Is the Gift of Tongues for Today?

The gift of tongues has sparked a lot of discussion, confusion, and even division within the Church. Some overemphasize it, making it a requirement for salvation, while others dismiss it entirely. But what does the Bible actually say about tongues?

In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks what Scripture teaches about this spiritual gift—its purpose, how it works, and how it can deepen your relationship with God. If you’ve ever wondered about speaking in tongues, this message brings clarity and balance to the conversation.

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Transcript

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- Hey, this is Phil Kniesel, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- It's been said, we only have two guarantees in life, death, and taxes. Now don't worry, I'm not talking about either because one's gonna get you sad and the other one's gonna get you mad. . Thankfully, as believers in Jesus, we have some spiritual guarantees that are much better than taxes. We know to be apart from this life is to be with the Lord, spiritual guarantee. We know that God is with us and for us, and we're never alone in whatever we do. Spiritual guarantee. We know that God is in control and sovereign over all things. So we do not have to fear another spiritual guarantee. But I wanna give you one more, and that is this. The closer you are to Jesus, the more peace you will have. Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't need that? Now more than ever, we need peace. Just look around you. The uncertainty of our times economically. I mean these tariffs, we don't even know what that means. The stress of all things daily, the political climate of our country. And if you're anything like me, when you see all this stuff, it can kind of stress you out. And what we need is peace. Did you know that peaceful individuals are noticed when you have a peace that surpasses all things? Others want that? Jesus said it this way, peace I leave you. My peace I give you, I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. We all need peace. And Jesus says it's found in him. So if drawing closer to Jesus will bring us the peace that we crave, it then makes sense to figure out how to do that. See, the goal of all believers should be to know Jesus better. Paul in his New Testament book of Philippians says it this way, I want to know Christ and I want to know the power of his resurrection. Meaning I want to draw closer to Jesus and have more of of his influence in and over my life. And there's many ways that we can know Jesus better. Some are Bible reading, prayer, coming to church. Lots of you do that and I applaud you for this. This series focused on another key way, namely the gifts of the spirit. A spiritual gift can be defined as any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in the ministry of the church for the building up of others. Every follower of Jesus has been given a spiritual gift, however, not everyone utilizes the gift that they have been given. It's kind of like that gym membership you signed up for in January. You have it, but are you using it? Spiritual gifts are a way to grow in your faith, and we all want that because remember, the closer you are to Jesus, the more peace you will have. In fact, the closer you are to Jesus, the better you are for others, for the common good. Those are just some spiritual guarantees. Now we've been in the book a New Testament book of First Corinthians where the apostle Paul was writing to the church in Corinth. They were growing in their faith, however they were. They were also being influenced by culture which caused them to hit some roadblocks and wrong turns. Along the way, Paul wrote the letters of first and second Corinthians to course correct and to provide guidance on how to know Jesus better. Part of that was understanding spiritual gifts. And so let's read what he says. One Corinthians chapter 12, he starts with this now about the gifts of the spirit. Brothers and sisters, just Christians, believers, I do not want you to be uninformed. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to do this series so that you are not uninformed about something that the Bible tells us to be informed about. He goes on and he says it this way. Now to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good to one there is given through the spirit a message of wisdom to another, a message of knowledge by means of the same spirit to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one spirit to another miraculous powers to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits. And by the way, we've looked at all of those gifts so far to another, speaking in different kinds of tongues and still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same spirit and he distributes them to each one just as he determines. So today is our last day in our series. And I'm gonna talk about a gift that has various opinions in the Christian world. It has caused a lot of discussion, misunderstanding, and even unfortunately division. But the Bible addresses it so we should know about it. And that is the gift of tongues. Some have overemphasized tongues making it a requirement for salvation. Others have dismissed it entirely, seeing it as unnecessary or obsolete. The biblical perspective is balanced. Tongues and interpretation are gifts that when used properly draw us closer to Jesus and in turn, build the church. Now, before I unpack this, a little bit of a teaching here this morning, I wanna say one of the things that makes hope city, hope city is that we adamantly focus on primary truths versus secondary truths as following Jesus. Now, the primary truths can be summed up in these five things. Number one, the deity of Jesus, meaning he is part of the triune God. So God the Father, God the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. Number two, Jesus's substitutionary atonement on the cross, which just means that Jesus paid the price we couldn't pay for the forgiveness of our sins. Number three, Christ literal death and resurrection. Number four, Christ literal return. And number five, the inspiration and authority of the Bible. Those things are what unite Christians worldwide and at our church we are all about those things. And if you are new to church today, maybe you're checking it out, you're here for the first time. You have to know those things are primary. They matter most. We believe that everything rests upon and centers around Jesus who is God, who came and died and rose to offer hope and