Is the Gift of Tongues Still Around Today?

Is the gift of tongues still around today? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, it's Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

73. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and of course you can always email us at questions at core christianity.com. Well, Adriel, yesterday you responded to a question about prayer, and we discussed whether it's appropriate to ask God to provide a hedge of protection around us or to ask angels to guard us. And one of our listeners named Roy emailed us. He was concerned that you were saying that we can actually pray to angels. I'm wondering if you could clarify that for him.

Yeah, I love when we get feedback about the broadcast. And you're right, Bill, yesterday someone had asked, you know, is it okay to plead the blood of Jesus when we pray? You know, you hear some Christian traditions doing this.

This is probably more something that you'll find in more charismatic Pentecostal traditions. You know, we're pleading the blood of Jesus in prayer. And I said, well, I mean, it depends on how we think about this. I talked about the Lord's Supper and how in one sense when we partake of the Lord's Supper together as the body of Christ, we're pleading the blood of Jesus.

We're receiving the benefits of his once for all sacrifice for us. And so there is, I think, a way of thinking about this biblically. But additionally, Bill, you brought up, well, what about praying for a hedge of protection? That's another thing that you hear people, we're praying for a hedge of protection.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Not praying to angels. And so we want to be sure that when we're praying, we're praying to the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. But there's certainly nothing wrong with saying, Lord, send your holy angels to protect your people, to do the work that you've called them to do. And so sorry about the confusion there, if there was any confusion.

But Bill, that's what happens when you ask these crazy follow up questions to the previous caller. And how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Well, yeah.

Depends how big the pin is, right? There you go. All right. Well, thank you for that. So no, do not pray to angels, but you can pray to the Lord to have angels to help protect you.

Nothing wrong with that. So this is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open and we'd love to hear from you. Maybe you have a question about a Bible passage that confuses you.

Maybe you have a question about doctrine or theology or something going on in your own Christian walk. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. We're only going to be taking calls for another 20 minutes or so. So now is the time to call. You can also leave a voicemail at that same number.

And we received this voicemail from one of our listeners named James. My question is, when Jesus fed the 5,000 with fish and bread, how did they cook it? It was a raw fish and I always was curious about that.

Might sound odd, but if you could let me know, I would appreciate it. Thank you and God bless. Well, there's no indication in the text that they had a big barbecue at that time. I think there are two options. Either the fish that was multiplied, maybe it was already cooked somehow. Who knows? Or we're talking about sushi here, raw fish. That could be the case.

I'm not sure. It probably would have been the best sushi ever known to man. The fact of the matter is, in Matthew 14, we just aren't told. We know that he multiplied the food and then they ate it. My sense is that it was already cooked somehow. We're talking about a miracle here. Through this miracle, probably more than 5,000 were fed.

I appreciate that question. Sorry, we can't shed more light on that, but that's just where the text leaves it. Well, if a little boy had it and his mom had prepared it for him, then chances are it was cooked, right?

She probably wouldn't give her kid raw fish. Yes, that's right. Probably not. Thanks, Bill. Okay.

Or as you said, it might have been sushi. This is Core Christianity. We're getting some interesting questions today. Let's go to Jacob who's calling in from Alabama. Jacob, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, Pastor Adriel. Great show.

I love the show. I think you're doing a great job. My question for you is, when struggling with a specific sin like laziness, lust, or whatever it might be, where do you draw the line from when Satan or demons or however you want to phrase it keeps you in doubt and like depression over your sin versus when the Holy Spirit is convicting of that sin, if that makes sense? Jacob, that's an excellent question, and so I think we can distinguish between, okay, is what I'm experiencing because of my sin despair and hopelessness, or is it a genuine conviction because I've offended God and I know that I'm in need of God's grace and I'm turning to the Lord?

