1 Corinthians 14:2: For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Whoa.
So I can't say, thus says the Lord. Cause I'm not speaking to men. I'm speaking to God when I'm speaking in tongues.
So if It continues. for no one understands him, however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. That's what makes it tongues. It's something outside the normal. And Paul, again, he's got all these churches that are behaving themselves with the gifts, except this one.
This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through a topical series. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio. specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
And now, here's Pastor Rick with part two of his message: Spiritual Gifts and the Rapture. Acts 19, now Paul is amongst Jewish believers.
Somehow the Holy Spirit never made it that far. in their doctrine, in their thinking. Acts 19, verse 6, and when Paul had laid hands on them, which he could not have done if they were hermit Christians. I got to get on the bus. I got to go over to Rollo's house, lay hands on him, because he won't come to church.
Then I got to go over to Susie's house. I got to pray for her, too, because. No, that wasn't the case. They were gathering. They were assembling.
I'm not a fan of Hermit Christianity. I don't think the New Testament is either. And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them. And they spoke with tongues, and they prophesied. Likely the magnification of God because As we've been going through these things, we know because the word prophecy is brought up, Old Testament and New, it is not an automatic predictive event.
It has a manifold, a bunch of meanings. It could be an encouragement, could be a song, could be the reading of scripture, it could be a prophetic word. You know, the Lord spoke to me and just put this thing on my heart that you need to not stay here, or something like that. And you say, Boy, you've been telling me the same thing, that's confirmation. Those things happen.
But what we tend to do is we hear the word prophecy and automatically we think somebody's predicting something. And again, that is very short-sighted and that's not even scriptural. If we were doing a study on that, we would go through all the New and Old Testament examples of that very thing.
So, Jesus, this group in Ephesus that Paul lays hands on, and there's this outburst of tongues, which they never even heard of. Jesus was their Messiah, but news of the Holy Spirit again somehow did not make it to them. Until Paul gets there. And explicitly it is said that they were believers, yet There was a distinct experience available to them.
So, you can have salvation, not speak in tongues, not be filled with the Spirit. You believe in Christ, you're saved. But you've never had an experience in the Holy Spirit. And that's these. Messianic Christians are Our example for that.
I hope I've I I feel like I did a pretty good job on all that myself. Until I drive home. Anyway, now we come to The proper usage of the tongues. I think that's what the question was asked. Give me some scriptural examples of seeing them in use and.
What they are. And what how can they be used? in the body of Christ. There's one of the gifts that doesn't have to be used in the body of Christ directly, indirectly. If it strengthens you in your prayer closet and then you come to church inspired, then yeah, the body is going to benefit from that.
But tongues are not to disrupt the Holy Spirit in the assembly. The outbursts in the house of Cornelius was to disarm The Jewish audience. 'Cause they this is the first time Gentiles were coming into Christianity without first becoming Jews. This was a radical moment when. In the house of Cornelius, and Peter is preaching to them.
And the Jews are watching, they're there too, and they see this happen. Neil like oi veh. This is the Holy Spirit. And of course, Peter gets back. He's got to defend this.
They were so radical. The Christian Jews were so radical. You can't blame them. They raised all their life this way. And all of a sudden, there's this radical movement of God.
And it was hard for them. And that's why, you know, when James and Paul are butting heads, we're not siding with, we understand, you know, what James was doing, nobody else could do. And what Paul was doing nobody else could do. And they went to their graves. uncomfortable with each other.
But they're not that way now.
So anyway, coming back to this 1 Corinthians 14, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, and in all the churches of the saints, and in all the churches of the saints. Not some of them. Paul's writing to Corinthians, he knows the other churches are going to read this too. 1 Corinthians 14:32, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Meaning, you can't say, Oh, I was just overcome by the spirit and I lost control.
Yeah you're wrong. The Bible says that's not the case. The spirits of the prophets. are subject to the prophets. You have control over your spirit.
Even if the Holy Spirit comes upon your spirit.
Well, I just couldn't control myself. I slapped them. You can see what kind of door that would open. 1 Corinthians 14, 40. Let all things be done decently and in order.
Well, what is tongues again? Praise and adoration to God. And that's all that we have from Scripture. Outside of that experience in Acts chapter 2 at the day of Pentecost, when the church was born and the unbelievers heard them speaking in their own language, Outside of that separate experience. We don't have.