life to all. The fifth point of that list was the inspiration and the authority of the Bible. We also fully believe that the Bible is God's word. And since this is the biggest way that God communicated to us, we should dive into it. And we do that week after week to see what it says. It's, it's our guide for life. And since spiritual gifts are talked about, not just once but multiple times in scripture, we need to talk about them. And in addition to this, we as a church believe according to the Bible that the gifts are still for the church today. They haven't ceased as some Christians believe. Now, for some this may be a secondary truth, meaning scripture teaches on something and good Christians come to different conclusions. And if that's the case, we also believe you shouldn't have to break connection over secondary truth. You can still be part of our church. And again, if you're new here, these gifts are a deeper dive into what makes a Christian thrive upon following Jesus. We've talked about all the gifts that I just read, um, from one Corinthians except the last two tongues and interpretation of tongues. So tongues, let's be honest, for many the gift of tongues is a little weird. If you've ever witnessed it, it might seem odd. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I will describe it shortly. Tongues might seem a little bit weird, but many of the gifts Paul talks about are unique. They aren't necessarily natural, and that's because the Holy Spirit does things that are supernatural. Now, tongues can be defined as a manifestation of the spirit, allowing a believer to speak in a language either earthly or heavenly that they have not studied. Often it's a prayer language that bypasses human understanding. The first time we encounter tongues is on the day of Pentecost. In Acts chapter two, where the Holy Spirit was poured out, this happened as Jesus promised, after he ascended into heaven. He said the Holy Spirit would come to be our guide or our advocate until he comes again. Let me read you what happened in Acts chapter two. It says this, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit enabled them. Now they were staying in Jerusalem. God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken utterly amazed. They asked, aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? In other words, they don't know our language, then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? So here, tongues declared the wonders of God in languages of the people who witnessed the event it was assigned to them, assigned to the unbeliever that God was doing something. Tongues occurred multiple times throughout the Book of Acts, alongside the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10, when the Spirit came upon a guy named Cornelius and his household, we read that all of them also spoke in tongues. In Acts 19, the believers in a place called Ephesus receive the Holy Spirit. And we once again witness the display of tongues. If you were to go on in the New Testament, Paul mentions this gift in his li, excuse me, in his list of gifts. And that's why we're talking about it now. Two chapters later after one Corinthians chapter 12. So chapter 14, Paul gives a great description about a how tongues should operate. And we're gonna look at this chapter because it brings clarity for us. And here's the thing, not many of the gifts in the list that Paul mentions in one Corinthians 12 get a whole chapter written on them. So we know this was something that needed clarity and direction kind of like it does today. This is what he writes in chapter 14. For anyone who speaks in a tongue, does not speak to people, but to God indeed no one understands them. They utter mysteries by the spirit. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies, edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues unless someone interprets so that the church may be edified. Essentially, there's two types of tongues. There's the public speaking of tongues and the private speaking of tongues. Private tongues are a personal way of communicating to God. And those around you won't understand. Private tongues edify oneself, which means they build up, they strengthen and they encourage an individual. They do nothing for the church, nothing for the common good. Let's read on, Paul says this Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction, even in the case of lifeless things. So now he's drawing analogy so that they understand what he means from things. He says, even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds such as the piper harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, you guys ever try and blow a note through the trumpet, that's super, super hard. You usually just make fart sounds. Actually that's all that works. But it says if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you, unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue. How will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly, there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I'm a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker is a foreigner to me. So Paul's saying that private tongues in the corporate setting aren't helpful primarily because no one's gonna know what you are saying. It causes more confusion than clarity, more questions than answers. It edifies the individual but does nothing for the rest, which is why you will not hear tongues from the mic at our church. Tongues aren't meant to be a spiritual badge. You pray to others, they are meant to be a private posture in your personal connection with God. Paul goes on, he says it this way. So or rather since you are eager for gifts of the spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. So try to excel in the gifts that do something for the greater good tongues. Edify yourself, not the church. I'm talking about private tongues. Remember Paul does however address the use of public tongues. He says it this way. He goes on in chapter 14. For this reason, the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with my spirit, but I I will also sing with my understanding. Otherwise, when you are praising God in the spirit, how can someone else who is now put in the position of an enquirer say amen to your thanksgiving? Since they do not know what you are saying, you are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified tongues can only be public if they are interpreted because they communicate God's message. Otherwise they can be a hindrance. In fact, if you jump to verse 23 of chapter 14, this is what Paul says. