Participants: Hal Steenson (Host)
Series Code: HPOV
Program Code: HPOV000004
00:01 Hello, I'm
00:03 I'd like to welcome you to Heaven's Point of View. 00:04 Our topic for this series is the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:07 Now, being a charismatic pastor for so many years allowed me 00:09 the opportunity to see the bad and the good, 00:12 the error and the truth of the handling and the mishandling 00:15 of the charisma gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:17 The gift that is grossly misused is the gift of tongues, 00:21 and the gift that is most misunderstood is the 00:25 gift of interpretation. 00:27 So get your Bible, follow along with me. 00:29 Next we will look very closely at the gift of tongues. 00:55 There are two very different types of tongues 00:57 not counting the possibility of false tongues 01:00 addressed in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. 01:03 There is the gift of tongues and there is the natural tongue. 01:07 Using God's Word, we will closely examine both of these 01:10 tongues. Now to avoid any denominational bias, 01:14 the Bible will be the only source of reference material 01:17 used in this study on these two gifts. 01:20 I will use the King James version of the Bible 01:23 unless otherwise noted. Some words will be highlighted 01:26 in BOLD on the screen for emphasis. 01:28 Now with God's Word, the Word of God, 01:31 heaven's point of view, as our only foundation, 01:34 let's look at the truth about tongues, and later 01:37 I'll answer some questions about the error surrounding tongues. 01:42 First, let's explore the gift of tongues. 01:44 There is the gift of tongues given by the Holy Spirit. 01:47 I Corinthians 12:7-10 reads: 02:17 Isn't God good? 02:18 Please note that this scripture does not say unknown tongues. 02:24 It DOES NOT say unknown tongues. The tongues spoken of in this 02:28 passage is a tongue or a language that someone has never 02:32 previously spoken and does not currently know. 02:35 Now, let me illustrate this truth with scripture. 02:38 B- I-B-L-E. Jesus first commissioned this gift 02:41 in Mark 16:17 when He said: "And these signs shall follow 02:46 them that believe. In My name they shall cast out devils, 02:49 they shall speak with new tongues. " 02:51 Here again there is no mention of unknown tongues. 02:55 Jesus gave the disciples a prime directive along with 03:00 instructions about how and where to use the divine gift. 03:03 Matthew 28:19 states: "Go ye therefore and teach all 03:07 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 03:09 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 03:11 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 03:14 I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, 03:17 even unto the end of the world. Amen. " 03:19 Now, how could the disciples go and teach and baptize people 03:22 in all nations if they couldn't speak their language? 03:25 They COULD NOT! This is the one and only purpose 03:30 for the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues was not given 03:34 for any other purpose other than to preach and proclaim 03:38 the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit bestows this gift 03:43 on a person to preach the Gospel to ever nation, every kindred, 03:47 and every tongue. Now, the first example 03:52 of this gift occurs when accompanied by tongues 03:56 was on the Day of Pentecost when Peter and the others 03:59 gathered in the upper room received the Holy Spirit. 04:01 Then came down into the streets of Jerusalem and began 04:05 preaching the Gospel by the use of the gift of tongues. 04:09 Acts 2:1-4 reads: "And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, 04:15 they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly 04:18 there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind 04:21 and it filled all the house where they were sitting 04:24 and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire. 04:28 And it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled 04:33 with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues 04:36 as the Spirit gave them utterance. " 04:39 Once again, please note that it does not say unknown tongues. 04:45 They all went into the streets of Jerusalem and addressed 04:49 the crowds of the Jews gathered there from every nation 04:52 under heaven. Acts 2:5-8 states it like this: 04:56 "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, 04:59 out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was 05:02 noised abroad, the multitude came together and were 05:05 confounded because every man heard them speaking 05:08 in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled 05:13 saying one to another, behold, are not all these who speak 05:16 all these who speak Galileans? And how then do we hear, 05:20 each hear them speaking in our own tongue 05:23 wherein we were born?" Now because of that manifestation 05:26 of the God-given gift of tongues, which 05:29 I Corinthians 14:22 says is a sign for the unbeliever. 05:34 About 3,000 souls came into the kingdom of God in one day! 05:38 This gift of the Spirit was the womb of world-wide evangelism. 