The Gift of Tongues by Jack Hay

It's clear then that the gift of tongues was in vogue in the first century. It was one of the gifts of the Spirit imparted to believers in the first century.

But I want to tell you, friends, we read quite clearly in 1st Corinthians 13 that the gift of tongues would cease. It was a passing gift. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. And that happened historically. You'll search in vain throughout the history of the early church to discover any record of tongue speaking. It petered out as predicted in 1st Corinthians chapter 13.

And yet, in the beginning of the 20th century, there was a revival of interest in speaking in tongues—the technical term glossolalia. Speaking in tongues. A movement began that became known as the Pentecostal movement, and central to that was this seeming ability to speak with tongues.

Now, of course, the Pentecostal movement has been fragmented over the years, but there are still many groups—Elam, Foursquare Gospel, etc. They have it in their code of belief that they ought to speak in tongues.

Now, in the middle of the 1900s, a new movement emerged that became known as the Charismatic movement. People connected with the Charismatic movement also wanted to speak in tongues, and they wanted to perform other very spectacular miraculous things. But they didn't come out from their established churches; they were encouraged at that point to remain where they were. The Charismatic movement embraced evangelical Christians and the Roman Catholic Church.

The Charismatic movement has done more to wed together Protestantism and Catholicism than ever the World Council of Churches did or the movement that people call the ecumenical movement. So, in the middle of the 20th century, this movement emerged. At first, they were encouraged to stay where they were, but then little house groups began, and bigger congregations were established until it became a huge thing—mega churches and so on, the things that we hear about today.

Now, you might say that is totally irrelevant as far as we are concerned. Well, maybe if you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, or like me, if you've exhausted your allotted span, you might say it's totally irrelevant to you.

But I want to tell you that some of our dear young people, with their access to the internet, are tapping into some of these things, and I think it's important just to be clear in our minds about what the Bible teaches regarding these important issues.

Again, some of our dear young people, as they go to college or university, will find some very, to use our brother David's words, sincere people—very sincere people—who say, "Well, you know, we want you to share our experience. We've reached a higher plane than you, and we want you to be in the enjoyment of what we are enjoying."

What you're connected with is dry, dreary, disinteresting; it's archaic. You might call it orthodox. We say it's dead. You need something more exciting.

And our young people are exposed to that kind of pressure. So I think it's important just to give a little outline, at least for the benefit of our younger friends, as to what the Bible really teaches about this gift of tongues.

I want to say one or two introductory things. Number one, tongues are not exclusively a Christian phenomenon. Now, I've traveled fairly extensively. I've seen one or two kind of miraculous things, you might call them, in connection with paganism. I don't know whether I've ever heard anyone speaking in tongues in connection with paganism, but they tell me that in paganism, from as far north as Alaska right down to southern Africa, there are people who speak in a language that they have never learned. They do not do that by the power of God.

So all I'm saying is tongues are not something exclusive to what we call Christianity.

The second thing I want to say by way of a general statement is this: miracles are not necessarily evidence of God at work. You go to the book of Exodus, and you'll discover there are two men there who are identified later in Scripture as Janus and Jambres, and they were able to replicate some of the miracles that Moses performed.

Then later, much later after our age, a man will emerge—the man of sin—and he will come with power, and he will come with signs, and he will come with lying wonders. In that same generation, there will be those whom the Lord Jesus calls false Christs, and they will show great signs and wonders. Whose power are they using? The power of the devil.

All I'm saying is the miraculous is not necessarily evidence of God at work. But you see, Jack, now these people are not claiming God's power. They're in touch with the devil—the magicians of Egypt and so on. But these people that we contact claim to be using the Lord's power.

My beloved, the Lord Jesus did indicate that there are some people who claim to use His power, and they don't even know Him. "Lord, Lord, in thy name we've done many wonderful works." Depart from me; I never knew you.

And people allegedly employing the power of the Lord to effect the miraculous— the Lord Jesus says they don't even know me. So there's that general statement: miracles are not necessarily the product of divine power.

Something else I want to say by way of a general statement: people will tell you that you need an experience that they call baptism in the Spirit. I'm going to come back to that. But they equate that with another Bible term: being filled with the Spirit. Now, my dear friend, you do need to be filled with the Spirit.

