human spirit; they had never been made a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) because Jesus
had not yet come in His death, burial, and resurrection to redeem mankind.
Therefore, prophets under the Old Covenant did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the
same way that a born-again, Spirit-filled believer does living under the New Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came upon those who stood in the offices of the
prophet, priest, and king to enable them to fulfill their offices or ministries, but He did not
indwell and infill them in the same sense that He does the born-again, Spirit-filled believer
living under the New Covenant.
We are not living under the Old Covenant. What happened under the Old Covenant was
written as an example for us now, but that doesn't mean we are to try to live like they did under
the Old Covenant. We want the Holy Ghost and His gifts manifested in our lives according to
the dispensation in which we live. And the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues are
unique to the dispensation of the Church Age.
John the Baptist was still under the Old Covenant. He was a prophet under the Old Covenant.
Jesus Himself said concerning John the Baptist, ". . . Among them that are born of women
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he"(Matt. 11:11).
Therefore, we have to start with the Acts of the Apostles. We can't go back to the Old
Covenant to pattern our lives because we are not living under that covenant.
We have a better covenant established on better promises (Heb. 8:6), particularly in the area
of the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Tongues Is the Evidence Of Being Filled With the Spirit
Having been taught in a denominational church that when one is born again he receives the
Holy Ghost, and that is all of the Holy Ghost there is to receive, I decided as a young boy
pastor to find out about this for myself. I went to the Bible for my answer.
I believed that I was preaching in my church the same new birth that they preached and
experienced in the Acts of the Apostles. I believed and still do believe that I was preaching the
same water baptism that they preached and practiced in the Acts of the Apostles. I believed
and still do believe that I was teaching and observing the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion
just as the Early Church did.
I wanted to be scripturally based and New Testament taught and follow biblical doctrinal
practices, so I simply went to the Acts of the Apostles to satisfy my own mind.
As I examined the scriptures closely in the Book of Acts, I found that there are five recorded
instances where believers received the Holy Spirit.
These five instances, discussed in Chapter 8, are sufficient to show us a pattern of the Holy
Spirit's dealing in the Early Church: people were saved and subsequently filled with the Holy
Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This is a pattern for us living under the same
covenant today. God desires that every believer be filled with the Holy Spirit — the enduement
of power from on High (Luke 24:49). Let's review these five instances once more.