by

Stanley Harris

In my twenty-three years in the ministry I have observed a great upsurge in the tongues movement and have had the experience frequently of people saying "you don't have the gift of tongues and therefore you do not have the Holy Spirit." Some people have said that they didn't want to join the remnant church, though they believe we have the truth, because they think that we do not have the Holy Spirit. Therefore today we want to study to find out about the true gift of the Spirit. I also want to urge you to study God's word for a proper understanding of the gift of tongues.

First of all I will read the instruction that has been given the remnant church in the writings of the gift of prophecy regarding these things. I read from "Early Writings" page 261. It says, "I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out, ministers and people will be called out from these churches, and will gladly receive the truth. Satan knows this; and before the loud cry of the third angel is given, he raises an excitement in these religious bodies, that those who have rejected the truth may think that God is with them. He hopes to deceive the honest and lead them to think that God is still working for the churches. But the light will shine, and all who are honest will leave the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant."

Now I want you to notice that it says that before the latter rain experience comes to God's people, which is promised in God's word, there is going to be a strange excitement occur in other churches. Satan, it says, is going to raise this excitement. The people will think that God is with them. I want you to notice that, according to these words, it is not God that gives this excitement, but it is Satan.

I read from Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 1, page 12. It says that "some persons have exercises which they call gifts. They have an unmeaning gibberish which they call the unknown tongue, which is unknown not only by man but by the Lord and all of Heaven. Such gifts are manufactured by men and women, aided by the great deceiver. They are not satisfied with a meeting unless they have a powerful and happy time. They work for this and get up an excitement to feel it. But when the happy flight of feeling is gone they sink lower than before the meeting, because their happiness did not come from the right source. The most profitable meetings for spiritual advancement are those which are characterized with solemnity and deep searching of heart." In other words it is not in loud, boisterous, and noisy meetings that we find the spirit of God, but in the meetings in which there is a deep solemnity, and deep searching of heart.

I read again from Vol. 1, page 414. It says, "They make unintelligible sounds that they call the gift of tongues. And a certain class seem to be charmed with these strange manifestations. A strange spirit rules with this class which would bear down and run over anyone who would reprove them. God's spirit is not in the work and does not attend such workmen. They have another spirit." And one more statement from Vol. 1, page 419, "May God deliver His people from such gifts. What do these gifts do for them? Are they through the exercise of these gifts brought into the unity of the faith? There is considerable excitement and the unknown tongue. They let their light so shine that unbelievers would say, these people are not saved. They are carried away with a false excitement and we know that they do not have the truth." Actually, this spirit that prevails in the self-styled Holy Ghost churches, tells the people that they do not need the truth. They reject the Sabbath and other important Bible truths.

Now it is a well known fact that people who become deeply involved in these excitable things generally become unstable. Actually many people have had their nervous systems wrecked by participating in these things. In fact in a number of cases it has led to insanity. So we want to be careful about accepting these spirits. Without a doubt there is a spirit in the tongues movements. I have investigated them first hand by going to some of their revivals. There is a spirit in their meetings that is so strong it can be felt.

In Genesis 11:1-9 it describes the experience of the people after the flood. It says, "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." I will not read it all, but you can read it for yourselves. It tells how the people decided they would build a great tower. A tower that would reach unto heaven. And it was a tower which they thought would save them in the event of another flood. Now the Lord came down and saw this and was not pleased, and so he decided to confound their speaking, or their tongues, so they would speak in different tongues. And in the 9th verse it says, "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." It was at this time that the various languages came into the world. Up to this time everyone spoke the same tongue. But God saw that this was not good, and he saw that it was not profitable for the people to be gathered in one place. So in order to scatter them out over the face of the earth He changed their tongues.

Now we go to the book of Acts, the first chapter, and we find out why the Lord gave the gift of tongues at the time of Pentecost. Beginning with the 8th verse it says, "But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Now I want you to notice that God confused the languages back at the time of Babel so that they would be scattered over all the earth, and then at the beginning of the Christian era so that the message would go quickly that Jesus had died to save men, God gave them the Holy Ghost and power so that they could be His witnesses unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

Now we go to the second chapter of the book of Acts and we find in verses 1-11 the experience the disciples had on the day of Pentecost. It says, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein, we were born?" There were some seventeen different nationalities present. With this gift of tongues that the disciples received, the different nationalities heard them speak in their respective languages. And it says in the 11th verse, "We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God." So this gift in this case was not an unknown tongue. It was a tongue that was understood by the different nationalities.

