The Holy Spirit And The Gift Of Tongues

And suddenly there came a

sound from heaven, as a 

rushing mighty wind, 

and it filled the whole

house where they were sitting.

Then there appeared to them

divided tongues, as of fire,

and one sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with

the Holy Spirit and 

began to speak with

other tongues,

as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:2-4

     
     There are times in life when we tread upon waters that are turbulent, even violent, but we know that to get to where we must go we cannot allow fear to impede. This is so true when one steps upon a person's sacred cow. When discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that is, those "sign" gifts, as I have been doing, I know that some will cavil, and object, and shut their minds to any other opinion, and will not examine for themselves what the Scriptures actually are saying. The gift of tongues is one such sacred cow for so many Churches and those attending that to speak in any way that is different from their belief will only rile them up. They may shut their ears, they may hide their thoughts, and they may just dismiss any other opinion; they do this at their peril for we are told to examine all things; this is a command (1Thessalonians 5:21). I pray and hope that you are not one such person because this gift is probably the most divisive gift among Christian Churches. There is one thing that I am certain of: God, the Holy Spirit, did not give gifts so that the Church would be divided, believers are not to be divided. We are to have our opinions, but our opinions must be based upon truth and the only truth is the Bible. "Sign" gifts are so abused and so divisive, all that can be said is something is wrong and needs correction. The world laughs at Christians, sin has come into the body of Christ. 

     Words have meaning and many words have more than one translation into English, such as the Greek word: "γλώσσαις", first this is a plural word, so it is translated in the plural and has two meanings: 1. The organ, tongue: in fact we use the word "glossa" for a part in our body, the back of the tongue, the hypoglossa, the glossa area, and 2.

The language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations. This word is used: to speak out, speak forth, pronounce, not a word of every-day speech, but one belonging to dignified and elevated discourse. This word has the force of; to utter or declare one’s self, give one’s opinion, and is not only used of prophets but also of wise men and philosophers that the Greeks call άποφθέγματα. This word is used by the Christians on the day of Pentecost where this gift of the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak in an unknown “tongue” (Acts 2:40 and again Peter used the word (Acts 2:14) where it says that he “spoke out” to them.” Paul used this word when he appeared before king Agrippa, when Paul gave his opinion in his defense, when he had to speak carefully (Acts 26:25). Foreigners well called:  ἑτερογλώσσοι, meaning one who speaks a different language (1Corinthians 14:21). It is clear that that this word means language and when we apply the word "tongue" to this word, which is not wrong but the meaning for "tongue" can be so misconstrued to mean anything, but the word language is more specific and is a better translation. Further proof that it was a language, foreign, unknown by the men at Pentecost is the fact that they spoke in a dialect "διαλέκτῳ" (Acts 2:6). Furthermore, the people in Jerusalem had come to the Passover feast and had remained 50 days until Pentecost and where from all parts of the world and even though being Jewish spoke other languages and to their amazement they had the Gospel in their own language and dialect. 
     We must be careful when trying to understand Scriptural references, especially when body parts are said to do things that are not in actuality a change in that part but yet have certain attributions given to it: i.e., in Acts 2:26 the heart is said to be glad, and the tongue rejoiced in exultation, and the flesh dwelt in hope, all because the Holy Spirit filled him with the joy of His face. 
     What this small study has shown is that this word used for language was a word especially used because of the message that was to be given to those who spoke in other languages, they could hear the Gospel in their "tongue." This shows us that there is a purpose for this Gift of the Holy Spirit, and that gift was to be used to further the Gospel, even to foreigners, those who spoke other languages than Hebrew, even Greek, or Aramaic, etc. All gifts given to man by the Holy Spirit is to benefit the Church and to assist them in fulfilling the command to make disciples; unfortunately this gift has been abused and has been the cause of much and great division. What a sin, what a defamation upon the character of of our God when brothers and sisters are so divided. What a shame! No wonder that the cults point fingers at the Church, no wonder so many people would flock to other beliefs, to cults that claim to be "Christian." They like the unity of those cults, and hate the disharmony of Churches, the appeal to them for unity sake is so great that they run to a form of religion that suits them, but what is so different, people flock to Churches that suit their opinions, and often those opinions are based upon a belief that has never been examined. This is my attempt to get you to examine what you believe. Hope it is working!


For I testify to everyone
     who hears the words 
of the prophecy of this book:
     If anyone adds to him 
these things, God will add
     to him the plagues that
are written in this book;
                           Revelation 22:18


Become Devoted To God: This Is Happiness


Richard L. Crumb