What does First B Jackson teach about speaking in tongues?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on speaking in tongues begins with the event that introduced it: Pentecost. In the Acts 2 messages, the crowd's reaction is treated as the interpretive key. They were not confused because they could not understand what was being said. They were confused because they could. Devout Jews from across the known world, from Parthia to Rome, each heard the mighty works of God proclaimed in their own native language by Galileans who had no business knowing those languages. That detail matters, because it shows the tongues at Pentecost were real human languages serving a real purpose: the proclamation of God's works to people who could receive them.
Pastor Ray worked through the 1 Corinthians 14 teaching on tongues at the end of a long series through that letter. The core concern Paul raises there is order and intelligibility. Uncontrolled, simultaneous speech, whether in tongues without interpretation or prophecy spoken over someone else, is disorderly and unhelpful. Paul's instruction is to take turns, limit the number of speakers, and make sure what is said can be understood by the people present. A church that speaks in order, Ray taught, reflects a God who is not a God of confusion.
Ray also gave significant attention to the cultural backdrop of Corinth, particularly the Oracle of Delphi roughly fifty miles away, where a woman would breathe fumes, come up babbling, and have male priests interpret what she said. That practice was tied to the spirit of Python Paul had already encountered in Philippi. Understanding that context, he argued, is not optional. It shaped what the Corinthians heard and felt when the subject of tongues and interpretation came up, and it helps explain why Paul addresses the topic with the care and the specificity that he does.
Taught from 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 · Acts 2:1-47 · Joel 2:28-32 · 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 · Acts 2
The passage taught · Acts 1
1 The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,
2 until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.
4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- November 16, 2024 Pastor Ray Preaches From the Book of Acts Chapter 2 Acts 2 traces the birth of the church at Pentecost, from the rushing wind and tongues of fire to Peter's bold sermon and 3,000 baptisms in a single day.
- November 10, 2024 Confused Because They Understood The pastor walks through Acts 2, the birthday of the church, tracing Pentecost from rushing wind and tongues of fire to 3,000 baptisms and what it means for us today.
- November 10, 2024 Confused Because They Understood Acts 2 traces the birth of the church at Pentecost, from wind and fire to Peter's bold sermon, calling all people to repent and call on the name of the Lord.
- February 1, 2015 Decisions, Decisions, Decisions Pastor Ray walks through 1 Corinthians 14, wrestling honestly with one of Scripture's hardest passages on order, worship, and women speaking in the church.