Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians
14:1-12
1
Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit,
especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to
people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the
Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening,
encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves,
but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you
to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who
prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone
interprets, so that the church may be edified.
6
Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good
will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy
or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds,
such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless
there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a
clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you
speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are
saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all
sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If
then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to
the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since
you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the
church.
--
in his book, A Gentle Thunder, (Word, 1995, pp. 139-140) Max Lucado wrote about
this man who was going on a trip and saw someone carrying a Bible
-- “Are you a believer?” the first
man asked the second -- “Yes,” he said excitedly
-- the first man knew you couldn't be too
careful -- just because you carry a Bible and say you're a believer doesn't
mean it's true -- so he continued to ask probing questions
--
“Virgin birth?” he asked.’ -- “I accept it.”
--
"Deity of Jesus?” -- “No doubt.”
--
“Death of Christ on the cross?” --“Absolutely.”
--
Could it be that he was actually face to face with a Christian? -- Perhaps. --
but, nonetheless, he continued his checklist.
--
“Status of man?” -- “Sinner in need of grace.” -- “Definition of grace?” --
“God doing for man what man cannot do.
--
“Return of Christ?” -- “Imminent.”
--
“Bible?” -- “Inspired.” -- “The Church?” -- “The body of Christ.”
--
the first man started getting excited. -- “Conservative or liberal?” -- his
fellow traveler was getting interested, too. -- “Conservative.” -- his heart
began to beat faster.
--
“Heritage?” -- “Southern Congregationalist Holy Son of God Dispensationalist
Triune Convention.” -- the first man was amazed -- that was his own heritage
--
“Branch?” -- “Pre-millennial, post-trib, noncharismatic, King James, one-cup
communion.” -- the first man's eyes misted as he began to think he had met
another true [believer]
-- he had only one other question.
-- “Is your pulpit wooden or fiberglass?" -- “Fiberglass,” the other man
responded.
--
the first man withdrew his hand, stiffened his neck, and hissed back, “Heretic,”
as he walked off
--
while this story that Lucado shared is a funny interchange, unfortunately, it
is all too real – for in the church, we have a tendency to argue and divide
based on non-essential elements of our faith
--
as we continue in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines and the
spiritual gifts, I wanted us to be aware of this tendency, because the understanding
of spiritual gifts is one of those elements in the church today that has
brought conflict and division – especially, the spiritual gifts of speaking in
tongues and the interpretation of tongues, which we will be talking about this
morning
--
in our local community, we have several denominations that have arisen because
of a difference of understanding about the expression of charismatic spiritual
gifts, primarily healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues
--
some denominations and communities of faith, most notably the Assemblies of
God, the Church of God, and the various Pentecostal branches, all put an
emphasis on speaking in tongues – and while the official doctrines of these
churches note that not all believers speak in tongues, it is a common
understanding in local congregations that believers should speak in tongues and
the lack of that gift may be evidence of a lack of being baptized in the Holy Spirit
--
other churches and denominations disagree, and contend that the gift of tongues
was given during the apostolic period of the church and has passed from
existence – in other words, some churches and denominations teach that no one
is gifted with the ability to speak in tongues in our day and age
--
so, as we approach the topic of speaking in tongues and the interpretation in
tongues this morning, I am going to give you my understanding of what the Bible
says about this topic – in my mind, this is an element of our faith that is
non-essential, meaning that it is okay to have a difference of opinion about
this – I have no problem with you disagreeing with my stance, and I would be
happy to have a discussion about this with you
--
however, I will maintain that speaking in tongues is not required for salvation,
justification, or sanctification – I stand against anyone that says you are not
saved if you don’t speak in tongues -- and that will be the understanding that
we are going to take as we move forward on this subject
II. Scriptural Affirmation of Speaking in Tongues
-- to begin, let’s answer a basic
question – is the gift of speaking in tongues a true spiritual gift given to believers
by the Holy Spirit? – the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes”
-- last week, in our introduction to
the gifts of the Spirit, we read in 1 Corinthians 12:10, that speaking in
different kinds of tongues or languages and the ability to interpret these
tongues are gifts of the Spirit – so, yes, speaking in tongues is a true
spiritual gift – and we see it mentioned in other passages in the Bible
-- the first reference to anyone
speaking in tongues was given to us in the Acts 2:1-4, where we read of the
coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pentecost – let me read those verses
to you right now – Acts 2:1-4
Acts
2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled
the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues
of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit
enabled them.
