TONGUES II
OPEN: This lesson is the second and final part of a two part lesson about the use of tongues and the theological debate that is attached with this topic. Just to repeat again, the reason for teaching youth topics that many feel “aren’t life topics like sex, drugs, love, etc” is because it is our belief that youth not fully grounded in the Word and its like theology have a tremendously high rate of falling a way. As for those who enter in to this lesson with certain beliefs on tongues, though there is absolutely no intent to alter or change the way a person thinks on a certain topic, our hope would be only for a clear understanding of the scriptures. Remember, “sola scriptura” or “scripture only” is how we make our decisions and our beliefs.
BIBLE VERSE: ACTS 2:4-21
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
QUESTIONS:
1. What about those Christians who believe glossolalia (the act of babbling with many others) has a Biblical supernatural explanation?
2. Is speaking in tongues evidence of the Holy Spirit?
3. Is praying in tongues a prayer language between a believer and God?
4. So what is praying in tongues & how is it different than speaking in tongues?
5. Is praying in tongues a secret code language?
ANSWERS:
1. What about those Christians who believe glossolalia (the act of babbling with many others) has a Biblical supernatural explanation? There are people, in fact some very strong Christians, who are convinced that the moot babbling of dozens of people while in a mode of prayer produces ancient languages that can somehow talk to God better than just speaking what is in your heart (in writing this, I have assumed you have already read the term glossolalia and how it was defined in the lesson called Tongues I). And to those people, I do not wish to hinder or hurt their walk with the Lord in any such way. In my experience, if someone wants to “fight” the argument of tongues, in my opinion it’s not a fight worth fighting over (as it has been said, a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still).
But to answer the question from the opposite point of view, let’s hear out the argument…
There are some Christians, especially within the Pentecostal movement, who believer there is a supernatural explanation for glossolalia, for they believe the chief purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues is to manifest the Holy Spirit being poured out upon them just as on the day of Pentecost in accordance of Acts 2 which had been prophesized in the book of Joel.
But in accordance with Acts 2, those people spoke actual languages and did not produce ramblings of sounds that had no meaning to nearby listeners. Remember, onlookers said essentially “I hear them in my own tongue,” they did not say, “oh what wonderful sounding non-meaning words” I am hearing.
But most importantly, if glossolalia were of God, then why when the act is practiced in churches is their no uniform operation of the gift. For example, some are adamant that it is indeed a gift of the Holy Spirit, while others minimize its importance by pointing out that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 that speaking in tongues was not nearly as important as other languages.
Finally, what happened after Acts 2 and Pentecost? Well, obviously the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to every end of the kingdom and the believers had so much power through the spirit that they were moved to holiness and a conviction to witness. Does that happen every Sunday at churches that have a Pentecost movement? I mean, if “Pentecost” happens at that church every Sunday, then why has the spirit not used those followers to reach the entire world yet? Again, I am not trying to be critical of a person’s individual faith, and if there was a single episode in the Bible where the act of babbling occurred in the scripture, then I would be at the very least silent on the issue. It’s just not there.
2. Is speaking in tongues evidence of the Holy Spirit? There are three instances in the book of Acts where speaking in tongues accompanied the receiving of the Holy Spirit: Acts 2:4, Acts 10:44-46, Acts 19:6. However, these three occasions are the only places in the Bible where speaking in tongues is an evidence of the Holy Spirit (there are other evidences as well obviously). Yet, throughout the entire book of Acts, thousands of people believe in Jesus and nothing is said about them speaking in tongues. Moreover, nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that speaking in tongues is the ONLY evidence a person has received the Holy Spirit. In fact, the New Testament teaches the OPPOSITE of that. We are told that every believer in Christ has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9, 1 Cor 12:13, Ephesians 1:13-14), but NOT every believer speaks in tongues (1 Cor 12:29-31). Speaking in tongues is nowhere presented as something all Christians should except when they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and are therefore baptized in the Holy Spirit.
3. Is praying in tongues a prayer language between a believer and God? The idea of this comes from Romans 8:26 when it states, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” On the surface, this seems to indicate that tongues are a prayer language.
But a second look takes fault with the idea. First, the scripture states that the SPIRIT GROANS. When people are using what they call tongues, THE PEOPLE ARE GROANING, it’s a big difference. People cannot turn on and turn off the spirit.
Next, the scripture states here that the GROANS CANNOT EXPRESS WORDS. Okay, so maybe the tongue is more like babbling than a word. But, why would there be any sound at all. Besides, the idea that these babbling phrases are groans that cannot be expressed…well…they are still being expressed.
4. So what is praying in tongues & how is it different than speaking in tongues? 1 Corinthians 14:13-17 indicates that praying in tongues is also to be interpreted. As it result, it seems that praying in tongues was offering a prayer to God. This is where people develop the idea that a tongue is a personal prayer language with the Lord. Then again, this interpretation does not agree with those who view praying in tongues as a prayer language. Thus, it is conceived that:
A) Praying is tongues is a personal prayer language between a believer and God
B) That a believer uses tongues to edify himself.
Those who stand by this illustration point to 1 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Corinthians 14:4 as the Biblical reasoning for such a manifestation.
But, these ideas raise some really interesting questions that seem to refute it (thus making it unbiblical):
A) How could praying in tongues be a private prayer language if it is to be interpreted?
B) How could praying in tongues be for self-edification when Scripture states that the spiritual gifts are for the edification of the church—NOT self?
C) How can praying in tongues be a private prayer language if the gift of tongues is a “sign to unbelievers”?
D) How can praying in tongues be a gift for self-edification if NOT every believer can possess it?
The “tongue is a special prayer language” just doesn’t hold up to scripture. Again, it’s not what I believe but what does the book say? Make sense?
5. Is praying in tongues a secret code language? Some understand praying in tongues to be a “secret code language” that prevents Satan and his demons from understanding our prayers and thereby gaining an advantage over us. This idea is unbiblical for the following reasons:
A) The New Testament consistently describes tongues as a human language.
B) The Bible records countless numbers of people praying out loud in their own languages, out loud, with no concern of Satan intercepting the prayer.
C) Trying to hide a prayer from Satan’s hearing is informally admitting that God is not all-powerful but instead reveals Him as a God who needs a covert operation in order to win.
D) We are not to fear the Devil, we are to stand against him. Is refusing to pray taking that stand?
The important thing we all must understand, is that we base our faith on Scripture—NOT experience. I know of many people who have had fantastic emotional experiences praying in this “language.” I am not doubting that they were praying, as people can pray with both heart, mind, and mouth. I am just stating that the “words” coming out were meaningless and the reason why their prayers were heard was because of God hearing their silent requests.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS: I know that these five questions are more technical than the five for last week, but I feel that are deserving to be answered nonetheless. I know I have a habit of going into too much detail in youth lessons, and on these last two I stand guilty as charged. But honestly, and I know this is hard to believe, I actually cut out a ton. Issues such as being “drunk in the Holy Ghost” or “cessationism” or others I did not address out of fear of being redundant at this age. If you want answers to those, let me know individually, and thanks for teaching great theology to your small groups.
Sources:
Gotquestions.org. Is speaking in tongues evidence for having the Holy Spirit?
Gotquestions.org. What is praying in tongues? Is praying in tongues a prayer language between a believer and God?