Demonstrating God's Power

We will now look a little deeper into demonstrating God's power, which is what this whole walking by the spirit thing is all about.

1 Corinthians 2:4,5
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

That your faith [believing] should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Without demonstrating God's power there is no point in attempting to live a christian life. Once you strip the supernatural out of christianity all you have left is religion, man's attempts to worship God not in spirit and in truth, but with his five senses. Rather than walk by the spirit, man hews him out broken cisterns, man made temples to contain his religion. Rather than accepting the righteousness of God that comes with the new birth, man chooses to seek his own righteousness by attempting to perfect the flesh.

Romans 10:3
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

We are not to attempt to establish our own righteousness, we are simply to accept the righteousness that comes with the new birth and demonstrate God's power.

Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Demonstrating God's power begins with speaking in tongues. So what benefits are there to speaking in tongues, and how do we do it? Let's start in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 14:2
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

First, let's strip the errors from the verse. The word unknown is in italics. That tells us it's been added to the text. How can a tongue, a language be unknown? That's absurd. Someone somewhere has to be able to understand it or it wouldn't be a language. Sure, when we speak in tongues, we don't know what we're saying, but someone somewhere would or it wouldn't be a language. This is a good example of why you can't trust italics in the bible. God didn't write them, the translators added them. We study the word to get back to God's original intent, and a King James version which shows the italics is an excellent tool to help us in that regards. We can scratch out the word unknown.

While we're at it, let's scratch out the word him as well, because it is also an italicised word added by the translators and it is simply just wrong. When the twelve spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost, they didn't understand what they were saying but there were plenty of people there who did.

Acts 2:6-11
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews [Judeans] and proselytes,

Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Did these men understand what the apostles were saying when they spoke in tongues? Yes, they did, because it says so in verses 6, 8 and 11. So scratch out the italicised words in 1 Corinthians 14:2 and read it again.

1 Corinthians 14:2
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

On the day of Pentecost Peter and the other eleven apostles were filled with the power of the holy spirit and the first thing they did was demonstrate that power by speaking in tongues. When Peter spoke in tongues, he had no idea what he was saying, but there were people there who did. Even though we don't understand what we're saying when we speak in tongues, it is a language, understand? If I happened to speak in tongues in Mandarin Chinese, even though I didn't understand a word of it, everyone else who speaks that language would be able to understand every word I said. That's what happened on the day of Pentecost. Speaking in tongues is speaking a language you do not know. It is a supernatural manifestation of the gift of holy spirit. Every time you speak in tongues, you demonstrate God's power.

Right, let's deal with some stuff here. There are some who say you shouldn't speak in tongues in public to unbelievers. Chapter and verse please! Whatever garbage privately interpreted bible version you're reading, Peter and the other eleven apostles obviously didn't. They spoke in tongues in public to a huge crowd gathered in the temple. So stick that in your dried out broken cistern. How do you expect the word to move if we don't demonstrate God's power to people?

The key to understanding when you should and when you shouldn't demonstrate God's power in public is to walk by the spirit, not by the direction of a council of men. Get out there and teach people about the power of God and show them how to speak in tongues, that's how you demonstrate God's power. Sure, you don't do it all the time to everyone you meet, just as you don't annoy people by chattering out scriptures everywhere you go either. Look for open doors, walk by the spirit and have some fun with this thing.

There are some who teach you should only speak in tongues in public at a home church meeting when the interpretation should also be given. Chapter and verse please! Whatever garbage privately interpreted bible version you're reading, Peter and the other eleven apostles obviously didn't. There is no mention of Peter or the other eleven apostles interpreting anything on the day of Pentecost. Sure, interpretation of tongues and prophecy are for believer's meetings, but don't drag speaking in tongues into that context. All you're doing is making people afraid to demonstrate God's power with your stupid rules and doctrines of men, and we all know where fear comes from, don't we? This is the first occurrence of the outpouring of the gift of holy spirit, and first occurrence sets the standard for this administration. We are to demonstrate God's power in public when we have opportunity. Jesus Christ himself, in his resurrected body, commanded the apostles to demonstrate God's power to the world.

Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive [lambanō] power [dunamis], after that the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion - holy spirit] is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

From this we can clearly see that being a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with chattering out scriptures at people. Read the verse again. It's talking about receiving power on the day of Pentecost, which was still in the future at that time. Those men were already speaking the word to people and yet they were not witnesses and wouldn't be until the day of Pentecost, so being a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ has absolutely nothing to do with teaching the bible or preaching or any other five senses ability. This is talking exclusively about manifesting the supernatural power they would receive with the coming of the gift of holy spirit. In other words, if you're not speaking in tongues and demonstrating God's power to people, you're not a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. If this goes against what you've been taught, get out of that broken cistern shithole church or ministry you've been going to, get over your fear and start demonstrating God's power to people.

The word receive is lambanō in the Greek, and carries tremendous truth when understood. There are many words translated receive in the bible, but we will look at just two of them, lambanō and dechomai. There is a record in Acts where both of these Greek words are used.

Acts 8:14-19
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received [dechomai] the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive [lambanō] the Holy Ghost [holy spirit]:

(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received [lambanō] the Holy Ghost [holy spirit].

And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost [holy spirit] was given, he offered them money,

Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive [lambanō] the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion - holy spirit].

With just a cursory reading, it would appear as if these people were born again when Peter and John laid hands on them, but that isn't the case. First of all, the words Holy Ghost should not be capitalised here. This isn't talking about people receiving God, it's talking about people receiving the gift of holy spirit from God.

Now we have to ask the question - how can someone receive the word of God but not receive holy spirit? That doesn't make much sense. As soon as someone does what it says in Romans 10:9, which is to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they are born again, they receive the gift of holy spirit. These folks were most definitely born again, so what's going on? To understand these verses, we need to understand the difference between lambanō and dechomai.

Dechomai means to receive something subjectively, without using it for that which it was intended. Lambanō means to receive something objectively, through to using it for that which it was intended. This is remarkable! If I give you a pen and you put it in your pocket and never use it, you have received the pen [dechomai], but you have not received the pen through to actually using it. Once you take the pen out and write with it, you have then received it [lambanō] through to using it for that which it was intended. Now let's read the verses again with this understanding and put it together.

Acts 8:14
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received [dechomai] the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

The believers in Samaria had received, dechomai, the word of God but they had not received, lambanō, the gift of holy spirit. Simply put, these believers were born again and had holy spirit but had not manifested it. They had received the gift of holy spirit subjectively but had not yet put it into operation. The situation was deemed so serious, that Peter and John went down there to sort it out.

What can we learn from this? Well, as soon as people are born again we are to immediately lead them into speaking in tongues so they lambanō holy spirit. This should be done immediately. If people are born again and do not immediately speak in tongues, God considers this a serious problem which is to be resolved immediately. Okay then, so what about man-made temples which run bible classes and tell their new people to wait until they take a class before they are taught how to speak in tongues? I'll spell it out for you - they err greatly, not understanding the scriptures nor the power of God.

So what was the problem in Samaria? We know that these believers were born again, that they had received, dechomai, the word of God, so God wasn't the problem, he'd done his job. The problem was that they had not received, lambanō, the gift of holy spirit by manifesting it, which was their job. Why was there a problem? We gain clues from the immediate context.

Acts 8:9-11
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

Witchcraft was the problem. These people had been entrenched in spiritualism and witchcraft for a long time. Devil spirits were behind the problem. It took Peter and John walking by the spirit and operating the revelation and power manifestations to deal with it.

Acts 8:15
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive [lambanō] the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion - holy spirit]:

First they prayed that God would help them deal with this situation so the believers could receive, lambanō, holy spirit. The next verse is a parenthesis that adds further light to the problem.

Acts 8:16
(For as yet he [it - the gift of holy spirit] was fallen upon [epipiptō epi] none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

In the Aramaic, there was no neuter gender. Therefore third person singular would be translated he. However, many times he should be translated it, as is the case here because holy spirit is neuter gender.

Fallen upon in the Greek is epipiptō epi. Epi = upon, and piptō = to fall. Epipiptō would be to fall upon. Epipiptō epi, therefore, would be to fall upon from upon. Epi is used in the dative case and indicates actual super-position, at rest upon, in other words to fall from a higher plane to a position at rest on a lower plane. Fallen upon none of them simply means that the holy spirit which they had received subjectively [dechomai] had not been manifested, it had not fallen from its higher spiritual position to a position at rest in the senses realm. There was no plethō, no filled to overflowing.

