<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Acts 8;14-17<div><br></div><div><b>14. &nbsp;Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,</b></div><div><b>15. &nbsp;who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit;</b></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;For it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.</b></div><div><b>17. &nbsp;Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Just exactly how God gives&nbsp;the Holy Spirit to the Church has been greatly&nbsp;debated in the past century</div><div>and continues to this day.</div><div><br></div><div>Some who associate themselves with Pentecostalism (either openly or in a cloistered sense) contend that Holy Baptism (with water)&nbsp;in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in itself does not convey the gift of the Holy Spirit, but that specific prayer asking for the Holy Spirit must be prayed usually with the laying on of hands, as we read in today’s lesson.</div><div><br></div><div>This&nbsp;teaching may be traced back to 1906 and the Azusa Street Mission, beginning first at&nbsp;214 Bonnie Brave Street, a house in&nbsp;Los Angeles, California. &nbsp;A&nbsp;preacher named William J.&nbsp;Seymore preached from the book of Acts chapter two and a member of the prayer group who together&nbsp;had been fasting&nbsp;asked him to lay hands on him that he might receive the Holy Spirit. &nbsp;After he did, the man raised his hands and began to speak in tongues.</div><div><br></div><div>An ongoing revival lasting for years proceeded from this, as many others also began to speak in tongues. &nbsp;The prayer meeting moved to an old abandoned church located on Azusa Street.</div><div><span>This is the origin of modern Pentecostalism.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>&nbsp;Today chiefly in the Assembly of God churches, Church of God, Foursquare c</span><span>hurches, Apostolic churches, and Vineyard churches, and many others as well as&nbsp;non-denomination churches,&nbsp;speaking in tongues and the teaching of the necessity of a second ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit’ continues. &nbsp;Unofficial currents</span><span>&nbsp;of Pentecostalism may be found in main-line Protestant Denominations, and Roman Catholicism as well.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>It is never wise to try and limit how the Holy Spirit works. &nbsp;If the ‘fruit’ of Pentecostalism is the faithful&nbsp;proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then is should not be discounted. &nbsp;However, if the fruit of Pentecostalism is the teaching that; Water Baptism in the name of the Triune God is ‘incomplete’ lacking the gift of the Holy Spirit which includes, <i>“<u>all things</u>&nbsp;that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” </i>(2 Peter 1;3), then, it must be condemned as a false teaching. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>When the apostle Peter preached on Pentecost, <i>“Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;&nbsp;<u>AND</u>&nbsp;you <u>shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.</u>” &nbsp;</i>(Acts 2;38)</span></div><div><span>He is making Baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit inseparable. &nbsp;When we are Baptized, we receive the forgiveness of sins, <u>AND</u>&nbsp;the gift of the Holy Spirit, (feathers and all!)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The Holy Spirit does not partially come to us, he fully comes. &nbsp;<i>“I give thanks to God&nbsp;</i></span></div><div><i>always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that <u>in every way</u>&nbsp;you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;”. </i><span>(1 Corinthians 1;4-7)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Speaking in tongues is first a sign to unbelievers.&nbsp;(see, 1 Corinthians 14;22).&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>In the New Testament Church, it also served as a witness to the apostles that God was fulfilling the promise of Christ;&nbsp;<i>“You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” &nbsp;</i>(Acts&nbsp;&nbsp;1;8) &nbsp;The accounts of speaking in tongues unfolds in keeping with this promise of Jesus. &nbsp;Tongues were witnessed first in Jerusalem, Samaria (Acts 8) Caesarea at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10;45&amp;46), Caesarea is a part of Judea, and Corinth (representing the Gentile world beyond Judea, part of the ends of the earth. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>&nbsp; &nbsp;Also, in Ephesus, Acts 19, this particular instance may have been necessitated by incomplete preaching of the Gospel, and baptisms which did not use the Trinitarian formulation. &nbsp;To be baptized in ‘The Name of Jesus’ <u>is</u>&nbsp;to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (as Jesus specifically commanded). &nbsp; &nbsp;This <u>is</u>&nbsp;Jesus’ name. &nbsp;He is God, and God is one. We are not baptized in the name of Jesus only, for that would separate us from the Father and the Spirit. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Each time tongues is recorded, it co-incides with how Jesus foretold that the witness of the apostles would go forth making disciples. &nbsp;It was for the apostle’s&nbsp;comfort and benefit that tongues were given</span></div><div><span>assuring them of the Lord’s faithfulness, working through their proclamation of the Gospel.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Notice also that in the case of Cornelius, no hands were laid upon him or his household, the Holy Spirit simply ‘fell’ on them as the word was preached by Peter.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Tongues are a gift given when and where the Holy Spirit choses, just as healing is according to God’s perfect will in this life. &nbsp;They can not be discounted, but sadly&nbsp;they can be used to attack the sufficiency of Holy Baptism, and that is false. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The Church has been empowered through the ages by the same Spirit, without mention of tongues most of the time. &nbsp;Tongues are a sign to unbelievers. &nbsp;Believers need no signs, for our life in Christ is founded upon the gift of faith alone. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>As Jesus said, <i>“An evil and adulteress generation which seeks for a&nbsp;sign,”. </i>(Matthew 16:4)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Our salvation is founded upon the sure Word and promise of Gods, <u>NOT</u>&nbsp;upon earthly experiences.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Gracious and merciful Father, deliver us from seeking after signs. &nbsp;Grant your Word to ever be the solid Rock of our salvation. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”</span></div><div><span><i></i></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Acts 8;14-17
14.  Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,15.  who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit;16.  For it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.17.  Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Just exactly how God gives the Holy Spirit to the Church has been greatly debated in the past centuryand continues to this day.
