Speaking In Tongues

This morning I brought you a
message on the resurrection of the dead. And the Apostle Paul, under the
leadership of God's Spirit, devoted an entire chapter of fifty some
odd verses to that subject, the resurrection of the dead. And
we were able to cover it, we were able by God's Spirit to
deal with the subject, I thought, effectively. I thought the Lord
blessed us. And tonight, in the book of 1
Corinthians chapter 14, there's an entire chapter devoted to
this subject of speaking in tongues. An entire chapter. And I'm going
to do my best to cover the entire chapter tonight. I might say
that what I preached this morning and what I'll be preaching tonight
in regard to this 14th chapter is found in my commentary. That's
one of the reasons why these commentaries were published,
is to inform people on these subjects in plain, everyday language
that you can understand. I first encountered this thing
of speaking in tongues as we know it today, the charismatic
gibberish that people call speaking in tongues. I encountered this
a long, long time ago, 1952. And some very prominent men,
some dear friends of mine, became involved in this Pentecostal
charismatic tangent. And today it is more
prevalent than ever before. I've heard different television
speakers, men and women, speak in this, what they call speaking
in tongues. Even a man who ran for president
of the United States, Pat Robinson, speaks in tongues. I've heard
him speak in tongues on television. I've heard Swigert speak in tongues.
I've heard Baker speak in tongues, and quite a number of women speak
in what they call speaking in tongues. And when we went to
England this past spring, I ran into quite a bit of it over there,
talking about it. I didn't actually get in the
meetings, but it's moving rapidly in England, this country and
in England. And so I prepared a message and
decided to speak on the subject, speaking in tongues. Let's see
what God's word has to say about it. And in introducing the message,
I wish to give you six things that I know. These are things
that we know about this subject. No question about this. These
six things are true. You can write them down if you
want to. Then we'll get to chapter 14. First of all, and you can
verify this if you will buy a concordance. You'll get a concordance. We
have concordances in the church office here that sell for $10.
Every word in the Bible is in this concordance with its Hebrew
and Greek meaning in the back. You don't have to know Hebrew
or Greek. All you have to know is how to
look something up, and it'll tell you the meaning of the word.
And every time the word tongue or tongues is used in the Bible,
every time the word tongue or tongues is used in the Bible,
it refers to This thing right here, you know, James says the
tongue is a little member, yet it's set on fire with hails,
talking about this instrument that's used for eating, speaking,
licking, postage stamps, or whatever. But that's the first meaning
of the word tongue, this small instrument in your mouth. Secondly,
and this, the Greek, every time it's used in the New Testament,
with the exception of one time, every single time, tongues, plural. tongues always refers to a definite
language spoken by somebody somewhere. You look it up, it's the same
word, it's 1100 in the back of the Greek lexicon, and it means
a specific language spoken by people. Now that's a fact. All right, secondly, the second
thing we know is this. And you know I don't need to,
I have the scripture down here, no need to go back and read Genesis
where God confounded the languages of people, they were building
the tower and they all began to speak different languages
and they were scattered over the earth. That was the origin
of languages or tomes. Secondly, we know that at Pentecost,
at Pentecost God gave the disciples the ability to preach the gospel
in other tomes. In other what? Languages. Languages. Languages which they never learned,
and languages which some of them had never heard. Peter, James,
John, Matthew, these apostles, were able to stand up at Pentecost,
and they gathered their people from all nations. And these disciples
preached the gospel. They didn't just stand up and
rattle off some gibberish, they preached Christ. Christ eternal,
Christ incarnate, Christ our righteousness, Christ our sin
offering, Christ our Lord and Savior, Christ risen, Christ,
they preach the gospel. Now let me read that to you.
Turn to Acts chapter 2. Let's get serious about this.
Now let's settle this issue once and for all. In Acts chapter
2 verse 1. Acts 2 verse 1. Now look it up
with me. And 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 mighty rushing,
rushing mighty wind. It filled the house where they
were sitting. And there appeared, there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as a fire that sat upon each of them. And they were
filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other languages. as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together and were confounded, because every
man heard them speak in his own language. And they were amazed, and they
marveled, saying one to another, Are not all these which speak
Galileans? And how hear we every man in
our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, see
all those countries, these people were assembled there for Pentecost.
