Should We Pray in Tongues? #1

Should we pray in tongues? Because this is one of the primary ways that this issue comes up with those who claim to be Christians in the charismatic realm. They claim that they have a gift that God has given to them.

The Lord's apostles and much of the early church utilized the biblical gift of tongues, the supernatural ability to speak in real foreign languages that the speaker had not previously learned. Should believers today expect to be doing the same? Well, the Bible has the answer, and Pastor Don Green will take us there again today, here on the Truth Pulpit, as he continues teaching God's people God's Word. Hi, I'm Bill Wright, and we're moving further into our series, The Holy Spirit Today.

And Don, today's message may be surprising to some folks. Well, my friend, we try not to shy away from controversial questions when they come up in the course of studying God's Word, and this is one of them. It's a common idea that God gives some Christians a private prayer language that they can use in their devotions. It sounds really spiritual, doesn't it? But only one question matters.

Is it true? Is that how Jesus taught us to pray? We're going to explore those questions and more as we study together today on the Truth Pulpit.

Thanks, Don. And friend, let's get started now in the Truth Pulpit. We've addressed the matter of the Holy Spirit in terms of what he really does in salvation. Those were our first couple of messages as we looked at his work in regeneration and sanctification and illumination, other things like that. We set a groundwork so that it would be clear to everyone and clear to us within the room here today that we believe in the Holy Spirit. We believe in the work of the Holy Spirit, and that we are fully committed to the real working of the third person of the triune Godhead. Scripture defines that in ways that are different than what it's often defined today, however. We looked at that.

We went through that. And then we wanted to say, well, what are we to think then about the nature of miraculous gifts? And to really understand that issue, you must deal with the exclusive role, the exclusive gift that Christ gave to the church in the apostles. The apostles were a one-time gift from Christ to the church who became agents of his revelation that is now inscripturated in the word of God. Their ministries were validated by miraculous signs that could not be counterfeited so that men knew that God was truly speaking through them. God had intervened from outside the natural realm and was working through these men in order to make his revelation known so that Christ could be truly known for who he really is.

And you have to deal with that matter carefully. As you look at the matter of signs, this is by way of review, as you look at the matter of signs, you see that even during biblical days, even as revelation was going on, you see that they were starting to die out. You see that Paul left his ministry associates unhealed.

They were sick. Trophimus, I left sick in Miletus, it says in 2 Timothy 4. Epaphroditus was near death in Philippians 2.

We saw other examples as well. We realize that when we let the Bible speak first, when we let the Bible have primacy in our thinking, we start to have an expectation that is much different from those who say and promise and demand that God wants everybody to be healed physically from all of their affliction. Scripture does not support that at all.

And so we've come to grips with that, and then a couple of weeks ago we say, well, we dealt with the pastoral question, well, what then are we to think when the healing doesn't come? You know, and all that the health and wealth people have to offer you when the healing doesn't come is to say that the problem is your fault. You lack faith.

There's something wrong with you. If God's will isn't being manifested in your life, somehow there's a defect in you that makes you the problem. And that's a very cruel, destructive, and unbiblical thing to say. Jesus often healed people that had no manifestation of faith.

Think about it. You know, Lazarus was dead in the tomb. He didn't wait for Lazarus to have faith before he called him out. He healed 10 lepers, and they went away, and only one of them came back to give thanks. They weren't showing faith at that point. The other nine weren't.

And so healing was not conditioned on or limited by man's faith as if it were within the power of man himself to provoke healing from God. And as we said, even within their own broad experience, it's obviously not true because every one of them dies in the end, right? They all succumb to their own death. Oral Roberts is dead.

Katherine Kuhlman is dead. Others are dead. They didn't have healing at the end.

And so you see that. You see that there is just a built-in fallacy to the very premises on which they claim that everyone can be healed. And so it is not that your loved ones are missing out on healing necessarily because there's something wrong with their faith. God uses sickness. God uses adversity in order to refine us, in order to change us, in order to sanctify us.

He has a lot of purposes that go beyond giving us physical comfort and healing when illness and difficulty come. And so Scripture calls us to view these things from a completely different perspective than what I believe you generally get from the common realm in charismatic circles. Now, that brings us to another issue. And by the way, just one last little thing about that, is that as difficult as it may be to get your mind around all of these things, it's important for us to look at these things comprehensively. Not to look at one issue in isolation, but to look at them in the broad scope, the broad perspective of everything that we've been talking about.

Because context is crucial to these things. You can't talk about healing without talking about the exclusive role of the apostles. You can't talk about healing without looking at the biblical examples of those who were not healed, and all of things of those sort. And so we do that, and that's really critical, but it presents a challenge, it presents a bit of a dilemma for us week by week here as we gather together and worship these past several weeks, because we can only deal with one issue at a time. And so we're trying to lay things out in a way that individually makes sense, but always remembering that it's part of a bigger picture that we're trying to paint about the nature of God and His work in the present age.

