The Gift of Tongues..is it biblical? Is it still active?, Ep 2-28
Welcome Back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are continuing our discussion of the spiritual gifts and this episode is specifically devoted to the gift of Tongues. This is a widely misunderstood, ridiculed and can really bring out some “unChristlike” behavior within the “church”. Today we will discuss the three different types of tongues, how tongues are intended to be used and get an understanding of what it is and if it is for today.
Corinthians 12:4-11.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
To summarize what Paul shared, the 9 Spiritual Gifts are: wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, miraculous powers, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
The gifts can be categorized by what they provide to the receiver. The Holy Spirit is the giver of the gift and we, Holy Spirit filled believers, are the receivers of the gifts.
· Gifts we use out of the Power we have from the Holy Spirit are: faith, healings, miraculous powers
· Gifts we have where the Holy Spirit uses us in Revelation are: wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits
· Gifts where the Holy Spirit uses us and are Spoken are: prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues
One of the misconceptions I want to clear up is we are truly speaking of gifts of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, an action or a behavior that produces an outcome as a result of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural activity provided to us in a gift.
When most people think of tongues, they think of it as some kind of babble that makes no sense and so it often gets discounted from what it truly is and could be in our lives. The Bible reveals to us there are actually three different ways tongues are used and all are through our receipt of tongues as a gift of the Holy Spirit. We are going to address the three ways first and then get into other aspects of tongues to give us a better understanding of its use today.
First, Jesus tells us we will have the gift of tongues in Mark 16, he says specifically in Mark 16:17, And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will (1) drive out demons; (a supernatural activity) (2) they will speak in new tongues; (a supernatural activity, because he does not say, learn new tongues, he says, speak) (3)18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; (a supernatural activity, we saw that happen with Paul on Malta) (4)they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”(supernatural activity, Jesus means they will get well in that moment)
All the points Jesus is making involve supernatural activity. He would not list things here that we could do in our own power. He is specifically referring to a supernatural outcome produced by a Holy Spirit action through us. Where we first see tongues occur is at Pentecost. Acts 2 tells us this, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.
Let’s take a look at another example of a Pentecost type of experience occurring that is frequently overlooked. We are going to see what happens when Peter obeys God and visits Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, at Cornelius’ house. Acts 10:44, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[b] and praising God
So this first type of tongue, a miraculous ability to speak a language not previously known, is one aspect of tongues. It is considered a sign and is intended for non-believers to experience and testify to the truth of the words being spoken. That is how it was used and how the gospel was able to spread quickly throughout the ancient world. Jews came to Jerusalem for the Pentecost celebration who had not yet heard of Jesus. They were then able to experience this miraculous Pentecost and take the word that was shared in their language back to Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, all the countries that the Jews had dispersed to over the centuries. Peter gives us a picture of the Holy Spirit using the gift of tongues with Gentiles, which previously would have been forbidden. Cessationists will tell you that this did occur but that this is no longer needed and does not occur today. I have heard multiple accounts among those working in other countries that while praying in tongues during a service over the sick or an outreach, the person praying was actually speaking a dialect of a region where they were doing their missionary work. There is no reason to believe that this miraculous gift from the Holy Spirit is no longer needed. There are still areas of the world who do not have the written Word. I am privileged to know a missionary in the Papua New Guinea area that worked on translating the Bible for a tribe in that region. The bible does not say this gift has ended, so why would we assume that the Holy Spirit would not use it when needed. We may have google translate and other ways to communicate but nothing will replace what the Holy Spirit will say in those moments. The Holy Spirit will guide the words. I tried to use Google translate in a remote area of Turkey last year and I spoke into the phone and just handed it to the woman who was trying to take our order. I did not read it. She giggled and tried to understand and respond. Once I read it, it had something in there about a boyfriend and the whole thing made no sense. The important thing was I learned how to say in Turkish “ a glass with ice” so as long as I had that, the rest was unimportant.
There was one moment of the trip however, I wish just for that moment the Holy Spirit had let me understand what was being said. We were in Izmir, a decent sized town on the coast. We had hoped to meet up with a friend we met in Sardis who helped translate and then later had dinner with a few hours away when we went to the Ancient Ruins in Philadelphia. Since we weren’t able to meet with our friend, we decided to have lunch on the go so we could get to our next location. We found a little grocery mart, it was maybe 800 square feet and we found all the fixens for sandwiches and were at the register to pay. The man in front of us turned around and saw my husband and his face just lit up. He smiled, went on and on in Turkish just giddy. My husband is a naturally warm person and was smiling back motioning as best he could positive feelings for the man, but was telling him that he didn’t understand. It didn’t matter, that man went on gushing for a bit and then said his goodbyes and waved as he was leaving, just happy as could be. I looked at the cashier to see if she could translate any of that and she couldn’t so we to this day have no idea why that man was so happy to see my husband. We assume it was mistaken identity. My husband thinks the man clearly thought he was Brad Pitt, I was leaning more toward Harrison Ford! Either way, we were all happy!
