The book of Daniel of the Old Testament gives a very descriptive narrative of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, who was the king of the Chaldean Empire some six centuries before the first advent of Jesus Christ. The prophetic book reveals the succession of world empires which will culminate in the setting up of God's government on earth at the Second Coming of Christ. Besides, it also reveals what is to happen in the times of the end which we are living in.
God gave Daniel, a young Jewish man serving as a cupbearer to king Nebuchadnezzar, the wisdom of understanding dreams and visions. With his solid faith in God and true humility, he took no credit upon himself but gave the glory to God Who alone is able to interpret dreams (Daniel 2:28). All his wise men were unable to narrate his dream as was required by him.
In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw an image whose head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (Daniel 2:32-33). Verse 38 gives God's interpretation through prophet Daniel that the gold represents the Chaldean Empire. History tells us that that was followed by the Medo-Persian Empire (Silver), the the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great (Bronze) and then the Roman Empire with the eastern capital at Constantinople and the western capital at Rome (two legs of iron). The Roman Empire attained world domination for over 500 years from 30 B.C. till their fall in A.D. 476.
But how does this fit into the overall scheme of things since A.D. 476, with the fall of the mighty Roman Empire, up until now? To get the full picture, we need to look at Daniel 2 and 7, Revelation 13 and 17 to have a full understanding of what is to follow in the latter days. In Daniel 7, the four Empires are represented by four beasts. The first was like a lion, the second was like a bear, the third was like a leopard (with four wings and four heads representing the split up of Alexander's Empire after his untimely death to his four generals), and the fourth beast representing the Roman Empire has ten horns on its head (Daniel 7:7-8).
What is so unique about this fourth beast is that ten kings or ten kingdoms shall arise from this (7:23-24). After the fall of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476, ten succeeding governments were to grow out of it. The current government is the ninth with the final one yet to come before the Second Coming of Christ! What is so intriguing was that a little horn - symbolizing the great false church - will grow out among them (7:8). Out of the ten, the first three horns were plucked out by the roots (7:8a). There were three barbarian kingdoms that ruled the territories of the Roman Empire but were eradicated by Justinian who restored the Roman Empire in A.D. 554. That left seven horns representing seven resurrections of this empire to be dominated by the liitle horn to become the Holy Roman Empire!
Revelation 17 specifically identifies the seven-headed beast as the seven resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire. Since A.D. 554, six resurrections have materialised and the last one to come is currently in the forming stage awaiting prophetic fulfillment! Note that the ten toes with mixture of iron and clay (Daniel 2:41-43) represents a fragile union of ten governments within a united Europe.
However, in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (2:44). Revelation 11:15 tells us that the kingdoms of this world shall become Christ's and it shall reign forever and ever. Daniel 2:35 says that the kingdoms represented by iron ,clay, bronze, silver and gold were crushed, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. All the kingdoms of this world will finally disappear -gone with the wind - to make way for the kingdom of God to come upon earth. Daniel assures us that the God of heaven has made these things known. The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure (2:45).
When Nebuchadnezzar heard these, he fell forward on his face, prostrate before Daniel (2:46). It is worthy to note that whenever someone encounters God or His faithful servant, he always fell forward, never backward. God never acts on anything without letting His people know first through His faithful servants (Amos 3:7). These prophecies were sealed till the time of the end - which is now! (Daniel 12:9). And the prophetic clock is ticking towards the midnight hour!
The seventh and last of the resurrected Roman Empire will soon take place albeit a short-lived one. For it will be smashed to make way for the coming kingdom of God - the supergovernment of God on earth to be administered by His Family. The God Family will be the immortal God-like beings of the first resurrection (a better resurrection - Hebrews 11:35) who are all the true sons of God throughout the church age. They will be the firstfruits of the church that were called and chosen. Their tasks will be to help Christ in saving, teaching and governing the rest of mankind who had ever lived during the Millennial Age.
Some who survived the Great Tribulation as humans will be first to know the truth, followed by all the dead to be resurrected in the second resurrection as flesh and blood human beings again. For there will be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15). The pre-believers have not being judged yet in this present age, thus they are neither saved nor condemned. Only the called and chosen are judged in this present age. The resurrected pre-believers in their physical form will be given the truth, a chance for repentance and forgiveness based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ and resurrected to become spirit God-like beings - albeit of a lower hierarchy - to become children of God. They too will enter to inherit the kingdom of God. Christ will become the King of kings (the resurrected immortal sons of the royal God Family) and the Lord of lords (the resurrectd immortal children of God). All these truths are hidden in God's Holy Days and the Festivals that celebrate each of these events!
