- 05/06/2014
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- Jesus speaks in Mark 16:17 of using new tongues. Mark 16:17 is apart of the Great Commission and reads "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."
What if this happened in churches today?
After reading this it almost seems to me that if the average church goer went into a new church and any of these were happening they would freak out and probably leave immediately. I would say that most people could probably live with lay hands on the sick to heal them even if they don't believe in doing that anymore. What seems to be ironic is that we are amazingly ready to believe all of these things when you read about Jesus or a disciple performing them.
Onto speaking in tongues
The act of speaking in tongues as mentioned by Jesus in Mark 16:17 is a sign. What does a sign do? A sign points to something else, something beyond itself. If you're driving down the road and see a sign that says Myrtle Beach 167 miles, you obviously haven't made it to Myrtle Beach. You aren't going to throw on the brakes, hop out of the car, check into the hotel, and go for a swim. The sign of speaking in tongues points to those according to Mark 16:17 who believe. Does this mean that all people who believe will speak in tongues. Some people believe so and some don't. How do we flesh this out then.
Signs....
Peter in Acts Chapter 10 has a vision [while in a trance] of a sheet descending from Heaven, within the sheet are all sorts of animals, many of which are forbidden animals that God has
ordained as unclean for the Jewish people to eat. A voice calls to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat.
God had given the Israelites the commandments and laws in the old testament, of which were many animals they could not eat or touch, otherwise they would be considered unclean. We do not have this practice today and is almost a complete and utter foreign concept to us. To give a modern day example imagine an Evangelical Baptist pastor having a vision of a whiskey bottle floating down in a sheet and and a voice calls to him "Rise pastor, pour and drink!" He's obviously going to say no way I would never do that Lord. The same went for Peter and the Israelites, for almost 1400 years they had thought of those animals as unclean. Moving on to the point, the commandment to not eat or touch these animals was only meant to be a sign to the Israelites of the uncleaness that sin caused in our lives, and how we could not stand before God with this sin. Just as the Israelites could not enter into the temple where God's presence was, we cannot enter into God's Holy presence [Heaven] without first being clean.
Another Sign....
God came in the old testament to Abram changed his name as God almost always does with important people in the Bible, and made Him the start of a new generation. This new generation was God's chosen people. What does this have to do with speaking in tongues you ask? For 2,000 some odd years of the time span from Abraham to Jesus, God's salvation only included the Jews. Jesus death on the cross and His resurrection however, showed that God included everyone in His salvation plan, not just the Jews. However good news is not good unless it is spread to the people that need the news. Imagine being a Gentile [any ethnicity other than Jew] and for umpteen thousand years, the one true God only dealt with and included the Jews in His salvation plan. Along comes Jesus, [God in the flesh] and dies for the sins of all the world, not just the Jews. You [a Gentile] hear about this, that Jesus has died for all people not just the Jews but all people in the world.How would you know that it is true? That God had really included everyone in His salvation plan? You wouldn't unless there was a sign, because otherwise up until you had some sort of proof then its just hearsay, rumor, gossip.
What sign was given?
The speaking of other languages [tongues] was given as a sign from God that He had included the Gentiles in His salvation plan. How you ask is this correct? Get your Bible, turn to Acts Chapter 10. Read verses 34 through 43. You will notice the one word that keeps reoccurring through these verses is the world "ALL." Jesus did everything He did for "ALL"
Verse 44- The Holy Spirit fell upon who? "All" those who heard the word. This is also a great verse and shows us the simplicity of faith in Christ.
Verse 45- And those of the circumcision [Jews] who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
Now, question. How do they know the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles. They couldn't see Him. They couldn't touch Him, hear Him, Feel Him.
Answer- Verse 46- For they [Jews] heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Now, what are tongues? Tongues are other languages that the speaker of the tongues doesn't already know. Example: My primary language is English [obviously] If I were to speak in tongues it would be any language other than English, lets say Spanish. Tongues are not babble or gobbldegook.
How do I know tongues are real languages and not just babble?
Question: How did the Jews know the Gentiles were magnifying God?
Answer: The Gentiles are speaking in languages that the Hebrews understand. This is the reverse parallel to Acts Chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2 verses 1 -13 every one was gathered together, a mighty sound like a rushing wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house. Verse 4 .... and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Verse 5- The Crowds Response
Who was there?
.....every nation under Heaven.
Verse 6- And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, confused, because everyone heard them [Them who? The Jews] speak in his own language.
All these different nationalities heard Jewish men speaking their language by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 7 - Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
Skip to verse 12- So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"
This was a sign to the Hebrews that God had included the Gentiles in His salvation plan.
Why would the Hebrews need a sign you ask?
For 1400 years they had been God's chosen people. They had been the elect, God favored them. After that many years of tradition, they had to become prideful of this, felt special, significant. For God to say I'm extending my salvation, mercy, grace, and favor towards all people would have been tough for Hebrews to accept without a sign from God.
I'm leaving this one open ended.... with no conclusion. The thoughts I have presented are based on several sermons I have heard by well known pastors with obviously a mix of my own thoughts. I do have a strong opinion about tongues but will leave open ended for now because there really is very little proof one way or the other....This was merely to give a better understanding to those who wanted to know more. Remember this is a blog, not a complete systematic theology or exhaustive list of everything that speaking in tongues would entail.