To read Part One, click here.
10. Why do we speak in tongues, it seems silly?
To our natural mind, speaking in tongues may seem silly. Our minds naturally want to know and understand everything. However, we have to remember that God is a Spirit, not a mind, and sometimes our minds will not comprehend spiritual things. Perhaps that is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:27, But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
11. Do I speak in tongues or does the Holy Spirit speak in tongues through me?
Acts 2:4 says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." According to this verse, who did the speaking? They did. The Holy Spirit does not speak in tongues, He gives us the utterance, but we are the ones that do the speaking.
12. Can I control the starting and stopping of speaking tongues or do I need to wait for a "feeling" or God's unction to speak in tongues?
According to 1 Corinthians 14:32, "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." We see that we have control over our own spirits. In other words, this lets us know that we won't suddenly find ourselves "out of control" speaking in tongues in the middle of the mall! No, we have the ability to control our own spirit. We speak in tongues from our spirit as we yield to the Holy Spirit; therefore we do have control over when we speak in tongues.
For instance, think of it this way: If you have indoor plumbing in your home, your pipes are filled with water. You can go to the faucet any time you want to turn on the water and pour a glass of water. You can control the starting and stopping of the water faucet. In the same way, when we are filled with the Spirit; He is in our "pipes" and we can turn on the ability to pour a glass of water—that is, speak in tongues—any time we desire to pray or speak in tongues. We have the ability to yield to the Spirit at any time and since our "pipes" are filled with the Spirit, He will give us utterance any time we desire to speak in tongues.
13. Do people go into a "trance" or have an "out of body" experience when they speak in tongues?
Many people have a misunderstanding of the whole realm of the Spirit; including this area of speaking in tongues. People don't go into a "trance" or somehow lose control of their personality or mind when they are speaking in tongues. They are simply yielding to the Holy Spirit from their spirit. A person can pray in tongues quietly while grocery shopping; while laying in bed, driving, cleaning, kneeling, walking or a host of other environments. A person can pray or speak in tongues quietly or loudly; it's up to them.
Often, when people yield to the Holy Spirit they become more aware of spiritual things than natural things and getting into God's Presence certainly does bring a person to a place of peace, faith and joy, but it is not necessarily a trance, or "out of control" type of experience. Sadly, like every other arena of life, there are those people that act crazy, immature, hyper-spiritual or carnal in this area of being filled with the Spirit and speaking tongues. Let's be wise enough to know the difference between the genuine article and those that are putting on a show.
14. If someone speaks in tongues shouldn't someone else always interpret it?
There are several answers to this question which we will look at.
First, one point that should be made is the distinction between an "interpretation" and a "translation." When someone give the interpretation to a tongue; they will say it in a way that fits their personality as they articulate the interpretation the Holy Spirit is giving them for the tongue that was given. It is not a word for word translation and that is why sometimes a person can give a message in tongues that lasts two minutes and another person can give the interpretation of that tongues that lasts five minutes.
Answer #1: When a person speaks in tongues in a public venue—in church or a large group —this public message in tongues should be interpreted. The Bible teaches us this. First Corinthians14:4-14:
"I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification. But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret."
The public manifestation of speaking tongues is just that: a message! In order for this message to bless people, they need to know the interpretation of it. Often the person who gave the message in tongues will then interpret it into the English or known language of that group. At times, another person in the room will give the interpretation.
Answer #2: In 1 Corinthians14:26-29, we see another component of tongues and interpretation.
"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God."
Notice, that in this case if a person felt they had a message to give in tongues that if there was no interpreter present - then that person was instructed to speak in tongues quietly to himself and to God while in the church.
When a person speaks in tongues publicly it is for the purpose of giving a message to the congregation or group. At other times, believers are instructed to speak in tongues privately, between themselves and God—speaking mysteries to God. These type of private or prayer language tongues are not a message for a group of people, but rather for the purpose of prayer or edifying the individual believer who is speaking in tongues.