There is a question whether the disciples were speaking actually in foreign tongues. Some say they were. Some say they were speaking in the vernacular, or their native tongue, and the people understood them in their different languages. That is not important as far as I am concerned. The point is, that they did speak in tongues when they received the Holy Ghost. Tongues of fire came down upon their heads indicating that they had received this gift, and they spoke in tongues that the people understood.

Now when God established the Christian church He gave various gifts. In fact He placed every gift in the church. I read over in I Corinthians 12:6-10, "And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; (different tongues); to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." Now I want you to notice that these gifts are not all to be given to the same people. They were to be divided. The Spirit was going to divide these to the people as he willed. Some would receive the gift of teaching, others the gift of prophecy, and others the gift of healing, and others different kinds of tongues or divers kinds of tongues. I want you to notice too that one of the gifts to the church is to be able to discern the spirits. I think many of us need this gift that we may be able to discern what spirit is doing the particular work in question. So today I humbly claim this gift from God to be able to discern the spirits; discern whether this so-called gift of tongues as it is being practiced in the modern world is the true gift of God.

I also read in I Cor. 12:28-31, "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts; and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way." And then he goes on to speak about the greatest gift of all, and what is what? Love. Many people dwell on the gifts of the Spirit, and never dwell on the fruits of the Spirit. The greatest of all of the fruits of the Spirit is Love. Love, joy, peace, and also kindness, mercy, temperance, and faith. These are the fruits of the Spirit. And so we ought to be more interested in having the fruits of the spirit than the gifts. We can't demand these gifts. They are gifts that the Lord gives. And we are told that the spirit will divide them according to His will. In other words I can't demand of the spirit and say, "Holy Spirit I want you to give me the gift of tongues," or, "I want you to give me the gift of prophecy." Yet there are many people who are led to believe that unless they have the gift of tongues they do not have the Holy Spirit, and therefore they do not have a Good Christian experience. I have known of some people who have been greatly troubled over this, some who belong to the tongues movements, and don't ever seem to receive what they call the gift of tongues, and therefore feel that they are not accepted of God. Sometimes they are told that they have not received the Holy Spirit because they do not speak in tongues. This is a mistake. We are told that Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. Yet Stephen did not speak with tongues. He spoke the word of God with such power that it brought persecution and death to him. He was so filled with the spirit of God that the glory of God could be seen around him. Jesus had the greatest outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and yet Jesus never spoke in tongues. John the Baptist never spoke in tongues.

What are the steps to be taken before the gifts of the Spirit are received? First of all men must be taught the gospel. Jesus said in Matt. 28:19, 20, to go into all the world and teach all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and then baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. So they must be taught the truth first of all. Then Jesus said in Mark 16:15-17, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." So a man must not only be taught, he must believe. And then the next step is repentance, according to Acts 2:38. One must repent before he will receive the baptism. Repentance from what? Repentance from sin! And sin is the transgression of God's law! Do you suppose that God is going to give this special gift of tongues to people who have never been taught the truth, and do not even believe in the truth, and have never repented of their sins? I know of people who claim that they have this gift who are still living in open sin. Some of them are preachers in the tongues movements.

Jesus also said in John 3:5, that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Water baptism is essential to salvation. There are some who believe that the baptism of the Spirit is all that is needed. They elevate that above everything else. The fact is, that the very last gift and the least of gifts, was the gift of tongues. And yet that gift has been elevated above all of the others, and is made the paramount thing in some people's worship. We are told by the apostle Paul, over and over again, that the gift of prophecy is much more important than the gift of tongues. Thank God that the remnant church has the gift of prophecy as well as the other true gifts!

Now we find that there are other conditions upon which men will or will not receive the gifts of he Spirit. In I Cor. 6:19, 20 it says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Notice that the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And the Lord says that we are to glorify him in our bodies. Many of these self-styled Holy Ghost people do not think that what they do with their bodies makes any difference. Definitely what we do with our bodies and the things we put into our bodies are very important to God. If we are eating or drinking things that are harmful to the body temple, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost will not dwell within us.

In I Cor. 3:16, 17, it says, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." So if men are defiling their body temple by unclean habits, the Spirit will not abide with them. I have known some people who actually claim they have the gift of tongues who are in bondage to unclean habits. Now I can't believe that the Holy Ghost enters into the bodies that are wilfully being defiled.

We have another very important condition upon which men will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In Acts 5:32, where Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost, it says, "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." To whom then, according to these words, does God give the Holy Ghost? To them that obey Him! All right I go a step further. I go to Isaiah 8: 19, 20. And I read here the test that we ought to put to those who claim to have the gift. It says, "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits (that is people that have strange spirits), and unto wizards (or miracle workers) that peep, and that mutter (unknown tongues or gibberish); should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." So the Lord says we are not to seek unto those that are peeping and muttering, unto miracle workers, unto those that have familiar spirits but we are only to follow those that teach the law of God and the testimony of His prophets.

In Isaiah 30:8, 9 it says, "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord." Now there are many of these self-styled tongues people who will not hear the law of the Lord and say they do not need the commandments, they say that they have the Holy Ghost, and yet the Lord has distinctly said he only gives the Holy Ghost to them that obey Him. Those who will not obey His law are rebellious. The Lord tells us to turn away from them because there is no light in them. Even though they may peep and mutter, and even though they may perform miracles. The Lord says that the test to apply to them is, do they speak according to God's law and according to the testimony of His prophets. In Hebrews 10: 15, 16 it says, "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that be bad said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." So the Holy Spirit is the one that witnesses to the fact that God, under the new covenant, is going to write His laws in our hearts and in our minds.

In Isaiah 30:15, it says, "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." The Lord says that in our salvation shall be rest, quietness and confidence. He doesn't say that in our salvation there is noise and boisterousness and hip-hip-hurray. In Isaiah 32:17 it says, "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." And so, my dear friends, the work of righteousness is peace and quietness.

In Isaiah 33:19 God says, "Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering (margin, ridiculous) tongue, that thou canst not understand." The Lord says that we are not to see people doing such things; that we are not to have a part with them. The context of this verse tells us that the Lord is coming soon, that we are soon going to see God, and we should not be seeing a fierce people--that is a people that have fierce actions. We are not to fellowship with people that have a deeper speech than we can perceive, and a ridiculous tongue that we can not understand.

I wonder if the tongues people have ever noticed the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples prior to His leaving them. He says in John 14:15, 16, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth." So Jesus says, if ye love me keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter even the Spirit of truth. To whom then does Jesus promise to give the Spirit. To those who love Him enough to keep His commandments.

The Holy Spirit is given for certain definite reasons as Jesus declared. First of all Jesus says, when the "Spirit of truth is come He will guide you into all truth." John 16:13. "O," say some, "I don't need the truth to have the Spirit. I'm not going to join your church though I know you have the truth, I don't want to deny my experience of speaking in an unknown tongue." Actually such people cannot have God's spirit. God's spirit would never tell people that they can be saved without obeying the truth. We are to try the spirits. Any spirit that denies even a part of God's truth, is not of God. The Lord has given us the Holy Ghost primarily, as Jesus said, to guide us into all the truth. People attending these meetings have admitted that they have been guided into the whole truth and yet some reject the truth because they have some strange spirit that gives them a feeling that they are all right, even though they are disobeying God.

Another reason why the Holy Ghost is sent is that He may convict you of your sins. What is sin? The transgression of God's law. So my dear friends, some people say, I don't want to hear the truth, I have the gift of tongues. Some people say, I don't want anything to do with the ten commandments, I have the gift of tongues. They cannot have the true gift of tongues. No one who has the true Spirit of God can wilfully disobey the Lord.

Now you say, what is the truth Brother Harris? John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life." First of all the truth is Jesus. The way Jesus lived, that is the truth. If we follow the example of Jesus, we will never go wrong. Then in John 17:17 Jesus said, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." The Bible is truth. The Spirit is to guide us into all truth. Into all that the Bible says. It says over in Ps. 119: 142, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." And then in the 151st verse it says, "Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth." So what is the truth, my friends? Jesus is the truth. The Bible is the truth, and all of God's commandments are truth. And then I'll have you again take note of the text I read a moment ago. John 14:17, "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." And so the Holy Spirit is truth. The Holy Spirit is the one that inspired the writing of the Bible which is the truth. Now do you think that the Holy Spirit, who is the very essence of truth, will give people who reject the truth, a special gift? I do not believe it. The Bible tells us over in Psalms 145: 18, "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon him in truth." The Lord is nigh, or near, to people who are calling upon Him in the truth. Now those people who are rejecting the truth, do you suppose that the Lord is nigh unto them? He says He is nigh unto all of those that call upon Him in the truth. And He also says that He is with them who worship Him in spirit and in truth. That is John 4:23, 24.

