The Truth About Tongues | Andrew Farley

the gift of tongues for a long time now it's been a controversial topic in Christian circles and some would say what sort of gift is it's if it's so divisive and we've been so argumentative and so conflicted about it some people say you're not even saved if you don't have the gift of tongues other people say no you can be saved but it's a super bonus to have the gift of tongues people argue about what the gift of tongues is many people are in a certain environment and they feel inferior they feel lesser because they don't experience a gift of tongues while other people do so it's interesting how much attention this topic has received over the years it's also compelling that we don't argue over the gift of love we don't argue over the other spiritual gifts the way that we do the gift of tongues and the Christian community perhaps it's because it seems so visible and so verbal and there's a lot of attention drawn to it and so it becomes an extremely controversial topic well I don't know that I've ever taught on it the way I'm going to today but today we're gonna spend some time and dig in to God's Word and really ask God to help us see the truth that will set us free concerning the gift of tongues all right so the first question we're gonna ask several questions this morning the first question is is tongues a form of angelic language meaning a language of angels specifically now let me say that is tongues a heavenly language that question will come later right now we're asking specifically is it a a language of angels all right well the fuel for this if it were true the fuel for this would be first Corinthians chapter 13 here it says ice if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal if I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love I am nothing and if I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I surrender my body to be burned but do not have love it profits me nothing so you can see how the first line in this verse if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels some over the years over the centuries have used this phrase to imply then that the gift of tongues involves angelic language the tongues of angels but if you look closer here you actually see a number of if statements don't you and I've underlined them in this passage the first is imagine if I speak with the tongues of men and angels secondly imagine if I know all mysteries and have all knowledge thirdly imagine if I give everything away and I surrender my body to be burned are all of these things true of the Apostle Paul no they are not true not one single time do we find that Paul's body is burned or that he is moving mountains beaming them across planet Earth by his incredible faith this is hyperbole the definition of hyperbole in common language would be this is exaggeration to make a point his point is even if these things were true of me even if I spoke like angels even if I had all knowledge in the universe even if I gave all my possessions away even my body being burned and I didn't have love then it would profit me nothing it is duration in order to highlight the importance of love above all things so you can see how then this phrase would be taken out of context if we were to somehow imply to others that this is an angelic language the gift of tongues all right the second question as we get into first Corinthians 14 the next chapter is what instruction do we have for tongues alright we begin at the beginning of verse 1 here he says pursue love yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts but especially that you may prophesy now we're about to read a about a competition between tongues and prophecy it's going to be interesting because Paul is actually pitting them against each other to make a point not that they aren't both valid not that they aren't both important but he is pitting them against each other in this chapter prophecy verses tongues and tongues versus prophecy because he's saying this tongues can only get you so far if there's no interpreter it's of no use prophecy is for the people in their own language already so they don't need an interpreter for prophecy now when we read about prophecy here I want to make sure that you understand Paul's definition of prophecy new covenant prophecy get this this is not Old Testament prophecy this is not predictions about the future this is not about predictions concerning Messiah this is not about the book of Revelation that's that's the prophecy that we're not supposed to add to or take away from right the final verses and revelations say don't add to this don't take away from this so this prophecy as we'll read in chapter 14 is exhorting people edifying people consoling people if I were to console you when you're hurting Paul would say that was prophecy if I were to edify you building you up in the truth of gospel this would be the gift of prophecy so edification exhortation toward good works that also would be considered prophecy so many people who you might say oh they have the gift of preaching they're well-known preachers or preachers over the centuries we might say that's the gift of preaching well sometimes it's the gift of prophecy as Paul defines it Christian counselors you'd say oh they had the gift of counseling well counseling is not actually listed as a spiritual gift but prophecy is and Christian counselors will edify and they will console and they will exhort people to make changes won't they so sometimes Christian counselors have the gift of prophecy as Paul defines it here so it's not about a fortune-telling it's not about a future telling it's about building up people edifying them and consoling them and you don't need an interpreter for prophecy because it's already being delivered in the language that they understand all right so now we begin this competition between prophecy and tongues all right it says this one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God for no one understands but in his spirit he speaks mysteries now if this were the only verse in the chapter we could just go off and think anything about tongues I mean tongues could be one of 25 different things but we're gonna see in this chapter we're gonna see why no one understands and the answer in short the answer to that question the reason that no one understands is because there's no interpreter and the Corinthians are abusing this gift they are using it without an interpreter in the congregation so why is it mysterious because if I stood up here this morning to you and I said to you Mokai bible i'm saw by Tom Cheetham OE now