Bible Studies

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Chapter One: Starting at the Beginning(1)

 

One thing I have noticed within the multitude of books and articles I have studied on this topic is that they very rarely start at the beginning. Very few writings on this issue begin their discussion early enough. It seems to be an area that is lacking when this topic is addressed. Most authors jump right to the book of Acts and then branch out from there, however, I believe we need to go back further to get a proper, comprehensive picture regarding the gift of tongues.

 

The first incident we find in Scripture where langueages are being spoken that are unrecognizeable is at the Tower of Babel. Up until this time it appears there was only one language in existence. Ever since Adam was created and spoke with God, throughout the time period of the flood, and up until the Tower of Babel, everyone spoke a single language. We find this in Genesis 11 where it says, “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech” (NKJV).

 

This single language was obviously created by God and given to Adam and Eve so they could speak with Him and to each other. Adam and Even passed this language on to their children, their children's children, and so on down the line into later generations.

 

According to the Bible in Genesis 11, at some point after the flood some of the descendants of Noah's three sons traveled into the land of Shinar. From Genesis 10:10 we discover this area was identified with four cities: Erech (Uruk), Accad (Akkad), Calneh (Culnah), and Babel. It was here that they began to build a temple tower.

 

The reason for these towers was to worship and give offerings to false gods. Because this was the case, the Lord went down and confused their language as an act of judgment upon them. Hence, the creation of different languages was a supernatural act of God, not some gradual, naturalistic explanation as scientists try to assert. This action was carried out by God, primarily on unbelievers who had determined to worship false gods of their own making. False celestial gods they had created for the sun, moon and stars.

 

Genesis 11:6-9 presents the situation, “And the Lord said 'Indeed the people are one and they have one language; and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the Lord scattered them abroad from there, over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore it's name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (NKJV).

 

This is an important concept to grasp. This miraculous giving of tongues at Babel was a sign from God to unbelievers who were disobedient. They were worshiping false gods of their own making rather than following the one and only true God. Differing languages were not created as some sort of blessing for those faithful to God. Rather, it was a supernatural sign of judgment from God on unbelievers. It was not intended as a blessing, it was a curse. They would no longer be able to undestand each other and this divided them, it caused them to split apart.

 

Something else that is important to take note of is the phrase in Genesis 11:7, “Let US go down and there confuse their langurage” (emphasis added). “Us” is of course plural.

So if it is God speaking here, who is this “Us?” The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God. One such verse says, “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” Since God is one, who is the “Us?”

 

Of course it refers to the Tri-une God. It is the inter-communication between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three distinct, eternal, divine Persons making up the one Godhead. The Bible teaches the Trinity all thoughout. For our puproses let's just support the point with a single verse, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7, NKJV).

 

You may be wondering why I am emphasizing the Trinity in a book on speaking in tongues. Well, the reason it's significant is because later when we begin looking at the book of Acts in the New Testament, and discuss the speaking of tongues by the disciples at Pentecost, we should keep in mind that the Holy Spirit was directly involved in the creation of foreign languages at the Tower of Babel of event.

 

In Daniel 5 we see another example where God sends a message in a confusing foreign language to an unbeliever. The example here is the story of Belshazaar, the king of Babylon. And just as was the case at the Tower of Babel, where the people blasphemed the one and only true God by building a temple to false gods, Belshazzar's behavior also showed his disrespect and disdain for the holy things of God. Belshazzar made a terrible choice and threw a wild, drunken party with the articles of God that were taken years before from the Temple in Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar. I strongly adivse taking a moment at this point to read chapter 5 of Daniel. This will prove helpful as the closing paragraphs of this chapter we will be touching on.

 

Verse 8 makes it apparent that this was a foreign language that nobody in the King's court could read or understand. It says, “Now all the king's wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its intepretation” (NKJV).

 

 

 

Here we have God giving a sign to an unbeliever in a confusing language, yet God makes sure Daniel, a believer, was there to give a correct interpretation of what God was planning to do. I guess one could say that God gave to Daniel the closest thing that can be found to the gift of interpretation of tongues in all of the Old Testament.

 

It's important to see here in Daniel that this interpretation was not from some natural skill or talent. It could only be interpreted, or read by, “a man...in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God” (5:11). The same was true for Joseph in Genesis 41:16 when he was asked to interpret the dream of Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (NKJV). Again, God used one of His faithful to interpret a message that He sent in order to give a sign to unbelievers.

 

In showing a similarity between the Tower of Babel occurrence and the Daniel 5 passage, one author writes, “...a somewhat similar judgement would befall him [Belshazaar], as it did the people building the tower of Babel. At Babel, the peoples became divided and they were dispersed. In the same manner, Belshazaar's kingdom would be invaded by peoples of a foreign tongue, and the Babylonians would be dispersed as well.”(2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two: Holy Spirit Fire

 

It seems that those who adhere to false teachings have a problem with their reading skills. It's not that they can't read, it's moreso that they don't read carefully. They may use biblical language, but apply it inappropriately. They may read Scripture at a surface level, but don't attempt to do careful study before speaking. If they did many of their false teachings would be cleared up before they espouse them to the masses. One such mistake is the association with what the Pentecostal and/or Charismatic movements call, “They Fire of the Holy Spirit” or “Being baptized with the Fire from the Holy Spirit.

 

The reason they give for making the connection of fire to tongues is that they say fire appeared atop the heads of the apostles at Pentecost, and they became filled with the Holy Spirit and started to speak in tongues. At this point I highly suggest reading Acts 2:1-21 as the remainder of this chapter will be analyzing chapter 2, looking at it line by line.

 

Our first stop will be at Acts 2:3, “Then there appeared to them different tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them” (NKJV). The Old KJV says, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”

 

The first thing to take note of here is that it was not fire that appeared over the heads of the apostles at Pentecost. The passage clearly states it was tongues that appeared, not fire. The NKJV says “as of fire” but clearly states “appeared to then different tongues.” The Old KJV is careful to say, “cloven tongues LIKE as of fire” (emphasis added).

 

Perhaps like me you have seen paintings of an artists rendering of the Pentecost event. Almost without fail they portray and actual flame of fire dancing over the heads of those in attendance. But, that is not what the Bible actually says. The Bible says they were tongues that divided, split, or were cloven. And if you have ever looked carefully at the flames of a campfire you notice that as the flames go upward they split, or become cloven as the KJV puts it.

 

Cloven means split in two. In the Old Testament we read of clean and unclean animals and when we do we see those animals described with cloven hooves. In our day we can just do a quick online search of a cloven hoof and we get the basic idea of the appearance of these tongues.

 

This may seem irrelevant, but it's important to the doctrine of today's tongue speaking churches because they try to associate tongues with another doctrine where they misinterpret Scripture as well: The baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

They start off their doctrine from Matthew 3:11 where John the Baptist said, “He [Jesus Christ] will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” So they equate the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the baptism of fire. They believe they are the same thing. And since they make the assumption claiming it was fire that hovered over the heads of the apostles, then it was the baptism of fire they experienced which will always manifest itself with the speaking of tongues (Pentecostals at least, some Charismatics believe tongues can come later).

 

This belief shows the carelessness of their intepretive method. If one reads just a verse before Matthew 3:11 and the verse following Matthew 3:11, there is an explanation of what the baptism of fire is actually about. And it's certainly not about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They are two separate, and completely different, baptisms. In fact, they are in opposition to each other. There's no excuse for this sloppy, verse isolation, out of context type Bible interpretation.

 

Here are all three verses together: “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed bapize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and he will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (NKJV).

 

Verses 10 and 12 give vivid imagery of unbelievers being cut down and thrown into the fire. This is clearly a baptism of judgement. Where is it throughout Scripture that unbelievers go where there is fire? Hell, of course. This is not the baptism of repentance, not by a long shot. Nor is it the baptism of the Holy Spirit mentioned in verse 11, not even close. It is the baptism of fire, of judgment, on unbelievers.

 

One author provides an ironic example regarding this issue: “We have a tongue-speaking congregation in our community that unfortunately named their church after this passage in verse 10. Their church is called Ax Church. The question is why would anyone in their right mind name a church after a judgement passage? It is a passage dealing with unbelievers being cut down and thrown into the fires of hell.”(1)

 

I'm telling you that you don't want to be baptized with fire. It's not something to be prayed for or desired. Yet how many times on TV or the internet do we see a “pastor” screaming, “Fire, fire, fire! Bring down Your fire!” or “Be baptized with the fire of the Holy Ghost!” or “Be set on fire from the Holy Spirit!”

 

 

Just some friendly advice, when you start playing with the fires of heretical teaching, it will eventually come back to burn you and those sitting in your congregation. Just one spark can start a destructive wild fire. False doctrine does not come from the one true God.

 

While reading in preparation for the writing of this book I was reminded of an incident I saw on TBN with blasphemous Benny Hinn and his deluded guest Reinhard Bonnke. Bonnke was praying and this is what he said: “Lord, John the Baptist identified you as the one with the Holy Spirit and with fire...You are still the baptizer of the Holy Spirit and with fire...And I now pray, oh Lord, that anyone young or old, who has a burning desire to be used by you, I pray, oh Lord, let your fire fall now, in the name of Jesus. Put your arm around my brother, around my sister, and dip them into the river of liquid fire, that they may become partakers of the divine fiery nature.”