And they spoke different tongues, languages, like we speak today,
Spanish, French, Russian, German, Portuguese, all these, English,
all these different languages, and the apostles were preaching
the gospel. And these men heard them, they
were speaking in tongues. But these men heard them preach
Christ and the gospel in their language. Isn't that what it
says? That's exactly what it says.
That's a fact. They preached the gospel in other
languages. And then the third thing. In
this church at Corinth, these gifts had continued, no question
about that. This is in the very earliest
days. Paul spoke several languages. Paul went on all these missionary
journeys, and he didn't have to have an interpreter. No matter
where God sent him, he spoke the gospel in their language.
He said, I speak in tongues more than you all. I speak more languages
than anybody here. That's what he said. I speak
more languages than anybody here. Now, here's the third thing.
There were in this church at Corinth men who had these special
gifts. Now, turn back to 1 Corinthians
12. First Corinthians 12, beginning with verse 4. There were many gifts in the
early church. You see, they had their Old Testament
scriptures. They didn't have the New Testament
scriptures. And God gave these apostles and
elders and men in the churches special gifts. They had power
to heal, they had gift of faith, they had the gift of languages,
they had the gift of knowledge, they had the gift of prophecy,
they had these supernatural gifts. God gave it to them as a witness
that they were his men. Chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians,
verse 4, Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of
administration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities
of operation, but it's the same God who worketh all in all. But
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal, for to one is given by the Holy Spirit the word of wisdom,
to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another
faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit. Now remember, these are men who
went forth to a pagan world, to an antagonistic world, to
a hostile world, without a Bible except the Old Testament. They
didn't have first... I stand up here and I tell you
to first turn to 1 Corinthians. They went to pagan countries.
They didn't have 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Hebrews, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, any of these books. And they were preaching
that Christ is Lord, and Christ is the Redeemer, and Christ is
King, and God gave them these special gifts. You know, Paul
one time, a bunch of people around him, and he put some sticks on
a fire, and a snake bit him. He shook it off from the fire,
and they waited on him to die, and he didn't die. And they said,
Hey, this man's a God. He said, No, but I represent
God. He gave them these. He told them if they'd drink
any deadly thing, it would not hurt them. If they touched snakes,
it wouldn't hurt them. They'd speak in other languages.
These men had special gifts, even in this church. All right,
verse 9, to another faith, to another gifts of healing. Verse
10, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy,
to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tones,
different languages. The ability to speak in language
is to another the ability to interpret the language. So these men had gifts. Look
at chapter 14, verse 18. This is the one I quoted a while
ago. Chapter 14, verse 18. Paul said, I thank my God, and
it's God who gave it to him, I speak with languages more than
all of you. More than all of you. So that's
the third thing I know. That there was men in the church
at Corinth, had these gifts, supernatural gifts for the Holy
Spirit, given as he will for the furtherance of the gospel.
Not to show off, but for the furtherance of the gospel. All
right, fourthly, I know this. Now, you get a hold of your seat
there a minute. This is true. Nowhere in the word of God, absolutely
nowhere, this is an invention of me, Nowhere in the word of
God does the word tomes ever refer to a heavenly language. Now that's what they call it,
they call it a heavenly language. I've been among them, I know,
I listen to them. And they stand up and they get
under some kind of spell and they start rattling off syllables
and words that have no meaning to anyone. And they say it's
a heavenly language, that their spirit pray it. Their understanding
doesn't pray, their spirit prays. But nowhere, nowhere in this
Bible, you check and see, does tongues ever refer to a heavenly
language or gibberish or unintelligible chatter as practiced today. Look back at chapter 13, 1 Corinthians
13. Though I speak with the tongues
of what? Of men. Not the gibberish, not
a heavenly language. I speak with the tongues, the
languages of men. You see that? Look back at chapter
12, verse 10. Chapter 12, verse 10. You remember
I read this a moment ago? The middle of the verse there.
