Imagine

Sunday, March 15, 2026

SERMON: GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT – PROPHECY

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

I. Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 14:1-5

1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

-- while we don’t have these positions in our congregation, in some local communities of faith, there is the recognized office of the prophet or prophetess – some of you might be familiar with these churches – I visited one several years ago and saw several of their members wearing identification badges with their church positions on them – the badges would have their name, and their church position listed underneath it – so, it would say, “John Smith – Deacon,” or “Betty Jones – Sunday School Teacher” – and as I wandered through the crowd, I bumped into several people with badges identifying them as “Prophet” or “Prophetess,” which I thought was highly interesting

-- well, the story is told about a lady in one of these congregations who was an affirmed prophetess – during a worship service, she stood up and announced that she had a word from the Lord that she needed to share – the pastor recognized her and she began speaking, “Thus saith the Lord, I am preparing a move in this country and I will divide the true believers from the nonbelievers as I led Noah to divide the Red Sea in the days of the Exodus” – and then she sat down

-- the pastor then led the congregation in a time of quiet prayer and meditation to consider this word – and a few people started whispering and murmuring throughout the room – “Did she say Noah? – It wasn’t Noah – it was Moses that divided the Red Sea” – this went on for a few moments, and, all of a sudden, the woman stood to her feet again and announced, “I have another message from the Lord” – the pastor told her to speak and she said, “Thus saith the Lord – I meant Moses”

-- this is obviously a joke – and I want to be careful to not disparage anyone who is in these communities of faith who feel like they have been called to this office in the church – I am certainly not trying to make a statement about the validity of their calling -- I shared this story only as an introduction to our topic for today because it speaks to the common understanding of biblical prophecy in our world today

-- as you know, we are currently in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines and the spiritual gifts – the last time we met, we talked about the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues

– this morning, we are going to discuss the spiritual gift of prophecy – which happens to be one of the spiritual gifts that I have according to the spiritual gifts survey that we took

-- I opened this message with the humorous story of the prophetess that got confused between Noah and Moses simply to make a point – what you think the spiritual gift of prophecy is, is probably not what it actually is – let me explain

II. What is the Spiritual Gift of Prophecy

-- if you are like most people, when you hear the term, “prophecy,” you immediately think it is a message that foretells a future event – like the prophecies of Nostradamus or Elijah or Isaiah in the Old Testament

– and based on this understanding of prophecy, when it comes to biblical prophecy, we believe that someone – a prophet or a prophetess – received a word or a vision or a message from the Lord in some way that predicts what is going to happen in the future

-- this is the common understanding of prophecy and the role of a prophet in the church – that it always involves a future foretelling – but I want to let you know that this is not true – at least, not to any great extent

-- so, if the spiritual gift of prophecy does not involve foretelling the future, what is it?

-- first and foremost, keep in mind that this is a spiritual gift – it is not a natural gift or talent, but something that is given through the Holy Spirit as He indwells us and empowers us to do God’s will – we saw that in 1 Corinthians 12:10, when Paul listed the spiritual gifts and he said that the gift of prophecy was given through the Spirit for the common good

-- so, keep that in mind – anyone who has the gift of prophecy has been given this gift from the Holy Spirit – and, as we have discussed over the last few weeks, having this gift or any of the other visible spiritual gifts doesn’t set you apart or make you more special than the person who has a spiritual gift that mostly functions behind-the-scenes

-- if we look back at 1 Corinthians 14 at the same passage we were in during our study of the gifts of tongues and the interpretation of tongues, we can learn quite a bit about the spiritual gift of prophecy

-- look back at verse 1

-- Paul thought highly of the gift of prophecy – and when we read in the Bible of the positions in the early church, we always see the prophet near the top of the list

-- in Ephesians 4:11-12, we are told that Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers to equip His people and build up the body of Christ – so, here you see the position of the prophet being listed in order right below the apostles

-- and over in 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, Paul says that God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then the other gifts – once again, we see prophets – those people who have been given this spiritual gift through the manifestation of the Spirit in their lives – listed right behind the apostles

-- so, the position of prophet in the early church was very important – and Paul clues us in here on his discussion about tongues and prophecy

-- in verse 4, he makes the case that those who speak in tongues only edify themselves – to edify means that you are growing morally or intellectually – and someone who edifies others then are the ones who help them grow morally and intellectually

-- so, when someone speaks in tongues without an interpreter, they are the only ones who are getting any benefit from it

-- and that’s the reason why Paul goes on in verse 5 to say that he would rather have everyone in the church prophesy because this gift edifies the church – a prophet in a congregation who is faithfully speaking the word of God as they are led by the Spirit edifies the church

