From its very inception, the Free Presbyterian Church has rejected altogether, as a counterfeit of the New Testament gift, the modern Pentecostal and charismatic practice of tongues speaking, whether in public or in private. Consequently, our Presbytery has ruled, and I believe wisely so, that no member of the Free Presbyterian Church is to practice tongues, whether in public or in private. And it has gone farther to say and to rule that those who do so are automatically required to resign from the membership of their own congregation and therefore from the whole denomination if there is no repentance, if there is no desire to abandon this practice. Now that ruling is binding. on all three Presbyterian congregations and is binding on every member of our churches. Now by many who practice tongue speaking, this ruling will of course be considered very harsh and very severe. And among others, it will be misunderstood because they do not practice tongue speaking themselves and therefore do not really understand what is going on. in this area, and they may think that that kind of ruling is just too severe altogether to ask people to resign from membership when it may be found out that they are practising the use of tongues in its modern sense. Well, in spite of what people may think about this ruling, this is the stand of the Free Presbyterian Church, and as I said just a moment or two ago, I believe it is a very wise ruling, one that is designed to promote the well-being and the safeguarding of the church in a day like this. Because no one can deny that there is a tremendous interest in this matter of speaking in tongues. Furthermore, no one denies that there is great prevalence in this practice or regarding this practice in many, many areas. And that prevalence is due to the rise of Pentecostalism at the beginning of the 20th century, and then the later development of the charismatic movement, a movement that has infiltrated many, many churches. It began, of course, within the Pentecostal churches, then it spread to the Roman Catholic Church, to liberal denominations, It is spread also into many New Evangelical churches, churches that claim to believe the Bible and stand for Christ. But as the term New Evangelical signifies, they do not believe in separation from movements and from systems that are very much in the direction of apostasy and in the direction of union with the Roman Catholic Church and the formation of this one world church. So this phenomenon is found in many, many churches and of course has spread like wildfire across this nation. It is indeed a very prevalent feature of church after church in this land of the United States. Now the feature that is common to all of these particular congregations and churches is this tongues experience. And it is very important to underline that. It may seem elementary to make that statement, but it's important to underline it because among those who claim to be Bible-believing, there are many who practice speaking in tongues. And yet the alarming fact is that the tongues that they use are the same as those that are practiced by many whose doctrinal teaching is totally unscriptural and is even opposed to the truth. That means that when professively born-again believers assert that their tongues' experience is of the Holy Spirit, they then must concede that the same is true for all who have an identical experience, but whose doctrinal beliefs are opposed, diametrically opposed, to the Word of God. I want you to understand that. Please follow what I am saying here. Many who are Bible-believing, as they profess, speak with tongues. But their very same experience is that of the Roman Catholic priest, or the Roman Catholic bishop, or whoever you want to mention, or the liberal Episcopal preacher, because this is found in many, many denominations. And this is the common denominator, and that means that the professing Bible-believer has to concede. that his experience is just the same as the Catholic priest or whoever it might be. Or to put it the other way around, he has to concede that the experience of the priest is the same as his. And that, of course, leads to another situation. That means that those who are involved in tongues speaking, who claim to be Bible believers, then have to concede, well, if the priest's experience is the same as mine, or the liberal Episcopal minister's experience is the same as mine, then I have to join in fellowship with these other people and these other churches. And of course that is exactly what happens. How could they refuse to join in fellowship with other churches or other people whose experience in this matter of speaking in tongues is the very same as their own? They can't refuse and they don't refuse. And indeed men and women, this tongue speaking phenomenon has given life to the ecumenical movement. It is what you might call the catalyst that has been brought into play to bring together these churches in their desire for unity and for the formation of a one world religion. The Tone-Speaking Phenomenon is now the leading factor in many, many areas in this church unity movement. And that means that the evangelical, the professing Bible believer has to conceive at this point, this man has the same experience as me, therefore I cannot refuse to have fellowship with him. And it is therefore promoting the building of the one world church. Let me say this to you. There was a time when the ecumenical movement was just about dead. And then the charismatic movement gave it life. That is a fact of modern church history. And we cannot deny that. And of course, it wouldn't be denied by those who are fully involved in it. They love it. They promote it. They say it is now the Holy Spirit giving life to the church unity movement. The Holy Spirit has given this gift to all these different churches and denominations and preachers and so on. And