#16: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

I. Introduction
A. Christ’s coming brought hope and life and deliverance into the world.
1. One of the beautiful facets of Christ’s work was the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (HS) upon His people.
2. Over the last 15 sermons, we’ve been unpacking a number of the facets of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives.
B. Most of what we’ve talked about has been vertical, referring to the work of the Spirit in our relationship with God. But His work is also horizontal, equipping us for our ministry in the lives of others. And that’s what we’ll be talking about these last two weeks.
C. Perhaps the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the HS is the issue of the gifts of the HS. But our first 15 weeks have shown us that the role of the HS’s ministry in our lives is far broader than that. Now in week 16 we finally get to this topic.
D. The fact is, the HS doesn’t just fill individual believers in Christ. He fills the corporate body of Christ.
E. What is the key to the health and prosperity of the church, of the body of Christ?
1. Not a great preacher. Not great programs. Not reformed theology. Not presbyterian government.
2. Ephesians 4:15–16 gives us the answer: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
3. “The body builds itself up” by “each part working properly.”
F. You see, the HS gifts each member of Christ’s body with abilities for them to use in serving each other. And when God’s people use the gifts God has given them to build one another up, then the church grows in all sorts of ways.
G. It reminds me of superheroes — but without the costumes.
1. Each superhero has some special power: superhuman strength, the ability to fly, enhanced senses, the projection of energy bolts, the ability to change size or shape, the power to move very fast, or some tool like Green Lantern’s power ring, Captain America's shield, Wonder Woman's lasso & bracelets, Thor's weather-manipulating hammer, Wolverine's claws, Iron Man's powered armor suits.
2. And they are responsible to use that power for good and not for evil, not for themselves but for others.
H. So the HS has given each member of Christ at least one tool or power. And that gift is to be used to bless and build others. That’s how the body of Christ grows and matures.
II. Let’s reflect on some of the things the Bible tells us about the gifts of the Spirit:
A. God wants us to know about spiritual gifts.
1. In 1Cor.12:1 He tells us through Paul, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.”
2. Ignorance about spiritual gifts was causing major problems in the church at Corinth.
3. Ignorance about spiritual gifts has produced many problems in the church of Jesus.
B. Gifts of the HS are given by the Spirit.
1. 1Corinthians 12:7 “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
2. 1Cor.12:11 “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit...”
3. They are, after all, GIFTS of the HS.
4. The Greek word for gift in 1Cor.12 is CHARISMA — a word very related to CHARIS, the word for grace.
C. Gifts of the HS are given to every believer.
1. 1Corinthians 12:7 “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
2. 11 “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.”
3. You might not know what your gift is, but if you are in Christ you can know for sure that God has given you at least one.
D. Gifts of the HS are given in order to be used for service to the body.
1. 1Cor.12:7 “To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
2. What a privilege it is that God in His grace has given each of His children at least one gift, a gift that we are given to use to love and bless one another!
3. “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1Peter 4:10)
E. Gifts of the HS are given exactly according to the purposes of God
1. 1Cor.12:11 “One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
2. 1Cor.12:18 “God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.”
3. He gives them according to His wisdom and according to His love.
4. He may not give me the gift I wish He would, or the one I think He should. But He is wiser than me. He knows better.
F. There is no spiritual gift that everyone has.
1. 1Cor.12:29-30 “All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?”
2. Romans 12:4-5 “We have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function.”
G. No one can say he doesn’t need the gifts of others.
1. 1Cor.12:21 “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’”
2. We’re all dependant on others.
3. We tend to think our gift is the important one. But I need your gift and you need mine.
H. No one can say that his gift isn’t needed
1. 1Cor.12:15-16 “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.”
2. Some gifts attract more attention, but all of them are essential to the health and growth of the body.
3. You have a gift the body needs. If you don’t use it to serve the body, you are hurting the body.
I. These lists of gifts are not meant to be exhaustive.
1. Look at the one in 1Corinthians 12:8–10:
a. utterance of wisdom
b. utterance of knowledge
c. faith
d. healing
e. miracles
f. prophecy
g. distinguishing between spirits
h. tongues
i. the interpretation of tongues
2. And then look at the significantly different list later in the same chapter, in 1Corinthians 12:28:
a. apostleship
b. prophecy
c. teaching
d. miracles
e. healing
f. helping
g. administrating
h. tongues
3. Both lists include prophecy, miracles, healing & tongues. But the other 9 gifts are only in one list.
