1 Cor No.30 The Worshipping Church No.2

Just commencing at the last part of the verse of the previous chapter. And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor, surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient.

Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast.

It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking.

It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease.

Where there are tongues, they will be stilled. Where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

But when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child.

I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection.

Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain. Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Now I'd be glad if you'd have your Bibles open at 1 Corinthians and chapter 14. And just before I start my message, let me say that the notes that we've had published are not exactly an outline of what I want to share. But there may be one or two things and one or two terms to which I make reference, which may be new to you.

And I ask my ever faithful secretary just to type out these notes so that you could take them back home. And they would give you at least some help in recalling some of the teaching that I'm trying humbly in the name of the Lord to offer this morning. There is also an outline to which I will make reference again of the address that I shared last week on this area of the church at worship.

Let's pray. Father, we just ask for your help and your blessing now as we come around your most holy word. We thank you for the truth of Scripture.

We thank you for its challenge. We praise you that you have informed men and women intelligently of the things that are basic to the faith. We praise you that you have given us a book to diligently study.

And we ask that more and more we might be beavers for the Bible, concerned to come to a grips with truth and to have an ability to answer all those who might question us on areas of our faith. We take off our shoes, recognizing that we stand on holy ground. And we come before you and pray for the enabling of your Spirit's influence to play upon our mental faculties and cause a response within our hearts to that which is truth as it is received.

And this we pray in the blessed name of our mighty Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, we come back to 1 Corinthians 14 and to this most controversial passage of Scripture.

Let me remind you of a little comment that I quoted last week coming from Dr. Jim Packer. In these verses of Scripture, various interpretations are viable on key points. And perhaps the worst error is to insinuate the perfect clarity or certainty marks one's own.

And that's something that I have in mind as I'm sharing with you this morning on the whole area of the church at worship. I glory, actually, in this particular passage of Scripture. As I said, I hope charitably last week, I do not understand how commentators could conceivably argue that the teaching here has only local value for the Corinthian Christians.

It seems to me that if you're prepared carefully to dig deep into the verses that constitute this passage, you can unearth principles that are of lasting value, that will remain with us and be controlling factors as we approach our Lord God in worship up to that great time when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. And then what we know in part, we shall know perfectly, and all our inadequacies shall be blown away. Well, you recall last week that I suggested that as you work your way through this particular passage of Scripture, there are three goals that become increasingly apparent, that all of us should latch on to and endeavor as we come together in corporate worship to aim for.

The first of these goals comes out in the opening passage of the chapter when the Apostle Paul makes reference time and time again to the edification, the building up of the church. And it seems to me that his argument peaks, it comes to its climax, in the twelfth verse when he says, since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. So when the company of Christian people come together, one of their main controlling factors is to know the edification of the community.

But then, not to stay too long on this point of revision, when you move on in the passage, indeed it pulsates right from the first verse to the fortieth, there is the concept that when the church comes together, it shall know the power of God and the presence of God. Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I will be in the midst. And if we come together in the tab on a Sunday morning, Sunday evening, or whenever during the week, and we don't feel the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and assuming that it's not just our insensitivity, our personal break of relationship with him, then we have met together in vain.

Because your coming into the house of God is to meet with him, not to hear a preacher, but to pray that God in his grace might speak through the preacher. But the most important thing is to know him, the manifestation of deity. Now, the Apostle has this very much in mind.

Indeed, in the heart of this particular passage, you remember how he projects the instance of an outsider coming into the Christian community in Corinth. In the 24th verse, he makes this particular allusion. Now, assuming that everything is going well, that there's good preaching, that there is a prophetic utterance, or utterances, and these men and women who contribute to the worship are in tune with God, then it might well be the case that this individual feels so convicted as the application of God's Word finds him to be lacking in the area of holiness.

And so he falls down, because he's convinced, verse 24, that he is a sinner and will be judged by all. And verse 25, the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. And this man in utter contrition, overwhelmed by the authority of the message, and the power of God exclaims, God is really among you.

The second controlling factor in worship, I repeat, is a manifestation of deity. But then thirdly, as I brought to your attention seven days back, there is also something else that Paul is very concerned to underline, and that is the preservation of harmony. Why is this so? Well, you see, Paul's understanding of the Christian ministry can be well summarized in the one word, participation, the sharing together.

