Are
tongues for today? This is a very controversial subject but there is
a DEFINITE right and wrong way to understanding tongues in the Bible.
There is a right answer to the question at hand… are tongues for
today?
Before
we get into answering the question, let us look at some some definitions:
Harpers
Bible Dictionary states:
“tongues, speaking with, ‘glossolalia,’ the act of
speaking in a language either unknown to the speaker or incomprehensible”
http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/tongues.htm
On
this site:
http://www.jax-inter.net/~dajohn/Tongues.html
Tongues when applied as a gift of the Spirit, is the ability to speak
a foreign language one had never learned before.
http://goldenminutes.org/Bible%20Study/I%20Corinthians/Lesson9_Icor.htm
said:
It was speaking in a foreign language which the speaker had not learned.
http://www.familybiblefellowship.org/doctrine/tongues.htm
says:
Therefore, a better term for this gift than “tongues” is
the gift of languages.
The
Peter Ruckman Commentary on 1 & 2 Cor States divides his definition
into two parts:
“new tongues” – languages that are new to the speaker
which he has never learned before.
“other tongues” – languages not native to the speaker.
With
these definitions along with looking at the examples given scripture
of tongues in action in Acts 2, 10 & 19 we can begin to see a picture
of what tongues really are. We see that, a) people are speaking in a
language that is previously unknown to them (they never learned how
to speak or understand the language), and b) the language that they
speak is understood by someone present.
None
of the examples given to us in the book of Acts took place in a church
setting. In fact the only place where tongues are dealt with in association
with the meeting of the people of God (“Church”) is in 1
Corinthians. It is worthy to note that the way tongues is talked about
in Acts, in contrast to 1 Corinthians, it is difficult to imagine that
Paul is talking about the same “gift of tongues”. As we
study here we will see that the phenominon discussed is indeed a different
thing that what is discussed in Acts.
What
we will do here is seek to answer some of the questions:
How
exactly was the “gift of tongues” exercised in the Bible?
Was tongues a gift that is “on demand” (at our disposal)?
Is the gift of tongues presently at work in the body of Christ?
What was the use of tongues?
What was the purpose of tongues?
As
always, let the Bible, not OPINION, not FEELING, not EXPERIENCE, nor
anything else; be our guide!!!
Background
Let us first get some background. We know that out LORD performed many
miracles and prophesied that his disciples would even “greater
works” than those that he had done.
Mark
16
[15] And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature.
[16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned.
[17] And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
[18] They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.
[19] So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up
into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
[20] And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working
with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
John
14
[12] Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto my Father.
To
all but not for all…
Now it is important to point out here that this is not a blanket statement
Jesus is making here. He is not saying that just because you believe
that you would be able to do all the works that Jesus did. Remember
something and don’t forget it, all the Bible is written for you
but NOT ALL THE BIBLE IS WRITTEN TO YOU. Want proof? Look at James 1:1;
now who is that written to? It is written to the “twelve tribes
which are scattered abroad”. Look at 1 Timothy 1:2, who is that
written to? It is written specifically TO Timothy. How about Ephesians
1:2? Get my point? Now in addition to this, we know that...
2 Timothy 3
[16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Again, all the Bible is written for your learning BUT all the Bible
was not written directly TO YOU. Example: The books of 1st and 2nd Timothy
were written directly to Timothy; however, we use those books for our
learning, for “doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness”. So many false doctrines today are based on
misapplication of the scriptures.
So
now you can see that not all scripture is written TO YOU but all scripture
is FOR YOU. Every statement, promise and prophecy in the Bible is not
a “blanket statement” that can automatically be applied
to you just because you are a Christian! For example (again): Many of
the Old Testament promises that were given to the Jews can NEVER to
applied to the Christian in any way, shape or form. What do these prophecies
tell us then? They serve to help us understand the God that we serve
and understand prophecy. You will understand how this is relevant to
the discussion as we move along.
Disposable
gifts?
Infact there are two points that need to be made, the one just stated
AND the fact that the gifts of God are not at our disposal. We cannot
simply decide at any given time that a gift can be performed at so and
so time. If you have a gift that you just conjure up at any ole’
time or you have a “technique” of conjuring up this gift
then it IS NOT a gift from GOD. The gifts that GOD gives through the
Holy Ghost He distibutes to WHO He wills, HOW He wills and WHEN He wills!!!
This power is not in our hands!
Again,
all this is relevant in building up to the understanding the role of
tongues.
