Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20030406.htm

JESUS CHRIST IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY
Part XXXIII: Understanding And Treasuring The TRUE Gift Of Tongues
(Joel 2:28 with Acts 2:1-18 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

In recent months, a number of us at Nepaug Bible Church have been told by other Christians that unless we believe in Christ AND "speak in tongues" as occurs in Charismatic groups, we allegedly either do not know we are going to heaven, or we allegedly are definitely are NOT going to heaven!

In each case where various parties have come to me with questions on these things, I have shared information to correct this errant view, and repeatedly cited Ephesians 2:8-9 which says (in the familiar KJV): "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Since salvation is not of man's works lest man should boast, we hold that salvation is NOT by faith plus speaking in tongues, or plus water baptism, or plus joining the Church or plus giving money or plus keeping sacraments, etc.

However, when we READ Acts 2:1-12 or Acts 8:14-17 or Acts 10:44-46 or Acts 19:6 or 1 Corinthians 12-14, we find the gift of tongues is BIBLICAL!



Accordingly, we need to address the Biblical gift of tongues to discern WHY we believe as we do, and HOW and WHY we TREASURE the TRUE gift of tongues since it IS a GIFT from GOD!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Though WE do not speak in tongues' like others, the gift of tongues DOES appear in SCRIPTURE! Since some say we must speak in tongues either to KNOW we are saved OR EVEN to BE saved, can you show me WHAT that gift WAS, WHY God gave it, and HOW we should VALUE it even though it is NOT for TODAY?"
  1. The RISEN Jesus told His disciples on the road to Emmaus how He fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies, Luke 24:25-27.
  2. As these men were edified by Christ's teaching of those passages (Luke 24:32), we also view them, following the list of prophecies named in the Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, s. v. "Messianic Prophecies."
  3. The Joel 2:28 prophecy in view of its PARTIAL fulfillment in Acts 2:1-18 displays the TRUE gift of tongues, WHY God gave it and WHY it NO LONGER exists so WE may TRULY VALUE it NOW:
    1. When the gift of tongues FIRST appeared in Acts 2, it involved Hebrew Galilean believers supernaturally speaking in understood Gentile languages the understood message about God's wonderful works as they spoke unto other Hebrew witnesses , Acts 2:7-12.
    2. Yet, some Hebrew witnesses refused to accept it was from God, 2:13.
    3. In defense of the event's divine origin, Peter said it (partly) fulfilled Joel 2:28-32 so that his Hebrew audience would know God caused it:
      1. The Hebrew prophet, Joel, predicted in the time of the Messianic blessings that God would pour forth His Spirit on Israel so her people would express an abundance of divine messages, Joel 2:28.
      2. This was seen as a blessing since a lack of such messages typified a lack of God's blessing, 1 Samuel 3:1; B.K.C., O. T. , p. 1420.
      3. Thus, Peter taught the Hebrew witnesses were to view the event as from God as God was showing through the abundance of new messages by means of these utterances that He was offering them the Kingdom were they to repent re: Jesus, Acts 2:16-19; 3:19-21.
    4. Well, Israel as a nation REJECTED Jesus as her Messiah, so in fulfillment of Christ's prophecy in Luke 19:42-44, Rome's destruction of Jerusalem's temple in 70 A. D. signaled the end of God's current OFFER of the Messianic Kingdom to the nation Israel.
    5. In the meantime, the gift of tongues continued to exist until the fall of Jerusalem, for it also acted as another SIGN, one of judgment -- that faithless Hebrews needed to repent re: Jesus or be disciplined :
      1. In Deuteronomy 28:49 where Moses warned Israel of discipline for disobeying the Law, Moses predicted God would signal that discipline by causing Israel to be addressed in Gentile languages!
      2. We note Deuteronomy 18:15-19 had predicted Israel was to heed the Prophet to come like unto Moses or be divinely punished, a command violated by Israel as she rejected Jesus. Note how Peter in Acts 2:22-36 devoted much of his sermon to this sin that his Hebrew listeners were to address for God to bless them.
      3. When faced with this sin that Gentile languages signaled was to be addressed, many in Peter's Hebrew audience came under conviction of sin, and about 3,000 of them repented and believed in Jesus as their Messiah and Son of God, cf. Acts 2:37-41.
      4. Thus, THROUGHOUT ACTS where the GIFT of TONGUES (in reality, GENTILE LANGUAGES) appears, HEBREWS are present to be SHOWN GOD was at work in the CHURCH, and signaling they needed to TRUST in CHRIST for THEMSELVES OR SUFFER JUDGMENT (Acts 8, 10, 19).
      5. AGAIN, in 1 Corinthians 14:20-22 (in view of Isaiah 28:11-12), PAUL wrote this SAME GIFT was a SIGN to UNBELIEVING HEBREWS under the LAW so they would admit GOD was in the CHURCH and BELIEVE in JESUS, 1 Cor . 14:21-25.
      6. As Israel kept rejecting Christ, God in time ceased giving the gift of tongues , and we deduce from history this occurred in 70 A. D.
Application: (1) We do not DENY, (2) but rather even VALUE the TRUE, BIBLICAL gift of tongues, (a) for it validated JESUS as Israel's TRUE Messiah, (b) and that He WILL rule a TRUE MESSIANIC KINGDOM! Thus, (3) we must TRUST in Him to be saved, John 3:16. (4) Then, (a) we reject all FALSE (and thus ALL CURRENT) MISREPRESENTATIONS of the TRUE gift of TONGUES and (b) live for Christ in HOPE of His REIGN!

