1 Corinthians 14, the Bible reads, follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts but
rather that you may prophesy.
And verse 1 is referring back to the last two chapters.
If you remember chapter 12 was all about spiritual gifts, chapter 13 was all about charity, and
he says, but rather that you may prophesy, saying that prophesying is the most important
thing.
And again, I can't emphasize this enough, people misunderstand the term prophesy often,
and they think that a prophecy is always something that's not in the Bible.
Like in order for somebody to prophesy, they think they have to say something that's not
in the Bible.
They have to just have some new revelation or some new prediction.
When nothing could be further from the truth, the example I always like to point to is Proverbs
31, which says the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
There's no foretelling of events there, it's just Bible preaching.
So anytime anyone is preaching the Bible, that is what the Bible calls prophesying.
And really the terms prophesy and preach are used interchangeably in the Bible, they both
mean the same thing.
So he's talking about preaching, and it says in verse 2, for he that speaketh in an unknown
tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God.
For no man understandeth them, howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries.
But he that prophesieth speaketh unto the men to edification and exhortation and comfort.
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifyeth himself, but he that prophesieth edifyeth
the church.
Now this is a chapter that's often referred to in regard to what people call tongue speaking
or speaking in tongues.
Now the first thing I want to point out is that the King James Bible never uses the term
speaking in tongues ever, not even once.
So therefore if you hear people talking about speaking in tongues or tongue speaking, they
did not get that from the King James Bible, because that term is never found there.
Now in the modern perversions of the Bible, like the NIV, which is so corrupt that it
calls Joseph Jesus' father in Luke 2.33, and which leaves out entire verses which removes
words like hell and damnation, you know in a corrupted version like the NIV, boy the
term speaking in tongues occurs over and over again.
But when the King James Bible speaks about the subject, it talks about speaking in an
unknown tongue or speaking with tongues.
So you can always tell what people's reading material is by the terminology that comes
out of their mouth.
When they're using biblical terminology, that shows that they got what they believed from
the Bible.
When they're using man's terminology and constantly just the man's terms are flowing off their
tongue about speaking in tongues, you know that is not something that they got from the
Bible.
That's something that they were taught by man.
Now let me just say this, when the Bible says the term unknown tongue in 1 Corinthians
14, in our modern vernacular, what we would say to mean the same thing is a foreign language
is what we would say.
Now if you would go to Acts chapter 2, and while you're turning to Acts chapter 2, I'm
going to read for you the very first time the word tongue is ever used in the Bible,
which is Genesis chapter 10.
And in Genesis chapter number 10, the Bible is talking about all these different nations
and it says in verse 5,
"...by these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands, everyone after his
tongue, after their families, in their nations."
Then if you jump all the way to Revelation, he gives the same type of a list where he
talks about every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
So when he's talking about peoples or nations or families, he'll say all tongues.
And that's interchangeably used with all languages.
He'll say, you know, I'm writing to all peoples and nations and languages.
Now in Genesis, tongue means language.
In Revelation, tongue means language.
You're going to be shocked, but everywhere in between, tongue means language, okay?
Now if it's not talking about the thing that's in your mouth, the only muscle in your body
that's only attached at one end and sticks out on the other end, okay?
If it's in your mouth, okay, that's your tongue.
But every other time, it's talking about a language, a foreign language or a language
that's native to you, whether you're in Genesis, Revelation, or anywhere in between.
Now in Acts chapter 2, we see them speaking with other tongues.
This is the first time we see this phenomenon take place.
Look at chapter 2 verse 1.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled
all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit gave the muttereth.
So here we see a miracle taking place.
The Holy Ghost comes upon them and they begin to speak in tongues.
Is that what it says?
They began to speak in tongues.
No it says they began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave the mutterance.
You say, well what does that mean when it says that they spoke with other tongues?
Well the Bible is going to explain it to us.
It says, and there were dwelling in Jerusalem, verse 5, devout men out of every nation under
heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded.
What does confounded mean?
Confused, surprised, astonished.
It says they were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
So let me ask you this, are the people who are hearing this and confounded, are they
understanding what's being said or are they not understanding what's being said?
They're understanding it.
That's what surprised them.
They're confounded because they're hearing it in their own tongue.
And what does tongue mean?
Language.
It says here in verse 6 at the end, they heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, behold are not all these
which speak Galileans?
And how here are we every man in our own tongue?
So notice at the end of verse 6, it says our own language.
At the end of verse 8, our own tongue.
And then he says, Parthians and Medes, verse 9, Elamites dwells in Mesopotamia and in Judea
and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and in the parts of
Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and Pasalites, Cretans and Arabians,
we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
So why is he listing all these nationalities?
Because these are the different languages that are being spoken.
So is anybody talking in gibberish?
Is anybody speaking in a language that no one understands?
Is anybody speaking in a heavenly language?
Is anybody speaking in a special prayer language?
No.
They're basically speaking foreign languages that they did not know.
It would be as if, you know, somehow we were to go out soul winning and we were in a place
where there were people who spoke all different languages and all of a sudden, you know, I
just start giving somebody the Gospel in Chinese.
And these Chinese people are astonished, like how does this guy know Chinese, you know?
And then, you know, Quinn is there and he just busts out and starts speaking Swahili
to somebody else.
You know, and then brother Dave just starts speaking Italian.
You know, and it's just basically we're just speaking these foreign languages that we had
never learned.
Now wouldn't you say that would be miraculous?
Because learning a foreign language is very difficult.
But these men, even though they were all Galileans, miraculously were enabled by the Holy Spirit
to speak in a language that they had never studied.
Okay?
And it's the Holy Ghost that gave them utterance.
