Author: Jamie Brown

Talking about the Holy Spirit without mentioning the gifts of tongues and prophecy would be like talking about music without mentioning F sharp. Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away.

This topic is controversial and divisive. Within the body of Christ there is a broad range of strong opinions. And so it can be tempting to ignore it. But why ignore a gift of God?

The first time the phenomenon of tongues appears is in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. The apostles were all gathered “together in one place” when they heard something like a “mighty rushing wind” and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).

In this instance, the languages the Spirit inspires are actual human languages for the purpose of proclaiming the “mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11). We know this because in Acts 2:8, the onlookers ask “how is it that we hear, each of us in his own language?”

The second time this phenomenon appears is in Acts 10:46. We’re told that as Peter preaches, the Holy Spirit falls, is poured out on Gentiles, and they speak in tongues and extol God.

The third time is Acts 19:6 when new Christians receive the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in tongues and prophesy.

It spreads in the early church in Paul gives a lot of instruction on it in 1 Corinthians. In chapter 12 he says that God gives the gift but not to everyone. In chapter 13 he says it doesn’t matter if you speak in tongues unless you have love! In chapter 14 he says he wants everyone to speak in tongues, and even more to prophesy, but goes into detail about how the gift can be used in a way that edifies the church and glorifies Jesus.

Speaking in tongues
Is unintelligible. Thus if it happens in public it must have an interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:13). Therefore it is not as valuable as human words (1 Corinthians 14:19). If not exercised carefully it can turn off non-believers (1 Corinthians 14:23). So speaking in tongues in public should be done with great care.

Praying in tongues
Unintelligible to the person praying. Therefore the mind is disengaged (or “unfruitful”) but the “spirit prays” (1 Corinthians 14:14). It’s directed to God (1 Corinthians 14:2). Paul speaks in Romans 8:26-27 about how

“the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

This is a great gift from our heavenly Father for our private prayer and worship.

Prophecy
Intelligible. Spontaneously revealed. Human words. Can have mistakes, so it should be tested (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). It is used to build up, encourage and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). It can be used evangelistically to disclose secrets of the heart (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). So, understandably, Paul values this gift and says that we should too! (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Have these gifts ceased?
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 says:

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

If you read this passage to mean that “when the perfect comes” is when we see Jesus “face to face”, then you might call yourself a charismatic, or a continuationist. You (and I) believe that the gift of tongues and prophecy continue to this day, while we and the world remain imperfect, longing for the day when we see Jesus. These gifts should be exercised in submission to the word of God and with care, but they should be exercised!

But if you read this passage to mean that “when the perfect comes” is when the bible is done being written, then you might call yourself a cessationist. You believe that these gifts have ceased and are no longer available.

Sandy Millar, the former vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton was once asked, “can you get into heaven without speaking in tongues?” His response was, “yes… but why would you want to?”

I hold the conviction that scripture clearly teaches that the gift of tongues and prophecy is for today, should be eagerly desired, and will continue “until the perfect comes”. The testimony of the bible is supreme and sufficient, but I can add my own testimony to the power and the value of these gifts in my own life and ministry. I’ll share some examples later in the week.

I think the reason why this issue is so divisive and controversial is because of the great power that the gift of tongues and prophecy contains to demonstrate the glory of God. Of course that would be divisive. With scripture as a foundation, I hope that one of the ways God can use me over the course of my life is to encourage Christians, and more specifically worship leaders, to “eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy!” 

“Is it woefully inconsistent… that there’s no overt pursuit, or maybe even interest in practicing the gifts (of the Holy Spirit” in our churches?

This is a good question.

Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to “…eagerly desire spiritual gifts especially that you may prophesy“. How do we “eagerly desire” them? Is it then a sin not to?

I found this video by Sam Storms helpful and convicting and think you might too.

One of my mentors is a British clergyman who was one of the pastors at my church when I was hired. He’s a man of God who loves the Bible and loves the Holy Spirit.

When he would teach on the Holy Spirit at our Alpha courses he would tell the story of when, on rare occasions, living in England and not making very much as a Vicar, he would take his children out to eat. He would tell his children in no uncertain terms that they could get one soda and one soda only. After that it was water. This is because, as you may know, in England there are no free refills. Then when they would come to the United States on vacation he would tell them they could order all the sodas they wanted!

His point and his punch line was that in this respect, and in this respect only, God is more of an American than an Englishman. God is the God of free refills.

First things first: you don’t come to Jesus apart from the Holy Spirit. In Titus 3:4-6, we’re told that God “saved us, not because of works done by us… but by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ…” You can’t become a Christian without the Holy Spirit.

And when you become a Christian you don’t receive 2/3 of God, as if the Holy Spirit comes later. 2 Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 1:13 tell us that the Holy Spirit seals us and guarantees that we belong to Jesus. When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, the Spirit seals you.

But in Ephesians 5:18, Paul commands the church to “be filled with the Holy Spirit”. The English language doesn’t quite do justice to Paul’s intent here. In the Greek, this command is a present imperative, indicating that this isn’t speaking of a onetime filling, but rather a regular pattern of being filled. So “go on being filled with the Holy Spirit” is more like it.