Lesson: (1) As the (a) MIRACULOUS GIFT of speaking in GENTILE LANGUAGES signaled ISRAEL'S need to REPENT as a NATION re: JESUS, and (b) AS the USE of that GIFT to COMMUNICATE MESSAGES of GOD'S WONDERFUL WORKS (divine oracles) signaled to HEBREWS the OFFER OF MESSIAH'S KINGDOM with its DIVINE BLESSINGS, (c) the GIFT of TONGUES was USEFUL ONLY until GOD closed the door of opportunity for the Kingdom's INITIAL arrival, and that occurred at Jerusalem's fall in 70 A. D. Thus, (2) the TRUE gift of tongues SHOULD NOT and thus WILL NOT appear AGAIN until that POSTPONED Kingdom's arrival nears in the Great Tribulation to come!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Joseph Dillow, author of the book, Speaking in Tongues, writes of his long struggle to discern the truth about the gift of tongues.

At the end of his book, p. 190-191, he relates an account that exposes the need to check the written Word of God on the matter:

Joseph wrote that, as a new believer, he came to know a Charismatic whom he called "Bill" to protect his true identity. "Bill was given to seeing visions and regularly clamed he received direct revelation from God . . . One night he called me at midnight because he had a message from the Lord that he had to share with me. Bill was in his forties and lived alone about an hour's drive from my house, but he still wanted to come and deliver the message in person . . . He insisted, so I invited him over. When he arrived, he was visibly shaken. At the time I had just decided to go to seminary. Bill was very upset about this (The letter kills,' he said, but the spirit gives life'), and now he had a message from the Lord warning me not to take this step. He had been reading Isaiah and the Lord gave him a special revelation that said, If you go to seminary, your wife will be eaten by lions and you will lose your eternal salvation!' It was rather frightening, but I didn't buy it . . . The last I heard of Bill he was in jail because the Lord had told him' that he was to disobey . . . a zoning ordinance!"

In conclusion, Joseph Dillow wrote: "I hope that among the readers of this book there are many Bereans.' It was said of them that they were . . . Of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).'"

With Joseph Dillow, I would agree we must search the Scriptures to discern the TRUTH on the gift of tongues.

We there find the VALUE the BIBLICAL gift of TONGUES, a gift involving supernaturally speaking God's oracles in Gentile languages, and that it was used as God's sign to Israel of the credibility of Jesus as her Messiah and His Kingdom. That sign is no longer TRULY being given since Jerusalem's 70 A. D. fall. Yet, it WILL be given AGAIN when God in the Tribulation Period prepares Israel and the world for that Kingdom's arrival.

May we then VALUE the MEANING of that TRUE, BIBLICAL gift of tongues, and believe in Jesus as Messiah and live for His matchless, coming Kingdom of blessing on this earth!