The Gift Of Tongues
This is spoken of in the New Testament as "new tongues," "other tongues," "divers kinds of tongues," and even as "the tongues of men and angels." Mark 16v17, Acts 2v4, 1Cor 12v10,28, 13v1. It is a precious gift from God.
1) The gift of tongues is certainly not gibberish.
To say that speaking with tongues by a blood-washed, Spirit-filled Christian is "gibberish," or "of the Devil," is to come very close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth than to call speaking with tongues, "gibberish," for those who have been able to understand the languages that Christians have spoken while speaking with tongues, have said that they are perfect. For example, a ten-year-old girl named Irene Piper was enabled by the Holy Spirit to speak to a Chinese man in his own language. He was told that he was to come to church and accept salvation. The Chinese man said that "her accent was perfect, and her forms of speech were so exact that ten years study would not give the average Occidental such knowledge of the language." This is confirmed by Acts 2v6,8, where it is said that the 120 disciples spoke in not only different languages but in different dialects. These believers were mainly illiterate people who knew only one dialect of one language, yet they were speaking in different languages and different dialects of the same language. We are told that the Medes and Elamites (Persians), spoke the same language but with different dialects. "Dialektos" occurs only in the book of Acts, Acts 1v19, 2v6,8, 21v40, 22v2, 26v14, the other word for language is "glossa," i.e. "tongue," and is used for the organ of the body known as the tongue, the tongues of fire, as well as a language. Mark 7v33,35, 16v17, Acts 2v3,4,11,26, 10v46, 19v6, 1Cor 12v10,28,30, 13v1,8, 14v2,4,5,6,9,13,14,18,19,22,23,26,27,39, Rev 7v9. etc.
"Glossolalia," speaking with tongues, is certainly not like the incoherent, unmeaning, broken ramblings of some wild false religions. It is the intelligent speaking of God's mysteries, i.e. God's hidden secrets and purposes. The disciples at Pentecost spoke fluently and powerfully of God's wonderful works, it was only those who did not understand the language who said that it was drunken gibberish, those who did understand it said it was perfect and inspiring language and were converted as a result. It was the hearers of tongues who were "beside themselves," amazed and "ecstatic," not the speakers in tongues. "existemi," Acts 2v7,12, 10v45, "ekstasis." Acts 3v10, Mark 5v42, 16v8, Luke 5v26, Acts 10v10, 11v5, 22v17. The person who is worshipping God in tongues will sometimes have real depths of feeling, but the Holy Spirit will never cause them to lose control of themselves, He is a perfect gentleman.
Sometimes even Christians who have been filled with the Spirit and spoken in tongues doubt their experience because they seem to repeat again and again certain sentences or phrases in their unknown tongue. These Christians should realise that in their native tongue they do not use an extensive vocabulary when they are praising the Lord. Many Christians just say, "Praise the Lord," Wonderful Jesus," etc., they do not use a great many words to express their worship and praise.
Here is an extract from page 32 and 33 of W.F.P. Burton's book "Signs following." This extract shows that on occasions the Holy Spirit may inspire us to speak only a few words, but that these words can reach the very highest levels of praise and express the very deepest love and devotion for God.
"In 1921 the Pastor of a meeting in Toronto, Canada, confided in me, "Brother Burton, there is something I do not understand in our assembly. When the meeting is warmed up into a real fervency of spirit a woman bursts out into an ejaculation. It never varies, and it seems to me like nonsense. She says in a kind of intonation 'Kalombooo Vidye. Vidyeeee Kalombo.' I don't like to stop her. What would you do about it?' I said, 'Oh, do let me hear it, brother. That is an expression used by our natives in the highest respect to their big chiefs.' On my return to Lubaland I was much struck by the monotonous regularity with which the village counsellors keep up an excited 'Kalombo Vidye,' in reverence to their chiefs during sessions of the court, and one can well understand both what an ejaculation of loving worship it was on the woman's part and also how it might have puzzled her Pastor." End of quote.
This shows how careful we have to be in judging utterances in tongues that seem repetitive and sound very peculiar. Many languages sound like utter nonsense to those who do not understand them, indeed, some sound so primitive, that even the best and most intelligent linguist might doubt the genuineness of what is in reality a complicated, beautiful and meaningful language. Even the very greatest linguist knows but a fraction of the world’s languages. "World Digest" informs us that there have existed at least 6,760 languages, and only 2,296 are still spoken. There are, then, 4,464 dead languages on earth, which one could speak in other tongues, besides the tongues of angels of which we are told nothing except that there are obviously many of them as Paul speaks of them in the plural in 1Cor 13v1. It is a fact that children of God have spoken by the Holy Spirit's inspiration, both modern and ancient languages, and linguists have understood them. However, we need to remember that God does not cast His pearls before swine; such manifestations like this are usually for the sincere and seeking heart. The gift of tongues was not given to enable people to preach in languages that they did not know, in Christ's time Greek was known throughout the Roman Empire, but it has always had a great effect as a sign to confirm the Gospel. The gift of tongues is certainly not gibberish; it is a lovely and precious manifestation of God the Holy Spirit.