I digressed. The second type of tongue is probably the most discussed and battered. Typically it is referred to as a private prayer language. While that is exactly what it is, I just don’t like that term. It makes it sound weird and exclusive to those on the outside. I don’t like the idea of using the spiritual gifts as a way to appear or present oneself as higher or better and that is how it can come across. I like to keep things simple but unfortunately that term is pretty accurate, private prayer language. But let’s look at it instead from the angle of how it is used. We are going to start with 4 scriptures.
We know that Paul prayed in tongues and here are the scriptures that tell us so:
We will start with 1 Corinthians 13, If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels.. this part of the verse often gets overlooked because he goes on to discuss the often quoted “love” message and that is what gets the most attention. However, this sentence is Paul specifically discussing praying in tongues.
Next up, 1 Corinthians 14:2, For anyone who speaks in a tongue[a] does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. Paul is now specifically talking about praying in tongues and distinguishes that it is to God.
Onward now to Ephesians, 6:18, And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Paul refers to praying in tongues as praying in the Spirit because he knows that tongues is a gift of the Spirit and it is a language the Spirit understands.
Lastly, Jude verse 20 states: But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, Jude is also referring to praying in the Holy Spirit as praying in tongues.
In the first century the gift of tongues was accepted and used as a way of prayer life. What we now call a prayer language, they called praying in the Spirit. That sounds much more open and welcoming to someone who doesn’t understand what it is. Think of it as a type of devotion or worship time with the Lord where you as the prayer are also receiving an edification or a building up of your own spirit as a result. Think of it like this, you’re in a game, doesn’t matter what sport. You are down by a lot, you don’t know how to recover. You have a halftime break (okay so the sport matters a little, you need a halftime break) and you go and pray in the Spirit. You just let the Spirit in you talk to the Holy Spirit. At the end of the break, you go back to your game and you feel rejuvenated. You are still down in points, but somehow it’s not bothering you as much. Then you notice your game has changed, you are making a comeback and all is back on track for you. It doesn’t mean you are going to win every game, but it means you will win at the times when it matters or makes a difference in your life. That’s what praying in the Spirit does.
I pray in the Spirit a lot, sometimes intentionally sometimes unintentionally. Intentionally when I know I need to go to the Holy Spirit for some direction or when I am in need of an uplifting. Other times, I say unintentionally because it’s at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It may not be for me at all, but He needs someone to pray about something and I let Him use me whenever He needs to so that His will is done wherever He needs it. You never know what you may be praying for, who, where, it doesn’t matter, there is a need so if you are prompted, let it flow.
That is exactly what hinders a lot of people from being able to pray in the Spirit. The let it flow doesn’t happen. It’s easy to be self-conscious, or afraid or uncomfortable if there are people around particularly when you are starting off and new at it. There is an expectation that if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit that you automatically should be praying in tongues, but that doesn’t always happen. It should happen, but it just doesn’t. Sometimes it’s over zealousness of the person involved in trying to help the person pray in the Spirit, that can be a distraction. Sometimes it’s just that the person is shy or overwhelmed, it doesn’t really matter. It is a very powerful gift and for some it takes a little longer to receive than others, that’s just the reality. A friend of mine who was baptized in the Holy Spirit prayed for it, but didn’t do so whole heartedly and did not receive it. A year or so later, she was more mature and understood it better and began to pray for it whole heartedly and guess what, about two months later she found herself speaking in tongues right in the middle of her usual prayer time.
The main reason this aspect of the gift gets battered is because ignorant Christians, and yes I really mean to say that, call it nonsense and babble. The people who tend to hold these beliefs tend to hold other beliefs as well that indicate their heart is hardened and they will not accept any of the gifts of the spirit. It makes no sense to try to convince them. My experience is that trying to explain tends to provoke or move them into anger and it’s a waste of time. We can’t change what their heart is not willing to accept. Let it go, live what you know to be the truth from the Holy Spirit and move on. The Holy Spirit can work on them, it’s not our responsibility to change everybody. Jesus told us that there will be times when we need to shake the dust off our feet and we need to have the wisdom and discernment to know when to do so.
I want to share a quick example of short sightedness on praying in the Spirit. A young woman I know was discussing the Spiritual gifts with me and told me that she has the gift of Interpretation of Gifts. I said oh, that’s good, not many people have that gift, and then I asked her if she also prayed in tongues. I don’t normally ask this but this woman was meeting with me to be mentored and because the story she told me on how she received the gift of interpretation involved everyone around her speaking in tongues. She did not at that time, so I was just seeing if that had changed. Her response to me was that no, she did not, she did not want it and she was not going to try to get it. I was a little puzzled by this response so I asked why. She didn’t have a definitive answer, other than she had the one gift she didn’t see the need for the other.
