Some so-called Pentecostals and charismatics say that on the day of Pentecost all spoke in tongues, but let us look carefully at the verses. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). It does not say, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and all began to speak with other tongues.” There is no “all” concerning speaking with other tongues. If I were to say that last night we all came to the meeting and began to pray, does that mean that everybody prayed? This is exactly the same structure grammatically. We all came to the meeting, but not all did pray. In the same way, they all were filled with the Spirit, but not all spoke in tongues. This is quite clear.
Then let us read Acts 19:6: “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied.” Do you believe that all twelve both spoke in tongues and prophesied? I cannot believe it. I do believe that some spoke in tongues and some prophesied, but I do not believe that all of them did both.
There are some who would say that unless you speak in tongues, you have never received the Holy Spirit. They refer to Mark 16:17-18. “And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” If anyone uses these verses to ask if you speak in tongues, you had better ask them if they handle serpents and drink any deadly thing. To try to prove it in this way is ridiculous! What the Lord means here is that among all His believers throughout all the generations some will cast out demons, some will speak in tongues, some will handle serpents, and some will drink a deadly thing and it will not hurt them. Do not try to do these things to prove that you are saved! If you do, you may not be lost, but there is a chance you will be dead!
The matter of healing is also mentioned in these verses. But we should not think that everyone who believes in the Lord will be able to heal. Among all believers through all generations, some did speak in tongues, but not all. Some did heal others, but not all. Some did handle serpents without being hurt, but not all. Speaking in tongues is only one of many items.
Most of the tongue-speaking Christians say that tongue speaking is the unique manifestation of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Generally, there are two schools among them. One says that if you do not speak in tongues, you are not even regenerated. But most of them do not believe this. Most believe that you could be regenerated, but you could not have the baptism in the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues. Therefore, this second school insists that speaking in tongues is the proof that you have the baptism in the Holy Spirit. But it is hard to find a verse in the Bible to prove this.
I have already mentioned how Brother Watchman Nee never spoke in tongues. He was not against it, but, according to the Bible, he was strongly against the claim that speaking in tongues is the unique manifestation of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
As I mentioned, for a time I was influenced to speak in tongues. But even then I doubted that all the sounds uttered by the so-called tongue-speaking people were genuine tongues. According to Acts 2, all the tongues are a kind of language or dialect. The word for tongues in Acts 2:4 is “glossa.” Then in Acts 2:6, the word is “dialektos” which means dialect or language. Verse 8 also uses the word “dialektos.” Then verse 11 uses the word “glossa.” It is so clear that in this part of the Word, “dialektos” and “glossa” are used interchangeably. This means that a tongue must be a dialect. But today so many so-called tongue-speaking people only utter the same few sounds repeatedly, which can hardly form a dialect. This is why I believe that much of the tongue speaking today is not the genuine tongue. I know many stories to prove this point.
However, we must see that the matter of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is once for all. “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13). We do not need to seek for another baptism; what we need is to experience the unique baptism that has been accomplished on the Body of Christ already. We only need to be on the right standing of the Body. Then whatever has been accomplished on the Body is ours for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is for the formation and building up of the Body. It is an accomplished fact. We only need to take it by faith as we did the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension.