Experiencing the Extraordinary (Acts 2:1-13, Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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God, we have been singing, holy, holy, holy. We fall down before you like Isaiah did.

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He was overwhelmed by your holiness, and unless that angel had taken that coal from the fire to touch his lips, he could never speak in your presence.

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God, we ask that you would come now, even as you are here already. We pray that you would awaken us to your presence.

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God, you have sent forth your spirit into the world. Your spirit is God's empowering presence.

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We need to experience you, to feel you, to know you, Lord God.

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So we pray that through the preaching of the word, you would quicken our understanding, that you would move not just our minds to grasp these truths from your word, but also our hearts, our affections, our desires, our emotions even.

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Lord, we pray that you would just reach down and touch us all through your word, that we would be sanctified by your truth.

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Your word is truth. We just give this time to you and ask that you would take control of us in Jesus' name.

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Amen. I'm going to open with something extraordinary. Now, it's not extraordinary in any spiritual deep sense.

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It's just an extraordinary fact that when I heard it on the radio the other day, it just blew my mind.

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I couldn't believe it was true. So I looked it up and in fact it is true. John Tyler was the 10th president of the

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United States. That means six presidents before Abraham Lincoln.

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He was born in the year 1790. So, just a few years after this country was born, right, 1786, 1776, struggled in history.

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John Tyler has, to this day, two living grandsons.

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Believe it? 1790, born in 1790, he has two living grandsons.

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When he was an older man, he had a son who lived until the 1920s and when he was an older man in 1924 and in 1928, his two sons were born and they are living to this day.

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One turns 90 this year. So this spans over 227 years for three generations.

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Amazing fact. It just blows my mind that there are two living grandsons of the 10th president of the

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United States. They live in Virginia. It blew my mind. But it got me to thinking. You know, when

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John Tyler was president, it was the second great awakening, the 1840s,

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I believe it was. It's been a long time. But if you actually think about it, that's not that long after all.

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In fact, it's just three generations altogether. At that time of the second great awakening, new things were beginning to happen.

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And as you look out at the world today, you see that there are what are called charismatics,

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Pentecostals. And to many, charismatics, Pentecostals is almost a boogeyman, almost a dirty word.

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When the second great awakening began, there was not anything called speaking in tongues happening in the world as we know it.

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But around the turn of the century, around 1900, many people began to claim that.

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And over the course of that century, now today, if you were to look out across the

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Christian world, you would probably find that a majority, not a minority, believe that the gift of speaking in tongues is a part of the

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Christian experience today. Many millions of people practicing this. And the gifts of healing and supernatural things that happen were believed by the

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Protestant reformers to have ceased. And so when you say, you know, this phenomenon has begun, and it's only about 100 years old, many people would consider that a theological novum.

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And it must not be true. Because there were centuries in which many people did not experience things like this.

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It's probably just a new invention. And yet, when John Tyler was president, there was only about 100 million to 200 million, somewhere in that range, believers worldwide.

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And in the last 150 years or so, the gospel has increased in the world to the tune of doubling at times within the course of just decades.

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From 100 million to 200 million by the turn of the century. And now, 2 billion.

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The growth in Christianity, at least of those who profess Christ, now we know many of those are false professions.

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There could be only 1 billion Christians on earth, we're not exactly sure. But the point is this.

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There is a coinciding between this work of the Spirit and the worldwide growth of Christianity.

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Not just in terms of numbers, because population has grown, but even as a percentage of the world's population.

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Is it possible that something is happening? Today, the main idea that I'd like to talk about is

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Acts chapter 2. Something extraordinary is happening in Acts chapter 2.

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And when you read it, unless you're just overly familiar with it, it should blow your mind what is happening in Acts chapter 2.

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And the question that is then presented to us is, how much of this is for us, and how much of this is just bygone history?

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And I would like to propose a middle ground between the

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Pentecostal view and the cessationist view that says that none of these things are happening today.

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A middle ground. Some of the men who teach along these lines are

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John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Matt Chandler, Francis Chan, David Platt.

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But there's others in the cessationist camp, John MacArthur is probably the most famous of them, that say no, none of these things are really for today.

