Speaking in Tongues
Contrary to many beliefs there is not just one discipline of tongues. Most people know about the discipline of tongues spoken in church. But, in fact, there are four disciplines!
Each discipline is a specific operation and, when you study Scripture, you will clearly see the difference between these disciplines.
There is a lot of Scripture that follows and which, if you would take the time to read it, can prove to you that this gift is a holy gift from God Himself, and will expand upon the different disciplines of what is more commonly called, “Praying in the Spirit”.
Our basic teaching The Wind Talkers is a very simple explanation of the power and importance of speaking in tongues. Please check it out if you haven’t already done so.
The gift was initially given to believers on the day of Pentecost after Jesus had risen from the dead and visited his disciples in the upper room. To begin with, we must look at the book of Luke, Chapter 24, verses 36 through 49:
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
But they were terrified and affrightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
And he took it, and did eat before them.
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And ye are witnesses of these things.
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Firstly, Jesus proved who he was by showing his disciples his hands and feet which bore the scars, the holes made by the nails which held him on the cross.
Secondly, He took food and ate it before them proving that He was real. Jesus went on to remind them of the prophecies which were written about Him, and they remembered and understood. He further reminded them why He had come and that they were witnesses to the fulfilment of the prophecies of old. They were reminded that they, as witnesses, were to preach that He had come and had fulfilled those prophecies. So they could witness to the people and these had now been fulfilled. The people could now that were now able to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Salvation had come. The debt was paid.
In verse 49 He tells them to wait until they were “endued with power from on high”. Endued means to endow (fulfil a promise) or provide with a quality or ability. Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse one, is the account of how the filling of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, was given to them. This is often referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it is the “power from on high” that Jesus spoke of in Luke, chapter 24, first 49 (as above).
When you speak in tongues you are causing your spirit to rise up and take dominion, it’s a spiritual exercise that strengthens you just like using barbells strengthens your muscles, speaking in tongues strengthens your spirit. That’s why when you spend time in the spirit your flesh becomes so subdued and quiet.
Look at First Corinthians 14:2:
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
So we know when we’re praying in tongues, we are speaking to God. That’s why tongues are often referred to as the holy language.
Howbeit in the spirit we speaketh mysteries. Well, what are mysteries? Mysteries are things that are beyond our knowledge.
God wants to do things on the earth that we have not even thought about. Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries! If we pray in the spirit, if we pray in tongues we can pray the will of God in the Earth beyond our knowledge. And that’s what we need, because we’re not nearly as smart as we think we are. We need to pray beyond our knowledge even in our own lives. We truly are not as smart as we think we are we need to get the will of God working in our lives. He has things which are far better for us that we would never even think about. And, if we pray in the spirit we will get into that area which is beyond our knowledge and beyond our expectations. When we get into that realm the Bible talks about whatever we can have whatever we think that God is willing and able to give us beyond what we can think. Greater blessings greater power than we can ever imagine for ourselves.
So, how do we get into that realm? What is that realm? It is the realm of the spirit. Praying in the spirit, praying mysteries, those things that we could not even imagine for ourselves.
Look at verses four and five, this is the apostle Paul speaking:
(1Co 14:4) He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
(1Co 14:5) I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
The Four Disciplines of Praying in the Spirit:
The first discipline we are going to explain is “Tongues For the Unbeliever”.
Below you will see in Acts chapter 2, verse four, that these disciples began to speak with other tongues “as the Spirit gave them utterance”. The Scriptures go on to reveal the first of the four different disciplines of tongues. This is where there were other Jews in Jerusalem but who came from different nations, and who spoke in a different dialect than these who were in the upper room and who were primarily Galileans. But the other Jews understood these Galileans as they spoke out the gospel, hearing it in their own dialect.
(Act 2:1-11) And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
This now leads us into explaining the second and third disciplines of praying in the spirit:
________________________
The second and third disciplines are: “Tongues spoken in church.” and “The spoken interpretation in church.”
These two disciplines must work side-by-side. In chapter 14:5 above, it specifically says that if the tongues are spoken in church, then without the interpretation, the church will not understand. And the Lord sets these two disciplines together as a message, as a teaching or a prophecy to the church. Not just an individual. In this instance this is a message for the whole church. Rarely, for an individual within the congregation. Although this is been known to happen.
Throughout the Bible, the Lord uses two people, two disciples, two witnesses to highlight a truth, or the confirmation that the words spoken are truths. When the tongues are spoken in the church there should be a separate person who gives the interpretation. One witnessing of the other.
It’s sometimes been seen where a member within the congregation just stands up and begin speaking in tongues. This is not God’s protocol, especially where the pastor or preacher is giving a message. For someone to just begin to blurt out and interrupt is not God’s way. He is a gentleman and would not do this. He will never undermine one of His appointed. So, be very wary of this.
Most times, the Lord will give an unction to the pastor or preacher that someone has a message for the church, and once they have finished speaking, or there is an appropriate time to pause, they will invite whosoever it is to give that message. Once the message has been given, the pastor or preacher will invite whomsoever it is to interpret the message. Sometimes that person may be the pastor or preacher himself.
With this type of message, it is unusual for a single person to both give the message in tongues and interpret it.
Be very careful if this should happen in your presence. Once you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you will know, by the Holy Spirit, whether or not the truth has been spoken in that message.
As ministers, and who are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we have witnessed some false messages and seen congregational members just rising up out of their seats and blurting out something in what seemed to be in tongues. In one specific church, there was a lady who regularly stood up, every Sunday and gave a so-called message in tongues. The thing being that it was pretty much at the same time during the service and there were a few times where an interpretation was given. The sad thing is that sometimes these people are just seeking attention, but also, sometimes, these people really do have a message and it is not received because the congregation comes to a point where they believe that such people are just attention seekers. It came to a point where you could almost set your watch by this lady rising up and speaking in tongues.
The correct protocol that should be undertaken where a message has been given to an individual, is that, at an appropriate time, if the minister has not given an invitation, for that person to stand in silence and wait for the invitation. If it does not come, it is also protocol, after an appropriate time, for them to sit down. Remember this, the Lord will never undermine His own ministers. So, a minister who is truly in tune with the Holy Spirit will recognize that someone has a message to share and will be obedient to the Lord to allow that to happen.
(1Corinthians 14:27) If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
(1Corinthians 14:28) But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
_________________________
The fourth discipline is: “Tongues for the individual.”
(1Co 14:4) He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself;
The words edify, edifying, and edification simply mean the building up of something. The Scripture above it means that the person who is speaking in an unknown tongue is building himself up.
(Jude 1:20) But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Many times this discipline is also referred to as your own prayer language. It is very rare indeed that another person can interpret your prayer language. However, you may ask the Holy Spirit to give you the interpretation, because it is for you.
(1Corinthians 14:2) For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
When we speak in tongues we are speaking out the mysteries of God as it says above. So if there is no interpretation, however can we know what is being said, and especially how can this benefit us if we do not know what it is?
Mysteries are unknown things. God knows what they are and a part of giving us this amazing language is to get as to voice these mysteries. Remembering that God created the earth by His spoken word, when we speak in tongues, we are sometimes speaking the will of God.
Remember the Scripture above from Luke 24:
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
The gift of speaking in tongues is part of the evidence in person has been baptized with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
There is so much more to this wonderful gift that we will treat it as an entirely separate teaching. This in-depth teaching forms part of the foundational lessons within our Systematic Discipleship Program. Click on the link below to find out more about this.