The conviction that God gives to us, that conviction that's brought about by the Holy Spirit, I think it's also full of hope, hope that through the promise of the Gospel we have the forgiveness of our sins. Now Satan, the evil one, I think wants to lead us to despair, wants us to focus so much on our sins and how great they are that we think, this is just too big for God to handle, things are never going to get better, and we're just sort of wallowing in that shame and guilt and sorrow. And there is an element there of pride where we think, my sin is so bad that not even God can save me. And so my question would be, is what we're experiencing, are you experiencing that conviction that says, okay, I know that this is wrong, it's contrary to God's law, and I'm turning to the Lord, confessing my sin and asking God for his mercy with hope, or am I full of despair and hopelessness? And so I think that's how the evil one will use our sins is, he accuses us, he condemns us, and he wants to turn us away from faith. And Martin Luther in particular, especially in his lectures on the book of Galatians, he talks about this, he says the evil one will, Paul says in 2 Corinthians, he dresses up like an angel of light, and Luther highlights this as well, he says sometimes the devil himself will dress up as Christ, for example, and lead us to despair, highlighting our sins and making us feel like we're totally hopeless, we're a lost cause. And that's not Christ, Christ is the great Redeemer, the Savior, the one who is able to cleanse us. And so there ought to be, I think with that conviction, also the hope of the gospel, we're turning away from our sins and away from ourselves, to Jesus to lay hold of the goodness and the grace that he's given to us. And so for all of those who, you know, you wrestle with this and you're confronted with your sins, with the pattern that you struggle with or whatever it is, ask yourself, am I just wallowing in despair and believing the lie that I'm hopeless and that not even God loves me or would forgive me? Well that's not from the Lord, that's from the evil one, what we have to do is turn away from our sins into Christ and embrace the hope that he gives to us. Love that response, thank you for that, Adriel, that's so hopeful. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, our phone lines are open if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, we'd love to hear from you.

Here's the number, it's 833-THE-CORE, that's 1-833-843-2673. I also want to mention we have some great Bible studies available, these can be used for your personal devotions or in a small group setting or a Sunday school class. And we have a wide variety on both books from the Old and the New Testament. Yeah, I mean one of the things we want to encourage you as followers of Jesus, I know many of you want to grow in your relationship with the Lord, that happens through the study of the Scriptures. And so we've created a number of Bible studies here at Core Christianity to encourage you in just that 10 week studies that you could go through on your own or with a group of other believers, maybe friends from your church. And as Bill was saying, there's studies through the New Testament and the Old Testament, the book of Ruth, the book of Daniel, the book of Jonah for example, all really wonderful studies, and so get ahold of these resources over at corechristianity.com. We also have leaders guides available if you are a person who leads a small group or a Sunday school class, you can find those again at corechristianity.com forward slash radio, just browse through our many Bible studies. And by the way, we also have a lot of great other resources at our website, including our free core guides and core questions, core booklets, browse around for a while and check out all the great resources that we have at corechristianity.com.

Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Core, you can call us 24 hours a day and leave us your question at this number, 833-THE-CORE, 833-THE-CORE. And here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Isaiah. I'm wondering if you could give me a couple of good verses to say to a Pentecostal brother and sister in Christ who I believe are saved, but I was trying to give them some good information on why we don't speak in tongues anymore and those types of things.

That would be super helpful. Thanks. Isaiah, thank you for that question.

You know, over the years, my views on this have developed and shifted some. Of course, the texts that you want to go to in the New Testament that speak about the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in particular the gift of tongues, you got the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, where Peter sees the fulfillment of Joel chapter two, the Spirit of God is poured out upon the church and they begin to speak in new tongues declaring the mighty works of God and the people that are there gathered on the day of Pentecost say, what's going on here? It's early in the morning, are these people, have they been drinking?

What's happening? And Peter there boldly filled with the Holy Spirit preaches the gospel for all those to hear and thousands of people get saved, they get baptized. Additionally, the other place you want to go in scripture is 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14, where the apostle Paul has an extended discussion on spiritual gifts in general, but in chapter 14, he talks specifically about the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. Now, the question that you asked really relates to the discussion or the debate between those who believe that those miraculous sign gifts ceased shortly after the time of the apostles, or those who make a case that no, they're still around and not to be used ordinarily in the life of the church today. First, I think what we can say, and one thing that you can encourage your Pentecostal friends with, and I think this is something we should all affirm, is that God is free to do whatever he wants. God is still doing miracles today. God is still healing today. God is still leading people in supernatural, providential ways today.

