Inviting Secret Tongues Speakers to Come out of the Closet

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network.

If you are a secret tongue speaker, why not come out of the closet? It's time for the Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on the Line of Fire.

And now here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Friends, I want everything God has for me today as his child. I want everything God has for you today as his child so we can best glorify him, so we can best lift up the name of Jesus, so we can best grow as a body, so we can best touch this lost and dying world. That's my motivation.

That's my heart. I'm not looking for clicks. I'm not looking for views. I'm not looking for listens.

I'm not looking for income. I'm looking to see the Lord glorified and you edified so that Jesus will be exalted. And I hope if you're a follower of Jesus, you can say, Amen. That's my heart as well. Welcome to the broadcast.

This is Michael Brown. And yes, even as I speak, there is a conference taking place in California, Pastor MacArthur's Church, the cessationist conference that is timed together with the release of the cessationist movie. If you've been at the conference or if you've seen the movie and there's an argument that you think is a strong argument against the continuance of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit today, the continuance of tongues and prophecy and healing in any type of normative way, or it's your own view, you believe in cessationism or you've heard something that raises a question for you, by all means, give me a call, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-34-87884. And when I offer to publicly debate leaders on relevant subjects, yeah, there are some things that are dangerous heresies or that are dangerous ideologies in the world, and I'll be respectful and gracious in the debate, but I want to do my best to demolish what I believe is a dangerous error, is something destructive, is a poison that needs to be weeded out, and I'll do my best to do that as clearly as possible based on truth and reason. And, of course, ask the Holy Spirit, ask God for his help and grace.

That being said, when I'm debating a brother or sister in the Lord, like my dear friend, Dr. James White, and we're having a debate over Calvinism, obviously, we feel very strongly about the subject, but my attitude in the debate is different, and the reason for it is, yes, I believe I'm on the right side and therefore want that side to win because I believe it's right and truthful, but my big motivation is not to win the debate, my big motivation is for the good of the whole body to hear two leaders who can be articulate, who can be gracious, who are not going to engage in ad hominem attacks on each other, who are not going to get off into rabbit trails but are going to really look at the issues for you so that you can then sort these out and say, okay, now I see why each side holds to what they do or now I can recognize my brother or sister in the midst of this because before that I just thought they were wacky or, wow, this really confirms my view or this challenges my view. Whatever it is, this is a way to put things out so that you can say, okay, I need to understand this better so I can have more conviction, so I can serve God more effectively. If something's in the word, I want to understand it. If the Spirit of God is doing something in the earth, I want to know it. If there's rampant deception, I want to recognize that as well.

So, my goal, again, in raising these issues is not to be polemical, is not to win a debate, is not to have some kind of one-upsmanship, like, aha, aha, or place little sound bites that are going to make somebody look bad, especially taking it out of context. No, I want to be fair, I want to be gracious, I want to be truthful, but as someone whose life has been dramatically touched by the life and power of the Spirit, as someone who is an eyewitness in thousands of meetings I've done overseas, I've spent several years of my life in combined trips overseas, seeing firsthand around the world in some of the roughest, toughest, poorest areas of the world, seeing the Gospel thrive, seeing believers thrive who are tongue-speaking believers, many of whom have been miraculously healed or seen a miraculous healing, or seeing God move with prophetic words. I have seen the Spirit move in America and around the world and work with so many fine, word-based people of character, Jesus glorifying men and women around the world, and the Spirit is moving so dramatically around the world that I want to embrace what God is doing.

And I would hope that's your heart as well. So it's not a matter of me being right or you being right. It's not a matter of your church versus my church, your denomination versus my denomination, or this leader versus me. It's a matter of what does the Word say and what is God doing. And certainly, a prayer that God will answer, a prayer that is in harmony with his will is, Father, I want everything that you have for me in this world currently that will best glorify you and best enable me to be your servant on the front lines. How could that not be a prayer according to the will of God? And Jesus said, what man is there of you if his son asks for bread? We'll give him a stone.

If he asks for fish, we'll give him a snake instead. Then he says, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, Matthew 7-11 says, how much more will the Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask? Luke 11-13 says, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? So we're not saying, oh, God, or whatever Spirit is out there, I want a feeling, I want an experience, I want a revelation.

You better believe you're opening yourself up to deception. You better believe that very prayer is opening yourself up to potential demonic activity. But if you're saying, Heavenly Father, I love you, I honor you, I only want to see your name glorified and your kingdom come in power, and I'm asking you to glorify Jesus in me and the maximally, whatever your Spirit is doing in the earth today, do it in me and through me for your glory so I can touch your dying world and edify your body and lift up the name of Jesus. Amen. You don't have to worry, like, if I say that, I'm going to get a demon.

