As Vickie and I conduct our Holy Spirit Rallies in churches, I especially enjoy our Sunday night teaching services. While I love the Sunday morning services where we often have the altars filled from wall to wall with individuals who have come forward to receive the promise of the Father, to me the Sunday night teaching on Three Reasons Why I Pray in Other Tongues is equally if not more important than the Sunday morning service. Why? Because the Sunday morning service opens the door for believers to begin a new-found relationship with the Holy Spirit and the Sunday night service provides the biblical foundation and explanation about what to do once they have walked through that door. This teaching brings clarity to a mystery that has robbed many individuals of the benefits that come along with the greatest gift that the Father has for the believer.
One of the things that I teach in the Sunday night meeting addresses questions/objections raised by well-meaning pastors and denominations about the biblical validity of praying in other tongues. Sadly, these objections have misguided believers. Before going any further, let me say that I don't believe that these leaders have purposefully deviated from the Scriptures. I don't know of a single pastor or denomination that would preach an error if they knew the truth. In most cases, these ministers have allowed tradition to cloud their understanding of the Word. In other words, these preachers and teachers have been taught this doctrine this way and this is the way that it has to be.
With that in mind, for the next few blog posts, I want to pull from my Sunday night teaching and examine a few of these questions and give a brief biblical answer. Please know my heart. I am not sharing these insights in an "I know more than you" attitude towards these pastors and denominations. I just know that as I've shared these truths, people always come to thank me for the simple biblical truth that erased their confusion.
Question #1 - Isn't Speaking in Other Tongues of the Devil?
Have you had someone raise this question? I know that you have. I hear it quite often. Here is my brief response.
1. Jesus said that this sign would follow believers. (Mark 16:17). Did you catch that? JESUS said that this is for BELIEVERS. Why would Jesus tell us to do something that was from the Devil?
2. In Acts 10:44-46, the believers spoke with tongues AND magnified God. In Acts 19:6, they spoke with tongues AND prophesied. Here's my question. Why would Satan do ANYTHING that would draw believers closer to Jesus AND equip them to magnify God and speak for Him?
3. If speaking in other tongues was truly from Satan, wouldn't it seem logical to think that every drunk person at every honky-tonk (remember that I live in Texas) would be sitting at the bar speaking in other tongues? But, we know that's not the case. Instead, Satan's kids are speaking THEIR father's language.
I told you that this would be brief. The truth doesn't have to be long and drawn out. Next week, we will look at Question #2 - Didn't This End with the Apostles?
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