Speaking in Tongues

Today I would like to say just a few words about speaking in tongues, as the whole topic has long been misunderstood. First of all, everyone will have some kind of utterance of the Spirit upon being baptized with the holy Ghost and having their sins washed away thereby: “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest” (Isa. 28:11,12). The rest and refreshing spoken of here by Isaiah is the result of having the burden of sin lifted from the heart and soul (Mat. 11:28; Acts 3:19; I Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5). This constitutes the ‘sign’ of speaking in tongues at the new birth, experienced by ALL who are born again, even as a child has a birth cry upon being born into this world: “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the SPIRIT of his Son into your hearts, CRYING, Abba, Father” (I Cor. 14:21,22; Gal. 4:6). There are many, many people who have spoken in an utterance of the Spirit and do not even realize that they have done so. Reason being that one usually makes the connection of faith with God in concentrated, focused prayer, and it is easy to lose awareness of what is going on with one’s self and around one’s self in this case. Sometimes a person will not speak in tongues again after initially receiving the Spirit, until much later. The main reason for that is that they don’t realize that they can do it, and they don’t understand the value of exercising this capacity in the Spirit. Anyone who has received the holy Ghost can speak in tongues anytime that they feel to do so. The utterance is involuntary when a person first receives the Spirit, but afterward it can be initiated at any time by acting on faith. Not only so, but there was a very good reason that the apostle Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (I Cor. 14:18). That reason is that spiritual rest and refreshing accompanies the practice, as Isaiah alluded to. Paul said it like this: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself” (I Cor. 14:4). There are many operations of speaking in tongues, some of which are for one’s own edifying, and some for the edifying of others. If someone else is to be edified by another person speaking in tongues, then there will either be an interpretation or the other person will understand the language themselves (Acts 2:4-11; I Cor. 14:13,27). This where we get into the 'gift’ of “divers kinds of tongues,” which not everyone operates in (I Cor. 12:10). That is the reason for the apostle Paul’s much misunderstood statement about this 'gift’ of tongues: “Do all speak with tongues?” (I Cor. 12:30). The answer is no, not as a particular diversified gift, but of course everyone speaks in tongues upon receiving the Spirit.

One point that many today have gotten snagged on is the use of praying in tongues, or praying in the Spirit, in a prayer or worship service around other people (I Cor. 14:14). Many have the mistaken notion that people should not pray by means of speaking in tongues around others unless there is an interpretation. The truth is, if a number of people are in prayer together, they are not supposed to be listening to one another praying anyway. They are supposed to have their own mind focused on the Lord in prayer themselves. What the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 14 about having an interpretation for someone speaking in tongues in a congregation, was referring to someone who was actually addressing the congregation on their own, as though delivering a message. If someone does address a congregation, or a person, or whatever the case may be; by speaking in tongues, and there be no interpretation of it; then the following statements from the apostle apply: “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me… Yet in the [congregation] I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue… If therefore the whole [congregation] be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?” (I Cor. 14:11,19,23). These statements do NOT apply to prayer and worship, and the apostle would be much grieved to learn that so many people today are using his words like that. The other point that so many stumble on today is that there are instances in the Bible where the Spirit of God moved people to speak in foreign tongues to people who could understand the language, and that the tongues that people speak in today are just 'jibbersih’ or 'babble.’ Of course the holy Ghost will speak through people in a foreign language that someone else will understand! It happens all the time and has happened frequently and consistently from the days of the Bible being written until now. But if someone is praying or worshiping God, and they are speaking in tongues that someone else doesn’t understand; how does that constitute that they are NOT speaking by the holy Ghost? The apostle Paul clearly stated the following on this point: “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” (I Cor. 14:2).

As I’ve already pointed out, there is no requirement from God for tongues being interpreted or understood by anyone UNLESS the speech is being directed as a message to someone else or a congregation of people. Everyone who has received the Spirit has the God given right to pray, worship, and speak in tongues any time they are disposed to do so; with NO interpretation of any of it. It’s like I told someone that I spoke with recently; just because you don’t understand what someone is saying in the Spirit, doesn’t mean that it is not a language that they are speaking in. Many times a person will speak in one kind of tongue, which is totally monotone and repetitive. That is often times what people are calling 'jibberish’ or babble. But the truth is, there are 'tonal’ languages in places in the earth that sound very strange, and one would think the people speaking this way to be completely illiterate in terms of any kind of speech at all. But the others around them who speak likewise understand exactly what is being said, and it is just as fluent to them as my speech and yours is to us. What if someone is speaking in a tongue by the Spirit, and all they are saying over and over again, is “Praise God, Praise God, Praise God,” or something like that? Is there something wrong with that just because you don’t understand the language? If someone is speaking in tongues, it IS a language, whether you like it or believe that it is or not. We should remember the very wise instruction of Jesus, who said, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (Jn. 7:24). Do you think that the birds in the trees don’t understand each other, or that God doesn’t understand what they are saying? Face it my friend, we don’t know everything, and we don’t have to. What we do have to do is “love one another with a pure heart fervently” (I Pet. 1:22). The truth is that people should quit being so critical of God’s simplistic children for the kind of tongues that they are speaking in, and get free enough themselves that they can enjoy the blessing of doing so as well. Amen.