5 And the LORD came down to
see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the
people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and
now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there
confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them
abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build
the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it
called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the
earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all
the earth. (Gen 11:5-9)
1 And when the day of Pentecost
was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they
were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
(Acts 2:1-4)
Do we not tire of the headlines such as the one below that are, most often,
related to pastors and churches of the charismatic movement?
October 23, 2015
Kong Hee, Pastor Of Singapore’s
City Harvest Church, Committed Fraud For Wife Sun Ho’s Christian Music - Patrick Frye
Pastor Kong Hee’s trial has the Singapore megachurch leader and his wife, Sun
Ho, asking for “prayer” during this time. Kong, deputy pastor Tan Ye Peng,
finance manager Sharon Tan, and former finance managers Serina Wee, Sharon Tan,
and John Lam have all been found guilty of embezzling $35.5 million in church
donations from Singapore’s City Harvest Church in order to support Sun Ho’s
Christian music career. The sentencing phase of the trial is coming up, and it’s
possible they all might face up to 20 years in prison.
In a related report by the Inquisitr,
Billy Graham’s
grandson, Tullian Tchividjian[1],
resigned from his Florida megachurch after having an affair.
The above men join a long line of scandal-ridden charismatics who have turned
the House of God into a feel-good, irreverent house of merchandise and loose
theology.
One of the marks that most often defines a charismatic church is that of
so-called gifts of the Spirit - the salient gift being that of 'speaking in
tongues.' Perhaps more earnest seekers of God's Word have been driven away from
the church door for this practice than for any other. I once entered such a
church unaware. When the music began (a mantra, I might add) young women came
to the front with tamborines and begin to sway sensually and strike their hips
with the tambourines. After a bit, someone stood in the congregation and began
to babble in sounds that no one, including himself, understood. It was such a
strange and ungodly sight that the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. My
son, who was ten years old at the time, said, "Dad, this is not a
church." I agreed and we left immediately. Brownsville Revival, a depraved
exhibition of holy laughter, caterwauling, and being led (on hands and knees on
the floor) by a leash like a dog was the sensation of its day. It ended a few
years back with criminal complaints and scandal. Is this Holy? I think not. Why
is it so difficult for men and women to simply trust the Holy Bible without
resorting to what they falsely claim to be extra-biblical revelations?
This devotion lacks scope to go into the in-depth doctrinal errors of
tongues-speaking, but we will address the more glaring truths as revealed in
Scripture.
First of all, God never speaks in sly and uncertain terms. He is ever open in
Scripture as top His meaning and its intended application. He has allowed all
major language groups to have His Word in their own language - the Holy bible
which He has divinely dictated and preserved across the ages.
God is never ambiguous. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all
churches of the saints. (1 Cor 14:32-33) Confusion results when we do
not UNDERSTAND circumstances or speech directed our way. Let all things be
done decently and in order. (1 Cor 14:40) Good order demands all involved
have a complete understanding of what is trying to be related.
In Genesis 11:5-9 (quoted above) we see that the first incidence of 'confused
tongues' came as a result of sinful man trying to take the place of God Almighty.
He confused their language at Babel and thereby provided the language for every
major racial class. The word, babble, came from the name of the Tower that was
constructed to reach unto Heaven. Our term, "babbling fool," derives
from the same - and we have many today even if they are mistakenly convinced
that their imagined babbling is Holy Ghost inspired. Great sins are happening
today in churches around the world, and much of it has its roots in the
charismatic movement.
It is often the case that those who speak in 'unknown tongues' claim to be
Pentecostal, but are they? Let us exam the clear and simple word of God in describing
the event of Pentecost. 4 And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance. They all were affected by this movement
of the Spirit of God. Did they speak in babbling words, or did they speak in
languages known by all present? I do not speak Chinese, however, if I went to
China and spoke in clearly understood English, and every Chinaman understood me
in Mandarin, that would DEFINITELY be a miracle - and a convincing one. That is
what happened at Pentecost. 5 And there were dwelling at
Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard
them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and
marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak
Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our
own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and
Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in
Pontus, and Asia, 10
Phrygia, and
Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of
Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear
them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and
were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?" (Acts
2:5-12)
Either we are baptized into the Body of Christ, or we are not! There is no
'second baptism of the Holy Ghost.' It is not even the outward form of baptism
that unites us with the Body of Christ but, rather the inward and spiritual
grace conveyed by faith. We need not sit for hours trying to learn how to
produce nonsensical and irrational sounds with tongues that are otherwise
perfectly capable of understandable expression.
Many years ago, a minister of a large Korean church came and pleaded with me to
assume the role of English minister to the youth and adult men of his church.
The only problem was that this Korean church was charismatic and believed in
tongues-speaking. When I told the pastor that tongues were not biblical, he
amazed me at the twisted scripture he presented in defense of it. He even
attempted to justify speaking in tongues by references Acts 2 which is clearly
not the kind of tongues in which he believed. So, finally, I asked him these
questions: "Who is our perfect example and authority in the Christian
Faith?" He immediately and correctly said, "The Lord Jesus
Christ!" I then asked, "As a redeemed Christian if I can live as much
like Christ as my mortal nature will permit - speaking as He spoke,
living as He lived, loving as He loved - will I be on solid ground?" He
responded, "Yes, of course." I then asked if there are any examples
at all of Jesus speaking in an unknown tongue?" He refused to respond. I
also added this question to which I received no response: "If baptism of
the Holy Ghost means that I am giving the gift of tongues, does that make the
tongues-speaker better than Christ." He became very angry and spoke no
more.
The notion that God gives such gifts to others that causes them to feel somehow
'better' than other Christians defies the Gospel and nature of God. I will
close with these important words:
"&%#, ?^$@**. @#$%^&*?//><!"
Get the message?
[1]
Tchividjian took the place of the godly pastor, D. James
Kennedy at Coral Ridge. He was later implicated in a scandal and had to leave.
Instead of dignity in dress and demeanor that typified Dr. Kennedy, Tchividjian
represented the more come-as-you-are variety of irreverent preachers of our
day.
