Have you ever wondered about speaking in tongues? What is this strange phenomenon? Have you ever seen people speak in tongues and at times for a very lengthy time span? Oddly enough, though some people have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, they do not speak in tongues in length or any manner of frequency. Some think it is for an elite few, some say I did that once and if the spirit comes on me again I will do it again. Some people get bored doing it and find it laborious and some people may have a hard time understanding why one would need to speak in tongues for any length. So why do we speak in tongues?
Why do we speak in tongues?
Consider a courtroom…in the courtroom, when a case is being presented there is evidence. Man is evidence. How is man evidence? Because we are witnesses. Witnesses give an account of something that happened. They are evidence or proof. The reason we speak in tongues is because it signifies that we are witnesses to the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ and that God sent His spirit back to dwell in the earth.
Let’s read Acts 1:1-8
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
We see in Act 1:1-8 that we are his witnesses.
Why would God need witnesses on the earth?
1 Corinthians 14:22 states that “tongues are a sign to the unbeliever”. A sign of what? The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as the Spirit of God.
Acts 10:46 tells us: “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” Hearing Cornelius and his household speak with tongues convinced the Jewish believers they had received the Holy Spirit.
Once again here in Acts chapter 10 we see by speaking in tongues, even believers could see with their own eyes that Cornileus and his family had received the Holy Ghost.
What other manifestations of God’s spirit were evidence of the Holy Spirit?
In the book of Acts, we see two different manifestations that represent the evidence of the Holy Spirit. The sound from heaven of that of a mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues of fire.
So we see that the Holy Spirit has different manifestations and it is not just speaking in tongues but that is one of the ways that He manifests Himself in our lives that gives an account to the fact that God sent His spirit to earth.
How does scripture define and validate evidence?
The bible constantly reiterated throughout scripture that evidence is two to three witnesses. Duet 17:6, Duet 19:15, 2 Peter 1:16-18,
We, believers, are all witnesses to the account that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
Should we not speak in tongues on account of an unbeliever?
There were numerous accounts in the bible when unbelievers saw believers speaking in tongues, that they thought the disciples or those speaking in tongues were drunk and drunk with wine but because of the Holy Ghost dwelling on the inside of man, many joined the church….Tongues in fact are a sign for the unbeliever (1 Timothy 14:22). I reviewed that shortly at the beginning of this lesson.
When we don’t speak in tongues because we don’t want to offend others, we deny the power. There is a scripture that speaks about this…having a form of Godliness and denying the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5)
You can read the word, watch Christian television, tell your neighbor about Jesus, feed the homeless, give money to the needy, you can do all that and that is good but if you do not think you should speak in tongues or even hide the fact that you do for whatever reason then you deny the power. That essentially denies God.
Why should we speak in tongues in length?
God is a linguist that knows all languages. His Spirit can speak to anyone in their language through us. This allows us to be His witnesses to the world.
Let’s explore a very foundational scripture
Acts 2:1-4
2 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
So we see that there is a language that God gives us. He makes us linguists. Meaning that He allows us to communicate with Him and with nations. We see this in Acts 2 where they began to understand each other’s tongue.
I have a book that can be preordered on my website, lifegivingrhema.com and it is called Prayer Chronicles. In this book, I speak on 8 functions of prayer. I’m going to mention those here to emphasize what praying in length produces.
- It activates and engages our spirit man (Jude 1:20)
- It causes us to respond to God with a greater sensitivity and steward that place of response (practice obedience the fruit of that is a sensitivity to God and His voice)
- It is a vehicle to transform man into the image of God
- It allows us to receive instructions from God.
- It causes the government of God to be enacted in the earth realm
- It imparts faith to do His will
- It allows us to keep watch
- It allows us to release the Glory of God within us
