May 18, 2018
Peter: "As I
began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the
beginning." Acts 11:15
When we witness, the
Holy Spirit is released to change people's hearts.
Speaking in tongues (languages)
has become a church lightening-rod over the past 50 years. For centuries, it was not considered a
necessary spiritual gift. Then some people
started professing an ability to speak in a prayer language, and a movement has
been going on since throughout many Americanized churches (U.S. and
beyond). If you want to start a hot
conversation, just push the extreme on whether speaking in tongues is valid and
see what happens!
Now no matter where you stand on
this question, I suggest we all need to go back to Acts and notice a couple of
things related to the Holy Spirit and tongues.
While not a thorough examination of the topic, it may be helpful to
remember a few things about how this miracle worked in the early church.
1) The
Holy Spirit decided when people were given the gift. Some want to make speaking in tongues the
proof of whether someone has the Holy Spirit – but that’s not how Scripture describes
this happening. It was given at the Holy
Spirit’s discretion, and for His purposes.
Just as with all spiritual gifts – it’s not for everyone, and not our
decision.
2) The
gift apparently came & went – because the situation needing the gift wasn’t
always required. If you were with people
who all spoke the same language, then the Holy Spirit needed to speak in THAT
language, not some other one.
3) It
was for the purpose of communicating the Gospel. People given the gift were not supposed to
receive glory, the glory was reserved for Jesus, because it was given to tell
others about Jesus.
4) A
person received the gift when they were speaking – that’s crucial. (In fact, some may even read the accounts to
suggest people ‘heard’ it in their native language, even though the speaker was
possibly speaking in his normal tongue.)
Having the gift of tongues was only the tool for two people to
communicate about Jesus. The gift wasn’t
to be honored, the giver was!
I can show much more, but the
point is clear: Gifts are not about us – they are about Jesus! When we have the courage to witness, the Holy
Spirit gives us what we need to be effective.
Maybe the reason we feel so helpless & unprepared to tell our
friends or neighbors about Jesus is the fact that the Holy Spirit is still
WAITING on us to take action! God has
the ability to give us answers when we have the courage to share. God has the power to protect us from harm
when we take the first step and go. And
God has the ability to change our language when we talk with someone who doesn’t
understand.
Maybe instead of praying for the
gift of tongues, we should be praying for more of the Holy Spirit. In fact, isn’t that what Jesus said: “Will not God give the Holy Spirit to those
who ask?” Don’t worry about what gift He
will give you, just seek the chance to share about Jesus, and the gift will be
there – exactly what you need, when you need it. Trust Him … He did it for Peter several
times!
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