The Holy Spirit (6)

Acts 2:4 ESV

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

1 Corinthians 14:4 ESV

The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

John 14:16–17 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Romans 8:26 ESV

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Jude 20 ESV

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak in Tongues Part1

Central Truth: Speaking in Tongues is a flowing stream that should never dry up; it will enrich your life spiritually

The Apostle Paul wrote and spoke at length on the subject of speaking in tongues. He apparently practiced wht he preached, because he said 1 Cor 14:18, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.”

I too thank God that I speak in tongues regularly, and I wish every believer might know this blessing and source of power in their daily Life.-

Everyday I pray in tongues

The Purpose of these next two lessons is to show the major reasos why every believer shoul speak in tongues, and to help Christians see the blessings that can be theirs through appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit daily.

Reason One- Tongues is the Initial Sign

Acts 2:4, “And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,* as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.”

The Word of God teaches that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives utterance.

Tongues is the initial EVIDENCE OR SIGN OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

therefore the first reason is because this is the supernatural sign or evidence of the Spirit’s indwelling

The Example of Acts 10- The Jewish believers who went with Peter to Cornelius’ house were astonished when they saw that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles

They thought it was just for the Jews

how did the Jews Know that Cornelius’ household had received the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Acts 10:46, “For they heard them speaking in other tongues* and praising God.”

Speaking in tongues was the supernatural sign that convinced them that the Gentiles had the same Gift!

Reason Two- Tongues for Spiritual Edification

1 Cor 14:4 “A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.

NKJV “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”

When Paul writes to the Corinthian Church, He encourages the believers to continue their practice of speaking in tongues with other tongues in worship and their prayer lives, for spiritual edification or for building up!

He doesn’t tell them not to do it or to stop

1 Cor 14:2 For if you have the ability to speak in tongues,* you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit,* but it will all be mysterious.”

ESV, “For w 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.”

The Weymouth’s translation says, “He Speaks divine secrets.”

Paul is saying here that God has given the Church a divine, supernatural means of communication with Himself!

1 Cor 14:14, “For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying. “

The AMP “For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the h Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody].”

My spirit (by the Holy Spirit within me) prays.”

God is Spirit. When we pray in tongues, our spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit.

We are talking to Him in a divine Supernatural means

Howard Carter, who the general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain for many years and founded the oldest Pentecostal Bible School in the World said we must not forget that speaking with other tongues is not only the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit’s infilling; it also is a continual experience for the rest of one’s life. For what purpose? To assist us in Worship of God.

speaking in tongues is a flowing stream that should never dry up; it will enrich your life spiritually

Reason Three- Tongues Remind us of the Spirit’s Indwelling Presence

John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,* who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”

Continuing to pray and worship God in tongues helps us to be ever conscious of His indwelling presence.

If I can be conscious of the Holy Spirit every day, it is bound to affect the way I live.

Kenneth Hagin - “A minister’s 12-year-old daughter once lost her temper and was talking ver rudely and hatefully to her mother. A visiting evangelist overheard the scene. When the girl looked up and saw him, knowing he had witnessed her tantrum, she was embarrassed and broke into tears

The evangelist asked her if she were filled with the Holy Spirit. When she replied that she was, he reminded her that the Holy Spirit was in her. They had prayer together and she asked the Lord’s forgiveness. While praying , she began to worship God in tongues.

When they had finished praying, the evangelist said to her, “There is one secret that will help you curb your temper. If you will pray and worship God every day in tongues, it will help you to be conscious of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. If you remember He is in you, you won’t act that way”

Some years later when the evangelist returned to preach at that church, the girl told him, ‘I have never forgotten what you said. Everyday for the past few years I have prayed and worshipped God in tongues, and I never have lost my temper.’”

Unfortunately, we all know people who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, yet they still lose their temper and say and do things they shouldn’t.

This is only because they haven’t been walking in the Spirit as they should.

It is so easy, when we are not conscious of His presence, to become irritated and frustrated.

But if we will take the time to fellowship with Him, we can be conscious of His indwelling presence.

Reason Four- Praying in Tongues Will Keep our Prayers in Line With God’s Will

Romans 8:26 “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”

Speaking in tongues keeps selfishness out of our prayers.

If I pray a prayer out of my own mind and out of my own thinking, it may be unscriptural.

If may be selfish

Too often our prayers are like the old farmer who always prayed “God bless me, my wife, my son John , his wife, us four and no more.”

In Romans 8:26 Paul didn’t say we don’t know how to pray, because we do know how to pray:

We pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

This is the correct way to pray according to Jesus

But just because I know how to pray doesn’t mean I know what to pray For as I should

Paul said, “we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”

P.C. Nelson said that the greek here literally means, “:The Holy Ghost maketh intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered in articulate speech.” (Articulate speech means our regular kind of speech).

He went on to point out that the Greek stresses that this not only includes groanings escaping our lips in prayer, but also praying in other tongues.

This is what Paul says in 1 Cor 14:14, “For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.”

When you pray in tongues, it is your spirit praying in the Holy Spirit within you

It is the Holy Spirit within you giving you the utterance, and you are speaking it out of your spirit.

You do the talking; He gives you the utterance!

By this method the Holy Spirit is helping you pray according to the Will of God, Which is the way things should be prayed for.

This isn’t something that the Holy Spirit does apart from you.

He Doesn’t groan or speak in tongues apart from you

Those groanings come from inside you and escape through your lips

The Holy Spirit is not going to do our praying for us

He is sent to dwell in us as a Helper and an Intercessor.

He is not responsible for our prayer life:

He is sent to help us pray.

Speaking in tongues is praying as the Spirit gives utterance.

It eliminates the possibility of selfishness in our prayers.

Kenneth Hagin says, :Many Times when people have prayed out of their own minds, they have changed that were not the will of God and were not best for them!”

If God’s People want something a certain way, even if it isn’t best for them, or it isn’t God’s perfect will, He often will permit it.

Reason Six- Praying in Tongues Stimulates Faith

Jude 20 “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The Fifther reason every believer should speak with tongues is because it stimulates faith and helps us learn how to trust God more fully.

Because the Holy pirit supernaturally directs the words I speak, faith must be exercised to speak with tongues.

I don’t know what the next word will be- I trust God for that. And trusting God in this area of life helps me trust Him in another.

Kenneth Hagin say, “There was a fine Christian woman in a country church I once pastored. She dearly loved the Lord, but she had an ulcerated stomach and doctors feared it would lead to cancer. Her husband made good money but he spent everything he had on doctor bills. I sometimes stayed in their home.

Soon after this woman received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I visited in their home again. I noticed that she was eating anything she wanted, whereas before she could eat only a little baby food and milk, and she had difficulty keeping even that in her stomach.

She told me, ‘I received not only the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues, but I received my healing as well. I am perfectly well.”

I have seen thiw happen many times. What is the connection? We know that receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit doesn’t heal us.

However, speaking in tongues helps us learn how to trust God more fully.

In the next lesson we will study the remaining five reasons why every believer should speak in tongues.

Memory Text: 1 Cor 14:18, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.”

Lesson in Action: James 1:22 “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.”