Michael Mills was remembered to have said :
>
> QUESTIONS CONCERNING TONGUES
>
> 1. Do all TRUE believers in Christ speak in unknown tongues (in a personal
> prayer language to God for the purpose of edification and fellowship with
> God) on a consistent, if not daily, basis?
Yes, on a daily basis...
> 2. Do some TRUE born-again believers speak in unknown tongues ONLY
> ONCE---upon the initial receipt of the gift of the Holy Ghost?
You must speak in tongues as the initial evidence but
also as you continue in the Holy Ghost commune with
God in his own language...
> 3. Since 1 Corinthians 12 teaches on the extra-ordinary 9 GIFTS of the
> Holy Ghost, how should one interpret the rhetorical question in 1 Cor
> 12:30, "Do all speak in tongues?" ?
I believe that refers to the gift of tongues followed by
the question about interpretation. It is referring
rather to the gift of the spirit that is for the edification
of the saints and the church as a body rather than a one
on one communion with God.
> 3. If a person who has followed the complete plan of salvation (Acts 2:38
> etc) and has lived for God for any length of time BACKSLIDES---that is,
> turns away from God and lives a CARNEL life, is it a sign that he TRULY
> repents if he "prays through" to God, evidenced by speaking in other
> tongues?
Yes for the spirit of God, evidenced with speaking in tongues,
will not dwell in the same temple as foul and dirty ground.
The bible tells us that sweet water and bitter water CAN NOT
flow out of the same, meaning that God wants you to clean
out the foul ground of your heart before He comes to reside
there.
> 4. If speaking in tongues is the initial evidence that one has received
> the Holy Ghost, is speaking in tongues on a consistent basis a sign that
> one STILL HAS the Holy Ghost?
Yes, it is. It is a sign that God still dwells IN you.
> 5. If answering NO to question 4: How does one ASSURE himself that he
> STILL HAS the Holy Ghost? Can one LOSE the Holy Ghost? Is LOSING the Holy
> Ghost the same as LOSING OUT on salvation? OR is it true that ONCE one is
> saved, he is ALWAYS saved?
Satan was once saved, is he now? No, so once saved does
not mean that you are always saved...
> There is an ever-increasing belief going throughout our churches that SOME
> (logically extended to MOST) people only speak in tongues when they
> initially receive the gift of the Holy Ghost...NEVER THEREAFTER! What
> this doctrine will eventually bring is a condition in which virtually NO
> ONE will speak in tongues except those who have (supposedly) received the
> GIFT OF TONGUES! Which may be very few.
>
> [Note: "SOME logically extended to MOST" because if one believes that a
> person ONLY speaks in tongues upon the initial receipt of the Holy Ghost,
> then ANYONE who does speak in tongues AFTER receiving the initial
> experience MUST have the unique GIFT OF TONGUES as stated in 1 Cor 12, 14.]
>
You will lose the spirit of God in you if you do not
commune with him daily, speaking in tongues. That is
why, I believe, that he came to commue with Adam everyday
in the cool of the day. That is what he wanted, so in
every dispensation, He has made a way for that to happen.
- Thomas J. Griffin III ----------------------------------------
-----> griffin@mtu.edu & http://www.me.mtu.edu/~griffin <-----
----------------------> Psalms 48:1-2 <-----------------------