The apostle Peter considered the phenomenon of speaking in tongues that occurred on the Day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2) as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. - Joel 2:28-32 -
The apostle Paul puts the gift of tongues in perspective by affirming that anybody with the gift of tongues speaks to God but not to other people; because nobody understands him when he talks in the spirit about mysterious things. On the other hand, the man who prophesies does talk to other people, to their improvement, their encouragement and their consolation. To one with the gift of tongues talks for his own benefit but the man who prophesies does so for the benefit of the community. While I should like you all to have the gift of tongues, I would much rather you could prophesy since the man who prophesies is of greater importance than the man with the gift of tongues unless of course the latter offers an interpretation so that the church may get some benefit.
Now suppose, my dear brothers, I am someone with the gift of tongues and I come to visit you, what use shall I be if all my talking reveals nothing new, tells you nothing and neither inspires you nor instructs you? Think of a musical instrument, a flute or a harp: if one note on it cannot be distinguished from another, how can you tell what tune is being played? Or if no one can be sure which call the trumpet has sounded, who will be ready for the attack? It is the same with you: if your tongue does not produce intelligible speech, how can anyone know what you are saying? You will be talking to the air. There are any number of different languages in the world and not one of them is meaningless but if I am ignorant of what the sound mean, I am a savage to the man who is speaking and he is a savage to me. It is the same in your own case: since you aspire to spiritual gifts, concentrate on those which will grow to benefit the community.
That is why anybody who has the gift of tongues must pray for the power of interpreting them. For if I use this gift in my prayers, my spirit may be praying but my mind is left barren. What is the answer to that? Surely I should pray not only with the spirit but with the mind as well? And sing praises not only with the spirit but with the mind as well? Any uninitiated person will never be able to say Amen to your thanksgiving if you only bless God with the spirit, for he will have no idea what you are saying. However well you make your thanksgiving, the other gets no benefit from it. I thank God that I have a greater gift of tongues than all of you but when I am in the presence of the community I would rather say five words that mean something than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Brothers, you are not to be childish in your outlook. You can be babies as far as wickedness is concerned but mentally you must be adult. In the written Law it says: Through men speaking strange languages and through the lips of foreigners, I shall talk to the nation and still they will not listen to me, says the Lord. You see then, that the strange languages are meant to be a sign not for believers but for unbelievers while on the other hand, prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. So that any uninitiated people or unbelievers, coming into a meeting of the whole church where everybody was speaking in tongues, would say you are all mad; but if you were all prophesying and an unbeliever or uninitiated person came in, he would find himself analysed and judged by everyone speaking; he would find his secret thoughts laid bare and then fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed. - 1Cor. 14:2-25 -
Now my dear brothers, I want to clear up a wrong impression about spiritual gifts....... One may have the gift of preaching with wisdom given him by the Spirit; another may have the gift of preaching instruction given him by the same Spirit; and another the gift of faith given by the same Spirit; another again the gift of healing through this one Spirit; one, the power of miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of recognising spirits; another the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses............Now you together are Christ's body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages... Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them............ In short, there are three things that last: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE; and the greatest of these is LOVE. - 1Cor. 12:1-31; 13:13 -
Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
No comments:
Post a Comment