therefore, it is the sign that their unity movement is of God. That's how deceptive the whole thing is. And we need to understand these matters at the very outset. Now, I say to you tonight that due to these facts that I have just mentioned, from a biblical point of view, a truly biblical point of view, a huge doubt, at least, hangs over the tongue speaking experience. And that means that we have got to examine this experience in the light of the Word of God because no movement or no development in the religious area of life can be fully understood or can be fully dealt with in preaching or teaching unless we come to what the Bible says on this matter. And therefore tonight we come to the Word of God. It must be our standard for making judgment on this movement of tongue speaking. We must come to the Word of God because the Word of God is the standard for judging everything. spiritual experience and phenomenon. And it is the Word of God alone that will give to us the truth on this matter of speaking with tongues. Let me just point you, or turn you quickly to 1 John chapter 4, and look with me at what John says in that chapter as he gives a warning to the people of God about these things, about spiritual phenomena and movements. He says in 1 John 4, 1, Beloved, Believe not every spirit, but try or test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And the first six verses of this chapter are designed to warn the Lord's people of dangers and errors, the spirit of antichrist and so on, and encourages the saints not to believe everything that they hear, but to test things out. Use the standard of the Word, because that's really what verse 6 is saying. It says, We are of God, he that knoweth us, or knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. John speaks as an apostle with authority when he says, We are of God. He is talking about New Testament revelation. And he is saying that those who know God will listen to the New Testament, that those who don't know God are going to reject the New Testament. And that's how we know the spirit of truth or the spirit of error. The believer is not to be in the dark about these things. That's how plainly we can put it. The Word of God tells us here that there are things that we're not to believe, and therefore, We have to use discernment, we have to use discrimination and it is the Word of God alone that will give us the judgement that we need on such a thing even as speaking with tongues. So a study of the Word of God which the scriptures that address this subject of speaking with tongues is going to provide us with an answer to this whole miraculous phenomenon as many would call it. of speaking with tongues. And what we want to do as we come to the Word of God is to look at what the New Testament says about the theme regarding those times when it came to the apostles, when it was experienced by them, when they wrote about it. Those are the scriptures that we must examine. And indeed we find that really there are very few scriptures that address the subject, although those which do make it clear what the phenomenon really was. Now here in Acts chapter 2, we have the first mention in the Bible, and of course in the New Testament, the first mention of this gift being experienced. That's what I want to underline. There are other references prior to this where it refers to tongues. Indeed, there are some in the Old Testament There will, as you will find as I preach in this for a few more times, you will find that there are actually three main Old Testament Scriptures that deal with speaking in tongues, believe it or not, or address that question and this subject. But here is the first place in the New Testament where it is experienced. Let me just say to you, the Lord Jesus Christ never spoke with tongues. John the Baptist, never spoke with tongues. And yet we are told by the tongue speaker today that it is the sign of being filled with the Holy Ghost. The Bible says that Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Ghost without measure. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. John the Baptist never spoke with tongues. He never wrought one miracle. And yet he was full of the Holy Ghost. The Lord Jesus, as I said, filled with the Spirit without limitation. If any preacher, speaking to the subject of men preaching, if any preacher knew the fullness of the Holy Ghost, it was Christ Himself in a way that no other man or preacher has ever known that. And yet he never spoke with tongues. Isn't that strange? In fact, He addressed the disciples and said to them that they would be filled with the Spirit and they would speak with tongues, and yet He never spoke with tongues. So, there is something wrong immediately when men claim, as they do, that this is the sign of being filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking with tongues. Here is the first experience of it in Acts chapter 2. As we look at this chapter, we find that it actually gives us the pattern for the proper interpretation of the meaning. of this experience in other passages where it is referred to as well. There are some other passages which we're going to look at, and there you'll read of people speaking with tongues, but Acts chapter 2 is the key passage, and I want to really get that home to your heart at once, immediately. We must look at Acts 2, we must understand what happened here, and when we do, then we have the pattern set to help us interpret other places. in Acts and especially in 1 Corinthians 14, which is of course the great chapter dealing with this whole subject because of an abuse of the gift in the Corinthian church. That's why Paul had to give a whole chapter to this tongue speaking Christian when he wrote that first epistle to the church at Corinth because they were abusing the gift. 2 Corinthians 14 is not a directive as to how to speak with tongues. 