By Jon Courson –
I’ll never forget a meeting I attended at the Lake Arrowhead Hilton in California where about 100 believers had gathered together for a time of waiting upon the Lord.
Since hotel rules dictated that the bar remain open whenever the conference room was in use, the bartender stood in the back of the room polishing glasses while we studied, worshiped, and prayed.
Toward the end of the meeting a fellow stood up and gave a beautiful utterance in tongues. Because there was no interpretation, the brother overseeing the meeting wisely said, “We thank the Lord for that utterance, but since there is not interpretation flowing here tonight, that will be our only public utterance of tongues.”
When the meeting concluded, the bartender approached us, and with tears running down his cheeks, said:
“I must talk to that man who stood up and prayed. How does he know my tongue? I’m Iranian, and he worshiped the True and Living God in perfect Farsi.”
Needless to say, the bartender got saved that night.
If you want to know more about a personal relationship with God, go here
To access more of Jon’s Bible teachings, click here
Taken from Jon Courson’s Application Commentary by Jon Courson Copyright © 2003 by Jon Courson. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com
I question the wisdom of the brother overseeing the meeting who said “We thank the Lord for that utterance, but since there is not interpretation flowing here tonight, that will be our only public utterance of tongues.” Too bad there was no one else among the other HUNDRED believers to confirm or challenge that. 1 Corinthians 12:19. He may have spoken ill-advisedly and too soon. I hope he didn’t quench the Spirit. There was an interpretation given, not immediately but later, from Farsi into English, not by the church but by the man whom the word was intended for! At least the overseer didn’t prevent the first utterance which resulted in the man’s conversion. But who was he to say “that will be our only public utterance of tongues” and in effect forbid speaking in tongues when two or three utterances are permitted according to Paul? 1 Corinthians 14:27. Interpretation may have followed then. We live by every word of God and there must be a balanced understanding of all the various facets presented in 1 Corinthians 14 which I encourage you to read.
Comments are closed.