''I have many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of me, and shall shew it unto you'' (John 16 v 12-15)
Jesus teaches here some things about the Spirit of God:
(1) He shall not speak of Himself.
(2) He shall not glorify Himself
(3) He shall speak of Jesus and glorify Jesus.
His role is to declare Jesus, to reveal Jesus, to explain Jesus, and He did that by (a) inspiring the apostles to write the NT (see John 14 v 26 'he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you') and (b) He continues to do it as He 'reproves the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment' (John 16 v 8). Conversion occurs when the Spirit reveals sin and righteousness and judgment to a sinner and powerfully draws him to Christ (see John 6 v 37 & 44). In many ways the Spirit works in a way which avoids public shows of fleshy wisdom and power, but works quietly and effectively 'blowing where he wishes' John 3 v 8. Pentecostals err here, because they make the Spirit the emphasis of everything, whereas Christ says that the Spirit (although equal in power with the Father and the Son) glorifies not himself, but Christ.
Pentecostals are guilty of placing their feelings, their experiences, their emotions above the written Word of God. That is why it is difficult to talk to them. Even if a Scripture expressly says something they refuse to believe unless God 'give them peace' about it. They wait for some extra confirmation that the Scripture is from God to them. If a Scripture says something which doesn't fit with how they like to imagine God, they reject it in favour of a new revelation they claim to have received from God. In effect, they make God out to be a liar. This is a serious error, and it is not uncommon for such people to get excited about a dream or vision they claim to have had, but to be unmoved and cold when they consider the Bible, which they contempously regard as a ''dead letter''.
The Reformation cry of SOLA SCRIPTURA is totally foreign to such people. It is dangerous to go beyond the Bible, for Satan is a deceiver, and can deceive people who are open to his ways. Satan can produce dreams, visions, and wonders. The Bible calls them ''lying wonders'' as he appears as ''an angel of light''. The Bible, however, tells us to test the spirits, and how can we do that? By our feelings? By some leading we claim to have? No, by the truth of the Bible! Peter saw Christ transfigured on the Mount. He had amazing experiences, but what does he say? ''We also have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed'' (2 Peter 1:19). Peter sees the Bible to be surer than even a vision of the LORD Christ. We should do likewise.
One of the most important doctrines for Pentecostals is 'baptism of the Holy Spirit'. This is an extra spiritual experience that Pentecostals believe they have after conversion. For them it is more important than conversion itself, and if a person hasn't had this experience yet, he/she is looked on with suspicion, as if one is not living the full Christian life, as if one is a lesser Christian.
The major evidence, say Pentecostals, that one has been 'baptized in the Holy Spirit' is tongue speaking. If you can speak in tongues, no matter how heretical your views may be, be you a Papist, a liberal, an anti-Trinitarian, whatever you are, you are usually embraced as a fellow believer. That tongue speaking [I mean the modern idea of tongue speaking] is common to many church groups [from the most orthodox to the most liberal] is seen to be a sign that God is uniting 'His people' in the Spirit. This is very alarming. God, however, shows us how to test a person: by the Gospel he professes to believe. If we used that test, we would reject many 'tongue speakers' as blinded dupes of Satan, simply be noting that their gospel is false.
Tongues in the Bible are actual languages, not mysterious gibberish which modern Pentecostals boast about.(see Acts 2 v 8 where the people say, 'we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God' ) In order to facilitate the spread of the Gospel the Spirit gave utterance to unlearned men to speak foreign tongues. He doesn't do that today. Today missionaries have to learn the languages themselves, hard work and discipline are required for this.
1 Corinthians is the epistle most associated with tongues, and Paul paints a picture of a church which few would wish to copy: undisciplined, not unified, full of proud, puffed up individuals, immature, unlearned baby Christians. Tongues (of which they boasted) did not spare them Paul's rebukes.
Let's look at a few passages in the epistle:
In 1 Cor 12 v 4-11 & again in 1 Cor 12 v 28-30 Paul lists the gifts and guess which ones come LAST? Yes, tongues!
In Chapter 13 Paul points out that LOVE [ I would point out here that 'love' in the Bible is not the same as love in the world's eyes: love is not soppy, dewy eyed and sentimental; love is not blind. Love sometimes is harsh. Love rebukes, love warns. Love is not an emotion, it is an act of the will, resulting in actions] , not tongues is the best gift. In other passages the ability to do signs and wonders is not neccessarily something to get overly excited about. Matthew 7 v 23, Jesus tells many who prophesy, cast out devils, and do many wonderful works in His name that He 'never knew them' and commands them to depart from Him. Luke 10 v 17-20 Christ thinks something more important and worthy of rejoicing about than even casting out devils. What is that? 'Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven' What is that? Election! Rejoice in election, and what does Christ go on to rejoice about in the next verse? (v21) God's decrees to hide truth from some and reveal it to others. Election, yea, even reprobation! Wow, you won't find too many pentecostals who believe in, never mind rejoice in, election..
Chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians: Paul's main point is this: it is better to speak in an intelligible language and thus edify the church than speak in tongues which nobody understands..
Paul emphasises (in contradiction to many pentecostals' obsession with experience and denigration of knowledge) the importance of understanding. 1 Cor 12v1, 'I would not have you ignorant' and 1 Cor 14v20, 'in understanding be ye men'.
Another point Paul makes in 1 Cor 14 is in v.21 where he explains that tongues are a sign of Judgment against the Jews. Quoting from the OT Paul shows that God had through His prophets spoken many times to His people and they hadn't listened. Then He says, 'I wll speak to you in a strange tongue', signifying that He was going to send them to Babylon where foreigners would be their masters, and where they wouldn't hear God speak to them in their language. But again, Babylonian was a real language, not gibberish..
Paul ends the chapter by giving guidance on how to hold services of worship: in order, in decency, not in confusion. God is not the author of confusion, v.33. Wild uncontrolled sweeps of emotion are not from God, in spite of what some of the more extreme forms of Charismaticism would claim. Also, the Spirit doesn't cause people to go mad in the meetings, fall over etc, for 'the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets' (v.32), and one of the fruit of the Spirit is 'temperance' or 'self-control'.
One final point, tongue speaking was forbidden to women, they were to be silent (v. 34) and to emphasise that this is not Paul the bigotted, male chauvinistic Rabbi speaking (as the women's lib claim) he says:.
'If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual (and many Charismatics think they are more-than-spiritual. Many think they are first class Christians) let him acknowledge that the things that I write to you are the commandments of the Lord' (1 Cor 14 v 37)
