SPEAKING IN UNKNOWN TONGUES
07-10-66
I Corinthians 14:1-40
Today, the
sermon is the gift of speaking in tongues.
I suppose that I have been years and years in preparation on this
sermon. Yet, when I had finished it,
and looked it, one would've thought it could have been done in five
minutes.
But there
hasn’t been anything over which I have struggled in my own spirit and in my
study and in my own observation in the thirty-eight years that I have been a
preacher more than over this subject of glossolalia. That’s a funny-sounding name, glossolalia, speaking in
tongues.
For about
two thousand years, it was almost unknown and unheard of. And then in the middle of the last century,
there was an English man by the name of Irving, a tall fella about six feet,
five inches tall, with his hair uncut, long, flowing over his shoulders, a
Presbyterian, and associated with the world-famed, Dr. Chalmers. And he led a movement, a tongue-speaking movement. And it has appeared in this century and in
our day.
Some of the
finest Baptist churches in our state are divided, clipped, tragically so. And some of the fine churches in this city,
wrestle with that at this present moment.
So when we
address ourselves to this subject, we are looking at one of the phenomenal
developments in Christendom this very hour.
Now, how
shall I do it? These two sermons, ought
to be together. The one next Sunday,
the one this Sunday. And there is not
the beginning of time to present them.
So, I just pray, I could hope that you could listen next Sunday
also. And if you are unable to, these
sermons will be printed in a book. The
book will be out the last of this year.
It will be entitled “The Holy Spirit in Today’s World.”
Now,
presenting the message. Do you remember
a television program called “Dragnet?”
And there was a man by the name of Webb, who was the detective in that
long series.
And in
everyone of the stories there always was developed a scene wherein the
detective was will say to a man -- usually garrulous -- that he was
questioning, would you, quote, “Just the facts, mister, just give me the
facts.”
Do you
remember that? “Just the facts, mister,
just give me the facts.” This sermon
will be that. Just the facts, Preacher,
just give me the facts. What does God
say? What does the Bible say? What is presented in the Holy
Scriptures? And then next Sunday, we
shall speak on the interpretation.
Now, the
facts. What are the facts of
glossolalia? When I turn to the 2nd
Chapter of the book of Acts: When the day of Pentecost was fully come, there
came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind -- the first
miracle.
And there
appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire -- the second miracle.
Over in
Embree Hall, there is a magnificent painting that will be greatly enlarged and
housed in one of the magnificent structures in the city of Dallas beyond Knox
Park, in the Hillcrest Cemetery area as you have in Forest Lawn in Los Angeles.
The
marvelous miracle of Pentecost is presented in that glorious project. Now the third miracle was: And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit. And began
to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now, there
were dwelling there in Jerusalem, Jews, Hellenists from all over the
world. And they heard every man in his
own language the glorious works of God.
They were
amazed and marveled saying: Are all of these which speak Galileans? How hear we then every man in his own tongue
wherein he was born? Parthians and
Medes, Elamites,6 Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Babylonians, Greeks,
Romans, Latins.
It was a
phenomenal miracle. Three of them. The sound of a mighty rushing wind. The fire as it parted and lambently flamed
upwards on the heads of each apostle.
And the preaching of the gospel of the Son of God in languages. And all of the people, all of those
representatives of those languages could hear it and understand it and they
were amazed by it.
I turn the
page now to the 10th Chapter of the book of Acts. In the household of Cornelius at Caesarea, when Peter was done
with his sermon in Verse 44 of Chapter 10.
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all of them
which heard the word.
And those
Jews that were there with Simon Peter were amazed that on these Gentiles also
was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Now, the
third time in the book of Acts. In the
Chapter 19, it came to pass that Paul found certain disciples. And he said to them: Have you received the
Holy Spirit?
And the King James Version is translated: Since ye
believed. When you believe.
Did you
receive the Holy Spirit when you were saved?
When you believed?
They said
unto him: We haven’t heard so much whether there be a Holy Spirit. And he says: Well, whose disciples are you
then? And they said: John the Baptist.
The Baptist
movement did not die when John was beheaded.
And I am preaching on the martyrdom of John the Baptist tonight. But the Baptist movement continued alongside
the Christian movement.
And the
disciples of John made disciples who made disciples who made disciples who made
disciples and there are disciples of John the Baptist today.
