Speaking With Tongues

Part 1 of 2 from The Moody Church Herald, May 1, 1910.

Speaking “with other tongues” at Pentecost means that the apostles spoke in different languages, so that the people understood them in the language in which they were born. It was evidently miraculous. It is plain, however, that the people were not converted through this speaking “with other tongues,” but through Peter’s sermon which was spoken in the Greek tongue, a language which all present could understand. The tongues phenomenon with the distributed flames of fire which sat upon each of them and the rushing mighty wind preceded the sermon and was a sign to the Jews that Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled. Whether the apostles, as some believe, spoke each one in a different language; or, as others believe, each one spoke in several languages; or, as still others believe, the miracle consisted in the people hearing in their own languages, though only one language was spoken, the explanation is the same. It was God working in a way beyond human comprehension or explanation. It was a sign to the Jews for those who lacked faith that God was fulfilling His prophecy spoken by Joel.

Not Repeated

There is no record that this Pentecostal experience of the fire, the wind, and the “other tongues” was ever repeated. After Peter’s sermon to the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:46), they spoke with tongues and magnified God, but not with “other tongues” as at Pentecost. The twelve men at Ephesus after they had received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands “spoke with tongues and prophesied” but not with “other tongues” (Acts 19:6).

In Mark 16:17, a passage of rather doubtful authority because it is omitted from some of the best manuscripts, we have the prophecy, “They shall speak with new tongues.” But the word “new” does not necessarily mean “other tongues.” There is a sense in which a tongue may be new without being different. There may go with the old familiar language a new power which really makes it a new tongue.

“Other Tongues” at Pentecost and “Tongues” at Corinth

When we turn to the fourteenth chapter of First Corinthians, we find a speaking with tongues (“unknown” is in italics and ought to be omitted) which is very different from the speaking with “other tongues” at Pentecost. Let us trace the differences.

1. At Pentecost everybody understood; at Corinth nobody understood, not even the speaker himself. “No man understandeth him” (1 Corinthians 14:2). “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14).
2. At Pentecost, speaking with “other tongues” was for the people; at Corinth, speaking with tongues was for God only. “”He that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God” (1 Corinthians 14:2).
3. At Pentecost, speaking with “other tongues” edified the people for they said, “We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:11); at Corinth, he who spoke with tongues edified only himself. “He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifieth the church” (1 Corinthians 14:4).
4. At Pentecost, the speaking with “other tongues” had with it the sign of the distributed flames of fire and the rushing mighty wind; at Corinth, there was no such sign.

We are, therefore, driven to the conclusion that speaking with “other tongues” at Pentecost was a different thing from speaking with tongues at Corinth. It is clear that speaking with other tongues at Pentecost mean that different languages were spoken or at least understood by those who heard.

What “Speaking with Tongues” Meant

Now, what was the experience in which people spoke only to God and did not themselves understand nor did others understand what they said?

In Contrast with Prophesying

1. It was an experience in contrast with prophesying. Prophesying meant speaking God’s message to the people, but speaking with tongues brought no message to any one. “In the spirit he speaketh mysteries,. . .but he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:2–3).

Can Be Explained

2. It was an experience which could be interpreted. The man who spoke with tongues could explain the phenomenon to others. He could expound the experience. The word “interpret” used three times in 1 Corinthians 14 is the Greek word translated “expound” in Luke 24:27. “Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” This does not mean to translate but to explain the meaning of. Speaking with tongues could not be translated, because no one understood the meaning of what was said. But there was something in it which could be explained. And unless it be thus expounded, it is like a pipe or harp giving forth sounds but no notes; like a trumpet blast that means nothing; like words in a unknown tongue which carry no ideas (1 Corinthians 14:6–11).

Not to Be Sought

3. The experience of speaking with tongues was not to be sought, because it was an inferior gift and the command is, “Desire earnestly the best gifts;” yet it was not to be refused nor forbidden. “Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12). But nowhere are we told to seek the gift of tongues, because in that there is only self-edification. Paul said, “I would that ye all spake with tongues (for even self-edification is a good thing) but rather that ye prophesied, for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues except he interpret (explain), that the church may receive edifying” (1 Corinthians 14:5).

