In the world of "Christendom" today there are many questions about the practices of speaking in tongues and prophecy. Some denominations today claim that their members have the a specific measure of the Holy Spirit and the ability especially to speak in tongues as early Christians did in the first century. Is this true? What does the Bible have to say about these matters?

Acts 2

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4).

The gift of speaking in tongues is seen first on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. The Apostles spoke in tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming the works of God, just as Jesus had foretold (Acts 1:8).

We see that the Apostles spoke in actual, recognizable foreign languages-- the people from all across northern Africa, southern Europe, and western Asia heard them speaking in their own languages (Acts 2:7-11). Speaking in such languages is not seen denominations claiming this gift today.

1 Corinthians 14

Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1).

1 Corinthians 14 represents the passage in the New Testament that most clearly and fully explains the ways that spiritual gifts worked within a given local congregation.

Paul explains that prophecy is the superior gift (vv. 1-5). The purpose of any of the usage of spiritual gifts is to build up the church, providing some useful knowledge or understanding (vv. 6-12). Those who speak in tongues should be silent unless there is an interpreter (vv. 27-28), and all things are to be done decently and in order (v. 33, 40).

These guidelines were necessary for a church that was not blessed with the revealed New Testament-- instruction and exhortation came from the promptings of the Spirit, but the promptings were always subject to the Christians themselves (v. 32). Nevertheless, in many such denominations today speaking in a "heavenly babble" is considered to be profitable, and to some necessary for salvation, and often it is not done in a decent or orderly way, contrary to what we see here revealed by Paul.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10

But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away (1 Corinthians 13:10).

Paul understands that the church in Corinth has many difficulties because of a lack of proper love, and in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians he sets out to demonstrate the supremacy of love over all other matters. Within this demonstration Paul establishes a prophecy of sorts in verses 8-10: speaking in tongues, prophecies, and knowledge would cease at some point. (v. 8) This point is understood to be when "the perfect" has come (v. 10).

Many claim that "the perfect" refers either to Jesus or to His return. The Greek term translated as "the perfect" is teleion, which is in the neuter gender. Jesus, being masculine in Greek, is never described as a neuter. "The perfect," whatever it is, represents a "thing", not a person.

The best understanding, as we shall see, is that "the perfect" represents the completion of the revelation of what we consider the New Testament. Since all was revealed that was necessary, there was no more need for gifts providing partial revelation.

History

All prophecy is subject to the history test: did the prophecy come about in a meaningfully understandable way?

When we look into the historical record, we find that the majority of Christians no longer claim such spiritual gifts not long after the death of the Apostles. Since it seems that only the Apostles could lay hands to give others such gifts from the Spirit (cf. Acts 8:14-16), the end of these spiritual gifts at this time is not surprising.

For a period of 1700 years only a few random persons along with many heretical groups claimed any such gift of the Spirit. It has only been within the last century that people have again claimed to receive these gifts and the ability to speak in tongues, however imperfectly.

Based on all Biblical evidence, therefore, we conclude that the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues, prophecy, and specially revealed knowledge ceased not long after the death of the Apostles. The New Testament-- the completed revelation that replaced the partial-- is to be our sole guide for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Jude 1:3). Obey God's Word today!

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