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Are Prayer Tongues The Evidence Of The Baptism Of The Spirit?
Should Every Believer Speak In Prayer Tongues?
●Introduction
●How Many Different Kinds Of Tongues Are There?
CONTENTS
Introduction
1. How Many Different Kinds Of Tongues Are There?
2. What Are The Purposes Of Speaking In The Gift Of Tongues?
3. Can A Tongue Spoken Be Either A Foreign Language Or An Ecstatic Utterance?
4. Can What Is Expressed In The Exercise Of The Gift Of Tongues Be Learned?
5. When The Gift Of Tongues Is Exercised What Will It Talk About?
6. Is The Gift Of Tongues Still In Operation Today?
7. Is There Such A Thing As Prayer Tongues?
8. What Is The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit?
9. What Is The Difference Between The Indwelling Of The Spirit And The Filling Of The Spirit?
10. Are Prayer Tongues The Evidence Of The Baptism (Filling) Of The Holy Spirit?
11. Should Every Believer Speak In Prayer Tongues?
Tongue Tied
Endnotes
Introduction
The gift of tongues could be one of the most controversial topics for the New Testament believer. There are many questions that are associated with it. Here are some of the few: Is this gift still in operation today?
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Does every believer have the gift of tongues?
Can the gift of tongues be learned?
Are there angelic tongues?
Is there such a thing as a prayer tongue?
Is the speaking in prayer tongues the evidence of the baptism (filling) of the Holy Spirit?
There are some churches that would answer yes to these questions and others that would answer no. I am going to try and supply you with the reasons behind the yes or no answers. This might provide you with a reaffirmation of your own belief or it might equip you with a clearer understanding as to why the contrary view to your belief appears to be more solidly founded on scripture. My hope is that you will not be afraid to look at a perspective on any topic that is different from the viewpoint that you have been taught.
What should you be afraid of?
If we are firmly grounded in what we believe concerning a topic, then we should be able to read about a viewpoint on this topic that is different from ours. By looking at a different way in which a topic is presented, will allow us to understand the scriptural reasoning that supports the different viewpoint. If we come into contact with a fellow believer, who adheres to this different viewpoint, we should be able to have a healthy dialogue about it, instead of a divisive interaction. Some of us, who are reading this study, might not have any teaching on this topic at all. So, sit back, read the various sections, study them for your-self, and become more familiar with this topic.
I do understand that most churches have basic doctrinal views, which they would denote as being absolute. Another word, their perspective on these biblical topics, according to them, is also God’s viewpoint, and that is final. I myself have certain doctrinal perspectives, which I consider foundational to my faith such as:
●The pure gospel involves repenting of one’s sins to God the Father and believing in his Son, who as God, came to earth in the form of a man by being born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross paying the penalty for sin and forgiving sin, rose from the dead after three days never to die again, remained on earth in his glorified body for 40 days being a witness of his resurrection to over 500 people, and ascended into heaven.
●The goal of the Christian walk should be to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. In order for this to take place a believer needs to have their mind renewed by replacing human perspective with divine perspective. This will cause the Holy Spirit to become operational in their life thus filling them with Himself.
And I’m sure that just like you, I do have strong opinions concerning many biblical topics such as (e.g. tithing, eternal security, the salvation process, personal sanctification, water baptism, etc.). However, I am willing to listen to a different viewpoint that another believer has on any of these topics, and have an open dialogue on such.
When it’s all said and done, I think that the most important issues in our Christian walk are:
Is the Holy Spirit living inside of me?
Am I growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ?
Am I learning how to address areas of human strength and weakness?
Is the Holy Spirit guiding and directing my life?
Am I becoming aware of what gift or gifts the Holy Spirit has given to me?
Are these gifts being used to edify the body of Christ?
I hope this study on the gift of tongues enlightens you about this topic and serves to dispel any misconceptions that you may have about it.
CHAPTER 1
How Many Different Kinds Of Tongues Are There?
There are different kinds of tongues, which are mentioned in the bible. Let’s take a look at them and see what each one is all about.
A. The Natural Tongues or Languages
There are the natural tongues or languages, which the many cultures of the population speak (e.g. Italian, German, etc.).
