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THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT – THEN AND NOW (PART 1)
By – Dee L. McCroskey

Chapter 1.

Are Healing, Tongues, Miracles for Us Today?

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works that these shall he do; because I go unto My Father” (John 14:12).

CHARISMATIC, pronounced like the char in character, comes from the word charisma, “a divinely conferred gift of power.” In Biblical terms it refers to the special miraculous gift of the Pentecostal era, such as healing and speaking in tongues.

Let us first of all be clear about one thing: there was, indeed, a real, genuine, God given, charismatic era. It lasted some thirty-five years. There has never been, before or since, such a display of the mighty power of God in the everyday lives of men and women in physical matters. The sick were healed, demons were cast out, people spoke in new tongues, both in Israel and in the far outlying regions.

Are we now witnessing a renewal of these miraculous signs gifts? The Pentecostalist followings have, of course, professed to experience these gifts for years, but what we have today is something else, something that has been changing the face of all the world’s major denominations. For instance, about a decade ago, among the fundamental Baptist, a new movement emerged, called “Back to the power of Pentecost.” Soon the fundamental Lutherans in many cities were claming it, and then many of the other Protestant bodies, even to the Episcopalians. “The Roman Catholics have claimed these powers for years, but the bent toward miraculous signs has vastly increased among them. It is sometimes referred to as “The Charismatic Revival.”

For many years denominational Christendom shied away from the apparent fanaticism of the Pentecostal followings. What, then, is the reason for the present upsurge toward what once was held to be sheer fanaticism? The answer seems to be that preachers and church leaders have realized their lack of power and reality. Young people especially have become unenchanted with what they termed “the flat tire of cold, formalism” but wary of the other extreme – wildfire fanaticism. What the preachers yearned for was the power that the Pentecostalists seemed to have, but without the fanaticism. So we read of preachers of all religious backgrounds today seeking the gift of tongues, and still others trying to make “divine healing” work.

What we have today, especially among the young people, is an ardent emphasis upon empiricism – that is, that experience is the big thing, that all knowledge springs from experience. Had the preachers learned to teach the Word of God to their people, they would have had power, God’s power, and the joy of the Lord. But lacking this, they and their followers have given way to the natural human desire for esthetic feelings and experiences, for spiritual adventure. As with the old Pentecostal movement, it is the question of “experience versus sound Bible truth, rightly divided.”

The Charismatic Era

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).

This has long been a puzzling verse. It is usually explained as referring to spiritual works, that the Lord’s believers would convert more people than He did. But our Lord made no such intimation here. He had just said to Philip and any other skeptics, “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works sake.” He was simply saying that in the coming Acts period His believing Jewish servants would perform even greater works in signs and miracles than He did. Not greater in quality or importance, but greater in quantity and scope. For one thing, the Lord never spoke in tongues, but His servants would do so to authenticate the coming of the Holy Spirit, and three thousand people would be saved in one day as a result.

For further details on the prophecy in John 14:12, we must turn next to Mark’s Gospel, chapter 16 and verse 14 to 20. The risen Lord had appeared to the eleven and said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Then in verse 17 He said, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Here were five gifts of a miraculous nature. And remember, there was no condition of spirituality mentioned. It was just simply that these signs would follow “them that believe.” And in verse 20 we read that “they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following.”

Now if you will look up all of the miracles worked by the Apostles in the Book of Acts, you will find every one of these Mark 16 promises fulfilled except drinking poison. And even this gift may well have been used at times. For these gifts were for a practical reason as well as for signs to the unsaved. The Lord was sending them forth with the gospel of repentance (Mark 1:4, Acts 2:38,11:18). Some of them would be traveling among dangers, poisonous snakes in desert places, murderous enemies in others. In those days poisoning was a favorite way of doing away with an enemy. But they were not to fear either of these perils.

Because Bible believing Christians could not relate these Mark 16 signs to the Church after the Acts period, and because these signs did not work after the first century, they long ago began to doubt the inspiration of this passage. Some Bible scholars still believe Mark 16:9-20 is not part of the inspired Word. But this view is now widely discredited. The Syriac and Latin versions all have it, and it is quoted by so many of the early writers. But positive proof that the passage is inspired lies in the fact that it was fulfilled in Acts.

Before and After the Cross

During His earthly ministry, our Lord’s miracles were signs to the unbelieving Jews that they might believe that He was the Son of God. “And many other signs truly did Jesus...But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31). After the cross, the risen Lord gave this power to work miracles to His Apostles, again for signs to the unbelieving Jews to give divine authority to the message of the Apostles—2. Corinthians 12:12.

Israel the Sign People

“For the Jews require a sign” (1. Corinthians 1:22), “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matthew 12:39). “They said therefore unto Him, “What sign shewest Thou then, that we may see, and believe thee?” (John 6:30). “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John 4:48).

In His dealings with His earthly people, Israel, God gave them three notable signs: (1) The sign of the virgin birth of His Son –Isiah 7:14; (2) Sign of the resurrection of Christ Matthew 12:39; (3) Speaking in tongues during the period from Pentecost to 70 A.D. Tongues were a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers—1. Corinthians 14:22. These were not Gentiles, but unbelieving Jews, “this people”—Isiah 28:11 and 1. Corinthians 14:21.

End of the Sign Era

Sign gifts had two purposes: (1) to authenticate the inspired revelations of the Apostles; (2) to prove to unbelieving Jews that “that same Jesus whom ye have crucified” is the true Messiah. But God does not continue to give signs when their message is rejected. As Isiah said (Isiah 28:12). “yet they would not hear.” When Israel as a nation was cast off at Acts 28:28, the sign gifts discontinued, not to return during the present age of grace.

Three of the temporary gifts were to cease---1. Corinthians 13:8. The total absence of tongues, healings and other signs gifts in Paul’s later, or Prison Epistles shows that they had all passed off the scene. Paul wrote in 1. Corinthians 13:9-10, “ For we know in part, and we prophecy in part. But when that which is perfect is comes then that which is in part shall be done away.” That expression “that which is perfect” does not refer to when we get to heaven, as so many think. It means that when Paul’s full revelations are all given, when the New Testament is finished, then there would be no more use of the temporary gifts. The New Testament WAS finished, and the temporary gifts DID cease.

Today’s “Charismatic” Movement

All saved people are baptized of the Holy Spirit into the One Body of Christ at the time they receive Him as Saviour. The Word never speaks of any second baptism of the Spirit, or any special sensational experience. The present so-called charismatic movement is embraced by many unsaved people of all religious backgrounds, which proves that God is not in it. Further, it is ecumenical in character, even embracing great numbers of Catholics and their leaders, all working toward the great “one world church” of the Tribulation time. This movement today is Satanically inspired, and energized by demon spirits. It is but one more proof that we are in the last days of this dying age.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons” (1. Timothy 4:1).

(PART 2)

Chapter 2.

“Speaking in Tongues” Is This for Us Today?


“For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear” (Isiah 28:11-12).

“In the law it is written, With men of other tongues will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear Me, saith the Lord” (1. Corinthians 14:21).

“Wherefore tongues are for a sign not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” (1. Corinthians 14:22).

There are some who are guided by, and trusting in, their experiences or the experiences of someone close to them, and are not interested in what the Word of God has to say about this subject. To such, we have nothing to say. For there is no subject that cries out more loudly for obedience to the command of 2. Timothy 2:15, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”

In the Scriptures quoted above, there are important points that we should carefully note. They are:

1. “Tongues are for a sign” (1. Corinthians 14:22). In general, signs were temporary; they were to show God’s approval of a message or the messenger.”...The Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following” (Mark 16:20)..”Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs” (Acts 2:22). “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders” (Hebrews 2:4).

2. A sign to the Jewish nation—Isiah 28:11, “this people.” The phrase always refers to the Jewish nation, especially when it is connected with the statement that “they will not hear Me.” In spite of the signs, Israel refused to hear.

3. Tongues were a sign to unbelievers, not to believers (1, Corinthians 14:22). And these unbelievers were the unbelieving Jews of that time, not the Gentiles, and certainly not the church of today.

The History of Tongues

“Glossolalia” (tongues, or speaking in tongues) is found only in five passages in the New Testament. It is used only once in the Four Gospels, in Mark 16:17. Here it is among the prophesied charismatic gifts to be fulfilled during the apostolic era, or the Acts period, after which signs gifts all went off the scene. Speaking in tongues is only found in three passages in Acts, in Chapter 2, 10 and 19. It is found for the last time in 1. Corinthians, chapter 12 to 14. Of the 21 epistles in the New Testament, tongues are only in this one. Let us now look at the gift of tongues in the following passages:

1. In Acts Chapter 2 –

Pentecost means fifty. In fulfillment of the type in the Wave Loves in Leviticus 23:15-22, the Holy Spirit descended on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Christ. But how were the people of Israel to know this? God gave them three signs to show that this great event was taking place, right on schedule!

Sign Number 1. “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind” (v2). And “it filled all the house.” We are reminded of the time when Solomon had finished building the first temple (2. Chronicles 7:1-3). “Fire came down from heaven,” and the Holy Spirit, in the form of the Shekinah glory cloud (Exodus 40:34) filled the Lord’s house.

Sign Number 2. The appearance of “clove tongues like as of fire.” Some strange doctrines have been built upon the supposition that this was literal fire. It was not. It was “like as” of fire, another sign to signify the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Sign Number 3. “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to Speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” What were these tongues? Just what the text says, “other tongues,” or other languages. Jews from many nations were there for the feasts of Jehovah. See the list in verse 9 to 11. These were all known, national languages. The Scriptures know nothing of an “unknown” tongue. The word “unknown” is used in our authorized Bible, in several places in 1. Corinthians 14, but always in Italics. That means that it was not in the original, but supplied by the translators. Also the Word of God knows nothing of speaking in a strange “gibberish.” This always comes from some source other than God.

Speaking in tongues, then, on the day of Pentecost, was for a sign to the unbelieving Jews.” It was to be of short duration. Had it been something permanent, to run through the whole dispensation of grace, every believer could have had it. Instead, only a few had it, mainly the Apostles. God knew that the authority of the Apostles, and their message of the coming of the Holy Spirit, would be challenged. So He backed them up with mighty signs.

There is no mention of any Gentile at Pentecost. They were all “Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (v 5). The tongues were for the benefit of the unbelieving Jews who looked on. “And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?’ (v. 12).

(PART 3)

2. In Acts Chapter 10----

This was in the house of Cornelius, the Gentile army captain. Peter was preaching the risen Lord to them. All of a sudden, he was interrupted. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the Word.” Peter had six Jewish brethren with him (v. 45 with 11:12). How were these six Jews to know that the Holy Spirit had came upon the Gentile converts? By the fact that the latter began to speak in other languages or tongues. (See verses 46 in chapter 10). The tongues were not for the benefit of the Gentile converts who did the speaking. They didn’t need this sign; they aready believed, just as many a Gentile has done since, without any sign. Just the Word of God.