Too much, other than to say it's a language of adoration. Here we go. 1 Corinthians 14, 2. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Woah.
So I can't say, thus says the Lord. 'Cause I'm not speaking to men. I'm speaking to God when I'm speaking in tongues.
So It continues. For no one understands him, however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. That's what makes it tongues. It's something outside the normal. And Paul, again, he's got all these churches that are behaving themselves with the gifts, except this one.
And it's his darling church. He founded this church. He loved those people. And they're coming in with all sorts of Greek ideas and emotionalism and ignorance and meanness. They're coming with all this stuff.
Some genuine worms were there too. And he's trying to say to them, I don't want you to stop speaking in tongues. I don't have that authority. But we got to clean this up. And so he gives them some leeway.
He says, Well, if you're going to speak in tongues, if you must, here are some rules to go with it. He's tightening it up. And he was successful.
So Not prophecy, not instruction, not even encouragement. or rebuke It's a language to God. It's an adoration to God. It's an emotional outburst to God in the Spirit, initiated by God. You've got to be walking with the Lord to genuinely have this kind of an experience.
Well, I would think. Anecdotally, there are some exceptions. of new believers Speaking in tongues. Why not prophecy, instruction, encouragement, rebuke? Because we don't need a foreign tongue to do that.
We can do that in any language. We can mime that. We can tell somebody we don't like just by, I mean, we can communicate we don't like them by looking at them the wrong way. Oh, I got to have a tongue to tell this person how much God doesn't like what they're doing. That's nonsense.
It says only with an interpreter.
Now that's not necessary if you're in private. If you're in your own home and you're having this experience and you're even not sure what you said, but you know it was the rush of the Holy Spirit and you're in your prayer closet, that's fine. But if you come into the body where the gifts are operating, There are rules. 1 Corinthians 14:28. But if there is no speaker, let him.
Keep silent in church. Let's pray and close this up now right there. Because there's more to it. But that stands. There's nothing going to take that back.
He just adds a little bit more to it. For no one understands him.
However, in the spirit he speaks.
Well, I'm sorry, that's the wrong verse. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church and let him speak to himself and to God. Again. He's not Paul's saying, well, if you just fill with this adoration and it comes out. Make sure there's an interpreter there.
That's almost Paul saying.
Now you're stuck. Because if you don't know there's an interpreter there, You're violating You're going against the Holy Spirit. by daring to speak in tongues.
So the person shows up. No, who was that that had that interpretation last week? Let's see if they're here. Because if they hear, I'm going off. And if they're not here, then I got to be quiet.
I'm just going to go home. The little humor injected into all of that.
So why? We're already praising God in our language. And God knows that We are still There's a difference between being an emotional person and emotional ism. We are driven by your emotions. That is not the case.
1 Corinthians 14:4. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. But he who prophesies edifies the church. And again, the prophecy could be. Just singing in song, encouragement.
There's so many options that go. With Prophecy is speaking from God to you through you. Whereas the priest goes the other way. And it helps us to understand how things are operating with God. He set them up.
So do it at home. All you want. And you'll not distract anybody. And I've always found even in a small prayer group and I've got friends There are other states now because I had to get away from them. They speak in tongues, does not They're not true, but it's funny.
And, you know, we would be praying, and they would start speaking in tongues. I always thought it was a distraction. And I always want to say, excuse me. What did you just say? Why are you doing this to us?
We were doing going pretty good with English. And now you just now I'm sitting here wondering and I'm all messed up. I wouldn't do that, but that's what I was doing. It is the duty of the pastor. to eliminate distractions.
As he is directed and led from the assembly. And he has every right to prohibit this. kind of behavior in the body. If If the situation merits. And the situation usually does.
So, anyway, here's another rule: no more than two or three utterance at a time.
Well, why would he say that? Because it was a tongue fest. They're outdoing each other. One added a dance to it. I don't think that happened.
But you could see, you know how people are.
Someone's, I heard someone years ago. That a church came up with an idea. Look, the rich people are coming in there well-dressed, and the poor. poor aren't Let's start wearing robes, and you can't tell how poor a person is or rich they are by what they wear. And that worked for a little while, then somebody came up with an idea.
I can put some embroidery on mine. I can use gold leaf. I can you know, and it just blew the whole thing right back where they started from.
