The gift of speaking in tounges - Part 2

 BY Argie Simonis

On the previous message we started talking about the gift of tounges and here we will complete it, including the interpretation of tounges.

Faith moves against the flesh and by faith you enter the spiritual realm. When you pray in tongues and do so by exercising faith, it is like a switch that turns on your holiest faith. In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of mysteries and of the hidden wisdom of God:

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory:" 1Cor. 2:7

Paul was revealing what had been a mystery until then. God explained these mysteries to him and took them out of the realm of mystery making them simple for everyone. Have you ever considered how Paul accomplished this and became the author of almost half of the New Testament? You can see a lot of this in Galatians and the book of Acts starting with chapter 9, where it talks about the apostle Paul. He was a Jewish disciple of Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers of the Law. He persecuted Christians by consenting even to their death. Then he had his personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, where he saw that light and fell from his horse.

According to the first 2 chapters of Galatians, Paul said that he went down to Jerusalem once and saw Peter, but from there he went out into the deserts of Arabia and stayed there for 3 years and then returned as the apostle Paul starting the ministry and his missionary journeys. Paul, like most Jews of that time, could memorize the first 5 books of the Old Testament and also knew the rest of the books very well. He knew the Scriptures, but while being Saul, he had misinterpreted them. He saw everything through the eyes of the Law and not through the grace of God. So I believe that during those 3 years he was speaking what he knew from the Scriptures but the Holy Spirit was revealing to him all these mysteries that he wrote about. Paul wrote half of the New Testament revealing these mysteries. How did he do that? He says that he spoke the hidden wisdom of God in mysteries:

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory:" 1Cor. 2:7

And he himself was the one who, writing to the same audience, in the same letter (1 Corinthians), see here what he says:

"For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men, but to God: for no man understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." 1Cor. 14:2

It may be something you do not understand, but you speak in the tongues of men and angels and here it says that you speak mysteries in the Spirit:

"For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." 1Cor. 14:14

He also writes:

"Why let him that speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret." 1Cor. 14:13

So when you pray in tongues you need to pray to receive the interpretation and here it refers to the gift of tongues that takes place within the church. In the same letter we also read:

"I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all:" 1Cor. 14:18

He spoke in tongues outside the church more than all of them combined! And I say outside the church because Paul himself had said:

"Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." 1Cor. 14:19

The reason I say all this is because some claim that you should only speak in tongues only if you can also interpret in the Church, but here we see Paul speaking in tongues to himself and not to the Church.

The gift of tongues can work on a personal level, privately, in the same way that it works in the Church, just as you can ask God for interpretation in the same way that you ask it in the Church.

I believe one of the reasons, not the only one, but one of the reasons that Paul received all this revelation upon the grace of God that many others just missed, was because he was speaking what he knew from the Scriptures, praying over them in tounges ​​and asked God for the interpretation. He believed that in his spirit he had the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) and prayed that this spiritual wisdom which was "stored up" in his born-again spirit would form his mind to see that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that we are no longer under all these regulations and ordinances of the Law and that there is a new way we can have a relationship with God through His grace!

Therefore, I believe that one of the primary ways Paul received all these revelations was by praying in tongues and asking for their interpretation. The field of your perception will be clarified and expanded and if you pray for the interpretation as well, the Spirit of truth will lead you to the truth and reveal to you the future (John. 16:13).

It is also very important to remember that when you pray in tongues it does not mean that the first thing that will come to your mind is also from God. This needs attention! You should check everything through the lens of God's Word. As with prophecy, for each word given it should be discerned:

"Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." 1Cor. 14:29

If you are very new to the faith and do not yet know God's Word, go to someone spiritually mature and share with them those thoughts that came to you after praying in tongues. Go to someone who has studied the Bible and has the wisdom of God, and let him discern whether what you heard was God speaking to you.

You can evaluate your thoughts through the Word because the word of God is living, and active, and searches the reasonings and thoughts of the heart (Hebrew 4:12)

It will determine if your thoughts are from God or just from yourself.

The gift of tongues is one of the most powerful tools God has given us and I believe that is why the devil fights it so much. Some may oppose you for speaking in tongues, especially religious people.

"Why, brothers, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues." 1Cor. 14:39

Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, it is like trying to put out a fire with a water pistol! You need power to do this, the power that Jesus spoke of:

"But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come on you: and you shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8 

Amen!

The gift of speaking in tounges - Part 1

 BY Argie Simonis

Speaking in tongues belongs to the category of gifts of utterance (expression) and is a ministry gift that operates in the assembly of the Church. 

As with the distinction between the gift of prophecy and the ministry of the prophet that we discussed in the previous message, so the gift of tongues is different from the speaking in tongues that can be done privately by every believer who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit . It is one of the first supernatural manifestations accompanying the baptism of the Holy Spirit: (Acts 2:4, 10:46 and 19:6).