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There's a theologian named Gordon Fee. And interestingly, this is one of the things that brought my wife and I together.

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On one of our first dates, we were talking about what books we'd read, and what kind of theological influences, and we had both read

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Gordon Fee's commentary on 1 Corinthians. And we both loved it.

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It was our, each of us had a favorite book, and that was among the top. So we recognized each other, young people, that's something to look for in a spouse.

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Someone who has read Gordon Fee's first commentary, no. Someone who has an interest in the things of the

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Lord, and that you're knit together theologically. But Gordon Fee says, the world can see fools on fire, and scholars on ice.

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That's how the world looks at Christianity. You have these fools on fire, these people that are speaking in tongues, and doing miracles, and all this wild stuff happening.

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They're fools though, because they seem unhinged to many people. And to be fair, some of the things that are happening are not of the

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Spirit, they are rather foolish. Things that are not from God.

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And the charismatic excesses that you see on TV, we could go on and on, I won't pile on because you know what

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I'm talking about. Fools on fire. But on the other side, there's scholars on ice.

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That deny any experiential aspect of the Christian life, anything supernatural.

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Gordon Fee goes on to say, they need an alternative, and it's not fools on ice. The alternative we need is sound

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Biblical theology, with passionate fire, with the gifts of the

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Spirit. Not relegating the gifts of the Spirit to some bygone day, believing that God is still active and alive and working, and that His Spirit never ascended to heaven as Jesus did, but the

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Spirit was given and remains with us to this day, and we can experience God. That's what the world needs to see.

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So let's read it now. Turn with me if you will to Acts chapter 2, just doing 13 verses today.

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The promise of the Father that we spoke of in Acts chapter 1 verses 4 and 5, the baptism of the

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Spirit. It was promised, they were told to wait for it, be patient for it, and now it comes.

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Very distinctly, you can't miss it. Chapter 2 verses 1 to 13.

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When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the

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Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

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And they were amazed and astonished, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

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And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both

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Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.

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And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean?

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But others mocking said, they are filled with new wine. So in chapter two, verse one, we're told rather casually when the day of Pentecost arrived.

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What is the day of Pentecost? Well, it's the third great feast in the calendar year of Israel.

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Of course, the first is Passover. The Passover celebration.

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A day after the Passover was the festival of first fruits.

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Third was Pentecost and finally the feast of trumpets or the feast of booths that we see later in the fall.

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So there are four great festivals. This is the third of them. And it arrives, which reminds us that this is

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God's timing. This is no coincidence. This is nothing that the disciples have conjured up and made happen.

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This was God's sovereign plan to do this on this day. Why would that be? Christ is a fulfillment of the festivals of Israel.

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Better said, the festivals are not just for the celebration of the thing itself, but the festivals point to Christ.

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The first festival, Passover, was celebrating how the Israelites took a lamb and they shed the blood of the lamb and they marked their doorposts so that when the angel of death would pass over, they would be protected under the blood.

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That Passover blood was not just for the deliverance of Israel from Egypt to the promised land.

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That Passover blood spoke of our Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, slain for our sins.

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And that festival of first fruits, the second festival, a day after Passover, after the

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Sabbath, which would be Sunday morning, according to Leviticus 23. By the way, Leviticus 23 is where you get the festivals of Israel.

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It speaks to the resurrection of Christ. First Corinthians 15 tells us that Christ rises as the first fruits of those who rise from the dead.

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So we come then 50 days later, Pentecost means the 50th part. 50 days after first fruits, now the harvest begins to come in.

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So the day of Pentecost is the day of harvest. And it speaks to when

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Christ sends the Spirit. Why? Because the Spirit is given as a down payment into our hearts,

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Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, as a guarantee of the things to come. The harvest begins to come in, and even so, the

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Spirit is given to the church on the day of Pentecost. And finally, Feast of Trumpets speaks of the consummation of all things.

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When Christ, at the sound of a trumpet, comes back and makes things right on this earth and reigns here.

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And the day of atonement happens at that time, where the Jewish people look upon the one they pierced and mourn for him,

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Zechariah. So the festivals point to Christ. And this here, the day of Pentecost, the 50th part, is the sending of the

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Spirit as a down payment into the hearts of believers. So that all who have the

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Spirit are united in that one Spirit as the church. This is the creation of the church.

