WHY YOU SHOULDN’T SPEAK IN TONGUES
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. We’re on our way somewhere! Not just to a normal place like the grocery store or to the bank. We’re on our way to heaven!
2. Have you ever been up a really tall building? A small boy, with his father, was in an elevator going up the Empire State Building in New York.
3. As they flashed by the 66nd floor, the boy, in considerable anxiety, seized his father's hand, and in an awestruck whisper, said, "Does God know we are coming?"
4. This is an amusing story; but, the serious answer is: Yes, God knows everything about us, and what’s best for us.
B. THESIS
We’re going to talk about speaking in tongues tonight. I’m going to take the opposite tack than normal, and we’re going to talk about the reasons you should NOT speak in tongues!
I. REASONS TO NOT SPEAK IN TONGUES
A. IT IS CONTRARY TO LOGIC
1. If something's not logical, it doesn't compute, it doesn't make sense. Our modern society is dominated by Aristotelian thought; “If it's not logical, then it's not true.” 2 + 2 doesn’t = 5.
2. Everything else God has made seems to be logical, so why would He ask us to do something odd, like speak in tongues?
3. To the natural man, speaking in tongues seems illogical; we can't see any benefit to it.
4. It also goes against our pride, because we might be required to talk in "baby talk." Pride is the biggest part of the rejection of ‘tongues.’
B. IT IS TAUGHT AGAINST BY SEVERAL LARGE DENOMINATIONS
1. Taught against by Dr. Ed Young (6/19/11) of Second Baptist Church in Houston. He said it was only for the Apostolic Age.
2. Others teach that the gifts of the Spirit were only active until after the Bible was finished being written.
3. Now there’s no scriptural support for these views; Church history contradicts these views. Tongues and the gifts of the Spirit are well documented down to the fourth century A.D., sporadically until the 12th century, and then flourish again with the Protestant Reformation on down to today.
C. IT TURNS PEOPLE OFF, IS OFFENSIVE TO SOME PEOPLE
1. Certainly God doesn't want us to be offensive to people. The apostles taught, "As much as is possible... live at peace with all men."
2. We're not to put a stumbling block in front of people. We don't want to drive people away from God, and the average man on the street might be driven away by such a practice as speaking in other tongues.
3. So much of the Christian world rejects tongues because they want to be “seeker friendly” and successful (instead of caring about what God thinks).
II. ARE THESE SUFFICIENT REASONS?
Could we apply these same arguments to other doctrines – such as the deity of Christ?
A. MAJOR TEACHINGS WHICH ARE CONTRARY TO LOGIC
1. Major teachings of Scripture such as the VIRGIN BIRTH of Christ, the RESURRECTION OF Jesus, and the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, etc., are also contrary to logic. Does this mean we should jettison them as well?
2. No, we would count them “matters of faith.” Well why don’t we apply the same criteria to all areas of faith and practice instead of just a few?
3. A great many of things that God does are contrary to logic. What's logical about throwing salt into water to make it sweet? What's logical about bringing down walls with a shout and a trumpet? What's logical about dying to live, losing to gain, and become poor to be rich?
4. But many things which seem -- on the surface -- to be illogical, if examined from a different point of view or in more detail, end up being logical.
5. The idea that man would fly was thought to be illogical two centuries ago. Snake venom which is a poison, is now used to heal people. The idea of circumnavigating the globe was once thought to be crazy.
6. God is the God of the supernatural. Miracles are by nature things which don't happen naturally. The Bible from Genesis to Revelation is filled with instances of miracles. The coming of the Holy Spirit and His filling humans is a miracle.
7. Why should it be thought strange that one more miracle -- that He would give us a heavenly language -- be thought contrary to the plan of God?
B. SOME CHURCHES & BODIES OF SCHOLARS TEACH AGAINST THE CORNERSTONES OF CHRISTIANITY -- DEITY OF CHRIST, HIS MIRACLES, ETC.
1. To me, it makes no difference whether 100 denominations teach against the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues.
