Speaking in Tongues
Mr
Rushmore, I am a 27 year old mother of three and a member of
a church. I recently read an article that you wrote about the speaking
of
tongues. I would like to say shame on you. I have been raised in the
church my
whole life and never in my wildest dreams did I think there was someone
who
also believes in God would say what you did. I have sat beside by
grandmother
while she was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I can tell you my
grandmother was
not “acting” like you think. I am sure you must have gone to the wrong
place to
feel the hand of God. I try not to judge people but I felt compelled to
write
you after reading your article. I will pray for you and your family and
those
you preach to that one day you will feel the Spirit of the Lord on you.
If you
haven’t felt the lord yet then sadly you have not opened your heart to
him.
Good Luck and God bless. Sherry Luffman
I respectfully submit for your consideration that we
all would do well to ‘open God’s Word’—the Bible—before we ‘open our
hearts’ to
God. Objective truth trumps subjective feeling every time! Historical
evidence
as well as biblical evidence both contradict the popular notion today
called
speaking in tongues. No one doubts your grandmother’s sincerity, but
subjective
feelings can be mistaken. Please re-visit the extensive article
treating “The
Truth About Speaking in Tongues” at https://www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2004/jul/page2.htm.
Pure
Conscience
A
friend of mine forwarded your website to me. Since she knows
I’m a member of the church (she is Jewish) she questioned this
statement: A
pure conscience was not attainable under either Patriarchy or Judaism,
for
there was always an awareness of sins (Hebrews 9:9; 10:2). On another
ocassion
when she and I visited the church while we were travelling, she became
very
offended and upset when she understood the preacher to say “Jews have
no
conscience”. Now she has seen this statement and is even more upset. I
do not
believe that Jews have no conscience because I know Saul of Tarsus said
he had
lived in all good conscience (as a Jew). And under the law, when Jews
obeyed
God, God was pleased. I’m not sure I understand your position, but
thought I
would ask so perhaps I can better understand what you are saying so I
know
better how to answer her. Thank you, Sandra
Obviously I cannot answer for another person’s
statements when I know neither the person nor precisely what he said.
However,
I can gladly answer for my statements based on the biblical text.
Every human being who is born with a working mind and
reaches the age of discernment between right and wrong has a
conscience.
However, once a person knows the difference between right and wrong,
his conscience
commends him or her for what it perceives as right and rebukes him or
her for
what it perceives as wrong thoughts and conduct. Yet, a human
conscience can be
improperly educated, as was the case with Saul of Tarsus (while he was
persecuting Christians) before he became a Christian and later an
apostle.
The point over which your inquiry evidences some
confusion pertains to the actual forgiveness of sins. Sins prior to the
cross
of Christ were forgiven in prospect (e.g., such as a promissory note)
in
anticipation of the cross of Christ. Only under Christianity can sins
actually
be forgiven; God forgets sins that have been forgiven, but under
Judaism, one’s
past sins were remembered annually at the Day of Atonement. Animal
sacrifices
were never an end to themselves, but they prefigured the ultimate and
perfect
sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Please re-read the article to which you refer at:
For
your convenience, see below the verses of Scripture that I cited at
that
place respecting forgiveness of sins and the human conscience.
- “Which was a figure for the
time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices,
that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to
the conscience” (Hebrews 9:9).
- “For the law having a
shadow of good things to
come,
and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which
they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect. For
then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the
worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those
sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not
possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews
10:1-4).
- “How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?” (Hebrews 9:14).
- “Let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews
10:22).
- “The like figure whereunto
even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).
Songs
that Speak or Pray to Jesus
Dear
bro Rushmore, God bless the work you are doing. I
have some questions. Is it right to sing
hymns that have the words, Tell it to Jesus; Jesus heard and answered
prayers
(Hand in Hand with Jesus); Blessed Jesus, Hear thy children when they
pray
(Saviour Like A Shepherd)? Does Jesus
hear and answer our prayers? Thank you Jimmy Lau
Regarding intentional prayers to Jesus instead of to
the Father, I penned a response at the following URL.
https://www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2003/may/page20.htm
However,
this inquiry adds consideration of songs that
appear to be addressing Jesus Christ directly, especially songs that
seem to be
essentially prayers.
Some brethren go to various lengths to identify songs
in their hymnals of this sort and exclude them from use in the worship.
Other
brethren seem comfortable with the realization that hymns are a form of
poetic
expression and that some degree of license with prose is to be expected
and of
no great consequence. Few brethren irrespective of their viewpoint
often clamor
loudly when they happen upon a worship service in which songs of this
sort are
sung.
While we certainly need to ensure that we convey no
false doctrine from our pulpits, deportment or even from our singing,
there is
not any universally understood and accepted practice respecting these
songs
even among brethren who otherwise agree on biblical doctrine. We need
to extend
as much latitude to fellow Christians as we can in all good conscience,
careful
to neither require (make laws) what God has not, or on the other hand
deviate
from undeniable truth. At some point, we must be careful to come to
spiritual
blows only over salvation issues (and certainly not over opinions). We
may have
to rely on one another’s good judgment and forbearance.
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