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A new community of the Spirit. The Spirit. The Son has come.

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He died and rose. Now the Spirit is given, just as the Son was given as a gift from the

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Father. So the Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost. Says they were all together in one place.

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And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind.

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How do you picture this? Is there hair blowing in the wind as the winds swirl in the house?

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No! It says a sound like a mighty rushing wind. In fact, that word for wind here is not the normal pneuma that you would see for wind.

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It's a word only used one other place, Acts 17. And it sounds, it's the sound of a blast, an explosion.

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So the picture here is a loud noise, like a hurricane just came into the house where they were sitting.

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There's an audible thing that's happening, but there's also something visible, notice. It's a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as a fire appeared.

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So what were these? It looked like tongues, like the human tongue, what you speak with.

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Was it made of fire? Well, it says as a fire, so it appeared to be fire, just like the

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Holy Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus when he was baptized. We don't know that this is actual fire in the room, it just appears that way.

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It looks like a tongue on fire. And this division happens and they rest, the tongues, tongues of fire, it's a very unique situation happening here.

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They rest and appear over each one of them and then seemingly enter into the person.

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Verse 4, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. So as this phenomenon happens, it animates them.

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They're filled with the Spirit and there's some animation that happens. They are changed by it. And what happens?

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They begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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What is this other tongues? Heterise means other, glosteis means tongues.

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Many people think that, well, it means that they're speaking in a number of different hetero, meaning different tongues.

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Maybe they're speaking some German, just throw a little German in there or some Pamphilian, some different language, one after another.

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But we don't know that for sure at this point. It's just other at that point, mark that in your mind, it's going to come back up.

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They began to speak in these other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So we're going to get at the core of what this is.

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Before I go on, five through 13, I want to paint the big picture of why we're talking about this.

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I want a larger point, I want to make a larger point. These gifts of the

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Spirit that happened to them, set aside tongues as an example for now.

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The larger point is, do these things, these kinds of things still happen today?

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Do they still happen today? Should we expect extraordinary things to happen today?

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The case I'd like to prove from this point forward is that we should seek to be rooted charismatics.

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Now, I use that word charismatics and some of you just trembled, right? Same thing as Pentecostal, isn't it?

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Well, I don't want to be a charismatic, that's extreme, that's fanatic. Well, the word charismatic just comes from charisma, the grace gifts, the gifts of the

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Spirit. We shouldn't be scared of a biblical word, but we need to be rooted. Rooted in scripture.

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So that scripture is what's governing what we do and what we don't do. Scripture is also rooting us in the proportion that we give to these things.

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One of the things you'll see in charismaticism and Pentecostalism is a chasing after the gifts of the

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Spirit, prioritizing the experience of the supernatural. The problem there is that when you read through the

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Bible and you listen to what the Bible's concerns are, there's not a lot of imperative to go after the spiritual gifts.

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There's a lot more about being conformed into the image of Christ. There's a lot more about studying the scriptures and showing yourself approved and rightly dividing the word.

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There's a lot more about your character and how you love your children.

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There's a lot more imperative in scripture about the Christian life than there is about the supernatural aspect of Christianity.

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So I say be rooted, meaning the pursuit of your life is into the word of God. And yet open to the extraordinary.

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Now what makes something extraordinary? It's not the ordinary.

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It might not happen every day, but you're open that God is able to do these things. So the case

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I want to make is that these things are a part of the Christian experience, needs to be governed by the scripture, kept in proportion by the scripture, but it is a part of the

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Christian life that if you're not experiencing, you are missing out on something. Because it's part of the scripture, it teaches, the scripture teaches these things.

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I'll give a couple examples in my own life. There's one time I was in Dallas, and I've shared these stories before, where I began to pray for someone.

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His name was Ken. I had met him one time months before, played a little bit of basketball with him. And I thought of him after seminary class one day, and I began to pray for him.

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And I began to lay down on the ground and actually pray for him by name. And after about 20 or 30 minutes,

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I felt like the Lord said to me, go to the corner of Globe and Shiloh and meet him there.

