Speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues are the only gifts of the Holy Spirit which were not in use in the Old Testament. This is a unique gift which is given to the New Testament church and was first seen during the Festival of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2. Speaking in tongues is also the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is an endowment of power given by the Lord Jesus in order to have the power to do miracles, and to produce signs and wonders.
No other religion has these endowments of power for the believers. They are the tools of the Christian religion in order to work the works of God. Without them the Christian religion would be just another one of the hundreds of worldly religions which are more superstitions and fears, then knowing and serving God. The power of speaking in tongues comes from the fact that only you and God know what you are saying. Demons will never know what you are praying for; it is a direct communication between you and the Lord. It also charges up the mind and the spirit of man with energy, which is vital when walking around unbelievers who have dry batteries.
The gift is given by the Holy Spirit to those who desire it, and want to live a clean and powerful life in the Lord. It is a faith gift which means that it is given by faith and received by faith. If you have been taught that the gifts are not for this age, and have believed the myth. Then it would be very hard to receive them, but not impossible. Of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it is the most personal one because it brings a greater bonding between God and you.
The people of God have been speaking in tongues since the birthing of the church of Jesus Christ. In essence, the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church in the book of Acts and crowned her with the gift of tongues
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing might wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4, K.J.V.
Outside of being saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit, it is the gift of tongues that has given me the most pleasure in the things of God. When it seems like nothing else works and the sky is hard as iron with no answer to my prayers, it is my prayer language in tongues that saves the day, and gets me the answers I am waiting for.
The gift of tongues is so important that it has its own brand of Christianity. When you hear people say that they are Full Gospel, Pentecostal, or Charismatic, what they are saying is that they believe in speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Denominations such as the Assemblies of God, Church of God, and the Church of God in Prophecy all have one thing in common, they all believe in Speaking in tongues.
Other denominations forbid speaking in tongues, believing it too controversial for the modern church. There is also a huge division among Christian groups over the issue of speaking in tongues and all manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But it all comes down to this. Not everybody likes peach pie, not everybody likes fish instead of chicken. So it is with the things of God, not everybody likes spiritual things and not everybody wants to climb the tallest mountains.
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