This is spoken of in the New Testament as "new tongues," "other tongues," "divers kinds of tongues," and even as "the tongues of men and angels." Mark 16v17, Acts 2v4, 1Cor 12v10,28, 13v1. It is a precious gift from God.
1) The gift of tongues is certainly not gibberish.
To say that speaking with tongues by a blood-washed, Spirit-filled Christian is "gibberish," or "of the Devil," is to come very close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth than to call speaking with tongues, "gibberish," for those who have been able to understand the languages that Christians have spoken while speaking with tongues, have said that they are perfect. For example, a ten-year-old girl named Irene Piper was enabled by the Holy Spirit to speak to a Chinese man in his own language. He was told that he was to come to church and accept salvation. The Chinese man said that "her accent was perfect, and her forms of speech were so exact that ten years study would not give the average Occidental such knowledge of the language." This is confirmed by Acts 2v6,8, where it is said that the 120 disciples spoke in not only different languages but in different dialects. These believers were mainly illiterate people who knew only one dialect of one language, yet they were speaking in different languages and different dialects of the same language. We are told that the Medes and Elamites (Persians), spoke the same language but with different dialects. "Dialektos" occurs only in the book of Acts, Acts 1v19, 2v6,8, 21v40, 22v2, 26v14, the other word for language is "glossa," i.e. "tongue," and is used for the organ of the body known as the tongue, the tongues of fire, as well as a language. Mark 7v33,35, 16v17, Acts 2v3,4,11,26, 10v46, 19v6, 1Cor 12v10,28,30, 13v1,8, 14v2,4,5,6,9,13,14,18,19,22,23,26,27,39, Rev 7v9. etc.
"Glossolalia," speaking with tongues, is certainly not like the incoherent, unmeaning, broken ramblings of some wild false religions. It is the intelligent speaking of God's mysteries, i.e. God's hidden secrets and purposes. The disciples at Pentecost spoke fluently and powerfully of God's wonderful works, it was only those who did not understand the language who said that it was drunken gibberish, those who did understand it said it was perfect and inspiring language and were converted as a result. It was the hearers of tongues who were "beside themselves," amazed and "ecstatic," not the speakers in tongues. "existemi," Acts 2v7,12, 10v45, "ekstasis." Acts 3v10, Mark 5v42, 16v8, Luke 5v26, Acts 10v10, 11v5, 22v17. The person who is worshipping God in tongues will sometimes have real depths of feeling, but the Holy Spirit will never cause them to lose control of themselves, He is a perfect gentleman.
Sometimes even Christians who have been filled with the Spirit and spoken in tongues doubt their experience because they seem to repeat again and again certain sentences or phrases in their unknown tongue. These Christians should realise that in their native tongue they do not use an extensive vocabulary when they are praising the Lord. Many Christians just say, "Praise the Lord," Wonderful Jesus," etc., they do not use a great many words to express their worship and praise.
Here is an extract from page 32 and 33 of W.F.P. Burton's book "Signs following." This extract shows that on occasions the Holy Spirit may inspire us to speak only a few words, but that these words can reach the very highest levels of praise and express the very deepest love and devotion for God.
"In 1921 the Pastor of a meeting in Toronto, Canada, confided in me, "Brother Burton, there is something I do not understand in our assembly. When the meeting is warmed up into a real fervency of spirit a woman bursts out into an ejaculation. It never varies, and it seems to me like nonsense. She says in a kind of intonation 'Kalombooo Vidye. Vidyeeee Kalombo.' I don't like to stop her. What would you do about it?' I said, 'Oh, do let me hear it, brother. That is an expression used by our natives in the highest respect to their big chiefs.' On my return to Lubaland I was much struck by the monotonous regularity with which the village counsellors keep up an excited 'Kalombo Vidye,' in reverence to their chiefs during sessions of the court, and one can well understand both what an ejaculation of loving worship it was on the woman's part and also how it might have puzzled her Pastor." End of quote.
This shows how careful we have to be in judging utterances in tongues that seem repetitive and sound very peculiar. Many languages sound like utter nonsense to those who do not understand them, indeed, some sound so primitive, that even the best and most intelligent linguist might doubt the genuineness of what is in reality a complicated, beautiful and meaningful language. Even the very greatest linguist knows but a fraction of the world’s languages. "World Digest" informs us that there have existed at least 6,760 languages, and only 2,296 are still spoken. There are, then, 4,464 dead languages on earth, which one could speak in other tongues, besides the tongues of angels of which we are told nothing except that there are obviously many of them as Paul speaks of them in the plural in 1Cor 13v1. It is a fact that children of God have spoken by the Holy Spirit's inspiration, both modern and ancient languages, and linguists have understood them. However, we need to remember that God does not cast His pearls before swine; such manifestations like this are usually for the sincere and seeking heart. The gift of tongues was not given to enable people to preach in languages that they did not know, in Christ's time Greek was known throughout the Roman Empire, but it has always had a great effect as a sign to confirm the Gospel. The gift of tongues is certainly not gibberish; it is a lovely and precious manifestation of God the Holy Spirit.