Okay, welcome back.
This is part two of the Speaking in Tongues series.
In part one, we did our best to establish that in the Bible, the word tongues and the word languages are interchangeable.
If that indeed is the case, then that leaves no room for what some today call speaking in tongues.
No, the last time we got together here on Truth Time in the Bible, we did prove that unless it's describing the physical tongue in your mouth, every instance in the Bible where the word tongues is used, it is speaking of earthly, not heavenly, earthly language, and never a heavenly language.
After using a plethora of Scripture, establishing what the word tongues meant, we finished up the broadcast, part one, by asking the question, what about 1 Corinthians 13:1?
Over the years, we've had scores of listeners that called us asking questions about speaking in tongues, and this verse, 1 Corinthians 13:1, almost always comes up.
And while I have taken the time to explain it to them individually, I have yet to take the time to do it here.
So today, we continue with part two of the Speaking in Tongues series.
So, if you would, open your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 1.
Here is where the apostle Paul wrote, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
Let's address the first part of the verse, Though I speak with the tongues of men.
Unlike some, we're not just going to blow through these verses and tell you a fluffy little story, no, we're going to pitch a tent and camp out, so to speak.
And let's see if we can get this right.
Though I speak with the tongues of men.
Tongues of men.
What would that be?
If we go back to the origin of speaking in tongues, Acts 2, I think we can get our answer.
Acts 2, here in verse 9.
Verse 9, here is where we find men who came to Pentecost from every nation under heaven, and if we allow the truth to carry the day, it's plain to see that if every nation under heaven was being represented, then every language was also, correct?
So, if Paul can speak in the tongues of men, that simply means all languages that were on earth at the time, and of angels, well that's just Paul furthering the same point.
Because you see, the angels also spoke in all world languages.
Some want to read this verse as if Paul was making a distinction between how men spoke and how angels spoke, therefore justifying what they do in church, since it's not an earthly language that someone can understand.
But as we see, that's not it at all.
When Paul says, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, he's not saying men and angels spoke differently.
That's why, no matter where you want to take me in the Scriptures, you call me, and no matter where in the Bible you take me, where an angel spoke to someone, you'll quickly discover they always spoke to them in that person's own language.
Some want to play the addition game.
They add to God's Word.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, now that's how it's written, and that's how they'll say it.
But when we use a bit of discernment and listen closely, we recognize that they're implying that the word also, A-L-S-O, should be there.
The implication is that there are two different tongues, tongues spoken by men, and then also tongues spoken by angels.
But you see, that's not the case, and this study will prove it.
For example, and let me try to be as clear as I possibly can here, I had thought about it over and over, trying to figure out the best possible way to communicate this, to illustrate this point, and the other morning I woke up and this came to me, so I hope it helps.
All right, if I were to say to you, Though I swim in the waters of sharks and of dolphins, the word sharks and the word dolphins are different, but the waters are not.
Though I swim in the waters of sharks and of dolphins, same water, right?
Yeah, the waters never changed.
Same water.
The difference would be the words sharks and dolphins, not the waters they swim in.
Get it?
You see, if you really give attention to the verse, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, it becomes clear that yes, men and angels are different, but their tongues are not.
Just as sharks and dolphins are different, but the waters they share are not.
So Paul is saying, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, which means to speak in all world languages, because that's what Paul and angels did.
They spoke in all the world tongues, all the languages of men that were on earth at that time.
And Acts 2 supports us here when it says in verse 5, And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, of every nation under heaven.
Did you catch that?
You see, the Jews, the devout men that were there at Pentecost, represented every nation under heaven.
Someone from every nation on earth was there at the day of Pentecost, and God supernaturally
allowed them to understand one another.
And when we think about the word, nations, well, we should ask ourselves, where were Gentiles?
Where did they dwell?
Gentiles dwelt in the nations.
Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles.
How could he be an apostle of the Gentiles, of the nations, if he couldn't speak to them?
Therefore we know that Paul could speak in all world languages.
Okay, now back to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 1.
Now I think we've got this, so let's continue on with the rest of the verse, And have not charity I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
So, what Paul is saying here is even though God has given him the gift of speaking in every language spoken on the face of the earth, if he doesn't have charity, what good would it do him?
If he doesn't have charity, he has simply become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
In other words, he's just making noise.