The gift of holy spirit is that which a person receives, dechomai, at the time of the new birth, which is to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When you manifest holy spirit, that's the lambanō.

Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sozō - made whole].

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent [metanoeō - change your minds], and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive [lambanō] the gift of the Holy Ghost.

When you are born again, you receive, dechomai, the gift of holy spirit, and with this gift comes the ability or potential to operate nine manifestations. Receiving the gift, dechomai, makes you whole, with body, soul and spirit, but we are also to lambanō this gift of holy spirit by putting it into operation. The problem in Samaria was that the people had been born again - they had received, dechomai, the word of God - but they had not put it into operation, lambanō, they had not received it through to manifestation. After praying, God energised in Peter and John to will and to do of his good pleasure as they operated the revelation and power manifestations to resolve the problem.

Acts 8:17
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received [lambanō] the Holy Ghost [holy spirit].

The foundational manifestation is speaking in tongues. In every record in the book of Acts, starting with the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the first thing new believers manifested when they were born again was speaking in tongues.

Acts 2:4
And they were all filled [plethō] with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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 [holy spirit].

For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.

Acts 19:6
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost [holy spirit] came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

What Simon saw with his five senses back in Samaria was believers speaking in tongues.

Acts 8:18,19
And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost [holy spirit] was given, he offered them money,

Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive [lambanō] the Holy Ghost [holy spirit].

The gift of holy spirit we receive at the time of the new birth is spiritual power, but it can remain dormant within us without being manifested. It's our spirit and it is up to us to believe to operate it. God isn't going to possess us and make us do it, we have to believe and speak. Now that we understand what lambanō means, look again at Acts 1:8.

Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive [lambanō] power [dunamis], after that the Holy Ghost [holy spirit] is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

It is the manifestation of the power of the holy spirit in the senses realm to the world that is the witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is how you demonstrate God's power.

When Peter and the other apostles spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost, they didn't know which languages they were speaking. However, as they all took turns to speak in different tongues, people among the crowd in the temple that day understood every word they were saying. The apostles took it in turns to speak in tongues, and they would have spoken in dozens, perhaps hundreds of different languages and dialects that day. What was it the people heard?

Acts 2:9-11
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews [Judeans] and proselytes,

Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

They all heard the apostles speaking the wonderful works of God. So, from this we know that one of the benefits of speaking in tongues is that it is speaking the wonderful works of God. Speaking in tongues is worshipping God in spirit and in truth. This is established in Acts 10.

Acts 10:46a
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.

If you want to be a true worshipper, you must speak in tongues, for there is no other way. God is looking for people to worship him in spirit and in truth.

John 4:23,24
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Speaking in tongues is extremely versatile and has many benefits. Worshipping God in spirit and in truth is only one of them. Let's look at a few more.

1 Corinthians 14:2
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

Speaking in tongues is speaking mysteries, or divine secrets with God. If you want to talk to God, you are going to have to speak in tongues, because God is spirit and we can only directly communicate with him by way of the spirit we receive at the time of the new birth. Adam and Eve lost their spiritual connection, but Jesus Christ regained it for us. It is that spirit that is our connection to God, not our five senses old man abilities. You can't communicate with God using your five senses. If you could, there would have been no need for patriarchs in the Patriarchal Administration, no need for spirit upon men and women in the old testament, and no need for a gift of holy spirit. Sure, God knows what you're saying when you blabber on for hours in stupid long religious prayers, but you can't hear him, understand? Get that spirit energised if you want to hear from God.

Here's another benefit.

1 Corinthians 14:4
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

Scratch out the word unknown again, because it is nonsense. How can a language be unknown? If no one knew it, it wouldn't be a language. When we speak in tongues we are edified. To edify is to build up. A house or an office block is sometimes referred to as an edifice because it was built. Now here's an important truth - things that are built are built one brick, one stone at a time. This edifying, this building up occurs when we speak in tongues. In other words, if we don't speak in tongues, there is no building up of our spirit. We build up our bodies with food and exercise, we build up our souls, our minds, with the word, but we build up our spirit by speaking in tongues.

