Ron Dunn Podcast - Building Up The Body (Part 6)

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

Ron Dunn continues his "Building Up The Body" Series

Now if you have your Bibles tonight, would you open them please to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and chapter 14. And we'll be reading tonight from various passages of these two chapters and some others in the New Testament. For a beginning, I want us to read the first eleven, or rather the first twelve verses of the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 1 through 12. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as you were led. Wherefore, I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed,

and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are divers of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all.

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. In describing what Christ and his church is, Paul uses the figure of a body. When a person is saved, the Spirit of God, the Bible tells us, comes to indwell him. And when the Spirit of God comes in, he doesn't come in empty-handed, but he comes bearing gifts. And the Bible says to every man is given a gift of God or a gift of the Spirit. And it is the operation of these gifts that lift the church out from the level of a mere human organization to a living body of Christ. And it was the purpose

and intention of the Lord Jesus Christ that the New Testament church operate according to the gifts of the Spirit. Now this has, I think, been largely a lost concept and truth in so many people's lives. I think when we begin to assign people certain tasks in the church, we never even think about what their spiritual gift is. And yet I think we have done this to our own detriment and to our own failure and I'm convinced that when God really can bless us is when people are using their spiritual gifts within the body of Christ and the gifts of the Spirit are precious gifts they are gifts from Him, and none of them are to be despised.

They are grace gifts. One of the words that he uses in verse 4, the word gift there comes from the Greek word grace. It is a gift of grace. It is a gift that God has bestowed upon us because He loves us. And every Christian has a gift. If you're saved, you have a supernatural ability to serve God and to operate within the body of Christ. At the same time, it has always been man and Satan's policy to take the gifts of God, no matter what they were,

and pervert them. If you'll just read carefully the Word of God, you'll find that man and devil has perverted everything God has given us, everything. He's perverted the doctrine of grace Paul had to deal with in Romans chapter 6. After he illustrated what grace was, the devil came along and said, well, if you're saved by grace, then you can go out here and live like the devil. Man and Satan has perverted the doctrine of the church. He has perverted the book.

Everything that God has given us, the devil has perverted. And there has been no other spiritual gift which has been victim to man and Satan's perversion has this gift of speaking in tongues. Even at the very beginning of Christian history, there was such a problem with it in the Corinth church that Paul had to write this passage in chapter 14 and chapter 13 to try to correct and control the use of tongues. Now let me say at the very outset that Paul did not write to eliminate the use of tongues.

He wrote to control the use of tongues. But from the very beginning, the gift of speaking in tongues has been of such nature that God has had to restrict and restrain its use. And a study of history of the Christian church, and particularly the gift of tongues, you discover that there is a cycle in this matter. Shortly after the second century, the evidence of tongues almost completely dies out. It's almost unheard of, with a few exceptions, after the second century. There would be times in Christian history when it would flourish again, but then it would be perverted again and go to excesses and extremes, and then

it would die out. It's almost as if God would again, in fuller measure, bestow this gift, and then after it was marred or misused or abused, God would seem to withdraw it again for a season. The modern tongues movement was born on New Year's Eve in 1900. A young lady by the name of Agnes Osmond, who was a student at the Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, asked one of the faculty members to lay hands upon her, and when he did, she spoke in tongues. And from that has come the modern movement of the speaking in tongues. And again, the same thing has happened, that abuse and misuse of this gift has wreaked havoc in the church.

You study the Welsh Revival, one of the greatest revivals in modern times, and you'll discover it was the abuse and misuse and misunderstanding of the baptism of the Spirit and the speaking in tongues that dealt the death blow to the Welsh revival. It fell into disrepute. I remember when I was growing up, just a child, I first began hearing about this phenomenon. It seemed to be limited only to people that really didn't know the Bible, and it was held in wide disrepute in the circles that I moved in. But in the last 10 years, 12 years, this matter of speaking in tongues, the gift of tongues, has become widespread

and popular. Baptists have been involved in it, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Reformed, Churchmen, Miracle of Miracles Catholics have even been involved in this matter of speaking in tongues. And it seems that every time there is a genuine moving of the Spirit of God