If I say that, I'm going to get taken over by some false spirit. No, no, that would be like asking your Heavenly Father for bread and he gives you a stone. No, sir, no, ma'am. All right.

So let me share with you why I started the show by saying, if you're a secret tongue speaker, come out of the closet. So I want to make an appeal here. I want to make an appeal. When I was at an academic conference a couple of years ago, it was combined, it was back-to-back conferences, they were in Fort Worth, and it was the Evangelical Theological Society. So large gathering of evangelical scholars and theologians, you present papers and have discussions and things like that. Evangelical Theological Society followed by the Society of Biblical Literature. Society of Biblical Literature is much more wide-ranging, has a lot of critical scholars and all kinds of interesting things going on.

But it's the premier thing every year if you can go back-to-back to both of those. I haven't been there in years, was able to go present us some papers. Okay, what was striking, I can't tell you how many times, but each day, a number of times, someone would come up to me. They'd pull me aside. They worked, I'm not going to even mention, but they were different groups there, different individuals there, churches represented, publishers represented, ministries represented, you name it.

All kinds of schools represented, whatever, right? And someone would pull me aside privately and say, hey, I just want you to know I speak in tongues. I just want you to know I'm a continuationist. I was like, make sure nobody's looking and telling me. Because like I'm the public figure, you know, so this academic and scholar, etc., in certain fields, but openly charismatic, openly Pentecostal, tongue-speaker, etc., believe in the gifts and power of the Spirit, continuing today the signed gifts, etc.

So, it was fascinating. I had a colleague with me, and we were just all smiles, but it's like, here's another one. Just, doctor, I've got to tell you privately. Okay, if you believe your experience is in harmony with the Word, and is genuinely from the Holy Spirit, which is what you were telling me privately, of course I'm not going to betray your confidence. And many of you were strangers to me, I didn't know you, and of course I would never, if you tell me something privately, that's where it's going to stay.

And there were thousands and thousands and thousands of people at this conference, so it's not like you're going to figure out who I was talking to, all right? But if you believe this is God, if you are convinced that it is what the Word teaches, and that your experience is real, why stand the closet about it? Maybe you're a pastor, and this is contrary to what your denomination teaches. Well, at a certain point, your own integrity is going to require you to sit down with your denominational leaders and to say, hey, I now believe differently. Or, for the health of your congregation, let's say you're leading a congregation and this has not been the historic belief. Now, it's not wise to just jump up from the pulpit and now shout it out to everybody, but you sit with your leaders first.

You say, gentlemen, brothers and sisters, what's the case with you? I'm convinced of this scripturally, and can we study this together? Can we go on this journey together? I'd like you to read this book, or I want you to study these messages. Or, I'm just going to begin to, letting you know I'm going to begin to teach on this, and I'm not going to come to conclusions initially. I'm going to bring the congregation into things. But if you have been enriched, if your own life is blessed, if you believe that God is doing this, why are you holding it to yourself?

Why are you keeping it quiet? Oh, I don't mean that you're supposed to just get up and now ten minutes speak in tongues at the beginning of a service. No, that's out of order. That would be inappropriate, unless it would be some very odd thing where there would be a long message in tongues, followed by a long interpretation. But either way, that's not the way you're just going to introduce this to the congregation. May the Lord give you wisdom. And maybe it was a journey of several years for you to come to these convictions and conclusions, so your congregation's not going to get there overnight. May the Lord give you pastoral wisdom and sensitivity. You say, yeah, but the company I work with, the Christian company, if they know I speak in tongues, I'm out.

That's really unfortunate. Or the school where I teach, if they know I speak in tongues, I'm out. That's unfortunate, and you'll have to really pray and ask the Lord for wisdom as to what you do or don't do. If you're not leading the ministry, if you're not leading the school or the organization, then it's a very different situation. But if they have a rule, like there were schools, seminaries and Bible schools in the past that had a rule, I'm sure some do to this day. If you are a student or if you work here, you are not allowed to speak in tongues. Well, if you are privately speaking in tongues and believe it's real and you're being edified by this and being blessed in the Lord, and friends, if I've blessed you, listeners, viewers, those who've read my books, listened to my messages over the decades, if I've blessed you, part of that is due to me praying in the Spirit alone, praying in tongues, being edified, receiving insight from God, the Word opening up to me, me being empowered to better serve you. But if, in fact, you are in violation of a requirement, then integrity requires you to say to the leaders, I speak in tongues, I believe it's real, my views have shifted since I signed on, what would you like me to do?