And it is to this that he alludes it from the 26th verse right down to the 28th. He's speaking specifically of the ministry of the gift of tongues, and he's putting certain controlling principles behind his teaching. Why? Because he wants to preserve harmony.

You find him continuing to develop his concern from the 29th verse down to the 32nd verse, and here he's referring to the manifestation of the gift of prophecy. Once more, he wants it done in an orderly fashion. Why? Because he will preserve harmony within the local church at Corinth.

And then, as though we hadn't quite grasped the point, the apostle from the 34th verse and onwards makes reference to the womenfolk, these dear ladies who are freshly converted from paganism, and have brought some of the habits of attendance at the temple of Diana in Corinth into the Christian Church. And he's saying, oh no, when you come to church, you must behave yourself in an orderly fashion, so that there is no anarchy at all. You see, the apostle is concerned for the preservation of harmony.

Now, the harmony that he wants, the order that he wants, is not necessarily the liturgy, if you're pleased, of the non-conformist church. It's not necessarily in terms of the hymn prayer, hymn sandwich, nor is it necessarily in terms of the liturgy of the Anglican Church. What Paul has in mind is the order orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, and when the Spirit is in control, when Christians gather together, there is a delightful harmony.

There is a spontaneity. It does not necessarily mean there is absolute quietness. Quietness and reverence are not synonyms, but there is a harmonious order.

So you see, indeed, I don't think at the moment I've touched on anything that is contentious at all. Basic to the teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 are these three controlling factors that should steer any corporate worship when the Christian community comes together. The edification of the community, the manifestation of deity, the preservation of harmony.

But, of course, we're not going to leave it there this morning. We have skated, if you please, on the periphery, on the surface. Well, hardly the periphery, but on the on the surface of this chapter, and there are other more contentious points that we have to look into.

But I say that by way of reminder. Now, what is it that the Apostle specifically deals with in some depth as you start to analyze this chapter verse by verse? Well, he's referring specifically to three of the charismatic gifts that have been listed in the twelfth chapter of this epistle. He's thinking especially of tongues and of interpretation and also of prophecy.

Now, what I aim to do is to restrict my remarks more or less to the subject matter of tongues this morning. And then let's see if next week it seems as though we need to come back to the other two gifts. Before we look at Paul's actual teaching, or rather before I put up certain questions, which I think will help us if I raise them and try to answer them to be clear on his teaching, let me make one or two general remarks.

When the Apostle Paul makes reference to speaking in tongues in this chapter, he does so very much in terms of a church context. For example, look down to the... Never could find these numbers in the NIV version of the Bible. Look down at verse 5. And there you see he's referring to someone speaking in tongues, suggesting that prophecy is a greater gift unless he interprets so that the church may be edified.

And then you go down to the 12th verse. Once more, he's speaking about the use of these gifts and tongues in particular, and he refers to the gifts that build up the church. And then you drop down to the 18th verse, or rather the 19th verse, when the Apostle, contrasting his own habit, says, in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue.

So you see the point. The Apostle is here dealing with this particular gift and these other two related gifts in terms of their use in the Christian church, in the Christian community. And one more preliminary observation, and this came very much to the surface last week, is the thought of intelligibility.

In other words, what is said when Christians gather together has to be understood, or else it has no validity at all. Perhaps the clearest statement of that is in the fifth verse, to which we've already made reference. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.

Why? Because he who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues. A man can understand a prophecy. If it's a speech in an unknown language, unless there is an interpreter, then everyone will be in a state of perplexity.

Paul says, no, in the church we want edification, and there must always be meaning given to any message in tongues. But perhaps he makes it even more plain in that 12th verse, which I've read, in that 19th verse, which I read a few moments ago. In the church, I would rather speak five intelligible words, so that people who come within the sphere of Paul's personal ministry can understand.

Well then, those are my two opening observations. He's speaking about worship in the church, and his claim, his main theme in teaching on the gift of speaking in tongues, is that there must be a way in which everyone in the church can intelligently follow what is being said. All right, now I'm going to bring certain questions, and we're moving quite quickly, so I hope I've got all your attention this morning.