“Wherefore, let him that speaketh in a tongue pray that he may interpret (explain)” (1 Corinthians 14:13).

An Ecstatic, Emotional Experience

4. Speaking with tongues at Corinth was an ecstatic rhapsodical experience which expressed emotions without thought. The heart was full of thanksgiving, joy, and rapture too great for expression in connected language, while it expressed itself in ejaculations, laughter, tears, and shouts. And yet the one thus affected could after the effusion explain by giving the reasons for such expressions of joy and rapture; or even a friend who had had similar experiences could explain it for him. It was an experience which dealt solely with God in prayerful and praiseful worship, but it was not irrational, because there were good reasons for such ecstatic and exuberant joy. This rhapsodical feeling was a gift of the Spirit not to be despised but rather appreciated, and the ability to interpret it to others was also a gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:28–30), but the Corinthians are warned against undue attention to their ecstatic feelings and urged to seek rather the gift of prophecy which would edify others. Indeed, Paul insists that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:32–33); so that this gift of ecstatic joy must be kept within bounds. “Let all things be done unto edifying.” “If any man speak in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course (one at a time); and let one interpret” (1 Corinthians 14:26–27). All the time of a meeting should not be taken up with these ecstatic rhapsodies to the exclusion of “edification, and exhortation and comfort,” and two or three people should not be allowed to express their ecstasies at once. “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Corinthians 14:28). If no one explain the reason for these rhapsodies, let them cease, and let those who are full of inexpressible ecstasy keep it to themselves and to God. Let them enjoy their rhapsodies in silence or go to a private place where no one but God will hear them.

These rules observed in public assembly would effectually curb hysterical fanaticism. Hysteria that could give no reason for its emotions would be curbed, and fanaticism, that would produce confusion by moving many to take part in the demonstration at the same time, would also be curbed.

The Better Gift

Paul says, “As for myself I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit (that is, with a tongue expressing emotions without thoughts) how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayeth? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. I thank my God I speak with tongues more than ye all. Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding that I might teach others also than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:15–19). Paul’s meaning is plain. He controls his ecstatic feelings in public and refuses to let his emotions run away with his mind. He does this for the benefit of those present who occupy the position of the unlearned in relation to this experience, knowing nothing of it. And though he is grateful for such rhapsodical experiences he keeps them between himself and God, not giving way to them in the assembly, where five words of instruction are worth more than ten thousand words without meaning, though they be the expressions of ecstatic joy. Then he exhorts the Corinthians not to be like children in seeking and displaying these spectacular gifts (1 Corinthians 14:20).

For Those Who Lack Faith

5. The experience of speaking with tongues was a sign of unbelief rather than of faith in those who had it. “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” (1 Corinthians 14:22). This cannot refer to the unbelievers who come in and listen, for the next verse says: “If, therefore, the whole church be come together and all speak with tongues and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?” Speaking God’s message or prophesying in a tongue that all can understand is for the unbelievers who come in as we see in 1 Corinthians 14:24–25. Expressing ecstatic rhapsodical joy by ejaculations, meaningless to them, will impress them that we are crazy and our influence over them for good is at an end. Those who beseech God for a sign that He is with them in power show by that prayer their lack of faith, and as God answered Israel’s prayer of unbelief for a king and sent His chastisement with the answer, so He may answer the prayer for a sign and make the answer a chastisement for our unbelief. The quotation of Paul from Isaiah 28:11 intimates that strange tongues may be sent in chastisement for disobedience (1 Corinthians 14:21). God’s Word is sufficient basis for faith. To demand more in the way of miraculous signs is to dishonor His Word. Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you all the days to the end of the age.” We should believe it and act accordingly without insulting Him by asking Him to give us further proof that He spoke the truth. Our Lord said, “I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Shall I seek a sign that He told the truth and thus dishonor His Word, or shall I believe without sign that His Word is true and the Holy Spirit is with me all the time? Are not the words of Jesus as true now as when He spoke them: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matthew 12:39)? To claim that one cannot have the Holy Spirit without the sign of speaking with tongues or any other sign is to manifest a spirit of unbelief.

