In our last lesson, I shared with you about an experience I had from my childhood of attending a church where the children were asked to come up to the front. And during this event, various leaders in the church began speaking in what they claimed to be tongues. And as a child, I found this extremely puzzling. I couldn't understand why people were speaking in a way that I couldn't understand. And it was just, I left that kind of baffled. That was my takeaway from that. However, I've come to learn that this is a common practice in many churches today. Well, at the top of your notes, you'll notice that we're on part five of this section on spiritual gifts. where we've had the opportunity to study from scripture just what the gifts are for the body of Christ. And in lesson 27, we came to the gift of tongues where we were able to touch on the modern tongues movement to some degree. But today we're gonna dive a bit deeper into the spiritual gift. In fact, from our lesson today, we're gonna discover this truth. And that is that there was a proper and orderly manner in which tongues were to be used in the church. There was a properly and orderly manner. in which tongues were to be used in the church. As we already saw in our last lesson, the passages in the Bible where we find tongues are found in the Gospel of Mark, in the Book of Acts, as well as in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 through 14. And before we go any further, I want us to notice that this gift in your notes is the second part to our study on this gift. In fact, that leads us to The same gift, the gift of tongues, part two. The gift of tongues, part two. And as we begin to study the second part on the subject of tongues, we have before us two more components that will help us to understand the reason why we find tongues in the scripture in the first place. And before we jump into that fourth component, I wanna give credit to where credit's due. My personal notes from Frontier School of the Bible, they've been a major blessing to me in putting together these next two components. The notes that I have in my office were put together by John Miles, and Nelson Miles taught that, taught that class to my class at Frontier 15 years ago. It's hard to believe, 15 years ago. I was talking with a good friend of mine recently, he was in my class, and he was telling me he's got some gray hairs on his head. I said, well, I believe that, because I'm starting to lose some hair on the top of my head. You know, time flies, and things change with time. I'd like to ask that you turn with me to 1 Corinthians 13, 1 Corinthians 13. We're gonna begin our time there, 1 Corinthians 13. Verse 8, 1 Corinthians 13, verse 8. We've already viewed this verse in reference to the gift of prophecy, but now we also see it in relation to another gift. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 8 says, love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away. If there are tongues, they will cease. And I want us to remember that in the middle of these three chapters, on service in 1 Corinthians. Paul talks about the importance of love. We touched on that in our last lesson. The gift of prophecy will be done away, tongues will cease, but love, a fruit of the Spirit, will continue on throughout this church age of grace. And so the gifts of the Spirit are important. And do you remember how Paul referred to them in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31? He said of love that love is a still more excellent way. I love that. Yet, when it comes to the gift of tongues, there was a proper and orderly manner in which tongues were to be used in the church. I gave that challenge in our last lesson to read 1 Corinthians 12-14, and I trust that you've had that opportunity to do that. Robert Gromacki wrote in his book, The Modern Tongues Movement, this, the gift of tongues must be viewed as a minor gift, which was necessary to the infancy of the church, but which ceased within God's purpose when God's revelation was complete. This was a book that highly influenced John Miles, and that book is this one right here. It's called The Modern Tongues Movement by Robert Gromacki. Just an outstanding book and I want to recommend it for further study on this subject if you would have more questions or you would want to know about every reference. He goes through every reference where you find the tongues in the New Testament. And so it's a very helpful tool. And so if you are here today or you're listening online and you agree with everything that we've stated this morning on this spiritual gift, I'd encourage you to read it. If you don't agree, I'd encourage you to read it. You can go on Amazon, you can find that. It's actually a bit older, and so you can't get it on Kindle, but you can purchase the book on Amazon. That's where I got my copy, anyhow. Anyway, that's enough of that. That brings us to our fourth component today. And our fourth component is the character of tongues, the character of tongues. Now, tongues were an actual language. And if you do a careful comparison between the Book of Acts and 1 Corinthians, you'll discover that the tongues that are mentioned in Acts are the same as those mentioned in 1 Corinthians. In other words, the tongues mentioned in Acts and 1 Corinthians are the same in character. They're the same in character. The Greek word for tongue is glaso, or glosa, which