1 Corinthians 14 is actually Paul trying to persuade the Corinthians that they were entirely wrong in how they were using the gift. Of course, they were using the real gift, as I will show to you hopefully tonight to some degree. So Acts 2 is very, very important. And there are some basic points of importance that must be understood from this chapter in order to an understanding of the whole subject. And one of those basic points, one of those foundational facts, is that the New Testament gift of tongues was the Spirit-given ability to declare the gospel in a language never studied before by the man who was using that language. And that, of course, was a language other than his own ordinary language, the one that he spoke every day. That's what the New Testament gift is according to Acts chapter 2. Now, it can be proved that every New Testament reference to tongue speaking is a description of the preaching of the gospel in a language of men and women in that day and age. Since that can be proved, then my friend, the whole modern tongue speaking phenomenon collapses immediately. Because the one thing the tongue speaker will say today is, my tongue, this language that I am using and speaking with tongues, is not an earthly language. So if it can be proved, and it can, that the New Testament gift was the gift to speak or preach the gospel in a language other than the person who was speaking for himself, one that God gave to him to use in preaching the gospel. If that can be proved, then the whole phenomenon today collapses immediately. So let us go to the Word of God with these thoughts in mind. And notice first of all from Acts chapter 2 that the tongues in this chapter are human languages. That is the first simple point that we must establish. They are human languages. Now this is the first example, the first experience of the practice of speaking with tongues. It is therefore an important passage. And if we can show that these are us, the languages, then it becomes untenable to teach that this is not the uniform practice throughout the New Testament. Please understand that. If men look at Acts 2 and say, well this is earthly languages, and then they go on to say, but in other places it's not earthly languages, well that kind of application of the mind shows that there's not really a firm grasp at all as to what is being said in Acts chapter 2. If this is the phenomenon of a man being able to speak a language that he has never learned, a human language, then that sets the pattern. So, look with me here at some of the verses. Look at verse 4. It says, They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. There is the summary of Luke regarding the experience that these men had when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They spoke with other tongues. Now go to verse 8 and notice what is said there. Those who are listening said this, How here we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born. Then go farther down to verse 9 through to verse 11, and there you have a list of the different nations that were represented there in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. There are actually 15 nations mentioned there. Look at the end of verse 11. We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. Now what does that mean to you, as you simply read these verses? Are you reading here of a heavenly language, so-called, or an earthly language? Are you reading of the tongues of the nations represented here, or are you reading of something else? It doesn't take anyone with a lot of intelligence, really, to understand that here we are most certainly looking at the concept of men having the gift to preach in languages that they never learned. and they are the languages of the people who were represented. This is a basic fact set forth here in Acts chapter 2. Now, in verse 8, if you look at it again, it says there, or sorry, verse 6, it says, When this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded, because every man heard them speak in his own language. The word for language there in that verse is a word from which we get the English word dialect. So it's even more precise in verse 6. Here we are shown that the apostles have the ability to preach in the very dialects of these nations. Now, in a given nation you may have a number of dialects spoken. In fact, if you go to India or a country like that today, you will find that in the one nation there are many, many different dialects spoken. And that's the kind of phenomenon that we have here. We find that these people, as they came together, as they listened to the apostles preach, they didn't merely hear the broad national language being spoken, they heard the very precise dialects of various areas being used by these men without them having to learn those languages. But the point the whole way through here is that these were truly human languages. That is beyond doubt. It's beyond understanding. Put it the other way, anyone can say this is not a case of the apostles speaking in the languages of those who are represented that day in Jerusalem. That means that Acts 2 does set the pattern for later references to this gift of speaking with tongues. I've only dealt with this briefly. I don't believe there's any need to spend any more time in Acts 2 at this point to show you that these indeed are human languages. But let's go to some other references. Acts chapter 10 and then Acts chapter 19. Acts 10 verse 45. We have Peter at the house of Cornelius preaching the Word of God. And notice what happened in Acts chapter 10 verse 45, And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because among the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Now, as you look at this verse, verse 46, notice the word tongues is the very same word as in Acts chapter 2. Does it not mean, therefore, that what happened to Cornelius and