What did Jesus say about speaking in tongues?

The Gospels contain but one reference to tongues. Mark 16:17, says, speaking of signs that should accompany the preaching of the gospel, they shall “speak with new tongues.”

"And these signs shall follow those that have believed, in My name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they should drink any deadly thing it shall not injure them; they shall lay hands on the infirm, and they shall be well." There is not a word here as to time. It is not all who believe, but "those that have believed"; and, further, it is not said of those that believe even to the end of the age. Nothing of the kind is intimated. When, on the contrary, the Lord in Matthew commands them to disciple all nations, baptizing and teaching them, He vouchsafes the assurance of His presence with them to the end of the age. The Lord abides with the disciples till the age is completed — all implied in "Lo, I am with you all the days." But it is not so with these signs of Mark. Our Lord's word was fully accomplished to the letter in the particular epoch when these signs were given; but there was no bond of perpetuity. In this way the contrast with Matthew is striking, and the mouth of the objector or deceiver is stopped.

"In My name they shall cast out demons." He begins with power over Satan. They were to go forth in the power of His resurrection. Although He was going away, so far from thereby losing power, they would rather gain in this respect. "Greater works than these shall he do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12).The notion of the Jews was that all the great works were to be done when Messiah was on the earth. Not so. In His name, during His absence, His servants should cast out demons, etc. "They shall speak with new tongues." What a wonderful testimony of God's grace towards all men! They were to speak now of His wonderful works (Acts 2) in the tongues wherewith God had confounded men at the tower of Babel. This was fulfilled, first on the day of Pentecost to the Jews, then to the Gentiles in due time. "They shall take up serpents" — the outward symbol of the power of Satan in this world — that which man instinctively hates since the fall, unless he be so besotted as to worship it. "And if they should drink any deadly thing, it shall not injure them." The power of nature, of things inanimate as well as animate, could not avail against them; but, contrariwise, "they shall lay hands on the infirm, and they shall be well." The beneficial power of good in His name overcomes evil and banishes it. "New": so Edd., after ACcorrD, etc., Syrpesch. it is omitted in CpmLΔ, etc.

We do not find speaking in tongues in the Gospels either other than in the prophecy of the Lord Jesus in Mark 16:17. But since this verse out of Mark is so frequently cited as proof I must dwell upon it a bit. In verse 14 the Lord comes to the eleven and reproaches their unbelief and hardness of heart. Then in verse 15 He gives them the commission to preach the gospel to all the creation. and in verse 16 He says what its consequences would be to the hearers. In verse 17 He then says to them (that is. to the eleven in connection with His reproach of their unbelief in verse 14) that signs would follow those who would believe. In verse 20 they go forth and the Lord fulfills His promise and confirms the Word by the signs following upon it.

But we need not even consult the later part of the New Testament to find a record of the fulfilment of this promise. Mark does not close his Gospel without recording it in a summary manner: “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed” (Mark 16:20, R.V.).

What then do we learn regarding the gift of tongues from this brief testimony by Mark? We learn therefrom that speaking with new tongues was one of five special sign-gifts which, as the Lord promised the apostles, should follow their service as vouchers of the divine character of the gospel proclamation.

The first sign should be their dominion over evil spirits, the second, the proof of that grace which went beyond the narrow limits of Israel, addressing itself to all the world. They should speak divers languages. Besides this, with respect to the power of the enemy, manifested in doing harm, the venom of serpents and poisons should have no effect upon them, and diseases should yield to their authority. In a word, it should be the overthrowal of the power of the enemy over man, and the proclamation of grace unto all men.

The Lord Jesus said in Mark 16, that these signs should follow; but he never said how long they were to last. They did follow them that believed; and there is the simple truth of the matter. For their continuance or revival you have no divine warrant.