-- that’s why Paul states here in verse 3 that the one who prophesies speaks to the people – strengthening them – encouraging them – comforting them – edifying them – helping them to grow in grace and become more like Jesus -- prophets work closely with the Holy Spirit in the process of sanctification

-- skip down to verse 22

1 Corinthians 14:22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

-- so, the main purpose of the prophet is to hear and speak God’s word to the people of God for their edification and for the common good

-- prophets are the Spirit’s megaphone to the community of faith, primarily serving the believers in a congregation but still used by the Spirit to convict unbelievers of their sins and lead them to repentance and a relationship with Jesus

-- but that still doesn’t tell us what message the prophet is transmitting – is prophecy always the foretelling of the future, like is generally believed, or is it something else?

-- and this is one of those elements in the church where believers are divided – as I mentioned earlier, in some local congregations and denominations, the position of their church is that prophets primarily exist to foretell the future – and it is not uncommon to attend a charismatic or Pentecostal church and hear a word of prophecy about the future from someone in that congregation

-- we saw this demonstrated before our eyes during the recent presidential elections, with numerous prophets from charismatic backgrounds making prophetic statements and predictions concerning the election and then, after the election of Trump in 2016, what they believed God had told them Trump was going to do

-- and please understand, I’m not wading into political waters here – but I want you to know that there were a lot of people claiming to be biblical prophets who made a lot of prophecies and predictions about the election and Trump over the last 10 years

– you can find these online – you can find them in books and articles – and of course, you can find them on You Tube and on social media – James Beverly compiled a list of over 500 of these prophecies in his book, “God’s Man in the White House”

– obviously, then, there were a lot of these prophecies during the election cycles – mostly concerning Trump and what God was going to do through Trump – several of these prophecies were very specific in their predictions, to include the prophecy that in 2020 that God stated the election was stolen and that Trump would replace Biden as president on January 6, 2021 – which we all know did not happen

-- once again, not turning this into a political thing – just trying to make sure you are aware that prophecies in this form and fashion are occurring today in some of the more charismatic denominations and congregations

-- it is a normal and routine practice in these denominations for prophets to make predictions of the future based on what they believe God has told them

-- so, what happens when the predictions turn out to be wrong?

– well, that’s a debate that is going on right now in American Christianity – in the Book of Deuteronomy, the nation of Israel was told that they were to test the prophets and the prophecies that were uttered – and if they were found to be false, the prophets were to be judged and executed because they had falsely claimed to speak the voice or command of God when, in fact, they had not received such instruction

-- what about these modern-day prophets? – in response to the enormous amount of prophecies and predictions that were proven to be false concerning the election and actions of President Trump, charismatic leaders across multiple denominations came up with a Statement on Prophetic Standards, which includes the following affirmations of belief:

WE BELIEVE that the essence of the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus, hence the ultimate goal of prophetic ministry is to exalt the lordship of Jesus Christ, even though we recognize that not every prophetic word will specifically point to Him (see Rev. 19:10; 1 Cor. 12:3).

WE BELIEVE in the five-fold ministry of the prophet, recognizing that such prophets will also be used to bring correction, instruction, and directional clarity to the Body, but not independent of other leaders, and therefore different from the model of the independent Old Testament prophet.

WE RECOGNIZE that prophets do not serve as spiritual fortune tellers or prognosticators, nor is their role to satisfy our curiosity about the future or reveal abstract information. God’s purpose in prophecy is redemptive, calling for repentance, giving supernatural guidance, bringing comfort, deliverance, restoration, and glorifying Jesus as Lord.¹

-- with this standard, many modern charismatic leaders have reverted back to a New Testament understanding of the role of the prophet and the spiritual gift of prophecy in the church of Christ – that the main focus and purpose of a prophet is to proclaim the word of God in order to exalt the lordship of Jesus Christ by strengthening, encouraging, comforting, and calling God’s people back to Him in a redemptive way through conviction of sins and a call for repentance

-- this statement and the beliefs in this standard line up with what I believe the Bible teaches in regards to the role of the prophet and the spiritual gift of prophecy in the church today

-- in the New Testament, there are only a couple instances where prophets foretell the future – in the Book of Acts, Agabus foretells a famine that will be coming for the entire Roman Empire and the elders from the church in Ephesus foretell Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem, pleading that he not go to Jerusalem in order to continue God’s ministry

-- other than the Book of Revelation, which cannot be taken as pure prophecy but instead a revelation of God’s presence and ministry in the last days, this is it – there are no predictions – no prophecies about the future – and Paul himself, who says here that he is a prophet, was often wrong about the future – he never said that God told him specifically to go to certain regions to preach, but his heart was to go there – and there were many times we are told that the Spirit blocked him from entering those areas

