God’s word says nothing about those things going on now at all
In fact, it was Peter himself who announced that those days were 2000 years ago
14: But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
Acts:2:16: But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
The history of the Church plainly states that these gifts ended about AD 50 or so and men were sure of that. Consider this on just the topic of tongues:
http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/charis35.htm
15. Can unsaved people speak in tongues?
The Biblical gift of tongues was the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign language which the speaker had never learned. An unsaved person would not have the God-given ability to do this. Spiritual gifts are given to believers at the point of salvation, not to unbelievers.
The modern day phenomena of speaking ecstatic utterances (glossolalia) is something quite different. There are countless examples of unsaved people speaking in tongues. Here are but a few:
1) In the second century the Montanists spoke in tongues. This was a heretical group especially noted for their heresies concerning the Holy Spirit. The following is a description of Montanus and his followers by Eusebius in his History of the Church:
Montanus, in his unbridled ambition to reach the top, laid himself open to the adversary, was filled with spiritual excitement and suddenly fell into a kind of trance and unnatural ecstasy. He raved, and began to chatter and talk nonsense, prophesying in a way that conflicted with the practice of the Church handed down generation by generation from the beginning. Of those who listened at that time to his sham utterances some were annoyed, regarding him as possessed, a demoniac in the grip of a spirit of error, a disturber of the masses. They rebuked him and tried to stop his chatter, remembering the distinction drawn by the Lord, and His warning to guard vigilantly against the coming of false prophets....Then he secretly stirred up and inflamed minds closed to the true Faith, raising up in this way two otherswomen whom he filled with the sham spirit, so that they chattered crazily, inopportunely, and wildly, like Montanus himself.
According to Eusebius, this practice of tongues speaking was totally contrary to the practice of the Church. Indeed, Montanus and his followers were excommunicated from the Church.
2) Irenaeus wrote the following concerning the second century heretic Marcus:
Marcus to a woman, “Receive first from me and by me the gift of Charis...” Woman: “I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy.” Marcus: “Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy.” She then, vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently (from emotion), reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one healed by an empty spirit” [Irenaeus Against Heresies].
The orthodox leaders of the early church recognized that such emotional outbursts of tongues speaking were not of God. It was a phenomena encouraged by the heretics.
3) The Cevenol priests who lived in France in the late 17th century also spoke in tongues. They were branded heretics because their prophecies went unfulfilled. [John MacArthur Jr., The Charismatics, p. 169.]
4) The Shakers originated in 1747 by a woman. Doctrinally she was all mixed up and held heretical views especially concerning the Person of Christ. “It is said that in order to mortify the flesh she instituted the practice of men and women dancing together naked while they spoke in tongues.” [Charles Smith, Tongues in Biblical Perspective, pages 17-18.]
5) Examples of speaking in tongues are found within the Mormon church (cult): “Right from the beginning with Joseph Smith, Mormons have accepted tongues as a valid gift for modern times. When their temple was dedicated in Salt Lake City, hundreds of elders spoke in tongues.” [Charles Smith, Tongues in Biblical Perspective, page 18.]
6) The followers of Edward Irving (19th century) spoke in tongues. These people had revelations that contradicted Scripture, prophecies that went unfulfilled and promoted various erroneous teachings. [See John MacArthur Jr., The Charismatics, p. 170 and see also Arnold Dallimore’s excellent biography, Forerunner of the Charismatic Movement—The Life of Edward Irving (Moody Press, 1983).]
7) Today it is a known fact that people who do not even profess to be Christians speak in tongues:
Today shamans (witch doctors, priests, or medicine men) in Haiti, Greenland, Micronesia, and countries of Africa, Australia, Asia, and North and South America speak in tongues. Several groups use drugs to aid in inducing the ecstatic state and utterances. Voodoo practitioners speak in tongues. Buddhist and Shinto priests have been heard speaking in tongues. Moslems have spoken in tongues, and an ancient tradition even reports that Mohammed himself spoke in tongues. [Charles Smith, Tongues in Biblical Perspective, pages 20-21. For further documentation of unsaved people speaking in tongues, look up the article on “glossolalia” in The Encyclopedia Britannica.]
8) Sad to say, there are many people today involved in the modern Charismatic movement who have spoken in tongues and yet they do not have any clear understanding of salvation or the gospel of grace or what it means to be born again. They have had an experience but they do not have eternal life (1 John 5:11-12). [We also recognize that there are people involved in the Charismatic movement who may truly know Christ as Saviour, having trusted Him and Him alone for their salvation. It is possible to be truly saved and yet be doctrinally confused.]
16. What is wrong with modern day tongues speaking? (A SUMMARY)
1) In Charismatic circles speaking in tongues is set forth as something that everyone should seek, but in the New Testament, tongues was a spiritual gift that was not given to every believer (1 Cor. 12:8-11,30). Tongues was a relatively unimportant gift (listed last in 1 Cor. 12:28), though it did have edificational value if it was used rightly and interpreted properly.
2) The Bible gift of tongues was the supernatural and God-given ability to speak in a language which the person had never learned. The modern so-called gift of tongues is an ecstatic, emotional experience of uttering nonsense gibberish which cannot be translated and which does not have any real language content.
3) There is not one command in the entire Bible which tells a believer to speak in tongues and 24 out of 27 books in the New Testament say absolutely nothing about the gift of tongues.
4) The facts of history indicate that the true gift of tongues ceased very early in the history of the church and there is no verse in the Bible indicating that this gift will reappear in the last days.
5) The gift of tongues was a temporary sign gift which served its purpose and then was no longer needed, and thus no longer given. It served as a sign of judgment to unbelieving Israel and an indication that God was putting the nation Israel aside and beginning a new program, even His CHURCH. There is no mention of the genuine gift of tongues in the Bible or in secular history after 70 AD (the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans).
6) The kind of speaking in tongues that takes place today is a known psychological phenomenon which has been practiced by heretical groups, pagans, cultists and non-Christian people throughout the centuries.
7) Much of the speaking in tongues that takes place today is found to be contrary to the rules set forth in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 which is another indication that it cannot be of God. Here are some of the regulations set forth by the Apostle Paul:
No more than three people could speak in tongues on any one occasion (1 Corinthians 14:27).
The tongues speakers must speak one after another in succession, not all at once (1 Cor. 14:27).
Whenever tongues speaking occurs, there must also be the interpretation of the tongues (1 Cor. 14:28).
The women were not to speak in tongues in the assembly (1 Cor. 14:34-35).
Go to almost any Charismatic assembly and you will find these rules being violated.
http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/charis35.htm
WHAT UNMITIGATED BALDERDASH.
Reading that, one could forget that
I Cor 12-14 outlines the operation of
[NOT a mosque]
[NOT a Hindu or Buddhist shrine]
[NOT even a synagogue]
but THE RULE OF THUMB SET OF OPERATIONS
of a
. . . drum roll . . .
A CHRISTIAN CHURCH!
What a surprise!
John,
Are you saying you agree with this hogwash in posts #
#334, 336 etc etc etc???
Mind Boggling.