Putting Tongues in It's Proper Place Pt. 2

You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

He’s like come on now. Get it right! You know what’s right. When you were not of Christ, of course you were led astray, of course you followed foolish ways, of course you were lost and dead to God and spiritual truth. But now you have the truth. Now you are alive to God. But yet, even though you are alive to God, you haven’t changed.

This affected all areas of their life.

1 Corinthians 2:6 ESV

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 ESV

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

What effected their maturity?

Worldliness and lack of knowledge in the Word of God. Choosing the flesh over the Word of God. Even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. In spiritual gifts, it was the same thing. But yet they knew the truth, and Paul says that they were...

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The problem was that they failed to act upon the truth. Here with spiritual gifts. They valued everything that was experiential rather than truly of God and profitable. So their thinking about how to speak in tongues was wrong, their acting in speaking prophecy was wrong, their attitude behind the gifts was wrong and ultimately showcased their immaturity.

“DO NOT BE CHILDREN IN YOUR THINKING. BE INFANTS IN EVIL (in other words, have little to none experience, knowledge, and practice of evil) but IN YOUR THINKING BE MATURE.

In our word today these words couldn’t be more spot on and helpful. In a world full of Christian immaturity, in a world full of depravity, in a world full of sin.... the solution isn’t to cut back on the Word of God for other things, the solution to the world’s problems including our own is more time in the Word of God. But many churches continue to cut down their sermons to fewer and fewer minutes, cut down their services to less and less, and promote far more “singing” and feel good times. Don’t get me wrong. Singing is entirely Biblical and is commanded. But we can’t substitute the the solid meat from the Word of God with “spiritual experiences” -feel good moments. This will always result in Christian immaturity- along with that comes all the issues that the church in corinth dealt with. A church that is mature will long for the pure milk of the Word. 1 Peter 2:2

1 Peter 2:2 ESV

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

Unquenchable desire for more. Like the Bereans who continued to search the scripture even after it was taught. Or the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem after the walls were rebuilt and begged for the Levities to continue reading the Law of God even after 3-4 hours of reading it had passed already. That’s what we want to see here. That’s why I will continue to unashamedly speak for the 45min-50min plus without any regret.

Hebrews 5:14 ESV

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

This is a great reminder as we consider how the Corinthians came to this disastrous conclusion.

So as Paul dealt with the Improper Preferences and the Illogical Practice of Tongues now let’s look at how he shares and reminds again the Corinthians of the...

III. Innate Purpose of Tongues (v.21-25)

Why does the Gift of tongues exist.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 14:21-25

1 Corinthians 14:21–25 ESV

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Paul says very clearly that the gift of Tongues was used as a sign… to whom and a sign of what?

To answer that first question, the Bible says...

A. Sign for Unbelievers

And mainly as we will find out, the Jews...

Then what was the gift of tongues a sign of...

The word “sign” in the New Testament is often associated with the conveying of a Divinely-given message to unbelievers. This is the emphasis of the book of John. John 20:30-31

John 20:30–31 ESV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

So what was the sign of tongues pointing to?

1. Judgement

As was noted earlier in v.20, the Corinthians were immature. Their immaturity stemmed from choosing experience and good feelings over the truth and the Word. Had they known the Word of God, they would have known the purpose of the gift and therefore practiced it the correct way. So Paul takes them back to the Word with his very next statement.... in other words, had you known that...

1 Corinthians 14:21 ESV

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

This is taken from Is. 28:11-12

1 Corinthians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary A Sign of Cursing

Some 15 years or so before Isaiah prophesied about the strange tongues from the lips of strangers, the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrians (in 722 B.C.) because of unbelief and apostasy. The prophet then warned the southern kingdom, Judah, that the same judgment awaited her at the hands of the Babylonians.

How did the religious leaders of Judah respond to this warning. They would not listen, his teaching was too simple.

Isaiah 28:9–10 ESV

“To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

Line upon line… His teaching was like speaking to a kindergartner. God had indeed spoken to them simply, in order that the least mature among them could understand and so that no Israelite would have an excuse for not knowing the Lord’s will and promise.

1 Corinthians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary A Sign of Cursing

About 800 years before Isaiah, God had warned Israel that “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand” (Deut. 28:49). The strange language of their conquerors would be a sign of God’s judgment. About 100 years after Isaiah, the Lord warned through Jeremiah, “Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, … a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say” (Jer. 5:15). The sign of judgment would be a language they could not understand.

