These are the same as my findings into the subject of 'speaking in tongues'. You are correct, New Testament tongues were, known human languages. What we see today is indeed not the NT experience but what linguists call 'free vocalization'. I avoid the term 'gibberish', it is a loaded term which causes unnecessary offence.
When I look back on my own experience, after a protracted time of seeking God to be filled with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit came to me in a wonderful way. It was as if God had lifted the top off my head and poured His love into my whole being. The immediate result was an overflowing of love toward my fellow Bible College students., a desire to worship, a new hunger for His Word.
Then I got sidetracked. I thought I should have the gift of tongues. I got a hold of Larry Christianson's book, "They Spoke In Tongues" and devoured the contents. I became convinced this was for me. In the book it gives precise instructions on how to speak in tongues. After one asks for the gift, one starts praising God, then 'let's go' and speaks out any sounds that may come. This I did, I stated to utter a few sounds that gradually increased with further use. I became a 'tongue talking' Christian.
As I recall this 'experience', I am highly embarrassed that I believed this was from God and not from of my manufacturing. In the years to come, I helped many get the so-called 'gift of tongues' using essentially the same method .After I left the Pentecostal Movement, I renounced this so-called gift and have never spoken in tongues since.
The tragedy of my experience is that I had a real 'Baptism with the Holy Spirit', with scriptural evidence but unfortunately got sidetracked by the Devil with the 'tongues' issue.
I hope to encourage all to seek and receive the real' Baptism with the Spirit', with its true evidence, more love, more holiness, more purity of heart. Please do not get caught in the 'speaking in tongues 'trap.
God bless.
It's often hard for us to separate our desires and experience from what is sound Biblical truth; particularly if we aren't real clear on what is sound Biblical truth to begin with. (And ironically, this really has nothing to do with intellectual knowledge of the Bible.)
I remember early on in my exploration of the question of "How does God actually work?" I was sitting on a swing at a playground praying; asking God to "show me a sign" that He was hearing my pleas for His assistance in my life. And a bird flew over me and landed in the tree above me. And me, being my silly teenage self thought: "Oh a sign from God! Yeah!" So got up off the swing and happily "skipped" back to my grandma's house feeling like "God hears me." So I went inside and opened my Bible thinking the next thing I read is going to be another "sign".
Well... The first passage I came to was "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign....." And I was like... "Oh.....uh..."
I read the rest of the verse about the "sign of Jonah and the son of man being in the heart of the earth" and scratched my head over; now what does that mean? And of course it would be months of investigation before I understood what that passage meant; but at the same time, I concluded that whether or not I had genuine faith wasn't something God had to prove to me over and over again. Could I not simply believe without having to be reassured by "signs" everywhere? Genuine rebirth had to be stronger than the fickleness of my emotions.
And there'd be several trials I'd be faced with; worried about my eternity. The next major life event was Desert Storm and of course; being in the military at that point; I was pretty terrified of what was going to happen to me; not only as a result of participating in this war; but what if I didn't survive it? I certainly wasn't secure in believing that if I died right that moment that I wouldn't end up in hell. It would take at least another decade of review and constant reminders of the sufficiency of Christ's atonement before I confidently knew I had been redeemed.
And I came to know not because of some experience; or series of them; but because my life had changed. I now possessed the desire to obey God; which I didn't have before. I didn't do it perfectly. Half the time I didn't know what I was doing; other than just rather muddling through life it seemed, trying to deal with the consequences of all the @$%8 that had happened and depths of human depravity that was no stranger to me.
I was just kind of fuddling along, trying to make the best decisions I could and never really sure if they were "the right decisions"; or just "right enough for now"? None of the decisions were immoral; and some did have "red flags" that I was too afraid to walk away from; but God wasn't there "telling me what to do" either. There were choices He gave me that I still had to make up my own mind. And there were wrong choices I made; but only knew that as the consequences of those choices unfolded.
So, I don't know what you mean by you had a "real baptism with the Holy Spirit"?
My journey has been a lot of praying for wisdom and "leaps of faith" over which bridge to cross and which to burn.
So.... not being intellectual knowledge of Scripture either; what is it?
The best and simplest "explanation" ever demonstrated to me; came from a developmentally disabled resident I worked with in a group home. Her name was Elenor, she was 80 years old and I think was one of the simplest demonstrations of faith I'd ever had the privilege to witness.
I worked overnights at this home and when I'd get residents up in the morning; we'd play silly little trivia games. So one morning my trivia question was: "What was Jesus's occupation?" Some of the residents just shrugged and said "I don't know." but when I asked Elenor she jumped right in and said: "Savior! That was his job; He was the Savior!" I stopped a minute and looked at Elenor and said: "Well.... not the answer I was thinking of; but you're right! You're absolutely right; His job was Savior." She got this great big grin on her face and said. "See! I know. I know Him. I know who He is."
And Yeah, Elenor with an IQ of 60 knew who Jesus is!
She couldn't explain salvation and couldn't give a theological exposition of the Biblical doctrine of the hypostatic union of the incarnation, explain the doctrine of election or anything about the Trinity; but Elenor knew who Jesus is. (Elenor is since passed into His presence; been at least 25 years ago now.)
But that was it. Nothing fancy. Nothing earth shattering. No tongues, prophecy, profound words of Godly wisdom. When ever she had a medical procedure or med change she'd come to the office and ask me to pray for her. No one would ever think Elenor was any giant in the faith. She suffered from depression and cardiac problems. She cried a lot. She missed her parents. Had lived in an institution most her life after he mom died young.
But the most profound example of faith I've ever seen; was from an 80 year old intellectually disabled woman who lived in a group home I worked at.
