I recently had a study on the gift of tongues with a
new friend. My friend asked me to open my Bible to
Acts 1:5, which reads, “For John truly baptized with
water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence.”
My friend then had me turn to Acts chapter two,
where the disciples spoke in tongues. He concluded
that this tongue-speaking was the baptism of the
Holy Ghost.
I thought for a moment and then asked if we could
go back to Acts chapter one for some context.
Let us begin with Acts 1:5-8:
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were
come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them,
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father
hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto
me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth.
You will recall that the purpose of the Holy Ghost was threefold:
(1) Reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment;
(2) Guide us into all truth;
(3) Glorify Christ.
As Jesus gave His disciples a commission (you and I were also
included), He stated why the power of the Holy Ghost would be given: “But ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” This
is wonderful! It is in perfect harmony with
the rest of Scripture in regard to the work
of the Holy Ghost.
If we examine Acts chapter two a little
more closely, we find that it was not the
tongues that was amazing to the people,
but the fact that they heard in their
own languages the disciples telling “the
wonderful works of God.”
Jesus’ commission to the disciples was
to be witnesses unto Him, and this is
exactly what the disciples were. The gift of
tongues was given to provide the ability
to communicate those wonderful words of
truth to those who were in Jerusalem from
other countries.
So then we come to another question in
our study of tongues, that being, What do
we do with the references in 1 Corinthians?
What does Paul mean when he speaks of tongues
of angels? How does this line up with our Biblical
understanding so far?
Carefully read 1 Corinthians 13:1. I am often referred
to this passage as evidence for ecstatic tongues
being a gift of the Holy Spirit. The only problem with
that is that the context of the entire chapter is love,
not tongues.
Additionally, “tongues of angels” could be seen as
poetic, but I prefer to take it literally. Do angels have
a language? Most likely.
The question is, Why would you or I need to speak
in the language of angels? They don’t need to hear
the gospel. They have watched it unfold, and are not
in need of a Savior as we are. It would be a useless
gift, just like the gift of prophecy - without love, it is
nothing. (See 1 Cor. 13:2.)
Look at chapter 14. This
is where there is more
context that relates to
tongues. Here the Bible
gives us a very clear
understanding that
glossa is a language to be
understood, not a garbled
string of consonants. Here
is the first portion of the chapter:
Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but
rather that ye may prophesy. 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.
But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men [to]
edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that
speaketh in an [unknown] tongue edifieth himself; but
he that prophesieth edifieth the church. 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.
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? 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? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who
shall prepare himself to the battle?
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 (1 Corinthians
14:1-9, emphases added).
I have highlighted a few points in
this text to help our understanding.
First, Scripture says that if someone
is speaking in tongues they speak
to God and not to man because
“no man understandeth.” So then,
tongues are to be understood. They
were understood by the multitude
gathered around the disciples in Acts 2, and in 1 Corinthians
14, Paul again indicates that tongues are to be
understood, when he says “except he interpret.”
The idea that tongues is a language not understandable
by the hearers, nor the speaker, fails to consider this
Scripture. Any doctrine must be based on an overall
agreement of the entirety of all relevant Scriptures.
To be given a gift that does not benefit those that do not
know Christ is no gift, but a hindrance. To be filled with
the Holy Spirit is to have the Spirit of God moving upon
your conscience and your will. Evidence of that Presence
will be seen in a life that grows ever closer to the ideal
set forth by Jesus Christ Himself. We may stumble, we
may falter, but if our lives are given over to the control
of the Holy Spirit we will get up, and move forward,
realizing our desperate need of Christ in every area of
our life.
The gift of tongues is a true sign, but only as it is expressed
and used according to the parameters of God’s
unchanging Word.
