Latest / truthunedited / What Most Churches Won’t Tell You About Tongues (Biblical Truth)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Speaking in tongues. Some embrace it as the very breath
- 0:04of God, evidence of power, intimacy, and spirit baptism. Others
- 0:10rejected outright, dismissing it as first century history or dangerous fanaticism.
- 0:16Have you ever sat in a church and heard words
- 0:19that sounded like another world? Maybe it stirred your spirit,
- 0:23Maybe it unsettled you. Maybe you walked out confused, wondering
- 0:28is that real? Or is this emotional noise in God's name?
- 0:33Welcome to the fire line of modern Christianity speaking in tongues,
- 0:37But whether you're filled with hunger or hesitation, there's one
- 0:41truth that cuts through opinion like lightning. The Bible does
- 0:44not shy away from this gift, so neither can we.
- 0:49Acts Two wasn't a whisper in a private prayer meeting.
- 0:52It was a roar, a rushing wind, a fire that
- 0:56didn't burn but branded. And then they spoke languages they
- 1:01had never learned, praises that crossed cultural barriers in seconds,
- 1:05A crowd that watched in shock as fishermen preached in
- 1:08the dialects of empires they'd never visited. It wasn't chaos,
- 1:13It was clarity. It wasn't Babel. It was the birth
- 1:17of boldness and the beginning of the church as we
- 1:19know it. But what does it mean for us now?
- 1:22Was that moment meant to be a launching point or
- 1:25a one time wonder a tongue still for today? And
- 1:29if so, why do they seem so divisive in the
- 1:32very body they were meant to empower. By the end
- 1:35of this teaching, you won't just debate tongues. You'll discern
- 1:39their purpose, not based on tradition, not based on trauma,
- 1:44but on the Word of God and the Spirit who
- 1:47gave it. This moment touches something deep for many. If
- 1:51you've longed to know the Holy Spirit more, or you've
- 1:54wrestled with confusion around spiritual gifts, this journey is for you.
- 2:00We invite you to like, share and subscribe as we
- 2:04go deeper into truths the modern Church often avoids. On
- 2:08this channel, we've already explored acts, romans, the Trinity, and
- 2:12the mystery of the Spirit's voice in psalms and proverbs.
- 2:16You can dive into those studies add free and uninterrupted
- 2:20on our website, and if you're looking to go even deeper,
- 2:24our ebooks cover spiritual gifts, prayer, holiness and revival fire.
- 2:30They're crafted to help you study, not just scroll. Our
- 2:34prayer is simple, that you would know God, not just
- 2:37by theology, but by encounter, that truth would burn away confusion,
- 2:42and that the Spirit would speak to you. Even now,
- 2:46with that said, let's dive in. It began in silence
- 2:51a waiting room in Jerusalem, one hundred twenty believers huddled
- 2:55together in prayer, unsure of what exactly to expect. Jesus
- 3:00had told them to wait, to not move, to stay
- 3:03in the city until power from on high clothed them.
- 3:07So they waited not with fear, but with anticipation, with
- 3:12trembling hope, with hearts stretched toward Heaven, wondering what it
- 3:16meant for God himself to dwell within man. And then
- 3:21it came, when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were
- 3:25all together in one place, and suddenly there came from
- 3:29Heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind Acts two
- 3:36one two. Heaven roared. It wasn't a breeze, it wasn't gentle,
- 3:43it wasn't metaphorical. The sound filled the entire house, an
- 3:47eruption of divine presence, echoing not just through walls, but
- 3:52through centuries wind, fire and then speech divided tongue as
- 4:00of fire appeared to them and rested on each one
- 4:03of them, And they were all filled with the Holy
- 4:06Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
- 4:09Spirit gave them utterance acts two three bore tongues of fire, resting,
- 4:15not consuming, tongues of men, speaking, not rehearsing, tongues of heaven, declaring,
- 4:21not deciphering. This was not a side effect, This was
- 4:25not noise. This was the birth cry of the Church.
- 4:28The God who once shook Mount Sinai now filled human temples.
- 4:33The fire that once hovered over the tabernacle now danced
- 4:36above surrendered heads. The spirit who hovered over the waters
- 4:40of creation now ignited a new creation from the inside out.
- 4:46And notice it filled all of them, not just the apostles,
- 4:50not just the men, not just the spiritual elite. They
- 4:53were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the
- 4:57undoing of Babel, the answer to the prophet Joe, the
- 5:00fulfillment of Jesus promise. God wasn't just speaking to his
- 5:04people any more. He was speaking through them. This was
- 5:08not charismatic flare. This was covenant fire. What happened in
- 5:13Acts two wasn't just a miracle, It was a milestone.
