I. The Identity of Certain Spiritual Gifts

It has been demonstrated that the New Testament gives the believer to expect that the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue on after the First Century. The question then arises as to the exact nature of certain of these gifts. It is often difficult to prove that modern phenomena are the same as those mentioned in the Bible. Can anyone prove that what believers have experienced at conversion and call being "born again" is the same as what is spoken of by the Lord in the pages of the New Testament? ⁽¹⁾ All Evangelical Christians believe that it is, and a comparison between the fruit of it in a person's life with the fruit of it in the New Testament confirms this. But one cannot, in a scientific sense, prove that they are the same thing.

It is even more difficult to do this with phenomena such as certain of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Many Twentieth Century Christians have suddenly had inexplicable thoughts come into their conscious minds. They had no way of obtaining the information contained in those thoughts, and yet subsequent events demonstrated that what had come to them was true. ⁽²⁾ But can anyone "prove" that this phenomenon is what Paul calls a "word of knowledge?" ⁽³⁾

II. The Nature of Tongues

What is the Twentieth Century phenomenon of speaking in tongues? Vern Poythress offers the following:

What is the boundary line between "speaking in tongues" and other phenomena? Answering this question is not as easy as one might think. Non-Christian religions, psychotics, and small children sometimes produce phenomena that might or might not be similar to "speaking in tongues." As working definitions, I propose the following:

Free vocalization (glossolalia) occurs when (1) a human being produces a connected sequence of speech sounds, (2) he cannot identify the sound- sequence as belonging to any natural language that he already knows how to speak, (3) he cannot identify and give the meaning of words or morphemes (minimal lexical units), (4) in the case of utterances of more than a few syllables, he typically cannot repeat the same sound-sequence on demand, (5) a naive listener might suppose that it was an unknown language. ⁽⁴⁾

The identification of the New Testament experience of the gift of tongues with the Twentieth Century phenomenon poses more than one difficulty. This phenomenon is referred to in at least two books of the New Testament, Acts and 1 Corinthians. But there may be a difference in the tongues of Acts 2 and those found elsewhere in the New Testament. On the day of Pentecost at least some of the tongues spoken were in known languages because the unbelieving Jews heard the message of the Lord in their own, native languages.

Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? . . . We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" ⁽⁵⁾

This is not so clear in other places:

Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. ⁽⁶⁾

There may be a reference to the ecstatic nature of tongues in 1 Corinthians 13:1: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels . . . .."

There is no doubt about the thing referred to, namely the broken speech of persons in religious ecstasy . . . .. The origin is less clear. Two explanations are prominent today. The one . . . holds that glossa here means antiquated, foreign, unintelligible, mysterious utterances. The other . . . sees in glossolalia a speaking in marvelous, heavenly languages. ⁽⁷⁾

III. A Phenomenon Broader than Christianity

Ecstatic utterance is not a phenomenon peculiar to the New Testament; it is something that is experienced in religions other than Christianity. ⁽⁸⁾ Such things not only occur today, but occurred in the days of Paul in the Mystery religions of Greece. Paul is probably referring to this in 1 Corinthians 12:1-3:

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.'

Behm comments:

Parallels may be found for this phenomenon in various forms and at various periods and places in religious history . . . ..

Paul is aware of a similarity between Hellenism and Christianity in respect of these mystical and ecstatic phenomena. The distinguishing feature as he sees it is to be found in the religious content (1 C. 12:2 f.). He can accept speaking with tongues as a work of the Holy Spirit, as a charisma . . . .. In view of their pagan background the Corinthians are inclined to view (tongues) as the spiritual gift par excellence . . . ..

If the judgment of Paul on glossolalia raises the question whether this early Christian phenomenon can be understood merely in the light of the ecstatic mysticism of Hellenism, the accounts of the emergence of glossolalia or related utterances of the Spirit in the first Palestinian community (Ac. 10:46; 8:15 ff.; 2:2 ff.) make it plain that we are concerned with an ecstatic phenomenon which is shared by both Jewish and Gentile Christianity and for which there are analogies in the religious history of the OT and Judaism. ⁽⁹⁾

In some cases ecstatic utterances may be caused by something completely natural in the psychological sense; there is so little that we understand about the interaction between the brain and other organs of the human body. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Other cases may simply be an imitation of what certain people hear as they are intensely pressured to experience tongues in those religious gatherings where the exercise of this gift is viewed as a sine qua non of Christian experience.

