from the Word of God that you have for us and help everyone to listen carefully
and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen
Now, in 1 Corinthians 14, the main subject here is
speaking with an unknown tongue or speaking in another tongue
and a lot of people are confused about what this means today
because there's a lot of false teaching out there on this subject
Who's ever heard of someone talking about speaking in tongues?
Put up your hand if you've ever heard that term
Now, the Bible never uses the term speaking in tongues
It uses the term here speaking in another tongue or speaking with tongues
But what does the word tongue mean?
Well, go back if you would to Acts chapter 2
and while you're going back to Acts chapter 2
I'm going to read you a verse from Genesis
which is actually the first time in the Bible that the word tongue is ever used
The first time the word tongue is ever used is in Genesis chapter 10 verse 20
And in Genesis 10 20, the Bible says
These are the sons of Ham after their families, after their tongues
in their countries and in their nations
So basically, back in Genesis, God is talking about different groups of people
living in different areas, forming into different nations
and speaking with different tongues, okay?
Now, in Acts chapter 2, we have a story in the New Testament
about people who spoke miraculously in another tongue
Look what it says in verse number 1 of chapter 2
It says, 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 them utterance
and there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men
out of every nation under heaven
So let's review quickly
The church is assembled together, right?
All these different believers
According to chapter 1, there were 120 people there, men and women
and as they're gathered together, they're praying
and all of a sudden there's some kind of a rushing wind
some kind of a miraculous thing happens
where they see these visions of fire
and it's a miracle that's happening
and as a result it says in chapter 2 verse 4
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost
and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance
Now the next verse, verse 5, is important
because it says, and there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews
devout men out of every nation under heaven
So the Bible says that at that time in Jerusalem
there were people who were devout Jews
basically believing in the Old Testament
or claiming to believe in the Old Testament
that were living there from all different nations
Now look what it says in verse number 6
It says, now when this was noised abroad
the multitude came together and were confounded
confounded means confused
because that every man heard them speak in his own what?
Language
So what happens is you have all these people from all different countries
I mean people from Asia, people from Arabia
people from Africa, people from European countries
and they're all at Jerusalem
Well all of a sudden God performs this major miracle, right?
and next thing you know
the 120 disciples are preaching the Gospel
to these people from all different places in their own language
and they were confused
not because they didn't understand
they were surprised and confounded because they did understand
because they said, wow, we hear them speak
every man in his own language, ok?
Now let's keep reading, it says in verse 7
and they were all amazed and marvelled saying one to another
Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?
They're like, look, all these guys are from Galilee
How are they speaking all these foreign languages, what they're saying?
It says in verse 8, and how here we, every man in our own tongue
wherein we were born
Then he begins to list the tongues or list the languages
Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia
and in Judea and Cappadocia and Pontus and Asia
Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt
and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene
and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes
Crete and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues
the wonderful works of God
Now, this isn't really that complicated to understand, is it?
You got a bunch of people speaking a bunch of different languages living in Jerusalem
All of a sudden these Galileans, the disciples of Jesus, the early church
begins to speak to these people in their own language
and they're surprised by the fact that they can understand
somebody speak to them in their own language
It would be like, for example, if I were out soul winning
and I knocked on the door of somebody who was from Africa
and they spoke Zulu, okay?
And they said, you know, sorry, no speak English
I speak Zulu, and all of a sudden I just started talking to them in Zulu
Do you think that would surprise them?
Very much, wouldn't it?
Or if I were out knocking on the door
and, you know, I knock on the door and somebody comes to the door
and they're from India and they speak Hindi
and all of a sudden I just started talking to them in Hindi
That would be surprising, wouldn't it?
Because most Americans don't know Hindi or Zulu or these kind of obscure languages, okay?
Or what if they came to our church, or let's say a whole bunch of people from our church
and one of us is speaking Chinese, one of us is speaking Korean, one of us is speaking Arabic
and just every language, oh yeah, we got somebody that speaks that
It would be shocking, wouldn't it?
So these people are shocked, like, wait a minute
These guys are fishermen, you know, they're not exactly professors in a university
or highly educated guys
These guys are fishermen, they're blue-collar kind of guys
and all of a sudden they're speaking to us and he listed their 17 different languages
They're speaking to us in these different languages
This is amazing
Now, the word tongue simply can mean two things
It can mean either the tongue that's in your mouth, right?
That's part of your body right here?
Or the word tongue can mean language
And you can see right here from Acts chapter 2 that tongue means language
because what does this say at the end of verse 6?
Because that every man heard them speak in his own language, right?
At the end of verse 6
It says at the end, in verse 11
Crete and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues
And then look at verse 8, how here we every man in our own tongue
So in verse 6 it says they heard every man in their own language
and verse 8 it says we heard every man in our own tongue
because tongue just simply means language
So when the Bible is talking about speaking in an unknown tongue
it's talking about speaking in an unknown language
or speaking with another language
And when it's talking about speaking with tongues
it's talking about speaking with foreign languages, okay?
And these are actual, literal languages such as Arabic, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Chaldean
and this miracle took place because of the fact
that Jesus Christ had just risen from the dead
And He had just told His disciples to go into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every creature
And they're at Jerusalem
and there are all these people from all over the world at Jerusalem
So this is a perfect opportunity to get the Gospel to a lot of the world
because if they can win these people to Christ at Jerusalem
they're going to take the Gospel back to Crete
They're going to take it back to Arabia
They're going to take it back to Libya
They're going to take it back to Ethiopia
They're going to take it into Europe
And so this was a way that God used this miracle
to get the Gospel out right away to all these different languages
and into all these different places
And so these men are shocked and surprised
that they hear the Word of God in their own language
Now, if we go to 1 Corinthians 14 where we started
Let's go there
Now here's the thing
Did we see anything in Acts 2 of people just blabbering
in a language that no one can understand?
Was anyone falling on the ground?
Was anyone rolling in the aisles?
Was anybody barking like a dog?