- 5:17The veil was gone, the waiting was over, The promise
- 5:21had come. And what did it sound like? Not doctrine,
- 5:25not debate, but declaration of the mighty works of God
- 5:29in every language under heaven. Pentecost wasn't just the day
- 5:32the spirit came. It was the day boldness was born.
- 5:37And it begs the question, if the same spirit now
- 5:40lives in you, why do we live so quietly? Why
- 5:44do we pray small, whisper safe prayers. Why do we
- 5:47tiptoe through truth instead of proclaiming it. Why do we
- 5:50fee a man more than we trust God. The roaring
- 5:54wind didn't just fill a room. It unleashed a people,
- 5:57people who would die for this gospel, people who would
- 6:00speak in prisons, synagogues, courts and caves, people who would
- 6:05carry this flame to the ends of the earth. And
- 6:08it all started with a roar from heaven. Are you
- 6:12still waiting for boldness to come from somewhere else? Or
- 6:15will you finally believe it's already been given. You don't
- 6:19need a wind, you need to yield. It wasn't gibberish.
- 6:24It wasn't confusion. When the fire fell on Pentecost. They
- 6:28spoke in other languages, not heavenly riddles, not ecstatic mumbling languages, dialects,
- 6:35words recognized by nations. And they were all filled with
- 6:40the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues
- 6:44as the Spirit gave them utterance. And at this sound,
- 6:48the multitude came together, and they were bewildered because each
- 6:52one was hearing them speak in his own language. Acts
- 6:56two four six Greek calls it Zeni Lalia foreign tongues
- 7:01not unknown but supernaturally known. Fishermen from Galilee, most of
- 7:06them likely illiterate, suddenly proclaiming the mighty works of God
- 7:10in the native languages of Parthians, medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Egyptians, Libyans, Romans.
- 7:22The list goes on. It was a miracle of speech,
- 7:26but even more a miracle of global clarity. In a moment,
- 7:31the Spirit undid the curse of Babel that Babel languages divided.
- 7:37At Pentecost, languages united in worship, imagined the scene. Crowds
- 7:43from every nation gathered in Jerusalem for the feast. They
- 7:46expected ritual tradition, perhaps the echo of distant psalms. Instead,
- 7:52they heard Galilean accents speaking flawless Egyptian, Persian, Latin, Arabic.
- 8:00And what were they saying? Not politics, not gossip. We
- 8:03hear them telling in our own tongues, the mighty works
- 8:06of God Acts to eleven. That's the point that tongues
- 8:10weren't the destination. They were the vehicle for praise, for witness,
- 8:14for prophecy. This wasnt confusion, it was confirmation. God was
- 8:20pouring out his spirit on all flesh, on every tribe,
- 8:24every tongue, every nation. And how did he do it
- 8:27By putting his message into the very mouths of ordinary people,
- 8:32so that every heart could hear in their own language.
- 8:35This wasn't just a miracle for the crowd. It was
- 8:38a sign for the disciples that they were no longer
- 8:42bound to one culture, one nation, one tradition. The Gospel
- 8:47wasn't just for Jews in Jerusalem. It was for Ethiopians,
- 8:51for Romans, for Persians, for Greeks, and for you. Here's
- 8:56what this teaches us. The gift of tongues in Acts,
- 8:58too was not careaos, It was comprehension. It wasn't about
- 9:02ecstatic experience. It was about global evangelism. It wasn't a
- 9:07private prayer, It was a public witness. And that's why
- 9:11the world stopped to listen. Because the Church wasn't just
- 9:15filled with fire. It spoke with every voice under heaven.
- 9:19So we have to ask, if the first gift the
- 9:21Spirit gave was supernatural speech that crossed cultural barriers, why
- 9:26is the modern church still afraid of voices that sound
- 9:30different from ours. Why do we divide over style, background, race,
- 9:34and language when the very birth of the Church was
- 9:37a miracle of unity through diversity. The Spirit of acts too,
- 9:42isn't just a fire that fills rooms. He's a wind
- 9:46that carries God's voice to the ends of the earth.
