| SOME THOUGHTS ON 'TONGUES' There has been a good deal of confusion among Christians regarding the miracles and signs that we read of in the Gospels and in the Acts, and concerning the significance of the gift of tongues. Therefore as we consider what is written in the Scriptures about them, we need to bow our hearts before the Lord and ask Him to give us understanding. First of all we can see that the miracles and signs that were done by the Lord Jesus during His ministry on earth were done to accredit and confirm His claims and His teaching, see John 15:24; 20:30,31; Acts 2:22. Then it is clear also that the miracles and signs done by the apostles in the Acts were to confirm the word that they preached, see Mark 16:20 (where the phrase 'with signs following' could be better translated 'by signs following'); see also Acts 4:30; 2 Cor.12:l2; Hebrews 2:4. While it would seem from Acts 5:12 and 2 Cor. l2:12 that it was chiefly the apostles that performed miracles and signs, yet we know that both Stephen (Acts 6:8) and Barnabas (Acts 14:3) were granted this power, although they were not apostles in the strictest sense. Also, miracles and healing were included in the list of gifts in 1Cor.12:28,29, so it is obvious that some other believers would be able to do these things as well. But we are not to think that every believer could, or must do so, for in I Cor. 12:29,30 Paul asks, "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? and of course he expects them to answer 'no' to all of these questions. But he clearly taught these same Christians that their bodies were the temple of the Holy Spirit (ch.6:19), and that God had anointed them, sealed them, and given the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts, just as He had done with Paul (2 Cor.l:21,22). As well as this, it appears that the 'sign' effect of these miracles had special reference to the Jew (lCor.1:22), while the Greeks and Gentiles were more desirous of philosophical explanations that would appeal to their wisdom. We know also that in the early days of Gospel preaching, as they went from place to place they spoke 'to the Jew first', and then to the Gentiles. But there was a real tone of finality about the incident in Acts 28:23-29 where Paul turned for the last time from Jew to Gentile. Coming at the close of the historical part of the New Testament this is significant. Just prior to this, Paul healed a number of sick folk on the island of Melita (Acts 28:8,9), but we have no record of him using the gift of healing afterwards, see Phil.2:27, I Tim.5:23; 2 Tim.4:20. Looking at tongues more specifically we must remember that they were foretold first by Isaiah (28:11,12), and then by the Lord in Mark 16:17, but with a different emphasis in each case. Isaiah stresses the witness to the nation of Israel, saying, "With stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people". This is the scripture that Paul quotes in I Cor14:21, and in v.22 he shows from this that tongues are for a sign to unbelieving Jews. But the Lord says in Mark that speaking with tongues was one of the signs that would follow them that believe. No doubt this also would be a sign to Jews, but it was also a token to the apostles on certain occasions. In Acts 10, Peter rather reluctantly went to the house of Cornelius who was a Gentile. As he preached the word to them, and they responded, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word, and they spoke with tongues. This gave Peter the confidence that they were truly born again, and that they should be baptised. It also furnished him with an irrefutable argument with which to meet the opposition of his Jewish brethren in Jerusalem (ch.11). It was very similar in Acts 19 with Paul and the disciples of John who knew only the baptism of John, and had to be taught of the coming of the Holy Spirit since Jesus was glorified (John 7:39). The use of tongues as it is seen in Jerusalem in Acts 2 must have been a powerful witness to Israel. It could be regarded as a temporary reversal of the confusion of languages that came in at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. All the strangers present were able to hear the wonderful works of God in their own dialect, and there was no need for interpreters. The use of tongues that was discussed at Corinth was different. It was used in the church gatherings, but forbidden if there was no interpreter, for without interpretation the church could not be edified. Perhaps it could be said that the tongue and the interpretation were a sort of a tandem pair of gifts, to be used in harmony. This would give a powerful witness to Jews, as they were taught in the law of Moses to look for at least two witnesses before acting in important matters, see also John 8:17. In their immaturity (ch.3:l) the Corinthian saints were greatly attracted to the spectacular gift of the tongues, putting it above the gifts that were more useful to edify (build up) the church (1 Cor.14). In chapter 13 Paul pleads with them about this, telling them that the special gifts of prophecy, tongues and knowledge would pass away. Prophecy and knowledge were special gifts to edify the churches until the New Testament writings were complete. Focusing on their attitude to the gift of tongues he says, "when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." We know that when an infant first begins to speak, often a person outside the family would not know what they said; they would need a family member to explain their