Some who associate themselves with Pentecostalism (either openly or in a cloistered sense) contend that Holy Baptism (with water) in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in itself does not convey the gift of the Holy Spirit, but that specific prayer asking for the Holy Spirit must be prayed usually with the laying on of hands, as we read in today’s lesson.
This teaching may be traced back to 1906 and the Azusa Street Mission, beginning first at 214 Bonnie Brave Street, a house in Los Angeles, California.  A preacher named William J. Seymore preached from the book of Acts chapter two and a member of the prayer group who together had been fasting asked him to lay hands on him that he might receive the Holy Spirit.  After he did, the man raised his hands and began to speak in tongues.
An ongoing revival lasting for years proceeded from this, as many others also began to speak in tongues.  The prayer meeting moved to an old abandoned church located on Azusa Street.This is the origin of modern Pentecostalism. 
 Today chiefly in the Assembly of God churches, Church of God, Foursquare churches, Apostolic churches, and Vineyard churches, and many others as well as non-denomination churches, speaking in tongues and the teaching of the necessity of a second ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit’ continues.  Unofficial currents of Pentecostalism may be found in main-line Protestant Denominations, and Roman Catholicism as well.
It is never wise to try and limit how the Holy Spirit works.  If the ‘fruit’ of Pentecostalism is the faithful proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then is should not be discounted.  However, if the fruit of Pentecostalism is the teaching that; Water Baptism in the name of the Triune God is ‘incomplete’ lacking the gift of the Holy Spirit which includes, “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1;3), then, it must be condemned as a false teaching.  
When the apostle Peter preached on Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; AND you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 2;38)He is making Baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit inseparable.  When we are Baptized, we receive the forgiveness of sins, AND the gift of the Holy Spirit, (feathers and all!)
The Holy Spirit does not partially come to us, he fully comes.  “I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;”. (1 Corinthians 1;4-7)
Speaking in tongues is first a sign to unbelievers. (see, 1 Corinthians 14;22). 
In the New Testament Church, it also served as a witness to the apostles that God was fulfilling the promise of Christ; “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts  1;8)  The accounts of speaking in tongues unfolds in keeping with this promise of Jesus.  Tongues were witnessed first in Jerusalem, Samaria (Acts 8) Caesarea at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10;45&46), Caesarea is a part of Judea, and Corinth (representing the Gentile world beyond Judea, part of the ends of the earth.  
   Also, in Ephesus, Acts 19, this particular instance may have been necessitated by incomplete preaching of the Gospel, and baptisms which did not use the Trinitarian formulation.  To be baptized in ‘The Name of Jesus’ is to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (as Jesus specifically commanded).    This is Jesus’ name.  He is God, and God is one. We are not baptized in the name of Jesus only, for that would separate us from the Father and the Spirit.  
Each time tongues is recorded, it co-incides with how Jesus foretold that the witness of the apostles would go forth making disciples.  It was for the apostle’s comfort and benefit that tongues were givenassuring them of the Lord’s faithfulness, working through their proclamation of the Gospel.
Notice also that in the case of Cornelius, no hands were laid upon him or his household, the Holy Spirit simply ‘fell’ on them as the word was preached by Peter.
Tongues are a gift given when and where the Holy Spirit choses, just as healing is according to God’s perfect will in this life.  They can not be discounted, but sadly they can be used to attack the sufficiency of Holy Baptism, and that is false.  
The Church has been empowered through the ages by the same Spirit, without mention of tongues most of the time.  Tongues are a sign to unbelievers.  Believers need no signs, for our life in Christ is founded upon the gift of faith alone.  
As Jesus said, “An evil and adulteress generation which seeks for a sign,”. (Matthew 16:4)
Our salvation is founded upon the sure Word and promise of Gods, NOT upon earthly experiences.
Prayer:  Gracious and merciful Father, deliver us from seeking after signs.  Grant your Word to ever be the solid Rock of our salvation.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”





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