Now let’s go to Acts 2:1-11

Acts 2:1–11 (ESV)

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

What happened here? The fulfillment of the prophecy foretold by Isaiah and Joel and Jeremiah and many others. What was this a sign of.... when they heard the message of God.... by the way… who was it that heard the message of God from the disciples.... Jews from every nation.... when they heard the message of God IN OTHER TONGUES.... what should that have been a sign of? That’s God’s judgement was imminent.

Some 30-40 years after this event at Pentecost took place with Jews hearing God’s message spoken to them in different languages, that great judgment fell, when Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Roman general Titus. Over one million Jews were slaughtered; thousands more were taken captive; the Temple was plundered, desecrated, and then utterly destroyed, then the rest of the city was burned to the ground. One historian commented that Jerusalem had no history for about 60 years. Jesus himself had predicted that this day would come as He turned to look upon Jerusalem and wept after it.

All this tongues speaking was in part to fulfill the prophecy which had been spoken, which Paul himself alluded back to and the Corinthians should have known had they read and understood the Bible.

It was not just though used as a sign of Judgment but also used as a sign of....

2. Authentication

In the book of Acts, we see the gift of tongues used 3 times. In each case, it was used to validate the message of the gospel and to validate the people who spoke it.

ACTS 2

Going back to Acts 2, the Jews that came back to Jerusalem from these other nations heard these basic Galilean men speak in all these different languages that they likely had never learned. At first, the Jewish men thought they were drunk as we read.

Acts 2:12–13 ESV

And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

As it continues...

Acts 2:14–15 ESV

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

Peter then goes on to say that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken by the prophet Joel. And through this miraculous gift Peter spoke the Word of God and as we know, several thousand received Christ as Savior.

God did this many times through His chosen messengers to open the blind eyes of lost men. Jesus performed signs and wonders that men might truly see that He indeed was the Messiah.

Acts 2:22 ESV

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

The apostles and the prophets were validated by “signs and wonders and miracles” as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:12

2 Corinthians 12:12 ESV

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

Romans 15:18–19 ESV

For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

We see this play out with Paul in Acts 14:3, when unbelieving Jews tried to stir up the Gentiles to disassociate with the message Paul preached.

Acts 14:3 ESV

So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

Part of the gift of tongues was to validate the message of the Apostles. That is why Paul can say with confidence in 1 Corinthians 14:18

1 Corinthians 14:18 ESV

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

But signs and especially tongues wasn’t just given to the apostles and prophets, as is shown in some examples such as Steven and Phillip.

Acts 6:8 ESV

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Acts 8:6 ESV

And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.

Same is true of tongues. Other’s possessed the gift but it was always meant to validate the Gospel message. We can see this clearly in Acts 10-11.

ACTS 10-11

Acts 10 records the visions given to both Cornelius (a Gentile man) and Peter. Cornelius was instructed to bring Peter to him. Peter would not have gone except that in his own vision, He believed that God was indeed telling him to.

That was indeed the truth as after he preached to them the gospel, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentile people and they began to speak in tongues.

Acts 10:44–46 ESV

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,

One might wonder though if this was the same gift, indeed it was. For in the next chapter, chapter 11, Peter goes back to Jerusalem and is criticized by the “circumcision party” Jewish christians who still held strictly to Jewish laws. They criticized him for believing that God had truly saved Gentiles. Peter’s response.... as he recounted the events that took place… he said

Acts 11:15 ESV

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.

Peter recognized that their (the Gentiles) speaking in tongues was the exact same experience that they received when the Holy Spirit fell on them in Acts 2 and the signs of that being true was them speaking in tongues. It validated the disciples. Now it validated the Gentiles being true Christians as well.

Acts 11:17 ESV

If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

There is one other event in Acts 19.

ACTS 19

In this passage, we see God needing to again validate that His gospel had indeed came to another group of people. 12 disciples of John the baptist were here. They thought they were saved, but Paul explained to them the full gospel truth, the truth about Jesus Christ whom John the Baptist had told about. Upon believing the truth of Jesus, they instantly received the Holy Spirit and to prove they were truly saved, they spoke in tongues.

Now that does not mean that every person that receives Christ must prove He is saved by speaking in tongues. There are tons of examples in Acts alone where people received Christ in Salvation but never once was it said they spoke in tongues, think the Ethopian Eunich, the Philippians Jailer, Lydia, many in Berea, and in Athens. If it was so important that every believer speak in tongues to be saved, why does Paul never mention in any of his epistles or letters along with the Gospel message. So no that should be rejected.