2. If it’s in Scripture, taught and practiced by the apostles and the early church, and there’s no mention of it being withdrawn, then, as with any other Christian teaching or practice, we should continue to do as they did.
3. Some groups, such as the Jehovah Witnesses, teach against the deity of Jesus Christ. I pity them, but their ignorance of Scripture is not my problem! The Jesus Project is a group of atheists who don't believe in the miraculous. Again I pity them, but their lack of faith will not stop me from believing in miracles.
4. Neither will people not embracing the Holy Spirit make me fail to believe God and to carry out what Jesus and the early church said I should do.
C. MANY ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY ARE OFFENSIVE AND TURN PEOPLE OFF
1. The Muslims are offended we don't worship Allah; the Hindus are offended we don't worship Krishna; the Buddhists are offended we don't worship Buddha; and the atheists are offended that we worship anybody!
2. It seems like we’re going to offend somebody no matter what we do, but the most important thing is not worrying whether we offend a man or woman, but whether we offend God! "For we are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts."
3. The gospel from the very beginning was offensive. Paul said that the Cross was called the “scandelon” (in the Greek), the “scandal," “stumbling block” 1 Cor. 1:23.
4. Paul said the Gospel was a stumbling block SENT BY GOD to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. Think: a religion based around an executed felon and how he died! What could be weirder?
5. So guess what? When you became a Christian, you became part of one the most offensive movements in history. Get used to it. People are going to be offended; that's not my problem, but their problem!
6. JOKE: Wrong Conclusion. A father was trying to teach his young son the evils of alcohol.
a. He put one worm in a glass of water and another worm in a glass of whiskey. The worm in the water lived, while the one in the whiskey curled up and died.
b. "All right, son," asked the father, "what does that show you?"
"Well, Dad, it shows that if you drink alcohol, you will not have worms.”
D. CONCLUSIONS
1. Should we then cease to preach and believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ and the Rapture of the Church just because some people don’t understand it? NO!
2. Should we not teach about the deity of Christ, His miracles, the supernatural, etc., just because some people teach against them? NO!
3. Should we no longer preach the Cross just because it offends people? NO!
4. WE SHOULD TEACH THESE THINGS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER PEOPLE LIKE THEM OR NOT, BECAUSE IT’S THE TRUTH & IT WAS GOD WHO CHOSE TO DO THINGS THIS WAY AND WHO ARE WE TO QUESTION/ contradict GOD?
5, SIMILARLY, WE SHOULD STILL TEACH AND SPEAK IN TONGUES WHETHER THEY’RE LOGICAL OR NOT, WHETHER SOME PEOPLE TEACH AGAINST THEM OR NOT, OR WHETHER SOME PEOPLE ARE TURNED OFF BY THEM – FOR GOD CHOSE THEM TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL.
III. REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD SPEAK IN TONGUES:
A. IT’S BIBLICAL & THE WILL OF GOD
1. Speaking in tongues was prophesied in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-29, Isaiah 28:11-12).
2. The Lord Jesus said that we would "speak with new tongues," which was a reference to speaking in other tongues (Mark 16:17).
3. All of the apostles and the mother of Jesus were all baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
4. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit became identified by speaking in other tongues. Peter and the Jewish believers with him at Cornelius's house were "astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. FOR they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God" Acts 10:45-46.
5. The Jewish Christians at Jerusalem were unconvinced that Gentiles should’ve been baptized until Peter told them how the
Holy Spirit "came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.... So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us... who was I to think I could oppose God?" Acts 11:15, 17.
6. There are five different accounts of people or groups being baptized in the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. It appears to be Paul's normal course to ask new believers if they had been filled the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2-7).
7. Not only was speaking in tongues and experienced in the early church, it was EXTENSIVELY TAUGHT to be something practiced in the early church. Paul discussed it in First Corinthians 12 & 14.