that is a mystery to you is it not what I just uttered to you is the language Vietnamese and I counted to 10 ain't pretty good huh oh we're just getting started huh didi Mau didi Mau all right hurry up but you see that without an interpreter the only person perhaps I'm just guessing the only person in this room that understood me was God so I am benefiting nobody I'm speaking things that are mysteries to you and in fact the only one that would be edified as me as I get a nice warm feeling inside that I have said something profound or amazing and nobody can say Amen and so it's a mystery to everybody in the room now you'll notice that I chose Vietnamese a human language hang on to that thought because that may be the definition of what tongues is but one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation this is what I just explained a minute a moment ago right what is prophecy it edifies it exhorts and it consoles those who are hurting one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but one who prophesies edifies the church you see this competition between the two gifts here are you going to self edify like I just did or are you gonna seek to edify the church now what is ironic is that some people take this verse and they actually use it as fuel to edify themselves and that is not going to be the meaning that we see here from Paul Paul is discouraging self edification and he is saying that spiritual gifts exist to edify other people not ourselves that is the whole point of the passage 1st Corinthians 14 does not have two kinds of tongues in it it doesn't have the kind you do at home and then the kind you do at church the entire chapter is about what's happening in the church not at home okay so now let me say that again so that we understand there is not a single chapter in the bible about speaking tongues alone at home there is not a single chapter about using tongues to edify ourselves in fact Paul is discouraging self edification and just like all the other spiritual gifts every single one of them all the gifts are gifts to other people he gives you to benefit me he gifts me to benefit you and this goes on and on in the body of Jesus Christ and that's the whole point they are spiritual gifts for the church not for ourselves and so he is saying without an interpreter who benefits they've been abusing it and watch as he explains now I wish that you all spoke in tongues why would he wish that well if tongues is the supernatural ability to speak in Vietnamese and to speak in German and to speak in Russian why would Paul want them to speak in tongues so that the message would get out so that the gospel would be proclaimed all over the earth and this is what Paul himself is doing Paul speaks in tongues more than all of them why would Paul speak in tongues more than all of them he is the apostle to the Gentiles going to this nation in this city and this nation in this city and traveling all over the place and the fact that God has miraculously gifted the Apostle Paul with the ability to deliver the gospel in all these human languages is that surprising I don't think so that makes perfect sense doesn't it in fact we hear stories today of missionaries out on the mission field I heard a story last week about one a Baptist organization here locally sponsored a missionary who went out into the field and had no knowledge of the language and when he got there he was not seeking a gift he was not trying to have a gift but God supernaturally enabled him to speak in this language that he did not know that he did not learn in a classroom and was for a limited time and a limited purpose and God does miracles and I hope that people out there listening we are not saying tongues has done away with we're not saying spiritual gifts have ceased we're not saying any of that we're saying the opposite we're saying spiritual gifts are for today but what are they that's the question we're asking what is tongues I wish that you all spoke in tongues but even more that you would prophesy and greater is the one who prophesies then one who speaks in tongues unless he interprets so the church may receive edifying now that is certainly not the way people are acting today about tongues greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues no they say you're not even saved if you don't speak in tongues now how can that be if greater is the one who prophesies so it sounds like we should be running around saying you're not even saved unless you prophesy well don't say that either a spiritual gift is not the evidence that you're saved it's about your faith in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and so what he is saying here you'll notice again even more that you would prophesy why because that benefits people without the convenience of an interpreter people can actually listen to what you're saying say Amen track with what's your meaning and benefit spiritually because prophecy doesn't need an interpreter but tongues does greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues unless he interprets so that you'll notice I've capitalized the church what is the context here the church the congregation there is no private context here I don't this may surprise you but I never never once during 13 years of being a pastor at this church I have never gone into my closet shut the door and preached to myself that benefits nobody there is no private preaching and here in first Corinthians 14 tongues also is a benefit for the church not for ourselves so that the church may receive edifying so if you were to title this passage the entire chapter might be called edify it's about others edify it's about other people not about yourself alright verse 6 but now brethren if I come to you speaking in tongues what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of Revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching now why would he say if I come to you it's a church service it's community there's more than one person present so if I come up to you in a church service and if I speak in a foreign language to you just as I did in Vietnamese then how will that profit you unless you have some sort of revelation of what I'm talking about unless you have some sort of knowledge of what I mean how would it benefit you yet even lifeless things either flute or harp in producing a sound if they do not produce a distinction in the tones how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp you know Joshua sills are our music leader incredibly talented Jay Lemmon incredibly talented Josh plays the guitar Jay plays the keyboard and other things