More
Background… SIGNS
In Mark 16 Jesus was telling the apostles that certain signs would follow
those who would be his true disciples (them ofcourse). But what would
be the purpose of these signs? I mean Jesus has already appeared to
hundreds in physical form after His death and resurrection and had performed
many miracles during His life, surely this was enough to satisfy the
mind of even the toughest critic! However, there was a purpose for these
signs (that would follow), look at this verse:
1
Corinthians 1
[21] For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe.
[22] For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
[23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock,
and unto the Greeks foolishness;
Now
the question is, why do Jews seek a sign? Let’s look at John chapter
4.
John
4
[46] So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water
wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.
[47] When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he
went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his
son: for he was at the point of death.
[48] Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will
not believe.
See
Jesus’ statement there, now one has to ask himself, “why
are signs so important to the Jews”? To make the point further…
Matt
12
[38] Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying,
Master, we would see a sign from thee.
John
2
[18] Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou
unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
John
6
[30] They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that
we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Why
were the Jews seeking a sign? Now Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees for
seeking a sign (Matthew 16:1-4) but that is because He had already showed
them so many. They just did not want to believe. This is a good scripture
for all those who say, “if GOD would show me something, I would
believe”. Ninety-nine percent of the people who say that wouldn’t
believe in Jesus if He came down and shook their hand. Want proof? I
just gave it too you, Jesus performed miracles right in front of the
Pharisees and they still would not believe, that is why he rebuked them.
But again, why were the Jews seeking a sign?
Because
their nation was started with signs!!!
Let’s
look at the origin of signs in the Bible, specifically God’s signs
to His people. This will be vitally important to our understanding in
the role that tongues play (verse 5 below will be the key verse).
Exodus 4
[1] And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe
me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not
appeared unto thee.
[2] And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said,
A rod.
[3] And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground,
and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
[4] And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it
by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became
a rod in his hand:
[5] That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto
thee.
[6] And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into
thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out,
behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
[7] And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his
hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold,
it was turned again as his other flesh.
[8] And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither
hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice
of the latter sign.
[9] And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two
signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water
of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou
takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
Summing
up…
Now we have just seen that: a) Jesus did many signs and wonders b) Jesus
prophesied that His Disciples would do many signs and wonders c) Jews
seek and require a sign because d) GOD gave them signs when he established
His first covenant with Israel AND gave signs again with the bringing
in of His second covenant that He established with Israel and with all
mankind.
To
the point…
Now we are going to see that certain “gifts” in the New
Testament church were given for the continual edification of the body
of Christ and some of the gifts were for signs. Were tongues a sign
or a continuing gift in the body of Christ? Look us look to the Bible.
1
Cor 14
[22] Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but
to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that
believe not, but for them which believe.
Tongues
are for a SIGN, to them that believe not… specifically unbelieving
Israel (as we will see below).
Acts
Chapter 2
In Acts 2 when the apostles spoke in tongues, while they were speaking
in languages unknown to them, there were Jews present of almost every
nation that understood them. This was a sign to get their attention
(as were the signs God gave Moses), and it did. Then Peter preached
to them and they got saved. The “gift” of tongues was a
SIGN TO LOST ISRAEL. Again, I will repeat again and again, the sign
of tongues was a sign by God to His people that this was HIM, just in
the same way that He did with Moses, so He did with the apostles.
Infact,
to further make this point, lets look in Acts 2 at the day of Pentecost
and make some observations about what happened there and exactly how
tongues was exercised;
Acts 2
[1] And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with
one accord in one place.
[2] And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
[3] And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and
it sat upon each of them.
[4] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
[5] And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven.
[6] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and
were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own
language.
Now
in verses 1 through 3 we see that the Holy Spirit made a sound and caused
cloven tongues of fire to sit on them. Now the emphasis is that the
Holy Spirit caused this to happen. There was no technique involved.
There was no conjuring (on the part of the Disciples) involved. They
DID NOT have to “practice” their tongues. It came upon then
without their permission, can that be any clearer? There was also a
PURPOSE. Now, this implication has consequenses. This means that anyone
today to claims to speak in tongues but are doing it as he or she wills…
then it is NOT the Holy Ghost. How do I know this? Look again at verse
4!
[4]
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The
Spirit GAVE them utterance. This is very important, AGAIN, the Disciples
had NO choice in the matter when it came to when and how this came about.
