Not every sermon is a “masterpiece” of oratory that keeps the listeners on the edge of their seats. Some sermons may turn out to be quite boring and hard to follow. Add to a boring sermon a listener who is already weary, and you have a combination that may cause some to ”drop off” to sleep.

I try not to be offended when someone falls asleep during one of my sermons. Sometimes I do not even blame them. I figure it is my job to keep them awake. However, I don’t accept responsibility for those who are already dozing before I even get started.

We even have a biblical example of one young man who fell asleep while the apostle Paul was preaching in Troas (Ac. 20). We might be inclined to “excuse” his weariness because Paul “continued his message until midnight.” Eutychus’s big mistake was sitting in the wrong place—in a window. His fall caused his death. (As a preacher, I have to wonder if Paul, while miraculously raising him back to life, was tempted to refrain from removing the aches and pains associated with such a fall).

What is true about sermons is also true about articles. Some are easier to read than others. Perhaps some have already given up on this article and are not reading this sentence. This might be a good way to judge the readership of this publication. If you have read this, how about sending me an email and simply say, “I got the message.”

aldiestel@gmail.com

Some people say that they are “deconstructing” their faith. What they mean is that they are questioning everything they have believed or been taught and rejecting either their own faith or the faith in which they have been brought up. Although this may seem novel to some people, it isn’t anything new. “Deconstruction” is simply going away from the Lord—and people have been doing that ever since people started coming to Him.

I will not try to address all the reasons people give for going away from Jesus. Instead, I’d rather talk about the one reason (and a related one reason) for not leaving Jesus or abandoning faith in Him.

In John 6, Jesus had just fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two small fish. Although the people were amazed by this miracle, by morning they looked for Jesus to feed them again. When Jesus refused to feed them and insisted that they “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (6:27), they started to leave Him. He also did some difficult teaching, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (6:66).

Do we feel the same way when Jesus doesn’t do or allow what we want or expect? Are we tempted to quit following Him if our physical life doesn’t meet our expectations? And what do we do when Jesus’ teaching is hard to understand or hard to apply in life? “Do you also want to go away?” is what Jesus said to His apostles when He saw other people leaving Him—and that’s what He would ask us, too.

Peter gave the only reason for not leaving Jesus when things are difficult: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (6:68-69). The reason we continue to follow Jesus and worship and obey Him is that there is no one else like Him. He is the Christ—the One chosen by God and proven by miracles and the resurrection. He is truly God’s Son, and as such, is the only one who has “the words of eternal life.” So, who Jesus is affects who we are and our future. No other person or religion or thing can do this. And for this reason, we won’t go away!

davdiestel@yahoo.com

Believing as firmly as I do in the Bible as the inspired word of God, and believing also that the gift of tongues has ceased, some might imagine that I cringe every time I read the admonition of Paul, ”do not forbid to speak in tongues” (1 Cor. 14:39). With the prominence given to “tongue speaking” in some religious circles today, I must ask myself if I am in violation of the scriptural admonition.

I consider myself to be open minded enough that—were I to witness the same phenomenon as it was demonstrated in the first century church—I would change my convictions. Or, if through a study of the Bible I could determine that what people today claim to be speaking in tongues by the power of the Holy Spirit was truly from God, I would not resist it. Thus, lest I have overlooked something in the Scriptures or have misapplied them, I have decided to make a study of the subject; and I invite you to study along with me.

With the great emphasis that is placed on this subject, you would think that the Bible would be filled with information on the subject. But such is not the case. Even a slow reader can read everything the Bible says about the “gift of tongues” in less than half an hour, so our task is not that great.

The word “tongue(s)” is found 50 times in the New Testament. Half of these have no reference whatsoever to the miraculous gift but only to the actual body member or to a natural language. The remaining references pertain to our subject. These references can be divided into three categories: Prophecy concerning tongues (Mk. 16:17-18); examples of the use of this gift (Ac. 2:4-11; 10:46; 19:6); and commands concerning the regulation of the gift (1 Cor. 12-14). We shall examine these passages and gather information from them for our conclusion.

Prophecy

In Mark 16:17-18 Jesus foretells of miraculous powers that would be demonstrated by believers. He said, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. “

At first glance, this may seem to indicate that all who believe will be able to speak in tongues. Indeed, there are some who claim that this is the test of a true believer. However, Jesus didn’t say that all believers would have this gift; He simply said that such signs would be done by believers, and He did not indicate that the signs would be done by believers in all ages to come.

Examples

In Acts 2:4-11 we see the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit “and began to speak with other tongues…” Here we can readily see what this gift consisted of by the inspired record. We find that each man from every nation “heard them speak in his own language.” The hearers were amazed because they recognized these men as being Galileans who would not know these languages. From this we know what is meant when we see references to the gift of tongues in Scripture. Perhaps with this explanation, the rest of our study will be clearer.

The next example of the gift is found in Acts 10:46 after the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentile household of Cornelius. Here no additional information is given about the gift. They received the power in the same manner as the apostles did in Acts chapter 2—by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

One more example is found in Acts 19:6. Here we see the gift of tongues was given by the “laying on of hands” by Paul—an apostle.

