Speaking in tongues

I am not sure what to believe anymore about this topic.
Does anyone have clear teaching or understanding of speaking in tongues, would you mind sharing what you understand about speaking in tongues?

EDIT: Please answer with caution.

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hi, my personal testimony is that i was coming back to the Lord after being an associate evangelist to a major southern baptist evangelist and quiting because i could not keep the victory over lust and did not want to bring reproach on Jesus or the man i worked for.i was in the office alone and was confessing my sins before the Lord and after a long list i told Jesus that i was a good sinner and not to good of a christian and that i needed special help cause i was such a loser...at this minute i began to speak in tongues like a river and did not know what it was because i had never been in a pentacostal church.my life really changed that night and that was 45 years ago. one of my dearest friends wrote a paper at nobtseminary ...why tongues are not for today...a month later he was praying for his mother who was in a coma and while weeping over his inability to do anything for her,he cried out to God for the same power that the chuch in acts had and he began to speak in other tongues and prayed for his mom and she was raised up.the bible teaches that if an earthly father will give good things to his children ...how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.jimp

After reading 1 Corinthians 14 I gleaned that prophecy and tongues are both forms of utterance by the Holy Spirit and as such are very powerful for the building up of yourself and the Church.

"So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues." 1 Corinthians 14:39

And since tongues and prophecy are by the Spirit then they should be done under the control of the Spirit.

"and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints," 1 Corinthians 14:31-32

"But all things should be done decently and in order."
1 Corinthians 14:40

And to emphasize that these guidelines are commands from the Lord himself Paul writes "If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord."
1 Corinthians 14:37

I believe that these gifts of utterance by the Spirit are so profitable the enemy has launched an attack with the goal of quenching them. I believe this attack is two-pronged.

1. Counterfeit the gifts with the spirit of the anti-Christ or get those with the genuine gift to break the commands Paul laid down.

2. Use the chaos resulting from the 1st prong to inspire fear and distaste for the gifts.

In experience, in prayer, when the Spirit intercedes, prophetic utterances or tongues may proceed out of the mouth as the fruit of groanings to deep for words.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:26-27

We are drawn into this life of prayer and intercession as we abide in the love of Christ to bear much fruit for his Glory.

Thanks for the reminder to speak with caution, before this topic explodes into a million rabbit trails I would like to share my thoughts on Speaking in Tongues.

I am Pentecostal by nature and so I believe the gift is not only biblical but is still quite active in churches today. I was use to go to an Assembly of God according to them Speakin in Tongues is the first Physical evidence that you have been baptised in the Holy Spirit. As I read scripture I found this is be incorrect in logic anyways.

I believe that Tongues is a gift given to those the Father chooses and it is not necessarily for everyone in the good ole pentecostal sense. I deny it as an evidence of being baptised in the Holy Spirit, though these things can take place its not rock solid evidence. Meaning anyone can falsely speak in tongues, I can speak jibberish erracticly and fool many into thinking I can speak in tongues. So for me personaly this is a very weak "evidence" the only viable evidence I see is the Fruit of the Spirit being supernaturally naturally manifest in the person more specifically Love.

I believe we are all given gift for a reason I personally can say there is a danger to speaking in tongues in a huge group as seen in many large Pentecostal movements where the main goal is to "baptise" as many people in the Holy Spirit as possible. I disagree with this because it provokes false tongues. Meaning this one thing a man or woman wants is acceptance, they do this by adapting to their surroundings. Put a man that wants acceptance in a Catholic church he will submit to their doctrine, set them in a baptist church and they will submit to those doctrines, and set them in a Pentecostal church and they will accept their doctrines.

Please imagine a man wanting acceptance standing in a church where everyone is/can speak in tongues, sadden by being different wish to fit in and so has a large group of men praying tongues over them gets into a emotional frenzy and begins to speak in tongues. All the while he is still falling into the same traps and skemes of Satan on top of the fact that once the emotional high wore off he felt just the same as he was before.