05:44 Those devout Jews who were now Christians, returned 05:48 home as believers after hearing the Gospel preached to them 05:52 by the gift of tongues. I note that the gift of tongues 05:57 presented on the Day of Pentecost, now hear this, 06:01 please hear this, this is vitally important. 06:03 It did not need an interpreter nor an interpretation. 06:07 The real gift of tongues did not need an interpreter because 06:10 the disciples manifesting the gift were speaking in the 06:14 hearer's common language. 06:17 Also note that the emphasis is on the tongue 06:20 and not on the ear or the hearer. Acts 2:8 reads: 06:23 "Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how then 06:27 do we each hear them speaking in our own tongue wherein 06:30 we were born?" You see the Holy Spirit descended 06:32 on the 120 in the upper room while they were praying 06:35 and waiting for the promise. The Holy Spirit did not descend 06:39 on the thousands in the streets of Jerusalem. 06:41 There is nothing in this scripture that validates 06:45 the gift of ears or the gift of hearing - only the 06:48 gift to speak is scriptural. The Jews present at Jerusalem 06:52 were amazed that those unlearned men were speaking in their 06:55 own language. Some people assume that Peter was the only 06:59 person also who spoke with the gift of tongues on that day. 07:02 However, this is unscriptural. Acts 2:7 states: 07:06 "And they were all amazed and marveled saying one to another 07:10 behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?" 07:15 According to scripture, the word ALL could not limit 07:19 that gift just to Peter. Now second, there is the natural 07:23 or cultural tongue that needs an interpreter. 07:27 This is the natural tongue or language we learn through our 07:31 culture. These are the tongues that Paul refers to as being 07:35 misused in I Corinthians 14:27 07:38 where he says "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be 07:42 by two or at the most by three and then in turn 07:45 and then let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, 07:49 let him keep silent in the church and let him speak to 07:52 himself and to God. " Now Bible scholars understand 07:55 that any word in the King James version appearing in italics 08:00 such as unknown in this scripture, was not in the early 08:03 manuscripts. The King James translators added the word 08:08 unknown for emphasis. The emphasis was to stress 08:12 the tongue, or the language, was unknown to the Corinthian 08:16 congregation but not to the speaker. Early manuscripts 08:21 do not contain one single verse of scripture that actually reads 08:26 UNKNOWN TONGUE. Considering this, 08:29 the verse should read: "If any man speak in a tongue 08:33 or language - not if any man speak in an unknown tongue. " 08:37 In I Corinthians 14:27 we read: "If any man in an 08:42 unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most by 08:45 by three and then in turn let one interpret. " 08:48 Please note, please note, please note! 08:51 If the Corinthian church had been speaking in the gift 08:54 of tongues, they would not have needed an interpreter because 08:59 the gift of tongues NEVER needs and interpreter 09:04 or an interpretation. If they were speaking in false 09:07 tongues, Paul would have never encouraged them to interpret 09:10 something that wasn't of God. So the only tongues 09:13 or languages left for Paul to address in this passage 09:18 were natural, known languages. 09:23 When the apostle Paul arrived in Corinth in 51 A.D., 09:26 he found a thriving city with a population represented by 09:29 numerous cultures and multiple languages. 09:31 The city itself was just a little over 100 years old, 09:35 very young by most standards, and growing rapidly as merchants 09:39 and tradesmen from all over the world saw an opportunity 09:42 for financial gain. History tells us it was 5 times larger 09:46 than Athens and was the capital of the province. 09:49 It is further reported that Corinth had been the richest 09:52 port and the largest city in ancient Greece. 09:56 All of these factors influenced Paul's decision to choose 09:59 Corinth as his base from which to work his evangelism 10:03 of the western world. Now because of this mixture of 10:05 cultures and known languages, Paul was not writing to the 10:09 church at Corinth about the gift of tongues. 10:12 He was addressing the many cultural language barriers 10:16 in the Corinthian church. Now this is where a foundational 10:19 truth to understanding the genuineness of tongues 10:22 must be brought to light. We saw earlier that when the 10:26 gift of tongues occurred, there was never a need 10:28 for an interpreter. However, this changes when Paul begins 10:32 to question the error in the Corinthian congregation. 10:36 Why do they now need an interpreter whereas 10:39 one wasn't needed before? It's because the people who are 10:43 speaking in tongues in the church were not manifesting the 10:46 gift of tongues but were speaking in a language of their 10:50 culture, and many present may not have understood 10:53 their language. Now, now is a good place to emphasize 10:56 the fact that the work UNKNOWN was used with discretion, 11:00 very much discretion, by the King James translators. 