Sometimes people say, "Brother Harris, I don't have to keep the commandments. I don't have to accept this truth. I have a spirit and that spirit indicates to me that I am accepted of God." O friends, can we believe that God is accepting people who are rejecting the truth? I can't believe such a thing.

Now it tells us over in I John 4:1 that we are to try the spirits: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the Spirits whether they are of God." Now there are only two spirits in the world. The Spirit of God, and the spirit of the devil. We either have one or the other. All down through the course of history there has been a controversy between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the devil. Back in ancient times the prophets of Baal spoke in tongues. And there was a great controversy between the Spirit of God and the spirit of the devil. Did the prophets of Baal have the true gift? No, most certainly they did not. We read in I Kings 18:28 how they screamed and worked themselves into a frenzy. The devil possessed them. Elijah quietly overcame them by the Spirit of God. A voodoo priest cannot be ordained until he receives the gift of tongues. Did you know that many of the witch doctors of Africa speak in the same gibberish as is manifested in the tongues movements in America? In India the devil worshipping priests have the same so-called gift. That is why God says to us to try the spirits, brethren, to see whether they are of God because the spirit of Satan is deceiving multitudes all over the world. The spirits of the devil are everywhere.

Those who believe in unknown tongues would wish that Paul had never written I Corinthians 14. I must give you a little background regarding the Corinthians. The Corinthian church was the problem church of all the churches the apostles founded. The Corinthian people were the most immoral of all people, in fact they were so immoral that they shocked even the pagans. Their women were so loud and boisterous that Paul had to give a special message to the Corinthian women to keep silence in the church. And be did that in the very chapter where he discusses speaking in tongues. We find in I Cor. 14 that Paul actually rebuked them for what they were doing. The pagans had the gift of tongues. This spurious gift led them to wild noisy demonstrations. There was so much trouble in Corinth that Paul sent Apollos there to try to straighten them out, and then he finally sent Titus. Paul was greatly concerned about the Corinthians. That is why he wrote so much to them. It seemed that the Corinthian believers would never spiritually grow up. In I Cor. 12: 1, Paul said, "Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Evidently they were ignorant about the spiritual gifts. And he said, "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Now why did Paul emphasize that point? Evidently because when they spoke in tongues they were actually saying things that were blasphemous. Sometime ago, back East, a young couple in a tongues church were scheduled to go to China as missionaries, and they asked the congregation to pray that they would receive the gift of tongues to speak Chinese. They seemed to receive that tongue, and started speaking in Chinese. There was a Chinese laundryman that lived not far away, and he was called in. When be came into their presence, he cried, "no, no! stop them, they are speaking vile things, they are blaspheming your God!" The people had been shouting hallelujah. They thought they had the gift of tongues. Instead they were cursing God.

In another meeting that I know of, a professor from a college was there. He heard that they were speaking in various tongues and so he went to see. He was a linguist. He taught several different languages, among which was Russian. And one of the people was supposedly speaking in Russian, and the preacher supposedly was interpreting what was being said, and claiming that this person was speaking in Russian. The professor got up and said, "That is not Russian. I am a teacher of Russian, and that individual certainly is not speaking in Russian." This indicates that even the so-called interpreters are deceived, and that they do not even know what they are doing. The so-called interpreters usually speak some platitude about God is good and God loves them, and things like that to make them think that they have received a message from God. But can't you see how the devil would rejoice as people speak in tongues that they know nothing about, and sometimes curse God? I'd want to be very careful about these things. I would want to know what I was saying, wouldn't you? That is why Paul said to the Corinthians, "Concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Then he went on to try to straighten out their ignorance.

