1 Corinthians 12: 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to someone else faith [d]by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of [e]healing [f]by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the [g]distinguishing of spirits, to someone else various kinds of tongues, and to another the [h]translation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
So, we continue today with a study of the Spiritual gifts. And, our purpose for this study has been so that you can discover your Spiritual gifts, and put them into practice in our church and in your life.
Spiritual gifts are to be used. If they are not, we have confined our church to only doing what is humanly possible. If we do discover and use them, then our church can do “all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I read a story this week about a man who had grown up in poverty.
His mother had never been able to afford anything but the most basic of necessities. As a result, they never had modern conveniences and had gotten accustomed to doing things the hard way. But when the children were old enough to get jobs, they often gave their mother appliances as Christmas gifts to make her life easier. But she wouldn't use them. She would say thank you, and then store them away in the house. One of her sons particularly remembered that at one time, she had three brand new toasters on top of the refrigerator. At breakfast she would still do the toast in the oven. If the anyone asked her why she didn’t use one of the toasters, she would say, "Leave them on the refrigerator. I'm used to doing it the old way."
Daily Bread, March 4, 1990.
And church can run that way as well. There are many things that a church can do in their human power, with their human wisdom, and human ingenuity. But it is only in living by the Spirit that we can see God begin to do things beyond what we can ask or think. That is why we are studying the Spiritual gifts.
prayer
And so far, I know that we haven’t gotten to any of the Spiritual gifts that you might recognize in yourself. I believe, and I think that Scripture supports the idea that the miraculous and tongues gifts have passed. And we will finish with our discussion of tongues today. After that, we get to the exciting stuff, because it will be about the gifts you might have.
But let me just get us back into tongues and their interpretation today. Tongues is Scripturally defined as the supernatural gift of speaking in a language that you didn’t know before. And we were just getting into the interpretation of tongues last time. I mentioned last time that I haven’t read an extensive definition or description of what the interpretation of tongues was.
But, if we begin with the definition of tongues being speaking a known language, that helps us answer some questions about what the interpretation of tongues was.
I think we struggle with these questions about tongues because, as I’ll get into later, I believe the tongues gifts have ceased. So, if they have ceased, none of us have experienced how they were exercised in the 1st century church. All we know is what we have experienced in modern charismatic churches. Where have I experienced someone speaking in tongues? In some charismatic service. Now, I have to say that my experience is very limited. But this is what I have seen.
Usually, the speaking of tongues, that I have heard, has been during a charismatic worship service. And, from my experience, none of Paul’s rules were followed. In those contexts, it seemed like people just spoke in tongues at random times, not just two or three people, often multiple people across an assembly, and mostly without interpretation. I’ve heard preachers speak in tongues during their sermon, and if there was an interpreter, it was the preacher himself. I remember one time that there was an attempt at providing an interpretation, and the interpretation seemed to just be an off-handed remark. “God says that we are all blessed.”
In other words, in my experience, the modern exercise of what is called tongues, has lost the one thing that made it a sign gift in the 1st century. It was a sign that God had given a supernatural message to someone. And how could I say for sure that that person speaking in tongues had received a message from God? Because they spoke in a known language that they didn’t previously know. And the interpretation was validated by people who interpreted, and others who knew the language.
That’s why I think we also need to define the gift of the interpretation of tongues. If we begin with the Scriptural command that the tongues had to be interpreted, that they were known languages, and that there was someone who was known to be gifted as an interpreter, I think we get a good picture of what was supposed to happen in these early church settings.
First, remember that in these first churches, they didn’t have the New Testament yet. So, any word that they got from anyone could only be confirmed as from God if it agreed with O.T. Scripture, and if it agreed with the oral witness of the apostles, or if it was a word in tongues that was a verifiable language that the speaker didn’t know and was verifiably interpreted.
So, regarding the third word from God, what came through tongues, really the only setting that makes any sense for speaking in tongues was when there were people gathered who spoke different languages.
Let me try and paint this picture. Let’s say that there is a church assembly gathered in some community in the Roman world. Now let’s say that there is a visiting group in the assembly who speak an Arab language. So, worship begins, the Old Testament is read and interpreted. Maybe one of the letters, or portions of the gospels were read and interpreted. But then some known person, maybe a Jewish person, gifted with speaking in tongues, opens his mouth, and preaches a message in Arabic. Now, who understands him? The visiting people in the assembly that day who speak Arabic. So, some hear the message, and are in awe, because here is this Hebrew speaking flawless Arabic. But what about the people who are there who don’t speak Arabic? They don’t know what is going on. They don’t know what is being said. They don’t speak Arabic.
