6) Tongues Gone Wild!

There is nothing more exciting than to have God's Word working effectually in you.
First Thessalonians 2:13, For this cause also we thank God without ceasing, because
when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word
of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you
that believe.
A wonderful scripture. And you know, this cannot happen. The Word cannot effectually
work in us if we don't first understand the word.
And in order to do that, we must come to the point of our life when we're ready to dig
in and become a Bible student, lovers of God's word. Bible students are 2 Timothy 2:15, told
to study, to show ourselves approved workmen who rightly divide the word of truth.
The purpose of this program, Truth Time Radio, is to help you connect the dots so you can
begin to enjoy the word of God. This will allow it to serve its purpose and go to work
in you. 1 Corinthians 12:1 is where Paul said he doesn't want us to be ignorant concerning
spiritual gifts. And in 2 Timothy 2:7 he said if we will consider what he wrote in his epistles,
the Lord will give us understanding in all things.
Now, since speaking in unknown tongues falls into the spiritual gift category, we hope
you've been studying along with us here and starting to put some things together. Today
will be part 6 in our series titled, Speaking in Tongues.

In part 1 we identified what biblical tongues were. Always, every time in scripture where speaking in tongues is mentioned, it is always describing someone speaking in an earthly language, every time. Contrary to popular belief, everyone in the Bible who spoke in an unknown tongue spoke in an earthly
language they had never learned. That's why it was referred to as unknown. It was unknown
prior to God supernaturally gifting that person, enabling them to communicate with another
person who spoke in another language. So in part 1, we left no stone unturned and with an open Bible we proved that speaking in tongues always meant to speak in an earthly language that someone somewhere on earth spoke. Nowhere in the Bible do we find that it's an unintelligible, mysterious language that no person on earth understands, and is a private way to communicate with God. That's not in the Bible.

In part 2 we addressed 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 1 where Paul wrote, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. And we did part 2 for those of you who say, aha, that's what we speak over at our church, tongues of angels, a heavenly language that no one understands. Well, if this is the category you fall into, it will be imperative that you go and listen to part 2. And after laying our foundation with parts 1 and 2, we begin our verse by verse study through 1 Corinthians chapter 14. In part 3, we covered verses 1 to 11. In part 4, 12 through 22. And in part 5, we looked at verses 23 through 33. That brings us to part 6 and verses 34 to 40. You can find this series at truthtimeradio.com. When you get there, go to media followed by on demand.

Okay, 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. We begin at verse 34. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. Verse 35. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Okay, think about it. It was customary for the men and women to sit separately from one another. The men sat with men, and likewise the women sat with women. Now, with this as our backdrop, Paul's statement makes perfect sense. When a woman had a question about what was being said, instead of hollering out across the room to her husband, she was simply told to hold her peace. That's what Paul's saying. This would explain why Paul wrote, If they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. He's saying ask the question at home instead of disrupting the service. Paul had most likely gotten a report of this disorder taking place. Remember, God is a God of order, not disorder. Let all things be done decently and in order. Verse 40 of this very chapter.

Men like to misuse these verses in their attempt to shut down a woman. They also misuse 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 and 12. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Now, just who is, quote, "The man?" Let's compare scripture. Ephesians 5 verses 22 and 23. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. So, the man in 1 Timothy chapter 2, the one that the woman is not to usurp authority over, is her husband. This is not speaking of men in general. And the next verse says, therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Wives, be subject to your husbands in everything. Everything would include God's word, would it not? So, that leaves out your pastor. That leaves out the know-it-all man on Facebook. The one who gets all twisted up when he runs into a woman educated in the scriptures. They'll then pull the usurping card and start telling her she's not to usurp her authority over a man, the man being them, of course. Well, you're not the man Paul is speaking of.

Colossians 3:18. Wives, submit yourselves unto your, aha, there it is again, your own husbands. It does not say other men. It says your own husbands. Wives are not to submit themselves to any other man other than their husbands. Don't let the Facebook joker pull that one on you. Hey, if it's only your husband you're to submit to, then it's only your husband you're not to usurp authority over. In Titus 2:5, Paul tells the women to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their, and there it is again, your own husbands. And listen, this is not a dispensational teaching. No, the same held true for those that were Romans 16:7 in Christ before Paul. In 1 Peter 3:1, Peter tells his audience, and I quote, Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. It's not about married women being in subjection to just any man. No, it's your own husband. Colossians 3:18, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. 2 Timothy 3:6, Paul writes, For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lust. Notice he says, led away.

