Now, Concerning Spiritual Gifts Pt. 1

As Christians there are many things we may be ignorant about. We may be ignorant about when the rapture will take place, how many angels exist, what our role will be in heaven and many more such things that the Bible is silent on. Aren’t you glad when the Bible comes straight out and says, “I would not have you ignorant”? One such Bible truth we are not supposed to be ignorant on is the teaching of the “gifts of the spirit”.

Tonight we are going to begin, just begin looking at a very long section on the gifts of the Spirit. Chapters 12-14 must be understood in the context of a long discussion of the spiritual gifts.

Keeping in the context of the letter of 1 Corinthians, once again we find the Corinthian church is divided, and wrong on this subject. We find the Corinthian believers confused on the purpose of the gifts and contentions over which gifts are the most important.

BTW: This is not a first century church problem. Even today there are churches and Christians obsessed over the gift of tongues. Many today claim that, yest you are saved when you put your trust in Jesus, but you don’t truly show evidence of your salvation unless you speak in tongues. Someone show me in the Bible where it says that?

In short, this section deals specifically with the issue of speaking in tongues. Before we begin let’s ask two questions:

Does the Bible mention speaking in tongues?

Does what passes for speaking in tongues today match up with what the Bible teaches?

I want to answer these questions tonight to help us better understand these chapters as we go through them.

Question: Does the Bible mention speaking in tongues?

Answer: Yes.

Acts 2 was recorded around AD 33 and is the first time we see the gift of tongues being exercised in Scripture. Acts 2:3-4

Acts 2:3–4 KJV 1900

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The first promise of the coming gift of tongues was given in Mark 16:17-18

Mark 16:17–18 KJV 1900

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 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.

Another question of importance is “Why was this gift needed?”

The answer to that question is simple: It was needed because there was no written NT! It was being written and wouldn’t be completed until around AD 96 when John wrote Revelation.

Now, in AD 96, just because the Bible was completed, doesn’t mean it was complied…that took many more years. For two generations of early Christians there was no completed Word of God. God, being God, gave, by the Holy Spirit, what some scholars refer to as “interim” gifts to the infant church.

An “interim” is something “in the meantime”. Lot’s of churches in seeking a pastor will call an interim pastor, someone with years of experience to shepherd them between shepherds

In the case of the early church these interim gifts served to fill-in the gaps while the Word was being finished. We will discuss this in detail in chapter 13.

These interim gifts were intended to provide spiritual insight for the new church. Some gifts were of miracles and wonders - which by the way are intended to authenticate the messenger that God approves of the message!

The gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues was actually given by God as a sign specifically to unbelieving Israel…more later.

For the sake of not repeating myself, we are going to answer our next question:

Question: Does what passes for speaking in tongues today match up with what the Bible teaches?

Answer: No.

Most practitioners of modern day tongues movement will tell you that it is a special “prayer language” given them by the Holy Spirit to communicate personally with God. Others will tell you that when exercised in a public service it is the language of angels, that is why it must be accompanied with an interpreter.

However, neither of these are mentioned in the Bible. I want to revisit the two passages I mentioned at the beginning of our study, first:

Acts 2:3–4 KJV 1900

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Notice the word translated at tongues in verse 3...

tongues = languages.

Most modern day tongue speakers will ignore the little word in front of tongues in verse 4… “other”.

Other = heteros, or different.

In other words the languages they were speaking were different than their natural language, but they were indeed real languages. Just keep reading Acts 2 and you will see for yourself a list of nationalities and various languages being spoken. All of those were real languages spoken in their day (and ours as well).

Next look at Mark 16:17-18

Mark 16:17–18 KJV 1900

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 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.

Jesus is speaking here, and we cannot argue with Jesus! He tells His disciples plainly that when the Spirit came on them they would perform signs = lit. miracles, wonders. The apostles certainly did this. He also tells them they would cast out devils in His name; the apostles and early church did this as well. Then he goes on and informs them they will speak with “new tongues”.

The word tongue here is the exact same one used in Acts 2 and means languages. This verse is one of the chief proof texts of the Charismatic movement. They claim that Jesus Himself predicted or proclaimed the gift of tongues as a continual gift for the church and one that is in use today.

They go a step further, however, than Scripture allows them to. They go on to say that the phrase “new tongues” used in Mark 16 refers to their personal prayer language or the language of angels. There is one major problem with this…that is not what the word “new” means!

There are two basic Greek words for new:

Neos - neos means new in existence or newly born (ie, neo-natal)

Kainos - freshness. That is not new in existence, but new to someone. Let me illustrate:

2019 Melanie and I bought my car, it is a 2015 KIA Optima in case you were wondering. I bought my car used, so it was not brand new, but it was new to me.

In the case of tongues Jesus was teaching the fact that members of the church would in deed speak with new tongues.

The problem is the word new here does not mean new in existence but new in freshness. Plainly, these are not new languages but real languages spoken on earth just not previously known by the one(s) speaking.

This idea that the gift of tongues is for today cannot be backed up biblically, and here are the reasons:

The Bible is completed.

The Bible is available in nearly all known languages today.

The gift of tongues was necessary for the short time period to get the message out, but is no longer needed.

The Biblical gift of tongues and the usage of tongues today are two entirely different things.

Tongues was never promoted by the apostles as a “prayer language” or angelic language.

Beginning next week we will be looking at the issues surrounding this gift in the church at Corinth, which will include some of these issues we discussed tonight and many of the issues with this gift’s usag