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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor June 23,
2002 When
the day of Pentecost came, they
were all together in one
place. 1-Introduction
to
Spiritual
Gifts 2-The
Enabling
Gifts
of the
Holy
Spirit 4-The
Gifts
of
Tongues
and
Interpretation
of
Tongues 8-The
Gifts
of
Knowledge,
Wisdom,
and
Faith Over
the past century, there has been
a lot of controversy over this
gift. Many pastors and
theologians consider the gift of
tongues to be "divisive," and
suggest that it would be better
just avoid the whole
issue. I
disagree. It is not the gifts of
the Holy Spirit that are
divisive. it is people who are
divisive. Besides
that, avoiding a controversial
issue doesn't solve anything. It
only increases misunderstanding
and furthers the opportunity for
divisiveness. Speaking
in tongues is a gift of the Holy
Spirit clearly and openly
addressed in Scripture. If this
gift were unnecessary, God
wouldn't have given it. I am not
willing to ignore, reject, or
suggest we are not in need of
anything God has given to
us. The
Greek word is
gloôssa
(gloce'-sah). Strong's Greek
Dictionary offers this
definition: "the tongue; by
implication a
language…." But
this gift involves a language
that isn't naturally acquired.
The speaker doesn't learn this
language and doesn't even
understand it. But make no
mistake, speaking in tongues is
speaking in a
language. There
is a great deal of confusion
about this spiritual gift because
some Bible commentators who
obviously do not speak in tongues
have written untrue things about
it. One commentator, whom I won't
name, defined tongues this way:
"The ecstatic, uncontrollable
jabber of one possessed by the
Spirit." This
could not be more wrong. First of
all, God doesn't "possess"
people. That's the way the devil
works. God's spiritual gifts are
not uncontrollable. Responding to
the activity of the Holy Spirit
in one's life is always
voluntary, done in cooperation
with the Spirit. The
Holy Spirit will not make you
speak in tongues. You have to
open your mouth in faith and
speak the sounds the Spirit gives
you. The
Apostle Paul affirms this
principle in 1 Corinthians 14:32.
Here's what that verse
says: In
other words, God doesn't grab
hold of us and make us speak.
Speaking in tongues is not
uncontrollable. In
his book, They
Speak With Other
Tongues,
John Sherrill tells of a project
where a recording of someone
speaking in tongues was given to
some language experts. They
determined that although it
wasn't a language known to exist,
it nonetheless had the form and
structure of language. In other
words, it was not mindless
jabbering. That
doesn't mean that some speaking
in tongues might not sound like
mindless jabbering to you and me.
I met a young man in seminary who
frequently prayed in tongues in
our small group prayer meeting.
To me it sure sounded like
mindless jabbering. I
became so irritated by his
speaking in tongues that I
complained to God about it. The
answer I heard from God was:
"It's none of your business. He
isn't speaking to
you." Well,
I learned my lesson. Indeed, in 1
Corinthians 14:2 Paul does tell
us that tongues is speech
directed toward God, not toward
people: And
you'll discover that every time
tongues is mentioned in the New
Testament, the content of what is
said in tongues is always prayer
or praise to God. Look
with me at Acts 2:5-6. These
verses tell us what happened on
the day of Pentecost when people
heard the Apostles and the others
speaking in tongues. This
has led some to claim that this
event of Pentecost was simply God
empowering the Apostles and
others to speak in actual
languages they never learned. The
argument made is that there is
really no such thing as speaking
in tongues in the sense of a
"heavenly" language. I
disagree with that view for two
reasons. First, if the 120
believers on the day of Pentecost
were speaking in known languages,
everyone should have understood
that this was what they were
doing. But Acts 2:13 implies
there were some in the crowd who
didn't perceive their sounds as
known languages. These folks, in
fact, thought that the disciples
must have been drunk: Second,
even if they were speaking in
known languages there would have
been way too much confusion to
hear clearly. Let's
conduct an experiment. Vince, you
come up here and stand in front
while everyone else talks at
once. OK, everybody talk -- all
at the same time for about ten
seconds Vince,
can you understand any of that? I
didn't think so. You
see my point? The Bible says
there were 120 people in the
upper room on the day of
Pentecost, and that all of them
were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began speaking in tongues.