as well you get me playing those things and you're gonna have an absolute mess on your hands I can hold the guitar and look pretty good for a few seconds but as soon as I try to create a distinction in the tones you are not gonna have any clue what song I'm playing unless it's the beginning to dust in the wind now that is the one and only because I have that memorized about 11 seconds of it and I and I got a c-minus in guitar in college and then I cried after the final exam yeah yeah let's pray together but how will it be known what is played if there's no distinction and the same same point is being made here concerning language how will the congregation benefit if there's no distinction if I can't distinguish one word from another for if the bugle produces an indistinct sound who will prepare himself for battle so also you unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear how will it be known what is spoken for you will be speaking into the air when other people are present so don't do it unless there's a way for them to know what is coming out of your mouth that is the logic behind this passage so there's two choices then go ahead and speak the language of the people in the congregation if there's a common language or tongues if there's an interpreter but tongues without an interpreter is not an option all right now there are perhaps a great many kinds of languages in the world and no kind is without meaning if then I do not know the meaning of Vietnamese or Russian or German or Italian I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me you'll notice I've got our bright colors back up this week every other week it's going to be red and yellow no but you remember the the message I gave on predestination and and and red signified the Jews and yellow signified the Gentiles non-jews and again we're going to see that the Jew Gentile context here will help us see the truth about tongues tongues is not an angel language it is not a heavenly language it is the supernatural ability to share the gospel as a sign to the unbeliever particularly in a tongue to which they were born we're gonna see this so also you since you are zealous of spiritual gifts seek to abound for what for the edification of the church instead of what instead of the edification of yourself now let's watch how this plays out therefore because it's about the church therefore because spiritual gifts are about other people let one who speaks in a tongue if he's gonna do it in this church service pray that he may interpret and if he can't get somebody else to interpret we'll see that in a second for if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful so I want you to imagine right now that God has gifted me with the supernatural ability to share the gospel in Vietnamese that I've never taken a class that I have no background I've never visited Vietnam but God has supernaturally given me the gift of Vietnamese tongues and then I were to lead a prayer service here at church without religion and I bow my head and I begin to say things in in Vietnamese right like in Duke repeat after me would pray with me would you in Duke you just said refrigerator what that that's so irrelevant but you see the point if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful this gives us a clue that even in acts 2 which we will see with the use of tongues maybe just maybe they didn't even know what they were saying but God had gifted them to speak in human languages and they didn't know what they were saying that's why he says pray that that you could also interpret because they didn't even know what they were saying what is the outcome then do you see this this is the destruction this is the guideline this is the conclusion to this thought what is the outcome then I am NOT gonna pray with just my spirit I'm not going to do it I will not be in this congregation and pray in Vietnamese because nobody will benefit so what is the outcome then here's what I've decided I will pray with my spirit and my mind not just my spirit and I will sing with my spirit and I will sing with my mind also a combination this is not multiple choice sometimes I'll I'll just pray with my spirit by itself and then other times I'll just pray with my mind by its no he say and put it together put it together pray with both have intelligibility involved at all times whether it's through an interpreter interpreting yourself having someone else interpret you or speaking the language of the people whatever it is please don't abuse this gift let's have intelligibility 4:16 otherwise if there is no intelligibility if you bless in the spirit only how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted meaning the one who has no clue what you're saying how will they say Amen at your giving of thanks since he does not know what you were saying you should know the entire church service you should know what people are saying that's his point here so we don't need to get into what other people are doing we don't need to get into twenty five and fifty denominations and how this gift maybe has been viewed this way or it's been abused this way we don't even have to go down that road all we have to do is see that the entire church service should be understood that's his point for you are giving thanks well enough but guess what the other person is not edified and that's the whole point spiritual gifts are about edifying others I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all why would why would Paul say that he already said prophecy was greater so why is he thanking God for gift of tongues he has again who is his audience Ephesians Galatians Philippians Colossians and we could go on Thessalonians he is traveling all over the place and he needs this ability however in the church not when I'm on the mission field in the church why would I abuse the same gift in the church I desire to speak five words with what with my mind I want my mind engaged I want to know what I'm saying I want other people to know what I'm saying so that I may instruct others also rather than ten thousand words in a tongue so he is saying tongues is great for missionary work tongues is great as a sign to the unbeliever but you bring that into the church service with ten thousand words of it and nobody can say Amen and that is foolish and that has no purpose brethren do not be children in your thinking yet in evil be infants but in your thinking be mature and the law it is written by men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people and even so they will not listen to me says the Lord so that means you know you're gonna