- 9:49Are you willing to be his mouthpiece? Even if it
- 9:52sounds unfamiliar? Because the fire didn't fall just to impress
- 9:56a crowd, it fail to empower a church. There's a
- 10:00a moment in scripture when language breaks down, when human
- 10:03words fail and something deeper rises. It's no longer French
- 10:08or Greek, and not Arabic or Hebrew. It's not even
- 10:11meant to be understood by those around you. It's a
- 10:15cry from the deepest part of the soul, a language
- 10:20not born in the mind, but breathed from the spirit.
- 10:24For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men,
- 10:27but to God, for no one understands him, but he
- 10:30utters mysteries in the spirit First Corinthians fourteen two. This
- 10:36isn't zenlalia, foreign languages understood by others. This is glossalelia,
- 10:42spiritual language birthed by the Holy Spirit, spoken not to
- 10:46man but to God. It's a prayers as a worship,
- 10:50a mystery. For if I pray in a tongue, my
- 10:53spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful Verse Corinthians fourteen fourteen.
- 10:59And that's the point. Paul's not condemning it. He's explaining it.
- 11:04He's showing that glossalalia is real, purposeful, but limited. It's
- 11:09not the mark of salvation. It's not a badge of superiority.
- 11:13It's not a tool for spectacle. It is, at its
- 11:17core intimate communion between a child of God and the Father,
- 11:21who knows their spirit. When the mind doesn't have words,
- 11:26when the soul aches beyond vocabulary, the spirit intercedes. Likewise,
- 11:32the spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do
- 11:34not know what to pray for as we ought, but
- 11:36the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep
- 11:40for words Romans eight Colon twenty six. There it is
- 11:45spirit language, spirit groaning, spirit intercession, not performative, not chaotic,
- 11:52but deeply intimately divine. And Paul, while warning the Corinthians
- 11:57against chaotic misuse, still afirms it, I thank God that
- 12:02I speak in tongues more than all of you Verse
- 12:05Corinthians fourteen eighteen. Why would he say that because he
- 12:09understood something We often forget that. The gift of tongues,
- 12:13when rightly embraced, is not about performance. It's about proximity.
- 12:19It brings the believer into a place of spiritual dependence,
- 12:23where the intellect bows and the soul leans into mystery.
- 12:28Now hear Paul's balance. Tongues edify the speaker v. Four,
- 12:33prophecy edifies the church. V. Five are tongues without interpretation,
- 12:38and public should be silent. Tongues in private can ignite
- 12:41the soul with spiritual fire. This is where many go wrong.
- 12:46Some abuse tongues, making them a spectacle. Others avoid them
- 12:50fearing confusion. But Paul doesn't command either. He calls for
- 12:55order and openness. Do not forbid speaking in tongues Corinthians
- 13:00fourteen thirty nine. So is glossialalia real? Yes? Is it
- 13:06for every believer? Paul doesn't say so. But is it
- 13:09a gift still active? Absolutely? The question isn't just can
- 13:13you speak in tongues? It's this, are you so surrendered
- 13:18that your spirit is willing to speak what your mind
- 13:20can't explain? Because sometimes the most powerful prayers don't sound eloquent.
- 13:27They sound like Heaven groaning through a yielded vessel. The
- 13:30Holy Spirit still speaks, sometimes in English, sometimes in fire,
- 13:35sometimes in mystery. Are you listening unless you willing to
- 13:39let him pro through you? They thought it was chaos,
- 13:43a crowd of ordinary men shouting in strange dialects, faces
- 13:48burning with awe, words flying like fire. And the crowd laughed.
- 13:52They're drunk. Someone sneered, it's only nine in the morning.
- 13:56But Peter, no longer cowering, no longer denying, stood up
- 13:59with fire in his bones. These people are not drunk
- 14:03as you suppose. This is what was spoken by the
- 14:06prophet jol Acts two fifteen to sixteen. With clarity and courage,
- 14:11he declares what the tongues meant not madness, but a miracle,
- 14:16not intoxication, but fulfillment. In the last days, God says,
- 14:21I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your
- 14:25sons and daughters will prophesy, Your young men will see visions,
- 14:30your old men will dream dreams. Acts two seventeen. Peter
- 14:34connects the moment to Joel too, a prophecy Israel had
- 14:37carried for centuries. A time would come when God wouldn't
- 14:41just touch prophets, kings or priests. He pour his spirit
- 14:45on everyone, male, female, young, old, slave, free. It wasn't chaos.
- 14:52It was the beginning of the end, because the last
- 14:56days had just begun. This wasn't about emotionalism. It was escatological,
- 15:01a sign that the age of the Spirit had arrived,
- 15:05and with it a new urgency, a new access, a
- 15:09new kingdom. And Peter doesn't stop there. I will show
- 15:13wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below,
- 15:17blood and fire and billows of smoky Acts two nineteen.