 

Think about what is actually being prayed here. Words from complete ignorance out of another tongue preacher. He is praying for people to be baptized with liquid fire not even realizing that this baptism of fire is for unbelievers being cast out into the fires of hell.

 

So, the first thing we conclude at this point is that the teaching which holds the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the same as the baptism of fire is a completely false teaching. It is a complete misinterpretation of Scripture that could be avoided by simply making note of the verse that precedes and follows the single verse this false doctrine is derived from. The sign given in Acts 2 was that they would speak tongues that would figuratively be divided. Or to put it another way, they would speak in more than one language, actual languages I might add. It was not a sign of fire.

 

Let's Talk Tongues

 

The next important thing to look at in Acts 2 is what type of tongue, or language, is being spoken about here. The reason this is important is because there are so many differrinig opinions being spread throughout the church today as to what exactly is meant by speaking in tongues. I have heard, and been taught, in some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, bibe colleges and seminaries that tongues are a spiritual language which only God can understand. Some call this an Angelic language, or heavenly language.

 

But as we will learn from Acts 2 and other New Testament passages, the Biblical gift of tongues is the supernatural enabling from God to proclaim the gospel in a foreign language, right then and there, to unbelievers in foreign lands, without any previous education or knowledge in that particular language. The purpose of which is to preach the gospel to those unbelievers in their own native language so they can understand the message being presented.

 

It was a sign for the unbeliever that God's purpose was to bring people from every tribe and every nation to salvation through Jesus Christ.

 

The tongue sign in Acts 2 was never even meant to be the primary focus of the passage. The tongue was merely the method of delivery, it was prophecy (teaching) that the tongue was delivering that was to be the focus. That message being, of course, the gospel, that Jesus died in our place taking the punishment we deserve and rose from the dead for the forgivness of sins, and that those who put their faith in him will be saved.

 

Verses 7 and 8 make it abundantly clear that the tongues be spoken of in this passage refer to the supernatural enabling of speaking in foreign languages: “...Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?” (NKJV)

 

This was not some kind of personal, inward spiritual language, or some heavenly or angelic language, or some gibberish prayer language that only God could understand. It was actual, existing languages.

 

In fact, we find in verses 9-11 all of the foreign languages the apostles were miraculously able to speak. These languages included those spoken of by the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopatamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Pontus, Asians, Phyrgians, Pamphylians, Egyptians, Libyans, Romans, Cretans, and Arabians. It is beyond me how anyone can posit that the tongues spoken here were anything other than foreign languages. That position flies in the face of the clear reading of Scripture. The only real way they can embrace such an erroneous view is lack of reading it for themselves, or they have heard it preached to them and it is so engrained in their thinking they refuse to correct the traditions they've been exposed to.

 

The Focus is Prohesying the Gospel, not Tongues

 

We find the actual message of what the apostles preached in verse 11, “The wonderful works of God.” So let's take a look at what that means. Many, perhaps even the majority, of Pentecostal and Charismatic preachers say that this meant they preached a message of God's works of miracles and signs, and therefore they concentrate most of the time and effort in their ministries on these two things. I recall the Vineyard movement identified these as “Power Encounters,” perhaps they still do. The problem is this is not what the apostles were preaching. They were simply preaching the gospel message, as Jesus Himself gives us the definition of what is meant by “The works of God.” John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He sent.”

 

 

There is no work more powerful, more wonderful, more glorious than what God did for His people than sending His own Son to die for our sins on the cross. And then to be resurrected and provide for those who believe in Him eternal life.

 

Peter also tells us precisely what they were doing. He states this incident was a fulfillment of the passage in Joel where it says, “I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy...That whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Clearly they were presenting the message of the gospel to those who were present.

 

The book of Joel makes no mention of tongues. The focus is on prophesying (teaching) and the message was that “whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” It was necessary because no New Testament Scripture had been recorded yet. They were prophesying the gospel message which Jesus had instructed them to do, speading the news to all of the nations.

 

“Drunk” in the Spirit

 

The next thing we'll look at in this passage is the wild and extra-biblical doctrine of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement known as being drunk in the Spirit.

 

One name that immediately comes to mind when the topic of drunk in the Spirit comes up is a man by the name of Rodney Howard Browne. Notice the purposeful use of “man” and not pastor or evangelist. It doesn't take much research to conclude he's not worthy of either of those titles. Rodney Howard Browne has given himself the title of Holy Ghost Bartender, which is mockery and blasphemy. Do a search of this guy and watch some of the antics for yourself. I'll save you the details as I want to cover an incident involving a couple of other charlatans.

 

Awhile back I watched a video on Youtube that was actually filmed years ago at some kind of Word of Faith, Pentecostal service, gathering or conference. The main speaker was one of the worst of the worst, Kenneth Hagin. In this particular video Hagin was doing a teaching and had this to say about the apostles in regards to Acts 1, “But what did they see in order to think they were drunk? They must have thought they were drunks. They were acting like drunks.”

 

Then the camera just coincidentally zooms in on a couple sitting together. They started laughing and laughing just as Hagin was doing from the pulpit. Then the couple started acting as if though they were drunk. Then they “fall asleep” in their seats and begin to slouch and slide downward. They continue to slide all of the way out of their chairs onto the floor beneath them.

 

 

Later, in another scene, we see Hagin laughing uncontrollably as though he were a mad man. It was as if he was drunk and he said to the audience, who were all laughing like fools in the same way, “Drunk again!”

 

Hagin goes on like this for several minutes, as does most of his audience, the he says, “This is the first time we had full manifestation of the anointing.” Then he screams, “We got there! We got there!” And everyone sitting in the crowd jumps up out of theirs seats and started dancing and jumping up and down in the aisles like they were psychiatric patients in the hospital who went off of their medications.

 

Still in another scene, one more of these heretical leaders, popular false teacher Kenneth Copeland, joins in on the fiendish laughter.

 

So the gist of what Hagin and Copeland were teaching was that in this holy and precious, awe inspiring moment the apostles were runing around acting like a bunch of drunk idiots lauging and swaying as if they had no control.

 

This is pitiful. Pitiful, disgusting and sad.

 

Unfortunately this is not all that unusual or extreme for those in these circles. Let me recommend some excellent resources that cover these kinds of heretical teacnings and practices while calling out the false “prophets” responsible for such nonsense: Christianity in Crisis: 21^st Century and Counterfeit Revival both by Hank Hanegraaff; Strange Fire and Charismatic Chaos both by John MacArthur; a video presentation, I believe it's three parts, entitled Clouds Without Water by Justin Peters ; and the docu-series movie American Gospel.

 

But rest assured, the apostles were not stumbling around acting like drunks at a frat party. They were simply speaking in other foreign languages unkown to them. And when the other Galileans heard them they thought they may have had a little bit too much wine to drink because they couldn't understand these foreign languages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three: Believer's Receive the Spirit

 

At this point, I think it would be wise to discuss what is actually meant by the baptism of the Holy Spirit as it relates to the passages in Acts 2 and other passages we will be looking at in Acts, in particular chapters 8, 10, and 19. Three of these four passages mention that those who received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues, chapter 8 doesn't. So to say it occurred in chapter 8 is just speculation, although it's quite possible that it did.

 

Does this mean that the way people receive the Holy Spirit is by the laying on of hands and that tongues is the immediate evidence of this and that it always happens? No. Despite the fact this is what many in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements teach, this is not the case.

 

To start we need to understand that what was taking place in Acts 2 was the beginning of the New Testament Church age and the fulfillment of Joel 2:28 that God would pour His Spirit out on all men.

 

In the previous chapter we took a look at Acts 2. There we saw the Holy Spirit coming first upon the apostles at Pentecost in fulfillment of the Joel 2 passage. In Acts 2 God was confirming to the Jews that at least this portion of the prophecy had now been fulfilled and that He was about to start something new.

 

They had to recognize that it was something new because the Jews were already familiar with the Holy Spirit as He is prevalent in the Old Testament. An example can be found in Psalm 51:10-13, “Create in me a clean heart, O' God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You” (NKJV).

 

This Psalm teaches that its author, David, had the Holy Spirit inside of him, but just temporarily. This is much different than in the New Testament where when a person becomes a believer the Holy Spirit indwells them permanently. Jesus tells us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” But we see here David asking God not to take away the Holy Spirit. David was writing Scripture, and in 2 Timothy 3:16 we discover that all Scripture is God-breathed, or written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In order for David to write the Psalms, along with the other authors, they had to be filled or indwelt by the Holy Spirit in order for them to be God-breathed. I believe that David is referring to this when he says, “Uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.”

 

 

Just as in Acts 2 where the apostles were prophesying and teaching God's Word, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David too was doing the same thing.

 

We also find people being indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament in Isaiah, but again it's only temporary in nature. Let's take a look: “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, 'Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them, Who led them by the right hand of Moses, With His glorious arm, Dividing the water before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, Who led them through the deep, As a horse in the wilderness, That they might not stumble? As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest, So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name'” (Isaiah 63:10-14, NKJV).

 

So we see that in Acts 2 God gave the Jewish people a sign, that unlike in the Old Testament where the Holy Spirit came upon people temporarily, as with the prophets, a new thing was happening. He was now showing them He would pour out His Spirit on all people who put their faith in Jesus, and the Spirit would remain with them forever. As a side not, notice how no one laid hands on the Prophets or Apostles in order for them to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit and to prophesy. It was God alone who did this in the perfect timing of His decreed will.

