scripture and conviction during worship. Somebody will lean over and share a thought with me; a prophet will call me out and prophesy. The point is that he is very generous in making sure that we become exposed to what he says and we have to have the intelligence to embrace it.
Many seeds fall on the ground and never take root. So, here I am; God gives me promises to get me from here to there, but Paul warns us; he says those promises are swords, which tells me what? There’s a fight between here and there; there’s a conflict between here and there. I want there brought to me. I remember sitting in my recliner—I’ve told you this before—watching something on TV, and Benny would say, «Hey, do you want something to eat?» I’d go, «Yeah, I’m starving.» So, she would go into the kitchen, make something, and bring it to me, and I would eat it. I was starving, but just not enough to get out of the recliner. I wasn’t hungry enough to actually go in and make it, but I was hungry if it was brought to me.
A lot of this Kingdom stuff we handle well if it’s brought to us, but we don’t always know how to pay the price to go get it. Most of what you need in life will be brought to you; most of what you want, you’ll have to go get. You can’t learn how to apprehend without a fight, and to do that, you actually have to know what God has said. You have to have a solid fix your fixed attention on the word of the Lord that cannot be unsettled, removed, or distracted.
I have probably, in the last week or so, spent honestly, I think, at least an hour a day just hearing old prophetic words over my life—just reminding me: this is what he said, this is what he said, this is what he said—fighting to protect that which has been deposited in my heart. Because I know that he gave something to me that I have to steward. Larry Randolph helped us years ago with this quote: one of my favorites. He said, «God will fulfill all of his promises to you, but he’s not obligated to fulfill your potential.» Often times, the promises of God come to outline potential; they are not guaranteed. It doesn’t mean God lies; it just means your role is extremely necessary to see the fulfillment of that word.
I feel like I could talk for hours, and that’s scary—and I’m not going to. I’m not threatening you; I know some of you just turned white, but I’m not threatening you. I just have so much racing through my heart and mind right now with this theme. Did you know the will of God is represented in two words in the New Testament? One means that which is absolutely fixed and certain; it’ll happen; you don’t get to vote. You know, like Jesus is coming back. You believe it? Great! You don’t believe it? It doesn’t matter; your opinion does not matter at all. And then there’s another will of God—it’s another word that’s used—that actually describes his desire that He actually longs for certain things to take place, but there has to be human partnership or it won’t happen.
So, these folks that say, «Well, whatever happens was meant to happen,» that’s absolutely dumb. We cannot give God praise for Hitler. You know, Hitler was given a gift of leadership that he distorted. He was given a gift, though he was given a gift. We can’t credit God with stuff; it’s just nonsense. All right, you all right? Good.
Okay, so here is this journey from sin to a baptism of water and a second baptism. The second baptism is to introduce us to a lifestyle where things are different. See, in this Kingdom, it’s not by human reasoning or human strength; while those things are useful tools, our life, our livelihood is not dependent upon them. In this Kingdom, you march around a city for six days and then on the seventh day, you do it seven times and lift up a shout, and the walls fall. It’s not the best military strategy. In this Kingdom, you sometimes send a choir out first.
In this Kingdom, everything is dependent upon hearing what God is saying, knowing what He’s doing, participating as co-laborers with him. His dream from day one was for humanity to be co-laborers with him. It’s why he says, «Be fruitful, multiply, subdue the Earth.» Subdue implies that there is opposition; you have to bring into order because there’s chaos and disorder. There is a power outside of this Garden that is at war with your destiny. Subdue it.
So, we were born into a war with a purpose: to see the reality of God’s dominion realized in every single part of life. I’d like to suggest to you that in Acts chapter 1, when the subject of the Kingdom was brought up, the very next phrase was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And when the disciples asked about the Kingdom, the very next phrase was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’d like to suggest it’s that second baptism that gives you exposure to potential; it gives you exposure to a reality that we can give ourselves to fully learn.
All right, Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, verse one: «When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly, man, I love the suddenlies in the Bible.» I can be fairly impatient, so when it suddenly comes, I’m happy. When I have to wait gradually for six months for something, I’ll do it, but I like the suddenly better. «And suddenly, there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.»