Part 2 of 2 from The Moody Church Herald, June 1, 1910.

Explanations of Phenomena.

Physical Causes

1. Purely physical causes explain the experiences of some. If you will spend several days in fasting and prayer, pursuing at the same time your daily duties, your body will become so weakened and your nervous system so strained, if not shattered, that you will be apt to hear strange noises, see strange visions, and say strange things. If you are seeking to speak in strange tongues, you are apt to be gratified. Under the influence of exciting surroundings and encouraged by sympathetic friends, your tongue may work in strange ways and even pass beyond your control.

Psychological Causes

2. Psychological causes explain the experiences of others. They have excitable, if not hysterical, temperaments. They yield to the suggestions of strong minds. A dominant leader by urging upon more submissive minds the necessity of speaking the tongues as a sign that one has received the Holy Spirit may bring about in them such excitement and suggestions as to produce the phenomenon of speaking with tongues and almost any other phenomenon he may wish.

Dr. J.W. Blosser in a tract published by the Congregational Home Missionary Society in New York City says: “Prompted by a desire to study this reputed modern miracle through personal observation, I attended some of the meetings, and was soon favored with a very satisfactory demonstration of the supposed ‘gift of tongues.’ A young woman, said to hail from Toccoa, Georgia, sprang to her feet as if moved by sudden impulse, and for perhaps five minutes, gave forth a rapid utterance of seemingly articulate sounds. With her facial expression, her gesticulations, and the modulations of her voice, she presented very much the appearance of one who is delivering an earnest and intelligent address; but no one present, so far as I know, could understand what she was saying. Following this performance, the leader took a text from the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and preached for nearly an hour, contending that the miracle of speaking in an unknown tongue is the sign by which the full gift of the Holy Spirit is attested and that one who has not had this sign manifested in himself could have no evidence that he had received the gift of the Spirit. Following the sermon, twenty-five or more men and women went forward and knelt as seekers of this gift. These were instructed to repeat continuously the words ‘Praise Him,’ ‘Glory,’ etc. Later some of them ‘fell under the power,’ and men and women lay upon the floor in a seeming trance. Some, when they ‘got the blessing,’ spoke in an unintelligible jargon, others imitated the barking of dogs, and several hissed like serpents. One who had received the gift of an unknown tongue, favored me with an interview and gave me a demonstration of his linguistic gift. In the midst of a conversation he suddenly changed to a speech which I could not understand and which he declared he could not control. He seemed to be completely beside himself with excitement.”

This is a very fair description of what has been taking place in Chicago, though the scene described was located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hypnotic Suggestion

“Having studied this movement for more than a year,” continues Dr. Blosser, “my opinion is that most of those who speak this jargon are sincere; and that their utterance comes from an impulse which they suppose to be the gift of the Holy Spirit, but which is merely the product of hypnotic suggestion. It is an accepted scientific fact that the human mind extends far beyond the limits of its ordinary consciousness, and its unconscious or subconscious part, like a hidden subterranean cavern, is a storehouse of psychological forces out of which, under certain conditions, strange mental forces obtrude themselves into the realm of consciousness and play strange pranks with the impulses, senses, and sensations of the body. An English officer in Africa was hypnotized and suddenly began to speak in a strange language. This proved to be Welsh, which he had learned as a child and had forgotten so far as the conscious mind was concerned; but the subconscious memory had it in storage. Coleridge narrates the case of an illiterate servant girl who, in the delirium of fever, recited long passages of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, which she had happened to hear her former employer read while she was attending to her household duties. In 1853, there broke out in France an epidemic in which hundreds of persons spoke languages which they had heard but were not supposed to remember. In all these cases, the subconscious mind reproduced the exact sounds of languages they had casually heard; while in the present phenomena, the speakers imitate, not a language, but the counterfeit which has been give them by others.

