City Life Starter

The WORD: 1 Corinthians 14:13-19 (NASB)

“Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with my mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all; however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.”

By Heather Mattingly

There is a lot of confusion about spiritual gifts, but as other writers have stated throughout this blog and as Pastor Chris taught on Sunday, the gifts of the Spirit are alive and thriving today. Jesus Himself said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these….” (John 14:12). What kind of works is Jesus talking about here? He’s talking about the works He did when He walked this earth: raising the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick, calming storms with a word, walking on water, supernaturally feeding thousands, opening the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind. Yes, these works are still happening on the earth today; do you want to see these works in your own life? Did you know that you can? And did you also know that God your Father desperately wants to work these “even greater works” through you, and for you to fully experience the free, whole-hearted, Power-filled life that you’ve always dreamed of that He died to give to you?! “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Cor 4:20). Yes indeed, He wants all of this for you! The question is not will He give this to you; the question is: will you receive this from Him?

This all sounds wonderful, and who wouldn’t say yes to this, but what does this mean for your life today? And what does the working “even greater works” have to do with these verses from Chapter 14 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church, particularly about operating in the gift of tongues?

The gift of tongues causes much confusion and resistance within the Body of Christ. That’s because it (and all of the spiritual gifts) is so powerful. And Satan is not a fool. Satan knows that we, as followers of Christ, are out on the battlefield, but if he can convince us to strip ourselves of our weapons, we will not be effective. He’s very OK with us being on the battlefield with no weapons and does everything he can to make this happen. Picture this in your mind: you’re a soldier in an army, in full combat-gear and helmet, and you are running out to battle. From afar, you see the enemy soldiers waving handheld weapons as they advance toward you. But as you approach them, you realize that you have no weapons at all. You and your unit look like soldiers, but have no “power.” How does this make you feel? Terrified. What chance do you have? And how do you think the opposing soldiers feel? Ecstatic – for the same reason. In this picture, WE are the weaponless soldiers (without the Holy Spirit), and Satan and his army are the soldiers that are armed. Again, Satan is no fool, and he’s been at this a long time. Your weapons are the gifts of the Spirit.  As Pastor Chris taught on Sunday, your tongues edify you, and that word “edify” in the Greek means to build you up and/or charge you up (like your cell phone). 

To use our battle-scene metaphor, think of all of the gifts of the Spirit as a fully-armored tank.  How will Satan and his army fare with their handheld weapons against a fully-armored tank? This is why Satan works so hard to convince you that the gifts of the Spirit are dead, or no longer used, or just plain weird – because they are so powerful and showed their full power and victory over him and his demons through the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection.

How does all of this happen through praying in tongues (which is praying in the Spirit)? Well, the Bible says that “..he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God….he utters mysteries in the spirit.” (1 Cor 14:2), “one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…”(1 Cor 14:4), “…pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion,” (Eph 6:18), and, “…build yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 20). What a miracle! Your Father loves you so much that He died for you, gave you Himself, put Himself (the Holy Spirit) inside of you, and then prays for you Himself! Who wouldn’t want this gift?

PRAYER:

“Father, thank You for You, Holy Spirit. And thank You for all of Your gifts. I confess that I do not understand them, and that scares me – especially the gift of tongues. But I want more of You; I want to give all You ask and take all You promise, and You’ve promised me Yourself in Your Holy Spirit. Help me to receive Your gifts. Please increase my faith, and increase my capacity to receive You. Your Word says to ‘pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion’ (Eph 6:18). Please help me be obedient to Your Word. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”