Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians 14. I'd like to look at the first
17 verses of this blessed book. Years ago, when I was living
in Louisiana, someone that I had known for
years came up to me. I was in a library, I can remember. And a guy came up to me and told
me that the Lord had sent him to pray for me. I didn't know what to say, so
I told him okay. And he began to speak in this
gibberish language that I couldn't understand. And when he was done,
he told me that that was a heavenly language and that that language
evidenced that he had been baptized with the Holy Ghost. Well, that
really perplexed me. Because it caused me to have
nothing but fear and doubt. I started wondering, you know,
what was going on there? And it bothered me so badly that
while I was driving home, I tried to remember kind of what he was
doing there, kind of what the sounds were. And I even started
trying to mimic what he was doing, you know? I thought, obviously
I don't have whatever he said he had, and if he was baptized
by the Holy Ghost, And that was the evidence of that talk that
he was doing. Well, I wanted to do that too,
so that I'd have the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Well, in the
process of time, the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself to
me, to teach me of the glory of God in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I, by God's grace, was taught
something of the fallacy of what he was doing. But this is still
going on today, and there are many people that are being told
this same thing. And I know what it did to me,
and I know what someone else that doesn't have it I know what
they probably are going through. And so by the grace of God, I
want to deal with what the scriptures has to say concerning speaking
in tongues. Now we've been looking for two
chapters now on this issue of speaking in tongues. We need to be reminded that when
the scriptures speaks of tongues, it's only talking of one of two
things. Either this thing, this organ that we
all have in our mouths by which we speak, taste, or it's talking
about a language. a known language to somebody. Well, the gift of tongues was
a gift that was promised and given by the Spirit of God to
men who had never learned a language, a foreign language before. And now they were able, by the
Spirit of God's gift, to not have to go through classes like
many have. I know Walter and Betty and Cody
and all of them, Milton Howard, all of them, they took classes
to be able to learn how to speak Spanish or someone else, speak
another language. And then they take classes and
they're taught. But the Spirit of God gifted
some people, men on the day of Pentecost, and gave them the
ability. They didn't have to go through
any classes. They just knew how to speak. All of a sudden, they
started speaking in languages, foreign languages, real languages,
that they had never previously learned. Now, the Lord holds
your place there. Look at Mark 16. had told his apostles, gave them
a commission, told them what was going to happen. Mark 16, verse 14 to 18. Now listen to what he says. Afterward, he appeared unto the
eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief
and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which
had seen him after he was risen. And He said unto them, now listen
to the commission. He said unto them, go ye in all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name
shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues.
They shall take up serpents. If they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover. Now here's the point that I want
to make. The Lord commissioned them to
go and preach the gospel. The gospel of God's free grace.
The gospel of this book. The gospel that declares salvation
to be of the Lord. The gospel that declares man
to be spiritually impotent. dead in trespasses and sins. The gospel is the declaration
of that which Almighty God has eternally purposed to show mercy
and compassion to whomsoever He will. That He Himself came
into this world and died, John 10, 15, for His people. He lived
for them and died for them. And that the Spirit of God, according
to John 6, 37, shall surely call them out of darkness. All that
the Father giveth me in electing grace shall come to me." Now
that's the gospel. It's not an offer. It's not an
offer. As I've said before, I'm not
offering you anything. I'm telling you what God Almighty has said
concerning salvation. That He's going to save His people
from their sins. And that the Spirit of God is
going to take this gospel And he's going to bless it when it
pleases God. In the fullness of time. And
he's going to call them out of darkness. And when he calls them
out of darkness, he's going to tell them what he did. He's going
to give them faith to believe. So there's the commission. The
Lord said, I want you to go into all the world and preach the
gospel. These signs are going to follow
them that I gift to preach the gospel. Look at Galatians. Hold your place right there in
1 Corinthians. Hold your place. Look at Galatians chapter 1 and
verse 6 to 9. Now what is the penalty for not
preaching the gospel? Now if I'm up here telling you
that you've got a free will to be able to exercise And the Spirit
of God says in John 1, 13, it's not by the will of man.
