Concerning the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues, it is the absolute conviction of some that tongues is the evidence of the receiving of the Holy Spirit. The conviction is so believed that when faced with the Biblical truth they simply will not accept and add their own conclusion to the truth. “Speaking in tongues” is a gift of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given, as Paul wrote in Romans twelve, “differing according to the grace that is given to us.” Speaking in tongues may be evidence of the Holy Spirit to one that received that gift at the coming of the Spirit. Any gift of the Holy Spirit would be evidence and so would be the fruits of the Holy Spirit given to all that receive.
On the day of Pentecost the disciples of Jesus were all gathered together in one place in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit filled the place and they spoke in tongues. On another occasion, Peter ministered to gentiles that spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Spirit and it was apparent to him, and others that witnessed the event, that they had received. It is true that people have spoken in tongues when they receive the Holy Spirit. It is also true that people have received the Holy Spirit and did not speak in tongues (a Spirit language) the moment it was received, but may have at a later time. In John twenty twenty-two we read “He (Jesus) breathed on them (the disciples) and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ “ Yet they did not speak in tongues until the day of Pentecost.
In Acts nine verses seventeen through nineteen, we read how Saul (whose name was later changed to Paul) received the Holy Spirit but no mentioned made of tongues. What evidence do we read here? “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once.” Paul was healed. Later we read that Paul did speak in tongues (I Corinthians 14:18), but not at the time he received the Holy Spirit.
It is so easy to believe that the things the Holy Spirit gives to us is somehow grander than what it gives to others, but it is not so. In the example of the servants and the talents (Matthew 25:14-23), the reward was the same for the servant that received two talents as it was for the one that received five. The evidence of the Holy Spirit are the fruits of the Spirit and the using of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to glorify God and to share the joy of the kingdom of God with everyone in your path. When the Holy Spirit is pouring forth out of the heart like a river, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are glorifying God, it is not a choice – the Spirit will glorify God.
The issue here is really one of semantics. In Mark chapter sixteen verse seventeen Jesus said, “And these signs shall follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues.” That does not refer to the gift of tongues. It refers to the removing of the flesh and the shining through of the Holy Spirit. One who is baptized in the Holy Spirit so that the flesh is moved out of the way speaks with the tongue of the Holy Spirit, not a new language. In Acts chapter two we read, “Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Everyone in attendance heard in his own language. Peter and the others were not speaking in all languages, they were heard that way, what a miracle of understanding. The Holy Spirit that speaks what it hears from the Word of God, Jesus, speaks through the Spirit filled believer. The Spirit filled believer speaks with a new tongue, that of the Holy Spirit, and not a new language. If they have the gift of tongues, they may do both – speak in a Spirit language with a new tongue.