Andrew Wommack - Speaking in Tongues

this is Andrew Wommack and this is the second tape in a set in an album entitled the holy spirit the first tape was on what is the baptism of the holy spirit on this tape we're talking about the gift of speaking in tongues and this gift is usually associated with receiving the baptism of the holy spirit on the first step I explained and tried to establish that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a separate experience from salvation it's distinct and separate some people confuse that and the people who basically disagree and say that no you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Salvation and that that's all that there is by and large they don't believe in the gift of speaking in tongues or in any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit they try and say that they've passed away and that those things don't happen today but I'm gonna share scriptures with you to show that that is not true and at the baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate and distinct and all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that operated in the Bible are still operating today let me just say before we get into this that I'm going to emphasize speaking in tongues because it's it was by example one of the very first things that happened when people received the baptism of the Holy Spirit I could give you many examples I'll just mention some things and let you go study this on your own but in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was first poured out the disciples spoke with tongues in Acts chapter 8 when Philip went down to the city of Samaria and ministered unto them and the people receive salvation then the Apostles from Jerusalem went down and prayed with these people that they might receive the Holy Spirit and they did and it doesn't say in Acts chapter 8 that they spoke with tongues some people have tried to say see you don't always speak in tongues but it does say that simon the sorcerer when he saw that the holy spirit was given that he offered the Apostles money so that he could have this ability to give the Holy Spirit he saw something when the Holy Spirit came upon them and to be consistent with every other instance in the book of Acts where the Holy Spirit was poured out you would have to say that speaking in tongues was Airy it wasn't mentioned but it didn't say that they didn't speak in tongues something happened that was visible that people could see and it's very possible probable I believe that they spoke with tongues just like in every other instance in the 10th chapter of the book of Acts you find where Peter preached to Cornelius in his house and they spoke with tongues and prophesied and in Acts chapter 11 the church at Jerusalem was upset because Gentiles had been admitted into the body of Christ and they got upset and Peter used this fact that they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost as proof that they were truly saved in Acts chapter 11 verse 16 it says then remembered I the word of the Lord how that he said John indeed baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost for as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us speaking of talking about praying in tongues he says what was I that I could withstand God and when they heard these things they held their peace in other words the Apostle Peter used the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of speaking in tongues and prophesying as proof that these were genuine converts to the Lord and so there's another instance in there's many other instances if you just go on through I already on the first tape talked about Acts chapter 19 it says there that they spoke with tongues and many other places the Apostle Paul said in first Corinthians that he spoke with tongues more than all of the Corinthians talking about all of them combined more than y'all and so the Apostle Paul himself spoke in tongues matter of fact the Bible was written the New Testament was written by all tongue talkers people who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues and when you look at that it's amazing to me that people today fight against this gift of speaking in tongues because the people who wrote the Bible spoke in tongues it was prophesied that it was happened it says all of these things and yet there is a desire a resistance against speaking in tongues now before I get right into explaining that let me just say that I'm emphasizing and speaking in tongues because just like these examples I gave you it is an immediate manifestation that happens when a person receives the Holy Spirit I don't believe it's the only manifestation though as a matter of fact in my life what I would have to say is the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit when I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the fact that I got revelation knowledge the Holy Spirit it's just like daylight and dark prior to receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit I'd have to take what a person a preacher somebody told me and I would just assume that it was true but there was no assurance in my heart there was no understanding on my own I was just following an example doing what I was told and I could even pare it back some of those truths but it wasn't coming from my heart but after I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit the one who wrote the Bible begin to explain it unto me and I began to have what I call revelation knowledge it wasn't knowledge that I was just learning from the outside in it was things that were being revealed to me in my heart just like John 14:26 says but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you the Holy Spirit is sent to explain to teach you and to bring things to your remembrance and that happened to me my understanding of God just went through the roof and I can truthfully say that my entire teaching ministry everything I share with people would not have happened without the baptism the Holy Spirit so there's many benefits of receiving the Holy Spirit I am NOT saying because I'm emphasizing speaking in tongues that speaking in tongues is superior to any of the other gifts every gift of God is important and we need to receive them all but I'm going to emphasize speaking in tongues because in the Bible account especially in the book of Acts the people spoke with tongues it was a typical experience when a person received the baptism of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues and it is an immediate thing that is audible and it's it's something that you can do to help prove that you have the Holy Spirit now this raises a question do you have to speak in tongues to receive the Holy Spirit and I could literally spend an hour or two trying to deal with this I'm just gonna summarize it by saying this you don't have to speak in tongues you get to speak in tongues it is a gift from God and I'm going to establish on this tape how important it is what some of the benefits are and once you understand this there's no reason that you shouldn't speak in