And if they say you're forbidden to speak in tongues anymore, then you have to say, I'm really sorry, but I can't deny the Spirit or the Word. My friends, time to come out of the closet. Please write me, if this speaks to you today, shoot me a note, askdr.brown.org, just click on contact, shoot me a note, or call us one day on the air and say, hey, I've had to change your card, I've come out of the closet. You'll be blessed.

Others will be helped too. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Tributa Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend, James Robison, and most all of you will know of him. He and his wife, Betty, host the Life Today television program. Now here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend, Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40 year plus best friends.

Well, let me just say this to you. I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain, without it hurting me. I couldn't pick up something to drink, a glass of tea or anything.

It was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap. And then Michael shared the Nopal cactus juice with me, Nopalaya. I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day. And in three months, I was a different person. I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain. Not better, well, I have no joint pain. I am telling you it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable. That's just my testimony. But that's been more than 10 years with no pain.

Matter of fact, if I miss for some foolish reason, a few days, I can feel it creeping back that fast. So give it a try. See if it helps relieve your pain. I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me.

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Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. You know, when it comes to divine healing, the number one way that we're healed is simply the healing processes God put in the body, right, which are amazing. And then if we cooperate with God with our diet and lifestyle, we'll see our bodies, generally speaking, far, far more healthy.

That's why it's a constant theme here that we talk about. And look, if we're supposed to be good stewards of our finances, certainly we should be good stewards of our bodies, correct? That logic would tell us that, plus, our bodies belong to the Lord.

How much more should we treat them with respect and honor who are fearfully, wonderfully made? And then there are the things God's put in the earth, like nopal cactus juice as an example, that help with things like inflammation, as my friend James Robison just mentioned his own story and so many others see similar benefits. And then there's the healing that comes through doctors and medical science. Thank God for that. Thank God. Thank God.

Thank God for that. If God's a healer, then they're on God's side, not against God's, right? And then miraculous healing. And often miraculous healing comes when there is no other choice. Miraculous healing comes to confirm the gospel going into new places. So thank God for everything he's doing by his Spirit.

We're living in dark days. We're living in days with tremendous demonic assault, with all types of deception, with the world shaking and crumbling, with so much sin that is right in the forefront. How can we not embrace everything the Spirit's doing?

How can we not say, Lord, move in power through me to the glory of your Son's name? You say, Mike, cessationists believe in the power of the Spirit, just not the way you do. I'm not denying that cessationists believe in the power of the Spirit.

I'm being as specific as I can. I'm saying, let's receive everything he's doing according to the Word and confirmed by testimony. If you have a legitimate cessationist question or objection, by all means, give me a call.

866-348-7884. Okay. I want to go to the Word, then I want to talk about what's happening on the earth today.

All right? Let's start in Acts, the second chapter, a well-known passage. The Holy Spirit comes in a unique way. So it's the day of Pentecost, the Feast of Shavuot, 50 days after Passover. And Jesus has promised his disciples they'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes in them. Acts 1-8, Luke 24-49, don't leave the city of Jerusalem until you're in duty with power from on high. This is the baptism of the Spirit, the greater baptism that John the Immerser spoke of in Matthew 3.

I baptize with water, he's going to baptize with the Spirit. So this is how it happens. And it happens in unusual ways. It happens with the sound of, like, blowing violent wind, it happens with tongues of fire sitting on the heads of the 120, not just the apostles, but the 120, and then speaking new languages.

Now, as a result, what happens? There are devout Jews from all over the world who've gathered, one of the three annual feasts that they're to gather in Jerusalem. They've come from all over, the population in Jerusalem has swelled, they're there, they're drawn by the sound, the commotion, and they're 120. Now they must have been acting pretty interestingly because Peter references what you see and hear. So some of the crowd, some of the crowd says, hey, this is, we're hearing the praises of God in their own language.

What in the world is going on? Because these are just local Galileans, that was self-evident, the way they dressed or whatever. They're just local Galileans, and we hear the praises of God in their own language. Suddenly this one's speaking in Arabic, and this one's speaking in Farsi, and this one's speaking in another language, and how's that?

And others in the crowd said they're drunk. So instantly when the Spirit came, there was division. Now God's not the author of confusion.

So what does that mean? It means that God will not speak to brother A, stand up and prophesy there will be no rain tomorrow, and then through sister C, stand up and prophesy there will be rain tomorrow. Thus saith the Lord there will be, thus saith the Lord there will not be.

