The biggest concept I have been wrestling with tonight has to do with the evidence of the baptism in the spirit. I’m not concerned presently with whether tongues is the initial physical evidence, but with what that means and should mean in our lives.
My quandary is this: if the Pentecostal revival of the past century was to mark a particular closeness to the return of Christ, and so some extra power was available to evangelize the world as we said when the A/G formed…
And if we accept that saints of old were not filled with the Spirit by lack of that evidence…
And if I am filled with the Spirit, as I have spoken with tongues,
Then why is my life marked with significantly less power than heroes of the faith, capable theologians, preachers, and reformers who were not filled?
Does the Spirit connect to the hearts of people in my congregation more than he does in the congregations of my dear brothers in other denominations?
What can I say about this doctrine which I hold dear and have experienced, since I like most practicing Pentecostals don’t seem to find use for my Spirit-filled giftings to build up the body?
Perhaps being filled with the Spirit, like sanctification, is a process. It isn't enough to have a single experience but like the mystics of old, we must practice the gifts until they work out a greater power in the body than we have seen in practice these days.