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I lived at 2515 Globe Avenue. Shiloh was an intersection of the street I lived on. As I heard him say that,

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I got up and I just boom, shot out of the house. But as soon as I got out of the door, I had this conflict in my mind.

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Am I making this up? Or am I hearing from the Lord? And I almost turned back halfway down the street because I was beginning to doubt.

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And yet I said, well, what's to lose by going there? And I began to pray for more faith that God would in fact send

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Ken to meet me on that corner. As I walked up the street a couple blocks down,

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I turned that corner and I see him booking at me on a bike with his hair blowing in the wind.

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And screeches to a stop right there on the corner of Globe and Shiloh. And I share the gospel with him.

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I was actually kind of shook by the experience because I couldn't believe that God would tell me to go do that.

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And it happened just like I felt led to do. Well, long story short, we went and saw the passion of the

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Christ that day. He found his friend Tony and the three of us went and saw this movie and talked about the gospel.

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He prayed, he had been saved before. This was a rededication of his life to the

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Lord. It was a powerful experience. Another time I was at a wedding, this is just a couple years ago, in Pennsylvania.

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And I felt the Lord say, go find Mormons. I did not expect to find

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Mormons. I drive around here all the time in the suburbs and I never just see Mormons walking around.

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So I didn't quite know what to do. But right outside the reception area where I was to go, there were two

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Mormons walking along the side of the road. I pulled the car to a stop and I got out and I greeted them and I offered them a ride.

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They took it and we rode together to their Mormon picnic where I shared the gospel with a bunch of Mormons for about an hour and went back just in time for the cutting of the cake.

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It was a bizarre experience. They didn't get saved right then, but I could see that the

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Lord was working in them because they didn't have answers for the truth of God's word and the true gospel of the scriptures.

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It's just a charismatic experience, you know. I don't want to build my theology on it, but I don't want to deny that that happened.

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Probably the most profound experience I ever had was as a missionary in Philadelphia. And for five straight years, the weather report was for a 90 % chance of rain the same day that we were hosting a block party in front of the church, expecting thousands of people.

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And yet the rain was coming in. One year, there was a tornado warning and we took pictures of this off the screenshots of the websites of ABC and the different news outlets, a tornado warning.

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And people were saying, well, we need to cancel the festival. I went into the house which was right next to the church building and the mission team that had come up from Florida to help us with this festival were in there praying.

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And I had been praying that the Lord would move this storm. And as I came in, they were just sitting silently and they said,

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Jeff, you've got to listen to this song. The Lord just spoke through it. It was William Cowper's God Moves in a

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Mysterious Way. It was Jeremy Riddle that was singing it. They played the song and put the words on the screen.

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It said, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.

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Deep in unfathomable minds of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will.

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Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break.

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And blessings on your head. I was stunned. But we agreed we will go forward with this festival.

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We even had to call the inflatable company to come in the rain to set up inflatables. And they said, well, you're not getting your money back if nobody comes.

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So you pay for it, we'll come. We made the decision to go for it. As the festival started, the clouds opened and sun shone down on that street.

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For three hours. The festival ended at five, at six o 'clock, at 559,

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I saw a drop of rain hit the ground. We looked online at what happened on the weather report.

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And there was a report that said that the cloud, the storm, literally split in half and regathered over New Jersey.

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And we're talking about a tornado warning. It was supposed to be 99 % chance, 100 % chance of rain.

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And yet the Lord opened that up. We preached the gospel. We had hundreds of decisions for Christ. In fact, because we were expecting, we actually, this is getting a little crazy charismatic, but because of a dream, we decided to have a worship service at six o 'clock in the building.

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And so when that storm came, all of the people on the streets went flooding into the building and we had our worship leader in there ready to worship.

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And after we sang, I got up and preached the gospel. My friend James preached the gospel and many more people got saved.

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This was all a charismatic experience. The question is, are these things for today? I'm glad they are.

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I'm glad we get to experience things like this. So we're not going to spend a ton of more time in verse by verse, but I've given you in my notes.

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I want you to find this case, this argument for charismatic experiences, the larger point.

