MOV:Are Tongues for Today?  by Harold Camping

   The Open Forum is a unique Bible-centered program which is aired
week nights coast-to-coast over the Family Radio Network. The host of
the Open Forum is Mr. Harold Camping, President of Family Stations,
Inc. The Open Forum is a live talk radio program where the caller can
ask Mr. Camping questions on any topic. Mr. Camping then tries to
relate the caller's question to the Bible. None of the calls are
pre-screened, so this live format provides for an interesting program.

   One of the issues that comes up regularly on the program is the
question, "Are tongues for today?" This question comes in many forms,
but basically Christians want to know if the gift of tongues is a valid
gift today.

   As with many doctrines this is not an easy issue. In fact, many
listeners write into Family Radio desiring more information on this
topic. This is why this pamphlet was prepared to answer questions such
as: "Is it true that the gift of tongues is evidence that one has been
baptized in the Holy Spirit?", "What was the purpose of the gift of
tongues?", or "Are not the charismatic gifts a fulfillment of Joel
2:28-32?".

   Over 600 transcripts of Open Forum programs were researched to
provide the materials for this pamphlet. The questions and answers are
actual edited excerpts from Open Forum programs. They have been
compiled to shed light on this important subject.

   Sincerely,

   Anthony D. Burch

   Bible Instructor

   Family Radio School of the Bible

   THE OPEN FORUM : Are Tongues for Today?

   Caller: I'd like to ask a question about baptism in the Holy Spirit,
if you could explain how it works, as far as speaking in tongues is
concerned? Could you give some scriptures backing up the baptism in the
Holy Spirit. I understand that the Holy Spirit is a free gift of God,
upon accepting Jesus Christ. And so I just wondered...why would a
person have to be specially baptized in the Holy Spirit? And I'd like
to take my answer on the radio.

   Mr. Camping: Our caller has raised a question concerning what the
Bible means by baptism in the Holy Spirit, and how that might relate to
tongues. Actually, there is no relationship.... Let's first of all talk
about baptism in the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament God used four
signs which pointed to salvation.

   First, there was circumcision, which indicated that as the foreskin
of a person's body was cut off, so we must have the foreskin of our
hearts cut off. We must be cut away from our flesh and its sinful
lusts. Jeremiah 4:4 tells us, "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to
quench it, because of the evil of your doings."

   Another expression that was used was the burnt offering. They would
offer a meal offering or an animal sacrifice as a burnt offering, that
was pointing to Christ, Who became our burnt offering. Hebrews 10:5-7
teaches:

   Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, "Sacrifices
and offerings thou has not desired, but a body has thou prepared for
me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure.
Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,' as it is written
of me in the roll of the book."

   A third Old Testament sign was the shedding of blood of a
turtledove, or a lamb, or an ox; this pointed to the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, to the fact that Christ would endure the wrath of
God for our sins. Hebrews 9:22 says, "Indeed, under the law almost
everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness of sins."

   A fourth sign that was used in the Old Testament was that of water
ablutions, again to ceremonially indicate that a person had been
cleansed of his sins. For example Aaron and his sons were washed when
they were consecrated as priests (Lev. 8:6). Now that particular sign,
the washing in water, was picked up by God as the language that would
speak about what salvation constituted following Pentecost.

   Actually, there was a shift, a very slight shift, in the impact of
salvation after Pentecost. Basically, salvation was not changed. In
order to be saved, one had to have his sins washed away, one had to
become born again, one had to become a new creature in Christ. He had
to experience the resurrection of his soul. And the Holy Spirit, Who is
eternal God, would be given to the person who had become saved.

   Beginning with Pentecost, God added one additional dimension to His
salvation program and that was that every Christian was to proclaim
God's Word. Every believer was now qualified to share the Gospel. At
Pentecost God began His work to evangelize the world, and in His
program to evangelize the world, He would utilize every born again
believer, by qualifying him when he was saved, to be a witness. God
utilized different terminology in talking about salvation. Christ began
to talk about being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Believers were saved
just as they were in the Old Testament; the only difference was that
every believer was now qualified to share the Gospel.

