Sunday Night Bible Study - The Holy Spirit - Part 4

Good evening and welcome to Sunday night Bible study with Pastor Josiah Shipley at Witten Baptist Church today

We continue our series on the Holy Spirit And we uh been covering the spiritual gifts, which is one of the ministries of the

Holy Spirit And today we're going to spend a little bit of time and maybe next week too on the gift of tongues now

I need let's set some ground rules Our goal today is simply to discover or to study

What does that mean? What is the gift of tongues? Are these human languages of these angelic ecstasies?

What are these? Tongues this gift that the spirit gives his church and what's its purpose?

After we talk about that. Um We'll then talk about exactly what paul was allowing and not allowing in first corinthians 14

And after we do that And this might be next week of the week after we will discuss two terms known as cessation cessationism or continuationism in other words

Have all these gifts including miracles healings tongues Um And and the like have these prophecies have these continued today or have they ceased with the death of the apostles

Now we're going to talk about what tongues are what that gift is And then we'll talk about whether it has continued to our day or did it cease in the first century with the death of the apostles

In other words, are they signed gifts for the apostles so that their authority could be credited and believed?

Or are they meant for regular normative practice in the church? But again first let's talk about what are the gift of tongues now to me.

This is the most controversial gift. It shouldn't be because It's badly misunderstood

It is badly abused and misused and because people

Don't like talking about things that either make them feel uncomfortable Or that go against what they've always experienced remember guys experience

Is a mode of learning it is not the all end all of what truth is

Okay, truth is beyond your experience. We've talked about before there are many sincere

Atheists there are many sincere muslims in the world. Their sincerity doesn't make it true.

By the way, neither There's our sincerity truth stands on its own So Let's start with the first time we see the gift of tongues

Well, let me back up so the gift of tongues appears in two you could argue for three Books of the new testament.

That's it. It appears in the book of acts several times. It appears in first corinthians chapters 12 through 14 um

And you can make an argument there's an appearance at the end of mark, but that's a textual variant

We can talk about that another day. So at least two maybe three books in the new testament um

There are some misconceptions. I want to make sure we're clear You're going to hear people say that every time someone gets saved in the book of acts they speak in tongues.

That is not true In fact, it only happens three times in the book of acts

Okay Um Additionally all the other conversions we see like the eunuch, uh, we don't see that Okay.

Um When we talk about what the gift of tongues in is we start in acts chapter two

This is pentecost and i'm going to read a section This is verse one when the day of pentecost arrived

They were all together in one place and suddenly there came from heaven a sound Like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting

And divided tongues as a fire appeared to them rested on each one of them And they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance

All right. So what is that? First off remember we've covered this before pentecost penta means 50.

Uh, this is the feast of weeks. Um or um

Yeah, the feast of weeks sometimes referred to as first fruits, I don't think i'm

I'm, not mixing that up. Okay. Yeah. Um This took place 50 days after the passover and the purpose the purpose of Pentecost was to offer your first harvest of the year not knowing what the other harvest would be as an act of faith

Um to god and gave your first fruits to him The first harvest you have of the year well

This is the creation of the church. It is the first fruits of the church of god's called out people that he is saving

Okay and here we have

The apostles and and 120, uh in the upper room In the holy spirit wrestling and it says they speak in other tongues

Not sure what that means. Yeah, let's keep reading first off Verse five now dwelling in jerusalem

Jews, this is one of the three festivals where all the men had to travel to jerusalem to celebrate it So there were people from all over devout men from every nation under heaven

And at the sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language

They were all amazed and asana saying are not all these speaking galileans. How is it that we hear each of us in our own?

native language Parthians and medes and elamites and the residents of mesopotamia and judea and cappadocia and pontius in asia, excuse me

And and egypt and liberia and and visitors from rome jews and proselytes and cretans and arabians

Arabians, i'm, sorry and they were all Hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of god

They were all amazed and perplexed with one another saying what does this mean but others mocking said they're filled with new wine so Peter and the others are speaking the apostles and the 120 and everyone is hearing them speak in their own language

Okay 15 different languages we have here and they're all hearing him. He's not speaking all those languages.

They're hearing them in their own language Verse 14 peter standing with the 11 lifted up his voice and addressed them men of judea and all who dwell in jerusalem

Let this be known to you and give ear to my words For these people are not drunk as you suppose and it's only uh 9 a .m

But this is what was uttered through the prophet joel And he goes on he reads the passage of joel where joel prophesies

About pentecost and i'll pour out my spirit among them and they will dream dreams and have visions and so on and so forth so What do we know

We know that peter and the apostles are speaking And everyone is hearing them speak in their own human language

Now that's amazing now You can go back and forth and have some debate on whether or not Peter and the apostles are speaking in those languages or people are just hearing their own languages

But either way these are clearly human languages And god is giving people the ability to speak and or understand languages not known to them

That's amazing. That's a miracle Um, these are people that needed to hear the gospel and god gave peter and the apostles the ability to preach to them in their own native languages

Uh, we see that kind of thing happen a few more times in the book of acts

But very little detail is given when it happens whenever this happens All it really says is and they spoke in tongues.