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The smaller point here is something about the gift of tongues. Okay, listen, these nine verses from five through 13, is that nine?

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However many verses, they're about the gift of tongues. It's an odd subject. I understand that, but it's scripture and we need to study and show ourselves approved to understand what's happening here.

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So we'll be brief. I'll go through, but I've given you the notes so that you can go back and study. Because I recognize if I ask you to drink all of this in, it would be like drinking from a fire hose.

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Blow out your teeth. Too much information. Okay, so I'm going to go through quickly, but I'm going to send you home with the notes to study this subject on your own.

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That's the plan. The first thing I want you to notice from these verses, if you'll find observations and interpretations here from Acts 2.

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Number one, when this phenomenon begins, it starts indoors. It starts indoors.

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Why does that matter? That means that the 120, when they began to speak in tongues, they were doing it in a worship setting together.

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Not out on the streets amongst the masses who spoke different languages. They were praying in tongues.

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They weren't preaching in tongues. They were, first of all, in the house speaking tongues and then spilled out into the streets.

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Number two, far upwards of 3 ,000 people here in their own native language.

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That means from whatever angle they come from, we notice at the end of Acts 2 that 3 ,000 people become believers.

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But we also know there's mocking skeptics and there's many others. So maybe there's 10 ,000 people. Picture the size of the crowd coming around this group of 120.

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Picture that. How does this happen then that each one hears them speaking in their own language?

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Notice in Acts 2, Luke tells us each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

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Again, in verse 8, each of us in his own native language.

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Mark that. The conclusion is coming, by the way. Number four, there's no indication that individual speakers were switching quickly between several different languages.

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There are masses of people coming, but each person is hearing them speak in his own native language.

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So it's not like you have to listen for 10 minutes for the Pamphilian language to pop out of somebody because you speak

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Pamphilian. No, if you speak Pamphilian, you're hearing Pamphilian. It's not just hit or miss, you hear a few words here and there.

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No, you hear in your own language. Number five, we're told there's at least 15 different languages spoken.

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Pontus and Asia, Judea, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Pamphilia. 15 examples given, but they're only given as examples.

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Which means there's probably more than that being spoken. Okay, so they're all speaking at the same time.

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Number six, not all the listeners hear anything impressive. Look at verse 13.

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Others mocking said they are filled with new wine. And finally, notice the speakers are probably not preaching the gospel.

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That comes later. The very next verse, verse 14, Peter stands up and he actually preaches the gospel in a language that all of them know.

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He speaks this Aramaic language that they understand. Recognize these are Jews who are returning from Jerusalem.

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There's 150 outposts across the Roman Empire of Jewish synagogues.

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These are people who can speak what Peter speaks. So when it comes time to preach the gospel, he does it in the common language that everybody understands.

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So what's happening in the case of these people speaking tongues?

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I think the clear conclusion just from these verses is that there's not only a miracle in that they speak.

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There's also a miracle of hearing and understanding in their own language.

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That's why it is that so many people can hear them speak in their own language.

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Something is happening in a miraculous way that some of them are hearing their own language.

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As these believers are praising God. There's a miracle of interpretation and hearing as well as speaking.

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Now, that's what I would draw just from the facts that I've given you. But in the process of interpreting scripture, it's very important that we correlate scripture with scripture.

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So the next thing we need to do, the next seven points, and again I'll be brief with these. You can study them more later.

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Is look at the other occurrence of tongue speaking in the Bible. Acts chapter 8, chapter 10, chapter 19.

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Those three occurrences, the first one is debatable. Whether it's tongues that happens there, but I think it's pretty clearly that's the case.

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Remember that Acts chapter 1, verse 8 is the thesis of the book.

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You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

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What happens in these passages that I've given you is that God confirms the gospel going to those people groups.

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With what's almost like a mini Pentecost. This Pentecost experience is on the holiday, the

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Jewish holiday of Pentecost. This is the original pouring out of the spirit and the the mark of that is clearly speaking in tongues.

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Acts chapter 1 through 7 is the witness in Jerusalem. The beginning of chapter 8, we're told now the gospel has gone to Judea and Samaria.