 

The next significant passage mentioned in the New Testament, in regards to people receiving the Holy Spirit, is Acts 8. Acts 8 is the passage we will be going through in more detail in the next chapter. But for now, in Acts 8, God is confirming these signs in Samaritans, showing everyone that He is bringing them into His church.

 

God said He would pour out His Spirit on both Jew and Gentile. The Samaritans were a mix breed. They were part Jew and part Gentile which caused them to be outcasts. They were looked down upon and considered inferior by the Jews. So a sign was needed. A sign letting the Jews know that the Samaritans were no longer outcasts.

 

The last two incidents mentioning tongues in the book of Acts that we will be looking at are chapters 10 and 19. Both of these chapters deal with God confirming to the Jews that the Gentiles were receiving the Holy Spirit and were now also part of His church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four: Samaritans

(Acts 8)

 

Before beginning I recomment reading all of Acts chapter 8 as this chapter will be lookimg imto this passage of Scripture. Below are just a few highlighted verses from this chapter:

 

Acts 8:5, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them” (NKJV).

 

Acts 8:12, “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (NKJV).

 

Acts 8:14-17, “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

 

As one can see in verse 5 it says Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to them. Over the years most of the Jews would not even associate with the Samaritans, they considered them cross breeds, or half breeds, because they married people from other nations. But even so, Philip traveled to these outcasts in order to preach the gospel message to them. Our focus regarding “outcasts” should be the same.

 

Verses 6 and 7 go on to say, “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken of by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were posessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed” (NKJV).

 

These miraculous acts were carried out in the early church in order to confirm that the apostles were who they said they were and that what they were saying was true. Also notice what Philip was saying, he was preaching Christ. The signs gave witness to both the messenger and the message. At the time they didn't have a gathered set of writings recognized by the church, they didn't have the New Testament like we do today. So, God comfirmed His message and messengers with these miracle, or Apostolic sign, gifts. But today the vast majority of those in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements insist that these miracles, these signs, are still needed to confirm their ministries.

 

But this forces the question, why? If we have God's inspired revelation concerning Jesus Christ and all matters of faith, of course I'm referring to the closed Canon of Scripture (the Bible), which was originally confirmed by signs and wonders in the past, why do we still need any kind of signs, wonders or miracles today?

 

If we have the actual words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, and the words of the 40 or so inspired authors of God's Word, why isn't that enough? John 20:29, “Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'” (ESV).

 

Something else that should be pointed out in this chapter has to do with Simon the sorcerer. The Bible tells us that Simon, after seeing the signs and miracles being carried out by Philip, believed. But was this true belief?

 

Many in the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities insist that performing signs and wonders helps them to bring people to Christ, so they focus almost solely on these things. But in this passage, it's apparent Simon wasn't a true believer in Jesus Christ. His faith wasn't a saving faith in Jesus. Simon's only faith and belief was in the signs and miracles he witnessed Philip, and later Peter, performing and wanted that power for himself. Being awed by signs and miracles doesn't mean people will put their faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, many who attend the “healing crusades” held by these types end up leaving the gathering more depressed and more discouraged than they were before. Often times these heretics cause far more harm than any perceived good.

 

Tradition found in the writings of two influential church leaders of the second century give some harsh criticism regarding Simon the sorcerer and his affect on the early church. Let me take a few moments to share just a small sampling from both of these gentleman: Junstin Martyr and Irenaeus.

 

Justin Martyr wrote, “There was the Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty acts of magic, by virtue of the art of devils operating in him.”(1)

 

Irenaeus wrote, “...those who in any way corrupt the truth, and injuriously affect the preaching of the Church, are the disciples and successors of Simon Magus of Samaria...They set forth, indeed, the name of Christ Jesus as a sort of lure, but in various ways they introduce the impieties of Simon; and thus they destroy multitudes, wickedly disseminating their own doctrines by the use of a good name...extending to their hearers the bitter and malignant poison of the serpent, the great author of apostasy.”(2)

 

Right about now you may be asking yourself “what's the point you are trying to make with the example of Simon the sorcerer and these two quotes?” Is there a lesson to be learned here?

 

 

Yes, there is something to be learned from this. Not all apparent signs and wonders, not everything that appears to be a miracle, comes from God. Some of the leaders in these types of 'ministries” will do the best they can to convince the masses they are doing these things “in the name of Jesus” in order to deceive people into putting their faith in their ministries, However, in reality they just want to garner power over others, and at best (which is still heretical) fill their pockets with the money of the gullible. And at worst, they want to bring in false doctrine of their own making to deceive God's people.

 

Be extremely cautious when you see signs and wonders being performed today supposedly in the name of Jesus. We are to be skeptical and judge all things according to the Word of God. If one doesn't really believe the Bible as the inspired Word of God, seeing signs and wonders is not going to truly convince them either.

 

The next thing to consider in this chapter is why Philip didn't lay hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit, if in fact it works this way as those teachers on TV claim it does? We see this carried out over and over again today where the Lord's servants simply lay hands on people and shout, “Receive the Spirit!” Or they say something very similar, and then blow on them or throw their white suit jacket at them.

 

Why did Peter and John have to go to Samaria in order for this to happen? Well, it was because God wanted to confirm to the Church in Jerusalem that the Samaritans were indeed being saved, and would receive the Holy Spiritl just like the Jews had. God wanted it to be clear to His people that the Samaritans were no longer outcasts, they had received salvation and the Holy Spirit and were accepted into God's family. Notice in this passage there is no mention of speaking in tongues whatsoever. Not that it isn't possible that took place, it's just worth mentioning as this is one of the passages frequently used to “prove” the connection of tongues to Holy Spirit baptism yet there's no mention of tongues.

 

Later in this chapter of Acts we read the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch which begins in verse 35, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jeus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, 'See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?' Then Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea” (8:35-40, NKJV).

 

 

 

We don't read in this account anything about the Ethiopian eunuch speaking in tongues or prophesying after putting all of his faith in Jesus. Yet, he had been indwelt with the Holy Spirit just as all believers are once they believe. There is not mention of anyone laying hands on him telling him to “receive the Holy Spirit.”

 

Not everyone we read of in Acts who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and were hence indwelt by the Holy Spirit, experienced the act of speaking in tongues in a foreign language. We see in Acts 16:14 that Lydia was saved and she didn't speak in tongues. In Acts 16:34, the Philipian jailer, along with his household, were saved yet there is no mention of tongues. In Acts 17:34, Dionysius and Damaris came to faith yet didn't speak in tongues. In Acts 18:8, Crispus the ruler of the synagogue was saved but didn't speak in tongues. Despite these passages, some within the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities would consider these non-tongue speakers of not truly being born again; and, quite frankly, most in those communities would consider them as not filled with the Spirit.

 

I hope you, the reader, can see the absurdity of this divisive, unbiblical belief. Yet thousands and thousands of people remain sitting under these teachers and just sit their without objection. And even if someone starts to feel like they need to bring the issue up, to just ask a question because they doubt the validity of what they are hearing, the leaders will jump on them calling them trouble makers and blasphemers while making statements such as “How dare you come against one of God's anointed?”

 

Let me just state it clearly: you do not need to speak in tongues in order to be saved from your sin through Jesus Christ. You do not need to speak in tongues to prove you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. You do not need to speak in tongues in order to know you are indwelt or filled with the Holy Spirit. If you don't speak in tongues you are not less spiritual, you are not less mature, and you are not some king of second class believer. In fact, it just might be true that the exact opposite is the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five: Gentiles

(Acts 10)

 

As you can see from the title, this chapter takes a look at Acts 10. Once again, I highly recommend reading Acts 10 before starting this chapter of the book. Nevertheless, a few passages from the chapter will be highlighted below:

 

Acts 10:42-46, “And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 'To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.' While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God'” (NKJV).

 

In this chapter of Acts we come across the story of Cornelius who worked as a centurion in the army. Cornelius was not a circumcised Jew, he was an uncircumcised Gentile. However, he was a true believer in the God of Israel but had not yet been saved. We discover this to be the case when we read the precise words the angel used in Acts 11:13-14 when speaking to Cornelius, “Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter; 'Who will tell you the words by which you and your household will be saved'” (NKJV). So Cornelius sends for Peter.

 

In Acts 10:24 we read that Cornelius and many of his relatives and close friends were waiting for Peter to arrive so they could hear what he had to say. In verses 34-43, Peter arrives and shares the gospel, letting them know that Christ was crucified and resurrected on the third day. And he ends his preaching in verse 43 saying that whoever believes in Christ will receive the forigiveness for their sins.

 

Take note that in verse 44 it says that while Peter was speaking the words, “whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins,” the Holy Spirit came upon them. Peter didn't lay on hands on them. He didn't pray over them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit simply came upon them when they received the gospel message and believed. When one puts their faith in Jesus Christ, Christ indwells them with the Holy Spirit. I want to look at two passages that teach this truth.

 

1 John 4:13-15, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (NKJV).

 

Romans 8:9-16, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will aso give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore brethren, we are debtors; not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (NKJV).

 

In Acts 10:45-46, it states that those of the circumcision, the Jews, who traveled along with Peter, heard them speak immediatley aftward with tongues glorifying God. So, here we have the Gentiles, who it appears began speaking the language of the Jews, an actual language, because the Jews who had traveled there could understand what the Gentiles were saying. They could hear that they were glorifying God. This was clearly a unique event to give a sign to Peter and those Jews who had been circumcised that God would send His Spirit upon the uncircumcised, Gentile nations, as well.