It's like the Holy Ghost was doing the translating.
When they spoke, it's like the Holy Ghost interpreted it.
Now there's many things we can learn from this.
Number one, doesn't this prove that God can speak His word in any language?
Because a lot of people will say, well, you know, to get the true meaning, you have to
go back to the Greek and Hebrew.
Well, wait a minute.
Are you saying that what these men were saying by the power of the Holy Ghost was not the
true word of God?
Because it was in Phrygian?
Because it was in Parthian?
Because it was in Cyrenian?
Was it somehow less God's word?
Let me ask you this.
Was something lost in the translation?
No.
Because God's word can be given in any language.
And that's why God gave us His word in the Old Testament, mainly in Hebrew, and the New
Testament, mainly in Koine Greek.
Why?
Because if He gave it to us all in one language, you know what people would say?
The same thing they say right now.
But you know what people would say even more?
They'd say like, oh man, you really have to go.
If the whole thing was in Hebrew, they'd say, oh, you have to go to Hebrew.
God can only give us His word in Hebrew, anything else is like a copy of a copy, and then they
would begin to idolize those people and say they're the only ones who really understand.
And for us to really understand the Bible, we're going to have to go to these native
Hebrew speakers to get the real story.
And even today, you'll find this ridiculous nonsense of Christians, of Baptists, going
to a Jewish rabbi who is anti-Christ according to the Bible.
The Bible says, who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is anti-Christ
that denies the Father and the Son.
And they're going to go to an unbeliever, they're going to go to the unsaved and say,
tell us how to interpret the Bible.
And that is such nonsense.
I don't, you know what, the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God for their
foolishness unto him.
Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned, and the Bible even
specifically mentions the Jews that when they read the Old Testament, the veil is over their
heart and mind when they read the Old Testament, and that only when they turn to Christ is
the veil removed.
Oh, but it's their native language.
If they don't turn to Christ, there's a veil between them and the Word of God.
They can't understand it.
So why do we go to a rabbi to tell us how to understand it?
Why?
We don't, okay?
But the people who do, they do it because they're ignorant.
And so what I'm saying is that God's Word can be spoken just as well in Greek as it
can in Hebrew.
Now listen, Hebrew and Greek are two dramatically different languages.
They're not the same at all.
Hebrew is not a European style language, okay?
You know there are different families of languages.
There's the Indo-European and then there are Asian languages.
And then within the European languages, you have the Germanic languages, you have the
Latin languages, you have the Slavic languages, you have these various subgroups, okay?
But Greek is very different than Hebrew.
Now Greek is not all that different from English.
English and Greek, you know, are not that far apart.
Hebrew is farther apart.
Hebrew is farther from English than Greek is.
But the fact that God gave us the Bible in three different languages, Hebrew, Greek,
and Aramaic, that proves right there that he's not limited to one specific language.
Because how foolish it would be to say, oh, well he only speaks two, oh, okay three, okay
three because part of it's in Aramaic, so three languages.
Well if he can speak three, why not four?
How about seventeen, since it lists seventeen right here.
And so to think that it's not possible, and this is what the scholars of today will tell
you, it's not possible to accurately put the Word of God into English.
That's what they'll tell you.
Isn't that what they say?
Because those who preach out of the NIV and the NAS and the RSV and the ASV, they do not
claim that their Bibles are perfect or right.
Here's what they say, well, you know, to really get it right you've got to go back to the
Greek and Hebrew.
But what we have here is kind of the best we can do in our stupid English language,
you know, that we're stuck with.
Now, the Bible can be translated into English.
The King James Version is a perfect translation into the English language.
I believe that, I don't question it, I just believe it.
It's been proven to be truthful and accurate and right and, you know, I don't question
it.
And I'm not going to go to some foreign language, and I'm especially not going to go to a language
that I'm not fluent in and try to figure out what the Bible means.
I'm dead sure not going to a rabbi or a Greek Orthodox priest to tell me what the Bible
means.
I'm going to go to the saved to get an interpretation.
And you know, it's funny how people want to go to the Greek and Hebrew when they haven't
even read the English.
You know, read the English about a hundred times, you'll learn something.
And forget the Greek and Hebrew, you know, it's not necessary to go to a foreign language.
You know what, if God intended us all to speak Greek and Hebrew, then what was the Tower
of Babel all about?
Didn't God purposely divide our languages?
And did He divide our languages so that basically people in Greece and people in Israel could
understand the Bible and nudge to everybody else?
To the Jew first and also to the Greek, period.
No, that's not what He's saying.
He wants us all to get the Word of God and that's why the Bible has been translated into
every language and tongue on this planet.
Thank God.
And so let's go back to 1 Corinthians 14 with that in mind.
So we see what the miracle was at the Day of Pentecost was that these men and women,
there were 120 people, and those 120 people were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they
began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them unto them, and they were winning
people to Christ in various languages.
Say, why did God perform that miracle?
Because the Day of Pentecost was a gathering of devout men and women from all over the
world would gather in Jerusalem for that feast.
People who basically believed in the Old Testament, people who, you know, worshiped the Lord from
the Old Testament, they're all coming to gather at that feast from all over the world.
Well this is a perfect opportunity for God to basically get the news of the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ out to all these nations right away because if they can get
all these people saved, and these are already people who are zealous of religion or else
they wouldn't even be there.
They're already zealous of the Old Testament, but they need to learn about the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and so they're all gathered there.
So God, in order to expedite that, and to expedite that translation, he basically allowed
these 120 Galileans to evangelize people from all over the world so that they could take
the Gospel home to their nation and basically bring the Gospel back home to all these different
places that they had come from and really spread the Gospel out.