You know, there was none of this just blabbering
Today, when people talk about speaking in tongues
they're not talking about what happened in Acts 2, unfortunately
Because in Acts 2, people were speaking the Gospel in a foreign language
and someone understood what they were saying
I mean, somebody heard them speaking in his own language
in Arabic, in Greek, and so forth
When we get to 1 Corinthians 14, nothing has changed here
Because when tongues are first manifested was in Acts 2
the subject of tongues or speaking in an unknown tongue
or speaking with another tongue
Nothing's changed when we get to 1 Corinthians 14
It's the same thing
It's talking about foreign languages
Not a blabbering
Not a secret language that only one person understands
Not an angelic prayer language
It's giving the Gospel to unbelievers in their own language
and it was a miracle that God performed
Now, can God perform miracles?
Absolutely
God parted the Red Sea, right?
God made the children of Israel be able to cross the Jordan River on dry land
God is the one who protected Daniel in the lion's den
God's the one who protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace
God performed a miracle when the walls of Jericho fell down
I mean, God performs all these miracles throughout the Bible
and one of these miracles was that God miraculously gave people the ability to speak a foreign language that they had never learned
in order to give someone the Gospel
It's a pretty amazing miracle
Now look at 1 Corinthians 14
It says in verse 1
Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts
but rather that you may prophesy
Now the word prophesy means to preach
Keep your finger there and go back to Proverbs chapter 31
Proverbs chapter 31
Because a lot of people think that prophesy just means to predict the future
Now a lot of times God's word does predict the future, doesn't it?
God's word will tell us about future events
But the word prophesy simply means to preach
and I'll prove it to you
It says in Proverbs chapter 31
Verse number 1
The words of King Lemuel
The prophecy that his mother taught him
So this prophecy that his mother taught him
There's no future event predicted in Proverbs 31
You can read the whole Proverbs 31
It has nothing to do with the end times
It has nothing to do with the second coming of Jesus Christ
It has nothing to do with predicting the future
It's just preaching to a young man that he should stay away from alcohol
and these are the things you should look for in the right kind of a wife
and God calls that a prophecy
because prophesying is just preaching
So the Bible says back in 1 Corinthians 14
Verse 1
Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts
but rather that you may prophesy
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
but he that prophesies speaketh unto men
to edification and exhortation and comfort
he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself
but he that prophesieth edifieth the church
You see what he's explaining here at Corinth is that
when they would come together for church
they could not have a multiplicity of languages being used
because the church could not be edified
For example, I've sat in church before
and the pastor said to a gentleman in the church
who was a Hispanic man
He said, so and so, would you lead us in prayer?
And this guy stood up and prayed in Spanish
Well guess what?
No one else in that whole church spoke Spanish except this guy
And I don't know if the guy was just trying to be funny
or I don't know why he did that
Maybe he was just because he wasn't that good in English
Like his English kind of stammered and stuttered a little bit
So he probably felt more comfortable praying in Spanish
So he stood up and prayed in Spanish
And to everyone who's listening it was just total gibberish
You know, like, what? What are you saying?
Because nobody in the church
I understand Spanish now, but back then I didn't understand Spanish
And so I heard this guy stand up and pray in Spanish
and no one understood him
Now, he was speaking to God, wasn't he?
God heard his prayer
and I'm sure he had a lot of great things to say in that prayer
But did it edify the church?
Did it build up the church at all?
Did anybody else receive any edifying?
Look at verse number 16
It says here
So basically, if that guy gets up and prays in Spanish
Usually when someone prays, what do people say at the end of praying?
Amen
A lot of times, all pray and then maybe 20 people will say, amen
You know, everybody will say, amen
Because they're basically just saying, yes, I agree with that
You know, yep, I pray that same prayer right there
Well, if a guy stands up in Spanish
And I'm thinking of this particular instance when this guy stood up and prayed in Spanish
A whole bunch of people said, amen
But I did not say, amen
Because I'm not going to amen something that I don't even understand
I'm not going to say amen when I don't even know what he said
And that's what he said
How can someone say, amen
When you get up and give thanks or pray or whatever in an unknown job
They don't even know what you're saying
And God is saying here that there will be confusion in the church
If you use a variety of languages
That's why the church should use one language
Now there are all different languages in this world
There's nothing wrong with any of them
It's not that one language is better than another
It's just that in a church, you have to have one language
So that everyone, the Bible says that all may hear
And that all may be edified
It's not like, well half of our church speaks Spanish anyway
So we're going to have a Spanish preacher come in and preach to us in Spanish today
No
God says every single person in the church should be able to understand what's being preached
Everybody
And by the way, this is part of what's wrong with the Roman Catholic Church
Because for centuries they preached in a language that no one understood
Didn't they? Latin
People would go to church their whole life
And have no idea what was being preached
And just say Amen blindly to something in Latin
And even today in Phoenix, Arizona
There are Catholic churches that still do Mass in Latin
And no one even understands what's being said
And that will not profit anyone anything
Actually they're probably better off not hearing it anyway
Because it's false teaching anyway
So maybe it's better that it's in Latin
But who are they kidding?
Oh it just makes me feel good to go to church
And to hear a bunch of stuff in a language that you don't understand
Now look, God said here that if somebody does speak in an unknown tongue
If somebody is there to preach
That there should be someone to interpret
It says in verse number 13
Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue
Pray that he may interpret
For if I pray in an unknown tongue
My spirit pray
But my understanding is unfruitful
It's not going to bring forth any fruit he's saying
Because no one can understand what I'm saying
It's not going to help anyone else
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
He's saying I don't want to sing a song in a language I don't understand
Right? I don't want to pray a prayer that I don't understand in Latin
A language that I don't even know
Look at verse number 18
Or verse 17
For thou verily give us thanks well
But the other is not edified
He's saying if you're doing it in another language
Verse 18
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all
Yet in the church
I'd rather speak five words with my understanding
That by my voice I might teach others also
Than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue
Now look at verse 27
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
Now this is where people will twist this
The modern day charismatic movement
Your faith healers
Your Benny Hinn, you know, slapping people on the forehead
Falling down on the ground, rolling in the aisles
Kind of crazy tongue speaking kind of a crowd
Where they'll abuse this
And they'll try to say see
Speaking in an unknown tongue
It's a language that nobody knows
But that's not what he's saying
He's saying it's unknown to the church
Not that it's unknown to everybody
Because he said if a man speaks in an unknown tongue
Have an interpreter
So if nobody knew that language
How could you have an interpreter?