 

God was providing a sign to the circumcised Jews that they needed to accept Gentiles into the church. Reading on into chapter 11 of Acts, we see that when Peter returned to Jerusalem he was rebuked by some of the Jews there for associating with the Gentiles on his journey. Then Peter told them about what had taken place at Joppa with the Gentiles and he ended by saying, “'And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I rememberred the words of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?' When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life'” (Acts 11:15-18, NKJV).

 

As a side note regarding our earlier chapter on “baptism with fire,” notice Acts 11:16 that Peter “mentions they were baptized with the Holy Spirit only. He doesn't say they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. This is another verse that indicates that the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire, are two completely separate and distinct baptisms.”(1)

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Six: Disciples of John the Baptist

(Acts 19)

 

Acts 19:1-7, “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' So they said to him, 'We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.' And he said to them, 'Into what then were you baptized?' So they said, 'Into John's baptism.' Then Paul said, 'John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.' When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all” (NKJV).

 

Clearly, we see in this chapter of Acts that the apostle Paul comes across twelve men who were disciples of John the Baptist. Most likely they were baptized by John the Baptist when he was out preaching in the wilderness. But it seems they must not have been around John the Baptist at the end of his ministry, because by then he had instructed his disciples to follow Jesus. So, they hadn't yet put their faith in Jesus Christ. This is evident from verse 4 where Paul said, “'John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, Jesus Christ.' When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus'” (NKJV). Paul then affirmed they were now of the faith and belonged to the church by laying his hands on them.

 

I recently came across a sermon on this passage by Joseph Prince. Prince is one of the Word of Faith false teachers that can be regularly seen on TBN. If the name doesn't sound familiar you may have seen him and just not made the connection. He's the one frequently seen wearing those black, leather outfits. Prince “does not understand the Old Testament...he treats the Old Testament as some kind of code...[Prince also] claims we must not preach the Ten Commandments because they kill, and will lead believers to sickness and depression.”(1)

 

At any rate, as Prince started to preach on this passage, without reading it from the Bible as is often the case with Charismatic sermons, he said, “One time the apostle Paul passes by a group of people, and ahh, he asks them; 'Have you received the Holy Ghost?' And the Bible says they were disciples, they were believers in Christ...In Acts 19, if you look at it, Paul passed by...and then he found disciples...these are believer's in Christ, Christians. And he askes them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed...They said we have never heard of anything about the Holy Spirit. 'So what Baptism were you baptized?' 'Oh, John's baptism'...Then the Bible says he prayed for them, laid hands on them, and said receive the Holy Spirit. And what was the evidence? They spoke in tongues!”(2)

 

Do you see the subtlty? Do you see what Prince does here? Unfortunately, this is very common in Pentecostal, Charismatic and Word of Faith environments. What Prince says above is absolutely not true. These disciples of John the Baptist were not yet saved. Prince conveniently leaves out verses 4 and 5 where Paul tells them that John preached that they should believe on Him who would come after him. Namely, Jesus Christ. And after they believed they were then baptized.

 

These men were not believers as Prince claims. Why would Prince purposefully misrepresent this passage? Why would he omit two key verses? It's because he needs to in order to support his false teaching of what is often called a second anointing of the Holy Spirit. “Second anointing” is a Pentecostal and Charismatic phrase.

 

What do they mean by this “second anointing?” Well, Prince and those like him, teach that after a person comes to faith in Christ and is born again, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in them. This is what they refer to as the first anointing. After that, they claim Christians need to receive a second anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to speak in tongues, heal, perform miracles, etc.

 

But there's a big problem. This text teaches the exact opposite. The disciples of John, just moments after they put their faith in Jesus and were indwelt by the Holy Spirit for the first time, started to speak in tongues, prophesying in a language foreign to them. We also saw the same thing in Acts 10, once they believed and were filled with the Holy Spirit they started speaking in tongues right away. They didn't have any kind of a “second anointing.” And that's because there isn't any kind of second, third, fourth, or whatever, anointing/filling/indwelling/baptism (or whatever one attempts to call it).

 

A second thing to take note of is, Prince claimed that Paul prayed for these disciples. But the passage says no such thing. These men had just believed the gospel message and were baptized by Paul indicating they were now followers of Jesus. Paul didn't draw these men to Christ, it was the Father. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws him...” (John 6:44, NKJV).

 

Third, Prince says that not only did Paul pray for them, he also laid hands on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Once again, nowhere does it say that Paul said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” As if it's as simple as one person putting their hands on another and reciting this four word mantra. This way of thinking comes from the false Charismatic doctine of “Word Faith.” This is where you say whatever you wish, with faith, and it will certainly come to pass.

 

 

 

What the Bible actually says here is the Holy Spirit, who now resided within them, came upon them and they spoke in tongues. There's a huge difference, because many who speak in tongues believe that a person can't speak in tongues for the first time without the laying on of hands and a word being spoken like, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” or something along those lines. This is not what Acts 19 says, not at all.

 

The great Reformer, John Calvin, gives a good summary regarding this issue in his commentary on Acts 19:6: “Whereas the men of old time did use laying on of hands, that they might confirm the profession of faith in those who were grown up, I do not mislike it, so that no man think that the grace of the Spirit is annexed to such a ceremony [the laying on of hands].”(3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven: Are Tongues For Every Believer

(1 Corinthians 12)

 

In the previous chapter, we discovered that some churches today are perverting the doctrine of biblical tongue speaking by claiming one of two things: First, they say that every believer needs to speak in tongues as evidence they are truly saved; or second, every believer must speak in tongues as evidence they have been baptized or indwelt by the Holy Spirit. However, in 1 Corinthians 12 we have evidence that directly opposes both of these heretical positions. We see in this passage that neither of these things were teachings of the early church. Paul makes that very clear. It would seem that some in the church at Corinth had developed this same false doctrine, or at least one almost identical, and Paul had to write them to correct their polluted thinking.

 

1 Corinthians 12:4-11, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the workiing of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all of these things, DISTRIBUTING TO EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY AS HE WILLS” (emphasis added, NJKV).

 

We see here there many different gifts that were given by the Holy Spirit in the early church, and the Holy Spirit distributed them to different individuals which He selected to give these gifts to.

 

In verse 11 we clearly see that the Holy Spirit distributes the gifts as He wills, not by the will of any Christian. Perhaps you want to speak in tongues, but that really doesn't matter if the Holy Spirit has seen fit to give you a different gift, or gifts. The Holy Spirit has no obligation to give people the gift(s) they desire, He gives them according to His will.

 

After Paul lists these different gifts given by the Holy Spirit, and informing the church at Corinth that different people receive different gifts in order to edify the body, he continues in verses 12-27 and relates each person within the Body, each having a separate gift from the Spirit compared to others, to the different parts of the Body. And how all parts of the body are necessary for the entire Body to operate as it's supposed to.

 

Then in 1 Corinthians 12:28-31 Paul continues, “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way” (NKJV).

 

Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions. Paul, and those reading already knew the answer. Paul couldn't have been more exhaustive in making his point. In verse 29, the apostle Paul asks, “Are all apostles?” Again, this is rhetorical as everyone knew the answer was “No!” “Are all prophets?” No! And he contiues down with this same pattern and when he gets to the gift of tongues he asks the same question, “Do all speak in tongues?” And the answer is, “No. Clearly not.”

 

I don't see how any pastor or preacher today can reach the conclusion that all true believers must speak in tongues. To teach such nonsense reveals a complete lack of Bible knowledge, an inability to interpret correctly, and they are just replacing the true doctrine of God with a lie. They are teaching the doctrines of men rather than the doctrine of God.

 

In my opinion, with just the information provided thus far in this book, especially this chapter, it's extremely difficult to understand why or how others teach speaking in tongues is necessary to show one has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Having held this position in the past, I can't comprehend someone reaching that conclusion on their own through proper Bible study alone. I can only assume, as was the case with me, that position is reached from the tradition of man being deeply implanted within the denomination or fellowship one comes from or is involved with.

 

The gist of what Paul is basically saying in 1 Corinthians 12 is, don't be jealous over which gifts of the Spirit are given to whom. Don't covet gifts the Holy Spirit bestows upon others but doesn't give to you. He encourages them to desire the best gift of them all, which is love. In fact, the very next chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, is known as the “love chapter.” Love is far more important and valuable than any of the Spiritual gifts they may have received.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eight: Language of Angels?

(1 Corinthians 13)

 

As I stated in the previous chapter, 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter of the Bible. Its primary focus is on love. No matter how many spiritual gifts, natural talets or natural abilities God has given an individual, or how many good works one has performed, they all pale in comparison to loving God and loving your neighbor.

 

With that said, it never ceases to amaze me how so many Pentecostal and Charismatic people out there attempt to use 1 Corinthians 13 as a proof text for tongues being a special heavenly or angelc language, a language which only God understands. They try to use this chapter to justify the fact that they are speaking incomprehinsible gibberish to themselves and others. So let's take a look at this chapter.

 

1 Corinthians 13:1-13, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

 

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (NKJV).

 

Right from the very beginning we have our controversy. In verse 1 Paul says, “though I speak in tongues of men and of angels.” Pentecostals and Charismatics use this as proof positive that Paul spoke in an angelic, or heavenly, language. However, this is not at all the point Paul was trying to make to the church at Corinth.