And of course he told the disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature.
They didn't do that right away.
They all stayed in Jerusalem and he's constantly trying to get them to spread out.
What's the lesson we can learn from this?
You know, if we go, we literally live in like a slow motion day of Pentecost in Phoenix.
And when I say slow motion, I mean because, you know, we're not going to get 3,000 people
saved in one day, but we will get 3,000 people saved over the course of years.
And the people that we reach, if we knock every door and preach the Gospel to every
creature, we will win a lot of people to Christ that are from around the world.
You know, there are a lot of people that have come here from other parts of the world and
then they can hopefully reach other people that are in their part of the world and so
forth.
And so, you know, we need to reach everybody we can.
Now I'm not against missions and, you know, sending a missionary to a foreign country,
but a lot of people think that, you know, well it's just, it's all about missions.
It's all about just supporting these missionaries to go to these other countries, when in reality
the mission field is our backyard.
I mean, you want to go to Africa, there's an apartment complex about three miles from
here of refugees that are literally from Africa.
I mean, they're dressed in their African native clothing and they're speaking Swahili, they're
speaking other languages, you know, and a lot of them speak English, a lot of them don't.
But I mean, we have people from all over the world, you know, when you're soul winning
in southern Tempe, I've done a lot of soul winning there, you're talking to a lot of
Hindus and people that are from India and people that are visiting from India and people
that are just here from India.
I mean, you can find pretty much every nationality.
And so, you know, you don't have to take a big long trip and go somewhere necessarily,
and I'm not against that, but I'm saying you can be a missionary right here in Phoenix
and you can reach people from all over the world.
So in 1 Corinthians 14, with that in mind, we get back to this scripture and this is
the scripture that people who believe in so-called tongue speaking or speaking in tongues, basically
1 Corinthians 14 is their proof scripture for what they believe.
And what they want to say about this is they want to say that speaking in tongues is basically
you're in a church service, right?
And man, everybody gets real excited, the music's really pounding and everybody gets
all into it, and then next thing you know, somebody goes, oh praise the Lord, brother
so and so spoke in tongues.
You know, sometimes there's rolling in the aisles that takes place, laughing hysterically,
barking like a dog, slobbering on yourself, rocking back and forth like you're autistic,
okay?
These are things that can accompany this.
And you say, man, you're being kind of hard on this.
Well, because it's foolishness, that's why.
It's nonsense.
I mean literally, it's just gibberish.
I mean it's just blah, blah, blah, blah, oh praise the Lord.
Now look, there's nothing like that in the Bible.
It just isn't there.
And basically they'll just have people having these ecstatic experiences, eyes roll back
in their head or whatever, and they just start jabbering in gibberish and just talking complete
nonsense.
Now look, there is nothing in the Bible teaching us to speak in nonsense or gibberish or basically
words that no one understands, including ourselves.
I mean they say stuff, they don't understand it, nobody around them understands it.
Now look, is that what the Bible's teaching in this passage?
Absolutely not.
Now what confuses people, you say, well why do people believe in this thing of this unknown,
you know, tongue, meaning that, because they misunderstand.
When they hear unknown tongue, you know what they think that means?
They think it's just totally unknown, like it's just a tongue that nobody knows, okay?
When in reality, whenever we use the term unknown tongue or how about this, foreign
language, which we don't call it an unknown language today, we call it a foreign language.
Bible doesn't use that terminology.
We use the term a foreign language.
Now when we say foreign language, wouldn't it only be foreign depending on who we're
talking to?
Like for example, what's foreign to me might not be foreign to you.
You know, to you German is a foreign language, to my wife German is not a foreign language,
right?
So what is an unknown tongue to me is not necessarily an unknown tongue to you, is it?
Okay?
Now, let's read this together with that in mind, understanding it the way that it's actually
meant to be understood.
It says in verse 2, For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but
unto God.
For no man understandeth him, howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries.
Now right there, here's where people will wrongly interpret this.
People will say, well when it says no man understandeth him, that means no man on this
whole planet can understand him.
Now that's not what it means.
When it says nobody understands him, it means nobody that's present when he's speaking.
Okay?
It'd be like if I said, you know, Brother Alvin got up and said something in Chinese
and nobody understood him.
Does that mean that there's nobody on this planet that can understand what he said?
If I said no man understands you, Alvin, when you speak Chinese, nobody understands
you.
Okay?
That does not mean that no one could understand him.
It means that no one who's here understands him, and that's obvious by the context, okay?
There are one billion people that could understand him if he's speaking Chinese, but they're
not here.
So, in this room, no man understandeth him, even though in the Spirit he's speaking mysteries.
I mean, he could get up and preach the greatest sermon.
He could preach all kinds of mysteries and all kinds of deep biblical doctrine.
We're all going to be yawning and falling asleep because we don't understand a word
that he's saying.
Now, are we edified by hearing him speak in an unknown tongue?
Absolutely not.
Now, is he edified?
Well, possibly.
I mean, if he's, for example, if he got up and prayed in Chinese, you know, he's edified.
That's good for him, but is it good for anybody else?
Is he bringing forth any fruit?
No.
It says, he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God.
So let me ask this.
If Alvin is praying in Chinese, is he talking to God?
But do we understand him?
No.
But is he talking to God?
Yes.
So who's he talking to?
Us or God?
He's talking to God, not unto man.
It says, howbeit in the Spirit he's speaking mysteries, but he that prophesieth speaketh
unto men to edification and exhortation to comfort.
You see, the purpose of preaching is to exhort and to comfort and to give edification.
It's to build people up.
So basically, when I preach, am I just preaching to go through a ritual or am I preaching to
help you?