I believe Jimp's testimony is quite beautiful and I trust it is the truth, this testimony I would say shows us a good example of what biblical speaking in tongues is. I try not to get to hung up on the tongues thing though there are many mighty men of God that never spoke in tongues but their work on the earth was proof of their Love and hunger for Christ Jesus. I hope this helped in some way. :)

God Bless,
Matthew

If you want to understand the function of tongues, you must understand the function of parables. How are the two related? Listen carefully:

Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' (Matthew 13:10-15)

The secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to God’s elect. And to those who have faith, more will be given. But to those whose hearts are hardened against the Lord, who are destined for destruction, they will be ever hearing, but never able to understand. Parables are interpreted or divinely revealed to the children of the kingdom of heaven. Sounds familiar? Does Paul not command the Corinthians to be quiet unless there is an interpretation or a divine revelation? Why does Paul say that tongues should be practised as such in the church? Consider the fact that Paul emphasizes the greatest of gifts, which is love, in 1Corinthians 13. Consider the fact that Paul compares tongues and prophecy in 1Corinthians 14. What is the relationship between the three? We must ask ourselves the following question: “Am I using the gift of tongues to edify the body of Christ in love, or am I using the gift of tongues in a selfish way and trying to bypass God’s provisions in Christ to acquire special powers?” Uninterpreted tongues do not serve the body of Christ; but, interpreted tongues become a word of prophecy, knowledge, revelation, or teaching (1Corinthians 14:6).

Tongues without understanding is a sign of judgment unto those whose hearts are calloused and hardened. Tongues with understanding (prophecy) is a sign of blessing from God, sometimes piercing the heart with conviction of sin to bring to salvation, other times bringing encouraging revelation from God to the assembly of believers. That is why it is written: “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord." Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers (1 Corinthians 14:21-22).

Consider the fact that both the meaning of parables and the meaning of tongues comes from God’s dealings with rebellious Israel through Isaiah, and the ensuing judgment that would come through the Assyrian king (Isaiah 6:8-13; Isaiah 28:11-22). Now, it makes sense why the disciples would speak in the tongues of the Gentiles in the book of Acts, because judgment came upon calloused Israel, which has been broken off so that the Gentiles might be grafted into the olive root (Romans 11:11-32).

Tongues, then, should be practised in this context. Understanding this concept, and understanding the greatest gift of love, we should seek the edification of the body of Christ, rather than seeking special powers through an ecstatic experience. There is much misunderstanding of tongues in the church, and the evil one is taking advantage of this. At the very least, we must test the spirits (1John 4:1; 1Thessalonians 5:21-22). How can we test the spirits unless we understand what is being spoken? Do the tongues or does the message bring attention to the work of Christ, or does it bring attention to the person babbling, the powers that are sought, the ecstatic experience, or any other thing for that matter?

The Holy Spirit testifies to Jesus Christ, His person, His work, His salvation. A spirit that does not bring attention to Christ cannot be of God. With that being said, let us not forbid the speaking of tongues, but let us do it appropriately, in accordance with the revealed will of God.

Yours in Christ,
Renoncer

Amen Renoncer,

"By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." 1 John 4:13-16

The love of God, Jesus on the Cross, in our hearts, makes us more than a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. It is truly love shed abroad when we say of our wonderful savior with our brother Paul, this life I live by faith in the Son of God who, LOVED me, and GAVE himself for me.

OH we never cease to wonder at this amazing love. He first loved us. He always did. Even in our mothers womb. Even from the foundation of the world. His Love never ends.

Beloved as he hung on that tree, pierced for us, forsaken for us, it was love, a life laid down. And he took it back up again. His Father loves him. His father is our father. ABBA.

Brother,

(Thank you for the words of caution)

If you have never known anything about the gift of tongues, all of our testimonies converging on you at once can be overwhelming and confusing for you. I thought about adding mine but then the Lord reminded me of the following book.

This book is very balanced. It was written by a man who did not speak in tongues as an informative book but then they last 1/3 of the book, it was written by the same man who had received the gift!!

Here is the link for Amazon and in their used section; it is $1.78 plus 3.99 shipping... so like six bucks. (edit: don't forget to read the reviews there as well!)

http://www.amazon.com/They-Speak-Other-Tongues-Sherrill/dp/0800793595/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4

I highly recommend this book.

God bless you,
Lisa

I personally do not speak in tongues and therefore I may show some personal bias in what I say, but I trust it will be taken in good spirit.