“The leader’s method with his subjects was exactly adapted to the production of the tongue phenomenon, by hypnotic suggestion. The continuous repetition of ‘Praise Him’ and ‘Glory’ produced a state of ‘suggestibility,’ and the thought being present in the mind of the subject that he would be moved to utter unintelligible sounds, it naturally followed that when he had reached the proper stage of mental abstraction, a hypnotic impulse would impel him to reproduce an imitation of the performances which he had witnessed. This would come, not as a conscious effort on his part, but as an impulse from within, just as any other hypnotic subject will be moved by an irresistible impulse to make a speech if it is suggested that he is an orator, or to sing if it is intimated that he is a singer. The speaker of an unknown tongue being ignorant of the operations of the subconscious mind under the influence of suggestion, attributes the impulse to the Holy Spirit, and this is the basis of his delusion.”

Counterfeits

3. But all the phenomena connected with this speaking with tongues movement are evidently not due to physical and psychological causes. Satan is transformed in this age into an angel of light and his mission is to counterfeit truth and like all counterfeits there is a basis of truth in it. Counterfeiting consists in passing off things for more than they are worth. A nickel gilded may be passed for a five dollar gold piece. It is still worth a nickel, but the counterfeit is in passing it for five dollars. There is a real experience which Paul calls speaking with tongues and he places it last on the list of spiritual gifts. To place it first by saying that no one can have the baptism of the Holy Spirit unless he has this gift is to counterfeit it.

Disobedience to the Spirit

Whoever seeks the gift of tongues violates the spirit of Paul’s injunction and whoever urges others to seek the gift of tongues as a proof that they are baptized with the Holy Spirit offers Satan a rare opportunity for deceiving them by furnishing them with spurious gifts of tongues. He will enable them to babble and hiss and bark and crow and talk gibberish, while the Holy Spirit is grieved.

“Try the Spirits”

The command is “Try the spirits whether they are of God”—“Hereby know ye the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:1–2). And yet we need to remember that Satan can imitate this confession. The demons made such a confession in Luke 4:41. When Christians are disobedient in seeking spectacular display of the Spirit contrary to the revealed will of the Spirit, they may not be guarded from the delusion of Satan, even though they confess that Christ is come in the flesh. If one denies the deity of Christ, we may know that he is not of God; but, if he is living in disobedience to Christ’s will, his confession of His deity will not protect him from delusion. It is the daily obedient walk with God which is his safety. Satan can hardly wish a better subject for delusion than a conscientious Christian who is seeking something contrary to the will of the Holy Spirit. Such an one is ready to receive any sort of counterfeit as the genuine article, and the counterfeit gifts are usually such as to bring the real gift into disrepute and thus injure the cause of Christ.

The Edward Irving Movement

About 1830, Miss Mary Campbell, an invalid in the west of Scotland, began to speak to strangers in language they could not understand. Edward Irving, the eloquent pastor of the Scotch Church in London, heard of it and thanked God for the verification of his teaching that the signs of Pentecost might be repeated at any time, if sufficient faith existed. In a short time, the same “signs” began to appear in his London congregation and the movement spread like wild fire.

Robert Baxter’s Experience

Mr. Robert Baxter, for whom Sir Robert Anderson of London vouches as a sensible, quiet, learned attorney, came to London and attended Mr. Irving’s meetings. The “power” came upon him and for a year or more he was a leader in speaking with strange tongues and predicting coming events. Even children, ten years of age, were among the “gifted ones.” A boy and girl who had been speaking in the power flatly refused to confess that Christ had come in the flesh; and, when the spirits were tried, others made the same refusal, while some confessed with great reluctance. It began to be noticed that false teaching went with “power,” and soon there was great confusion in the public assembly, some of the “gifted” ones denouncing Mr. Irving himself.

Mr. Robert Baxter was one of the leaders in the movement, sometimes occupying Mr. Irving’s pulpit. But Mr. Baxter noted that the “power” sometimes contradicted itself and made predictions which were not fulfilled. The sickening conviction grew upon him that the whole movement was a counterfeit of the Spirit’s workings and, being an honest man, he frankly told Mr. Irving his conviction. But the great preacher had committed himself to the movement and he refused to admit that he had been deceived. The result was that his great usefulness was, to a large extent, wrecked, though a small denomination known as the “Catholic Apostolic Church” still propagates his peculiar views with many modifications.