And these
men were disciples of disciples, of disciples, of disciples, of disciples of
John the Baptist. Now John the Baptist
preached the Holy Spirit. These men
haven’t even heard of such a thing as the Holy Spirit.
So Paul
preached the gospel unto them and they were saved and they were baptized. And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the
Holy Spirit came upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. Magnified God.
Now, that
is all in the book of Acts. I have read
all of it to you. There is one other
place in the New Testament. And it is
in the passage of I Corinthians, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14.
In I
Corinthians, Chapter 12, in listing the nine gifts of the Spirit here, the last
two are: To another, diverse kinds of tongues, and to another the
interpretation of tongues.
Then
Chapter 14 is a discussion of this gift of speaking in tongues. In Pentecost, it was an understood
language. But in the Corinthians
church, it is an ununderstandable language.
It is an unknown tongue.
In the 2nd
Verse, Paul says: He that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men,
but unto God. For no man understandeth
him. It is an unknown tongue.
And in
Verse 14: For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my
understanding is unfruitful. It is an
unknown tongue.
Glossolalia,
an unknown tongue. I am astonished in
many things in the Bible, in the word of God.
I am astonished at this. I am
amazed at it. I am overwhelmed by
it.
“But the facts,
mister, just tell us the facts.” These
are the facts. One, the saints of the
Old Testament, had all of the gifts of the Spirit. All of them are seen in the spirit-filled men of God of the Old
Testament. But not this.
This
phenomenon is not seen in the Old Testament, nor is there any approach to
it. Second, this phenomenon of speaking
in unknown, ununderstandable tongues is not seen in the life of our Lord. And to be honest, again, I could not
conceive of Jesus, the Son of God speaking in unknown tongues.
Nor is
there anything in the life of our master that approximates it or approaches
it. In the Gospels, it is never
mentioned, never referred to. The most
spiritual gospel, that of John, never mentions it. It is not seen in the life or ministry of our Lord.
In the
listing of the gifts, in Romans, and in Ephesians, it is never referred
to. Nor is it found in any church,
except in this one church this Corinth, that Paul -- that Paul calls a carnal
church. And the people as babes in Christ.
It is not
found in the churches of Macedonia. In
the churches of Achaia. In the churches
of Asia. In the churches of Judea. In the churches of Samaria. In the churches of Rome. It is never referred to. The only time it is ever seen is in this one
carnal church in Corinth, in Corinth.
It is never
referred to in the epistles of Paul, except here in the letter to Corinth. It is never referred to in the pastoral
epistle when Paul writes to his young sons in the ministry how to conduct a
house of God, how to carry on the work of the Lord, it is never referred
to.
It is never
referred to in the book of Hebrews. It
is never referred to in the general epistle it is by Peter, James and by
John. And it is never referred to in
the Revelation. It is a phenomenon that
you find only in this church in Corinth.
This speaking in an unknown tongue.
So I take
up this holy book. And I read what Paul
has to say in this 14th Chapter of I Corinthians about glossolalia, speaking in
unknown tongues. And when I read that
chapter, I can see, plainly, evidently, lucidly, I can see that Paul is
wrestling with a problem in the church at Corinth.
It is
always a problem. It has never been
anything else in the history of the world, but a problem. And Paul is wrestling with it here in the
church at Corinth. Plainly,
manifestly.
Why, he
says, when you come together as a church, and you speak in tongues. And there comes an unbeliever, will he not
say: You are -- and it is translated here -- mad? The Greek word is mainomai which is a Greek word for
insane.
When I turn
to the last verse in that chapter, he says: Let all things be done decently and
in order.
He’s having
trouble with it. It is a problem in the
church at Corinth. Can’t you see the
difference? Had the church at Corinth
given itself to great things, Paul would have commended them and encouraged
them. Had the church at Corinth given
themselves to a great sacrificial commitment to God, he would have written
words of encouragement and commendation.
Had they
been given to prayer, to intercession, to witness, to testimony, to any of the
fruits of the spirit, Paul would have written to them words of
commendation.
But he is
wrestling with this problem. It is a
problem in the church at Corinth. And
this chapter that Paul writes concerning glossolalia speaking in tongues, this
chapter is not a series of rules to speak in tongues, but it is a series of
mandates to restrict it.