What are the two natural earthly manifestations that we have spoken of in these two verses? We have wind and fire. In Hebrews, it talks about—it’s actually a quote from the Old Testament—but in Hebrews 1, it talks about angels being ministers of wind and ministers of fire. Is it possible that this divine moment, when the Lord was going to spread the Christ anointing upon every believer, became so crowded with an angelic presence that fire and wind just exploded? Just a thought.
Verse three: «Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire; one sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.» I’ve had people, you know, they ask, «If you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, do you have to speak in tongues?» No, but you get to. Paul says prophecy is the ultimate gift; tongues is your edification; prophecy is for edification in the church. If we have time, we may look at those passages.
So, people say, «Well, I want prophecy and not tongues.» I don’t know how your house works, but at Christmas time, gifts are very important because that’s what I like to do. Anything I like to do is very important for our family. So if I provide gifts for my children—let’s just say I provide one of my kids— I say, «Son, this cost me 300 bucks; here’s another one; this one cost me 50.» If he doesn’t open the 50, I’m taking the 300 away if he doesn’t open the 50 because he says, «Well, it’s just not worth as much.» Oh, we’re going to have a conversation because each gift I buy is significant, and it’s impossible for God to give us a gift—make a gift available to us—that does not have eternal significance.
There are nine gifts listed—gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Nine gifts are listed; I think there are more, personally. I can’t prove it. But the lists that you find in the Bible don’t contain God; they reveal him. Come on! They’re not boundaries! Come on! I have a couple of family members that when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, they actually wrote in perfect Chinese. We actually have copies in our family history. A couple of them were baptized in the Holy Spirit in Smith Wigglesworth’s meetings. Wow! They wrote in perfect Chinese.
A missionary came to town and read these two documents. One document was the 23rd Psalm, and the other was just a song of praise to God. Writing in Chinese is not on the list. But listen to me; it’s consistent with the list, right? It’s consistent with the list. The lists in Scripture do not contain God; they’re not meant to fence him in; they reveal him.
Verse six in Acts 2: «When the sound occurred, a multitude came together and they were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language.» Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, «Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? How is it that we hear each in our own language?» And then he goes on in verse 11: «We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.» So that tells us that tongues is either the language of praise or the language of prayer—the wonderful works of God.
Verse 12: «So they were all amazed and perplexed.» Verse 13: «Others mocking.» So here’s the fruit of revival: confusion, amazement, marvel, amazement, perplexity, and mocking. That’s how you know it’s God; that’s how you know it’s God.
So this whole thought of a squeaky-clean revival is just nonsense. It’s never happened; it never will. In every great move of God, God introduces something new that offends people. So here they are speaking in unknown tongues.
Now, I’m going to ask you to go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. I’m just trying to work to lay some things out in front of you, and then we’re going to pray at the end and see what Jesus does. Let’s go to chapter 14 instead. «Pursue love; desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.» Verse 31 is of chapter 12—I’m sorry; I’m speaking in riddles now. «Chapter 12:31 connects directly with chapter 14:1.» In the middle is chapter 13, where he takes a step outside of the subject to talk about a priority, and that’s the subject of love. Then he comes back to the subject of the gifts.
So, just know how the information is flowing here. In Deuteronomy—wow, it’s going to be a long night—verse 31 of 1 Corinthians 12: «But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way.» Then he talks about love: «Pursue the best gifts.»
This part is important for you to hear. Paul expounded on the subject of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The teaching of a subject does not impart the subject; in other words, teaching you about prophecy doesn’t enable you to prophesy. It enables you to hunger to prophesy. The teaching is to open up an understanding of what’s possible. That’s why it says in chapter 14, «Pursue earnestly spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.»
Now, when it says «desire the best gifts,» what gifts is he talking about? Well, let me ask you this: if you’re dying of a disease, do you want a word of wisdom? No; you want healing; you want a miracle. If you’ve got this crazy mystery at work and you don’t know how to solve it and you don’t know how to fix and recover and restore the focus and direction for your business, do you want a healing anointing? Of course not; that’s not what the need is. The need determines what the best gift is.