that there is also a flourishing of the speaking in tongues, but then the same thing happens again as has happened in our day. The gift has been misunderstood, misused, and abused. And I'm convinced that the devil is

using the gift of tongues today to give the Holy Spirit a bad name. I can't go anywhere but that I find people are scared to death to talk about the Spirit-filled life. Broadman Press, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, will practically refuse to publish a book with the title Spirit-filled

in it because it will limit so much the reading public. Immediately, you shut the minds of a great many people, and once you speak those words, their minds are closed and they will listen to nothing else. What has made people afraid of talking about the Holy Spirit? It has been the abuse of the gift of tongues. Hundreds of churches tonight are split and divided because of the abuse of this spiritual gift. Now, I'm speaking now in the realm of my own knowledge. I do not know of any Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian church that has had the gift of tongues come in widespread, full-blown,

that has not caused division. Now, there may be some, but to my knowledge, I do not know of one church where the gift of tongues has come in as it has that has not caused division. Some of you may remember a couple of years ago when God began to move in a new and exciting way in our church and the Spirit of God began to work and express Himself and fill believers, that all of a sudden people used to come to us from other churches and begin visiting in the homes of some of our members saying, Now you're at a position where you're ready for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And this always seems to be a pattern, that when a church catches fire and the Spirit of God begins to really move

and people are able to talk about the Holy Spirit freely and suddenly they realize there is such a thing as being filled with the Spirit of God, suddenly others come in and say, now what you need is that extra something. Now you need to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The devil would love to divide and separate and destroy the witness of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church. He would love to do it. And what usually happens in so many churches is that a few people get involved in it and a few people experience the gift of tongues and suddenly they begin to make this the number one thing in their life. They begin to make this a test of fellowship and they begin to see that the rest of the church does not do this and so they pull out

and they build a new fellowship not around Jesus but around a gift, an experience. Now the very moment that happens, that shows me that is not the Spirit of God because He is the Spirit of unity, not the Spirit of division. As long as the gift of tongues is exercised according to the Scriptures, it will never cause any problem.

It will be a blessing to those who are involved in it. It is only when it is exercised, not according to the Scriptures, and people begin to gather in groups and somehow have the idea they have something others do not have. And then they start withdrawing. That is an evidence that thing is not of God. And so I repeat, I believe that the devil is using tongues to give the Holy Spirit a bad name. And so not a week passes, hardly a day passes, but that somebody doesn't come to me and say,

what do you think about tongues? Members of this church, members outside the church, I get phone calls and letters. And I just felt like once and for all, let's see what the Bible has to say about it. And then you won't have to come and ask me anymore. I'll sell you tape. Now, first of all, I want to establish that experience is never to be exalted above the Word of God. I have never tried to convince anybody who was misabusing or misusing or abusing tongues,

I've never tried to convince them they were wrong. Because human nature is such that we believe more what we feel than what we read in the book. And the primary reason that there is so much abuse and misinterpretation about tongues is that people have built their belief on the apostles' experience rather than the apostles' teaching. We have looked into the book of Acts, and we have seen what the apostles experienced, and we have tried to make their experience the normity for all. But yet the apostles never taught that. You never build a belief, a doctrine on experience. You build it on teaching. And it is so easy to go beyond the Word of God. The minute you

go beyond the Word of God and you begin to put as much credence and experience as you do in the Word of God, you are on quicksand spiritually, because then you can be subject to any deception of the devil. All right, I have five or six things tonight that I want to say about the gift of tongues. Six things. That's two three-point sermons. What is the gift of tongues? First of all, the gift of tongues is a scriptural gift. It is a scriptural gift. Listen to what Paul says in the 12th chapter and verse 10.

To another, the working of miracles. To another, prophecy. To to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues. There is a genuine gift of tongues. Now, I see nothing in the Word of God that shows me, that teaches me, that God has finally withdrawn this gift from the church. Now, some people use a verse in 1 Corinthians 13 to try to prove that this gift has passed away. 1 Corinthians 13, verses 9 and 10. Well, let's read verse 8 first.