It's not by blood. It's not by the will of the flesh,
but it's of God. If someone's telling you that
you have a free will, and God says you don't, somebody's lying. And it ain't God. Therefore,
What is the penalty for not preaching the gospel? Galatians 1 verse
6, Paul says, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him
that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another gospel,
which is not another. But there be some that trouble
you that would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than
that which we've preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received, let him be accursed. Now what's the penalty
for not preaching the gospel and dying in that unbelief? What's the penalty? Hell. God's going to send you to hell. The Lord commissioned it. He
said, you go into all the world and preach the gospel. I tell
you what I want to know. I want to make sure I know what
the gospel is. And I want to make sure I preach it. So whenever
these men that were gifted by God, turn to Acts 2. Whenever
they were gifted by God to preach in these unknown tongues, what
were they to preach in those unknown tongues? One thing. The gospel. So if somebody is
doing something in a gibberish way, and they're saying, I have
the gift of tongues, which evidence that I've been baptized with
the Holy Ghost, and they're not preaching this message right
here, in a language that somebody understands. If they're not doing
that, and I'm gonna tell you something else, they're lying
to you. They're lying to you. That is
not what this book says tongues is. It's not what it is. Acts
chapter 2 verse 1 to 6, When the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. There appeared
unto them cloven tongues like as a fire." It was fire that
appeared as though that it was a split tongue, right there,
symbolizing the different languages that were going to be preached
by these preachers. They were all filled with the
Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues. Look this
up. That means languages, but the
scripture in verse 6 is going to interpret it for us. They
began to speak with all other tongues. As the Spirit gave them
utterance, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men
out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together. They were confounded because
every man heard them speak in his own language. They were speaking
in tongues, languages. They were speaking in something
that someone understood. Now, let's go back to 1 Corinthians
14 and see what does the Spirit of God has to say concerning
what Scripture sets forth as tongues. 1 Corinthians 14, 1,
follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts rather that you
may prophesy. Now the Apostle Paul says, follow
after. Seek with an earnest desire. What? Love. If you're going to seek something,
Paul says, follow after charity, love toward God and love toward
His people. Seek it, desire it, work at it,
work at it. Love for the brethren, love for
the Lord. Hear His words, seek Him in prayer. Ask, knock, knock. Ask the Lord
to guide you. Ask the Lord to direct you and
order your thoughts. And let love be your aim and
covet these spiritual gifts. They were, you know, if the Lord
is pleased to give these men the ability to speak, that was
good, Paul says, that's good. But, but, desire these spiritual gifts,
but rather that you can stand in a pulpit and preach in a language
that your hearers understand. Preach in a language that they
know. The preaching of the gospel. Proclaim it. and explain it,
give the sense of it, the tense of it, show them the promises
of God in the types, in the language that people perceive, that they
understand. That's the most desired thing,
Paul says. That's what's needed for the
church. This is what we all need to hear right here. I need to
hear what I'm preaching. I need to hear it. I need to
be instructed. Verse 2, for he that speaketh
in an... Now notice unknown there. If
your Bible has got italicized words, it's not there. It's insinuated,
but it wasn't there. They added it. He that speaketh
in a language that is not understood you know, by people that's sitting
there, speaketh not unto men, but unto God. For no man understandeth
him, howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries. If one is
speaking in a language not understood by hearers, even though it is
a real language, even though it is truly declaring the mysteries
of God's grace, God understands. And the one speaking may understand
it if the Lord's given him the ability to interpret. I'll show
you this in a minute. Just because someone had the
ability to preach in an unknown tongue does not necessarily mean
that they could interpret it. There was times that the Lord
said if there's not an interpreter there, if the one speaking couldn't
interpret it and there wasn't an interpreter there, don't do
it. But, He said if one is speaking, in a tongue, an unknown tongue,
that nobody understands. It may be that he's setting forth
his truth, God hears it, but no man understands it. How be
it that he's speaking the mysteries of God, there's not prophet there. Look at verse 3. But he that
prophesieth, And when we say prophesied, he's talking about
preaching in a language that people understand. That's what
he's talking about. He's preaching. He prophesied,
he speaks unto men to edification, exhortation, comfort. He's preaching
in a language that they hear, they know, he's edifying, he's
building them up, he's exhorting them, tell them what God has
to say, and they're comforted. They hear it. They know it. Verse
4, he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but
he that prophesieth edifieth the church. One speaking in a
language not known, it may profit from what he's saying if he understands
it, but nobody else does. I would that you all spake with
tongues, but rather that you prophesied. For greater is he,
or greater profit to others, is he that prophesieth than he
that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church
may receive edifying." Obviously that, I said a minute ago, there
were some that may have had the gift to speak in an unknown foreign
language, and Paul was saying that he wished they all could.
That's wonderful. I wish I knew how to preach. I wish I knew how to preach in
Cajun French. Got a lot of folks back home
that don't know. I wish I could. I
don't know how many. I don't know how they're sitting.