To another is given different kinds of tongues. Not one heavenly
language, or gibberish, or chatter, but languages. You see what I'm
saying? Paul and the apostles and these
men at Corinth, yes, they had the gift of tongues. It was not a chatter, a gibberish,
a heavenly language, it was literally the gift to speak and preach
in another language that they had not learned in school. Another
language, the language of men. Different kinds of tongues, different
languages. All right, fifthly, now here
I know this. The problem at Corinth, and everywhere
you have human beings. You're going to have a misuse
of things, wherever you have human beings. And the problem
at Corinth, and the problem Paul deals with in this chapter, was
many of the people were discouraged because they couldn't speak in
tongues. Members of the church, Paul spoke
in other languages, Probably some of the other apostles and
some of the elders in the church at Corinth spake in other languages,
other tongues, and many of the people couldn't do it. And they
were discouraged, they were troubled because they couldn't speak in
languages, only their own language. See, God gives as he will, these
gifts. Secondly, some of these men who
did speak, we'll see this in a moment, became elated and puffed
up with their ability. They became puffed up and elated
with their ability to speak other languages. That would be something
pretty hard to handle. If suddenly, I'd like to be able
to go to Africa when I was over there, and I had to speak to
an interpreter. I'd just sit in there thinking,
boy, I'd like to speak French. But what if I couldn't? I'd go
and speak French to them, I'd go down in Mexico and speak Spanish,
and I'd go over to England and talk like they talk, you know,
and be able to speak I'd have to, there'd be a danger of me
being a human being, misusing it, abusing it, showing
off, showing, and that's what they were doing. They were taking
these gifts and they were abusing them and misusing them, and you're
going to see that in a few moments, and Paul sets them straight.
Now here the sixth thing I know is this. Paul writes this chapter
to inform us as to the author of these gifts. The author. And secondly, the reason for
these gifts. And thirdly, the proper use of
them. Now let's look at chapter 14.
Let's see what I can do with this. See if I can help us. I
know maybe somebody here says, well I hear these people and
they sound so charismatic and so elated and so happy and so
out of this world and so out of touch with reality and they're
just bouncing on a cloud and whoop-de-doo and speaking in
tongues. It's phony. It's phony. It may be real to
them, but it's phony according to this book. All right, here
he starts in verse, chapter 14, verse 1. Follow after love. Just
what Jim read. There's something greater than
gifts. There's something greater than
being able to speak another language. There's something greater than
having the ability to heal the sick. There's something greater
than the ability to interpret tongues and to have knowledge,
and that is to have love for Christ. The love of Christ in
you, the love of Christ for you, and the love of Christ for others.
That's the greatest gift. Look at chapter 12, verse 31.
This is the last, when he talks about these gifts, he says in
verse 29, Are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers,
are all workers of miracles? No. Do all have the gift of healing? No. Do all have the gift of languages? No. Do all interpret? No. Covet
earnestly the best gifts, and yet I'll show you something better.
Look at verse 1, chapter 13. I may speak with the languages
of men, and of angels, and have not love? For I am nothing but
a clanging gong and a tinkling cymbal. Verse 2, I may have the
gift of prophecy, and understand mysteries, and theology, and
knowledge, and have faith, so I can remove mountains, and have
not love? I am nothing. So there's something better than
speaking in another language. There's something better than
having the ability to heal somebody. There's something infinitely
better, and that's to know the love of God which passeth understanding,
and have the love of Christ in your heart. Now, you covet that. Love beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. And he said,
one of these days, tongues are going to cease. There's going
to be one language in glory. But love's not going to cease.
One day these prophecies are going to cease, but love's not
going to cease. One day all of these things that we're playing
with today are going to be gone like children's toys, but love's
not going to cease. So he says in verse 1 of chapter
14, you follow after love. And desire spiritual gifts. But
I'll tell you a gift you really need to desire, but rather that
you may preach and teach that you may expound the word." This
is what he's saying. He is saying, desire spiritual
gifts, but remember, all the gifts and all that God does for
men and through men and in men is in order to preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ. That's where it is. Someone told me just before I
walked through that door to come to this pulpit about a preacher
friend of mine who's having some problems, emotional problems,
the pressure, the stress of posturing and organization and all these
things, and the Church is going to give him some time off. If
I could sit down with that young man, I'd tell him this. I'd tell you a way to avoid a
lot of that stress and pressure. Start preaching Christ. Preach
Christ. Determined to know nothing but
Christ. That's where it is. That's what the gifts are for.