I won't have time to read all the chapter, but I will read parts of I Cor. 14. "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself." And Paul didn't think that was good. We know that these people edify only themselves. Paul also said, "But he that prophesieth edifieth the church." Again Paul states, "But rather that ye prophesied; for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." Notice, Paul said if you are going to speak in tongues you must interpret. So that others can be edified. He says, "Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" Paul says, when you are speaking in these tongues, you had better be speaking something that people can understand. He said if a pipe or a harp is giving off unintelligible sounds, it isn't worth a thing. "So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air." What did Paul say? Paul very plainly said, when you speak in tongues, speak plainly so that people know what you are saying. He said if you are speaking things that people can't understand you are just speaking into the air. It is without signification. "Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me." In other words Paul says that those speaking in a gibberish that nobody understood were just like heathen, because nobody understood them. "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown ('unknown' is supplied, it should be 'other tongues') tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in other tongues, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful." Now there is such a thing as praying in the Spirit. We find in I Samuel 1:10-14 that Hannah prayed in the spirit and she wasn't heard. Her lips moved and Eli wondered about it. It said he marked her lips. She prayed in the spirit. There is such a thing as praying in the spirit, and communing with God.

Do you know that the Bible doesn't say "unknown tongues" in the original language. Where Paul refers to "unknown tongues" the word "unknown" is supplied, It isn't in the Bible in the original language. When Paul spoke about tongues, he spoke about other tongues. He didn't say "unknown" tongues. The word "unknown" is a supplied word.

Then Paul says, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all." Paul was noted as a linguist. Paul could speak in several different languages. We know that he preached in Greek, Hebrew, and in Roman or Latin. We understand he could also speak Arabic. Paul says I can speak in tongues more than ye all. "Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." In other words he said when I preach to you I want to preach in words that I can understand and you can understand. Then he says, "Brethren, be not children in understanding; howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men." He said I want you to grow up. You are acting like little children.

"In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not." Notice Paul says that tongues were not just for a group of people to get together and make all kinds of noises. In fact Paul condemns it. He said when ye get together unless you can speak something that people can understand, you should remain silent. This gift, said Paul, is to help preach the gospel in all the world. The gift of tongues is not for believers but is for unbelievers. In the self-styled Holy Ghost movements today are they using the gift of tongues, as they call it, to preach the gospel to the world? Why of course not, they would never get anywhere with the kind of gift they have. Most times no one can understand it. In some cases when people have come in and heard Chinese and other languages, they have said that the people were blaspheming God.

It says in the 23^rd verse, "If therefore the whole church be come together into one place and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? . . . If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence."

In other words when the missionaries go to foreign fields, they have to use interpreters until they learn the language. Some very quickly, some of them are able in just a matter of days to get up and preach to the people in their dialect, or tongue. But some of them when they are starting out have to use interpreters. They have to speak by course. They say something, the interpreter interprets, they say something else, and the interpreter interprets again. And Paul says if you are going to speak in the church in something that you call an unknown tongue, then you better have an interpreter or else keep silence. For be says in the 33rd verse, "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, in all the churches of the saints. Paul says, the things that I am writing unto you are the commandments of the Lord. And he says if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Notice how I read to you at the beginning of these instructions where he said, brethren I don't want you to be ignorant about the spiritual gifts. Then Paul said after he had given all this instruction, if a man is still ignorant, let him be ignorant. Then he says in the last verse, "Let all things be done decently and in order."

I have attended Holy Ghost revivals, and I can't say that what is being done is in decency and in order. I was told just the other day about a meeting in which a leading Holy Ghost preacher of America was preaching, and a young woman began to shout, and got up on top of the piano and started to go through contortions, and got down on all fours and after awhile she was doing absolutely immodest things. And when the man who came with this girl went up to the preacher and said, "see that the young woman properly covers herself" he said, "let her glory shine brother. Let her glory shine." Now you can't tell me that that is the spirit of God.

I once attended a meeting conducted by A. A. Allen. Here is a clipping from a Knoxville paper telling about him getting drunk while holding a revival there. They arrested him for drunken driving. The picture shows him drunken in jail with his arm raised shouting hallelujah. He is one of the leading men in the Holy Ghost movement today, claiming great miracle working powers. I attended his meetings in Houston. I saw what went on. I saw people lined up for blocks to get to Allen so he could pray that they would get a double portion of the Holy Spirit. I saw them go through the line like cattle. I saw him clapping them on the top of the head and shouting "double portion!" and saw them leap into the air and go into a frenzy and start jerking, and some of them dropped on the floor prostrate. Now that is not the spirit of God. I went back to the tent behind the main pavilion where those who were converted were going for prayer. I saw women rolling in the dust. I saw things that were simply immoral. That, my friends, is not the spirit of God! There is a spirit in these meetings. The minute I got under the eves of the tent, I could feel it, and I said to my wife, "let's not get under, let's move back." I saw people greatly exercised. And I saw things that I would simply be ashamed to call Christian. If those things are from God, brethren, then the heathen in Africa have the same thing.