-- one reason why this gift of prophecy is not primarily foretelling the future is because we live in an age where we have already received the Word of God in its fullness – we have, in our very possession, the closed canon of Scripture – whereby God has revealed His presence, His ministry through Christ and the Spirit, and the future that is to come

-- there is no more to be revealed regarding the wide sweep of God’s movement in the world today – the gospel has been given – and our role is to carry this gospel and the good news of the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father to the ends of the earth

-- in other words, we have what we need – so there is no need to cast die and read tea leaves and make predictions about the future

-- now, that’s not to say God doesn’t reveal to His prophets mysteries and truths previously unknown – He certainly did that with Paul – and I have experienced that, too – but these are specific for individuals or for local communities of faith

-- so, if the primary role of a prophet is not to foretell the future, what is it? – I am glad you asked – turn over to 2 Corinthians 4:13-15

2 Corinthians 4:13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

-- this is the role of the prophet in the church today – to speak and to proclaim the word of God to the church and to the world around them

-- Paul writes here that because he has believed – because he has been given the word of God – he speaks it – he proclaims it – to others

-- the truth is in him and it is meant to be shared – and note what Paul says here about the message – it is not a message of the future – it is not a foretelling or prediction of future events – but the proclamation and the word of the prophet concerns the gospel and the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection

-- and I will take the stand that a preacher fulfills the role of the prophet when they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the word of God from the pulpit – when the Spirit reveals to them the truth of God’s word and calls them to proclaim His word and His word alone to strengthen, comfort, encourage, and edify the body of Christ

-- in a very real sense, there is no difference between a preacher standing in the pulpit on a Sunday morning, telling you to turn to a passage of Scripture, reading that passage, and then proclaiming God’s word and meaning from that passage and a prophet from the Old Testament who stood up before the nation of Israel and said, “Thus saith the Lord”

-- both of them are standing before the people of God, proclaiming the word of the Lord

-- and I keep that responsibility firmly in my mind and in my heart -- every week, I pray that God will give me the words to speak – that He will give me wisdom and insight and guide my speech to you – and that if He can’t speak through me, that He would speak in spite of me

-- a preacher who is fulfilling the role of the prophet from the pulpit should never be standing up here in their own power and giving you their own words – as someone who has received the gift of prophecy from the Spirit, my role is to faithfully proclaim that which God has given me – and to go beyond that – or to fail to do that – is a failure on my part and not on God

-- and, if someone has this gift, then they cannot but help but proclaim God’s word to others – the prophet Jeremiah understood this – and in Jeremiah 20:9 we read, “But if I say, “I will not mention His word or speak anymore in His name,” His Word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones – I am weary of holding it in – indeed, I cannot”

-- I feel that – and I think that fire in your heart is one of the signs of the calling of someone to become a pastor and a sign that someone has the spiritual gift of prophecy

-- so, know this – if there is anything that has edified you from my messages – if you have received any spiritual growth or maturity or instruction from my sermons – it was not from me – it was from God – I had nothing to do with it

-- those times when the sermon falls flat and you leave feeling confused – that’s on me – that was probably me failing in my prophetic ministry and leaning on my own understanding and not His

-- I am always heartened by the fact that God can speak through an ass like he did with Balaam’s donkey, because it lets me know that He can speak through me, if I will stand aside and allow Him to do so

-- which brings me to my last point before we close – because prophets are gifted to receive a word from the Lord and proclaim that word, it will always line up with Scripture – God is not going to proclaim anything that goes against His word or His nature – and if a prophecy is given – if someone stands up like I’m doing today and says, “Thus saith the Lord” – then the church needs to test and confirm the message against the written word of God

-- that’s why I always tell you to review my messages against the Bible and to check everything that I say or any preacher you hear – whether it’s in person or on the radio and especially if they are on the internet – because a true prophet of God will never say anything contrary to God’s word

-- and if you hear someone do that, they need to be confronted and you need to quit listening to them – me included

-- let’s bring this to a close

III. Closing

-- One of my favorite stories about the functioning gift of prophecy comes from Tony Campolo, a Baptist preacher and world-renowned speaker and author

-- Campolo was scheduled to speak at a Pentecostal college chapel service, so, before the service, a team of men let him to the back room of the chapel and began to pray for him – which is normal – not out of the ordinary – I just experienced the same thing last weekend

-- but Campolo was taken aback when one of the men started praying for someone else – as Campolo knelt and the men laid hands on him, this one guy began praying for someone named Charlie Stolzfus: “Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stolzfus. He lives in that silver trailer a mile down the road. You know the trailer. Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side. Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife and three kids. Step in and do something, God. Bring that family back together.”

