What the Spirit Is Doing in the Church

The following is a pre-recorded program. On today's broadcast, I'm going to tell you why I speak in tongues. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on the Line of Fire. And now here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Hey friends, welcome to The Line of Fire, Michael Brown, blessed and delighted to be with you and here to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front lines, to help you thrive in spiritual health in the Lord. If you listen to this live, I should either be ministering in Mexico City or starting to travel back from Mexico City, so I'm not taking calls today.

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We work hard on this. It's a service or a joyful service to the body. And I pray it will be a blessing to you. Why do I speak in tongues? Well, the simple reason is I believe it's absolutely scriptural.

And I believe that this is a spiritual gift that continues today. In fact, I'm quite sure I don't have any question or doubt about it, which is why I've spoken in tongues regularly for the last 52 plus years. There was a season in the late 70s, early 80s that I tried to get away from tongues, that I tried to get away from belief in charismatic gifts, that I bought books arguing the cessationist position and tried to talk myself out of these things. But the word was just too clear to me. I'm not insulting those that feel otherwise, that feel you can support your views against tongues or against prophecy today by scripture.

I don't mean that to insult you. I'm simply saying in the sight of God, when I tried my best to convince myself these things were not for today, when I didn't want them to be for today, the word was just too clear, the testimony of scripture too overwhelming. Plus, when I would really draw near to God in prayer and really seek him earnestly, I would begin to speak in tongues as well.

It was a natural outflow of the depth of something in my own spirit. So I even knew experientially there was confirmation to what the word said, but it was the word that convinced me. So my goal here is to not try to talk you in to believing and speaking in tongues.

Probably the large majority of you listening do believe this is for today, and many of you speak in tongues yourselves, but I'm speaking to everybody here if you're a follower of Jesus and simply explaining my own experience and giving you scripture as best as I can to present to you what the word of God says. So the church where I came to faith in November-December of 1971 was an Italian Pentecostal church. So growing up in a Jewish home, I was not used to church. I didn't know the difference between a Catholic church and a Protestant church. I didn't know what a Pentecostal church was. I didn't know the difference between Baptist and Greek Orthodox. It was all foreign to me.

It was them and us. In my mind, Catholic, Protestant, Christian, Gentile, they were all synonymous. I didn't grow up in a community, say, with a lot of Muslims, a lot of Hindus. There was the community I lived in, which was almost all Jewish but not religious Jewish, and then right over the bridge, the community where I went to school, that was almost all professing Christian, although in retrospect I don't know many that were really believers.

We went to school together, we hung out together, we were friends together. However, religiously there was us and there was them. So I had no background in church, and when I got saved, this was what I knew the Gospel to be.

In other words, a Pentecostal expression, and people spoke in tongues, and there was interpretation of tongues, and the pastor would lay hands on sick people, and sometimes there'd be prophecy or other gifts of the Spirit manifest. So I grew up, this was the norm, and reading scripture, it seemed quite normal. In other words, if no one told you things changed, if you're just reading the Bible alone, I know it's hard for us to picture this because we have so much information in our heads, but if you were just reading the Bible alone, you came to faith, someone gave you a Bible, and then you got stranded on some desert island, and somehow you were able to live there, or deserted island, it's not a desert island, sorry, you don't have an island in a desert, deserted island, right?

And you were just by yourself. Nobody there was Christian, nobody, right? And you're, there's a few people there that live there and you're able to sustain for 10 years, you're just reading the Bible for 10 years, just you and the Bible.

And let's say that you knew biblical Hebrew fluently and the little bit of Aramaic, biblical Aramaic fluently, and New Testament Greek fluently, so you can read it all in the original languages, so there's no obstacle. And you read it day and night for 10 years, it wouldn't dawn on you to think that tongues was not for today, or prophecy was not for today, or gifts of healing were not for today. In other words, it just talked about as the norm, it's the norm, there's instruction given about these things, and you would think, oh, this is something that's normal and something for us as believers. So that's how it was for me, that I got saved, we talked about these things, and I read, oh, there they are in the Bible.

