Online Book:The Spiritual Gift of Tongues Part 1

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The New Fundamentals:
The Spiritual Gift of Tongues

Foreword

This book is the first in a series entitled "The New Fundamentals" based upon Psalms 11:3 "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The New Fundamentals are a study of the bible doctrines principally under attack in the black church.

The foundations of a people and a nation consist of the institutions that God set up in the first chapters of Genesis, namely marriage, family and government. It is the proper function of these institutions that enable the profitable operation of civilization.

These institutions in turn sit upon the bedrock of the Word of God as taught by pastors and teachers. It is by the scripture that we come to know how we should live with God (spiritual stability), with ourselves (mental stability) and with one another (social stability). It is the bible, properly taught, that is the basis of eternal salvation through Christ, but that same book is also the basis of all morality in society. It is by the observation of obedient Christians that unbelievers see how a marriage and family should function; it is how they see the proper function of citizenship as well. This Christian example is the basis of morality in society. Morality will not save the soul, but it is essential for the function of civilization.

Thus the institutions that determine the well being of our families and communities are established upon of the Word of God, the bible. The responsibility for the accurate proclamation of that Word is in the hands of bible teachers and preachers. It is here in the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, where the undermining of society first takes place by the systematic attack of the devil upon the foundations mentioned in Psalms 11.

The outcome of false teaching: false teaching due to premeditation or due to laziness and neglect of study is the spiritual oppression that always precedes every other kind of oppression. I will quote from a chapter in this study to further develop this point:

"The outcome of spiritual oppression is the weakening of marriage. This results in the breakdown of the family. The crippling of the family destroys the production of leaders and prevents the transfer of human and economic capital from one generation to the next. Thus every generation of the oppressed must start over from the beginning. This produces a disaster among the youth of the oppressed resulting in massive social instability.

Regarding the loss of leadership caused by spiritual oppression, and its resulting social instability, Isaiah noted the following regarding Israel:

Isaiah 3:4-5 "I will give children to be their princes, And babes shall rule over them. 5 The people will be oppressed, Every one by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent toward the elder, And the base toward the honorable." NKJV

Isaiah 3:12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths." NKJV

This is how false teaching destroys the nation. This is why the charismatic error is not merely a difference of opinion, but the difference between discipleship and disaster. As long as the emphasis of the church is upon the hammer and the shovel (gifts) rather than upon the builder of the house, we will continue to build huge ministries in the midst of a collapsing community.

Our focus upon gifts such as tongues is evidence of a departure from a true understanding of God's purpose for the church, and the role of the church in nation building. We have turned the church from being an agency of spiritual uplift by the transformation of individuals through the Word of God into a place that provides emotional release without lasting spiritual impact.

Therefore a handful of individuals have become wealthy while the community is on its way to a new form of slavery, locked in economic bondage, political disenfranchisement and extreme social instability. We are jumping and shouting our way to judgment."

So you can see the background from which we approach the issue of the spiritual gift of tongues, which are a part of a charismatic doctrinal system that is fundamentally in error. If in fact the church is the foundation of a properly operating society, then false teaching is not merely a difference of opinion, but a matter of deadly seriousness to the black community.

The future of the black family in America and therefore the future of generations of blacks to come rest heavily upon what we do with the Word of God. The "New Fundamentals" Series intends to provide an accurate view of the central doctrines currently under attack in the pulpits of black America.

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Table of Contents

Tongues Part 1: General Principles of Spiritual Gifts ....7
Tongues Part 2: Features of Biblical Tongues.............19
Tongues Part 3: Arguments for Tongues....................27
Tongues Part 4: Tongues are Human Languages..........41
Tongues Part 5. Tongues have Ceased......................51
Tongues Part 1: General Principles of Spiritual Gifts

This is the introductory lesson in a series on the spiritual gift of languages, also known as tongues. This introduction will focus upon the divine purpose for spiritual gifts in general. A proper understanding of God's purpose for spiritual gifts and how they are to be used will provide a good backdrop for what we have to say about the particular gift of tongues.

General Principles of Spiritual Gifts

1. Spiritual gifts are bestowed by the Holy Spirit as He determines 1Corinthians 12:11, Heb 2:3-4.
2. The function of spiritual gifts have been predetermined Ephesians 2:10.
3. The purpose of spiritual gifts is not for the personal benefit of the believer, but for the benefit of the body of Christ 1 Corinthians 12.7, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 2.19-22, 1Peter 4:10.
4. All believers are not given the same spiritual gifts 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-30.
5. Spiritual gifts are not the same as spiritual maturity 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

1. Spiritual gifts are bestowed by the Holy Spirit as He determines 1 Corinthians 12:11, Heb 2:3-4

1 Co 12:7-11 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. NKJV

Hebrews 2:3-4 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? NKJV

God Himself determines who receives which gift, and not man. He determines where the gifts are dispersed in history. This means he not only determines where a gift will be available but when it will be available and through whom it will be available.