Love never faileth, but whether they be prophecies, they shall fail. Whether they be tongues, they shall cease. Whether they be tongues, they shall cease. Whether they be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. Now, there are a number of Bible teachers who take this verse and they say that the word perfect there, when that which is

perfect has come, refers to the written word of God. And so when the Bible was completed, that's what the word perfect means, when it is completed, when that which is complete has come, then that which is in part will be done away. And they say that since the Bible is now complete, we no longer need the tongues and they've passed away. I have an idea that that interpretation is a result of some man desperately wanting to believe that tongues has passed away and looking for a proof text. I cannot believe that's the right interpretation because I don't think Paul knew that he was writing a Bible. Always in Scripture when it speaks about that which is perfect coming,

it's talking about the coming of Christ, the fullness, the consummation of salvation. And I believe this verse is talking about when Christ shall come, when we have a consummation and that which is perfect has come. You're right. We won't need anything else except Jesus then. I do believe there is a genuine gift of the Spirit of God. I believe he's giving it today. I believe you can classify the tongues of today into three groups. First of all, I believe there is an authentic gift of tongues.

Some of the tongues that we see today are authentic, genuine, of God. It's not difficult to know genuine healing. If somebody comes along and says, I have the gift of healing, it's easy for me to know whether or not he has, because if the healing is there, he has the evidence. Somebody says, I have the gift of showing mercy it's easy to see if he does or not because you can observe him someone says I have the gift of evangelism

it's easy to see if he has it or not but if someone comes along and they speak something that we do not understand and they say I have the gift of tongues we have to take their word for it because you see there is nothing recorded in the Bible that shows us what the genuine tongue sounds like so I have to take your word for it and if someone stands up and says I interpret that and this is

what it says I have to take their word for it this is why it is so easily counterfeited because we do not have any record of what the tongues actually sounded like. So anybody can come along and say, I have a genuine gift. And they can speak in what they call an unknown tongue, and we take their word for it. Because we don't have any Bible proof that that is the genuine article. So it is easily counterfeited. That's the nature of tongues. And that. So it is easily counterfeited. That's the nature of tongues,

and that is why it is easily counterfeited. That's why God placed limitations upon it. But I do believe there is an authentic gift of tongues. Secondly, I believe you can categorize some of the tongues that we see today as psyche. Emotional. I've counseled with a number of people in this church

outside of the church who've been involved in tongues and I've discovered that many of these their gift was not genuine it was a psychological gift for instance one went to a meeting

and the people put them in the center of the room and they all gathered around and laid hands on them and said open your mouth and say hallelujah as fast as you can ten times. And when he did that,

naturally after a while it didn't come out as hallelujah and they said, you have the gift of tongues. Another man had someone lay hands on him and they said, now do you have any thoughts in your mind? Well, yes, he had some thoughts in his mind.

All right, sound those thoughts. Sound those thoughts. And they put sounds to those thoughts. That is psychological tongues. The Holy Spirit doesn't need my help in helping you to get his gift. And the very minute someone has to help me get a gift, it is not sovereign any longer. Then there is a third category.

There is satanic. There is satanic. There is satanic. When we were doing the series on Wake Up to the Supernatural and I began to study a great deal of the false religions and cases of demon possession, I found that demons know French and Latin and German. I found that false religions have and false cults have their unknown tongue.

I could tell you tonight the name of a well-known evangelist, songwriter, who had a gift of tongues and was delivered from it when his preacher friend cast an evil spirit out of him. I'll never forget the first time I had an experience with tongues. I was a teenager. I had just surrendered to preach.

We were in a Bible conference. I was attending a Bible conference. And people from all over the country were in this meeting. And suddenly a woman rose in the service, interrupted the service, and began to speak in some unknown tongue. And then she sat down. And immediately after sitting down,

this woman, and this took place in Fort Smith, Arkansas, this woman stood up, another woman rather, stood up and said, I'm a missionary, and she mentioned a little part of Africa that I cannot remember. She said, that woman has just blasphemed God in the African dialect where I serve as a missionary. There is a satanic, there is a satanic there is a psychological there is a genuine authentic gift of tongues

it is a spirit it is a scriptural and spiritual gift alright in the second place not only is the gift of tongues a scriptural gift it is also a sign gift a sign gift, a sign gift. Now, one of the misunderstandings about tongues today is that speaking in tongues is the sign of being filled with the Spirit. And I said that that is a misunderstanding because I believe it is a misinterpretation.