tongues but let me say that if a person is saying do I have to speak in tongues well I'm not sure that you have to right now I'm not speaking in tongues I'm speaking in English there's nothing that makes me speak in tongues but I speak in tongues voluntarily of my own choice if a person was just to say no I will not speak in tongues I guess you could you could do that but you know what there's no benefit to that my own personal testimony and this will conflict with a lot of people there may be some people get very upset and discounting everything else I've got to say because of this but my own personal experience is that I was seeking God with my whole heart I was crying out for God to fill me with power and on March the 23rd 1968 I had an experience where I was filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately this revelation knowledge that I was talking about begin to happen immediately there was power immediately I prayed with people and I saw the sick healed immediately it caused problems I got kicked out of a church and I mean there was every evidence that I had the baptism of the Holy Spirit except I didn't speak in tongues right then and the reason I didn't is because I'd been taught against it I was taught that it was of the devil as a matter of fact when I received this experience with the Holy Spirit I had never been taught that there was a baptism of the Holy Spirit I didn't know anything about it I was just so hungry for God that I stumbled upon this relationship with the Holy Spirit and it revolutionized my life and it was three years later before I spoke in tongues it was probably two or maybe two and a half years later before I came to understand that speaking in tongues was a valid gift for us and after I believed it then it took me about six months before I got enough understanding to where I could yield to it and speak in tongues but that's because I was raised a Baptist and I'm not against the Baptist I'm not down on them I'm just saying that they didn't even teach about the baptism of the Holy Spirit Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God since I hadn't heard the Word of God I didn't have faith to receive it and a little bit of teaching I had heard was against the baptism of the Holy Spirit and against speaking in tongues and I actually had a negative feeling about that I'd been told that you could have demon tongues which are not verified in Scripture and because of this I had a fear that prevented me from doing it and it took me a while to renew my mind so am I saying that you have to speak in tongues in my own personal example I don't believe that I spoke in tongues when I received the Holy Spirit but I can also testify to this that when I finally did come around to speaking in tongues I could have done it all along if I hadn't have been prejudiced against it and when I finally did speak in tongues there was again as great a change in my life as when I received the Holy Spirit it was dramatic and so I'm saying that no I don't guess you have to speak in tongues but you get to speak Tong's it is so powerful there is no reason not to speak in tongues it is available for every one of us and if you aren't speaking in tongues you are missing out on one of the greatest benefits of the baptism of the Holy Spirit not the only one not the greatest but certainly one of the greatest it is an awesome experience and there is much much power in it now let me deal with some things because I know that there's many people listening to this tape who have been prejudiced against speaking in tongues just like I was and it unless you remove this prejudiced unless you get rid of negative thoughts those thoughts are unbelief and they will keep you from speaking in tongues it doesn't come upon you and just force you to speak in tongues you have to voluntarily do it it is a step of faith and that's one of the reasons it has so much benefit let me take some of the very scriptures that people use to teach against the baptism of the holy spirit and I'll use these exact scriptures to teach that the baptism of the holy spirit and speaking in tongues are still valid for us today in 1st Corinthians we find Paul writing to the Corinthian church and chapters 12 13 and 14 of 1st Corinthians are all devoted to the gifts of the Holy Spirit one of those is speaking in tongues there's also other gifts such as healing and the gift of miracles and word of wisdom word of knowledge all of these kind of things and so the gifts of the Holy Spirit are prominent in the book of 1st Corinthians and yet the Corinthian church was one of the most carnal churches in the New Testament Paul said that they were just carnal in chapter 3 he talked about terrible things in chapter 5 of first Corinthians there was a man who had committed incest with his father's wife there were people that were suing each other they were getting drunk at the Lord's Supper table that's in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 in chapter 11 they had turned it into an orgy they had they were getting into their church services were people just speaking in tongues and there was no interpretation and so Paul rebuked them for the now because there is so much carnality there was sin there was terrible things happening in the Corinthian church and yet they had all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit operating some people have taught that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are actually bad for you and look what it did to the Corinthian church well let me just say that the Corinthian church wasn't carnal because of the gifts of the Holy Spirit it was in spite of it the gifts of the Holy Spirit if you receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues or any of the other gifts they aren't going to grant you instant spiritual maturity they are beneficial and complimentary to maturity but they don't guarantee it and the Corinthian church proves that but instead of saying that because the Corinthian church was carnal and they had the gifts then therefore we don't want the gifts or will be carnal no it's just the opposite 1st Corinthians chapter 14 after Paul had rebuked them had taught them the right use of the gifts of the Spirit he goes on down and in verse 39 1st Corinthians 14 39 he says wherefore brethren covet to prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues now remember he was talking to a carnal group of people that were getting drunk committing incest doing terrible things and yet he was encouraging them to covet the gifts of the Holy Spirit and commanded them never to forbid to speak in tongues you know I worked for a woman one time and she was I was painting in her house and I was talking to her about the Lord and she was really being blessed and she said now why did you leave the Baptist Church we need you back in the Baptist Church and I said well I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and it's not me that left they asked me to leave they kicked me out of the church and she said are you talking about speaking in tongues and I said well that's part