by Andre Watson.

Of course, you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that you can expound Scripture without assistance from the works of divines (theologians) and learned men who have laboured before you in the field of exposition. – Charles H. Spurgeon

I was going to save this for a later post, however because of a conversation I recently participated in, I believe now is a good time. 1st Corinthians 13:1 says this:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Was Paul teaching that there was a language that was spoken only by the angels of God? A Heavenly prayer language? Was he teaching that this is how to effectively communicate with God? Of course not!

Most people, when they study the bible, they study it without the use of any other books. I have yet to meet a lawyer or a paralegal that studies for a case from just one law book. But when Christians, especially Pentecostals and Charismatics study the bible, only one book is used. And we can thank Mr. Charles Fox Parham for that. When he started his Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas in 1900, the only textbook used was the bible. This was a gateway for Satan to enter in with many false teachings such as receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

The first English translated bible was done by John Wycliffe in 1384. This was handwritten. William Tyndale completed the New Testament in English in 1526 making it the first copies from a printing press. 1611 was the birth of the King James Version. Not too long after, commentaries began to pop up from people like Matthew Henry (died 1714), The commentaries of Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset & David Brown, originally published in 1871, John Gill (23 November 1697 – 14 October 1771), and other published works like The People’s New Testament (1891). These were here to help guide people long before the doctrines of Pentecostalism. Let’s take a look at how some of these may have helped.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible:
Could a man speak all the languages on earth, and that with the greatest propriety, elegance, and fluency, could he talk like an angel, and yet be without charity, it would be all empty noise, mere unharmonious and useless sound, that would neither profit nor delight. It is not talking freely, nor finely, nor learnedly, of the things of God, that will save ourselves, or profit others, if we are destitute of holy love. It is the charitable heart, not the voluble tongue, that is acceptable with God. The apostle specifies first this gift because hereupon the Corinthians seemed chiefly to value themselves and despise their brethren.

Albert Barnes (December 1, 1798 – December 24, 1870) from Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
The language of angels; such as they speak. Were I endowed with the faculty of eloquence and persuasion which we attribute to them; and the power of speaking to any of the human family with the power which they have. The language of angels here seems to be used to denote the highest power of using language, or of the most elevated faculty of eloquence and speech. It is evidently derived from the idea that the angels are superior in all respects to human beings; that they must have endowments in advance of all which man can have.

John Gill:
and of angels; not that angels have tongues in a proper sense, or speak any vocal language, in an audible voice, with articulate sounds; for they are spirits immaterial and incorporeal; though they have an intellectual speech, by which they celebrate the perfections and praises of God, and can discourse with one another, and communicate their minds to each other; see Isaiah 6:3 and which is what the Jews {q} call, “blh rwbyd, “the speech of the heart”; and is the speech (they say) שהמלאכים מדברים, “which the angels speak” in their heart; and is the “pure language”, and more excellent than other tongues; is pleasant discourse, the secret of the holy seraphim–and is שיח המלאכים, “the talk of angels”; who do the will of their Creator in their hearts, and in their thoughts:” this is not what the apostle refers to; but rather the speech of angels, when they have assumed human bodies, and have in them spoke with an audible voice, in articulate sounds; of which we have many instances, both in the Old Testament and the New, wherein they have conversed with divers persons, as Hagar, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Manoah and his wife, the Virgin Mary, Zechariah, and others; unless by the tongues of angels should be meant the most eloquent speech, and most excellent of languages; or if there can be thought to be any tongue that exceeds that of men, which, if angels spoke, they would make use of. Just as the face of angels is used, to express the greatest glory and beauty of the face, or countenance, Acts 6:15, and angels’ bread is used for the most excellent food, Ps 78:25.

This is but a few but I believe it gives a general consensus to what is believed the apostle is talking about. These theologians believed that he was referring to speaking eloquently and fluently. They talk about how this is about being able to speak in the highest form of gracefulness.

Now, the word “though” is translated from the Greek word Ean which is a compound word that means what if. Therefore it can be concluded that Paul was not giving us an impression of possession (though I speak), but rather he was giving a supposition (what if I speak). Many have believed that he was referring to something that he witnessed while caught up in the third heaven. This is not possible. To say this would be sin on his part. He wasn’t permitted to say what he saw. So, to say that Paul was giving any type of testimony of the existence of a speech of angels or that he was capable of speaking this language is unbiblical.

by Andre Watson.

1st Corinthians 14:4 says:

He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself; but he that prophesies edifies the church.

Once again, Paul is not instructing to use tongues to edify, or build yourself, but he is giving a sharp rebuke. Remember, we read in 1st Corinthians 12:7 that spiritual gifts aren’t for private use. This is a comment from Adam Clark’s Commentary on the Whole Bible:

The apostle’s meaning seems to be this: Whatever gifts God has bestowed, or in what various ways soever the Spirit of God may have manifested himself, it is all for the common benefit of the Church. God has given no gift to any man for his own private advantage, or exclusive profit. He has it for the benefit of others as well as for his own salvation.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible says:

The Spirit was manifested by the exercise of these gifts; his influence and interest appeared in them. But they were not distributed for the mere honour and advantage of those who had them, but for the benefit of the church, to edify the body, and spread and advance the gospel. Note, Whatever gifts God confers on any man, he confers them that he may do good with them, whether they be common or spiritual. The outward gifts of his bounty are to be improved for his glory, and employed in doing good to others. No man has them merely for himself.