1 Corinthians 14:14
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

When you pray in tongues, your spirit prays but your understanding is unfruitful. In other words your mind gets nothing out of it. Praying in tongues and speaking in tongues does absolutely nothing for your mind. Your understanding is unfruitful, it furnishes nothing because you don't understand a word you're saying. Speaking in tongues edifies your spirit.

Jude 1:20
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost [holy spirit],

This establishes it for us. Speaking in tongues, praying in the holy spirit, is how you build yourself up, how you edify yourself spiritually. Speaking in tongues is also giving thanks well.

1 Corinthians 14:15-17
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

Before venturing further, let's set the context of chapter 14, as some use this chapter as an excuse to not speak in tongues.

1 Corinthians 14:4,5
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

Some christians think it's okay just to go to a meeting occasionally where they might sometimes speak in tongues, interpret tongues, and prophecy, yet never speak in tongues during their everyday lives. These are the verses they use to justify their lack of commitment. Some even use these verses to teach that speaking in tongues isn't important.

First of all, the context of chapter 14 is in the church, in a believer's home church meeting, where believers gather together to fellowship, have manifestations, and learn the word together. Chapter 14 is addressing how home church meetings are to be conducted. Yes, in our home church meetings, prophesy is greater than speaking in tongues, because if someone just spoke in tongues no one else there would get anything out of it unless the tongue was interpreted. In other words, chapter 14 is teaching us how to conduct manifestations properly during home church meetings, not during our everyday lives. Now read verses 15-17 again in this light, and it will all make sense.

1 Corinthians 14:15-17
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

From this we know we should all pray with the spirit and with the understanding, and we should all sing with the spirit and with the understanding in our private lives, but when we get to a home church our priorities change from edifying ourselves to edifying others. Speaking in tongues is not unimportant, it's just of not much profit at a home church meeting unless it is interpreted that others may be edified.

In addition, we now also know that speaking in tongues is spiritual prayer, and as such must be perfect because our spirit is perfect.

Romans 8:26,27
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

The gift of holy spirit makes intercession for people when we pray in tongues, and as we pray in tongues we speak words which we don't understand therefore we can't utter them, but God is energising the words that we are speaking and that's why it's perfect prayer. There is no way we can possibly know all the time what to pray for, how to pray perfectly with our minds using our five senses abilities, but God knows and when we pray in tongues we are praying perfectly because the spirit is making intercession for people according to the will of God. How do you pray in tongues for people then? Easy, simply picture them in your mind and speak in tongues.

I Corinthians 14:17 told us that speaking in tongues is giving thanks well.

1 Corinthians 14:17
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

Want to thank God for something? Then you're going to have to speak in tongues, because that's how you thank God. This defines how we give thanks to God in this administration.

If I give you a pen today, will it be a pencil tomorrow? No, it won't, it will still be a pen. If I give you a pen today, would I call it a pencil tomorrow even if I knew it was still a pen? That's absurd, and yet this is how people handle God's word. God tells us in this Administration of Grace in the scriptures directly addressed to the church of God that speaking in tongues is giving thanks well. So, what will giving thanks well be tomorrow? Going to church and crying your eyes out for hours before an alter? See, that's absurd. Giving thanks well is speaking in tongues. It will always be speaking in tongues throughout this administration. What am I getting at? Okay, consider these verses.

Ephesians 5:19,20
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

How do you give thanks to God always for all things? Well, what was called a pen yesterday will still be a pen today, not a pencil. Verse 19 even sets the context by telling us to sing spiritual songs, which is a reference to speaking in tongues. Giving thanks to God according to 1 Corinthians 14 is to speak in tongues. So if giving thanks well in Corinthians is speaking in tongues, guess what is included in this giving of thanks in Ephesians? Yes, speaking in tongues. 

Look, a spiritual song is not some congregational churchy garbage hymn sung by black people at gospel meetings, it is singing in tongues as we saw in Corinthians. Do you see now how temples made with hands do nothing but strip the supernatural out of christianity and turn it into religious horseshit? God is not the author of religion, the devil is, and he uses men to construct his temples.

As a case in point, the Anglican Church was set up in England in the sixth century when pope Gregory sent Augustine to Britain to counter the Celtic Christian movement. Very little is known about the Scottish people in prehistoric times, as they did not write books and kept no historical records. What we do know is that the arrival of the Romans coincided with the emergence of the Picts in history. What the Picts were doing before the arrival of the Romans, or where they originally came from, no one knows.