It's a command in the Word of God: be filled with the Spirit. And being filled with the Spirit is not a once-for-all experience in a believer's life. The tense of the verb is to keep on being filled with the Spirit.

What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Well, maybe I could illustrate it. In the Bible, you read about people being filled with wrath or filled with indignation and so on. What is the Bible saying when it speaks of the people at Nazareth, for example, being filled with wrath? All it's saying is this: that emotion had so taken them over that everything they did sprang from the fact that they were filled with wrath.

Now, when the Bible speaks about being filled with the Spirit, the indication is that we're under the Spirit's control completely.

Now, what is the effect of being filled with the Spirit? Speaking in tongues? That's what your friends will tell you at college. You need to be filled with the Spirit, and if you're filled with the Spirit, that will evidence itself in that you speak in a language that you've never learned. Is that what the Bible teaches?

I think that probably 16 times in the Word of God, being filled with the Spirit or being full of the Spirit is mentioned. In one context only, it's an Old Testament situation: Bezalel and Aholiab. In one situation that I've quoted already, it's in a doctrinal area of the Word of God: Ephesians 5, be filled with the Spirit. In every other instance, it's from the pen of Luke, either in his gospel or in the Acts of the Apostles.

Beloved, on only one of these occasions did it result in people speaking in tongues, and that was in Acts chapter 2. They were filled with the Spirit and spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance—Acts 2 exclusively.

So, when Paul tells you to be filled with the Spirit, what will the result be? Fellowship. You'll be speaking one to another. You won't be trying to sneak out this door to avoid someone who's going out this door; you'll be speaking one to another. Not only fellowship, but joyfulness—singing, making melody with your heart to the Lord. Not only joyfulness, but thankfulness—giving thanks for all things. Always submission: submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

It's all very practical, isn't it? And Paul expands that thought of submission; he takes it into the home and shows it affects husbands and wives, fathers and children. He takes it into the workplace and shows it affects servants and masters.

What I'm saying is this: being filled with the Spirit is not something that is mystical. It is something intensely practical, and it affects the way you behave in the home and the way you behave in the workplace. That's the teaching of Ephesians chapter 5.

The work of the Holy Spirit in your life, my beloved, is to cultivate the graces of the Lord Jesus within you. It's called the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is not tongues, healings, or exorcisms.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and another half dozen Christian graces. That's the business of the Holy Spirit: to cultivate these things in that life of yours. So, being filled with the Spirit, yes, you do need to be continuously under the sovereign control of the Holy Spirit of God. But that will enable you to live a life that will please God in every department, and I trust that we pay attention to that.

Now, as far as the gift of tongues itself is concerned, I've got four little points. It's a bit overtaxing—four points on a Saturday night, and three points is ideal, I think. I don't know how he got away with seven, but three points is ideal, really. You know, two points well, you're shortchanging the people; four points, you're overtaxing them. Three seems to be just about right, but we've got four tonight.

I'm going to think first of all about the passing of tongues. Very briefly, I've hinted at it already from 1st Corinthians chapter 13: the passing of the gift of tongues. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease, and Paul is speaking about certain gifts that are now redundant: the gift of prophecy, the gift of knowledge, and the gift of tongues.

Now, as far as prophecy is concerned, Paul pinpoints a specific moment when the gift of prophecy becomes redundant: when that which is perfect has come. Now, if this was a Bible reading, the needle would get stuck there. Young people haven't a clue what I mean; you've never seen the big 78s and all the rest of it. The needle gets stuck, and the same sentence is getting played and played and played again. That's how it is in Bible reading sometimes, isn't it? We get bogged down.

You know, the man on a Sunday morning says, "On Thursday night, the Bible reading will start at chapter 5, verse 2, and word 3." Sometimes, just about as bad as that, we can get bogged down. But as far as that which is perfect is concerned, I'm of the persuasion that it has to do with the final revelation of God to man— that which is perfect.

You see, the Word of God is described by James as the perfect law of liberty, and he uses the same kind of analogy that Paul uses in 1st Corinthians 13: a mirror. A mirror, and you're looking into the Word of God, and it's like a mirror, says James. But in 1st Corinthians 13, because of the fragmentary nature of revelation by prophecy, it's looking into a glass darkly. So, you don't see a complete reflection, really; you're not getting the whole story.