The question is, I think, is God still doing that kind of thing today? The question is, is this how the church ought to operate ordinarily? In other words, should we just expect that ordinarily in the life of the Christian church, we should have people speaking in tongues on a Sunday morning and prophesying and giving words of knowledge and so forth? It seems to me like even in the New Testament, the assumption was that those miraculous signs were really helping to advance the gospel and the message of Christ early on in the days of the apostles, but that they weren't going to be an ordinary part of the life of the church.

When Paul talks about the qualifications for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1, he seems to imply that ordinarily in these churches that are being planted and that are going to go and plant other churches, ministry is going to look like a pastor, elders, caring for the souls of the people there in the church, Bible teaching, faithful Bible teaching, caring for the saints there. It wasn't this extraordinary supernatural ministry. It wasn't like a reliving of the day of Pentecost every single Sunday. It was faithful Bible teaching. I think that's, more than anything else, what we need to recover today. And so that's where I would point. As I'm having conversations with people, I say, look, so many of us are chasing an experience or we want to have this exciting, explosive Christian encounter.

And can that happen? Yeah. God is free to do whatever he wants, as I already said. But could it be that what we really need to commit to and what we really need to recover is that ordinary, mundane faithfulness growing together with the body of Christ, growing in our understanding of God's word, what he's already revealed to us? We have a hard enough time with that. We have a hard enough time knowing the scriptures. And so I think that's where we need to point people back to the word of God, seeking Christ. And in that, as we do that, God is free to work however he wants.

But where we focus the bread and butter of ordinary Christian ministry is that ministry of the word, the sacraments of grace, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. That's where the Spirit of God is working powerfully today. And I would just encourage you to dig into 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. There, Paul highlights some of the abuses with spiritual gifts that the Corinthian church was struggling with. And he focuses in chapter 13 on the fruit of the Spirit. This is the true sign that you're filled with the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, it's love. And that, too, is what we really need to recover. And so God bless and appreciate that question.

Great question. Thank you for that, Isaiah. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We're still taking your calls if you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, maybe some type of persecution you run up against in your Christian life. Give us a call. 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Hunter, who's calling in from Indiana. Hunter, what's your question for Adriel?

Hey there, Adriel. I was just wondering, how does God relieve us of our selfish desires and actions? Yeah. Well, I think all of this is something that we confess to the Lord. It really is the work of the Holy Spirit and that process of sanctification as we're growing in grace. And what that looks like is growing more and more into the image of Christ. It's the work of God in us, but he uses means, like the preached word, growing in our understanding of Scripture, growing in prayer and communion with God and with others.

But this is also a gift that God gives to us through his Son, Jesus. And I can't help but think about what Paul said in Philippians 2, where he says, he's writing to the Philippian church, and he says, If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Okay, there's the key right there. You have the exhortation. Don't be selfish. Don't do anything out of selfish ambition. Instead, in humility, consider others' needs as more important even than your own. Have this mind, which, by the way, he says, is already yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And so, one, I think it's recognizing you are in Christ. We are called as those who are in Christ, united to Jesus by faith, to have the mind of Christ, and that happens as the word of Christ dwells in us richly and as we come to the Lord and say, God, shape me, mold me, sanctify me more into the image of your son so that I would have this mind that you've given me, this identity that you've given me in your son, so that I would live that out. And so, naturally, right, and even just because of indwelling sin, it's so easy for us to be selfish, it's so easy for us not to consider the needs of others and to consider our needs as the most important. And Paul says when we meditate on Jesus, we see the opposite of that. The eternal Son of God himself, who is worthy of all of our praise, is worthy of our service, came and served us. Have that mind in you. And so, Hunter, may the Lord really bless all of us, but may the Lord bless you and help you understand more and more in your own life that great ministry of Christ towards you, his service towards you, so that you might serve others.

God bless. Just a follow-up question for you, Adriel. You talked about the various means that God uses in the sanctification process. I'm wondering if you could expound a little bit on how he uses the body of Christ in the sanctification process.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I was talking about spiritual gifts earlier. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we realize that each person in the body is gifted in unique ways, and that together, as the whole church comes together, we're able to encourage each other with our particular gifts for our mutual edification, for our mutual building up. So you have that, but it's just that exhortation, that encouragement that comes day by day by being in Christian fellowship that we're exhorted to have, encouraged to have. And so it looks like gathering together with others, having conversations about the Lord, exhorting one another. Someone sort of flipping behind, coming alongside of them as a brother or sister, and encouraging them, and maybe even calling them out at times, but in love.