III. The question of cessation: Have some gifts ceased?
A. Introduction
1. I am not charismatic. This is because I do not believe in charismatic theology. But I do not think of myself as anti-charismatic. I feel deeply indebted to my charismatic brethren for teaching me much about how to love, rejoice, worship, and give my all for Jesus Christ.
2. I don’t have time to give anything but a brief summary of why I believe that some of the gifts have ceased.
3. There was a time when I believed the gifts all continued. But I want to get you started in understanding what changed my mind.
B. The first thing that hit me was the cessation of the gift of apostle. There are a lot of reasons to conclude this:
1. One qualification of an apostle was that he had to have been with the others following Christ during His earthly ministry, including being an eyewitness of the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:21-22, 10:41). Obviously, no one like this is still around. (Paul saw himself as fulfilling this qualification through his encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus: see 1Cor. 9:1, 15:8-9).
2. Paul seems to view himself as the last of the apostles in I Cor. 15:6-9.
3. If Paul is to be taken as a model, a necessary qualification of an apostle is the endorsement of the other apostles (Gal. 2:1-2, 6-9), a possibility which did not last indefinitely.
4. The unmistakable "twelveness" of the apostles implies that it was not to be a perpetual office, but a specific group of men who followed Jesus in the first century. (See Matt.10:2; 19:18; Luke 22:30; Acts 6:2; 1Cor.15:5. The twelveness of the Apostles in their eternal role seems to be reflected in Revelation 4:4, 11:16, and 21:14.])
5. Paul states clearly in 1Cor. 12:28 (and reaffirms in Eph. 4:11) that the gift of "apostle" is the highest gift of the Spirit. Yet, when he encourages the Corinthians to "seek after the higher gifts" (1Cor. 12:31) he refers not to apostleship, but to prophecy (1Cor. 14:1) which is second on the lists behind "apostle" in 1Cor. 12:28 and Eph. 4:11. What could the reason for this be except that the gift of "apostle" was no longer available?
6. Although Judas was replaced as one of the original Twelve before Pentecost (by Matthias), there is no evidence that the Apostle James was similarly replaced when he was martyred for the faith after Pentecost in Acts 12:2.
7. In the NT the office of Apostle was one of supreme importance. It was far from being lightly regarded. It was an office that was central, not only in the original establishment of Christ's Church on the earth, but also in the eternal state:
a. Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' (Matthew 19:28, cf. Luke 22:30)
b. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19-20)
c. The wall of the city [the new Jerusalem] had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:14)
d. It is difficult to believe that this level of importance could be ascribed to an office that extended far beyond the Twelve.
8. There is no evidence whatsoever in the New Testament that the office and gift of apostle was intended to continue past the time of the New Testament apostles. In the words of Dietrich Muller: "One thing is certain. The NT never betrays any understanding of the Apostolate as an institutionalized church office, capable of being passed on." (Colin Brown, ed., New Int'l Dict. of NT Theol. [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975], V.1, p.135).
9. In addition to these considerations, there are tremendous practical and historical considerations that argue for the cessation of apostleship. How would we be able to recognize them if there were apostles today? And how much authority would they have? Would it be feasible for them to be given equal weight to the original Twelve? Would they have the right and duty to speak authoritatively for God?
C. So, the gift of apostle was limited with respect to both number (of apostles) and time (i.e. it has ceased). From this, two conclusions can be made.
1. First, not all of the gifts listed in 1Cor. 12:28-29, Eph. 4:11, etc. are still in effect today.
2. And second, the distinction between the apostolic age and the post-apostolic age is not an artificial one imposed on Scripture, but one that is implied by Scripture itself.
3. So, as we have already stated, the question for us remains: are there other parts of church life during the apostolic period so inseparably connected to the ministry of the apostles (or to the apostolic age itself) as to have ceased along with the apostolic office?
D. Prophecy and tongues
1. All I want to do here is refer you to a couple of papers I’ve written about the cessation of prophecy and tongues.
2. The one on tongues I’ve included below.
3. The one on prophecy is available on the back table or you can write the church and request a copy of the Biblical Investigator, Vol.3, No.4.
E. Conclusion
1. Really this issue is all about the gospel. The gospel has been revealed — through the apostles of Jesus and through the written record of their message.
2. The revelatory gifts like prophecy were originally given to help proclaim and establish this gospel.
3. But once it was revealed in permanent, written form, these gifts were no longer needed.
4. Today, things occurring in the name of divine revelation can easily be distractions from the gospel, from the message of the cross and the resurrection, which is what Christianity is all about.

