Gifted 2: Tongues and Prophecy, Part 3

Today on Summit Life, Pastor J.D.

Greer tackles a controversial topic. Paul didn't want to forbid tongues, because clearly there are times that God uses it. But don't you see that he's all about discouraging it? What he wants for you, what I want for you, is for you to interact with the Spirit and to offer yourself to be used by the Spirit for the good of the church. Summit, we desperately need the Spirit in our church services. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to swing to extremes?

For instance, if your parents were controlling and authoritative, you might be really easygoing and not want to discipline, even when you need to. Well, sometimes we do the same thing when we're interpreting the Bible. We're so scared of falling into error that we swing to extremes and miss the truth that's probably somewhere in the middle. Today on Summit Life, Pastor J.D. Greer is helping us get a balanced view of a controversial topic. We're discovering what the Bible really says about the gift of tongues and prophecy as we wrap up our series called Rushing Wind. So grab your Bible, put your thinking cap on, and let's join Pastor J.D. back in 1 Corinthians 14. Tongues and prophecy.

This is a good bit controversial. God wants us, you see, to be open to anything God chooses to do in these areas, but he leaves us clear parameters so that we can know when it is him that is doing it. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 1. Pursue love, says Paul, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men, but to God, for nobody understands him, but he utters mysteries in the spirit.

Do you see that phrase there? It says that you speak not to men, but you speak to God. Tongues are a form of prayer and praise in a language that is unknown to the speaker that is spoken to God. That's very important, and we're going to come back to that, but for now, let's just keep reading. Okay, verse 3. On the other hand, so Paul set up a contrast.

On the one hand, you got tongues. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and their encouragement and their consolation. All right, so let's talk about prophecy for a minute. Prophecy is speaking God's word or speaking God's will into a situation. Let me give you a few ground rules for when you're giving a word of prophecy. Number one, when you give a word of prophecy, you should never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

I think that's seven evers, which is the number of perfection. Claim the authority of God when you speak. Number two, it is always best when tied to scripture.

When you speak a word from yourself, I can't be sure it's coming from God, but when it resonates with the scripture, then I have no doubts about it. Number three, you should use it for the purposes that are given. Do you see verse 3? Paul said there are three purposes for the words of prophecy, for upbuilding, for encouragement and consolation. Those are the three reasons that you give someone a word of prophecy. All right, so that's ground rules for giving it. Here's a few ground rules for receiving it. When somebody speaks it into you, three questions you should ask.

Here's the first one. Does it contradict what God has clearly said elsewhere? Number two, does it accord with what God is doing in your life?

Number three, does it glorify God or the prophet? Verse six, now brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how am I going to benefit you unless I bring some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching that you understand? In other words, if nobody understands what I'm saying, how could I possibly be building you up?

It's useless. And Paul said if you're speaking a language that nobody understands, you're not benefiting anybody. So with yourselves, verse 12, since you're eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. Verse 13, therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. Paul's like, even with me, if I'm talking to God in a tongue, my spirit's praying, I don't even understand what I'm saying though, so it's not even really benefiting me.

Therefore, what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also. In other words, Paul's like, I don't wanna choose between the two. I don't wanna sing with my mind without the spirit, and I don't wanna sing with the spirit without my mind. Verse 16, otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say amen to your thanksgiving when he doesn't even know what you're saying? Verse 20, brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in regards to evil, but in your thinking be mature. The Corinthians are immature.

By the way, what sound do infants make? Right, they're saying something, you don't know what it is. He's like, he's kinda using a play on words there.

He's like, you guys are like infants, you're gaga and gooing all over the place there. The Corinthians thought their gift elevated them above others. They thought their gift made them feel close to God, and Paul said that is not mature. Maturity is when you find your identity in the gospel, and then you use your gift to serve others. Maturity is when the finished work of Christ on the cross makes you feel close to God. Verse 21, this is very important.

Paul's about to give you a teaching that will make you mature. Listen, verse 21, in the law, it is written, by people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. That's got quotes around it because it's a quote from Isaiah 28, 11, and 12. Thus, tongues are a, what? Sign. Paul says tongues are a sign, not for believers. They're a sign for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers. Prophecy is a sign for believers. So tongues are a sign. Who is the sign for? Unbelievers.

All right, quote, don't answer this one out loud. What kind of unbelievers is he talking about? Would you notice the quote from Isaiah 28, 11? By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people?

He's referring to the Jewish nation of the first century. You see, tongues were a sign to unbelieving Jews that the Gospel was not just for people of the Hebrew tongue, it was for people of all tongues everywhere. That is the purpose of tongues.