-- Campolo writes that when the prayers finally quit, he went out and delivered his message, and got in his car and headed home – as he was driving down the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he noticed a hitchhiker. I’m going to quote from his book here:

‘We drove a few minutes and I said: “Hi my name’s Tony Campolo. What’s yours?” He said, “My name is Charlie Stolzfus.” I couldn’t believe it!

I got off the turnpike at the next exit and headed back. He got a bit uneasy with that and after a few minutes he said, “Hey mister, where are you taking me?”

I said, “I’m taking you home.”

He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why?”

I said, “Because you just left your wife and three kids, right?”

That blew him away. “Yeah, that’s right.” With shock written all over his face, he plastered himself against the car door and never took his eyes off me.

Then I really did him in as I drove right to his silver trailer. When I pulled up, his eyes seemed to bulge as he asked, “How did you know that I lived here?”

I said, “God told me.”

When he opened the trailer door his wife exclaimed, “You’re back!” You’re back!” He whispered in her ear and the more he talked the bigger her eyes got.

Then I said with real authority, “The two of you sit down. I’m going to talk and you two are going to listen!” Man did they listen! That afternoon I led those two people to Jesus Christ.’²

-- this is a picture of the prophetic gift in the church today – not a foretelling of the future, but God’s word given to His people so that His will can be done – that man that prayed for Tony Campolo that day was a prophet of God – and God led him to pray out loud by name for Charlie Stolzfus – to proclaim the truth of the situation – because He intended for Tony Campolo to become involved – Campolo is not the prophet in this story – but he acted on the revelation from God that the prophet delivered through his prayer for Charlie Stolzfus

-- when God speaks to His prophets in the church today – whether that is to a preacher in the pulpit or someone in the pews – it is for the express purpose of accomplishing the will of God in the world today – God’s word is given to strengthen us – to edify us – to encourage us – and to lead us into ministry in His name

-- as Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together, “God has put this Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek him and find his living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore, a Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him.”

-- that’s why the spiritual gift of prophecy is a necessary gift in the church of God today – and while this gift is not given to foretell the future or make predictions of what is going to happen – and while God primarily speaks to us through His word today, He also chooses to empower prophets to proclaim His word and His message to His church today

-- and through the people who have been given this spiritual gift of prophecy, His word is faithfully proclaimed every single day – the people that are doing this may not call themselves prophets – they might call themselves pastor or evangelist or preacher -- they may not have a recognized position in the church – but if they have this gift, they have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to hear God’s voice when He speaks and then to proclaim His word in their family – their church – and the world

-- that is the ministry of those with the spiritual gift of prophecy – and our role is to hear the word of God that is being proclaimed and to act on that word – to do what God is telling us to do – and to be His hands and feet in this world today

-- and with that, let us close in prayer as we prepare to go forth into the world again to proclaim the glory of God through Jesus Christ

-- let us pray

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1 Statement of Prophetic Standards [https://propheticstandards.com/]

2 Source: Cited in The Life You’ve Always Wanted, by John Ortberg, 2002, Michigan USA, Zondervan, p.104-105

Sunday, March 01, 2026

SERMON: GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT – TONGUES AND INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

I. Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 14:1-12

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

-- in his book, A Gentle Thunder, (Word, 1995, pp. 139-140) Max Lucado wrote about this man who was going on a trip and saw someone carrying a Bible

-- “Are you a believer?” the first man asked the second -- “Yes,” he said excitedly

-- the first man knew you couldn't be too careful -- just because you carry a Bible and say you're a believer doesn't mean it's true -- so he continued to ask probing questions

-- “Virgin birth?” he asked.’ -- “I accept it.”

-- "Deity of Jesus?” -- “No doubt.”

-- “Death of Christ on the cross?” --“Absolutely.”

-- Could it be that he was actually face to face with a Christian? -- Perhaps. -- but, nonetheless, he continued his checklist.

-- “Status of man?” -- “Sinner in need of grace.” -- “Definition of grace?” -- “God doing for man what man cannot do.

-- “Return of Christ?” -- “Imminent.”

-- “Bible?” -- “Inspired.” -- “The Church?” -- “The body of Christ.”

-- the first man started getting excited. -- “Conservative or liberal?” -- his fellow traveler was getting interested, too. -- “Conservative.” -- his heart began to beat faster.

-- “Heritage?” -- “Southern Congregationalist Holy Son of God Dispensationalist Triune Convention.” -- the first man was amazed -- that was his own heritage

-- “Branch?” -- “Pre-millennial, post-trib, noncharismatic, King James, one-cup communion.” -- the first man's eyes misted as he began to think he had met another true [believer]

-- he had only one other question. -- “Is your pulpit wooden or fiberglass?" -- “Fiberglass,” the other man responded.