IV. The Function of Tongues According to the New Testament

The exercise of one's spiritual gifts produces growth in grace. So speaking in tongues helps the individual who has that gift to experience growth in Christ. Paul clearly states this in 1 Corinthians 14:4, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself . . . .." He found the gift to be a blessing in his own life: "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you . . . .." ⁽¹¹⁾ And he saw that the benefits of speaking in tongues were of such a nature that he (not the Lord) could say, "I would like every one of you to speak in tongues . . . .." ⁽¹²⁾

How does the exercise of tongues cause an individual to grow in Christ? There is no benefit to God's assembled people when someone speaks in tongues without interpretation, because the clear exposition of sound doctrine is essential for the edification of the Church. But there is benefit to the individual who speaks in tongues, because speaking in tongues can function to enhance the mystical dimension of the Christian life. This mystical dimension can be enhanced in other ways, too. ⁽¹³⁾

The mind matters very much in the Bible, but Christian experience is more than an intellectual pursuit. Paul regularly prayed for believers "to grasp . . . the love of Christ . . . that surpasses knowledge." ⁽¹⁴⁾ It is true that in uninterpreted tongues the intellectual part of a person is unfruitful, but that does not mean that the person is left unfulfilled: "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays . . . .." ⁽¹⁵⁾ When a person sings or prays in tongues, he speaks to God. ⁽¹⁶⁾ This non-rational form of prayer involves a person's speaking "mysteries with his spirit." ⁽¹⁷⁾ Therefore, it is a legitimate way of giving thanks and praise to God. ⁽¹⁸⁾ But this must be done in private devotion or in an unnoticeable way during public worship. ⁽¹⁹⁾ Otherwise confusion would result and the gospel would be discredited. ⁽²⁰⁾

V. An Hypothesis Concerning Some Contemporary Tongues

How does the concept of tongues as free vocalization fit in with the function of New Testament tongues? There are many people who engage in free vocalization deliberately. Some do it for fun when talking with little children; others, such as opera singers, may do it to cover up a forgotten phrase in a song. ⁽²¹⁾ There are those who have practiced free vocalization and who also have had the experience of speaking in tongues. They would describe the two practices as being very different. ⁽²²⁾ One wonders at this point if that difference is not analogous to the difference between reading from the Psalms in a literature class and using the same Psalms as a personal prayer to God. Anyone who knows much about really talking to God in prayer knows there is a profound difference in reading from a prayer and praying it. All truly Christian prayer goes deeper than the human brain; it involves the human spirit. And all truly Christian prayer is supernatural; it involves the ministry of the Holy Spirit interceding through the human spirit to God.

You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children . . . .. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us . . . .. ⁽²³⁾

If a person is truly praying to God and that person is a Christian, then he is praying from his spirit, and he is being strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit. It does not matter what language the person uses. For some people to quote a memorized text from another language, such as Hebrew or Latin, can significantly enhance the devotional quality of their private prayers. Sometimes no words are formed, even in the mind, and yet such can be true prayer: "But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." ⁽²⁴⁾

The important thing to remember is that all real prayer is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit; and yet, at the same time, all real prayer involves the human will, the person's choosing to pray from his heart. No matter how significant the work of the Holy Spirit in the exercise of a spiritual gift, Paul can say, "The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets." ⁽²⁵⁾ A person chooses to pray or not to pray, and a person who has received the gift of tongues chooses to exercise it or not. ⁽²⁶⁾ When a person chooses to exercise the ministry of prayer, the Holy Spirit gives him direction according to the will of God. ⁽²⁷⁾ This direction may come regardless of the language the person uses, even if he is simply engaging in free vocalization. In this way a person may sense that God is speaking to his heart, and he may be able to interpret it to himself or others. Similar experiences are very common. Many Christians have had a sermon interrupted by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The particular sin revealed may have had no direct connection with what the preacher was saying, but suddenly the believer was confronted with his need of repentance. Someone has said that the mark of anointed preaching is that it results in those who hear it having regular dealings with God. Those dealings with God are not simply the force of logic on the human brain; they are the tugs of the Holy Spirit on the human spirit. No child of God is a stranger to them.

Tongues as free vocalization can fit with the data of 1 Corinthians 12-14, and it can be a form of genuine prayer. But can it fit with what happened on the day of Pentecost when at least some, if not all, of those who spoke in tongues, spoke in the known languages of the unbelievers who heard them? It is possible that it does if one grants that there are varying degrees of the Spirit's control when a person prays. In a moment of great ecstasy, under an extraordinary degree of control by the Holy Spirit, a person could engage in free vocalization and what would come out of his mouth could be in a known human language. The question is the degree of control the Holy Spirit exercises on a person when he engages in prayer or praise.

However one understands contemporary tongues, he must remember that there is no sound, biblical evidence to warrant the belief that the New Testament phenomenon of tongues will not be experienced among Christians in the Twentieth Century Church. And this should make him cautious in his criticisms of the contemporary phenomenon.