I cannot stress this enough, if you “practice” tongues or
your speak it tongues at YOUR leisure, then that is NOT Biblical tongues!
I am sorry, it just does not line up with the evidence. Also, there
was a POINT to what the Disciples were doing. Is there a point to the
incoherent babbling going on in today’s congregations? NO.
Now
in verse 5 we see that there were, JEWS, out of every nation and each
of them heard one of the apostles speak in their language! So we see
here the purpose! This sign of tongues was to get their attention! We
also can make an observation, they understood the language!
(Peter Ruckman’s commentary on 1 and 2 Corithians also has a good
comment about this).
Then
we conclude this observation in verse 6:
[6] Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and
were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own
language.
We see that it got many peoples attention and when it was “noised
abroad, the multitude came together”. Just like in Moses day,
God was giving a sign to His people (the Jewish nation) that He was
bringing in the New Covenant. Let’s continue with this thought:
[7] And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold,
are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
[8] And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
They were “amazed and marvelled” and Jews from many nations
heard them speak in their native languages. God was displaying this
sign to His people, AGAIN, to get their attention just like He did in
Moses’ day! Another amazing thing to be noted about this: just
look at the nationalities mentioned in verses 9 through 11. I have two
study Bibles (the Baptist Study Bible and the Zondervan KJV Study Bible)
that include maps showing all the areas where these Jews came from.
They show that these Jews came from ALL OVER the Roman Empire (North,
East, South and West). So now, God’s message of the New Convenant
would be spread over the entire Roman empire, starting at Jerusalem.
Yet God had to get all these Jews’ attention, and He did it with
the SIGN of tongues.
(***Now
this is the gift of tongues being exercised. We see nothing about the
apostles having control of the gift or yielding it their at will and
we see that the words spoken were understandable. This was not some
mystical heavenly language. Again, when you read 1 Corinthians 14 and
compare it with Acts 2, it would seem that Paul is talking about two
completely different things. Infact he is; as we will see, Acts 2 is
the display of TRUE tongues and in 1 Cor Paul is rebuking the false
gift of tongues (a.k.a. ecstatic speech or the so-called heavenly prayer
language). Paul was rebuking an occult practice that had seeped into
the church in 1 Corinthians 14, that is why the accounts can seem so
different.)
Continuing
in chapter 2, I want to make a few more observations. In verses 14 through
39 Peter preaches a sermon to all those whose attention has been grabbed
by this event. Lets now look at verses 41 to 43:
[41] Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the
same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
[42] And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
[43] And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were
done by the apostles.
What can we notice here? Well, there are those who believe that EVERY
Christian is supposed to speak in tongues, that is NOT TRUE (Corinthians
12:11, Hebrews 2:4). The verse said the new converts “continued
stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers”. It DID NOT say that, upon receiving
the Holy Spirit ,they all then began to speak with tongues or perform
miracles. Verse 43 goes on the say that “and many wonders and
signs were done by” who? THE APOSTLES! Again, the verse DID NOT
say that ALL the people began to speak with tongues and do wonders.
The was the Apostles “bag” (so to say) and the new Christians
“continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers”, just like the verse
said.
Now
I want again to bring up this point. Along with the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit came many gifts. Reading chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians we
see that not all believers have the same gift AND by studying this issue
carefully we understand that some of the gifts were signs to Israel
and some of the gifts continue today. Those are for “For the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ”, Ephesians 4:12.
So
what am I saying? Am I inferring that the Apostles had gifts from Holy
Spirit that were temporary and for a singular purpose? ABSOLUTLEY. Don’t
believe it? Look at the evidence. After Moses performed the SIGNS that
God commanded him to and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, did
Moses continue to have those abilities at his disposal at any time?
The Bible speaks of NO such thing. The people of Moses generation were
reminded to make sure they told their children about how God brought
them out of the land of Egypt. God did not send another wave of “signs
and wonders” to every disobeidient generation after that time.
Why? It was the previous generations RESPONSIBILTY to tell and pass
on to their children what God had done and His marvellous works. And
as it was with first covenant, so it is with the second. There were
certain gifts that were given at the beginning of this age that were
for signs in order for God to show that it was His hand at work. Just
like the signs given to Moses’ were not at Moses’ disposal,
the signs God chose to bring in the New Testament were not at the Apostles
disposal and they are not at ours!!!
SIDE
NOTE!!! Check this out!!!
Want more proof that some of the gifts were signs given to the Jews
for a temporary time? Check out these two verses!