 

 

 

What has happened is that the Corinthian church had began to overemphasize the gift of tongues. One author says they had “became enamored with tongues.”(1) They looked at tongues as though it was the ultimate of the spiritual gifts, even to the point it appears they were pretending to speak in tongues within the church. So, Paul had to correct their erroneous belief on these issues in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14.

 

Let's take a closer look at verse 1. The gist of what Paul was actually saying was this, “If I could speak in every language known to humanity, or even if could speak the lanaguage of angels, if I don't have love, what good does it do?” Paul wasn't literally saying he could speak in every language or in a language of angels. This is made clear in verse two when he continues with the understanding of mysteries. Did Paul have the ability with the gift of prophecy to understand all of the mysteries of God? Of course not. We know this because several verses later in verse 12 he says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part.” Paul said we only know the mysteries of God partially until we see Him face to face.

 

And did Paul actually remove mountains from one location to another with his fatih? Again, the answer is no. What he was getting at is that if God had given him that ability, but he didn't have love, what good would it do him?

 

Let's be fair. If you preach and teach tongues and believe verse 1 means all believers need to speak in tongues of angels, in a heavenly language, then in order for you to be consistent you must also preach and teach that all Christians should go out and relocate mountains. And if you can't relocate a mountain, well then, you just don't have enough faith and may not even be born again. This is utterly ridiculous when you put verse 1 in its full context.

 

In this passage Paul was clearly talking figuratively, not literally, about being able to speak an agelic language, just like he was talking figuratiely, not literally, about being able to undestand all mysteries and to relocate mountains.

 

The next verse in this chapter dealing with tongues is verse 8, and it has some controversy as well, “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.”

 

At the time Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, the gift of prophecy was given to certain men as one of the gifts God gave to the Church. But in verse 8 we read that prophecies will fail, which means they will cease. There will be at time in prophecies will come to an end.

 

 

Most would agree that as this relates to prophecies regarding future events, that Revelation 22:18 gives a warning to anyone tring to add prophecies regarding God's final message to mankind. The passage reads, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (NKJV).

 

This passage is important and clear. If someone comes up to you claiming they have received an extra-Biblical prophetic message from God, you know right away that what they have to say can be dismissed. In the past, when someone has approached me and said, “God told me to tell you...,” I kindly let them finish and respond with something along the lines of, “Well, okay, but if it's all the same to you I'm going to go ahead and wait for Him to tell me Himself.” Another way to respond is as soon as they say, “God told me...,” interrupt them and hold up a Bible and ask them, “Really? Where in here did God tell you this?”

 

Returning back to 1 Corinthians 13:8, next in the verse we read, “Whether there are tongues, they will cease.” God makes it clear in the Bible that the spiritual gift of tongues will only operate for a limited time frame. So, in order for this passage to be fulfilled, at some point in history the gift of tongues must cease and will no longer be given as a gift.

 

When we study the early church fathers, it appears that tongues were still being spoken during the second century (100-200 A.D.) time period. We have evidence of this from Irenaeus, who had heard Polycarp preach. The apostle John actually trained Polycarp, Polycarp was one of his students and/or disciples. We read this from Irenaeus, “In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God.”(2)

 

Notice how Iraneus identifies these tongues from the Spirit as languages, just as they are defined in Acts 2.

 

Sometime after the second century, it appears that tongues faded and then ceased to operate. During the fourth century (300-400 A.D.) time period, an important early church leader by the name of John Chrysostom states they had ceased and were no longer in operation in the Church. In his “Homilies” on 1 Corinthians 19 he writes, “This whole phenomenon, (the gift of tongues), is very obscure, but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation. Being such then as used to occur, but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now?”(3)

 

Another fouth centry (300-400 A.D.) church father, St. Augustine, also wrote concerning the ceasing of tongues. He wrote: “In the earliest times, the Holy Ghost fell upon them that believed; and they spake with tongues, which they had not learned, as the Spirit gave them utterance. These were signs adapted to the time. For there behooved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit in all tongues, to show that the Gospel of God was to run through all languages over the whole earth. That thing was done for a betokening, and it passed away.”(4)

 

And one of the greatest of the Reformers, John Calvin, also wrote that tongues had ceased: “For they heard them. He expresseth what the gifts of the Spirit were poured out upon them, and therefore he notes the use; to wit, that they had a variety of tongues given to them, so that they did glorify God with many tongues. Also, it may be gathered out of this place that the tongues were given to them not only for necessity, seeing the gospel was to be preached to strangers and to men of another language, but also to be an ornament and worship to the gospel. But ambition did afterward corrupt this second use, for as many did translate that unto pomp and vain glory which they had received to set forth the dignity of the heavenly wisdom, as Paul did sharply reprove this fault in the Corinthians. Therefore, do not marvel if God took away that shortly afterward which He had given, and did not suffer the same to be corrupted with abuse any longer.”(5)

 

It's very clear from well-known church leaders, that from at least the fourth century on, there is no real evidence of the true, authentic gift of biblical tongues having been documented. Author and researcher Francis Gumerlock concludes, “The early church had no such concept of the gift of tongues as unintelligible speech, but rather that they referred to the real human languages of the nations around the Apostles.”(6) Although there are some incidents of counterfeit tongues found in history that reflect the false tongues and signs being acted out in today's Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. We'll look at some of them later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Nine: Misuse in Corinth

(1 Corinthians 14)

 

In 1 Corinthians 14 we find Paul continuing to instruct and rebuke the church in Corinth for pretending to speak in tongues, and for their misuse and abuse of this gift. Yet, many of the tongue speaking preachers of today still attempt to use some of Paul's statements in these chapters to ecourage their congregations to speak in unintelligible, ecstatic gibberish. To start things off, I highly recommend you read 1 Corinthians 14 before continuing with this chapter.

 

In the first six verses the theme is clearly Paul's wish that the church would put their foucs on teaching God's Word in the language known to those in attendance, instead of focusing on tongues. Evidently, when they were speaking in tongues, wheter the real gift or their own conconcted gibberish, nobody could understand what they were saying. If nobody understands what they were saying, the most logical conclusion is they were uttering nonsensical, unintelligible noises. Most likely it was not the true gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

Each gift of the Spirit had a purpose. The purpose behing the gift of tongues, as we discussed earlier, was to enable the gospel to be proclaimed to those who spoke in a foreign language. So, if there are no foreigners present in the service, and one really is speaking in a tongue, since it would be beneficial to noone, why would the Holy Spirit prompt the gift to be used at that time? That just doesn't make sense. The more likely explanation is that what they were doing was just speaking gibberish that no one could understand so that they might look more spiritually mature to others.

 

Looking at verse two we see it reads, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” What happens here is many Pentecostals and Charismatics attempt to use this verse as evidence that when you speak in tongues you are speaking some sort of God-language, or some king of heavenly or angelic language of praise that noone is able to comprehend except for God.

 

But is that what's really going on here? I suggest it's not what is happening. Paul was rebuking them for speaking in some kind of tongue that noone present could understand, and then it says, “In the spirit he speaks mysteries.” The spirit here is not even referring to the Holy Spirit, this is evidenced, at least in part, by most translations not capitalzing the “s” in spirit. It's referring to either mankind's own spirit or a deceiving spirit or demon. And the mysteries here is not referring to the mysteries of God, but only that their gibberish sounded mysterious.

 

 

This is clarified even further down in verse 9 where Paul says, “So likewise, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.” Read verses 1 – 9 again with this in mind, it should become quite clear.

 

Quite frankly, it wasn't that they were praying to God (perhaps they may have thought they were), they were simply offering up empty noise into the air, very much like what we see taking place in many pagan religions of that time period. In fact, the same thing we see being offered up in cults and the occult today.

 

If tongues are some sort of heavenly or angelic language that only God understands, then why would God, who created all of the human languages and understands every single one of them, need a person to speak or pray to Him in His “special language” for Him to understand what's being said? Especially since He even knows the intent of our hearts.

 

Now to verse 4, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” Many Charismatics consider and teach that this is actually a good thing. They say we should speak, or pray, in tongues as a means of edifying ourselves. This is quite typical of today's man-centered, self-centered, “best life now” churches.

 

Of course they are completely missing the point of the passage. They are just teaching man-made, selfish doctrine. In reality, Paul is rebuking them for NOT edifying the church and for focusing on themselves, trying to bring attention to themselves.

 

Verse 5 says, “I wish you all spoke with tongues...”

 

Something important to note regarding this chapter, is knowing the difference between tongue (singular) and tongues (plural). It seems that when Paul refers to tongues (plural) he means the true, authentic gift of tongues, and when he refers to tongue (singular) he means either one specific language being spoken or he is talking about the made up gibberish language or false tongue. What Paul is saying in verse 5 is, “I wish you really did have the gift of tongues (if there's an interpreter). If not, it really doesn't do any good.”

 

Regarding verses 7 – 9 Argubright states, “Paul relates the noises that they were speaking to sounds of different musical instruments. The problem was that when a trumpet blast comes forth it is supposed to sound like a trumpet. It's not supposed to sound like a flute, or something else.

 

 

 

“And that's what was happening at Corinth. People were expecting a trumpet sound to come forth from the trumpeter, their preachers. Instead, what they heard was something really strange.”(1)

 

Continuing along these lines to verses 14 and 15, Paul says, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with understanding.”

 

This is yet another passage Pentecostals and Charismatics twist in order to support their belief that tongues are some mystical spiritual language.