The bible indicates that the peoples of the earth initially spoke the same language however; in their attempt to build a particular structure with a particular purpose God thwarted their plans.
After their families, after their tongues:
Suggested Reading: Genesis 11:1-9
Following the flood Noah’s three sons had families, which repopulated the earth. Eventually they relocated to a plain in the land of Shinar. At this time they were of one language and of one vocabulary. They had a collective desire to build a city and a tower (temple) that could reach heaven. This complex, called a ziggurat, would have to have been an enormous structure that would simply be comprised of a series of stairs designed to reach the heavens, the sky, the place where gods were thought to dwell. At the top of each section of staircase would be a bed, table, and food the idea being that this would provide a place of rest and refreshment when the gods descended from the sky to the earth. So what this says in my mind is that the people wanted to get in touch with God. What this shows is man’s attempt to find God and their unawareness that having a personal relationship with Him was not going to be accomplished in this manner.
If we were to take a look at God’s relationship with Noah of whom these people were his ancestors the scriptures would state the following.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8)
Noah found grace (the favor of God; God’s response to saving faith) in the sight of God. Another word God revealed himself to Noah and Noah believed in Him. But this was not all that was said about him. He was mentioned as being a just (righteous; blameless in character and conduct; having integrity) man and perfect (always obeyed God). As a result he walked (had continual communion; had fellowship) with God.
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
This is what God wants, not someone building a tower in order to try to reach him, but an inward tower. We can’t find God through human efforts, but He finds us and gives us an opportunity to respond to his invitation for salvation. After which he declares to those who have believed in him his plan for their life. In Noah’s case God wanted him to build an ark in order to preserve a few from the impending flood which was to come that would destroy most of mankind, and in particular remove the wickedness that had permeated man-kinds thoughts, words, and actions to such a degree that if the flood had not occurred it was possible that there would not even be a small remnant left who would follow Him. So God’s means of communicating to Noah was by words spoken to his mind and probably to which only he could hear.
So the Lord decided to come down to the earth and see the city and tower for himself. His comment concerning it was that it was based on evil plans and schemes, because anything that man attempts to do in trying to find God and attain his approval through self-effort is considered evil. In order to abrupt or cause this project to be halted the Lord confounded (put in disorder) their language. This carries the idea of the people not being able to understand one another. Considering the massive building project it would probably have taken all of the people to build it. Now a large segment of the population could not understand one another.
A few years ago I volunteered to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity on the island of Haiti. A total of about 600 plus volunteers from all over the world attended. When we arrived at the worksite where we were to build 100 houses the group broke up into teams of about 8-10 for every two houses. Along with this a family member, who would eventually live in each house, was obligated in assisting with its construction. On one of the days I was asked to work with a male owner, who spoke Creole. I didn’t understand one word of what he spoke and neither did he understand one word of English. I tried to communicate to him with hand gestures as best I could. When I tried to get him involved with carpentry I had to literally show him by example what I wanted him to do. This was so time consuming that we got very little done. Here we have an example as to how different languages can impact a building project.
The natural result of this confusion was that the peoples with different languages scattered (parted from one another). The city and the story associated with it, was called Babel, meaning to confound or to confuse. The Lord confused the people from mingling together and in continuing on in working together by means of producing new languages, because their deed of building this temple was evil (man’s attempt to find and reach God).
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
B. Angelic tongues:
As I grew in the Lord at some point I heard someone read a scripture which said that the apostle Paul spoke in the tongues of men and of angels. I thought this must have been a mistake. I had never heard of a believer speaking in an angelic tongue. I would assume that an angelic tongue is a tongue or language which is unique to angels.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13:1)
But why would a believer want to speak in an angelic tongue?
If one were to take another look at this verse some interesting thoughts would come out of it. Apparently if someone spoke in a foreign tongue (tongues of men) other than their own this would be regarded as something valuable. Likewise, in the Corinthian church if someone in leadership had what was called the gift of tongues, which we will talk about next, this would be considered as something that gave them value before the assembly. This verse starts off with the word “Though” which also means “If”. According to the Koine Greek of which most of the New Testament was written, the word “If” could have one of four meanings based on what is called the condition that it was in. This word is in a third class condition meaning if, maybe yes or maybe no. Another word what Paul was saying was maybe if I spoke in a different human language or an angelic tongue or maybe if I didn’t, and have not God’s love then this would be like playing a musical instrument such as a wind instrument made out of brass or a cymbal, such if either was without harmony or melody they would contribute nothing to the welfare of others. It’s possible that the apostle Paul never spoke in an angelic tongue, but simply used the declaration of it as an example to convey that even if a believer could speak in a foreign tongue or even in a tongue that would be considered as the pinnacle of speaking in tongues if this was done without charity, then it would profit them nothing.