his household was the same as happened to the apostles in the day of Pentecost? The same experience? They were suddenly able to speak with other tongues, other languages. God gave these Gentiles this gift as well. And if you look with me a little farther here at verse 47, it says, Can any man forbid water that thee should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" Now go to chapter 11 and verse 15 where the Apostle Peter is recounting what happened at the household of Cornelius. Chapter 11, verse 15, and it says there, And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning. What does he mean there? At the beginning, the Dea Pentecost. the time when things really began to happen and the gospel began to go out from Jerusalem into all the world. And here Peter testifies that Cornelius and his household had the very same experience in the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them. He says, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us. But in chapter 10, verse 46, it says that when the Holy Ghost fell on them, they began to speak with other tongues. Here Peter says it was the very same experience as they had had on the day of Pentecost. Now what do you conclude from that? You conclude that the tongues that were practiced by Cornelius and his household, and whoever was there, was the very same gift as the apostles had on the day of Pentecost. It is clear. It is plain. This is not something different. This is the same gift, the same experience. The testimony is clearly set forth. by the Spirit of God through Peter. He fell on them, he says, on these Gentiles as he fell on us. And the inference is that the tongues with which they spoke were the same gift of tongues as the apostles themselves had had. And then look at chapter 19 and verse 6. Here is the only other reference in the book of Acts to speaking with tongues. Acts 19 verse 6, And when Paul laid his hands upon them, The Holy Ghost came on them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. May I point out to you, and we'll deal with this more closely in another message, but you will find, as it says in that verse, that speaking with tongues is a form of prophesying. They spoke with tongues and prophesied and preached. Think of what we read tonight in Acts chapter 2. You remember when they spoke with tongues and the people were puzzled as to what was going on and they actually claimed that the apostles were drunk. Peter went on to explain that they were not drunk. And he said very clearly there in his message that day, this is it that was spoken by the prophet Joel, that upon the Lord's people in the last days God would pour out His Spirit and they shall prophesy. Notice that. It doesn't say God will pour out His Spirit and they will speak with tongues. Well, that's what happened as regards the actual phenomenon. But Peter, in quoting Joel, says, as Joel does say, God will pour out His Spirit and they shall prophesy. Now, what does prophesy mean? It means to tell forth the Word of God. What were the apostles doing in the day of Pentecost when they spoke with tongues? They were preaching the Gospel. They were telling forth the Word of God. They were prophesying. For that's what prophesying means. It is to tell forth God's Word. And here you find prophesying and speaking with tongues brought together in Acts 19, verse 6. They spoke with tongues and prophesied, which means they preached. Which means they preached the gospel in other tongues, other languages, to those whom they were able to address. there in the city of Ephesus. The language here in Acts 19.6 is identical with what was found in the previous Acts passages, either Acts 10 or Acts 2. And that suggests very strongly in itself that what we are looking at in Acts 19 is the same as we have in Caesarea and the same as we have on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. These are the only three places in the book of Acts where you read of men speaking with tongues. And it's clear and plain from every one of them that it's a case of men being able to preach the gospel in human languages, earthly languages, that they had never learned. But God gave them the gift immediately, without studying those languages, to preach In that tongue, this was what the gift was all about. And as Acts 2 is clear in that, then we look at these other passages and we find the very same thing there. When you come to Acts 10 or Acts 19, there is absolutely no ground at all in those passages for saying, this is something different. This is not the same as Acts 2. There is no ground for saying. Every piece of evidence tells you is the very same as Acts chapter 2. It is another case of speaking in the languages of those addressed the gospel, telling forth the Word of God. But let's go to 1 Corinthians 14. It is the controversial chapter with regard to the tongues question. And this chapter, of course, is seized very eagerly by the Pentecostalists for proof. of his tongue-speaking experience. Now, it is obvious that in the Corinthian church, tongues were being practiced. It was a very prevalent matter there among the Lord's people in the church at Corinth. But the question is, what was the nature of the tongues at Corinth? Let me say this, that many, even some who are opposed to the charismatic movement, and the modern tongues phenomenon, even some in that group, will actually teach that the tongues in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 is the experience of a gift that is altogether different from what you have in Acts, either Acts 2 or Acts 10. or Acts chapter 19. There are those who will teach that very, very strongly. And as I say, many of them are opposed to the modern tongue-speaking movement. But they also will say, oh yes, first sentence 14, this is a different matter, this is a different experience. This is not the same as Acts chapter 2. Now, I find