On Tongues and the Holy Spirit

Ben and I shared a lot today. We had some great communication going on; it was wonderful!

I came to understand his praying in tongues thing and the slain in the spirit thing that he has experienced; which we will now call being overwhelmed by God. :) I do not like the term slain; it sounds too violent lol.

I have never been "slain" or overwhelmed in this way and I have never prayed in tongues. I have seen these two done in a crazy way however at one church when I was in high school and it scared the living daylights out of me. :) It was a pentecostal church, but it seemed that it was Satan or a demon that was overcoming these people and making them fall to the ground and shake as if they were having a seizure. So needless to say, since then, I've always been quite skeptical about "Holy Spirit" experiences.

At this church everyone was praying in tongues, but I knew it wasn't done biblically because there was not an interpreter. There must be an interpreter in church. Otherwise those praying on tongues are to speak to themselves and God, as Paul says.

So we have debated this topic a lot since meeting two months ago and getting married. I knew it would pose some heated debate and it has. :) But I finally understand.

I have always seen it that when we are saved we do receive the Holy Spirit, as a seal of our inheritance. "For if anyone does not have Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ." (Rom. 8:9) But I have always believed there can be a secondary filling of the Holy Spirit. I have somewhat experienced this when on missions trips, in that it caused me to be more bold and speak in front of churches and share my testimony etc.

But I have never prayed in a tongue or had this falling back experience.

Ben explained that he just felt this overwhelming peace and joy when he fell back, or was caused to lay down basically. He has had visions of Jesus in these times. And they compel him to feed homeless people and draw closer to God. He was saying that if it was not of God, why would it make him want to be closer to God? Which was a good point.

I have known I need to be careful all along saying this power compelling him could have been demonic because that is what it is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit; to say that the Holy Spirit is Satan. But God can help us discern between what is of God and what is not. If an experience causes one to bear fruit; it is of the Holy Spirit. If it makes them more prideful and less loving, as does praying in tongues for most people, then it is not of God.

I have seen videos on youtube of being "slain." I think a lot of it is faked or it could be that they are overcome by a demon. "God is not a God of disorder but of peace." (1 Cor. 14:33) If anyone has questions about this just follow what Paul says in 1 Cor. 14. He says, "Do not forbid speaking in tongues." But, "There must be an interpreter."

In regards to this experience of being "slain" or overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. It is never recorded or talked about in Scripture per se. The closest thing would be that many times people "fell at his feet as though dead." As in they fell at God's feet, an angel's, or Jesus' feet. I always saw this as they got on their knees and bowed before him. But I suppose it could have looked like they were just all of sudden knocked out and they fell to the ground. The Bible does not explicitly say what this looked like.

So I am a little less skeptical now and a bit more open minded, but still leery of the counterfeit. "Satan masquerades as an angel of light," and it is good to keep in mind that in Egypt, the magicians could do all the same miracles Moses did and by what power? The power of Satan; it was black magic. So Satan can also cause people to pray in tongues or be slain or overwhelmed. The test of this is, what do these experience produce in the person's life? Are they bearing fruit? Do they love the Lord their God with their whole heart, mind, body and soul? Does this experience cause them to love God more and seek Him more? Then it is of God. Paul says to "test the Spirits." Amen to that. Be cautious but be open. You never know when lightning could strike lol or when God might want to reveal himself to you in a more profound way.

I am open to it now and I do think it would be cool, but I believe everything about God without it as well. And what did Jesus say, "Blessed are those who never see a miracle but believe." That is the case for me. I have never seen anything supernatural really, but I still very much believe and have never questioned my faith, praise God. I have not always walked on the straight and narrow but I have always loved God with my whole heart, mind, and soul.

I hope you know God in this way and never doubt His love for you and that He is real and good. May God bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine on you, and give you peace. Amen! :)