And I'm only helping you if it's in your language.
And you say, Pastor Anderson, this is ridiculous.
Why would he sit there and tell him to speak in a language that people can understand?
That doesn't even make sense.
Okay, tell that to the Roman Catholic Church that what I'm saying doesn't make sense.
Because the Roman Catholic Church for hundreds and hundreds of years performed their services
in what language?
And a hundred years ago, they preached the sermon in Latin.
Now isn't that a direct violation of this?
Because they're up there preaching in an unknown tongue.
So everybody comes to church and they sit there.
Are they edified?
Are they exhorted?
No.
Now even if it was in English, they wouldn't have been anyway because the Catholic priest
is a liar and a false prophet.
But what I'm saying is, it's not far-fetched to believe that there are churches where somebody
gets up and preaches in a language that no one understands.
Brother Dave told me he went to a Greek Orthodox wedding where part of the preaching was done
in Greek.
And it was Greek to him, you know, and he sat there and he didn't understand any of
it.
And if we went to Latin mass, we would not understand a word, thank God, we'd probably
be better off.
But they get up and just, yeah, he said that was the best part of the sermon was that he
didn't understand it because it was in Greek.
But anyway, you know, speaking a foreign language is not something that should happen in church.
So therefore, we in America, we only speak one language.
But in a lot of other places, especially border areas, people speak multiple languages, right?
Like if you go down to the border by Mexico, like right on the border, let's say you're
in the San Diego area or let's say you're in Texas in like Laredo, Texas or McAllen,
Texas or those type of areas, you know, you find a lot of people there that are fluent
in English and Spanish because they live right there on the border.
And so they speak both languages as their native languages.
And obviously, there are people here tonight that speak multiple languages as their native.
My wife is just as good in German as she is in English and, you know, Brother Segura speaks
English, Spanish fluently.
You know, there are people here who have multiple languages.
So it could be possible to be in a church where there's one language that's the main
language that everybody knows and then there's a secondary language that maybe 60% of the
people know or 70% of the people know.
Would that be possible?
I've been in places like that.
Like for example, I've been in a church in Norway where, you know, everybody spoke Norwegian
but maybe 60% of the people spoke English also or 70% spoke English.
And so what the Bible is saying here is that a church service needs to operate in one language
that everybody understands.
That's what he's saying.
And that if someone comes in of another language and we want to hear them preach, we must have
an interpreter when we hear them preach so that everyone can be edified, not just the
few people who happen to speak that foreign language or unknown tongue.
Let's keep reading.
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifieth
the church.
I would that ye all speak with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied, for greater is
he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret that the
church may receive edifying.
Now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you except
I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine?
And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they shall give
a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harp?
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare themselves about?
Watch this.
So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it
be known what is spoken?
Ye shall speak into the air.
So what is he rebuking?
He's rebuking somebody saying something in a language that the people around him don't
understand.
Isn't that what he's saying?
That's what he's trying to fix here.
He's saying, look, you need to speak with words that are easy to be understood so that
everybody can understand you, otherwise you're just speaking into the air.
You can get up there and speak Latin and Pax Vorbiscum and talk Latin and talk Greek.
If you're not speaking in a language that's easy to be understood, and this could also
go for a preacher who gets behind the pulpit and uses a lot of fancy theological terms
that no one understands.
And then basically he's talking into the air.
Or he gets up and talks about the Greek and the Hebrew and talks about stuff that no one
understands.
That's not going to edify.
That's not going to help.
He's saying, look, you need to speak with words that are easy to be understood.
Not difficult to understand, easy to be understood.
And he says if not you're speaking into the air.
There are, it may be, so many kind of voices in the world and none of them is without signification.
What does signification mean?
Well, if you speak Spanish, you know, what does significar mean?
What does it mean?
Que significa?
What does that mean, Brother Segura?
Que significa means what does it mean?
So what he's saying is that everything has a signification, meaning everything has meaning.
Every word, every language has meaning.
So is this gibberish?
Is this noises or sounds that don't have meaning?
No, it all has meaning.
It all has a signification.
You say, well, but it's a heavenly language, it's a spirit language.
Wrong.
No.
That is not biblical.
There's nothing here, there's no mention of that in this passage saying that, you know,
this is a different angelic language.
Notice what the Bible says.
It says, therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, verse 11, I shall be unto him
that speaketh a barbarian and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
Now is he really a barbarian?
No.
He only seems like a barbarian to someone who doesn't understand.
But to someone who does understand, he doesn't seem like a barbarian at all.
It says, even so for as much as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel
to the edifying of the church.
So what's he saying?
When we gather together in church, it's not to edify ourselves, it's to edify others and
it's impossible for us to edify others unless we're speaking to them in a language that
they understand.
Now let me ask you this.
At the day of Pentecost, were people edified by that which was being preached in foreign
languages?
Yes they were.
They were getting the Gospel.
They were hearing about the plan of salvation.
Now let me ask you this.
What was the miracle?
Did God miraculously allow people to speak a language that they did not previously know?
Or did he do a miracle in people's eardrums that caused them to understand languages that
they didn't normally understand?
Which one was it?
He allowed them to speak a language, didn't he?
Was there any miracle in the hearing?
Did he change their eardrum?
No.
He changed what?
What was being said.
So therefore, whenever we have a biblical speaking in another tongue where the Holy
Ghost came upon somebody and they spoke with a tongue, aren't they always talking to somebody
in a language that that person understands?
I mean isn't that pretty clear?
I mean he says in Acts 2, they understood it in their own tongue.
And then in 1 Corinthians 14, he says if the whole church doesn't understand you, you're
not edifying.
