In the face of the present-day charismatic confusion, it is important to understand that miracles are not needed today to authenticate the Gospel message. During the early years of the infant church, God granted frequent miracles to certify His apostles and early leaders. But when the New Testament was completed, the need for such confirming signs diminished, and we see the evidence in the New Testament that this actually happened. To continue to emulate and seek to validate the miracle of speaking in tongues is to fall into the same abominable idolatry of which the Israelites in Hezekiah's day were guilty when they worshiped the brazen serpent which God had used for a temporary purpose.
The gift of tongues was a sign of judgment for unbelieving or skeptical Jews. It has never been used, nor will it ever be used, for any other purpose.
The testimony of the New Testament and of the early church fathers is unanimous – the miraculous gift of tongues gradually “ceased” in the Church. Tongues was a miraculous, revelatory gift, and the age of miracles and revelation ended with the apostles. Today there is no need for a sign to show that God is opening the door of faith to non-Jews. Therefore the purpose for the gift has ceased, and so has the gift itself. The modern day revival of glossalia is fraught with spiritual danger and demonic deception. It is not the evidence of a “final outpouring” of the Holy Spirit. It is not of God!
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Bob Vradenburgh is the senior pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has spent 40 years in full-time Christian service: the first 20 years as a missionary and the past 20 years in the pastorate. Bob’s passion is the expository preaching of God’s Word,...