You see what I'm saying?
He said if someone is speaking in an unknown tongue
You need an interpreter
Let's say there was just some great preacher
Powerful preacher and he only preached in Spanish
Right?
And we really wanted to have this guy come preach at Faithful Word Baptist Church
Because he's such a great preacher
But the only problem is Faithful Word Baptist Church operates in English
And most of the people who come here only speak English
What we would have to do is we would put him behind the pulpit
And then we'd have an interpreter, right?
So he would preach in Spanish
And then me or someone else would interpret it in English
I've been to Germany
And in Germany you never guess what language we had church in
German
We didn't do stuff in English
We didn't sing English songs and have English preaching
So sometimes a preacher would come in from America
Okay?
And I've even preached over there before
And whenever I preached there was an interpreter
Because this is before I spoke German fluently
And so I would speak in English
And then someone would interpret it into German for me
You see?
And that's how I was able to preach
In a language where they did not understand
Or in a country where they did not understand my language
So there's nothing here about this bizarre kind of tongue speaking
That you hear about
Now let me tell you about my one experience with tongue speaking
I had this experience, no I'm just kidding
But anyway
I basically
Was a teenager
And I was riding a bus one day in Roseville, California
And a guy started inviting me to his church
And I asked him about the church
And I said, so is it the King James Bible?
Oh yeah, it's King James
I said, you know, what about salvation?
He's given me all the right answers
Sounded great
So I said okay, I'll check it out
So I show up at this church and he said
Yeah, they have this great youth night, this teenager service
On like a Thursday night or whatever
So I show up on a Thursday night and there's like 200 teenagers there
So I was thinking, oh this is great, wow I can make some new friends and everything
A lot of teens here, this should be good
So I get there
And they have like a rock band on stage
So they start playing like all the Christian rock and everything
And they're rocking out
And so I'm sitting there and
They rock out through about like 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 songs
So I'm kind of waiting for the preaching
You know, I'm kind of thinking like okay, you know, it's a lot of music
You know, can we get to some Bible preaching?
You know, are we going to learn anything here?
And they would kind of maybe talk for about 10 or 15, 20 seconds between songs
But there wasn't really any kind of a lesson or preaching or Bible or anything like that
So, you know, I was just kind of waiting for the preaching
Well all of a sudden
This girl that was literally, and this is a room with like 200 and some people in it
But I was just right in the row with this one girl
That was probably like 8 seats down from me
All of a sudden, she just started like rocking back and forth
And like ahhh, you know
So I look over at her and I thought that she was having a seizure
Like I thought she was epileptic
Because just a week before
I was at Round Table Pizza and this girl was playing a video game
And basically just fell on the ground and started having a seizure
And I was the one who had to make the 911 call
And it was, you know, she had been taking some drugs and everything
And so therefore she had a seizure
And it looked pretty similar
You know, so I see this girl
And then this other girl comes over and starts kind of consoling her
Like puts her arm around her
I thought, oh this poor girl is epileptic
You know, and this other girl is trying to make her feel better
And trying to calm her down a little bit
And she's like ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh
You know, this kind of weird stuff
So I'm just, I'm just like man, I feel sorry for this girl
You know, because I had no clue
I had never seen this so-called tongue speaking before
So it made me really, you know, a little nervous
But it was like, is she okay?
Is somebody going to call the, you know, like
Like this girl needs help, do you need to take her out of here?
Or get a paramedic or whatever
Well next thing I know, you know
We get to the end of the song
And this guy comes up to the microphone
And he was like the youth pastor or whatever
And he said, you know, he said, you know, the altar's open
We're going to have an altar call
You know, he said, if you need to, if you're not saved
You know, you can come down the aisle and get saved
Or he said, if you're, if you're not right with God
If you want to rededicate yourself to the Lord
Come on down here
Or he said, or maybe you just haven't spoken in tongues in a while
Come on down here and speak in tongues
Now when he said that, I was like, whoa
Because I'd heard about, I'd heard of that before
This is when I was 17
I was thinking to myself, wow, I've heard of that before
And when he said that
All of a sudden a whole bunch of people started doing it
That opened the floodgates
Because first it was just this one girl
I thought she had epilepsy
Well next thing you know, all kinds of people are
You know, just freaking out
And it was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen
I got scared
So I got up and walked out and left the service
And I had a ride picking me up
I just waited outside until my ride got there
And the sounds coming out of that building just got weirder and weirder
Okay
And there never was any preaching
It was just basically a lot of music
A lot of emotion
And then this bizarre tongue speaking
Okay
Now let me tell you something about the girl
That I saw eight seats down
She was not in the driver's seat
Now a lot of people say a lot of different things about what this so-called tongue speaking is
And they might say, oh it's just, you know, they're faking it
You know, who's heard people say that?
You know, it's fake, they're faking it
Now I'm sure that there probably is a lot of faking it going on
I'm sure there aren't a lot of people faking it
But let me tell you something
I don't think that girl was faking it
Honestly
Now who's ever been exposed to tongue speaking?
You've seen that kind of service
You've been in a service like that
Let me ask the expert here
Hey, do you think everybody was always faking it?