- 15:21He ties the tongues to the cosmic time line, signs shaking,
- 15:26heaven coming down, and then the altar call, and every
- 15:29one who calls on the name of the Lord will
- 15:31be saved Acts two twenty one. That's the point at
- 15:35not the signs, but the salvation tongues are not the climax.
- 15:40They are the wake up called because something had shifted.
- 15:43The fire of Sinai had come again, but not to
- 15:47a mountain, this time to a people. Tongues of fire,
- 15:50hearts ablaze. The church born not in silence, but in power.
- 15:55This is what the prophets long to see. This is
- 15:58what Peter understood in that moment, that the spirit isn't
- 16:02limited to a temple, that prophecy, dreams and spiritual power
- 16:07are not reserved for the elite. That the end had
- 16:10already begun, and so had the harvest. So what does
- 16:14this mean now? It means the gift was never meant
- 16:18to be hidden. It was meant to wake a sleeping world.
- 16:22It means the last days weren't just for Peter's generation,
- 16:26they include ours. And it means the same spirit who
- 16:30filled that upper room still fills hearts to day. This
- 16:34isn't about nostalgia, It's about readiness. Peter's message is still ringing.
- 16:39This is that what you see now, the gifts, the fire,
- 16:42the groaning of the earth. It's all pointing to a
- 16:45soon coming king. So here's the real question. If you
- 16:48were in that crowd, would you mock it or would
- 16:51you ask for it? Would you scoff at the fire
- 16:54or asked to be set ablaze? Because Pentecost wasn't just
- 16:57a moment, it was an invitation. Are you ready to
- 17:01receive what they received? Are you willing to be filled
- 17:05even if it means being misunderstood? Because Peter wasn't drunk
- 17:10and he was filled, And once you taste that fire,
- 17:13you'll never settle for cold religion again. Why tongues? It's
- 17:18the question Paul wrestled with in corinth not because the
- 17:21gift wasn't real, but because it was being used wrong.
- 17:26The Corinthian Church was alive with spiritual activity. Gifts were flowing, prophecies, healing, discernment, tongues.
- 17:34But with power came pride, and the thing meant to
- 17:37build the church started to divide it. So Paul doesn't
- 17:41cancel the gift. He clarifies it now about the gifts
- 17:45of the spirit, brothers and sisters. I do not want
- 17:48you to be uninformed. Firs Corinthians twelve one and what
- 17:53follows in chapters twelve through fourteen is the most balanced
- 17:57spirit led teaching on tongues in the Bible. Tongues were
- 18:01never meant to be a badge. They were a sign,
- 18:04a gift, a mystery. Let's break it down one, a
- 18:09sign of God's presence. Tongues then are a sign for unbelievers.
- 18:15First Corinthians fourteen twenty two enacts two tongues revealed that
- 18:20God had come near. Languages were spoken, nations were reached,
- 18:25the chaos of Babel was reversed. The message God is
- 18:28here and he's speaking your language. Two a tool for
- 18:33edification when used right. Anyone who speaks in a tongue
- 18:38edifies themselves Firse Corinthians fourteen four. There's a place for
- 18:43private tongues, a language between you and God. It strengthens
- 18:48the soul, sharpens the spirit, and ignites worship. But the
- 18:52one who prophesies edifies the church Verse Corinthians fourteen four.
- 18:59So in public worship, Paul says, don't just speak for self,
- 19:03speak for others. That's why interpretation matters. If anyone speaks
- 19:07in a tongue, two or at most three should speak,
- 19:12and someone must interpret. First Corinthians fourteen twenty seven why
- 19:17because without interpretation, it's mystery without meaning. God is not
- 19:23a god of confusion, but of order. Three a vessel
- 19:28for divine mystery. For any one who speaks in a
- 19:31tongue utters mysteries by the spirit and First Corinthians fourteen two.
- 19:37Sometimes tongues are a language Heaven understands even when Earth cannot,
- 19:42a groaning too deep for grammar, a spirit born cry
- 19:45that bypasses intellect and goes straight to the throne. And
- 19:49here's the truth. Paul didn't write to suppress the gift.
- 19:53He wrote to purify it. He ends the entire section
- 19:56not with silence, but with balance. Do not for bid
- 20:00speaking in tongues, but everything should be done in a
- 20:04fitting and orderly way First Corinthians fourteen thirty nine to forty.
