Question:
What do 1 Corinthians 14:2 and 14:22 mean? Basically, what exactly is the gift of tongues, and why do we not (our assemblies) believe that the gift has passed away
Answer:
In order to answer the first part of this question one must first define the “tongues” as it is used in these verses and others. TONGUES is “the supernatural gift of speaking in another language without its having been learnt” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). This is evident from the incident recorded in Acts 2:1-13. Ignorant Galilean fishermen were moved by the Spirit of God to speak in languages they had never learned and the response of those who heard them was, “Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue [language], wherein we were born?” (vss. 7,8).
First Corinthians 14:2 (“For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God:for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries”) is speaking of the inferiority of tongues compared to prophesying (see vs. 3 and then read the whole chapter to see that this is the teaching being presented). If one in the church were to speak in a tongue and there was no one to interpret the language (see vss. 27, 28), he would only be speaking to God, for in this case only God would understand the language being spoken. First Corinthians 14:22 (“Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe”) is teaching us that the main purpose for the gift of tongues was for them to be a sign to unbelievers. The first use of them on the day of Pentecost, to which we have already referred, illustrates this fact. See Mark 16:17-20.
It is generally held among us that the gift of tongues has ceased, which the Apostle Paul foretold in 1 Corinthians 13:8. I believe they were a sign-gift used of God to authenticate His Word (see Mark 16:17,20). When the purpose for which they were given was realized, the gift stopped all on its own. (If the reader has back issues of IN TOUCH, see Issue #16, Question 15.2, pages 11-13.)