WHY I THINK THE GIFT OF TONGUES HAS CEASED

There are two main reasons I believe that the Holy Spirit no longer gives the gift of tongues for public use in the church today.

I. Tongues are a form of prophecy (see my Biblical Investigator, Vol.3, #4, for the case for the cessation of prophecy)

Generally, charismatics and non-charismatics are in agreement over this. There are at least three good reasons for arriving at this conclusion:

a. First of all, at Pentecost the disciples all spoke in tongues but no one is said to have prophesied. Yet, when Peter gets up to explain to the perplexed crowd what is happening, he says:

For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 'that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even upon My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall Prophesy.' (Acts 2:15-18)

It is interesting to note here that although Peter is quoting from Joel 2:28ff, he adds the final phrase about prophecy himself. This phrase is not found in Joel. So, not only has Paul quoted an OT reference to prophecy in explaining to the people what they were hearing; he also adds a phrase in his own words, making it clear that in his mind the people have witnessed a form of prophecy. It is also important to note that there is not one word of explanation given by Peter for the tongues other than these references to prophecy.

b. Secondly, Paul seems to equate the two in 1Cor. 14. Here he is contrasting prophecy and uninterpreted tongues. The only contrast that Paul brings out in his comparison is the issue of intelligibility. Without this, the two are the same. On the other hand, whenever Paul discusses interpreted tongues, he puts them on a par with prophecy (e.g. 1Cor. 14:5).

c. One more (minor) indication that tongues is a form of prophecy is that Paul employs the same Spirit language for tongues as he (and others) does elsewhere for prophecy. We saw earlier how "spirit" is sometimes used interchangeably or substitutionally with "prophetic utterance." The same is done with reference to tongues in 1Cor. 14:2,14,15, and 16.

II. The Explanation Given for Tongues in 1Cor.14:20-21

Before we get to 1Cor.14:20-21, I need to lay some groundwork which is necessary to understand it. In my Biblical Investigator, Vol.3, #4, I suggest that prophecy was part of the same temporary, foundational phase as the gift of apostle and therefore was not in operation after that time. But in order to understand why a gift like tongues is inseparably connected to the Apostolic foundation period, we need to think about the theology and historical significance of tongues.

The Apostolic era was a transitional phase that began with Pentecost and continued until the NT Scriptures began to be recognized as such by the early Church. During this period the ministry of the Apostles was the temporary structure used by God during this open canon (i.e. NT canon was in the process of being written) period to protect the Church and to guard the faith.

Throughout Scripture there is a major theme of God's Church as His house/temple, being built on the foundation of the Apostles (and prophets) – Eph.2:20, who themselves were patterned and set in place according to the cornerstone, Jesus Christ Himself. Well, while God was building up His new house/temple, He was simultaneously tearing down His old house/temple, Israel. In the NT we see God changing His residence from Israel to the church. The transitional phase is not only a time for establishing His new household (and a new covenant with a new bride). It is also a time of desolating His old household (and ending His old covenant by divorcing His old adulterous wife). It is a period of construction and of destruction, of birth and of death. It is an era which included more grace and more wrath than the world had ever known before. It was a temporary phase, of course, filled with peculiarities. The new covenant had been established but the old covenant had not been completely disestablished yet. As when a family moves from one house to another, it was an in-between kind of stage when things were not completely normal in either house. Upheaval was the order of the day: redemptive upheaval in the case of the Church house, and ruinous upheaval in the case of the house of Israel. This ruinous upheaval, begun at Christ's entrance onto the scene in Israel, made final and irreversible at the crucifixion, actually set in motion at Pentecost, reached its final culmination in 70 A.D. in the destruction of Jerusalem, the final end of the old covenant. In fulfillment of Jesus’ words, the temple (which Jesus had called God's house) was smashed and burned to the ground, never to rise again. In many ways this marked the end of the transitional in-between stage. Now there was only one covenant in effect. Now there was only one house/temple of God. Now there was only one bride. By now, the vast majority (if not all) of the NT Scriptures had been written and were gaining recognition as such. The apostles were dying off. There is no further record of prophetic utterances. The gospel has penetrated deep into the Gentile world, its new home. Rome itself, the capital of the Gentile world, has been infected (and eventually would be conquered) by the power of the gospel. Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish world, lies in ruins, having been obliterated by a jealous Husband. The Church structure is now in place. Individual congregations have been established all over the known world and are in the hands of elders and deacons (many of whom have been appointed by the Apostles themselves).
To the average Christian most of this is very new. However, we miss much of what is going on in the NT (especially the gospels) if we don't understand these things. It is not appropriate here to go into an in-depth demonstration of these things from the NT (that is a series of books in itself). A broad sweep of related Scripture will have to suffice at this point.

