Speaking In Other Languages

Acts 2:4-13

The disciples were wondering why they couldn’t cast the demon out of a demon possessed child. In Matthew 17:20-21, Jesus explains. “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” This kind of faith only results from Prayer and fasting.

Isaiah 58:5 tells that most people’s practices of fasting are not what God wants. “Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?” It doesn’t please God to go without food or make himself miserable, or deprive himself. He forbade doing so in an effort to make God do what we want.

What God wants as a fast is to get sin and selfishness out of our lives, according to Isaiah 58:6-7. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” He wants us to put away our pride and admit who we are, and just trust him.

After two weeks of praying and soul searching, the entire church was ready to receive the Holy Spirit without out reservations. God fulfilled Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8, “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.”

“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. ” (Acts 2:4-6)

There were people from around the world in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. The Holy Spirit empowered the Christians to speak in other, (not unknown) languages, that the visitors to Jerusalem understood. Many of them were not commonly used languages, especially in Jerusalem, where the most common languages were Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

“And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:7-11)

Galilee was considered a backward area, depending on fishing and farming for its economy. Even Greek and Latin were rare in the countryside, since they did little trading. It was shocking to hear uneducated farmers and fishermen speaking so many different languages. It got people’s attention.

“And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?” (Acts 2:12)

The gift of speaking in tongues was given to reach out to unsaved people. I Corinthians 14:22 tells us, “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.”

People who don’t speak Spanish find it frustrating dealing with the illegal immigrants in the United states, and the non-English speaking immigrants find it just as frustrating. Many visitors to Jerusalem experienced the same frustration dealing with people who only spoke Hebrew. I Corinthians 14:11 describes the attitude toward those with whom we can‘t communicate. “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.” It’s a wonderful feeling to find someone you can understand and talk to.

The Corinthian church had adopted a number of practices to prove they were more spiritual than others. One of the practices was that of speaking in tongues. Paul addressed the issue in I Corinthians 12-14, giving specific teaching as to how it would be done if it is truly of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 14:33 gives a basis for identifying whether it is of God. “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

I Corinthians 14:27-28 describes the guidelines that prevent tongues from causing confusion in the church. “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.”

There should never be more that two or three speak in tongues in a single service, and they should not speak at the same time. It must be interpreted so others can understand, otherwise, it is just a waste of time, as I Corinthians 14:9 states, “So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” As I Corinthians 14:40 commands, “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

I Corinthians 2:14 tells us that unspiritual man does not comprehend the things of God. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” On that basis Paul says that a truly spiritual person will understand that these are God’s commands. We are to recognize that those who don’t know it lack spiritual understanding, according to I Corinthians 14:37-38. “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”