No
Okay
I talked to a guy that was a youth pastor at one of these tongue speaking churches
And I gave him the Gospel and showed him where he didn't believe the Gospel
And where he wasn't saved
And he was talking to me about tongue speaking
I showed him all this and proved it to him from the Bible
And he said, you're right
What the Bible teaches has nothing to do with what we call tongue speaking
Because he was realizing that his religion was wrong
And he needed to trust Christ as his savior
And here's what he said
He said, well here's what happened when I spoke in tongues
He said, this was the guy that I worked with in the alarm business
He said, basically I just came down the aisle to speak in tongues
And next thing I knew, like 20 minutes had gone by
And he just said that he didn't remember anything
And they just told him, oh you were speaking in tongues
You did all this stuff
And he was like, I didn't remember any of it
I had no clue
And he wasn't trying to defend it to me
Because he was realizing that it was wrong
And he was changing what he believed
But let me tell you something
It is not of God what's going on today in these charismatic churches
It is not the Holy Spirit
It has nothing to do with the word of God
It is something demonic that is happening
I'll come right out and say that, I'm not going to lie to you
And that offends people and that might make you mad
But you know what, if you're mad, you're mad
It's the truth
Because let me tell you something
When some other spirit is taking control of your body
That is not of God
God never has done that throughout the Bible
God never will do that
That is only the devil and demons that will take control of people's bodies
Now let me prove to you that modern day tongue speaking is not of God
First of all, look at verse 32 of 1 Corinthians 14
It says right here
And the spirit 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 first of all, a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit
Is still in control, right?
The spirit of the prophets are subject under the prophets
It's not that they just can't control themselves
And all of a sudden someone else is just using their body
And controlling them and speaking through them
That's not of God
The only time you'll see that in the Bible
Is when someone is possessed with the devil
That's the only time
Remember when Jesus would come upon people
And they were possessed with the devil
And you say, wait a minute, Pastor Anderson
I've seen these people speak in tongues
And they were saying a lot of right things
And a lot of good things
Let's look at some people in the Bible that were demon possessed
Look at Mark chapter 4
I'm sorry, Mark chapter 5
Look at Mark chapter number 5
In Mark chapter number 5
It talks about some people that are possessed with devils
With unclean spirits
What's commonly referred to today as being demon possessed
Watch what they cry out when they see Jesus
It says in verse 6
But when he saw Jesus afar off
He ran and worshipped him
So this guy that is demon possessed
What is he doing?
What's he doing in verse number 6?
Worshipping Jesus, right?
So you say, oh, how can you say they're demon possessed?
They're worshipping Jesus
But hold on
It says here that this guy who is demon possessed
When he saw Jesus afar off
He ran and worshipped him
And cried with a loud voice and said
What have I to do with thee
Jesus, thou son of the most high God
Now is Jesus Christ the son of the most high God?
Yep
I adjure thee by God
That thou torment me not
For he said unto him
This is what Jesus said unto him
Come out of the man thou unclean spirit
And he asked him
What is thy name?
And he answered saying
My name is Legion
For we are many
And he besought him that he would not send him away out of the country
And there was there nigh unto the mountains
A great herd of swine feeding
And all the devils besought him saying
Send us into the swine that we may enter into them
And forthwith Jesus gave them leave
And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine
And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea
There were about 2,000
And were choked in the sea
And they that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country
And they went out to see what it was that was done
Look at verse 15
And they came to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion
Sitting and clothed and in his right mind
And they were afraid
So this guy is possessed with devils
So he's doing all these crazy things
And he's living outside
And he's hanging out at the graveyard
And he's cutting himself
Now who's ever known someone who cuts themselves?
Yeah, it's demonic
It's satanic
You know people would cut themselves
When I was in school there were kids at school that would cut themselves
And it's satanic
And that's what was going on even back then
There's nothing new under the sun
This guy's cutting himself
He's doing all these crazy things
Well when Jesus comes to him
He bows down and starts worshipping Jesus
And saying all these things
Jesus casts out the devil
And then the guy's sitting and clothed
And in his right mind
He's back to normal
Now there are all kinds of stories in the Bible about people being possessed with devils
In the book of Acts there was a girl who was possessed with a devil
And Peter is trying to give the gospel to a man
And they're walking together
Him and this important ruler
And Peter's giving him the gospel
Giving him the gospel
And while Peter's giving him the gospel
There's this crazy girl following him around
And this was a girl that was into witchcraft and everything
But she's demon possessed
And she's basically saying
Hey these men are telling the way to God
I mean everything she said was true
But she was just yelling
And interrupting
And Peter's trying to give the gospel
Finally Peter looks at her and says
He basically casts out this devil out of her
And then basically she was back to normal
Now can a Christian be demon possessed?
Absolutely not
Because the Bible says
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world
The wicked one toucheth him not
1 John chapter 5
But unbelievers can be possessed with devils according to the Bible
It's a true story
And you say
Well how do you know that this modern day tongue speaking is not of God?
First of all because the people who are doing it are not in control
Of what they're saying
Of what they're doing
Of their body
They lose control
I mean I saw people lose control
Brother Garrett will testify that people lost control
People that I've talked to in the tongues movement
They were even promoting it
Said they were totally out of control
That is not biblical
For someone to be not under control of their body or words or actions
Number 1
But number 2
How do I know?
Look at 1 John chapter 5
Here's the other reason why I know that tongue speaking is not of God
Because everyone that I've ever met in my entire life
Or ever seen or ever heard of
Who believed in this modern day tongues movement
Believed that you could lose your salvation
Isn't that the truth?
Every single one of these tongue talkers believes
That you could lose your salvation
Because who are the ones who are doing it?