Okay, that's clear. They're there in the Bible. And I was surrendered to the Lord, December 17th of 71, that's when I said, Lord, I'll never put a needle in my arm again, because that was the great battle. I knew Jesus was real for some weeks, but I wasn't willing to turn from sin and got beautifully, wonderfully set free. Then I was taught, well, the next thing, when Jesus was born, once you're saved, is to ask God to baptize you in the Spirit. So Pentecostals believe that salvation, the Holy Spirit, comes and dwells within you. You're born again, a free gift of God's grace, and subsequent to that, there is something called the baptism of the Spirit, or the baptism in the Spirit, where we get immersed in the power of the Spirit, and it is for the purpose of witness. It is God's gifting for the purpose of witness, subsequent to salvation. Pentecostal belief. Many Charismatics say, well, when you're saved, you're baptized in the Spirit, and then different gifts will be manifested different times. A traditional Christian view would be the moment you're saved, you're baptized in the Spirit, but there'd be no mention of supernatural gifts.

Obviously, I don't divide over that. There are different beliefs within the body, but our understanding was, you're saved, now you pray for the baptism in the Spirit. So, it was January 24th, so five weeks later, I was at a prayer meeting. We had a Monday night prayer meeting every week, and, I don't know, a handful of people there, 10, 15 people, and we'd all just get on our knees and pray, and after a little while, someone would lead in prayer, and then when they were done, we'd basically be praying, and someone else would lead in prayer, and maybe you pray again later, and we'd just pray for an hour like that, and it was a given, fixed thing.

It's part of my life for years, going to that prayer meeting, and I'd been praying to be filled with the Spirit, and the other people that were speaking in tongues there, again, it was just a believers meeting, so we're praying in tongues, and then someone's leading in prayer, and we're all agreeing with that, and I just felt the Holy Spirit just welling up in me, and I felt words come to my lips, and I spoke them out. I thought, what are you going to think? What are you going to make?

What are you going to think? Did I make that up? Did I just make up those words? Because anybody could make up words, right? And we're going to talk today about, were tongues always different languages? Were they always like Chinese or Arabic or German, or was it a heavenly language, just a new language?

We'll come to that. We'll discuss that, and I want to talk about the benefits, the power, the beauty, the things that have helped me over the decades in terms of praying in tongues, but anybody could make up sounds, right? You know, scat singing, and jazz, and just double talk. We could make silly sounds. Anybody could do that, so I said some words, and I thought, was that me, or was that the Lord? Then the more I spoke, the more it started to flow, and here, think of it.

If I'm having a conversation with you, but my mind is going somewhere else, you'll know it pretty soon, because I'll be a what? I'm not making sense anymore, because my mind is, you tell I'm distracted, but when praying in tongues, as I was speaking these words, number one, I felt the presence of God in the deeper way in my life, and remember, the word comes first. The word is the foundation.

Experience is not the foundation. The word is the foundation, but our experience is spoken of in Scripture. Scripture speaks, for example, of salvation. Romans 8 16, that the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. It says elsewhere, Galatians 4, that God has put the spirit of his Son into our hearts, by which we cry, Abba, Father. So we experience the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's a witness that we know that we know that we're born again and saved. Yes, the word tells us, and now we have that witness of the Spirit within us, and it was the same thing. I had this witness of the Spirit, but the more I prayed, I realized in my mind I could be talking to God about one thing while praying in tongues, and it was coming from a different part of my being. And as I became more and more confident, I began to speak in tongues more and more loudly, because I wanted others to know I have been baptized in the Spirit.

Now, a little side story. That night, I was scheduled to meet the local rabbi. My dad had talked to the local rabbi.

You know, my son's becoming a Christian, and would you talk with him? I was 16. He was 27, fresh out of Jewish Theological Serenary.

Brilliant. He took a real interest in me. Well, I was scheduled to meet him that night, but come on, I was just baptized in the Spirit. This was a big, exciting thing for us in the church and as new believers. So I went with my friends, went over to the synagogue, and my dad was waiting.

I said, hey, I'm sorry, I can't meet tonight. I was just baptized to the Holy Ghost. I didn't know what Jewish way to say.