Apparently, they spilled out in
the streets where the crowd heard
them. But you cannot distinguish
what is being said when 120 talk
at once. And yet, the listeners,
from all sorts of language
groups, heard them speaking in
their own languages. I
have come to the conclusion that
what we read about in Acts 2 was
a double miracle. The first was
speaking in tongues, a heavenly
language. The second was a
miracle of hearing that allowed
each one to hear in his own
language. I
also believe that what happened
on the day of Pentecost was the
manifestation of the same
spiritual gift of tongues
mentioned elsewhere in the New
Testament. Some try to maintain
that tongues spoken in the public
setting is a different gift than
one's private prayer
language. I
find no biblical justification
for that. You may speak in
tongues in private or a small
group or in public worship
service, but it is the same gift
regardless of where you speak
it. Look
with me at 1 Corinthians
14:14-15, written by the Apostle
Paul. Here is what he
says: What
Paul is telling us here is that
the gift of tongues is speech
that originates in our
spirit rather than
our mind. When
Dr. Jimmy Buskirk, who recently
retired as pastor of the First
United Methodist Church of Tulsa,
was dean of the theology school
at Oral Roberts University, he
invited a choir from a school for
mentally handicapped adults to
sing at chapel. When
they arrived he learned that
nearly all of the choir members
had speech impediments. But when
they sang, the impediments were
gone. Dr. Buskirk's explanation?
They sang in the Spirit. Their
speech was directed and
controlled by the Holy Spirit
through their spirits. Therefore
the impediment, which resided in
the brain, was not a
factor. Paul
deals with this in his extended
discussion of tongues in 1
Corinthians 14. Let's look at
that starting with verse one,
where he begins drawing a
contrast between the gift of
tongues and the gift of
prophecy. He
who speaks in a tongue edifies
himself, but he who prophesies
edifies the church. I would
like every one of you to speak
in tongues, but I would rather
have you prophesy. He who
prophesies is greater than one
who speaks in tongues unless
he interprets, so that the
church may be edified.
I
don't think he is saying here
that interpretation is a literal
translation of what was said in
tongues, but rather something
that gives the general sense of
what was said, so there is
understanding among the
congregation. Down
to verse 13: So
what shall I do? I will pray
with my spirit, but I will
also pray with my mind; I will
sing with my spirit, but I
will also sing with my mind.
If you are praising God with
your spirit, how can one who
finds himself among those who
do not understand say "Amen"
to your thanksgiving, since he
does not know what you are
saying? You may be giving
thanks well enough, but the
other man is not edified.
I
thank God that I speak in
tongues more than all of you.
But in the church I would
rather speak five intelligible
words to instruct others than
ten thousand words in a
tongue. Then
Paul makes a point about tongues
in relation to unbelievers, based
on a passage in Isaiah. He
says, Then
Paul says this, starting in verse
22: But
if an unbeliever or someone
who does not understand comes
in while everybody is
prophesying, he will be
convinced by all that he is a
sinner and will be judged by
all, and the secrets of his
heart will be laid bare. So he
will fall down and worship
God, exclaiming, "God is
really among you!" Paul's
basis for insisting on
interpretation is that if someone
comes in who is an unbeliever, or
one who doesn't understand
spiritual gifts, and everyone is
speaking in tongues, he or she
will think the congregation is
nuts. But if things are done in a
fitting and orderly way that
person's attention will directed
to the fact of God's presence and
power in the church. Note
that in all of this Paul does not
prohibit the use of tongues in
congregational worship. He says
instead that 1) in tongues a
person is speaking to God; 2) if
someone speaks in tongues in
worship, there should be an
interpretation so that the rest
of the body will be edified; and
3) interpretation is also
important because unbelievers may
be present. I
need to say something about what
is often referred to as a
"message in tongues." In almost
every case where I have witnessed
tongues and interpretation in a
public worship service, the
interpretation of the tongue
sounds more like prophecy. It is
not directed to God but to the
congregation. This gives the
impression that the speaking in
tongues is God speaking a message
to the congregation in a heavenly
language. The
problem is there is no biblical
precedent for this. As I already
mentioned, the New Testament
always describes tongues as
prayer directed to
God. Well,
does that mean that this modern
practice of "receiving a message"
from God in tongues violates
Scripture? I don't think so, and
let me tell you why. Terry
Fullum, an Episcopalian
evangelist, tells the story of a
Catholic priest coming to a
Protestant charismatic meeting to
give his testimony of being
baptized in the Holy Spirit.
There was a smug attitude in the
congregation toward this Catholic
priest -- sort of a "glad the
Catholics are finally catching
on" attitude. Well,
at the close of the testimony
someone stood up and spoke in
tongues. Then someone on the
other side of the room gave this
interpretation: "Why are you so
surprised? Did I not say I would
pour out my Spirit on all flesh?