12:21 I Corinthians 14:27 states: "If any man speak in an 12:25 "italic" unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most 12:29 by three and then in turn let one interpret. " Once again, 12:32 once again, please hear this, if the Corinthian church 12:36 had been using the gift of tongues, they would have not 12:39 needed an interpreter or an interpretation. 12:43 If they were manifesting false tongues, Paul would have never 12:46 encouraged them to interpret something that wasn't real. 12:50 The only tongues or language left for Paul to address 12:54 and encourage an interpretation for were the natural tongues 12:58 or the natural languages in the Corinthian church. 13:02 Now there are five occasions in the book of Acts 13:05 where people were filled with the Holy Spirit 13:07 and there were three fillings in the book of Luke. 13:11 Luke was the resident expert on the infilling of the Holy Ghost. 13:15 He pens the first account of someone being filled with the 13:18 Holy Spirit in Luke 1:15. It says: "For he shall be great 13:23 in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine 13:26 nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost 13:29 even from his mother's womb. " Here Luke is speaking of 13:33 John the Baptist. Please note that in scripture 13:36 nothing is mentioned about tongues, and there is no mention 13:40 of any interpretation when John is filled. 13:43 His next encounter with the Holy Ghost infilling is penned 13:46 in Luke 1:41. "And it came to pass that when Elizabeth, 13:50 John's mom, heard the salutations of Mary 13:53 the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the 13:57 Holy Ghost. This is where John the Baptist's mother was filled 14:01 with the Holy Ghost. Once again, no tongues 14:04 and no interpretation, all right? 14:07 Can you guess who was next? 14:09 It was John the Baptist's father, Zechariah. 14:12 Luke 1:67-68 says: "And his father, Zechariah, 14:16 was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied. " 14:20 This means to preach. "Saying, blessed be the Lord God 14:23 of Israel for He has visited and redeemed His people. " 14:27 There were no unknown tongues 14:30 and there were no interpretations or interpreter 14:35 there was only John the Baptist's soon-to-be father 14:40 preaching the good news of God. 14:44 You know, the truth is that the disciples were filled with the 14:47 Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and spake in a tongue 14:50 or a language that they did not know. 14:52 However, it wasn't in an unknown language, out-of-this-world 14:56 space cadet language, it was the common-known Jewish dialect. 15:00 Act 2:4 says: "And they were all filled with 15:02 the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues 15:04 as the Spirit gave them utterance. " 15:06 The book of Acts was written six years after the apostle Paul 15:10 wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church. 15:13 It is not likely that if there were actually unknown tongues 15:18 of any kind Luke would have made mention of that fact, 15:22 don't you think? The next filling of the 15:24 Holy Spirit is once again penned by Luke in Act 4:31 and 32. 15:29 And it says: "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken 15:32 where they were assembled together, and they were all 15:36 filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God 15:39 with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed 15:42 were of one heart and of one soul. 15:45 Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he 15:49 possessed was his own, but they had all things common. " 15:53 Luke once again details of the infilling of the Holy Ghost was 15:57 for no other reason than the apostle Paul had said. 16:03 "And Ananias went his way and entered into the house 16:07 putting his hand on him, saying brother Saul, the Lord - even 16:13 Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest - 16:17 has sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled 16:21 with the Holy Ghost. " Note there is no mention of tongues 16:25 or unknown tongues, and there is no mention of any 16:30 interpretations in this scripture. 16:32 Then there was the revival in Acts 8:14-17. 16:35 It says: "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem 16:38 heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, 16:41 they sent unto them Peter and John 16:43 who when they were come down prayed for them that they might 16:46 receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet He was not fallen on 16:50 none of them. Only they were baptized in the name of the 16:54 Lord Jesus. Then laid their hands on them 16:59 and they received the Holy Ghost. " 17:01 Here, once again, there is no mention of tongues 17:05 or interpretation of tongues. 17:09 Now, we come to Cornelius's house. 17:13 So many people have questions about this. 17:15 And once again we have a manifestation of the gift 17:17 of tongues. However, there is no mention - not one, 17:21 not even one - no mention of unknown tongues 17:25 and there is still no mention of an interpreter 17:27 or interpretation. The real gift of tongues, 17:30 this is why, the real gift of tongues, this is WHY 17:32 the real gift of tongues never needs and interpreter 17:37 or interpretation because it is a known language. 