I didn't know. I just told him I was immersed in the Ruach HaKodah. So I was baptized to the Holy Ghost. And he said to me, Mazel tov, which is Jewish way for saying congratulations, just with a smile.

I thought, okay, I like this guy. And so I made an appointment and saw him subsequently. We became dear friends and always spent many, many hours together.

But I had to go out that night with my friends and celebrate. My two best friends, John and Kerry, we went to Geno's Pizzeria, his famous pizzeria in Long Beach to celebrate because I had been baptized in the Spirit. So when we come back, I'm going to open up scripture. I'm going to talk about some doctrinal issues and questions.

And I'm going to talk about the positive power, the things that have benefited me, that I've learned in the world. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on the line of fire as we talk about tongues today. If you're just tuning in, please understand I have been on live daily talk radio since July of 2008, June, July of 2008. So we're talking 16 plus years. And sometimes we were two hours a day.

It's a lot of broadcasts. And I don't know that I ever did one show just explaining why I speak in tongues and the beauty and power of speaking in tongues. So if you don't believe in these things for today, well, you'll get an interesting perspective, won't you? So Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, now about the gifts of the Spirit, the Charismata, Thematica, the spiritual gifts, the spiritual manifestations called different things in the New Testament. Brothers and sisters, I don't want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagan, somehow or other, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. So you were in this spiritual world, but it was a world of deception.

And you were led in wrong directions. You also were led to serve idols that couldn't speak or act because they weren't really gods. Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus be cursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit, meaning in a real way.

Anyone can say the words Jesus is Lord, but in a true confession of faith without the Spirit. Then this is this, there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone, it is the same God at work. So a great expression of God's trinity, Spirit, Lord, God. Verse 7, Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit. To another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit and He distributes them to each one just as He determines. Then at the end of the chapter He says this, verse 27, Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it and God is placed in the church first of all apostles, then prophets, then teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and different kinds of tongues. To all apostles, to all prophets, to all teachers, to all work miracles, to all gifts of healing, to all speaking tongues, to all interpret, now eagerly desire the greater gifts and I will show you the most excellent way. So, interesting in this list of what God has placed in the body, starting with apostles, it ends with tongues. So, tongues, healing, miracles, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, administrators, helpers, different ones, these are all different things God has given to the body for the glory of Jesus' name, for the edification of God's people.

And then, and then when we follow the way of love and put love first, everything flows out of that. And Paul starts by saying, if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I'm only resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. This is 1 Corinthians 13.1. Was Paul referring to the tongues that he's spoken? Was he referring to them as tongues of angels? Possibly, possibly, but we can't be dogmatic on it. In other words, there is an argument that when someone speaks in tongues, it's not an earthly language, but rather a heavenly language, the language of angels. And that's what Paul was talking about. Or was he just using poetic speech to say, look, I could speak in any earthly language, any heavenly language, but if I don't have love, it accomplishes nothing.

I'm just resounding gong or clanging cymbal. An argument against that argument is like, why even say that? What does it mean to speak the tongues of angels? What does that even mean? But in any case, it's a question mark.

To be honest, we just don't have more context to it. So it's a question mark. Then after he extols the beauty and power of love, he says this, 1 Corinthians 14.1. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.

So it's not either or, it's both and. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. Why? Because this helps others.

This is for the good of the body. This can even reach the world. So that's why love requires seeking the gifts as well. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God. Now, we know in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit is poured out, that the 120 speak in different languages, and the assembled crowd of religious Jews from around the world coming there for Shavuot, for the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, they hear the praises of God in their own language and they're stunned. Others that aren't hearing this, they're not hearing it the same way. They look at the people and think they're drunk. The way they're behaving, the way they sound, they're drunk. So, Preet explains, no, they're not drunk.

It's only nine in the morning. This is the outpouring of the Spirit that was spoken of by Joel, and this is what happens in these last days. So, that day, for sure, different languages were spoken. But then, when the Holy Spirit falls in Acts the 8th chapter, it doesn't mention tongues, but it does mention something clear and tangible. When the Holy Spirit was given, there's certainly no evidence that anything spoken would have been foreign language, because this is just for the Samaritans. So, why would tongues be a foreign language?