Who are the women who allow themselves to be led away? Those who refuse to submit to their husband. A woman is not to submit to any other man other than her husband. Now, while these scriptures are clear, there are some women who have been beat over the head by these verses for so
long that they actually believe they haven't got a voice to speak up during a Biblical conversation if a man is present. Healthy discussions around God's word should always encourage dialogue, not monologue. This misuse of scripture is the result of not testing what the preacher says against God's infallible word. Some have sat and listened to these verses out of context for so long, they're clueless to Bible truth. What you need to do is to go back, now that you've got a new perspective, you've heard these verses, maybe you missed some of these verses, go back with your new perspective and read these passages with a proper foundation now in place. The correct premise. You'll notice they'll start
to look different. I challenge you to do so.

1 Corinthians 14:28 says, If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church. There's that word again, silence, and this time it's speaking to men. You see, someone had to translate or they were not to speak with other tongues, so there were times that men were to keep silence as well. This was not a suggestion, but as Paul wrote in verse 37, the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. Hey, make no mistake about it, the instruction to always have an interpreter was not to be taken lightly as churches do today. It's interesting how they talk about commandment keeping, but fail miserably at keeping this one. Very interesting. Notice verse 27, If any man speak in an unknown tongue, any man. You see, the context is speaking in an unknown tongue and not just speaking. Women could speak, they were just not to participate in speaking in an unknown tongue. I'm just reading and believing it.

So, verse 34, Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak. Hey, you don't have to be a molecular scientist to know that Paul is not prohibiting women from speaking in church. The context is speaking in an unknown tongue. And again, this is not what the churches call tongues today. No, no, back here, back when Paul wrote this, speaking in tongues meant that you were speaking in real earthly languages. In this chapter, Paul clearly laid the guidelines for how speaking in unknown tongues were to operate in the assembly. The reason for the guidelines is obvious. Just as he said in verse 23, When the whole church has come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, what will happen? They'll think you've all gone mad. So here's how you do it. Verse 27, You do it by order, by course, no less than two men, no more than three, and no unknown tongue-talking at the same time.

Verse 28, unknown tongues must always, without exception, be followed by an interpreter to translate
one language into another. Verse 29, The unknown tongues were to always be judged. The words that were spoken had to be verified, tested, and proved. Does that happen today? Verse 34, No women were allowed to speak in an unknown tongue. And guess what? It was not for the benefit of the believer, but for the unbeliever. 1 Corinthians 14:22. Many times when I teach this, I can tell by the look on a person's face they've never heard some of these verses. This was the clear guidelines laid out by Paul explaining how this gift operated. Clear guidelines that are simply not followed today. The reason churches today pay no attention to these guidelines, these rules, these commandments is because, if they did, they'd have to close the doors. They'd go out of business. And the sad fact is, no church can do it correctly even if they tried because the gift of tongues ceased. Just as God said it would. It's not even in operation today. And if you have any doubt about that, stick around. In the next
part of this series, part 7, we'll deal with that.

Today, the reason you cannot find churches demonstrating the real gift, doing it correctly, doing it in a biblical manner, is because it's hard to do a wrong thing right. What we have going on here in chapter 14 is the Corinthians were most likely holding on to and having a hard time letting go of some of the prior pagan ways. Most of paganism worshipped women. Same goes for the Ephesians. They too worshipped women goddesses, and it's why Paul wrote to brother Timothy, the bishop at Ephesus, and said, Let the women learn in silence. They too were being disruptive. He said, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Instead of blurting out across the room, asking their husbands questions, they were to wait until they got home, just like the Corinthians.

You see, other than Israel, no one had the concept of one God. It was little g, gods, plural, gods and goddesses. Pagan religions taught female primacy. Paul, however, 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 8, did not. And, if you remember, in Acts 19 there was a craftsman named Demetrius. I think he was a silversmith, but anyway, he made shrines for Diana, the so-called goddess. When Paul came to town, he spoke out against this and said, There are no gods which are made with hands. They called her, The great goddess Diana. She was worshipped by all Asia. The multitude were there crying out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. And brother Luke in the book of Acts said they chanted that for two hours. For two hours they cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. These people were not playing. Our pagan ancestors, hey, they were serious about women worship. And make no mistake, today's new age teachers are trying to bring all this back.

So, is Paul saying that in all situations women were not allowed to speak? Was he saying that women can never say anything to a man concerning scriptures that might enlighten him? Obviously not. If that were the case, we have one messed up Bible because in Acts chapter 18 we can read about a Jew named Apollos. God's word tells us that he was eloquent and mighty in the scriptures. Read it sometime. He'd already been instructed in the way of the Lord, but he only knew of the baptism of John and needed some further instructions. And if you'll go read about this in Acts 18, you'll see that when Aquila and Priscilla heard him speaking in the synagogue, they pulled him to the side and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. Aquila and Priscilla, his wife, a woman. She expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. She taught him something he didn't know. She furthered his knowledge. She expounded on, she added to, what he had previously been taught. So, we would be foolish to think that in all situations pertaining to the gospel, a woman is to always keep silence. Listen, Priscilla was not usurping authority over anyone. Her husband was by her side. He was there with her, making her subject to her husband.