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues and inquires or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are outta your mind? If private tongues are public, people are gonna come into the church who are interested and curious about God and witness it and say, man, these people are a little bit crazy. Listen to what he says next. He says this, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, but in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue. He's pretty clear here. Private tongues are not meant for a public spectacle. We don't eagerly desire them to be a show for others. We desire them because it's one way that we draw closer to God. What did Paul say? He said, when I pray in tongues, I pray in my spirit. It's his spirit connecting with God. And in doing this, you edify yourself before the Lord. You are spiritually renewed. You gain strength. You are drawing closer to God and hope city. My personal bias would be that this is the highest value of tongues in a believer's life. They strengthen your relationship with the Lord. They grow your prayer life, they draw you closer to Jesus. And isn't that the goal of our Christian life anyway?'cause remember, the closer we are to Jesus, the better we are for the common good. And the closer we are to Jesus, the more peace we will have. Private tongues is a gift given to increase build and sustain your walk with God. And you have to know this is not bragging. I just want to make it practical and real for you. I pray in tongues. You won't hear me speak it into the mic, but privately I often pray in tongues. It's my spirit connecting with God in deep ways. It draws me closer to him. In fact, each week before I come out here to speak, I'm backstage during the last song and I'm praying in tongues. Why? Because I want my spirit to connect with God. I want my words to be God's words. I ask him to take control of all that I am so that it is his power and his impact. I don't want it to be me. I want the Holy Spirit speaking and working through me. And so I pray in this spirit, which is another way of saying tongues to help me in this. I also pray in tongues during intercessory prayer because sometimes you don't know what to say anymore and it becomes a valuable tool for deep spiritual fighting prayers. And even some of you, some of you right now, you're facing some really hard things. You don't know how to pray anymore. Our country, we're facing some really hard things and some of us don't know how to pray anymore. Tongues are beneficial, impactful, and personal. They bring a depth of intimacy and connection to God. They draw us closer to him. And so Paul says, eagerly desire the gifts. And so I wanted to encourage you eagerly desire this gift. Ask for it. Do not be afraid of it. It takes some faith to step out and speak in tongues. Like here's the deal, you're not gonna be forced to speak in some uncontrollable way. We step out in faith, we begin speaking and then we see if the Holy Spirit will fill in the words after that. I also wanna say this because I have met with and chatted with great godly people who have asked for this gift their entire life and haven't received it. Hear me out. You are not less than or less spiritual if you don't speak in tongues. I know in some circles it's been painted that way and it has really caused more damage than help. What did Paul say? He said, I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more, I wish you could all prophesy. And he also says, are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret it. Now, eagerly desire the greater gifts. He's saying not everyone's gonna have all the gifts. Desire them. Ask for them and see what the Holy Spirit will do. But don't feel lesser than if you do not experience one of them. You know, two weeks ago after our Thursday night service had a conversation with two young guys, early thirties, that's young to me now. Um, and they were asking about tongues and they were just honestly inquiring about them and wondering what they were about. And then they, they're like, man, I want that in my life, Phil. And they're like, can, can you pray for us to to receive that gift? And so out there in the lobby, I just prayed over those guys and for them they had the right posture. They're asking, they're seeking and the rest is up to the Holy Spirit. That's private tongues. Paul also talked about public tongues and he goes on, he says this, what then shall we say, brothers and sisters, when you come together, each of you as a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation, everything must be done so that the church may be built up. If anyone speaks in a tongue two or at the most, three should speak one at a time and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. So here we see the public gift of tongues coupled with interpretation. It must always be coupled with interpretation in the public setting. Otherwise it's not helpful. Otherwise there's no point to it. The church is not built up. It causes more confusion than clarity. It provokes more questions than answers. In fact, you heard me read it. Paul says, if there isn't an interpretation, you should keep quiet. Interpretation is when God gives the message in a language that can be understood from the message spoken in tongues, it conveys the meaning of what is said. Interpretation transforms tongues into prophecy. And Paul has told us in that same, same passage there, chapter 14, that any word of prophecy must strengthen, encourage and comfort. It will never cause confusion, dissension, damage or tear the body down. It won't be words of judgment. Now in our setting, this can be difficult because of our vast size and because we are one church with multiple campuses and multiple services add to this, the messenger must also come from a trusted or the message rather must also come from a trusted individual known to church leadership, which gets trickier the bigger you are. See in Paul's day, the Corinthian church was estimated to be somewhere between 40 and 150 people. Everyone would've known everyone. And I've experienced those who want to come into larger public settings and operate in this gifting, but they do so more for themselves than for the building up of the body. And so my preference as lead pastor and shepherd here at Hope City would be, if you have a word, could it be tongues, interpretation or prophecy that you find a pastor, you run it by them to make sure it resonates with the heart of leadership. Otherwise, with this many people, with this many campuses, with this many services, we can have disorder and chaos. And let's be honest, tongues