Sons and Daughters of the Living God
Title: The Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Subject Matter: Teaching about the Holy Spirit Baptism, and instructions on how to receive it
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded January 21, 2015 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Title: Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Subject Matter: An overview of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, along with my own personal testimony.
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded October 15, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Title: Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Subject Matter: A look at the interaction between the Holy Spirit and Jesus, and what this means for us
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded May 21, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Jesus and the Holy Spirit
In this post, I am addressing one of the biggest points of confusion that I find when discussing the Baptism with the Holy Spirit with people. It is the misunderstanding of the use of speaking in tongues.
There is an entire chapter devoted to this subject in the Bible, and it should not be confusing at all. However, because of wrong teaching (or a lack of teaching) there seems to be a large number of Christians that really do not understand this very important subject. Read more
Here is a list of my answers to questions that often come up in conversations about the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. These are here to supplement to the other articles I have on this topic.
Q – Is this for us today, or was it just for the early church?
A – On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when explaining the experience, Peter tells us in Acts 2:17 that it is meant for the “last days.” The last days began in Acts 2, and we are still in the “last days.” So yes, it is for most definitely for us today.
Q – Do I have to speak in tongues when I get baptized with the Holy Spirit?
A – You don’t have to, you GET to. See here for more info
Q – How can you be sure that “praying in the spirit” is the same thing as “speaking in tongues?”
A – Read 1 Cor 14:14 -15 “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”
The terms “speaking in tongues,” “praying in the spirit,” and “praying with the spirit” are interchangeable.
Q – Doesn’t the Bible say somewhere that tongues will cease?
A – Yes. It says in 1 Cor 13:8-10 that tongues will cease at some point in time. It also says that “knowledge will vanish away” at that same point in time. Tongues will cease at the same time that knowledge vanishes away. Obviously, knowledge hasn’t vanished away. This is referring to a time in the future where things like faith, hope, knowledge, prophecy, and tongues are no longer needed because we are with Jesus in the eternal afterlife. These things most definitely have not ceased yet.
Q – Why do people like you make such a big deal about speaking in tongues and the Holy Spirit Baptism?
A – Because God the Father, Jesus, Paul, and the rest of the early church made a big deal out of it. It is my goal to have my attitudes line up with theirs. Click here for scripture references and more info.
Q – Shouldn’t we be focused on saving the lost rather than on this?
A – Read Acts 1:4-8. Jesus told all of His followers NOT to begin preaching to all the word UNTIL they had been baptized with the Holy Spirit. So, imagine that you were standing there, and you heard Jesus say that. Then you asked Jesus that same question: “Hey Jesus, why are we focusing on this instead of focusing on saving the lost?” What do you think He would say?
Q – My church/pastor/bishop/etc doesn’t believe in “speaking in tongues.” In fact, we are taught against this. What do you have to say about that?
A – People are free to believe whatever they want to, but the Bible says “do not forbid speaking in tongues” in 1 Cor 14:39. I choose to agree with the Bible rather than religious organizations.
Q – I believe that if God wanted me to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues, then I would do it.
A – Consider the ramifications of this statement. You are saying that if God wants you to do something then you have no choice in the matter. You are saying that you always do everything God wants you to do whether you want to or not. That makes God responsible for all the sins you have ever committed. I don’t believe that is biblical, but even if that is true, then God must have wanted you to be reading this right now, so read this: If you are a Christian, then God wants you to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and to receive ability to speak in tongues that comes with it. It available to every believer that wants it.
Q – When I pray in tongues, it seems like I am just saying the same thing over and over sometimes. Is that OK?
In Revelation 4:8 there is a group of angels that repeat the same phrase over and over – “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” In all creation, they are in the closest proximity to God’s throne. If you are repeating the same phrase over and over, maybe it is something very important, or maybe it is a very high form of praise. We don’t often know what we are praying in tongues, but we are told that it is useful and beneficial.