Now, I’m not suggesting you adopt my way of thinking, but I like it; I’ll pay you later. Thanks. It’s common for people to think the one who prays for the sick has the healing gift. If you’re the sick one, you need the healing gift. It’s the gift of healing; the Holy Spirit is in me; He has all the gifts. I may become more proficient in one over the other, but it’s generally because it’s what I focus on the most and practice the most. Yeah, just… I’m here to confuse you. That’s what my job is.
So, the person who does the praying—we pray, and somebody is healed; who received the gift? If I’m well, I don’t need it, right? Of course, I want the anointing to be able to pray and see things happen. But the point is, we often think of people being extra-special qualified for something, when actually the Spirit of God is in them, and they’re just delivering packages.
So good! I’ve told you the story a number of times with Chris. Chris Vallotton—he left the business world to come and help me. I invited him to come. He had several businesses that he closed down as a result, and he had quite a bit of debt and was working to pay that off, and I knew about it. I don’t know if anybody else in the church knew, but I was standing right back at that door on a Sunday morning, and a lady came by with a check. She came by and said, «Hey, is Chris here?» I said, «No, he’s not here today, but he’ll be here tonight.»
So she said, «Well, would you give this to him?» I said, «Sure.» So after she walked around the corner, it wasn’t in a sealed envelope, so because of that, I figured it was the will of God for me to know what was on this check. Just in case she didn’t feel the same, I waited till she walked around the corner, and I went like this. I went, «$30,000.» I looked; I made sure it was his name, not mine, and it was. So that night, pre-service prayer, Chris walked in. I said, «Hey, Chris, somebody gave this to me for you.» He said, «Does that say $3,000?» I said, «No, that’s $30,000!» He ruined the entire pre-meeting; he walked around waving his check. Totally ruined the pre-meeting!
Exactly! And he never thanked me for all that money! I didn’t write the check; I delivered the check. And when you pray for the sick and they get healed or you give them your prophetic word or that Word of Wisdom, that strength in a time of difficult times, it’s a wonderful privilege to be able to deliver the checks. But just remember you didn’t write it.
So here in chapter 14 it says, «Pursue love; desire spiritual gifts.» Verse one: «Especially that you may prophesy.» «He who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him. However, in the Spirit, he speaks mysteries. He who prophesies speaks edification, exhortation, and comfort to men.» He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
All right, here’s the deal: you’ve got nine gifts listed, and only one helps the user, right? To not want that one… I’m trying to think of a very kind way to say this, but you’re just being stupid. I mean, who among us thinks we don’t need edification and help and strength and encouragement? Honestly! Honestly! I need it all the time! I wake up in the night praying in the Spirit. I need it all the time, especially in this particular day that we live in, just the intensity of conflict and stuff that’s going on around us. We just need strength.
And when he gives you an internal source that can keep you refreshed and encouraged! A lot of people, perhaps even in this room, have been given the ability, the gift to pray in the Spirit, but you hardly ever do it! It has to be at a very special moment. No, it doesn’t! You wake up; that’s a special moment! In fact, I have prayed many hours. I haven’t counted, but lots of times I prayed while I’m sleeping. Song of Solomon says, «Though I sleep, yet my heart is awake,» and I’m keeping in touch with the Spirit of God, praying.
So here’s what it says: «He who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks to God, not to man.» Now, when I was growing up, we would often have prophetic words, and then we’d also have tongues and interpretation. The interpretation was always a prophetic word—"He who speaks an unknown tongue speaks to God, not to men.» Tongues is either praise or prayer. So, my opinion is that most of the time when an interpretation of a tongue is given, it’s either a response to the intercessory prayer that was just prayed, or the tongue gave the person with the prophecy the courage to give it.
Now, Paul says at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13, he says, «Though I speak with the tongue of men and angels.» So it’s possible there, in the context of tongues, that when you pray in the Spirit, you are either praying any language of man or a language of the angelic realm. Now, when you pray in tongues, when you pray in the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit praying through you. The reason it’s called unknown tongues is because it doesn’t go through your brain.