A Narrative of Facts

Mr. Robert Baxter published a book which he called “A Narrative of Facts,” in which he gives an extended account of his experiences. He says: “I found suddenly a power coming upon me which was altogether new and unnatural and in most cases a most appalling utterance was given unto me.” “I was under such a painful constraint that every word I uttered was, as it were, wrung from me.” He wrote to a friend: “The Lord is evidently giving again to His church the wonder-working gifts of His Spirit.” Again: “Suddenly the power came down upon me and I found myself lifted up in soul to God, my wandering thoughts at once riveted and calmness of mind given me. By a constraint I cannot describe, I was made to speak; at the same time, shrinking from utterance and yet rejoicing in it. The utterance was a prayer—that God would graciously bestow upon me the gifts of His Spirit—the working of miracles, the gifts of healing, the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues.”

It is evident that Mr. Baxter was hungry for a spectacular display of the gifts of the Spirit through him. It was Satan’s opportunity to counterfeit on a large scale and thus bring into disrepute the truth he preached concerning the second coming of Christ. But God mercifully opened Mr. Baxter’s eyes to the truth and revealed to him plainly that the power to which he was submitting was not of God, so that he wrote: "The work is a mimicry of the gifts of the Spirit—the utterance in tongues a mimicry of the gift of tongues—and so of the prophesyings and all the other works of the power. It is Satan as an angel of light, imitating, as far as permitted, the Holy Spirit of God: according to the degree of unfaithfulness of the individuals or congregation with whom it is present, so am I persuaded is the degree of power and consequent deceit which is put forth.”

Under Edwards and the Wesleys

Under the preaching of Jonathan Edwards during the “Great Awakening” there was developed a phenomenon which was called “falling under the power” and Mr. Edwards at first approved it. But he soon found that it was a delusion, and took a decided stand against it. So in the revival under the Wesleys during 1739. At first, John Wesley considered such outbursts as an indication of God’s presence, but he was led to confess his error and emphatically disapproved of them. In Mr. Finney’s meetings, when he perceived indications of undue excitement and disorder, he would dismiss the meetings and urge the people to go to their homes in a quiet, prayerful spirit. The great revival of 1857 and the greater revival under D.L. Moody’s preaching, in which hundreds of thousands were converted and added to the churches, were free from extravagances of this kind. It was a work too deep for splash and splatter. Satan found it difficult to counterfeit it.

The Conclusion

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. The Holy Spirit came in power on the day of Pentecost and He came to stay. He abides with us all the time and is ready to work in us and through us, if we will yield ourselves completely to Him. His mission is to reveal Christ and not Himself, to take the things of Christ, not of Himself, and show them unto us. To require a “sign” of His presence and willingness to bless us is to call in question the truthfulness of Christ’s promise. There is an experience of ecstatic, rhapsodical joy which is inexpressible in connected language and may be expressed only in ejaculations, shouts and laughter; and yet it is an experience which can be explained, for every one who has it knows the reasons for such exuberant joy and should be able to give those reasons to others. This is an experience to be appreciated, but not sought, for it is not one of the best gifts, but, after all, a sort of childish affair, which, if demanded as a sign, is an evidence of unbelief and immaturity rather than of faith and maturity. It is an experience between the soul and God and not therefore for the public assembly, unless it is explained to others who are present and do not understand it.

Seeking to speak in unknown languages is not of God; but what we all need is the enduement of the Holy Spirit as we speak in a language all can understand. Disorderly confusion in the public assembly is not of God, and should, therefore, be avoided. We should trust the Holy Spirit for power without demanding a sign, for the spirit that demands a sign is itself a sign of unbelief, and is no more pleasing to Christ now than it was when He was on Earth. We need to guard against the wiles of the devil who is ready to counterfeit any spectacular display of the Spirit’s working which we may seek in disobedience to the revealed will of the Spirit, whose mission is not to reveal Himself, but Christ. The fruits of the Spirit which we are to cultivate are “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” and the Spirit is ready to endue us with power in witnessing for Christ and not for Himself. Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” When we are bearing affective testimony for Christ and souls are being saved, we may be sure that we have the baptism of the Spirit and our faith should be strong enough to trust Him without demanding of Him a sign which might attract our vision from Christ and center it upon this spectacular display.