refers to the physical organ and speech that the physical organ produced, and that word tongue is found 103 times in the Old Testament. And in each case it refers either to the physical organ or intelligible speech or language. So the word tongue is found at least 50 times in the New Testament and would refer to the same things. I think that the key here is intelligent speech. So if you have your Bibles, go with me. I've got you in 1 Corinthians. Let's go back to Acts. We're going to go to Acts 2 for a moment. And we know Acts 2 is a significant chapter because we have the birth of the church. Acts 2, the birth of the church. And in verse 4, we'll set the stage for tongues. I just want to note here a couple of things. Acts 2, verse 4, we read, And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now, notice what happens next. I'll read verse five, but pick up on what it says in verse six. Verse five says, now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, what was the sound? Speaking in tongues. When the sound occurred, the crowd came together, and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language." So it is an accurate assessment to say that these tongues from verse 4, based on the context of this passage, they're intelligent. They're intelligent. We want to note that. They were intelligent. It was an intelligent language. This was intelligent speech. People heard, they understood it, and verse 6 says they were bewildered. Look with me at verse 8. It says, and how is it that each hear them in our own language to which we were born? And then we can head over to verse 11. Cretans and Arabs, we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God. One charismatic pamphlet stated that they did not preach the gospel in several languages. But there's a little phrase at the end of verse 11 which says that they were speaking of the mighty deeds of God. The mighty deeds of God. Well, what did Peter do when he preached the mighty deeds of God in the same context? Peter pointed his audience right to the person and the work of Jesus Christ. So you had better believe that the mighty deeds of God included the gospel. It included the gospel. I mean, you just have to carry this throughout the book of Acts to know that this is intelligent speech. In Acts chapter 10, verse 46, the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius spoke in tongues in 1046. We read, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Well, how did they know that they were exalting God? Or was it that they were cursing God? Right? Well, they knew because the tongues were intelligent. They were not mystical or magical. They were real languages. Well, some might say, well, what about angels? Angels have an untranslatable language to the human ear. And they'll go to 1 Corinthians 13, verse one, where we read, if I speak with the tongues of men and angels. Well, who says that angels have an untranslatable language? Do you remember Daniel was visited by an angel in Daniel 10? Did the angel who appeared to Daniel speak to Daniel in an untranslatable language or in a way that Daniel could understand? Let's take a look. Daniel chapter 10 verse 11 says, O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you. Well, who says that, well, a number of years ago, I taught through the book of Daniel here and found a great principle from that passage where Daniel was visited by that angel. And the principle was this, as God's people, the one thing that gives us strength in this spiritual battle is that of carefully understanding the word of God. You know, there is a daily spiritual battle taking place that has been waged in order to prevent God's people from having a clear, concise understanding of God's word. And if you don't believe that point, read Daniel chapter 10. I gotta tell you, out of all the chapters I've studied in the scripture, Daniel chapter 10 is probably the strangest chapter. I'd encourage you to read that. That is probably the strangest chapter there. This angel had a message for Daniel and had actually been prevented from getting that message to Daniel. There was a spiritual battle taking place there with the angels. Well, what about the angel who spoke to Mary? Was Mary able to understand what the angel told her? Take a look with me, Luke chapter 1, 31 and 32. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. Again, this is not some mystical language that you can't understand. So then what about 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 2? Which says, for one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. And there it is, right? Many will take that verse. They're gonna build a practical theology around that verse. They'll use this verse alongside Romans chapter eight, verse 26, which says, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. I just want to say right off the bat here, there's no connection between these two verses at all. There's no connection between 1 Corinthians 14 and Romans 8. The only connection that is there is a tyrannical one that seeks to pull verses from their context to prove an unbiblical point. Furthermore, in Romans 8, verse 26, we read that these are groanings too deep for words. Well, the King James Version says, groanings which cannot be uttered. Yet, what did we just see in Acts chapter 2? That the tongues are utterances, they are understandable. Biblical tongues are meant