If you live a life full of the Spirit, learning to be moved by the Spirit, praying in the Spirit often, what will happen is: you will, number one, learn the value of spontaneity, and you will pray in a way that helps to teach you how the Kingdom works. You pick up almost indirectly, if you will, understanding of the nature of his world by praying in the Spirit.
So, let’s say I’m praying, and Paul says, «I pray with the understanding; I pray with the Spirit. I sing with the understanding; I sing with the spirit.» So, singing in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, is biblical; with understanding, it’s very important too. The reason I sometimes will say— I mean, I like for us to pray in the Spirit—but there are times I’ll emphasize, I say, «Listen! Only pray with the understanding!» And the reason is we’re supposed to love God with all of our mind. It’s wonderful to have a prayer language that bypasses, but it’s also wonderful to harness the mind and use it to consider who he is, what he’s like, and use what you think about as the language of praise to honor him and exalt him.
So let’s say I’m praying and I said, «Oh, somebody drives by in a 700-horsepower Corvette, and I just have that internal witness that that really is the will of God for my life.» And so I pray, I say, «God, it would just be awesome to have a 700-horsepower Corvette! It would be! And I promise I’ll drive for your glory, God! I will drive for the glory of God! I will! And I’ll let everybody know that you provided it for me! Amen!»
And then I make the mistake of praying in tongues, and the Holy Spirit—who only prays the will of God—is praying through me saying, «Don’t give him that Corvette! He’ll kill himself with 700 horsepower! Cancel that last prayer!» Even though you said you’d do anything he asks, «Cancel the prayer! That’s not what he needs!»
So, when you pray in the Holy Spirit, it’s the Holy Spirit in your spirit that inspires your language. Here’s what I really wanted to tell you tonight. I don’t know if it’s a big thought or not, but it touched me these last couple weeks. We’ve got the Father; the Son is at his right hand. The Holy Spirit is God on Earth. Now in Romans 8, there are two scriptures. One is about verse 26 that says the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and then I think it’s verse 30—no, 31; it’s over on the right-hand side of the page, about two inches down.
It says, «And Jesus intercedes for us.» Wow! So, we have the Holy Spirit interceding with groanings that cannot be uttered. We have Jesus interceding for us, and in the middle, sandwiched between these two incredible passages is a statement: «All things will work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.» No wonder Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceding for us!
So now, where is the Holy Spirit? He is in me! So, when I pray in tongues, I am coming before the Father with a message from the Holy Spirit. Is this mic on? Is this even on? What if it is the Holy Spirit praying through us? Yes! Praying in the language of angels! Man, I don’t need to figure it out. All I want to do is I… I’ve noticed that edification, strength, learning to be sensitive to him, learning to be more easily moved to spontaneous quick obedience—all that happens in that reality of the Holy Spirit praying in tongues.
So here, now the Holy Spirit is praying through me, and He now has brought me in through Jesus, through the blood of Jesus, brought me in before the Father, and I actually have the privilege of now bringing a message, a prayer to the Father from the Holy Spirit! Wow! Judas! It says, «Building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.» So edification is actually the strengthening of faith.
All right, so I come in before the Father, and I’m praying in tongues. I’m praying in the Spirit, and I’m delivering a message to the Father, and the Son is in full agreement! These two—the Spirit and the Son—are both interceding in full agreement before the Father. The one missing element has been the human element, because he’s wanting co-laborers.
So now it is my surrendered voice, my surrendered will, to come in before the Father, to come into agreement. I don’t know what it is yet. If you’ll stay tender and quiet in your relationship with the Lord, you will learn to pick up little tidbits of the kinds of things that you’re praying for. You’ll start getting clarity of thought; certain burdens will come; certain burdens will lift that you carried into this time because you were praying in the Spirit, and the Lord is already answering. You don’t even know what it was yet. In heaven, you will see all the dots, all the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed. You’ll see everything lay out as it happened in our lifetime.
But in this moment, it actually just requires abandon and trust. So now I come in before the Father knowing I am now, because I’m praying in the Spirit, I’m not praying my stuff. I’m wanting to be shaped by his will; his will—I love his will! I don’t always know what it is, but I love his will! So here I am; I’m yielded to the Holy Spirit. I’m bringing a message to the Father; the Son is in full agreement, and we have this powerful moment because now a human made in his image has come in surrender to see his will done on Earth as it is in Heaven!
