The Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Scripture - Lesson VII

WordGifts - Part II
Tongues, Interpretation of tongues, Prophecy

Suggested answers.
Be sure to answer the questions yourself first!
Then compare your answers to those listed here.

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Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues

1. When did people in the New Testament seem to begin to speak or pray in tongues?
When there was a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit (e.g. at Pentecost, Cornelius" house).

2. What is the difference between "speaking in tongues", "praying in tongues", and "praying in the Spirit"?
"speaking in tongues" - is generally a message for a group of Christians and needs an interpretation
"praying in tongues" - individual prayer to God or praise (though individual, may be done in a group)
"praying in the Spirit" - prayer directed by the Holy Spirit either in tongues or one's own language

3. What are the purposes of praying in tongues?
praying in the will of God
praise beyond our own language
unity in a group when praying together

4. Why would one want to speak or pray in tongues?
It's a gift from God and God's gifts are always good
To be able to go beyond what we can do with our minds
To benefit the Church

5. What is a barrier which you may have to speaking or praying in tongues?
Will vary by individual - for some it may be ignorance - not knowing that it's still a gift for today or how to be open to it; for some not being used to vocal praise, which may open us to tongues; etc.

6. What opportunities do we have for speaking or praying in tongues?
speaking in tongues - we may not have an opportunity unless we're involved in a prayer group or other setting where it is expected
praying in tongues - we can do this any time in our private prayer

7. Under what circumstances would interpretation of tongues be needed?
When the tongues are a message to an assembly of Christians

Prophecy Part I

8. What is prophecy?
Speaking a word from the Lord through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; speaking "the now word from God".
(It is sometimes identified with foretelling the future, but much prophecy, even in the Old Testament, was not a foretelling. Someone said that it's a "forthtelling" instead.)

9. What are the purposes of prophecy?
Build up the Church
encourage and console
warn people of consequences
call to repentance
tell what will happen
tell us what we need to do
enlighten us as to the meaning of the Word
(a saying is that the role of a prophet is "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable")

10. What is the difference between exercising the gift of prophecy and being a prophet?
The gift can be exercised by anyone when given by the Holy Spirit, who "gives to each one as He determines" (1Cor 12:11).
Being a prophet implies a ministry of prophecy - regular use of the gift.

11. In what sense was John the Baptist the last prophet? Does that mean that there are no longer any prophets?
He was the last in the Old Testament line - prophesying the coming of Jesus.
No - see e.g. Ac 13:1

12. "The people needed education in faith and conversion of heart; this was the mission of the prophets, both before and after the Exile." (C 1581) Is this still a need today? How could prophecy help fill that need?
Yes
Assurance of God's reality & love; call to repentance (& see purposes above)

Prophecy Part II

13. Can we all have the gift of prophecy? What might keep us from exercising the gift of prophecy?
Yes
fear, timidity, embarrassment, sin, lack of an encouraging setting

 14. Give an example of a modern day prophecy by action.
This may not be easy to come up with by most of us or may cause some disagreement as to whether a particular action is prophetic.

15. How can we identify false prophets?
From the message itself
if it contradicts scripture
if it leads away from Jesus
if it reinforces wrongdoing
it is almost certain from a false prophet
Other aspects
does the prophecy being given benefit the Church?
does our spirit witness to its validity?
is the life of the person giving the prophecy in line with Christian values?
If the answer to any of these is no, it raises doubt about the validity of the prophecy

It may be helpful to distinguish between false prophets and cases where messages given as prophecy are actually not from the Lord. In the latter case, a pious person may be saying things that sound mostly OK, but coming from their own feelings rather than direct inspiration. Sometimes the person giving a prophecy will continue speaking beyond the words provided by the Spirit. In these cases it is up to the hearers (particularly leaders of the group in which it occurs) to discern what is actually from the Lord.

16. If we are receiving what we think is a prophecy, how can we tell if it is really from the Spirit?
See that it is in accordance with Scripture
Pray and ask the Lord for confirmation
See if there is a sense of peace with the words (in spite of any tenseness, etc. one feels)
Is there conviction from the Holy Spirit and a sense of urgency for the words to come out? (even so it may be necessary to wait for an appropriate time)

 17. How can we be open to the gift of prophecy?
Realize that God can work through imperfect us
desire the gift
pray for the gift
vocally praise God – this often opens us more to the action of the Spirit
be with people who encourage openness to the gift

18. In what settings could the gift of prophecy be exercised?
In prayer meetings where it is expected
In other group worship settings – if the group is open to it
some have found it in private prayer and praise

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