to convey meaning. We see that. So, it would be arbitrary to say that these groanings that are too deep for words are actual tongues. And again, 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 is a correction to the church in Corinth. And when you study the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 2, you discover that the Corinthian believers were using this gift in the wrong way. And that's the key to understanding that verse in chapter 14, verse two. The Corinthian believers were using the gift of tongues in the wrong way within the early church, which was why the apostle Paul gave so much instruction on this gift. I mean, all you have to do is read through those passages and he's giving them careful instructions on how that gift was to function within the early church. Now, if they were using this gift in the way that God intended then, there would be no need for this instruction. I mean, Paul had a lot to tackle. In his writings within the New Testament, Paul provides instruction and encouragement in the appropriate places. However, it's important to acknowledge that he does not give instruction where it is unnecessary and despite this many are quick to disregard the fact that he is indeed providing instructions on how to use this gift in this particular context. Now that naturally leads us right into our fifth component and that fifth component is the purpose of tongues, the purpose of tongues. Now that we have seen that the tongues of acts and 1 Corinthians are the same in character, we really need to ask ourselves, what is the purpose of tongues? We might say it this way, why tongues in the first place, right? Well, it is without a doubt that if you track this gift throughout scripture, you'll find that it was to convey information to others whose information you did not know. From the book of Acts, it's evident that the gift of tongues was used to convey a message to people who spoke foreign languages, enabling them to understand. In 1 Corinthians 14, verse 18, Paul states, I thank my God I speak in tongues more than all of you. Paul utilized the gift of tongues in his missionary work, speaking to people whose language he had not learned. However, in the following verse, verse 19, he emphasizes that in the context of the church, he would rather speak a few words that others could understand, rather than speaking in tongues extensively. So this suggests that Paul primarily used his gift of tongues in missionary settings rather than in established churches where people spoke the same language as him. I mean, he makes this point very clear when he writes, however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also rather than 10,000 words in a tongue. And then you can carry the instructions given that Paul had for the Corinthian church on how it was that they were to use this gift within the early church. Verse 19 is a simple yet effective game-winning shot that details the intent for speaking in tongues. Look with me at what follows. In 1 Corinthians 14, verse 22, we find that a correct use of tongues was for unbelievers. In 1 Corinthians 14, verses 23 through 26, we discover that the goal was for the edification of who? The church. The edification is for the church, not for the confusion of those who might be visiting for the unbelievers. Again, when I visited that church that spoke in tongues, I was thoroughly confused as a child. In 1 Corinthians 14 verse 27, we learn that if tongues were going to be used in the early church, then they needed to speak one at a time. There were stipulations. One at a time, which is what is meant by that phrase, each in turn. And at the most, no more than three were to speak at once. They were also to have an interpreter. Again, when we visited that church, that had people speaking in tongues, there were more than three people speaking in tongues, there wasn't an interpreter at all. Now I'm just looking at some of the requirements that Paul gave to the Corinthian believers within that foundational period of the church before the word of God was completed, and yet so many today are okay or content to brush these requirements aside when it comes to speaking in tongues. And I believe that at the end of 1 Corinthians 14, we have something profound. In this discussion to the early church before the completion of the scripture, Paul writes, but all things must be done properly and in orderly manner. Well, that was greater in the mind of the Apostle Paul as the Spirit of God directed him to write what he writes about the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. Was it the gifts of the Spirit or the fruit of the Spirit? Paul placed more emphasis on the fruit of the Spirit over the gifts. Reality is the modern tongues movement today does the opposite. When Paul wrote about the fruit of the Spirit, one of those fruits was self-control. And the simple fact of the matter is many ministries and churches today lack this fruit of the Spirit as they practice tongues within their congregations. Well, that brings us to another purpose, and that purpose was that tongues are for a sign. Tongues are for a sign. Nowhere is this clearer than when we read 1 Corinthians 14.22, which says, So then, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe. Who believe? Now if you read 1 Corinthians 14 22 then you'll notice just one verse earlier that there's a reference to the book of Isaiah