In summary, the gift of tongues consisted of the ability to speak in a language otherwise unknown to the speaker but known to the hearers. It was given either to those who specially received an outpouring of the Holy Spirit or by means of the laying on of the hands of an apostle. Now, we will turn to 1 Corinthians 12-14 for instructions concerning the gift.

Regulations

In the early verses of 1 Corinthians 12, we learn that the gift of tongues is only one gift among many possible gifts of the Holy Spirit (v.10). This, along with the rhetorical questions at the end of the chapter, shows us conclusively that not all Christians were able to speak in tongues (v.30).

In chapter 13, Paul makes passing reference to “the tongues of men and angels” (v.1) and points out that the ability to speak in tongues without love is useless. Today many claim their utterances are in an angelic language. Paul doesn’t shed light on what is meant by “the tongues of angels,” so we are not at liberty to speculate. Every reference in Scripture to utterances of angels has them speaking in a language that men understood.

Also in chapter 13, we find that, along with the gifts of prophecy and knowledge, the gift of tongues would one day cease (v.8). In verse 10, Paul tells us this would happen, “when that which is perfect has come.” The word translated “perfect“ means “complete,” referring to the Holy Spirit’s completed revelation (as we now have it in the form of the Bible). Thus the Scriptures are able to equip us to be “complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Chapter 14 is literally filled with instructions regulating the use and demonstration of spiritual gifts, including tongues. He tells the advantage of prophecy over tongues and limits the use of tongues in the church to that which edifies, explaining that one must be understood in order to edify. Perhaps there was the temptation to use this gift when it was not needed. Evidently men were speaking in languages to others when there were none who could understand and interpret. Therefore, “no one understands” (v.2).

Later in the chapter Paul tells the purpose of this gift: “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers” (v.22). This gift was of such a nature that it was convincing to the unbeliever. What we see and hear today is not convincing; it is more like what Paul referred to in verse 23 where he warned about appearing to be out of their minds.

The latter part of chapter 14 also is an indictment against modern claims of tongue-speaking. Paul limits these utterances to “two or at the most three” (v.27) in one assembly and only in the presence of an interpreter (v.28) that “all things be done for edification” (v.26).             Finally we arrive at our beginning text: “And do not forbid to speak in tongues” (v.39). Find me a man who can do what we have learned was done by some of the early Christians—speak in a language understandable to others but which he has never learned—and I won’t try to stop him. But no man does this today.

aldiestel@gmail.com

In a recent issue of this paper, there was an article entitled, “The Blessed Mary…a Lord’s Supper Talk.” The article pointed us to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a woman worthy of our admiration and praise, because of her unflinching faith as she quietly endured the heartbreaking event of her own child’s wrongful and brutal execution on a Roman cross. Mary was, indeed, an amazing woman.

As I read that article, I remembered another occasion in the life of Mary that moves me to admire her even more. Do you remember the time Luke tells us about after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus when the apostles were staying in an upper room in Jerusalem waiting for the promised coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12-14)? You might remember that the apostles were not alone at that time; with them was a gathering of “about one hundred and twenty persons” (1:15). And guess who was one of those one hundred and twenty people? Luke specifically lets us know that Mary was there (1:14)!

Now, stop and notice that on this occasion Mary was with the very men who, just a little over a month earlier, had denied her son Jesus and fled like cowards when the soldiers came to arrest Him! And notice that not only was she present with these men, but she evidently accepted their leadership, including that of the man who had denied her son three times in one night with cursing and swearing (Mk. 14:66ff). When the day of Pentecost came and the church was finally established in Jerusalem, it included many of the same folks who had personally cried out for the blood of her son (Acts 2:23).

Wow! What a forgiving spirit this godly woman, Mary, manifested! You just have to appreciate her and want to imitate her!

Some Christians today refuse to be a part of a local church because of what someone in that local church did to them (usually something quite insignificant by comparison); and often, it was something that happened way in the past. But here, Mary was a part of a church made up of the very people who had rejected and brutally executed her son; and she followed the leadership of the specific men who had so badly failed her son! Ooh! Aren’t we a bit embarrassed now about the silly grudges we sometimes hold and the wrongs we often refuse to forgive!

Evidently, Mary was like the first martyr, Stephen, who had learned from Jesus to say, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34)! She was there at the cross when Jesus said those words! She learned forgiveness from Him! The story of the cross is all about forgiveness! At the cross, provision was made for our sins to be forgiven! There we witness the forgiving spirit of Christ and the forgiving spirit of our merciful God! Like Mary, we must learn to be forgiving! All offenses committed against us, all hurts we have endured, all the grudges we want to hold tenaciously to—all of these pale in view of the cross of Christ! We must never forget that the unforgiving spirit is unforgivable (cf. Mt. 6:15)! If we want the benefits of the cross of Christ, we must forgive! If Mary could do it, so can I!

rcliggin@gmail.com