I wish I could. I don't know how. I don't know
how. I was raised listening to my mama She'd get on the telephone
talking to her sisters. And I'm telling you, she would
just rattle on and on and on. And I never understood a word
she was saying. And she'd laugh. I thought, I
wonder what she's talking about. I wish I could. Paul says, I
would that you all speak in languages, but rather that you would preach. Preach where someone can understand. Unless there's someone there
to interpret, then he said you're not profiting. Look at verse 6. Now brethren,
if I come unto you speaking with tongues, What shall I profit
you except I speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge
or by prophesying or by doctrine? What good does it do? What good
does it do if I sit here and I preach this whole message? in a language that is known by
somebody but nobody here knows what I'm saying. What prophet
is... unless you hear someone interpret. I'd be down in Mexico and I... Man, there's a group of people
out there and they're all just so intently just looking at me
and I'm talking to them in English And when we were down there,
the way it was always set up, everybody that I was with, they
were all right here on this front row, right here. And every one
of them understood exactly what I was saying, because I was speaking
in English the best I could. And here's Cody right here. And I'd say something, and if
I made an inflection, he'd do the exact same thing. And I said,
and the Lord would say it, and He'd say it in Spanish, and He'd
do the same thing that I did. And they'd hear Him, but they
could hear me preach that whole message in English, and it was
the truth, but it didn't do them a bit of good. What profit, unless
there's an enlargement of the knowledge of God's grace, unless
there's some preaching that you understand, It's nothing. 7 to
9 says, and even things without life. Here's the reason that
you've got to understand. You've got to recognize it. You've
got to recognize what's being said and understand it. Even
things without life give sound. Whether pipe or harp, except
they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known
what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain
sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise, except
you utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, significant. How shall it be known what is
spoken? For you shall speak unto the air. If you don't recognize
what is being If you don't hear that certain sound, that certain
wording, if you don't understand what I'm saying, it won't do
you any good. I'm going to hum a song for you. You know there's only seven notes?
Do you know that all notes Seven notes. All songs come from seven notes. I just hummed something. I hummed Amazing Grace. Did you
recognize it? Why? Because the notes weren't
where they were supposed to be. It did not make a bit of sense
to you. I can tell you that I said, you
didn't recognize that. What if a trumpet is sounded? that it's going to sound the
charge to battle. And it gives an indistinct sound. You're listening for something
out there and they hear a trumpet, but it's not the right sound
for charge. You thought you heard retreat.
What's going to happen? It's going to be confusion. It's
going to be just chaos. So if there's a sound and a man's
out there proclaiming something and you don't understand it,
he's just talking to the air. As far as you're concerned, wasting
his breath. Look at verse 10, 11. There are,
it may be so, so many kinds of voices in the world and none
of them is without signification. Therefore, if I know not the
meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian,
and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. God has
given languages. Whenever they were building that
tower of Babel, they decided that they were going to build
a tower to God, a tower to heaven. The Lord came and He confounded. They started giving all different
kinds of languages. They couldn't communicate with
each other. The mortar mixers, you know, would tell the bricklayers
something, and the bricklayers... The bricklayer would tell this one
over here, I need so much stuff, I need this, that, and the other,
and nobody understood what was... What was it? It was chaos. Chaos. God gave all these different
languages to curse, to stop them. Now we've got all these different
languages and they're not without significance. There's a reason
for them. But, if these languages that
are really being preached are not understood, then you're just
a foreigner. You have no earthly idea what's going on. Even so,
verse 12, even so ye, for as much as you're zealous, of spiritual
gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church,
knowing that you are zealous, Paul said. I know you've talked
to those at Corinth, and they were zealous. They eagerly desired
those gifts. For what reason? Paul says, I
know that you're zealous for them, but, he said, I want you
to seek that you might excel. to edify the church and don't
strive to build yourself up. Wherefore, let him that speaketh
in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret it, if the gift
of speaking has been given. Pray that the Lord, ask the Lord
for the gift of interpretation, which again it appears as though
not all of them have, so that you can tell the congregation
what's being said. If I would be down in Mexico
and I'm preaching in Spanish and I had the gift, which I don't
believe the gifts are here anymore, I believe with the fullness of
the revelation of scripture, but that's not the issue right
here. If I had the ability to speak in Spanish, God had gifted
me, and I could set forth the truth in Spanish But I don't
have the gift to interpret. I can do it. Obviously, some
could. Pray, Lord said, if you've got
it through Paul, pray that he also give you the gift of interpretation.