of it I said that's not all that there was but yeah I speak in tongues and when I did they asked me to leave the church and she said well they would have kicked you out of my church too and I said how could you do that how could you believe that and I turned to this very verse 1st Corinthians 14 39 where it says wherefore brethren covet to prophesy and forbid not to speak times I said right there it says forbid not to speak in tongues I said the Bible says it right there and this woman looked at me and she says there's lots of things in the Bible that our church doesn't believe when she said that I just couldn't Minster to her anymore because the Bible wasn't Authority there's a lot of people that just you're gonna choose to believe what your denomination said over what God's Word says and I can't change it but if you believe the Bible the Bible says to a group of people who were carnal who had problems in their life instead of saying don't covet the gifts they'll make you carnal he told this carnal group of people to covet the gifts and forbid not to speak in tongues that's pretty good proof that you should be speaking in tongues so in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 he lists 9 gifts of the holy spirit these aren't the only gifts romans chapter 12 also lists some but in 1st corinthians chapter 12 he lists these gifts of the holy spirit and then he says at the end of 1st corinthians chapter 12 verse 31 he says but covet earnestly the best gifts and yet show i unto you a more excellent way now some people have said that the more excellent way is love and that if you have the real love of god then you don't need these gifts of the holy spirit that's not what this is saying this is saying that the gifts of the holy spirit operating and being motivated by love is superior to the gifts of the holy spirit being operated carnally this isn't telling you that you love is better than the gifts it's saying that the gifts of the holy spirit in love are better than the gifts of the holy spirit without love there are some people that are really mistaken and confused and they think that if you have the gifts of the holy spirit and specifically we're talking about speaking in tongues there's others but let's talk about the gift of speaking in tongues there's some people that think if you do that that you're pure holy spirit and that you cannot make any mistake that it's just the Holy Spirit controlling you that's not true the Holy Spirit inspires it and gives you the inspiration to speak in tongues but you speak in tongues and you can do it carnally you can do it without being motivated by love and that's what it goes on saying chapter 13 verse 1 it says though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity that's talking about God's kind of love I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal that says that you can pray in tongues without doing it motivated by love if you do then it really isn't gonna benefit you you need to let the love of God be the motivation behind your gift in verse 2 and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity or gods kind of love I am nothing verse 3 and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity it profiteth mean nothing this is just saying that everything has to be motivated by love there are people that do some of the right things but they don't do it motivated by love you can see this in legalistic Christianity all of the time people who will do the right thing they'll go to church but they don't like going to church they just do it out of obligation they aren't doing it by love there are people who will put money in the offering plate because they feel like they have to do it but they don't do it because they love God and the Bible here is saying that if you aren't doing it out of a motivation of love then you've wasted your money it profits you nothing the motive behind your gift is more important than your gift and so he goes on and he says in verse 8 charity or God's kind of love never fails but whether there be prophecies they shall fail whether there be tongues and this is talking about this gift of speaking in tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away and so some people have said see right there it says that speaking in tongues will pass away and they jump on this and then they begin to say from the next verse it says in verse 9 for we know in part and we prophesy in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away and they say that which is perfect is talking about the Bible in other words the first century Christians who didn't have a written Bible God gave them these gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy in miracles and healings and deliverance until the Bible came but now that the Bible has come these miraculous things have passed away and that God doesn't do these miracles anymore and I've heard that all of my life but look at it in context let's go back to verse 8 it says whether there be prophecies they shall fail whether there be tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away it says that when you know the tongue sees that knowledge will also cease well that hadn't happened yet as a matter of fact one of the prophecies of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 about the end times is that knowledge would increase so knowledge hasn't vanished away he goes on to say in verse 10 but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away verse 11 when I was a child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things for now we see through a glass darkly but then then when he's talking about when that which is perfect is come he says but then face to face now I know in part but then when that which is perfect is come shall I know even as also I am known so when that which is perfect is come it says that we will see face to face have we seen Jesus face to face of course the answer to that is no that's not going to happen until the second return of the Lord our until we die and go to be with the Lord and it says when that which is perfect is come that I will know even as also I am known do we know all things yet no we don't know all things yet but there is coming a time when we receive a glorified body that you will know everything and you will be seeing Jesus face-to-face and when that happens then you won't be speaking in tongues anymore speaking in tongues is to help you when you don't know how to pray the way that you should and so you pray in tongues but when you become perfect and receive a glorified body when we're in heaven with the Lord you won't need speaking in tongues you won't need prophecy you won't need knowledge anymore because you'll know all things so I agree with these scriptures completely but see that which is perfect is not talking about the completion of the Bible I believe the Bible is perfect I'm not taking issue with that but this didn't prophesy that at the completion of the written Bible that miracles would cease and that speaking in tongues would cease instead this is talking about when you receive that which is perfect