If you want more on this, here’s an article written by a Pentecostal on why the doctrinal of a “second blessing” or speaking in tongues on salvation should be regarding as false teaching. I don’t agree with all of it, mainly that the charismatic gifts are still functional today, but I do agree with his very biblical response to speaking in tongues as a sign for salvation. You can find that here...

bible-bridge.com/speaking-in-tongues/

Now again to recap, the innate purpose of tongues was to be a sign for unbelievers. A sign of Judgement, especially to the Jews, but as a sign of validation of God’s message and people.

Not only is the purpose of tongues a sign for unbelievers but it is also used to...

B. Edify the Church

As we have mentioned many times last week, that all the gifts were created and given for the common good. That includes the gift of speaking in tongues.

It’s important that we fully understand what speaking in tongues is.

In Acts, we see speaking in tongues as speaking languages. Acts 2:11

Acts 2:11 ESV

both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

The Greek word translated “tongues” literally means languages, known languages. The other two events in Acts seem to be the exact replica of the first. Men speaking a known language that they had never learned before.

There a very few that would argue that the tongues speaking in Acts was known language, but many argue that the tongues speaking in 1 Corinthians seems different than in the book of Acts. In Acts 2, foreign audiences understood what was being spoken whereas in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul says “no one understands” because “they utter mysteries by the Spirit”.

So which is it? Are there 2 types of tongues?

It is my opinion that there are not two types.

First of all, it would seem highly unlikely that there are two types of a gift. Are they ever inconsistent understandings of what prophecy, knowledge, faith, etc. No, so why would tongues have two separate classifications or two types.

Second, in the case of speaking in tongues recorded in Acts, we know that this is the actual gift and how it was used. In Corinth, when Paul describes tongues speaking as no one understanding or speaking in mysteries… that was him describing how the immature Corinthians were speaking in tongues and misusing the gift. So I would be quite confident that speaking in tongues was meant to be speaking in a language that you don’t yourself know. But know that this is not a universally accepted truth. It’s split right down the middle amongst evangelicals whether there are 2 different types.

So how was it edifying the church then? It did definitely do that. Paul never told them to stop speaking in tongues but gave them instructions on how to do it correctly. The book of 1 Corinthians was one of the earliest letters written so it was likely that the gospel message was indeed needing to be validated through the gift of speaking in languages. Furthermore, as it was used to advance the gospel in Acts, it could have been used to advance the gospel in Corinth. I wouldn’t say this was the primary purpose, but it certainly would have helped! Corinth was a hub for all ethnicities of people from all over the world as the city was a major trade port connecting 2 bodies of water and 2 land masses. So this certainly could have been in part how it edified the church.

The problem was that in the Corinthian church, it was doing neither of it’s intended purposes… in the previous verses we looked at last week, their use of speaking in tongues obviously wasn’t edifying the body, now Paul shares how it wasn’t being used as a sign for unbelievers either.

1 Corinthians 14:23–25 ESV

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

It would be no different then entering into the pagan cultic worship at the temples. Which as we stated last week, the Corinthians often tried to merge their former practices into their “christian” practices. An area where Paul in his later letters, 2 Corinthians, tells them to ...

2 Corinthians 6:14–15 ESV

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

So Paul continues with correcting the Corinthians understanding of the gift by now looking at the proper procedure of Tongues.

IV. Proper Procedure of Tongues (v.26-40)

1 Corinthians 14:26–40 ESV

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.

The scene in which Paul is writing is utter chaos. It seems that everyone in the church service was participating whenever and however they desired. Those with the gift of tongues were speaking simultaneously, and no one was concerned with interpreting what was being said. Those with a supposed revelation from God were shouting out randomly, even if what was said could not be heard above the noise, and apparently no one was evaluating what was being offered as prophecy. The meetings in Corinth were characterized by chaos, and no one was being edified or instructed (see verses 5, 12, and 19). It was nuts! Paul says, desire prophesy and don’t forbid speaking in tongues, but do it decently which could be translated properly or understood as correctly/Biblically and in order.

In fact, no matter what you do… let all things be done for edification. Oikodome meaning literally to build a house. It means to be built up and improved, expanded to fulness and completion. That’s the primary responsibility of the church and each member within the church their responsibility to each other. But it must be done in order.

