The Lord’s church was a miraculous church in the first century.  The apostles of Christ were guild by the Spirit, having been baptized with the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Acts 1:5), possessed miraculous powers, and could transfer those powers to others by laying hands on them (Acts 8:18-19).  When the apostles would establish a new local church, they would give it miraculous power.

1 Thessalonians 1:4–5 (ESV)
⁴ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

This was critical for the survival of the early church because they did not have the complete word of God to guide them since it was still in the process of being written.  Once revelation was complete, the miraculous ceased (1 Corinthians 13:4-13).

In last night’s blog, we considered the fact that the ceasing of miraculous gifts included speaking in tongues.  Yet, there are many today who claim they can speak in tongues.  One of the things that exposes their error is their supposed use of the gift.  If they really had the gift, they would use it in the way the Spirit demanded.  Instead, they ignore scripture and violate the regulations of the gift that was established by the inspired teaching of Paul.  Let me give you a couple of examples of this.

When the gift of tongue-speaking was used in the assemblies of the saints, the church was to make sure that it was done in an orderly fashion.  The church at Corinth was failing to do this so Paul, as an agent for Christ, regulated the gift.

1 Corinthians 14:27 (ESV)
²⁷ If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.

This was an apostolic directive, meaning that if this principle was violated going forward, it would constitute sinful behavior.  Yet, in charismatic churches today, this principle is violated in almost all their assemblies.  I have seen this firsthand.  I once attended a bible study at a charismatic church and every time the preacher got fired up, people all around me would start doing something they called tongue-speaking, and they all did it at once.  Does anyone really believe that the Spirit would move them to do that, violating the very command that He gave through the pen of Paul?  But there is more.

Another regulation that Paul put in place was that tongue-speaking was only to take place if there was someone present who could interpret it.

1 Corinthians 14:28 (ESV)
²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

This is violated all the time in churches that claim to be practicing tongue-speaking.  They will sometimes claim that they have no control when they are speaking in tongues because the Spirit takes control of them.   Here’s an example of a man sharing such an experience:

On one of the nights, I had a dream. In the dream, I was praying in a field. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, accompanied by a loud sound. I swayed slightly but remained upright. Due to the strength of the wind, my body and tongue vibrated. I had the same dream twice. It was strange. The following morning, I went to church with the confidence that I would surely receive the Holy Spirit. I prayed with faith and great fervor. When I uttered “Hallelujah”, my body and tongue suddenly started vibrating. I could neither control my tongue nor understand the words uttered. I was crying out of tremendous joy, for the Lord had answered my prayer.

This is a deliberate attempt to deceive.  It never happened.  This man just made this story up.  How do I know?  Because the Spirit does not act in that way.  He never overtook the free will of a person.  We do not have one example of the Spirit operating in such a way in the New Testament.  Instead, Paul taught that a prophet always had control over what he was prophesying.

1 Corinthians 14:29–32 (ESV)
²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³²and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
If this were true concerning the prophets, why would it not also be true concerning the one speaking in tongues?  It was, and we know it because if the tongue speakers had no control of themselves, how could they obey the inspired regulation of speaking in turn (1 Corinthians 14:27)?  God has never given a command that could not be kept.

We know from scripture that the gift of tongues no longer exists.  We have seen this clearly in passages such as 1 Corinthians 13.  The way people who claim to speak in tongues use their supposed gift, doing it in such a way that violates the word of God, just verifies that no one is truly speaking in tongues today.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.