Title: Holy Spirit Baptism FAQ
Subject Matter: In this teaching, I answer some frequently asked questions on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, and provide an opportunity for people to receive this Baptism
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded May 7, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: The Holy Spirit Baptism FAQ
I am writing this post to show from the Bible that the power to speak in tongues is part of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Everyone that receives the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is given the ability (power) to speak in tongues. The ability to speak in tongues (aka pray in the spirit) is a very powerful tool that Jesus made available to His church, and it is very important that Christians understand, receive, and use this gift.
Consider these facts from the Bible:
1 – Every time that we see people speak in tongues for their first time in the Bible, it happens when they are receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:4, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:6
2 – Conversely, every time that we see people receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, we see that something happens that is noticeable to any observers that are present. There is a definite tangible evidence that makes it obvious that something has taken place, even if we aren’t told what this evidence is. Acts 2:4, Acts 8:17-19, Acts 10:44-46, Acts 19:6
3 – In every instance that we are provided additional details about the “tangible evidence,” we find that it is speaking in tongues. Acts 2:4, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:6
4 – There are no examples where we are told that some of the recipients of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues but others did not. It is always 100% of those receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit that are doing it.
5 – In the letters from the apostles to the churches (aka the Epistles), we see several places where the believers are being encouraged to “pray in the spirit” (aka speak in tongues…see 1 Cor. 14:14). We see this in 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Jude. It was assumed that the recipients of these Epistles were able to speak in tongues. The believers were being encouraged to make it a regular practice. This shows that it was common, normal, and expected that nearly all of the believers in any given church would have this ability. Otherwise, it would be useless to encourage them to do it if they were not able to. 1 Cor 14:14-15, Eph 6:18, Jude 1:20
So, according to the Bible, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit includes the power/ability to speak in tongues. (Note: I know that there are a lot of people who disagree with this statement. There are many great men and women of God that disagree with this. There are entire denominations and religious organizations that disagree with this. But, it is better to believe the Bible rather than human tradition.)
It may be helpful at this point for the reader to take a closer look at all four places in the Bible where the experience is described with some level of detail. Not all four accounts have the same amount of information, but they do present a consistent picture. The rest of this post is devoted to pointing out those consistencies.
I will approach this in the following manner. I will begin by showing the first and last examples we have in Acts. They occurred approximately 20 years apart, and they will serve at “bookends” that show that nothing changed even after all those years had passed. Next I will point out some things from the other two examples that occurred in the years in between.
Read Acts 2:1-4. This is the day first time that God made the Baptism with the Holy Spirit available to the church. In this account, the writer makes the following statement:
Acts 2:4 – And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
On the day that the Holy Spirit is poured out on the church, the says that they “all” spoke in tongues. So, 100 percent of the people that were baptized with the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues. Another way of saying it is “there was not a single person that was baptized with the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues.” And yet another way of saying this is “every single person that spoke in tongues was a recipient of the baptism with the Holy Spirit.”
These are very powerful statistics. 100 percent. The entire Christian church was baptized with the Holy Spirit, and the entire Christian church spoke in tongues. 120 of out 120 people present spoke in tongues when they received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
I have heard people who try to downplay the power of this passage by saying something like this: “It only happened like this because they needed to speak in other languages to preach to the foreigners that were present.” Acts 2:5-12 is used in support of this argument.
There are two big problems with that line of thinking.
1 – The passage doesn’t mention anything about preaching the gospel in tongues. Instead, it says that they were “speaking the wonderful works of God.” They were worshiping, not preaching. Their exuberant means of worship caused a crowd to gather around. Then Peter started preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in a common language they all understood. He begins his “sermon” by commenting on the event that just took place, indicating that the “tongue talking” was over now and it was time to preach.
2 – We will see in the other examples in Acts where people spoke in tongues and there were no unbelieving foreigners present that needed to hear the gospel message in a different language.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that people preached the gospel in tongues to foreigners. Sometimes it is a sign that draws attention, but it is never mentioned as a way to preach the gospel. The gift of speaking in tongues is given as a blessing and a gift to the person that is receiving the Holy Spirit baptism. It is part of the “power” that Jesus promised us in Acts 1:8.
