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WHY ARE TONGUES A SIGN OF RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST?Is there an answer for that from the scriptures? "...In the earth after the flood... the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech... And they said one to another... LET US BUILD US A CITY AND A TOWER, WHOSE TOP MAY REACH UNTO HEAVEN; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there CONFOUND THEIR LANGUAGE, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called BABEL; BECAUSE THE LORD DID THERE CONFOUND THE LANGUAGE OF ALL THE EARTH: AND FROM THENCE DID THE LORD SCATTER THEM ABROAD upon the face of all the earth" -Genesis 10:32-11:9. Now, this was not a good thing, because they were attempting to unite the world in evil against the Lord. "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" -Genesis 6:5. God had already cleansed the earth by water, and it was not yet time to cleanse the world by fire, for... "That day shall not come, except...that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who... sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only HE WHO NOW LETTETH WILL LET, UNTIL HE BE TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" -2 Thessalonians 2:3-8. That "He who now letteth" is the Holy Spirit in the earth. That word "letteth" actually means to "hold back." God is holding back the full onslaught of evil, until the rapture, when- "he (the Holy Ghost- and those filled with that Spirit) shall be "taken out of the way." So what does this have to do with tongues as a sign of receiving the Holy Ghost? Because- "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. FOR BY ONE SPIRIT ARE WE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" -1 Corinthians 12:12-13. So then, as God had to disunite the family of man (who fell away from God) by confounding their language. So, when God set in order the reversal of that disunity, by restoring unity, through His Spirit, He gave again the sign of tongues (languages)- but this time a heavenly language, as the sign of restoring unity- the unity that can only come through the Spirit. "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" -1 Corinthians 3:3. "For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you" -1 Corinthians 11:18. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness" -Romans 8:5-10. You see, Satan's desire is to divide the family of man, because- "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand" -Matthew 12:25. But God's desire for man is peace through true unity- "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" -Psalm 133:1 "Therefore I write these things... BE OF ONE MIND, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you" -2 Corinthians 13:10-11. "Stand fast IN ONE SPIRIT, WITH ONE MIND striving together for the faith of the gospel" -Philippians 1:27. "I... beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. Endeavouring to KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" -Ephesians 4:1-7. So how does one go about receiving this unity, to be in one accord, with one mind? "Now we have received... THE SPIRIT WHICH IS OF GOD; THAT WE MIGHT KNOW the things that are freely given to us of God... For... WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST" -1 Corinthians 2:12-16. So then, in order to have unity, you must have the singleness of the mind of Christ, which can only be realized through the Spirit of Christ. And, since God disunited disobedient mankind through a division of languages, so also He reunites mankind through His Spirit through a common "tongue". The sign of both was God's control over man's language or tongue, for- "The tongue can NO MAN tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" -James 3:8. But, in the Spirit, we submit the power to overcome and control the members of our body to GOD'S control- "Know ye not, that to WHOM YE YIELD YOURSELVES SERVANTS TO OBEY, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, OR OF OBEDIENCE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" -Romans 6:16-18. And that is why God chose and uses tongues, as the "sign" of being born-again, into unity in Him through His Spirit that dwells within the saints. It is a sign of the unity of Christ in the Spirit, through yielding control of our most unruly member- our tongue, to Him. God Bless! 1- SCRIPTURES ON TONGUES |