This is necessary because only God knows what the church needs and when it will need it. God is sovereign over the distribution of spiritual gifts. God is operating according to a plan established by Him in eternity past. He is not making things up as He goes along. Neither is He waiting to see what we will do in order to execute His plans. The distribution of spiritual gifts is a function of God's sovereignty and related to His omniscience: God distributes spiritual gifts to individuals based upon the predetermined plan of God.

The idea behind 1Cor 12:11 is that all the gifts are given by the Spirit as a single endowment. He must divide that endowment among elect individuals according to a specific preordained formulation. Although divided among many individuals separated both geographically as well as temporally across history, God's design is validated as these gifts operate and interact across time and space for the common good of Christ's spiritual body.

In order to discover the spiritual gift that God has provided, you must grow spiritually. This is similar to our recognition of natural gifts that result from the first (physical) birth. We must grow and develop in order to discover that we can run fast, or understand mathematics or music.

In the same way, we only discover our spiritual gifts by growing up spiritually. This is one serious way in which bad teaching impacts the effectiveness of the church. Bad or incorrect teaching prevents believers from growing spiritually; like a child that is raised on candy. Believers that do not grow, never realize their true spiritual gifts, so they just make them up. They simply decide that they want a certain gift, and then they make up ways to use the "gift" that pleases them.

2. The function of spiritual gifts have been predetermined Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. NKJV

The proper use of spiritual gifts are not determined by the believer, but by God. It is as the believer grows in obedience to God that he is most profitably used in the Plan of God. Even though Jesus is God, he also submitted to the Father in the exercise of his ability. Jesus Himself did not independently exercise his deity while in the flesh but walked according to the Fathers plan.

Phil 2:5-8 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. NASB

3. The purpose of spiritual gifts is not for the personal benefit of the believer, but for the benefit of the body of Christ 1 Corinthians 12.7, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 2.19-22, 1Peter 4:10

1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: NKJV

1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. NKJV

Christ's purpose in providing spiritual gifts is not individual spiritual self-construction; no single believer has all the gifts necessary to accomplish his own individual spiritual development. It is by the joint use of all the gifts, under the instruction of the Holy Spirit, for the common good, that God's righteous purpose is accomplished. This is the true meaning of the concept of edification ("built up" in Eph 2:21-22) which describes the church as a spiritual temple under construction, and Eph 4 where the church is described as a body, which growth is caused by the proper working of each individual part.

Ephesians 2:19-22 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. NASB

Ephesians 4:15-16 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. NASU

Spiritual gifts are not for the purpose of self edification: the spiritual body of Christ does not and will not grow in that fashion. You do not receive spiritual gifts in order to use them upon yourself in your prayer closet. The purpose of spiritual gifts is not for the personal benefit of the believer, but for the benefit of the body of Christ.

Examples:

• The apostles could not heal themselves 2Cor 12:7-10
• Prophets needed other prophets to prophesy to them Acts 21.10
• Teachers required teaching from other gifted individuals Acts 18:24-26
• Those with the gift of languages required an interpreter to discern the message from God 1 Corinthians 14:27-28

The biblical rules are so clear regarding the use of spiritual gifts in general and tongues in particular, that people have created the false concepts of prayer tongues and praise tongues. However, these false uses are self directed and therefore violate the fundamental biblical principle that spiritual gifts are directed outward for the benefit of the body of Christ. In this way, the spiritual body of Christ acts as one body within the world accomplishing the purposes of the Head which is Christ.

4. All believers are not given the same spiritual gifts 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-30

1 Corinthians 12:6-11 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. NKJV

That God is not giving everyone the same gifts should be apparent from this verse. But Paul provides other examples:

1 Corinthians 12:29-31 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? NKJV

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. NIV

In view of these scriptures, it should be impossible for anyone to claim that the gift of tongues is available to everyone. First of all, the gift of tongues is a dead gift: it was a gift that was needed in the childhood of the church and no longer exists today (as we will demonstrate fully later on). But even if tongues did exist today, the gift would not be available to every believer based upon the scriptures above.

Even in the infancy of the church, every believer did not receive the gift of tongues.