You see, context changes everything. The women of Corinth were most likely interrupting the prophets by asking their husbands questions, speaking in various tongues, various languages, and disrupting the service. Paul's not saying that a woman has nothing of importance to say. He's not saying that her words and her thoughts are of no value. But if she has questions during the service, just wait until you leave and discuss it with your husband instead of being disruptive during the service, which is what the women of Corinth and Ephesus were most likely doing. That's all he's saying, and this gives no man any right to try and muzzle a woman attempting to shut her down.

So verse 28 says, If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. And verse 30 says, If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. So, of the three injunctions to silence that we find in this chapter, verses 28, 30, and 34, do note that only one was directed to women. Interesting. And that one is the only one some want to talk about. So the keep silence instruction is not an instruction reserved only for women. It applied to men also in certain situations. In Philippians 4:3, Paul wrote, Help those women which labored with
me in the gospel. Women, women labored with Paul in the gospel. Listen, a woman is not to desire the office of a bishop, 1 Timothy chapter 3 tells us that, but don't remove a passage from its context to try and muzzle a woman claiming that she is to be silent in all situations.

And this is the beauty of comparing Scripture with Scripture. It allows us to reconcile these verses. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 11, Paul is addressing the verse 1, Brethren, men, and he says that we men should study, study to be quiet. There are times when men should shut up as well. I once read an article where the author made the erroneous claim that Paul was a woman-hater. How quickly they
forget what we just uncovered a moment ago, that in the same chapter in two previous verses, this so-called woman-hater also said that there were times when the tongue-talkers were to keep silent, and times when the prophets were to keep silent. You see, Paul is simply regulating the Corinthian order of worship and dealing with the problems they were facing. Depending on the circumstances, somebody was supposed to know how to shut up regardless of their gender.

Verse 36, What? Came the word of God out from you, or came it unto you only? Paul here has been a little sarcastic as he asks a rhetorical question. What right do you have to change the order of worship? You have no such authority. Verse 37, If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. This has to be one of the most disregarded verses today. What Paul wrote is what Jesus told him to write, and they are the commandments of the Lord. And very few want to pay attention to what he wrote as they sweep his epistles under the religious legalistic rug. Verse 38, But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Paul lets them know, hey, these things I wrote down, they explain how to conduct your services. They are the only authority on the matter. I've explained how your assembly should function. Those who desire to be obedient and do the will of God, outstanding. But for those who choose to remain ignorant, go ahead and remain ignorant.

Verse 39, Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Verse 40, Let all things be done decently and in order. Remember, at this particular time in history, there was no such thing as a completed Bible in written form. So, Paul here admonishes them to first covet the gift of prophecy so that they could speak forth the inspired word to the congregation. And during this time, when tongues were operating, they were not to forbid them, but only to regulate them, make sure they were done properly, in order. There's no escaping this truth. The word of God is clear and indisputable
on the matter. At Pentecost, the utterance, the speaking in new tongues, was words that were spoken in plain, clear, and easy to understand, earthly languages. No matter where the hearer was from, they heard them speak in their native tongue. As you begin to see this truth for yourself, you can then go back and read this chapter from a whole new perspective.

There's nothing quite like building from a proper foundation. In 2 Timothy 1:13, Paul instructs us to, Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. And in 2 Timothy 3:5, he wrote, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. So which do you have? Do you have a, quote, Form of sound words that will give you stability? Or are you operating from a form of godliness? If it be the latter, you're denying the power and walking in ignorance. Clearly, the power is in God's word. God's word of truth, wrongly
divided, will leave you powerless, in the dark, with only a form of godliness. However, God's word of truth, rightly divided, gives you power and able to walk in the light. His word of truth, rightly divided, is a form of sound words.

People are willing to try anything to gain power. Meanwhile, it's right there on your coffee table. You want to hear from God? Read his word. You want to hear from God out loud? Read it out loud. The Bible is the only book people buy other books to try to understand. If you're listening today and you're not sure of your salvation, I want to tell you that Christ died for your sins. He was buried and he has risen. He paid the penalty you couldn't pay. All your sins were paid for. Your account is at zero. What you need to do is have his righteousness put into your account. And you do that by faith. Faith in the finished crosswork of Christ. The death burial and resurrection for the final payment of your sins. Believe the gospel and put your trust in Christ today. Ephesians 1:13. After trusting in Christ and his finished crosswork, believing the gospel, you are sealed unto the day of redemption. You can't lose it.
It's not yours to lose. He that begun a good work in you, he will finish it. Philippians chapter 1.