you're glorified body and you're no longer in part but you will know everything then you won't need to speak in tongues or any of these other kind of things so the very scriptures that some people try and teach that speaking in tongues has passed away the very passage of scripture proves that as long as there is still knowledge functioning as long as we haven't seen face to face then that which is perfect hasn't come yet and therefore speaking in tongues is still a valid gift for us today actually there is no way that a person who read these scriptures honestly and especially put it with first Corinthians 14 39 where it says forbid not to speak with tongues there's no way that a honest person approaching the scripture would come up with this teaching that miracles of fast way speaking in tongues is not for us today you have to be prejudiced to get that you have to be predisposed to that interpretation you'd have to have already been corrupted with a certain mindset and let me just say that some people wonder well why do people fight so hard it seems so obvious what this says why do they fight so hard against miracles and against speaking in tongues and the baptism of the Holy Spirit well there's a couple of reasons one of them is because they have been prejudiced by doctrine they've been taught the wrong thing and the Bible says in mark chapter 7 that tradition and doctrines of men make the Word of God of none and there's some people that would rather hold to their tradition than they had to hold to the Word of God and then a second reason is because if it's true that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is real and that you receive power and if it's true that you can speak in tongues and heal the sick and cleanse the lepers and prophesy and have words of wisdom and knowledge if those things are true then you know what it puts responsibility on us to do something and manifest those things and most people will not accept that responsibility there's a huge amount of people who call themselves Christians who love to think that their sins are forgiven but how can you prove if your sins are forgiven you can't see a sin and you can't see a sin when it's forgiven you know what it's easy to profess that and they don't have to they don't have to prove it they don't have to do anything they can claim whatever they want but if miracles are real and if this is a part of the Christian life and if you believe that then you know what there are things you can do to prove it you can speak in tongues you can see devils test outs you can see blind eyes open people raised from the dead and stuff and there's people that in order to avoid that kind of responsibility on them so that they can just be carnal sit in front of a television set and say oh yeah I'm a Christian and somebody there's no way they can prove it because all they believe in is just the forgiveness of sins they don't believe in anything else well then they can sit there and defend their position and be carnal and may or may not be saved who would know but Jesus used miracles as a way of proving whether a person had really received salvation you can see that in the second chapter of the book of Mark Jesus saw a man let down through the roof who is paralytic and when he saw their faith he said your sins are forgiven you and the scribes and the Pharisees got very upset and said who can forgive sins and so Jesus asked him a question he says which is harder to say your sins be forgiven you or to say take up your bed and walk when I you know as far as just saying I'm not talking about doing but just as far as saying it's actually easier to say your sins are forgiven because you can't prove that but if you say take up your bed and walk now that's hard to say because that person is either going to get up and walk or your words have been totally violated and voided because there was no action so it's actually harder to say rise up take up your bed and walk and so Jesus turned around and in mark chapter 2 he says so that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins then said he to the sick of the palsy rise take up your bed and walk and immediately the man was made whole and so Jesus basically was saying if I can say and perform that which is the hardest then I can certainly do that which is least and so he used the fact that he could heal bodies and miracles to prove that if those physical things could be done then the spiritual things such as forgiveness of sins could be done but you know what there's a lot of people that are hiding behind this doctrine today that miracles don't happen because that way they don't have to put up they don't have to put up or shut up they they can just claim that they are in a relationship with God but there's no way for them to demonstrate it that's a convenient theology but the truth is miracles still happened today speaking in tongues is still for us until you receive your glorified body you should these speaking in tongues let me share with you some of the benefits what speaking in tongues does now you will hear some people talk about that when you speak in tongues that it is intercession that it's the Holy Spirit interceding through you and they will take a scripture like Romans chapter 8 and in verse 26 it says likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and so people will teach that this is praying in tongues now I'm not gonna take issue with the fact that when you pray in tongues the Holy Spirit is interceding through you you don't know exactly how to pray for things so when you're praying in tongues it's your spirit praying in your spirit is perfect your spirit has the mind of Christ 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 16 says you have the mind of Christ Colossians 3:10 says you've been renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created you 1st John chapter 2 and verse 20 says that you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things now that's not true of your little peanut brain but in your spirit you have a mind and your spirit mind knows all things and so when you're praying in the spirit you are praying from that part of you that is all wisdom all knowledge and so yes I believe that when you pray in tongues the Holy Spirit is making intercession through you but Romans 8:26 says it's with groanings which cannot be uttered I've heard one person teach that this means can't be uttered in articulate speech in other words in a known language but in speaking in tongues is what this is talking about well I believe it's separate I believe that there is another form of intercession that is called groaning in the spirit I have a tape on then titled groaning in the spirit I won't teach on that right here but this is talking about a separate form of intercession yeah I'll say this that yes I believe when you speak in tongues you are interceding and the Holy Spirit is helping your intercession but I think it's misplaced to say that speaking in tongues is primarily you interceding for another person or for a negative situation I think that the number one purpose of