The Pentecostals, the charismatic movement
And they all teach that you can lose your salvation
Look at 1 John chapter 5
Verse number 10
It says
He that believeth on the Son of God
Talking about Jesus Christ
Has the witness in himself
The witness is the Holy Spirit
From the context verse 8
There are three that bear witness in the earth
The spirit and the water and the blood
These three agree in one
He said
He that believeth on the Son of God
Has the witness in himself
He that believeth not God
Hath made him a liar
Because he believeth not the record
That God gave of his Son
And this is the record
That God has given to us
Eternal life
And this life is in his Son
You see, every single one of these
That believes in this kind of tongue speaking
Does not believe the record
That God gave of his Son
Because they don't believe that God
Has given to us eternal life
They believe he gave us temporary life
They believe he gave us life
But that we're going to lose our salvation
If we don't live right
They believe in a work salvation
They don't believe that salvation
Is just by grace through faith
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
And thou shalt be saved
They don't believe that whosoever believeth in him
Should not perish but have everlasting life
They believe that if you believe on Christ
Well, you're saved
But if you don't live right, you'll lose it
Or if you quit the church, you'll lose it
Or if you backslide, you'll lose it
Or if you commit a really bad sin, you'll lose it
Or if you turn away from God, you'll lose it
But the Bible says that God has given to us eternal life
And if God's given to us eternal life
And this life's in his Son
If somebody doesn't believe that
It says they don't have to witness in themselves
And they're making God a liar
And yet these are the only people
Who are involved in the so-called tongue speaking
People who believe you can lose your salvation
Pentecostals
Charismatics
They're the ones who are doing this
So if the gospel that they preach is the wrong gospel
If it's not salvation by faith alone
Then how can this other practice that they're doing be of God?
It can't be
You see, the Bible says that the devil's transformed into an angel of light
And that his ministers are transformed into ministers of light
If somebody's preaching a totally different gospel
A totally different plan of salvation
A totally different way to heaven
And then all of a sudden they're doing this
You know, am I supposed to believe that's of God or of the devil?
Okay
But there's a third reason why I don't believe that tongue speaking is of God
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14
It says in verse 33
For God is not the author of confusion
But of peace as in all churches of the saints
So the Bible is making it clear all throughout chapter 14
That if someone's speaking and other people don't understand in the church
He said that breeds confusion
And God is not the author of confusion
And he said that's why if anybody speaks a foreign language
There has to be somebody there to interpret that
Or else that person needs to keep silence in the church
He said look, I speak with tongues more than you all
Because Paul was a man who traveled all throughout Asia
All throughout Europe preaching the gospel
And he spoke many foreign languages
You remember Paul spoke Hebrew
Whenever he preached in the book of Acts
When he preached before the whole multitude of the children of Israel
That were gathered in Jerusalem
Paul preached in the Hebrew tongue
And the Bible says that they listened up really carefully
When he switched into Hebrew
Because it was a second language to them
They had to listen more carefully
Paul's language that he was primarily speaking was probably Aramaic
When he spoke Hebrew it made a point to tell us that he spoke Hebrew
But when he talked to the guard and the centurion
He spoke to them in Greek
And they were shocked when they looked at Paul
And said, can't thou speak Greek?
They said, aren't thou not that Egyptian?
He said, I'm not an Egyptian
He said, I'm from Tarsus
He said, I'm a Roman citizen
He said, I speak Greek
And then he started speaking Hebrew
He spoke at least three languages
But because of the fact that we see him traveling to all these different parts of the earth preaching the gospel
He probably spoke 6, 7, 8, 9 languages
He said, that's impossible, nobody speaks that many languages
There are people in this world who can speak almost 20 languages
It's true
Some of the guys who translated the King James Bible
Could speak 18 to 20 languages
I personally could speak 4 languages
And I used to be able to speak 5
But if you don't use it, you lose it
But I can speak 4 languages myself
And I'm not some kind of a total expert
Or just the best language person in the world
And I can speak 4 languages
There are a lot of people who grow up with 2 or 3 languages
And when they grow up with 2 or 3
It's really easy to learn 4th or 5th
Because they already have a lot of the tools to do it
And so Paul said
Hey, I thank my God, verse 18 if you're in 1 Corinthians 14
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than y'all
Yet in the church
I'd rather speak 5 words
With my understanding
That by my voice
I might teach others also
Than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue
Did you hear that?
He said I'd rather stand up in church
And just have a chance to speak 5 words
In a language that you understand
Than to speak 10,000 in an unknown tongue
Because that's not going to edify anybody
That's not going to build anyone up
That's not going to help anyone
And so 5 words
Like how about this
You must be born again
How about believe on the Lord Jesus
You know what I mean
At least that is something
But something in a foreign language isn't going to help anybody
Now I wish somebody would show this chapter of the Bible to these preachers
Who constantly want to go back to the Greek
From the pulpit
Because they're speaking in an unknown tongue
Who in here speaks Greek fluently?
No one
And yet how many times have you heard a pastor
Use the Greek language from behind the pulpit?
Put up your head if you've ever heard a pastor preach Greek
What is the benefit?
The Bible says
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue
Look at verse 14
Or I mean verse 4
Chapter 14 verse 4
He that speaketh in an unknown tongue
Edifyeth himself
But he that prophesieth
Edifyeth the church
So when a guy stands up
And speaks in an unknown tongue
Like he's using Greek or Hebrew
Stuff that you don't even understand
Stuff that truthfully
He probably doesn't even understand
He's trying to build himself up
Who here speaks Spanish?
You know the word edificar?
What does edificar mean?
Edificar means to build up, right?
To build something
Edificio means what in Spanish?
A building
So what do you think edify means?
To build up
So a person who gets up
In front of a church of English speakers
And speaks in a different language
Who is he building up or edifying?
Himself
So if a guy gets up and he's using Greek or Hebrew
Or Latin like in the case of the Catholic Church
And he gets up and speaks in an unknown tongue
He's not building you up
He's building himself up
He's trying to lift himself up
He's trying to say look at me
Look how smart I am
Look how much I know
But the church is not receiving any edifying
The church would receive more edifying
If he would preach unto them the word of God
And prophesy in the language that they speak
Which is English
And if he's in Germany preach it in German
If you're in Mexico preach it in Spanish
But preach in a language that people understand
But I'll take it a step further
What about using words that people don't understand
Big theological jargon
That's not even biblical terms
What good will it do for me to use words
And go back to 1 Corinthians 2
Big fancy words that are not in the Bible
Am I edifying you or edifying myself?