The gift of tongues is a sign gift, but not to believers. It is a sign to unbelievers. For instance, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 22, Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.

Now, in the book of Acts chapter 10, when Peter goes to preach the gospel to Cornelius and suddenly the Spirit of God comes upon him and he speaks in tongues, that was not a sign that Cornelius had been filled with the Spirit. That was a sign that Cornelius had been saved. It was a sign to some unbelieving Jews that accompanied Peter. You see, these Jews just couldn't believe that Gentiles could be saved. Cornelius was the first Gentile convert. They would never have believed that Cornelius was saved if he hadn't spoken in tongues.

Listen to what Peter says. While Peter yet spake these words, Acts 10, 44, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. They of the circumcision, that's the Jews, which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water?

They hadn't even been baptized in water yet. Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? The Jews would never have believed that Cornelius was really saved simply by his profession of faith. But when they heard Cornelius speak in tongues as they had, they couldn't deny it. Acts chapter 19, those people that Paul met at Ephesus were John's disciples, not Jesus' disciples.

After he preached Jesus to them and they were baptized in the name of Jesus, then they spake in tongues. Evidence of salvation, not evidence of being filled with the Spirit. There is no indication anywhere in the Scriptures that a man must speak in tongues to give evidence that he's filled with the Spirit. As a matter of fact, it is very possible that you can speak in tongues and not be filled with the Spirit. The spiritual gifts are never given as signs of spirituality the corinthians had all the gifts paul says in that first chapter that you come behind and no gift that that corinthians church was chock full of spiritual gifts they had them all they didn't come behind in any spiritual gifts they were speaking so much in tongues that paul had to control it but he says over and over again, you are carnal and walk as men. You can be carnal,

fleshy, under the dominion of the flesh, the old nature, and still speak in tongues. They did it. Never does the word of God make the statement that speaking in tongues is an evidence of being filled with the Spirit. It is a sign not to believers. It is a sign to unbelievers. It is a sign not to believers. It is a sign to unbelievers. You say, well, what about Jesus when He said that signs and miracles would accompany?

That's right. That's right. But the signs and miracles are an accommodation on God's part to an unbelieving world. You know what Jesus said about sign seekers? He said if a person needs a sign, this means that they are, well, he said, an adulterous and wicked generation seek after a sign. He said it's a sign of unbelief and immaturity.

He said accept you, but see a sign you will not believe. I visited with a woman some time ago, not a member of this church, and she told me that she had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and she spoke in tongues and she said, God gave me a message. She'd only spoken, I suppose,

in tongues that one time, but God gave her a message and she quoted to me the language, the words. And she said, God gave me the meaning to that. And I said, well, what is the meaning of that message? And she burst into tears. And she said, the message was, Jesus loves you. I could not help but thinking

the Bible had told her that a long time ago. And yet, the message from that experience meant more to her than the message from the Word of God.

I would never be able to convince that woman that what she thought was a sign of maturity was really a sign of immaturity and unbelief. I think this would be a good time to discuss whether or not the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 is the same as the tongues in Acts chapter 2 and 10 and 19. I personally believe that the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 are not the same as the tongues in Acts chapter 2. Now, if you disagree with me, don't let that bother you. Some great men disagree with me.

That doesn't discourage me. And great men and Bible scholars differ on this. Some believe it's the same. Some believe it's not the same. Let me tell you why I believe they are different. Number one,

the language in the unknown tongues in the book of Acts was definitely foreign language and dialects. There can be no disputing of that. It was not a heavenly language. It was not ecstatic utterance. You read the second chapter of Acts. Here we hear every man speak the works of God

in our own tongue, our own language. It was definitely a foreign language. Number two, no interpreter was needed. God was the interpreter. No interpreter was needed. Number three, its purpose was evangelism. Number four, it was spoken to men. Let me give you those again. It was definitely a foreign language. No interpreter was needed. Its purpose was evangelism. And number four, it was spoken to men. All right, now let's look at the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14. First of all, it appears to be an ecstatic utterance. Now, the same Greek word is used. It just means another tongue. Williams, which is one of the most accurate translations,

translates it ecstatic utterance. It seems to be in 1 Corinthians 14 an ecstatic utterance, a heavenly language. Number two, an interpreter is needed. Number three, it is not for evangelism, it is for edification. It only edifies the one who speaks. Number four, it is spoken to God and not to men. He says in 1 Corinthians 14, 2, For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God.

