A few years ago, in my town, a local “pastor” ran an ad in one of those free, weekly advertisers, encouraging people to call the number for the bible message that "the Lord had given him." That should be the first tip-off to every discerning Christrian. Whenever someone says, "the Lord told me" the first response should be, "What chapter and verse?" If it is not there, it's not from God.
Nevertheless, my curiosity got th
e best of me so I called to hear the message, “Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak In Tongues.”
Nevertheless, my curiosity got th
e best of me so I called to hear the message, “Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak In Tongues.”
Ten reasons; wow, that's pretty ambitious. I was thinking, at the time, it would be difficult for me to try to find ten biblical reasons to support almost any legitimate scriptural imperative. But I must remind myself, he got this message from God so I guess anything is possible.
Here it is. This is verbatim (and remember, he claimed that he got this by direct revelation from God; I wonder if that includes all the errors too?). I painstakingly transcribed it right from his recorded message. I can’t make this stuff up. What a bunch of hooey. Without any sense of shame, this “wolf in sheep’s clothing” offered this convoluted, twisted, illogical and disconnected claptrap, along with out-of-context “proof texts” (except where he couldn’t find any) for the mindless deluded, willfully ignorant, and elitist “full gospel” sheep.
Here it is. This is verbatim (and remember, he claimed that he got this by direct revelation from God; I wonder if that includes all the errors too?). I painstakingly transcribed it right from his recorded message. I can’t make this stuff up. What a bunch of hooey. Without any sense of shame, this “wolf in sheep’s clothing” offered this convoluted, twisted, illogical and disconnected claptrap, along with out-of-context “proof texts” (except where he couldn’t find any) for the mindless deluded, willfully ignorant, and elitist “full gospel” sheep.
TEN REASONS WHY EVERY BELIEVER SHOULD SPEAK IN TONGUES
Reason #1 - Tongues is the initial sign that a believer has been filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Reason #2 - Tongues are for our spiritual edification. I Corinthians 14:4 “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself” (the word edifieth – to edify- means to build up or charge).
Reason #3 - Tongues reminds us of the Spirit’s indwelling presence. Acts 10:46 “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”
Reason #4 - Praying in tongues is praying in line with God’s perfect will. I Corinthians 14:14 “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitful.”
Reason #5 - Praying in tongues stimulates faith. Jude 1:20 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”
Reason #6 - Speaking in tongues is a means of keeping you free from contamination with the ungodly, the profane, and the vulgar talk around you if you are working on the job or out in public.
Reason #7 - Speaking in tongues provides a way for things to be prayed for, but for which no one thinks to pray about or about which they know nothing. The Holy Spirit knows everything. The Word says, “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech.”
Reason #8 - Isaiah 28:11-12 says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, ‘this is the rest by which ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing;’ yet they would not hear.” What is the rest? Speaking with other tongues.
Reason #9 - I Corinthians 14:15-17 “What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. Else, when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the (room) of the unlearned say ‘amen’ at the giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest. For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.”
Reason #10 - James 3:8 says, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.” Speaking in tongues; yielding your tongue to the Holy Spirit to speak with other tongues is a long step toward fully yielding all your members to God.
Reason #2 - Tongues are for our spiritual edification. I Corinthians 14:4 “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself” (the word edifieth – to edify- means to build up or charge).
Reason #3 - Tongues reminds us of the Spirit’s indwelling presence. Acts 10:46 “For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”
Reason #4 - Praying in tongues is praying in line with God’s perfect will. I Corinthians 14:14 “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth but my understanding is unfruitful.”
Reason #5 - Praying in tongues stimulates faith. Jude 1:20 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”
Reason #6 - Speaking in tongues is a means of keeping you free from contamination with the ungodly, the profane, and the vulgar talk around you if you are working on the job or out in public.
Reason #7 - Speaking in tongues provides a way for things to be prayed for, but for which no one thinks to pray about or about which they know nothing. The Holy Spirit knows everything. The Word says, “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech.”
Reason #8 - Isaiah 28:11-12 says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, ‘this is the rest by which ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing;’ yet they would not hear.” What is the rest? Speaking with other tongues.
Reason #9 - I Corinthians 14:15-17 “What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. Else, when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the (room) of the unlearned say ‘amen’ at the giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest. For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.”
Reason #10 - James 3:8 says, “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.” Speaking in tongues; yielding your tongue to the Holy Spirit to speak with other tongues is a long step toward fully yielding all your members to God.
7 comments:
This is a true story...A charismatic pastor came to my door with an Assembly of God friend of mine. When my friend introduced us, the first thing the pastor said to me was, "Yabba Dabba Doo and you can too." One thing for sure, you never forget a Fred Flintstone encounter no matter how old you are! (really a true story...no kidding)
Eddie,
That's funny! I'm still crackin' up over, "yabba dabba doo and you can too."
This is a bit of a tough one with me b/c my Dad is an A/G minister who believes in speaking in tongues. He's never been able to answer my questions to my satisfaction. On the flip side, most folks just tell me "that was then, this is now." I'd love to hear more on the cessation of gifts.
Dh & I have always been in the God can do whatever He wants camp (I guess straddling the fence).
Reason #6 doesn't seem to work so well as most tele-evangelists are "speaking in tongues" and living like the devil.
Daisy,
I know this "pastor" and because this is a small town and I run an inter-denominational Christian ministry, I have not revealed his name. He is NOT A/G; he is in the extreme, name it and claim it word faith camp.
My point here is not to take pot shots at any particular denominations but simply to point out that this particular drivel is the lamest, most irresponsible use of scripture in order to validate or justify the practice of glossalalia that I have ever seen.
When someone demonstrates an ability to speak a real language he has never learned so that his Jewish (remember, tongues are a "sign," and signs are for Israel) hearers can understand in their own language, just as happened on the Day of Pentecost...then, and only then, will I believe anyone can speak in tongues today.
Could God enable that to happen today? Absolutely! Does God enable that to happen today? That is a different question entirely, but there is no reason to believe He needs to do that where His written word is available.
A bunch of jibberish is not speaking in tongues. No one is edified by that.
I don't believe in a second infilling of the Holy Spirit (separate from salvation) & I don't believe in speaking in tongues as evidenced by the Pentecostal church. I've always been more along Ron's route that speaking in tongues was speaking in other languages. However, I'm not about to argue that pt with my family b/c they would think I was backslidden or something. Just wish I could prove my pt with Scripture as they always seem able to one up me in this area. So I dance on eggshells around it.
I heard about a man who knew Chinese and went to a meeting where "tongues" were being spoken. He stood up and said something in Chinese, and someone else immediately gave an "interpretation" which was, of course, totally unrelated to what he had said.
Another man told his pastor that when he spoke in tongues, he spoke Navajo. His pastor suggested he should go to the Navajos, but he had no interest in doing that.
It is interesting to note that the church which was most involved with "speaking in tongues" was the church at Corinth, not exactly a positive example of what a church should be.
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