The Kingdom Transferred

Mat. 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12, and Luke 20:9-18 all record a parable of Christ about a vineyard that is taken away from the vine-growers by the vineyard-owner because they have mishandled the vineyard and mistreated the owner's servants and have killed his son. In each case the owner destroys the vine-growers and hands over the vineyard to a new crew. What does this parable refer to? Well, the vineyard is God's kingdom people. The owner is God. The wicked vine-growers are the Jews (especially the Jewish leaders). The owner's servants are the OT prophets. The owner's son is Christ. The destruction of the vine-growers is the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 A.D. The new crew is the Gentiles. The handing over the vineyard is Pentecost.

In each of these three passages, Jesus concludes the parable by quoting Ps. 118:22-23 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing: It is marvelous in our eyes.” (This is the same passage Paul refers to in Eph. 2:20.) What is the purpose of this verse here? It refers, of course, to the parable. Jesus, the rejected son of the vineyard owner, is the very One Who is used to establish the new vine-grower crew. The One Who was rejected by the house of Israel becomes the cornerstone of God's new house, the Church. The vineyard is transferred from Israel to the Church. As Jesus Himself says at this point (in Matt. 21:43): “Therefore I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away form you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.”

But there is even more here. Not only does the rejected stone become the cornerstone for the construction of a new house. In the next verse (Matt.21:44) Jesus tells us that the rejected stone also becomes a stumbling stone, and a smashing stone for the destruction of an old house: “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces: and on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” (The first half of this verse is citing Is. 8:14-15 concerning the destruction of Israel, the second half is referring back to Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Dan. 2:44, where Christ's Kingdom destroys the kingdoms of the earth.)

So, at the same time Christ is the cornerstone of the rising Church house, He is also the stumbling stone upon which Israel is broken to pieces (cf. Rom. 9:32-33, Matt. 11:6). He causes "the falling and rising of many" (Luke 2:34). The climax of Israel's stumbling (falling) over Christ is the crucifixion. The climax of Israel's being broken to pieces is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

This cornerstone/stumbling-stone theme is brought together most completely in 1Pet. 2:4-8:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

This amazing passage paints a beautiful picture of the Church being built up as a spiritual house. It also paints a masterful but haunting picture of the destruction of the house of Israel. And the key element behind each is Christ, the rock.

Interestingly, in this passage Peter quotes from both Ps. 118:22 and Is. 28:16, directly connecting Christ's role as stumbling stone with his role as cornerstone. It is the same stone in both cases. Some are stumbling over it and being broken to pieces. Others are building upon it and are being healed. The same stone breaks apart and puts together. The same stone lifts up and casts down. The issue that makes the difference is this: some builders (namely, the Jews) have rejected the Stone, and others (namely, the Church) have accepted it.

In Matt. 21:12ff, we find Jesus cleansing the temple. He is giving the Jews their last chance. Instead of coming with a sword to kill, he comes with a whip to spank. But when their rejection of Him persists, He stops calling the temple God's house (Matt. 21:13) and begins to call it their house (Matt. 23:38). He is leaving the temple in much the same way that God's presence was said to have left the temple in Ezekiel's prophecy at the exile:

Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! (Matt. 23:38)

Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down." (Matt. 24:1-2)

These passages follow (and climax) several chapters whose theme is the final rejection of Israel by God. It is revealing that the rejection of Israel is said here to culminate in the destruction of the temple, which occurred in 70 AD. For further references on this theme see John 2:16-21; 8:34-35; 14:2; Heb. 3:2-6.

Isaiah's Role

One further observation must be made. Two of the key OT stumbling stone/cornerstone/foundation/house verses quoted in the NT are found in the Book of Isaiah (Is. 8:14-15; 28:16). In addition to this, Isaiah is quoted or cited at least 600 times in the NT, far more than any other OT prophetical book. Why is this?

Large portions of Isaiah are filled with alternating predictions of blessing and curse upon God’s people: curses to come upon rebellious Israel, then blessings promised for the remnant; curses on the adulterous nation, then promises of restored blessings. In each case, the blessings refer ultimately to the new covenant. This is why the NT quotes Isaiah so frequently. But it is not just the blessing side of Isaiah's prophecy that is being fulfilled in the NT; the curses against Israel, too, are being fulfilled in the Jewish rejection of Jesus and the subsequent rejection of the Jews by God. (See examples of this in the NT; 8:14-15, cited six times in the NT; 28:16, four times in the NT; 29:13, two times in the NT. In fact, the very things prophesied in Is. 13:10 and 24:23 are said by Jesus in Matt. 24:29 to be about to happen in 70 A.D. And Peter says they have already begun at Pentecost - Acts 2:16,20.)

