Untitled Sermon (43)

Purpose #3 - The Holy Spirit Empowers us for Christian Service.We see the evidence of this take place in Acts 19 as Paul interacts with these disciples who have never heard of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Because as Paul leads them to faith in Jesus, tells them about the Holy Spirit, something supernatural takes place. Look at how Luke describes it:

Acts 19:6 ESV6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Now, I think if we’re all honest, this is where a lot of people, who up until this point, have been open to the Holy Spirit, begin to shut down. Why? Because of one word. The word “tongues”. And as a result, they shut themselves off to the work of empowerment that the Holy Spirit wants to do in and through them. An empowerment that is necessary for Christian service. In fact, it’s so necessary, that before the disciples do anything, Jesus tells them they need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Look at how Jesus put it back in Acts 1:

Acts 1:4–5 ESV4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So, Jesus says wait in Jersualem and don’t do anything until the Holy Spirit comes. And then Jesus says this:

Acts 1:8 ESV8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus now tells them why they need to wait. And they need to wait because they need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to do what He’s calling them to do.And what was true for the disciples is true for us. In order to do what Jesus has called us to do, we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And what we need to understand is along with the empowerment come gifts of the Spirit, gifts that often serve as evidence of that empowerment, including the gifts of tongues. So, maybe a great question to ask would be, “What’s our problem with tongues and why do people get freaked out about it?”I’d say there are a few problems when it comes to tongues.#1 - The word itself is a little strange. In the Greek, the word is glossa, and it literally means tongue or language.And so another way to interpret this passage in Acts 19 would be:“And when Paul laid his hands on them, they began to speak in other languages and prophesying.” Acts 19:6 ESVNow, I don’t know about you, but translated that way, it doesn’t sound near as weird, and honestly not something that should seem impossible. Because if God can raise people from the dead, then surely He can give somebody the ability to speak in a language that isn’t their own. In fact, we know he can, because the Apostle Paul verifies that. Because in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul highlights this gift among others. He writes:

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 ESV7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Paul says when a person is empowered by the Spirit, they are given gifts. Gifts for the common good. Gifts that build up the body of Christ. Gifts that equip us to do the work of ministry. Which is exactly what is happening in Acts 19 as these men are empowered by the Spirit and then begin to exhibit the evidence of that empowerment as some begin to speak in languages that weren’t their own, and some of them started prophesying in their native language.Which means, in that moment they started praising and declaring the glory of God in multiple languages. It would be like if you were in a church service with people from all over the world and they were all praying and praising God in their native language. Kind of cool if you ask me. All that to say, if you step back and see if for what it is, it’s not really that strange.But even then some struggle with tongues. Why?#2 - Some churches have abused the gift of tongues.The fact is, some churches, and I would say primarily Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, have abused the gift of tongues primarily through over use, over emphasis, and a lack of Biblical explanation. To the point, that in recent years, it has pushed people away and led to such churches to be labeled as weird and cultish. And as a result, Christians who need the empowerment of the Spirit, have closed their mind to it, because they last thing they want is to be associated with something that is labeled as weird. And what a tragedy that is. So, how do we overcome that challenge? Well, we overcome it with proper teaching and a proper understanding of what the gifts are for and when they should be used.So, let’s start with what the empowerment of the Spirit and what the gifts that follow are for. And primarily, they are meant to equip you for ministry and enable you to present the gospel in power. Jesus puts it like this:

Luke 12:11–12 ESV11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

In this passage Jesus is giving the disciples instructions on how to overcome the persecution they are facing by relying on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.And we see many examples of this throughout the NT as Spirit empowered Christians are give the ability to share the gospel and overcome obstacles.For example, after using the gift of healing to heal a lame man, Peter and John are brought before a Jewish council to give account for what has happened. Here’s how Luke describes the encounter:

Acts 4:7–8 ESV7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

Notice what Luke said. He said when Peter stood up to defend himself, the Holy Spirit took over in that moment and gave him the words to speak. And apparently Peter’s words were so powerful and convincing, that the religious leaders didn’t know what to say. Because Luke writes:

Acts 4:13–14 ESV13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

All that to say, the empowerment and gifts of the Spirit are given to us to accomplish the mission that Jesus gave us. A mission that we can’t accomplish in our own power. Why? Because the battle isn’t physical, it’s spiritual. The Apostle Paul writes:

Ephesians 6:12 ESV12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The fact is, we need the empowerment and gifts of the Holy Spirit if we’re going to be a church that God does the extraordinary through. But for that to happen, we have to get past the fear of tongues and what we might consider to be weird.So, how do we do that? Hopefully we start this morning by looking at when and where tongues should be used, since that seems to be the Achilles heel for most people. And to do that, we need to go to 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul addresses it. Because like some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches today, the church at Corinth had over used the gift to the point it was pushing people away. Look at what Paul says concerning the use of tongues in the church:

1 Corinthians 14:23–25 ESV23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Notice what Paul says. He says when the church comes together, and if unbelievers are present, then tongues isn’t the best way to reach those people with the gospel. Why? Because Paul says they are going to think you’re out of your mind. That you’re weird. Why? Because they don’t understand it.So instead, Paul says when the church comes together, and unbelievers are present, the primary gift that should be in play is the gift of prophesy, which is always in the native language. And the reason it should be primary is because everybody in the room can understand it, and because they can understand it, they are convicted, and because they are convicted, they are more open to turning their lives over to Jesus.Here’s what this means for us. The fact is, Sunday morning is the service where our church comes together and outsiders and unbelievers are often present. Which means, Sunday morning isn’t the service where tongues would be the best way to reach people at MCF. In fact, it would push people away from our church. And to be honest, I have pastor friends who would disagree with me on that. But I agree with what Paul says and I don’t believe the Holy Spirit is going to want to do something that pushes people away.Now, does that mean we shouldn’t seek the gift of tongues? Of course not. Because there is a place for tongues and the interpretation of tongues. And typically it’s in an environment where everybody in the room is on the same page.So, for example, these gifts could function in a special service at the church where we know for the most part believers will be present. We’ve had services like that at MCF before that are usually on a Sunday or Wednesday night.Or gifts like this could function in a small group of believers in somebody’s home, where again everybody in the group is on the same page.