meaning. Parents are delighted with these childish attempts at conversation at first, but they would be very concerned if their children failed to develop and appreciate intelligible forms of communication as they grew older. When children are near a building site, the activity and noise is attractive and they would love to join in with it, but they have no understanding of what the builder has in mind, nor why he uses the various tools, as and when he does. They do not understand the process of building (edification). When children play together they think quite differently from a team of mature builders. They often look for the toys with the most action and that make the most noise, and they are usually content with plenty of activity without thought of permanent achievement. Rivalry often becomes a problem, as they clamour for the more spectacular things that will draw attention to themselves. All this belongs to childhood, but Paul says to the Corinthians, "When I became a man, I put away childish things" and he adds in ch. 14:20, "Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be children, but in understanding be men". So in our desires to be active and helpful among the Lord's people, let us remember Paul's exhortation in Romans 14:19 "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another". -R.M.Goatley. THE GIRDED CHRIST The girdle is, in Scripture, the symbol of service. When the Eastern man wished to be active he tightened up his girdle, and when he was free to rest he loosened it. In three notable passages the Lord Jesus is shown to us as girded. In Psalm 45:3 He is girded with a sword; in Luke 12:37 girded to minister to His loved ones in their eternal home, but in John 13:1-17 He is girded with a towel, stooping to wash His disciple's feet. That the Son of God, by Whom and for Whom all things were created, should take the place of a servant at any time and in any place is truly wonderful. Eight centuries before His incarnation Jehovah expressed His pleasure in the One Who was coming - "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth" (Isa.42: 1). A Bondservant. When the Son of God in amazing grace emptied himself, He took the form of a bondservant, and became in the likeness of men (Phil.2: 7). By the word "form" we understand that he stepped into a place and condition where He became responsible to do the will of Another, and not His own. This position of a servant He will maintain forever, although never ceasing to be "over all, God blessed forever" (Rom.9:5). Sacred mystery, beyond our understanding, but not beyond our faith! In John 13 we see our blessed Lord sitting at the supper table in the guest chamber with His disciples the evening before His death. In all that He did and said on that occasion He was preparing His own for the new position and relationships into which His death and resurrection would introduce them. Up to that hour they had been Jewish disciples with earthly hopes. Soon they were to be the vanguard of an innumerable host gathered from all nations to be heavenly men, with hopes and expectations far exceeding anything known by the twelve while the Lord was with them. It is vital to our true happiness that we should understand this. We should compare carefully what the Lord said on the mount of Olives two days before His death, with what He said in the guest chamber on the following evening. In His Olivet prophecy the Lord addressed His own as men with Jewish hopes, representatives of the believing Jewish remnant in the last crisis. In His guest chamber discourse the Lord left everything Jewish aside, and prepared His own for larger thoughts and heavenly associations. Believers in our time who look for signs, and expect to pass through the Great Tribulation are living in Matt. 24 and 25, rather than in John 13-17. They are thus semi-Jews in their thoughts, and they little suspect it. Wonderful Self-Abnegation. "He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself" (John 13:4). Why did not Peter or Matthew or any of the disciples rise up and prepare to wash the feet of the company? Why was there not friendly competition among the men who were sitting with the Lord, as to who should use the basin and the towel? Luke 22:24 will answer the question. Even in that hour when the shadow of death rested upon their Lord's spirit they were contending among themselves as to who should be the greatest! We need not wonder therefore that there was no willingness for lowly service. Chief places in the Kingdom were uppermost in their thoughts. In contrast with their petty self-importance the Lord Jesus said, "I am among you as He that serveth". Then followed that wonderful act of self-abnegation on His part which was the wonder of principalities and powers in the heavenlies when it took place, and which has been the wonder and study of His saints ever since. A Challenge. Let us pause here, and challenge our hearts as to how far we are willing for service of a lowly character to the Lord Jesus, and to those He loves. Do we pay sufficient heed to the apostle's exhortation in Phil.2:4-5, "Look not every man on His own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus". Jehovah's words to Baruch would suit us also, "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not" (Jer.45:5). "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11). Oh, that all our consciences and hearts were exercised! Then would our turbulent wills be brought into subjection to the will of the Lord, and our assemblies would enjoy rest and peace. -W.W.Fereday.