The gifts of tongues and prophecy are two gifts that have been discarded, especially outside Charismatic and Pentecostal circles. Some claim the gifts ceased with the early apostles, while others wanting to cut the excesses of those who claim to have the gifts have thrown out the baby with the bathwater altogether.
Refuting cessationist theology
Cessationism is a doctrine that asserts that the gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy, healing, word of knowledge, and tongues, ceased with the Apostolic Age. This doctrine was not a common doctrine in the church until after the protestant reformation when John Calvin argued that the gifts had ceased with the early church apostles.
However, in studying the writings of early church fathers such as Irenaeus (120-202) and Justin Martyr (100-165), it is easy to see that the gifts functioned well and beyond the early Apostles. Accounts of prophecies and signs were also common among the Celtic Church fathers.
In Justyn Martyr’s Dialogue of Trypho, he writes: “For the prophetical gifts remain with us even to the present time.” He further states: “Now, it is possible to see among us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God.” Accounts of miracles, prophecies, and other gifts of the spirit were commonplace within the early church.
Why prophecy?
The book of Acts is full of manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church and within the homes of believers:
“We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”(Acts Chapter 21, verse 7-11).
The above scripture shows the prophetic gift used to warn Paul. Thus, one of the basic reasons for prophecy is to give warnings. If Agabus could boldly affirm that “The Holy Spirit says…” about Paul’s trip to Jerusalem, why do some people believe the Holy Spirit has stopped speaking?
I dare say that the cessationist theology is an affront to the work of the Holy Spirit in the church and in the lives of believers. It is solely based on an intellectually biased understanding of scripture rooted in unbelief.
If the Holy Spirit is still at work in the church today, then He still speaks to and through men. He didn’t stop after the early Apostles passed; church history proves that. God still has prophets and apostles today who are devoted to speaking his word just like he did in the early church.
Another reason for prophecies is to give edification, exhortation, and comfort. (1 Corinthians Chapter 14, verse 3).
The gift of prophecy can also reveal the secrets of the heart of men in order to bring repentance:
“But if all prophecy, and there come in one that believes not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” (1 Corinthians Chapter 14, verses 24-25).
Prophecy reveals the secrets of the heart through the help of the Holy Spirit, who knows all things. Some may say that psychics can do that, so how do we know who is real?
Well, if there is a fake, there is an original. You will know the real by their fruits (Mathew Chapter 7, verse 16). Thus, we recognize the workings of the Holy Spirit not just by the gifts people display but, more importantly, by their fruits. The ultimate proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit is love.
Why tongues?
Many Christians have taken 1 Corinthians Chapter 14 as proof that we must not pray in tongues in the church. Still, if we read the chapter in context, we discover that Paul is not against praying in tongues in church, but he is against speaking, that is, passing messages in unknown tongues without an interpreter:
“I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” (1 Corinthians Chapter 14, verse 5).
The context of the scripture is a comparison between prophecy and tongues within the church. It is evident from the scripture that some spoke in tongues without interpretation. Thus, Paul instructs them that it is better to prophesy because prophesying edifies the church, but tongues edify the person speaking it (1 Corinthians Chapter 14 verse 4).
He further states that tongues are a sign to those who believe, but prophecy is a sign to those who do not believe because they cannot deny the power of the Holy Spirit when the secrets of their hearts are revealed (1 Corinthians Chapter 14 verses 22-25). Paul’s concern here was not for the body of believers but for the unbelievers that would respond better to prophesy than they would to tongues.
Thus, Paul was not against speaking in tongues but was setting order to a church that was eager to manifest the gift of tongues even at the detriment of unbelievers. He further states: “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all” (1 Corinthians Chapter 14, verse 18).
When the subject of tongues is brought up, I always ask people, “Do you have to interpret my prayer?” Most would agree that prayer is between the person and God. For this reason, Paul states that when we pray in tongues, we speak to God and speak mysteries that men cannot understand (1 Corinthians Chapter 14 verse 2).
Thus, feel free to pray in tongues, but when you are passing a message in unknown tongues, there has to be an interpreter. Hence within the act of interpreting is prophecy. For he who interprets is also prophesying as he is speaking the word of God to the people in a known language.
So why pray in tongues? Romans Chapter 8, verse 26 shows us that we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. Hence, we need the help of the Holy Spirit, who bypasses our minds and prays the mind of God through us. Thus, he makes intercession for us. We may think we ought to pray for something at a particular time, but the Holy Spirit, who is all knowing may need us to pray for something else. Therefore, in the act of praying in other tongues, we go beyond our understanding into the realm of mysteries:
“If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” (1 Corinthians Chapter 14, verses 14-15).
I firmly believe that if the last day church is to operate to the fullness of all that God has prepared for us, we must embrace the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the early church did.