Speaking in tongues…is it for today?

I have read so much about this subject and…I am sick and tired of reading people’s opinions. I simply took the Bible to check it for myself.

Of course, I wouldn’t have, I always thought that the speaking in tongues as the gift of the Holly Spirit was for those first Christians and that’s all there is to it.

However, another aspect opened my eyes; I read in Marcus 16:17 the following:

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Well…I have been a Christian for all my life and while reading this I said to myself, well, if Jesus said so, it must be true! Yet, I don’t have any of the signs mentioned above! ( of course I didn’t drink poison or deliberately be willing to have snakes bite me! No, I won’t deliberately do that!)

While meditating on this, another verse crossed my mind that in the latter days people will "have a form of godliness, but deny its power" 2 Timothy 3:5
I said to myself…maybe this is my case! Maybe I am denying the very power of God although I say in my mind that I believe God has all the power.

To make the long story short, I prayed and said:" Jesus, am I not a believer? I do believe in you but there is no sign like that in me! If this is so, please give me one of the signs you mentioned above"

Of course, I started studying 1 Corinthians 14 and found that there is more to the gift of tongues then what happened in Acts 2 in the day of Pentecost.

I extracted here the verses that talk about tongues in the passage mentioned above:

2. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

4. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

5. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

13. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.

15. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

16. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say "Amen" to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?

17. For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

18. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

27. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

33. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

I prayed and God gave this to me, yes when I pray words in another tongue come in my mind. I was very circumspect at first thinking:" How do I know this is from Jesus as I don’t understand what I am saying!"

I struggled to find how to make the clear distinction between the Holly Spirit and other spirits that are not from God.
Here is what I found:

"You know how, when you were pagans, you were constantly attracted and led away to mute idols. Therefore, I tell you that nobody speaking by the spirit of God says, "Jesus be accursed." And no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the holy Spirit. (1Corinthians 12:3)

Also Jesus Himself teaches us how to recognize a false prophet:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.

By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

So by their fruits you will know them." (Mathew 7:15-20)

Obviously, the fruit of the Holly Spirit has to be present in our lives plus recognizing that Jesus is the Son of God and He rose from the dead (not just His Spirit but His body too!).

What I can tell is that now I pray for translation and I see my faith in Jesus built and reinforced ,stronger then ever before plus the fruit of the Holly Spirit in my life.

So, because it happened to me (I come from a context where the gifts of the Holly Spirit are thought to have stopped nowadays), I can’t deny it. It is true, it happens today.

Seams like God has not changed, He is the same today as He was on those first days of Christianity…maybe it is us who have changed.