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH The Doctrine of the Lord's Supper - Continued (d) The purpose of the Supper, vv. 25, 26. There is a twofold purpose in view in the Lord's Supper. 1. This do In remembrance of Me. The simple word "do" should be noted. It is an unceremonial word and has no ecclesiastical associations. It refers to the act of each individual believer in giving thanks for, and partaking of the bread and the cup. There is no suggestion of an official who has to be present to "administer the sacrament". All that is required is a loaf of bread, a cup of wine and an assembly of believers. The primary purpose of the Supper is that we may remember Him. The word "remembrance" means "a calling or bringing to mind". It occurs in Hebrews 10:3 - "A remembrance again made of sins every year". By means of the bread and the cup the Person of the Lord Jesus is brought prominently before the mind in relation to His redeeming sufferings for us. The Scriptures assist us greatly in thus remembering Him. There is a tendency to remember the salvation and not the Saviour, the redemption and not the Redeemer, the victory and not the Victor. "No man remembered that same poor man" see Ecclesiastes 9:15. This poor man had delivered the city, but no one remembered him. His work was remembered but he himself was forgotten. Let us seek to remember our Lord with divinely exercised hearts. 2. "Ye do show the Lord's death". The word "show" is rendered "proclaim" in the Revised Version. In the early days of Christianity the proclamation of the Lord's death at the Lord's Supper was a vital evangelical witness to the unbelievers who were present. It was a public meeting and we can well imagine what fervour and earnestness would mark the believers as they remembered their Lord. It is a matter of regret that the Lord's Supper seems to have lost this place in our assembly witness that it was intended to have, and did have, at the beginning. It should be noted that it was "the Lord's death" that was proclaimed. It was not the death of Jesus, or even the death of Christ. They proclaimed the death of One who was indeed the Lord Jesus Christ. His authority is clearly seen in this title, and believers today need constantly to be reminded of who it is whom we remember and whose death it is that is proclaimed at the Supper. The particular way in which the Lord's death is proclaimed is expressed in the fact that the bread and the cup are separate entities, the blood separated from the body being expressive of the fact of death. The emblems on the table thus remind us in forcible symbolical language that death has taken place - the Lord has died for us. (e) The Duration of the Supper. v.26 The words with which the explanatory paragraph of the section ends are very expressive "till He come". At the Supper, the believer looks back to the cross where the Saviour died, up to the throne where He now lives, and forward to the day when He will come to receive His people to Himself. The Lord's Supper keeps alive in the soul the bright hope of the Lord's return. It is not the day of our death, but the day of His return that sets the limit to the observance of the Supper. Each time we remember the Lord Jesus we remind ourselves that He is coming again. Remove that hope and how dismal the Supper would become! It is the glorious hope and prospect of seeing Him that makes the taking of the Supper so delightful an occasion to every believer. Thus this ordinance is no wearisome religious observance unrelated to our present life and our future prospects. It touches every chord of our spiritual being and points the eye in the direction of the happy day for which we wait. (f) The Practical Issues. vv 27-34. It is a serious matter for a believer to be indifferent in his partaking if the bread and the cup. To eat and drink unworthily means to partake of the emblems as if they had no meaning - "not discerning the Lord's body". That is, having no spiritual perception regarding the Lord's death and its associated happenings. The apostle insists on the need of self-examination - "let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup". A careless and worldly condition is inconsistent with the remembrance of the Lord. To allow sin to remain unconfessed and unjudged, and to have bitter thoughts about others, will lead to eating and drinking unworthily. In other words, the observance of the Lord's Supper calls for a holy and separated life to the Lord whom we seek to remember. Let those of us whose privilege it is to observe the Lord's Supper each first day of the week be careful lest familiarity with so sacred a subject should cause complacency and a merely nominal compliance with those affecting words, "This do in remembrance of Me". May we enter into the spirit of the following beautiful lines so well known.