If I get up and use the word
Theophany
Christophany
Protoevangelium
If I use these words like sovereignty
You say that's in the Bible
No it isn't
The word sovereignty is not in the Bible
If I get up and use these big fancy theological terms
And you say sovereignty is in the Bible
If you have the non-inspired version it is
In the King James Bible it's not there
You get up and use these fancy words
These fancy terms
To lift yourself and build yourself up
Look at 1 Corinthians 2 verse 13
Which things also we speak
Not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth
The words that man's wisdom and the theology
And the doctors and professors will use
But he says but which the Holy Ghost teacheth
That's the words of the Bible
God's word
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual
Go back to 1 Corinthians 14
It says in verse 8
1 Corinthians 14 8
For if the trumpet giveth uncertain sound
Who shall prepare himself to the battle?
So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue
Words easy to be understood
How shall it be known what is spoken?
For ye shall speak into the air
He says look if you're using words that people don't understand
You're speaking into the air
You're just a bunch of hot air
You know if you just have all these big fancy words
And you have to use all these fancy terms of
You know total depravity
You know and brother Carl's isn't here
But me and brother Carl's we were looking at the statement of faith of a church
And I mean I could not even understand the statement of faith
It was such big words
It was saying it was like how to be saved
And it's saying that you have to have this cordial
Penitent obedient faith
Realizing your own depravity
And it was just like using all these big words
That are not biblical that are not found in the Bible
That are not to the express purpose that maybe people understand
But rather just to sound fancy
And look when I preach
My goal is that you understand what's being preached
I mean is everybody understanding the sermon this morning?
I don't think anybody's confused right now
And if you go to church and you're confused
It's not because of God
Because God's not the author of confusion
If you go to church and you're confused
It's because somebody behind the Pope is trying to edify themselves
Instead of trying to edify you
You see the purpose is to take God's word
Take the Bible and to clearly express it in plain language
And to make it simple for people to understand
Not to make it more complicated
To break it down and express it
Whenever we communicate our goal is to make ourself clear
Not to be like a politician
You know who you could ask them a direct question
And says oh well and they just kind of say a lot without saying it
Politicians can talk for like two minutes without saying it
It's really talent
They can go on for like five minutes and you're like
Did he answer the question?
What did he just say?
But sometimes preaching can be the same way
You'll go to church and you'll hear
It's kind of like Charlie Brown
Remember how Charlie Brown
Like when the parents would talk
It was just like wah wah wah wah
Who knows what I'm talking about?
A lot of times you go to church and it's just like
Wah wah wah wah
Grace wah wah wah
Mercy wah wah
Peace wah wah wah wah
Lord Jesus
You hear these buzzwords every once in a while
You're talking about Jesus, the Bible, God, faith
But you're like what is the sermon about?
And literally whenever I went to a sermon that I liked
Like where I walked down and said wow that was a good sermon
If somebody asked me what it was about I could always tell them
Like if I said man that was a good sermon
What was it about?
It was about speaking in tongues
Or hey what was that sermon about?
It was about the Bible being God's word
Or that every word matters
It's every word
What was that sermon about?
It was about the deity of Jesus Christ
What was that sermon about?
It was about the resurrection
But how many times I've asked somebody what was that sermon about
And you're like I don't even know what it was about
Because it wasn't clear
Or you're like where does the pastor stand on speaking in tongues?
I mean is there any question about where I stand on the subject right now?
Speaking with tongues biblically is speaking a foreign language
Spanish, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Zulu
That's speaking with tongues
And this stuff where people are falling on the ground
Rocking back and forth drooling or speaking in gibberish
Is not of God but it is of the devil
Now is there anybody that didn't understand what I just said?
I mean it's clear isn't it?
But I've only got a little time left
I don't want to spend my whole sermon on that
Let's go to the positive
That was the negative part of the sermon
So you know we're all through with that stuff
So anyway now we can get a little more positive
So we talked about what is the false speaking in tongues didn't we?
It's not right, it's not of God
And it is scary, it is creepy, it is weird
And you know what the world looks at it and thinks Christians are weirdos
I mean if somebody showed me and said let me show you a religion Christianity
And they took me to one of those types of services
I would say you know what Christianity is a cult
I mean it's weird, it's crazy
I mean there are all kinds of bizarre churches out there doing a lot of bizarre things
They're giving Christianity a bad name
Like these ones where they handle snakes in the services
You know and they say oh we have to handle these snakes to prove that we're spiritual
And the pastor had been bit like 20 times
It's like that
But he's still trying to work up to it you know
It's weird, it's bizarre
And you know what usually when something seems weird and bizarre that's because it is weird and bizarre
And so beware of this so called tongue speaking
But what is the real application?
What is God trying to teach us here?
A good aspect of speaking with tongues
Well what God is trying to teach us and if you would turn to Revelation chapter 7
Revelation chapter number 7
And in fact let's go ahead and look at Revelation 5, 9 first
It says, and they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof
For thou wast slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation
And has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth
Look at Revelation 7 verse 9
It says in Revelation 7, 9 after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number
Of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb
Clothed with white robes and palms in their hands and cried with a loud voice saying salvation to our God
Which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb
So according to these verses in heaven there will be people in heaven speaking all different tongues
Did you notice how it said they were there from all kindreds, all tongues in chapter 5 verse 9 for example
All languages in Revelation 7, 9 he said all nations, all kindreds, all people, all tongues
So this is talking about in the future
In heaven at the end of it all what John was seeing there were people in heaven from every single language and nation in the world
Why? Because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life
It's God's desire that the gospel would be preached in every language so that people from all nations would get a chance to hear the gospel and be saved
You see that's what separates Christianity from all these false religions by the way
You know you knock on the door of someone who says they're a Hindu, what country do you think they're from?