How would that help anything? Then, in Acts 10, as Peter's preaching, Cornelius, his household, begins to speak in tongues as Peter's preaching, evidencing their faith in the Lord and God's confirmation they speak in tongues. What use would foreign languages be then? Think of it for a minute. They just received the message from Peter. They understand his words. They receive the message.

They begin speaking in tongues. For what purpose? If it's foreign languages, for what purpose? What good is it if they're speaking Chinese or German or just speaking other languages for people? Because the people in the room came to faith. It wasn't a big crowd to evangelize.

Those who insist it must be a foreign language. Why? For what purpose? There was a purpose at Pentecost, but there's no purpose in Acts 8. There's no purpose in Acts 10. And then, in Acts 19, when Paul meets him from believers from Ephesus, but they didn't have a full knowledge of the Lord, and he explains the rest, and he asked him, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

No. Well, then he prays for it, and they receive the Spirit, and they speak in tongues, and they prophesy. What use would foreign languages be?

They are the ones with Paul. They hear the message they receive. So, let's say I'm praying with you in your home, and I lay hands on you, and you're filled with the Spirit, begin to speak the language.

What good is it? Okay, you're praying in Chinese. You don't even know what you're praying. You're praying in some obscure Czech dialect. You're praying in some Indian jungle dialect.

You don't know what you're saying. For what purpose? So, the idea that it always has to be foreign languages, there's only one time in the Bible where that was the case. The other times it doesn't mention foreign languages, just they spoke new tongues. They spoke a new language, and there's no reference to it having any purpose in terms of they spoke a foreign language so others would understand. So, again, ask yourself, why would God fill you with the Spirit, and you're speaking a dialect of some obscure people group on an obscure island in the Philippines, and you'll never meet any of those people the rest of your life, and every time you pray, you're praying in that dialect.

For what purpose? How does that help anything? Well, one day I'll find out that dialect. Well, if that was the case, God could give you grace to speak in a foreign language at that moment. It's happened to friends of mine. They just thought they were speaking in tongues, and to their shock, someone heard the Gospel preached to them in that language and came to faith.

It's happened to friends of mine. It happened to a friend of mine who's not charismatic with his translator ministering in South America. He told me the story himself. He was a seminary chancellor, and he said, Dr. Brown, you know, I'm not charismatic myself, but let me tell you what happened when I was on this missions trip. And he said that there was this people group, tribal group, and he was preaching, the translator was translating, going to the people, the people going back to the translator back and forth, and they opened their hearts to the Gospel. And the translator afterwards said to him, by the way, I didn't know their language. That was all the Holy Spirit. He gave me the understanding and gave me the words to speak. And when my colleague, again, highly educated man, PhD, the whole bit, right, or THD, when he was telling the director of the ministry there, he said, oh, that happens to us at least once a month because we're doing outreach to these tribal groups and we don't have their dialect.

We don't know. And he said, that happens to us at least once a month. And this is a non-charismatic, non-continuationist, non-Pentecostal telling me the story. So God does that. But as we'll read in 1 Corinthians 14, it's not the norm.

And from my experience, if I'm speaking a heavenly tongue, if I'm speaking a Chinese dialect, if I'm speaking Portuguese, if I don't understand what the words mean, it's all the same. My spirit's praying. My mind doesn't understand. It's the Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back, friends, to the Line of Fire.

Michael Brown, delighted to have this time with you. Another reminder, if you're not getting my monthly frontline newsletter, it'll edify you, bless you, encourage you, strengthen you. It's informational, it's inspirational, it's impartational, and it's free, and it's digital.

Go to thelineoffire.org, thelineoffire.org, and click subscribe. I want to go back to 1 Corinthians 14. I want to read what Paul says about speaking in tongues there, and then I want to give you practical things that I've learned speaking in tongues over the decades in my own life. So he says this, that we should follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. By the way, that's an exhortation. That's an exhortation from God to us through Paul, and it's never rescinded. This isn't always word until Jesus returns.

This isn't always word. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. That's not preaching. Preaching is different than prophecy. Teaching is different than prophecy.