Further, outward manifestations of power were to follow: "These signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils." By-and-by the power of Satan is to be shaken thoroughly. This was only a testimony, but still how weighty it was! The Lord in this case does not say how long these signs were to last. When He says, "Teach [make disciples of] all nations [or the Gentiles], baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them all things whatsoever I have commanded you," He adds, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world [or age]." That is, He does connect His continuance with their discipling, baptizing, and teaching all the Gentiles what He had enjoined. This work was thus to go on till the end of the age; but as for the signs of Mark 16, with marvellous wisdom He omits all mention of a period. He does not say how long these signs were to follow them that believe. All He said was, that these signs were to follow; and so they did. He did not promise that they were to be for five, or fifty, for a hundred, or five hundred years. He simply said they were to follow, and so the signs were given; and they followed not merely the apostles, but them that believe. They confirmed the word of believers wherever they were found. It was but a testimony, and I have not the slightest doubt, that as there was perfect wisdom in giving these signs to accompany the word, so also there was not less wisdom in cutting the gift short. I am assured that, in the present fallen state of Christendom, these outward signs, so far from being desirable, would be an injury. No doubt their cessation is a proof of our sin and low estate; but at the same time there was graciousness in His thus withholding these signs towards His people when their continuance threatened no small danger to them, and might have obscured His moral glory.

The grounds of this judgment need not be entered into now; it is enough to say that undoubtedly these signs were given. "They shall cast out devils; 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." Thus there was a blow struck at the prolific source of evil in the world; there was the expression of God's rich grace now to the world; there was the active witness of the beneficence of divine mercy in dealing with the miseries everywhere occurrent in the world. These are, I think, the characteristics of the service, but then there remains a striking part of the conclusion, which I venture to think none but Mark could have written. No doubt the Holy Ghost was the true author of all that Mark wrote; and certainly, the conclusion is one that suits this gospel, but no other. If you cut off these words, you have a gospel without a conclusion. Accepting these words as the words of God, you have, I repeat, a termination that harmonizes with a truly divine gospel; but not merely that — here you have a divine conclusion for Mark's gospel, and for no other. There is no other gospel that this conclusion would suit but Mark's; for observe here what the Spirit of God finally gives us. He says, "After the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven." You might have thought, surely, that there was rest in heaven now that Christ's work on earth was done, and so perfectly done; more particularly as it is here added, "and he sat on the light hand of God." If there is such a session of Christ spoken of in this place, the more it might be supposed that there was a present rest, now that all His work was over; but not so. As the gospel of Mark exhibits emphatically Jesus the workman of God, so even in the rest of glory He is the workman still. Therefore, it seems written here that, while they went forth upon their mission, they were to take up the work which the Lord had left them to do. "They went forth and preached everywhere" — for there is this character of largeness about Mark. "They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." Thus Mark, and no one else, gives us the picture most thoroughly, the whole consistent up to the last. Would a forger have kept up the bold thought of "the Lord working with them," while every other word intimates that He was then at least quiescent?

Thus have we glanced over the gospel of Mark, and have seen that the first thing in it is the Lord ushered into His service by one who was called to an extraordinary work before Him, even John the Baptist. Now, at last, when He is set down at the right hand of God, we find it said that the Lord was working with them. To allow that verses 9 to the end are authentic scripture, but not Mark's own writing, seems to me the lamest supposition possible.

In order to dispel any such fears, the servants of Christ, we read, were encouraged to go forward in their future service fortified by the assurance that the power attending their labours would in no wise be diminished by the Lord's own absence. In His words of assurance which Mark records, the Lord declared that exhibitions of power which accompanied their preaching at the first when He was with them would be renewed and amplified when He had Himself gone on high. Formerly, their words were associated with the gifts of healing and exorcism, but after the ascension of Christ, these signs would be granted with greater fulness and variety. The Lord said, “These signs shall follow them that believe: (1) in My name shall they cast out demons; (2) they shall speak with new tongues; (3) they shall take up serpents; (4) and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; (5) they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17-18).

a. Speaking in tongues is announced only in Mark 16, being given as a confirmation of the spoken word of the gospel, and is only applied to the preaching of the apostles.

The gift of tongues therefore served the purpose for which it was given in the early days of Christianity, but we have now to inquire what warrant there is, if any, in the testimony of Mark to expect the continuance of this supernatural manifestation. And after the closest scrutiny not a single word can be found in these verses which even hints of such a thing. Nothing at all implies that such signs as are mentioned would continue to accompany the preaching until the end of the age.