For instance:
For instance:
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:6)
I pray in tongues often, and it is a tremendous blessing to me. I first spoke in tongues in a bus station in San Bernardino, late one Sunday evening, trying to get back to Bible School. I am such a cerebral person, God had to get me completely distracted before He could start me speaking in tongues. That was about 70 years ago.
However, "tongues" are not something to be argued about. If the thought of "tongues" is not a blessing to you, then forget about it. But make sure you are walking close to the Lord Jesus and obeying Him scrupulously at all times!
"Prophecy" is to be preferred over "tongues" in the assembling of Christians, except when unbelievers are present. But I must say, I never heard anyone prophesy in the assembling if they did not speak much in tongues in their private devotions.
From my point of view, I believe it is helpful to speak miraculously in a foreign language when people to whom that language is native are present. This is what took place at the birth of the Christian Church.
A second purpose for speaking in tongues is as a witness that the speaker has been filled with God's Spirit. As I said previously, old-time Pentecostal preachers insisted that an individual did not have the Spirit of God until they spoke in tongues.
An example of tongues as a witness of the Spirit is as follows:
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.. (Acts 10:44-46)
"Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God's way?" (Acts 11:16,17)
A third purpose for speaking in tongues is to build up the believer. I think of this as a gift of the Spirit for personal prayer.
Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. (I Corinthians 14:4)
When we pray often in tongues as we go about our business, or during our prayer time, we strengthen ourselves in Christ.
It is possible that in the distribution of the gift of tongues, the Holy Spirit will emphasize known languages to one believer; a sign of actually being filled with the Spirit, as in the house of Cornelius, in a second instance; and spiritual strengthening in a third believer.
I know this distribution of tasks is true in the gift of healing. One believer will have a ministry to an injured spine. Another might have a gift to heal the blind. And a third might have an unusual ability to heal cancer.
So it is not impossible that the Holy Spirit when assigning tongues stresses one or another area of blessing.
I would like to make an additional comment about the third area—the gifts of tongues in the building up of the individual.
Please examine carefully the following passage:
Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose"—but they would not listen.
So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there—so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured. (Isaiah 28:11-13)
That this portion of Isaiah indeed is referencing speaking supernaturally in the other tongues that are part of the new covenant, is set forth in the following passage:
In the Law it is written: "With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord." Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. (I Corinthians 14:21,22)
As I see it, Isaiah is telling us that speaking in tongues is at least one of our ways into the "rest of God." The rest of God is treated in the third and fourth chapters of the Book of Hebrews.
The rest of God is parallel in meaning, I believe, to the "waters to swim in," of Chapter Forty-seven of the Book of Ezekiel. It is the place where we have passed through the judgments of the Spirit and now are living wholly in the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:5)
Life in the Fullness of the Spirit is attained to by rule upon rule, rule upon rule, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little . Little by little the Spirit of Christ captures us until we fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
I do not believe falling backward, being broken, and snared, and taken, makes too much sense to the readers until they begin to experience the life lived in the Spirit. It is to be filled with all the Fullness of God as our physical energy and strength begin to be diminished, due to an affliction or some other reason! Older people know exactly what I mean.
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)
Setting aside the topic of "tongues," for a moment, there is no such thing as a genuine Christian who does not have the Spirit of God. Why is this? Because Christ and the members of His Body constitute the Royal Priesthood of God. Every member of the Royal Priesthood has the crown of anointing of the Spirit of God. One cannot function as a priest of God apart from the Spirit of God.
Are there members of Christian churches who do not have the Spirit of God? Yes, there certainly are.
They are not bad people, Nor are they attempting to deceive anyone. They like belonging to a Christian church. The enjoy the things the church does. Some of them are the most diligent workers of the church. Even their close relatives do not realize they have never met the Master.
In fact, I am not certain such people realize there is a great gulf between them, and those members who have the anointing in themselves. They imitate what they see in others, even to attempting to give utterance in "prophecy." They remind me of the "palace prophets" who were in the employ of the kings of Israel. They prophesied mightily, but God was not with them.
So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"
"Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand." (I Kings 22:6)
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