VI. Tongues and God's Sovereign Gift

According to the New Testament the ability to speak in tongues is not something someone receives by hard work or praying earnestly enough. What can be said of any gift of the Holy Spirit can be said of tongues. Consider the very use of the word charisma, a free gift, for these manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Paul's words to the Galatians are instructive:

Therefore he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ⁽²⁸⁾

Not only is the ability to speak in tongues God's gift, it is his decision who receives it. While the analogy of the Church as the Body of Christ implies that every believer possesses at least one gift of the Spirit, ⁽²⁹⁾ the Bible does not indicate that there is one special gift which every Christian is to possess. God is the one who decides which gifts are needed in the Church, and he is the one who assigns the gifts to particular individuals:

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. ⁽³⁰⁾

So it is that different Christians have different gifts. No one gift is elevated above the others to be sought by all believers. That is not the will of the Lord:

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ⁽³¹⁾

All are not teachers, because it is God's will that only some be teachers. All do not speak in tongues, because it is not God's desire that all believers have this gift.

VII. Public Worship

In 1 Corinthians 12:31 Paul writes, "But eagerly desire the greater gifts." What are the greater gifts? It is those that build up the rest of the Church and not simply one individual. By that criterion prophecy is superior to the gift of tongues. In this regard one should consider Paul's extended contrasts between prophecy and tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:1-25:

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy . . . .. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church . . . .. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified . . . .. So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church . . . .. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. ⁽³²⁾

Paul's point is that truth is essential to the Church being established. His words reflect the truth taught by the Lord Jesus: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." ⁽³³⁾ Paul warned Timothy:

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. ⁽³⁴⁾

Christianity is more than sound doctrine, but it is not less than that.

It appears that interpreted tongues function in much same way as prophecy in public worship:

I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁽³⁵⁾

VIII. Tongues and Israel's Unbelief

There is one function of uninterpreted tongues in public worship: it is an omen of covenantal judgment for Jewish unbelievers. Paul writes:

In the Law it is written: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," says the Lord. Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. ⁽³⁶⁾

Paul's words are from Isaiah 28:11, 12:

Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people . . . but they would not listen.

Isaiah's words, in turn, are taken from Deuteronomy 28:49, which are part of the extensive curse section of the book. In its context Deuteronomy 28:49 is an omen of exile:

Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you . . . .. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering in to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations. ⁽³⁷⁾

God warned his people before they ever entered the promised land that if they rejected him and his covenant, he would reject them. But he told them that before their expulsion out of the land a series of judgments would come with intensifying severity. The omen that their exile was near would be the sound of foreign languages being spoken around them. These unknown tongues warned the Jews that they were about to be expelled from the land of promise.

Isaiah picked up on the curse from Deuteronomy and warned God's people that because they had rejected the Lord's message in plain Hebrew, they would soon hear the unknown tongues of foreign armies. A short time after this the Jews were given a compelling warning that Isaiah's words should be taken seriously: in the year 701 B. C. Jerusalem was besieged by the armies of Sennacherib, and the Jews received God's warning in the form of the unknown tongue of the Assyrian soldiers. ⁽³⁸⁾ But Judah still did not pay attention to the curse from Deuteronomy, and so Isaiah's prophecy came true in the terrible siege that preceded the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B. C.

Paul saw uninterpreted tongues as a curse-omen from Deuteronomy. In 66 A. D. Jerusalem was besieged by the armies of Rome, and the unknown tongues spoken in blessing by the followers of the Messiah became replaced with the unknown tongues spoken in cursing by the followers of the Roman Emperor. In 70 A. D. the city fell and the Jews became a people in exile.

It is interesting to notice that the massive emigrations of Jews to Israel have occurred at the same time that the phenomenon of tongues has apparently been dramatically increased. Extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit such as tongues have been experienced by Christians throughout the history of the Church. There have been long periods when these phenomena have not been recorded, but here and there one does come across well documented accounts, such as that of French Presbyterians speaking in tongues during the Seventeenth Century. ⁽³⁹⁾ It has only been in the Twentieth Century, especially in the latter half, that documentation of the gift of tongues has become so widespread. One is left with many questions about any connection between this and Israel's return to the land of promise in unbelief.

IX. Tongues Not to Be Forbidden

"Do not forbid speaking in tongues," said Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:39. Without an explicit statement in the Word of God that speaking in tongues would end with the completion of the New Testament, this verse makes it very difficult to do other than make sure that the practice be done in keeping with the principles outlined in the rest of the chapter fourteen.