But verse 45 says, “And they of the circumcision (the six Jews) which believed were astonished.” The sign was working. These Jews were professed believers in Christ. They were “unbelieving” only in the sense that up to this point practically all Jews had refused to believe that the Gentiles were to be saved and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Even Peter had his apprehensions at first (see verse 14, 15 and 28). But thanks to the “tongues sign,” Peter now has six Jewish brethren to back him up when he tries to explain these Gentile converts to the Jewish assembly back home in Jerusalem.

3. In Acts Chapter 19----

At Ephesus Paul had met 12 men (either Jews or Jewish proselytes). They had received John’s baptism, but seemed to know nothing of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, nor of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Paul spoke to them of believing on Christ, in verse 4. They believed, and when Paul laid his hands on them (another gift for the apostolic era only, from Deut. 34:9), the Holy Spiriy came on them and they spoke with tongues.

We see then, that this speaking in tongues was again a sign to the Jews. Not only a sign to the twelve Jews that Paul had met, but also to all the Jews in the synagogue at Ephesus, where Paul next takes his ministry (v. 8).

4. In 1. Cor. 12 – 14—15----

To get the background here we must go back to Acts 18, the founding of the church at Corinth. In verse 4 Paul reasoned in the synagogue at Corinth, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. He “testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.” The results of that was that they (the Jews) “opposed themselves, and blasphemed,” and Paul said, “from henceforth I will go to the Gentiles.”

Corinth was a center of world commerce. Many Jews resided there, and many languages were spoken in the city. Among the believers, no doubt there were both Jews and Gentiles who could speak in other languages besides their own. Paul continued his gospel work in Corinth for a year and six months (Acts 18:11). Meanwhile, the Jews refused and opposed the message that Paul brought, and he left the synagogue and began holding meetings in a house right next door to the synagogue! (see Acts 18:7). Although Paul could no longer speak directly to the Jews in the synagogue, his message next door did somehow filter into the synagogue. So much that Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, heard the Word and got saved! And some others with him—Acts:18:8.

For the benefit of those unbelieving Jews in the synagogue at Corinth, God confirmed His Apostle’s message with a sign. What sign? The gift of tongues given to the believers in the new Corinthian assembly. At first, no doubt, this was the pure gift from the Holy Spirit bestowed upon certain men in the Corinthian assembly for the purpose of authenticating the Apostle and his message to the unbelieving Jews next door, and throughout the city.

But the Corinthians began to misuse this gift, and perhaps confused it with the ability of some of their numbers to speak in some of the foreign languages they had learned down at the docks, or in some other way. The ability to speak in another language has always appealed to the pride of our carnal old nature. And the Corinthians were carnal! (1. Cor. 3:3). In any case, Paul wrote chapter 12, 13 and 14 to them to de-emphasize the tongues gift, and to increase emphasis upon what he called “a more excellent way.” That was the way of love, described in chapter 13.

Down – graded 2,000 to 1.

Paul down-graded the importance of the gift of tongues 2,000 to one. He would rather speak meaningfully in five words than use ten thousand words that others could not understand (1 Cor. 14:19).

Inn Summary

1. Tongues in the Bible were known languages, not gibberish.
2. Tongues were a sign to unbelieving Jews, never to convince Gentiles or the Church. The Jews are a sign people – 1. Cor. 1:22.
3. Tongues were to cease when their need as a sign was fulfilled – 1. 13:8.
4. Not every believer spoke in tongues, only specially gifted ones – 1. Cor 12:30.
5. Never a sign of spirituality, but rather lack of it. Never practiced in any of the spiritual assemblies, only in carnal Corinth.
6. In the Bible, no woman ever spoke in tongues. Think what this would do to the modern tongues movement! In Acts 1:14, “These all” is in the masculine gender in the Greek, showing that only the men prayed, although women were present. in the big chapter on tongues, 1. Cor. 14, the women are explicitly forbidden to speak, in verse 34.
7. Our Lord Jesus Christ never spoke in tongues! Nor did the Apostle Paul at the time of his conversion. Tongues had nothing to do with salvation.

(PART 4)

Chapter 3.

What is Behind the Modern Charismatic Movement?

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” 1. Corinthians 12:13.

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (2. Corinthians 11:3-4).

ONE SUMMER morning as I was washing my gospel car, two lady preachers stopped to talk. They soon got to the inevitable question. “Brother, have you received the baptism of the Holy Ghost? With 1. Corinthians 12:12 in mind, I answered in the affirmative, But I knew this wasn’t what they had in mind. Then I turned it around and asked, “Have you ladies received it yet?

“Oh, no,” they both answered. “We have been tarrying for it, but it hasn’s come yet.” “Are you sure,” I asked, “that you have tarried according to the Scriptures” Have you gone to Jerusalem to do your tarrying , as Luke 29:49 says?” “Of course not,” one of them answered, “when it says Jerusalem it means Portland, or wherever you are.” “Not in MY Bible,” I replied. “My Bible says exactly what it means, and means what it says, and it does not tell any one to tarry in Portland. But you will never make it anyhow,” I added, because you are nearly 2,000 years too late to obey that Scripture.

Spirit Baptism and Tongues

One of the most flagrant errors in the so-called charismatic movement is the assumption that speaking in tongues is related to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is necessary in order to speak in tongues. Others turn it around and say that speaking in tongues is evidence or proof that one has obtained the baptism of the Spirit. Both of these assumption are gross errors.

As we saw in our study last time, the receiving of the Spirit in Acts chapter 2, 10, and 19 were special occasions, for a sign to the nation Israel, and never repeated again. Nowhere in Scripture is there any statement or indication that believers today are to seek the baptism by, in, or with the Holy Spirit. Before Pentecost, the apostles were to wait for the coming of the Spirit, and to tarry in Jerusalem until He came. He did come, and is in the world today. There is no waiting for Him now. nor tarrying for Him.

In 1. Corinthians 12:13, quoted above, we find that ALL believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one body of Christ. This took place the moment we received the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. At that time each one of us was also “born of the Spirit,” “ indwelt by the Spirit,” and “sealed by the Spirit.” The baptism of the Spirit, then, is part of our great salvation. It is not some ecstatic, sensational experience, but an act which placed us in the one body of Christ. Speaking in tongues has nothing whatever to do with it.

A Mark of False Movements

There is a tell-tale mark by which believers with spiritual understanding can usually spot a false movement. It is their constant use of the name “Jesus.” It is always “Jesus” this and “Jesus” that. This always reveals a sad ignorance of “present truth” as revealed in Paul’s Epistles, and worse yet, a sad ignorance of the Lordship of Christ as revealed in Paul’s revelations. It has always been the mark of the Pentecostal movement, and now it is also a common mark of the charismatic followings.

Suffice to say here that the Lordship of Christ is very precious to God the Father. For He “hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name:...And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Let us give Him His proper title and office – the Lord Jesus Christ!

As we saw in our last study, the gifts and signs and miracles were temporary demonstrations to the nation Israel during the Acts period. Their purpose was to authenticate the apostles and their message. These gifts went off the scene at the close of the Acts period, when God set the rebellious nation aside for the duration of the present age, and turned to the Gentiles – Acts 28:28.

You find these sign gifts in three places: Romans 12:6-8, 1. Corinthians 12:8-10, and 12:28. You find another list of gifts in Ephesians 4:8-11, but there are no sign gifts there. You will search Paul’s later, or Prison Epistles, in vain for any gifts of healing or speaking in tongues. The miracle gifts had gone off the scene by that time.

“That Which Is Perfect”

“Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
“For we know in part, and we prophecy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (1. Corinthians 13:8-10).

Here were three things that were to disappear from the scene – prophecies, tongues and divine knowledge. These prophecies were not what we usually think of as Bible prophecies. They were given by the Acts period prophets (as in Acts 11:27, 13:1, 21:10) through whom the Holy Spirit could give the early believers temporary oral instructions while the New Testament was in the making. Remember that they had only the Old Testament Scriptures then. Knowledge is in the same category, temporary knowledge from God until the New Testament was finished. These two gifts obviously would be discontinued when they were no longer needed.

Speaking in tongues would also cease when God stopped dealing with the nation Israel at Acts 28:28. Until the whole Bible was completed, even Paul had to say, “We know in part.” But all of these temporary gifts would cease “when that which is perfect is come.”

What is, “that which is perfect” here? It is not “when we get to heaven,” as so many think. Nor does it refer to the coming of the Lord. “That which is perfect” is the completed, Spirit-breathed, flawless Word of God! It is what we have in our hands today, and why should anyone want to trade it for the old, temporary expedients?

The Tongues Movement Today

What is behind the speaking in tongues movement today? There probably is no simple answer to that question. Doubtless much of it is pure fake. But some of it appears real, and unexplainable. And of course, most of its proponents judge it by experience, rather than by the Word of God rightly divided. One thing we know from the Word of God, the power behind it today could not be God. There is some other source of power behind it. There is also weakness of human emotions. Regarding this latter, we quote the following from a paper on the subject by Mr. John, of Blenheim, New Zealand:
“Tongues and Hypnosis. In the modern Pentecostal movement, “speaking in tongues” is brought on by a process of mental fatigue through the continual repetition of one or more words like “Hallelujah” or “Precious Jesus.” Moderate revivalists receive this experience by laying on of hands and concentration. This also produces emotion and mental fatigue of the conscious mind. When the conscious mind reaches collapse under either method, the sub-conscious mind takes over, and any suggestions made at that time, such as tongues, healings, etc, are accepted as correct for they have by-passed the conscious mind."

The people who are led into these movements are seeking relief from unsatisfied spiritual experience. Not being well established in the Word of God, they are easy prey for Satan and his demon spirits. We must expect more and more of these pseudo miraculous movements as the age comes to an end. For when the Antichrist Beast of the Tribulation time arrives on the scene, he will come, “after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2> Thessalonians 2:9).

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons” (1. Timothy 4:1). Let us who are children of light, beware of Satan’s traps and be always guided by “Nevertheless what saith the Scriptures?” And remember that Paul tried to tell the Corinthians that there is a better way – the way of love. Even faith and hope will no longer be needed when we arrive in glory, but love will last forever.



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At the point of salvation the believer is blessed with every spiritual blessing, the challenge then is to make use of our perfect provision and to do so consistently better today than we had yesterday. For the believer, the very 'armor of God' is standard issue, the question is then is it our daily wear, or is it collecting dust somewhere in our wardrobe?

The speaking in tongues that was mentioned in ACTS is when people could hear other people who were speaking in another national language in their own language! In other words, if someone were speaking in German, I could then hear it in English. This is not heebee geebee gibberish that someone claims to translate. This was a PHENOMENON of the ability to understand French or German or Aramaic.

