We’re spending some time looking at the gifts, and so far we’ve been emphasising the need to focus on the giver of the gifts and on being the gift by serving, rather than getting too anxious about discovering what your gift is. It’s been fairly safe so far, don’t you think? So this morning why don’t we spice things up a little bit and talk about some specific gifts and often controversial gifts - tongues and prophecy.
Remember the reason Paul is writing to the Corinthians about the gifts is because they were abusing the gifts, and especially tongues. They thought tongues was a sign of true spirituality and the church meetings were chaos because people were competing with each other in tongues speaking. Paul’s goal was to remedy this situation, but giving some guidelines for the right use of the gifts and bringing attention back to the purpose of the gifts.
So what are tongues and prophecy, and how should we use them today?
DEFINITIONS
PROPHECY
What comes to your mind when you hear the word ’prophecy’. You might think of the Old Testament prophets with their messages of hellfire and brimstone judgment. Or else maybe the book of Revelation and the end times. In fact, New Testament prophecy that Paul is speaking about is different to these. Prophecy is sometimes associated with telling the future, and it can involve this, but more often than not it doesn’t.
Prophecy is one of the promises of the Spirit’s presence. Acts 2.17-18 says, "In the last day, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy."
Prophecy is simply speaking a word from God under the inspiration of the Spirit, often spontaneously, for people’s ’strengthening, encouragement and comfort.’ It’s about building up the church.
In some circles prophecy carries almost as much authority as the Bible and people are very reticent to question a prophet when they give a prophecy. But the Bible places some very strict limits on prophecy.
First of all, we believe that the Bible is authoritative and so contemporary prophecy is subject to Scripture. That means we have the right and obligation to check what someone says against Scripture and if it’s out of line we have every right to reject it. In regards to teaching, many popular preachers and televangelists claim to get some of their teaching by revelation from God, but if it’s not in Scripture, we should reject it.
But prophecy is usually not doctrinal, it’s a word given for encouragement or sometimes guidance. In those cases we need to be checking more generally the persons character, their grasp on Scripture and the way they deliver it. Are they living and ministering in a biblically consistent way and, above all, in love?
Prophets are also subject to the church. 1Thess 5.20-21 says, "Don’t treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold onto what is good." That’s pretty clear! If someone prophesies something we need to take it seriously, but not as gospel. If it doesn’t pass the sniff test, we don’t have to accept it.
So prophecy is a really important ministry in the church, but we’re not talking about the sort of authority the apostles had. Prophets are subject to the Scriptures and to the Church, including the church leadership.
TONGUES
What about tongues? The gift of tongues is the ability to speak in an unknown language under the inspiration of the Spirit. Some people think it should be a real language, like on the day of Pentecost. Others think that it can just be an ecstatic utterance. But how can you tell? I must admit that I’ve heard some tongues that I think might be just a little bit more of the flesh than of the Spirit.
In the end, it’s a moot point because Paul says tongues should be used in private. While prophecy is given to build up the church, tongues are given to build up the individual. It bypasses the cognitive functions of the brain and comes from the spirit. That’s why it’s so valuable to the individual, but of no value in the corporate setting. So Paul says to leave it for the prayer closet.
Some Christians, particularly in the older Pentecostal traditions, believe tongues is a sign of being filled with the Spirit. We certainly see this as a pattern in the book of Acts where on numerous occasions people speak in tongues when they’re filled with the Spirit - the day of Pentecost, the Samaritan revival, Cornelius’ conversion and the Ephesian disciples all speak in tongues. The problem is these passages are describing something that happened and are found only in one book of the Bible. The Bible doesn’t actually say that tongues is the sign of being filled the Spirit. And in this passage Paul is actually trying to dampen down the church’s enthusiasm for tongues as a sign of spirituality.
I think we can say, from the Bible and experience, that tongues often come when a person is filled with the Spirit, but not all the time, and not always permanently. So if you don’t speak in tongues, it doesn’t mean you’re not Spirit-filled, it just means you don’t have the gift of tongues!
ROLE
What place do these gifts have in the church? We don’t seem to see a lot of them in our church. Why not, and should we expect to? I know that some people here would like to see more of them. Others are quite happy with the way things are! But let’s just recap why the gifts are given in this video clip.
[’The Body’ movie clip]
So, we need a diversity of gifts, not for their own sake, but because they build up the community and help us glorify Christ! The questions we need to ask are, "What does the Spirit want to do among us? What’s going to build up Christ’s body. And what’s going to bring glory to God?"
What does the Bible say about that?
"Eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy."
"I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy."
