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Some state that many who speak in tongues nowadays do so in foreign languages but
this is extremely dubious. In one issue of the charismatic magazine, Renewal, the general
secretary of the Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) Churches mentions one of their
publications which contains seventy-five documented cases of tongues in foreign
languages. The implication is that these were unusual and that the vast majority of
tongues are ecstatic utterance, but what about these foreign language tongues? Are they
genuine, a gift from the Holy Spirit? Some will argue that they are not because in
translation some say nothing about God or Christ or anything religious. Others contain
blasphemy and these can easily be ruled out, but what about those manifestations which
have praised God? Does that imply the source was the Holy Spirit?
In Acts 16: 16, 17 a "damsel possessed with a spirit of divination" met Paul and
Luke and followed them, saying, "These men are the servants of the most high God,
which shew unto us the way of salvation". Nothing could have been more true yet it
grieved Paul (verse 18). Commenting on these verses, Jessie Penn-Lewis in War on the
Saints, writes:
"When the spirit of divination spoke the truth that Paul and Silas were the servants of
God, it was to suggest the lie that Paul and Silas derived their power from the same
source as the girl under the evil spirit's power. The devil and his wicked spirits will
speak, or use, ninety-nine parts of truth to float one lie."
The conclusion is that tongues speaking today can be learnt or self-induced, in the
case of ecstatic utterances, but with foreign languages, without denying that these too
may be psychosomatic, the likelihood is that the power originates from Satan. Some
people are shocked by such a suggestion. They think it impossible that he can influence
believers but he managed to deceive Peter (Matthew 16: 23) and I Timothy 4: 1-3 is
addressed to believers. Also during the Acts period the gift of discerning spirits was
given (I Cor. 12: 10) as well as the test of I John 4: 1-3. These would not have been
necessary if believers could not have been influenced and deceived by Satan and his
spirits.
In Pentecostalism--Is it of God, Man or Satan, William Campbell suggests that the
test of I John 4: 1-3 is applicable today but he fails to appreciate that such a gift was
part of the Acts Period dispensation. When the Jews at Rome rejected Christ then that
nation was laid on one side (Acts 28: 25-27). The miracles, signs and displays of
power used by God to encourage them to repent ceased. That included the gift of
tongues, the discernment of spirits and the tests of spirits (I John 4: 1-3). Now we have a
completed Scripture and can see the whole picture.
Thus if we, who are Gentiles, go looking for things pertaining to the Jews we will
open ourselves to deception. Initially it may be self-deception, as with self-induced
ecstatic tongues, but it could grow into Satanic deception, with speech in a foreign
language. Will God allow Satan to go that far? Rev. 13: records how the false prophet
is allowed to make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men (verse 13), a copy of
the O.T. miracle which confirmed God's existence and His blessing. A copy of the Acts