For him and other first-generation disciples who had seen and were taught by Jesus, it could be that which they personally wrote down, or which was written down by an amansuensis and certified by a true apostle(s), and preserved by God as Holy Scripture.
There is now not only no further need for glossolalia, but no one now living has the slightest idea of what that was or even what it sounded like. It certainly has not ever been inscripturated, nor was it ever the basis of prophesy.
Did Jesus, as God, speak thus to men or to The Father? If so, there is no record of it. Did He ever instruct, authorize, or ordain humans to utter nonsense as a working of the Spirit? There is no basis for that, either.
What He did ordain Himself, or delegated His Disciple-Apostles the authority to teach to their disciples whatsoever He had commanded them (Mt. 28:20), and that the existing Word (logos) should be preached (2 Tim. 2:2, 4:2; 2 Pet. 3:15-16).
In our day, the expositorily preached (= prophesied) faithfully translated Holy Scriptures are sufficient to the fully mature spiritual man for all faith and all practice in every situation.
Thank you so much. I was about to ignore the post in my impatience, but your answer was quite excellent.
And modern day, small "a" apostles or missionaries of the New Covenant are not the same as the big "A" Apostles who were first hand witnesses to Christ's earthly ministry and who wrote the Word of God.
But as Paul wrote: Christ "gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers" for unity of the faith and doctrine that Paul and the disciples preached in this Church Age.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4%3A11-16&version=KJV
And just as John the Baptist's disciples needed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit by Paul, and they began to prophesy and speak in tongues, so this is for us now in the church age.
But -- as metmom might remember - I have been one of the biggest critics of the abuses of modern day prophesy in the charismatic and Pentecostal churches, and I do so as a charismatic Pentecostal, who functions in the full gifts of the Spirit.
One cannot add to the Word of God, as Moses taught... and Paul and John wrote. To add modern day prophecies to the canon of Scripture is heresy, and common sense, too.
Because to add to a contract or covenant is to change it!
It is strictly forbidden; and just because Joseph Smith said that the book of Mormon is to be regarded as new revelation as the Bible, or Rick Joyner of the NAR Elijah List thinks himself on par with the Apostles, does not make it so.
Jesus said that the word is eternal, and "heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall never pass away".
And this is why the Devil is constantly raising up false teachers and counterfeit prophets -- to twist the Word. (Just as he did with Christ in the forty days in the desert.)
My background is similar to Pastor Bill Randles, and I do not believe that one can properly dispatch or discern the charismatic false teachings and pentecostal false prophets pf the NAR or Mormonism or any other cult without it, though some evangelicals today do their best to understand and deconstruct the evil of the NAR.
But not believing that God might give us a word of knowledge or some sort of prophetic insight or dream or vision negates the entirety of Pentecost and the power of the Christian's walk.
Cessationists are just as easily dismissed by the Word as the NAR false teachers. It is beyond ridiculous, if not heresy, to imply that the Gifts just happened for the first century church.
Prophesying in the church is done for the encouragement of the saints, and should always be checked for veracity against the Word of God, and those "prophets" in the church should be accountable to their local fellowship; no one in this church age has the same assignment of God as the Old Testament Prophets did with the ancient Hebrews, because the ancient Jews did not have the free gift of the Holy Spirit. (though they longed for it!)
Just the same as modern day church does not hold the same function as the Levites Priesthood of the Old Testament; now the Holy Spirit has fallen at Pentecost.
For you to say the gifts are not for today is to pushback on the entirety of the Old and New Covenants.
The problem is for us is how to be Bereans about these Gifts. http://biblehub.com/bsb/acts/19.htm
The Holy Spirit Received at Ephesus By John The Baptist's Disciples
(Joel 2:28-32; John 14:15-26; John 16:5-16; Acts 2:1-13; Acts 10:44-48)
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
“No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked.
“The baptism of John,” they replied.
Paul explained:
“John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
There were about twelve men in all.
Well said!
And from this we have the Bereans; considered MORE noble than the rest because of what???
Acts 17:11
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
You are of course forgetting or leaving out Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians not to speak out in tongues in a public service, unless there was someone to interpret.