Reference: I Corinthians14:22
There is a certain teaching in the worldtoday that is becoming more and more widespread in just about everydenominational organization in the world. This teaching is the doctrine of thespeaking in other tongues as being the initial and physical evidence that onehas been baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire. It seems that all organizationsare receiving this teaching although they may have rejected it in times past.Before we get into the study of the truth about this matter we must be willingto allow the word of God to be true and the word of man to be a lie. If you arethe type of person that will place your confidence in what saith the word ofGod then you can very easily come to the knowledge of the truth of the subject.Actually the word of God is very simple and easy to understand if we arewilling to allow the Holy Spirit to be the teacher of the truth in any givensubject. If you are the type of person that will believe that one and one is threeif the word of God said so, then the truth will be an easy thing for you tosee. If you are the type of person that is too stubborn and stiffnecked toadmit that you may be wrong when the word of God shows you so, then I doubtthat this article will do you any good. Unless you realize that all yourconfidence must be in what the word of God states then the chances are that youhave been deceived by the cunning craftiness of Satan. Before I get too farinto the subject of the tongues being the evidence that one has received theHoly Ghost baptism, allow me to tell you that I do not teach nor believe thedoctrine of the tongues being the initial evidence of the baptism of the HolyGhost.
Now if you are a true sincere seeker of truth then you will not throwthis tract away in disgust without reading it through and to find out why I saythat I do not teach nor believe the tongues doctrine teaching. Please realizethat it is not what you or I may say about the subject, but rather it's whatthe word of God has to say about it. First of all let me tell you that there isnot one single solitary scripture found in the scripture found in the entireword of God explicitly saying that one must speak in tongues to receive theHoly Ghost baptism. Please allow me also to say that there is not one singlesolitary scripture explicitly saying that one does not have to speak in tonguesto be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Since the word of God does not make suchto the point statements then we must do as Paul says when he tells us to proveall things and hold fast to that which is good as stated in I Thessalonians 5:21.The Pentecostal organizations today teach that one must speak in other tonguesto be baptized with the Holy Ghost, but they cannot come up with one scripturesaying this nor can they by revelation prove that one must speak in tongues asthe disciples did as recorded in Acts2:4. If anybody can read at all, itcan be easily seen that Acts the secondchapter reveals that thetongues were manifested at the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Also in Acts chapters ten and nineteenthe tongues were also manifested when the Holy Ghost was given. Reading theseinstances only prove that the tongues were manifested, but these instances inno wise say nor prove that the tongues were manifested for the sole purpose ofbeing the initial evidence that the Holy Spirit was received. Since the tongueswere manifested, then we must find out why they were. If the tongues weremanifested for the purpose of being the evidence to convince the disciples thatthey received the Holy Spirit then we must find this proof somewhere else inthe scriptures other than the instances of the book of Acts because theseinstances do not say that the tongues were manifested for the purpose of beingthe initial and physical evidence that was to convince one that they receivedthe baptism of the Holy Ghost. The only place in the word of God where itreveals as to what the tongues are for is recorded in the book of I Corinthians. The very wordof God tells us in I Corinthians14:22 that tongues are for a sign tothe unbeliever and not to the believer. Now if you are a true believer in Godand will allow his word to be true then you must rely on the fact that thetongues are not a sign nor used as an evidence to convince a believer that heor she has received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. God's word as plain as daysays that the tongues are not a sign to the believer but rather they are a signto the unbeliever. An unbeliever cannot possibly receive the Holy Spiritbecause Jesus made this very plain in John14:17 where he said that the worldcannot receive the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth and the Holy Ghost isthe very same Spirit of Almighty God. Since tongues are a sign to theunbeliever they cannot possibly be for a sign to convince them that they receivedthe baptism of the Holy Ghost. Only believers can receive the Holy Spirit.Tongues are not used to make an unbeliever believe that he received the HolyGhost. This would be in direct contridiction to the very word of God. Tongueshave their purpose but not as being the initial evidence that one has receivedthe Holy Ghost baptism. A true believer will say amen to the word of God but anunbeliever and a deceived person will fight the truth if they are not sincereenough to allow the word of God to be true and the word of man to be false. Nowhere does the word of God prove that tongues are to be used for the initialand physical evidence that one has received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.Since the word says the tongues are a sign to the unbeliever then it stands toreason that they are not for the purpose to make an unbeliever believe he hasreceived the Holy Spirit. The tongues can make a believer out of an unbeliever,and the unbeliever can be convinced that Almighty God is still God and he isthe same yet today and forever. The tongues on the day of Pentecost madebelievers out of the Jews because those disciples speaking in other tongues didnot know the languages of the nations without the Spirit's power giving themthe utterance and ability to be able to speak them. When the Jews heard themspeak in their languages wherein they were born, many of them were convincedthat Almighty God was in the arrangement. The tongues served their purpose justlike God's word said they would. The tongues in the tenth chapter of Acts convincedthe men that came with Peter that the Gentiles were also accepted of God. Ifyou rely on the tongues to convince you that you have been batpized with theHoly Ghost, then you are denying the word of God that is the evidence of thebaptism of the Holy Ghost. The revealed truth of the gospel is the convincingevidence that one has received and has been baptized with the Holy Ghost. Ifthe word has not throughly convinced you that you have been baptized with theHoly Ghost then the reason is simply because you have failed to continue on inthe word as Jesus said to do in John 8:30-32. If you are a tongues doctrine believer then all you haveis your thinking that you have been baptized with the Holy Ghost speaking inwhat you call tongues. You will positively never come to the knowledge of thetruth if you do not allow the word of God to be true and man a liar. The wordof God very plainly reveals what the tongues are for, but if you want to bestubborn and stiffnecked, that is your prerogative and nobody elsesbusiness...........