You need to talk in a language that everybody understands and if you don't speak the language
that everybody understands, you need an interpreter.
Now you say is this talking about a miraculous speaking in tongues?
Or speaking in tongues, here I am using this Pentecostal terminology.
You know is this talking about a miraculous speaking in another tongue or is this talking
about just a tongue that you've learned?
Well either way, it's the same.
Whether or not, it doesn't matter because 1 Corinthians 14 is saying the same thing.
You speak in a language that people understand.
Whether that's through a miraculous ability or whether that's through a natural ability,
I believe he's referring more to a natural ability, okay, of a learned tongue.
And when Paul says that he speaks with tongues more than them all, probably because he traveled
all over the world as a missionary, he's probably speaking different languages everywhere he
goes and because he was an extremely educated man who was brought up as a scholar at the
feet of Gamaliel studying language, studying words.
Paul was surprised in the book of Acts later on when he says something to them in Greek
and he says, oh, can you speak Greek?
And the next thing you know he's speaking in Hebrew.
So he's a multilingual guy, not even through a miracle.
But even if it were talking about a miracle, we're still talking about foreign languages.
Now look, if God wrote the Bible and if God is an example of speaking with an unknown
tongue in Acts and people are understanding what's being preached, and then in 1 Corinthians
14, people are being told only speak a language that the church understands.
Why in the world would the Holy Spirit come upon somebody in 2013 to start speaking in
a language that the church doesn't understand?
Explain that to me.
Explain to me how that would be.
If God's commanding, speak in a language that people understand and then you go to a church,
somebody stands up and goes blah, blah, blah, you know, it's like, oh, that was the Spirit.
Well, wait a minute.
Is the Spirit contradicting himself?
Isn't it the Spirit that commanded to only speak in a language that everybody understands
in 1 Corinthians 14?
And then the Holy Spirit's like, just kidding, and then he comes into somebody and causes
them to start speaking a language that no one understands?
I mean, it's bizarre.
I don't know how anybody can believe in it, but it's not biblical, okay?
The Bible's teaching the opposite here, okay?
The Bible's teaching that people need to understand what's being said or you're wasting your time
is what he says.
Now, it says in verse number 12 there that, you know, we need to seek that we may excel
to the edifying of the church.
Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
So look, basically if I pray in an unknown tongue, like for example, let's say German,
for example, the vast majority of people here do not understand German, a couple people
do.
If I pray in German, okay, would my spirit be praying if I prayed in German?
Okay, but is my understanding, is the fact that I understand German, is that fruitful?
Is that bringing forth fruit around me?
Is that helping anyone else?
Does the fact that I understand German make you get edified?
No.
And that's all he's saying there.
He's saying, you know, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding, my understanding means
the fact that I understand is unfruitful.
It's not bringing forth any fruit.
It's not going to edify.
It's not going to produce anything.
It's not helpful.
And he says, what is it then?
I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also.
I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also, meaning the understanding
of those around you.
Because we're talking about in the church, you want other people to be able to understand
and be edified.
Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupyeth the room of the
unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayeth.
What he's saying is, look, somebody gets up and prays in an unknown tongue, like let's
say you go to some Catholic church and they're praying in Latin and then everybody says Amen.
You know, you might be saying Amen to hail Satan or something, Amen.
You know, you don't want to say Amen to something that you don't even understand.
I mean, are you comfortable with somebody just getting up and saying a bunch of stuff
in a foreign language and you just say Amen?
I mean, you don't even know what you're putting your stamp of approval on because you didn't
hear it.
You know, I was thinking about this the other day.
You know, my wife and I pray together in the mornings and when I'm out of town we do that
over the phone.
Well, a lot of times the phone connection is not that good and my wife does not hold
the phone very close to her mouth when she does this.
So she'll, you know, I'm not bitter or anything, but she often holds the phone too far away
from her mouth.
Because she'll put the phone far away, okay, and we're, you know, it's her turn to pray.
She'll pray and sometimes I'll say, well, I'm not going to say Amen because I didn't
hear what you said.
You know, I could hear that you were praying, but I didn't understand what you prayed so
I'm not going to say Amen.
I'm only going to say Amen when I understand what you said because I want to Amen the right
thing.
Not that my wife is prone to praying things that I do not say Amen to, but the reason
that I say that is just because I'm thinking of this scripture and thinking, you know what,
I'm only going to say Amen to something that I understand because I want my Amen to mean
something.
You see, there are some people in churches who come to church and just robotically say
Amen at regular intervals to the preaching.
See like that guy.
No, I'm just kidding.
Just kidding.
He believes what I'm saying, but anyway, what I'm saying is though, often you'll go to a
church and there are people who are just the robotic, just Amen, that's right, that's right,
Amen, and they're like not even paying attention.
And the proof is that sometimes the pastor will accidentally say something wrong and
then they're saying Amen.
Like I heard this one guy preaching and he was preaching the pre-tribulation rapture,
which is a false doctrine by the way.
Did I ever mention that?
But anyway, so he's preaching the pre-tribulation rapture and he's trying to say that we're
going to miss the tribulation, we're going to be raptured before the tribulation, but
he kept accidentally saying rapture instead of tribulation.
You know sometimes you mix things up.
Sometimes I've got saved people going to hell, unsaved are going to heaven, men are
commanded by God to have long hair.
You know sometimes when you're preaching you just start getting things backwards because
you're nervous or you're speaking and you make mistakes.
So this preacher, he's up there preaching and he says, we're going to miss the rapture,
Amen?
And this guy goes, Amen.
So I mean was that guy really Amen-ing the fact that we're going to miss the rapture?
I mean that doesn't sound good.