   We read this, for example, in the Gospels in Matthew, Luke and John.
The last time we read about it is in Acts 1:5, where Jesus said, "For
John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized in
the Holy Spirit." That was speaking of one of the Old Testament signs,
because John the Baptist was a prophet on the Old Testament side of the
cross. God was saying that before many days you will become qualified
in My New Testament program of evangelism to be a witness. You will be
filled with the Holy Spirit in the sense that you will be qualified to
be a witness for Me. This is a characteristic of every New Testament
believer.

   When we are saved, we can speak of the fact that we have been
baptized in the Holy Spirit. The word "baptize" means to wash or to
cleanse, to purify. And therefore it denotes that our sins have been
washed away, and we have become identified with the Holy Spirit, in His
New Testament program to evangelilze the world. We are filled with the
Spirit from the time that we are saved, and that is a phrase that
simply says that we have become qualified to be a witness. That is what
baptism in the Holy Spirit has to do with. It has nothing to do with
miracles, signs or wonders, or whatever.

   In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem,
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And so we find
in the Book of Acts, one illustration in each of these places of a
special miracle, to indicate that God meant exactly this, that this is
where the Word of God was to be sent, in God's program to evangelize
the world.

   God's commitment to Jerusalem is the record in Acts 2 at Pentecost.
Acts 8 is the record of when the Samaritans believed, and the spread of
the Gospel into Judea. Acts 10 is the record of when the family of
Cornelius was saved. They were Romans, they were Gentiles, living up in
Caesarea. In Acts 19 we read about the twelve Ephesians who were saved;
and that is the evidence that the Gospel had begun to go to the ends of
the earth.

   After God gave us this illustration in Acts, we never find another
outward miracle recorded in the Bible that occurs at the time that a
person is saved.

   Now when we talk about tongues, we are talking about something
altogether different. In the letter of Paul to the church at Corinth,
in the l2th, l3th, and l4th chapters, we find that in that early Church
there was a phenomenon known as tongues, or speaking in an unknown
language. This was a gift that was given to a few in the church at
Corinth, including Paul, whereby certain individuals would receive
information from God in an unknown language. It bears no relationship
to baptism in the Holy Spirit; this was not a gift that was bestowed
upon them at the time they were saved. This was simply a gift that did
occur in the church at Corinth.

   The believers at Corinth who were given this gift were instructed to
pray that they might interpret. The purpose of interpreting was so that
this information that was given to them from God might also be
available to the whole congregation. This was a possible phenomenon in
that day, because God had not completed the Bible as yet.

   The Holy scriptures had then consisted primarily of the Old
Testament. Slowly, letters of Paul were being circulated among the
churches, but fundamentally, they had only the Old Testament. God was
still providing information in addition; Peter received a vision, the
Apostle John received visions on the island of Patmos, Paul received
visions, Agabus received a vision. This was possible in that day
because the Bible was not complete.

   Around A.D. 95, God completed the Bible with the writing of the
Revelation of John. God is the author of the Bible, and in the last
chapter of the Bible He declared, in Revelation 22:18,19:

   I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book:
if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in
this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city, which are described in this book.

   And with that statement God closed off the possibility of any
further information coming from God outside of what He had already
written in His Word, the Bible. From that point on we would never
expect anyone to receive a vision from God, a voice, a tongue, or
whatever, because God would not violate His own rules. God has
declared, I have given you My Word now, the revelation of My will. You
are to study it, you are to be obedient to it, so we are not to expect
any phenomenon like that which has occurred before the Bible was
completed, when individuals received visions, or when they spoke in a
tongue.

   There are people throughout the New Testament period, following A.D.
95, who have declared that they have received a vision. Some of these
visions have been written up; they sound very glorious; they sound very
meaningful. There are people today who still claim they receive
visions, and there are people today who claim that they speak in
tongues.

   Well, all of this activity may take place; but based upon what the
Bible declares, we know that it cannot be from God. It might be out of
their own minds. It might be hallucinatory. Our minds are very tricky,
you know. It might even be from an evil source, so we must not expect
this gift today.

   Today anyone at all can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, if he will
recognize that he is a sinner, that he is under the wrath of God
because of his sins, and that there is no way that he can help himself
out of this terrible situation in which he finds himself. If he will
call upon God for mercy, if he will begin to trust in what the Bible
declares concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, then God will forgive his
sins; if he will trust in the Lord, he too can be saved. When he is
saved, when he is born again, then he has been baptized in the Holy
Spirit. His sins have been washed away, and he has become identified
with the Holy Spirit in His New Testament program to evangelize the
world. More than that, the Holy Spirit has taken up His abode within
him.