That would be the author of confusion. But when Jesus came in the world as prophesied by Simeon in Luke chapter 2 verses 34 and 35, it brought things up to the surface so that the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed. So when the Holy Spirit moves, it brings a lot of things up to the surface. Now something very interesting. When Jesus rebuked the religious hypocrites of his day in Matthew 23, he said, you strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. So you've got your drink, you've got a strainer on it because you want to strain, you know, bugs and things that could fall into it.

So you strain out a gnat before you drink it, but you swallow a camel. Final teaching of Yeshua that makes a point in a very, very vivid way. What would the equivalent of that be today? All right, I take you to a ministry overseas and you see thousands of churches have been planted with legitimate converts who are now solid disciples. You meet people who have suffered for Jesus, who have lost family members as martyrs, but they continue strong in their faith. You see humanitarian work that is being done, wells being dug where there is no water so that people can now have water and not die of diseases because of unhealthy water.

You see medical clinics that are being built. You see schools that are being built to teach children not just how to read, but teach them the Bible. You see all this incredible work being done and then I take you to a meeting at night and some of the people are shaking and falling to the ground and you say, that's not God.

Because they're shaking. No, no. That's straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. That is failing to see the work that only the Spirit does. Only the Spirit can make a true convert and a true disciple. Only the Spirit can do that. And if it happens repeatedly over and over and over and over by the hundreds, by the thousands, that is the work of the Spirit. Satan can't drive out Satan. And the flesh cannot produce change like that.

Emotionalism lasts for a little while, does not produce real change. When you see people turning from darkness to light, when you see people turning from sin to the Savior, when you see people turning from serving the flesh to now serving God and they're word-based and they're Jesus glorifying and they're living for God, they're solid disciples, maybe the shaking is because they're emotional. Maybe the shaking is because they're overcome by the presence of the Spirit. Maybe the shaking is because they're getting delivered from a demonic presence. Maybe the shaking is just they saw someone else shake and that's how they think you get spiritual.

There could be any number of reasons for it, but that's not what you're judged by. And Jonathan Edwards facing these very same things in the Great Awakening, the great Reformed theologian and philosopher, Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest philosophers and theologians in American history. The Holy Spirit fell in many unusual ways in the Great Awakening.

His own wife, Susanna, would have trances that lasted for hours, if not for days. And the critics said that's not God, that can't be God. And people like Charles Chauncey had books that were widely read in that day. I can't verify this myself, but I read, one historian said that Chauncey's books during the Great Awakening, the critics sold better than Jonathan Edwards' books. Of course, Chauncey's a forgotten name today, and you have Yale University Press over decades putting out a series of books, a series of books on annotating the works of Jonathan Edwards because he's such a prominent theologian and thinker to this day. But Edwards said we ought not to limit God where He hath not limited Himself.

And Edwards realized, okay, here's how, here's how you discern. Is the Jesus of the Bible being glorified, are people being drawn to the Word, to truth, are they turning from sin to holiness, do they have love now for God, for the world, for a dying world? If that's the case, then it's from God, then it's the work of the Holy Spirit. And notice in Acts 2 that Peter says that this outpouring, which is for the last days, which I can categorically clearly show you in the New Testament, refers from the time of Jesus' death and resurrection until He returns. It does not just mean until the temple is destroyed, absolutely not.

It's easily dismissed, just sorry to be candid, clear there. So the period of the last days, that's when the Spirit's poured out, in the last days God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. So this is an outpouring, according to Acts 2.17, from the time of the death and resurrection of Jesus until, until when? Until He returns, the period of the last days, and your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams, even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days and they will prophesy. Which is right until today. Right until today. And it's not just the apostles, in fact it doesn't mention the apostles, it's just everybody, everybody. When we come back, I want to show you some stats that will shock you, and then I'll take a couple of calls and we're going to dig into 1 Corinthians 13 as well. Until today, right here on the Line of Fire.

Hey friends, Dr. Michael Brown here. Do you remember when people thought I was crazy? When I said it's not too late for America, that God can still do something in our country, that there is going to be a pushback, a Gospel-based moral and cultural revolution? And do you remember when people thought that you were crazy because you felt the same way?

Because you believed what I was saying and already felt it in your heart? Well friends, that pushback is here. The Gospel-based moral and cultural revolution we've been talking about for 25 years is unfolding. And we are right in the thick of it.

And the Line of Fire broadcast is divinely positioned for such a time as this. Friends, you would be so gratified and blessed as I hear, if you could hear what I hear, testimony after testimony as leaders, young people, old people, moms, dads, students, people from all backgrounds come up to me and say, Dr. Brown, you're providing a template for us. You're providing a blueprint for us. You're showing us how to do this, how to have hearts of compassion, backbones of steel. But friends, it's a joint effort.

