So many folks have this major hangup with speaking in tongues

So many folks have this major hangup with speaking in tongues. They'll go right along with everything you have to say, and then balk like a big-dog when the sign of speaking in tongues comes into the discussion. Truth is they're not agreeing with anything at all if they have a problem with speaking in tongues. Did you know that speaking with other tongues is the ONLY manifestation of the Spirit of God that did not exist before Jesus ascended back to heaven? Healing? Check. Prophecy? Check. Casting out devils? All twelve apostles were doing it BEFORE Jesus died, rose, and ascended back to heaven (Jn. 16:7). The reason people have this stubborn stance against speaking in tongues is that they just don't want to come clean with God. That's it, period. I'll show you what I'm talking about here. First of all we see that speaking in tongues first showed up on the day of Pentecost, which just so happens to be the day that Jesus began baptizing with the holy Ghost (Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:4). And keep in mind that EVERYONE who received the Spirit at Pentecost "[spoke] with other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance." So just exactly what was going on there at Pentecost? Let's ask Isaiah to give us some detail: "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the REST wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the REFRESHING: yet they would not hear" (Isa. 28:11,12). Contrary to what many scholarly minded, modern wanna-be theologians think, the apostle Paul clearly stated that Isaiah's prophecy was indeed talking about the new testament manifestation of the holy Ghost of speaking in tongues (Isa. 14:21,22). Okay, so Isaiah said that this phenomena of speaking with other tongues "IS the rest" for the weary souls, and that it "is the refreshing" for the same. Now let's ask Jesus to give us some detail on what Isaiah said: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls" (Mat. 11:28,29). Now what do you suppose Jesus was talking about here? It's really simple. Jesus came to this world for one reason, and his forerunner that introduced him told us what it was when he first saw him: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me... And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost" (Jn. 1:29,30,33).

There it is my friend; Jesus came to "take away the sin of the world," even as John said. And to this agreed the angel of God who came to announce to Joseph the impending birth of Jesus: "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Mat. 1:20,21). That's right, Jesus came to make the way for man to get sin out of his life that he might serve God "in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24). So the 'rest' that Jesus promised to those who are "labored and heavy laden" is quite simply to get the burden of sin lifted from their souls. And you might note that John the Baptist, in the above quoted passage, said that Jesus would "take away the sin of the world;" AND that he would "baptize with the holy Ghost." Now this is where it gets really good, and really discerning as well. And this is also where we depart from everything that the entire Christian world of today believes to be truth. Jesus taking away sin and Jesus baptizing with the holy Ghost are NOT two separate things, but rather they are ONE and the SAME thing. Hey, don't blame me for taking away the sacred golden calf of "getting saved." It's a collaboration between one of the greatest prophets in the history of the world, and the only begotten Son of God himself. Blame them. But let's not stop with them; let's make the round-robin here and make sure we get all of the conspirators in one fell swoop. Let's see how Peter had a hand in this claim of the baptism of the holy Ghost, with its accompanying sign of speaking with other tongues, being the true experience of the remission of sins: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, WHEN the times of REFRESHING shall come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Once again it is clearly shown that it is the washing away of one's sins that grants the glorious refreshing to the soul, which both Isaiah and Peter agree to. It really is that simple my friend. We get sin washed away by the baptism that Jesus himself baptizes with, and we KEEP it washed away by the holy power imparted to us THROUGH that baptism (I Cor. 6:11; Acts 1:8; I Jn. 3:3). This is the Gospel of the heart and soul, not the Gospel of the mind. And it is the MINDS of men that cause them to challenge this seemingly foolish sign of speaking with other tongues. And it it those minds that God has determined to confound with his choosing of this holy new covenant sign (I Cor. 1:19,20,27).

So what happened at Pentecost was that the high priest and mediator of the new covenant began operating in his office. That was the day that Jesus first interceded for the remission of sins for those who came to God by him, and that was the day that the true atonement for sin was completed: "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God... For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. WHEREOF THE HOLY GHOST ALSO IS A WITNESS TO US... And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin" (Heb. 10:12,14,15,17,18). The day of Pentecost was when the first remission of sins was given under this new covenant, and it was thereby the [new] birth of the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13). The reason that nobody spoke in tongues before Pentecost is the same reason that EVERYBODY at Pentecost DID speak in tongues. Because it is the invariable sign of someone receiving the remission of their sins by and through the new covenant mediator and high priest, the man Christ Jesus; who also died and rose for the same. Anyone who rebelliously holds to the notion that God has changed or eliminated this sign, simply does not want to come fully clean before God; because that sign is present with EVERYONE who DOES come fully clean with God. Anyone who cleaves to the mindset that man can bear witness of himself being right with God, or that man can bear witness to man that he is right with God; is not in agreement with the scriptures or the apostles and prophets of God. Peter made it clear that it is GOD alone who knows the hearts, and that it was GOD who bore witness of the first Gentiles receiving the remission of their sins, by the same sign that accompanied the Jews at Pentecost and thereafter (Acts 15:8,9; Acts 10:44-46). Jesus said that if he alone bore witness of himself, that his witness would not be true. He also noted that his Father had borne witness of him from heaven, and a lot of folks heard that voice too (Jn. 5:31; Jn. 8:18; Mat. 3:17). Do you believe that our own witness of ourselves, or of one another, are better than Jesus' witness of himself? If we do not need the voice and witness of God's Spirit, which "cries abba father" when it comes into our hearts, then that is exactly what we are saying (Gal. 4:6). So again I say, anyone who does not believe in the sign of speaking in tongues, hasn't really believed much of anything; because Jesus said everyone who believes will receive his Spirit, and Peter said that everyone who obeys God will receive his Spirit (Jn. 7:38,39; Acts 5:32). Friend, anyone who is against the inseparable sign of speaking in tongues with the Spirit baptism; in reality is not acknowledging the death, and resurrection, and priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hopefully that is what you have concluded here today. Amen.