There were three manifestations of the Holy Spirit baptism that came upon the church on the day of Pentecost. One of those manifestations was speaking in tongues or other languages. Spiritual gifts had come to the church prior to the day of Pentecost. Jesus had given His church the use of Spiritual gifts during His time on earth. He had sent His church out to preach that the kingdom of heaven was about to begin and He gave them special gifts. Matthew 10:7 "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." Therefore we see that spiritual gifts did not come from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but that one new Spiritual gift was added, (speaking in tongues).

   When Jesus began His public ministry, He came preaching and teaching a new set of doctrines, a new way of worship, and a new way of life. Jesus came performing miraculous signs in order to prove to the Jews who He was and the new doctrines and new way of worship was from God. Peter confirms that this is true as we hear him preach to the Jews in Acts 2:22 "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:"

   Jesus gave His church the gift of healing and the power to cast out evil spirits. Those signs and miracles were their credentials to prove to the Jews that the new covenant, with its new laws and new way of worship, was ordained of God. Hebrews 2:3-4 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" Mark 16:20 "And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen".

   Another miraculous gift, which was given to the church on the day of Pentecost, was speaking in tongues. Pentecost was a Jewish feast day, and devout Jews had gathered at Jerusalem from every nation. God chose this particular period of time to give the gift of speaking in tongues to His church in order to get the attention of the Jews who were there from every country.

   The Word of God is clear in its use of the word "tongues"; it means languages, Acts 2:6-8 "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 marveled, 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?" The Jews heard the Word of God spoken in each individual language in which they were born. This was to prove to them that the New Message was from God.. God specifically declares that tongues were given for a sign to them that do not believe 1 Corinthians 14:22 "Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe." Tongues served as a sign only when the unbelievers understood what was spoken 1 Corinthians 14:23 "If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?" If the words spoken could not be understood, they would consider them mad or drunk as also seen in Acts 2:13-15 "Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day."

   Speaking in tongues was a fulfillment of prophecy 1 Corinthians 14:21 "In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord." Peter also declares this to be the fulfillment of a prophecy in Joel. Acts 2:16-20 "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:" Notice half of it was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" The last days has reference to the last age before Jesus returns to set up His reign on the earth. The last days began with Jesus’ first advent Hebrews 9:26 "26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." and Hebrews 1:2 "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;"

   The other half of the prophecy in Joel will be fulfilled in the last half of the tribulation period, at the end of this age. Acts 2:19-20 "And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:" We see this end time prophecy being fulfilled as we read Revelation 6:12-16 "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themseves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:"

   Spiritual gifts were given to confirm God’s word until the Bible was completed. After the Bible was finished around 100 AD all but three of the Spiritual gifts were done away with. Now abides faith, hope, and love.

   One of the reasons for this lesson on the Holy Spirit is that there is so much false teaching in the religious world concerning His gifts. You will meet people who claim to be Christians who will tell you they can speak in "tongues", perform miracles, heal, and many other super natural things. We need to be able to show them from the scriptures that God is not doing those things anymore. They will quote this scripture in Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." The scripture is true but has nothing to do with Spiritual Gifts. God has never changed but He certainly has changed how He deals with man. We are no longer under the law, God is working through the church today as opposed to working through the nation Israel. Spiritual Gifts were used for a time with a specific reason. Before the New Testament of the Bible was completed, God used Spiritual Gifts to help the church to understand their responsibilities and to confirm to the Jews and the unbelievers that their authority was from God.

   Various gifts, miracles, and helps were given to the early New Testament church. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

   Certain problems arose in the Corinthian church concerning spiritual gifts. Paul, in addressing this church, said he did not want them to be ignorant concerning this subject, 1 Corinthians 12:1. The Corinthian church had become preoccupied with speaking in tongues, considering it to be a superior gift. Paul said that the most valuable gift given to the early church was prophecy. 1 Corinthians 14:1 "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." Why did Paul say that Prophecy was so important? Prophecy was speaking forth the council of God to the church until the New Testament of the Bible was completed. Prophecy had such great value to the church because it served to edify, comfort, and encourage them. 1 Corinthians 14:3 "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." Prophecy also served to convict unbelievers of sin and to constrain them to worship. 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 "But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth."

   I again remind you that tongues were known languages. It was not a babble but an actual language such as Spanish, German, Hebrew, French, etc. The word "unknown" used in I Corinthians the fourteenth chapter is not in the original text, that is why it is italicized. The translators put the word there to denote that those speaking in tongues were speaking languages that they had not learned and was not their native tongue. Today there are heretical churches who say they can still speak in tongues but they do not speak human languages. They say there is a language that is "God’s language" and is not known to man. They speak babble and call it God’s language. We will see from the scriptures that the rules about tongues make it clear that it is not God’s language they speak and those that do it violate almost every rule God gave for speaking in tongues.

   The Corinthian church was obsessed with using the gift of languages. The reason Paul began his message on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians the 12 chapter was because they were ignorant of the purpose of the gifts and how to use them. Men were instructed to keep silent and not speak in tongues if there were no interpreters present. I Corinthians 14:28 "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God." The only reason for speaking in tongues was to give the gospel message to people who spoke other languages that were attending the church. The gift was not given so others could look at the one speaking in tongues and say "that person must really be spiritual he can speak in tongues".

   Women were not supposed to speak in tongues in the church. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." It is plain to see that women did have this gift to be able to speak in other languages but in the church they were supposed to let the men do it. They could use their gift out in the community speaking with neighbors people in the market place or wherever they would meet someone who spoke another language to share the gospel or their testimony. I think we could see how silly it would be to do that with what some churches are calling speaking in tongues today. It is also evident that what these churches in error have happening in their churches is women who are primarily the ones doing the speaking in gibberish. If what they were doing was really tongues it would be a violation for the women to do it.

   Speaking in tongues was for unbelievers. 1 Corinthians 14:22 "Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe." If speaking in tongues was the gibberish being done today, how would any lost person ever be saved hearing that kind of babbling? They would think the whole church was crazy. Paul told the church to speak in words that were easy to understand so all could benefit (be edified) I Corinthians 14:6,9.

   1 Corinthians 14:27-28 "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God." Therefore, we see another rule, there could never be more three people speaking in tongues in any service. Also, it says they could only speak one at a time, they must do it in order. They were told they could not speak in tongues if there wasn’t an interpreter there to let others know what was being said. We again see a terrible violation by those who say they can still speak in tongues, for in their services they have many (usually more than three) speaking in tongues and sometimes all doing it at the same time.

   It seems clear that all those who are saying that the gifts of speaking in tongues is still in effect today are wrong. They violate God’s word with what they do and make a mockery of the teaching of the word of God.