Firstly is it OK to differentiate between the gift of tongues as witnessed at Pentecost whereby the Gospel was heard by men and women from different nations in their own language at the same time (Acts 2 v 4-6) and the 'modern' gift of tongues (Glossolalia) which is seen to be edifying for both believer (to build oneself up privately) and an assembly of saints (if an interpreter is present)?

If this differentiation is permitted then I would be raising questions about the second of the two. Would it be possible that this is nothing more than a manifestation of the flesh? N.B I'm only putting the suggestion out there for consideration. It's something that I suspect that's all, but I may be completely wrong. Those who've 'experienced' glossolalia may deem me naive and that's OK, I just feel there may be other believers in the same position as me who would appreciate the topic being discussed.

Renoncer mentioned 1 Corinthians 14:22 'Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers'. I can't help but think that the 'modern' gift of tongues is absolutely worthless as a sign to unbelievers. If witnessed by them would they not rightly label Christians as mad?

Another point I would make is that the New Testament church which seemed to be the largest possessor of the gift of tongues was the Corinthian church, but yet it was accompanied with a very immature level of spirituality (see 1 Cor 3 v 1-4)

Perhaps one day I will change my opinion and reconsider what I've just written. But at present I'm just calling it as I see it. I would align myself with the Moody Bible Institute's doctrinal statement

The Institute maintains that there is one baptism of the Holy Spirit that occurs at the time a person is born again, placing that one into the body of Christ. MBI also distinguishes between spiritual gifts distributed to believers to equip them for ministry and the "sign gifts" which are understood to have been manifestations of the Holy Spirit to authenticate the messenger and the gospel message during the foundational period of the church. Therefore, the Institute holds that "sign gifts" are not normative for the church today. While this institutional position is not and must not be a test of fellowship with those whose traditions differ, members of this community will not practice or propagate practices at variance with the Institute's position.

In Christ

David

hi, lysa is correct in what she said about this subject in that the book she told you about is solid as a rock and tells the truth with balance and love. most of the writers who have opined with a pure heart do not really know enough about this subject to comment including me compared to this well researched book.jimp

Hi Lysa,

The book you mentioned caught my eye. Can you tell me whether Brother Andrew or Corrie Ten Boom spoke in tongues. I think the book may have mentioned it if they indeed spoke in tongues before. Thanks.

On the one extreme, you have the cessationists who say that "speaking in tongues" is no longer a valid gift of the Holy Spirit.

On the other extreme, you have people who practise "pagan babble" but call it "speaking in tongues". Obviously, they do not test the spirits, do not interpret, and do not do any of this is any orderly manner.

At the center, you have people who practise the gift of tongues as a purposeful, meaningful, divine-given gift of the Holy Spirit, edifying the body of Christ and bringing attention to the Lord Jesus Christ (and not to themselves).

We must be aware of this spectrum when considering people's opinions about the gift of tongues. Test everything. Hold on to the good; avoid every appearance of evil. And keep growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we find the sufficient grace of God. If anyone tells you that you need to find some "other" experience apart from Christ, BEWARE...

Your servant in Christ,
Renoncer

please...who was it that said to tarry in jerusalem ...john baptized in water but I will baptize you in the Holy Ghost.Jesus is the baptizer in the holy Spirit... about one in one hundred use tongues in the gift of tongues...most use it as the prayer language that speaks to God...as in out of your bellies shall flow rivers of water...this He spoke of the Holy Spirit...paul said i wish that all would speak in tongues..paul also said that i speak in tongues more than you all...he also said i pray in the Spirit and i pray in the understanding also.read the book that lisa touted it will bless you.jimp

I agree jimp; it changed my life. I also highly recommend the book Lisa is referring, "They Speak with Other Tongues" by John L. Sherrill.

I just happened to be reading in Corinthians today and this verse just struck home:

1 Corinthians 14:21 - "In the law it is written, With [i]men of[/i] other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord."

I thank God for all His gifts; from the smallest to the greatest...

Let us hear what the Lord has to say.

Wayne

I agree jimp; it changed my life.

Everyone of them has said, "No one told me how beautiful this was." I was with a few that received and when they did, they immediately began to worship the Father; which causes everyone in the room to worship the Father too!

It has seriously changed their lives as it changed mine too.