   Caller: I am calling about a speaker that I heard. I felt that he
was kind of doing some semantical contortions with Scripture. I agreed
with some of what he had to say, but I think to say that 1 Corinthians
13:8 says that tongues, or prophesy, or knowledge are no longer
applicable gifts to this present age is simply teaching something that
is not there, because reading on down, verse 9 says, "For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come,
then that which is in part shall be done away." And it's obvious from
verses 9 and 10 that what he is talking about is when we get to Heaven,
because in verse 12 he says, "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."

   And it just seems to me so perfectly clear that what Paul is talking
about is that these gifts will pass away when we get to Heaven, and
there will not be any need of them there. There is nothing whatsoever
that says that the Church is not going to have them here throughout the
entire Church age; and further, in Mark 16 at the very close of that
particular Gospel, we find Jesus making a remark about the signs that
follow them which Believe. He says, "...In my name shall they cast out
devils; 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."

   And so it just seems to me that to say that these gifts are no
longer with the Church is to ignore the total thrust of Scripture.

   Mr. Camping: Well, let me comment about this. I did not hear the
speaker, but I can look at I Corinthians 13.

   Now in I Corinthians 13 God is simply indicating that tongues shall
cease. He does not say when they will cease. He gives no intimation as
to when they will cease. He simply says that tongues will cease.

   He also says that prophecy and knowledge will pass away; then He
goes on to discuss, in verse 9 through verse 12, about when knowledge
and prophecy will pass away. God does indicate that they will pass away
when we see Him face to face, that is, when we get to Heaven. They will
continue on this earth, but they will pass away when we come into
Heaven.

   There is no suggestion in I Corinthians 13 as to when tongues would
cease. It is simply a declaration that they would cease at some point
in time. In the church in Corinth there were those who did receive
information from God, Himself in heavenly language. This served to
edify them personally, but they were admonished to seek to interpret
it, so that the information would also be available to the
congregation, so that the congregation would be edified.

   Now this was altogether possible in that day, because God had not
completed His word as yet. It was still the day when God would speak
with revelations coming from other sources than the Bible. They really
had only the Old Testament at that time, and so we find the Apostle
Peter receiving information by a vision, the Apostle John, the Apostle
Paul, and individuals in the church at Corinth receiving information in
this unknown language called tongues, but then God completed His divine
word.

   In Revelation 22:18 God declared, "I warn every one who hears the
words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will
add to him the plagues described in this book,". Now with that
statement God effectively is saying, now look, I have completed My Holy
Word. I have completed My revelation. If you have received some divine
truth by means of a dream, a vision, an angel visitation, by a tongue,
or whatever, it is not from Me. I have given you My Word. If you are
going to look for divine truth from other sources than the Bible, then
this is indicative of the fact that you are still subject to the
plagues written herein; that is you are unsaved, and you are still
subject to hell.

   This I believe is what the Bible teaches about this particular gift,
or any gift relating to additional revelation after the Bible was
completed. Now it is true that the Bible speaks about signs and wonders
that will still come to pass. The Bible speaks about signs and wonders
in a number of places, and tongues was a sign. We read this in I
Corinthians 14. The word for sign is the Greek word "simeon" which can
also be translated miracle. The Bible does speak about signs and
wonders, particularly in relationship to the end-time church; but
ominously and unfortunately, all of the references to signs and wonders
near the end of time are satanically related.

   In Matthew 24:24 God declares, "For false christs and false prophets
will arise and show great signs and wonders, to lead astray if possible
even the elect." In II Thessalonians 2:3,4 we read:

   Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come,
unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is
revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against
every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in
the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

   This verses tell us that the man of sin will take his seat in the
temple. This is actually a picture of Satan ruling in the Church. He
will come with signs and wonders of falsehood. God will make those who
follow the man of sin believe a lie, so they will be prepared for
judgment. God is not neutral in these matters.

   In Revelation 13 it speaks about the beast that comes out of the
earth, and also a second beast. The second beast makes an image, and he
gives life to that image, and brings signs to come to pass, even making
fire come down from heaven. These are gospels that Satan himself will
design, so that he will enslave the nations of the world to a higher
degree than ever before. He will attest to their genuineness, as he
comes as an angel of light, by coming with signs and wonders. He will
make his gospel look like it is genuinely of Christ. Satan is the big
deceiver. This gospel actually will not be of Christ.

