Well, for the past few weeks, we have been examining the church. And in our examination of the church, we said that the church is the body of Christ. And as a body, it has a function. Now, we've been looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verses 8 through 10 to see what that function is. We've already looked at the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, the working of miracles, prophecy and the discerning of spirits. And now today we're going to look at tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Let me just say this from the beginning, that the gift of tongues was the spirit given ability to speak a foreign language unlearned by the speaker. It was the spirit given ability to speak a foreign language unlearned by the speaker. You say, well, then what was the gift of the interpretation of tongues? Well, you answer that. That's pretty simple. It's the Spirit given ability to understand the foreign language that's spoken and to give that understanding to hearers. And you see that gift functioning in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, the true gift. In fact, he admonishes there the Corinthians. and tells them when that gift is being used, it is to be used in a certain way, and that if there is no interpretation, then you are to be quiet. Now, we need to understand some things that are very important here at the Offset. First of all, when Paul is writing to the Corinthians, he has dealt with so many problems within that church. They were suing one another, taking one another to court. There was division going on. In fact, you can read about that in chapter 1. The Lord's Table was abused. In fact, when we talk about the Lord's Table, there's a lot of things that we don't understand historically about the Lord's Table. They used to have a potluck dinner at the same time they had the Lord's Table. Because of the Corinthians or maybe because of some other groups, they were coming there and the rich were hoarding the food. They were taking everything. They weren't remembering the poor. They were also coming to the table drunk. That's why Paul says they were doing it in an unworthy manner. And so those two were separated to preserve the unity of the table, to preserve that special opportunity that we're to share together. So when Paul comes here in chapter 12 and he begins to deal with literally spirituals, as it says there in verse one, he's not writing a commendation. He's not commending them for very many things, even though the fact that they are pursuing the best gifts. The problem is they brought their pagan background into the church and they were operating by those means. Go to the first part of chapter 12, first Corinthians. He says there in verse 2, he says, You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. What were they doing? They were standing up in the assembly and they were cursing Christ. and saying that that was being led by the Spirit. I mean, you can just think for just a moment, if anyone stands up in the assembly and curses Christ, that is not of the Spirit of the Holy Spirit. That's another Spirit, isn't it? That's the Spirit of Antichrist. That is how come we need the gift of discernment in the assembly. You know, it's very interesting that when you read the letter of 1 Corinthians, there is no mention of leadership. None whatsoever. It was nothing but chaos. So many things that are found in this letter, they're not written there as admonitions, they're written there as exhortations and rebukes. In fact, when he gets into mentioning these gifts, he's as if to say, sorting them out. And then he goes into a whole chapter in chapter 13 and tells them by which attitude these gifts are operated. They are to be operated or operative by love. He tells them 13 one, do I speak with the tongues of men and of angels that have not love? I have become a sounding brass or a claiming symbol. You must have love as you minister these gifts, you don't want to minister any gift in the flesh, you want to minister it by love. And then he gets into chapter 14 and he deals with a whole chapter dealing with this problem of the abuse of the gift of tongues. Now, he's going to bounce back and forth in chapter 14 between the true gift and between what they were doing, the gibberish. So if we could say anything about the gift of languages, and that's probably a better way to refer to it, but because our translators have done us a great injustice by translating it as tongues, we need to understand that both the gift of tongues or the interpretation of tongues, they were both part of the early church. and the age of the apostles. So this morning we need to understand this. We're going to deal with what tongues are and what tongues are not. Then we're going to deal with the purpose of tongues, the process that they were to follow when they were used, and then we're going to ask the question, has tongues ceased today? Let's look at the first one. What tongues are. It's clear in the New Testament that the true gift of tongues was a known language. Very clear. A known language. The word for tongues, the Greek word is glassa, and it literally means languages. The term always refers to a known language. It can also refer to the physical member, the tongue, the tongue in your mouth, because we know it's used that way in Luke 16, 24. when the rich man cries out to Abraham as he's there burning in the tormenting fire, and he asks that he might dip his finger in water and touch his tongue because he's in torment. But for the most part, when used for speaking, it refers to a known language. Even Webster's Dictionary defines tongues as a language. And as we read just a moment ago, 1 Corinthians 13.1 translates it as a language. I remind you what it says again. