____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ May 16, 1993 ____________________________________________________ Mumbo Jumbo or a Real Language? by Tom Edwards One of my old friends, who used to drive a bunch of us kids to high school and back more than twenty years ago, liked to clown around at times by speaking meaningless syllables in a funny way, such as ``Screech-er-lEE'-bert''-- or something to that effect--and other mumbo jumbos. At times, while we drove down the road in his cream-colored Studebaker, these nonsensical utterances would sound humorous and cause me to laugh or chuckle. Today, many grownups are practicing something quite similar--and in the name of religion. They call it ``speaking in tongues,'' but it sure isn't the tongue-speaking we read about in the Bible. In Acts 2, where we are given the account of the Holy Spirit falling upon the apostles to impart to them various supernatural abilities, we see that the ``tongues'' the apostles spoke were real languages. For there were Jews from every nation under heaven in Jerusalem at that time for the Day of Pentecost (v. 5), representing a wide variety of languages (vv. 9-11); yet they each heard in their own language (vv. 7,8) of the ``mighty deeds of God'' (v. 11). There was a time when I was in denominationalism that I sincerely sought after the gift of tongue-speaking. Several in the group I was with had impressed me with their ability to make these utterances, and sometimes they would even use them in group singing that sounded very melodic--though I had no idea what they were saying. One night I had a few of them to lay hands on me and pray that I might receive this gift. Nothing happened. A couple of months later, I had this repeated. But still no results. On this second occasion, the man who tried to help me get this gift told me that I need to make an utterance on my own, but not in English. This didn't sound right. Peter never told the apostles in Acts 2, ``OK, you guys start making an utterance, but don't speak in any language you know.'' What I do read is that the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles and they began speaking in tongues. I doubt they even knew that immediately after their having received the Holy Spirit they would be speaking in these tongues. I have heard of an incident that occurred within my time in which a Christian went to many denominations where, supposedly, ``tongue-speaking'' was being practiced. Taking a tape-recorder, he recorded these utterances. But when these recorded utterances were studied to learn what languages they were, again and again--and consistently--they turned out to be nothing more than meaningless gibberish, a mumbo-jumbo. Though real tongue-speaking was a part of the early church, this miraculous gift--as well as all of them--was temporary (1 Cor. 13:8-13). The only reason why counterfeit tongues are becoming popular in our time is because of the misunderstanding that many have concerning miraculous gifts and the easy ability that virtually anyone has to merely make up a mumbo-jumbo and call it speaking in tongues. But let us keep in mind that tongue-speaking in the Bible involved the speaking of real languages that the speaker had not known. Not only did some Christians have the gift of miraculous tongue-speaking in the early church, but there were also other miraculous gifts as well. How come we don't hear more about these? Is it not because it is much more difficult to imitate a genuine miracle than to make up a mumbo jumbo and call it tongue-speaking? But in the early church, various miracles were performed: eyesight was given to the blind, the lame were made to walk again, the deaf were enabled to hear, and the mute to speak. Though these gifts existed then, they were all just temporary until ``the perfect'' would come (1 Cor. 13:8-13), which is referring to the completeness of God's revelation (James 1:25). What kind of impact does a fake tongue-speaking utterance have on the world? Will it help draw men to Christ or drive them away? Though they might be sincere and mean well, many people today are really making Christianity to look more like a ``hoax'' as they attempt to ``counterfeit'' the temporary, miraculous gifts of the early church. Though God's power will never weaken, His dealings with mankind have not always been the same: consider His dealings during the Patriarchal Age, the Mosaical Age, and now the Christian Age. There were laws given for those in the Mosaical Age that were not to be given to any other people or to those of any other period, such as the Passover observance, Day of Pentecost, etc. And in like manner, we have various laws during the Gospel Age that were never given to any other time. I say this to point out that just because miraculous gifts were a part of the early church doesn't mean that God intended them to always be so--as the Bible itself shows. In closing, let us note that God is a God who deals with things that are REAL. The tongues He gave for people to speak in the early church were genuine--not a mumbo-jumbo. Nor has God ever foisted upon the world a sham of any kind. If we, therefore, are trying to be like Him, we must follow in the true footsteps of Christ and not in the misleading steps of man's religious fabrications. ___________________________________________ Of Those Who Claim to Be the Messiah by Tom Edwards Last week, we considered why we should not be led astray by those who claim to be miraculously hearing the voice of God: because the Lord is not speaking to anyone in our time by this method--rather, He has given us His word whereby we might know His will (1 Tim. 3:14,15; 4:16; 2 Tim. 3:16,17.) But what if one asserts--as Jesus and the apostles forewarned--to be the Christ? I can remember one incident when I used to be in denominationalism in which a young man came to the door of a ``Believer's Meeting'' that we were having one Friday night in Clearwater, Florida. I guess he heard us singing and praying. Though I wasn't fooled by him, this man had made the claim that He was the Christ. How can we know with certainty whether one who makes such an assertion is really truthful or not? One sure way is to consider the location. If the person tells you this while he is on earth, he is much too low. If, however, he indicates or testifies this to you when after you have been caught up with all people--those who have been resurrected from the dead and those who have simply been taken up while still living--to meet him in the air, you can know with surety that this one is the Christ. Jesus states, ``See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and will mislead many...Then if anyone says to you, `Behold, here is the Christ,' or `There He is,' do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect'' (Matt. 24:4,5,23,24). The Bible shows us that Christ is not coming back to set foot on earth again. Rather, He is coming back to gather up all people--even those who have been deceased for years--in order that all will stand before God in that great Judgment Day (Jn. 5:28,29; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Acts 24:15), but this will happen in the air. When this event occurs, time will cease to be as we know it; and we will become a part of eternity--whether in heaven or hell (2 Pet. 3:9-12). If we keep these truths in mind and truly believe them, we will never be mislead by anyone on earth who claims to be Jesus Christ. Remember, we shall meet Jesus in the air! ___________________________________________ Become A Christian 1) Hear the word (Rom. 1:16; 10:17) 2) Believe in Christ and His word (Jn. 3:16; 8:24) 3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 2:38) 4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36,37) 5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21) ___________________________________________ Selected Sentence Sermons People do ODD things to get EVEN. A lot of trouble in this world is caused by combining a NARROW mind with a WIDE mouth. It is wrong for a person to profess what he does not possess. Our walk must square with our talk. Those who stand for nothing are apt to fall for any thing. What your outgo exceeds your income, you upkeep is your downfall. It is impossible to be rightly governed without God and the Bible. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________