Why are so many Christians ignorant of such truth? Simply because the pulpit of modern Christianity covers only about 5 to 10% of the whole Scriptures. Often, sermons were quoted out of context to be preached around the Bible instead of through the Bible. The end result is that much of the sermons that are preached are nothing more than 'social gospels' that feeds the ego and pampers on feelings and emotions. Hence, the full truth is not preached, the mind is not fed and God's Spirit has insufficient or only substandard 'clay' to work on for the disciple to be enlightened. Perhaps some of them are wasting their time and energy in unfruitful practices and rituals babbling away!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
SPEAKING OR BABBLING IN TONGUES
The issues of speaking in tongues have plagued traditional christianity for decades with church splitting and division that cause acrimony and disunity. This is to be expected as people who play with fire will eventually be burnt by it. This short blog intents to answer some of the controversy surrounding the issues of speaking in tongues or more appropriately called, babbling in gibberish tongues. The former is biblical but the latter is another man-made theology that has it root tracing all the way back to the tower of Babel (confusion) from where the English word 'babble' comes from.
People who babble in gibberish tongues have no idea what they are talking or even doing. As speaking in tongues is listed as a spiritual gift, then babbling in gibberish tongues is a violation of 1 Cor 12:1 which states, 'Now conserning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be IGNORANT.' Obviously, what the tongue babblers are doing is contrary to what the Scripture is teaching as it is not God's intention for people to be ignorant or unable to understand spiritual gifts. Simply put, they are exercising the 'gift of confusion' by confusing people, both believers and non believers alike! Such a practice is common among idol worshippers whose trademark is confusion, with its root originated from the Mystery Babylon Religion. During the time of the Apostle Paul in Corinth, pagan temple prostitutes were among the gibberish tongue babblers. Perhaps those who are adamant on such practices should research their ancestral lineage!
Much like banks' toxic assets, they are repackaged and resold under the Christian brand with the Charismatic logo tagged onto it! Under the aura of fear, eloquence and emotional mesmerisation by nothing more than snake charmers in staged settings, gullible and naive people are led to undergo and practise such spiritual charades without even understanding what it's all about. They were told simply to exercise faith and trust God and viola! they're spirit filled! Truly, the white horseman of the apocalypse is charging ahead to slaughter like the knight templar, all in the name of Christianity.
It is true that all believers must have the Holy Spirit indwelling them in order to be saved for eternal life (Romans 8:9,11). But must all speak in tongues? The Apostle Paul asks some rhetorical questions in 1 Cor 12:29-30, 'Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?' The answer to each of these questions is obvious and does not require a degree in theology to understand. Disciples of Jesus Christ are known by their fruits (Matthew 7:20) and by their love for one another (John 13:35). Nowhere in Scriptures is it mention that they are known by their speaking in tongues, let alone babbling in gibberish tongues. It goes to show that the propagators of gibberish tongues to the mass congregation are doing so outside the ambit of the Bible!
The next question to ask is, 'What exactly is speaking in tongues?' Simply put, it is speaking another known human language unknown to the speaker. For example, I neither speak nor understand the Tamil language, and if God would give me the gift of speaking in Tamil to bring some of my Tamil friends (who can converse and understand only Tamil) to salvation, He would endow me with the gift of speaking in the Tamil language to reach out to the Tamil folks in our midst. This was what happened at Pentecost when devout Jews from every nation under heaven heard them speak in his own language (Acts 2:5-6). 1 Cor 14:22 clearly states that tongue is a sign for unbelievers and not for believers. In fact, the word 'unknown' in 1 Cor 14 is in italics, meaning that the word was added by translators but not in the original Greek manuscript which is the true inspired Word of God!
Many Christians, especially those from the Pentecostal camp, believe that to fall backward after being prayed for to receive the 'gift of tongues' is to be 'slain by the Holy Spirit'. Some were even coerced to move and roll their tongues in rituals that often fringed on the bizarre. But examples abound in God's Word that those who face the Lord or His angels fell forward like Abraham did, and so was the soldier when he confronted Jesus to arrest Him. However, while those who faced the demons fell backward like those who were demon possessed. Man loves to seek exciting thrills and experiences to spice up their lives. The music and drumbeat of the Pentecostal's Holy Ghost meetings are often a draw for those seeking the mysterious and unknown like 'speaking in tongue' and 'miraculous healings'. But such is not the way given in Scriptures, for man's way is not His way. That is why many fall prey to deception.