This happens two or three more times in the book of acts like we said I think acts chapter 11

It happens a couple at least once and then uh, it happens

In acts chapter 18 or 19, I believe it was um, so with that with that That's about all we have

Okay, so excuse me so with that If that's all the information we have

We would probably assume that speaking in tongues is the ability to speak languages or have people understand languages unknown to you so like I go to saudi arabia on a mission trip and god gives me the ability to speak arabic so I can witness somebody even though I can't speak arabic

Well, then we go to first corinthians and this is where things get a little Uh difficult if we're not paying attention in first corinthians

Chapter 12 remember first corinthians 12 and romans 12 are the two biggest list of the spiritual gifts

Remember the spirit of sovereign over all the gifts He gives them out as he wills. He distributes them as the wills.

He activates them as they he wills. It's all about him There's no one complete list of the spiritual gifts in the bible but romans 12 and first corinthians 12 lists several of them

And it says in verse 4 first corinthians 12 for now There are a variety of gifts but the same spirit and there are a variety of service

But the same lord the variety of activities, but it's the same god who empowers them all in everyone

To each is given a manifestation of the spirit for the common good For to one is given the spirit of utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit

To another faith by the same spirit to know the gifts of healing by the one spirit to another the working of miracles

To another prophecy to another the ability to distinguish between spirits to another various types of tongues to another the interpretation of tongues

All these are empowered by one and the same spirit Who apportions to each one individually as he wills now notice here.

It's not just tongues. There's also the interpretation of tongues What does that mean?

We'll find out he goes on to say that that you're not allowed to To say that you're more important because you have one gift no one else has because remember the point of spiritual gifts is god

First off he's regenerated dead spirits to save them. But then to be able to serve each other.

He gives them grace He gives them gifts That they can use to serve each other.

Okay Um And he says now you're all the body of christ verse 27 and individual members of it

And god has appointed in the church first apostles second prophets third teachers Then miracles gifts of healing helping administration and various types of tongues are all apostles

Are all prophets are all teachers do all work miracles do all possess possess the Gifts of healing do all speak in tongues to all interpret

But earnestly desire the higher gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way To Then we get the chapter 13.

It says this if I speak in my tongues of men and of angels But have not love i'm a noisy gong or clinging symbol

Now this is first corinthians 13 that everyone calls the love chapter. It's uh read aloud at all unbelievers weddings

But notice the context here Remember first corinthians is not really first corinthians.

This is the second letter paul wrote to them We don't have the first one And then they wrote a letter back to them

We know that because first corinthians chapter 7 verse 1 says now concerning about the things which you wrote And chapter 7 through the rest of the book is about paul responding to their letter including eating food offered the idols including

Marriage paul writes a chapter on on food offered the idols. He writes a chapter or so on marriage He writes three chapters on spiritual gifts.

What does that tell you about the letter? They wrote him? That it was a big problem in their church, right?

He says if you can speak in tongues and or even of angels But you don't have love you're a noisy gong or a clinging symbol

If you have prophetic powers and understand all mystery and all knowledge And if I have all faith so I can remove mountains, but I have not love

I am nothing If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but I have not love

I gain nothing Love is patient Love is kind love does not envy or boast.

It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist in its own way It's not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with all truth

Love bears all things and believes all things hopes all things and endures all things Love never ends as for prophecies.

They will pass away as for tongues. They will cease as for knowledge. It will pass away So in other words

Paul says you can claim to have all these gifts you want to be You know professor doctor bishop

Reverend, whatever, but if you don't have love you are noisy gone. You're a clinging symbol okay, so Like I said up to this point if you talk about the gifts of tongues, it's clearly human languages

But now here and in chapter 14 speaks of right here the tongues of angels

Or in chapter 14 verse 2 for if one speaks with the tongue he's not speaking to men but to god

For no one understands him for he utters mysteries in the spirit Um, so what is that about?

Well tune in next week so We're going to continue on our tongues

Human or angelic languages right here and then we're going to talk about how paul wanted them used in the church

So again, we're going to continue right here With our tongues human or angelic languages and how paul wanted them to continue to be used in church service so Um, actually this week it this week

Coming up we will not have a video but we will the following week. So stay tuned for that I hope this was a blessing to you in some way.