and Paul quotes Isaiah 28 verse 11. We're in the context. Isaiah's point is that because Israel would not listen to God in their own language, that God would get the nation's attention by forcing them to hear the voice of a foreign language, the Assyrians, who would conquer the ten northern tribes of Israel. Well, in the days of Isaiah, foreign languages were a sign of judgment for Israel. And the pattern was repeating itself. a foreign, just as foreign languages had been a sign of God's disappointment with Israel in the past, so too this pattern was repeating itself in the early church. The ability to speak foreign languages that someone had never learned was one signed gift that confirmed the apostles. Now, this last year I heard a pastor by the name of Greg Locke, he used a text like Mark 16 to prove that tongues are for the present today. And if you would, turn with me to Mark chapter 16. I have you in the book of Acts. Let's go back to Mark, Mark chapter 16. Verse 17, Mark 16 verse 17. Where we read. These signs will accompany those who have believed. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues." Now, Greg Locke said the pronoun they that is connected to casting out demons and speaking in new tongues is a reference to all believers. That is his claim. But in fact, he went on to say in that sermon that I listened to, these are his words, quote, All of us have a level of faith and authority to lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover," end quote. This was his claim. Well, what's he saying? By interpreting the pronoun they as a reference point for all believers, Greg Locke is stating here something very unbiblical. Greg is making the claim that the sign gifts are for all believers. However, in the context, Jesus was speaking with who? Who's he speaking with? The disciples. Who would become what? The apostles, right? Look with me at verse 14, it says, In the context, Jesus is speaking directly to his personal disciples who would become the apostles. Then in Mark 16 verse 20 we read, Now notice those words, and confirm the word by the signs that followed. What this means is that the signs were the attestation that the word they spoke was the word of authority from these apostles to whom God had committed a commission. All you have to do is work your way through the book of Acts to find that those special signed gifts were used by the apostles themselves. to authenticate the messages that God had for them to give to the people. But there are those instances where we find in the Bible some who are not apostles using these signed gifts. Take, for instance, in the book of Acts, a guy by the name of Stephen. And we know Stephen in Acts 6, verse 8. We read, and Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. And if you're like me, you're thinking, well, wait a minute. Stephen wasn't one of the apostles. So then, how was he able to use some of these signed gifts? It must be that we can throw the context of Mark 16 out of the window, right? And we can safely conclude then that those signed gifts were then for everyone. I mean, after all, Stephen wasn't one of the apostles, and here he's using the signed gifts. What about our favorite evangelist in the book of Acts, Philip? The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. I mean, now we're in a real pickle. Greg Locke says that all of us have a level of faith and authority to lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. They will recover. It's what he says. That is that we all have access to these signed gifts. And since Philip the Evangelist and Stephen in the book of Acts had access to these signed gifts, then we must have access to those signed gifts as well. I just want to say, let's just hold our horses for a minute. It is without a doubt that there is a very strong connection between the apostles and those signed gifts. I believe that a very careful analysis of the signed gifts that the exercise of powers by non-apostles could still be a factor in the confirmation of God's approval of the original apostles. For example, if those led to the Lord by Peter and or those who ministered under Peter's supervision had wonderful gifts, this reflected back on Peter as a sign that God had indeed made Peter an apostle. It's even possible to assume that the ability for non-apostles to perform signed gifts had to be bestowed by an apostle. In Romans 1, verse 11, we read, for I long to see you so that I may impart some, what, spiritual gift to you that you may be established. Now, Paul would even write to Timothy later on in 2 Timothy 1, verse 6, for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. So it's very possible that some of these types of verses may be an indirect reference to the signed gifts that others may have received from the apostles. And if that is the case, then the performance of signed gifts by non-apostles was still the same as a confirmation of an apostle. So with the completion of scripture, we now walk by sight, by faith, right? We walk by faith. Today in this Church Age of Grace, as it begins to wind down before the return of Jesus Christ for his bride, which I believe is going to be soon, I believe that day is coming very soon, we contend that it is the Word of God that stands alone as the sole authority in all areas of life and practice. In Romans 10, verse 17, we read, So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So