-- quite clearly, the Bible tells us
in verse 4 that all of the believers there were filled with the Holy Spirit –
they were indwelled with the very presence of God in the person of the Holy
Spirit – and they were empowered to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit
enabled them
-- we also see two other instances
of new believers being gifted with the ability to speak in tongues when they were
filled with the Spirit – in Acts 10:44-46, Peter has been sent to speak to a
group of Gentiles in Caesarea at Cornelius’ house – when they put their faith
in Jesus and were indwelled with the Holy Spirit, they began speaking in
tongues
-- and, finally, in Acts 19:1-6, believers
in Ephesus began to speak in tongues after they received Jesus and were
baptized in His name, being indwelled by the Holy Spirit
-- so, without a doubt, yes – the gift
of speaking in tongues is supported in Scripture
-- now what does it mean to “speak
in tongues?”
–
it’s important to note here that the Greek word translated, “tongues,” both in
the Book of Acts and in 1 Corinthians 12 can also be translated as “languages” –
which tells us that the disciples who were given this gift at Pentecost and the
disciples in Corinth and Ephesus who received this gift were not speaking
unknown words or an unknown language, but were speaking in known languages of
their day
-- this understanding is supported
by the response of the crowd in Acts 2:7-12
Acts
2:7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8
Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians,
Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene;
visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we
hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and
perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
-- on the day of Pentecost, the
disciples were given the ability to speak other languages that they did not previously
know, and the native speakers of those languages heard the words of the
disciples and knew what they were saying
-- however, in the other two passages we looked
at in Acts – Acts 10 and Acts 19 – we are just told that the new believers
spoke in tongues or other languages – there is no further elaboration to tell
us if these were known languages or an unknown tongue
--
which brings us back to our original passage in 1 Corinthians 14 – look back
with me at verse 1
1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly
desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a
tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them;
they utter mysteries by the Spirit.
–
skip down to the second part of verse 9
1 Corinthians 14:9b Unless you speak intelligible
words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just
be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in
the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the
meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the
speaker is a foreigner to me. 12a So it is with you.
--
so, this muddies the water a little in regards to what speaking in tongues
entails – in the Book of Acts, it seems to be clear that those disciples who
spoke in tongues were actually speaking in known languages, even though they
did not have the previous ability to do so
--
but here in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul seems to imply that the believers in Corinth
who were speaking in tongues were speaking in an unknown language, because he
says that they were not speaking to people, but to God – and in verses 9-11, he
talks about speaking unintelligible words and the hearers not being able to
understand the speakers
--
this could be because the believers in Corinth gifted with the ability to speak
in tongues were speaking in another known language, but there was no one in
Corinth who understood that particular language – for instance, if someone
stood up in here and started speaking Hungarian, I doubt that any of us would
understand them, although they are speaking a known language – so, that’s one possible
interpretation
--
alternately, it could be that God had gifted the believers in Corinth with the
ability to speak a language not known on earth – as Paul alluded to in 1
Corinthians 13:1, the tongue or language of angels
--
we just don’t know – Scripture is not clear on this, so let me give you my
thoughts based on my experiences
-- several years ago, we were
invited to attend a service at a Church of God here in Valdosta – we had some
friends who were singers, and the church was going to record a live worship
album, and they invited us to come with them
-- this Church of God was known as a
charismatic church, and members there were supposedly gifted in the more
charismatic and visible spiritual gifts, primarily healing and speaking in
tongues – the gift of prophecy was not a major emphasis in this particular
congregation
-- so, the choir came out and sang a
few songs that were recorded live – and then there was a short break while the
music producers reviewed the tape and then prepared for the rest of the service
-- during this break, the pastor led
the congregation in a time of prayer – he began by praying a public prayer and
then introduced a time of private prayer – and immediately, people throughout
the congregation began standing up, praying in tongues – from my perspective,
it was cacophony – it was noisy chaos – everyone was just praying out loud –
some in English – some in tongues – but there was no order – which I believe is
important
-- if you look down at verse 27
here, you see Paul’s command in regards to order in worship – verse 27
1
Corinthians 14:27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should
speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no
interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself
and to God.
29
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what
is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first
speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may
be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the
control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all
the congregations of the Lord’s people.
