TONGUES --- A FLOWING STREAM OF PRAISE !

TONGUES --- A FLOWING STREAM OF PRAISE : speaking with tongues is a flowing stream that should never die out, but will enrich the life of the believer spiritually. Having studied in the last two lessons the necessity and value of praying in tongues, let us now take a closer look at the kinds and use of tongues. TONGUES --- ONE OF THE NINE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT: (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). "But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to One Is Given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge By the Same Spirit; to another faith By the Same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing By the Same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; To Another Discerning of Spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." In the verses are listed the nine gifts, manifestations, always in which the Holy Spirit manifested himself. Three of these gifts are gifts of inspiration, or utterance: prophecy, divers kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These vocal guilds are designed as an inspiration in public services and worship. Love them, the gift of tongues is the most prominent. Tongues with interpretation is distinctive with this dispensation. All the other gifts of the spirit were manifested in the Old Testament. Even in the life and ministry of Jesus, all the other guilds were manifested except tongues and interpretation. Because tongues and interpretation is distinctive with this age or dispensation, it is manifested more frequently in what is called Church than the other gifts. "Divers kinds of tongues" are supernatural utterance given by the Holy Spirit. They are languages never learned by the speaker, and they are not understood by him or her. Usually they are not understood by the hearers, although there are exceptions to this. Tongues are a sign to the unbeliever not for the believer. There have been times when the words someone speaks in tongues have been understood by someone present. A minister once told me of an experience he had had while preaching at a mission station in Mexico. He said, "I preach for about five nights with the local missionary interpreting my sermons into Spanish. One night a Mexican woman came forward to receive the Holy Spirit after I had preached. The power of God fell on her and she begin to speak in the most perfect English I had ever heard. I could understand everything she said. She had never been to school a day in her life, and her native tongue was Spanish. Hearing her speak in my language -- English -- a language she had never learned, was one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had. It really did something for me. I never have been the same since." Another instance in which tongues was understood by the listener but not by the speaker involved a woman missionary to India. While home on furlough, she attended a service at a Bible Institute. One of the students gave a message in tongues, but no interpretation came. While everyone waited and wondered why there was no interpretation, the missionary stood and said, "that student was speaking one of the dialects of India. I understood every word that was said. The message was for me, and that is the reason no interpretation was given. Through this message God spoke to me, telling me He wanted me to go back to India and telling me what He wanted me to do there."