 

Another false teacher, and frequent TBN personality, Joyce Meyer, a big proponent for speaking in tongues for our own edification sates “...when we speak in tongues, we are speaking secrets and mysteries to God. We are saying things in a spiritual language that our enemy Satan cannot understand. When we speak in tongues, often we are prophesying great things over our lives things that we might not be able to accept if we understood what we were saying.”(2)

 

So here we have a plain, forthright statement from a famous Word of Faith, prosperity, tongue teaching leader that the gift of tongues is not a human language understandable to mankind, which is the direct opposite of what is taught in Acts 2. But she says tongues are a spiritual language, adding other details about the gift that are nowhere taught in Scripture. This is nothing short of the great heresy Gnosticism. If you are unfamiliar with that term I suggest looking it up.

 

Meyer states we are to pray in an unintelligible tongue (language) and pray without understanding. However, Paul states both mankind's spirit and prayers should be with understanding. Once again, the word spirit, mentioned in verses 14 and 15, starts with a lower case “s.” As mentioned earlier, this refers to man's spirit, not the Holy Spirit. When referring to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Bible uses a captial “S.” Either Meyer purposefully twists Scripture in order to support her false doctrine, or she is too ignorant to be teaching anyone God's Word.

 

Paul speaks about public prayer in verses 16 and 17, “Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say 'Amen' at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified” (NKJV).

 

In many cases you have Pentecostal and Charismatic churches where almost the entire congregation is blabbing away in ecstatic gibberish in the midst of their worship service, but Paul basically says, “What are you people doing? The whole congregation needs to understand the prayers so they can agree with the prayers being offered up to God so everyone can say, 'Amen.'”

 

In verses 18 and 19, Paul says the following, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (NKJV).

 

Paul is making it very clear in this passage that church is not really the place for speaking in different languages (or tongues) Paul is recognized as one of the first missionaries to the Gentiles, and being able to speak a variety of languages (tongues), was sent primarily to preach the gospel. We know for sure Paul spoke at the very least two languages, Greek and Hebrew. We find this confirmed in Acts 21.

 

Acts 21:40, “So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the HEBREW language” (emphasis added, NKJV).

 

Acts 21:37, “Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, 'May I speak to you?' He replied, 'Can you speak GREEK'” (emphasis added, NKJV).

 

Paul, being a Pharisee, would have learned the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as Greek in order to read the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). So most likely these were languages he learned naturally and through study, not the supernatural gift of tongues. Just as a reminder, Paul wasn't at Pentecost. He became a follower of Christ after Pentecost took place. Although he was an apostle to the Gentiles, technically it's only speculation as to whether or not Paul was given the the spiritual gift of tongues in order to speak to others in languages he had not learned. Most likely he did receive the gift of tongues, it seems that's the case. I simply bring this up to show that much assumption goes on in the name of proper biblical interpretation.

 

In 1 Corinthians 14:20 we read, “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.” This exhortation from Paul should be heeded in today's tongue promoting churches. The point being, speaking in tongues freely in a worship service is a sign of spiritual immaturity.

 

Continuing on in 1 Corinthians 14:21-22, “In the law it is written: 'With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,' says the Lord. 'Therefore tongues are a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying (speaking or teaching God's word) is not for unbelievers but for those who believe'” (NKJV).

 

It's significant to understand that even if you speak in a foreign language to people who are not saved but who are native speakers of that language, and are able to give a clear presentation of the gospel message, it doesn't mean people will accept God's Word. It's difficult to imagine Paul being any clearer in making his point. If tongues are a sign to unbelievers, in particular to unbelievers who speak a different language than your own, then why when believers are gathered together who all speak the same language (English fo example) is there any reason to speak in any other language than that language (English)?

 

There is no reason! But hearing the Word of God in your own language is, of course, extremely beneficial to the church.

 

Great men like Martin Luther, Wycliffe and William Tyndale sacrificed much and spent their lives making sure people could read and hear God's Word in their own native tongue (language). They understood what this passage meant. No more Latin only. The Germans wanted German for the German church, the English wanted English for the English church, etc.

 

Verse 23 is of particular interest for us today. It reads, “Therefore, if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?'

 

Paul's question here is rhetorical. His point is, “Yes, they would say you are out of your mind.” I mentioned above this is of particular interest for us today because so much of this foolishness takes place in congregations now and unbelievers, by way of the internet, have access to witness all of it. And those watching online are saying precisely “are you people out of your mind?”

 

By way of TBN and other channels; online access to church services, conferences, recorded televangelists, streaming of “revivals,” etc., those outside the church are certainly laughing at, and criticizing, what they see happening in denominations and movements that allow this eccentric behavior. These actions don't advance the gospel, they thwart it.

 

From verse 27 through the end of the chapter Paul deals with the necessity of worship services being orderly. Apparently, in relation to tongues, everybody was speaking out all at once in different languages. This made the worship service even more bizarre. So Paul provides this instruction, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no intepreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God” (NKJV).

 

 

 

Paul says there should only be a couple of prophecies given in tongues, and even then only when there is an intepreter present so that the rest of the congregation can understand what is being said. Otherwise, if there's no interpreter, then just be quiet.

 

This obviously brings up the question, why do so many big name, hot shot, Pentecostal/Charismatic/Word of Faith preachers such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, the late Kenneth Hagin, and others, speak in tongues so frequently on their TV programs (and online formats) without an intepreter giving an intepretation as to what is being said? Seems to me Paul's instruction was rather clear here.

 

The Pentecostal and Charismatic groups use the last statement on tongues in this chapter as a proof text that we should never forbid the speaking of tongues in the church. The passage reads, “Therefore, brethren desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order” (verses 39 and 40, NKJV).

 

This was true in the case of the early church, after all they had and practiced the true, authentic, spiritual and biblical gift of tongues. Yet, I think a case has been made thus far that tongues, as we see them legitimately practiced in the Bible, may have ceased and been replaced in the church today with the false tongues of ecstatic gibberish, which we will look at more closely in the next chapter. So, in actuality it's very important and appropriate to call out and rebuke false tongue speaking in the church today.

 

Argubright provides a very good, and somewhat humorous, summarization:

 

“Now if you still question whether or not Tongues have ceased, the best evidence I have found for tongues ceasing is this. While researching what the charismatic faith healer Benny Hinn believed in regards to tongues, I found this comment from one gentleman that I liked very much regarding tongues ceasing. It stated this;

 

“'Tongues have ceased. Otherwise, Benny Hinn and those like him are credible. Tongues have ceased.'”(3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Ten: A Brief History of Abuse

 

So far we have discovered that the church at Corinth was perverting, misusing and abusing the true use of the gift of tongues. This was most likely due to influence, at least in part, by their surrounding culture and growing up around Greek diviners, and the like, which had a long history in Greece.

 

These diviners practiced crazy things such as chopping up different parts of a liver in order to get some kind of “divine” revelation which they referred to as oracles. Often times they would also fall into trances and speak unintelligible, ecstatic gibberish.

 

Plato

 

The philosopher Plato, in one of his writings stated the following, “...they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things but do not understand the meaning of them.”(1)

 

Another of his dialogues, written to a man by the name of Timaeus, says that those who practiced divination were bringing forth dark sayings that they could not understand. Plato wrote, “And herein is a proof that God has given the art of divinition not to the wisdom, but to the foolishness of man. No man, when in his wits, attains prophetic truth and inspiration; but when he receives the inspired word, either his intelligence is enthralled in sleep, or he is demented by some distemper or possession. And how can he understand what he has said, whether in a dream or when he was awake, by the prophetic and inspired nature, or would determine by reason the meaning of the apparitions wich he has seen, and what indications they afford to this man or that, of past, present or future good and evil, must first recover his wits. But, while he continues demented, he cannot judge the visions which he sees or the words which he utters; the ancient saying is very true, that 'only a man who has his wits can act or judge about himself and his own affairs.' And for this reason it is customary to appoint interpreters to be judges of the true inspiration. Some persons call them prophets; they are quite anaware that they are only the expositors of dark sayings and visions...”(2)

 

So this is the kind of speaking in tongues that the Corinthians had been familiar with from their Greek culture. Sadly, it seems as though they started to bring the practice of speaking in ecstatic utterances into their church. So Paul had to address the issue and correct and rebuke the Corinthians for what they were doing.

 

There's a big problem today in that if you hold the position that tongues are an actual foreign language, and like Paul, you bring attention to the unbiblical kind of tongues being represented in much of the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities of our time, you will be attacked by them and likened to the very people who were saying the apostles were drunk when they started speaking in tongues at Pentecost. Some will even label you an unsaved blasphemer.

 

It's rather sad and disheartening. What it really boils down to is if they can't base their position on an accurate reading of Scripture, then what they adhere to is done so in the same way that cults hold their positions. You can go through the Scriptures regarding tongues with them, point out the correct biblical teachings verse by verse, but all you get is the equivalent to a child sticking their fingers in their ears refusing to listen.

 

In chapter 7, when we looked at 1 Corinthians 13, sometime after the second century church the biblical gift of tongues appears to have ceased. However, there are some documented cases of false tongues being exposed throughout history that closely mirrors some of what takes place in the tongue speaking churches of our day.

 

Eusebius

 

The fourth century church historian, Eusebius, records the case of a man named Montanus. Montanus was accused of being a heretic by the church because of, at least in part, his use of ecstatic babblings and gibberish. Sadly, although many in the church recognized these tongues to be false, some in the church were deceived by him.