Now what if someone asked me a question? What if I make a
statement here and someone asked me a question afterward? Would
you tell me what you meant by that? I'm thinking. I don't know. I don't know how
to interpret it. I could preach it, I could say
it, but I don't know how to interpret Paul says pray that you might
be able to interpret what's being said. 4, verse 14, 15. If I pray in an unknown tongue,
my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit,
I'll pray with understanding also, I'll sing with the Spirit,
I'll sing with understanding also. If one is preaching, if
one is praying in a foreign language, a language that the Spirit of
God truly directed, unless I have the gift to interpret, even to
myself, there's no fruit. There's no fruit born. My heart
is not even edified. What then, he said, what should
be done? Seek the Lord's blessing that
when I pray or I sing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
also I might have understanding of it. When thou shalt bless with the
Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say,
Amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what
thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks
well, but the other is not edified." This speaking. in this God-led
foreign language, in the language of another's understanding. It
is needful, because while the speaker may bless and praise
the Lord with understanding to many there, but if there's some
in the congregation that don't understand what's being said,
again, no profit. A lot of the things that I've
learned concerning this, I learned down in Mexico watching, listening. Came to the end of a service
one night, we were down in one of the pueblos there and they
asked Brother Walter to close in prayer. I don't know if some
of you may have been there, I don't know. And what he started doing,
I was standing there listening and he started praying and he
was praying in Spanish. I just listened. Then all of a sudden, before
he finished, he started praying in English. He just went from
Spanish to English. And as soon as he went over into
English, I started understanding what he was saying. I came up
later and I told him, I said, Walter, I thank you. I thank
you for doing that, you know, that I could I could understand. If he had prayed or he was preaching
only in Spanish, how would I be able to say amen? These men stand
up and they'll be praying or preaching. And you hear something
that blesses your heart. Amen. Amen. I agree with that. How could anyone say, Paul says
in verse 8, else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall
he that occupieth the room of the unlearned, if I don't understand?
He was praying in Spanish there for a while. How would I say
amen? I didn't even know what he said.
I figured he was praying. He was saying something. I know
Walter. I trust him, whatever he said.
But if he was only praying in something, how would I agree
with him if I didn't understand him? I'm going to say something
to you right now. I'm going to say it as clearly
and as distinctly as I can. Now, you listen to me. et pour la grâce de Dieu. You don't agree? Why did you
not say amen? Now I know that someone in this
congregation agrees with me. I said in Cajun, which I don't
speak, I said salvation is by the grace of God. Now you understand. I went to great lengths to be
able to say that. I called my sister Deedee in
Louisiana. I asked my mom and she understands
it but she couldn't remember exactly how to say it. So I got
my sister Deedee to call around and she called and was talking
to people all in South Louisiana You'd be surprised how hard it
is to get somebody in South Louisiana to be able to say that. But I
found someone and they videoed that person and sent me a video.
And I went over and over and over listening to exactly how
they were saying it. All of that effort that I went
through. And when I said it, it did you
no good. All of the time that I spent,
I've gone over and over and over that phrase to say it just exactly
the way they were saying it. And it profited you nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Like I said,
I don't speak the language. Unless you told me that that's
what I was saying, I wouldn't have any idea. Paul says, Seek
those spiritual gifts. I wish I did understand it. I
wish I could preach it. But rather, but rather, to stand
in this pulpit right now and speak to you in the only language
that I understand and tell you what Almighty God has done for
sinners. That's the blessing. Why? Because faith cometh Hearing. Hearing. Hearing. I looked that
word up just a few minutes ago. Faith cometh by hearing. It's
from the same meaning of Isaiah 51.3, who hath believed our report. That hearing, that word report.
Who has believed our doctrine. Who has believed what's being
taught concerning the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ? For you to understand what I'm
saying is all of the profit, all of the benefit. For someone
to stand up and just go through a bunch of gibberish and say,
that's speaking in tongues. That's a heavenly language. No,
it isn't. No, it isn't. Nobody understands
what you're saying. Well, this is what it means.
How do I know? It's not even a language. Now,
if someone that understands that language tells me this is what
they said, I trust them. Now, there's where there's an
interpretation. But for you to stand up here
and run off the mouth, it's something that makes no sense. That is
not what's set forth in this book. May the Lord bless these
words to our heart. May we understand the importance,
the need, the necessity of understanding what's being proclaimed for Christ's
glory and for our good. Amen. Let's take a break.