There are many in our days who are searching for some kind of emotional experience that will validate their faith. The person and presence of Christ in the life of the Christian does not seem to be enough. We are searching for significance in this world which we are finding out is not available to us. People are seeking spiritual significance and they don’t seem to be able to find it in church but are seeking for it another way. People are turning to psychology and various worldly philosophies to find expression and security. We have left the biblical teachings and are imbibing the vain philosophies of this present world system.

In the church setting we have set aside the Bible and are looking for another gospel to satisfy our worldly appetites. We want experiences and not the sound teaching of the Word of God. We will embrace any idea that comes along and do not check it against Scripture or sound doctrinal teaching. We are in danger of forgetting the gospel and counting it as irrelevant to the psyche of modern people. We have become people pleasers and our character is being weakened and our ego is taking over.

I am concerned about the interest in speaking in tongues and the way it infiltrates our desires and behaviour. We seem to turn to phenomenon such as this and not digging deep into the Word of God that we might know God better. It is dangerous to be involved with physical phenomenon that we don’t understand, and say things that have no meaning and cannot be explained.

When the New Testament speaks of tongues, it is another word for languages. On the day of Pentecost the church of Jesus Christ was visited by a filling of the Holy Spirit and tongues of fire were seen on the head of the believers and the sound of a rushing mighty wind filled the house in which they were meeting. It was heard far and near and many people and visitors to the city of Jerusalem came to find out what it was about. The believers found that they could speak in languages that they had not formally learned and the visitors were able to understand the gospel in their own language. Everyone was utterly amazed.

In modern times we see tongues as some kind of experience where people utter words and make sounds that they don’t understand . This is not the biblical tongues. We should be very careful of these so-called tongues because we don’t understand what it’s being said and it is not a good idea to bypass the mind in terms of understanding. Why should we seek these things when we possess the inerrant Word of God as our perfect and open message from God? Why do we neglect the study of the Scriptures for something we can never understand? Why do we seek personal satisfaction from what is actually nonsense?

Unfortunately, when we seek after spiritual experiences, we seem to put our Bible on the shelf and we do not value it as the Word of God nor learn from it. This is a great mistake, for the scripture has been given to us for our edification and to teach us the way to God. It is the only way to God and we should ask that our minds be infiltrated with it and not the emotional response of seeking experiences. We seek the experience of the true God through the reading of His inspired Word and not other devices.

Let us set aside seeking after foolish things and seek the Lord honestly through the study of the Bible and settling ourselves down into sound doctrine and not the excitable mindset of those who are worldly. Let us follow the chain of virtue set down for us in 2 Peter 1 verses 5-7

“… adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, perseverance; and in perseverance, godliness; and in godliness, brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love.”

This godly chain of virtue will sustain us and make us true-hearted servants of God and able to discern all falsehood and self-seeking. Love is not separate from the sound doctrine of the Word of God and we seek to build our knowledge and self-control, not taking on the emotions of experience as a substitute for true spiritual growth. If we indulge in emotion it will take us away from the sound doctrine of the Scripture and render us useless, for we will lead people astray and away from God and into the realms of folly. Stay close to the Scripture and we will find we are truly satisfied as we drink its depths.