Acts 19
[11] And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
[12] So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs
or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits
went out of them.
NOW
2 Timothy 4
[20] Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum
sick.
Is the Bible saying that Paul could heal and then he couldn’t?
YES. Read the verses again. Also, to shed some more light upon this.
Acts chapter 19 occurred during paul’s third missionary journey
which was from AD 52 to 56. The book of 2 Timothy was written somewhere
between AD 65-67. So in Acts Paul has the gift of healing and then about
9 to 11 years later all of a sudden he leaves Trophimus in Miletum sick.
Why didn’t he just heal him? If, that is, the gift was at his
every beckoned call? Because the GIFT OF HEALING (not Divine Healing,
the gift of…) was a SIGN to the JEWS (just like tongues) that
HAS PASSED. Need further proof?
1 Timothy 5
[23] Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's
sake and thine often infirmities.
Why did Paul say that, why didn’t he just “heal” him
at his own leisure? BECAUSE THESE GIFTS ARE NOT AT OUR DISPOSAL (1 Corinthians
12:11, Hebrews 2:4). Also, 1 Timothy was believed to be written in AD
64, about 8 years after Acts 19.
BACK TO THE MAIN STUDY…
Acts
Chapter 10
Let us now move on and quickly cover the other two instances of the
gift of tongues in the book of Acts. Our next example leads us into
Acts chapter 10. Now I will not spend as much time in these next examples
but I will give plenty of scripture so that you (the reader) any study
for YOURSELF. Don’t take my word for, LOOK IT UP.
Acts 10
[44] While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word.
[45] And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as
many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured
out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
[46] For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered
Peter,
[47] Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Now in chapter 10 God gives two people a vision. He intends for them
to get together, for a PURPOSE. Peter is sought out by a Gentile named
Cornelius who himself had been instructed by God to seek out Peter in
a vision. While Peter was receving a visoin, Cornelius arrives at his
house. Peter then understands what GOD was telling him in his vision,
that God intended salvation for Gentiles too, and (verse 44) while Peter
was speaking the Holy Ghost fell on the Gentile visitors. Next we see
verse 46 that the Gentiles spoke with tongues and Peter heard them magnify
God. Now how did Peter understand them magnify God? Because they were
speaking a language known to Peter but unknown to themselves. Peter
had to be able to understand WHAT they were saying in order to know
that they were magnifying God.
Acts
Chapter 19
[1] And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having
passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain
disciples,
[2] He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be
any Holy Ghost.
[3] And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they
said, Unto John's baptism.
[4] Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance,
saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should
come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
[5] When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus.
[6] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came
on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
Now
lets just wrap these Acts scriptires up with a comment from Peter Ruckamn’s
commentary of 1 & 2 Corinthians:
“In Acts 2, the apostles speak in tongies to convince a bunch
of unbeliveing Jews that they had crucified their Messiah. In Acts 10,
a group of saved Jews hears a family of newly saved Gnetiles speak in
tongues so that they will believe that God has given His Holy Spirit
to the Gentiles –without baptism. In Acts 19, there are some disciples
of John who had not yet believed on Christ and had never heard about
the Holy Ghost. Upon receiving Christ and being baptized, they spoke
in tongues to show them that Christ had indeed given them the Holy Ghost.
So tongues are a sign to Israel no matter where you find them. They
are given to make believers out of them.”
That
is basically the sum total of every thing I have said to this point.
An
Observation…
Now I want to make an observation before that I have never noticed until
I began to study this in detail. Now up to this point in the audio version
of the study I had refered to the manifestation of tongues as a “gift”;
however, NO WHERE in scripture are tongues specifically refered to as
a gift. Look it up. Let you show you what I mean.
1 COR 12
[9] To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit;
[10] To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another
the interpretation of tongues:
[28]
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues.
[30]
Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
If you are paying attention then you can hear that Paul refers to the
“gifts of healing” in all three of these portions of scripture.
Why doesn’t he call tongues a gift? For example, read verse 30
again. Now why didn’t Paul say in verse 30, “Have all the
gifts of healing, tongues and interpretation?” He did specifically
titles the GIFTS of healing and then he seperately asks, “do all
speak with tongues”? Now go back and read verse 7 of this same
chapter:
[7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal.
