1st Corinthians 14 brings us to another highly contested aspect of Paul’s writings to the flock of God at Corinth. From the 12th chapter Paul has been dealing with the subject of spiritual gifts. In 12:1 he expresses his intention of producing clear teaching with respect to this subject (“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you to be ignorant”). In the 12th chapter he lays the ground by showing that the Church is one body but there are many gifts, dispensed by the one Spirit. In the 13th chapter he exposes the greatest gift which is love. When we come to chapter 14, however, Paul begins to get to the heart of where the Corinthians were going wrong with respect to spiritual gifts.

Highly Contested

This is a highly contested chapter because the distinction between the Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal sections of the Church are here laid bare.

The term Pentecostal is in itself a misnomer. The Church is always Pentecostal. We are Pentecostal in that we believe the Spirit poured out at Pentecost continues with the Church to the present day. We believe in the gifts of the Spirit.

The real question is this – are the gifts that the Pentecostal congregations claim genuine or are they spurious? I will argue, for example, that the modern use of these professed gifts does not justify identifying such movements as truly Pentecostal, because the gifts in question are, in effect, counterfeit and do not originate with the Spirit of God. Some may baulk at the term “counterfeit”. Let’s be clear – if this is a genuine gift I should be seeking it not condemning it. If it is not a genuine gift then it is counterfeit. If the modern phenomenon differs substantially from the biblical gift, then the question naturally arises as to whether it is a counterfeit or merely psychological in nature.

I concede that many good and sincere Christian brothers and sisters have practised these gifts in history and some do so today. Nevertheless, we must consider this practice biblically, not experimentally.

As 1st Corinthians 14 deals primarily with the gift of tongues we need to consider the early New Testament gift of tongues.

Signs of the Apostle

This was a gift which along with healing, exorcism and inspiration was one of the signs of an Apostle:

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18).

This gift was first given on the day of Pentecost and was used for evangelism. The word tongue means simply – “language” – and does not teach that one can pray to God in a heavenly tongue. These were languages wherewith people heard the Gospel preached:

“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” (Acts 2:4-8)

Indeed in 1st Corinthians 14:21-22 Paul instructs that “tongues are a sign…to them that believe not”.

A Gift for the Infant Church

Is this gift still applicable to the Church today? In 1st Corinthians 13:8 Paul taught that prophecies and tongues would fail for now he said we know in part. There would come a day, however, when that which was perfect would come. This is understood to be the completion of Scripture. These special gifts were given in the age before the Scriptures were complete. With the passing of the apostles the Scriptures were complete. That which was perfect had arrived. He compares the early gifts to a child at play, these were childish things. But when the Church matured these childish things were put away.

Of course God can equip someone to learn another language in order to evangelise the lost but this work is done through the ordinary process of education. The days of the Spirit spontaneously giving someone the words of another language for preaching are over. This gift has ceased.

I understand that this interpretation is disputed. While many conservative interpreters understand ‘that which is perfect’ as representing the return of Christ, others within the cessationist tradition have understood it as referring to the completion and maturity of New Testament revelation. Some may argue that “face to face” and knowing as we are known can only be understood in the light of the return of Christ. My argument is however, is that this must be understood in the light of these gifts ceasing when faith, hope and love would remain. Paul anticipated a day when tongues would cease. this was a central part of his argument. Therefore the completed canon gives us His greater knowledge as we are brought face to face with Christ in HIs Word. For example we now have the more sure word of prophecy and Christ is our prophet and teacher in this new age.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19)

I do concede, however, that the return of Christ is a secondary meaning lying behind the text. The ultimate fulfilment of “that which is perfect” is the eternal state when our knowledge will be perfected as we see Christ face to face. This, however, is not the primary intent, as Paul is dealing with spiritual gifts within the context of an earthly ministry and the fading away of the apostolic age.

The main point is this – for the so called Pentecostal churches to claim the New Testament gifts for their own exercise of tongues is not Scriptural. They do not use the gift for evangelism but for prayer. There is little biblical evidence for this.

Experience Above Scripture

This leads me into one of the major difficulties with the practice of this alleged gift. It is based upon experience and not upon Scripture. It appears powerful when an individual has an experience, the ability to pray in a strange tongue and for someone else to miraculously (it seems) produce an interpretation. Every experience, however, must be weighed in the balances of Scripture. Does the Scripture verify the experience? If the Scripture does not teach the experience then whatever has happened it cannot be of the Spirit. This, then , leads me to ask – “What spirit?”. Either the tongues are a product of one’s emotions or they are a product of Satan. Of course I am not accusing Pentecostal Christians of being Satanic but by acting outside Scripture they open themselves to this danger. This is the point I am making. It is a dangerous thing to expose oneself to a Spirit which is not according to Scripture.

