It seemed to me that I would know what they would sound like if they were spoken, so I just
started speaking them out!
So about eight minutes from the time I first knocked on that pastor's door, I was speaking with
tongues! The pastor had said, "Wait," but instead of waiting, I spent that hour and a half before
the church service speaking in tongues! It is much better to wait with the Holy Ghost than to
wait without the Holy Ghost!
I believe in waiting on God, of course. We should have tarrying meetings for people who are
Spirit filled. It is more wonderful to tarry and wait in God's Presence after you've been filled
with the Holy Ghost than it is to wait in God's Presence before being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Also, notice that you don't speak in tongues, and then know you have the Holy Ghost. No, you
know you have the Holy Ghost first, and then you speak in tongues. Notice Acts 2:4: "And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost. ..."
If we stop reading there, we would know that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. But if we
continue reading, we find, ". . . and [they] began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance" (Acts 2:4). Speaking with other tongues was a result of those believers having
received the Holy Ghost. You receive the Holy Ghost first; then you speak in tongues.
During that hour and a half that I was speaking in tongues, I had a glorious time in the Lord.
You see, speaking in tongues edifies you. First Corinthians 14:4 says, "He that speaketh in an
unknown tongue edifieth himself . . ." Therefore, speaking in tongues is a means of spiritual
edification or building up.
Linguists tell us that there is a word in our modern vernacular that is closer to the meaning of
the Greek word than "edify" and that is the word "charge." We charge a battery; we build it up.
JUDE20
20 But ye, beloved, BUILDING UP YOURSELVES on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN
THE HOLY GHOST.
In other words, when a person prays in the Holy Spirit, he charges himself up. He builds
himself up like a battery that is charged or built up. Edifying yourself by speaking in other
tongues is just one of the many blessings that God has provided through the baptism in the
Holy Ghost. And this wonderful blessing, this glorious gift of the Holy Ghost, is available to
every born-again believer.
Chapter 2 The Holy Spirit in the Denominational Church
In times past, it has been my privilege to speak on the subject of the infilling of the Holy Spirit,
or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to Full Gospel groups and to conduct special services all over
the country. A great number of people have always been filled with the Holy Spirit in these
services.
A move of God that we now call the Charismatic Movement took place during the '60s and
'70s. That move of God was characterized by thousands of believers in denominational
churches being filled with the Holy Spirit. In my own ministry, this was a time when I saw
hundreds of denominational people receive the Holy Ghost.