He says the word “manifestation” and then in the next verses
he goes on to describe different manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
In my looking at all the scriptures in the New Testament I found many
things that were called gifts: the Holy Ghost, eternal life, healing
and prophecy BUT never once was tongues specifically referred to as
a “gift”. I think that (maybe being a little picky) tongues
were a manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a sign to unbelieving Israel
that God was bringing the New and better Covenant.
1
Corithians 14
Now, let’s look at a few verses in 1 Coirithian Chapter 14 and
remember that when speaking about “tongues” we are simply
talking about LANGUAGES, nothing more! The word “tongues”
was just another way of saying, “languages”.
[1] Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that
ye may prophesy.
[2] For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men,
but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he
speaketh mysteries.
Now a lot of people think that this verse is speaking of a “heavenly
language” that only God can understand. That indeed is a hyper-spiritual
way of understanding this verse (especially in context of all the Acts
scriptures depicting the true manifestation of “tongues”).
In every resource I have read on interpreting Bible verses they all
concur that the MOST LITERAL is always the first interpretation. This
verse most plainly means that if someone in the congregation speaks
in an unknown LANGUAGE; that is unknown to the other human beings in
the church, the only person that will be able to understand him would
be God. Notice the word “spirit” with a little “s”,
for the spirit of a man. And if a man speaks in an unknown or foreign
language, it is a mystery to all those who are listening because they
cannot understand what is being said.
[3] But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation,
and comfort.
[4] He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that
prophesieth edifieth the church.
What is Paul saying? He is saying that the one who “prophesies”,
preaches or teaches under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, edifies,
exhorts and comforts the listeners. However, if someone stands up and
speaks or tries to do the same in a foreign LANGUAGE the only person
that will get anything out of his teaching is him, that is all that
means!
[5] I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied:
for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues,
except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
What is Paul saying here? He is essentially saying that, “I wish
all of you could speak in other languages, but I would rather that you
preached and teached in a language that is known to the hearers”.
Also, the ONLY way that speaking in a foreign language will benefit
anybody is if someone there can interpret what is being said for the
rest of the congregation.
[6] Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall
I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by
knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?
If you remember that the word “tongues” here simply refers
to “other languages” (almost every study Bible I have confirms
this) then this verse should be self explanatory.
[7] And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp,
except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known
what is piped or harped?
[8] For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself
to the battle?
[9] So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood,
how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
These verses should be self-explanatory as well. Verse 9 is very interesting,
he DOES NOT say that if you speak unknown words that it qualified as
some private prayer language or anything of the like. In fact, NO WHERE
is scripture can any evidence of any such phenonom. If you speak words
into that no one can understand, even you, then you are SPEAKING INTO
THE AIR.
[10] There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and
none of them is without signification.
[11] Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto
him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian
unto me.
[12] Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek
that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
The Corithian believers evidently were not seeking after spiritual gifts
in order edify one another, they were seeking the gifts that exalted
self, that made them look super spiritual or superior. This should be
obvious by reading chapters 12 through 14. These chapters are not some
endorsement of a private prayer language or incoherent babbling BUT
a sharp rebuke for seeking to use the gifts of God for their own glory.
[13] Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that
he may interpret.
[14] For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding
is unfruitful.
Verses 13 and 14 go together. A problem arises when one tries to interpret
14 without the context of 13. He is saying the person who seeks to speak
in a foreign language should pray that he can be understood because
if he prays (for example) in an unknown or foreign language, in his
spirit (little “s”, the spirit of man inside him) indeed
prays BUT, (as he says in the verse), “my understanding is unfruitful”.
In other words, to the people around him, what he says cannot edify
them or bear any fruit for them because they can’t understand
(see verse 16 & 17 for clarification). (Peter Ruckman’s commentary
on 1 and 2 Corithians also has a good comment about this).
[15] What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with
the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing
with the understanding also.
Paul said he would do whatever he did with the UNDERSTANDING. It will
be in an understandable human tongue or language.
[16] Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth
the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he
understandeth not what thou sayest?
[17] For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
OK, cool, you gave thanks or prophesied or gave a testimony in a language
that no one in the room can understand, so what good did it do? If nobody
was edified, what was the point? Now where does that put the so called
heavenly prayer language? Where does that put ecstatic speech (a.k.a.
incoherent babbling)?
[18] I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
Paul thanked God that he spoke OTHER LANGUAGES more than all of them.
There are plenty of examles in Acts that verify this.
[19] Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding,
that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words
in an unknown tongue.
Paul again drives home the POINT, when you speak, speak in a KNOWN language.