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A very important announcement. Here's the number to call, 866-34-TRUTH. I'm going to give you some stats, take some calls, and get back into Scripture. Important announcement, during the days of the Brownsboro revival, I started writing a book about the things not to do when the Spirit begins to move if you do not want to quench the Spirit.

No, that's how to mess up a move of God. I drew up about 30 potential chapters, short chapters to work on that would hinder, things that would hinder revival, but I only wrote a little bit of the book. A few years later, I felt the Lord say to me, after the Brownsboro revival, I felt the Lord say to me, you're going to need to finish that book. And I thought, oh, does that mean I get to be involved in another historic move of the Spirit? Some years back, it became clear to me that it's not just going to be the Spirit being poured out in one place or Brownsville or Toronto or everyone flocking just to that place, but rather all around America. In thousands of different places, the Holy Spirit's going to be moving powerfully. And the critical thing is going to be what to do now.

Pastors, leaders, individual believers, the Holy Spirit's fallen, things are happening. What do we do? How do we shepherd this? How do we steward this? How do we avoid extremes? How do we welcome the Spirit without welcoming aberration?

How do we not get burnt out? So I really got stirred, I finished writing the book, we're getting it out quickly. It is called Seize the Moment, How to Fuel the Fires of Revival. It is part one of a two-part series from Reformation to revival. The second book is already written throughout the middle of next year called Turn the Tide, How to Ignite a Cultural Awakening.

But the one that comes out immediately, Seize the Moment, How to Fuel the Fires of Revival. You can pre-order it and get it from us, oh, two months before it is released by the publisher. But what you do is when you order initially, you get a signed, numbered copy. It's also your way of supporting our ministry. I don't receive a dime of all books and materials received through our ministry, never have.

That's my joy. The funds go right back into ministry. This is our way of personalizing and putting a scripture in, yeah, and I write it, I sign the books personally with a scripture reference for you. So here's how you get it, call 800-538-5275, 800-538-5275, you can get multiple copies for yourself, for pastors, leaders.

It is critically important reading. One pastor said, Dr. Brown, this is the textbook for the next move of God. God is moving. Things are happening. About a week before the Spirit fell at Asbury, I got on the air and said, the first wave has hit. The beginning of the first wave has hit.

It started in America. I knew it clearly for some months, but felt now's the time to say it. About a week later, things hit at Asbury and I said, hey, friends, I told you, it's begun. It's begun. So God is at work. In the years ahead, I believe we're going to see great outpouring, but how do we steward it properly? How do we keep our focus on Jesus grounded in the Word and not fall into either hypercriticism or hyper manifestation mania, whatever you want to call it? So call 800-538-5275, seize the moment.

You can also get it on the website, askdr.brown.org, click on store and you'll find out more information there. Okay. Is there a lot of aberration, deviance in the Pentecostal Charismatic movement worldwide? You bet.

You bet. 1991, I wrote the book, Whatever Happened to the Power of God as the Charismatic Church Slain and the Spirit are Down for the Count, 2018, I wrote Playing with Holy Fire, a wake up call to the Pentecostal Charismatic Church. Most of the books I've written dealing with error, for example, Hypergrace, that's dealt with error in the Pentecostal Charismatic Church.

And those are the circles in which I travel more, so I'm going to be more acutely aware of that. And sometimes that's what's been broadcast more on TV and things like that and megachurches, etc. That is the exception to the rule. The rule that I've experienced around the world is solid, Bible-based, sound, Jesus-glorifying teaching, preaching, lies being changed. But without question, there is a lot of strange fire, there is a lot of stuff that needs to be corrected. My appeal to Pastor MacArthur and others in the cessationist camp is, hey, come alongside of us and help some of our guys in other countries learn to do expository preaching and ground things more in the Word, etc. Of course, that appeal has fell on deaf ears because some of my cessationist friends feel that they're on record as saying this, hit it to my face, that the vast majority of Pentecostal Charismatics are not saved.

It's unfortunate they feel that way, but there is a lot of error, and in some countries, the error is more prominent than others. So I want you to just understand a certain dynamic. This is from a journal put out by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It is the International Bulletin of Mission Research. This is an article written by Gina Zerlo, Todd Johnson, and Peter Crossing from Gordon-Conwell, and it is titled, World Christianity and Mission 2021, Questions About the Future. That's the title of the article, World Christianity and Mission 2021, Questions About the Future. Now, here's what I want to put up.

I want to put up two charts for those watching, and I'm going to tell you what's in these charts. Table 3, Global Christianity by Tradition. So it goes from 1900 until 2020. So for example, in the country of Africa, continent of Africa, excuse me, in 1900, it shows 40,000 believers, Asian believers that are independent believers, 1,906,000, European independent, 185,000, Latin American independent, so they're not part of Protestant or Roman Catholic churches.