Wow! The Apostle Paul made this statement to the church at Corinth: he taught them about the gifts, and then he told them about the importance of prophecy. Why? Why did he emphasize prophecy? He explained it because prophecy edifies the church!
So if you’re in a public meeting where you’re going to demonstrate something, for me to stand up here and just pray in tongues all night instead of talk to you would not help you at all; it would help me. But what Paul is warning about is you don’t want to use your—I could put it this way—your public moments for personal edification; you want to use your public moments for the benefit of the public.
He’s not putting down praying in tongues and exalting prophecy. He’s recognizing your moment, recognizing your moment, and using whatever gifting is most beneficial to the whole. When a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not take over a person’s mouth or tongue. Many people have said, «I want it so bad,» but they wait for some cosmic power to come over and possess them, and that’s just scary.
The Bible says the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. You’ll probably have to do the talking. Let me tell you one funny story, and then we’re going to pray together. In Weaverville, I had a mountain chapel where I pastored for 17 years. Bill Derriberry—some of you have heard Chris talk about him a lot—he was a spiritual dad to Chris and such an amazing man. We had a church of 150-200 people, and half the people were there because of Bill. Literally, half! You could stand on any Sunday, and he could say, «How many of you were brought here by Bill Derriberry?» and they would raise their hand. In fact, it might have been more than half, but it was at least half! Extraordinary man!
His gift was just hospitality, just kindness. You know, he wasn’t a teacher; he didn’t sing; he didn’t lead worship; he didn’t do any of those kinds of things. Anyway, he called me one day and said, «I’ve got a friend that I want to bring in; he goes to another organization, church-type organization, and he just needs help.» As soon as I hung up, as clearly as could be—this doesn’t always happen to me, but this, as clearly as could be—the Lord spoke to me and said, «He needs to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.»
What I didn’t know was Bill had told him, «My pastor will not shove the baptism of the Holy Spirit on you; he will not take advantage of you coming from a different denomination that doesn’t believe in that. He’s won’t do that; he’s just not that kind of pastor.» Now, Bill didn’t bother telling me what he told him, but he assured him because this guy was scared to death to come see the Pentecostal guy.
Yeah, sometimes we culs think we have the key to everything, and we just don’t. But we’re part of the team, which I’m happy about. Anyway, he told her he just won’t do that. Well, they came into my office, sat down together, and I said, «You know, as soon as I hung up from you, the Lord told me what you need is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.»
I just laid hands on him, and I’m telling you, the fire of God came on that guy, which I’ve only seen twice in my life like that. It was… I mean, he was wrecked. All I can say is that guy got hit by a truck! It was the Holy Ghost truck! Boy, he was marked after that!
It was, obviously, just completely changed his life. And then Bill told me later, «I told him you wouldn’t do that.» «Oh, sorry, sorry.»
Let’s stand! I have been feeling for a while that there’s just a lot of our family longing for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Some of you have had that experience, if you will, it’s just not something that you’re activating. I don’t know how to describe it. I probably don’t have theologically correct language for it, but hopefully, you know what I’m talking about. Some just… it was an experience that you had, maybe many years ago, but it’s not something you keep current.
I want you to know the Father wants you to bring a message from the Holy Spirit to him. Jesus paved the way with blood so that you and I could come before him, and just through simple utterance, it may be praise; it may be intercessory prayer. But we come before the Father with a message from the Holy Spirit. Was it the Holy Spirit that helped the 120 in the upper room pray in unknown languages? And it says they spoke of the mighty deeds of God. So the Holy Spirit is a praiser, a worshipper.
We actually learn—that’s why we worship in spirit and in truth—is the Holy Spirit is the great worship leader. And so for us to, in moments like this, to be able just to pray in the Spirit and to see God exalted and honored and glorified, I’m going to ask a series of questions. How many have never been baptized in the Holy Spirit, but you would like to? Just put a hand up real quickly—okay, yeah, several. All right, good!
