God's Divine Warning
Their lives filled with emptiness and wretchedness, multiplied thousands of people are beginning to "seek" fox spiritual manifestations, for revelations; for some sort of escape or outlet for their pent-up frustrations. As reported in a recent PLAIN TRUTH article, many in England are turning to sorcery in their search for something to satisfy, something to fill the EMPTINESS of their wretched lives.
Although the modern "Charismatic Renewal" and "tongues-speaking" movement now sweeping many of the respectable churches may not as yet have reached the point of the old line "Pentecostal" movement, it is nevertheless very definitely headed in that direction!
Ministers admit that their modern churches and rituals are empty and DEAD. In their desperation to find something that has "life," they are seizing upon the manifestations accompanying the "tongues" movement and the orgies of "seeking after the Spirit" which accompany it.
Very frankly, they are jumping from the frying pan into the FIRE!
Your Bible warns: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY THE SPIRITS whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (I John 4:1).
But HOW do you try the spirits?
Compare them with the basic commands and examples in the inspired Word of God! See if, for example, their ministers and adherents understand and obey THIS scripture: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a LIAR, and the truth is not in him" (I John 2:4).
Do they really KEEP God's Ten Commandments?
Do they advocate and practice the WAY OF LIFE advocated by Jesus Christ and His apostles in the New Testament? Are they studying and understanding the Bible and constantly GROWING to become more like Jesus Christ in their personalities, their mental development, and their character? (Eph. 4:11-13).
God's Word warns: "And when they shall say unto you, seek ye unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the LAW and to the TESTIMONY [the teaching and example of the Bible]: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is NO LIGHT in them" (Isa. 8:19-20).
The modern "seeking" after weird, guttural sounds and gibberish [incorrectly referred to as "tongues" by deceived men] certainly fits this description.
Your Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit imparts wisdom, knowledge and faith (I Cor. 12:8-9). It reveals that God's Spirit is the Spirit of a SOUND MIND (II Tim. 1:7).
But the blatant display of uncontrolled emotions, the raucous, guttural gibberish palmed off as "tongues," the shouting, screaming, sobbing, moaning and foaming at the mouth so commonly seen in "Pentecostal" meetings — these are the exact OPPOSITE to the fruits of the true Spirit of God!
In plain fact, many of these manifestations are directly from Satan the DEVIL! These literal "seizures" which cause human beings to LOSE CONTROL of their minds and bodies are the seizures of demon spirits — grasping for control over human beings made in the image of God!
I know! Many "Pentecostal" people won't like to hear this! But for the sake of your eternal life God help you to open your minds and UNDERSTAND!
Be willing to wake up and face the TRUTH!
UNDERSTAND What God Requires
Do you believe in God — in "tongues" — in visions — in sensations running up and down your spine?
So does SATAN THE DEVIL!
In fact, he KNOWS that these things are real!
Satan KNOWS that God exists and created all things! (Jas. 2:19). But his faith is devoid of works (verse 20).
Satan won't OBEY!
God can never again entrust him with great authority and power in His Kingdom. For he refuses to SUBMIT to his Maker and to God's commandments!
In the Post article, one prominent Protestant minister said he was interested in the tongues movement because he was trying to find "the life of the New Testament." He said: "We've got to find this, because if we don't, we're going out of business."
So WHERE does he look for the "life of the New Testament"? At human emotions and the actions of literal DEMONS on the spines and bodies of human beings!
When this minister — as others — looked into the New Testament, did he ever find that Jesus participated in emotion-filled meetings with screaming and shouting, sobbing and throbbing human beings worked up to an emotional pitch of excitement through repetitive songs, phrases and chants? Did he ever find that Peter did this, or Paul?
Of course not!
But since mankind has — for nearly six thousand years now — been UNWILLING to accept the plain, clear instruction of God to OBEY His commands, it has had to seek out every weird and devious idea, doctrine and practice conceivable in its vain and desperate search for "something that satisfies"!
WHEN WILL WE WAKE UP?