“Such is the subtlety of the evil one that, in days of revival, if spiritual excitement is not controlled by sound doctrine, even prayer meetings may become a peril. The theology of this gift of tongues movement displays ignorance and perversion of Scripture. As already noted, it subordinates the great facts and truths of the Christian revelation to the subjective experiences of the Christian life.” (Sir Robert Anderson; Spirit Manifestation and the Gift of Tongues)

Modern Pentecostal believers undermine the Scripture. They claim gifts which are not Scriptural. They claim prophecies which are inspired, when the Bible says that we cannot add to or detract from the inspired Word (Revelation 22:18-19). Their claims undermine Christ because He is the only prophet in this New Testament age (Hebrews 1:2).

Learning from 2,000 Years of History

The weight of Church History cries foul in so far as the modern Pentecostal movement is concerned. In 150 AD a Christian group known as the Montanists emerged. They were generally sound in theology except that they practised gifts which had much in common with the modern Pentecostal / Charismatic movement. These practices were consistently rejected by the mainstream Church. During the Reformation period such practices also emerged within Protestantism, which the Reformers rejected. The mainstream trajectory of Church history largely rejected such phenomena. Did God choose to hide these gifts over such a prolonged period until the late 19th and early 20th Centuries when the modern Pentecostal movement emerged?

Breeding a Shallow Christianity

Pentecostalism is often not associated with theological depth because elevating experience can undermine the authority of Scripture. Where God’s Word is set aside in favour of emotional activity and uncorroborated miracles – the gate is left open could be called unintended consequences.

Therefore Pentecostalism has led the way towards the more outlandish expressions of music in worship. Why? – because it feels good, it attracts people – whether it undermines the Word or not is not a major issue. Pentecostalism is not associated with a depth of teaching with respect to teaching because by elevating experience it undermines Scripture. This is always dangerous because it can lead to an easy believism – Worship without a biblically sound ministry, Christianity without the challenge, a Gospel without repentance and real conversion. We should recognise the dangers and be warned.

There are many streams at work within Pentecostalism. Some are more Gospel oriented than other, some are more conservative. There is much distance between old-fashioned Pentecostals, whose teaching is historically Protestant, and Charismatics who practise similar gifts alongside Roman Catholics and Prosperity Gospel enthusiasts. Yet – it is within Pentecostalism that much modern error has emerged. That in itself should sound the alarm bells.

The Corinthian Tongues

The Corinthian experience, rather than supporting modern Pentecostalism and Charismatic practice, actually exposes their falsehood.

There are debates around the actual phenomena in Corinth. Nevertheless from the detail and text of Scripture we can make some deductions.

It is highly likely that chapter 14 reflects two different issues relating to language:

One problem in a cosmopolitan city like Corinth was that different languages were spoken within the assembly. Within the church meetings, especially at prayer time, there was chaos. Paul told the people not to forbid prayers in other languages but employ an interpreter for the sake of those who couldn’t understand (vs 27, 39).

Another difficulty, however, was the pagan practice of ecstatic gibberish (suggested by some commentators) where the mind went into a trance and strange things were spoken. There is some evidence that Paul alluded to this in practice in Corinth. He writes of speaking “mysteries” in this “unknown tongue”. He warns about the many voices in the world and teaches that to pray without the understanding is to speak into the air (v9-14).

“And what happened now in the Charismatic Movement is simply Corinth revisited. The church has married the system of pagan religion again, and we have developed a sensual, feeling, experiential, erotic kind of approach to religion, only we call it the work of the Holy Spirit, when in fact it is the counterfeit of Satan. If you were to find time to talk with various people who’ve been involved in it, you would find that some of their experiences are very much in that way – very sensual, very feeling-oriented.” (John MacArthur, The Truth About Tongues Part 1)

Learning the Lesson

We must keep ourselves Biblically rooted. Strive only after that which supports. We should strive after depth in our Christianity. We live in an age of shallow Christianity, generally speaking, when how we feel is often considered more important than what we believe. This will always be to our detriment. Worship must be orderly and decent. We cannot afford to neglect our history and the reassurance that comes with following the path of fathers. We must seek the gifts of the Spirit that are genuine, being controlled by His infilling power so that what we say and do would manifest the love of Christ for us.

Sir Robert Anderson, writing in the nineteenth century, argued that movements emphasising tongues and similar phenomena often developed out of emotional religious excitement associated with revivalism. Where such emotionalism was not governed by Scripture, unhealthy movements could emerge. John MacArthur, writing in the twentieth century, viewed the rise of the Charismatic movement partly as a reaction to the growing deadness of many traditional churches. People longed for spiritual life and vitality, but too often sought it in emotional experience rather than through the Word of God. The lesson is simple: the genuine infilling and outpouring of the Holy Ghost, governed by Scripture and producing holiness in believers, is the best safeguard against counterfeit spiritual experiences, which can never truly satisfy. We must therefore long for and seek a genuine work of the Holy Ghost in our generation.