This is what the Word commands us to do as believers today. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God. If the tongue was a foreign language, you would be speaking to people as well, as happened at Pentecost. They were praising God in their own language, but people could hear it. They were speaking to people as well. Here he says, you don't speak to people, but to God. Indeed, no one understands them. They are the mysteries by the Spirit.

Now, he's not saying tongues is bad. You're speaking to God. That's good.

You're uttering mysteries by the Spirit. That's good. That's beautiful.

That's wonderful. But it doesn't edify the other person, which is why love says even more important than tongues is prophecy, because that edifies others. The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the Church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues.

So says Paul. But I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets so that the Church may be edified. Remember, interpretation is also a gift. It doesn't say unless someone knows that language. No, unless someone interprets.

That is a gift as well. So, tongues, by definition, is speaking to God, not to people. Tongues, by definition, is uttering mysteries in the Spirit. Tongues, by definition, edifies the one speaking in tongues, praying in tongues.

Again, those are all good things. That's why he says, I'd like for all of you to speak in tongues. But even more important is prophecy. Why not both, though? Why not both? Certainly both in Paul's case. Certainly both in the case of others in the New Testament who spoke in tongues and then were used in prophecy as well.

Why not both? Then he says this, Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sound, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?

So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.

Now, critics of the modern-day Pentecostal Charismatic Movement say, all you're speaking is gibberish. Well, that's what Paul's saying, that when you do speak in tongues, to the outsider it's going to sound like gibberish. To the outsider, no one's going to know what you're saying. To the outsider, it's going to be like, well, you're speaking to the air.

What is that? And have you ever heard foreign languages and they sound like gibberish to you? I mean a bona fide foreign language. You go, that can't be a language. I've heard people speaking foreign languages.

I've been outside the U.S. 200 times. I've heard a lot of languages. Someone's like, that can't be a language. Or I'm preaching with a translator and they're translating.

I'm thinking, those aren't actual. Those can't be words. How does that make any sense? Because it's so foreign.

So, the fact that tongue sounds like gibberish to someone, it doesn't mean it's not real. That's what Paul's dealing with right there in Corinth. It's just, no one understands what you're saying. God understands. It's wonderful for you and God. You're being edified. But to get up in public, like right now, if I took the next three minutes and just spoke in tongues, I'd be edified over a period of time, praying in the Spirit.

But it would be useless. You're listening on the radio. It's like, what is it? It's just gibberish. But it would be the same if I was just chanting in some Indian language. Or if I was just reciting poetry in Chinese.

Not that I can do those. Or if I'm just quoting scripture to you in Hebrew. Okay, that wasn't tongues. That was Hebrew.

But it didn't do you any good. It just sounded like words. So, that's Paul's whole point here. He said, if then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker is a foreigner to me. If you think of King James, it doesn't say foreigner.

It says, I am a barbarian. And the Greek is Barbaros, a speaker of a foreign language. Why were they called barbarians? Because they came in with these machetes and were hacking people's heads off.

That wasn't the primary thing. Barbaros in Greek is where we get the word barbarian. It sounded like they were just talking gibberish. Bar, bar, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. What are they even saying? They're barbarians, blah speakers. So, Paul's saying the very thing. Those of you who say it can't be real because it just sounds like gibberish, Paul's saying, yeah, that's what outsiders are going to think. When they hear you speaking in tongues, that's what they're going to think. That you're just a barbarian.

You're like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You're foreigners. It doesn't make any sense what you're saying. So it is with you, since you are eager for the gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. For this reason, the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

So, Paul's now said, you're speaking to God, not to men. That's beautiful. That's wonderful. You're uttering mysteries in the Spirit or by the Spirit. That's wonderful. Now he's saying that you are praying and that your spirit is praying, your mind is unfruitful.

So that's the negative. But your spirit is praying that's positive. So he says, so what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I also pray with my understanding.

Neither or both and. So I'll pray in tongues, I'll pray with my understanding. I will sing with my spirit, but also sing with my understanding. So he's saying, you can sing in tongues, you can pray in tongues, you can worship in tongues. In a moment he's going to speak about giving thanks in tongues. So there are different expressions of tongues.