And so, someone else stands up, who is known to be specially gifted with interpretation of tongues. He was a known person, who also did not know Arabic. And he interprets what was said by the tongues speaker, into the language of the assembled people. So, all the assembly also hears and understands the message.
I think it would have been like one of our bilingual services. The preacher preaches a sentence, the interpreter translates that sentence, so all people present understand the message.
And here is the important point. This is a verifiable miracle. Everybody in that assembly knows that this Arabic language message happened supernaturally. In this circumstance, it was apparent to everyone that something supernatural was going on. Everyone is hearing the message in their language.
And I believe that is how you define what was happening in the early church. And it also explains why none of us have ever experienced that. Has anyone here ever been in a church service where there was that kind of orderly use of the gift of tongues?
Well that gets us to our next questions. We have defined tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Now we need to ask how their use was described in Scripture, and what happened in history. We are going to look at the question of whether tongues is a permanent gift, or if it has ceased.
A. Is it a permanent gift?
Let me begin by saying this. There is only one permanent gift.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13, Paul says, "Love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then, face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
There is only one permanent gift. What is that permanent gift? It is love. Paul's major point is that love is the only permanent thing.
Love never fails. Vs 8
Love never fails. The word "fail" is an interesting word in the Greek. The common translation of the word is "to fall." Literally it means "to fall to the ground" and sometimes refers to the finality of something falling into decay. For example, it is used to speak of the petals of a flower that drop to the ground from decay. This particular word could also be translated "abolished." So, love will never be abolished or fall to the ground in decay. Love is a flower in which there is no decay. And because love is synonymous with God (1 Jn. 4:8b), it can never cease, because in Him there is no such thing as decay.
Think about it. One day, love will be the only thing left. When we get to heaven, we won't need teaching anymore because we'll know everything. We won't need preaching anymore because we'll have already responded in obedience to everything. We won't need to have wisdom granted to us or knowledge imparted to us. We won't need anybody to hold us up, or help us, or rebuke us, or exhort us, or encourage us, or pray for us, or do anything for us. Why? Because we'll be just like Jesus Christ. The one thing that will remain, however, will be love--in a dimension we've never dreamed of. We'll be totally involved in the character of God's love as it's manifested through each of us to one another forever.
So, Paul says to the Corinthians, "You ought to get a grip on what is going to be around forever, and quit quibbling over that which is temporary."
Love never fails...it lasts! Did you know that hope will come to an end because it will one day be realized? The day will come when there will be no need for hope. Faith, too, will come to an end because it will be actualized. The day will come when we'll have no need for faith. We'll have sight instead. Love, however, will never come to an end. It is the one thing that will go on forever. The Bible doesn't say that God is hope, or that God is faith; but the Bible does say that God is love (1 Jn. 4:8b). So, love is as eternal as God. It will go on forever.
So, that is the first point that Paul makes in this chapter in Corinthians when he is talking about Spiritual gifts.
Now, in order to make his point about love being permanent, Paul contrasts love with three gifts and shows that: gifts are temporary, but love is eternal; gifts are partial, but love is complete; and gifts are elementary, but love is mature. Those are his three points. Gifts are temporary, gifts are partial, and gifts are elementary; and the contrasting thought that love is eternal, complete, and mature. Let's look, now, at the first point:
"Love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
Paul says, here, that three very important gifts are going to cease--prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. They exist for a limited time, in contrast to the eternal nature of love. And though love is indispensable in the use of the gifts, it's going to outlast them.
Paul uses spiritual gifts to contrast love because gifts were highly prized in the Corinthian church. The Corinthians were proud, self-seeking, and self-centered. They were spiritual show-offs--desiring to be in an up-front position. So to them, the gifts were a big deal. They showed off their spirituality by demonstrating their gift. Well, as it turned out, the gifts that they were demonstrating were, for the most part, fleshly or satanic counterfeits. Nevertheless, this is where they put the emphasis.
So, Paul’s first point is that all gifts will cease. But then he gets more specific about a few of the gifts.
The Gift of Prophecy
"...whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away..."