To be able to discern real gifts from phony gifts comes when we are able to look at our own motives for doing it. If it's coming from the holy Spirit, then there are NO ego related issues  involved. There are so many people who are trying to "prove" that they are spiritually mature by claiming miraculous powers. That is ego-inflation and self-aggrandizement, not fruits of the spirit. Real fruits of the spirit come unbenounced to any self glorifying motives. They are not from the human being. They don't come from the desire to boast or call attention to oneslef. Those particualr gifts are extremely rare. They are are because as AM4 said, miraculous signs used to exist to prove that God does exist. Now that the Holy Spirit has entered the world and the gospel has been preached to most nations of the world, miracles are not needed as much. That's my opinion.

The presentation is lacking a complete analysis of speaking in tongues. There is a difference between thier use in an assembly and for personal reasons such as edification.

aw

And how do we know what a person's motives are when speaking in togues? In my opinion, the closer a person comes to the SCRIPTURAL description of speaking in tongues, the more trustworthy his experience is.

Thank you AW.

When Jesus told me, "just seek Me", I did. I layed face up on the floor, and began to center my whole being on Jesus. I kept saying, "Jesus; Jesus."  Then what felt like electricity began to flow through my body. It lasted about 15 minutes, after which I began to speak in tongues. (though at the time I did not know what it was, for I had never yet heard about speaking in tongues). I just knew God was touching me.
It was after this that I began to understand the Word of God like never before. (very shortly after this the Holy Spirit revealed to me, from His Word, what had taken place).
As for tongues: "Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues." [1 Cor. 14.39]. You seem to be forbidding what Paul has told the church.
And you seem to be saying that what happened with me when the Holy Spirit came upon me is 'satanically inspired', and was 'energized by demon spirits'.
I love and respect so much of what you have to say here, and in fact look forward to it. But in this instance I am in total disagreement with you. In the above verse Paul is speaking to us the church. I am not posessed of a devil, and neither was my experience demonic. And when the Holy Spirit speaks through me in my prayers in my closet, it too is not of the devil.
May God continue to bless all you do.
Your brother in Christ. Roy.

The best information I have seen on the issue of tongues is on another forum. http://www.botcw.com/talk/showthread.php?s=2543e4f0d099b61a64f977631307aceb&threadid=5514&perpage=15&pagenumber=3
This is a Great post. Royo I hope you read it. You need to read it.
It is very well done.

To Left Coast.
Thank you for your concern. I read most of it, but it does not change what I believe. I have met and know more who believe as I do than those who wish to interpret it differently.
One thing I already knew, and see here also, is that not all see the truth the same. That is O.K.
If anyone wishes to think that when I get in prayer with my Father God, and pray in tongues, (in the Spirit, as paul also called it), that I am somehow demonically influenced, that is their choice to believe that. I know differently.

Blessings to you all.  Roy.

I agree 100% with Dee L. McCroskey, nothing lacking about this study.

Amen

Brother Love :)

Here is another study by Dee L. McCroskey, that A4C posted on Am I Going To Heaven thread. I also agree with Dee L. McCroskey, 100% on this study.



Mark Sixteen
AND THE MODERN TWISTERS
By - Dee L. McCroskey

TURN to Mark chapter sixteen, the last six verses, and you will find a series of divine statements that rank among the most ravaged, and the most twisted and turned, of all Bible truths. Listening to the confusion over this passage, with some modern religionists insisting on water salvation and others claiming miraculous powers and wonders, one in reminded of the sign often seen over an iron-works door: “All kinds of twisting and turning done here.”
Some of these followings, such as the Campbellites, only go as far as verse 16 before their imaginations run out. So they run for the baptism tank to get saved, as they think, but decline to presume the powers and wonders of verse 17. But their more imaginative cousins, such as the common variety of Pentecostalist, get a far a verse 17. They lay claim to the talking in tongues mentioned here, but concede that something has gone amiss with their faith, so that they are not prepared to get serious about the snakes and poison in verse 18. The climax is finally reached, however, by the ultra fanatics, who go on to verse 18, drink poison, take rattle snakes into the pulpit with them and land in the hospital.
But what about these Scriptures in Mark sixteen? Here, as in all similar Scriptures, we must “rightly divide” the Word. (Memorize 2. Timothy 2:15 and 1. Corinthians 10:32. They are key Scriptures.) To understand such Scriptures as Mark sixteen, the very first thing is to determine who it is to whom the Lord is speaking. Is it His earthly people, Israel. or to the Gentiles, or to His Church? This is the first step in rightly dividing the Word, for God deals differently with each of these three companies . Not that we would abandon any Scripture, for Romans 15:4 says that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that is, for application. But not all Scriptures were written directly to us. Let us be sure we are clear on that point, and we will be spared from error and confusion.
We will find the answer to our first question here in the 14th verse of Mark 16. It gives us the speaker and the ones spoken to. It says: “Afterward He appeared UNTO THE ELEVEN as they sat at meat.”
Here it is plainly not His church of today, but the little company of Hebrew disciples, representative of the Jewish remnant. It could not possibly have been to the church, for His church was not brought into existence until after His ascension to glory.
Then He tells them in verse 15: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” These were the marching orders for the Jewish remnant of that day. The parallel passage in Matthew 28 speaks of baptizing and teaching nations. It looks forward to the time when “all power” will be given the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will come to judge the nations on earth and to set up His kingdom. But this passage in Mark is purely local, to the remnant of the time, as we see in the 20th verse. “They were soon dispersed and preached in all parts of the civilized world.

The Campbellites and their Water

Now we come to the much abused 16th verse, the special delight of the Campbellites (the so-called “Christian church” and the so-called “Church of Christ.”)
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” By wresting this verse out of its proper place, and doing the same to their other favorite one, Acts 2:38, the Campbellites preachers insist that water baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation. Their error is serious, for it denies the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary, and adds some puny work of man. The Scripture says, “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9).
I will give $1000.00 dollars to the first person who will show me one single verse of Scripture that plainly says a man will be damned if he is not baptized with water. This is not done in the spirit of gambling, but simply that it would easily be worth that to me to be set right if I am wrong. This offer still holds. If the Campbellite preacher be right let them step forth with such a Scripture.
Mark 16:16, even when wrested out of its Jewish setting and erroneously used as church truth, does not say that “he that is baptized not shall be damned.” The Spirit is very careful here to say only that “he that believeth not shall be damned.” That holds good in any age. Men always have to be saved by faith, and always will be. Because this Scripture was for the Jews of the dispersion, and water baptism was in order for them, as well as signs and wonders, it was needful for them to demonstrate true repentance by water immersion. But as far as salvation was concerned, believing on Christ was the essential thing.
This is proven by the repentant thief of the cross. He was not baptized, but he believed on the Lord, and acknowledged Him as Lord, and he went to glory with the Lord. The argument that he was unable to get baptized is weak and without any foundation in the Scriptures. “Not by works of righteousness which WE have done, but according to His mercy He saved Us” (Titus 4:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9).
A group of young Campbellite seminary students once attended a Bible meeting in Eugene, Oregon. With characteristic assumption of infallability they seized the first opportunity to project their doctrine of salvation by immersion. They were asked: “What about the case of a man who is convicted of his sins at a meeting and receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, but on the way home he meets with an accident and is killed? What becomes of him?” The young men shook their head sadly and said: “It would be too bad; he should have gotten baptized immediately!” Thus as 1 Corinthians 1:17 says, the cross of Christ is “made of none effect.”
Now we come to the 17th verse in Mark 16, the favorite of the Pentecostal following. But they overlook one word, the work “shall.”
“And these signs SHALL follow them that believe: in My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.”
The awkward part here is that these miraculous signs SHALL follow them that believe, and he that believeth not shall be damned. It would, then, be very bad for any professed believer who could not talk in tongues if this Scripture were for today. It would prove that he had not yet attained a saving belief. But this is not all. In the 18th verse we find even more starling signs, which Christ said SHALL follow them
that believe:

Snakes and Poison

“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Most of the professing miracle workers of today know that these signs DO NOT follow them. They know what a rattlesnakes will do to them, and they know what a dose of strychnine will do. And as for healing the sick, if it would really work they would be in constant demand everywhere. So they fall back on this weak and beggarly argument: “I believe a person could do these things if he had faith enough, and besides, I wouldn’t want to temp God by taking up a serpent or drinking poison unless necessary.”
But when is it every necessary, in the normal course of life, to take up serpents or drink poison? Note that these are “signs,” not antidotes to be used in case of accident. A “sign” was a demonstration to be put on, for the sake of those who looked on, that the Word might be confirmed. Nor was anything said about degrees of faith. The Lord guaranteed that these signs would follow them that believed. As Paul said, the Jews require a sign and God gave them signs.
“They went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and CONFIRMING THE WORD with signs following” (verse 20). Here we have the reason for all the miraculous gifts in apostolic days. The New Testament was only in the making and in lieu of His finished Word, God gave miraculous powers to His servants so as to confirm their divine authority. This kind of elementary confirmation came to an end with Acts 28:28, with the final turning to the Gentiles. The Word is completed now, and it is the only divine authority the man of faith needs.
The apostolic period when the Word was being compiled, and confirmed by signs, is covered by the book of Acts. “The very signs spoken of in Mark are fulfilled in the book of Acts. In the eight chapter of Acts, for instance, we read of Philip casting out devils, healing the lane and the palsied, and of the people believing and being baptized. In Acts 28:3 Paul is bitten by a venomous snake but suffered no ill effect, and proceeding to lay hands on the sick and heal them.
But today we have what Peter calls “present truth” for our guidance. This “present truth” is found in the church epistles, written by the Apostle Paul. One thing emphatically stressed in these Epistles, is that salvation is obtained by faith alone, faith in the finished work of Christ upon the cross. “I do not frustrate the grace on God.” writes Paul. If any works of ours are added to His glorious, atoning work on the cross, then Christ has died in vain. God’s way for the sinner is given us in Romans 10:9.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

“Speaking the Truth in Love”

Posted By Brother Love :)

Same here Brother Love ;D

Thanks Brother Love, AAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN!

Should Women Speak In Tongues ?

Not if you go by what the bible says. In fact the modern tongues movement would cease if women were obedient to the scriptures.

1 Cor 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches (in tongues) : for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

This verse is in the context of speaking in tongues. The problem here is obedience. Historically when dealing with Pentecostal women on this topic the answer has ALWAYS been the same. Quoting one woman she said, "I do not care what that book (the bible) says I know what I have experienced. This is a very dangerous position but one that brings to the life the saying "fools rush in where angels fear to tread". Is this your attitude? Do you care what the bible says? Or are you trusting to your emotions, your feelings, your will? The choice is yours but I implore you to choose God's way... not yours. Remember Eve did not care what God said... she gave into her passions.

