Thought I’d post some references on this subject. A striking thing about the Pentecostal movement is that there are many critics within the movement of what they consider to be “excesses,” while the real cause of the supposed excesses is the very belief in the gifts for today which they also share.
Here is David Cloud’s discussion of the history of the Pentecostal movement,
The Strange History of Pentecostalism .
http://wayoflife.org/fbns/strange1.htm He pretty much sums up his point here:
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From its inception the "latter rain" Pentecostal movement has been characterized by doctrinal heresy, exaggeration, and deception. I realize these are hard words, but the documentation is irrefutable. This is because the first century messianic and apostolic miracles simply are not being performed by Christians today. Those who claim that the apostolic Pentecostal signs have been restored are forced to accept occultic/hypnotic phenomenon such as spirit slaying and drunkenness and soothsaying (which they often call "the word of knowledge) as apostolic signs, or they are forced to exaggerate and prefabricate the alleged signs. This is exactly what we see occurring in the latest manifestation of the latter rain movement, the Laughing Revival. The latter rain movement of the 20th century is literally strewn with the wreckage of spiritual confusion, error, and deception.
Some will protest that we are using exceptions to paint the entire movement. Please note, though, that the following people are recognized leaders within the Pentecostal movement. They are not exceptions. All of them are listed in the authoritative Dictionary of Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements and in many other histories of Pentecostalism which are in my library. Further, the Lord Jesus Christ warned that we are to judge teachers by their fruits (Matt. 7:15-18). A movement which claims to be the very fullness of the Holy Spirit but which is literally strewn with false teaching, duplicity, immorality, and lunacy is to be rejected.
I readily acknowledge that there are many godly Christian people within Pentecostalism. I was led to Christ by just such a man. . . .
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Another article on Pentecostalism,
Azusa Street, the Birth of a Lie, http://www.scionofzion.com/azusa_street.htm notes the fact that many in the gifts movement have the discernment to recognize the wrong spirit of others in that movement, but argues that it all comes from the same root and should all be renounced:
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Some Pentecostalists distance themselves from charismatic ‘excess’ as found in the Toronto Blessing. Some even distance themselves from various leaders such as John Arnott (Toronto) and/or John Wimber (Vineyard). Do not be fooled by this! All they are doing is shifting the furniture around on the deck of the Titanic! They are still Pentecostalists and still believe the same things as they always did, and still practice the same errors. They are like the kettle calling the pot ‘black’....but, sadly, most of them are unaware of this failure and would not dream of being unfaithful.
In general they do not do or say what their more adventurous charismatic cousins do or say. But they do or say other things, which, though less dramatic, are of the same stock of heresy. By saying what many reformed folk want to hear (a denunciation of Toronto-style manifestations etc), they appear to be different from charismatics. This, friends, is a big mistake. As we have already said – they are only different by degree, not by type. That is, their virus is exactly the same; it just manifests itself in a modulated form. In this way, even if Satan is detected in charismaticism, he can still maintain his presence through old-style Pentecostalism without fear of being recognized by most Christians.
He has succeeded admirably and we must admit to his cleverness. Even so, he has been recognized in Pentecostalism! Not just by me, but by a number of other watchmen, who also warn the Church of the charismatic heresy. Those who wish to be truly faithful should now take heed, for their souls’ sake.
There is a very good reason for old-style Pentecostalists to abandon their beliefs and to repent. Some ministries supported by non-charismatics are headed by Pentecostalists. Yes, they denounced the Toronto Blessing. This led many to believe they must be ‘sound’. But this cannot be so. I say this without animosity toward these men or their ministries. A man who remains – and likes to call himself – ‘Pentecostalist’, but who has publicly castigated the Toronto Blessing is still, nevertheless, of the same root. That root is described in these pages. You will see that a man who denounces the Toronto movement must also denounce his own past, which is of the same kind. . . .
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The following two quotes are from a “prophetic” blog called
End Times Prophetic, Prophecy, Visions, Dreams, Revelation hosted by a woman whose discernment is very sharp – except about her own supposed “gifts of the Spirit.”
http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpr...-from-history/
It was her entry quoting an article written around 1910 by Aaron Merritt Hills, the President of Texas Holiness University, along with a short statement by Charles Parham, that finally set me free from any last clinging to the possibility that tongues are for today. I was particularly struck by Hills’ observation that the presence of tongues interferes with the useful work of Christian life:
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Moreover, word comes to us from all over the world-from England and Germany and the United States, and the mission stations of Japan and China and India-that it is a distracting and disturbing force that is most injurious to the work of turning people from sin to righteousness. Instead of aiding revivals, it puts an end to them. Instead of increasing the power and effectiveness of hitherto noble Christian workers, it wrecks their power and their usefulness, and sometimes even their Christian experience.
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It was at this same blog that I found the quote by Charles Parham that the majority of tongues are counterfeit:
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Charles Parham, a Pentecostal pioneer said:
‘Hear this: three-fourths of the so-called Pentecosts in the world are counterfeits, the devil’s imitation to deceive the poor earnest souls. . . . Many hundreds, in seeking Pentecost, were taught to yield to any force, as God would not permit them to be misled; under those conditions they were ripe for hypnotic influence. . . . Two-thirds of the people professing Pentecost are either hypnotized or spook-driven, being seized in the first place with a false spirit or coming under the control of one afterward. We cannot be too careful to try or test the spirits and any person unwilling to have their experience tested by going to God for themselves or with the brethren, reveal the fact that they are demon-controlled. . . . They plead the blood, and claim to be Jesus, giving messages, and imitate every gift of the Holy Spirit and Pentecostal tongues.’
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I believe a sincere and prayerful reading of this material should end any lingering belief that the gifts are for today, and convince the reader that the Pentecostal movement as a whole is part of the Harlot Church, in which there remain some true believers to whom the Lord says "Come out of her, My people."