We've a lot of ground to cover, so let's accelerate. What is meant by speaking in tongues? Question number one, what is meant by speaking in tongues? Well, those of you who follow from the NIV, despite the problem of seeing the numbers in the text, will have appreciated that there's a footnote at the bottom of the chapter, and it indicates that wherever the word tongue, or tongues in the plural, is mentioned in this chapter, you could also insert the translation language. So whenever you come across the word tongue, the word language also would apply.

Those who follow the authorized version of the Bible, you will find from time to time, reference made to tongues, qualified by the adjective unknown. That word unknown actually has been brought into the translation. It's not there in the original manuscripts, and the reason why the translators put it in, is because they are trying to differentiate between the language to which Paul makes reference in 1 Corinthians 14, and the normal way that people look about foreign languages, and speaking foreign languages.

There is something a little different, is what the Apostle here is saying, as we come to consider his teaching on the subject. But the question you remember is, what is meant by speaking in other languages, or other tongues? Well, one of the best ways to discover the answers to problematical texts of Scripture, is by referring to earlier passages in the Word of God, where similar references are found. And you will know, many of you, and again, I apologize for the speed at which we're going, that in Acts chapter 2, and Acts chapter 10, and Acts 19, reference is made to this phenomenon of speaking in tongues.

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples, 120 of them, gathered together, received the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they speak in other languages. Again, in the household of Cornelius, in Acts 10, Peter comes along, and he preaches, and they start to speak in other languages, as the Spirit falls upon them. In Acts 19, the disciples of John Baptist, as Paul ministers to them, again, they exhibit the same phenomena.

Now, what were these tongues in Acts chapter 2? Because it seems to me that if we can isolate what is the reference, what is meant by the reference to languages there, it will help us in our study of the rest of Scripture. Well, you're probably aware that on the day of Pentecost, there were people gathered from many other parts of the world, and they responded in amazement to the disciples, the 120 followers of Jesus, who had received the fullness of the Spirit. We don't understand how it can be the case that they are speaking to us in our own languages, these unlearned men, and yet they can communicate with us in languages that we can understand, and in the ninth verse of Acts 2, there's a list of the languages that are used on the day of Pentecost.

So, we can at least identify the word tongues in terms of language of a human vernacular, languages that are used in the world in the day of the apostles, in Acts 2. If you check Acts 10, you discover later on when Peter gets back to Jerusalem, he refers to the phenomenon in Cornelius's household, and he says they spoke in tongues, as we did on the day of Pentecost. So again, you've got the twinning of the two concepts. Here are men who speak, or women, who speak in languages which are recognizable in the vernacular, the ordinary vernacular spoken by people around the world.

But are there any other references in Scripture to speaking in tongues? Well, obviously the twelfth and fourteenth chapters of 1 Corinthians. But, surprisingly enough, smuggled into 1 Corinthians chapter 13, there is another rather mysterious comment that the Apostle makes about speaking in tongues. Apart from this particular allusion, we would have to say that where this gift is referred to in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 is it refers to known human languages.

But in 1 Corinthians 13 and the first verse, the Apostle says, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, this is the only record in Scripture to anyone suggesting that there is such a thing as a celestial language or languages. And there are many people who would claim that speaking in tongues really is equal to speaking in heavenly languages. Now, the problem about that interpretation of this verse is it does seem as though, at least in some of the illustrations that Paul makes in the second and third verses, that he's using hyperbole.

Now, what does that mean? Well, hyperbole is an exaggerated fashion of speech. If I said to you, I would not leave the Christian ministry for all the tea in China then I'm using hyperbole. Not that I wouldn't leave the Christian ministry, but rather you couldn't possibly deliver all the tea in China.

Now, when the Apostle Paul makes reference in the second verse to having the gift of prophecy and fathoming all mysteries and having all knowledge, he's certainly using the language of exaggeration. It's a conditional thing. If I have, I haven't got these things.

Most certainly he hasn't, because later on he talks about the day when his understanding shall be complete. What is he doing? He's using the contrast. He's underlining something that is an abiding feature of Christianity.

He must have love or else nothing that he does in the service of God is acceptable. And so he says, even if I were, if it were possible to speak in the languages of men, all the languages of men, and the languages of angels, but have not love, even then I would not have attained to heights in spirituality. I would just be a noise.

Now, I labor the point. Not because I am saying that those who believe that speaking in tongues equals angelic language are wrong. But I am saying it's not an easy argument to substantiate from Scripture.