   Revelation 16:13,14 states:

   And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth
of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul
spirits like frogs; for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who
go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle
on the great day of God the Almighty.

   These verses speak about the beast and the false prophet coming with
signs to deceive, coming with miracles to deceive. Every reference in
relationship to signs and wonders near the end of time relates to
satanic activity. Now this is very serious. This is very ominous. It
indicates how careful we have to be today, because I do believe, as do
many others, that we are near the end of time.

   It is a day when we want to make absolutely certain that we get
divine truth only from the Bible. It alone, and in its entirety, is the
divine Word. Satan did not speak through the Bible. Satan can speak in
a lot of other ways. He comes with all kinds of occult activities. He
comes outside the Church through witchcraft, Oujia boards, tarot cards,
and so on; and in the Church he also comes with occult activity. The
Bible says that he does. II Corinthians 11:14 says, "And no wonder, for
even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,".

   Therefore, we really want to be on guard, and make sure that the
only place where we're going to look for divine truth is the Bible
itself. Then we cannot be deceived.

   Caller: I think certainly that Satan does go around as an angel of
light....granted; but I do not accept the premise, and I cannot accept
it, that all of the signs or wonders in the latter times of the Church
are from Satan. I cannot accept that. For one reason, Joel 2:28 and
following says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour
out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
Visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those
days I will pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall
be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and
the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered...."

   Mr. Camping: Yes, but you see, God is not talking there about
Judgment Day at the end of time, the great and terrible day of the
Lord, because right after that He says, and whosoever calls upon the
name of the Lord will be saved, or will be delivered. Salvation does
not come after Judgment Day. Salvation comes all through the New
Testament period.

   When Christ went to the cross, that was the "great and terrible day
of the Lord"; that is when christ paid for my sins. He was subject to
Judgment Day at that time; that is when the sun was darkened, and the
moon did not give its light, and that literally did happen. The sun was
darkened. There was darkness over the face of the whole earth for a
period of three hours. This is the language of Psalm 18, where God is
speaking in dramatic terms about the deliverance that would be provided
by the cross.

   The fact is, there was a great earthquake. The earth itself reacted
to the fact that Christ was on the cross. Now more than that, in Acts
2:16, back there in A.D. 33 on Pentecost Day, Peter under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, quotes from Joel 2 and declares the
phenomena the Jews saw: the sound of th rushing wind, the appearance of
tongues of fire on the heads of the disciples, and the fact that they
were speaking in foreign languages, was evidence that this is the time
about which Joel prophesied. In other words, now God is going to begin
His program to evangelize the world. The great and terrible day of the
Lord had come, and now whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will
be saved.

   Now if we did not have Revelation 22:18, we could conclude that Acts
2:17, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour
out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your young men shall see visions and
your old men shall dream dreams," would apply throughout the New
Testament period, and we could still dream dreams and see visions
today. This would be so, because the whole New Testament period is the
last days; it is throughout the whole New Testament period that
whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved. We know that
this is not the case because that aspect of the prophecy was limited by
the language of Revelation 22:18. Several decades after Pentecost God
declared that we are not to add to the words of His book.

   Now the other implications of that prophecy remain. "Whosoever calls
upon the Name of the Lord will be saved." Every believer is going to be
a prophet. Now in the Old Testament the prophets were only few and far
between. They received their information from God from two sources:
from the written Word that was complete to their day, and also by means
of dreams or visions, in a more exciting way.

   In the New Testament, before the Bible was completed, the prophets
had the same experience. They had the Old Testament, which was the
written Word complete to their day, and occasionally they could receive
additional information through a dream or a vision; but once the Bible
was completed, this was no longer possible. Today as believers
throughout the New Testament period, we continue to prophesy, that is,
to declare God's Word, which is really what prophesying is all about,
but our source of divine truth is only the Bible, because it is now the
complete Word of God. It is every part of God's revelation that He
wants us to know, so we don't have to be looking for divine truth from
any other source.