The plural word "prophecies" is making reference to the result of the gift of prophecy--many prophecies. Basically, this gift was the ability to proclaim God's truth publicly. The Greek word for prophecy comes from the two Greek words pro (meaning "before") and phemi (meaning "to speak"). So it literally means "to speak before." Its primary use is "to speak before an audience" (forthtelling), not "to speak before" in terms of time (foretelling). The gift of prophecy, then, was to speak before people, proclaiming the Word of God. The purpose of this gift is indicated in 1 Corinthians 14:3, where Paul says, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." Someone with this gift speaks to build others up, to encourage them to good behavior, and to comfort them in their trouble. That is the gift of prophecy. And notice that he says that it will be done away.
The Gift of Knowledge
...whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
The second gift that Paul mentions is the gift of knowledge. It's called "the word of knowledge" in 1 Corinthians 12:8 because it is considered to be a speaking gift--one that the Corinthians would have celebrated as a public gift. The gift of knowledge is defined as "the ability to observe facts and to draw spiritual truth out of the Word of God." It is the gift of being able to understand God's Word. Seen as a scholar's or teacher's gift, the Corinthians considered it a prominent gift. Notice that Paul says that it will vanish away.
The Gift of Tongues
The third gift mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:8 is the gift of tongues, or languages.
Exposition—notice that it says that tongues will cease.
But there is a different verb used for each of these gifts. Prophecy will be done away, knowledge will vanish away, and tongues will cease.
The Cessation of the Gifts
Verse 8 clearly states that these three very prominent gifts-- prophecy, knowledge, and tongues--are going to come to an end. The question is: When? Well, that's the question I am going to attempt to answer.
a. The Inherent Disagreement
My Pentecostal and Charismatic brothers and sisters in Christ say that none of these three gifts have yet ceased. So their answer to the question of when they will cease is, "In the future." Some of them say that these gifts will cease when "the perfect thing" of verse 10 comes—
Vs 10
which they see as future as well. At the other end of the spectrum, I've heard others say that all the gifts have already ceased. They don't believe that there are any spiritual gifts today. Those are the two extreme viewpoints: all the gifts are in effect today or none of them are in effect today. There is also a view that says, "Some of the gifts are now in effect and some of them are not." Well, which view is correct? Let's look at the Bible and see if it can answer our questions. It has a way of doing that.
A weak argument to prove that all the gifts are still in effect
Charismatic people who say that all the gifts are still in effect today, often give the following argument. They say, "There isn't one verse in the entire Bible that says tongues have ceased. So, that settles it for us. They haven't ceased!" Well, they're right about the fact that there isn't a single verse in the Bible that specifically states that tongues have ceased. But do you know what? There isn't a single verse in the Bible that specifically states that God is three in one, either. But He is, isn't He? To argue that something isn't true because the Bible doesn't specifically say it, is weak. And to argue that one needs a specific biblical statement to prove a point is also weak. Why? Because there are many truths in the Bible that are indicated to us by the totality of Scripture rather than any one given statement. For example, there isn't a verse that specifically says, "Jesus is 100% God and 100% man at the same time in an indivisible oneness." But that is the essence of the God-Man character of Christ, isn't it? You say, "How do you know?" Well, we have to piece together all the biblical facts of Christ's character in order to see the whole portrait. So, to argue that tongues haven't ceased because there isn't a verse specifically stating that fact, is not a good argument to use.
b. The Important Distinctions
According to verse 8, we know that all the gifts are going to cease sometime. They're all going to be rendered inoperative. But if you look at verse 8 a little closer, you'll discover some very important distinctions that the Apostle Paul and the Holy Spirit make between tongues, prophecy, and knowledge. The different Greek words that are used indicate that tongues will cease at a different point in time than prophecy and knowledge. This is a very important point. Let me show you why I say that.
1) The Different Words Used
a) Katargeo
At the beginning of verse 8 it says that prophecies "shall be done away." Other translations say "shall be rendered inoperative," or "abolished." At the end of verse 8 it says that knowledge "shall vanish away." Those two phrases describing the cessation of prophecy and knowledge, are the same Greek verb, katargeo, which means "to be made inoperative." This is not the verb, however, that is used in reference to the cessation of tongues. That's a totally different word:
b) Pauo
Now there is a purpose in the mind of the Holy Spirit for making a distinction with these two terms, and I want you to understand what it is. Knowledge and prophecy will be rendered inoperative, but tongues "will cease." This is indicated by the use of a different Greek verb--pauo--which means "to stop."
