In the book of Acts and the Epistles it shows us that tongues is an inspired utterance in a language unknown to

the speaker.Dr Ken Chant

Acts 1:6-8 - MSG

When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”

He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”

Our Constitution

II. Principles and ObjectsA.Declaration of Faith

(6) The Holy Spirit - He is a divine person as expressed in point (2) (part of the Godhead), and that by his agency alone people can be brought to salvation through Christ as expressed in point (4) (through Jesus), and safety guided into the will of God.

(7) The Baptism in the Holy Spirit - This is an experience discrete from both salvation and baptism in water, and that the ordinary sign of the Holy Spirit baptism in “glossolalia”.

Glossolalia is: comes from two Greek words, glossa, which means ‘tongue’ and laleo, which means, ‘I speak’.

Dr Ken Chant defines it further like this:Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, is a result of the

miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, enabling a person to speak in a language he or she has not learned and of which

he or she has no natural knowledge.(The Holy Spirit pg 75)

The New Testament indicates four general uses of speaking in tongues:

1. As the evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit2. As a means of personal edification i.e.: private use3. As a means of addressing the church supernaturally

(in conjunction with the gift of interpretation of tongues - 1 Cor 12) i.e.: public use

4. As a sign to the unbeliever i.e.: public use

The gospels tells us about the PROMISES of the baptism.

The epistles tell us about LIVING the life.

The book of Acts tells us about the actual EXPERIENCE of receiving the Holy Spirit.

Example One:

Acts 2:1-41 - NIV

Example One:

Acts 2:1-4 - NIVWhen the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Example One:

Matthew 3:11-12 - NIV“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Example One:

Matthew 3:11-12 - MSG“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

Example One:

Acts 2:4 - NIV All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Example One:

Acts 2:14-21 - NIV Peter Addresses the CrowdThen Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says,    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy,    your young men will see visions,    your old men will dream dreams.

Example One:

Even on my servants, both men and women,    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,    and they will prophesy.I will show wonders in the heavens above    and signs on the earth below,    blood and fire and billows of smoke.The sun will be turned to darkness    and the moon to blood    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.And everyone who calls    on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Example Two:

Acts 10:23-48 - NIV

Example Two:

Acts 11:15 - NIV“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.

Example Three:

Acts 19:1-6 - NIV

Example Three:

Acts 19:1-6 - NIVWhile Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.

Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Example Four:

Acts 8:17-19 - MSGThen the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit.When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, “Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price!”

Example Five:

Acts 9:17-19 - MSGSo Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal.

Example Five:

1 Cor 14:18 - NIVI thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

YOUR PRAISING GOD

Acts 2:12 - NIV—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God”

YOUR SPEAKING TO GOD

1 Cor 14:2 - NIVFor anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands

them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.

YOUR SPIRIT IS PRAYING TO GOD

1 Cor 14:14 - NIVFor if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my

mind is unfruitful.

John 7:38-39 - NIVWhoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who

believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus

had not yet been glorified.

YOUR EDIFYING YOURSELF

1 Cor 14:4 - NIVAnyone who speaks in a tongue edifies

themselves

Romans 8:26-27 - NIV

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.