Senior pastor of Awaiting The Second Coming Of Christ Ministry, Adewale Giwa has advised Christians to stop speaking in tongues without an interpreter.
Giwa, who stated this while addressing his members on Sunday, said there was nowhere in the Scripture does it say that Christians should speak in tongues without interpretation.
The pastor, who quoted 1 Chorinthians 14:27-28 to support his argument, said,” It is important to advise our brothers and sisters in the Lord to stop speaking in tongues without interpreting what they speak.
“The Scripture is clear about this in 1 Chorinthians 14:27-28. The Holy Spirit gives some believers the spiritual gift of tongues to glorify God with the help of an interpreter, to edify the church. This gift is dealt with extensively in the Scriptures and its use should be encouraged.
“However, it is commonly understood that some belivers speak in tongues without interpretation, and this can be referred to as ‘Semantic noise’.
“The intention of the spiritual gift of tongues is to glorify God, and also to prepare ourselves as His church to glorify Him forever in heaven.
“The gift however is only partial, that is , it is not given to all believers, and in the context of the church requires an interpreter in order to be edified.
“The gift of interpretation of tongues is found alongside the gift of speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 12:10.
“This is a revelatory gift, meaning that God “reveals” the meaning of the words or message being spoken and allows the interpreter to communicate its meaning to those who need to hear it.
“When this happens in the church, two things happen: the church is edified and God is glorified. How do you feel when someone speaks a language you do not understand? Definitely, you might feel insecure, and that is how people see those who speak in tongues without interpretation.
“Also, When it is used in the church, no more than two or three are to speak in tongues, and should be translated, otherwise, no one should speak in tongues. If there is no translator present, or no one with the gift of interpretation, there must be no tongues.
“This implies that anyone speaking in tongues should find out first if there is someone present who can translate, before the gift is exercised. If this control were put into practice in present day manifestations of tongues, it would quickly eliminate the false from the true.
“We could see today how so many Christians have embarked on false tongues in order to deceive the church. I am urging those involved to desist from the act because God can never be mocked.”