Why? Because we're speaking to God. You can speak to God in prayer and praise. You can speak to God in worship. You can speak to God in different ways. You can sing to him.

That's what he's saying. Otherwise, when you're praising God in the Spirit, so notice I'm not praising God, thanking God in the Spirit. How can someone else who is now put in the position of an inquirer say amen to your thanksgiving since they do not know what you're saying? You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified. So I'm just overflowing with thanks and I begin to pray in tongues giving thanks to God. I don't know the substance of the words, but I know I'm giving thanks out of my spirit to God.

And I'm being edified, but you can't say amen because you have no idea what I said. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. So Paul was an avid tongue speaker. And if he spoke in tongues more than all of them, and the Corinthians seem to be really into this, that means Paul spoke in tongues a lot. But in the church, meaning when we gather together, I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. In the church, I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. So it does me no good in terms of ministering to you, helping you, blessing you, if I'm sitting here speaking tongues. I get up behind the pulpit.

We're so glad to have Dr. Brown speaking for us Sunday morning. And I get up behind the pulpit and 10 minutes of tongues. Boy, I'm feeling it.

Whoa, I'm feeling it. And you're sitting like, what? What? So better to speak five words. Better for me to say, God can be trusted.

Really. Better to say those five words than to speak in tongues for two hours in terms of a public meeting. And then he gives these guidelines. Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children in regard to infants, but in your thinking be adults. Then in the law it's written with other tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I'll speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Tongues then are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.

Many think that Paul just seemed to contradict himself and that's a whole big discussion. But the point that I take away from this is that he's saying for the outsider, tongues is like judgment. Just like when the Israelites would hear a foreigner speaking.

So for the outsider, for the person who doesn't understand, tongues is a sign for them that they're on the outside. It doesn't draw them in. It doesn't help them. It doesn't save them. It doesn't bring them a message of the gospel.

It just makes them feel like they're on the outside. It's not the case for believers. Tongues is not to make believers feel that they're on the outside or there's something negative about it.

Quite the contrary. Paul says all these wonderful things about tongues. It's just the proper use of tongues. Now for example, those of you that use tools a lot, a hammer is an amazing tool, but a hammer is not a screwdriver. And you know, each thing has its use, its proper use. So that's the key.

Use it rightly, otherwise it doesn't help. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues and inquires when believers come in, will they not say you're out of your mind? I've been in these Pentecostal churches. They're like out of their mind. This is like gibberish. Oh, that's exactly what Paul was dealing with then. Same thing.

Same thing. Tongues seem strange. Tongues seem odd. Tongues seem like gibberish. Bar, bar, bar.

That's what it sounded like for those that weren't insiders and didn't understand. Now it's one thing when you have corporate service, thousands of people, worship team playing, and everyone's worshiping. You hear this one sound going up to heaven of all the voices drawing together. This one's praying and singing in English. This one's praying and singing in Spanish. This one's praying and singing in tongues. This harmonious sound all going up to God. Everyone praying, worshiping together. It's very different than you're in a group of 10 people and you bring a friend from work that's not a believer and everyone starts praying in tongues with the non-believer there. It's like, what? What are you doing?

What is this? That's what Paul's talking about. If there are tongues spoken then, then let it be with interpretation.

And that's a gift as well. So, without question, a plain reading of 1 Corinthians 14 indicates that tongues were not intended primarily as foreign languages for the purpose of evangelism. The fact that it happens once in the book of Acts proves itself. It happens once and only once.

There's no indication it happened again as a norm. God can do it whenever he wants. And it's not what Paul is talking about. And again, again, even if I was praying in Chinese, or praying in Hindi, or praying in Russian, it's still foreign to... I don't understand it. Nobody in the room understands it if we're all Americans.

It's still just between us and God. Now, what are the benefits? Let's hear it. It's the Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get on the Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Shout out of appreciation to our great co-sponsor, Triveda. You know, I travel a lot, and my Triveda supplements go with me around the world. And to this day, I benefit from them, enjoy them, help by them.