In every
way possible, Paul is seeking to control, to dissuade, to discourage. “Just give me the facts, mister, give me the
facts.”
We are
going to look at everyone of them. Even
in these words where Paul speaks of speaking in tongues in the spirit of
permission and understanding, he will always put a “but” with it.
I am going
to read them all. I am going to read
every time that he says anything that might open the door to glossolalia. But every time he will say something of
permission, he will say but and then seek to interdict its use and its practice
and its exercise.
Look at
it. I Corinthians 14 Verse 4: He that
speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself. But he that speak intelligibly prophesies, speaks out, edifieth
the church.
When a man
speaks in an unknown tongue, he may build up his own spiritual egotism. And his own feeling of rapture and
ecstasy. But says Paul, for the church,
we need a plain and intelligible language.
All right,
turn the page and look at that “but” again.
Verse 5. Turn the page just a
little. I forget you don’t have my
Bible. Verse 5: I would, he says, that
ye all spake with tongues. But -- and
always it is there. I would that you
all spake with tongues. But rather that
you spake intelligibly and intelligibly.
All right
once again. Verse 18: I thank my God that I speak with tongues
more than you all. But -- always that. But in the church, I had rather speak quiet
words with my understanding than by my voice that I might teach others also
than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
Now, there
is one other place. We are reading all
of them. The 29th Verse. Forbid not to speak with tongues. But brethren, commit to prophesy. To speak, to edification and
intelligently.
I am just
repeating that when you read that chapter, Paul is wrestling with a
problem. It is a divisive problem even
in this carnal church in Corinth.
All right,
having seen the tenor and the feelings in the heart of the apostle as he
writes, now let’s see what he says.
Just the facts, mister, what are the facts?
One, did
you ever see such tremendous odds as Paul writes in the church, I had rather
speak five words with my understanding.
Five words with my understanding.
That by my voice I might teach others also. Than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
Five to ten
thousand. Did you ever see such
tremendous odds? And yet there are men
who had rather give themselves to that deprecatory situation that Paul
described. Five to ten thousand and I
don’t understand it. I don’t understand
it.
He’s doing
everything possible to dissuade, to discourage. Let us speak five words intelligently, understandably than ten
thousand in an unknown tongue.
All
right. Second, just give us the facts,
mister, just the facts. Second, let
your women keep silence in the churches.
It is not permitted unto them to speak.
And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at
home. For it is a shame for women to
speak in the church.
Now, I turn
the page in my Bible. I turn the page
and here in the 11th Chapter of I Corinthians, Paul has just described how a
woman ought to dress when she prays in public and when she prophesies in
public.
Now, this
man Paul is stupid if he cannot remember that one page over he just got through
writing how a woman is to dress, when she prays in public and when she
prophesies, when she speaks out in public.
And then turn the page, and then he writes.
Let the
women keep silence in the churches, it is not permitted for them to speak. For it is a shame for the woman to speak in
the church. Well, the reason and the
answer is plain.
He has
spoken here of these women in the very heart and middle in the chapter of
glossolalia . And he is talking about a
woman speaking in an unknown tongue.
He’s talking about speaking in tongues.
Well, why
would Paul object to a woman speaking in an unknown tongue? When you study ancient Greek history, it is
very apparent, most apparent.
If you have
ever visited the ancient site of Corinth, the sea is right here and the city is
here. The ancient city was built
here. And right there in the most
impressive Acrocorinthius you could ever imagine. The Acropolis of Corinth.
Far more
majestic, higher, larger than the Acropolis in Athens found by the
Parthenon. The Acropolis of
Corinth. And on top of that Acropolis
was a glorious Greek temple to Aphrodite.
Her Latin name is Venus.
And in that
ancient day, they worshiped the goddess Aphrodite, Venus in sexual orgies. When a man went up to worship Aphrodite,
that’s the way he worshiped her. The
filth and the dirt of those ancient religious worships lie untranslatable in
the language in which they have lain for thousands of years.
You don’t
translate it into modern language. And
everyone of those temples had women dedicated to the goddess. And those women in order to carry through
those orgies of worship, worked themselves up into frenzies.
And Paul
said: If that were to happen by an unbeliever and he stopped and he looked in
and there your women are speaking in unknown tongues, he would say, “Well, we
have a little colony of Aphrodite here.