I am grateful for God's unspeakable gift: Jesus - it's because of His sacrifice and blood I have been set free but I am also grateful for Him sending the Holy Spirit to comfort until He returns!

God bless you,
lisa

Pilgrim said:

Don't camp out there. Go deeper with God. Too many camp out there for their whole life.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the thing that we need to go deeper. Amen. It is only the beginning. We need to be in a state of continually being filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

David: I first want you to know that I am not replying for sake of argument, but rather to put some more information out there that might help. I have been raised in what may be considered the foundations of 20th century American Pentecost, so you can automatically see where my thinking lies on this issue. I believe very much in speaking in tongues.

First I do believe we can differentiate between the gift of tongues in operation in the sense of ministry to another and the praying or speaking in tongues exercised by a Spirit filled believer. If you read carefully, Paul, Peter, or Luke in the book of Acts never attributed the day of Pentecost, or the speaking in tongues of those of Cornelius’ household, or Paul’s personal praying in tongues as exercise of the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues is only mentioned as such in 1Cor. in the context of the 9 gifts of the Spirit. Peter on the day of Pentecost quotes Joel’s prophecy which seems to have nothing to do with the gifts of the Spirit, but rather of what will take place in the life of believers.

I believe from your comments that you accept the supernatural gift of tongue with interpretation as valid and of the Spirit. The question was whether we might consider the second, personal praying in tongues, as merely a manifestation of the flesh. First I might say, suppose it were. What would be the effects of it on the believer? I sometimes stir myself physically. I might, during a time of worship, clap my hands, dance a bit, prostrate myself before God, etc. These are obviously manifestations of my own flesh, but they serve to edify me. There is something about physical action in response to the Spirit of God that effects me in a positive way. Perhaps there are some who are really not filled with the Spirit who do manifest such a thing as “fake” tongues in their own flesh. I cannot say for sure. However, I do not believe tongues to be a manifestation of the flesh. First, Paul and Peter and Luke did not mention this as a fleshly manifestation, but as a reality. Second, having grown up in a Pentecostal movement, people I have personally known or who were personally known to my parents and grandparents have had instances of praying in a tongue unknown to them, not in a ministry context, but rather personal prayer who were overheard by someone who actually spoke the language that they were praying in and could tell them what they were praying. If it were simply a manifestation of the flesh, this could not have happened.

You mentioned 1 Cor. 14:22. If you look at the context of that statement you find that Paul is addressing what happens when tongues are in manifestation without interpretation. He had already established the equivalency of tongues and interpretation with prophecy. He is not saying, “don’t speak in tongues in the assembly”, but rather, “If you guys get together and all of you speak in tongues throughout the whole meeting, the unlearned will not understand what is going on and think you mad.” The same thing happened by the way for those who could not understand on the day of Pentecost. The ones who did not speak the languages spoken thought it was a bunch of drunkards speaking out of their minds. Peter had to correct that assessment of the situation.

The fact that there was spiritual immaturity in the Corinthian church does not negate the moving of the Holy Spirit among them. I think the charge of greater immaturity in that church than in any other is a bit overdone anyway. We know what was going on in the Corinthian church because Paul addressed it in writing. We don’t know what levels of immaturity were in the other churches because Paul did not address it. The fact that he did not address it is not proof that it was not there. Paul also opens his letter to the Corinthians by calling them saints and saying that they were sanctified. You and I are not as mature as we could be and will be if we continue steadfast in the faith, but that immaturity that is in us does not disqualify us from being used of God. If that were the case, no one could ever be used.

I obviously differ from the view held by the Moody Bible Institute. I believe they are my brothers in Christ and have seen some really awesome things happen through Moody. Many people are coming to faith in Christ because of them. Praise God for them. I just think they are mistaken in their view of the Holy Spirit and of the gifts and of tongues.

Praying in tongues is a great source of strength, edification, encouragement, power, and revelation in my life. I think it a vital and integral part of my walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not all about tongues, don’t get me wrong, but that does not diminish the power and importance of speaking in tongues in the life of a Spirit filled believer.

God’s blessings to you my brother in Christ.

Many thanks travis for your thoughtful reply to my comments. It was much appreciated. And everybody else for their thoughts. I feel travis dealt comprehensively with my concerns. I have a few more issues, but i'll pm you at a later time. I'm conscious of dragging this thread into a debate especially when the testimonies are so interesting. God bless you all. David.