 

Eusebius wrote much regarding this in five chapters of one of his works. I will highlight some information from those chapters below:

 

“The enemy of God's church, who is emphatically a hater of good and lover of evil, and leaves untried no manner of craft against men, was again active in causing strange heresies to spring up against the Church. For some persons, like venomous reptiles, crawled over Asia and Phrygia, boasting that Montanus was the Paraclete (The Comforter. In other words the Holy Spirit)...” (14:1).(3)

 

“...And he became beside himself, and being suddenly in a sort of frenzy and esstasy, he raved, and began to babble and utter strange things, prophesying in a manner contrary to the constant custom of the Church handed down by tradition from the beginning” (16:6).(4)

 

“Some of those who heard his spurious utterances at that time were indignant, and they rebuked him as one that was possessed, and that was under the control of a demon, and was led by a deceitful spirit...But others imagining themselves possessed by the Holy Spirit and of a prophetic gift, were elated and not a little puffed up; and forgetting the distinction of the Lord, they challenged the mad and insidious and seducing spirit, and were cheated and deceived by him” (16:8).(5)

 

“...by such a system of wicked craft...secretly excited and inflamed their understandings which had already becaome estranged from the true faith. And he also stirred up two women, and filled them with the false spirit, so that they talked wildly and unreasonably and strangely...And the arrogant spirit taught them to revile the entire universal Church under heaven, because the spirit of false prophecy received neither honor from it nor entrance to it” (16:9).(6)

 

“For the faithful in Asia met often in many places throughout Asia to consider this matter, and examined the novel utterances and pronounced them profane, and rejected the heresy, and those persons were expelled from the Church and debarred from communion” (16:10).(7)

 

“When those called to martyrdom from the Church for the truth of the faith have met with any of the so-called martyrs of the...heresy, they have separated from them, and died without any fellowship with them, because they did not wish to give their assent to the spirit of Montanus and the women” (16:22).(8)

 

“...a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy...But the false prophet falls into an ecstasy, in which he is without shame or fear. Beginning with purposed ignorance, he passes on, as had been stared, to involuntary madness of soul” (17:1).(9)

 

Eusebius is clearly putting forth that this was not normal behavior in regards to the proper operation of tongues as practiced biblically and passed down by the early church. To put it plainly, this was a perverse corruption of actual tongues. These tongues were nonsensical gibberish, not foreign languages.

 

Prosperity Gospel: The Very Early Years

 

Eusebius then goes on to give us a picture of the motive behind the tongue-speaking heretic Montanus, and that motivation is money. Sound familiar? It should.

 

Here Eusebius quotes Apollonius in respect to Montanus, “His actions and his teaching show who this new teacher is. This is he who taught the dissolution of marriage; who made laws for fasting; who named Pepuza and Tymion, small towns in Phrygia, Jerusalem, wishing to gather people to them from all directions; who appointed collectors of money; who contrived the receiving of gifts under the name of offerings; who provided salaries for those who preached his doctrine, that it might prevail through gluttony...plausible covetousness...For we will show that those whom they call prophets and martyrs gather their gain not only from rich men, but also from the poor, and orphans, and widows...But it is necessary that all the fruits of a prophet should be examined. Tell me, does a prophet dye his hair? Does a prophet stain his eyelids? Does a prophet delight in adornment? Does a prophet play with tables and dice? Does a prophet lend on usury?”(10)

 

Did you recognize how much of the above information from Eusebius reflects what is being done by the false tongue preachers in churches today, not to mention almost every speaker broadcast by TBN?

 

1800's

 

Although there were a few pockets of heretical sects that sprang up through the years, the next major cult movement that practiced tongues came on the scene during the 1800's with the rise of Mormonism. Following are some quotes from Emma Hale Smith, the wife of Mormon founder and cult leader Joseph Smith. She had this to say about tongues which were taking place during their worship:

 

“When Joseph asked Brigham Young to pray, Brigham spoke in tongues using strange sounds and unfamiliar words. The others looked at Joseph in some perplexity, for this type of spiritual phenomenon was not common to them. It was Joseph's first experience with the puzzling speech and he called it 'pure Adamic' and stated it was 'of God.'

 

“Speaking in tongues spread through the Pennsylvania branches of the church first, then it occurred in Mendon, New York. Brigham Young brought it to Kirtland. The practice became a part of the Saints' worship, particularly among women, until well into the next century.”(11)

 

Notice that she states they made strange sounds, the same description fits the ecstatic utterances that take place in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles today. And think about it, in order to try and bring legitimacy to what was happening, Joseph Smith came up with the idea that it was Adam's original language wich was spoken in the garden. However, the following quote shows the true origin behind these tongues.

 

“Frederick G. Williams rose and stated that an angel entered through the window and took a place between himself and Father Smith and remained there during the meeting. The congregation shouted, 'Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb,' three times, sealing it each time with 'Amen! Amen! Amen!

 

“Brigham Young spoke in tongues; David W. Patten interpreted, and at four o'clock in the afternoon the dedication was over.”(12)

 

What is described here is very disturbing. First, that an angel, which is a spirit being, had entered the room and then Brigham Young began speaking in tongues. We know with complete certainty this couldn't have been a holy angel or the Holy Spirit, because neither woulld be sent by God to affirm a religion that blatantly perverts the gospel, who Jesus is, the Father is, and numerous other clearly unbiblical doctrines and beliefs. However, a fallen angel would jump at the chance to affirm a religion that teaches heresy such as Jesus being the brother of Satan. So, if this actually did take place, it was a deceiving spirit that was among them, and when the spirit arrived, they spoke in tongues. Taking this into consideration, the question must be asked, is this a possible reason for so many of the heretical, tongue speaking, Charismatic churches of today?

 

1900's

 

In the early twentieth century, an article was released in the “Los Angeles Daily Times” on Wednesday morning April 18, 1906. It will be quoted extensively below. The headling for the newspaper read, “Weird Babel of Tongues – New Sect of Fanatics is Breaking Loose, Wild Scene on Azuza Street Last Night, Gurgle of Wordless Talk by a Sister.”(13)

 

The article continues: “Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand, the newest religious sect has started in Los Angeles. Meetings are held in a tumble-down shack on Azuza street near San Pedro Street, and the devotees of the strange doctrine practice the most fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories and work themselves into a state of mad excitement in their peculiar zeal.

 

“Colored people and a sprinkling of whites compose the congregation, and night is made hideous by the howlings of the worshipers, who spend hours swaying back and forth in a nerve-racking attitude of prayer and supplication. They claim to have 'the gift of tongues,' and to be able to comprehend babel.

 

“Such a startling claim has never yet been made by any company of fanatics, even in Los Angeles, the home of almost numberless creeds. Sacred tenants, reverently mentioned by an orthodox believer, are dealt with in a familiar; if not irreverent manner by the latest of religionists.

 

“An old colored exhorter, blind in one eye, is the major demo of the company. With his stony optic eye fixed on some luckless unbeliever, the old man shouts his defiance and challenges an answer. Anathemas (cursings) are heaped upon him who shall dare gainsay the utterances of the preacher.

 

“Clasped in his big fist the colored brother holds a miniature Bible from which he reads at intervals one or two words, never more. After an hour spent on exhortation, the brethren present are invited to join in 'a meeting of prayer, song, and testimony.' Then it is that pandemonium breaks loose and the bounds of reason are passed by those who are 'filled with the spirit,' whatever that may be.

 

“'You-oo-oo gou-loo-loo, come under the bloo-oo-oo,' shouts an old colored 'Nanny,' in a frenzy of religious zeal. Swinging her arms wildly about her, she continues with the strangest barrage ever uttered. Few of her words are intelligible, and for the most part her testimony contains the most outrageous jumble of syllables, which are listened to in awe by the company.

 

“One of the wildest of the meetings was held last night, and the highest pitch of excitement was reached by the gathering, which continued in 'worship' until nearly midnight. The old exhorter urged the 'sisters' to let the 'tongues come forth' and the women gave themselves over to a riot of religious fervor. As a result, a buxom dame was overcome with excitement and almost fainted.

 

“Undismayed by the fearful attitude of the colored worshiper, another black woman jumped to the floor and began a wild gesticulation, which ended in a gurgle of wordless prayers which was nothing less than shocking.

 

“'She's speaking in unknown tongues,' annnounced the leader, in an awed whisper; 'keep on sister.' The sister continued until it was necessary to assist her to a seat because of her bodily fatigue.

 

“Among the believers is a man who claims to be a Jewish Rabbi. He says his name is Gold, and claims to have held positions on some of the largest synagogues in the United States. He told the mostly last night crowd [sic] that he is well known to the Jewish people of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and referred to prominent local citizens by name. Gold claims to have been miraculously healed and is a convert to the new sect.

 

“Another speaker had a vision in which he saw the people of Los Angeles flocking in a mighty stream to perdition. He prophesied awful destruction to this city unless its citizens are brought to a belief in the tenants of the new faith.”(14)

 

Below are some observations concerning the Azuza event which eventually would lead to the full blown Pentecostal movement.

 

First, they were clearly not speaking in a legitimate foreign language as Scripture indicates they should be if they were truly speaking in tongues. They were speaking gibberish making strange noises such as “Bloo Loo Loo.”

 

Second, in the above description the women are commanded to “bring forth” tongues, however the biblical gift of tongues is not prompted or commanded by anyone. The biblical gift of tongues comes about when God, in His sovereignty, chooses to bestow the gift.

