Have you ever wondered if the Baptism with the Holy Spirit (and the ability to speak in tongues that comes with it) is available to all believers?

Are you wondering if it is available to you?

If you have believed in Jesus and received salvation, then the answer is yes!  It is available to you.  It is available to every believer.

We are going to look at a few places in the book of Acts where this fact is illustrated for us.

1 – Pentecost:  …they were all filled….

In Acts chapter 1, we see Jesus spending time with His followers after He rose from the grave, but before He ascended to heaven.  He spent 40 days with them, teaching them various things.  We do not have very many details about what He said, but the details we do have are very powerful.

Some of His last words before His ascension are recorded for us here:

 Acts 1:5 – “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Jesus tells His followers that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.  After He spoke this to them, He ascended into heaven.

There were about 120 people included in the group that were there.  The members of this group included:

•  the 11 apostles (Peter, John, etc)
• Mary the mother of Jesus
• The brothers of Jesus (James, Jude, etc)
• lots of other people

As the story continues in the next chapter, we see the whole group receiving the Holy Spirit baptism ten days later on the day of Pentecost.

 Acts 2:1-4 – When the Day of Pentecost had 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, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Notice in verse four is says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.  All of them.  Not just the apostles…not just the leaders or other “special” people.  It came to each one of them. They all received it.

There were no exceptions.

Nobody was left out.

It was available to everyone present.

This is the start of the Christian church, and we can plainly see that 100 percent of the members received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. This means that Mary spoke in tongues. It also means that all of the writers of the New Testament spoke in tongues, and were around other believers that spoke in tongues.

 2 – The Household of Cornelius…the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard…

In the previous story, we were looking at people who had been followers of Jesus for some time.  In this story, we are going to look at some people that had never even heard of Jesus.

In a nutshell, there is a man named Cornelius that is seeking God, but has never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Peter is sent there to share the gospel with Cornelius and his household.  While Peter is sharing the good news, we see the following event take place:

Acts 10:44-48 – While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.  And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.  For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

This group of people believed the gospel and received salvation.  And then almost immediately afterwards, they all receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues.  Notice that the Holy Spirit fell on all of them.  Everyone that wanted it got it.  100 percent of the believers received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

They all received it.

There were no exceptions.

Nobody was left out.

3 – The Ephesian Disciples…the Holy Spirit came upon them…there were about 12 men in all

Read Acts 19:1-7.  In this story, Paul comes across some men that had been disciples of John the Baptist.  John the Baptist preached about repentance, and he talked about the coming messiah.  Since these men were disciples of his, we can assume that this is probably the state of mind of these men.  They have repented, and they are looking forward to the messiah who is coming soon.

Paul has a short conversation with them, and tells them about Jesus..the Messiah has come!  They believe and get baptized in water.  After that, Paul laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit baptism and they all speak in tongues.

In this story, it says there are about 12 men present.  So, 12 out of 12 receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. 12 out of 12 speak in tongues. 100 percent of the believers receive the Holy Spirit baptism and speak in tongues.

There were no exceptions.

Nobody was left out.

It was available to everyone present.

4 – “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Whenever we see the Baptism with the Holy Spirit taking place in the book of Acts, and the details of the event are provided, we always see the same result.  Every Christian that wants it receives it.  This is true no matter if they are apostles that followed Jesus for three years, or if they just heard about Jesus for the first time.

We have no examples where some people received the baptism, but some did not.  We have no examples where someone wanted to receive it, but God said no.

The Baptism with the Holy Spirit (including the ability to speak in tongues) is available to every  believer, and it is available right now with no waiting.

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