These divisions among are your
divisions; they are not
mine." Everyone
in the room knew God had rebuked
them. The Holy Spirit, grieved by
the attitude in that room,
prompted one to pray to God about
it. God responded to the prayer
with a prophetic word that served
as the interpretation. This
is why interpretation often seems
like a "message" from God. The
interpretation of the tongue is
not a literal translation of what
was spoken in tongues, but
instead God's response to what
was said in tongues. So
even though I think the term
"message in tongues" is a
misnomer, I do believe we can,
and do, hear from God sometimes
in the interpretation. Why
bother with it? If tongues is
such a strange and sometimes
confusing gift, why even go
there? Why not just leave it
alone? Well,
let me give you several reasons
why the gift of tongues is an
important spiritual gift -- a
gift we must not
ignore: I
think the answer is
yes. Acts
2:4, describing the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost, says "All of them were
filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other tongues
as the Spirit enabled
them." "All
of them..." I take this to be a
sign that this gift is open to
all, for indeed God said that he
would pour out His Spirit on all
people. Another
reason I believe this gift is
available to all believers is
Ephesians 6:18, which
says: God
calls all of us to be kingdom
prayer warriors. Tongues is one
of the armaments He gives us,
enabling us to pray the deep
things of God -- to pray in the
Spirit, bypassing the limitations
of our minds. Now,
it may be that God might withhold
the gift of tongues from some
persons for a particular reason.
I'm not saying that couldn't
happen. But generally speaking I
think Paul expressed God's heart
in 1 Corinthians 14:5, when he
wrote: "I would like everyone of
you to speak in
tongues...."
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The
gifts of tongues and
interpretation of
tongues
(Fourth
in the series,
Spiritual Gifts in Corporate
Worship)
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
Suddenly a sound like the blowing
of a violent wind came from
heaven and filled the whole house
where they were sitting. They saw
what seemed to be tongues of fire
that separated and came to rest
on each of them.
All of them were filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak in
other tongues as the Spirit
enabled
them.
(Acts
2:1-4)
Acts
2 describes what may be referred
as the first New Testament
worship service. When the Holy
Spirit was poured out, the
Apostles and the more than
one-hundred other followers of
Jesus spoke in tongues.
Through the centuries, to
varying degrees, this phenomenon
has continued to be a part of the
church's worship.
Sermons
in
this
series
What
is speaking in
tongues?The
spirits of prophets are
subject to the control of
prophets.
A
real languageFor
anyone who speaks in a tongue
does not speak to men but to
God. Indeed, no one
understands him; he utters
mysteries with his spirit.
A
heavenly languageNow
there were staying in
Jerusalem God-fearing Jews
from every nation under
heaven. When they heard this
sound, a crowd came together
in bewilderment, because each
one heard them speaking in his
own language.
Some,
however, made fun of them and
said, "They have had too much
wine."
Now, I've heard testimonies
about people speaking in a
foreign language they never
learned, God is perfectly capable
of doing that. But I also believe
there is language known only in
heaven -- and I think that is
what was being spoken on the day
of Pentecost.
A
spiritual languageFor
if I pray in a tongue, my
spirit prays, but my mind is
unfruitful. So what shall I
do? I will pray with my
spirit, but I will also pray
with my mind; I will sing with
my spirit, but I will also
sing with my mind.
What
is interpretation of
tongues?Follow
the way of love and eagerly
desire spiritual gifts,
especially the gift of
prophecy. For anyone who
speaks in a tongue does not
speak to men but to God.
Indeed, no one understands
him; he utters mysteries with
his spirit. But everyone who
prophesies speaks to men for
their strengthening,
encouragement and
comfort.
For
this reason anyone who speaks
in a tongue should pray that
he may interpret what he says.
For if I pray in a tongue, my
spirit prays, but my mind is
unfruitful.
In
the Law it is written:
"Through
men of strange tongues and
through the lips of
foreigners I will speak to
this people, but even then
they will not listen to me"
says the Lord.
Tongues,
then, are a sign, not for
believers but for unbelievers;
prophecy, however, is for
believers, not for
unbelievers. So if the whole
church comes together and
everyone speaks in tongues,
and some who do not understand
or some unbelievers come in,
will they not say that you are
out of your mind?
A
'message' in
tongues?
What
is the value of speaking in
tongues?
Can
all Christians speak in
tongues?And
pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of
prayers and requests. With
this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all
the saints.
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available
free of charge (U.S. requests
only).
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
020623a: Spiritual Gifts in
Corporate Worship, part
4.
©
2002 Gerald R.
Varnado