The warrant of Scripture seems to suggest that speaking in tongues as it is referred to in the acts and in the 12th chapter and 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians is the known vernacular, ordinary human languages. But because Paul makes this comment in 1 Corinthians 13, which is uncertain in the way that we interpret it, then we need to have this same humility to which Dr. Packer alludes in the reference that I have twice quoted. If you were to speak in a tongue that was known, a known language, that you hadn't learned yourself, but suddenly you had the gift of being able to communicate it, that is referred to technically as xenolalia.

I can speak a little bit of French, not much. And I can read a little bit of Greek and maybe just a little bit of Hebrew. But all these things that I acquired very, very piecemeal, they came through blood, sweat, and tears.

I wish that I had had the gift when I was at London Bible College of being able to negotiate Hebrew. I would conserve many an hour and conserve many a gallon of nervous energy. I don't have that.

If I did, then the gift that will be mine, the tongue gift that might be mine, will be that of xenolalia. I put that out for information and perhaps we'll see the significance of it later on. What was the purpose of speaking in tongues? I really must move along quickly.

What was the purpose of speaking in tongues? Well, the Apostle Paul makes it quite clear in the second verse of 1 Corinthians 14. Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. It is godward.

It is man communicating with his maker. What is the content of the communication? Well, conceivably, it is intercessory prayer. That's a probability.

But a definite certainty is that it is an offering of praise. You find the justification for my statement in the 10th verse. If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself amongst those who do not understand say amen to your thanksgiving? You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.

So the purpose of speaking in tongues is declaring the goodness of God and engaging in praise before the Father, as the Apostles, did you remember, on the day of Pentecost and their associates, the 120. They glorified God in known languages in a most miraculous and a most marvelous fashion. Well, let me put up another question, and this is an intriguing one, and I hope you're all plugged in with your concentration.

What did the gift originally denote? What did the gift of tongues originally denote? I find that most of the commentators gloss over this, and yet we can't. For what reason? Well, the Apostle makes an intriguing back reference to the Old Testament when he teaches on speaking in tongues. Look at the 21st verse of 1 Corinthians 14, and there you will find, indented in the NIV version, and possibly you can work out from the AV, a quotation from Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 11.

Let me read the quote as it's in the NIV. Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. What was the context? Well, you see, Isaiah's prophesying in Jerusalem had been rejected by the Jews.

They said that he didn't have the ability to minister to them. They ridiculed what he had to say, and the prophet Isaiah, he makes the prediction that the day will come when an army will encircle Jerusalem, an army from the Gentiles, barbarians, whose language is ugly, and when they hear that ugly language, they shall know the judgment of God is upon them. Jerusalem was ransacked centuries ago by the Assyrians.

The prediction of Isaiah came true. But why does Paul quote this now? Well, you remember when our Lord Jesus came on earth, his ministry was directly to the Jews. But it was the Jews, and particularly in Jerusalem, who rejected what he had to say.

And so he talks of the spiritual privileges, the vineyard of God, being moved from the province of the Jews to a more worthy people. And on the day of Pentecost, if you please, there is the internationalizing, if one can coin that word, of the purposes of God. The gospel will no longer be exclusively for the Jews, but for them first.

It will also be to the Gentiles. And you have this remarkable phenomenon of many tongues, many languages being exhibited, xenolalia, as disciples speak that which they have not academically learned. And if there were sensitive Jews, they would realize that what was happening, though great and glorious in one sense, was also a prefigurement of the judgment of God on the Jewish nation.

In A.D. 70, Jerusalem is besieged by the Romans. In A.D. 120, it is besieged again, and it is flattened to the ground. And the coarse Latin tongue, instead of the Hebrew, is heard in Jerusalem and its environs.

So you see, historically, tongues has the connotation of judgment in the sign that was initially given on the day of Pentecost. That's why the Apostle Paul says in the 22nd verse, tongues then are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Well, let's leave that fascinating quotation from the Old Testament and put up another question.

Was Paul a tongue speaker? Did he have the gift of xenolalia? Was he able to communicate in languages that he had never learned? And the answer is yes. Let's look at the 18th verse of this chapter, where the Apostle makes reference to his own linguistic ability. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

What does he mean? Is he referring to angelic languages? Well, as I say, you can't block that argument up completely. It's a moot point. It's an interesting concept.

