Today we will talk about the last hot button topic I mentioned several weeks ago. I said we would cover Healing, prosperity and today tongues. We will start there and end with where we left off last week with What does God want? Believe it or not they are kind of tied together. We will end by revealing what it looks like when we are doing what God wants us to be doing. Tongues are a spiritual gift. So let’s see what scripture says about spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:1 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.” Back in chapter 7, Paul begins by saying: “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote...”. Here in chapter 12 he is continuing to answer some questions they had written him about the gifts of the Spirit. This is what he had to say about them. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 “4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Paul first explains that there are a variety of spiritual gifts, services and activities...But they are all given by the Trinity. He mentions the same Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the same Lord, the Lord Jesus, and the same God, God the Father. He says that the manifestation of the spiritual gifts, services and activities in your life are for the common good of the body of Christ, the church. Let’s see what he says they are.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10 “8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. This list of spiritual gifts can be given to us a believers. But are all the gifts given to all believers? Paul seems to elude to different gifts can be given to different people. But then answers that question completely in the very next verse. 1 Corinthians 12:11 “11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” Every gift is not for every Christian. The gifts of the Spirit are given by God, to each person according to His will. If you need a certain spiritual gift to accomplish what God has called you to do for Him, then He will give you that gift. 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 “27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? The answer to the questions Paul is asking is clearly, no.
But here is the challenge in the charismatic and Pentecostal church world. They have over emphasized some of the gifts and would lead you to believe that if you don’t have the gift of tongues, then some how you are less spiritual or don’t have the Holy Spirit in you. This is not correct. If you have repented and surrendered to Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Tongues is just one of the gifts that the Holy Spirit can give you, if He chooses to. It is not the end all be all of being a “complete” christian. If you don’t have the gift of tongues and another christian is looking down on you as a lesser believer, then they have put themselves in the place of the Holy Spirit and decided you should have this gift. I’ve known people who have the gift of tongues, who will cut you down with their tongue if you don’t line up to their way of thinking. They are quick to judge, because of their sense of superiority. Is that what the Holy Spirit brings about in the life of a believer? The power that the Holy Spirit provides a Christian is not about having a spiritual gift that makes you superior to other believers. It’s not about you attacking demons, it’s not just about the Spirit giving you another language...It’s much more about receiving the power to control your current language. Acts 1:7-8 “7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” It’s about having the courage to share the gospel, it’s about having the power to withstand being offended and not lashing out, but responding in love. That is real power.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 “8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” Has this passage just said that tongues have ceased? No, it said that they will cease at a future time. And when will that time be? The answer is in verse 10. It says “When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” The gifts of the Spirit are all partial gifts to be used in this current imperfect world. The partial gifts will cease when you die and perfection comes. It is not saying that the gifts have ceased when the Apostles died...it is saying just the opposite. The gift you have will cease for you...when you die. Or for everyone at the return of Jesus. Now, for sure, the gift of tongues is real and is still in operation today, but here are our instructions for the use of this gift in the church. Paul is specific about what we should and should not be doing. 1 Corinthians 14:23-28 “23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. 26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.”
Tongues are not supposed to be a public display during a church service...unless there is someone with the gift of interpretation. If there is no one with that gift present, then a person with the gift of tongues should keep silent. I’ve seen Pentecostal churches call for everyone to speak in tongues at the same time. I’ve witnessed preachers break into tongues during a sermon, without an interpretation, and then go back to preaching. Verse 23 prohibits this behavior. So if a church is doing this, they have chosen to ignore this verse. Paul sums up his lesson on spiritual gifts by saying this: 1 Corinthians 12:31 “31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” What is this more excellent way that Paul speaks of? Jesus said it sums up the law and the prophets. It is the culmination of everything He taught. It is the highest spiritual law that we as Christians are to live by. It’s more important than any spiritual gift. It is the calling every believer has on their life. It is LOVE. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
You can have, and exercise, every spiritual gift at the very highest level, but if you don’t operate that gift in love, it is worthless. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” That is how the great commission is accomplished. It is through love, and this is what love looks like. It is patient, kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on it’s own way, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, It rejoices with truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. All of that is hard and is the opposite of our fleshly nature that tries to control us. But this is the power that the Holy Spirit gives us. We can operate in love like this. But we have to get up every day and decide to do it. If you fully surrender to what God wants, this is what it will look like. The expression of love between two people, a man and a woman, is marriage, and it’s the illustration we are given to show the love of Christ towards us as the church. Look at how the Bible describes what our marriage relationship is supposed to look like. This is real love in action and not just words. It’s a decision to get up every day and follow what God says concerning our spouse. Ephesians 5:22-33 “22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its
Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Did you notice that there were only three verses with instructions to wives, but there are six verses with instructions to husbands? Men, you have the greater responsibility in this love relationship. As the head of your household, the weight is on your shoulders to be the spiritual leader. Your love for your wife has to be just as Christ loved His bride the church. He died for it. Now I’d say that every husband in this room would be willing to take a bullet for his wife if someone is shooting at her. But here is the problem, most of the time if there is an emotional gun pointed at your wife...you’re the one holding it. You don’t have to take the bullet, you just have to put the gun down. Your attitude and actions should mirror what we have learned that real love looks like. It is patient, kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on it’s own way, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, It rejoices with truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.
Is that how you are loving your wife? Women, would it be easy to submit to a man who treated you like that? You see, this is the key for wives to submit to husbands. It’s on the husband to be the kind of man she should submit to. He has to lead with love. Let me say this. This leadership by men and submission by women only works if both parties are following Christ. I always give this illustration when talking to married couples or couples looking to get married. It looks just like a triangle. Gos is at the top and each of you are at a bottom corner. As long as you are both moving toward Christ, you will be moving toward each other. But as soon as one of you stops moving toward Christ you will be moving apart.
Comentarios