- 20:10Not forbidden, not flaunted, just faithfully practiced in love and humility.
- 20:15Because tongues weren't the goal. Love was. Tongues were the tool,
- 20:20Love was the target. So what about today? Tongues are
- 20:23still a sign, still a gift, still a mystery, but
- 20:27they're not a short cut to holiness, and they're not
- 20:29proof of spiritual rank. They're not for spectacle, manipulation or control.
- 20:35They're for the edification of the soul and the glory
- 20:39of God. And if that's your desire, then pray not
- 20:43just for tongues, but for love. Eagerly desire spiritual gifts,
- 20:48especially that you may prophesy First Corinthians fourteen one. We
- 20:54have ebooks available on our website to help guide your
- 20:57deep Bible studies, especially on spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit,
- 21:02and Church unity. These gifts were never meant to divide us.
- 21:07They were meant to build us. And the Church needs
- 21:09both truth and power again, word and spirit, order and fire.
- 21:14So don't just chase tongues. Chase the God who gives them,
- 21:18because his voice is still speaking, sometimes in whispers, sometimes
- 21:23in wind, and sometimes in tongues of fire. There's a
- 21:27sobering sound. Paul wants the church to hear, not the
- 21:31sound of tongues or prophecy, or even heavenly language, but
- 21:36the sound of what happens when gifts outrun love. If
- 21:41I speak in the tongues of men and of angels
- 21:44but have not love, I am a noisy gong or
- 21:48a clanging symbol. First Corinthians thirteen one. It doesn't matter
- 21:53how spiritual it sounds, without love, it's just noise. That's
- 21:58not poetry, that's warning. Because because the Corinthian Church was
- 22:01obsessed with spiritual gifts, they spoke in tongues, they prophesied,
- 22:06they healed, but they competed, boasted, showed off, divided. Their
- 22:12gifts were loud, but their love was silent. And Paul
- 22:16cuts through the charisma with something more powerful than all
- 22:19the gifts combined. Agape. He's not anti gift, he's anti ego.
- 22:25If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and
- 22:28all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing. Firse
- 22:33Corinthians thirteen, column two. Let that echo nothing. You can
- 22:38operate in divine power and be spiritually bankrupt. You can
- 22:42pray in unknown tongues and still grieve the spirit. You
- 22:46can look gifted and still lack God. Because in the end,
- 22:50it's not the sound of your gift that moves Heaven.
- 22:53It's the posture of your heart. Love is patient, not flashy.
- 22:57Love is kind, not competitive. Love does not envy or boast.
- 23:01It is not proud, It is not rude, It is
- 23:04not self seeking. Love never fails First Corinthians thirteen eight.
- 23:09But prophecy will tongues will knowledge will all the supernatural
- 23:15brilliance we cling to in church services, it will fade
- 23:19because those things are temporary tools for an unfinished work.
- 23:23But love, love is the character of Heaven itself. That's
- 23:27why Paul says, when I was a child, I talked
- 23:30like a child. I thought like a child, I reasoned
- 23:34like a child. When I became a man, I put
- 23:37the ways of childhood behind me. First Corinthians thirteen eleven.
- 23:42Spiritual maturity isn't about how many gifts you have. It's
- 23:46about how much love rules them. Because one day the
- 23:50gifts will cease, but love will remain. One day, your
- 23:54prophecy will be irrelevant, but how you loved your brother
- 23:57that will echo forever. One day tongues will be silenced.
- 24:02But your humility, your kindness, your patience, that is what
- 24:06the spirit came to produce in you. So let's ask
- 24:09the honest question. Is your gift drawing people to Christ?
- 24:12Or to yourself? Is your tongue building up the church?
- 24:16Your causing confusion? Do you pursue power more than you
- 24:20pursue love? Because in the end, now these three remain faith, hope,
- 24:26and love. But the greatest of these is love first
- 24:30Corinthians thirteen thirteen. Let that be the language that never fails.
- 24:35Let that be the gift that defines you, not your
- 24:38spirit filled, but love governed, because that's when power becomes pure.
- 24:44It's one of the most misunderstood questions in the spirit
- 24:48filled church. Do all speak in tongues? Some say yes.
- 24:52If you don't, you're not really filled. Others say no,
- 24:56tongues were for then, not now. But Paul, filled with
- 24:59the spirit himself, asked it plainly, do all speak in tongues?
- 25:04Do all prophesy? Do all work miracles? Verse Corinthians twelve thirty,
- 25:08And the Greek grammar makes the answer clear, number not all.
