Before we talk about the receiving of the gift of tongues, could you clarify
the different types of tongues that there are. And what is the difference between them,
and the practice of them in the public setting as well. I will, and this is probably right here,
seeing these three different expressions of the gift of tongues is probably what's going to bring
the most clarity because you've got to let the Scripture speak for itself. I think, like for
example with Cessationism, which thanked the Lord, that movement is losing steam by the day. And more
and more people are waking up to the fact that the reality is that the power of the Holy Ghost
is very active, it always has been and you know and the gift of tongues is for today. So when it
comes to what the Scripture says about the gift of tongues, what becomes apparent as you read,
is that there are various expressions to the gift of speaking in tongues. I'll show them to you.
Now you won't see these terms in the Bible, like you won't see the term Trinity in the Bible but
we of course know that Trinity is a foundational truth of Scripture. You will not see these terms
in the Scripture but I'm using these terms to help embolden the distinctions between the expressions
that the Bible shows us very clearly. That's good. Now number one, you have the personal tongue.
Number two, you have what I call the proof tongue and number three,
you have what I call the prophetic tongue. Now watch this. 1 Corinthians 14:1-4,
you'll see that Paul the Apostle talks about the fact that when you pray in tongues that
you're strengthened personally. Now, many times people will misread Paul the Apostle and they
think that he's condemning the gift of speaking in tongues. Not at all. Paul the Apostle is not
condemning the gift of tongues. He's comparing the gift of tongues, to the gift of prophecy. He's
not saying that praying in tongues is bad, he's saying that prophesying is better. Why? Because
specifically in a church setting it's better to do something that edifies the entire group,
than it is to do something that edifies only the individual. But in mentioning this truth,
Paul the Apostle reveals the fact that when you pray in tongues you are also
edified personally, strengthened personally. You can't get around the fact that the Bible says,
"A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally." And then of course the Cessationists
will say, "Oh but one who speaks the word of prophecy strengthens the entire church." Or not
even the Cessations but really those who oppose the gift of tongues as well. Right there, you'll
see that that's where people jump on it. They say, "Oh but he says that prophecy is better." Yeah but
he says that prophecy is better. Yes, he did say prophecy is better but he didn't say speaking in
tongues was bad. And what we do see here is the fact that praying in tongues strengthens you
personally. Now watch this, that's the personal tongue. Number two, we see the proof tongue.
This is found in Acts chapter 2:4-6 "And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began
speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time they were
devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came
running, and they were bewildered to hear their own language is being spoken by the believers." So
I've done some study on this in specifically looking for the answer to the question was it
that they were speaking those actual languages? Were they actually speaking those languages or
was the Holy Spirit by supernatural intervention interpreting the gift of tongues on the listener's
end? And the Bible doesn't tell us whether or not the believers were speaking in those languages or
they were hearing them, the people were hearing them in their languages. I know some translations
word it certain ways, but other translations word it other ways. And when it comes down to it, this
is a historical account simply talking about the fact that the people heard their own languages. So
we don't really know for sure whether or not this was something that was happening on the speaker's
end or the listener's end. All we do know is that as they were praying with this gift of tongues,
that there was some supernatural element being proven to the listener. So that's the
proof tongue. This is the tongue that's spoken aloud that's heard as other languages and this
is the one where people will say, "That's the only gift of tongues. That's all there
is." Or this couldn't be the case because we just read in First Corinthians where
we referenced 1 Corinthians 14:1-4 that talks about the fact that when you pray in tongues,
that no man can understand you. No one understands you but God. Well that's definitely not describing
an earthly language. That, that right there. That is like the nail in the coffin on that particular
worldview, that to get the tongues is only earthly language. 1 Corinthians 14:1-4. Again,
right there we see it. It's not possible for some people to understand or anyone to
understand that personal expression of the gift of tongue. So that's personal, then we see proof,
and then we see prophetic which is mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 14:26-28. And the prophetic
expression of the gift of tongues is exercised in the sssembly of believers who've gathered for
the purpose of being edified. And the way this would look in a church service is an individual
will stand up, pray in tongues aloud and then another individual will stand up and
interpret that which was being spoken. That's the prophetic tongue. So personal tongue edifies me,
proof tongue is proof to the listener, the unbeliever and the prophetic tongue is used in
the church. Now watch this. I want to embolden the distinctions here and let's really close the case
here. Let's solidify this. You will see these three expressions described in their function
in three different ways entirely all throughout Scripture. I'll prove it to you. Let's embolden
these distinctions more. So I've already shown you the personal tongue, proof tongue, prophetic
tongue. These don't look like the same gift to me. Though they are the same gift, they don't
look like the same expressions, I should say. Now watch this, look at the benefit of them. Let's
just break it down here. Benefit. In benefit, the personal tongue benefits the individual.
That's 1 Corinthians 14:4. The prophetic tongue benefits the church, 1 Corinthians 12:7 and 14:26.
The proof tongue benefits the unbeliever. That's 1 Corinthians 14:22. Now watch this. So there's the
differences in benefit, we also see differences in interpretation requirements. Watch this now.
The personal tongue requires no interpretation or interpreter in order to be beneficial to the
individual. That's 1 Corinthians 14:4. The prophetic tongue requires an interpreter in
order to benefit the church. That's 1 Corinthians 14:26. The proof tongue requires no interpreter
for the interpretation to be understood by the unbeliever. Wait a minute, who was interpreting
in the book of Acts chapter 2? Different interpretation requirement. So interpretation
requirements are different for the personal, the prophetic and the proof. I'll give you one more
line of distinction here: how it's understood. The personal tongue is understood by no one but
God. And that is definitely the case as we see, it's right there in the Bible 1 Corinthians 14:2.
On the other hand the prophetic tongue is understood by the church with the aid of an
interpreter. That's 1 Corinthians 14 27. And finally, the proof tongue is supernaturally
understood by the unbeliever, and that's Acts 2:8. So these are the three different expressions of
the gift of speaking in tongues. The confusion can be clarified once you see these different
expressions because now when you read Paul the Apostle putting restrictions on the gift,
you see that he's not putting restrictions on every gift, or expression of the gift I should
say. He's putting restrictions on the prophetic expression, the one that's being used in the
public assembly of believers. Otherwise, when the Holy Spirit fell in the Book of Acts chapter
2 people would stand up and say, "Wait a minute. This is out of order." Acts 2:4 we would have seen
that. It also happened in Acts 19:6. Nobody stood up and scolded the group of believers, telling
them the Holy Spirit is grieved by you. The Holy Spirit didn't pull back and demand that they wait
until a later moment to pray in tongues. Why would the Holy Spirit pour out a gift collectively,
that was only meant to be used individually? Why would the Holy Spirit pour out a gift publicly,
that was only meant to be used privately? We have to look at the Scripture as a whole and
we have to stop locking on to just individual verses that are used completely out of context
and without consideration for the entirety of the teaching of the gift of speaking in tongues. Wow.