Part 2
I’m not talking about the situation outside the Church; I mean – WITHIN it! There are so many unbelievers who call themselves ‘believers’. If you believe in God, you must believe in His supernatural power. That is a prerequisite to receiving from God. Jesus always said that what people receive is according to their faith. If you don’t believe, you don’t receive. It’s as simple as that. Paul’s strident warning to shun those who don’t accept the power of God (2 Tim 3:5) contrasts sharply with the Churches of God today and many other dead groups who shut out the Spirit through human domination. They have reverted to an intellectual gospel only. The testimony of the apostles in Acts is much different:
God was fulfilling His promise through Jesus:
The believers who truly believe in the power of God, and accept it, are doing that today. Those who don’t have that strength of faith, don’t! They have replaced a spiritual union with Jesus with a substitute – giving allegiance to church leaders. That has killed true faith. They are deceived that they have faith in God, when all they have is mental acquiescence to some of what He says. These guys in Acts did what they did because they had union with Jesus through the Spirit. Hence they believed! Today’s leaders in dead churches, which shut out the Spirit through human control, have no evident supernatural power to their credit. Their ethos contrasts sharply with the apostles’:
“Full of faith and power” is what Jesus wants you to have. He promised:
So, we are now in the end time, near the close of this age, when greater works are being done, true to Jesus’ words! The dead are raised, supernatural power is shaking the Church, and power is flowing down. But only believers see it. Speaking in tongues is a widespread, although minor spiritual gift in comparison with the greater gifts. It fulfils Jesus’ words:
There are many today whom Jesus condemns because they don’t believe in tongues. They traduce it. In 2004, Mila Thompson received the following dream depicting God’s outpouring of His Spirit and how people react to it:
The dream illustrates a widespread problem. Most believers don’t recognise it when God begins His ‘new thing’ on earth. He promised to send Elijah the prophet before the end of the age. Here we are now at that time, and His Spirit is at work. He is restoring truth, pouring out His power in signs and wonders to confirm it, and the Church is opposing it or ignoring it. However, for the small minority at the moment who are receptive to the ‘new thing’ of the Spirit, God gives a greater infilling, an ‘anointing’ to accomplish His task. All the gifts of the Spirit are distributed to fulfil what He promised (Acts 1:8).
Either you believe that is still true today, or you don’t. And if you don’t, you are out of touch with reality and contradict what He promised (see Jn 14:12; Heb 13:8; Mk 16:17,18).
Speaking or praying in tongues is usually unintelligible speech. It’s not always a recognisable language. It has been called glossolalia and has many benefits. Here are some which Scripture mentions: 1. You are speaking to God when you speak in tongues, inspired by the Spirit. You are not speaking to man, unless the message is interpreted. 1 Cor 14:2. 2. You are edified by tongues. 1 Cor 14:4. 3. Your spirit prays when you pray in tongues; the words put there by the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 14:14. So you link up to the Spirit to receive in other ways also. 4. Zeal for tongues and other spiritual gifts, for the edification of the church, should be encouraged, said Paul. 1 Cor 14:12. By the gifts of God’s Spirit, spiritual growth and advancement takes place. He exhorted: Seek to excel in the gifts of the Spirit and to interpret tongues. 1 Cor 14:13. 5. Through praying in tongues, you intercede. How much was Paul praying in tongues? A lot! (1 Cor 14:18.) He must have interceded much! 6. ALL can prophesy, if they want to (14:31). Some will do so through tongues; some in common speech – but all can be moved by the Spirit. Tongues therefore encourages unity in the fellowship group. 7. Tongues is a desirable gift. Desire to speak by the Spirit, and don’t forbid to speak in tongues, Paul said. 1 Cor 14:39. Having said the above, tongues is NOT the most important spiritual gift. It’s actually the bottom rung of the ladder. There are more important spiritual gifts, in God’s overall scheme, but that doesn’t mean tongues should be neglected, rather the opposite! For many Christians tongues is the start of a wonderful adventure in the Spirit, opening a door for an intimate relationship with God. One caution: don’t use it mechanically, otherwise demons can influence it. Yield to the HOLY Spirit, and it will remain pure. It is to help birth holiness in you. Besides the four purposes of tongues which we mentioned in Part 1, here is another: 5. Tongues can achieve the unexpected. This incident happened in Coussouka, Upper Volta, Africa in the late 1960’s. It was reported by Missionary John Hall:
Also reported by John Hall was this incident:
God will bring down all the proud and lofty who don’t believe in tongues!
Malcolm B Heap,
February 2008 |
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