C. The gift of tongues:
The word “gift” refers to a divine empowerment, which is distributed by the Holy Spirit to each believer. Some receive only one gift while others receive more than one. A gift is not a talent. A talent is received at natural birth. A spiritual gift is received at spiritual birth. Some believe that there could be as many as 15 different spiritual gifts.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: (1 Corinthians 12:7,10)
This particular gift involves a believer speaking forth words in a known language, which was unknown to them, that God wanted to be conveyed in order for the church to be edified. In order for the church to be edified someone needed to be able to interpret what was said in the language of the people present, otherwise they wouldn’t receive edification. There is another gift called the gift of the interpretation of tongues, which would operate in this manner.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (1 Corinthians 12:7)
Some believe that this gift was first exercised on the day of Pentecost. What is the day of Pentecost?
And they…began to speak with other tongues:
Suggested Reading: Acts 2:1-41
The day of Pentecost was the 50th day following seven weeks of grain harvest for the Jews. Many Jews would attend this feast from all parts of the world having over time learned the language of the country they were residing in. For the Christians this was a special day when the promise of the Holy Spirit, would come and indwell the disciples (about 120) in an upper room in Jerusalem. Almost immediately after the indwelling of the Spirit the disciples began to speak with other tongues.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)
This word “tongues” is from the Greek word gloosais,which means unintelligible sounds. Another word the sounds were unintelligible to the person, who spoke them. The specific tongue to which this referred to was unveiled when the all those Jews, who attended this feast, each heard a tongue spoken in their own language by the disciples. This is supported by the word “language” that is taken from the Greek word dialektoo, which means the tongue or language peculiar to any people.
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 2:6)
In this case the use of the gift of tongues was different in the sense that, because of the diversity of languages present there was no need for the gift of the interpretation of tongues. Each disciple spoke in a tongue unknown to them, but known to some of the hearers. In a different setting, such as in a church assembly, where most of the people would speak one language, the tongue (foreign language) that was unknown to both the speaker and the hearers would be declared in the language of the hearers by someone with the gift of interpretation.
D. Unknown tongue:
What is an unknown tongue? An unknown tongue could be a tongue, which is simply unknown to the speaker. It could also be a tongue that was unknown to the hearers if there was no one who had the gift of interpretation.
An example of an unknown can be found in contrast to the gift of prophesy.
He that speaks in an unknown tongue:
1 Corinthians 14:1-4
Apparently in the Corinthian church there were two concerns in relation to the gift of tongues. Some were exercising it at various times during prayer, while singing (a singing tongue), or when the assembly of believers gathered during worship without there being an interpreter present. Thus without an interpreter the church would not receive edifying (building up). There also was a concern with some of those who had this gift that they were choosing to only exercise it while alone, thus receiving personal edification and exhilaration in the sense of being the object of God’s grace and offering praise to Him, but depriving the church of its common benefit.
Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. 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. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
So if a believer has the gift of tongues and there is no one available who has the gift of interpretation of tongues, whether they were with other believers during prayer, when singing, with the assembly during worship service, etc., then they should not speak forth the tongue. In this case they should speak it to themselves silently and inwardly thus giving thanks to God.
But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. (1 Corinthians 14:28)
There are some who will say that the word “tongue” gloosais doesn’t refer to a foreign language, but unintelligible sounds. While this is true the context will reveal what this “tongue” is actually referring to. For example in the following verse we see the words “in an unknown tongue”. In the Greek these words are gloossee, which mean in an unintelligible sound. However, by reading the rest of the verses which follow it’s clear in context that “in an unknown tongue” refers to a foreign language.