By Pastor Doug Dodd s.b.g.

Are Tongues For Today? (Part 1)
Doug Dodd s.b.g. – Berean Bible Church – Edgewater, Florida

Opening Text: Acts 2:1-20

In this lesson we will learn 3 things:


Tongues were for Israel.
Tongues were temporary in nature.
Tongues would cease upon the completion of the word of God.
Introduction:

Before we look at the above 3 points let us ask the question "What are tongues?"


Some people think that tongue talking is speaking gibberish.
Some people believe that it is currently going on today and is one of the signs of salvation.
Some people think that God is speaking to them and giving them direct revelation apart from the word of God.
But what does the Bible say tongues are? The Bible clearly teaches that tongues were known languages.

"But what about 'unknown tongues' in 1 Corinthians 14?", you may ask.

If we apply what we already know from Acts 2, that tongues are known languages, then 1 Corinthians 14 is not a problem. Paul is simply bawling out the carnal Corinthians for misuse of the gift of tongues.

Verse by verse commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:


1 Cor 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
COMMENT: After telling the Corinthians in Chapter 13 that tongues would cease, Paul now directs them to follow after prophecy, or preaching.


1 Cor 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
1 Cor 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
COMMENT: Again, a logical argument arises. If there is no one who can understand you but God, then it would be better to speak so that man can be edified, or built up in the faith.


1 Cor 14:4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
COMMENT: It is better to edify the church than just one member of it. Keep in mind here that no one in the assembly could understand this tongue that was being used. It is unknown only in the sense that no one there knew what was being said.

For example: If I were to walk into a German, French, or some such assembly and begin to speak to them in American (we speak American, not English), and no one there understood American, what good would it do them, though I gave them the whole counsel of God? The answer is none.


1 Cor 14:5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
COMMENT: It is readily apparent that prophesying was more edifying than talking in tongues.


1 Cor 14:6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?
COMMENT: Again the great apostle to the Gentiles makes the same argument.


1 Cor 14:7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?
1 Cor 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
1 Cor 14:9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
COMMENT: Yet another illustration of the frustration of tongues.


1 Cor 14:10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.
1 Cor 14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
COMMENT: Rather than commend the misuse of this gift, which is how it is practiced today in America, Paul all but calls it barbaric: the opposite of civilized. In other words, Paul was saying only a bunch of barbarians would go around speaking things that no one in the speaker's vicinity could understand, and then brag about it!!!


1 Cor 14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
COMMENT: This is the 3rd time now that Paul has returned to this theme. Again, he does not commend the use of tongues. He is commending edification which, apparently from this passage, was not being accomplished through tongues. If I tell even our young folks that it is better to do one thing than to do another, they understand perfectly well what is meant. So many today fight and wrangle with these verses trying to make them say what they do not say.


1 Cor 14:13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
1 Cor 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
1 Cor 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
1 Cor 14:16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?
1 Cor 14:17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
COMMENT: The issue is the edification of the believer. Speaking in tongues in the Corinthian church was not edifying, and Paul recommends against it in favor of edification.


1 Cor 14:18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
COMMENT: Many contend that this is a reference to Paul's personal, private prayer life and, therefore, it is ok to practice at home. This is a wild leap of imagination. The correct use of tongues was to reach the lost, as we shall see shortly.


1 Cor 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
COMMENT: This is the 5th time that Paul returns to this argument of edification. This time he makes it very plain that, "in the church", speaking with understanding is preferred above speaking in tongues.

By the way, do you know what 5 words Paul would rather speak, clearly and distinctly so everyone could hear? I am guessing, of course, but I think they might be, "Christ died FOR our sins".


1 Cor 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
COMMENT: Paul now reasons with them not to be children. "Do not shoot out the lip because I am taking away your toy. Grow up and be men in understanding."


1 Cor 14:21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.
1 Cor 14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
COMMENT: Paul now turns his attention to the purpose originally given for the use of the gift of tongues: the salvation of the nation of Israel. The Jews required a sign. They were sign-oriented people. The way they knew that God was working in their midst was through the use of signs. This principle holds true throughout the law. Signs were a part of their heritage and birthright. If God was speaking to them, signs would follow.

Are Tongues For Today? (Part 2)


When lost Israel sees the Gentiles practicing their gifts, God uses this to provoke some to salvation. This is part of the "provoking ministry of Paul". This sign, talking in tongues, would be done away with for 2 very good reasons.


Israel would be set aside because of unbelief.
The completion of the canon of scripture.
Now this all begs a question, which Paul logically asks in verse 23.


1 Cor 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
1 Cor 14:24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
1 Cor 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
COMMENT: The question that must be asked is this: If tongues are for a sign to the unbelievers, why was it being practiced in the church? It needed to be practiced outside in the world where it could be used effectively. The same is true today. If you want to hear people "speak in tongues", you have to go to their worship services. I have had Mormons, Church of Christ, Baptists, and Russellites (or Jehovah's Witnesses) come to my door and talk to me, but I have never had a Pentecostal come to my door and speak to me in tongues. Why?


Today it is gibberish and means nothing.
It is of the flesh.
There is nothing spiritual about it, and this whole chapter proves that very point. The purpose of tongues was to reach lost Israel through the manifestation of the Spirit in the believer. The Corinthians were not using it that way.


1 Cor 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
COMMENT: This verse demonstrates the carnality evidenced in Corinth and across America today. No understanding. No edification. Just a flesh and emotion feast.


1 Cor 14:27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
1 Cor 14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
COMMENT: Terms and Conditions - Part 1: Notice again the problem here is with the unknown tongue, a language that no one in the congregation could recognize. Also notice that, under the decently and in order rule, one would not get up and start speaking in an unknown tongue without first making sure there was an interpreter present. If not, he (not she, because women were not allowed to speak, much less speak in tongues) was to keep silence.


1 Cor 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
1 Cor 14:30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
1 Cor 14:31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
1 Cor 14:32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
COMMENT: Terms and Conditions - Part 2: The prophets are to speak first, as many as 2 or 3, and another was to judge, or make sure he spoke according to sound doctrine. If someone got a revelation, that is they received some light that might help the others to understand, they were to wait their turn. Notice that there are no limits. All may prophesy, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. This is consistent with Pauline doctrine and the context of this passage. Verse 32 simply means to gauge what is being said, the role of the judge.


1 Cor 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1 Cor 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
COMMENT: Terms and Conditions - Part 3: The speaking is tongues and prophesying. They are not to interrupt the flow of things with questions. The shame comes from not being under subjection, not for being a woman. The modern tongues movement would come to a screeching halt if this one verse were obeyed.


1 Cor 14:36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
COMMENT: Now Paul completely deflates their ballooning pride by telling them that they are not the center of the universe. "Do you think you are the only ones in God's plan and purpose?"


1 Cor 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1 Cor 14:38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
COMMENT: Finally, the apostle to the Gentiles reminds them that if they really were spiritual, if they really were prophets, they would acknowledge him and his ministry. Such is the condition of the "professing church" today. They stumble in fettered flesh and emotionalism because they have not acknowledged the apostleship of Paul. In reference to verse 38, it is as if Paul were saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. We can only show you the door you will have to open it and go in".


1 Cor 14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
1 Cor 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
COMMENT: Paul's closing remarks on this subject are clear and instructive. It is better to edify than not. Speaking in tongues is not to be forbidden (at that time), but clearly here, and according to the context, it was better to leave tongues out in the world where it could do the most good. "In the church" it only brings confusion.

Are Tongues For Today? (Part 3)

Conclusion:

The Corinthians were not using tongues in the proper way and Paul commands them to put things in order. The church was to be a place of edification and education of the saints. Tongues were to be a sign to unbelievers. Paul recommends prophecy over tongues by a huge ratio. And by the way, women are not to do it.

Having said all that, let's continue to examine what the Bible teaches about speaking in tongues:

Tongues Were For Israel


The Twelve Apostles received the gift
Acts 1:26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.


Peter quoted Joel, an Old Testament, Jewish prophet
Acts 2:14 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:
Acts 2:15 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;
Acts 2:17 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:
Acts 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

NOTE: There is a dispensational line to be drawn here. The following events in the passage did not come to pass in Peter's day. They will happen after the catching away of the church, the body of Christ.

Acts 2:19 And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:


The Jews require a sign. They always have.
1 Cor 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

Examples: Moses and the burning bush, Gideon's fleece, the virgin birth, Hezekiah's 10 degrees, etc.

Christ's words to the scribes and the Pharisees:

Mat 12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Note that the Ninevites needed no sign, just preaching.


Tongues were prophesied.
Jer 5:15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

Deu 28:49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

To these people, to these Gentiles, were Israel's gifts given to provoke them to jealousy.

Rom 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Are Tongues For Today? (Part 4)

Tongues Were Temporary In Nature

Israel was going to be set aside as God's agency because of her rejection of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. God had a secret plan to bring in the revelation of the mystery. This is made evident in the book of Romans:


Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel (i.e. the gospel of grace), they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Note: At the time of the writing of Romans, Israel could be called enemies of the gospel. Note also that in verse 31, Israel now must go through the body of Christ to be saved. The tables have been turned, so to speak. The middle wall of partition has been broken down.

Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Three times in the book of Acts, Paul pronounces judgment on unbelieving Israel.


Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Acts 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

Acts 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
Acts 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Conclusion: Tongues belong to Israel. When Israel is set aside, so are her signs.

Tongues would cease for the body of Christ upon the completion of the word of God


1 Cor 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
COMMENT: What do prophecies, tongues and knowledge (supernatural knowledge, as with tongues and prophecy) have in common? They all have to do with the transmission of the word of God. When Paul, by the Holy Spirit, penned these words, the word of God was not complete. Therefore he says, "We know in part."

NOTE: The word "knowledge" used in this passage is the Greek word "gnosis", which means, "to have knowledge of." This in itself is not very significant until you turn to the book of Ephesians, where we find:


Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
This knowledge is the Greek word "epignosis" which means, "full knowledge!" When we get a completed book, we no longer need tongues, knowledge or prophecy.


1 Cor 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1 Cor 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
COMMENT: The Pentecostals like to say thatthis verse is a reference to the coming of Christ. First of all, it does not fit the context of the passage in any way. Secondly, it says "that which is perfect", not "he who is perfect", and God is able to say what He means. When the word of God is completed, that which is in part shall be done away. And isn't that what we have with Paul completing the "revelation of the mystery"? We now, today in the year 2000, have God's complete plan for the heavens and the earth. For the body of Christ and the nation of Israel. For the mystery program and the prophesied program.


1 Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
COMMENT: Did you ever grow up? Were things different when you did? That is the difference between having part, but not all, of the word of God.