Not one that is just known to you, but the HEARERS.
[20] Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be
ye children, but in understanding be men.
[21] In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips
will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear
me, saith the Lord.
This is a rebuke from Isaiah 28:11-12.
[22] Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but
to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that
believe not, but for them which believe.
Again, tongues are for a what? A SIGN. To who? “Them that believe
not”. Go back and look at Acts 2, it was the sign to the unbelieving
Jews!
[23] If therefore the whole church be come together into one place,
and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned,
or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
[24] But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not,
or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
[25] And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling
down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you
of a truth.
[26] How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, everyone of you
hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath
an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
Paul is being sarcastic here. He is rebuking them because they just
want to show off and promote themselves. He says to quit trying to exalt
yourself and try to exalt your brothers instead (1 Corinthians 12:31).
[27] If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at
the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
Now he lays down the rules for those who have something to say but do
not speak a langaugae that would be universalluy understood by the congregation.
Let them do it ONE AT A TIME! Now where does this leave those church
services where dozens of people are all speaking at the SAME TIME in
the so-called “gift of tongues”? Well, it should be obvious
at this point, that is NOT the true manifestation of tongues! Even if
it was, all of them BUT ONE would be out of order and that still would
not be the Holy Spirit leading them. Anyway you slice it, what is passing
off today as “tongues” is clearly NOT THAT AT ALL.
[28] But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church;
and let him speak to himself, and to God.
If no one there speaks his language, he still can pray, but he should
pray quietly and to himself. Why? Read verse 23 and then 33, you’ll
get it!
[29] Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
[30] If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first
hold his peace.
[31] For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all
may be comforted.
[32] And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
No one prophet has the corner on the market. No one prohpet can make
a statement that is above the scrutiny of the body of believers. If
it is judged that what was said does not line up with the Word of God
then it doesn’t matter what spirit you got it from, it was not
the HOLY Spirit.
The rest of the chapter…
[33] For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all
churches of the saints.
[34] Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted
unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as
also saith the law.
[35] And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at
home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
[36] What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
[37] If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord.
[38] But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
[39] Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak
with tongues.
[40] Let all things be done decently and in order.
So
why did Paul need to write 1 Corithians 12-14? Every commentary I have
read said the SAME THING. Paul was REBUKING the Corinthians for seeking
to edify and exalt themselves, not one another, like the Bible tells
us too. In fact the book of Corinthians is one rebuke after another
for one sin after another.
IN
CONCLUSION…
Now when I look at exactly how tongues were exercised in the book of
Acts (all 3 examples) and then I look at 1 Corinthians 14 (as mentioned
before), I have to wonder why Paul would need to lay down all these
“guide lines”? I mean in every occurrence there was a purpose.
In every case there was someone present, who DID NOT have a “gift
of interpretation”, who understood what was being said. As I said
before it seems that Paul is talking about a whole different issue….
That is because he is! As mentioned earlier he is laying down these
“guide lines” in order to weed out and rebuke an occult
practice that had seeped into the church. It is called “ecstatic
speech” or the personal “heavenly prayer language”,
et al. The devil tries to repackage the thing and give it different
titles but it all the same thing; a demonic, devil inspired practice
that has been around for thousands of years. I am talking about when
you see someone get up in front of the congregation or even in their
seat privately start spouting off syllables, like RON DO SHON DA TON
DO LAMA CON TACO, BURRITO, etc, that this is NOT true Biblical tongues
but is the age old occult practice of ecstatic speech. “Ecstatic”
coming from the word, “ecstacy”. The occult practice of
repitition of a word, group of words or an act in order to put one in
a euphoric “altered state of conscienceness” (ASC) is older
than the hills. This ASC is a self hypnotic type of trance that gives
people the warm and gushy feeling on the inside that makes them think
that this FLESH BUZZ is a move of the Holy Spirit when in fact it is
not. So how can I say that the modern “gift of tongues”
is simply an age old occult practice and not the true gift?
FIRST
– Look again at the examples in Acts. Put your faith in the WORD,
NOT YOUR EXPERIENCE or FEELING.
? The tongues in Acts were ALWAYS understood by some one present.
? They were iniated by the Holy Spirit according to His timing, not
the tongues speaker.
? They were not “practiced” as are most of the so-called
tongues experiences today.
? They were not “learned” at any point. The Holy Spirit
said simply that now is the time and it happened.