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, though I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." A reference to languages. There are other places that it's referred to in that way. Revelation 7, 9, it says, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one can number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, or languages. standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands." If you go over to chapter 11 and verse 9, it says, "...then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues," that is languages and nations, "...will see their dead bodies three and a half days," here referring to the two witnesses that will be killed that will lay in the streets for three and a half days. They will not allow their dead bodies to be put in the graves. It says here that the people who saw them were from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations. So the word itself, glossum, refers to languages. What else it refers to is a foreign language. The gift of tongues was the Spirit-given ability to speak a foreign language that had not been learned by the speaker. Now, there are only three occasions when tongues is used in the book of Acts. And why would we refer to the book of Acts? Well, first of all, it's because the book of Acts is a transitionary book. It is a historical book. It's not necessarily a book to build doctrine on, but it's a book to give us history, the history of the church. Some have turned it the acts of the apostles, just like they turned the book of Jude, the acts of the apostates. Look there with me in Acts chapter two. The disciples are told to wait for the promise of the Father, wait for the Holy Spirit. It tells us that they were in the room praying, about 120 of them were there. It says in verse 1 of chapter 2, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And then there appeared to them divided tongues, or languages, as a fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, or languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance." That's very important that you follow from this point on, because this defines for us that this was a language. Now, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in what? Say it with me. In His own language. Now how come the translators, they tell us tongues there in verse 3 and verse 4, and why didn't they just say tongues in verse 6? Or why didn't they just help us out in the first two verses and just translate it language? Because that's clearly what it is. They heard them speak in His own language. It was a foreign language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own, what's it say, language in which we were born? And it tells them, verse 9-11, Parthians and Medes, Alamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya, adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, but Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs. We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. You see how they're interchanging back and forth. Tongues was a known language. It was also a foreign language, a language in which the apostles spoke and they had never learned. But we know it was something that someone can understand because of the response that's found here in chapter 2. Go with me to chapter 10 of the book of Acts. In chapter 10, you have here a story about Cornelius. Cornelius, he was a Gentile. He was a centurion, according to verse 1, a devout man, according to verse 2, one who feared God with all his house. And if you know, leading up to this, Peter receives a vision about what is clean and what is unclean. You remember the sheep came up and he saw all these animals and he stole rice and eat. And Peter says, wait a minute, nothing unclean has ever touched my lips. And then God says to him, what I have cleansed don't call unclean. And what was he teaching? He was teaching him that God is not a God of partiality. He was trying to teach him that they were to go also to the Gentiles. that they were to reach across their own national border, if you will. And of course, after a series of events in which God brings him to Cornelius' house, you can read in verse 44 there, it says, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word, and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. And as many as came with Peter, Because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. How did we know this? For they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. And then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? The whole point was Jews were present. And when the Jews were present and the gift of the Holy Spirit fell upon these Gentiles and they spoke with these languages, that showed the Jews that they had received the same thing the Jews had received. Do you remember salvation was of the Jews? And then, of course, the classic verse in verse 48, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And then they asked him to stay a few days. Go to chapter 19 of the book of Acts. You see a third occasion here. It says, and it happened while Apollos was at Corinth. And Paul, having passed to the upper regions, came to Ephesus, and finding some disciples, he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all. And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God." Notice, very interesting, in verse six, not only do we see the gift of tongues, but we also see the gift of prophecy. It says that they spoke with tongues and they prophesied. These are