Ac 2:38-42 38 Then Peter said to them," Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. NKJV

Three thousand souls responded to the message. Three thousand souls were saved. Three thousand souls received the Holy Spirit. But not one spoke in tongues. This would have been a wonderful opportunity for Luke to justify the chaos that happens in many tongues speaking churches today by recording that these three thousand plus persons all started speaking in tongues, but he didn't, because they didn't.

When everyone wants the same one or two gifts, other less valued gifts are neglected. Even though there are persons who have these gifts, they don't cultivate them and use them with the result that the church, as well as the community suffers.

1 Corinthians 12:15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? NKJV

Once the spiritual scale of values of a church is undermined, the destruction of the spiritual impact of that church is not far behind.

Here we have Sister Foot who has been rendered spiritually useless by the false belief that spiritual effectiveness is related to a function that she does not possess. She falsely believes that unless she can become a hand, she cannot minister, she is not even a part of the body. This is the danger of the false teaching that tongues are a sign of some superior anointing or endowment of spiritual power.

Many times I am asked, "If tongues have ceased some 1900 years ago and there are no legitimate tongues today, what then is my mother doing or my sister doing?" Here in 1Cor12:15 is a part of the answer. Sister Foot honestly believes that she cannot benefit the body as a Foot-she must be a Hand in order to have spiritual value to the body. She doesn't even qualify as a part of the body as a foot, in her thinking.

And why shouldn't she think that way? Her Pastor taught her to believe in the superiority of Hands over feet. All of the leaders of the church are Hands. Nearly all of the radio and television pastors are Hands. Even teachers who used to be feet are hanging out with the Hands and considering hand implants. Why shouldn't Sister Foot think the way she does?

So even though Sister Foot is an essential part of the body, her true gift is not in use because of her thinking. Members of the body are deprived of her ministry, perhaps even the unsaved are neglected due to the confusion of Sister Foot. Enough church members with her problem results in a severely malfunctioning local church.

But wait, there's more. Sister Foot finds out that she can become a Hand, if she has a special spiritual experience. All she has to do is ask God for it and believe that He will do it. Just like that, she will be a Hand. Many others have done it and now they are Hands and are even closer to God because of it. Sister Foot realizes that she is living beneath her spiritual privilege.

One day, you go to church service and notice that Sister Foot is now Sister Hand. In recognition of her achievement, she is promoted into leadership in the church. She finally belongs; she has a sense of purpose and well being, she is a Hand! This is precisely what many believers have done.

Even after all that is said in this book, there will be many that will say, "I know what I experienced and it was real." It is important that you understand that I am not here to deny that you had an experience, I am not here to deny that it was real; I am here to deny that it was biblical.

5. Spiritual gifts are not the same as spiritual maturity

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. NKJV

In the passage love is the evidence of spiritual maturity. The word "nothing" in this passage means "an absolute zero". Absolute zero is the value of spiritual gifts in the possession of the spiritually immature. It was love that motivated the ultimate sacrifice by Christ for mankind. Love is the essential nature of God and the end of Christian development; not spiritual gifts. Spiritual maturity precedes effective spiritual function. It is spiritual growth that makes the gifts function in fullness and in power.

Love has always been associated with spiritual power in the bible. Today we have mistaken gifts for power. Gifts are power put to specific uses. The gifts are not power, the power comes from our intimacy with Christ. A hammer is not power, it is the strength of the man that makes it useful. The Christian's power is derived power; it is not available except to the extent we are in fellowship with the Head. Every believer has a spiritual gift, but not every believer exercises spiritual power, because every believer does not grow. Therefore we must conclude that there are many believers with spiritual gifts that simply do not function, because the power is cut off.

Love has always been associated with spiritual power.

John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." NKJV

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. NKJV

1 John 5:2-4 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. NKJV

In the spiritual life, the one who loves is the one who has and properly uses spiritual power. The one who loves is the one who knows God 1Jn 4:7, and is the one who has kept the greatest commandment Matt 22.37.

Again, today we have mistaken gifts for power. This was the great error of the Corinthians, and the whole point of 1 Corinthians 13. Gifts are power put to specific uses, but they are not power itself. God is power, or divine omnipotence, and to be fully possessed by Him as a result of spiritual maturity produces the very power by which spiritual gifts operate.

Without spiritual maturity there can be no effective function of the gifts. Spiritual gifts can only be misused by carnal and infantile believers. Spiritual maturity guarantees effective spiritual function

1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. NKJV

Conclusion: General Principles of Spiritual Gifts