Pentecost: The Judgment on Israel Begins

Pentecost was more than just the birth of the NT Church. It was also the beginning of the death of OT Israel. Pentecost was full of signs of Israel's ruin. In crucifying Christ, the Jews had missed their last opportunity to repent. The stone had been rejected and was now on its way back to crush them. At Pentecost, the fire from heaven not only lights up the Church with the presence of the Holy Spirit, it also lights the fuse of Israel's destruction, which ultimately will explode in 70 A.D. God's fire often has two functions: it is the fire of judgment and destruction upon God's enemies, and it is the fire of purification and light upon God's friends (e.g. Mal. 3:2-3; 4:1). At Pentecost both sides can be seen. On the one hand, in the tongues of fire producing tongues of foreign nations (Acts 2:3-4), we see a sign of God's blessing upon the Gentiles (see connection between Pentecost and Gentiles in Gal. 3:14). In changing the language that He speaks from the Hebrew tongue to Gentile tongues, God is signifying the transfer of the kingdom from the Jews to the Gentiles. Pentecost is God's announcement to the world that a shift is taking place: He is turning away from Israel and toward the Gentiles. Because of their sin – which climaxed in their rejection of Christ – God is assuming a posture of no longer being on speaking terms with Israel. He will now carry on His conversations with the Gentiles instead. Tongues were a sign of covenant transfer; God's favor was being taken away from Israel and given to the (mostly Gentile) Church: a covenant blessing for the Gentiles, a covenant curse for Israel.

Thus, for the Gentiles, the fire of Pentecost is "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Is. 42:6;49:6; Luke 2:32; cf. Is. 9:2) because God is now speaking His revelation to Gentile ears. On the other hand, the very same Gentile tongues are a sign of God's rejection of Israel. As we have seen, this rejection of Israel is culminated in the Roman annihilation of Israel in 70 A.D. Thus, for the Jews, the Pentecost fire represents a foreshadowing of the burning of Jerusalem by fire in 70 A.D. (See Is.10:17-18.)

Silence from God is a sign of curse. Revelation is a sign of blessing. When God sends forth unintelligible speech, it is to hide Himself: as a sign of judgment (e.g. Gen. 11:1-9; Ps. 55:9; 114:1). When God speaks intelligibly, it is to reveal Himself: as a sign of favor (e.g. John 12:27-31; Acts 22:8-9). When Christ came, His task was to bring revelation to some and silence to others, to speak intelligibly to some and unintelligibly to others.

He did this in several ways. First, he did it through parables:

The disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted." (Matt. 13:10-11)

Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand....But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears because they hear. (Matt. 13:13,16)

And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return again and be forgiven." (Mark 4:11-12)

A second method of hiding/revealing was miraculous signs. Many people witnessed Christ's miracles. Some saw in them blessing and hope; others saw curse and despair. Some were attracted; others were repelled. Some were encouraged; others were angered. John tells us that this was prophesied by Isaiah:

These things Jesus spoke, and He departed and hid Himself from them. But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him; that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (John 12:36b-38)

The third method of hiding/revealing blessing/cursing is, as we have seen, tongues. Through tongues God gave the repentant Gentiles a sign of hope and blessing, but for the unbelieving Jews they were a sign of doom. This blessing/cursing aspect of tongues is evidenced also in the variety of responses from the crowd. Some of the observers hear the recitation of God's mighty deeds: this is blessing (Acts 2:11). Others laugh mockingly because they hear the sound of men overcome by wine (Acts 2:13). At first, this might not appear to be the hearing of a curse, but indeed it is. First of all, we have seen the fact that when God speaks unintelligibly, it is a curse. But even more specifically, a man drunk with wine is a sign of God's wrath all through Scripture (e.g. Ps. 75:8; Is. 19:14; 28:1,3,1-8' Jer. 13:13-14; 25:15-29; Rev. 14:10, 16:19). So, the unbelieving observers at Pentecost hear a two-fold sign of curse: unintelligible speech and drunkenness with wine.

Tongues: Fulfillment of Deuteronomy

The Jews knew their OT's. They knew that God had threatened to give the kingdom over to other nations and hide Himself from Israel if they rejected God their Rock (who was supposed to be the cornerstone of Israel):

You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth. And the Lord saw this, and spurned them because of the provocation of His sons and daughters. Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end shall be; for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness. They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation... (Deut. 32:18-21) (See also Isaiah 5:26-29.)

The next twenty-two verses of Moses' prophecy are a haunting description of God's future destruction of Israel for their unfaithfulness (which, of course, was finalized in 70 A.D.). (See Rom. 10:19 and 11:11 where Paul confirms this interpretation of Deut. 32.)

