Like
all gifts, speaking in tongues was not for private use but for the
common good.
Many believe that speaking
in tongues is for private prayer, however, there is not one verse
that supports the private use of tongues. The Bible tells us that
-
All
mentions of tongues are in public settings – other people
were always present.
Interpretation
was necessary, meaning others were present (1 Cor. 14:27-28).
Tongues
were a sign to the Jews, meaning Jews were present (1 Cor.
14:21-22).
1 Cor. 12:7 and 1 Pet. 4:10
say that all gifts are for serving others, for the common good. There
is no suggestion that tongues or any other gift was for private use.
1 Cor. 14:4 says that tongues would edify the individual and that is
quite understandable. It would probably be even more edifying to heal
someone, however, personal edification was not the intended purpose
of any gift. Tongues, with interpretation, were given to build up the
church, not the individual, as the following show:
1
Cor. 12:7 - "... the manifestation of the Spirit is
given for the common good..."
1
Pet. 4:10 - "... each one should use whatever gift he
has received to serve others..."
1
Cor. 14:5 - "... so that the
church may be edified." (Note 1 Pet.
4:10)
1
Cor. 14:6 - "... [without interpretation] what
good will I be to
you?"
1
Cor. 14:7 - "... [without interpretation] how will
anyone know...?"
1
Cor. 14:8 - "... [without interpretation]
who will get ready...?"
1
Cor. 14:9 - "... [without interpretation] how will
anyone know...?"
1
Cor. 14:11 - "... If I do not grasp the meaning of
what someone is saying..."
1
Cor. 14:12 - "... try to excel in gifts that
build up the church."
1
Cor. 14:16 - "... how can one who does
not understand say ‘amen’?"
1
Cor. 14:16 - "... he does not
know what you are saying."
1
Cor. 14:17 - "... the other man
is not edified."
1
Cor. 14:19 - "... to instruct
others..."
1
Cor. 14:26 - "... all things must be done for
the strengthening of the church."
1
Cor. 14:27 - "... if anyone speaks in a tongue ...
someone must interpret."
These verses all point to
the public
use of tongues with interpretation for building up the church. There
is not a single verse that supports the use of tongues for private
prayer. (This list is taken from All About Speaking In Tongues by
Fernand LeGrand)
A passage said to support
tongues as a private prayer language is 1 Cor. 14:13-17. These verses
talk about praying in tongues but interpretation is called for so
that others can say “Amen” so clearly this passage describes a
public
prayer setting and has nothing at all to do with private prayer.
1 Cor. 14:2 is also used in
the attempt to prove that tongues is a private prayer language. It
says, “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak
to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters
mysteries with his spirit”. Obviously, this verse cannot
support private prayer either as it says, “no one
understands him”, telling us that it’s a public
setting. Three other points about this verse are -
i) Many believe that the
“mysteries” of 1 Cor. 14:2 are angelic
languages but this comes from a misinterpretation of 1 Cor. 13:1-3 in
which Paul uses exaggerated speech to show that love is greater than
all. He is not saying that he could do the impossible and fathom all
mysteries or have all knowledge etc but even if he
could, yet didn’t have love, then he had nothing.
Likewise, he is not saying that anyone could speak in the tongues of
angels; that too is exaggerated language.
ii) By itself, 1 Cor. 14:2
makes absolutely no sense as it says that no one, except God,
ever understood anyone who spoke in tongues. Obviously,
this is wrong because tongues were understood (Acts 2:8). To make
sense of this verse we need to look at v.28 which is also talking
about speaking to God. It says, “If there is no
interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to
himself and God”. So, if we consider v.2 in the light of
v.28 we see it is saying that, without an interpreter, the speaker
should keep quiet and talk to God as no one understands him. Again,
this is a public setting and, without
interpretation, the speaker would have been uttering mysteries in the
same way that any foreign language is a mystery to us, unless
interpreted.
iii) The KJV has helped to
confuse this issue by adding “unknown” to
the text implying that some tongues were unknown languages. However,
all tongues from God were known, human languages just as 1 Cor. 14:10
tells us: “There are doubtless many different languages
in the world, and none is without meaning”.
Finally, a careful study
shows that every verse on tongues, whether about prayer or otherwise,
is in the context of a public setting with interpretation
called for every time. Not a single verse speaks of the private use
of tongues. This is because tongues was a sign of judgement to
unbelieving Jews and, once that purpose had been served, speaking in
tongues ceased. See “Speaking In Tongues – A Sign” at - http://www.christianissues.biz/pdf-bin/blogarticles/tonguesandasign.pdf
The
following books on the cessation of Tongues, Prophecy and Knowledge
are free to download.
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