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So Philip goes to Samaria, he preaches the gospel. They accept the gospel, Peter and John come. They lay hands on the believers and something happens.

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We're not told there that it's tongues, but it's visible and it's noticeable. And they recognize that God has accepted the

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Samaritans too. That's the point. Happens again in chapter 10.

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Now you have Cornelius, this gentile who's living in Israel in Caesarea. And he's praying and he sees a vision.

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Eventually God sends Peter because he sees a visions too. Which has to tear down his misunderstandings.

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He goes to Cornelius, preaches the gospel. Acts 10 44. While he's still speaking, the

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Holy Spirit falls on Cornelius and his people. And we're told there they begin to speak in tongues.

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You see what's happening? The miraculous sign of tongues is confirming that God accepts them too.

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He accepts the Jews. He accepts the Samaritans. Now he accepts the Gentiles. And that gift confirms it.

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While he was still speaking. Finally, we see it again in Acts 19. Where Paul goes and preaches.

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Find some disciples of John. They become believers. When he prays for them, they begin to speak in tongues.

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Which indicates that this is something that God is continuing to do. And that these

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Gentiles are acceptable as well. Follow the point. God doesn't just one time give the gift of tongues in Acts 2.

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It's not entirely unique. It happens again in Acts. So you say, I wish I had some instruction.

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Some didactic material in the Bible to help me understand this. Praise God, we do.

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Turn with me. We'll only spend a few minutes there. But Acts chapter, I mean, sorry. First Corinthians chapter 14. I want to get all this in.

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So forgive me for speaking fast. But you can just go with your eyes into these texts.

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Look them up later. I put the observation for you in the notes. Chapter 14 verse 2.

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Paul is comparing prophecy and tongues. Prophecy is better for the church than tongues. Because prophecy edifies others.

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Not just the person speaking. But in chapter 14 verse 2. He says, for one who speaks in a tongue.

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Speaks not to men. But to God. For no one understands him.

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But he utters mysteries in the spirit. According to Paul. Tongue speaking is not direct.

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It's not preaching the gospel in another language. That you don't know. It's directed to God.

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Not to men. But to God. Point number three. Comes from verse four.

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The one who speaks in a tongue. Builds himself up. Builds up himself.

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That is a good thing. Now in the context of the argument. It's better.

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More edifying for the church. If you do things in church that build other people up. Not yourself.

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But it's still good for the individual. To be built up. To be edified. Praying in tongues.

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In this case. According to the scriptures. Builds the person up. Number four.

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It's called speaking into the air. Why? Because if someone speaks in tongues.

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And no one understands the clarity of the syllables. That come out of the person's mouth.

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There is no understanding attached to that. You're just speaking into the air. There's not an understanding.

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But notice in verse 14. Speaking in tongues is sometimes called praying in tongues.

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We saw in verse two. It's directed to God. Not to man. Here we're told it's praying in tongues.

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In fact Paul will emphasize. It's thanksgiving. Verse 18. I thank

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God that I speak in tongues. More than all of you. He says.

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So tongues is a kind of praying. To God. By the power of the spirit.

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It doesn't benefit anybody else. But it does benefit the person who does that. And so now we're left with the question.

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What do we do with this? Where Paul will say. If you look at the end of chapter 14.

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He's not going to forbid people to speak in church. In church. In tongues. But he does give rules.

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And guidelines for when that would happen. If there's an interpreter. To say the things.

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Which the tongue speaker is preaching. To give the the meaning. So that you're not just speaking into the air.

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And nobody else is edified. We learn that. But he says something else in verse 18.

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That I think is instructive. He says. I thank God that I speak in tongues.

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More than all of you. But he creates a distinction here in verse 19. Nevertheless. In church.

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I would rather speak five words with my mind. In order to instruct others.

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Than 10 ,000 words in a tongue. He implies by this.

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That speaking in tongues is not helpful in church. He would rather speak five words with his mind.

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Than 10 ,000 words in a tongue. The implication is it wouldn't be helpful for others.

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In fact he goes on to give a strange warning. Where he says. When somebody speaks in a tongue.

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It's for the sake. Well it's actually judgment upon unbelievers.