In addition to this, there is another similar curse-threat warning in the same overall context (the blessings and the curses) as Deut. 32:

You did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things...The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand... (Deut. 28:47,49)

Israel's history is full of preliminary fulfilments of this prophecy (e.g. Assyria, Babylon). But it is fulfilled in permanent, final form in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D.). Thus, the hearing of strange and unknown languages becomes, in Israel, a sign of God's covenant curse. It is a sign of the presence of foreign soldiers invading the land in fulfillment of Deut. 28:49. So, tongues signify both aspects of Israel's demise. First, they symbolize the removal of God's favor and blessing (symbolized by His communication) to another nation. Second, they symbolize the pouring out of God's curse (destruction of the land, conquest of the people). This second aspect of the curse is repeated in Jer. 5:15:

"Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," declares the Lord. "It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say."

These two aspects of the curse upon Israel are prophesied by Moses in the section of Deuteronomy where he proclaims the blessings and curses, detailing the consequences of Israel's future faithfulness/unfaithfulness. (All of the curses are finally meted out in 70 A.D.) These blessings and curses are the patterns which determine God's treatment of Israel after Moses. Thus, it is appropriate that the element of unintelligible tongues be included here, since it becomes such an important theme in the NT with regard to God's rejection of Israel.

Tongues in Isaiah 28

We have yet to discuss the major passage on tongues in OT: Is. 28:1-22. Amazing things will emerge as we study it.
Verses 1-8 are a pronouncement of woe upon the Israelites for their decadence. In v. 1, they are portrayed as drunkards and "a fading flower of Israel's glorious beauty." In vv. 2-4 the Lord tells of "a mighty agent...of destruction" which He is sending to crush them which will swallow them up like a ripe fig. In vv. 5-6 God promises crowns, justice, and strength to His faithful remnant who continue to labor obediently. In vv. 7-8 the attention once again is back on the proud drunkards who are so drunk that their minds, mouths, and movements are out of control. (These verses about drunkards should remind us of our discussion earlier where we saw that drunkenness is a sign of God's wrath. This theme is picked up very strongly here.)
In v. 9, Isaiah, pondering their severely drunken state and their total incoherence, speaks to them as if they are babbling infants that can't even be communicated to:

To whom would He teach knowledge? And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast?

A strange thing then happens in v. 10 which most translations do not pick up. The words in v.10 are unknown anywhere else in Hebrew (or related) literature. Most translators just take a wild stab at the meaning. But there are two more reasonable possibilities: These are nonsense babblings written in Hebrew (like goo-goo gah-gah), or they are an old Hebrew alphabet jingle used by children. (Many commentators have also concluded this. There is a certain sing-song sound in the Hebrew.) Either way, the point is the same. God is speaking to them as tiny infants who can't even understand adult conversations. In this way, Isaiah is quoting God as sarcastically communicating with these drunken "infants" through meaningless words.

Then, v. 11 both confirms this interpretation and swells to a climax: “Indeed, He will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue.”

God will indeed speak to Israel through meaningless words, the meaningless words of a foreign language.

Here, the reference is clearly made back to Deut. 28:49 where foreign tongues are a sign of an invading army. In Is. 28:11 God promises to send strange tongues to Israel as a sign of destruction, as a sign of invasion by a foreign people. Thus, He will speak judgment to the proud drunkards of Israel. If they are so drunk as to be unable to understand God's prophetic messages, then He will speak His messages of woe to them through the unintelligible words of foreign invaders.

In v. 12 Isaiah reminds his audience of who it is who is now speaking so harshly to Israel:

He who said to them, "Here is rest, give rest to the weary," and, "here is repose," but they would not listen.

Then, reaffirming what he has been saying earlier about God speaking to Israel in unintelligible tongues, Isaiah says in v. 13:

So the word of the Lord to them will be: (nonsense babbling or alphabet jingle: identical to v. 10) That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

This verse confirms the fact that v. 11 is referring to a foreign army (a la Deut. 28:49). It also helps us to see the purpose behind God's nonsense babbling to Israel: their destruction.

Now Isaiah, drawing together all that he has said so far, issues a severe summarizing warning to the proud drunkards of Israel (vv. 14-16):

Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception." Therefore thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed."

Apparently the Jews thought that somehow they were going to escape from God's judgment. They thought that by clever deception and falsehood they would avoid God's wrath. Not so, says Isaiah, and in order to prove that they will not in fact escape God's judgment he declares that God is laying a stone in Zion which will be a cornerstone for the foundation "and he who believes in it will not be disturbed" (implying that he who does NOT believe WILL be disturbed).