Let me give you those four again. It's an ecstatic utterance. An interpreter is needed. Its purpose is edification, not evangelism. It is spoken to God, not to me. Those things make me believe that it is a different tongue. Now, but if they are the same, now let's say that the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14

is the same as in Acts chapter 2 and 10 and 19. If they are the same, then it means that all unknown tongues today must be foreign language and foreign dialect. Must be. And this means then that the unknown tongue cannot be a secret prayer language so that the devil can't overhear what I'm saying to God. Now, a great many people believe that the unknown tongue, the heavenly language, is given so that I can pray to God in an unknown tongue and Satan will not be able to understand what I'm saying.

Let me just say at the outset that the Bible never says that that's what it's for. That's going beyond the Word of God. The Bible never says that in any way. Never says it. If the 1 Corinthians 14 tongue is the same as the Acts chapter 2 tongue, it must be a foreign language because that's what they spoke in Acts chapter 2.

Therefore, the unknown tongue cannot be a prayer language, a secret coded language known only between me and God because the devil can't understand French and Latin and Spanish. And if I were a German and I were praying in an unknown tongue, it might be in English. And I know the devil can understand French and Latin and Spanish. And if I were a German and I were praying in an unknown tongue, it might be in English. And I know the devil can understand English because he overheard some conversations I've had.

All right? That's if they're the same. If they are different, if they are different, then you cannot call the heavenly language, the ecstatic utterance, you cannot call that the Pentecostal experience. Nor can you use the book of Acts as a scriptural reference. If they are different, if the 1 Corinthians 14 is not the same as the book of Acts tongues,

then you cannot say it is a Pentecostal experience and the book of Acts cannot be used as a scriptural reference. It was a sign language to the unbelievers. Now let's move on to number three, and these others are going to be shorter. I'll ease your mind about that. The gift of tongues in the third place is a secondary gift, a secondary gift. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verses 18 and 19. Paul says, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. All had the gift of tongues. Yet in the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach others also

than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. All right? In every list of the gifts of the Spirit, the tongues is always placed last. Read carefully 1 Corinthians 14, and you'll see that Paul is contrasting the gifts of tongues with the gift of prophesying. By the way, that doesn't simply mean telling the future. It means foretelling the mind, the counsel, the word of God. And over and over again,

Paul, you see, the Corinthians were hung up on tongues. And Paul is telling them over and over again that the better gift, the higher gift, is prophesying. Look at the first verse of 14th chapter.

Follow after love and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. The gift of tongues is a secondary gift. And so he finishes the 12th chapter in verse 31 by saying, but covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way, the way of love. Paul says, covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way, the way of love.

Paul says, covet earnestly the best gifts, the better gifts. The gift of tongues is a second dairy gift. Friends, it is man that has exalted the gift of tongues to its place of prominence, not God. And you say,

well, I don't think we ought to look down on any gift. I don't think we ought to despise any gift. I do not believe we ought to despise any gift either. And I do not despise the gift of tongues. I have a body and God has given members of this body. And I don't despise my foot. But I do not place the same value upon my foot that I place upon my eyes. I do not despise this little finger. It is a gift to the body. But I do not think that this finger

is nearly as important as are my ears, my hearing, my mouth. Just as in the body, there are parts of the body that are less important than others. So it is. It is man that has elevated the gift of tongues to its exalted position, not God. All right? Fourth, the gift of tongues is a selective gift. It is a selective gift. By this, I mean not everybody has it. Not everybody is intended to have it. Let's read in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 7 and 8 and following. Notice what he says. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit everybody.