that very sad. Because once you go that far, and say that 1 Corinthians 14 is altogether different from Acts 2. Some will concede, as I say, that Acts 2 is human language, but this is not the same. Once you go that length, you have already handed the battle over to the Pentecostalists. Or you make it much more difficult to prove that what he is doing today is unscriptural. Because those who say that they are opposed to the modern tongue speaking movement, but who then say that 1st Corinthians 14 is altogether different from Acts 2, say that this is a heavenly language or some kind of a static speaking that was different altogether. And once you go that far, then you have really made things difficult for yourself in opposing the Pentecostal movement. and in exposing what they are doing. I want you to understand that I personally take the stand, and it is the stand of our church as far as I am aware, that is all our ministers, that 1 Corinthians 14 is also dealing with earthly human languages. The very same gift, the very same ability to speak the gospel in the languages of the people Without learning those languages, the only difference is in the church at Corinth, the gift was being abused. That's the difference. And that's why Paul writes here as he does. Now with those remarks, let's look here at 1 Corinthians chapter 14 in the time that remains tonight. And we must seek to prove to you that these also are human, earthly languages. Let me say this to you first of all. If the tongues at Corinth were a different gift, why is that not specified in the book of Acts? And what I mean by that is simply this. You read the book of Acts carefully, and you will find that the formation of the Corinthian church occurred before Acts chapter 19. It occurred in chapter 18. In Acts chapter 19, you have their deficits. This occurrence of speaking with tongues is obviously the same as in Acts 10, as in Acts chapter 2. What I'm putting to you is, if at Corinth there was another gift, a different kind of tongue speaking experience, why is that not specified in Acts 18 where the Holy Ghost has recorded the formation of the Corinthian church? The reason why I put that to you this way, and that way is simply this. When these early churches were formed, There was immediately the experience of the New Testament gifts. You see that at Caesarea. You see it in Ephesus in Acts 19. As soon as the work of God began there, those first disciples had the gifts of the Spirit, including speaking the gospel in an earthly language. In Acts chapter 18, it's not mentioned at all. But the question is, if there was a different gift given to Corinth, If what Paul addresses in this epistle is not the same phenomenon as is in Acts chapter 2, why does Acts 18 not specify that? Why does the Holy Ghost not tell us that at Corinth there was something altogether different taking place? Surely that would have been the place to lay the foundation and tell us that God now gave another kind of gift of speaking this heavenly language. But it's not mentioned in Acts chapter 18 for the simple reason that that's not what happened. And neither does it say there that they did speak with the right gift, because that church from the very beginning had problems. Remember that 1 Corinthians is one of the early epistles of Paul. That church was hardly formed until all these troubles began to arise. And that means that tongues speaking in Corinth was there from the very beginning. and if it were a different gift, a different phenomenon, surely Acts 18 we might imagine, we might feel, it would record there that God gave that church some kind of a different gift altogether. To me that really throws a lot of weight against, at the very outset, against the idea that the gift in 1 Corinthians 14 is different from what we have in Acts chapter 2. But then let me show you something more here. you will find that in Acts and 1 Corinthians the same terminology is used. For example, look at Acts 2, verse 4 and compare that with 1 Corinthians 14, verse 21. Acts 2, verse 4. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues. Look at those words. Other tongues. Now look at 1 Corinthians 14, verse 21. In the law it is written, with men of other tongues. Will I speak unto this people? And so on. I will get back to that in a moment or two. But look here at the language that is used, the very words that are used. You will find here in comparing these two verses that the Greek language is almost identical. And it can be read this way. Acts 2, 4, 1 Timothy 1, 14, 21. It can be read other languages. Because that is what is in view. That is what is in view in Acts 2. It is that love that is in view right here where the Lord speaks of the Corinthian situation and He quotes from the Old Testament and He is applying that to the Corinthian problem and He refers to it as other tongues, other languages. The language is just the very same. Does that not mean the same subject is being dealt with? The only difference, as I say, is that in Corinth there was a problem with the abuse of this particular gift. Now, in this chapter, 1 Corinthians 14, not only is the same Greek word used the whole way through, everywhere you read in this chapter the word tongue or tongues, it's the very same Greek word as in Acts chapter 2. That says a lot. That tells it immediately. If Acts 2 is earthly languages, then so must we conclude that this is talking about earthly languages. But another point is that the whole way through the chapter, you'll find sometimes that there's a word unknown inserted, as in italics, in our King James translation. Unknown tongues. And many have really seethed in that. And you say, well, this means that these tongues or languages here in Corinth, they were unknown in the sense that they were not earthly. They were heavenly or whatever they say they are. But that's not the point. Why did