You see the numbers are fairly low. When you jump ahead now to 2020, the number in Africa has gone from 40,000 to 208,000. Number of Protestants has gone from 134,000 to 895,000, and on and on.

So now let's look at Pentecostal Charismatic. In the year 1900, it puts the number at 981,000 worldwide. Now many times we think of a handful, but this handful was wider base than we might think. 981,000.

Let's go to mid-2021. That 981,000 is 655 million. 981,000 is 665 million.

Okay, now let's look at something even more striking. In 1970, it was 57 million. So from 1900 to 1970, it grew from a little under a million to over 57 million. From 1970 to 2000, it grew from 57 million to 442 million. And from 2000 to 2021, it grew from 442 million to 655 million. This is extraordinary growth. It's unprecedented in world church history. And I've witnessed a lot of it with my own eyes.

Then projected just from mid-2021 to 2025, it's going to grow from 655 million to 703 million, and by 2050 to over 1 billion. There has never been growth this quick in any part of the body in history. It's no surprise that you have some aberrations.

It's no surprise that you have some problems. What I'm encouraging you to do is embrace what God is doing, thank God for what He's doing, rejoice in what He's doing, and then say, okay, what can we do to help where there are some problems, where there are some real aberrations? And what's extraordinary is to look at this by continent. The global south, as of 1900, had roughly 98 million believers.

This is table four in the article. The global south had roughly 98 million believers. As of today, it's 1.7 billion. And projected by 2050, 2.6 billion. And the vast majority is Pentecostal Charismatic in terms of the growth. Friends, this is something that should be celebrated, not denigrated.

And it's only natural with growth this fast. There are enough aberrations in Calvinist circles, there are enough aberrations in Baptist circles, there are enough aberrations in traditional circles and Catholic circles and Orthodox circles and you name it, enough aberrations with movements that have been around for hundreds of years or a couple thousand years. How much more are there going to be aberrations in new movements like this that have grown in unprecedented measure?

All the more reason then that we thank God for what He's doing. Recognize it. Find out firsthand, read the stories, get to know some of these people firsthand. See what their ministries are really doing. I told one critic, you go over to Heidi Baker's ministry in Mozambique for a month, you'll never put out another negative video about Charismatics or Pentecostals or Iris ministries there.

You'll be blown away. You'll be touched by the Spirit yourself. Embrace what God is doing and then come alongside and help! Help make disciples.

Help strengthen, help ground. Alright, let's go to the phones. We go over to Russ in Salt Lake City, Utah. Thanks for holding. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, great to talk to you Dr. Brown. It's the first time I've heard you in about six months because I live in Washington State now and we don't get you up there. But anyway, you know, in 1975 I received a Baptist in the Holy Spirit and it was something that I really wanted but I started doubting it after a short period of time. And I went to the Lord and I said, Lord, you need to send somebody to check out my tongues. And it was just a short time after that that the first guy that led to the Lord came to me and said, Russ, for some reason the Lord just told me to come and check out your tongues and those exact words. And we sat there and prayed. And my advice to anybody that's out there who is doubting or who has apprehension about this is really go to the Lord and have him verify it because he will verify it to you.

And we, because the gift of tongues is used in many different ways and it's always to the benefit of mankind. In fact, let me just jump in because I've got a break coming up. I appreciate that. So just to jump in for a second.

So what's important here is this. How do you know that your salvation experience is real? How do you know that Jesus really saved you? How do you know it's not just a myth? So my life has changed and it's confirmed by the Word and I believe the Word is true for XYZ reasons.

Okay, fair enough. But it's the same with another spiritual experience. You're praying, you believe that the Holy Spirit moved on you, you believe that you're speaking in tongues and speaking to God in praise and intercession and how do you know it's real? Well, if you ask him for bread, he won't give a stone.

Start there. Then say, okay, is it drawing me closer to the Lord? Is it increasing my reverence for the Word? Is it helping me grow in holiness? Is giving me more boldness to witness for Jesus? Am I edified as I pray in the Spirit? Well, that would all point to it being from above, would it not?

Because just going, muh, muh, muh, muh is not going to produce that fruit and the devil is not going to produce it. All right, we will be right back. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Tributa Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend, James Robison, and most all of you will know of him. He and his wife, Betty, host the Life Today television program. Now here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend, Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40 year plus best friends.

Well, let me just say this to you. I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain, without it hurting me. I couldn't pick up something to drink, a glass of tea or anything.