17:40 Acts 10:44 through verse 46 says: "While Peter yet spake 17:45 these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word. 17:48 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished 17:51 as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles 17:57 also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 18:00 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. " 18:04 They spoke in tongues and they magnified God. 18:07 Remember the disciples spoke in tongues and declared the 18:09 wondrous works of God. "Then Peter answered: 18:13 Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized 18:18 which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" 18:21 Last, but not least, are the disciples 18:23 on the road to Ephesus. Acts 19 verse 1-6 declares: 18:30 "And it came to pass that while Apollos was at 18:32 Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coast, 18:35 came to Ephesus. And finding certain disciples 18:38 said unto them: Have you received the 18:39 Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him: 18:42 We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 18:45 And he said unto them: what then were you baptized? 18:49 And they said: unto John's baptism. 18:51 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of 18:55 repentance saying unto the people that they should believe 18:58 on Him which should come after him - that is on Christ. 19:02 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord 19:06 Jesus - hallelujah! - and when Paul had laid his hands upon 19:11 them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spoke or spake 19:15 with tongues and prophesied. " Now on the Day of Pentecost 19:19 they used the tongues to declare the wondrous works 19:22 of God. At Cornelius's house, they used their tongues 19:25 to magnify God. At Ephesus, the disciples 19:29 used the tongues to preach the Gospel. 19:33 Now, let's do a little bit of summary on this, OK? 19:39 Here is the truth of the gift of tongues. 19:41 There is no scriptural basis for anyone to believe 19:46 that he can speak in an unknown, out-of-this-world 19:51 angelic tongue. The disciples at Pentecost spoke in a known 19:57 language. Cornelius's household spoke in a known 20:03 language. Now, do you want to hear something that is awesome? 20:06 You know, Cornelius was an Italian centurion. 20:11 And he very possibly did not know the language. 20:15 Did not know Peter's language. Peter could have not possibly 20:19 known Cornelius's language. The powerful truth of this is 20:23 that Peter, along with other brethren from Jerusalem, 20:27 could have gone to Cornelius's house and used the gift 20:30 of tongues to speak in Cornelius's native language. 20:34 And then when Cornelius was baptized in the Holy Spirit, 20:38 Cornelius began to speak in a language that Peter and the 20:42 other disciples knew, because they knew that they were 20:46 magnifying God. The disciples at Ephesus spoke in a known 20:51 language although the languages being spoken were unknown 20:55 to the speakers they were known to the hearers. 20:58 Paul refers mainly to two different types of tongues 21:02 in his first letter to Corinth. There is the gift of tongues 21:06 and there is the cultural or natural tongue. 21:09 There is also the possibility of a third type which we hear 21:12 a lot today - and that is a false tongue. 21:15 Incoherent jibberish. Babbling. 21:18 When the gift of tongues is manifest, 21:20 there is never, there is never, there is never a need for an 21:24 interpreter because the hearer understands the language 21:27 that is being spoken. The natural tongue spoken 21:30 in a multi-cultural setting will always need an interpreter 21:34 because some attending may not know the language 21:36 and will need someone to translate for them. 21:42 Now, let me give you an illustration here, OK? 21:44 Please understand that when false tongues are brought forth 21:47 in modern-day church and arena settings, it also involves 21:50 another false gift - the false gift of interpretations. 21:55 Let me elaborate on this, OK? It happens because of a complete 22:00 misunderstanding of the 14th chapter of I Corinthians 22:03 where the King James translators dropped the ball 22:05 and used the word unknown. This was not breathed by the 22:10 Holy Spirit. I now realize that I had been involved in this 22:14 tongues movement all these years and I never heard the real gift 22:18 of tongues, and I had never heard the real gift 22:21 of interpretation. How sad. 22:23 All that I ever heard was incoherent babblings. 22:28 And I want you to know that now that I know the truth 22:32 I am willing to tell everybody in the world about 22:36 the truth of God's Word. 22:39 Stay with us, we'll be right back in just a moment 22:42 with the conclusion of this program. 