Replies to post #11837 on Bible (Bible)

[happydog]

plugger, I believe the best thing for you to do is to buy a good book on the subject. Other than that, I will help you as best I can.


Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

Acts 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid [his] hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

1 Cor 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

1 Cor 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

1 Cor 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

1 Cor 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

1 Cor 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.

1 Cor 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.

1 Cor 14:4 He that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

1 Cor 14:5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater [is] he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

1 Cor 14:6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

1 Cor 14:9 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.

1 Cor 14:13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue pray that he may interpret.

1 Cor 14:14 For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

1 Cor 14:18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

1 Cor 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue.

1 Cor 14:21 . In the law it is written, With [men of] other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

1 Cor 14:22 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.

1 Cor 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in [those that are] unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

1 Cor 14:26 . How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

1 Cor 14:27 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.

1 Cor 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

[thrifty]

O.K. plugger

Now that I have your attention I would like to share something with you.

But first the way it was explained to me by a friend and off the top of my head "praying in tongues" is the only gift that edifies you. He called it "angel talk" It lifts you higher in an unknown language that communicates with God. The argument against it is the scripture that says we "moan"? when we don't know what to pray for, off the top of my head.

But the fact remains that it does edify you. (enlighten) It builds you up when you are down. It's a gift. No doubt in my mind.

Now what I found interesting from a book by Zondervan called Fresh Power by Jim Cymbala
(Experiencing The Vast Resources Of The Spirit Of God)

We need continual infillings of the Spirit to meet the strong, ungodly tendencies of the age.

...This group in Jerusalem cried out to the Lord for him to "enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness" (Acts 4:29). In response, "the place where they were meeting was shaken," as in an earthquake. There was no doubt that they had made contact with heaven. The story closes with this sentence: "And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (v31).

Now wait a minute! Hadn't they been filled with the Holy Spirit back on the Day of Pentecost? What is this new filling all about?

This proves that we can't live off what God did in our lives last week, last month, or last year. We need continual infillings of the Spirit to meet the strong, ungodly tendencies of the age. There must be deeper enduements of power to meet deeper challenges. The greater the onslaught and the more evil the tactics that Satan comes up with, the more God's Spirit must be entreated to come and prepare us for battle. This is why D.L.Moody (see the prologue) called his convocation in 1880 for people to come and seek God for the fresh infilling of the Spirit's power that was so evidently needed.

Now check this out plugger

John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, preached a whole sermon in 1744 on Acts 4:31---to an audience at his alma mater, Oxford University, no less. It was a ringing call to let the Holy Spirit have his way. He barraged his listeners with of volley of hard-hitting questions about their spiritual lassitude, rising near the end to this climax:

How few of you spend, from one week to another, a single hour in private prayer! How few have any thought of God in the general tenor of your conversation! Who of you is, in any degree, acquainted with the work of his Spirit, his supernatural work in the souls of men? Can you bear, unless now and then, in a church, any talk of the Holy Ghost? Would you not take it for granted, if one began such a conversation, that it was either hypocrisy or enthusiasm? In the name of the Lord God Almighty, I ask, What religion are you of?

That is a very interesting question for us here at the beginning of the twenty-first century. What religion are we of? I believe there is a growing number of Christians across the land who are hungry for the religion of the Bible, the Christianity of the New Testament in all its spiritual splendor. They are not satisfied by the contemporary American church culture nor by the fruit it is producing. While the evil tide of the world, the flesh, and the devil is rising to flood stage, the Lord is raising up a godly standard against it---men and women whose hearts cry out with the psalmist:

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you ( Psalm 63:1-5)

So IMHO tongues is talking and praying and praising God in an unknown language that edifies yourself.

fwiw I'm not reading anything into the Wesley comment but it sure made me wonder if he spoke in tongues.
Which I would think not. But I liked the comment of "the Christianity of the New Testament in all it spiritual splendor." Yeah!