Isaiah continues on with a description of how Israel is going to "get it" from God. But we have gone far enough for our purposes. The only thing that needs to be added from Isaiah is that this curse-sign of strange tongues was not meant to last indefinitely. There would come a time when foreign armies would come no more to attack Israel and thus, it would seem, the reason for the curse-sign would cease:

You will no longer see a fierce people, a people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends, of a stammering tongue which no one understands...(Is. 33:13)

And the mind of the hasty will discern the truth, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly. (Is. 32:4)

The next question that needs to be addressed is: what historical event is Is. 28 talking about? Well, this question is not too difficult. Surely, there are several preliminary fulfilments: the Assyrian conquest of Israel, the Babylonian conquest of Judah. But there can be no question that the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is in the Gentile conquest of Israel which began at Pentecost and ended at holocaust in 70 A.D. There are several reasons why this conclusion is necessary:

1. The stone laid in Zion (28:16) can be no other than Jesus Christ. The NT explicitly identifies the stone as Christ in 1Pet. 2:6 (cf Rom. 9:33; Eph. 2:20).
2. The connection between Is. 28:13b and Is. 8:14-15 is undeniable. Both speak of a stone (Is. 28:16), both speak of Israel stumbling over the stone, both speak of being broken by the stumbling, both speak of being snared as a result of the stumbling, both speak of being captured as a result of stumbling over the stone. It is equally clear that the stone of Is. 8:14-15 is Christ. This is what Peter says when he quotes this verse in 1Pet. 2:8.

Therefore, we must conclude that this prophecy has its primary reference to the judgment brought upon Israel through the stone of stumbling, Jesus Christ, and through the foreign people, the Gentiles, who invaded Israel, stealing her blessing at Pentecost, and sealing her curse at holocaust (70 A.D.).

1Cor. 14:20-22

But how can we be sure that the tongues-speaking at Pentecost (and afterward) was the curse-sign upon Israel spoken of in Is. 28:10-11, 13? Additional confirmation comes from Paul in 1Cor. 14:20-22.

In 1Cor. 12:1-14:19 Paul has been discussing the use of spiritual gifts. It seems that the Corinthians had been rather excessive and immature in the way they were handling the gifts, especially tongues. They needed to be told that:

1. The gifts must not divide Christ's body (1Cor. 12:1-13),
2. No gift is independent of the others (1Cor. 12:14-24),
3. Christ's body is dependent on a diversity of gifts (1Cor. 12:25-31a),
4. Love is more important than gifts (1Cor. 12:31b-13:13), and that,
5. Prophecy is edifying, and therefore more important than uninterpreted tongues (1Cor. 14:1-19).

In 1Cor. 14:1-19, it seems that the problem all along has been a preoccupation with the gift of tongues. It is this that threatened to divide the body. It is this that caused some brethren to think they had no need of the other gifts. This is the gift that some forgot was not more important than love and unity. It was this gift that, in the minds of some, had been elevated to a higher level than prophecy. It was this gift that was being practiced without interpretation, leading to the confusion of visitors. It was this gift that was not being used in an orderly fashion in the church. So Paul, pauses after 1Cor. 14:19 and exhorts the Corinthian believers concerning this gift: “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature.” (1Cor. 14:20)

Then Paul proceeds to quote from the OT concerning tongues. Where does he quote from? You got it: Is. 28:11! Paul quotes this verse because he knows that tongues are the fulfillment of OT prophecy. He knows that the tongues-speech in the Corinthian church is a curse-sign to the unbelieving Jews. He knows that tongues is a sign of the final destruction of apostate Judaism. But the Corinthians are treating it like a fun toy. So, he is pausing to explain to them the true meaning of tongues. He does this by quoting Is. 28:11 and then explaining it:

In the Law it is written, "By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me," says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe.

Tongues, he says, are a sign to unbelievers. That is, they are a curse-sign to unbelieving Jews. Prophecy is also a sign. Like all intelligible redemptive speech from God, it is a sign of blessing to believers. Prophecy edifies. It builds up the Church. It builds up the household of faith. Uninterpreted tongues, on the other hand, are a sign of destruction. They do no edify. They are a sign that the household of Israel is about to be demolished. When tongues are interpreted, of course, things are different. Then, being unintelligible no longer, they serve as a sign of blessing to the Gentiles, as they did at Pentecost. Paul, therefore, encourages interpreted tongues in the church; but forbids uninterpreted tongues (which do no one any good). If a non-Christian visited the church it would only serve to confuse him (v. 23). Non-Christian visitors need to hear a message of life, not a sign of death.

1Cor. 14:22a is the only explicit statement in the NT concerning the purpose of tongues: "So then tongues are for a sign...to unbelievers." There is nothing in the OT or NT which tells us a different purpose of tongues. It would seem that this is the central purpose and every other function of tongues a subsidiary to this (e.g. interpreted tongues as a sign to the Gentiles, private use of tongues...).