   Now, this of course is a fantastic guarantee for the New Testament
believer, that he won't be tripped up by Satan. He will not be snared
by Satan, because he is looking around for an additional revelation of
some kind. He knows that when he goes to the Bible he has got all the
revelation, all that God would speak to mankind about. He can spend his
time very patiently studying the Word, searching the Scriptures, and
knowing all the time that this is the voice of God, this is the
revelation of God. What a wonderful guarantee God has given us!

   Caller: A couple more problems. Number one, I see nothing in the
context of Revelation 22:18 which says that that verse is applicable to
anything other than prophecy of the Book of Revelation itself.

   Mr. Camping: You see, the book of Revelation is an integral part of
the whole Bible. If you add a chapter to the book of Revelation, you
have added it to the Bible. If you take away a chapter, you have taken
it away from the Bible. Whether you want to understand the phrase "this
book" to be the book of Revelation or the whole Bible is really
ultimately immaterial because the Bible is one cohesive whole. It has
one author. It is one book, therefore the phrase "this book" ultimately
refers to the Bible.

   Caller: Could you explain the gift of prophecy talked about in 1
Corinthians 14? Also, what was the purpose of speaking in tongues in
the New Testament Church? How does that distinguish from the gift of
prophecy?

   Mr. Camping: The word prophecy, in its widest intent in the Bible,
means to declare God's Word. We normally think of prophecy as being
able to know the future. But that's not really the meaning of the word
prophecy. It includes the fact that we may have knowledge of the
future, but in its widest sense it means to be qualified to declare
God's Word. 1 Corinthians 14:3 tells us, "On the other hand, he who
prophesies speaks to men for their upbuilding and encouragement and
consolation."

   Beginning with Pentecost, every born again believer is given this
gift. He is able to declare God's Word. Where do we find God's Word? In
the days before the Bible was completed, a prophet, that is, any
believer, could have two sources from which to find God's Word. One
source was the written Word that he had in his hand, which in those
days would include the Old Testament.

   In addition, from time to time someone would receive additional
revelation, through a vision, a dream, a tongue, or whatever. In that
sense he had a special gift of prophecy. In other words, he was given
the ability to receive additional truth from God, in addition to what
he had in the written Word. That possibility ceased, of course, with
the completion of the Bible. Revelation 22:18 says that we are not to
add to the words of this book.

   Now the gift of tongues actually was a part of the gift of prophecy.
Someone in the church at Corinth, where this gift is particularly
mentioned, would receive a revelation from God in an unknown language.
This served to edify him personally. Perhaps it was something else. At
any rate, it was information in an unknown language. It was information
from God.

   Now when this was interpreted, it became the equivalent of direct
prophecy, because then it could be given to the whole church, this
could be declared to the whole church. The whole church could be
edified by it.

   Now why the gift of tongues? Now that is a very, very ominous
question. Why did God give the church at Corinth the gift of tongues?
Why does God spend 3 chapters in the Bible on this phenomenon of
tongues? 1 Corinthians 14:20-24 teaches:

   Brethren, do not be children in your thinking but be babes in evil,
but in thinking be mature. In the law it is written, "By men of strange
tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and
even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord." Thus, tongues are
a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for
unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore the whole church assembles
and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they
not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or
outsider enters, he is convicted by all, and he is called to account by
all, the secrets of the heart are disclosed; and so, falling on his
face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. .

   Now thrust right into this whole account of the situation of
tongues; God has indicated its limitations and the desirability of
speaking in languages that people could know, and so on. But now He
says, "Be babes in evil." Now what a strange intrusion here..."Be babes
in evil (or in malice." What have tongues got to do with evil? There is
nothing that has been suggested before about the fact that tongues were
evil. These were legitimate revelations from God. What is evil about
that? Why does God say, "Be babes in evil."

   Well, the next verse offers us a clue as to what we're to do now.
"In the law it is written, 'By men of strange tongues and by the lips
of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not
listen to Me", says the Lord." Now the Law is the Old Testament, and
particularly the first five books. God is instructing us to go to the
Law and find out what it says there.

   When we patiently search the Old Testament, we come to. Deuteronomy
28. In verse 47 God is talking to Israel of old, which is a figure of
the New Testament Church. Immediately we see a real connection between
what we are going to read in Deuteronomy 28 and what God is talking
about in 1 Corinthians 14.