This makes some of us nervous, but it was normal language in the New Testament. In Luke 4:1, Jesus is described as being “full of the Holy Spirit”. In Acts 4:8, Peter is “filled with the Holy Spirit”. In Acts 9:17, Ananias lays his hands on Saul so that he can be “filled with the Holy Spirit”. Barnabas is described as being “full of the Holy Spirit and faith” in Acts 11:24.

And lest you point out that all these references just mention one person one single time, look at the three separate instances in Acts when the disciples are said to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”. First, in Acts 2:4 they’re “filled…” and begin to speak in tongues. Second, in Acts 4:31 they’re “filled…” again. And then in Acts 13:52 they’re again “filled with the Holy Spirit and with joy”.

Why else would Jesus describe the Holy Spirit as “rivers of living water” (John 7:38) and not a pool? A river is a constant flow whereas a pool is a dormant supply. God reconciles us to himself through Jesus, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, and then longs to continue to fill us and fill us and fill us again. He really is the God of free refills!

Resistance to this comes from a number of different places, of course.

Maybe we’ve seen abuses of this and we’ve experienced churches where it’s either implied or explicitly stated that people who have been converted still need to “receive” the Holy Spirit. This isn’t biblical and it leads to confusion and abuse.

Or maybe we’ve seen the excesses of this and we’ve experienced churches where the Holy Spirit is used to give license to chaos or disorder or shaky theology derived from a pastor’s “revelation”. This is contrary to scripture and leads believers and non-believers alike to the opposite excess of, in essence, turning the spigot of the Holy Spirit off.

The norm in the New Testament and the clear encouragement from Paul’s letters to the early church is a regular, ongoing, filling of the Holy Spirit. This isn’t wacky charismania, it’s biblical and good and exciting.

Worship leaders need to understand this for the sake of their ministry. Leading from a place of dormancy or burn-out isn’t what God intends. Leading from a place of being filled and being flowed through with “rivers of living water” is.

I think Bach understood this. At the top of all of his sacred works are the initials “J.J.” for “Jesu Juva”, or “Jesus help”. And at the bottom were the initials “S.D.G.” for “Soli Deo Gloria”, or “glory to God alone”.

God has given us a helper – his Holy Spirit – for every minute, every day, every service, every rehearsal, and every time we lead worship. So we shouldn’t feel selfish or embarrassed to pray the ancient prayer of Christians through the ages: “Veni Sancte Spiritus”, or “come Holy Spirit”. Fill us afresh, help us and empower us, for the glory of God alone.

In Ezekiel 37:1, all he can see is a valley full of dry bones. It’s desolate, hopeless, and shocking. But just nine verses later, these bones are made to be an “exceedingly great army” (verse 10). What made the difference? The breath of God (verse 9).

God compares the dry bones to his people, at that time the “whole house of Israel”, who are dried up, without hope, and cut off. He tells Ezekiel to prophesy to them that he will (1) raise them to life (verses 12-13) and (2) put his Spirit within them (verse 14).

Fast forward to John 7:37-39 and we’re about to see this prophecy come true. Jesus, the one who has come to raise the dead to life, gives an invitation to the dry bones standing in front of him: 

“if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes is me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

The dry bones are still dry bones at this point but the water is coming. The dead are still dead but new life is coming.

Jesus brings that new life when he is crucified and then raised to life. Then in John 20:22 “he breathed on (his disciples) and said to them, “receive the Holy Spirit…” What a powerful picture. The very breath of God, present at creation (Genesis 1:2), given to particular people at particular times in the Old Testament, and speaking through the prophets, now breathed out on dry bones by God himself.

The Holy Spirit is who God uses to make what were once useless and cut off dry bones into an “exceedingly great army” for his glory (Ezekiel 37:10). The Holy Spirit gives that army its life (John 6:63) and power (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit leads the army into truth (John 16:12-15) and is its helper (John 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26). He gives gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4) and dwells in us (Ephesians 2:22). I could go on.

In most of our congregations, or least the ones that I’ve observed (that’s a relatively small percentage, but go with me here…) my hunch is that our people might feel more like dry bones. And based on my conversations and relationships with other worship leaders over the years, what we see when we look out over our congregations during corporate worship might more closely resemble Ezekiel 37:1 than they do Ezekiel 37:10.

It’s not that they’re dead or hopeless (since Jesus has given us life!) but they sure do act like it. I think what’s missing is (1) an emphasis on, (2) an awareness of, (3) a desperation for, and (4) a boldness in the Holy Spirit. I’ve been convicted of this recently in my own life and in my worship leading – and I’ve had a growing sense that this is something that could use some highlighting in the worship leader world.

So part one was a lot of background to say that the Holy Spirit is the very breath of God in our very midst, present in creation, once reserved, and now poured out on all flesh. My point today is that the Holy Spirit turns dry bones into a great army and we can’t afford to ignore the Holy Spirit if we hope to look like one. My encouragement to myself and to other worship leaders is to reencounter the Holy Spirit if you’ve forgotten about him and the rest of the posts from here on out will be some practical ways we can do that.

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down – that the mountains might quake at your presence! (Isaiah 64:1)