- 25:12This isn't division, it's diversity. It's not a hierarchy of holiness.
- 25:17It's the harmony of the body of Christ, because not
- 25:20everyone gets the same gift, but everyone gets the same spirit.
- 25:25To understand this, we need to separate what the Bible
- 25:29never confused, three distinct expressions of the Spirit's work. One
- 25:36tongues as a sign this is what we see in acts.
- 25:40Two tongues as zenolalia, real known languages, declaring the glory
- 25:45of God to people from every nation. This wasn't private,
- 25:48it wasn't mysterious. It was missional clarity, the gospel made
- 25:53audible in every ear. We hear them declaring the wonders
- 25:57of God in our own tongues, Acts two eleven. In
- 26:02that moment, tongues were a public sign that the Holy
- 26:04Spirit had come. Two tongues as a gift. This is
- 26:10what Paul describes in First Corinthians twelve dash. Not every
- 26:14one receives this. It's one of many gifts. Wisdom, healing, prophecy, tongues, interpretation,
- 26:21all given by one's spirit, but not to every person
- 26:24the same way. To each is given the manifestation of
- 26:28the Spirit for the common good. First Corinthians twelve seven.
- 26:33Why does this matter, because not receiving the gift of
- 26:37tongues doesn't mean you're less spiritual. It means you're uniquely
- 26:42equipped for a different purpose. Three tongues and the baptism
- 26:48of the Spirit is where much of the confusion comes in.
- 26:52Some traditions teach that every believer must speak in tongues
- 26:56as the evidence of being filled with the spirit, but
- 26:59the by doesn't say that. It shows that tongues often
- 27:02accompanied spirit baptism, but it never mandates that tongues must
- 27:07accompany it. In Acts two ten and nineteen, yes tongues
- 27:12are present, but in Acts eight Philip's revival in Samaria,
- 27:17there's no mention of tongues, even though the spirit clearly came.
- 27:21Tongues may be a sign of spirit baptism, but they're
- 27:25not the only sign. The greater sign is transformation, boldness, holiness, fruit, love, joy, peace,
- 27:32self control. Because tongues are a gift, but the fruit
- 27:35is the proof. So do all speak in tongues number
- 27:39And that's not failure. That's God's design. Because tongues were
- 27:43never meant to be a litmus test for salvation or
- 27:46spiritual worth. They were never meant to divide the body.
- 27:50They were always meant to edify it. So if you
- 27:52speak in tongues, praise God, do it with humility and
- 27:56in love. If you don't, don't envy. You are no
- 27:59less fill no less gifted, no less seen by the
- 28:02spirit of God. Desire the gifts, yes, pursue them, yes,
- 28:07But more than that, pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts.
- 28:13First Corinthians fourteen one. Because not all will speak in tongues,
- 28:18but ol acle to walk in the spirit, and when
- 28:20you do, you're already operating in the supernatural. There's a
- 28:25reason Paul spent an entire chapter writing to corinth about tongues,
- 28:30not to suppress the gift, but to protect the church,
- 28:33because when the spirit moves, chaos is never the goal.
- 28:38And in First Corinthians fourteen twenty six to thirty three,
- 28:42Paul lays it out clearly, not to quench fire, but
- 28:46to keep fire from burning the house down. What then, brothers,
- 28:50when you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson,
- 28:53a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. First Corinthians fourteen
- 28:58twenty six. That's the beauty of a spirit filled gathering,
- 29:03not one voice dominating, but many gifts flowing, not entertainment participation.
- 29:10But Paul's next words are key, Let all things be
- 29:14done for building up. That's the purpose, that's the filter.
- 29:18If a gift doesn't edify, it doesn't belong in that moment.
- 29:21Then Paul narrows in on tongues. If any speak in
- 29:25a tongue, let there be only two or at most three,
- 29:28and each in turn, and let some one interpret Verse
- 29:34Corinthians fourteen twenty seven. No room for showmanship, but no
- 29:38room for confusion. Tongues in worship, if spoken aloud, must
- 29:43be interpreted. And if no one can interpret, let each
- 29:47of them keep silent in church and speak to himself
- 29:50and to God. Verse Corinthians fourteen twenty eight. Did you
- 29:55catch that A Paul isn't shutting tongues down, He's shifting
- 30:00their direction. If there's no interpretation, it's private, personal, vertical
- 30:05Still why still real, but not meant for public expression
- 30:09in that moment, because the spirit is not chaotic. God
- 30:13is not a god of confusion, but of peace. First
- 30:18Corinthians fourteen thirty three. Let that settle into the heart
- 30:22of every worship leader, every prayer group, every spirit led gathering.