To lift an Old Testament phrase: here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept. You don't see the full picture, but when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part will pass away. My dear brother, my dear sister, everything that God needs us to know is within the covers of this holy book that we call the Bible—everything we need to know. So, there's no need for further revelation.

Not now! Oh, there was in apostolic times, but not now. We've got it all; that which is perfect has come. When the ink dried on the last revelation of inspiration, the New Testament prophet became redundant. When that which is perfect has come, you see, it says then, "then I shall fully know." I don't fully know; I'll wait to get to heaven until I fill in.

You can fully know all that God wants you to know if you read. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24, "Let him that readeth understand." Are you not reading? Is that why you haven't come to a full knowledge of the truth? Paul said to the Ephesians in chapter 3, "When you read, you may understand my knowledge of the mystery of Christ." You're not reading, and so keep up the business of reading, because within the covers of the book, there's all that God needs you to know.

At a specific point in history, when that which was perfect had come, the gift of prophecy was clubbed. It was over and done with, once and for all. It doesn't say that about tongues. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease; they'll peter out. And, my beloved, that did happen historically. The gift of tongues just petered out.

You might say, "Well, how can we explain the resurgence in people speaking in tongues?" Some people may say it is all demonic. I wouldn't like to be so bold as to say it is all demonic. I do believe that, in some cases, it can be a self-induced phenomenon somehow or another. People can work at it, practice it, and become skilled in it, indeed, as we hear. So it's not of the Spirit if the gift has passed. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease; the passing of the gift of tongues.

I want to speak to you for a moment or two about the promise of the gift of tongues. In that chapter 16, it was the Lord Jesus who promised that the gift of tongues would come. I read it to you, and he spoke about five different gifts. You know, modern charismatics aren't really interested in all five. Oh, maybe some of them have experimented with snakes and the like, and we've had tragic stories of people being bitten by venomous creatures and losing their lives.

But the Lord Jesus spoke about five different things. Statistics? Well, we don't like statistics because we know that statistics can be massaged and interpreted, maybe not in a truthful way, as we were hearing. You know, your opinion, my opinion—statistics! But here are statistics: there are 27 books in the New Testament. Three of the 27 only mention the gift of tongues. There are 21 New Testament epistles; only one—and that an early writing, the first epistle to the Corinthians—only one mentions the gifts of tongues.

There are four passages in the Word of God that deal with the subject of gifts. Only one of the four mentions the gift of tongues. And you're saying to me now, "Hold on a minute, Jack. The Bible would only have to say a thing once for us to accept it." You're absolutely right; there's no question about that. It would only have to say it once, and we would have to accept it.

The simple point I'm making is that, though there are people out there who would think that the gift of tongues is mentioned on every page of the Bible, the huge emphasis they place upon it is disproportionate. In fact, only three of 27 books mention it, only one of 21 epistles mentions it, and only one of four passages mentions it. As I say, it's one of five sign gifts that the Lord Jesus mentioned in Mark chapter 16.

Now, he explains in that chapter that these gifts would be confirmatory; these gifts would be aids to faith. You see, it was a time when a God-given religion was about to be superseded, and the Jewish people were being asked to believe something entirely new: this gospel about the Lord Jesus that was being preached. Could they accept this new message? Was there any evidence that it was of God?

Well, we read together at the end of Mark 16: they went everywhere preaching the word, the Lord confirming with signs following. That's one that we hear a lot, isn't it, on a Sunday night prior to the gospel meeting? In the prayer meeting, our dear brethren will be praying that there will be signs following the preaching of the gospel. What they're really asking is that God will save somebody tonight. You'd be better to say that because to ask that there will be signs following is to rip a verse from context. The signs following are these miraculous evidences that the message being preached is authentic; it is a message from God.

So the gift was promised in Mark chapter 16, and it was promised to be a confirmatory gift.

Then thirdly, let me say we have to mention the purpose of the gift of tongues. Now, let me recap: we've spoken of the passing of the gift of tongues, the promise of the gift, and now the purpose of the gift of tongues. I take it that in Acts chapter 2, the purpose for that gift of tongues was that of communication. Now, brethren, these were known languages; this was not some kind of gibberish that was being spoken.