without interpretation isn't helpful for anyone, especially someone who might be checking out church for the first time. And remember, what did I say? As a church, we are about the primary truths. We believe that we are called to reach our city for Jesus. We believe our purpose is to reach those far from the Lord and draw them to him to focus on the gospel message, which is letting people know that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. We wanna populate heaven and depopulate hell. And so I trust, I trust you understand my heart behind what I'm saying. We are open for the Holy Spirit to speak and to move. We have to be and we wanna be. But we always want to keep order and make sure what happens is about the body as a whole. So what does this mean for you? Well, I would say, like Paul said, eagerly desire the gift of tongues. Especially the gift of private tongues.'cause here's what I can guarantee you, it will catapult your prayer life. It will give you strength to pray when you can't anymore. It will empower your spirit, it will fill you when you need it. It will encourage you and it will sustain you. It will draw you closer to God. It will transform you. It will bring an authority and vitality to your prayer life. It will connect your spirit with the Holy Spirit in a deep and meaningful way. It will help you contend in prayer when you feel like you can't anymore. It will bring this richness, a fullness and a depth to your prayers and hope city who doesn't want that? All you have to do is ask desire and then let the Holy Spirit do his work. So those were the last gifts on Paul's list and my heart for this whole series has been that you would discover your spiritual gift and begin to use it. I don't want you just to be a consumer in our church, but a contributor that you would discover that there's more to following Jesus after you've made the best decision of your life. Now I'll say it again in case you haven't done it. We have a survey that you can take. If you can scan that QR code, it'll help steer you in a direction. Let me close with Paul's words one more time. Eagerly desire gifts of the spirit. Why would he write that?'cause every single one of us are needed for the common good.'cause every single one of us are given gifts and it's our role to desire them because the gifts are one way to draw us closer to God. And we all want to be closer to God because the closer we are to Jesus, the more peace we have and hope city. This actually begins and ends with you simply saying this, God, I want to know you more. God I wanna know you more. Like if you have that posture, watch out because God will always respond. He desires to give good gifts to his children. You have been given a gift from the Holy Spirit. All you need to do is eagerly desire it. I'm gonna ask you to stand if you are able. I'm gonna close in prayer this morning. And even as I begin my prayer right now, can I just ask you to in your own heart and in your own mind, pray that prayer that simply says, God, I want to know you more. Just say that. Say that to the Lord, God, I want to know you more. I want to have a desire to know the things of God in a greater way. Lord, I want to grow in my faith. And so as we've studied these gifts that you so willingly give your church in one Corinthians 12 there Holy Spirit, I pray that we may be Jesus followers who desire eagerly desire these gifts in our life. I pray that we may say, Lord, through your Holy Spirit, fill me. Help me to operate in the gift that you have given. And if there's people here today who are saying, yes, I would love that tongues, that prayer language, holy Spirit, I pray that you come alongside of them and just give that to them as a gift to increase their prayer life. As you see them eagerly desiring this, may they not shy away from it, but just lean into it and say, holy Spirit, I eagerly desire this gift. And so we just leave that to you. Lord. Maybe you're joining us today and you don't know Jesus personally, friend Jesus went to the cross. I said it. He died for your sins. He rose and he offers you life, both now and forevermore. And it all begins with making a decision. And if you're feeling maybe a tugging on your heart to say, yes, I need to be in the faith with Jesus, I need to make that decision. If that's you first off, that's the Holy Spirit drawing you. And that's how he can convicts us. And if that's you and you want to begin a journey with Jesus, I'm gonna pray a prayer that just helps you put into words. So why don't you pray with me? Jesus today I see my need for you. And I thank you for going to the cross, for dying for my sins. I thank you for rising and offering me life and hope. And so today I put my faith in you. I put my trust in you. I desire to make you Lord and leader of my life. I wanna follow you all my days. I wanna pattern my ways after yours. And so help me understand what it means to know you and to grow in my faith, even with these gifts that I've heard about. Help me to understand what it means to be gifted through your Holy Spirit in order to do my part for the common good. And so, God, I pray over every individual, every couple, and every family. I ask that as they go into this week, may they be surrounded by your spirit. May they know that you are for them. They can trust you, they can depend upon you, and they can look to you. I pray that in every and any circumstance that they reach out to you and understand that you are strong, secure, and their firm, foundation. And Lord, I pray that they may discover the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them, so that they may operate in a way that grows their faith. And God, I also pray for the peace that passes understanding over every heart and mind as they leave this place in the powerful and wonderful name of Jesus. Amen. If you prayed that prayer of surrendering your life to Jesus today, can I ask you to scan the QR code that's on the screen? It's just our way of getting a digital booklet in your hand that talks a little bit more about following Jesus. And it's our way of trying to get to know who you are. I also want to say this. If you're joining us in person at the Millwoods campus, you want prayer over anything, we're gonna have a prayer team available down at your front left. But I want to speak a blessing over you. Hope city before you leave today, the Lord bless you and the Lord keep you hope city the Lord, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Thank you so much for being in church today. Love you lots, praying for you. God bless you guys. Have a great Sunday.