Are You Speaking Up?

Good morning.

Today we close the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 and chapter 14.

The last gift we need to elaborate a little on is the interpretation of tongues. I think one of the reasons this has faded away during some of our church services is because people don’t have the confidence that it is the Lord speaking and then are not sure whether they should say it. Another reason is that in many churches the leaders want to filter what is said and then those, who receive from the Holy Spirit, finds it too much trouble to have it said.

In 1 Corinthians 14:4, 5 Paul said: “The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all 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 built up.” Then he continued explaining about the benefits of prophesy and interpretation of tongues, which are essentially the same.

When the Holy Spirit wants a word to go out through you, i.e. a prophecy or an interpretation of tongues, a thought will appear in your mind. At first you may think it’s your own, but if it is at all for the encouragement and uplifting of either the church or a possible individual within the church, you could consider it as from the Lord. All you need to do is to start speaking by faith. The Holy Spirit will lead you in what to say and you will be astonished at what comes from your mouth. If this kind of obedience becomes commonplace in the church, not only the speakers will be in awe, but also the hearers and in this way the Lord gets glorified.

A free flow of the Holy Spirit’s ministry will only work if the church leadership encourages it, teaches it so people can know how to go about it, and supports the Word which is received. I.e. if someone brings a word that appears not altogether Biblical due to ignorance, but can clearly be seen as from the Holy Spirit, all the leadership needs to do is to gently put it into context as the Spirit leads (i.e. testing it). Having it filtered beforehand quenches the Spirit of God. “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good,” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). I think some of our churches are going to have much to answer for one day when the Lord opens the books. As you could have seen, the latter paragraph was more aimed at church leaders, so maybe you could bring it to their attention.

Fact is, it is the Holy Spirit who is having a say in the Lords’ body, His congregation of the saints, and if we hinder Him we quench Him and are therefore doing our own thing and not His. If we do not obey when we’re prompted to bring a tongue or interpret it, we’re going to answer for it and if we’re hindered to bring it, those who hindered us will answer. The big enemy of the Lord when it comes to His guidance of His body are rituals and liturgy within the church. We shouldn’t have a specified format and a time limit. We are His and our time is His and He should have freedom of speech.

Lord, help us to obediently return you to your rightful place in the congregation.

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