THE WHEN AND THE WHY
TO USE THE
GIFT OF LANGUAGES
Act 2:1-7, 12, 1 Cor 14:13 -19
Acts 2:1-7
THE DAY THE CHURCH GOT STARTED
V:1. " When the day of Pentecost came, they were all
together in one place. "
A. Pentecost occurred
fifty days after the resurrection Jesus.
1. Jesus spent 40
days on earth after His resurrection visiting with His Disciples
before ascending into heaven.
2. Jesus instructed
his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received
power from on High. Acts 1:8
3. This date was
adopted from Lev 23:16. After the Passover Festival, the
Jews were instructed to wait seven weeks until the
next holiday called
Festival of
Weeks.
4. The Festival
of Weeks became the day to commemorate the giving of the Law
to Moses on Mount
Sinai Ex 23:16
B. One hundred and
twenty disciples were all in one place and on one accord.
1. When there is
unity in the Church, God can work wonders.
2. There is
tremendous power in unity.
V:2 " Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent
wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. "
A. According to Acts 1:15 , there were 120 disciples in one place
(perhaps the Temple )
when the Holy
spirit was first given.
1. This marked the
beginning of the church.
2. This marked the
empowering of the church.
3. This was the
beginning of Gods Grace in the Church.
4. The Law being
fulfilled Jesus death on the cross, Grace took effect.
B. This was a divine
act of God.
1. It was
miraculous act of God.
2. It was a
planned act of God.
3. It fulfilled the promise of Jesus.
C. The sound had it's
origin in heaven.
1. The sound was
high in volume.
2. The sound
filled the house.
3. The sound
filled the disciples.
V:3. " They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them."
A. They were all in
prayer and on one accord.
1. Prayer moves
God to work on the behalf of believers.
2. The giving of
the Holy Spirit was made visible so the disciples could see
and witness
the miracle.
2. Great things
can be accomplished in the Church when all the members
are focused
on the will of the Father.
B. God had one hundred
and twenty witnesses to this great event.
1. There was a
single source of the tongues of fire which separated itself
to each
individual believer.
2. This source
is unlimited and goes where God directs it.
3. God's power
rested with each believer.
4. Like Thunder
and lighting, the Spirit came suddenly with great power and a loud
sound.
a. The
sound of thunder fills the atmosphere..
b.
Lightening can set on fire anything it touches
THE GIVING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
V:4. " All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
A. All believers are equipped with the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit.
1. To be filled
with the Holy Spirit, we have to be completely submissive to
the will of
the Father.
2. The Spiritual
Gift to speak in languages unlearned comes at the will of the Father.
3. The power and
the effectiveness of all Spiritual Gifts is the Holy Spirit.
V:5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews
from every nation under heaven.
A. Jesus was
crucified doing the Passover Festival
1. The Passover
Festival commemorates the might acts of God when He allowed
the death Angel to Passover all the first born of Israel .
2. The death
Angel kill all the first born of the Egyptians causing the Pharaoh to
release Israel
from slavery.
3. Every Jew from
all known countries traveled to Jerusalem
for the Passover
festival.
B. God identified devout men from 16 different
countries whose language was
different from Israel .
1. These men
had a lifestyle of following the Jewish
Law.
2. These men knew
the Father but did not know Jesus.
3. They were in Jerusalem
out of obedience to the Law.
THE GIFT OF LANGUAGE DRAWS UNBELIEVERS
V:6. " When they heard this sound, a crowd came
together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own
language. "
A. Like thunder, the
sound of the rushing wind alerted these devout men to the area
where the 120 disciples were assembled.
1. The 120
disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak the devout Jews
individual
languages.
2. The devout
Jews were confused that men who didn't
know their language were
speaking
their individual languages.
V:7. " Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all
these men who are speaking Galileans?"
A. These devout
Jews had been in Jerusalem long
enough to know that these
Galilean disciples did not have the
training or the education to speak a
different
language.
B. This event
was unexpected because they had never heard a Galilean speak their
language.
1. You can
not always judge a book by its' cover..
2. With the
power of the Holy Spirit, we can do all
things that pleases God.
3. There is
nothing to hard for God.
4. Since we
belong to God, there is nothing to hard for us with the power of
God.
SEARCH THE WORD TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING
Acts 2:12
V:12. " Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another,
"What does this mean?"
A. When you study
God's Word, you ought to be amazed.
1. Every day
you ought to be amazed at God's grace.
1. The study of God's Word ought to cause
you to seek a deeper understanding.
2. You will
never get too knowledgeable that you can't learn more about God.
B. The devout Jews were amazed, because they had
never seen this display of
God's power.
1. In all their
years, this had not happen in their presence.
2. In all their
studying of God's Word, they had not seen this in scripture.
3. They knew
enough about God to count this experience as a work of God.
C. The devout
Jews asked "What does this
mean?"
1. A wise man
searches the Word God to get an understanding.
2. This
experience was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. Joel 2:28
3. This was God
pouring out His Spirit upon all who would believe in Jesus.
4. This event
was God giving power to the Church to evangelize the world.
PRAY BEFORE USING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS
1 Corinthians 14:13-19
V:13. " For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue
should pray that he may interpret what he says."
A. The gift of
languages was given to build up and to edify the Church.
