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Are Prayer Tongues The Evidence Of The Baptism Of The Spirit?
Should Every Believer Speak In Prayer Tongues?
●What Are The Purposes Of Speaking In The Gift Of Tongues?
●Can The Tongue Spoken Be Either A Foreign Language Or An Ecstatic Utterance?
CHAPTER 2
What Are The Purposes Of Speaking In The Gift Of Tongues?
- To confirm (prove) the truth and divine origin of the words, which were spoken by the apostles, along with authenticating these men as having been sent by Jesus.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:17,20)
- To build up the church.
I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. (1 Corinthians 14:5)
- As a sign of warning to the unbelieving Jew.
For With Stammering Lips And Another Tongue Will He Speak To This People
Suggested Reading: Isaiah 28:1-14
The Northern Kingdom of the 10 tribes of Israel was being warned by the prophet Isaiah of future captivity by Assyria, because of their addictiveness to intoxication by wine (black grapes) and strong drink (palm wine or date wine). Likewise, the priests and prophets were also involved with alcoholic intoxication, and as a result they erred in vision and judgment. This kingdom will eventually be destroyed, never to reunite again.
When the invasion by Assyria occurred along with subsequent captivity, God will speak to the Jews with "stammering lips," i.e. the language of the foreign captors will be unto them as unintelligible gibberish. Foreign tongues will be a sign to the Jews of their disregard for God’s word, and the fulfillment of warning discipline.
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. (Isaiah 28:11)
Likewise, the gift of tongues was a sign to the unbelieving Jews of future judgment. In 70AD the temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans with the resulting dispersion of Jews throughout the world.
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. (1 Corinthians 14:21)
4. An "indication," evidence or a proof that God has imparted this power1 so that the unbeliever might see from such a miracle that this is the work of God; and so embrace the gospel.
Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. (1 Corinthians 14:22)
5. To tell the unbeliever about the great things God has done.
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. (Acts 2:11)
In the next chapter we will attempt to answer the question, were the tongues spoken by the exercise of the gift of tongues always foreign languages or could they at times be unintelligible sounds of a non-existent language?
CHAPTER 3
Can A Tongue Spoken Be Either A Foreign Language Or An Ecstatic Utterance?
As I said earlier it is important that we address the many questions that pertain to the topic of tongues along with two of the major questions associated with it:
Are prayer tongues the evidence of the baptism (filling) of the Spirit?
Should every believer speak in the gift of tongues?
I know firsthand that this topic can incite the flame of passionate anger in some believers. A few years ago I was overseeing a small church in the city where I was living. I mentioned to the attendees that we would begin to look at some biblical topics from opposing views. One of them was on prayer tongues; and in particular we attempted to answer the question, is it the evidence of the baptism (filling) of the Holy Spirit? After describing what the baptism of the Spirit referred to we began to look at different scripture sections providing responses which either supported the idea that it was the evidence along with responses that supported the idea that it was not the evidence. What I soon found out was that there were some attendees that had really strong opinions on this topic. As soon as they heard the view which was opposed to theirs they interjected with yelling and anger. I was accused of teaching divisive doctrine. I tried to calm them down, but to no avail. They disrupted the teaching and walked out. I have to admit that it was difficult to continue teaching on this subject after this, but this is however, what I did.
All I could think of is, this is what is typical of many Christian churches today. Most of us can agree on the 95% of doctrinal teaching while the remaining 5% causes there to be loud verbal language which accuses the person, whose view doesn’t agree with the doctrinal platform of the church of being: a false teacher, a false pastor, a divider, etc. In some cases I would say that this could be true, but I believe this would be in regard to those teachings which are considered by most Christian churches to be orthodox (absolute) such as the deity of Christ; the trinity of one God in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each being God in essence; Christ’s resurrection; Christ’s atonement for sin; the Gospel, etc. As far as the other teachings of the church e.g. Can a believer drink alcohol? Could there be female pastors? Can a believer lose their salvation? Should a believer obey the Ten Commandments? Is a believer obligated to tithe, etc. there will probably always be differences of opinion. Shouldn’t we at least attempt to provide a format of teaching that presents both sides of a biblical topic and allow those who hear what is being said to study the subject further and make up their own mind? Hopefully, at least what might come out of it is a willingness to hear what another believers view is on a topic and not freak out when we find out that their view is different from ours. Can two co-labor together if they disagree on the presentation of a doctrinal topic?