the three occasions that are found in the book of Acts. They are historical occasions. Why did they occur later on? After they had received Christ, is this supposed to be the normality today? Do you receive Christ and then later receive the Holy Spirit? Well, see, the thing is, we have the rest of the Word of God to fill in the gaps. Go with me to Romans chapter 8. And I think in Romans chapter 8 and also Ephesians chapter 1, we can answer that question. It says in Romans chapter 8 and verse 9, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. Then turn with me over to Ephesians chapter 1 and look at there at verse 13. It says in verse 13, In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory." It says, after you trusted, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The very moment that you believed, the very moment you trust Christ, you received the Holy Spirit. Does it evidence itself always in the speaking of tongues? Well, let's answer that in 1 Corinthians 12. Look at 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 29. I think the answer is obvious. He says there in verse 29, are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? What's the answer? No. Again, I remind you, the three occasions there in the book of Acts are historical occasions. That is not the normality. And we see quickly from the rest of Scripture, it's cleared up. So what were tongues? Tongues was a known language. It was a foreign language that the speaker didn't learn. Let's talk about what tongues are not, because this is where we start getting into some confusion. First of all, tongues are not an unintelligible language. What do you mean by unintelligible? Gibberish. You know, when my kids were growing up, I spoke a lot of gibberish to them, and they spoke a lot of it back to me. Did we understand each other? No. They sure did have a lot of fun laughing at me, though. The gift of tongues was always the speaking of an intelligible language, not gibberish. The idea of tongues being foreign to the hearer was part of the ecstasy of the Greco-Roman world. I want you to listen to what John MacArthur writes. In one of his commentaries, at the time of the Corinthian church, the Greco-Roman world had a multitude of gods. In their worship of these gods, it was common for a person to go into ecstasy, which literally means to go out of oneself. They would go into an unconscious state where all kinds of psychic phenomena would occur. They believed that when they were in an ecstatic trance, they actually left their bodies, descended into space, connected up to whatever deity they were worshipping, and would begin to commune with that deity. They would begin to speak the language of the gods. This was a common practice in their culture. In fact, the term used in 1 Corinthians to refer to speaking in tongues is the word glaseis lalen. It was not invented by Bible writers. It was a term used commonly in the Greco-Roman culture to speak of the pagan language of the gods that occurred while the speaker was in an ecstatic trance. This language of the gods was always gibberish. Well, we say that tongues is not an unintelligible language. It's not gibberish. You can't find any support in Scripture. In fact, what you find is you find this pagan element. Let me say more about that under the second heading. What's it not? It's not a personal, private prayer language. Many of us have heard that. Tongues was a personal, private prayer language. Let me say something from the beginning. And we've said this over and over, so I hope that you can answer. The purpose of gifts was for what reason? To edify the church. Do you know that the tongues edify no one? The only time that there is any edification with the gift of tongues is when there is interpretation, because no one can understand. Larry Christensen, in his book, Speaking in Tongues and Its Significance for the Church, He writes, one speaks in tongues for the most part in his private devotions. This, by far, is most important use and value. Notice there in 1 Corinthians 14, the first two verses. He says, pursue love and desire spirituals, literally, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue, or in the King James it might say, in an unknown tongue, does not speak to men, but to God, for no one understands him. However, in the Spirit, he speaks mysteries. Let me show you something very interesting I think the translators are doing for us. Anytime when you go through chapter 14, you see tongues used in the singular tongue. It seems that he is referring to gibberish. He's not referring to the true gift. But when it's used in the plural, notice in verse 5, I wish you all spoke with tongues. Plural is referring to the true gift, the gift of languages. When the apostles on the day of Pentecost spoke in tongues, everyone heard in his own language. So it wasn't a personal, private prayer language. We don't find any use of that. And you can't build a theology on one verse. If we could, then we'd go around baptizing for the dead, because there's one verse that talks about that, and about 30 different interpretations of that one verse, and no one really knows what it means. When you're not given a whole lot of information, you're left with a lot of inference. You're left with imposing on the Scriptures. Notice in chapter 14 and verse 14 of 1 Corinthians, He says, for if I pray in a tongue, there it is in the singular again, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. Joe Marino in his book, More of God, he writes, Fortunately, God does not leave us to wonder what He means to pray