Let’s go in and take part of the orgy.”
No, said
Paul. Such a thing is unthought
for. It is unnameable in the house of
God and in the churches of Christ. Let
your women keep silence. It is a
shame. As up there in Aphrodite. It is a shame for a woman to speak in an
unknown tongue in the church.
And you
take the women out of the unknown tongue’s movement, and it will die
overnight. The frenzy, the ecstasy, the
unknown glossolalia is kept alive by women.
And Paul
says: Just the facts, mister, just the facts.
Well, what is this? And what is
its purpose? God has a purpose at
Pentecost, you saw it. At Caesarea, in
the household of the Gentiles, you saw it.
And at Ephesus, you saw it. And
here he is, speaking of it.
This thing
is in the Bible. Well, what does it
mean? Where did it come from and what
is its purpose? Just the facts, mister,
just tell us the facts.
Paul, under
the inspiration of God interprets what God has done and what it meant. You listen.
Verse 21, 22: In the law -- that’s in the Old Testament -- in the law it
is written with men with other tongues and other lips will I speak to this
people. And yet for all that, they will
not hear me, saith the Lord.
Wherever
tongues are for a sign. Not to them
that believe. But to them that believe
not. Well, what does it mean? What is Paul speaking of here? In this glossolalia in this speaking of
tongues, what does he mean?
Why, it is
simple. It is plain. He is quoting here, Isaiah 28:11 in the Old
Testament, which is called the law of the whole book. In the Old Testament it is written, then he quotes Isaiah 28:11:
With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak to these people and yet
for all of that, they will not obey me.
They will not repent and believe me and trust me.
Now, the
historical context of that prophecy of Isaiah was this: The Lord says to his
prophet Isaiah. You say to these
people, I have spoken to you plainly. I
have spoken to you in an intelligent language.
I have spoken to you in a language you can understand, in your mother’s
tongue.
But you are
obstinate and recalcitrant and incorrigible and disobedient. Now, says the Lord God, I am going to speak
to you in a language that you can’t understand. The foreign tongues.
And the
historical context is, God brought in the Assyrians and they couldn’t
understand Assyrians. And God brought
in the Babylonians and they couldn’t understand Chaldeans and the Lord spoke to
Israel as a sign in these other tongues and other languages and yet they didn’t
repent and they didn’t believe.
Now, Paul
takes that prophecy out of Isaiah and he applies it to what God is doing to the
Jewish nation and the Jewish people.
Wherever he says, tongues are for a sign. Not to them that believe.
But to them that believe not. It
is a sign.
Well, I can
see that now plainly. Pentecost, there
were three signs to the Jewish nation and the Jewish people. To the Jews in Jerusalem. At the beginning of this new dispensation,
there were three -- there were three signs from God that this is of
heaven. A new dispensation. A new era.
First, the
sound as of a rushing, mighty wind.
Pneuma, breath, a type of the Holy Spirit. Second, fire that cloved, that split, that parted, flaming above
each one. Fire is a sign of the Holy
Spirit. Third, the gift of tongues.
And they
spake the word of God in the languages of all of the people, the Jewish people
that had gathered there for Pentecostal feast day from the ends of the
earth.
It was a
sign to the Jewish nation. I can see
that. And the same thing happened at
Caesarea. The speaking in tongues was a
sign.
As Paul
says: It is a sign for there were those Jewish brethren who came with Simon
Peter into the house of the Gentile Cornelius and when they returned to
Jerusalem in the 11th Chapter of the book of Acts, Peter and those Jews were
called on the carpet.
You went
into the house of a Gentile. And it is
not lawful for a Jew to go into his house, much less eat with them.
And Paul --
Simon Peter replied: But my brothers, we saw the sign from God. That’s what he says. This thing that happened at Pentecost. The sign from God that this is the gospel of
the new dispensation. That same sign
saw we at Caesarea. For we saw these
Gentiles speak with tongues, even as we saw at Pentecost.
I
understand that. The gift of tongues
was the sign gift as Paul says to the Jewish nation. To the Jewish people in introducing the new dispensation. But to a Gentile, now I’m going to
continue. The next verse.
But to us,
to us, if the church comes together and you speak in tongues, and there comes a
visitor by, he will say: You are mainesthe.
You are mad. You are
insane.