Speaking in tongues is a gift that only God can dispense as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). But thrill seeking men are trying to invoke the gift by playing all kinds of spiritual poker games to lure and entice the uninitiated. They become mere pawns in the hands of Satan whose sole purpose is to confuse and deceive so that they will fail to inherit the kingdom of God and hence no eternal life! The end result is that all participants are being deceived as the demonic forces lay hold of their victims like the lamb being led to the slaughter. In these days and age, this gift should be few and far between as modern communications and interpretations render it almost unnecessary. There has to be a purpose for God to invoke every gift but in most 'Holy Ghost' meetings where I had attended, I see no purpose for the clairvoyance other than to exalt the preacher. The Lord Jesus warned of the severe punishment to be inflicted upon the unprofitable servant who will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30)- if they still have them! Indeed, their end shall be according to their works (2 Cor 11:15a).
It is ironical that man will seek what God never tells them to and not to seek what God wants them to. There are only two pre-conditions to receive God's Holy Spirit - to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). By this the Word of God means genuine repentance, going through proper water baptism as a sign of death and resurrection and being laid hand upon with prayer by someone with the proper authority in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is as simple as that but man complicates the whole process to push their own agenda. 1 Cor 12:13 should be correctly read as, 'For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.' Most translations use the preposition 'by' is incorrect as the Holy Spirit baptizes no one. It is Jesus Christ who baptizes His disciples with the Holy Spirit as the means of baptism!
The Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 16:18, 'I will build My church' , note that He did not say churches. So how do all the divided and disunited churches of the Pentecostal Movement fit into the scheme of things in Christ's church? This is a question that many Pentecostals would rather avoid to concentrate on 'flowing with the tide' while the going is still good. Such flirting with spiritual poker games could well land them on the wrong side of the great divide come the day of reckoning!
Remember, the Church is called out of the world to live the way God teaches, as written in the Bible. No one has the right to do as he/she pleases. The Church started on the day of Firstfruits called Pentecost in June A.D. 31. Never has such supernatural display occurred before or since. The Greek heard the 120 speaking the Greek language. The Parthian heard the same 120 speaking the Parthian language and the Medes heard the 120 speaking the Medes language! Most of the Pentecostals failed to understand the truth about the Holy Spirit and also what is true repentance, conversion and baptism. Sadly, many will continue to worship Christ in vain as they failed to obey God's commandments (Mark 7:7-9). Since a leopard cannot change its spot (Jeremiah 13:23), many who are already hooked are unlikely to change their ways. But hopefully, it will prevent others from being misled onto this spiritual deception!
People who babble in gibberish tongues have no idea what they are talking or even doing. As speaking in tongues is listed as a spiritual gift, then babbling in gibberish tongues is a violation of 1 Cor 12:1 which states, 'Now conserning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be IGNORANT.' Obviously, what the tongue babblers are doing is contrary to what the Scripture is teaching as it is not God's intention for people to be ignorant or unable to understand spiritual gifts. Simply put, they are exercising the 'gift of confusion' by confusing people, both believers and non believers alike! Such a practice is common among idol worshippers whose trademark is confusion, with its root originated from the Mystery Babylon Religion. During the time of the Apostle Paul in Corinth, pagan temple prostitutes were among the gibberish tongue babblers. Perhaps those who are adamant on such practices should research their ancestral lineage!
Much like banks' toxic assets, they are repackaged and resold under the Christian brand with the Charismatic logo tagged onto it! Under the aura of fear, eloquence and emotional mesmerisation by nothing more than snake charmers in staged settings, gullible and naive people are led to undergo and practise such spiritual charades without even understanding what it's all about. They were told simply to exercise faith and trust God and viola! they're spirit filled! Truly, the white horseman of the apocalypse is charging ahead to slaughter like the knight templar, all in the name of Christianity.
It is true that all believers must have the Holy Spirit indwelling them in order to be saved for eternal life (Romans 8:9,11). But must all speak in tongues? The Apostle Paul asks some rhetorical questions in 1 Cor 12:29-30, 'Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?' The answer to each of these questions is obvious and does not require a degree in theology to understand. Disciples of Jesus Christ are known by their fruits (Matthew 7:20) and by their love for one another (John 13:35). Nowhere in Scriptures is it mention that they are known by their speaking in tongues, let alone babbling in gibberish tongues. It goes to show that the propagators of gibberish tongues to the mass congregation are doing so outside the ambit of the Bible!
