The Regulation Of Spiritual Gifts Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Some feel that the gift of tongues is evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence. Others say modern tongues do not form words in any known language. Today, Erwin Lutzer begins a careful study in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, a study you won't want to miss.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, why has this issue been so divisive in the past? Well Dave, the reason is because the Bible does describe speaking in tongues so naturally, the question would arise as to whether or not we should be experiencing it today. And so it is something over which the church has been divided. But I would say this, no matter where you come down on this difficult topic, I encourage you to listen carefully to the exposition that I give of 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

I think it will shed a lot of light on what the purpose of speaking in tongues is really all about. Let me ask you a different question. You know, there are many people when the pandemic was upon us, speaking of course of COVID, but there are many other difficulties that happen on this planet, earthquakes and tidal waves and so forth. People ask the question, where is God in the midst of this and can he be trusted? There are pastors who tell their people to trust in God, and that's great.

I encourage that. But the impression is given that if you trust in God, he'll bring you through it victoriously. You will be healthy. Everything is going to work out.

You're going to get your job back. What do you do when that's not the way you're experiencing life? Can you go on believing in the goodness of God? Does God care about this world or does he just say that he does?

These are the kinds of questions I answer in the new book I've written entitled pandemics, plagues and natural disasters. What is God saying to us? Five chapters on what God is saying to us through his word and then our response. I think it will be a great encouragement. By the way, it's a great book for unbelievers because many have been turned off on the idea of God because of what is happening on this planet.

For a gift of any amount, it can be yours. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com.

That's rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. If you're in a place where you have a Bible, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 right now as we begin this important exposition. In the early church, God gave some people the ability to speak languages that they had never heard and to speak them obviously supernaturally. And I'm sure they spoke them very, very well. It's spoken of in the Bible as the gift of tongues.

It's a subject that we should all be interested in for some obvious reasons. First of all, we should wonder whether or not God wants us to speak in tongues. There are some of our brothers and sisters who say that we aren't filled with the Spirit unless we speak in tongues and the gift is for everyone.

And if you want all that God has for you, you'd better get the gift. Well, we have to find out whether or not that's the case. Second, we should be interested because we have to ask ourselves this question. Is the gift as it is described in the New Testament the same kind of gift that is oftentimes exercised today, especially on television by certain ministries? That's where we hear about it the most.

Is that the same or is that something different? We should be interested in that. And then for all of us, the power of the tongue. Oh, the Bible has much to say about the power of the tongue. The Bible says that the tongue is a fire set on fire by hell. So important that God wants the control of your tongue and the devil also wants the control of your tongue. So anything that has to do with the tongue, I think is important.

Paul devotes a whole chapter in the New Testament to the gift of tongues. So what we're going to do is we're going to answer various questions. We're going to answer questions like what was it? What was its intention? What was its purpose? Is it something that we should seek? Is it something that is practiced today?

Is that scriptural? All of that in the next 30 or 35 minutes. So today I invite you to fasten your seat belts. You can even put your seat back if you could, but you can't. And let's go on a journey.

We're going to take off and in a few moments we are going to land and we hope that you enjoy the journey. As you know, when I preach, I want people to have their Bibles open. That's always important.

Never has it been more important than today. All Christians bring their Bibles to church. If you didn't bring one, draw the conclusion. There are some limited ones in the pews. Few.

Not enough for everybody. We expect all members and attenders to regularly bring their Bible to church. And today, so many times, I'm going to ask you to put your finger on the text so you'll be ready. What was this gift? Acts chapter 2, I'll tell you the story. They are there in the day of Pentecost.

They're praying in the upper room. The Holy Spirit comes upon them and God supernaturally gives them the ability to speak languages they've never heard. For lack of time, I'm going to begin at verse 6 of chapter 2. And at this sound, the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language and they were amazed and astonished saying, are not these who are speaking Galileans and how is it that we hear each in his own native tongue? The Greek says his own dialect and then it lists them.

Parthians, Medes, later on Egyptians, people from Cyrene. And you'll notice it says in verse 11, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. Awesome miracle. Now, let's take our Bibles and turn to the major text for today and that's 1 Corinthians chapter 14. This is a series of messages entitled a passion for the church. Chapter 12, we had two messages on spiritual gifting and the unity of the body.

Chapter 13, love for the body. And now Paul is going to give some instruction on regulating this gift of tongues, which was out of control in the Corinthian church. So what I'm saying today applies particularly to the body of Christ. If you're here today and you're not a believer, I want you to listen.

And by the time we're finished, we will indeed be speaking to you as well. But for this, for this message, which always isn't my favorite because I know that it stirs some controversy, which being interpreted means for me, albeit getting some letters. But for this message, it's primarily to believers, but all the rest of you listen in because you're going to learn. When Corinthians was written by Paul, there was a problem in the church regarding tongues. Some people had the gift and they were exercising it.