A. In Order

So how does Paul remedy the chaos. To remedy this, Paul instructs a number of groups to “be quiet” at certain times and under certain conditions:

• Verses 27–28a, Those who would speak in a tongue must “keep silent” if someone else is speaking or if there is no one to interpret what is said. (a number of charismatic churches are in no way following this biblical command. It fact, i’ve seen videos of where the leader or pastor is encouraging everyone at once to pray and speak to God in tongues. This is not something that one can instruct in or one can learn how to do… it’s a gift given by the Spirit.... not something to be forced on individuals. • Verses 29–31a, A prophet must “be silent” if someone else has the floor. If you were truly had the gift of prophecy, it shouldn’t be used with conceit. When we interrupt others while they are speaking, it shows that all we care about is what we have to say. That’s pride. If we ignore what someone else is showing to start thinking what we are gonna say, than that’s also wrong. In Corinth, everybody had something to say, but nobody listened and nobody check to verify the other person’s statements. All of it was again done for self and not for the edification of the church. • Verses 34–35, Women should “keep silent” to show proper submission. First it is interesting to note that women are written about during Paul’s correction of speaking in tongues, and it makes sense. If you go on youtube and type in speaking in tongues, a large majority of the people that do the speaking in tongues are lead by ladies. Paul’s point is that’s not how it should be done.

This verse and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 give us pause.

1 Timothy 2:11–12 ESV

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

This does not mean that a women should never ask a question, never pray, never speak in public or in a service.

1 Corinthians 11:5 ESV

but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

There are many other instances in scripture where women speak in public settings but do so in taking away from the leadership on men. In 1 Timothy 2:11-12, women are prohibited from teaching and exercising authority over men. In 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, women are prohibited from participating in the authoritative evaluation of any revelation given in tongues or prophecy. Doing so would involve exercising authority over men. 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 appears in a very specific context. Women are to be silent in that context.

Therefore, when tongues and prophecy are being evaluated, women are to remain silent. Interpreted in its context, 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 is not a command for women to be silent at all times in the church. Rather, it is a command, in agreement with 1 Timothy 2:11-12, that women are not to exercise authority over men in the church.

Overall it must be done in order.

B. Encouraged Decently/Properly

Now that the Corinthians understand what speaking in tongues is Paul says, “Don’t forbid speaking in tongues… but do it decently or properly. Do it right and in the right heart.

The problem again with many modern tongues speaking churches is they don’t heed this command.

Now if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God’s Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6–12). It would be exercised in the church in agreement with the command God gave through Paul, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (1 Corinthians 14:27–28). It would also be in accordance with 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

Exercising the gift of tongues in church, simply for the sake of showing everyone that you had the gift, was conceited and unprofitable.

So that now Brings us to our final thought.

Bonus: Does Speaking in Tongues Exist Today?

To answer this question we first need to go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 then after understanding the text, we need to put everything together that we have already learned to get to an understanding of it for today.

1 Corinthians 13:8 ESV

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

It is agreed upon by pretty much all Bible knowledgeable believers that tongues will cease.

Paul in these verses says that love is eternal—that it will be applicable forever and will never pass. Tongues, however, “will cease.” The Greek verb used in 1 Corinthians 13:8 means “to cease permanently,” and implies that when tongues ceased, they would never start up again.

But the real question is when?

MacArthur argues and I agree with his take that both prophecy and knowledge will pass away when the perfect comes. I believe based on the context of chapter 13 that the perfect is the eternal state and 2 because during the tribulation, the gift of prophecy will again be used which shouldn’t happen if they are gone for good by the completion of scripture. Whereas prophecy and knowledge are said to pass away, a different greek word is used of tongues for it ceasing. The greek word indicates that the tongues with cease of it’s own self, like a built in timer that will eventually end on it own. Nothing outside will cause it to cease but it will just finish.

So when will this finish. I believe it was in the apostolic age.

Evidence from Scripture:

First, the gift of tongues was a miraculous, revelatory gift, and the age of miracles and revelation ended with the apostles. They used these gifts again to confirm the gospel message but when the gift was no longer needed it vanished. So it appears that way from scripture even.

The last recorded miracles in the New Testament occurred around A.D. 58, with the healings on the island of Malta (Acts 28:7-10). From A.D. 58 to 96, when John finished the book of Revelation, no miracle is recorded. Miracle gifts like tongues and healing are mentioned only in 1 Corinthians, an early epistle. Two later epistles, Ephesians and Romans, both discuss gifts of the Spirit at length—but no mention is made of the miraculous gifts. By that time miracles were already looked on as something in the past (Heb. 2:3-4). Apostolic authority and the apostolic message needed no further confirmation. Before the first century ended, the entire New Testament had been written and was circulating through the churches.

The revelatory gifts had ceased to serve any purpose. And when the apostolic age ended with the death of the Apostle John, the signs that identified the apostles had already become useless(cf. 2 Cor. 12:12).