? The apostles NEVER at anytime disengaged their minds or went into
trances, etc as many so-called tongues teachers today will teach you
to do. Remember, the fruit of the spirit is TEMPORANCE or SELF CONTROL.
If you are or have been involved in any type of so called gift or fruit
of the Holy Ghost that caused you to lose control of any faculty then
it was NOT the Holy Ghost. This includes, being “slain in the
spirit”, trances, automatic writing, the phenomonin of “Holy
Ghost glue” or “Holy Ghost laughter”, in each of the
cases the person LOSES CONTROL.
? Tongues was never a universal evidence of salvation.
? It was never a gift that was elevated of above others as it is today.
Examples
of the Pagan Practice…
On http://www.familybiblefellowship.org/doctrine/tongues.htm you will
see a list of the pagan religions that have this practice of ecstatic
speech, what many Christians are passing off as the “gift of tongues”.
From that page, here are some examples:
a. Plato reports incidents of ecstatic speech among the “Bacchic
maidens of the Dionysian cult.” (I read another source about this…..)
b. Virgil, in the Aneid, described the “Sibylline priestess on
the isle of Delos.” Spoke in tongues when she became united in
spirit with the god Apollo.
c. Montanus, 2nd c. A.D., and his followers - he declared himself to
be the Holy Spirit. The church condemned him as an heretic.
d. Pagan priesthood at ancient Delphi.
e. Sevenal Priests, 1685 in France, insurrectionists
f. Jasonists, 1730 former Catholic priests, but against the Reformers
g. Shakers, 1750, followers of Mother Ann Lee who claimed to be God;
encouraged her disciples to speak in tongues while dancing naked
h. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, and many Mormons today
i. Hindu, Moslem, Shinto, & Buddhist followers
j. Pagan Baal worship, engaged in ecstasy, including human sacrifice
(1 Kings 19)
k. Encyclopedia Britannica reports demon possessed East Africans speaking
in ecstatic tongues.
l. MacArthur reports that ecstatic speech has been found among the Eskimos
and among Tibetan monks.
m. UVA medical school reported instances of ecstatic speech among those
practicing the occult.
n. Dr. E. Mansell Pattison, psychologist, says that ecstatic tongues
occurs in cases where neurological damage has been done, or from brain
disorders.
He also notes that schizophrenics sometimes engage in ecstatic speech.
o. H.J. Stolee reports on tongues in Islam. “The dervishes of
Persia constantly utter the name of Allah, accompanied by violent shaking
of the body and trances which issue in foaming at the mouth.”
p. New Age music in the late 1990's is filled with ecstatic speech stemming
from “chants,” “trances,” and “meditative
states” (as noted on the back of the CD covers).
Now you might say that, “well these are just the devils imatations
of the real thing”. Well, that is not necessarily true. Why? As
Brother Dave Hunt said, the practice of divination was forbidden in
Duet, if EVERYTHING the devil does is an imitation, then what is the
Christian version? Where is the real crystal ball from God? There are
simply some things that are no good for nothing. This practice of ecstatic
speech was and never has been a gift or manifestation of the Holy Spirit!
If you involved in this I urge you look into what I am telling you and
turn from it. The devil is not imitating the true gift of tongues, he
simlpy has created a practice that is now being imitated by Christians,
so in essence the ecstatic speech in todays churches is really an inmitation
of the devil!!!
This
ecstatic speech, again, gives a euphoric swept away feeling, a felsh
buzz that is beng passed off as the “presence” of the Holy
Ghost. It is in fact a self-induced hypnotic state. I don’t have
time to go into the details of that here but if you write me I provide
you several resources that go into detail about this.
There
is a verse that talks about this type of behavior.
Jude
[17] But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of
the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
[18] How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time,
who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
[19] These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the
Spirit.
Ecstatic speech and practices like it are “sensual”, they
are completely a manifestation of the flesh and have nothing to do with
“conjuring” the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps
you have had an experience with tongues and you now understand that
it was not Biblical. Well, what are you going to do? Are you going to
trust your experience and a good feeling you had over the Word of GOD?
Sadly, so many people throw sound doctrine out the window and trust
experiences today, thinking that just because they had an experience
that it MUST be GOD. Well friend, just because you had an experience
and it just happened to be in church, doesn’t mean it was the
Holy Ghost! It could have been your flesh or a devil.
Please
feel free to write me with any questions pertaining to this study at:
Keepingitsimple31@yahoo.com
Thanks,
“John”.