To summarize quickly, here is what we have so far. The first time that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Acts, 100 percent of the people that received it spoke in tongues. There were no exceptions.
Read Acts 19:1-7. This is the last recording in Acts where we get some details about people getting baptized with the Holy Spirit. This takes place 20-25 years after the day of Pentecost, but as you will see, the experience is exactly the same.
In this story, we are told that there are about 12 men present (verse 7). It says that all 12 of them spoke in tongues when they were baptized with the Holy Spirit (verse 6). 100 percent of the people that were baptized with the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues.
There are no unbelieving foreigners present, and there is no mention of any interpretation or anything else like that. It just says that they “spoke in tongues and prophesied.”
It is very simple. The ability to speak in tongues is included as a part of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Read Acts 8:4-24. This is the story with the least amount of detail, but here is a brief summary:
Philip preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Samaritans. They believe and get baptized. The church at Jerusalem finds out about it and immediately sends Peter and John to them to lead them to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. They are successful on their mission, and we do not have much more information outside of that.
We aren’t told anything else about the people that received the baptism. There is no information provided. So this story does not say anything about speaking in tongues directly.
However, if you read verses 17-19 carefully, you will notice something. A bystander name Simon observed what happened and he was so amazed by it that he offered to bribe them in order to be able to do the same thing. This tells us that something happened that was definitely noticeable to anyone present. It also tells us that it was something powerful enough to prompt Simon to act in this way.
So there was some kind of “evidence” that could be observed by a bystander, and this evidence was something very unusual. Since all three of the other examples in Acts say specifically that speaking in tongues was a result of getting baptized with the Holy Spirit, it is not a stretch by any means to assume that was the case here as well.
Read Acts 10:44-48 and Acts 11:15-18.
Here we have an entire household getting baptized with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. In this story, I want to point out two passages. Both of these are quotes from Peter.
Acts 10:45-48 – 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 ?”
Acts 11:15-16 – And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
When Peter hears these people speak in tongues, he immediately thinks of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. He associates the two together. According to his logic and to his thinking, a person speaking in tongues is a person that has been baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Peter was present on the day of Pentecost, and he was also present in Samaria. Of all the human beings that have ever walked the earth, Peter should know whether or not speaking in tongues is a part of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. And he has made it clear in these two passages that this is what he believes. Peter associates speaking in tongues with the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. They go together. The are a part of the same experience.
It is plain to see beyond any reasonable doubt. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit includes the power to speak in tongues.
One of the questions that people often have when talking to me about the Baptism with the Holy Spirit goes something like this: “Do I have to speak in tongues when I get baptized with the Holy Spirit?”
This question makes it sound like speaking in tongues is something you wouldn’t want to do unless you had to. But the only reason that a Christian would not want this gift and ability (at least in my opinion) is because he/she does not understand it. Unfortunately, I have found that a large percentage of the Christians I talk to have a very poor understanding of this subject. (If this is you, please read my posts about the PURPOSE and BENEFITS of the experience.)
So, that being said….my answer to the question “do I have to” is simply this: “no, you don’t have to…you GET to.” You get to speak in tongues when you receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is included as part of the experience, and it will change your life forever.
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Title: Principles of the Spirit Realm
Subject Matter: In this class we discuss some of the different ways the Holy Spirit interacts with us, and some of the ways that we can choose to cooperate with Him.
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded April 23, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Principles of the Spirit Realm
The purpose of this post is to show that getting “baptized with the Holy Spirit” is not the same thing as “getting saved and having the Holy Spirit come to live inside of you.”
I get a lot of questions about this when I talk to people about it. For a long time it was one of my biggest areas of confusion. But once I received the Holy Spirit baptism, that confusion was gone. I had already been a Christian for around 30 years when I finally received it, so I knew immediately that it was a separate experience.
However, I would never ask anyone to base their doctrine on my own personal experience. So, I will not use my experience as part of this teaching. Instead, I will rely on the Bible. It just so happens that the Bible matches my experience.
Let’s begin with this fact: there are a lot of different things that the Holy Spirit does with us. There are a lot of different roles He plays in our lives. For example:
That is just a short list, but in this short list there is such great variety. And even though many of these are related to each other, there is a different purpose for each one.