So then the preacher, he says, we're going to miss the rapture, Amen?
And then this one guy, you can hear this one guy say, Amen on the recording.
And then the preacher, you can tell he didn't feel like he got enough Amen's on that.
So he says, I mean come on, we're going to miss the rapture, right, Amen?
And then like five people say, Amen.
And then he goes on for like another five minutes talking about, we're going to miss
the rapture, we're not going to be here for the rapture, you know.
It's like, are we all going to die?
Is there a Kool-Aid after the service?
You know, so basically, you know, what I'm saying is there are those kind of people that
just say, Amen, no matter what's being said.
Is that biblical?
No, the Bible's saying, look, if you say Amen, it ought to be, and by the way, what does
Amen mean?
Amen basically means what you're saying is true.
It means truth.
It'd be like if I said, that's true.
So if I'm preaching and somebody says, Amen, they're saying, that is true, that is the
truth, that is right, okay?
It's just an agreement.
So basically if I pray and my wife says, Amen, she's basically saying, what you just prayed
is my prayer also.
And then when she prays and then I say, Amen, to her prayer, I'm saying, what she has prayed,
God, that is my prayer also.
I'm basically making her prayer my prayer.
And if I get up and pray before the whole church and everybody says, Amen, everybody's
saying, you know what, we all agree with that prayer.
That's what we all want.
You know, if I prayed for God to bless the service and, you know, then everybody's basically
saying, yes, God, we want you to bless this service.
And that's because the Bible talks about if two of you on this earth agree as touching
anything, it shall be death.
So the Bible says there's power in praying as a group or as two people because basically
when you agree and pray together, then basically that has power with it, okay?
So that's what this is saying.
So don't just be, you know, say Amen during the preaching when you agree with something
or you like something.
But don't just be an automatic robotic, just, you know, Amen, you know, whatever, just,
you know, at regular intervals.
But anyway, so it says here, you know, how's he going to say Amen when he didn't even understand
the prayer?
He's saying at the end of verse 16, for thou verily give us thanks well.
He's saying, you might be praying a great prayer, but the other is not edified.
You see that?
He's saying, look, if you're just praying between you and God, go do that between you
and God.
Enter into thy closet and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is secret.
But if you're going to pray publicly, if you're going to pray in church, you need to pray
loud enough and clear enough and in a language that the people that are with you understand
or else there's no point in praying.
Like I've been to these ones where it's like you pray together but everybody's just like
you know, what are you doing?
You know, it's like go pray by yourself or if you're going to pray in a group, then speak
out loud so that one might say Amen unto another.
That's what the Bible's teaching you.
So it says in verse 18, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than ye all.
Yet in the church I'd rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might
teach others also than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue.
So again, the understanding is the understanding of those that he's speaking to because he
says I want others, and do you notice how many times he repeats the same things?
He keeps talking about edifying others.
It's for others.
It's about other people understanding.
But then people still look at this and say see, he's praying in a language that he doesn't
even understand.
But that's not what it's saying if you get the context every verse.
He continues to drive in the fact that he's talking about others being taught, others
being edified, others understanding, others being able to say Amen at his giving of thanks.
Brethren, be not children in understanding.
Howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips, will I speak unto
this people, and yet for all that they will not hear me, saith the Lord.
What's he referring to there?
I mean look, this verse provides context.
Go back to Old Testament, he's talking about people from foreign countries coming to the
nation of Israel and preaching them the Gospel.
Again, we're talking about a foreign language.
It's clear.
He says in verse 22, Wherefore tongues are a sign, not to them that believe, but to them
that believe not.
But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
Now that's a key verse right there.
Okay, so if speaking, if the sign, what is a sign?
What's another word for a sign?
Words and wonders, right?
Or miracles, okay?
So let me ask you this.
When God performed a miracle at the day of Pentecost, was that for believers to be edified
or for unbelievers to be edified at the day of Pentecost?
Unbelievers right?
Because unbelievers did what?
Heard the Gospel in their own language.
So was that for the benefit of believers or unbelievers?
Okay, is that consistent with what we're reading right here?
Okay, well let me ask you this.
Is church designed for unbelievers or believers?
Believers.
So is church a place where we need to speak a foreign language?
No the foreign language is for going out into the world and reaching people of other cultures,
other languages, other tongues.
Now that happened miraculously at the day of Pentecost.
It happened miraculously later in Acts chapter 10 when the Italians were speaking in a tongue
that the Jews could understand, and the purpose there was basically, and it was because they
were just getting saved, and the purpose was so that basically the Jews could see, oh these
people are, these unbelievers are now believers, they're now getting saved, and unto them is
given the gift of the Holy Ghost as well.
So basically what we see here is that it says here, prophesying serveth not for them that
believe not, but for them which believe.
Because what he's saying here is that a lot of the preaching that's done in church, those
that believe not, it's going to go right over their head, okay, whereas, you know, basically
going out, speaking their language, okay, giving them the gospel, that's for getting
other people saved.
When we go to church, we hear prophesying in our own language, not a foreign language,
not a foreign tongue, okay.
So it says, if therefore the whole church be come together into one place and all speak
with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not
say that you are mad?
Now mad does not mean angry there, mad means insane, like a madman, a crazy person.
So what he's saying is if everybody's speaking a different language, wouldn't people think
you're insane?
Now look, isn't that what they thought at the day of Pentecost?
You know, they saw all these people speaking, they said these men are drunk with new wine.
Did they not say that?
Okay, so look, in church, when you're all gathered together in one place, okay, that's
not a place to be speaking foreign languages, people are going to think you're nuts if you're
speaking all these different languages.
I mean look, if I walked into a church and the whole service was done in Latin, I'd say
you people are nuts.