speaking in tongues is just for your own personal edification the word edification means spiritual growth it's to promote you it prepares your heart number one more than it intercedes and I'm not denying that there is intercession but I'm saying the number one purpose of speaking in tongues is the personal benefit that you get look at these scriptures in 1st Corinthians chapter 14 in verse 2 it says 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 but he that prophesies speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies himself but he that prophesies edifies the church and there's other scriptures that go along with this so I believe the number one purpose of speaking in tongues is just to promote spiritual growth on the inside of you look at this Old Testament reference to speaking in tongues this is in Isaiah chapter 28 and it says here in Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 11 for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people to whom he said this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing yet they would not hear now those passages of Scripture are quoted in 1st Corinthians 14 where it talks about speaking in tongues and it is applied to this gift that we call speaking in tongues it goes along with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and so it says here in verse 12 to whom he said this speaking in tongues is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing so speaking in tongues produces rest it builds you up it edifies you it refreshes you why is that well for one thing it's your spirit praying and your spirit is the part of you that is completely brand new it's the part of you that God lives in it's the part of you that is pure and holy there's no contamination in it and when you are praying in tongues you are praying in the spirit it says this over in the book of Jude this is right before the book of Revelation next to last chapter in the Bible in Jude chapter 1 verse 20 it says but ye beloved building up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost keep yourselves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord as Christ unto eternal life this says that when you pray in the Holy Ghost that you are building up yourselves on your most holy faith and you keep yourselves in the love of God so once again speaking in tongues is for your personal edification if you're ever discouraged if you're ever weary you need to pray in tongues and it'll cause the weary to rest it'll get rid of that discouragement you build yourself up there's been times that I've had discouragement criticism other things things come against me and I just start speaking in tongues and immediately I just start being built up and edified and encouraged one of the benefits of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is this ability to speak in tongues and if you understand this there is no excuse for you to ever be depressed again because the Holy Spirit will encourage you build you up and increase you man that is awesome that is a wonderful benefit of the Holy Spirit he goes on to say in first Corinthians chapter 14 and in verse 13 it says wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret for if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful so this verse says that you are praying in the spirit your spirit is the part of you that prays now I could spend a lot of time I haven't got it on this tape so I haven't got time to spend on this but I could spend a lot of time talking about the difference between praying in your understanding just your intellect which is limited and usually is not very well informed and doesn't have full information I could contrast that with praying in the spirit which the Bible says you have the mind of Christ in your spirit you know all things you have an unction from the Holy One you are renewed in knowledge man there is a vast difference from praying from your spirit and praying from your mind if we fully understood this we would spend more time praying in tongues because it's very powerful and let me share another benefit of speaking in tongues all of this is interrelated I'm rushing through this but I tell you this is powerful the Apostle Paul said over in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 he was trying to tell the people that not just to listen to his words because he didn't come preaching with fancy words but he demonstrated the power of God in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 6 he says howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the princes of this world that come to naught but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory so Paul is telling you what he preached and he says we're preaching the hidden wisdom of God that is spoken in a mystery where did Paul get this wisdom well he went through you know the seminary of his day but that was prior to his conversion and he said in Philippians chapter 3 he counted all of that knowledge black dung so that he could know the Lord so he didn't draw on his seminary train where did he get this well in Galatians it shows us that he went into the desert for three years and didn't have contact with anybody and that God supernaturally gave him revelation of the truth of the gospel and he said here speaking about that revelation that it was the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery now compare that with first Corinthians 14 this is the same person Paul speaking it's in the same letter so he's writing to the same group of people and he said this in first Corinthians 14:2 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 Paul said what he was preaching was the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery how did he get this mystery well when he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit he spoke in tongues and when you speak in tongues he's revealing right here that you are speaking these hidden wisdom of God in a mystery and you know here's something that is so simple it's amazing people have missed it but when you speak in tongue it's your spirit that prays first Corinthians 14:14 and your spirit is praying the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery and according to 1st Corinthians 14 13 it says wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret so if you are speaking the hidden wisdom of God your Spirit is praying forth these you know these truths that are just beyond our carnal ability to be able to grasp well then all you have to do is pray that you interpret that now I'll grant you that in 1st Corinthians 14 Paul was speaking primarily about the gift of tongues that operated in a church service and he was saying that that gift of tongues need to be interpreted but he also said in this same book that he prayed with tongues more than them all and he wasn't talking about in the church because he said right here that he had rather speak five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue in the church so that people could be benefited so when he spoke of speaking in tongues personally he was talking about in his