How many of you have, but it’s not an ongoing practice or part of your walk with the Lord, and you would like for it to be? Okay, all right. How many of you just need an upgrade? Yeah, yeah! You came on a Sunday night; that’s automatically—you know, even if you got dragged here by a friend, you know you’re here.
Oh goodness! Let’s do this. I would like to have those who are hungry for the baptism of the Holy Spirit just come stand along the front up here. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to pray, just… yeah, just… yeah, that’s wonderful! Yeah, it just takes, in this kind of environment, so much courage for people to do this! I’m so glad that hunger has… yeah! Oh goodness!
All right, so squeeze together; we got a pile more coming. So, all right! Thank you, Lord! I have honestly been anticipating tonight. I’ll tell you honestly; I didn’t know when I would do it! But I’ve been anticipating for probably at least a year that we needed to do this.
And two weeks ago, it really hit me that I would be speaking tonight, reminded, and that this would be a perfect chance to be able to pray for you. And so I’m going to—I don’t know what all we’re going to do yet. So if you get through before I do, just go home; otherwise, we’re going to start praying for these folks because I don’t think the Lord would stir that up in my heart without His complete and full commitment!
What I’m going to ask of all of you that are up front here, all you have to be is a willing vessel. I’m not going to tell you what to say. I’m not going to tell you what to do. All I want you to do is turn your heart towards the Lord. This is not something you have to qualify for. There’s no such thing as super saints; they’re just saints.
And ANS—that was bad! But you know, it just came to me; it was a revelation that I should have sent back! But it’s all right! So we’re going to… I’m going to have the team here walk with me; we’re just going to start praying for you.
We’re going to lay hands on you. Hopefully, we’ll be able to lay hands on everyone and just pray that Jesus himself will baptize you. Now, when baptized in water, you’re immersed and you come out; when you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit, it’s an immersion in presence.
I’ve seen it happen, like I described to you, this man that came into my office—man, it was a lightning bolt! And I’ve only seen that like that twice in my life! But oftentimes, it’s just this very gentle touch that the Lord gives. And you just… you just adore him; you begin to express it verbally, and as the Lord just enables you to speak in another language, just do it!
Don’t analyze it! Don’t analyze it. I know of one person who was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they got one syllable—literally one syllable! And they found out sometimes later that there was a tribe in Africa whose entire language was one syllable, and it was the pitch and the duration, the length of the note. Wow!
So don’t… don’t analyze! Just give God what you have in language. And Lord, we just pray right now! I ask that you would come, Holy Spirit—that you come! In fact, let’s get some music on. We’re going to pray for everyone in the room to have a fresh touch from God! Some of you that have not walked in this, you know, in an ongoing current way, I want you to start praying over yourself right now and begin to use that gift to exalt and honor the Lord.
And I want to ask the team to come on up here and just begin to pray. All of you guys come on up and just begin to lay hands on them. Mark, come on up here and just pray. And pray in the Spirit if the Lord’s given you that wonderful language. And I want you just to pray in the Spirit right where you are, and let’s get some music up.
And we’ll, yeah! And just—yeah, the prayer team here just reach through, and we just ask Lord, we just declare it’s not by might, it’s not by power, it’s by the Spirit, says the Lord! We invite you, Holy Spirit! Come with power even right now! Give a deep, deep immersion in the presence right now! Just turn your affection towards the Lord; begin to speak praise and begin to speak words of honor towards Him!
Yes, we bless and honor you, Lord Jesus! We exalt you, Lord God! We boast in you, Lord! Come with power here, Father! Come with power! Just a fresh baptism in the Spirit—a fresh baptism in the Spirit! Come, Lord God! Baptism! Baptism of fire! Baptism of fire! Baptism of fire! Baptism of fire! Come, Spirit of God! Come! Baptism of fire! Baptism of fire! Come!
Thank you, Lord! Come with fire on this one! Baptism of fire! Baptism of fire! Baptism of fire! Sometimes, we miss when he comes because we’re expecting him to shake us and knock us down. But sometimes he comes so gently, and it’s just like a weightlessness, and it just lifts off of you!