III. Other Miscellaneous Thoughts on the Cessation of Tongues

1. Some cessationists attempt to prove the cessation of tongues by showing how the present-day practice of "tongues" is different from what it was in the NT, claiming that somehow this proves that tongues have ceased. This argument is not without validity, but it is nonetheless limited and problematic. All one proves by this line of approach is that NT tongues, as such, do not exist today in the contexts we are aware of. They do not prove that NT tongues ought not exist today, nor that it might exist elsewhere — out of our circles of knowledge and experience.
2. Along these lines most cessationists argue that NT tongues were real languages. If this is true, then what is commonly known as "tongues" today cannot be valid. In multitudes of linguistic studies of so-called “tongues-speaking” (both spoken in a laboratory and recorded at a meeting) there has been virtually no evidence that any "tongue-utterance" bears any resemblance to an actual language (even an unknown one). The phonetic structure is completely different. In addition to this, each "tongues-speaker" seems to only speak within the range of phonetic sounds of his native tongue. In other words, German "tongues-speakers" use only phonetic sounds used in the German language. Italian speakers use only Italian phonetic sounds. English speakers use only English sounds, etc.
3. If NT tongues were not true languages then these criticisms cannot apply. In this case, the miracle would occur only in the interpretation, not in the utterance. But this proves problematic when tested by modern linguistic analysis as well. In tests, when several reputed "interpreters" are given the same utterance to interpret, their interpretations always vary widely. Either way it seems that modern linguistic analysis supports the conclusion that NT tongues are not what is commonly occurring in the "charismatic" movement today.
4. Free vocalization is a phenomenon that virtually all experts consider universal. Any person either has a natural ability to produce nonsense babble that, to an untrained ear, sounds like a foreign language, or is able to learn to do so quickly. The more a person works and practices the more polished the nonsense utterance sounds. Perhaps this can be done unconsciously with a conviction that the speech is Spirit-inspired. Otherwise, what is the source of Catholic “tongues” utterances which, when interpreted, are praying to the virgin Mary? And how can Mormons speak in tongues? Or Muslims? (They do.) And even charismatics admit that there are some fakers around. Why can't the artificial be discerned from the real? A man once went to a charismatic gathering , and stood up and spewed out the Hebrew alphabet to see what would happen. Sure enough, when he was done, someone interpreted it as a message from God.

I find all of this sufficient to convince me that tongues in fact have ceased, at least in their public function. I must admit that the case against their private use is a different matter. In other words, I hold out the possibility that tongues themselves have not ceased; but that the gift of interpretation has. If this is true, the use of tongues in any public assembly would be forbidden by 1Cor. 14:28.

IV. The Gifts and the PCA

The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Book of Church Order (two of the documents which compose the constitution of the PCA) confirm the conclusions I have reached in this paper. The fact that the foundation-laying period means of revelation (which would include prophecy, tongues, and knowledge) have now ceased is stated repeatedly:

...it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in diverse manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church; and afterwards...to commit the same wholly unto writing;...those former ways of God revealing His will unto His people being now ceased. (Westminster Confession 1,1)

Under the New Testament, our Lord at first collected His people out of different nations, and united them to the household of faith by the ministry of extraordinary officers who received extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and who were agents by whom God completed this revelation to His church. Such officers and gifts related to new revelation have no successors since God completed His revelation at the conclusion of the Apostolic Age. (Book of Church Order 7:1)

Prayer...is by God required of all men; and ...it is to be made..., if vocal, in a known tongue. (WCF 21,3 - Scripture reference here is 1Cor. 14:14)

In addition to these direct references, the following factors must be taken into consideration:

1. All the Westminster divines (at least those whose writings are known) believed in the cessation of the revelatory gifts.
2. In 1980 a judicial commission of the PCA General Assembly upheld the WCF and the BCO by ruling to sustain a complaint against the ordination of a man who affirmed his belief "that none of the gifts of the Spirit have ceased since the apostolic age" and "affirmed his belief that currently the gift of speaking in an unknown tongue, when interpreted by the gift of interpretation, communicates revelation from God" (see Minutes of Eight General Assembly). There were other factors in the case, to be sure, but the ruling, approved by the General Assembly, dealt specifically with the issue of revelation and the gifts. The ruling is quoted here:

...the fundamental teaching of the WCF and the BCO concerning the sufficiency and finality of revelation in Scripture was not adequately protected. The Commission judges that simply affirming that the canon is closed, and that supposed new revelations from God add nothing to the deposit of truth already found in Scripture does not cover all the negations concerning continuing revelation from God found in the WCF I:i,vi, and the BCO 7-1. These statements of the standards also negate the idea that any extraordinary ways still continue in addition to Scripture as ways by which God verbally uncovers His will to His people. (Minutes of the Eighth General Assembly of the PCA, 1980, p. 93)