I have heard from some believers that if the tongue in question as presented in scripture is unknown, then it must be that of an ecstatic utterance. There are a couple of ways to approach this. The first would be to search the scriptures in order to determine if there are any examples of expressed tongues that are known to be ecstatic. If the answer is not clear then we could draw some conclusions by comparing scripture with scripture that relate to the same topic and see if some kind of a connection could be made.
The information that will be presented here is in a table format. This will consist of a title, content, questions, and responses by opposite views in regard to the topic at hand which is, is what is spoken forth in the gift of tongues either a foreign language or an ecstatic utterance (the transmission of sounds, which you could also call gibberish, unintelligible, or babbling in a non-existent language)?
I think we already know that some of the tongues spoken are foreign languages that were unknown to both the speaker and hearer, but through the gift of interpretation what was spoken became known to both the speaker and hearer. The only exception to this would be if the situation presented itself as on the day of Pentecost, when there were many Jews in attendance, who spoke different languages. Instead of having one person exercise the gift of tongues over and over again there might be many people exercising the gift of tongues in order to speak forth a tongue to each language group.
Let’s begin with this question, are there any examples in scripture which seem to support the exercise of ecstatic utterances (gibberish, unintelligible sounds)?
For If The Trumpet Give An Uncertain Sound Suggested Reading: 1 Corinthians 14:1-12 Some were exercising the gift of tongues at various times during prayer, while singing, or when the assembly of believers gathered during worship without there being an interpreter present. Thus without an interpreter the church would not receive edifying (building up), because they would not understand what was spoken. An analogy is given to the musical instruments of harp (stringed instrument) or pipe (a wind instrument that had two pipes from the mouthpiece). If when either instrument was played there was not a distinction (in the due interval) of sounds (tones; notes), then how would it be known what tune is played on the harp or pipe? Likewise if a tongue is spoken with no distinction (understanding), then how shall anyone know what was spoken? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. (1 Corinthians 14:7-9 It’s interesting to note that there was not a statement made which supported the uttering of sounds where a distinctiveness of sounds was not made. |
Some might argue that even though there might not be any clear examples of ecstatic utterances, they would infer that because some of the tongues mentioned are not clearly delineated (understood) then it would appear to indicate they were indeed ecstatic utterances.
Do the words “new tongues” refer to ecstatic utterances?
They Shall Speak “with new tongues” Suggested Reading: Mark 16:1-20 Mary Magdelene, Salome, and Mary the mother of Jesus purchased anointing oil following the close of the Sabbath. Well before sunrise, on the first day of the week, they left the town of Bethany and proceeded to Jerusalem, where the tomb in which Jesus body was placed in was located. They arrived at the tomb at early sunrise (6:00am) and noticed that the stone covering it had been removed. So they decided to enter the tomb and when they did they saw a young man dressed in white, who told them that Jesus was risen; and that they were to let the disciples and Peter know that He would meet them in Galilee. The women left the sepulcher quickly in order to convey this message. Following this, Jesus appeared before different people eventually appearing before the 11 disciples. He told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And then he said to them that there will be certain signs which will follow their preaching that will prove not only its truth and divine origin, but will serve to authenticate that they were sent by him. These signs are that they will: cast out demons; speak in new tongues; not be hurt by drinking any deadly thing; not be hurt by being bitten by poisonous snakes; heal the sick by the laying on of hands. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18) Are the new tongues that they will speak ascribed to foreign languages or ecstatic utterances?
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The Tongues Are Foreign Languages. | The Tongues Are Ecstatic Utterances. |
●The words “new tongues” means different from those in which they were accustomed to speak. ●If these new tongues were ecstatic utterances they would surely make a sound, but the hearers wouldn’t understand anything. If this was the case would this sign authentic the speakers as being sent by Jesus or would the hearers simply think they were crazy? If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? (1 Corinthians 14:23) | ●Because there is no description as to what kind of tongue it is, then it must be a tongue that when exercised would bring forth an ecstatic utterance. |
Do the words “speak with tongues” mean that the Gentiles spoke with strange (ecstatic) tongues?