- 30:26Tongues are powerful, tongues are biblical, But tongues are never
- 30:31meant to divide or confuse. That's not reverence, that's rebellion.
- 30:36And Paul's solution isn't to throw the gift out, but
- 30:39to anchor it in love and guide it with order.
- 30:43Let all things be done decently and in order. First
- 30:46Corinthians fourteen forty. Don't miss that first part. Let all
- 30:50things be done, Let the spirit move, Let tongues flow,
- 30:55Let prophecy come forth, and let the supernatural be present.
- 30:58But let it be done with reverence, with clarity, and
- 31:02with honor for the God who gives the gift. So
- 31:05here's the call. Don't silence the gift, don't idolize the gift.
- 31:09Steward the gift. Because when the spirit moves in love
- 31:14and the gifts flow in order, he builds the church.
- 31:17And that's what it's all form. It started with pride,
- 31:21a tower scraping the skies, a people united not by
- 31:25worship but by rebellion. Come, let us build ourselves a city,
- 31:30a tower with its top in the heavens Genesis eleven four.
- 31:34They weren't just stacking bricks. They were staging a revolt,
- 31:39not to draw near to God, but to declare independence
- 31:42from him. And how did God respond? Not with fire,
- 31:46not with flood, but with language The Lord confused, the
- 31:51language of all the earth Genesis eleven nine. What they
- 31:55once shared speech now became scattered. A babel. Wasn't just
- 32:00about confusion. It was judgment through disunity, because when the
- 32:05tongue turns rebellious, God doesn't always destroy it. Sometimes he
- 32:09divides it. But fast forward thousands of years, and another
- 32:13crowd gathers, not to defy God, but to wait on him,
- 32:18not to build a tower, but to become a temple.
- 32:21When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together
- 32:25in one place, Acts two one. And what happened? Suddenly
- 32:30there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind,
- 32:35and divided tongues as of fire appeared on each of them.
- 32:39Acts two, column two three. Do you see it at Babel?
- 32:42One language became many, and men scattered. At Pentecost, many
- 32:47languages became one message, and the Church was born. We
- 32:52hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works
- 32:55of God. Acts two eleven. What was once cursed, God
- 32:59redeem aimed. The very thing that divided now declares. The
- 33:04very mouth that once said, let us make a name
- 33:07for ourselves, now proclaims there is no other name under heaven.
- 33:13God didn't just restore language, He repurposed it, from rebellion
- 33:17to revelation, from pride to praise. And what changed not
- 33:22the tongues, but the spirit. Because when the Holy Spirit
- 33:26fills a heart, he also takes hold of the mouth.
- 33:29He bridges what man broke, he unites what sins scattered,
- 33:33and he proclaims what flesh could never speak. From Bible
- 33:37to Pentecost. Here's the ark. God doesn't just fix confusion.
- 33:41He fills it with glory. And if he did it,
- 33:44then he can do it now in your family, in
- 33:47your nation, and in your church, in your mouth. Let
- 33:50the fire fall again, Let the tongues rise again, Let
- 33:54the spirit speak again, because the God who judged Babel
- 34:00at Pentecost. It's one of the most controversial questions in
- 34:04the modern Church. Are spiritual gifts, especially tongues, still active
- 34:10today or did they cease with the Apostles. This isn't
- 34:14just academic. It shapes how we pray, how we worship,
- 34:18and how we expect the spirit to move. The debate
- 34:22has two names, Cessatianism and continuationism. Cessatianists believe that miraculous gifts, tongues, prophecy,
- 34:30healing were for a limited time. They argue that once
- 34:34Scripture was complete and the Apostles had laid the foundation
- 34:38of the church, those gifts were no longer necessary. They
- 34:42often point to verses like as for prophecies they will
- 34:46pass away, as for tongues, they will cease. One Corinthians
- 34:51thirteen eight. But here's the problem. That verse doesn't say
- 34:55when they will cease. Saint Paul continues, when the perfect comes,
- 34:59the partial will pass away Verse Corinthians thirteen ten. Some
- 35:04say the perfect refers to the completed Bible, but Paul
- 35:09never defines it that way. Others point out that the
- 35:12perfect more likely refers to the return of Christ, when
- 35:16we will see him face to face v. Twelve and
- 35:20no longer know in part that hasn't happened yet, which
- 35:26means the partial gifts like tongues still have a place. Continuationists,
- 35:32on the other hand, believe that the gifts of the
- 35:34spirit continue until Christ returns, not because they are trying
- 35:39to chase emotion or experience, but because Scripture never says
- 35:44they've ended. In Acts two, Peter quoted Joel in the
- 35:48last days, I will pour out my spirit on all people.
- 35:51Your sons and daughters will prophesy Acts two seventeen, and
- 35:56then he says something stunning. The promise is for you
- 36:01and for all who are far off, for all whom
- 36:04the Lord our God will call Acts two thirty nine.
- 36:08That's us, now hear this clearly. The goal is not
- 36:11to chase tongues. The goal is to be filled with
- 36:14the spirit. Tongues are one gift among many, and Paul
- 36:18makes it plain, do all speak in tongues First Corinthians
- 36:21twelve thirty number. But should we desire the gifts God
- 36:25still gives, absolutely earnestly desire the spiritual gifts First Corinthians
- 36:32fourteen one. God hasn't changed, the Spirit hasn't retired, and
- 36:37the Church hasn't yet reached the end of its mission.
- 36:40So ask seek surrender not for the sake of experience,
- 36:45but for the sake of the gospel. Because until Jesus returns,
- 36:50the Spirit still empowers, still speaks, still moves, and He's
- 36:55not done with you yet. It's never just been about tongues,
- 36:59not about noise ease, not about hype, not even about miracles.
- 37:04It's always been about presents God with us, power, God
- 37:07in us, purpose, God through us. Tongues were never the destination.
- 37:12They were a sign post, a signal that Heaven had
- 37:15come near and that those once silent in fear were
- 37:19now bold in the spirit. Yes, the gift matters, but
- 37:23it only has meaning when it flows from a surrendered heart.
- 37:28That's the question. Pentecost still asks us, nor can you
- 37:31speak in tongues, but will you be filled? Will you
- 37:35surrender your pride so he can pour in his power?
- 37:38Will you release your preferences so he can move in purity?
- 37:42Will you stop debating the gift and start desiring the
- 37:46giver be filled with the spirit Suphesians five eighteen. Not once,
- 37:52not emotionally, but continually. Because the spirit didn't just descend
- 37:56at Pentecost. He dwells to day in hearts that make
- 38:00room for him. And that room is made not through volume,
- 38:03but through yielding. So we pray, Spirit of the Living
- 38:07God fall fresh on us, Break what needs to be broken,
- 38:11fill what's been left empty. Speak not just through us
- 38:14but to us. We do not seek tongues for show.
- 38:17We seek fire for faithfulness. Let your gifts flow only
- 38:21where your fruit grows. Let your voice rise only where
- 38:24pride bows. Let us be a people marked by both
- 38:27power and purity. We repent for where we've resisted you,
- 38:31for turning spiritual gifts into spiritual pride, for making them
- 38:36miraculous about ourselves. We yield again, fully, freely. Finally, we
- 38:42ask not to impress, but to impact. We cry not
- 38:46for experience, but for edification, and we declare this church
- 38:50still needs your spirit and we won't settle for anything less.
- 38:55If you made it to the end of this teaching
- 38:57on speaking in tongues, thank you. It means you're not
- 39:01just curious, you're hungry for the truth, and that's rare.
- 39:05Our hope is that this didn't just inform you, but
- 39:08awakened something inside you, a hunger, a humility, a deeper
- 39:13desire for God to move in truth and fire. If
- 39:17this stirred something in you, know there's more waiting, ad free,
- 39:20distraction free on our website. Every book of the Bible,
- 39:24every teaching, every deep dive organized to help you walk
- 39:29through the Word. And if you prefer to study offline,
- 39:33our ebooks are here to help, especially the ones on
- 39:36the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and the power of the
- 39:40Early Church. We're not here to go viral. We're here
- 39:43to go deeper, and if that's your heart too, welcome home.
- 39:47You've always been part of this family. You can support
- 39:51what we're doing by sharing this video, subscribing, or exploring
- 39:55the links below. Every clique helps keep the Word alive
- 39:59and help someone else find what you just did. May
- 40:03the spirit speak even after this video ends. May his
- 40:06gifts flow in you, not for spectacle, but for service.
- 40:10And may you never forget He's still speaking. You're still called,
- 40:14the church is still burning. Until next time. Stay rooted
- 40:19in the Word. This is deep Bible stories where the
- 40:23Word speaks deeper