Ah, people say, but Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels." They say we have our heavenly language: the tongues of angels. Did Paul say he spoke with the tongues of angels? No, he's saying, "Even if I did," for the sake of argument. He's using hyperbole, an exaggerated statement to ram home the point. He's saying, "Even if I did speak with the tongues of angels and hadn't love, I would just be noise—the sound of a gong or a cymbal or a little triangle." He didn't speak with the tongues of angels, did he? Did he give his body to be burned? No, he never gave his body to be burned.

In the same way, he never spoke with the tongues of angels, but he's using hyperbole; he's making an exaggerated statement to get the point. Even if I did give my body to be burned, without love, it would have no value.

So I judge that the tongues in Acts chapter 2 and, in my opinion, the tongues of 1 Corinthians are known languages. You see, there are people in Jerusalem from a great variety of places; they're there to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. Here's a man from Egypt, and he pricks up his ears. Maybe it was Matthew—I don't know; I'm only guessing. I'm just plucking a name out of the air. Maybe it was Matthew, and he was speaking in the Egyptian language. Here's a man from Cyrene, and he pricks up his ears. Well, maybe it's Judas, not Iscariot, who's speaking the language he understands.

One understands this, and another understands that. What is being communicated is called the wonderful works of God. The truth of God is being communicated to these strangers who were congregated in Jerusalem. So I judge that, in Acts chapter 2, the gift of tongues was for the purpose of communication—to people in a language that they could understand.

But then we read together in 1 Corinthians 14 that tongues are for a sign. A sign to whom? Now, I think this is important: a sign to whom? Paul had just quoted from Isaiah 6:28, "With men of other tongues and of other lips will I speak to this people." This quotation has to do with the invasion of the Assyrians. There they are, having invaded the land. These Jews all around them hear people speaking in a strange language they can't understand. But it's a sign of divine judgment—a sign of divine judgment. They were under the discipline of God.

Men of other tongues were around them, and there's just the possibility—I’m not convinced that this is the whole story, but there's just the possibility that this gift of tongues, by this time, was a sign to unbelieving Jews that divine judgment was going to fall on the city of Jerusalem. And it happened in AD 70.

I'm not going to get down that route; I haven't time to do that. There's more to it than that. But the point is, friends, it was a sign to unbelievers—not a sign of my spirituality, "I can now speak with tongues," nor a sign to my fellow believers that I've arrived at a new spiritual plane at all. It was a sign to unbelievers, and in particular to unbelieving Jews.

An average unbeliever—Mr. Average—coming in from the streets in Corinth, when the whole church was gathered together. Have you ever been there on that occasion? I never have. I've never been there when the whole church was gathered together. I know we level criticism at the Corinthians, and rightly so, but there were good meeting attenders. Even the whole church at times would be gathered together.

So they're there, and the people come in, and all these Corinthians are speaking in tongues. What will Mr. Average, the average unbeliever, say when he observes that? You're mad! You're mad! But the unbelieving Jew would see an underlying reason for the thing, and it would carry weight with the unbelieving Jew, perchance because the Jews require a sign.

So I discover from 1 Corinthians 14, with the quotation from Isaiah 28, that tongues were for a sign. Now, I know that in 1 Corinthians 14, you discover another purpose for the gift of tongues. What was the man doing who participated in a tongue? He was edifying himself. So there's a part—edifying himself. But Paul sees in that a negative fact; he's only edifying himself, while the man who is prophesying is edifying the whole assembly.

Now, there's a whole chunk of 1 Corinthians 14 devoted to the contrast between the value of the gift of tongues in comparison to the gift of prophecy. I tell you, friends, the gift of prophecy gets it—not just by a short head, but by a mile. By a mile! It's far superior, says Paul in 1 Corinthians 14. And so he would encourage people to covet earnestly the best gifts.

Obviously, hold on, preacher! Didn't Paul say that he was glad he spoke in tongues more than them all? Didn't he say, before he finished his treatise, "Forbid not to speak in tongues"? He did, and that was relevant when the gift of tongues was in vogue. So don’t allow your friends to scare you or bully you and say you're going against Scripture by telling us we shouldn't speak in tongues. Here’s a verb: “Forbid not to speak in tongues.”

