Tongues

C

Cosmicwaffle

I know this question has probably been exhausted on here before, but I got to know. What is the gift of tongues?

Is it being filled with the Holy Spirit speaking babble we can't understand, or is it an actual human language?

Is speaking in tongues so other people can here the gospel, or is it for the Holy Spirit to pray for you?

And most importantly is the modern view of tongues biblical and accurate?

I'd like to get some answers because I don't know if I believe in modern tongue-speaking. I tried it once before, during it I FELT like I was filled with the Holy Spirit, but then afterwards I questioned it, and now I think it is silly.
 
Cosmicwaffle said:
I know this question has probably been exhausted on here before, but I got to know. What is the gift of tongues?

Is it being filled with the Holy Spirit speaking babble we can't understand, or is it an actual human language?

Is speaking in tongues so other people can here the gospel, or is it for the Holy Spirit to pray for you?

And most importantly is the modern view of tongues biblical and accurate?

I'd like to get some answers because I don't know if I believe in modern tongue-speaking. I tried it once before, during it I FELT like I was filled with the Holy Spirit, but then afterwards I questioned it, and now I think it is silly.
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Paul has written about 2 kind of tongues.. Language of angels which men cannot understand.. And the kind of tongues at Pentecost where people spoke in languages of other people.. They serve different purpose..

How many people really speak in tongues? I do not know! Does it mean speaking in tongues have ceased? I don't find Biblical evidence to say so.. Should I be worried that I don't speak in tongues? NO!
 
Cosmicwaffle said:
I don't know why, but I get this hunch that repeating the same syllable over and over again is not how angels speak.
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Looks like all of them are Indians :D Yes, Hindus also have this practice.. Clearly there is plenty of demonic possessions in India..

At the same time, I personally don't speak in tongues.. So I can't second guess what it would be like..
 
In the New Testament we find the word 'tongues' gloce'-sah in the Greek 27 times, the word tongue 33 times and in every instance it refers to a language or dialect,

Strong's concordance #1100

gloce'-sah
Of uncertain affinity; the tongue; by implication a language (specifically one naturally unacquired): - tongue.

When we use the rule of first mentioned, tongues in the book of Acts is/are coherent languages,

And how do we each hear in our own dialect in which we were born Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking the great things of God in our own languages. Act 2:8-11

For me, Isa 8:19 is passed off in many instances as tongues in the church,

And when they shall say to you, Seek to the mediums and to wizards who peep and mutter; Isa 8:19

because that is what I'm hearing, also John 10:27 comes into play here, with the muttering and peeping I don't hear my Lord's voice, ...in actuality the hair on the back of my neck stands up and I sense danger. Combined with that, the people that are muttering and peeping, saying it's the Holy Spirit, are the most pompous carnal Christians I have ever met and are the least interested in studying the Word, they only come to church when it's an occasion for them to chatter, ...ask them to help or serve the flock, ...never!

To be fair there are some Christian men whom I respect very highly who say they have a prayer language, but they never pray in public.

I always wonder why someone would want to speak in a foreign language, it's a gift from the Holy Spirit, so why would He waste the gift if there wasn't anyone that would understand the language, on top of that, from a careful studying of tongues, those that received it didn't ask for it, it was given to them, and the three recorded instances of speaking in tongues is a fulfillment of where Jesus told the disciples to go and preach the Gospel, Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (Cornelius in Joppa), and to the end of the earth, Ephesus (12 men whom Paul laid hands on, which authenticates, by the Holy Spirit, he was the 12th Apostle).

My two cents.

Blessings,

Gene
 
I pray in the Spirit all the time...I would not trade one utterance of the Holy Spirit for the whole world of mans religion. Look guys I don't care who believes in this gift or who uses this gift or don't use it? But it may cost some of you a very high price for speaking against something that you don't understand.. There will be a day when you will answer for every idle word, and some of you need to understand the fear of the Lord. If someone says to me "I don't understand that" its sounds like nonsense to me.. or they don't believe that is a valid gift of the Holy Spirit... I can understand that...but when folks intentionally seek to ridicule a gift that is so clearly defined in the scriptures, I wonder at that? I can take the scriptures and prove this gift and NO ONE will be able to defeat my knowledge of the scriptures, or how the scriptures defend the nature of this gift...I have done it over and over on these forums, and never lost a debate on this issue...but I must admit I am tired of the debate and who cares what some folks think anyway? If I have a gift from God (and I do) why should I care what any man thinks about it...lol
 
I am not ridiculing tongues, I am just saying the modern tongues we have in the church today seems very strange. I don't have the boldness to speak things nobody understands.