Second, tongues were intended as a sign to unbelieving Israel as we already discussed. Both that God was bringing judgment which happened in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, but it also signified that God had begun a new work that encompassed the Gentiles. The Lord would now speak to all nations in all languages. And so the gift of languages symbolized not only the curse of God on a disobedient nation, but also the blessing of God on the whole world.

Evidence from History:

The evidence of history also indicates that tongues have ceased. It is significant that tongues are mentioned only in the earliest books of the New Testament. Paul wrote at least twelve epistles after 1 Corinthians and never mentioned tongues again. Peter never mentioned tongues; James never mentioned tongues; John never mentioned tongues; neither did Jude. Tongues appeared only briefly in Acts and 1 Corinthians as the new message of the gospel was being spread. But once the church was established, tongues were gone. They stopped. The later books of the New Testament do not mention tongues again, and neither did anyone in the post-apostolic age.

Chrysostom and Augustine—the greatest theologians of the eastern and western churches—considered tongues obsolete. Writing in the fourth century, Chrysostom stated categorically that tongues had ceased by his time and described the gift as an obscure practice. Augustine referred to tongues as a sign that was adapted to the apostolic age. In fact, during the first five hundred years of the church, the only people who claimed to have spoken in tongues were followers of Montanus, who was branded as a heretic.

Not all agree that the early church father’s were against it. Some charismatics claim that Justis Martyr and some others supported the gifts. That is false. We don’t have time today to talk about it. Here’s an article that you can go to to see the breakdown of their claims.

The next time any significant tongues-speaking movement arose within Christianity was in the late seventeenth century. A group of militant Protestants in the Cevennes region of southern France began to prophecy, experience visions, and speak in tongues. The group, sometimes called the Cevennol prophets, is remembered for its political and military activities, not its spiritual legacy. Most of their prophecies went unfulfilled. They were rabidly anti-Roman Catholic, and advocated the use of armed force against the Roman Catholic church. Many of them were consequently persecuted and killed by Rome.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Jansenists, a group of Roman Catholic loyalists who opposed the Reformers’ teaching on justification by faith, also claimed to be able to speak in tongues in the 1700s.

Another group that practiced a form of tongues was the Shakers, an American sect with Quaker roots that flourished in the mid-1700s. Mother Ann Lee, founder of the sect, regarded herself as the female equivalent of Jesus Christ. She claimed to be able to speak in seventy-two languages. The Shakers believed sexual intercourse was sinful, even within marriage. They spoke in tongues while dancing and singing in a trancelike state.

Then in the early nineteenth century, Scottish Presbyterian pastor Edward Irving and members of his congregation practiced speaking in tongues and prophesying. Irvingite prophets often contradicted each other, their prophecies failed to come to pass, and their meetings were characterized by wild excesses. The movement was further discredited when some of their prophets admitted to falsifying prophecies and others even attributed their “giftedness” to evil spirits. This group eventually became the Catholic Apostolic Church, which taught many false doctrines, embracing several Roman Catholic doctrines and creating twelve apostolic offices.

Next truth comes from a Pentecostal who speaks against speaking in tongues as evidence of salvation.

American evangelist Charles Parham (1873-1929) was the first to identify speaking in tongues as the biblical evidence of being baptized with the Spirit. This is incredible in itself: in 1900 years of Christianity no one had made this explicit connection. Parham’s student William J. Seymour took this unique teaching to Los Angeles, where Seymour become the leader of the Asuza Street Revival, which was characterized by intense spiritual experiences. But when Parham visited, he was disappointed. He denounced the meetings, in part because the ecstatic speech he heard was not human languages. According to Parham, speaking in tongues should correspond to what happened in Acts 2- believers miraculously speaking known human languages for the purpose of evangelization.

All of those supposed manifestations of tongues were identified with groups that were heretical, fanatical, or otherwise unorthodox. The judgment of biblically orthodox believers who were their contemporaries was that all those groups were aberrations. Surely that should also be the assessment of any Christian who is concerned with truth. Thus, we conclude that from the end of the apostolic era to the beginning of the twentieth century there were no genuine occurrences of the New Testament gift of tongues. They had ceased, as the Holy Spirit said they would (1 Cor. 13:8).

If the gift were still today, there would be no need for missionaries to attend language school, but this does not appear to be the case.

From these observations, the gift of tongues is not for today.

That does not mean that God doesn’t still perform miracles today. It just means that God the Spirit no longer dispenses these gifts today because these sign gifts have fulfilled their function.

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