-- the first man withdrew his hand, stiffened his neck, and hissed back, “Heretic,” as he walked off

-- while this story that Lucado shared is a funny interchange, unfortunately, it is all too real – for in the church, we have a tendency to argue and divide based on non-essential elements of our faith

-- as we continue in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines and the spiritual gifts, I wanted us to be aware of this tendency, because the understanding of spiritual gifts is one of those elements in the church today that has brought conflict and division – especially, the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues, which we will be talking about this morning

-- in our local community, we have several denominations that have arisen because of a difference of understanding about the expression of charismatic spiritual gifts, primarily healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues

-- some denominations and communities of faith, most notably the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, and the various Pentecostal branches, all put an emphasis on speaking in tongues – and while the official doctrines of these churches note that not all believers speak in tongues, it is a common understanding in local congregations that believers should speak in tongues and the lack of that gift may be evidence of a lack of being baptized in the Holy Spirit

-- other churches and denominations disagree, and contend that the gift of tongues was given during the apostolic period of the church and has passed from existence – in other words, some churches and denominations teach that no one is gifted with the ability to speak in tongues in our day and age

-- so, as we approach the topic of speaking in tongues and the interpretation in tongues this morning, I am going to give you my understanding of what the Bible says about this topic – in my mind, this is an element of our faith that is non-essential, meaning that it is okay to have a difference of opinion about this – I have no problem with you disagreeing with my stance, and I would be happy to have a discussion about this with you

-- however, I will maintain that speaking in tongues is not required for salvation, justification, or sanctification – I stand against anyone that says you are not saved if you don’t speak in tongues -- and that will be the understanding that we are going to take as we move forward on this subject

II. Scriptural Affirmation of Speaking in Tongues

-- to begin, let’s answer a basic question – is the gift of speaking in tongues a true spiritual gift given to believers by the Holy Spirit? – the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes”

-- last week, in our introduction to the gifts of the Spirit, we read in 1 Corinthians 12:10, that speaking in different kinds of tongues or languages and the ability to interpret these tongues are gifts of the Spirit – so, yes, speaking in tongues is a true spiritual gift – and we see it mentioned in other passages in the Bible

-- the first reference to anyone speaking in tongues was given to us in the Acts 2:1-4, where we read of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pentecost – let me read those verses to you right now – Acts 2:1-4

Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

-- quite clearly, the Bible tells us in verse 4 that all of the believers there were filled with the Holy Spirit – they were indwelled with the very presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit – and they were empowered to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them

-- we also see two other instances of new believers being gifted with the ability to speak in tongues when they were filled with the Spirit – in Acts 10:44-46, Peter has been sent to speak to a group of Gentiles in Caesarea at Cornelius’ house – when they put their faith in Jesus and were indwelled with the Holy Spirit, they began speaking in tongues

-- and, finally, in Acts 19:1-6, believers in Ephesus began to speak in tongues after they received Jesus and were baptized in His name, being indwelled by the Holy Spirit

-- so, without a doubt, yes – the gift of speaking in tongues is supported in Scripture

-- now what does it mean to “speak in tongues?”

– it’s important to note here that the Greek word translated, “tongues,” both in the Book of Acts and in 1 Corinthians 12 can also be translated as “languages” – which tells us that the disciples who were given this gift at Pentecost and the disciples in Corinth and Ephesus who received this gift were not speaking unknown words or an unknown language, but were speaking in known languages of their day

-- this understanding is supported by the response of the crowd in Acts 2:7-12

Acts 2:7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

-- on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were given the ability to speak other languages that they did not previously know, and the native speakers of those languages heard the words of the disciples and knew what they were saying

-- however, in the other two passages we looked at in Acts – Acts 10 and Acts 19 – we are just told that the new believers spoke in tongues or other languages – there is no further elaboration to tell us if these were known languages or an unknown tongue

-- which brings us back to our original passage in 1 Corinthians 14 – look back with me at verse 1

– skip down to the second part of verse 9

1 Corinthians 14:9b Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12a So it is with you.

-- so, this muddies the water a little in regards to what speaking in tongues entails – in the Book of Acts, it seems to be clear that those disciples who spoke in tongues were actually speaking in known languages, even though they did not have the previous ability to do so

-- but here in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul seems to imply that the believers in Corinth who were speaking in tongues were speaking in an unknown language, because he says that they were not speaking to people, but to God – and in verses 9-11, he talks about speaking unintelligible words and the hearers not being able to understand the speakers