The next question to ask is, 'What exactly is speaking in tongues?' Simply put, it is speaking another known human language unknown to the speaker. For example, I neither speak nor understand the Tamil language, and if God would give me the gift of speaking in Tamil to bring some of my Tamil friends (who can converse and understand only Tamil) to salvation, He would endow me with the gift of speaking in the Tamil language to reach out to the Tamil folks in our midst. This was what happened at Pentecost when devout Jews from every nation under heaven heard them speak in his own language (Acts 2:5-6). 1 Cor 14:22 clearly states that tongue is a sign for unbelievers and not for believers. In fact, the word 'unknown' in 1 Cor 14 is in italics, meaning that the word was added by translators but not in the original Greek manuscript which is the true inspired Word of God!
Many Christians, especially those from the Pentecostal camp, believe that to fall backward after being prayed for to receive the 'gift of tongues' is to be 'slain by the Holy Spirit'. Some were even coerced to move and roll their tongues in rituals that often fringed on the bizarre. But examples abound in God's Word that those who face the Lord or His angels fell forward like Abraham did, and so was the soldier when he confronted Jesus to arrest Him. However, while those who faced the demons fell backward like those who were demon possessed. Man loves to seek exciting thrills and experiences to spice up their lives. The music and drumbeat of the Pentecostal's Holy Ghost meetings are often a draw for those seeking the mysterious and unknown like 'speaking in tongue' and 'miraculous healings'. But such is not the way given in Scriptures, for man's way is not His way. That is why many fall prey to deception.
Speaking in tongues is a gift that only God can dispense as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). But thrill seeking men are trying to invoke the gift by playing all kinds of spiritual poker games to lure and entice the uninitiated. They become mere pawns in the hands of Satan whose sole purpose is to confuse and deceive so that they will fail to inherit the kingdom of God and hence no eternal life! The end result is that all participants are being deceived as the demonic forces lay hold of their victims like the lamb being led to the slaughter. In these days and age, this gift should be few and far between as modern communications and interpretations render it almost unnecessary. There has to be a purpose for God to invoke every gift but in most 'Holy Ghost' meetings where I had attended, I see no purpose for the clairvoyance other than to exalt the preacher. The Lord Jesus warned of the severe punishment to be inflicted upon the unprofitable servant who will be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30)- if they still have them! Indeed, their end shall be according to their works (2 Cor 11:15a).
It is ironical that man will seek what God never tells them to and not to seek what God wants them to. There are only two pre-conditions to receive God's Holy Spirit - to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). By this the Word of God means genuine repentance, going through proper water baptism as a sign of death and resurrection and being laid hand upon with prayer by someone with the proper authority in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is as simple as that but man complicates the whole process to push their own agenda. 1 Cor 12:13 should be correctly read as, 'For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.' Most translations use the preposition 'by' is incorrect as the Holy Spirit baptizes no one. It is Jesus Christ who baptizes His disciples with the Holy Spirit as the means of baptism!
The Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 16:18, 'I will build My church' , note that He did not say churches. So how do all the divided and disunited churches of the Pentecostal Movement fit into the scheme of things in Christ's church? This is a question that many Pentecostals would rather avoid to concentrate on 'flowing with the tide' while the going is still good. Such flirting with spiritual poker games could well land them on the wrong side of the great divide come the day of reckoning!
Remember, the Church is called out of the world to live the way God teaches, as written in the Bible. No one has the right to do as he/she pleases. The Church started on the day of Firstfruits called Pentecost in June A.D. 31. Never has such supernatural display occurred before or since. The Greek heard the 120 speaking the Greek language. The Parthian heard the same 120 speaking the Parthian language and the Medes heard the 120 speaking the Medes language! Most of the Pentecostals failed to understand the truth about the Holy Spirit and also what is true repentance, conversion and baptism. Sadly, many will continue to worship Christ in vain as they failed to obey God's commandments (Mark 7:7-9). Since a leopard cannot change its spot (Jeremiah 13:23), many who are already hooked are unlikely to change their ways. But hopefully, it will prevent others from being misled onto this spiritual deception!
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