Now notice verse 8. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of faith. He doesn't say to everybody is given this and to everybody is given this. In verse 10, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues.cerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues. It doesn't say that everybody is to have it. He says in the latter

part of that chapter, verse 29, are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles, have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? And in this, he's using a negative particle, which means a no answer. No. Now, I was sharing this with somebody,

and they said, well, yeah, that's what Paul was saying. He was complaining because he said, what's wrong with this Corinthian church is that not all of you speak in tongues. Well, you take that and you apply it to verse 29, you have to say that Paul was wishing everybody was apostles too.

And we know that's not so. No, he's not saying, he's not lamenting the fact that everybody doesn't have the gift. He's saying, of course not. Is everybody an apostle? No. Is everybody a prophet? No. Is everybody a teacher? of course not. Is everybody an apostle? No. Is everybody a prophet? No. Is everybody a teacher? Of course not.

Does everybody have the gift of healing? No. Does everybody have the gift of tongues? No. And one of the greatest mistakes that's being made today is people telling people, you need to have this gift, God wants you to have this gift, you ought to have this gift, you must have this gift, or you haven't have this gift, you ought to have this gift, you must have this gift,

or you haven't arrived yet. That is absolutely not of God. That is not scriptural. It just isn't. I've got some very dear friends who have a gift. And they agree with me here, but I don't really think so.

Because they will say, oh no, I don't believe everybody ought to have the gift. But then they'll keep making these little inn windows like we Baptists don't have it all yet. Kind of makes me think they really don't believe what they say they believe. And I've talked to them and they say oh no you're right you're right doesn't bible doesn't say everybody's supposed to speak in tongues but they keep warning everybody to speak in tongues it is a selective gift if god wants you to have the gift he'll give you the gift but nowhere does the scripture say that god wants everybody to have that same gift and much damage is done to a christian Now listen, the reason I labor this point is this. Here is a man, and by the way,

when you're having problems and difficulties in your Christian life and just can't seem to get it all together, it seems like, you know, everything's falling apart, and somebody comes along and says, listen, what you need, what'll solve it all, what'll just give you instant maturity is if you'll just have the baptism and speak in tongues

and then, man, fly away. You'll be spiritual. You'll be spiritual. And this man is taught that he ought to have the gift of tongues, that it is for him. So he begins to seek it, which the Bible never says to do anyway. And he begins to seek the gift of tongues. And God doesn't want him to have it, and God's not going to give it to him. That man then opens himself. He becomes passive, and there's a great danger in a Christian becoming passive.

That Christian then becomes passive. He opens himself up to an experience, and the devil can just walk in and give him any experience and that man will believe it's from God. It is selective. Number five, it is a sovereign gift. It is a sovereign gift.

Verse 11 of chapter 12 says, As he wills, not as we want. My wanting it is not the criteria. The Holy Spirit is in charge of bestowing this gift. It is a sovereign gift. He bestows it upon people as He wills. And you are going beyond the Scriptures and you are off of scriptural ground

if you seek the gift of tongues and pray and seek and plead for a gift of tongues. You have no scriptural basis to do it. The Bible never commands us to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. He says you will be. You were baptized when you were saved.

1 Corinthians 12, 13. The Bible never commands us to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It never does. It is a sovereign gift. Now let me close with this last point. It is a safeguarded gift. It is a safeguarded gift. It is a safeguarded gift.

God, by its nature, has placed safeguards upon this gift. And these safeguards are found in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. I wish we had the time to read the entire chapter. You'll just have to read it when you have the time at home. Let me mention the safeguards that God has placed on the use of the gift of tongues.

Number one, Paul indicates it is a private gift. Look at verse 18 and 19. I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. Yet in the church, when he's out in public, I had rather speak five words with my understanding. The gift of tongues is primarily a gift to be exercised privately. Secondly, it is a personal gift. It is for the edification of the believer. It does not edify the church.

Verse 4, he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifyeth the church. And Paul goes on to say that what you ought to be aiming for is to edify the church instead of just yourself all the time. Number three, it is a prayer language.

It is a prayer gift. Look at verse 14 and 15. Paul says, For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth. Verse 15. What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit.

