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THE KING’S BUSINESS *
Testament passages to which I have referred, seems to show perfectly clearly that the veil is not becoming thinner, but rather the spiritual intui tion o f those who talk and write like this, is becoming vastly thinner in stead. There is one more modem move ment called “ the Tongues Movement.” I want to speak with respect, and yet with faithfulness, about this. I "do not hesitate to include it among those movements, though from an entirely different point of view, which can only be described as essentially anti-Chris tian. It is impossible for me to enter fully into this. I will only ask you to notice that in the New Testament the gift of “ tongues” is inferior to all the rest. Of all the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, this comes last. If you will look at the Gospels, there is only one ref erence to it in them; and only about three in Acts. Elsewhere in the New Testament it is only found in 1 Cor inthians 14. That does not look very much like prominence. But in the light of what is happening today we ought to face this fact and study our New Testament as to what “ tongues” means. There is no proof in Scripture that these “ tongues” were to be permanent gifts in the Church. There is no proof whatever that the possession of these “ tongues” means the possession of the Holy Ghost. Amid all the dif ferences and controversies connected with terms and ideas about the Holy Spirit, I will challenge any one to show that these ‘Tongues” are o f ne cessity a proof that the person who claims to possess, and use them is un der the dominion of the Holy Ghost. But if you will study the locus classi- cus . of this subject (1 Cor. 14) you will find, in particular, how inferior “ tongues” are to the gift of prophecy, the inspired proclamation of the Gos pel ; you will see how St. Paul sets
very light store by these tongues, and speaks almost of them in opprobrious language, unless there is at the same time interpretation. Once more—and I believe this for us is of greatest importance—there is no ethical value in these “ tongues,” and anything that is not of immediate, direct ethical value stands condemned in the light of the New Testament holiness. “ By their fruits ye shall know them,” and so far as this Tongues Movement as a whole is con cerned, we know that there are things absolutely unmentionable connected with it, the very contrary of ethics. Whenever a movement, be it tongues, or any other, is not ethical, it is not Christian, i f there is anything in our lives, or our churches, that is not ethi cal, it stands ipso facto condemned. The truth is that this Tongues Move ment is a form of spiritual material ism—a craving for the visible, as though the visible and extraordinary were the normal way of the Holy Ghost’s working. As a matter of fact, it is the quiet, calm, restful fellowship with God in Christ that marks the Spirit’s movement more than anything else. The Devil. 3. The third peril is t h e D evil (3 :8). Elsewhere he is described as the slanderer of the brethren, the ac cuser, the tempter. But here in this epistle he is. the seducer (2:26, and 3 :7j. By seduction, here, it means ab solute. leading astray in conduct as well as in thought. “ Them that se duce you” (R. V. “ lead you astray” ). It is not merely intellectual aberration, but moral aberration also. As you look at these three perils, the World, Antichrist, and the Devil, notice that all of them unite in opposition to the Incarnate Deity o f Christ, to His Atoning Sacrifice, and in one form or another to practical righteousness in
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