That all changed with the arrival of the Romans. It is clear that the formation of a Pictish nation that united the Celtic peoples of Scotland was due to the arrival of the Romans. That the emergence of Scottish brochs on a national scale, massive stone defensive fortresses, is associated with the period of Roman influence in Scotland is also clearly no coincidence.

Most Highland brochs were built between 100 BC and 100 AD, a period of just 200 years that coincided with the arrival of the Romans, who first landed in England in 55 BC. By 47 AD, the Romans had conquered the whole of the south of England and declared Britain part of the Roman Empire. It was during this time that the Picts were constructing brochs all over the Highlands, so there can be no doubt that they were built with military defensive purpose.

By 79 AD, the whole of England had been conquered and Agricola attempted to conquer Scotland. After a number of failed military campaigns, which included the annihilation of the 9th Legion around 117 AD, the Romans retreated south and built Hadrian's wall for their own protection. In 142 AD, the Romans again tried to take Scotland, made some territorial gains and built Antonine's wall, a second defensive wall that stretched from the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth. In 163 AD, the Romans retreated from Antonine's wall and cowered behind Hadrian's wall for the second time.

In 208 AD, the Romans marched again to conquer Scotland. In 212 AD, they left defeated. In 367 AD, the Picts with the help of the Irish invaded England and together they pushed the Romans back from their last defensive positions at Hadrian's wall. Not long after that, the Romans left Britain. It is plausible that the defeats suffered by the Romans at the hands of the Picts were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the collapse of the Roman empire.

Calach, or Calgacus as the Romans called him, was the Pictish king who united the peoples of Scotland against the tyranny of Rome. He is said to have described the Romans as Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace.

Nothing much has changed regarding Rome in the last 2000 years. They still lust after the world and march with one step for the uniting of the nations under the same banners of world peace, while murdering hundreds of millions who refuse to bow to their gods.

What is not generally known however, is that one of Jesus Christ's disciples, Joseph of Arimathaea travelled to Scotland around the time of the Roman invasion of Britain and taught God's word to the Picts. It was the word living in Scotland that defeated the Romans, and that's why pope Gregory sent Augustine to Britain.

The devil destroys the work of God with religion. Religions are man-made broken cisterns that destroy God's people. Religion is Lucifer's counterfeit for the real thing. Now do you understand why it was the religious leaders in Christ's day who had him murdered by the Romans? Get away from them and stop giving them your money for they will use it to destroy you. Sincerity is no guarantee for truth. Praising God is speaking in tongues, magnifying God is speaking in tongues, giving thanks well is speaking in tongues. It's all part of worshipping God in spirit and in truth, and they will not teach you that at church.

Ephesians 1:15,16
Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

How did Paul give thanks ceaselessly for these believers? By walking around all day saying, thank you God for these people, thank you God for these people, over and over and over again, like some mindless homo priest chanting out hail mary's and our fathers all day? No, Paul pictured these believers in his mind and spoke in tongues for them. If you really want to pray for people, picture them in your mind and speak in tongues for them. It's perfect prayer and it's giving thanks well for them. Praying with the senses, praying for things you need is fine, but the real power is in manifesting the gift of holy spirit. When someone else is praying with their understanding in a home church meeting, you can speak in tongues and picture whatever it is they are praying for.

I do this all the time. When I need good weather to enjoy being outdoors, I picture blue skies and sunshine and speak in tongues. As I'm faithful to hold that picture in my mind and speak in tongues, the rain stops and the sun comes through. The more faithful you are with your believing, the more sunshine you will enjoy in your life.

Mark 11:23
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Here's another benefit to speaking in tongues.

Romans 8:16,17
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer [endure patiently] with him, that we may be also glorified together.

When we speak in tongues, we are bearing witness that we are God's children, born of his seed, with eternal life, and consequently we have an inheritance coming to us because we are joint heirs with Christ. How is this a benefit to me? Well, every time I don't feel like a son of God, or feel less than the word says about me, I can speak in tongues and that's my proof to me that I am God's son, and that I have eternal life. No amount of ridiculous religious chanting can give you that.

Try this one:

Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit [spirit] of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit [spirit] that dwelleth in you.