1 Cor 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
COMMENT: Ever look into a dirty mirror then wipe it off. That is the difference between having part, but not all, of the word of God.

One last passage:


Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
To Paul was given the capstone of divine revelation. His epistles finish the book. And we have it in our hands today.


2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2 Tim 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
This verse nullifies tongues for this age, the dispensation of the grace of God.

Tongues were for Israel
Tongues were temporary in nature
Tongues would cease upon the completion of the word of God

Tongues were for Israel
Tongues were temporary in nature
Tongues would cease upon the completion of the word of God
Quote
____________________________________________________

This is how you interpret what you read. I can quote all the same scriptures you did to show a different interpretation.
For as long as I have been a Christian, it has been this way.
I have heard others teach what you are teaching, and I will not change what I believe just because a man says his interpretation is the right one.
When I sought Jesus in prayer, and the Holy Spirit came upon me, and then I spoke in tongues, (having never heard about tongues or the baptism in the Holy Spirit), it was of God. Not some demonically influenced thing. And I belong to no ism or teaching about these things. What I believe has been between me and God the Holy Spirit. I detest false teachings and false teachers, and have not ever had anything to do with what they all teach. Certain groups have been mentioned as believing this or that, etc. What I believe did not come from any of them. I put my trust in the Word of God as revealed to me by the Holy Spirit.
I have great respect for you Ambassador, but in this it seems we will not agree. That is O.K. with me. I will still respect and love you, for it seems we agree in so many other areas. So believe as you see it, but please do not try to say that I am somehow demonically influenced because I believe different.

Love in Christ. Roy.

Right On! Amen!

Brother Love :)

Yes Right On Bro ;D

AMEN?

Before and After the Cross

During His earthly ministry, our Lord’s miracles were signs to the unbelieving Jews that they might believe that He was the Son of God. “And many other signs truly did Jesus...But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31). After the cross, the risen Lord gave this power to work miracles to His Apostles, again for signs to the unbelieving Jews to give divine authority to the message of the Apostles—2. Corinthians 12:12.

 YES! Amen & Amen

Hello ambassador4christ! I have a question ??
I agree that many of the gifts were signs for the Jews , and are no longer for today,but Im not sure I agree with your statement that says the N.T. is that which is perfect, In 1 cor 13.
Where is your scripture to prove that the N.T. is that which is perfect is come ? Thanks!

I believe the study I posted by Dee L. McCroskey, is the better of the two. But thanks anyway.

Was Luke a Jew?

Did he eat pork?
Did he keep the Sabbath?
Did he keep the Law?
Did he baptise?
Was he one of the twelve?

Brother Love :)

Again i ask what makes one a Jew?

What make one a Gentile? ;D

LIGHT!!!

Acts 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
Acts 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Conclusion: Tongues belong to Israel. When Israel is set aside, so are her signs.


Brother Love :)

NT:1672
Hellen (hel'-lane); from NT:1671; a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew:


NT:1484
ethnos, ethnous, to:
1. a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together; a company, troop, swarm
2. a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus
3. race, nation: Matt 21:43; Acts 10:35
4. foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles,
5. Paul uses ta ethnee even of Gentile Christians: Rom 11:13

NT:1484
ethnos (eth'-nos); probably from NT:1486; a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; specially, a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication, pagan):

KJV - Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

OT:1471
gowy (go'-ee); rarely (shortened) goy (go'-ee); apparently from the same root as OT:1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:

KJV - Gentile, heathen, nation, people.


I say simply a gentile is a heathen.


What makes one a Jew?

I say simply a gentile is a heathen.


No Way

All Sooo called Jews, are Gods chosen people, all nations outside of Israel are called Gentiles.

The Crusader

I do not agree with this !I do not believe the LORD has changed .I believe we have .DO you believe we are indeed NEW CREATURES ?
NOT of this world ?BORN OF GOD ? Why ? would the just live by FAITH ?If all can be seen ?
Why would the SAME SPIRIT DWELL with in us ?Why would our minds need to be renewed ?
Why Would we recond ourselves dead ?
And WHY would we take on the mind of JESUS CHRIST ?Yet not do the WORKS HE DID ?
DO you know .JESUS did not tell us everything HE DID ?Because HE tells us the world could not contain all the books that could be wriiten .THE bible teraches us we do not need to be taught of ant man .That all men are lairs .Or Who has known the MIND OF GOD ?WE judge everything .Most of the time wrong .We think we are wise but have no power ?AS the KINGDOM of HEAVEN is POWER .That is WHY HE tells us these signs follow .Because they are automatic .I believe many great men of GOD past thought the years of time .We do not know of nor there works .But there is NO reason .We can not be as the 1st church ?Nothinmg has changed yet .I believe we live in the great falling away now .Because people are taught .of the flesh and flesh alone .Which we are not ?We are spirits as OUR LORD .WE HAVE THE VERY SPIRIT OF GOD .I have had most everything happen in my life .GOD is no repector of men .FAITH brings these things about .though the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT .I SEE no change in the HOLY SPIRIT .WHAT I DO SEE is NO FAITH ,NO WILLINGNESS to put your self aside .And walking in the fullness of the flesh .I hate seeing this is the BODY OF CHRIST .I don"T believe many have a personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST ?JESUS SAID ?MY SHEEP WILL HEAR MY VOICE .HE MEANS IT !yes satan iknows his time is short and has tricked my brothers to follow as the world .with out POWER or fullness of TRUTH .You can not tell them from the world .THEY trust man for everything .DO THEY WALK BY FAITH ?I think not .THEY TRUST IN MAN for everything and teach others too .I feel very sad ,for the LORDS PEOPLE .YOU SEE AS NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST ?WE are spirits .We recieve our teaching from a SPIRIT [holy GHOST]Our weapons are SPIRITUAL !We must be feed spiritually !WE are not of this world !We are now MADE as is NEW JERUSALEM .THE INNER MAN .WHOM we have NOW BECOME ,is to rule ?THE flesh is not GODS FRIEND .IT MUST BEE BOUGHT UNDER CONTROL .BECAUSE IT CAN NOT HELP BUT SIN .BUT GOD SAID BE PERFECT AS HE IS .HE SAID BE HOLY AS HE IS .AS HE CHANGED HIS MIND ?NO we have ?I fear ?WE ARE TOO BE LED BY GOD HIMSELF .BUT IF WE CAN NOT HEAR HIM ?HOW CAN HE LEAD US ?FASTING IS VERY NEEDFUL IN THE BODY .WE MUST NOT LOOK AT THINGS AS THE WORLD DOES .because we are NOT OF THIS WORLD .VERY DANGERUOS THING ?TO JUDGE THE THINGS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ? THIS WILL HURT YOU WORSE THAN ANYTHING .Better to just show the word of GOD ,if you do not have full understanding ?THIS IS THE WAY I SEE IT ALL .IF WE HAVE THE MIND OF JESUS CHRIST ?WE WILL DO THE SAME WORKS ,HE DID

Gary, lean not to your own understanding   :)

I have not !I would say this too you !The kingdom of GOD IS POWER .THE HOLY SPIRIT IS POWER .THE FLESH IS WEAK AND DEAD .YOU WALK IN THE FLESH ?YOU DIE .YOU WALK IN THE SPIRIT ,YOU HAVE LIFE .I HAVE BEEN DEAD 2 TIMES .I KNOW THE DIFFERANCE WELL .I HAVE HEALED ,been healed ,My mother and last son both died and my prayer bought them back .I have cast out demons .I have had the rivers of living water .I have entered GODS NEW REST .BUT WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW OR UNDERSTYAND ?We say must not be true .Because I have not known this ?And then I say ?WHY NOT ?It is in the BIBLE .Yiou say it was for then maybe ?I laugh.And I say ?HOW LORD CAN YOU MAKE THE BLIND SEE ?GOD HAS NOT CHANGED Yes one day ,he will full fill all TRUTH .maybe in the 1000years of peace or maybe .when HE MAKES a NEW HEAVEN and earth to go with our NEW BODYS .BUT NOW it is the same as the start of the church .It has not changed .But we have no understanding .and do not seek it .As we feel we do not need the things of the HOLY SPIRIT ?BUT WE NEED EVERYTHING ,HE IS WILLING TO GIVE US .I SAY FAST AND PRAY .OTHER WISE YOU WILL NEVER GROW ?YOU WILL BE THE SAME 10years from now .JUST A LITTLE MORE SELF RIGHTEOUS and think your wiser..

well praise GOD .IF YOU KNEW GOD ?YOU COULD ASK HIM ?Maybe you just know words ?BUT BROTHER if you are ?FAST ?YOU NEED A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST .I do not desire to hurt your feelings .BUT YOU REALLY BETTER GET CLOSE TO JESUS CHRIST ,where you can talk with HIM and HE with you ?BECAUSE HE WILL RETURN SOON .HE SAYS HE WILL ONLY GET THIOSE WORTHY AND LOOKING FOR HOIS COMING .THEN THE EARTH WILL BE A LIVING HELL .SURE MILLIONS WILL BE SAVED THEN ?BUT IT WILL BE REALLY BAD .WORSE THAN EVER ON EARTH .I have told you the TRUTH ! BUT ONLY THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH CAN REVEAL THIS TO YOU ?BUT IF YOU DON"YT have the HOLY SPIRIT or DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM ?YOU MUST KEEP WALKING IN THE WEAK FLESH AS THE WORLD DOES ?BUT IF YOU WOULD PUT YOUR SELF ASIDE and fast unttil YOU HEAR GOD .THEN YOU WILL HAVE A REAL WALK WITH HIM .satan knows the bible better than you or me .But does not know the TRUTH of it .Without the SPIRIT OF TRUTH TO TEACH US .WE KNOW VERY LITTLE and have even less POWER .I do not say this to hurt you .But hopefully you will SEE ?AND SEEK TO KNOW THE LORD JESUS CHRIST .YOU SEE ?EVERYTHING NOW with the BODY OF CHRIST ?MUST BE DONE IN LOVE and FAITH .THIS IS VERY HARD FOR A PEOPLE taught from child hood .The flesh is who they are ?But we are not .When JESUS CHRIST CAME INTO THE WORLD .HE PUT came to show us we are spirits 1st .This changed our thinking from the flesh as in the old .To the spirit as in the new .the inner man .This is us .HE DESIRES TO PLEASE GOD .HE WILL .IF WE LET HIM HAVE CONTROL .THE FLESH IS DEAD .because it is evil and full of sin .EVERYTHING GOD DOES IN OUR LIFE ?COMES THOUGH THE SPIRIT 1st .THIS IS HIS MAIN CONCERN .BECAUSE THIS IS EVER lasting .We MUST KNOW WHAT AND WHO WE ARE 1st .Then we can deal with the problem of unbeleif.WHICH HAS ALWAYS been the bodys problem .Because if we believe ?We can really move a mountain .any mountain .if in the wills will .I could write foe 3 days here of the miracles in my life and others around me .But you COULD not believe .But that is not the problem ?The problem is in your very heart ! argueing will help no one on earth .plus it means little to me ,if no one on earth believes me .I know .And it effects me ,to have greater FAITH .As weather I live or die ?Means nothing .But I do KNOW ?I will never get this GREAT CHANCE to SERVE GOD AGAIN .When only the LORDS WILL ,has meaning to your heart .THEN YOU WILL KNOW HIM  The more you have ?the harder to know HIm .There is NOTHING more important to us and no greater miracle ?Than too have our names in the LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE !

You see this as a game ? I pray FATHER GOD .IF IT COULD BE IN YOUR WILL ?REVEAL THE TRUTH TO THIS MAN ,OPEN HIS HEART >THAT HE MIGHT KNOW YOU LORD IN A MORE PERFECT WAY .IN JESUS CHRIST NAME I PRAY ,THANK YOU LORD .If you go to tribulation force.They have some great teaching there .and you could ask about me .I am no one on the site ,i just been going there a long time off and on .They LOVE the LORD very much there And I am sure many here too . BUT THE TRUTH IS ?ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT can reveal things from HIM .We may give our testamony .As this is one of the three ways we overcome .and we need ALL THREE to over come.I never used to tell others much .But GOD TOLD ME TOO START .SO I DO .BECAUSE I KNOW THE MIND OF MAN .HE CAN NOT RECIEVE THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT easy ?But when MY LORD TOLD ME THIS .I TYPED UP 13 PAGES OF MIRACLES IN MY LIFE .IT BOUGHT TEARS TOM MY EYES TO REMENBER THESE THINGS .I HAVE HAD MANY .WHY ME ?GEE I DO NOT KNOW .MAYBE TO TELL YOU AND OTHERS .THEY MIGHT BELIEVEC AND RECIEVE WHEN NEEDED .I AM NOTHING SPECIAL.as I HAVE FAILED MY LORD MANY TIMES .I HAVE ARGUED WITH THE LORD .THINKING HE MUST NOY UNDERSTAND .BUT HAVE LEARNED BY MUCH SUFFERING .HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT .AND OF COURSE REPENTED . Some miracles I do not tell .AS YOU CAN NOT RECIEVE these ?HOW would you recieve some others that are different that normal .I"ve had some really great miracles .I love to see them !I just believe ?I was willing to believe as I have never liked this world .I have always loved people ,but not the evil .ONCE MY FATHER ask me ? WHO was the most righteous in the church ,I went too ?I said the pastor LORD .He said no .I said but LORD ,he is your shepard .HE SAID I AM THE SHEPARD.HE SAID ?HE IS NO DIFFERENT than you .HE SAID YOU GOUING TO FOLLOW ME or him .I SAID ,full of fear ,YOU LORD .HE SAID DO IT THEN .After that ,I SAID IN MY HEART ,I WILL NEVERV FOLLOW ANY MAN on earth .THIS WAS THE ONLY TIME ,I BELIEVED MY LORD WAS MAD .

Satanically inspired, and energized by demon spirits. It is but one more proof that we are in the last days of this dying age.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons” (1. Timothy 4:1).  

gee buddy ,you have a serious problem .You need to change that name .I want too warn you ?I know you may not believe ?But mY FATHER GOD does not like people doing me evil .I have also seen HIM take 3 lifes over me .HE will not do that here ?But will deal with you .I am sorry .But hE loves HIS KIDS VERY MUCH .

ROFLOL Your Killing me with all the posts you have made. ;D :) ;D :)

I don"t know if you make jokes or what ?But don"t you understand ?That if a person preaches JESUS CHRIST and the cross .They are friend .You calling me of the devil is VERY evil .MY FATHER will not like this .You must be carful with your words .They can destory you .I can not say if you have a relation with MY LORD .But I DO have one with JESUS CHRIST .I haven"t told you hardly ant miracles I have had and seen .BUT I will say thios ?The words GODS KIDS speak are bound in heaven THEY BECOME TRUTH .These evil words you speak will hurt you if you repent i will pray to MY FATHER for you ?

Your very childish WHY ?DO YOU KNOW JESUS CHRIST ?YOUR NAME HAD ME FOOLED .DO YOU THINK you act like a brother or have LOVE ?LOVE GIVES MERCY .

Gary Cook, by placing our faith in Christ’s shed blood and nothing else, we can have eternal life.  Isn’t today a good day to place your faith in Christ?  There will never be a better time.  In fact, there is no guarantee of another day. Trust Christ today.    

<:)))><

I told you I have beed dead 2 times .I KNOW .YOU DO NOT KNOW
TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST is to talk with HIM and HE with you
HE CANME TO RESTORE US TO THAT PLACE .YOU HAVE DONE A VERY EVIL THING .I TOLD YOU .HE WILL NIOT LET THIS PASS .BUT IF YOU REPENT ?I WILL PRAY FOR YOU !

YOUI are not saved but jusy knowing the LORD died for you .1st you must repent ,then you must ask HIM into your heart as LORD AND SAVIOR .THEN YOU WILL BE BORN AGAIN .THEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD COMES TO DWELL WITH IN YOU .THEN IS YOU CAN >YOU DSHOULD BE BAPTIZED IN WATER .TO SHOW YOU ARE DEA WITH CHRIST JESUS and TO OBEY HINM .AS HE SAID FOR US TO DO THIS .OBEYING THE LORD IS VERY IMPORTANT .THEN YOU WILL SEE SIGNS AND WONDERS .BUT WE CAN NOT EVEN REPENT UNLESS THE LORD CALLS US .judas looked for a place to repent ?he could not .then killed himself .Being born again is serious .GOD IS HOLY GOD IS PERFECT .WE MUST BE HOLY as HE IS .WE MUST BEE PERFECT IN CHRIST JESUS .and we will be if bORN AGAIN

REPEAT:

Here is another study by Dee L. McCroskey, that A4C posted on Am I Going To Heaven thread. I also agree with Dee L. McCroskey, 100% on this study.



Mark Sixteen
AND THE MODERN TWISTERS

By - Dee L. McCroskey

TURN to Mark chapter sixteen, the last six verses, and you will find a series of divine statements that rank among the most ravaged, and the most twisted and turned, of all Bible truths. Listening to the confusion over this passage, with some modern religionists insisting on water salvation and others claiming miraculous powers and wonders, one in reminded of the sign often seen over an iron-works door: “All kinds of twisting and turning done here.”
Some of these followings, such as the Campbellites, only go as far as verse 16 before their imaginations run out. So they run for the baptism tank to get saved, as they think, but decline to presume the powers and wonders of verse 17. But their more imaginative cousins, such as the common variety of Pentecostalist, get a far a verse 17. They lay claim to the talking in tongues mentioned here, but concede that something has gone amiss with their faith, so that they are not prepared to get serious about the snakes and poison in verse 18. The climax is finally reached, however, by the ultra fanatics, who go on to verse 18, drink poison, take rattle snakes into the pulpit with them and land in the hospital.
But what about these Scriptures in Mark sixteen? Here, as in all similar Scriptures, we must “rightly divide” the Word. (Memorize 2. Timothy 2:15 and 1. Corinthians 10:32. They are key Scriptures.) To understand such Scriptures as Mark sixteen, the very first thing is to determine who it is to whom the Lord is speaking. Is it His earthly people, Israel. or to the Gentiles, or to His Church? This is the first step in rightly dividing the Word, for God deals differently with each of these three companies . Not that we would abandon any Scripture, for Romans 15:4 says that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that is, for application. But not all Scriptures were written directly to us. Let us be sure we are clear on that point, and we will be spared from error and confusion.
We will find the answer to our first question here in the 14th verse of Mark 16. It gives us the speaker and the ones spoken to. It says: “Afterward He appeared UNTO THE ELEVEN as they sat at meat.”
Here it is plainly not His church of today, but the little company of Hebrew disciples, representative of the Jewish remnant. It could not possibly have been to the church, for His church was not brought into existence until after His ascension to glory.
Then He tells them in verse 15: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” These were the marching orders for the Jewish remnant of that day. The parallel passage in Matthew 28 speaks of baptizing and teaching nations. It looks forward to the time when “all power” will be given the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will come to judge the nations on earth and to set up His kingdom. But this passage in Mark is purely local, to the remnant of the time, as we see in the 20th verse. “They were soon dispersed and preached in all parts of the civilized world.

The Campbellites and their Water

Now we come to the much abused 16th verse, the special delight of the Campbellites (the so-called “Christian church” and the so-called “Church of Christ.”)
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” By wresting this verse out of its proper place, and doing the same to their other favorite one, Acts 2:38, the Campbellites preachers insist that water baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation. Their error is serious, for it denies the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary, and adds some puny work of man. The Scripture says, “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9).
I will give $1000.00 dollars to the first person who will show me one single verse of Scripture that plainly says a man will be damned if he is not baptized with water. This is not done in the spirit of gambling, but simply that it would easily be worth that to me to be set right if I am wrong. This offer still holds. If the Campbellite preacher be right let them step forth with such a Scripture.
Mark 16:16, even when wrested out of its Jewish setting and erroneously used as church truth, does not say that “he that is baptized not shall be damned.” The Spirit is very careful here to say only that “he that believeth not shall be damned.” That holds good in any age. Men always have to be saved by faith, and always will be. Because this Scripture was for the Jews of the dispersion, and water baptism was in order for them, as well as signs and wonders, it was needful for them to demonstrate true repentance by water immersion. But as far as salvation was concerned, believing on Christ was the essential thing.
This is proven by the repentant thief of the cross. He was not baptized, but he believed on the Lord, and acknowledged Him as Lord, and he went to glory with the Lord. The argument that he was unable to get baptized is weak and without any foundation in the Scriptures. “Not by works of righteousness which WE have done, but according to His mercy He saved Us” (Titus 4:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9).
A group of young Campbellite seminary students once attended a Bible meeting in Eugene, Oregon. With characteristic assumption of infallability they seized the first opportunity to project their doctrine of salvation by immersion. They were asked: “What about the case of a man who is convicted of his sins at a meeting and receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, but on the way home he meets with an accident and is killed? What becomes of him?” The young men shook their head sadly and said: “It would be too bad; he should have gotten baptized immediately!” Thus as 1 Corinthians 1:17 says, the cross of Christ is “made of none effect.”
Now we come to the 17th verse in Mark 16, the favorite of the Pentecostal following. But they overlook one word, the work “shall.”
“And these signs SHALL follow them that believe: in My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.”
The awkward part here is that these miraculous signs SHALL follow them that believe, and he that believeth not shall be damned. It would, then, be very bad for any professed believer who could not talk in tongues if this Scripture were for today. It would prove that he had not yet attained a saving belief. But this is not all. In the 18th verse we find even more starling signs, which Christ said SHALL follow them
that believe:

Snakes and Poison

“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Most of the professing miracle workers of today know that these signs DO NOT follow them. They know what a rattlesnakes will do to them, and they know what a dose of strychnine will do. And as for healing the sick, if it would really work they would be in constant demand everywhere. So they fall back on this weak and beggarly argument: “I believe a person could do these things if he had faith enough, and besides, I wouldn’t want to temp God by taking up a serpent or drinking poison unless necessary.”
But when is it every necessary, in the normal course of life, to take up serpents or drink poison? Note that these are “signs,” not antidotes to be used in case of accident. A “sign” was a demonstration to be put on, for the sake of those who looked on, that the Word might be confirmed. Nor was anything said about degrees of faith. The Lord guaranteed that these signs would follow them that believed. As Paul said, the Jews require a sign and God gave them signs.
“They went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and CONFIRMING THE WORD with signs following” (verse 20). Here we have the reason for all the miraculous gifts in apostolic days. The New Testament was only in the making and in lieu of His finished Word, God gave miraculous powers to His servants so as to confirm their divine authority. This kind of elementary confirmation came to an end with Acts 28:28, with the final turning to the Gentiles. The Word is completed now, and it is the only divine authority the man of faith needs.
The apostolic period when the Word was being compiled, and confirmed by signs, is covered by the book of Acts. “The very signs spoken of in Mark are fulfilled in the book of Acts. In the eight chapter of Acts, for instance, we read of Philip casting out devils, healing the lane and the palsied, and of the people believing and being baptized. In Acts 28:3 Paul is bitten by a venomous snake but suffered no ill effect, and proceeding to lay hands on the sick and heal them.
But today we have what Peter calls “present truth” for our guidance. This “present truth” is found in the church epistles, written by the Apostle Paul. One thing emphatically stressed in these Epistles, is that salvation is obtained by faith alone, faith in the finished work of Christ upon the cross. “I do not frustrate the grace on God.” writes Paul. If any works of ours are added to His glorious, atoning work on the cross, then Christ has died in vain. God’s way for the sinner is given us in Romans 10:9.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

“Speaking the Truth in Love”

Posted By Brother Love  :)

THE kingdom of GOD is power .THESE thing are as real as ever .NOTHING HAS CHANGED ,except we do not believe ?As you are ?men want too follow men .very sad indeed .They can not learn from GOD but follow another failture as if he had TRUTH .I have also been bit by a bad snake .I did not die or even swell up .I did have a little fear .But trusted my LORd as always .You like following men do it .I will not .are you a little kid ?or a grown man ?I am not being smart ,but trying to understand you .If I were you ?I would fast until i heard JESUS CHRIST if it killed me.I think you may have a desire toward GOD ?But you are messing your self up .calling GODS KIDS OF THR DEVIL .As they fear me greatly as they do EVERY CHILD OF GOD .BUT GOD WILL NOT LIKE THESE EVIL THINGS said of HIS KIDS .I have not told you a lie .but been very honest with you .This mans teachings is not TRUTh .He is weak like you .except he did not talk evil to me .But I forgive you as I know yopu are blind .But MY father ?i can not judge ? Well if ever you decide to know TRUTH .I WILL TELL YOU ALL I CAN .BUT I DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING .BUT THE LORD HAS SHOWN ME MORE THAN MOST IN SOME AREAS .YOU REALLY NEED TO GET WHERE YOU CAN HEAR GOD YOURSELF .because following people ieven if they mean well ?You can only go as far as your teacher .THE HOLY SPIRIT KNOWS EVERY THING .HE IS HERE TO TEACH US AND LIFT UP JESUS CHRIST and to GIVE US SPIRITUAL GIFTS .WELL PRAY ABOUT IT ?I CAN"T HELP YOU UNLESS YOU WANT HELP ?

Just a thought...you seem to be taking on the persona of the Apostle Paul. I don't think he's been re-incarnated, so i have to question the deal with the snake. The account you give, is remeniscent of the one recorded in Acts where Paul is bitten by a snake and he didn't die or even swell up and the people thought he was a god. I hope you're not trying to re-live paul's life. And I will say this...the quicker this subject is put to rest...obviously you two have some issues with each other's theology...i'm not telling you what to post or what not to post, but just be mindful of what you're typing as we have younger christians on this forum and those who may not know God's Word. Obviously everyone will have a difference of opinion, but both of you, don't let this become a match of wits or insults. It will no further the kingdom of God than those who are lukewarm. It's about as bad...so please, bring your issues to a close, or take it into IM if it has the potential of causing division. This is all i'm going to say. Please let's not let this thread become a grounds for battle amongst ourselves. Just a word of caution...

In His Service,
Joshua

I guess I have had some things my great brother paul did .But I got bit in my living room by a copper head ,while watching t .v. on the foot .it was no big deal .it is funny ,that you guys quote the vs. but don"t believe they aply to now ?as far as benny hinn .I don"t know much about him .except he preaches JESUS CHRIST and HIS cross .Which .I believe anyone who does this is friend .Going to NEW JERUSALEM when they shed the body is a different question . I don"t see what the big deal is ?as one miracle is no bigger than another .And it is TRUE the greatest is OUR NAMES IN THE LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE . I did have a brother pm me ,telling me HE was sorry ,He ask me to come to this site .But I like the site ok .SO what if .They are not in a close walk with JESUS CHRIST .We all start somewhere in the LORD .Everyone does not start off knowing all things .we start as babys in the spirit .on the milk .hopefully we grow up .and maybe one day ?can move the mountain .I LOVE my family in tthe lORD no matter what state they are in ? I know ?one thing ?This plants seeds of TRUTH .Which some will use one day ?Millions will come out oif the GREAT TRIBULATION .

Benny Hinn preaches a different gospel than that of Jesus Christ. I'll just leave it at that.

Joshua

ONE of my childerns name is JOSHUA CALEB .I have 11 kids .HE hated it when young .But now knows ?What great men they were and is happy to have these 2 names

http://www.fuegodedios.com/index.htm  HERE IS A MAN OF GOD ?Who believes just as I do .And there are many more who walk in this TRUTH

Satanically inspired, and energized by demon spirits. It is but one more proof that we are in the last days of this dying age.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons” (1. Timothy 4:1).



THis is what you said about me ?I guess you can not help but bless me ?Because they said this about MY LORD JESUS CHRIST .I am honored ,I can recieve the same judgement as my LORD JESUS CHRIST . You know I have had men try to kill me for telling the TRUTh .Do you think a few words would hurt me ?I am willing to lose my head now for MY LORD JESUS CHRIST .There is nothing anyone could do too me .TO take my HEART from JESUS CHRIST .As even my childern i love dearly .I know I not mine .BUT HIS .I baby sit them for hIM .I have nothing ?All That has been delivered into my hands are HIS .For sure this old flesh I hate .I will not say anything else too you .It can not help you ?Only thev HOLY SPIRIT can tell you the TRUTH ?But i fear HE HAS ALREADY .and you have rejected it ?GOD KNOWS .I DO NOT .I feel no ill feeling toward you !do what you must .

Sometimes I wonder what God is thinking when he sees such division in the church over these issues, such as tongues. The articles posted presents some interesting points, but they do seem to be a little prone to ones interpretation. As someone said, they could give all the same verses as back up for a different view. It seems really that the whole argument for tongues ( and perhaps other gifts) dying out with the apostles hinges on the fact that scriptures would be completed. I'm not sure the apostles even knew that the letters they were writing would be included in one big volume called the bible. At this point I nkow some people will want to bring up these verses..

1Peter 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.


This obviously indicates that Peter sees Paul's letters as on par with scriptures available at the time. That, I don't have any problem with, its there in the Word. However I don't think it in any way indicates that the apostles had foreknowledge of the bible, as we know it, being written and compiled.



1 Corinthians 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.


This verse was interpreted as referring to the completion of the scriptures, but I dont see how being known as he is also known fits with that.


8 ¶  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.


I can see how this was interpreted to mean that the gifts will not be used in later church life.. however, "THAT" here isn't necessarily referring to the bible, or to Jesus. Perhaps the kingdom of God... the reign of Christ? Even maybe a general term encompassing everything perfect when Christ returns..

An alternative interpretation of the above passage is that the gifts will not be needed when we see Jesus face to face... much the same as pastors and evangelists will not be required. But love will always be necessary, and will continue eternally.

I know that many people have a hang up about tongues because they associate it with heretical teachings and movements. Well I agree with them on that score, it has been a center point of a lot of heretics' teachings. That does not mean that the true gift should be rejected aswell though. Heretics distort a lot of things, but we do not reject the original truths, simply because they have become associated with heretics. An example of this is giving money, heretics teach that you must tithe in order to be blessed..  "if you give £10 then God will increase that to £100 in return.. all this bible maths junk. They make merchandise of people. We reject this as heresy, and rightly so. However, just because the subject of giving has been associated with them, does that mean that we should not give? No. Does it mean that God does not reward us? Again no.

 Many heretical movements emphasise OUR RIGHTS.. you know.. claiming things in faith.. they take it to unbiblical lengths and remove God's sovereignty from the equation.. and make him a heavenly wish granter. Well that is plainly wrong, but does that mean we cannot ask anything of God in faith? Of course not.

My point here is this, do not reject spititual things because of their misuse by man.

