Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 3
Aries is asking, what are your thoughts on speaking in tongues? For some churches, it’s a sign of being saved or born again. I experienced in a local Church here in the Philippines where this thing happened during a prayer recession. It’s kind of weird.
Speaker 2
Definitely weird.
Speaker 1
Well, my friend Aries, I would definitely agree with you. And I kind of want to answer this question because I’ve actually experienced something similar when I was first a Christian. I was about 14 years old when I first fully converted my heart. I grew up in the Church, and I loved Jesus as a little kid. But I would say, like, my true conversion happened as a young teenager. And when I was 14, I just wanted to know the truth. I didn’t care what Church it was in. I wanted to just know God and I want to know the truth. And I wanted to be in the right Church that lived up to everything the Bible stood for. And so I was going to different churches at that time. I’ve been to several different churches and denominations. I won’t mention which ones, but one of them that I visited practiced the gift of tongues. And they said, you have to have tongues, the gift of tongues, otherwise the Holy Spirit hasn’t anointed you and basically you’re not saved. And so I went to this Church a few times, and the first time I was there, I had an experience where to me, it was kind of positive.
Speaker 1
I felt like maybe I was speaking in tongues or something, but there was no interpreter, and so nothing really closed. But I thought, wow, that was just an interesting experience. So I went back the next week, and as I was sitting there, I was praying very hard, like, God, I really want to have the gift of tongues. I want to speak in another language. I think that’s really amazing. Your Apostles did that well, when I was sitting there, I never got the gift of tongues ever again or anything like the sword. I don’t really know if I had tongues in the first place, but I felt something. So I wanted to feel something. I wanted to experience something supernatural, but I never got the gift of tongues. And as I was sitting there in the Pew, I was looking around, and people were saying all sorts of things that didn’t make any sense. People were running around the Church, rolling around, wailing, and I felt God’s spirit speak very quietly in my ear and said, Tina, look around. Look at what you’re seeing. And I was like, yeah. And he was like, My spirit is not here.
Speaker 1
And so I never went back to that Church because I really felt that what was happening was not biblical or not even. It was not from God. When you’re screaming, when you’re saying things that nobody understands. And it wasn’t until years later that I’ll show you from the Bible why I believe this is true. If you go with me to the book of One Corinthians chapter 14, and we’ll read for a little bit of context versus one through five. So First Corinthians 14, one through five. And I’ll just kind of piece through this chapter because it’s really the entire chapter talks about speaking in tongues. It talks about a couple of issues that were going on in the Church back in the time of the Apostles. One was speaking in tongues, one was prophesying, and one was whether or not it was right for people basically to speak out of turn during the worship service. So if you go with me to First Corinthians four versus one through five, we’ll go ahead and read that for some context. And it says, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you might prophesy verse two, for he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him.
Speaker 1
However, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. And it goes on to say, but he who prophesies speaks edification, or basically something that improves someone’s life and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the Church. And verse five says, I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied. For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets that the Church may receive edification. So basically what he’s saying in essence in these first few verses is, Look, I know you guys have seen tongues happening, and it’s a pretty cool thing to hear, but it’s really not useful unless somebody’s interpreting, unless there’s somebody giving a message that people can actually understand. And he goes on to speak more directly about this. As you continue in the chapter, go to verse 19. So One Corinthians 14, verse 19, and it reads, yet in the Church, I would rather speak five words with my understanding that I may teach others also than 10,000 words in a tongue. So basically, if nobody’s interpreting, if nobody’s understanding anything, that’s really not doing what it was meant to do.
Speaker 1
So he’s saying, I’d rather say five words in something you’ll understand and you actually get something out of it. God is good and loving. That would be more beneficial than, you know, saying a book’s worth of something in another language because you’re just like, whatever, it’s kind of not helpful. And then again, if you read in verses 22 and 23. So again, One Corinthians 1422 and 23, it says, Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophesying is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe in verse 23 says, Therefore, if the whole Church comes together in one place and all speak with tongues and they’re coming, those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will it not say that you are out of your mind. And I would say yes. So basically the reason God gave tongues in the first place and you read about it another place in the Bible was that you were supposed to speak in tongues so that other people who spoke those other languages understood you and said, this is a miracle because you’re speaking my language and you’re not from my country. You know, how amazing would it have been for somebody to come from Ethiopia or from the east, the Far East, or anywhere else in the world?
Speaker 1
And they’ve never seen these people groups, yet they could speak in a language they understood only by the power of God, by the Holy Spirit that would make them a believer. So that was the purpose of tongues. But if they don’t know what language you’re speaking and you’re not speaking their language or your language, they’re going to be like, y’all are crazy. And so Paul recognized that, yes, you’re right. It is weird. If you read just a few more verses really quick, go to verses 28 or 27 and 28 in that chapter. So one Corinthians 14, 27, 28, if anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or three or at the most three each in turn. And let one interpret. And verse 28 says, but if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the Church and let him speak to himself and to God. So he’s saying that not everybody should be speaking. The gift of tongues is going on only two, maybe three people should be doing it, and somebody needs to be interpreting it. If nobody’s interpreting, it needs to stop. And that person who’s speaking in tongues needs to just be quiet because it’s not helping anybody.