They were a sign of judgment and the new frontier of the Gospel. Again, church, listen, this is very important and we're gonna come back to it. Verse 23, if therefore the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say you're out of your minds? I mean, you know what happens when you go into a church, everybody's jabbering in a tongue? You know, you're like, these people are out of their minds. Why did I come?

I could stay at home and watch this on cable, you know? Verse 24, but if all prophesy and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all. He's called to account by all. The secrets of his heart are disclosed and so falling on his face, he worships God and declares that God is really among you. This is the kind of place we want to be, where God is alive, where God is speaking to his church, where unbelievers come in and are convinced of the truth of the Gospel as they enter into our ranks because God is doing stuff through his members and through me that they say God has to be the one that knows that. There's nobody else that could speak to the pain in my heart other than God.

There's nobody else who could know this is what I struggle with. There's nobody else who could unlock and address my heart than God Almighty and he's speaking through you. You see, Paul's in a very cynical culture and these people don't believe what he's saying about Jesus rose from the dead. And Paul's all into, you know, giving defense of why Jesus rose from the dead and the superior claims of Christ. But you know, there comes a point with certain kind of people that that's just not that convincing.

You can argue all day long you're not moving them one iota and this kind of stuff will convince them a whole lot quicker than anything else will. Some of what this church has got to be is not a place where a preacher preaches a great eloquent sermon no matter how persuasive, no matter how logical. It's got to be a place where the Spirit of God is so manifest on different believers in here that God is revealing himself supernaturally through us to people so that people fall on their face not because of logical arguments but because they've been encountered by the living God who knows things about them that only God could know.

That's what he's talking about, 14, 25, and 26. Or verse 26, what then brothers when you come together each one should have a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. In other words, everybody should come ready. Everybody should come with the Holy Spirit in their heart ready to speak these words of insight and wisdom into one another's life.

Let all things be done for building up. Verse 27, if any speak in a tongue let there be only two or at most three. Can you hear about the way Paul's ambivalence, there with tongues? If there is going to be a tongue, let it be like two, at most three, seriously.

And each in turn, and then let somebody interpret, but if there's no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself into God. By the way, what you notice there, if there's no interpreter present, then keep your tongue to yourself, which is sort of a general good rule anyway. Keep your tongue easy. If there's no interpreter present, keep your mouth shut.

You notice there something very important. Tongues are not ecstatic where you get taken over and you just can't control yourself. That's not tongues. In Paul's mind, they're under the control of the speaker. You can turn them on, you can turn them off.

You can use them, you can not use them. You don't get possessed to go into a trance and start uttering out these things. It doesn't possess you. You are in control.

In fact, you should write that down. Tongues are not ecstatic, they are self-controlled. Verse 29, let two or three prophets speak and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first one be silent. Verse 31, for you can all prophesy, you can all prophesy one by one so that all may learn and all may be encouraged. Verse 32, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

Again there, what do you see? This is not some ecstatic trance where your eyes roll in the back of your head and you're like, thus says the Lord. Paul's like, this is under your control. You speak, the Holy Spirit has given you supernatural insight.

You put it in your words, in your time, it's underneath your control. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Verse 33, for God is not a God of confusion, God is a God of peace. Verse 39, so my brothers earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues. Verse 40, but all things should be done decently and in order.

You see there's a balance, verse 39 and verse 40. Freedom in the spirit and decency in order. Now I'm going to admit to you, Summit Church, I think we got the decency and in order thing, I think we got that down pat. We got bulletins and orders of worship and counting down time clocks, right. I'd say we could probably use a little more freedom in the spirit. We don't want to lose verse 40, we want to gain verse 39.

Which leads me to a handful of conclusions that I want to make for you about this topic. Number one, our church services should be characterized much more by interaction with the spirit than they are. I told you a few weeks ago their worship service, the New Testament worship service is when three things are present in abundance. The word of God, the spirit of God, and the people of God. We're really good at the whole word of God piece, but if that's all church is then you can just stay at home and listen to it on your iPod. I can share it with you from my living room on a podcast and you can just get it.

We can just forget all this right here. But that's not what a church service is. A church service is not a live podcast, it is the word of God and the spirit of God moving through the people of God.

And some of that's what we need to become. We are so afraid of violating the decency and in order thing that we turn our church into a place where we come and listen to preaching and we come and listen to music. We need a living God that is at work in his church, in his people, manifesting his love and his grace and his power. Speaking to people who are in real pain in real time about real love that he's got for them.