private time so these things that are spoken about tongues aren't only for a church service you can pray in tongues personally as a matter of fact let me just answer this question this is a little parenthesis don't forget where I'm going about speaking in tongues and interpreting your tongues but some people have interpreted first Corinthians chapter 12 where it says in verse 29 are all apostles are all prophets are all teachers are all workers and miracles have all the gifts of healing do all speak with tongues do all interpret and some people have interpreted that to say that the obvious answer to all of those questions is no not everybody's an apostle not everybody's a prophet and therefore not everybody speaks with tongues and so they use that scripture to try and say that you aren't not everybody's supposed to speak in tongues but this is talking about a ministry gift a vocation there is a gift of speaking in tongues that operates in a church service just like the gift of prophecy are the gift of healings are the gift of miracles for instance first Corinthians chapter 12 this same chapter talks about that there is the gifts of healing and yet over in mark chapter 16 verse 17 it says that these signs shall follow them that believe they shall speak with new tongues they shall cast out devils they shall take up serpents if they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover it says that all people who are believers will speak with new tongues they will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover and yet there is a separate gift where only some people have the ability to have a vocation of healing there are certain people who are called of that as a vocation but every believer can lay hands on the sick and see them recover there are some people who have a vocation of speaking in tongues and giving interpretation in a church service but every believer can pray in tongues you know it said right here in 1st Corinthians chapter 13 that there are different types of tongues it says I can pray with the tongues of men or of angels now this answers another question some people say that the tongues that came on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2 were known languages and some people have actually said that the gift of speaking in tongues is nothing but an ability to learn other languages a supernatural ability where you catch on quickly well that's not it at all on the day of Pentecost they didn't go to school and just get you know other languages in six months instead of a whole year or two years worth of courses they supernaturally spoke in a language they had never heard of before but it was a known language it was the language that people could understand that's one form of speaking in tongues but there's also a speaking in tongues that is a language of angels as first Corinthians 13:1 talks about and that's something that every baptized in the Holy Spirit believer can do is pray in these tongues of angels and when you're praying in tongues now back to my point when you're praying in tongues you're speaking the hidden wisdom of God and you can pray that you interpret you can ask God for an interpretation of that tongue and it'll work man that's powerful do you know when I first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues this is one of the things that turned my life around like I said I begin to get revelation God was speaking things to me I was seeing scriptures and truths from scriptures that other people around me didn't know and they were criticizing me and telling me I was wrong and there was a struggle going on between what people were telling me on the outside and what I was hearing in my heart and for a period of six months I used to sit down with a yellow legal pad and I would write out hundreds of scriptures every day I would write them out longhand so that I could focus on every word and meditate on it and I would spend anywhere from 8 to 10 hours a day just riding out these scriptures because they were exploding on the inside on me and yet I was struggling to get that revelation it was there I could feel it I could see it but I couldn't verbalize it to anybody else and it was because I was being so criticized for it so I would pour over those scriptures and meditate on them and then what I would do is get in my closet this is right after I got married and my wife and I had a one-bedroom apartment and there literally was nowhere else to go so I would get in my closet and get down under the clothes and just lock myself in there and pray in tongues for an hour or two a day over those scriptures not for intercession but for personal edification and just like these scriptures are talking about believing that I could interpret I believed that my spirit was able to grasp those truths better than my head was able to grasp them and so I would pray in the spirit and ask God to interpret to my physical understanding what I had been studying and I mean revelation begin to come to me within one week's period of time after doing that for six months revelation hit me so strong that much of what I'm still teaching today 34 years later is still going on in my life because of what I learned during that one-week period of time I got so much I had to say god you're showing me more than I can retain and I had to just literally say god I can't handle any more and you know how it happened because I was praying in tongues and believing to interpret now let me give a little qualification on this a little interpretation because when you say that you interpret your tongue I know many people are thinking oh then what you do is you pray in tongues and then you stop and pray in English and give an interpretation of that tongue well if you're in a church service you have to do it that way because it has to be spoken out loud but it's just like it says here in first Corinthians 14:14 if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful all you need is for your understanding to become fruitful begin to start understanding what you're praying and personally I don't believe that when you are private by yourself praying in tongues that you have to stop and give an interpretation in English all you need to do is just start understanding what you're praying about here's some examples of how this worked in my life I was actually praying in tongues one time and this is back when I first started doing it and I was still dealing with some of my doubts about is this really right because I had been taught so strongly against speaking in tongues but I knew and intellectually it was right and I was just forcing myself to do it I was praying in tongues one day for about two hours and while I was praying in tongues a person came and knocked on my door who I hadn't seen in four years and they didn't even say hi they just walked in sat down started crying and pouring their heart out and when they did this my first thought was boy I should have been praying in English I've been praying in tongues and now here's somebody that has a need and I all I've done is waste the morning praying in tongues