Page 17 - 5-22-15 Friday's Edition

Local
Speaking My Language
guage to convey Christ to the sinner. The church must be able to speak the language of the alcoholic, the drug user, the fornicator, adulterer, the liar, the backslider, and any- one else who needs to hear the word of God.
The church does not speak on its own, it speaks as the Holy Ghost gives power. The sound of the Holy Ghost coming drew a crowd. The amazing part was when the people heard their own lan- guage being spoken (vs. 6).
The church will draw peo- ple. The music or sermon being heard will draw peo- ple. What is going to amaze people is when they get in- side and they hear the church speaking a language they can understand. The Holy Ghost will help you put the salvation, deliverance, and healing of Jesus in the context that people will hear.
Paul addresses further the issue of speaking in tongues in Corinthians. He wants
people to understand that the church should not be concerned with just speak- ing in tongues, but must also desire to interpret the tongue. When it comes to prayer, the spirit prays in tongues (vs. 14). The spirit prays from the depths of your soul. The spirit speaks what the mouth cannot put into words.
Paul declares that we must pray using the spirit and understanding (vs. 15). Praying with tongues is not as superior as praying with a mind of understanding. Ef- fective prayer requires both elements. Using tongues in public must be accompanied with an interpretation. Peo- ple cannot touch and agree with you in prayer or say amen if you are praying in the Spirit. How does the church benefit if you are speaking in a tongue they do not understand?
Paul says that he would speak five intelligible words
to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in tongue (vs. 19). He under- stands that the church must build each other, but others cannot be built if you utilize only one dimension of prayer. Prayer is effective when it can be understood in the mind. A short prayer that is understood is better than a long prayer in a lan- guage no one can compre- hend.
This week’s lesson se- lected from Acts 2:1-7, 12 and 1 Corinthians 14:13- 19 deals with the issue of tongues in the church. When tongues were given to the church it was used to spread the gospel and allow people from different back- grounds to communicate. Today people have used tongues as a measure of spir- ituality. Tongues are a lan- guage gift from God and must be used to glorify God.
This gift came when they were all assembled together in one place (vs. 1). The “they” who were assembled together were Jesus’ apos- tles. They joined together in
a common place as Jesus had instructed. While they were together a sound came from heaven like a blowing wind and filled the house (vs. 2). The sound of the wind is the Spirit of God. The Spirit came from heaven and it rested on each of them (vs. 3). God has given each person the gift of the Holy Ghost.
They were all filled with the Spirit and began to speak in other languages (vs. 4). The gift of the Holy Ghost will help you effectively com- municate with people who may not be like you. The church needs the Holy Ghost to be able to speak a lan-
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