have people who are not God's people become his people and then start sharing in tongues and languages that are not known to these other people and still even through these miracles of communication they're still not going to believe so then tongues are for a sign not to those who believe not a self sign not a sign of your own salvation not a self sign not a sign to you as a believer not assigned to other believers but a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers but prophecy totally different story prophecy is a sign not to unbelievers but to those who believe if you come to me and you say drew I know you've been hurting recently let me just tell you I was looking in God's Word and I came back on the upon this passage and it with Menace to me and let me just share a thought with you and I walk away from that conversation going wow thank you lord thank you for that new thought thank you for that inspiration thank you for that insight thank you for that consolation thank you that is a sign to me that the Lord cares about me and ministers to me do you see that well tongues is the opposite it is not a sign to believers it is a sign to unbelievers because are you joking me I mean are you kidding with me if I show up and you guys all speak Swahili and I go over to the regions where they speak Swahili and suddenly this man who's never had a moment of instruction in English he is able to share the Lord with me I'm an unbeliever he is able to share the Lord with me in English without having any background or instruction I have to say wow what just happened Wow now he's got my attention because of the God of the universe only the God of the universe could cause that to happen it's a sign to unbelievers not to those who believe therefore if the whole church assembles is this private no this is about the whole church assembling if the whole church assembles together and everybody's chatting you in German and you and Russian and you and Swahili and you and Vietnamese and you if everybody's speaking in tongues and the ungifted man or an unbeliever walks in what are they going to say you people are nuts you people are local that means crazy see I interpret it for you which helped see will they not say that you are mad now have you ever walked into any church anywhere and after what you saw took place there have you ever thought that this is some crazy stuff yeah Paul is saying don't get to the point where people are saying this is some crazy stuff because it doesn't reflect well on Jesus Christ it doesn't reflect well on the gospel it doesn't reflect well on the church but if all prophesy meaning in a language people understand if they console if they edify if they exhort if they build up if they encourage and an unbeliever or a nun gifted man enters he is convicted by all he is called to account by all this surely must be the truth the secrets of his heart are disclosed he's convicted of his unbelief he will fall on his face and worship God declaring that God is certainly among you is he going to declare that God is certainly among you because he comes in and it's just baffled and has no understanding and here's a bunch of stuff that has no meaning to him is that going to cause him to declare that God is certainly among you no no the opposite will happen he will say God is certainly not among you you people are crazy and so the point is it is intelligibility that convinces people what is the outcome then when you assemble each one again this is when you assemble isn't it it's not private when you assemble each one has a psalm has a teaching has a revelation has a tongue that's fine by two people three at most if you have a special word and it's in a in a foreign language it's fine if there's an interpretation let all things be done for edification of other people not yourself if anyone speaks in a tongue it should be by two or at the most three have you ever walked into a church service and you're not that great at math but the number seems to exceed three if anyone speaks in a tongue it should be by two or at the most three and each in turn one at a time not 17 people on the front row going at it at the same time by two or three and each in turn and one must interpret but if there is no interpreter he must keep silent in the church and let him speak to himself and to God because those are the own people that are going to get it if you insist on using the gift of tongues in this way in church you got to know you're edifying nobody only you and God might understand you're speaking to yourself you probably don't understand unless you have the gift of interpretation of yourself God understands because he speaks Vietnamese but you are edifying zero people and that's the point therefore my brethren desire earnestly to prophesy notice he say go for the one that people understand like if you want a spiritual gift you know how about focusing on edifying and building up and encouraging people consoling them when they're hurting go desire that one he says but don't don't forbid speaking in tongues it's not a bad thing don't forbid it you see how this is different than you'd better speak in tongues or you're not saved he's saying the opposite of that but all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner why would they need to be done that way because it's about community it's not private it's about the whole congregation it's not about you and your closet it is about the church service that's what the whole chapter is about all right so is tongues a a heavenly language Acts chapter 2 is one of the only passages we have that will actually tell us explicitly that's the key word exactly explicitly tell us what tongues is verse 4 of Acts 2 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit was giving them utterance now there were Jews living in Jerusalem devout men from every nation under heaven and when this sound occurred the crowd who would the crowd be they would be from every nation as we'll see the crowd came together and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in what was it angel talk no was it a heavenly language no they were hearing them speak in his own language to which he was born they were amazed and astonished saying why are not all these who are speaking Galileans these are Jewish people how is it that we each hear them in what in our own language to which we were born languages like today we would have Vietnamese and German and Russian and Italian everything we've been talking about so acts 2 the only passage that really specifies the nature of the language the only passage of the entire Bible that