It was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap. And then Michael shared the nopal cactus juice with me, nopalaya. I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day. And in three months, I was a different person. I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain. Not better, well, I have no joint pain. I am telling you it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable. That's just my testimony. But that's been more than 10 years with no pain.

Matter of fact, if I miss for some foolish reason, a few days, I can feel it creeping back that fast. So give it a try. See if it helps relieve your pain. I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me.

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Call 800-771-5584 or go online to TriVita.com. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to the line of fire, 866-34-TRUTH. Let's see, I want to get into scripture. If I have time for another testimony or call, we'll do it. But let's go together to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. This is where Paul says to Corinthians, I don't want you to be ignorant of these spiritual gifts, spiritual things, manifestations.

I don't want you to be uninformed. I don't want you to be like you were as pagans and just being led about. And I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit will call Jesus cursed and those speaking by the Spirit will call him Lord. So he goes on, and at the end of the chapter, explaining that this is for the common good the Spirit gives to each as he will within the body. It's within the body. It's not just for apostles, it's not just for prophets. To the contrary, it's for the whole body. This is for your average person, that these things are manifest.

It's explicit. One of the big cessationist arguments, signs, willings and miracles are associated with the apostles, with no more apostles, no more signs, willings and miracles, argument's easily dismissed. With all respect to my cessationist friends and Dr. Sam Waldron who put that argument forth, and we debated that, it's on our website if you want to watch it, just search for Waldron W-A-L-D-R-O-N. And by the way, wherever you are in the country, even though you're not getting us on radio if we're not in your city yet, hopefully we'll get there soon, but if we're not in your city yet, just us on the app, Ask Dr. Brown Ministries, ASK Dear Brown Ministries, every day. Don't miss the show, wherever you are, click this, and if you miss it, catch it later. Or on our YouTube channel, Ask Dr. Brown, ASKDearBrown, everything's archived there, so you don't have to miss anything. Or subscribe by podcast, wherever you get your podcasts, Spotify, iTunes, we're there.

Go ahead, subscribe to the line of fire. So 1 Corinthians 12, at the end of it, as Paul says, are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, no, but God works in all these different ways. This one speaks in tongues, this one prophesies, this one is used in healing, this one is an administrator, they're just all woven together. And in the ends, the end of chapter 12, verse 31, now eagerly desire the greater gifts, and yet I'll show you the most excellent one.

So yes, you want to desire these spiritual gifts, but there's an even greater way that's the way of love. And then he begins to teach on love, the most amazing statement on love, I believe in world literature ever penned, just extraordinary, in seven verses, or eight verses, just extraordinary. And then he says this in verse eight, love never fails, but where there are prophecies, they'll cease, where there are tongues, they'll be stilled, there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child, when I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me, for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I'm fully known. And then when you get to chapter 14, verse one, follow the way of love, so chapter 14, verse one, follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts to the Spirit, especially prophecy. So he's saying follow the way of love and eagerly desire these gifts, then when you get down to 1 Corinthians 14, which deals with proper order, one speaks in a tongue, one interprets, one has a revelation, one has a word of wisdom, one has a song, one has a teaching, you get down to the end of chapter 14 and look at what Paul says at the end of the chapter, and we'll scroll all the way down to verse 39, therefore my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. So Paul has given us a mandate, Paul has given us a scriptural command that we are to eagerly desire the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, and not to forbid tongues. This is a command, an exhortation, follow the way of love is a command, eagerly desire spiritual gifts is a command, especially prophecy, don't forbid tongues. And the biblical principle is if you have a clear command that is universal in scope, you stay with it until you get another command that rescinds it. If not, you just stay with it.

It's a simple command. There's certain things God gave Israel, for example, that were just for Israel food laws, there's certain purity customs that we're not binding on all Christians through time. But there are other things that are universal, when God says don't commit adultery, that's it, that's it. So in this age, until Jesus returns, we are to pursue spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, and not to forbid tongues. You say, well, I don't believe tongues did everything, either way, we just accept that that's what Paul wrote, and he never countermanded it. 1 Thessalonians 5, don't put out the Spirit's fire, don't despise prophecies, test everything, hold fast to the good. Now, there's a very strange interpretation that was not known in church history, that was not a major view of church history. And when you find people with cessationist positions like John Calvin arguing for cessationism, they don't use 1 Corinthians 13, that when the perfect comes, the imperfect disappears. The idea that this refers to the completion of the canon of Scripture, an idea popularized by the great New Testament scholar B.B.