Friends, that is not the way the Holy Spirit would like you to view the gifts. It should not be that we have one gift so we are not willing to seek another, especially when they are related gifts. We will be talking about the gift of interpretation in another episode, but if you are going to seek only one gift, definitely chose tongues over interpretation of tongues. I’ll go over the reasoning in the interpretation episode, but I wanted to share this to hopefully change or shift any mindsets that think the way of this woman. Understand the gifts before you shut the door to any of them because you don’t know what door you are shutting when you are acting without knowledge.
One final thought on praying in the Spirit. Don’t overthink it. If it is new to you or you want this gift, don’t try to understand it, or worry about how you sound. Whatever language, or tongue you speak does not matter. It could either be a heavenly language or an earthy language. It could be a current language or some derivative of it. It could be an ancient long ago lost language. It doesn’t matter how it sounds, only the content matters and that is for God to discern and direct, not us.
Our third and final type of tongue is similar to the private prayer language except it is used in corporate, or public settings. This is what Paul was referring to in 1 Corinthians 14, and which is often misunderstood by those who again do not believe tongues is for today and those who do not fully understand the difference between private and public tongues. Let’s look at the scripture and then discuss more. 1 Corinthians 14:26, What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.
29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.
Let’s backtrack a minute and look at 1 Corinthians 14:18, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
What Paul is sharing with us here is that there needs to be order when using tongues in a corporate setting. The Corinthian church was practicing tongues publicly, but people were talking out of turn, it was chaotic and there was no benefit to their behavior. In a corporate or public setting, Paul was advising them to become more organized and limit the number of people who were speaking out to the church in tongues. The gift of tongues was accepted, but it needed to be orderly in order for the church to benefit from it. The second point he was making was that in addition to limiting the number of people speaking, if there is no one to interpret, then the church is not gaining in knowledge, edification, it’s not being built up so there is no point in doing it if that is the case. When this was occurring, it was used in conjunction with other gifts and the point of these gifts were to build the church. Without the interpreter, then pray in the Spirit to oneself quietly. Again, we will go deeper in to this when we discuss interpretation, but I wanted to be clear about this third type of Tongues and that praying in the Spirit or in Tongues in church is biblical and for today, but it has to be done in order. Can you imagine visiting a church that did corporate praying in the spirit, whether you did or not and it was all chaos. I wouldn’t go back because if that isn’t done correctly, what else isn’t following the Holy Spirit correctly. If I didn’t speak in tongues I wouldn’t go back because it would look like chaos and not an environment I want to be a part of in my spiritual life.
Those are the three types of tongues and how they are used. They are very much alive today, tho some more so than others, but hopefully one day all will be alive as they once were. Next up in discussing the gifts will be interpretation of tongues and then we will have finished all of the spoken gifts.
I hope you have enjoyed our time discussing the Gift of Tongues and I hope it has helped to build your understanding. We cannot fully conquer our unseen enemies until we understand everything the Holy Spirit makes available to us. If you know anyone who might benefit from this, please share.
As always let’s discuss our Top Show Points:
Discussing the Gift of Tongues
1 Cor 12:4-11
To summarize what Paul shared, the 9 Spiritual Gifts are: wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, miraculous powers, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
· Gifts we use out of the Power we have from the Holy Spirit are: faith, healings, miraculous powers
· Gifts we have where the Holy Spirit uses us in Revelation are: wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits
· Gifts where the Holy Spirit uses us and are Spoken are: prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues
When we are speaking of gifts, we are speaking of an action or a behavior that produces an outcome as a result of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural activity provided to us in a gift.
The Bible reveals to us there are actually three different ways tongues are used and all are through our receipt of tongues as a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells us we will have the gift of tongues in Mark 16, he says specifically in Mark 16:17. These are all points of supernatural activity so tongues is a supernatural activity as well.
Acts 10:44, Peter at Cornelius’ house and the tongues released by the Holy Spirit
So this first type of tongue, a miraculous ability to speak a language not previously known, is one aspect of tongues. It is considered a sign and is intended for non-believers to experience and testify to the truth of the words being spoken.
The second type of tongue is referred to as a private prayer language
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13, 1 Corinthians 14:2, Ephesians 6:18, Jude verse 20
Think of the second type of tongues as a type of devotion or worship time with the Lord where you as the prayer are also receiving an edification or a building up of your own spirit as a result.
When asking for or first receiving the gift of tongues, don’t overthink it. Let it flow.
Our third and final type of tongue is similar to the private prayer language except it is used in corporate, or public settings. 1 Cor 14:26, 1 Cor 14:18
In a corporate or public setting, Paul was advising them to become more organized and limit the number of people who were speaking out to the church in tongues.
The second point he was making was that in addition to limiting the number of people speaking, if there is no one to interpret, then the church is not gaining in knowledge, edification, it’s not being built up so there is no point in doing it if that is the case.
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
· If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, take a look at my book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice. There is also a Study Guide available and two new devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book. One devotional is for women and one is for men.
· Class coming up 8/2 based on the Loving Conversations book on how to hear God’s Voice, sign up at lovingconversationssalo.com
I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!
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