So Paying attention to these things is important. Anyway, two or three, 1 Corinthians 14:27. If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or At the most Three is like he's saying if you must. In turn, each in turn, don't go overlapping each other. You got to wait for the interpretation, that will slow them down.
And he says, and let one interpret. He's delicate with them. And it annoys me. Oh.
So he's what he stabilized the church. By doing it this gentle way. And biblical pastors are still trying to keep the church stable because we understand. There'll be those that just, their feelings are more important to them than truth. They've been doing it so long, they can't even tell they're doing it.
and you cannot reason with them. Uh and they just they can cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. Which they will lose, but Give the devil place, and we don't want that. Anyway, Paul says: do not forbid tongues.
Now that doesn't mean you're obligated to speak tongues in front of people. But We have a biblical right if you have the gift to speak tongues at home, for example, and not say to somebody, you can't go home and speak. That gift doesn't exist anymore. God's taking it back. I think Paul wrote to the Corinthians or Romans: irrevocable are the gifts of God.
Tell that to the cessationists. 1 Corinthians 14, 39. Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy. That comes first. A word in season, a scripture verse, something from God, And do not forbid to speak with tongues.
Again, tell that to them. 1 Corinthians 14:39. Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy and do not forbid. To speak with tongues. I just repeated myself.
Now, True, some boast of tongues And have no love. and really don't care too much about the truth. And that is a tragedy. And that could even put their own salvation in question because if you're not If you're ignorant of the scripture and you're comfortable with that, What does that say? If you're wrong, if there are things that you're doing that you don't know, God has forbidden.
What happens then? Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not parade itself. This is what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13: does not behave rudely. does not seek its own I think all of that has to do with those who want to show off any kind of gift.
Wait till they hear me teach. They're going to really be impressed.
Well, you just messed up. You need to go back to Corinthians and understand love does not parade itself.
Well 1 Corinthians 13:1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become.
Sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if you, as the older you get, the more sensitive your ears are to annoying noises. Paul rejoiced that he could speak in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14, I thank God I speak with tongues more than all of you. And of course, those who say that gifts don't exist, they just dismiss the value of someone putting that into our Bible.
They don't understand the Holy Spirit was saying, I'm not ashamed of this. If it's done right. It stands. And who are you to cherry pick which gifts Don't exist anymore because you don't care for them or because others have abused them. You have no right to do that.
1 Corinthians 14:19, yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding. that I may teach others also. Than 10,000 words in a tongue. You have gotta be listening to this letter being read in that church and saying to yourself, man, he is slamming us. He is telling us on one hand, I can't stop the gift, but on the other hand, he's saying, Don't be stupid.
And you gotta then examine yourself. Do I do that? Am I just babbling out and not edifying anybody? Is this a selfish experiment that I'm going through?
So that's The best I can do on tongues. Uh this evening We'll move on to another question, and it simply is cessationism versus continuationism.
Well, continuationism means you believe in the genuine exercises of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as we've been talking about these last two sessions. The cessationists hypothesize That At least four of the gifts are defunct. And that would be tongues, and therefore interpretation of tongues. Healings And Prophecy.
Now We agree that there's no more adding to the scripture. But God speaks to his people still, and we covered that: the voice of God, the direct revelation. Yeah, we have the scripture that gives us the moral law The rules for running the house of God, how to approach God. But what we don't have Well, what we also have and wouldn't have if it were up to them. Is the Holy Spirit being able to come to us and say, Yeah, I want you to go to the to that birthday party.
Or I want you not to go. And if you've been a Christian long enough walking with the Lord, I think you've had these kinds of experiences, and the wisdom is justified by her children. Events validate that was God. Or maybe God says, put on your heart. You need to send them some money.
And you send it to them, and they get it, and they call you up crying, weeping. I was praying to God, you sent me this money. That's happened a lot of times. I'm not paying them back either. That was got, and I'm kidding.
When we started the church here, we had friends that would just give us a check every now and then. God put this on my heart. Who would I be to say, nope, that stopped? God doesn't put that on your heart. Gimme that.
I mean, you know, we'll get to what they're missing out on in a minute. Anyway, the belief that. These miraculous gifts have stopped with the completion of the scripture, the canon, the closed scripture. They just pull that out of the sky. Where does it say that?
I've looked all over. I can't find it. And they're so smart.