And especially I'd think it's nuts if we're singing one song in German and then a guy
gets up and gives a testimony in Spanish and then we have the sermon in Latin and then
somebody prays in Greek, I'd think, you know, I wouldn't even know what's going on.
I'd say this is weird, why does anybody come here?
Okay, he says, but if all prophesy and there come in one that believeth none, or one unlearned
that he is convinced of all, he is judged of all.
He doesn't have to be an educated person, he just has to know his own native language
and he can understand the preaching just in plain English is what he's saying, you know,
would be applicable to us.
And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest and so falling down on his face,
he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth.
And so what's funny is that 1 Corinthians 14 is a whole scripture all about, a whole
chapter all about how don't speak a bunch of foreign languages that people don't understand
and then the Pentecostals will use 1 Corinthians 14 as a manual for how to speak languages
that nobody understands.
This is the proof why we need to speak languages that nobody understands and here's the proof
right here.
So basically they're using this chapter for the exact opposite of what God's telling us.
God's telling us speak a language that people understand.
They're like see here's the proof why we speak languages that no one understands every Sunday,
you know, I mean it's just, it's bizarre how backwards things can often be.
And you know a lot of these same churches are the same one that'll tell you give your
life to Christ to be saved.
That's pretty backwards too.
I thought he gave his life for us.
But you'll hear them say give your life to Jesus to be saved.
No he gives his life to you.
He gave his life for us.
All we have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we shall be saved.
We don't have to give him our life, okay?
We have to acknowledge and believe that he gave his life for us.
What he says next here, how is it then brethren when you come together every one of you hath
a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation, let
all things be done at edifying.
Let me ask you this, would that be a way to have church if it's just an open mic?
Faithful Word Baptist three times a week, open mic.
Everybody's got a psalm, everybody's got a song they want to sing, everybody's got a
language that they're going to do.
Some want to do it in Spanish, some want to do it in English, some want to do it in German.
This guy's got a sermon, okay who wants to preach tonight?
Ten hands go up.
I mean isn't that going to be confusion?
Just I mean how do we even decide who's going to preach?
What are we going to sing?
What are we going to do?
It would be like an anarchy of a, you say well that sounds great.
That sounds like my ideal church.
Well it's not to God though.
God says no, things need to be done decently and in order and he says if any man speak
in an unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most by three and that by course and
let one interpret.
But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to
himself and to God.
So here's a guy, he speaks a foreign language, there's no interpreter, sit down and shut
up.
What does this have to do with rolling in the aisles?
What does this have to do with talking a language that no one understands?
Is this guy speaking in a language other than his native tongue?
No.
He's speaking a language that no one around him understands.
I was in a church before and a guy was called upon to pray and the guy spoke both English
and Spanish and this is in America, an English speaking church and he called upon brother
so and so to pray and the guy prayed in Spanish.
You know and everybody's like what?
And I thought to myself that is a violation of 1 Corinthians 14.
This guy, if he's called upon to pray, he needs to pray in English or he needs to not
pray at all because it's not right for him to be called upon to pray and to pray in Spanish.
That's a violation of this scripture because no one interpreted.
I didn't say amen to what he said because I didn't know what he said at the time.
Now I speak Spanish, going back in time I would have understood but at the time I was,
you know, 19 or 20, I did not know much Spanish whatsoever.
I didn't know what he was saying.
I didn't say amen.
Okay, it says, let the prophet speak two or three and let the other judge.
Now look, does that say let the prophets speak and let everyone in the congregation
blindly believe everything that's being preached?
What does it say that the listener is supposed to be doing while the preacher's preaching?
What are they supposed to be doing?
What?
Judge?
I thought we as Christians are never supposed to judge.
Judge not.
Isn't that one of the Ten Commandments?
You know, everybody has this thing of just, oh man, don't judge.
What the Bible commands is if you go to church and listen to preaching, you better be judging.
Don't just turn off and go, well, whatever Pastor Anderson says is right.
No, you need to search the scripture daily whether these things are so and not just blindly
believe what's preached and you say, well, what's wrong with blindly believing you, Pastor
Anderson?
Isn't everything you preach right?
Of course everything I preach is right but what happens when the next preacher comes
along and everything he says is wrong?
You're going to believe him too and obviously I'm being facetious because I'm sure that
I've said things that are not right.
Although I believe that 99.44% of what I preach is right and if I didn't think so, I wouldn't
preach it.
But should you just blindly believe everything I say?
Absolutely not because you know what, another preacher will come and he'll preach lies.
You know, I'm preaching the truth but you know what?
How do you know that, right?
I mean, I can say that.
Every preacher will tell you that.
But I'm telling the truth.
But how are you going to know that?
By studying the Bible.
That's the only way you're going to know.
And if you haven't read the whole Bible, it's hard for you to judge, isn't it?
You know, you'll come to church and say, oh, what Pastor Anderson's preaching is not biblical.
That isn't in the Bible.
And you haven't even read the whole Bible.
How do you know it's not in there?
It's fine with people that, the Bible doesn't say anywhere X, Y, and Z.
Have you read the whole Bible cover to cover?
No.
Well how do you know it's not in the part you didn't read?
Well I read John and Proverbs.
And it wasn't there.
Well there's a lot more.
You know, you didn't read the Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the whole thing.
Let me hurry up because I've got a few more things to say here.
It says, let the prophet speak two or three and let the other judge.
And if anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
What's he saying in verse 30?
Two people are not supposed to be talking at the same time.
Isn't that clear?
One person is talking at a time.
And how many preachers should we have?
Two or three.
Not just a church service of, we're going to have ten people preach tonight.
Two or three, he says.
