“…if you bless and render thanks with [your] spirit [thoroughly aroused by the Holy Spirit], how can anyone in the position of an outsider or he who is not gifted with [interpreting of unknown] tongues, say the Amen to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?” (1 Cor 14:16 AMP).
Much of Pentecostalism has deteriorated into a pop-psychology with emotional songs in worship during which the name of the divine Son of God is used as a mantra, being repeated over and over and nauseatingly over in order to manufacture an emotional state in the worshippers; and this emotional state is then claimed to be the result of the presence of the Spirit falling upon them. It is an attempt made by fleshly means to manipulate the Holy Spirit into doing what he does spontaneously anyway; that is, to powerfully fill the worshippers with his loving presence and produce the manifestations described in the New Testament.
It is not wrong to desire the presence of God in our worship; indeed, we should desire that with all our hearts (Acts 2:41). And it is not wrong to desire supernatural spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:1); these are the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the churches for all time (1 Cor 14:21). But we walk a fine line when it comes to seeking and experiencing the Holy Spirit’s presence. This can be seen in the church of Corinth, for example, and also found to a great degree amongst the people during the great revivals of the Church – the effects of God falling upon people during these revivals was powerful, and human bodies often reacted in bizarre ways.
John Wesley and George Whitefield, two of the major vessels used by God in promoting the first of the two Great Awakenings, as these two revivals have been called, saw such bizarre manifestations of the Spirit when he came upon their listeners; Whitefield sought to discourage these manifestations but Wesley encouraged, or at least, allowed them, in their meetings.
The seeds of the Pentecostal and later Charismatic movements are found here. All of their founders and leaders emanated from the Lutheran side of Christianity, particularly through John Wesley and the Christians who were saved through his preaching.
But, sad to say, our modern Pentecostal worship is in danger of becoming pseudo-Christian focused on celebrity preachers with positive and entertaining messages, rather than biblical preaching and teaching. It is too often characterised by the flesh, and its members walk by sight, not by faith, as they seek the constant fillings and manifestations of the Holy Spirit to boost their excitement and keep their faith alive.
Pentecostalism is tantalising and attractive as it promises a joyful, vibrant relationship with God in which we can engage in literal conversations with him at any time. It promises to set us free from the restraints of the imagined straitjacket of traditional religion and whirl us into a romance with God through his Holy Spirit. We’re guaranteed to be overwhelmed with his love, to receive the spiritual gifts enumerated in various places in the New Testament and, not by any means least, to have health, wealth, power, and influence under the blessing of God. Satan will be under our feet, and we’ll have power to cast out demons.
These are worthy aspirations for any Christian (1 Cor 14:1), and are freely available (I have my doubts about having conversations with God, though); but the danger is that we seek them for their own sake, rather than for the glory of God and the edification of his people, the Church. The apostle James warns of the danger of asking for something for the wrong reasons (Jas 4:3).
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
In order to obtain all these blessings, generally speaking though not exclusively, we need to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is the portal through which we must enter if we would have the power and the blessing of God. The grand hallmark of the movement and the evidence that one has actually received this baptism of the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak in tongues. Not all Pentecostals have the gift of healing, not all can prophesy, not all can deliver words of wisdom or words of knowledge (1 Cor 12:4-11); but all can speak in tongues (1 Cor 14:18). This is the great sign which assures those who have it that they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
This gift of tongues-speaking is called a prayer language because it is usually acknowledged that it is not the gift of tongues given in Acts chapter 2; it is, they claim, that which the apostle Paul wrote about: “For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:2 NRSV). It is also regarded by them as tongues of angels (1 Cor 13:1).
But despite its being a “prayer language” which should therefore be spoken privately to God, it is publicly exercised in every Pentecostal meeting, worship or otherwise, and this despite Paul’s restriction of the exercise of tongues in public meetings unless the message is interpreted.
The gift of tongues abused
I was at a Men’s Convention with the pastor and some men from my Baptist church on one occasion; the convention was an annual event sponsored by a large Pentecostal church to which other churches were invited. During one of the “worship” breaks between talks, the leader shouted “everybody, speak in tongues”; and everybody who had been baptized in the Spirit – which was nearly every person there – started speaking in tongues. It was pandemonium. Then the leader told them to stop. And they stopped. There was no call for somebody to interpret, no attempt to restrict the tongues speakers to two or three, no attempt whatsoever to edify anybody there with the message from God that should have been made intelligible, according to Paul’s instructions for speaking in tongues at a public gathering. It was just a meaningless activity and done against the tenor and teaching of scripture.
