House Church Clarksville
Why speaking in tongues matters
We are glad to open a part of the Bible that people often skip. The book of Acts shows people filled with the Holy Spirit after they believed, and tongues is the sign the text itself notices.
Being born of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit are not the same moment. Jesus said a person must be born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom. That happens when you trust Him and receive salvation. The filling is something the Father also gives to those who ask.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
What Acts actually records
On Pentecost they were all filled and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. In Samaria, people believed Philip and were baptized, and still the Spirit “was fallen upon none of them” until Peter and John laid hands on them later. In Cornelius’s house the Jewish believers knew the Spirit had been poured out because they heard them speak with tongues. In Ephesus Paul asked, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” — a strange question if the answer is always automatic — and when the Spirit came they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
It has not been taken back
First Corinthians 13 says tongues will cease when “that which is perfect is come,” when we see face to face and know as we are known. That is the coming of the Lord, not the binding of a book. Paul still saw through a glass darkly while he wrote. So do we.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Two uses, not one
Paul lists “divers kinds of tongues” among gifts the Spirit gives to some for the profit of the whole meeting, and he limits public tongues to two or three, with interpretation. He also says, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all,” and then, “yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding.” The abundance was outside the meeting — a way to pray when the mind has run out of words.
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: 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.
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.
If you want to ask
Jesus said the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask, and He does not hand a son a serpent. Ask in faith. Then praise Him out loud and yield your voice. You are not waiting for God to force your mouth. You get to join Him. The fuller written study, A Biblical Experience: Tongues, is yours to download. We are glad to pray with you in Clarksville, Palmyra, or over a call if you are in Erin, Dover, or Cumberland City.
Download the tongues studySundays at 11 a.m.