that's what I thought but then my next thought was how would I've known to pray for this guy I hadn't seen him in four years and how would I've known and it just dawned on me that when you're praying in tongues that your spear it is brain the part of you that knows all things and I really believe that I had been praying for this man because I couldn't have done it with my physical mind but with my spirit I could pray for another person and all of a sudden faith rose up on the inside of me I stopped this guy in mid-sentence and I completed telling him what the problem was I was accurate I was right on and I mean it just nailed this guy's problem and set him free and the Lord through that confirmed to me that see I had been praying for this situation and all I needed to do was interpret and I looked at what I was saying to him as an interpretation of what I had been praying and then there were other instances after that where I would you know when you're praying in tongues it says here that your understanding is unfruitful when you're praying in tongues it's not your brain praying it's your spirit that's praying and so you have to do something with your mind you can actually pray in tongues and your mind could wander you could go to thinking about something totally unrelated to God and so with my mind I have just learned that when I pray in tongues I'll also pray with my mind with my understanding and I begin to experience that when I would start praying in tongues like this over a prolonged period of time that all of a sudden people would start coming to my mind that I hadn't thought of in years and at first I just dismissed it and thought I wonder why I'm thinking about them but then after I had prayed in tongues they would all of a sudden show up or I'd get a call from them or a letter or something would happen and I begin to make this connection that every time I would think of this person it wasn't just me it was supernatural and I began to realize just like this that when I was praying in tongues I was getting an interpretation it wasn't a word-for-word interpretation where I was every word saying does saith the Lord go call Joe Blow do this but instead I would just be praying in tongues and all of a sudden I'd start thinking about Joe Blow wondering what's happening to him and after this happened on a number of occasions I began to recognize it was the Lord I began to pray for that person but to start understanding that when these thoughts come to me while I'm praying in tongues that it's the Holy Spirit interpreting when I'm praying and I would follow through on it and I would see miracles happen every time people say how did you know that I needed you to call me I remember I called one person who had been a very good friend but we had been out of touch for years and I was praying in tongues and God told me to call him and when I got him on the phone they hung up on me and I thought well that's weird I said I really felt impressed to call him I felt like I'd been praying for him and that God told me to call and I while I was sitting at my desk looking at that phone thinking about what happened here the phone rang again and it was that person calling back and saying I had just said that God we've spent our life ministering to other people and yet now I'm in a need and if you're really God why don't you have somebody called me and they had just said that and I called and they were so startled they just hung up the phone and they called back and repented and I was able to minister to them and you know what that is that's me interpreting that tongue you can do this when you're praying for people you can do it when you're praying for wisdom in a situation it's your spirit praying in your spirit has that perfect wisdom of God when you're wanting to know what scripture says and you're struggling and saying God what does this mean you can take Scripture and pray over it in tongues and ask God for wisdom and all of a sudden you'll just start receiving wisdom it also doesn't have to be at that exact moment that you receive that interpretation there's a friend of mine who understands this same teaching we ministered together and he when he prays over a church service he wants to receive an interpretation right then so that when he goes into the church service he knows what's gonna happen in advance he knows who's gonna be healed and what's gonna happen and things like that and so that's the way he receives it me personally I don't like to receive my interpretation always right when I'm praying because if I'm praying for a church service and I'm still a week out from that church service and if God was to tell me this is going to happen and this is happen and you're gonna see a woman in a red dress that has this sickness and if you'll minister to her she'll be healed if God was to tell those things to me a week out that would give me a week for my carnal mind to start getting into fear about this or trying to analyse it or understand it and personally I just don't like that so what I do is often I pray in tongues and I may not get anything at that exact moment but a week later or a month later or whenever I'll be in a situation where I need something and I just say father I've been praying in tongues I believe now I receive the interpretation and boom I'll receive it right then and I'm able to deal with something and that's why I like to do it so anyway there's much more that could be said about this but I'm just establishing the principle that speaking in tongues is not something you just do one time to prove you've got the Holy Spirit but when you speak in tongues you are causing yourself to rest you're refreshing yourself you're edifying yourself you're building yourself up on your most holy faith and you are keeping the love of God active in alive plus when you speak in tongues you are speaking hidden wisdom out and you need to be able to interpret that it will open up revelation to you it will give you answers that you couldn't get any other way can you understand why speaking in tongues is so important now it's not just something you do just when you have an emotional experience it is a powerful tool to build you up refresh you encourage you and to give you revelation knowledge that's the reason Satan is fought against it because it is a powerful powerful tool let me also make a couple of other points here I got to be very quick but when you speak in tongues it is not pure Holy Spirit speaking through you it's no different than when I teach you know I believe that teaching is a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit that God's anointed me to teach but if I was just to open my mouth and say God speak through me and don't let me say anything that isn't of you and then I opened my mouth and wait on God to make me talk I'd never say anything the Holy Spirit doesn't take control and literally force me to say words I think that you understand that when it comes to a preacher preaching or teaching speaking in tongues is the same thing speaking in tongues is inspired by the Holy Spirit but not controlled