On another occasion, a missionary and pastor from a Presbyterian church and lecturer of Hebrew and New Testament Greek in bible college, attended a Pentecostal meeting, and when the opportunity arose, he recited Psalm 23 in Hebrew. It was “interpreted” by somebody there but, as this pastor expected, the interpretation had nothing to do with Psalm 23. On yet another occasion he did the same thing, only he spoke the Lord’s Prayer in NT Greek; again, it was “interpreted” but had no connection with the Lord’s Prayer whatsoever. I’ve heard of others doing this same thing.
An unsaved acquaintance of mine was walking past a building where some Pentecostals were having their meeting. He asked a man standing outside the front door what was going on. The man told my friend it was a church meeting and asked him if he’d like to speak in tongues. My friend agreed and the man laid hands on him and he spoke in tongues. The man didn’t tell him the Gospel, didn’t even ask him if he was saved. My friend told me about it later and thought it was a laugh; and he still isn’t saved, the last time I heard of him.
And I, myself, went forward at a Charismatic church one Sunday evening in response to a call for anybody who wanted to be baptised in the Spirit. I, and the two ladies who had come forward, were taken out the back, where a woman church member told us to say whatever came to our mouths to speak. She didn’t lay hands on us and pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us; she just told us to utter whatever was “there”. This exercise reeked of the flesh and was totally unbiblical. In the bible and in revivals, the Holy Spirit came upon people and, in the NT at least, the person spoke in tongues as evidence of the Spirit having filled them (e.g. Acts 2: 1-4; 19:1-7). Needless to say, nothing happened to me and I went back to my seat disappointed.
At a “Holy Spirit seminar” my fiancée was speaking to a young man who was visiting the church from a church in another state to be part of this seminar; he said he had been “learning” to speak in tongues. My wife sensed that something was wrong so she asked him if he knew Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour. He was taken aback by this question but nevertheless answered truthfully, admitting he hadn’t got to that stage yet. He spoke in tongues but didn’t know Jesus?
The Book of Mormon
It may surprise some to discover that Mormons speak in tongues. This “gift” is recorded in the Book of Mormon, and therefore has been in that (oc)cult group since its beginning and has a permanent place in Mormonism. We read, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ by baptism – yea, by following your Lord and your Saviour down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel. But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: “After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me” (2 Nephi 31:13-14).
And again: “Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost? Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things that ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:2-3).
The “language” used in Mormonism sounds the same as that found in a Pentecostal church. If a Pentecostal heard these words without knowing where they came from, they would assume without doubt or question that they were spoken by a Pentecostal Christian, and would therefore receive them trustingly as being from God. Yet we know they are from Satan. These commands and exhortations are enshrined in the Book of Mormon, the bible of a false religion which denies the Trinity even as it speaks of the three Persons. How can this be? Shouldn’t these things make us at least a little cautious?
Lying Spirits
Scripture tells us that there are such beings as lying spirits (1 Kings 22:19-23, 37; 2 Thess 2:8-12); and in these two references, they were sent by God with the intention to deceive the hearer to ensure their destruction. But it is not always that God sends them. He also allows people to be deceived by them because they’ve asked for power from God, or other vain requests; so, God allows them to be subdued, dominated, and/or enslaved by evil spirits, either in judgment or discipline. No wonder the apostle John urges Christians to test the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 Jn 4:1-3).
If the tongues that Christians speak in Pentecostal meetings is exercised unbiblically, being both audible and without interpretation; and if an interpretation is given that is wrong (and who in the congregation would know if it was wrong?); and if the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the subsequent speaking in tongues is required in Mormonism; and if there are such beings as lying spirits and we are to test the spirits to see if they’re from God……who would trust such a gift? Unless we know for sure that it is from the Holy Spirit, we really need to test it first. If it is given from a hostile source, it is not given for our good but to harm us; such a gift is very dangerous.
So how can we be sure it is of God if we can’t understand what we’re saying? How do we know that the “tongues” we’re speaking but can’t understand isn’t given to us by a demon and is in reality vile blasphemy against Jesus? We don’t. We can’t. Unless we test it, that is (1 Thess 5:19-22). But how can it be tested? There is only one sure way. We compare it to what the bible says about it. If it differs from what the bible says, it is suspect at best, and should be avoided and repented of.
The supernatural gift of tongues (languages) was given as a sign for unbelievers (1 Cor 14:22), and in the church worship was not allowed to be spoken unless there was another who had the gift of interpretation of tongues (1 Cor 14:5, 27-28), or else that the speaker was also able to interpret his own message spoken in tongues (1 Cor 14:13).