So, they're not substitutes for healthy eating, but boy, they can enhance your life in a lot of ways. That's why they're partners with us. In fact, before we worked with Triveda when they said, we want to help support your broadcast. We want to help get your message out to the nation.

They said, but we won't do it until you try some of our products. And then if they work for you, you can believe in them, then make them available to your folks. So, thank you, Triveda. So, the question we started to show with, why do I speak in tongues? I said, fundamentally, it's in the Word, and it's a good thing in the Word. And I began to speak in tongues January 24th of 1972. What happened is, I began to pray more.

Normally, as I'd be praying every day, praying for this request, and this request, and this person I met, and shared the Gospel with, praying for God to open their eyes, praying for my own life, that I would grow in the Lord, and know him better, and become more like his son. And then, I couldn't think of anything to pray, so I'd pray in tongues for a minute or two, and then come, and then I'd think of something else to pray, and then go back to praying in English. And one day, I just prayed in tongues for about five minutes straight, and felt this edification as I did. I thought, what happened if I pray in tongues longer? So, I prayed in tongues about 10 minutes, and felt even more edified, until I got into the habit of praying in tongues an hour straight every day. And as I would pray in tongues, obviously, I don't understand what I'm praying, for the most part. You know, sometimes you have a sense of what you're praying, but you say, what happens to your mind?

Well, initially, it would wander, and then it would start to lock in on spiritual things. I would be meditating on the Lord. I would be rehearsing in my mind scriptures that I had memorized at the height of things when I was about 18 years old, 17, 18 years old. I was memorizing 20 verses every single day, and did it without fail for about six months. And as I'd be praying in tongues, I would be meditating on the scriptures I'd been memorizing and rehearsing them. So, I'd be repeating them in my mind, because it's another part of your being that's operating. It's your spirit that's praying.

That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14. And I would find, as I would do this, this tremendous edification came. I would get built up, strengthened in God. It became my habit before preaching, if I was traveling out preaching, to always pray in tongues at least an hour before I preached.

Not a ritualistic thing. So, one thing was that I found myself getting edified. As I would pray in tongues, it would build me up so I could then serve others and minister to others and bless others, and also drew me closer to the Lord. Now, this was not in place of praying with my understanding. It was not either or.

It was both and. It was praying with my spirit and praying with my understanding. A second benefit that I found from speaking in tongues was that it gave me more clarity as to what to pray in English. That as I would pray in tongues, a burden would begin to form, insight would begin to rise, and that I would then know how to pray more effectively. I would then be led by the Spirit in terms of how to pray. Remember, Paul said that we're praying to God, we're singing to God, we're worshiping God, we're giving thanks to God. We are edifying ourselves and we are uttering mysteries by the Spirit, or in the Spirit. So, there's communion with God that's taking place, and many times our mind initially is unfruitful, but as we pray in the Spirit, God begins to give us insight.

So, first thing I realized, I was built up and edified in myself, and this enabled me to minister more effectively to others. You know, think of someone on a team, sports competition, and let's say they're playing football, and they're there in the weight room. They're hitting the weight room and they're pushing hard. I mean, they're hurting their body. It's a discipline, it's a push to get maximum shape. Well, they want to be in maximum shape because they want their body to be healthy and strong and thriving, but the main reason they're doing it is so their team would win.

If they can be the fastest and strongest and quickest they can be, then that's going to help their team win. So, my spending time edifying myself, I now go out and speak to a hundred people, a thousand people, a million people, that I'm now more edified and strengthened. Also, a second benefit is I would receive direction in prayer. I would now learn and understand, okay, this is a need. I'd suddenly get insight into a spiritual situation, and now I could go into praying in English much more effectively, with much more faith and much more focus.

That's the second thing. A third thing was I realized that praying in tongues enabled me to birth things spiritually. I want to go with you to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And a well-known passage, Romans 8 is such a well-known passage as a whole, but Paul's been talking about all of creation groaning for redemption.

When is it going to happen? When will the sons of God be revealed? When will the suffering end? You know, it's the most simple, simplistic little thing, but I often think of those verses in Romans 8 about all creation groaning. Maybe I drive by a field and there's a cow there, and there's flies on the cow's back, and it's trying to flip its tail to hit them. It's kind of futility. I think it's this tiny little thing. But I just think of this creation groaning. Come on. When?