And then he says, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is not
the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
So this whole chapter is about avoiding confusion, of having multiple languages, too many preachers,
too much of a free-for-all, there's no organization, there's no structure, that's what he's talking
about.
And he kind of changes gears here, and he says, 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 they also say at the law.
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.
And people freak out about this passage, and everybody will try to twist this passage.
Now I used to go to a liberal church when I was a teenager, I went to one of these NIV,
rock and roll, liberal churches, and listen to me, they don't believe this, none of them
believe this.
And that's why they have women getting up and preaching and teaching, and that's why
you have these women preachers, because honestly, when I've been in liberal churches, they do
not believe this passage.
And keep your finger at 1 Corinthians 14, and go to 1 Timothy chapter 2, toward the
end of the New Testament.
And you say, well Pastor Anderson, how do they get around that?
Because it's pretty clear, right?
Well I'll tell you exactly what they say.
This is what they teach, and you say, well why don't they believe it?
I'll tell you why they don't believe it, because it's politically incorrect.
Because it flies in the face of our equality, gender equality.
What a bunch of garbage.
What a bunch of false doctrine.
Gender equality.
Yeah, gender equality.
I've got news for you, men and women are not equal.
They are not equal, they are different.
Now look, men are not better than women, not what I'm saying, but men are different
than women.
Isn't that the truth?
For example, if I have an apple and an orange, they are not equal.
Is an apple equal to an orange?
Who thinks an apple is equal to an orange?
Okay, let me ask this.
Does that mean that one's better than the other?
Well, if they're not equal, you must be saying one's better.
No, one's better at a different time.
At some point in my nutrition, an apple might be better than an orange and vice versa.
If I'm fighting cancer, eating the apple down to the core might help me out with that B17
that's in the seeds.
But what if I'm having scurvy on a British ship hundreds of years ago?
I probably do well to eat an orange.
So it has nothing to do with better.
Men are not better than women.
If you believe that men are better than women, that's a false doctrine.
There are people who believe that.
But men are not equal to women either.
Men are very different than women and they have different roles.
Now when it comes to authority, there is no equality.
You say, how does your home run, a dictatorship?
Any questions?
It's a monarchy, mono, one boss.
That's how my home is run.
That's how every biblical home is run by the way.
And you say, your wife must hate that.
No, women love that because they were born to fill that role just like I was born to
be the husband and the leader.
My wife was born to be the wife and to be submissive and subject to me.
And she's going to be most happier doing what God created her to do, just like I'm going
to be most happy doing what God created me to do.
And you say, well that's not true because I talk to all these women that are just, you
know, they just want to be a feminist.
You know what?
Here's what I've found over the years.
The women who are screaming the loudest that they want to be a feminist and that they don't
want a man telling them what to do, on the inside are really screaming the loudest, please
tell me what to do.
Please put me in my place.
And you know what?
If you don't believe that, you're just ignorant.
It's that simple.
And yeah, I'm sure that there are some reprobate lesbians out there that have a different view,
but let me tell you something.
A normal woman on the inside wants to follow a leader.
She wants to follow a husband.
She wants a man there that she can look up to, not look down on.
Okay?
She wants a husband to reverence and to follow.
And so this false doctrine that's out there of equality of the genders, of a 50-50 marriage,
of men and women being on an equal playing field and, well, if men can preach, then women
can preach and all this stuff.
Look, no, that's not the way it is, because the Bible clearly says that women are supposed
to keep silence in the churches.
Are men supposed to keep silence?
Well, does that sound equal to you?
And you say, well, I don't believe that.
Then, okay, what other parts of the Bible don't you believe?
What about the part about Jesus dying on the cross?
Do you believe that?
It's the same book, same Bible.
Do you believe chapter 15 about Jesus rising from the dead?
You know, why don't you believe chapter 14?
But here's what they'll say, because they've already got a preconceived idea going in.
We can't offend society, so we've got to find some way to, you know, interpret this away.
So here's what they say, well, when the Bible says that it's not permitted unto them to
speak, that was the culture back then.
And here's what they'll say.
The reason why is because it says it's not permitted unto them to speak, but they're
commanded to be under obedience, as also sayeth the law, they're saying that was the Roman
law that women couldn't speak.
So they're trying to fit in with the culture at that time, but in our culture it's okay
for them to speak.
Okay, let's compare that with 1 Timothy 2, verse 11.
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
Let's see if this has anything to do with the culture.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor do you serve authority over the man, but to be
in silence.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
Now does that sound like a cultural thing?
Let's talk about Adam and Eve.
That's going back to the Garden of Eden.
This has nothing to do with culture.
How can you put this and 1 Corinthians 14 side by side and say it was the culture?
No, that's just somebody trying to explain away what the Bible says because they don't
want to deal with it.
So it says here that Adam was first formed, then Eve.
Look, the Bible says that the woman was made for the man, not the man for the woman.
The woman is made to serve the man, not the man to serve the woman.
Not that they're better, nothing to do with being better.
Because the Bible says whoever is the greatest among you will be servant of all.
Jesus made himself in the form of a servant.
Does that mean he wasn't better than everyone around him?
It has nothing to do with better, it has to do with different roles, different functions.
The apple and the orange are different.
Apple is going to work better in a pie.
Orange is going to work better in an Orange Julius.
These have different functions.
Orange is going to be better in a glass next to eggs and bacon.
Apple is going to be better sliced up and dipped in peanut butter.
You're not going to have a good time dipping your orange slices in peanut butter.
It doesn't mean one of them is better than the other, they're just different, right?
Men and women are different.
They're not the same.
Let me quickly finish up.
Go to 1 Corinthians 14.