For They Heard Them “Speak With Tongues” Suggested Reading: Acts 10:1-48 Peter, a Jew, came to the house of Cornelius, a gentile, who was accompanied by his kinsman (relatives) and near friends. He proceeded to tell them that the Jews were not forbidden to talk to uncircumcised Gentiles on the street or in their place of business, but they were forbidden to go into their house and eat with them, because their house was considered to be ceremonially polluted. He then recounted the things that happened which brought him to this house. After which he talked about how God sent his Son Jesus to preach peace to the Jews, and how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Eventually he was rejected by them being hung on a tree, but was raised from the dead being witnessed by many, and that whosoever believes in him will receive remission (forgiveness; does not refer to the guilt of sin merely, but also to its power, nature, and consequences) of sins. After he spoke these words something remarkable happened, the Holy Spirit fell (took possession of) on all that heard the word. The Jewish Christians who accompanied Peter that believed (acknowledged that the Holy Spirit also came upon the Gentiles) were astonished (beside themselves) for they heard the Gentiles speak with tongues, and magnify (praise) God. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, (Acts 10:46) | |
The Tongues Are Foreign Languages. | The Tongues Are Ecstatic Utterances. |
● The words “speak with tongues” was followed by the words “and magnify God”. To magnify means to praise. How would anyone know that these tongues were being used to praise God unless they understood what was being said in their own language? ●There is no indication as to how the words were interpreted other than the fact that the Jews who accompanied Peter heard the Gentiles speak in them and magnify (praise) God.
| ●The word for “tongues” in the Greek is gloosais,which means they did not speak intelligible languages but rather strange tongues.
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This is another example of new believers speaking with tongues. Did they speak in a foreign tongue or an ecstatic utterance?
The Holy Ghost Came On Them “They Spoke With Tongues” Suggested Reading: Acts 19:1-7 As Paul was on his way to Jerusalem the Holy Spirit commanded him to return to Asia. While passing through the upper coasts, he came to Ephesus. During his time there he came upon certain disciples, 12 of them, of John the Baptist. Paul asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed in the coming Messiah, to which they said they weren’t aware that he had been received by anyone. Paul followed this up with another question which was, what then was the meaning of your baptism? Their response was that they were baptized unto John’s baptism, which as indicated by scripture its purpose was to make Jesus manifest (thoroughly understood as to who he is) to Israel. In response to hearing this proclamation the Jews were to confess their sins and exhibit deeds agreeing with a change of heart. After hearing this Paul declared to them the name of the Messiah, who John the Baptist talked about, which is Christ Jesus. The context appears to indicate that they believed in Him and were baptized with water. However, it became clear to the apostles that they hadn’t received the Spirit. So Paul laid hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them. And then the scriptures state that they spoke with tongues, and prophesied (to break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or in praise of the divine counsels). And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Acts 19:6) | |
The Tongues Are Foreign Languages. | The Tongues Are Ecstatic Utterances. |
●Twelve men spoke in tongues and prophesied (to break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or in praise of the divine counsels). ●In order to understand what was prophesied the tongues had to be expressed in the language of the hearers. In what manner this was interpreted, the scriptures do not tell us. | ●The words “they spake with tongues” refers to speaking in a strange manner by using unknown or unrecognized sounds7. The Greek word for “tongues” is gloosais, which has no reference to a foreign language being spoken.
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I could give you a couple of more examples like these, but I think questions will still remain. Whenever there is uncertainty as to what kind of tongue is being referred to in a passage of scripture when the word for tongues is gloosais, you will have to make a determination as to whether the tongue is the expression of a foreign language unbeknownst to the speaker, but known to the hearers or whether the tongue is expressive of an ecstatic utterance, which is unknown to both the speaker and hearers.
As to the answer to the question, can a tongue spoken be either a foreign language or an ecstatic utterance? I think enough information has been presented in order for you to make up your own mind about this.
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