Both of these uses of pneuma are in reference to the gift of holy spirit within us, so neither usage refers directly to God and therefore neither usage should be capitalised. So what is this saying? It's saying that as we energise the gift of holy spirit within us, which is to speak in tongues, it will actually affect our mortal bodies in a wonderful way. What does that mean? Well, as an example, I've experienced pain at times in my life. I've woken up at night in pain on a few occasions. What I did was speak in tongues for the pain to go away, and after a few minutes the pain has always gone away and I've gone happily back to sleep. Speaking in tongues has very real tangible benefits. The manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

As if all this wasn't enough, what about enjoying fruit of the spirit in your life?

Galatians 5:22,23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith [believing],

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Spirit here is not referring to God, it is referring to the gift of holy spirit. This is not the fruit of God, nor is it the fruit of the good works of man, this is fruit that can only be produced by manifesting holy spirit. You can't produce this fruit by exercising your five senses abilities, talents or expertise, no matter how good you may be at it. It is religion that drives man to develop his five senses in an attempt to produce works that please God. No matter how much you develop your human abilities, they can never produce fruit of the spirit. There is no possible way to develop fruit of the spirit other than by manifesting the gift of holy spirit. Only by energising holy spirit can you produce fruit of the spirit, and that begins with speaking in tongues, your spiritual breathing.

Would you like to be part of an exclusive group of special people? Then worship God in spirit and in truth, which is rejoicing in Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh.

Philippians 3:3
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

So how do you speak in tongues? Well, it's easy. It's so easy, you don't even have to think about it. It's easier than speaking your own language. When speaking your own language you have to think about what you're saying, but with speaking in tongues you just speak. When the apostles spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost, they did the speaking.

Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They did the speaking, but what they spoke was as the spirit gave them utterance. In other words, precisely the same actions required to speak your own language are required to speak in tongues. The only difference is that you don't think about the words you are speaking, you simply speak the words out. You speak in tongues by articulating the words, just as you would articulate words in your own language.

Speak out loud in your own language and be conscious of how you form words. As you pronounce certain vowels and consonants, your lips, your mouth and your tongue all move together to form the sounds. It is exactly the same with speaking in tongues. You have to form the words using your lips, your mouth and your tongue to speak. The only difference between speaking in your own language and speaking in tongues is that you don't think about the words. As you speak, the words will be there. It's God's job to give us the words, but it's our job to speak.

No, you can't pray to God to make you speak in tongues because he would have to possess you to do that. The holy spirit born within you is yours to energise and operate. God will never possess you. The gift of holy spirit is always at our command and we have to believe to energise it. If we do not energise it, nothing will happen. When it comes to speaking in tongues, we simply speak. Try it, just speak, the words will be there.

Before his ascension, Jesus Christ taught his apostles how to receive into manifestation the gift of holy spirit which was coming on the day of Pentecost, and we can learn from the specific instruction he gave them.

John 20:22
And when he had said this, he breathed on [in] them, and saith unto them, Receive [lambanō] ye the Holy Ghost [holy spirit]:

This usage of lambanō clearly indicates that Jesus Christ was not just teaching them how to be born again, but how to manifest the gift of holy spirit once they were born again. He breathed in deeply, he took a deep breath, and told them that was how they were to receive the holy spirit and manifest it. Guess what, that's exactly what they did and they all spoke in tongues.

Acts 2:1-4
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind [as of a heavy breathing], and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled [plethō] with the Holy Ghost [holy spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

At the moment the gift of holy spirit first became available, the twelve all breathed in deeply, just as Jesus Christ had taught them, and the sound of their heavy breathing filled the temple where they were sitting. As they all breathed in deeply, they were all filled, plethō, filled to overflowing with holy spirit and they all spoke in tongues.

To learn how to speak in tongues, watch this short video.

 

Just as new born babies into the world are to breathe as soon as they are born, so God's children are to spiritually breathe and speak in tongues as soon as they are born again. Speaking in tongues is a commandment in this administration. Paul says so in Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 14:5,18,37
I would that ye all spake with tongues

I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

If you're born again and you don't speak in tongues, you need to get started immediately. Whether you speak in tongues or not is entirely up to you. God has made everything available in Christ Jesus, now it's our job to believe and learn to walk by the spirit.

Chapter 51 - God's Delivering Nature