Warfield over 100 years ago. It's an obscure position, and you'll find very, very few commentaries hold to it today. But for years, it was the go-to text, I've heard it over and over and over and over and over, that when that perfect comes, it speaks to the completion of the canon of Scripture and the canon is completed to give cease, aside from being an illogical argument. The Corinthians would have had no clue that that's what Paul was talking about, nor would have Paul himself thought, yeah, I'm writing more parts of the Bible when that's completed.

He wouldn't have been speaking about something of which he did not know. And the Corinthians, he would not be writing to them about something they'd have no concept or clue of, and there's no logic to it anyway. Because when you come with a book to another part of the world, that book still needs the verification of God. Just because you say, we have a book that was backed by miracles 2,000 years ago, people say, well, we have a book. We have a book. We have tradition.

And we have our own miracle tradition. The question is, where's the living God today? Where's the evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead today? And it often comes through God miraculously healing, touching, transforming, setting someone free, prophetic word, message. So I just want to very, very briefly just give you a survey of what some of the world's top 1 Corinthians scholars say about this passage. So verse 10, we'll go to Roy Sampha and Brian Rosner in First Letter to the Corinthians, the Pillar New Testament Commentary, pages 655 and 656. They say, some scholars have argued that the perfect complete thing to which Paul was referring was the completion of the canon or the maturing of the church, one or the other of which they attribute to the disappearance of the most spectacular gifts from most, if not all, churches in the post-apostolic period. The context, especially verse 12, makes it abundantly clear, however, that the point in which Paul expects the gifts to pass away or disappear is when we see the Lord face to face and know him fully as even we are fully known. In Paul's context, it appears that he is waiting for complete or perfect versions of that which is manifested in the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, that is perfect communication, communion, and interpersonal knowledge between God and his people, which will arrive when we experience the fullness of the new creation in the presence of the Lord himself. Notice when he returns, thus, when all the complete versions of the partial realities with, excuse me, when all the complete versions of the partial realities we experience through spiritual gifts in this life arrive, those partial realities will be laid aside and will disappear. So when Jesus returns, we won't need these other things that we have.

Gordon Fee, First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New International commentary in the New Testament, if you're familiar with scholarship, you know that these are leading scholars and leading commentaries, pages 715, 716. These giftings have to do with the edification of the church as it eagerly awaits our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed, 1 Corinthians 1.7. The nature of the eschatological language used a bit later, verse 12, further implies that the term completeness has to do with the eschaton itself, not some form of perfection in the present age. So again, it's obvious, it has to do with the second coming.

That's when we see them face to face. It is not so much that the end itself is completeness, language that does not make tolerably good sense, rather it is what happens at the end when the goal has been reached. At the coming of Christ, the final purpose of God's saving work in Christ will have been reached. At that point, these gifts, now necessary for the building up of the church in the present age, will disappear, because completeness will have come. To cite Barth's marvelous imagery, because the sun rises, all lights are extinguished.

Oh yeah. And then, one more, Hans Kalzmann, so this is a more critical commentary, 1 Corinthians, a commentary in the first epistle to the Corinthians in the Hermeneus series, says this, Tataleon, the perfect, erkitai, come, points to the parousia, points to the second coming. The nature of the eschatological state, that is, perfection, is to be fined by the Pauline conceptions of the future world, immortality, doxa, which is glory, pneuma, spirit, etc. So when Jesus returns, we won't need tongues, we won't need prophecy, we won't need these revelations of knowledge, we won't need that, when he returns, we'll see him face to face, and we'll know even as we're known.

And for those, I mean, the very, very few, in terms of an academic level, who would still argue that 1 Corinthians 13 is talking about the completion of the canon, again, thankfully, it's an argument that was not known through church history for the most part, certainly not by any prominent leaders, became prominent for 100 years or so, and is fading, disappearing, thankfully, because it's exegetically unsound. But for those who want to argue for it, well, hang on for a second, we've got all kinds of division and disagreement today. If we're seeing face to face, if we know in full that why are we having all these disagreements, why am I on the air saying one thing in the cessationist conference saying something else? So again, friends, here's my encouragement to you. Say, Father, I want everything that you have for me today to best glorify Jesus, to be the man, the woman that you've called me to be, to best edify my brothers and sisters, to best touch a world that does not know you.

I want to see you fully glorify me. Whatever your spirit is doing, that's what I want in my life and my church for your glory. I don't want demonic stuff, I don't want counterfeit, I don't want the flesh. Pray that way. Pray that way daily. Pray that way monthly. Pray that way regularly, and you will see God work powerfully in your life. And for those who have been in the closet about your beliefs, may the Lord give you wisdom to come out of the closet and share what he's done in your life so others can be helped as well.