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. (1 Corinthians 14:2)
I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. (1 Corinthians 14:5)
E. Ecstatic utterance:
What is an ecstatic utterance? An ecstatic utterance is the transmission of sounds, which you could also call gibberish, unintelligible, or babbling in a non-existent language. Some have given different names for ecstatic utterances such as the language of the spirit or the language of heaven. Some believe that in some instances when the word “tongue” is used it could mean the transmission of unintelligible sounds in a non-existent language. Is there any example of this in scripture? We will take a look at this in an upcoming chapter and see if this is so.
One example that I found, which is not in scripture, has to do with the worship of Apollo. It’s interesting that there was a lot of discussion about tongues in the book of 1 Corinthians. There was a pagan shrine (oracle) located at Delphi, a town to the northwest of Corinth, where a mythological snake named Python that guarded it was killed by the god Apollo. Apparently there was a false prophetess there named Pythia, who being possessed by a demon that controlled her vocal chords would speak in frenzied utterances. It is believed that following this her attendants would translate these sounds.
Pretty interesting! Now that we know there are five descriptions of tongues the next question to consider is, what is the purpose of the gift of tongues? Do you know that there is more than one?
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Questions and answers about the Holy Spirit.
1. What is meant by “The Baptism of The Spirit?” Is there a difference between being indwelt by the spirit and being baptized by the Spirit?
Answer: The scripture that makes this absolutely clear is found in I Corinthians 12: 13. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
When we made that decision to follow Christ He placed within us the Holy Spirit in order for us to be able to live the Christian life... By His inward working we begin a life of progressive growth and the ideal is for us to progress toward functional maturity. It is not God’s will for us to remain in Spiritual infancy, but progress to usefulness .That’s what the Holy Spirit does for us. Besides coming to dwell in us He also does something else at the same time. He now takes us and numbers us with all the other Christians (regardless of their denominational ties) and we are counted as part of the body of Christ with all other true believers. It is called the invisible body but it is still real. So when we are Baptized into the body of Christ it is the Holy Spirit who is doing the Baptizing. One way to explain the word Baptism is to use the word “envelop”. Like the letter is placed into the envelope (enveloped) so are we enveloped by the Holy Spirit. As the envelope is placed into the mailbox, so are we by the Holy Spirit placed into the invisible body of Christ. Like John the Baptist baptized in visible water so the Holy Spirit Baptizes in invisible water (figuratively speaking.) The word Baptize in this sense means to immerse so we can say that the Holy Spirit envelops (or immerses) us and places us into the body of Christ.
The Baptism by the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ takes place at the same time.
2. In Acts chapter two, it tells us that when the disciples were filled with the Spirit, they all began to speak in tongues. I understand that this is what is to happen to prove that one is anointed or Spirit filled. Is this true?
One of the problems with interpreting scripture is not examining the whole context. It is true that after the disciples were filled with the Spirit, they did speak in tongues, but there is more to this text. Being filled with the spirit and speaking in tongues is not the main focus of this section of scripture. In Acts chapter two, eight wonders took place and they were all evidences that the Holy Spirit had arrived. I will list each briefly.
1. God kept His promise and sent the Holy Spirit to the 120 disciples as they waited for His arrival.
2 .For the first time, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were now empowered to properly do the work of the ministry.
3. The next thing that happened was that they were equipped with a message and a ministry. They were given a language that they did not know or understand. This was part of God’s method.
4. Interest was aroused. The crowd hearing them could not understand the mystery that was taking place and what was happening caught their attention. Another proof of the Holy Spirit’s working.
5. God took the message that these men, without prior education uttered, and interpreted it to the ears of the crowd and each person through the power of the Holy Spirit heard the message of the Gospel proclaimed in their own language
6, Peter then, through the anointing of the Spirit, began to speak and through His message, helped the people to understand more clearly, what was happening. Once they understood then the final two steps took place.
7. Upon hearing the message and gaining understanding, then conviction took place. They cried out “men and brothers what shall we do?” And Peter instructed them.
8. Finally this is the most important evidence of the working of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand souls were saved.
The real evidence of the Holy Spirit working was not speaking in tongues. but the conversion of souls, There are many who claim the baptism of the Holy Spirit but it doesn’t result in others finding salvation.
So what happened that day at Pentecost? Obeying, Empowering, equipping, arousing interest, understanding, conviction and conversion. All eight were a part of what happened that day. God uses all of these today to bring men to Christ.
