Gifts of the Holy Spirit

1
Gifts of the Holy Spirit

• Tongues and Interpretation

2
Head and Heart
3
What do we mean by tongues

• All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
  began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit
  enabled them.
• Acts 24
• Glossa (glwssa) tongue, speech, language
• Tongues used by Wycliffe (14th Century)
• The gift is given so that the speaker may
• speak to himself and God
• 1 Corinthians 1428

4
In Practice

• Paul differentiates
• If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels
• 1 Corinthians 131
• Intelligible tongues (men)
• how is it that each of us hears them in his own
  native language?
• Acts 28
• Unintelligible tongues (angels)
• But in the church I would rather speak five
  intelligible words to instruct others than ten
  thousand words in a tongue.
• 1 Corinthians 1419
• (Glossolalia and Xenoglossia)

5
Credibility Issues

• So if the whole church comes together and
  everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not
  understand or some unbelievers come in, will they
  not say that you are out of your mind?
• 1 Corinthians 1423

6
Credibility Issues
7
Credibility Issues

• Studies have not supported the finding that
  glossolalia has health benefits, but neither did
  they find any negative psychological effects
  (Louden and Francis, 2001)
• reported studies have suggested that people who
  speak in tongues show no differences in
  personality traits from other population
  groupsno increases in depression, anxiety,
  mania, or psychosis (Hine, 1969 Richardson,
  1973)
• One recent study involved nearly a thousand
  clergy members of a British evangelical group.
  The researchers found that the 80 who practiced
  glossolalia had greater emotional stability and
  less neuroticism (Francis and Robbins, 2003)

8
The Spirit and the Mind

• For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but
  my mind is unfruitful. 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.
• 1 Corinthians 1414-15

9
The Spirit and the Mind

• There were no changes in any language areas
  suggesting that glossolalia is not associated
  with usual language function
• Cerebral blood flow during the complex
  vocalization task of glossolalia. Andrew Newberg,
  Nancy Wintering1 and Donna Morgan, July 2006
• When they are actually engaged in this whole
  very intense spiritual practice their frontal
  lobes tend to go down in activity Whatever is
  coming out of their mouth is not what they are
  purposefully or willfully trying to do. And
  thats in fairly stark contrast to the people who
  are like the Buddhist and Franciscan nuns in
  prayer, because they are very intensely focused
  and in those individuals the frontal lobes
  actually increase activity.
• The amazing thing was how the images supported
  peoples interpretation of what was happening
  The way they describe it, and what they believe,
  is that God is talking through them
• Andrew Newberg

10
Some Practicalities from 1 Cor. 14

• Its a personal gift (v.4)
• Its therefore a lesser gift (v.5, 19)
• Onus is on the speaker also to interpret (v.5,
  13)
• (NB Interpretation discernment or
  translation)
• It is a stumbling block to unbelievers (v.22-24)
• You do NOT lose control (v.27-28)

11
Heart stuff

• Needing tongues (when language fails)
• Health being whole people (body, mind, spirit)
• Desire (from shallows into depths)