" They began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance " (Acts 2:4,84And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)
8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? (Acts 2:8)). " For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God " (Acts 10:4646For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, (Acts 10:46)). " They spake with tongues, and prophesied " (Acts 19:66And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Acts 19:6)). It is significant that in all three cases it is a case of COMPANIES, and in each case it is a question of that company's introduction to Christianity.
The first instance is that of the great Day of Pentecost. It was on the occasion of the inauguration of Christianity. It was at the time that the Holy Spirit of God was bestowed to indwell the believers, linking them up with the glorified Head as members of the body of Christ, thus forming the church of God, the house of God, the assembly of God upon the earth.
The second occasion in the Acts, where the gift of tongues is mentioned, is in connection with a COMPANY again. It was manifested on a very historic occasion when the Gentiles were admitted on equal terms with the Jews into the church of God. The prejudice of the Jew had to be overcome. God chose the Apostle Peter, the foremost of the apostles to accomplish this. He had to be prepared by a divinely given vision. And when He preached the gospel to Cornelius and his friends the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word, and they splice with tongues and magnified God (Acts 10:4646For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, (Acts 10:46)).
The third occasion in the Acts, where the speaking with tongues is mentioned, was again in connection with a COMPANY. The Apostle Paul came across a few men, about twelve, who had not so much as heard " whether there be any Holy Ghost " (Acts 19:22He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. (Acts 19:2)). This was the occasion of their introduction to the gospel and Christianity, and falls in as a kind of appendix to the two previous occasions, so clearly marked as the times when the Jew and Gentile were brought into the church of God. We read, " The Holy Spirit came on them and they spake with tongues, and prophesied " (Acts 19:66And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Acts 19:6)).
Please note that in each case the gift of tongues was given to companies, that they were given WITHOUT BEING ASKED FOR, that they were given to each and all in the companies. But when we come to 1 Cor. 12 we find that the gifts were NOT given to ALL, that one had one gift, another had another gift, as we read, " To another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues... the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will " (verses 10, 11), not giving to every man, but " DIVIDING " to every man severally as He will. The claim of Pentecostalists that the gift of tongues is the unfailing mark of the indwelling of the Spirit has no support in Scripture, and only proves the ignorance of those who assert it.
Further, if this were true, it would mean that the vast majority of Christians all down the centuries, including wonderful men of God, whose names are in every mouth, were not indwelt by the Spirit of God -a very solemn suggestion indeed.
The Holy Spirit divides " to every man severally as He will." If the gift is not present in the church, it is evident the Spirit has not given the gift. Is it likely that multitudes of gifted earnest men should not have had among their number those whom the Spirit in His sovereignty had gifted in this way, if the claims of Pentecostalists were true?
Pentecostalists teach that speaking with tongues is a necessary accompaniment of the baptism of the Spirit. This is stated by the late Pastor Thomas B. Barratt, for years in the movement, and working in fellowship with the Foursquare Gospel Movement. He wrote:- " There has always been a constant and firm belief in the Scriptural statement, that the Baptism has to be followed by speaking in other tongues, just as in the case of the disciples at the beginning ' (The Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire, p. 8). Pastor Barratt admits that Scripture teaches that speaking with tongues in the assembly is limited to " Two, or at the most by three " (1 Corinthians 14:2727If 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. (1 Corinthians 14:27)), yet in a meeting where he was the leader, and where the writer was present, no less than twelve spoke, five of them women, thus contravening Scripture.
But he attempts to get out of the difficulty by saying, " There is a difference, call it ' the gift of tongues' or what you please, a very great difference in the tremendous outburst of tongues, when the fire falls, and the more orderly use of the gift in the assembly. The one is not under control, the other is " (p. 13). What right has Pastor Barratt to make out, first that the outburst on the Day of Pentecost was "out of control"? This is not saying much for the Spirit of God. Second, what warrant has he for saying that the happening on the Day of Pentecost is to be continued for all time? It is a case of making the Word of God void by his tradition.
That things do get "out of control" in these modern manifestations is very certain from all accounts, as well as what the writer has himself witnessed.