Dealing with Unclean Spirits, part 1

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." (Luke 11:14-15 NASB)

This section is, in a way, still a part of Jesus' teaching on prayer. Certainly no demon can be cast out unless we pray to God for it to be accomplished. 

In this passage, Luke gives an account of a man who had a demon of muteness. It caused him to be unable to speak but, when Jesus cast the demon out, the man who had been mute was able to speak. There were at least two kinds of responses in the crowd that day. Some of the people watched the miracle and marveled at the power of Jesus. They saw the man who had been set free from the bondage of evil and rejoiced at what God's Son had done.

Some of the people, however, saw the man who had been set free from the bondage of evil. They recognized the presence of the evil spirit, recognized the man's bondage, and recognized that Jesus had set Him free. Seeing all that, they missed the truth of the situation. They looked at the facts, assimilated them, and came up with the wrong interpretation. "He casts out demons by the devil instead of by God." It's a little like taking 2+2 and calling it 5. 

We will look tomorrow at Jesus' response to the naysayers. For today, let's consider the two responses to Christ. Some of the people saw His work of power and knew it was from God. They immediately believed what they saw and heard. Others saw the same work of power and immediately rejected what they saw and heard. What is unexpected about those who rejected the truth is that some of those rejecters were "church people", just like me. 

Jesus had taught about prayer, then invited His disciples to ask for the Holy Spirit. He gave a demonstration of what He had taught by performing a miracle. The "church people" (Pharisees, Levites, etc) were not accustomed to such demonstrations of power. The "church people" of Jesus' day were accustomed to their ritual and routine, just as we have become to our hour-long service before lunch on Sunday. It happens every week exactly like the week before. We don't have surprises. Nothing unusual or unexpected happens. 

When the unexpected occurred, the "church people" rejected it at once. "This is not how we do it. This can't be God. It must be wrong." The problem with their response was that it was God. It was right. It was how our Lord intended it to be done, and the way they had been "doing church" was not what God had intended. 

That's the problem with some of our service routines, as well. The "plan" is for the Holy Spirit to be present whenever two or more believers are together. The "plan" is for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself when He is present. We've just spent quite a few days looking at the manifestations of the Holy Spirit (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues).  If we expect the Spirit to be present in our services, we should also expect to see some of those manifestations in our services. (At the very least we should have a word of wisdom or knowledge from our minister that is clearly Holy Spirit breathed.) Do we? If not why not?

For today, let's spend some time considering our expectations of Christ and of the manifestation of the Spirit in our worship services. Have we become content with the routine of ritual or do we expect the Spirit to move according to Scripture? If not, why not? The most important expectation we should have is the same one Jesus has for us, so let's be sure that we allow the Spirit to move in whatever way He desires. When the Spirit is unbound instead of unplugged, He will draw believers and unbelievers alike to Himself. 

Teach us to pray, part 66: Speaking in Tongues

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.  1 Corinthians 12:7- 10 NASB 

We are nearing the end of the manifestations of the Spirit. Today, we come to the manifestation described as "various kind of tongues". As we have discussed previously, there is one school of thought that says we are living in an age of "completed Scripture", by which they mean that all the miracles and manifestations have been done, including speaking in tongues. From my own experience, I know that is not true. Enough said. 

Jesus was the first one to mention speaking in tongues, just before He ascended back into Heaven. Mark 16:17 says "And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

 The first manifestation of speaking in tongues was described in Acts on the day of Pentecost. At that time, a mighty rushing wind blew through the house in Jerusalem where the disciples were meeting for prayer, tongues of fire rested over their heads, and they began to speak in languages they did not know.  Jerusalem was filled with people from abroad and they understood the words that were spoken in their own languages. The manifestation that was so surprising served to deliver the gospel in such a way that everyone present could hear it in their own language.

Scripture relates numerous stories of new believers speaking in tongues after receiving the Holy Spirit, and there are some faith traditions/denominations that expect all new believers to speak in tongues. This is, in some ways, a dramatic manifestation of the Spirit, and may have been used at times as a tangible demonstration of the Spirit in the life of a believer, although I do not see instructions for that in Scripture.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 14:1-19 speaks in detail about speaking in tongues. When someone speaks in tongues, he said, they are speaking to God. If a listener cannot understand what is said, it doesn't benefit them. In fact, it seems as if the tongue-speaker is a barbarian because their words are unintelligible. If you want a manifestation of the Spirit, he said, ask for prophecy, rather than tongues, because it can benefit the entire body of believers. If you choose to speak in tongues with others present, you need to be able to interpret what is said for the benefit of those who hear. (or an interpreter needs to be present). 

With all that said, the question remains. Does speaking in tongues still exist? Yes. I think it does, although, like many other things, not everything presented as speaking in tongues really is. There is a temptation to "fake it" but "fake" tongues is not from God. 

Several years ago, I attended a Bible study with a group of ladies from various churches in town. One day, we were praying for one of the ladies, who was seated in a chair in front of the group. A second lady stood up, rested her hand gently on the first lady's shoulder, and began to pray in tongues. It was beautiful, and sounded to me like Hebrew. (I was familiar with spoken Hebrew so that is not as unusual as it sounds). The surprising thing is not that it sounded like Hebrew, but that I could hear it in English in my head. The depth of praise to God was breathtaking and I wanted to repeat it aloud. It was such a new experience for me that I did not. (Interpretation of tongues is not my gift, however.)  

Speaking in tongues is a genuine manifestation of the Spirit. It is a kind of prayer that is Spirit-driven and is understandable by God Himself. There are people who have been given the manifestation of interpreting the tongues spoken. Tongues should not be used in a church service unless there is an interpreter present. It is one of the more dramatic manifestations of the Spirit, but it is not the most desirable manifestation. 

All manifestations of the Spirit are to bring honor and praise to our Heavenly Father. Tongues, as well as all the other manifestations, can (and does) bring beautiful praise and honor to our Father. There is a role for tongues, but our desire should be to make our communications so clear that the truth of our Lord is understandable to all around us. 

however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:19 NASB)

As we consider this manifestation of the Spirit, let us pray that all our communications would point to our Lord, and that every word we speak would be so clear that all who hear are drawn to Christ by the clarity of our message.