That was perfectly fine, but they weren't exercising it in the right way. And in chapter 12, you remember, he says, the foot should say to the hand, I have no need of the etc. He was arguing for the unity of the body. We can just imagine a foot having the gift of helps.

That would make sense, wouldn't it? If you're a foot in the body, you've got the gift of helps. But you know, the person with the tongue, the gift of the tongue, he meets the person with the gift of helps in the lobby and says, you know, you're not as spiritual as I am because I can speak in tongues. You should become like me. You should become a tongue, too. In fact, I don't even know whether or not you're saved because you're not speaking in tongues.

We can imagine that that kind of thing was going on. So Paul writes 1 Corinthians 14 to straighten out two issues. Number one, if you're going to use the gift of tongues, be sure that an interpreter is present.

And number two, don't think that it's a gift that just comes upon you that you can't help. Later on, Paul is going to say that in any meeting at the most, two should do it, maximum three, do it in order, and keep quiet unless an interpreter is present. So he's got to straighten this out in the Corinthian church.

Are you ready now for the text? He says in verse one, pursue love. That's, of course, playing off of the last chapter and earnestly desires spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. What is prophecy?

Prophecy primarily is what I'm doing right now. It is speaking the word of God in a language that you can understand. It is bringing a word from God to a congregation.

Oftentimes it included being able to predict something, but not necessarily in all instances. Prophecy is the proclamation of the word. If we extend the meaning, we could even say that it pertains to Sunday schools and elsewhere where the word of God is being proclaimed in a relevant way, in a prophetic way to the needs of the day.

So he says, I especially want you to emphasize that. He says, and now Paul in this chapter has two verses which in my way of thinking has been seriously misinterpreted and has spun all kinds of theories that I really don't think the apostle Paul had in mind. And the first instance of a verse like that comes in verse two for one who speaks in a tongue, speaks not to men, but to God, for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the spirit. Some people have said, well, you see what happens is when you have this gift and you're using it, why indeed you're speaking to God and nobody is understanding you and you're uttering mysteries.

You have no clue what you are saying. Your mind is disengaged and there you are. You're uttering things and you don't have a clue what is coming out of your mouth and all these mysteries that nobody knows anything about. I think that's a very dangerous way to interpret what Paul is saying. When we come to this verse and another like it in a few moments, what we need to do is to understand that Paul is speaking here from the standpoint of the congregation. What he's saying is, is that a man who speaks in an unknown language, he speaks to God and God is listening to him and he's even being edified because, believe it or not, I'm edified by my own sermons.

I hope that you are too. He's being edified, but he's speaking mysteries because nobody understands him. There's no interpreter, the parenthesis. You'll notice in the Book of Acts there were no interpreters.

There didn't have to be because that was a cosmopolitan situation. You had 10 or 12 different language groups represented. So, you know, if Peter is up there and he's speaking Egyptian, all the people from Egypt gather around and say we can't believe Peter is doing this. And if James is speaking Parthian, then all the people from there gather around James. But when you're in a church and a captive audience and a man speaks in some actual language and there's no interpreter, he is speaking mysteries.

He's speaking mysteries. That's what Paul, I believe, is trying to say. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding, their encouragement, and their consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

Some people have interpreted this to mean that you can have your private prayer language, et cetera, et cetera. I see the gift of tongues functioning only in the church and for the benefit of the church. Now, he says, I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues unless someone interprets so that the church may be built up. Some people interpret that to mean, well, prophecy is better than tongues, but if you have an interpreter, it is brought up to the level of tongues. What Paul is going to imply as he moves through the argument is, hey, in light of the fact that it's the message that is important, the tongues really aren't necessary if you are prophesying. That is to say, if you're expounding the scriptures. And then he says in verse 6 and following, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching, something that you can understand. Even if lifeless instruments such as the flute or harp do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said?

For you will be speaking into the air. Now verse 10 shows me that indeed, here in Corinth, the gift of tongues was actual dialects, actual spoken languages. There's no reason to make some great distinction between Acts and Corinthians. Look at what Paul says in verse 10. There are doubtless many different languages in the world and none is without meaning.

But if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the spirit, strive to excel in the building up of the church. That's what Paul is saying.

It's the message that is important. Now we get to another verse that has often been misinterpreted. Verse 13. Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. Either he should interpret it if he can do it, or the gift of interpretation was a separate gift. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

I need to stop there. So many of our friends take that verse and they say, see, there's such a thing as praying in your spirit and you have no idea what you're saying. Your mind is totally disengaged and you're saying things that you don't understand, nobody else understands them. These are ecstatic utterances, they are mysteries, and even your mind is blocked off.