If the power and presence of the Holy Spirit was to have an increasingly provocative effect on unbelieving Jews prior to the second coming of Christ, one wonders how this could be if certain manifestations of the presence of the Holy Spirit were to be withdrawn. A Jewish person may walk into some churches and find little difference between them and his synagogue, but no one can come into an assembly where people are worshipping Jesus under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and fail to realize that what he is encountering here is far different from the Jewish synagogue. This will not always produce the desire to be part of such a group. Indeed, it did not on the day of Pentecost: "Others mocking said, 'They are full of new wine.'" ⁽⁴⁰⁾ But it will provoke many people to jealousy. ⁽⁴¹⁾

What the Church in the Twentieth Century needs is to couple the careful, exegetical theology of the Reformed Faith with the exuberant joy of the Charismatic Renewal. We need to learn from other believers and also share with them the precious things the Lord has given us. We need to hold fast to the Reformed truth of Sola Scriptura and resist all temptations for the church to make pronouncements where the Scripture is silent. But we need to be open to the applications of biblical truth that the Spirit would bring to our daily lives and realize that he may use many different means to bring that direction.

We need to be open to all that God would do in us, for us, and through us. If ever there were a time that needed to see the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit, it is our morally bankrupt age. If ever there were a time that needed to see the historic, Christian message confirmed in signs and wonders, it is our secularistic age.

1. John 3:3-8.

2. Examples of this phenomenon abound: a believer might be in a shopping mall and have the thought, "Share your faith with that person sitting over there. His wife has just left him, and he is thinking of killing himself." Upon responding to the thought, the believer discovers that this was indeed the exact situation and by obedience to this prompting of the Holy Spirit he is able to lead a person to commit his life to the Lord Jesus. It is not unlike "the inward call to preach the Gospel," the subjective sense that God wants a person to do a particular ministry.

3. 1 Corinthians 12:8.

4. Vern S. Poythress, "Linguistic and Sociological Analyses of Modern Tongues-Speaking: Their Contributions and Limitations," Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. XLII, 2, (Philadelphia, 1980), p. 369.

5. Acts 2:7, 8, 11.

6. 1 Corinthians 14:2.

7. Bauer, op. cit., p. 162.

8. L. Carlyle May, "A Survey of Glossolalia and Related Phenomena in Non-Christian Religions," in Speaking in Tongues: A Guide to Research on Glossolalia (Grand Rapids, 1986), pp. 53-82.

9. Johannes Behm, "Glossa" in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1964), Vol. I, p. 724.

10. John P. Kildahl, "Psychological Observations," in Speaking in Tongues: A Guide to Research on Glossolalia (Grand Rapids, 1986), pp. 348-368.

11. 1 Corinthians 14:18.

12. 1 Corinthians 14:5.

13. This can be the experience of one who plays musical instruments. It is not uncommon to go beyond the playing of notes and experience a sense of the presence of God.

14. Ephesians 3:18, 19.

15. 1 Corinthians 14:14.

16. 1 Corinthians 14:2.

17. 1 Corinthians 14:2.

18. 1 Corinthians 14:16, 17.

19. 1 Corinthians 14:28.

20. 1 Corinthians 14:23, 33, 40.

21. Years ago I performed as a singer. Sometimes what I sang was in German or French, two languages which I have never learned. But I became adept at imitating German and French sounding words and was glad I did on more than one occasion when my memory failed me.

22. I was converted to Jesus Christ on September 4, 1964. Almost two years later, on July 10, 1966, I had an experience during which I spoke in tongues. This occurred in England when a Calvinistic Baptist pastor laid his hands on me and prayed that I would be given the gift of tongues. After a few months I ceased to practice this. Then, sometime in 1984, the gift came back while I was praying with a Presbyterian pastor. On this occasion I was not seeking the gift; it simply happened while I was praying out loud. From that time on until the present I have practiced tongues -- It is something I choose to do as a part of my devotional life.

23. Romans 8:15, 16, 26.

24. Romans 8:26.

25. 1 Corinthians 14:32.

26. All of these things fit under the extraordinarily paradoxical statement of Paul in Philippians 2:12, 13: " . . . Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

27. Romans 8:26.

28. Galatians 3:5.

29. 1 Corinthians 12:14 ff.

30. 1 Corinthians 12:28.

31. 1 Corinthians 12:29, 30.

32. 1 Corinthians 14:1, 4, 5, 12, 19. (emphasis mine)

33. John 17:17.

34. 1 Timothy 4:16.

35. 1 Corinthians 14:5-6. (emphasis mine)

36. 1 Corinthians 14:21-22.

37. Deuteronomy 28:47-52, 63, 64. (emphasis mine)

38. Isaiah 36-37.

39. E. Glenn Hinson, "The Significance of Glossolalia in the History of Christianity," in Speaking in Tongues: A Guide to Research on Glossolalia (Grand Rapids, 1986), p. 186.

40. Acts 2:13.

41. Romans 11:11.