There is a purpose for believing in Jesus, getting saved, and having the Holy Spirit live inside of you. There is a different purpose for receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is a separate and distinct work of the Holy Spirit, with its own distinct purpose and effects.
When a non-believer hears the message of the gospel and chooses to believe in Jesus and receive salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of that person at that very instant. The theological term for this is “the indwelling.” It means the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you. This truth is found in many places in the Bible (Romans 8:8-11 for example).
Once a person has the Holy Spirit living inside of him (indwelling), he is now eligible for some other experiences that the Holy Spirit brings, the greatest of which is known as “The Baptism with the Holy Spirit.”
When a Christian receives the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, then he/she receives power (Acts 1:8) to represent Jesus in a way that he/she was not able to previously. This power is available for every Christian to receive, but unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, there are a lot of Christians that never receive it.
These are two separate experiences, and two separate works of the Holy Spirit. The “indwelling” is when He comes to live inside of you. The “Baptism with the Holy Spirit” is when He equips you with power. These are both important, but they are not the same thing. They produce different effects and are given for different purposes.
To illustrate this point, we will look at two examples in the Bible.
Acts 8:4-16
4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
In this passage, Philip is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to people in Samaria, and demonstrating the power of God. In verse 12, people believe his message and get baptized with water.
Acts 8:12 – But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.
According to Jesus, this means these people have been saved (Mark 16:16). They have received salvation. They are born again. They are Christians now. They have Holy Spirit living inside of them.
Then, word gets back to the apostles in Jerusalem (approximately 40 miles away) that these people in Samaria have believed the gospel and received salvation. So they send Peter and John to them so that they can be baptized with the Holy Spirit and receive the power that comes with it.
Acts 8:14-17 – Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
It took some time for the news of the Samaritan’s situation to travel from Samaria to Jerusalem. Then it also took some time for Peter and John to travel to Samaria, find the people, and lay hands on them to get baptized with the Holy Spirit. Based on the geographical facts alone, we can assume that there was at least a day or two in between the time that the Samaritans got saved and got baptized with the Holy Spirit.
If “getting saved” and “getting baptized with the Holy Spirit” are the same event, then this passage makes no sense at all.
But they are not the same event. They are different. It is absolutely clear beyond any possible argument. There is no way around this fact. “Getting saved” and “getting baptized with the Holy Spirit” are two separate events.
But, just to establish this truth from another story, let’s look at another passage in Acts where the difference is made plain again.
Acts 19:1-7
1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
In this passage, Paul meets some people whom he (incorrectly) believes are Christians. He asks them this question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
(Before we go any further, the simple fact that Paul would ask a question like this is proof that he believed that these were two separate experiences. His question shows that he believed a person could be “saved” but not baptized with the Holy Spirit).
When he says “when you first believed,” he is making an assumption that they believe in Jesus. He is thinking that they are Christians…followers of Jesus. They answer him, and they have a short conversation. Paul finds out that they were not Christians after all….they were actually disciples of John the Baptist.
So he immediately tells them about Jesus. They believe and get baptized in water…which (again) according to Jesus means that they are saved at this point (Mark 16:16). After this takes place, Paul places his hands on them and they get baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues.
First, they hear about Jesus, then they believe and get baptized in water. This is “getting saved.”
After they get saved and get baptized in water, Paul ministers the baptism with the Holy Spirit to them and they receive it and speak in tongues.
These are two different events, even though they events are only separated by a few minutes or more.
This is what Paul was asking them about in verse 2 when he asked if they “received the Holy Spirit when they believed.” He was assuming they were Christians, and he wanted to make sure that they had been baptized with the Holy Spirit also.
If “getting saved” and “getting baptized with the Holy Spirit” are the same thing, then again this passage makes no sense at all. Why would Paul even ask such a question if he didn’t believe there was a difference?
Now, to summarize, I want to make some statements that I hope will bring some additional clarity to you as you read them.
That brings us to the end of this post. Use the links below to continue, or to go back the series homepage.
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