Well, yeah, that was okay when tongues were in vogue, but whether there be tongues, they shall cease. The gift of tongues was absolutely way down the list. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 12, there are lists of gifts, and on every occasion, the gift of tongues, with its attendant gift, the gift of interpretation, is right at the bottom of the list. I read to you a list that seems to be in order of importance—firstly, secondly, thirdly, and then others. And right at the bottom are tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

So do realize that the man who spoke with tongues did edify himself, but the man who prophesied edified the church. Now, the time really has gone. I would have said a little bit about the practice of the gift of tongues, but you see how it operated in Corinth. Most of what Paul had to say to them was downplaying the importance of the gift. He was showing them that there was this great extravaganza of tongues speaking at Corinth, and really, it was valueless what was happening.

Well, among other things, when they came together speaking in tongues, Paul says, "Look, that has to be regulated." I know this is irrelevant because there’s nobody speaking in tongues in assemblies today, as we do believe tongues have ceased. But it’s not irrelevant as far as the big charismatic and Pentecostal world is concerned. You see, Paul says there are rules for the exercise of the gift of tongues. Number one: two or three. Okay, not a huge crowd of people, just two or three, and that in turn. So it's not everybody going at it at the same time.

Now, I understand that's the kind of thing that happens—everybody going at it, falling on the ground, etc. Paul says two or three, and in turn. And by the way, if there’s no interpreter, the tongue speaker won’t take part at all; he’ll be silent. There are three silences in 1 Corinthians 14. The tongue speaker will be silent when there is no interpreter; the prophet would be silent when something was revealed to someone sitting by. The man at the lectern would have his jacket tugged. He would have to have his jacket on to have it tugged, of course. He got his jacket tugged, and he had to give place to the other man.

And so he had to be silent. Then, "Let your women keep silence in the churches." Three silences in 1 Corinthians 14. So there was order as far as the practice of tongues was concerned. It had to be two or three in order, and if there was no interpreter, then silence on the part of the tongue speaker.

So I hope I’ve said enough just to encourage you young people to see that you're not really missing out. Now, I’m not just finished, so don’t zip up your Bible. I'm nearly finished, but don’t just zip up your Bible yet, young person. There are people who will tell you that you need to be baptized in the Spirit, and then you’ll speak in tongues. I want to tell you, you don’t need to be baptized in the Spirit. You do need to be filled with the Spirit, but baptism in the Spirit took place historically on the day of Pentecost.

They were all there in what I was going to say was the upper room, but maybe it wasn't the upper room. The Bible calls it a house. So they’re in the house, and the place where they were sitting was filled—get that—filled with the noise of a rushing mighty wind. So everybody in that house was immersed in this; they were filled. That is what baptism means, doesn’t it? They were immersed. They were baptized in the Spirit.

You weren’t there that day, but God regards you as having been there. He’ll tell you in 1 Corinthians 14, "In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." Baptism in the Spirit was that aspect of the Spirit’s ministry that brought the body of Christ into being. As far as the body of Christ is concerned, God always sees the big picture. He sees it as an entity.

Do you know there was a whole year in my life when I couldn't walk? You said, "No idea about that, Jack." Well, there was a whole year in your life when you couldn’t walk either—the first year. Okay, the first year of your life, and you couldn't walk. Did you suddenly have feet added to the end of your legs when you were 11 or 12 months so that you could now walk?

Well, you say, "No, the feet were there from the start." That is right! You don’t get members getting added to a body. You can see the concept of living stones getting added to a building, but you don’t get the idea of members being added to a body. God sees the thing as complete, so he regards you as being there.

So you can say we’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit—every one of us. "In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." But do all speak with tongues? 1 Corinthians 12. So even when the gift of tongues was current, not everybody spoke with tongues. Even although we’d all been baptized in the Spirit, all I'm saying is don’t allow them to try to bounce you into going in for an experience that they call baptism in the Spirit, resulting in you speaking in tongues. Because even when the gift of tongues was on the go, not everybody was endowed with the gift of tongues.

We do trust that the Lord will bless His work to us.

Original audio at https://gospelhallaudio.org/sermons/the-gift-of-tongues-35-min/