SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
1 Corinthians 14:1-12
Acts 2:1-11

“I was glad when
they said unto me…”

TONGUES THEN AND NOW (I)

Why did God send the miraculous gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost? The answer to this question will help us to steer clear of the present day “ecstatic tongues” and their subtle deception.

Let us firstly recall the event of Pentecost. Note carefully Luke’s words in Acts 2:1: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…” God chose the day. Exactly fifty days after the Resurrection, God’s plan of redemption was ready to move to its next phase. The ascended Christ sent His blessed Spirit to inaugurate the New Testament Church by the hands of the Apostles. But Peter, James and John, and the others were ordinary fisherfolks and unlearned men. How would the multitude recognize them as “God’s men”? What was there to mark them out as special servants of the resurrected Christ? Thus, this little Apostolic band must be suitably identified.

On the day of Pentecost (historically coinciding with God giving the Law and the Covenant with Israel), God acted through the Apostles: the Gospel was given and the New Covenant Church was established. In one day 3,000 “firstfruits” converts gathered into the newborn Church (coinciding with the gathering of the firstfruits of harvest).

These were historic and momentous events, authenticated by the gift of tongues. Suddenly, the Galilean band broke out in more than a dozen Gentile languages, declaring “the wonderful works of God.” In God’s divine plan, the time had come for the Gospel door to be thrown open to the Gentiles -- people of all tongues and nations.

By means of the miraculous effusion of tongues, the Apostles’ authority was fully established, the Gospel age was opened and the infant New Testament Church was born. The gift of tongues had served its purpose. It is no longer needed today, hence they have ceased altogether.

THOUGHT: Today’s tongues are not of the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER: Grant me understanding, O Lord, as I read Thy Word.