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Find this in verse 21. In the law it is written.

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By people of strange tongues. And by the lips of foreigners. I will speak to this people. And even then they will not listen to me.

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Well where does that come from? I know you know. It comes from Isaiah chapter 28.

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God is judging his people in Isaiah 28. By sending the Assyrians to judge the people of Israel.

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And the judgment that God brings on them. Is that these people who don't even speak their language.

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Will come upon them and destroy them. You won't even know what they're saying to each other. As they crush you.

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This is judgment. Verse 22. Thus tongues are a sign. Not for believers.

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But for unbelievers. In context. Is that a sign that you want? No. That's a sign of God's judgment upon you.

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And so the application of someone. Is just speaking in tongues. Which you see happening all over the world today.

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In charismatic Pentecostal circles. That's judgment upon the person who listens.

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Because they don't understand what you're saying. By contrast. Prophecy is a sign. Now in a positive sense.

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Not for unbelievers. But for believers. You see that?

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And that's the point of Paul's argument in first Corinthians 14. So here's the middle ground.

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Here's rooted charismaticism. We don't forbid speaking in tongues. If someone is given that gift.

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Let them pray that way. On their own in private. But in the church. We speak words that edify.

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Because you understand. Just as I'm speaking a language you understand. We speak that way in church.

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That's Paul's teaching. So it kind of cycles back around here for a final conclusion.

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Look taking all of this data into consideration. We have first Corinthians 14. We have the occurrences and acts.

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What do we take from it? Conclusion. The gift of tongues is a way of praying.

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I commend it to you. If God gives you that gift. Good. It's a way of praying.

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Since the acts narrative implies the continuation of this gift. Moreover. Since this didactic material in the epistles govern how the gift is to be used.

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Any attempt to say the gift has ceased. Carries with it the burden of proof. The scripture would have to tell us that it ceased.

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You'd have to be able to prove that. To make that as a positive argument. The deduction that it was only an apostolic sign gift is farcical

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I say. Why? Because the bible is actually giving us directives for how to use this gift.

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And the appropriate ways. And any inappropriate ways for the gift to happen. So it's farcical to say.

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That the gift has ceased. Now the argument. I'll just be real brief on this one. The argument is that the sign gifts were for the apostles only.

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And I heard one cessationist recently say. Every miracle that you see in the bible.

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Is accomplished by an apostle in the new testament. Or someone on whom they laid their hands.

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So. Peter and John apostles. Paul an apostle abnormally born. And it was only for the apostolic age to confirm the apostles as speaking for God.

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To that I say. What about Ananias who healed Paul? What about Agabus who prophesied in two different places in the book of Acts?

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What about Philip's four daughters who prophesy? Over and over again.

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It's not the apostles do it. In fact one thing you notice as you read through the book of Acts. Is that ten of the apostles are as ostensibly not doing much of it.

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Anything. Have you noticed that? We don't see much about Thomas, Bartholomew, Nathaniel.

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We do see Stephen and Philip non -apostles. You say well they laid hands on those two.

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They did lay hands on them as a proto -diaconate. These were deacons that were carrying out the work of distributing food.

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They weren't being gifted and equipped to do miracles. So that argument doesn't hold water.

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Because many non -apostles who ostensibly did not have hands laid on them to do miracles.

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Did do miracles. Just takes a couple examples to prove that point. Another thing and we're almost done.

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Another mocking skeptic said that you only see miracles in the bible in three places.

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One the giving of the law. The time of Moses. A huge outburst of miracles. Secondly when the prophets come on the scene.

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Elisha and Elisha the two did miracles. And during that period

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God confirmed their teaching with miracles. And then Jesus and the apostles. Does that argument hold water?

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Have you guys heard that argument? That's one of the common cessationist arguments. Now here's the problem with that.

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Jesus and the apostles covers the entire new testament. So it's not saying much to say that that's when it was.

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It doesn't prove anything. What would prove it? To show that where that that time frame is not happening.

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That there are no miracles. Not the case. In the book of Genesis.

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The time of Abraham. Is it not a miracle that 90 year old baron Sarah would give birth to a son at a specific time?