When is it going to happen? And then the human beings groaning in sin in the midst of sin. Sin in the midst of suffering. And how do we pray? You know, when I pray for the presidential elections, I don't pray for the candidate I'm voting for to win. I pray for God's will to be done. I pray for his kingdom to come, because I don't know what is ultimately going to carry out his will the best.

I know how I can vote in good conscience, but I don't know what's best. And it may be the worst result is what's necessary to wake up the church, and then there's going to be societal change for a generation. God knows. Praying for Israel. The Palestinians talking to Nancy today about, okay, what's the solution? I said, all right, here's my pollyannish solution with moderate Arab governments doing this and helping rebuild Gaza with a moderate government there. And could it be?

And could people change their radical ideologies? I said it's somewhat pollyannish, but I don't have a solution otherwise. I don't say, Lord, do this and this in the middle of this, Lord, have your way, work, your will be done. Sometimes we don't know what to pray or how to pray. So Romans 8 verse 26, in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

What does Paul said? That we groan within ourselves with the hope of redemption. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for.

Sometimes we simply don't know. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. These could be sighs.

These could be feelings that can't be expressed in words. It could be groans. The Greek word is not a mysterious word. It is used for Israel groaning and crying out elsewhere in the New Testament. And it would translate to Hebrew for groaning and crying out. It could also be the sigh, oh, oh, God. It could be weeping.

It could express itself in many ways, but it doesn't have human words on it. And many times, praying like this, we speak of being in soul travail. Paul in Galatians 4 19 speaks of being in travail for the Galatians because they've lost their faith. He doesn't know what to make of them.

They've gone back under the law and come out from under grace. So he's in the pains of childbirth for them, he says. So he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.

Many of the most important projects I've worked on, I think of my book, The Real Kosher Jesus, that was birthed out of intensive prayer where the tongues became groans of intercession. Where from praying in tongues on my knees, I was now laying on my face, groaning, sighing, and crying out. Sometimes my whole body feeling overcome with this. Obviously, as a man, I don't know what it's like to give birth to a child. And I can't imagine physically. There's nothing I can relate to physically that could convey it adequately, and the pain of it and the intensity of it. Obviously, I can't relate to that physically. But spiritually, the sense of something in you that has to come out, and you're trying to get it out, and it's this painful process. Spiritually, I have an idea of what it feels like to give birth to something. So many major directives in my life to serve in a certain ministry or to go in a certain direction, or key words, life-changing words that have been spoken, or breakthroughs for someone who is bound.

And I'm talking about a stronghold. For years and years, we couldn't break through. And then, out of that intercession, out of that travail came a faith, and then being able to speak a word of authority to set that person free in Jesus' name. Praise God! It was birthed out of tongues, which then turned into these groans, these sighs, this deeper intercession. Now, you may have experienced that without speaking in tongues, and you may know exactly what I'm talking about, even though you don't speak in tongues.

But it's not just a human sobbing. It's the Spirit interceding in us, through us, for us, and it is absolutely glorious. My own life has been marked by praying in tongues. My own life has been changed by praying in tongues.

Some of the most beautiful fellowship I've experienced with the Lord, with my full being, my Spirit praying, and my mind communing with God. Some of the most beautiful times of communion I've had with God have been praying in tongues. Some of the greatest spiritual insights I've gotten have come from praying in tongues. Some of the most important words from the Lord have come to me while praying in tongues. Often the Word is opened up to me while praying in tongues as I read the Word. And, as I said, things have been birthed in the Spirit. So, that's my experience, but we've started the show, the first three segments, really looking at what the Word said. I talked about my own experience and being filled with the Spirit, then we looked at the Word, the Word, the Word, which is what matters the most. So, I encourage you to just say to the Lord, Father, whatever you have for me, whatever is good, whatever is from above, whatever is a gift from you, whatever is conducive to best glorifying Jesus and serving your people and touching a lost and dying world, I ask for it. And Jesus said, if you, the earthly people, the evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, Luke 11, 13, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who