That's why we're here. That's why we've assembled here,
to preach Christ Jesus. Preach Christ Jesus. Follow love
and desire gifts, but rather that you may preach. I'm determined
to know nothing but Christ and him crucified. I'm going to preach
Christ. We preach Christ and him crucified. We're not seeking
organization and all these different things, we're seeking the opportunity
to preach Christ. And verse 2, For he that speaketh
in an unknown tongue. Now the word unknown is not in
the Bible, it's not in the original. Don't you see it's in italics
there? It's in italics. It's put in there by the translators.
He that speaketh in a language. But what he's saying here, in
a language men do not know to whom he's preaching. He speaketh
not unto men, but unto God. For no man understands him, howbeit
in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries. Let me give you an example. Brother
Groover, suppose he were here tonight, or Brother Howard. They both speak fluent Spanish.
God's given them the gift to preach the gospel, or Bill Clark
speaks French. And if he's here, this is what
follows, he that speaketh in French, to the congregation at
13th Street, speaketh not to anybody." Now, God knows what he's saying,
and he knows what he's saying. But you don't know what he's
saying. Isn't that what he's saying here? He that speaketh in a language. And these men in the church had
this gift of speaking in other languages, and the word never
means anything but languages. It never means gibberish or chatter
or unintelligible words. It means a language. And if I
speak in another language, I don't speak to men if they don't understand
me. I may speak to God, but verse 3, but he that preacheth in the
language men knows, he that preacheth Christ, he speaketh unto men
to edification. He edifies people. He exhorts
them and he comforts them. He that speaketh in another language
edifies himself. I'm sure Walter Gruber would
like to speak in Spanish here. He's a lot better at it, he thinks,
than he is in English. But when he'd be edified, he'd
get a blessing. But we wouldn't get a blessing.
He that prophesieth edifieth the whole church. Now verse 5,
I wish all of you could speak with other languages. I wish
I could. I would that you all speak with
other languages. But why didn't Paul lay hands
on them and get them started? That's what they tell me on television.
Come down front, we'll lay hands on you, baptize the whole world
and speak in tongues. Why didn't Paul do that? He wanted
them to, but they didn't. But I tell you, he says this,
I had rather, I wish all of you could speak the gospel in other
languages and go everywhere telling me about Christ, but I'd rather
you preached. Greater is he that prophesieth,
that preacheth, than he that speaketh in other language, unless
he interprets, that the church may receive edifying." Now, when
I go down to Mexico and preach, I stand here and preach, and
Walter stands beside me, and I'll speak, and he'll translate,
he'll interpret. I call him my interrupter, not
my interpreter, you know. And I'll say something else,
and he'll interpret it. They are edified that way. Paul
has done it, and different ones of you men have been there and
preached in English, and they translate. And that's what he's
saying here. If a man comes speaking in another language that no one
understands, and he doesn't have an interpreter, no one is edified.
But if you interpret it well. Now verse 6. Now brethren, if
I come unto you down there in Corinth and speak with other
languages, what shall I profit you? I'll tell you how I can
profit you, except I speak to you by revelation. I can profit
you that way. As Christ is revealed to the
heart, the knowledge of our sins and his mercy and his will of
redemption, prophesying a telling forth of his purpose in Christ
and the doctrines of his grace, I'll tell you, men will be profited
that way. Now watch this picture here. Even things without life-giving
sound, even things that do not talk. Now, here's what he's saying. You see in verse 5, he said,
I wish all of you could speak in other languages, but my primary
concern is that you preach and teach the gospel, witness the
gospel. For greater is he that preacheth and he that speaks
with other languages, unless he interprets, unless someone
interprets what he's saying, then he can edify. Now if I come
to you speaking in these other languages, I don't profit you
anything unless I come to you speaking by revelation, knowledge,
prophesying, even things without life-giving sound, like this
organ here. Unless they give a distinction
in the sounds, how shall it be known what is being played? In
other words, he says when a person plays a musical instrument, He
must play certain notes set in order, certain notes, or no one
will know the song he's playing. I'm going to play Amazing Grace
over here. Let me give it a try. This thing on my... You like
that? What's wrong with it? Well, it's
the sound, but the notes. Now, if I come up and play it
and put those notes in order, everybody's blessed. And it's
the same thing. This is what Paul is saying right
there, speaking in tone. A man may stand, and he may be
saying the truth in another language, but it doesn't mean a thing to
you. Now watch this, in the next line here. He said, Even things
without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, unless they give
a distinction in the sound, unless the notes are set in order, how
shall it be known what you're playing? How do you know what he's playing?