our translators put in the word unknown simply to bring across that the gift of speaking with tongues was the ability to speak a language that you hadn't known before? That's all it means. That's why our translators put in that word to bring that point out. These were languages that the speakers had never known before. They were unknown to them in that sense, not unknown in the sense that they were heaven-like. or ascetic or whatever you want to say. That's all that that word means supplied by our translator. So, having seen that this word tongues in Acts chapter 2 does refer to foreign languages, why make it refer to anything else when you come to 1 Corinthians chapter 14? Another thing to notice is if the tongues in 1 Corinthians are ascetic, heavenly languages, Then why does Paul say they would cease? Because he does say that. In chapter 13, look at verse 8. He says, Charlie never faileth, but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail. Which means cease. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Paul says here categorically that tongues, and again this is the gift of speaking the gospel in earthly languages, he says it's going to cease. And my question to you is, if these tongues are some heavenly languages to be used, as they say, that is Pentecostalists say, in praising God, would they not continue on and on and on forever? If it's a heavenly language, why would it cease? Would it not continue with the believer right into heaven? Surely that would make sense. But Paul says it ceases. Of course, There's another question altogether, when did it cease? I'm not getting into that tonight, but you think of that question. Paul says here, tongues will cease. The point I'm making is, if it is a heavenly language and it's necessary, as the Pentecostal says, to praise God, he can't praise God without this tongue, this heavenly tongue. Well, why would the Lord take it away from him? If it's a heavenly language that he uses on earth, surely then it would be most appropriate for heaven from which it comes. Why would it ever cease? It doesn't make any sense to say if it's a heavenly language, then it's going to cease. See, my friend, it's not a heavenly language. It's an earthly language he's talking about and the gift to speak the gospel in the New Testament era before the canon of Scripture closed. to prove the authenticity of the gospel. Then it ceased. That's my own personal view. It ceased because there was no more need for it. It was part of the giving of special revelation. That's just beside the point right now. But notice this. If it was a heavenly language, why would it be said to cease? Then look with me as well here at another thought. The tongues of 1 Corinthians 14 could be learned. Verse 23 says, If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, or languages, let's get used to that, languages, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? Now the implication is that these tongues could be learned. I know that some will try to say the unlearned there, that word is synonymous with unbelievers. They're unlearned in that sense that they're not saved. Well, I don't accept that. Because if you go back to verse 16, notice what it says at verse 16, "...else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks?" Listen, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest. Why is he unlearned? Because he doesn't understand the language that's being spoken. It's a question here of a language that a man just does not know. He's never learned it, you see. And therefore, he doesn't understand it. What was happening at Corinth was simply this. In the church at Corinth, there were believers who had the gift to speak with tongues and they were standing up in the meetings of the church and they were speaking or praying in these tongues and nobody else there understood them. Because that wasn't the platform for the use of the gift. The platform was to go out into the world to the people who bore those languages and to them preach the gospel. And therefore, there was an abuse of the gift. They had the gift, you see, because the gifts of the Spirit belonged to the entire New Testament church, Corinth, Rome, or wherever, all the churches of these gifts. But these people were abusing this gift. Really, what was going on here was pride. They had the ability to speak another language without learning it, so they were showing off. And those who would come into their meetings, they did not understand that language. Those who had never learned that language, they wanted to say, you're mad. But the point I'm making is, the point Paul makes by implication is, these tongues of 1 Corinthians 14, they could be learned. They could be studied. They could be understood if someone sat down and learned. Now, the Pentecostals, will try to tell you that his tongue is not capable of being learned. I have actually heard, even in recent days, of men who are involved in tongue speaking and they will tell you that when they speak with tongues, either in public or private, they haven't the faintest idea what they're saying. They don't know what they're saying. They don't understand the language that they're using. And they actually go as far as saying it's not possible to learn this language. Paul says it is by inference. For he says here will be unlearned. Don't think you're mad. They haven't learned this language you see, therefore they don't know what you're saying. They don't understand it. The point is this. You can learn the language that has been spoken at corn of your time to do that, proving that it was an earthly language. Now, the Pentecostalists, as we talk about this, will actually go to 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1, to try to prove that this is a heavenly language. Look at chapter 13, verse 1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, I have not