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Daily Devotion
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Topics from www.biblelessons.com Speaking in Tongues. (Chris - Better described as speaking in a tongue or speaking in another language.) Cessation of gifts article (in contradiction to the article below) Happy studying:-)
In John 14:26 and 16:13, Jesus was speaking to His disciples about the time to come following His death, burial, and resurrection. In these two verses He spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would "teach you all things" and "guide you into all truth." Several passages in the NT refer to the work of the Holy Spirit and the miraculous, spiritual gifts manifested in the early church. Mark 16:17-20 says, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. 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. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." Hebrews 2:3-4 says, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will?" Both of these passages refer to the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit which were in existence in the 1st century church. These two passages teach that one great purpose of these spiritual gifts was to aid in the proclamation of the word of God, and to help in confirming what was being proclaimed.
Speaking in Tongues on the Day of Pentecost In Acts chapter 2, we find the glorious beginning of the church on the day of Pentecost. This great event was made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit enabling the apostles to "speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (2:4)." This ability was necessary because people had gathered in Jerusalem "from every nation under heaven (2:5)." In order for the great news to be proclaimed and understood by all these people, this miraculous gift was certainly needed. The word "tongue" is from the Greek word glossa. According to Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, the word qlossa means: "the language used by a particular people in distinction from that of other nations." Thayer clarifies that the phrase "speak with other tongues" in Acts 2:4 means "to speak with other than their native, i.e. in foreign tongues; to speak with new tongues which the speaker has not learned previously." Acts 2:6 further clarifies the meaning of such when the word dialektos is used; is says when the apostles spoke, "every man heard them speak in his own language." Therefore, the utterances of the apostles on that occasion were not incomprehensible syllables, but were, in fact, clearly understood words and sentences spoken in the languages and dialects of the people assembled before them on that day. Notice verses 9-11: there we find a list of folks from over a dozen different places, each speaking different languages and/or dialects. And yet the apostles, being filled with the Holy Spirit, were miraculously able to speak in all these languages, even though they had never before been able to do so. All this helps to clarify the meaning of "speaking in tongues."
Speaking in Tongues in 1 Corinthians There are a couple of other cases of speaking in tongues recorded for us in the NT. But, in every instance of such, this same word glossa is used, indicating that each case of "speaking in tongues" involved the miraculous ability to speak in a foreign language, understandable by listeners who knew that language, but never before learned by the speaker. In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul speaks to the Christians at Corinth about their use of miraculous, spiritual gifts. Evidently there was some controversy at Corinth regarding these gifts, particularly the gift of speaking in tongues. Paul's comments in chapter 14 indicate that those who were blessed with the gift of speaking in tongues were somewhat boastful of their particular gift, and that those who were not able to speak in tongues were envious of those who could. Paul wants to teach them that every gift is important, and that no one particular gift, not even speaking in tongues, should be held as more important than other gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, Paul reminds them that every member is important, and that each gift is necessary "for the common good (12:7)." He clarifies in v10 and in v30 that not every Christian is able to speak in tongues, and that speaking in tongues should not be regarded as the most important spiritual gift. In chapter 14, Paul's comments indicate that the worship services of the Corinthians were not as they should be. Evidently various members were each trying to "steal the show" through the use of their particular gift, and those who could speak in tongues were apparently doing so with little restraint. Paul instructs that the purpose of this particular gift was for teaching unbelievers (14:22), and that if there was no one present who understood that particular language, or there was no interpreter, they were to be silent. Otherwise, only God would be able to understand (14:2), and that was not the intent. Paul commands, "Let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner (14:40)." Verses 26ff teach that each member should be given an opportunity to edify the others, and that no one should speak in a foreign language, even though inspired by the Holy Spirit, unless someone was present who was able to understand that language and interpret for all assembled. Look at verses 32-33; this shows that they were to exercise control over the expression of their gifts; the Holy Spirit did not overpower them and leave them helpless and uncontrollable over their actions.
Miraculous Gift of Speaking in Tongues was Temporary (Chris' comments: This I do not believe is what the bible teaches, the first problem is in sentence two, Love is NOT a gift) As important as these spiritual gifts were, Paul wanted the early Christians to understand that they were temporary, and that there was something more important they needed to develop. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul teaches that love is a gift or a quality that surpasses all others; it is a way that will endure throughout all the ages of mankind. Some have misunderstood Paul's statement in v1 about the "tongues of men and of angels." Paul does not say that he speaks in some heavenly, angelic language. Rather he is using a figure of speech throughout these first 3 verses. He actually mentions five things that would be worthless without love:
When Were the Miraculous Gifts to End? Verses 8-12 state that such gifts would some day cease to exist, and that such would happen "when the perfect comes." According to Thayer's lexicon, the word "perfect" is from the Greek word teleios which means something that is "brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness; perfect." It is suggested by some that this "completion" or "perfect" refers to the second coming of Christ (thus allowing for tongues, etc. to continue until the end of time). However, such would contradict what Paul says later in this chapter. Not only does he speak of gifts that will cease, but also of three gifts (Chris's comments: they are not gifts) that will abide: faith, hope, and love (v13). Surely a gift that will abide has to last longer than a gift that will cease. However, the Bible teaches that faith and hope will, in fact, one day cease, when faith becomes sight and when hope is realized at the return of Christ. Love, the greatest of gifts, not only is abiding, but eternal. (Chris's comments: reading a bit much into a scripture, I think.) Since faith and hope will cease at the return of Christ, and these are referred to as gifts that abide, the gifts that will cease (prophecy, knowledge, tongues) MUST cease prior to the return of Christ. This in itself does not say exactly when, but it proves beyond doubt that the miraculous gifts must cease PRIOR to the return of Christ, not AT the return of Christ. Looking again to v8-12, the context of the passage itself dictates what is being completed. Paul said in verse 10, "When the perfect comes, the partial will be done away." What was partial? The answer to that is in verse 9: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part." At the time Paul wrote these words, their knowledge and understanding of God's will was only partial. Remember John 14:26? The Holy Spirit would be sent to teach them all things. When Paul wrote these words to the Corinthians (probably around 54-55 AD), all of God's will had not yet been completely revealed. The miraculous and inspirational work of the Holy Spirit continued at least through the writing of the book of Revelation towards the end of the 1st century. Until that time of completion, Paul says, we only "know in part, and we prophecy in part." Thus, though some would disagree, it seems reasonable that the time of completion referred to by Paul would be that time when all of God's will had been revealed through the apostles and recorded for us in the pages of the New Testament. Miraculous, spiritual gifts were certainly necessary during the infancy of the church and to aid in the revelation of God's will. It seems the need for such gifts would naturally end when such was accomplished.
Conclusion While some in recent times have claimed to be able to speak in tongues, there appears to be no similarity to what occurred in the first century. In the New Testament we read about speaking in real languages understood by the people of that time; people today claim to speak in a language only understood by God. The Bible does not speak of such. Some in the religious world today place great emphasis on the ability to speak in tongues. To them it is proof that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that all faithful Christians are indeed filled with the Holy Spirit, but not necessarily in the miraculous sense as was seen in the first century church. They needed some extra special help to get the church going (Paul alluded to the church in its infancy in 1 Corinthians 13:11). Today we have the written word of God. Our need today is not to be able to speak ecstatically in any kind of strange utterances, but rather our need is to be more diligent in studying what we find in the written word of God, and to then be determined to live by what it says. (Chris' Comments: I agree here in that people do not spend enough time studying the Word of God, and tend to focus on the tongues rather than on other more important things, but that does not mean that tongues is now obsolete.) Cessation of gifts article (in contradiction to Bob's article) |
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