And so with all of that background and preliminaries out of the way, I want to answer this question for you. Answer the question, should we pray in tongues? Should we pray in tongues? Because this is one of the primary ways that this issue comes up with those who claim to be Christians in the charismatic realm. They claim that they have a gift that God has given to them, a gift that they exercise in private, and they speak in a so-called language that they don't understand, but it's how, in part, that they pray and communicate with God.

And we want to look at that, we want to see what they say about it, and we want to give some perspective on whether that is the case or not. When we took a look at tongues, one of the things that we saw in addition to the fact that the real gift was a real human language that the speaker had not previously learned, we saw something really fascinating. We saw that there are many limitations on tongues that are placed by Scripture. We saw that they are not widely discussed in the New Testament, it's only in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians where you see this matter even addressed in any meaningful way, they're not widely discussed in the New Testament. We saw plainly from 1 Corinthians 12 that tongues were never intended for every believer, contrary to Pentecostal claims that say it's the sure mark of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that's just not true.

Scripture explicitly rejects that in the plainest of terms. We saw something else that was really important, sometimes lost in the discussion. We saw that God gives spiritual gifts for the sake that we would use them to minister to others, not for self. That's why the love chapter at 1 Corinthians 13 is placed in the middle of the discussion of the gifts in chapter 12 and chapter 14.

The point is that these gifts are to be exercised in love for the sake of others, not for the sake of myself, not so that I could be puffed up, not so that I could have some private practice of my own that benefits no one but me. If you think about it, beloved, that's contrary to the whole spirit and the way that Christ himself acted. Why did he come down from heaven in order to manifest himself on earth? Why did he go to the cross? What was in it for him? He was obeying the will of his Father. He was giving himself up for us. Everything about his life was an act of self-sacrifice, of self-giving, not doing something for himself. And Christ, Christ of all people, had the prerogative to do something for himself. He was God. We're not. He was holy, sinless.

We're not. And so we just need to look at these things from the perspective of who Christ is and what he has done. And so our spiritual gifts are given to us for the benefit of others. We may benefit from them in a side way, as a side benefit, but you've been gifted in a way, if you're a Christian, you have been gifted in a way that is intended for you to be a blessing to others in the body of Christ, to be of service to the body of Christ. That's part of the reason why church membership and church participation is so important and critical.

We're not meant to sit on the sidelines. God places us in the body so that we would be instruments, vessels of his grace to others who need the giftedness that somehow we have, and we need them to minister to us. Well, we looked at all of that, and we finished with this recognition as we considered the gift of tongues last week. We realized that Scripture explicitly says that they were going to be limited in duration. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 8 says, if there are tongues, they will cease. And Paul is contrasting that with the enduring eternal value of love, and he says love is the crucial aspect here. Love is the key element.

Love is the key virtue. Tongues were incidental even as he was writing to 1 Corinthians in the time, and he makes that very, very plain. Now, let me pivot here and say this, recognizing that this content will probably find its way eventually into the hands of those who practice speaking in tongues in one way or another, realizing that you may speak to people who speak in tongues and how we need to think and understand and address that.

We realize, we realize that for them tongues are a cherished part of their spiritual practice, their spiritual experience. We realize that in the day and age in which we live, we are supposed to automatically defer to and tolerate everything that happens around us. That's the expectation and the demand of the age in which we live.

College campuses are run by that principle. And so what are we to do? How are we to think about it? And what is it anyway that they are saying? Well, some of them will say that, as I said earlier, tongues is their private prayer language, even if it's not interpreted, even if they are speaking in these string of syllables that they don't understand, the ideas that God understands, and they say that the gift of tongues bypasses their mind and thereby becomes a way that they pray and it edifies them and so on. Sam Storms, who is a theologian and a very influential continuationist, says this about his practice of private tongues. He said, and I quote, I have found this gift to be profoundly helpful in my prayer life. It has served only to deepen my intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ and to enhance my zeal and joy in worship. I don't understand what I'm saying, but it benefits me. It's a spiritually beneficial practice.

I feel so much better after I do. It strengthens me with joy as I go out and seek to serve Christ. Sam Storms is an intelligent man, he is a gifted writer, and so what are we to say about that? More broadly speaking, as you interact with Charismatics or deal with this question, we ask this question, who are we, who are you, who am I to question the sincere beliefs of someone else, the sincere practice of someone else that they say helps them? Who am I to even question that, let alone say that it is wrong and misguided?

Well, let's go back to where we started, beloved. Let's go back and start with what God's Word says. And we realize that God's Word in the New Testament, Jesus said, don't believe everything that you hear. 1 John 4, verse 1 says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 21, it says, examine everything carefully. We are commanded to exercise discernment. We are commanded to test truth claims, to see whether they align with Scripture or not. And we are not simply supposed to just casually accept whatever somebody says, they do and assume that it is true. God distinguishes between true and false worship. We need to know what the truth is so that we can walk with discernment, so that we could be true worshipers, so that we could interact rightly with those around us, and that we could interact and give God that which He has appointed as the means by which we are to pray to Him.

