Spiritual Gifts: Tongues and Interpretation.
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4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord.
6 And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person.
7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:
8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit,
9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues.
11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.
Today we will look at Tongues and Interpretation.
Speaking in tongues is the utterance of prayer or of a message glorifying God, typically spoken to God, in a language that is unknown to the one speaking it.
To properly understand this gift, we need to begin with a brief history of language in the human race.
In the garden mankind had one language and was in direct communication with God, having perfect communion with Him.
Unfortunately, this relationship changed at the fall when Adam sinned against God and he and Eve were cursed and banished from Eden along with their descendants.
Mankind continued to have one language up until Genesis 11 where God confused their language and people were dispersed throughout the earth.
He did this because they had united together in one language and conspired to build a tower at Babel.
Their intention was to “make a name” for themselves and thus replace God in their hearts.
Pride is the birthplace of sin and regrettably fallen man has decided to use every advantage, including language, to usurp God’s authority and place himself upon a throne which is not rightfully his.
After God confused their language and scattered them across the earth, He chose one people with one language to bring Him glory and draw mankind back to Himself.
Abram, later called Abraham, was the one through whom God promised to bless “all the nations.”
Eventually, through the nation of Israel, the Hebrew language would be used to communicate God’s Word to the nations.
However, the rest of the world did not speak or understand this language and for the most part continued to remain ignorant of God’s plan of redemption.
Fast forward to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the people of God.
Here we see a glimpse of God’s reversal of the curse of divided languages.
In Acts 2 people from all over the world hear God’s people proclaiming His mighty works in their own languages.
This is the beginning of the redemption of language for its intended purpose: to glorify God and draw all people to Himself.
In heaven an innumerable group from every nation, tribe, people and tongue will join together to praise God with one language.
9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
11 All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
This is where tongues will cease as mentioned in.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
Why did God give this gift and what is its purpose?
Why did God give this gift and what is its purpose?
There are three expressions to the gift of speaking in tongues. Here’s how I’ve termed them:
1: The Personal Tongue
2: The Proof Tongue
3: The Prophetic Tongue
Though you won’t see those exact terms in the Bible, when you study the Scripture, you’ll clearly see that there are, in fact, three expressions to the gift of speaking in tongues.
The Personal Tongue
The Personal Tongue
1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.
2 For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.
3 On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.
4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
The personal tongue does not benefit others, but that doesn’t mean it holds no value.
I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you;
The Bible says, “A person who speaks in tongues builds up himself”.
The personal tongue is for self-edification, and it’s a heavenly language.
Those who use it aren’t speaking an earthly dialect; they are speaking mysteries—only God can understand them.
This personal expression of the gift of tongues strengthens you personally.
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How? How does Tongues build us up if we Dont know what we are saying?
Because it solves the problem that Paul warns us about:
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
Praying in the Spirit means that our prayers, our intercessions, our petitions are always right and in the will of God.
The Proof Tongue
The Proof Tongue
The second expression of the gift of tongues is the proof tongue.
Now this is the expression of tongues that is heard as an earthly language.
We see this demonstrated in Acts 2:
4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven.
6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
Many heard their own languages being spoken by the believers.
It was a true miracle.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowered the believers to be heard speaking in earthly languages they did not know.
Another “proof tongue” is when Tongues are interpreted.
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Pepole may ask “Why do tongues manifest in some meetings but then not manifest for a while and then again?”
Because Tongues as a sign are not for believers.
If on any given Sunday, only believers are present and the ministered Word is prophetically on point - well then there is no need for tongues since as a sign they are only for unbelievers.
Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.
The gift is a sign to the unbelievers; thus, I call it the proof tongue.
The Prophetic Tongue
The Prophetic Tongue
The prophetic tongue is the expression of the gift that is used in the context of a church assembly.
This gift, when used, commands the attention of the assembly of believers.
Because this expression of the gift can disrupt the flow of a church service if misused, Paul put some regulations on it:
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up.
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.
28 But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.
The prophetic tongue is meant to be spoken aloud in a gathering of believers.
The tongue is then to be supernaturally interpreted so that the believers present can be helped by the prophetic message.
Summery:
Summery:
Now, allow me to embolden the lines of distinction between the three expressions of this gift:
-1:
The personal tongue benefits the individual.
4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
The prophetic tongue benefits the Church
7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up.
The proof tongue benefits the unbeliever
22 Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.
-2:
The personal tongue requires no interpreter or interpretation to be beneficial to the individual
4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
The prophetic tongue requires an interpreter to benefit the Church
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up.
The proof tongue requires no interpreter for the interpretation to be understood by the unbeliever
8 How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language?
-3:
The personal tongue is understood by no one but God
2 For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.
The prophetic tongue is understood by the Church with the aid of an interpreter
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.
The proof tongue is supernaturally understood by the unbeliever
8 How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language?
One gift, three expressions. Each expression serves a different purpose.
The Gift of Interpretation:
The Gift of Interpretation:
The gift of interpretation is not like our modern concept of interpretation.
An interpreter is a person who can speak both languages and can thus translate what is said in one to the other.
Interpretation is not translation.
The gift of interpretation is not an ability to understand and translate Tongues.
It is the ability to hear with their spirit by the empowering of the Holy Spirit - the informational content of the Tongue and express that information in their own language.
Interpretation, prophecy, wisdom and knowledge all have a powerful thing in common....
NONE of them are “revalation” - that is: None of them will EVER present or reveal ANYTHING that has not ALREADY been revealed in Holy Scripture.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Testing and Evaluating the manifestation of Spiritual Gifts is the duty of every Christian.
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Why?
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.