Okay, we'll get into that because now I'm starting to get in the flesh over this because they're so arrogant. Any fool would know. It's like.
Well, this fool's going to show up at your house in a few minutes and see how cocky you are then. That would be getting in the flesh, but you probably felt the same thing sometimes about some people.
Well, coming back to this, where are we? I don't see a need for these things to stop. I don't think anything is wrong. If somebody prays, lays their hands on me, and I'm very sick, and I get healed. I'm not going to say, no, that's hey, we got to give that back.
You broke the law in healing me like that.
So there's this great danger of plucking anything out of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13.10. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away with. You say, well, what does that have to do with what you're saying? That's the verse they use.
Before the turn of the twentieth century, Commentators Looked at that verse, but when that which is Perfect. as being Jesus. When Jesus has come. then that which is in part will be done away. We won't need We won't need the gifts of the Spirit.
We'll have the gift. We won't need to heal anybody. But at the turn of the century When there was this outpouring, this movement. And the stirring of the gifts again in the body of Christ, and albeit there were abuses, but there were also practical applications. They didn't care for it.
And then they came back to this verse, and now they begin to interpret. when that which is perfect is the canon of Scripture. And this is where we get divided, where we go separate ways. You're not going to convince them. You're not going to change a Calvinist, you're not going to change a Cessationist.
not without a little enforcement, Anyway, and don't feel like you gotta try. If they believe that, then fine. You can smuggling say to yourself, I'm right, they're wrong. I'm rubber, they're glue, whatever they say bounces off of me and sticks to you.
Well, uh, where are we? Their unbelief. creates a situation. Where the gifts cannot operate amongst them.
So they never will see the gifts Jesus. First Matthew 13, 58. He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. You know, that applies to Christians, too. I mean, God may in his compassion overrule our Unbelief.
Remember the father asking Christ to heal his son, and Jesus said, If you can believe, and the father said, Lord help my unbelief. I'm trying. I don't have it. And Christ healed the child. He didn't say, well, then all bets are off.
Thank God he is superior like that.
So it is a non-essential doctrine. You know, do the gifts continue or do they not? It has nothing to do with your salvation unless you decide to make it. Here's how you can make it so. And the Calvinists do this sometimes.
If you don't believe this doctrine, you're not saved. See, now you have just started. Attacking the work of the Holy Spirit in somebody else's life. On the grounds of, if I say, for example, I believe in free will, if God invites me to be saved, he says, as many as received him. If I receive him, that's not works.
Christ himself said, This is the works, your faith.
So now we have a group coming along from this movement. It's not new, it just revives every so many decades. And they're saying, well, now you believe you're saved by works. You're free will, you're accepting salvation as works somehow. And they said, because you're too depraved.
to ever accept salvation. Where is that? There's nowhere in the Bible does it say you're so depraved you can't respond to God. If that were the case, God wouldn't have spoken to Adam after he stumbled into sin. He said, I'm done with these guys.
I used to walk with them now, they're hiding in fig leaves, all this stuff. I'm done. God did not do that.
So they persecuted the Anabaptists. They perse they charge Jacob Arminius with heresy. Because he didn't believe in Calvinism. How can that be heresy? I believe Christ is Lord and Savior.
I believe he died and rose again. I believe he's the Son of God. I believe he's coming again. How am I a heretic when I agree that he's left-handed or right-handed? Luke chapter 11 verse 13.
How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Too bad you were born long after that one. You have to be taught those kinds of doctrines.
Somebody has to come along. After you're reading the Bible, somebody has to come along and say, you know, that stuff doesn't work anymore. Oh, the the these parts work, but those parts don't. You have to have someone come along and tell you God has chosen who's going to hell and who's not, and nobody is this Christian fatalism. I know I'm sneaking into Calvinists.
Because some of the questions I've got are the differences between Reformed theology, Calvinism, Arminianism, and we're going to have to. deal with that. And you your regulars here, you probably can Finish my sentences on these things, and cue my ire.
Okay, hit it, Pastor. But we have to talk about them 'cause it's out there. Chuck Smith said this. There must be a middle position between the Pentecostals with their overemphasis on experience and the fundamentalists who, in their quest to be right, in too many cases, have become dead right. Thanks for tuning in today to Cross Reference Radio, where Pastor Rick has some answers for various questions that have been asked.
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