22:45 If you've been confused about what the Bible says about 22:48 the Holy Spirit's amazing gifts for the church, 22:50 you'll want to order your very own copy of this 13-part series 22:54 It's available on DVD or video cassette from 3ABN 22:58 at a very special price. This 13-part series 23:01 with Pastor Hal Steenson makes a wonderful gift 23:04 for a friend or a family member. Just call us at: 23:12 you may also order it online at: 23:31 You know, I really hope and pray that you have spiritual 23:33 ears to hear what I've been saying here today. 23:35 For 18 years I did something that was in error. 23:39 I have 2,420 tapes of sermons 23:45 that I have preached through the years, 23:46 and you know, I can go back into any of those 23:49 sermons, any one of them, and every one of them I spent 23:52 hours and hours and hours studying to show myself approved 23:55 unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed but rightly 23:57 dividing the word of truth. I don't believe you would find 23:59 an error in any one of them except the sermons on tongues. 24:03 And the reason why is because Mollie has an expression: 24:06 Grandma taught it and I bought it. 24:08 And that's what it was. I just parroted what someone else 24:11 was saying, and I am so sorry that I did that and did not 24:16 know the truth to begin with because I could have been in the 24:19 truth of the Sabbath and the truth of the 24:22 Seventh-day Adventist church maybe a long time ago 24:25 had I studied to show myself approved. 24:27 I encourage you as we continue in this series, 24:32 that you get your Bible and you write down, take notes, 24:35 or order the series - whatever you need to do - the CDs 24:39 or whatever - and listen to this over and over and over again 24:42 to study to show yourself approved. 24:43 I want you to know, too, from my heart to your heart, 24:47 that if you think that it's easy for me to get on world-wide 24:52 television and tell somebody that I did something wrong 24:55 for 18 years, well then you might want to rethink that 24:58 because it's just not that easy. But I know the Spirit of God 25:03 led me to do this. And truly studying about the 25:08 gift of tongues and the gifts of the Spirit, God showed me 25:12 the error that was there. Ten years ago, over ten years ago, 25:16 I put tongues on the shelf and said, "All right, God, 25:19 show me the truth. " And God did show me the truth. 25:21 And the truth is this: that the real gift of tongues never needs 25:25 an interpretation and the real gift of interpretation 25:28 always interprets a known language. 25:31 Now let me give you some examples of this, OK? 25:34 Last year at ASI a man shared about 25:40 his daughter, twelve years old, 25:41 that wanted to lead a little girl that 25:43 had moved into the neighborhood to the Lord. 25:45 She was Hispanic. She spoke Spanish, 25:48 she didn't speak English. And his daughter didn't speak 25:51 any Spanish. And she prayed sincerely and asked God 25:56 "God, somehow, some way, allow me to lead 26:00 this young girl, my friend, to the Lord. " 26:04 What a good God we serve! What a powerful God we serve! 26:08 At ASI he said that his daughter, 26:12 as long as it took to explain the Gospel 26:15 of Jesus Christ to this Hispanic girl, 26:18 that God allowed his daughter to speak in Spanish to her. 26:23 And she got on her knees and there asked Jesus Christ 26:28 into her life. See, there's the real gift. 26:31 It's given to preach and promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 26:35 Now, the gift of interpretation. I got an e-mail the other day 26:40 a lady that had just watched a teaching that we had done 26:44 on it, and she said that she is a nurse and a gentleman came 26:48 into the emergency room. He had had a heart attack. 26:50 He was a Greek; he spoke Greek and she didn't know, you know, 26:55 any Greek at all. And all of a sudden she is hearing this man 26:58 saying "I don't know how I am going to pay this hospital bill; 27:01 I don't have any insurance. " And she tells the doctor, 27:03 and the doctor tells her, tell him, you know, that he doesn't 27:05 have to worry about it. So she is communicating with this man 27:09 and then she tells him that he thought that he was just 27:12 having indigestion because he had not felt well for 27:16 several days, and then she realized: I am hearing 27:20 what he is saying in Greek and telling the doctor 27:23 what he is saying. And then she said "I watched House Calls with 27:27 with you and John Lomacang, and I understood the gift 27:31 of interpretation. " She said: "I began to rejoice 27:34 because God had used me in the gift of interpretation 27:38 to help save this man's life. " 27:41 You see, my prayer is that as we continue this series, 27:44 that you not only know, understand, and comprehend 27:47 all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, 27:49 but you also understand and comprehend the Holy Spirit 27:52 and that you will allow Him, as these other people did, 27:56 to use them. That you would say: "Lord Jesus, 28:00 use me by your Holy Spirit to help build up the 28:03 kingdom of God for Your purpose and for Your soon return. " 28:30 On our next Heaven's Point of View, we will examine 28:33 the gift of interpretation of tongues. This gift is 28:35 misused and misunderstood, and most churches are using it 28:38 unscriptural. So check your 3ABN World for the dates 28:41 and times, and I'll see you then! |
Revised 2014-12-17