"Speaking in Tongues"

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See related topic: "Slain in the Spirit"

1. Since my childhood, I have attended many camp meetings, evening services and evangelistic rallies. Many people have prayed with me, hands up, hands down, head back, head down, in silence, in song, in speaking, etc. They have even coached me on 'how to speak in tongues'. I was open for whatever God would bestow on me - for all of those years. So, why do you suppose I never received "the gift"? Sure, I know the reasons many would give. But none are true; none are even close to being true. So, this is what I think: God knew that I was sincere and he has protected me from falling into deception. (That's very comforting, and I know it to be true.)

2. A thorough study of biblical tongues reveals that:

a. tongues were given as a sign to unbelieving Jews, because Jews require a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom (I Cor 1:22). The Jews always required a sign to prove that God was involved in a work (think of Moses).

b. tongues were not a sign for believers, but for unbelievers (I Cor 14:22) Why then is gibberish spoken today (as 'tongues') when only believers are present?

c. tongues were languages; not gibberish (Acts 2:8)

d. on the day of Pentecost, tongues were understood by men from around the known world (Acts 2:9-11)

e. tongues in the Corinthian church were being used improperly because that body of 'believers' were carnal and ungodly in their practices. In fact, Paul had to write two books to correct them and to teach them. These were not Christians that were to serve as godly examples to us in the use of spiritual gifts.

f. no one had all of the gifts - Have all the gifts of healing....do all speak with tongues? (I Cor 12:30),

g. tongues are not mentioned after Corinthians, in the later epistles because, by the end of the apostolic era, tongues were no longer needed as a sign gift. (I Cor 13:8)

h. tongues have only resurfaced since 1901 - and not biblical tongues at that, but gibberish. Have you looked into the history of Pentecostalism - Agnes Ozman, Parham, Seymour, Bartleman, etc? I had always trusted those who taught me the history from a Pentecostal perspective - most teachers avoided the real history - but the facts do not support Pentecostal claims that scriptural practices were being taught - or that the people who founded the Pentecostal movement were even godly at all. Moreover, consider the involvement of women in the tongues movement - from Agnes Ozman to contemporary female preachers. God's word forbids women to teach or to have authority over men, but the tongues movement is predominantly female-driven.

i. women were not allowed to speak in tongues in the church (I Cor 14:34)

j. no more than three men were allowed to speak in tongues in the assembly, and then only one at a time (not like the mass confusion that is taught and occurs in churches today - with gibberish (I Cor 14:27,33)

k. tongues today (since 1901) are not biblical tongues, and have almost always been associated with other unscriptural phenomenon (like slain-in-the-spirit) that are prevalent in pagan and eastern religions. (I Cor 14:23)

3. The spirits of the prophets are always subject to the prophets. When we pray, we are always to be in control of ourselves. God is a God of order, not of confusion. Conversely, the Pentecostal services I have attended have embraced wild, radical, confusion - people running around the sanctuary at full speed, people shaking their heads uncontrollably as if possessed (and probably are), people birthing, bending in apparent agony, falling immodestly in drunken heaps, babbling ecstatically individually and as a group (all of the congregation at the same time), crowing like roosters, barking like dogs..... it goes on and on and on. And all of it is wrong.

4. We need to re-examine the doctrines that we have been taught. We need to prove all things; hold fast that which is good. We need to search the scriptures daily to see whether these things are so. We need to base our doctrine on scripture, not on experiences. Regrettably, many of these Pentecostal/Charismatic practices have secured such a foothold in our minds and in our emotions that they are difficult to reject; but they must be rejected.

5. We trust that you love the truth, and hope that you will seriously consider these things and will study them to a provable conclusion.  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thess 5:21) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (I John 4:1)