India
You pretty much know for sure they're from India because you don't run into a black person usually that says I'm Hindu
You don't usually run into a white person that says I'm Hindu
I mean 99.9999% of Hindus are all the same nationality, Indian, as in from East India
If somebody says my religion is peyote what nationality do you think that person is? Navajo
And guess what? 99.99% of people who are peyote are Navajos unless they just like to do drugs so they just joined or whatever
But the point is these languages are not, I mean these religions are not in every language, they're not in every nation
Look at Islam, and Islam is in more places but still 99% of Islam is going to be within just a couple nationalities
99% of Islam is either going to be Arabic or North Africa or Indonesia, I mean that's pretty much the main place
It's pretty much people from a certain area, it's a certain nationality
Muslims in America account for like what? Less than 1% of the population?
And most of those are what? Immigrants from Arabic countries, immigrants from Indonesia, immigrants from places like that
Buddhism, I mean who are 99% of the Buddhists in the world? Chinese
Shintoism, 99.99% of them are Japanese
But what about Christianity my friend, what about Christianity? What nationality is Christianity?
It's all nations, I mean there are tons of Christians all over the world, in all nations, in all languages
The Quran hasn't been translated into every language but the Bible has been translated into every language in the world
The Hindu scriptures have not been translated into every language but the holy Bible is found in India
I gave the gospel to two Hindu young men this week and I got through the whole plan of salvation with them, talked to them for about 20 minutes
and clearly went through the gospel with them and they said to me there are tons of Christians in India, that's what they told me
They said oh yeah, we're from the southern tip of India and there are tons of Christians over there
There are Christians all over Africa, there are Christians all over Asia, you can't even begin to say where are the most Christians
They're distributed all over Europe, America, Mexico, Canada, South America, Africa, Asia
God's word is available at the 99 cent store, you can buy a copy of God's perfect word, the King James Bible at the Dollar Tree
It's all nations, it's all languages because Christianity is a religion of the one true God of the entire world and he wants everybody to know about it
But let me tell you something, just because God's word is available in these languages that doesn't mean everybody's heard the gospel
Because we live in America and yet in America I knock doors every week and run into hundreds of people where I ask them
Do you know for sure if you died did you go to heaven and they say I don't know or I think so because I'm a good person
And I'll say do you know Jesus, oh yeah Jesus, they know who Jesus is but they don't know how to be saved because they think that they're going to go to heaven just by being a good person
They're like well I hope so you know if I'm good enough, they don't know the message of the Bible that the gift of God is eternal life
They don't know for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast
And so if they don't know it here in America, let me tell you something, in places like Norway where I've gone, almost nobody knows the gospel
They've heard of Jesus, they have the Bible in their language but yet many many people are unsaved
Germany is the same thing, down in Mexico most people are Roman Catholic
You know they know who Jesus is but it's not the Jesus of the Bible and it's not the salvation of God's Word
They think it's religion of salvation through the church, salvation by confessing to the priest, getting baptized, going through all these different things
They don't know the true gospel of Jesus Christ so therefore God wants us to preach the gospel
He said ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth
It is our job as Christians to preach the gospel to every creature and not just every English speaking creature
But every creature in this world we need to preach them the gospel, we need to get the gospel to them
Now God gives certain people talents and abilities in different areas
Some people have a talent and an ability of speaking other languages, Paul was one of those people
Now God performed a miracle at the day of Pentecost, why?
Because he wanted to get the gospel out fast to a large group of people right away that were all gathered there from all different languages
So he performed a miracle, but let me tell you something
God is not going to miraculously give you the ability to speak Spanish because he doesn't have to
You have the books available if you wanted to learn, you have the tools, God's given you a mind and a brain
He doesn't expect you to just wait on some miracle from God to start giving the gospel to people from India
No, you're going to have to learn the Hindi language and bring the gospel to those people
Paul had to study and work to learn the languages that he spoke and God's not always going to part the river every time you want to cross the river
Usually you have to build a bridge across the river
I mean every time I drive up to the salt river it doesn't just park before me
Because there's no water there anyway, but if there were water, pretend that there was water
But look, I do a lot of driving, I've never yet come to a river where God just parted it before me
Really?
And man, really, man has to build a bridge
God expects us to work and do things ourself
You know when God steps in with a miracle is when we can't do it ourself
He'll come in and do a miracle sometimes to bail us out or to help us out
Something that's beyond our power
But you know what, when it's within our power He expects us to do it ourself
I don't get up every morning and just pray
God, please just miraculously feed my family and then just wait at home for the miracle to show up
No, God tells me no, go out and work and do it yourself
And God tells a study to show thyself approved unto God
A workman that need not to be ashamed, brightly divided in the word of truth
If you have a talent and an ability you should make it your goal and your mission in life to get the gospel to people of another nationality
For example, we're surrounded by Spanish speaking people
And therefore it would behoove us to learn how to speak Spanish to give those people the gospel of Jesus Christ to get them saved
You say, well I think they should learn English, you know
Well, so what?
So what if they should learn English?