in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says, If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but understanding is unfruitful. Clearly then, according to Paul, to pray in the Spirit, or when the Spirit prays, is to pray in an unknown tongue. And our understanding is unfruitful. We don't understand what the words mean. Not I wrote next to that article. How can there then be any edification? All gifts are given for the purpose of edification. We're going to find out later that this gift had two purposes. And when the first purpose was met, there was no more need for the gift. It has a historical implication for the nation of Israel, and when that was met, there was no longer a need for it. And by the way, There is a verse that says tongues would cease. And we're going to look at that. So we're saying that tongues, first of all, is not an unintelligible language. It's not gibberish. The true gift is not. It's not a personal, private prayer language. And third, it's not unintelligible praying. Nowhere in Scripture do we have any illustration of unintelligible praying or praying in tongues. In fact, Jesus told the disciples that when they prayed, they were not to use vain repetitions as the heathen do. Matthew 6-7, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. The word vain repetitions, it's the Greek word bata legeo. The verb legeo means to speak. But the prefix bata is not even a word. It's a figure of speech. It's what we call an onomatopoetic word. You know what an onomatopoetic word is? We say a bee goes buzz. We say a plane goes whoosh. That is onomatopoetic expression. In fact, what Jesus is literally saying here in Matthew 6-7, that when you pray, don't say baka baka baka. That's what he's saying. They say, don't come to me with a bunch of gibberish. Don't come with the sound of the stammering, stuttering gibberish that the pagans offer to their gods. Speak to me in an intelligible language. When Jesus went into the garden to pray to the Father, He didn't talk in a heavenly language. When deity came in with deity, it was in a language that was clear. When Jesus stood by the grave of Lazarus, He prayed before He raised Him from the dead, and John heard every word of that prayer, and he wrote it down exactly as he heard it. It was clear and intelligible. John 17 is the intimate prayer between Jesus and the Father. It's all clear. It's translated beautifully into English from the original language. The point is this, there is no biblical evidence whatsoever of a private prayer language. We are to pray in an intelligible and understanding way. Don't come to God with bata, bata, bata. You see, that goes right against saying that tongues is a personal, private prayer language. Okay, well then let's ask this question. What was its purpose then? What was the purpose of times? First of all, judgment on Israel. I said to you that it has an immediate application to the nation of Israel. Look with me in chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians. Look there at verse 21. Paul mentions it right in the text. He says, in the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips, I will speak to this people, and yet for all that, they will not hear me. That is a quotation of Isaiah 28, 11, and 12, which says, for with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people, to whom he said, this is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they will not hear. In this prophecy to Israel, God was saying, Israel, I have spoken to you in clear words, but you haven't listened to Me. Therefore, as a sign confirming your unbelief, I will speak to you in a language that you will not be able to understand. The gift of tongues, then, was part of God's judicial act of telling Israel that He was turning aside from her to turn to the church. He had offered the Israelites the kingdom, but they had refused it. They had refused and executed their King, their long-awaited Messiah. And as a judicial sign of Israel's violation, God spoke to His people with other tongues and other lips. As you see, the gift of tongues is a primary reference to Israel. Once God's judgment had fallen on Israel, the gift of tongues would have no significance at all. When did God's judgment fall on Israel? It came in 70 A.D. when Titus Vespasian, the Roman conqueror, swept down and destroyed Jerusalem. So the gift of tongues then was no longer needed. Second purpose for the gift of tongues was a sign to unbelievers. That takes away again of it being a personal, private prayer language for believers. It wasn't meant for believers. It was meant for unbelievers as a sign to them that God was there in their presence. You remember when it occurred in Acts chapter 2 and all the people were drawn together because of it? And then they heard God speaking through the apostles, the wonderful works of God. We all know a sign points to something. Tongues were designed to point to God's activity among His people. Look there at 1 Corinthians 14.22. It says, Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophesying is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe. Again, I remind you what it says in Acts 2.7 and 8. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? Verse 11. We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. It was a sign. It was a sign to unbelievers. It was an act of judgment against Israel. And when the purpose was met, there's no longer need for the gift. Let me give you a third purpose, and you can go back to Acts chapter 2. The first purpose was a judgment on Israel, a sign to unbelievers. The third was the coming of the Holy Spirit. You remember they're told in chapter 1 to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. It says in verse 4 of chapter 1 of being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You have heard from me. You go to chapter 2, and when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tons of fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." The coming of the Holy Spirit. You see that truth in Acts 10 and also in Acts 19 that we read earlier. We give you a fourth purpose, the revelation of God. He says there in verse 11 of chapter 2 of Acts, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. Now, when a prophet would speak, he would either give new revelation or he would reiterate old revelation. In fact, when you go into chapter 14, and it's given there in 1 Corinthians, the order of the procedure of tongues, it also gives an order for the procedure of the gift of prophecy. He says there in 1 Corinthians 14, 29, let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge, but if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. You could have one of the guys that they're speaking, using to give the prophecy, remember it meant to proclaim truth before an audience? And all of a sudden, one of the prophets that's sitting by just receives a divine revelation. Well, the one who was speaking is to sit down and the one with the fresh revelation would stand up and speak what that revelation was. There was never a point of chaos. But when you study 1 Corinthians, it was nothing but chaos. And that's why he tells them in verse 33, God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Well then, what process were tongues to follow then to keep peace? I'm glad you asked. Go to 1 Corinthians 14, and let's begin at verse 27. Now I want to tell you something very personal. The guy that led me to the Lord was attending a charismatic church. The first church that I stepped into as a brand new child of God was a charismatic church. I remained there for about three months. I had a lot of good opportunities, good experiences, but let me say this, a lot of them were just experiences. A lot of them were emotional experiences that bypassed the mind and bypassed the truth. I remember arguing on one occasion with a friend about the gift of tongues being in. I remember working on a loading dock there in the trailer, speaking in gibberish languages, because I was told it was my personal, private prayer language. I remember that day when I went to that service, the gospel was given and they were sharing that if anybody had gotten saved to come over here to the prayer room, I went over there to the prayer room. They spent all their time trying to get me to speak in tongues, and they said nothing about the fact I got saved the night before. And because I had never heard anything about this, I absolutely knew nothing of what they were talking about. And having grown up in a Baptist church, Why do I say that and emphasize the Baptist Church? It's sad to say that we don't teach all the Word of God many times in the church. I haven't heard too many sermons on tongues in the Baptist Church. We need to teach all counsel the Word of God. Just because we get to something that might be controversial, do we move away from it? Just to bring about peace? Listen, we're charged we give all the truth. Even the parts that are very uncomfortable. So there's a lot of things here that are personal. But I remember when I came out of that about three months later, as I began to see that some of the things that were going on were not a true understanding of Scripture. And I tell you, one of the ways that I came to that was studying it for myself as best as I could understand it at that time. We're all at different levels in our growth spiritually. And when you come to Christ, you immediately come there with an ability and an opportunity because you have the Holy Spirit to understand the Word of God. But many things come only after you study them out. And so I sought to study it out, and my conclusions were tongues were out. And I'm going to share with you what some of those conclusions were. But what process were they to follow? And I said all that to say this. Some of the services that I were in, they did not follow this process. I never saw this process followed one time. Never, ever did I see it followed. I remember one church I was singing at, and they went to pray, and everybody was praying and talking out loud. It was so much confusion. I was going, God, can you hear me? Because I sure can't hear myself. It was crazy. I mean, it actually was what He is telling them. In verse 23 of chapter 14, if the whole church comes together in one place and all speak with tongues, and there comes in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you're out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an informed person comes in, he's convinced by all. He is judged by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and he will report that God is truly among you. See, that promotes the order in the church. That takes away confusion because the Word of God is preached. We're not all sitting around saying a bunch of gibberish. And especially without any interpretation. By the way, how can you interpret gibberish? It's not even a language. Maybe that's why the interpreters just called it tongue singular. But notice what he says in verse 27. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. It was never done at the same time. There was never three, four, five, six, seven people all doing it at the same time. It was one at a time, and it was done at the most by three. It was always done in turn, and there was always an interpreter. If there was no interpreter, there was no understanding. And if there was no understanding, there was no edification. I never saw this happen. Verse 28, but if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. No interpreter, keep quiet. Verse 29. He mentions the prophets, let two or three prophets speak, let the others judge. But if anything was revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged in the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. Drop down to verse 34. Men were the only ones to speak. In this language. He says, let the women keep silent in the churches. You know, we build our cases on context, because context is king in interpretation. The context of chapter four is the abuse of the gift of tongues. So we would say that the women were not to speak in tongues. You know what else we can say in the context? Because what immediately precedes it is he's talking about the gift of prophecy. He's saying, let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge. The others are referring to the two or three. versus the one speaking. He could be talking about don't let the women prophesy either. They were not to preach. We know in first Timothy, chapter two, that they were not to become elders in the church, they were not to become pastors in the church. And yet we got them all over the place in the church. I have yet to have anyone tell me who is involved in that, where they arrive at that, with that clear command in 1 Timothy 2, telling you not to do that. Usually what I hear is that there is an equality now. There is neither distinction between Jew or Greek. Male or female, they quote that verse. What a spiritual nature. There is not one over the other, one better than the other. But in terms of function, we have different function. And God designed godly, holy men called elders to lead His church. He's not saying that women are inferior, and He's not playing a male chauvinist or anything like that. In terms of design and function, that's just like the man that walks up and says, well, I wish I was like the woman, and I wish I could have a baby. Well, you weren't designed that way. That's how come homosexuality is a perversion. So what process were they to follow? Two or three of the most could speak, but only in turn. There must be an interpreter. And if there was no interpreter, they were to keep silent. And only the men were to speak in tongues and prophesy. All right, well, let's ask the question then. Based upon all the information that we've shared, has tongues ceased? Go to 1 Corinthians 13 and look at verse 8. He says in verse 8, love never fails, but whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part, that's the gift of knowledge, and we prophesy in part, that's the gift of prophecy. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away." It's very interesting that there are some different words and voices that are used in the Greek language. When it talks about prophecies and knowledge, it says prophecies will fail and knowledge will vanish away. Do you know that that is the same Greek word, translated fail and vanish away? It's the Greek word kartageo, and it means to be made inoperative. He uses a different word when he talks about tongues. What does he say there about tongues? And there are tongues and they will cease. That's the Greek word palo, and it means to stop. Okay, so we see the definitions here. For prophecy and knowledge, he says that they are going to be rendered inoperative. When he talks about tongues, he says it's going to stop. Now, when is it going to stop? He also uses two different voices. The passive voice, I'm going to tell you what the passive is. It's used when referring to the cessation or the stopping or the ending of prophecy and knowledge. The rule of grammar states this, that when a passive verb is in a sentence, the subject receives the action. In the case of prophecy and knowledge, something will act upon them to cause them to stop. That's not true for tongues. A different voice is used for tongues. So something is going to act on prophecy and knowledge, and he tells us what it is. Notice what he says there. Verse 9, for we know in part, that's knowledge, and we prophesy in part, that's prophecy, but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with. So something has to act upon it. And he tells us what it is. When the perfect thing comes, then prophecy and knowledge will stop. But he doesn't say that about tongues. He uses a different voice. He uses the middle voice. There are differences among voices. There is active, passive, and there is middle. In the active voice, we would say this, I hit the ball. In the passive, we would say the ball hit me. In the middle, if English had a middle voice, it would say I hit myself. It acts in reference with itself. In other words, the Greek middle voice is reflexive. It indicates that the subject is acting upon itself. The middle voice also indicates an intense action on the part of the subject. So literally, verse 8 is saying, tongues will stop by themselves. That's the meaning of the middle voice that's given there for the Greek word palo. And the Septuagint. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Greek word palo is used 15 times. It's translated. To complete, to stop, to finish, to accomplish, to end. It has a sense of finality. And the reflexive middle voice gives the idea that it ends all by itself. So what's he saying here? He's saying tongues will stop all by themselves. Well, did they? Let's look at history for just a minute. Very interesting what we learn about history. And if you notice today that people don't want us to know about history, they want to rewrite history because they know if they can change history, they can change destinies. They can change understanding today. Just like with the schooling movement, they're saying that homeschooling, at least in California, they're trying to rule it as being illegal. But you know that that was the way schooling was done in the very beginning. How can it be illegal? They're saying you can't read the Bible in the school. You know what they taught for English? The Bible. Let them read the Bible. History records that the gift of tongues ceased in the apostolic age. You want to find out when they ceased? They ceased with the apostles. The first revival of tongues within the confines of the evangelical church of Jesus Christ since the apostolic age was 1901. Where had it been for 1800 years? Because see, when it says that they will stop by themselves, it doesn't say they're going to stop and start up again. It says they're going to stop. And the purpose, as we saw, was a judicial sign of judgment to Israel. The purpose was met. The post-apostolic fathers were the church leaders who lived immediately after the apostles. If you study their writings, you'll discover something significant. You know what it is? They don't discuss the gift of tongues. It's significant that the gift of tongues is nowhere alluded to, hinted at, or even found in any of the writings of the post-apostolic writers. Notice Clement of Rome. A.D. 88 to 97. He wrote a letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 95 discussing their spiritual problems. He didn't mention tongues because apparently the gift had ceased. The gift of tongues then wasn't an issue by 95 A.D. Justin Martyr, he lived from 100 to 165. He was a great church father who traveled throughout the churches and wrote many things defending Christianity. But he never mentioned tongue. He made lists of spiritual gifts that did not include the gift of tongues. Origin. He lived from 185 to 253. He was a widely read scholar without equal in the minds of some. In all the volumes he wrote, there is no mention of tongues. And in his apologetic against Celsus, he explicitly argues that the sign of the apostolic age were temporary and there was no contemporary Christian exercising any of the ancient prophetic gifts. Christendom lived from 347 to 407. He was perhaps the greatest of all the ancient Christian writers. In his homilies at 1 Corinthians, he makes the following comment on chapter 12. Listen to what he says. This whole place is very obscure. But the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur, but now no longer take place. In other words, by the end of the fourth century, Christendom, he indicated that because tongues didn't exist anymore, the gift was difficult to define or to understand. How about Augustine? He lived from 354 to 430. He made the following comment on Acts 2.4. He said, In the earliest times the Holy Ghost fell upon them that believed, and they spoke with tongues. These were signs adapted to the time. For there behooved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit. That thing was done for a betokening, and it passed away. That's the early church fathers. The greatest theologians of the ancient church considered the gift of tongues a remote practice. And by the fourth century, they didn't understand what it was anymore. Is that interesting? Now, during the period of the early church fathers, the only people in the church who were reported to have spoken in tongues were followers of Montanus and Tertullian. In the middle of the second century, Montanus, who was a pagan priest who had been recently converted to Christianity, he announced to everyone that he was the spokesman for the Holy Spirit. He also had two ladies with him, two prophetesses. Maximilla was the name of one of them, and Prisca was the other one. He was thrown out of the Church as a heretic. Tertullian was a disciple of Montanus. He advocated the speaking in tongues. He lived from 150 to 222. There are three other occasions for ecstatic speech during this period, but not in Christianity. Tongues were characteristics of pagan religions. You could study the priestesses of Delphi, the pagan witch doctors, the various seers, but these were not part of mainstream Christianity. After Montanus and Tertullian, the next eruption of tongues wasn't until the late 17th century. You see what's happening? You have it ceasing before the Apostolic Fathers, and then you find it creeping back in, but not within mainstream Christianity. When did it hit mainstream Christianity? Well, you can go all the way to 1901 at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. Agnes Osman received what she called the baptism of the Holy Spirit accompanied by ecstatic utterances. The practice became part of the holiness movement of the church in America, and in 1906 ecstatic utterances came to Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California, and out of these two events in 1901 and 1906 grew the mainline Pentecostal denominations. Where has it been for 1900 years? The middle voice of Paolo says that it would stop by itself. It doesn't say it's going to stop and then start back up again. When it stopped, it was going to stop. Prophecy and knowledge had to have something act upon it to cause it to stop. And it says when it would stop would be when the perfect thing came. In 1960, in Van Nuys, California, the modern charismatic movement, characterized by tongues outside of Pentecostal denominations, began in an Episcopalian church. It soon spread to all mainline denominations. So what's going