This article concludes our publication of Mr. Maclachlan's "Studies in Bible Doctrines" that we commenced in early 1987. His grasp of the great doctrines of the Bible was clear and extensive, and he had the ability to present them concisely and with conviction. We are grateful for his permission to use them, Our brother has been at home with the Lord for a number of years now, but it is our desire that the Lord will still use his labours to build up His people in their most holy faith. -Ed. THE PLAINS OF MAMRE AND The opening verses of chapters 18 and 19 of Genesis bring out some striking differences between Abraham and Lot; differences which are not without searching lessons for us all today. The verses in question prove Abraham to be a sojourner and Lot to be a settler. Abraham is seen to have the warmth of a spiritual man with the moral entitlement to entertain strangers thereby entertaining angels unawares. Lot is recognised as one with the coldness of a mere acknowledgement of divine things and a spirit which gave formal response only, to the overtures of heaven. Three men stood by Abraham, and when he saw them he ran to meet them, but when the two angels visited Lot, he did not run, he merely rose. God has a place in Abraham's heart and Abraham was His friend; Lot was only an acquaintance. It is reasonable to suppose that of the three who visited Abraham on the plains, the most august among them could not countenance a visit to Lot at the gate of Sodom, and so only two visited him. The background to the plains of Mamre and the gate of Sodom is found in Genesis 13. Following strife between the herdsmen over lack of space for the flocks, first choice was given to Lot and he chose the well-watered plains of Jordon. Here the true depth of his spirituality was plumbed at a single stroke. The appeal of a patch of earth; the promise it held of years of plenty and esteem in the world, was an allurement which he could not resist. Multitudes down the ages have made the same choice, only to be like Lot at the end of life's journey when he mentioned the name of the Lord, "he was as one that mocked". With Abraham it was different. Truly generous, he could offer land to the left or to the right. Possessions were of relatively small concern to him. He was journeying on to something better, and his decisions were made in the light of the eternal ages which beckoned him on. God was a reality to Abraham. His convictions were not formed on hearsay. He knew God, and as he walked with God and communed with Him, favour from above fell upon him. How telling, for instance, are the words of Gen.13:14,15, "And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him. 'Lift up now thine eyes... for all the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it"'. Lot never heard these words. They were made to fall on the ears of a saintly man whose first reaction, a demonstration of his spiritual character, was to move to the plains of Mamre and build there an altar unto the Lord. Such then is the background to Abraham's tent and Lot's home. Abraham lived as though there was just a step between him and eternity, while Lot was in every way fixed on Sodom. It seemed so solid and secure. As a magistrate of the place he sat at the gate, discussed its politics and shared in its government. With such a standing among the citizens of Sodom one wonders if the heavenly visitors were indeed an embarrassment to him. Outwardly of course, all seemed mannerly and proper as he rose to meet them and bowed himself before them, but behind it all was the influence of Sodom, a place of exceeding wickedness, and no place for a child of God. Contrast this with the plains of Mamre. Here was a spot that breathed the spirit of heaven, and the princely person who sat at the tent door, free from the politics and societies of Sodom, was there to entertain the Lord and His messengers from higher realms than this world by far. The great tragedy of today is that few share the portion of Abraham, and many are the friends of Lot. The view that centres on the well-watered plains is a sadly limited one, and many take it. Far better to count on the Lord to bring His horizons before the vision, and when they are seen, to live in the light of eternity, with an altar built here for the worship of God. There is spiritual food, joy and real promise associated with lives lived in spheres such as Mamre, but only barrenness, sorrow and sad disappointment at the gate of Sodom. After all, what counts most is to be where God is free to reveal Himself to us, and to be found in such an environment should be the aspiration of His people in any age. -F.E.Stallan. Believers Magazine. THE VOICE OF GOD "And they heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves" (Gen.3:8) There was a time when the voice of God was pleasant to Adam and Eve - a time when His voice brought no terror. Not so now; sin has already done its work, and in fear and trembling they hid themselves from Him with whom they had formerly held sweet fellowship. How often the believer has the same experience. He gives way to some known sin; some old failing is allowed to have the victory, and at once his joy and peace are gone. We cannot indulge in sin and retain in our hearts the enjoyment of peace with God. David sinned, and he had to pray that God would restore unto him the joy of His salvation. Yes, the joy was gone. Peace and sin never inhabit the heart at the same time. Believer, have you lost the peace you once possessed? Does the voice of God now bring terror to your soul? If so, examine yourself; search out, by the Holy Spirit's aid, the sin, whatever it may be. Confess it to the Lord and forsake it, and kneeling at the feet of your Saviour forgiveness and cleansing will be yours, and the voice of your God will again be pleasant to the ear of your soul. MY PRAYER Praying always with all prayer. Eph. 6: 18. More holiness give me, more strivings within; More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord; More purity give me, more strength to o'ercome; -P. P. Bliss Please address Wholesome Words correspondence to: R.M. Goatley, |