After giving the Scriptural evidence for praying in tongues, Robert Morris goes into his second point which is the Benefit of Praying in Tongues. According to Robert Morris, praying in tongues ought to be pursued because it benefits the user (1 Cor. 14:4).
But this is both selfish and wrong. Paul did say, “He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself” (14:4), but then he added, “Even so you, for as much as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the Church” (14:12). The gifts were given for the edification and profit of the entire Body of Christ, not merely one member. “The members should have the same care one for another” (12:25).
Self-edification is contrary to the principle of love as taught in Chapter 13, for “love seeks not its own” (13:5). The gifts were given for the common good of all (12:7).
Here, let’s try this: Can you provide one example of anyone in the Bible using a spiritual gift for the purpose of self-edification? Can you show me anywhere in the Bible where it is taught that a gift from the Holy Spirit can and should be used in such a manner? But praying in a tongue is not a gift. It is a man-made, human induced, self-centered experience that can only be explained as an origin of the flesh.
The spiritual immaturity of the saints in Corinth called for instruction, so in the middle of his discourse on tongues he writes, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: nevertheless in malice be children, but in understanding be men” (1 Corinthians 14:20). The Greek word for “men” (teleios) means mature. In their misuse of speaking in tongues they were showing their immaturity, a behaviour pattern which characterized the believers at Corinth. The Apostle reminded them that they remained “babes in Christ” (3:1).
I find it humorous that in order to give an example of gibberish praying, Robert Morris uses his children and grandchildren as examples. Robert Morris said that his older son understood his younger brother quite well when he used baby talk. My goodness look at the connection that is being made: As an adult, Robert Morris could not understand what his younger son was saying. But the older brother who was also a child could.
So then, why didn’t Robert Morris just relate to his younger son in the baby talk he was using? Because to do so would not be the right or normative thing to do. Why didn’t the younger son just speak mature words so his father could understand? Because as a child, he couldn’t.
By using Robert Morris illustration, we can conclude that praying in tongues is equivalent to baby talk. And baby talk is for who? Babies! Adult talk is for who? Adults! Adults cannot understand babies and babies cannot understand adults (except in limited ways). No wonder Paul said this: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” ( 1 Cor. 13:11).
Notice the three areas Paul covers: “Talked” like a child (speech); “Thought” like a child (knowledge); and “reasoned” as a child (understanding).
These are the areas that we all need to grow up in as we mature in Christ. It is okay to talk, think and reason as children if you are a child. But for a person in an adult body to do so is quite comical since it is so childish.
Look at the passage even more closely. Paul said, “When I WAS a child. . .” and then the transition, “When I BECAME a man.” The state of childhood ought to be temporary. The transition to adulthood ought to be the permanent goal.
Tongue prayers are still functioning in the state of being a child and have not yet gotten to the goal of becoming an adult. They seem to be fixed in the state of “I am still,” rather than transitioning to “ I became or have become.”
The Corinthians failure to grow up spiritually resulted from their neglected study of the Scriptures. The Epistle to the Hebrews stresses this point. “For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14). Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2). One will find confusion and license where the study of God’s Word is neglected.
Now let us return to 1 Corinthians 14:20. Immediately upon rebuking them with the words, “Brethren, be not children in understanding,” Paul adds, “In the law it is written . . . ” (Vs. 21), thereby pointing out their weakness, namely, their failure to acquaint themselves with that which was written in the Old Testament Scriptures. They had failed to study God’s Word, therefore they had become victims of arrested development.
Speaking in tongues was a gift bestowed by the Holy Spirit, but it, or any other gift, can be misused. Speaking in tongues was no mark of spirituality, because the Corinthian church was unspiritual, having manifested carnality (3:1-3) and even gross sin (5:1). And so Paul points them to a Scripture they should have known, saying, “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, says the Lord” (12:21).
Paul is here referring to a prophecy God had given through Isaiah. The nation of Israel had failed to heed God’s message which He gave through their own prophets, so the Lord told them that at a future time they will hear His message through tongues (languages) other than their own. “For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people “ (Isaiah 28:11). Thus Paul sees in this Isaiah prophecy the gift of tongues as a sign to Israel. The words “this people” in Isaiah 28:11, in its context, can refer only to Israel. The abuse of tongues-speaking in Corinth did not arise from the belief in speaking in tongues, but rather in the neglect of the Scriptures which teach its proper use.
If the church would have understood that tongues and any gift given by the Holy Spirit is to be used for the purpose of building up others and not oneself, they would have excelled in their spiritual growth. After all, the majority of the church was into praying in tongues. And yet, with all the tongue praying that had been occurring in this church, Paul still called them “babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1) and children in their understanding (14:20).
End of Part 9
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