-- this could be because the believers in Corinth gifted with the ability to speak in tongues were speaking in another known language, but there was no one in Corinth who understood that particular language – for instance, if someone stood up in here and started speaking Hungarian, I doubt that any of us would understand them, although they are speaking a known language – so, that’s one possible interpretation

-- alternately, it could be that God had gifted the believers in Corinth with the ability to speak a language not known on earth – as Paul alluded to in 1 Corinthians 13:1, the tongue or language of angels

-- we just don’t know – Scripture is not clear on this, so let me give you my thoughts based on my experiences

-- several years ago, we were invited to attend a service at a Church of God here in Valdosta – we had some friends who were singers, and the church was going to record a live worship album, and they invited us to come with them

-- this Church of God was known as a charismatic church, and members there were supposedly gifted in the more charismatic and visible spiritual gifts, primarily healing and speaking in tongues – the gift of prophecy was not a major emphasis in this particular congregation

-- so, the choir came out and sang a few songs that were recorded live – and then there was a short break while the music producers reviewed the tape and then prepared for the rest of the service

-- during this break, the pastor led the congregation in a time of prayer – he began by praying a public prayer and then introduced a time of private prayer – and immediately, people throughout the congregation began standing up, praying in tongues – from my perspective, it was cacophony – it was noisy chaos – everyone was just praying out loud – some in English – some in tongues – but there was no order – which I believe is important

-- if you look down at verse 27 here, you see Paul’s command in regards to order in worship – verse 27

1 Corinthians 14:27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

-- so, I am a believer that there should be order in worship – that it should be conducted in a way that is not chaotic, but purposeful – so, coming from a distinctly non-charismatic denomination and upbringing, this whole scene of people just praying at the same time and in different tongues was disconcerting – it was confusing – to me, it was just chaotic, but everyone there accepted it as normal – which, for them, it probably was

-- so, I sat there in the midst of this noise and was beginning to fill overwhelmed with all of it – when suddenly, one voice rose above all the others – from the congregation, one voice began to speak – and it wasn’t loud – it wasn’t overpowering – but when this person began to speak, the entire sanctuary fell silent – and this voice spoke out in prayer for several minutes – it seemed like their voice permeated the hearts of each person there – filling that sanctuary from wall to wall

-- it was obvious that something truly spiritual was happening – and, as I listened, my heart calmed – I felt peace – and I began to realize that I knew some of what was being said – I am not trained in Hebrew, but I know a few words from Bible Study and from the seminary classes I’ve had – and I caught those words amidst all the others being offered up by this one voice in prayer

-- I clearly heard Adonai – I clearly heard other Hebrew words – and in the silence and in my heart, I knew that this person was praying in Hebrew – after he finished, there was complete silence in the congregation – no one moved – no one spoke – everyone just sat there in the silence

-- finally, the pastor came forward – and in a prayerful attitude, he interpreted what had been prayed – he spoke in English a translation of the prayer, and his interpretation matched what few Hebrew words I had pulled from the prayer that had been in tongues

-- what I witnessed that night was what Paul directed in verses 27-28 – that if anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be orderly and someone must interpret – and for that one lone voice, this is what happened – I have no doubt whatsoever that this person had the gift of tongues and that he had been supernaturally enabled to pray in another language, presumably Hebrew, during that worship service

-- so, jumping ahead – is the gift of speaking in tongues still given today? – I think so – I will contend that I have seen it in person and know it to be real – and I will say that this person was also speaking a known language and not in an other-worldly language

-- but what about all the others? – what about the other voices that were being offered up that night in prayer – the cacophony of noise that I experienced and that disturbed my soul?

-- I’m not saying that none of those people had the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues – but I believe that the majority of them did not – and this is a concern I have with our charismatic and Pentecostal brethren

-- just like what was happening in the church at Corinth, there is such an emphasis on the visible gift of speaking in tongues, in some of these congregations, people feel pressured to participate and speak in tongues, whether they have been so gifted by the Spirit or not

-- I have heard people in these congregations say that if someone did not speak in tongues, that they did not have the Spirit or had not been baptized in the Spirit – so, to not speak in tongues, then, cast doubt on a person’s salvation – and in that situation, I believe this can force people to adopt the act of speaking in tongues whether they can or not

-- I honestly believe that many of the people in that Church of God that night were forcing themselves to speak in tongues so that they could be regarded as true believers – and that is a problem

-- for want of a better word, can you fake this gift? – absolutely – and I’m sure that happens

-- but more worrisome is the concern that some people do begin to speak in other tongues, but not through the empowerment and manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but from other spiritual forces

-- there is the possibility that some people, in their desire to speak in tongues like everyone else, have opened themselves unknowingly to satanic influences – in 1 John 4:1, John cautions us to not believe every spirit, but to test the spirits to see whether they are from God

