Think Maturely about Speaking in Tongues
The Lord spoke to me in prophecy. “Take off the diapers! Think maturely about speaking in tongues.”
Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature (1 Cor 14:20 NASV 1995).
This verse about tongues is in the center of a Bible teaching about speaking in tongues.
Read the same Scripture from the Living Bible. Dear brothers, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things [speaking in tongues]. Be innocent babies when it come to planning evil, but be men of intelligence in understanding matters of this kind.(1 Cor 14:20 The Living Bible).
Jesus Christ gave me the gift of speaking in tongues in 1963. I think it was ’63, maybe it was ’62. Tongues and the Holy Spirit mean more to me now than ever. Wonderful gifts! Yes!
Reflect with me, please, on 60 years of praying or speaking in tongues.
Jesus Christ is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. He is the Pre-emanate One. There exists no rival to Him in wisdom. When He founded His church, He did not give all the gifts--He gave only one: speaking in tongues.
What is the significance of the fact that when the ascended Christ gave the Holy Spirit (invisible), He gave only speaking in tongues (visible and audible) as He laid the foundation of the church?
Christ Jesus Chose the Holy Spirit and Speaking in Tongues to be the Foundation of the Christian Church
We recognize Pentecost Sunday as the beginning of the Christian church. What happened on Pentecost? How did Christ form the church? He poured out the Holy Spirit complete with tongues! Never forget the tongues.
Think intelligently about this! Think maturely about Christ's action. Think intelligently about speaking in tongues. Without tongues there would be no Christian church! God chose tongues along with the Spirit to begin His church. Tongues are key to our beginning. Tongues are essential to our identity. Tongues are part of our DNA. Dwell on this fact.
Tongues are not an add-on. Nor is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Together they are essential to the foundation of the church.
I was born to Rognar F. Anderson and June N. Anderson in 1942, Their chromosomes are in my body and blood. Nothing can ever change that fact. That is my DNA.
In the same way, the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are part of the DNA of the church. Nothing can ever change that fact.
What about your church? Is your church built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit?
Think Maturely: Jesus Chose the Holy Spirit and Tongues as Inseparable Gifts to His Church
Tongues and the Holy Spirit came together. They came together at the same time. Not separately. Not one hour or one day or one minute apart. Jesus gave tongues and the Holy Spirit together.
Tongues are not an add-on. Some people consider tongues as merely a useful appendage. Think seriously about this connection. On Pentecost Sunday, Jesus gave the Spirit and tongues simultaneously. The Spirit and tongues are Siamese twins. When you receive one, you receive the other. As the apostle Robert Ewing used to say, ” When you get a new pair of shoes, tongues come with it!”
Reread Acts Chapter 2. Did the Spirit and the tongues not come together? Read Acts 10:44-47. Read Acts 19:1-7. They come together.
Think Maturely: Jesus Chose the Holy Spirit and Tongues as Inseparable Gifts to His ChurchDoubtless, some who know the scriptures will think of Acts, chapter 8 where some Samaritans were being saved and healed and the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them. True. Neither had they spoken in tongues. Yet, when the apostles came and laid Spirit-filled hands on them, they were receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17).
The scripture does not explicitly say the Samaritans spoke in tongues, yet something happened so dramatic and obvious that Simon the magician offered “cash on the barrelhead” so he could have this same power as the apostles.
What about other scriptures like Romans 8:9 that claim you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit? There is no indication that those individuals spoke in tongues. True, yet remember the letter to Romans was written to the Spirit-filled tongue-talking saints who resided in Rome. In fact, all the churches in the New Testament were Spirit-filled and speaking in tongues.
Jesus Gave the Holy Spirit and Tongues to Lift the church out of the Solely Natural into the Supernatural Realm
Do you want to live in the supernatural?
Before Pentecost--before the Holy Spirit and tongues were given-- leaders cast lots for guidance. After tongues and the Holy Spirit were given, leaders received direct guidance from the Spirit.
Tongues are the gateway to the supernatural.
Think Maturely about Speaking in Tongues: Speaking in Tongues Generates Prophecy
Prophecy is the spiritual gift the Bible promotes above all others.
Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more [than you are doing now][in order] that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying. (1 Cor 14:5 NASV 1995).
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1Cor 14:1 NASB 20).
Think Maturely: The Holy Spirit and Tongues are Both a Gift from God
Think Maturely: Tongues Give Evidence of the Resurrection
Whoa. . . ! Did you ever think about this?
This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. Acts 2:32-33
Jesus did not "pour out" the Spirit until He was raised from the dead and had taken His place on the throne in heaven.
Think Maturely: You’ve Got to Use Tongues to Get the Benefits
I have visited with some people who have only spoken in tongues once or twice. I have also visited with a few folks who have stopped using their God-given gift of tongues.
This surprises me because at this stage of my life, I'm praying in tongues more than at any time in the past. I want more power, more revelation, more prophecy, more abundance, more of Jesus. To get the benefits of tongues, we have to use the gift.
I recently challenged myself to spend one hour by the clock praying in tongues. The first thing I noticed--God helped me supernaturally with the plumbing in the house. (I am not naturally gifted as a plumber.) By God's mercy, I was able to clear a stubborn drain!
We can't expect to benefit if we don't use the gift! On the other hand, Jesus promised, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you."
Try and see!
"The Correction for Misuse of Tongues is NOT Disuse, but Proper Use"
I first heard that quote from Larry Christiansen. Pastor Christiansen was a wise, experienced Spirit-filled leader in the Lutheran Church. I once sat in a small group of pastors in Muscatine, Iowa. Each and every pastor in that group reported that he had learned something from this man.
Think Maturely about Speaking in Tongues: Jesus Believed the Holy Spirit and Tongues are Indispensable for Service.
How do we know Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues were necessary prior to originating a ministry?
Because He said so. Addressing His twelve disciples, after gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5
Sometimes we take Jesus seriously, sometimes not. When I was in training, my mentor in Little Rock, Arkansas took Jesus very seriously. Mel Amerine, was an example of a man who thought maturely about speaking in tongues. Brother Mel would not even allow someone to run the church sound system until they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues!
Think Maturely about Speaking in Tongues
To think intelligently about tongues, you have to experience it for yourself. It's like mariage in this. Many are experts in marriage advice--until they tie the knot!
What difference does speaking in tongues actually make? To be honest, for some--None! Plus, some receive tongues and then quit using the gift. For them, it may make no difference.
But there is a difference whenever someone gets filled with the Spirit and continues speaking in tongues.
I've been thinking a lot about this lately.
Tongues penetrates the natural/supernatural barrier. Tongues ushers a believer into the supernatural realm and allows him/her to live in that realm.
Here's an example. In 2013, I was down with inoperable, stage 4 cancer. It was so bad, I was wearing diapers. I was nearly a vegetable. Men of faith had given me up for death. Then one night as I meditated on the Scriptures God spoke to me, "You are healed!" I didn't tell anyone. The next morning, my wife announced, "You are healed! God showed me you are healed."
Tongues breaks the shell of protection around the soul. Tongues removes the sheaf of "in-authenticity" around the soul. Therefore, because of the Holy Spirit and His penchant for whispering to us, tongues makes one more vulnerable.
I am struggling to articulate the difference the Spirit and speaking in tongues makes. I can't describe it well. The difference can only be experienced.
Jesus is holding out His hand. He is offering you the experience. . .