The gift of tongues is not given to everyone:

"Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" 1Cor. 12:30

Some have used this verse as an argument to teach that speaking in tongues is not for every believer. However, this speaks of the gift of speaking in tongues operating in the assembly of the Church. Not all believers are moved by this gift, but all believers who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit can speak in tongues in their own personal prayer time:

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;" Mark 16:17

When the gift of tongues is operating publicly and there is interpretation, it equals prophecy:

"He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself; but he that prophesies edifies the church." 1Cor. 14:4

"I would that you all spoke with tongues but rather that you prophesied: for greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." 1Cor. 14:5

There are two different kinds of speaking in tongues. In 1 Corinthians 13:1 we read that we can speak with the tongues of men or angels. The tongues of men is reffering to known tongues, like what happened on the Day of Pentecost. This is the gift of supernaturally speaking a known language without having been taught it, and it comes for the purpose of bearing witness, as on the day of Pentecost:

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language." Acts 2:4-6

There is also a gift of tongues which speaks in a heavenly language (what is called the tongues of angels in 1 Corinthians 13:1). This is a language unknown to the speaker but allows the believer to communicate directly with the Lord through the Spirit.

"For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men, but to God: for no man understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." 1Cor. 14:2

"For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." 1Cor. 14:14

Speaking in tongues is not THE sign, but it is something that follows the baptism of the Holy Spirit and unless one has been negatively influenced or frightened by religion, I believe it would be normal for all who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit to speak in tounges. Speaking in tongues is neither from the devil nor becoming possessed of the devil:

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Luke 11:13

If you seek God and want the power of the Holy Spirit that the Bible speaks of, then the Lord will not allow the devil to give you an evil gift!

God does not give His Spirit to those who beg or to those who deserve it, but to those who ask for it. You should by faith begin to speak and believe that God is the one who inspires you to do so:

"But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1Cor. 2:14

"For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?  But we have the mind of Christ." 1Cor. 2:16

Some, particularly in Pentecostal circles, say they simply speak in tongues without being able to control it. This is not true:

"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." 1Cor. 14:32

Fear, unbelief and listening to ourselves trying to assess whether what we are speaking is from God or not, creates doubt and brings hindrance within us. The mind rebels and says no, the flesh resists  because it doesn't make logical sense. This is exactly what makes speaking in tounges so powerful:

"But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." Jude 1:20-21

The expression "Praying in the Holy Spirit" here is the speaking in tongues.

"He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself; but he that prophesies edifies the church." 1Cor. 14:4

Our next message will be the second part of this series on the gift of speaking in tounges.

To be continued...

The gift of Prophecy

  BY Argie Simonis

"Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy." 1Cor. 14:1

The gift of prophecy, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues are included in the group of the utterance gifts. In this message we will focus on the gift of prophecy.

This gift of prophecy is different from the gift of the ministry of a prophet (Ephesians 4:11), just as we said that the gift of faith that Paul mentions in this letter is different from the fruit of faith that he mentions in Galatians 5:22, when he talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

According to 1Corinthians 14:3, this gift of prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort:

"But he that prophesies speaks to men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." 1Cor. 14:3

Certainly there were many prophets whose prophecies did not meet these standards:

------- In 2 Samuel 12:1-14 the prophet Nathan visits King David. He talks to him about the sin he committed and in the following verses announces the judgment of the Lord:

"Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? you have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon." 2Sam. 12:9

"Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house; because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Thus said the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun." 2Sam 12:10-11

---------------- In 1Kings 13:1-5, we see the prophet who brought the word of the Lord to King Jeroboam:

"And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus said the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burnt on you.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD has spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out." 1Kings 13:1-3

"And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD." 1 Kings 13:4-5

----------------- In 1 Kings 21:17-21, the prophet Elijah brings the word of the Lord to King Ahab:

"And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying," 1Kings 21:17

"And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus said the LORD, Have you killed, and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus said the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours." 1 Kings. 21:19

-------------- The prophet Agabus prophesies the imprisonment of the apostle Paul:

"And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

And when he was come to us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus said the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that ownes this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Acts 21:10-11

Paul also emphasizes that:

"I would that you all spoke with tongues but rather that you prophesied: for greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." Α'Cor. 14:5

In other words, Paul wants us all to prophesy, but a little further down he says that not everyone is a prophet:

"Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?" 1Cor. 12:29

So how do these two harmonize together?

The gift of prophecy operating in the assembly of the church is limited to the general edification, exhortation, and comfort of the body (1 Corinthians 14:3). If a person begins to give an individual prophecy of personal direction to someone, this falls under the ministry of a prophet and is different from this simple gift of prophecy. The prophet will of course speak edification, exhortation and comfort to the Body of Christ as we are all called to do, but in addition to the ministry of the prophet, it includes direction, rebuke and warning as we have seen in the previous examples.

Someone moved by the gift of prophecy could, for example, give a word like that:

"My children I love you. I am with you and I will never leave you"

Failure to understand the difference between this simple gift of prophecy and the ministry of a prophet has led to abuses and extremes, where strange things are called words for prophecy in many churches and have made people skeptic or even completely negative of prophecy.

Some prepare entire teachings during the week and deliver them as prophecies to the congregation. Others use prophecy as an opportunity to rebuke someone or vent their own prejudices or push their own agenda about what the church should do. Neither of these things is the gift of prophecy that Paul is describing here.

We shall speak more on this topic and also on the order which all these must be exercised in the Church, in future messages. 

In the next message we will deal with the remaining two gifts of utterance, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

To be continued...