1 Corinthians 14:13
Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
 
Cosmicwaffle said:
I am not ridiculing tongues, I am just saying the modern tongues we have in the church today seems very strange. I don't have the boldness to speak things nobody understands.

1 Corinthians 14:13
Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
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Is the gift being used appropriately is a quick question to answer.. No :) I have never seen tongues being interpreted in any church or revival meetings.. Everyone speaks in tongue.. But I don't see anyone claiming to have gift of interpretation.. That does not mean tongues don't exist.. It just means people with the true gift of tongues are very less in number..
 
Cosmicwaffle said:
I know this question has probably been exhausted on here before, but I got to know. What is the gift of tongues?

Is it being filled with the Holy Spirit speaking babble we can't understand, or is it an actual human language?

Is speaking in tongues so other people can here the gospel, or is it for the Holy Spirit to pray for you?

And most importantly is the modern view of tongues biblical and accurate?

I'd like to get some answers because I don't know if I believe in modern tongue-speaking. I tried it once before, during it I FELT like I was filled with the Holy Spirit, but then afterwards I questioned it, and now I think it is silly.
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It is something we should all desire 1 Cor 14:5. It is for edifying ourselves 1 Cor 14:4.

So now just work backwards. When you mumble something you do not understand, how is that edifying you?

We only speak in tongues in public if there is an interpreter so that we can all be edified 1 Cor 14:27-28. Its fine if the congregation as a whole speaks in tongues. Wiser to keep this to prayer meetings and not gospel / outreach sermons. As the unsaved will not be edified, but think you are mad.

When I pray in tongues many things go through my mind and the presence of the Holy Spirit becomes very real.

It is a gift. So many Christians simply do not have it. But like all gifts of the Spirit, we can't think any less or more of them.

It is a sign of having the Holy Spirit, but it is certainly not an essential one. It is often confused with a foreign language. But it is not a foreign language. It is speaking in the spirit. Something only a Christian can do.

1 Cor 14:2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
 
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I don't have the time to go into depth this morning, but you all check it out and ask the Spirit to teach you and see what He says.

The list of spiritual gifts in Romans 12 are gifts or talents given to us by the Holy Spirit, sometimes we can use them outside of the Church (as a natural talent to help others) as well as in the Church, the list in 1 Cor 12 is how the gifts are manifested at an appropriate time in the Church and the list in Eph 4 are the ministries of the gifts in the Church, which I believe Paul is showing us in 1 Cor 12,

1. Romans 12, ...But there are differences of gifts, but the same Spirit. 1Co 12:4
2. 1 Cor 12 ...And there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 1Co 12:5
3. Eph 4 ...And there are differences of workings, but it is the same God working all things in all. 1Co 12:6

And Paul explains to us in Eph 4 that the gifts are given for, ...the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Eph 4:12

and NOT for the pleasure or to draw attention to a particular person.

I have heard true speaking in tongues one time, and what I heard was loud like a trumpet, but not obnoxious, I can only describe what was said as if it was golden, majestic, pure, the pastor stopped the service and called for an interpretation and the interpretation had the same qualities as the speaking in tongues, and the interpretation glorified, magnified, exalted God, ...we heard the wonderful works of God, just like Acts 2:11, ...in both the speaking in tongues and the interpretation I knew in my spirit it was from the Lord, and at the same time I felt at such peace and loved.

What does Paul say is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: 1Co 14:22

This happened at a men's retreat and after the pastor gave an explanation, gave them the Gospel and invited the person for whom the Spirit had manifested the gift of speaking in tongues to stand up and receive Jesus Christ as his Savior, many, many men stood up and souls were added to the Church that night, ...just like is recorded for us in Acts 2, ...God is a God of order and He administers the gifts in order, we must remember it is the Spirit that gives gifts to the Church for an particular service and they are not something we can plug into and use when ever we desire to, the Gifts are real and the Church could not survive today without them, but they are for perfecting and edifying the Church and not to bolster someone's ego.

Blessings and have a good day in the Lord,

Gene
 
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