And so it looks like all sorts of things, Bill, but it should look like something, at least. We can't be isolated on our own. Good word. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Matt, who's calling in from Atlanta. Matt, what's your question for Adriel? Hello?

Hey, Matt. Hi, thanks for taking my call. My question is, if a believer visits another believer in a nursing home, and they're unable to go to church, and there's a desire for communion, can the visitor present communion for the both of them, or does it need to be given by a pastor or helper? That's an excellent question.

Let me just tell you what my view is and why. I'm also recognizing that this is a really difficult situation, especially with those who are shut in or they're in nursing homes. I think it is important for the church to get involved there and to seek to minister however the church can. Sometimes that looks like pastors going and having services and bringing communion to those who are sick and shut in. We've done that as a church at various times. I would say communion is a part of the ministry of the word, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The sacraments of the church are visible word, visible gospel. In the same way that not everyone is called to be a preacher or a pastor, James says in James 3, let not many of you become teachers knowing that we'll receive a stricter judgment. You wouldn't just say, we're all Christians and we're all called to talk about Jesus and share Jesus, but in terms of that office with these particular functions attached to it, not everyone is called to that. That's part of how we protect the deposit of faith that's been passed down from one generation to another. Paul told Timothy, guard that good deposit that's been given to you. What you've heard from me and trust of faithful men who are going to be able to teach others also. It's a part of guarding the ministry of the word.

I would say no. For us as Christians just generally, we're not to be giving communion to ourselves or just sort of handing it out to whoever we think needs it. The other reason why this is, I think, the case is because if it was proper or if the expectation of the New Testament was that anybody could just do this, well, that would make things like church discipline virtually impossible if somebody is barred from the Lord's table. The church has said, no, you cannot commune, but the expectation is, well, I can just commune myself. It's not like I need the church for this. Well, that makes things like church discipline, it falls apart.

That's not to minimize, Matt, the real need here. I would say, my encouragement would be, one, praise God that you're in a situation where you're able to minister to those who are in nursing homes. Get the church involved. Have conversations with the pastor, the leadership of your church and say, hey, there's a real need here. If these people are members of your church, I really think the church has to step up its game at ministering to and meeting with those who are shut in and unable to be there. That's where the church needs to reach out. You're doing that, and I think you're doing that well by sharing Christ and just being a loving brother in Christ for those who are in need. May God bless you in that and continue to use you to bring the comfort of Jesus to those who desperately need it. Matt, thanks so much for your call and for your tender heart.

We appreciate that. This is Quora Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Marty in Wichita, Kansas. Marty, we just got about a minute left. What's your question for Adriel? What is the unpardonable sin?

Hey, Marty, thanks for asking that. Yeah, so Jesus talks about the unforgivable or unpardonable sin in the gospels, in the synoptic gospels. You can read about it in Matthew or in Mark as well. And it's associated with the conversation he was having with the religious leaders where they were attributing his miraculous works, the things that he was doing to Beelzebub to Satan.

And Jesus gives them a stern warning. He says, all manner of sins and blasphemies will be forgiven people, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, that person will never have forgiveness, Jesus says. And there, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the text even goes on to explain, because they were saying he has an unclean spirit, it was attributing the works of Christ to Satan. It was in essence, rejecting Jesus and not just rejecting him, but so misunderstanding who he is.

I mean, essentially associating him with Satan, there was a real hatred that some of the religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees had toward our Lord. And so Jesus is warning them. He's saying, look, you see the miracles, you see the Holy Spirit working in your midst in these powerful ways. If you reject that, if you trample upon that and identify the Redeemer, Jesus, with Satan, you have no hope. And brothers and sisters, right, all manner of sin will be forgiven. But if you look at Jesus and say, you know, you're a clown and with hatred in your heart, you reject him and you do that over and over and over again and you die in that state.

There is no hope. There is no forgiveness because Jesus is our only hope. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. John chapter 14, verse six. And so for each one of us, we need to turn to Christ to know him, to love him, to receive the grace that he has for us and that he's won for us at the cross. God bless. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-Core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.