8. Paul even commanded that none of the leaders in the churches could forbid people to speak in tongues in their churches. That should settle it, but in many American churches the ushers would remove a person who spoke out loud in tongues!
B. 10 BENEFITS OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES
1. IT IS PRAYER TO GOD. "My spirit prays" 1 Cor. 14:14; "speaks not unto men, but unto God" 1 Cor. 14:2.
2. IT EDIFIES YOU; BUILDS YOU UP. "He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself" 1 Cor. 14:4.
3. IT STIMULATES YOUR FAITH. "Building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" Jude 20.
4. IT BYPASSES YOUR MIND. "My understanding is unfruitful" 1 Cor. 14:14.
5. KEEPS PRAYERS IN LINE WITH GOD’S WILL. "The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" Romans 8:26.
6. ENABLES US TO PRAY FOR UNKNOWN NEEDS. "However, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries" 1 Cor. 14:2.
7. IS THE DOORWAY TO THE GIFTS. Speaking in tongues, as the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, is the personal gift granted every believer and makes the believer available for use in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:4.
8. GIVES A SPIRITUAL REFRESHING. "This is the rest wherewith ye shall cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing..." Isaiah 28:12. The same verse was quoted by Paul is referring to speaking in tongues in 1 Cor. 14:21.
9. IS A WAY TO GIVE THANKS. 1 Cor. 14:16.
10. BRINGS THE TONGUE UNDER SUBJECTION. James said that the tongue is the most unruly member of the body; if the Holy Spirit can get control of that member, then He can control the whole person! James 3:8.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Your Daughter is Healed
1. DUTCH SHEETS SAYS; “At times when I'm praying in the Spirit I feel like a butterfly looks. Have you ever observed a butterfly flying from one location to another? They flutter this way and that, up and down, "herky-jerky." It appears they do not have the slightest idea where they are going. They almost look drunk. When I begin to pray in the Spirit, not knowing what I'm saying, sometimes with my mind wondering this way and that, I feel as though I'm trying to move in the "butterfly anointing."
2. Where am I going? What am I doing? Will I land in the right place, on the right person? Is this really accomplishing anything? But just as surely as that butterfly knows exactly where it's going, so the Holy Spirit directs my prayers precisely! They WILL "light upon" correctly.
3. This truth is profoundly illustrated by a story I heard a minister from Cleveland, Tennessee relate which happened in one of his meetings. He was ministering in a small church in Canada. He did not know anyone in the church well, as it was his first time there. About 15 minutes into his message, he heard the Holy Spirit speak inwardly to him, “Stop your message and begin to pray in the Spirit.”
4. I'm sure you can imagine the awkwardness of such a thing, especially since he really didn't know these people. The leading of the Holy Spirit was so strong, however, that he obeyed. "You'll have to excuse me," he said, "but the Lord has just instructed me to stop my message and pray in the Spirit." He began to pace the platform, praying in the Spirit audibly.
5. Five minutes went by Nothing. Ten minutes went by Nothing. Fifteen minutes went by. Still nothing. Twenty minutes. The people had simply sat and watched and listened.
6. Suddenly a woman in the back began to scream, leaped to her feet and ran to the front of the church. "What is happening?" the minister asked.
7. "My daughter is a missionary deep in Africa," the lady began. "So deep, in fact, that it takes 3 weeks to get where she is. You have to travel by automobile, then a boat, ride an animal and walk for a total of 21 days.
8. “My husband and I just yesterday received a telegram from the people she works with informing us that she had contracted a fatal disease that runs its course in 3 days. If she was in civilization it
could be treated, but it would take too long to get her there. 'She'll probably die within 3 days,' they told me, 'and all we can do is send you her body as soon as possible."'
9. "The last time my daughter was home," the lady continued, "she taught me some of the dialect of the people with whom she works. And you just said, in that dialect, 'You can rejoice, your daughter is healed. You can rejoice, your daughter is healed."' And she was! Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets, p.100-101.
B. THE CALL
PRAYER IN THE ALTARS