If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, how shall a man prepare
himself for battle? In other words, a trumpet sounds
for the men, charge or retreat. How does it sound, charge or
retreat? It sounds charge or retreat by some distinct notes
that are set in proper order that the ear of that man hears
and recognizes and knows what to do. He knows whether to charge
or whether to fall back. All right, watch this now. Ye, except you utter by the tongue
words, words signified or significant to be understood, how shall it
be known what is speaking? You speak in the air. Could I
illustrate that? I didn't warn you ahead of time,
John, but would you stand up and help me, John Fleming? I
want you to do something for me. I want you to quote a couple
of verses from Isaiah 53 in German. He's going to quote the scripture,
he's going to quote it in another language, and you're not going
to know a thing he's saying. Do that for me. Thank you, sir. That blessed
you, didn't it? That's what Paul said. This man
can speak German, he can speak a little Spanish. And that's
just Just like I bleed on that organ, Paul said, it's not going
to mean anything to you unless these notes are set in order
that you can understand it, your ear picks up and the trumpet
blow in charge of it. And if a man, he was quoting
the blessed word of God. He was dealing with the mysteries
of Christ's revelation. And if we could come here and
listen to him for days and go home as ignorant as when we came. But God knows what you said,
and you know what you said. And if I could speak German,
I could tell them in English what you said. I don't know why
we're having trouble with this thing. That's what it says right
there, verse 9. So likewise ye, unless you utter
by tongue, words easy to be understood. How is it going to be known what
is spoken? You speak in the air. That's what John just did. As
far as we're all concerned, he just spoke in the air. Now verse 10, there are, it may
be, so many kinds of voices in the world. There are many languages,
many, many. There are thousands of languages. The Bible is translated
in over 1,100 languages. And none of them is without signification. To whom? To the man who knows
the language. They all have a meaning to the
man that knows the language. 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, a foreigner to me,
if I know not the language. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are
zealous of spiritual gifts," now here it is, there were fellows
in this church, Reals, well, you can imagine, these men were
human beings, they were ambitious men, and in that church God gave
Paul and several of them the gift to speak, and everybody
wanted that gift. It's an amazing gift. They could
just hear these men stand up and speak in the gospel in a
half a dozen languages. And they were zealous of it.
They were discouraged because they didn't have it. Others wanted
this gift to speak in another language. And even so, verse
12, for as much as you are zealous of spiritual, you seek that you
may excel to the edifying of the church. That's quit playing
with it, and showing off with it, and abusing it, and misusing
it, and desiring it as the end in itself. And let's seek to
edify somebody. Edify somebody. Wherefore, let
him that speaketh in another language pray that he may interpret. If I pray in an unknown language,
a language people don't know, like John just did in speaking,
my spirit prayeth, my heart prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit of
God and I will pray with understanding. Whose understanding? That you
might understand. And I will sing with the Spirit,
and I will sing with the understanding. Otherwise, verse 16, when you
bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of
the unlearned, the man who doesn't know the language, say Amen,
after giving of thanks, seeing he doesn't understand what you
are saying? Thou verily givest thanks well. And John spoke that verse well.
But the other is not edified. Isn't that it, Charlie? That's
exactly what he said. I thank God I speak with languages
more than all of you. Yet in the church I had rather
speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I may teach
others also than ten thousand words in a language men don't
understand. Now here's what I told you a
while ago. They were misusing it. Brethren, be not children
in understanding. Be not children, be not immature,
and all this is an immaturity. It's a clamoring after something.
I'll tell you one thing, when you name all those gifts over
there, it's strange that they pick on this tongues business.
I don't see them healing anybody, I don't see them raising anybody
from the dead, I don't see them ordering any true prophecies.