-- and while believers cannot be possessed by demons, we can be influenced by them – we can be affected by them – and it is possible that some people unknowingly speak in tongues through demonic influences

-- this is one reason why the gift of interpretation of tongues is vital – if there is no one to interpret tongues in a congregation, then there is no way to know if what is being said is from God or not – and if there is no one to interpret tongues in a congregation, then there is no value in what is being spoken

-- that is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:27 that if anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be done orderly and someone must interpret, otherwise, the church will receive no edification from the tongue being presented – he goes on in verse 28 to say that if there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church

-- sometimes, the person with the gift of speaking in tongues also has the gift of interpretation – verse 13

1 Corinthians 14:13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.

– sometimes, this gift is given to another person in the congregation – for example, the pastor at the Church of God that I was at when that person prayed in tongues that night

-- so, based on Scripture, speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift, but it must always be accompanied by interpretation, if it is to be practiced in a public setting

-- in regards to the interpretation by some believers and denominations that speaking in tongues was a gift of the Spirit only given in apostolic times, there is no real support for that in Scripture – so, I believe that it is still a valid spiritual gift – although it may not be as needed in congregations today as it was in the apostolic and early missionary period

-- people today have the ability to translate languages in so many different ways – we have Bibles in almost every known language – so the need for someone to have and exercise this gift is not as great – but I believe the Holy Spirit still gifts believers with this ability as He wills

-- so, what about the non-charismatic denominations – why don’t people in the Baptist Church or the Methodist Church routinely pray and speak in tongues?

-- well, I have a theory – a two-part theory – first, it could be the reason why we don’t see people speaking in tongues in these denominations is the principle that like begets like – that we form ourselves into tribes based on various things – we form ourselves into tribes and communities based on our likes and our habits and our preferences and other things

-- so, if someone realizes that they have the gift of speaking in tongues, they probably search out other people who have that gift, and join with them – they congregate together – and so, you see groups of people with this shared gift – and over time, this has developed into the charismatic and Pentecostal denominations

-- in other words, if a person who was raised in a non-charismatic denomination or church suddenly found themselves gifted with the ability to speak in tongues, they would probably go find another church where this gift was more accepted and celebrated – this would explain why we only find speakers of tongues in these particular congregations

-- and, secondly, one reason we don’t see anyone in a non-charismatic church speaking in tongues is the inverse of what I was talking about before in regards to being pressured to fit in – I had said that I believe some people in charismatic congregations feel pressured to speak in tongues because everyone else apparently has that gift – conversely, people with the gift of speaking in tongues in a non-charismatic church are told that it is a gift that no longer exists – and so, they feel pressured to not exercise this gift, even if they have it

-- the Bible tells us we can quench the Holy Spirit – we can suppress His presence and activity in our lives – and I believe that if someone is given a charismatic spiritual gift in a non-charismatic church, they will be pressured to not exercise that gift and will suppress the ability to do so

-- so, it’s not that people in a non-charismatic church never receive the gift of speaking in tongues, but they are discouraged and pressured to not express this gift

-- once again, this is merely my experience – what I have seen among friends in both charismatic and non-charismatic churches – in fact, I had friends who were raised in the Methodist Church who left that church and joined the Church of God because they felt they had a charismatic gift and could speak in tongues, which was discouraged in the church they were in – so, I know it happens

-- let’s circle back to the question of what the Bible means when it talks about speaking in tongues – like we said, I think it’s fairly clear that when the Bible references speaking in tongues, it is referring to the supernatural ability to speak another language – so, a believer who has the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues can speak in a foreign language, without any prior training in speaking that language

-- now, I’m not sure what that looks like in practice – I know the gentleman that night in the Church of God spoke in Hebrew – we heard him in Hebrew – so, he was speaking a foreign language and that required someone to interpret his words for those of us who didn’t know Hebrew

-- I have wondered, though, if perhaps someone with this gift might speak in their native language – say English – and have a foreigner hear it in their own language – in other words, I could be up here speaking in English, and a foreign visitor might think I am speaking to them in their language – I could see where this would be very valuable for missionaries, who would be able to speak in their native language but have the people in the country where they are hear the words in their language

-- I just don’t know – the passage about Pentecost from the Book of Acts could be interpreted that way – but, if this is true, it is certainly not always the case – otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need for anyone with the gift of interpretation, as Paul directs in 1 Corinthians 14

-- but regardless, we do know from Scripture that some people with the gift of speaking in tongues specifically have the gift of speaking in other languages

-- so, what about speaking in the tongues of angels, as Paul references in 1 Corinthians 13:1? – this seems to be what he is referring to in 1 Corinthians 14:2, when he says that anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God – and that no one understands them – they utter mysteries by the Spirit?