-- so, I am a believer that there
should be order in worship – that it should be conducted in a way that is not
chaotic, but purposeful – so, coming from a distinctly non-charismatic
denomination and upbringing, this whole scene of people just praying at the
same time and in different tongues was disconcerting – it was confusing – to
me, it was just chaotic, but everyone there accepted it as normal – which, for
them, it probably was
-- so, I sat there in the midst of
this noise and was beginning to fill overwhelmed with all of it – when suddenly,
one voice rose above all the others – from the congregation, one voice began to
speak – and it wasn’t loud – it wasn’t overpowering – but when this person began
to speak, the entire sanctuary fell silent – and this voice spoke out in prayer
for several minutes – it seemed like their voice permeated the hearts of each
person there – filling that sanctuary from wall to wall
-- it was obvious that something
truly spiritual was happening – and, as I listened, my heart calmed – I felt
peace – and I began to realize that I knew some of what was being said – I am
not trained in Hebrew, but I know a few words from Bible Study and from the
seminary classes I’ve had – and I caught those words amidst all the others
being offered up by this one voice in prayer
-- I clearly heard Adonai – I clearly
heard other Hebrew words – and in the silence and in my heart, I knew that this
person was praying in Hebrew – after he finished, there was complete silence in
the congregation – no one moved – no one spoke – everyone just sat there in the
silence
-- finally, the pastor came forward –
and in a prayerful attitude, he interpreted what had been prayed – he spoke in
English a translation of the prayer, and his interpretation matched what few
Hebrew words I had pulled from the prayer that had been in tongues
-- what I witnessed that night was
what Paul directed in verses 27-28 – that if anyone speaks in a tongue, it must
be orderly and someone must interpret – and for that one lone voice, this is
what happened – I have no doubt whatsoever that this person had the gift of
tongues and that he had been supernaturally enabled to pray in another
language, presumably Hebrew, during that worship service
-- so, jumping ahead – is the gift
of speaking in tongues still given today? – I think so – I will contend that I
have seen it in person and know it to be real – and I will say that this person
was also speaking a known language and not in an other-worldly language
-- but what about all the others? –
what about the other voices that were being offered up that night in prayer –
the cacophony of noise that I experienced and that disturbed my soul?
-- I’m not saying that none of those
people had the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues – but I believe that the
majority of them did not – and this is a concern I have with our charismatic
and Pentecostal brethren
-- just like what was happening in
the church at Corinth, there is such an emphasis on the visible gift of
speaking in tongues, in some of these congregations, people feel pressured to
participate and speak in tongues, whether they have been so gifted by the
Spirit or not
-- I have heard people in these
congregations say that if someone did not speak in tongues, that they did not
have the Spirit or had not been baptized in the Spirit – so, to not speak in
tongues, then, cast doubt on a person’s salvation – and in that situation, I
believe this can force people to adopt the act of speaking in tongues whether
they can or not
-- I honestly believe that many of
the people in that Church of God that night were forcing themselves to speak in
tongues so that they could be regarded as true believers – and that is a
problem
-- for want of a better word, can
you fake this gift? – absolutely – and I’m sure that happens
-- but more worrisome is the concern
that some people do begin to speak in other tongues, but not through the
empowerment and manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but from other spiritual
forces
-- there is the possibility that
some people, in their desire to speak in tongues like everyone else, have
opened themselves unknowingly to satanic influences – in 1 John 4:1, John
cautions us to not believe every spirit, but to test the spirits to see whether
they are from God
-- and while believers cannot be
possessed by demons, we can be influenced by them – we can be affected by them –
and it is possible that some people unknowingly speak in tongues through demonic
influences
-- this is one reason why the gift
of interpretation of tongues is vital – if there is no one to interpret tongues
in a congregation, then there is no way to know if what is being said is from
God or not – and if there is no one to interpret tongues in a congregation,
then there is no value in what is being spoken
--
that is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:27 that if anyone speaks in a tongue,
it must be done orderly and someone must interpret, otherwise, the church will
receive no edification from the tongue being presented – he goes on in verse 28
to say that if there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the
church
--
sometimes, the person with the gift of speaking in tongues also has the gift of
interpretation – verse 13
1 Corinthians 14:13 For this reason the one who speaks
in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.