But they pick this tongues deal. And it's just children. Be not
children in your understanding. Howbeit in malice be children. Don't hold grudges. Children
usually don't. Grown people do. In your attitude,
in your understanding, in your wisdom, be mature. In malice
and hurt feelings and misunderstandings and grudges, be children. But
in understanding, be men. Now watch this. In the law it's written, this
is found It's found in the Old Testament. It was found in Romans 19. It refers back to the law. It's
written, with men of other languages, a man of another language, a
man speaking a language he didn't learn, and other lips will I
speak to this people. And yet for all, all that, they'll
not hear me. You know what Paul is saying
here? If I had the gift, if I had the gift of speaking other languages
like these men had, you know people still wouldn't believe
the gospel I'm preaching unless God revealed it to their hearts.
Folks aren't converted by signs and miracles and wonders, they're
converted by the Word of God and by Christ. Well, they'd come
from miles around, they'd fill this building, and I could put
on a show speaking all these languages. But you know, Abraham
said to the rich man in hell, they will not be convinced though
one rose from the dead, and they'll not be convinced though they
speak in a language they haven't learned. God has to reveal the
gospel to their hearts. So what's this now? If therefore
the whole church, well, oh, verse 22, I want you to see this. He
said in verse 21, in the law it's written, with men of other
languages and other lyrics will I speak to this people, and yet
for all that they won't hear me. In fact, over at Pentecost,
when they heard these men speak the gospel in their language,
they said they're drunk. They're drunk. They're full of
new wine. They began to mock them and make
fun of them. They didn't hear that gospel. Now watch verse
22. Wherefore, tongues are for a
sign. not to them that believe. Have
you ever heard people say that tongues are a sign you've got
to baptism in the Holy Ghost? Tongues are not a sign for the
believer. The believer's not looking for signs. The believer
walks by faith. The believer believes God. He's
not looking for signs. So tongues are a sign, but not
for the believer, as tongues are a sign to them that don't
believe. Let me show you that in Hebrews
2. Turn to Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. In Hebrews 2, verse 3. Hebrews 2, 3. Now listen to this.
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? which at
first began to be spoken by our Lord and was confirmed to us
by them that heard him, the apostles, God also bearing them witness,
both with signs and wonders and different miracles and gifts
of the Holy Ghost according to his will. These gifts of tongues
and healing and power were given to these apostles as a sign.
To whom? To the believer, to the unbeliever.
to get his ear, to get his attention. Like Nicodemus said to Christ,
I know you're from God, you couldn't do this if you weren't from God.
So tongues are not a sign for a believer, they're a sign for
unbelievers. Now watch the next line, verse 22. But preaching,
prophesying, teaching, serveth not for them that believe not,
but for them that believe. You know what the believer wants
to hear? He wants to hear the Word of God. He wants to hear
the Word of God. You know what the unbeliever's
got to hear? He's got to have a sign, a miracle, because he's
not interested in the Word of God. I can stand here Sunday after
Sunday preaching Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. And those who
love Christ and love his Word will come and sit and listen,
and they'll be edified and strengthened and comforted and instructed.
If I start popping off in other tongues and gifts and wonders
and healings, you know who's going to fill this place? Unbelievers. Unbelievers. The religionists. Because that's a sign for them,
you see. They're looking for signs. But the believers are
looking for the Word. So, verse 23, if the whole church
be come together into one place, And all of you speak with languages,
and there comes in a man who doesn't know the gospel, he's
unlearned, he's an unbeliever, will he not say you're crazy? Well, he'd be justified if he
did say you're crazy. What's wrong with those people? teach, prophesy, and there come
in one that believeth not or unlearneth, he's convinced. He's
convinced to be seen. He's convinced of the glory of
God. He's convinced of the sacrifice of Christ. He's judged of all.
And the secrets of his heart are made manifest, and falling
down on his face, he'll worship God and report God's in the midst
of those people of a truth. How is it then, brethren? Why
are you doing this? When you come together, everyone
has a psalm, everyone has a doctrine, everyone has a language, everyone
has a revelation, everyone has an interpretation. Let everything
be done unto edifying. This is not God's way. I went to this church over there
in Indiana, and they were all hoop-de-doin' and all prayin'
at the same time and all talkin' at the same time, and I said,
hey, this is not of God. God's not in this. Everybody
a one-man show, everybody showing off his gifts and ability and
waving his hands and hollering and talking. Verse 27, if a man
speak in another language, if any man speak in another language,
let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by chorus,
one at a time. And let somebody interpret. If there be no interpreter, let
him sit in silence. Don't let him open his mouth.
