We covered a lot of ground today, preparing to begin our study of 1 Corinthians 14. We finished our overview of Acts, and now know why the Acts of the Apostles is a record of the history of the Church in the first century. It is not a book of doctrine like the epistles from Romans to Philemon. There are no two incidents of salvation, baptism, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that are identical.
Remember Occam’s Razor — The simplest conclusion or answer is generally the right conclusion or right answer. We must be careful not to get things too complicated in our study.
2 Corinthians 11:3: But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
1. In Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost, the apostles spoke in tongues (known languages to those Jews from all points of the Roman world). The Jewish hearers were compelled to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins. No laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.
2. In Acts 8, Philip went to Samaria, the former capital of the northern kingdom. He preached Jesus, performed miracles, and they gladly received his message and were baptized. Peter and John had to come and lay hands on them for them to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No miracle of tongues was needed because they all spoke Aramaic.
3. In Acts 8, Philip met up with the Ethiopian Eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53. He needed someone to explain what he was reading. Philip revealed the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ through Isaiah. No miracles, no signs and wonders were needed. The Eunuch proclaimed his belief in the Lord Jesus, receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation, and was baptized. No one needed to lay hands on him to receive the Holy Spirit, being a Gentile.
4. In Act 9, Saul of Tarsus (Paul), the future Apostle to the Gentiles, experiences a series of signs and wonders. Jesus meets him on the road to Damascus. Paul proclaims him as Lord, loses his sight, goes to Damascus, has his sight restored, is baptized, and filled with the Holy Spirit. No laying on of hands and no miracle of tongues occur.
5. In Acts 10, Peter travels to meet Cornelius and his group of Gentiles. Peter preaches Christ, and the whole group receive the filling of the Holy Spirit evidenced by the sign of tongues (known languages spoken for the benefit of the Jews who did not believe that Gentiles could be saved). The Gentiles were baptized after they received the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is what happens to us.
1 Corinthians 14:22: Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
6. In Acts 19, Paul meets a group of Jewish disciples in Ephesus, who are holding to the baptism of John, and still living in an Old Testament belief system. He shares Christ with them and they gladly receive the truth, are baptized and receive the filling of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of Paul’s hands, and spoke in tongues, as proof to Paul, being a Jew, and needing to see a sign as proof of their salvation.
The Philippian Jailor in Acts 16, being a Gentile, did not speak in tongues, did not need to have hands laid on him to receive the Holy Spirit. He was told he needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. His salvation experience is very similar to that of the Eunuch in Acts 8. The sign of tongues is not mentioned again in the Acts of the Apostles. We will now begin our journey in 1 Corinthians 14 next Sunday, reviewing 1Corinthians 12:27-31 & 1 Corinthians 13:1 and getting into V.1 of chapter 14.