Dr Paul Allen

Luke provided similar hints in his narration of the mission of the church after Pentecost. A particularly strong hint concerning the Spirit’s prior work comes at Acts 9:10–19. Ananias, a disciple and therefore presumably in receipt of the Spirit, had a vision in which he heard the Lord calling.  That Ananias should have a vision was in perfect accord with the explanation, given by Peter on the day of Pentecost with reference to Joel 2:28–32, that the arrival of the Spirit ushered in a plethora of prophetic activity including seeing visions (Acts 2:17). It is perhaps, then, a little more surprising to find Paul, at Acts 9:12, also having a vision.  Paul was only to receive the Spirit once Ananias had reached him (Acts 9:17). Yet prior to his Spirit reception, Paul was already the object of divine activity for which Luke elsewhere offered only one explanation: visions come by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17). 80 Acts 26:16–18 is consistent with this, for here Luke presented the voic...

With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), therefore, the answer to this question is yes. However, it is a highly qualified yes! I personally know of two people who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke in English rather than in unknown tongues. Both were exceptionally sensitive, prophetic men, true spiritual giants of our time. One is Dr Frank Laubach, through whom the Holy Spirit manifested Himself supernaturally in English.  The other was Rufus Moseley, who, some months after his baptism in the Holy Spirit, began to speak in tongues and continued to witness faithfully to their value until his death. In a booklet entitled “How to Enter, Abide, and Increase in Union with Jesus Christ,” he makes this excellent statement: My feeling is that we must not be dogmatic and say that no one can have the baptism of the Holy Spirit unless he speaks in tongues. God, of course, can speak in English and in every tongue of men and angels. But He now seems a little more real ...

The only clear scriptural evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. The first Christians to be baptised in the Holy Spirit were the 120 gathered in the upper room at Pentecost. The unique evidence that the 120 received the Holy Spirit was that “they began to speak in other tongues” (Acts 2:4).  All the other spiritual gifts, such as healing and prophecy, appear in the Old Testament and in the gospels. But with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which signified God’s presence in the disciples’ lives in a new dimension, God gave a new gift: the gift of tongues. The book of Acts records five separate occasions when the Holy Spirit was received. On three of these occasions, speaking in tongues is specifically mentioned as the visible sign accompanying the experience: at Pentecost (see Acts 2:4), at the house of Cornelius (see Acts 10:44–46), and at Ephesus (see Acts 19:6).  Paul received the Holy Spirit when Ananias laid hands on him and prayed (...

 

 

 

Across generations, believers have asked an important question: Does God still speak through dreams and visions? For many Christians, the answer is yes, and many believe we are presently witnessing an increased outpouring of dreams and visions in this generation. Scripture reminds us that God is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) and that He does not change (Malachi 3:6). Throughout the Bible, God spoke to people such as Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, Peter, Paul, Ananias, Joseph (the husband of Mary), and many more through dreams and visions. Since Scripture teaches that God does not change, it is reasonable to believe that He still speaks to His people in the same way today. Yet many in the Western, intellectually sophisticated world (including some in the church) dismiss dreams entirely as either psychosomatic phenomena or eating bad pizza before going to sleep. But that is not a biblical paradigm, as Scripture presupposes a supernatural worldview, of which dr...

Speaking in tongues, or glossolalia, represents a gift of the Holy Spirit connected to baptism in the Spirit.1 The phenomenon takes two main forms: glossolalia refers to unintelligible speech patterns unfamiliar to speakers, while xenolalia involves the miraculous use of known languages not learned through conventional means.2 In the New Testament, tongues appear as a sign accompanying Spirit-empowerment. At Pentecost, believers filled with the Holy Spirit spoke in other tongues, with each listener hearing their own native language. (Acts 2:1–11)  The gift also manifested among Gentile converts and those receiving Paul’s ministry. (Acts 10:44–46; 19:6) However, Paul distinguishes between public and private use. When someone speaks in a tongue, they address God rather than people, uttering mysteries that remain unintelligible to listeners. (1 Cor 14) While tongue-speaking edifies the individual, prophecy builds up the church. (1 Cor 14) Paul establishes clear boundaries for congrega...

The first Pentecost must have been an amazing experience. Before Jesus ascended to His Father, He commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, Who had been promised. When He came, Luke tells us of the event: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly, there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1–4, ESV) the Baptism with the Holy Spirit continued and continues today as the gateway to the Gifts with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. 29 years later tongues and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is still happen ing with the Ephesian believers. Such a beautiful testimony of what God does when His people are faithful. It changed the whole trajectory of history. I...

What is Pentecost in the Bible? Most people associate it with the day God poured out his Holy Spirit on the Jerusalem church in the Upper Room, enabling his disciples to perform incredible acts—like healings, speaking in tongues, prophesying, and inspired preaching1—as told in Acts 2:1–4: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Jesus had promised his disciples a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5, 8), that he would send them a “Helper” who would “teach [them] all things” (John 14:26), and that he would not leave the disciples “as orphans” (John 14:18). That day, as about 120 disciples huddled in a room in Jerusalem, those promises ...

Most children who’ve attended Sunday school classes can tell you what happened at the Tower of Babel. King Nimrod wanted to be famous, so he convinced the people of Babylon to build a great tower that would reach heaven. God could see that the people were becoming prideful and decided that he should go down and mix up their language so they couldn’t understand each other. This teaches us that pride is bad and helps us understand where all the world’s languages came from. Most adults don’t really have an understanding of this story that’s any more sophisticated. So what really happened at the Tower of Babel and how does it connect to the New Testament. Interpreting the Tower of Babel story The famous Tower of Babel story and how it was built s about much more than an ill-fated construction project and language confusion. It’s at the heart of the Old Testament worldview. Babylon was where people sought to “make a name (shem) for themselves” by building a tower that reached the heavens, t...