Hello Texan,
The short answer to your question is no because it is impossible to put restrictions on God. Whatever God is going to do, He will do and there is nothing that we can do to stop Him. Human beings cannot restrict God from doing anything! I do not know what video you watched, but the person that said that tongues was not of the Holy Spirit may be correct. The reason I say this is because there are many today that speak in tongues, believing it is from the Holy Spirit, and it is not.
With that being said, do I believe that God can still cause someone to speak in tongues? Sure I do, but I think that it is extremely rare. Extremely rare! Many believers are being told that if you are saved, and if you have received the “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” and if you do not speak in tongues there is something wrong with you. I do not agree with that! Many who practice tongues also believe that they are better off than those who do not speak in tongues when it comes to understanding God’s word. I also disagree with that.
As far as what is from the Holy Spirit and what is from false spirits, you have to be very careful because the bible tells us that Satan can also do all these things, miracles, signs and wonders, tongues, etc… Plus, he uses false teachers for his purposes and many are being deceived into thinking that these things are from God.
Please don’t get me wrong because I do believe that some of these things might be from God, but not many of the things that are taking place in the body of Christ today. It has gotten so far out of control and many are falling into this trap, and that is why you see some of these huge “Mega-churches” out there. It is because they are the ones performing all these so-called miracles, and that is what draws in huge crowds. It is my thoughts that these people are being deceived. However, these are the things that attract large crowds. People strive on these things. People want to see miracles, they want to see signs and wonders, and they believe that tongues makes them more spiritual then the believer that does not speak in tongues.
I grew up around people that were tongues speakers and it didn’t matter if you were a Christian or not, but if you were and you did not speak in tongues, you were looked down at like you were missing out on something and that they were far more superior than you. Even today, I have been around people that have this same attitude when it comes to tongues. These are honest believers and I know that they love the Lord and they truly believe that all these things are from God. I have my doubts on some of them.
There is only one place in the entire bible that gives the specific purpose for tongues and that one place is found in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14, Verse 22. In the bible, God used tongues as a sign for unbelieving Jews in order to show them that what they were hearing was from God. If you go all the way back to Acts Chapter 2, you can see its proper function actually being used by God for its intended purposes, and that fits perfectly to what it is saying in 1 Corinthians 14:22, that tongues are for a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers.
It is man who has come up with other purposes for tongues, but most of them purposes are in complete violation of 1 Corinthians 14:22.
Personally, I don’t think that speaking in tongues in a church assembly should be taking place to begin with. If it is God doing it, then fine. But I don’t think it is God. Paul said that in the church, he would rather speak five words with his understanding, that by his voice he might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. Do you see Paul’s emphasis here? It is not on tongues! Yet in the church today, tongues seems to be one of the biggest things that is emphasized.
I have said this before and this is something that I truly believe, the “tongues” that is going on in the churches today is NOT the tongues of the bible. Can’t be!
As far as having an “interpreter,” I just want to share with you that this does not mean that someone needs to translate. The word means to explain, not translate, and that is also what took place in Acts Chapter two when God caused them to speak in tongues. Nobody had to translate the tongues because the people that heard them speak in tongues understood exactly what was being said because the tongues were known languages, and those that heard it understood perfectly well what was being said. No one had to translate what was being said.
I love what took place there and what God did by causing these people to speak in tongues. However, this is not what is going on today in tongues speaking churches. Today, people are being coached and taught how to speak in tongues. That is not biblical. Not one person in the bible was coached or taught how to speak in tongues. God just made it happen! Why should it be any different today? If God is going to cause a believer to speak in tongues, it will be for His purpose, and not because I want to speak in tongues so I have to go out there and tray and cause myself to do it. It is alarming that people are doing this today. They get it in their mind that tongues is something a believer is supposed to be doing and they keep on until it happens.
My question is how do they know for a fact that it is from God? Did you know that many churches that you and I both would agree are false churches and cults speak in tongues? But they are speaking in tongues the same as other churches are. What spirit is causing that?
My friend, you have to be careful if you are in a church where this is taking place and then someone comes up to translate the “tongues,” because they can say anything they want to and you will never know if it’s the truth or not. But just so you know, having an interpreter does not mean having someone there to translate the tongues that were spoken. There just has to be someone there to give an explanation as to how this person was able to speak in a tongue (language) that you know for a fact that they were incapable of knowing, proving that this could only be from God.
I hope this makes sense and I would like to see the video you mentioned.
"Mansion in Heaven" Christian Forum
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What are you referring to? You said you watched most of it but didn't mention what you watched.
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I was in such a rush this morning that I forgot to include the link to the video. I realized it on my way to work. Figured I would put it in when I get home this evening. This way my question would make more sense.
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I would like to point out that even though God is Omnipotent, He has placed boundaries on Himself by His Word that He will never go past. He will never force ANYONE to speak in tongues, and He won't force anyone to make a choice that they didn't choose themselves. For that reason, since the Bible tells us that it is God's will/desire that all be saved, and we know from the Bible that not all will be, we do and can put restrictions on God where He has already limited Himself by His own word. He said the gift of the Holy Spirit is available freely to all, if we reject it, then we limit God.
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