Just release yourself from how you expect him to come! He’s right here! He’s touching each and every one of you! Excuse me; it might be wild and crazy; it might be calm, but he’s here, and he’s touching you! Thank you, Lord!
Thank you, God! Come on! Come with power! The hungry always get filled; they always get filled, and we are hungry for your presence! We are hungry for your presence! Settle, settle, settle, Holy Spirit, that you would rest upon us!
He would rest upon us! Rest upon us! Holy Spirit, come with power! Stir up in us, Lord the hunger for the Holy Spirit! Stir it up in us, that hunger that is filled with you! And I thank you that it doesn’t stop here, but we get to take the Holy Spirit home with us!
It’s so fun! And he stays with you! When you’re asleep, he’s working at nighttime, and you don’t even have to have us lay hands on you! The Holy Spirit is falling! Now, I can see him! He’s touching you! He’s going, «Oh, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!»
That we get to partner with the Holy Spirit! Wow! Wow! Wow! What a great perspective! Fear, go! Fear, go! I want to encourage everyone that has come forward, everyone in the room, actually, just turn your affection towards the Lord and just begin to express your heart of affection for Him!
Use whatever language you got! Just begin to declare his kindness, his goodness, his love! Just out of your heart, out of your heart! Just release rivers of your own love language to God, your love for Him, your honor, your celebration of the great wonderful name of Jesus! God is touching so many people, and he’s going to do it differently!
We are so different as individuals, but I want to encourage everybody in the room. Much time you have left to be with us in the room tonight—just literally lift your face towards the Lord, your heart towards the Lord, and give him thanks, give him honor, give him praise. And as the Lord gives you other words, other language, other syllables, just begin to speak them!
Don’t analyze them! The Lord will actually—the longer that river flows, the deeper it gets. And so you don’t want to just dabble in it; you want to really give it to Him! So let’s just lift up—if you have a prayer language—just lift that up before the Lord even right now! Keep going!
Online community, there’s no distance in the Spirit! There’s no distance in the Spirit! Online community, lift up your voices! Lift up your voices! Oh, we just pray for a fresh wave of the Holy Spirit throughout this room! Every hungry person would be filled and satisfied! Every hungry person!
Spirit of God! Come in power! Fall upon us once again! Fall upon us once again! Let’s take just a few more minutes for this! Just a few more minutes! Just lift up that heavenly language! Yeah! You can turn and pray for each other as well! For that—yeah!
Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord! Wonderful, wonderful Jesus! Wonderful Jesus! Thank you, Lord! How many of you that have come down to the front? God just touched you and just actually gave you at least the beginning of a prayer language—put your hand up; I want to see who you are! Yeah! Look! Look at this wonderful… yes, it’s wonderful! Lord, I want to encourage you!
Children, when they learn to talk, they learn to talk slowly, but they do learn! And the Lord has released—sometimes I’ve seen it instant and suddenly; other times, it’s a gradual work! But we just welcome anything that he’s doing! He’s giving you a language that will bring encouragement to you any time you need it! I need it all the time!
So I pray this for you! Some of you didn’t have anything happen to, but you’ll wake up in the night; you’ll wake up in the morning! You’ve prayed a prayer that God has not resisted! He has not turned from! He’s actually responding to, and each of us are so different. He knows how to best work with each of us!
But just all of you out here, extend your hand towards these up front! Just extend your hand, and we just pray! In fact, I want to ask all of you just to lift up just your prayer language right now in worship! And just whatever he’s given you, just use that! The rest of you, just join with them! Let’s just lift up one chorus, one song! Heavenly language, thank you, Lord!
Thank you, Lord! Wow! Wow! Thank you, Lord! God, how many of you out in the seats? The Lord gave you just a real fresh, just a real fresh touch! And just in your walk with Him! Yeah, good!
Yeah! We just—we want this deeper and deeper and deeper! As someone once said, you can’t overdose on the Holy Ghost! So that’s—that’s good news right there! Can’t overdose on the Holy Ghost! Wow! Wow!
Thank you, Lord! Who’s in charge now, Ben? You are! Come on up, Ben! You’re in charge! You’re in charge! Just do whatever Ben says; it’s a lot of power you got right there! Wow, that’s a lot of power right there!