actually describes what they were hearing and it says it was human languages to which they were born now which languages were these let's get real specific they were speaking Parthian they were speaking Mead there were elamite s' their residents of Mesopotamia Judeans were there but also Cappadocia --nz there were people people from Pontus and Asia Phrygia Pamphylia Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene have you ever hung out in the districts of Libya around Cyrene I'm telling it's a bad neighborhood and visitors from Rome both Jews and proselytes those who would be converted cretins people from Crete I've heard bad things about people from Crete but Paul clarified they're actually pretty cool Cretans and Arabs we hear them in what our own tongues to which we were born our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God what is the message the message is a missionary message believe and be saved here's Jesus here's his death here's his burial here's his resurrection here's his authority to save his ability to save call upon the name of the Lord and be saved this is a sign to you unbelievers it is a sign for you to call upon him and be saved let me speak of the mighty deeds of God in a language to which you were born so that you can get it and believe and be saved now if I take that same gift and I go back to my local church servus and i abuse it then first corinthians 14 has instruction for me and they all continued in amazement and great perplexity saying to one another what does this mean but others were mocking and saying they are full of Jack Daniels I mean what would you conclude maybe if you didn't get it right if you didn't get it and they were speaking in all these languages you might just think they were mad you might just think they were crazy so he's saying this can still happen the bad impression can still be given to unbelievers that don't get it and aren't looking for Jesus so some people have argued no it's got to be angel talk it's got to be heavenly talk because they thought they were drunk so it's got to be a heavenly language now we just read what languages it were it was multiple dozens of languages human languages and they thought they were drunk because they didn't know all those languages and when I say to you mocha ba ba ba ba ba da moly you might think that preacher is drunk but it's not that it's I mean I'm fairly certain it's it's not that it's Vietnamese it's Vietnamese all right well what about other passages we'll conclude with this what about other passages on tongues we're just going to hit two of them short ones in the book of Acts and then we'll conclude all right first Acts chapter 10 all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on who on the Gentiles also for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God let me say this there is never a time in the Bible never a single time in the Bible when tongues is spoken with a Jewish only community did you hear that there is never a single time when it's just Jews present and tongues is spoken every time in the book of Acts when tongues is spoken it is mixed company why because it's foreign languages to which they were born here we see the circumcised believers the Jews they're amazed along with their buddy Pete they're saying gosh these Gentiles have been saved too and look at them they're speaking to each other in all these foreign languages sharing the excellencies of what God has done for him that's Acts chapter 10 now look at acts 19 it happened that while Apollo's where he was at Corinth what do they speak in in Corinth well it's a hotbed for all kinds of cultures and languages but it's certainly not the Jewish language it's not Hebrew it's it's Corinthian language it's Greek Paul passed through the upper country what would be in the upper country well you name it languages dialects came to Ephesus well what would they speak there again a hotbed of cultures coming together at this at this centralized location and he found some disciples the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying they were in all about twelve men so how could these twelve people from all over the place talk to each other miraculously by God's empowerment as they begin to share what God had done in a language to which each of them were born so you know it's compelling isn't it something to consider at least that instruction on tongues is never mentioned in the epistles written to Jews now if it were an angel language why wouldn't it be written to the Jewish Church how to behave with an angel language if it were a heavenly language why wouldn't it be written to a Jewish church how to operate with the heavenly language but the reality is there is ZERO instruction on tongues mentioned in any epistle to Jewish people it's because it's a Gentile issue with tons of languages present and and the purpose of that instruction would be to get them all on board and do this in an orderly fashion tongues in acts never spoken within a Jewish only group so conclusion tongues is not an angelic language tongues is not a heavenly language tongues is not a private language tongues is a sign to unbelievers not believers tongues are to be spoken as a missionary gift and in church only when interpreted like any spiritual gift for the church tongues are to edify others not ourselves all right well let's pray together father we thank you for the clarity of your word we thank you that no matter what we believe and come away with concerning this controversial issue we know that it's not about us speaking in tongues that is the big deal it's about you speaking in love it's not about us and what we're speaking it's about your word and what you've spoken there may be people here today that completely disagree with what I've shared father we leave room for that we can agree to disagree because the big deal is not tongues the big deal is Jesus Christ the big deal is the cross and the resurrection the big deal is that we get to speak to one another in love father we thank you for the truth that always sets us free we thank you that you continue to minister to us living in us and walking among us we thank you for this congregation the unity we have here in Jesus name

Channel: The Grace Message with Dr. Andrew Farley

Views: 122,592

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Keywords: forgiveness, freedom, identity in Christ, Christ, Jesus, Grace, Bible teacher, Bible ministry, Andrew Farley, Andrew Farley Ministries, new life in Christ, tongues

Id: ZnMpQp-HqTA

Length: 41min 16sec (2476 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 03 2017