So, the first distinction that is made in verse 8 is the use of two different Greek words to describe the cessation of prophecy and knowledge, and the cessation of tongues. The second distinction in verse 8 is...
2) The Different Voices Used
a) Passive Voice
The verb katargeo, in describing the cessation of prophecy and knowledge, is in the passive voice. The rule of grammar states that when a passive verb is in a sentence, the subject receives the action. So in the case of prophecy and knowledge, something will act upon them to cause them to stop. You say, "What is it that's going to do that?" Well, look at verses 9-10: "For we know in part [the gift of knowledge], and we prophesy in part [the gift of prophecy]. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away [Gk. katargeo]." So, what is it that's going to come and stop prophecy and knowledge? The "perfect thing." Also notice that tongues do not appear in verse 9. Why? Because only prophecy and knowledge are stopped by the "perfect thing."
The verb relative to tongues is not in the passive voice. It is in the ...
b) Middle Voice
The verb that says tongues will cease (pauo) is in the middle voice. Let me show you the differences in the active, passive, and middle voices. In the active voice we would say, "I hit the ball." In the passive voice we would say, "The ball hit me." And in the middle voice (if English had a middle voice) we would say, "I hit myself." In other words, the Greek middle voice is reflexive, indicating that the subject is acting upon itself. The middle voice also indicates intense action on the part of the subject. Literally, then, verse 8 says, "Tongues will stop by themselves." That's the meaning that the middle voice gives to the verb pauo.
The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses the middle form of pauo fifteen times to translate the Hebrew word which means "to complete," "to stop," "to finish," "to accomplish," "to end." It has a finality to it. And the reflexive middle voice gives it the idea that it ends all by itself.
c. The Inevitable Deduction
The gifts of prophecy and knowledge, then, are going to continue on until the "perfect thing" comes and stops them. The gift of tongues is going to stop all by itself. That's what has to be deduced when one looks at the Greek.
Now, if tongues are going to stop by themselves, the next question is: When? tongues ceased in the Apostolic Age nineteen hundred years ago. And I also believe that the word pauo indicates that once tongues stopped, they stopped for good. Let me show you why I say that:
A. The Reasons Why Tongues Ceased in the Apostolic Age
2. The Miracles Gift of Tongues Was a Judicial Sign to Israel Because of Their Unbelief.
In 1 Corinthians 14:21, Paul quotes Isaiah 28:11-12 and says, "In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear Me, saith the Lord." In this prophecy to Israel, God was saying, "Israel, I have spoken to you in clear words, but you haven't listened to Me. So, as a sign confirming your unbelief, I will begin to speak to you in a language you won't be able to understand." The gift of tongues was part of God's judicial act of telling Israel that He was turning aside from them to the church. He had offered them the Kingdom, but they had refused it. They had refused and executed their King...their long-awaited Messiah. So, as a judicial sign of Israel's covenant violation, God spoke to His people with other tongues and other lips. We'll discuss this point in great detail when we look at 1 Corinthians 14.
The gift of tongues had a primary significance to Israel. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14:22, Paul says, "Wherefore, tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not...." The gift of tongues was never intended for Christians; it was intended as a judicial sign to Israel. So, once God's judgment had fallen on Israel, the gift of tongues would have no significance at all. Well, God's judicial act against them came in A.D. 70 when Titus Vespasian, the Roman conquerer, swept down and destroyed both the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. At that point, Judaism, for all intents and purposes, came to an end. And the gift of tongues, which was a sign to unbelieving Israel of God's judicial act against them, also came to an end. Why? Because it was no longer needed.
A third reason why I believe the gift of tongues has faded is:
3. The Gift of Tongues Was Inferior to the Gift of Prophecy
When tongues were interpreted, they had the ability to edify. In 1 Corinthians 14:5, Paul said when tongues were interpreted they would have some edifying capacity. Uninterpreted, tongues were a sign against Israel; but to give it some meaning in the church, they had to be interpreted. However, this potential for edification was not its main purpose. Once Israel had been judged, the purpose of tongues as a judicial sign ceased. I've heard people say, "Even though the gift of tongues is no longer a judicial sign, it still has the potential to edify the church." Well, that is unnecessary, because the gift of prophecy is far superior to the gift of tongues as an expression of edification. First Corinthians 14:1 says, "Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." In fact, in chapter 14, Paul proves that the gift of tongues is an inferior means of communication (vv. 1-12), an inferior method of praise (vv. 13-19), and an inferior method of evangelism (vv. 20-25). In verse 19 of the same chapter Paul says, "...I had rather speak five words with my understanding...than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." So, there is no reason to exalt the gift. It has no continuing edifying purpose that can't be better accomplished by prophecy (preaching). That's the point of chapter 14.