Noise that won't benefit anyone.
Love should be the motivator, not self, just wanting to show off your gift.
That's what he's conveying here.
By the way, while on the subject, here at Truth Time we also get a lot of inquiries about angels.
Well, we've seen all the depictions in modern art and statues and so forth.
Are those depictions true?
Or, like so many other bad doctrines, are they just a figment of the imagination?
Another doctrine with man's fingerprints all over it.
In the book of Hebrews, the writer told them that some had entertained angels.
Most of you are aware of this information found over there in the book of Hebrews and it says they had entertained angels and were not even aware of it.
Now this brings up a question, at least in my mind, if angels were still walking among us today as they were back there with those Hebrews, and they spoke in some sort of special angelic language, as some say 1 Corinthians 13:1 means, well, would they not be aware that they were in the presence of an angel?
Of course they would.
You see how comparing scripture with scripture, not preacher to preacher, is the way to go?
Comparing scripture is also how we know that angels don't have wings.
You see, we've been taught not to pay attention to words, just kind of sit there nodding our head and staring at the preacher.
Just mix things together instead of rightly dividing them.
That's what we've been taught.
We've been taught that angels are angels and seraphims are angels too.
No, angels are angels and seraphims are seraphims.
Seraphim had six wings and used two to cover their face, two to cover their feet, and two to fly.
They're not angels, they're seraphim.
Angels looked like men and came and dwelt among men without them even being aware of it.
But if you were in the presence of a seraphim, with its six wings, you'd know it.
Now what about cherubim?
Cherubim are not angels either, they're cherubim.
You see, words mean something.
Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.
Some things are difficult to learn, but even harder to unlearn.
Some of us have practiced thinking and saying that angels have wings and that false doctrine
has become permanent.
We heard and parroted what we heard for so long that eventually it became permanent to us.
But it's far from perfect.
Cherubim are not angels, Ezekiel describes them multiple times but never as an angel.
He describes them as living creatures that had more than one face by the way.
He said they had wings that were used to cover the mercy seat and the ark of the covenant, and again if they were among us with wings and faces, plural, yep, we would know it.
Unlike seraphims or cherubim, angels did not have wings.
They appeared as human beings, not creatures, they never appeared as a woman, always men, and there were no such thing as baby angels either.
Nowhere in scripture, not one place.
Listen, there is big bucks in the marketing of false angels and the Catholics sold us that lie, not the Bible.
This is part two of the Speaking in Tongues series.
In studying this for many years now, I have found that most who claim to speak with other tongues are not concerned about Bible evidence.
They just know what they felt.
In the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, Mark 16, the signs there that shall follow them that believe, you know the passage, they'll cast out devils and speak with new tongues, take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it won't hurt them, and they'll lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
Not maybe, not sometimes they'll recover, but they shall recover.
Yeah, you know the passage.
Well, it's interesting that they like the new tongues part, but have nothing whatsoever to do with snakes.
They like new tongues, but have nothing to do with drinking poison.
And when someone gets cancer, you know what they do?
They go to the hospital for a visit, and then preach their funeral.
Because the lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover, didn't work.
They can lay hands on acne, and it won't clear up.
So why in the world are they messing around with cancer?
And here's something worth duly noting.
The preacher who puts on his reading glasses before reading this verse, he reads Mark 16:18,
lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover, but he's standing there with bad eyesight.
Give me a break.
You know, it really doesn't hurt to turn our thinker on.
Turn it on, give it a tune up, oil change, rotate the tires, man, we got to do something.
We cannot reach the lost by allowing such nonsense to come out of our mouth.
We've got to study to show thyself approved, and be a workman who rightly divides the word of truth.
Here at Truth Time, we're hearing from listeners who have, well, they've done just that.
Their thinker is now firing on all cylinders, and they've decided to take a fresh look and revisit some things.
They're just not falling for the mess anymore.
But for those who are, it's my hope that this series will challenge you enough to make you think, to open your Bible and reconsider a few things.
It's amazing to me how many scriptures professing Christians just choose to ignore.
Mark 16:16, well, it very plainly says, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
Maybe I need to say that again, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
Hey, we'll take the new tongues of verse 17, but gloss right over water baptism in verse 16.
How intellectually dishonest is that, huh?
Oh, they get baptized, but they say it's not for salvation.