charity, and become a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And they say this is proof that Paul spoke in an ecstatic heavenly language or the ability to do that. He says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. So they are saying Paul himself could speak with the language or in the language of an angel. Is that what the verses say? Is that what it means? Well, let me just point out a few things to you. The Bible is silent on the mode of communication used by angels between themselves. Therefore, How can anyone refer to angelic language when there is no revelation in Scripture that there is even such a language? How can we talk about an angelic language when the Bible doesn't specifically set out and say there is such a language? Furthermore, when you read in the Scripture of angels speaking, you will find that angels always use the tongues of the people they are addressing. Never otherwise. When the angel spoke to Abraham, he used the language Abraham understood. Or whatever it might have been. There are many examples in the Bible of men to whom angels spoke. Abraham, Manoah, Isaiah and so on. In fact, look at Isaiah chapter 6 sometime. And Isaiah heard them in heaven. And he heard the angel saying something, Holy, Holy, Holy. And Isaiah understood it. That would tell me something. That would tell me the angels used the language that Isaiah understood. If anything makes sense. That's what makes sense. You see, the Bible doesn't tell us anywhere that angels have some kind of language all of their own. And these incidents where they did speak to men or in the presence of men show they spoke in a tongue or a language that men understood. And then the third thing is, Paul here in this verse, and this is the real heart of this verse, He's talking about a hypothetical situation. When you look at the original language and it says here, though I speak, in the original language it says, if I speak. The Greek word means if. So read it that way. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity. What is Paul doing here? He's talking about a situation where he if it were possible, could speak all human languages. And speak those languages with the lofty perfection of an angel. And had not love, all he would say would be meaningless and worthless. That's what he's doing. The subject of chapter 13 is the subject of love. And Paul wants to make it clear from the very outset that there's nothing more important than spiritual love. existing and functioning within the church of Jesus Christ. And he's saying, even though I was the most gifted man, I could speak archaic languages without exception and speak them in a perfect way, as an angel might speak and full of love. Then I'm just as a tinkling, sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. That means, my friend, that Paul is not referring to himself here as actually speaking in the language of an angel or the tongues of men. He's actually just setting up a hypothetical situation. If I could do all this and didn't have love in my heart, then my ministry would be useless. That's all he's doing. It's not proof that Paul spoke a heavenly language. It's a hypothetical situation he's setting up. to prove a point that all ministry, no matter what it is, if it's not permitted by love and affection for the souls of men, it is absolutely useless. That's all he's doing. So, let's get these facts clearly into our minds. The tongues of 1 Corinthians 14 could be learned. They were earthly languages that were capable of being learned. Furthermore, they could be translated. The tongues of 1 Corinthians 14. Verse 27. If any man speak in..." Let's leave out the word unknown. "...if any man speak in a tongue or a language, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course, and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God." Now I'm going to go back to those words on another occasion. for it talks about speaking to himself and to God, and I explain to you as best I can what they mean. But right now, notice there that Paul talks about these tongues being interpreted, and the word means translated. These tongues could be translated. Paul is trying to correct the abuse of the gifts in the Corinthian church. He is saying you should not be standing up speaking with a language that nobody else understands. Because nobody is being edified. Therefore he says, if you do this, let it be translated. Give an interpretation so that people will understand what you are saying. Therefore the church will be edified. He is trying to correct a chaotic situation. by showing that the whole purpose of preaching and teaching is to speak that people will understand. He's not saying here, he's not giving a directive here to God's people to practice tongues at all. He's trying to correct things. But in doing so, he tells us that these tongues could be translated. And then, may I also point out to you that in this chapter, in dealing with this Corinthian problem, Paul employs an Old Testament Scripture which clearly deals with human and foreign language. Go back to verse 21. We looked at that a while ago. Let's read it again. He says there, "...in the Lord is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord." He quotes here from Isaiah 28, verses 11 and 12. I'm going to go to those Scriptures with you on another occasion and look at them. Isaiah 28, and there's one in Deuteronomy where the Lord also speaks with men of other lips and so on and other tongues, speaking to Israel. He will send them to speak another language altogether. Paul quotes this here. What I want you to see is, as he quotes it, he's applying it to the Corinthian situation. You've got to understand that. Now, let's ask ourselves a question. Let's put it this way. There can only be two possible conclusions as to why Paul quotes from Isaiah chapter 28. Number one, he's making an application