 

Third, the amount of Scritpure reading was minimal. He only read one or two words from the Bible in between all the babbling.

 

Fourth, the preacher refused to allow anyone to question what was going on. No one could inquire regarding his utterances. This is actually quite typical with Pentecostal and Charismatic preachers, and cult leaders for that matter. If one questions their doctrines and practices they are deemed blasphemous and hunters of heresy. “Touch not God's anoinited” they cry out.

 

Fifth, the number of women speaking in tongues is curious when you take into account verses such as 1 Timothy 2:11-12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she is to be silent in the congregation.”

 

Sixth, false prophecy was given just as is so often the case today. The destruction of Los Angeles was prophesied, yet today the city remains alive and well.

 

Jeremiah gives a somber warning to preachers and prophets with lying tongues:

 

“'Behold, I am against the prophets,' says the LORD. 'who use their tongues and say, 'he says.'' Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,' says the LORD, 'and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,' says the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:31-32, NKJV).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Eleven: Some Points to Ponder(1)

 

Point one: If tongues are a gift of the Holy Spirit, supernaturally given by God Almighty and in no way from mankind, and the gift is something that can't be taught, commnaded or conjured up by mankind (preachers, elders, laying on of hands, etc.), then why do so many Pentecostal and Charismatic churches hold classes and conferences on how to speak in tongues? Why is “teaching” teens how to speak in tongues so important to Charismatic youth camps?

 

Point two: Do tongues occur only two, or at the most three, times during church services as the Bible instructs, and each with an interpretation (also as the Bible teaches)? Are the tongues being spoken done when someone who speaks a foreign langauge is present in the service? And is the tongue being spoken their native tongue? Is the message the gospel of Christ as in Scripture? Does it result in this person putting their faith in Christ due to hearing that message in tongues?

 

Or, are tongues the result of an unbeliever hearing the gospel of Christ, putting their faith in Him, and without any undue influence, prompting, copying or commanding spontaneously speaking forth an actual language solely on their own in which they proclaim the good news of Jesus?

 

Point three: Where do tongues primarily manifest themselves? Do they take place more frequently away from church, doing missionary and evengelism work? Or do they occur more often within your own church walls? Remember, in the situations in Acts 2, 8, 10 and 19, all of the tongues were spoken in a public location away from the church itself. This being the case, there would be no mere copying of what they had previously seen being carried out in the name of tongues.

 

Point four: Do tongues manifest spontaneously without encouragement, prompting or demand as is the case in the Bible, and only when there's a clear gospel message being given? Is Christ's life, death and resurrection being declared in the tongue? Or are tongues only manifesting in special tongue-speaking services, or when those in attendance are prompted and pushed to speak in tongues?

 

Point five: Do you expect every single Christian in your church to speak in tonuges? If you answer this in the affirmative, then you are in direct opposition to the teaching of Paul as stated in his correspondence with the church at Corinth. Not all speak in tongues. One is given a particular gift, to “another” is given a different gift, to “another” still a different gift, etc.

 

 

 

Point six: When those in your congregation speak in tongues do they fall onto the ground and begin writhing around spasmodically, shaking in minor convulsions as they are so called “slain in the Spirit?” If this is the case, why does the Bible never, not a single time, refer to this happening to any believer? In fact, it's quite the opposite, the Bible does mention deomonic spirits throwing people down to the ground. Again, these cases were not of the Holy Spirit, it was a false and deceptive spirit.

 

Point seven: Is your position on tongues that all who are regenerate (born again) speak in tongues? Do you believe that if a person doesn't speak in tongues then they are not a true believer? If this is the case, why didn't the Ethiopian eunuch or the Philippian jailer and his family speak in tongues? Nowhere does Scritpture state they were given that gift. Weren't they true believers, true followers of Jesus? Or is there some sort of sub-standard level of Christian, some sort of lower or second class Christian?

 

Point eight: When speaking in tongues are they actual foreign languages that were previously unlearned as the Bible says? Or is it just some kind of gibberish or ecstatic utterance, as can be seen in a large number of fasle religions cults such as Mormonism and Hinduism?

 

Point nine: When you speak in tongues are you doing so to appear spiritual or to fit in? Think back to your first time, what was the real motive behind it?

 

Point ten: When you speak in tongues are you just copying the types of noises you have witnessed others doing?

 

Point eleven: Why is there such minimal documentation of any authentic tongue-speaking from the second century through the 1800's? Indeed there are cases of heretical movements claiming to speak in tongues, such as the Gnostics, Mormons and others; and it's interesting that in those movements the focus was removed from Jesus Christ and put on the Spirit. The Holy Spirit's focus, and testimony, is always Jesus Christ.

 

Point twelve: Why do the biggest charlatans and heretics, the biggest names among false teachers of the prosperity, Word of Faith, name-it-and-claim it, TBN quacks all speak in tongues? If one does jut a minimal amount of study, and has even a droplet of discernment, it's easy to discover the likes of Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, the deceased Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, and many others, are false prophets, false teachers, deceivers and thieves. What a motley crew this is, and I'm not talking about the hard rock group.

 

 

 

Chapter Twelve: Conclusion, Sources, About theAuthor

 

 

CONCLUSION:

 

It's my sincere desire that after reading this book, you will come to know the difference between the real, authentic, biblical gift ot tongues and the heretical, counterfeit tongues of gibberish and ecstatic utterances that are so prevalent among many of the churches of our time. And please, if you are attending a careless, irreverant, disorderly tongue speaking (or tongue requiring) church currently, think deeply about running for the exit door and finding a church with sound doctrine and solid biblical preaching.

 

 

SOURCES:

 

Introduction

 

1. 
   

   Gotquestions.org, “What is the meaning of perfect in 1 Corinthians 13:10?” (accessed online February 18, 2022).

 

Chapter One

 

1. 
   

   It should be clearly stated at the beginning that I have heavily adapted, with permission, the basic outline format for this work from: Argubright, John. What The Bible Says About Speaking In Tongues: Holy Spirit VS. Deceiving Spirits (Copyright 2014 by John Argubright).



2. 
   

   Argubright, John. What The Bible Says About Speaking In Tongues...

 

Chapter Two

 

1. 
   

   Ibid.

 

Chapter Four

 

1. 
   

   Martyr, Justin. Apology 26.



2. 
   

   Irenaeus. Against Heresies 1 (between 175 A.D. and 185 A.D.)

 

Chapter Five

1. 
   

   Argubright, What The Bible Says....

 

Chapter Six

1. 
   

   Barker, Paul. “They Hypergrace of Joseph Prince: A Review of 'Destined to Reign,'” accessed online @ thegospelcoalition.org.



2. 
   

   Argubright, What The Bible Says...



3. 
   

   Calvin, John. Calvin's Commentaries (Acts 19), accessed online @ biblehub.com.

 

Chapter Eight

1. 
   

   Argubright, What The Bible Says...



2. 
   

   Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, Chapter VI.



3. 
   

   Chrysostom, John. “Homilies” (First Corinthians 19)



4. 
   

   Augustine. “Homilies on the Gospel of John 6:10” in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (7:497-498).



5. 
   

   Calvin, John. Calvin's Commentaries (Acts 10), accessed online @ biblehub.com.



6. 
   

   Gumerlock, Francis. Tongues in the Church Fathers (survey of the views of the church fathers).

 

Chapter Nine

 

1. 
   

   Argubright, What The Bible Says...



2. 
   

   Ibid.



3. 
   

   Ibid.

 

Chapter Ten

 

1. 
   

   Plato, The Dialogs of Plato.



2. 
   

   Ibid.



3. 
   

   Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chapters 14-18.



4. 
   

   Ibid.



5. 
   

   Ibid.



6. 
   

   Ibid.



7. 
   

   Ibid.



8. 
   

   Ibid.



9. 
   

   Ibid.

10. 
    

    Ibid.



11. 
    

    As quoted in Argubright, What The Bible Says...

(12)Ibid.

(13) Los Angeles Daily Times, “Weird Babel of Tongues – New Sect of Fanatics is Breaking Loose, Wild Scene on Azuza Street Last Night, Gurgle

of Wordless Talk by a Sister” (Wednesday, April 18, 1906) as quoted in

Argubright.

14. 
    

    Ibid.

 

Chapter Eleven

 

1. 
   

   These points are paraphrased and adpated from Argubright, What The Bible Says..., chapter entitled “Questions for Charismatic & Pentecostal Tongue Speaking Leaders.”

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Jeff Hagan is an ordained Christian minister with approximately 27 years of ministry experience. He is the author of three books: Getting To Know Jesus: A Brief Overview of the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ; Christian or Cult: An Open Letter to The Church of Christ; and I Would Rather Speak With My Mind: What the Bible Really Says About Tongues. He has also written over 200 articles and is currently the Founder and President of True Grace Ministries and Theological Institute.

 

Jeff is working on his PhD in Christian Education and holds a ThD (Doctor of Theology), an MDiv (Master of Divinity), an MABS (Master of Arts in Biblical Studies) and a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in both Biblical Studies and Behavioral Science. When he is not teaching, reading, studying, or writing, he is a self described “homebody” and enjoys TV, movies, music, Coca Cola and seafood.

 

Institutes attended include: Western Seminary, Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Southeastern Baptist Seminary, Luther Rice Seminary, Tyndale Theological Seminary, Oval Bible College and Seminary, Moore Theological College (AU), Dallas Theological Seminary, and Northwest University.

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