Title: Baptism of the Holy Ghost – 4
“Why Tongues – 3”
Text: Mark 16:17
Two weeks ago we started a series on “10 Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak in Tongues.” First we learned that tongues is the initial sign of the infilling of the Holy Ghost.
The second thing we learned is that tongues is for spiritual edification. I Corinthians 14:4; “He that speak in an unknown tongue edifies himself;” Another word for edification is to build up oneself, or to charge up like a battery. So, when you speak in tongues you are charging yourself up.
The third thing we learned concerning tongues is that it reminds us of the Spirit’s indwelling presence.
John 14:16-17; “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
I Corinthians 3:16; ΒΆ “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
II Timothy 1:14; “That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.”
The fourth reason why every believer should speak in tongues is because when we speak in tongues we are always praying in line with God’s perfect will for our lives. It is so easy to pray selfish prayers and prayers that are unscriptural, but when you pray in tongues there is no danger of that.
And the fifth reason why every believer should speak in tongues is because it stimulates our faith. It doesn’t increase our faith, it stimulates our faith, in other words, it stirs up our faith.
Jude 1:20; “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,”
So, today we are going to continue on the 10 reasons why every believer should speak in tongues.
VI. TONGUES IS A MEANS OF MAGNIFYING GOD
Acts 10 gives us another scriptural purpose for speaking in tongues: “It is a means by which we can magnify God.”
We need to look at the experience of Cornelius and his household when they received this supernatural experience.
Acts 10:45-46; “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.”
Notice that phrase in Verse 46: “speak with tongues and magnify God.” We know that the word “magnify” means to make something bigger. But can God be made bigger than what He already is? How in the world can God be any bigger then He is. From His standpoint, there is no way that God can be any bigger, He is already all powerful, He is already all knowing, He is already all seeing, how in the world could He get any bigger? In essence, He can’t! However, from our viewpoint, God can definitely become bigger or magnified to us. He can be made larger in our estimation. Speaking in tongues is one way that Jesus becomes bigger to us. For example:
When David fought against Goliath, do you really think he saw how big Goliath was? Absolutely not! He wasn’t looking through his natural eyes. At that point, he was seeing how big his God was. The Spirit of the Lord came upon David and he slew that giant. When we allow the Spirit to speak through us and work through us, Jesus gets bigger in our sight. He becomes magnified. The Spirit does not come down upon us any longer. Now the Spirit is on the inside of us. When you speak in tongues, Jesus becomes so much bigger to you.
When Gideon was facing a huge army with only 300 men, do you think that he saw the army that was loaded with weapons and outnumbered him thousands to one? Gideon just came out of the presence of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him and the only thing that Gideon could see was victory as he defeated those men. His God became much bigger then His enemy, because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. When you are facing the enemies of life, you have to remember that you have the Holy Ghost on the inside of you and tongues reminds you of how big your God is, not how big your problems are.
When Joshua came to the walls of Jericho, do you think that he saw how big those walls were? Absolutely not! The Spirit of the Lord came upon Joshua and Joshua had a promise from the Lord that he would receive victory. He saw how big his God was; He didn’t see how big his enemy was.
When Moses came to the Red Sea, do you think that he saw how big that sea was in front of him and how big the mountains were on both sides of them and how big the army was that was pursuing them? No, absolutely not! Moses saw how big his God was. He said, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord today. Every instance in Scripture where we see people that realized how big their God was, they saw victory.
A lot of us need to start focusing on how big God is, not how big our problems are. We have our eyes on our problems, we talk about our problems, we lose sleep because of our problems. We get stressed out because of our problems. We end up in the hospital at times because of chest pains and we find out that we are just to stressed. Why is that? It is because we are not realizing how big our God is. The reality is if you would just realize how big your God is, your problems would become less and less and you begin to realize that they have no hold on you because you are child of the King. You are in covenant with Jesus Christ. He promises to protect me. He promises to fight my enemies for me. He promises to heal my body. He promises to meet my need according to His riches in glory. He promises to deliver me from the evil one. What are we so worried about? Jesus Christ has our backs. Speaking in tongues magnifies God or it causes us to realize how big God is in our lives.
A song we sing in church is: “Magnify, glorify, come on and praise the name of the Lord. Make a choice to raise your voice, come on and praise the Name of the Lord. We have come into this place with thanksgiving in our hearts, with our voices we’ll sing unto God. I will praise thee, Oh Lord, with my whole heart. I have come to celebrate, lift Him up. Magnify, Glorify, praise the Name of the Lord.”
Is that the reason you have come to church this morning. Speaking in tongues help us magnify Him or make Him bigger in our own lives. Also:
VII. TONGUES GIVES SPIRITUAL REFRESHING
This is just another value that we receive from speaking in tongues.
Isaiah 28:11-12; “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing:” (KJV)
Notice with me those two words, rest and refreshing. That sounds good, doesn’t it? How many here would love to live a life full of rest and refreshing? We are so busy that most of the time I hear people say that they are so tired, not rested, but just so tired. I am just so busy. I ask someone to help me with something. Well Pastor, you don’t understand I am so tired.
What are the rest and the refreshing that this Scripture is referring to? The answer is found in this same passage. The answer is found in, “stammering lips” and an “unknown tongue.” However, the answer is fully revealed in the New Testament. We truly experience God’s rest and refreshing when we get filled with the Spirit and speak with other tongues.
In some cases a doctor will recommend a rest cure for someone under his care. People sometimes go on vacation for their rest cure, but when they return home, they often need to rest from their vacation before they go back to work.
I can be Dr. Campbell this morning. I can give you the best rest cure that you will ever find. This is the best rest cure in the entire world and it will work for every single person. This rest cure won’t cost you a penny. You don’t have to go away on vacation to get it. We can take this rest cure every single day and it is straight from Scripture:
Isaiah 28:11-12; “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing:”
I will go as far as to say this: Anyone who takes advantage of God’s rest cure on a daily basis will never have a nervous breakdown. You can say what you want and you can argue with me, but it is absolutely 100% true.
In this day of turmoil and calamity, in this day of perplexity and anxiety, we need spiritual rest and refreshing more then we ever have before. God has provided a means to receive the refreshing that we need by speaking in other tongues. We need rest and refreshing! And, thank God, we can enjoy this spiritual rest cure every day of our lives.
We don’t have to be stressed; “We are to blessed to be stressed! We are to anointed to be disappointed.”
Whenever we want to, we can rest and be refreshed by speaking in the Holy Ghost.