And just so I can drive this point home, The People’s New Testament says this:

7-11. But the manifestation of the Spirit, etc. However varied these manifestations, all are for the profit of the whole body. No gift of the Spirit is for the benefit of the recipient. This is now shown.

So, if the gifts are not to be used for private advantage, then what does Paul mean when he says that speaking in a tongue edifies a person? I have known some ministers as I came up in ministry that would have a revelation. They would go on and on about having this revelation. When you ask them what it is, they would not reveal the revelation. They would tell us that they studied a long time, fasted and prayed for this and wasn’t going to give it up so easily. I found myself doing the same thing one time. It feels good to know something someone else didn’t. I felt like a big man, like I’m smarter than they were. Chapter 3 on 1st Corinthians speaks of the carnality of the church. As far as maturity and growth in the things of God, they acted like kids. Just as I did, and many people before me, they felt big about having spiritual gifts that other people didn’t. Paul said that among them were envying and strife, but the one thing that caused this was the divisions. There were cliques, groups, sets in the church. So, you have tongue speakers, which is the gift that was most showed off, who made themselves bigger and better than everyone else. They were boastful and proud. They “built themselves up” by speaking in tongues.

It amazes me how people that read the bible don’t read the bible. Ok, I know that sounds silly, however, it’s true. 1st Corinthians 14:2-4 talks about tongues and prophecy. Tongues is the ability to speak a different language that you have not previously learned. The gift of prophecy is the ability to interpret and teach the spoken, written and visual word of God. When you look at these passages, in between the ideas of tongues and prophecy is the word “but”. The word “but” is a conjunction that connects two phrases, sentences, or ideas together. It is a comparative conjunction (not this, but that). So, what was it comparing? It was comparing two things. In verse one of chapter 14, we are told to desire gifts, but the one to desire more is prophecy. The scripture then begins to show us the difference between the lesser gift, tongues, and the greater gift, prophecy. But that’s not all. If you take into consideration 1st Corinthians 12:7, we are also looking at a comparison of the improper use of gifts, tongues, versus the proper use of gifts, prophecy.

by Andre Watson.

Now, let’s deal with the scriptures that people commonly misinterpret. 1st Corinthians 14:2 says:

For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men, but to God: for no man understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

Just so that we are clear, I will address these scriptures as if we were referring to tongues as earthly languages. I will talk about why a little later. The first thing that we must understand about this scripture is that is most King James Versions of the bible, the word unknown will be in italics. What does this mean? It means that the word, and any word, written in italics has been added by the King James translators. They added the word because they figured it would make the scripture more fluent. However, some of the bible translations that were translated more recently will not have the word unknown added. This is because it is not found in the original manuscripts. I said all of that to say this, there is no such thing as an unknown tongue. The unknown tongue is what most people are calling they “heavenly language”. I’m going to go into that a little later as well.

Contrary to popular belief, Paul in this scripture was not giving instructions to the people. This is a rebuke, or a correction. So, Paul was not instructing people to use tongues to speak to God. This goes against earlier teachings that spiritual gifts are used the the benefit of all, and not the benefit of the individual recipient of the gift (1st Corinthians 12:7). John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says this about 1st Corinthians 12:7:

to profit withal; not to make gain of, as Simon Magus intended, could he have been possessed of them; nor to encourage pride or envy, or to form and foment (to promote the growth or development of) divisions and parties; but for profit and advantage, and that not merely private, or a man’s own, but public, the good of the whole community or church, to which the least grace or gift, rightly used, may contribute.

So, for people to use this or any other gift for a private use goes against the purpose in which God has sent the gift to be used. What was taking place at this church was that people that had the gift to speak in other languages was speaking whenever they wanted. They were speaking, for instance if it were today, Spanish when there was no Spanish speaking people around. Or they may have been speaking Russian when no one that speaks the language was with them. Worst of all, since they were unable to translate for themselves, no one understood them, except God Himself. The purpose of the gift was not to speak to God, who doesn’t need a special language for you to communicate with him, but to a man who may need that special language. Ever tried to tell a Japanese cook that you are allergic to an ingredient he’s about to use in your food? Well, try telling someone that doesn’t understand your language that God loves them. It will be just as frustrating.

Have you ever been walking down the street and heard two people talking in another language? Maybe they were looking at you or in your direction and you say to yourself “I wonder what they are saying”. In essence, these people are speaking mysteries, or hidden things, hidden from you. How is that possible? Because you have no clue what they are saying!! These people at the Corinthian church spoke mysteries all the time because no one knew what anyone was saying. Since no one was taught the language, and there was no spirit-filled interpreter among them, they spoke hidden things, hidden from themselves. Paul was all about understanding because if everyone had an understanding, they were learning something. This is why there had to be an interpreter or no tongues can go forth. So, you are not speaking anything super mysterious when speaking in tongues. It was only a mystery because they didn’t understand what they were speaking.