-- these verses imply that in addition to speaking other languages, some people are given the ability to speak in a non-worldly tongue – the tongue of angels, if you will

-- John Bevere, in his book Drawing Near, agrees that there are different types of tongues – some tongues or languages are given for unbelievers and for use in public worship – but others are given solely for private use or for intercessory prayer

– so, he contends – along with other people in the charismatic movement – that the ability to speak in the tongues of angels or in a heavenly tongue is another aspect of this gift, but it is specifically limited for private use – for private edification – if someone has this gift, they are to use it for personal growth as part of their private prayers and private worship – so, that’s the two thoughts about what the Bible means when it refers to speaking in tongues

-- let’s bring this home – what do we know about the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues based on what we have looked at this morning?

-- first, the gift of speaking in tongues is still a gift given by the Holy Spirit – there is no scriptural basis to support the idea that this was a limited gift that was only given during the apostolic period in the church

-- second, not everyone has the gift of speaking in tongues – if this were so, Scripture would say so – but it is clear from Scripture that some people were given this gift, and others were not – and this makes it clear that the gift of speaking in tongues is not evidence of salvation nor required for salvation – you are not saved because you speak in tongues – and you can be saved even if you don’t speak in tongues

-- third, we need to exercise caution and discernment when it comes to speaking in tongues – both personally and to others – as John said, we are to test the spirits and make sure they are of God – and this especially true when it comes to speaking in tongues

-- many other religions have adherents speak in tongues as part of their religion – so, just because someone has this ability, doesn’t mean it has come from God

-- along those lines, we need to be careful that we are not pressured into speaking in tongues or pressure someone else into speaking in tongues – and, we need to be careful that we do not allow people to pressure us into not speaking in tongues just because that is not an accepted practice in whatever congregation or gathering we are in – let God be your guide and do what you feel He is leading you to do, not man

-- fourth, speaking in tongues should be orderly and not chaotic – the Bible makes it clear that when someone – or several people – in a congregation have this gift, that only two or three of them are to speak in a worship service – and that they are to take turns and not speak over each other

-- and, fifth, no one should speak in tongues unless there is someone who has the gift of interpretation of tongues present in the gathering – that can be the person who is speaking, if they are also gifted with interpretation – or it can be someone else – but no one is to speak in tongues unless there is someone to interpret – if there is not, they are to keep quiet and speak to God through their spirit only

-- that summarizes what we have covered this morning, so, in closing, let me share this

III. Closing

-- unless you are completely off the grid, everyone in here is aware of the recent controversy about the Super Bowl halftime show this year, featuring the Puerto Rican rapper known as Bad Bunny

-- not getting into the political aspects of his appearance, there were valid complaints about the halftime show – Bad Bunny primarily speaks and sings in Spanish – he has been intentional in his efforts to promote his Latin heritage and language, and generally refuses to change his singing to match the audience

-- so, at the halftime show, Bad Bunny entertained a primarily English-speaking crowd with Spanish lyrics – and, to top it off, there was no translation available – although the Super Bowl itself offered close captions in a variety of different languages during the game, when the halftime show started, the closed captioning was halted – which meant that people who did not speak or understand Spanish were not able to understand what Bad Bunny was saying and singing

-- the same thing happened at the 2023 Grammy Awards when Bad Bunny appeared, which was the first time that a musical act that did not speak or sing in English was featured in such a prestigious timeslot – Bad Bunny sang in Spanish, but no closed captioning or translation into English was offered

-- critics noted that even though Bad Bunny is the largest streaming artist in the world, considerations should have been made to those who did not understand Spanish

-- this aptly sums up the message of the Bible when it comes to the gift of speaking in tongues – this is why the gift of speaking in tongues is always paired with the gift of interpretation in tongues

-- just like we can’t enjoy a concert in a language that we don’t understand, we can’t enjoy and receive knowledge and edification from spiritual messages that we don’t have the ability to understand

-- God is a God of order – a God who desires to communicate with us – a God who doesn’t want us to guess at the message – but to hear His words and respond to His words with grateful hearts – we can’t do that if we don’t understand what is being said

-- God wants us to hear Him and to know Him and to respond to His word – this tells us that all these spiritual gifts are given for the common good – and that means we have to be able to understand the tongues being offered if we are to receive good from them

-- so, if you have this spiritual gift, I encourage you to exercise it – to use it for the edification of the church – but only if there is someone who can interpret what you are saying

-- remember, it’s not about us – it’s about God and His message and carrying that message to the world – even if that is in a different tongue or language

-- with that admonition, let us close in prayer