Now that's not the same thing as praying in the Spirit. That's praying with the human spirit. I will pray with the Spirit. Next, it is a praise language, a praise gift. Look at verse 16. Else when thou shalt bless with

the Spirit, how shall he that, and so forth, so forth. The gift of tongues was given to pray and to praise the Lord. Now, number five, it is a prohibited gift. Its use is prohibited, first of all, when there are unbelievers and unprepared people present. Look at verse 23. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned is a very interesting word. It means someone who hasn't yet been convinced, who is not prepared for a certain thing.

He's on the edge of it, he's on the fringe of it, but he's really an outsider. I've known when the unknown tongue, when somebody spoke in tongues, when there were people like that present. Now listen, I want to just say this. The Spirit of God will never prompt you to do something that He prohibited to be done in this

14th chapter. The Spirit of unknown tongues is not to be exercised when these people are present. Secondly, it is not to be exercised when there is no interpreter present. Look at verse 28. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. In services that I've been in, in other places, I have known of people that had the gift that would not stand up and gain everybody's attention by speaking, but they would sit there and speak it. And

yet they're violating the scripture. Because I was prophesying while they were doing it. All right, next. It is to be done in orderly fashion. Verse 27. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most by three. And that by course, that means not two people speaking at the same time. No more than three at any one time. You see, God did not want this gift

to overrun the church and overrun the service or prayer meeting. And this is one of those rules that is violated over and over and over again. Two people over here and a person over here and another person, all speaking and praying in tongues at the same time. Four or five or six or seven in the same service,

the same room. That is unscriptural. The Spirit of God is not leading them to do that because He said by three at the most. And notice, let there be one interpreter. Not one person getting up and interpreting over here, another person getting up and interpreting over here. I've seen that happen.

That's not scriptural. One interpreter. It's to be done in orderly fashion. Now, this last one. Women are not to speak in tongues publicly. Didn't hear any amens. Look at verse 34. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak. Somebody says, well, he's not talking about tongues there. He's talking about prophesying, teaching a Sunday school class.

No, because in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, he tells us how a woman's supposed to dress when she prays or prophesies. Paul is not prohibiting a woman to speak in church. Now, friends, you will violate

the fundamental law of biblical interpretation if you interpret this any other way. You know what the fundamental law of biblical interpretation if you interpret this any other way. You know what the fundamental law of interpretation is? Everybody knows what it is. Every scripture, every verse must be interpreted in the light of its what? Context.

What goes before, what goes after. What is Paul talking about in 1 Corinthians 14? He's talking about controlling the use of tongues. And he says within that context, the women are to keep silent in the church. Now you have either got to take that to mean the women are to keep silence,

they're not to speak in tongues publicly, or they're just to speak in tongues publicly, or they're just to shut up all the time, period. Now, you've got to take it one of two ways. Either that means that women are never to speak public in the church anyway, which will do violence to 1 Corinthians 11, 4 and to the context. You've got to believe that or you've got to see and believe that He is talking here about speaking in tongues. And yet, you've attended meetings where they speak in tongues. Who is it that speaks mostly in tongues in public?

Women. The gifts of God are precious. I have known some people, and do know some people, whom God has given a gift of tongues, and it is very precious to them. They exercise it in private, in prayer and praise. And the Bible says, forbid not to speak in tongues.

I do not believe that speaking in tongues should be a test of fellowship or unfellowship. And if God has given you a gift of tongues and you exercise that properly according to the scriptures in prayer and praise privately. God bless you. It'll bless your heart. It'll edify you. But you be careful that God does not take that gift and that the devil does not take that gift and pervert it

in your own life. Seek earnestly the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. And if you ever come to the place, dear friend, when you want to leave our church and gather around a gift and fellowship around an experience,

then that will be the sign that you are not filled with the Spirit. If that becomes to you a test of fellowship, and if you think everybody ought to have it, and you're more spiritual than those who don't, and you think that this is all Baptists need to get us all the way there, then you are not on scriptural grounds.

I praise the Lord for all His gifts. None are to be despised. None are to be despised. None are to be despised. I do not have the gift of tongues. I've told God a long time ago, if He ever wanted to give it to me, man, I was ready. He never has.

I've never sought it. I've never felt deprived because I don't have it. God knows what Ron Dunn needs best. He knows what he wants me to do in the church of Jesus Christ, and he has gifted me according to that. Now let's pray together. If you would like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages, visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.