The fourth reason why I believe that the gift of tongues has ceased is:
4. Speaking in Tongues Was Rendered Useless When the New Testament Was Complete
Another characteristic of the gift of tongues was that when a person spoke in tongues and had it interpreted, it was a direct revelation from God. Well, has direct revelation from God ceased? Yes, it has! Is there any more to the Scripture than what we now have? No! In fact, at the end of the last book of the Bible, the Apostle John wrote, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book" (Rev. 22:18). So tongues, as a revelatory source, ceased to have the meaning that they had in the infancy of the church--when God was giving revelations before the revelation was complete.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son...." In these last days we have been given the Word of the Son--the New Testament. That's it, folks. There is no further revelation!
The fifth reason that I believe speaking in tongues has ceased is:
5. Tongues Are Only Mentioned in the Earliest New Testament Epistle
It's so interesting to me that 1 Corinthians is the only Epistle where the gift of tongues even appears. Paul wrote at least twelve other Epistles and never even mentioned it again. Peter never mentioned it; James never mentioned it; John never mentioned it; and Jude never mentioned it. The gift of tongues disappeared. Even though it has always been the mystical dream throughout history that God would give a private revelation of Himself to each individual, it hasn't happened. God gave His Word and then authenticated it. What we now have is "the faith which was once [for all] delivered unto the saints" (Jd. 3b). Revelation has ended, beloved. Tongues as a revelatory, sign, edifying gift has ceased to have any function.
Now, 1 Corinthians 13:8 says that tongues will cease, right? That's not even a point to argue about. And we've already seen that the word pauo in verse 8 has a sense of finality to it--meaning that once tongues stopped, they would never start up again. So, an important question to answer, then, is this: Since the Apostolic Age, has the gift of tongues ever ceased? Well, the sixth reason why I believe the gift of tongues has ceased is this:
6. History Records That the Gift of Tongues Ceased in the Apostolic Age
Did you know that the first revival of tongues within the confines of the evangelical church of Jesus Christ since the Apostolic Age was in 1901? Where has it been for eighteen hundred years? Does 1 Corinthians 13:8 say that tongues will cease and then start up again? No. Tongues ceased...never to start up again. Their purpose was accomplished. This is supported by...
a. The Significant Obscurity of Tongues in the Writings of the Early Church Fathers
The Post-Apostolic Fathers were the church leaders who lived immediately after the Apostolic Age. If you study their writings, you'll discover something very significant--they don't discuss the gift of tongues. Cleon Rogers, a scholar and missionary, wrote, "It is significant that the gift of tongues is nowhere alluded to, hinted at, or even found in any writings of the Post-Apostolic Fathers" ("The Gift of Tongues in the Post-Apostolic Church," Bibliotheca Sacra, 122:134).
Let me give you some examples:
1) Clement of Rome wrote a letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 95 discussing all of their spiritual problems. He didn't even mention tongues, because apparently it had ceased. So when the true gift ceased, their abuse of it ceased. The gift of tongues, then, wasn't even an issue by A.D. 95.
2) Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165) was a great church father who traveled throughout the churches and wrote many things defending Christianity...but he never mentioned tongues. He even made lists of spiritual gifts that do not include the gift of tongues.
3) Origen (A.D. 185-253) was a widely read scholar without equal in the minds of some. In all of the volumes that he wrote, there is no mention of tongues. And in his apologetic against Celsus, he explicitly argued that the signs of the Apostolic Age were temporary, and that no contemporary Christian exercised any of the ancient prophetical gifts.
4) Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407) was perhaps the greatest of all the ancient Christian writers. In his Homilies on First Corinthians, he makes the following comment on chapter 12: "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" ("Homilies on First Corinthians," The Nicene- and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 12, edited by Philip Schaff. New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1888). In other words, by the end of the fourth century, Chrysostom indicated that because tongues didn't exist anymore, the gift was hard to define or understand.
5) Augustine (A.D. 354-430) made the following comment on Acts 2:4: "In the earliest times, `the Holy Ghost fell upon them that believed: and they spake 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" ("Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John," The Nicene- and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, edited by Philip Schaff. New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1888).