And in 12.31, "Now eagerly desire the greater gifts." From Paul’s overall argument and the way he sticks the chapter on love right in the middle of his discussion, we understand the greater gifts to be ones that build up the body.
TONGUES
In regard to tongues - this is still one of the more controversial gifts - nothing’s changed in 2000 years, hey?!
Paul says that the one who speaks in tongues speaks to God by the Spirit, or some translations say in their spirit, but it could actually mean both! That’s why tongues are sometimes called a ’prayer language’.
Personally I have found having a prayer language very helpful. There are many times I’ve just been stuck with what to pray. I’ll begin to pray in tongues and often this helps me get to the point where I can pray more effectively in English or just deal with the situation at hand. On the other hand, many times in worship or a prayer meeting I’ll feel compelled to pray in tongues quietly under my breath and find something stirring in my spirit.
Do all speak in tongues? The Bible says, ’No’. But I suspect people could speak in tongues than do! What stops us?
Some simply have no interest, and that’s OK! There’s no rule that says you have to desire this gift! It’s presence or lack of it doesn’t indicate spirituality.
Fear and control may be an issue. Some people struggle to give up control to the Holy Spirit. Because it’s not cognitive they don’t ’get it’ and so reject it. This kind of thinking may indicate that there is a need to trust God more. I know from my own experience it can take a lot to work to allow God freedom to move in different ways than we might be comfortable with.
And for some, of course, God might have something else in store.
If this morning if you’re thinking you’d like to explore this more, we’re going to give you an opportunity to come for prayer later on.
PROPHECY
Prophecy is a bit more complicated than tongues because it’s a public ministry, and this can lead to all kinds of issues.
Some of you may have even encountered some weirdness in your time. Pastor’s of Charismatic and Pentecostal churches sometimes complain about having to deal with some of the more interesting people who do the rounds.
On the other hand I’ve been the recipient of some very encouraging prophetic words. Not prophecies about what I should do or what’s going to happen, simply about what God was doing in my situation or confirming a course of action I felt God wanted me to take.
Once in another church I was going through a tough time when I went to prayer retreat. One of the sessions was an opportunity to have people pray for you, and one of the ’words’ given to me was Gen 15.1, "Do not be afraid, I am your shield and very great reward." Those simple words were tremendously encouraging for where I was at.
On another occasion I was praying for someone else and felt moved to pray in a certain way. I felt it was the Lord but didn’t exactly prophesy over the person, just prayed what I felt the Lord wanted to happen. Another person praying really resonated with that prayer which was an encouraging confirmation to me that maybe it was the Lord!
Paul puts prophecy at the top of the list of gifts we should desire. Why? Because it is so powerful in strengthening, encouraging and comforting people. Like tongues, maybe not all will prophesy, and certainly not all of us are called to be prophets, which is a person who tends to operate in that ministry a lot. But I suspect that God wants more of us to prophesy than we realise. And I suspect we have a few people here who already know they have this gift and need a bit of permission just to use it!
Don’t you ever feel like you need strengthening or encouragement or comfort? Don’t we as a church ever need God’s wisdom and direction and exhortation?
It’s a bit more difficult in the Sunday setting, although if you ever feel you have a word from the Lord the thing to do would be to come up and whisper in my ear, or one of the other leaders and we can make some space for it.
Prophetic ministry is particularly valuable in small group, prayer meeting or prayer ministry setting where the Lord will often bring a word for someone as we’re waiting on him in prayer.
How do you know if the Lord’s giving you a prophetic word? It’s a risk! And it’s different for each person. You might get a picture of something, or some words form in your mind, or a conviction to speak begins to weigh in your heart. In that case, don’t be afraid to speak up. You don’t have to say, "Thus says the Lord’! In fact, I’d prefer you didn’t! Just saying something like, "I’m getting a picture of…" or "I feel the Lord might be saying…" or something like that is fine. Or, depending on the setting, you could just pray it out. That’s when prayer gets really good because we’re really starting to pray in the Spirit. But however you do it, just speak gently and in humility.
And remember the biblical principal is that if it’s not going to build up, shut up!
CONCLUSION
In more evangelical churches like ours, we can have a tendency to rationalise our faith. We read Paul’s exhortation to do everything in a fitting and orderly way and interpret it as meaning we should be able to understand and control everything that’s happening. I don’t know if we’d say that, but it’s how we act. God is a God of order and propriety, but also of spontaneity and joy.
We are a people who have been baptised with the Spirit, should we not expect the Spirit of God to do things among us that come from more than just our head? Should we not expect God, who is beyond our understanding, to do things which may be just a little bit mysterious to us?
This morning I want to encourage you to seek these gifts.