Not something 2000 years ago only, but something he's got now in the present. So that people say to one another, Romans 8 one, there's no condemnation to you brother for those that are in Christ Jesus. That's not just something that got written down 2000 years ago, God is saying that to you right now. John 3 16, God so loved the world, God so loved you and God wants you to know that. Isaiah 49 15, you think God has forgotten you, you think he's forsaken you, he's not forgotten you, he's engraved you on the palms of his hands. And all of a sudden the word of God, yes it's true, it's infallible, it's inerrant, it's true whether you believe it or not, but the word of God comes alive into you. You see most Christians function like deists.

You know what a deist is, somebody who believes that God created the world then like you know took off one day he'll come back clean everything up. Most Christians treat Jesus that way. Jesus was here, he died, he rose again, then he wrote the Bible which gave us a bunch of stuff to believe and a bunch of stuff to do and then later he's going to come back and check up on how well we did it. That's not the way Jesus left us. He said I'm going to come to you and I'm going to commune with you in the person of the Holy Spirit. I didn't leave you a bunch of stuff to do for me, I want you to do stuff with me.

I wanted you to let me use you and give you insight and you're going to become my mouth, you're going to commune with me, we're going to love each other, we're going to together love the world. Some of our church services need to become places where we interact with the Spirit of God. Number two, we should each therefore come to church with something to give. Everybody comes to church, I talked about this last week, well here's a question, what makes for a Spirit-filled worship service? What makes for a Spirit-filled worship service? Is it because the pastor, because I preach just like a kicking sermon, is that it?

Is it because the band plays all your favorite songs and hits every chord just right? Because they choose your style of music, is that what makes for a Spirit-filled service? What makes for a Spirit-filled service is when you bring him in. I can preach a good sermon, but you know what, that's not a Spirit-filled service until you bring him in and the Spirit of God is moving on all of you so that you come in with a word, a hymn, a psalm and you're ready to speak God's word into somebody in your small group or in your church service. Number three, we should not forbid to speak in tongues. We should not, and by God's grace we will not forbid to speak in tongues.

That's verse 36. I know some of you wish we would, but you know what, Paul tells us directly not to do that. I'm part of a denomination that in many ways has forbid the speaking in tongues and I will just tell you right now they are wrong and they are in sin for doing that. Because the Apostle Paul, how could he have made it any plainer, do not forbid to speak in tongues? Oh, but we're going to in this situation or that situation. Excuse me, I'm going with Paul, not you. We don't forbid to speak in tongues.

We're not going to do it. That's where people go beyond the Bible. God left a lack of clarity on these issues on purpose. We don't need to fill it in for God.

Oh God, but you should have said this because that's dangerous. You shouldn't say that because people abuse it. If God had wanted to say that, he would have said it. I personally believe that God's word is fully sufficient by itself and doesn't need me to fill in the gaps that he left out. So I will not, we will not, in how you worship God and pray, I'm not going to be the one to judge it. I will insist, however, that you abide by the rules Paul lays down in 1 Corinthians 14 as it relates to public worship. But I'm not going to forbid you to speak in tongues in a worship service or discourage you in your private prayer time.

It's just not going to happen. Number four, not all Christians speak in tongues. Not all Christians speak in tongues. I had to jump back to chapter 12 for this, but see, there's a lot of Christians that believe, you know what, that they're like, if you're really spiritual, this is the sign of it.

That is baloney. Paul said it, 1 Corinthians 12, 30, not all Christians speak in tongues. Oh, but you know, they probably should because that makes you really close to God.

Excuse me, I'm going with Paul again. That's a gift God gives. He doesn't give it to everybody. In fact, I'm going to show you in a minute, he didn't even tell you to seek it. So the people that say that the sign that you got the Holy Spirit is you speak in tongues, they are in direct confrontation with the Word of God itself. Number five, the primary purpose of tongues is to signify the spread of the gospel in the non-Jewish peoples. The primary purpose of the tongues, according to Paul, chapter 14, verses 21 and 22, is to signify the spread of the gospel in the non-Jewish people. The primary purpose of a tongue is not a private prayer language where the Spirit makes you feel close to God. You got the blood of Jesus for that.

You don't need anything else. The purpose of the gift of tongues is not to make you feel close to God. The gift of tongues is a sign of the gospel for unbelievers, verse 22, specifically unbelieving Jews.

How much plainer could Paul have said that? It's not a sign for believers. It's a sign for unbelieving Jews. So when somebody tells me their private prayer time is filled with tongues, I always want to ask, how many unbelieving Jews are present in your private prayer time? And on that note, I'll tell you, I'm a little skeptical at the church services where people are speaking in tongues and somebody else is interpreting, because again, I just have to wonder how many unbelieving Jews are present, which is one of the main foci why the gift was given. I'm not saying it couldn't happen. I'm not. I'm just curious.