But if a
man prophesies, if he speaks intelligently, and there come in that man
unbelieving, the secrets of his heart, he will be convicted in his soul and he
will bow down and worship God and say, “God is among you and true.”
The sign
was for the Jewish nation and the Jewish people as you see in Pentecost, as you
see in Caesarea. But when you turn to
the Gentile world, to preach the gospel of the Son of God, could you imagine in
your wildest imagination, could you imagine standing on Mars Hill before the
court of the Areopagus, the Supreme Court of the Athenian nation, could you
imagine Paul standing there before the Areopagus, speaking in tongues and Silas
standing by his side interpreting?
They would
have said, “They are insane. They are
mad.”
Just the
facts, mister, just tell us the facts.
Tongues were for a sign. And
when the sign had done its purpose, it ceased.
We shall preach on that. Tongues
shall cease, said Paul.
And to
recreate the sign is an affront to God.
It is not faith. It is
presumption. Oh, my soul, the parting
of the Red Sea, under the hand Moses.
And we stand there and say: Lord God, do it again. Part the Red Sea. Why you did it, do it again.
Just see it.
It was a
sign under the hand of Moses delivering God’s people in a new dispensation,
that of the law. Do it again, it has
served its purpose.
And Elijah
went up to heaven in a whirlwind. And Elijah
saw the chariot of fire and the horses of fire. And we stand by the side of a prophet Isaiah, a John the Baptist,
a Peter, a Paul, and we say: Do it again.
Let’s see you go up into heaven in a chariot of fire. Do it again.
How
beautiful the story of the incarnation.
And the angels came and they spake.
Leroy says they sang. God says
they spake. Just depends on which one
you want to follow. And they
spake. And with the glory of
power.
And we
stand now under the night sky and say, “Lord, do it again. Let’s hear the angels speak according to the
word of God and sing according to Leroy here.
Let’s see if He can do it. Do it
again.”
Or the star
comes. Lord, do it again. And they spake with tongues, a sign at
Pentecost. Lord, do it again. Do it again. You finally disrupt the purpose of God. And Paul says. And the
unbelievers come by and they say you are mainomai, you have lost your
mind.
Isn’t that
a compliment to the house of God and to the kingdom of Jesus? Well, what does he say for us then? Ah, he has a lot to say to us. It starts at Verse 6. He starts at Verse 6: Now brethren, if I
come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you?
If I speak
in an unknown language and an unknown tongue, what shall I profit you? Except I speak to you by revelation or by
knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine in understandable language, what
shall I profit you?
Why, he
says, even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they
give station to sound, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? Just make a conglomerate out of that organ
and somebody try to play it and see if it plays music.
Every
sound, every note has to be distinct and understood. What if the trumpet gives a certain sound? Who prepares himself to battle? When I turn to the 33rd Chapter of Ezekiel,
God says: I put you on a wall a watchman and when you see the sword come, blow
the trumpet.
If you
don’t blow the trumpet and the people die, their blood will I require at your
hand. The trumpet has to give a certain
sound.
So
likewise, ye, except ye utter by the tongues, words easy to be understood, how
shall it be known what is spoken? For
ye shall speak in the air. Paul is
making appeal for what is sane and understandable and intelligent and decent
and in order.
Why, I just
feel the throb of a man as he speaks.
When you come to church and when the people are gathered together, speak
in an intelligent language.
And then
finally, I must close, when the whole church comes together in one place, Verse
23 and 25. There come in those that are
unbelievers. If you talking in tongues,
we may not say you are mad, but if all prophesy, and speak out.
To
edification, to encouragement, to faith, to trust, to believe. If all prophesy and there come in one that
believeth not, he’s convinced of all and judged of all and the secrets of the
heart have been made manifest and the Spirit of God convicts him. And so falling down on his face, he will
worship God and report that God is among you in truth.
That’s the
way says Paul. That’s the way. The sign was for the Jewish nation at the
beginning of the new dispensation. It
served its purpose. It is done. It has ceased. No need for this kind.
But now
when you come together in church. Let
God call the lost to faith. And the
commitment by a plan and an understandable word. And the simpler you can make it, the more effective will God use
it and bless it.
For God
does not call His people to faith by sign and by wonders and by miracles and by
voices and by tongues and by strange sounds.
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