And I have to tell you again, my opinion is very, very dangerous. I could tell you stories of people who shut down their minds and spoke, and what they spoke under the inspiration of the spirit was not coming from God. What Paul means is this, look at it again from the standpoint of the congregation. What he means is this, and in the text, and later on, he equates praying in the spirit as praying without an interpreter and praying with the mind as praying with an interpreter so that the content of what you are praying or speaking about becomes intelligible to people. What he means here is this, verse 14, for if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind, my being understood, is unfruitful.

Let's take an illustration. Sometimes I've had Pastor Ramos, a Spanish pastor, close in prayer and I always tell him that when you give the benediction, always give it in Spanish. That's why we bring you here, is so that we can hear it in Spanish. Now, Spanish is a very beautiful language. It's almost a musical language and some of you can speak it and you understand it.

I don't apart from a few words. When he prays, I know that he's praying in the spirit because I can see the enthusiasm on his face, his intensity, the glow on his face, but from my standpoint, he's not praying with his mind because his being understood is unfruitful for me. I say amen at the end because I trust his theology, but I can't just chime in and say yeah because I don't know exactly what he said.

In fact, that's exactly what Paul says here. He says if somebody prays in a tongue, you don't even know whether or not you should say amen at the end. It's not that he doesn't know what he's saying or that the gift of tongues means that the person who's speaking doesn't know what he's saying and his mind is engaged, but from my standpoint, his mind is unfruitful because I don't understand what he's saying.

So he says in verse 15, what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit. That is to say, I will pray with the intensity of the spirit and even the gift of the spirit, but I will pray with my mind also. I'll pray in such a way that my being understood will be of benefit. I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

I'll sing in such a way that I can communicate the contents of what my mind has. Verse 16, otherwise if you give thanks with your spirit, no interpreter, all that you hear is this unintelligible language. How can anyone in the position of an outsider say amen to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?

For you may be giving thanks, well enough, but the other person is not being built up. He says in verse 18, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in a church, I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue.

And I believe that verse 19 confirms the interpretation I just gave. Paul is saying that I am using the expression of speaking with my mind when I'm talking about giving an intelligible lecture or sermon or revelation in language people can understand. To speak in the spirit means that I'm talking and I know what I'm saying, but nobody else receives any benefit and my mind is unfruitful for them.

Bottom line, if we have to miss it, and I know we can't, is that Paul is saying clarity, clarity, clarity, so important to speak intelligibly. Now I grew up in an atmosphere where my parents frequently took us to meetings where there was speaking in tongues. So I've been to tongues meeting and then even as I grew up, I deliberately attended some just to observe and to try to understand. One of the things I even noticed as a child is sometimes everybody was speaking in tongues simultaneously, sometimes there were interpretations that were given, sometimes they were just snatches of scripture like John 3.16 and so forth, and all of this was going on. But when it came time for the offering, I noticed it was always given in plain English. At that time, the tongue stopped and we all began to understand very clearly what the needs were and how much we should give and Paul would agree with that.

He says in the church, he said, I would rather speak five words that people can understand than 10,000 words that nobody understands. So the first question that we've tried to answer is the question is, what was the gift? And I believe it was the gift of actual intelligible dialects that were spoken in that day. I also believe that it was exercised within the church intending to build up the body. And that was what the gift was all about.

But now we come to another question, critical question. Why this gift? Doesn't it seem strange that God would do that? I mean, what was, have you ever wondered when you come across something like this and you say to yourself, you know, what was God thinking when he gave this gift? What was its purpose? Paul is going to answer that. You'll notice now we're answering that question number two.

What is its purpose? Verse 20, brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. What he's saying is get beyond some of the squabbles that you're having about this. Act mature. And as far as being an infant is concerned regarding evil, have you ever noticed how kids can fight?

They can fight in a sandbox until they're crying, pound each other, and then two minutes later the tears are gone and they're all playing as if nothing happened. Paul says, regarding evil be like infants, but in your thinking be mature. Verse 21, in the law it is written by people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.

Thus tongues are for a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. I'm going to stop there and then I'm going to pick it up in a moment. I have to ask you to hang on there. Is your finger in the text?

That's what I want to ask. Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. Obviously it's very important that you listen to running to win next time because actually I've come to a place in the sermon where I think it's going to shed so much light on what tongues is all about, the gift of tongues.

I sure hope that you're with us. Meanwhile, let me say that there are hurricanes, there are tidal waves, there are earthquakes that are happening in the world. What is God's relationship? Is he a bystander? Does he have anything to do with these? Does he actually plan these events? How can we go on trusting him in the midst of such despair? Those are the kinds of questions I answer in the book entitled Pandemics, Plagues and Natural Disasters, subtitle, What is God Saying to Us? I wrote this book to encourage your faith. It's very realistic.

There's no doubt that there's plenty of pain out there. For a gift of any amount, the book can be yours. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. To an outsider, hearing people speak in unknown languages may raise more questions than answers. That's why Paul argued for clear teaching in known dialects. He refers to the book of Isaiah and tells us why the gift of tongues was given. Next time, the real purpose of this gift. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.