1. The gift of
languages was given so that no one speaking in any language
would miss
the Gospel truth.
2. The gift of
language was given to draw unbelievers who spoke a different language
to Christ.
B. Notice at
Pentecost, God focused this miracle event on the devout Jews who knew the
scriptures but
had not seen Jesus in the Scriptures.
1. Having their
attention, Peter preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. It is the
preaching of the Word that enlighten us to an understanding of the
Word guided by
the Holy Spirit.
C. The Holy Spirit
gives gifts so that Word may be understood in any language.
1. Babes in
Christ need an interpreter.
2. Teaching the
Word in an unknown language to the hearer
would not do any good.
3. The reason for
speaking the Word is so men/women will be enlighten to
righteousness of God.
4. Before we
began teaching the Word, we need to pray that God gives an
interpretation to the hearers of the Word.
a. We need to
pray that hearts and minds be open and receptive to the Word.
b. We need to
pray that our pride be hid behind the cross so that we don't get in the
way of
the learning.
c. We need to
pray that we do not become stumbling blocks to the teaching of God.
NOT RECOMMENDED TO PRAY IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE
V:14. " For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but
my mind is unfruitful."
A. This verse
indicates that the one with the gift of a foreign language does not
understand the
language he speaks.
1. If he prays in
that foreign language, he is unfruitful in his mind.
2. Paul used this statement as an example to
show the unfruitfulness
of a foreign
language without interpretation.
a. We do not
need to pray in a foreign language because God understands
all
languages.
b. If we do
not know what we are asking for in prayer, what good is our
prayers.
B. This verse also indicates that our gifts are dependent on
the gifts of others for
maximum
effectiveness.
1. The one with
the gift of languages is dependent on the one with the gift
of interpretation.
2. The one with
the gift of interpretation is dependent on the one with the gift of
languages.
3. God made us all
dependent on Him and dependent on each other.
PRAISE IN YOUR NORMAL LANGUAGE
V:15. " So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit,
but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also
sing with my mind."
A. Prayer is a two
way communication street.
1. We pray to God
to communicate our desires and to give Him praise.
2. God communicates
to us in languages we can understand.
3. What good
would the Word of God be to us in a language we cannot understand?
B. If I do not know
French, praising God in French would be unfruitful to me.
1. My praise is an
expression of my gratefulness for who God is and what He has
done for me.
2. I cannot
express my thoughts in a language I don't understand.
V:16. " If you are praising God with your spirit, how
can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen"
to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? "
A. The Church is the
place where outsiders are invited to join the body of believers.
1. What message
would be given to an unbeliever if we explained the Gospel in a
language he
cannot understand.
2. It is our
responsibility to always act in a manner
that draws others to Christ.
B. While our gifts
are important, there is a proper time and place to use them.
1. If we use them
out of place, we use them to our own edification
2. If we have a
Church full of English speaking members, where is the need to speak in
a different
language.
3. If visitors come
into the assemble, we will soon discover if they have a need to be
evangelized in
a different language.
a. If there is
a need to speak the Gospel in a different language, God will arrange in
advance
to have the one with the gift of that
language present.
b. If
necessary, God will have the one with the gift of interpretation present also.
4. It is God that
gives the increase. He will not leave the Church lacking when there
is a desire to
spread the Gospel.
V:17. " You may be giving thanks well enough, but the
other man is not edified. "
A. Before we use our
gift of language, we need to ask the questions: Who gets the
glory and who
gets the edification?
1. If only you
know the gift of language, then no one gets the edification and God does
not get the
glory.
2. I do not need
to impress you with my gift, if there is no benefit for you.
3. You do not need
to be impressed, you need to be enlighten.
USE YOUR GIFTS TO EDIFY THE BODY
V:18. " I thank God that I speak in tongues more than
all of you."
A. The Apostle Paul
used himself as a role model for the Church.
1. If anyone
could boast about their gifts, Paul was the one.
2. He spoke more
languages than all of the Church members.
B. For Paul, it was his
love for the brethren and his desire to proclaim the
Gospel to the lost
that caused the use of his gifts.
1. His use of the
gift of languages was to promote the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
2. He said I am
determined to know nothing, but Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
V:19. " But in the church I would rather speak five
intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a
tongue."
A. Paul deemphasized the display of his gifts and emphasized
the importance of
teaching the Word
of God so others could get the right understanding.
1. One of the major failures of the Church is
that only a few members seek
to get the right
understanding of the Word of God.
2. We do not have a
problem filling the pews on Sunday morning.
3. We do have a
problem getting Church members to come out for Bible Study
and Sunday
School.
a. Preaching
gets us into the Church.
b. Teaching
keeps us in the Church.
c. Teaching help
us grow in the Word and knowledge of God.
4. Proverbs 4:7 says
"In all your getting, get an understanding."
B. When we don't study the Word for ourselves, we may be
influenced by the thoughts
of those who may
not understand the Word.
1. There is a good
chance that at the Sunday Service, you will be sitting by someone
who do not come
to Church on a regular basis or who is not involved in serving
God.
2. It is our
responsibility to encourage other believer to get actively involved in
in the Church.
USE YOUR GIFTS TO BUILD UP THE BODY OF CHRIST
Rev M. Mitchell,
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
No comments:
Post a Comment