And some of the church fathers were also heretics.
That is the reason we go by the Word of God.
1. Tongues were a sign. Signs do not continue for 21 centuries. They serve their purpose and then pass of the scene. When a sign says "Warning! bridge under repair," the sign is taken away after the bridge is repaired, not left standing century after century. When its purpose has been fulfilled the sign is removed.
2. Tongues were a sign to the unbelieving Jew (1Cor.14:21,22; Isa.28:11,12).
On the Day of Pentecost these simple Galilean believers began to speak in other languages which they had not previously known. The languages are listed there in chapter two. There are about 13 of them. The people were amazed: "How hear we every man "in our own language! The miracle was in the spekaing of another language. That is what the Bible says. They spoke in languages (tongues). The occasion was Pentecost, a feast of the Jews where Jews from all over the empire would come to Jerusalem. Thus there were thousands of Jews present from all over the known world at that time. Present also were the very Jews that crucified Christ--the Sanhedrin that made the choice and stirred up the people to cry out against Christ to crucify him.
When they heard the 120 speak in other languages immediately some praised God, and others mocked. But Peter boldly said that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel, and then began his sermon, at the end of which 3,000 were saved. But many more were not saved. This sign of speaking in tongues was a sign to all these Jews that judgement was coming. God had told them in Isa.28:11,12, (and they knew the Scripture well), that: I have spoken to you in your own language and you have not obeyed. There will come a time when I will speak to you in Gentile languages, languages that you despise. If you still do not obey then, I will send my judgement upon you. Tongues was a sign of impending judgement, and the Jews knew it. They still had opportunity to repent, as some of them did on that day. But as a nation they did not. Thus shortly after God judged them as a nation. As a nation their city was destroyed, their Temple was destroyed (all in 70 A.D.). Thus the sign was removed shortly thereafter. There was no more need for it. It was a sign for the unbelieving Jew (of the first century), when Israel was still a nation--a sign to the nation of Israel. In 70 A.D. Israel ceased to be a nation. How can you have a sign to a nation that is not??
3. Tongues were a sign to authenticate the apostle, an the apostle's message (Heb.2:3,4; 2Cor.12,12).
The Bible was not yet complete. The message was new. The people (especially the Jews) had to have a sign that this message was from God. It was authenticated by signs and wondeers. The signs and wonders demonstrated that the apostles were not fraudulent, as their were false apostles, false prophets among them also.
Thus we don't have the problem of unbelieving Jews, and we don't have the problem of the authentication of apostles. Both have passed off the scene.
What we do have is the Word of God. That is all the confirmation of the gospel that we need. "If they hear not the law and the prophets (the Word of God), neither will they hear though one be raised from the dead"
"An evil and adultuerous generation seeks after a sign, but I say unto you there shall no sign be given unto them but the sign of Jonas, for as Jona was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
--The only sign this generation is the gospel.
People today don't have the Biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit, and have been unable to demonstrate thata they do. No one here has been able to demonstrate, for example, one instance of anyone living today who has the valid gift of healing such as was demonstrated by Peter in Acts 5:16. Why? It has ceased. What goes on today is a counterfeit--the devil's counterfeit of the same gift. It is not of God, for if it was it would be able to produce the same results that it did in Peter's time. But no one alive today can do that.
And BTW, I don't need your approval to teach.
This remark will probably have already been seen by others and perhaps reported already. It is the kind of remark that gets people suspended and eventually banned. There is no need on this board to use such demeaning language. If you have nothing Scriptural to say, don't say anything at all. I have already warned you about that before. Consider this a public warning of a personal attack and unwarranted name-calling. Don't engage in it again.
You call me names. You tell me I go against the clear teaching of the Word of God. But you give me no Scripture as to what you believe the clear teaching of the Word of God is. Is name calling the best you can do?
Christ's love is telling the truth. Letting a person go down a road that leads to destruction without giving any warning is not love. It is apathy of the worst sort. And it is not justifiable. There are no justifiable reasons for some people's belief systems, especially when they are based on their experiences instead of the Word of God.
Since I do not belong to a denomination as such, I don't know where you are coming from. Cease means cease. If you don't know the meaning of the word look it up in the dictionary. Cease does not mean continue. It is the 21st century now. Tongues was a sign. Signs don't continue for 21 centuries.
Isaiah gave a sign that lasted for 700 years. That was a long time. But 21 centuries is ridiculous. When the sign that Isaiah gave came, the event was over. It was historical. A sign is always historical in nature. Isa.7:14:
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
--700 years later Christ was born. The event was done and over with. 21 centuries later we do not continue to have virgins giving birth to sons called Immanuel. It was an historical event that happened one time in history.
And so it was with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They happened during just one age in history--the apostolic age. Tongues was a sign for as long as the aposltes liveed, and as long as the first century Jews (as a nation) had not repented. Both of those conditions have been fulfilled. The sign has been removed. The gifts have ceased.
Yes, we are to believe the Lord and His Word, the Bible.
Who are the two prophets prophesying to, and is their power to prophesy a "gift of the Holy Spirit," or the direct power of God? Which does the Bible say? There is a difference.
Is the church involved in Revelation 11? Where is it? Demonstrate the existence of the church in Revelation 11, where the two prophets are, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to the church. Read 1Cor.12 on this subject. Revelation 11 says nothing whatsoever about "the gift of prophecy." Did Balaam have the "gift of prophecy," a gift of the Holy Spirit? How about Balaam's donkey? Did he also have the gift of prophecy, as he uttered his mouth and spoke to his master? How far are you willing to carry this analogy?
I have just demonstrated what happens when you don't stay within the timeframe that God has given us. God gave the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the church. Therefore we stay within that timeframe. Otherwise you might as well claim that Balaam's donkey had the gift of prophecy as much as the two prophets of Rev.11. We are not dealing with the past (pre-cross events), and neither are we dealing with those events which happen after the rapture. So lets stick with the timeframe that God has given us--the church age.
More unwarranted personal attacks.
I have more than answered every objection you have made with Scripture only to be met with personal attacks and name-calling.
DHK
