THe Work and Person of the Holy Spirit. Pt. 16 The gift of Tongues

Psalm 84:10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Good Evening on this Lord's Day.  May the words of the Psalmist in the text above be an expression of how we feel about worshiping our Worthy Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

It is an attitude of humility and a longing to be in the Temple of God and function as a doorkeeper.  The Psalmist does not want anything to do with that which is evil and this should be the same desire that we have in our hearts. 

Today we will begin looking at the gift of tongues.  The word translated "divers" is a word that refers to nations, tribes or families.  The word translated "tongues" means the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations.  This gift is about speaking in foreign languages.

1 Corinthians 12:10-11 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

The Greek word translated "tongues" is "glossa" and you might recognize it in the English language as glossary.  A glossary is a list at the back of a book, explaining or defining difficult or unusual words and expressions used in the text. 

"Tongues" first appears in Acts 2

Acts 1:4-5 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 

For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

In order to better understand this gift, we need to see how it was used the first time it appears in the New Testament.  This gift  was given to the 120 disciples as they waited in Jerusalem as Jesus told them to do. 

The Spirit came, the Spirit filled and the Spirit gave this gift

The great feast of Pentecost had come and the Spirit of God came with the sound of a mighty rushing wind and with tongues of fire sitting on each person present. 

Next, we read that all the people gathered were filled with the Holy Ghost.  The Greek word translated "filled" is part of our English word "plethora", which means a profusion of abundance.  In our text, this word indicates that each person had an abundant or overflowing fullness of the Holy Spirit of God.

After the filling there is an immediate action that occurs.  First they began to speak.  This word means using the tongue for speaking or using words to declare one's thoughts. 

They spoke with "other" tongues.  This word means "not of the same kind".  Therefore, they were speaking in a foreign language. The word "tongues" is the word "glossa" again and it means speaking in another language or dialect. 

One more key detail is that they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance.  "Utterance" means speaking out, pronouncing or enunciating. 

The word "gave" is from the Greek word "didomi" which means giving something beneficial to someone else of your own free will. This describes the motivation of the Spirit in giving this gift. 

Acts 2:1-4 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 of 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.

 Luke is the inspired author of the book of Acts and he tells us that many Jewish pilgrims had come to Jerusalem to observe the feast of Pentecost as the Law commanded them to do.  They were from "every nation under heaven."

Who were the Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem at Pentecost?

The Jewish pilgrims were Jews who were deported from Israel and Judah who never returned to Jerusalem after the 70 years of captivity was ended.  Instead, they chose to live in those foreign lands, and conducted business and raised families as they integrated into the Gentile settings.  They did however maintain their unique Jewish cultural identity. 

Later Luke will give us a list of some of the places the Jewish pilgrims came from.  For now, he wants us to know that every nation in that part of the world had Jews living among them and they came home for the feast.  The Jews assimilated into these cultures by adapting and learning their language much like immigrants to America are expected to learn English. 

Notice the people's reaction to hearing 120 people speak in other tongues.  They heard them speaking in their own language.  What does this mean? 

Simply, if you were a Jewish pilgrim from Babylon who had come to Jerusalem you would have heard what the 120 were saying in the Babylonian language.  This was so astounding that they were confounded.  This word means that their minds were confused and plunged into a state of chaos.

Acts 2:5-6 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 

Now, if you have any doubts about what this text is telling us concerning the gift of tongues, please note the next text below. The Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem were amazed and marvelled that the Galileans they perceived as ignorant or uneducated could somehow speak in the language of their foreign nations they now resided in. 

This ability to speak in foreign languages was not normal.  There was no education set up for poor people like the disciples to learn a foreign language.  That is why this event was so noteworthy. 

Acts 2:7-8 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 

And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

Here comes Luke's list of places  the Jewish pilgrims traveled from in order to reach Jerusalem.  17 different regions ranging from the area of modern Iraq and Iran all the way to Libya in northern Africa. Pilgrims came from Cappadocia and Asia. 

What did they hear?  They heard the disciples speaking of the wonderful works of God through Jesus Christ in the languages of each nation they travelled from.

Acts 2:9-11 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, 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 proselytes, 
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Notice the varied reactions from those who witnessed this miracle. They were all "amazed".  This word means out of their minds, thrown out of position, astonished beyond belief.  They were " in doubt" which means thoroughly perplexed and at a loss to explain it.  Some asked questions trying to understand what all of this meant while others mocked the disciples saying that they were drunk.

Acts 2:12-13 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 

Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Points to Ponder....

• Speaking in tongues was the ability of a disciple to speak another language that he had never learned before. 

• Speaking in tongues enabled the disciples to spread the gospel in languages like Persian, Babylonian, and Egyptian. 

• Speaking in tongues was purposeful speech telling the gospel to Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

• This gift was governed by the Spirit of God. 

What we have discovered about the gift of tongues is a fascinating development in the early church history.

This gift was for spreading the gospel by speaking in a foreign language that you never learned before.  It  was a truly amazing work of the Spirit of God at that point in history. 

We can all appreciate this wonderful gift from God that helped rapidly spread the gospel outwards from Jerusalem.  I am sure all modern missionary's would love to have this gift today so they did not have to learn a brand new language before they could go to serve on the field. 

Bob