Gary, what does this mean??? ;D

lean not to your own understanding ,the just live by faith ,you do not need to be taught of any man [/size] ,the HOLY  SPIRIT will teach you everything .We are NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST JESUS .NOT OF THIS WORLD .WE ARE AS OUR LORD .HE WILL RETURN SOON FOR HIS BRIDE .Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests

maybe you can not see how ,we also will be hated as HE was ?But HE said If they recieve not you ? They recieve not me .And I do not use MY LORD in a evil way .You have a little understanding ?But satan time is short ,he knows it .YES he will cause trouble in the boby .This has nothing to do with tongues .This man is rejecting ALL THINGS of the HOLY SPIRIT as I see it  .You may call it a weaker christain .But I do not .Because he involed satan into it ?light has no fellowship with darkness .YOU can not say JESUS CHRIST IS LORD and belong to satan .You can be in greater blindness ,with out any power and judging everything you do not understand ?But the LORD speaks of those people too .This man rejects my testamony ?I have no problem with that .He does not need to read my posts .WE will always have disagreements .Even the 1st followers did .As paul was beyord the others in TRUTH .But I think they all pretty much came to the SAME TRUTH later .But I donn"t believe they started telling each tother they were of satan .As I find this VERY EVIL .CAN YOU SEE ?We are to take on HIS MIND ?And count our selves DEAD .THAT HE MIGHT LIVE THOUGH US .AND IF HE LIVES THOUGH US .WOULD THE SAME MIRACLES APPEAR IN OUR LIFES ?NO your 8 is talking about either the 1000 years of peace or which I believe ?The NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH .BECAUSE ALL THINGS ARE NEW TO US NOW .What is not new YET ?is the heaven and earth .EVERYTHING TOO US IS NOW BY THE HOLY SPIRIT THOUGH FAITH ?We are in this world !But not part of it .Where are we part of then ?you may ask ?We are part of NEW JERUSALEM .which is our HOME FOREVER .AS CAN CLEARLY BE SEEN ?IT COMES DOWN FROM HEAVEN WITH JESUS CHRIST AND HIS FOLLOWERS .SO SOME HOW THEY GOT THERE as I SAID .I SAW THIS WHEN I DIED .THE LAST TIME .I HAVE SAID NOTHING THAT IS NOT IN GODS LIVING WORD .
THE problem with the reaping and sowing is they look at it from a fleshly stand point .BUT WE ARE SPIRIT 1st .THERE fore HE DEALS WITH THE SPIRIT 1st .WHICH HE DIED FOR !With out this TRUTH ?Everyone will look at things fronm a flesh point of view .With out the basic START .WE CAN NOT GET a TRUE understanding ?Because as you well know ?Everything must start at the begining .THE begining in the NEW CREATURE is BORN AGAIN .Before that ? We have very little ?NOT SALVATION FOR SURE !HE TELLS US WHEN BORN AGAIN ?ALL things become NEW ?BECAUSE we no longer walk in the flesh by our natural eyes .BUT IN FAITH .BEING LED BY HIS VERY SPIRIT .a little example ?THE LORD AS TOLD ME IN THE NITE to go somewhere .I had toi go .or I have been working ?HE said go to a mans house .I go .ONCE HE told me to gop to a jail with people singing and playing insterments .I said LORD I can not sign nor play any thing .HE SAID GO .I did felt like a real dumbby with all watching .BUT I LED MANY TOO JESUS CHRIST .HE IS WISE beyond our understanding .I know hE has a perfect will and permissive will .I tried HIm many times .NOW I WILL NOT .BECAUSE HE IS NEVER WRONG and I HAVE NEVER BEEN RIGHT .I was hard headed many times .BUT I PRAY NEVER AGAIN .YES there atre lots making money off the TRUTH ,DECIEVING AND BEING DECIEVED .BUT WE HAVE THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH .AND NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TRUTH .YOU know I AM SURE !YOU CAN CURSE GOD OR JESUS CHRIST AND BE FORGIVEN .BUT IF YIOU MOCK OR CURSE THE HOLY SPIRIT ?YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGIVEN .THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS .AND ANYONE WHO DOES ?Is not wise !

Dear Gary Cook, would you like a job writeing comic-books?   :)

ARE you asking ,LEAN BNOT TOO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING ? This means we are not too smart ,our little brain need help to understand .SO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST GAVE US THE HOLY SPIRIT TO REVEAL TRUTH TOO US .WITH OUT HIM ?WE KNOW VERY LITTLE .WITH HIM WE CAN DO ALL THINGS .
YOU CAN RECIEVE THIS WONDERFUL TRUTH OR NOT ?
are you asking about not needing and man too teach us ?
WE DO NOT .BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRITS JOBH WITH IN US ?IS TO TEACH US .IF WWE ARE WILLING .OF COURSE ,IF WE ARE NOT BORN AGAIN ?HE IS NOT WITH IN US .SO WE HAVE ONLY OUR WEAK UNDERSTANDING .YOU KNOW satan has know the bible for long before we were born ?but has little or no understanding .BECAUSE the SPIRIT OF TRUTH gives understanding .HE must reveal it to some one or us .before we know much of anything .
I once wondered ?When JESUS CHRIST SAID HE WAS KIND OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS .WHO WERE THESE LORDS AND KINGS ?WE ARE THOSE .There will be none others on the earth one day but those born of GOD HIM .and maybe the angels and maybe some others creatures HE HAS MADE
Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Rev

dang gary...could you do something about the caps man...either type everything in caps or write everything in lower case letters, because it's really hard to read what you're typing...being on a computer and having glasses hurts my eyes to keep adjusting to the size of the words. and another thing...dang dude...11 kids...i'm surprised you ain't gone bonkers yet...but then again, from reading your posts...i can see how one could think that with the flipping of the caps and the lower case letters...sheesh. My parents had 2 kids...me and my bro...we were a handful in our selves. Anywho...i'm off to finish my paper...be blessed.

In His Service,
Joshua

Amen!!

I now have a migrain from adjusting font size. Because of the lower case/upper case type, I wear glasses too.

Resting in the Lords word.
Bob

Is it just me that sees all of the many, many question marks?  If it's just me, why am I seeing them in Gary's posts?  It's very distracting.

he is Speaking in Tongues when he is writeing   ;D

(http://www.sirinet.net/~blkidps/blgif1.gif)

SOrry but i gotta take a chuckle at that...that was interesting considering we just tackled that subject a few threads ago....:) Let's not get it started in here too. LOL. I got good news i got 105 on my protestant reformation report...4 pages long, but the teacher says its great. Ok i'm outta here for tonight...i'll catch up with you guys in the morning. God Bless ya.

In His Service,
Joshua

 ;D

In the Image of Christ
Colossians 3:8-11

“The Power of God?”

        “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."  1Cor.1:17-24

                Nowadays it is common to hear people talk about the power of God. Many people testify of how the power of God has healed them of some sickness or blessed them with financial wealth, or caused them to speak in tongues. Today many so-called faith healers boldly proclaim that they have been anointed with power from on high. They display so-called healings and other signs and (lying) wonders to make people believe they’ve been anointed by God’s mighty power. Many of them claim that Jesus manifests Himself bodily in their presence and instructs them of His will. It is amazing the stunts that these charlatans come up with to deceive people into believing that they are anointed with the power of God. In fact, like showmen or entertainers, they keep trying to outdo each other in their rise to fame and power. One man blows his breath at people and they fall over backwards as if knocked out by some power or force. They call this stunt being slain in the Spirit, which by the way, is something you never see in the Scriptures. Is this man really anointed with the power of God, or does he just have a case of really bad breath? Another man claims it was a 900-foot tall Jesus that spoke with him, apparently the manifestation of a normal size Jesus was too common and unspectacular. It doesn’t take long nowadays for a new signs and wonders fad to come along and take the spotlight and center stage, and as time goes on they are getting stranger and stranger.

        Dear friends, the power of God is not a circus sideshow as it is so commonly portrayed today. It is not signs and wonders as many of today’s swindlers want you to believe. The true power of God is displayed in the preaching of the cross and seeing lost souls saved from the wrath of God and inheriting eternal life, as the above texts points out. I’m amazed when I watch some of the signs and wonders performers today; their focus is on health, wealth and the signs and wonders that they claim God does through them, and yet you hardly ever see them focus on the gospel. They have huge audiences coming to them seeking a sign, or healing, or to watch them perform their tricks. It has become a form of “Christian entertainment.” Jesus Himself warned against such things in the book of Matthew:

        “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of  the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”    (Matt. 12:38-40).

        Jesus said it was an evil and adulterous generation, not a righteous and godly one that sought after signs. What’s so amazing in this verse is that the only sign that Jesus was going to give them was the sign of Jonas who was in the belly of a great fish for three days and nights, which was a figure of the Lord’s burial in the heart of the earth. Jesus was pointing them to His sacrificial death, burial and resurrection by this figure. The only sign Jesus was going to give them was the gospel. Our passage from 1 Cor. 1 above says that the Jews require a sign and that the cross was a stumbling block for them. How sad it is that these people missed out on the gospel that could save their souls because their focus was on signs and wonders instead of Jesus Christ and the cross.

        Those who are seeking after signs thinking that the signs are the power of God are deceiving themselves. The Bible warns about a man that will deceive most of the world by his power, signs and lying wonders, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:

        “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved”    (2 Thess. 2:8-10).

        This man will be the antichrist, and he will use signs and wonders to deceive the people of the world. Those who think that signs and wonders are the way God manifest His power will easily be deceived by the antichrist who is possessed by Satan himself. In fact, the antichrist will proclaim himself to be God, and most of the world will worship him as such. It’s no wonder then that Jesus said it was an evil and adulterous generation that sought after a sign.

        Remember, the true display of God’s power is the preaching of the gospel which has the power to save those who believe. The apostle Paul knew the true power of God and made it clear in 1 Cor. 1:17-24. He wrote the same thing to the Romans:

        “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”    (Rom. 1:16).

        Dear friend, the only way to experience the true power of God in your life is by repenting of your sins and believing the gospel. Even if these so-called faith healers could make you healthy and wealthy someday, you are still going to die and meet your Creator, who will judge you (Heb. 9:27).  If you have repented of your old sinful ways of life and believed the preaching of the cross of Jesus, you will inherit eternal life. If the cross is a stumbling block to you and your life has never been transformed by the saving power of the cross of Jesus Christ, you will be damned and experience the second death, which is to be thrown into the lake of fire, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth for all eternity (Rev. 20:11-15).  Allow me to give you some sound advice, call on the Name of the Lord Jesus while there’s still time to be saved (Rom. 10:9-13). Don’t put it off another day, by then it might be to late (2 Cor. 6:2).

Visit our web site for more articles and information at  http://nlbchapel.org

Also read:  "I Speak in Tongues More Than You All"  http://users.bigpond.net.au/joeflorence/tongues.html

well ,i can not speak for these men ,you speak of .nor will i judge them ?but god is in control .if he can use an ass  or make rocks cry out .he can use these .but as I posted .we are spirits 1st .he is going to deal with our spirits 1st .then our soul [our mind ]and maybe or not our flesh ? but he told me not long ago .to not seek wealth .because with it comes great problems .i have enough .but not too bad .as he is with me forever more .what ever state i am .i really am happy . i am blessed in every way .i have had 11 kids ,every one healthy and smart .i have messed up much in my life .he has always set it right .i for give myself .because he has for giving me .and i have no right to not for me .i am humble because i see how small i am .i know i could do nothing with out him .i have no problem believing this .i think i am less than most .because if my lord had caused another to experiance all the things he had me ?that person would be a great power on the earth for jesus christ .God has told me to write 2 great men in the world .one he told me would die soon and needed to repent and get right with him .this was many years ago .i would not for many reasons .but now this man died about 6 months after the lord told me .i see things this man did on t.v. all the time .I wonder is this man in hell suffering because i would not obey .it bother me a lot .so i try hard not to fail him again .the other guy is alive .i sit down that night and wrote what the lord said .but never mailed it .i seached and seached for the letter but never could find it . but these 2 things have had a impact on me .as you can see ?I am not a good writter .worse than it looks even .