If you see him speaking a language, and these men had the gifts,
but if there be not someone there who knows that language and can
interpret that language, let him be silent. Let him speak
to himself or to God. And let the preachers, prophets,
speak two or three. Let the other judge. Let them
speak one at a time. Let the others listen and discern.
If anything be revealed to another, sit it by. Let the first man
hold his peace. Don't speak all at once. For
ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may
be comforted. And I'll tell you this about
it, though. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
What you've got to say better be according to this book. You
don't want nothing new. You know what he's saying? What
you feel led to say better be what God's already said. I hear
a lot of these fellas talking about, God told me this this
morning. I'm sorry, there's no new revelation, this is it right
here. That's somebody else talking to you, it wasn't God. And I
beg your pardon, because the prophets are subject to the prophets. God's not the author of confusion,
tumult. God's not the author of tumult
and confusion. God's the author of peace, as
in all the churches of the saints. Do you see that? But this does not apply to women.
Now, here's where we're headed in this day. We're headed way
out in left field. We've not only got All this tongues
and clatter and gibberish and unintelligible talk and hand-waving
and cutting up and everybody talking at once and acting like
madmen. When the scripture says God's
in the heavens, let your word be few. Don't be hasty to utter
anything before God. God's in his holy temple. Let
all the earth keep silence before him. Bow down and worship the
Lord our God. Let him be exalted, not the flesh.
But now the ladies have taken over. Indirect rebellion against
the Word of God. And in this same thing, he's
talking about speaking in other languages, he's talking about
praying, he's talking about prophesying, he's talking about teaching,
and he's talking about confusion, and he said in verse 34, let
your women keep absolute silence in the church. It is not permitted
for them to speak. They are commanded to be under
obedience, as saith the law of God. That's what the law of God
said, your husband, Eve, will rule over you. He's the head
of the home, he's the priest of the home. And in the church,
God never called a woman to preach, he never called a woman to teach
men, to use up authority over the men, or to run the business
of the church, or to run the committees. I beg your pardon.
But to be in silence, that's what the word of God said. And if they would learn anything,
let them ask their husbands at home. It's a shame for a woman
to speak in the church. It's a shame for a woman to take
charge in worship. It's a shame for a woman to stand
up rattle off in the church and carry on like that. It's indecent.
It's out of God's will. It's contrary to the word of
God. Well, we've got a new revelation,
you know. This was a different day. Look
at verse 36. What? Did the word of God come
out of you or to you? You know what he's saying? Came the word of God out from
you? Did the word of God originate
with you? Did God's way originate with you? Did God's purpose originate
with you? Did God's gospel originate with
you? Or did it come unto you? We've got to follow the word.
We're not going to be inventors of new ways of worshiping God.
The gospel didn't originate with us. It came to us. That's what he said. He came
to us, not from us. So if any man thinks himself
to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
things that I write unto you, they are the commandments of
the Lord. I know it might be sitting right
here, somebody might say, I don't like that, let your women keep
silent. Paul said, do you think yourself a prophet, a preacher,
a spiritual? You acknowledge what I say is
God's word. in God's commandment. The gospel
didn't come from you, it came to you. You're not the originator
or the founder of the way God's church is to worship and preach.
You simply follow what God says. And if a man is spiritual and
if he is a preacher, he'll acknowledge that the things I write are the
commandments of God. Verse 38, But if any one wants
to be ignorant, let him stay ignorant. Boy, I tell you, he's
tough. You think I'm These things I've said here,
Paul said, about tongues and gifts and languages. He said,
you acknowledge this is the commandment of God. What I say is the last
word. I speak by commandment of God.
That's what Paul said. If a man is going to be ignorant,
just let him be ignorant. Therefore, brethren, covet to
prophesy. And don't forbid men to speak
with other languages. Ah, that's fine, if it's a language.

Speaking In Tongues

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Speaking In Tongues

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