3. What about the other times in the book of acts where speaking in tongues accompanied the filling of the Holy Spirit? Isn’t this proof?
Once again examining the context to understand why it happened is important. There are three other places where this experience is noted, and they all have one purpose in common.
Let’s examine each.
Acts 4:31 tells us that the place was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit filling them, caused them to speak the word boldly (without fear or reluctance). In this case we are not told that tongues accompanied the filling and to assume it to be so is adding to the scripture
.Acts 10:46, Explains that the gentiles who visited Peter upon receiving the gospel were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues. In the context Peter was having a problem with gentiles becoming Christians. The purpose of the tongues at that time was a sign to Peter that uncircumcised gentiles could be saved. In this case it was an outward sign of their conversion. Again this sign did not happen as a regular part of the ministry but in this case was limited to that occasion.
Acts 19:6 Is the fourth and final time that speaking in tongues is mentioned. At this time, Paul the Apostle at Ephesus encountered disciples of John the Baptist, who were believers but had not heard about the Holy Spirit. Paul laying hands upon them, prayed and they received the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues and also to prophesy. Once again the speaking in tongues confirmed the reception of the Holy Spirit. It was used as a means to assure them of their acceptance by God.
No-one questions that these events took place. In the formation of the early church signs and miracles happened often. Their purpose was to authenticate or give evidence that they were true servants of God. These were all done prior to the completion of the scriptures. This does not water down the possibility of God performing miracles and giving signs today. It is not the normal procedure but faith in the Word of God is. Paul states that signs are for unbelievers and not for those who have the word as a foundation for their faith (I Corinthians 14:22)
4. What about the Passage in I Corinthians 14: 4 where Paul expressed the desire that all of them would speak in tongues.
This is a good example of not reading the context. Chapter fourteen of I Corinthians is part of a whole string of problems connected with the church at Corinth. Paul was addressing the subject of speaking in tongues as an abuse not a virtue. The context of that whole chapter bears this out. First there appears to be a division. Some practiced tongues and some did not. I would not be surprised if those who did classified themselves as more informed and Spirit filled. In the whole chapter, Paul speaks of the importance of clearly communicating the message so others could come to understanding and be saved. When Paul said “I would that ye all spoke in tongues,” He also said “but rather that you prophesy”. It is evident that not all of those believers spoke in tongues and there was a division between the have’s and have not’s. Here is how I would paraphrase Paul’s word to explain the meaning. “If speaking in tongues were a major issue, I would wish that for all of you, but since it is not, I recommend that you spend your time speaking with understanding so all may benefit.” Paul speaks of the importance of interpreting what is said in the tongue. Most people that i have encountered do not know what they are saying when they speak in tongues.
Tongues in I Corinthians 14, is not suppose to be a standard that we follow but an abuse that we should avoid.
5. How may we determine if those who preach the Gospel are anointed servants of God if they do not speak in tongues?
Since scripture does not associate truth with speaking in tongues, it is not necessary to determine who is anointed by this standard. The true measure of an anointed servant includes a teachable spirit, in seeking to know and declare truth, a heart that loves people and is not self serving in his ministry. a person genuinely concerned about the lost, and seeks to improve on how to reach them. The book of I Timothy and Titus give a clear understanding of what an anointed minister should be. (Tongues is not even mentioned)
6. What are the scriptural evidences of being filled with the Spirit?
This is the easiest of all to answer. Being filled with the spirit is evidenced by the fruit of the spirit manifest in every Christian. There are gifts of the Spirit connected with ministry but the fruit of the Spirit speaks of the inward character produced by the Holy Spirit. These fruit are to be manifest when we use our ministries as well. If the fruit of the Spirit is absent from ministry then we can question the authority of the minister. The fruit of the spirit is mentioned in Galatians 5: 22, 23. “The fruit of the Spirit is; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self control; against such there is no law.”
When we concentrate on developing the fruit of the Spirit, the ministry of the Spirit will follow automatically. It is the fruit of the Spirit that brings men to Christ.
Although this booklet cannot contain all that there is to know about the Holy Spirit, it is my prayer that God will use this book to create understanding and help you to grow in Grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him Be the honor.