   Well, in Deuteronomy 28:47-49 we read:

   "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and
gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things, therefore
you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in
hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he will
put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until He has destroyed you. The Lord
will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not
understand,"

   In other words, you were not satisfied with the salvation I offered
you, but you wanted your own kind of salvation program: "therefore you
shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. In hunger
and thirst, in nakedness and in want of all things. And He will put a
yoke of iron upon your neck until He has destroyed you."

   Now notice. This is what the Lord is calling our attention to in 1
Corinthians 14. "The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar,
from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose
language you do not understand, a nation of stern countenance, who
shall not regard the person of the old or show favor to the young, and
shall eat the offspring of your cattle and fruit of your ground, until
you are destroyed; who shall not leave you grain, wine or oil, the
increase of your cattle or the young of your flocks, until they have
caused you to parish. They shall besiege you in all your towns, until
your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down
throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your towns
throughout all your land, which the Lord your God has given you." It
goes on and on, describing what they will do to Israel as they destroy
them.

   Now God is saying to Israel in Deuteronomy 28:47-49 I have offered
you a wonderful, wonderful salvation. If you are not satisfied, and you
want to make it your kind of gospel, if you want to make it the way you
would like to have it, then I am going to bring my wrath against you.
My wrath will come through a nation that I will raise up, a nation
whose language you do not understand. They will besiege you everywhere
until they have destroyed you.

   That is horribly ominous, is it not? But, that is exactly what God
is referring to in 1 Corinthians 14, where He is talking about tongues.
God says here, "I will speak to this people and even then they will not
listen to Me," says the Lord. Now we know that judgment came for the
nation of Israel. They turned from the Lord, from the salvation that
God offered. God brought first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians
against them. We read in the Book of Ezekial that Israel played the
harlot with Assyria and with Babylon. They adulterously ran after them
and their gods, and these nations destroyed them. They were nations
whose language Israel did not understand. We read this particularly in
Jeremiah 37 that God was going to bring the Babylonians (Chaldeans)
against them.

   Israel disobeyed God, and they were judged as God had warned. Now
God is coming to the New Testament Church, to the Church of this day,
if you will. And He is saying watch out, watch out, if you are not
satisfied with the Gospel I have given you: that you must walk by
faith, not by sight; that you must put your trust only in the Lord
Jesus Christ; and you are not to look for something more glorious than
the Gospel that I am offering you. If you do I will come against you
with a nation whose language you do not understand, and I will speak
through this, even then you will not listen to me.

   He then concludes in verse 22, "Thus tongues are a sign (or a
miracle) not for believers, but for unbelievers." In other words, it is
a sign that God will use against the unbelievers in the congregation.
It is going to be used to destroy them.

   Now I believe that God has set up a testing program. God does this.
God set up a testing program in the Garden of Eden, did He not? Would
Adam and Eve remain obedient to God? God was going to test them, so He
planted a tree. He said, "That tree you may not eat of.", and that is
precisely where Adam and Eve fell into sin. They disobeyed God.

   God set up a testing program in the church at Corinth. There is the
fact that there was a legitimate gift of tongues given to some in the
church at Corinth nothing wrong about it at all. It was a gift of God,
but it is recorded for us in the Bible, so it remains as a testing
program. God is now saying, I will come against those who are not
satisfied with the true Gospel, and want more. I will assault them with
a nation that comes with a language you do not understand; in other
words, a nation that comes with tongues. Tongues will be used against
the unbelievers. This sign now begins to gain very ominous proportions,
as we think about the tongues activity of this day.

   Let us be sure that we are completely satisfied with the Bible as
the divine Word of God. Let us be sure that we are not wanting
something more than what the Bible speaks of when it tells us how
glorious this salvation is that God has given us.

   There are those who say, "Well, I am saved, but there is a lot more
that I want from God." Well, what is the matter with the salvation that
God has provided, if a person really is saved? The only thing that we
are going to receive pertaining to our salvation is the resurrection of
our bodies, and we can not receive that until Christ returns. When we
are saved God has given us everything. He has made us His child, He has
taken us out of the kingdom of Satan. We have become born again. We
have been given the Word as the rule book of our lives. We are indwelt
by the Holy Spirit. We have been given everything. There is nothing
more. Let us be satisfied with this wonderful salvation God has given.