the Holy Spirit himself does not speak in tongues it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 4 that they were all filled with all the ghosts and they speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them the utterance you are the one that talks in tongues not the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit simply gives you a prodding an inspiration a desire to speak in tongues but you have to speak in tongues as the Spirit inspires it just like I teach as the Spirit inspires it but you know what it comes out in my vocabulary I guarantee you the Holy Spirit doesn't use Texas drawl the way that I do he inspires the truth but it comes out in my vocabulary with my mannerisms it is influence it is shaded by my own personality and it's the same thing with speaking in tongues if you have prayed to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and prayed to receive speaking in tongues if you're fearful and if you're worried about it and trying to analyze what you're saying did you know that you may have trouble speaking in tongues at first not because the Holy Spirit isn't inspiring it but because your fear is short-circuiting it and so there's things we do to try and courage you we try and help you to speak in tongues but actually it's just as simple as the Holy Spirit gives you the inspiration and then you just have to follow through you know I had a man come by my house during the time that I was trying to receive speaking in tongues I was convinced it was of God and I wanted it but I hadn't done it and he told me he says if you speak in if you say como estas dead after me that's Spanish for how are you in a formal way of saying how are you he said if you were to repeat that after me would you be speaking in Spanish and I said well yes but I don't want to repeat after you I wanna I want to speak in tongues on my own he says well no speaking I'll speak in tongues and you repeat what I'm saying and I told him I didn't want to do that but he wouldn't let me go so finally I just did it and I only said a couple of words and I was embarrassed and I stopped and I said all that wasn't even the same is what you said and he said yeah but he wasn't English he says you were speaking in tongues and I said no I don't accept that so he threw up his hands and left in disgust but you know what that did it humiliated me because I had finally said some words that I did I didn't control they didn't come from my mind it was gibberish and it humiliated me and it was a barrier that I broke and I was on my way right after that to go minister to a man and on the way over there is about 25 or 30 minute drive I was so desperate I said god I'm just gonna speak and I'm gonna believe that you help me to speak in tongues and I started just making up words I started saying nonsensical words and I really didn't feel good about it I thought it was just stupid but finally when I was doing that I said two words that sounded really good and I thought boy that sounds like a real language that I believe that was tongue so I took those two words and I spoke them over and over and over and over all the way over to this man's house when I ministered to him it was the best ministry I had ever had and I was convinced it was because I had been praying in tongues so when I got back out in the car I was praising God and I said thank you Jesus I'm gonna pray in those two words again and I had forgotten them I couldn't remember them and pantie kidding me I mean I'd been struggling for months to speak in tongues I finally got two words that sounded good and I'd forgotten them but then I had the thought well I'm just gonna get another two words so I started that same process over again until I got two words that I felt good with and I started using them and then I thought well if I can do that I'm gonna get another two words and so I did it again and within just a few moments I was speaking fluently in tongues and I found out that all along I could have been doing that I was just waiting on God to make me talk now this is a crude example but it's similar like when you throw up I just thought that the Holy Ghost was going to come on me and when you throw up you know you can put your hand over your mouths and you just can't stop it well I thought that's the way the Holy Ghost was going to just come blurting out but I found out no I had to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave me the inspiration and that's the way it is with you if you ask for the Holy Ghost Luke 11:13 says the Holy Spirit will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask so you have to believe that you receive and then you by faith have to just make yourself start talking in something that isn't unknown language to you and when you do that if the Holy Spirit is inspiring it and it'll it'll be speaking in tongues and you may start off not speaking in a real fluent language just like a little child starts out saying my mind dad dad it may not be clear but tell that mama or daddy that they aren't saying Mama and Daddy and I'll guarantee you'll have a fight on their hands the parent knows that that child is trying to communicate and even though it's baby talk they're proud of them and God is proud of you even if your tongue isn't fluent and if you'll just keep using it as soon as you quit worrying about yourself and quit thinking about yourself it'll just come flowing out of you and then you can receive all of these benefits of speaking in tongues I tell you this is some powerful powerful things that we've taught and I believe that this can really really help you Father I pray for every person listening to this tape that you had helped them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and to speak in tongues and father not do it just for carnal reasons so that they could prove they have the Holy Spirit that they would enter on in to all of these benefits that they would receive rest and refreshing that they would be built up and edified that they would allow the part of them that knows all things to pray and that they would interpret these hidden wisdom that they're speaking in mysteries and that their understanding would become fruitful that father they could be just empowered by you through this supernatural gift that you've given them father I pray and I believe that they receive and as it says in Mark chapter 1617 these signs follow them that believe these people are believers and from now on they will speak in tongues in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: Kingdom's Highway

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Keywords: Dreaming, With, God, series, supernatural, spirit, teaching, message, preaching, ministry, Jesus, church, pentecost, life, joy, love, peace, power, passion, creativity, purpose, christian, christ, transformed, eternal, prayer, unconditional, Charlesstanley, youtube, 2017sermon, messages, JesusChrist, heart, today, unconditionallove, billjohnson, josephprince, Featuring:, Chri

Id: YHULgWRE3-U

Length: 60min 50sec (3650 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 20 2017