faith today in this church age of grace does not come by signs and wonders. Faith does not come from speaking in tongues. We have in fact been in and out of 1 Corinthians in chapter 12 verse 28, out of all the gifts listed, it is worth noting that the last gift on that list is tongues. In chapter 14, verse 19, Paul would rather use five words over 10,000 in a tongue, which in my opinion says it all. After studying 1 Corinthians and Paul's exhortation to use the gifts within the church in the right way, John Miles made a great point. He stated that in light of this, in light of 1 Corinthians 12 through 14, it is difficult to understand the tremendous emphasis men want to place on speaking in tongues. Paul was definitely playing it down, except it be used properly. Well, as we close up our time together, I want to read to you an interesting article that was put out by Christianity Today in 1971. But here are some statements from that article. I found this fascinating. I thought I'd read this for you this morning as we close up. A scientific study of tongues concludes that utterances of people tested did not have the characteristics regarded as essential to human language. And in a tape experiment, tongue speakers were found to disagree on the meaning of what others said. The federally financed study showed the tendency of tongue speakers to be more submissive, suggestible, and dependent in the presence of an authority figure. It is generally not the speaking in tongues that brings the great feelings of euphoria that these people experience, rather it is the submission to the authority of the leader. The research project was initiated at the Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and the findings were based largely upon tests and interviews conducted with 26 people who spoke in tongues and 13 who did not. Linguist William Samarin stated that there were certain prominent tongues speakers who had visited. Whole groups of glossolists would speak in his style of speech. The report listed features that linguistic experts say characterized human language and argued that recordings of people speaking in tongues did not display enough of these features to warrant the conclusion that the utterances were any kind of human language known or unknown, living or dead. I wanted to bring that article to show up the contrast between the real understandable languages of the Bible, what we see in the New Testament, versus the languages today that in some cases may not be identified as a language of any kind. Remember, when it came to this gift, It was a proper and orderly manner in which tongues were to be used in the church. Now, that is especially true after we've observed these two components on tongues in our time together. And as I mentioned this already, I want to mention it again. I highly recommend for further reading on the subject, pick up The Modern Tongues Movement by Robert Gromacki. if you find yourself perhaps wanting to dive a little bit deeper into that subject. But towards the end of that book, Robert Gromacki made a great point. This is what he said, someone once penned the maxim, the man who has an experience is never at the mercy of a man who has an argument. This is true to a certain extent, but a religious experience in itself can never be the final test of its genuineness. The Bible must forever be the basis of faith and practice. It must always judge experiences to determine their validity. So the Bible must forever be the basis of faith and practice, and I couldn't agree more on that. So let me close in a word of prayer. In our next lesson, Lord willing, we are going to look at the gift of exhortation, the gift of faith, the gift of mercy, and just some tremendous gifts that God has gifted individuals in this church age of grace with. We will have that privilege just to see what each of those gifts are. and what the scripture has to say about those. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, we give you praise and we want to thank you for, again, for the work of the Holy Spirit, that you would give to your church different gifts for the edification of the body and for your glory. We give you praise. Thank you for what we've been able to study this morning. Father, we give you praise that you are not a God of confusion, but a God of understanding. You want your people to carefully understand and to search out the Scriptures. And Father, we give you praise that we can have that opportunity. Lord we give you this time father if any are here today or have are listening online have never made that decision to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior the scripture is clear that Jesus Christ came to this world died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again three days later never to die again in that by placing his our faith in him alone for salvation. We can be saved. Father, if any have never, any listening to this have never made that decision, that relationship with you begins with salvation and recognizing that we are in great need as sinners. We cannot make ourselves right with you by our own works of righteousness, but that Christ did all the work for us on the cross. Thank you for that hope that we have and we praise you for the eternal security that is ours, that we're gonna have the opportunity to look at in our next hour. We give you praise, in your name we pray, amen.