Hi Dears,Praise The Lord....... (Please give me 5mts to read this) Tongues Today! Reading: Acts 2:1-11 I wish that you all spoke with tongues (1 Cor 14:5) Speaking in tongues, that is speaking in languages unknown to the speaker, is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:10). Unfortunately it has become a controversial issue in Christendom. It is because of the extreme views people hold on this subject. For some, this gift is everything, whereas for others it is nothing. Both are wrong. There is no direct teaching as a doctrine in the Scriptures that speaking in tongues is the only sign or evidence of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, there are ample examples of people speaking in tongues when they were baptised or filled with the Spirit. All the 120 disciples who received the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost spoke with other tongues (Acts 2:4). When the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his family the Jewish believers who had come with Peter heard them speak with tongues and magnify God (Acts 10:46). When Paul laid hands on the disciples in Ephesus, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:6). Paul also wrote, I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all (1 Cor 14:18; Acts 9:17,18). When the Samaritan believers received the Spirit, there was something that people like Simon the sorcerer could see as a supernatural manifestation (Acts 8:17,18). On the basis of these examples, we may normally expect a person to speak in tongues while he receives the Spirit. However, in the absence of a direct teaching we cannot say that a person is not baptised with the Holy Spirit until and unless he speaks in tongues. Every believer must be encouraged to seek God to enable him to speak in tongues through the Spirit because of its tremendous devotional value. Of all the nine gifts of the Spirit, tongues are the only one primarily addressed to God in prayer and praise (1 Cor 12:7-10; 14:13-17). The speaker is also edified (1 Cor 14:4). I speak in tongues daily in my private prayer since the time I received the Holy Spirit in 1963. It helps me build up myself and be refreshed (Jude 20; Isa 28:11,12). But it is also possible to speak in tongues without love for fellow-men (1 Cor 13:1-3). Therefore Tongues are not the stick to measure ones spirituality. O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemers praise, The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace; My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, To spread thru all the earth abroad the honours of Thy Name! (Charles Wesley, 1707-1788) Author,Pr.R.Stanley(from,stanleyonbible)
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 10:24:04 +0000
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