Receiving the Gift of Tongues

Although pleased with the progress I had made, I was disappointed that I did not possess special gifts that the Pentecostal Church considers manifestations of God’s spirit, such as the gift of tongues. But one day my desire was realized.

While I was presiding at a religious service and praying, a voice told me to lay my hands on a certain woman of the congregation. With my eyes still closed, I found the woman among those present and laid my hands upon her. Immediately there was a loud shout and she began, together with me, to speak in tongues. This involves uttering words independently of the will of the speaker. The experience made me very happy.

However, I still was not able to understand the Bible, and this disturbed me very much. I was told that the Bible could be understood only by those having the special gift of interpretation, and this explanation satisfied me somewhat. I was grateful, at least, for having received the gift of tongues.

But it was not many months before I became convinced that something was wrong with this so-called “gift.” I began having terrible nightmares. It was as though I were paralyzed and, at the same time, I would see dark forms that held me on all sides. I began to wonder whether these evidences of attack by wicked spirits might have some relationship with the “gift” I had received. My suspicions increased when a pastor, who possessed the gift of interpretations, ordered a person with the gift of tongues to stop speaking, since the things he was saying were shameful and unrepeatable.

Therefore I came to appreciate that the apparently God-given gift that I received while a Pentecostal was actually an operation of Satan and his wicked spirit forces. The Bible warns that ‘Satan would transform himself into an angel of light’ and that he would deceive many with “lying signs and portents and with every unrighteous deception.”​—2 Cor. 11:14; 2 Thess. 2:9, 10.