It's for a testimony, they'll say.
What do you mean?
What Bible are you reading?
The verse says baptism IS for salvation.
You say it's not, but that's not what God said.
And let me be clear, I know water baptism will neither save you or is it something we do for a testimony in the dispensation of grace.
No, in the dispensation of grace, we're saved by faith without a work.
In the dispensation of grace, we're saved by faith alone in Christ alone.
We're saved by faith in the finished cross work.
No water baptism, no walking the aisle, no turning from sin, no asking Jesus into our heart, no opening our mouth and saying a special prayer.
We don't have to kneel at an altar.
We don't have to be circumcised.
No keeping the commandments for salvation.
No, as a spirit-filled, saved member of the church, the body of Christ, I don't need the law hanging over my head to show me what's right and wrong.
I have Christ in me, the hope of glory.
I've been sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
And listen, some of these same folk go around downing the church of Christ for actually believing that Mark 16:16 means what it says.
It says you have to be water baptized or else.
Acts 2:38 says the same thing.
Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.
No water, no remission of sins.
No remission of sins, no salvation.
Now that's pretty straightforward, is it not?
But on the flip side, now get this, on the flip side, while the church of Christ believes the verse correctly, they do not believe the tongues part of the verse.
What a mess.
This is what happens to those who just refuse to rightly divide, who treat 2 Timothy 2:15 as if it simply doesn't exist.
With your Bible, come with me, let's go to Genesis chapter 11.
Genesis chapter 11 and verse 1, And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
But if we drop down to verse 7, look at that.
Let us go down and there confound their language.
Confound their language that they may not understand one another's speech.
So, what we have in Acts chapter 2 is a reversal of Genesis 11.
Where God had once confounded their language at Pentecost, he reversed it and allowed them to understand each other once again by supernaturally giving them the gift of speaking with new tongues.
New tongues, new languages, earthly languages.
In the book of Ezra chapter 4 verse 7, you'll find an account of the king of Persia who wrote a letter that was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
Now, if the word, tongue, meant what some would have us to believe, then that would suggest that this tongue the prophet Ezra writes about is a language between God and man.
A private prayer language, they might say.
But you see, that's not true.
It is an earthly language.
Read it for yourself, Ezra chapter 4 verse 7.
This letter was, and I quote, Interpreted in the Syrian tongue, and it meant language.
Languages need interpretation, not aesthetic utterances.
As we proved on part one of this series, in the Bible, the word tongues and the word languages,
guess what?
They mean the same thing.
The prophet, Daniel, stays within the same parameter as Ezra when speaking of tongues and what
they are.
And hey, this is so easy to understand that even I get it.
In Daniel chapter 1 verse 4, Daniel is writing about some people who were, they were well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge.
They had a great understanding of science and had the ability to stand in the king's
palace and teach the, here it is, here it comes, here's the word we're looking for, Tongue of the Chaldeans.
Now what did Daniel mean by that?
He used the word, tongue, to describe a language.
Many think tongues are a language between you and God, but every place in the Bible, we find that tongues are languages spoken here on earth.
Bible believers, those who are led by God's word, will appreciate this information, however those who are led by their experiences and emotions will not.
Now after taking all of this into account, after building on a right foundation, you can go back and read scripture in a whole new light.
For instance, in Acts chapter 2 verse 4, we find the word utterance.
What does utterance mean?
In Greek, it means to enunciate plainly, that is, to declare.
So if utterance means to enunciate plainly, then what are we hearing in some of these churches today?
Good question.
In Acts 2:6, when it says, Every man heard them speak in his own language, we know for certain that they heard them enunciate plainly.
There is no escaping this truth.
The word of God is clear and indisputable on the matter.
At Pentecost, the quote, utterance, the speaking in new tongues, was words that were spoke in plain, clear, and easy to understand, earthly languages.
No matter where the hearer was from, they heard them speak in their native tongue.
And that's why we read in Acts 2:11, everyone there heard them speak in their own tongues the wonderful works of God.
The gift of tongues was being able to speak in other languages, a gift that is not in operation today, and is why Rosetta Stone has made so much money.
Today, you must study and learn a language.
God is not supernaturally teaching anyone to speak in a foreign tongue anymore.
The gift of tongues ceased, and we'll prove that with Scripture also.
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