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Transcript 558A — Talking in Tongues
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Recently a Christian told me that all Christians should be filled with the Holy Spirit and that the evidence of that experience is to speak in tongues. But I was always taught that you shouldn't . . . that tongues was just another gift of the Holy Spirit. But he's saying that it's used to help you to understand the Bible more and to worship the Lord better. And I was just wondering about your opinion. Could you give me some Scripture that would just settle this in my mind? Because he's saying that filling of the Spirit and baptism of the Spirit mean all the same thing. And I'm really confused about it.
HC: The question is, what does baptism in the Holy Spirit mean? What does filling of the Holy Spirit mean?
CALLER: Do all Christians have that experience? He's saying that in order to really be a Christian that's growing you should be filled with the Holy Spirit and receive these tongues.
HC: The fact is that in I Corinthians 12-14, where the matter of tongues is very thoroughly discussed by God, there is no reference of any kind to the filling of the Holy Spirit. Nor is there any reference to the fact that it is a result of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Actually, to be baptized in the Holy Spirit means to be saved. We must be born again. And the word baptism means to be washed or to be cleansed. It's a phrase that indicates that we have been saved and we have become identified with the Holy Spirit in the work of sharing the Gospel. And the gift of tongues that was found in the church of Corinth was not given as some sign or evidence that someone had become saved, any more than any other gift was that sign or evidence.
As a matter of fact, because tongues was a heavenly language in which they spoke, and when it was interpreted it served to edify the congregation, therefore it was like an additional revelation. And since the Bible says in Revelation 22:18 that we're not to add to the words of this book, we know therefore that that is not possible today. Whatever the phenomenon is that is seen today, it is not of God. It is either hallucinatory, or it is self-hypnotism, or it is out of their minds, or it is of Satan. But it is not of God. That cannot be.
Now when God uses the phrase being filled with the Spirit, every born again believer since Pentecost is filled with the Spirit simply because he is saved. But it means simply that we have become qualified to be a witness. We must remember that the Holy Spirit is Eternal God. He is not a quantity of any kind. God is everywhere present. These phrases, "baptized in the Holy Spirit," "filled with the Holy Spirit," "Christ breathed on the disciples the Holy Spirit," these phrases are not discussing God as if He is some kind of a quantity that now comes into their life. We have to understand these phrases as indicating some part of the program of God in His salvation program.
Now when Christ breathed on the ten apostles in John 21, I believe it is, and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," this was before Pentecost, and He was simply effectively saying to them, I now commission you to be prepared to begin the New Testament congregation, which will begin at Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit was poured out, this was not a quantity of God being poured out. This was simply language to indicate that now God had begun His program to evangelize the world. When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, it is simply language to indicate that we have become qualified to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
CALLER: Okay. And if the church is basing its doctrine on that, and they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins, but they believe also in this baptism or filling of the Spirit, would you suggest that I continue there? It's making me really confused now.
HC: The question is, at what point do we feel safe within a congregation? I struggled with that question actually for years, and over a period of a couple of years I studied this question very very intensely and very carefully. And I prayed constantly, "Oh Lord, where is truth?" because I was deeply concerned about that very matter. How are we to understand a lot of these things that are happening?
And after a couple of years of very intense study, reading everything I could on the question, both in the Bible and outside of the Bible, it finally dawned on me. You know, sometimes we have very thick skulls, and it takes a while before God really opens our eyes. But finally I realized how we can tell whether we are following the true Gospel or not.
And it's very simple when you stop to think of it. Revelation 22:18 & 19 say that if we add to the words of this book, God will add to us the plagues written therein, and if we take away from the words of this book, God will take away our share in the Book of Life and in the holy city. In other words, God effectively is saying the Bible alone and in its entirety is the divine Word.
Now before the Bible was completed, it is true that occasionally they would add to it. Someone would receive a message in a vision or in a dream, or in an angel visitation. And then this information was added to what they had already had in the written Word. And so they would have a more complete idea of the revelation of God for their lives.
But when God completed His Bible and came to the last chapter, Revelation 22, there God said, if you add to the words of this book, it indicates that you're still unsaved. "I will add to you the plagues written herein." In other words, you are in rebellion against Me. You are expanding the Word of God beyond what it ought to be.
And so I came to the conclusion...all right, then it's very simple. I want to always be sure that I believe that the Bible alone and in its entirety is the divine Word. There is no other divine Word. Now we live in a free country. If someone decides, well, this book also is the divine Word, all right. They can do that. But then by definition they're another gospel. They have the Bible plus this other book which they think is divine. If someone says, "I believe the Bible is the Word of God but this message I received in this unknown language called a tongue, or in this vision, is also the divine Word," fine. They can do that, but then by definition they're another gospel, because they have a different source of divine truth than I have, since I only have the Bible.
And even though these groups still talk about the blood of Christ and the death and resurrection of Christ, and so on, nevertheless they are going outside of the Bible in seeking divine truth, and they fall under the problem of Revelation 22:18 or 19. And so I would encourage anyone to seek out a church which holds that the Bible alone and in its entirety is the divine Word. Then you have only one authority, and that's the Bible.
CALLER: Okay.
HC: Thank you for calling and sharing.