Thank you for all the replies to the question!
For those that do not speak in tongues, how do you pray?
I mean prayer is the one of the most talked about things in the bible but how does one pray if you dont pray in tongues?
Do people just say the Lord's prayer over and over or read and pray out of Psalms like the Hebrews do?

For those that do not speak in tongues, how do you pray? I mean prayer is the one of the most talked about things in the bible but how does one pray if you dont pray in tongues? Do people just say the Lord's prayer over and over or read and pray out of Psalms like the Hebrews do?

Greetings

I have not read every post to this thread but as I have time I am going to try and go back and do so. To answer your above question I do not speak in tongues, but I do pray all the time. Several times a day I stop and seek the Lord in prayer, sometimes its just a simple "thank you Father" other times I share with Him the things on my heart or just tell Him how deeply I love Him and am so in awe of Him and all that He has done.

As for speaking in tongues this is still a huge question mark for me personally. About thirteen years ago I was attending a church and they taught on the gifts as well as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some brothers and sisters that we shared with during this time said that you had to speak in tongues in order to prove that you were baptized in the Holy Spirit. It was such a painful time for me. I became obsessed with praying and speaking in tongues because I felt like it was my fault, something I was doing wrong that this had not happened to me. Those around me kept saying your not really baptized and filled with the Holy spirit if you do not have your own prayer language and speak in other tongues. I was heart broken. I would put my little ones to bed and stay up late into the night praying, begging God to allow me to speak in tongues, I made huge long lists of every sin I could ever think of that I had committed in an attempt to clear any obstacle that might be between me and the Lord. Still night after night as tears flowed nothing happened. I was told to just begin praying and to make up silly words that I was inhibiting Gods giving me this gift because deep down I was self conscious of how I would sound or what others would think of me. I was told to just start speaking even if it sounded like gibberish because God would take over and fill my mouth with His words in another tongue. I did what I was told but it felt wrong it felt forced and I knew this wasn't from God. I couldn't understand why everyone else was being given this gift and why God had rejected me? The closeness I felt before with God was now almost completely gone. I prayed but not with the same eagerness of heart to sit at my Saviors feet and talk with Him. I became depressed and would spend hours crying out to God pleading with Him for this gift of tongues but the answer was always the same, nothing. Finally I came to a place where I just knew I was to stop trying to force this and I just went to bed that night giving thanks to God for His mercy and love. That night God finally answered my prayer that I had been asking about tongues. He showed me that I had become more desiring of the gift of tongues then I had been of knowing Him. I wanted the gift but had little care for the giver. I was immediately convicted in my heart that this was the case and I repented. After that night I changed the way I prayed and I began to ask the Lord to open my eyes to any sin in my life, to show me those things that were not of Him that I might walk with Him not out of a desire for tongues but just to simple "know Him" more deeply. God answered my prayers, I began to see things in my life, attitudes of my heart that were sinful and wicked. Things that were buried deep down in my heart, bitterness, selfishness, pride, and fear where all there before me as God revealed them and I spent time repenting and giving thanks for His mercy. As I trusted Him the sadness and depression went away and my faith returned. I spent more time in my Word reading seeking to know Jesus the person and that closeness I once had, returned to me. The more time I spent seeking to die to self and to know Jesus personally the deeper my understanding and desire to walk with Him was. Now I don't worry any more what men say about tongues I trust that God has what is best for me. If one day He chooses to give me this gift then I will walk by faith but if I spend my time sitting at His feet, just talking to Him, listening to Him, worshiping Him as I do now ...well that's pretty awesome too! For me knowing Him, just being allowed to talk to Him and know that He is listening is so much more then I could ever ask or hope for that I truly feel blessed to be in His presence.In fact there are many times when I come before Him that I am so over come with His love and the awesomeness of who HE is that I have no words at all to express, I sit at HIS feet and I am amazed by HIM!

I have prayed scripture at times too:) There are many occasions when I will stop, Father will show me that the attitude of my heart is not right and the scripture of not letting my heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin comes to mind and I have prayed that asking the Lord not to allow my heart to be hardened.

God Bless
maryjane