What we do know is that the Apostle Paul was naturally a linguist. He was good in Hebrew, Aramaic and also Greek. And there are those who would suggest that what he is really saying, that over against the tongue speaking tendencies of the Corinthians, he is putting his own abilities in way of contrast.

I can speak in languages more than all of you. But it seems to me that that does not do full justice to what the Apostle is here saying. It appears to me that Paul is also acknowledging before the Corinthians and to the honor of God that he too has been equipped in being able to marshal languages that he has not academically learned and to use them.

When does he use them? Well, he says, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church, I would rather speak five intelligible words. And that suggests what? That there were occasions outside of the church context when Paul uses this gift.

Now, what would be the obvious way in which he would employ it? Well, presumably when he's with the Gentiles of dialects that he hasn't broken, he can extol God in the language that is theirs, that he has not learned. There are those who go so far as to say that the Apostle Paul here is referring to his use of the gift of tongues in his own prayer life. Well, I'll admit that that can be read into the text.

I don't think that it naturally comes out of it, but it can be read in. And who can gainsay that particular comment? Here is one of these variations of opinion that is possible as we look to 1 Corinthians 14. So when does he use it? He uses it outside the church, possibly evangelistically, a slight possibility in his own prayer life as he extols the graciousness of God.

Well, I don't want to put any further questions to this chapter as to the regulation of the use of the gift of tongues in the church. I've already made some comment. What I want to do, however, now, having said, I hope the teaching of Paul on tongues before you in 1 Corinthians 14 is to jump 2000 years and start to ask some of the most heart searching questions that one can ever try and cope with in an evangelical pulpit with a mixed congregation with varying views on this subject.

Number one is speaking in tongues for today. If speaking in tongues for today, there are some who reject it totally and there are others who advocate it wholeheartedly. Now, inasmuch as there is no specific text in the Old Testament nor the New Testament, which says that the ministry of speaking in tongues, the gift of tongues is finally has finally ceased.

Then I think one has to have a very open mind on this question is speaking in tongues for today within the sovereignty of God. The gifts of the spirit are available down the church age. That seems to be a reasonable viewpoint to which one is driven as you review the arguments that commentators put forward and as you compare them with your own understanding of teacher of scripture and its teaching.

So the second question, what are the specific problems of claims today in tongues speaking? What are the specific problems? There are many, many churches where speaking in tongues is not only allowed. It is also encouraged. Well, the major problem is this.

The tongues that are spoken and here I'm getting technical, but you should follow me if you remembered something I said earlier. The tongues that are spoken tend to be glossolalia and not xenolalia. The difference xenolalia, the speaking in a tongue that has been not that has not been learned, but has been the end.

The gift has been granted to one of a tongue in the human vernacular, like if I suddenly burst into German. That would be miraculous, because apart from abanzi, schokolade, bitterschone, I don't know any German. And that means, have you got some chocolate? Just in case anyone suggests that I've spoken in tongues and not interpreted this this morning.

Most of the tongues speaking is glossolalia. The claim is that the language that is spoken is a celestial language, a love language that is recognized in heaven, but not known on earth. Now, the problem there is not questioning the sincerity of the person who makes the claim, but checking the authenticity of what he said.

If I speak to in German, though I haven't learned it, you can check. You can get Andre Boilinger, someone here who's got German at their fingertips, and they can say whether I am making sense or not. You cannot test glossolalia.

You can, however, test the interpretation of glossolalia in as much as when someone interprets, you can say, well, does this accord with scripture? But again, in tongues speaking today, you have quite a problem. Why? Well, you see, those who exhibit the gift of interpretation generally admit to the fact that they don't really understand the tongue when it's been spoken. They have a premonition.

They have an understanding that grows in their hearts. It's not an academic thing. It's a conviction that there are certain words that they can share with the people.

And once again, the problem is it's uncheckable. You can check it from the content of scriptures to whether it's heresy or not. And rarely is it heresy.

But one thing you cannot do is to check whether it is a specific miracle in terms of xenolalia, because glossolalia, the speaking in heavenly languages, has no test that is possible here on this earth. So again, what do we have to say to this claim of tongues and interpretation today? We have to take a nonjudgmental position. If what is said and what follows seems to accord with scripture, all well and good.