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And then after the time of Moses let's keep going. What about Joshua? Didn't the time of Joshua include the sun standing still in its course for the course of an entire day?

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One of the biggest miracles in the bible. Going on from there aren't there miracles all throughout the book of Judges?

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Yeah there are. Samson picking up gates and carrying them miles off of a city.

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Sounds like a miracle. Or right up to Samuel. How his mom

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Hannah was told even though her barrenness would keep her from having children that she would have a son at a certain time.

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And she brought Samuel and dedicated him and gave him into the temple. You find all through the old testament

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Jonah being swallowed by a fish. This argument of three periods where miracles are given is fallacious.

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It's a construct to change the way we think. Now how should we think?

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What's the right way to divide the word of God? To believe that God is still able to do whatever he wants to do.

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And no cessationist would argue with that. But to believe that there are spiritual gifts still operating among us.

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That praying in tongues according to the scriptures is useful and good. I believe it's deferential prayer.

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I believe that when you recognize that you don't know what's best. Your spirit can groan before God and call out for him.

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And that his secret inscrutable will would be done. Even though your tongue can't fashion the words.

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Because you don't know what to pray. I think there's a place for that in the Christian life.

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But that's only one small part of the 50 plus miracles in the book of Acts. These are the kind of extraordinary things that you should be aware of and praying for.

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Because God wants to use you in ways beyond what you've experienced so far. I believe that of myself and I believe that of you.

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But if you close yourself off with this artificial construct called cessationism.

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You won't be praying and asking and fasting. And seeking

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God. Desiring to see the extraordinary. Not for the sake of the extraordinary but for the sake of his name.

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Begin to pray and ask God. And while we're speaking of tongues, one last application.

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Guard your tongue. You do have control of your tongue.

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The spirit of the prophet is in control of the what comes out of the mouth. According to 1st

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Corinthians 14. Guard your tongue. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 4.

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It tells us to be careful that nothing coarse. Even obscene joking. Anything that's unfit comes out of our mouths.

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Guard your tongue. What comes out of your tongue is an indication of what's truly in your heart.

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So speaking in tongues is not what happens when you smack your thumb with a hammer. Guard your tongue.

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And taking that a step farther. You need to be careful with the holy things of God.

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Many people will will use God's name in vain. They'll write omg in a text message.

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And they say well I didn't mean anything by that. That's the point.

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The point of that command to keep God's name holy. Is that holiness means set apart.

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Sanctified. Holy. Different and other. When you take it as common and use it in vain without meaning anything by it.

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You're not taking his name as holy. Same is true of concepts like hell.

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If you use the word hell flippantly. You're emptying it of its terrible meaning.

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And yet awesome meaning in the glory of God. Watch what comes out of your mouth.

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Guard your tongue. Comes from your heart. Let's just close now with a word of prayer.

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Worship team come on up. I need you just to take a moment to be alone with the

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Lord. In the quietness of your thoughts. Maybe you're convicted about something you've been speaking out of your mouth.

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That's coming out of your tongue. Maybe your speech is on Facebook. Or on Twitter.

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Or some written form. It's still speech in this biblical sense. Pray for help guarding your tongue.

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Guarding your speech. Guarding what you write and how you communicate. If the spirit brings that conviction.

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Repent and know that the precious blood of Jesus washes away all sin. Experience the extraordinary in your life.

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By fasting and praying and asking God. To use you as an instrument.

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Believe that he is able to do anything. He moves in mysterious ways.

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His wonders to perform. Ask him for gifts of the spirit.

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Ask him to empower you. Also ask him to keep you rooted in the scriptures.

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Always guided by what is written. Not by what you feel. So God, we pray that you would fill us anew.

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We pray that you would send us out in the power of your holy spirit. To do things in the spirit that we can't do in the flesh.

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That we can't manufacture or program. Especially to preach the gospel with boldness.

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As you stretch out your hand to heal. To accomplish mighty things.

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Pour out your holy spirit upon this congregation Lord. That we would go out into the world in the power of God.

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Your word teaches us that. That we will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon us.

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So we will be witnesses. Here we are Lord at the ends of the earth. Fill us with your holy spirit.