So, the greatest theologians of the ancient church considered the gift of tongues a remote practice. By the fourth century they didn't even understand what it was anymore.
b. The Supposed Occurrances of Tongues Since the Apostolic Age
1) Outside Mainline Christianity
a) Montanus and Tertullian
During the period of the early church fathers, the only people in the church who were reported to have spoken in tongues were the followers of Montanus and Tertullian. In the middle of the second century, Montanus, a pagan priest who had been recently converted to Christianity, announced to everyone that he was the spokesman for the Holy Spirit. Believing that Christ was soon going to set up the Kingdom with headquarters in his home town of Phrygia, he tried to justify speaking in tongues as an occurrance of the end of the age. He was accompanied by two female priestesses, Prisca and Maximilla, who also spoke in ecstatic speech. Montanus was thrown out of the church as a heretic. Tertullian, a disciple of Montanus, advocated speaking in tongues as well. He lived from A.D. 150-222.
Let me add that there are other occasions of tongues, or ecstatic speech, during this period--but not in Christianity. Tongues were characteristic of pagan religions (e.g., the priestesses of Delphi, pagan witch doctors, and various seers), but they were not present in Christianity.
After Montanus and Tertullian, the next eruption of tongues within Christianity wasn't until the late seventeenth century in a group called...
b) The Cevenols
The gift of ecstatic utterance was claimed by a group of persecuted Protestants in southern France around 1685. They believed that their little children, who knew only the local dialect, were able to speak in perfect French while in a trance. The group was soon discredited because of their night raids and military reprisals against their enemies. And because all their prophecies went unfulfilled, they were branded as heretics and not considered to be a part of mainline Christianity.
c) The Jansenists
Around 1731, a group of Roman Catholic reformers, called the Jansenists, were holding night meetings at their leader's tomb, during which they supposedly spoke in ecstatic languages.
d) The Shakers
The Shakers were the followers of Mother Ann Lee, who lived from 1736-1784. She regarded herself as the female equivalent of Jesus Christ--God in a female body. She founded the Shaker community in Troy, New York, and claimed that she had received a revelation from God that sexual intercourse was corrupt...even within marriage. It is said that in order to teach her followers to mortify the flesh and to resist temptation, she instituted the practice of men and women dancing together in the nude while they spoke in tongues.
e) The Irvingites
About 1830, Edward Irving started a little group in London known as the Irvingites. This group began to speak in tongues, but was soon discredited for several reasons: Their revelations contradicted Scripture, their prophecies went unfulfilled, their supposed healings were followed by death, there were rumors of immorality, and some of the leading members were accused of fraud.
Now, all of these groups which supposedly spoke in tongues were not a part of mainline, genuine Christianity. They were all "offbeat." At the start of the twentieth century, however, speaking in tongues moved...
2) Within Mainline Christianity
a) Pentecostalism
The first time tongues became part of mainline Christianity since the Apostolic Age was in 1901 at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. Agnes Ozman received what she called "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" accompanied by speaking in tongues. The practice became part of the Holiness movement of the church in America. In 1906, speaking in tongues came to Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California. Out of these two events in 1901 and 1906, grew the mainline Pentecostal denominations that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are a part of today. Unlike many of their predecessors, Pentecostals believe the Word of God and preach the Word of God--and for that we praise Him. But this particular movement within mainline Christianity didn't begin until the start of this century.
b) The Charismatic Movement
In 1960, in Van Nuys, California, the modern Charismatic movement (which is tongues outside of mainline Pentecostal denominations) began in an Episcopalian church. It soon spread across mainline denominations of all kinds.
Now, I pointed all of this out to show you that the true gift of tongues is not something that has gone on throughout history. The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:8, said that the gift of tongues would cease. Well, it did cease! And there's no reason to believe that it has come back again. People always say to me, "John, if the gift of tongues hasn't come back again, what is it that we're seeing today? How do you explain it?" Well, I'll answer that question in our next lesson.
Let me say this in closing. I have some dear friends who speak in tongues, and they will continue to be my friends. I will always love them. In fact, I have less of a problem with them speaking in tongues than I do with gossiping that goes on in a language that everybody understands. But God has called me to teach His Word, and I have to teach it the way it is. I know that the theme of 1 Corinthians 13 is love, but love must be exercised within the confines of the truth. And that's what I am attempt