You might have the problem that I have. And I say this lovingly, humbly and sincerely, that when I have heard and I was brought up in Pentecostalism, hotbed Pentecostalism, incidentally, when I have heard interpretation, it has always seemed to me to be of a very low quality. One would think that when God is speaking directly to a congregation, I thus saith the Lord, it is going to have an authority and it's going to have an application which is quite superior to anything that one generally hears in the normal preaching ministry.

I have not found that. I say that humbly and lovingly, but I do say it with my background within Pentecostalism. Is the distinction between glossolalia and xenolalia important? Well, that's a question I've really answered.

It is important because it's very difficult to check when a person speaks in tongues as to the validity. Is he just a sincere person who has been misled or is he really being moved upon by the Holy Spirit? We can only follow our own feelings when we hear such a thing, whether the Spirit is interpreting this to us, whether what is happening seems to be acceptable or not. But let me put up my final question.

And with this, I conclude. If you feel that the alleged use of tongues and interpretation today falls short of the Corinthian phenomenon, what are your feelings towards the charismatic movement? Well, my answer is this. I thank God for it.

I thank God for it. You see, I may have some difficulties with the phenomena that has been thrown out by this movement. I am not prepared to say one way or the other that the tongue speaking in the charismatic movement is equivalent to that that Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14.

I tend towards a negative rather than a positive. Well, you say, does that not mean, therefore, that the whole thing is wrong? No, not at all. You see, the charismatic movement, it seems to me, consists of millions of people around the world who have come into an experience of renewal, people who are concerned to know the reality of God.

And where a person wants to know the reality of God, then I'm one with them. And where there is a greater harmony and a greater degree of agape love and accord, I'm one with them. You say, but what about this business of glossolalia? Well, you see, glossolalia itself, being able to speak in words that of what seems to be a language that you have not learned, is not basically something that is only referred to within a Christian context.

One gets children who speak children's language one to another. You get the scat singing of the jazz musicians. There are occasions, or so it would seem, when someone can engage in this form of love language with the Lord.

It's meaningful to them. It may not be meaningful to anyone else. And yet, because it's beneficial to them, then what right do I have to criticize them in their particular practice, assuming that they do not push their own conviction upon myself or say that it is mandatory on anyone else? You see, there is in church history what is known as the plurality of religious experience.

There are many people who've had remarkable experiences of God's grace. I've not had them myself. The majority within the church community has not had these experiences.

But who can question the validity if it brought these people nearer God? And now I will grant you that there are those within the charismatic movement who have a sort of euphoric conceit, as though they are 100 percent Christians and the rest of us are just 90 percent. Well, that's unfortunate. But we have some Orthodox conservative Christians who also have the same euphoric conceit about the orthodoxy of their doctrine and the way they've got it all neatly bottled up and tied together.

No, my friend, I will not in any sense preach against or denounce any group of people, be they ever so large or be they ever so small. Who are enjoying the presence of God and whose doctrinal approach to the gospel of Christ is biblical. Where it is not, then I part company.

And where the charismatic movement has representatives within the Catholic Church and within the liberal wing of the established church, then I think our charismatic friends have got problems in working out just what their allegiances are. The allegiance should never be one of a common denominator of experience, but the allegiance should be one of a common denominator of doctrine, of the understanding of the of the word of God. So I want to conclude my little address, or not so little address this morning, by concluding with words from Dr. Packer when he says this, it is just like God, the God who uses the weak to confound the mighty, to have raised up in these days not a new Calvin or John Owen or Abraham Kuyper, but a scratch movement, cheerfully improvising, which proclaims the divine personhood and power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, not by great theological eloquence or originality of accuracy, but by the power of renewed lives, creating a new, simplified, unconventional, and uncomfortably challenging lifestyle.

As for the gift of speaking in tongues, I've tried to explain it as I understand it from 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. As for claims today to reproduce it, I've got some reservations, but as to the testimony of Christian men and women around the globe who reckon that they have been renewed in Jesus, I have only love and accord and an open heart. And I believe in some areas also to an open mind.

And that's the way that I would deal with this phenomenon, this subject of glossolalia. Amen. And Father, that is the prime object of our life, to bring you our adoration and our worship.

And to this end, equip us with all that is necessary, that the objective might be secured for Jesus' sake. Amen.