The self-styled Holy Ghost people are not teaching the truth. They do not believe in the commandments of God, they do not keep the Sabbath. All that they are interested in is great excitement. They believe they are saved by feeling, not faith. But the Bible says, "The just shall live by faith." Rom. 1:17.

Here is a newspaper clipping from the Houston Press of Nov. 17, 1952. Right on the front page it says, "prays for a cure, and killed by a car. Mrs. Ruby James, 26, had been suffering from cancer since last March. And she was paralyzed and wasn't able to walk. Saturday night she asked her husband to take her to the Holy Ghost Pentecostal church. He carried her to the church. When they got inside, she prayed and preached. She started talking in an unknown tongue. 'And I couldn't understand her,' her husband said. 'But in a few minutes she stopped, and then as if a hand had raised her to her feet, she stood up' Mr. James related, 'she took one step and then another' (she wasn't supposed to be able to walk, you understand). And they were all praising the Lord about that time. 'Suddenly,' her husband said, 'she darted from the church' with him trailing behind her, 'but I couldn't catch her,' he said, 'She kept running until she reached the road then she leaped in front of a passing car! Mrs. James died of a crushed chest shortly after she was taken to the North Houston Hospital and placed in an iron lung. The husband said, 'it happened so fast, it was so terrible I tried to catch her and save her, but I couldn't.'"

Here was a woman who went to a Holy Ghost meeting, and started speaking in tongues, and apparently seemed to be healed and then was lifted out of her seat and suddenly ran out of the church and flung herself in front of a passing automobile and committed suicide. Could that be the spirit of God? I can't believe God's Spirit would drive one to suicide! But the spirit of the devil leads to self destruction as in the case of the swine that ran into the sea.

Friends the devil has counterfeited everything in the Bible. And this is one of the greatest counterfeits of all. When people are possessed by his spirit they do not even know what they are saying.

They think they know. They think they are praising God. But I tell you if a spirit like that ever possessed me, I would ask God to deliver me from it. Unless I knew with my senses what I was saying, I would not want such an experience. I would not want to say anything unless I am aware of it. I don't want Satan to have control over my speaking. Some may say it is Chinese, some it is Russian, some Hebrew, but my dear friends, it is a known fact that some have been heard speaking In these so-called tongues and have been heard blaspheming God.

In closing, we are told in Rev. 14:6 that those who preach the everlasting gospel are to preach it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. o there is so much I could say on this subject. My dear friends, the Lord gives these gifts at special times for special reasons. The Lord gave the gift of tongues to the apostolic church for a special reason to get the gospel to the world quickly. And the Lord, in these last days, has given to this people, not only the gift of prophecy, but all the gifts. We, I am proud to say, are speaking in more tongues than any other Protestant denomination in the world. We are speaking in over 700 languages. And as Paul says, this gift of tongues is not for believers, but it is for unbelievers. It is to be used to give the gospel to the world. Are the tongues churches doing it? No, they are not! The church that is preaching the gospel to the world more than any other one is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Though we are small in number, we have more missionaries than any other Protestant group in the world.

Now in Ps. 119 it says God's commandments are truth. I read you also that the Bible is truth. And Jesus is the truth. Does the remnant church have the truth? Do we keep the commandments? Do we believe the whole Bible? Do we try to live as Jesus did, without spot or wrinkle?

In Acts 5:32, I repeat, God says that he gives the Holy Ghost to them that obey Him. In John 14:15 Jesus said "If ye love me keep my commandments." And I will pray the Father that He may send you the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth. Do we believe in the baptism of water? Yes we do, my friends, as well as in the baptism of the Spirit. Are we talking in tongues more than anybody else in the world? Absolutely!

In Romans 8:4 it says, "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Paul says that those who are walking after the Holy Spirit will have the righteousness of God's law fulfilled in them. And then it says in the 14^th verse, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." And those that are led by the Spirit of God, it says, the righteousness of God's law will be fulfilled in them. 0 1 am glad, brethren, to be able to walk according to God's Spirit. I want the righteousness of God's law to be fulfilled in me. How many of you will say with me that you want to walk after the Spirit, and have the righteousness of God's law fulfilled in you? Thank you, and may God bless you.