Answer #3: There is one more application of tongues and interpretation that is important to discuss and that is in the context of a public prayer meeting—a prayer meeting where several people may be present and where people may pray or speak corporately in tongues. At times there may or may not be an interpretation to those who are praying in tongues, since it is not a public message, but rather a prayer or praise or giving thanks in tongues in the midst of prayer. For example, a group of believers may come together to pray and they may pray both with their understanding in English (or their native language) and in the spirit in tongues. They may interpret what they are praying about and at other times there may not be an interpretation, it may remain a mystery. We see this described in several verses:
"For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." (1 Corinthians 14:2)
"Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who Occupies the place of the uninformed say "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue." (1 Corinthians 14:13-19)
"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)
15. What does it mean that "tongues" are a sign for unbelievers? Doesn't speaking in tongues freak-out most unbelievers?
We see this discussed in 1 Corinthians 14:22-25:
"Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you."
It almost sounds like a contradiction—tongues are a sign for whom? How does this make sense? It makes sense when we see the three groups of people being spoken of in this passage: believers, unbelievers and uninformed. We know who "believers" are, so let's look at the distinction between "unbelievers" and the "uninformed."
Unbelievers: This seems to be referring to a group of people that may be believers, but unbelievers as it relates to the work of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, specifically speaking in tongues. Tongues are a sign for this group. In other words, they may be saved and believers in Jesus Christ, but unbelievers regarding the Spirit's work; but once they see this genuine gift in operation they recognize the sign of God's Spirit.
Uninformed: This seems to be referring to a group of people that are "lost, unsaved and uninitiated." When tongues are spoken in a place—a church service or group meeting and an uninformed person (lost) is there often they "freak out" when they hear such a thing and they say things like, "You people are crazy!" It's more than they can handle. They are not spiritual and do not have the ability to spiritually discern the things of the Spirit. We see this described in this passage.
Kenneth Hagin writes about this in his book "Learning To Flow With The Spirit of God."(pages 23-24, 26-27):
"I'm convinced that every church ought to have believers' meetings from time to time, because many of these manifestations of the Holy Spirit won't occur when there are outsiders or sinners in a service. In the days when I first came among Pentecostals, our largest services were on Sunday nights, when outsiders came. On Sunday mornings there was seldom anybody there but our own people, so I turned those Sunday morning services into believers' meetings. (In recent years when people's habits of church attendance have changed, the midweek service would probably be the most appropriate time for a believers' meeting.)"
"So, I'd tell my congregation, "I'm going to turn this over to the Holy Spirit now. Whatever you think you have, that's fine." Somebody once asked, "Well, what if I miss it?" I replied, "What of it? There's nobody here but us (believers). It won't hurt anything." You see, it wouldn't have been good if they had missed it in the evening service, when unlearned people and outsiders were present. That's where some of you miss it: You go to a church service and come across like a storm, exhibiting all kinds of fanatical behavior. And you do this in front of the unlearned and outsiders - people who are unsaved—so you do more harm than good!"
YIELDING TO THE SPIRIT IS THE KEY
Once we are filled with the Spirit by faith, we simply need to yield to the Spirit and allow the supernatural language of tongues to flow from our hearts and mouth back to God. It's simple and as easy as tapping into the flowing river inside.
The best way to describe this experience is simply to YIELD! We don't force ourselves to speak in tongues; we don't try to "think up" tongues—we simply yield our hearts and mouths and speak out what is in our hearts. It's not always easy to explain spiritual things, but the idea is to yield to the utterance of the Spirit.
As you yield to the Spirit and begin to move your mouth and to use your vocal chords, allow yourself to flow in the spiritual language as the rivers of living water come up from your innermost being. You may sense the desire to speak a fluent language, or just one or two words that are foreign to you. Speak them out in faith and let the river begin to flow. As you quiet y our mind and allow your spirit to release itself, you will begin to magnify God in tongues you have never learned.
What if you don't "feel" anything? What if you don't "feel" a river bubbling up on the inside of you? Remember, feelings have nothing to do with Bible facts. If you have asked God to baptize you in the Spirit, then believe He has done just exactly that. Expect the evidence of speaking in tongues as the Scriptures teach, and you will begin to speak in other tongues. As you worship God, your English vocabulary will be inadequate, and you will find yourself speaking words you have never learned.
Remember, first, we are born of the Spirit when we are born again; that is the Spirit comes to live within us and our bodies become His temple. Second, we may receive the infilling or baptism of the Spirit; that is the Spirit coming upon our spirit and enduing us with power to witness, etc. Third, once we receive the Spirit by faith we simply yield to the Spirit and we will speak in a heavenly language of the Spirit—other tongues.
I recommend that you re-read Article #1 if you are hungry for being filled with the Spirit.
For further study, I recommend my book, "Getting A Grip On the Basics."
Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.