And so today we're going to address the question, should we pray in tongues or not? And I have three parts that I want to give to you to answer that question for you. And I realize, let me just say this, that there are entire books written about this topic, and there are books that have multiple chapters devoted to this topic.

I'm not trying to be comprehensive here. I'm just trying to give you three different things to kind of hang your thoughts on, to give you a sense of discernment and discretion that would help you find your way through this sometimes difficult topic to know how to find your way through. It's very important for us to know why we believe what we believe. It's important for us to be able to articulate reasons why we reject such a prevalent practice. We recognize that in the big scheme of things, and certainly in the sense of influence, that we're holding a minority position here, and that we're okay with that. We don't mind that at all, as long as we feel like we're being faithful to Scripture in what we're choosing to do.

The world can pass me by. You know, lots of people can sell lots of books, and good for them, I don't really care about that. That's not what I want.

That's not what I'm concerned about. I'm not trying to be with the in-crowd here, and our church isn't trying to be part of the in-crowd in anything that we do. We have one goal. We want to be faithful to this book, and we want to be faithful to the Lord of this book in the best way that we know how.

That's what we care about, and if that means that we stand with a few others while the crowd goes another direction, we're okay with that. It's just important for us to understand why we believe what we believe. Now, so with that said, let's look at point number one, and just state it very simply. A private prayer language is not the biblical gift. A private prayer language is not the biblical gift.

Remember, the premise of this idea of a private prayer language is, is that I have a language that I don't understand, but it's at least one of the means by which I communicate with God. And we look at the Bible and we say, that's not the gift. The biblical gift of tongues was a known human language. Many of these teachers don't even pretend to claim that for their practice, but they call it tongues.

And here's where a lot of confusion comes in, beloved. They use the same word to describe a different practice. We have to know, well, what do we mean when we say tongues?

Biblically speaking, we see that it's a known human language. You're using the same word to describe something else. And we have to realize that the same terminology doesn't mean that the Bible is describing their practice just because they use the same word. Simply using the same word to describe a different practice does not suddenly make it into the biblical gift of tongues. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 1 through 4, and they'll focus on this passage and say, here you'll find in the Bible what I'm describing as I use my private prayer language.

Now, chapter 14 verse 1 says this, Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands, but in His Spirit He speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies the church. Now, let's make a very important preliminary observation about this passage and its context. Paul here in verses 1 through 4 is not commending private prayer languages for the private devotional use of his readers.

That's not the purpose of what he's speaking here. Here in this passage he is showing that prophecy is superior to tongues because it results in edification and exhortation and consolation to the body. Look at verse 1 with me again. He says, pursue love and yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

And so he's speaking corporately to the local church here at Corinth. He says, desire this spiritual gift for your body. Desire the fact that God in this transitional time has appointed New Testament prophets that can give you His revelation in a way that results in your upbuilding.

He's not saying that that's going to continue after the close of the canon. This was a transitional use of prophetic revelation so that the church in its infancy could be built up and know what it needed to know. And so, Paul says, you need that gift to bring you to maturity. And then he contrasts it with a lesser gift, the gift of tongues. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands, but in His Spirit He speaks mysteries. Nothing here suggests that there's been a change in the previously established history of the church that tongues were known human languages. Paul doesn't distinguish this from what we see elsewhere in Scripture. He's simply describing a reality that if someone is speaking in tongues, speaking in language that no one understands, he's not edifying them.

He's not helping them. He's not producing anything of any value to the church because no one can understand what is being said. And so tongues in that way, if they're not interpreted, are inferior to prophecy. But by contrast, going back to the point that he's making, one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. A man who is speaking God's Word in that context, direct revelation, a man who explains God's Word to you is speaking, you know, in the present age, is speaking in a way, in a language that you can understand so that you can be edified, so that you can be encouraged, so that you can be called to greater Christlikeness in your walk. And there's value in that because you know, you understand, your mind can grasp it. And there's a cognitive understanding that accompanies men speaking the Word of God in the language that you can understand. When you speak in a language that no one understands, none of that's going on.

And there is no purpose in it. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 1, look at it with me, he speaks here in hyperbole. He says, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, he's not saying that angels have their own unique language, he's just speaking in hyperbole.

His point is, if I wasn't doing that in love for the sake of others, it would just be noise. There would be no value to it, there would be no contribution to it because the economy of God operates on the virtue of love, something that makes me have unique elevated spiritual experiences. or find out how to receive free CD copies of Don's messages and series. And if you want to go even more in depth, you'll also find the link, Follow Don's Pulpit. That'll take you to Don's full-length weekly sermons, not subject to the time editing needed for radio broadcasts. By the way, if you're in the Cincinnati area, check out the service times for Truth Community Church, also on our website. And plan a visit. We'd love to welcome you. Again, that's all at thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit, as Don Green continues in his ministry of teaching God's people God's Word.