–
sometimes, this gift is given to another person in the congregation – for example,
the pastor at the Church of God that I was at when that person prayed in
tongues that night
--
so, based on Scripture, speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift, but it must
always be accompanied by interpretation, if it is to be practiced in a public
setting
--
in regards to the interpretation by some believers and denominations that speaking
in tongues was a gift of the Spirit only given in apostolic times, there is no
real support for that in Scripture – so, I believe that it is still a valid
spiritual gift – although it may not be as needed in congregations today as it
was in the apostolic and early missionary period
--
people today have the ability to translate languages in so many different ways –
we have Bibles in almost every known language – so the need for someone to have
and exercise this gift is not as great – but I believe the Holy Spirit still gifts
believers with this ability as He wills
--
so, what about the non-charismatic denominations – why don’t people in the
Baptist Church or the Methodist Church routinely pray and speak in tongues?
--
well, I have a theory – a two-part theory – first, it could be the reason why
we don’t see people speaking in tongues in these denominations is the principle
that like begets like – that we form ourselves into tribes based on various
things – we form ourselves into tribes and communities based on our likes and
our habits and our preferences and other things
--
so, if someone realizes that they have the gift of speaking in tongues, they
probably search out other people who have that gift, and join with them – they congregate
together – and so, you see groups of people with this shared gift – and over
time, this has developed into the charismatic and Pentecostal denominations
--
in other words, if a person who was raised in a non-charismatic denomination or
church suddenly found themselves gifted with the ability to speak in tongues,
they would probably go find another church where this gift was more accepted
and celebrated – this would explain why we only find speakers of tongues in
these particular congregations
--
and, secondly, one reason we don’t see anyone in a non-charismatic church
speaking in tongues is the inverse of what I was talking about before in
regards to being pressured to fit in – I had said that I believe some people in
charismatic congregations feel pressured to speak in tongues because everyone
else apparently has that gift – conversely, people with the gift of speaking in
tongues in a non-charismatic church are told that it is a gift that no longer
exists – and so, they feel pressured to not exercise this gift, even if they
have it
--
the Bible tells us we can quench the Holy Spirit – we can suppress His presence
and activity in our lives – and I believe that if someone is given a
charismatic spiritual gift in a non-charismatic church, they will be pressured
to not exercise that gift and will suppress the ability to do so
--
so, it’s not that people in a non-charismatic church never receive the gift of
speaking in tongues, but they are discouraged and pressured to not express this
gift
--
once again, this is merely my experience – what I have seen among friends in
both charismatic and non-charismatic churches – in fact, I had friends who were
raised in the Methodist Church who left that church and joined the Church of
God because they felt they had a charismatic gift and could speak in tongues,
which was discouraged in the church they were in – so, I know it happens
-- let’s circle back to the question
of what the Bible means when it talks about speaking in tongues – like we said,
I think it’s fairly clear that when the Bible references speaking in tongues,
it is referring to the supernatural ability to speak another language – so, a
believer who has the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues can speak in a
foreign language, without any prior training in speaking that language
-- now, I’m not sure what that looks
like in practice – I know the gentleman that night in the Church of God spoke
in Hebrew – we heard him in Hebrew – so, he was speaking a foreign language and
that required someone to interpret his words for those of us who didn’t know
Hebrew
-- I have wondered, though, if perhaps
someone with this gift might speak in their native language – say English – and
have a foreigner hear it in their own language – in other words, I could be up
here speaking in English, and a foreign visitor might think I am speaking to
them in their language – I could see where this would be very valuable for
missionaries, who would be able to speak in their native language but have the
people in the country where they are hear the words in their language
--
I just don’t know – the passage about Pentecost from the Book of Acts could be
interpreted that way – but, if this is true, it is certainly not always the
case – otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need for anyone with the gift of
interpretation, as Paul directs in 1 Corinthians 14
-- but regardless, we do know from
Scripture that some people with the gift of speaking in tongues specifically
have the gift of speaking in other languages
-- so, what about speaking in the
tongues of angels, as Paul references in 1 Corinthians 13:1? – this seems to be
what he is referring to in 1 Corinthians 14:2, when he says that anyone who
speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God – and that no one
understands them – they utter mysteries by the Spirit?
-- these verses imply that in
addition to speaking other languages, some people are given the ability to
speak in a non-worldly tongue – the tongue of angels, if you will
-- John Bevere, in his book Drawing
Near, agrees that there are different types of tongues – some tongues or
languages are given for unbelievers and for use in public worship – but others
are given solely for private use or for intercessory prayer
– so, he contends – along with other
people in the charismatic movement – that the ability to speak in the tongues
of angels or in a heavenly tongue is another aspect of this gift, but it is
specifically limited for private use – for private edification – if someone has
this gift, they are to use it for personal growth as part of their private
prayers and private worship – so, that’s the two thoughts about what the Bible
means when it refers to speaking in tongues
-- let’s bring this home – what do
we know about the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation
of tongues based on what we have looked at this morning?
-- first, the gift of speaking in
tongues is still a gift given by the Holy Spirit – there is no scriptural basis
to support the idea that this was a limited gift that was only given during the
apostolic period in the church
-- second, not everyone has the gift
of speaking in tongues – if this were so, Scripture would say so – but it is
clear from Scripture that some people were given this gift, and others were not
– and this makes it clear that the gift of speaking in tongues is not evidence
of salvation nor required for salvation – you are not saved because you speak
in tongues – and you can be saved even if you don’t speak in tongues
-- third, we need to exercise
caution and discernment when it comes to speaking in tongues – both personally
and to others – as John said, we are to test the spirits and make sure they are
of God – and this especially true when it comes to speaking in tongues
-- many other religions have
adherents speak in tongues as part of their religion – so, just because someone
has this ability, doesn’t mean it has come from God
-- along those lines, we need to be
careful that we are not pressured into speaking in tongues or pressure someone
else into speaking in tongues – and, we need to be careful that we do not allow
people to pressure us into not speaking in tongues just because that is not an
accepted practice in whatever congregation or gathering we are in – let God be
your guide and do what you feel He is leading you to do, not man
-- fourth, speaking in tongues
should be orderly and not chaotic – the Bible makes it clear that when someone –
or several people – in a congregation have this gift, that only two or three of
them are to speak in a worship service – and that they are to take turns and
not speak over each other
-- and, fifth, no one should speak
in tongues unless there is someone who has the gift of interpretation of
tongues present in the gathering – that can be the person who is speaking, if
they are also gifted with interpretation – or it can be someone else – but no
one is to speak in tongues unless there is someone to interpret – if there is
not, they are to keep quiet and speak to God through their spirit only
-- that summarizes what we have
covered this morning, so, in closing, let me share this
III. Closing
-- unless you are completely off the
grid, everyone in here is aware of the recent controversy about the Super Bowl
halftime show this year, featuring the Puerto Rican rapper known as Bad Bunny
-- not getting into the political
aspects of his appearance, there were valid complaints about the halftime show –
Bad Bunny primarily speaks and sings in Spanish – he has been intentional in
his efforts to promote his Latin heritage and language, and generally refuses
to change his singing to match the audience
-- so, at the halftime show, Bad
Bunny entertained a primarily English-speaking crowd with Spanish lyrics – and,
to top it off, there was no translation available – although the Super Bowl itself
offered close captions in a variety of different languages during the game,
when the halftime show started, the closed captioning was halted – which meant
that people who did not speak or understand Spanish were not able to understand
what Bad Bunny was saying and singing
-- the same thing happened at the
2023 Grammy Awards when Bad Bunny appeared, which was the first time that a musical
act that did not speak or sing in English was featured in such a prestigious
timeslot – Bad Bunny sang in Spanish, but no closed captioning or translation
into English was offered
-- critics noted that even though
Bad Bunny is the largest streaming artist in the world, considerations should
have been made to those who did not understand Spanish
-- this aptly sums up the message of
the Bible when it comes to the gift of speaking in tongues – this is why the
gift of speaking in tongues is always paired with the gift of interpretation in
tongues
-- just like we can’t enjoy a concert
in a language that we don’t understand, we can’t enjoy and receive knowledge
and edification from spiritual messages that we don’t have the ability to
understand
-- God is a God of order – a God who
desires to communicate with us – a God who doesn’t want us to guess at the
message – but to hear His words and respond to His words with grateful hearts –
we can’t do that if we don’t understand what is being said
--
God wants us to hear Him and to know Him and to respond to His word – this tells
us that all these spiritual gifts are given for the common good – and that
means we have to be able to understand the tongues being offered if we are to
receive good from them
-- so, if you have this spiritual
gift, I encourage you to exercise it – to use it for the edification of the
church – but only if there is someone who can interpret what you are saying
-- remember, it’s not about us – it’s
about God and His message and carrying that message to the world – even if that
is in a different tongue or language
-- with that admonition, let us
close in prayer