on today? What's going on? First of all, I think learned behavior, as I shared with you that when I went to the Charismatic Church myself, was there for three months. The first thing that they did was seek to try to get me to speak in that language, which was no language at all. And they were uttering this gibberish to me, trying to get me to speak in the gibberish. I finally spoke in it just to get them to get off my back. It worked. It's learned behavior. You can travel all throughout the United States, and I haven't had the opportunity to do all of that, but some of the places I have been, And hearing it spoken, you find much similarity. So the first would be learned behavior, the second would be. An abuse of the gift. You remember the purpose of Paul writing the letter of first Corinthians 14, they were abusing the gift. The third would be a lack of instruction. And I agree with others who have spoken on this issue. When you get the information, that doesn't mean now you go and beat them over the head and say, no, I got something for you now, shove a tape down their throat. Just so that they can get some instruction. And the fourth, I believe, would be satanic counterfeit. Satan certainly wants to manufacture things in the church. That's how he brings the world in. And so you ask this question, and how should we respond to this kind of teaching? There's only one way to respond to it, and that is through love. You remember, you go back to chapter 13. All gifts are to be exercised in the power of the Spirit, and they are to be done by love. You're to love your brother and sister. People that might be involved in something like this that you know you love them, and then when you have an opportunity to share with them, then you share with them the truth. Second way to respond is by teaching. We must teach the truth. And if someone tells you that you're unloving because you teach the truth, that they're disconnecting from the true understanding of what biblical love is. We are to teach the truth of the Word of God. That's how we love one another. And we're to speak the truth in love. There's no goal here to try to divide people. I love what Joseph Dillion says. We must not make the tragic mistake of teaching the experience of the apostles, but rather we must experience the teaching of the apostles. You see, there are many groups that are focused on the experience of the apostles. They're not focusing in on the teaching. The experience of the apostles is found in the transitional book of Acts, while the teaching of the apostles is set forth clearly in the epistles which are our guide for our Christian experience today. So we must teach the truth in that way. And why do we spend all this time talking about a gift like this? Well, for one, it takes this much time to share this much information. Number two, to point out the fact that there are some gifts that were temporary gifts. There were some gifts that were involved in confirming the message in the messenger, and this was one of those gifts. But let me point out, you know the problem in the church today is not necessarily, at least with us, with a gift like this, it's the fact that we omit the gifts that are in. And we sit back in church and we become the spectators and the criticizers of what's going on. God has called us to function in the body. And that's been the whole purpose of this series, is to examine the church and to ask us, are we functioning according to the Word of God? Are we carrying out the gift that God has clearly given us? Are we involved in ministering in each other's lives? And you say, well, I don't know what to do. Well, you read in the New Testament and you find a good 20 or so one another's that are found there that tell us how we're to be involved in each other's life. We're to love one another, rebuke one another, admonish one another, confess to one another, pray for one another. So there is an opportunity for each of us to minister to one another. And my prayer is for you is that we would carry out the gifts that God has given to us, especially as a new ministry of how much we need your gift. But whether we were new or well established, we would need your gift anyway. Because God has equipped you to do the work of the ministry. So my prayer is that you will carry out your gift and that you will do the work that God has called you to do. Let's pray together. Father, we just want to thank you for your word today. Lord, we pray that you would put wings to these words and that you would grant understanding and that you grant application to each one of us. But we find the understanding of this gift and we see by the use of the grammar, we see by history that the strong indicators that it's ceased. The Lord, it's real easy for us having that information to be around a brother or sister who may believe that this gift is in and disassociate or disfellowship on that basis and not be loving. And I pray, Lord God, that you would grant us the love that we need. And He also calls us to speak the beloved truth. And so, Lord, I pray that You will use us today. And Lord, I pray most of all that we will see that we have these gifts. We have gifts in the body to build up the body. We have gifts because You have bestowed Your grace upon us. And so, Lord, my prayer is for each person in here is that they would do an examination, that they would know without a shadow of a doubt that if they were to die today, that they would be with you in glory. And Father, having known that information, knowing that truth, that they would glorify you for the grace that you've given. So Lord, we pray that in Jesus name.