A Shift in My Understanding of The Holy Spirit
When I left Singapore for studies, I was a typical charismatic traditional pastor. Like many good friends, I was deeply offended by many things happening in the Charismatic circle including the Toronto Revival. I was not able to allow God to be in charge and so what he chooses. I was not able to accept whatever I could not understand. I was able to accept healing but very little beyond that. It was possible for me to drive to Toronto to visit the church of the revival but I never did. In fact, when I visited the Niagara Falls and even the city of Toronto, the revival was still taking place but I did not even want to visit the church.
After my studies, I was posted to Pentecost Methodist Church. On the first day of my posting, there was a church prayer meeting in the evening. God prepare a key armour bearer in the person of Yoke Lin and other intercessors who came alongside and supported me in prayer and ministry. God also raised a team of leaders and their spouses and without whom I would not have been able to minister – Chee Khiam, Wee Seng, Henry, Serene, Patricia, Josephine, Kenneth… the list runs on. In fact, it was Serene sharing her testimony of God’s healing on her eyes and her subsequent involvement with the Homecoming Movement (with David Demian) at a later stage that helped me really appreciate what God was doing beyond Singapore and beyond the circles that I was familiar with.
It was in Pentecost Methodist Church (what a prophetic name!) that I started to formulate a clearer understanding and stand on the move of the Holy Spirit.
The Second Baptism
I was taught that the experience of the apostles in Act 2 was the first time that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and church. I had assumed that the 2nd baptism/experience was a recent Pentecostal phenomena and theology that began with the Azusa Street Revival that gave rise to the Pentecostal churches of today.
One day, I stumbled upon the passage found in John 20. I had read it many times but that day, there was a revelation – a rhema.
19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and * said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; bas the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”
John 20:19-22 (NASB)
This described what happened to the disciples on the first day of resurrection. Jesus came and stood among them and He commissioned them – “As the Father has sent Me, I also sent you.” And then “HE BREATHED ON THEM and said to them, RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT…”
He imparted into them the Holy Spirit on the first day of His Resurrection! Wow – I never realised that. The Holy Spirit came into them on that very first day of His Resurrection. It was not on the Day of Pentecost!
They already had the Holy Spirit in them and yet Jesus told them in Acts 1
“… 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Acts 1:8-9 (NASB)
The keyword concept here is the Holy Spirit coming UPON the disciples to EMPOWER. The Holy Spirit comes INTO us to seal us for salvation. He is also known as our “deposit” for salvation (2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came UPON the disciples to empower them. He is already in them but Jesus wanted the Holy Spirit to come UPON them so that they will receive POWER.
When you drink water, water is IN you! Water is not UPON you yet!
Water may already be IN you but water is only UPON you when you have water poured over you.
At our conversion, the Holy Spirit is IN us to seal us for our salvation – that is our first experience. There is another point in which the Holy Spirit comes UPON us to empower us – our second experience. The disciples FIRST received the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed into them (John 20:22) and then on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 1-4), the Holy Spirit came UPON them.
It was the same with the Wesley brothers. Charles Wesley had his conversion experience on 21 May 1738 – Pentecost Sunday. John Wesley writes, “ I received the surprising news that my brother had found rest to his soul.” (John Wesley Journal Entry – 21 May 1738). John Wesley had his own experience 3 days later on 24 May 1738. After which, he went to Moravia (in today’s Germany) where he spent a few months with the Moravians who were experiencing a revival. On 1 January 1739, as the early Methodists were watching through the night from 31 December 1738, they had an amazing experience with the Holy Spirit. John Wesley records:
“"Mr. Hall, Hinching, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutching, and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane with about 60 of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice, 'We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.'"
Journal of John Wesley – 1 Jan 1739
Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the early Methodists were never the same again as they carried God’s presence that transformed England and the US and the rest of the world.
Speaking in Tongues vs Praying in Tongues
For a long time, I was disturbed by the practice of the whole congregation praying in tongues together. I thought and was taught that this practice is against scripture as tongues need to be interpreted. Then the Lord taught me that I was mistaken.
I don’t believe that we have any problems if some of us were to pray the Lord’s Prayer in Mandarin aloud while others also pray the prayer in English at the same time. The basic reason why we have no problems with this is because we are all praying to God and God is more than able to understand all at the same time. But there is a problem if I were to speak in Mandarin to someone who does not understand Mandarin. My speech become worthless it is translated. The Greek phrase used for SPEAKING IN TONGUES in most of 1 Corinthians 14 is λαλῶν γλώσσῃ (lalon-glossae). This is different from the phrase for PRAYING
IN TONGUES in Προσεύχωμαι γλώσσῃ (proseuchōmai glossae) as in 1 Corinthians 14 : 14.
The rules that Paul laid down I Corithians has to do with speaking in tongues. It is alright for all to pray in tongues together but if someone were to speak in tongues to the congregation, the tongue needs to be interpreted.
What about gibberish tongues?
The Bible talks about tongues of angels and tongues of men. (1 Corinthians 13:1) There are tongues that will fall into the catergory of “tongues of angels” which we will not understand. When such things happen, we know that the Holy Spirit is using us to declare and speak/command something to the spirit world. Humans may not understand but the spirits do. Let us not dismiss such manifestations as being useless!