Speaker 1
It’s actually taking away from the Church service. And then just two quick verses, 1st 33, just to make a few last quick points that Paul has to say here. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the Saints. And then if you don’t mind reading verse 40, which is the last verse, I believe that chapter, it says, Let all things be done decently and in order. So God is not the author of confusion. God doesn’t give gifts that confuse and actually turn people away from Jesus. That’s not the point. The purpose of tongues is to bring people to Jesus. And you have to be very careful with this because obviously the devil can mimic and make counterfeits of anything that God does. Right? If you read about in Revelation, there’s so many counterfeits that the devil has. I mean, that’s literally, like all that the devil does, is just try to imitate God and distract from something true and beautiful. Now, I want to tell you a quick story and then I’ll close. But the reason I say this is because, again, you have to be very careful.
Speaker 1
And the Bible says, test the spirits, whether they be of God. And I remember there was a time that and I’ve heard actually more than one account of this happening where somebody went to a Church where they were speaking in tongues, and somebody began speaking in an unknown tongue. And they were just saying things, and they didn’t know what they were saying, but somebody stood up and said, I’m interpreting. And they’re saying, oh, praise be to God, and we need to do this. And a stranger had come who actually spoke that language and said, no, no, I know what they’re speaking. They’re speaking Arabic. That’s my mother tongue. And let me tell you, they are cursing God in that my language. They are saying the most filthy, disgusting things against God in my language. And they said, okay, you can leave now. And basically said, don’t ever come back because he called out this guy’s lies and called out what they were doing in this Church and that they were just trying to put on a show. And whenever you do anything that’s not based on truth, that’s not based on Bible, on the Bible, obviously, that gives the devil a big open door to come in and put on a show and distract from the truth.
Speaker 1
So, again, you have to be very careful when it comes to the gift of tongues. But again, follow those guidelines that are seen in one Corinthians 14, there shouldn’t be more than two, maybe three people. There needs to be interpreter. And it should not be chaotic. It should be something beautiful and amazing rather than something distracting and just weird. Jay, do you have any other thoughts on that?
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I think an interesting verse for me is Isaiah 819. In that one, it reads, and they shall say to you seeking to them that have familiar spirits and unto Wizards that peep. And that mutter should not have people seek unto their God for the living, to the dead. So here it’s talking about, basically the Wizards and people dealing with evil spirits and what sort of sounds are they making? They’re making these peeps, these strange noises. And that’s really pagan practice. That’s not how God speaks. When God speaks, does he ever speak unintelligibly anywhere through the Bible? The only times would be when God specifically wanted a pagan King to rely on interpreter, one of God’s people like the writing on the wall for Belshazar. It’s one of those rare times ever when someone needed interpret for God. If you also go back and look at the history, the Tower of Babel introduced differences in tongues. Everybody had one tongue, one language, and God introduced the confusion with many languages in order to slow the progression of evil and break up the human race and have them spread the Earth like they’re supposed to.
Speaker 2
But again, that was a temporary measure. Got introducing some confusion, but they still were speaking intelligible languages, at least within the groups. Those tongues were understandable it’s. Interesting. Matthew six, seven, Christ says, and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the Heathens do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. God is wanting us to really speak with meaningful words, not vain words, and really just convey really look at the Bible and it’s really consistent on what really it should be as laid it out.
Speaker 1
Sorry, that’s what I want to be really clear on. And if you want to see a good example of tongues, because it’s not all bad, tongues is not meant to be something terrible if it’s the true tongues from God. And if I can just share quickly, two quick verses in Acts chapter two. If you look at verse four, this is the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles. And it says in Acts chapter two, verse four. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. And you see, in verse eleven, people were gathered from all around the world. It says, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues, the wonderful works of God. So if anybody is hearing the wonderful works of God, they’re seeing hearing the gospel, then, yes, that is the gift of tongues for other people who don’t speak your language, to hear the gospel in their tongue in a way that they understand. I’ve never experienced that, but I think that would be amazing.
Speaker 1
So that is the true gift of tongues. It shouldn’t be something that’s weird.
Speaker 2
Kind of undoing the Tower of Babel, which was to slow down wickedness, and then God will overcome the confusion to allow us to preach the message.
Speaker 1
Amen.
Speaker 3
So a little bit of a question related to that with an experience I had when I was traveling abroad and going to churches in different countries where they weren’t speaking English in Church. And there was a couple experiences that I had where like there was one I was at a Church that only spoke Spanish. The whole thing was in Spanish. And I didn’t speak Spanish.
Speaker 4
But it was like when I was hearing them preach, it was like I was hearing the gospel. I was comprehending what they were saying, even though it wasn’t in my language.
Speaker 3
And that happened to me also in India when I was at a Church there. And again, they were preaching in a language I did not understand a word of.
Speaker 4
But yet I understood quite a bit of what they were saying because there was so much love and so much communication that coming through that wasn’t even verbal. And is that a component of speaking in tongues?
Speaker 2
I would say yes, I think that’s a great example of modern day speaking in tongues, or at least the gift of interpretation. So the speaker was speaking in his language, but you were interpreting it and that’s related to a question that Blaine asked. I don’t know if we’re able to put it up right now. He says we’re speaking to be applicable to this time or only during the time of the Apostles. And that’s a great question and I say yes, it still happens today. Even as Wendy said she experienced and I’ve heard stories of people who will be playing DVDs in English and people who, let’s say, only spoke Arabic or a different language were able to understand also what was being said through these DVDs. So God is working in ways so that people can speak and others can understand. So that the power of the government gospel can be preached throughout the world.
For full episode:
https://youtu.be/QGf63r13sxA
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