I don't understand the logic a whole lot. In fact, I do know, I knew a guy that was at one of these services where everybody was speaking in tongues, and he said he felt weird because everybody was speaking in tongues and he wasn't. So he didn't know any of the languages, so he remembered something he memorized in Greek from John chapter one, en archai prostanthe, in beginning was the word. And so he starts to quote that in Greek, the first chapter of John. And the person down the road from him says, I can interpret that tongue, and gives an interpretation to the whole church that has absolutely nothing to do with John chapter one. So I'm just going to tell you, I'm a little skeptical when people are saying they do it and are claiming to do it. I'll just kind of throw that out there.

I will also say this. I am not sure I buy the whole, I'm praying in the tongue of an angel thing. Paul mentions in first Corinthians 13, he says, even if you prayed in the tongue of an angel, I kind of wonder if he's being sarcastic there.

And I have three reasons why I think that. Number one, Paul never identifies the tongue of an angel as a gift. He never says, this is a gift, the tongue of an angel.

It's always hypothetical. Should I, even if you spoke in the tongue of an angel? Second, there is no case anywhere in Acts or the epistles where somebody actually speaks angel. Third, when an angel does show up in the Bible, they're never like, they're always speaking in languages we understand. So I just, the Corinthians are boasting that there's spiritual X-Men power and Paul's like, oh, you speak angel, do you? And then goes on to explain why they should seek gifts that build up the body, not ones that inform angels about what's going on in their prayer life.

Right? But that said, I cannot say from scripture that there is not a private prayer language that God gives you in your personal devotion. I can't say that from scripture. And I can't say that God doesn't communicate to people the language of angels.

I can't say that, so I won't say it. I'm not going to clarify what God did not clarify. I'm just going to tell you, I don't understand the logic behind it. I don't understand the purpose of it. I don't understand why you would be seeking it, but I'm going to stop where the Bible stops, and I'm not going to forbid it.

I'm just going to tell you I don't understand it. Number six, seeking tongues is not a sign of spiritual maturity. Seeking gifts that serve and build up others is. Paul says he spoke in tongues, and he wants you to as well, but he never tells you to seek that gift. Instead, he tells you to seek the gifts that build up others. So someone, what's he commanded you? What's the word of God commanded you? Don't forbid his speaking tongues.

I'm not going to do that. That's kind of a word to me and to our leaders, but for you, what's he told you to seek? Oh, seek tongues to make you feel close to God. No, Paul would say, hey, you've got the blood of Jesus for that.

You're covered. Seek the gifts that build up others. Four times he tells you this in two chapters. Chapter 12, verse 31, earnestly desire the higher gifts. 14, verse 1, pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 14, 12, so with yourselves, since you're eager for manifestation of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. 14, 39, so my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, but do not forbid speaking in tongues.

So here's my question. Paul didn't want to forbid tongues because clearly there are times that God uses it, but don't you see that he's all about discouraging it? It's like he's created a sieve that only a work of God could get through. What he wants for you, what I want for you, what I want for you is for you to interact with the Spirit and to offer yourself to be used by the Spirit for the good of the church. Summit, we desperately need the Spirit in our church services and you've got to bring him.

That's what this whole series has been about. Less of you coming to listen to me give sermons and us becoming a tabernacle for the Spirit of God. Where God's Spirit is alive, God is moving on your heart. God is using you to speak to one another and God is speaking into real people with real pain in real time with his word communicating his love to that person in the moment. The Spirit of God is wherever we invite him to be.

Listen to the Holy Spirit for what he might be leading you to pray for. Wrapping up our teaching series called Rushing Wind, you're listening to J.D. Greer and Summit Life. If you missed any part of this study or if you'd like to share it with a friend, the whole series is available free of charge at jdgreer.com. Tomorrow is the last day for our Summit Life family to get Pastor J.D. 's new 20-day devotional called Rushing Wind, Understanding the Holy Spirit. This book includes short daily insights, reflection questions, and prayer guides.

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Box 122-93, Durham, North Carolina, 27709. I'm Molly Bidevich. Be sure to tune in Friday when we jump back into our series from earlier this year through the book of Acts called The Sent. When most people think of the Apostle Paul, they picture this bigger-than-life champion of the faith. Pastor JD Greer shows us that before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was a pretty undesirable character. Be sure to tune in for the exciting, life-changing story of a man named Paul, Friday on Summit Life with JD Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries.