FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
Matthew 24:24

“…because of thy
righteous judgments.”

TONGUES HAVE CEASED?

Everywhere tongues speakers are holding forth: the gifts of Pentecost are back with us, so they boldly claim. Charismatics seem to carry the day. Evangelicals are confused. Some are turning Charismatic, babbling in tongues. But in many minds the nagging question lingers on: Have biblical tongues ceased? What sort of tongues are we witnessing today?

Firstly, let us be quite clear and categorical: the Charismatic tongues are neither the tongues of the New Testament record, nor are they of the Holy Spirit. The reasons for our saying so have been given in previous readings. We must not equate today’s tongues with New Testament tongues. The New Testament tongues were known languages. The gift of speaking without prior learning was the work of the Holy Spirit. They appeared suddenly, were withdrawn after a short time, and never appeared again after the Apostolic era. They come under the category of the “signs of an apostle” (2 Cor 12:12) and passed away with the passing of the Apostles.

Modern tongues consist of the repetitious utterance of a few elementary sounds or syllables, over and over again, in senseless babbling. There are no rules of grammar, or syntax, or vocabulary. Neither speaker nor self-professed “interpreter” understands the tongues. Furthermore, these tongues are spoken by believers as well as unbelievers, by “Christian” and pagan with equal facility. Such cannot be the work of the Holy Spirit. To label the babbling as “angelic tongues” is to insult God’s angels.

We conclude therefore, that biblical tongues have ceased. This position is fully borne out by historical evidence as well as the teachings of a long line of “giants of the faith” spanning 1,600 years of Church history, from Chrysostom (347-407) to Arthur Pink (1886-1952). All of these godly men of deep spiritual perception are agreed that biblical tongues have ceased. But present-day tongues speakers continue “deceiving, and being deceived.”

THOUGHT: Even the very elect may be deceived.
PRAYER: Lord, keep me from the snare of tongues.