Jesus came preaching the "Kingdom" or Government of God (Mark 1:14). He clearly revealed that the Message of that Kingdom involved obedience to the LAWS contained in the Ten Commandments (Luke 16:16-17).
As we noted, He said to the seeker after eternal life: "KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!" (Matt. 19:17).
Even after His death and resurrection, Christ taught His disciples the Message of the Kingdom or GOVERNMENT of God (Acts 1:3).
Philip later preached this Message to the Samaritans (Acts 8:12). Paul preached this Message to the Gentiles at Ephesus (Acts 20:25). And he — the Apostle to the Gentiles — completed his ministry by preaching the "Kingdom of God" to the Gentiles at Rome (Acts 28:31).
God's Kingdom has LAWS — and keeping these laws becomes a WAY OF LIFE.
God's WAY in Action
In the soon-coming rule of Jesus Christ over this earth: "The LAW shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2). Then people everywhere — ALL peoples and nations — will learn the WAY of peace, happiness and prosperity through obedience to the commandments and laws of their Maker!
They will find it is not so weird and difficult, after all, to refrain from killing, stealing, lying, committing adultery and going after various false gods of DEMONISM.
They will learn that God does, indeed, impart POWER. "For God bath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (II Tim. 1:7).
Most of all, they will utilize the POWER of God's Holy Spirit to overcome human lusts and emotions so that — through HIS divine nature placed within them (II Pet. 1:4) — they WILL be able to keep the laws of God and live by His ways. They will have the divine LOVE given by God's Spirit (Rom. 5:5) to help them love and worship God, and to love and serve their fellow man according to God's commandments (I John 5:3).
Because man is forbidden to kill, they will have PEACE — for the first time in human history!
Because man is forbidden to commit adultery or even to lust after another woman — and because man and wife are commanded to "cleave" together and obey God's instructions for a happy home — they will have HAPPY MARRIAGES brimful and running over with JOY! Because man is forbidden to steal and lie, there will be no trickery and thievery!
This is the WAY OF LIFE which will be produced by the true Spirit of God placed in man after Christ's return (Ezek. 36:26-28).
Strive for a SOUND MIND
This is the "life of the New Testament" if you really want it! THIS is the "fruit" or result of God's Holy Spirit inspiring and leading the converted human being!
Oh, yes! The true gift of divine healing — without a lot of hoopla, fanfare and emotion — is definitely one of the gifts of God's Spirit. And, of course, the true gift of "tongues" itself has — at various times in the Christian era — been manifested as a "sign" to the UNBELIEVERS (I Cor. 14:22) who themselves speak a foreign language. But this gift — as others — was NEVER accompanied by unbridled human emotion or by selfish, carnal human beings desperately trying to shout and scream and whine and "pray down" God's Spirit in this manner!
Make no mistake! The inspired examples of your Bible make the above statements abundantly clear to anyone with an open mind and heart!
If you wish further information on "speaking in tongues," write immediately for our attractive, free booklet, "The TONGUES Question." This will give even more complete information and explanation on this subject, and will answer more in detail some of the carnal "arguments" thrown up by people deceived and ensnared in the "tongues" movement.
In addition, write for Mr. Armstrong's important booklet entitled: "Does God Heal Today?" It will make clear how — and in what manner — God does expect us to rely on Him for healing.
Also, on the subject of salvation itself, write for our free booklet: "Just What Do You Mean — Born Again?"
And it’s important companion booklet: "What IS Salvation?"
Meanwhile, let's understand the TRUTH about "bolts of lightning" running up and down people's spines, about strange, unknown utterances called "tongues," about shimmering, dancing lights in dark rooms, scratching on the walls or voices in the night. If you value your prospect of eternal life or even your very SANITY of mind, then learn to heed the Biblical injunction: "Try the spirits whether they are of God. . ."
If you are sincerely looking for the "life of the New Testament," then by all means STUDY the New Testament itself — not some book of men written about the New Testament! Read carefully the example and practice of Jesus Christ and His apostles — and follow it!
Realize that true Christianity is the religion of Christ — and that the Holy Spirit is indeed the Spirit of a SOUND MIND, and of a truly surrendered and OBEDIENT mind.