Attitude check: Philippians 2:3-4

Why doesn’t your church speak in tongues?

• Tongues were real languages.

  • Acts 1:26-2:4 – The apostles spoke in “other tongues”.

  • Acts 2:5-6 – The foreign Jews were not hearing some mystical speech that was unintelligible to them. They were hearing the apostles speak in their own languages.

  • Acts 2:7-11 – The apostles were speaking in languages they were not trained in.

  • Acts 10:44-48 – There is no reason to believe that the Gentiles were speaking unintelligible sounds.

  • I Corinthians 13:1-3 – Some might say, “The tongues of men might be real languages, but the tongues of angels are something else. No man can understand them.”

    • However, many times in the Bible, angels spoke to people and the people understood it perfectly. Matthew 1:20-21; 2:13, 19-20; 28:2-7; etc.

    • In context, Paul is not saying that there are mystical angelic languages. He was giving hypothetical exaggerations to show the importance of love (cf. Galatians 1:8).

• Tongues were to edify through understandable communications

  • I Corinthians 14:1-11 – Prophesying is better than speaking in a tongue because it’s understandable to others. What about I Corinthians 14:2? If I speak Swahili to an English audience, I’m not getting through (even though God understands it).

  • I Corinthians 14:12-19 – Tongues were to edify the church and instruct others.

  • I Corinthians 14:20-26 – If the gift of tongues was used properly, it would be a sign for unbelievers (v22).

• Tongues were able to be controlled

  • I Corinthians 14:27-28 – If the language could not be understood, the tongue speaker was to be silent. It could be controlled!

  • I Corinthians 14:39-40 – Don’t forbid the proper use of tongues but keep silent if you’re going to use the gift improperly. This is more evidence that the gift of speaking in tongues could be controlled.