of an Old Testament scripture that is irrelevant. And of course, that wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. Why would Paul quote from Isaiah 28 which speaks very clearly about an earthly language being spoken to the Jews that they couldn't understand? if that is not relevant to the Corinthian situation. The other conclusion is his use of the Isaiah text, which clearly deals, as I say, with foreign languages, was to show, number one, these people in Corinth are speaking foreign languages but in the wrong situation, and number two, proving therefore that the gift in Corinth was the same as Acts 2. It is a gift of being able to speak foreign languages without having learned them, but in the wrong situation. Paul makes it clear in this chapter that they were to take this gift and use it to preach the gospel. We will look at that in another message as well. He is correcting things here. He's showing what they've done wrong. And he quotes from Isaiah to prove that what he's dealing with in this chapter, to prove to us, is indeed the gift to speak in languages of other nations without having learned those languages. It's clear and it's absolutely plain that this is what's going on. And remember that on the day of Pentecost, when Jerusalem was filled with Jews gathered for the feast, that is when this phenomenon broke out. And the Jews in Jerusalem heard the apostles speak in other languages, speak the gospel in other languages. As you saw, I already thought they were mad. They couldn't understand what was going on. You know what God was doing? God was showing the Jews, I am about to send the gospel into all the world. It was a sign to the unbelieving Jew that the judgment of God was coming on that nation for their rejection of Jesus Christ. And that is why in this very chapter, if you look with me at the verse, you'll find that Paul says that tongues are for a sign not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. What does he mean by that? He means that when God began to have His apostles preach the gospel in languages that the Jews didn't understand, to them it was a form of judgment for their rejection of Jesus Christ. And a sign going beyond that, that He was going to send the gospel into all the world. They are a sign to the unbeliever, a sign to the unbelieving Jew, that his rejection of Jesus Christ has now brought the judgment of God down in the whole nation. and that God is going to turn from the Jew and send the gospel into all the world to other languages, other peoples. Now, I said a lot there which I will have to amplify and develop at another time. But the burden of this message, I have felt it necessary to do this, is to really set before you that what you have in Acts 2 are human languages. Acts 10, Acts 19, And in 1 Corinthians 14 as well, we're dealing here with earthly languages. We're dealing with the gift to speak the gospel in human tongues without learning them. The only problem was in Corinth, it was being abused. And we'll see that more and more as we look at this chapter in time to come. May the Lord help us tonight to understand these things. Let us learn that we must test every experience by the Word of God. And the Word of God in this matter makes it clear that we are dealing with human languages. That means, my friend, that this modern tongues activity is placed outside the realm of New Testament teaching. It has absolutely nothing to do with the New Testament experience. It's something altogether different. We've got to see that. the gift at all of the apostles of the early church. It's something completely different. That means there is no support in the Word of God. None whatsoever. That means that those who practice it are on dangerous ground indeed. We must understand that those who speak with these so-called tongues, a few things can only be true of them. Either they are hallucinating, Or they're putting it on, as many do. Or they're deceived by the devil. And I believe with all my heart that that is what's going on in many, many cases. It's a deception of the devil. It's a serious matter. For that kind of statement, it can't be cost as light to crucify me. But it must be said. because it can't be otherwise. They've lost control of themselves, they don't know what they're doing, or they're deceived by sin. Let us, therefore, look at this whole thing very seriously and test everything by the Word of God. And I am putting to you that the gift of tongues in the New Testament era was the gift to speak the gospel in earthly languages and nothing more than We'll go on from there with the help of the Lord. Next time, may God write His Word upon our hearts for His own eternal glory. Let us bow in prayer. Let us snook to the Lord for His blessing and help. As we've looked at this subject this evening, as we return to it again, time to come. O God, our Father, use Thy Word, we pray. We ask Thee, Lord, to help us to understand the Scriptures. O God, we pray that Thou wilt be pleased to show us more and more of the true nature of all that happened in those days. O God, we pray that Thou wilt help us tonight to rest with confidence in the fact that we now have the full revelation of God in the Scriptures. And need not those miraculous gifts O Lord, we thank Thee that Thou hast spoken in these last days through Thy dear Son, that the Word of God is sufficient. It is, O Lord, that alone which we need to guide us and to direct us in all our ways. Lord, help us tonight. We pray for those caught up in this kind of an experience, that Thou wilt show them the truth, that Thou, O Lord, wilt use Thy Word to deliver them from error and to bring them to repent O Lord, abide with us tonight. Part as with Thy blessing. Keep Thy hand upon us. Keep us, O Lord, from error. Help us to be faithful to Thy truth and to Thy Word. We pray in Jesus' name and for His eternal praise. Amen.