That's not even the point
Whether or not they should or shouldn't learn English, I still want them to go to heaven
Either way
I don't care if they're here for 50 years and never learn English
I'm going to give them the gospel in Spanish because I want them to be saved
And if I don't give them the gospel, I don't know if anybody else is going to do it
That's why we learn Spanish and that's why we should preach the gospel to them in Spanish
But you know, just right over here, three or four miles away
There's a huge group of literally several hundred people all living in one block that all speak Swahili and Somali
You know, that would be an opportunity right there
And that's why some of us in the church have learned some Swahili
You know, we have a lot more to learn
That's an opportunity right there to get the gospel to some people from Africa
That could then bring the gospel back to Africa, they can talk to their friends and relatives
That could be a way to be a missionary to Africa right here in Phoenix, Arizona
We've gone over there and want people to Christ over there
We've had people saved that spoke English
Some of them only speak a little bit of English
And so you can kind of give them like what I have is a Swahili Bible
And I would give them the verses in Swahili, I learned how to pronounce it
And then I would explain it to them in English and kind of do a mixture
You know, God sees that and God likes that and God can use us to reach people around the world
Some people cannot learn a foreign language to save their life
You know what I mean, it's just really hard for them
But other people, God's given talent and ability in that area
And if you have that ability, you should use that ability for the Lord
Instead of trying to learn a dead language
Or something that's not really going to profit anybody or get anybody saved
You ought to point your language learning efforts towards something you can use to win somebody to Christ
Spanish, Swahili, whatever, you pick the language
And I guarantee you when you learn that language, it will give you an opportunity to give the gospel right here in America
Because we have people in America from all different places
I'm in the airport, I'll run into people who speak Swahili
I ran into a lady out in Sonya State that spoke Dutch
I used to speak a lot of Greek, okay
And I've run into people who were Greek
And I talked to them a little bit in Greek
I wasn't fluent in Greek to give them the gospel
But it provided a way to open the door
Because when they heard me speak their own language, it softened them up a little bit
And then they were willing to listen to the gospel and God saved
I want a girl to the Lord
I'm thinking of a specific girl that I wanted the Lord
In her 20's
Who was a native of Greece
And because I talked to her in Greek
That made her want to talk to me
And therefore I was able to win her to Christ
And yet all these dead head theologians
Study all their ancient Greek
And by the way, let me explain some to you
Ancient Greek and modern Greek are the same language
Did you know that?
They are
People will try to lie to you
And tell you, oh it's a totally different Greek
It's coin-aid Greek, it's totally different
That is not true
If Socrates and Aristotle and Pluto
Who lived several hundred years before Jesus Christ
Were put in a time machine and brought to modern Greece
They could pick up the newspaper and read it perfectly
And the only words that they would not understand are words like airplane
You know, car, computer
They would understand the rest of it perfectly
The only difference is the pronunciation
But guess what?
How do you know how something was pronounced 2,000 years ago?
Did they have a tape recorder?
No
So today people go to Bible colleges
And they study a dead pronunciation
They learn how to pronounce Greek like it was maybe
Sort of pronounced 2,000 years ago
In the time of Christ
When they could be learning the modern pronunciation
Because maybe they might be able to actually win somebody to Christ
Or maybe they could actually get on an airplane and go to Greece
And go soloing and knock doors
But no
They'd rather stand up behind a pulpit and edify themselves
And talk to a bunch of English speakers
In a language that they don't even understand
That they're not even fluent in
Just to sound smart
Well, the Greeks here believe it's actually piscuo
Well, so what?
Piscuo
And in the Greek when it says heart, it's actually cardia
Well, so what?
In Spanish it's corazón
And in German it's herz
Isn't that amazing?
Don't you know the Bible better now?
Don't you feel better now that you came to church and learned something?
But rather we need to use unknown tongues or foreign languages
To get people the gospel to get them saved
That's the only purpose to learn a foreign language
Not to get up and make yourself smart
And to correct and change the Bible
And so I would challenge you today
If you're talented in that area
If you have the mind for it
Why not learn a foreign language
So that you could give people the gospel in that language
The harvest truly is plenteous
But the laborers are few
You know, when I go out soloing door to door
Half the people I run into
Seems like in a lot of neighborhoods
Don't speak any English at all
And thank God I'm able to win many people to the Christ in Spanish
I usually get at least one person saved in Spanish every week of my life
But why?
Because I took the time to learn Spanish
And it's not easy to learn Spanish, is it?
It takes a lot of work
It takes a lot of dedication
But if you're learning Spanish to give people the gospel
You're serving God
I mean, that's work that you're doing for God
When I learned German
Hey, that has helped me to win people to Christ
It's worth it to me
The hours that I put in to learn it
Or whatever other language
And so understand something
The world is going to hell, my friend
And if you'll learn a foreign language
Maybe God could even use you someday to be a missionary
In that foreign country
Maybe even to go there and start a church in a foreign country
That's dying for the gospel
Maybe you could go to India and start a church there
That's a Bible believing church
Maybe you could go to Mexico
Maybe you could go to Europe
Maybe you could go to one of these places and start a church
And win people to Christ
Or God can use you to win souls right here
This is like a Pentecost right here in Phoenix
If we can win them to the Lord here
They can bring the gospel home to their country
And so that's what God gave us foreign languages
And the ability and the gift to speak with other tongues
Is to get people saved
Not this other junk that you see going on in churches
People rolling in the aisle
Or people just getting behind a pulpit trying to sound smart
By speaking Latin or Greek or Hebrew
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer
Father, thank you so much for the clear teaching of your word
And Father, I pray that every single person
Would understand and comprehend the lesson today
And Father, I pray that you would just help us to be motivated
To win souls to Christ
Help us, dear God, if we know foreign languages
Help us to find people in that language and get them saved
And help those that have a talent for learning languages
To maybe choose the language of some group of people
That God would give them a burden for
Whether it be the Hindus
Whether it be people in Africa
Whether it be people in Europe or people in Asia
Help us to learn those languages and use them
To see people saved, dear God
That the world would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen
Alright, let's go ahead and sing a quick song before we go
Let's sing the song Send the Light
And that song is found on page number 374
Send the Light, the Blessed Gospel Light
Let's sing it out
Song number 374
374, let's sing it out on that first verse
There's a call comes ringing o'er the restless waves
Send the Light, Send the Light
There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save
Send the Light, Send the Light
Send the Light, the Blessed Gospel Light
Let it shine from shore to shore
Send the Light, the Blessed Gospel Light
Let it shine forevermore
We have heard the Macedonian call today
Send the Light, Send the Light
And a golden offering at the cross we lay
Send the Light, Send the Light
Send the Light, the Blessed Gospel Light
Let it shine from shore to shore
Send the Light, the Blessed Gospel Light
Let it shine forevermore
Alright, we're dismissed. Thanks for being here today
Thank you